Chapter 275 - 212: Eating People?
Ratifa’s expression soured. She could hear the teasing, or rather, the sarcasm in Henry’s words.
The Prince had given them far too many missions. The enemy numbered at least 150,000 to 200,000.
Based on the combat strength Henry had displayed so far, these enemies didn’t seem entirely invincible.
So, with Henry having proactively requested combat assignments, it was perfectly reasonable for the Prince to assign him more missions based on his combat capabilities.
But Ratifa was here too! What did Henry’s strength have to do with her?
Had the Prince not considered her feelings at all? Ratifa had always seen herself as the Prince’s right-hand woman, but it turned out she was just a tool he didn’t care about.
Henry patted Ratifa’s shoulder and consoled her. "Don’t overthink it. To the Prince, I’m a thorn in his side. He’d love nothing more than for me to kill a ton of enemies and then die on the battlefield.
As for you... you’re the wealthiest Count in the Northern Lands, and an unmarried one at that. His plan for you is undoubtedly to annex your fiefdom through marriage.
But... you’ve been a little too close to me lately. He might have some new ideas."
Ratifa shrugged, a trace of disdain in her eyes.
’Let the Prince do whatever he wants. I couldn’t care less about his schemes and petty ideas.’ Her opinion of him was getting worse and worse.
She had once thought the Prince was a wise leader, the future of the empire, the heir to the emperor. But now, he just seemed like an ordinary man blinded by power and desire.
And his abilities couldn’t even support his desires.
Her feelings were complicated, but more than anything, she was disappointed in the Prince.
Suddenly, Ratifa realized she hadn’t minded Henry’s small gesture—him patting her shoulder.
This surprised her. She didn’t like being touched casually by others.
And because of her status, almost no one besides her handmaidens was ever allowed to touch her.
But Henry’s gesture gave her an inexplicable sense of security and warmth.
She shook her head, pushing these distracting thoughts away and refocusing on the problem at hand.
"Henry, how do you plan to handle these excessive missions the Prince gave you?" Ratifa asked.
Although Henry had already demonstrated his extraordinary combat abilities to her, she was still worried because the number of enemies was simply too vast.
Henry smiled, his expression confident.
"These combat missions are child’s play for me," he said, his tone tinged with disdain.
"The Prince thinks giving me this many assignments will run me ragged, but he has no idea that my army and my combat strength far exceed his imagination."
He stood up, his gaze fixed firmly on the Snowfield Basin on the map.
"I plan to head to the Snowfield Basin first and engage the 60,000-strong main force of the Inferior Horned Beasts in a decisive battle!"
A warlike glint flashed in Henry’s eyes. "If we’re gonna fight, we’re going all in. We’re going for big numbers. I’m taking on the main force!"
Their eyes met. Ratifa understood that the battle to come would be a tough one.
And in this battle, the role she could play would be extremely limited.
"Wait, Inferior Horned Beasts? Is that what you call them?"
Ratifa suddenly realized Henry had just used a term she’d never heard before: Inferior Horned Beast.
"Ah, back when I was studying at the Knight Academy in the imperial capital, I ran into some people from the Church. They showed me a storybook, and in it, there was a creature that looked a lot like our current enemies. They were called Inferior Horned Beasts."
Ratifa nodded dubiously. "I see. It seems there’s more to this Church than meets the eye."
In truth, Ratifa was still suspicious. ’If the Church within the empire possessed so much specialized knowledge, it wouldn’t have ended up in its current state.
At the very least, they’d have a legacy of special knowledge. The emperor would have recruited them as scholars, not left them as pariahs everyone loves to hate.’
Ratifa guessed that Henry had other sources of intelligence and simply didn’t want to share them, perhaps out of mistrust.
Ratifa and Henry didn’t discuss the matter for long. Henry’s stance was clear: if he didn’t want to talk about something, no amount of questioning would make him speak.
Ratifa realized this as well. She knew that pressing the issue would just be a waste of time and could even strain their relationship.
The two of them immediately issued the battle orders. They decided the army would set out the next morning to intercept the enemy’s 60,000-strong main force at the designated location.
"Henry, you need to be careful. The Prince’s personal Cavalry suffered heavy losses scouting the movement of that 60,000-strong main force," Ratifa said, her voice grave.
Henry’s eyes darted about. To a Legion, personal Cavalry were an invaluable mounted archer force. For Ratifa to say they had "suffered heavy losses" meant the situation was dire.
Ratifa recalled for a moment before explaining, "For the Prince to give us this intelligence and mission just shows how sinister his intentions are.
Because this force of 60,000... uh, Inferior Horned Beasts, is nothing like the cannon fodder army we encountered before.
They are stronger, more ferocious, and much more cunning."
Henry looked at Ratifa and asked, "Stronger and more cunning? What do you mean? In terms of combat ability? Or their weaponry?"
Henry was puzzled. As far as he knew, the Inferior Horned Beasts were just incredibly tough; they could survive as long as their hearts weren’t pulped or their heads weren’t completely severed.