Steel and Mana

Chapter 174 – Invitation

When Matilda arrived, accompanied by a small army of five hundred fully armored soldiers, including their horses, Vash Tobrok could feel his heart rate double and his stomach dropping into the abyss. This was not good, and now he didn't know how to tell her that there was already a conflict between them and the 'enemy.' Maybe it was no longer that bad they lost the first battle? When he first heard the reports, he almost had a heart attack, especially because his only son was also injured, unable to walk yet and becoming confined to his bed. Maybe it was what had to happen... He had yet to truly review every report, check the precise losses, and decide what to do next, but it didn't look good. Not when the Countess has arrived with an elite force in tow.

"It is my pleasure to welcome you in our humble abode, Countess Zimmermann!" He bowed deeply, only seeing her white legs as she exited her carriage. She was wearing a long red dress flanked by two masked, armored guards, silently standing by her, not even looking at the baron before them.

"Let's drop the protocol, Baron Tobrok." Matilda waved her hand, looking around. They were now standing before a thick, grey castle, surrounded by a well-kept garden despite the many smoke-blowing chimneys her caravan passed by. "I am here for a very important reason. It is because my own orders are coming straight from a duke who is in direct connection with the Empress. Plainly speaking, this issue is related to the royal bloodline."

"...!"

Was it? How? Why? He couldn't understand it. Even if the Frontier was 'important,' it had never come up ever since his family existed. The Duchy? They have lost every power throughout the long, long centuries and were only keeping their old past alive by name. No matter if the Frontier was interfering, this issue was still way too minor for the Empress to notice! Or to care about.

"What happened?" Matilda asked, looking at Vash with her pupils shrinking rapidly. She knew that type of pose, that look, the minute yet rapid changes in his body language; everything pointed toward the fact something indeed had happened. If there was one thing her three sons had taught her, it was to notice and read lies like a witch. She hadn't met anybody yet who could fool her in the past two decades.

"There was a minor border scuffle a few days ago."

"Minor?" She questioned, her voice getting colder by the second. "Why does it feel like you are lying to me, Baron Vash Tobrok?"

"I am not, My Lady!" He said quickly, but the way she was looking into his eyes made the baron gulp and sweat as if he was right next to a burning forge.

"You are." She scowled, cursing deeply in her head, wanting to strangle him on the spot, subconsciously living up to her infamy of being a power-hungry ruler. "A horse!" She snapped her fingers, one of her soldiers quickly bringing forth a beautiful, white steed that she mounted without worry of tearing the bottom part of her dress or showing off her legs right up to her waist. "We go directly to the borders! Fifty of you stay and keep a watch on the baron!"

"My Lady!" Tobrok yelled, but he only received dust kicked into his face by the galloping horses as they left, Matilda leading from the front.

"How did it all go so wrong so quickly?" Vash asked, but nobody was there to answer. He even thought about resisting, but his soldiers were at such low morale that he wasn't sure they would support him. Not after many of them died a gruesome death...

When Matilda and her men arrived at the battlefield, it was still littered with craters and torn-apart bodies, while the river seemed to be blocked downstream by those who fell into it and were washed ashore, beginning to pile up.

"Little my ass..." She sneered, watching the carnage and noticing the cannons on the other side, already realizing what had happened here. "They chose to attack where they installed cannons? Who led them, a blockhead?"

"My Lady... movement." Her guard captain, Karak, interrupted her thoughts, watching as the other side of the river showed movement and armored figures were showing up at the foot of the bridge. Their appearance was accompanied by the cannons beginning to move, aiming at them.

"I see it. Five you with me, the rest stay! Don't you dare move, got it?!"

"Yes!" They acknowledged while their leader with her guards rode forward, approaching the bridge, walking up the stained stone road, dried blood everywhere the horses stepped.

"It smells in here like in my sons' bedroom." She complained but refused to cover her nose, stopping in the middle of the bridge, looking at the soldiers on the other side, and feeling a shiver run through her body. "I never seen armor like those..."

"Me neither, My Lady." Karak agreed, scanning them, feeling those soldiers were just as well armed as they were. This is what it means to be backed directly by the royal family?

In the end, one of the black, armored figures walked out without weapons, taking off his helmet after getting close and looking over them without any fear in his eyes.

"My name is Matilda Zimmerman, Countess of the Earldom named the Silver Region!"

"Pion, current commander of elite forces of my Lord, dispatched to protect our ally's borders from enemies."

"Aren't we all the same? Subjects of the Ishillian bloodline. There should be no enemies amongst us."

"With due respect, Countess." He smiled, opening his arms and pointing toward the carnage, "I beg to differ."

"They won't cause more trouble."

"They won't, that is true. Because they are dead."

"You are speaking to–" Karak interrupted, but he was also cut short by Matilda, who raised one hand, nodding at Pion.

"They are. But you know what I meant."

"Maybe." Pion smiled, looking at the soldiers before him, already comparing their outfits to his own. The more he saw, the more confident he was to face them. Even though they looked similarly armored, he would be able to withstand their swords long enough to kill them all; he was sure of it.

"I have a letter here. Can you return it to your nobles?" She asked, pulling it out and giving it to Karak, who got off his horse, walked over, and presented it to Pion.

"I can." He nodded, shocking everybody by opening the book before them and reading it without flinching.

"What are you doing?!" Karak blurted it out because this alone would be worthy of a flogging, if not straight-up execution. "Can you even read?!"

"..." Pion only looked at him as if he was watching an idiot, returning his eyes to the message, reading it top to bottom before rolling it up. "I will relay your wishes and return with a message tomorrow. Leave someone here to receive it."

"Tomorrow?" Matilda asked, surprised because her shortest estimation was at least a week, and even then, that was way too optimistic.

"Tomorrow." Pion repeated, putting on his helmet and turning around without any formal salute, leaving them there, ignoring Karak's cold curses.

"Bunch of barbarian bastards."

"Backed directly by a duke."

"My Lady, aren't–"

"When was the last time Duke Juntaro ever sent someone down to visit us? I, my father, his grandfather, and his ancestors... nobody met with someone from the Juntaro family for a long time. We only ever communicated via letters and nothing else. They got the heir to the title of the Kustov family to come down and personally stick up for them! Which of us has the better backing, then?"

"..."

"Exactly. Two dukes' battle easily reshuffles the powers under them, and I am not keen on being swept to the sides. This will be resolved one way or another, and I'll make sure we stay in power. Let's head back! I will need to order the baron to come and clean up this mess, or there will be a bloody outbreak and fuck up everything even more!" She groaned, turning her horse around, feeling to be in a foul mood while heading back to the Tobrok's castle.

...
....
.....

"We received a message from Elliot." Merlin declared while walking into my office in the late afternoon, holding a letter that had already been decoded from Morse codes. "It is from Pion, and he says the ruler of the earldom behind the Black Lands has arrived! Personally... that is. She was at the crossing point."

"I see..." I shrugged, feeling that maybe Duke Kustov was unable to act in time. "What does it say?"

"We have been invited to peace talks."

"Huh? Really?" I looked up, my ears tingling and my attention wholly focused on him.

"Um. The letter stated that it was the Black Lands' fault and that the Silver Region was ready to smooth things out between us. They invited you and Baron Elliot to a meeting within the Black Lands."

"Hmmm..."

"You can't think of attending!" He gasped, watching me lean back, stroking my chin.

"I do, in fact."

"Nonsense!"

"You sound like Sasha."

"Sovereign! Leon! This is no joke!"

"I know." I nodded, fixing my clothes as I stood up. "But you are forgetting something."

"I am?"

"Uhum, my dear Prime Minister. We are still part of Ishillia, and I am one of its nobles, a viscount at that. I was made into one by the Empress of Envy herself, and as far as I am concerned, it still holds up!"

"Yes... but..."

"But? There was a conflict between territories, and now someone higher up stepped in to smooth it out. As leaders of these territories, Elliot and I are obliged to attend. I am looking to push our reveal as far as possible, and if I need to play along with it, I will do so. We already revealed a lot! If I don't show up, wouldn't it be announcing that I think I am above Ishiliian customs and laws?"

"What if... what if it's a trap!"

"I'll take one of those emergency, CC-cracking stuff with me. If it is, I'll smash it, and you guys can come in with the Lion and rescue us; how's that?"

"But, but... But..."

"If I need to play my role, I'll do it, so stop being overly dramatic! We can't antagonize everybody anyway; we need to make friends and allies. The more we have of those, the easier it would be to obfuscate our presence and resist Ishillia. Send a message back to Elliot that I am attending! My guess is that he will, too, so we will meet at the borders!"

"Sasha won't be happy about this..." He murmured, and I knew he was right, but there was nothing to persuade me otherwise.

...
....
.....

"Sure."

"Huh?" I flinched, looking at my wife, my jaws almost dislocating, and my grunt was echoed by Yuri, Luna, and Mikki in tandem.

"I said, sure." Sasha nodded, continued to eat her dinner, and leaned over to Leyla, wiping her mouth. "Stop playing with your food..."

"Da!"

"No arguing?" I asked, recovering, making her look at me with a questioning gaze.

"No. I trust your decision, and while we are in the Empire, it is important to play our part."

"..."

"I am not stupid or short-sighted." She rolled her eyes. "I also have faith in our soldiers to keep you safe if something happens. That's it."

"Damn... I love you."

"Heh!" She giggled, sticking her tongue out at me, "I know. Just promise me one thing before you leave!"

"Yes?"

"You won't bring that countess home, okay?"

"..."

"Yeah!" The others agreed at once, and even Mikki, who was caught up in the moment, yelled out with them.

"Please!" I shrugged, watching as my kids were also protesting in their own way, raising their hands in an X shape, "I don't have infinite stamina..."