Sol tossed the bow to a camouflaged Knight beside her. “Stay behind until they leave and make sure they can’t build a bridge across. If they start going through the forest, retreat and meet us at dead drop 3. Only stay for 4 days max. They should retreat by then.” Sol glanced at the arrow she caught earlier.

Its quality was pristine and the tip razor sharp. Beyond a doubt, Prince Elric was aiming to take down the Reviarra household. If Prince Elric was steadfast on attacking her territory and family, then he shouldn’t blame her for her next actions. Sol’s gaze drifted to the sky peaking through the dense foliage.

As expected, Sol had already started her counter attack. Rather than assault the massive first brigade, she directed her efforts to the capital. In fact, Queen Blonsall was already trying to quell the unrest besieging her.

Queen Blonsall had spent her past few days considering the future rather relaxedly. Two days ago, however, ministers related to the financial market started houding her to take corrective actions for the market. While not the most intelligent woman, Queen Blonsall was well adapted at having qualified advisors to counsel her on complex topics.

She hurried to institute the corrective measures advised by the ministers, yet the situation only continued to deteriorate. Soon, her ministers once again stood in her audience, their expression grim. “Queen Blonsall, the funds allocated for the warfront are no longer enough. The cost of food has skyrocketed in the markets…”

The minister’s voice was unsteady as he started listing off the issues at hand. Queen Blonsall’s eyes widened after each issue came up. She finally raised her hand to silence him. “How are these issues? If there’s not enough allocated, just increase it.” Her imperious tone left no room to wiggle.

Cold sweat started beading on the minister’s forehead as he made a move to kneel on the ground. While slamming his forehead to the ground as punishment, he explained the crux of the issue. “Your Majesty, this subject has been charged with investments and property turnover for the Imperial family for over 20 years. This subject has always diligently researched the investments prior to handing money over, however…”

The man paused as his voice cracked. “Our investments were exchanged as stock in multiple flourishing businesses and the liquid gold on hand has become undervalued due to economic shifts.” Queen Blonsall’s eyes only fogged with confusion. How was any of this relevant to the topic at hand? After seeing the Queen confused, the minister once again slammed his bloodied forehead to the marble floor.

“Your Majesty… This subject invested nearly 30% of Imperial funds into Iridescent.” Queen Blonsall’s complexion whitened at the reveal. Yet, the minister continued. “This subject understands diversity and chose to invest the surplus funds into other companies as well, however when this minister tried to recoup the investments for the war, this subject found the stores emptied. Their shelves were empty and the doors unlocked. This… this subject fears this subject was laid into a trap!”

A hint of fear touched Queen Blonsalls heart as she started to understand the implications. Years of acting allowed her mask to hide her emotions. “Requisition the food on the market under the pretext of war.” The minister wanted to cry but couldn’t. “Your Majesty, Iridescent has already purchased the bulk of food from the merchants. This subject attempted to purchase directly from the source, however was turned away… They… They have already sold their bulk to Iridescent merchants as part of their contract…”

Unable to control her anger any longer, Queen Blonsall grabbed the nearest object she could and threw it at the man groveling. Her insidious words drew a sharp breath from everyone in the throne room. “This Queen is to understand that Iridescent has not only stolen this Queen’s war funds, but also absconded with all food in this Queen’s capital?!” She stood from the throne and descended the stairs until she stood directly in front of the groveling man.

The whimpers of fear leaked from him as he understood the gravity of his error. Despite that, there was a rebellious ache in his heart that refuted his responsibility in the matter somewhat. The minister didn’t exaggerate when he claimed 20 years of service. He was cautious in handling his duties and every aspect he looked at involving the investments were golden.

How could he have known? How could he have known Iridescent had already bulk purchased most of the food in the region prior to the war? How could he have known the various storefronts were all owned behind the scenes by Iridescent? How could he possibly have known that Sol would allow the deployment of war troops before stealing the food from the capital?

His irritated heart wanted to complain however he only felt a cold blade impale him, firmly fixing his torso to the ground. Queen Blonsall only watched the corpse under her blade with a cold anger. There was little she could do now that the money was gone and the food, missing. She issued follow on orders to the shaking ministers.

“Under the Imperial family’s name, collect food from the higher nobles and citizens. They will be repaid after the war.” It was her only move. Without money, the surrounding territories would drag the situation out and retain their food. Sourcing from outside the surrounding territories would take too long. Prince Elric only had the food supply he brought with him and was expecting and resupply within the next 2 days.

Luckily, Queen Blonsall had already sent off the second resupply. If no issues arise, her son would receive those supplies and be good for at least 4 more days. Sadly, not everything goes to plan. With one crisis semi-resolved, another soon attacked.

A runner from the second supply group stumbled into the throne room escorted by three other ministers wearing solemn faces. The group immediately fell to their knees. “Your Majesty! The second supply group was ambushed! The food! The food was destroyed before our very eyes!”

Queen Blonsall fell back into the throne at the news. She could only accelerate the collection of food from the citizens. “Task the capital guards to help collect food from the citizens!” After her tone fell, she noticed the distinct lack of movement in the hall. Her brows furrowed. “Are you disobeying this Queen?!”

The ministers fell to their knees in fear. A representative soon spoke up. “Your Majesty, if we collect all the food from the peasants, it could incite a rebellion! Please retrieve your order!” The other ministers soon followed to repeat the plea. They all understood that pushing the citizenry too hard while their main military was on the march could only end badly.

“Oh? This Queen can see the ministers are allies of justice. Starving the military and this Queen’s son to please the peasants? This is rather eye opening!... Very good. Very good… This Queen will give you one chance. How shall this Queen feed the army then?” Her deadly gaze drifted across the throne room to each minister, yet they remained silent.

The silence only remained for a moment when the representative minister brokered his dangerous suggestion. “Your Majesty… This… This servant suggests withdrawing the army…” His voice petered out and became a near whisper at the end of his statement. Despite that, the idea reached the ears of everyone in the throne room.

Queen Blonsall felt her blood pressure skyrocket at the statement. She didn’t even recognize the suggestion and instead continued her previous order. “Collect the food. Deliver a high speed report to the frontline General. Have him accelerate the march. If this Queen can’t provide the food, then he must loot as he conquers!”

Two days passed before the scout managed to catch up to Prince Elric’s brigade. He was flabbergasted by how long it took him to catch up. What he expected to be a straight route had him backtracking to a junction off the paved road and into a side trail that had clearly fallen into disuse.

The path was overgrown with weeds and the freshly crushed trail was impossible to get lost on. Nearly 600 men had trampled the path and when the runner managed to finally catch up to the brigade, he found the state of the men to be abysmal. The excited and enthusiastic rush the men left with was nowhere to be found.

Rather, he could see fear and despair mixed with hesitance overflowing from the group. In fact, the runner noticed after catching up that the group was moving slower than expected. It was as if the men were reluctant to move forward.

Regardless of his observations, the runner made his way to Prince Elric’s carriage and delivered his report. The runner was soon dismissed and started his return trip to Blonsall Capital. As he exited the rear of the camp, he felt his impression of the Prince improve. Despite the terrible news, Prince Elric maintained his calm regal demeanor.

Needless to say, Prince Elric was entirely acting. Had he been standing and not sitting in his carriage during the report, his legs might have shook from the skyrocketing blood pressure. Without food supplies, his army would start suffering from desertion. After his encounter with Sol, Prince Elric wanted to take the journey at a cautious pace.

As it turns out, there was a village near his troops. It was already along his route and Prince Elric had intended to relieve his stress on whatever or whoever was in his path. With the new requirement to source food from the land, Prince Elric pushed his army on.

Hidden within the forest and tracking the army, Sol and her party also heard the runner’s report. Sol’s spiritual awareness withdrew back into herself and a clever light flickered through her eyes. She then met An’s gaze and the two seemed to read the other’s mind. Her gaze then drifted to the other Knights in her group. “Our group will divide in two. The first group will be responsible for dropping ‘Temperamental Bettys’ behind the army. The second will come with me to Alteri village.”