Chapter 153: Accumulated Rancor
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"General, General Mintel would like to see you," a courier said as he rushed in.
Kumaraghosha and Harrison looked at each other, and then Kumaraghosha jumped off his war horse. "Show me the way."
"General!" Harrison followed Kumaraghosha jumping off the horse. "I am going with you. That guy definitely does not have good intentions."
"No, you have such a temper." Kumaraghosha smiled. "Here is the military camp. Only disciplines matter here. I will be fine."
"General, you might think that way, but that guy does not necessarily think the same way as you do."
"It is my order. Harrison, take care of our fellows here. Don’t let them cause any trouble. Do you understand?" Kumaraghosha shook his head.
"Ok." Harrison heaved a sigh.
Kumaraghosha followed the courier to the camp. Large griffins created gusts of wind in the camp when they flew into the sky or when they landed. Soldiers often had to lower their heads in case they were blown away by the wind. Only Kumaraghosha walked with his back straight. His back was as straight as a spear. He had acted very tough. No mentioning the wind created by griffins, even as arrows rained down or on the battlefield hovered with magic, he had been very tough.
Soldiers in the camp talked behind Kumaraghosha’s back. His pure military style did not earn him respect, because those soldiers were from Griffin Aerial Unit. The soldiers just acted like their general. The accumulated rancor between General Mintel and Kumaraghosha was not a secret. If any soldier showed respect to Kumaraghosha, it could well be imagined what would happen to that soldier.
When they were approaching the general’s tent, Kumaraghosha did not wait for the courier to report to General Mintel. He lifted the curtain and walked in. Mintel was sitting on a big chair. He had a rare bright red crystal wine glass in one hand, a female slave from Maho Empire in the other. He quietly flirted with his slave as his followers were around him.
Mintel was young. His eyebrows were long and dark, his nose was tall, and his eyes were bright. He looked handsome. It was during leisure time, so he only wore half armor, but even from the half armor, one could still tell Mintel must have come from a really good family. The armor radiated strong magic surges when he moved around, which were even as strong as the magic surges from a senior mage when he fought with full force.
"General Mintel, are you looking for me?" Kumaraghosha asked slowly.
"Don’t you know you should have someone report to me first?" he asked coldly. The smile on Mintel’s suddenly disappeared.
"You asked…" Kumaraghosha said.
"Please leave right now." Mintel said.
Kumaraghosha gave Mintel a long look without any comment. He turned around and walked out of the tent. There were low-pitched laughs in the tent.
A courier walked in to report that Kumaraghosha had arrived. Mintel waited a while on purpose before he allowed Kumaraghosha to come back in. Kumaraghosha kept a calm look even though he saw those evil-intentioned laughs.
"Our General Kumaraghosha, please take a seat." Mintel held his hand out to signal Kumaraghosha to take a seat, while he was still sitting on his chair. "I heard something happened to our supply wagons?"
"Nothing serious. Boarbeasts went bad while the frozen magic array worked fine in the wagons. I think something must have happened at headquarters."
"General Kumaraghosha, don’t blame others whenever there is a problem. You need to look for things you did wrong." Mintel had a smile on his face. "Five years ago, you told me so. I learned from you and remembered your words. Today I have to say the same to you."
"I would not blame anyone else for my faults, but I would not allow anyone to blame me for something I did not do either. General Mintel, it is still too early to return that saying to me," Kumaraghosha said.
"Is that so? Why are you so sure something happened at headquarters?" Mintel said calmly about the pressing incident.
"I have had mages check on the supply wagons carefully. Nothing went wrong with them. If you do not believe me, you can send your people to check on it," Kumaraghosha said.
"Frozen magic arrays are not complicated. Any mage can repair them. It has been three days since the incident happened. Now you want me to check on it? General Kumaraghosha, are you playing with me?" Mintel smiled.
"General Mintel, neither you nor me can decide who should take the responsibility for the incident. People from the headquarters will investigate," Kumaraghosha said.
"Sure, but I will include my opinions in the report. I hope you are okay with that," Mintel said.
"Do as you wish," Kumaraghosha said indifferently.
"Ok." Mintel nodded. "Did you purchase boarbeasts somewhere else? I heard you have paid big money for it. I heard you even gave that merchant a powerful magic crystal you collected a long time ago."
Kumaraghosha was a little shocked. "Yes’"
"Did you all hear that?" Mintel looked around. "What an example for empire soldiers."
"What an example! You just don’t want to get punished for your mistake," one of Mintel’s followers said with a mocking tone.
"Shut up. Kumaraghosha is not that kind of person," Mintel sneered.
"Only you understand me." Kumaraghosha smiled.
"If I did not know you, who else could know you." Mintel’s smiles started to look vicious. "You are definitely not afraid of our military punishments, otherwise you would not make me a criminal and kill my brother. For the past five years, my brother’s screaming has been lingering in my ears. I rarely slept well. I woke up with nightmares many times. General Kumaraghosha, it was because of you."
No one else dared to say anything on this topic. Suddenly it was getting really depressing in the tent.
"He deserved it." Kumaraghosha’s expression did not change a bit.
"Sure, sure. The things you do are always right." Mintel thought he might be acting too impulsively. He took a long breath and put his fake smile back onto his face. "Marshal Nabonido trusts you the most. With his help, you would not care about anyone in the military. Hahaha, right, why is Marshal Nabonido not here today?"
"General, Marshal Nabonido died few years ago," one of Mintel’s followers said it timidly.
"Huh, did he die?" Mintel acted like he had just learned about it. "How did he die?"
"He had a treacherous relationship with another country and was sentenced to death by the king," the follower answered.
Kumaraghosha tightened his fists and slowly loosened them. He looked indifferent and cold. Anyone could make fun of him, but he would not allow anyone to show any disrespect for his teacher. If Mintel would not stop talking sh*t about his teacher, he had to make a bloody scene in this tent. He had nothing to worry about because he needed to protect his teacher’s reputation.
"Alright, alright. Marshal Nabonido has fought for our country for several decades. He has done hard work even if he has not performed meritorious deeds. Let’s talk about something else." Seeing Kumaraghosha’s look, Mintel felt an unnoticeable fear. He even switched to a nicer tone as well. From a royal family to a military family, he had learned a lot before he became a general. He knew when to stop his venting. If he pushed too hard, he would have to face revenge from Kumaraghosha.
Mintel had never meant to kill Nabonido. He just wanted to vent on him. If he were nice to him, he would find an opportunity to stab him from behind. When his brother led his team to scout, he surrounded a town. He forgot about his assignment. He stayed and fooled around in the town for three days. As a result, the Death Roaring mercenary group from Maho Empire made a surprise attack on the headquarters. Ten thousand soldiers who stayed behind at the headquarter were killed. This was a mistake that could be forgiven. It was the first assignment for Mintel’s brother, and he found several beautiful girls by chance. He was not able to take others’ advices and caused a disaster for the military. It also had impact on Mintel.
Looking at it from a different angle, Kumaraghosha was demoted a few times after Marshal Nabonido passed away. Good leaders were getting less in the military. No one could deny that fact that Kumaraghosha was a brave soldier. It was fine to vent against him in a peaceful time, but Kumaraghosha was the person who could save lives when a war came. Knowing this, Mintel actually did not mean to kill Nabonido.
"General Mintel, if you just want to tell me these things, I think we can find another time to talk. I have to set up a defensive system now," Kumaragosha said slowly.
"General Kumaraghosha, you do not have to worry about defense. You need go to the headquarters first. There is another supply caravan that needs you as an escort," Mintel said.
"My job is protecting Griffin Aerial Unit’s camp," Kumaraghosha said.
"Don’t you know the Country of Mercenaries is in danger now? Our supplies could be cut off at any time. Before it happens, we have to make sure they have enough supplies," Mintel said.
"How about the safety issue here?" Kumaraghosha asked.
"My worriers can fly to the sky at any time. You do not have to worry about it," Mintel said in a very formal tone. "This supply caravan carries a lot of stuff. You’d better take more people with you. Don’t let anything happen to it."
Kumaraghosha went quiet for a while and said, "Yes, sir."