NOVEL NEXT Chapter 176 - Evacuation Orders
PoV: Aurea
"So, are we all in accord about the next steps?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Everyone in the room answered in unison, with confidence gleaming in their eyes.
The hidden army will play a very important role in the next phase of the war because of our mobility. And we even have some civilians helping.
Because we're going to evacuate everyone in the path that the crusader army is going to go through.
We won't burn the fields or destroy the villages, because we don't have a strong enough winter for shelter to be a problem, and because harvest season is still far away.
What we are doing is emptying all villages, evacuating the citizens, all the valuables, and every little bit of food, thus cutting the invading army out of a way to resupply from the field.
Then later we can harass their supply lines. So, as soon as the ones they're carrying end, they'll starve.
Though I hope to win this war before that.
"Their army just left the capital of Essendia. We have four days before they reach our border, and from there another three until they reach Steelgarden."
A normal person would do that journey a lot faster, but an army carrying supplies travels at another speed.
"So you have one week to empty every single nook and cranny of the area south of the Raindrop Mountains. Starting with the zone near the border."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
It will be a monumental job to transfer the population of a whole region in such a short time.
But with the spatial mages of our hidden army and the mages that learned gravitational magic, plus all the volunteers from Lily's burgeoning church, it's feasible.
Also, I ordered the whole area to be emptied, not just the one that leads to Steelgarden, so if the crusaders decide to go north, around the mountains, they will be in the same situation.
:::
The activity doesn't stop, day and night.
I've been going myself into some villages with the biggest quantity of stored grains, because only I can cast gravitational magic onto such a big area.
But, even if all those sacks of grains are lighter, it doesn't change their volume, so there is still a physical limit on how much a person can carry each time.
At least that limit is way bigger than if the sacks were still as heavy as before, plus the speed of the carriers increases, as well as how many trips they can do before having to sit and rest, and also the strain on their health.
But that means that the one who isn't allowed to sit and rest… is me.
My kingdom for a double espresso!!!
:::
"Your Highness. The crusaders have crossed the border. They are taking the road that leads to Steelgarden."
"Good. Thank you."
I walk to the map on the table. It's a different map from before, as it is focused solely on the area south of the Raindrop Mountains.
It is a specially fertile area, for the mountains receive a higher amount of rain, as the name indicates. That rain trickles down in the form of countless streams, bringing sediments and irrigation to the lands below.
We don't want to lose that province, as it's central to feeding our country and the source of many of our exports. But it would be stupid to force our fight in the open.
The evacuation has been proceeding really fast. In half the time, we evacuated seventy percent of the region.
"Everyone. You've been doing great so far! Thank you so much for all your dedication!"
"It's just our duty, Your Highness!"
"Yes, everything for our country, for our people, and for the Saint!"
"Yeah! For freedom for everyone!"
My thankful words were deftly deflected by the officers in the hall, but I know that they are not in vain. I know that they will cherish those thanks.
"Now, the last push! Let not a single villager nor a single grain of food reach the hands of the enemy of the people!"
"YES!"
They're all fired up and got to their tasks with redoubled excitement, even if the dark circles under their eyes betray their tiredness.
Let my words be their coffee.
:::
"This view could be so beautiful… if there just weren't those stains."
"I fully agree, Aurea. This is such a cozy valley… why did they have to scar it like that?"
"Those are the remainder of the mines that once were here, Yaci. People carved out the earth to extract metals from it. And that activity is very destructive."
We are on the top of one of the mountains surrounding the valley just outside the fortress of steelgarden. Tomorrow, this view will be changed with the presence of the crusader army.
"Tomorrow is your birthday, right?"
"Yeah… tomorrow is the day everything in this war changes. I wish this battle would happen before."
"Do you think that we'll still have a way to win this?"
"I hope so. I mean, we have a goddess on our side as well, now. But I really wonder what will happen."
"Tomorrow night will be packed with work, right?"
"Yup. No sleep for the likes of us. That's why I gave orders for everyone to rest as much as possible tonight."
"I guess I can give you your birthday present in advance, then."
"Huh?"
She lunged at me, knocking me to the ground as she fell over me.
Her fox ears twitching with anticipation, she leaned forward to kiss me.
I don't think I will be sleeping tonight, after all.
:::
PoV: ???
In the depths of an infinite abyss, two creatures are locked in an endless battle.
It's a fight outside the realm of what humans could imagine. It's a battle between pure concepts that wield emotions as weapons.
A battle for dominance.
A battle for control.
Dominance of what, control of what, the beings didn't care.
They just couldn't accept the existence of one another. So they had no choice but to fight with all they had.
Until one of them wavered.