Chapter Ninety-Two: Arrangements

“Lord, something terrible has happened. Magical beasts… there are magical beasts…”

“What? Take your time. No need to panic.”

While Zhou Tian was occupied with government affairs, a guard suddenly burst into his study and stammered out those words. Zhou Tian frowned, laid aside his work, and motioned for him to speak more clearly.

At Zhou Tian’s prompting, the guard calmed somewhat. After catching his breath for a moment, he finally steadied himself and said, “Many mercenaries have fled back from the Magic Beast Forest. According to them, a Flame Boar King somehow broke into the outer region of the forest. For some unknown reason, that Flame Boar King harbors a fierce hatred for humans. After subjugating many of the magical beasts in the outskirts, it has now led them toward our border town!”

“What?” Zhou Tian sprang up from his seat at once.

He naturally knew why the Flame Boar King hated humans so deeply. What he had not expected was that the beast, which he had thought would obediently return to its own territory, had not only failed to do so but was now, apparently, marching straight toward his own lands with a host of underlings. This was, naturally, a shocking development.

The Flame Boar King’s terrifying strength had left a deep impression on him. If he could avoid conflict with it, Zhou Tian would very much have preferred to do so. But under the present circumstances, with the other side heading directly for his border town, unless Zhou Tian was willing to abandon the foundation he had built here, he feared he would have no choice but to clash with that beast.

“Should I notify Li Jiahao and have him come to resist the magical beasts?” The thought had barely flashed through his mind before Zhou Tian dismissed it.

“As the marshal of the Northern Army of the Flame Empire, Li Jiahao does indeed have the duty to resist a beast tide like this. But this Flame Boar King has appeared far too suddenly. Even if Li Jiahao were to send aid, he would probably be too late to arrive. Before his army gets here, we’ll still have to rely on our own strength to withstand the Flame Boar King’s attack.”

Suppressing a sigh, Zhou Tian quickly instructed the guard, “Go and call Sister Vivian and the others here for a meeting. We need to discuss how to stop the Flame Boar King’s assault.”

“Yes, my lord.”

After receiving Zhou Tian’s order, the guard carefully withdrew.

With the guards spreading the word, less than half an hour later Vivian and the others rushed back from their respective workplaces.

As soon as everyone had arrived, Vivian immediately slapped the table and asked Zhou Tian, “Captain, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Why does the information brought back by those mercenaries say that they went out to deal with a giant magical serpent? And why is it that the Flame Boar King is now outside the forest because it pursued that serpent? Can Captain explain this to us in a reasonable way?” As she spoke, dense black aura seemed to rise behind Vivian.

“Ha, that!” A huge bead of sweat rolled down Zhou Tian’s forehead. Glancing around guiltily, he answered Vivian, “How should I know the reason? It’s only natural for mercenaries to set their sights on magical beasts. And there’s nothing strange about the Flame Boar King chasing other beasts out to the edge of the forest, is there? Is there really any explanation I need to give for this?”

“No explanation needed?”

“Need one?”

“No explanation needed?”

“Need one?”

A vein popped at Vivian’s temple, and in an instant she seemed to transform into a demon. Slamming the table hard, she pointed at Zhou Tian and angrily exclaimed, “Don’t tell me you aren’t the magical beast serpent those mercenaries were talking about! I thought that during the time you went missing, you had gone off to do something important. So after all that, you actually ran off alone to a place as dangerous as the Magic Beast Forest. Fine, so you acted on your own—but you even brought such enormous trouble back to us. The Flame Boar King, of all things! With the scant defenses our border town has right now, what are we supposed to use to deal with an enraged magical beast like that?”

“All right, all right. Don’t get so angry. I never imagined things would turn out like this either. If I had known the Flame Boar King would chase us all the way to the border town, I never would have gone to its territory.”

After saying this, Zhou Tian’s face showed a trace of remorse. Then his expression quickly returned to one of confidence. Glancing around the room at the others, he said firmly to Vivian, “The Flame Boar King is indeed strong, but you don’t need to sell yourselves short. Our strength isn’t weaker than theirs. As long as we don’t make any absurd mistakes, I firmly believe that with our power, handling that fat pig outside won’t be a problem at all.”

“Anyway, you’re the captain. Do as you like.”

With that final remark, Vivian obediently sat back down.

Clapping his hands to gather everyone’s attention, Zhou Tian gave the next order. “Sister Catherine, please organize the women in town. In the battle to come, our logistics will be in your hands.”

Although Vivian’s earlier words had left Catherine only half-understanding and thoroughly puzzled, after hearing Zhou Tian’s command she immediately replied, “Rest assured, my lord. I will take good care of the logistics.”

Then, turning to Mac once more, Zhou Tian ordered, “Uncle Mac, please organize the clergy in town. In the coming battle, our wounded will depend on them for treatment.”

Frowning slightly, Mac hesitated before answering, “Organizing them isn’t difficult. But because all the clergy from the church were driven out of the border town before, relying only on the clergy within the mercenary groups may leave us short-handed when the time comes.”

With a helpless wave of his hand, Zhou Tian could only say, “It doesn’t matter. Gather as many as you can. Do your best to treat the wounded. If it really comes to it, we’ll have to abandon those who cannot be saved.”

“That’s the only thing we can do.”

With a sigh, Mac nodded, accepting Zhou Tian’s arrangement.

After assigning Catherine and Mac their tasks, Zhou Tian handed command of the troops to several of the border town’s officers. Even after those officers took their tokens and went out to make preparations, Zhou Tian gave no further orders.

They waited.

They waited.

When it became clear that Zhou Tian had no intention of speaking again, Afra hurriedly stood and asked, “Captain, Uncle Mac and the others have been given their tasks. What about us?”

“That question is rather unnecessary. Ordinary magical beasts will be dealt with by the garrison, but to avoid excessive damage to the border town, someone still has to step forward and hold back the Flame Boar herd. Afra, we are the strongest group in this border town. Do you really think I need to assign your task for you?”

Very satisfied with Zhou Tian’s arrangements, Afra nodded and sat back down.

And so, after all the members of Zhou Tian’s party sat together in his study with eyes closed, quietly resting for a while, the alarm outside finally rang. Only then did they all rise together and walk out through the door...