Chương 57: [BL] 56. Plan?

Willow only glanced at her status information for a bit since she was fighting, but even then, she couldn't help but wonder why the hell her [Auric Huntress] was clearly much more powerful than her [Ravenous Anatomist]. Even [Ravenous Anatomist]'s highest attribute, Arcanery, was beaten by [Auric Huntress]'s Arcanery by a mere 1 point. It was as if the Bright Rune was insulting her Dark Wind Rune. Maybe this was to be expected?

She still hadn't imbued anything for her anatomist class yet; besides, this was the Bright Rune after all. Still, one of its weaknesses was that, unlike [Ravenous Anatomist], which allowed her to recover a rune per limb cut, the [Auric Huntress] did not have any easy way to recover runes. Her Elf Ear promised increased effectiveness of the Rune into… Wait. Mana? Not Rune but Mana? It was the first time she had studied it, so she took her time, chewing her lips, but she still did not understand.

What was the connection between Elf and Mana? So… for now, she could spread her runes into mana to enchant her spells and enhancer… I need to practice that and to find out about elves. When Willow was about to ask about them, she found everyone was staring at her. Oh right, Derrick had asked about the new Divine Hunt. Willow explained it to them.

There was obviously an amazing upgrade, such as an increased Hunt Party member count, and the party members' experience was further increased by about two times, while Willow got up to a 150% bonus. And all of that, not counting the additional 100% bonus for each hunt target.

"Truly, it's a wonder," Kroos mumbled, and Derrick beside him appeared as if something had struck him in the face.

"This string of light, can you see it?" Derrick asked. She tried to focus her being on it, and a thin line of yellow fluttered out of her chest, beaming right through the throne room's wall. The others stayed waiting, and Willow realised they could not see it.

"I can, but it only appears to me," Willow said.

"I can see it too," Shera said.

"So Hunt Party members will see it as well… and this will lead to the main hunt target?" Derrick asked.

"I think so? It's not specified." Derrick went silent for a while. The man then stepped down from the dais and pulled a chair for himself to sit, resting his hand on the table and his chin above his fist.

"Please sit, Champion Leynah. No one else is coming here. I always prefer strategy meetings to be done with as few people as possible."

"Yes, Lord First," Leynah bowed and pulled a chair beside Willow.

"So, strategy, ser? Not tactics?"

"None of the three Riftborn hosts is attacking yet. They are aware of each other, I suppose. And we still have enough manpower to handle them more easily than aerial Riftborn. We have fourteen tier-three, counting the scouting party I've brought back."

"And about three times as many tier-twos," Kross added.

"A great number. My Lord's son sure loves his wife-to-be."

"Kroos, friend, it's no longer time to hold on to your dissatisfaction," Derrick sighed.

"We have to deal with what we have."

"And we will," Kroos said.

"If you are to lead an entire attack force consisting of the tier-threes, will you be able to cut through one of these hosts?"

"I'm confident we can," Derrick said.

"In fact, I'm about to recommend exactly that. A piercing attack upon the Centaurs, which we confirm to be the weakest host. The result should be either other hosts take advantage to attack the Centaurs, or they're desperate to down the entire fortress, which I'd expect will stand strong."

"Do not worry about that, my friend," Kroos said as he stretched.

"The simplest plan is always the best." Hm, that seemed so reckless to Willow. Gathering all tier-three and attacking an entire army? But then again, she remembered how much of a pain in the ass a single tier-three was. So it might work…

"My lord, if you excuse me…" Leynah raised her voice hesitantly. Kroos motioned for her to go on.

"Royal Guard Becks and I have been assigned to… the Bright One. So I'd like to take us out of such an operation."

"That will be a problem indeed," Derrick said, then he gave Kroos a pointed glance.

"Why does the girl—pardon, Bright Lady—have two tier-threes as her guards? It's excessive, don't you think, Kroos?"

"Ah, I forgot about that," Kroos admitted.

"Well, if you want to know the reason—it's because my granddaughter has now guaranteed a spot on Lady Willow's hunt Party in exchange for Champion Leynah's service to her."

"How does that even make sense? Champion Leynah is not your soldier."

"My friend, let's forget the unnecessary details. Besides, what does title mean anymore, really? All of us except for the Bright Lady here are traitors on the run." That statement silenced the room for a bit. Shera gripped the edge of her shirt, seeming especially troubled. With a loud sigh, Derrick steered the conversation back to the strategy meeting.

"The second plan is to increase the legionnaires' tier slowly to tier-two through the Bright Lady's Hunt Party. Every time an attack comes, we will get stronger, and slowly we will have armies of tier-twos to combat every host." This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. That sounded like the better plan.

"Can you kick a party member out, my lady?" Willow tried to focus, and beside her, Shera let out a horrified gasp. Willow gave her a sheepish grin before squeezing Shera's hand and inviting her to the party again.

"Yep, confirmed." Willow gave a thumbs-up.

"My lady, if necessary, will you commit both Champion Leynah and Royal Guard Becks to an attack force?" Derrick asked. The entire reason Willow wanted Leynah and Becks for her guards was the ridiculous level of power she had seen. The Blackfyre Imps, the Lich Queen, and the Griffins… She wanted to have a certain degree of safety. But she would not let her wish interrupt the greater good. Kroos seemed to have the same line of thinking. He observed Willow, and she knew the Count wanted to see her decision.

"If you decide an attack force is the best course of action, then yes. Of course, that depends on whether or not Leynah and Becks want to join." A grateful smile crossed the Count's lips; he gave her a small nod that Willow returned.

"Champion Leynah?" Derrick asked.

"I believe that keeping Willow safe is more important," Leynah answered, crossing her arms. Willow blinked. Well… She certainly did not expect her to refuse. To be fair, Kroos did say that title no longer mattered, but still… Derrick looked lost for words, and behind him Kroos let out a rich laugh, even tapping his stomach as he cackled. The First Sword turned to his lord, scraping his chair back.

"This is not funny! If every single soldier views titles as no longer mattering, then why would they listen to us? You'd better keep your mouth from saying such nonsense, Kroos."

"Not everyone here is a guard to a Bright Star, so we should not worry about that. Even so, what a conundrum. Losing one tier-three like this is a colossal blow!" Kroos spread his arms out in faux vexation.

"Especially if the Bright Lady wanted to talk to them and offer them a chance to be her guard. Should that happen, what could we do?"

"Are you encouraging her?" Derrick demanded.

"Think about it, Derrick," Kroos leaned in conspiratorially.

"Nay, imagine it. Imagine the Princess's face when she found her Royal Guard had turned into the Bright One's guard. She ought to taste her own medicine." Kroos then regarded Willow.

"Just know, girl, that you can have such power. I'm a traitor. My title is useless compared to yours," Kroos repeated.

"Just remember that when you deal with the other Counts that come along with my lord's army."

"Not wanting the girl to be taken advantage of is fine, Kroos, but to encourage her to gather power?" Derrick shook his head.

"Apologies, Bright One, but it seems my lord and I needed to discuss how to proceed, and it's better if we keep this talk just between us. I shall inform you of our strategy, and we will not involve Royal Guard Becks and Champion Leynah if they refuse to."

"No need for that," Kroos casually said.

"We will go with the second strategy to improve the legionaries. Willow, will you use your Hunt Party for this plan?"

"I will," Willow said. This plan sounded the most reasonable.

"Of course, I will join the fight so they can level faster—""No." Three resounding noes echoed from Kroos, Derrick, and Leynah. The two tier-threes and tier-four stared at her like she was stupid. Shera looked around and blinked at Willow, wordlessly mouthing, 'What did you do?'

"Why?"

"Because you need to rest. To sleep," Kroos said.

"Someone who never held a sword before plunged into a never-ending fight… That will not end well if you continue without at least a day to yourself," Derrick said, smiling at Willow.

"Take a day. Go do something. Do you fancy reading, my lady? Lord Kroos possesses a library of various books of both history and fiction in his Lord's Castle."

"Are you sure about this?" Willow looked at each of them. Rest sounded… pleasant.

"They are," Leynah said as she held a gaze with Willow's eyes. Her voice was filled with finality that convinced Willow, but there was still something else that bothered her, and she certainly wouldn't be able to rest without addressing it.

"The Grand Hunt on the Treant. What if we have to be there?"

"That is, of course, our greatest concern," Kroos confirmed.

"We take it seriously, which is why the Princess will handle it. They will probably assign the tier-five Sentinel—The Duke's First Sword—to raid the rift. We have done everything we can, Willow, even holding three hosts of Riftborn. This will certainly ease the pressure on the main army."

"I would even argue that by rushing to attack, we would just end up spreading the Riftborn hosts, and they might re-engage the main army," Leynah said to Derrick.

"It is a possibility," Derrick said.

"Keeping the Riftborns here might be the best course we can take, all the while we grow most of our army to tier-two."

"Let's be frank, Derrick, if the Sentinel could not deal with this Treant's Rift, then we'd be better off staying far away and making our way to the village," Kroos said.

"Kroos…" Derrick chided tiredly.

"We did what we could, my friend. Holding three entire armies with only a single tier-four. Nobody there will complain. Besides, we have the Princess's daughter here. Imagine that! We have a pretext to protect the Royal Blood. Truly, what a noble duty."

"I suppose we can use that reason if someone raises a question," Derrick agreed. Leynah coughed, and the silver-haired gave the Lord and his First Sword a pointed look.

"My Lord, something like this should be kept only for your inner circle. It's better if we do not hear this, especially the Bright Lady."

"Ah, already settling into your guard duty well, aren't you, Champion Leynah?" Kroos smiled. By now, Willow just realized that Leynah had tried to keep her from a possible political landmine. Leynah's hand rested on Willow's shoulder, slowly nudging her. It's time to get out.

"Well done," Kroos said, to the surprise of both Leynah and Willow.

"Stay close to her, and yes, you're right. This is a conversation for Derrick and me. Now, the three of you heard nothing."

"We don't," Leynah agreed.

"Right, I guess we don't," Willow mumbled. She tapped Shera's hip, and the other girl stood stiffly.

"Yes, I don't either."

"Good, good," Kroos nodded approvingly.

"My Lord, do you by any chance have information on Elf?" Willow asked before they ran away to the exit.

"Ah, yes, of course. I know you will ask that. Champion Leynah, please take Lady Willow to the library so she can procure anything related to the elf."

"Yes, my Lord," Leynah said.

"I will get her to bed right after."

"I'm not a child," Willow grumbled.