Margrave's warning

Eventually after finishing their now cold breakfast, Laurence had one final question before he gave full approval to Cassius's plan.

"What will you do about the nobles?" He asked, curious as to how farsighted his son truly was.

"Simple honestly; Nothing at all."

This surprised Laurence, whose eyebrows raised in suspicion and confusion.

"How do you mean?" He asked

"Well… If they are bold enough to sanction us over this, the crown will shield us and scold them as traitors. Who would be so foolish as to challenge the military authority that we have so painfully accumulated by holding this pass?"

"Secondly… Atleast half of the factions in the Kingdom would welcome a cheaper, but still high quality steel to the table, I imagine the Eastern alliance of Nobles shares a similar predicament as us, with most of their wealth spent constantly replacing, purchasing, and equipping their armies."

"And finally, the Western sea cities alliance of nobles will have a direct interest in supporting us, our steel can be to a certain extent proofed against water, this can allow them to build larger and larger vessels with reinforcement from our Furnaces, they can sell our iron and steel goods enmasse in other nations, the wealth that they will generate from Stenfall Steel is a lure they cannot simply pass up.

Even if the blacksmith gyld gets involved, they will be placated with our affordable metals, and would be putting the cart before the horse should they be willing to turn down such favourable margins."

This explanation left Laurence silent in contemplation. He himself hadn't considered it quite this in depth. He wished Governor Vratori was here to advise him in this situation, but his gut told him that his son wasn't far from the truth.

He would know best. He thought, coming to a decision.

"I see." He eventually nodded, "The Lord of Stennsmark will be travelling this way sometime in the next few weeks after Elric has dealt with the bandit's along the way, I would ask you to speak to him further about this topic, I believe you two will get along well."

Cassius nodded, pleased that his father was considering his plan with serious weight. He understood that Laurence's approval wasn't easily earned, but the matter at hand had the potential to transform their fortunes.

Laurence leaned back in his chair, impressed but still cautious. "You've planned well, Cassius. But know this: power and wealth always come at a cost. The more we rise, the more we invite envy, both from allies and enemies alike."

Cassius met his father's gaze, his expression hardening with determination. "I'm aware. But if we don't take risks, we'll be left behind. I intend to make sure Stenfall is ahead of the change, not crushed beneath it."

Laurence gave a slow nod of approval. "Very well. I approve your plan, and may proceed as you've suggested. I'll make the necessary preparations, and when the time comes, we'll negotiate with Lord Stennsmark. But be ready, son. This is just the beginning."

—-------------------------

The next few weeks of Cassius's life were spent maintaining his current schedule, in the mornings he would work out with his men, and educate them on the standards he wanted to implement for his guard.

His afternoons he would spend training Carmen, planning his business with Hektor, or watching his men train in the courtyard.

The training which had initially started as a loose exchanging of tips was slowly shaping up to be a regular activity for the garrison, men arriving for their duties or departing from them had started attending the activity in droves wishing to either gain a few insights, or watch men pummel each other bloody for sport and entertainment.

It had gotten popular quickly, to the point where even the Honour Guard had begun to get involved with the sparring sessions, often arriving early in order to exchange pointers or holding short impromptu lectures on their experiences in warfare.

When Laurence eventually caught wind of this 'sparring training', he came to observe, and asked his men to report on the effects of it. What he heard brought an approving smile to his face; Overall morale of the garrison had improved through the roof, and guardsmen were even requesting to join the professional Army full time. Eventually, he had a set of stands built, and the plot of land cleared and paved with stone so as to provide a cleaner area for speakers and fighters alike.

One afternoon, Laurence had even caught Captain Jacobs instructing the young man Horace personally in armed combat, the two men having bonded over his previously heroic deed of protecting Cassius.

Horace had later described the experience as 'Enlightening, and completely harrowing', having caught the lion's share of blade strokes from the sword master when he had eventually asked Jacobs for a spar.

He felt improvement every day however, while initially Maron was able to thrash the inexperienced boy seven days from Sunday, he was slowly losing ground and absorbing more and more hits, until eventually he began to lose bouts again the green young man.

Other afternoons Cassius would spend his time with Akeem, exchanging knowledge and enjoying each other's wisdom and company. Akeem had even begun bringing along with him a dark bitter flavoured beverage his nation produced known as 'Cava'.

The scent and flavour had brought a world of nostalgia and longing to Cassius; It's unmistakable smell, this brutal unforgiving bitterness… This was Coffee! God bless this world! He thought to himself.

He was secretly petrified that he had been incarnated into a soulless world where coffee was absent, or that would need to charter expensive expeditions to some far off hell-hole when he could afford such a journey. Knowing that he could eventually purchase the substance from a relatively nearby country elated him. Coffee had been the singular most requisitioned good next to synthetic tobacco in his battalion, and nothing would have stopped his members from surviving off the stuff.

Akeem was prepared to warn the boy about its unique and sharp flavour, but was stunned when he saw the boy sniffle a little after his first mouthful. Cassius genuinely loved coffee, Turkish press, cappuccino, dark roast, blonde roast, expresso. Any way a man could enjoy a coffee he had tried and explored.

Hence, his genuine elation had brought tears of joy, where Cassius repeatedly thanked Akeem for bringing him the nectar of the gods.

The sight which completely stunned and confused Akeem.

Otherwise most days Akeem was extremely impressed with him, and had remarked as such to his father that, 'It was less of speaking to a child, and more of conversing to a peer!' he had stated.

Eventually, Cassius has asked curiously about the fauna Astria possessed, and Akeem also brought him a book from his personal collection that had awed and impressed him; Beast's of Astria; A compendium. For a change, Akeem had the opportunity to lecture Cassius on the multitude of fauna that had been discovered and recorded, from the Super Fauna of the plains, to the multitude of Deep-sea beasts located off the coasts.

This knowledge thrilled Cassius. Humanity had discovered a multitude of alien species in the universe, most of them hostile, but all unique and incredible in their own way.

-----// Author's note //-----

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