Chapter 9: Supplies.
Back in the city's castle, Rose sat in the study. Naturally, he shut his heart to the wails and cheers outside, aware that his action had shattered a beautiful illusion that maintained the people's sanity. Although guilt assailed him, in his honest opinion, it was far better to shatter that illusion than to allow the situation to continue as it was.
A people with nothing to lose only have two paths: fight for their freedom, even at the cost of death, or perish upon losing the last spark of hope.
"It seems we'll be heading home sooner than expected, Desmos," the young prince commented, standing up.
He needed a massive amount of provisions, a lot, for what was to come. The palace's needs could wait for the moment.
[If we're going back, why the hell did you ask for hunters?] he asked, genuinely confused, as the empire had a very well-developed meat industry.
"Because I don't want to go back and forth every day; this place doesn't know about cold storage," Rose replied dryly.
[A perfectly valid reason] Desmos said simply. He had forgotten that bags of skin and bones couldn't eat spoiled food. Of course, he didn't need to eat, so his perspective was entirely biased.
Rose, rolling his eyes at the lifelong friend's audacity, simply got up. Then, he took out the necklace that Uncle Zef had created, which served as a kind of "fast travel" device between the Empire and the area designated as his base of operations on the Badlands continent.
However, before activating it, he completely locked himself in the study, as Mina was still wandering the castle. After saying "—home—", the necklace emitted a golden flash and, when it faded, he vanished from the study.
His reappearance in his father's throne room caused him no surprise; after all, it was logical that the man would want to receive reports in person. However, not finding his father, he assumed he was busy at that moment. Therefore, without even asking, he turned around and headed straight for the palace armory.
[Don't you need to ask permission for this?] Desmos asked, aware that Qin wouldn't like his son taking inventory. That man was very manic; he was bothered when the accounts didn't balance and performed inventories at least twice a week.
"I'll leave a written report as soon as I finish," Rose replied without stopping to think or greet the servants, who were happy to see their prince after nearly six months of absence.
He couldn't just hand them firearms. Honestly, people who thought using them was easy should reconsider their perspective, as even the least powerful ones required rigorous training. For starters, the lightest one weighed almost as much as a solid metal spear, not to mention the recoil. This had already caused arm, and even shoulder, dislocations in those weapons that required shoulder support.
So, for now, he would have to limit himself to providing bladed weapons and reinforcing the walls.
Naturally, Rose was forced to argue with the armory caretaker, who demanded official authorization from his father. Although he was a prince and knew how to fight, his actual control over the army and navy was almost nil, as he was not a professional soldier.
Finally, the novice, who hadn't witnessed the unification wars, yielded, as his prince had essentially threatened him with throwing him into the Badlands to fight in a damn war. After all, it was common knowledge that Prince Rose had been sent to the Badlands with the mission to completely annex the continent to the Great Empire of the Rising Sun.
Once inside the armory, he looked for the most powerful crossbows. Although composite bows were generally stronger, they required training for which he had neither the time nor the patience to teach them. He didn't even consider the simple bow or the English longbow.
Although crossbows were considerably heavier, being metal contraptions, they were much more practical and required significantly less effort, as the string was automatically tensioned with each shot. Therefore, they were the best option available at that moment.
Only 20 days remained until the arrival of autumn. He needed to arm his people, even if they weren't sufficiently trained to repel the bandit assault. Otherwise, it was highly likely that everyone would perish at the hands of the assailants.
So, with that in mind, he simply took as many crossbows and arrows as he could and stored them in his pocket dimension. His father would probably suffer a nervous breakdown, but he was sure he would eventually understand that it was a necessity. After all, above all, his father sought peace and for children to simply be children, without being forced to witness the absolute horrors of war.
Then, he proceeded to look for barricades, barbed wire, and even steel spikes. After all, an enemy who couldn't run was a dead enemy. He would feel sorry for the horses, as they only obeyed those who trained them, but the men... well, they chose the path of crime and, with it, the brutal consequences of the empire's absolute law.
With the military supplies securely stored in his pocket dimension, the young man returned to his room. There, he spent about two hours drafting a detailed report of what he had taken and the reasons for his action. As soon as he finished, he handed the document to one of the palace maids with the strict order that she deliver it to his father as soon as he returned, no matter how busy he was.
Next, he headed to the pantries to ensure he obtained enough provisions to feed his people for several days.
Unlike the army, over which he had no direct control, the pantries were practically at his disposal, as long as he justified his requisitions. And, of course, a ton of wheat, one of flour, enough coal to set a small country on fire, and meat for at least two days were perfectly justified. He simply declared to the warehouse caretaker that "he was preparing for a damn war and to move his ass or he would throw him into the Badlands."
Four hours later... Rose, with Desmos's reminder to also bring seeds to implement crop rotation and fresh fruits in their fields, finally felt ready to return to Sedena.
End of chapter.