The First Magic World War

Indeed, Charles had ordered ten barrels of ale. It wasn't that he couldn't afford more, but he also wanted to order ale from several other pubs. Since ale has a shelf life and cannot be stored for a long period, its quality would deteriorate even if it didn't spoil.

While he dined with the two ladies, a fierce argument was unfolding at Silver Pigeon Fort's baronial estate. The baron's three children were all fiercely cursing Charles. Although the baroness remained silent, she was obviously very dissatisfied as well.

Especially since Baron Philedrica had just been killed in battle, the arrival of an army at Silver Pigeon Fort right after was highly suspicious.

All three aristocratic siblings believed that Charles was sent by the duke to annex Silver Pigeon Fort. They couldn't comprehend the fear of the duchess while Grand Duke Joseph led the troops, their ally Baron Philedrica had been entirely defeated. Their naive minds couldn't fathom a more complex, logical idea.

Philedrica's eldest son said decisively, "Mother, Silver Pigeon Fort belongs to our family; we must drive this man away. We cannot let this Charles and his damn knighthood stay here permanently."

"I heard he's just a 34th Rank Clerk Chief. We could send him to the front lines to fight the South Serifs by issuing an order in the name of a higher official."

Philedrica's younger son exclaimed, "Brother's right. Let those bastards fight it out amongst themselves, and we just wait for the war to end."

Although the baroness didn't possess the capability to process too complex or sophisticated logical reasoning, she had some insights. Even though Imperial Civil Servants are divided into fifty-three ranks, higher-ranking officials can't always order lower-ranking ones about.

The baron had subordinates above the 24th Rank, officials declared as an unsurpassable class, but these couldn't issue orders to a Strasbourg Clerk Chief, even if he were a top-ranked clerk.

While the baron's family argued, a young man rushed excitedly into the room, exclaiming, "Sister, guess what I found out? That Charles doesn't have his own army at all. His Westwind Knights are all our people."

"I have found out that he, believing he could command these people after they surrendered on the battlefield, is laughable. You know what's funny, sister? Three thousand of them fled the first night, and another two thousand the next day…"

The baroness' brother, who clearly wasn't good at math but didn't think so, spoke mysteriously, "Now, just a call to arms from us, and his men will return to Silver Pigeon Fort to fight for us, since they originally were Knights of Yahoo."

The words of the young man slightly encouraged the baroness, who then asked, "Is that true?"

Philedrica's eldest son exclaimed, "Uncle Brule! This is very important, are you sure?"

The young man clapped his hands, and over ten people walked in. The baroness recognized several of them as soldiers from their own Knighthood of Yahoo. Indeed, they described Charles exactly as the young man had.

Even they knelt down and loudly claimed, "We were just unfortunate to fall into an ambush, temporarily defeated by those damn South Serifs. Later, several gentlemen stabilized the front and counterattacked those South Serifs, but this damn Charles appeared out of nowhere, claiming all the fruits of victory."

"He also took advantage of our Knighthood of Yahoo's continued battles and extreme fatigue, forcibly making us surrender."

"Baroness, you need not say a word; we will return to Silver Pigeon Fort if you come forward." Explore more at empire

The baroness, still cautious, asked, "How many men did Charles originally have?"

The young man spoke eagerly, "He only has two to three hundred men, all of whom, it was said, were convicts released from several Imperial prisons before departure."

The Baroness nodded her head and made a resolute decision, saying, "We're going to the barracks."

The Baron's three children were all excited, running around until they returned, already dressed in their custom-made armor.

The eldest son of the Baron was only fifteen this year, and because he was not very bright and had not completed higher education, he was studying at home with a private tutor. He wore a sword at his waist and, though not very heroic, was brimming with confidence. He rushed ahead to get on the carriage, his still childish face full of malice, thinking, "How am I going to kill that Charles?"

"Killing him with a sword would be too easy for him."

"He should be hanged in the military camp in front of everyone."

"That would also intimidate those peasants and let them know that at Silver Pigeon Fort, they can only obey our family's commands."

The Baron's family, traveling in six carriages and accompanied by a host of servants, maids, a butler, and soldiers who had deserted from Charles's Westwind Knights, eagerly headed straight for the barracks.

The Baroness's brother, Brule, was even more excited than the Baron's family. He was slightly relieved that Baron Philedrica had died in battle. The Baron didn't think much of his brother-in-law who was also from a noble family but had frittered away his inheritance through excessive indulgence in entertainment and poor financial management, even selling off his lands. Brule had tried to borrow money from his brother-in-law a few times but never managed to borrow much; the Baron gave him at most a few dozen Aegeus each time, but he always spent it all too quickly.

Brule thought to himself, "This time, by helping my sister and her family take back control of Silver Pigeon Fort and commanding the army again, I must have her appoint me as Chief Financial Officer. Then I can take money off the books without having to look at anyone's face."

"This Charles Meklen guy is really my lucky star. If he hadn't come to Silver Pigeon Fort and made my sister's family feel the crisis, how could I have had the chance to manipulate things from behind the scenes?"

"Although he might not even know why my sister is after him, let him remain clueless. I, Brule, certainly won't explain to him that he's being manipulated by me to ruin because he's in my way,"

"After killing him, I'll frame him with a charge of treason and claim he was a spy for Byron!"

"A mere Clerk Chief, having such good luck to lead a Knighthood; once I seize military control, I'll give the Yahoo Knights to my sister, and his Knighthood will of course belong to me."

Brule grew more delighted the more he thought about it, and even spurred his horse to gallop, rushing into the barracks first.

The Westwind Knights, who had been trapped in Machu Picchu and fought Byron's cavalry, were all quite neurotic; suddenly someone burst into the barracks, and everyone unconsciously gathered together, forming several solid defensive clusters.

It was terribly unfortunate that Charles wasn't there, Taoles wasn't there, even Dobin wasn't there, and Philedrica wasn't there either; with Yellow Bear lacking authority, the Westwind Knights were virtually leaderless, reacting like a nervous creature without a brain.

As Brule shouted loudly, "Kneel and submit! You scum, I'm here to save you!"

In the chaos, someone shot at the Baron's brother-in-law.