Her Graceful War Song by Summer's Blaze

On June 19th, Oliver dispatched Timothy and Louis with three thousand soldiers to the mountains outside Simonton City. They were there to wait for the Hell Monarch and Septimus.

While Oliver chose not to concern himself with the rescue operation's details, it was crucial that the pickup went smoothly. To secure his position as marshal, everything had to be executed flawlessly.

If the Hell Monarch's rescue attempt failed and they fell into the hands of the Sandoria forces, it would spell disaster for Oliver. He couldn't afford to send troops to the Sandoria border city.

Louis and Timothy reached the highest mountain outside Simonton City, and left a thousand men behind to stand by. They led the remaining two thousand further, hoping to intercept Rafael as soon as possible. However, after crossing another mountain, they ceased advancing. Beyond lay the nomad grassland tribes, where bringing two thousand soldiers would likely result in a battle.

In truth, once Rafael reached the grassland, the Sandorians would hesitate to enter. They would likely only send a few elite troops after him. With a manageable number of pursuers, Rafael could handle the situation if he was uninjured.

They waited for two days. On June 21st, Timothy grew increasingly anxious.

He said to Louis, "Waiting here doing nothing isn't going to help. Here's the plan-I'll take a dozen men down into the grassland, cross another mountain, and see if we can find Prince Rafael. I'm worried he might have been injured when he rescued Septimus." Louis replied, "Don't rush. Taking just a dozen men won't make a difference. The mountain is so vast and dense with forest, and there's no direct path. It'll be too difficult to locate anyone."

to cross the grassland, it means they're safe. Whether

"He's just trying to show full cooperation with the rescue mission, all to impress the king. He doesn't care if sending us

served under the best marshals and had little respect

there were currently no ongoing battles. The task was simply to guard Simonton City and prevent the

Southern Frontier

So, it was

govern effectively.

won't wait any longer, Louis." Timothy devised a compromise. "How about we split into teams of ten and cross the grassland

ten men each to cross the grassland in shifts toward Crow Mountain. You stay

"Even though His Highness didn't tell me much, he looked at me

in shock. "Do you also think so?

Thomas had hoped to see their own relatives. They had eagerly identified the