The Emperor’s Daily Nitpicking - CH 42

When Theodore entered the hall, the white eagle carrying the message had just flown out of the hall, and Oswald was talking to Kevin and the young lion Ben, who had been called over on short notice this afternoon, with a serious look on his face.

“Is His Majesty busy? I can go out and wait if he is busy. It is important to deal with the state of affairs. Mine is only a small matter.” Theodore was dressed in rags but carried out the royal salute, making it rather saddening to watch. The man was good at everything, but he was too fond of modesty, and when he overdid it, his words brought out a sense of irony.

He was the king of a city-state and had left the Jinshi Empire with an escort of a hundred men, but now only a few were left. Most of his men had been captured by the Sand Ghosts, and the country was about to fall. So, nothing could be called a significant matter if this was a small matter.

If it were really not urgent, it would be unlikely that he would not even change his clothes and go straight to the point.

Oswald waved his hand and said, “A trivial matter.”

It wasn’t really trivial. After receiving one urgent report after another from Peter in the morning, he felt that the situation would be messy. The Sand Ghost had entirely stirred up the previously agreed alliance of city-states, and the intention to surround the Beifeicu Empire was in vain.

More importantly, the Sand Ghosts had attacked quickly and viciously, killing almost all the returning kings of the city-states in just one day. This made Oswald feel that time was running out.

He had a hunch that the journey of the troops scheduled to leave in three days would not be too smooth, so he changed his mind and advanced the plan. The other armies assigned to the various locations were so large that they could not all be set up in half a day, so they were moved up by a day or two. The two troops assigned to the Old Rose Fortress were moved up the fastest.

Oswald spent the whole afternoon preparing everything needed for the two armies to disguise themselves as caravans and then completely changed the original plan and sent them off before nightfall down an old hidden road at the bottom of the Great Rift Valley, directly to the Mirage.

Kevin, who had been fighting with Oswald to be the lead in the morning, suddenly changed his mind in the afternoon. Not only did he not continue to insist on the leader’s position, but he was very supportive of the emperor’s decision to send the two teams out early.

“Just in case.” Both men pretty much thought the same way.

After Wood and Nick had set off with the two teams, Oswald sent Kevin to the barracks again before nightfall to fetch Ben over and have him carry the message of the Sand Ghost raid back to the valley where the Giant Beastman were staying, using a method unique to the Giant Beastman clan. King Theodore arrived at the Palace just as Ben had returned.

When Kevin saw the emperor wanted to talk about business, he initially planned to leave the hall with Ben but was stopped by Oswald with a raised hand.

The emperor did not say anything nor turn to look at him, but Kevin understood what he meant. He simply led Ben to a seat at the bottom of the emperor’s right side, leaning back in his chair and holding his arm, with his left hand hanging down just enough to rest unnoticed on the handle of the short sword at his waist.

In the face of an outsider, the emperor naturally could not appear to be in a hurry for time. So, Theodore was given a seat and refreshments to fill his hunger, allowing him to catch his breath a little.

The King of Leiyin City was very self-conscious and sent the four personal guards he had brought with him to wait outside the hall as soon as he had entered to avoid intrusion. Although he took his seat, he did not touch his tea, clearly not interested in eating or drinking.

“What exactly is going on?” Oswald asked. “The rainy season has ended early, but it is still the time when the humidity is at its worst. The Sand Ghosts do not usually choose to leave the desert in these conditions. How can this be so unusual?”

Theodore shook his head with a bitter expression, “I’m not really sure why they left the desert so early. When our group travelled along the Long Pine Forest Trail on the outskirts of the Beifeicu Empire’s border towards Leiyin City, we hadn’t even heard any rumours of Sand Ghost sightings. But when we took the path towards the Ice Field at the end of the Long Pine Forest Trail, we received a distress call from King Stowe in Peida City, followed by successive letters of distress, which barely stopped.”

He banged his clenched fist heavily on the armrest of his seat and sighed. “To be honest, when we first received the distress letter from Peida, we planned to turn around and go there for support. But after I received half a dozen distress letters from different people, I lost the courage to do the same. At that time, I guessed some Sand Ghosts would stage an ambush outside Leiyin City, waiting for us to throw ourselves into the trap. So, I ordered a return immediately, hoping to come over and ask for help at your instance.”

“And you ended up encountering Sand Ghosts halfway?” Oswald asked in a deep voice, frowning.

“Yes!” Theodore nodded, “The only saving grace is that we didn’t run into a whole army of Sand Ghosts in ambush, but rather some scattered troops left behind from the raid on another state. I’m not sure if they didn’t follow the main group or were cleaning up the aftermath. But even the stragglers are enough to make us suffer, as you can see, Your Majesty.”

He opened his arms, showing off his bloodstained and torn clothes, and pointed to the four personal guards waiting outside the hall, saying, “If they hadn’t fought to the death to protect me from my fate, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here. Of the nearly 100 guards I had with me, only these four are left now, and the rest have almost been wiped out. The people that I brought back with me are similarly……”

Theodore’s voice trailed off as his throat went hoarse.

Oswald listened with a frown, watching him with a sullen gaze, and his gaze fell just at the hall’s door. Theodore’s face was depressed and pensive when he said this as if he were again immersed in the great tribulation that had previously overtaken him.

“You-” Oswald looked up and was about to speak when he felt another blackness before his eyes, and his heart suddenly skipped a few beats, his ears buzzing and chirping.

“How do you intend to get me to help?” He forced himself to hold back these discomforts and finished the second half of his sentence in a calm and steady tone that was the same as usual. Then he collected his expression and waited for the discomfort to pass.

It sounded as if he was naturally pausing on the spot.

But Kevin, sitting at the bottom of his seat, was sensitive to the difference. It was probably because he had been in contact with Oswald so much in his daily life that he knew the emperor’s tone and manner of speaking too well.

He did not immediately turn his head to look at Oswald but casually glanced at him under a calm and relaxed appearance.

It was not until Oswald had finished a sentence that he naturally turned his gaze over.

When Theodore wasn’t looking, he frowned slightly at Oswald and gave him a questioning look. But Oswald’s eyes were still half-lidded, his gaze heavy in Theodore’s direction.

It was clear to Kevin: He had another blackout.

This had happened three times in the afternoon, and the physician had been called to see him in the middle of the afternoon. However, not much could be concluded other than that he had been up all night last night, concentrating too hard and suffering from a temporary deficit in his strength.

This would have been understandable if it had happened to anyone else, but when it happened to Oswald, both he and Kevin felt something was wrong. After all, he had stayed up all night, and several older ministers had no reaction, but a man in his prime had a deficiency? How could that be?

However, the day was too busy for them to think about it.

Kevin, however, had a vague feeling that a storm was coming. Oswald must have been thinking the same thing as he was, which was why he had left him and Ben behind when Theodore entered the hall.

Ten Wujin Iron soldiers also remained in the hall, standing on either side.

After Oswald asked that question, Theodore replied, “The Sand Ghosts are too rampant and too difficult to deal with and dangerous because of their unique physiology. It is a little too much to ask you to send troops to support Leiyin City so that we can retake the initiative to save the people. I cannot be so shameless. I only hope Your Majesty can offer me the convenience of borrowing a secret passage from the Jinshi Empir so I can return to Leiyin City by another route.”

“A secret passage?” Oswald looked puzzled.

“I know it’s untimely, but I have no choice.” With an embarrassed look on his face, Theodore said, “There are many rumours about the secret passages in your country, and legends say that they can bypass the ones leading to the desert and cross the Long Carat River in the shortest possible time, even leading to the direction of the Ice Fields……”

Oswald snorted and interrupted, “Since when can such rumours be taken seriously? If there really is a secret passage that leads to the Ice Fields, I can just send my troops there and encircle that old Sapir. Wouldn’t it be possible?”

“But……” Theodore looked stiff and tried to fight it again, but then he looked at Oswald and sighed. “Well, then. Could Your Majesty do me a small favour?”

“What favour?” No sooner had Oswald asked than a white eagle burst through the hall door and plunged headfirst into Oswald’s hand, showing how quickly it had flown.

Oswald raised his hand to signal a moment and pulled out the note from the roll on the eagle’s foot. Most of the news he had received from the Imperial City Patrolling Guards had been gathered in and around the Imperial City. He had felt that something was wrong, so he had sent an urgent letter to the Red Iron Army, who was slightly further away in the morning, and now it seemed that he had received a reply.

He unrolled a small paper scroll and saw the words scrawled on it: “The Cities of Peida, Leiyin, Carman, and several smaller city-states have all been attacked. The kings have not been spared.”

Oswald’s fingers tightened as he squeezed the scroll.

The moment he saw the contents of the scroll, Theodore spoke again, following his previous words, “I hope your Majesty…… will enjoy the rest of your captivity!”

As he spoke, his tone changed several times in the blink of an eye, becoming hoarse and unpleasant. The four guards waiting outside the hall shed their skins instantly, sweeping inside as wild sand.