The conclusion of any battle would almost always cause two very different scenarios to y in the opposite camps.


    And this time was no different.


    Thus as Alexander entertained the newly arrived Lord Janus, filling him on the details of all that had just urred and rejoicing the fresh injection of supplies, on the opposite side of the pond, a very different set of emotions ruled the ground.


    Back in Lord Parker''s camp, the air was dull and gloomy, as a whirlpool of anger and indignation surrounded them all.


    Many were unable to ept the fact of who they had been defeated time and time again despite outnumbering the enemy by so many times.


    Thus they cursed, spat, and doubted themselves, even wondering if they were truly fighting a god''s chosen.


    And there was only man left to deal with them all, the one who was right in the center of the maelstrom- Lord Macht.


    Just like he had predicted, suffering almost fifty percent casualties and still failing to take Phyrros Ind caused a major bacsh among both the participating Margraves as well as the Heeat officers, with the former using the general of leading them to their death, while thetter used theirmander of handicapping them by diluting their formations with these ''undesirables''.


    me for the loss of the battle was relentlessly thrown by both sides onto the other, with the only singlemon consensus being reached that it had been wrong to assimte the two families haphazardly together like it had been done.


    Lord Macht fumed with immense rage when hearing this.


    He had expected this kind of reaction from the Margraves, that was fairly understandable.


    But like how the Margraves stuck together, he had also expected the same from his own officers.


    Even if that was not the case, even if they did not actively cheer for him, Lord Macht at least thought they would act as the silent majority.


    He certainly did not expect that they would start to plot against him for power the moment he slipped up. The simple warrior hated these shadowy games, being quite bad at them.


    Lord Macht''s mistake here was that he had assumed these officers were ''his'' when in reality a lot of them was really Achis''s, their loyalty solely tied to them.


    To them, Lord Macht was, for all effects and purposes an outsider.


    As for the rest, they were either nobles who only paid lip service to Lord Macht, or neutral officers who were more akin to ravenous sharks, their ambitions coursing through every pore of the body as blood.


    All these three different groups thus had their own wants, with the ''loyal'' group wanting to rece Lord Macht with someone morepetent who could lead them to rescue their general, the nobles wanting to seize power for themselves, and the unaffiliated officers fishing for any avable advantage to get that next, sweet promotion.


    And given that Lord Macht had no real political identity, being purely a militarymander appointed by Lord Parker to win battles, the moment he failed to do that, he quickly lost most of his authority.


    The man was left with no real allies, appearing like the lone survivor of a shipwreck, surrounded on all sides by sharks.


    This sorry state was the reason why even the naive Margrave grunts were able toe up with the courage to challenge him on their own, something that felt like a p to his face.


    And smelling this blood, even Miss Linda decided to dip her paws into the mix, her shadow appearing behind many of the problems caused by the Margrave troops.


    She was even able to periodically meet up with her men, iming it was her right as the representative of her family, urging them to keep up the good work.


    And despite having clearly detected it, due tock of allies, Lord Macht found himself ultimately helpless to do much to her.


    This event opened up the opportunity for Miss Linda to one day bravely intrude upon the elder veteran''s space and coldly demand,


    "General! I want my officers back. Clearly, they are more suited to lead my men than you."


    Lord Macht only stopped himself from flipping out at the veryst second, swearing to himself that this was not the time.


    Due to the aforementioned delicate state of affairs between the two families, Lord Macht swallowed the insult with great difficulty, afraid doing anything rash would snap the fragile alliance.


    He would not be able to answer to his master if that happened, not when they were so close.


    Thus with bleeding gums and bloodshot eyes, the man even released some of the lower ranked officers, hoping to buy Miss Linda''s cooperation in the matter.


    "Mydy, we should not let this temporary setback distract us from the true enemy," Lord Macht even tried to put on the suit of a politician, hoping to sway thedy on the matter.


    "Hmmmpph!" However, by now it was too little, toote.


    Miss Linda had be thoroughly incensed by recent events, and did not deign to even put those words into her eyes.


    In fact, she somewhat weed Alexander''s interference, thinking it would give her more opportunity to fish for advantages.


    Now, if Lord Macht had been a really shrewd politician or if Lord Parker actively supported his acts instead of being cooped up in his tent, the man might have still sailed past all these controversies without much trouble.


    But unfortunately, neither of those were on the cards.


    And when Lord Macht went to seek Lord Parker''s help after being driven close to his edge, he not only received no support, but Lord Parker even tantly mocked him for his failure,ughing out loud upon hearing how Lord Macht lost despite his almost 3 to 1 advantage.


    This prompted the dejected lord to even call into question the legendary figure''s battle records, sneering,


    "Were the pages and pages of fabled legends written truly yours? Or did father pay someone to write them?"


    For a warrior like Lord Macht, having his achievements and legends ridiculed like this was perhaps even worse than death.


    The ck man would thus storm out of Lord Parker''s tent that day with a face so dark that it appeared to resemble the abyss. And if not the current set of circumstances, he would not have left the young man with only that.


    Even if Lord Parker was the next in session, Lord Macht would have no problem engraving a few basic manners right into the youngling''s skin, And he only eschewed that route due to the shit show he was aleady in. The man did not want to further escte the whole thing.


    This was also why, after his failure to reign in the various forces within his camp, Lord Macht in a very uncharacteristic move sent a negotiating delegation to Alexander, wishing to discuss ''terms''.


    The small team of men led by the noble Lord Kite would thus meet Alexander, Lord Macht, and Lord Janus in one of the manor''s many studies.


    "So what does the Heeat family want to discuss? Your terms of surrender?"


    And Alexander would begin the talks with such boisterousness, putting on a very confident look to pressure the other side.


    On the other hand, however, Lord Kite would refuse the aggravating bait, but sh a very professional smile, reply in a very cool tone,


    "First of all, on behalf of our lord, let us express our sincerest gratitude for taking so good care of the general. We will certainly keep in mind such goodwill."


    Lord Kite had of course sought an audience with Achis before sitting down to discuss anything, to make sure the golden goose was still alive.


    And indeed the general was given the best care Alexander could possibly muster, with him even personally ordering the physically many of the prescribed treatments.


    Alexander could do this due to Achis''s injury being rtively simple- a broken spine. So all that really needed was for the man toy down on his back perfectly t and still, and then wait… wait for the bones to repair by themselves. It was honestly a very boring affair.


    Hence when Lord Kite went to meet the general, he found the man all wrapped up tightly with bandages on arge, wooden bed that had only a thin mattress on it, and a powerful smell of various medicinal herbs drifted out of him.


    A whole host of doctors, attendants, and ves took care of all the man''s physical needs, while armed guards patrolled the medical tent, making any covert rescue attempts impossible.


    Lord Kite and Achis did not speak for too long, with the former simply asking about the man''s health and then quickly reassuring him that everything was fine and that they were in the midst of negotiating his release.


    Achis however did not seem to be interested in his own arrangement, appearing very disappointed in letting himself captured like this.


    Instead, he seemed much more about Lord Parker quickly asking Lord Kite how he was.


    The man knew his lord well and seemed to be able to guess the kind of nervous breakdown he would have.


    This was why Lord Kite decided to spin a little tale for the injured man here.


    Let us say no to piracy! Don''t take part in a crime! Don''t patronize thieves!


    Pleasee Here!


    =>Link to the original site:


    /book/herald-of-steel_24388579605084705