Lord of the Oasis

Late that night, all the soldiers were woken up and ordered to gather in the open space in front of the military camp.

The light and shadow of the bonfire danced in front of everyone’s faces. Everyone could sense that the situation was not good from the captain’s expression.

When the entire place was shrouded in a low pressure.

Kant walked out of the tent slowly, his face tense as he walked to the captain of the guards and said a few words.

After saying that, he left the group and walked back to the camp.

After listening to Kant’s instructions with a solemn expression, the captain of the guards stood up and watched him leave.

After Kant lifted the curtain of the tent and walked in.

The captain of the guards turned around and examined the faces of every soldier.

“Among you, who entered Clyde’s tent and then escaped?” the captain of the guards said through gritted teeth.

In his eyes, there was resentment, heartache, and anger at being provoked by his subordinates.

At night, the medic in charge of patrolling came to him in a panic and said, “That was someone sneaked into the tent of the infected soldiers.”.

His heart almost jumped out of his chest.

He simply could not imagine that if the virus spread, more soldiers would be infected. How would he apologize to Kant?

The captain of the guards waved his right hand when he saw that not a single soldier made a sound.

He took a lunchbox filled with food from a medic and raised it in front of everyone. He continued, “The medic who was in charge of patrolling today saw a soldier in uniform leave Clyde’s tent in a hurry. He also found the lunchbox that was distributed by the army on the table in the tent. Who violated the rule? Come out now. Don’t force me to interrogate you all one by one.”

The soldiers of the guards listened to the captain’s words. They whispered to each other and looked around. They were guessing who would do such a thing.

After a while, a soldier standing at the back of the line walked out of the line step by step and stood in front of the captain of the guards.

The medic standing next to the captain of the guards saw the face of this soldier and could not help but frown. This soldier was the one who had been following them this afternoon and stirring up trouble at the side.

“Bart.” the captain of the guards called out his name when he noticed the soldier who had stepped out of the line.

“It’s me.” Bart raised his trembling hand and said.

“How dare you disobey my orders.” the captain of the guards reprimanded him sternly.

“I’m just afraid that no one will take care of him. A few days ago, there were clearly many medics helping in Clyde’s tent. But until yesterday, no one had gone there anymore. Even today, the medics came to take all of Clyde’s things and burn them all.” Bart squatted down and cried. “I’m afraid that one day when Clyde dies, his body will be burned like this without any foreknowledge. Then he died too miserably.”

The captain of the guards was a little moved in his heart, but he still said seriously, “You still can’t disobey the order and charge into Clyde’s tent. Do you know how much damage it would cause if you were infected with the plague and indirectly brought it to others? The whole Drondheim might suffer because of this.”

“I’m sorry, I was wrong.” Bart buried his head between his knees and sobbed. “I just wanted to send him one last meal. I didn’t expect that things would be so… serious…”

“No matter what, what you’ve done cannot be undone.” the captain of the guards sighed softly. “Now you have to undergo the same quarantine inspection as Clyde. Moreover, since you’ve violated the discipline of the army, even if you’re not infected with the virus, you can’t continue to be a soldier.”

This was what Kant had told him before. Strict measures must be taken against soldiers who violated the military regulations.

After hearing the punishment given to him, Bart knelt on the spot and wailed loudly.

In the end, he was carried away by the soldiers of the medical team.

The rest of the soldiers were still standing there, silent.

They had learned the whole story and the fact that some of the soldiers were infected with the plague.

The captain of the guard looked at the group, “I didn’t tell you because I was afraid it would cause unnecessary panic. But now, you should understand what happened. Tomorrow, we will try our best to travel as fast as possible and return to Drondheim as soon as possible. After returning to the main city a doctor who can be trusted will examine you. You don’t have to worry too much, understand?”

“Understood!” the soldiers replied in unison.

“Go back and rest. We still have to get up early tomorrow. Dismissed!!”

The next day, Kant and his group advanced in the desert with all their might.

The mood of the soldiers was much gloomier than before. They were all focused on the yellow dirt road under their feet and did not chat with each other anymore.

When it was getting dark, the soldiers at the forefront finally broke out into cheers when they saw the main gate of Drondheim. “We’re here!!”

Kant also looked up. The fatigue in the corner of his eyes disappeared when he saw the sign of Drondheim.

The soldiers on the city wall noticed Kant’s group and immediately opened the city gate to pass through.

Kant’s group returned to Drondheim a day earlier than expected, so there was no welcoming group behind the city gate.

The group rushed to the location of the barracks.

Kant also followed the soldiers to undergo a physical examination.

While waiting for the results, he asked the captain of the medical unit beside him, “Where is the infected soldier now?”

“When we went to check this morning, the soldier’s vital signs were already gone.” the captain of the medical unit replied.

After Kant heard this, he was silent for a moment. Then, he asked, “Where is his ashes? Did you bring them back?”

“Yes, we have already handed the urn to the captain of the guards.” said the captain of the medical corps.

“I hope that the compensation brought by the imperial court can make up for the broken hearts of the families of the soldiers.” Kant said with emotion.

After the examination results showed that Kant was not infected with the virus, Kant boarded the carriage and returned to the palace.

Before he left, Kant told the medical captain to report the results of the test to him.

If something unexpected happened, he had to respond in time.

When he arrived at the palace, Kant finally felt relieved.

When he returned to Drondheim, it meant that there were more generals and civil servants around him who could discuss with him and help him make decisions.

It was too difficult to fix all kinds of sudden changes by himself.

Kant prayed in his heart that the troubles in recent days would be an interlude that could be calmed after the rectification.