Chapter 222: Can I Get a Refund?

Every officer in the room sprang up.

"Commander Trelwick! We handled this poorly. Please calm yourself."

"Sit down!"

Trelwick waved them back into their seats. Then he handed the banner to General Hale.

"Read it."

Hale looked like a kindly, well-fed middle-aged man. No one seeing him for the first time would have guessed that, decades earlier, he had sealed off an entire Crown Marches and ordered the massacre that had shocked the Homeworld Council.

Now his round face flushed, then turned pale.

"That insolent brat!"

Blood surged into his throat. He spat it across the table.

The officers cried out in alarm.

"General! You’re wounded!"

Hale waved a hand.

"There was a sudden disturbance on the Mythic Ancient Road. I rushed in and fell into that woman Marshal Grey’s trap."

"Yes. General Hale returned to the Homeworld to have his injuries treated." Trelwick drew a deep breath, forcing down his anger. "And now Tidecrown has sent this insult to our entire military."

He ordered the banner spread out. Bold lettering filled the cloth.

[For bringing us kills in groups, by day and by night.]

[For serving so selflessly as stepping stones to our success.]

[With sincere thanks from Cassian Vale and all Crown Lords of Tidecrown Province.]

The room erupted. Officers shouted over one another, demanding the slaughter of every Crown Lord in Tidecrown.

Trelwick clapped his hands for silence.

"The next time Cassian Vale returns to the Homeworld, send the Heaven-Rank covert unit. Kill him. To hell with public opinion."

The Homeworld Council’s rules on Lord warfare expressly forbade carrying those conflicts into the Homeworld. Trelwick was angry enough to face the consequences of breaking them.

The major general responsible for Cassian’s intelligence file looked helpless.

"He has never returned to the Homeworld since entering the new sector. Our information suggests he’s been guarding against an attack here from the beginning."

Trelwick frowned.

"Then take his family. Make him come to us. The Crown is so fond of that tiresome family affection."

The major general hesitated.

"Both parents dead. No sister. No property."

Trelwick felt like a dog trying to bite a hedgehog. Every direction hurt, and there was nowhere to get his teeth in.

"Then speed up the descent from the older sectors!" he snarled. "Faster. Whatever it takes!"

——

Third Realm. Highcrest.

"Bringing us kills in groups, by day and by night. Serving so selflessly as stepping stones..."

Edran Frost repeated the words softly.

"That boy never runs out of surprises."

He was impressed. Pleased, too. Yet there was a trace of irritation beneath both feelings.

After a moment, he asked the question that mattered most.

"Can I get a refund?"

To give his beloved son somewhere to retreat, he had spent a considerable sum buying a Marches Command in Cloudrest Province. It was only a Commander’s office, but it had not been cheap.

Who could have expected Cassian to return at the last moment and turn around a battle that had seemed impossible to win?

"The seller was House Crestwell of Southridge," Merrick said at once. "They have some strength, but once we give House Frost’s name, I’m sure they’ll return the money."

Edran frowned.

"You mean to bully them with our position?"

Merrick swallowed his frustration.

"Rest assured, my lord. I’ll settle it neatly. No one will have anything to say against House Frost."

Only then did Edran nod in satisfaction.

Inwardly, Merrick cursed Cassian from head to foot.

He couldn’t care less who ruled Tidecrown. All he knew was that Cassian had made more work for him again.

——

Once Elara confirmed that the banner had been sent, Cassian left the Capital’s administration entirely to Mira.

He had other things to do.

First, he contacted Seraphine.

"Does the name Orion Valcrest mean anything to you?"

He had promised to keep the man’s secret, so he said nothing about Transcendent Moonlit Dominion.

Seraphine looked blank.

"Orion? I’ve never heard of anyone in the family with that name."

"An alias, then. I thought so."

There was nothing more to learn for the moment. He put the matter aside and opened the Worlds Market.

Four Absorption Stones had prices he could just about stomach. Buying all four cost six hundred million Aether.

"Damned expensive."

The Stones were scarce, and Lords could make use of them at any stage of their development. Anyone willing to sell one meant to squeeze the buyer for everything it was worth.

Fortunately, his luck held. Using the four Stones on his Eclipse troops gave him another Grain God Skill Book and another copy of Space Will.

Grain God was for himself this time. He learned it at once. With that skill, his personal attributes could start growing rapidly again.

Space Will left him a choice: Aurelia or the Faerie Dragons.

After a little thought, he chose Aurelia and gave her the book to learn.

Next came the Province’s name.

"Divine Province," Cassian proposed.

Darian was the first to agree. A name that bold suited him perfectly.

Elara was less eager.

"Divine? Isn’t that a little conspicuous? It could draw the Divines’ attention."

With several of the others supporting Cassian, she finally gave a helpless sigh.

"All right. Divine Province it is. But if we ever establish a greater Domain, don’t call it the Divine Domain. That name carries more weight than we can bear."

A Province could be renamed freely. A greater Domain’s name required the Realm’s approval, and the stronger the name, the harsher the trial.

In the common tongue of the myriad races, words such as Divine, Spirit, Immortal, and Demon carried real power. Even Origin Divine Fist would lose much of its force if it became merely Origin Fist.

The Divines’ very name spoke to their strength. Yet even they had failed for years to secure the name Divine Domain.

Cassian only smiled.

"Relax."

Exactly what she should relax about, he kept to himself.

Tidecrown officially became Divine Province.

Then Riftward Marches began its Fortune aggregation.

Darian supplied the Fortune Duel Writ. The arrangement was simple: five hundred Regions, including Riftward, Ironwake, and Greyfen, formed one alliance and challenged the other five hundred. The particular category hardly mattered.

In three days, the five hundred winning Regions would each have at least twelve Fortune.

Crossing ten brought spatial expansion and a series of other changes. As the duel began, cheers rose throughout the Marches. Lords hailed Cassian’s name, delighted by what lay ahead.

With those matters settled, Cassian bought a Legendary Hero Sigil through the Exchange and paid for it.

He let out a quiet breath, then took out the Sigil.

"My fourth Hero. Let’s hope you’re a strong one."