"How long before those armies arrived?" Jack asked.
"For all of them to arrive, around five or six days," Isabelle answered. It was her spies that had gathered information about these armies.
"How many soldiers do these rogue armies have?"
"Including the ones already inside the city, around 200,000."
"Even if they gathered, they won't make their moves at once," John said. "They are still doing this under the assumption that we don't know anything. Most of their armies carry light equipment for fast travel. They also broke into several units to make their march look less suspicious. Most likely their real equipment was transported using another means. Whatever it is, this is our chance. Lord Commander Armstrong had prepared a 500,000-strong army so we can move out at a moment's notice. We attack once they gathered inside the city but before they are ready. We will take them out all at once!"
"Taking them out? Do you mean slaying them?" Jack asked with a frown.
John shrugged. "Well, if they surrender, I guess we can spare them. But the high-ranking officials will have to spend the rest of their lives in jail even if they surrender. Otherwise, they might become a problem again."
Jack turned to the others. "Do you three agree with this?" He asked.
Thaergood and Isabelle were silent. Armstrong said, "It is necessary to stomp out attempted rebellion. If we can stop it before it turns big, we can stop further conflict which will certainly cost more lives."
"If we fight them inside that city, innocent citizens will also become casualties," Jack said.
"They are not exactly innocent, many of them show support to the rebellion," John said.
"Because you forced them to!" Jack returned.
John sighed. "Look, the burden of leadership is always to choose between difficult choices. We have a real chance here to pull out the weeds of rebellion in one swift action. Don't waste it."
"Are you saying I'm not a good leader?!" Jack asked with a stern face.
"I'm saying you are a kind leader. A kind leader is not necessarily good," John replied, not intimidated by Jack's tone.
The three natives looked at the two outworlders, unsure of what to say. They could feel the intensity between the two.
"Other officials and other settlements will see me as an iron hand ruler if we attack Themelot before they formally declare their rebellion," Jack argued. "This will affect the other loyal officers."
"Our guild members on the streets of Themelot had already reported discontent talks among the citizens," John said. "Some of them had even talked publicly, unafraid of their talks being heard by patrolling soldiers. They talked that it was a mistake letting an outworlder sit on the throne. They said it is because of you that king Themos and Prince Alonzo died. It is also you who drove away our country's guardian, and we are now a weaker country because we no longer have a guardian. That you are just a weak outworlder. That Arther should have been the king instead after King Themos and his descendants passed away.
"Some of those claims are true but the fact that they dare to say those out in the open shows that this rebellion is inevitable. We can snuff it out now. We then broadcast the news and reports about this rebellion, calming the public. Or, we wait until they are ready and declare their intention. But by then, it will be a harder struggle. More soldiers will die, both on our sides and on theirs."
"Weak...," Jack muttered while pondering John's words. He then asked John, "If we go with your plan, when do you plan to attack?"
"The plan is two days after the soldiers gathered with the officers already inside the city. We will sneak into the vicinity and then rush into the city before they can close the gates. We also have someone inside to stop them in case they try to close the gates."
"Around one week from now then," Jack muttered. He then said, "Lay a siege on them. Give me one month. I want to try a different way."
"Different way? What different way? There is no different way," John said.
"There is, you just don't want to see it."
"If you are trying to stop this rebellion without bloodshed, you will just invite greater bloodshed."
"If I fail, you can do it your way. We are locking them down with a siege. They won't be able to do anything."
"Going against a 200,000 army with just 500,000 is not a sure win in a siege."
"Then we just call more troops. By then, they should have made their rebellion clear. We cut all transport into the city. They won't get proper equipment. We also have people continuing in hiding inside the city. We can use them when we attack. We can still win when it comes to that."
"But as I said, that will cause more casualties on our side. Though they are not properly equipped, they are ready by then," John argued.
"One month!" Jack announced. His mind was made up.
"If we have to wait. Then two weeks! If you can't stop this rebellion by then, we will attack!" John wasn't backing down.
The three natives were speechless. There had never been a royal advisor who dared to go against the king's wishes with such openness.
When they thought this would draw the rage of the king, Jack said, "Fine, two weeks. Don't do anything before then!"
"In that case, I will go readjust the troops for siege purposes," Armstrong said. "We will need to prepare some siege weapons to be transported."
After a few short discussions, Thaergood and Isabelle also left following Armstrong, leaving only Jack and John in the throne room.
Jack let out a heavy sigh as he slumped onto his throne.
"Care to shed some light on your plan?" John asked.
Jack shook his head. "I don't know if this will work. But even if it can, I can only do this alone. I will be leaving by noon. I will leave the siege preparation to you."
"If it truly comes to a siege, there will be more innocent civilian casualties, you know."
Jack didn't say anything in response.
