While Adian and Fabian were talking among themselves while looking out for the enemy troops, the atmosphere within the troops was tense. There was clear-cut tension among the Istarin soldiers and the Hephaestus soldiers.
When the Istarin troops arrived here, instead of being greeted with smiles and pleasant words, they were greeted with ridicule and cursed words. Under General Henry's orders, none of the Istarin soldiers replied back even though they were boiling in anger.
Seeing them in silence, the Hephaestus Kingdoms' soldiers became bolder as time passed. They started bullying the Istarin Soldiers in every way possible. Whether it was through words or through actions. The Istarin Soldiers tried their best to not lose their minds in anger and started beating the living fuck out of them 'thug-looking' soldiers.
Within the army,
"Brother, what happened? What are you looking for?" Harry who was Peak's 2nd-order Knight of the Istarin Empire asked Ryan. As both of them knew each other, both called each other brothers. In the military, it was quite normal to call each other brothers or big brothers or small brothers, depending on the soldier's age and superiority.
Ryan is a Mid-2nd-order soldier. Just like Harry, he was also a Knight. Harry and Ryan became soldiers around the time when the Istarin Empire had managed to defeat the Zulux Dynasty's King and take over the entire Zulux Dynasty. Normally it's impossible for both of them to reach the second order within just 8 or 9 months. And given their financial conditions, they can't afford any cultivation resources. If they hadn't joined the military, both of them would have either become farmers or would have chosen some other profession in the Capital.
"I am looking for the ring that I bought for my wife. But I can't find it anywhere. I remember I put it in my pocket. But now it's gone." When Istarin Troops arrived at the Hephaestus Kingdom, they had stopped for a few hours and were allowed to roam around the city. Ryan had found a nice ring. He had spent his 8 months' salary on buying that ring for his wife whom he had married around a month ago.
At their wedding, he didn't get the chance to give her anything special because he was mostly busy with work and didn't have time to shop. And their wedding was rushed. So he thought of compensating her with this ring but now it was gone.
"Carefully check! Where you have put the ring?" Harry frowned after hearing Ryan's words. He can guess that the ring must have cost him a lot if Ryan is looking that desperate and panicked.
Ryan belonged to a middle-class joint family. After he married, he moved out to the Capital as he worked there and wanted to be with his wife. And As soldiers of the Istarin Empire, Ryan received discounts on rent and daily commodities. So with his income, he and his wife were able to live a very comfortable life in the capital. Ryan had used his eight months of salary to buy a ring for his wife. If he loses the ring, then he won't have enough money to buy anything for his wife for the next few months.
"I have checked everything 6 times already." Ryan replied in a desperate and panicked tone.
"Brother, when was the last time you saw the ring?" Harry asked.
"The last time I saw the ring was when I was in front of the restaurant...." Ryan stopped speaking as he realized something. On his way, a few soldiers from the Hephaestus Kingdom came up to him and offered to treat him to a meal. Even though he refused, they kept insisting and wouldn't let off his hand.
"It was them." Ryan then realized that those soldiers had tricked him. They took the ring from him when he was distracted. They must have seen him buying the ring earlier.
At the same time, a few soldiers happened to walk by.
Ryan immediately recognized them. "Rogers, you better return my ring to me otherwise I am going to complain about this to your superior and get you punished," Ryan said in a loud angry tone attracting the attention of the nearby soldiers from both sides.
The 5 feet 5 inches tall, Rogers stopped. Behind him, his lackeys also stopped. Both of them licked Roger's boots to survive in the military and outside.
"Ryan, is that you?" Rogers acted surprised seeing Ryan.
"Brother, I hope you liked the meal. You left so early without finishing everything. Next time, I will take you to a better restaurant." Rogers intentionally spoke in a loud tone which further attracted more attention.
"Stop with your nonsense, you bastard. And return my ring." Normally Ryan is an easygoing guy who can get along with pretty much everyone. But when he is pissed, he becomes a different person.
"Return your ring? Brother, you have forgotten that this is my ring from the beginning?" Rogers took out a silver ring from his pocket and showed it to everyone. He was making it look as if Ryan was lying there. But the soldiers from the Istarin Empire believed in Ryan. They knew that Hephaestus Kingdom's soldiers had questionable characters.
Someone once said that never judge a book by its cover but here their appearances perfectly matched their personalities. They were dressed like local thugs and their personalities matched their dresses.
By now, this had created a big commotion. Almost all of the soldiers were looking in their direction. The Knights were almost ready to fight. If Rogers kept doing this, a fight was surely going to break out.
Every Knight here knew Ryan and knew his character. Ryan was a good and honest man. He wasn't the type who would lie and cause a commotion. Also, every Knight from the Istarin Empire held certain hate for the Hephaestus soldiers. As from their arrival, they have been doing all of sorts things to them which had pushed their endurance to the very limit. If not for their Captain personally telling them to not respond, all the Hephaestus soldiers would have been dead by now.
"You took me to the restaurant. While you kept me distracted, one of your lackeys took my ring."
"Hahaha! I remember now." Suddenly Rogers laughed. He realized in this situation, lying won't help him. The tension in the atmosphere had reached its peak. The Hephaestus soldiers disliked the Istarin soldiers as because of the Istarin Empire, their King had forced them to head to war.
They were dissatisfied that their King Adian had declared war. The Hephaestus soldiers had gotten used to the easy life and easy salary. Now they were taking their anger out on the Istarin soldiers. Aside from that, they were also jealous of the Istarin Soldiers. Compared to them, the Istarin soldiers looked like rich merchants. Their bodies were covered in armor. They had powerful and expensive weapons. And they were strong, The Hephaestus soldiers had neither of those.
At the same time, the commanders of both sides noticed this. By now Adian and Fabian also had stopped talking and were observing the situation with their enhanced senses. "Since this is your first time here in the Hephaestus Kingdom, let me tell you something. In this Kingdom, whatever we take isn't considered stealing. Now that I have this ring, this ring belongs to me."
"You're going too far." Ryan gritted his teeth in anger.
"I was planning on giving this ring to your mother....." As soon as these words came out of Roger's mouth, he felt a gust of wind before he loud slap landed on his right cheek and put him to the ground.
Bang!
"How dare you?" Ryan had completely lost it. He sat on the ground and started punching Rogers in the face.
"You dare to attack one of our own kind in front of us. Kill him." The Hephaestus Soldiers rushed at Ryan.
Seeing this Henry looked at the Hephaestus Kingdom's general and asked. "I will stop them."
However, just as Henry stepped forward, he found an arm stopping his path. "Let them be. It wouldn't be right if the superiors got into the small matters of our juniors. Let me resolve this." The Hephaestus Kingdom's general was clearly enjoying this. He had a small smile on his face.
Hearing this Henry's face became colder. Since the beginning, he had held his troops back. But there is a limit to everything. These dogs won't shut up unless a few of them dies. Since the Hephaestus Kingdom's general was telling him to no interfere, Henry did not move. But seeing Ryan getting attacked, the Knights were the first ones to attack. Following the knights, the Dragonians joined the brawl. Though not every Dragonian joined the fight.
In 30 seconds, in front of the powerful Istarin troops, the Hephaestus Kingdom's soldiers were brutally getting beaten. The remaining Hephaestus soldier did nothing but stand there and watched their subordinates and colleagues get beaten. They looked like they were watching movies. The smiles on their faces proved this.
Seeing his soldiers getting beaten, Hephaestus Kingdom's general's face became ugly. He quickly turned to Henry and asked. "Sir Henry, please stop them." Before he never addressed Henry this respectfully.
"How can I stop them? As someone said that seniors shouldn't interfere in the small matters of the juniors." Hearing these words, he felt as if he has been slapped by Henry. He felt his face burning in shame and embarrassment.
"Your Majesty, shouldn't we stop them?"
Even the Hephaestus King did not like his troops. In fact, he was happy seeing these arrogant thug-looking bastards getting beaten up. "This was clearly their fault. Let these pigs enjoy their sweet massages for a few more minutes." None of the soldiers used any mana to attack. They used their fists and legs to attack. And their attacks were life-threatening either.
"What's happening here?"
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