Yesterday, Alexius' plans advanced by a step.
He had successfully created the first firearm to protect himself more reliably, and had also secured the loyalty of his servant, Jacob.
As such, when the sun rose the next day, illuminating the world in its brilliant rays, Alexius was up right at the crack of dawn, whistling cheerfully to himself as he sketched the design for a matchlock musket.
'I don't know too much, but since I managed to recreate the pistol, creating a musket with a similar mechanism should be no problem.'
"Ah, it's time for training. Today's the day of the evaluation, so I should also take this opportunity to gauge my strength."
Changing to a loose tunic and pants, he carried the new pistol he had gotten underneath his shirt like it was his baby. "Hah~ it feels so good to have a firearm around my waist, it's like Santa Claus gave me a present early!"
"Who's Santa Claus?" A young voice sounded right behind Alexius, startling him and causing him to hastily flip over his musket blueprint.
Turning around, he discovered Anthony standing in his doorway. "Uhh... nothing."
Anthony frowned at his friend's dissatisfactory answer. "You don't need to hide anything from me. If you're writing to a girl, you can tell me. You can trust me not to tell anyone else!" He solemnly pledged.
'What the hell? Now he will think I have some childhood sweetheart!' Alexius felt his dignity crumble beneath him. However, after thinking about it, things weren't that bad. At least Anthony hadn't gotten a peek at the weapon that could potentially change the world.
"Ahem... anyway, let's go for training today. It's getting late now, why are you here? You usually are at the backyard by this time." Alexius hastily changed the subject.
"About that... well, there's no training today."
"What? I thought today was the evaluation by the Knight himself! Did he not show up?" Alexius exclaimed.
"No... it's an order from the Archon himself, for all nobles in the western region to mobilize and assist our army in keeping back the Whitecastle Kingdom."
Alexius was stunned. Why this all of a sudden? Ever since hostilities commenced two years ago, there were only small skirmishes at the border. Was the Archon acting to win decisively, or reacting to a threat?
Anthony continued. "So Knight Rictor is gathering an army of 500 men to meet up at the staging point in the City of Littlesberg. We're supposed to be going, too, to learn how to lead men."
What? Who brought kids to an active battlezone? 'Whatever. At least I get a chance to witness how warfare is conducted with mages and all...'
'Provided I don't get hit by a stray spell.'
...
The night was still young when Alexius snuck out of the Knight's mansion once more.
He entered Hanan City after a few minutes' walk, again walking past the alleys and slums where agonized groaning could still be heard here and there, as well as some crying.
He figured that, when winter came, they would probably starve to death. However, he couldn't very well rescue all of them, so he had no choice but to turn a blind eye to their plight.
*Knock! Knock!*
After knocking on Marv's door again, Alexius heard a groaning sound, and the stairs inside creaking before the door slid open with a creak.
"What's going... oh, respected sir! You're here! I thought you wouldn't come back for a week or two!" Marv said in a surprised tone, nearly dropping his candlestick.
Alexius rolled his eyes. This man was so grumpy just a second ago, but when he saw his VIP customer, he was suddenly so happy?
Ignoring it, Alexius got straight to the point. "I'm here to tell you that I'll be going off on campaign in a day or two, so I might not return in a month's time to collect my weapons."
"On campaign? Who brings a little kid to war?" Marv seemed surprised, as expected.
Alexius shrugged. "I guess they want us to learn how to fight? Anyway, the important thing is that I'm changing my order."
Alexius could hear the gruff, bearded blacksmith gulp.
"Instead of just five pistols, I want at least ten by the time I come back. If you can't do it by yourself, then..." He took out a pouch, shaking it to let the blacksmith know how much was in there.
"There's fifteen gold crowns in here. I believe it's enough to recruit at least two or three blacksmith apprentices; but make sure to swear them to secrecy." He glared at the sweating man in front of him to make sure that he got the point.
"Am I clear?" "Y-yes." Marv stuttered.
As he left the blacksmith once again, Alexius frowned. This unplanned deviation would delay his plan to get a squad of bodyguards by a significant amount.
However, it couldn't be helped.
He would rather take the risk and head to the battlefield than throw away his one chance at achieving a noble title. Who wouldn't? Becoming a noble meant that one could receive annuities from the government, and not have to worry about living expenses anymore. Any common man on the streets would kill for that!
Returning to his room, he packed everything essential for the journey into a large pouch, along with his shiny new pistol and a box filled with ammunition and black powder.
If things went poorly, that would save his life.
...
"Sir, I'm here to give my report!"
"You may enter."
A man clad in gleaming armour strode into the tent where several men in blue and purple robes sat, surrounding a table. "I greet the esteemed Archon Otto and Archmage Reaves!"
The man by the name of Otto nodded. "Sit, Legate Valery, and give me the report on the enemy movements."
Valery nodded and took a seat, unfurling several scrolls.
Pointing to a spot on the map, he said in a grim tone, "My liege, the enemy has finally breached our westernmost defences with their overwhelming numbers. Your call to mobilize has not come a moment too soon, as almost 10,000 men are bearing down on us!"
The Archon, Otto, asked: "Do you have a plan to ambush the Whitecastle Kingdom's army? The dense treeline of the forest can effectively hide many of our troops."
At these words, Valery turned bright red. "My liege," he explained in an apologetic tone. "None of our scouts have returned. All the mages we sent were killed, and I, as a tier four mage, dare not go against a tier six mage."
"As such, we only know their approximate location and nothing else, so there are too many unknown variables to be setting an ambush."
The other men in the room murmured to themselves. Valery could overhear someone say, "This man is incompetent; he cannot lead the army!"
The man dressed in purple robes stood up. "Legate Valery, what is the meaning of this? How do you expect us to defeat Whitecastle when we don't even know their location?"
"Calm down, Archmage Reaves. This matter cannot be helped; risking a competent leader's life is also out of the question."
The other men sitting around the table started murmuring about the situation.
Legate Valery once more stood up and spoke. "My liege, I believe that the most prudent course of action now is to stage a defence at Littlesberg, where the army is gathering."
Archon Otto raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"
Legate Valery continued. "Since we don't know exactly where they are, we should wait for them to come to us."
"Furthermore, our army outnumbers theirs, so we should meet them just outside the city to ensure victory with our numbers and preparations. Even if we don't win the first encounter, we can just withdraw behind the city walls and make them besiege us."
"Very good." Archon Otto nodded. "This is a good choice of action. You should start preparations immediately."
"My liege!" Archmage Reaves interjected again. "I believe we should send a portion of the army out to skirmish with the enemy first. That way we can gain more intelligence, and give our men more experience against the enemy!"
"Absolutely not!" Valery roared. "If that portion is destroyed, it will negate much of our numerical superiority, making it harder to win against Whitecastle's superior troops!"
"It seems that you don't have the slightest bit of military experience, Archmage!"
Hearing this, the purple robes on the man rose intimidatingly as an oppressive aura emerged from Reaves, stopping any further comment.
As a shiver ran down the spine of everyone in the room, someone slammed their fist onto the table. "Enough!"
Everyone turned to look at their liege, whose face was contorted in fury.
"When I left you alone for five seconds, you couldn't help but start quarelling like little children! Is this the animosity that countrymen should show each other?"
Hearing the man's strong rebuke, the robed man and the armoured man bowed and apologized, not daring to speak another word.
The Archon then continued. "I think that Legate Valery made the right decision."
"After all, by splitting off a portion of our forces, we allow the enemy to pick us off one by one through divide and conquer. Furthermore, since the person leading their army is a tier 6 mage, we shouldn't risk more mages in an unwinnable situation, as they are a precious asset."
Archmage Reaves tried to protest. "But, my liege, the Mage Guild will give the exploring army its fullest support to ensure it doesn't get destroyed!"
However, practically anyone with half a brain could tell that the man was trying to take control of the expedition and claim credit for any accomplishments.
"Look, I appreciate your offer, but I would rather not risk it and place the nation's fate on a bet." The Archon rebuked.
"It's not a bet, it's a well-planned expedition!"
"Well, whatever you want to call it, I'm not interested. You should stay silent if you don't have anything else to add."
Archon Otto's outburst plunged the tent into silence. Some men muttered, "Did his highness just offend the leader of the Rici Archonate Mage Guild?"
"If he loses the support of the Mage Guild, then tough times are in store for him..."
"What do you care about the Mage Guild anyway? The army will still do its job even without its support."
However, most were in disbelief, and it was so quiet that one could here a pin drop.
Each nation's Mage Guild was an extremely powerful organization, with much of a nation's magic talent being concentrated in it.
Although they technically were subject to the international Mage Association, most couldn't be bothered to have anything to do with the Mage Association headquartered thousands of kilometres away in Uria City.
Although the Association held much symbolic power, real power was concentrated in the hands of the local Guilds.
As such, Archmage Reaves, who led the Mage Guild in the Rici Archonate, was almost as powerfuk as the Archon himself.
As the tension in the room grew, Archmage Reaves' face contorted, as if he was about to explode.
Just in the nick of time, the sound of footsteps grew louder, and a man suddenly burst through the entrance of the tent, panting, startling everyone into silence.
"Argh! I nearly blasted him with a spell, dammit!" The voice of a blue-robed man broke the silence.
"M-my liege... huu... the army of... huu... Knight Rictor's army has arrived at the camp!"
Archon Otto stood up, this time with a bright smile on his face.
"About time! With this, the total size of our army reaches an amazing 20,000 men! Gather them all outside; I will personally address them."
Just then, another man barged in. He was visibly sweaty, but wasn't panting due to his skills as a warrior-mage.
"Greetings, my liege! I come bearing vital news- the enemy had already fully crossed the Ancliow Forest and ravaged Azalea Village; they can't be more than 50 kilometres away!"
"What!?"
"Fuck! That's impossible!"
The room exploded into a flurry once more.