The Guarded Princess

XLVIII

Preparations were going fairly well and the most likely reason was probably that all the countries that had been gathered had all experienced their own war in a sense. Whether it be the Kingdom of Sindria, the Kou Empire, the Reim Empire, the Imuchakk, the Kingdom of Sasan, the Kingdom of Artemyra, or the Heliophat Kingdom, they all had their own history when it came to war. Each one of them cooperated with one another as their subordinates relayed their orders to their commanders and soldiers, not taking a single break in between. Even if their enemy was a small matter, they weren't willing to take it easy.

Sinbad and Ja'far, along with the other generals, organized the system of attacks and some of them went to help their own Kingdom in deciding which strategy was the best to take for anyone knew that they were the ones that would soon ascend the thrones of their Kingdom as the next successors in line.

Kouen along with Koumei, Kouha, Kougyoku, Hakuei, and Hakuryuu commanded their mass Kou Empire's army for, in terms of size, the Kou Empire had the largest one. Moreover, Kouen and Koumei were rumored for their brilliant tactics when it came to both offense and defense. The two were witty and quick to adjust to situations and their fellow siblings carried their orders perfectly. Each one of them was a metal vessel user and it was no wonder how the Kou Empire came to grow because of them.

Scheherazade left the commanding to Muu as Ignatius aided him. In times of war, the Royal Prince Nerva Julius Caluades was left behind for not only was he not capable of djinn equipping but also he had no desire to participate in such. Scheherazade knew all the people close to her and she, who had watched him grow up, knew that he would prove to be of no aid in this war. The Fanalis Corps had been brought in as well for even though they couldn't be compared to metal vessel users, their strength was unparalleled. No one could stand up against them and possibly not even the Imuchakk.

Alibaba went from leader to leader, offering his opinions of what they should do for they shouldn't only rely on their numbers and strength but also choose tactics that would wipe out the enemies with little effort - something that the Kou Empire had already planned on to which Alibaba offered more insight on. Morgiana, too, went with Muu and the Fanalis Corps for she would prove to be of use to them as both a Fanalis and a Household Vessel user.

As they busied around the palace and around the grounds on the island, training for the upcoming war, Lucy watched from the sidelines up on a cliff with a serene face as Masrur stood by her side, watching the soldiers train. The wind softly blew their hair and robes, a cool breeze carried along with it.

"Everyone's doing their best in this war," she smiled and sipped her tea.

"Yeah," Masrur replied. "They're taking everything into precaution."

Lucy continued watching as an ambivalent look crossed her eyes, her lips pulling into a tight frown. "I want to do something."

Masrur looked at her before averting his eyes back onto the training grounds. "It can't be helped."

"You didn't need to accompany me, Masrur. Muu and Morgiana offered you to train with the Fanalis Corps and go over battle plans, didn't they?" she smiled.

"My role is to be by your side. Moreover, I need to utilize it in order to protect you," he said.

"I can protect myself," she chuckled.

"It's a precaution," he answered, earning from her another laugh.

"I see," she softened her eyes. "My metal vessel is through sound so there's not much I can do to help train everyone. Even now, I'm still fighting along the sidelines and not at the front. It's troubling, not being able to fight on the same level as them."