Chapter 310: Good Things Should Belong To The Family
“General, there is movement from the Fortress!” a Captain of the Zelanian Army reported. “The gates are opening!”
Raghnall Hakim Aoife, the Divine Champion of the Zelan Dynasty, frowned when he heard the report. Even so, he walked out of his tent and stood at the front of the army to see what the Hellanians were up to. His short, dark-brown hair swayed in the wind as he gazed at the battlefield.
Using his enhanced vision, he saw a man with gray hair, along with two other men, walk out of the gates of the fortress and start to walk in the direction of the Zelanian Army.
One of the men was holding a blue flag in his hands, which meant that they wanted to have a dialogue with them. This was very common, especially during war times, when two armies were about to have a life and death battle.
“Now, this is interesting,” an old man said as he stood beside Raghnall. “It’s been years since I’ve seen this bastard. Looks like he still has a few good years left in him to be able to remain in this world.”
To everyone’s surprise, the old man started to walk, with the help of his walking stick, towards the three men, who had stopped in the halfway point between the Hellan Fortress and the Zelanian Army.
Raghnall sighed as he followed behind the old man. Some of the Captains wanted to follow them, but Raghnall waved them off telling them that he and the Army’s Strategist would handle the matter on their own.
A few minutes later, James, Damian, and Gideon faced off against the old man, and Raghnall, at the center of the battlefield. Both sides stood a few meters away from each other and eyed one another with calm expressions on their faces.
After a few minutes, the old man walked towards James until he was only a meter away from him. Suddenly, the stick in the old man’s hand turned into a short spear. Without any warning, the old man thrust the spear straight towards James’ chest with the intention of piercing his heart.
At least, that was what should have happened, but a powerful hand held the blade of the spear in a firm grip, preventing it from hitting its target.
“It’s good to see that you’re still a hale and hearty old geezer,” James said with a smile. “I thought you had already kicked the bucket.”
The old man snorted as he glared hatefully at James, “How can I die when I know you’re still alive? I’ll only be able to leave this world in peace on the day I spit on your corpse.”
“Well, I don’t plan on dying anytime soon,” James replied. “Do your best to live for a century, you old fart, maybe then you’ll get the opportunity.”
The old man transformed the spear back into a walking stick and stood perfectly straight. He was like a General on the battlefield that was about to lead his troops to battle.
“So? Are you here to offer your unconditional surrender?” the old man, who was notoriously known as Old Executioner by the Zelanian Army, asked.
His name was Hugo Aakil Aoife, the father of Raghnall, as well as the father of James’ wife, Erza. Naturally, he hated James with a vengeance. It was because he wasn’t there when his beloved daughter Erza…
Seeing the hostility on the old man’s face, James couldn’t stop himself from sighing in his heart. He knew that the Aoife family wanted him dead, much more than Aramis wanted him dead.
His in-laws were a Martial Family through and through and had been Generals in the military ever since the Zelan Dynasty was founded. James had a hard time making them agree to his proposal to marry Erza many years ago.
The Overlord of Lont willed the painful memories to go to the back of his mind as he focused on the two people in front of him. He knew that since Hugo was here, their chances of reaching a compromise had succeeded by half.
“Are you mute? I told you to speak!” Hugo glared at James who was reminiscing about the past.
James cleared his throat before answering. “I came here to tell both of you not to attack the fortress for a few days. I know that you have already received news that the forces of the Aenasha Dynasty have broken through Windsor Fortress and are currently on their way towards the capital.”
“Since you already knew that then why are you still here?” Hugo inquired. “Shouldn’t you go back as well and act as reinforcements to your King?”
“Why should I go and help him?” James asked back. “The King exiled my son, Morgan, from the Southern Continent. I have no reason to help him.”
“Heh~ do you really think I’m stupid?” Hugo snorted. “Tell me the real reason why you are asking us not to attack. Now that your Archmages are gone, at most, it will only take us two days to break the walls of your fortress. If I get lucky, I might even get the chance to spit on your corpse after we burn your kingdom to the ground.”
James smiled as he crossed his arms over his chest. “In order for a new king to sit on the throne of the kingdom, the old one must be disposed of. This war is the perfect opportunity to wipe out the lineage of the Royal Family. When they’re gone, the throne will be up for grabs.”
“Oh, so you plan to stage a civil war?” Hugo sneered. “I knew that you were a bastard, but I never knew that you were a traitorous bastard.”
“I plan to make my son, Mordred, the new King of the Hellan Kingdom,” James said with a smile. “Good things should belong to The Family, isn’t that right?”
Hugo and Raghnall narrowed their eyes. Both of them weren’t stupid and immediately understood what James was hinting at.
The father and son pair exchanged a glance before looking back at James with serious expressions on their faces.
“How confident are you?” Hugo asked.
“As long as the private army of the Aoife family moves then the chances of success are eighty percent,” James answered without batting an eye.
“Eighty Percent…,” Hugo muttered. “So you mean to say that we will play Fisherman when the war between the two sides reaches a conclusion?”
James nodded his head. “Although the Zelanian Army are warriors that are not afraid to die on the battlefield, the two of us fighting against each other will just create unnecessary casualties on both sides. You already know that even if you reject this offer, you will not get out of this battle unscathed.”
The Overlord of Lont grinned evilly. “I’m confident that I can wipe out half of your forces and escape with my life. By then, your shares will be smaller when you divide the Hellan Kingdom.”
“Even if what you say is true, so what?” Hugo replied. “Land is still land No matter how big or small it is, it will still belong to us.”
James quieted down and stared at Hugo with disdain. This lasted for a minute before the gray-haired man voiced out his thoughts.
“Are you sure about that?” James asked. “I’m sure you already know that someone is pulling the strings from behind. I have a hunch that even if this Kingdom was conquered, you and the Aenasha dynasty wouldn’t be able to hold it for long. You’re just puppets being played with by the puppeteer.”
It was now Hugo’s time to become silent. As the retired Chief Strategist of the Dynasty, he had long since noticed tell-tale signs that something was amiss about this war. The heads of the clans called out for conquest, and the King readily agreed to start a war.
None of this made sense and Raghnall had already confessed to him that he had misgivings about the orders from the higher-ups.
“Seven days,” Hugo said as he turned his head to walk back towards the Zelanian Encampment. “Let’s talk again in seven days.”
Raghnall gave James one last glance before following behind his father. He was also against this war because he had a feeling that they were being used as pawns by an unknown player behind the scenes.
This was something that he couldn’t accept and the main reason why he hadn’t ordered an all out war against the Hellan Kingdom and simply settled for short skirmishes.
Now that James had given them an alternative, both father and son decided to wait a week to see what the outcome of the war between the Hellan Kingdom and the Aenesha Dynasty would be. If there was a chance to place James’ son on the throne as the new king of the Hellan Kingdom, Hugo and Raghnall were willing to work with him.
Afterall, Erza’s children were still part of their family. As long as the bloodline of the Aoife Clan could become King, waiting a few days was a small price to pay for Hugo and Raghnall. Also, they were wary of the unknown Organization working in the shadows.
There was truth in James’ words, and this was one of Hugo’s main worries. He also thought that, even if the Hellan Kingdom fell, their Dynasty, and the Aenasha Dynasty, would return home with nothing.
‘I hate it when that bastard is right,’ Hugo cursed as he sat on the couch to rest his old and weary body. The retired strategist knew that if they really were to force a siege against the Fortress, they would suffer many casualties on their side.
He also didn’t want to break all ties with James because that was the promise he had made to his daughter.
‘Fine. Let’s wait and see for now.’ Hugo stared at the ceiling of his tent. ‘It still won’t be too late to act after seven days.’
—–
Visit freewe𝑏(n)ovel.𝘤ℴ𝑚 for the best novel reading experience