Chapter 62: Gambling on the National Destiny (Part )
"Hey, chicken soup is here."

The night was as dark as water, even a little cold, and Madeleine's voice seemed so warm at this moment.

He carried a large pot of chicken soup and walked into the scriptorium, also known as the dining room, with quick, small steps.

The aroma of the bubbling chicken soup wafted out from the gap in the pot lid, and the high-ranking bishops of the Papal States present twitched their noses slightly.

Putting the chicken soup on the five-meter-long writing table, Madeleine wiped his hands with his apron and looked around: "Drink it, why don't you drink it?"

"Jeska, please sit down. Let's have a sip of soup first." Horn explained to the bishop present with a smile, "This is a midnight snack that I specially asked the kitchen staff to prepare for everyone."

Jeshka, who was standing next to the map on the wall, sat down at the table obediently.

Picking up the ceramic bowl and scooping a bowl of soup, Madeline handed it to Jeshka: "Here, drink it while it's hot."

Each of the seven or eight people present was given a bowl of soup, even the guards standing at the door.

Food like chicken legs, chicken wings, and chicken breasts naturally went into the bishops' stomachs, while the guards could only eat chicken heads and chicken feet.

Although the Papal States is vast and rich in resources, the guards cannot enjoy such chicken soup every day, so they naturally have no complaints.

Picking up the spoon, Chilvis scooped a spoonful of chicken soup and wanted to put it into his mouth.

But his hands were shaking uncontrollably, and he had to hold his wrist with his other hand so that he could drink the soup smoothly.

“This tastes a bit weird.”

"It's good to have chicken soup. Why are you being picky? If you don't drink it, I will." Madeleine rolled her eyes and took a sip. "Tsk, not too salty, not too bland, it tastes great."

Grampven, who was standing by, took out a small glass of malt liquor and said, "I think you are missing this."

Chilvis took it with a smile on his face. "I have something important to do tomorrow, so I'm only going to drink this one glass. Just one glass. No one can persuade me to stop."

"Who advised you?"

Busak and others nearby couldn't help laughing. Even Danji, who was always serious, smiled and took a sip of the chicken soup.

"Okay, okay, be serious. We are having a tactical meeting here." With a smile on his face, Horn knocked the table with the scepter in his hand. "Silence, silence."

Blowing a sip of the steam rising from the chicken soup in the bowl, Horn said to Jessica with a smile: "Madeleine was not here just now, please briefly describe our plan again."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Jieshka pointed to the simple map spread out on the table and said, "Look, this is the place where we agreed to fight with the church's militia captain, the small mud ditch.

This place was originally a small slope and a field for armed farmers. There were dense bushes and groves on both sides and a fence around the edge.

After the flood, this section of the original dirt road became muddy, limiting the width of the battlefield.

No matter how many people they have, they will not be able to move here. If any commander with any brains had chosen this route, he would have avoided this place.

But due to the enemy's selfishness and arrogance, they actually decided to take the route here."

Jieshka used a small branch to point at the map and said, "We can deploy the Black Hat Army to this gap in the front to attract attention.

Our Guards and Holy Grail Knights are lying in ambush on the flanks, waiting for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

The armored soldiers of the Holy Grail Knights were divided into two groups and surrounded and annihilated them.

The Apostolic Guards only need to entangle the night guards, and then come to support them after the Black Hats defeat the serf soldiers.

By then, we can plan without any intention, and defeat the enemy by flanking them from both sides."

"The plan is impeccable." Grampven scratched his head, "But can the Black Hats really defeat the Peasants?"

"The Black Hats' training results have improved by leaps and bounds recently. I think they can barely meet the requirements." Horn took a sip of chicken soup. "Djeshka, what do you think?"

"It's absolutely safe, Your Majesty. If even one soldier from the church steps over the fence, I will change my name to Slug," Jessica replied firmly.

"Everyone, the fate of the Papal State will depend on this battle." Horn nodded and raised the ceramic bowl in his hand. "It's getting late. After you finish this bowl of soup, go back and rest."

After drinking the chicken soup, everyone dispersed and Horn returned to the bedroom with heavy steps.

But when he lay on the big bed, he didn't feel sleepy at all.

He rolled from one side of the bed to the other, unable to close his eyes, and tossed and turned.

Time passed little by little, the moon gradually rose high, and just when Horn was about to get up and stay awake until morning prayers, Carrie's arm reached out from the side.

The warm moisture tickled Horn's ears, and there was a scent that came from nowhere.

"Papa, are you going to the war tomorrow?"

"No, we are only going to participate in the special knight competition, not to fight."

"Really? I don't believe it." Carrie pouted, "You are obviously going to the war."

Horn knocked her head with a smile and said, "You know that?"

"I'm not a fool to fuck his goat!"

Horn's eyes widened: "Who taught you this?"

Carrie hesitated but refused to continue talking, she just put her arms around Horn's waist and pressed Horn's head into her body. Resting his head on Carrie's broad chest, Horn sighed comfortably.

"Papa, if you leave tomorrow, will you come back?"

"Maybe he will never come back, or maybe he will come back tomorrow." Horn murmured after a long silence.

Horn didn't know whether he was speaking to Carrie or to himself.

Not long after he said this, lying in Carrie's arms, sleepiness crept onto Horn's forehead for the first time in a long time.

Resting his head between two pieces of warm flesh, Horn's eyelids became heavier and heavier as if he was floating in soft sea water.

After a long silence, Carrie held Horn's head and whispered, "Papa, I want to go with you, too."

"Stop it." Horn's eyes were already closed, but he still refused. "You even forgot your witch ability. You are powerless. Just stay at home."

Pouting, Carrie didn't reply, but just pressed her cheek against the top of Horn's head.

Feeling the soft touch of his head, Horn could no longer open his eyes and fell asleep.

Amidst the gathering of breasts, Horn seemed to have released all the fatigue and tension he had been holding for a long time, and slept very soundly.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

Grampven's voice rang in Horn's ears, and Horn opened his eyes in a daze, as if his eyes had just been closed.

"Is it time?"

Grampven said nothing, but simply moved aside, allowing the faint morning light to pour in through the cross-shaped windows.

Horn woke up instantly.

According to the original plan, we were to get up, gather and set off at 5 o'clock during morning prayer, which should have been dark yet.

A terrible thought occurred to Horn.

They seemed to have slept.

Horn jumped up from the bed, no longer caring about clothes.

He rushed to the bedroom door, and just as he walked out, he saw Jeshka coming from the other side of the corridor.

"what happened?"

Looking at Jeshka, who was wearing his pants backwards and hastily tucking the hem of his clothes into his waistband, Horn asked sternly.

Jieshka was sweating profusely: "Originally, the cocks were supposed to crow three times or the monks would ring the bells to wake us up, but today the cocks didn't crow and the bells didn't ring. I thought I woke up too early, and only realized something was wrong when the sun rose..."

"The rooster didn't crow? Why?"

"It seems that our only time-telling chicken was made into chicken soup by the cook last night."

"Didn't you figure it out? Didn't we tell them to use the little hen that fell to death?!"

"No……"

"Where are the monks who rang the bells?"

"When Townley attacked the monastery earlier, he was accidentally injured and died."

"No new people arranged?"

"Yes, there were two armed peasants, but those two armed peasants joined the Black Hat Army. You ordered all the Black Hat Army to sleep together in the barracks, so..."

At this time, Chilvis and others also reacted and hurried over from the end of the corridor.

"Your Majesty, Bunian and Rafael have begun to gather their troops, and the Guards are also gathering." Chilvis shouted as he walked hurriedly, barefoot.

"I went to ask about the chick." Madeleine was trembling with anxiety, "The cook said that the hen fell from a height and died. She was tempted by the devil and her soul went to hell, so she can't be eaten.

You also ordered that a pot of chicken soup should be made no matter what the situation was. Although they were very reluctant, they still slaughtered the rooster that told time. "

Horn was speechless for a moment: "It's already dawn, there are so many of us, and no one is up?"

"Ahem." Chilvis coughed, "Your Majesty, in fact, many people have already woken up, but only a few of us bishops dared to come out.

According to the "Sleeping Horizontally" Sharia, getting up and going out before the cock crows three times or the bell rings is considered to be traveling at night without permission, which is a violation of Sharia and is punishable by flogging.

Just the day before yesterday, you dismissed a brigade commander because of this incident..."

After being hit by two boomerangs, Horn felt blood filling his eyes: "How long are we late?"

"We should get up at morning prayer (5 o'clock), set out at dawn (6 o'clock), and start the battle at noon (8:30). Now it should be a little after dawn."

"Wake them all up and set off for Little Mud Ditch right away."

　p.s. There will be another chapter later, and I have already written half of it.

　　Then, I will update on weekends to make up for the previous debt.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)