1. Well, we managed to slog our way to the [cdb]encampment. Now we just have to finalize [cdb]our plan.
  2. Why is it so important to hold part of the Airmid [cdb]riverbank again?
  3. Why is it so important to hold part of the Airmid [cdb]riverbank again?
  4. I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to cross over [cdb]into Alliance territory before it's too late?
  5. I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to cross over [cdb]into Alliance territory before it's too late?
  6. If we do, we risk the enemy cutting off our retreat. We are here to break their siege, not fall prey to one.
  7. If we don't conduct this rescue carefully, we'll be [cdb]worse off than we started. We must be smart.
  8. And that means establishing at least one bridgehead [cdb]in addition to the Great Bridge of Myrddin.
  9. Yeah, OK. That makes sense.
  10. Yeah, OK. That makes sense.
  11. The minister is a general of much endurance. He will be holding out until we arrive.
  12. He is more than a warrior and a maker of strategies. It would lack wisdom to be making an enemy of him.
  13. Yep, that's my father! No one can beat him!
  14. I just hope I can be half the warrior he is one day.
  15. I think even one and a half Bergliezes would be more [cdb]than enough. Not that it's any of my business.
  16. So what are we to do about House Gloucester? They have indicated a willingness to swear fealty, [cdb]for whatever that pittance of a promise is worth.
  17. That leaves only Phlegethon and Ordelia, and I doubt [cdb]very much that anyone would take us to task for [cdb]dismantling them.
  18. The head of House Ordelia is one of the Five Great Lords. Dismantling them, as you say, would hamper Her Majesty's ability to rule effectively in the future.
  19. Consider, for example, why we chose not to dismantle House Aegir.
  20. Because I belong to House Aegir and you did not [cdb]have to!
  21. Ah, of course. You are happy so long as they install [cdb]successors who are willing to toe the line.
  22. That is the plan, yes. House Phlegethon, however, [cdb]must be disposed of.
  23. Their lord, Acheron, has leveraged his control of the Great Bridge to do whatever he well pleases.
  24. I have a suspicion the Alliance desires him gone as [cdb]badly as we do.
  25. Lorenz Gloucester and Lysithea von Ordelia were Her Majesty's schoolmates, yes?
  26. They may be more willing to listen to reason than [cdb]the others.
  27. Sure, but Claude went to the Officers Academy too.
  28. And he's taken a firm stance against the Empire. Do you really think this can be handled via [cdb]diplomacy?
  29. That will depend on precisely what their [cdb]demands are.
  30. But first, we must retake the Great Bridge and [cdb]extricate Count Bergliez and his troops.
  31. Let us focus our energies on that for the time being.
  32. Agreed. And it would behoove us all not to overlook [cdb]how devious Claude can be just because we went to [cdb]the academy together.
  33. If he's not willing to come to the table, I won't [cdb]hesitate to meet him on the battlefield instead.
  34. Swear not to hesitate.
  35. Express hesitation.
  36. I won't hold back either.
  37. I won't hold back either.
  38. Sometimes you have to kill old friends in this line of [cdb]work. That's just how it is.
  39. Sometimes you have to kill old friends in this line of [cdb]work. That's just how it is.
  40. As a mercenary, I've had to fight friends more than [cdb]once. It's...never easy.
  41. As a mercenary, I've had to fight friends more than [cdb]once. It's...never easy.
  42. Of course it's your job, so you do it. But when you [cdb]close your eyes at night, you can't help but wonder [cdb]why it had to happen that way.
  43. Of course it's your job, so you do it. But when you [cdb]close your eyes at night, you can't help but wonder [cdb]why it had to happen that way.