Discipline, weakness and spies? (3)

Lindon was a former elven soldier who was forcefully conscripted into the demon army and he was the who is secretly responsible for starting the elven revolt.

When he heard the news that the general of Demon army was coming for a visit his plans to continue the revolt without any direct involvement started to fail.

Luckily he had been gathering information about the outer world by eavesdropping on the guards which let him adjust his plans accordingly.

His plan was going successfully for a while but when he heard the news that Bollock, the general of Demon Army was coming for a visit, he initiated his plans to distance himself from the revolters.

The current revolters consisted of 12 elves including the 3 High-class Elves called Rogu and rest, which was made of elves from different lower classes.

Lindon successfully managed to transfer all the responsibilities of the uprising onto the three Rogu elves and removed any links that could be traced back to him.

His plan was to have an alibi for his every move he made since the formation of the group.

Lindon chatted with many people around the barracks and while talking to them he fed them with false memories which included him as well, making sure that there are no inconsistencies.

With one move from the capital his plans to cause a dispute between the demon army and conscripted army failed to the point where the was no way to recover.

His only option was to find a spy and use them as an escape route to freedom. He was desperately searching for peoples he can sell information to and after gaining their trust he would escape with them.

He was ambitious and wasn't planning to settle for just his freedom and his plan also included gathering enough money for himself that he would live a comfortable life outside.

In his investigation, he found many people who fit his image of being a spy but Lindon had his doubts. He didn't want to approach them until he was 100% sure of their identity.

"Are there even spies inside the Barracks," He asked himself. Finding this would be his first task.

"Thun! Thun! Thun! Thun!" The Barrack's bell rang multiple times, this was the signal for all the conscripts to gather in the barrack square.

Lindon found it odd, according to his natural clock the bell had rung two hours early.

Normally the bell rang three times a day. The first is in the morning which works as an alarm and indicating the start of morning training. The second is in the afternoon which is for lunchbreak and the last is at late evening when the training is over.

This was the second bell.

Lindon saw many confused faces on the barrack square apparently, no one knew what was going on. He then shifted his eyes towards the guards who were equally confused.

A few minutes later Lindon saw few individuals coming towards the square. He immediately recognized the soldiers and the superiors but then he saw two new faces.

The first was a demon with dark skin and red hair and behind him was a devil with the proportions of a heavyweight UFC fighter.

The devil had red skin but lacked winds. If it weren't for the unique arrow-shaped tip of his tail Lindon would have mistaken him for a demon.

They stood in front of them and the captain came forward to address the conscripts.

The captain noticed that the revolters were missing and released a soft sigh which Lindon found odd but also unimportant.

The captain waited until everyone had calmed down,

"Soldiers," He spoke, starting his speech similar to his regular routine but Lindon knew that it wasn't. The lingering feeling refused to leave him.

"Soldiers, for the past few months you have been training hard and for that the kingdom is proud."

His eyes widened, Lindon has never thought in his life that the captain would praise them. Not only him but everyone was surprised and confused at the same time. They looked at each other to confirm if what just happened was true as they cannot accept what just happened.

Ignoring the murmuring of the crowd captain continued, "Today we have a special guest who has come to visit us from the kingdom. Please welcome him with applause." He raised his hand and pointed towards the dark-skinned demon.

'So he is Bollock, then the other guy must be his bodyguard or something.' Lindon thought while glancing between the devil and the demon. 'I imagined him to be stronger looking but he looks like an average knight.'

"Please welcome His Majesty the demon king, conqueror of the world, our beloved, Lord Lucifer Vanir Augustus."

Everyone's eyes widened at the sight of the king. The person who conquered the world and the person who now ruled the former holy kingdom.

The soldiers started to applause and soon it was followed by others.

Lindon was still in shock and only when the person next to him nudged him he regained his consciousness and started clapping.

'This is wrong, this is totally wrong.' He thought to himself, 'What is the king doing here? It was supposed to be the general who should have come. Were the guards lying? Did they figure out that I have eavesdropped on them?' Questions started to flood his mind, his awareness of his surroundings started to fade.

When Lindon noticed that he was losing his composer he controlled himself by taking three deep breaths.

'Calm down, there is no need to panic. Everything is still under control. Think about it carefully.' He calmed himself after a few deep breaths.

'The guards weren't lying.' He glanced at the guards who were equally confused. 'It must have been kept secret from them too. That means that only a few handfuls of people knew about his arrival.' He thought while his eyes shifted between the commander and the captain.

'Those two must be only ones knew this. But why would they need to hide it?' He wondered, 'Normally a king's arrival is announced a few days in advance to make preparations for his arrival but Why didn't they do it this time?'

His brain tried to work as fast as possible to answer him, he compared every clue that he had gathered till now and slowly his confused face transitioned into a face filled with satisfaction and delight. 'There are spies inside the barracks.'

Lindon smiled upon his revelation.

...

...

Lucifer stood in front of the conscript army while his associates stood behind him.

He saw many guards stationed around the conscripts. These guards were there to stop anyone from escaping and maintain discipline.

"I hope you are having a good day." He greeted.

He then looked at a piece of paper in his hand and continued.

"The reports of your training shows that you all are working hard and the country is thankful for that," Lucifer said after a short bow.

The conscripts were confused at his actions but didn't voice their opinions.

"Your work here has reached the ears of capital and I am happy to announce that there is nothing but praise for your work." He continued while ignoring them.

Some of the conscripted soldiers showed pride when they were praised and many straightened their backs. Slowly but surely their wariness of Lucifer faded and finally, they were at ease as their offensive glares turned gentle.

Surged was amazed when he saw the impressed faces of the conscripts, normally when he spoke to them, the conscripts would be impatiently waiting for his speech to end but this time they were focused.

They gave Lucifer their full attention and were listening to him wholeheartedly.

'Is that how people react to you when you become a king.' He thought to himself but denied his conclusion. 'No, people are listening to him, not because of his status as the king but because he is someone who is worth listening to.'

He was reminded of the times when he would give speeches but he can always find a few people who would not pay attention to him or would rather totally ignore him.

When he saw Lucifer he was reminded of the fact that how a leader looks.

He felt proud that he was serving a king who could make his former enemy listen to him. He swore in his heart that he would work harder from this point on to acquire a fraction of greatness that Lucifer possessed.

...

...

Lindon knew the advantages of praising those whose hard work would normally go unnoticed.

Most of the people in the conscript army were either exiled to the holy kingdom or they had no place to go.

He thought that Lucifer might unaware but by praising the conscripts on their work he had indirectly told them, "I see you as a citizen of our nation."

Lindon wanted to dismiss it as false but a lingering feeling in his heart wanted him to believe that Lucifer had deliberately chosen those words. He hated the fact that Lucifer was not only playing with the emotions of the crowd but his too.

He too wanted to believe that the king truly needed him but he knew that this is just a trick.

He too has used this technique many times on others where he would praise others and once they were impressed, Lindon would bluntly present his problem to them. Every time he used this trick the other party would help him without him ever needing to ask for help.

Even though he was irritated that he was falling for the trick he could not help but praise him for executing it successfully.

The speech went on for hours where the King never said anything against the conscripts and on every topic he spoke he would bluntly praise them. The whole speech did not sound like a conquerer addressing his subjects but instead, it sounded like a leader talking to his subordinates.

It was around the end of his speech when Lucifer's friendly tone shifted into threatening one and it sent chills down his spine.

"A nation is like a body where every organ is doing its part for its betterment and survival, but there are always some foreign pathogens that want to harm the nation. I am disappointed to say this but this army also has some of these few pathogens." He sighed and shook his head, it reminded him of a parent who is disappointed in his children.

"People I ask you this. What should we do with those who want to harm our nation? Can we really let these sickness weaken our nations? Is that really the way We should behave as a nation?"

"No!" The soldiers shouted in unison.

Lindon cursed himself when he unconsciously shouted with the mob.

"Should we really let them do as they want?"

"No!"

"What should we with these sicknesses?"

Everyone was puzzled but then someone said 'remove them'. Others agreed with him and soon everyone started chanting it like a prayer.

"Remove them!"

"Yes, We should definitely remove them."

"Remove them!" ... "Remove them!" ... "Remove them!" ... "Remove them!"

Cheers of the people echoed in the square.

"Tell me again what should we do with them?" Lucifer shouted.

"Remove them!" ... "Remove them!" ... "Remove them!" ... "Remove them!"

"Good answer," Lucifer said with a grin.

"Now captain, can you please find out where the problem creators are and bring them to me."

"Yes, sir."

...