Ironvine Territory (Seventy-Five)

The nobles surrendered to James and Foss without hesitation. They soon learned the camp's situation from the prisoners, including the fact that the fallen Regimental Commander Rick had been captured, while Ternesov had gone mad.

James frowned as he looked at the mass of prisoners before him, unsure what to do with them.

The fallen Regimental Commander Rick had acted far too decisively. Seeing that his troops were no match for the enemy, he had led his guards in a final charge and ordered all his troops to lay down their weapons and surrender immediately after his death.

James had a headache. The man was dead, fine—but he had left them with this mess. There were at least six or seven hundred prisoners, including independent nobles and high-ranking officers at the level of regimental commanders. James really had no way to deal with them. It wasn't as if he could kill them.

But he couldn't simply leave them unattended, either. Guarding them would require at least two squadrons. Yet James had brought only elite troops for the night raid, and they numbered just eight squadrons in total. Buffons, as the detachment commander, had only one squadron under him. They simply couldn't spare enough troops to stand guard.

At that moment, Foss stepped forward. "Regimental Commander James, leave these prisoners to us. I have only five squadrons as well. I'll keep my own squadron and one other here. I'll leave the rest for you to command."

James hurriedly refused. "How could I do that?"

But Foss remained firm. "Please don't refuse. Your troops have more veterans and greater combat strength, and you also have cavalry. They should be making a greater contribution. Leave this place to me."

Seeing how readily Foss offered, James could only accept his proposal. However, he wasn't