“Our esteemed guest! Father Karl Franz!” Lord Black stood up, raising his goblet and everyone else in the hall stood up, paladins, clerics, Lord Black’s adjutants and Father Karl himself, responding in kind with a goblet filled with wine.

“Thank you, Lord Black for your kindness in hosting all of us in such short notice! No wonder Lawrence is a knight in your household! You are a skilled man for someone your age!” Karl Franz replied, as all those present downed their wine before sitting back down.

“It is a terrific honour to have a man as esteemed as yourself to be with us in Everett no less,” Lord Black smiled and Karl roared with laughter.

“This old man killed a few more things in his life, that’s all!”

As Karl happily conversed with Edward Black, the topic shifted from affairs of the church to Lawrence Carstein himself.

“Lord Black, may I ask where did you find a man of such talent? If that man is a mere household knight, I’m assuming you hold your own in a duel?” Karl Franz said with a wicked twinkle in his eye.

You know the answer, old man!

At least that was what Lord Black thought to himself.

“Ah, I was lucky. He had helped clear out some bandit troubles and I decided to award him with the governace of Black Bay Village and its surrounding lands… Of course, I had to give him an appropriate rank as well!”

That’s a lie. You wanted to tie him to you! Hmph! How long do you think I have lived!? By appointing him as a knight to tie him down as being associated with you…

Under the smiles of these men’s thoughts, they exchanged information with one another while being careful. However, as Lord Black asked for the roasted lambs to be brought in, a crusader walked in as well, bowing politely to Lord Black before walking over to Father Karl Franz.

As Karl listened on, he nodded slowly.

“Ah, then I’m afraid some news have come from our messenger pigeons,” Karl said gravely and the hall fell silent. What could possibly shake the elderly Father so?

“The Kingdoms of Gerheist and Carmine, which you are a part of has declared war on each other. The Gerheist army has smashed the frontier forces. I’m afraid that you probably will receive word to rally your own forces soon.”

Lord Black, for the first night today, let his expression show.

It was a mixture of fury and horror.

Lord Black forced a smile, turning to Kaisenberg and nodding. A signal, to rally the men in preparations for receiving orders. Kaisenberg left his seat and after leaving the halls, Lord Black looked at Johannes, who could do nothing but shrug. War is expensive business and since Karl had graciously refused the tithe to the church, they had some money for war.

Lord Black couldn’t help but sigh.

Just how many men will he have to muster? But… This time… Would he be able to rally those soldiers he saw the other day? What did Lawrence call them?

The Owls? The Owl Guards?

“Troubling news, Roland. Most troubling,” Trey mumbled as he passed the report on to Roland who seemed startled that even Trey was shaken.

Kraft and Longines who had read the missive that Trey just passed to Roland seemed to be dead set on avoiding committing any troops, however.

“It is troubling, but this is all the more that we should persuade Lawrence not to send any soldiers. This is a feud between the royalties!” Longines said loudly and Roland shook his head after reading the missive.

The missive had come from one of Trey’s spies. The message was short but simple.

Gerheist army defeats Carmine frontier forces. General Kaffe surrounded on Kaffe plateau. Colonel Vava abandons defensive positions. Counter-offensive unlikely.

“What would you say is the possible benefit of us committing any soldiers, at all?” Kraft reasoned and Roland had but one very simple reason.

“If we were to win a huge victory, Lawrence’s position here will be unshakable. If the Kingdom of Carmine should lose, as a vassal of Lord Black, Lawrence’s position will be called into question entirely.”

The two military leaders understood where Roland was coming from. However… The two leaders were reluctant to commit soldiers to bleed for something that in the long run may not have concerned them.

In wars, people are a finite resource, so are trained people.

For example, in the Second World War, the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea saw most of Japan’s experienced pilots killed, with the Battle in China further dragging out precious manpower which the Japanese did not have.

Though what they lacked in equipment and men were made up for in fighting spirit, they were eventually overwhelmed by the large number of American soldiers as well as China which tied down a massive portion of their forces.

“Roland, what do you want to tell Lawrence?” Trey asked, once again evaluating the man.