I want to start this log by speaking about the ambush. I am quite happy to announce that it has been very successful. To be honest, it was more successful than even I had anticipated it to be. (So succesful that I need to rework quite a few of my plans.)
I would have considered the trap to have worked if it had taken out even sixty percent of these beasts. I am quite happy to report that the actual number is closer to eighty percent. There are still a few of the Ice Beasts out here, but they are going to be much easier to handle. After all, the true threat of the creatures was always their numbers. With a majority of them destroyed, my soldiers are more than capable of handling them.
This is also going to buy me some time to complete the formations. I won't need to work in half focused manner that I have till now. Even if the Snowlords came here at their full speed, it is going to take them a week. (They all should be hiding themselves on the other end of the Northern Wastelands.) Based on Shamon, it is pretty clear that they are taking their time coming so that gives me about a couple weeks to work with.
I am sure that the Head Office doesn't care about all of this. After all, the main focus is always the Scholars. I am happy to announce that the Scholars are completely safe. (I just got their letter earlier today.) They had not even noticed the fight that was happening here. Other than that they seem to be quite safe. I have still advised Trevor to keep an eye out for any threat.
The man is the careful sort. He will manage anything that comes their way. (The enemy is focusing all their troops here. They can't send a strong troop to their location.) Other than that, it looks like one of the two Sworn has broken to the next stage. Trevor was pretty vague about it, not even telling me who broke through into which stage. There is no use thinking about it now. It is not like they can come to reinforce me anyways.
Right now, the only people that I can rely on are myself and the soldiers here. Speaking of the Soldiers here.
Look, I have heard a lot about the Snowwinders. They are supposed to be genius builders who have built works of art that can last for millennia. They are supposedly so disciplined on the battlefield that their enemies liken them to the Undead. Hells, even the Legion has a grudging respect for them. (Believe me when I say the Legion respects nobody.)
Every single description that I have been given about them is being turned on it head at this very moment. I was certainly not prepared for the scene in front of me. In front of me are two soldiers who are completely naked except for their undergarments. Just looking at it makes me shiver from the depth of my bones.
I remember the beginning of this particular tavern brawl. It had all begun with Shamon opening a reserve of some kind of an alcoholic drink. (that I would never be able to pronounce. For now, let's call it ale.)
Once everyone was properly drunk, all it took was a friendly contest of arm wrestling for things to devolve in this manner. Based on what I have understood of this, both soldiers will stand in front of each other and begin stripping. This will happen until one person gives up or until their jewels shine in their full glory to the world. (Their words, not mine.)
The fun part, they have to do all of this in the snow. Right now, it is cold enough that even I would be wary to move out here with the coat. It would take a unique kind of balls to do that. (Fuck, these guys are ruining me as well.) I will be honest, If these soldiers end up dying to the chill due to this, I will resurrect them and kill them personally.
That is how we are presently stuck in this situation. Both people are convincing the other to step back and admit defeat. While all the people around them are convincing them to complete the final step. I was certainly not thinking of chants of "off with the underwear" when I thought of the Snowwind Empire. Overall, it has been a loud, quite tasteless mess. Even then, I have not been able to keep my head away from this particular direction for some time now.
Normally, I would have been one of the people down there. I don't particularly enjoy these, but it is the quickest way to make yourself a part of the group. I am not going to break my rules so easily this time. (Especially after the embarrassing debacle that led to this ambush in the first place.) I have to admit it was quite tempting until the stripping began. (Such a situation can only be found funny when you are quite drunk.)
Also, even these soldiers know that their victory is now dependent more on me than on them. They would not be able to enjoy things as much if I were to try and party with them. They have already done a good job. Let them have their moment of celebration. That reminds me, I really should pick a hiding spot for them. They won't be able to do much in the eventual fight with the Snowlords. I already have a few locations ready to hide them. I just need to pick one already.
Anyway, if I were in their place, I would be sick with worry. There is not much to stop you from thinking when you don't keep yourself busy. Regardless, my work is pretty important. After all, if the enemy were to suddenly reveal an unknown troop, I would like to be ready. (It is very unlikely.) Granted, a single troop does not have the strength to challenge us anymore. I will just have to shoot their troop leader with the ballista. My soldiers can handle a troop of minions on their own then.
The presence of the ballista should be enough to keep the Snowlords from wasting any more troops here. Speaking of the ballista, it is back in its rightful position at the watch tower. (Thankfully, I was not forced to manifest it again to do so. It nearly emptied most of my Earth mana to create it the first time.)
Anyway, I can see that I am not the only person among this bunch who seems to have skipped the drink today. Even now, he is making his way towards me.
"Captain, I would have expected you to be among this rowdy bunch already," Shamon says, his voice taking an amused tone.
"I will be honest, I was tempted at the beginning but not anymore," I say. "Somebody needs to keep eye out for enemies. I might as well do so in this case."
"It is for the best, I guess. The soldiers would not have felt comfortable with you there. After all, to them you are just a noble in a different uniform. They would have welcomed you, but not happily," he begins, sitting next to me. The stink on his breathe os proof enough that the man is quite drunk. "It is nice to see that I have company among this bunch, though. I am sure these two idiots will wake up with a cold tomorrow. It is fine as long as it is not the chill, I guess. Most of these folks will fill our armies in the future. I shudder to think about training them."
"I would not be worried about insubordination from this bunch, my friend," I say to him. "I have seen many armies in my life. A well-trained one like this rare. With a capable commander, they will do good."
The nobles ensure that nobody will be able to command any fort in this place for more than a year. The reason for this is to ensure that another figure like the Commander will not rise in this place. Just the Commander alone has been a pain to deal with for the nobles. I wonder how long will they allow Shamon to stay here? Men with his capability can be considered to be rare.
"There is no need to fish for answers, my friend. I have no plans of leaving this place for a very long time," Shamon replies. "The Commander has already approached me about taking over this place the next year. I have already decided to take the man's offer before coming here."
"Since you want to be direct, I will ask you this. What is the Commander planning to do with this place?" I ask.
"It is no secret what the Commander intends, my friend. Telling it to your bosses will have no value, I am sure," The man replies, with a hint of pride in his voice. "If this fort manages to survive for five or more years, it will be able to become a second Frozen Peak. This little fort here is going to become the heart of the Commander's territory. It is going to be his key to ensure the commoner's independence in this place. Be honest, what do you think of the soldiers here?"
Even when I speak, my vision goes to one of the naked soldiers trying some kind of rude gesture to provoke the other. What it would do to help him, I do not know. It must have made quite a bit of sense in his drunken mind because he is doing it with a child-like enthusiasm.
"They cannot be considered to be particularly well trained. They can be called disciplined, I guess. They have certainly never seen true combat in their life before this," I reply, thinking about their performance. "If I have to be blunt, this is not something I would expect from the folks here. The only reason that they even managed to fight till now is that they were under your command."
"I guess that is certainly the truth. The reason for that is the nobles. They don't like us getting too able," The man replies, a rare instance of heat in his voice. "That is how they gain our loyalty, you see. We can't even get our hands on cultivation techniques without joining their armies and fighting their wars. We are nothing more than cannon fodder anywhere else. In this wasteland at least, we are trained as soldiers are supposed to be. I also don't need to deal with the nobles here. Tell me, guard, why do you think that is the case?"
"They will never come here. There is no glory in guarding this place. Killing a million Ice Beasts won't be as useful to their reputation as killing an enemy general in the southern borders," I reply, quoting from the Scholar's document. "No nobles confident in himself will ever come to the north."
"And yet the war that we wage here is the reason that the nobles can even wage their wars down south," The man growls. "Literally all the troops that survive down there have came from the temporary forts here. Without us to pay the price in blood, the southern border will literally fall in a few days."
"I assumed you and your troops were of the Frozen Peaks. Why would you go anywhere else?" I ask, a bit confused.
"The Frozen Peak has no real standing army, captain. We lose too many soldiers against the Snowlords every year to train up our own army. The Commander has to borrow soldiers from other areas just to make ends meet. I myself has fought in the south before coming here. The soldiers with me are still unexperienced, so they most likely came from some noble's militia," he says. "We are all sent here because the Commander managed to convince the noble families to redirect their troops here. That also is not due to the goodness in their hearts. They just find this to be cheapest way of training their soldiers."
"While I certainly understand your sentiment, that doesn't explain your point about the commoner's independence," I ask. "It is a dangerous idea to speak of in this part of the continent."
"The north is already the territory of the Commander. The land here was granted to him by the Snowwind Family itself," the man replies. "No noble can claim the land here. That means that the only way that the nobles can interfere in this place is with their armies and believe me when I say they do so fully. With a second Frozen Peak, the Commander will have no need to rely on such nobles for his armies. This place can become a grinder in which he can train his own army."
"It is quite a risk you take by remaining here then," I point out. "The nobles do not like a challenge to their authority in this manner. Any commander here will be the first to be targeted."
"It is a worthy risk. Remaining as the commander here will ensure that fewer of these kids will die, captain. I have seen enough kids die in all my years fighting," The man replies. "Anyway, I am becoming older. The Southern borders is too much action for an old man like me."
"I have to admit that it is a very pretty story, my friend. It certainly makes you sound like a hero," I reply, with a tiny grin on my face. I am no Scholar but I can still observe people. "Yet I have seen you in action. you are the pragamatic sort. I wonder how the Commander is rewarding you for your troubles."
"Would you believe me if I said that I am doing it out of the goodness of my heart?" The man asks.
"Sure, I will believe it the day the sun rises over the Frozen Wastelands," I reply, not able to suppress my chuckle anymore.
"I guess nothing can be really hidden from you guards, eh," The man replies with a grin. "The answer to that is Clothes, my friend. Clothes made from the skin of a Ice Beast to be precise."
"What?" I ask, the confusion in my voice painfully clear.
"The clothes made from the skin of an Ice Beast are worth their weight in gold, Captain," The man replies. "The nobles are ready to pay an arm and a foot for the quality that we get in this place. Being the commander here means that I will get a cut on all of these in the future."
"Why would that be? Isn't the entirety of the Draken Vale Plagued by these creatures. I am sure that for every Ice Beast you kill here, you must kill a hundred over there," I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.
"That is certainly true, but any Ice Beast over there is considered as inferior goods. For one thing, any Ice Beast born in the Draken Vale doesn't have a hide as lustrous as the ones in the desert," The man replies, a childish excitement in his voice. "Other than that, the Ice Beasts in the Draken Vale fight each other as much as with us. To find a beast without a damaged pelt is an almost impossible task. Here, it is so easy to find the quality stuff. In just this season, I have gotten enough pelts to feed my village. To remain here is a worthy deal just for that."
"Where in the hells have you hidden all of these?" I ask. "I have seen nothing like that."
The man looks at me with a cautious gaze. He is clearly debating about answering this.
"I am hiding them in the watchtower, captain," The man replies, getting more flustered at my lack of a reaction. (It is the really the first time I have seen him like this.) "You don't have to worry, they won't get in your way. I just needed a place that the nobles were unlikely to find, if they came he..."
The man doesn't complete his statement as I laugh at the man's words. It is nice to see that even a warrior like Shamon can get flustered.
"You have no need to worry about that, Shamon. As long as there is enough place in the tower to hold the ballista, I don't particularly care what you do with the rest of the place," I reply, with a tiny wink at the man. "I can actually suggest a hiding place for when the nobles come. You see, the ballista is conjured into existence. It would not be wrong to say that it floats over the floor it is on. The ballista would still stand even if you were to hollow out the entire floor below it. What you do with the information is your wish."
At this, Shamon face lights up, like I have just given him a gold mine. Well, it is not far from the truth. Business like this is usually monopolized by the nobles, you see. The only way a commoner like Shamon can make a profit is by smuggling these hides out. In that case, a hiding place like this is a gold mine. He brings his excitement under control pretty quickly, though.
"It is about time I put this stupid game of theirs to an end," Shamon exclaims suddenly.
Hearing that, I take a look at the two strippers who have finally completed their goal at the same time. The look of surprise on either face is enough to clue me in that either had not managed to take the final step. Somebody in the crowd had done that for them. The crowd seemed to have realized that at the same time as me. The result is a howl that would have scared any hidden troop from their hiding spots.