CEO in a Fantasy World 3 Page 2

  Charlie's eyes went wide, and he took a step back, he looked at Caesar bewildered for a few seconds before finally getting a hold of himself.

  "What do you mean, sir?" Charlie asked in a polite tone.

  Renee, Khan, Joe, and the rest all looked at Caesar curiously.

  "Haha, just a joke, of course… " Caesar laughed playfully and walked forward; everyone else breathed a sigh of relief; they had thought Caesar had a problem with Charlie.

  Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, that is, besides Charlie, who's heart was beating quickly.

  Caesar's expression, which was currently hidden from the rest, was frigid, in his hand, was a tiny strand of hair.

  The hair wasn't anything special; however, it contained a hint of mana that belonged to neither fox-kin nor animal… The strand of hair was placed on Renee when Charlie had hugged her.

  'There's nothing I hate more than conspiring family members' Caesar smiled coldly inside as he walked towards the mansion.

  CHAPTER THREE

  After passing the inner gates, a huge courtyard appeared in front of Caesar… fake mountains, ponds, and other forms of eye candy presented themselves.

  Not only was the courtyard luxurious, but also heavily guarded. Fierce looking guards were stationed all over the place; they held one-handed swords and looked extremely skilled.

  'At first glance, this tribe looked utterly pathetic… perhaps that's because of the incompetent leadership?' Caesar thought inwardly as he glanced around.

  While Caesar was observing the inner working of the tribe, Joe, Renee, Khan, and Charlie all had caught up with him.

  "Don't run off on your own, sir strategist… The guards could mistake you for a trespasser" Khan patted Caesar's shoulder and spoke in a severe tone.

  "I'll be more careful next time," Caesar replied with a smile, after which, he subtly glanced at Charlie, who shivered under his gaze.

  "Haha, no harm, no foul." Khan laughed loudly and patted Caesar on the back.

  Caesar quite liked Khan's naive and honest personality. He much preferred this type of person over someone that schemes behind his back.

  "We should hurry along, the clan leaders have already been called to a meeting," Renee cut in while glancing anxiously at the large mansion in the middle.

  "Haha, I know you're anxious to see your grandfather… let's hurry up then," Khan replied with a broad smile and led them closer to the opening of the mansion.

  As they got closer, Caesar couldn't help but admire the architectural design of the building. It was held up by wooden pillars and a solid foundation. The Japanese-like mansion could comfortably house over 100 people.

  While still deep in thought, they arrived in front of a wide sliding door. Renee walked to the front, and Khan respectively opened the door.

  Caesar, who was to the right of Renee, squinted his eyes once he saw what was inside… A large round table with 13 people sitting at each seat, each of them varying in appearance greatly. At the very end of the table, hidden by a thin piece of fabric, was another man, presumably Renee's grandfather.

  'Each and every one of these men is at least equal to a B+ monster' Caesar speculated,

  "Come, my daughter, sit" A deep and majestic voice resounded through the halls, the man hidden behind the thin fabric gestured to the seat beside him.

  Renee nodded respectfully and slowly walked towards her seat, upon arriving, she elegantly sat down and smiled widely while looking in the direction her grandfather was seated.

  "Khan, find your seat" the man spoke once again, this time, the age in his voice was very apparent.

  Khan slightly bowed and took a seat at the very end of the table, once they were both seated, the rest of the people at the table focused their attention toward Caesar.

  "I presume you are the strategist my daughter found?" The man asked curiously.

  "Your presumption is correct, please call me Caesar," he said respectfully while half-bowing elegantly.

  "It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Caesar. My name is Musashi," the man introduced himself politely just as Caesar did to him.

  Caesar nodded his head in recognition, to those worthy of respect, of course, Caesar would give it.

  "Come sit down Charlie" A man at the very end of the table rudely interrupted the two. He had long flowing red hair and a decently sized beard… his features couldn't be considered young, but they were by no means elderly.

  "Yes, father!" Charlie responded enthusiastically and walked over to the seat his father had motioned to.

  Musashi, who was sitting the furthest away slowly stood up, he pushed aside the thin blankets of cloth, hiding his face and walked towards the roundtable. In his hands was a large scroll that he started to spread out in the middle of the table.

  "I do, in fact, trust my daughter's foresight. However, I am quite curious as to how great of a strategist you are" Musashi spoke slowly while flattening the map on the board.

  Caesar examined the map, which was being placed down by Musashi, many different clan names, terrain, and other necessities were in vivid detail.

  "The main problems our fox-kin tribe currently faces are the trolls and the food shortage… our soldiers are indeed stronger than the trolls. However, they are more cunning and larger in number," Musashi calmly explained.

  Caesar nodded his head in understanding. He walked closer to the roundtable to get a better view of the map.

  "Although it's quite strange to ask this of you, as you probably don't know much about our tribes' inner workings… how would you solve these problems?" Musashi asked, his expression carrying a playful smile.

  Caesar observed the older man in front of him, weathered features, short grey hair, and a small goatee. But, what astonished Caesar the most, was that this older man was stronger than everyone else in the room besides maybe himself.

  "Ahem, sorry for interrupting clan leader, but, the problem regarding food… I have a solution," Charlie suddenly interrupted from the other side of the table.

  Musashi turned his head towards Charlie and urged him to continue.

  "As you may know, the soldiers and nobility gain more food than the non-fighting civilians… I suggest that we split some of the rations equally amongst everyone, so no one goes hungry.

  Most of the clan heads around the room nodded their heads, "truly selfless Charlie, you have a great future," some of the clan heads complemented.

  Musashi frowned in displeasure and turned his attention back towards Caesar, "what do you think of his suggestion?"

  "Idiotic," Caesar replied indifferently.

  The clan heads around the table ground their teeth angrily, "Who the hell are you to tell us that the plan is idiotic? You don't even know anything about our clan," Charlie's father roared.

  Caesar licked his lips and smiled slyly, "I may be a misunderstanding, but, is your clan trying to survive longer or win the war?" he asked playfully.

  Silence enveloped the room, and everyone looked at Caesar curiously.

  "One of the most important aspects of war is food. An army cannot march on an empty stomach… Do you want to weaken your soldiers so that your civilians have a feeling of temporary comfort? Simply preposterous"

  Caesar paused and swept his gaze through the room.

  "You need to tackle the problem firsthand instead of temporarily mending it. Let's take your first problem, for instance… the trolls. The reason they are beating you is mainly due to their superior numbers."

  Musashi and the rest of the clan heads nodded their heads. They were curious as to what this seemingly intelligent strategist would say next.

  "From my understanding, the trolls require females from other races to breed… Because of this, they probably go to smaller clans and abduct females" Caesar spoke confidently even though it was merely a guess.

  "You are correct. They do indeed go and steal women from other clans," Musashi replied.

  "Those clans probably hold a strong hatred for the trolls, who goes
to say they won't join you in a coalition to destroy the trolls? Or who goes to say that we can't ambush the trolls as they attempt to abduct the women?" Caesar asked a few questions nonchalantly.

  He paused for a second and continued.

  "Strength lies in attack, not defense."

  Musashi squinted his eyes, "that is a feasible idea. In fact, I agree with it for the most part… however, who would lead the troops?" he asked

  "Haha, of course, I recommend my dearest of friends Charlie, he has shown extraordinary intelligence, and I think he is perfect for the job," Caesar said shrewdly.

  "Indeed, a grand choice," Musashi also smiled slyly.

  "I-I don't think I'm ready for such a job yet," Charlie said quietly.

  "SILENCE, you will do as I say, even if you're the son of the first clan leader," Musashi roared angrily, effectively shutting Charlie up.

  "I would recommend thoroughly annihilating the group of trolls in front of the clans, one by one… This way, you can show your 'allegiance' to the smaller tribes" Caesar placed massive importance on the word 'allegiance' in his speech.

  "Hmm, the trolls tend to go the kobold clan every week, and tonight is the start of a new week… Charlie, go prepare 20 elite troops and head towards the Kobold clan," Musashi ordered sternly.

  Charlie nodded his head absentmindedly and ran out of the halls. Once he left, Caesar casually walked to his seat and sat down.

  "Now, my friends, let me explain how we can improve your food problem" Caesar spoke with a wide grin.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The clan heads around the table, including Musashi, anticipated Caesar's next words. Although they were a prideful race, their current dire circumstances caused them to listen carefully to an outsider such as Caesar.

  "As I said before, food is a vital aspect of war. However, information is just as important. Your hunters are constantly being ambushed on hunts because they know where you are going to be," Caesar calmly explained. To which, Musashi and the rest nodded their heads.

  "You need to ask yourselves, how are they getting that information?" Caesar asked as he swept his gaze through the room.

  At the side of the table, a relatively young man with short blue hair and glowing yellow eyes stood up. He walked towards the unfolded map on the table and pointed out a few locations.

  "My name is Leo, the third clan head… Also, the leader of the hunting division," the man introduced himself courteously.

  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Leo," Caesar responded.

  Leo nodded his head and shifted his attention back to the map "we suspect that the Trolls have some sort of scouting magic or skillful scouts… We had cut the trees around our stronghold in a 10-meter radius as to make no possible hiding spot for a scout. Contrary to our expectations, they still figured out our location when we went hunting," Leo explained to Caesar.

  "How do you normally decide your hunting pattern, and who do you inform," Caesar asked curiously.

  "The hunting pattern is generally random, as to not give away our location easily… And I, of course, tell everyone in the meeting room my hunting schedule," Leo replied.

  "Don't tell anyone where you're going hunting next time… take a few of your elites and move quietly," Caesar suggested.

  Leo shook his head, "I don't think that will work, the trolls seem to be hiding in wait every time we go out… That would be suicide."

  "You're wrong. If that were the case, Renee and I would have been attacked while heading towards your tribe," Caesar contemplated for a few seconds and replied.

  "What's the point of not telling us?" Charlie's father asked.

  "The fewer people that know, the better," Caesar calmly explained.

  "Hmm, I suppose," Charlie's father replied with a contemplating expression.

  "Alright, everyone is free to leave besides Renee… we will have another meeting tomorrow night discussing the feasibility of what Caesar has told us," Musashi slammed the desk and roared majestically.

  Caesar still had some ideas to help with their food problems. Alas, he will wait until tomorrow to state them.

  The clan heads around the table, including Caesar, nodded their heads and slowly exited the room… Caesar assumed that he wanted some alone time with his granddaughter so, he couldn't complain.

  Caesar, who was the last to leave the room, loudly closed the door. To his right, Charlie's father and Leo were closely observing him.

  "Look, we may have our differences; however, I respect strength, and most of all, I love my clan… So, if you are willing to become one of us and support the tribe, I thank you," Charlie's father opened up.

  Caesar was quite taken aback, at first he thought both Charlie and his father were spies, but now, he felt otherwise. Caesar carefully examined his facial features and couldn't detect any dishonesty.

  Caesar shook his hands, "what is your name?" he asked curiously.

  "Faust…" he replied with a smile.

  "I've heard of your intelligent endeavors. I am quite curious as to how you thought of them," Caesar abruptly asked while focusing his attention purely on Faust's change of expressions.

  "Hehe, I'm a fighter by heart and don't know many tactics… it's normally my wife and son who support me from the back lines," Faust replied humbly while scratching the back of his head embarrassed.

  "Haha, I must give credit to your son and wife then… they hide quite well" Caesar laughed gently, but his eyes were by no means smiling.

  "Would you care to enter the training grounds with us, sir strategist? I can sense a strong air around you, and it's making me tingle with anticipation," Leo suddenly interrupted both Caesar and Faust.

  Caesar looked at Leo strangely for a few seconds. His word choice was interesting, to say the least. "Sure, I am also quite curious as to how strong a clan head is, as well as how strong your troops are… Who knows, I might need to implement my very own training," Caesar spoke in a shrewd tone.

  Leo tilted his head in confusion for a few seconds but was soon replaced by a broad smile, "very well, follow me then!" he said excitedly and walked towards the opposite side of the mansion.

  Caesar followed behind Leo, and Faust followed behind Caesar.

  ***

  After everyone exited the meeting room, Musashi walked towards his granddaughter and hugged her tightly.

  "I'm so glad you are back," He said gently as he hugged her softly.

  "I'm happy too, grandfather…" Renee replied with tears threatening to fall out of her eyes.

  They hugged each other for another few seconds before Musashi finally let go, he walked towards his seat and elegantly sat down.

  "You've brought an interesting man back home, Renee" Musashi spoke in an 'elderly' tone.

  "He's the best strategist I could find, his personal strength should also be higher than a clan head," Renee said proudly as if Caesar's achievements were her own.

  "I'm sure he's not only the best strategist you've found but also the best man?" Musashi asked playfully to which Renee's face reddened slightly.

  "What are you talking about?" Renee asked, playing dumb.

  "You can't fool me, my precious granddaughter… You have the air of a woman now," Musashi said with a chuckle.

  "A w-woman?" Renee asked while her faced flushed an even deeper crimson.

  "Unless, of course, he forced you… if that was the case, I think I would have to kill him myself," Musashi said dangerously with squinted eyes.

  "N-no, it was mutual, I promise," Renee replied swiftly, but the embarrassment on her face grew more apparent once she realized she was tricked.

  "No need to be embarrassed, darling, in fact, you should be proud… because you've lost your chastity, those damn clan members will stop hounding me to offer you to the troll price. And, not to mention...

  Musashi paused for a second, and a strange gleam of light passed through his eyes.

  "You are the first non-vampire woman ever to become the lover of a full-fledged noble vampire,
no, perhaps it's not even correct to call him a vampire," Musashi said strangely.

  Renee's embarrassment slowly disappeared, and she looked at Musashi curiously, "what do you mean?"

  "Haha, you will know soon enough… but, I will give you one hint, do you really think the four progenitors shared the same blood as the other vampires? Was their power comparable?" Musashi asked a few questions casually, which caused Renee to enter deep contemplation.

  "What was the difference?" Renee asked.