Chapter 118
Haiburi Castle Town, Tremblin Duchy.
There was a crowd gathered around the warp gate, which was positioned in the heart of the castle town.
A few moments later, a flash of light emerged from the warp gate. The swirling blue gate then spat a figure out. It was Joshua.
“Welcome to Haiburi Castle Town, Avalon’s Pride, Lord Joshua Sanders!”
“...”
Joshua grimaced at the roar of the crowd. He was already feeling nauseous from the warp gate. He then frowned as he swept his gaze across the crowd and saw hundreds of people waiting for him. The question was—how did they know that he was about to arrive?
‘That family crest, Count Haiburi?’?
Joshua glanced at the respectful knights.
The majority of the crowd were knights wearing silver armor depicting two overlapping cartwheels, which was the crest of the Haiburi Family. The Haiburi Family was the ruler of Haiburi Castle Town.
Joshua couldn’t help but sigh when he saw a middle-aged man whom he had seen many times before.
‘I should have known that the head of the household will come out to meet me. It was so obvious, so I should have known that this would happen. So much attention will be placed on me now, and that is something I don’t really like…’?Joshua inwardly groaned before shaking his head with a resolute look. 'I should hide beneath a fake identity before proceeding.'
As Joshua walked down the warp gate, a middle-aged man approached with a wide smile.
“It has been a long time, Lord Joshua. We haven’t met since His First Highness’ birthday banquet.”
“Thank you for your kindness, Count Haiburi. You’re right, it has been a really long time.”
Count Haiburi had a kind and generous demeanor. Joshua smiled and shook the former’s hand.
“No, it should be me who should say thank you. It’s such an honor to meet one of the empire’s greatest talents.”
“You flatter me.”
‘I’ve heard that his appearance is like that of an adult, but to think that he's only fifteen. And the way he carries himself is…’?Count Haiburi admired Joshua’s composure and humility.
Joshua Sanders looked vastly different up close. It was just Count Haiburi’s first impression, but Joshua seemed like he lacked the innate arrogance or air of the youngsters nowadays. Instead, the feeling Joshua gave was similar to a sharpened blade—no, that wasn’t the case as well.
‘He’s like a treasured sword that hasn’t been unsheathed just yet. His strength is still sleeping within him.’?At the thought, Count Haiburi’s smile deepened.
It was all because he completely understood how difficult it was to conceal the power one was wielding. It didn’t matter whether it was finance, influence, or strength. One would still find it incredibly difficult to hide such a thing.
‘He's a very gifted individual. I can only speculate as to why His Majesty said those words.’
While Count Haiburi was deep in his thoughts, Joshua brought him back to the real world by saying, “Your Excellency didn’t have to come and greet me in this manner. I have caused Your Excellency’s knights a lot of trouble because they had to be pulled out of their posts just to say hello…”
“Ah, you see—” Count Haiburi was about to respond.
However, a feminine voice interrupted him.“It’s His Majesty’s order.”
“...?” Joshua tilted his head and saw a young lady with a striking resemblance to Count Haiburi.
She wasn’t a kingdom-toppling beauty, but she wasn’t bad-looking as well. To put it simply, she was like a typical lovely lady one would find in every community. The young lady was suddenly tongue-tied, and she stared at Joshua for a while. Eventually, she gathered enough courage to stammer.
“H-His Majesty said that since Lord Joshua is heading to Reinhardt, our house should make sure that Sir Joshua feels comfortable and welcome.”
At that, Joshua gave a bitter smile. He nodded in understanding before asking, “Who is she?”
“Oh,?she’s my daughter. Mei, come here.” Count Haiburi gestured for her to come closer.
“I’m Mei… Mei ken Haiburi,” said the young lady while covering her shy smile with her palm.
Joshua smiled at that and introduced himself. “My name is Joshua Sanders, and I’m from Arcadia. It is my honor to meet the lovely daughter of Count Haiburi.”
“Ah…”?Mei's cheeks flushed as she stared at Joshua smiling at her.
Joshua was handsome enough for him to have a throng of admirers, but his cold demeanor made it difficult for people to approach him.
All of a sudden, another feminine voice reverberated.
“My word—Really, Sir Joshua! You really came here, Sir Joshua!”
She was a lovely blonde-haired young lady, and she seemed thrilled as if she had just met her Prince Charming.
Senna went to Arcadia for a few days to attend the birthday party of Prince Kiser.
Then, when she learned that Joshua was traveling to Haiburi, she did everything to force her father to let her use a warp gate.
“Ah, that’s Senna, my niece—”
Count Haiburi was about to speak when the girl spoke out again.
“Senna! My Name is Senna lu Refenberg. It’s an honor to meet you here—I mean—I really, really adore, I mean respect you...”
“Refenberg…” Joshua stared at Senna for a moment.
“Ah!?Yes, Torsen lu Refenberg, the Battalion Commander of the 7th Battalion of the Imperial Knights Order, is my father.”
Joshua immediately recalled the figure of the knight in question. Torsen was a blond-haired middle-aged man whose aura was crisper than any other knight Joshua had seen before.
‘Hmm… yes, she does look like him.’?
Joshua smiled and said, “So you’re Sir Torsen’s daughter...”
“Yes, and—” Senna started.
Count Haiburi knew that Senna would never stop talking once she got started, so he quickly interrupted. “Why don’t we go inside for now?”
Of course, Senna herself was self-aware of that trait of hers, but she still pouted upon being interrupted.
Count Haiburi saw that and knew that he had to do something, so he continued talking. “How are you feeling? You must be tired from the journey, so how about you stay a day or two in our castle? There is still plenty of time before the Masters’ Battle starts.”
“I appreciate the Count's favor…” Joshua started.
The expressions of Mei and Senna brightened at once. However, Count Haiburi looked the most excited upon hearing Joshua’s words.
“But in addition to the Masters’ Battle, I have a number of personal affairs to handle, so I can only thank Your Excellency for your thoughts.”
“That’s…”
“Ah.”
Mei and Senna seemed regretful upon hearing that, while Count Haiburi himself let out a dismayed sigh. Still, it seemed like he still hadn’t given up just yet, so he said, “Why don't we go get something to eat?”
“Hmm…” The offer was difficult to reject since it wasn’t really malicious.
Count Haiburi noticed that Joshua seemed hesitant, so he decided to drive the nail in by saying, "His Majesty has given me his orders, so please let me save face by accepting my offer for supper.”
'I should probably go?there?first…'?Joshua sighed in resignation and nodded. “All right, if Your Excellency says so…”
At that, they brightened up once more.
Upon seeing how delighted they look when he accepted their offer, Joshua could only reveal a bitter smile as he said, “However, I believe that it is difficult for me to accompany Your Excellency and these young ladies in the meantime, but I will be at Haiburi Castle this evening.”
“We will be waiting...” Count Haiburi beamed and nodded.
Anyway, Joshua had already confirmed his attendance. Count Haiburi’s had enough political expertise to know when to stop.
“If you require any assistance, just drop a message at any of the inns. The inns here have some connections with our family.”
“Thank you for taking good care of me.”
“Of course, then, I'll see you later.”
Count Haiburi turned around, and the crowd followed suit.
“You have to come…” said Senna, “We will be waiting.”
With that, Senna left with the group. Joshua stared at them until they disappeared from his view.
“For now, let’s start with the Mercenary Guild.”
Joshua vanished after he confirmed his next stop.
***
There was a huge map on top of a wooden dining table. The map was so enormous it was spilling over the edges of the table. The map divided the continent of Igrant, and it clearly depicted the territory of the Avalon Empire.
This map was definitely expensive, but the lady in front of it casually lifted her finger and pointed at a particular portion of the map without even looking at it properly.
She was pointing at the southern section of the Avalon Empire.
“The blue region here represents the Pontier family's current territory.”
The tall young man next to her grimaced at her words.
“How about the land highlighted in red?”
“Yeah, those are the territory of the Crombell Family. The lands highlighted in green were our family’s territory as well before the full-fledged war between our family and the Crombell Family started.”
“It looks bleak.” The tall young man sighed.
The green region was at least one and a half times bigger than the red before the territorial war between the Crombell Family and the Pontier Family. However, the blue area, representing the Pontier Family’s lands, wasn’t even half the size of the red area anymore. Thus, the Pontier Family’s territory was now less than a third of the Crombell Family’s territory.
“The rumors were true. The Pontier Family is on the brink of ruin—” Cain hurriedly stopped talking when he realized it.
Charles looked at Cain with a bitter smile and said, “It’s fine. It's the truth, anyway.”
“Lady Charles’ acquiescence sure is commendable.”
“I-Icarus?” Cain's face was puzzled by Icarus' sudden appearance.
Charles’ eyes brightened as she turned to look at Icarus with bated breath.
“Is there a chance for us to turn the tables, Icarus-nim?”
Icarus revealed a sweet smile before grabbing a pen and drawing a straight line on the map.
“There…” Icarus seemed confident as his eyes narrowed at the stupefied Charles. “It’s about time for me to show you why everyone calls me a genius strategist.”
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