From my carriage, I retrieved the old map of Etronia that I had been using for reference for the past several years. I placed the map on a small table as the rest of the group gathered around me.

  The map was broken into three regions denoting the administrative duchies of Etronia. These regions were Etron, governed by House Polaris; the Northern Realms, governed by House Vulpa; and the Lowlands, governed by House Mandelbrot. Geographically, the Northern Realms were located to the north of the continent while Etron was to the southeast, and the Lowlands was to the southwest. The city of Etron was located in the northern section of the region of Etron, placing it in an equidistant position between Dracmead and Fulvang, the capitals of the other two regions.

  I cleared my throat and began speaking. “Our next step is to gain power. We only have a year before the King dies and the Etronian Civil War is supposed to start. To that end, we need to move fast. Beltane, I need you to go to Dracmead and deal with my uncle, Olofir Vulpa.”

  “Really?” Beltane said, blinking in shock. “Do you really want me to overthrow House Vulpa by myself? Don’t you think a northern lord should be present when Duke Olofir is deposed?”

  “Eh, that won’t be necessary,” I said, shrugging. “As long as Richter Drac is present, everything will go smoothly.”

  “Excuse me,” Haydith said. “What are you talking about? Who is Richter Drac?”

  “He’s the rightful Duke of the Northern Realms, though he doesn’t know it,” I said. “House Vulpa massacred his family, House Drac, which is the progenitor house of the Feldrasts and the Vulpas. The current government of the Northern Realms is a house of cards, and Beltane’s job will be to knock over the first card.”

  Beltane squinted, deep in thought, before saying, “Okay, I understand. I just need to find Richter Drac, currently going by Richter Thorn, and tell him that he’s the true Duke of the Northern Realms. Uh, Thale, do you know where he is right now?”

  “Well…” I said with a sardonic smile on my face, “I haven’t exiled him from the City of Northwind yet, so he should still be there.”

  With a confused look, Miriam caught my attention, asking, “Why would you exile him from Northwind?”

  “In the original timeline, Count Thale Feldrast exiled him from Northwind in 624 CA as a favor to Duke Olofir.”

  “But that’s four years from now,” Miriam said, still confused. I could tell she still didn’t understand how I knew all of this. “Wait…” Miriam said, fear filtering into her expression. “Count Thale Feldrast? 624? Are you saying that father is going to die in the next four years?”

  “Yes,” I said, suddenly aware that I had shared too much information at once. “In the original timeline, Thale became the Count of Northwind in 622 CA.”

  “Can he be saved, Thale?” Miriam asked.

  “Maybe,” I said noncommittally. If Armond wanted to die on some godforsaken battlefield fighting against a nameless orc tribe, I wouldn’t stop him.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  From his position near the burning fire, David said, “If your dad’s gonna bite it, you’d better take his place. The First Army needs someone with a title of count or above to function.”

  “Is that how that works?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah,” David said. “Troop movements of any significant size must be approved by a high noble. I’m the commander of my battle-company, but I’m not allowed to move my guys more than ten miles in any direction without telling your dad. Fun, isn’t it?”

  “Our country is so weird,” Haydith said.

  From my vantage point as a member of the nobility, the system seemed fine. It advantaged me, after all.

  “Anyway, Beltane, you’ll come south once Uncle Olofir has been removed from power, meet up with Eadric in Tethyr, and then regroup with us in either Fulvang or Hinnom depending on how long it takes. We’ll be in the area around Fulvang for the next three months, then we’ll be moving on to Hinnom.”

  David grimaced, asking, “And what will the rest of us be going in that time frame?”

  I pressed my fingertip against Etron on the map and began dragging it to the southwest. “Our trip will take us to Redgrave, then Fulvang, then Hinnom. As we go, we’ll take out nests of monsters and Labyrinths, gaining levels and equipment the whole way. By the time we’re done, I intend for Haydith and me to be above level 40.”

  David nodded in understanding. He seemed to agree with my assessment that three months would be enough time to reach that level. “I like the sound of that. We’ll be able to regroup with the First Army in Fulvang. My lieutenants will be able to help us clear out any labyrinths in the area. The only problem is that we have to find them. They’re not exactly marked on the map. But…” David chuckled, “let me guess. You know the locations of all the labyrinths in the area?”

  “Yep,” I said, smiling. “All twenty-three.”

  “That’s just not fair,” David said.

  “Unfortunately, our enemy is just like me,” I said, my smile becoming a grimace. “Once we’re done in Fulvang, I will briefly become a student at Hinnom and speed run some of the quests there. That should be enough to get me into A-Tier.”

  “That sounds impossible,” David said, “but an omniscient bastard like you might be able to make it possible.”

  “From you, I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said.

  After a few more minutes of discussion, Beltane decided that he should leave as soon as possible. He packed his carriage, and he was ready to go within less than an hour. Just as Beltane was preparing to leave, I approached him.

  “Here,” I said, handing him several sheets of paper.

  “What’s this?” Beltane asked.

  “Those are instructions. The first page tells you how to convince Richter that he is the last remaining son of House Drac. The next few pages walk through the best method to get Richter to confront Olofir Vulpa. The yearly Festival of the Dragon will be held in forty days. You’ll have the best results if the confrontation happens there.”

  Beltane chuckled as he looked through the papers. “The extent of my student’s knowledge never fails to amaze me. I’ve never been much of a mentor, have I?”

  “You were the best mentor this world could give me,” I said without hesitation.

  “Thale, I don’t know when we’ll meet again. If this is the last time we ever speak, I want to tell you that I’m proud of you and everything you’ve done. I know you will reach an even higher peak, but…”

  “Please don’t talk like that,” I said. “We will meet again, I’m sure of it. For now, just say, ‘I’ll see you later.’”

  “Okay,” Beltane said with a sad smile on his face. “I’ll see you later.”

  Beltane jumped onto the seat of his carriage. Within seconds, he had disappeared into the foliage.