As the guard continued to guide the two down the streets of Anceburg, Vance couldn't help but glance around at the builds arrayed out in much the same way as the ones in Luna, even made in the same style as well. The only difference between Luna and the Capital was the size, presence of thick stone walls surrounding the city, and of course, armed guards instead of a militia. The other striking difference was the castle complex that stood in the middle, looking more like a throwback to a bygone era, with its ancient stone facing and square bastioned wall tops that looked down over the Castletown below. This castle looked close to those medieval ones an individual might find in Western Europe, given its design and structure. Built tall and study, able to whether most ancient weapons, but now it was as valuable as a stick when faced off against cannons... more so those guns embued with arcane magic.

In reality, the castle was just a point of prestige and nod to the culture of high nobility and a warped sense of chivalry Kendirewen liked to claim as its own. Sadly, Kendirewen was anything but chivalric. There was no sense of honour from the ruling elite beyond their adherence to leading from the front; or, well, those below Brigadier General.

As the thought of his previous Colonel popped up as he absentmindedly watched the city streets, Vance was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of boots stepping into attention, prompting him to turn to see two similarly dressed Human men as his guides. Both stood at attention before blocking the path forward as they crossed their bayoneted rifles together.

"Here." The Guide passed a letter to the closest of the two.

A quick read through, and the guard pulled his rifle back, standing straight, "Pass."

Looking back, the Guide glanced over at Vance, then at Estrid, "You'll have to walk the rest of the way to the Marshal's office yourself. Just keep straight, and you'll arrive at Kendirewen Square. After reading the square, you'll see a building made of red brick, that's the main office. Enter, and someone staffing the front desk should guide you the rest of the way." The Guide said before handing off a sealed letter to Vance. "Give the person there this, and it might give you the audience you seek with the Marshal. Otherwise, my job's done here." Walking past the two, he added, "Good luck." Before he and the Grenadiers marched back to the main gate.

Vance watched the three march into the busy streets of Anceburg, "Thanks, I guess?" Vance whispered before turning to Estrid, "Shall we?"

Sure enough, the trip to the square proved to be a relatively quick and easy one, as there were very few officers and soldiers out near the entrance. It was only when they reached the square did they see a busy cobbled street alive with life—hundreds of men and women of different races rushing to and fro. Vance could only guess at why it was so busy.

"Likely due to the battle of the hills..." Vance guessed aloud.

Estrid watched, "Maybe? I doubt there'd be this much activity over a victory. But, no, my guess is another offensive into our borders from one of the others."

Vance shrugged, "True. If anything, just another question for the Marshal, I suppose."

Not wanting to waste any more time standing around, both quickly made for the building described by their Guide. Evidently, it turned out that it was the easiest to spot as well, as it was the only building in the long row barracks that had a red-bricked exterior; all others had a white plaster.

Stepping into the building, Vance and Estrid were promptly greeted by a thinly moustached blonde Elven man who looked to be in his thirties.

"Welcome to Kendirewen Square? Do you have an appointment with someone?" The man asked, looking uninterested as his tone of voice was at their presence.

Striding up to the desk, Vance gently rested the sealed letter in front of the man, who in turn began to read the contents while twisting his moustache absentmindedly.

"Hrhm... well, I can see what the Marshal says, but I'd ask you both to wait here while I go check." He said, pushing himself up and away from his desk.

Vance gave a slight nod in agreement as he watched the man turn a corner.

"Hopefully, we don't have to wait long," Vance said, turning to face Estrid, who had occupied herself with looking around the small reception area.

Surprisingly, the man returned, ushing both to follow him, "Come on then. The Marshal will see you both."

Vance was surprised to see how quickly the man returned and that the Marshal was willing to go out of his way to meet with them? It wasn't something he was too used to seeing or hearing from men such as him. Most Nobles who held the rank of General tended to be as vain and elitist as one would expect from those raised in wealth, and that had been his experience during his short stint with the Royal Army as a conscript. He had seen the commanding General of the army he was with only once, and that man had looked at him and his regiment as though they were trash. It left a bitter taste in his mouth, thinking back to that day, but such days were behind him.

Upon entering the Office, Vance quickly spotted a man who stood six feet five inches tall. His light brown skin was clearly visible via his bald head, which looked out an open window. Peering over his shoulder, the man who commanded the First Royal Army turned to face his two visitors. As he came to meet the two, Vance could see that the Marshal still gave off a youthful vibrance about himself despite his age. He could also see the Marshal was well built, and clean-shaven much like his head.

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He dressed in a highly ornate uniform that, while having a purple base, had a gold lapel and collar that had been folded down around his shoulders just over the gold epaulettes. An array of badges of Knighthood could be seen overtop the red sash that was slung over his shoulder that crossed his chest, ending at the opposite side waist. A handful of medals hung above those badges, showing he was quite the decorated individual.

"Welcome." He greeted, "both of you, please." He waved them to take a seat before dismissing the Elf with a nod.

Vance and Estrid wasted no time in taking the offered seat.

"Looks like the Rock." Vance found himself thinking as he sat down.

"Before we start, let me just start by saying, you gave my guys quite the scare." The Marshal started, a warm smirk crossing his lips, "It's not every day they see three individuals come riding in on dragons after all." He laughed.

"Charismatic like him too..."

Vance smiled, scratching the back of his head, "Sorry about that. It was the fastest way of travelling here from Luna."

He gave a small chuckle as he waved away the apology, "Nothing to apologise for! If anything, I'm happy you gave them a bit of a jump; it keeps them alert for anything now. Now, what should I call you, hmm?" He asked.

"Ah, yes, my apologies. My name is Vance Wolfram."

"Estrid Demoulin."

"A pleasure. Marshal Petram Franz, commander of his Majesty's Royal Army." Franz introduced himself in reply, shaking the hands of both Vance and Estrid before sitting down again.

Leaning forward, he folded his hands in front of him and looked towards Vance, "Now... what did you come here for?"

"Right to business then." Vance noted before quickly replying with, "We're here to deliver evidence of a possible Askal incursion near Luna." He said before looking to Estrid, who dug through her satchel and produced the documents. "The town we came from, Luna, had been suffering a rise of monster activity in the form of goblins."

"That's nothing to worry about, though; goblins tend to group near small towns and villages," Franz remarked as he took the offered documents from Estrid.

Vance shrugged, "Yes, but it's the manner in which the attack happened that was strange." He noted as he pointed to the first report.

Franz was quick to read through the first, his eye going from the document to Vance. "Hmm... that is strange." He muttered as he continued to read. "Says here the entire guard was dispatched to reinforce the Royal Army near the hills... but I gave no such order."

"That's not all; keep reading," Vance said.

As the Marshal kept reading, Vance could see the veins in the man's head bulge as his anger started to flare. Once done, Franz let out a heavy sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"A traitor..." He breathed.

Vance and Estrid nodded, "Yes. But, unfortunately, the Lord gave a false order and had the Guard killed, leaving the town's defences to the Adventurers." Vance noted.

"However... even we had trouble. Whole teams of adventurers were killed in the mountains by the men Vance witnessed on his own climb up the slope." Estrid noted, "As the last living representative of the Guild in Luna... I came to give my own testimony to the fact and provide you with all relevant intel we had as well as the job requests to hunt monsters and animals in the mountain forests."

Franz looked drained, annoyed, and slightly agitated at what he heard and read, but it seemed to fade with a simple breath in and out. "Thank you. Both of you. But, sadly, I'm not sure what I can do to help you... either of you."

"Actually..." Vance started, "I was hoping you might be willing to help us select a new Lord for the area."

"Oh?"

"Truthfully, I managed to put together a tiny militia with the help of Estrid here and my other companion who's with the 'dragons' we came in with. It's made up of the surviving adventurers and some of the townsfolk who volunteered to take up arms. It's not a large force, but it'll keep the town safe while we train up a proper guard." Vance said, noting the small defence force they left behind.

Just as Vance finished speaking, Estrid spoke up, "We're hoping you can name Wolfram the Lord."

Vance looked at her with some surprise. Sure, that was part of his plan, but he wasn't expecting to hear that from her or from someone who called Luna home.

"What?" Both men asked in surprise.

Estrid quickly put on her best performance possible, using her experience as a receptionist to explain her reasoning, "Before either Vance or Richard arrived, the town was all but lost. .Goblins were looting stores, homes, and even the Guildhall People were either running for the mountains or being taken away in chains... but all that suddenly changed the moment Vance arrived. He and his companion quickly dispatched the goblins with ease and freed the captive townspeople before they could be taken out of the city." Taking a breath, she let the words sink in for a moment before continuing with, "Then, if that wasn't enough, he goes on coming up with a plan of defence. Rounding up a small force of volunteers, myself, and what remained of the Guild there, he armed us and gave us a means of victory when there was none. Vance managed to defeat a goblin horde with only a single six-pounder cannon and a force of untrained civilians. And to top it off? He even cleared out the mountains of the Askal spies that were killing off my adventurers... all that while having been up for two days straight." She explained, looking to Vance with thanks for what he had done.

Now that she had explained all that he had done, the gravity of his actions finally dawned on him. He did a lot with no sleep, and there was still more he had done in those two days if he were to count helping to win the battle against Lespa, something he wasn't going to share or take credit for.

Franz looked genuinely impressed at what he heard, all while he continued to glance down at the different reports on the table before him.

"Impressive stuff Mr Wolfram. Impressive stuff indeed." He started, "And from what's written here, it was not a small horde, but a rather large one that ransacked the town. Haha! You don't see achievements like this anymore!" Franz laughed.

As his laugh faded, he looked pained for a second, "Sadly... I can't help you. I can certainly recommend you the spot and title, but I can't actually award it. That much can only be done by the King, who I'm sure you'd like to meet, but... I wouldn't count on that meeting ever taking place." Leaning back, he let out a small sigh as he glanced out the window. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you about the nepotism about our Kingdom. For all our achievements, advancements and glory... we're just as bad as the others." Franz trailed with a slight look of cringe.

Focusing on Vance once more, he made a quick examination of the blonde before coming up with, "But, I might know a way to get a meeting."

"Heh, I bet I can guess what you're going to say."

Smirking, the Marshal offered Vance to do so.

"You want me to join the Royal Army? Win or achieve something that would impress the King enough to warrant a face to face is what you're thinking?" Vance guessed.

Franz nodded, "Exactly that! If there's one thing that man values more than one's title and position, it's their military achievements. Case in point, me!"

"But, I don't have the money to buy a commission, and I'm not exactly sure there's-"

Before he could say anything, Franz cut him off. "I'll pay for that. Given what your friend, Ms Demoulin, here said, not giving you something would be a stain on not only the Kingdom's reputation but also my own." He said, pausing to pull out a few sheets of paper from his desk. "And, if possible, I think we can start a new unit within the Royal Army, led exclusively by you, Ms Demoulin, and your companion outside."

At that, Vance jumped in, "Using the Wyverns, you mean?"

"Exactly that."

"Well, then... we'll have to come up with a few terms then, and I'll still need a couple of things to get such a unit formed."

As Vance spoke, Franz had begun to draft up a series of items. "I'll cover the expenses for it and provide you with the necessary equipment you need; just give me a list so I can have the Quartermaster acquire the items you need." Glancing at Estrid, then to Vance, he continued with, "Consider it part of your reward."

Smiling now, Vance bowed his head in thanks before the drafted up idea was pushed his way. "So... I'll be leading a Regiment or unit comprised of the Wyverns. That much is a given, as for what I'll name the unit?" He paused, a playful smile tugging at the edge of his lips, "The Dragon Marines."