Chapter 163 Vice Captain Blake
"report".
Elsa stopped Ignatius from continuing its story further, and hastened the speed of her horse to catch up with the five men that were coming toward her.
The five men were all dressed in armor compatible with the one Elsa and the group behind her are putting on.
Her horse was on the verge of having a physical collision with the five men moments before she stopped the horse movement by holding unto the reign and pulling it toward her.
"captain".
The man who led the group of five, all on horses, did as Elsa did and stopped their horses movement, then the man ahead of the five, stired up a conversation with Elsa by calling her with her official title.
"Blake, how is the situation".
The one referred to as Blake by Elsa, is the vice Captain of Murian city, second in command of the city's forces, and Elsa's most trusted advisor.
.
.
When the greetings and introductions were over with, Thomas left the room for Caius and Elsa to debate on their plan of actions concerning the extermination of the monster that had taken refuge in the forest of Anjonu, a den inhabitated only by the worst kind of monsters.
The outcome of Caius and Elsa's contemplation regarding how to deal with the circumstances, led to them mobilizing tens of thousands of soldiers, not even totalling up to half of what Murian forces are.
Caius with Elsa leading the forces, marched out of the city gates and made their way toward the forest of Anjonu where the monster is located.
Before they marched out of the city, Elsa sent out Blake and four others ahead of the forces for a reconnaissance mission on the terrain they are about to walk through.
What they are dealing with, is a monster who has demonstrated a certain level of intelligence with its actions so far, especially hiding itself in a forest where dreadful monsters live in, difficult for humans to venture into. A monster that is able to think that far ahead, is a monster they have to be careful against.
Elsa sent out her vice captain Blake to inspect the path leading to the forest of anjonu, to assure that the forces she is marching with, gets to their destination without being ambushed on the way.
"anything suspicious along the way".
"so far, we have found on signs of weird activities, everything is as it should be".
Blake had scouted all the way to the entrance of the forest of Ajonu, he made sure to carry out a thorough search of the surroundings before coming back to Elsa to give her feedback of what he saw.
"good, then we camp here for tonight and move in when it's dawn".
Elsa felt there was no reason to hurry in their conquest of the forest. Blake might not have seen anything, but one can never be too sure when it comes to dealing with the likes of monsters, especially ones with intellectual property like humans.
Those kinds tend to be more mischievous and cunning than ordinary monsters, going against them requires one to take utmost precautions and be prepared for anything that is to come.
"is there a problem".
Caius had sat still on his horse situated in front of the tens of thousands of forces he marched all the way here with. From where he sat still, he observed the ongoing conversation between Elsa and Blake, with his lustful eyes focused mostly on Elsa.
The distance between Caius and Elsa was far apart, enough for whatever she was talking about with Blake to not be heard by those surrounding Caius, but it was no problem for him eavesdropping on them.
He heard Elsa mention the word camping, and that did not sit well with him. Caius wanted to as fast as he can, exterminate the monster he came here for, and get himself back to the Sanctuary Of The Holy Congregation where his house is.
Or at least, that was his plans until he met Elsa. After meeting her, he changed his plans from defeating the monster and getting back home, to defeating the monster and spending the rest of his time trying to get Elsa on his good side, maybe possibly get a date with her, get her and him together in a room, and, he decided to not think that far ahead, and instead try to get on her good view before he starts fantasizing on what comes next.
Caius on his horse, moved himself closer to where Elsa and the rest of the scout crew were having their discussion, to voice out his own complaints.
"there is no problem so far. The scouts led by my vice captain had just confirmed the road ahead to be safe to walk through".
Elsa turned away from Blake and her attention over to Caius who was slowly making his way toward them with a question that was loud enough for her to hear from where she was.
"if that is the case, why do we have to camp here when we can just go deal with the monster now".
Elsa understood clearly the urgency of Caius wanting to deal with the monster. He is a Cardinal, a one man army who can easily raise the whole forest down in one full sweep without so much as getting tired.
What her and her troops are here for, is not to provide support for Caius, but to prevent any intervention from other monsters. She understood that well enough, Caius on the other hand, understood nothing.
Elsa and the troops have been marching for hours nonstop, with full body armors and weapons in hand. They have all accumulated enough fatigue to wear them down and crumble their morals, asking such forces to go into a forest filled with monsters, is the same thing as giving them an early death sentence.
Caius is a Cardinal with an incredible amount of stamina present in him. Hours of journey on a horse without rest would do nothing to him, but that does not apply to the rest of the troops that have been on the March with their foots.
Elsa would not stand for Caius disregarding her and her troops, not taking into consideration their well-being, and only ever minding himself.