Chapter 315
Anfey followed Christian into a restaurant . He found an armed Baery and Mioritch there, with Saul sitting properly in the middle . Anfey was shocked for a second . It looked like something had happened, but they should have no reason to see Anfey .
"Anfey, sit down . Baery has something to ask you," Saul said quietly . He pointed to the chair next to him .
Anfey walked next to Saul and slowly took a seat . He looked at Baery with a questioning look on his face .
"Anfey, do you know Kumaraghosha ?" Baery asked straightforwardly .
"Kumaraghosha? I saw him before . Is he the general in Shansa Empire? What happened?" Anfey asked .
"The Shansa Empire military department accused him of treason . When they sent people to catch Kumaraghosha, his legion rebelled," Baery said in a low voice . "Kumaraghosha lead his team, broke through Shansa Empire’s encirclement, and escaped the Country of Mercenaries . "
"Master Baery, does this have anything to do with me?" Anfey asked, confused .
"Yes . " Baery started to look very serious . "Do you know where they escaped to? Town of Moramatch! People from Storm mercenary group have reported that after Kumaraghosha went to the Town of Moramatch, he disappeared . People from Storm mercenary group tried to blend into the town, but they disappeared as well when they got to the town . If I remember correctly, the Town of Moramatch a station of your mercenary group . "
Anfey was shocked at first . He frowned and thought hard .
"When you left the Town of Moramatch, who did you leave it to?" Baery asked, staring intently at Anfey . "I have asked Christian about it, but he did not tell me and insisted that I ask you . "
"Uncle, it was not that I didn’t want to tell you," Christian said defensively, "but…"
"I know, I know . " Baery waved his hand . "That is why I am asking Anfey now . "
"A woman named Alice," Anfey answered in a low voice .
"Alice? How did you know her?" Baery asked .
"She used to be a slave . I saved her . After that, she had been following us," Anfey said .
"Is she reliable?" Baery asked .
"Yes . " Anfey nodded . Alice could not return to her home country and held such hatred toward the royalty in Shansa Empire . Every time she talked about her father, she sounded sarcastic and disdainful, without any attachment to him . If she was able to, Alice would step on everyone in the royal family to get revenge for how they mistreated her . A person like her should be reliable .
"Do you know her background?" Baery asked .
"She is a daughter of a merchant . Her father committed suicide because he was deep in debt . She became a slave because of that . I asked her to be in charge of Moramatch because she has good leadership skills . Master Baery, what is wrong with that?" Anfey asked . He had promised Alice that he would not tell anyone who she was . More importantly if Anfey told Baery who Alice really was, Alice would become the last card the empire had . Anfey had not given this card to anyone else yet . It sounded selfish, but sometimes he had to be .
Christian lowered his head . He looked normal, like nothing had happened . He tidied his magic gown . After his family background had been exposed and experiencing many challenges, Christian had become more mature . If this had happened before, he would have wondered why Anfey lied to Baery . He might not point it out on the spot, but he would definitely ask Anfey afterwards . Now Christian felt the concept of country was too abstract . When he was in danger or pushed into a corner, the country would not save him . The only people he could rely on were the friends around him . Christian believed Anfey was doing it for the legion .
"Nothing . I am just asking," Baery said, shaking his head . "Anfey, aren’t you heading to Violet City in a few days? Why don’t you leave today so you can go back to Violet City quickly and go to Moramatch after that . The secret agents from Storm mercenary group have reported that Kumaraghosha should be caught by the residents in the town . Anfey, you have to see Kumaraghosha in person and convince him to surrender to Maho Empire . He may ask for conditions for that . As long as his conditions are reasonable, you could agree with all of them . If he does not want to surrender to us, kill him . You have to kill him right away . "
"Master Baery, do you hate Kumaraghosha for some personal reasons?" Anfey asked .
"I do not hate him . Anfey, you know Kumaraghosha took his people out of their surroundings . Do you know how many people he leads? Less than five hundred . He was able to lead five hundred people to break through the defense lines of Shansa Empire and run to the Country of Mercenaries . It was a miracle . He even killed or wounded over 3,700 soldiers from Shansa Empire . " Baery sighed . "Kumaraghosha is an excellent general . I had a few battles with him . I know how good he is . Unfortunately, he does not have a good family background and has been suppressed by his peers . Those idiots! If I were them, I would definitely promote him to be my assistant . He would become a sharp sword in my hand . "
"Is that possible? Could five hundred people cause such a large number of casualties to Shansa military?" Anfey asked in surprise . "Where were Shansa Empire’s mages?" When he had battled Kumaraghosha in Moramatch, Anfey realized how magic could affect battles . A small Swamp magic spell could cause chaos in the formation of the cavalry and put Kumaraghosha in a very vulnerable situation in the blink of an eye . That Kumaraghosha was smart . When he saw the situation change, he ordered a retreat . The whole battle happened and ended extremely fast . If Anfey had to continue the battle, he would not have been scared of Kumaraghosha anyway, but Anfey did not think a loser could create such a miracle .
"Besides Dark Moon Magic legion in Ellisen Empire, no one would use mages as soldiers," Baery sighed . "When there is a war, mages go to the battlefield with the military . When the battle ends, they would immediately leave the military station . Even the mage group in Death Roaring mercenary group follows the same procedure . Every time when there is a battle, I have to call out those mages . I can give orders to my soldiers and generals, but if I want a mage group to do something for me, I have to get support from the commanders and vice commanders of the mage group . I cannot just give them orders . I can only give my suggestions and advice . "
This had been troubling Baery . As the chief general, he had been wanting a mage group he could give orders to . Unfortunately, the cost of training mages was way too high compared to what they could contribute to battles . There weren’t a lot of mages to start with . Every year, only about one percent of people could be promoted to be mages and swordsmen, sometimes even fewer . In war, mages had great fighting power but very weak self-defense ability . Opponents usually targeted them first . If a hundred mages got killed, it meant half of the mage group accounted for more than 50 percent of the casualties . If thousands of soldiers got killed, it would not cause as much damage to the military as it did to the mage group .
Mercenary groups were in the same boat . Swordsmen were the main force . The number of mages in the mercenary groups was small . If any mercenary group could have a few mages, it could increase the fighting power of the whole mercenary group . Anfey’s Alibaba mercenary group was unique . Besides Suzanna, the only swordswoman, everyone else was a mage . Since Anfey was surrounded by mages all the time in the legion, he began to think mages were everywhere .
"I see . " Anfey nodded . "Master Baery, you not have to worry about Kumaraghosha so much . He betrayed his own country . He will not be able to go back to his hometown . I can take time to convince him . "
"No, if he does not surrender to us, you have to kill him right away," Baery said, shaking his head . "Actually, we only missed a day . "
"What?" Anfey did not get it .
"I said I only missed a day; otherwise the order to catch Kumaraghosha would not need to go out . " Baery continued slowly, "Because Scarlet had gone to the front line . "
"Who is Scarlet? Why haven’t I ever heard of her?" Saul said, shocked and looking at Baery with a serious face . Saul knew Baery had treated him as his opponent, but he did not know anything about Scarlet .
"You do not know her, but you know her mother . "
"Who is her mother?" Saul asked .
"The temporary princess of Shansa Empire, Victoria," Baery said .
"Is Scarlet a child?" Saul was shocked . Victoria gave birth to a baby when she was twenty-two years old and was killed by Baery at thirty-one . Doing the math, Scarlet should be only twenty-one or twenty-two years old . Of course, Saul would not pay attention to such a young person .
"After Princess Victoria died, the king of Shansa Empire, Philly II, took back all her power and sent nine-year-old Scarlet to a feudal estate and held her in confinement . He worried Scarlet would grow into a woman as aggressive as her mother and become strong enough to control politics . His order made people forget about Victoria’s daughter, including us . " Baery smiled bitterly . "Scarlet is indeed the daughter of Victoria . She was quiet for a long time, but she amazed the world with a single brilliant feat . The king received detailed reports about her just now . Master Saul, you know that Shansa Empire has not been a match for our empire, right? One reason was their domestic political instability . There are many uprisings in the east of Shansa Empire . They had to send a large military troop to control the situation . It ate up their military budget . Another reason was because Philly II was a poor ruler . To put it simply, he was nothing more than an idiot . He had turned down the request from Griffin Aero Unit to go into the war . He held the best force without using them, instead seeing a "sharp knife" go rusty . Last but not least, they have no good generals . Millions of soldiers had no one to lead them, so their fighting ability is bad . "
"Are you saying Scarlet can solve all three problems for Shansa Empire?" Anfey asked .
"It seems like it," Baery said .
"How could she?" Saul could not help looking surprised . "How could Philly II watch her grow strong?"
"Because Scarlet married a good man . She left her feudal estate a few years ago . It is unfortunate that we have forgotten her and did not notice her at all . " Baery shook his head .
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