Liam El Evanes

"Report from the scouts confirmed that the enemy is marching toward the kingdom's western front and is expected to arrive in 2 days," said the defence minister, "Your Majesty, I think we should deploy our Keziel knights as our vanguard to gain the upper hand in this upcoming battle, our spies in the Empherem Kingdom has also reported the suspicious movement in the military forces of Empherem Kingdom, we should end our upcoming battle as swiftly as possible."

"Are you implying that the Empherem empire will invade us as well?"

"Forgive my impertinence, your Majesty. I know King Lamford is your dear friend, but I believe we should be prepared for the worst-case scenario, which is that the Empherem Kingdom may invade us in the near future."

"I won't cast aspersions on your judgement, Defence Minister. I know you're speaking for the good of the kingdom."

“Thank you for your kind words sire”

The war council was meeting in the large hall. The walls were constructed using black-colour lustrous stones and the floor as well, but with less shiny than the walls. One chandelier hung in the centre of the roof, just above the war council table.

To my left, the Defence Minister, Army Commander, and Army General of the Western Front Army sat in their appropriate places. To my right, the Finance Minister and other generals.

The mood in the war council was gloomy. Talks between our kingdom and the kingdom of Anartia have proven fruitless. The struggle began over a little empty piece of land between the two kingdoms above the mine of alaramite stone. Gradually escalated into a full-fledged war between kingdoms. Alaramite stone has gained prominence in the last 100 years due to its essential attribute that it helps magic users magnify their spell potency. If one kingdom obtains control of the alaramite stone mine, its military capability could skyrocket, posing a threat to the other kingdoms.

"The Empherem Kingdom signed a peace treaty with us last year, and we are constantly supplying them with alaramite stones." "I don't think they'll attack us and lose their supply of stones."

"I understand what you're saying, minister of logistics, but Empherem kingdom has a lengthy history of war, and their kingdom borders have never been the same for more than ten years, so we should take preventative steps against them when we have time or..."

"Everyone, I understand why you are so agitated right now; I know I haven't been the nice king for you all up until now, but I promise that I will be the first to enter the battlefield in this conflict."

“What are you saying your majesty it is unwise for you to be on the battlefield, if anything happens to you who will be the next king? The first prince has lost the confidence of nobles and no other prince is of age yet”

"Don't worry, Herner. my sons may appear inept now, but they are all quite capable, they will do well whether I am there to watch over them or not”.

Duke Elims proposed a bait strategy in which we draw our adversaries into a trap, chop off their numbers, and force them to surrender, but the minister of defence disagreed, arguing that we should annihilate them and take over their kingdom. The war council's strategy discussion lasted two hours, and finally, the strategy was drafted from everyone's suggestions.

We would use sluggish retreats to entice the anartian forces into the Amrah jungles. We would ambush them in the jungles, with Duke Elims as commanding officer, and annihilate every soldier who entered the jungle. Surrendering forces would be handled as war prisoners, and we would take over half of the Anartian Kingdom's land as restitution for the war relief.

If we won this war, we would execute the king and name the new duke of Anartia instead of the king under the banner of the Evanescent Kingdom; while making post-war preparations was not sensible, I was confident that we would easily win this war against the Anartia Kingdom.