Volume 15: Thunder Over the Land
Chapter 1: Prelude to Storms
Philip and Zelin entered their private reception room arm in arm. This was the most secluded place in the Grand Duke Philip’s residence, where the heirs of the Philip family throughout the ages had left their portraits and biographies. It could be said to be the most heavily guarded area in the entire Homer region.
Although the room was large, it seemed somewhat gloomy. The two walked slowly from the corridor into the room, with no one else accompanying them.
“Ror, are you really determined?” Zelin, with his gaunt face, gave a piercing look. “Once we take this step, there will be no turning back.”
“Hmph, Gofi, if we don’t take this step, we’ll have no way out at all. Just look at the Romanovs’ tactics—hey, they simply took Leon under their control. Though nominally he’s under Kommer’s management, I’m sure that if I keep tolerating this, Leon will soon have a loyal lackey of the king as his lord. That idiot Kommer is just being used as a pawn. The Romanovs are clearly using force against us. Can’t you see their Blue Dove Regiment already eyeing us? The moment I show any resistance, the kingdom will declare me stripped of my title and a rebel, and then the Blue Dove Regiment will march into my territory. In this situation, what else do you think we can do?”
Seeing that his closest ally remained silent, Philip didn’t mind. At this point, the two of them were like grasshoppers tied to the same string—if he was ruined, Galle would suffer the same fate. It was impossible to maintain their former glory, and even if he showed submission now, it would be too late.
“Gofi, there’s no choice. Those two fools in the north were initially terrified by the orcs and refused to confront the kingdom, so they had to swallow their pride. But they also understand what this situation implies. If we don’t take action, I tell them, the next step will be those minor lords trying to break free from us and act on their own. By then, we’ll mean nothing, and the kingdom’s Royal Court can simply strip us of everything our ancestors left us. With such an opportunity, how could they not cooperate?”
“Ror, it’s easy to summon gods but hard to send them away. You surely understand this principle, right? Once the orcs invade, who can control them? The entire northern region will turn into a wasteland. Without fortresses and castles as defenses, no one will dare live there. How shall we deal with the refugee problem?” Zerin certainly understood what his close friend meant—there was no other choice, and the same applied to him as well. But he hoped they could consider things more thoroughly.
“Gofi, of course I understand. That’s why I choose to cooperate with the Church of Light. I’d rather bow to the Church of Light than compromise with the kingdom. Bowing to the Church of Light only means losing some face and control over religious affairs. But compromising with the kingdom? I’d quickly become the second Poninsky—just a decree from those guys at the Star Chamber could turn me into a penniless street vagrant!” Philip, who had been glowing with confidence, showed a hint of gloom. Clearly, cooperating with the Church of Light, his old rival, was not what he truly wanted; it was merely out of necessity.
Nodding silently, Zerin also understood that Philip’s decision to cooperate with the Church of Light was out of desperation. Only by uniting with the Church of Light and local secular forces could they possibly contain the power of the orcs. The Church of Light must have lost patience in its endless disputes with the Kingdom of Nicossia, hence taking such a risky step. Yet to this day, neither Zerin nor Philip knew whether the Pope was aware of this. The complex power structure of the Church of Light also filled them with fear. If they hadn’t believed that cooperation with local forces served their interests better, neither Philip nor Zerin would have dared to take this step.
“Is everything ready in the north?” Zerin finally asked after a long silence.
“Mm. Those two are more cautious than us. Whether dealing with the orcs will bring disaster or fortune, no one can say for sure. We can only take things one step at a time. Gofi, do you think I wanted to take this path? You’re wrong. If the kingdom could give us even a sliver of a chance, I wouldn’t do this. But the Romanov family won’t give us that chance. I realized that when they rejected Tracy.” Philip also seemed sad. This was a path with no return—no one knew how far it would lead.
In the Grand Marshal’s Palace in Jazair City, Marshal Matthew no longer exhibited his usual calm composure. His gloomy expression clearly indicated that something extremely bad must have happened. Having spent decades in the battlefield, Matthew had developed a steady and unshakable demeanor, but this time the situation was indeed strange.
The two weary men standing beneath his desk seemed unaffected, but their expressions suggested that something had occurred, though it was still unclear whether it was good or bad.
“What does it mean when the orc army makes such large-scale adjustments at this time?” he asked, as if speaking to himself as well as to the two men. Matthew’s gaze became distant and anxious. Problems where one could not predict the opponent’s intentions were the hardest to deal with. Logically, it shouldn’t be the orcs’ active season—could they defy convention and start a war in winter?
“My lord marshal, the Iron Cross Corps in the west has remained relatively calm. It seems the orcs in the Duchy of Mellen, Sosol, and the old lands of Main have withdrawn after seizing everything they could take. It’s not yet clear what they plan to do with these areas. The captured people from those regions are said to be appearing in various slave markets, with slave traders secretly negotiating with the orcs. So, things seem normal in the west. However, orc activities on our front are very frequent, which is unusual. The Golden Oak Corps is now on high alert, ready to respond to any orcish provocation,” one of the men replied.
“What about the northeast? How prepared are those two regions?” Matthew breathed a slight sigh of relief, feeling a bit more at ease. Those two areas were the kingdom’s two strong shields; as long as they were secure, the kingdom had nothing to worry about.
“Those two regions are well-prepared. They’ve even expanded their infantry forces and completed the conscription of reserve soldiers. I wonder if they’re afraid the orcs will attack them there. Their knight orders and mages are also on standby, but it seems they’re not on the front lines and are rather waiting for something, stationed in the palace city,” the other man said, scratching his head in confusion.