A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

77. Chapter 77

On the fifth day after leaving the royal city, nearly half of the journey had been covered. Continuing forward, we begin to approach the border of Aaron Landis. The next road is basically close to the border of Aaron Landis.

Although in the memory of previous lives, Shemuer only briefly mentioned it and did not clearly explain the place and time when the Tasda mission was killed, but through the information brought by Tal, Garlan vaguely judged what would happen next. Three or four days is probably the critical point.

Because it can be seen from the map that this road will run through the Gobi desert and will not pass through any big cities in the middle. This area is sparsely populated.

If you want to do it, this section of the road is the most suitable place.

That evening, the group of people chose to camp near the lake.

The sky has darkened, and you can vaguely see the stars lighting up. Lights have also been lit in the tent.

In Garlan's camp, the blond knight stood in front of a simple wooden table, touching his chin and looking down at the map spread out on the table.

"Are you saying that we are likely to be attacked during the next period of time passing through the Gobi Desert?"

"Yes."

Garlan, who was standing next to him, said, reaching out and clicking on the map.

"We are only about four days away from entering Tastar. In one day, we will enter this stretch of Gobi."

The young man frowned and scratched the bottom left and right sides with his fingertips.

"There are two robber dens on these two sides, and the one on the right is closer."

Rough bandits emerge from poor mountains and harsh waters.

The environment in this area is too harsh for the people to be self-sufficient. Therefore, in order to survive, most of them choose to become robbers.

There are many gangs of robbers, large and small, in this Gobi desert. These robbers are like weeds. Once they are swept away, they will appear again not long after, and they cannot be eradicated at all. According to the information found by Tal, there are only two or three people who are capable enough to attack the mission.

"That's weird."

Caijos said, "Most of these robbers are seeking money, and they rob the caravans passing by. For them, attacking other countries' missions is harmful and not beneficial. They have no reason to do so."

He pondered for a moment.

"Unless...some force gives them enough money to allow them to do such a thing."

In fact, there are more or less similar gangs of robbers in various countries, and as long as these robbers are given enough money, they will transform into mercenaries.

"So, the force behind it should be Aaron Landis's enemy country?"

"Yes, because the diplomatic relationship between Aaron Landis and Tastar is very solid, and the combination of Aaron Landis's famous cavalry on the mainland and Tastar's strongest heavy infantry is very important to our common enemy. It's like a nightmare, so they will try every means to sow discord between the two countries. For example, our northern Geshu..."

Kaihos did not question Garlan's words, nor did he think that Garlan was unfounded.

As long as Garlan speaks out, the knight will trust him unconditionally. The most important thing is that Caihos will never inquire about the source of the information.

Whatever Garlan needed from him, he just did it without asking any questions.

Because of this, Garlan trusted him very much and rarely hid anything from him. And this time, he was summoned.

"I have asked Tal to send people to secretly monitor the suspected robber gangs. If there is any movement, news will come over."

Garlan said this.

Caihos nodded and continued to slide his eyes on the map.

"If we judge it based on time and distance..."

Before Caijos finished speaking, the door curtain was opened, and a round figure rolled in like a ball.

"Your Highness!"

Tal came in at a trot, and the flesh on his face bumped as he ran, making people want to laugh just looking at it.

After only jogging for a short distance, sweat was already forming on his forehead.

"I just got the news that the Sivali bandits have dispatched a large number of troops and are moving in our direction——"

"The Sivali Bandits?"

Garlan was a little surprised, "How could it be them?"

Kayhos glanced quickly at the map and landed on one place.

"The gang's den is the furthest away from us among the suspected gangs of robbers..."

The blond knight rubbed his chin and muttered.

"Each gang of robbers has a fixed territory and will not easily cross the border unless necessary."

He came to a conclusion.

"It seems that there must be some force behind it that is instigating them."

It seems that Opada's death in previous lives was not an accident. If he hadn't dreamed about it, he might not have been able to escape death this time.

Garlan took out the piece of parchment that recorded the information about the Sivali bandits and looked at it.

"The main ones are horse thieves... In this case, their mobility is not bad. Excluding the time error in transmitting information, they will arrive in a day and a half at the latest. There are nearly a thousand in number, and they have bows and crossbows..."

It’s no wonder that with the strength of Tasda’s soldiers, the entire army was eventually annihilated.

There are more than a hundred people in the mission, and no matter how strong the Tasda infantry are, they are not strong enough to defeat ten of them. What's more, the infantry is inherently weak against the cavalry.

Garlan directly handed the piece of paper to Kehos.

"I don't know much about military affairs, Caihos, if the Sivali bandits attack us, will there be any danger?"

In his previous lives, including this one, he had never been on the battlefield at all. At most, he had only listened to some classic battle examples explained by Shermer.

However, it doesn't matter if he doesn't understand military affairs, just let people who do understand do it. Because of this, he sent a summons to Caihos.

Kayhos glanced at the strength of the bandit group and raised his lips.

"It would be a disaster if the Tasda mission went alone. They would be robbed by that group of robbers and lose all their pants."

"But that group of robbers didn't want money, did they?"

Tarr interjected.

"Indeed, if there are forces behind it to sow discord between the two countries and not to expose themselves, there will be no survivors at all."

Garlan said.

This was the case in the previous life. Every one of the Tasda envoys died in a miserable manner, which made the Tasda country furious.

"Anyone who has the guts to do such a thing must be a very evil person."

Cayjos smiled.

"My prince, Aaron Landis's cavalry is famous all over the world, and King Camos's guards are even more elite among them."

he said, understatement.

"It doesn't matter that there are only five hundred cavalry, but to deal with horse thieves, not to mention a thousand, it will be no problem to double it."

The Knight of the Burning Sun, who had walked out of the battlefield countless times, casually pressed the paper in his hand on the map.

"It's very simple to defeat them."

he said, with great confidence and the natural pride of a commander of Aaron Landis' cavalry.

"More likely, there is no need to start a war at all. As long as those guys are self-aware and see the king's guards here, they may not even have the courage to attack us. When the time comes, what will they do if they come here? Run back in despair."

"Huh? Is that so?"

When Caijos said this, Tal next to him became happy.

He had never been on the battlefield before. He had heard that there would be a war soon, and he was frightened. When he heard that there would be no fight, he suddenly became happy.

"That way we won't have to fight, right?"

However, Garlan did not show a happy expression, but instead showed a thoughtful expression.

After a long time, he shook his head.

"No," he said, "they must be allowed to attack us."

"Otherwise, if the force behind the scenes fails this time, it will definitely plan another time."

This time he was lucky and had memories of previous lives, but next time he wouldn't have the ability to predict the future, which would make it even more dangerous.

Gallan said: "We can't passively wait for the poisonous snake squatting in the shadow to jump out and bite people. We have to find a way to find the poisonous snake."

When Garlan said this, Kayhos also began to ponder.

After a long while, he slowly opened his mouth.

"In that case..."

…………

……………………

At noon on the second day, just as the Tastad mission and hundreds of Aaron Landis's Guards were preparing lunch, a loud eagle call suddenly sounded in the sky.

Some people looked up curiously and saw a pitch-black eagle spreading its huge black wings and hovering in the endless sky, making loud calls.

Then, the black hawk swooped towards the camp on the ground. Under the nervous gazes of everyone, it suddenly retracted its wings and landed on Heimos, who had already raised his right arm.

Heimos took off a small copper tube tied to its left foot, opened it directly, took out the thin roll of paper inside, and read it.

At this sight, he frowned and his face became a little colder.

He stretched out his hand and sent the black hawk into the sky, then turned around and walked quickly towards the Guards behind him.

Opada, who was just next to him, looked at the back of Heimos who left quickly. He had just disliked Heimos for interfering with him again, but he didn't expect that Heimos would leave on his own initiative.

"What happened?"

He asked Garlan a little curiously.

Garlan shook his head.

"have no idea."

Then, Garlan shouted at the black hawk that was circling at low altitude following Heimos.

"Anu!"

As soon as the black eagle following Heimos heard the sound, he immediately turned around and flew towards Garlan.

Garlan raised his hand, and the black hawk folded its wings and landed on his forearm. It stared at him with its sharp little eyes. It chirped a few times and flapped its wings lightly. It could be seen that it was very happy now. .

The boy smiled and teased it a few times, and it gently pecked Garlan's finger.

When Anu was still a baby bird, Heimos sent it from the North to the royal city as a gift to Garlan.

He kept it for a while, but later he felt that it was too wasteful to stay with him in the peaceful royal city all day long eating and drinking. He had raised it into a fat duck, and its wild nature had deteriorated, so he sent someone to return it to him. Heimos.

Of course, it can't be said that he is retreating, but he is telling Heimos to help him become more ferocious.

It was he who gave the name Anu.

He just tried shouting.

Now it seems that after so long, Anu still remembers him and is as close to him as before.

Opada next to him looked at such a vigorous eagle and couldn't help but stretched out his hand to touch it. But as soon as he stretched out his hand, Anu let out a sharp cry, and all the feathers on his body exploded. His sharp eyes stared at Opada fiercely, as if he was about to peck him hard.

Garlan quickly stretched out his hand to comfort it, and then its erected feathers subsided.

Anu reacted so strongly that Opada certainly couldn't touch her again.

He said: "Garlan, you are really good at taming these ferocious things..."

No matter it is a ferocious lion or an eagle, he is always docile in front of this young man.

"Probably because they were raised since childhood."

"No, many raptors cannot be raised even from a young age. Even young birds like this eagle are often unwilling to be raised even if they starve to death, so few people can successfully tame them..."

As Opada was talking, he suddenly remembered someone.

"However, my eldest brother has also successfully tamed an eagle before. He is one of the very few people who has succeeded."

"Your elder brother?"

"Well, my eldest brother is very powerful. I can't beat him in a fight, and his brain is much better than mine..."

Opada was halfway talking when he suddenly paused again.

Because he suddenly saw Heimos coming out of the Guards camp and heading towards the Tasda mission. He was walking very fast, as if there was something urgent.

"Is there something wrong with Heimos? Garlan, I'll go take a look."

After he finished speaking, he hurried after Heimos.

…………

"Prince Heimos, do you mean to leave with the Guards?"

The head of Tasda's mission looked at Heimos who hurriedly came to him and asked.

"Yes." Heimos said, "I just received an urgent message from King Kamos. There is something wrong with the Northern Army and the Gesu battlefield. I must lead the Guards to rush over for reinforcements. So, I am very sorry. , I cannot go to your country, please forgive me."

"There is nothing we can do about this kind of accident. Prince Heimos, you don't have to worry too much. Once the matter is resolved, we at Tastar welcome you to come at any time. So, when do you plan to set off?"

"The military situation is urgent, I will leave now." Heimos said, turning to look at Opada aside, "Garlan will continue to go to Tastar with you as an envoy on behalf of Aaron Landis, please protect For his safety.”

His golden-red eyes stared straight at the brown-haired Tastar without blinking.

"Please remember the oath you swore. As long as you are alive, you will not let anyone hurt a hair on Garlan's head."

"Even if you don't tell me, I will abide by the oath I made to Assur, the God of War!"

Opada said flatly.

Soon, there was a problem on the northern battlefield, and the news that Prince Huymos urgently led the Guards to the Northland spread throughout the mission.

The Guardsmen didn't even have time to make lunch, so they gathered directly and prepared to set off with dry food and water.

The entire team of five hundred cavalry stood solemnly under the fiery sunshine. Heimos, who led them, stood at the forefront of the cavalry on his reddish-brown horse.

Garlan, who came to see off, looked at the majestic army that was about to send out, and asked the guardian knight beside him.

"Kayhos, won't you follow?"

"No, it's enough to have the 'Black Knight' in the North."

The one-eyed knight smiled casually and replied, "I am your guardian knight, and staying by your side is what I should do."

he thought.

Putting aside everything else, at least Prince Heimos would never agree to let him leave His Highness Gallan.

Feeling a sharp gaze directed at him, Garlan, who was talking to Caihos, turned his head.

The young man in black armor who was riding a horse and standing in front of everyone stared at him with golden-red eyes. Even from such a distance, Garlan could feel the deep gaze looking at him.

He and Heimos looked at each other for a moment.

Suddenly, Heimos raised his arm forward, and the black hawk that was resting on his arm spread its wings and flew towards Garlan.

It passed a long black shadow between Heimos and Garlan, and then fell on Garlan's shoulder.

Gallan touched Anu's feathers, and when he raised his head, Heimos had turned his horse's head and ran out.

In the dust, the hundreds of knights galloped away from the camp as the earth shook.

The young man stared at the looming figure in the billowing dust, and did not move for a long time. His eyes were half covered by his fluffy blond hair, making it difficult to see the emotions in his eyes at the moment.

Not only was he silent, the black hawk on his shoulder was also silent.

"Garlan, you don't have to worry too much."

Opada comes and comforts him.

"Although I don't like that guy Heimos very much...but he is indeed very powerful. The Geshur people are afraid of him. As long as he passes by, there shouldn't be any problems in the North."

Perhaps the consolation he racked his brains had an effect. Garlan turned to look at him, hummed, and smiled at him.

Seeing that Garlan was no longer so silent, Opada breathed a sigh of relief.

However, just as Garlan turned his head, he glanced out of the corner of his eye and suddenly caught a glimpse of a mark on the side of the young man's neck.

That clear trace made Tasda's brain explode.

Hickey?

Is that a hickey?

Are there hickeys on Garlan's neck? !

He remembered that Garlan had put an ointment on his neck a few days ago, saying it was an insect bite.

I probably forgot to post it today, so he saw it.

How could it be an insect bite! You can tell it’s a hickey at a glance!

Who did it? !

Obviously there was nothing before that night! Why did it only take one night to suddenly——

Opada, filled with rage, suddenly froze.

…………

……That evening……