IURA—THE CONQUEROR

““…Join me, and help me use it to carve the future that its master desired.””

The messenger finishes reciting the new king of Salvorum’s speech.

I put a hand on my chin as I repeat the speech in my mind over and over again, dissecting and analysing every single sentence.

“Get me the profile reports for all the Salvorian nobles who command armies,” I order.

The messenger rushes off to follow my order.

That speech… there’s something about it… something suspicious hidden inside it…

A regal figure enters the room while I repeat the speech once again in my mind. This man is clean shaven, has short black hair, and barely any wrinkles on his young-looking face. This is the king of Vincere, King Amicus Emmanuel.

“Iura, have you heard the report?” He asks.

“The one from Salvorum, Your Majesty?” I have been friends with Amicus for more than twenty years now, but proper protocols must be observed, which is why I call him “Your Majesty” instead of just “Amicus”.

Amicus nods, “Yes.”

“Then yes, I just did.”

“What did you make of it? Will the ‘Flintstone Nation’ be a threat in the future?”

“Well, King Ducis basically said in his speech that he’ll conquer the world. So yes, I do believe that they’ll be a threat. It also seems like this new king has decided to gain the support of the populace, rather than simply focus on the nobles like the previous king.”

“Which means…?”

“More troops for his army, but less unity and political power. Or at least, that’s what it would normally mean if there wasn’t a civil war on the horizon.”

“A civil war? And I’m guessing it will be that noble, Roger Davis, against this new king?”

I shoot him an approving smile, “Good job, that’s correct.”

His eye twitches in annoyance, “I am the king, you know? I can figure these things out.”

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“And I’m very proud of you for that,” I tease.

“Thanks,” he says sarcastically.

I chuckle.

Amicus shakes his head, “Back to the topic at hand, should we support whoever will turn out to be on the losing side? We can weaken Salvorum by strengthening their losing side and dragging out their upcoming civil war. If we can get them to weaken each other enough, then we can easily swoop in and conquer them.”

I shake my head. That was the first thought that popped into my head when I learned of the situation in Salvorum, and it was the first thought to be discarded.

“No. Because of that “Salvorum first” creed of theirs, their civil war will probably be over really quick. If their civil war does drag on for longer than a few weeks—which is incredibly unlikely—then yes, supporting the losing side will be a good idea.”

The messenger I sent enters the room with a stack of folders in his hands.

“Here are the reports you wanted, Mistress Conqueror,” he says as he sets them on the table in front of me.

He bows and leaves.

“What reports are those, Mistress Conqueror?” Amicus asks teasingly.

I glare at him, “He’s been calling me that embarrassing title ever since he started his report. When I told him to stop, he claimed that—” I clear my throat and imitate the messenger’s voice, ““—His Majesty ordered me to call you that and forbade me from following any orders otherwise.””

Amicus shoots me a cheeky grin.

I shake my head in exasperation, “Ugh, whatever. Back to your question, these reports are the profile reports for all the Salvorian nobles who command armies.”

“Profile reports? What do you need those for? That new king clearly chose to focus on getting the populace on his side rather than the nobles—an unwise move in my opinion, training the common people in time for the battle against Roger Davis’s army is impossible.”

I nod in agreement, but I suspect there’s more to this new king’s speech than just convincing the populace to join his side.

I don’t know the specifics yet (as our spies haven’t unearthed the full picture yet), but I do know that this king used some sort of strategy to strip the previous king from a majority of his army and then struck the killing blow when the previous king barely had any soldiers left by his side.

A person smart enough to accomplish something like this would definitely have known that he couldn’t survive the civil war without the nobles on his side.

I fly through the profile reports, looking for anything of worth. In no time I’m finished.

“So? Find anything?” Amicus asks.

The gears in my head turn as I highlight all the relevant and important points in my mind.

King Ducis, who was trying to win the populace over to his side, refrained from using the nobles as a scapegoat—even though that would've been the easiest method to accomplish his goal. The only reason he would do that is...

—And suddenly, the answer comes to me.

“One thing sticks out to me the most,” I tell Amicus with a smile, “a majority of the Salvorian nobles who command armies are young and would prefer war rather than peace. The ones who are old and prefer peace more, maintain the defensive lines of Salvorum.”

“And since they maintain the Salvorian defensive lines, they can’t participate in the civil war,” Amicus finishes my thoughts.

“Well, technically they can send in a few units, but nothing too game-changing,” I correct.

“So this means…?”

My smile turns a bit sly, “It means that, at the very least, we know which side will have the majority of the troops in this civil war.”