Duke Pendragon

It seems the ladies are getting along.”

Karl Mandy spoke as he observed the young and lively ladies chat happily(?) through the wide-open window. He was stationed in the opposite side of the building which was bent in a ‘c’ shape.

“What a pleasant sight. Would you not agree, Your Excellency?”

Count Cedric smiled and turned his face.

“She is my sister, but besides that, Irene is a very sociable girl. Baroness Conrad also likes to meet with new people as well.”

Raven spoke nonchalantly, even though the truth was as far as El Pasa was from the Pendragon Duchy. A gentle smile appeared on his face.

Irene Pendragon had a feisty personality and Baroness Conrad was also quite shy, but there was no reason for him to tell the truth in this situation.

Regardless of the actual truth, it was true that the friendly, pleasant atmosphere of the ladies was an amicable sight.

“Anyways, I hope to hear some good news soon. Not only for your happiness, Your Excellency, but also for everyone’s happiness. Would you not agree, Your Excellency?”

Viscount Moraine suddenly spoke up after silently drinking his tea. His eyes alternated between Lindsay and Raven as he maintained a meaningful gaze.

“Hmm?”

Raven frowned at the occluded words, then flinched after understanding the hidden meaning.

“Well… It’s not like I can do anything about it…”

“What? What do you mean? I am talking about your letter to the southern lords. Wouldn’t it be better for them to send troops as soon as possible so we can gather the punitive forces? That would truly bring happiness to you, Your Excellency, El Pasa, and the rest of the South. Were you thinking of anything else?”

“…..”

Raven was dumbfounded at the attitude of Viscount Moraine. The older man blinked several times to feign ignorance.

‘Now that Elkin isn’t here, this man is starting it…’

Raven’s eyes twitched as he recalled Isla’s attitude. The knight had continued to speak of “having a steel will for the future of the Duchy” until the very moment they had to separate in the sea.

Viscount Moraine had always burst into laughter when Isla brought up the topic, delighting at Raven’s awkward responses.

Viscount Moraine must have inherited something at that time.

“They might hesitate because of the Arangis Duchy, but they will concede shortly, especially the lords near the Great Forest. They would have responded as soon as they received the message. Above all else, we are guaranteeing them an immediate, feasible, and realistic solution to the problem.”

Count Cedric moved his gaze while saying so.

Karl Mandy replied with a slight smile.

“I am glad I could be of help.”

“Haha! ‘Help’ would be an understatement! The foundations of an army is feeding them and equipping them appropriately. Even if there are a million troops, if they are not fed and clothed, they are no different from an army of ants. Hahaha!”

“That is right.”

Viscount Moraine spoke with a boisterous laughter, and Count Cedric agreed while looking towards Karl Mandy with a satisfied smile.

The most important thing for El Pasa to become the center of the South was to possess a strong military force. This was solved when Duke Pendragon declared the formation of a coalition to stand against the monster armies of the Great Forest of Assia.

Even after crossing the biggest hurdle, however, another problem presented itself. There were several issues with forming a large army. Such a large force had appeared only a few times in the history of the South, and the biggest issue was feeding and equipping the tens of thousands of soldiers.

But the problem had been solved by Karl Mandy, the Gold King of El Pasa. His influence and wealth encompassed the entirety of the south, so he had the capabilities to assist such a large force.

Naturally, no matter how rich Karl Mandy was, he would not give away an unimaginable sum of money free of charge. In return, Raven had agreed to hand over the distribution rights of the Pendragon gold coins he had brought from Leus.

Raven had no complaints. Karl Mandy’s large influence would surely distribute the coins over the entirety of the South, including El Pasa, as well as the foreign ports around the inland sea.

Rather, he was quite content with the situation. Karl Mandy would be indirectly promoting the creditworthiness of the Pendragon Duchy through the trades in the South. It could not have turned out better.

Karl Mandy also benefited from the monopoly over the exchange of Pendragon gold coins, but he was also promised an exclusive trade of 30% of gold and ore from York Town. Possessing a large percentage of trades in the free economic city would bring in massive benefits. Karl Mandy was receiving a chicken with the egg as a bonus.

In the end, however, Count Cedric and El Pasa were receiving the most benefits. Thousands, no, tens of thousands of troops would gather in El Pasa over the next few days after receiving the letters from Duke Pendragon.

It provided the first stepping stone for Count Cedric to turn El Pasa into the leading power of the South. Moreover, El Pasa had to serve as a supply window to feed and arm the large number of troops. The benefits to be gained were self-evident, and it would make the city more vibrant as well.

In other words, El Pasa would become the center of the South without spending any money, and Count Cedric would be able to consolidate his position as the governor-general.

“By the way, what is Lord Oberon up to?”

Count Cedric asked after suddenly recalling the sorcerer.

Karl Mandy replied while licking his lips.

“Well… He has not come out of the residence after he received His Excellency Alan’s shield.”

“Ah…”

Count Cedric nodded.

Jean Oberon had shown great interest in the Shield of Healing Raven obtained from the cave on his way to recapture the family mausoleum. After receiving Raven’s agreement, the sorcerer had disappeared for a while. It seemed that Jean Oberon was studying the artifact day and night.

“I apologize, Your Excellency. I will ask Lord Oberon to return it quickly.”

Karl Mandy spoke with an apologetic expression, but Raven shook his head.

“No, it is fine. Quite a bit of its abilities has been exhausted anyways. It will be good if Lord Oberon finds anything useful.”

Raven did not place too much importance on the shield. Although its initial powers of healing were great, it had diluted as time passed by. On the contrary, it would be beneficial if he could solidify his relationship with Jean Oberon by gifting him the shield.

Including the past and the present, Jean Oberon was the most powerful wizard Raven had ever seen.

‘I feel a little sorry towards Karl Mandy… But I need to turn him to my side.’

As Raven held such thoughts, Viscount Moraine emptied his tea at once before standing up from his seat.

“Now that I have spent such a restful time, I will be heading towards the training grounds. I need to reform the organization of the regiment as well.”

“I see. Good luck.”

Raven nodded his head. Count Cedric added in.

“Lord Moraine, as I said already, the 11th regiment will also follow your will regarding the organizational structure.”

“Well, will that really be okay?”

Viscount Moraine asked cautiously.

Even though they now boarded the same boat, it was not an easy decision to entrust their troops to someone else.

But Count Cedric shook his head lightly.

“It is fine. Even though I am ignorant of military tactics, I know that a simple, unified command system exerts much more power than the opposite. The 11th regiment will receive the commands of Lord Moraine and His Excellency Pendragon. I have already notified the knights, so it should hold for a smooth transition.”

“I understand. But I will leave a separate force for the defense and security of El Pasa. It will be better for you to personally command it. Please recommend to me your most trusted knight as well.”

“That is a good idea. We can appoint that knight as a battalion captain and trust him with leading the remaining soldiers from the 11th regiment.”

“Yes.”

Raven joined in as well, and Viscount Moraine replied with a grin.

“Then what are you planning to do with the soldiers of the southern lords?”

Count Cedric nodded satisfactorily, then asked once more.

Viscount Moraine answered hesitantly.

“Well, I cannot be certain because I have not seen their skills, but they will likely be less organized and skilled compared to the 11th and the 7th regiment. In addition, there are bound to be lords and knights that do not get along with each other. For now, I think it is urgent to unify them to get rid of any potential conflicts.”

“Hm…”

Count Cedric’s became a little worried.

As Viscount Moraine said, many minor lords of the south had clashing relationships with each other due to the long war. Even though the Arangis Duchy claimed to be the unifier of the south, Crete Island was a considerable distance from inland.

The lords had only gathered around a banner called Arangis.

They were not structured in the same way as high lords in the mainland. While the subordinate families of the high lords supported and maintained the great territories with deference, the southern lords were more autonomous.

“Then even if we form a large coalition, there will be problems. It is unlikely that they will willingly follow my orders or the orders of His Excellency Pendragon.”

Count Cedric looked at Raven anxiously.

But he soon became puzzled.

The mastermind, Duke Pendragon, was smiling in carefree manner devoid of any concerns.

“I have heard that southern nobles and knights are on bad terms with each other, but I also heard that there are people that southern men respect and follow without question. Isn’t that true?”

“What? That…? Ah!”

Count Cedric exclaimed.

Recognizing that the Count had understood, Raven nodded with a confident smile.

“Fortunately, one of my knights is a warrior among warriors that any southern man would recognize.”

“Stormbringer…”

Count Cedric muttered the name in relief. Apart from the duke himself, the Stormbringer was the most famous knight in the Pendragon Duchy.

***

“…..”

As always, Isla maintained a cold, indifferent expression as he overlooked the coastal waters of Latuan. It was an appearance befitting the famous knight of the Pendragon Duchy. His name was renowned throughout the empire, the inland sea, as well as the South.

Perhaps due to his influence, the figures standing in front of him were also in a perfect position without moving an inch.

All except for two particular individuals.

“Hey, griffon scarecrow! When are we going to beat up the island orcs?”

“We already took care of the remnant pirates, and you trained the islanders for sure, right? Let’s get going to El Pasa.”

“What? No, we have to chop up the island bastards first!”

“Huh! What are you trying to do with those damn orcs? They’ve holed themselves up in their islands. Besides, how many islands do you think there are?”

“Kuhah! You really grew up, didn’t you, one egg scarecrow?”

“I am smaller than you, Karuta, but I was originally on the bigger side.”

“What? Look at you go, you eggless scarecrow. Do you want to heat things up again?”

Those in the barracks did not dare laugh at the sight of the two. They were huge, but the conversation was reminiscent of two children bickering.

The orc warrior possessed an overwhelming physique. He was like an angry bull, a monster who beat up the island orcs like a common neighborhood mut. The other was a devil who showed them what true hell training was.

However, there was one person who was not afraid of the monster and the devil.

Shhk.

Isla stepped up and spoke up while looking at them with his dark blue eyes.

“There was an order from the lord.”

“Oh! Finally!”

“Really? What did the Pendragon scarecrow say?”

Killian and Karuta immediately ceased their quarrel and asked in delight.

“Sir Killian will remain here with the 7th regiment to perfect the established supply route.”

“Huh?”

Killian’s face quickly turned filled with disappointment. However, Isla ignored him and continued calmly, shifting his gaze towards Karuta.

“And Sir Karuta is to come with me to El Pasa.”

“What the hell! Then what about the salty island orc bastards…”

“Sir Kratul and the other Ancona friends will be coming to this area soon.”

“The damned earth be split…”

Karuta started to curse in frustration, but Isla interrupted.

“There are orc tribes in the south as well. The islands have essentially been occupied by the Ancona Orcs already, so have bigger ambitions.”

“Keung?”

“…Is what the lord told me to relay.”

“Keuoh…”

Karuta’s expression slowly loosened.

Anything that came out of Isla’s mouth increased in credibility.

It was because he was originally a man of few words, and he did not speak unless it was necessary.

“Keuha! Good! I will leave the weakling orcs to Kratul and the others.”

Karuta burst out into laughter.

On the other hand, Killian kicked the ground with a sulky expression.

“This is pure discrimination. I even got wed and came all the way here…”