After some thought, I decided to go for Magistrate. I had allies to manage already and even a small power to look after. Having someone in charge of handling those people would be of great aid, since I couldn’t be everywhere at once.
“Sir!” came a cry outside my door, snapping me out of my focus. I deactivated the Grid to discover that it was afternoon now. Had I been out an entire day? The door swung open with no regard to my privacy, as Nigel, my First Alchemist, came scrambling in shouting like a madman. “Outside there’s…a veritable army!”
Chapter 3
Nigel had not been exaggerating when he shouted of an army gathered outside my territory. They had taken the main road to get here, hundreds of iron-clad wagons, pulled by golem horses with flaming red eyes and steam pouring from their backs. I had not been alerted to an enemy attack by our Watchtower, so this army wasn’t here to presumably break down my walls and help themselves to my territory. Instead they were probably here to parley, bringing such numbers as a show of force.
“I say we just shoot at the general from atop the roof,” Sigmund grumbled as he followed beside me. Lily was hastily helping the old man get into his service coat from his years in the Royal Army. “That’ll show him what he gets for trespassing.”
“Ah yes, why not just murder a man for using a public road,” I said. “Mind you, they haven’t stepped a foot on our actual property yet.”
“Oh right, I forgot the old adage,” Sigmund said as he stopped to let the maid finish buttoning up his jacket. “If an army parks at your doorstep, don’t worry about it.”
I waved a hand at my butler, too focused on the task at hand to worry about his fussing. He was rightfully nervous about such a large host, and frankly, so was I. These men weren’t here to invade us, that was for sure, but I knew in my gut that they were here for someone specific. I had no real enemies right now, but I had just taken a woman into my extended family who was enemy number one in the east. No doubt these fellows were here to collect her.
We approached the main road, with Lily falling behind to observe from a distance. She had her own responsibilities as manager of the actual estate, including evacuating the staff should things go poorly. The Manor had a decent security rating for certain, but an army this big would overwhelm us instantly. Lily would have to work quickly, getting the people and valuables out of the building before the looting began.
I pushed the thoughts of golems tearing my estate to pieces in the search for valuables aside and focused on what was at hand. Before me, at the main road, was a tall man wearing dark black armor.
“Plate mail?” Sigmund muttered. “An odd choice of armor, considering that Karrack rifles tear through metal like tissue.”
“I think intimidation is more on the man’s mind,” I said. Indeed, the black armor was forbidding, for the long goat horns of the helmet, the blank expression upon the face and the large sword at the man’s back gave me the shivers. Even though I couldn’t see his face, I felt as if his eyes were staring straight at me.
This general was standing alone, with no other humans nearby. His only companions were golems, standing far taller than him. They were motionless and inert, however, uninterested in the world around them.
“Richard Blake,” the armored man said, gesturing for me to approach. “Come forth. Let us speak.”
“Is speaking all you intend to do today?” I replied, walking up to meet him, doing my best to stand tall. I couldn’t show him that I was intimidated by his massive army, or his armor, or the fact that he had snuck up on me without anyone noticing.
“Depends on how this conversation goes,” the general replied. “Allow me to introduce myself.” He removed his helmet, revealing a man in his mid-thirties with the most piercing blue eyes I had ever seen. Somehow, they seemed to sparkle with an almost mystic quality. I tried not to stare directly into them, for fear of being ensorcelled. A strange fear, perhaps, but I knew magical effects when I saw them. I had spent many years administering potions to test subjects to know the signs of enchantment.
“I am Baron Jerem Leiss, leader of the Eastern Coalition, ruler over the Leiss Barony, owner of twenty territories and thirty lots. Behind me, you see the combined efforts of my vassals, my allies and members of the coalition,” he said. The man held himself with great regard and spoke rather pompously. Of course, when you had that kind of military standing behind you, you could be as pompous as you wanted!
“I am Richard Blake, owner of not one, but three rare vases from the Hissingtin Dynasty,” I replied. This caused the general to burst into laughter.
“How very droll!” Jerem said, slapping his knee with an armored glove, causing a loud ping sound. “You have quite the sense of humor.”
“As do you, showing up with such a massive army,” I replied, putting my hands on my hips. “No doubt this is a joke and not a feeble attempt to intimidate me.”
“This army is not for show,” Jerem said, his voice quickly losing all sense of jocularity. “But you are not the target. Word on the street is that the Lady Efera managed to charm her way into a marriage at the last minute, deftly avoiding losing her pendant. A marriage to your niece’s patriarch, Eustace Frankinson.”
I nodded. “You speak truly.”
“The Lady Efera owns claim to many new territories that the Coalition has recently acquired due to legitimate warfare. We did not invade her without just cause, for her ambition and deceit dug her own grave. You will see that our invasion of her territory was just and moral,” he explained, crossing his arms. “You should know of her ambitions. She once targeted you for such an attack.”
I shrugged. “Hardly a memory at this point. So what do you want?”
“Her pendant. Simple as that. We don’t want to come into your territory and start invading. We don’t want to attack the Frankinson estate, nor target your small power vassal. We just want her to abdicate her claims and her right to rule. Once we have such guarantees, we will leave her be.”
“So why are you bothering me then?” I asked. “Go to the Frankinsons and pound on her door.”
“Come now, Richard, do you think me dense? I did not become a Baron by accident. There is a power structure in this land that didn’t exist a year ago. The Northern Tip has always been a quiet, sleeping realm, with little action or intrigue. Now, suddenly, an estate begins to create alliances and expand its territory? You’re clearly up to something, and that’s fine by me. I don’t much care what you do with your land and energies. But I know you’re the one in charge. Not just of your house, but of your alliance. It would be disrespectful to bypass you and go straight to the Frankinsons.”
I glanced past the man, looking at the massive army. “You’ve a funny way of showing respect,” I replied. “Showing up here with such a force. I will not be cowed, nor will I be coerced. Should you try and attack, I will tell everyone that you did not declare an invasion. You will be scorned by your peers.”
The Baron scowled for a moment, but in a calculated move decided against arguing with me. Instead he softened his expression and sighed a little. “I did not bring this army to attack. Just to show you what awaits you should…well, should you not cooperate. The Coalition will have no choice but to invade, not to harm you or your people, but to simply take down the Lady Efera. Personally, I have no business with you, no anger at you. But you have a family member who poses a great threat to our entire way of life in the east. Because we cannot move on until we have eradicated her claims.”
There was an honesty in this man’s voice. It was becoming all too clear that he really didn’t care all that much about the Blake gentry. But I had invited that woman into my family. Now she was my responsibility. And more to the point, I needed to press her claims in order to learn what secrets she held. This meant that ultimately this Baron and his coalition would be my enemy. Still…did I have the resources or the power to fight back?
“I do apologize, Baron Leiss, but this display of force is not only arrogant,
but it is also rather inconsiderate of me and my household. If you had reached out to meet up, sit down and chat, I’d have happily listened to your terms,” I replied after some thought. “But barging up to my land with an army? Passing veiled threats at my family? I can’t help but feel like you’re here to intentionally cause an incident.”
“Come now, don’t be so dramatic. Just give us what we want, and we’ll go away. Easy enough for you. We don’t even want Efera as a prisoner.”
“The choice isn’t mine to make. I’ll pass along your request to Juliet and let her make the choice,” I said. “But just know that if I see your army marching through these roads without sending a letter ahead of time, I will put up defenses.”
The Baron put a metal hand upon my shoulder, looking square into my eyes, scowling deeply. “The next time you see my army, it will be tearing this manor down, brick by brick. You have two weeks to surrender the Lady’s claims. If not? Then I will be forced to declare war. And if you aren’t on our side…”
I shrugged his hand off my shoulder and returned the scowl to him. “I’d be careful with your next words,” I warned. “Because you might just make an enemy for life.”
Chapter 4
“A capital display of determination, Master Richard,” Sigmund said as we watched the last of the wagons disappear from the horizon. We were both staring out the window of the observation deck, the highest room in the manor. Originally it had been used by some astronomer in centuries past, to watch the Stars and divine their will, but these days we just used it to watch the sunset and drink in peace. “But you know he will return if we don’t meet his demands.”
“Can we actually deliver what he asks?” I replied, in between sips of the strongest brandy I could find. “Juliet is too proud to just give up. I mean, I saw she’d rather kill herself than just hand over her family’s signet.”
Sigmund shook his head and looked at me squarely. “You made your choice already. You can’t just take in a woman into your alliance and then throw her back out when an enemy comes demanding it.”
“I’m not advocating for tossing her out on her ass,” I said. “I mean, we can’t. I just…we can’t go to war with a Baron. And a coalition to boot.”
“Then I guess you had better begin spinning your wheels, good sir,” Sigmund replied as he uncorked another bottle. “Don’t forget, there are ways to defeat an enemy without going to war. Such methods usually require…”
“Skill?”
“Moral flexibility, more like it,” Sigmund chuckled. He poured himself another snifter and knocked it back in one go. “In my experience, nothing works like treachery.”
I nodded. “Anything you have in mind?”
“I’m afraid that is not my department, sir,” Sigmund replied with a slight sigh. “I won’t be alive forever. Won’t always be around to advise you in such matters. I’d rather see you figure this situation out on your own, learning the lessons for yourself.”
“That’s a fancy way of saying you haven’t got a clue,” I said. “But fair enough. I’ve actual advisors coming in soon. Hopefully they’ll be able to guide me here.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of it,” the old man said, turning to look at me. There was a graveness about his face, amidst the red tint in his cheeks from all the drinking he had been doing. “A good leader uses advisors to see his will come into fruition, not to lead him forward.”
“Hrm?” I asked. “Can you say that again?”
Sigmund turned around and staggered off, mumbling as he took his leave. “Advisors always have an opinion and a plan. But they don’t reap the consequences for their actions. Everything begins and ends with you, so don’t let them lead you by the nose. Tell them what you want to do and let them help you figure it out. Otherwise, they’re the ones in charge. At least, till it all goes to hell.”
And with that, my butler left the room, taking the good brandy with him and singing some old war songs, leaving me with my own thoughts. I continued to stare out into the horizon, thinking of what my choices were. I had barely been able to put together a decent defense for my existing territories in the last four months but now…now I would have to build an even bigger force to repel the Baron and his alliance. In two weeks.
Groaning, I sank into a nearby chair, sliding all the way down. What was I going to do here? I couldn’t give the damned woman up, because she had the key to details about my family’s assassin. And I couldn’t well keep her because the Coalition would cut through my land as if it were made of butter. No wonder my uncle had avoided participating in the Great Game his whole life. It seemed to be nothing but trouble.
I opened the Grid to survey the situation. The Northern Tip, nicknamed not because it lied in the north but because the highest mountain range was right before the great ocean, was primarily composed of small powers and a few gentries. To the immediate east were the Frankinsons, though their territory was deep in the hills, with no public roads to reach them. They would hold out well enough against enemy invaders and, over the years, Eustace had built up a proper military force to repel just about any troublemakers.
To my immediate west were my other neighbors, the Kinteli Clan. The Kintelis were foreigners from a far-off land, who had moved to this continent when their own homeland had been consumed with war. Kintelis were elves, a race of people that was fairly rare at this point. The elven homelands had been annihilated by some terrible force and only a few clans survived such an event. The Crown had unilaterally declared all elves within Velicia to be citizens and neighbors. Any acts of “anti-elvery” would be met with exile. It took only two boats full of Humaneers to be shipped off to the frozen continent for everyone to realize how serious the Crown was about racial integration. Since then, there had been no widespread forms of anti-elf sentiment. Plus, to be fair, they were such an unusual race to meet I often forgot about them.
The Kintelis were secretive and kept to themselves, but my uncle had learned their greatest weakness: a fondness for jams and jellies. Our vineyard produced a meager amount of jam each year, mostly to gift to workers and visiting dignitaries. Such a gift was well received by the Kintelis and I remember watching the elven Matrons sitting with my uncle well into the evening, eating jams straight from the jar with spoons, forgoing placing it on bread like a proper human did. Of course, back then I thought they were just weird. I hadn’t realized they were elves at all.
Examining their land, I could see they were quite secure on the western flank. They commanded a much larger amount of territory than the Frankinsons, with huge fields for farming and cattle raising. Each territory was ironclad as well, with the average security rating of 25. More than enough to repel a full-sized army.
Would they be willing to help me? I hadn’t heard a word from them since my uncle had died. No flowers sent, no condolences, nothing. Just silence. Though, they weren’t super close with him to begin with. They just came around every few years at his invitation, staying for only a few hours late at night, leaving well before the morning.
There was no sense in just sitting around, waiting for something to happen, however. The Kintelis had a great deal of property and looked to be doing quite well for themselves. Best case scenario, I’d be able to win their favor and gain an ally to protect these lands from the Baron’s forces. Worst case scenario, I’d at least be able to get to know these mysterious people and find out what they wanted out of life. Maybe I’d be able to sell them some wine too.
Chapter 5
The clock was ticking. Perhaps I should have thought things out more, planned better or put together a retinue, but I couldn’t quite sleep that night. Tossing and turning in my bed, I realized that each hour that passed was an hour closer to the ultimatum being met. If I couldn’t sleep, I might as well head out to meet the Kinteli clan in person.
And so, alone in my autocarriage with only a Karrack rifle and a box full of last season’s jams, I headed to the western fields, to find new allies for our
household. It would be two hours before I made it to their manor in Belladonna Valley, enough time for me to look at the new upgrades I could choose from.
Having taken the Sentinel specialization, I had gained two free upgrades for my towers. And with the threat now looming above me, I’d have to make some excellent use of those upgrades. I quickly checked the Grid to see what was available, all the while trying to keep track of time, so I didn’t spend too long in stasis.
2 Tower Upgrades Available
Wooden Barricade:
- Hearty: Increases the health of the barricade by 200 Hit Points.
- Iron Lining: Explosion damage is reduced by a total of 50%. (This does not stack with Bronze Lining.)
Karrack Tower:
- Tri-Beams: The towers are now able to strike 3 targets at once, but this reduces tower damage to 33% per target.
- Hard Hitters: Increases tower damage by 25%.
Ballista Tower:
- Ricochet: When a bolt strikes one target, it immediately rebounds to a second target at random.
- Improved Reload: Reduces reload time by 5 seconds.
Phlogiston Cannon:
- Oil Spritzers: Enemies have a 50% chance of being lit on fire, taking damage over time even outside of the cannon’s range.
- Armor Plating: Gains 100 points of armor. (Armor takes reduced damage from all non-armor piercing attacks.)
Miniature Trebuchet:
- Aerodynamic Payload: Attacks now land within 5 seconds of being fired.
- Heavy Ammunition: Increases damage by 100% but also increases flight time by 2 seconds.
An excellent assortment of options. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the previously upgraded towers had additional upgrades that were unavailable previously. This would reward me for continuing to upgrade down a tower path, making already existing towers stronger and stronger.
Gentleman's Wars 2: A Tower Defense LitRPG Series Page 2
