Kairuku City In Chaos

The proud sun illuminated the lands beneath with its warm golden rays, marking yet another day of hope and existence for the Kairuku Kingdom.

Today, Kairuku City was bustling with activity. 

Commoners walked to and fro—some even sprinting—as they went about with their tasks for the day.

Things looked lively, however, only in appearance.

The commoners were actually worried.

Why wouldn't they when squads of soldiers—even elite ones, marched with stern looks on their faces towards different parts of the city, heck, even the private armies of the nobles were on the move.

This led them to believe that something bad happened on the frontlines.

Were they losing the war? 

They had no idea.

They were lowly commoners, not privy to secrets such as the current state of the battlefield.

They could do nothing but believe.

Still, although anxious and full of questions, they resisted the urge to ask the soldiers as they would only be met by scowls and furrowed brows.

A few moments later though, those who were living and working close to the city's western gate heard a commotion.

"Please, let us in! We have nowhere to stay! We will surely be killed outside the gates, please…We beg you!" pleaded what seemed to be a commoner just like them.

Realizing that more and more people were noticing the commotion, the guards scowled at the onlookers, telling them to mind their own business and that those who would continue to watch would be punished.

Naturally, as lowly commoners, they dare not cross the capital city's guards.

Things wouldn't end well for them should they do so.

However, even though they weren't as smart as the scholars and the educated nobles, the commoners weren't mindless animals and most of them could deduce that those people outside the gates were refugees from other cities.

If there was one thing the commoners were good at, it was spreading rumors, hence, in just a single hour, almost everyone in the city knew that there were refugees outside, causing panic and chaos among Kairuku City's populace.

Two hours later, some high-ranking soldiers dropped by the gates, reprimanding the guards who failed to keep the matter about the refugees a secret.

No one likes to be reprimanded so the guards were inwardly boiling with rage, wishing to strangle the damn commoners who spread the rumors to death.

Unfortunately, there was no way for them to trace the perpetrators, not right now at least as they'd just received urgent information stating that the Kairuku Army was returning to the capital which could only mean one thing.

They lost.

Or they failed to protect the borders at least.

One week has passed and the number of refugees outside the gates only increased.

At this point it was impossible for the kingdom's higher-ups to hide the fact that the kingdom was in peril, causing even more anxiety, panic, and chaos inside the city.

Oh, how they wish to purge the idiots making things worse than they already were.

However, they currently had no manpower to do so as most of the soldiers and craftsmen were busy making preparations for the incoming attack from the Rougenfort-Terravalle Coalition Army.

Well, the idiotic commoners had nowhere to run anyway so there was no need to care about them for the time being.

Fortunately, just a few hours later, the 75,000-strong Kairuku Army had returned, kicking up clouds of dust and stirring up gusts of wind as they marched with dignity toward the city, temporarily bringing back peace and order amongst the common populace.

However, Solaz was not happy with what he was seeing.

He respected his king because, throughout the years, he had never seen him mistreat the commoners.

Although they weren't living particularly good lives in the kingdom, at least they weren't oppressed.

Hence, witnessing thousands of commoners stuck outside the gates brought a frown on his face.

'I need to discuss this with his majesty…' he thought, entering the gates with furrowed brows and heading straight towards the castle in the middle of the city.

Meanwhile, back at the castle, King Kairuku IX just received word of Solaz's return.

He urgently needed to discuss how to strategically defend the capital, thus, he summoned his grand marshal, Solaz Diaz.

Little did he know, he was on the verge of having the first-ever unpleasant conversation with his most trusted military personnel.