Chapter 7 - Royal orders

"Your Majesty, you must not do this. If we do, our demise is all but guaranteed. The other states will not respond kindly to this," said a man in fancy puffed red clothes, as he stood before the king. Had it been most other people, they would have had their heads chopped off, but the man in question was the left state chancellor, who, along with the right state chancellor, were the two people with authority second only to the king.

"Chancellor, what part of 'if we do not expand right now, any future expansion opportunities will be cut off' do you not understand?" the king said calmly, his red eyes remaining tranquil as ever, his golden hair almost glowing in the sunlight, and his stern expression focused on the chancellor.

"And it is not as if I am planning on conquering the entirety of Thornmark. I only plan on expanding our territory till the Thistle River, a not too large or short of a conquest, don't you agree, Right State Counselor?" the king said as his eyes turned to the right state counselor, who sat there silently for a second.

"It is exactly as His Majesty says. While it may seem like a reckless move to expand right now, it is a most urgent necessity that we do so. Currently, the war with the demons is at a stalemate, thanks to Great General Claudius Maximus's great efforts. We do not know when another chance like this will arrive. Yes, we are still struggling at the western front, but the amount the western front consumes every year is only increasing. At this pace, it will take no time for there to come a stage where we are unable to provide enough resources and divert enough manpower to the western front," the fat man dressed in a similar way as the left state chancellor said, as he struggled to get up, and moved to the king and bowed a little before continuing.

"I urge Your Majesty to move forward with your plans of conquest," the right state chancellor said.

"Let us hold a vote then on whether we are having this war with Thornmark, over the conquest of the Thistle River," the king said as he looked at the 36 retainers standing in his royal court. If this were to come to a tie, the deciding vote would have been the king's, but unfortunately, the left state chancellor's side seemed to have a few bad apples that didn't quite agree with the chancellor's words, for a host of reasons, that only they and the men of the right state chancellor would know.

At the end of the day, the vote ended with a 20/16 split, in favor of having this war take place.

"It is decided then. Call for General Victor Aldric. He and his army of 60,000 will march to the Thistle River," the king said as he nodded, pleased with the results of the vote.

"You are dismissed until the general arrives," the king said, as he

got off his throne. Right after which the right state chancellor approached him.

What conversation took place between them would be known only to them for now. But on the other side of the royal court, a very unhappy left state counselor could be seen walking away with his faction.

"The problem isn't the expansion. Why won't His Highness understand that? At this rate, we do not have the resources right now, especially with winter fast approaching, to fund another expedition. Why would I oppose the expansion of our country if I could help it? But that slimy fat bastard keeps on filling the king's ears, and at this rate...something unfortunate might happen," he sighed as he left the room, dissatisfied with how things had been going.

Elsewhere, on the other side of the western front, where the camp of the demons had been established right next to the portal they had used to get to the continent, sat a demon. His exaggerated four horns exuded his presence, and his glorious scale armor that protected his body imbued in those who saw him with fear.

"That shitty fallen angel appeared, you say? Does that mean the dragons are already done with the heavenly realm? But why start with the underworld next right away then? Wouldn't it have been more strategically viable for them to rest for now?" the demon general said as he looked at the map before him that detailed the area around which the war was taking place. On it was marked the spot where the fallen angel and Ithax had met.

"For now, let's focus on the humans. This shit has gone on for too long. I fear that my reputation within the demon world will hit rock bottom at this pace," the demon general said as he massaged his forehead and got off his chair. "Call all commanders. For the next three days, we are halting all offense. I will end all of this in one fell swoop," he said and moved out of his camp. The moment he did, what was before his eyes was a deep purple that covered everything that lay before them.

"Haaah, fresh air," he said and stood there waiting for his generals to arrive.

"THE FUCK—cough, cough," I coughed as my own mucus almost caused me to choke, due to my own surprise.

"How the fuck did he make it out here?" I worded out as I turned my head towards the great general.

"We will only know once this young man has woken up." the general smiled back at me as Ithax's body started to move.