Enlightened Empire

Once the banners of his own house had appeared in the distance, jubilation had broken out among Corco’s troops. As soon as the camp with the giant army beneath the banners was revealed, their own shouts of victory were mirrored by those of their allies. For the first time since Corco’s landing in the north, the entire southern army was together again.

A few hours earlier, Tama’s spies had informed them that Pacha’s army wasn’t in pursuit. For whatever reason, his uncle had decided to stay behind and not try his luck again. Although they had fought throughout the day and had marched throughout the night; although everyone was exhausted to the limit, they were all elated. Now that they had reached their allies, they were safe. So long as they didn’t waste days in one place, they would make it back home. The war was over.

Not long after, the exhausted expedition army joined their reinforcements in the camp as two armies became one. Once the king entered into the camp’s crude palisade walls, several people awaited him at the head of the reinforcements. First among them was Dedrick, right where Corco had left him, in charge of his second army. Unlike his cagey appearance from the last time they had met, now the mercenary knight had an uncharacteristic levity about his actions. Maybe the chance to lead such a large force - like a proper noble - had done his ego some good.

"Welcome back, boss." Dedrick smiled.

"Yeah, thanks." The king nodded as he walked past his subordinate who followed without another word. His goal was the large command tent in the center of the camp, to catch up with his subordinate. During his march and very much against his will, he was followed by a whole entourage of southern lords. Whether they were eager or not, all of them had to congratulate the king on his victory.

"King Corcopaca, what great fortune that you are safe and sound." With clenched teeth, Lord Rafun bowed his head to his nominal king. Even after all their success, he still couldn’t admit that Corco had won the war and only talked about bare survival.

"Indeed," another lord added. "It was truly great luck that King managed to escape from the armies of the central kingdom."

"Oh, are you implying that I lost and barely managed to escape? That I’m lucky to still be around?" Once Corco stopped to confront them, the lords looked at each other in silence.

"What, were you expecting me to conquer the entire north with those few thousand warriors you have me? Or maybe you want to ask for compensation cause I lost a few of your men while I was defending your lands, is that it?"

Although the lords had clearly aimed to weaken the impact of Corco’s victory with empty words, none of them dared speak once the king had exposed their goals.

"I get what you’re worried about, you think I’m trying to leverage my win and take authority away from you. It’s fine though, I won’t force my way into your territories even if you admit that I did something right for once. I don’t care much for your political games, to be honest. Plus, I barely have enough administrators to handle of my own lands, what would I even do with yours? I’ll just be happy if we can focus on some internal development for now, far away from any war."

At Corco’s final wish, the lords looked at each other again, this time with cramped faces. Right after, they all focused on the three Villca brothers who had walked together, to Corco’s great surprise. While Guachimine was as unreadable as ever, Uchu looked uncomfortable, while Pahuac looked downright furious.

"King Corco," Uchu said. "How good that you are back. We will need your support soon. You should not have forgotten your promise at the start of the war."

"Of course not. All in due time."

While they were walking, Corco had reached the center of the camp, right before the large command tent.

"We’ll talk about your issues later. First, I’ll get caught up on everything. If you excuse me, from here on, we’re going with Pluritac people only."

"The king needs to catch up with his servants, or he will not be able to make any important decisions," Tama added with a bow. "This servant excuses her inadequacies and begs the lords to practice patience."

The brothers looked at each other, before Pahuac stepped up again, still unconvinced. However, he was held back by Corco’s guards who remained outside the tent. Whatever important business the Villcas had with Corco, he could always listen to them later. After weeks behind enemy lines, he was more interested in the fate of his own people. Thus, he asked Dedrick the most important question on his mind before he had even entered the tent.

"What’s going on with Fadelio and the craftsmen? Did you make sure they’re safe before you came here?"

"No worries, boss. The commoners should already be in Qarasi Castle by now. Though the mountain giant insisted on staying to wait for you."

"Brother!" After the shout, a shadow rushed past Corco. Before anyone could react, Tama had stormed through the room and clasped her arms around her brother who had waited inside. Completely out of character for the person Corco had come to know, the girl still held on to her brother when the king arrived as well.

"Master," a cramped Fadelio said.

"Fadelio. You look lively. That’s good." Just like his servant, Corco was quite awkward as well. It had been a long time since the two old friends had last met. Ever since Fadelio had gone off on his own and decided to split the Medala Empire into kingdoms by himself, Corco had been forced to punish his attendant and keep him far away from his center of power. For as long as Corco could remember, the last year had been the longest time they had spent apart. However, when Fadelio had gone over the line back then, it had created an invisible rift that was still between them.

"Yes, I’m well."

"Hey, can you guys do this somewhere else? This couldn’t be any more awkward. We’ve won, so it’s time to celebrate and drink ourselves to death. You guys like banquets, right? Don’t pretend, I know you people love those things!" Dedrick rolled his eyes before he clapped his hands together. Right away, a bunch of mercenaries showed up and brought some dried fruits and wine to lighten the mood.

Now out of sight of his lords and unfamiliar subordinates for once, Corco let loose. His crown thrown in some far-off corner of the room. the king began to massage his temples, rubbed sore from the hard bronze crown. Next, he threw away his heavy boots, put his legs on the table and began to fill cups of wine for himself and everyone else in the room.

He hadn’t felt this free ever since he had gone on the campaign, maybe longer. All this time, he had been forced into the tight role of a reliable ruler, and all this time he had been mostly on his own, with no support from his friends. Although Tama had been with him, they had been as good as strangers when she had taken over the role as his attendant. In comparison, people like Dedrick and Fadelio had spent his toughest years with him, and were those he would be most comfortable around. Though of course, by now, Tama could be considered part of that inner circle as well.

"Master, thank you," she said as she brought her brother over and sat across from him, with a smile that seemed freer and more genuine than anything he had ever seen from her. Of course, he understood what she meant. Right this moment, she was just glad to have her elder brother back. Somehow, the moment reminded Corco of the past, and somehow, all awkwardness had left him.

"No need to thank me," he smiled. "He’s my friend as well."

"Laqhis." Fadelio said, his shoulders still stiff.

"Welcome back." Corco held out a cup of wine for his friend. "And well done."

"About damn time. Hemming and hawing like women, the lot of you." As he grabbed a cup for himself, Dedrick also took a seat. Soon, the atmosphere had relaxed a bit and Corco’s inner circle began discussions again.

"Indeed, the craftsmen are already at Qarasi," Fadelio confirmed Dedrick’s earlier comment. "They might be a bit shaken up from the experience, but it shouldn’t affect our reputation with the commoners in Arguna. With any luck, Pacha will do his best to cover up his loss, so there is a real chance no one will ever hear about their grueling trip. Even if he doesn’t though, it’s not a big problem. At least so long as our commoners don’t send back any messages right away. By the time the story of their rough journey spreads to the north, we will have recruited our second batch already, and they will travel in a much smoother fashion should the peace negotiations go our way. We should ask King Pacha to allow free movement of his craftsmen and merchants at that time."

"Yeah, I was thinking about a clause like that. No need to remind me," Corco said. He already had his demands for a peace deal with Pacha mapped out in his head. "Seriously, I get that you’re worried and want the best for me and the country, but sometimes your advice feels pretty patronizing. I know what I’m doing, most of the time. This sort of advice feels shit to get, and most importantly, I need to punish you again every time you openly contradict me like this. Go take some hints from your sister. She knows what she’s doing."

With a serious face, Fadelio nodded. "It seems like you have gotten along quite well."

"King Corco has been very patient with me." Tama smiled at Corco, but the king only rolled his eyes. He didn’t want to repeat what Tama had done to her reputation and dampen the mood, so he changed topics instead.

"So, on the topic of people doing things by themselves, can someone explain to me why the Ichilia army turned around all of a sudden? I’m glad we didn’t have to fight another battle against Pacha, but I’d rather know the whole story before we get into negotiations."

In truth, there wasn’t a huge difference in outcome even if the Ichilia army had come south. They would only have to fight a retreating battle either way. With Ichilia’s intervention, they might have lost a few extra troops in the process, but they still would have made it back south. Rather than reply, Dedrick and Fadelio looked at each other to see who would share the news. In the end it was Corco’s attendant who explained the details to his master, just like in the past.

"That should have been Brym’s work, and Inti’s. Back when I was still in Rimas, I heard that he was already in secret negotiations with King Amautu. It seems they reached an agreement with the northern king. At least Amautu came to our aid at a crucial moment."

"So we have a new ally?" Corco was surprised.

"Not quite, but at least House Ichilia will be focused on the northern kingdom for a while. That gives us some much needed breathing room."

"The kid’s done really well this time," Dedrick added.

"Yeah, I’m shocked. They are growing up so fast." Corco wiped away an invisible tear. "Brym’s really been on his own for too long. As soon as he has the new shop established in Arguna, he should come to Saniya already. It’s about time we get everyone back together."

"Though they have done rather well by themselves, I’ve heard," Fadelio said.

"True. Atau made connections with some foreign countries so we won’t be as dependent on grain from the north any more; and he also dealt with the Bornish fleet in the east. Plus, Ronnie cleaned up Saniya nicely, so we have our backs secure."

He looked at Dedrick as he mentioned the last part, but the mercenary only rolled his eyes and threw his hand over his shoulder. Considering the ambitions of Mason and Nahlen, the mercenary knight was probably glad to be rid of the pests, so there would be no bad blood between him and Ronnie or Tama.

"So, with that, we finally have some peace and quiet, right? Let the northerners battle it out for a bit, while we go upgrade our domestic skill tree."

His head filled with thoughts of city simulations, Corco rubbed his hands together. Yet again, Dedrick and Fadelio exchanged looks. This time however, they didn’t appear nearly as excited. In fact, they seemed a bit awkward.

"There is somewhat of an issue," Fadelio said in the end, much vaguer than before. "We still need to make good on our promise to the Villcas."

"Yeah, I’ve already seen them outside. They looked anxious, but winning back Cashan shouldn’t be too much of a problem, right? We can just do that on the way back, before the army disbands. What’s the problem, are they fighting over who will be the next lord? That’s not our issue anyways, let them handle it."

"It’s not that." Since he had only just returned himself, Fadelio motioned for Dedrick to continue with the details.

"After we moved out from Qarasi and while the south was undefended, there were some... defections."

"What!? Who’d be dumb enough to betray us?" Corco was baffled. The southern lords were already isolated from everyone else, and every important territory in the south was either firmly in Corco’s grasp, or controlled by someone related to him by blood.

"It’s House Vareo and the two adjacent territories around Port Ulta, from what we heard. As soon as our troops left for the north, they suddenly came from the east and lifted the weakened siege on Cashan. As soon as they achieved their goal, they disappeared back east. They took Epunamo Villca with them... and according to the intelligence from the Villca brothers, their warriors were using muskets and cannons when they fought."

"Fuck me..." From one moment to the next, Corco’s good mood had completely disappeared. It seemed like some of the southern lords had found a strong new backer. Whatever was going on, his long-sought peaceful times were still far away.