***
Two weeks later.
The turning seasons came as Tobias made his way to Carlisle. Riding swiftly, he made it close to the southern region's capital, ruled by the House of Adelard.
The flowers were blossoming on the first day of the second week of spring, and the weather in the south was getting warmer. As far as the eye could see, Tobias couldn't find a single pile of snow left.
Tobias was still riding at a slow pace. He was no longer hurrying to reach Carlisle after seeing his pamphlets spread all over Equestria five days ago.
The young man stopped his horse beside a wooden signpost often used to deliver orders. The command to capture Tobias Archibald was clearly displayed. The reward for the arrest of Tobias alive was 1,000,000 gold coins.
"They sketched my face badly," Tobias whispered.
The villagers who were looking at the flyer wouldn't have guessed that Tobias was behind them, as Tobias was dressed in disguise, with a cloth cove
The Carlisle castle doors opened, revealing the stunning scenery inside. The fountains as well as the gardens inside the house were clearly displayed before Tobias. Leonora invited the young man to discuss Atrea's agreement with the south in her study.The location of the study was on the second floor, where her father used to work before as the leader of the House of Adelard. However, the brave and mighty man died at the hands of Archibald's troops.Along the way to Leonora's study, the man occasionally saw photos of Jeremias Adelard displayed on the walls of every palace hallway he passed.Leonora occasionally looked back, watching Tobias look at her father's pictures. She nodded. Jeremias was killed while trying to recapture the escaped Tobias."The whole city no longer cares about that. Adelard's relationship with Ludwig became severely strained after that incident," Leonora said."Is it because you failed to arrest me?" Tobias asked."N
Right after having a long conversation with Leonora in her study, the woman stood up from her seat and walked over to Tobias.She invited him to take a short walk to enjoy the scenery of Carlisle. Tobias looked briefly at the glass window behind Leonora's desk as orange began to change the color of the sky, a sign that it was already dusk.Tobias looked back at Leonora, agreeing to her invitation. The two left the office, heading down to the first floor, where they met the commander of the city's army."Is the discussion over?" the man of armour asked.Leonora shook her head with both eyes, watching the man who stopped right before her, "Not yet. We haven't even discussed it a little. We'll start seriously talking about it when the city representatives come."The man before Leonora nodded his head, fully understanding what she had just said. The woman bid him farewell, stepping side by side with Tobias, her guest.The Carlisle palace doors o
***Three days later.Tobias was waiting on the third-floor balcony of Carlisle Castle. He looked outside and watched as carriages from various cities began to arrive.Actually, the convoy of city representatives had been coming since the day before yesterday. The number of city representatives who came every day increased until the peak was today.Leonora said the southern region has 12 cities, four large cities and the rest small towns. So the number of city representatives attending the event totalled 11, one along with Leonora.The House of Adelard's leading lady had also said that the city leaders in the southern region were led by nobles. That's why she didn't call the nobles because she thought they were already represented by the city representatives.There was a soft knock on the Tobias' room door, and a maid came as Leonora had ordered. Leonora told the maid to arrive at Tobias' room and said all the city representatives had arrive
Tobias was still standing and looking at the city representatives. Leonora was the first to stand among them all, followed by Beatrix, who was near Tobias. The young man smiled widely at their response. Not only did the two of them agree, but one by one the town representatives began to stand up after exchanging glances. They agreed to join Jiyu after hundreds of years of loyalty to Equestria. This was after careful review. They had initially refused when Beatrix negotiated with each city, but after being told the further impact the loss of Atrea would have on Equestria, they began to think about the option of merging with Jiyu. It was not only security that was a factor in the stability of a kingdom but also food and population stability. If security and food were already lacking, then a region would not have any stability, not even for the population. The option Atrea initiated wasn't so bad. They made the kingdom a model agricultural kingdom, putting food first. By joining Atr
"Take care of yourself, Tobias," Leonora pleaded, saying goodbye to Tobias.She, accompanied by Beatrix and the commander of the city troops, escorted Tobias' departure from Carlisle. The three were at the south gate, with Tobias already on his horse."Where are you heading?" asked Beatrix, curious."There's one more place I want to visit, Leafvile," Tobias replied."Do you want to talk to them about it?" asked Leonora.Tobias rolled his eyes, staring at Leonora, who seemed to be standing in the middle between Beatrix and the man in armor. Tobias drew his lips up, smiling sweetly as they exchanged glances."I hand over the south to you," Tobias said.Speechless, Leonora smiled and nodded slowly. She accepted the request, as well as Tobias' trust in her.No matter how hard things would get, she would do everything she could to complete Tobias' request. The woman was well aware that the situation would be unfavorable right after
***Five days later.There were no significant problems during Tobias' trip from Carlisle to Leafvile. The people in each village Tobias stayed in for a while showed no suspicion of the young man.They were too busy trying to take care of their hungry stomachs rather than paying attention to everyone who came by. This was an advantage for Tobias.Tobias was still sitting firmly on his mount, looking over his shoulder and seeing he was already at the T-junction close to Leafvile.The place was still the same as before, with no significant changes. If Tobias kept going straight, he would arrive in Valestria. If he turned left, he would arrive at the small town of Leafvile."This place hasn't changed much," Tobias said.He was distracted when he heard the sound of horses galloping and tires rolling. The sound was coming from the top of the hill, Leafvile.From afar, Tobias could see two horse-drawn carriages coming down at a stead
This was the first battle of the black armour soldiers of Equestria against Tobias. They never knew what Tobias was capable of, so many casualties were caused by their ignorance."Best option, don't even get closer to the man," said the commander, ordering his men to step back."But how can we win if we don't kill him?" asked one of the black armour soldiers."The longer we wait, the better," said the squad commander.The man had already sent a message to Valestria with a request to send additional troops to Leafvile. The troop commander had nothing to worry about, considering the distance between Valestria and Leafvile was pretty close.They would arrive within fifteen minutes of travel. Now, Tobias was the one in a pinch if he didn't defeat the troops.Tobias opened his eyes, seeing that the Equestrian troops were being clever by not approaching the man. The young man smiled broadly, raising his sword again."So, you chose to wait f
Tobias and the townspeople were already in a village close to Edinburgh. The young man, along with Elisa, was providing for the evacuated townspeople.Due to the lack of supplies for camping, Tobias and Elisa decided to bring people to stay in the village. There were two inns that had different numbers of rooms; the first had twenty, while the second had ten."The rooms are small, but it's enough to fit them all in. One room holds ten people," Elisa said."This is the best for them. If we let them stay in the tents, the threat will be even worse," replied Tobias, standing side by side with Elisa before the first lodge."What happened exactly?" asked Elisa."The war in Atrea actually ended a month ago. Negotiations were successful between Archibald and Valcke," Tobias replied."When winter ended, and the roads were clear of snow, emissaries from Valestria seemed to be trying to travel to Atrea," Tobias continued.Elisa's forehead furro