A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

It always felt like... he seemed to have been deceived by that boy without even realizing it.

Sal thought depressedly as he walked under the scorching sunshine. His black hair, which was almost like a bird's nest, was messed up by himself and completely out of shape.

He scratched his hair vigorously for a while, and finally let out a long, helpless breath.

how to say……

In that atmosphere, he was carried away by the rhythm of the boy's words without even realizing it.

Tsk!

That kid is so deceptive.

That kind of determined tone and resolute tone made people involuntarily infected and moved by his words.

It makes people feel like they are dreaming, immersed in the hopeful future he promised.

When the momentum wore off, Thrall himself wondered.

He felt as if he had done something stupid.

It was so easy to believe in an unfounded promise made by a stranger.

Not long ago, he had been slandering the other party in his heart that he was a silly idiot lady, but now...

He couldn't help but smile bitterly and think about how he looked like such a silly fool.

The other person is obviously much younger than him, and he doesn't even know the other person's name until now.

It's obviously an understatement, but it has an indescribable and strong power to confuse people's hearts.

It seems that as long as it comes from the mouth of a young man, it will definitely become a reality.

More importantly, the boy really grasped his weak spot, the most painful place deep in his heart.

The future that the young man promised to him made him forget everything at that moment and just wanted to grab the other person's outstretched hand.

It's like a drowning person desperately trying to catch a piece of driftwood floating in front of his eyes.

The people of Fera have prayed to the gods of Aaron Landis for hundreds of years.

They kept praying to the gods for mercy and to save them.

Now, a piece of driftwood floated in front of him.

... Is this driftwood that floats in front of him the will of the gods or the temptation of the devil?

Can that beautiful young man save him and his people, or will he lead the Fira people into a worse situation?

Sal didn't know.

He only knew that this piece of driftwood would be the only and last chance for the people of Fela.

The wind whistled by me, and I arrived at my destination before I knew it. Standing in front of the door of the Ferran assembly hall, Sal raised his head.

In the Sal Desert, wood is an extremely precious thing, so wooden houses are rarely seen in the desert.

Similarly, the gathering hall of the people of Ferra is also a large stone house. Years of wind and sun have made its appearance look quite vicissitudes, making this already rough stone hall even more ugly.

Staring at this familiar stone hall, Sal clenched his hands hard.

He wants to take a gamble!

The blood in his body was boiling a little bit, and the ferocity and fierceness of the desert people surged in his blood.

His eyes suddenly became sharp, and he strode into the stone hall. His usually lazy eyes were now blazing, and his face was solemn, as if there was an invisible power pouring into his body, making him full of energy. gained strength.

The young leader's different appearance from usual surprised everyone who was summoned to the hall by him. They all looked at Sal with confusion or surprise, wondering. Why did their little leader suddenly become like this?

Only the middle-aged man sitting on the wooden chair covered with gray and black wolf skin at the top of the hall was still drinking by himself. Although he was on a high seat, he had almost no sense of presence. Others in the hall were also used to it. I didn't pay any attention to him.

This man is Thrall's father, the real leader of the Fela people.

A few years ago, because he was seriously injured, he left all the responsibility of leading the Fira people to his son. Since then, he has been drinking and living in a state of intoxication, never doing anything else.

Therefore, although he is still the leader of Fira in name, he is just a symbol. The real decision maker is his son Sal, who is called the little boss by everyone.

At this moment, all the prestigious people in Fela were summoned to the hall by Thrall.

In addition to the respected older generation, he also summoned several important subordinates from the younger generation of Sal's generation.

Although these horse thieves are usually wild and unruly, everyone can see at this moment that Sal summoned them to discuss important matters, so it is rare for them to stay honest.

Tamia is also a very capable member of the younger generation. She is also staying aside at the moment, with a gloomy face, wondering what she is thinking.

After looking around at everyone, Sal spoke.

As a horse thief, the Fira people always act neatly and neatly, and they never do anything whining and roundabout.

So Sal didn't even bother to say an opening statement, and bluntly stated the purpose of gathering everyone and his own plan.

As soon as he was halfway through his words, he caused an uproar in the hall.

Like a boulder hitting the water, water splashed in all directions.

"Little boss, are you kidding me?"

"Yeah, are you so drunk that you haven't woken up yet? Are you talking in your sleep?"

"I said, is it possible that the little boss was so excited that he lost his head because the beauty was robbed? Why are you talking nonsense?"

Everyone was stunned. Many people didn't take Sal's words seriously, and some laughed loudly.

"Do you think I specially summoned all of you here just to joke with you and talk nonsense?"

Sal glanced at everyone with a cold expression and asked.

The laughter and discussion in the hall stopped abruptly, and everyone was stunned when they saw Sal's serious expression.

Little boss, are you serious?

Does he really want to take them to be Wang Ting's pawns and help Wang Ting fight other gangs?

The young people looked at each other, whispering to each other in low voices and in confusion. No one among the elders spoke. They either stared at Sal with heavy eyes, or lowered their eyes in deep thought.

Their nominal leader was still drinking wine in the upper seat of the hall, as if he hadn't heard anything.

After a long time, several old people spoke one after another.

"Sal, have you thought about it? Do you really want to lead the people of Ferra to obey the orders of the royal court from now on?"

"This happened so suddenly."

"The royal court has never taken us seriously, why did it suddenly..."

"Could it be that you want to use us for some purpose?"

"Sal, I don't think this should be done so lightly."

The old people were obviously suspicious, and few agreed.

Thrall looked at them and only said one sentence.

"The man from the royal court said that as long as I can clear out the bandits in the Sal desert, he promised me to help the land of Sal restore the prosperity of our ancestors hundreds of years ago."

The spacious stone hall fell silent for a moment, and the eyes of the older generation suddenly lit up.

They didn't say anything else, they just opened their eyes and stared at Sal.

Thrall knew very well what these elders' greatest desire was, so he continued.

"He promised me that as long as we do this, we will restore the name of our ancestor Feqir."

In an instant, everyone's breathing became heavier.

Not only the old people whose hearts were beating violently, but also the young people were also staring at Sal and breathing rapidly.

Although they don't attach as much importance to the name of their ancestors as the elderly, young people have their own arrogance. Although no one usually talks about it, the secretive name of their ancestors has always been an acne hidden deep in their hearts.

But now, there is such an opportunity. If they can restore the glory of their ancestors with their own hands, then they will definitely become heroes in the clan.

"Really?...That one can really keep his word..."

The oldest old man spoke. He opened his eyes and looked at Sal eagerly, with a little vibrato in his voice.

"Enough! A bunch of idiots!"

A sharp shout interrupted the old man's words, and Temya's expression turned extremely ugly when he spoke.

"Sal is stupid, are you going to follow suit?"

"Ancestors, ancestors - that's enough, such a little name can deceive you to death!"

"The royal court has always disliked us. They wish we, the thieves, would be dead. How could they make such a promise?"

He glanced at the crowd with a sarcastic look on his face, and said with hatred.

"This is obviously a trap! Those cunning officials just said anything and coaxed us to help them fight life and death."

"When the other gangs are really wiped out, will there be a good end for us people?"

"I dare say, don't say anything about what you promised us when the time comes, they will just find an excuse to kill us too."

Temiah sighed bitterly.

"I don't agree. I will never follow you to be the lackey of the royal court——!"

A few words from Temia made everyone who was already tempted start to waver again.

"That's right. What if the royal court is just using us?"

"Indeed, once we are almost at the same level with the other gangs, Wang Ting will be able to take the opportunity to destroy us together. Maybe this is how they plot against us."

"If they don't mean what they say..."

"We are living our own lives now. We can do whatever we want. It's so happy. I don't want to be a lackey."

Seeing that everyone was shaken by Temea's words, Sal was about to speak when suddenly a sneer came from behind him.

There was a crisp sound, and a wine jar was suddenly thrown over, smashing into pieces on the uneven stone ground.

The smell of inferior wine filled the hall.

The noise in the hall stopped suddenly, and everyone subconsciously turned their attention behind Sal.

Sal also turned and looked.

The middle-aged man, who was lying carelessly on the seat drinking, smashed the wine jar over and glanced over with drunken eyes.

Everyone shut up when the man stared at them.

Even though the man is now just a drunkard who does nothing, he is still the leader of the Fela people.

Having been the leader for more than ten years, he still has great authority among the Fira people, especially among the older generation.

"Use? Calculate?"

The drunken man sneered.

"You bastards don't take yourselves so damn seriously."

"What do you think you are? You are just horse thieves, a group of horse thieves, hundreds of horse thieves."

"Sixty years ago, there was a special...er, what was special?"

The man burped. His drunken brain was not working well. He couldn't think of anything, so he gave up irritably.

"At that time, he was very powerful in the Sal Desert. He was frightened and suppressed other bandits in the desert. Everyone had to listen to him."

"He is running rampant in the desert. All the forces are under his control, and almost the entire desert is ruled by him."

"At that time, everyone called him the King of the Desert."

"Haha, Hier, the king of the desert, Hier, such a majestic guy, it's a pity that this title has been heard by people in the royal court."

"Then, the royal court casually sent thousands of cavalry over, and, haha, they killed the entire desert including that desert king."

"Tsk, why does the royal court want to take advantage of us...heh."

He raised his hand and made a gesture with his right thumb and index finger.

"In the eyes of Wang Ting, we are just a little thing."

The drunken man yelled at his tribe.

"Come, tell me, are you interested in using an ant?"

"A person can crush a bunch of ants with just one kick. Does that person still need to plan and let one ant kill several other ants?"

"Come on, tell me, which one of you is so fucking boring?"

The drunk man sneered and glanced at everyone, especially Temya, whose face was flushed and his eyes were full of dissatisfaction.

"I'm going to tell you right now, in the eyes of Wang Ting, we are like that ant -"

After saying this, the man waved his hand.

"Just do what Sal says."

He said,

"It's better to be a lackey and chew meat and bones than to be an ant that can be trampled to death anytime and anywhere."

After a moment of silence, everyone withdrew with heavy expressions.

Soon, only the father and son were left in the hall.

The smell of low-quality wine lingered in the hall, and the man was still lying lazily on the seat, eyes closed, and did not move for a long time, as if he was drunk to death.

Sal looked at his father silently, with complicated eyes.

After a long time, he turned around and wanted to leave.

However, before he could reach the door, a hoarse voice suddenly came from behind.

"Son, you are a coward who dare not face reality."

"But you are different."

The man seemed to be using drunkenness as an excuse, muttering in a low voice, saying things he couldn't normally say.

"You...take everyone to have a try."

Sal stood there without moving or looking back.

"I never thought you were a wimp."

He said.

After a pause, he increased his voice again.

"Never."

After saying that, Sal still didn't look back and strode out directly.

When he stepped out of the hall, the scorching sunshine outside fell on him.

He raised his hand to cover his eyes and looked at the sky through his fingers.

The sky was clear and cloudless.

Although the road ahead was difficult, at least he finally found the way forward.

He finally knew what he should do.

…………

In the blink of an eye, more than ten days have passed.

In the evening of this day, outside the Ferran camp, Sal and several of his close subordinates were seeing off guests.

The guest who stayed with him for more than ten days was naturally Garlan and his party.

To be precise, Garlan and the others were not in the Feira people's camp, but stayed in the Sal Desert for ten days.

Because during this period of time, at Garlan's request, Thrall, a local snake, led them around the desert for ten days.

During this time, Thrall also discussed with Garlan about how to support the Fela bandits.

It has been agreed that Thrall will receive the first batch of funds and weapons to support them within a month and develop as soon as possible.

At the same time, it was agreed that they must eliminate the Sivali bandits within three months.

After doing this, Garlan will send someone over to discuss the next matter.

The sun was still on the horizon, but the sky was much gloomier than usual.

"How about you stay one more night?"

Sal looked at the sky and said, "It doesn't look like the weather is very good."

Although rain is extremely rare in the desert, it doesn't mean it won't happen.

The sky was unusually gloomy tonight, and it looked like it was going to rain.

"No, my family will be worried if I don't go back."

Garlan shook his head and rejected Thrall's proposal.

He couldn't delay it any longer. His time in the desert was already at its limit.

He was only allowed to come out after agreeing on a time to return with Brother Wang and the others. If he didn't go back at the agreed time, he could guarantee that Brother Camos would rush out to find him in person.

The consequences are really a headache.

And after being carried back by Brother Wang, Xie Muer will definitely talk about him for a long time.

He didn't want to suffer that kind of torture at all, so it was better to rush back at the appointed time.

Therefore, Garlan said goodbye to Sal and got on his horse, and left with Heimos who was already waiting for him on horseback not far away.

Garlan, Heimos and the dozen or so Guards knights in bodyguard attire galloped on horseback in the desert, setting off gusts of wind and sand, and disappeared far into the horizon against the setting sun.

Thrall watched them go away, and then turned back to the camp.

He has been out for so many days, and now that he is back, there must be a lot of things for him to deal with.

But Thrall didn't know that somewhere out of his sight, the departing Garlan and his party stopped after running for a while on horseback.

Heimos, who took the lead in reining in his horse, glanced at a knight beside him.

He said: "You go back and watch them all night."

The knight who was ordered by Heimos nodded, turned his horse's head, made an arc, and ran back to where they had just left.

He would stay near the Fela camp for one night, monitor their movements, and confirm that they were not following the Crown Prince and his entourage or collaborating with other gangs, and then he would leave and catch up with the team again.

Garlan said nothing about Heimos' arrangement.

He understood that vigilance and preparedness were necessary.

After the knight left, they continued on their journey and successfully arrived at the predetermined resting point before the sky darkened completely.

It was an oasis in the desert.

Although it is small, it is very good as a temporary camping site.

In fact, almost all the camps of various bandit groups are established in desert oases. Of course, those are large oases that can accommodate hundreds or thousands of people.

By the time Heimos had inspected the area and made arrangements for the knights to keep vigil, it was already dark.

The night is dark today, with almost no moonlight or starlight.

In the dark oasis, only the burning bonfire dotted the night.

When Heymos found Garlan, Garlan was sitting next to the campfire, his head lowered and he didn't know what he was doing.

The red firelight reflected the young man's face as brightly as the sunset.

He walked over and sat down next to Garlan.

As soon as he lowered his head, he saw Garlan holding something green in his hand, which looked like a vine growing by the small lake not far away.

Garlan seemed to be trying to make something up with these vines.

"What are you doing with this?"

After looking at it for a while, Heimos couldn't help but ask.

Garlan looked up at Heimos, and his eyes suddenly curved.

Then, he stretched out his hand and pointed the object in his hand towards Heimos' face.

It was a mask made of vines.

It's not big, just enough to cover the upper half of Heymos's face.

The workmanship is extremely rough, and the gaps between the vines that are braided together are sometimes large and some are small, and the shapes are awkwardly entangled together, making it ugly no matter how you look at it.

"Didn't I promise to give you a mask?"

Garlan continued to make gestures on Heimos' face with great interest.

Anyway, he was bored, so he pulled out the green vines and weeds by the lake and tried to make up something.

Anyway... no matter how ugly it is, the person wearing it is not him.

Rao thought so, but after seeing his 'masterpiece' with his own eyes, Garlan couldn't help it and muttered.

"How ugly."

The upper half of his face was suddenly blocked by the crude vine mask. Heimos was still stunned, but when he heard Garlan say this, he couldn't help laughing.

The firelight reflected on his face and in his golden-red eyes revealed from the vine mask, as if a soft flame was ignited in his eyes.

The flame gently enveloped the young man in front of him.

"Forget it, you look too ugly wearing this."

Garlan said to himself, taking back the ugly vine mask.

"You look pretty good anyway. Being made so ugly by me makes my conscience uneasy."

He muttered while trying to swing the vine grass mask, trying to salvage his work.

After hearing what Garlan said unconsciously, Heimos smiled even deeper in his eyes.

"You think I look good?"

Garlan, who was focusing on the vine mask in his hand, was defenseless and answered casually.

"You're so handsome, what else do you want... uh."

The boy's voice stopped abruptly as he finally realized the last word.

However, it's too late.

Garlan, who had been tricked, turned to glare at Heimos quite angrily, but Heimos smiled happily.

He reached out and grabbed the vine mask.

He smiled and said, "Give it to me. Anyway, I'm so handsome, so I have to use an ugly mask to block him."

Garlan resisted the urge to yell at him, and just when he was about to pull the vine grass mask back from him, he suddenly felt a cold feeling on the back of his hand.

Snap, a drop of water fell on his hand.

Immediately afterwards, another drop fell on the vine grass mask that the two of them were holding.

"It's raining."

Heimos stood up.

"I'll let them set up a temporary tent."

It looked like the weather was going to rain a lot, so he planned to have someone cut down a few small trees, and then use vines to build a tent for Garlan that could barely keep out the rain as soon as possible.

As soon as Heimos stood up, a sudden sound of rapid horse hooves came from the dark night.

I saw the knight who was sent by Heimos to monitor the Fera bandits in the evening, galloping towards them. He quickly jumped off his horse and knelt down to salute the two of them.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Lord Heimos."

He said quickly,

"Camp Fela was attacked by the Sivari bandits!"