Proofread by Thomas F
Harrison Dane
"Lord Commander,"
The guards at the door bowed and opened the door of the dungeon.
I walked through them. Immediately, the lights dimmed a little. I could smell the pain and desperation of the incarceration.
All of them deserve it. Some were thieves, some corrupt officers. Instead of helping, the magnificent thing I am trying to create, they tried to break it.
I will not let that happen. I will punish every single one of them who does it.
Soon, I turned and began to descend the stairs. The lower one goes, the graver their sin. In these floors are murders and other grave crimes.
Though these murderers aren't the worst in the dungeon. There are even worse people.
Soon, I descended into the lowest floor of the dungeon. There is barely any sound on this floor, but as I walked, I began to hear them.
Every prisoner is in chains, even inside the cells. These are the worst and the most dangerous.
Spies, turncoats, and traitors and all.
Soon, I stopped in front of the cell. There is a middle-aged man with thick hair and a beard. Gone was a meticulously maintained beard where every strand was perfect.
Now it is messy and mixed with the grime of his cell.
He was sitting against the wall in a cell, where he couldn't even stand. It is a small cell, without the slightest comfort. People like him do not deserve it.
He seemed to have heard me as he opened his eyes.
"Commander," he said. Not Lord Commander.
"I had not expected you would betray me, Wickham," I said. He was among my most trusted. I had especially chosen him when I decided to come to the fort.
Now he had betrayed me. Betrayed the trust and favor I had given to him.
There was no answer, but I didn't sense any guilt or shame either. Instead, I saw the belief, and it shocked me. The man believed his actions were good; there is not even a hint of regret in them.
"You fucking traitor, speak!" roared Lawson, but he didn't even glance at him. His eyes focused on me.
"Why?" I asked finally when he didn't speak.
"Because, there is no other way, Commander," he replied with a sigh. Making me want to punch the bars.
He had turned to Grimvale; he was secretly trying to influence other people to his cause.
Previously, the threats came from Baronies, Silver, and even Summerfield, but now Grimvale is the Focus, and he is moving aggressively against me, trying to turn my people against me.
He is the fifth person I have caught and the highest ranking.
"You are my most trusted, you had such a bright future and betrayed me," I said. The pain of betrayal is worse than any physical pain, especially when done by someone so trusted.
He began to laugh, and his laughter only grew louder, which made me angry.
"Quite you bastard!" said Lawson, but he didn't stop for another minute, before turning to me with sombreness.
"There is no future with you, commander." He said, shaking his head, making the chains covering his neck clang.
"Silver had grown strong enough that you can't do anything against him. Grimvale is very strong and growing stronger."
"As for baronies, you had a chance with them, but you squandered it. Now, they have become strong enough to resist you."
His words felt like a hammer to my soul. I wanted to tell him shut up, but I listened.
"Six months, a year at most, before either one of them comes for the hold," he stated, and the rage in my heart bubbled.
"This is Mirador Hold, you bastard. Even if Grimvale or Silver brings all their armies, they would not be able to breach it," replied Lawson, and Wickham laughed again.
"The army isn't the only way one could attack, you idiot!" said Wickham. Finally, looking at Lawson, only for a brief moment, before turning to me.
"The wise thing to do now is to submit, Commander. Once the time runs out, you will lose everything. This fort, your army, your position, and everything," he advised, looking dead into my eyes.
He made me shudder, and that burned the rage in my heart even brighter.
"I will submit to no one!" I declared and walked away from him. "Give him no water and food. Let him beg for it," I ordered.
I didn't speak the whole time because I was too angry to talk. However, one thing he said is right.
I need to attack quickly. Baronies are growing stronger. If I didn't attack sooner, they would become too strong for me to do anything.
As for them attacking me, I am not worried. I am not even worried about Silver or Grimvale.
This is Mirador Hold; they will need a much larger force to breach through. The powerhouses could be tricky, but they couldn't bring all their powerhouses here.
Baronies have monsters, Silver have undead and neighbors, and Grimvale have Tabes.
They are growing stronger. Our intelligence has already verified that Silver has three Lv. 40 characters, including himself, and so does Grimvale.
Baronies don't have it yet, but a few of the bastards are very close to it.
Soon, we reached my office, and I sat down. "He is indeed right about one thing, General. We need to act fast," said Lawson.
"Soon, Lawson. In a few weeks, we are going to attack the baronies," I replied.
It took considerable effort and resources to recruit soldiers. Since I couldn't do it the conventional way, like Baronies and Silver. I had to use everything I had.
Lawson had been invaluable. He does not have any combat talent, but he has a significant connection and a sweet mouth to make anyone agree with him.
He is very good at catching spies. He is the one who caught Wickham.
"Nearly all preparation complete, but we will need more ammunition," I said to him. "They will arrive by the end of next week," he replied.
"And emotion essence potions?" I asked, and his expression turned sour. "They are not giving us in the numbers we want," he replied.
"Tell them, we will pay more," I said and he sighed. "I tried that," he replied.
"What does he want then?" he asked and Lawson just looked at me. "The same," he replied a moment later.
He wants to place a liason here, that will smooth out the goods coming from Navr to his city. He also wants us to remove restrictions on some of the goods.
"Tell him, we are willing to negotiate on some conditions," I said finally.
I hate to do this, but I see a no choice. I need emotion essence potion.
It will increase spirit of my officers; it is akin to second like. With it in their possession, they will be able to fight daringly, but Silver keeps a light leash on them.
For every batch of essence, he asks for something along with money and most of the time, I have to do what he wants. Unfortunately, I could not do anything to him.
A few has suggested that I cut his trade with Navr, but that is the most idiotic thing.
The tax from trade runs the fort. While share is Silver compared to merchant state, but it is increasing at greater pace that I had expected.
Especially since he won't against the undead. It is now around 10%, which might not seem much, but it is huge. It is nearly equal to all the others combine.
I need it especially since merchant state is reducing the trade due to the monster problem.
Those bastards couldn't even deal with the problem. Once I conquered the baronies. I am going to post a large force there that will deal with any monster that comes.
Barony is the key to key to conquer the region. Here, I will have a city in my control and the whole trade route, which will give me enough money to recruit a large army.
Once I have that, I will begin my offensive against the region, with Silver being the first.
If I got the Greltheaven, then I won't have any problem conquering the whole region with the wealth from the legacy.
"I will," he replied.
We discussed a few more things before he left. I read through a few more files before getting up and looking outside the window.
I considered the undead the biggest blessing, along with the deaths of Prince and Darrow.
With them dead, I was unshackled and thought, it won't take me long to conquer the region, before I move to deal with the undead.
I learned the hard lesson at Baronies.
The strategy had been wrong. I should have listened to Wickham. He was my strategist, and it hurt so much when he turned.
His strategy was to take the salamis of the baronies instead of going for the whole thing. Once we got the foot, in the baronies, we could have slowly conquered the whole forest.
It is one thing I regret the most. If I had listened, things would have been a lot different right now.
This time, I am going follow the plan and make complete preparation.
I now have an army of sixty-five thousand people. By the time I attack, the number should reach seventy thousand, which is enough force to take the slice of the baronies as long as I time the attack right.
That is the last thing I am worried about. The monster will give me an opportunity.
There are opportunities every month. I would have attacked it by now, if not for my preparations. Once they have finished, I am going to attack them, and I will succeed.
Just thinking about it put a smile on my face. Because it will happen, this time no one will be able to stop me.