Chapter 316: Wink Wink

There was only one way to fix this. But right now, the rest of the soldiers were going to have to starve.

Well, that was only if he didn’t use his dungeon abilities to pull out a mountain of food, which he obviously was going to do for his own men.

He watched as the massive iron pots were completely scraped clean in a matter of minutes. The men from the other territories actually came back looking for seconds only to walk away with depressed looks on their faces. It honestly hurt his feelings a little bit. Not just because he miscalculated the how much they needed, but he just felt sad that he couldn’t fill their stomachs all the way.

’It’s fine. They got enough food and it’s not like they’re gonna starve tonight. I’ll make them more tomorrow.’

Then he turned to look at his own army.

All eight thousand of his men were just standing at attention. Not a single person complained. They knew Adrian would put food on the table for them no matter what happened since he had been doing it for almost two years now. And he wasn’t about to disappoint them tonight.

He walked over to his men and looked up at the darkening sky for a second before meeting their gazes with an apologetic look.

"We made a lot of food but it was barely enough for the main army," Adrian said. "Right now there’s nothing left in the pots that I can serve you guys."

The soldiers didn’t say a word. They just stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

Aria, Claire, and Serena were standing right behind him. They were pretty hungry too, and they knew Adrian wasn’t going to let them starve. But they knew that Adrian had a strict rule about not discriminating. If his soldiers ate rations, he ate rations. Aria just wondered if he was going to spend another four hours cooking a brand new meal.

But he broke his rule for the first time.

"You guys might have to adjust for tonight," Adrian said. "I have a lot of pemmican and hardtack. I can give you some really hot bone soup to go with it, but I hope you can make do for the night."

The soldiers raised their boots in unison and stomped the ground. The unified stomp shook the dirt under his feet and the vibrations traveled all across the camp. Every single soldier from the other territories turned their heads to look at Oresfall’s army.

Adrian just sighed. "Welp, alright then."

He raised his hand and looked at his ring. Almost instantly, five massive crates of pemmican materialized in the dirt in front of him. Then three heavy crates of hardtack appeared right next to them. And finally, a giant wooden barrel of steaming bone broth dropped onto the ground. It was basically just a thin broth but everyone here liked to call it soup, so he just went with it.

"These are all the things," Adrian told them. "I’ll get some people to serve you guys. If you need anything else, just tell me."

One of the older soldiers near the front slowly raised his hand.

"My lord, my teeth aren’t too strong. Can I get some rice or anything that is softer than hardtack?"

Adrian looked at the guy and then scanned the rest of the silent crowd. "Anyone else have the same issue?"

A bunch of hands immediately went up.

"My lord," another soldier spoke up. "I don’t know about the others but it is really hard to eat hardtack. It’s too hard and we are way too used to eating rice back home. Could you just replace the hardtack with rice please?"

Adrian chuckled. "You guys have been living a life of luxury haven’t you?"

A low wave of laughter rippled through the ranks.

"It is all thanks to your magnanimity, my lord!" a soldier yelled back.

Adrian shook his head. "I guess it’s time to squeeze you guys for all you’re worth. I’ve invested a shit ton in you haven’t I?"

Most of the soldiers knew he was joking. But a lot of them apparently didn’t.

"My lord!" a man screamed at the top of his lungs. "My life belongs to you! I will jump into fire if you tell me to! If it wasn’t for you my entire family would be dead!"

That opened the floodgates.

Screams and fanatical shouts started erupting from the ranks as the soldiers began loudly singing his praises. A few of the guys in the front row actually looked like they were getting emotional.

Adrian just stood there feeling incredibly awkward.

He was obviously joking but these guys took everything way too seriously.

He raised his hand and the entire army instantly went dead silent again.

"Okay fine, calm down," Adrian said. "I was just joking. I’m not going to send you guys into the jaws of death and all that. I’ll replace the hardtack... just give me a second."

He walked over and tapped the crates of hardtack one by one. They vanished back into his dungeon. He raised his hand again and two super huge iron pots appeared on the dirt. They were filled to the brim with steaming hot white rice. Then a third pot appeared right next to them, filled with a thick, savory curry.

All of these were made by the dungeon. The only reason Adrian even cooked was due to his love for the game.

The smell of the rich spices and the bone broth hit the front lines instantly.

Adrian watched their eyes lock onto the pots and he knew exactly what they were thinking. You couldn’t exactly pair pemmican with rice when there was a much better curry sitting right there. But the pemmican was going to be a part of a different plan since he had realised how many people he had bought here.

"You guys can start grabbing your food," Adrian said. "Just serve yourselves. I’ll just be speaking so keep listening while you plate your food."