Imperial Throne

Chapter 208 : Troubles of the Aftermath

Chapter 208: Troubles of the Aftermath

The southern war in the Bayor Viscounty quickly came to an end.

The difficult battle that Yam and Akar had imagined never occurred — not even the Bloodline Knight they so deeply feared appeared.

From the moment they led the army southward, they hadn’t found a trace of the enemy.

That was when Yam belatedly realized — perhaps the enemy had already fled.

For Akar, this conclusion wasn’t surprising.

After all, for any Third-Tier Bloodline User and above, as long as they weren’t completely surrounded and trapped with no way out, it was nearly impossible to capture them alive.

Even killing one on the battlefield was difficult unless there was an overwhelming difference in strength — or one could seize the briefest moment when the enemy exposed a flaw, crushing all their defenses in an instant.

If the situation had been reversed, Akar would never have stayed behind to die; he would have left on the very day the situation became hopeless.

In fact, Akar even thought that after the Aust Empire’s army had completely collapsed that day, the fact that the opponent still managed to rally the routed troops afterward was completely unnecessary.

If it had been him, he would have already left the Bayor Viscounty without wasting several days gathering defeated soldiers and regrouping.

Still, it seemed that approach wasn’t entirely without effect.

From Akar’s perspective, the opponent had likely pretended to regroup their routed soldiers — putting on the appearance of wanting to fight again — to deceive them into proceeding cautiously rather than charging southward.

This way, Yam and Akar could only slowly consume their forces, winning through small-scale battles, until the enemy’s retreat was completely cut off, securing victory through overwhelming advantage.

The strategy itself was fine —

except for one flaw: that powerful Bloodline User, after creating a grand deception to distract them, had slipped away quietly alone.

Thus, when they finally won the war, the opponent had already vanished — and finding a hidden Third-Tier Bloodline User in a viscounty was no easy task.

What was worse, no one knew where he was hiding, or whether he would one day reappear to sabotage them from behind enemy lines.

That kind of threat was far more troublesome than meeting him on the battlefield.

「Now that we have more and more prisoners, how do you plan to handle them?」

「Do we still have enough food?」

Yam was already overwhelmed by the flood of military affairs — even with capable knights like Sien and Ryan assisting him, there were too many final decisions only he could make.

The main issue was that neither White Mountain Territory nor Gem Territory had ever experienced a large-scale war.

Back during the internal conflict in Red Eagle Territory, they had only responded to a summons and led troops into battle — all the post-war matters had been handled by others.

As for the two defensive wars in White Mountain Territory, the first nearly consumed all its population and resources, ending only with Baron Wister’s sacrifice that bought them a moment’s respite.

At that time, all they had to worry about was how to rebuild defensive fortifications as fast as possible — every bit of their energy went into strengthening their defenses.

The second defensive war had been turned around by Marquis Monica’s planning.

All negotiations afterward had been handled by her as well — once again, they could simply pat the dust from their armor and leave.

So now, when Yam personally led his first independent war to its end, he finally faced a genuine difficulty — post-war management.

Bayor Territory wasn’t his land, and it had already been devastated once by war.

There were no refugees left — most had been taken as captives by the Aust Empire or killed.

The settlements were burned to ashes, so unlike White Mountain Territory, there was no need to manage reconstruction.

However, the shortage of medical supplies, the lack of food, and the near-thousand prisoners were all enormous problems.

「There wasn’t enough at first,」 Akar said with a small laugh. 「But since many died in battle — including those whose wounds festered and couldn’t be treated — now, our food is actually sufficient.」

Hearing this, Yam quickly flipped through the documents in his hands, his expression darkening.

Though the southern front of Bayor Territory hadn’t officially declared the war over, only a few stragglers remained.

Even if regrouped, they no longer posed a threat — some had even fled toward Forest Territory and Longwind Territory, so Yam hadn’t bothered to chase them.

His focus was instead on designing the logistics routes — which involved far more than simply drawing lines on a map.

For instance, transporting supplies from Red River Territory to Bayor Territory was relatively convenient, thanks to river routes.

But selecting the unloading site within Bayor was tricky — the war fortress wasn’t near the Red River Canal, so the goods couldn’t be delivered directly.

Too far meant added labor; too close meant trouble with storage and guarding.

Moreover, organizing transport teams from Bayor to the Garris Plains frontline was another challenge.

The war wouldn’t end soon — it would stretch through rainy seasons, summers, and winters.

If the terrain was too low, heavy rain would flood the routes, delaying deliveries.

Too high, and winter snows would block passage.

In summer, insects in the jungles would be a nuisance — and regular scouting would be required to prevent wandering beasts or magical creatures from causing trouble.

Yam’s final plan was to adopt multi-line logistics, adjusting routes for different climates.

But that also meant more base camps had to be built — requiring more manpower.

The most critical concern was security:

If the enemy decided to sabotage the logistics routes, the more relay camps they had, the harder it became to predict enemy movements.

That was why Yam had been too occupied to even think about the prisoners.

Looking at the latest report, he realized with shock — from about a thousand prisoners a week ago, only seven hundred remained.

Over thirty were dying daily.

Even their own soldiers from White Mountain and Gem Territories were being lost at a rate of five to eight per day.

The prisoners he could ignore —

but losing soldiers to non-combat causes was unacceptable.

「Lack of proper medicine?」

「Yes,」 Akar nodded. 「We only have some basic salves — good for prevention, but useless against infection or fever. High temperature cases can only be treated by old-fashioned cooling methods.」

「No word from Red River Territory?」

「None,」 Akar shook his head. 「By our agreement, the next shipment won’t arrive for at least half a month. But if we can finalize the unloading dock in advance, maybe it’ll speed up a little.」

「Then press Red River Territory for it,」 Yam said, glancing at the map. 「You’ll leave tomorrow. I’ll decide the dock tonight and have them start construction immediately. There are too many prisoners — even if we divide them, I won’t feel at ease unless they’re kept busy.」

Akar frowned slightly.

If it was only about urging Red River Territory, he wouldn’t need to go personally — so there must be another reason.

「You want me to return to White Mountain Territory, don’t you?」

「Yes.」 Yam nodded, pushing the Demonic Sword toward him. 「We have to find out what those impostors’ bloodline abilities really are. Only Cindy can communicate with the sword. We can only sense faint impressions — but in matters concerning our safety, vague feelings aren’t enough.」

「Understood,」 Akar replied instantly. 「I’ll leave tomorrow.」

Yam nodded again, then called in a messenger and handed him two letters.

「Deliver this one to the Southern Army stationed in Garris Territory — personally hand it to Lord Tyrot Kasein. And this one — send it to Red River Territory at once!」

The messenger saluted and left swiftly.

But this time, Akar didn’t quite understand Yam’s reasoning. 「What do you mean by this?」

「You’ll depart tomorrow, but travel half a day or a day slower than that letter to Red River Territory,」 Yam explained. 「We must make it appear as if the situation is dire. Once that letter requesting supplies arrives, and you arrive a day later, Marquis Monica will believe our shortage is critical.」

「I see.」 Akar chuckled. 「Brother, you’ve become more cunning than before.」

「People have to grow.」 Yam sighed. 「Those soldiers came with us from White Mountain and Gem Territories — we owe them responsibility. So once you get intel from Cindy about those impostors, return quickly. We still have another problem unresolved.」

「You mean the north?」

「Yes. Aliman sent word this morning — the northern remnants have regrouped, now numbering nearly four thousand men, with over twenty Bloodline Users, including five of the Third Tier.」

He paused, expression grim. 「That force is led by Hales Siger — the Fledgling Hawk of the Black Hawk Family.」

「That many in the north?」 Akar was stunned.

「They’ve gathered all the routed troops — even refugees, not just from Bayor, but from Count Garris’s Territory as well. They’ve been fully reorganized,」 Yam said solemnly. 「And from what we know, the north is already out of food, so—」

「You think they’ll head south?」

「It’s not that I think so,」 Yam shook his head. 「It’s that I can’t allow them to move east toward Red River Territory.」