(Hana POV)
"Alright! Alright! Everyone calm down! The demons aren't coming, the groups were just caught in a trap!"
As Dunham tries to calm everyone down, they all start thinking about what recently happened. They are overreacting and it's because in their minds after what Anna said, they think Dunham sent them to the wall to die.
This isn't the time to attack yet since it will be a bit too obvious we want him gone but the soldiers can do the job for us.
Even though nobody tell him directly, it's quite obvious by the atmosphere that the soldiers are all talking or thinking bad things about Dunham. From the way he talks, looks and handles his business.
"What the hell...with that stomach, you'd think the equipment he brings over can even get him up, eh?"
"Dude, isn't it obvious? He's a bottom probably"
"Ahhhh, that explains it. Okay okay. What a fucking loser"
Various rumors about him are spreading right under his nose about him being a "taker" and not a "giver", him being impotent, him being a homosexual and various other tales about his bedtime adventures.
And what should he do? Well, the best course of action is to quell these rumors by improving your behavior, stop calling equipment to your tent, doing spend so lavishly during a fucking war and try working out.
And what did he do? Nothing.
He went back to his tent about telling everyone it's going to be okay and requested for my equipment. Yup. You heard that right.
Without him knowing it, his men already thinks that the reason he is calling the equipment isn't for the conventional reasons. Sorry Dunham.
"Oy Oy Oy...so doesn't this mean that the hero Anna was correct?"
"Yeah, I guess so. Didn't she get other things right as well?"
"Yeah yeah, like that siege machine things? When I was dismantling the ladders, it was so wobbly and some parts even had cracks"
"Then shouldn't she be our leader?"
"Ehhhh, she's a woman though. At least she'll be better than piggy"
Various conversations about Anna start surfacing themselves, comparing her to Dunham. It's not a fair comparison as Dunham and Anna's IQ are too far apart but I'll let it slide as this is very good.
There are some apprehensions about letting a woman be a leader but they immediately quell them with a "at least she'll be better than the last guy, eh?". As if they are choosing between 2 evils.
The sharp words of Anna to Dunham have already spread around the camps and companies of men like a plague through word of mouth. The soldier tells his friends about how this hero challenged Dunham's authority.
Then, those friends get interested and see if it comes true. When it does, they share it with their friends and the cycle repeats and repeats until most of the camp is filled with disdain for Dunham and trust for Anna.
Rome wasn't built in a day and the same with cults. The various leaders needed to put in time and effort into manipulating their audience that they are actually gods or deities.
As heroes however, we have a massive, massive advantage over Dunham. As heroes, we are already valued as deities or higher beings since we will save this world.
Thus, even though Anna is a woman, the fact that Anna is a hero outweighs what's not between her legs.
This continued on for days and days.
On the 16th day, the soldiers started getting disheartened by the orders of Dunham and again, Dunham sent out soldiers to add soil and dirt into the moat of city.
Anna and I dealt with all 20 men and with that, more and more soldiers protests silently against going to fill up the moat. Dunham felt the enmity of the soldiers again him. This promptly stopped the moat filling missions and Dunham lost the respect of more men.
By the 17th day, Anna was telling more and more dissatisfied soldiers about the stupidity for Dunham and generally ranting to them about what they were silently complaining about.
Seeing that a hero was on their side and shared the same harsh feelings against Dunham, they start talking along with her, sharing why they hate Dunham and how he's a disgrace.
During the day, the siege was halted and Dunham said we needed to fill the moat before we do anything else; a good plan. However, he said that some men should go over there and fill it up with logs and such.
The soldiers "politely" said no and they decided on using a catapult to throw some dirt into the moat. Spoiler alert, it didn't work. Before the dirt reached the moat, it separated into many, many pieces.
On the 18th day, Dunham spent the entire day inside his tent, racking his brains on how he will fill that damn moat up. He decided on sending Anna and I there.
I'm not sure if he thought we would die there but it isn't a bad idea. If we completed it, then good. If we didn't, then he can blame us.
"Sir Dunham, I don't think this is too bright an idea; if these two heroes die then we lose massive manpower"
"Yeah! Anna is a smart hero who can help us!"
"Enough! It's decided; hero Hana and Anna will be the candidates to fill the moat!"
'What a dumbass. He can't even lighten his words? Saying that "with our services, we will advance one step further to victory" is much, much better than saying "filling the moat" '
The only problem is that he didn't expect the soldiers to fervently defend Anna and I. They were highly against letting Anna go but under her insistence and saying that she will be okay, the soldiers backed off.
With Anna's silver tongue, we were able to turn the tables against Dunham. There isn't a way in this world you will take credit for anything now, Dunham.
"Powerful men! Do not worry about me! I will come back safe and in the future siege, Hana and I will be sure to assist you so you can defeat the demons!"
""Wooooo!!!"
I can't help but smirk at Anna's quick wits. She first addressed them as "powerful men", showing her respect for them and showing her "submissive womanly" side. Much to their delight. Their faces even brightened up at that first line.
The second and final nail in the coffin was when she said "Hana and I will assist you so you can defeat the demons". This strokes their ego some more and makes them think that as women, we know our place as "support" and that we are giving the credit to them.
Any other woman would be outraged at this but why? If you really dislike their anti-woman traditions of having male generals, then do something about it and stop bitching. Look at me and Anna.
We already have multiple men under us who are mildly misogynistic against women, we changed their view of women ever so slowly so they start accepting us as their future leader.
Now, if Anna completed the mission, it will be on us. If we didn't, it's on Dunham. This is perfect.
After the silent battle of power with Anna and Dunham, we rested in our tent to ready ourselves for the night raid. Before sleeping however, I heard some random chatter about Dunham being petty against Anna, Dunham is a dick, etc etc.
It's perfect. We are currently growing their resent against their boss and making them think it wasn't us that made them think this way.
Two soldiers come into our tent to remind us of the night raid we will be conduct and so, Anna and I get ready for action. Well, the lack of it is a much better term.
Anna and I wear our hero attire: pants, shirt and little bits and bobs of armor guarding our chest, knees, elbows and a helmet.
Despite this, we know that there won't be any demons to attack us. We were the "demons" attacking the groups after all.
As expected, we finish the moat filling in the entire night and we pour some water over it to harden it. The next day, the soldiers and Dunham were all impressed by our work.
The soldiers especially were incredibly happy and were praising us; saying this like "at least some people can do it themselves" or "I wonder if Dunham will retire soon".
Ahhhhh, what a wonderful day today, eh?
Lets keep this anti-Dunham train going, shall we?
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(A.N) yo! Another chapter and I hope you enjoyed this one! Please do support with comments, reviews, adding to library and voting with powerstones! It really encourages me to write more, peace ✌️!