Three days after the knight corps reached the city of Luxor…

“You idiot,” The man cursed out loud. The man in question was General Krit.

Among the ranks of the Imperial Army, the Emperor stood head and shoulders above everyone else. 

Three great generals followed, and eight high generals were below them. The number of generals was too large for the emperor to remember all of them.

It was clear how much authority those eight people held, even at the third level of the military's command structure. 

A great general and two high generals led the army that invaded the Ardour kingdom. 

High General Ryogi, who was also in charge of the military, was Krit's teacher. It was understandable that he had quite a strong presence in the army.

Naturally, the Gesh could accept the curse in silence. 

Alas! His silence just irked Krit more. He even threw the water mug at Gesh. 

Although he could move away from the trajectory of the cup, he let the cup hit his head and let the water trickle down on his face. 

Gesh was the captain of the knight corps that came as the advanced unit of the army.

Gesh could not help frowning.  He does not like the way the city's water tastes. It smelled a little strong to him. He does not like the kingdom's water, not just the city of Luxor. 

But when he said that to others in his knight corps, the water was not as sweet as the water in the Empire; they just laughed at him.

“Why are you standing there like a statue?” Krit yelled. “Why the fuck did you wait outside the empty city for three days and let all these foods rot? Don’t you know how scarce the food is in the empire?”

‘Of course, I know. My family died when you were wasting food in the capital.’ Gesh wanted to say it on his face. But he knew it wasn’t the right time or place. 

Instead, he said, "The day we came here, the enemy attacked us as soon as we got to the city. The enemy's mounted troops hid within the city.”

“But there was no gate to begin with.” Octavic was one of the lower generals who had followed Krit. 

“We had reports that the enemy had taken down a five times bigger army than theirs. And the bodies were enough proof. I thought the city itself could be a trap.”

"That is why you get cold feet." Krit's face showed that he had trouble controlling his anger.  He continued cursing at Gesh.

“I have dispatched you to spring a surprise attack on the enemy ahead of schedule. What did you do? While the food in the storage rotted, you waited outside the city and watched as the enemy looted the city.”

“The enemy had left the city long before we came here,” Gesh said.

“Didn’t you say that you didn’t enter the city because you were afraid they might have set up a trap in the city? Didn’t you say the enemy retreated into the city after mounting a surprise attack against you? Then how do you know they escaped before you came here?”

Even if Gesh wanted to explain it to him, he had no excuses.

After all, he knew he had already fallen into enemy traps. The only problem was that it was different from the kind that Gesh was expecting it to be.

He set up camp on a mound a couple of kilometers outside of Luxor after the surprise assault. It was a good vantage point from which to monitor the city.

However, the enemy cavalry attacked the camp even before he could relax. The enemy never even stopped to engage them in combat. Instead, they destroyed the camp and returned to the city without a backward glance.

Even if they were tired, they had to keep on guard when the other group rested. 

The enemy would attack them without warning, whether it was bright as day or dark as night. The enemies would return to the safety of the city every time they noticed them.

He reasoned at the time that the enemy was probably trying to trick them into walking into the trap they had set up in the city. 

To him, the best course of action was to wait for the bulk of the army to arrive. However, upon reflection, he believes that the enemy was merely harassing them and leading them to believe that there was a trap.

It was too late. Gesh fell on his knees and said, “I have failed you, general. Please punish me as you see fit.”

“You bastard.” Krit cried. “Do you know how much damage he has caused to the empire? There is no food or water for you. Put him in jail, and do not let him out until you pay for the food he wasted. Guards…”

The pair of guards came running. 

Octavic signaled with his eyes, and Gesh understood it very well. That word was that Krit was angry, and he should wait in jail till Krit’s anger had calmed down. He will help Gesh get out.

Even if they didn’t say it out loud, Gesh knew very well that they just needed insurance if anything went wrong. 

After all, the order from the high general was to capture the city of Luxor and take care of the enemy army.

They saw no more enemies after the main army arrived, and they took control of the city without any effort.   

Half of their work still needed to be finished. And he had to accept that he was the reason the enemy could escape unscratched.

Perhaps he was too wary after learning that his enemy had destroyed a thousand-strong force, or maybe he was too shocked by the rows and rows of dead bodies on display to risk an attack with even two hundred knights.

Even as the guard led him to the building serving as a makeshift jail, he had a sinking feeling that something was not quite right.

There was neither a trap in the city nor did they ever try to attack them directly. It appeared to be nothing more than an elaborate hoax designed to buy time.

But the real issue was why they needed more time. 

The only thing that aligned with the enemy's previous action was that the enemies had killed animals and used their blood to color the grain. They had also destroyed the city gates and stolen things from the city.

And from the looks of it, that didn’t make them worth stalling time for. They already had the gates even before they came here, and the decaying bodies at the grain storage can confirm the fact that they died many days ago. 

Even as they put him in the dark jail and left him alone, he couldn’t think of a reason.

Three days later,

“This doesn’t make any sense.” He had been without food and water for about three days, giving him plenty of time to reflect on his situation while locked up.

Even if he wanted to understand, his body wasn’t helping. Food was one thing, but without water, it was hard for him to think straight. 

While he was still puzzling over the absence of his subordinates, the door opened, and two men brandishing a glaive entered the room.

He couldn’t think of anyone who used glaives as a weapon. The only one he had seen using such a weapon was one of the high generals, and…

“Aren’t you the lucky one?” The man who came with a glaive said it with a mocking tone. “You must be detained without even being allowed to drink water, right?”

“How do you know?” His sudden words surprised Gesh’s already dilated mind.

The man smiled and answered, “Your life is enough to prove that you didn’t drink from the poison well.”