The Captain moved forward, a look of disbelief on his face. Yet, his eyes were not deceived. The grain indeed were filled with mold. Some of the soldiers who were unaware of this gasped as well, adding only to the realism of the act.

The Captain bent down to feel the grain, almost as if doubting Mother Nature herself.

Without a word, he stood back up, drawing his own dagger and walking over to another random cart laden with grain, and with a clean stroke, cut open, the contents pouring out. Lawrence gulped. He had no spells to cause grain to spoil instantly if he-

The moldy grain poured forth and a look of annoyance was obvious on his face.

“Well, we have to rely on Count Boulevard’s resources from here on out then!” Lawrence said loudly, bowing to Count Boulevard, whose face was that of complete horror as he inspected the hordes of soldiers in heavy equipment in Lawrence’s army. Lawrence was only quietly informed by his generals of this safeguard.

Some of the grains seized from the enemy lords were purposely placed in large sacks and then crossed with Lord Black’s sigil or the Owl Guards. Then, the ones that were manipulated to be moldy were placed on the outside. Of course, this is gambling that the person investigating it doesn’t go down row upon row of grain to check them. A gamble, but reward only awards itself to the brave and scheming.

The Captain scowled.

“This is regretful, however, the Imperial Crown still requires your resources!” the Captain said haughtily and Count Boulevard’s face was that of sheer fury for a moment before he smiled and any signs of anger disappeared from his face.

“Come now, Captain Tosh! How about some women and fine wine while we talk things over? It is so unlike people of your caliber to make such hasty decisions!” Count Boulevard said, stepping forward, his eyes wide open in welcome, as if he was greeting a son who returned home for the first time in a long time.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

A look of lust and happiness crossed Captain Tosh’s face which reminded Lawrence of the time in which he always heard about officers or non-commissioned officers when they heard that there was free flow beer in the mess hall.

Roland whispered into Lawrence’s ear, “If need be, we should make sure that he does not leave this place alive.”

However, Captain Tosh quickly regained his composure, “I have an order from the Crown, Count Boulevard! Please comply!”

“Ah… What a complex situation…” Count Boulevard rubbed the back of his head, like an old man pondering his choices.

“I… Suppose we can offer whatever little rations we have…” Longines said after a long pause and a sigh. He looked at Kraft who nodded after a long pause, almost with an accompanying shrug.

The pass once again fell into silence. The only sounds are that of nature and the sounds of fire cackling from the torches of the men on guard and those of the fire braziers lit to light the way.

There seemed to be a nervous tension in the air, as the men from the so-called Imperial Authority, and the men in the garrison. The men in the garrison, if hating gazes had knives, would have completely eviscerated Captain Tosh and his team.

“Are you sure?” Captain Tosh asked Longines who nodded slowly, and clapping his hands, some of the men revealed large sacks of grain, with the symbols of the Owl Guard on it.

Truth be told, these were actually grain seized from the enemies. However, they did not need to know this.

The men under Count Boulevard watched as the adjutants of Captain Tosh hurriedly loaded the sacks of grain or requisitioned the Owl Guards’ wagons, much to Lawrence’s chagrin.

“The Imperial Crown looks forward to working with all of you to repel the Gerheist invaders!” Captain Tosh said and with a bow, he climbed aboard his horse. Lawrence paused for a moment, before selecting Animal Friendship under the list of scrolls he had.

“This is a great horse you have!” Lawrence said loudly, walking to the horse and then patting the horse.

“Indeed, it was a gift from the great Colonel, who is leading the coalition!”

Lawrence leaned in and whispered to the horse, “Throw him off later at the most dangerous possible place then run back here.”

The horse neighed, as if replying. Lawrence gave the horse one last pat as he watched them leave with the convoy.

“You did something didn’t you?” Roland whispered and Lawrence shrugged.

“I have a new horse soon, I guess.”