As soon everything was sorted out, the banquet came to an end. It was just too much for a day. The nobles all went home to where they would be safe and those who wanted to help out sent their chief knight's captain to be with us. One would think that most of these nobles didn't want to be involved in something like a war but that was not it. They knew that when the duchy would fall, they would fall too. Anxiety was a strong weapon and a motivation to act.
"How many knights are outside wanting to help us?"
Me, Micheal and Ryan were now sitting in a room all together including a holy knight which was Noel. Jazmin was outside dealing with all the support we were receiving. They were just too many knights appearing at our church and a good number of knights were on standby to start marching out to the battlefield the moment we would too.
"We have the support of 20 families as of now."
"Numbers?"
"More than a thousand men from what we could get from all the knights captains party numbers."
"That is a lot."
"A lot is also on the line."
Ryan was mostly observing this whole scenario but he was also commenting every now and then too just like right now. For him, it was more important to get moving rather than sit around like what we were doing. Still it was important to do this and since I told him to sit, he was actually sitting here with us. We needed a plan. These men never thought of a demonic beast nor seen one in real life. It would be a great shock and a huge loss if we would send them into the battle straight in. We had to come up with a plan that would work. Of course Ryan would be the one leading the knights while me and Micheal would be with the holy knights.
"Why are we sitting here again and not marching?"
"Brother, do you want to risk all their lives?"
"It's a battlefield they are gonna risk their lives either way."
"That might seem logical to you but these knights are not trained for battle."
It was obvious that what Micheal just said was the truth. I wanted to say the same thing but he beat me to it. Besides I did feel uneasy waiting instead of marching on too. It was my family which was on the line after all.
"Then what do you suggest, your Eminence?"
"These knights never fought into a real battle. They are trained to be discord knights and battle normal knights or even robbers and bandits."
"So?"
"They won't know what to do with a demonic beast."
Apparently Micheal also knew the rumors about the demonic beast which were planned to be usd. I sometimes really was thinking that I was the only one who didn't know something like that. However it also just might be my imagination since the holy knights were something more than just knights. They were also an information guild which would know about various things. No wonder he knew who I was back then too.
"How do you know about the beasts?"
"I know that the crown requested the old pops help in creating them. So I know a bit about them as well."
"Why didn't you say anything about it!"
"Because I would have lost my life with the pope still being around. Right now he is in a prison cell and there is no escape from his fate."
"So you are not scared that he will escape?"
"My holy knights wouldn't let him. Jasper is already on this mission."
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha"
"Brother?"
"Some fine pope you are not fearing to shed any blood."
"My role is to help and aid the people of this empire. If that means to eliminate something like the pope which was already poisoning the church, then so be it."
"I really kinda like you."
Was it just me who thought that the conversation was a bit weird? It was definitely not something my brother and Micheal should be having right now. We had more important things to do but I did agree with Micheal since it was also my plan on getting rid of the pope. He was just someone who would do anything for his own good ignoring what others may say. It was too dangerous to have him around. An unpredictable variable which could destroy our plans if found out that is. This was the better option besides the fact that he was simply a bastard who was taking bribes for himself.
"Can we focus back on our topic?"
"Sure Vivi."
"Yes, we should do that."
"How are we supposed to tell them that they are fighting against beasts?"
"We don't."
"We can't just simply not tell them though!"
"We can! It is a battlefield. Everything can happen there."
"No brother. They are willing to throw their lives away for us! It would be wrong to deceive them."
"I agree with Vivi here. You might be used to the beast but these people are not. They will be with you on the battlefield too. Do you want them to be in a disarray? "
"No, I don't need headless chickens running around with swords."
"Then I suggest telling them about it before we arrive there."
"Alright....I will do that."
"Question."
"Yes, what's up Vivi?"
"What are you thinking, Vivi?"
"What if we surround the battlefield? In the front there will be our duchies knights and we could get from behind."
"That is a good plan but that also doesn't give us much of an escape route."
"Do we need one?"
Now it was my turn to look like an idiot. I didn't have any ideas about what a battle was looking like. I mean never in my entire life did I encounter a war before at all. Why should I know about these kinds of things anyways. I knew from a clueless beings perspective that surrounding the prey would be the best choice. Wolves hunt in packs and would usually do that as well if they had to take down a huge animal. So why not do that? I also didn't see the problem with the escape route because if our men were surrounding the prey then we had all the sides to escape too whenever we needed it.
"We do. As our Eminence here pointed out earlier. These knights have no experience that could help them. We need a way to make sure they will get to you two and get treated fast."
"Not only that but we don't know what is going on there. We might be running into a trap."
"I see.... But don't we like the surroundings to escape too?"
"In an ideal world, yes but not with a beast or a demon there. They will be hunting the men and not letting them escape until they are all dead."
"I'm starting to think that this battle will be cruel."
"It will, which is why I don't want you to be there... well at least not close to it."
"Don't worry about that. I will have a small camp be set at a safe distance. I already dispatched some holy knights to check out the situation."
"I see."
We started to continue to think about plans and write down some strategies on a paper to show it to everyone. It definitely took us a couple of tries and probably also a couple of hours till we found the best solution to our problem. In the end we decided to split up the knights. Some would go with Ryan and some would go with Jasper and Noel. These people would be the front and both sides. The attack would leave them the corner open to run away. Meanwhile Jaz was the one who would control the rest of the holy knights. Since they were skilled with bows as well, they were the rear making sure that everyone had a safe path to escape too. Then there was me and Micheal who were supposed to be away from the battlefield and there to treat anyone who would get hurt. Since I could heal people in an area, I could also heal them all while I was not immediately there. Well for now, I was not planning on using it.
"Seems like we have a plan."
"Seems like it."
"Yup. This should work."
As soon as we had our plan set, we all got out of the room and went to the knights captains. There were after all more knights waiting for us but the captains had to know about the plan. It took us less than 15 minutes to explain the plan and then the hard fact about the demonic beast was mentioned. Of course they seemed uneasy and even scared for their lives but none of them was about to back off here at all.
"What do you suggest we do when we encounter a demonic beast or a demon?"
"Demons are no different than us humans. Serve their heads or pierce their hearts. That will stop them. They do have a great self healing ability. So any wounds that are not fatal will heal up immediately. Keep this in mind."
"Yes Sire"
All the knights captains were listening to the explanation Micheal was giving them. He told me once that the church had created these things and so he knew a lot more about them than Ryan would. I could see from the corner of my eyes that Ryan was impressed by how Ryan was telling them great details about their weaknesses as well as how to slay them in a specific way. He also warned them not to stab or hurt their arms since they were fast and would usually just take the hit knowing they would heal just to hurt the one swinging the sword if not killing that individual.
"Now for the beasts. There are various types of beast that could be there. We don't know what beast will be on the battlefield as well. Some have great speed and some are very slow but have an impenetrable skin. Still there is one thing they all do have in common."
The knights really listened to what my brother had to say about the beasts. This was something the duchy had already specialized themselves in. They were fighting these things for eons after all.
"Try to stab the beast right between their eyes. That spot is one of the weak spots as well as their armpits and the middle of the back and the neck."
My brother was showing them some points but also some stabbing motions with his sword as to encourage and help them out a little bit. It seemed as if that worked since now these knights seemed a lot more confident than before. I knew that they were only confident since they knew they were fighting for their loved ones' lives and their very own generations to continue to live on this land. Nothing would do them good if they would continue to be scared or anxious. This was the reason for hesitations and that was fatal for a knight as they could lose their lives too.
In order to encourage them a bit more, I decided to step up as well and remove my veil too.
"Today we fight for our future and don't worry about your lives. I will be there including our new pope to heal and save all the people that will get hurt."
The moment I revealed who I was, I could see their surprised faces but they seemed more relieved when they saw my eyes.
"Let's move, soldiers!"
"YES, CAPTAIN!"
"For a better future!"
"FOR A BETTER FUTURE!"
I think we might have given them enough spirit to march into the battle and not fear their lives. The effect of revealing my identity was simple. Everyone knew that the people of the duchy had special abilities which were very strong. Seeing as I was one of these people, meant that my healing powers were extraordinary. They might even think that I could bring back the dead. Who knows what they were really thinking but it seemed to help them feel more at ease.
"Are you okay with revealing yourself?"
"Yes brother. You saw how they looked at me... they are not scared anymore at all."
"I know that but-"
"Ryan, leave them their faith in me. They will need that.
"Yes, Vivi... just don't overwork yourself."
"I won't don't worry."
Just like that we started to head out to war. Time had finally come.