The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

              After hearing that, Zaos began to feel like he shouldn't have asked. Finding Ferdinand's ship would be a pain in the ass… while the numbers weren't more prominent than the war against the Mercenaries and the followers of the demon god, things were much more difficult because the fight would be in the ocean. Not to mention, the enemies would attack first with bolts and arrows, and only after that would they come with swords and spears to finish the job. It was a simple but very effective tactic.

            In the end, Zaos understood more why the people of Citri hesitated in helping Orleand. While he wanted to kill the bastard, he didn't want to kill those who had been fooled by him. It was a bit crazy at this point, but it was the truth.

            Zaos also realized that if he was feeling like that, how Ameria and Noemi were feeling? They would join the fight, but they would have to kill several innocents to survive and to prevent a situation that could lead to a longer war… It was a really complicated feeling.

"How many men and ships do you, and Orleand, think we will get at this rate, Captain?" Zaos asked. "Even if we are lucky, we won't find men and ships in all islands, not even if we have enough time to go to all the islands. Ferdinand is bound to notice what we are up to and will send some of their men to crush us."

"I was expecting that he would come himself, but that would be too good to be true," Erean said. "Our best estimation is that we can get fifty ships and one thousand men if we work hard during an entire week and if they leave us alone during that time."

              Hope that the enemy will show up was practically naive at this point. After all, he failed at killing the group of Sairus kingdom time and time again. If he knew how much Zaos wanted to kill him, he would take his fleet and move to the other side of the world. In any case, expecting to win that battle with sixty ships was also pretty insane. Still, they didn't have any other option.

                In the end, the group managed to work on obtaining more soldiers and ships for five days straight. Although they kept sailing even at night and visited close to twenty islands, they only had thirty more ships and five hundred soldiers. Once again, it seemed that they were heading to another battle while they were outnumbered ten to one. It was quite something to see so many ships in front of them, but Zaos didn't let the view fool him.

"We managed to stay away from Ferdinand because he only visited there at least one day away from the islands he is using as the port to leave some of his ships," Erean said in the Captain's cabin while he was pointing to a map. "If we move onward, we will find some of his fleets and engage in battle."

"Some? Not the entire fleet?" Zaos asked.

"According to the smugglers, Ferdinand is using only one-third of his fleet and soldiers to fight against our kingdom," Erean explained. "To conserve the strength of his main army, he also is only using thirty percent of his real well-trained soldiers. This is a huge gamble for him, so he can't afford to make mistakes now, that is why he is saving his strength."

"He is using the soldiers that worked for the merchant families as cannon fodder… just to weaken us even further," Orleand said and then bite his fingernails in exasperation. "He keeps falling low, first lies and now this…"

"Although that is unforgivable, it might be a good opportunity for us," Erean said. "If we attack the part of his fleet that is resting, we will fight mostly the soldiers who are loyal to him. Things might take a fortunate turn for us if we show to the other soldiers who were fooled that Orleand is alive. That will raise havoc in their ranks, and thus things will become easier for us."

"Will things be that smoothly?" Drannor asked. "If we approach those islands, we are bound to find some scouts in the ocean that will warn others. I think that a battle before reaching the islands is unavoidable. Not to mention, their army will be scattered in several ships. The news about Orleand and his family won't spread fast enough."

"We also think that it will be difficult, but we don't have any other option," Erean said. "Regardless, from now on, we can't recruit soldiers to our side without accepting some risks. That is why I am telling all of you this, tomorrow we will face the enemies, so prepare your minds for battle."

                  Zaos was more than ready. Even though he was still a bit worried about the possibility of dealing with civilians fooled by Ferdinand, he could only care so much to those who would point their weapons toward him.

"After this incident, I will make sure to spread information about this whole situation to the whole country and perhaps write a book about it," Orleand said. "We can't afford to let this happen ever again… to let so much power fall in the hands of a lunatic."

                Although he was talking like the Victory was assured, Zaos could see in the face of the plump merchant that he still was quite nervous. After all, winning or losing, his daughter and he will suffer the same fate of the same army he raised. In any case, Zaos would need some time to prepare mentally for the battle. While he was ready to fight at any minute, he decided to reach the next level by focusing even more, but before he could do it, Orleand dropped a bomb.

"Sir Zaos, would you like to marry my daughter?" Orleand asked.

"Dad!" Noemi raised her voice.

"Who is sir Zaos?" Zaos asked.