It didn’t take long before Sol discovered the attack. Over the course of the next month, 6 major distribution centers for Iridescent encountered strange situations that effectively dismantled the building. 3 major fires, two support beam failures, and a dam failure that flooded one of her shops.

Even an idiot could tell Iridescent was under direct attack. Unlike last time, Sol recognized these strikes were more direct and less forgiving. The previous attempts to bait her out stressed on malpractice and injury while the new attacks directly targeted Iridescent assets.

Although the strikes were spread out over different territories, Sol found the assaults naively hidden. Anyone who truly wanted to blend into the background and hide their source would strike an injury amongst their own area as well.

The mere fact that the public facilities that were encroaching on Lunar Supply were unharmed were enough to tip Sol off. She put aside her next task and called for Sir Leory. The Knight was efficient and responded to the call minutes later.

“Sir Leory, how many of your men are capable of negotiating?”

“Do you mean for business specifically?”

“Not quite, I need men capable of negotiating terms with bandits, thugs, local militia, or even farmers.”

Sir Leory ran through the men in his reservoir until a few came to mind. He listed each name off one by one. “Those men come from a background similar enough to recruit and negotiate terms.”

“Good. Call them here. This Lady has an opportunity for them if they’re willing to accept it.”

Though curious, Sir Leory didn’t ask any questions and summoned the 7 men before Sol. She glanced over each of them and recognized three of them from the team that was ambushed with her in Dominatic Forest.

“This Lady’s assets are being attacked in different territories and this Lady requires men to defend them. This Lady is willing to provide funds for each of you to raise a defensive force and lead it long term. This will not constitute removing your Knightage, nor will it mean you’re leaving the Reviarra’s employment. This Lady is only providing you the chance to raise your own teams and lead them. If you choose to agree, remain here. For those who believe they’re unsuited for the task, you can go back to your tasks. This is an opportunity, however the danger involved is just as real. This Lady won’t force anyone into this.”

She expected at least one of the men to back down, however she was surprised to find eager eyes glancing back at her from each of them. She smiled at the result and stood from her desk with documents in hand. Each Knight received a location and fund allocation along with the site.

Included with the package were reporting requirements, limitations to their activities, and responsibilities for each area. Surprisingly, the packages were different from each other. Although the Knight’s didn’t fully understand why there were such differences, they accepted the opportunity graciously and left to prepare for the journey.

Sir Leory watched the backs of the men as they left. Upon the door closing, his curiosity got the best of him. “Lady Reviarra, would you be willing to tell me why the specifics for each area were so different?”

Sol sat back in her seat and shuffled around a bit to get comfortable. She wasn’t surprised by Sir Leory’s question. In fact, she was rather surprised by the silent acceptance each Knight left with. She initially chalked it up to their rigid training, however Sir Leory’s question made her second guess that.

“Iridescent is no longer a farming company. It’s more than a distributor. More than a purchaser. More than a legal backer, bank, infrastructure company, and it’s certainly more than just a company. The different territories have their own specializations and laws associated with them. Some territories are unable to maintain a standing army due to historical reasons while others are unable to sell certain products because the governing body maintains an agenda. In short, each area requires a different approach to protecting the assets inside it. If a standing army is illegal, then recruiting the local thugs or gangs would be a good alternative. Defending a warehouse requires different considerations to defending a storefront. In the end, those packages I gave them are suggestions and tips. In the end, it’s up to them to build their own force in the area.”

Sir Leory was able to understand where Sol was coming from, however he was somewhat confused as well. “Is the Lady trying to develop forces outside of the Reviarra influence?” Big brown eyes blinked in surprise at the Knight clearly surprised.

“Yes. That’s a very good inference you just made, Sir Leory. Father was already accused of raising an army by Prince Elric. This means the Knight’s we’ve already been approved for is as large as it will ever be while King Blonsall remains on the throne. If we grow it anymore, then King Blonsall will have an official reason to take action against both father and the Reviarra household. In that case, the only recourse we’re left with is to build an external force outside the control of the Reviarra household, yet still reliant upon it. This Lady hopes that each Knight Sir Leory recommended is trustworthy, however even if they’re not, it’s unlikely those men will turn rogue after receiving Iridescent’s funding. Without extended financial support, those men will lose the ability to control the forces below them and thus should remain under Iridescent’s control. In the end, this Lady is providing them a chance to show their loyalty and obtain an unofficial promotion at the same time.”

“So you’re trying to raise a dissociated army? Will they be able to defend the Iridescent properties?”

“Who knows? This only provides a valid opportunity should anyone issue an inquiry against us. The efficacy will be up to the skill of those Knights and their leadership. This Lady will always hope for the best, however it’s this Lady’s job to prepare for the worst. Speaking of, this Lady has a job for you as well.”

“Oh? How can I help you?”

“Lunar Supply picked this method first, so there’s no longer a need to hold back. Take a team and start destroying Lunar Supply facilities. Focus on their warehouses and transport vehicles. In fact, if you can take out their reserves without notifying them, that would be best.”

After saying as much, Sol tossed a few stacks of thin leather circle cutouts. Each leather piece had a symbol burned into its center. Sir Leory was able to make out spider web-like features just under the surface of the material.

His gaze carried a heavy question with it and Sol spoke a moment later with pride. “It’s the results of this Lady’s practice and research. This Lady hasn’t been able to improve your leather armor, however creating weapons seems to be up this Lady’s alley. That piece of leather can be stuck against the side of something. When you’re ready to detonate it, smash the center rune and it will discharge into whatever’s attached. Use them to destroy Lunar Supply’s facilities. This Lady has a surplus of them.”

Her last statement was said with a tinge of helplessness. Despite spending another solid month on practice, she only managed to stave off the destruction of the material. The moment the rune is agitated with a force against it, it instantly collapses and discharges all the magic inside it into the circular strip of leather.

It’s a failure as a weapon and a failure as a defensive item, however Sol saw a use case in demolition. As if to demonstrate its use, Sol took one of the leather coins from Sir Leory and stuck it against the front of a steel shield hanging on the wall.

Her tiny palm smashed against the rune embedded into it and a dull blue flickered once before discharging in a spider web pattern across the coin and into the shield. The leather coin dissolved into dust and the shield behind it warped and discolored at a visible pace.

Seconds later, the shield fell from the wall and crumpled itself on landing. Sir Leory glanced between the wrecked shield and the stack of leather coins in his hand. There was a real fear in his heart that the items might misfire and hurt him. “Will… Will this kill a human?”

“Obviously… Treat them gently. I’ll leave it up to you to find creative uses for them. They’re activation method is pretty straight forward, so they’re a rather simple weapon to utilize. Try not to stack them on top of each other too high or lay anything on top of them that might set them off.”

Sir Leory’s face blanched as he listened to Sol’s rather carefree attitude. Seeing his face, she chuckled and walked to the door. “Sir Leory, it takes a bit of force to activate each coin. You don’t need to worry about the typical manhandling of them. Just treat them like you would treat glass.”

Saying so, she left the office to the Knight. While walking away, Sol’s smile faded and her thoughts started churning. With both Prince Elric making political moves to tackle the Reviarra prestige and Prince Roland acting on Iridescent, Sol felt as if she were in a pincer attack.

Her only solace was that the attacks were too disjarred to be teamwork. In other words, it wasn’t a pincer attack, it was just a war on two fronts. Until the two Princes teamed up once more, Sol wasn’t too worried. She was confident neither man was strong enough to defeat her.

Rather, her worries revolved around the mysterious 3rd party. Despite her best efforts, information about them was abnormally thin. She couldn’t find anything about where they came from, when they first appeared, the depth of their strength, where they were located, or the strength of their finances.

The lack of information was what Sol feared the most. An unknown enemy that even An was wary of was something Sol held a deep caution towards.