Master of the Loop

Chapter 180

Northernlands

While the entourage camped some fifteen miles from the forest’s exit and the fortress, Sylas snuck out and began making his way to the fortress. If they showed up out of nowhere, it would be difficult even for him to control the situation with that many variables—as such, he would simply play out the same scenario as the last time. Get wounded and get himself locked up, wait for Vanessa and eventually Av to come, after which he’d convince the old man to follow him. Except, this time around, it wouldn’t be to the far north—but to the encampment just a few hours away on foot.

Appearing in front of the tall walls of the fortress caused him to sigh as he stepped out from the windy fog and into the sight of the guards perched on the watchtowers. Soon after, the events all played out as they did previously—with him faking an injury, getting captured, being treated by Vanessa before Av showed up after the fact, asking him how he came south.

“You want me to ride with you north?” Av quizzed after the standard conversation played out.

“Well… north-ish,” Sylas smiled.

“Mighty difficult to believe this is all a grand conspiracy,” Av said with a sigh, rubbing his chin. “Then again, there’s no reason for you to play games. And to bring Vanessa to? Why? You taken a fancy to her?”

“Just her talents, I’m afraid.”

“Alright. Whatever you say.”

Morning came swiftly and the trio rode out just after the dawn, horses kicking up the snow that had fallen the night before. Their journey didn’t last long—before Av and Vanessa could even wholly wake up, they reached a fenced-off encampment in the middle of the woods. What was strange was that there was no snow anywhere within or near the encampment. In fact, while Av and Vanessa were even kind of chilly with several layers of clothes on, they saw people within the encampment wearing simple, short-sleeved shirts.

When the two guards saw the trio, rather than raising an alarm, they bowed toward Sylas and opened the gates. Dismounting the horses, Av and Vanessa followed the strange man into the encampment, shocked to find themselves sweating mere moments after entrance.

“Hmm… they should be in there, right?” Sylas mumbled as he turned abruptly and walked toward the largest tent—no, it wasn’t even a tent, Av realized. Though clearly hastily-built, it was still a wooden house of sorts.

“Ah, Sylas? Where have you been?” a one-armed man approached the trio, glancing past Sylas at the two of them. “Who are they?”

“Reinforcements,” Sylas replied. “Where’s Valen?”

“Inside,” the man pointed. “Having breakfast.”

“You guys hungry?” Sylas asked them.

“Uh—”

“’course you are. You’re hungry too Derrek, right?”

“… sure.”

“Let’s hop on inside, then.”

Av and Vanessa remained mute, too shocked still by everything. They had expected to at least ride to the village beyond this forest, but they were wrong. In fact, they were wrong about many, many things. As soon as they entered the house, they walked through the first door on the right and saw a massive table with quite a fancy spread lining every inch of it. Surrounding it were some eight-nine figures, all as leisurely clothed as most others in the encampment.

“Ah, Sylas. You’re finally here. Eh? Who are they?” a young man asked suddenly. Without even needing to take a second look, Av recognized the boy—it was the Fourth Prince. After all, he’d seen the boy before, both in pictures as well as in person. “Hm? That man seems somewhat familiar?”

“Avaneau Bythel greets Your Highness!” Av quickly fell to his knee, prompting Vanessa to immediately do the same.

“Vanessa Ankon greets Your Highness!” the two bowed their heads in a proper salute.

“Ah, no wonder you seemed familiar. You’re that burly Knight that used to train the recruits, right?”

“I’m honored that Your Highness remembers me!”

“What are you doing here? Did you retire?”

“Something like that.”

“Ah, sorry. You may rise,” the two took a deep breath as they stood up, hiding their shock. Though Sylas had told them that the Fourth Prince lives, there were still doubts. But the boy truly lived. “You have already met Sylas—I apologize for whatever he did.”

“Hey.”

“This here is Ryne, our Exorcist, this is Andrew, First Captain, this is—” as Valen started the introduction of everyone, Sylas sat down and started wolfing down the food. Nobody seemed to care particularly, though this shocked Av even more. Even if Sylas was someone very important to the Prince, to eat while the Prince is talking was a capital offense almost on par with treason. And yet, the Prince seemed entirely unbothered. “Ignore him,” as though having read their minds, the Prince said with a smile. “I don’t know if he’s told you this, but he’s a Prophet.”

“A—a Prophet?!” both Vanessa and Av exclaimed, looking at Sylas in shock. Then again, for the first time since they met the strange man, things seemed to make some sense.

“Beyond that, he’s my life’s savior. I have little use for hollow decorum against the man who is the reason I am here. Why all of us are here, really. Please, have a seat. Join us.” Av and Vanessa sat down upon the invitation, stealing glances around the table. Though none of these people were famous… this was an impressive gathering. Av, especially, realized so—though none of the men here were stronger than him, most were on par with at least Royal Guard Captains. One-armed man, especially, was impressive as he likely wasn’t any weaker than some of the Royal Commanders.

Beyond them, there was also the Exorcist—and she was merely a teenage girl from the looks of it. Though she was blind, that wasn’t truly a roadblock for the Chosen. And then there was him—the Prophet who, somehow, felled a Monster.

“Why did you retire this far north, Sir? If you don’t mind me asking,” the Prince asked.

“Your mommy sent him out here,” Sylas replied.

“The Queen did?” Valen arched his brows.

“She did, Your Highness. When she learned I was thinking of retiring, she ‘recommended’ I retire here,” Av replied honestly. “Vanessa here followed me, as we were prior acquaintances.”

“Strange, isn’t it?” Sylas asked with a faint smile. “That both of you just happen to have been banished as far north as one can go, no?”

“Implying things impresses no one, you prick,” a woman who was silent up until now spoke out, slapping the back of Sylas’ head. While Av felt his heart chill, nobody else reacted to it. Now that he thought about it, the woman, of all people, stood out—when the Prince introduced her, he simply said she was called ‘Asha’… and that was it.

“Is it really implying if everyone in the room can understand it? Even you?”

“Even me?”

“You are many, many things,” Sylas said. “But aware of the subtleties? Ain’t one of ‘em, sweetie.”

“Don’t start, you two,” the teenage exorcist interrupted. “It’s enough that you annoy the rest of us. At least restrain yourselves when we have the guests.”

“Good point,” Sylas said, looking at Av and Vanessa. “Anyway, I didn’t lie to you, did I?”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Now that they are here, let’s plan for what’s next.”

“Isn’t that simple?” Derrek said. “Some sixty miles south is where the Northernlands end and the Uptal Barony begins.”

“Uptal Barony?” Sylas quizzed.

“They’re a small, though quite influential Noble House,” Av replied. “The Barony isn’t that large or populated as it still inhabits some of the remnant northern lands, but it is still a home to some 20,000 people altogether.”

“What about their army?” Sylas asked.

“There’s no need to go that far,” Av shook his head. “If it’s the matter of bringing them over to the Prince’s side, I can do that on my own.”

“Oh? How?”

“Gerrard Uptal, the head of the family, is father of Anthony Uptal.”

“And who is that?”

“My son in law.”

“…”

“…”

“What?”

“You have a kid?” Sylas quizzed.

“I do. Granted, I adopted her, but still. She carries my name, even if not my blood.”

“… well, that’s one issue resolved,” Sylas said. “Next stop is the Barony, I suppose.”

“You are sure about this?” Derrek asked. “Last I heard, Baron Gerrard was a petty and greedy man who would stoop however low he needed to achieve something.”

“Oh, he’s still all those things,” Av nodded. “But he’s also terrified of me. So, there’s that.”

“Ah, terror. Where would the world be without it?” Sylas said. “We’ll start the campaign from there, then. Right. How many people from the fortress do you think would join? Of their own will, I mean.”

“Honestly? Not many,” Av sighed, shaking his head. “Most of the men there are criminals who are serving time. The few that aren’t are either too old, too drunk, or too weak. Maybe twenty men, tops.”

“Twenty is better than zero, still,” Sylas said. “The first test will be the Barony. You realize that, right? Valen.”

“I do,” the Prince nodded. “Even if the Baron is terrified of Sir Avaneau, it doesn’t matter. If I can’t bring him over to my side, it will be difficult to start any kind of a momentum.”

“True. We’ll focus on the main issues that the Kingdom has,” Sylas said. “Appeal to the Nobles in public but start building your image up with the commoners. Vanessa, are you okay with assisting Asha with that?”

“Ah? Yes, of course.”

“I’ve found, in my experience, that men will listen to pretty women spew as much bullshit as they want. So, smile a few times, laugh at whatever lame jokes they make, and get them to think that the Prince Valen is the greatest man to ever roll on this world!”

“…” while Av and Vanessa felt their hearts freeze once again—since they already knew Valen was a cripple—the others simply… sighed. Even Valen seemed somewhat disappointed.

“That was one of your weakest.”

“Can’t put out hits all the time, Your Lowness.”

“… alright, that one was better. Now, let us eat in proper silence. We’ll hold a meeting later to detail out the plans.”

“Aye aye, let’s eat.”