Chapter 90: Securing The Garden Territory

Derkal, The official name of Mern's nation, however, its usage fell out of style after the fall of his empire. The Derkal after the fall was once only a small segment of his once enormous empire, that region was the Mern region, named in honor of him. The people there once worshiped it and Mern cherished it so that he had long ago terra-morphed the region to be surrounded by several mountains: Mountains just large enough that it would prevent any easy assaults and just low enough that it wouldn't affect the rainfall.

The Mern Territory was further separated into 12 distinct regions, however, over time its production and its people changed.

on the edge of his kingdom, the territory closet to the holy land, was the Garden Region, as it was once known. At its peak, that region was almost entirely comprised of a massive garden Mern had built with his own two hands over the span of 100 years for his late wife. After her death, he directly destroyed that garden in one of his terrible rages, he killed many innocent that day but even so the people had not yet given up on their dear god.

Over time the region became one of the largest farming regions in the kingdom and home to the city of Everon, the slave city.

After its fall, Thoth quickly secured the major routes and planted watchmen on nearby mountains. The Garden Region was once especially cherished my Mern and there were only three road entrances to and out of the region, the rest of it was hilly and mountainous, unsuitable for travel, however many bandits had made their homes in those mountains.

Those territorial factors allowed Thoth to move his weapons into place. The Mage cannon, powered by Scitus's magical energy, however, it was only able to shoot 4 shots before running out of energy. That cannon was placed on the widest path that cut straight through the region and directly into the heart of Everon. It was a powerful weapon, however, it originally belonged to Mern; Hera had informed Thoth that most of Mern's mage-cannons were likely located in the Solider city of Kavor. Fortunately, its distance from the Garden Territory was several days' journey and with the massive size of the mage canons, it would take a while still before those canons made it to them. By that time, Thoth would have called reinforcements from La Guardia.

The second path was slightly smaller however it joined the main path into Everon. There he placed fewer soldiers, former slaves, however amongst their ranks, he left an aspect of Hera who was at half strength. Most of the rest of her was stationed on the third path, some ways away from Everon, however, that path went straight through several farming towns and villages. If left unguarded the food production would plummet and Scitus would be forced to produce the food himself. Thoth was well aware that his father had already spread himself thin with his mana usage. His father had already constructed many defensive buildings back in La Guardia, while also constantly magically producing food for his growing population, furthermore, he had even sent some magical energy for the farms in the garden Territory. The reason he did so was of course on Thoth's request who had gained the trust of many villages; rather he had told them a preposterous lie that required Scitus's aid to prove.

"how many stone mines and iron mines are currently operating in the region?" Thoth turned to a young man whose eyes shined brilliantly with passion and excitement. The man moved as if he was part of the greatest symphony ever played, moving papers from one desk to the other and finalizing certain papers before handing them off to the appropriate people.

"Unfortunately, only two stone mines are operating here and there are no iron mines, in fact, there is no iron ore in this territory at all. " Thoth nodded, "understandable, the stone will do just fine. I need enough stone to fortify this city. Is that possible?" The young man's eyes widened. "it is possible but not in any short time. the transportation alone will take several days, and then there is the mining required. I'm not a miner so I can't give an exact time but I don't think we could get this done in even a year." the young man's head bobbed up and down as if he was apologizing for some great crime. "That's fine. Bring as much stone and wood as you can into the city. when it arrives, I'll take care of the rest." Thoth's lips curved upward, the gesture startled the young man. Thoth's entire demeanor was calm, it was almost cold; when people met Thoth, they felt like ants in his hands. Thoth sent a message to his sister who then sent a message to Scitus.

"Father" Hera appeared to faze in and out of existence, as she struggled to maintain her form. Behind Scitus was Sia, and the ever-watchful guardian, Semar. She kept close to Scitus like a Magnet to metal. "The plan is going accordingly. Thoth requests assistance at the end of the month. Mern has begun to secure the Flowers region and Lake region, which border the Garden Region."

Scitus smiled which chilled Semar in a way she didn't quite understand. Her instincts were telling her that Scitus was planning something terrible. "The flower region holds most of his other Farmlands, he can't risk losing it. The lake region doesn't have a high food production but the salt production in the area is higher compared to the other regions. Two paths enter from the Flower Region but Mern can't afford to lose his food production for too long, at most two months.

"Tell Thoth to secure the Flower region border and retract some of the armies guarding the Lake region path, he should send you to guard that place." Hera nodded, "I believe he's already done that." Scitus was taken aback for a moment before nodding with some satisfaction. "Good, he seems to have a good grasp on strategy. Is he preparing a path for us?" Scitus asked but to his surprise again, Hera shook her head. "I believe he's overlooked that. I'll tell him right away." Scitus nodded as Hera morphed her body into a small metal cube that Scitus quickly placed into his pant pocket.

Semar looked at Scitus curiously, wondering what all his strange moves were trying to accomplish. Before the day ended, she finally asked, "what are you trying to do?"

“Mern has a larger army and although he has fallen from grace, he still has a very strong force of warriors.” Scitus turned to Semar with a cold smile plastered on his face. “A king is only a king when he has people who follow him. otherwise he just a crazed man giving out orders.” Semar’s eyes twinkled as if asking she wanted to know more. “There are many things that bind people to a king. Loyalty, fear, complacency, security.”

"Mern, I hear, was once a great king. Now, however, I've come to learn that he has very little of what he once offered to his people. The last remaining things he has are Complacency and security. Take those things away, and he'll be the king no one. And a king is not a king without his people."

Semar's eyes dimmed as if she were disappointed by the answer. Her excitement for the coming days lowered somewhat, all she would see was a one-sided slaughter. She kept her mouth shut, as she couldn't and wouldn't offer any clue as to what she saw as a glaring flaw in his plan. Scitus's smile grew wider and colder, that sensation she had felt earlier returned even more fiercely if that was possible.

"Fear is what you're thinking. What about fear." Semar's eyes narrowed as if waiting for Scitus's to continue, but he did not answer her queries. He turned around and headed to do some much-needed paperwork, however as he headed towards city hall, he said only a few silent words to her. Words she wouldn't fully comprehend until the end of that war.

"They don't fear him. Not even to this day."