— Why should they worry? Kas's target is the town of Orod's, not them! And on the battlefield, a Valerian magister will survive! Unlike us, the Dark Ones!
— They deployed a strong detachment. Even though they could have avoided doing so.
— Remind me how to thank them in the future, — the baron said, calming down, — A truly noble act on their part.
— I spoke with one of them today at the tavern.
His companion even stopped pacing the room and stared at his brother with interest.
— He agrees with the duke's decision to fight on the road. He talked about the army's fatigue and its low morale.
— We're not much better off!
— Even so. I asked him about the path across the pass. Goblins sometimes attacked twice a night. Often we had to travel only half a day, while soldiers slept the other half because they had to fight at night. He says that by reaching the road, they got their first good sleep! They had to leave a lot of equipment in the mountains.
— I have only two words for all this — a paladin company!
— We'll have paladins too.
— Ten times fewer! But enough of that! Think of how to dissuade the duke instead!
Ek'Savoyardi smirked cunningly, smoothing things over with his angry brother.
— Is that necessary?
— Are you suggesting participating in this madness?
— I suggest not interfering, — without letting his brother interrupt, he continued, — Remember how the current dynasty seized the throne!
— Their opponents wiped each other out, but what does that matter to me? I have no intention of taking the place of the Duke of Kas!
— But what about becoming the Count of Savoyardi?
The baron sat down on the bed. He bowed his head to his knees and was silent for a while.
— I know about your dreams of making our family great. But what good are all these titles if beyond the city my power is ephemeral, and half of my holdings are under goblin control?
— It's better to rule the city as a count! Brother, think about it! We're not losing anything.
— And if we perish? Our lineage will end...
— Leave your son in the city. Someone has to stay here anyway, so why not him? And your fiancée won't let him do something foolish and end up in captivity.
— Gentlemen, we're becoming a red rag to the local church. They're starting to take notice of us. That's bad. How can we avoid the stakes?
— Why did they even latch onto us? — Konstantin didn't quite understand the significance of the expanded meeting, although he guessed its importance.
— The main dogma of the local church is the superiority of the human race and blood over others, and that one cannot trust these others. Essentially: a good non-human is a dead non-human.
— That's exactly about us — we even eat them, — Semyon, as usual lately, steered the conversation towards blood.
— If they find out about us, then we are target number one, and there's no room for discussion.
— Maybe we can bribe the churchmen? — Oksana, like any financier, believed that any problem could be solved with money.
— Still, it's better if they simply don't know about us, — Eugene took the straightforward path.
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