With the oldest brother thoroughly embarrassed, sober, and knocked down a peg, we all head back inside into the same lounge room as before, except the oldest brother who is sent home in a different carriage. Once we sit down, and more drinks are served along with some finger snacks, the talks begin once more. Donnerstein starts,

" That was embarrassing. He may be my current heir, but I'd much prefer him not to be. We seemingly are bound by familial rules on how our inheritance is passed down. It's terrible. I had hoped to find use with him through a marriage between our houses, but his... temperament has made it nearly impossible and with your new... acquisition I might as well bang my head against a wall.

But if trying to join our houses was my only reason to be here I would have already left. Let us get down to business.

The... royalist situation."

I watch Duke Hasslerouge tense up when Donnerstein mentions the royalists. I really don't know the situation, but I assume they are someone bad. I guess my confusion was clear on my face because the middle son explains to me out of nowhere,

"We forget the Outcast does not know the workings of civilized society.

The royalists are a group of both lesser and some higher nobles who are pushing for more control from the crown. As of the moment, the Kingdom of Alrius divides power between the dukedoms and the main royal crown. The royalist movement or group is pushing for the king to take full power. This benefits them by making us nobles far more equal overall and would make our lawmaking power within our dukedoms impossible.

This also would push for more centralization of both power and finances, meaning the well-off dukedoms will have to share both military power and resources with either their lower fiefs or other people's ones.

An example would be if your household ran into monetary trouble, ours would be bound through the threat of stripping our titles or by the threat of military intervention, to shoulder the economic burden. In the end, it's very much a bad situation for both of us, despite our differences."

I thank him for the explanation despite the condescending tone he used the entire time. It's not my fault I've only been here a couple of months at most. Both dukes nod at the young man and then continue their conversation. Hasslerouge now begins,

"Yes. They are becoming a problem. In fact, there were some royal assets guarding the estate of those who kidnapped my daughter. They are making major moves."

Donnerstein rubs his chin and replies,

"That is very upsetting. It is unsettling they would go after our youngest in order to get their way. This means they are getting desperate. I think the other dukes are causing far more trouble than us."

Duke Hasslerouge nods and responds,

"Yes, we are also by far the smartest of our group. It's hard to justify anything against us so long as we keep quiet, and all our actions are done within plausible deniability."

Duke Donnerstein laughs heartily,

"Oh my. This is the reason why I still do my business with you. We think way too much alike. That's why I hate your fucking guts."

Duke Hasslerouge laughs dryly and replies,

"Right back at you. I do have a new plan to move forward with. Hopefully, it can get us some revenge for what they have already done. I'm tired of simply just reacting. We need a counterstrike."

Donnersteins face drops to seriousness and replies,

"That's right. We have the materials and the networks. All we need is the personnel and the plan."

Duke Hasslerouge smiles thinly and explains,

"Well, my boy here killed two royal knights by himself with sub-par weaponry. He performed the rescue task I gave him without being found out and even made a scapegoat for who did the damage. He is of the group known as the Stella Coyote, they are well known for their tactical minds and exploiting enemy weaknesses."

He's almost right. The Stella Coyotes are tactical, yes, but our main strength is our dedication to a fight or mission. We do what is needed to get the job done, and as it turns out being tactical and cunning is more successful than rushing at something while screaming. Even among the Hounds of Luna, we are the least specialized and that was our strength, we were completely unpredictable in how we acted in a situation. At least from the outside, but we always knew what we were doing.

Duke Donnersteins eyes go wide and he stares at me for a second before he responds,

"If that's the case, he might be just the person we are going to need. I will write you in a few days as well as share my information with you as well. I will send my request for what the mission should be, but it's your dog. Use him however you deem correct, but remember, if you follow my request or at least attempt it, I will open all my resources to you to finish the job.

How does that sound?"

Duke Hasslerouge nods and then looks at me. He then asks me,

"Tell me, Isa... are you willing to save your new family from ruin?"

I laugh a little while raising my eyebrows. I inquisitively ask,

"I'm guessing I don't get much of a choice now do I?"

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Both Dukes laugh and in tandem respond,

"Nope."

I sigh shaking my head and reply,

"Well... can I at least get a boon?"

Duke Hasslerouge thinks for a second and then replies,

"Yeah, sure. You can request something if you get the job done."

I nod and say,

"One talent of silver for my services."

He looks at me confused and then says,

"A talent?"

I sigh and shake my head then reply,

"Wrong term sorry. How about my weight in silver valued in coinage?"

Both dukes lock eyes and then Duke Hasslerouge replies,

"That can be done. Why do you request this?"

I instantly give my answer,

"I hope to start some kind of business, I need liquid capital in order to get it started."

The term seems to confuse them for a moment, but they seemingly get the meaning based on the rest of the sentence. Duke Hasslerouge then speaks,

"Okay... with that settled, let's have dinner and go our separate ways. Please get the information and plan to me as soon as you can."

Duke Donnerstein nods as both men stand up. The rest of us stand up as well and we all head to dinner.

Per usual the supper is tasty and thankfully there is no real tension in the air. The two Donnerstein boys either glare or look at me in disgust the whole time but I ignore it. The whole while Duke Donnertein quizzes me on Frontiersman culture. He mostly asks about the different trials and learns the real reason I didn't kill his eldest. He finds it hilarious. Eventually, supper finishes and we both escort the Donnerteins out of the house and they leave just as the sun finishes setting. I follow Duke Hasslerouge to his study and sit across from him. He sighs after sitting and then tells me,

"Use the downtime to prepare. I'll supply whatever you need. Once the plan has been set you will have another few days to prepare in accordance to the plan. I trust that even if you fail or are captured you will have your mouth sealed?"

I nod. This makes him smile and he finishes by saying,

"Let's get to bed. Good luck."

With that, we head to bed and I can't sleep. I have so much work to do and so little time...

The next morning I am up before sunrise. I learned from a servant that both Violet and Zandra are out of town for a while so I cannot do my daily rituals, so I start new ones. First I head into the small armory smithy that the manor has attached to the guard barracks. The smith is an old has-been, but after some talking, I convince him to allow me to use his forge. I need to make the weapons of my people, the weapons I am most accustomed to. I get the feeling this mission is going to suck.

The metal they use in the forge is considerably of lower quality than that of the Stella Coyote, while it is steel, it is also without consistent quality. Ranging from way too soft to brittle enough to break with one's hands. I eventually pick out ingots of useable quality and begin my craft. The lessons from my tutors back home and those of my last master's allow me to work the metal with adept skill. Apparently, my ability to hammer metal into the shape I want rather than casting it is unordinary according to the master of this forge. This is strange to me because casting tools with pre-industrial steel is rarely a good idea.

I keep mu my hard work and during periods of waiting for the forge to break heat or metal to soften I carve handles for my future tools. My artistic ability is sub-par at best so I don't try to create anything too crazy, just what is comfortable in my hand.

When my metalwork is done I seal the tangs deep into my wooden handles and use specifically crafted metal pegs to hold it in place. I adhere the wood together with tar and finish it all with a leather wrap utilizing the skills of my mother. In the end, I am left with the tools of my trade. Not master crafts by any means, but superior in many ways to the weapons of this kingdom.

A one-handed hatchet of sorts with a somewhat hooked face designed to both hack apart armor and catch my opponents' weapons, the backside is sharpened to a single point to Peirce thick helmets and the very bottom has a hardpoint to work like a hammer in situations where that is needed. The other weapon is a single-edged short sword like the machete of before but with an American tanto point end. The sharp angular point is great for stabbing. The handguard goes down over my knuckles with only a centimeter of distance between my knuckles and steel. The steel is studded to work like knuckle dusters on a trench knife. I also make two utility knives for backup if needed. After the creation of the weapons is done I create a harness and belt to sheathe my new weapons and on the chest part of my harness I create sheathes for some cheap knives that the master of this forge has made. They will make useful throwing or backup weapons.

By the time I am finished with all my work it has been an entire day so I rest until the next. Over the next week, I train myself in both stealth and sabotage. I learn how to enter buildings with ease with the usage of lockpicks, and I train on my ability to climb stealthily. I make sure to stay well rested and when I am not training my stealth abilities, I train stamina making sure my lungs and muscles are the last things that fail. By the time the Donnerstein letters arrive, I feel confident in my ability to fight and commit sabotage.

Then comes the briefing. I enter the Duke's study and find him pouring over a pile of documents. He motions for me to sit and I do as he commands. He hands me a single sheet of paper and explains,

"This is the list of objectives for you. I have created it by combining both mine and Donnerstein's plans. You are to complete all the objectives here if possible. Some are two birds with one stone type situations so be aware of that. Unfortunately aside from getting to and from places, you will be on your own, if any of our contacts are found and interrogated we may be found out and will be guilty of high treason. So no pressure."

He laughs at the last part but I don't find it very funny. I sigh and read over the list, it takes me a little while since I am still at a middle schooler level of reading this language. The list is fairly short but annoying.

"1. Collect documents showing business transactions and contact information. This can be used for future operations.

2. Destroy any stores of materials if possible, and mark and catalog stores that cannot be destroyed for collection and disposal.

3. Execute priority targets. Minister Friedreich Donnerhauge, Older man, white hair, green eyes, large build. Minister Haller Keener, younger man, brown hair, brown eyes, large birthmark on head. Archbishop Father Solus, old man, bald, in the garb of the church of Serena.

4. Destroy all safehouses.

5. Leave a Message."

I sigh when reading and ask,

"Do you have any pictures or paintings of the targets?"

Duke Hasslerouge shakes his head and then replies,

"That's difficult to acquire. While you will have no partners in the acts themselves you will have guides. They won't follow you into anywhere, but they will help get you to the right spot and will give more specific directions. You will never learn their names.

There will be a total of three locations of high priority. You will be deployed to all of them if possible and you will do your task. I trust you. Unfortunately, we do not have the time for preparation you will leave now as I am being summoned to the royal capitol for the king's court meeting. You will do these tasks while I do the three to four days of travel, your success will put me in a far superior position when it comes to debates."

I nod and stand up to go and get dressed for the travel, nothing more needs to be said.

I get dressed in a similar tunic as before but choose a more brown and green option. The colors are dull and fairly dark making nighttime my friend, and then I find my flour sack and put it over my head. With a heavy heart, I move forward as a soldier headed to war. Once I climb inside the fake storage crate and am covered in straw I decide to calm my nerves and take a nap until my time comes...