Alkan’s decision was quick. He would throw away everything and demonstrate his allegiance to the king.
He groveled in front of the king and high-seated nobles for the purpose of House Riga’s survival and concentrated all his attention on Panzel. He couldn’t stop thinking about the blessed sword that was received for defeating the monster in the labyrinth and the strength Panzel showed when he fought with it.
After watching Panzel easily defeat one hundred knights on his own, he spontaneously said that Panzel should be named Defender of the Realm.
The king agreed without a moment’s delay, and it was decided. Panzel was appointed Defender of the Realm, and House Goran was established.
The first prince became the crown prince, the second prince fell to the status of a subject, and the second queen consort lost her position.
A subjugation force was sent for Bolan Nadal, the Baron of Paulo. House Riga did not take part in the campaign and instead bore the burden of the army provisions. This was done in order to give the achievement to other houses.
Alkan gave the house and his rank to his second son, Draydol; withdrew from center stage; and watched over Panzel.
The baron’s domain of Paulo was difficult to attack from the kingdom, and the Northern Knights would be on them immediately upon detection, so the campaign should have ended in nothing more than a stalemate.
As expected, as soon as they arrived in enemy territory, five of the seven knights who the baron’s domain had been divided among took command of their armies and solidified the defense of each of the potential points of invasion.
Panzel then left the disheartened lords behind, broke through the steep ground of all nine strongholds one after another, flew like the wind through the wide plains, and approached the baron’s castle.
Panzel was accompanied by the one hundred Imperial Guard knights who had been given to him by the king and two hundred cavalrymen of House Mercurius.
Bolan would likely have had no chance of losing if he had just shut himself away in his castle, but he ended up leaving it to meet the daring general and his lightning-quick charge. Panzel’s knights were extremely fatigued from their impossible advance. Bolan felt like he owed the reckless and ambitious Panzel the courtesy of burying his army personally. He had also been wishing for a chance to determine which of them was the better general.
The armies then clashed on the plains.
The two hundred cavalrymen of House Mercurius followed behind and blocked the extra knights rushing to join Bolan. Then the two hundred and fifty Northern Knights led by Bolan himself and the one hundred knights led by Panzel collided.
Panzel had his army take a wedge formation with himself at the tip and attacked the square formation of the Paulo Army head-on.
Everyone watching thought Panzel’s charge would break like a wave against a rock. But instead, it ended up piercing the rock like a longsword cutting through a curtain.
Panzel heavily wounded Bolan, soundly defeated the Northern Knights who were supposed to boast unparalleled strength on level ground, and occupied the castle. Bolan relied on his relatives and fled.
It was a perfect and impossible victory. Enemies and allies alike could not believe the result upon first hearing it.
Then something even more unbelievable happened. Three of the seven knights who had been given land in Bolan’s domain swore their allegiance to Panzel.
Panzel was a rare hero, and Alkan made every effort to ensure he could exercise his strength to the fullest.
First, through Draydol, he publicly stressed the meritorious service of House Mercurius in the capture of the Baron of Paulo’s domain. Panzel was under Julius’s command in the organization of House Mercurius’s army, so this was not a stretch.
He engineered for Julius to enter the Baron of Paulo’s castle and take command. He did that because it had been a long-cherished desire of Panzel’s for House Mercurius to be appreciated.
The lord of the domain had been driven out, and the troops under his direct command had been defeated, but there was still much unoccupied land, and it would not be easy to get the domain under control. But Alkan was sure that Julius would be able to handle it.
Just as Alkan expected, Julius showed wondrous cunning and flaunted the might of the Mercurius Army and the Goran Army, ultimately expanding the land under his rule and stabilizing it. The three knights who swore their allegiance were very helpful.
Alkan wed his beloved daughter Esseluleia to Panzel and sent him a dowry along with fifty elite knights. The king’s face lit up upon hearing this, and he said that he would send fifty knights as well.
Alkan felt that his and the king’s feelings were aligned for the first time.
The king probably felt the same.
Two years later, when rule was completely established in the domain, Alkan had Draydol suggest to the king that it would be suitable to give the entire former Paulo domain to Julius.
Julius was then made the Marquis of Keza. The land was named after the site of the royal palace.
Alkan also felt that he needed to ensure the stability of House Mercurius by tying it to a lord who was versed in domestic affairs and rich in property, so he had Draydol arrange a marriage with the daughter of a marquis’s family that had a long history of friendship with House Mercurius.