Hail the King

Chapter 25: Whipped Soldiers

Fei stood up and put the blanket over Angela. This dumb girl had brought the blanket to Fei, but she. only wore a thin layer of clothes.

Fei’s heart was a little hurt at that moment. However, because Angela was sleeping soundly, Fei didn’t want to wake her up. He stared at Angela’s beautiful face and couldn’t stop smiling.

After covering Angela up, he left the ‘building’ quietly. The defensive wall was completely silent. There were only a couple soldiers patrolling. Looking across the Zuli River, the enemies’ base was quiet as well. Fei was relieved, but when he turned around, he was surprised –

Emma was on the wall as well. She was standing against the outer wall of the watchtower as if she was guarding the destroyed doorway. She had fallen asleep while standing, probably due to fatigue. Her golden hair was disheveled and her clothes were fluttering from the morning breeze.

She looked cute when she was asleep. It was a totally different impression compared to her normally hostile attitude towards Fei. She looked really innocent as her thin body was standing against the cold, blowing wind.

Fei walked up to her and pinched her smooth cheek, “Hey, kiddo, wake up……Why are you standing here? It’s too cold, go sleep inside the tower.”

Who knew that Emma was still alert? As soon as she felt Fei’s movement, she opened her eyes and punched Fei despite being drowsy. Fei wasn’t expecting it and got punched right in the eye.

“Bang-!”

A black ‘panda eye’ appeared on Fei’s face.

“Ah? Alexander, it’s you……”

After she hit Fei, Emma finally became aware of her surroundings. She was a little bit embarrassed. She held her head down, like a little girl who got caught stealing candy. But just as soon as she peeked at Fei’s black eye, she couldn’t stop giggling, “Hehe, I thought the enemies were sneaking up on us……But you look alright……You’re fine, right?”

Fei couldn’t get mad at all after seeing Emma shivering in the cold wind. He tapped her on the head and took off the cape attached to his armour and covered Emma’s small body in it. He smiled, “Alright, now go sleep inside. After the sun rises, go back to the palace with Angela. The wind here is too strong; this is no place for you girls to be in!”

Emma was stunned. She stared at Fei sluggishly. She quickly looked down as tears welled up in her eyes. Surprisingly, she didn’t argue with Fei and obediently walked inside the dilapidated tower.

“Alexander, you will be nice to Angela, right?” When Emma was almost inside the ‘building’, she turned around and started at Fei and asked seriously.

“Ah?”

This surprised Fei. He didn’t know what to say.

Before Fei could answer, this little girl continued, “I don’t care what you say. Now that you acting normal, you must to nice to Angela! Alexander, you don’t know how much Angela has sacrificed for you for the last three years. I can guarantee that no one would be this nice to you in the world except for her……”

After she said that, she rubbed her red eyes and swung her fist forcefully. She threatened, “Now that you are normal, you have to protect Angela like how she protected you. You hear that? If you don’t, I’ll……I’ll ……I’ll give you another black eye!”

After Emma had finished ‘threatening’ Fei, she turned around and walked into the tower. Emma had been hostile toward Fei for the past two days. Fei wasn’t dumb; he knew why she was angry – it was probably because the old Alexander had given Angela a hard time and caused her a lot of suffering.

Although Emma was only a servant, Angela treated her like a little sister. Emma had witnessed all the grievances that Angela suffered for the past three years, so she didn’t like Alexander at all. Her hostile attitude was very reasonable. Fei knew that all along, so he didn’t argue with Emma. After all, she looked after and cared for the old Alexander together with Angela. This little girl appeared to be tough and mean, but she was kind and her heart was as soft as velvet.

What Emma said deeply moved Fei; she was 100% correct. After taking over Alexander and knowing what had happened in the past, he had to protect the beautiful and kind girl. He had to protect Angela like how she protected Alexander.

……

It was an hour away from dawn, the darkest moment at night. It was already late autumn. The chilly wind brought all the mist from the river onto the defensive wall. Fei’s thoughts were swayed by the wind. Although it only had been two days since he came to this world, he had already adapted.

“Is it really god’s decree for me to be in this world?”

Fei stood under the light of the moon and stars. He suddenly remembered what Akara said in the Diablo World. He first thought that it was something Akara had bullshitted to trick him for his items, but after he calmed down, he felt like what that priestess said wasn’t that simple. It seemed like she meant something else.

While he was thinking, two strong figures approached him. It was Brook and white haired Pierce who just recovered.

“Your majesty, I have to apologize!” Pierce said as he half kneeled. He said remorsefully, “I didn’t know what happened yesterday……”

Fei interrupted his sentence, then smiled as he lifted Pierce off the ground. No exaggeration intended, but Pierce was the one who shocked Fei the most in this world. Pierce’s brave, risky attacks yesterday on the defensive wall told Fei that this man was trustworthy. Towards the trustworthy, Fei treated them with respect and generosity, just like Brook. In a dangerous situation like this, Fei had already started winning people over subconsciously.

“Fully recovered?” Fei pounded Pierce on the chest. The subtle action melted the ice between them.

“Yes, I’m fully recovered……” Pierce said excitedly as he posed to show his muscle. He laughed, “ Your majesty, Commander Brook told me everything! Chambord finally has a king. Pierce swears an oath of allegiance to Your Majesty! Until the day I die!”

Fei could tell that Pierce was fully recovered, as his face had colour on it. It looked like the 【Minor Health Potion】 had an even stronger effect in the real world; only two drops had saved the life of a severely injured man.

“Come and take a look, it seems like the enemies don’t have anything planned right now. Were they like that the last couple of days?” Fei walked to the edge of the defensive wall. He pointed at the enemies’ base as he shifted the topic.

Brook took a detailed look. His eyebrows wrinkled, “This is strange. Those bastards never let us rest peacefully during the last couple of nights. They pretended to siege tens of time every night and continued sieging before dawn every day…… Something smells fishy. They must be planning something.”

“Fuck their tricks, if those sons of bitches dare to siege us again, I will smash them into meat patties with my hammer!” Pierce stared at the enemies’ base and yelled.

Fei and Brook were both defeated by the IQ of this tough guy. He was so tough that his brains were probably made up of pure muscles and not any neurons or anything else.

Fei knew that while Pierce was tough, he was also reckless. He was a great warrior on the battlefield, but was also a terrible strategist. If Fei wanted him to plan out strategies and seek logistics like a commander, he’d have an easier time convincing teenagers to give up their phones.

Brook on the other hand had surprised Fei with his cool attitude, he was a perfect fit for the role of commander and general.

Fei didn’t know that at that moment, he had decided on the direction of development for his first two henchmen. After hundreds of years, the stories of the [Ultimate Killing Machine] Pierce and the [Wooden Wisdom General] Brook who served under Emperor Alexander would be recited continuously by the travelling poets on Azeroth Continent.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of tricks they’re hiding under their sleeves. In the end, they will all be revealed……”

Fei decided stop pondering over the enemies’ conspiracies. He tapped his fingers on a battlement rhythmically, “Pierce is right, it doesn’t matter who it is. Anyone who wants to take a piece of Chambord will lose their teeth in the process.”

Pierce laughed proudly as the king agreed with his ‘suggestions’.

……

After more than half an hour, dawn was finally arriving; lights shone over the horizon. The enemies’ base on the other side of the river wasn’t quiet anymore.

Loud bugles had broken the silence of dawn. Looking from afar, the black armoured enemies were like ants; they were moving inside the base and smoke from cooking had risen into the sky. After breakfast, a new round of battle would begin.

“Tell the soldiers to prepare themselves. Brook, today’s battle will be commanded by you; everyone must follow your orders, including me!” Although Fei’s personal strength had improved a lot from the Diablo World, he was still a complete dummy in terms of war and defensive strategies. It was the best option to let Brook handle that.

“My honour, Your Majesty!” Brook didn’t reject.

“Oh, right! Didn’t I already call the novice mage Gill to come and help with the battle? Where is he?” Fei remembered.

Brook didn’t know what happened either. He turned around to find the answer. Soon, Brook brought back two soldiers who had scars all over their faces. Brook said angrily, “The soldiers I sent were whipped by Minister Bazzer. He said Gill was sick and couldn’t participate in the battle.”

Fei looked at the two soldier who were whipped on the face. Rage was building inside of him.