District 42-Chapter 250: Worth the risk?
The meeting was taking a long time for them. After Casper started to explain his plan, the Aesirs diverged on their opinions. They were discussing between each other what to do.
Casper’s plan was reckless, even crazy. It was a huge risk to take for the Castle and its folk. Indeed, a lot of people could die if they choose to do it. However, as blind as they were, those measures could end being beneficial in the long term.
The pros and cons were even. Whether they would take it or not was a decision they needed to make based on what kind of risks they were willing to take to be able to counter Rat and his subordinates.
"That’s... That’s just crazy. I don’t agree with it, not the least." Canute was the first one to state his thoughts for them.
At first, they thought that this behavior was because of his issues regarding the White warrior, but that wasn’t the case this time. Canute was injured, the person he most wanted to protect was disappointed with him, and his folk was at risk, he couldn’t care less about his antipathy towards Casper. He was serious about that situation.
"There is too much to put at stake doing this kind of idiocy! It’s better if we play safe and go with Ivar’s plan. I can even understand that the possibility of this strategy working is not too low, but, anyway, we have a lot to lose if we can’t do it just right. I tried to imagine different ways in which it could go wrong, and there are a lot." Canute explained.
Rurik was the next one to say something, complementing what Canute was using as an argument.
"The problem here isn’t just about what we can lose if we can’t make this plan go well, but on what basis it is constructed on. I mean, everything in this plan starts with the supposed interest that Rat has in Casper. First thing, we don’t know if he needs the White warrior as a resource to accomplish his goals. Second, we don’t even know if what he wants really is Casper’s free will. I am also against it."
Canute agreed with Rurik, crossing his arms.
Freygar was in deep thought about that matter and didn’t say anything until then. He just analyzed what those two had to say. He was aware of how smart they both could be, so their points were something to take into consideration before getting to any conclusion.
He stroked his chin, closing his eyes and imagining the plan. The Cloned Aesir also calculated the success rate of Ivar’s plan.
"I think that both have their own weaknesses. In Ivar’s plan, we will be fighting without knowing anything. In this case, just defend can be as risky as trying to gather information and counterattack. Remember that we don’t have a mighty defense and we don’t know the nature of the enemy’s attack. It can be something so huge that we won’t be able to bear just with what we have now."
Freygar finally opened his mouth, staring at the others assertively. He didn’t need to say out loud that he preferred Casper’s plan, they all could sort it out.
"Also, we need to think of the consequences of Ivar’s plan not working as it should as well. I mean, if our defense got broken by them, we will not have anything else. The plan proposed by Casper, at least, gives us a second chance if everything goes wrong, even though we can lose a lot on the way." Ari argued.
The Punctual Aesir looked to his friend on the tablet’s screen with sad eyes. He didn’t want to against his friend’s will and opinion, but he needed to think about what was better for the Castle at that point. His duty as an Aesir was more important than his friendship or anything else.
’Since the moment I offered my life and my soul to the Royal Family and the Castle, I knew that I should put my duty as a top priority, above everything else.’
Canute didn’t hold any grudge by his friend’s decision, but he wasn’t going to take back what he said.
Brenna was looking back and forth to everyone present in the room. She was somewhat lost in that conversation. Although the woman looked to be quite smart, there was sometimes when her brain couldn’t absorb certain things due to his mental issue.
"I think that you all are forgetting about something important!" Brenna shouted, drawing everyone’s attention towards her.
"What’s it, Brenna?" Ivar didn’t give his opinion until that point. He was just pondering on that subject, gathering the opinions of his comrades, and meditating about what to decide. After all, the final decision would be made by him, not the others.
"Well, I think you all are forgetting that we don’t have time!" Once she said it, the group was ready to snap. They were in an important discussion and her intervention was getting in their way.
"Please, Bren, don’t interrupt our line of thought to say things that we already know," Canute said, putting his hand on his forehead.
"I am not saying the obvious, you dumb!" She was getting red because of her anger. Brenna didn’t get along very well with Canute because of the way he always treated her as a child (Even though everyone did it, but in a more discreet way).
"You all are blinding yourselves looking to Casper’s plan just as a desperate measure coming out of nowhere, but that’s what we need here! We don’t have time, after all! And if we go right now gather some people and just throw them at every floor inside here, but the enemies appear before we can finish it? It will be just a big mess. Also, even if we can defend the Castle, what next? How will we counterattack? Or are you planning to defend all the time and just wait to run out of resources and troops?"
They got silent, feeling the real dumb ones in that situation. Get a scold from Brenna was the same thing as having a five-year-old kid doing so. It was a blow to their pride.
"Yes." Casper nodded his head to Brenna. "We don’t have time anymore. And, I think you are mistaking this situation. We aren’t in a war. The enemy won’t come from the outside. They are inside here already and have more influence than we imagine. It’s a different thing.
"I think you can’t look at this problem just as I am looking, because you never needed to deal with such a thing. As far as I know, the Castle never was invaded once. It’s a new thing for all of you. However, I know very well how an invasion works and how to deal with it. I know that my plan seems to be reckless, but if we stay on the defensive we will fall. We need to nip the enemy in the bud."
Canute and Rurik didn’t seem to be convinced by Casper’s arguments, nor Brenna’s. Freygar stated good points there, also as Ari, but they were thinking about the lives that would be lost on that plan rather than in the future success.
Without knowing how to proceed, they looked to their temporary leader, expecting him to say something and help them.
’Just as I thought, the final decision is mine. Even though it’s a disadvantage of 4 to 2, they consider each other’s opinions. Since there is so much at stake here, they can’t conclude. Even the smartest warriors of the district need a leader, in the end...’
"Just as Brenna said, we don’t have time to lose here. We need to catch up with the enemies. We don’t know if they will start to act in one hour, one day, or one month. You all need to think about what Vick said. We need to learn how to put value on things. Although a lot of lives can be waste here, that’s for the greater good. What we need to have in mind is that the Castle can’t fall."
The group looked intently at Ivar, waiting for him to state his conclusion. They knew what would be the decision, but they still needed to hear it out loud.
"The White warrior has more experience than us in this field. His plan has a lot of flaws, but mine has as well. However, put everything on balance... on my plan we have the chance to survive, but just in Casper’s we have the chance to win. That said, although it’s obvious, I decide that we go with the plan proposed by him." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
The White warrior stepped forward, showing confidence. His eyes were resolute. He was willing to make up for their last defeat.
"Since that’s the case, I will say some details about what we need to do next. If we want this to work well, we shall start it right now. I have the feeling that the enemy will start their moves soon."
