I woke up the next day with a hangover.

This was a problem, because I could feel something or someone trying to get me up.

I did not want to get up. In fact, right about now, I was wishing the battle had actually happened and I’d died during it.

I groaned out loud, swiping blindly at the thing I could feel poking me in my side. I think I tried to tell them to go away, but all that escaped my mouth was. “Gaoiea aweoyu…”

I heard someone snort at my pathetic state above me. “None of that now,” A familiar old man said above, followed by another nudge to my ribs. Groaning again, I gave up. Cracking open one sensitive eye, I winced at the blinding light that greeted me. Once it had adjusted, I saw an amused Grey staring down at me, still dressed in his Grand Marshal combat robes. He’d been poking me with the butt of his staff, which I had since learned was named Elarux.

In his other hand, he was holding a bottle with a familiar-looking potion inside. When he noticed my hungry gaze fall on the hangover potion, he waved it at me almost teasingly. Moaning almost like a zombie, I swiped at the bottle uselessly, falling short when Grey moved it out of the way.

“Whyyyy,” I whined pathetically.

Grey tutted at me. “Time to get up, Nathan. Busy day today. Come on then, up you go. There’s a good lad,” He said, as I reluctantly opened my other eye and stumbled to my feet. When I was finally up and feeling like death, he handed me the potion. I took it and desperately popped off the cap, raising it to my lips. I chugged it down, not stopping until the bottle was empty.

I almost instantly felt better. Shaking my head like a dog as the Mana of the potion went to work, I heaved a sigh of relief and looked around.

It…looked like I’d gone to sleep under the stars. And not even in a bed roll or something.

Oh yeah. Last night was coming back to me now.

Azarus, Renauld, and I had decided to join in on the impromptu victory parties that had popped all through the camps of the Army of the Uprising. We’d essentially gone pub crawling through a number of them, drinking more booze than I’d thought a standing army would have on hand. We’d invited Sylvia to come along with us, but she had declined in favor of seeking out Honoka. Eventually, the three of us had gotten totally shitfaced and passed out dead drunk…somewhere. I recognized the heraldry of the soldiers around us as belonging to the Uprising, but I didn’t actually know who it represented. Looked like a stalk of wheat and a sword crossed over a checkered background of green and yellow.

Azarus and Renauld were similarly passed out not far from my position, still dead to the world and snoring away. I went to wake them up as well, but Grey stopped me with a hand on my arm.

“No, no. Let them sleep,” Grey shook his head. “We’ll leave them some potions as well. I woke you for a reason, Nathan.”

I blinked at my mentor. “Yeah? What’s up?”

“Both the leadership and backers behind the Uprising are gathering in the city shortly for a meeting,” Grey explained patiently. “It’s time to decide on our next course of action. We may have won a surprisingly decisive victory yesterday, but we can’t rest on our laurels. I’d like you to accompany Honoka, Sylvia and I during the meeting.”

“Oh, uh. Sure. That’s fine with me,” I said, still looking around. I didn’t see Fade anywhere, which was a bit odd. He may be more independent these days, but he was still usually there when I woke up.

Oh.

There he was.

Azarus had the young wolf cuddled in his arms. It looked like the dwarf was drooling into his fur. I stifled a laugh, looking back at and smiling at Grey. “When is it? When do we leave?”

Grey chuckled at the sight of Azarus and Fade as well, but still shook his head at me. “Not for another hour or so. Which gives you time to become presentable at an inn in the city. Frankly, you reek of liquor, Nathan. And your uniform is, shall we say, unsightly.”

I looked down at myself. Yeah, I was covered in a mix of dust and spilled booze. Taking a sniff test, I wrinkled my nose.

“Come along. I’ll take you to where I stayed last night,” Grey said, setting off and waving me along. “They have an excellent service. We’ll meet the girls there as well.”

I set off with Grey towards the City of Helstein, which I still hadn’t set foot in.

After weaving through the various camps set up outside the walls, we eventually reached the gates of the city. They were wide open now, and looked to be admitting almost every soldier that was interested in spending a bit of coin. I don’t doubt that there were plenty of them looking to spend a bit of back pay after weeks of hard marching. Grey and I were waved in by the harried-looking guard immediately.

The locals looked to be surprisingly happy about losing a battle to a rebellion. I didn’t actually see many people turning away soldiers or sending them dirty looks. Instead, I’d say there was an overall air of relief in the air of the city, now that Rickard Graden had been deposed by the Prince. We passed by more than a few rebellious youths painting full murals of celebration on the walls of formerly drab buildings. In full view of the guards, as well.

Actually, it looked like a few paint-splattered guards were assisting one of the groups of teens over there. They were laughing together, and painting what looked to be a hideously oversized man getting smacked on his bottom by a black iron Sculpted.

I blinked at the odd spectacle.

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My confusion must have been noticed by Grey, as he chuckled at me. “A not unsurprising sight. Once upon a time, Helstein was a uniquely artistic city, with a thriving creative populace that House Graden fostered. Alas, Rickard never possessed any particular talent for the arts, and thus grew to resent them. When he took power after the death of his Father, he promptly set out to eradicate the ‘frippery’ that he so despised. Both among the people, and in their surroundings. With him gone, and unlikely to resume his post under the future High King Oskar, I expect the city to try and return to their old traditions. Such as street art.” He exchanged a nod of greeting with one of the guards watching another group paint a mural as we passed them.

Interesting. I guess graffiti was a universal concept, even in magical fantasy land.

I shook my head, looking back over at Grey. "That reminds me. What happened to Graden?"

Grey smirked to himself, looking supremely satisfied. "Oh, he's currently being hosted in one of the cells of his own former Citadel. Pending the judgment of the Prince, that will be his home for the

foreseeable future. I expect the former Duke will be stripped of most of his holdings and exiled to the fringes, now that Caer Drarrow isn't an option. Good riddance, I say. I do hope he enjoys his future as a fisherman." He cut his eyes in my direction briefly. "After my own interrogation of the man, however. That will have to wait for now though."

Sounded like Grey was holding a grudge against the man. Well, whatever.

Not my business.

Before long, Grey had led me to what must be the inn that he stayed in. It was hard to tell though, considering how almost everything looked the same in this city. It wasn’t quite that dire inside, though. I guess that while the former Duke Graden had hated exterior artistry, he was fine with interior displays of wealth.

Because this place was fancy inside.

I didn’t really care about that, though. Grey led me up to his suite after exchanging a greeting with the employee at the front desk. There, he let me use his en-suite in order to freshen up, while my Order uniform and armor were seen to by the inn staff. I didn’t have anything to wear when I got out, so I just wrapped a towel over my waist and walked out of the bathroom. I’d thought it was just going to be Grey, who I didn’t care about seeing me half naked. I was hoping my clothes would be done getting cleaned by that time, and I would just wait around like this until they were.

But I stopped in my tracks when I noticed that Honoka and Sylvia had joined Grey in his room while I was bathing. The three of them were gathered around a small table, sitting and discussing something.

The discussion stopped at my appearance. Grey blinked at me in confusion, while Honoka burst out laughing. I think if Sylvia had the blood to start blushing, she would have, from the way she looked away from my half-exposed body.

I took a deep breath and decided to own it. My clothes had already been finished and returned to rest on a nearby dresser. Nodding at the group casually, I nonchalantly strolled over to grab it and then retreated to the en-suite. Once I had closed the door behind me, I wilted and buried my face in one hand.

Way to go, genius.

I sighed, but shook myself out of it. We didn’t have time for my self-inflicted humiliation.

I got dressed in my clothes and armor from yesterday, strapping my dagger to my waist as I did so.

Opening the door, I exchanged some brief pleasantries with the others and then we got on our way. Exiting the inn, Grey led us up to what I’d heard referred to as the ‘Citadel’. It was a massive cubic structure with little to no embellishments on it that loomed over the rest of the city. It may have been hideous, but the building was still intimidating. Which I’m guessing had been the point.

The guards let us in with no issue, and led us to the room where the meeting was going to take place. I think it was supposed to have been Graden’s throne room judging by the massive stone chair at the end of it. But an extremely large circular table had been dragged into it in order to accommodate the large amount of people that were now sitting around it. The room was bathed in morning light from plain, unadorned windows on the far wall.

I recognized maybe half of them. There were the expected people such as Prince Oskar, Woodrick, Leopold, and Nyx. But there were also a number of people that I hadn’t seen in months. Nearly all of the nobles that had been present back in Hollow Hill for that meeting were also gathered for this one. Not only that, but I recognized some faces from the prisoners we had rescued at Caer Drarrow. Including Richard Everfield, who was accompanied by his son Bryce and daughter-in-law Eleanor.

I exchanged nods with them when they noticed my presence.

But that wasn’t all. There were a ton of nobles and soldiers in this room that I didn’t recognize. Not all of them were sitting around the main table, instead either standing or sitting off to the side. Some of them, I think, must be from the families that the Loyalists had blackmailed into not supporting the Uprising. I have to say, many of them looked eager. However, some of the new faces in the room did not look like they wanted to be here. Judging by the red and black heraldry on their clothes, I’m guessing these might be some of the nobles of Helstein.

The supporters of the former Duke.

Hah, well. Eat shit and fall in line, I suppose.

It was looking like our small group of four were some of the last people to arrive for the meeting, as the room quieted at our entrance. I think they had just been waiting on Grey and Honoka in order to begin.

Grey wasn’t phased by the attention. He just smiled at the room in greeting. “My apologies, everyone. We were delayed by the crowds.” He said, lying for my sake shamelessly.

Prince Oskar stood up from his ostentatious chair to greet him. “Not at all, Headmaster,” He said with a smooth smile. “We weren’t waiting long.”

Grey strode across the room to sit in the prepared chair for him, situated to the Prince’s right. Honoka rolled her eyes and took the chair next to him, while Sylvia and I stood behind Grey. She was on his right, while I was on his left. Coincidently, that left me standing next to the same knightly bodyguard that the Prince had yesterday. I could see him giving me the evil eye through the slit in his helmet. I narrowed my own eyes at him.

The hell did I ever do to you, man?

“Now!” Prince Oskar said loudly with a clap of his hands, ending the sparse conversation echoing in the room. “This meeting can begin properly. I don’t believe it will last very long. This is merely to establish the next steps of the Uprising. Details on the continued campaign can be settled over the coming days. Despite my command, I acknowledge that I do not quite have the military experience of some of you, and so I yield the floor to the appointed General of the Uprising forces. Marshal Leopold, of the Order of the Eclipsed Dawn.”

As the Prince sat down, polite applause filled the room from the gathered nobles, while Leopold stood up from his own chair around the table. He accepted the applause with a stoic face, before laying a large rolled-up sheet of parchment on the table. With a shove, he unrolled it, revealing a map of Herztal as a whole.

As Leopold began to speak and point out locations on the map, I settled in for the wait. I was starting to get an idea of why Grey wanted me to be present for all these meetings when he didn’t ask Azarus and Renauld along as well.

He wanted me to be a familiar face among the nobility. Someone seen as respectable and strong. The only thing was, I didn’t know why he wanted that in particular. It was like he was angling for something.

I guess I would find out before long.