3 The Outer Realm (1)

"Highness, welcome again to Everdawn. Myself and my staff are at your disposal. The various reports of the Empire's holdings are prepared. It is ready for your perusal in the study." Pictor bowed as he reported on the various functions of Everdawn.

"Thank you for your hard work, I shall retire to the study then. Please have the staff bring the most detailed maps that is available on the outer realm and the most detailed map on the outlying areas of Everdawn." Aureus ordered as he made his way to the castle's study with the help of a servant. "Johan, command the company and have them stand down and billeted in their respective quarters then report to the study."

Johan nodded before turning around and heading to the castle courtyard. Meanwhile, Tarin kept pace with Aureus as both headed to the castle study. Upon reaching the study, Aureus dismissed the servant and headed to the various reports.

Aureus gave a cursory scan of the various reports before handing over a report to Tarin while setting aside another stack of reports beside a board. A short while later, Johan entered the study with a servant in grey livery bearing the maps.

"We will have a more in-depth report on the outer realm after Calvus and Denter joins us. Meanwhile, please look over the maps with reference to the intelligence reports beside the board and help me classify the various small powers in the Empire's outer realm domains in accordance to their threat levels to our current standing forces. Use your best estimate of available troop strength from Everdawn and merge it with our company's strength when doing the analysis." Aureus did not even look up from his report as he relayed a series of orders to Johan after he entered.

Johan dismissed the servant and set up the board with the maps after the servant left.

"Highness, I am done." Tarin declared as he walked on over to Johan's side and began reviewing Johan's work.

"I will be done in another … thirty minutes." Aureus replied, still not looking up from his various reports.

With ten minutes to go, a knock resounded through the study.

"Tribune Calvus and Primus Denter, reporting as ordered!"

"Come in," Aureus called out.

As the two officers filed in, Tarin signaled them to be at ease and waved them over to the board where he and Johan were working.

Taking in the atmosphere, both Calvus and Denter remained quiet as they studied the board Tarin and Johan were working on.

Denter frowned in puzzlement as he realized what the latter two were doing.

Calvus, however looked at the board with greater interest and lapsed into thought while peering at the layout of the board.

"Report, Tarin, go ahead." Aureus stood up and walked over to the board, joining the rest of his officers.

"According to the census, it is unlikely that more militia can be raised in the city as a majority of able bodied males are employed in a trade or pressed into service already."

"Worthy of note is the level of militia being raised in the outer realm. I hazard it due to the harsh environment out here. I rank the militia corps to be on average having the strength of upper tier iron. In particular, the archer arm of the militia corps."

"The policy of creating incentives for the peasants to train in archery through winter over the years have borne fruit resulting in a high amount of longbowmen amongst the outlying villages."

"If they could be further strengthened- be it via equipment or training- I believe we could create a reserve force of steel tier combatants to fall back on."

"I further suggest relocating the miners located in the outer range of our domain to the militia corps as our production rate in the mines have been falling in a steady rate due to the increase in mortality rate from demon beast attacks."

Aureus nodded as he listened to Tarin's assessments. He then turned to Johan and gestured.

"Of the various small powers in Everdawn's domain , two groups can be considered of threat. The spirit beast tribes of Arctine Range and the various scattered barbarian tribes. For the former, we estimate there being five main tribes of spirit beasts and their amount of Steel and Damascus tier combatants appear equal. I judge that the likelihood of that being low but this is the limits of our current intelligence. What is interesting is that, the undisputed overlord of Arctine Range has been the Direwolf tribe for the past few centuries."

"The apparent reason for this anomaly is attributed to a rumored powerful heritage artifact in the possession of the Direwolf tribe. According to our reports, it has helped repel several attacks on the Direwolf tribe over the centuries."

Aureus held up his hand and Johan stopped his assessments. Aureus looked over the portion of the map that covered the Arctine Range for a few moments before nodding his head.

Johan continued "On our way in, we saw several Spirit beasts in human form near the market square, perhaps we could trade for more detailed information with them on the Arctine Range?"

"Let us shelve that idea for the time being. The timing is not yet right." Aureus replied.

Johan nodded then began reporting again "With regards to the barbarian tribes, all indications points to them originating from the defeated barbarian tribes of the core realm. The good news is that there is no unity amongst the various tribes scattered throughout the outer realm. There has not been a barbarian king level figure that appeared within the tribes since their relocation to the outer realm. In fact, they war against each other on a regular basis, thus reducing their threat levels."

"The bad news is that most of them are belligerent, having little to no love for the various superpower holdings in the outer realm. They often conduct raids on various settlements. In recent years, they kept civilian casualties to the minimum because of retaliations by the various powers. Although the frequency of raids decreased ever since the beast tides increased in intensity."

Tarin snorted "Probably too busy dying to the wee beasties."

The room echoed with a series of chuckles.

Aureus turned towards Calvus and Denter, "Comments?"

Calvus spoke up first "Highness, if the miners from the further holdings can be relocated to areas nearer to Everdawn , our patrols can be withdrawn from the further areas into bolstering the areas around Everdawn making our patrols more comprehensive and stronger. In addition, we would need less manpower to patrol the routes the caravans use for carting the ores back to Everdawn."

Denter then added "Highness, I skirmished on various occasions with the barbarians before. They are tough foes. They have higher stamina and strength compared to the average person. If it were not for their equipment holding them back, I believe our forces would have suffered greater losses over the years."

Aureus nodded and turned towards the maps once more. This time, his gaze stayed on the map depicting the outlying areas of Everdawn for a few minutes before he spoke.

"Gentlemen, considering the time you worked with governor Pictor, where do you think his strengths best lie in?"

This time, Denter's face scrunched as if he had constipation while Calvus's face remained neutral.

"I suggest adhering to Tribune Calvus's opinion in this matter. He has worked closest with the governor all this time." Denter said without any hesitation.

Aureus had a mental image of an arrow flying like a fireball from Denter to Calvus.

Calvus shot a look that could have melted ice to Denter but Denter appeared oblivious to any such looks.

Tarin and Johan were smiling in a strange manner by the side.

Aureus turned around to face them. As if aware of the interactions that took place, he smiled and said "As you two well know, I am here to take over the duties of governorship. "

"Regardless of my impression of Pictor, he would have been transferred as it is my belief that no resources be wasted. I wish to find a place where his talents may best be used."

"Welcoming foreign dignitaries and intelligence gathering on political figures," Calvus ventured after a moment.

"I see, those flower girls were on a full-time basis then. I was wondering how Pictor rounded up so many people to throw flowers. That is an important skill a governor should cultivate." Tarin piped up.

Both Calvus and Denter had to exert some measure of self control to prevent themselves from laughing.

Aureus shot a mild disapproving glance mixed with slight amusement at Tarin.

"Highness, I am old. My mind wanders on occasion and along with it my tongue. I am glad that I am in a place where freedom of speech is not curtailed." Tarin continued in a deadpan manner.

Shaking his head, Aureus decided that he had better battles to fight.