Count Connor raised his hand and pointed to the seat in front of him, speaking softly, “Please sit. Ever since I returned from meeting Lord Derrick, I’ve been feeling a bit unwell, so I’ll remain seated.”

This was Sheriff’s first time being so close to a count, and he couldn’t help but glance around, feeling a little pressure. However, remembering his third brother, the person who had caused the count a significant loss, he wasn’t so intimidated anymore.

Sheriff recalled Derrick’s instructions. After sitting down, he immediately got to the point. “Lord Derrick is my older brother. He sent me to discuss something with you.”

“Oh? I’d like to hear Lord Derrick’s opinion. What advice does he have for someone like me, a defeated general?”

The sarcasm in Connor's words was evident. A more seasoned diplomat would have probably already tried to diffuse the tone. But Sheriff didn’t react, and directly stated his purpose: “We hope you can influence the movement of the Holy Cross Kingdom’s legions to avoid Birch Fortress.”

It was too direct.

Connor hesitated before responding. His eldest son stood up at that moment. “Dream on. This time, we’re well-prepared. We’ll march a hundred thousand soldiers to Birch Fortress and let that little bastard Derrick wait to die.”

“Then, under Birch Fortress, you’ll need to send another fifty thousand lives to fill the gap.”

“Ha, this time, the commander isn’t my father. Let them die.”

“Well, then we’ll surrender. Who knows, maybe the new commander will be rewarded by your king.”

Sheriff’s words hit a nerve.

Compared to Derrick’s misfortune, what they truly feared was seeing the successor rise to power. As the eldest son opened his mouth to argue, Count Connor waved his hand and stared directly at Sheriff. “I understand your intentions. I can agree to your request, but I have a few conditions.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“I want a barony with a population of over ten thousand and an annual tax income of no less than a thousand gold coins. Can your lordship provide that?”

Sheriff had considered many possible demands before coming here, based on Derrick’s analysis. Armor, weapons, warhorses, and population were all things Count Connor might ask for. He had been authorized to agree to certain terms on Derrick’s behalf if necessary. Because the opportunity was rare, and the next time they contacted him, the army of the Holy Cross Kingdom might already be there.

But Sheriff hadn’t expected such a condition from Count Connor.

It might seem like a small barony, but in reality, there were fewer than a hundred nobles of baron rank and above in the Kingdom of Locke. The Ferreira family had only reached this level of territory after many years of development. The count’s appetite was large—this was enough land to establish a powerful family.

Sheriff knew that his third brother owned such a territory, but he couldn’t just hand it over to the count. Refusing, however, might end their negotiations. He wasn’t convinced that the Holy Cross Kingdom’s army would win, but his third brother had stressed the importance of this matter. He had to be decisive.

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Sheriff recalled his brother’s final instructions before he left.

“Alright, I agree. I’ll make this commitment in the name of the Augusta family.” Sheriff gritted his teeth and said, but then quickly added, “This promise must be fulfilled within ten years.”

“Impressive. Lord Derrick has quite an ambition!” Count Connor clapped his hands.

To him, it seemed impossible that Sheriff would make such an offer without Derrick’s prior guidance. The fact that such a weighty commitment had been made showed that this wasn’t something an ordinary baron could handle. For Sheriff to keep this promise, Derrick would have to become a fully-established count himself.

Connor wasn’t worried that Sheriff would break his promise. In fact, he didn’t want the Kingdom of the Holy Cross to reclaim the Saint-Michel Province after his failure. This was just the right opportunity for him as well.

After all, Count Connor had ambitions. From a mere knight, he had built his family into a noble house—he wasn’t without aspirations.

“Sheriff, you’ve got some guts. Go back and tell Lord Derrick that we can cooperate on a deeper level. I look forward to hearing more from him.”

Count Connor then brought up other conditions such as trade and warhorses.

Sheriff wasn’t sure whether to be happy or disappointed.

...

Derrick was still unaware that his brother had made such a bold promise on his behalf. He certainly hadn’t expected Count Connor to demand land, but if he were there, he would have agreed to it.

In truth, danger and opportunity existed together.

The Saint-Michel Province seemed to be surrounded by threats, caught between two powerful enemies. But looking at the situation from another angle, the location was actually very advantageous. To the north, there was vast wilderness, once the homeland of the Holy Union Kingdom. It was certainly not barren land. Now occupied by the barbarians, it had previously been a target for the Kingdom of Locke to reclaim.

Although they had been caught off guard, if they could capture the Saint-Michel Province, they would be taking back their ancestral lands. But the barbarians’ domain still remained. While others saw danger, Derrick saw opportunity.

“The barbarian kingdom is not recognized by the three kingdoms. Even if they’ve gained something this time, they are still weak beneath the surface. Their tribal structure means they have a limited ability to mobilize. The king’s orders can’t even reach all of his lands. If they’ve captured enough people, maybe they’ll have the confidence to reform their national system. But even though the barbarians are learning from our systems and technologies, and have absorbed some of the old kingdom’s people, they still can’t change their inherent weakness.

“My scouts tell me that if we move through the wilderness, there’s a large territory there that could support a count’s holdings. The barbarians’ tribes are few in this generation. If we control these key points, we can control the entire wilderness. This territory could house a population of a million.”

Derrick spread out a simple map, marked with geographical intelligence brought back by his scouts.

At his current rank, he couldn’t annex territories within the kingdom. Heading east to confront the Holy Cross Kingdom would be suicidal. Even if they lost ten times, the kingdom would still survive. The long-standing stalemate between the Kingdom of Locke and the Kingdom of the Holy Cross proved that point.

In fact, if no one had underestimated the threat of the barbarians, the Saint-Michel Province might not have fallen.

So, the only option was to move north. That was territory beyond the Kingdom of Locke’s legal reach. According to the colonization laws, whoever could claim it would own it.

But every time a colonization war was waged, it was initiated by the kingdom itself, and individuals had little chance of acting on their own. Even if one had the strength to do so, the kingdom wouldn’t allow such actions.

Still, Derrick felt that if they could use the war to exhaust both the Holy Cross and Locke’s forces in the north, they could gain at least a year and a half of time.

A year and a half was enough to accomplish a great deal.

Everyone believed that Lord Derrick’s next step would be to become a count, just like the Sword of God, creating a knightly legend. But Derrick’s vision wasn’t so short-sighted. He wanted to achieve the best possible outcome.

The temptation to expand territory was immense.

Everything depended on whether the Holy Cross Kingdom would cooperate.

If the next war drained their own forces, then all bets were off.