355 - 361

Gold Eagle

A man removed the scarf obstructing his face. White puffs burst from his mouth as he did so.

"We've arrived at Egret Basin, Your Grace," said he.

It was the 11th day of the 12th month. Winter. A small round of snow had just fallen. The landscape was covered in a patchwork of white and ailing green.

"Your Grace. We received a messenger eagle from our informant in Shabaj. So far, the hunting party at Egret Basin still hasn't caught Sir Reidy. Instead, they ended up with carriage after carriage of injured troops. The informant managed to get word from them and learned they were still playing catch with Sir Reidy. He's become their demon. Nobody could resist his assaults apart from the three blademasters. Duke Shabaj also sent a regiment and a few hundred carriages filled with supplies, presumably in preparation for the hunting party's stay for winter," reported Tarkel as he read the thin cloth he took out from the small bamboo capsule.

Beside him was a heavily bearded man on horseback, on whose shoulder an eagle that looked rather warm perched as it swallowed the meat the man fed it.

Taking a look at the endless wildlands, Lorist slipped off his mount and pulled down the black scarf covering his face, "Map..."

He had brought three regiments of his personal guard, 1500 men in total. However, only thirty or so were beside him right now. Lorist couldn't afford to wait for the whole troupe to arrive, which would take three hours; he was too worried for Reidy's safety.

The heavily dressed Howard hurriedly dismounted, took a map out of his backpack, and called a few guards to hold it open.

Their guide, Jisan, took a swig of alcohol from his bronze flask, complained about the horrible weather, and walking to Lorist's side. After he looked at the map, he pointed.

"Your Grace, we're currently here. It'll take us half a day to reach Redtree Citadel. It's the only checkpoint we have to cross along this road. Both sides of the motte the citadel was built on are swamps that won't freeze even in winter. Apart from a small muddy road that only allows a carriage to pass, there are no ways to go around Redtree Citadel unless we take this detour from here."

"You're saying we don't have to go through Redtree Citadel if we use this road?" asked Lorist.

"Indeed, Your Grace. I, Jisan, am actually quite famous around these swamps. I know the routes here like the back of my hand. Honestly speaking, if Your Grace had hired any other guide, they would've been walking blind in winter. I, on the other hand, know where the swamp freezes up and where we shouldn't enter. This is all thanks to my 30 years of experience. I've been living here with my father since I was young and if I didn't learn a trick or two, I would've died many times over," said the old man as his voice coarsened from the strong liquor.

"Hehe, that's precisely why we hired you, Jisan. I just hope you're worth the fee. I'm sure you know we're here to find someone," said Tarkel.

"Oh, a search," Jisan said as he recalled something.

He turned to Tarkel, "Sir, if you're looking for someone, you should tell me roughly where they are. How did they enter and did they leave any traces or signs? Egret Basin is so big I doubt I'd be of much help without a single lead."

"Well, Mister Jisan, the person we're looking for entered the basin from Shabaj, and we think he's heading to Egret Lake. The duchy is our enemy and they sent out a search party to hunt for him, so we had no choice but to enter the basin from here. He probably didn't leave any markings, but even if he did, they were probably destroyed by his pursuers. If anything, he'd leave a circle with a cross or a picture of a bear at the lower right part of a rock or a tree. But don't worry, we have a rough idea how to locate him. We just need you to lead the way across the swamp," said Lorist.

"Ah, Your Grace, you don't have to be so formal with me. Just call me by my name. It's my pleasure to be of service," said he, a little surprised and glad after being addressed as 'mister'.

"Tarkel."

"Yes, Your Grace," Tarkel said as he turned around, "Morbinghan, we're counting on you."

The old man called Morbinghan was a bearded man with a white mop on his head. Though he looked old, he seemed far more energetic than most people his age. The old man dressed in hunting garb smiled after he heard Tarkel.

"Your Grace, leave it to me."

He lifted a large cage from the back of his horse and opened it, letting a huge eagle out onto his arm.

A cold breeze blew by, causing the eagle to flap its wings twice as it looked around.

"What a huge gold eagle!" cried Jisan.

"You've seen gold eagles before?" asked Morbinghan as he stroked his bird's feathers. The eagle seemed almost human. It scratched Morbingham's chest lightly with its talons.

"Little Inkfeather here has been with me for more than 17 years. When I picked it up at the bottom of a cliff, it still didn't have any feathers, it had likely hatched just hours earlier. I don't know how it fell, but, fortunately, it was still alive. I brought it home and treated it as my third son and spent our years together."

"Mister! Morbinghan! Snap out of it and let the eagle do its job! We can listen to your stories over some alcohol after we find our man, alright? We'll definitely listen to it even after you've repeated it for the thousandth time, alright?" beckoned Tarkel worryingly.

Morbinghan's eyes regained some clarity. He glared at Tarkel.

"What's there to rush? If I don't let the eagle get used to the air, it'll flop, fall, and die. Give it a minute."

"You're planning to let the gold eagle find your man?" Jisan asked curiously, "How does it work? Does he know the guy?"

"It doesn't," Lorist answered, "While finding a single individual would be difficult even for eagles, spotting a group isn't an issue, especially on the relatively empty swamps. The one we're looking for is wanted and pursued, so all the eagle has to do is to bring us to them. At the very least, we'll be much closer to the one we're looking for. Oh, Morbinghan, look for a campsite or something with your eagle. They should have set up something similar in this weather."

"I will have Inkfeather search in the lake's direction. Don't worry, we'll definitely find SIr Reidy," replied Morbinghan respectfully.

Morbinghan was a special advisor to Furybear. He used his years of experience to train messenger eagles. His eldest son was a Norton knight and took care of the messenger eagle department, while his second son was still at the bronze rank. Once he makes it to the silver rank, he would also be made a household knight. Morbinghan had the same status as Grandmaster Julian, he hoped to make more contributions to the house and eventually be made a landed noble.

After a good while, Morbinghan finally released his eagle. It circled the skies for a while before flying towards Egret Lake.

"Alright. Jisan, let's head west as well. I count on you to tell me where I should and shouldn't go," said Lorist after his eyes returned to the earth.

"This... Your Grace, we'll have to leave our horses here and travel on foot," Jisan said after some hesitation, "Some parts of the swamp can't be traversed on horseback. While bringing them along would be fine, we can't ride them. If one of us accidentally rides into a mud pit, we'll be submerged before we could even cry for help."

"No worries. You're the guide. I leave the final word to you," Lorist said with a smile, "Els, have two people stay here and watch the horses. They are to wait for the rest. The rest of you, make sure to bring enough necessities and a few workhorses along. We leave first. Order Park and Shuss to set up camp here and prepare to send reinforcements."

"Understood, Your Grace," replied Els.

...

Reidy found himself completely cornered.

When he disappeared in Demongrass Swamp a week ago, he managed to get two days' rest and recover some energy with the rations he'd looted. His wounds had also sealed and the situation seemed okay. He hadn't expected Xanthi to actually set fire to the swamp.

While the grass was still green even during winter thanks to the water, he understood they would be baked dry and set aflame easily even with the smallest fires. On a day with strong wind, the fire would spread quickly over the grass in the vicinity. He had to take his leave right away.

If Demongrass Swamp was said to resemble a rhombus, his little wooden raft would be a third of the distance to the center. He still had some time to row it to shore. Fortunately for him, the water-filled grass let out lots of pungent smoke, which he could use to his advantage and escape out of sight and prevent the hunting dogs from catching his scent.

However, the wind was a little too strong and made the fire to burn wildly. Even though he tried to hurry himself up, he couldn't as his little raft had been entangled by some of the grass stems in the mud. He had no choice but to use his sword to cut them off. By the time the fire was already behind him, the little raft was still roughly five meters from shore. In front of him was a thick wall of grass that prevented his raft from advancing.

He held the oar he used to row the boat and tied it up tightly with a pike. Seeing its roughly three-meter length, he used all his energy to plunge the long contraption into the grass, leaving only a few inches of it above the muddy waters. He clutched his longsword, took a deep breath, and leaped. His right foot landed accurately on the exposed part of the oar-pike stick. The stick slipped slightly and he fell. But right before his foot touched the water, he had already gained enough of a footing to propel himself once more. With a loud splash, he landed in a puddle of mud just beside the shore.

His upper body was on the shore while both his legs laid on a thick bunch of grass stems. While he could use it as a footing, he didn't dare to stand up. The direction the wind was blowing made the smoke travel towards the shore. It was nearly impossible to breath standing up. With his pursuers waiting for him long the shore nowhere to be seen, he cut off the grass that tangled his legs and crawled forward, trying his best to breathe in as little smoke as possible.

Demongrass Swamp burned for a whole day before the lake's surface could be seen once more. Reidy managed to escape the encirclement thanks to the darkness of night and made his way to Egret Lake as stealthily as possible. As his pursuers didn't know for sure whether he had hidden within Demongrass Swamp, he had an extra night to escape. The next day, however, the small raft was discovered half sunken near the shore, allowing his pursuers to determine where he was heading.

He had already predicted his pursuers would notice the traces he left. As he wasn't too familiar with the swampy terrain, he didn't manage to make it far in the night. He had to circle around quite a number of swampy areas without gaining much distance, so his pursuers were back on his tail just three short hours later.

Even so, they were still separated by a large swamp. He gave his pursuers the middle finger -- an insulting gesture he learned from Lorist -- and relaxed when he saw Blademaster Xanthi not giving chase.

His pursuers were unable to find a method to cross the swamp. The night before, Reidy had somehow managed to cross it by following the tree roots on the ground. Since they weren't too far apart, the pursuing soldiers fired volleys of arrows at him, causing the latter to miss the bow he left at the raft. Right now, he had no ability to retaliate. After cursing a few more times, he resumed his escape.

He ran out of rations two days later. Had it not been for the trail the water rats left on the snow, he wouldn't have been able to locate their nest. He feasted on them to fill his stomach and had a good night's rest. He would have already collapsed from exhaustion otherwise.

Not a lot of snow fell during the night, however. When the sun rose on the next day, his pursuers and their hunting dogs quickly caught his trail, forcing him to go on the run once more. When he finally arrived at a place near Egret Lake, he despaired when he saw a large troupe of soldiers with a dozen knights waiting for him. Sandwiched between two groups of enemies, Reidy laughed bitterly and drew his sword. As his teacher once said, 'kill one, make up for the loss; kill two, profit by one.' It was time to see how much 'profit' he could make with his life.

Second Highness, The Path Seeker

Here's the third release of the week. I hope you enjoy it!

Seeing the knights in front approach, Reidy suddenly thought of something: where did his pursuers get their mounts? Even Blademaster Xanthi had to walk on her feet during the pursuit, so how were those knights able to find a mount? Unless they came from the other direction...

As expected, the knights ahead stopped before they reached him.

"Who are you and the others over there?" asked the knight.

Reidy squinted and realized the knights were bearing the tri-colored griffin insignia of the imperial family. In other words, they were knights of the Andinaq royal family and subordinates of the second highness.

While Lorist wasn't too fond of the second highness in private, officially he was still considered a duke of the kingdom.

Reidy breathed a sigh and slumped on the ground, before taking out a silver ragebear badge and announcing, "I'm a subordinate of the Duke of The Northlands and also a knight of House Norton. Those behind me are pursuers from the Shabaj and Handra duchies. Please help me get out of this predicament."

The pursuers were already approaching and saw Reidy with the knights and around a hundred soldiers. The duchy's men didn't rush towards the knights, they stopped to gather their comrades, letting honks of low baritone resonate across the landscape.

After seeing the soldiers pursuing Reidy's equipment, the mounted knights believed him.

One laughed and said, "Very well, we were just starting to feel rather. I didn't think the duchy would actually serve themselves on a platter like this. Brother, you did well. Let us handle them for you."

With a loud cry and a crack of the whip, the knight launched forward. His companions also joined the fray without fear. And so, the six knights stormed the snow-covered lands, leaving a trail of trodden snow in their wake.

"Hey! Come back, the enemy's main force isn't here yet! There are three blademasters behind them!" cried Reidy to the best of his ability.

None of the hot-blooded knights could hear his warning as they clashed with the several dozen duchy soldiers and began slaughtering away.

The clash between roughly 70 soldiers and six knights took place on a narrow path where the knights charged first. The soldiers couldn't get into proper formation in time and the scene that soon greeted them was nothing but nightmarish. More than 20 soldiers lay dead on the ground in a flash. The rest crumbled and attempted to escape. At that moment, they no longer cared about escaping the knights' slaughter, and instead focused on using their comrades to block their strikes so they could escape alive.

Reidy hurriedly stood up and waved his hands frantically. But the knights reveled too much in the killing and didn't bother with him. Either that or they thought he was actually cheering them on.

Soon, a figure clad in a black cloak suddenly cut in front of one of them. The latter didn't mind and merely pointed his lance at the figure's torso. To him, a mere footsoldier couldn't evade his strike and would end up skewered. However, a sword flashed and the knight felt the lance in his hand lighten by at least half. He saw his body fall to the ground, with the headless stump above his neck spurting blood all over his decapitated head. Just as he saw nothing but blood in front of him, a flash of a blade caused him to feel as if he were flying higher and higher in the sky as his consciousness faded into nothingness.

The knight's death was quickly noticed by his five comrades, who turned and charged angrily at the cloaked figure. With agile movements, the figure cut another knight in two and slashed the mount of a third. Its rider fell haphazardly to the ground. It didn't take long for a blade to meet his neck.

The first to charge quickly snapped out of it and yelled, "Run! It's a blademaster!"

Thus, the three remaining knights frantically escaped. The first didn't forget to grab hold of the reins of a mount whose master was cut apart. The figure in black didn't give chase either, probably as a result of being tired out during the confrontation with five knights. The figure remained at the same spot even after the three surviving knights made it back to Reidy.

The first knight breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the figure didn't give chase.

Instead, he asked Reidy with a grim face, "What did you do to have a blademaster on your tail?"

"Didn't you hear me calling you back just now? Let's go, quick. There are two other blademasters coming," answered he bitterly.

The three knights were instantly shocked.

"Really?"

"Yes. Let's move!" Reidy exclaimed, "That guy was Shabaj's blademaster. The two that aren't here are even more powerful."

"You should get mounted too. His Majesty is back there and also has a blademaster with him. If can get to him, all will be well," decided the first knight.

It went without saying that the soldiers who accompanied the knights on their scouting mission would have to turn tail right away after making it there, for the sake of their own lives no less.

"I need some food," said Reidy as he mounted the free horse.

While he didn't feel the chills despite his tattered clothing when on the run, the breeze that blew against him when he mounted the horse felt like blades of ice against his skin.

One knight tossed him a liquor flask. He gulped it down and felt his body warm up.

"Thanks. Now, where's His Majesty?"

"He's just ahead. We'll see him in about 30 minutes. We set up camp on a mound nearby," replied the knight.

"How many blademasters does His Majesty have with him? What are their ranks?"

"One rank 1 blademaster, Manst. But we have two gold-ranked knights and a regiment of roughly a thousand men."

"No way. His Majesty will also have to move soon as well. I don't think those forces can hold back the pursuers," said Reidy sincerely.

"Brother, I'm really curious, what did you do to make them send three blademasters after you. Heavens, even the empire's most wanted criminals didn't get this kind of treatment," the knight said, "Whatever, don't say if you don't feel like it. I doubt I'd like to hear you brag. It's better if you tell His Majesty yourself. I bet he would be interested. As for whether we'll retreat or not, that's up to His Majesty."

"Why did you guys come here in winter? You mentioned you were surveying?" Reidy remembered the complaints uttered by the knights earlier and understood the second highness was there to find a route he could use to go around the Centerlake Island citadel. Perhaps, he was trying to launch a surprise attack on the four central duchies.

It was no wonder the knights didn't really mind they were being chased by three blademasters. They knew since Reidy was able to escape and encounter them, he would surely be more familiar with the route through Egret Basin. If they brought him to the second highness, it would save them the trouble of surveying the route.

It was too bad even Reidy himself didn't know how he had gotten through Egret Basin. It was almost a miracle he managed to make it this far. He was at his wits' end and couldn't be bothered to memorize the route. He had only survived thanks to his amazing ability to adapt. He took quite a few risks to travel around by swinging from tree to tree through the swamplands. This was the sole reason he could maintain a good distance between him and his pursuers.

As expected, the second highness was quick to recognize Reidy when he arrived at the campsite.

"Aren't you Reidy, Lorist's eldest disciple? Why do you look so haggard?"

Reidy didn't bother with too many formalities and made a simple knight's salute.

"Your Majesty, I require a bath and fresh clothes as well as a meal before I can tell you my story."

After a bath, Reidy was brought to the second highness's tent. The monarch pointed to the table filled with food.

"You can eat as you tell me about it. My knights told me you had three blademasters chasing you. I'm really curious what caused all this."

Reidy wolfed down a piece of roast meat and took a huge gulp of wine before he spoke.

"I was traveling in the four central duchies and bumped into Duke Fisablen's envoy sent to forge an alliance between the two powers. I killed him, but he turned out to be the duke's nephew. They've been hunting me down ever since. I think it's been two months now."

"Two months?" the second highness exclaimed, shocked, "That can't be. If this were true, my informants should have noticed and notified me by now. I haven't a single word, not a whisper."

Reidy continued to stuff food down his throat.

"I'm telling the truth, Your Majesty. While Handra and Shabaj might attempt to hide the incident, I'm sure you can ask your informants whether they saw a wanted notice issued two months ago. I should be the one on the notice."

"Alright. So you killed an envoy and they don't intend to let you off. Since they've been chasing you for so long, I doubt they'd stop until they bring your head to Fisablen. Don't worry, you're safe now that you've made it here. The Handras and Shabaj duchies' blademasters aren't a concern," the second highness said casually, "I'm really curious how you managed to cross Egret Basin. I hope you can tell me."

Reidy shook his head.

"My apologies, Your Majesty, I'm afraid it won't be of much use. There's no way a group of soldiers can be led through the basin. I spent a whole month running from Handra to Shabaj before I entered Egret Basin. It took me another 20 days to make it here. I'm not familiar with the terrain, I just kept heading in the general direction of Egret Lake as best I could and circled around the swamps I came across. I've never considered actually crossing the swamps, and half the time I managed to find a route was thanks to luck.

"The three blademasters and their soldier had to rely on hunters that live nearby, many of whom brought hunting dogs with them. That's why they were able to track me for so long. They are all traveling on foot. Egret Basin can't be crossed with cavalry. Sending only infantry to attack the duchies isn't only risky, it's suicide."

Reidy wasn't wrong. The four central duchies were not like Frederika at all. With Frederika, one could reach the city in just a night after crossing Cloudsnap Mountains. But Egret Basin… even if the second highness brought tens of thousands of foot soldiers across, there was no city or town he could attack quickly. In fact, he'd be exposing his position and allowing the duchies' cavalry forces to wipe him out. Tens of thousands of infantrymen would still fall to the charge of mounted cavalry.

"What if we wait for winter to set in? Perhaps the swamps will freeze and we can take carriages with supplies as well?" asked the second highness stubbornly.

Reidy smiled bitterly.

"I doubt I'm qualified to answer this question. All I can suggest is that you seek out the hunters that live in the swamps and ask their advice."

"Well, that..." said the second highness hesitantly. There wasn't anybody living in the part of Egret Basin near the kingdom. The second highness couldn't consult anyone even if he wanted to. That was why he sent his subordinates out to scout in the first place.

"Oh, didn't you say the duchy's soldiers you found natives living in the vicinity with hunting dogs? I just have to capture one and ask them, right?" said the second highness after he thought up his magnificent idea.

"Your Majesty," Reidy sighed, "I think it's best you worry about your safety first and retreat. While the blademasters of Shabaj and Handra aren't much -- I can easily take more than a hundred strikes from either of them one on one -- Duke Fisablen sent his lover, Blademaster Xanthi. That old hag's moves are rather odd. Even though she was already a rank 2 blademaster a few years back, I couldn't even take one of her strikes during our last encounter.

"Your Majesty's the leader of a kingdom and bears a heavy responsibility. Since you only brought a thousand men to scout the swamp, I worry the old hag will target you when she finds out. To be frank, I doubt these soldiers can take the combined assault of three blademasters. If anything bad happens to you, the kingdom will be gone."

All of a sudden, a figure of a stern old man appeared in the tent. It was Blademaster Manst, the second highness's protector. When Reidy first entered the tent, he could tell there was another light set of breathing.

Blademaster Manst looked at Reidy in a flabbergasted manner. The latter stared back curiously.

"You fought Blademaster Xanthi and didn't manage to receive even one of her strikes?" he asked after a moment.

Reidy nodded.

Angered, the old man exclaimed, "Nonsense. If you couldn't even take one strike, you would've been dead! How could you have escaped?!"

Reidy got angry.

"Are you calling me a liar?" he shouted, "Old man, take a closer look. The wounds on my chest, shoulder, and thigh were all left by that old woman. I only managed to escape because I jumped into a nearby river."

Blademaster Manst inspected Reidy's wounds closely and sighed before he turned to the second highness.

"Your Majesty, it's best if we retreat for now. If Blademaster Xanthi comes, I doubt I can protect you."

"Aren't you about to break through to the second rank soon?" the second highness asked, surprised, "Do you think you can't match Blademaster Xanthi?"

The old man nodded.

"Your Majesty, I'm still only just preparing to break through. Blademaster Xanthi has been at the second rank for twenty years. I could tell her swordsmanship has improved considerably from this guy's wounds. To be honest, I doubt I can last ten strikes. For your safety, I think it's best if Your Majesty returns to the main camp..."

Before he finished, an alarm sounded outside the tent. The enemy was already here.

The Second Highness's Strategy

Right after they exited the tent, they heard the loud cry of an eagle from afar. Upon raising their heads, they saw a large golden eagle flying past campgrounds into the distance.

"I didn't think a place like Egret Lake would be home to such a magnificent gold eagle," the second highness praised, "It's a shame we don't have the time to go check out where its nest is."

Reidy was completely flabbergasted that the second highness could still spare attention for something as so trivial despite the presence of three blademasters and the duchy's forces.

Given that he had already experienced his fair share of battles and had lots of experience, the second highness didn't just set up his camp casually. He chose a hill that only had a small path leading to the peak. The area around the mound was muddy and uneven with peaks and troughs up to tens of meters. While it made it easier to defend, it also meant the enemy could overwhelm the defenders and trap them on the hill.

The two duchies' soldiers gathered in the distance with a few men, probably silver-ranked knights, giving instructions from the front. Not far away, three blademasters with differently colored cloaks stood on a small mound to take a good look at the army camp. Even they hadn't expected to bump into the Andinaq kingdom's king here during winter. However, they quickly understood why the second highness had come.

"Ptooey! This stupid king really won't give up until he ends the four central duchies! He even came here to scout a path in this kind of weather? Fortunately, he bumped into us. It doesn't look like he brought many troops with him. Should we go mess with him?" asked the blademaster from Shabaj hatefully.

The Handra blademaster analyzed the camp.

"It seems our luck is rather good. The king didn't bring a lot of men with him, only about a thousand. Our duchies have deployed a regiment each. We should have double their number. The king will have brought men stronger than our own, though, and we're the attackers, so we're at a disadvantage. Also, the soldiers sent with us are here on a capture mission. They don't have equipment suited for attacking an entrenched position. If we insist on taking the hill, we'll have to suffer lots of casualties.

"There should be a blademaster by the king's side at all times. If that cursed Norton boy joins hands with the blademaster, it'll be enough to deal with the two of us. The only advantage we have is Blademaster Xanthi and House Fisablen's silver-ranked guards. If she's willing to step in, I believe the king will definitely regret leaving his main force behind."

The Handra blademaster seemed far more clear-headed than the other. He understood Xanthi was the one in charge in the end, so he didn't bother to think up any plans. Neither he nor the Shabaj blademaster could take 100 of Xanthi's strikes even while working together. He wondered whether she might have broken through the rank 3 already.

Xanthi was also checking out the camp. When she heard the two blademasters talk, she turned around.

"I have two questions. First, are you certain the Norton boy managed to make it to the camp? Second, did the escaped knights and soldiers send anyone to pass on the message?" asked she.

Xanthi was worried the second highness had already sent for reinforcements. If that were the case and they didn't act fast, they would eventually be swamped by the main force. Even a rank 2 blademaster like her couldn't face waves of formations one after the other. If one didn't care about casualties, it was indeed possible to kill blademasters by sending waves of men into the grinder.

"I am certain the boy made it," the Shabaj blademaster said before he called a few soldiers over, "After seeing the Andinaq kingdom knights and soldiers retreat, these men tailed them all the way to their camp. Let them describe the situation to you."

The leader of the soldiers bowed.

"Revered Blademasters, when we arrived, we saw our target enter the camp with a few other knights. The rest of their soldiers soon entered the camp and the gates were closed. They haven't opened since. I left two men behind to continue monitoring the situation while I circled the hill with the rest of my men. The surrounding area has mounds upwards of 10 meters high. We couldn't climb into the camp, but those inside can't escape either."

"You did well," Xanthi nodded kindly, "I will remember your contributions."

The leader was so excited his face turned red. He bowed hurriedly before leaving. He didn't know that Xanthi had only made the comment off-handedly. She would've asked for the soldier's name if she really wanted to remember his deed.

Xanthi looked at the hill once more.

"Since we've already been on the chase for so long, we should see it through all the way. At least we won't return humiliated. Also, somehow we had the chance to meet that king and I happen to want to invite him to take a trip to the duchies. I'm sure your dukes would be incredibly welcoming of the king's visit."

Since Xanthi was willing to lend a hand, the matter would be concluded swiftly. The Handra and Shabaj blademasters called their two regiment leaders over and gave their instructions: they were to send three hundred archers to surround the other three sides of the hill and prevent anyone from leaving by rope and calling for reinforcements. The rest of the duchies' soldiers would gather at the main path leading up to the hill to cook and rest. At the same time, another group of soldiers would be sent to fell trees for wood to use as shields for the upcoming assault.

"Your Majesty, I think they're preparing to take action," said Gold-ranked Knight Ripleid with a solemn expression.

The second highness, Blademaster Manst, and Reidy all stood behind the camp's large wooden door and looked at the droves of enemies. They were as scurrying ants.

"Your Majesty, that person with the black cloak in the middle is Blademaster Xanthi. She's the shortest one. The other black-cloaked person beside her, the taller one, is the Shabaj blademaster. I don't know what he's called. He isn't that strong anyway. I fought him for over a hundred strikes and he wasn't able to do anything to me. The guy in the grey is the Handra blademaster. He's a bit stronger than the Shabaj one. I think he's called Bill-something," introduced Reidy.

"Billjack. We met on the battlefield once in Redlis," the second highness mused, "He isn't a match for Manst. If your claim of being able to hold the Shabaj blademaster, leave Billjack to Manst. I need to find a way to prevent Xanthi from breaking through our defenses. Great, this will be quick. Ripleid."

"I await your orders, Your Majesty," replied Ripleid as he came to attention.

"We brought a thousand man regiment this time around," the second highness continued after a moment of thoughtful silence, "Including the servants and laborers, we have roughly 1100 people in total. There's also the three gold-ranked knights: You, Molva, and I. Fortunately, we have 500 longbowmen, 200 shield bearers, and 300 pikemen. It's enough to force a blademaster of the third rank back.

"Ripleid, split the longbowmen into five groups and take up the pentagon formation by the entrance. Next, match the shield bearers and pikemen into groups of ten. They will be in charge of holding Xanthi's assault back and limiting the battlespace to force her into range of our longbowmen. As for you, Molva and I, we will each take five silver-ranked knights. Once Xanthi evades the arrow volleys, we'll charge in to force her back into the longbowmen's range,0 understood?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will start preparing now," replied Ripleid as he left in a hurry.

Reidy looked at the knight's back curiously.

"Your Majesty, will you be able to deal with a rank 2 blademaster like this?"

"Of course," the second highness laughed, "The combination of many normal soldiers and formations allows us to deal with high-tier fighters. It's a lesson we've learned from the centuries of warfare the empire has under its belt. As long as we stand our ground without escaping, we can even teach blademasters a lesson or two. Don't the Norton forces have a similar formation?"

"Well..." Reidy scratched his head embarrassedly, "Your Majesty, our forces have never run into situations like these before. We haven't had to do anything about it. Usually, when there's a blademaster in battle, His Grace would go out and deal with the threat himself. All our forces have to deal with are normal soldiers, whom are far from our match."

The second highness was shocked.

"What did you say?! Locke deals with blademasters personally?! I-I-Isn't he unable to break through to the silver rank?!"

"Actually, Your Majesty, my teacher trains in the ways of the ancient eastern combat monks. That's why his battleforce has always remained at the iron rank. However, most rank 2 blademasters aren't his match. Back when we defeated the second prince's 100 thousand troops, His Grace defeated Blademaster Xanthi once," said Reidy.

"You were serious when you said you could face the Shabaj blademaster?" pressed the second highness.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Teacher taught me the ancient eastern combat method as well. While my battleforce is stuck at the silver rank and I can no longer improve it, I defeated seven gold-ranked fighters at Duke Fisablen's knighthood tournament and won the championship," replied Reidy honestly.

"Very good. Since that's the case, I'm confident I can hold the camp. Reidy, you'll be in charge of dealing with Biljack. You just have to stall him, I'll let Manst deal with the weakest blademaster so we can take him out of the picture or at least wound him as quickly as possible. He'll help you out with Billjack. As long as those two blademasters are defeated, we'll stand a chance against Xanthi. Looking at the skies, I predict there'll be a snowstorm in a day or two. Given that the enemy didn't bring any resources to weather the winter, we'll see how they fare when the snow falls," said the second highness in high spirits without the slightest worry for the busy enemy troops at the foot of the hill.

The enemy rested for roughly four hours after lunch before launching their first attack. The duchy soldiers had originally intended to establish a foothold on the hillward path, but it had two sharp turns that exposed them to arrow fire even after they deployed their wooden shields. The first offensive was forced to retreat, leaving a trail of roughly 50 corpses.

It was evident even from the camp that they paid a hefty price for retreating without orders. The first six were beheaded publicly. After regrouping, the second attack was launched. It was worth noting that the two duchy blademasters had joined the group.

"Let them come. Have the longbowmen look out for Xanthi and fire whenever she makes a move. Make sure she isn't allowed to come here no matter what. I leave the two blademasters to you two. Manst, Reidy, don't let me down. As for the other small fry, I hope you'll deal with them, Ripleid. Instruct the shield bearers to keep an eye out for the enemy's longbowmen," barked the second highness as he watched the enemy climb the hill.

"Understood, Your Majesty."

The two blademasters didn't expect their advance to go unopposed. They arrived at the camp gates without much effort at all. They couldn't help but wonder why. They had been expecting to be hit by a volley of arrows like before; the reason the two blademasters came up with the rest of the soldiers in the first place was to nullify the damage the longbowmen could do so Xanthi could make a sudden follow-up attack. But when they saw Reidy and Manst stepping out to receive them, they knew that their plan had gone awry.

There were only a little over a hundred duchy soldiers accompanying the two blademasters. Thanks to the wooden shields were already deployed, there were only ten or so shield bearers and longbowmen among their ranks, alongside 20 or so pikemen with the rest empty-handed. Given they had to hold wooden shields with both hands, they could only draw the daggers and shortswords they brought with them. Faced with Ripleid and five other knights' charge, all they could do was cry out in terror as they were cut down. A massacre.

The two blademasters were barely holding on against Reidy and Manst's savage assault. They could only hope for Xanthi's assistance. They didn't see that two of Xanthi's attempts to get up the hill was halted by volleys of arrows.

The second highness commanded his 500 archers to fire relentlessly at Xanthi to good effect. He didn't order them to shoot at Xanthi herself, but instead at the spots where Xanthi would land from a leap. She was forced to jump around like a circus monkey and couldn't gain much ground.

After Xanthi was forced back for the third time, she picked up a wooden shield, enrage, and ran up the hill. She got about halfway before the shield was shattered -- no longer able to withstand the concentrated volleys of arrows -- and she was forced back once more. All things considered, her physical constitution as a female and light, speedy sword style, it wasn't within her capabilities to rush uphill with a wooden shield like a barbarian. In fact, the second highness would welcome several more attempts -- having the archers fire at one concentrated spot was far more effective. The combined force of 100 arrows against the wooden shield was not something a normal person could bear.

"Agh!" cried Shabaj's blademaster as he clutched his right side with his left hand, bleeding from Manst's strike.

"What's up with you?" asked Billjack after he forced Reidy away and headed to his partner.

"I got hit over here, but such a small scratch won't kill me. Is Blademaster Xanthi here yet?" asked Shabaj's blademaster with grit teeth.

Billjack took a glance at the foot of the hill before hurriedly turning back to block an attack.

"What's going on? Why isn't she rushing up?" wondered he.

Seeing their enemies already on the brink of breaking down, Manst and Reidy intensified their attacks in a desperate attempt to force the blademasters to remain. Billjack protected his companion as he retreated slowly until he reached the side of the hill.

All of a sudden, Billjack threw his longsword towards Manst and used the opening it created to roll down the hill with his comrade in his arms. Reidy leaped down and struck out with his sword. He managed to land a cut on Billjack's left thigh.

"Ugh!" cried the two blademasters as they rolled down the hill before the duchies' soldiers dragged them to safety.

"What a shame. I didn't think those two would actually use such a method to escape. If we had a squad of archers on standby, they'd have been pincushions by now," the second highness said, slightly regretful, "Then again, it's already a better result than I hoped for. Those two have been incapacitated, so let's see how Xanthi plans to make her way up here by herself."

When evening came, snow began drifting down from the grey sky like the feathers of a swan.

Made it in Time

Here's this week's last release! It's been really busy for me with my tests lately, but I'm glad I can still keep up with the rate!

Even though the second highness felt like crying, he didn't even have the tears to do so. Corpses lay sprawled all over the bloodied ground covered in a thick layer of snow. The soldiers fortunate enough to survive were flipping around the corpses of their comrades in hopes of finding other injured survivors.

The sky seemed to glitter as the snow fell. The snowflakes were no longer as large as a swan's feather, though. The dark of the sky stood in stark contrast with the pure white on the ground, so bright it almost seemed eye-piercing. One look would bring tears to the eyes.

The second highness looked at the enemy camp with bloodshot eyes. Over there was a large bonfire and songs and cheers of the victorious. Within a single bone-chilling night of snow when both armies unable to fight, Blademaster Xanthi actually scaled the sides of the hill to enter the campsite using a human ladder. Her sudden appearance caught the second highness and his silver-ranked knights off-guard, allowing her to slaughter away in the camp.

Ripleid came over wearing a thick bandage on his head that covered the cut. It looked just like a large hat. It was the mark Xanthi had left him. If her cut had been the slightest bit lower, not only would Ripleid have lost an eye, his face might also have ended up disfigured.

"We just finished the casualty count, Your Majesty," said Ripleid, kneeling.

"Out with it. I'm listening."

"There are 189 casualties among the longbowmen, 128 of whom are dead. The other 61 are no longer combat capable. The pikemen suffered the worst of it. Of the three squads, there are 247 dead. The remaining 53 are mostly injured. Only 45 shield bearers died with another 51 injured. We only have one combat capable squad remaining. Twenty-two of our servants and laborers were killed as well," reported Ripleid as he read the beastskin in his hand.

The second highness waved his hand, annoyed.

"How are our knights?"

"We only have seven silver-ranked knights left. Even Knight Molva was injured. He wasn't as lucky as me. He needs three months to recover. Blademaster Manst is fine, but Reidy of suffered another injury to his shoulder."

"In other words, we lost about half our combat strength in a single night," sighed the second highness.

"This isn't your fault, Your Majesty. None of us thought the enemy would attack from the sides of the hill. The two squads of longbowmen we stationed at the gates were useless."

"I've always been known for my surprise attacks, but after last night, I finally get to know how it feels to be on the receiving end. It was due to my carelessness alone. I forgot I wasn't dealing with normal soldiers, but a rank 2 blademaster instead. Had I not been numbed by the victory yesterday and thought everything was under control... I should've understood that one shouldn't follow the common train of thought when dealing with blademasters. If I had thought of this earlier, I could've set a trap in the camp and bit back at Xanthi instead of sustaining such terrible losses," said the second highness with a raspy laugh.

"Your Majesty, you shouldn't blame yourself. It is we, your subordinates, who were incompetent and unable to resist the enemy. Given we already lost most of our forces, I was thinking it's about time we handed Reidy to the enemies and come to an agreement to stop fighting. After all, they came here for that kid and even chased him for so long," expressed Ripleid after seeing that nobody else was around.

The second highness laughed bitterly.

"Ripleid, I understand you make this suggestion out of your loyalty for me and consideration for my safety. But you don't seem to understand that their target changed to me the moment they saw my banner. This matter will not end if we hand Reidy over. Also, as the king, while I can allow my own knights to make sacrifices for my sake, I can definitely not surrender my loyal servants to the enemy for a truce. This is something that goes against the honor of being a king."

Seeing Ripleid attempt once more to convince him, the second highness waved his hand.

"I know your thoughts. You're going to say that even though the Nortons are on our side on the surface, that's not actually the case, right? I know he's let my hopes down a number of times, but he's still a duke of the kingdom and has already paid his dues. Even if there's conflict between the two of us, it's only one concerning our goals. What he cares about is the wellbeing of his subjects, while I want to reunite the former empire.

"You should respect the duke, Ripleid. Even though Reidy isn't my knight, I have the duty to ensure his safety. Reidy is Locke's eldest disciple that trains in the ancient combat arts of the eastern monks like he does. This goes to show how heavily Locke regards this disciple of his. As long as we can tough this predicament through, I am almost certain the duke will make it up to us. You don't need to convince me anymore. Make your preparations, our enemy will attack the moment the snow lets up."

Ripleid bowed deeply before leaving wordlessly.

Just as the second highness predicted, the skies brightened as noon approached. Snow fell no more and the duchies' soldiers below the hill made their preparations to attack. With high morale, they got into formation and prepared to scale the hill once more. Xanthi stood at the very front of the formation with tens of House Fisablen's silver-ranked guards behind her holding wooden shields.

Perhaps, this will be the last battle.

The second highness had the remaining 80 or so longbowmen split into four smaller squads. He no longer had the confidence to halt Xanthi's advance. Blademaster Manst stood beside him with a stern expression, prepared to resist Xanthi should she come over. While he didn't manage to fight her during the night attack, he knew there was no way he could match her.

Reidy was standing next to Manst with his shoulder heavily bandaged, the cloth died red with blood. It was the mark Xanthi left after the previous night's attack. While he managed to parry two of her strikes, the third struck his shoulder. Had it not been for Manst's prompt reinforcement, the next attack would have killed him.

Ripleid and the seven remaining knights formed the last shock troop unit. The second highness had left Reidy and Manst in charge of holding Xanthi back. Apart from the eight knights, everyone was there to deal with Xanthi alone. The knights had to hold the 2000 or so soldiers back. It was practically a suicide mission given the odds. Even if the duchies' soldiers are really that weak, sheer numbers was enough to make up for the difference. The only question was how much damage Ripleid and the knights could cause.

The bright cry of an eagle sounded in the skies once more. It was the majestic gold eagle they saw the previous day. It was circling the area.

Blademaster Manst gave it a regretful look.

"This eagle's rather intelligent. It knows a battle will break out soon and it'll have enough corpses to feed on later."

The second highness laughed.

"Blademaster Manst, you're mistaken. Only vultures and crows like to feed on corpses. Gold eagles are majestic, they won't feed on corpses. I bet it's here just because it's curious why there're so many people down here. After all, Egret Basin should usually be rather quiet, especially during winter."

After the low hum of a horn blown at the bottom of the hill, the battle began.

The first wave of attacks ended within thirty short minutes with Xanthi unable to wreak much havoc. Even though she managed to make it to the top of the hill, she didn't think the second highness would have everyone in the camp target her. Given that it was daytime, she wasn't able to hide easily like she could in the dark of night. Under the second highness's flawless instructions, the soldiers forced the blademaster to retreat after seeing that she couldn't achieve much.

Ripleid and the eight knights were sweating non-stop. They had just managed to stop the soldiers from advancing with the help of tens of servants so they didn't have to charge out yet. They just had to throw lumber down the mound to break the formations on the slope, scrambling their ranks and disrupting their synergy with Xanthi.

After half an hour of rest, the soldiers at the base of the hill prepared for another attack. This time around, Xanthi no longer tried to enter the camp herself. It seemed she intended to join the soldiers in the climb up the slope so he wouldn't be the focal point of the second highness's attack. But right after the duchies' soldiers were given their briefing, loud cries sounded from afar. They rumbled the ears.

Almost everyone looked in the direction of a snowy slope to the north. Nobody knew when a silhouette appeared there. The person had two long and thin pieces of wood strapped to both feet with each hand holding a black, curved stick. The silhouette pushed against the ground with the sticks and soared down the slope. It really did look like flight to the second highness. He never imagined anyone could travel down such a steep slope so quickly and only leave a trail of lines behind.

Normally, one would have to walk down the slope step by step or roll downwards horizontally. But the latter method wouldn't work when the slope was littered with rocks. Yet, the figure swerving down the slope could change direction swiftly and made it to the bottom in a few blinks of the eye.

"We're saved! We're saved! His Grace is here!"

The second highness' eyes widened.

"That… That's Locke? The Duke of The Northlands?"

"Yes, it's my teacher, the Duke of The Northlands, Norton Lorist! Your Majesty, there's no need to worry anymore. We're safe now," stammered Reidy.

"Nonsense, he can't deal with more than two thousand soldiers by himself, right? Xanthi is also here. I worry Duke Norton will be in danger as well. It's best to have him join up with us and face the enemy together," said Ripleid with rolled eyes.

Just like the second highness, he had never seen Lorist fight before and treated all the rumors about Lorist's ability as tall tales. For example, the second highness even though word of Lorist fighting at the frontlines himself was just a rumor made to boost the morale of his troops. There was no way an iron rank like Lorist was brave enough to try a stunt like that.

"Don't utter crap if you don't know my teacher," Reidy snapped, glaring at Ripleid, "His Grace would never do anything he wasn't confident he could do. Since he dares to attack the enemies down there, it means he doesn't even consider them a threat. Apart from Xanthi, the rest are only small fry to him."

Ignorant of what those on the hill were discussing, Lorist continued to advance towards the formation of duchy soldiers. Blademaster Billjack was the first to be bothered by Lorist's sudden appearance. Even though he had suffered a strike from Reidy on his left thigh, he was only slightly hampered, unlike the Shabaj blademaster, who was injured on the right side of his torso and laid resting back at the camp. While he wasn't in danger of dying, he needed at least three months to recover.

Dragging his injured leg along, Billjack limped forward, drew his sword, and called out, "Stop! Who goes there?! Announce your identity and purpose!"

"Idiot..." Lorist didn't bother to decelerate and handed the stick in his right hand to his left before he drew the longsword hanging by his waist.

Since the newcomer was definitely an enemy, Billjack roared and positioned his injured leg to his back with his right leg in front as he turned the sword in his hand into a bolt of lightning and cast it in Lorist's direction.

Clang! The loud clash of swords reverberated throughout in the area, yet, Lorist's longsword didn't fall to the ground like everyone expected. Lorist had flicked his wrist and positioned his sword horizontally as he swooped past the blademaster.

Billjack remained standing in an odd position. A cold breeze blew by and the onlookers realized his figure shook from the wind. His head fell to the ground, rolling, before his headless body collapsed, dying the snow red.

Billjack was beheaded with only one strike. Almost all the soldiers gasped in complete shock and took an unconscious step back. They realized someone far stronger than Xanthi had arrived. Even she required three or four moves to defeat Billjack, this had been confirmed by some of their earlier sparring sessions.

Lorist circled around and stopped in front of Xanthi like nobody's business before he stuck the two sticks into the ground and took off the skis tied to his feet. He removed his scarf and smiled.

"It's my pleasure to meet you here, Blademaster Xanthi."

"How can it be you? Lorist? Why have you come here? Did you forget that y-you're the Duke of The Northlands?" exclaimed she, shocked.

Lorist furrowed his brow.

"So what? What stops me from coming over? Even His Majesty is here. Why can a duke like me not come to receive him? I also heard you've been taking care of my trouble-making disciple, so I came here to show you my gratitude."

"Oh, really? That's very nice of you," Xanthi said before she laughed wryly.

Her expression turned serious and she drew her sword.

"Enough with your nonsense. Norton brat, since you dared to come here today, don't think I'll let you go back in one piece! En garde!"

Becoming one with her sword, Xanthi closed in on Lorist in an instant.

Captive

Enjoy this week's first release!

This was already the best Blademaster Xanthi's could do. Ever since she broke through to become a rank 3 blademaster a year ago, she had never executed a move she felt was so perfect it was her ultimate move. It was swift and ephemeral, yet bright like the stars. Seeing Lorist just about to be enveloped by the sword flashes in his surroundings, Xanthi's lips curved into a smile.

Do you still think I'm that rank 2 blademaster from a few years ago? Hmph, I'll show you this isn't that soldier-surrounded duke's mansion where you acted so haughty. I won't go easy on you this time. You will learn your lesson today, Locke, my boy. Let's see whether you still dare to trick my beloved Sylvia after this... You and the sweet words with which you misled her... I'll only spare you when you kneel before my duke and sign countless treaties of surrender...

Though she already had it all planned out, her confidence was shattered by three strikes from Lorist's longsword.

Clang clang clang! The sound of clashing metal exploded from the swords' contact point. The starlight-filled surroundings vanished. Not only did the longsword Lorist casually waved accurately parry the three killing blows hidden in the starlight, the counterforce from those parries even forced Xanthi backwards in an arc across the sky. She couldn't launch any more attacks.

"Left shoulder, right torso, and right chest? Oh, and my thigh," Lorist mused as he easily deduced the targets of Xanthi's strikes with a drunk smile, "We haven't met for a few years now, have we? And to think you've become a rank 3 blademaster... It's too bad while your force did increase, your swordsmanship didn't improve at all. You're still going about it with the same approach. It seems you only broke through thanks to luck instead of some transformative realization."

Xanthi was flabbergasted.

"You... How could you take my attacks?"

"Take your attacks?" Lorist mused curiously, "Should it have been difficult? It wasn't to me, at least. I already know your sword style by heart. I can even fight you blind. Didn't you see it earlier? Stop overreacting to everything, sheesh."

While Lorist made it sound easy, Xanthi's face went pale.

"You're mocking me, aren't you?" she said gritting her teeth.

Lorist shrugged.

"If that's what you think, I can't change your mind. I was only speaking the truth."

"I'll show you!" cried Xanthi as she rushed over again.

It was too bad her frenzied attacks were completely ineffective. Lorist deflected every one of her strikes patiently and confidently as he commentated.

"Oh, this strike was insidious... You actually tried to pierce me there and end my family line? Well, you were just a little bit off. Hha, you weren't able to do it!"

"Whoa! You had that move as well? Heh, I blocked it anyway. Didn't I give you some pointers before? Mere speed is useless. You need accuracy as well."

"Only three of your ten strikes managed to connect. The other seven were only wasted effort. Why don't you understand something so simple at your level?"

Xanthi was so mad she almost coughed out blood.

How is he so shameless, to even mock me during our duel!

Lorist used the opening and put his sword to the side before he gave Xanthi a huge kick, sending her a few steps back before she kneeled on the ground and coughed up blood three times.

Despite having gotten in a cheap strike, Lorist didn't stop.

"Once one reaches the blademaster level, one shouldn't only pay attention to the sword in one's hand. One must forge oneself into a sword. This is the true essence of what it means to break through to the blademaster level, understand? The tricks you manage with the sword in your hand are limited at best. Considering your relationship with Sylvia, I'll spare you this time. You may scoot now."

Hack! Xanthi spat out another mouthful of blood before she stood up, her hair all messed up, and rubbed off the trace of blood on her mouth.

Raising her sword, she proclaimed, "You don't have to care about what Sylvia thinks. I won't let you be together with her. It was I who disturbed your date. I'll never let Sylvia become the woman of an adulterous, unambitious man! Kill me if you can!"

Lorist laughed bitterly.

"Oh please, old hag, it was Sylvia who the first move. When I accepted her feelings and wanted to give her a happy future, Duke Fisablen refused my request. In the end, you simply just don't take House Norton seriously, do you? Very well, I'll educate you right here and now before I settle the bills with House Fisablen after new year's. I'll have you guys kneel before me and beg me to wed Sylvia."

"Dream on!" cried Xanthi like a haggard woman.

She had none of the poise expected of a blademaster. She retreated into the formation of soldiers and pointed her sword at Lorist.

"Attack! Turn him into mincemeat!"

"Kill!" cried the soldiers.

Almost two thousand men rushed over with their weapons. It was a charge most rank 3 blademasters had to evade at all costs. Xanthi was not mistaken in her decision. Since her own power wasn't enough, she'd just swamp Lorist with numbers. Two thousand well-equipped men would grind even metal into dust.

While a few hundred won't be a threat to a blademaster, two thousand elite soldiers are more than enough to push you into a corner! I'll launch surprise attacks while hiding among them. Perhaps the scales of victory will tip in my favor.

Xanthi widened her eyes and followed Lorist's every movement. She would intercept him and push him back into the group the moment he backed off. She didn't expect Lorist's reaction.

Seeing the soldiers of the duchies run over, Lorist didn't tense up. He revealed a look of excitement, the look a predator would show when they spotted their prey.

"Come on!" yelled Lorist before he ran forward.

Whoosh! Before they even arrived, arrows flow over their heads straight for Lorist. The unit of about five hundred longbowmen had fired a volley, but they didn't expect Lorist would run forward. They had covered everywhere to whichhe could possibly dodge, but his charge rendered the whole volley useless.

"Kill!"

He had already made it into the middle of the formation. Where his swords passed, heads rolled from shoulders and blood arced into the air. The sword flash covered a circle around him and carved out an empty space. His figure could hardly be seen as he moved about at breakneck speed. His sword moved so fast it almost seemed like he was carelessly 'spilling' sword light. Not one of the soldiers were able to see him clearly. All they could register in their vision was the sight of their comrades falling like felled timber one after another nonstop.

All of a sudden, he appeared at the rear of the formation and began his slaughter of the longbowmen and crossbowmen. When there was nobody left, he looked back and saw the trail of corpses he left in his wake.

Someone dropped his weapon with an audible thud. It was like a predetermined signal, everyone's morale left them at that moment.

"De-demon!" cried the soldiers before they discarded their weapons and ran around like ants who had lost their way. The only thought on their minds was to make it as far from Lorist as possible.

"Attack!" cried a group of men from the hill.

The second highness personally led his troops to join the fight. Lorist blurred and re-appeared in front of the dumbstruck Xanthi.

"Hehe, any other tricks left up your sleeve, my dear Blademaster Xanthi?"

Xanthi pierced out with her sword, but it didn't even tear Lorist's clothes.

"Just surrender. On Sylvia's behalf, I will grant you treatment befitting of a blademaster and captive. You have no choice left. Put down your sword," advised Lorist.

Upon mention of Sylvia, Xanthi snapped out of her stupor. Angered by Lorist's advice, she growled.

"I will definitely not let you humiliate me! I still have a choice. I can die here and Sylvia will know her adoptive mother was killed by you!"

Xanthi rushed forward with crazy fervor. She didn't even bother to use any of her skills. She focused solely on shoving her sword through Lorist's chest. She'd rather die than surrender to him.

Looks like there's no convincing her, thought Lorist, annoyed.

He had considered whether he should just off the hag already, but he wasn't sure how he should break it to Sylvia if he did. 'Honey, I cut your mother in eight,' didn't sound really pleasing to the ear.

The issue was that, while killing Xanthi was easy to say the least, capturing her alive and unharmed wasn't, especially with how she was acting now. Lorist might even get bitten, and he even believed a rank 3 blademaster like her would actually go through with it.

"Enough is enough."

Xanthi didn't respond, she just continued her charge.

"You're really asking for it," barked Lorist angrily as he twisted his sword to deflect the incoming strike.

He flipped his hand again and slap the flat of the blade against Xanthi's left cheek. With a soft crack, two of Xanthi's teeth fell out of her mouth.

"I'll show you--"

Before she could finish, Lorist angled his sword upward to block the strike and suddenly appeared directly in front of her. Shocked, she tried to duck, only to be the slightest bit too late to avoid the fist Lorist thrust at her abdomen.

"Oof!" growled she in pain as she curled up like a shrimp being cooked.

She was unable to wield her sword and clutched her stomach with both her hands, mouth open as if she was going to puke at any moment. Seeing her reaction, and not wanting to be puked on, Lorist gave her a kick and sent her flying.

Xanthi's body flew high in the air but landed not far away. She had vomited mid-air. Lorist had to duck to avoid the filth falling from the sky.

With a thud, she landed on a patch of stained, snowy ground, rolled for a while, and stopped in front of the second highness's mount. The moment the second highness saw her, he was so terrified of being attacked he instinctively raised his lance and placed it close to her throat.

But when she opened her eyes and saw who was in front of her, she instantly said, "Spare me, I surrender..." and fainted.

The second highness and Lorist, who had just rushed over, crossed gazes in an awkward moment. There was an unspoken tradition among the nobles that the person one surrendered to would be one's captor. Taking another's captive and victory was also considered a shameful practice.

The problem here was that Lorist was the one who defeated Xanthi, yet the second highness was the one she surrendered to. It made her the second highness's captive and Lorist didn't have any rights to deal with her.

The second highness wasn't faring any better either. He had wanted to welcome Lorist's arrival, but he didn't think Xanthi would pull something like that. As a noble and king, he had the obligation to ensure the safety of his captive. However, he was here to congratulate Lorist on defeating her instead of taking her captive. In some sense, the second highness had inadvertently stolen the fruit of Lorist's hard work.

The second highness's face flushed as he struggled to think of something appropriate to say. Manst, Ripleid, and Reidy arrived at that moment.

Lorist hurriedly said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty! This hag has been troubling me for so long, and to think she would surrender in fear when she saw you! Your Majesty's name truly strikes fear in the hearts of the enemy all over the continent!"

Thankfully, Lorist had said something quick to diffuse the awkward situation. He didn't feel like going through the trouble of thinking of what to do with Xanthi. He couldn't beat nor rebuke her, as she was Sylvia's adoptive mother. Not only would he have to show her fine hospitality, he couldn't even request a ransom for her release. Should Sylvia ever cry in front of him, he'd have to set Xanthi free respectfully and without complaint.

Since the hag hates me so much, I'll let the second highness deal with her. Let her suffer and learn from this experience. We'll see whether she dares to pull tricks like this again. You think you can worsen my relationship with the second highness like this? I won't fall for it, thought Lorist with glee.

"Your Majesty, Blademaster Xanthi is already a rank 3 blademaster. She fainted from sheer anger and isn't much wounded or in any danger. She'll recover with some rest. It would be best to give her some force-dispersing toxin as soon as possible to prevent her from doing anything when she wakes up."

"There won't be a need for this, will there? She's a rank 3 blademaster. She should honor her word..." answered the second highness awkwardly.

"Your Majesty, she's a woman. No man alive can predict her next move. She's also a blademaster, she can easily find an excuse or derive a way to push her mistakes onto someone else and leave without worry. Just in case, it's better to take precautions," insisted Lorist.

The second highness thought about that snowy night when Xanthi slaughtered his army and killed so many of his nothing.

Nodding, he hurriedly ordered, "Ripleid, fetch the toxin."

"Understood, Your Majesty," answered Ripleid before he left for the camp.

"Teacher..." Reidy finally got a chance to speak with Lorist.

Lorist whacked Reidy on the back of the head.

"You little arrogant bastard... You think getting first place in the tournament is a big deal? Now you know there are so many people stronger than you, right? This time, you were lucky that His Majesty offered you protection until I arrived. If I didn't get news of your whereabouts, you might be a corpse already!"

Reidy understood teacher was rebuking him out of concern.

"I understand, teacher. Did you come alone?"

Lorist smiled and pointed at the slope he had skied down.

"I wasn't alone. I only had a head start."

Everyone turned and saw a row of people standing atop the slope. They were all equipped with the ski and rod equipment Lorist had used. They had massive backpacks on their backs as well that made them rather bulky. They slid down the hillside less elegantly than Lorist had.

"Your Grace! You shamelessly attacked first before we arrived! We wasted our time coming here!" protested Els as he breathed heavily from all the rushing.

Igloo

Here's the second release of the week!

Tagging along behind Tarkel, Howard brought the 30 guards and Jisan and the gold eagle trainer, Morbinghan, with him. It was rather crowded around Lorist and Reidy. Seeing that Reidy was fine, Tarkel breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried he would hear word of Reidy's demise along the way because he was the one that requested Reidy deal with the underground crime syndicates.

Howard hugged his senior apprentice-brother and complained about how tough the journey had been and the interesting things they saw along the way. Els instructed the 30 guards to set up a perimeter around Lorist after removing his skis to prevent any excited Andinaq soldiers clamoring down the hill from running into Lorist and the second highness.

The second highness had already dismounted and was coming over with a soldier. He analyzed the skis and their poles as he approached. After taking a good look at the whole thing, he put the skis down and stepped on the ski binding. Poles in hand, he gave it a small push… and fell.

Lorist struggled to resist the urge to laugh as he helped the second highness up.

"Your Majesty, this is called a ski. It's used to travel on snow. You have to have adequate training before you can master skiing. Nobody can learn how to ski just by watching someone do it once, especially considering you have to learn to balance on them. If Your Majesty doesn't mind learning from me, I wouldn't be averse to teaching you in my free time."

Not only did the second highness not get angry or embarrassed, he held Lorist's hand and praised him instead.

"Brother Locke, your house's new contraption is truly amazing! This is amazing for winter warfare! If a whole legion were trained to use skis, we could cover a lot of ground with good snow coverage and even circle around our enemy's forces! We'll have a definite advantage if we can access and attack the enemy's vulnerable rear!"

As expected of the second highness -- who shot to fame after a battle that took place during winter. The first thing he thought of was military utility.

Lorist shook his head.

"Your Majesty, this is included in the standard winter loadout for our soldiers. While up to a hundred people can move together effectively like this in the winter, even faster than horses, I'm afraid I can't use them offensively on the scale of a division, not speak of a whole legion. It's no easy task."

The second highness quickly understood Lorist's meaning. The winter loadout for around a hundred scouts already cost quite a bit. Just looking at the equipment and fur mantles, which were all made of magic beast fur, it could be seen how expensive it was. While Lorist could afford to spend a little more to increase the efficacy of his guards in the winter, supplying a whole legion with such high-quality magic beast fur was a ridiculous expenditure. Perhaps all the other equipment in their loadout combined couldn't even match the fur clothing's cost.

"You're talking about this, right?" asked the second highness, pointing at the guards' clothes.

Lorist nodded.

"Your Majesty, skiing and marching in snow are different. While marching is rather tiring, your body moves constantly and generates a comfortable amount of heat. Skiing, in contrast, makes you move against the wind; the cold air will quickly cut through normal clothes and freeze you. And it's just the beginning of your troubles. The other is to make sure you don't lose your way. The winter weather changes whimsically, it would be the end of you if you ran into a snowstorm."

"But didn't you guys make it here safely?" the second highness countered with dissatisfaction, "The last couple of days' weather wasn't that good either."

Lorist sighed, turned around and pointed at Morbinham.

"That's because we had him, Your Majesty."

Morbinghan took out a jade-colored bone whistle and blew it. A loud high-pitched sound rang out, much to the second highness's surprise. The gold eagle circling around the area flew down and perched on Morbinghan's right arm. He stroked its feathers lovingly and brought out a piece of beef warmed by his body heat and fed it to the eagle.

"Is... Is this the gold eagle you brought with you?" the second highness asked, flabbergasted, "Did you rely on it to find us?"

"Indeed, Your Majesty. This gold eagle is a precious son to Morbinghan. They've lived together for more than a decade. It only listens Morbinghan. When I received word that Reidy was being pursued and had escaped to Egret Basin, I had Morbinghan instruct his eagle to find a place where many people were gathered. Had it not been for the eagle, we would have been searching for a needle in a haystack. We would have had to wish on luck to help us find you," explained Lorist briefly.

The second highness was no fool, he knew he shouldn't desire the gold eagle after hearing Lorist's words. He looked at the eagle with a slight blush of shame and a hint of regret.

"No wonder you were able to find us so quickly. So it was thanks to the gold eagle's help. I never thought they could be used like this. I only considered them pets that brought entertainment to nobles. If only I could train them to scout… A single eagle could stand in for a scout squad of 100 men."

"Your Majesty's idea sounds magnificent," Lorist laughed, "I should go back and experiment. I'd like to see if I could train a few eagles as scouts. Our soldiers wouldn't have worry about falling into a trap or ambush."

At that moment, Ripleid returned with some toxin and fed it to the messy-haired Xanthi, who had just regained consciousness. She obediently drank it as she stared hatefully at Lorist. She didn't bother to hide her seething enmity.

Seeing her taken away, the second highness asked, "Locke, let's head to the camp first. When are you preparing to return?"

Lorist looked at the skies and saw the weak sunlight blocked by the many clouds.

"A snowstorm is coming. We'll rest at Your Majesty's camp for a few days. My guards could really use the rest. They've been running all around the basin with me. I'll teach you to ski so you can start practicing soon and master it quickly while we rest."

Upon reaching the campsite, Lorist looked at the tents, dumbfounded.

"Your Majesty, are you letting your soldiers stay in those in this weather?"

"Yes," the second highness said a little proudly, "Even though the cloth is thin, it's actually made of double-layered linen and given an oil coating. This is more than enough cover against snow and rain. When the snow melts, the water won't soak it either.

"Your Majesty, a storm is coming and snow will pile up quickly. Many soldiers will get frostbite from the cold," said Lorist without hesitation.

"Well, that was the case a few years ago. However, we've made some changes over the years as well. We assigned them gloves and extra clothing, so the number of injured should be relatively low. Also, we brought a lot of frostbite medication with us," argued he.

"This is what we call 'building a carriage with its doors closed'. You should've asked if you had anything you didn't understand. Els, build an igloo outside the camp, you have an hour. Show the second highness the right way to camp in winter," instructed Lorist.

The poor Els had to get straight to work right after putting his heavy bag down. He didn't get any rest. But when he saw the tents, he knew it would already be lucky if anyone managed to get any sleep in the night, given that one could survive it and not freeze, that is.

With a beckon, 20 guards came over to help him. Within an hour, a squarish igloo was built in front of the second highness. Its design was really simple. It started with the laying of wooden blocks to use as a base. Snow as watered next to solidify it into bricks. The bricks were then stacked and the gaps between each watered lightly. The liquid was allowed to freeze before the next placed on top. The only hard part was the construction of the roof. First, a few wooden beams were laid over the walls from one edge to the other and watered lightly so the ice would hold them in place. Finally, the whole igloo was watered from top to bottom to secure it to the ground so even the largest storms wouldn't shake it. Els also set up a tent behind the igloo.

"The tent is there to prevent the cold from harming our bodies. You can light a brazier inside. While the outside is freezing, the igloo is actually rather warm. Els will have to make some holes for ventilation. The igloo doesn't have any doors, instead, we use a fur flap to keep the wind out,"

"Locke, my brother, how do you come out with all these great ideas?" the second highness asked.

"This discovery isn't mine to claim, Your Majesty," Lorist smiled, "It was the great adventurer, Carmen Pride, who lived around a century ago, that discovered this method. I bought his autobiography when I studied at Dawn Academy and this method was recorded in it. You should know I had to deal with the magic beast wave every winter in the wildlands ever since my return to the dominion, right? Had it not been for these igloos, we'd have lost too many men to the cold, we wouldn't have been able to take out the magic beast wave."

"Even though you weren't the one who invented this, it was you who actually put what you learned into practice," the second highness continued his praise, "If it were that easy, why hasn't anyone heard of this method before and tried it out? Being able to apply what you learn gives you the most credit, my dear Duke of The Northlands."

"You speak too highly of me, Your Majesty. It's still only afternoon, we have some time to build a couple more. It would help if we could use a few of your soldiers."

"Very well. Ripleid!" called the second highness.

And so, Ripleid was made the chief supervisor of the igloo construction project to aid Els with the restructuring of the campsite.

The evening's banquet was held in the largest one. The second highness was elated as Lorist's arrival spared him the fate of being taken prisoner. Instead, the tables turned on the enemy and he even managed to capture a blademaster. A few might have escaped without him noticing, but he didn't care. Leaving for the wilds in such heavy snow was suicidal, to say the least.

Lorist left all the captives to the second highness. He couldn't be bothered to bring the thousands back. He had spent quite a number of days searching for his apprentice, in just a couple more days it would be the 24th day of the 12th month. The return trip to Firmrock would take 15 days and Lorist had to rush because he wanted to make it to the new year's celebration where other nobles and his vassals were awaiting his participation. Fortunately, he didn't have to circle around Egret Basin anymore, he could just use the main path at Egret Lake. It should take just around ten days to travel to Firmrock Castle on skis without taking any useless turns.

Outside, the storm blew strong. But the candles in the igloo merely flickered, keeping the ones making merry within warm and lit.

Blademaster Manst respectfully toasted Loris.

"Your Grace, do you think Blademaster Xanthi has broken through to the third rank?"

Lorist knew the reason Manst came over to ask that question and nodded. "That's correct. When I fought her years ago, she was still only a rank 2. Even though I managed to defeat her back then, I fainted from physical and mental exhaustion and only woke up after three days of rest. In my duel with her today, her attacks seemed even more ferocious than before, which led me to that conclusion.

"I understand what you're trying to say. You're thinking that Blademaster Xanthi is a little undeserving to be called a rank 3, right? If she really were a rank 3 blademaster, she should've been able to easily kill you instead of having a few of her strikes blocked by you during your fight at the campsite yesterday.

"I believe you interpreted the situation a little wrong. First, the attack during the night was a surprise attack, and Xanthi used mainly hit-and-run tactics while you focused on defending the second highness with the best of your ability. As Xanthi couldn't afford to clash with you and get entangled in a fight, she instantly stepped back after testing your defense out. Another factor is not the power of her attacks, but rather your advantage in terms of elemental attribute. Your battleforce attribute is earth, right?"

Blademaster Manst nodded.

Lorist continued his explanation, "Xanti's battleforce attribute is wind, so her sword style using light, swift and agile movements. Yours is the complete opposite. You express your swordsmanship through heavy, accurate and powerful strikes. Even though she trumps you in terms of rank, if you defend with all your abilities, even she wouldn't be able to get the better of you. If there were no other soldiers pressuring Xanthi to escape, you would've lost in around a hundred strikes. Also, what do you think of Reidy's swordsmanship?"

Manst gave it some thought and said, "Even I wasn't as good as him when I was his age. His swordsmanship is impeccable and he excels in both offense and defense."

Lorist laughed and said, "But even he got injured by Xanthi during their clashes because his battleforce attribute is metal, an element that considers the best defense to be offense. That's the reason he was easily crushed by Xanthi from being unable to block those formless strikes like the wind."

Manst mused in deep thought, "Oh, so that's the case. Thank you, Your Grace, for your insight on the matter."

Raising his own golden cup for a toast, Lorist said, "You're welcome. Let's drink to this."

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Lorist thought, you really believe what I made up just like that? You didn't even consider the fact that Reidy no longer trains in battleforce. How would he even have battleforce attribute?

Drinking Session

Enjoy the third release of the week!

The clouds were thick as the raving winds blew but the campsite on the hill was rife with activity. Thanks to Lorist's instruction, the second highness had learned how to ski and excitedly ordered his soldiers to pile up and flatten snow to make a skiing wonderland. He had lots of fun skiing with his knights despite the cold and windy weather.

Seeing the soldiers and knights on skis, Lorist felt moved somehow and thought that maybe he could spread winter sports across his dominion and make it a seasonal activity. It was far better than having his subjects stay in their homes all day long, at least. Then again, an exception would be the goat-tackling festival of Felicitas's third settlement.

It wasn't that Lorist didn't think of importing modern sports from his world, but that most were rather ill-suited for the world where battleforce existed. Take, for example, the three main ball games. Kicking a ball with battleforce would burst it outright, doing a slam dunk with the aid of battleforce would destroy the whole basket, and rugby was even further out of the question as battleforce rank and application would be the main deciding factors of victory. Frankly speaking, a gold-ranked knight could envelop himself in battleforce and run all the way to the other side of the field and score. His opponents wouldn't be able to do anything against him just because he was a gold rank.

As of now, the main sports within the dominion were swordsmanship, archery, javelin and throwing axe tossing and horse-riding, mostly traditional activities that had been passed down since days of yore. Lorist had once considered hosting a sports festival to lift his people's hearts but gave up after he realized how inappropriate the sports would be. He wasn't worried about there not being enough attendees either. In fact, a sports festival would be a great place to make the commoners spend their money and stimulate the economy instead of letting them keep their money saved and unused.

The second highness did a beautiful circular movement before stopping in front of Lorist. The surrounding guards clapped and cheered enthusiastically. Lorist clapped a few times himself.

"Your Majesty's skills are improving by the moment! You are truly gifted."

The second highness laughed with satisfaction.

"Well, it's coincidental at best. Skiing in snow doesn't appear to be too hard. The most challenging part is maintaining good balance. I realized that the soldiers with awakened battleforce learn to do this faster than those who haven't."

"Your Majesty's words ring true."

"Locke, why are you acting so formal? I've already said you ought to treat me like a brother when we're in private. Right now, you're the only one left that carries House Norton's blood and I am the last surviving offspring of the Krissen imperial family. Each's survival is contingent on the other's."

"Hehe, Your Majesty seems to forget that there are many branch families in my house. For instance, Glacia and her little brothers, my half-brothers, and my three sons and two daughters. Your Majesty, on the other hand, ought to take good care of yourself! You still haven't produced descendants for the royal family!"

The second highness sighed deeply.

"My mind's filled with nothing but restoring the empire and wiping out the humiliation we received. I can't be bothered with anything else right now. Oh, look. The weather's turning, and the snow has also stopped. The winds aren't as strong as yesterday's either. I bet it'll be sunny tomorrow. Are you going to leave then, Locke?"

Lorist bowed his head.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I've already stayed here for the past three days. It is best I leave early in the morning. There are many things I have to deal with back home. On another note, we'll attack Iblia next year. This is a huge matter and we can't afford to delay. It's best I head back to oversee preparations. I believe Your Majesty would like to witness Iblia's end too, right?"

The second highness nodded.

"Indeed. It's a kingdom built on rebellion. Even though the traitorous second prince has already been sentenced to death, the fact that his name still remains in the world through that kingdom is displeasing. I rely on you in this matter, Brother Locke. I hope your forces can wipe that accursed thing out as soon as possible."

"Hehe, ending the kingdom is not an issue just the Nortons will face. Duke Kenmays, Baron Falim, and Baron Shazin's forces will join the fray too. Only with the combined forces of the four houses can we ensure success. We will have to deal with the invasion of Duke Fisablen's cavalry forces as well as the four central duchies' raids against Southern once we're finished. Perhaps ending this war will take more time than we think."

Lorist was already prepared for a long war after attacking and exterminating Iblia.

However, the second highness didn't appear to be the slightest bit moved, as if he didn't hear what Lorist had said. Removing the skis from his feet and kicking the snow off his boots, the second highness raised his head.

"Since you're leaving tomorrow, let's have a drink tonight, just the two of us. Consider it a little parting celebration. Is that alright with you?"

Lorist smiled as he saluted.

"Naturally. It would be my pleasure."

That night, Lorist brought only Howard and two skin sacks filled with fine wine to the meeting. The wine was actually brewed according to a rice-fermentation method from Lorist's past life. It involved choosing the finest grains of rice and fermenting them in a very complicated process. The result was a really strong white wine with a high alcohol content that was only reserved for the enjoyment of the house's higher-ups as it was produced only in limited quantities due to the large amount of food required.

The second highness's igloo was rather empty. There was no one beside the two chefs working outside. Lorist had Howard heat the wine outside before he stepped in.

The second highness leaned against the table in deep thought. Lorist had no idea what was going through his head. He didn't notice Lorist's arrival. He only snapped out of his stupor after Lorist had called him thrice. He hurriedly invited Lorist to take a seat and ordered his chefs to begin serving the food.

The second highness sat in the main seat with Lorist to his left. Baked apples, smoked turkey, roast meat, and various vegetables were served shortly.

Raising his wine cup, the second highness said, "In the wilds, good food is hard to come by. This is definitely far from what I can offer you at the imperial capital. I hope you don't mind, Brother Locke."

Lorist raised his own cup in response.

"There's no need to go through such trouble, Your Majesty. The food is most delectable, not to mention the honor of dining with Your Majesty personally. Cheers."

The second highness downed his cup of wine just as Lorist did.

"Thank you."

"Your Majesty, I brought some alcohol I brewed myself but it's far stronger than what we usually have. You'll have to taste it slowly to appreciate the taste. I wonder if you'd like to give it a try?"

"Very well. Let me have a taste," said the second highness curiously.

Lorist clapped and Howard entered. He poured a cup for himself before pouring half a cup for the second highness -- who looked interested only in warming his hands with the chalice.

"Your Majesty, this kind of wine is drunk in the winter to warm you up. You have to make sure to drink it in small sips like this," said Lorist before he did his demonstration.

The second highness chuckled. He felt drinking wine so sparingly was a little too stingy. He took a mouthful of wine immediately. Even though it wasn't a full mouthful, it was hot enough to cause him to redden up. "Ah, it's hot! It burns like fire..."

After a good moment, the second highness returned to normal and had a look of understanding.

"I see now, Locke! This is what your soldiers use to train how to ski and march in snowy weather! All of them have a sack filled with tough wine like this that'll give you a burst of heat?"

Lorist nodded before he shook his head.

"Your Majesty, our soldiers are indeed given strong liquor to counter the loss of heat from the chilling wind. But theirs is brewed from roast potatoes and is really different from this. This wine of mine is brewed using the large grains of rice from Falik Plains and a sack like this costs ten gold Fordes. We'd have gone bankrupt if we produced this for the consumption of our soldiers.

"Also, the liquor we provide to our soldiers is rationed strictly. They don't drink much in a day. This is one benefit of favoring more small units over one large one. It's easier to keep an eye on what they do and what they consume. You thought you could rely on the skis to launch large-scale attacks during winter, but in reality, the cold-resistant clothes cost a fortune. There's also the issue of navigating in a snowstorm. Coupled with having to deal with undisciplined soldiers who would sneak a drink or two, you'll end up with a legion of bumbling drunks instead of one that can hold their ground in a fight."

The second highness sighed before he raised his cup and took a smaller sip.

"Ahhh... Locke, I've long wanted to have a good chat with you. Let's speak openly tonight, alright?"

A little surprised, Lorist agreed, "As you wish, Your Majesty."

"Locke my brother, I really don't understand why you're not willing to help me out. Given the might of your house, if you were willing to lend me a hand, we could've united the empire already. By then, your reputation as my loyal subordinate would be recorded in the annals of history for future generations to remember."

"Your Majesty considers our might impressive, but have you considered how we got it in the first place?" Lorist asked solemnly as he sat up straight, "Do you remember the time we first met ten years ago? Our house's convoy was trapped in the Madras duchy, unable to advance or retreat. The 300 thousand or so men with us on the brink of crumbling later became the keystone to our rise in The Northlands.

"Your Majesty, you should know roughly the state of House Norton when I first arrived. On one hand, Duke Loggins wanted to force us into submission; on the other, we had a group of rebellious subjects occupying one of the largest settlements in our dominion. As for our house, we only had around two thousand people at Maplewoods and were even faced with House Kenmays who had annexed part of our dominion.

"Do you remember how much better off you were from me then? You used my convoy to deal with the rebellious nobles and consolidated your power in the kingdom. You attacked Madras with our aid and managed to take Yungechandler. When our convoy resumed our journey northward, you led your soldiers to the east and defeated the first prince at Flowater Creek, forcing him to cede the two southwestern provinces to you. That year, your fame instantly spread across the lands and you were known as the war god of the new generation.

"But in the following half a decade of peace, you made bad decision after bad decision. You greatly expanded the kingdom's forces and actually formed an army of 300 thousand. You spent most of the kingdom's resources on just one army and wasted the peace time you could've used to rest and recuperate."

The second highness opened his mouth to speak, but Lorist didn't let him.

"Please don't interrupt me, Your Majesty, let me finish. Perhaps you did have your reasons. I know you've always wanted to reunite the empire and bring it back to its former glory. But you forgot that war is not only a matter of pitting one army against another. For instance, can you be sure how many of your 300 thousand troops are actually fighting for the sake of your ambitions?

"The empire's civil war raged for seven whole years and it took another three for the situation between the nobles to stabilize. Does Your Majesty remember the 100 thousand plus refugees loitering around in the kingdom with nowhere to go? They were originally proud citizens of the imperial capital who had been left homeless by the war. Half joined us, while you used the nobles you recently massacred to settle down the other half and finally brought peace to the kingdom.

"What the commoners want most is a life of peace and stability, but you've neglected that desire and merely promised to make it up to them after you united the empire. It's also why the kingdom's nobles supported Queen Carey's coronation when they heard of your losses in Redlis. It all happened because you failed to fulfill your empty promises.

"When you were busy building your army again, those refugees that followed our convoy managed to gain a peaceful life. House Norton abided by our promise to no longer subject them to the sufferings of war. Apart from resisting the magic beast wave and the second prince's attacks, we stayed within our dominion mostly and instead developed it. We focused on improving the quality of our subjects' lives. We spent lots of money developing our dominion in an effort to provide our subjects with a safe home even when we were mocked for being cowardly little bears that didn't dare leave our cave.

"I'm sure you saw how prosperous our dominion was during your visit. But did you wonder even once what kind of price we paid for that prosperity? If you didn't form your army in a hurry to conquer more land, your kingdom would've been just as prosperous. You already missed your chance once. For the sake of the empire's reunification, as long as you are able to focus on development for the next decade, you'll definitely achieve your ambition."

After hearing Lorist's earnest speech, the second highness continued to sip the wine without a single word until the cup was empty.

"Brother Locke, perhaps this is the greatest difference between the two of us. My goal is the reunification of the former empire and bringing us back to the days of our prestigious past. You only reach out to another place after you develop what you already have fully. I'm afraid I'm unable to sit still and develop the kingdom like you did your dominion. I'm constantly worried that a complacent and peaceful life will extinguish this lifelong ambition of mine. I might end up addicted to peace and become unwilling to forsake it for my ambition.

"I've had much time to reflect after I reclaimed my throne and will definitely no longer throw all my resources single-mindedly into the military. I will also learn as much as I can from you by properly controlling one area before moving on to my next target and will try to increase production alongside our military force. But I hope I have your support. I need you to supply some of your weapons," revealed the second highness with a tone of one pleading for help.

Lorist kept silent for a moment.

"Your Majesty, please state your request clearly. I will agree if it is within my capability."