No one knew that, but the real headquarters of the enemy commanders weren't located in either of those three camps. They were several kilometers away from the army closest to the eastern gate. They knew that Jean's best chances of winning the war would be by taking their heads, so they took the necessary precautions to prevent that. In any case, when they heard of what had happened, they sent the order for the other troops to retreat as well. Once the defenders listened to what had happened, their morale would be sky-high, so dealing with them would be troublesome.
"Explain to me how that was possible,"
The man who asked that was one of the two leaders of the armies of Neles state. His name was Bastien. While he was tall, he was rather skinny despite being a commander of so many soldiers. The reason for that was the fact that he wasn't a soldier. He was a rich merchant who specialized in making their beast tamers' crossbows and whips. Aside from that, he was just an ordinary black-haired man… almost. After hearing that he had lost four thousand soldiers, he didn't look that worried.
"Those guys did it again," Pablo said. "It is that simple. They are a lot more troublesome that I gave them credit for. I heard that they had been taking students over the last year, but I assumed that they wouldn't want to share their power since it is way too useful and that would decrease their importance, but I suppose they realized that they wouldn't be enough to win this war with their current numbers."
Although Pablo called himself a messenger before, he was, in fact, one of the leaders of the tamers. He only exposed himself before because he wanted to take a look at the people who managed to win the precious war despite the odds. In Particular, he wanted to take a look at the wildlings. Still, he assumed that their usefulness wouldn't be enough the next time.
"While they are massaging their skills to others, they keep improving their own, that is why they are being even more effective than before," Pablo added.
"That doesn't matter, they need to be taken care of before we win the war," Bastien said. "We can't afford to waste our time here. We have too many territories to manage and our master won't forgive another failure. You managed to turn the tables the last time by backstabbing them, but this is no longer possible."
"I don't want to hear this from you and don't talk as if you aren't on the same boat," Pablo said. "Regardless, I suppose it is time to use them, it will be a pain to gather more of the strongest ones, but I suppose we can't afford to be picky."
Pablo recalled some events of the past where his master wiped out several families, important families for the state without hesitation. With his power, he even managed to turn them into mindless enslaved people and humiliated them even further by toying with the women and turning the men into workers who work all day like animals, while naked and by eating the food from the ground. All the families of those who defied him suffered a similar fate, and Pablo felt shivers just by considering that possibility.
— —
Since the start of that war, the soldiers celebrated while drinking and eating a lot for the first time. The adventurers were more cautious since they weren't used to that kind of situation, but they used that chance to let loose as well. Mainly the guild masters, while they only tagged along with Billy's plans, it didn't change the fact that they participated in such a historic battle.
As for Billy, he was thinking about his next plan and what the enemy could do now to stop their momentum. As usual, he was frowning a lot while being deep in thought and watching the campfire in front of him. Thanks to that, he didn't notice the arrival of Kate and Natalie. Kate sat on his right side and rested her head on his shoulder. Billy didn't see that, but now she was taller than Kate and probably taller than even Alexander. The midget of three years ago was now the tallest of the group, but that was useless and didn't change anything. Regardless, Natalie was a bit shyer, so she just rested his back against Billy's.
"You will get wrinkles if you keep frowning like that all the time," Kate said. "You should celebrate with everyone since this victory is thanks to you."
"We won the battle, but the war is far from over," Billy said. "We can celebrate as much as we want after we are back home."
"What do you mean by that?" Kate asked, a bit red.
"I didn't mean anything specifically… You are such a dirty minded girl," Billy said while smirking.
"I am not, you are the one who is always using misleading words!" Kate protested.
"Now, now, no need to be embarrassed," Billy said. "I can understand your position. After all, I have the brains, brawn and beauty. I am the full package of awesomeness."
"You are very humble as well…" Kate frowned.
"Not being honest, huh. Let's ask Natalie then," Billy said, but then he heard some snores behind him. "You don't snore, only Kate does. So, you are not fooling anyone."
"... Shut up," Natalie said.
Naturally, Natalie was even shyer than Kate, but Billy was just messing around. He didn't want anyone stroking his ego. In any case, that short conversation made Billy relax a bit more and cleared his mind, and that was exactly what he needed in such a moment. Thanks to that, he knew almost exactly how the enemies would act the next day.. At that point in time, it became obvious that tamers were important people to the Neles state, and those guys would put their safety above others… But not on the next day.
