The Amber Sword

Ch 7 – The plan

“Then, where exactly are we?”

Sophie started to inquire for the news that he wished to know after he flawlessly got hold of the conversation’s direction. He found that he had really changed a little. In the past, the only time he was able to be this eloquent was during the time he was in the game.

Perhaps he still treated this world as ‘The Amber Sword’.

The experiences he had in the game when faced the youths in front of him, were enough to treat them like children.

He had naturally developed an air of confidence that affected all the people here, whether if it’s Freya or the ones behind her. The center of the topic had shifted to Sophie without them realizing it.

Even the ones far away raised their head and turned to him.

“This place is the Red Pine Forest. Don’t move.” The girl with the ponytail took a deep breath and tried hard to calm down and reply.

Silence fell upon them.

“H, how did you know?” Freya looked at him in surprise.

(Of course I know, I even lived through it.)

Sophie’s heart replied. But the the surprised looks made him a little pleased.

Knowing the future had advantages.

But that feeling could not cover the anxiety in his heart. Madara’s attacks in the the fourth month was swift and decisive. He needed to create a comprehensive plan to protect himself.

Including these youths.

The enemies that Bucce faced was the left wing of the Madara’s army. Leading this army was the future infamous ‘Black Lord’, Incirsta. Even though he was merely a twenty something novice now, this rising star had began to show off his prowess at the start of this battle.

And what did he had right now? He was merely a nameless person in history. The single advantage he had was the knowledge of the future. With that, he would be able to handle the series of events, but he needed to make good use of the opportunities.

He had only two chances.

The first would be the safer route by picking the ‘Valley of Jagged Rocks’. He recalled that it took the One-eyed Tarkus, Incirsta’s right hand, seventeen days to control this region.

But the distance was too far away. He was worried that he could not reach there in time to break through before the enemy surrounded there. Unless there were horses of course, but where would he find them for these ten odd people here?

The other option left was to break through the ‘River of Daggers’ before the battle between the ‘Undead Ghosts’ led by Vesa and the ‘White Knights’ by Ivanton took place.

Currently there was only one necromancer leading a small skeleton army patrolling there.

He rubbed the cold ring on his finger. With the Ring of the Wind Empress, was it not a simple task to break through the defence line comprised of eleven skeleton soldiers and one necromancer?

Still, he needed to make everyone in this militia team to obey his orders. It was also why he presented himself so forcefully from the beginning.

Sophie took a look at everyone again.

“Anyone who had a little knowledge in military studies would be able to make a natural conclusion like that. They sealed off the main road to break communications and to pave the way for their army. The next step is to clear this region’s remaining Aouine’s forces while using Bucce as the center.”

He stressed his words heavily, paused and continued gravely: “Us.”

A heavy silenced loomed, then the light gasps of the militia army sounded out.

“And I ask you now, what are your plans?” Sophie asked wearily.

They turned and looked at each other.

There were ten skeleton soldiers defending Bucce’s main road, and they could not force their way out. Even though there was the reckless confidence from them, that the enemies did not count for much, they had their reservations shown when it came to life and death battles.

Freya’s face was full of worry. When she made her decisions earlier, she had not considered much at all. Even though they were called the militia, they were just a bunch of youths who had no experience at all.

Although she did not say anything, her helplessness was already written on her face.

And everyone’s gazes fell onto Sophie long ago. He seemed to show a demeanor exuding experience and calmness. This impression had a subtle influence on them, making them felt he was reliable during times of danger.

“Brendel?” Romaine asked worriedly.

Sophie looked back at her and gave a small smile to put her at ease.

“We need to plan for the worst.” He snapped his head back at them. He planned to break their naive attitude.

This was not something he did for the first time. The newbies in his guild always held some optimistic behavior when they went to the battlefields for the first time. But once they received a blow from a shock, they would go into disarray and quickly get annihilated by veteran teams.

There was actually not that much of a gap between players. The key factor was their mentality.

And veteran players like him, were in charge of giving inoculation shots to newbies.

“Plan for the worst?”

Just as Sophie was about to answer, there was a series of rustling from the forest. Everyone looked over there at the same time, except Freya who faced over to a set of Ericoideae shrubbery and said: “Jonathon?”

“It’s me, Captain Freya.”

Everyone sighed with relief, but Sophie quietly gestured at Freya with his hand, warning her to raise her alertness. Freya was a little surprised at his gesture, but immediately realized the militia training did not allow them to leave their posts without reason.

Sophie had absolute faith in Aouine’s militia training. These youths might be naive, but that not mean they would forget about the basic training rules they had done every day.

There must not be any negligence in a battlefield.

“Did something happen, Jonathon?” She asked as she placed her hand on her sword’s hilt.

“I, I’m sorry, Boss-neesama, I, I got caught……”

The shrubbery was parted into two with a rustle, and there were two people who walked out. A crying young man with a pale face with his arms raised, and the necromancer that followed behind with its finger pointing towards the young man. The green flames that were dancing in its eye sockets peered at everyone.

“Keke, I caught a bunch of rats.”

Their breaths were taken away.

“Jonathon!”

“How could you…”

And the voices of disbelief followed.