In the ruins of what was once a beautiful mountain chalet.

With no incentive to move, a lone hiker stands motionless inside the chalet.

Loud noises coming from outside motivate the hiker to move, walking slowly with his poor body, soon reaching a wall, starting to hit the wall to try to reach the source of the noise.

Unceremoniously a spear pierces the rotten wood and rotten head of the walker.

As the spear is removed, the walker's body, now devoid of life, falls to the ground.

The door being opened reveals the perpetrator, a tall man dressed in white armor holding a spear and shield.

The man enters, begins to check the building to see if there are no other enemies.

Finishing checking the residence, the man relaxes and proceeds to check the body of the walker, confirming the target's death, and the man begins dragging the corpse out of the cottage.

The man dragging the body to a pile of bodies near the cottage found other men in the same white armor, but these without spear and shield, but carrying firearms.

"Was that the only one inside the house?" asked one of the men with a gun.

"Yes!" stated the man dragging the body of the hiker.

The two men with guns moved out of the way and allowed the hiker's body to be thrown into the pile of bodies.

One of the men took some gasoline and threw it on the pile of bodies, lit a match and threw it on the pile of bodies to set them on fire.

The three men walked away from the fire and headed for a camp a little way down the road from their location.

Arriving there, the man with the spear went toward a tent, entering, he stood in front of a man of medium height with dark brown hair with no armor.

"The area is cleared and all the bodies are being burned right now sir!" Said the man with the spear, firmly and respectfully.

"Good job, soldier!" said the man with brown hair, soon turning his attention back to the papers on his desk.

The soldier nodded and headed for the tent exit, but doing something unexpected, stopped, and went back inside the tent and stood in front of the man with dark brown hair.

The seated man turned his attention to the soldier "Anything else to report?" in a questioning tone.

The soldier removing his helmet, showing the face of a young man in his early twenties, asked fearfully.

"Sorry to address you this way, but there is something that has been bothering me since we came here this morning" the soldier said in a slow tone.

The seated man showed surprise, that a soldier would address him directly, but soon spoke "Take a chair and settle down, tell me what's been bothering you" Said the man peacefully.

The soldier was surprised by the kind response of his superior in command, but soon took a chair and settled down in front of the man.

The brown haired man, soon starting the conversation "First of all, you can call me Lance if you prefer, but tell me what's been bothering you about our trip?" Said the man titled Lance.

The soldier again surprised by his superior's display of kindness, something incredibly rare for someone of the upper class, but putting such thoughts aside, spoke his mind directly.

"Mister Lance, why did we change our entire routine overnight to simply pick up a house in the middle of nowhere?".

Lance was surprised by the soldier's sincere words, but pulled himself together afterwards.

"We are not in the middle of nowhere, we are near the border between the state of Ohio and West Virginia" He continued "We are seizing this cottage to serve as an outpost for our future expansion to the east" Lance finishes in a proud but serene tone.

"Expansion?" Said the soldier surprised to hear such a thing.

"Yes! The expansion had been planned for some time, but we were waiting for the best time to start the reconquest of the east!" Said Lance with motivation.

The soldier was even more surprised by the revelation, but surprise was soon taken over by hope and happiness.

"I understand everything now! Thank you Mr. Lance for clearing up my doubts!" Said the excited and grateful soldier.

"Don't thank me, you would soon know anyway" Lance said with a smile.

The soldier getting up, putting on his helmet and saluting soon left the tent.

Before Lance could turn his attention back to the documents again, another soldier entered his tent.

"Sir! The governor has just arrived and is waiting for you inside the cottage" The soldier said respectfully.

"Thank you! I will go right now!" Lance thanked the soldier, dismissing him then.

Lance left his table and headed towards the cottage, the governor's carriage in front of the cottage, but seeing no sign of Mercer "With that being beside her, people have become even more expendable" He thought as he walked into the cottage.

Entering the cottage and seeing no sign of the governor on the ground floor, he started up the stairs towards the first floor.

Arriving at the first floor, looking for the governor, he soon found her on the balcony sitting at a table with three chairs, one with herself already occupying it.

Sensing her arrival "How nice of you to come Lance, come join me!" Said the governor in a happy and friendly tone.

Lance hearing the governor's words soon joined her and took a seat.

They both stood still for a few seconds admiring the beautiful scenery.

But soon the silence was broken by the governor "I am very happy for your efficient work here Lance" The governor said in a complimentary tone.

"I am happy for your bonuses, Pamela" replied Lance.

"But you didn't come here just for that no?" Questioned Pamela.

Pamela looked at Lance, preparing to say something, but before she could speak, someone else spoke first.

"This drink called coffee, really is something divine" A mysterious man said, taking the third seat.

The mysterious man made his comment, he was wearing robes that created a contrast with the environment they were in, being a white toga with gold lines in the Greek style.

Lance reacted with some fear to the sudden appearance of the man in the third seat.

"Coffee indeed is one of the wonders produced by mankind, I am glad you enjoyed it Caster" Pamela speaking to the man titled Caster.

"Too bad that is one of the few good things I have seen this season, the rest is very mediocre" Caster said in a dull tone.

Pamela and Lance felt slightly offended by the man's words, but understood what he meant, considering his identity.

Pamela raised a glass and said with conviction, "We should drink a toast, to celebrate this occasion."

The two men also picked up glasses to toast.

"But we should toast to what exactly?" Lance questioned.

Pamela looking at Lance, said "Our victory of this holy grail war!".