Somewhere in Myard territory...
Atlas and the Hysin army were advancing forward. The army was moving ahead, with Julius at the forefront. But the Hysin soldiers had bored and tired expressions and began to complain.
"When will we arrive?" asked a soldier with a tired expression.
"We've been walking for almost a day," replied another soldier.
"My vision is starting to blur, damn it," complained a soldier.
"I'm going to die before we get there."
"Atlas, do you see anything? Across the desert?" asked Zander.
"Hmmm (squints his eyes and looks forward) No, I don't see anything else."
"Damn it," complained Zander.
Atlas understood their suffering, as they had been walking non-stop from the fortress to here. He wondered if it had something to do with that person.
.
.
.
Atlas was standing and looking from a distance, and he saw an army approaching from afar. It was a larger army than theirs, with about a thousand of them riding horses. There were carts, a large number of carts. When they arrived, Julius stepped forward respectfully.
A person advanced forward on his horse. He had a serpent emblem with two stars on his shoulder armor.
"Well, well, now this is good," he shouted, pointing to the prisoners.
"I heard someone was coming, but I didn't expect to have the honor of seeing you in person, General Ron."
"I came here because I heard the fortress was breached in less than a day. I wouldn't have believed it, but seeing it with my own eyes, I see how you did it," Ron spoke, looking at Atlas.
Atlas was staring at them without any expression, just curious observation. Julius saw that most of Ron's army were looking at Atlas, and he knew why, but he kept smiling.
"Yes, it was a bit of a difficult operation since I'm new to this, but I will not let the kingdom down. I swear this in my family's name," Julius spoke seriously.
"Yes, the kingdom is grateful for your achievement in securing the area," Ron spoke, his gaze still fixed on Atlas.
"Thank you for your praise, Mr. Ron. And about our next assignment?" asked Julius.
"Your next assignment, yes___ (turns his attention back to Julius) I mean, ahem, certainly, you seem to be in a hurry. So, come inside."
"Thank you," replied Julius.
"Load those slaves quickly towards the kingdom," Ron spoke to his army as both of them entered a special cart.
"You heard the commander, hurry up, put them in the cages."
The army set to work without delay and began helping Julius's army herd the prisoners towards the cages. The operation proceeded smoothly, but Atlas was watching what they were doing.
"Help!" screamed a prisoner.
"No, no.... let me go," a woman screamed as she was dragged by her hair; there were bruises on her body.
"Mom..... mom," a child prisoner screamed as he was kicked and dragged into another cage.
"Oh God, please help us," a prisoner screamed from inside a cage.
"King Myard will never let this slide. You will be punished for this," another prisoner screamed as he was pulled into a cage.
"Shut up, you fools, and get in quickly," spoke one of the Hysin soldiers while kicking a little girl into the cage.
"Man, it's always hard to get them into the cages. We should have just given them a slave seal instead of this back pain," complained one Hysin soldier.
"Don't say that. Don't you know how rare mages are? Even our kingdom barely manages to request the scrolls mages make, let alone for these people."
"Man, I wish they were all like that giant over there."
"Yeah, I know," spoke another soldier while throwing another prisoner into the cage.
Atlas looked at what they were doing, and it was horrifying. But he swallowed his feeling of guilt. It was too late to change his mind, but he was completely curious about where they were taking them. So he knelt slightly and poked.
"Zander, I have a question," I asked him while poking Zander gently so as not to hurt him due to my size.
"(Sigh) What is it this time?"
"Where are they taking them?" I asked, pointing to the prisoners.
"They are taking them to become slaves."
"Slaves? Like me?" I asked, pretending ignorance.
"What? No, pfft, you... wait... right, you're almost ignorant."
"Those will go to become labor slaves for our kingdom," Zander spoke, pointing towards them.
"I don't understand a little. Why would the kingdom need all these slaves? Aren't they a bit too many?" I asked suspiciously.
"That's because the kingdom lacks manpower. A lot of manpower. And when the war came, the situation became worse, and he decided to issue orders to bring as many slaves as possible to put them in mines for mining and smelting metals, or make them workers for producing silk, clothes, and other things," Zander spoke.
"Will all prisoners become slaves every time we capture a different fortress?" I asked with an indifferent expression, while feeling a bit guilty inside.
"Not exactly. They decided to do this to boost the kingdom's morale. Perhaps this will be the only time they do this. I mean, look at the number of cages. We certainly won't lack manpower for a while."
"Ah, I see now." I said this while feeling relieved inside.
"I wonder what their thoughts are regarding Myard."
Both Atlas and Zander were staring towards the cart with invisible worry..
"So, what are the commanders' thoughts?" asked Julius.
"They want us to deploy your forces here and there around that area and secure it," Ron spoke, explaining.
"May I ask why?" asked Julius.
"After you pass a few kilometers, you will see something beautiful. I won't tell you the details so as not to spoil the surprise, but they want you to occupy this specific area while our other forces will come from the east and then advance slowly into the area you are guarding, so we can build a ground from which we can stand against their attacks."
"It's like building two walls on the borders of Myard so we can prepare for any other attacks and relieve pressure on the other fronts."
"I understand that, but isn't it difficult? We need some reinforcements to occupy such a large area. Even the giant might not be enough, as all he knows is hitting and kicking."
"You have to solve this dilemma yourself. It's not just about here, but everywhere. We are truly suffering from a shortage of troops on all fronts. It's good that the two fronts are progressing well, but they still need significant reinforcements and siege equipment."
"Be grateful you are have a war giant. Even his sons don't have anything like this," Ron spoke.
"I am grateful, truly grateful for the weapon the King gave me. I will not disappoint him," Julius spoke with a smile while closing his eyes and bowing.
"You should be. This giant managed to solve a problem that usually takes months in just one day.." Ron spoke arrogantly, looking at the giant through the cart window.
Julius was looking at him with a gaze full of cold anger, while clenching his fists tightly, and saw that he was still looking at Atlas.
"He's just a dirty peasant with a big body and no brain," Julius thought angrily.
"So, do you understand your role?" asked Ron.
"Yes, certainly. I won't let you down," he spoke in a cheerful tone that contrasted with a moment ago.
"Good. Then let's inform the soldiers of this. Oh, and one more thing I forgot to tell you," Ron spoke.
"What is it, General?"Julius asked
"You have to go and occupy it quickly, because you and your army need to go as fast as you can. Speed is essential for this mission," Ron spoke as he opened the door.
"Roger," Julius replied with an angry expression as he turned away.
.
.
.
"Damn it, just what the hell did they plan?!" Zander asked angrily.
"We're going to die before we even get there."
"Hey, there's something?" Atlas spoke, looking into the distance.
"What do you see?" both Julius and Zander asked.
"There's something green," Atlas replied in an uncertain tone.
"Something green?" Zander asked suspiciously.
"This is it! We're close, boys! Just a little further!"
The soldiers quickened their pace after hearing Julius's words. They arrived and were able to see what Atlas meant, and they were all surprised.
They saw grass stretching to the horizon, and in the distance, there were hills and trees. The soldiers looked at the grass in fascination; this was the first time they had seen something like this.
"Wow....."
"What is this?"
"It's green and also soft, what is it?" a soldier asked while examining the grass and its soil.
"It's something called grass. Something that grows in almost all kingdoms except our kingdom's land," Julius spoke with a smile on his face.
"We have officially reached their lands."
"Let's head towards that hill. We will rest here, and then continue marching," Julius spoke.
"Yeeaaaahhhhh!" the soldiers shouted enthusiastically.
As they walked, Atlas saw the grass and slowly reached his hand towards it.
He had never been able to get up or touch grass outside. It was a desire he couldn't fulfill, along with other things.
He reached out his hand and picked up a large clump of soil with grass in it, looking at it up close while walking. The soldiers weren't too surprised because most of them were doing the same.
He saw the grass not in a picture, but in real life. He touched it and felt its texture. The grass felt like small hairs due to his large size. He had missed the experience of touching grass from a human perspective, but it was okay for him. At least he managed to do it.
"Oye, are you going to keep holding that piece of land like that?" Zander asked.
"Sorry, it's my first time," Atlas spoke, carefully throwing it away.
"Don't blame you. But focus now, we are at war. Don't get distracted because there might be enemies watching you," Zander spoke.
"Thank you," Atlas replied.
"But really," both Zander and Atlas looked forward.
"It's truly a magnificent view."