The soldiers raised their crossed halberds upright with a sharp shout.
Rhine nodded slightly to them, pushed open the tent flap, and walked inside.
Many people had already been waiting in the tent for quite some time.
A bare-chested hunter officer with bandages wrapped around his arm stood up angrily the moment he saw Rhine. "Young Lord Julius, because of your unauthorized orders, my men suffered heavy losses."
"This matter has already received permission from His Majesty and the Imperial central command. I give you my word. Afterwards, I will speak with you personally about the compensation, Lord Burns."
Rhine walked up to the hunter officer and sincerely comforted him, slightly bowing his body while carefully helping the man sit back down.
The gesture worked. At least the hunter officer was temporarily pacified. Rhine then turned his gaze to the others in the tent. It seemed no one had any objections—at least none that showed on their faces.
Rhine Heinrich Julius—whether the family name or the given name—carried an aura of authority within this army.
Ever since the third Emperor after the Great War, the only one since Emperor Karl to be chosen as Sigmar's mortal vessel while holding the title of Emperor—Emperor Justinian—had shouted that famous line during the critical moment of the Fourth Battle of Black Fire Pass:
"Julius! The whole world wants to know where my Julius is!"
The surname Julius had become inseparably bound to the army.
Karl Julius, the founder of the Julius family, had descended from the sky on a griffon at the decisive moment, shielding Emperor Justinian from the deadliest axe blow of the most powerful greenskin warlord since Grom the Paunch—Gorgog Mawgash. His son Brutus Julius then led the flanking force in time, charging into the greenskin rear and securing victory for the human-dwarf alliance against the largest Waaagh! the Old World had seen since the Great War.
From that day on, a shining name impossible to ignore had appeared among the Empire's nobility.
"Lord Rhine, regarding this operation… can you guarantee there will be no accidents?" After the officers exchanged glances for a moment, a young man finally couldn't hold back. He stepped forward and addressed the man who stood silently at the head of the table observing the sand table.
Rhine did not answer immediately. He frowned, staring at the sand table in thought, then suddenly picked up the short baton and adjusted the positions of several pieces.
"In this world, accidents are inevitable at any moment. The Great War was one accident after another, and so was His Majesty Justinian's Great Conquest." He let out a breath and continued, "As the sword and shield of the Empire, soldiers must always be prepared to face and overcome the unexpected."
"You know that's not what I meant…" The officer gritted his teeth and pressed on.
"Then what do you mean!"
Rhine slammed his fist hard onto the sand table, glaring furiously at the officer.
"Scott! Have your days in Bretonnia made you so indulgent and soft that you can't even speak clearly to your superior anymore!"
He leaned down, picked up the fallen piece, and looked sideways at the speechless young officer.
"I-I'm sorry, my lord."
The room felt somewhat stuffy. The officer was sweating profusely, repeatedly wiping his forehead, standing there awkwardly with no idea what to do.
"My lord, what Scott meant was… whether during our march to Magritta, we should try to avoid causing any incidents that might interfere with completing His Majesty's mission." An older colleague had no choice but to step forward and explain in a low voice. "What I mean is, some matters can be postponed until after we fulfill the Emperor's decree? After all, the Emperor's will is the highest priority."
Rhine clapped his hands, walked in front of the young officer, and brushed the dust off his collar. While doing so, he leaned in slightly, sniffed, and frowned. "You smell of soap. Stay away from those Bretonnian women. I don't want to return to Altdorf with a string of women carrying your bastards behind me."
"Greta will definitely complain to the family that I didn't keep a proper eye on her fiancé."
Scott quickly nodded, clicked his military boots together, and saluted.
"Learn from Beaufort. Don't panic over every little thing. That's not how a soldier should behave." Rhine instructed again. The man nodded hastily in agreement.
He turned his gaze to the older officer, Beaufort, gave a slight nod, and returned to the head of the table.
"Regarding this matter… I have already received authorization from His Majesty, and full command of this force was personally granted to me by His Majesty in Altdorf."
He looked to the side. While attending, Will took out a tray from the cabinet bearing the fasces decorated with gold and red tassels.
Rhine lifted the fasces with both hands and held it up in front of everyone. All the people in the tent lowered their heads in respect. Even the bandaged hunter general struggled to his feet to show deference.
"I have received both verbal decree and written authorization from His Majesty for the 'additional actions' in Estalia. I originally thought this was not a complicated matter, but it seems you all lack trust in me…" The officers immediately straightened up and apologized to their commander.
"So I have no choice but to make public this order that didn't need to be announced with great fanfare."
He looked around, taking in everyone's expressions, then waved his hand.
"I really don't understand why he didn't just show His Majesty's authorization from the beginning," Will complained nonstop while following behind Old Hart, his eyes darting left and right, still trying to spot the laundry village girl from earlier.
"That's exactly the difference between you and Rhine."
Old Hart sighed, patted Will on the shoulder, and changed direction to signal the young man to keep up.
"What?"
Will took one last reluctant glance before following.
"The staff officers are questioning his orders. Isn't that a blow to command authority?" the young man said indignantly. "If he had made it public earlier, none of this would have happened."
"That's why I've taught you many times: don't just remember what's in the textbooks. The old fossils at the Altdorf Military Academy can teach you how to fight on sand tables and paper, but they can't make you a real general!"
"Strictly speaking, the matter with Selesthin is a private affair of the Julius family. His Majesty was willing to grant authorization because of Rhine's achievements and the importance he places on the Julius name. But these staff officers are men from the Reiksguard! Their first concern is completing the Emperor's mission, and only second is the commander's orders. Understand?"
"If Rhine had revealed the authorization at the start, the staff officers naturally wouldn't oppose it, but if the situation turned unfavorable to the mission, dissatisfaction would breed—and far worse. And what cards would Rhine have left to play then?" Old Hart sighed again. He subconsciously reached for his pipe, only to remember it had already been put away, so he could only rub his hands helplessly.
"Once we return to Altdorf, this incident might still be used by enemies to attack the Julius family in court for misusing imperial troops and causing losses. The Emperor would also be displeased with us."
"But how does that…" Will still wanted to argue, but a sudden flash of insight crossed his mind. He closed his mouth and fell into thought.
"Do the deed first, let the staff officers worry and feel dissatisfied, and have them raise objections themselves. Then reveal His Majesty's authorization. The staff officers will have no choice but to obey, and because they questioned their superior, they will be at a moral and psychological disadvantage. Since it's all the Emperor's command, when Rhine asks them to prioritize the immediate task, they will naturally devote themselves wholeheartedly."
Old Hart finally patted Will on the shoulder again. "The most terrible weaknesses of young people are arrogance and jealousy—don't rush it. Old Hart was once your age. I know exactly what young men are thinking. Overcome them, and you will grow faster. That's also why you came with us, isn't it?"
"Rhine has reached where he is today with six parts of the credit belonging to himself rather than the support of the Julius family. If you can achieve what he has before turning thirty, that would already be very good, Will."
"You still have a long time ahead of you, lad. Don't be in such a hurry."
He left alone. Will, having understood, blushed, yet still felt indignant at Old Hart's words. He kicked a nearby crate lightly and walked off in a bad mood.
Neither of them noticed the wood elf wrapped in a cloak leaning against a tree not far away. She toyed with a curved blade in her hand, watching Will's back with an amused smile.
In the sky, a three-eyed crow with long, lapis-lazuli tail feathers flew past. It looked down at the camp below, let out a few harsh "caw… caw…" cries, and flew northward.
The wood elf seemed to sense something. She looked up, but only saw a gloomy sky covered in thick clouds.
She stood up and walked out of the camp.
On the other side, Will was still quietly searching for the laundry village girl he had glimpsed earlier. Those full breasts kept swaying in his mind, impossible to shake off.
He thought that the village girl might have already taken the clothes and gone back… or worse, if she was actually a whore who only looked innocent and pure, she might right now be writhing beneath those two soldiers, her magnificent tits being roughly grabbed and sucked by their coarse hands.
Or perhaps she already had a husband. At this moment she might have returned home, only to be pinned down by a sweaty man fresh from the fields, clothes ripped off and thrown onto the bed to be fucked hard.
Just thinking about it made Will's crotch swell and throb. He quietly adjusted himself and pulled down his shirt to hide the bulge.
The long search eventually turned into aimless wandering. The sky grew darker. Will's mind was in chaos. As he passed a small tent belonging to one of the camp whores, a woman reached out and stopped him. He turned his head and immediately noticed a pair of particularly full breasts that were almost as impressive as the village girl's.
The sky was already dark and he had no mood to wander anymore. He randomly stuffed a handful of coins into the woman's cleavage and ducked into the tent. The woman outside quickly followed him in and closed the flap. Not long after, Will came back out.
The smell inside had been unpleasant, and his mood was already irritable. He couldn't stand it. So he casually negotiated a few words with the woman and took her back to his own tent.