You don't usually expect such a languid atmosphere after such a major battle. There already should have been people hustling about. They should be trying to repair the damage that has happened to the fort. There should be servants here who are cleaning up the place.

  There should be mages fixing what they can with their spells. (Even the weakest of mages has access to a mending spell.). There should at the very least be some kind of an excited atmosphere. After all, these people are supposed to be the victors here.

  The energy of victory is usually translated into useful work. That is the case if the people winning are disciplined enough. Things can also devolve into wild parties done without abandon as well. They usually don't tend to last for long.

  There is nothing like that here. All of the Mayfires are in their rooms as if they are waiting for something to happen. Sadly what they are waiting for is something that I have no idea about. I am not even sure if they are waiting or if it is something that I have conjured up in my mind.

  We know painfully little about the internal politics of the Mayfires. That is another thing that the scholars are not allowed to touch about the Mayfires.

  Well, I am not going to be one to complain about that to the Mayfires. The people here have already been giving me dirty looks for the last couple of days now.

  Well, they know logically that the barrier could not have been held by us. After all, even they must have felt the mana that was being channeled there. That is not something that they can expect a person of the foundation stage to fight off.

  Still, humans are anything but creatures of logic. When they look at me, they are reminded of their destroyed graveyard. They can cope with it better if they have somebody to blame.

  Sadly, I am somebody to take the blame. Well, I would not be worried about it if it was just the opinion of the people here. It is the fact that this particular issue is being fanned that is the problem here.

  We are trained to detect stuff like this. The propaganda that they tell to the commoners. The propaganda of an area gives a good idea of the thought process of the leaders of the region.

  There is a coordinated effort to make me into a villain. To pin the blame of the barrier falling on me. Thankfully I am not stationed here permanently or I might have needed to worry about my life as well.

  After all, the patriarch has been one of our most steadfast allies even in the Mayfire family. If the black mountain was to take on a negative view in the eyes of the people. It would greatly reduce the patriarch's power among his people.

  The fact that nobody is doing any work is proof that they are going against the command of the patriarch. Looks like the command of the patriarch is not as strong as we were led to believe about it.

  This place seems closer to a ghost town than anything else. All of them are there, cultivating or just plain sleeping in their rooms. Not that I (or even Trevor) can disturb the people here. They are a bit too strong to interact with somebody at my power level.

  The only people that I can talk to are the young masters. The young masters of the Mayfire castle are busy right now. They have been tasked with getting rid of the Bloodfire gang in the outer keep.

  Well, the Bloodfire gang is as good as destroyed, so I have no other task to do right now.

  Well, it is kind of pointless to think about the Bloodfire gang now. All the upper echelon of the Bloodfire gang has disappeared from here. Well, it would be more accurate to say that all the vampires have disappeared. The void, the snake and the archer have all disappeared.

  We would have been able to track them if they were using an airship. The three possessed captains and all the people that they have converted have disappeared into the forest. If we could look for them, we would be out there looking for them.

  That would have required the Mayfires to cooperate with us.

  With how they are being right now, there is no chance of them assisting us. Right now, our only hope of capturing the vampires is the reinforcements sent by the guard corps.

  Well, I don't have much hope that they are going to find them. The problems they face are the same thing that the archer's ships faced when they were looking for us. It is just very hard for sensory formations to work in a forest. Even the advanced sensory formations present in the guard corps ships are as good as useless here.

  Well, speaking of the archer's ships. They all have fallen already. The only thing that was holding out till now was the shadow, which had been destroyed yesterday. They are now coming to the Mayfire castle, along with quite a few people from the guard corps.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Well, I don't want to be here, with the threat of an attack from the Mayfire. My injuries are serious enough that every step I take makes me feel like I am walking in a meat grinder. I don't dare to stay off guard here though. That certainly doesn't allow me to heal as peacefully as I would like.

  At least my healing is going well. My burns have finally begun to heal. They are at a stage where they have begun to itch.

  Not that I can scratch myself though. Scratching too vigorously causes my cuts to open up again. They are taking much longer to heal than my burns. The reason for that is the blood mana that is present in the cut. The blood mana absorbs all the vital mana I throw at it. If I were to throw my blood mana at it, the mana begin to fight with each other.

  That is just making my injuries worse. That means that I have to keep letting it heal naturally. At least I now have the benefit of the wounds being covered by bandages. These have been put on me by a proper medic as well this time. They are holding pretty well. I might even be able to fight in it. I don't want to test that though.

  The only reason that I am here right now is that the patriarch has summoned me to this place. Don't ask me why the man has called on me. All I know is that I am supposed to be in his room in the next five minutes.

  I would say that the man should have been more than busy, trying to get his people into action. After all, they are right now on the verge of a disaster. The only way that they will survive is to be ready for a war.

  To explain it in brief, the Mayfires are not exactly popular in their locality. Neither the pirates like them nor do their neighbors. They already circle the Mayfire castle like a pack of rabid wolves. The only thing that is keeping them at bay is the knowledge that the Mayfire castle is impenetrable.

  The Mayfire castle was damaged quite a bit in this attack. Let's just say, that quite a few enemies of the mayfires are going to attack the castle.

  Even right now, there must be multiple factions in the Soldar plains that are looking to attack them. I am sure if I could access a sensory formation, I would find multiple scouting parties already here. The only thing that is preventing them from doing this is the ships of the guard corps.

  The ships are not really that many, but they are certainly well-manned. There is also the fact that nobody wants to challenge the hex mountain. Attacking a guard ship tends to escalate things to dangerous places.

  On top of that, I think that there is even somebody important from the head office on those ships. Trevor doesn't want to tell me, but the fear on the man's face is enough proof of that.

  Well, the Mayfires cannot rely on us forever. After all, the more they rely on us, the more power we will have over them. I would have expected the Mayfires to already begin their work. To reestablish their bases and defenses against an invasion. To hunt these scouting parties at the very least. Right now nothing like that is being done.

  Well, I guess I should explain why I am out here in the inner keep when there is nothing here for me to do. I am not here by choice, I am going to the office of the patriarch. This time it is a proper office, based on what I can tell from having seen around me.

  The path to his office is surrounded by mosaics. I can't place most of the scenes present. The history of the Mayfires is a bit of a mystery to me.

  They do look pretty impressive though. It must have cost them quite a bit to make these. Entering his office, I finally see the man's position among the Mayfires.

  Looking at the room, I remember Jacob Starfall's room of all places.

  The things that he has here as trophies must belong to all of the mayfires, though. Based on the reports I have on the man, he is not one to flaunt his achievements like that.

  "Well, I would normally give you a detailed explanation of each trophy in the room. Each of them can be considered to be a significant victory for us.", the man speaks. There is a sigh in his voice as he says this. "We don't have the time for that today though."

  "I greet you, patriarch.", I reply, bowing down.

  "Well, can you tell who is coming from the guard corps.", the man speaks. "I know that somebody from the head office is here."

  "I don't know who it is, patriarch. The head office only shares with me what I need to know.", I reply. "I am still on my second mission. There is not much they share with me."

  "Well, then I have one request of you then.", the man speaks. "I am going to be needing a representative to represent me in front of the head office. You are available at this moment, so will you be my representative?"

  "Are you sure, patriarch.", I ask. "Once you make me your representative, it is permanent. You won't be able to pick somebody that would be able to help you against the head office."

  "Well, I have never needed a representative kid. I have always dealt with your head office directly.", speaks the man. "I have been instructed to make you my representative, kid."

  "Who would have commanded you to do something like this.", I ask.

  "I am sure that is not an issue to share it with you, but it is your master.", the man speaks. "He can be considered to be one of our key allies in the hexmountain."

  Well, that certainly explains a few things. The first thing it explains is just how the Mayfires were able to get a mana-controlling barrier.

  As I must have told you before it is very hard to find barriers like this outside of the south of the continent.

  The many powers there don't like to share such technology with the North. It would damage their monopoly too much.

  Somebody like my master would certainly have been a good in-between for the involved parties.

  I am surprised that my master's is that important to them. To think that they would be willing to make me a representative.

  I will explain it in detail later, but it is an important position to give to a guard. Nobody certainly gives it to a guard who is on his second mission.

  "So what do you say, kid.", the patriarch asks. "Will you be my representative?"

  "I agree, though I must warn you that I will not help you much against the head office.", I reply.

  If this is my master's plan, there is no need to go against the man.

  "Well, that is fine.", the man replies. "Now that we have agreed, it is about time that you took your leave. I have quite a bit of chaos to manage now."

  Taking the man's cue, I take my leave.