Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World - Chapter 257

Chapter 257: Xena’s plan (1)

As Leier reported everything that happened ever since she reached this kingdom, the picture in Henry’s mind became clearer and clearer. This was not a kingdom on the brink of civil war. No, it was already a soul being taken by the Second Prince.

“We only managed to slip two of our own inside the Inner District, but we didn’t hear any valuable information from them, since the house they infiltrated is almost an outcast.” – Leier said. The Inner District was home to nobles and their personal guards. It was a closed world where every face was known to everyone. An infiltration there was nearly impossible – “Still, since the explosion, the guards have grown restless and angry. According to the rumors, even some of the trusted guards of the nobles seem unhappy with the way things are going right now.”

Leier’s said amidst deep breaths and slow words. She paused when Henry’s gaze flicked toward the dried meat in her hand. Reluctantly, she tore off a piece and began to chew, even this small act seemed to drain a lot of her strength. She still had a lot of ground to a full recover.

“We need more information before deciding our next move,” Henry murmured. “Since one of the Shadow Guards has already gone to make contact with the Second Prince’s men, we must learn what we can from this side of the board.”

Following Sun Tzu’s teachings, Henry always sought to understand his enemies before making a single move. That was why he had sent Leier and her team ahead into these lands, to learn, to listen. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. If he wanted results, he would have to dirty his own hands.

“Has any noble been seen leaving the Inner District lately?” he asked, the faint outline of a plan forming in his mind.

Leier swallowed before answering. “No, Your Majesty. Since we arrived, not a single noble has come down to the Outer District. This place is little more than a dumping ground, a line of defense in case of invasion. The nobles send their guards here to manage their business, but they never come themselves.”

“Like the one we blew up,” Henry murmured. “So we can’t lure or capture a noble for information… Then how else can we learn what’s happening inside?”

Before Leier could answer, the door swung open with a sharp creak.

Xena burst into the room, breath quick and eyes bright. Leier’s exhausted gaze snapped toward her, full of warning, a silent reprimand for interrupting before the king. But Xena didn’t flinch.

“Y–Your Majesty,” she began, her voice trembling slightly as she dropped to her knees. “I… I have an idea.”

Henry turned to her, calm and composed. “Go on,” he said, waving his hand for her to speak, allowing the woman to get to her feet.

Manners could wait, ideas could not.

“At first” – Xena began, steadying her voice – “since our spies inside the gates couldn’t easily gather more information, we decided to strike and control the nobles’s businesses in the Outer District.”

Xena’s eyes flickered briefly toward Leier, then back at Henry, and noticing all their eyes on her, she continued – “The Captain’s plan was to gain control over every one of their operations and gather information from there, but their strength was greater than expected. It ended with the explosion of one of their sites. After that, security in the Outer District tightened. The First Prince even punished several nobles and banned their private troops from leaving the Inner District.”

“The only force still allowed to move freely beyond the Inner District is the Duke of War’s. He’s in charge of recruiting and training soldiers to replace the ones guarding the walls.” – Xena said.

Henry nodded slowly, his fingers tapping a steady rhythm against the arm of his chair. “The Duke of War commands all the military forces under the First Prince’s banner, correct?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Xena confirmed. “He oversees every unit stationed within the capital.”

Henry’s gaze narrowed, thoughtful. “Strange, don’t you think?”

Leier nodded, while Xena frowned, not yet grasping his meaning. Henry leaned forward, his tone deepening.

“A prince, the firstborn, who claims the right to the throne, yet gives complete military control to a single duke.” – He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in – “There are only two explanations: either the prince is merely a puppet in the duke’s hands… or the duke is someone he trusts absolutely, perhaps because the prince holds some leverage over him.”

Understanding dawned in Xena’s eyes

“So, what’s your plan?” – Henry asked, gesturing for her to continue and explain her idea on how to infiltrate the Inner District.

Xena’s expression brightened again as she began outlining her idea, a spark of resolve lighting up her face as she explained her plan to the king and her captain.

-x-

The next night, just after Henry had infiltrated into the city, the guards on duty and awake atop the walls spotted eerie and faint flickers of light deep within the forest. Small fires, like ghosts’s eyes, blinking at them while hiding behind the trees.

Before they could wake their comrades, the fiery lights began to move. Fast.

“Attack! Protect yourselves!” – one of the guards shouted, realizing too late that those weren’t ghosts at all, they were flaming arrows.

The night air hissed as dozens of arrows cut through the night sky. In a heartbeat, they struck. Half a dozen soldiers fell where they stood, the shafts driving clean through skulls and throats. Others screamed as fire bit into their flesh or armor. Every arrow found its mark.

The sleeping guards jolted awake at the sound of frantic shouting. They barely had time to duck before another wave of flaming arrows rained down from the dark sky.

“Call the mages! Call the mages! The fire’s spreading!” someone screamed, his voice filled with fear of being burnt alive.

The flames caught fast, devouring the dry hay and timber stacked along the walls, using them to grow. Within moments, the fire was everywhere, climbing, roaring, alive. It was like a large pyre.

The people in the Outer District could only look at it and despair. If the walls were breached, they could only wait to die. Some of them picked forks and kitchen knives, ready to defend themselves.

However, as fear spread across the wall, and all eyes were fixed on the blaze and the attackers, something strange happened. Something that none of the soldiers noticed amid that chaos. Burning bodies were vanishing, replaced, one by one, by living figures slipping out from the flames.