Chapter 679 (Patreon)

While Ajax and Aurexion were training in the dungeon the rest of the world continued on, though their absence from the field of battle was felt there were still plenty of other powerful fighters to take the field. 

“Father, King Sylvanthal just sent confirmation that Sylvaris Swiftleaf won’t be trying anything.” Xandor addressed his father. “He wasn’t very forthright about what he had to give up to get anything even remotely binding but it does give him the breathing room to strangle the small uprising he found brewing in his kingdom before it gets its hooks in any of the stronger Houses.” 

“Did he ask us for anything?” King Gryndor asked. 

“An extra delve exchange, I already accepted it.” Xandor knew he had made the right move. “Ajax’s family will be among those who take those delves. It's the least we can do since he captured the prisoner for us.” 

While all of Gryndor’s champions were in the dungeon and their elite forces were waiting outside the Republic’s capital for the prince to return, the same could not be said about their squads. Thankfully the army they fought didn’t kill more than two members while taking the remaining eighteen from the two squads as captives. 

“Should we try to force the trade?” Ajax had already given the prisoner to Gryndor so trading him back for almost two whole squads was a fair deal by any accounts.

“No.” The king shook his head. “Add a little pressure so as to not make it obvious that we are fine with the trade happening later but no more than that.” 

“Why not?” Xandor asked. “Their prince already killed an all  but captured champion, their commanders are not going to balk at the request, the general who captured the squads had his own son captured and returned they would make the deal now.” 

“Remember what your brother said about the prisoner?” The king asked. “Yes in terms of military might the squads might be more valuable. We could also possibly push the trade through now at almost no risk but that prisoner has a lot of information we don’t want getting out at this point.” 

All the king could do was to silently apologise to the squad members who had sworn themselves to the crown for putting their lives at risk for longer. With so many prisoners the longer they were held the longer they ran the risk of another of them being killed, especially with a hot head like the beastkin prince now joining the war. The information on Ajax’s potential however could prove far more devastating in the long term.

“The Republic’s ambassador has been hinting that he would like us to try and push for the trade.” The crown prince added. “They want another successful prisoner exchange to happen so that the lethality of the war drops.” 

Three more champions were killed in the last few days during the engagements. Two on the side of the beastkin but both were from the new young generation while the other was one of the Republics.

“We sent them enough support that they can’t demand that, hell they might face issues from their own champions if they are vocal about such things.” The king grunted. “No we’ll delay this for a while yet, until Ajax rejoins the battlefield we will push for the trade then. Until then let's just hope they don’t call our bluff by accepting the fake pressure we will put on for show.”

“Do we have anything to worry about from the Empire?” Prince Xandor asked. 

While the crown prince had been focused on the war and establishing himself as the future king his father had been taking care of matters with the Empire and ensuring a second war didn’t start with them. 

“They’ve been most accommodating actually.” The king rubbed the bridge of his nose as he let out a sigh of annoyance. “All too kind actually, it's making it hard to deal with all the other issues their generosity is causing.” 

Besides Gryndor itself it seemed like the Empire had the best read on just how important and powerful Ajax was to become. Since reports of his deeds on the battlefield had spread most nations started to look at him fearfully but the Empire had an opposite reaction despite Ajax’s cold attitude towards them in the past. 

“Has prince Zilfalon’s departure date still not been set?” Xandor asked.

“No, it has not.” The king confirmed. “Though I have to say young Lady Manashaper has taken to her role as a future duchess well, she has been reaching out to me about that issue three times in the last two weeks.” 

Pressing a matter with the royal family with such regularity was something that only the Archdukes could usually do and yet at the moment not only did House Hearthbound have that leverage but it seems the young future duchess was aware of it and willing to use it. 

“She has the will and the wits to be a duchess, though her fiance being the strongest champion alive must help with that.” The crown prince acknowledged. “Let’s see if she has the experience. Try and placate her with promise of the delve spots for her House in the Sylvanthal dungeons.” 

Those delve spots were already earmarked for them as part of Ajax’s rewards for the prisoner they would soon be trading for almost two squads but it might mollify House Hearthbound’s attitude for a little while regarding their visitor. House Hearthbound was known to be covetous of dungeon delves considering who the head of the House was, not to mention that Lady Manashaper might value opportunities for her in-laws more since while she was fully accepted by Ajax’s family the marriage hadn’t happened yet.

“That leaves all the other Houses upset about the visitor in the Hearthbound duchy.” The king looked towards the stack of written complaints he had received from other Houses. 

The Empire had their hearts set on being on good terms with Ajax. Them wanting to tie his family to their kingdom with a marriage made sense as well though the match between Ajax’s sister and prince Zilfallon wasn’t one the king would call ideal it was one he was more than happy to approve of on paper. 

It had been three weeks since the arrival of the imperial prince in the duchy to woo the young lady Hearthbound and in that time the Empire had been making some heavy overtures. Starting with the public execution of the head of House Septimus before the prince’s arrival. 

“What else has he done?” Prince Xandor could already feel the headache forming.

Prince Zilfallon was clearly as much of a battle junky as the crown prince’s own older brother but while Zilfallon was more restrained and caused fewer political incidents he was known for pushing his authority as a prince as a way for getting what he wanted. This usually wasn’t an issue since he had the power and skill to win the duels he enticed others in by betting large benefits should he lose. 

The prince finding out about Judy’s interest and dedication to the merchant trade had been disastrous for all other merchants dealing with the Empire. The tariffs and restrictions the Empire had on trade of their unique goods seemed to go up in smoke when Lady Hearthbound was trading with any House in the Empire. This in turn caused large issues for the noble Houses in Gryndor that trade with the Empire as House Hearthbound could now undercut them considerably in the resale of almost anything sourced in the Empire. 

“The Empire has officially decided that House Hearthbound would be allowed to facilitate the sale of their transport beasts in Gryndor.” The king answered, once again at odds with his own reaction to the news.

The massive transport creatures of the Empire would prove extremely important in the expansion into the Wild Lands, the creatures were large, could traverse most terrains without issue and could handle a lot of heavy objects. Them taking a while to raise meant that all the Houses would have to start raising them soon, and this included the royal family though they already had a few fully grown of their own. 

“House Smithmade should be more worried about their House at this rate if they aim to retake their place as the Goldmancer Archduchy.” The crown prince said as he reviewed the deals House Hearthbound had closed as of late. “It might take a while but over the course of these contracts Judy made more of a profit for House Hearthbound than Ajax did when he pulled a golden statue out of the dungeon. Should we act to manage the large influx of gold that is bound to follow in that part of the kingdom?”

“No, most of the gold will only circulate inside the duchy for the next decade or two.” The king answered. “Acording to your brother’s talk with Ajax they will be reinvesting a lot of that gold into their next generation, though we can surely expect a lot of the upcoming crafters we hear about in the next century or more to all be coming from their duchy. The signs will become visible in the next few years and with them so will a new wave of complaints from the other Houses. This time they will even have some merit to them since the Empire is all but helping them cultivate their crafters at this point.” 

“Is Zilfallon making any progress with Judy?” The crown prince asked. 

“Hard to tell, the few informants we have in the duchy have orders not to try and infiltrate House Hearthbound itself, we know how Ajax would react to finding out we were spying on him.” The king answered. “But while the age difference might be an issue for a former commoner like Judy, Prince Zilfallon is young, traditionally good looking, has been known to be charming and while not a future emperor, he is still a prince.”