Stirrings

Leo was looking at future plans for the surrounding areas, when he received a message that there was an outsider looking for him. Knowing that there shouldn't be any outsiders aware of their presence, Leo immediately went on alert. He made his way to the throne room where he was told they were waiting, when a familiar scent met his nose. Leo immediately relaxed, and told the others,

"It's alright, he's a friend." They looked confused from Leo referring the girl that arrived as "he" , until her features started changing and there stood a fox beastman with cocky smile on his face, before he instantly removed it, meaning he had urgent business.

"Leo we need to talk." When he heard Felix's tone, Leo knew that there was something important going on, and led Felix to the other room. Joining them were elder grandma, Iris, Kumen, and Agmundr. Introductions were made, before Felix got to what he tracked them down for.

"Something terrible is about to happen, but if you do things right this may be a golden opportunity for you." Felix began his report,

"All over the continent, there have been thousands of slaves already captured from the purge. They are being transported to Heliantis, of the Helian kingdom, the slave Capitol of the continent. In just two months, the biggest slave auction in history will begin. If you manage to free them though, then not only will you gain followers for your kingdom, but any who return home will spread word of your intentions and kindness. They have captives from the dwarven caravans, elven forests, and the beastmen tribes, on top of the humans they are going to sell." When Leo heard this he had many thoughts going though his head.

This would be a massive attack against the humans, he didn't have the manpower to launch such an attack. But he also couldn't pass up a golden opportunity like Felix said. This would gain him hundreds, if not thousands of followers almost all at once. Leo looked at Felix, and said,

"I understand the reason for us to free them, but how would you suggest it? We don't have the numbers to go against that many soldiers. Iris and I could only go so far, we only got lucky the last two fights because we caught our enemies unaware." As Leo said, the last two fights he and Iris were mainly successful because their unknown forms inspired terror on invaders in unknown territory. In this case though, they would be going on enemy territory, where the soldiers would be protecting their families. Plus as the Capitol of a kingdom famous for their slaves, they will have their elites there in force. The more Leo thought about the situation the more uncertain he felt.

"What about a surprise attack from the inside?" Elder grandma spoke up. Everyone looked at her and she explained,

"If Leo and Iris sneak into the city ahead of time, they could cause enough chaos for the rest of our fighters to get in and if we focus on freeing the slaves then our numbers will naturally go up." As Leo thought about it, he wasn't sure this was the way to go either. If the slaves who didn't have any training fought then they would most likely die, and it would defeat the purpose of going there to begin with. They might take down the city, but at the cost of thousands of lives. Leo continued thinking, and decided.

"We'll go with elder grandmas idea. I don't like sentencing those who can't fight to die, but if we gave them a choice I'm sure they'll join with us regardless. We'll wait until the most captives are there in two months to attack. It'll also be the time with the heaviest defense, but if we don't do anything to set off alarms we should be good. Iris and I will infiltrate them ahead of time and spend a couple weeks there to investigate the layout of the city, and find the best way to attack. Felix I want you to go to the surrounding cities and work on finding out military routines. This way we can ensure we attack when the least amount of soldiers are in the city itself, and can tell where the heaviest amount of reinforcers will come from."

When everyone heard Leo's decision, they were surprised as they expected him to attempt to find a less risky way. Elder grandma was secretly pleased, one mark of a good ruler was to know when to make tough decisions. It was decided that Leo and Iris would leave in a week, and Felix was to leave immediately. They would be taking the labyrinth, and after the new warrior chief of the dwarves, Yvan, was to take the Warriors into the tunnel after and march to the city after the two cleared it along the way. He decided that with the further research into the magic muskets, they would be able to travel the tunnels in relative safety, with numbers of course.

That night Leo and Iris went to his kings chamber in the castle, and embraced each other with passion. They didn't know when they would be able to in the near future. When they awoke the next morning, Iris found that she was out of the herbal mixture, and went to Lucy to get more.

Leo went to Agmundr to talk about his future weapon. With how rich the mountains were in minerals, it didn't take long for the miners to find what they needed to make Leo an adamansteel weapon.