Since Count Edmund had given his reasons for staying out of it, Alex could hardly force him to come to Iron Mountain Fortress. Besides, Edmund had taken a fair position and was willing to contribute money. That was already plenty.
In any case, the Northern Frontier nobles generally had no need for help from nobles in the interior. They were as stubborn as they were proud.
Neither Alex nor the other Northern Frontier counts were angry with Edmund. Victor felt the same. To him, there was no point dwelling on such a minor matter. They needed to organize the Four Counties of the Northern Frontier and settle the defense plan first.
Alex knew what mattered most right now. Rather than hold a welcome banquet, he took everyone straight to a large study to discuss the work ahead.
A huge map of the Northlands lay in the center of the study. The Northern Frontier nobles recognized it at a glance, though it still bore the title "Map of the Three Counties of the Northern Frontier, Vela Grand Duchy." It should now have read "Map of North Vira Province, Raine Kingdom."
Victor recognized the map immediately. It had been redrawn from the high-precision map he had once given Count Colt, enlarged to scale with a section of the grasslands added.
Alex frowned at the map. Accurate as it was, it had grown somewhat outdated. North Vira Province now had four counties, and the Northern Frontier nobles' territories had expanded considerably northward. After the Civil War, the entire northern border had pushed dozens of kilometers outward.
Fortunately, someone had evidently kept Alex's map updated. A quick comparison showed that the newly added noble territories were already marked. The map was still usable for their purposes.
They checked it against what they knew and