The Herb King

George was getting impatient. He still hasn't gotten any news from Lexter and today was supposed to be the day that they would discuss their final plan. However, Lexter showed no signs of calling him.

When evening arrived, his Communication Rune suddenly lit up. He immediately activated the rune and a calm voice soon echoed. "George, let me apologize first for not being able to call you on time." He could hear Lexter's apologetic tone on the other side and this made his anger subside.

"The reason why I can't make the call earlier was that we were battling with the Leone Empire's army. The bastards prepared some traps for us and many of our soldiers were killed so you have to be careful out there. Maybe they have already discovered your tracks as well." Lexter warned him in a solemn tone.

After hearing his words, George nodded his head. "I know. I have already dispatched thousands of scouts to monitor our surroundings. As soon as they discover someone from the Leone Empire, we would be notified right away." Suddenly, he frowned after saying those words. He could hear the fierce fighting over the Communication Rune. It was already late at night, but the other side was still in battle with the Leone Empire.

"It seems like your boys are quite busy over there." George muttered.

"We have underestimated the military might of the Leone Empire. Who would have thought that they actually have a brilliant strategist in their midst? It is because of that guy that we lost a lot of soldiers. I really want to meet that guy." There was a hint of curiosity in Lexter's voice.

"A strategist? That's indeed surprising. By the way, did those bastards ask for reinforcements? My men are starting to get restless and they are dying for some action." George asked.

"Not yet, but they should be close to reaching that point. They have some fearsome warriors on their side so it's taking a bit of time to penetrate their camp. I've sent a spy to Lion City and I'll inform you once they send reinforcements to Vale City." Lexter replied.

"Alright. I'll wait for your good news." George dropped the call after that. He was slowly getting impatient, but he didn't blame Lexter since he also noticed the peculiarities of the Leone Empire's army through their conversation.

***

Meanwhile, Lexter was seated inside his tent when he heard the voice of his adjutant.

"Grand General, I'm here to deliver a report."

Lexter adjusted his uniform and said. "Come inside."

The adjutant entered the tent and he saluted as soon as he saw Lexter. He then walked towards him and handed him a piece of paper. "Our frontline unit has breached the gate of our enemy's camp and they are still fighting with their melee unit now. We have forty thousand casualties on our side. Approximately twenty-seven thousand of our soldiers have died and the others are either seriously injured or mildly injured. They are now resting in our medical tents..."

While the adjutant was speaking, Lexter was reading the piece of paper that contains detailed information about their losses. He found it surprising that they had so many casualties on the first day of the war. What made him even more shocked was that their frontline unit was only facing twenty thousand enemy soldiers! That was less than a third of their number and they were still on the losing end!

"What kind of bullshit is this?! Even with our huge advantage in numbers, we are still losing?! We even lost one Level 4 Esper! Goddammit! What is Gustavo doing?!" Lexter shouted angrily.

The adjutant could only lower his head in silence.

"Tell Gustavo that we need to crush the twenty thousand advance force of the enemy. Send him another twenty thousand soldiers. You can send our Iron Elephant Army as well. Let's see if those bastards still won't die!" Lexter muttered with a dark look.

Hearing this, the adjutant couldn't help but raise his head in surprise. "Send the Iron Elephant Army? But Grand General, they are our best fighting force. It would be bad if we lost a lot of them..."

Lexter glared at the adjutant which scared the latter. "Just follow what you are ordered to do! Leave!" He dismissed the adjutant.

The poor guy immediately left his tent.

After the adjutant left, Lexter fell into silence. He knew the quality of their soldiers. Although the soldiers he sent to Gustavo were mostly comprised of ordinary men, there were still thousands of Espers among them. This kind of lineup should have been enough to kill twenty thousand soldiers, so how did the Leone Empire survive until now?

'Did they send their experts to fight against those ordinary soldiers?'

'No. That's not possible. Their strategist is a cunning person so he shouldn't have made this kind of stupid mistake. The only possibility is that they used some kind of tactic once again to balance out the difference in number.' Lexter frowned as he thought of this. A strategy that could defy the huge difference in quantity was by no means easy to formulate. This time, he started to feel a hint of fear toward their strategist.

At first, he wanted to meet this person and invite him to join their Ford Empire, but he suddenly wanted to kill that guy to prevent future troubles from appearing.

"Once our Iron Elephant Army strikes them, those bastards would certainly retreat and call for reinforcements. I'll ask Gustavo to capture some of the Leone Empire's high-ranking officers and ask them who their strategist is." Lexter muttered to himself as he stood up from his seat. He then got out of the tent and looked at the battlefield.

It was dark, but he could still hear the violent clashing of weapons from afar. He even wondered how those soldiers were fighting in the darkness.

The Espers were fine since they could use their superior eyesight to see what was happening in the darkness, but the ordinary soldiers weren't the same.

"Tomorrow, we will gain the upper hand." He muttered in a calm voice.