Chapter 869: Chapter 869 - Taming the Fifth Year - Cold Diplomacy - 3 If these forces had abandoned their positions where they should have been protecting the city... If they’d left vulnerabilities in defenses that only hadn’t converted into disasters because somehow these nobles were controlling the mutants somehow... Then they weren’t simply an army deserving respect as combatants doing their duty. They were deserters who’d put the civilian population at risk for political purposes. Leaders had ordered them to abandon fundamental responsibilities. And that created a situation where punishment wasn’t simply permitted but obligatory under military laws governing the armed forces’ conduct in the kingdom. The laws were clear, had been clear for centuries. Abandoning a defensive position without authorization was a capital offense. Not because rulers were cruel but because the alternative was systematic collapse of defense that would result in far more deaths than executing a few deserters. Those laws existed because previous generations had learned what happened when you tolerated desertion. Through lessons written in blood and corpses. Selphira wasn’t proposing revenge.... She was proposing the application of the existing military law to a situation that fit the definition of desertion with disturbing precision. And Arturo, despite his reluctance toward violence, despite his preference for administrative solutions, despite every instinct telling him this would create problems... Couldn’t actually argue that she was wrong. "That’s unnecessary," the leader protested with a voice that had lost some of the initial confidence he’d projected. "We can resolve this civilly if you’ll simply..." "No," Selphira interrupted with finality not permitting additional discussion. "I’ve already decided. You’re going to return to your positions after discovering exactly what it means to face the consequences of desertion." Her mana increased. The three tamers before her involuntarily stepped back another half a pace. It was a clear threat needing no verbal elaboration to communicate intention. The younger man attempted one last argument appealing to rationality. "Matriarch, please carefully consider what you’re proposing. There are hundreds of soldiers here. Even with your considerable capabilities and the forces Lord Arturo brought, direct confrontation will result in violence and casualties that neither side truly desires. Surely it’s better to resolve this through negotiation as intelligent, noble people rather than resorting to..." "Intelligent, noble people," Selphira repeated with a short laugh carrying no humor, "don’t abandon defenses protecting the civilian population from mutants that eat human flesh without distinction. Intelligent, noble people don’t participate in kidnapping a military commander under pretense of ’negotiation’. So pardon me if I don’t find your appeals to intelligence and nobility particularly convincing right now." Arturo sighed internally while accepting the situation had crossed the point where diplomatic intervention could redirect events’ course. Selphira was committed to action now, and he recognized the arguments she’d presented weren’t without merit. If he tried stopping her now, he’d only create visible division in Yano’s leadership that these enemies would exploit. And honestly, she was right in a fundamental aspect. If these soldiers weren’t at their assigned positions... If they’d abandoned responsibilities putting lives at risk... Then it didn’t matter whether they could control mutants or not. It wasn’t Selphira’s fault if she kicked their asses for being insubordinate. They were the ones who’d first abandoned their positions. Consequences of that decision would appropriately fell on those who’d made it. The calculus was cold... But leadership required cold calculus sometimes. Compassion without judgment led to situations where good people died protecting bad people who’d exploited that compassion. "Very well," Arturo said aloud, words directed to both Selphira and the trio watching them with growing alarm. "We’re going to knock out all Gold-rank tamers leading this desertion. And we’re going to chase all surviving Silvers toward their appropriate positions on the wall. With sufficient... incentive... some will remember their duty is toward the kingdom and not toward some corrupt nobles." It was an acknowledgment that much of this force was probably people from the regional regular army, soldiers who’d been ordered here by superiors controlling part of the command structure but who personally had no particular loyalty to the rebel faction. Those obligated soldiers could surely be convinced to return to appropriate duties if the alternative was sufficiently unpleasant. Maybe 50-70% of the force fit that category. Regular soldiers. Career military. People who’d taken orders because that’s what soldiers did. Those people didn’t deserve death... Deserved correction, certainly. Deserved consequences for following illegal orders. But not execution. And those who were true loyalists to rebels and wouldn’t yield... well, they’d be eliminated as the threats they represented. Probably 20-30% hardcore. The ones who’d volunteered for this. Who believed in whatever Orion was selling. Who’d fight rather than surrender. Those, Arturo had less compunction about removing from the board. "You’re making a grave mistake," the leader warned with a voice attempting to project authority but breaking slightly at the edges. "Lord Orion won’t take kindly to attacks on the forces under his protection. And we have Victor in..." "Victor is inside that underground ruin," Arturo interrupted while pointing toward the ancient castle behind the deployed army. "Which means he’s relatively safe from being used as a human shield during this confrontation about to occur out here. Orion isn’t foolish enough to leave outside the only real leverage he has over us." It was cold logic but probably accurate. Victor was valuable as a hostage precisely because he was alive. Moment Orion eliminated him, he’d lose the manipulation tool justifying considerable risk he’d taken by capturing him in the first place. Hostages only worked while alive. Dead hostages were just corpses that generated revenge motivation rather than compliance motivation. So Victor was probably in the ruin’s most defensible position, well-guarded. Standard hostage protocol. Orion might be many things, traitor, opportunist, dangerous, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d follow those standard protocols because standard protocols worked. Which meant Victor was safe. Selphira didn’t wait for more discussion. The temperature began to drop. Not metaphorically. Literally. Physically measurable temperature decrease spreading outward from her position like an invisible wave. The air itself became hostile. Moisture condensing. Breath visible. Grass beneath their feet acquired a thin frost layer that crackled when weight shifted. Behind Arturo, their 35 companions began manifesting their own beasts, some were even doubles. 60+ beasts total in their group. The numbers still favored the deserters. But numbers weren’t everything. Especially when rank differences were this pronounced. The three negotiators stumbled backward, nearly tripping over each other in a scramble to create distance from Selphira’s advancing cold.