Chapter 163: Leiston Fortress

Giliath demands your power stones!

*

Unknown amount of time later.

Southbound, Liberl.

North of Zeiss. Leiston Fortress.

The heart of Liberl's military.

Despite it being well beyond midnight, Leiston Fortress could still be seen in an active state. Most of its center was open to the air, but it was surrounded by thick walls on all sides, equivalent to that of a castle without a roof. Watchtowers and orbal artillery could be seen placed at each post on each corner. The size of this fortress was the equivalent to Garrelia Fortress in Erebonia. Except in Erebonia, most of the fortress was built into the side of a mountain with its base hidden further beyond it.

For Leiston Fortress, it was all open hair and flat on the ground. The big advantage Leiston had over Garrelia though was Valeria Lake. To the west and east was Liberl. If one ever decided to invade Liberl, they would have to either dig all the way underground, or fly above the lake, to which Leiston's heavy artillery defense would be able to clash with it.

Leiston Fortress had stood its ground for years. It was a behemoth in its own way.

Still, despite it being well into the night to where most citizens of Liberal would be asleep or partaking in night shifts, several soldiers dressed in green and wearing berets over their heads could be seen patrolling this fortress deep into the night. Soldiers here would replace other soldiers in shifts, as it was always constantly on patrol, considering it was the heart of Liberl.

Those of the likes of General Morgan, as well as Colonel Cassius operated from here. The Royal Army also included Cassius, which operated directly out of Grancel Castle, but more times than not did Cassius spend his time in the military here in Leiston, before he retired and became a Bracer as a result of the Hundred Days War.

On this particular night, however, security here from the soldiers could be seen more uptight, and for a good reason. Someone from the royal family could be seen visiting Leiston.

Inside one of the many rooms buried within the fortress.

One of the Captain's rooms.

Seated behind the desk piled with many papers, a young adult man could be seen with medium sized brown hair over his head, sporting blue eyes. He, along with the rest of the soldiers, sported the traditional officers' uniform of the Royal Army. Like Cassius, this particular person was part of the Royal Army as well, but he too operated mostly out of Leiston. A green and white coat coupled with navy trousers and green boots. An army issued saber could be seen at his waist, one that is very similar to the saber that Lieutenant Schwarz uses back at Grancel Castle.

Except this man was a rank higher than Lieutenant Schwarz.

This man was Captain Cid. One of the higher ranking officers in Liberl's army. Apart from your Colonels and Generals, he was among the highest ranks one could achieve here.

[Insert picture of Maximillian Cid here]

However, despite having such a rank to his name, thanks to a certain someone, a bunch of work just piled up in his office. Captain Cid had an annoyed look appear on his forehead. Despite having an annoyed look, he still kept his demeanor polite, as there was a person donned in Liberl's royal family clothing standing before him. It was a violet short haired boy who had a rapier at his waist.

"So let me get this straight, Your Highness. You want me to draft a man into the military who previously has no experience being a soldier, AND who you are also wanting to bypass our recruitment modules?", Captain Cid said with an annoyed look in his eyes, seeing the violet haired boy before him.

"That about sums it up, yeah.", I said, seeing Captain Cid in person before my very eyes for the first time. I could not be seen alone either. Some stuff happened and here we are, back in Leiston Fortress no less here in Liberl.

To sum it up, both the mission Campanella assigned to me, as well as the Emergency Mission given by the system were completed without a hitch. If anything, I was surprised to see Sharon's response the most during that matter to decide to let Ace live. Sharon became determined to redirect her hatred toward the organization as a whole. I am not sure if she meant the Emperor who was the warden of the Garden of Swords, or the Oathbreaker himself who created the entirety of the Garden. It would be very interesting to see Sharon clash against him in the latter.

However, at the time, I had no idea that the Emperor had already perished at the hands of McBurn.

"Hmmm...", Captain Cid said, only to observe Ace beside me. Seeing that he was accompanying me, he still had his large greatsword. He was still in a pretty poor condition after being beaten into a bloody pulp in our battle earlier. His condition was no longer life threatening, but it was obvious to Captain Cid that he had just come back from a battle of sorts. Captain Cid paused in silence for a moment

"Care to explain the wounds then?", Captain Cid asked in a more serious manner.

"Cryptid appeared near Erebonia's borders. It took some effort to take it down, but His Highness here provided assistance in battle.", Ace explained. Of course we can't explain that he tried to raze Roer's Reinford Building to the ground, but that was one of the conditions I set forth for Ace, should he keep his life. There was another, but I'll get to that part later.

Hearing that, Captain Cid could only blink his eyes the moment he heard that I assisted Ace in battle near Erebonia's border. His annoyance only grew from there, he even rubbed the bridge of his eyes with his hand.

"Hah...You snuck out of the Palace again, didn't you, Your Highness?", Captain Cid retorted as he looked my way again.

"Guilty as charged.", I retorted back at him, puffing my chest out a bit. Yet the moment I did that, the figure standing beside Captain Cid also had an annoyed look appear in his eyes.

This second man appeared much more aged than Captain Cid as white hair was already forming. Still, he wore the same traditional styled Liberl officers' uniform. But he had a large red shawl over his shoulder to where Captain Cid didn't. And had a much higher rank than Captain Cid. Still, since a member of the royal family was present here, the second figure acted in kind, making himself present.

This man was General Morgan, often seen as Colonel Cassius's rival while he was still in the military.

A similar annoyed look appeared in General Morgan's eyes after seeing Liberl's Crown Prince like this before him.

"Guilty as charged my ass. You're going to sit on the throne in the coming future. You can't keep sneaking out like this, Your Highness.", General Morgan said, retorting to me after he heard that. Hearing that, I could only scratch my cheek.

"It was a matter that required my personal attention, but I do get your point, General Morgan. Liberl already lost their Crown Prince once. It would be quite an uproar if that were to happen again.", I said to General Morgan in a more serious tone.

"Good. We can't place your life in danger like that, Your Highness. Still, I am surprised to see you put forth someone on your own recommendation.", General Morgan said, only to get a good observation of the battered Ace.

"Let's just say he's willing to be put to the test.", I responded with a grin after General Morgan said that.

"We won't go easy on you.", Captain Cid said. "You'll be starting out from the absolute bottom as a Private. You will be forced to comply with all of the regulations we have here in Leiston. Your days of leisure will be over.", Captain Cid said in a more serious voice as he looked toward Ace.

"Yes, Sir. I received His Highness's grace once. I am a dead man. I will sign up to become one of Liberl's soldiers.", Ace said, nodding seriously.

"Do your best to put Hearts in the wringer now, you hear me? I want him up to Lieutenant Schwarz's level before Her Highness and I enroll in Jenis.", I also responded seriously.

"You definitely are expecting a lot, Your Highness. It's not that easy to rise up in the ranks here.", Captain Cid answered.

"I know. Hearts here has the strength. He just needs to be whipped into shape.", I said with a smile.

That's right, the second condition I had for Ace.

Well. Ace Rayne is dead now. He has been reborn as a new man.

He is now Hearts, after I bestowed the name onto him. Seeing him not die last night, Hearts gracefully accepted his new name, and was willing to become a soldier for Liberl after finding out my real identity. At least here, he would have the freedom to do as he see fit. No longer being bound by the assassin's code. In return, he would try searching for a good place to settle down and try to get a message inside the Factory, letting Swin know that "Ace" was dead. Hopefully then, both Swin and Nadia will be able to escape from there.

Thinking that, I inwardly smiled seeing how this mission ended up. I think on everyone's end it turned out for the better. Ace didn't need to sacrifice his life either, he will be able to live onward as Hearts.

Well, if anyone got the short stick of the happenings last night, it might have been Alisa.

Sharon made Alisa unconscious through the latter half of it, and on top of that, the Reinford Building was a mess. Thankfully it was reparable and no heavy losses occurred. Still, our side left Alisa while she was unconscious.

I did want to wait around for her to wake up, but it was probably the best like this. She only saw me in my dhampir form, and she didn't even know who I truly was either.

But regardless of that, I was able to unlock both Alisa's Favorability and Sharon's Favorability as a result of those missions being complete, on top of several more reward boxes sent my way, and another five levels. My overall Level was 110 now. I am not sure if there is a level cap here. It did limit people's readings in the past, but several years have passed since. It would be interesting to see if levels could go beyond 250.

As I was in my thoughts for a bit, Captain Cid remained quiet for a moment, only to shake his head a bit, letting out a sigh.

"You know you just created more paperwork for me, right, Your Highness?", Captain Cid said as he squinted his eyes a bit at me.

"Haha. Sorry. He'll be worth it though since I personally brought Hearts here.", I said, feeling a bit apologetic for having Captain Cid's night become longer. Still, Captain Cid could only accept this result. He saw my determination, as well as Hearts' eagerness and acceptance of becoming a soldier. Captain Cid only turned toward Hearts again before speaking.

"05:00 hours. Don't be late by not even a second. Your training will be with the other new recruits. Understood?", Captain Cid said in a commanding tone.

"Yes, sir.", Hearts replied, ignoring the battered body he currently had.