What had happened? Why was this guy suddenly so nice to Inti, when he had been so mean to Brym all this time? Wasn't he a traditional medalan warrior, who all looked down on women? Or was he just horny, and that was why he went easy on her? He did have more lovers than fingers, after all, so that made sense.

"Lady Inti truly is powerful, just as the rumors had said," the lord flattered in the meantime, which made Brym only more suspicious. "This old man was no match, as expected of General Atoc's daughter."

"Oh please, Lord Gratidia, this lady only succeeded in a sneak attack. In a proper duel, not many would be able to match a veteran hero of the great civil war," Inti flattered right back.

"Haha, this old man was never great. Rather, he simply had the honor to serve under lady's father. General Atoc was a truly great man, one who still knew how Medalans fight their wars, unlike those kids today."

By now, Brym's brain had jump started again and he was putting the pieces together in his head. As he was looking back and forth as Inti and Gratidia traded compliments, he slowly figured out why his treatment had been so different from his companion's.

To Lord Gratidia — a meathead who only cared about fighting — Brym was just an Arcavian, outsider. According to self-satisfied Medalans — especially the old generation — everyone outside of Medala would be considered a weakling in the first place. His second identity had been a representative of the south — a force which Gratidia had personally defeated, though it was already decades ago. Finally, Brym tried to score points with his role as a merchant, but those were considered useless by most medalan nobles anyways. From the very start, Brym didn't have a chance, not with any of his prestigious identities.

Meanwhile, Inti worked for the south as well, but wasn't an actual southerner at all. Instead, she was born and raised in Arguna, and was thus considered a proper member of the northern warrior class. Even the most snobbish of lords would acknowledge her status.

Not only that, her role in the Triumvirate Meetings further improved her position. No matter how empty the position was in reality, it was still an official position in Arguna, and at an institution of the empire to boot, as opposed to a simple role at one of the newly founded courts of the three kingdoms.

To finish it all off, her father had been a famous warrior as well, one Lord Gratidia had fought under directly. Not to mention, after the lord had been defeated by Inti in battle, he could not help but acknowledge her. If he still looked down on her at that point, he would only humiliate himself after his defeat.

Thus Brym found himself in this strange position, in which Inti and the lord were chatting like old friends, while he himself looked on like an outsider. However, the young merchant wasn't all too bothered. Instead, he saw opportunity in adversity.

All this time, I've had a treasure traveling with me and I didn't notice. I should have asked Inti to help me out way earlier.

With such a secret weapon by his side, his available tactics during negotiations would considerably expand as well. Yet just as Brym was happy about his new options, and just as he wanted to insert himself into the conversation again to strike up a deal, Inti betrayed the trust Brym had just invested in her.

"As this lord has stated before, it is impossible for this lord to side with the south against King Amautu," Gratidia patiently explained to Inti, much unlike his gruff attitude towards Brym. "While this lord has great respect for the late emperor and wishes to side with his eldest son to ensure appropriate succession, the south simply does not possess the strength in the north to protect this lord's weakened house, nor his estate ravaged by war."

"Clearly, lord underestimates the power of the south around Arguna, a power which has been proven many times over the past years," Inti began her betrayal. "After all, the southern kingdom has long worked with the northern barbarians, as well as the bandits along the major trade routes, to disturb King Amautu's plans."

"Is that true?" a shocked Gratidia asked, and looked at Brym for confirmation, for the first time in a while.

"Yes, I have been personally responsible for many contacts with independent freedom fighters in the countryside," he admitted, though with a frown. "In fact, the impact of the bandit raids has previously forced the northern king to cooperate with us by protecting our property rights in Porcero."

Although Brym was unhappy that Inti had just released sensitive information without clearing it with him first, he had no choice but to act casual and play along. Though in the first place, it wasn't a big secret anyways. After years of operations, most of the northern lords would know who the bandits were associated with by now. The only reason Amautu hadn't made trouble for them over it was that he didn't have any concrete evidence, and that the bandits had restrained their actions ever since the Porcero issue. The fact that Gratidia didn't know about any of that said a lot about his political ability. The more he thought about it, talking about an open secret was hardly Inti's fault.

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"Ah, indeed. This lord has heard the story, though was unaware that bandits were involved in the negotiations," Gratidia pretended to remember. As far as Brym could tell, this lord was completely unaware of anything happening outside of his own estate. How could a neighbor of Arguna be this poorly informed?

"In that case, Lord Gratidia can see that we are indeed able to influence the northern kingdom's court," Inti argued while Brym was still reassessing the lord's value in his head. "While the distances are too vast to directly intervene with the southern army, we certainly have enough strength to put pressure on the northern king and ease Lord Gratidia's burden."

For a while, Lord Gratidia went silent and mulled over his options, or at least that was what Brym hoped for. So far, the lord had surprised him more than once with his unreasonable attitude.

"And what is it the southern kingdom wants in return for my help?" the lord finally asked, his first proper reaction in a while. Brym could barely contain his excitement when he finally saw the hint of an agreement looming over the horizon. Ever since Inti had entered the room, the mood had really started to turn for the better.

"All we ask for in return is mutually beneficial cooperation," Brym said immediately, eager to capitalize on the chance. "After all, it is in our interest that the power of the scholars be reduced in the northern estates, as it is in Lord Gratidia's. Once Rhodanos returns to its rightful owner, we only ask for our trade access to remain unrestricted, just the same as before."

And then I can finally start selling you my bonds. You're really not making this easy for me, are you?

Predictably, the timid lord shook his head again.

"However, it is impossible for House Gratidia to directly oppose the orders of the scholar king. House Gratidia's forces have been weakened too much," he argued.

"Weakened?" a baffled Brym asked. "The last war between north and center ended quite a while ago. Most involved estates should have replenished their forces by now. Although damages to Rhodanos were quite severe, Gratidia's troops should have been largely rebuilt as well, should they not?"

In response, Gratidia sighed.

"Indeed, they should have. However, most young warriors have been sent to Challwala, to serve in the scholastic guard. Without any men, this lord cannot build an army."

"Wait, the king's special army?" a confused Brym asked. "Why would the warriors of the noble houses serve directly under the king?"

"Maybe you're unaware, but since around halfway through the last war against Pacha, Amautu has begun to recruit new warriors for his scholastic guard from the estates. He was probably running out of his own," Inti explained. "The guard has also grown rapidly since that time, though we don't know how strong their combat power is, since it is cobbled together from different forces. Every estate is ordered to supply a certain amount of warriors to join the king's scholastic guard. In return, the warriors are supposed receive a proper education, to lead them out of the darkness. An army of true scholars, or so they say."

Inti scoffed at the grandiose statement, and Brym couldn't help but do the same.

"Sounds like they're just recruiting cannon fodder," he commented.

Compared to this scholastic guard, Saniya's soldiers weren't forced levies, all of them had been recruited of their own free will. Not only that, they were also receiving a proper education designed by his big brother, unlike whatever brainwashing these scholastic guards were going through.

"The constant loss of House Gratidia's young warriors has severely crippled the house, while strengthening the northern king's power," the lord complained to interrupt Brym's thoughts. "Thus, it is impossible for the house to oppose the king, lest this lord's own men return under the scholar king's banner to raze Rhodanos."

As Brym looked at the elder lord's miserable appearance and his helpless sigh, he couldn't help but think that this Lord Gratidia was... an idiot. Surely, no other lord in the north was fulfilling these tyrannical orders dutifully. If they were, he would have long heard complaints from his friends in Eastern Medala.

Off the top of his head, Brym himself could come up with countless methods to deal with the king's orders. Lords could deliberately misrepresent the number of warriors under their command, so they wouldn't have to send so many. They could exaggerate the threat of local bandits or act out internal conflicts between each other, for an excuse to defer the sending of troops. They could just send members of the warrior class who didn't have a fighting education, even women or old men. Of course, they could always just dress up commoners as warriors and send them over, like Loreius had done at the end of the last war.

Surely, the other lords would have thought of dozens more ways to defy the northern king's orders without making themselves the target of Amautu's revenge. Probably only this guy, with his estate furthest away from Amautu's seat of power, was dumb enough to follow the orders by the letter, until his force was almost completely hollowed out. Of course, Brym couldn't say the truth to the fool's face. They still needed his cooperation to fight the scholars, after all.

"Not to worry, Lord Gratidia," he thus said, together with a comforting smile that took all of his acting practice to perform. "You are not expected to fight the northern troops directly. In fact, no one is. All we ask is for you to stay hidden — and thus neutral — for a while longer. And if the scholars ask you to get involved directly, just pretend to be so weakened that you can no longer control your estate. We will handle the rest."

By now, a plan had begun to form in Brym's head, one which seemed quite suitable to deal with this new threat in the north. It was an economic solution to a cultural and military problem, very much to his liking.

Now that he had met the lord and understood that he didn't like the scholars either, the plan could go ahead. As for the great Lord Gratidia himself? Based on Brym's assessment of the lord, it would be the most helpful if he stayed out of it. With this guy's ability, he would just mess things up more if he got involved too much.

Conversely, if things went as planned, Rhodanos would become a prime example for dealing with Amautu's power grab, one to be repeated throughout the north.