Chapter 289. Eila Returns To Golden Sap City.

The people of the army were shaken after the explosion. The loud explosion and shockwave, even when Elenara managed to divert a large part of it, struck their bodies as if a hammer had hit them. Many soldiers in the army also thought that after a surprise attack of this magnitude, an enemy army would appear from beyond the smoke, so they were all staggering as they quickly tried to stand up.

The feeling of relief and happiness after leaving the forest was gone, substituted by a deeper-than-before sense of dread. Psyche-wise, this was the last thing these people needed.

Still, Taro hadn’t planned on attacking at this point in time. It was the truth that the enemy army was shaken and heavily weakened. But their high-level people would probably be ready and much more numerous than theirs. Entering into that smoke cloud was a suicide charge that he was not willing to command. 

“Return to the city. We’ve done as much as we can.”

Taro’s order spread around, urging everyone to turn around and leave. He was the last one to leave, staying behind until the smoke cleared enough to see the damage to the enemy army. ‘It is not nearly enough compared to what I predicted. That Sylvan’s spell can only be described as masterful; she saved a few thousand with a wave of her hand…’

He sighed and turned around, muttering to himself. “I really hope that our defenses can bear their assault.” 

Inside the forest, Eila looked through the vegetation, standing on the top of one of the trees, until Wert arrived with a message. “We’ve cleaned up the forest. What do we do now?”

Eila commented. “Divide into two groups and go to Sirol and Mareful City. I’ll go to Golden Sap City in the meantime.”

Wert’s eyebrows raised at her words. “Eila, Liu Shu is unconscious and can’t really use the entirety of her strength. Golden Sap City is quite vulnerable as it is.”

Eila shook her head. “It isn’t. The defensive structures of Golden Sap City make it the best protected one. From what I heard, after Liu Shu reached Level 25, ALL her buildings are of such level as well, right? How many buildings are in Golden Sap City? 500? Six hundred, perhaps? Not to mention Liu Shu’s subconsciousness, Wisdom, is really… cunning.”

Wert was not fully convinced, which prompted her to think of a solution. A few moments later, she relented and looked at Wert, saying. “You can come with me if you want. However, the other 98 people need to divide now. What do you choose?”

Wert looked at Eila for a few moments and sighed, scratching his head. “Sirol City has been my home for a few years as well. I guess protecting it is not bad.” He turned around and said aloud, raising one hand as he walked away. “You better take care of our big girl, Eila.”

Eila answered firmly. “I will.”

Then, she jumped down and ran back to Golden Sap City. She arrived around an hour later, and once there, she made a beeline to the Town Hall. Eila traversed the passageways inside the Town Hall. Nobody stopped her; after all, she was too well known.

She eventually reached Flor’s room and knocked on the door. 

Knock. Knock knock. Knock.

“Enter.”

Flor’s voice reached her, and Eila opened the doors, finding Flor and another ten people in the room. Some she recognized, but she was unaware of who others were. At the center of the room and in the middle of the large desk, the Flower Fairy sat on a chair her size. To see her, the chair had tall legs, elevating Flor’s position above the desk without a problem.

Eila looked at the three sylvans and secretly raised her eyebrow. ‘Their strength is increasing faster than mine… It’s quite impressive.’ 

Flor’s voice reached her, the tone calm and clear. “Lady Eila, what’s wrong?”

Looking over, Eila commented with a neutral tone: “The army is going to march here and arrive today, most probably. All of you should start making preparations. There is no need to send aid to the other cities for now; I have already taken care of that. Focus on protecting this city, and once we do, we’ll send aid to the other cities.”

Flor hummed and nodded. “I got it. What about you?”

“I’ll stay here.”

Eila’s declaration came off as a surprise. Verdantia asked, curious. “Will you really? I thought you were still resentful for what happened in the past.”

“Resentful?” Eila looked at Verdantia and smiled. “It seems that you still don’t know me that well, even after being your teacher for a while.” Eila spoke firmly, her purple eyes emitting an air of solemnity. “What happened was a battle out of interest, not hatred. Now that we are on the same side, forgiving the slights we did to each other is the best course of action.” 

The Sylvans and others in the room looked at Eila with surprise. At first, they thought that her words were perhaps something said to lower their guards. Yet, Eila’s gaze was too honest and forward. If she really was planning to backstab them and able to show such a gaze, they would instantly classify Eila as a terrifying psychopath. 

Flor stood up and flew in front of Eila, extending her tiny and adorable hand. “Agreed. Let’s let bygones be bygones.”

Eila looked at the tiny hand in front of her, and she smiled faintly, extending her fingers and gently holding Flor’s hand. 

At the back, Ignatia asked. “What’s the enemy army coming this way?”

Eila shrugged. “You’ll need to ask Wisdom about that.”

Flor tilted her head, confused. “Wisdom… Do you mean it as a name?”

Eila paused and looked around. Everyone in the room was confused, which made her feel a hint of surprise. “You don’t know Wisdom? Tianlian Liu Shu’s personality when she is unconscious?”

“Huh?”

Everyone’s faces gained a bewildered expression. Flor asked, completely oblivious. “What are you talking about? There is no hidden personality called Wisdom.”

Eila realized that they weren’t messing around with her, and she, too, was baffled. She looked around and spoke. “Wisdom, we’ll need you since Liu Shu is asleep. Please show up.”

Everyone felt that Eila was messing around with them or that she had been lied to by someone. After all, how could Eila know a part of Liu Shu that they didn’t? That was something that they were not willing to accept as those who considered themselves the closest to her. 

However, Eila was bound to prove them wrong, and since the second Eila spoke, Wisdom controlled a few roots and showed up with Liu Shu’s roots. She shifted them around and wrote quite clearly. “Hello. I am Wisdom.”

Cinderielle, Verdantia, and Tempestria somehow felt a sense of not unease but something similar. It was more like a disconnect. When they were talking with Liu Shu, while there were a few barriers in what came to romance, they always felt as if a secret and hidden link deeply connected with them. 

Yet, even when it was Liu Shu’s roots, the ones that appeared before them, they felt lifeless, as if something that was clearly not their beloved was controlling them. This sensation naturally led them to distrust the roots.

Eila spoke up. “She is Wisdom, Liu Shu’s subconsciousness.” 

Wisdom didn’t clarify her exact origins. She didn’t feel the need to complicate things. Meanwhile, Flor was looking between the roots and Eila, and eventually, she asked aloud. “Are you really not Liu Shu? If this is a joke that you want to make with Eila, you can stop it. I promise I won’t get angry.”

The roots coiled. “Negative. This is not a joke.”

Cinderielle confirmed it, her tone sounding slightly unusual to the rest. “Indeed, she is not Liu Shu. I can’t feel the same liveliness coming through the roots.” She then asked, her tone inquisitive. “So, how much of Liu Shu can you control? Are you really her subconscious, or are you… a parasite?”

The roots moved and formed a single word. “Irrelevant.” 

Cinderielle’s face became cold. However, before she could do anything, Tempestria grabbed her arm. “Don’t become hot-headed, fire girl.” Tempestria looked at Eila and said. “Be quick. Where are the enemies, and what do we need to do? You should have an idea of what we can expect, right?”

Cinderielle protested, snatching her arm away from Tempestria’s grip. “Hey, Tempestria, what do you mean that you don’t need to worry about this? This is too important!”

Tempestria looked Cinderielle in the eyes and asked. “Can you do something about it if it proves to be a worst-case scenario?”

Cinderielle opened and closed her mouth, unable to say anything. Tempestria smiled wryly. “That’s right. You can’t. Hence, we need to trust her for now and focus on the problem that’s literally marching toward us at this very instant.”

Verdantia clapped once and looked at Eila once more. “Tell us about the army. A summary if possible.”

Eila nodded and quickly summarized. “There are around 65,000 left. The number that is coming our way is unknown for now, but I would say that they will be 30,000 at a minimum. Then, there are around 1,300 <Second Energy cycles> in that army, with over 30 Level 30+ leaders. I think there is a Level 40+ between their ranks as well. Oh, and there are between 200 and 300 Sylvans.” 

Eila paused and added after thinking. “I almost forgot, Baron Lorbase himself is very strong, being a Level 40 powerhouse. However, as a noble of the Confederation, he has a strange pride and won’t move himself before things are too dire. The lowest level people in that army are Level 20, from what I heard.”

Flor rubbed her forehead and asked. “Of the top powerhouses, do we expect to face half of them?”

“Indeed.” Eila nodded firmly. “We are the main objective. It would be nonsensical to send anything less than half of their army. The rest will be on duty to stop us from receiving reinforcements… Well, at least that’s what I would do.” 

“…What you would do?” Flor blinked, and commented. “What about what they will do?”

Eila shook her head. “Do I look like someone who dabs into Destiny or Fate? I don’t know, but in the worst case scenario that they send the entire army, we should be able to resist if you incentivize the Explorers in the city and other strong people to aid us in repelling the enemies.”

Flor crossed her arms and her agile brain started churning. Eventually, she looked toward one of the treasurers and asked. “How much money do we currently have?”

“Lady Flor, we have, after doing the conversions, 220 <Lir>, 399 <Tyn>, 429 <Bren>, and 129 <Syl>.”

Flor blinked twice as everyone in the room stayed silent. Eila muttered, quite surprised. “Your city is quite… rich. At least for someone that’s living in this area, that’s quite a large sum of money.”

Flor looked at Eila and asked, confused. “How much money do you have in your city?”

“As liquid funds?” Eila pondered and commented. “There shouldn’t be more than a 600 <Syl>. We have many more assets than what you have here, though. Still, we are not that far apart. You’ll probably leave us in the dust after a few years.”

Flor hummed and commented to the others. “So… Can we set up a bounty system that will gift 1 <Bren> for each <Second Energy Cycle> kill and one <Tyn> for every Level 20 to 24 enemy?” Flor commented, rubbing her chin. “Even if we ourselves kill no high-levels, the cost would be around 3 <Syl> in total.”

Verdantia deadpanned and asked her. “Do you want to throw money at the problem and see if it goes away?”

Flor looked at Verdantia and blinked twice adorably. “Why not?”

Nobody could really answer. Even Eila was somewhat surprised at how effective such messaging would be. ‘… I should’ve thought of this method before. Such a clever way to buy cannon fodder.’

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