A servant in the old castle rushed to the count’s room.
“Count Barbatos!”
“What’s all this racket for?” the count shot the man a sharp glare as he lifted his attention from the work on his desk.
“Were you planning on moving the supplies in the storehouse?” the man inquired.
“What?” The count’s surprise was genuine. The only goods that came to mind were the provisions and weapons he’d been gathering to crush Felind. “No, I wouldn’t move them. It’s not time to make use of those.”
He dipped his quill into the ink and attempted to return to his document signing.
“But the soldiers are taking the supplies out of the storehouses,” the man added, troubled.
“What?” the count squawked.
“And it’s not just here, sir. The same is happening in towns all over. I thought it was your order, Count Barbatos!”
“Obviously not! Make them stop!”
“Yes, sir!” The man scurried from the room.
“The soldiers are acting of their own accord…?”
Even if they were, it was no great cause for worry. Barbatos had amassed a sizable cache. They’d be hard pressed to remove everything.
Barbatos gazed out the window, looking toward a storehouse. Faint, luminous particles of mana hovered about the structure, shining green.
“Wh-what in the world is going on?”
Barbatos had already issued a command to handle this matter, but it seemed this wasn’t the work of a few renegades as he’d mistakenly believed. He furiously rang a bell, and a servant quietly appeared behind him.
“I will be leading my men out to investigate for myself. I must put a stop to this! Guard me.”
The man gave a curt nod and disappeared as soundlessly as he’d come.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Lord Rileyla, over here. This is the last place.”
“I shall draw the formation as quick as can be, Roje.”
“Yes, my lord!”
Rila and Roje had followed a map Roland had marked for them to reach the storehouse.
“He really does know how to work a person ragged,” Roje grumbled.
“I do not chagrin him this, as he so rarely relies on others,” Rila said.
“He only asks because you spoil him too much, Lord Rileyla.”
“Now, now, none of that. This is somewhat relevant to our own secret endeavors, after all.”
“I suppose,” Roje replied, looking rather unhappy for the rebuke.
“As I remember, you’re the only one capable of using a Gate to transport people on a large scale,” Roland had said immediately after returning to the castle in Bardenhawk.
“Indeed. Only I have the ability. I can teleport anything that fits within the array.”
“You! Human! What are you planning on forcing Lord Rileyla to do?” Roje had demanded, seeming uneasy.
“I’d like to steal a food supply meant to sustain ten thousand soldiers for half a year.”
Of all things, Roland had wanted to transport a giant amount of rations and weapons to the Duchy of Bardenhawk.
“Draw a large spell for a Gate near a storehouse that I’ll mark for you. That’s all I need. Roje Sandsong, you’ll act as Rila’s guard during that time.”
Rila had been over the moon and requisitioned paints from Hell that were best suited to magic circles in preparation for this day.
“It…seems odd to me that no one has tried to stop us…,” Roje commented.
“A blessing,” Rila decided.
The storehouse had been all but deserted and they had yet to sense anyone approaching. In that time, Rila had been hard at work drawing the array.
“If we abscond with their provisions, then they shall no longer be able to fight. We know all too well how important food is in a war. With this, the battle is won without exchanging a single blow.”
“If there’s no skirmish, then what am I good for…?” Roje lamented.
“No fight is preferable,” Rila insisted. “And it’s better not to cause one, either.”
Roje watched Rila work, cheering her on for lack of anything else to do. “You’re amazing, Lord Rileyla! A splendid magic circle indeed!”
“Quite! A poorly drawn array weakens the spell. And it would be a sorry thing to allow such stores to waste away in the void. Ha-ha-ha-ha!”
Soldiers, about a hundred in all, marched over while the former demon lord laughed.
“It’s done,” one of them said. “According to Teach, we just need to place the supplies in the circle.”
“All right! Let’s get movin’ before the count’s people come by!”
The men cheered.
Before long, mana particles started to appear close to where Rila began drawing the great array.
“It’s starting, I see,” she said.
“Lord Rileyla, we needn’t linger. Come, let us return to the castle in Bardenhawk through my Gate.”
Rila nodded in approval, and Roje led her away.