Chereads / The Story Of The War Citadel / Chapter 39 - Alliance

Chapter 39 - Alliance

(Jason's POV)

When the altar summoned more warriors, I was ecstatic, when his lordship suggested leaving the castle in their and the earlier one's hands, not so much.

But what could I really say? Lord Verum had four watchtowers around the castle walls, each with two people in it, and there were going to be thirty five warriors staying, not counting the now quite powerful mages. So, I decided to not question his decision, and respect his wishes.

We were informed that we would be going to the other castle which Lord Verum had visited four days ago, and that the five mages accompanying us were to be an alliance gift, in case they accepted, of course.

We set out at noon, since that was usually the time when the least amount of monsters were roaming by, for some reason that even Lord Verum did not understand. We walked briskly, trying to get to our destination as soon as possible, while still letting the mages get some XP from the monsters we encountered along the way.

It took us two and a half hours to reach the castle, and if I'm being honest, it did not look good at all, it's defenses were a mess, there were not enough troops patrolling, and there was no sort of lookout. The troops after we introduced ourselves, immediately relaxed, which brought a frown on to all our troops faces, we would not be so lax if someone arrived with armed troops and just said that they were here to ally themselves. Heck, we wouldn't even let them inside, but these guys, they were terrible, I didn't know why Lord Verum wanted to ally himself with these pathetic excuses for soldiers.

I glanced at him, and he noticed, I was about to avert my eyes when he spoke.

"Don't worry too much, while they may not look like much, they sure do know how to fight." Their combat ability had impressed lord Verum, which made me curious as to how they fought, but I put that matter to the back of my head when a woman appeared who seemed to be the lord of this castle.

"Nice to see you again, Miss Vesi." Lord Verum spoke, so, that woman's name was Vesi.

"Likewise, Mr. Verum." She spoke, her hair color was blond, while her eyes were of the color blue, she was wearing a quiver on her back and holding a bow in her left hand, something I made note of.

"So then, may I enquire as to why you are here? You said that it would take time to make the arm you said you would."

"Indeed, it will require a lot of time, we are here to propose an alliance between us."

The woman seemed to consider, which improved my favorability a bit, seeing how she was not an empty headed fool.

"Why?" She asked.

"Well, we have already fought together in a sense, not to mention, I don't really want to fight another castle lord this soon. I mean, it is inevitable, but I don't see the point if it can be avoided. Weakening our troops won't be helpful until after the beast tide, and honestly, it will be quite hard to survive in this world without something to fall back on."

She again took a moment to consider, which kind of made me wonder if she was faking it.

"Alright then, what will be terms?"

"It's quite simple, No attacking each other, providing a safe haven, and supporting each other if needed, whether if it's resources, money, or troops, but within limit of course. We won't be emptying out warehouse just because you need it."

"Fair enough, I guess."

"Excellent, sign this then."

A paper, along with a quill, popped into existence in front of her, which, if I'm being honest, made my already tense nerves jump a bit, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see that the woman's, Vesi's soldiers eyes flickered a bit, which made my guard shoot up.

These sly foxes, they didn't have their guard down at all! It was just a act!

Upon realizing this fact, both my wariness, along with my respect for these guys increased by a good amount.

She signed the miraculously floating paper, which then vanished into a small puff of smoke, much in the same way in which it had arrived, and a panel notifying us of the alliance popped open in front of us.

[Your Lord has entered into a alliance with another castle lord!]

[The terms of the alliance are-]

[1- Non aggression]

[You are not allowed to attack the castle lord's troops]

[2- Support]

[If you encounter the other castle lord's troops, and they ask you to help them, you are required to do so unless you have a more important goal, mission, or directive]

[3- Resource sharing]

[Sometimes, if needed, your castle will have to provide resources to the other castle, it can be bypassed if you have an urgent need for them, or are lacking in said resource]

[4- Protection]

[If you come across something that may be harmful to your ally, you are required to report it]

[The above terms apply to all troops under the command of castle lord 'Verum Apeiros Voidborn', and castle lord 'Pehmea Vesi']

"Looking forward to cooperate with you, miss Vesi, I hope we will get along well." Lord Verum said, as he extended his hand for a shake, which she accepted.

"Here, these men will be under your care from now." He said, gesturing to the mages we had brought with us.

For a brief moment, I wondered what it would be like to be them, just being summoned and then given away on the same day, even if it was only temporary, I would feel horrible.

I shuddered at the thought, gave those poor mages a glance, before looking away towards the woman who had a beaming smile on her face.

Although she seemed nice enough, I knew better than to judge people off what they showed on the outside.

Lord Verum had taught me that lesson quite painfully when he was training us in intelligence.