As mentioned in most of the holy books, arrogance was the greatest sin and the favorite of the child the creator banished from his presence. Humans, hiding themselves under the lights, also had plenty of it; this was exactly the reason for the existence of different powers within the army commanded by an old acquaintance.
On the Mercenaries' Lodge, the army tasked with guarding the Death Pass wasn't the only army harboring different powers within its structure. There was one more outside the city at the westernmost tip of the Central Region. At first glance, it was difficult, almost impossible for a normal person to understand they were there, but this couldn't change the fact that they existed.
Their numbers exceeded thousands, tens of thousands; they were all dressed uniformly to camouflage in the sand, and their weapons were hidden inside their wide ponchos. It was impossible for the City of Sand to make the army, equipped with full gear from head to toe, reach this state; it was all the skill of the orc pointing at the map on the long table that replaced its shattered predecessor.
"Finally, we have either incorporated all the forces scattered all over the Desolate Realm into our own structure or managed to destroy them for the safety of our campaign. Among the groups joining our ranks, there were ones unexpectedly good; I must confess I never expected them to fall into line with so little training casualty."
Wind of Death and the Elite Ten, who stepped into the City of Sand, were making final preparations on the map of the Mercenaries' Lodge together with the six people they hosted in their residence that night. Order had been established inside the Heart of the Sand, the dangers in the vicinity had been destroyed, and the training procedure for the new soldiers had been completed.
It was time to move on to the next step of the invasion campaign whose first phase they had completed, and today's topic was to go over the plan they had been working on for a long time. Clemens Holzmeister, taking out a few metal pieces from the velvet pouch he brought with him, placed them outside the place written Heart of the Sand on the map.
"The manufacturing of the mechanical vehicles that will assist us until we get out of the Desolate Realm has finished. We will be able to comfortably move our forces of twelve thousand people, and when our soldiers come out of the scorching lands of the desert, they will be able to continue advancing without needing long rest periods."
The Chief Engineer of the Heart of the Sand looked confident while explaining that he had successfully completed the initial part of the task given to him. The first obstacle in front of the advance had been overcome, and this was the sole reason why previous attempts by the Heart of the Sand city forces had failed.
It wasn't as if the people outcast by society hadn't made uprising attempts before too, but they all ended before they began for a single reason. While advancing through the desert, they perished by being hunted by environmental conditions, creatures unique to the desert, and other forces they hadn't yet destroyed.
First, the army's passage route had been cleared, and the vehicles necessary for the journey had been manufactured with the unlimited resources provided by the Orc Empire. There was only the danger created by wild creatures that might dare to confront them left.
"The Emerald Leaf Merchant Guild is experiencing the most chaotic days in its history. While on one hand the minds of the public are confused with orc infiltrations threatening the continent in general, the shortage in some products is fueling small rebellions and big reactions."
Dona Gracia, one of the loyal users of the golden color, was sitting in his armchair made specially for him, inside which five humans could comfortably fit. His devoted servant, the dwarf, was holding the fruits kept in ice prepared for him to eat when he paused his words with the tray in his hands.
"How beautiful the news you give are, could you go into a little more detail?"
Wind of Death wasn't going to be satisfied with the superficial narrative of the merchant, the only person she couldn't directly supervise the job he did; she wanted to have command over all the details of the job she allocated a resource resembling a flowing river to.
"Of course, with great pleasure!"
The merchant was a master in acting just as he was in his profession. After tossing a handful of grapes into his mouth and chewing to buy time, he wiped the remains left on his lips with his napkin bearing his initials embroidered in the corner and continued his words.
"First of all, I want to present my gratitude for the vast financial resource you put under my command. If I hadn't acted with a gold reserve of this amount, it would be impossible for me to achieve what I will explain shortly.
Next, I can say your spies you distributed to all four corners of the continent made things easier, you know very well too that some things cannot be solved even with gold."
Even though Dona Gracia generally cut a silent figure, today he looked as if he would talk on and on. He talked unceasingly as long as his body permitted, but when his breath decreased to just enough to sustain his life, he stopped and took a breather.
"I started by ensuring everyone heard that the orcs in the story the public used to scare their children saying 'if you don't sleep the orcs will get you' actually entered their lands. Fear was one of the strongest blockages in daily life just as it was in business life.
Once it takes root in your mind; you would think twice about every action, hesitate even in the right move you would make and do it wrong. While the merchants forming the foundation of society were in this situation, how could the public be at ease? The panic created by the possibility of confronting the orcs they heard ate people raw at any moment was causing the seeds of anxiety inside them to sprout and bloom.
Orcs are strong beings, but you know humans are actually mentally very strong too. If a problem doesn't kill them, after scaring them enough, it becomes insignificant and to avoid dying, a human quickly forgets this problem. Therefore, we had to make the environment of fear we created permanent with small but constant feedings."
When Dona Gracia came to one of the key points while explaining what he did one by one, he stopped and looked at the faces of those listening to him one by one. For the merchant, even his words were goods he sold; even if he couldn't get gold for them right now, he had to at least make sure the customers focused all their attention on him.
"On the Mercenaries' Lodge, plundering another's merchant caravan wasn't common but it wasn't something that never happened. If you provide enough motivation, you can find so many small mercenary groups you can have this job done by that believe me, even you would be surprised if I told you the number.
Of course, this time not them but vagrant orc groups making entry into the lodge over the Hell Realm would take the blame. Actually, who did it wasn't very important either; when enough people talked out in the open that this was the work of orcs, everyone would believe orcs plundered merchant caravans.
Next was interrupting the most basic needs of ordinary people living at the bottom of the social status pyramid. We started with small things first; the flammable materials needed to protect themselves from darkness at night, the things needed to clean their houses, and then came personal needs.
For those living at the bottom of society, eating and breeding come even before security; when you start separating them from their food, they could neither have sex nor feel safe. Adding the news that orcs were approaching, they could only hold out for a few months, packed their bags and hit the road towards the main city dominated by the Emerald Leaf Guild.
The moment you convinced one family, their neighbor followed, and after emptying five houses, the rest followed like falling dominoes. Sometimes authorities, prominent figures of the settlement did emerge wanting to stand against this, but we knew how to silence those who consented with gold, and those who dug their heels in with the weapons of the mercenaries we hired.
This is the Mercenaries' Lodge! If you have enough gold in your hands, you can do whatever you want!"
When Dona Gracia finished his words, he drew a deep breath into his massive body with the air of a victorious commander and started waiting for the comments of the others at the table. No matter how much he boasted it wouldn't be enough; using only gold, he had managed to completely empty an area as large as a massive military force could capture as a result of intense clashes, in a short period of time like a year.