Frozen Flame of Dawn - Chapter 124

Chapter 124: Chapter 60: Rienfeld Solution_1
Alaric, however, was still tense. “What do you suggesting Grandfather?”

Robert’s gaze flickered toward him, unreadable. “That we start building up our forces. We cannot afford to let them gain even an inch of ground. If they are truly advancing this fast, then after we take full control of Therndale, we must immediately begin strengthening our own military force. And that includes our special teams.”

His tone was final, unwavering, like a ruler dictating the fate of an empire.

Alaric absorbed the words carefully before asking, “Will my grand-uncle and second uncle-in-law be able to manage until we get complete hold of our province and also strong enough to send support to them?”

“Vandrim and Borealis we always have some influence and control their, though not as much as Thandril, but still.” Robert exhaled slowly, as if weighing his next words. “Also your grand-uncle can handle himself. He is a ruthless man, and if anyone can buy us time, it’s him. He knows how to manipulate people, how to turn desperation into loyalty. As long as he plays his cards right, he will be able to halt Aiden and Amira’s progression in Vandrim province. I am sure of it.”

Alaric nodded, seeing the logic behind it. If they secured Vandrim and Borealis while Therndale currently underway to their control, they would have a firm grip on three of the five provinces of the Federation. From there, it was only a matter of time before the rest fell in line.

“But Borealis is a different situation,” Robert added after a pause. “I’m not as confident about your second uncle-in-law’s control there. There are others in there who have deep-rooted power. If he isn’t careful, we could lose our grip before we even have the chance to control it.”

Alaric immediately thought it over about different scenario of their his plan and found a risk, he calculated that if they won’t able to take Borealis under their control in short time, then the whole point of providing support to Vandrim and choke it down from two front with his grand uncle putting pressure from inside will fail miserably.

He immediately pointed out his concern and his initial plan to take control of Borealis and then send support from Threndale and Borealis to Vandrim for this grand-uncle as its in between these two province.

“That’s why we need to secure Threndale firs. Make sure to fortify our strongest cities, gain the support of the people who matter, and weed out any opposition before it festers. Once we have a stable base of power, we can reinforce them both from sides.”

Alaric’s mind raced with calculations.

“And the Central Province?” he asked, knowing full well that leaving it unchecked was a dangerous gamble.

Robert leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers rhythmically against the polished wood. “We have planted our seeds there for many years,” he said simply. “Have them dig deeper. We need to find out everything we can about Yenna and her forces without exposing ourselves. If she has access to a proper cultivation technique, we need it.”

Alaric nodded as spies in Central Province could be useful, but he wasn’t convinced it would be enough. “And what about other province do we activate our spies their too or plant new?”

Robert’s lips curled into a thin smirk. “We need to place people inside their ranks. Right now everyone is trying to establish their new forces, which means they’re recruiting fresh blood. That gives us an opportunity.”

His eyes gleamed with calculated intent as he continued. “Find new recruits. Young, talented, with clean backgrounds that won’t link back to us. Have them infiltrate both Yenna’s faction in Central Province and Amira’s forces in Vandrim. If we do this right, we will have our eyes and ears inside their leadership before they even realize it.”

Alaric’s smile. “A very interesting plan, Grandfather. Right now, they are too focused on securing their foundations to worry about infiltration. If we slip our people in now, they won’t notice until it’s far too late.”

Robert nodded in approval, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the polished wood of his desk. “Precisely as their attention is divided currently. We have to create situation in future to make our planted seed gain their supported and high position, so that we can strike at right time.”

Alaric exhaled, mulling over their next steps. “What about Borealis?” He asked, tilting his head. “We can’t leave it unattended as it’s already weak link and if second uncle-in-law won’t be able to hold out for too long, what should we do?”

Robert’s expression didn’t change, but there was an undeniable sharpness in his gaze as he contemplated for some time and said. “I know your grand-uncle. Even though he is ruthless and hungry for power, he won’t betray our family. He values relation more than anything while he genuinely treat your father and you as his own son and grandson. So he has our backs. I am certain of it.”

Alaric remained silent for a moment as he know about that and never doubted his uncle, studying his grandfather’s face and something about his tone…

Then it clicked he wasn’t reassuring him—he was reminding him Loyalty was never absolute even among family. And it currently directed to second uncle-in-law.

Alaric said. “So you’re telling me… you don’t trust second uncle-in-law.”

Robert leaned back in his chair, sighing. “No, I’m telling you that the world is changing. Everyone is awakening and power is shifting. The stronger one becomes, the harder it is to remain under someone else’s rule.”

With a beat of silence he continued as he said. “And your Second Uncle-in-law is not an honest man.”

Alaric narrowed his eyes. “You think he will betray us?”

Robert’s lips pressed into a thin line. “He wouldn’t have dared before. But now?”

He lifted his fingers, letting the implication settle in the air. “When someone tastes overwhelming power, they rarely want to give it up.”

Alaric sat back, absorbing his grandfather’s words. “And we already let him get away with embezzling from us before,” Robert continued, “because, at the time, it was still within the family we let it go and ignored it. But now? Now, there is no law, no oversight and no consequences for betrayal. We must prepare for all possibilities.”

Alaric drummed his fingers against his knee. “Then our priority remains securing Threndale Province. Once that is done, we can move on to Borealis. If uncle-in-law cooperates, good. If not…”

He gave a cold smile. “…we make sure we don’t need his support to take control.”

Robert smiled—slow and approving. “Exactly.”

Alaric exhaled, tapping his fingers on the desk. “But to take control… we need large numbers. More bodies. More people willing to kill and die for us.”

Robert said in straight face with any emotion on it. “There are always people willing to die for the right price.”

Alaric arched a brow. “Do we start recruiting now and who do you think is prefect candidate orphans or family person?”

Robert nodded, his gaze steady. “Recruit only those who have something to lose—family, loved ones, a deep-rooted desperation.”

“For leverage?” Alaric asked, though he already knew the answer.

Robert’s voice was almost bored. “Yes and also because they’re the easiest to control.”

A slow, dark realization spread across Alaric’s face. “Do you want them to shape as death soldier and not our loyal forces right?”

“I have our loyal forces and it take time to shape and enlist these loyalty that why we most train orphan child from small ages and build their personality and loyalty as we want.” Robert said as he already planned everything as he continued. “What I want is a strong force to fight and die in place instead of depleting and using our own force we trained from many years.”

Alaric let out a chuckle, shaking his head. “And how many of these disposable soldiers do you want?”

Robert leaned forward. “We need now currently ten thousand for our goals.”

For the first time, Alaric hesitated. “Grandfather, that’s a large number. It will take time. And keeping that many people under control, leveraging them effectively, that’s…”

Robert lifted a hand, cutting him off. “Don’t take them all at once.”

He held up five fingers. “We divide it into five phases. Two thousand per phase. We spread them across our five strongest cities. That way, we keep them from banding together.”

Alaric nodded slowly as it was smart to divide and control. “I assume you want to enhance them.”

“Of course. We inject them with the serum.” Robert’s eyes sharpened. “We don’t have time to properly train them and let them cultivate their power slowly as they will die eventually and after taking serum they won’t able to get any stronger anyway.”

Alaric’s expression turned unreadable a the one thing that could artificially boost an awakened individual’s power is there newly developed serum but it to have it major drawbacks. “You realize that once we inject them, their lifespan will be reduced to twenty years, right?”

“Twenty years is more than enough.” Robert’s expression didn’t falter as he leaned forward, his voice dropping to a low murmur. “For them to be of use to us and die before they even dream for having any chance to turn against us.”