Rose Empire

Chapter 48 - The Outbreak of War and the Fierce Wolf Warriors

"Sir, are we really going through with this?"

John Rice looked down at the parchment in his hand, his face etched with hesitation as he spoke to Antanas.

The news was grim: the twelve Ambratu citizens who had been detained had been burned to death. This intelligence came from a merchant doing business in Little Sassinian, who had a long-standing and reliable relationship with Antanas's group, practically guaranteeing its accuracy.

Antanas's initial reaction to this news was, understandably, anger. But as his fury cooled, a surge of excitement and exhilaration washed over him.

"War! We must wage war to severely punish those despicable people of Little Sassinian!" Antanas declared loudly.

"But…" John Rice interjected, his voice laced with concern. "The war between the Aye Alliance and the Delmo Alliance continues. Both we and Little Sassinian are members of the Aye Alliance. This internal conflict could very well provoke dissatisfaction from Feidi and our other allies."

"We didn't start this war. Little Sassinian did. By choosing to burn our citizens, they declared war on us," Antanas stated resolutely.

The truth was, John Rice wanted to point out that Ambratu had endured far too many wars in recent years. Almost every year saw the conscription of citizen-soldiers, some of whom had barely returned from the battlefield, their wounds from the previous conflict still raw. Even now, Ambratu had two thousand citizen-soldiers, including three hundred superhumans, desperately holding the line in the ongoing war between the two alliances.

The citizen-soldiers were weary. The people craved respite.

Antanas, however, was preoccupied with a different matter: tariffs. The oligarchic faction he led had already made concessions in the Senate, and now they watched as the democratic faction strong-armed the Citizen Assembly into approving the tariff agreement. This entire process had laid bare the weakness of the oligarchic faction. If they didn't act quickly to counter the democratic faction's growing power, would the oligarchs even have a voice in the Senate going forward?

Another elder from the oligarchic faction, Sarius, noticed John Rice's lingering reservations and offered a reassuring smile. "Little Sassinian was just forced by Feidi to provide a second contingent of superhumans – about four hundred people – a month ago. They likely have no more than six hundred superhumans left in the city, while we still command a thousand. If we strike now, the advantage is clearly ours."

And so, Antanas rode swiftly into the Citizen Assembly.

"Citizens! The vile people of Little Sassinian have hung our fellow citizens on flagpoles, locked them in sheep pens, forced them to eat animal feed, and finally, burned them alive!"

Antanas roared, brandishing the parchment in his hand.

"This is an outrage! This is blatant bullying! How can we stand for this? We must make the people of Little Sassinian pay! We must show them that the slaughter of our citizens means war!"

The elders of the democratic faction paled at his words.

"Elder Antanas," Olivier Capino rebuked, "This matter hasn't even been discussed in the Senate, nor has the Senate made any decision to declare war. How can you unilaterally announce war?"

"I've had enough of the Senate's cowardice!" Antanas cut Olivier off. "Our fellow citizens are screaming in the flames, their families are weeping at home! How can we stand idly by? Why? Why do the people of Little Sassinian dare to humiliate us like this? Because we've been too weak! They think we fear them, that they can bully and kill our citizens without consequence. We cannot allow this to continue! We must have an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! We will hang those Little Sassinian people on their own flagpoles, burn their city-state to the ground, and show anyone who wants to bully us that Ambratu is not to be trifled with! We will have our revenge!"

"Revenge!"

"Revenge!"

"Revenge!"

"Revenge!"

…

The citizens' emotions erupted. They raised their fists and roared their approval.

Faced with this outpouring of emotion, the elders of the democratic faction chose to remain silent.

The unpopular tariff agreement with the Bay of Ripple Viscountcy had already created deep resentment among the citizens. Now, coupled with Little Sassinian's provocation, public sentiment was a powder keg, ready to ignite at the slightest spark. Anyone who dared to oppose the popular will would have to be prepared to pay a heavy price, and the democratic elders clearly had no intention of becoming martyrs.

However, while the democratic elders remained silent, Antanas had no intention of letting them off the hook.

"Elder Capino, Elder Barak, Elder Kramer…" Antanas called out their names individually, then asked, "What are your thoughts on this?"

Under the intense gaze of the citizens, Olivier Capino could only grit his teeth and concede, "Elder Antanas is right."

And so, the Senate unanimously passed the resolution declaring war on Little Sassinian.

Subsequently, the Citizen Assembly voted to appoint Elder Antanas as the general, entrusting him with command of the Ambratu citizen-soldiers to punish Little Sassinian.

Bay of Ripple Viscountcy

"How beautiful,"

By the shimmering lake, Charlotte sat barefoot on a rock, her delicate, pale feet idly splashing the water.

This vast lake, known locally as Fairy Lake, possessed a deep blue hue and was so clear that the bottom was visible. From a distance, it resembled a gem embedded in the earth.

Despite its beauty, however, the lake was essentially dead. The water had an extremely high salt content, with white salt crystals clearly visible on the bottom. Such water could barely support fish and was unsuitable for irrigation. Consequently, the people of the Bay of Ripple Viscountcy held the lake in far more disdain than appreciation.

"If the canal is built, I wonder if the lake will remain this beautiful," Charlotte mused aloud.

"That's assuming you can actually dig the canal," Cecilia remarked, flipping through a piece of parchment. "I've surveyed the area. It's approximately eleven miles from Fairy Lake to the Nimue River and about twenty-one miles from Fairy Lake to the Bay of Ripple coastline."

Charlotte planned to construct a canal connecting the eastern and western seas across the Bay of Ripple Isthmus.

To the east of the isthmus lay the Bay of Ripple.

To the west lay a sea the Sokians called the Pearl Sea. The name had two possible origins: either the sea was rich in pearls, or it had once been home to many merfolk. Of course, with the fleets of the Sokian city-states and the Kingdom of Lesare now active in the area, merfolk were rarely sighted.

The route Charlotte selected for the canal wasn't the narrowest part of the Bay of Ripple Isthmus, but it offered the advantage of utilizing two existing bodies of water: Fairy Lake and the Nimue River to the west.

In the Oran language, "Nimue" meant "beautiful maiden." The name suggested to Charlotte that the river might have been connected to Fairy Lake in the distant past.

By utilizing these two bodies of water, the amount of construction needed for the canal could be reduced by at least half.

Once this grand canal was completed, ships traveling from the western coast of the Eagle Continent to the eastern coast would no longer need to circumnavigate the entire Sokian Peninsula, and vice versa!

However, even with the advantage of these two bodies of water, constructing the canal would still be a monumental undertaking. According to Charlotte's plans, the canal would need to be an average of two meters deep and twenty meters wide at the bottom. She estimated that this would require the excavation of at least 2.5 to 3 million cubic meters of earth and stone.

"If you want the canal to be navigable by this time next year, we'll need at least…" Cecilia paused, considering the enormity of the task, before stating, "ten thousand slaves."

"Ten thousand?" Charlotte murmured, then turned to the kneeling mountain tribe leader, Black Wolf, and inquired, "Can you provide ten thousand slaves?"

Black Wolf remained kneeling, his face nearly touching the ground. Without hesitation, he replied, "Yes, there are plenty of mountain tribesmen in the Canpei Mountains."

This mountain tribe leader seemed to feel no remorse at the prospect of his fellow tribesmen being enslaved. On the contrary, he appeared eager to help Charlotte find even more mountain tribesmen to enslave.

"Actually, rather than just slaves, I'd prefer to recruit some superhumans. Do you have any information on that?" Charlotte inquired.

Black Wolf paused for a moment, then offered an idea. "Have you heard of the Fierce Wolf Warriors, my lord?"

"Fierce Wolf Warriors? What exactly are those?" Charlotte asked, turning to Renee beside her.

Renee's lips barely moved as she whispered, "Monkey warriors."

Charlotte immediately understood.

The Fierce Wolf Warriors was the collective name for human superhumans within the tribal alliance. Though small in stature, they were fierce and cunning in battle, earning them the title "Fierce Wolf Warriors" within the alliance. In an environment that prized survival of the fittest, this was considered a compliment.

However, the Oran knights, their adversaries, had no such complimentary terms for them.

Since the humans in the tribal alliance were generally lean and used crude weapons – often just a stick with a sharp piece of obsidian tied to it – the Oran knights mockingly referred to them as "monkey warriors."

To the Oran people, the term "monkey warriors" was far more common than "Fierce Wolf Warriors."

Although Renee had tried to keep her voice low, the quiet surroundings allowed Black Wolf to hear her nonetheless. A flicker of embarrassment crossed his face – he had once been a Fierce Wolf Warrior himself, and his name was derived from that title. However, Black Wolf kept his head bowed low, so Charlotte couldn't see his expression.

"Tell me more about these Fierce Wolf Warriors," Charlotte said to Black Wolf.

"Ever since Basha and his cannibalistic followers began conquering the tribes in the Canpei Mountains, many humans from the original tribes felt they could no longer remain and were forced to flee. I'm not certain of the exact numbers, but thousands have likely left, and many were once Fierce Wolf Warriors." Black Wolf paused before adding, "In the Canpei Mountains, only the ruthless can survive and ensure their lineage continues."

"Where are these exiled Fierce Wolf Warriors now?"

"They can't rejoin the tribes, nor can they descend from the mountains. They must still be scattered throughout the forests. In winter, they lack clothing and food. If you're willing to take them in, they will likely be eager to serve you."

Charlotte's interest was piqued. "Really? Then, Mr. Black Wolf, could you recruit these Fierce Wolf Warriors for me?"

"Black Wolf would be honored to serve you," Black Wolf replied promptly.

"Good," Charlotte clapped her hands lightly, then extended a finger. "For every Fierce Wolf Warrior you recruit for me, I'll grant ten of your tribesmen the status of commoners. What do you say to that?"

"Thank you, my lord. However…" Black Wolf hesitated, lowering his white-haired head even further. "Might I request a different reward?"

"Oh?" Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "What reward would you prefer?"

"I would like to request a knighthood," Black Wolf stated.

"Heh…" Charlotte chuckled. "That's possible. If you can recruit a hundred Fierce Wolf Warriors for me, I'll make you a knight. If you can recruit a thousand, I'll grant you a barony."

"Thank you, my lord!" This time, Black Wolf's gratitude seemed far more genuine.

With an excited expression, Black Wolf eagerly set off to carry out Charlotte's task.

Cecilia watched Black Wolf's retreating figure, a slight frown creasing her brow. She couldn't help but ask, "My lord, are you really going to make Black Wolf a knight, or even a baron?"

"Don't be so formal. I've told you before, just call me Charlotte in private," Charlotte said, idly tracing patterns in the fine sand at the bottom of the lake with her toes. "Is there a problem with me granting Black Wolf a title?"

"It's just that…" Cecilia hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "This man's character seems somewhat… unscrupulous."

"Unscrupulous? Cecilia, there are many shameless people in this world, but few who are truly capable," Charlotte said with a smile. "So, when you need someone to get things done, it's best not to be too particular. Otherwise, you'll often find yourself forced to choose between a virtuous but incompetent person and a capable but unscrupulous one."

After hearing Charlotte's words, Cecilia nodded thoughtfully, but then sighed and said, "What worries me more is whether Black Wolf will bring in a group of equally unscrupulous Fierce Wolf Warriors. If that happens, order in the territory might descend into chaos, and your commands might not be followed."

"That is indeed a concern…"

Charlotte had to concede that Cecilia's point had merit, but before she could respond, Celine's figure came rushing from the direction of the castle.

"A report from Sir Robin Mancini," Celine said, handing Charlotte a scroll of parchment.

Charlotte unrolled the parchment and read its contents, a strange smile spreading across her face.

"You make a valid point, but right now, I'd rather have an extra hundred or two Fierce Wolf Warriors," Charlotte said to Cecilia.

"What has happened?" Cecilia asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Ambratu has declared war on Little Sassinian," Charlotte said, handing the parchment to Cecilia. "The Ambratu citizen-soldiers have almost all been mobilized."