Godfather's System

191. Augmentation - 32

We managed to arrive at Town Maell before the flying castle, but it had been a close call. When we stepped into one of the tunnels that led directly to the inner town, the castle was just a couple miles away, and approaching rapidly.

I sent a signal to Limenta, asking him to take Takis and a team of elites, and use a flying cart to go support Zolast. Since I was here, I was confident I could defend the town even if the worst happened. There was only one flying castle here.

It was a pity, but depending on the determination of Somaton, Zolast might have to deal with an even larger force. Having a backup assassin here would have been convenient, particularly since they were the ones that added assassination to the mix, and I would have loved to respond in kind.

I didn't appreciate assassinations targeting me. I turned to Baron Maell, and looked at him sharply. "Stay here, and don't come out until the Lord Steward gives you the signal," I said, still dressed as the Crusader.

"Even if " he started, but I silenced him with a slam of my Charisma, predicting what he was about to say.

"Especially when your uncle appears," I warned him. "It's a complicated political situation, and Lord Steward will handle it appropriately. But, if you show up early and ruin his plans even I'm afraid of what he might do. Understood?"

"U-understood," he responded, unsettled by the fact that even his great 'hero' showed fear.

"Good," I said, then left. As much as I wanted to give him a more detailed set of information, I refrained. However, I couldn't just keep him in a room, because eventually I had to call him as a part of the confrontation. Even with his declaration of fealty, it was still his town, and bypassing him completely was not an option.

Though, I certainly wished that it was.

I visited my room, and after a quick change, I was once again dressed as the Steward, feeling exhausted by the number of the roles I had to play. Unfortunately, considering the threat of multiple superior combatants was keeping them back far more effectively than our army, I had to keep playing along for now.

I moved forward, showing myself. As much as I was tempted to delay my appearance, the town was reacting to the presence of the flying castle negatively, and I didn't want the panic to spread. I walked out of the barracks, and the moment I stepped out, I spread my Charisma across the town, enveloping the guards.

The moment I did that, four flying carts appeared from the flying castle, headed directly to the center of the town. Before they could reach, however, I used Charisma to send an order, and four ballista fired.

Warning shots.

"We're the emissaries of the great king Ralum. How dare you attack us?" came a magically-enhanced voice, echoing in the town. "Are you rebelling?"

The spell to do so was simple, so I replicated it. "We have been attacked by Somaton spies disguised as soldiers earlier. Yet, you barged in without anything to prove your identity. Do you think we're idiots?"

He didn't say anything, but one of the mana cannons at the flying castle started to charge, showing that they were willing to use something like British style gunboat diplomacy. I could have played along and acted intimidated before unraveling whatever they had in mind through an easier method, but I decided against it.

I had already dealt with the army that had attacked our fake trade caravan and the assassins, and Zolast was currently in the process of supporting the Princess visibly. Combined, these had already revealed that our church was strong enough to be a valid political player. Therefore, any show of weakness here would show that dealing with the two attack at the same time was the limit of our power.

Stolen novel; please report.

Instead, dealing with all three threats smoothly and turning our power into a mystery was better.

Of course, I only dared to pick that path due to the unique circumstances we were facing. The Kingdom of Ralum had already pulled back and left the region to the princess, and they had already allowed Somaton to deal with her.

If they sent any kind of strong force here, a clash with Somaton was inevitable, which would ruin their more important plot of ruining the princess' political career.

That, combined with the upcoming Calamity, should be enough to keep them from poking at some unknown force. Assuming, of course, I could intimidate them properly.

I used Charisma to command the soldiers, and all across the wall, they loaded the ballistas. "How dare" the emissary started, and I gave a magical order. At the same time, fifty ballistas released their mana bolts, every single one of them hitting against the castle's mana wards. Not enough to break them, but certainly enough to be threatening.

"Prove your identity, or perish!" I declared.

Several mana cannons started to charge, I ordered again, and this time, a hundred of them. The defensive wards of the castle had weakened significantly, showing that the town held high firepower.

The castle immediately started to float back, along with the flying carts. If it wasn't for the many hidden bunkers spread in our territory, I wouldn't have dared to allow the castle to retreat. I would have feared a possible harassment campaign. With a castle alone, they could have bombarded the mines and destroyed our trade caravans, which was not something we could afford at this point.

Luckily, bunkers were still in place for that worst case scenario, which meant I could allow them to retreat easily.

Once the castle had retreated outside the range of the ballistas well, the ones they could see the flying carts landed, revealing a team of knights. One of them raised a white flag and walked toward the town, carrying a large metal object.

While he walked toward the gates with a dignified pace, I moved to the gate as well. It had a subtle implication. Normally, as the acting ruler of the town, I should have asked the guards to lead him to the audience chamber. Or, if I wanted to insult him, I could have sent a few guards to talk with him while not allowing him to enter.

By walking to the gate to greet him there, I was using another method receiving an emissary from a force that we were at war with. The declaration was silent, yet clear. I was willing to escalate things into war.

I looked down on him from the gate. From his face, I could see that the message had been received clearly. "Speak," I called before he could start.

First, he raised the metal object he was carrying, and activated it with mana, which glowed with a unique pattern. At the same time, a matching object Baron Maell's symbol of town leadership started to glow in my hand, confirming his identity. It was more of a show than anything, but I didn't say anything.

"I'm here under the orders of His Majesty King Ralum, third of his name, protector of the seas" he started, which had been followed by a long, largely pointless list of names and achievements.

"And what exactly does your very important king need from our humble church?" I asked. Subtle, yet with a very important detail. I called Ralum his king, and not our, showing that I was determined to push the independence of the church to its conclusion.

While it was technically our right, pushing it openly was frowned upon at best. Under the circumstances, it had even more dangerous implications.

Implications like, if they wanted to fight, we were confident to give them one.

"His Majesty has concerns about the disagreement in the Maell family, and has offered to mediate to solve the differences." It was not a strong statement, but then, it wasn't exactly a shocker. Their allies had already sent an army to kill Baron Maell, and just to be on the safe side, Ralum forces arranged for an assassin to take him down if he managed to escape.

It was an overkill that would have worked against anyone but me. And, with Baron Maell dead, and the princess distracted with the battle, they could have installed his uncle as the next baron before we could react, which would have neatly solved the problem of the church and cut off the biggest supporters of the princess at the same time.

The failure of such an amazing plan was certainly a sad and disappointing affair for them.

"Alright," I said. "We will set up a tent outside the range of the town and your castle, and discuss," I said, once again treating it like we were at war.

Now, it was time to see what else they had prepared.

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