"They have been expecting us!" Captain Salem exclaimed. "They said it was because we trespassed. It was just an excuse to attack us."

"It is most likely so. Most probably someone from our nations had given them the tip on our movements."

​​

Prince Alonzo smiled wryly, "I can give you two possible suspects for such action."

"We will deal with such treachery later," the duke said. "The problem at hand is how to deal with this orc army. Our army quality should be roughly the same as the opponent, but as you can see, they numbered us twice. It will be difficult to come out on top in this situation."

"And we also cannot retreat, since they cut our rear path," the NPC with the large shield, Nicholas, said.

"Even if we can, we won't," the duke said with a determined voice. "We are not to be deterred from our objective by a bunch of savage orcs!"

Everyone can feel his determination. They were reminded again of the purpose of this expedition. They must reach the Temple of Divine Squall to find the cure for the duchess. This was not just for the duke's private desire. It was also for the good of the country, as those that were within this tent here knew about the personalities of the first and second princes. If either of them took the throne, the nation would undergo a radical change, and not for the better. If they managed to cure the duchess, with her power, she should provide a solid backer to the third prince, allowing him to contend against his two older brothers for the throne.

Jack was not so interested in this game of throne. But after the provocations by the first and the second princes, he did realize that his fate in this world, or at least within the kingdom of Themisphere, was closely related to who ascended the throne. So whether he liked it or not, for his own sake, he would need this expedition to be a success as well.

The others discussed the options for engaging the orc army, but none really stand out. Most just expressed the resolution to give it their all and hope to win. Although they were all portrayed as the leaders of an army, the creator of this game world didn't give them a tactician mind.

Jack himself was not much of a planner. It was still ok for him to make preparation for his personal battle, but to organize such a large group of people, he had no experience. That had also been the reason why he had brought along his friends to share the commanding burden. Thinking about his friends, he was reminded.

He turned to the duke, interrupting their discussion, "Your Grace, can I invite one of my friends here?"

"Another outworlder? You must be joking, right?" Samuel spat out. "What difference will one more outworlder do with this situation?"

Jack did not respond to Samuel's remark, he continued to look at the duke with an assured gaze.

Seeing the hardihood in Jack's eyes, the duke nodded, "all right." Then to one of the aides standing by the side, he said, "Let the guards outside know that an outworlder will come, they are to let the person in."

Jack immediately sent a private message as the aide went out, "Where are you?"

He received a reply promptly after, "around, why?"

"Come to the main tent. It's the biggest one in the middle of the camp. Hard to miss. Tell the guards the duke sent for you."

"Why?"

"Just get your ass over here, now!"

Jack didn't receive any reply anymore. He opened his map, and looked at the dot that represents his friends. One of them was moving in his direction.

Not long after, John came into the tent. He walked in as casually as Jack, with an even more nonchalant attitude than Jack.

Samuel who saw that could not help but comment, "another one boorish outworlder."

John turned to him. "And you are…?" He asked.

"Hmph! I am–"

"Not interested!" John interrupted him mid-sentence.

"You!" Samuel's face was getting red as he tried to contain his anger.

'Maybe it was a bad idea to call him here,' Jack was starting to have regret. He sent the guy a silent message, "can you please behave yourself? That is a level 55 Special Elite, do you want to die in a ditch somewhere?"

"Did he not insult you as well?" Jack received John's reply message.

"He did."

"Did you not retort?"

"I… did," Jack replied, but quickly sent another follow-up message, "but not as rude as you. Just behave yourself when you are here!"

While they were having silent messages, Jack introduced John to the others. John nodded politely to each of them, except for Samuel.

Jack then explained to him the 3D projection on the table and about their situation. "Do you have any good idea?" he asked after finishing his explanation.

"I do," he answered swiftly.

Samuel harrumphed, "hmph! What bold words. Even us seniors here did not dare to say that we have a good idea for this situation, how pretentious of you to say you have one?"

"You can't think of a plan doesn't mean that others can't too. We are each been given a different level of intellect," John said.

"Are you saying I'm dumb!?" Samuel uttered in anger.

Jack gave John a stare as if saying, "behave yourself!" Did the guy not worry that the others might get offended by his words as well? Since the others also have not been able to think of a good plan. Jack could see the duke's forehead started to frown already.

"I didn't say that, you said it yourself," John feigned innocence.

"All right, you two, play nice!" Jack interrupted as he was worried that John might get kicked out immediately if he did not interfere. "I apologize for his words, but I do believe that everyone should listen to his idea first. Okay, John, please let us know your thought."

Better sped things up before this guy made another crude remark, Jack thought.

"All right, fine. First thing first, I know about the orc's weird custom to not attack until tomorrow morning. What about us? Are we bound by such custom as well? What if we make a surprise night attack?"

"We are not bound by such custom, but they will have expected and prepared for that. Very few have ever succeeded in a night ambush against an orc camp," Commander Quintus informed.

"Okay, then I need to confirm a few things. We know their numbers are twice from us. What about their strength? And did they have one with our duke-level power by their side?"

Commander Quintus explained as he had mentioned to Jack that even though they didn't have the exact detail, the majority of the orc base army should be at the same level as theirs. While their warlord should be able to rival the duke. There should also be a few high-level officers that were on par with the commanders and captains inside this room.

"The battles of these high-level individuals will complicate matters," John commented.

Before the commander gave a response, Jack informed John about the warfare custom here, where the high-level individuals would stay back until absolutely necessary.

"There is such weird custom? Why this world keeps on having these non-sensical rules? The orcs with the no-ambush before the opponent is aware crap, and now this boss stays behind until the underlings are almost wiped out."

Samuel was visibly upset by John's insensitive remark. John just pretended to not see it or simply not give a shit about it.

Jack quickly said, "It's just a guideline! It's not something that is fixed. It is to prevent unnecessary casualties." While in secret, Jack sent him a message, "keep your rude opinions to yourself!! If you have a plan, just spill it out already!"

"Another thing, I have noticed since we entered this desert that the wind tends to blow in the same direction in the same spot. Can anyone confirm this? Will tomorrow it blow differently?"

The others looked at each other. It seemed that none had knowledge regarding this, until a woman's voice was heard, "it is as you said." It was Lucia, the knight captain with the large bow. "I had often come to this desert during my adventuring days in the past. If it was the same place, the wind did always blew in the same direction throughout the year. There were some months though where the wind stopped blowing or blow harder, but it is not at this month."

"Good. Now, what about supplies? Do the orcs have the need for supply such as us? Do they carry their foods and water in supply wagons as well?"

"What kind of stupid question is that? Of course, they do," Samuel responded.

John nodded, unaffected by the rude answer. "Okay, let's get down to business," he said. He then pointed to an area on the 3D map that was close by. "Tomorrow morning, arrange the army here. And make sure to have all the soldiers arranged so they are facing the West."