The question hung in the air like a sword ready to fall.
Duke Enoch didn't bother to be diplomatic, he wasn't a diplomat, he was a soldier and didn't have time to beat around the bush or sugarcoat words .
" I'm sorry your grace, but I can't answer your question in good faith.
You will be terribly disappointed if that is all you came to inquire. " Maximilian replied.
" Let me ask you Lord Scorpia, what makes you think that I won't torture you for the answers I seek, what gives you the guts to reject a request from the imperial family. "
" Your grace seems tired from his long journey, a steward will take you to your residence, tomorrow you can tour the town.
Maybe you see something you like and then we might be in business together. " Maximilian then stood up to leave but then paused and turned back.
" Your graces, there are rules and regulations in Valum, they apply to everyone regardless of whose banner they serve under, please make sure your men understand that. "
The dining room was suddenly empty save for Duke Alexander and Enoch who sat opposite each other in silence.
" Alex, I heard that child was kept in isolation for sixteen years till his coming of age. Tell me is that really true? " Enoch asked.
" Of course he was in isolation, what do you ask? "
" Are seriously asking me that?
In less than a year he has won two battles, both against an army larger than his and while still having no apparent combat abilities.
You also saw the roads and the buildings, non of them like anything we have ever seen .
He has created order in this backward town."
" I didn't know anything about his capabilities but I know that he is not like children his age. "
" If you had known that he was so impressive, you could have sent him to me."
" Ha... If I knew he was so impressive, I would have kept him in my capital regardless of what the cost would be to my reputation. "
...
As the Dukes were preparing to leave something incredulous was happening in the market district.
An imperial Knight could be seen smashing the contents of a shop.
Two of his counterparts stood close by watching the show while several traders and ordinary people watched in horror as this was a very rare occurrence in Valum.
It didn't take long for the ISB patrol to take notice of this.
Three ISB patrol officers on horseback arrived at the scene, the residents of Valum immediately seeing their red uniforms with black stripes and their wide brim hats immediately gave way.
" Stop what you are doing immediately. " The officer who seemed to be the team leader shouted and everyone stopped.
The imperial knights turned to look at who would have dared to give them an order. The officer didn't even wait and started to read out charges.
" According to the Valum code of conduct, you are hereby charged with vandalism, destruction of property, assault and public nuisance. Submit yourself for arrest or you will be forced to do so. "
The knights were bewildered, " you want me to submit my self to arrest, do you not see the crest on my chest.
This man cheated me, I am only doing what is right. "
" Hey asshole, do you know where you are?
Place your hands behind you now if you don't want to get hurt. " The officer replied and this caused the knights to immediately draw their swords the officers now had justification for using force.
The first knight to step forward was the most unlucky as he was shot with a twelve gauge slug to the knee.
This immediately shattered his knee bones despite his superhuman strength, it could have blown the knee off if not for his mythril armour.
The knight fell to the floor screaming in agony, clutching his knee . There was no breaking of the skin but the leg was really fractured and there was no way he was going to the se that leg again without medical attention .
" Drop your weapons, get on your knees and place your hands behind your back .
Next one would be fatal. " The officer ordered again and the citizens of Valum watched as the imperial knights who many people strived to be like kneel down with hands placed behind their backs.
The ISB officers had unknowingly made a statement that showed everyone that no matter who you are or what rank you hold, as long as you are in Valum, you will do as you are told.
The crowd, which only moments before had been frozen in fearful silence, now erupted in a confused but joyous roar. The sight of a mythical, nearly invincible Imperial Knight screaming on the cobblestones, his knee reduced to a slurry of bone and metal by a weapon that made no sound of magic or ringing steel, was a truth they could not unsee. The Valum code wasn't a set of words; it was a devastating, terrifying reality.
Back in the hushed, gilded dining room of the Scorpia manor, the silence between Duke Enoch and Duke Alexander shattered as a frantic captain of the Imperial Guard threw open the double doors. The man was panting, his silver-braided uniform disheveled, a look of profound, stomach-churning horror etched on his face.
"Your Grace! Duke Enoch, a profound calamity! Three of the Second Company have been arrested in the market district! One of them... Knight Volkov... his leg has been shattered!"
Enoch's composure—the cold soldier's calm he always wore—cracked like ice. "Shattered? Mythril armor doesn't shatter! Was it a war mage? A cursed blade? Tell me who dared touch my men, Captain!"
"It was... the law, Your Grace," the Captain stammered, swallowing hard. "The local Constabulary. They used a crude, short-range firearm—a shotgun, they called it. The projectile wasn't magical, but it bypassed the mythril. Volkov's leg is pulverized from the inside. They arrested the others, citing vandalism and assault. They treated them like common brigands."
Alexander von Caligula, Lord of the West and father to the boy who had just openly challenged his authority, felt a cold dread settle in his stomach. He had seen the roads, the straight lines of the buildings, the order. He had seen the look in Maximilian's eyes—a look that held no kinship, no respect, only the terrifying confidence of a man who knew he could not lose.
"He warned us," Alexander whispered, leaning forward, the heavy reality of the situation finally weighing down his pride. "He warned us he wouldn't suffer our games. Enoch, that boy, my... Maximilian... he doesn't just govern this city. He has engineered it. He has created weapons, laws, and a discipline that our greatest generals couldn't achieve in a lifetime."
Enoch, the fierce warrior who had never feared a dragon or a king's army, slowly pushed himself back from the table. His outrage was curdling into something much colder: fearful recognition.
"He's using military tactics, Alexander. Not duels, not knightly charges. He is using asymmetric warfare. A single, cheap metal projectile just crippled a man we could not buy for a thousand gold pieces. A man protected by armor no blade in the realm can cut." Enoch's voice was dangerously quiet. He looked across the table at Alexander, a chilling accusation in his eyes.
"You told me he had no combat ability. I see now that he doesn't fight like us. He sees us all as primitives, and our rules as obstacles. He is not a boy playing at governance, Alexander. He is a mad man running a fortress, and he just sent us his opening salvo."
He rose, the heavy leather of his traveling coat rustling. "I will not wait for dawn. I will see the Lord of Valum now. And if he refuses, I will have the whole of his precious city surrounded by sunrise."