"Watch out! An ambush!" Thor shouted. The carriage sped up as I used my dark tentacle to bind myself to the boxes. When I peeked outside, the guards raised their muskets like dragoons from those Renaissance movies. A squad of guards lined up their horses, firing at the approaching horsemen. All the horsemen died. However, goblins came from behind the marauding horsemen, and Gladeus drew his sword, sounding the charge.

"Eli! They are coming your way!" Prince Ludwin and Alicia came out from their lofty carriage and ran to me as a platoon of goblins ran towards our carriage and entered. The carriage was quite a distance away, so it took them about a minute from their carts to mine. I slaughtered them with my throwing knives held by my tentacles. After more than twenty goblins died, they left for a softer-looking target, which was Alicia and the prince. Alicia roasted them with her fireballs. Afterward, I stepped out from the supplies wagon.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Prince Ludwin asked.

"I am fine. This is nothing," I said nonchalantly while moving the goblin corpses from the wagon's path with my dark binding.

"Are you okay, Milord?" Gladeus came to us.

"Yes, we are fine. Where are the royal guards?"

"Half of them were chasing down the fleeing monsters and Elderans, while the other half circled our perimeter."

"You are late! What kind of guard lets the thing they were supposed to protect be raided by goblins?" the prince scowled.

"Well, there were about five hundred of them, and only 30 of our guards had muskets. The others had to chase them with their spears. Horseriders are not meant to be stationary or defending." Thor and Gladeus soon rendezvoused beside their liege.

"Rally! Abandon the chase. We need to get to the fortress!" Gladeus shouted, and the royal guards rendezvoused and marched to the fortress. There were no more ambushes, and the resistance behind the fortress was weak due to Father's orders to patrol this area insistently, resulting in casualties every day. Thanks to that, we only encountered one weak ambush, and we delivered the supplies safely, minus two boxes though.

"Thank you for the supplies, Eli. Hm? Oh! Pardon my manner, Prince Ludwin Seraphim." Father smiled as he welcomed me back with supplies. However, when he looked back at the carriage, he immediately bowed and knelt. He was caught off guard that the prince showed up. John Sark then came in and knelt after he assessed the situation from a distance.

"Greetings, Count Shadowstep. No need for formalities. Here are the supplies you requested. I apologize beforehand that the supplies were less than half of what you hoped."

"I see. When will the next supply come?"

"In a week or two. How's the war, Count? Are we winning?"

"If I may be honest, your highness. It will be difficult. The enemy is employing monsters, and it seems as if they could regenerate those monsters endlessly. During these two weeks, we have killed over ten thousand enemies, most of them monsters with few humans in each wave." I was aghast at the number of bodies. It was almost half of the Western Front's casualties per year.

"Please do not worry, Prince Ludwin. We will surely triumph!" one of the guards stated the opposite of what Father said.

"John Sark, what say you?"

"As Count Shadowstep has said, we would have trouble in a defensive position. The enemy is willing to throw as many monsters as possible. We are running out of ammunition and supplies. We have managed to defend the fort. But offensive action needs to be taken soon." John Sark said gravely. He turned from a money-pinching corrupt official several months ago to somewhat decent now, huh?

"Ah. Weren't you saying that the Western Front was more important than this little town in the countryside a few months ago?" I tried to slander him to vent my frustration. He glared at me, but I didn't flinch. I had the fearless skill. I can't be intimidated even by adults.

"I was wrong. If this county were to simply fall to Elderan, we could retake it after mustering forces in Alrisa. That's how it's always been in Western Front. However, with monsters in play, our citizens would not face mere oppression but annihilation."

I see, so they were flipping castles in Western Front. Was it guerrilla warfare? I thought while contemplating his words. Was he merely finding excuses, or was it genuine? Nevertheless, we are going to have an excursion at the backline in Western Front from the academy soon. It was a mandatory curriculum. I could find some information there.

"I will see what I can do. The king said that he would give us another supply if we could hold out for two more weeks. I will write to the king. Thor, follow me. I will need you to go as a messenger," Prince Ludwin said. "Let us rest. If I may trouble you, Count Shadowstep."

"Of course, our doors are always open to you. Please come in." The prince was then led to our mansion.

"Hmm… your rooms and house are small," the prince muttered. Gladeus elbowed him softly, but I still heard it. Alicia and the others didn't, though.

"Prince Ludwin, we are merely a new county. We only came out from red deficits recently and were working hard on repaying the rest of our debts. We apologize for our modest residence," I tried to apologize while putting sarcasm in it.

"Oh! What I mean is that, thanks to prominent mages like you and Alicia, your county has gotten out of debt, so I thought your county was flourishing. It was odd that the head of the county lived in a modest house like this. I thought you guys have finally amassed wealth, and your county was out of debt," the prince, with my sarcasm flying over his head, replied honestly. "Some barons or viscounts have fancier homes even though they are in debt. But they are not the bad ones. The mercantile factions taught us that debt needs to flow. It is fine to have debt as long as your wealth rises up more than your debt."

"Damn rich, privileged boy," I mentally cursed. I have never been poor, both in this life and before, but even I was not as ignorant as him. And what did he learn from his teachers? Debt was good? His teacher must have been insane. Thank god Alex wasn't like that.

"Hahaha, that's why countryside nobles rank up fast, milord. They prioritize their land and jobs first before themselves. If I may be so bold, Lady Elidranthia, let me apologize on behalf of my master. You see, Prince Ludwin knows a lot of central nobles that have debt and have much grander houses than yours. That's why, when he knew that your county was out of debt, he assumed your house would have amassed more wealth than them, somewhere between a marquess or relative of a duke," Gladeus replied with a joke. It was good that he treated this as a joke and the atmosphere lightened. I apologized that our mansion only had 5 bedrooms (father+mother, Zach+Richard, Fiona, me, Daniel), 2 guest rooms (one is Alicia's), and 2 bedrooms for maids plus a kitchen, bathrooms, and dining rooms.

"Count Shadowstep IS a relative of a duke now, right? I attended Eli's brother's wedding. Why don't they renovate their mansion?"

"War is coming, Prince Ludwin. That's why I said countryside nobles rank up quickly. They did their jobs. Moreover, the marriage was just 6 months ago."

"Ah, I see. We sure were busy this year." Ludwin nodded his head. This entitled prick sure had a sharp tongue. He wasn't as blunt as this in the novels. In the novels, he was a polite and charismatic individual!

"We apologize once again for our modest house, Prince Ludwin. Here is our guest room. There is only one bedroom, though."

"Umm... Lady Eli, maybe you could give my room to the Prince's guards? I know my place and refuse to have the same treatment as nobility. I shall empty my rooms and move to bunk beds for the maids?"

"Huh? A mage living with manaless commoners? These are my personal guards; they could sleep on my bedroom's floor or in the barracks. A mage should have their own room with their personal attendants!" Ludwin said discriminatorily. I tilted my head. What does this prick want?

"Well, I am afraid your guards couldn't sleep on the floor as it was not wide enough. Alicia, how about if you sleep in my room? I think the bed is enough for the two of us." The room was not wide. Only about 3x3 meters. With a 2x2 bed, chest, and table, the other guards would need to sleep below the bed if they wanted to fit. Moreover, it is going to be hot with so many people in such a small room.

"Certainly! Please, Prince Ludwin, Sir Gladeus, and Sir Thor, accept our humble offering. It's a mere guestroom of a countryside county, but we shall treat you to the best of my abilities. Here are the guest rooms!" Alicia beamed at my words. She latched onto it very quickly and forcefully sent Thor and Gladeus to her room. I thought she had personal articles in her room, but apparently, her room was almost vacant except for the wardrobe and a chest in the corner.

"As only one bed exists, we shall bring you an additional mattress. I apologize for there being only two guest rooms."

"No, it is fine. One of us could sleep in the barracks anyway. And this is wartime. We couldn't ask for such luxury. Even our dinner was modest. Count Shadowstep must have rationed even food supplies."

"Thank you for your understanding, Sir Thor. Good night."

And so, our new guests were finally asleep. We couldn't sleep peacefully, though, as the sound of cannons and bells rang out intermittently every two or three hours.