Arriving at Adrianople

I gathered my men in Nicea and sailed for Alta, then I moved to Adrianople by land with the logistical units that were following the King's main army.

From what I gathered, our vanguard has made contact with the enemy within the borders of the Kingdom of Moesia when they crossed the border to scout. Normally, border crossing would be considered a serious offense, but Moesia was in no shape to care for it. On the contrary, it would be better for them if another front opened to divert the Koutrigours. From what the scouts gathered, apparently, the approaching enemy force numbered around 5000 men, the majority of whom are lightly armed tribal horse archers, although the scouts did not report, such a force would usually have a heavy cavalry core around the enemy general.

Against such a force, my father could only muster up to 4000 men, 350 of which are Knights of the Holy Order of Alta, famous for their discipline and capability. Apart from the knights, my father had 80 of his personal knights, the Paladins, as well as half of the guards of the capital Alta, which numbered around 1000 men. The Knights of Alta and the Paladins were usually accompanied by their squires and sometimes a man-at-arms under their command, both of whom fought on mounts like their masters. In total, we had 430 heavy cavalry, close to 600 lighter cavalry, 1000 guards of the Alta, an infantry unit with relatively good equipment and training, and 2000 levied men with little to no training and minimum armor and equipment.

I entered my father's camp near Adrianople after a few days of marching. I approached his tent and asked permission to enter.

When I met my father after a few years apart, I felt happier than I thought I would. Was that how a son should feel when he sees his father after a long time? Father was drinking the herb tea that I sent to him, and I can see that although he had a worried and anxious look on his face, his health seemed to have improved. He seemed to be even younger than when I first saw him upon my birth. I approached him with such thoughts in my head and kneeled in front of him.

He didn't even care for etiquette and simply laughed and pulled me into his embrace. He petted the back of my head and started talking.

"Aelius, you have grown a lot. I was worried that you might already be grown big enough to not fit into my arms. I am glad I can still hug you like this Hahahaha."

"It's good to see you too fa... Dad. I... I too missed you."

"Hahaha, you have finally called me dad again. I was worried that we might have grown further apart, but I am relieved to see you softened. Maybe the weather in Nicea has been good for you?"

...

We talked a bit more about what I did in Nicea, how my mother was and the overall situation of the court, we had dinner together in his tent, then I went to my assigned tent.

The next morning, a guard woke me up with a hardened face. At first, I thought the camp was under attack, but I quickly found out that the reason was something else. It was my brother.

"Good morning little brother! It's been such a long time since we have last seen each other, why haven't you written to me? I was worried about you."

Fir was speaking such obvious bullshit with a stupid grin on his face. In my previous life, I was always called spoiled, arrogant, and irritating when I was a kid, so I had always wondered how an actually spoiled, arrogant, and irritating kid would act. Well, I didn't know the answer, but I figured I could learn it on the fly.

"Oh, dear brother! What a nice surprise!"

I acted as if I was greatly surprised with a hand on my mouth.

"Hmm, but I figured that I didn't need to write you, after all, you were always so kind to send your own men to look after me... from a distance, so I figured that you'd already know everything you needed to know. By the way, did the nice men you sent safely arrived back at your service? I would really be sad if they would have tripped and fallen into a deep deep pit, after all, they were blind. Oh, I have to say that I really admire your willingness to hire disabled men into your service, you are really doing the Lady's work on Earth!"

I guess he never thought I would reveal the fact that I knew he sent assassins and observers after me to his own face. I didn't blind the assassins though, we just interrogated and then killed them. I am not foolish enough to release assassins who tried to take my life to go back to their masters, especially when there is no sufficient imprisonment method. After his surprise subsided, Fir's face turned red in anger instead.

"Little shit, I will crush your head once I ascend to the throne, then I'll flay your mother and hang her corp-"

"Did something stuck to your throat? Why don't you finish your sentence, dear brother?"

Nothing stuck to his throat, I was choking him with my magic power, similar to the force choke that Dart* Vad*r likes to do.

"Have you got nothing more to say, brother? Hmm?"

I slowly lifted him up so that his legs didn't touch the ground anymore. I could see the fear in his eyes.

"I think this look suits you better, Fir."

I then released my magic and Fir dropped to his knees gasping for breath.

"Now then, since you have nothing of importance to say to me, I suppose I'll go have breakfast. Ah, let me say this before I forget: The thing about you ascending to the throne, I strongly recommend you forget about that dream, it will be better for your health."

I then proceeded to show him the brightest smile ever and then I started to walk towards the tend where I was going to have breakfast.