Standing under the gentle morning sun, I could feel the rays of gentle light brushing against my skin while I moved through the brisk morning air. 

In my hand was a heavy weighted spear, one specially built for me, which I was using to attack a dummy in front of me. 

“Excellently done,” Gregorius commented after I finished my repetitions. “Nice job using your shoulder and footwork for each strike. I don’t think you have too much room to improve, since you're already highly proficient. But you might be able to make a breakthrough if you practice constantly, especially because of how young you are.”

“Or I might just plateau a few decades early,” I joked. “Even so, frequent practice isn’t a bad thing.”

Soon after, Gregorius and I began to spar with one another for a while. Like every day before, our matches were remarkably even with Gregorius having a slight advantage over me. However, my constant practice with him is slowly paying off as the veteran knight’s advantage is being chipped away, day by day. Still, at this rate, it would probably take me half a year or more to overtake him. 

Once I was finished practicing with Gregorius, the two of us began our daily routine of teaching Zeph. While Gregorius took a break, I would teach Zeph riding for a while. After which, the knight would take over and instruct Zeph with lance work. 

When I got to Zeph, I found her ,covered in sweat, repeatedly swinging a sword at a dummy. But compared to before, her form was better and she didn’t look like she was seconds away from a cramp. 

“Is it time already?” Zeph asked. “I want to do a few more reps before riding.”

“Go ahead,” I answered. “You’re getting pretty good at it too.”

Instead of responding, Zeph just continued on with her practice for another few minutes. As she swung her sword, I offered a few points of advice. Once she was satisfied, Zeph put the practice sword away, stretched for a bit, then walked over to her horse. 

The first thing to do was practice mounting in full armor, which Zeph had gotten fairly adept at. From there, the two of us led our horses out of the city, using the natural surroundings as a sort of obstacle course. 

“You want to try riding my horse?” I offered Zeph. “I think  she’ll be a good match for you.”

“Sure,” Zeph answered. “Now that I think about it, does your horse have a name?”

“No,” I replied. “And I have no intention of doing so.”

“How come?” Sekh inquired.

“I’ve learned from personal experience that I shouldn’t get too attached to my horses,” I replied.

“Then I’ll name her Ferra,” Zeph responded.

Well things might work out better if I’m not the one naming the horse. And it also helps that I won’t be riding Ferra around on battlefields littered with the servants of an evil god. 

“So how are you liking...Ferra?” I asked Zeph when we reentered Damask.

“She’s great,” Zeph declared. “It feels like she knows what I want before I even have to tell her.”

“That’s good,” I remarked. “You know, you can borrow her sometimes if you want.”

Upon hearing this, Zeph’s eyes lit up and she smiled brightly at me.

“Really? Thank you so much, Azel.”

“You can repay me by being nicer to me in the future,” I joked. 

“I would have done that if you didn’t feel the need to say it out loud,” Zeph complained. “But I guess I’ll try to be nicer anyways. That doesn’t mean that you won’t have to do your part as well though.”

“I will make an effort,” I said lightheartedly while smiling at her. 

In response to my rather lackadaisical behavior, Zeph just huffed with an irritated look on her face. Despite this, she still threw a few glances in my direction after she had turned her head away. Naturally, I pretended to not see what she was doing, smiling inwardly as she kept checking for my response. 

When we got back to the citadel, Gregorius greeted us. From there, Zeph parted ways with me to practice her lancing with Gregorius. As for myself, I normally use this extra time to train some more or get right to work. 

However, today was a different day. So instead of staying within the citadel, I went over to the bookshop that Minerva and I regularly visit. 

“Hello, would you like to use the library once more?” the clerk at the counter asked me. 

“No, I’d actually like to pay for the services of a scribe today,” I told her. “I have a book that I would like to commission.”

“Right this way then,” the clerk said courteously. 

Following the clerk, I was led to an area above the library where a small group of people were residing, most likely the scribes. 

“Oh, do we finally have a project then?” one of the men sitting down asked. 

When the clerk nodded in confirmation, the group began to look at me with increased excitement. 

“Here,” I said while handing them a piece of paper. “I already wrote the details of my order on it.”

“One copy of Analese and Euros,” a scribe read aloud to confirm it with me. “Based on the requested materials, the piece will cost around 1 solidi. Though we’ll have the payment finalized once we finish with the book.”

“Thank you,” I replied.

“If you don’t mind me asking, is this a gift for Minerva?” the clerk asked me. 

“Yeah, it is,” I replied. 

Despite trying to hide it, the clerk began to giggle mirthfully. Well it’s not that surprising since Minerva and I do frequent this place quite often. More importantly, this clerk has seen Minerva and I go from acquaintances to friends, then to lovers.

As for the nature of my gift, it’s a romantic story of course. The story tells the tale of two lovers who get separated but eventually reunite and live on happily ever after. Although a story like that is well beyond my own preferences, I’m certain that Minerva will love it. 

After completing my order with most of my dignity left intact, I went back to the citadel to continue with my regular work. And considering the length of the book, it will most likely take two weeks for the project to be completed. 

For the next week, things remained quite ordinary. And since I didn’t tell Minerva about my planned gift in order to surprise her, things stayed extra normal. 

Well at least it remained as such for a week. 

While I was sitting at my office looking over reports from the various local administrators, one of the guards hurriedly entered my room. 

“Bad news?” I asked with a frown. 

Thrown off by my prediction, the man blinked before resuming his report. 

“One of our patrols has sighted a large movement of armed men along the eastern border. We estimate that they number around 300 strong.”

“Do you know who they serve?” I asked calmly. 

“We don’t know yet, but we suspect that one of the old Stygian nobles may have heard of Isaac’s death and invited them to help overthrow the government here,” he answered. 

“They have to have outside backing of some kind then,” I remarked. “There’s no way that they think 300 men will be able to oppose the Iasor empire. Perhaps they have backers within the Zayid government or perhaps they’re clinging onto the hope that Ahriman will return. Anyways, send scouts to monitor their movement if there aren’t any already.”

“We already have patrols observing them,” he told me. “For now, we’re just waiting for more information to arrive.”

“Good,” I commented. “In that case, I’ll issue an order to the regional forces to gather at Damask. I think it would be best to keep our forces on the eastern border where they are while using the western troops to take care of this issue in case they’re trying to divert our attention from the border with the Zayids. Which means I’ll have to send a message to the nearby Douxs about this situation as well.”

“We’ll be ready to convey your message as soon as you’re ready with the letters,” he told me.

“I’ll get to writing them as soon as possible,” I said with a wave of my hand. “Now go get some rest, you look tired.”

“Thank you sir,” the man said with a bow before exiting the room.

Instead of getting to the letters right away, my first task was to call Gallus and a few other advisors to my office to discuss the situation. 

“So do any of you know who might have invited these men here?” I asked after telling them what had happened. 

To my disappointment, all of the officials gathered there just shook their heads.

“Well that’s fine, we’ll probably find out soon enough,” I remarked. “For now, just prepare for the possibility of conflict.”

After sending them on their way, I called Gregorius over, but he could only speculate about which noble family might be trying to make a move. 

Considering the time elapsed since the death of Isaac, which has been more than four weeks already, then it is very unlikely that the men crossing the border have an inside source. Or if they do have a source in our administration, then that person is not very good at their job. 

Once I was finished consulting with the other officials in the citadel, I proceeded to quickly write letters informing other Iasor officials about the situation. Although it would most likely be unnecessary to borrow much force from the other Douxs, it is still in my best interest to have them on standby in case something unusual happens. And if Damask is attacked by any more traitors in the west or north, then reinforcements from the nearby areas will be able to help. 

Finished with my work, I went home. At this point, I don’t have much to do apart from waiting for information. Still, I did tell my companions about the current events.

“Do you think they have an ace up their sleeve?” Minerva asked me. “There’s no way they think that 300 troops are going to stand a chance against us.”

“That’s what I’m confused about,” I replied. “We already have soldiers along the border watching for any moves from the Zayids. And I’m requesting both state troops and the private retinues of the Katepans and locals nobles to meet in Damask. Even if there are rebels among the populace, I’ve already called for reinforcements from Lycia and Synon.”

“How many men do we have on hand?” Zeph wondered. 

“If I mustered every single man of age then I’d estimate around 2,200,” I answered. “If we’re just counting the professional troops and retinues then roughly 400.”

“Then they don’t stand a chance,” Justin pointed out. 

“That’s the problem,” Irene explained. “Something is off here.”

“I think it's in our best interest to wait for information as of now," Sekh declared.  

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Rushing at them with a small force might seem like a good idea, but it feels like a trap in this situation.”

“Azel, perhaps you should do something to secure the loyalty of the local populace?” Minerva suggested. “Because the enemy might planning on rousing local support or something similar.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I said with a shrug. “Well we do have a lot of grain stored, so perhaps we could give some to the populace while we wait.”

“I can help with that,” Minerva offered. “After all, you’ll be busy with organizing troops.”

“Thanks,” I said with a smile, quite glad that I had ordered a gift for her. 

So once more, I “borrowed” Minerva from the Labor Bureau to aid with my own work. While Minerva took care of organizing and calculating the distribution of grain to the local populace, I was busy analyzing the information from the scouts and directing troop movements. Sensing the tension in the air, both Sekh and Zeph also did their best to help in what ways they could. Sekh made lunch for Minerva and I everyday, even traveling to the citadel to deliver our food; Zeph, on the other hand, not only told me that she would practice on her own, but also started training with the garrison soldiers to help them practice fighting in the presence of magic. More importantly, both of them declared that they would participate in the fighting if there was conflict. 

Apart from that, the information that I’ve received from the scouts was troubling, primarily because nothing unusual had occurred. Based on their reports, it doesn’t appear that the enemy are bringing in more reinforcements nor do they seem to have a notable number of mages. Furthermore, the men that crossed the border do not seem to be an elite force, though they were far from being a ragtag group of bandits. Lastly, there have still been no observable signs of movement from the Zayids or local Stygians in the vicinity so I’m struggling to consider what their ace is. 

However, there was also the possibility that they could call in help from a malignant entity. Perhaps they have people who can act as a vessel for a shade in their ranks. Though calling in Ahriman is out of the question because of how recently he was defeated. As such, if they were to call in an actual god, it would have to be another malign deity. 

“Azel, are you still worried?” Sekh asked me when she handed me my lunch for the day.

“Yeah,” I replied, causing Sekh to rub my head in an attempt to comfort me. “I have a bad feeling about what they might have up their sleeves.”

“I see,” Sekh said with a reassuring smile. “But you defeated an evil god before. So if anyone can handle this, it’s you.”

“I’m not the same person that I was before,” I sighed. “In both a good and bad way.”

“But I’m certain you’ll find a way,” Sekh declared confidently.