Firstborn: Return of the heir

“Sir, we got urgent news from the front! The military is requesting your presence as soon as possible!”

Recalling the moment when he received this report, right after Bloy mentioned what he should do once travelling to the south, Saulus unintentionally tightened his fists.

There is no damned way that he didn’t know about it. This guy… May the judgment of the firstborns over his soul be as harsh as his character is! Cursing, Saulus barely managed to keep his face perfectly calm. Being the head general of the entire rebellion that he was, he couldn’t afford to show his emotions openly.

Yet, this task to keep his expression stable turned out to be quite challenging when more and more signs of the ongoing war continued to appear in his vision.

Back in Mengia, if someone wasn’t informed, they may miss the fact that a huge civil struggle had erupted. Only by travelling a fair distance to the south could one notice the constant changes that this once fertile ground for colonization was going through.

Starting with the very caravan that Saulus hitched a ride with, the fact that something this huge was travelling to the south was already game-changing for the locals. No matter whether they were under the Burn of the old or the newer Retesian rule, it was always the locals organizing themselves in bigger groups and then travelling north to sell their goods at the market.

Outside of the military convoys, that was the truth that the locals knew. But now, it had changed.

The route that was north heavy and almost always free to travel to the south now turned to be busy in both directions. At this point, Saulus had no choice but to be thankful to Retesian engineers that turned the former mud tract that cut those lands and turned it into a proper road suitable for military use. Even if they did it for the sake of their own war-plans, the wide road was now of great use to those who were supposed to be suppressed by it in the first place.

But the further south the group travelled, the more signs of war-effort Saulus could spot. From temporary camps for the injured soldiers, through huge campsites of private merchants aiming to generate profit, all the way to the smuggler camps defying Saulus’ rule with how they were openly established.

Most of those temporary campsites were something that would be eradicated sooner or later. The type of war that Saulus aimed in the south made it a crucial point to enclose his enemies in their respective provinces, with no access to the external markets and resources. But dealing with those war-profiteers could wait.

Because the report that Saulus received was indeed urgent.

According to the note that the messenger passed to him, the situation at the front was quite dire. While the Retesian loyalist wasn’t insane to the point of sending in the mages so early in the war, apparently the enemy forces implemented some kind of tactic that the second legion couldn’t really cope with.

Keeping in mind all the defenses that he ordered to be prepared in advance, Saulus was quite curious just what kind of maneuvers could make his soldiers so confused. Even if he wanted to blame it on how inexperienced his soldiers were, it wasn’t the case for their respective commanding officers.

“Sir, we will reach the war camp soon.”

Forced outside of the imaginary shell that Saulus liked to create around himself whenever he fell deep into his thoughts, the young general looked at his coachman with a confused look on his face.

“Ah, sorry. I was deep in thought. Thanks for the info.”

Even though he was a general, that didn’t mean Saulus felt that he was better than people like this coachman. It wasn’t his achievement to be placed in Venna’s family all those years ago. Just like he followed a certain path through life, so did this coachman, meaning, there was absolutely no reason for Saulus to be rude to a serviceman!

Turning his sight away from the recovery camps that grew denser and denser the closer they got to the actual frontline, Saulus aimed his eyes towards the direction the caravan was heading towards. And just like the coachman proclaimed, he could already see both the walls of the small city nearby and the smoke from the endless battlefield hidden on the other side of the settlement.

“Dang it… That many recovery camps… Those fires… Was I wrong about their ability to stand their ground?”

Uttering those words to himself, Saulus suddenly stood up from his seat. Even with all the improvements that Retesian engineers did to the road, it still wasn’t smooth enough to keep the carriage perfectly stable. Avoiding tripping on the wobbly floor only thanks to his own agility, Saulus brought his knee up before placing it on the side-wall of the carriage.

Before he could give out an order, one of the soldiers pushed his horse forward, lining it up with the carriage before jumping down from his horse. Running a few steps after the brave jump, one of Saulus’ personal guards quickly regained his balance and joined the marching group of infantry behind the carriage.

“Men, on me. I want to see what the hell is going on there.”

That single order was more than enough for Saulus’s personal company. Consisting of nothing but hardened veterans that he had already trusted with his life on several battlefields in the past, they stood in stark contrast to what the majority of the second legion represented.

In just a few moments, a group of ten riders jumped ahead of the long line of the caravan, quickly riding past the city and to the open field where a single detachment from the second legion was holding the hordes of enemies back.