December 3rd, 1655


    Dakshin Bharathiya Empire, Vijayanagar State, Capital City Hampi.


    Vijay, who had been travelling for an entire day, finally reached the capital along with the soldiers who had participated in the battle of Indore. A fresh division of soldiers promptly took their ce, ensuring no gaps were left for the Mughal Empire to exploit.


    With the victory in Indore, the military pressure on the northwestern defence front had greatly reduced, enabling Marshall Kiran Poojari to extend the northern border to the region of Gujarat.


    With the absence of Vijay, This area was temporarilymanded by Kiran and assisted by a group of lieutenant generals, among whom Birbal Singh took his post as the assisting lieutenant general from the border of Gujarat at the Dahod fortress to the southernmost end of Madhya Pradesh at the fortress of Amaravati controlled by the empire.


    There were more changes that took ce after the Battle of Indore. The Ministry of Transportation immediately acted the next day, showcasing the most advanced logistic capacity in the world.


    Theoretically, it should not have been feasible to showcase such advanced mobilization capabilities even for the Dakshin Bharatiya Empire, as it would take a lot of time to mobilize the resources even with the current logistic capabilities of the empire.


    However, the logistic channels of the Empire and the Ministry of Transportation were able to act so quickly because, as soon as the decision was made to conquer the city of Indore, Vijay had already ordered the Ministry of Transportation and the construction teams to immediately prepare to fortify the city.


    Hence, as soon as the battle was confirmed to end, the cement, artillery, and material supplies dispatched within a moment’s notice.


    The Indore Fortress n, Indore to Amaravathi Road Network n, Indore to Dahod Road Network n, and Indore Karnavati roadwork n were started immediately as the manpower was mobilized.


    It might have been risky to start all these construction projects simultaneously as the military base of Indore is not yet free of danger. Fortunately, with the end of the battle, the Mughal Empire momentarily lost nearly 20 per cent or more of itsbat abilities, leaving them with no chance of a counterattack.


    Vijay, upon entering the city, immediately left the marching army and camouged himself in civilian wear along with a few guards as he walked through the city. He did this to gather various opinions and to feel the atmosphere in the capital of the empire for himself, even though he could obtain all this information from the report submitted by Bharatiya Internal Pragya.


    And it turned out his bet was right because as he walked, he noticed something odd: the atmosphere of the city felt different since hest remembered it. Most of the people he saw seemed to have their emotions suppressed by something. Noticing this, he frowned, unsure of what caused this unusual atmosphere. He decided to move further along a more remote route, hoping to learn about this phenomenon.


    As Vijay got near an alleyway, a few young men, no more than his age, were discussing something. Overhearing the conversation of three people named Ram, Suraj, and Lingraj, Vijay stopped in his tracks as he found the conversation interesting and wanted to listen further.


    "Damn the Mughal Empire! I heard that nearly 70,000 of our brothers and sisters were brutally massacred in the city of Indore by a Mughal general," Ram eximed with indignation, his fist clenched, his eyes burning with fury.


    "Yes, these people deserve a punishment more cruel than hell. These animals should rot in the deepest pits of despair forever, not being able toe out of it," Suraj nodded in agreement, his anger visible on his face, his hands trembling with rage.


    "I’m just getting angry thinking about it. Fortunately, I heard that our army absolutely obliterated 60,000 troops in return as a punishment for their offence, as well as buried all of those Mughal nobles in the ground," Lingraj chimed in, his anger mirroring his friends’, his chest swelling with pride for the military.


    Ram, sharing the sentiment, added, "Yeah, it is very apt what our military did. Also, apparently, there was a special knight called the Crimson Knight: Raktabīja, who was the main spearhead of this battle. I heard this man killed hundreds of enemies by himself and he was drenched in blood from head to toe, thereby earning his name."


    "Yeah, if you hadn’t said, I would have forgotten him. I wonder who this is; this person seems more ruthless and brutal than Commander Sarvesh, don’t you think?" Suraj replied with a smile.


    Before Lingraj could respond, Ram looked offended, putting on a stern expression. "Hey, what are you saying? No one can be more brutal and ruthless than Commander Sarvesh. That monster single-handedly rushed into the enemy camp without any support and absolutely mauled down the enemies, making a chance for our army to enter the city."


    "Yes, what Ram said is true," Lingraj added, nodding in agreement with Ram. "Even though this Crimson Knight is an excellent fighter, he cannotpare to the Headhunter and Demon Sword, Sarvesh Ranavikrama."


    "Hey, what is this Ranavikrama you are talking about? Didn’t Commander Sarvesh have no surname?" Suraj asked, curious.


    Looking at the two questioning gazes, Lingraj patiently exined, "Well, initially he did not. But as his exploits grew, his name also became widespread. Since he did not have a surname, this name was circted among the military and eventually became very popr."


    "Then how did you know about this?" Ram inquired further.


    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "My brother-inw is actually a Second Lieutenant in the army. He was the one who informed me about this name," Lingraj replied proudly, his chest puffing out.


    Ram, envious of Lingaraj’s luck, furthermented on Sarvesh’s name, "You don’t say, The name Ranavikrama suits Commander Sarvesh quite a bit, as no one can be more brave and courageous than him in battle, who can match his valour."


    "Well, yes," the other two quickly agreed, as there was no denying this fact.


    then the chat Soon shifted towards other topics


    "..."


    "..."


    Vijay, who heard all of this conversation, was very satisfied that the citizens of the empire did indeed care about theirpatriots on the other side of the subcontinent.


    Vijay felt like he had to reward Selvan with something, as he was the one running the propaganda operations within the empire, spreading all the news that had happened on the battlefield after a few days it had urred.


    The constant news of the death of the soldiers and of the Hindus in the Mughal Empire did act as a unifying force that brought together the various ns, casts, and sects of the Empire even more closely.


    The newer generation, who grew up half of their life under the influence of Vijay, had much-reduced caste biases in their minds, hence fully satisfying Vijay’s requirements.


    The only aspect that left him taken aback was theparison the people were drawn between him and Sarvesh. If it were Vijay himself, he would have relinquished any notion ofpeting with Sarvesh. He knew he wouldn’t possess the same battle-hungry and audacious demeanour as Sarvesh, considering all the extraordinary battle exploits attributed to him.


    Hence, owing to his distinctive qualities, he holds significant importance within the empire as a natural-born marinemander. With the empire’s future trajectory emphasizing the acquisition of overseas benefits, Sarvesh emerges as the forefront figure in all navalnding operations.


    Also, another thing that surprised Vijay: Sarvesh has a nickname now? And him too? Well, that is something that he had never expected.


    Vijay was very impressed by the name Sarvesh had gotten: Headhunter and Sword Demon. Well, it was quite an apt name for him.


    But what was even more surprising was he even got a surname due to hiscking one, and Vijay didn’t know upon whose blessing, Sarvesh was bestowed a name, formed from thebination of words "Rana" meaning battle or war and "Vikrama" meaning valour, bravery, and courage, which fit the way Sarvesh carries himself quite a bit.


    So Vijay fell into thought if he should grant this name officially to Sarvesh and even add it to the noble family emblem of Sarvesh.


    As for his own name, Crimson Knight Raktabija, he did not know how to feel. He hadplex emotions about the name because although it aptly described his battle style a few days ago, he still held reservations about what he had done.


    It’s not like he does not want to go to war again and participate in the battle himself; that is not true because if something simr to what happened in Indore happened again, he would not hesitate to wage a war and ughter whoever opposed him. But it’s just that he quite disliked how it felt after the war. Well, only time would tell what the future held for him.


    Vijay did not stop anymore and quickly got to the castle immediately.


    Kavya, who saw Vijaying back home, immediately went over to hug him.


    "Vijay, I missed you a lot," she said, with tears almost flowing out of her eyes.


    Vijay, sensing this, also felt a little relieved, and his unusual mental burden began to lessen as soon as he was with Kavya.


    Furthermore, he felt very touched by the emotion shown by Kavya. "I am back now; I will stay a while longer," Vijay said, tightening his grip on the back of Kavya, hugging her tighter.


    "Vijay, I heard about the horror that happened in Indore. Those poor people, they were killed so unjustifiably," Kavya said, her face etched with sadness. "Fortunately, the army took revenge. When this happened, I was so angry that I even wanted to go at that instant and beat up the Mughal Emperor," she added, her expression shifting to one of fierce anger.


    Vijay, noticing the pouting and angry face of Kavya, only felt that she looked cute when she is angry, but he did not show his emotion on her face.


    By quickly suppressing his smile, he replied, "Well, didn’t the military take care of them? You don’t worry; you are the strongest force the military has. How can the military use the strongest force at the beginning of the battle?"


    Maybe it was because of the pregnancy and the hormonal changes, Being coaxed like this, Kavya felt good as she smiled smugly and responded, "Yes, that’s right; you are right. Hahaha."


    After a little more flirting, Vijay, who was tired from the travel, went to freshen up. At the same time, he also inquired about Kavya’s health in detail with both the butler and the doctor assigned to take care of Kavya.


    Fortunately, except for the unusual mood swings of Kavya, ranging from excitement, joy, anxiety, and fear on random asions, everything, including morning sickness, increased fatigue, and frequent urination, was observed as normal for a pregnant woman two months in.


    Hearing this, Vijay was relieved about the news. Also, he knew that the unusual emotions of Kavya were also normal for pregnant women of two months. It’s just that doctors in this era could know many things, but they could not really know about the hormonal changes that ur during different phases of life. Hence, Vijay was not worried.


    That night, while sleeping with his hand on the baby bump of Kavya, although he couldn’t tell much, he could feel that the heartbeat of the baby was beating quite normally, making him relieved.


    Additionally, Vijay knew that this was the time when the limbs of the baby get to develop. Hence, he swiftly got up from the bed and wrote down a diet n for the chefs in the pce for Kavya to follow.


    For breakfast (choose one): idli, dosa, upma with sambar and some curry with vegetables.


    For a mid-morning snack (choose one): yoghurt with banana or fresh fruit sd.


    For lunch (choose one): grilled fish with rice and vegetables, chicken curry with brown rice, and dal curry with whole wheat chapati and spinach.


    For afternoon snack (choose one): coconut water with a handful of nuts or boiled chickpeas with a sprinkle of spices.


    For dinner (choose one): vegetable biryani with cucumber raita, fish curry with brown rice, and vegetable curry with whole wheat chapati.


    After finalizing the diet n along with the exercise n, Vijay, for the first time in a few weeks, deeply fell into sleep with Kavya in his arms. Even the nightmares did not bother him today. He was also able to smile.