Silence dampened even the long sighs, those escaped each time they remembered the massacre of the day. The blood inside their body was burning yet no one dared to spit a single word.

No matter how many advantages they had, they had failed. Commander-in-chief Kirmac was putting on his calm face mask as usual. Liyato had no word to put against his failure.

No matter how much he wanted his prediction to be true there was one thing that Nus had never wanted and that was the death of his fellow country mates.

With few flickers from the light crystal, the tent plunged into darkness. Some guards quickly came in and replaced the light crystal.

"I have a plan." Official Nus wasn't worried about anything else right now, what worried him most is the result of the war. Everybody looked at General Kirmac for his response.

"Go ahead." With the confirmation, the atmosphere turned heavy. "The tactics they have used today is something we call 'Bait and trap'. It is a crude process. It is a technique used by the hunter to hunt a big animal. But this is the first time it is used in war."

"That is against the law of war."

“That is cowardly.” The hatred was strong but...

"Does it matter?" Nus snickered, "Under the first emperor they attacked the old Roginian kingdom when they were mourning for their king. They were the one who slaughtered the army that had already surrendered. If they don't follow the rules, why should we?"

Everybody turned silent as Nus continued, "And what they did in the war was not against the law of war. It is something called War strategy. It is these types of small tricks that help Penia to survive against the war beast country of Dogol."

Nobody argued about it. No matter how much they worship the law of war and everything else, none of them wanted to lose the war.

"We have two advantages. We have lost and they have won.” Nus’s choice of words had surprised many, “Though it might be the same thing, the results are different.”

“We have lost, so they might underestimate us thinking we have broken down. And they have won, so they will be less cautious and less guarded. With the number of soldiers on both sides, they have nothing to fear. They won’t be using any more tricks.”

“What if they do?” It was the same weak-voiced general. This was the question everybody wanted to ask.

“If they do, we will be prepared, but if we do it then what?” For the first time, Nus had put on a smile, “We have to use that to our advantage. And the most important advantage is the Magical scribers."

'Magical Scribers? They are not combatants. They can't fight, the only thing they are good at is logistics.' That was the thought going through everybody's mind but nobody argued him.

As the night grew darker the camp grew more chaotic and…

**************

"Boy, you were lucky that your plan worked, otherwise not just you, even my head would have been rolling on the floor." Akai was holding his wine chalice. Kinoya was sitting not too far from him.

"It is just the commander is not good at planning." The moment the words left him, he turned silent. Kinoya turned towards the food in front of him and started eating as nothing happened.

Kinoya could feel quite a few eyes were glaring at him. While Korai just smiled and some didn't even care about it. On the other hand, Akai broke in laughter.

"Why do you say that? That was something well ahead of its time."

"Well, I didn't say the strategy was bad but the commander couldn't utilize it well. He wasn't very sure about the result, otherwise, he would have sent 30,000 strong units, in place of 30,000 recruits and makeshift workers. And without you, it would have been impossible to pull it off. Truthfully, a 30,000 strong unit would have worked as a better bait than you."

"What are you saying, our general wasn't good enough or the commander-in-chief is bad?"

"Why are you so angry about it, he didn't mean that," Korai said with a smile.

"No the general was good, but the commander-in-chief was not good in strategy."

"That is not something you should say carelessly." Akai's voice was stern.

"I am sorry general, but it is true. A good strategy is something that anyone could pull out successfully not the one that needs a special person to complete. A whole strategy could never depend on a single person. Think about what would happen if that one person is injured. General, can you recommend one person who could take your place?"

Nobody answered they have nothing to say against it. No matter how much they want to deny it, it was true.

"It is an innovative strategy. Reading the history of the empire I am sure this is something that never happened before, but it is just the beginning, the battlefield is changing. It might seem impossible now but there will be a day when it will be possible to defeat a big army with a small one."

All of them looked at him with all seriousness but soon burst into laughter.

"General this little one should have been a great scholar." One of the generals laughed it out.

But for some reason, Akai couldn't laugh. He sighed for a moment and said, "I was a major under the first emperor. Then under the 2nd emperor, I became a three-star general. I have been in the army for more than 50 years, I don't know about this child's claim, but there is one thing that he said is true. The battlefield is changing and changing fast. If we don't adapt fast, the old bones like us, we will soon have to retire."

The whole room turned silent. It was ok with the 12-year-old boy but no one can argue with the general, even after a drink.

"No general, you don't have to retire. You are the people we need most in the field. The strategies are good in the books but you are the people who have to implant it in the war. I would bet that if you weren't here the commander-in-chief wouldn't have tried to pull out such a trick. You are the key to success."

Akai burst out again, "Boy sometimes I felt that you are not a child but an old man. I don't know if you want to cheer me up or not but I am happy now. Boy, you have quite a good day too. To take down a hundred on the first day is not something to laugh at."

Kinoya was surprised. He wasn't sure about how many he had killed. It was a lot but not sure about the number.

"There is a magic device in everyone's armour that keeps the record of the number you have slain. And that is reported to the battle centre." Korai explained.

"How does that work?" Kinoya didn't have much of an interaction with the magic of this world other than what he saw at Old man's place. He was just plain curious.

"It was the product of ‘The royal magic academy’. Other than keeping the count it also gives protection against damage. It was one of the top ten products of the Academy."

"Wow, that is amazing. There is more product that is better than this? I want to see those."

"You like magic?" Akai asked.

“Last time it was recorded he had 182 of intelligence stats," Korai added.

Not just Akai, others were also stunned at his words.

"Wow, that is great. You are 12 right? If you survive for 4 more years, I will send you to the Royal Magus Knight academy. If you are lucky you might have the chance to get into the royal magic academy."

"Let's see if he can survive for 4 years or not?" The one talked was the direct general of Kinoya.

The very next day proved the words of the generals. Kinoya was feeling the heat after facing the blunt edge of the enemy's attacks. Without the general around him, it was a lot harder for him to keep up with the enemy that was slamming at them like a horde of raging bulls.

All of a sudden his danger sense was tingling like crazy and tangled in the army it was hard for him to move at all. He looked up and the pain hit him. An arrow went straight through the right eye. If he didn't jerk his head at the last minute then it would have gone through his brain. He almost screamed but nothing could be heard amid the chaos. The sky was darkened with the rain of arrows.

'HOW?' a voice screamed in his mind.