By making contact with the royal family, he was able to sponsor the member who could best help him—unsurprisingly, the same one he had helped. And in two years, his chosen prince became the new king. Of course, with a little help from him.
At 25, he had basically become one of the kingdom's leading nobles due to his military prowess, economic power, and now with the almost blatant support of the king. But whenever things are going very well, something happens to disrupt them.
It was no different for him; shortly after, at 28, a new danger arose from beyond the sea and nearly drowned the entire continent. There were practically seven more years of fighting, far more brutal than the occasional conflicts that had occurred before, but every crisis carries an opportunity.
The nobles opposed to the Baron's rampant rise and against the king, united and managed to convince the allied territories to appoint him as the overall leader of the conflict, the Marshal of War.
If he managed to suppress or repel the enemy, his kingdom would be more valued; they would gain more prestige simply by being part of it. If he failed, he would be personally held responsible, stripped of his titles and lands, and would weaken a territory that could later be annexed by them. There would still be losses, but they would be far more acceptable from their point of view.
The fact that they managed to survive the enemy attack to do this was not something they could or wanted to consider. They only thought about what would best serve them, without thinking about the negative aspects or not thinking about them in depth (or in the right way).
It might seem unexpected, but the Marshal wasn't the best at dealing with noble politics, but his abilities spoke for themselves. He not only managed to hold back the enemy's relentless advance but even recovered some important points, earning the respect and admiration of several allies. Much to the frustration of the nobles who wished for his downfall.
Seeing him gain even more power, these nobles and those of other allied kingdoms formed a secret alliance to try and undermine the influence of the Marshal, the king, and their growing contingent. They devised a daring plan that could, in theory, destroy the enemy's core.
A plan that relied heavily on the assistance of mages, other users of Aether and "less-regarded" magic, from across the continent.
As expected by the nobles, the Marshal and the king opposed the plan due to the high risk involved, both in terms of preparation and execution, and how they would deal with the outcome. According to the mages allied with the Marshal and the king, even if they succeeded, the damage would be immense, to the point that the earth would be contaminated with stagnant Aether for several years.
For the nobles of the "Secret Union," this was an acceptable risk; after all, the plan wouldn't be carried out in their territories.
So they didn't foresee many problems even if several civilians ended up caught in the middle. "In times of war, sacrifices were inevitable and expected," was how they justified themselves, and the Marshal responded with, "Not when they could be avoided."
Unfortunately, the pressure of the attacks and the threat of a new invasion from the south led to the nobles' plan being chosen and implemented. Not wanting to rely on more than one single card (a very dangerous one), the Marshal requested a separate group to help him develop new weapons and alternative options.
Through the maneuvers of the Union's nobles, the group sent to him was composed mainly of the most problematic, undisciplined, and/or impure magic users.
For him, it didn't matter as long as they helped him, and with the help of this group he created several new weapons: magic bombs, gas bombs, crossbows that used Aether to create arrows, new siege weapons, etc.
He had already created several of these weapons and implemented them in the field since the time he and his group of mercenaries operated only in his home kingdom, but only now could he create them on a large scale.
However, no matter how useful these items were, none of them served as an alternative to the nobles' plan; they could only help in retaking territories. Without options, they had to watch the nobles implement their solution while holding back and pushing the enemy back.
They hadn't counted on internal sabotage from their enemies, which nearly doomed them all. But again, by chance, a group opposed to the nobles had also attempted sabotage at the same time, preventing the ritual from being completed and resulting in heavy losses for the allies.
With the interruption, something unexpected happened; no one knows for sure what exactly it was. It is only known that after the nobles' failure, the group led by the Marshal managed to breach the enemy lines and send a separate elite group composed of various members from the kingdoms to eliminate the enemy high command.
This group achieved unexpected success despite suffering heavy losses, and thus, under the combined leadership of the Marshal, the king, and the leaders of the allied kingdoms, they managed to drive the enemy back out to sea and back to their place of origin.
Almost all the nobles responsible for the plan were killed during the sabotage, but the survivors were held responsible for the danger that nearly destroyed all the allied kingdoms. They were condemned to live in the area affected by the stagnant Aether, with minimal help and with the only servants sent to assist them being criminals.
The kingdom of the Marshal and the king, now named High King, was considered the main contributor to the victory, securing a prominent place in the continental defensive alliance, formed both to prevent the enemy from reappearing and to facilitate trade and cultural exchange encouraged by the Marshal since he assumed his small barony.
From a small and poor Baron at 15 years old to a Marshal with numerous international decorations at 35, the Marshal's name echoed throughout the continent and continues to do so to this day. Ironically, he changed his name at 20, discarding his given name Robert Ioannes for three names that no one in the kingdom had ever heard: Alexandre.
Marshal Alexandre Constantino Garcia.
The only Marshal recognized by all the allied kingdoms, and he, like Kaio, was a transmigrant.
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Standing in front of a polished mahogany table, a relatively young messenger waited for me, the older man, to finish reading the report I had just delivered.
Why he, a mere messenger, was allowed into the study of one of the most prominent sfigiras in the kingdom, if not the entire continent, when such a thing should only be permitted to the butler and trusted members of the nearly 50-year-old man, he didn't know.
But he knew the man's history well enough to know that trying to understand his mind would be something he would never be able to do. After all, he, like many others, was also one of his fans.
–Tell me. – the Marshal began in a voice that, even low, could be heard down the corridor, making the poor messenger sweat even more.
–Y-y-Des, zir?!.
–First, try to calm down, it's not like I'm going to do anything to you, boy. – the older man said calmly, but even that still emitted an aura of authority that made him seem irritated, which only made the messenger even more nervous.
""As if he could stay calm in front of you.""
The two people sitting in armchairs in front of the office fireplace thought in unison, watching the poor man, who certainly could no longer be called a boy, almost have an epileptic seizure.
Tales saw everything without seeing; he could practically hear the man's heartbeat and smell the fear and admiration he exuded. This was one of the positive and, at the same time, one of the negative aspects of being a Lycanto. Or, in the old world of Kaio and Alexandre, a werewolf.