City of Desire: Chapter 1029 Positions II (Patreon)

Proofread by Thomas F

Marchioness Arenthal

“He is staying on the route, not breaching our agreement,” said the uncle, looking at the table showing the movement of Viremont’s massive army.

He had left only the skeleton force of a few thousand in Bilgas and brought everything with him for the attack.

His army is moving through the routes we have asked him to take in our agreement. If he gets any closer, he will receive a warning; if he doesn’t, I will abandon the city.

My army is ready to leave at a moment's notice.

Though I hope it doesn’t happen. I have fought enough; I’d rather not do it, but I will if he forces me.

“Vark is at the gates.” Informed Kadira.

I nodded and walked out of the war room with her. A few minutes later, I reached the city gates, where Vark was standing with his men behind him.

He stood with a casual confidence that was natural to mercenaries of his power. He was talking to one of his men, but when he noticed me, he turned.

“It’s not too late yet; I hope you will reconsider it,” I said as I stopped beside him.

To that, he shook his head.

“I had made the commitment; he had already paid for my services,” I sighed. He is leaving to join Viremont. Our agreement was only until I take Almin; after that, he is free to do what he wants.

“Then I hope you will survive,” I said. I don't wish him luck; I only wish he survives.

He seemed surprised by it.

“Do you really think Viremont has no chance?” he asked, his expression turning serious.

“I believe Silver is more capable than people give him credit for. It won’t be easy for Viremont to conquer any of his cities, much less Greltheaven.”

On the surface, it does not look like Silver has a chance, but when one looks at the data of all the battles Silver has fought. One will realize this is the case for nearly all the battles he has fought.

He has a tendency to win the battles that everyone thinks he will lose.

It would be quite regrettable if Vark died. He can be insufferable, but a good ally to have.

“This is, of course, my opinion, and I have been wrong many times,” I added with a smile. “Well, I have made the decision, and I will go with it,” he said; I only smiled.

A minute later, he rode out of the gates with his people following behind him.

I returned to the war room, leaving now and then to attend meetings before returning occasionally to the war room to track the progress.

Finally, the army reached the point, making their destination clear.

“Panar,” said Uncle, and I nodded.

Viremont is targeting Panar. Nobody is surprised. It is a better choice than Gailhorn and much wiser than directly attacking Greltheaven.

Gailhorn is a port city, but it is on the border's edge. If he conquers it, it will affect Silver, but not too much. He could manage it without it, as he had done before.

Panar, on the other hand, is in the middle.

He could cut Silver from Gailhorn and also gain access to its mine, not to mention whatever Silver had found here.

Most importantly, with it, he could attack both Gailhorn to weaken Silver further or go for Greltheaven directly, which I believe he will likely do.

Viremont will not give others a chance to react. He will attack Greltheaven as soon as he can.

“We will have to be ready to deal with the results of the battle, whatever they may be,” I said. There are agreements; if one party comes out too strong, there will be consequences.

The agreement is airtight, but both of them are powerful enough to bear the consequences of breaking it. If they think it is worth it.

“Then let’s hope both of them weaken each other with this battle,” he replied, and I laughed.

That would be the best outcome.

I stayed for a while before walking out of the war room again. I had a meeting with the merchants. I had promised them a lot of things, based on their commitments.

From trade privileges to territories.

Now that we have conquered Almin, they want what they are owed, and I am going to give it to them, because I promised it and also because I need a lot of money from them.

Running a city and paying an army isn’t cheap.

…

Taren Zanav

“Viremont had crossed redded soil,” informed Eglin as I finished my evening training.

I put my weapon back into the rack and wiped my face with the cold water before turning to him.

“He has set a punishing pace,” I said. He is moving quite fast. If he continued at this pace, he would reach Panar sooner than I had thought.

“Anything from our people?” I asked.

I had sent ten thousand men with Viremont; they are not only to aid him, but also to report everything they hear and observe in Viremont's camp.

My sister wanted to stay completely neutral, but I did not agree with her.

Viremont had brought an enormous army and many powerhouses. He had a huge chance of winning. I would play a small part in it, which would make things easier for me.

Hell, if he had accepted my conditions. I would have joined him with my whole army, no matter what my sister said.

I really wanted to join him and be a part of Silver’s fall. I might miss this battle, but I wouldn’t miss his charge to Greltheaven, which I will participate in.

My sister be damned!

I am not doing it only out of my dislike for Silver, but also because if I didn’t help, Viremont might turn on me. I have already lost one city; I don’t want to lose another.

I took the file and began to read through it. Most of it is useless, but some is quite useful.

Especially the parts about the restricted carriages and camps when they rested for the night. I already know he is hiding powerhouses; he's only showing five Lv. 40s.

He is hiding at least one, but there might be more of them.

“It’s good, ask them to keep it up,” I said, handing back the file and walking out of the practice ground.

…

Count Summerfield

“No, I will not send my army to him,” I said. The mage nodded and replied to the other side.

Viremont wants me to send my army to help him against Silver, which I would absolutely not do. I might have thought about it if he had promised not to think about it, but now I won’t.

Especially now that I've got a shield from those three bastards.

It was a surprise to find they each threatened Viremont if he attacked me. Two of them have taken my cities, and I hate the guts of the last one.

Still, I’ll take it, even if it puts an unpleasant taste in my mouth.

“I hope both destroy each other in this battle,” said Ronda, and I nodded at that. I prayed for the very thing when I visited the church this morning.

We were still talking when the war room door opened, and my son entered.

“You won’t believe who contacted me, Lord Father,” Darious said.

“Who, my lord?” Ronda asked.

“Silver’s whore, Valentina Elar,” he replied with a broad smile. I frowned.

“What did she want?” I asked. His smile widened. “She begged for our alchfire orbs and offered a high price.”

I smiled at that.

This was not Silver’s first attempt to obtain our alchfire orbs. Earlier, he had approached us through merchants; now, he had contacted us directly.

“What did you tell her?” I asked. He grinned.

“I said I would consider it. We have another call tomorrow, so I’ll stall her again—perhaps even tell her to have Silver call me himself.” Pride swelled in me at my son’s words.

Silver had humiliated us many times; this was a small measure of revenge.

We would never give him our alchfire orbs. We would sooner throw them into the river than give them to that man.

It feels good. I have never been so proud of my son as I am now.

“It wouldn’t be wise to antagonize Silver,” Urin said. Like his nickname, he was foul and unpleasant, souring my good mood.

“So, we should prostrate in front of him, uncle?” asked Darius. I gazed at him, seeing his face since he came back. He should have protected the city, but he handed it over to her.

“I said nothing about being subservient to him. I only said we shouldn’t antagonize him when there is no need for it.”

“If he survives the storm, courteous relations will help us in a big way.” I glared at him, but said nothing further and focused on the map, which was showing Viremont’s live location.

If both end up destroying each other. I wouldn’t hesitate to go after Greltheaven.

I already asked General Ronda to be ready for it.