"Well spoken, Brother Sherry. I was about to say the exact same thing," Lanyon said, then turned to face Erwin with a genuine expression. "We will follow you to the ends of this world, Master Erwin. Wherever you go is where we shall go. My brothers and I are all willing to lay down our lives for you."

All of Lanyon's friends immediately nodded in agreement. "Lanyon's right, Master Erwin. We are all willing to follow you."

This was the predicament for Erwin. If he could lead these comrades to prosperity and riches, then he would gladly do so, but leading them to what was almost sure to be certain death was something that he was very reluctant to do.

Lanyon could see what Erwin was hesitating about, and he said in a direct and straightforward manner, "There's no need to be so conflicted, Master Erwin. My brothers and I have already made up our minds. The worst that could happen to us is death, isn't it? If we die, then we'll just treat it as if we died alongside our parents in the mines of Fooz. It's no big deal."

Right at this moment, Georgina made his way over to Erwin's side, then said with a reluctant expression, "Master Erwin, my mother is still waiting for me at home, and I can't abandon her, so..."

Erwin knew that Georgina wasn't just living for himself, so he patted Georgina on the shoulder as he smiled and said, "It's alright, you can go."

Thus, Georgina reluctantly bade farewell to his comrades, then extended a deep bow toward Erwin, and only after that did he depart atop his unicorn steed. Georgina was the only one in the group who still had living family, so no one blamed him for his decision. They had all endured life and death together, so they knew that Georgina's decision was one that was made on the basis of responsibility rather than cowardice.

Erwin looked on as Georgina faded into the distance, then turned back to everyone else as he said, "Seeing as everyone is willing to follow me, then let's go to my father's manor to await further news."

Shortly thereafter, he arrived back at Count Friar's manor with the group of mercenaries.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he was immediately greeted by the butler.b

"Didn't you go to the front lines, Young Master Erwin? Why are you back already? Is the war over?" the butler asked with a surprised expression. "Where is Master Friar?"

The butler hadn't heard any news about the regular army returning to Sarus, so he was rather perplexed about why Erwin was back.

Erwin was rooted to the spot by the string of questions, unable to answer even a single one of them. After a short while, he finally replied, "My father... won't be coming back."

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this. The butler naturally understood what Erwin was implying, and he was also rooted to the spot with a dazed look on his face.

"Go and wait for me in the guest hall," Erwin said to Sherry and the others, then led the dazed butler toward the storage room.

All of the female servants in the guest hall couldn't help but clasp their hands over their noses and mouths as the group of exhausted and disheveled mercenaries entered the room. They had been traveling for several days without bathing, so they were naturally giving off a nauseating stench. If Erwin hadn't led these mercenaries into the manor in person, they would've already been kicked out by the servants of the manor.

The butler opened the door of the storage room, and Erwin immediately caught sight of several large metal chests. The chests were all locked using complex copper locks, and he picked up one of the locks before taking a look, upon which he discovered that they all had special runes inscribed upon them. If these locks weren't opened using their corresponding keys, then they would melt away and seal the chests permanently shut.

"How much money is there left on our account?" Erwin asked.

The butler was rather perplexed about why Erwin was asking this as soon as he returned to the manor, but he still replied, "We still have just over 5,000 Loonies left, Young Master Erwin. Most of that comes from the land rent that has just recently been collected."

"What do the total monthly wages for all of the manor's servants work out to be?"

"Please give me a moment to think, Young Master Erwin. My monthly wage is 60 Loonies, we have 10 male servants who receive 150 Loonies per month, 15 female servants who receive 225 Loonies per month, and the three coach drivers, who receive 45 Loonies per month. In total, that works out to be 480 Loonies," the butler replied, providing a detailed breakdown of the process. At the same time, he was still wondering why Erwin was suddenly asking about all of this.

Erwin nodded in response. "Gather all of the servants and split the money on our account among yourselves. That should work out to be just over 10 months' worth of wages for all of you. After that, you can leave the manor and go wherever you please."

"What's going on, Young Master Erwin? Why are you suddenly asking us to leave? Even if Master Friar is no longer of this world, you'll still need someone to look after the manor, won't you?" the butler asked in an urgent voice. He had been working at Count Friar's manor for several decades, so he had become quite attached to this place. Furthermore, he had always been a conscientious and capable worker who had kept the manor in good order, so he couldn't understand why Erwin was laying him off from his role.

Looking at the butler's confused expression, Erwin could only heave a resigned internal sigh. He had grown up his entire life under the butler's watchful eye, so he really didn't want to have to make the butler leave the manor. However, the situation simply didn't allow for any other alternative, and he was doing this for the benefit of all of the manor's servants.

"His Majesty is dead, and Prince Lazaar has betrayed the kingdom," Erwin said as he cast his gaze elsewhere with a grim expression. "The soldiers of Burmen under Prince Lazaar are about to attack Sarus very soon."

The elderly butler was so shocked to hear this that he sat straight onto the ground as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. His eyes were as wide as saucers, and he was staring at Erwin with a horrified expression. Only now did he understand why Erwin had suddenly appeared in Sarus at a time like this. As it turned out, Count Friar wasn't the only one who had perished during the war, even King Cameron himself had also passed away. With that in mind, the butler couldn't help but tremble with fear.

Erwin didn't speak any further on the matter. Instead, he left the butler to process this bombshell on his own, and he exited the storage room before heading straight for his father's study.

His objective was to grab the key that was sitting inside the desk, but as soon as he entered the room, he couldn't help but be overcome with a sense of nostalgia. His mind wandered back to that day when he had been scolded by his father for asking for money to buy a staff after he had squandered all his money in mansions, and he couldn't help but chuckle as he recalled his father's lecture about how many cottages 300 Loonies could fetch outside the city.

Looks like I'll never have a chance to hear him scold me again... Erwin thought to himself as he closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, and the familiar smell of the room evoked even more past memories in his mind.

He heaved a faint sigh as he cast his gaze toward the atlas of the Effer Kingdom sitting on the corner of the table. For some reason, he was struck by the urge to open it and take a look. As a result, he discovered that there was a page with a folded corner, and upon opening the atlas to that page, he was greeted by the sight of a detailed map of all of the cities of Burmen.

Could it be that even back then, he already knew that there was going to be a battle between Lazaar and His Majesty? Erwin thought to himself in a surprised manner.

He recalled that at the time, Prince Lazaar had only just returned to the capital, so this was prior to the Pillow Sword Tournament incident. With that in mind, Erwin couldn't help but admire his father's grasp on the state of the royal court. In Erwin's memory, his father had always spent the vast majority of his time in the manor. Even so, he was able to clearly glean the king's thoughts with astounding accuracy, and that undoubtedly required exceptional political acumen.

"Even so, he was still no match for those flying dragons," Erwin sighed to himself as he set the atlas back down onto the corner of the table, then grabbed the key that he was looking for out of the drawer of the desk.

He wanted to return to his own bedroom and take a rest, but there was a chance that Onean would come to the manor to look for him, so he returned to the guest hall to wait for her.

At this point, the butler had already begun proceedings to dismiss all of the servants, so there wasn't even anyone in the guest hall to prepare tea for everyone. However, the mercenaries gathered in the room weren't the type of people to be bothered by something like that.

Erwin cast his gaze toward the band of mercenaries, who were lying lazily on the sofas in the guest hall, and he couldn't help but be amused by the thought that under normal circumstances, the presence of this group of disheveled mercenaries would make it appear as if the manor were being robbed.

"Sherry, Lanyon, come with me for a moment," Erwin instructed.

The two of them were led to the storage room by Erwin.

Erwin opened the metal chests in the room right in front of them, revealing orderly stacks of Loonies inside. The Loonies were giving off a bright silver gleam, and the two of them could only stare with wide eyes. Never had they seen so many Loonies at once.

"Master Erwin, how many Loonies are in these chests?" Sherry exclaimed.

"At a rough estimate, there has to be at least 70,000 to 80,000," Erwin replied in a calm manner. In the past, he was constantly dreaming of getting his hands on this money, but now that it had actually been entrusted to him, he felt like it was too heavy a burden to bear, and he couldn't muster up any excitement.

"Master Erwin, why are you showing this to us?" Lanyon asked as he turned to Erwin.

"This is all of the money I have left," Erwin replied with a wry smile. "You two are willing to follow me even at the risk of your own lives, so it would be remiss of me to hide things like this from you."

Lanyon and Sherry exchanged a glance upon hearing this, and they knew that Erwin had something to say.

"I've already asked Christine to come to Sarus on her airship, and she should arrive in the next couple of days," Erwin said. "If things don't go our way and Sarus ends up being conquered by Lazaar's army, then we'll travel toward the north on the airship."

"The north? Where are we going to in the north?" Sherry asked with a puzzled expression.

"I don't know the answer to that myself. Perhaps it's north of the Terarody Mountain Ranges, perhaps it's even further north than that." Erwin knew the direction that he had to go in, but that was the extent of his knowledge. He knew that his mother was waiting for him somewhere in the north, but he had no idea where.

Sherry and Lanyon exchanged a bewildered glance, clearly not encouraged by Erwin's vague reply. At the same time, they were wondering why Erwin had already thought of a backup plan. Could it be that he was already convinced that Sarus couldn't be saved? Also, why had he decided to travel to the north?

Erwin didn't speak any further on the matter as he locked the metal chests back up again, then instructed, "Carry these chests to the guest hall. Once Christine arrives on her airship, carry the chests onto the airship. Understood?"

The two of them still had many questions in their minds, but they still nodded in response.