Chapter 61: Guest I

The sun had set while the sky had begun to darken. The shadows brought about by this darkening had started to creep up the face of a man. With his brows furrowed, he continued to frown. He then stood up and began to pace around his room with his arms crossed. With his brows furrowed, he seemed to be thinking of something complex.

On his hand was a letter that had been sent to him just now. Perhaps it was because of the letter's contents that he had been in the mood for contemplation. However, he eventually calmed down as if he had thought of something that had solved his worries.

Naturally, this man was Herbert who was currently in the guest room of the Hawkwood manor. He had just received the letter from Oliver. He had been the one in charge of the correspondence between Herbert and the Conspiracy troops from afar.

After hearing Oliver's report, he now knew that this letter came from the men who had come to the Oxsword Territory as spies that can give them first-hand insider information which could come in handy when used at the right time.

It was during his journey to the Hawkwood Territory that some of the men that had come along with him had split off from his entourage to make their way to the Oxsword Territory. This group of people also included the man who was once a local ruffian from Tenebra City but had now been nurtured into someone greater than the man that he once was.

As someone who had received the benefits of being nurtured directly by the Ravenmoons as Herbert's men, Clive had to prove his worth. This was a small testing ground that Herbert had provided him, during this trip, one of his mission was to establish a prototype of what Herbert intended to do, but on a much larger scale.

Since Herbert had already made his move, all that he has to do was be patient and wait. Although this was one of the easiest things to do, it was also the most painful and agonizing step in his plan.

Although he already knew that the Hawkwood Baron would soon accept his offer. He had already given him the casus belli for a territorial dispute and had even given him an official document that showed his actual support. If Lord Eric still didn't agree to this, even Herbert would feel speechless.

As he gazed into the window, Herbert once again confirmed his next steps while thinking of other contingencies that he could make in case something goes wrong.

The plan was to first provoke the Oxswords into making a move against the Hawkwoods. This was achievable as he already had his men prepared for this. With the whole of Ravenmoon at his behest, Herbert felt like he was playing the game in easy mode.

The capability of the Conspiracy troops went unquestioned as they had easily infiltrated the border guards from the Oxswords. They could instantly cause a commotion once they received the order.

However, once a skirmish breaks out, only then would the real test begin. With the Oxswords being the ones to start the fight, the Hawkwoods could have the moral upper hand and the technical justification to request a territorial war from the capital. And as the weaker party, the natural thing for the Hawkwoods to do was to seek arbitration from the royal capital to maintain fairness and seek protection in case they lose the war terribly.

But with the help of the Ravenmoons, the Hawkwoods would undeniably be in a much more favorable position. After all, what Herbert had handed over to Lord Eric was an official document from the Ravenmoon about a weapons trade deal that would grant the Hawkwoods the capability to arm their men with weapons that were imbued with high-ranked monster cores.

Nevertheless, the key was to prevent the whole thing from becoming even bigger. Once again, with the help of some bribed officials through the use of the Conspiracy troops, this could be overcome.

As the Lionstone Kingdom's laws allow, the territories could launch wars against each other, this was to enhance the kingdom's strength by allowing internal competition to improve the overall power of the country by continuously producing experienced soldiers, especially since they neighbor fairly big countries. However, for the same reason, they would also be given a time limit to prevent any major losses for the country.

In the short period allowed for the territorial war, Herbert would help supply the Hawkwoods with valuable information that had been gathered by the spies from within the Oxsword Territory.

This challenged the capabilities of the spies to gather significant intelligence discreetly and to be able to send out this information on time to report back to Herbert and the Hawkwood Territory. This was an important step in the preparation for the war waged against the Oxsword Territory.

All of that was just part of the first phase. He knew that his goal was not to completely conquer the Oxswords, instead what he needs to do was to drive away the forces of the church and prevent the plague from erupting.

While Herbert continued to focus on his thoughts, he eventually felt tired and he sighed heavily.

"This isn't good. I am feeling too anxious this time."

Deciding to change his current state, Herbert decided to switch to a new pair of clean clothes. He knew that he had already prepared well enough, all that he needs was just to wait things out and be patient.

"Much better. Now, all that I have to do is temporarily distract myself.

He made his way out of the room to find something to do, perhaps he could mess with Ingrid and get her talking. But just as he was about to leave, he was soon interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on his door.

He opened the door to find a servant from the Hawkwood Manor, he was sent to give Herbert a letter. Although it was already considered late, Herbert didn't mind it that much.