Chapter 55: ~Vae victis!~ (1/2)

***Norfolk, Nord-Capital City***

***The Jarl***

“ … The army from Mislow got crushed. The same goes for the assisting forces of the Inquisition and various other feudal lords who assisted them. There are still about twenty thousand of them remaining, but they have no possibility to break Sarn's defence. And without their supplies, they have no chance of laying siege to Sarn.”

The spy-master finally ends his explanation and bows to me. So many things are happening at once and there is no chance of keeping complete track of them all.

First the attack from Mislow, then the betrayal of those long eared bastards. And even the mages of the Inquisition joined the fray.

My wives are sitting at my side. They listened too and have worried expressions on their faces. The third one is looking at me like saying ~told you so~. It bothers me. What should I have done? These are uncertain times and the long time of peace on this continent came to an end.

I scratch my belly while thinking about the spy-master’s words. And then there is this story about the attack on the Academy. If the reports about the attack by Phenex are true, then we lost another important location to the Immortal Empress.

My second wife pats my hand from the side. She was always the most empathic one, she always knows when I have gloomy thoughts.

Aaahh... why do all the other rulers have to be so stupid. To abandon your capital and take all your fighting forces somewhere else without knowing the enemy's abilities. This Norent Grant must have a birdbrain without comparison.

Surely my doors will burst open any second now and he will be here, starting a rant on how negligent I am. Probably he doesn't even know what happened to his capital. I wonder how an inexperienced person like him became the head of the Inquisition.

From the few times I met him, he seemed quite emotional too. He doesn't have the qualities of a leader at all.

*Bam*

The doors to my throne room fly open and like I prophesied, Norent Grant is standing there. Sometimes I am afraid of my own foresight. My guards move immediately to block his path.

“Insolence! How dare you to block the path of the Inquisition!? Are you in league with those heretics, who defy the way of life we upheld for hundreds of years?!” He starts screaming at them and I signal the guards to let him come closer.

“Norent. I am sure you are aware that this isn't your own house! And you are seriously stretching my good will after declaring war on us!” My voice echoes through the throne room.

“The Inquisition didn't declare war on anyone! We are just aiding a rightful cause to stop the downfall of our whole world!” Norent answers with an angry voice.

“Yet your mages assisted the kingdom of Mislow! Which declared war on us! I have it black on white!” I grab a document on the table at my side and wave it at him.

“I wonder why I am even speaking to you! A homeless bastard, who even acted without a proper declaration of his intentions!” I am the one who is screaming now.

“The Inquisition isn't homeless! How dare you to defy us! We control the Academy! Our city has the most knowledgeable mages of the entire world.” He is turning red now.

I cough and grin at him. “Oh, so you don't know that the Academy fell to Phenex while you took all your fighting forces somewhere else?”

Norent's mouth opens and closes a few times like a fish. “That's impossible! The Academy is untouchable in the desert! And the Gates are well defended! The guards would shut the Gates down if a fighting force came through! Preposterous!”

I shake my head. “Apparently you forgot that the ruler of Phenex is a mage beyond imagination. She got access to the Gate network and invaded your city after taking out your guards herself. My spies just reported it to me. Maybe you should think about implementing proper information networks.”

“How did you even get this information? We haven't heard a word from the Academy!” He sneers at me.

I shrug my shoulders. “Maybe you are relying too heavily on the Gates? My spies always preferred to use other means of message transportation too. That being said. I repeat my question of why I am listening to you. From my point of view, you are nothing more than a terrorist.”

“Even if the Academy is temporarily in foreign hands, that doesn't change the Inquisition's cause! This is a holy war in the name of the gods! You will immediately command this Ascathon to lay down his demonic weapons and stop his heretical actions, accepting the cleansing of his entire principality!” Norent is becoming red like a tomato.

“No.”

My answer is simple and final. It's a waste of my time to talk with an animal like this. I wave my hand and signal the guards to remove him from my sight.

Two guards grab him at his hands from each side. They lift him half a metre into the air and turn to start walking.