CEO in a Fantasy World 4 Page 5

  Caesar rested his forehead in the palm of his hands, "I was hoping you would be able to tell us…" he replied.

  "Heh, the last thing I remember was beating Caesar in an arm wrestle and then getting beaten into a pulp right after," Joe said with a silly smile.

  "I can see the latter part being somewhat true. However, the beginning is a little unbelievable," Caesar dismissed and leaped atop the tall tree. They weren't very far from the stronghold as the outer gates were visible from their location.

  "At the very least, we aren't very far…" Caesar muttered while atop the tree while both Magni and Joe were still attempting to recollect their memories on the ground.

  Caesar jumped to the ground and broke both Magni and Joe out of their thoughts, "let's head back… we can just ask the gnomes what happened" Caesar spoke after a moment of consideration, to which Joe and Magni nodded in agreement.

  Seeing them readily nod their heads, Caesar crouched down and put both of them on his back. Joe sat on his shoulders while Magni sat on Joe's. Caesar wasn't willing to wait for both of them to walk there on their own. He didn't even want to imagine how long it would take to reach the fox-kin stronghold considering Joe took five-minute breaks after walking for three minutes.

  Thus, he devised this plan, although Joe was considerably heavy for his height, it wasn't something that Caesar couldn't handle, and soon, Caesar clenched his teeth and ran forward… his speed was pitiful in comparison to when he is by himself. However, he ran at a much quicker pace than both Magni and Joe could accomplish on their own.

  They passed by the luscious forest without much difficulty, and the fox-kin stronghold was only a few minutes away. However, this did not lighten Caesar's mood in the slightest as his nose was currently being assaulted by the nauseating smell of both Joe and Magni… he could feel the two of them fidgeting in embarrassment as they surely knew of their own stench.

  Caesar scrunched up his nose and increased his speed even further. Caesar hated filthy things, especially when they were near him, alas, he couldn't just drop them. Thus, he sucked it up and continued moving further, until finally, the outer gates were only a few meters in front of them.

  Without hesitation, Caesar flung both Magni and Joe off of his shoulders and tore off his blazer, directly freezing it with his ice magic and hurling it to the ground. He took a few deep breaths of fresh air and couldn't help but feel relieved. It took every ounce of his willpower not to discard those two foul-smelling fools.

  While Caesar was breathing, a few fox-kin men approached him with a strange expression on their faces, "s-sir strategist, you are back… late." one of them said awkwardly, causing Caesar to raise an eyebrow.

  "When did we leave?" he asked.

  "You don't remember?" a middle-aged guard spoke up from the back, he had an unkempt goatee and weathered facial features.

  Caesar glanced at the middle-aged man and urged him to continue with a nod, "ah yes, it would appear the alcohol we drank was not entirely safe, it also seems to produce hallucinations," Caesar replied while stroking his chin.

  Seeing that Caesar honestly didn't remember anything, the middle-aged guard took a step forward and bowed, "sir strategist, last night, you had informed us that you were going to take a stroll with…" his words trailed off as he glanced at both Magni and Joe.

  "We were opposed to you going, alas, you would not relent and decided to break one of the gates…" his words continued while he gestured to the outer gates, and as it was as he said, the left side of the gate had a relatively large hole, seemingly to allow passage for a 6 foot 5 or so tall man.

  Caesar studied the hole for a moment and looked back at Magni and Joe, "my goodness, you two decided to put a hole in the wall? Joe, I want you to fix the gates immediately as a token of our apologies," Caesar said sternly and looked at the middle-aged guard with an apologetic smile.

  "I truly apologize for the actions of my company, it was not our intention to be the cause of such mayhem," Caesar said, completely ignoring the weird look he was given from everyone present.

  "C-Caesar, I think you were the one wh-" before Joe's words could continue, he was interrupted by Caesar's cold glare.

  "Do you really think that I, the respectable and graceful strategist, would be so barbaric as to break a hole in the gates? Simply preposterous, please don't make any more of a fool out of yourself, Joe," Caesar replied eloquently.

  "Am I wrong?" his words continued as his attention shifted to the guards, his icy stare made them shiver with fright and shake their heads, "n-no sir, I-it was the dwarf" they replied in unison.

  Caesar clapped his hands and smiled widely, "well, it is decided then, shall we continue on our way, Magni? It would appear that Joe has some work to do" Caesar spoke while walking through the hole in the gate, that happens to be an incredibly perfect size as if it was made personally for Caesar.

  Magni smiled wryly and firmly followed behind him, leaving a dumbfounded Joe who was currently trying to relocate any memories of breaking a hole in the gates, alas, he soon gave up and started repairing the gates while acquiring pitiful looks from the many guards present.

  Caesar, of course, didn't think much of it and continued on his way, his destination was the gnomish encampment, although it didn't appear that they did anything too drastic, he still wanted to know exactly what happened.

  "A-are you sure it's okay leaving him back there?" Magni asked while struggling to keep up with Caesar's fast pace.

  "It's fine, he should be able to repair that wall faster than the both of us possibly could, although it wasn't him who broke it, there is a method to my madness, I'll award him with something in return…" Caesar replied with a smirk.

  Magni nodded his head in understanding, "hehe, what do you think really transpired?" He asked, abruptly changing the topic and causing Caesar to halt his footsteps.

  Caesar turned around and faced Magni, "I believe that after I won the drinking competition, we all went for a stroll," he explained curtly.

  His words made Magni tilt his head in confusion, "what drinking competition?"

  CHAPTER TEN

  Looking at Magni's confused expression, Caesar couldn't help but feel even more baffled at the strange turn of events. Although both Magni and Joe did, indeed, start drinking before him, he didn't think that they would forget everything up until after the point he arrived.

  Caesar, after all, did suggest having a drinking competition right after he returned. While both Magni and Joe weren't surprised in the slightest that he was present when they woke up, this made matters more confusing, not to mention the fact that even he couldn't remember much of last night.

  Thinking to here, Caesar just shook his head and discarded his unnecessary thoughts. There was no point in trying to remember something he had no recollection of. It would pose to be much efficient if he just simply asked the gnomes.

  Thus, Caesar resumed his footsteps while Magni jogged from behind, "what drinking competition? I'm curious" Magni continued to pester Caesar along the way, he was quite curious as to what the ‘drinking competition' that Caesar spoke of was.

  Caesar didn't pay Magni much heed, and within a few minutes, they finally arrived at the gnomish encampment. The surroundings were quiet, and the aftermath of the party was still quite discernible, with cups of alcohol and campfire remnants littered across the ground.

  The gnomes were presumably sleeping inside of their tents as there we no one outside, because of this, Caesar turned towards Magni, "would you do me a favor and wake a few of your clansmen up?" he asked with a cordial tone.

  Magni nodded his head and walked past Caesar, he headed toward the larger tents in the middle and didn't hesitate to walk in a few of them and bring a few well-kept gnomes out.

  They looked relatively middle-aged, with standard facial hair, youthful contours on their face, and streamlined muscles apparent on their arms, albeit, small. Once they caught sight of Caesar, their drowsiness seemly disappeared and was instead repl
aced by excitement.

  "It's the drinking champion!" one of said while giggling and pointing toward Caesar, causing the others to chuckle as well.

  Seeing that they were wide awake, and did indeed, know some of what had transpired last night, Caesar could not deny that his curiosity was piqued. He approached the small group of gnomes with a slight smile.

  "Would you be so kind as to explain to Magni and me what had occurred last night?" Caesar inquired. Though he asked respectfully, the eagerness in his voice was evident.

  One of the male gnomes placed a finger on their chin while curiously glancing between Magni and Caesar, "you two don't remember what happened?" he asked.

  Before Caesar could sarcastically reply, the gnome cleared his throat, "after the esteemed strategist returned, the three of you held a drinking competition to which Caesar achieved victory, however, immediately after, a large bird flew overhead… greatly interested in this bird, the three of you decided to hunt and eat it" The gnome narrated with a calm voice.

  His words caused Caesar to crease his brows, "Is that all?" he asked. Though he believed the small gnome, he somewhat doubtful that this was all that had transpired, alas, if he, Magni, and Joe couldn't remember anything, then he would have to put the matter at rest.

  The gnome responded with a nod, "when the three of you left the gnomish encampment, none of us followed, and instead, went to sleep," He said with a hint of regret.

  Hearing the confidence in his words, he was quite disappointed with the result. Caesar was genuinely interested in what could have possibly happened…

  Fearing that his disappointment would sadden the gnomes, Caesar quickly hid his expression and smiled brightly, "thank you for enlightening me about the matters regarding last night… I appreciate it," he said thankfully while turning around and walking back to the mansion.

  The gnomes had wanted to reply. However, Caesar's back had quickly disappeared from their line of sight resulting in them just sighing and returning to their tents, as they were rudely awoken by Magni, they were still quite tired.

  Caesar, who was on his way to the fox-kin mansion, didn't notice the respectful and weird gazes he was receiving from the pedestrians. He was more focused on the troublesome thoughts going on inside of his head.

  'Whatever alcohol we drank, it was certainly not normal, nor did was it healthy… sigh, I am just going to forget this day ever happened and move on to more troublesome matters at hand such as the steel that Musashi should deliver today,' Caesar thought to himself while walking.

  Soon, while Caesar was in the middle of his deep thoughts, he reached the inner gates and walked past the open entrance, they usually only closed the inner gates during the night, after all.

  Caesar didn't pay much heed to the fearful glances he received from the guards but couldn't help but shiver once he saw one of the more feminine guards blush while looking in his direction, this, of course, made Caesar quicken his pace and enter into the mansion.

  He passed by the long halls, and the wood would creak with every step he made, and within the time it takes for an incense to burn, he arrived in front of the meeting room doors. He didn't hesitate to push them open and look inside.

  What greeted him was a solitary figure fiddling with a wooden dagger while sitting at the end of the table. This was, of course, Soka.

  Caesar's sudden appearance shocked Soka and caused him to drop the wooden dagger, resulting in an awkward silence ensuing. Caesar, who was expecting to see Musashi, was also caught off guard. However, his thoughts didn't show on his face, and instead, he sat down at the other end of the table.

  He rhythmically tapped the table with curled lips, "did you fix your mess?" Caesar asked, after a moment of silence.

  Soka nodded his head, his glistening raven black hair greasily draped over his eyes, covering them, "I buried all of the female bodies while leaving the men, I also put back 1/4th of the food we took, as to make it appear that whoever attacked their clan, left their supplies" Soka replied.

  Hearing his response, Caesar nodded his head approvingly. He buried the women to make it appear that the trolls abducted the women while killing the men, he put back some of the food, to make it look that whichever clan attacked the ghouls, was a clan that did not need food.

  "Very good, however, did you remove any signs that the fox-kin may have been involved," Caesar asked after a moment of thought

  "We added more wounds to the bodies and made it look as though they were poisoned. I also removed all of the footprints that we created…" Soka responded with confidence.

  "Excellent work, though, it would've been better if you never massacred the clan in the first place, at the very least, we gained a decent amount of food" Caesar's words paused for a moment.

  "I have a new job for you… the Furbolg clan stated they would send a messenger. However, it never arrived. I want you to bring some elites to their clan and make sure nothing is wrong. If by chance, they are currently being pressured by the trolls, or perhaps, another clan, I give you permission to slaughter them, as to show our companionship with the furbolg’s," Caesar ordered coldly to which Soka nodded his read resolutely.

  Although Soka did, indeed, produce a mishap in his last mission, the fact remained that Soka managed to wipe out an entire clan without losing one soldier, this battle prowess certainly impressed Caesar, so he decided to give him another chance.

  "Leave at midnight and take Falthor with you," Caesar said as Soka was leaving the meeting room, and right as he Soka stepped out of the door, his words continued… "don't fail me again."

  His words made Soka's feet halt for a moment, "As you command," he replied and left the meeting room.

  Caesar waited in the meeting room for a few minutes in relative silence until the doors were abruptly pushed open, and Musashi entered with a rectangular box… "ah, my guards had informed me you were in here… this is the steel you asked for," he spoke in an abnormally vigorous tone.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Caesar raised his eyes and inspected the large, rectangular wooden box resting in Musashi's arms, the top was held down by a few metal straps located on each corner of the box, and overall, looked quite sturdy.

  Noticing Caesar's inspection, Musashi walked a tad bit closer and sat the wooden box on the table, he undid the straps and pulled off the lid, revealing a few refined ingots, they gleamed with a lime green color and looked similar to jade, however, they were clearly much firmer than Jade was on earth.

  Caesar stood up from his chair and walked closer to the nuggets. He reached inside the box and grabbed one of the bars, bringing it closer to his eyes. It was relatively heavy, but nothing too drastic, its most breathtaking feature was its cold touch.

  He fiddled with the green ingot for a few moments before lifting his head and smiling toward Musashi, "Joe merely requested a few needles, such a large amount of materials is unnecessary. Thus, I will only take one of these, and return the unused Aronian steel," Caesar said after a moment of contemplation.

  Even if Caesar didn't say anything, Musashi himself didn't believe that Caesar would use all of it, as the only thing that would require such a vast amount of resources would be a significant weapon, alas, Caesar already had his scythe, which was made with the finest of ore.

  Thinking to here, Musashi returned Caesar's smile, "there is no need to thank me, as you are essentially a part of our clan now. You do not need to act polite, nor be formal with me, and besides, you are practically my son in law," Musashi replied while resealing the rectangular box.

  Caesar nodded his head in response, "it is only good manners to thank someone for doing you a favor, please do not be offended, it's merely me just attempting to be more cordial" Caesar replied and stashed the 7-inch ingot inside of his storage ring.

  Afterword, he walked towards the meeting room doors and opened them, before stepping out, he glanced behind him, "shall we go and meet Joe together?" Caesar asked while winking, subtly hinting at something else entirely


  Musashi's brows furrowed as he nodded his head, "very well, I need some fresh air myself, setting up the upcoming tournament has truly tired me out" he replied, and they soon walked out of the room together.

  Their rhythmic and steady steps echoed throughout the halls, the wooden floors would creak with every step they made, "how is Renee's progress with the clan heads?" Caesar asked while walking.

  "Thus far, she has spoken to the clan head of archery, hunting, and cavalry. However, none of them seemed suspicious. She didn't even need to get them drunk for them to reveal some of their darker secrets," Musashi replied, he had been in a nearby room when Renee was seducing the few clan heads, as to make sure no mishaps occurred.

  Hearing his reply, Caesar nodded his head in understanding, "excellent, try telling her to quicken the pace, I want to know if any of the clan heads are indeed, spies. Or, if there are multiple, which ones they are," Caesar said, although it seemed as though everything was relatively peaceful and calm, this was merely the calm before the storm. Musashi's deteriorating appearance was apparent even to the pedestrians in the fox-kin stronghold. Let alone, the enemy trolls, if Caesar didn't get enough supplies, troops, and weapons before their inevitable siege, then they would be in a dire situation.