The room was deathly quiet.
Paige's face turned ashen. He had just sworn that Broken Fang was a spy and a deserter, and had been eager to execute him to appease that man... Only for Free City to come roaring back?
"Did you really kill him?" Paige still clung to a sliver of hope.
"Yes..."
"What about the boy?"
His confidant made a throat-slitting gesture.
Paige could not even blame him. He was the one who had told him to hurry...
"Send word to Duke Kingsley. And insist they were deserters." Paige had a maid pull on his boots, then stood.
Paige went to the Map Room and stared at the map for a while. "The Rat Tide wiped out every force around them. Where did they come from, and how did they take it back?"
"The Watchtower said they saw Free City's cavalry retreat underground at dusk. The Ratfolk kept attacking, then at midnight the cavalry suddenly charged back out..."
"Could they have seen it wrong?"
Paige was so troubled that he even began to doubt the Watchtower.
"Probably not... Magic light is easy to see at night."
Paige felt cursed. All he had wanted was to get on Duke Kingsley's good side, since the duke disliked Annan... Fortunately, this was only a minor nuisance.
"I refuse to believe that sorcerer will come after me over one Ratfolk and one boy." Paige believed he had done nothing wrong. Free City had already been routed, and the Orr Empire never showed mercy to losers. Even the Tartun Empire had no right to interfere.
"Keep a close eye on Hell Mountain," Paige said viciously. "He has no reinforcements anywhere nearby, and he's right on the front line... I don't believe they can withstand the Ratfolk's main force!"
Belial's First Phase