(27) Army

The existence of Jeanne made Alexander's plan complicated. Due to her identity, it's unwise for her to appear in public. If she is seen, the people will be mistaken her for the dragon witch. This is something the Chaldeans wanted to avoid.

This could be temporarily solved using basic illusion magecraft. This is flawed, however, as the illusion magecraft that they knew could only fool ordinary mortals. But in their current situation, this is more than enough.

"Do I look silly?"

Jeanne was now is completely unrecognizable based on her appearance. Her long blond hair could no longer be seen as it was now replaced by a wavy black hair. Her face and body proportion are also different as she now looks like a commoner you could find everywhere.

Although she may look like a different person. But any competent magus could tell at a glance that her true appearance is hiding behind a facade.

"No, not at all, you look great." Mash, trying to lighten the mood up a bit, praise her ordinary appearance.

Jeanne was grateful for her intention as she smiled towards Mash.

"I'm glad that the two of you are getting along," Alexander said. He is now wearing a black cloak covered with runes that hide once presence. Even wearing such a cloak, his blood-red eyes seem to glimmer as he surveys the surrounding area.

"Hehe," The two smiled in embarrassment.

"Master, we are near the city," Archer informed.

"Great, thank you for your help," Ritsuka said.

"It's my duty..."

"Alright, before we approach. Your guy's clothes are too eye-catching. Wear this, we don't want any attention when entering the city walls."

With a snap of his fingers, he provided everyone, including the servants, with cloaks. After wearing them, they continue to embark on their journey towards their destination.

With Archer's at the front, they carefully approach the city walls before one of the soldiers notices them.

"Halt!" one of the soldiers shouted.

"Who are you? And what is your purpose for coming here?" Another soldier asked.

Alexander and others notice the hint of tension, nervousness, and even fear that is present within the combatants. This level of caution is not normal and out of place.

'If the morale of the army is this low, is no wonder that they lost to the witch. It's pathetic, to say the least. But I could not blame them...' Alexander thought to himself.

"We are travelers, my fellow citizens. Our town was a victim of an attack... We are quite fortunate enough to leave in one piece. So if you please, we would like to enter the city, we could excess food and water as an exchange." Alexander said. His [Charisma] and [King's Aura] were in full effect.

The moment the soldiers heard the food and water, their eyes seems to brighten by a lot. The desperation is in full display as they even ignore the full of holes of a story that Alexander tells them. The fact that there are no visible injuries on the Chaldeans is suspicious.

But the soldiers seem to ignore this fact as they began to persuade the Chaldeans to enter the city. One of the soldiers even began to volunteer to guide them. The greed could be seen in his eyes.

Although their intention was exposed, the Chaldeans did refuse the guidance.

During their walk, the Chaldeans personally witness the tragedy that is war. People with thin bodies filled the streets. Their eyes were hollow, seemingly having lost hope to continue living.

Alexander even saw one of the soldiers carrying a dead body. What intrigued him is how the soldiers are so used to the act of carrying dead bodies. They act as their action is a mundane thing in their lives. Such an indifferent attitude fascinates him.

His thoughts are a completely different case from the others as they all carry serious expressions. Mash, Ritsuka, and Jeanne were close to helping the people but they stop themselves. It is very impressive since Jeanne, who considers herself a saint was able to stop herself from helping others...

"Now is not the time to act. You could do whatever you want later, just behave for now." Alexander silently reminded the three.

"We know..."

As the soldier who introduced himself as James, guide them. Nix, who is been hiding under Alexander's cloak peeks his head and began to observe his surroundings.

"Kyuu!" He let a cute noise attracting the attention of the soldier.

Before James turn his head around, Alexander hid the little guy using his hand as a cover.

"Did you guys heard something?" He asked.

"Um, no, I heard nothing," Ritsuka said.

"Really?" He looked at them with suspicion before ultimately giving up, "Whatever, if you're hiding a pet or some kind just make sure to keep an eye on it. We don't want any trouble posting missing posters if you lost it."

The Chaldeans only nod in response.

"Well, here we are."

The Chaldeans arrive in a camp similar to the one they first encounter. The difference was that this time, the place is less depressing compared to past camp. But still depressing nonetheless.

When Alexander saw the current state of the army, he could not help but sigh. He already expected this but seeing it at first glance is still disappointing. Soldiers with the same hopeless expressions filled the camp like cancers.

He looked at this situation with disdain.

Soldiers with no morale are good as dead in Alexander's eyes...

"Welcome to our humble camp, travelers. As you could see, we don't have the luxury to welcome you with enthusiasm. The time and circumstances don't allow us that."

"It's okay, Mr. We just want a considerable safe place to rest." Jeanne, in her disguise, said with understanding.

"It's good that you understand. Follow me, I will guide you to our leader."

With his guide, James leads them to the largest tent in the camp that could be found in the center. He told them to wait for his return as he began to talk with soldiers guarding the tent.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Archer muttered to which Tamamo and Medusa nodded. Jeanne also seems to agree but is still in denial. She has hope that the soldiers were going to do something harmless... But she knows this is not the case at all.

Their bad premonition is not without a reason. He and the other three notice the soldiers began to surround them. Although they were subtle about their action, their bad intention could be felt by the servants easily.

"What's the matter?" Mash, who was oblivious to the situation, asked with concern.

"Mash, be ready for battle," Alexander said.

"Eh?"

"Alright, the leader is informed about your situation. Go and enter the tent, you will see him there."

After serving his purpose, James left the area, leaving the Chaldeans on their own.

"No matter how I see it, this is a trap," Archer said.

"A conflict will be inevitable. Archer, Medusa, Jeanne, Tamamo, and Mash, I want the four of you to stay here. I will bring Ritsuka with me inside the tent so you guys don't have to worry about his safety... If a fight broke out, try not to kill any soldiers. But be careful, a cornered and a desperate rat is far more dangerous than a content one."

Although they were surprised by the sudden order, the five servants nodded as they begin to prepare for combat.

"That's one hell of comparison, but sure, we will be careful." Archer chuckled.

"Be careful too, master," Tamamo said.

Alexander nodded, after which, he and Ritsuka entered the tent. Inside, the decorations that could be found are not worth mentioning. It mostly contains basic decorations like wooden shelves, tables, etc.

At the further back, there was a man in his late 50s who is busy writing. Two men stand beside him, clearly his bodyguards. He only glanced at his visitors before continuing his work. Alexander frowned at this disrespectful behavior.

'Playing with power, I see...'

Alexander is not new to such tactics used in power. He handles quite a lot of powerful politicians in the past and he knows how to handle such situations.

'Treat them how they treated you.'

This mindset is not a universal rule. This type of mindset will only work if your opponent has the same social status as you are. Do Alexander and the man who is a leader of a camp has the same status? The answer is no, the man has a much higher status...

The question is, does Alexander care for such things?

The answer is no...

*BOOM!*

The loud sound of wood breaking rang throughout the camp shocking everyone in the vicinity. Ritsuka, who was standing beside Alexander a moment ago was looking at the situation with widened eyes. He wasn't able to react before Alexander disappeared beside him, he appear in a split second in front of the leader. And before he knows it, Alexander grabs the man in the hair and slams his head on the wooden table, destroying it in the process.

Naturally, the leader passed out due to the force. It takes for the guards to realize what just happened. However, they are far too late to do anything.

"You! Did you-"

*BANG!*

He throws two 'soft' punches towards the bodyguards, knocking them out.

"Alex?! Why did you do that?!" Ritsuka asked in dismay.

Alexander shakes his head and replies, "There is no point talking to a corrupt leader. You will only lose brain cells in the process. It's much easier to show our fits before negotiations could commence."

"But..." Looking at the collapsed men. He could sigh.

"Commander! What happened-"

A soldier entered the tent only to be tongue-tied to witness his leader laying on the floor with his head touching the ground. He was not the only one who witness this as other soldiers and the Servants also saw the situation at hand.

There was a moment of silence before Alexander opened his mouth and ordered, "It sucks that the negotiations failed... Subdue the army."

His words broke them out of their bafflement before they began to take action.

Ignoring the sound of metals clashing, Alexander approach one of the shelves before grabbing the documents and begins reading. Ritsuka, who is still baffled about the whole thing, followed his lead and did the same.

A minute has passed before the sound of battle began to subdue before ultimately disappearing. Tamamo and the other four servants entered the tent with no clear sign of injuries.

"Thanks for the help, Alexander." With clear sarcasm in his voice, Archer entered the tent with slight annoyance in his eyes.

Without looking in his direction, Alexander replied, "Your welcome."

Archer's eyebrows twitch in response.

"Anyway, you guys did a great job. While you are having your warmup, I found important details about the situation in France. I must say, the situation is getting worse and worse based on the information in this report." Alexander showed them the paper. As he did so, Nix who is been hiding in his cloak jump out as he begin to run around the tent joyfully.

"This..."

"The army of France would lose in a week if the deaths continue to increase," Tamamo said after skimming the report.

"We have to do something!" Ritsuka shouts in distress.

"Naturally, the problem is, we don't have much intel on the enemy side. We have no clue how strong or how many servants there are on the enemy. Who knows, maybe the seven cloaked figures are not the only servants and some were just hiding."

"Master is right, Fujimaru-kun." Tamamo supported, "Fighting them at with our number is suicide. Even if each of us could fight more than one servants, it's a huge risk to fight without any information."

"Is there anything we could do at all?" Mash asked with desperation.

("Hello, can you guys hear me?")

Their attention shifted to their bracelet.

"Yes, we could hear you, Doctor."

("That's great, anyway, I was busy with something on our end... Don't worry though, I was listening to your conversation...")

"If you have any intel, do enlighten us." Alexander calmly replied.

("No, but I would recommend you guys to recruit some servants. I received some readings of unknown servants a moment ago. Unfortunately, they are quite far from your current location.")

"That's great, that was a valuable intel."

("Glad to be at service.")

"So, what should we do now?" Mash asked.

"Requiting is our natural course of action. It's best if we could gather as many allies as we can to improve our success rates." Alexander said before glancing at Ritsuka, "Well, what do you think, Ritsuka?"

"Huh? Ah, yes, of course! We must recruit them."

"I'm glad if that's the case, I'll live the recruiting process to you."

"Eh? but why me?" He said while pointing his fingers at his face.

"Treat it as a form of test of your capabilities as a master. Bring Archer as your advisor and Mash as your guardian. With them by your side, I doubt there will be a mishap."

"If you trust me that much then leave everything to me." His eyes that wavered a moment ago seemed to ablaze with passion and conviction.

"Then I will count on you."

"Eh, what about me?" Jeanne suddenly calls out.

"You will stay with us, your saint-like capabilities will be useful for motivating the army."

"I see, Wait for a moment... are you planning on using the army?" When Archer said those with widened eyes.

"Naturally."

His calm response shocked them.

"That is something I did not think about, but knowing you... Perhaps you could pull it off somehow." This was the moment that Archer began to look at Alexander in a new light.

"Indeed, if it is master then I'm sure you could pull it off. But is there a reason why we should do this? I mean, they're just a bunch of ordinary mortals that the witch could easily eliminate."

Hearing Tamamo's words, Jeanne unknowingly clenched her fist.

"There is, at first, I did not think of them much thought when we learned about them. But the existence of Ruler made my plan complicated. So I adjust, since the army is lazing around waiting for their end, it is much more beneficial for all of us to lead these corrupt scums to do something good for once."

"Hey! not all of the soldiers in France are corrupt!" Jeanne argued.

"So even you know that there are corrupt soldiers on your army."

"That's..."

"Anyway, we talk about this later, Jeanne. For now, let's divide our group into two..."

After assigning each of the two groups purpose, the Chaldean split into two groups with different plans in motion. With one purpose of influencing the army and the other of recruiting allies.

With Archer, Ritsuka, and Mash recruiting other servants and Alexander, Jeanne, Tamamo, and Medusa will deal with the army.

After exchanging words of encouragement, Ritsuka and the other two went their way.

"So now that we are the alone master, we should do something appropriate for a husband and wife, right?" The teasing voice of Tamamo made Alexander flinched for a moment before sighing. He turns towards her as he began to lean...

'Oh my! Is this the kiss I have been dreaming of?!'

*Flick!*

"Ouch!" She gently rubs the part of her forehead where Alexander flicked her.

"Now is not the time for that, you seem to forget that we are not alone as Medusa and Jeanne also exist. Also, this is a serious moment. We have a lot of things to do at the moment."

"Alright, I'm sorry..." She said with puffed cheeks.

Medusa, who is been standing motionless beside them could only shake her head at the childish behavior of Tamamo.

"Are they always like this?" Jeanne who is unfamiliar with love in general, could not help but blush at their open public display of affection.

Medusa shakes her head as she asked, "Master, what should we do about the soldiers?"

Since they were the only ones in the tent, excluding the sleeping soldiers, she could be as talkative and relaxed as she wanted to be without worrying about the thoughts of judgment or ridicule that may come her way in a normal situation. It becomes a defense mechanism of sorts due to her past.

"We will deal with them later, for now, let's read through the whole documents to see if there were any more information we could use."

""All right"" all of the girls respond in unison.

With that, Alexander's plans are beginning to set in motion.