"The undead horde had left the Almin. It is now moving toward the east," said, stopping everyone in the office.
The east means Panar, and from there, it would be Greltheaven and Norke.
Norke is small enough that it won't need the whole horde. Stone had said that the horde would divide itself after conquering the Panar. One part would go to the Norke, while the other to the Greltheaven.
"Their numbers?" I asked.
"Two hundred thousand," she replied, which everyone expected, but still turned everyone's expressions serious.
For a few minutes, there was silence, when suddenly Zela's expression turned strange, and she turned toward me.
"There are five people claiming to be from the church of Cynvar and they want to meet you," she informed surprising me.
"The goddess of Dusk?" I asked as I tried to remember all the details about it from instant recollection.
"Church of Cynvar; a church that was born around four hundred years ago. It was a low-level church that was inconspicuous until nearly a century ago when the Twilight Goddess wanted to bring it into her fold,"
"The Church of Dawn also tried to do the same, with both using not-so-fair means,"
"It is quite surprising, that the church of dusk resisting. Seeing they are reduced to a single region of merchant state and even there, their churches and numbers are rapidly shrinking," said Robin, with pity in his eyes.
It is a classic church politics. Powerful churches want those below them in their domain to submit them. Many churches that don't submit face hardship and some have even been destroyed.
Most small churches ended up submitting. It is not just the survival of their church, but also of their god, who depends on them for their faith.
"Are they real?" I asked.
I am right to be skeptical because no one in their right mind would stay here in the city when the undead are attacking. They should have already left before the undead created the blockade in the afternoon on the merchant-state side.
Before that, the merchant state was letting its people in. Nearly all from the merchant state had already left the city.
"They are real. The guards have verified," replied Zela. It is very easy to verify the people of the church; their divine power is obvious.
"Then let's see, what they want," I said.
I am swamped with work and have a lot of things to do, but they are people from the church. It might be a low-level church, but that didn't decrease their need for me.
Click!
It didn't take long, and the door opened. Five people walked in, wearing dusky black robes, covering their whole bodies; even their faces couldn't be seen properly due to the hoods.
They stopped in unison and removed their hoods, before making a faint bow.
"Lord Governor," they greeted, while I watched in surprise. It is not just me, but everyone in the room is surprised to see them.
I looked at their leader and she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
She is a tall woman and looked to be in her early thirties. She has long violet hair and radiant skin with cheekbones that one would sell their soul for.
However, it is her eyes that are the most prominent. They are black as in the night. When I looked at them, I felt like I was staring at the darkest night, without any light.
I immediately looked away.
Her black eyes are surprising. Humans have it and other races. Only one race didn't have them.
The elves.
As far as I could see, she is a pure-blooded elf. She may have a human or other race ancestor far back in her line, but I don't think that is a reason. Her eyes didn't feel like a normal black eyes.
I quickly pushed those thoughts away and focused on the other members.
There are four people behind her. One is a green-haired elf woman in her late twenties behind her is a muscled half-elf blue-haired man who looked to be in his mid-twenties.
On the other side of the violet-haired woman are two humans. First is a beautiful blond woman in her mid-twenties and man short black-haired man in his early twenties.
"Please take a seat," I said and offered them, the seats.
"Thank you, Lord Governor," said the violet-haired woman and sat in front of me. She looked at the people in the office, before turning to me.
"I have to say, your appearance here at this time has surprised me, your grace," I said, addressing her as per her title. Her robe had an emblem of her church and on the other side has a mark of her position.
She is a bishop.
"Apologies for not following the etiquette. My lord, but we didn't want to waste the time when we have a great task ahead of us," she said.
"And what would that be, your grace?" I asked with hope, beating in my heart. "The undead, of course, my lord," replied the woman with a small smile on her face, while my heart leaped with joy.
The need for the clerics couldn't be underestimated. They bring a huge aid to the battle, especially against the undead.
"You are willing to aid us against the undead?" I asked, to be sure. "Yes," she affirmed. I wanted to shout loudly hearing that, but I controlled myself and thought about it rationally.
I know they are not spies or people sent by the undead. They had their church and didn't tolerate any other in their domain. It could be said that they consider them their enemies.
Still, that doesn't mean, they are without any intention.
"I know you want to help our beautiful city and we are grateful for that, but I wonder if you want something else too?" I asked her directly, and the small smile on her face widened.
"Yes, we want something, but that can be discussed after we survive the undead," she said.
"That is fine, the undead are important," I said with a smile.
"Once again, I am grateful for the help you are offering, your grace, and will try my hardest to pay you back for this, but it will not be completely up to me. This position of mine is temporary," I added.
I could already guess what they want for me, and I don't think, I will be able to give it to her. The Count would never agree to it, nor would the prince.
"I understand," she said, and I could see in her eyes, that she understood the things. There is a big chance, that even if we survived, this huge risk wouldn't give them anything, not even a simple thank you.
"Now that we have concluded the business, I hope, you will grace me with your name, your grace," I said, and she smiled.
"I am Merial Alanis." She introduced herself before turning back. "These are our paladins, Alen Magleth and Lois Carr, and our priests Avna Kelryc and Fex Sutton,"
It was a struggle to control myself when I heard the word paladin. The muscled half-elf man and beautiful blond-haired human woman are paladins, both of them looked to be in their mid-twenties.
The young man in his early twenties and the elf, who looked to be in her late twenties, are priests.
I thought all of them were clerics, but there were two paladins. They are a powerful martial class at the level of knights but with the extra boost of divine power.
I don't know what their exact level is, but at every level, they are useful.
"With your aid, we are one step closer to being ready against the undead," I said, and she smiled.
She left soon after; she will go to Stone, who will be accessing their abilities.
"Try to find out any information you could about them," I said to Robin. I trust that they are with us against the undead, but I would be an idiot if I didn't look them up to be sure.
One can never be too careful in times like these.
A few minutes passed, and another set of papers came for my permission.
The battle isn't just swinging weapons and firing spells. It is also signing a lot of documents, giving out permissions, and meetings.
Soon, I finished signing the papers and sent them away.
"Commander Stone had brought them out and was ready for you," informed Zela. I nodded and got up, before walking out of the office.
It is a huge risk; I will be taking it with them, but like many things, I have no choice. They will increase our chances against the undead.
Soon, I walked out and saw the sun had already gone down.
By late midnight, the undead would reach the Panar and then here. It is highly likely, that tomorrow, we will be fighting against the undead.
It feels too soon, but compared to the other cities, we have more time to prepare against them.
I sat in the carriage, and it moved toward the second garrison ground. On the way, I saw a large number of people, with their things on their backs and carts. Many looked angry, some crying, but walking to where the guards were leading them.
I could also see, the people of the constructionist guild have started working, destroying the building, creating blockades, and other things.
Moving the people is necessary. It will be very dangerous if they remain where they are and hard to protect. It is better for people to stay in a single place, where they would be protected properly from the undead.
It is not without its disadvantages, but it is the safest option, with the plan, Stone has in mind.
The carriage was moving when a small appeared on my face; the carriage had entered the outer range of the establishment. I closed my eyes and a few seconds later, the smile on my face became even bigger.
Soon, the carriage entered the second garrison grounds. I
t is big and there are a thousand soldiers, along with mages and archers, but my focus isn't on them. My focus is on the thousands of loosely standing bodies of grey and green.
The carriage stopped and Lt. Colonel Julian opened the door and led me toward Stone, who was standing in front of the thousands of Orcs.
The orcs that were prisoners till midnight and still are.
They looked much better than yesterday. I have fed them four times already; it was helpful, that there were people among the orcs and some in the army, that had quick digestion and recovery skills.
I could feel their eyes on me as I walked toward them, and I met those eyes without showing any fear.
"Lord Governor," Stone greeted as I stopped beside him.
"Did you tell them?" I asked directly, to which he shook his head. "It would be better if it comes from you," he replied.
He is right. It is better if I make the offer to them as the governor of Greltheaven.
I turned to them and looked into their eyes. Especially the leaders, who are in the front. I also looked at the strange white orc, who was standing alone in the corner. Seeing the way, the orcs were standing; it seemed like, they wanted to stay away from it as much as possible.
My eyes stayed on him for a moment, before turning to other orcs.
"I am Remus Silver, Governor of Greltheaven and the host of legacy. I have an offer for you all," I said, and a surprise was clear in the eyes of many.
It is not the word 'offer' that made them surprised, I am sure by now, they had been able to find out what was going on, and it didn't need the genius to figure out the rest.
"I am sure, you are all aware that the undead are coming and I want you to join us in the fight against them. In exchange, I will grant you all complete freedom without any restrictions," I said, and many laughed.
The guards moved toward them, but I raised my hand to stop them.
"Did I say something, funny?" I asked the old bony Orc, who seemed to be garnering the greatest respect.
He is the Shaman Trik. Only Lv. 30, in thousands of orcs. There were a few more Lv. 30 orcs, but they were killed by the nobles, in not-so-legal ways, since higher permission was needed for their execution.
They were too dangerous to keep in prison. They killed them, to deal with the trouble they might cause.
As for how he survived, he was very good at talking and also bribed the Baron Harrods, his treasures, which saved his life.
"You are very funny, my lord. You want us to fight for you when you were going to execute us?" He asked, looking directly into my eyes and I stared back, before smiling.
"You are right, we were going to execute you, but since the undead are attacking, we need you to fight with us," I said, not denying the thing, we were going to do to them.
"It will be more like using us as cannon fodder against them," he spat, to which I shrugged. "It is better than dying without fighting. I am sure, you know what the undead will do, once they capture the city," I said, and many shuddered.
"Still, many of would prefer that, since you are going to break that promise, anyway. We had learned a long ago, to not trust the lords like you," said the muscled orc.
Even starving daily for months hadn't made him lose those muscles.
He is angry, along with many others, but there are more who are willing to accept the terms. I could see in their eye; that the promise of freedom had made their heartbeat with hope.
They wouldn't mind fighting against the undead for it.
I am confident, that I could get more than half of them to fight for me, but I don't want half; I want all of them.
So, I did what not any sane host of legacy would do. Old man Vanis would admonish me from taking such an enormous risk; it is one of the things he said, I shouldn't do.
I was also not allowed to do according to the terms of the contract I signed with the emperor. He is dead now and with it, those restrictions.
I raised my hand in front of me and gathered the power of the legacy in my hand. Many remained oblivious, not sensing anything, but the eyes of Trik and a few others widened as they sensed the power.
"I swear on my legacy, that as long as you all fight against the undead with us, following all the rules and commands; I will free you all," I swore to all.
There was barely any change in most people's eyes, but the eyes of shamans turned serious as they felt my words resonating with the world.
They stared at me for a moment, before walking toward each.
The guards moved once again, but I stopped them and watched, while the shamans and the leaders discussed.
They took over ten minutes before turning back to me.
"We agree to fight alongside you, but we have a few conditions," said the old orc. "Sure," I said with a smile.