"What will I get from this alliance?" asked Hartwin, standing tall with both hands resting on the strategy table before him.
Prince Quentin smiled, walking over to the strategy table in the room. The young man's eyes caught sight of the several banners laid out on the map, a map of Tregaron's lands.
There were Oakenport, Evergarde, Fearville, and Stormwind. Three cities had been captured by House Hartwin, leaving only Oakenport.
But after weeks of fighting, the Hartwins struggled to break into Oakenport's stronghold led by House Roderick.
Clark Hartwin was very confused about what he should do. He had tried everything, but the result was still a failure.
Prince Quentin squinted his eyes, then raised a thimble that was placed on a fort on the Tregaron map with the name Oakenport stronghold.
"You have been fighting Roderick for weeks, but none of your tactics have worked," Quentin stated.
"I brought a Telmarath army of 5,000 men, the original purpose of which was to help Roderick withstand Hartwin's attack. However, I'm not a fool," Quentin explained.
Hartwin narrowed his eyes, trying to understand Quentin's meaning of the Telmarath reinforcements, "So, you're going to attack Roderick from inside?"
"Fascinating. You can guess what I'm thinking," Quentin praised.
"The most important matter is to control the gate. Once the gate is captured, you can enter easily," revealed Quentin.
"I understand, Prince," Clark explained.
"Then what do you want after capturing Oakenport?" asked one of House Hartwin's confidants.
Prince Quentin turned his head, looking at the old man with hair and beard utterly white from age, "Controlling Oakenport means controlling the market price."
Hartwin was not familiar with economics. He was only interested in war and power, but he had no idea economics would make power more dominant and war more raging.
The person who was good at controlling chaos would become the most powerful person beyond a king.
Armed with the information from Quentin's soul and Arryn's experience in business, Quentin was confident he could control the economic sector in this place, monopolizing the trade of certain commodities Telmarath needs.
"Control the prices in the market?" the old man asked.
"In short, I would be the ruler of Oakenport and share the proceeds of the tax collection with House Hartwin," Quentin replied.
"You can't. We will rule there," Hartwin insisted.
Quentin had expected Hartwin to refuse the request outright. However, Quentin would not give in to Hartwin's selfishness.
"House Hartwin will have power over all of Tregaron, and that's not good. You will be distracted by many things," Quentin replied.
The Prince pointed to Evergarde, Fearville, and Stormwind. Now, the eyes of Hartwin and the others were directed to follow Prince Quentin's index finger.
"You've already gained power in those three cities, which are large cities with large populations," Quentin replied.
"Oakenport, on the other hand, is a small town, dependent only on trade. What can you expect from Oakenport?" Quentin asked.
Hartwin squinted, trying to understand the meaning of Quentin's words. Among the five confidants and himself, none had any experience base in business.
He was worried that if he succeeded in taking control of Oakenport, it would only increase the burden on Hartwin because of the wide scope of power. Allying and handing Oakenport over to a trusted alliance was the right thing to do.
"He's right. The larger Hartwin's territory, the harder it will be for us to control our line of coordination," one of Hartwin's confidants said.
"So, you suggest handing Oakenport to Prince Quentin?" asked Hartwin.
"Three cities are enough, My Lord. Our primary objective is to eliminate Telmarath's control of Tregaron," replied the other man.
"He'll be doing his share of the merchants' taxes anyway. We can benefit from that," stated the man.
Hearing the insistence of Hartwin's trusted men left Clark Hartwin with no choice but to agree to the Prince's request to release Oakenport to Quentin.
"Very well. I will hand over the city if you manage to defeat Roderick," Hartwin replied firmly.
Prince Quentin smiled, nodding happily as he stepped back slightly away from the strategy table, "Don't worry. I will take the city before the end of the day."
"Tell the soldiers to prepare to help Prince Quentin!" Hartwin ordered the soldiers into the room.
The soldier nodded, stepping away to tell the soldiers outside the fort to prepare.
Just before Prince Quentin left, Hartwin addressed the Prince a second time.
"I hope you are not playing tricks with your words, Prince Quentin," Hartwin stated firmly.
Prince Quentin fell silent, choosing to waltz away from the place to return to his horse inside the fort.
Quentin's steps came to a halt at the sight of something shocking: Reynold's head had been beheaded and was stuck on a wooden pike. The head was clearly displayed beside Reynold's horse.
"A pathetic punishment for a traitor like you, right?"
***
The sound of galloping horses could be clearly heard from the direction of the valley below the hill, and several soldiers walked over to confirm who was riding closer.
They could clearly see it was Prince Quentin, but he did not come with Reynold.
"Where is Commander Reynold, Prince Quentin?" asked the soldier, the deputy commander of the soldiers.
Prince Quentin stopped walking, slowly turned toward the soldier, and dismounted. The young man seemed to walk up to the deputy commander while reaching out a hand.
Without a clue, the bewildered deputy commander agreed to shake hands with Prince Quentin.
Just as the two shook hands, Quentin's maroon eyes flashed brightly, startling the deputy commander before him.
[Mind Manipulation Ability has been activated]
After seeing Quentin's flashing eyes, the deputy commander's mind and eyes were directed at Quentin as if he had been hypnotized to a high state.
"Tell everyone to prepare to go to Oakenport. Reynold has been killed by the scouts from House Roderick. We must avenge Commander Reynold's death," Quentin whispered.
The deputy commander nodded slowly, then winked and returned to his normal demeanor. However, Quentin's suggestion to his deputy commander would still be carried out like any other command.
The man returned to the reinforcement camp, telling them all to prepare. Quentin was pleased to see his mind manipulation skills working well.
However, there was one disadvantage to this mind manipulation ability; he could only perform mind manipulation once on one person, so Quentin would no longer be able to implant suggestions into that person's mind.
The young man knew about that thanks to the experiment on his sister and the mysterious notification that appeared like a hologram before Quentin's face. However, Mary easily believed Quentin's words because Quentin was the only family she had.
That is why Quentin must use the ability of mind manipulation wisely, not rushing to implant mind manipulation magic into important people, one of whom is Hartwin.
It was far better if he could convince Hartwin with his words or actions than using his manipulation magic.
Quentin was sure there would be a time when he would embed suggestions into Hartwin's heart and mind.
The soldiers began to dismantle the tents, put their armor back on, and retrieve their swords. The 5000 Telmarath soldiers under Quentin's command were ready to invade Oakenport.
Mary rode up to Quentin, right next to her brother. The girl was curious about Commander Reynold's disappearance.
"I'll explain it to you later," Quentin replied, Mary nodding obediently.
Prince Quentin saw his soldiers standing at attention, ready to carry out the orders Quentin had given them.
At a moderate pace, Quentin led Telmarath's army to approach Oakenport. Thousands of armored troops marched in unison down the hill, the sight attracting the soldiers' attention in Oakenport's fortress.
"The white flag with the golden lion. That's Telmarath," announced the soldier guarding the gate.
The leader of House Roderick was pleased and relieved to find that aid had arrived. He ordered his soldiers to open the gates and let the reinforcements from Telmarath in.
Quentin rode in the vanguard, riding first, and was immediately greeted by the bulky leader of House Roderick in dull black armor.
"Prince Quentin," greeted Kent Roderick - the leader of House Roderick.
The Prince smiled broadly, pretending to smile. He dismounted from his saddle and walked over to Kent.
Unexpectedly, Quentin drove a dagger into Kent's chin, causing blood to spurt and Roderick's men to stand on full alert.
"Don't let a single Roderick man live!" commanded Quentin, speaking loudly to his soldiers.
His soldiers nodded, and the tension inside the castle turned frightening. Roderick's soldiers were killed, civilians slaughtered, and wooden houses burned.
Quentin was still standing in the center of the fort, right next to Kent's body, lying helplessly on the muddy ground.
Mary dismounted and walked over to Quentin while holding his body tightly; the girl was trembling in terror of the massacre that had happened in the place.
"I'm sorry, Lord Roderick, but your existence hinders my ambitions."