Ever since the battles against the Wolf Moon mercenary legion back in Feony Forest, Georgina had become the most reliable source of intel for the Four Winds mercenary legion. The 20 assassins accompanying Georgina had all been organized for him by Larwood. They didn't need to participate in direct battles, all they had to do was follow Georgina's orders and gather intel from all corners of the battlefield.

From his vantage point on the airship, Erwin was naturally able to see even further than Larwood. He cast his gaze into the distance, inspecting the narrow, winding mountain path that led upward, and even though it was still too far for him to see clearly, he could just barely make out the countless black spots in the distance and identify them as people. The city of Xeto stood at the conclusion of the mountain path. It was incredible to think that such a massive city would be standing on such a steep mountain. This was a city that neighbored both the mountain and the sea.

Looking down even further from there, the provincial path connected to the mountain path was too far away for Erwin to make out with his eyes. He was praying that those black shadows weren't more people.

After that, Erwin quickly instructed Christine to land the airship. Even from several kilometers away, the airship was most likely still quite eye-catching in the sky. Meanwhile, Georgina had also returned atop his unicorn steed, and there was a very grim look on his face.

"It's all people, isn't it?" Erwin asked at the sight of Georgina's grim expression.

Georgina nodded in response with an incredulous look on his face. "The entire provincial road and the path leading up to the mountain is filled with people. There have to be at least 30,000 to 40,000 of them. All of them are Skycourt Kingdom soldiers, and they've already completely surrounded Xeto from all directions."

"Will we be able to exit through the forest up ahead?" Larwood asked.

"That won't be a good idea. As soon as we emerge from the forest, we'll run into the Skycourt Kingdom's forces. With our numbers, doing that would be equivalent to committing suicide," Georgina replied in a grim voice.

At this point, the rest of the assassins were also returning one after another, and all of them brought back essentially the same piece of news with them: the northeastern exit of the forest had already been blocked by the Skycourt Kingdom's forces.

Georgina tallied up the assassins to find that there were still three of them who were yet to return, and he could only fear the worst for them.

"Are the Skycourt Kingdom soldiers mercenaries or troops from the regular army?" Larwood asked.

"Judging from the diversity of the flags they were carrying, I presume they're all mercenaries," Georgina replied.

Larwood nodded in response, then fell into deep thought.

This was quite a predicament for Erwin and Larwood, and after pondering the situation for a while, Larwood made a decision that came as quite a surprise to everyone, instructing everyone to board the airship.

Under Larwood's instructions, all of the mercenaries fit for battle boarded the airship, leaving only around 10 injured mercenaries behind so they could look after the horses, which couldn't be taken onto the airship. Chase and Kaiba were resting and recuperating in a horse-drawn carriage, but they were also carried onto the airship. Both of them wore perplexed expressions as they were carried out of the carriage, completely oblivious to what was happening outside.

Despite his reluctance, Georgina could only temporarily part with his unicorn steed.

The airship was already carrying over 100 magicians, as well as all of the Four Winds mercenary legion's supplies and all of the metal armor that had been fitted onto its exterior. With over 300 more people suddenly boarding the airship, the combined weight of everything clearly already went beyond the airship's normal operating limit, so the speed of flight had become extremely slow, and the steering had also become very unresponsive.

As a result, Christine was having a lot of trouble piloting the airship, and Erwin could only look on with a resigned expression.

Thus, the severely overweight airship began to travel toward the city of Xeto in the distance.

...

At the royal encampment in Illingburn Fort.

Duke Nandoon and Duke Shreesan had already gathered 10,000 troops and were setting off for Xeto from Illingburn Fort.

"Brother Nandoon, may I ask why you decided to volunteer to provide reinforcements to Xeto?" Duke Shreesan suddenly asked as he turned toward Duke Nandoon on horseback.

"I have no choice. I have a useless son who insisted on forming his own mercenary legion, and I haven't seen him at all the entire journey here. I thought that his mercenary legion was only marching slowly and lagging behind the rest of the army. However, I went to check on their progress at the department of military affairs yesterday, and I was told that no sightings of them had been made after they passed Windmetal Fort. Given his personality, I presume he's most likely gone to try his luck on the east coast. I'm at the age where I should be living peacefully in retirement, yet that son of mine simply won't let me rest," Duke Nandoon sighed with a weary expression.

If he knew that Larwood was currently commanding an airship carrying several hundred people to fly into the air above tens of thousands of enemy soldiers, he would most likely have a heart attack and fall off his horse!

"Your son is the one called Larwood, right?" Duke Shreesan asked with an amused smile. "He looks like quite a smart and crafty child."

"I'm surprised that you know of him. I thank you for your compliments on his behalf, but I'm afraid your praise is completely misplaced," Nandoon chuckled. "All of my sons are lazy rascals who only think about how to get money out of me. They're nowhere near as competent as that son of yours."

"They're all the same. My son is causing just as much trouble for me. He's fallen head over heels for Prince Lazaar's daughter, and he was too shy to confess to her on his own, so he made me approach Prince Lazaar to ask if his daughter was available," Duke Shreesan grumbled.

"Oh? What did Prince Lazaar say?" Nandoon was quite intrigued to hear this.

"Prince Lazaar was very encouraging of the relationship, but his daughter had no interest in my son. I don't know how he was rejected that night, but when he came back, he threw the biggest tantrum of his life. Everyone in the entire manor was kept up well into the night because he wouldn't settle down!" Duke Shreesan said with a wry smile. "He didn't even want to come to the front lines in Burmen this time because he says he doesn't want to see Prince Lazaar's daughter again."

"You say that, but if you ask me, it's not that he didn't want to come. I think you didn't want to bring him here," Nandoon said as he turned to Shreesan with a meaningful smile.

Shreesan faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which a puzzled look appeared on his face. "What do you mean by that, Brother Nandoon?" 

"Why are you coming with me to reinforce Xeto instead of staying in Illingburn Fort to earn accolades against the Skycourt Kingdom's regular army? That alone is more than enough to tell me what your intentions are. Don't forget that we've both been serving in the royal court for many years already," Nandoon said with an amused expression.

"You know me too well, Brother Nandoon. Who wouldn't want to accrue more accolades in battle? The problem is that the accolades may be too perilous to pursue on this occasion," Shreesan sighed, then turned to Nandoon as he continued, "Speaking of which, you've brought all of your relatives from the royal military with you here. I'm sure you've also sensed something and are preparing for the worst."

"Ha, you sure are as observant as ever, Brother Shreesan. Indeed, I do have a feeling that things aren't as simple as they appear on the surface. I heard that Prince Lazaar's second eldest son has been completely ruined," Nandoon said as he turned toward Shreesan with a grim expression. "I heard that not only was he disfigured, he's even been crippled, and his future as a martial artist is all but over. If I were in Prince Lazaar's place, there's no way I'd be able to just accept seeing my own son tortured to such an extent."

"What? How did that happen? That child's face was disfigured by Her Highness in self-defense, so no one can be blamed for that, but how has he become a cripple all of a sudden?" Shreesan asked in a low voice with a bewildered look on his face.

"Perhaps His Majesty instructed someone to do it, or perhaps someone else did it out of a private grudge. In any case, Prince Lazaar didn't raise a fuss about the issue himself, so no investigation was launched into the matter. Perhaps even His Majesty himself is still unaware of this," Nandoon explained.

"Who do you think will come out on top, Brother Nandoon?" Shreesan asked as he looked at Nandoon with a careful expression.

Nandoon was momentarily stumped by this question, and he thought about it for a moment before replying in a resigned voice, "That outcome is not something that can be predicted by someone of my limited ability."

"Indeed, I would say the same about myself," Shreesan replied with a sheepish smile.

"By the way, you know Renshaw, right?" Nandoon suddenly asked.

"Duke Renshaw? Now that you mention it, I don't think I've seen him ever since we arrived in Illingburn Fort. I don't think he was around during the meeting this morning, either. Where is he?" Shreesan asked with a curious expression.

"That old fox is far more cunning than we are. After reaching Newen, he said that he couldn't go on any longer as his arthritis was flaring up from the cold weather. His Majesty is aware of Renshaw's condition, so he permitted Renshaw to stay in Newen to rest and recover," Duke Nandoon said with an amused smile.

"What a crafty old fart!" Duke Nandoon couldn't help but burst into laughter upon hearing this.

Meanwhile, on the city wall of Illingburn Fort, Prince Lazaar and Archbishop Sirius were watching as the 10,000 troops led by Duke Nandoon and Duke Shreesan departed from the city.

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Prince Lazaar. You intentionally only left 5,000 troops to defend Xeto, so His Majesty had no choice but to send more troops as reinforcements," Sirius praised in a quiet voice.

"I knew that they wouldn't trust my assessment of the situation," Lazaar said in an indifferent voice. "Those two have made their stances very clear in the royal court, so it's only right that they be allowed to survive."

If Prince Lazaar could hear the conversation taking place between the two dukes, he would be inclined to praise them for their foresight.