CHAPTER 39
Ranulf reported back to Commander Ike. Ike was in fact shocked but surprised that Daein's army was working with Begnion, seeing how unexpected it was. Tibarn then was stricken with the question on why Daein was involved with war, as he thought their resources would be tied up in the reconstruction of their country after the reign of the deadly King Ashnard. It did, however, bother Ranulf, saying that there was something bizarre amidst all of it. He thought Daein repented Begnion's vocation. As he thought this, he questioned why Daein would be swift to assist a former enemy of theirs. Tibarn then decided the meeting should begin at that very moment.
Ranulf knew that the threat of attention was the army of Daein. After Kamaria asked exactly where the Daein Army was dug in, Ranulf said that they were located near an area needed to cross the Ribahn River.
"So, we can find another area to cross, right?" asked Kito.
Soren did not agree with Kito. Should the Central Army catch up to the Laguz Alliance, according to Soren, the alliance would go extinct and die.
"Ranulf, what was your impression of the Daein Army?" asked Ike to Ranulf.
Ranulf never said anything complex. He did, however, say that the morale was up high, and their commander was very clever.
"The Maiden of Dawn…" said Soren with a thought in him.
Ike then turned around asking who Soren was talking about. Soren replied, saying that she was the hero of the recent uproar that took place in Daein's territory. She then revealed her name as Micaiah.
"Micaiah, huh?" asked Kamaria. "She's supposedly a clever one given the name of her…"
"She performed many miracles, Kamaria." Soren said. "She turned many losing battles into perilous victories." he mentioned.
"Wow!" yelled Kamaria. "I wish I could do that."
"Now I'm finding it a bit hard to cover…" said Ranulf. "And by that, I mean talk about."
Soren did mention that the Daein Army believed in her miracles, which in perspective, made her a dangerous girl.
"Sounds like she has prophecies for victorious outcomes." said Kamaria.
"She is the Maiden of Dawn, Kamaria." said Soren. "And this….maiden…is the savior of Daein. And her followers are fanatics who look upon her as a goddess." Soren mentioned.
"Sounds like she's gonna make a formidable enemy." said Kamaria.
"Then the fighting…it won't stop until one side is decimated!" yelled Ranulf. "That's…if we attack them first head-on…"
"You think there's a way to avoid it?" asked Kito.
"What about using the Laguz Confederation Legion as a decoy force?" asked Cecily as she walked in the room.
"Miss Cecily…how…nice….of you to drop in like this." said Ranulf.
"Cecily, the decoy force only worked in the past battles because the enemy could not read our minds to expect it." said Tibarn. "I don't think this strategy would work again."
"Not really." Soren said. "I say this because the empire assumes primacy over Tellius' other nations." he mentioned. "As the Begnion Empire is using the Daein Army as a pawn to stop us, and they are likely not able to care if destroyed in the process, the Daein army is likely uniformed about our previous stratagems."
"He's got a point, Ranulf." said Cecily.
"Yeah…why don't go by what Soren says?" asked Kamaria.
"I suppose he does have a point." said Ranulf. "When I did the scouting after the fog cleared, their forces really did look chicken." said Ranulf.
"Hah! Funny!" Kamaria said.
"Kamaria!" yelled Ranulf. "I was being damn serious!" yelled Ranulf.
"No need to yell!" yelled Kamaria.
"Well, did they know anything about fighting the laguz?" asked Cecily.
"Um…no." said Ranulf.
"Alright, call a decoy!" yelled Kamaria. "I'm done!"
"...Should I head up a decoy force?" asked Ike.
"...I guess so." said Soren.
Ike went to set up a decoy force.