The boy looks older than me. His eyes are laced with deep purple bags, the sight of many sleepless nights of which. He looks away from us and to the walls as his words trail off.

Gaius translates his words for me.

"You see, my friend, it seems he is stuck with the Grimleal for the time being. He has a friend that he doesn't want to lose, apparently."

I gaze back at the boy. He is at least trying…

"Tell him that is enough for today," I tell Gaius. "I need to get my thoughts straight if you don't mind."

He nods to me as he translates for the prisoner, still sucking on his candy

Malnourished. If it weren't for the cloth, we could see the bones popping out from him. And if his hair wasn't so wild and long, perhaps we could see what color his eyes are. His clothes are in a ragged state, his cape is filled with holes and tears, his collarbone is stained by dried blood, same as the bandages around his forearms. I look at the red mark on his neck from a few hours ago. If it hadn't been for his talking, he could have been mistaken for a corpse.

I turn away from him, Gaius follows me and we head for the conference room. How can I even relay any of this information to Chrom?

"Wasn't there more you wanted from the guy?" Gaius interrupts my thoughts, poking me. "We barely talked with the guy, you know. What's the deal?"

I sigh as I keep limping. "I don't know, Gaius. Perhaps it just felt wrong to interrogate him in his current state. He almost died today."

Gaius nods to me with his lips popping as he sucks on another piece of candy. "I get ya. The stench of death makes anything annoying to deal with. Especially robberies," Gaius replies, making me widen my eyes. "But even so, couldn't you ask more? Like how the army is structured or something like that?"

I wave my hand back at him. "It feels too uncomfortable right now. One does not force a sick man to waltz, do they?"

He nods once again before replying, "Ya could say that. But the boy isn't your friend, so that takes that out of ya' mind. Then we could get some information that would stay us a little bit longer than we are right now."

I nod back to him. He isn't wrong but he is wrong. A gentleman doesn't force words out of an injured person.

Still, Gaius is right, this isn't enough. Is it even the right call to reveal what we obtained from him? Just some stranger stuck in this conflict and no other relevant information? He was on the enemy's side, and anything could help in this trying time, especially for poor Chrom.

We reach the door and open it. Before I can enter, though, Gaius pats my back and I turn. Of course, how could I have forgotten.

"Gaius, my sincerest gratitude for your help in this case."

Gaius nods before pointing to the stairs. "No problem. I have some other stuff to deal with."

Of course.

He goes away still sucking on his candy and disappears in the stairs. Gaius, if it weren't for him we wouldn't get much information.

However, something doesn't add up. He is very helpful, but how could a thief be able to speak Plegian? Even in Valm, only few people are fluent in two languages, and most of them were of noble birth. But if he can understand what the boy says…

I need to take a deeper look into Gaius, he could be hiding something from us.

Ignore that for the time being, today has been a hell on Archanea for everyone involved. Gaius is on your side, no doubt about that.

Still there isn't enough root in this equation to the whole picture, especially when talking about my personal equation in this whole system of equations in disarray. The Plegians came and conquered Themis and we weren't able to repel them. Is it wise to stay with the Shepherds with the way things are? Can this army actually allow me to reclaim my homeland from that dastard Walhart?

I enter the room. Miriel is sulking alongside Vaike, Stahl is patting the back of a still crying Sumia, Maribelle is talking with Lissa…where is Kellam?

If only I could bring something more than just personal information about the prisoner. Can I even keep the group together with the way things are?

No, don't think like that. You can't repeat your mistake in Rosanne. If you had done more than just think, perhaps right now you wouldn't be in such an awful situation.

I gulp at the sight of Chrom. He is staring absent-mindedly at the walls, bags underneath his eyes similar to the prisoner's.

I bow to him as he notices my presence, He turns from the wall to me, rises from the chair he was sitting on and approaches me.

"Virion, did you find anything we could use against those Plegian dastards and that monster?"

His tone is harsh and colder than even the most northern region of Ferox. I don't think he will like what I have to say.

Still bowing, I open my mouth. "He barely told us anything. Aside from a few topics, he remained quiet."

A few silent seconds pass before Chrom opens his mouth, his voice cracking. "Virion, you are a friend so stop bowing."

I get up and face the prince of the Halidom. His smile doesn't reach his eyes.

"There has to be something! Battle plans, where they keep their weapons, who their generals are, anything we can use to prevent more innocents' deaths!"

I frown at his reaction. "If I am to be honest with you, you should look for other sources besides the boy. It doesn't seem like he was privy to many details of their army's inner workings.

Chrom clenches his fist before approaching me and putting his hand on my shoulder. "A boy? You are calling that bastard a boy!? He was there in Themis when it was razed to the ground! Virion, the very wounds you suffered there didn't allow you to join the battlefield!"

His voice cracks before exploding. "That dastard was there when Maribelle's father was killed! He was the one who killed Cordelia! Must I remind you how we found him!?"

I remove his hand from my shoulder and reply, "Chrom, killing him will not solve any of our problems. He may not bring any useful information, but killing him in cold blood would be a step too far for you. For all of us."

Chrom shakes his head while going back to his chair. "But… but…"

"No buts, Chrom. I don't think Cordelia or Maribelle's father would appreciate you executing prisoners." Especially one in such a state of decay as that stranger.

He stops talking, sits on the chair and grabs Falchion. He hugs it with his right arm while putting his left hand under his chin.

"You are right, Virion. Perhaps my judgment was haste. But that doesn't change the fact that this thing has committed too many crimes to go unpunished. Don't you agree that he should be punished?"

I sigh at his response and I limp towards him, rolling my eyes as I place my hands on my hips. "Chrom, you almost killed him and he is currently lying still within a cell. I doubt further punishment will make him reveal any more information."

Chrom gets up from the chair and approaches me, almost dropping Falchion in the process, barely hanging by his hand. "So is there a way we can extract information from him?"

There is a reason some gentlemen like to say the phrase "no comment".

"Chrom, did you even listen to what I said?"

Chrom sighs, putting his left hand on his forehand and sitting once more. "How can we stop those dastards from destroying more than they already have? Perhaps Emm is wrong and father was right all along."

I shiver at the thought of the carnage the history books portray. There must be some other option.

"We must cripple them somehow. And I think there is someone we can defeat and make the army collapse on itself."

Chrom gets out of the chair and rushes to me, grabbing both of my shoulders. "Who is that?"

"Very simple, my lord. We need to kill the Vessel and the army will fall into disarray. Their religion paints her as a messiah, yes? Therefore, wouldn't the fall of the Vessel be a blow so hard as to make them crumble? We could stop this war once and for all."

Chrom smiles genuinely for the first time in a while, ear to ear as if hope finally came to him. "Thank you Virion. I don't know how we would be able to deal with this situation without you.

I wave my hand at him. "You are overestimating me. But for now Chrom, please rest and do not go to the prisoner. We cannot afford to have you in a state of perpetual rage. This kingdom would be doomed."

Chrom frowns. "But…"

"No buts, Chrom. As your tactician, I command you to rest."

He shrugs his shoulders in defeat. "Sure, Virion." He walks away from me and heads towards the door, leaving me alongside the group. May this plan work, otherwise, the Halidom is history.

Still, there is a lot to do today, and I should probably take it to my room. I wave to my comrades and leave them alone. They need some time to grieve, and hopefully, they will get some rest.

I reach my room and sit at my desk. The foreigner's bag is on my left. It feels linen at the touch, but the black criss-cross pattern is made out of rough material and it's opened by a metallic latch. There is also a noticeable red symbol with a white cross on his bag. A symbol of his country, perhaps? I will have to ask him for the next chance I have.

I open the bag and pick out the items inside of it. I find various books inside of it, their covers nothing more than images. One that stands out to me is that of a man with a strange tall hat and black clothes, with strange blue symbols above the picture. Opening it reveals more of the strange symbols.

What language is this? It's definitely not Plegian.

Another thing that catches my attention are the odd pictures found all through it, like the one of a naked girl with explosive colors shielding her. Where do these books come from? More questions to ask.

I pick out a series of papers, worn out, with yellow and brown stains or ripped in places. Looking them over, I find a mixture of Plegian symbols and the ones from the book. Some are written entirely in Plegian and some entirely in the foreign symbols.

It would seem his claim to be a foreigner is correct. Plegia prides itself on it calligraphy too much to switch it to something so different.

And the prisoner can apparently understand both Plegian and his native tongue. Probably a noble from another country, but what country would that be?

There is only one thing left inside the bag. I pick up a tough material and find a black and dark rectangle with what seems to be glass on the front in my hand. I look it over, but can't understand what purpose it serves. Or even what it is.

There is a series of buttons, two on the left side and one on the right. I press the right one and it lights up, revealing a legless painted red figure in a praying position. Is this a symbol of worship? If so, to what god? Before long, the symbols from the books appear, leaving no doubt as to the origin of the object.

I put the device away. As novel as it is, it has only left me with more questions.

What is he in the end?

Dandolo POV:

I have come to accept that we might be in the worst position ever. Two weeks ago, three hundred coins. Last week, two hundred. Today, one hundred.. If things stay like this, we will have to get out of here.

I close the notebook and take some coins from the bag. "Hey, Gregor! Your pay is here."

Gregor gingerly enters the wagon and grabs the bag. "Today is good day, got money!" He smiles at the money as if it were his own maiden and puts it inside his pocket. He then goes for the exit, tapping his foot while singing on his tongue.

He is probably going to waste it on beer, but at least we will have someone to talk to. Perhaps he can even pick up on some rumors if he hasn't already.

"Before you go, have you heard any interesting rumors?"

Gregor stops his tapping and turns to me, shrugging his shoulders. "Not much."

Damn it.

"Thank you, Gregor" I reply, annoyed. He nods and turns back into his way, lifting his hand and waving at me, which I return. He gets out of the wagon, leaving me alone with my report for the time being.

I sigh, dropping my pen back to the inkwell. The money supply is dwindling, the report says it is that much but if…

I get away from the box and move towards the horses. Gregor will not mind much if I go out and do some recon. I grab the reins and have them drag the wagon.

I look at the people walking in the street. Some commerce is still going on, but not much. It's just people walking left and right, at best carrying bread without interacting. Spices don't seem to be so valued here right now.

Plegia was way more profitable than this place. The Halidom's capital. The place where I can't get money, unless negative money is a thing! I wonder how much Anna is getting out of this hellhole, not to mention other areas of the country where she's getting the finances for even more lucrative trade deals, while I'm stuck here waiting for the right moment.

I arrive at the gates, but they remain closed off. I approach one of the guards. "Hey, could you open the gates? I'm a merchant and I have trade deals to attend to!"

"You aren't allowed to leave," the guard replies. "Only a few people can. Are you a food merchant?"

I frown at him. "No, I'm a spice merchant." Spice is more valuable than food!

"Then you can't leave, orders from the Exalt. There are too many bandits out there and we can't afford to lose more lives than necessary."

Damn the Exalt! Doesn't she know commerce can't be stuck in one place? Bandits may be a problem, but spice not flowing is way worse! How the heck will I say this to my father? How can I get out of here?

"Thanks for telling me." I return the wagon to where I was supposed to be. Since I can't get out of here for now, I will have to dry this cow until its udders are empty.

Back at the same place, I prepare the spices, cumin, saffron and others, opening the kiosk. Please let me have good luck.

How many hours have passed? Despite the flow of people, the stand remains empty, save for the accumulating dust and me waiting for customers.

This isn't working! It's simply too little, I can't keep up with it! Even the busiest days in the Plegian capital were more tolerable than this.

Gregor comes out of the bar, stumbling his way across the streets as if the world has slouched around his brain. Why can't people just drink the way superior wine instead of something so weak and pathetic as beer?

His drunken face comes to my shop. "Hey frienddd, pllease I want spice."

I look at his face. "Do you know that your work is here, right?"

He shrugs my words off. "Please give me some spice!" he screams, his breath burning more than wood on fire.

"Sure… What do you want?"

"Uhh… is garlic thing in here?"

Are you kidding me? What did I do to deserve this limbo? "No, we have more rare stuff."

He frowns. "You have useless shop. Could be more profitable if had garlic."

You what…!

I get out of the wagon and towards the man. "What did you just say about my shop!?"

He puts his hand on my shoulders. "Useless shop, why buy rare stuff when basic lacks. Garlic would be more profitable."

What is he saying? People are not even buying spice here.

"Get stuff more basic than cumin or fancy name for food. Get garlic, wheat or something else"

Perhaps he isn't entirely wrong, but…

"Where would we buy this stuff?"

No word comes out of him. He shrugs his shoulders before walking away and to the tavern once again.

Thanks, Gregor, your proposition is as worthless as thinking money can be written on paper. Besides, I'm still stuck with no end in sight.

Screw me.

"What do you mean we have lost?! You bunch of idiots!"

Another day comes, another day of stupidity from all who come within my sight. I'm surrounded by incompetence!

The dumb whore replies in typical whore fashion. "We lost the battle, Gangrel. There isn't much we can do about it. Although we did eliminate some undesirables among the rabble."

This fucking bitch.

"What the hell are you talking about, you useless lackey!"

Aversa rolls her eyes.

"You are now doing that little trick.. Stop! Get out, now! You are being more useless than ever. Even piss has been more useful than you!"

Aversa frowns and turns her back to me as she walks out. At least she raised no argument, which means she knows who is the king, unlike some others who don't seem to realize their place!

Still, those damn stupid messianic assholes. If they weren't allies, I would have stabbed them in the back long ago. They only add more complications. Ah, doing zany rituals for those fuckos over there, because there is a dragon that will do something to the world.

Ah, shut the fuck up, that is barely important. No, what is important is burning those bastards that destroyed me. Who cares about Grima or that stupid vessel, I bet she can't even walk without the help of those annoying bodyguards that refuse to speak to me even when I'm their king!

AH, the moment Ylisse pays and their entire people is extermined from the face of the earth, I will teach a lesson to the bastard that keeps talking about this stupid thing. Validar, you dumb fuck that can't do something as simple as talk to people without sounding like a old man who lost his voice,

'Ah, we must ensure Grima's awakening!'

You idiot!

Thank you idiots for thinking I'm so gullible as to think that I'm going to do their bidding, otherwise I would have slashed their throats a long long time ago.

But they will soon see that all of their mistakes have been accounted for by me! They will not escape that easily. They aren't geniuses like me, who was able to become the legitimate king of these idiots.

None can take this away from me, not even the blue-haired bastard that killed the ones I loved. But even then, what are loved ones compared to the power of being the king. I'm no longer the boy who scraped food out of the streets, I'm the king!

Saying that I realize I don't have the blame for the failures of this army, they are incompetent.

The messianics are incompetent as well. If it wasn't for their interference and had they followed my orders this battle wouldn't have failed. The other Grimleal sects must pay as well, especially those orthodox bastards with more insane nonsense. Metaphys- meta-whatever the fucking word means, it's stupid, but that is not the apex of their moronic existence.

Who dares object to my battle plans? if they hadn't rejected everything I brought up, we wouldn't have failed. We would have already achieved victory a long time ago, way before we got stuck on this field of useless grass! They will pay for the insolence of this first loss, just everything else!

Who cares about politics? They are made of stupidity that should be exterminated.

In reality, I first have to wait. Before anything else in life, Ylisse must be erased. I will love the moment the head of that ylissean bitch who thinks she's queen is brought on my plate. That will teach a lesson to any surviving Ylissean bastard.

Oh, perhaps it should be the contrary. That bitch will be the last one to die, after watching her stupid Halidom crash and burn before her very eyes.

Ah, and the Themis bitch's punishment will be tenfold! One scar isn't enough, nor one hundred, nor one thousand. She shall have so many scars that when they see her they will not be able to recognize her. That is the price to pay for making me lose my battle.

The whore comes back again with a red-haired man. What will Gaius bring in this horrendous day?

"Hey Aversa, get out of this room. Your mere existence is making me want to puke out my insides."

Without so much as a thought, she gets out, leaving me with the only useful person in the room.

"Hey Gaius, how has your mission been going so far? Better than anything the Ylissean can do right?"

Gaius gives a nervous laugh. Ah, someone teach this candy-addicted bastard the meaning of humor.

I roll my eyes. "Just give me what you have found out, Gaius."

Gaius' reply is a little tense. "I still haven't found this woman you want so much, fella. But I can say that her army is in a bit of a pickle if you know what I mean."

I laugh for a bit. Ah, at least this asshole brings solutions, unlike the idiots in my court.

"So you mean, the army is weak!"

Gaius frowns "No, Gangrie. They are in a pickle, but it doesn't mean they will not fight."

I facepalm, "You didn't answer my question! Are they weak or not?"

Gaius steps away from me a little.. He can't stand my power, huh? That is fine, he is fearing it as he should!

"Yes, you could consider them weak bu-"

"That is good enough for me! Now you have another objective, Gaius. Once we are inside the capital of the Halidom, you must capture that woman that is the queen. Continue spying those she-xard shepardos! And report to me as soon as you get her. Do not fail, Gaius! It isn't an option, y'know."

Gaius smiles. "Yes, Grangie. Just wait a bit, I need some of that sugar you have in the kitchen."

Seriously? At least I'm paying for good service.

"Whatever, eat what you want! It isn't my problem."

Gaius gets out of the room, leaving me to wonder what the attack should be like. I must kill those bastards before they can ever get a chance to recover from the battle. This loss is only a distraction, this will work, unlike that attempt! I'm sure of it, I just need to contact that dog and we will have some things to deal with.

I get out of my tent and search for the general. I pass through the camp and those things that I have to call 'subjects' until I find him: Mustafa.

He is currently training in the army, but it takes only a glance at me for him to let out a sigh. Stop doing that, you ugly fuck!

"Cease! Everyone, take a break."

No wonder that we have lost the battle, the soldiers are getting spoiled by this general. "Don't make them stop, Mustafa. They are going to train until the moon rises, do you understand?!"

He stares at me before bowing.

"Everyone get back into training!"

The field is flooded by exercising soldiers once more, just like I ordered. I know what I'm doing, of course.

"So what brought you here, your majesty?"

I laugh a bit. "I have received some reports about the state of the Ylissean army. They are weak and pathetic as always."

Mustafa keeps listening to my words attentively.

"Therefore, we are going to march today towards the region and kill them before they come to eliminate me!. Understood?"

Mustafa talks softly. "My king, that may not be possible. The troops are tired and they want to rest. They can't keep up with your orders. If we keep pushing them, we are going to lose this war of yours before we can reach the enemy's capital!"

Doubting my own knowledge?

"You don't know what you are talking about at all. Years of battlefield experience and you barely know stuff, what a shame. My order is to move the troops, we aren't going to stop until we reach and massacre them!

"But-"

"No buts. We are going, like it or not. And you will win the battle, otherwise, I don't think you will be able to sleep at peace after it."

I walk off before he can rebuke me.

Idiots, all of them are idiots. But anyways, the battle is coming and my revenge will come to fruition and everyone that has ever wronged me will pay!

That was released rather quickly. Anyways, I hope I can finish the chapter editing the other chapters rather quickly.

Hope this chapter has been somewhat enjoyable for all of you! I know that I have been rather lacking with my publishing schedules and my writing has suffered a bit because of that but I still hope it was enjoyable nonetheless. And also hope that my grammar was acceptable and the shepherds were somewhat in character.

Special thanks to Cavik for beta reading this chapter and thanks you, reader, for reading the chapter as well.

Well, here is a link to a server where you can join with some other very helpful and friendly people: discord . gg / u89gs745fn

Crowbars357: I don't think this chapter told you much, sadly. Hope the next one can make up for it.

Anyways have an excellent day everyone.