Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World - Chapter 164

Chapter 164: Luther’s side (II) – Agusa
Luther and his troops halted just before they reached the village’s wall. A smile played on the old man’s lips – “What a scared young man.” – he thought, recalling the frightened eyes that quickly hid behind the gate as soon as his gaze met them – “But I must admit, he has quite the reflexes. He shut the gate as soon as I looked at him. He would do quite a good scout.”

The sound of an approaching horse reached Luther’s ears – “General, should we continue? What is your orders?” – It was a slender blond-haired man, holding a long wooden bow while sitting comfortably on his horse as if they were a single piece.

“What do you think we should do, Agusa?” – Luther asked, looking at the young man with interest.

Agusa didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he looked up at the sky, wetted his finger with his tongue, and held it up to feel the wind. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, then turned back to Luther.

“If we don’t want to greatly increase the casualties inside the village, I think we shouldn’t attack anymore” – Agusa confidently said, but Luther only responded with the words – “And?” – waiting for him to explain further.

“The wind is too strong, as if the ancestors are pushing it from their realms. Even the clouds are moving faster, see?” – Agusa pointed upwards – “If we shoot now, the arrows will lose accuracy and speed up. We won’t be able to control where they land. In the last attack, we’ve been aiming for the roofs, but they might hit anything, or pierce through the houses and injure someone inside.”

Agusa turned twenty this year and had been born in a small village in the East. He entered the capital and the army under Iosif’s letter of recommendation, after the General recognized the young man’s talent for horse-riding. Before that, Agusa worked in the stables, taking care of the Snowfire Horses. He seemed to have some kind of unusual connection with them. Even the most skittish and wild horses would calm down and allow him to ride them. Iosif spotted the young man and didn’t take long him to recognize that talent.

After discovering him, he sent him to the capital to be trained, aiming for him to join the army’s cavalry and defend the king, and his kingdom. Once in the army, Agusa quickly stood out. He wasn’t just skilled at riding; he was also an exceptional archer. He seemed to understand the wind and could shoot arrows with unthinkable precision. Within a year, he had become one of the best, if not the best, archer in the army, especially when shooting from horseback.

Despite his talents, Agusa was the introvert kind and didn’t do well with others. He preferred the company of horses to people, often eating and sleeping in the stables. Some soldiers believed this behavior was the source of his skills and began spending time in the stables too, which forced Agusa to be around people more than he liked. Luther, like Iosif, saw deep potential in the young man. He was destined to become a future great warrior for the kingdom.

In this first battle, Luther decided to test Agusa. He put the young man in charge of a cavalry group, giving him some basic knowledge but not too in-depth, to see how he would handle it. Luther and Henry believed in nurturing raw talent and wanted to see if Agusa could become a polished gem of a blade, rather than just an brute crystal that was only suitable for safekeeping.

Back to the present, where Stahl’s army was waiting in front of the village’s gate, Luther began to pass down his orders to the hundred cavalrymen behind him.

“We will siege the village for two days” – Luther announced, looking at Agusa and the soldiers – “We will threaten them and shoot arrows at random intervals. However, leave the southern part of the gates less guarded. We need them to think that area is safe and that they can escape through it.”

“Why should we leave them a way out, General?” – Agusa curiously asked, patting his horse lightly. The horse snorted, waiting for the battle that might never even come – “Shouldn’t we just shoot them and then leave?”

Luther shook his head, his eyes fixed on the small walls that he and his troops could easily break down – “We need them to alert other major cities and even the capital that the situation up North is dire. If we just launch an attack and leave, their king and nobles won’t have a reason to assemble a large punitive force to come at us. At most, they will send a small team only capable of handling bandit’s groups. We need them to send most of their forces.”

Henry’s orders was to bait the enemies to the North and Luak’s king needed a compelling reason to convince the commoners and nobles to march, especially after losing thousands of soldiers in the war against Stahl. His credibility and status were not the same anymore and he needed a significant achievement to win back their support and hearts. And, what better opportunity to exterminate forces that were causing trouble in their territory?

Luther understood this principle and intended to utilize it to his best advantage. They needed to siege the village for a few days, creating the impression of a cataclysm hitting the kingdom. Only then would the king and his troops take action. The villagers needed to believe that the kingdom was on the brink of destruction. Luther’s plan was carefully calculated to manipulate their fear, making them flee and spread tales of impending doom, thereby forcing the king and his nobles to take measures.

Luther turned to his rough gem – “Agusa, I need you to lead a small detachment of scouts tonight. Go through the southern forest and make sure the villagers believe it’s unguarded. But do it subtly. Leave no trace of our presence. We need them to think they’ve found a weak spot themselves.”