The Baron of Paulo turned to his relative Lord Banust for help when he fled the Baldemost Kingdom.
Baldemost demanded that Lord Banust hand over the Baron of Paulo, but Lord Banust, whose name was Orubine, demanded that the king of Baldemost return the Paulo domain to Fenks.
The negotiations didn’t get anywhere, but there was a strong vigor in Baldemost’s diplomacy at the time and a sense that the character of the kingdom had changed.
Behind the negotiations, both sides were preparing for the outbreak of war.
In Fenks, the Baron of Paulo excitedly convinced his friends and relatives that it would make for a fun war.
In Baldemost, the king and the crown prince led the charge for war, arguing that because rule had been established throughout the kingdom and there was money to spare in the coffers, it was the perfect chance to show the outside world their power.
Eventually, the negotiations that had stalled for four years broke down, and both sides exchanged extremely old-fashioned letters saying that they would have a contest of military might and entrust judgment to the gods. The war then began.
Banust boasted the most territory in the feudal states of Fenks. The Banust castle was the strongest fortress in all of Fenks, and it was surrounded by multiple layers of branch castles and strongholds that made it difficult to even reach. Early in the war, the cabinet ministers of Baldemost occupied a number of the branch castles with an eye on exchanging some of them for the Baron of Paulo.
The feudal states of Fenks did not have a king. Instead, the lords involved in the matter would gather and hold a conference, and the lord who sealed and safeguarded the resulting pact would act as the representative. In this war, Lord Banust was made the representative. Fourteen lords ended up signing the document voting to start the war, so the conflict became close to an all-out war between two countries.
Baldemost named the crown prince himself the supreme commander and invaded Fenks.
Panzel fought like a god who had descended to the earth.
In a period of just over three years, they defeated six divisions of Northern Knights, took the head of the Baron of Paulo, drove Lord Banust to commit suicide, occupied Banust castle, and also captured five branch castles.
In the year 1100 of the Royal Calendar, Panzel and Esseluleia had a son named Arza. It was impressive that they even found the time to have a child.
The lords of Baldemost carefully expanded the occupied territory to prevent the front lines from becoming isolated.
Alkan spent those three years feeling as if he were inside a pleasant dream.
Panzel differed greatly from other military commanders on two points.
The first was that he won the respect of the enemies he defeated.
The Baron of Paulo praised him by saying the following.
“He is the god of thunder made flesh…”
Every division of the Northern Knights wanted to fight Thunderstorm Panzel, and after they lost, they would sing his praises for his magnificent, thunderous fighting style.
The second way he differed from other commanders was his mastery of House Mercurius’s treasures.
The heads of House Mercurius had tried many times throughout the house’s long history to have their family members or vassals use the five blessed items, but as far as Alkan knew, the blessings had never activated for anyone other than the head of the house. Panzel was likely the first exception.
There was something to Panzel beyond his supreme military prowess.
The kingdom was moving in a direction that ran completely opposite to what House Riga had always strove for.
But what was this fulfilling and exhilarating feeling welling up inside him?
They were struggling for land with blood and violence, but why did he feel a refreshing wind blowing through the country?
The only explanation he had was the presence of a hero on the level of the era of the kingdom’s founding.
Alkan was able to believe that he was living in a grand era.
The entirety of Banust ended up becoming Baldemost territory, which meant the coast wasn’t far now. If he appealed for the opening of trade routes on the backing of Panzel’s military prowess after Banust was stabilized, there was no doubt it could be achieved.
Just a little more.
Just a little more and House Riga’s generations-old desire could be realized in a wholly unexpected way.
And then Panzel died, along with the dream.
Panzel was laying siege to the branch castle in the deepest position in the Banust territory, and then one night, he suddenly died in camp.
He was thirty-one years old.