Book 11: Chapter 26
The city that had existed for some unspecified period of time opened its doors for us. I led just my guards in. My guards wore on their formal clothes and cleaned their horses, ensuring not a blemish was in sight, while their black hooves shined brightly. Their straight trousers didn’t have a single wrinkle on them, while their sabres for combatting cavalry on their belt had glimmering gold and jewels. The White Deer King raised its head up proudly and bestowed everything in front of it a condescending glance. It resembled a victor more than I did.
It was freezing inside the city. I virtually couldn’t feel any warmth. The snow that came down from overhead had covered three quarters of the city, so countless buildings were buried beneath the snow. The fortunate survivors had nowhere to go and were, therefore, forced to curl up and use all sorts of things they could get their hands on to wrap themselves up. They also burnt all sorts of rubbish for warmth.
The wooden fragments had been buried underneath the snow. Wet snow couldn’t be burnt. The other fortunate people, who didn’t lose their homes to the snow, were struggling themselves and, hence, had no means of helping the refugees outside. As a matter of fact, they were worried that their families might be robbed by the refugees. The population in the city was much denser than what it was previously, yet they lacked food and materials to burn.
It was the same as the Leningrad on the Eastern Front in World War II. The city was slowly dying. If I continued to lay siege to the city, then there would only be starving prisoners left in the city.
I once wanted that. That way, the citizens would open the doors for us in order to survive. Now, however, I didn’t want a dead city. The citizens of the city didn’t do anything wrong and shouldn’t become sacrificial pawns in our war. War is a fight between soldiers. If citizens die for soldiers it’s called slaughter.
I looked at the people around with their terrified, yet eager, gazes and I gently sighed. I had no means of helping them at present. My guard unit didn’t bring food along. I could only get my soldiers to clear the snow, distribute food and repair buildings after I occupied the place. Everything had to wait until I occupied the place. The anthropoids had agreed to surrender. I came to see the Queen and the elder of the winged race today.
The palace had already been buried in a large volume of snow, so we headed toward a building that was still intact. Presumably, the place was a noble’s residence that was currently occupied by the imperial family.
When we arrived, a team of elven guards holding long spears stood on two sides of the street. They waited for us dressed in shining armour. Their spear tips had a colourful triangle flag. I frowned.
‘That’s their sign of surrender, so why were they so happy? They aren’t ceremonial soldiers facing the victor who conquered them. They should be the team welcoming back to Troy City. ‘