Chapter 55 : Chapter 55
Chapter 55. The Shadow of the Beast Disaster
Not long after Wolfgang’s broad figure disappeared through the doorway, hurried yet somewhat heavy footsteps sounded outside the council hall.
The wooden door was pushed open, and Old Hadi entered wearing a half-worn leather vest.
His graying hair still carried a trace of dampness from the rain, and there was confusion on his face, along with the faint shortness of breath of someone who had hurried over.
“My lord? You were looking for me?” Old Hadi stepped inside, his gaze sweeping over Eli’s serious expression and Wolfgang’s mountain-like silent presence at the side. His heart could not help tightening.
This kind of sudden urgent summons usually meant trouble.
“Old Hadi,” Eli said without any small talk, getting straight to the point.
“Have you ever heard of... a beast tide?”
“A beast tide?”
Old Hadi froze for a moment. At first, there was only blankness in his cloudy eyes, but then he began searching through the dusty corners of his memory for that somewhat unfamiliar term.
He frowned. “My lord, do you mean...
“That kind of disaster where countless wild beasts, like they’ve gone mad, blot out the land and crash into human towns and villages?”
“In the Western Frontier, I think the old-timers used to call it a ‘beast disaster.’”
“Yes. A beast disaster.” Eli nodded. “That’s the one.”
Now that it had been confirmed, the wrinkles on Old Hadi’s face deepened, and he racked his memory.
There is such a saying... but that was a very, very long time ago. So long ago it’s nearly become a legend.
“I’ve lived to this age and traveled all across the Western Frontier, but even I’ve only heard a few half-forgotten mentions of it from old men who were practically half in the grave. No one had ever truly seen it.”
He paused, as if something had suddenly occurred to him, and a flash of realization passed through his eyes.
“My lord, do you remember those ancient legends I told you before about the elves of the Western Frontier?”
Eli inclined his head. “I remember. The ancestor of the La Roche Family, Roderick, betrayed and killed the elven queen, which led to the elves being driven out.”
“Exactly!” Old Hadi’s voice took on a grave note.
“The legends say that those elves who were driven out—especially the forest elves—
“possessed the ability to commune with all living things and even... drive beasts at will.
“That is why the beast disaster was also believed to be the most vicious curse and act of revenge inflicted by the surviving elves upon the La Roche Family, and indeed upon all the humans who occupied their old homeland!”
“Drive beasts... the elves’ revenge...” A cold glint flashed through Wolfgang’s icy blue wolf eyes.
Eli remained silent, his fingers tapping unconsciously against the tabletop.
The information Old Hadi had provided, together with the intelligence Eli had received that morning and the deathly silence Wolfgang had encountered in the forest, was beginning to sketch the outline of something deeply unsettling.
“What happened after that?” Eli pressed.
“Has this kind of beast disaster appeared at all in recent times... or rather, within the past hundred years?”
Old Hadi shook his head with certainty.
“No, my lord. At least not anywhere in the Western Frontier that I’ve ever heard of.
After that great disaster of legend, the elves vanished without a trace, and the beast disaster seemed to disappear from history with them.”
“If you hadn’t brought it up today, I might have forgotten such a thing even existed.”
He looked at Eli’s face, lost in thought, and the unease in his own heart grew stronger and stronger. Tentatively, he asked in a low voice,
“My lord... could it be... that you suspect...?”
Eli did not answer directly. He only let out a slow breath, his voice heavy with gravity.
“My raven saw wild beasts gathering abnormally in the depths of the forest, and Wolfgang’s hunting party encountered an eerie silence in the outer regions... None of this is normal.
“I have a feeling... a very bad feeling.”
“My lord!” Wolfgang was the first to think of the king’s blood. In his eyes, Eli was a king.
He then strode forward abruptly, his icy blue wolf eyes fixed on Eli, his voice firm as iron.
“Please trust your instincts! Forests do not fall silent for no reason!
“Nor do beasts withdraw in groups without cause!”
Looking at the complete trust in Wolfgang’s eyes, Eli could only tug out a helpless, bitter smile.
Trust his instincts?
That sounded more like the declaration of a gambler than anything else.
But on this wasteland, a land filled with danger and the unknown, intuition often reached the edge of truth before logic did.
“Wolfgang is right.” Eli’s gaze sharpened once more.
“No matter what, it is better to be prepared. Old Hadi, I’ll need to trouble you again. Night hasn’t fully fallen yet, so go bring all the administrators here. We’re holding an emergency meeting.”
“Yes, my lord!” Seeing that his lord had made up his mind, Old Hadi asked no further questions. He turned and left the council hall at once.
......
Night had only just fallen. Candlelight flickered inside the council hall, driving the shadows from the corners.
The administrators who had come in response to the urgent notice all wore grave and heavy expressions.
Every eye in the room was fixed on Eli, whose face was stern as he sat at the head of the hall.
This was the first emergency meeting they had ever held.
“My friends,” Eli said, rising without preamble, “I summoned you here tonight because we have discovered an extremely abnormal situation. Every one of us must heighten our vigilance and respond immediately.”
He concisely laid out the situation: Wolfgang’s hunting party had ventured into Nightsong Forest and found only an eerie, unnatural silence, returning with nothing.
He also explained the information Old Hadi had added concerning the legendary beast disaster of the Western Frontier.
“A beast disaster?!”
“Good heavens! The beast disaster from the old legends?!”
“A sea of beasts covering the land... then...”
“The forest core... beasts gathering... silence on the outskirts... this...”
Sharp intakes of breath rose one after another. Even Captain Buck and Scholar Alva, both ordinarily steady men, wore expressions of gravity and disbelief.
Beyond the Black Territory camp there stood only a single ring of wooden palisades. If they truly faced the kind of beast assault spoken of in the legends, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Just as the room was caught in uncertainty, the newly appointed administrator for slave affairs, Vick, rose from his seat farther down the table.
He looked to be in his thirties, with dark skin.
“My lord,” Vick said, his voice carrying the distinct accent of the Southern Frontier and drawing every gaze in the room toward him, “as for the beast disaster... or beast tide, as we would call it, our Southern Frontier is thick with jungle, so there are indeed some records of such things.
“They are not as ancient as the legends of the Western Frontier, nor quite so... shrouded in mystery.
“But they have happened a few times. The most recent was probably thirty or forty years ago.”
He paused.
“In the Southern Frontier, a beast tide usually occurs because of mountain fires, flooding, or...
“the territorial expansion of certain powerful predators, forcing great numbers of beasts to lose their habitat or feel a mortal threat. That is when they gather in groups and crash into human settlements.
“The scale varies, but every time, it is accompanied by bloodshed and destruction.”
His words gave the insubstantial old legend a harsh sense of reality.
Eli listened carefully, then nodded.
“Thank you for the information, Administrator Vick.
“Whether it is an ancient curse or a very real disaster, one thing remains the same.
“To a settlement that lacks strong defenses, it is a devastating blow.”
His gaze swept across every administrator present, and his voice was steady and powerful.
“To prepare for the worst, and for the long-term development of the territory, I have decided to expand the army immediately.”
He raised three fingers.
“On top of our current standing force of one hundred and fifty soldiers, we will recruit another three hundred.”
“Three hundred?” The number stirred another wave of hushed discussion among the room.
Old John was the first to stand. The old craftsman’s face had lost its usual gentleness.
“My lord! Expanding the army cannot wait! I support it! The Black Territory truly does have the means now!”
He turned toward Hadi, who was in charge of the granaries. “Hadi, tell them!”
Hadi answered at once, “My lord, Old John is right!
“The large grain shipment we just purchased from the Nors Merchant Guild has already been placed in storage, and the fisheries have also had an excellent harvest recently.
“Supporting the rations for three hundred new recruits will not be a problem in the short term. We have enough to last until the next harvest season!”
Food was the foundation of military expansion.
The other administrators nodded one after another.
Master Glenn also rumbled out in his heavy voice, “It’s time to expand the army!
“If we don’t have walls, and we don’t even have enough soldiers to hold the line, then if beasts—or anything else—come charging in,
“everything we’ve built with so much effort could be trampled flat in a single night!”
Captain Buck’s gaze was keen. “I’ll personally take charge of recruiting and training the new soldiers. We’ll get them battle-ready as quickly as possible.”
Clark also spoke up for once. “Count me in! This young master can lend a hand in training recruits too!”
Though Estor, Leon, and Scholar Alva did not speak directly, their eyes were filled with approval for their lord’s decision and vigilance toward the looming threat.
Without strong walls, a powerful army would be their only shield and blade.
“Good!” Looking at his united subordinates, Eli felt somewhat relieved.
“Since no one has any objections, it’s settled. We expand the army by three hundred!”
He turned his gaze to Buck and Wolfgang.
“Captain Buck, Wolfgang, the recruitment, selection, and initial training of the new soldiers will be entrusted jointly to the two of you.
“Buck will take overall command, and Wolfgang will assist, with special attention given to discipline and fundamental combat techniques.
“Clark, you will assist Captain Buck from the side.”
“Yes, my lord!” Buck and Wolfgang answered in deep voices.
“No problem!” Clark replied.
Finally, Eli looked toward Old John and Hadi.
“Old John, work on the walls cannot stop. From here on, labor allocation must give that priority.
“Hadi, your food distribution must be exact. Military and civilian use alike must be properly supplied.”
“Yes, my lord!” the two of them answered together.
“My friends,” Eli said with finality in his voice, “time is short. At first light tomorrow, recruitment stations will be set up at once. This meeting is adjourned!”
Under the flickering candlelight, everyone rose quickly with a sense of urgency and filed out, throwing themselves into their respective duties.