However, Gaia had decided that Daemon shouldn't have a moment to do paperwork that day, because when he finally made it back to his office he once again found someone waiting for him.

This time however, it was a completely unexpected guest.

"Father. What are you doing here?"

"I needed to talk to you. You haven't been back to the Castle for months now."

"I'm sorry, there's so much to do that I barely find time to get some sleep. Did you come all this way on foot from the Castle? You could have used the portal."

"You forget that I was a slave for centuries. For me, a hundred miles of walking is nothing, and it helped clear my head. The truth is, I wanted to talk to you about something important."

"I'm all ears."

Zorech hesitated, lowering his head as if ashamed.

"With your permission, I would have decided to present my resignation as Prefect of the Castle and as a member of the Council."

There were few things capable of surprising Daemon, and his look indicated that this time he had been caught completely off guard.

"Why? You are an excellent Prefect. With you the Castle is as prosperous and safe as ever, and the people love you."

"I am aware of this, son. I am grateful to you for the trust you have always had in me, but honestly, I have never really felt suited to this role. I am not comfortable in a stone palace, surrounded by responsibilities that I feel are too big for me. Helping you administer the Free State was already a difficult task, but now that our tasks have doubled along with the territory you govern, I no longer believe I have the strength to do what you expect of me."

"This is only a temporary situation, Father. I have no intention of reclaiming this land."

"Daemon, be honest. I've lived long enough to understand when events take a certain direction. The projects you have started for Eirinn are too big to be simply a way to help this country get back on its feet. I'm willing to believe you when you say you never wanted to go that far, but don't think I'm naive. I understood from the first moment that the Revolution was not destined to stop in the Free State. Whether through conquest or alliances, it's quite obvious that you aim to spread your ideas wherever there are people willing to listen to them. And maybe that's where I can help you."

"What do you mean?"

"If you allow me, I would like to go east. Torian, Patria, and Volkova are lands where slavery is widespread, and where many of our comrades still suffer under the yoke of humans. If I could make our ideals known there too, perhaps we could push those people to raise their heads."

"We know that there have been other riots around Erthea in recent months in the wake of our victories, but they have all been put down. Pitchforks, attacks on granaries and nobles hanging outside their palaces are useless to improve things. That's not Revolution, just barbarism."

"That's why I would like to go. Those people see us and try to take us as an example, but as you said, they ignore what the Revolution really is, and what the ideals that move us are. There is a need for someone to show them the right path, because it is also because of these revolts that other nations consider us a threat. As you said, change cannot be stopped. If this change were to occur throughout Erthea at the same time, even the rulers would be forced to admit that returning to the old world is impossible. They'll have to listen to you."

"I suppose you are aware of the risk you expose yourself to. Until other nations officially recognize us, any of us caught out there will at best be arrested and enslaved, but more likely killed on the spot."

"I know how to look after myself. Trust me, I'll be safe."

Daemon remained silent for a long time, almost trying to read his father's eyes. Then, he took a scroll and placed his seal on it.

"We have not yet crossed the Seshir River, but both in the Principality and in the Union we have already established refuges for our agents and spies operating in those territories. You will find them all in this list. Show this document to the guild leaders and they will offer you everything you need."

"It shouldn't be necessary, but I appreciate it."

"Did you talk to Scalia?"

"No, and I would like you not to tell her anything until I leave. I don't want to force her to have to choose between staying with you and coming with me."

"As you wish. But don't be surprised if she doesn't want to talk to you for a while when you return."

Before Zorech left the room, however, Daemon did something that he had almost never done over the years, not even with his father; he hugged him.

«I know this is probably not what you imagined for my future, but the commitment I made that day almost a year ago hasn't changed. I'll make you proud of me."

Zorech hesitated before reciprocating, closing his withered old wings around his son like when he was little.

"Take care, my son."



Every time she looked behind her, Aria could hardly believe this was actually happening.

More than fifty thousand men marched in his wake heading south, where there were just as many waiting.

The largest army ever assembled since the end of the Flor War with Connelly.

And she, General Aria Montgomery, was their commander.

They were the same men with whom she had defeated the Barons in ten days, and who were now ready to follow her in another feat destined to go down in history.

Emperor Ademar himself had given her the staff of command that she now kept as a relic.

Their goal was only one: to crush the Free State and the Revolution by any means necessary.

For this purpose, they had marched more than five hundred miles from Maligrad to the heart of the Empire.

Now no one had any illusions anymore, not after the defeat that had delivered the whole of Eirinn into the hands of the rebels.

This was no longer a banal revolt, nor a threat to be taken lightly: even talking about simple rebels now seemed out of place.

Daemon Haselworth was probably the greatest threat Erthea had ever seen to its very existence since the Dark Lord.

He moved armies with the same ease with which he moved consciences, and conquered entire nations by relying as much on the strength of weapons as on that of ideas.

The same thing had happened with the birth of the Union, and already then, many nations had banded together in an attempt to prevent a new idea from germinating in the consciences of the people.

This was at least until everyone understood that even by changing the name of a nation or the way to administrate it, things never really changed in the end: power always prevails over ideals.

But this time it was different; this time the threat was real, because Daemon had demonstrated that he had not only a new idea, but also the military and charismatic strength to defend and spread it. And he would stop at nothing.

It was necessary to demonstrate to everyone that the nations of Erthea were still capable of crushing anyone who tried to question the principles on which their existence was based.

Aria was aware of the importance of her mission, and even if she tried to appear strong, the burden was so heavy that it made her tremble with fear.

Her conscience was in no better condition; she was going to destroy someone who was already trying to build a new world, after having dedicated all her efforts as a student and soldier to the dream of bringing something new and better to the society in which she lived.

In these cases, she clung with all her might to the belief that the change the Free State wanted to bring about might be right, but it was too radical and destructive to happen overnight.

The risk was that the two worlds would collide, just as it was already happening, in a spiral of violence that would destroy everything.

"General, look." said Orestes who was riding beside her. "Here's Rhodes."

Rhodes, also called the Second Capital, was where Saedonia administered its southern territories.

While the troops were setting up camp outside the city, Aria wanted to go immediately to meet the Governor Valerius Cato and General Batiatus, commander of the Southern Army, whose place she was about to take over.

"Welcome to the South, General." Nestor said as he welcomed her and Orestes into his palace together with Batiatus. "I hope you had a good trip. Crossing the Empire in the dead of winter with five legions is no small feat."

"It was necessary. With each passing day the enemy grows stronger, and we couldn't afford to wait for spring."

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid you have no other choice." said Batiatus. "This year too, winter has hit Khoral hard, and the pass is blocked by snow. Unless you want to go the long way around via Eirinn."

"Waging war now would be crazy. The season does not allow it, and even if they have now recovered from the fatigue of the east, my men are still very tired, especially after this long march. The important thing was to get here as quickly as possible."

Before Aria could speak again, however, the Governor signaled to her, and then the servants closed all the doors and windows, effectively isolating the room from the rest of the world.

"I apologize, but we need to be careful. We know that the city is full of rebel spies. As soon as they informed us that you had left the capital, we did everything we could to keep your arrival hidden."

"A wise choice."

"Thank you." said Batiatus «Although at this point it is only a matter of time before the enemy is informed. Better not to give them more advantages than they already have. What were you saying?"

"We will launch our offensive at the first heat of spring. Sea currents have already changed, so winter will probably end earlier than usual."

"How do you plan to proceed?"

"I already have a plan in mind, but for now I prefer not to talk about it. First I want to meet the local commanders and make sure of the state of the legions."

"I won't lie to you, General Montgomery. I'm more than happy to hand over command to you. I knew General Ron personally; maybe he wasn't the best at tactics, but he knew how to inspire men and achieve victories, and that boy destroyed him. The mere idea of seeing him in front of me was enough to make me sleepless."

"Not to mention General Lefde." said Nestor "I have known few equally skilled commanders, yet Haselworth only needed two battles to wipe out Eirinn's army."

"I am perfectly aware of the strength of our opponent. Believe it or not, I've met him before, even though it was a long time ago. Even then, I understood that Daemon Haselworth is not like the others. His mind is an unfathomable mystery, a pit that generates thoughts that do not seem to belong to this world. If we want to beat him, every man and woman in this army will have to give their best."

"You seem very confident." Batiatus said again. «But as much as I respect you, I urge you to be cautious. We are not in the East here, and the latest victories have galvanized the rebels like never before. Furthermore, it seems that the population is not hostile to him, although we have received reports of a group of guerrillas carrying out sabotage actions. Maybe we could try contacting them."

"This is a battle of the Empire against those who have usurped its lands. It is vital that everyone sees that we are fighting a civilizational battle to reaffirm her Majesty's rule over the West and the Montgomery family's rule over the East. Therefore, especially in the east there will be no hostile acts towards the population, no looting, and above all we will not be accompanied in any way by forces not belonging to our army."

The two elderly officers looked at each other for a moment, but a glance at the stick that Aria was carrying on her belt was enough for both of them to understand that it was better not to argue.



Even though immediately after the conquest of Eirinn Daemon had started a massive improvement work on the roads of the Grand Duchy, moving large loads from the Castle to Faria in the middle of winter was anything but simple.

Furthermore, despite the strict controls that ensured order in the main inhabited centers and in the surrounding areas, the situation in the countryside and in the woods was not at all calm, with gangs of marauders attacking travelers.

With the Star Festival now approaching, traffic along the Via Fariana was more intense than usual, especially that of goods intended to finance the celebrations, and the bandits knew it.

However, someone didn't care about stealing, or at least didn't make it the main motivation for his actions.

They signed themselves as the Warriors of Eirinn, although the group had already been dismantled for some years; They mainly attacked the supply caravans, but they did not hesitate to also ambush the patrols protecting the roads. On one occasion they were so bold as to even attempt an assault on a Grand Army fort.

That day their fury fell against three wagons of provisions headed for Faria. The convoy was well protected, but their assault was so violent that even at the cost of some dead comrades, they managed to overcome the guards; not even civilians were spared.

Such loot would have tempted anyone, but they limited themselves to taking only a few bags of flour, and then set fire to everything else. And as usual, before leaving, they left the usual unequivocal message written in blood on a nearby rock.

Long live Eirinn! Death to the usurper!



"It happened again." Adrian said before even closing the office door.

"The Warriors of Eirinn again?"

"They attacked a convoy near Mablith. Sixteen dead. This time too they killed everyone."

"They're idiots if they think this will help them. How do they think they can gain support by taking it out on people who have nothing to do with it?"

"It's not for me to tell you how to carry this out, but if you want to know my opinion, I think you're making a mistake. The people in this country who don't respect you are few, but also very loud. And the benevolence you show towards them doesn't help us. You should give some examples."

"I have learned in life that repressing dissent with violence is the easiest and safest way to fuel it. I thought you had learned at least this from living with your father for years."

Adrian felt the shock and bit his tongue.

"It is not with shootings or hangings that the soul of a people is won. These are only short-term solutions that in the long run have the opposite effect. Improve the quality of life, implement services. This makes things better."

"So I assume that tomorrow's Star Festival is also part of this public relations project of yours."

"More or less. In fact, I sincerely believe that after a year we all deserve a moment of rest. This celebration was the perfect occasion, don't you agree? If I can then use it to make these people understand our point of view on certain things, so be it."

Daemon was trying to hide it, but you could see that he couldn't seem to keep up that pace anymore.

"Since we're talking about it, how about you give yourself a little rest for today? You'll still have a lot of commitments tomorrow, but basically the whole city is already celebrating. You could take advantage of it."

"Right because the celebrations have already begun I don't have time to celebrate. I need to make sure everything is in order."

"Nonsense. You'll see there won't be any problems. We both know that in the spring we will have to deal with the Empire. If you don't take advantage of it now to relax, you won't have the chance again. So give up on this attitude, go out and have fun for once."

"I already have a mother. A very noisy one, too."

"If you're looking for her, she should be out there somewhere. She and everyone else arrived from the Castle just this morning. So choose, you can go out there, or you can wait for her to come here and repeat this little speech to you. And I'm pretty sure you couldn't say no to her."

When he thought of Lori, Daemon couldn't understand whether the idea of seeing her again after so many months of separation pleased him or made him tremble with fear.

But Adrian was right about one thing: he would never be able to say no to her.

"All right, you win. I finish these last paperwork, and then I go for a walk. It will also be a way to see how the people of Faria are preparing for this festival."

"I like you like that. So, have a good day. And please, have fun."

Leaving the office Adrian chanced upon a quartermaster who seemed quite eager to report something to Daemon. Thinking that this was yet another small problem, and not wanting to give his companion an excuse to postpone his break, Adrian asked to report directly to himself, but what the messenger had to say turned out to be anything but a nonsense.

"Are you telling me that three barrels of gunpowder have disappeared from the one of our warehouses?"

"Yes, General. Unfortunately we only noticed the disappearance this morning while doing an inventory."

"Those places are guarded day and night, can you explain to me how they managed to take away all that gunpowder right under your noses?"

"I really don't know, sir. We checked the building inch by inch without finding anything. There were no signs of forced entry either."

"Are you sure there wasn't a mistake in the counting?"

"Unfortunately not, sir. One hundred and fifty-one barrels of powder divided into twelve deposits. The number remained unchanged for weeks. This morning, however, there were one hundred and forty-eight, and no one signed bills of lading or authorized withdrawals."

At that point it could only be a robbery, and the mere thought that there was someone out there with nine kilos of gunpowder at such a time was enough to make one's hair fall.

"We absolutely must report this to Lord Daemon."

"Lord Daemon doesn't need more trouble. I'll take care of it. From now on any information on this case must be brought solely to me, I've been clear?"

"But... but I..."

"I've been clear?"

"... yes, General..."

"In which warehouse did the theft occur?"

"At the southern gate."

"Summon all the team leaders and guards. I want a list of every single employee who has accessed the warehouses in the last few weeks. I want you to question everyone, from the first officer to the least yokel. And have Raven come to my office. Great, just what we needed."