440 - 446

Submission

"Most men do not get to choose their own fates. Those that do, tend to not choose wisely." ~ Duke Fisablen

Though he had agreed to seriously consider Handra's requests, Auguslo didn't really wish to. Whether it was a misunderstanding or not was of no concern. The key lay in the fact that he had a good chance of victory at the moment. Everyone knew the dukes were on the brink of defeat and tethered on their last lifeline, as long as he gave it another push, Handra's second defense line would collapse. What remained would be stomping on a losing hound.

However, the thing he most hated was Lorist's attitude. Lorist didn't agree to press the attack at all and believed there was no need to continue and sacrifice the lives of his soldiers given that the whole situation was set. Since the dukes had already admitted defeat, even though they had brought up conditions, they were still surrendering. What need was there to kill them? Additionally, they had also made it easy for him to step back from the war without harming his reputation by agreeing that it had started because of a misunderstanding. People didn't know whether the duchies had actually betrayed the empire.

Lorist had told him to accept the olive branch instead of dallying. He was the one in the wrong in the first place anyway. The dukes had been on good terms with the kingdom during the late king's reign and were also famed heads of prestigious houses during the empire's era. Not only had they been loyal, they had made great contributions to it. Yet they were now called traitors. He should clean up his own mess before accusing others.

The ing was pissed off a lot by Lorist's arguments, but he couldn't do much about it. He was inferior to the man in both personal strength and military might and House Norton had made huge contributions during the expedition as well. Lorist himself had also solved the king's refugee problem. While he had poked around where he shouldn't have, it was still a great help to the empire's reformation. The attack on Welony Pass had also been the deciding move that had placed the king in a superior position on the battlefield and had forced the duchies to send an envoy to sue for peace.

In stark contrast to the amazing performance of House Norton's forces, the other nobles's forces were just tagging along. His own Whitelion was used as a labor force, they had lost nearly half their numbers for meager results. House Fisablen's reserve legion had accompanied Whitelion and served as fodder. Though, since the ones who had died were mainly grassland barbarians, the duke didn't really care. In fact, the more he lost, the stronger his loyalty to the king was.

It was the king's greatest tragedy. Lorist's achievements were great, but his men didn't obey their king. The four houses of the alliance were in cahoots; since Lorist, the alliance's unofficial leader, couldn't be ordered around, neither could Kenmays, Felim, or Shazin's forces.

No matter how he tried to divide or tempt them, it was useless. Shazin had appeared infinitely grateful when he had ordered him to sweep the dominions of Forund's rich nobles, so Auguslo had thought he was now loyal to him, someone he could use. But the moment the man returned to the frontlines he obediently took up his place behind Lorist again. The mere thought of that particular failure incensed Auguslo all over again.

While Andinaq's army numbered 300 thousand in name, he was aware he could only command Whitelion and House Fisablen's reserve legion. Whitelion had lost nearly half its men during the campaign so far and only had 30 thousand men left. The reserve legion was formed from grassland barbarians and their casualties had filled with resentment. They may be barbarians, but they weren't idiots. They had become very willing to follow Lorist's orders since hey didn't incur as many casualties and even profited quite handsomely on occasion, while Auguslo had lost his ability to easily command them because he would only send them on suicide missions.

As for Third Frontier, it was Duke Fisablen's treasure. The king knew there was no chance in hell the duke would give him command of it. It wasn't quite like he wanted to shatter it anyway, he preferred it remain intact to cause trouble for Lorist when they returned home. At times — when he was calmer — he would ask himself whether the expedition's casualties would have been this low without Lorist's help. If he had been in total control on his own, he would've opted for a brute force approach and might've not even taken a single duchy by now.

It wasn't that he considered his achievements in military strategy inferior to Lorist's; he just had to consider the bigger picture since he was now the king. From this perspective, the ideal result was for both the duchies' and the alliance's forces to be battered and defeated by the end of it, while he would deal the final blow and conquer everything. It would cement his superiority over his disobedient vassals and shave off a considerable portion of their power. He also had to keep both Lorist and the duke on the frontlines so he could keep an easy eye on them. It had the unfortunate side-effect of allowing Lorist to rake in great achievements.

House Kenmays's two heavy-armored divisions had suffered the most casualties, around 1300 men, of the four houses' forces. Shazin's men had suffered the worst next, losing around 800 men during their sweep of the Forundian nobles' dominions. House Felim's pegasus came thereafter. They had been in charge of defense and scouting, and had lost around 500. Tigersoar had lost the least men, just 400. These numbers could barely be considered casualties compared to Whitelion's losses. It could even be considered an insult to Auguslo. It had even gotten so bad that rumors were spreading that he wasn't really the genius strategist he had been thought to be.

He was incredibly frustrated. He couldn't do anything about Lorist, and the rest of the man's alliance had stood behind his decision to not press the attack firmly. Even Duke Fisablen had privately told him to leave a thread of mercy for the dukes. They had already admitted their loss, after all.

Though he had his worries, they weren't something he could speak of publicly. It wasn't that he didn't want to spare the dukes, he had already set his sights on their dominions. While Andinaq's territory was vast, most of it wasn't under his direct control; he only had command of a couple around the capital and they had long been stripped of all their worth already. He had been sucking the provinces dry since the day he decided to reform the empire. That was why he had killed all the nobles involved in the rebellion after he retook the throne, even at the cost of his reputation. Without the resources those nobles had, he couldn't maintain the forces he needed to achieve his ambition.

He had planned to use the four duchies to rebuild his forces, to assemble an army half-a-million strong and to march on the Union. Them having a swordsaint supporting their position as the continent's largest nation, but it would cost them dearly. Even they had to be wary of creating a death-feud with a nation with an army half-a-million strong.

He believed the merchants would make a wise decision. His requests weren't excessive. As long as they returned the provinces of the old empire they now occupied, there was no need for war. He might even consider trading with them, even giving them special privileges, once the empire had been restored to its former glory. He looked especially forward to using them to deal with the alliance and its salt merchant committee.

In order to achieve these things, he couldn't accept Chujway's conditions, even after considering it for several days. He had decided; the duke would not get their dominions. They were crucial to his future and his ambitions. Lorist and Fisablen continued to pester him, so he wanted to finalize his decision as soon as possible. He summoned Chujway and gave him his conditions. He could forgive the dukes, but they would not get their current dominions back. They had to accept new dominions around the capital. They would also have to pay way steeper fines than they had offered. Handra, Forund, and Shabaj each had to pay 1.5 million gold Fordes, and Farkel had to pay 3 million because he dared to burn his city and the surrounding settlements. Finally, the dukes were only allowed to take 45 thousand men with them, everyone else had to be left behind and would be under his direct command. The duke's vassals would also no longer be such, they would fall directly under the king and would be demoted depending on their house's historic contributions to the empire.

His conditions were unexpectedly harsh. Though Chujway had wanted to contest, the king withdrew to his quarters and refused an audience. His attendants simply said the conditions were final and couldn't be negotiated. Chujway had no choice but to return and pass the message along.

Kenmays and the others were confused. The went to Lorist for clarification. Why had the king come up with such ridiculous demands? Wasn't he forcing the dukes to fight to the death? Would continuing the war be beneficial to him somehow?

Lorist smirked and pointed at the map.

"Our king has his eyes on the duchies. It's simple. To him, while gold is important, it can't compare to the manpower the duchies can provide. Reforming the empire with the provinces near the capital is a pipe dream. With these provinces, however, he stands a chance against the Union."

The rest gasped. Lorist warned them to be prepared just in case the dukes decided to fight to the death. Nobody could predict how long the war would last if they did. They might even resort to underhanded methods like assassination, so they had to watch out. Lorist was more hopeful that the dukes would accept Auguslo's conditions.

"What? Why would they even consider it?" Shazin exclaimed, "If it were me, I'd rather die than accept those demands."

Lorist shook his head.

"You don't understand. This concerns their houses' survival. It's not something the dukes can decide on a whim. They have no choice but to seriously consider it. The demands are unfair, but not so much so that it's completely unacceptable. While wealth is important, it can't compare to the house's legacy and continued existence. The most important thing is that they won't lose their peerage or be demoted, granted, they will lose their current titles.

"Their new dominions will be poorer, but they can rebuild. They haven't lost the right to have levies either. They can each keep a force of 45 thousand. If they bring these men's families along, they will have secure control of their new lands in no time. They don't have to be too concerned about their future"

...

On the 6th day of the 7th month, Year 1783, more than 50 days since Chujways' return. Andinaq's army remained stationed opposite the second defense line. Auguslo was still rather mad at Lorist for not wanting to press the attack and couldn't command Whitelion and House Fisablen's reserve legion to go on a suicide mission either. Duke Fisablen tried his best to appease the king and had managed to get him to agree to stay on the defense for a little longer.

That night, the sounds of fighting echoed over no man's land into Auguslo's, Lorist's, and the others' ears. Fires lit up the night soon thereafter. It appeared Farkel's Forestmont and Bloodspear's camps were under attack. It was incredibly odd; Auguslo believed it a trap to lure them into attacking.

A few scouts soon brought over a bloodied Chujway. He reported that Handra, Forund, and Shabaj had accepted his conditions and were willing to surrender. But Duke Farkel wanted to resist to the end and swore he would rather die than surrender. Though they managed to convince him otherwise after much difficulty, he then said he didn't have that many gold Fordes.

Just as they were considering whether they should send a messenger to ask for the Farkel's dues to be lowered a little he actually ordered his two legions to raid the duchy's towns and villages. They took, killed, and burned, committing every sin imaginable. Handra had sent his men to stop him, but the latter said that since the rest were going to surrender anyway, and that the territory would soon no longer be theirs, he might as well take what he could and leave nothing for Auguslo.

Angered to the point of coughing up blood, Handra led his troops into battle against the duke and managed to push him back to the frontline. He convinced Forund and Shabaj to surround Farkel's two legions. But before they could mobilize, Farkel attempted to escape.

Fortunately, Handra's garrison troops had long been prepared and didn't allow him to go anywhere. The situation had been thrown into chaos and Forund's forces had broken into Farkel's camp and were slaughtering everything on the hill. Chujway only barely managed to make it out of the mess to request reinforcements.

Greatly elated, Auguslo hurriedly ordered his generals to reinforce the frontlines to prevent the criminal ringleader, from escaping. Lorist actually obeyed his commands without protest for once. The mobilization of cavalry was the last nail on Farkel's coffin. They crumbled like withered barks as the cavalry charged into their lines. Many died or surrendered. Perhaps because the two legions had committed too many evils in Handra, Handra's men began to slaughter the surrendered soldiers after gathering them up. By the time Lorist realized what was happening, it was already too late. Most of the 30 thousand captives had been slaughtered, less than a third were still alive.

Handra and Farkel's clash marked the end of the campaign. The three dukes surrendered without further ado. Farkel, unfortunately, managed to escape towards Majik with a hundred riders and sought asylum in the Union. From that day forth he was a renegade noble.

Distribution of Rewards

"I would rather a Norton legion in front of me, than an Auguslo squad behind me." ~ Duke Forund

Hey guys.

BIG APOLOGY for the late release. That's my (Prince) fault. My class this morning went on for a lot longer than it was supposed to, so my editing was late. But here it is. I'll do an early release tomorrow to make up for it!

The war was finally over. Auguslo was fraught with tasks. There was much with which he had to deal as king. First, he had to arrange the new dominions. After negotiations, the two southwestern provinces became Duke Handra and Duke Shabaj's new dominions, Yungechandler, which neighbored Delamock, became Duke Forund's.

The two southwestern provinces, now formally named South Derika and West Derika, used to be known as the Derika area. Krissen I had split it into two provinces. West Derika was also known as the northwestern province and the two bordered Kanbona, which was forcefully occupied by the Union. In some official documents, they were known as the two southwestern provinces, but recently they were often called the frontline provinces.

When Auguslo vanished after his military loss at Frederika, Queen Carey had ceded them to the Union, who didn't absorb them directly, instead, they formed the Allied Duchies of Britt to serve as a buffer between them and Andinaq. But after Auguslo returned to power, Tigersoar destroyed the nation returned the land to the king's control. The provinces had served as Whitelion's main base since and contained most of the kingdom's defenses against the Union. However, given that it had been rather tumultuous over the years, less than ten percent of the population remained. Civilian life was desolate. There used to be as many as 500 thousand refugees at one point. Though Auguslo had tried hard to restore their economies, their ceding had sapped them of the last of their vigor. The provinces were mostly plains, but everything had been devastated and was no largely desolate.

The king had decided to give the provinces to his new vassals to get rid of their burden. He was intent on having Houses Handra and Shabaj serve as a barrier between him and the Union, and leave the land's development to them. This was the only reason he was willing to let them bring along some of their subjects. With the 45 thousand soldiers and their families, the lack of manpower could be solved. When it came down to it, manpower was the most important resource.

As for Duke Forund, he was given the title The Duke of Yungechandler. Though the province was small and poor, it was in a strategic location. Between The Northlands and the country's center, where the imperial capital was located, was Delamock, Yungechandler, and Welbassia. Auguslo enfeoffed Yungechandler to Duke Forund as his new dominion for less than pleasant reasons. He was intent on building a wall between himself and the alliance.

What's that guy up to? He's trying to raise his guard against us at a time like this? thought Lorist as he stroked his chin.

Upon knowing about Auguslo's arrangements, he couldn't help but praise his abilities as king. It was no wonder he allowed the three surrendered dukes to each bring a legion along. Not only could he retain the citizens', who would move to the new territories, loyalty, which would reduce unrest, he could also let the three dukes serve as his guard dogs. He was a true schemer.

Lorist believed that, if Duke Farkel hadn't escaped, Auguslo would have given him Rimad, right next to Southern. It would have been as good as closing the empire's doors to the alliance. However, fate was ever elusive. Duke Farkel wasn't willing to submit and had escaped to the Union. No one knew whether the Union would cause trouble for the king in the duke's name.

It was a busy time for everyone. The king was so busy taking over management of his new territories and planning the defenses and patrols so the folk could start producing without worry that again he was virtually unseen. The three remaining dukes were also busy rallying their forces and families in preparation for their move to their new dominions. House Fisablen was given the task of reorganizing the soldiers left behind before handing them over to gold-ranked knight and Whitelion general Ripleid, who would then integrate the elites into the legion's ranks and form two garrison legions from the rest. Kenmays, he was busy doing business with the dukes. Though they had each given 1.5 million to the king, it should still only be half of their available wealth. Kenmays had his sights on the rest and unleashed his silver tongue on the dukes. He wanted to convince them to purchase the supplies they needed from the salt merchant committee. He had even thrown in free delivery. Felim and Shazin were busy looking for Auguslo. They were going to demand their rewards.

After the battle, the two were made dukes as was promised. However, they weren't trying to confront Auguslo about their titles. Felim wanted to have the 30 thousand youths sent to his dominion to help out with its development, while Shazin wanted Auguslo to enfeoff him a province with lots of mineable resources. Auguslo was elusive, however, nobody knew where he was at any given time.

Lorist suddenly found himself the freest of his peers. Apart from being invited to socialize in the banquets organized by the three dukes, who thanked him for not pressing the attack, he spent the rest of his time listening to his two companions' complaints about their inability to find Auguslo. He advised them to stop looking for him.

"His Majesty would never avoid you intentionally. Maybe he's just surveying his new provinces. I'm certain he will return in time."

Though he said such words, he was becoming annoyed with the king as well. He could just return to The Northlands with Tigersoar and his two guard regiments even without receiving the king's signature on the contract that recognized his three-year tax exemption. He didn't care about the document at all. He'd love to see whether the man would risk his rebellion for not acknowledging the promise.

When he thought of Sylvia and their child, that the baby was half a year old now, the urge to return become overpowering. However, the cursed king chose now of all times to go survey his new lands and had the others wait for his return to Hans! How ridiculous! Rather than sit around spending money on his forces and having both himself and them grow lethargic, he would much rather return to the demonic lands on the other side of Nibarak. He could keep his men fit and sharp there. ánd make money instead of bleeding it.

The 8th month soon passed and he finally received news of Auguslo through an envoy. The man asked him to not dally around the demonic lands anymore. He hurriedly returned to Hans, Delamock's capital. There he realized the three dukes had brought their remaining subjects and were on the way to their new dominions.

Kenmays had long received proof of kingdom-wide two-year tax exemption for the committee, so he'd hurried back to organize the transportation and distribution of various goods. He left a letter for Lorist which said it was a huge deal estimated to rake in a million gold Fordes in revenue. If he could satisfy the three dukes and receive more orders from the three new dominions, it could turn into a long-term business relationship.

Duke Fisablen had also left with Third Frontier and the reserve legion with the rewards Auguslo had given him without meeting Lorist first. Only Felim and Shazin had remained at Hans with their forces. The two new garrison legions were there as well. As for the restaffed Whitelion, they had left for Majik half a month earlier on their king's orders. They were tasked with guarding Anderwoff's border to keep the Union from invading.

Lorist's two companions didn't look good when they received him. They appeared rather frustrated. Felim spat on the ground harshly after handing over Kenmays's letter before he told Lorist what had happened. Auguslo had duped him and reworded 30 thousand youths into 30 thousand people. There were less than seven thousand youths among them and the rest were their families.

Felim complained that even though his reward was similar to Duke Fisablen's, who received all 50 thousand youths and had a total of 170 thousand people, their families included, Auguslo suppressed his complaints. The reason was that Duke Fisablen had expanded the empire's borders and required more people for his dominion to prevent the lands from returning to being a breeding ground for grassland barbarians. Southern, however, was well within the empire's borders and faced no threats, so its population could grow naturally with the passage of time.

Additionally, Auguslo also compared Duke Fisablen and Felim's forces. He had said House Fisablen's reserve legion suffered heavy casualties during the expedition, with more than ten thousand dead, while Pegasus hadn't suffered nearly as much since it was tasked with scouting and patrolling. So, his reward was naturally inferior to Duke Fisablen's.

While he could only accept his bad luck. Shazin's matter was different entirely. Auguslo had given him two options. The first was to choose either Rimad or Messen as his hereditary dominion; the second, to wait until the kingdom reclaimed the territories the Union currently occupied. The latter would yield the house Bodolger, home to Frederika.

Shazin didn't want either. Rimad only produced lumber and stones and high-quality materials like gold crystals, black crystals, and red maple wood. However, there was no demand for such things in the chaotic time of war they were currently in. Messen also produced quite a bit of mineable resources, but it was worth something because of its quantity, not its quality. For example, the two silver and one copper mines only had small ore veins that would run out after some 30 years of mining. The quality of the mined ore was also disappointing and it was considered a rather bad place to mine.

Shazin didn't want to pick either Messen or Rimad, mainly because the two provinces had been ravaged thoroughly by the minor nobles' army at the start of the civil war, becoming barren and unpopulated. Naturally, the alliance had obtained some benefits, but Auguslo's decision to give either of the provinces to House Shazin felt like an insult even to Lorist directly.

No matter which province Shazin received, he would have to invest huge sums of money to gather refugees and spur development. It wouldn't recover for at least two to three decades. Auguslo's second offer also greatly enraged Shazin. Bodolger was the dominion of one of the Union's big-seven, Wessia. While Bodolger was a huge mining province, the question was: when would Auguslo reclaim it?

Shazin was very worried the answer was, 'not soon at all'. He might not even live to see the day. Additionally, he was worried that if he accepted Auguslo's second offer, House Shazin would be pushed to the forefront of battle in the name of reclaiming its dominion, which would push it into conflict with the rest of the alliance. While he appeared the rough one of the four, being greedy and a little daft with a common family background, he was no idiot. He understood on what House Shazin was dependent. Without Lorist's, House Kenmays', and Felim's care, he would be nothing. He might even be wiped out before he managed to truly establish his house.

He would rather remain at Lorist's side than join Auguslo. After all, Lorist's words were far more trustworthy than that king's. Lorist, at the very least, wouldn't forget to share some of the benefits. If it were Auguslo, he couldn't count on getting anything out of him other than trouble. He would be lucky if the man cared at all. The king praised someone to high heavens and tossed them away with the same mouth. Shazin could see this clearly.

He had refused the king's offers and asked for Kribia instead, one of Farkel's old provinces. Its main products were rock salt, gold silver, purple bronze, white lead, and black iron. There were also dozens of other resources and it provided around a million gold Fordes annually. He had long had his eyes on it.

The king would have none of it, however. By what right did this duke demand such a jewel? Whether it came to his contribution to the empire generally, or during the campaign specifically, he had done far from enough to deserve Kribia. The province had always been under the imperial family's direct control during the empire's days. And it had only ever been handed over temporarily to the dukes during the civil war. Farkel had been supposed to return it once the war was over.

The king told Shazing that he would pick one of the options he'd been given, or not get anything at all. Kribia was out of the question.

The duke had stormed out furious.

"Does that mean your efforts were in vain, Hennard?" asked Loris.

Shazin shrugged hatefully.

"I guess so. I can only blame my shitty luck. I'll never trust him again."

Lorist patted his shoulder.

"Just endure for now. You didn't suffer much either. You also earned quite a bit from Forund's nobles. It's a shame we didn't discuss our conditions with him beforehand. Whatever. I'll go see him and see what he has to say."

Big Business

Hey Guys!

So because yesterday's chapter was late, here's today's chapter early!

"Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity." ~ Charade

"You're back, Locke." Auguslo was really busy and only briefly greeted Lorist, who had just entered the hall. In front of him stood a thick stack of documents which he gave some thought before he started penning.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty," replied Lorist with a bow, stealing a quick glance.

His eyesight was pretty good and he could clearly identify that the documents contained personal information about nobles and their houses. It had to be information about the nobles who had followed the four dukes. The king was in the midst of deciding what he would do with them.

Seemingly not noticing Lorist's greeting, the king continued to focus on the document in his hand. Lorist didn't mind much, though. He straightened himself before checking the palace that was now the king's residence. It was one of the ten famed palaces of the old empire, Inkcuby Palace. Cuby was a thumb-sized fairy that existed in Grindian folklore said to bring bliss and luck. Legend had it that there was a black-haired fairy among the cubies who liked to make dresses out of black-colored flower petals, it was called the ink cuby. It liked brave and battle-hardened warriors. If a warrior was lucky enough to gain an ink cuby's favor, he would be endowed with courage and endurance and dominate the battlefield.

One of House Handra's heads was a warrior that frequented the battlefield and rarely emerged with any injuries, rumors quickly spread that he had gained the blessing of an ink cuby. The lord didn't waste the admiration his people, he used the wealth he gathered to commision Inkcuby Palace in his old age.

The artisans of the famed palace had hidden a thousand different ink cubies among its engravings. Legend was that, should a person find the thousand ink cubies, they would receive its blessing.

Inkcuby Palace used to be House Handra's residence, but now it was being used by Auguslo. Lorist stared at the decor. He wanted to see how many ink cubies he could count.

"What are you up to?"

Auguslo came to Lorist's side after a while and stared at the roof as well, curious to see at what Lorist was looking.

"Ink cubies..."

His effort was wasted. Though he had managed to count 53, Auguslo's disturbance made him forget whether he had already counted some of them.

Whatever. There's only about 60 in this hall anyway. Counting them is a waste of energy and effort.

Auguslo almost lost his wits from laughter.

"You believe that legend too?"

Lorist shook his head.

"No, I only counted them out of curiosity. The legend is a trap."

"A trap?" Auguslo hadn't expected Lorist to respond thusly. "How so?"

"The effort required to count the ink cubies would be better spent training oneself. Training will naturally elevate one's strength to the ranks of indomitable warriors."

Auguslo nodded.

"Makes sense. Actually, House Handra has records of such an incident. Around 70 years ago, one member made an oath to find all the ink cubies and gain their blessing. He scoured the palace for thirty years but could only find 997. No matter where he looked, he couldn't find the last three. He finally lost his sanity, what little he clearly had to begin with and spent the rest of his days wandering around the palace muttering to himself incoherently. He fell into a pool one night and drowned. What a sad end."

Lorist sighed.

"A tragedy indeed, Your Majesty."

"Yes. House Handra forbade any searching for ink cubies. Auguslo looked at the engravings above. "Just as you say, if he had spent those 30 years on battleforce training, no matter how average his talent, he would've reached the gold rank. It would've been a great result for both himself and his house."

Lorist chortled lightly. Auguslo was acting rather weird, as if he had completely let go of the matter of his non-compliance with the king's orders. Currently, he appeared as friendly as he used to and completely let go of his seething hatred.

"Alright, enough with the idle chatter. You're here to claim your reward, yes? I already wrote it down for you. I'm really reluctant to see you depart, you know," said the king as he returned to his desk and handed Lorist a beastskin.

It was the proof he needed. Both the seal and decorative border proved Auguslo didn't plan to mess with him. He had already been completely prepared. However, as Lorist scanned through the date, he felt surprised.

"Your Majesty, did you get the date wrong?"

Though the exemption was agreed to last three years, the document in his hands presently put it at five years. Weird... Had the sun risen from the west today? Why was Auguslo being generous all of a sudden? It had to be a mistake. Auguslo waved casually it off casually.

"It's what you deserve. It was thanks to you that we were able to wrap this campaign up so quickly and easily. Nobody contributed as much as you. We've had our fair share of difference, but it is because of our differing views. Time has proven you right. I am the king; I cannot afford to hold grudges when I was clearly in the wrong, I must keep the bigger picture in mind and act in accordance with what is best for the kingdom. You contributions merit a reward greater than what you demanded, so I adjusted it accordingly."

Lorist bowed.

"I am grateful for Your Majesty's generosity."

"Drop the pleasantries. I'm just trying to be a king whose judgment isn't clouded."

"Do you then not agree that your treatment of Duke Shazin is a little unfair?" Lorist took the opportunity to confront Auguslo.

"Well..." the king was a little taken aback. He was a little troubled, but maintained his composure and smiled as he shook his head. "I see Duke Shazin went to you to complain, which is totally in order. But think about it. I already gave him two choices, yet he didn't accept either. Can you really blame me? I already did what I said. Rimad and Messen are both provinces with rich mineral resources that produce more income than his current county. He just needs to invest in his chosen dominion a little. I can't do anything if he doesn't want my offers."

"I'm sure Your Majesty understands Messen and Rimad's current situation. It's obvious that Duke Shazin wouldn't want such provinces. He isn't very good at management so how could he choose dominions that require exactly that?"

"Hahaha, you can't blame me for his shortcomings, though," Auguslo laughed, "Who was it that ravaged Messen and Rimad? It certainly wasn't done by my order? Consider this: Duke Shazin wanted Kribia, yes, but do his contributions merit such a reward? Is he not satisfied that I've given him the title of duke? Even if I give him Kribia, can he accept it without feeling any shame at all?"

Lorist shrugged. There was nothing he could do about it either. Auguslo was right in that Shazin's performance had been mediocre at best. He was a character cheering from the sidelines. He had followed Lorist closely, yes, but he didn't contribute much. Lorist could argue little with such a reason.

"Fine. Your Majesty is correct. Duke Shazin shouldn't have had such blind ambitions. I take my leave now."

Lorist felt he should leave now that matters had been settled.

"Locke, wait. There is one more thing I wish to discuss."

"Oh?" Lorist thought, the show's finally starting. He definitely has something in mind, he would not have increased reward otherwise. Wise, objective king my ass. I knew he had something in mind. What exactly does he want, though?

"What is it, Your Majesty? Do you have any instructions?"

"Well, it's like this... You've been hunting magic beasts in the demonic lands for the last month, correct?"

"Yes... You were surveying your new lands and I didn't want to sit around in Hans until you returned. So, I went to demonic lands to train alongside my legion. The hunting was to put some meat in my men's diets."

"I have no intent to fault you for your actions. I just wish to know if the furs are still here."

"They are indeed, Your Majesty," Lorist replied, slightly reserved, "Would you like a few? I just recently put together a selection of the best ones. I'll send someone over with a few."

"I can pay for them."

"No need, Your Majesty. There are only ten. Just consider it a gift," said Lorist generously.

"That's not quite what I had in mind, Locke. I wish to purchase all the furs."

"All the furs?"

Can you really afford it? Lorist wondered, Apart from the more precious ones I shipped back to the dominion last year, all the furs are still here. All together they should be worth at least a million gold Fordes—

A spark suddenly lit up in his mind.

—Of course! You just took four duchies. Funds are the one thing you don't lack right now.

Three of the dukes had paid him 1.5 million each. He had also taken a million gold Fordes left behind in Duke Farkel's camp. There was also the money the minor nobles had paid to avoid further prosecution. The king was a complete tycoon now. He looked at the man with blazing eyes like he was looking at a statue made of gold.

Then again, what does he want with the furs? Some clarity returned to his mind immediately. Maybe he's trying to train a unit or legion that can act during winter as well?—

It didn't take long for him to guess the king's intentions.

—Whatever, I'll sell them first. It's only a waste not to profit. I'll regret it if I miss this chance. Does he think training a winter force is easy? Does he really think winter clothing alone is enough to let men move around freely in the middle of a blizzard? Hehe, your thinking far too simply.

Auguslo nodded slightly.

"Very well. The furs I have on my should be worth about 1.45 million. Since my client in Your Majesty, I'll lower the price to 1.2 million. How's that? I'll also throw in a few dozen precious pelts as a gift."

Alright. I'll just give him all the precious furs if that's what it takes.

"Wait, how many furs do you have? 1.45 million gold Fordes? Do you really have that many?" Auguslo was a little taken aback. He hadn't expected Lorist would have that many. How many magic beasts did he kill?!

He was going to form a small legion named Blizzardblitz. He would train them to use skis and launch surprise attacks in winter. His march on Frederika had taught him a harsh lesson. Of the 30 thousand troops he mobilized, only eight thousand made it to the city. He didn't think he'd need so many if their casualty rate could be lowered with their equipment and training. He only planned to purchase 10 thousand sets. He wasn't going to train every soldier under his command in winter combat. It would be a waste.

He had known of Lorist's hunts for a year now. He didn't really mind since it let the men eat more meat and bewildered the enemy. Personally, he believed sacrificing soldiers to hunt magic beasts was incredibly wasteful and foolish. He had no idea the Nortons had begun their rise to power with killing magic beasts. Lorist had shipped most of the valuable furs back home. Only the lower quality dire wolf and magic goat furs were left.

He thought Lorist only had furs worth 400 thousand and enough to outfit his new detachment; he might even have some left over. That was the only reason he had not specified a number but had offered to buy them all. The difference between his expectation and Lorist's quote shocked him.

"Naturally, Your Majesty. I have been hunting for a whole month and those are the furs I brought back from the hunt. Don't worry. The furs are in great shape. I wouldn't throw in any torn ones to inflate the number. I can assure Your Majesty. Then again, I didn't think Your Majesty would be so adept at business. I'm sure you will resell them for quite the profit in the capital." Lorist pushed the sale with all he had.

"This... well..." Auguslo had forgotten about the new furs. He had over-promised and found it hard to deliver.

"Surely Your Majesty wasn't joking around with me?" asked Lorist gloomily.

"Of course not. I have to keep my word as king, after all. I'll send someone over to appraise the furs later." Auguslo forced himself to swallow the pill.

"Very well. I'll take my leave. I'll wait for your men in my camp."

Return to The Northlands

"Be careful what you say. A man's word is his bond; a single careless one could easily bind you to an unwanted path, or ruin your reputation. It takes only a single utterance to undo a lifetime's work." ~ excerpt from Principles of Nobility by Duke Fisablen.

Auguslo personally brought a large number of administrative officials to House Norton's camp. He didn't believe Lorist really had magic beast furs worth over a million gold Fordes and he really hoped he had been teasing him. He was destined to be disappointed. All the appraiser he brought along agreed that the pelts were worth at least 1.67 million. Lorist's asking price was a massive discount.

Lorist watched gleefully as the king signed order gloomily. The sun was truly shining brightly. His luck was great. He managed to sell the normal pelts, usually hard to get rid off for a great price. The house had a large store of them already so these weren't worth anything to the house themselves.

Cotton didn't exist, so silk, linen, and hemp were usually used to make warm clothing and other items like blankets. Grindians, who were indoors for most of the winter usually used leather and fur to make outdoor clothing, and best among them was magic beast fur.

The first years of his reign as the head of the house saw it fighting the magic beast wave every winter. They had accumulated more than enough to supply the domain for decades to come. With the market saturated, though in principle the pelts were very valuable, there wasn't an easy way to turn them into money. The situation was worsened by the fact that untreated fur and leather had a shelf life. Since the materials had to be treated differently depending on their intended use, the house couldn't pre-treat them and store them for later sale, which meant that if they weren't sold relatively quickly, they would become and worthless. The market price for the materials wasn't very good in The Northlands either. Households that needed the material to replace worn items just went out and hunted for it themselves, so he also couldn't wait for an increase in demand and sell the stuff at a higher price then.

When Lorist established the domains naval presence, Petersen Merchant Guild bombed with the information that there wasn't actually much of a market for pelts and leather anywhere on the continent.

How could that be possible? He clearly recalled that when he was 20, Charade dragged him to participate in a risky mercenary mission that involved exploring an underground cave. Because of the immense cold, Lorist had no choice but to purchase a singlet made of magic goat pelt to keep warm. As he remembered, the fur his house had stocked up should be a hot product given how he sold furs back when he still hunted magic beasts as a mercenary.

President Peterson gave him an explanation that simply baffled him. The lack of a market wast because people didn't want or need pelts, it was simply that nobody could afford them. The guild was the largest fur trader on the continent, they held a complete monopoly on the Union's market, so their knowledge could not be brushed aside.

While magic beast fur was much better at resisting the cold than human-reared livestock, the common folk mainly used the latter given that the former was easily over three times as expensive. The guild could only really profit off the small trade because they sold them at hiked prices.

Given their position, they would certainly not let his pelts flood the market, it would destroy the delicate balance they had spent years building. President Peterson also warned him that mercenaries were the main users of the fur. The common folk would never spend that kind of money on clothing they were only going to wear inside, for which they were overkill.

The guild was also only really interested in dealing in high-value goods. The rich were far more generous with their coin. In total, the guild only bought a few exceptional pelts worth about 500. The more common varieties were wholly undesired. And they were exactly what the house had in bulk.

Given how much effort it was to properly treat furs for storage, it was far more useful to just turn them into clothes for his soldiers. The king thought Lorist was very invested in training his force to be elite winter troops, so much so that he was willing to spend ludicrous amounts of money on their material and training, but the reality was that it didn't cost him much. It wasn't that he was obsessed with having a good winter military, but that it was just a more convenient way of using the materials and time he had. It wouldn't cost him much to make the winter clothes, he already had the material by the storehouse, and he had to pay his men their salary anyway, so instead of having them sit in their barracks the whole winter, he might as well have them do something productive.

When he led Tigersoar to hunt in the demonic lands, most of their prey was dire wolves and some herbivorous magic beasts. Similarly, their furs had high value but a non-existent market.

He could still remember that he had once considered selling the pelts in bulk at the price of livestock leather and thought the low price would let him forge a market. But the Peterson Merchant Guild turned him down. The supervisor said that if magic beast fur was sold at that price, it would collapse the price of normal fur and decimate the market. When the supply then ran out, there would be no livestock fur industry to replace it.

The house hadn't feared the freezing winter when they had moved the refugees the previous winter because every person got a set of magic beast fur clothing for free. The abundance of rest stops and the fast travel facilitated helped as well. If he declared his house used the most magic beast fur on the continent, no one would argue the point. The annual winter training also swelled his stock by over 100 thousand. His storehouses had never been fuller.

The furs he got from the recent hunts weren't much use to the house as materials, and the delicate market made it nigh impossible to sell off. Had this been a time of peace things might have been different, but, alas, it wasn't.

So far he'd only bothered to ship the best pelts, like the skins of gigantic swamp crocodiles, back to the dominion because they would always sell. He had yet to worry about the rest. He certainly didn't think the king would take such an interest and end up taking them all off his hands. He couldn't be happy about this turn of events.

These days, fools are just as hard to find as rich tycoons.

He had offered the discount and included a few of the remaining precious pelts to make sure the deal would go through. He also agreed to sell a few catapults at 150 gold each without hesitation. He'd even offered to sell them 2500 carroballistae he had with him, but the king would have none of it.

Auguslo considered House Norton's catapults the world's ultimate weapons. They were far more flexible than the simple lever-style catapults, even in defensive situations. At the very least, they were mobile, not the fixed emplacements that were so easy to target.

The house's carroballistae had tempted him. But the advent of shield carts they had become far less attractive. No one but the greatest fools still deployed armies without proper protection against them. Whether it was offense or defense, shield carts had become a standard in the continent's armies. And they were always improving.

He only had six million gold left and he had other things to do with his money, so he turned the sale down. He couldn't wait to form his new standing legion. The campaign hadn't ended pyrrhically as he had expected, and he was thankful for that. It made it much easier for him to move on the next one quickly.

He needed a strong force in the kingdom as soon as possible to keep the alliance, Duke Fisablen, and his three new vassals in check. He planned to rest for two or three years and rebuild his military strength before taking on the Union. He wasn't afraid of having too much money. Even what he had felt like too little, instead. It would have been preferable to have wiped the rebellious dukes out rather than taking them back under his wing.

Kings had to be true to their word, Auguslo could not just withdraw his offer to buy all Lorist's pelts without good reason, a predicament Lorist exploited excellently. He forced the king to buy all the furs, even though it cost him three times what he had expected to spend.

Auguslo was filled with regret at his previous enthusiasm. What on earth would he do with so many furs? Fortunately, the duke had mentioned the possibility of reselling the leftovers in the capital, words his one financial advisor didn't miss. The only problem was that it wasn't going to be a quick sale. Just as Lorist could sell off his furs in bulk, so too could the king not sell his stock in bulk. The risk of collapsing the market was too great. He could only hope to make a small profit from the leftovers over several years. Even so, it was still a much-needed consolation.

He was far more frugal after blowing 1.2 million on fur. The purchase of several catapults was a welcome surprise, but he didn't want to spend any more money on the man. He had his craftsman duplicate the designs, but the metal parts were impossible. The steel just couldn't be replicated. Without the steel the replicated catapults were useless.

Lorist wasn't too disappointed at failing to sell his carroballistae since they were going to be useless soon anyway. Both the catapults and the carroballistae would be completely obsolete soon after he returned to the northlands. Wear and tear was a thing in this world, after all.

Tigersoar didn't get many kills during the war, but they played an essential role in putting the enemy under pressure. Their preferred tactic was to assault under heavy cover-fire from carroballistae and catapults, a tactic that proved very effective.

A good catapult in prime condition could fling rocks up to 500 meters. This didn't last long, though, its effective range dropped with every shot. It didn't take long for the range to drop down to just 320 meters, which was where the catapults used in the campaign were now. The carroballistae were in much worse condition. They were used really frequently to hunt magic beasts in the demonic lands. Most of the beasts died by bolt. But the constant use took a great toll on their steel arms. Their effective range had been decreased from 300 to just 230 meters.

Lorist estimated that they would be rendered useless after another two or three hundred shots. Since Auguslo wanted to buy the catapults, Lorist tried to push the carroballistae as well. It was too bad shield carts were a thing.

On the 10th day of the 9th month of Year 1783, He made an easy sale and returned to The Northlands with gold Forde notes worth millions. Tigersoar and his guard regiments returned with him; Felim and Shazin accompanied them with their forces as well.

While Auguslo had taken eleven provinces, he wasn't the biggest winner. Of the four dukes he claimed were traitors, three had submitted and one escaped. The king had no choice but to accept the conflict was a result of a misunderstanding and could not continue to label them traitors either. Chujway's take on the situation was the worst part. When the truth of the conflict spread, his cruel and harsh personality was made known to the rest of the continent's nobility.

The whole campaign did absolutely nothing for his reputation. Instead, it ruined it even further. Some nobles of the provinces' minor nobles would rather be stripped of their titles and fiefs and continue to serve the dukes than be the king's vassals.

Dealing with Matters

"Governance isn't anywhere near as glamorous as the governed think. It may come with great perks, but it keeps the leader so busy that he barely has any time for sleep, nevermind enjoying them." ~ Norton Lorist

"Now this is life!" exclaimed Lorist.

He was in his study on the third floor of Ragebear's central castle. The pleasant, warm sunlight of the 11th month danced gently on his body through the window. It stole his energy and made his eyes heavy. Sylvia and his concubines had straddled him the whole night. When they all collapsed, exhausted, on the bed, his beloved son had woken him with his crying. The lack of sleep made the sun all the more pleasant and sleep all the more inviting. However, Charade and company's arrival forced him out of his bliss.

"Hey-hey-hey! Your Grace has rested for six days already since your return! It's about time you started being productive," complained the man.

He hated seeing Lorist so laid back. The mere thought of his liege lazing around, basking in sunlight, while he was swamped with work drove him mad. Lorist rose from his chair with great effort and sighing. When he saw the three attendants behind his friend, carrying stacks and stacks of documents, he involuntarily emptied his lungs again.

"No... Why so many documents?" he wailed passionately.

Charade had the three attendants put the documents on the desk before leaving. Jinolio got him a bottle of fruit wine and he had the kitchen staff send some snacks to the study. He would be staying to work for the rest of the day.

"You call this a lot?" Charade snapped, "Have you seen my office? It's a parchment storehouse! These documents are summaries of the various reports for the last two years. I've gone over them roughly. You just have to give them a look and sign them before I archive everything in my office."

It was a house rule. Even though Charade could deal with matters in Lorist's stead, the documents couldn't be archived without the lord's personal signature. All matters dealt with had to be given a once-over by the lord so he had a general idea of what was going on.

Lorist was quite quick in dealing with the documents. He gave them rough scans before signing. As the house's chief knight and vassal, Charade had dealt with the matters appropriately and he approved of the baron's methods. He picked some of the more interesting documents and placed them aside for later reading and discussion. It didn't take long for him to deal with one of the huge stacks, but there were three other ones remaining on the desk.

"Oh, Your Grace, has Howard not returned yet?" asked Charade as he saw Lorist pausing to stretch as he enjoyed his wine.

"Reidy went to fetch him. He'll be back tomorrow or the day after."

The two years of seclusion training had long passed. However, Howard seemed to have gained some insight during his training process and was polishing his swordsmanship. Lorist had to send Reidy to call for him when he returned.

"Are you going to let Howard take over the guard brigade?"

"Yes—" Lorist nodded, "—but the most important thing now is for him to get married. Before I returned, Duke Felim complained that his daughter's turning into an old maid. I promised I'd have Howard and Katrina's wedding planned when he brings his daughter over at the end of the year."

"Did Duke Felim bring up the dowry?" Charade asked curiously, "He's a duke now, so I expect it'll be grand."

Lorist smiled as he shook his head.

"It's not like you're unaware of House Felim's situation. The whole of Southern is now their dominion and Felim's so desperate he might split a gold Forde coin and treat the halves as two. Southern is completely desolate and it'll be really hard to develop it with his budget. So, his daughter's dowry won't be huge. Though he is planning to have the whole area around Boblige made into a county as the dowry. We will have to help out with its development."

"Wow, how generous! That's almost a tenth of his entire demesne. That brat sure is lucky, he gets a county even without a title!"

Lorist nodded.

"Can't be helped. When Auguslo was sending us off, he dragged the two of us together and said that while the alliance is tight-knit, it might be inappropriate for me to station troops on Southern's border with Eastwild since it was House Felim's dominion. He's trying to get me to withdraw Firmrock."

"It's none of his fucking business."

"Gossip is a fearful thing," Lorist said, "Southern has already become House Felim's. Our stationing of Firmrock on the border is so we can defend against Fisablen and help Felim in the process. Others unaware of this fact will think we're suppressing Felim instead.

"I'm prepared to leave the front to Felim. His dowry also solves this problem. If we station Tigersoar there, we can respond at a moment's notice, while still being outside his domain, thus avoiding any gossip."

Charade burst into a short bought of unreserved laughter.

"If we withdraw Firmrock, Duke Felim will be the first one to feel threatened! There's no way he'd be confident enough to think his troops can resist Duke Fisablen."

"It can't be helped. Right now, Auguslo is staying in Hans and working on the eleven provinces. He'll be counting on Fisablen to suppress us. The reason he's getting us to withdraw from Southern is so its borders will be unprotected. At the same time, Felim wouldn't wish for his dominion to serve as the pathway between the king and his pet duke. He made the county the dowry so we can keep watch over his lands."

"Do you think Duke Fisablen will attack Southern?" asked Charade.

"He won't. That old fox understands the current situation. He'll sit tight and focus on strengthening his hand. Conflict is the last thing he wants right now. Iblia has faded into history, so there's no way he can take control of the northeastern area. On the one hand, there's the alliance and on the other Auguslo. If he still harbors any foolish ambitions, he'll throw the whole of his house into the abyss."

"I suppose we're in for a few years of peace."

"I hope so. We just have to keep an eye on Auguslo. I don't want him messing around again."

Lorist suddenly remembered something. He flipped through the pile of documents he'd put aside to go over again later.

"The compact crossbows are completed and have been distributed to Jaeger. How do they look?"

"They're great. Your Grace might not be aware of this, but Grandmaster Sid's new design is a masterpiece. It can fire accurate shots up to 120 meters. Most importantly, it can easily be strung on horseback. I hear he used the lever mechanism you suggested.

"Josk's in love with it. He's been driving the men into the ground with training. He's even developed a new tactic for using the crossbow from horseback. He says Jaeger will be the most effective offensive legion on the continent once they're done with training."

"I see. It seems I have to go take a look," Lorist said as he changed the document in his hand, "Does the year-end celebration really have to be so expensive?"

"Don't forget that the house hasn't had a celebration in two years. This year, Duchess Sylvia had a son and you returned from campaign. How can the celebration be anything but grand? Everyone above commander rank will attend. Dukes Kenmays, Felim, and Shazin, as well as all your vassals, have announced their attendance as well. We expect at least a thousand people. If we lower the budget at all we won't be able to through a proper banquet and we'll embarrass ourselves."

Fine. Makes sense.

Lorist casually tossed the budget aside.

"It's just that it's a little too much, spending 70 thousand gold Fordes on a seven-day celebration..." muttered he.

That was Lorist's personality for you. While he was extremely loose-handed when it came to spending on armies and developing the dominion, he hated spending money on almost anything else.

"This is not something we can do half-heartedly. For our subjects as well, the more money we spend on the celebration, the merrier the festivities will be. The commoners will come to think of nobles as powerful and mighty, it makes it easier to rule over them."

Lorist nodded. He picked another document.

"What's up with Supervisor Hansk? How is the project so far over budget?"

"I've already had someone look into it. The main problem is that much of the work has to be redone. The laborers have been very rebellious and have caused frequent delays. The project isn't just over the budget by half of the budget itself, but the work has been held back by three years."

"How is Hansk dealing with this? Isn't he punishing the workers?"

"Actually…"

Charade hesitated. He took a deep breath and steeled himself for what was to come.

"The supervisor is the cause of all the problems. He wanted to speed everything up so he made their shifts longer and took away a lot of their benefits. His disciplinary methods have also been very unproductive. He is very harsh on even the smallest mistake or disobedience. These three things together pushed the workers over the edge and they've been revolted almost weekly since. Firmrock's kept things from getting out of hand, but they haven't gotten anything done since."

"Why don't I know about this?"

"I'm not in a good position to interfere, Your Grace. Hansk is the chief supervisor. He was the one who tried to hide things. I didn't notice until he requested a budget increase. I sent someone over to investigate what was going on and found out the truth. Tarkel had left for Morante already and I couldn't just step in. You were going to return soon so I thought it better to wait for you so you could deal with this yourself."

Lorist nodded. Charade wasn't wrong. Tarkel's reports confirmed his observations about Hansk's situation. Tarkel was busy investigating the conflict between the Union and the mid-southern nations, however, so the news pipeline had slowed down.

Lorist pulled on the bell, calling Jinolio.

"Head to Furybear and bring me the scrolls concerning the conflict between the Union and the mid-southern nations as well as the reports on Hansk."

"Understood, Your Grace."

"Is there anyone that can replace Hansk?"

Charade thought about it for a moment before he answered.

"I think the biggest problem is the barbarians. They've always been a rebellious bunch, they'll only be obedient if you treat them well. Supervisor Kedan has the best personality to deal with them."

"I'll think about it."

"There's another thing you should handle as soon as possible, Your Grace." continued Charade as he stood up and picked up a blue folder.

"This is the list of people that are to be promoted or entitled during the year-end celebration. Take a look. I should prepare the certificates and their title deeds as soon as possible."

Lorist checked the list. When he got to the bottom he added one name: Reidy.

"Reidy isn't a gold-ranked knight yet, Your Grace..."

Lorist grinned at his old friend mischievously,

"He can't advance in the ranks anymore, but he's already equal to a rank 1 blademaster."

Charade slapped his forehead. He couldn't believe he'd forgotten Reidy was his liege's eldest disciple. The kid trained in a different discipline, his strength couldn't be measured using the traditional rank system.

"Ah, I understand."

Trouble and Busywork (1)

"Beware the lord scorned. They, if joined by others, may become the greatest threat a noble may ever face." ~ excerpt from Principles of Nobility by Duke Fisablen

The clattering of the horses' hooves beat constantly. The beaten dust shrouded the figures on horseback as they rode out of it domineeringly. The only difference between the spear cavalry formation of Tigersoar and this one was that it wasn't that concentrated. Two meters separated each rider from those around him as they charged. A sharp sound pierced the air. A wave of bolts flew away from the ranks. The riders reloaded and let bolts fly again.

The figures at the front suddenly split in two, the rest following. The bolts they fired spread outward again and again.

"This is the training routine I've designed, Your Grace. If an enemy gets assaulted this way on the march, they'll be completely annihilated if we can keep the fire up long enough. Of course, it's not as effective if they're in formation on an open field," explained Josk gleefully.

As the compact crossbow had to be kept secret so outside forces wouldn't find out about it, Lorist rushed to the secret training grounds to observe a training session.

"How did you come up with it?" asked he.

"It's nothing extraordinary. The most elite light cavalry soldiers are mostly scouts. They are in charge of discovering and tracking enemy movements. The way they usually fight is to dismount and use ranged weapons before getting back on horseback to fight in a melee. There're only a few talented ones that can use ranged weapons from horseback, and most only know how to use short-ranged ones like throwing knives or javelins. Most of the time, a longbow would be needed to attack an enemy at range.

"Even House Fisablen's famed frontier legions considered the most elite light in the empire don't behave much different. Jaeger was defeated because the forces were only ever harrassed from a distance and drawn out of cover range of our heavier pieces. The legion was then overrun by sheer numbers.

"If we'd had these crossbows, we would have ripped them to shreds instead. The riders don't even have to dismount during a pursuit. Even if we're surrounded, we don't have to dismount to fight back. There are no enemies that can resist us, especially when we charge at them when they're marching. The full potential of the mobility and agility of light cavalry can be exploited to the fullest this way..."

Josk rambled on about many useless things, but Lorist got the gist. The main goal of light cavalry was to scout and harass the enemy. Given the relative lack of ways to attack from a distance, the best ranged maneuver available were to dismount and cause chaos from up close. However, dismounting meant losing mobility and the threat the men posed would be greatly decreased. Having light cavalry charge against an enemy was even more out of the question. Their melee fighting and defense capabilities were far inferior to fully-equipped, heavy-armored infantry unless their enemy was trying to retreat.

But with the compact crossbows, not only were their offensive capabilities greatly improved, their agility and mobility could now be retained. Even if the enemy got into a tight formation, the light cavalry could still use their mobility to circle to the more weakly defended rear or split up and attack from multiple sides. They would rain bolts down from a distance and avoid clashing head-on. In that regard, even light cavalry could hold their own in a field battle.

Lorist took a compact crossbow and inspected it carefully. Strictly speaking, it was more of a bowgun. It was unlike the many crossbow-like weapons on the continent. It appeared Grandmaster Sid had borrowed inspiration from the firearm Lorist had had him design. The crossbow had a gun stock and a handle grip that not only allowed easier aiming, but also allowed easier and quicker reloading.

"The design was finalized with the help of the hundred light cavalry I sent to the grand master after a year and a half of testing. So far, this feels like the perfect ranged weapon. We'll kick up a storm when we finally use it," said Josk proudly.

"Does the compact crossbow have no weakness?" asked Lorist as he waved it around.

"Well, there is one. Battleforce can't be infused into it and the force comes mainly from the crossbow's arm."

When a longbowman's battleforce reached the silver rank, they could infuse it into their arrows to make it fly further and be more accurate. A small blade glow could even be formed at the tip to pierce through shields and armor. A gold-ranked divine marksman like Josk could give even a blademaster a run for his money with the green-colored bone bow in hand. But marksmen talented enough to use a longbow on horseback were almost non-existent. There was no way Lorist could find enough to form a legion. The compact crossbow was the only choice for a light cavalry ranged weapon. Not being able to use battleforce was a small issue.

...

"Are you ready? I'm going to start," asked Lorist.

Howard nodded and took up his stance.

"Come at me, Your Grace."

Lorist's longsword moved like lightning, closing the gap in an instant with the sound of piercing wind. Howard held his ground and used his longsword like a snare. He kept a perfect defense. The master-disciple pair engrossed themselves in the fight.

Beside them stood Reidy and Jinolio, the latter wearing an expression of envy.

Reidy laughed, "Learning the sword is filled with hardship. I gave Howard a harsh lesson when he started."

Jinolio nodded respectfully.

"I can take it, Senior Brother. No matter how tough, I will give it everything I have."

Reidy smirked.

"Very well. I'll find some time to talk to His Grace. However, our school of swordsmanship requires us to establish a foundation with dynamic vision. If His Grace agrees, Howard and I will develop this ability in you."

"Really?" Jinolio exclaimed happily, "Thank you!"

"Don't worry. You're my junior after all," smiled Reidy evilly.

Who should he bring along to watch the show? He might even start a betting ring. How long would the kid last on the chair?

Clang! Lorist's sword accurately struck Howard's and sent it flying.

"Not bad. I didn't think you could take more than 20 strikes," praised he, somewhat surprised.

As expected of Potterfang's son. His defense was just as tight when he'd dueled me all those years ago. I didn't think Howard would be even better than his father. He's Potterfang's kid alright!

Though he'd held back, his strength was beyond that of a rank 3 blademaster. It was nothing short of shocking for Howard to take more than 20 strikes and still be standing.

"No wonder Reidy said he could only defeat you after 100 strikes when he went to pick you up," Lorist said as he handed his own sword to Howard to put it way. "Your style is different from Reidy's. He was graced with superhuman strength and prefers domineering force and quick and unyielding attacks. You're much more like your father. Hell, had he not been alive I'd have thought he'd reincarnated. Reidy's style meant he had to travel around and experience life and death to hone his style but you don't have to. You should go to the guards and have them attack you all at once instead."

"Thank you for your guidance, Teacher."

Lorist stroked Howard's head.

"I have to settle your marriage first. Your father-in-law won't stop bothering me otherwise."

...

"I'm incredibly disappointed, Hansk," said Lorist.

He was really discontent with the supervisor's performance, so much so he didn't invite the man to sit.

"I can't be blamed, Your Grace. It's those barbarians. They refused to follow orders," argued Hansk.

The way he saw it, he had been toiling away for the house's sake in the wilderness and brainstorming ways to speed up the project. He had tried his best, but the stubborn savages wouldn't cave even after being killed. How could he be satisfied being blamed?

"Hansk, it seems you're still unaware of your mistakes. As the person in charge of the project, your role is to supervise the facilities. You're supposed to make sure everything runs smoothly and stays on schedule. That's why I let you manage the budget and workflow. All you had to do was make sure the plan was implemented as I'd written it. This being your duty, pray tell, why did you change their work hours and meddle with their benefits?"

"Please don't forget the barbarians are the enemy. Your father and countless others have died in their invasions. You shouldn't consider them equal to our subjects. They do not deserve meat and wine." countered Hansk with a raised voice.

"Uhha, haha, hahahahaha..." Lorist's fury dragged laughter out of him. "—So, that's why you took away their privileges and gave them nothing but two pieces of moldy fist-sized biscuits? You had them work day and night because of that too? Do you think that shows your loyalty? Are you avenging my father and everyone else? How foolish!"

Lorist slammed his hand on the desk. The bam made Hansk jump. Even Howard, outside the study, pushed the door open slightly to peek.

"To link Goldridge and Moonspring together and build a road through the forests, at least 7000 of 30 thousand barbarian laborers were killed. All that for the sake of a bloody path filled with death. We even staked the heads of the barbarians that tried to escape on the sides of the road. After killing so many, we finally found the way to make them work obediently: provide them with meat and wine. That is their reward for toiling for 12 hours a day, and that's also why they're willing to serve us. They consider the wine and meat as their pay.

"And then you go and treat them like begrudged enemies, like murders, and scamps, and go and take away their meat and wine and have them work four hours more. You're really something, huh? Do you think you can subdue them like this? You even had Belnick kill ten thousand when they revolted? Do you think killing them will make them submit?! What about the work?! It's stopped completely!

"I should never have trusted you with something so crucial for our future. You have disappointed me, more than that, you've let me down. You tell me the barbarians are our sworn enemies… You're not wrong but that doesn't mean we have to kill them all. The 70 thousand we have are all youths. Do you know how much wealth they can make us if they're appeased? Do you know how badly we lack unpaid labor? Do you have any idea how much we'll have to fork out to get them calm again?—"

Lorist shook his head.

"—I'm really disappointed, Hansk. You've contributed much in the past, so I was willing to overlook your past mistakes. You know of what I speak. Some things are not for you to comment on. I will forgive you this once, and only this once. Go back to your barony and think about what you've done wrong."

Hansk paled, his lips shuddered. He slowly turned around and left, dumbfounded. This was exile in all but name. He had been stripped of his power and his influence. He had lost any right he might have had to influence what happened in and with the house. He'd only been spared losing his title because he had a long history of contributions before his recent failures. He stopped at the entrance for a moment. He scraped together his courage and charged back to his liege.

"I will leave and never get involved with the house's matter again, but just this once, this one last time, listen to my advice."

"Speak."

"Your Grace has to decide on an heir. Your subjects and vassals cannot rest easy until you have."

"Heh. Tell me, who should I choose?" asked Lorist teasingly.

"It must naturally be Young Master Lysecott. He's already 13. He'll come of age soon and he's your first-born."

Lysecott was Lorist and Irina's first child. He had a cruel personality, mainly because he was spoiled badly and had turned into a lawless brat. In the end, he was sent to Malek's family so his wife could re-educate him and had just started his studies at Nico Academy.

"Do you think I'll be short-lived?" asked Lorist intentionally.

"There's no harm in being careful. That's what your late father believed as well. He forced himself to go stop the barbarian invasion even though he was sick and..." rambled Hansk.

"Get out of my sight!"

Lorist flung a folder at the man angrily.

Trouble and Busywork (2)

"Those who control the education of our youth, control our nation's future." ~ Nico Telesti

"Supervisor Hansk hasn't returned to his barony," reported Howard.

Lorist had given the boy the position of deputy department head of Furybear's investigative division instead of making him the vice-commander of the guard brigade. The division's investigative capabilities had decreased significantly with Tarkel's departure for the Union, which dissatisfied Lorist a lot. He hoped the kid could get everything back on track.

"Oh, where's he gone?" asked Lorist, his expression shifting.

"He's gone to Maplewoods. Madam Irina had someone pick him up. She said she wanted him to tutor Young Master Koboshik in the basics."

Koboshik was Lorist and Irina's second son. Lysecott had been sent to Malek's home for his re-education, but his younger brother had not been moved. Lorist was almost always out in the field doing one thing or another, so he rarely saw or heard from or about the kid. He had heard that he was very similar to his mother. He was small and resembled a ball. Lorist had recently started to think about finding him a proper teacher since his eighth birthday was around the corner, but it seemed Irina had gotten the jump on him and had hired the exiled supervisor.

Lorist shook his head after a moment of silence.

"Whatever. What the heavens will shall come to pass. Let them do whatever they want."

"Why is Your Grace tolerating Supervisor Hansk's impudence and letting him off scot-free? He hasn't just disobeyed your orders, he's even accepted Madam Irina's invitation. He is acting as if Your Grace doesn't exist. He doesn't deserve his title," inquired Howard.

"Some things aren't as simple as they appear. He's done everything on purpose, he wants me to take his title. He needs a reputation far more than a title, exchanging his title for a reputation as a loyal subject would be very profitable for him. If Lysecott inherits my titles, Hansk will get back everything he's given up and then some."

"Your Grace always sees the worst in others, don't you?" Charade chirped in, "Hansk is truly loyal to the house. His loyalty is just misplaced in term of the individuals within the house."

Lorist snorted.

"Did Tarkel say when he'll return?"

"I got an eagle message just earlier today about that. Sir Tarkel is onboard a ship bound for Silowas as we speak. He should be back in The Northlands in about 15 days. We also received a dossier on Young Master Lysecott's behavior recently. It wasn't labeled as urgent so the agents didn't give it special attention. I only noticed the report when I checked..."

Lorist took the folder, shaking his head, a bitter smile on his face.

"You see?" he said, looking at Charade, "Furybear became a mess the moment Tarkel left. The aides don't know what's important at all."

Charade cringed.

"The blame shouldn't be on Tarkel's aides. This happened because Supervisor Spiel had the agents focus on gathering information for his annual financial report. The division can only do so much, so they had to loosen their grip on other matters."

Lorist nodded slightly. He opened the file and started going through it. It didn't take long for his face to contort and his eyes to start burning.

Bam!

He slammed the report down on the table and shot up, shooting the chair behind him into the wall.

"Ridiculous! Howard, bring Reidy! Also, send Jinolio to bring my horse whip!"

"What's wrong, Your Grace?" Charade couldn't help but be curious after seeing Lorist's sudden explosion.

"It's a tragedy. Just look!—" Lorist handed the document to his friend. He retook his seat and finished off the fruit wine in the bottle in two large gulps. "—I'm a failure of a father."

Lysecott had entered Nico Academy late the previous year to learn some basic knowledge and noble etiquette. House Norton's descendants had always been taught in Maplewoods. They only had to be somewhat literate and have a rough grasp of proper etiquette. The main focus f their training had always been martial arts. After all, martial power had always been the most secure way to ensure the house's survival.

Lorist had changed this because wanted to fix the house's problem with lacking heirs, especially those left by his deceased elder brothers. He made it compulsory to attend Nico Academy and be schooled in basic culture and etiquette when they turned twelve. They would only begin martial training at the age of 15. He needed the next generation to have a broader view of the world.

Nico Academy was a boarding school. It aimed at developing independent people who could function on their own. It also wanted to build circles of common interest and identification beyond the family or town, to build a sense of unity between people from all across the Norton lands.

Lysecott, after enrolling at the academy, broke free of Madam Malek's discipline. He returned to his old ways almost immediately after getting used to the academy. In the couple of months he'd been at the academy he'd gotten into numerous fights and was now the academy's worst terror. Even the young female instructor in charge of him couldn't control him. She'd punished him a few times in the beginning, but he quickly started cursing at her and using his position as the duke's son to threaten her. He'd threatened to torture her until she died once he grew up.

It eventually escalated beyond anyone's control. The instructed ran to the headmistress, crying. Telesti had since sought the young master out numerous times to try and reason with him, but he acted very differently in front of her. He was always humble, polite, and willing to accept criticism, but returned to is cruel ways the moment she left. With those above him unable to keep him under control, he'd become the academy's little boss.

He thought he was free to do what he wanted, that he was out of his father's gaze. He did not know that Lorist had sent people to keep an eye on him. Furybear's informants noted his performance and recorded and passed on everything to their lord. Lorist became more and more dissatisfied with his eldest as he read through the dossier.

Telesti had refused Lorist's proposal and given up her claim to a position in his family. Her daughter, thus, didn't have his family name, but their mother's instead. Lorist was very unhappy with this state of affairs, but he couldn't do anything about it; he at least had to respect his lover's decision.

His eldest daughter, Nico Olijess, was eleven years old, and her younger sister, Nico Freycia, seven. Both were wonderful cute little girls. They had grown into two little princesses loved by many under their mother's intensive care and tutoring. Lorist didn't visit them at the academy often, but sent gifts frequently. He also had them come visit him wherever he was from time to time and would always spoiled them when they did. Telesti hadn't let the girls visit him since his marriage, however.

The last entry in the dossier recorded an incident which had happened 20 days earlier. The two girls had been playing in the garden in the rear of the academy. They ran into Lysecott, who'd been skipping class. The little tyrant didn't know the two fairies were his half-sisters. Seeing their beauty, he started harassing them. The informants watching over him couldn't stand by idly, knowing the identity of the two girls. They were just about to take action when someone else stepped in.

Lorist's nephew, the son of his eldest brother, Helias, 15 years old, stepped in to put a stop to what was happening. He was about to transfer to Dawn Academy the following year for his martial training He was considered one of Nico Academy's honor students, and had graduated only a short while before the incident.

Lysecott left fuming. He returned to his room and took out his shortsword. He hid it under his clothes and confronted Helias during lunch. He suddenly started stabbing and slashing the boy during their confrontation. Caught off guard, Helias couldn't react in time and was severely injured before the nearby instructors managed to subdue his attacker. Telesti was completely shocked by the incident and had Lysecott imprisoned. Whilst being taken away the kid threatened to kill anyone who crossed him when he became duke.

It was a horrible scandal. Fortunately, Helias survived. Worried that the news would affect the house's reputation, Telesti silenced everyone who witnessed or knew of what happened.

"Why wasn't I informed immediately?!" shouted Lorist furiously.

"Maybe Miss Telesti is still fretting over how to punish your son. I don't think, considering his identity, she knows what to do. She's no doubt very afraid that others will think she has some personal vendetta since she also has your children."

"That's her academy. What does she have to worry about? If she can't even deal with something like this, how can she run the academy? Lysecott should've been disciplined when he left Madam Malek's care. I'd like to know why starting assuming he was my heir de jure after going to the academy. Who put that idea in his head? He's always talking about what he'll do once he takes over. He didn't even think that he might not let him inherit my title."

Lorist paced around impatiently.

"Maybe I should revoke his position as heir apparent..."

Charade choked a few times.

"You can do anything but that, Your Grace!"

"Why not?"

"You have to think about Anderbael's welfare."

Anderbael was Lorist's youngest son, and his firstborn with Sylvia.

"What does this have to do with little Andy?"

"If you revoke Lysecott's title as heir apparent it'll look like you're preparing things so Anderbael can take his position. If this is done before everyone learns what Lysecott did to merit this, people will think that you're favoring Anderbael and going against your oath. It won't just hurt your vassal's loyalty, it'll damage the house's reputation. And if an outsider decides to interfere things will only get worse. It's fine to punish Lysecott, but don't take away his title, at least not until we can be sure others will understand why and support your decision."

Lorist nodded slowly.

"You're right. I was a little too quick to decide what to do. I can come back to this when the children are older."

The study's door opened at this moment and Lorist's three disciples entered.

"What are your orders, Your Grace?" asked Reidy.

Lorist took the elegant gold-laced horsewhip from Jinolio and waved it around a few times. The whip clapped loudly each time it whiplashed through the air. He handed it back to Reidy.

"Take this to Nico Academy and tie Lysecott up. Give him 30 lashes in front of all the students. I want each lash to draw blood. Don't stop no matter who tries to stop you. If they want to know why you're doing this, tell them I told you to do this myself. If they don't listen, kill them on the spot!"

"Understood, Your Grace."

Reidy accepted the whip and turned to leave.

"Reidy, hold on a moment. Send him to Maplewoods afterwards and tell Irina he doesn't have to attend the academy anymore."

"By your command."

When the three had left, Charade smiled bitterly.

"This is the same as revoking his title in all but name. What will he learn in Maplewoods? You know exactly what he'll become without proper training and several more years of Irina spoiling him."

"It's what they deserve," Lorist said, his eyes abyssal, "I remembered a report I saw soon after Lysecott went to Malek's family. They had frequent visitors. At the time I thought they were just household friends visiting the couple, but I now realize they were there to influence Lysecott. No wonder he didn't change at all despite them teaching him properly for several years."

Charade creased.

"Isn't this a conspiratorial, Your Grace? I visited Baron Malek's household several times as well."

"Hahaha... You only visit once or twice. The people I'm talking about sometimes went there even several times a week. I thought Madam Malek was just very popular but that clearly wasn't the case. We should know soon as Howard goes through Furybear's records."