Chapter 846: Factional Conflicts
“Otto Luoxi is our ally and deserves better than this.” Brian’s voice carried across the room. “They’ve dared to harass the Eastern Region — next time they may cross the border and invade outright. Your Majesty, give the order. No matter how far the enemy lies, the First Army will crush them.”
“Invade us?” Barov raised an eyebrow. “If the Kingdom of Dawn’s army could march on Graycastle as boldly as all that, what are you doing standing in this room?”
“My lord, it was only an example—”
“A baseless example proves nothing.” Barov cut him off without raising his voice. “More importantly — why would we deploy an army to settle something that diplomacy can handle? Have you forgotten His Majesty’s primary objective for this year? Does the eldest son of a noble family in the City of Glow outweigh our king’s enthronement?”
Brian went quiet.
“All right — let’s take a break.” Roland clapped his hands. “Eat something before we continue.”
The servant waiting at the doorway wheeled in a trolley. Several officials moved toward the table; others slipped out to the corridor. The tension that had been building all afternoon began to dissipate.
This scene had played out repeatedly across three days. After Roland received intelligence from the spy Hill Fawkes and the garrison report from the Northern Region simultaneously, he had summoned all relevant officials to the castle to work through a response. The result had been the slow formation of two camps, each visible in how they leaned at the table.
The City Hall faction, led by Barov, favored patience. Concentrate on development; build Neverwinter’s population and strength; expand methodically until the kingdom was ready for unification. Appen Moya’s provocation deserved a response — but not an urgent one. The Western Region came first; everything else was secondary.
The First Army faction, led by Brian, wanted to move now. Defend the border abroad. Strike before the enemy noticed. Hit them where they were not looking. They pushed for immediate action against the Kingdom of Dawn, the release of Otto Luoxi, retribution for the harassment of the Eastern Region. The Adviser Department tended to align with the First Army — partly from shared instincts, partly because advisers had little to gain from peace. Their purpose was war, and war was the only occasion on which their expertise earned recognition. They were also newer arrivals from Longsong Stronghold, less embedded in City Hall’s culture, more often overruled, their suggestions dismissed in ways that made them feel peripheral. Joining Brian’s camp, at least, gave them a voice.
In practice, Barov had outmaneuvered Brian in nearly every exchange. It was not surprising. Barov had spent a career at the knee of the kingdom’s former treasurer; he had been shaped by an expert and needed only an arena large enough to demonstrate what that shaping had made of him. Brian was young — a Gun Battalion commander who had grown up a Border Town villager. His courage and his record were unquestionable. In a room of ministers, he was a sword in a debate that required an advocate’s tongue. That he had expressed his ideas as clearly as he had, for three full days, was its own kind of accomplishment.
Roland had remained silent throughout. He had watched, let the arguments run, and said nothing that revealed any preference. This had surprised some of the officials who were accustomed to his usual directness. But the silence served a purpose. The debate had needed to exhaust itself, and the people in it had needed the unusual freedom to say everything they believed without calculating how their king wanted them to answer.
What did surprise him was Edith.
She had not spoken once in three days. Not a single comment, not a single interjection. The Pearl of the Northern Region was arguably the only person in the room with the tools to go directly at Barov and hold her ground, and she had been silent as furniture.
He had arranged for Edith’s placement in the newly created Ministry of Defense deliberately. It was the right structure: external military affairs and the Security Bureau under one department, which separated her work clearly from Barov’s without forcing them into direct conflict over the same territory. She had come from Barov’s office, where she had been his assistant, and had done well there — but the transition needed to be clean. She had started essentially from the beginning in the new department, in a clerk’s position, serving as Roland’s personal adviser. It was a different kind of position from what she had held before, and the lack of public status was intentional. He trusted that someone with her particular kind of intelligence would understand the reasoning: a clean slate, an uncontested path upward, a chance to earn authority in the new department without being shadowed by her previous role.
But allowing Barov to run the conversation unchallenged for three days was not what he had expected from her.
Roland glanced across the room at Edith. She was turning her Chaos Drink slowly between her palms, eyes on the middle distance — as though Barov’s dominance of the room were a feature of the architecture, present but unremarkable.
Strange woman.
He shrugged and turned to Scroll. “Show me today’s meeting records.”
“Of course.” Scroll set down her quill and slid the notebook across the table. “Everything’s here.”
Three days of discussion had produced a shared assessment of the intelligence, at least.
Hill Fawkes had ranked the three pieces of news by urgency: the harassment of the Eastern Region was the most pressing, the situation in the Holy City next, and Otto Luoxi’s imprisonment last. This ranking told the assembled officials something important: the eldest son of the Luoxi Family was not, for the moment, in mortal danger. A new king needed his three great families’ support, and even if Appen Moya wanted the Luoxi line broken, he would need a year or two to arrange it carefully. Otto would suffer in custody, but he would survive.
The report about the Holy City’s instability had been corroborated by the garrison’s communication from the Northern Region. The meeting’s consensus was that it was genuine. Even the City of Glow was stirring now, which suggested the Moya family might be positioning itself against the church — hardly surprising, given how long the Moyas had despised the church and how much wealth Hermes had accumulated over centuries.
As for the harassment in the Eastern Region — the general view was that it meant covert provocation: funding rebels, supplying grievances, setting small fires and stepping back. No one around the table believed Appen would dare march an army directly on Graycastle. The military arithmetic was too unfavorable. But a rebellion within Graycastle’s borders, however weak, could not be ignored. Even a small fire needed stamping out, and this was why Hill had listed it first.
Chapter 846: Factional Conflicts
Translator: TransN Editor: Meh
“Otto Luoxi is our ally and he deserves better. They’ve harassed the Eastern Region this time, next time they may dare to cross the boundary and invade the kingdom!” Brian said loudly. “Your Majesty, please give the order! No matter how far the enemy is, the First Army will crush them for you!”
“Invading us?” Barov raised his eyebrow. “If the army of the Kingdom of Dawn could enter Graycastle so brazenly, why on earth would you be here?”
“My lord, it’s just an example—”
“A baseless example won’t convince anybody,” Barov interrupted. “More importantly, why do we need to involve the army in a problem that could be solved by diplomacy? Do you remember His Majesty’s primary goal for this year? Do you think the eldest son of a noble family from the City of Glow would be more significant than our king’s enthronement?”
For a moment, Brian was speechless.
“Alright… let’s take a break.” Roland clapped his hands. “Eat something before we continue.”
As the clapping sounded, a servant waiting at the doorway entered wheeling a trolley. Some officials in the hall started to help themselves to snacks while others went to the bathroom. Thus, the tension within the room subsided.
This scene had come up repeatedly in their discussions during the three-day meeting. After Roland had received the intelligence reports from the spy, Hill Fawkes, and the garrison in the Northern Region, he had summoned all of the relevant officials to the castle to plan out a solution to the current situation.
Roland could clearly see two different factions forming among his men. The City Hall faction, headed by Barov, was more conservative. They preferred to concentrate on the development of the kingdom and were more focused on the Western Region, and they planned to gradually expand the population and increase the strength of Graycastle until the unification of the kingdom. To make the King of Dawn, Appen Moya, pay the price for his action was in their plan, but it was not considered urgent.
The other faction consisting of the First Army under the leadership of Brian, favored by the Adviser Department, was more aggressive. But they were not as united and as close as the City Hall faction. The men of the First Army were influenced by Brian, who boasted of new concepts like “defending against the enemy abroad”, “acting before the enemy even notices,” and “striking the enemy unprepared”, so they insisted on taking immediate action, delivering retribution upon the Kingdom of Dawn and saving the detained Otto Luoxi. As for the members of the Adviser Department, they probably chose to stand with the First Army for their own benefit as they had no way to earn themselves rewards unless there was a war to fight.
Additionally, some members of the Adviser Department were from Longsong Stronghold, so they were not as familiar with Neverwinter as the men of City Hall. More often than not, their ideas were refuted and unappreciated, making their voice seem even less important.
Hence, there were several times that Brian’s speech was countered by Barov easily. Honestly, in terms of eloquence, Brian was far behind Barov, so he had already done a great job of expressing his ideas in front of the ministers in the meeting so far. After all, Brian, the leader of the Gun Battalion, was young. He grew up as an ordinary villager of Border Town, less tested and inexperienced, which was something that could be seen from his report of the defensive battle in the snow mountain.
Roland had kept silent during the discussions. For the moment, the aggressive side was at a disadvantage and was losing control of the debate. To Roland’s surprise, Barov’s ability had grown greatly in the past three years. He might have been well trained while serving the previous Treasurer and all he needed was a chance to take off.
The only thing that surprised Roland was that Edith had made no speech and kept silent over the three days of the meeting.
Among the officials, she, the Pearl of the Northern Region, might be the only one qualified to argue with Barov.
To prevent internal conflict between Edith and Barov, who both liked to compete against each other, Roland had deliberately set up a new department in City Hall, the Ministry of Defense, specializing in external military affairs. This new department included the Adviser Department as one of its subordinate organizations. The Ministry of Defense would be responsible for the external military affairs and the Security Bureau. In this way, the framework of Graycastle’s brute strength was roughly finalized.
As expected, Roland was the minister of this new department, just like he was for the other departments. Edith used to be Barov’s assistant, learning to deal with affairs in the City Hall. She had done her job very well, but it was not until now that she got her formal approval and became a member of the new department. To be given a such an honor so easily would be so great that no other reward would be a match in the future and other newcomers would take her as an example, believing that they were also qualified to get such a title easily.
After all, times had changed. Roland was no longer in a shortage of people and would not appoint anyone of little competence to a major position again.
So, Edith now worked as a clerk in the Ministry of Defense, playing the role of an adviser to serve Roland.
Roland believed that a person like the Pearl of the Northern Region would never feel frustrated at such an arrangement which could give an impression that she had to start all over again to gain power and that she would surely understand his intentions. Although she left the chief’s office, she earned a chance to be promoted without interference. So, it was very unusual for her to keep quiet on an occasion that fit her skills and interests, and let Barov control the topic.
…
Roland glanced at Edith, who looked relaxed as she enjoyed her Chaos Drink. It was as if Barov’s imposing manner held no interest to her.
“What a strange woman,” he thought to himself.
He shrugged and said to Scroll beside him, “Show me today’s meeting records.”
“Okay,” Scroll said as she put down the quill and handed a notebook over. “Here’s all the records.”
After three days of discussion, they had come up with a mutual conclusion to the information Roland had received.
Hill Fawkes, who had sent back the secret messages, had placed the three pieces of news in order according to their importance. That meant the enemy harassing the Eastern Region required the most concern and the thing about Otto in custody was less important. Given that, the meeting members believed that the eldest son of Luoxi Family was not, for the moment, in mortal danger. Appen Moya, who was new to his throne, still needed the support of the three big families.
Even though Appen Moya wanted to replace the Luoxi Family, he needed time, and they thought he would need at least a year or two. Otto might suffer in the prison, but he would survive.
The news Roland got about the volatile situation in the Holy City was confirmed by the report from the garrison in the Northern Region, so the meeting members thought it must have been true. Now even the City of Glow started to stir, they thought that Moya family might also be aiming at the church. The Moya hated the church, and they were eager for the large amount of wealth in Hermes that the church had collected and saved for centuries.
As for the harassment, the meeting members thought it might refer to secretly provoking and supporting the rebels. Other than that, the things the enemy could do, that was practical, was very little. No one believed that Appen would dare to march his army upon Graycastle, for defeat was nearly guarenteed. But the rebellion truly happened within the domain of Graycastle,
which meant it could not be ignored. No matter how weak the rebels were, their action would cause damage to the kingdom, so it was reasonable for Hill to regard this piece of news as the most important.