“...with that we can now begin phase three. They’ve been given until the end of the week to respond.”

Tess just finished briefing the members of the council. The council was made up of the various leaders of Wolf’s group, five of them being the former leaders of the now assimilated bandit groups. Wolf himself hadn’t arrived yet, but he instructed Tess to get everyone present up to speed until he did.

“Questions?”

Tess was greeted with silence. It was expected, they all had their own attendants who probably already briefed them.

“Alright then.”

Tess gathered his reports and went to sit at his desk in the corner of the room. He wasn’t officially a member of the council, but he held too much power to not be part of the meetings in some capacity.

As soon as Tess went to his desk the council members began boasting to each other by their accomplishments and their achievements. They were all fairly prideful people. Even though each of them accepted Wolf as their leader, they all saw themselves as the inevitable second-in-command. Saber, usually one of the loudest boasters, was unusually quiet. His silence was noticed by one of the other council members and he decided to throw a jab at him.

“Saber. I didn’t see you around this time. I thought you were the biggest contributor here?”

Saber didn’t humor the man with a response, he merely scoffed at him. Another one of the council members heard the ‘conversation’ and hopped in.

“Was this small garrison too much for you and your men to handle ?”

The comment irked Saber, “Step outside and we’ll see if I can handle you.”

No one at the table was weak, they were all powerful in their own right. Nevertheless, only a select few would have the balls to challenge Saber to a fight. Only one would do so confident of winning. The one who made the comment wasn’t confident, but she couldn’t back down. She could tell the rest of the table was listening.

“Enough.”

Just as things were getting heated Wolf walked into the room, “You both know the rules.”

He sat down at the head of the table and immediately go to business, “Phase 3 has now begun. As you all know, I’ll be too preoccupied to keep tabs on you. I still expect you all to continue to fulfill your roles exceptionally. No slip ups. If something unforeseen does happen, speak to Zar or Tess. They will be in control in my absence. If it is absolutely necessary then you are allowed to approach me, but otherwise just follow through with your orders. I shouldn’t need to remind what is at stake here.”

Looking around the room, Wolf gauged the council members response. They looked like they understood.

“Alright, that is all”

The council members stood up and left. Wolf stayed behind to talk to Tess. He had a few things he needed to wrap up.

—————

Three Days Later

“People of Arkthur, do not accept this treatment. Look at them, those who swore to protect you have left you to die. They continue to hide behind their walls in comfort unconcerned. They’ve never cared about you, they only care about your gold…”

Wolf walked towards the house he had taken for his own, mentally exhausted. He had given seven speeches today. After each speech he walked into the crowd and talked with the common folk. On the first day, they didn’t receive his speeches too warmly. They were angry at the nobles and merchants that hid behind Central’s wall, but their fear of the bandits was stronger. Overtime however, he had managed to convince them that the bandits weren’t there as raiders, but as liberators. It helped that after the bandits took the outer rings, they started offering aid. They healed the sick and injured, they fixed and refurbished damaged houses, they even began repopulating certains shops so that the people could return to somewhat normal lives.

Of course they didn’t let word of this reach the central rings. At least, not in full. To the people in Central the rumor was that the bandits were galvanizing and arming the degenerates in the slums to take over Central. Their spies made sure every person heard the story just like that. Wolf in the meantime kept spreading positive propaganda, all while donning the robes of the Otger military academy. His expert medallion clear for all to see.

He stepped into his house ready to lounge on his couch, but he was stopped by the sight of two people he didn’t expect to see.

He sighed, “For both of you to be here something must have happened.”

Tess spoke first, “Yes sir, Master Gluvdaad successfully broke through the encirclement last night and escaped towards the east. He took the nobles with him.”

Wolf was unmoved, “And?”

Zar spoke this time, “Central briefly had no leadership, but one of our spies has taken command.”

That information mildly peaked his interest, “Taken command of the people or the military?”

“Both.”