Wood was tossed into the flames, feeding the bonfire and making it blaze even stronger.
Shiomi watched it calmly, his jet-black eyes reflecting the firelight. Any fairy who met that gaze felt an icy chill pierce their heart.
"What are we supposed to do?!"
One of the fairies pressed him for an answer.
In the forests along Britannia's northern border, the Northern fairies' army had made camp, preparing for the decisive battle that would begin at dawn.
"The Fang Clan has come from afar, their spirits are high, and their numbers surpass yours. Facing the most battle-hardened clan head-on would be reckless. You need to avoid their strength and draw them into an ambush."
Shiomi picked up a branch and traced a rough map of the area into the muddy ground.
"Out on the plains, the Fang Clan's mobility will be even greater. That's why we must pull them into the Border Forest. The woods and rivers here block their escape on three sides—east, west, and south—while leaving a battlefield open enough to fight on. The Fang Clan's instincts won't tell them this terrain is a trap."
Gasps of amazement spread among the fairies gathered around the fire.
Shiomi, however, showed no reaction. His expression stayed calm as he looked at them.
The original Northern fairies had already been wiped out by the Southern fairies. Yet, before their complete extinction, they pooled all of their life force into creating a single ultimate being.
That being was Mab, now the chieftain of those called the Northern Fairies.
The fairies gathered under her now were different—lower-ranking fairies from across Britannia who could no longer endure oppression from the high fairies. They fled north, pledged their loyalty to Mab, and thus formed a unique new clan.
Through this, the Northern Fairies grew steadily stronger, drawing the attention and hostility of the Southern clans, clashing with them one after another.
Now, they stood on the brink of another hard battle.
The main force of the Northern Fairies, strengthened by Mab's power, was locked in stalemate against the Fang Clan on the northern plains. Meanwhile, this detachment had taken a wide route through the western forests of Britannia, aiming to strike the Fang Clan's main force from behind—only to run into a Fang detachment attempting the very same maneuver.
A second battlefield opened here, but without Mab, the Northern Fairies had little confidence in their ability to defeat the Fang Clan's raiding squad.
That was, until two days ago, when the Rain Witch and the Sage arrived.
Unlike the Fang Clan, these were fairies who traveled with humans, appearing suddenly in this place.
Though their names were already known, their deeds—wandering across Britannia, quelling disasters, and resolving conflicts—had spread from fairy to fairy. Even the Northern Fairies had heard of them.
At first, the Northern Fairies doubted their intentions. But when the Sage revealed his skill in strategy and led them out of a situation where they were nearly wiped out by the Fang Clan, they placed their trust in him for the time being and listened to Shiomi's plans.
Some fairies even began to believe that their presence among the Northern Fairies was proof that the Fang Clan was in the wrong.
"This season, the air is dry. With magic, it's easy to set the forest ablaze."
"But just burning the forest won't kill the Fang Clan, will it?" a fairy objected.
Even with magical flames, ordinary fire couldn't possibly burn through the thick hide of the Fang Clan.
"Use this."
Shiomi reached into his cloak, pulled out a jar, and tossed it to the leader of the Northern fairy soldiers.
"What is this?" the leader asked.
"Hallucinogenic spores," Shiomi said flatly. "Collected from the lands where the Northern fairies live. They pose no real danger to you, but once the temperature rises, their potency increases. Inhaled, they rob you of the ability to fight. Even the Fang Clan won't be able to withstand it."
Another fairy frowned. "That little amount? The Fang Clan's raiding squad numbers over a hundred."
"You can try opening it now," Shiomi replied, his expression strict but his tone steady. "But then I can't guarantee there'll be enough left after the fire is set to deal with the Fang Clan. And until you're sure they've lost their strength, don't get close to the blast zone."
Seeing how confident he was, the Northern fairies found themselves unable to raise further objections.
After all, he had provided a plan to break the enemy. If they refused, they could only wait to be wiped out by the Fang Clan's raiding squad, leaving Mab's main force to be struck from behind, caught between front and rear.
Once the war council ended, the Northern fairies quickly began preparing to carry out Shiomi's strategy.
When the fairies dispersed, only Shiomi remained by the fire. Leaning against a nearby tree, Aesc Shiomi, who had been feigning sleep while listening to everything, walked slowly over.
"The discussion's over," she said.
"The Northern fairies have numbers on their side, but each of them is weaker than the Fang Clan. Instead of a head-on assault, it's better to set a trap and let them walk into it," Shiomi explained.
Aesc lifted the edge of her cloak and sat down beside him on a log. "That spore was fake, wasn't it?"
"Couldn't hide it from your eyes, huh?" He smiled. "But since I didn't lie to you, you'll let it slide?"
"That's not the point." Aesc nudged him irritably. "Why trick the Northern fairies?"
"It's not a trick. Just something that looks reasonable enough." Shiomi drew a circle in the dirt with a stick. "When we scouted earlier today, I'd already placed Runes. Once the forest burns, they'll automatically link into new Runes, weaving a curse that robs fighting strength."
"Then why not just tell them from the start?" Aesc asked, still confused.
"Mushroom spores sound like something they can control. If it were Runes, the fairies would only grow uneasy the moment they won, and then they'd turn to fear and hostility toward us," Shiomi said casually. "They need to believe the situation is in their hands. Only then are they useful to us."
He stretched his foot out and erased the map from the dirt. "Besides, now they have the confidence to wipe out the Fang Clan's raiding squad and complete the encirclement of their main force."
"Will that be enough to drive back the Fang Clan's army?" Aesc pressed.
"No," Shiomi said. "We'll still need a little push to truly weaken them. All that rises must fall—it's time the Fang Clan learned that lesson… if they're even capable of understanding it."
...
For more chapters, feel free to follow me on P@treon.
(100 Chapters Ahead)
[email protected]/PinkSnake