“When do you think the King of Maren will arrive?”

“Well, maybe in fifteen days? I think it should take about thirty days at the latest.”

“As if. It would be a miracle if he arrives anytime within the year. No, actually, he would just send his knights instead of coming personally.”

“Well, that’s true. He should be pissed drunk on the gold coins the merchants have handed over to him with the founding of the country and all.”

The three lords of the northeastern part of the Carls Baggins Peninsula, where the Cape of Pilo was located, conversed in a relaxed manner. Five days ago, they received a letter from Essandra Archivold, the official monarch of the peninsula. The letter asked them to actively cooperate in case the King of Maren arrived to negotiate the ransom of the Holy Empire’s delegation with the pirates. For that very reason, the local lords had gathered at the castle of the Groll territory, which was located closest to the Cape of Pilo.

“The marquis is too harsh. A high priest of the Holy Empire was disgraced by those wicked pirates, shouldn’t she have left the matter to us?”

“Exactly! Does it make sense that she has no trust in the lords loyal to her and the marquisate? Even though the high priest was on their way to attend Maren’s founding ceremony, the kidnapping took place here after all.”

The lords were unhappy. The King of Maren had provided...