When the...puppet and their...dolls finally left the room, Gregori was left to stew on his thoughts and realizations. He had nothing but time to do so, his host politely 'requesting' the duke to simply rest for the first part of his apparent recovery. Even though he felt great and didn't experience anymore pain, the way they had stressed the importance of minimizing exertions for a day or two sounded very sincere.

  So the vampire would comply and rested back in his bed. It was a curious feeling, as the sheets remained curiously cool no matter how long he laid on it. But surely he was just mistaken, because magical cloth with such capabilities was almost always only found in the southern regions of the empire where all the learned magical institutes were. This might be an unintended or unrealized side-effect of the treatment.

  Though the suspicion lingered, especially with the feats so far demonstrated.

  Noel had suggested waiting until the duke felt a bit more sure of his health before telling the full story of their presence, something that he chose to agree with. His mind already felt slightly overwhelmed by this apparent hospitality, from the almost-immediate treatment of such a deadly poison to even these comfortable sheets. Gregori noticed too the incredible quality of the glass planes of his windows, how frighteningly clear they were to show him the outside without any sort of distortion or cloudiness.

  He had never seen glass this transparent, save perhaps in the imperial capital. And even there, they were very rare and highly prized for it.

  The duke's thoughts were interrupted when the door to his room opened and, to his relief, a finally familiar face came through. "Father!" Petula exclaimed, rushing over to his bedside and looking quite relieved as well. "You're cured! I almost couldn't believe it when Kuch- er, I mean, Noel had told me, but you look so much better now."

  "I look and feel better, Petula," he said, taking in another deep breath and savoring the lack of pain that came with. "It would appear I owe a sincere apology to my family for my doubts about going for treatment. I had never imagined it would be this effective already."

  "I don't think any of us were expecting anything to this degree," his daughter confessed with a shake of her head. She pulled over the chair to take a seat next to the bed, showing surprise at how comfortable the simple cushion on the wood felt. "This feels like a far-flung dream, like we've stepped into a different world doesn't it? Like maybe a fragment of the heavens perhaps."

  "I wouldn't quite go that far, but it is indeed quite a stark contrast to our home." The duke pressed his lips thinly before giving his daughter a stern look. "I do hope you don't forget our duty with this moment of luxury."

  "Of course not, I know better than to abandon our obligations." She hesitated, then pushed forward an idea. "But perhaps we could just ask if we could take some of these back home? So that we can add just a bit of warmth to that drafty old castle of ours."

  "You mean the ancestral home of our ancestors for generations-"

  "It's still newer than most other fortresses in the empire, isn't it?"

  He begrudgingly conceded that point, remembering how the original had been razed in the first decimation of House Cordis before the empire came in. "We will ask, and if Noel declines, then we will endure like always." The father caught sight of his daughter's hopeful look, then sighed. "...If they grant us this boon, then we will pay whatever fair price named for the purchase. If appropriate."

  She beamed and leaned briefly in to hug him. "Thank you, father. I'm still not quite sure to what to make of our host- but if they say they wish to be a good neighbor, then I see no reason to turn them away. It is certainly a welcomed change of pace from our neighbors to the east."

  That was definitely a sort of irony there. To imagine that the first person to show them any sort of open decency was in the same direction from which monsters had arrived from. Meanwhile, civilization to the east was naught but a pit of snakes. This one still might be- but apparently, their venom also included benefits too. That was more than what could be said of the others, in his experience, and it had taken being literally brought to Belle's door to discover this faint light.

  "It may be too soon to already make that determination. We know too little," the duke warned with a shake of the head. "But for now, let us accept their hospitality and rest. It had been quite the eventful night."

  "I agree, though I feel quite reinvigorated. Have you eaten already? The taste of the porridge was very plain, yet remarkably filling all the same…"

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------?

  Teodor ate the piece of bread while reading the report and frowned at its hard, tough texture. The servant who brought it in bowed apologetically when he looked their way questioningly. "Apologies, my lord, but our kitchen staff who had [Ferment] had been injured in the attack. They were in the city at the time and had gotten caught up in the fighting."

  "I see. Please pass on my wish for them to have a speedy and full recovery," the heir instructed with a thankful nod. "Should they require coin for treatment, do not hesitate to bring the matter to me. Their loyal service merits care."

  "Thank you, my lord, I will pass on your well-wishes!"

  They hurriedly excused themselves and Teodor sighed, not blind at all to the apparent nervousness most suddenly had around him. He supposed that now as acting duke, some might be worrying that he'd let the power go to his head. Others are also a little on edge, that single night of chaos still looming over them all even after a few days past. He could hardly blame them, when even now, there still were resisting pockets of mercenaries or invaders in the city, mostly the latter than the former now. But hopefully, that wouldn't be the case much longer.

  There was a knock at the office door, then the captain of the guard let himself in. "My lord," Hans greeted respectfully before shifting to a more relaxed tone. "I've just completed the last street with the guards and house troops. We've picked the city clean from one side to the other, and then again to be sure.

  "As of now, we can safely declare that all hostile remnants have been eradicated, either slain or taken into custody."

  The vampire relaxed minutely, but not fully. "Good. Our people can breathe a sigh of relief now, or at least the one within the walls." His face turned grim. "But beyond the city, are the reports true? We now are being plagued with bandits?"

  "I couldn't say, my lord, I haven't the chance to venture outside. But from what many of my gate guards are saying, we're seeing an uptick in reports of our few farms being preyed upon." Hans considered the situation, putting his hand to his mouth in thought. "I suspect that they might be our former enemies, turning to banditry to survive. But that doesn't quite make sense, they should be able to return home instead, should they not?"

  "The Duchy of Viszal is indeed right there," muttered Teodor. "I don't understand. Has something happened that means that they can't go back?"

  The two men considered the conundrum for a moment before the interim duke shook his head, returning his focus onto a curious interaction between disasters. "In a way, having some parts of the city burn entirely down is a boon as we could now setup improvised housing for those without places to stay, regardless from wherever they come from in Gabion," he commented with an underlying expletive. "What sort of wicked blessing is that?"

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  "More like a beneficial curse, my lord."

  "It suffices for the moment, but as soon as our house troops have recovered, I plan on sending out the most able to try and at least retake some of the occupied farms. The harvest is soon and we should stockpile as much as we can before winter. But our numbers across are reduced," he bemoaned. "Will we have enough to defend the wall still?"

  "We will," Hans declared, briefly surprising Teodor. "While we did suffer losses, thanks to House Cordis' generous gifts of those carapace parts, it wasn't as bad as it could've been. Perhaps we should offer them out to the house troops heading out?"

  The heir of the duchy considered it for a moment, brow furrowed. "We don't know when the next tide would come, but...Kuch apparently was sure there wouldn't be for a while. Else they wouldn't have risked taking father to the west." He debated it mentally for a few more moments before making a decision. "If you would be so kind to do so, then I would be thankful for the guards for their sacrifice."

  "We all serve House Cordis, my lord. And the empire of course."

  "Indeed. Now, we should see to-" His office door abruptly swung open and Teodor blinked at the sight of his aunt rushing in, not even bothering with a knock. "Lady Vio? Whatever is the matter?"

  "My lord." The use of the title had the man instantly on edge, and the news she brought was good enough reason why. "I've received correspondence from other court acolytes about our neighbors, and while a lot is still speculative, it's very bad. Please read through them all the way."

  He took her offered letters and began to parse through the writing. With every line he went through, his face paled deeper at the apparent events unfolding beyond Gabion. She hadn't been dramatic- things were turning quite chaotic in their region of the empire.

  As it turned out, the assassination of the heir to the Duchy of Fuzier had driven their duke mad with grief, and they spared no expense in their hunt for retribution. Through basically selling off all their stockpiles, such as the cheap salt that briefly arrived in Gabion, they amassed a significant warchest they used to hire both informants and mercenaries. Through them, they were able to pinpoint the likely culprit as originating from the Duchy of Viszal. Something that Teodor could confirm was likely the right answer, given how an assassin shot his own father.

  They then set their troops on the border and bade their time. Shortly after Eifer's retinue marched out to trespass into Gabion, it was noticed and word was passed along through the informants. The duke of Fuzier then led this massive army into an invasion of Viszal, being able to make a rapid advance backed up by a well-funded logistics chain. It did make sense, they had been former legion commander once.

  Scantly a couple days later, they were outside the walls of Viszal, ready to lay siege. Yet the grieving commander, instead of settling for the norm of attrition, ordered an assault with the siege weapons made during the march. Without the soldiers that Eifer had taken and then subsequently lost in his gambit to conquer Gabion, the garrison was horribly outnumbered and soon enough overwhelmed by the costly, but ferocious attacks. The walls were taken, the city invaded, and the castle soon conquered as well.

  Rather horrifically, the maddened duke of Fuzier had dragged their sick and ailing counterpart in Viszal out, then brutally executed them via a one-sided 'honor duel.' It appeared to offend the gods so much that right afterwards, the grieving parent had clutched at their heart and collapsed there, unable to be roused by their panicked subordinates. They passed shortly afterwards, some debating whether it either punishment for their wickedness or a blessing to be reunited in heaven with their child.

  Yet just because the main lines of two noble houses came to end didn't mean that this entire affair was over. It was realized soon enough that while the warchest amassed for this invasion had been quite significant, it also had been completely emptied out with still outstanding fees for many of the mercenary bands. Subordinates of the duke suggested that perhaps because Viszal was so rich, the now-deceased conqueror had intended to take from the personal vaults of the defeated nobility to pay them out.

  Those very same accounts, when they finally found the treasury, were also quite barren. The wealth had likely been spent on expenses that only Eifer had known about, and taken to his grave.

  When the mercenaries had realized that there was nowhere near enough to pay for their services, especially after such a bloody and costly assault, riots ensued and Viszal burned.

  But right across the border, Fuzier too also burned. The duke had named no new successor after their losing their child and marching to war, so it was ripe for an internal power struggle to erupt. Many of these claimants also involved other neighboring provinces into this, all of whom likely had their own goals and grudges to settle. Though none matched the significance that was Fuzier and Vizal in the same manner comparatively, meaning there now was a significant power vacuum- and that damn zealot had apparently set it all ablaze with his foolishness.

  Soon enough, this western region was engulfed in total war, the likes of which had Teodor's hands shaking.

  Gabion...had been so close to being dragged into this absolute mess.

  "Gods above," he weakly said, letting the letters slip and hit his desk. "I do not know if the real monster is the tide that comes from the west, or if it is the man who sits in the east."

  Hans leaned over to read, blanching at the tellings of their neighbors. But he recovered quickly, compartmentalizing and focusing on how it would affect their own lands. "That would explain the uptick in bandits, lots of soldiers and mercenaries realizing that things can slip through the cracks of open conflict." His eyes narrowed. "My lord, we could be seeing an uptick in refugees from these regions. I have to brief the guards and prepare a process for housing them. That is, unless you decide to turn them away."

  The heir blinked, focus returning at the realization. "We're about to get a surge of manpower, something Gabion sorely needed. We should welcome them, yes!" He gave an approving nod, despair melting away into seeing the opportunity. "Be sure to check and record from whence they came. Tell them not to fret- we will make arrangements and petition the empire to permit their relocation. Especially because we're currently the only ones who aren't picking a fight for personal gain!"

  "It will be done, my lord."

  "Lady Vio," Teodor began, turning to his aunt who had recomposed herself too. "Prepare a raven, address it to the Third Legion. Reach out and inform them of the situation, make it clear we will support their endeavors should they deem it necessary to step in to quell the chaos."

  "So instead of marching to our rescue, they're going to be smack our upstart neighbors about?" The woman darkly cackled. "I suppose this is only fitting revenge for all the price gouging they have been inflicting upon us. But Teodor, this will affect our own supply too if the trade routes are plundered by the conflicts."

  He sucked in a deep breath. "We'll worry about it when we cross that bridge. We ought to worry about what we should do now, then when father comes back, we can have a more detailed discussion on the direction of our future." In a low voice, he added, "And hopefully take this burden off me."

  Vio gave a cool glare, then shook her head. "You both are fighting your own battles now. You, the everyday running of our people, and him, his health. I'm sure that while you're agonizing over these troubles, he too is likely fighting his own troubles."

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