Chapter 434 - 331 - 336

Incident and New Equipment

Charade rushed into Lorist's room with a folder in his arms.

"What's going on?" Lorist asked, raising his head.

Charade laughed bitterly.

"There was an incident while the Firmrock legion was practicing their landings. One of the rafts flipped over. Only 7 of the 25 onboard at the time survived."

Firmrock was the main force of the house's invasion of Madras. Their camp had been moved to Whitestone Beach in the middle of the passage near Bladedge Mountains, the beach the four families lf Wildnorth Town had used as a part of their smuggling route. Reaching Sidgler province from the beach only took six short hours. Lorist had scheduled the invasion two months from now. Firmrock would be aided by the Oceanic Legion. No one had expected an accident, especially not one of this nature.

"How did it happen?"

"According to Potterfang, the rafts we're using are designed to be lifeboats, not landing craft. The soldiers can't control them well and they flip quite easily in a swell or strong breeze. The soldiers are also fully kitted – they are very heavy. They sink straight down once they're in the water, even with a lofe-log. Firmrock just submitted a request for the improvement of the deployment rafts and equipment for emergency situations at sea," said Charade as he took out a beastskin document and handed it to Lorist.

Lorist stood up, his face dark.

This is due to my carelessness. When I came up with the plan, I didn't think the deployment through properly enough. The lifeboats we're using are far too bad at resisting the waves and winds.

It would be fine if those using them were sailors who knew how to swim and were also trained to preserve their lives as best as they could at sea. But most of the soldiers being deployed by ship didn't know how to swim. Coupled with their full load of armor and weapons, they would be no different from iron blocks should the raft flip. Even though it was but a small accident, the lives of 18 household soldiers had been lost just like that. The wooden planks they used as floats that would be thrown to an overboard man were not of much use either, given the soldiers' weight.

Lorist took up his quill and began drawing a few sketches of life jackets and some circular floats.

"Send these drawings to the metal refinery and have Supervisor Camorra make them. Stuff the jackets with small pieces of wood. As for these circular floats, they will be made out of wood and put around one's waist to keep one afloat."

With life jackets and waist floats, drowning was no longer an urgent concern.

What should I do about the landing craft? Adding a keel will help with the tipping but the raft will sit deeper in the water? So it won't be able to get as close to shore...

Given that the time the soldiers would be deployed was around the end of the 12th month, the chilling weather made it so that no one would be able to resist the low temperatures of the water which might leave traumatizing injuries.

Wait, if I can't add a keel to the bottom of the raft, I can add more planks at the side. Not only would that increase the surface area of the raft to aid with buoyancy, allowing more weight to be carried, the weight would also be more evenly distributed. That's it! thought Lorist as inspiration flashed across his mind.

He began drawing a flat-bottomed landing craft that had three long poles laid horizontally on the boat, with each side having large planks that made contact with the surface of the water. The spaces between the three sticks would allow for the boat to be rowed forward without interference.

"Alright, this will do. These three horizontal poles will not be fixed in place to allow the boat to approach the shores more effectively. First, we'll deploy the boat as it is, install the three horizontal poles and load our soldiers on board. This will help reduce the chances of the boat from flipping over. I'll need you to have someone from the shipyard at Bullhorn Bay construct a few prototypes for Potterfang to test. Send some worksmiths over as well so we can change the design as needed," said Lorist as he handed Charade the blueprints.

Charade nodded and took out another file from his folder.

"Milord, this is a report from the Jaeger Legion. Josk and Yuriy have picked 28 thousand members from the various legions and garrisons and formed the legion's first division, numbering five brigades of three thousand men, further divided into four regiments. There are also a carroballista regiment and a logistics regiment that have five thousand horses, 100 carroballistae and 100 four-wheeled cargo carriages. The second division is still under construction. So far, they're still recruiting members from the dominion."

"Oh?" Lorist mused, "Why does the Hunter Rider Legion need carroballistae? Shouldn't they focus only on swift attacks and retreats? Wouldn't carroballistae slow them down instead?"

Charade looked at the file and said, "Milord, Josk says that it's for the protection of his logistics unit from being attacked by enemy troops when the main unit is out for assault. That way, their horses and supplies would be safely guarded. Should they lose their supplies, the whole legion would crumble from having nothing to feed the horses with."

Lorist gave it some thought and nodded.

"Alright. Since Josk and Yuriy are in charge of the Jaeger Legion, I trust their judgment. They may have Supervisor Camorra send them the carroballistae they need."

"There's one more thing. Josk and Yuriy both submitted a request yesterday, asking for us to confirm the ranged weapons and other equipment they will use for their legion so that they can begin training to raise their mastery to increase combat ability. They think the current equipment of the household soldiers aren't suitable for use for the legion. They hope the house will provide even stronger armor."

"I already know that without needing them to tell me. This afternoon, Grandmaster Sid and Grandmaster Fellin will bring the aforementioned items here. You should stay back and check them out too. I've already had Els send for Josk and Yuriy," Lorist said, "Is there anything else?"

Charade brought out yet another document and said, "Milord, this is the report Supervisor Spiel submitted. During the past two years, the house has been spending money like water. We've already reorganized 20 local defense brigades in the previous year, costing us almost three million gold Fordes. Not only that, the transportation of the liberated slaves to The Northlands for the development of Greatriver is estimated to cost a million. Coupled with the cost of other miscellaneous spendings, the house is over budget by almost five million gold Fordes.

"Even though we'll be able to earn that amount in our deal with Duke Fisablen, the research funds of one million gold Fordes each you intend to allocate to Grandmaster Sid and the gunpowder lab, the two million gold Fordes you've used to purchase warships for the Oceanic Legion, as well as the cost of giving away daily necessities, buying military supplies, and the payment of pensions all amount to one million gold Fordes. We've already spent most of what we earned from the arms deal.

"And now, we're trying to form a whole new legion which will cost us at least three million. Your preparations to attack Madras will easily cost us a million as well. And don't forget the relocation of House Kenmays which will also cost a million gold. The various costs you have to bear for launching Dawn Academy at The Northlands will also cost quite a significant amount, making us over budget by six million gold Fordes this year.

"Supervisor Spiel wrote this report to caution us on our spending. Even if the extermination of Hanayabarta netted us a staggering 27 million gold Fordes, our treasury will run dry if you keep spending like this, Milord."

Lorist laughed like it was the most natural thing to do.

"Supervisor Spiel's always like this. He can't help but stuff the treasury full with gold coins. I'm sure you know that gold coins won't reproduce in our treasuries. If you take inflation into account, one cow that costs five gold Fordes this year will cost seven to eight in a few years. Only by reintroducing the gold coins into the market can we gain even more of them. Even though my recent spending is huge, that doesn't mean it's done recklessly. These are all investments to solidify the foundation of the house's future."

Charade made a bitter smile.

"Milord, this is 27 million gold Fordes we're talking about. While I can agree with what you said about investment, I feel the investments we make won't pay off until the time of our grandchildren. If we didn't form a new legion and sink funds into military conflicts, our income during the past two years is actually rather good. If we're savvy, we'll have a net profit of a few hundred thousand gold Fordes.

"Additionally, the house's policy is to enrich the commoners. We've already completed development on Felicitas, Salus, Redriver Valley and Northsea, but we're only charging 40 percent in taxes, 30 for the household of garrison soldiers, and 20 for our household soldiers and officials' families, while only ten for the households of our knights. Even though some of the tax collected remains after paying off the administrative costs, it doesn't help at all with the spending of our military.

"So far, our military spending is dependent on the business of the factories the house helped launched as well as the profits we gain from selling daily necessities to the territories of House Fisablen and the Iblia kingdom through the salt merchant committee. But if House Fisablen really establishes a trade route to the four central duchies, their purchases from the salt merchant committee will no doubt decrease. Should that ever happen, our military expenditure will be nothing but an unnecessary burden.

"Milord, Supervisor Spiel has suggested that the house raise the tax rate by ten percent across the board and increase our shares of the factories and shops our house helped open from 30 to 50 percent. As for the smaller stalls and shops that we only collect ten percent of earnings from, we'll raise it to 30 percent. Compared to the other nobles who take 60 to 70 percent, we're still far better off. Not only that, we'll be able to collect an estimated additional 300 thousand gold Fordes from doing so which can sustain a little more than half of our military expenditure."

Lorist shook his head.

"Raising taxes is one of the dumbest things we can do. There are many ways we can get the common folk to give us the coin in their pockets. Just leave Supervisor Spiel's report over here, I will write him a reply when I'm free. While I am thankful for his consideration and contributions to the house, I can't use his suggestion at all because that would sway the loyalty and trust our subjects have in us."

"Alright then. I will sort out the things you want done. See you later in the afternoon," said Charade before he left.

...

At noon, Lorist shared lunch with the pregnant Dilianna. She had already been pregnant for six months, so her stomach was visibly swollen. A herbalist, who came over to check on her, said she could be bearing twins and required more nutrients, so the young aunt of the Dinas had grown quite puffy in recent days, almost twice the size she used to be. Apart from her change in figure, she also craved sleep frequently. Right after finishing lunch, she yawned and made her way to her room for more shuteye.

As for Arriotoli, who had just recently broken through to the silver rank, she had dragged her younger sister with her excitedly to Nico Academy to visit her younger brother. A knighting ceremony of the Dina house would also be carried out there to make Arriotoli a knight of the house, as well as the leader of the house in her brother's stead. Only when her brother reaches the age of 18 would the position of leader be handed to him. The two Dina sisters wouldn't return to Firmrock Castle anytime soon.

Lorist also took a short nap after the meal. He went to his study thereafter. One hour later, he received a report from Howard that grandmasters Sid and Fellin had arrived by carriage. Not only that, Josk and Yuriy have been waiting for quite a while at the guest's hall.

"Have them come up to the meeting room on the third floor. There's a courtyard over there near the rear mountain, so if the grandmasters brought over some long-ranged weapons, that would be the ideal place to test them out for Josk and Yuriy to see. Get Charade to come over as well," said Lorist.

"Understood, Milord."

It didn't take long for all of them to gather at the meeting room. The two grandmasters had brought with them three huge boxes this time around, the first of which contains a mesh and chain hybrid mail that was unlike any currently worn by Norton soldiers. The helmet accompanying that set was made in the shape of a conical hat, much like a round, point-tipped shield.

Grandmaster Sid began his introduction, "Milord, this set of armor is designed per your requirements for the armor of the Hunter Rider Legion to be light and tough along with the suggestions I gathered from many light cavalry scouts about how their armor can be improved. As our house's new unit will mainly be pit against Duke Fisablen's cavalry troops, who use the armor we designed, the armor we designed for our Hunter Rider Legion is a modified version of the one they use. Not only is it lighter and more agile than armor set 103 bought by the Fisablens, it is also far tougher.

"The main method of attack used by the duke's cavalry is mid-ranged weapons. Their troops would frequently dismount when their enemy is a hundred meters away to fire three subsequent volleys of longbow fire before mounting and leaving once more. They also use mangonels with an effective range of 50 meters, and use javelins or throwing axes when they are even closer to their enemy. That's why, the Hunter Rider Legion must mainly be protected from the ranged attacks of the duke's cavalry instead of charging attacks like our own.

"The most effective type of armor against ranged attacks is this chainmail. We made the individual linked chains with steel wire meshes, allowing for greater defense against ranged attacks when compared to plate armor. That's especially the case with the conical helmets that will render longbow attacks useless once tilted at an angle. It can also be used as a shield for close-range encounters. A layer of magic bull leather armor will be worn over the wire-chain mail that will increase the defense slightly and also serve as a windbreaker to keep warm.

"Not only that, we also embedded the steel wire mesh into the armor of the mounts to give better protection for them from attacks from the front. The whole armor set, including the armor of the mount, weighs in at 80 percent of the weight of armor set 103 and is definitely more heavy duty as well. We also made improvements to the saddles and stirrups of the mounts so that they'll last longer and control easier compared to the older version."

"Very nice," Lorist praised, "Thank you for your efforts, Grandmaster Sid, Grandmaster Fellin. I am very satisfied with how thorough you've been when designing this new armor set. What I worry about is whether the production can keep up with our demands."

Grandmaster Sid, elated to receive Lorist's praise, said, "Of course, Milord. The production of steel wire can already be automated by our watermill machines. I've also designed a machine that can easily cut the wire into set lengths and roll them up. The only part that still requires human hands is the weaving of the armor. The estimated rate of production is a thousand sets per day."

"Good, then it's decided that the Hunter Rider Legion will be using this armor set. I will instruct Supervisor Camorra to arrange the necessary manpower for the formation of the legion. On another note, Sid, I'd like to ask you whether you've finished designing a ranged weapon for our soldiers of the new legion? I hope that the Hunter Rider Legion will have an advantage in terms of ranged weapons against the duke's cavalry troops to stand a better chance in battle," said Lorist.

"Hehe, Milord, please witness the culmination of Grandmaster Fellin's and my effort!" announced Grandmaster Sid as he opened the second large box and took out an oddly-shaped crossbow.

"Milord, this is the compact crossbow! The most cutting-edge ranged weapon yet!"

The Trouble with Compact Crossbows

Here's the fourth release of the week! Enjoy!

"Steady!" Lorist pulled onto his reins and his mount reared backwards with both forelegs in air before landing back down to the wet, grassy ground.

"Let's set up camp further up on the hill. We should be able to reach Baron Shazin's riverside encampment by tomorrow."

It was the 30th day of the 10th month and Baron Shazin had sent a messenger to relay that the rafts have been completed. Ovidis's Thunderbolt Brigade had also arrived at the encampment at the lower stream of Metropoulos River. With the preparations all finished, he asked if Lorist was going to head there soon. If he didn't, the baron was going to have Ovidis launch an attack on the outposts on the other side of the river.

Naturally, Lorist said that he would be going. He was just about to head there to deliver some life jackets to the soldiers there. After all, they were going to battle aboard rafts, and the catapult operators that took lots of resources and time to train would be a huge loss to the house should they drown just like that. That was why it was best to have some precautions in place.

Not only that, Lorist also wanted to escape the commotion back at the dominion, which all started when Lorist made a huge order from the grandmasters, Sid and Fellin, to make a total of 50 thousand compact crossbows for the Mounted Jaegars, with each compact crossbow costing 38 gold Fordes to make.

The price to make one of those was truly staggering. Even the steel ballista cost only 35 gold Fordes to make, yet a small compact crossbow that was far inferior than ballistae in terms of power cost even more. Charade was the first one to object to it, followed by supervisors Spiel and Camorra.

For that matter, they had argued for two whole days. But Lorist still insisted on ordering so many of those compact crossbows, causing the cost of the formation of the Jaegar Legion to be two million gold Fordes above budget. Charade and the two supervisors didn't appreciate Lorist's decision, as was evident from the sour faces they wore.

But that was not the end of it. While the compact crossbows cost a lot to make, the cost of manufacturing the bolts were even more staggering. One gold Forde could only produce 20 of those bolts, with each bolt costing around a large silver. That was the main reason Charade objected to the manufacturing of those crossbows. Even if the cost was high, it was still bearable. But the expendable bolts cost far more than what they were worth!

A legion of Mounted Jaegars had 60 thousand people, split into four divisions, or 20 brigades of three thousand men each. Not counting the carroballista brigade and the logistics unit that includes the coachmen and other miscellaneous helpers, there were at least 40 thousand combatants in the Jaegar Legion. If every one of those men fired one shot with the compact crrossbows, it would be akin to them shooting out two thousand gold Fordes! How was that different from sinking money down the drain? Not taking into account the fact that each user of the compact crossbow had to receive special training, the bolts that were fired were not recoverable for reuse. Charade even estimated the cost of bolts to train an average soldier to use the compact crossbow would amount to 30 to 50 gold Fordes and had objected to the use of that weapon immediately.

Actually, Lorist had a feeling that he messed up the technological tree somehow after making that order. He didn't think that the two grandmasters wouldn't make much progress with firearms in the past two years and instead managed to improve in the art of making crossbows. The compact crossbow was almost like a crossbow gun that had more firepower than an old musket of his previous world.

Crossbows were fundamentally different from longbows. A longbow could loose an arrow that could travel 100 meters in a straight line, and it was known across the continent that an arrow could be fired up to 300 meters away with a parabolic shot. However, Sid later discovered that the most effective range to use longbows was 70 meters. At that distance, only half the bowmen could hit their targets. Given how small they were from a distance, some luck was required to get in a good hit, with the exception of a genius marksman like Josk who could still hit his target all the time even when it was 100 meters from him.

In the battleforce-driven world of Grindia, longbowmen could even use their battleforce to increase the power of their shots. A silver-ranked archer could fire a battleforce-infused arrow through metal or rock, and that was the reason it was hailed as one of the most effective long-range weapons over the millennium. In stark contrast, a crossbow-like weapon had to be cocked and strung and couldn't fire too far away. But the main flaw was the inability for one to infuse battleforce into bolt projectiles. Despite that, it only took three months of training for a crossbowman as opposed to the two years a longbowman would require due to the ease of aiming and accuracy.

The compact crossbow the two grandmasters invented had already surpassed longbows in certain ways. Constructed out of steel and wood, it could be fired at a low angle, and reloading it was easy and quick through the use of a lever mechanism. The lever on the right of the crossbow only had to be pulled to string the bow and make space for the bolt to be loaded before the next shot could be taken. Even though it couldn't quite compare to the rapid-fire capability longbows had, it was far better in comparison to traditional crossbows.

The biggest improvement of these new crossbows were their firing range of 70 to 80 meters.[1] Grandmaster Sid promised that a longbowman and crossbowman firing at each other from that range would see the longbowman lose. That's because a longbowman had to estimate the shot whereas the crossbowman armed with a compact crossbow can aim down the sights to fire at its target.

Other than that, even though the compact crossbows can't fire 300 meters away like longbows can, Grandmaster Sid did manage to include a long distance firing mode in its design. Engraved on the crossbow was a scale diagram that could be used to orient the weapon to an angle which will allow it to fire the projectile in a parabolic arc, allowing the projectile to land as far as 150 meters away, which was ideal for a volley of fire to weed out some enemy numbers.

The compact crossbow bolts were specially made with armor-piercing capabilities as well, with the body of the projectile being half hollow and three small metal fins attached to its back. The fins that would break after one shot was also the reason the bolts couldn't be reused.

Lorist thought back at Yuriy who was completely lovestruck by the new weapon who said, "Milord, if you can arm the Jaegar Legion with these compact crossbows, I promise that they will be able to rival the cavalry legions of House Fisablen within three months."

Perhaps, it was that statement that thoroughly convinced Lorist to make that decision despite the fervent disagreement he faced from Charade and the others. In retrospect, Lorist was regretting his decision slightly as Charade's objections did have quite a bit of merit. So, he requested the grandmasters to modify the prototype of the compact crossbows so that the cost of making them would be below 20 gold Fordes, with the bolts being changed to cost one gold Forde per hundred of them.

While they said that it was possible to do so, it would take at the very least two years. Given that Lorist needed the Mounted Jaegars to gain as much combat capability as they could as soon as possible, as well as how strong the financial situation of the house was, he ordered 50 thousand compact crossbows, including some extra in case any defunct ones needed replacing, much to Charade's anger.

Howard had already set up Lorist's tent as well as some simple bedding. Lorist walked to the side of his bedding and saw Howard preparing tea for him.

"Howard, do you think the order for 50 thousand compact crossbows was a little over the top?"

Surprised and silent for a good moment, Howard said, "Milord, it's not my place to comment about it..."

"Don't worry, just speak your mind. As an outsider, your perspective might provide some much-needed insight."

"Well, how do I say this... Milord, I think you're a little too impatient. I've realized that you seem to be a little hasty these days when it comes to arming the Mounted Jaegars. You're also regarding House Fisablen like they're already our enemy. I feel that to be a little contradictory," said Howard after giving it some good thought.

"Contradictory? Why do you feel that?" asked Lorist as he sat up.

Howard furrowed his brow and explained, "Milord, if you really think that House Fisablen will be our foe, you should stop the military gear agreement you have with them right away. Their preparations will only be complete in the following year when our trade deal concludes, so Duke Fisablen will definitely not declare war against us before that happens. So far, only a third of the deal has been fulfilled. If you really think that Duke Fisablen will become our enemy, you should've stopped the deal with them. That's far more an effective way than arming the Mounted Jaegars is.

"Also, I can understand why Knight Charade and supervisors Spiel and Camorra object so heavily to this. We truly don't lack time right now, so there's no need to make such a huge order that soon. Also, the compact crossbow isn't as perfect as you seem to think it is. Its wire string and specially made metal plates have to be switched out frequently. Not only does that add to the cost, it also increases the usage difficulty.

"Grandmasters Sid and Fellin also mentioned that the tests for this new compact crossbow isn't fully run through yet. There's still much to learn and improve upon. When you made the order for 50 thousand to be produced, both of them turned pale all of a sudden. I suspect that there's no way that they're able to go into mass production yet. I feel that they probably didn't dare to raise any objections when you said that you want to improve the ranged attack capabilities of our troops regardless of the price.

"Also, the special bolt the crossbows will require seems to require hand made tail fins. All 100 of the bolts they brought to the presentation were completely handmade. Think about how much time it would take to make 20 bolts each for 50 thousand compact crossbows. I don't think it's something that can be finished within one year.

"Knight Charade makes a lot of sense when he mentioned the riding bows and normal crossbows that can be used to arm the Mounted Jaegars. The new armor they will be given already puts them a level above normal troops in terms of defense anyway, so even if they're using similar weapons to the enemy, they'll still hold a great advantage over them. There's no need to use such an expensive weapon like the compact crossbows. If you do, your legion should be called the Gold Coin Legion instead of the Jaegar Legion."

Lorist laughed heartily and said, "You're right, I was far too hasty in this matter. Get me a blank paper. I will write Charade and order to cancel the production of the compact crossbows as well as an apology to him and the other two supervisors. It's my inadequacy that caused all of them so much trouble.

"Grandmaster Sid and Grandmaster Fellin will also each receive a thousand gold Fordes as reward for inventing the compact crossbow. At the same time, encourage them to improve the design of the compact crossbow with the aim for mass production in the future.

"I will also write Josk and Yuriy a letter to tell them the reason the house won't be able to supply them with compact crossbows and express my hopes for them to train their troops so that they get up to shape as soon as possible."

"Yes, Milord. I will prepare it immediately," said Howard.

As it was only a temporary campsite, there were no tables, so Lorist had to use a saddle to pen his two letters.

"Howard, you're really maturing fast. I think you'll be able to breakthrough to the silver rank in two years, after which I can draft you into the military for you to gain experience. Do you want to be a brigade commander?" asked Lorist as he wrote.

"Nope. Brother Reidy said that I can train in the Dan Ocean Ki-Refining Technique when I reach the silver rank."

"Oh, you want to learn that as well?"

"That's right, master. I am your disciple as well and will naturally want to learn your ancient eastern combat monk training technique using internal energy. Brother Reidy said that he's incredibly happy to have chosen the path of cultivating internal energy that allowed him to defeat those gold-ranked knights and swordsmen with ease at the knighthood tournament," said Howard enviously.

"Very well. Since you like it that much, I'll teach you the technique of the eastern combat monks."

After deciding on letting Charade handle the matter of the compact crossbows, Lorist took a short nap after he handed the letters to a guard to be delivered. By the time Howard woke him for his meal, the stars had already filled the skies. The sound of an approaching carriage can be heard from the distance. After a while, Count Kenmays's angry complaint could be heard. "Why the heck did you travel so fast? I had to give chase for three whole hours you know! The road was so bumpy that my bum is all numb!"

"It's your fault for traveling in a carriage. The road from here to Metropoulos River is small and not suitable for carriage use. I thought that I could go on for another two hours, but I had to set up camp earlier to wait for you to catch up," returned Lorist the complaint.

Count Kenmays sat down beside Lorist and began drinking the ale in Lorist's cup in huge gulps before he asked Howard to get him a serving of smoked goat. "Fine, I'll travel on horseback tomorrow as well. Who knew that there isn't a path for carriages over here? If I knew better, I wouldn't have to suffer in the carriage. Then again, this ale tastes quite good. It's always best to have ale after a long journey."

"Will the forces of your house be able to arrive at the riverbank today?" asked Lorist.

"Don't worry, they departed ten days ahead of us. I think they'll arrive on time even if they have to crawl their way there. It took us only three days to travel using the small path, so if they don't arrive using the main highway in ten days, I will have to punish them for it. My house doesn't wish for our army to be a bunch of useless goons after all," said Count Kenmays confidently.

"That's true. This is the time for your army and Hennard's to shine. I'm sure the combined cry of 100 thousand troops will make the Madras soldiers on the opposite side of the bank feel the pressure of the incoming conflict and cause them to mobilize the rest of their forces to reinforce the bank. All you have to do is to be as domineering as possible. Make sure to not attack them carelessly to avoid unnecessary sacrifice. All we need is Ovidis's Thunderbolt Brigade to smash them to pieces," warned Lorist.

"No problem. We will just bait them for now. The plan is to go into battle during spring next year after all," said the count as he nodded.

[1] EDN: I'm assuming these distances are at least partially because of the addition of battleforce. The information I could find on crossbows suggest that whilst arrows could be shot up to 300 metres on practice ranges (in arcs), the combat effective ranges were far shorter. The rigours of repeated firing and of the campaign trail would sap the strength of the archers, lowering their performance. The suggested combat effective range of a standard English longbow is just 180 metres (fired in arc). The achievable distance is also greatly dependent on the material of the bow (which would give it it's draw strength), and the weight and shape of the projectile (in this case the arrow).

Arrival of the Second Highness

Here's the last release of the week! Happy Christmas Eve and cya guys next week!

On both sides of the bank of the lower stream of Metropoulos River, tightly congregated camps could be seen. Rectangular tents were packed tightly along the banks of the river, bringing with it the prophecy of war. The moment the side of The Northlands finished their preparations, the war would break out. But from how the defenses on the side of the Madras duchy seemed, the forces of The Northlands didn't look like they would be able to pull through. Even if they dyed the whole river red, it seemed like an impossible feat for the forces of The Northlands to breach the defenses at the opposite side of the bank.

The 32nd day of the 10th month was a cloudy day with strong winds and light drizzles. Lorist looked at the opposite bank on horseback using a telescope before he turned to Baron Shazin Hennard and asked, "Is everything ready?"

"Of course. All the rafts and boards for the floating bridges are already prepared. This part of the river stretches around 300 meters to the other side that is filled to the brim with barricades, moats, and short walls for obstacles. A hundred meters away from the bank is where the defense towers are situated. The towers have an octagonal structure and has five floors, bringing it up to around 15 meters in height. There are two ballistae each on the upper three floors. The fishing boats I sent were shot down before they crossed the stream halfway back then," said Hennard as he grit his teeth in anger.

"You can give orders for the bridge to be built now. You'll soon be able to exact revenge on those on the other side," said Lorist with a smile.

Hennard waved his hand downwards, causing a few guards behind him to blow their horns. The loud blowing of the horns resounded across both sides of the river as groups of soldiers flooded to the riverbank alongside carriages filled with materials. By then, a group of worksmiths and soldiers had already began laying out the rafts with the wooden boards.

Lorist once again used his telescope to observe the opposite bank and saw that the soldiers of the Madras duchy wearing an assortment of leather and metal armor flooding to their battle stations. All of them knew that the battle has begun.

The rafts were each laid with an extra wooden board on top and relied on a soldier to push it along slowly using an oar. More than a hundred such rafts lined themselves side by side by the bank as the worksmiths secured the finger-thick boards together with large chains. By the time noon came, a long boat ramp roughly 300 meters in length was fully constructed.

Lorist said with a little bit of frustration, "Hennard, you should've constructed the boat ramp beforehand. That would've saved us quite a bit of time."

Hennard laughed and said, "It was my intention to trick those idiots on the other side of the bank by intentionally waiting until now to build the boat ramp. Locke, look. They thought that we were going to approach through transporting our soldiers on rafts on the other side before making our charge. Not only that, those guys on the other side were busy building barricades to resist our charge while we waited. Do you see all those barricades they're tossing into the river over there? I've practically made them work hard for nothing at all. They didn't think we would approach slowly using our boat ramp. What they definitely won't see coming is our catapult bombardment that will precede the docking of the soldiers on the other side so that their defensive fortifications will be crumbled beforehand."

After lunchtime, the gigantic boat ramp was already 40 meters away from shore. Currently, the worksmiths were busy working on a floating bridge that would connect to the boat ramp. As the bridge got longer, the boat ramp would be pushed along further into the river.

"I believe that we only have to push forward another 30 meters before we start moving the catapults onto the ramp," said Hennard as he looked at the floating bridge.

Lorist said, "Watch out for the fire arrows from the other side. Since that ramp is made of wood and interconnected, all it takes is for a couple of fires to start to burn it down to ash."

Hennard said, "Don't worry. I've already made some estimations. We will be roughly 320 meters away from the defense towers by the time the floating bridge grows another 30 meters in length. Since their ballistae can only shoot as far as 300 meters, we are just slightly beyond their firing range. Not only that, the catapults can fire roughly 350 to 400 meters away, so we can pulverize them without worrying about their attacks reaching us. Not only that, I will have the soldiers splash some river water onto the surface of the ramp as a precaution. There's no way it'd be set on fire that easily."

Count Kenmays looked rather bored as he yawned and said, "How much time left until we start launching our boulders?"

Hennard thought for a bit before he replied, "I think there's still another hour or two to go."

"Fine," Kenmays said carefreely, "Then I'll go take another nap within my tent. Make sure to call me when the action begins. I drunk a little more than I should in the afternoon so I still feel rather dizzy now."

After another two hours, the boat ramp finally got into position. The worksmiths no longer worked on building the floating bridge and took the opportunity to rest after a long day of work. On the other hand, Ovidis commanded the troops of Thunderbolt Brigade to retire the horses pulling the catapults and had them carefully load them onto the boat ramp in two neat rows. After securing the catapults on the ramp, the soldiers began moving rock projectiles of various sizes for the squad of soldiers on the ramp.

After an hour's hard work, the preparations were finally complete. Count Kenmays came over on his own accord without needing anyone to call for him.

"The prep work is far too troublesome. Almost a day has passed since we began," said Kenmays.

"No worries," Hennard said, "We can still fight during the night. Darkness or not, they will be smashed all the same. Give the signal for Knight Ovidis to begin."

After hearing the horn signal, Ovidis quickly ordered the 500 catapults on the ramp to begin firing. Rocks and boulders rained all over the opposite side of the bank, causing one defense tower after another to collapse into a rubble of smoke. When three volleys of rocks were fired, not a single defense tower remained standing, with the cries of numerous soldiers from the other side crying out in despair after the baptism of rock. What remained of them retreated backwards as quickly as they could in an attempt to escape the fate of those that were manning the defense towers. Initially, after the first two volleys of rock were fired, the troops in the defense towers that still remained standing began firing back in the direction of the river. Half of the projectiles they loosed seemed to be set alight as well. However, all of those projectiles landed straight into the river tens of meters before they reached the boat ramp. In the dozen of minutes following that, apart from more than ten ballistae operators that were unwilling to accept the results of their retaliation and wanted to try again, the rest of the soldiers in the defense towers could only watch as the next volley of rocks came crashing town against the structures within which they stood.

A large empty space on the bank on the side of the duchy appeared following every volley of catapult fire. Not one defensive fortification managed to withstand the onslaught of falling rocks. The moment Ovidis ordered for the remaining defense towers to be felled, all soldiers within the towers had already given up on their posts and ran for their lives.

Now that the defense towers were no longer a threat, the worksmiths resumed construction of the floating bridge to push the ramp further ahead to connect it to the other side of the bank. Ovidis on the other hand began to fire jars filled with fuel towards the rows of barricades at the side of the river. It didn't take long before some cinders could be seen The light breeze near the river only served to help the fire to spread to the forest nearby.

Standing at a mound near the river, Lorist looked at the roiling smoke and flaming lands as he sighed and said, "The game is set. We will be able to get ashore by tomorrow. However, we still have to be on guard during the night. It's hard to tell whether the desperate soldiers of Madras duchy will launch a surprise attack on us."

Hennard laughed and said, "Don't worry, I've already prepared for this long ago. I guarantee that nothing bad will happen."

Despite Lorist's worries, the forces of the Madras duchy were not as resilient as he thought. By the time the boat ramp neared the other side, the worksmiths began to construct a simpler floating bridge for the catapults to be moved ashore, all the while a regiment of troops were sent ahead to the shore to stand guard. At the same time, a regiment of troops were on the opposite bank, around 10 thousand soldiers of the Madras duchy appeared and made a wary approach with the intent of chasing their enemy back into the river.

However, the enemy crumbled instantly right after Ovidis ordered for another volley of attacks to be launched. It didn't take long until all of them were far out of sight.

"Locke, with such an amazing weapon like the catapults, why don't we sweep past the whole of the Madras duchy? There's no need to wait for spring next year for the decisive battle," suggested Hennard confidently.

Lorist shook his head and said, "Let's just stick to our plan. Hennard, what I want is not just the Madras duchy's territory. Their population and resources are also very important to us. If we push our attack across the duchy, Duke Madras will definitely rally all the citizens to fight it out with us. Even if we emerge victorious, we will be left with a shell of what the duchy used to be. Not only would we have to spend money and resources to rebuild the area, we will also be hated by the surviving duchy citizens.

"If we want to make the duchy our domain, we will have to minimize the damages incurred by the commoners. What we want to deal with are the nobles of the duchy. Let's just follow our original plan to set up a defense line near the shore. We'll let the nobles of the Madras duchy take the offensive and let them have a taste of what our forces are capable of. After that, we'll start negotiations with Duke Madras and demand him to guarantee our passage on this side of the river for trading purposes. We can misguide him of our intentions this way, and that is also the reason I had Count Kenmays come over."

Hennard said disappointedly, "I know, I will secure the bank here as Kenmays does the negotiations. But I really want to go all out on them..."

"Did you forget about the second prince? Back then, he led his army of 50 thousand against the Madras duchy and still lost at the Battle of Kobo. While it's definitely possible for us to wipe out the duchy forcefully with the combined forces of all four of our houses, we would also incur huge losses in the process and gain the enmity of the neighboring nations. We must ensure that we as few casualties as possible to obtain our goal. This is the same for the Madras duchy as well. Not only would we be able to conserve our strength after our goal is achieved, we will have enough vitality left to stave off and deter any attack from other foes nearby. Do you understand now?" warned Lorist.

Hennard nodded a little begrudgingly.

"Hennard, you are currently under a false impression. You think that now that our side has catapults, we have won it all. Actually, catapults aren't as amazing as you imagine them to be. I already have more than ten methods myself to neutralize the threat of catapults. For example, light cavalry troops are one of them. Catapults are only good for attacking stationary targets such as citadels or defensive fortifications and are not of much use in an open-field battle. Not only is the firing rate really low, the time the rock projectiles travel across the air is not short either. Any unit with enough mobility will be able to evade the area the rocks will land in.

"That's the reason why I think cavalry is an effective measure to use against catapults. If one was willing to sacrifice part of the cavalry unit's fighting force and have them hurl fuel jars in a suicidal manner at the catapults, one would be able to burn the catapults down. The catapults can also be taken out by surprise attacks when one sets up camp for the night. The soldiers of the Madras duchy only appear so terrified because this is the first time they're pit against the catapults. But if the war drags on, they'll no doubt gain more experience with each subsequent encounter and come up with effective measures to counter our strategy."

Thinking that what Lorist said made sense, Hennard laughed and said, "Ah, it's my bad for overlooking it. I'll follow your instructions, so don't worry Locke. I won't act on my own."

When Lorist patted on Hennard's soldier and was about to say something else, an urgent-sounding staccato of approaching horses could be heard. The horses seemed completely drained by the time they arrived at the foot of the mound. Three messengers wearing the armor of the Norton house dismounted and ran towards Lorist.

When they were within a distance of ten steps, the messengers stopped. Els went forward to check on them before he returned and said, "Milord, they are from the guard brigade. They rushed all over from the dominion with an urgent letter from Silowas."

"What? What happened?" After Lorist opened the letter and took a look, he gasped in shock. The letter was jointly penned by Supervisor Hansk and Knight Freiyar. One was an administrative official and the other a military officer. Something must've occurred for the two to sign the same letter.

When he read its contents, Lorist was completely stupefied. Count Kenmays asked curiously, "What's going on? Did something happen? Would it be okay for me to know about it?"

Lorist handed over the letter and said, "Just look."

Kenmays began to recite the letter, "At seven during the evening of the 24th day of the 10th month, the second highness and a few others snuck onto Silowas aboard an old fishing boat disguised as fishermen. Among his cohort were Norton Glacia and four other guards, with one gold rank and three silver ranks. Supervisor Hansk received them and Knight Freiyar hoped that they could rest for a period of time at Silowas while they awaited word from the main dominion. However, the second highness and Glacia insisted to be transported to The Northlands immediately to meet up with Milord Lorist. Unable to withhold them any longer, they were ferried to The Northlands on the 25th day of the 10th month, the same day when this letter was penned and sent to Milord through the Flying Fish of Dawn.

"The second highness is still alive and is coming to The Northlands?" said Kenmays after he finished reciting the letter and stared at Lorist. That truly was shocking news.

"But you're no longer a noble of the Andinaq kingdom. Why's he coming to The Northlands at all?" asked Hennard curiously.

"Idiot! Even though he's no longer a noble of the Andinaq kingdom according to the traditions of the peerage, the second highness is still the senior noble of the Norton house. He must've come here to ask you to lend him troops to restore his position of power at the kingdom," said Kenmays assuredly.

The current date was the 33rd day of the 10th month, so the second highness must've arrived at The Northlands already, given that it took only seven days to travel from Silowas to there. Even though Freiyar had sent the Flying Fish of Dawn to deliver the letter to The Northlands two days ahead of the second highness's arrival, the messengers took three days to deliver it to Lorist at Metropoulos River. Even if Lorist rushed back, it would already be too late.

"I still have to make my way back there, so I'll have to count on the two of you over here. Just proceed as planned. I will definitely notify you if there are any changes to be made," Lorist decided, "Els, have the rest make preparations to leave in 30 minutes immediately. We're heading back to the dominion."

"Yes, Milord."

Refusal

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"Welcome to the dominion of House Norton, Your Highness," greeted Lorist as he saluted in the manner of nobles.

As Count Kenmays had predicted, Lorist was currently trapped in a very awkward situation. Even though the Andinaq kingdom no longer considered Lorist one of their nobles, the decision was made at the sole discretion of Queen Carey and didn't have anything to do with Second Highness Auguslo.

Lorist could only truly be considered a rogue noble if the second highness personally exiled him, or if he had indeed died and the queen had thus legitimately inherited the throne. The founding emperor of the Krissen Empire had also been exiled by his senior noble, and that also came at the cost of his peerage. Count Krissen, as he was known at the time, had spent all the resources he had and gathered all his forces to declare war against his former senior noble. His campaign began in The Northlands and peaked in Winston. What followed was a smooth-sailing war that ended with the founding of the Krissen Empire.

Lorist was troubled because he knew perfectly well what the second highness had come for. However, he was unable to refuse him outright. As the senior noble of the house, who had been driven out of his rightful seat of power, Lorist was obligated to fulfill his responsibilities as a vassal to stand at the second highness's side. In other words, as powerless as the second highness was now, Lorist could not just ignore him according to the noble customs. At the very least, he had to provide all the help he could.

This is going to be hell!

Lorist met with the second highness at Maplewoods thanks to his cousin sister Glacia. When Charade first received word that the second highness's cohort arrived at The Northlands, he wanted to restrict them to Northsea but Glacia made a ruckus about it. As she was also a member of the house, Charade couldn't exactly stop her. So, they set out from Northsea and passed by Poplar Town before finally arriving at Maplewoods. During the five days Lorist wasn't there, the second highness and the rest visited Felicitas' seven towns, Nico Academy, and would've visited the secret refineries and production grounds at Bladedge Mountains had it not been for Supervisor Camorra's interference.

The prosperity of the dominion greatly surprised the second highness. Everywhere he looked seemed to glimmer and Glacia didn't fail to take the chance to brag about her house's might. It was further exacerbated by Irina, who had little experience dealing with these matters. When she received the second highness at Maplewoods, she acted as respectful and obedient as she could and answered all of their questions, leaking all she knew or heard about the dominion. She even sent someone as a guide for the second highness's travels and allowed him to gain a better grasp of what House Norton was capable of.

"I really didn't think that the desolate Northlands would prosper under the rule of House Norton. This is truly eye-opening. I refused to believe my eyes when I traveled around the last couple of days. The seven towns at Felicitas looked so merry and populous, much like how the cities around the imperial capital used to be like. Lord Count, you truly are a genius for being able to manage your dominion so well, perhaps even better than the empire's better days!"

As the second highness expressed his thoughts about the Norton dominion, he approached Lorist and patted him on the arm like a good friend would to hammer home the 'friendly' relationship he intended to have with Lorist. Not a trace of enmity from the last time they met at the imperial capital was visible.

"Thank you for your kind praise, Your Highness. House Norton is only fulfilling our duties as per our oath to protect the borders of the empire. We have no intention at all to meddle in the internal affairs of the empire, and that is why our dominion was able to prosper in peace even in these chaotic times. After taking in many refugees who have lost their homes to the war, we were able to improve the dominion somewhat," said Lorist dismissively.

"I was in the wrong. I should've listened to your advice," said the second highness with a bitter laugh.

He let go of Lorist's arm and bowed to him, much to Lorist's shock.

Lorist hurriedly went to stop the second highness.

"Your Highness, what are you doing? This is not something I can bear!"

The second highness clutched Lorist's hand.

"Locke, I'm apologizing to you with all I can. It was my fault. I have been ridden with regret ever since I lost Frederika. If I had followed your advice and not rushed to reunite the empire and instead paid attention to the welfare of my subjects, I wouldn't have ended up like this. Now I can't even return home to serve the kingdom!"

Yep, you definitely had it coming, commented Lorist secretly.

However, it was true that the second highness was no longer able to return to the kingdom easily. He would no doubt be brought before Queen Carey unless he stayed within the Norton dominion. Given that the first highness, Queen Carey's father, had mysteriously passed away in his sleep, it stood to reason that she might act against the second highness secretly as well. Though, it was also entirely possible for her to do so for the sole sake of her throne.

"When I heard about your loss and disappearance at Frederika, I was truly frantic and worried. Back then, I wanted to send my troops to Frederika right away to look for you, Your Highness, and I made sure to ask those at the imperial capital for permission to mobilize my troops. But I was refused and warned not to meddle in this affair. They even recalled the third local defense legion from the borders of the Madras duchy to keep an eye on us. In the end, I had no choice but to recall my troops."

Lorist received the official notice from Howard and handed it to the second highness as he spoke.

"Your Highness, take a look at this. These are the two refusal notices the capital sent in response to my request. They didn't allow me to take any action to search for you, but thanks to the protection of Wargod Singwa, Your Highness managed to appear safe and sound before me. It really gladdens me that you were not harmed in any way."

Lorist had no option apart from playing the role of a loyal subordinate, but what he actually hoped for couldn't be further from what he said. He couldn't wait for the second highness to disappear from the realm of man. But now that he managed to survive and appear before him, Lorist had to at least act the part in front of others.

The second highness's expression changed as he released Lorist's hand and balled his fists.

"Traitors... They actually ceded the kingdom's territory to those darned merchants for their own benefits... I will definitely not spare them. Brother Locke, to be honest, I've come here to seek your aid. I hope House Norton will be able to exterminate the traitors and restore order to the kingdom."

Lorist sighed as the second highness finally made his request. As the leader of House Norton, he had to give a formal response.

"Your Highness, let me ask you this first. What will House Norton gain if we deploy our troops for you?"

While it was the tradition for vassals to serve senior nobles on Grindia, the senior noble had to offer compensation proportional to the help they received. Otherwise, no vassal would willingly aid their senior noble for free. Given the way things turned out, Lorist could only see that he would be promptly rewarded for his efforts. Otherwise, he would be able to fulfill his responsibilities as a vassal by simply providing a few hundred sets of armor and gear to the second highness and nobody would criticize him for it.

"Locke, His Highness has agreed that if our house intervenes, he will make you the Duke of The Northlands. All the territory you conquer here will belong to the house," said Glacia happily as if House Norton had been offered a heavenly boon that couldn't be refused.

Lorist glared at her.

"Glacia, do you understand The Northlands' situation right now?"

She shook her head as expected.

"If that's the case, I refuse to mobilize any of my forces. The title of the Duke of The Northlands is of no use to House Norton at all. Your Highness, there are only four noble houses within The Northlands. Apart from us, the Nortons, Count Kenmays occupies the eastern part of The Northlands, with the southern part jointly ruled by Baron Shazin and Baron Felim. All three of them are our allies, so we will definitely not breach our alliance with them for no good reason. The title of the Duke of The Northlands is good as nothing to the house," proclaimed Lorist.

The second highness and Glacia were both stunned at the revelation. They didn't know that there were only four houses left in The Northlands that even formed an alliance. Not only would the title mean nothing to House Norton, it would also cause fractures to form within the alliance of the four houses. It's no wonder Lorist refused the second highness's request without debate.

"I apologize, Brother Locke. that was not my intention. I didn't think it would be this way," apologized Auguslo hurriedly.

"There is no need to fret, Your Highness. You can't be blamed for being uninformed, you have only arrived recently. The banquet to welcome you is already prepared. I hope you enjoy the delicacies The Northlands has to offer and rest well. We, on the other hand, will explore our options and see in what manner we can help you reclaim your kingdom."

Lorist was rather mad at Glacia's straightforward but thoughtless actions. The second highness's ignorance about the matter was also no doubt feigned. Even though The Northlands was relatively segregated from the rest of the continent, the four houses' alliance had been formed years prior. While the house actively restricted information flow, the three other houses were the opposite, so the second highness's claim that he didn't know about the situation was a straight out lie.

Hmph, even after you've lost almost everything, you're still trying to scheme till you get your way. You think you can get away with asking for my help while jeopardizing my relationship with my allies?! How much of an idiot do you think I am?!

During the banquet, Auguslo persistently tried to change the subject of conversation to helping him restore the kingdom, but Lorist excused himself from agreeing by saying that he had to discuss the matter with his knights.

Only after the troubled monarch drowned himself with booze and had to be sent back for a rest was Lorist finally free. He returned to his residence and bathed with Irina's aid as he considered how he should respond to the second highness.

Just as he was about to pull Irina into the tub for release and relaxation, a guard downstairs could be heard.

"Who goes there?!" asked he.

"It's me, Glacia."

"Oh, what business do you have here, Milady?"

"I want to see Lorist."

"I apologize, Milady. I'm not sure whether Milord has gone to sleep already. It's best not to disturb him this late in the night. Can this matter not wait till tomorrow?"

The one who said this turned out to be Els.

"Scram! I am Locke's elder cousin sister and I'm here to see him. Do you think I'm here to assassinate him or something?"

"Assassinate? Hehe, Milady, it's not like I'm looking down on you, but even if there were ten of you here, you wouldn't be able to defeat the lord. Either way, I still have to make a report first. If Milord's asleep, then you'll have to come again tomorrow."

"No way. I want to see Locke right now."

Lorist sighed as he got out of the tub, rubbed himself hastily, put on a sleeping gown, and leaned on the windowsill.

"Els, let her in."

Glacia quickly climbed upstairs and entered the room. Lorist handed her a cup of macks Irina had made.

"Drink some macks and relax. What do you need me for this late?"

Glacia sat down in a chair angrily.

"Your guard is far too insolent, Locke. He dared to bar my way."

"He's just doing his job, he did nothing wrong. He can't let you into my room just because you're my cousin. You're also a knight of the Andinaq royal family, after all. You're not a household knight of the house, even if you were born as a member."

Glacia had her mouth agape, but no words came out of it. Lorist was right. It was a commonly held protocol in many noble houses.

Glacia snapped out of it after a good while.

"Locke, you've truly changed. You no longer resemble the crybaby I used to know."

"I had no choice little choice in the matter," he laughed, "If I was like before, House Norton would've been wiped out long ago. The circumstances forced me to adapt. Do you know how it feels to be a 17-year-old child who lost all contact with his family, a child with no choice but to work as a mercenary? To fill his stomach and pay for education, that boy had to slaughter magic beasts and risk his life. He lived like that for seven whole years until the people from the house came over to find him. Only then did he find out that most of his relatives have all passed away.

"When he returned to his house's dominion, he found it in such a terrible state. Despite the Duke of the Northlands's ill intentions and the second prince who was waiting to pounce at the opportune moment, that boy managed to survive and defeat them both. After that, he focused his efforts on the development of the dominion until its current prosperous state. However, right now, a group of troublesome people just came over and asked him to send his troops to restore that guy's power, all without gaining anything in return. Do you think that person will agree?"

Lorist made a point to stop the conversation before it started, causing Glacia to be even more disturbed.

"Locke, isn't this a good opportunity for House Norton? If we help the second highness get his throne back, our name will be recorded in history and we'll be remembered for all eternity for our deeds," said she carefully, finally.

"Cousin, have you turned into an idiot?" Lorist asked," Why should House Norton sacrifice our troops for the ambitions of His Highness? If we actually do that, the other noble houses will regard us as complete buffoons. If His Highness can't offer us a worthy price, I will definitely not agree to deploy our forces. Even so, I'll lend His Highness a decent sum of money and give him some military equipment to fulfill the smallest obligation I have as a vassal."

"Locke, what kind of benefits do you want to agree to help His Highness regain his throne?" asked Glacia stubbornly.

"Well, I'll have to think about it thoroughly for a while. Before that, can you tell me how you managed to escape Frederika? I'm actually quite curious how it all transpired. Nobody was able to find the slightest trace of you at all. Also, how many forces does the second highness have? I heard that when you disappeared from Frederika, His Highness's personal guard of 5000 men perished. How did you evade the enemy's search parties?"

Glacia's expression darkened.

"When we conquered Frederika, we discovered a secret path leading outside the city, which could be what the first prince used to escape. When Frederika was encircled, His Highness brought the rest of us through the secret path. Back then, we had 6000 men, but now less than 2000 remain because we ran into the first prince, who had gone missing until now."

"What?! The first prince?!" exclaimed Lorist with surprise.

"That's right. We didn't expect that to happen either," said Glacia as tears streamed down her face.

Reinforcement

Here's this week's second release. Have fun reading!

"It's over here," Glacia said as she pointed to the map of the Redlis kingdom Howard had brought over, "This is a small valley in the Cloudsnap Mountains located 50 kilometers from Greatsnow Mountain. His Highness had us scale across the Cloudsnap Mountains to make it back to the Andinaq kingdom so we could gather our forces and start over. The six thousand men following us were our most loyal and elite.

"After leaving Frederika using the secret path, we crossed a small stream to cover our tracks. We traveled about half a day from the river and turned towards the Cloudsnap Mountains when we were about 50 kilometers away from Frederika. On the way there, we passed through a dense forest where we took a short rest. His Highness wouldn't let us rest there for long, though. He wanted us to find a better spot so we could rest for a few months before we attempted the crossing after the winter. He wanted us to pass over Cloudmist Swamp before it thawed and head for the kingdom from there.

"We were surprised to discover from a map we obtained in the palace in Frederika that the valley near Greatsnow Mountain was actually a noble's dominion, specifically, Baron Krimando's. We later found out that the baron had never shown up at the royal court before, which explains why almost nobody knew of him.

"His Highness decided that Baron Krimando's dominion would be the best place for us to rest. As long as we had someone defend the valley's entrance and prevent anybody from getting in or out, nobody would discover what was going on inside. We headed for the valley and conquered the small castle near it in a night assault. Once we occupied the castle, His Highness instructed someone to advise Baron Krimando to surrender. Bowen Ketty volunteered and marched over proudly to carry out the task. Nobody expected his decapitated head would be hung above the walls of the baron's castle a few minutes later."

Lorist knew the name 'Bowen Ketty'. He was one of the second highness' trusted knights and one of the Five Tigers. Lorist never thought he would be killed as a messenger calling for surrender.

"We were almost driven crazy by anger," Glacia continued with teary eyes, "No sane noble would do something as egregious as murdering a messenger! His Highness instantly ordered us to continue pressing our attack and avenge Knight Bowen. After two months of bloody battles passed, we incurred more than five thousand casualties; even Knight Sisreid died on the walls. Of the 13 gold-ranked knights that left Frederika with His Highness, only I, Ripleid, and Karitoke were left. One of the two blademasters protecting His Highness also perished. The other was heavily injured..."

Lorist's eyes brightened.

"Karitoke's still alive?" asked he.

Karitoke was one of Dawn Academy's alumni who had traveled with Lorist to The Northlands. But midway there, he had been poached by the second highness and became a knight of the royal family. It was a shame that of the 26 silver-ranked knights from Dawn Academy that joined the second highness's banner, only Karitoke and Sander remained. Lorist was more than glad to hear that his old friend survived.

Even though Glacia nodded, tears still fell nonstop from her eyes, perhaps because of the horrible result of the battle.

"Let me guess... Is Baron Krimando the first prince? Has he been hiding in the valley all along?" asked Lorist.

Glacia shook her head at first but nodded after.

"When we finally breached the castle, we got to know from our captives that the baron was actually the first prince's illegitimate son.

"The valley was the last resort the first prince left for himself should he ever require it. Within the valley were three thousand of the first prince's most elite troops. He had been hiding within ever since he escaped from Frederika and watched as the nobles of Redlis kingdom struggled against us, waiting for the opportunity to strike and rebuild his kingdom. I bet he didn't think he'd have to use his trump card early to deal with us, who were about to lock him within his little dominion.

"We killed and killed. His Highness almost broke down as well. We never dreamt of clashing head-on against the first prince there and casualties piled up on both sides. In a fit of rage, His Highness ordered us to kill all the captives and citizens we came across. After all, they were the enemy's families. His Highness also managed to behead the first prince and his illegitimate son personally before he coughed up blood and fainted.

"The six thousand men were His Highness's best. If we were able to bring them back to the Andinaq kingdom, we would have been able to regain control easily. But most of them were incapacitated after the battle, only around two thousand were still alive with varying degrees of injury. By the time His Highness recovered, we received word that the situation was beyond saving. If we returned to the kingdom, our only fate would have been death. That's why we had no choice but to disguise ourselves and head to The Northlands to seek you out for help. We hope that House Norton will be able to aid His Highness in restoring his rightful position on the throne."

Is this first prince finally dead? The one who started the civil war by raising the banner of rebellion was the first prince, and now, both he and the second prince have died by the second highness' hands... Wait, is he the real main character of this story here?!

Lorist breathed a long sigh.

"Glacia, you've been by His Highness's side for almost 20 years now. Did he treat you well, now that you've been his lover for all this time?"

Glacia's face flushed.

"This... Well, he said that he'd marry me after he reunites the empire..."

"Will you be the empress or a mere concubine?"

"What's... what's the difference? I'm fine as long as I'm by His Highness's side."

"Glacia, you're three years older than me. You're not that young anymore. If it were the House Norton of the past, His Highness taking you as his concubine would be a sign of acknowledging all you have done for being his lover all these years. However, given House Norton's current might, if His Highness does the same, it would be a slight on the name Norton. Don't forget that the blood of the Nortons flows in your veins. The only way this would be accepted is if His Highness doesn't take someone else as an official wife and names you his first concubine.

"I'm not saying this for no reason, Glacia. Did you notice that His Highness is incredibly wary of our house's might? He was already like this when he was still the 'second highness'. Despite that, he used the northbound convoy to wipe out the kingdom's nobles that refused to abide by his will. He forced us to pay a price we had not been willing to.

"A ruler should always be fair and just. Has the second highness? He's always been throwing empty promises at us, tempting us with nothing to back it up. Glacia, did House Norton ever harm His Highness in any way? During the time of the northbound convoy, we were almost doomed by him. He poached so many knights from us and how many of them are still alive now? And don't forget what happened at Kobo. We conquered the city and provided him with so much food to solve the hunger crisis of his army. All we wanted in return was that he held the city long enough to buy time for the convoy and the refugees.

"What did he do? Glacia, did you know that His Highness had his army destroy the heavily fortified wall before leaving? He tried to make the convoy bait to attract the attention of our enemies! Even though we helped him out so much, he thrust a blade up our backs instead. It was from that time onwards that I no longer believed in His Highness's character.

"And even though he had already enfeoffed Silowas to the house, he allowed his tax collection official, that annoying viscount, to run rampant without any care at all. He even pretended not to know about the noble descendants that forcefully occupied Seaview Manor. Do you think he really didn't know? When I killed that stupid viscount, his brother sent a division of soldiers and attempted to kill me. Do you think His Highness wasn't aware of it either? I don't believe it. He's pretending all the way while he looks for a way to beat us into submission so we do his bidding.

"I'm sick of all this, Glacia. Did you forget how our four houses defeated the second prince jointly and formed an alliance? That year, I wrote you a letter to tell you about the matter. Perhaps you might've forgotten about it, but do you think the second highness has? His proposition was to make me Duke of The Northlands so that the Norton house can have full control over the province. Do you know what would happen if news of this got out?

"He's intentionally sabotaging the relationship we have with our allies. Currently, House Norton is the leader of the four houses of The Northlands. Think about it, if they hear about His Highness's offer to me, wouldn't they think I'm coming for them next? Even at a time like this when he needs my help the most, he tries to find a way to cause trouble for me. He wants to see us fight till we're nothing but shambles before coming in to sweep up the benefits!"

"No, Locke, you must be misunderstanding His Highness!" Glacia tried to explain, swinging her arms, "There are many things His Highness doesn't know about! Back then, His Highness told me that it wasn't that he didn't want to help you out at Kobo. His Highness simply didn't have enough troops to do so! That's why he instructed the dismantling of the defense walls after seeing your group leave safely. The one who instructed it was Bowen Ketty, the person in charge of the division at the time, and he did so out of concern for His Highness's safety! He ended up being scolded harshly when he returned. I was there to witness it! His Highness knew that he had accidentally wronged the house...

"As for the matter of Silowas, His Highness really didn't know about it. You should know well that His Highness was busy gathering his troops and preparing to reunite the empire. It's only natural for him to not concern himself with small matters like that. The tax official, Viscount Aslan, really didn't have anything to do with His Highness! And His Highness didn't fail to exterminate House Aslan and revoke their title after he heard how Count Aslan set out with his soldiers to pursue you!"

"Whatever, those matters are already history," Lorist replied, shaking his head, "There's no point talking about it now. So, Glacia, are you here because His Highness wanted you to find out my thoughts?"

"Yes. His Highness is afraid you still hold misunderstandings about him, so he had me come over and ask what you wanted in return for your aid. As long as it's within reason, he will agree to all your requests," acknowledged Glacia.

"Tsk-tsk, just look, Glacia. Even at a desperate time like this, His Highness is still holding back. Can't you see? This is His Highness being overly cautious of our house again. I'd like to ask him what he can offer us instead. Tell him to spare us the empty promises."

"Locke, your attitude is a little uncalled for! Don't forget His Highness is your senior noble! A vassal like you should maintain respect and reverence for him!" said Glacia angrily.

"Fine, fine, Glacia. Just go back and tell His Highness that House Norton will not be able to deploy our troops. However, we can provide 100 thousand gold Fordes and equipment for a legion of soldiers. Naturally, I'm talking about the compensation His Highness gave the convoy for eliminating the disobedient nobles of the kingdom: the equipment of the Whitelion Legion. We still have 72 thousand sets, all of which I can give him. That should be more than enough to fulfill a vassal's due and duty," said Lorist, a little frustrated.

The equipment of the Whitelion Legion was taking up quite a bit of warehouse space. Given that House Norton already had far better Sid steel armor, they no longer had any use for the outdated equipment. As the Whitelion Legion was one of the many symbols of the Krissen Empire, their equipment ought not to be sold away so easily. To Lorist, it was something he could do without. The fact that it was made up of alloyed metal also made it far more troublesome to simply melt down in the refinery. It was a far better choice to return the equipment to the second highness and save him the trouble of having to deploy troops to help the second highness restore his throne at the cost of Norton lives.

"Lo-locke... Are you really willing to give the Whitelion Legion's equipment to His Highness?" Glacia started.

Glacia never thought Lorist would offer such a thing. After all, each set of Whitelion Legion armor cost 70 gold Fordes to manufacture, so 72 thousand sets were worth roughly five million gold Fordes! Giving such a thing away without asking for anything in return meant nobody could question Lorist's loyalty and due assistance to his senior noble.

"Yes," said Lorist.

All that junk has been gathering dust and using up precious space. Supervisor Spiel has asked me multiple times to deal with it already.

"Then, we'll have to draft our soldiers from the dominion as well," added Glacia.

"No way!" refused Lorist.

How dare you even suggest that? You have no right!

"You can recruit soldiers if you want, but you cannot use House Norton's name for your cause. We have our own policies when it comes to enlistment, and even His Highness cannot force our subjects to die for his cause!"

No noble had any right to draft soldiers from another's dominion. To any landed noble, their subjects were their source of wealth. If it was an open recruitment, however, no noble could interfere. After all, those who enlisted would essentially be work for hire, and private transactions were not within the jurisdiction of the local house.

"Fine, normal recruitment will do. However, you have to give us the 100 thousand gold Fordes you promised and can't intentionally do anything that will sabotage our call to arms. Lastly, the soldiers we recruited will be fed and sustained by House Norton while they are in The Northlands. Will that do?" pushed Glacia further.

She thought things couldn't possibly get any better. with 100 thousand gold Fordes in hand and the equipment of the Whitelion Legion, the second highness would definitely be able to recruit 70 thousand soldiers. All he had to do was pay each household one gold Forde as pension and people would be flocking to join his army. It was the same tactic the second highness had used to gather his 300 thousand soldiers."

"Fine, whatever you say," Lorist smiled coldly, "I believe you just can't wait to go back to report this to His Highness. I'm sure he'll be more than glad to hear it."

Seeing Glacia leave happily, Howard, who had been standing next to Lorist the whole time, asked in a worried manner, "Milord, aren't you worried that trouble will stir up in the dominion? As if giving His Highness equipment was not enough, you also allowed him to recruit soldiers here."

"I'd like to see how many soldiers he can recruit," Lorist laughed, "Naturally, if there are people who want to join the cause, we'll send their family members away to the army camp along with them and revoke their rights to homes and farmland. Since they want to serve the second highness, he will have to be responsible for their well being. I definitely won't allow them to take advantage of my house."

"Indeed, Milord, You couldn't be more correct," said Howard before he joined in with the laughter.

Negotiations

Here's the third release of the week! Enjoy~

"Milord, you have erred," said Charade solemnly.

He had rushed straight to Maplewoods from Firmrock Castle the night before.

Lorist hadn't met the second highness even once since he promised to provide him with 100 thousand gold Fordes and the Whitelion Legion's equipment. The latter had brought his men with him hurriedly to Felicitas' seven towns to start recruiting soldiers. Lorist, on the other hand, lazed around at Maplewoods for a couple of days. But, when news reached Firmrock Castle, Charade could no longer sit still.

Lorist, who was in the middle of teasing his second son, raised his head with surprise.

"What did I do wrong?"

Charade remained silent and continued staring.

"Come on, let's talk in the study on the second floor," said Lorist as he passed his son to Irina.

In the study, Lorist opened a bottle of fruit wine and poured a cup for Charade and another for himself.

Charade downed his in one gulp, breathed a long sigh, before handing his cloak to Howard and saying, "One more cup."

He sat on the sofa and said with his eyes fixed on Lorist, "Locke, do you not know what you've done wrong?"

Lorist raised his brow as he refilled the cup

"I really don't know," answered he.

"You shouldn't have given the Whitelion Legion's equipment to the second highness," said Charade.

"Oh, but Supervisor Spiel has long been prompting me to get rid of them. Not only are they heavy and space-consuming, their defensive capabilities pale in comparison to the armor we developed. It can't be sold either, given what he Whitelion Legion symbolizes. That's why I chose to give them to the second highness so our house no longer has to help him restore the kingdom."

"Sigh, Locke, you still don't understand? I didn't say it was wrong for you to give the equipment. The act of giving wasn't the problem. Your mistake was that you gave it away like you were returning it. Other things aside, even though the 72 thousand sets of gear are not much use to us, we can still sell them to House Fisablen or the four central duchies for 5 million gold Fordes. Your giving them away is like tossing that amount of money down the drain. And did the second highness express any gratitude for your generosity? No! nothing! He just rushed to Felicitas to start recruiting his soldiers! He's a chronic ingrate to the end!"

Charade had never held a good impression of the second highness and felt he was an underhanded person who tried to act just and fair. The convoy Charade had led had almost been cornered thanks to the second highness' antics. Had it not been for Lorist's timely aid, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Not only that, the second highness had used the opportunity when the convoy was in dire straits to poach 26 members who were Dawn Academy alumni. They were all silver-ranked knights when they joined the second highness, but it didn't take one year for a good number of them to be killed off in battle, much to the dismay and pain of Charade and the other household knights who were also from Dawn Academy.

Lorist smiled bitterly.

"I'm sorry, Charade. It's my fault. I only wanted to shoo them off as quickly as I could so they can't cause trouble. The following two years will be crucial for us, what with House Kenmays and House Shazin's dominion relocation, as well as our attack on the Madras duchy.

"I really don't have the energy to play the second highness's game right now, so I thought I could just give him whatever I had on hand so he would leave."

"Locke, you're wrong to think of the second highness as a dog. If you give a dog a bone, it will shake its tail happily at you. However, the second highness is a wolf. Not only will he not be thankful, he will see our dominion as a ripe piece of juicy meat that's just begging to be bitten," said Charade without the slightest care for the Auguslo's status.

He was worried the fallen monarch would once again cause an uproar within the dominion.

"I don't think you did wrong by giving him Whitelion Legion's equipment since it's not worth that much anyway. What I have a problem with is how you've just promised to give it away without much thought. Ideally, you should've given him the equipment in small batches while you negotiate for the things we need from him. But now, we won't be able to get anything in return!

"Another point I don't really understand is why you've agreed to let them recruit soldiers from our dominion so easily. With money, equipment, and an abundance of people to recruit from, it's only a matter of time until he comes for us. I believe we should send the second highness away as soon as possible so it doesn't come to that."

Lorist laughed heartily before he took a drink.

"Charade, I admit that it was my mistake to give him the equipment so easily. I should've done what you said. However, you are looking at the matter of recruitment the wrong way. Believe me, the second highness definitely won't be able to recruit many people from Felicitas. Hahaha..."

"Why?" Charade asked, "The second highness is the Andinaq kingdom's former king, and the citizens at Felicitas are mostly refugees from his kingdom. They have a high opinion of the second highness and will definitely answer his call if given the chance. Also, that king of ours will definitely make tons of empty promises to seduce the foolish to become fodder."

"Haha," Lorist laughed loudly before, "Charade, you've been put in charge of administrative matters for far too long. Perhaps you've forgotten our house's enlistment policies. Our subjects have to go to the new recruit camp when they are 16 to awaken their battleforce, and those that can't must return home to work as farmers. The process will repeat once every three months until they're 20 and those that manage to have their battleforce awakened can join our forces. Being our household soldier is one of the most desired vocations in the dominion, and those that serve long enough might even be promoted to the ranks of the police brigades or the garrison forces.

"Take, for example, the recently formed Jaeger Legion. The unit has already recruited most of the people in the dominion eligible for military service. Tigersoar and Firmrock have had many of their members transferred over as well, so they've had to run recruitment drives of their own to fill the void. Many people from the town garrisons and local defense brigades have also been recruited, so they'll have to start recruiting as well. As for those who don't qualify to become a member of our forces, they have their own jobs to do at the factories to feed their families. Given the situation, do you think the second highness will succeed in his recruitment?

"I heard he's going to use one gold Forde as payment to the families of the soldiers he recruits. When I heard he was going to recruit more than 70 thousand at once, I almost laughed so hard all my teeth fell out. He didn't even consider the fact that each person in our dominion will be able to earn two to three gold Fordes for a year's hard work and still thinks he can pay for a human life with one gold Forde. Hehe, Charade, the second highness will not be able to recruit any soldiers here. It's already been four days since his departure and he only has around 143! Hahaha..."

Charade breathed a sigh of relief and downed the rest of his wine again.

"I truly have forgotten our policies. Well, that settles that. As long as the second highness is unable to recruit soldiers, there isn't much he can do with the equipment he got. Then again, Locke, you should be careful not to let the second highness use us again like he did with the convoy."

"Don't worry. I've already had Tarkel and Furybear go all out and monitor each and every one of their moves. Oh, and you came here just in time. I was about to head to the warzone at the Metropoulos River's lower bank to see Potterfang. I'll need you to deal with the matter of the second highness. I feel like I didn't offer them enough hospitality..."

A loud commotion rang out on the lower floor, causing Howard to look out of the window.

"Milord, the second highness and Lady Glacia are here and they seem rather mad."

It didn't take long for the study's door to be pushed open. The second highness wore a displeased look while Glacia seemed completely fuming.

"Locke, what do you think you're doing?! Didn't you say you wouldn't get in the way of our recruitment?! Why did you do all that?!"

"What did I do? Can you be more specific?" asked Lorist curiously.

"After we recruited some soldiers, your men sent their family members to our army camp as well! What's your intention? Your men even said that since the ones recruited have chosen to serve the king, House Norton will no longer be responsible for feeding their family members, and it falls to us to take care for them! Tell me, did you order this?" roared Glacia angrily.

"Can you tell me where the soldiers you recruited worked originally?" asked Lorist coldly.

"Well..." Glacia found herself speechless all of a sudden.

"This, Brother Locke, the soldiers we recruited were only a little hot-headed and wanted to serve the kingdom in whatever capacity they can. It's something worthy of praise, we shouldn't trouble the family members," said the second highness hurriedly.

"Is that so? Are you saying that House Norton hasn't done enough already? Don't forget we just paid you 100 thousand gold Fordes and gave you Whitelion Legion's equipment. This alone equates to six million gold Fordes' worth of support. If this doesn't count, then what does? I doubt anyone in the history of Grindia has ever made such a huge donation before, yet we didn't even get a word of thanks in return," said Charade insidiously.

A trace of seething anger flashed past the second highness's subdued expression, but it only lasted an instant.

"Oh, Knight Charade, it's been so long since we last met. Congratulations on becoming a gold-ranked knight."

Charade puffed out the badge on his chest.

"That's nothing to be surprised about. Anyone can do this much with proper training. Your Highness, why haven't you responded to the aid the house has given you over these few days? Are you still not satisfied with what we've done?"

Charade's point struck the heart of the matter mercilessly. Normally speaking, a senior noble must formally respond to the aid offered by a vassal. It could be in the form of a letter of gratitude that stated what the vassal contributed. In some cases where vassals sent their own troops to participate in a senior noble's campaign, the senior noble had to offer some more land along with a rank promotion or some other form of reward as compensation.

Lorist's contribution to the second highness could already be considered one of the biggest donations ever made in the history of Grindia, yet the second highness didn't respond in any way even after a few days had passed. Hence Charade's lack of hesitation to hammer home the point.

"Your Highness, at the very least, a letter of gratitude is due. We've already sunk in a legion's worth of gear, and we don't expect much in return apart from acknowledgment of our contribution. Or, is it because Your Highness feels that our contribution doesn't even merit your gratitude?" pressured Charade.

"Hehe, apologies," the second highness said after taking a deep breath and wearing a pleasant facade, "I formally express my gratitude to Brother Locke and House Norton for giving aid to a fallen king such as myself. As a simple letter of gratitude wasn't sufficient to express my heartfelt thanks, I had intended to leave the acknowledgment for a formal banquet I would host at the imperial capital. That's why I was busy trying my best to make preparations to take back my kingdom. Only then can I raise your peerage and give you the compensation you deserve. However, since you're in such a hurry, I can give you my reply right now."

The second highness nodded to Lorist and said, "Brother Locke, I hope you won't mind if I use your desk."

Without waiting for Lorist's reply, he sat down of his own accord before he started scribbling on two beastskin documents. After that, he removed his ring and sealed the documents with his wax seal near the place where he signed.

"Are you satisfied now, Knight Charade?" asked the second highness sarcastically as he handed the two documents over, intentionally avoiding Lorist.

Charade looked at Lorist only to see him shake his head slightly. Charade proceeded to read the two documents aloud.

The first was the letter of gratitude for Lorist and House Norton's contributions as well as his hopes that they would continue to contribute to the kingdom. It was no different from the average gratitude letter.

After reading out loud, Charade complained, "Your Highness, I feel that you should've stated clearly in what manner House Norton contributed to you. This is something that'll enter the annals of Grindian history as one of the largest donations ever made, so it won't do to lightly pass it over like that. Well, since you didn't bother to write it down, we will make our own records of the matter in our household chronicles."

The second letter was a letter of promotion. As the senior noble of House Norton, and the person who bore the legacy of the Krissen Empire, the second highness officially promoted Norton Lorist to the position of Duke of The Northlands. All nobles within The Northlands would have to submit to House Norton, and any who were displeased were free to bear arms in objection.

Heh, this guy's still trying to give me trouble. It's a shame he doesn't know about the dominion relocation of the three other houses. With this letter in hand, House Norton will be able to rule The Northlands without contest, thought Lorist, smiling coldly.

"Thank you for the promotion, Your Highness. House Norton is ever so thankful," said Lorist with a salute.

He didn't even hesitate to express his gratitude when it was due.

"Well, it's what you deserve, my friend. Also, let's talk about the matter of soldier recruitment," said the second highness.

A knocking on the door could be heard before Howard entered with two letters in hand.

Lorist saw the blue markings on the letters and smiled coldly. "Your Highness, Glacia, is this how you repay my trust?"

Lorist waved the letters in his hand and continued, "While I did allow you to recruit soldiers from the dominion, I never said you could poach the members of the police brigades and garrison forces. They are also considered part of the Norton forces. Your Highness, how do you explain your actions?"

Glacia argued, "Locke, we didn't actively seek them out. It was they who wanted to serve His Highness and contribute to the kingdom of their own accord. Surely, you can't stop them from wanting to do service to the kingdom."

"Since that's the case, what were you so angry about just now?" Lorist nodded, "On what grounds should we take care of their family if they no longer serve the house? You should know their homes and farmland are theirs to use solely because one of their family members are part of the Nortons' military forces. Now that they've abandoned their status as a Norton household soldier, they naturally relinquish the benefits they've enjoyed so far. You can't expect us to continue to care for someone who turned their backs on us, can you? Also, I didn't do anything to stop them from pledging allegiance to you."

"This..." The second highness wore a bitter smile.

Not only did most of the 400 thousand or so citizens of Felicitas not want to enlist, they only managed to recruit a hundred or so mercenaries and wanderers after four days of effort. It was completely unlike what happened in the Redlis kingdom, where people flocked to be enlisted in the military. The second highness had only reached out to the garrison soldiers and factory guards out of desperation, but he didn't think that he would stir up so much trouble after only recruiting a dozen of them. The sight of the family members being sent to their camp was even more unbearable: they had clamored and complained as they chased down their family members who had just been recruited, as well as cursed the second highness and the rest for tricking them to give their lives away.

But, where would I recruit soldiers if not here? It was almost guaranteed for him to be attacked the moment he showed his face anywhere else. To the second highness, his enemies lurked everywhere apart from The Northlands. He no longer had anywhere to go. Since he was unable to recruit many soldiers in the Norton dominion, his best option was to have House Norton deploy soldiers on his behalf. However, they had already offered up so many contributions. It was no longer a feasible option.

Lorist didn't care about the second highness and Glacia's angered looks.

He opened the second letter and put it down immediately before he said, "Your Highness, I have to apologize for not being able to host your stay any longer. I have to rush to the frontlines. Knight Charade will be in charge during my absence. If you need anything, seek him out and he will see that you're tended to."

"What? Is House Norton at war with someone?" asked the second highness, surprised.

"No, Your Highness. It's our allies, House Kenmays and House Shazin. The two houses are invading the Madras duchy, and, being their allies, we have to send our soldiers to aid them in their assault. This is the least we can do as allies."

"You're attacking the Madras duchy?!" said the second highness with a start, before he snapped out of his stupor, "Brother Locke, would you mind if I followed you there for a look?"