Ways of a Freelancer (Arslan Senki Fanfic)

Chapter 9: The Fight Against Kharlan's Army

Elam and Sena arrived at the hideout when the sun was about to set. The sky was pastel blue with peachy and pastel pink clouds. It was a beautiful sky.

As Sena was changing back to her white robes, she could hear Elam's voice from inside the house. He was reporting his sightings.

"The Royal Capital was completely under Lusitanian control.

"What of my Lord Father?" Arslan asked.

"Neither the soldiers nor the townspeople seemed to know where the King was."

"I see."

Sena halted behind Narsus and Daryun, back to her original clothes. Elam was still removing his disguise. Underneath his pink robe is his usual clothes.

"Well, I also have something to report." Sena says, surprising everyone inside. They didn't notice that she was there. She smirked at their reactions. "Be careful, I might just be by your side without you even noticing."

Narsus and Daryun gave way for her to enter, and she enters. Standing beside Arslan, she said her report.

"Marzban Shapur and Marzban Garshasph are dead." She said, arms crossed.

Everyone was shocked to hear that two other Marzbans are dead. The Lusitanians have killed four Marzbans now, and one has betrayed His Majesty. The Marzbans are slowly dwindling.

Daryun had his fist clenched. He can't believe that the savages are killing Marzbans easily.

"Marzban Sam is missing. And it seems King Innocentius VII and his younger brother, Guiscard the Grand Vizier of Lusitania, is residing in the Royal Palace. Just like what Elam said, no one knows what happened to His Majesty, same as the Lady Queen." And that ends Sena's report.

"Also, Kharlan left the palace, leading soldiers to capture Your Highness. There were over a thousand cavalrymen." Elam added.

"What? Is that not somewhat excessive for the purpose of capturing me?" Arslan pointed out.

"They do not know how many we number, after all. Not to mention, Your Highness us a walking, talking just cause. If you were to be placed at the head of an army, we could rally together a force that would stand against Lusitania." Narsus explained.

"For Lusitania, that would be extremely inconvenient." Elam says as he washed his face, removing face powder that made him look like a girl.

"But how do you suppose they intent to discover where I am hiding?" Arslan asks.

"If I were Kharlan and I wished to capture Your Highness as quickly as possible, I would first attack some suitable village and burn it down." Narsus said.

"Burn down a village?!"

"After that, there are several ways I could go about it. Burn the village, kill the villagers, and make a declaration of the deed to extort Your Highness. That is one way. For as long as Your Highness does not make an appearance, I burn village after village, killing innocent people."

"W-Wait! Would Kharlan go so far? He is still a warrior!"

"A most exemplary warrior, who sold out his king and country."

"Even if he didn't dirty his hands with the killing, there is Ellia. She would gladly kill the villagers without second thought." Sena pointed out.