"Leave your grandson out here and come with me." The head guard ordered Tunark.
However, Tunark wasn't willing to do so. "If my grandson doesn't go with me, I won't either."
"Do you want to get beaten?" The head guard wasn't willing to entertain Tunark's childish tantrums. Tunark also glared at him, unwilling to negotiate with the head guard.
The head guard pulled out his sword without hesitation and put it on the child's neck.
"Noooo…" Tunark screamed as the child started to cry out loudly, as it was reminding him about his recent trauma. The head guard also understood it, but his face was stern as he threatened him, "Stop crying or I will…"
He didn't need to finish his sentence before the child bit his lower lips, as he was struggling hard not to let out a sound. The head guard turned towards Tunark, asking, "Go now."
Tunark stared at him for a moment before looking at his grandson. He didn't dare to come close to him, but he still said, "Wait here for Grandpa. Grandpa will come out soon. Don't go anywhere."
The child, who was still biting his lips while tears were streaming down his eyes, nodded as the struggle almost made him have hiccups.
"Let's go." Even if the head guard led them away, Tunark repeatedly looked back at the child.
They were taken to the second floor of the building, where not just the leading generals and commanders were present but also one of the high generals.
Alas! A tiny village head like Tunark could not identify someone like a high general.
He knew that the high generals were some of the strongest people living far away in the empire's capital. However, he never expected someone like him to be in front of him.
"Tell me everything. Don't leave out anything." The man, who looked not even thirty years old, asked. Tunark said everything he could remember as quickly as possible.
The man thought momentarily while everyone else just sat there without saying anything. It was like everyone was too afraid to say anything out loud.
The man again asked the same question to Kira. Kira also did the same. The man then asked the other, too. The man calmly listened to every word they had to say.
He then looked at the guard head, ordering, "How many people are there?"
"At least a hundred." The guard's head paused, adding, "Maybe a little more."
"Give them some food and let them stay outside the city wall." The man took a deep breath and looked at the four of them, adding, "Put all of them in jail, give them food and water, but keep them under 24 hours of observation. From now on, no matter what, don't open the gate without asking me, even if the emperor himself comes. Do you understand?"
The head guard looked at him, shocked. He wondered if he would dare not open the gate if the emperor came. But he wouldn't hesitate, saying, "Yes, general."
If the head guard was a little surprised, the four of them were beyond shock. They were dumbfounded. Never had they imagined that they would be invited to the city only to be put in prison.
"My lord, please reconsider." Tunark went on his knees, and so did the others. "We are not…"
The high general had no intention of listening to him and waved his hand. They saw the same thing before the cold, sharp swords touched their necks. Nothing came out of their mouth, even if they wanted to say something.
They could only leave the room in silence. The last thing they heard as they left the room was the general saying, "No matter what, keep them in 24-hour observation. Never let them meet anyone else."
And the door closed behind them. The guards from the room guided them while the head guard quickly returned to his post.
However, as soon as Tunark came out of the building, he noticed one of the problems. His grandson was nowhere to be found.
"Forfalske, where are you?" Tunark's sudden cry shocked the guards who were escorting them. They quickly pulled out their swords again and pointed at Tunark, shouting, "What are you doing?"
"My grandson. He is just four years old. He had come with me. You can ask them." Turnark pointed at the other. When they looked at Kira and the others, they nodded.
"The head guard told him to stay here. He should be here! Where did he go?"
The escorting guards didn't know what to do. Then, one of them went to talk to the guard at the front gate of the building.
"He went that way. He was hungry. He went to look for some food."
Before the guard could end his words, Tunark jumped on him. He screamed with spit flying everywhere. "How could you let him go? He was just a child. He is just four years old."
His antics did not amuse the guard, who pushed him away. Tunark fell on his ass, but he continued to scream at the top of his lungs.
One of the escorting soldiers sighed, saying, "Take them to prison. I will look for the child."
"I will go with you, too." Tunark, who was on his ass, leaped to his feet in an instant as if nothing had occurred.
"Do you want to die?" At the glare from the soldier, Tunark stepped back but added, "But you don't know him."
"I will look around. He won't go much further if he is four years old." The man paused, not understanding why he had started explaining to Tunark. He looked at the other escorting soldiers and said, "Take them away."
Tunark continued to struggle, but it bore no fruit. He was dragged away, screaming, along with others. The kind escorting soldiers asked for the description from the guard and left to find the child.
About twenty minutes later, he returned empty-handed. The mansion guard inquired, "You didn't find him, did you?" The escorting guard looked at him with momentary confusion before shaking his head.
"That child was so energetic…" The guard sighed, saying, "I told him to stay here, but he ran away."
The other escorting soldiers returned as the guard continued interacting with the child.
"What are you doing here? Let's go." Soon, all the escorting soldiers returned to the meeting room.
As they returned to the room, they returned to their positions. One of them was standing awkwardly, only to be pulled to the side of the door as one of the commanders left hurriedly.
"General, do you think they are idiots enough to attack the city?"
"What do you think?" The high general, Itkas, asked.
"I don't think that it is possible. This place is almost three to four days away from the border. Even if an army had entered the empire, we would have noticed them."
"We would not have it if the army was small enough." Another general said.
It soon turned into a debate.
"It would have been possible if it was a small unit, about 20-30. Maybe even forty."
"But that would be nowhere near enough to attack the city."
"But what about the report of an attack on the village ten days away from here, near Kojac? Didn't Kojac report that a couple of villages were massacred? They could be the same unit."
"But those attacks didn't leave anyone alive. We learned about it because the traveling merchants reported it. This attack left quite a few survivors."
"Could they be doing it intentionally?"
On this sudden question, a brief pause appeared in the debate. It was then that Itkas spoke again.
"Isn't this tactic awfully similar to the tactics the main army uses in the army? Attack the surrounding villages and let the survivors return to the city and report it."
"Are you saying they are waiting for us to leave the city to attack?"
"No matter their plan, we have no intention of getting out of the city. We will wait for them to come."
"But, general, why did you ask Ang to order the mage unit to activate the mana shield around the city?"
"I heard a royal knight can use lighting and thunder. There are some rumors that she could perform the elemental transformation. So, the barrier will stop any surprise attack."
"Someone who can perform elemental transformation is just a royal knight."
It was news to them. After all, this type of high-level intelligence is not available to commanders or generals.
Then, Itkas added, "I hear she also uses an emerald flag with a golden horn."