Herald of Steel

The story that the elder nobleman told Miss Linda greatly resonated with the rest of the nobles in Caira.

He was a powerful, well connected man and had many dealings with the nearby nobles, letting many of the present nobles personally know the victims.

Hence when they heard recounteds of how the man's daughter in law was so cruelly murdered and how his grandson had been crippled and gone half mad from the trauma, it struck a personal cord with many of them.

Many also had their sons, daughters, or other close kin who suffered similarly.

And so now, they wanted revenge.

Sure, over the centuries they might have done similar things if not worse to the natives, but by now who was keeping count?

At that moment it was personal and the nobles would never accept the Margraves simply sitting inside their walls and wait out the disaster, walls that the nobles themselves paid for in the first place.

The Margraves had to repay the nobles for their loyalty!

This was one of the reasons why they were so eagerly stoking the protests.

And this mentality among the higher ups meant that even the most conservative Margraves military commanders were forced to assent to the idea of giving up the strong defensive position in favor of a decisive, open fight.

Any protest regarding this protest would have been met with derision and accusations of being cowards and deserters from the entire city.

It was in this way, the Margraves army was convinced of the strategy.

As for convincing the Heeats, alongside pressuring them, Lord Bernard also used his silver tongue to try to ease Lord Parker's concerns about the enemy's numerical superiority.

"My lord, trust us when we say you have nothing to worry … we know how these black worms work! The craven cowards will give away the moment they see us. Their numbers mean nothing."

The natives' complexion here was not black.

Sure they were generally a bit more tanned than their far northern Sybarian counterpart, but they were at best olive, like the Italians or Greeks.

So the term was more used as a derogatory term to look down on them.

Such as now when Lord Bernard disdainfully disparaged the fighting prowess of the natives, reassuring Lord Parker that he was being too paranoid and that whatever numerical advantage the opponent might have was something relevant only on paper.

And this confidence partly came from his own and partly from facts.

Just like Miss Linda had, this man too reached a similar conclusion, that the natives were simply a raiding force and too spineless to actually put up a fight.

"Snort!" However just as he finished, Lord Macht, who was beside his young lord only contemptuously sneered at such an analysis.

He did not buy this boisterous claim's claim for a second, neither did he trust this sly, slimy man an iota.

"What do you know about enemy numbers, battles or even fighting in general? You are just a two bit, oily politician! Don't speak about things you know nothing about!

Do you expect us to seriously believe all those catapults that are hitting us every day are just for show? That Alexander's has raised such a huge army just to obediently go back without putting up a fight? Do we look like pigs in human skin to you? That you can feed us whatever shit you want?"

The elder man had really left no room for courtesy here, disparaging Lord Bernard's lack of military accomplishments and releasing a great breath of relief, exhaling all the pent up frustration.

Clearly the recent events and the cheap tricks employed against them had the man riled up.

While upon hearing this lambast, the nearby Lord Kite quickly stepped forward to intervene, afraid that this might turn into a diplomatic incident.

Taking over from the loose cannon of a mouth that was Lord Bernard, he was much more tactful with his words, first turning to Lord Bernard to apologize for Lord Macht's 'overly passionate' behavior before hurriedly pointing out,

"Lord Bernard, indeed Lord Macht has made a good point. It is hard to believe Alexander will simply run because we show up with an army. You of all people should know that if Alexander wanted to give up, he could have gone home a long time ago. There was no reason for him to come back.

But he did. Because Alexander is not the type of man to back down. Born as a lowly slave, he could have never become such a dangerous thorn if he had given up halfway when doing things. Can we really afford to take such a risky gamble with such a dangerous opponent? Recall he has yet to lose a single battle despite us outnumbering him five to one. "

"...." Lord Bernard did not have a good response to this.

Indeed, Alexander's shadow hung above him like a specter.

And the fact that he could have easily taken ships from Giant City if he had so wished but hadn't, naturally spoke volumes to his intentions.

In fact, once Lord Parker learned of Alexander's new residence via Margrave's spies, he initially thought that the man was running, which was why he had no plans to chase him.

Thus the fact that he was here looking for round two clearly showed he was not going to go down without a fight.

When he thought about it like that, Lord Bernard honestly did not ever meet the man in battle.

It was also sensing Lord Bernard's hesitation that Lord Kite then further pleaded,

"It seems you too have sensed it, my lord. Deep down you too know that it would not be wise to underestimate Alexander or the natives accompanying him. Before those barbarians might have acted as cowards… but this time it is different. This time they are not alone, this time they have allies, very powerful allies."

In this way, Lord Kite intentionally played up the dangers of Alexander, making him much more than what he thought him to be.

And as he strategically paused, it gave Lord Bernard the time to soak in all the details.

The way Lord Kite spoke and controlled the tempo of the native clearly revealed the difference in oratory skills between him and the simple warrior Lord Macht.

As an accomplished learned nobleman, the skill set that he possessed was vastly more varied and sharp.

Then at last, the clever man finished by once again urging the commander of the Margraves army,

"I know it is hard for you Lord Bernard but please allow us to wait a few more days… our reinforcements will be here by then. Then we can get the 'best revenge' …that all of you so desire."

"......." Once again Lord Bernard stayed silent, but this time upon hearing the request produced a very difficult face as if he had heard a very bad joke.

"We have been already over this, You have been telling us your reinforcements will be here any time for the past two months. Where are they? How much longer do you expect us to wait?"

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The man then spat out at last in indignation with gritted teeth, and before sharply turning to address Lord Parker directly without waiting to hear any more excuses,

"I will inform the nobles of Alexander's threat just as you described my lord. But do not set too high a hope… those nobles currently do not seem to be in any state to listen. They only want to see those natives skinned and hung… Alexander and his threat be damned!"

"So realistically the best I can do is get you a few more days. The nobles have asked me to raise ten thousand levies as a way to make for the numbers. That deadline ends in three days. For old time's sake, I will be able to stretch that to a week at best. That is your limit, my lord…. One week."

"If your reinforcements do not show up by then…. well then do not blame me. This is the extent of my, Bernard's personal friendship..."

Recalling the honeymoon period between the two families, and the fact that Lord Bernard occasionally shared bed with Lord Parker back then, this was the best concession the Margraves family commander was willing to make.

Lord Parker would furiously clench his fist in great anger hearing this because one week was hardly the 'generous' limit as LB described.

He was not too hopeful about aid coming so soon.

"How long till father gets here? Has he written to us? Why is it taking so long?"

Hence, no sooner had the meeting finished and Lord Bernard left Lord Parker turned on his heel to ask this in a loud, very urgent voice.

"Master has promised to send us help as soon as possible. But…. there was no specific date mentioned my lord,"

The officer in charge of overseeing the communication frightfully lowered his head as he replied in a low, muted tone, voice clearly shaking, "Soon, they will be here soon, my lord. Please hold a bit more patience," before promising as such.

"..." It was unknown how much of that hollow promise resonated with Lord Parker, as hearing the words, the young scion produced an absolutely livid, twisted face, his heart seething with rage.

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