The Fish Took the Bait

The towering flames rising from the direction of the Sverier Kingdom fortress, along with the faint, muffled booms, tore through the stillness of the night. They were clearly visible even six kilometers away.

Baron Trins was hurriedly summoned by an attendant from a room filled with the smell of strong liquor and sex. Still carrying the remnants of his drunkenness and battle fervor, he hurried up the castle's towering keep to survey the distance.

The north wind blew, and his drunkenness and battle fervor vanished in an instant.

The blaze was far too large to be an ordinary fire. It had not only reddened half the sky; even the outline of the distant mountains seemed to twist and warp in the leaping orange-red light.

"My lord, over by the fortress—is the Rhine Alliance attacking?" The knight beside him gripped his sword hilt tightly, his voice full of tension and unease.

Trins frowned, shielding his face from the north wind as he carefully studied the distant, glaring light.

He shook his head and said gleefully, "It can't be the Rhine Alliance army. His Majesty has their King surrounded up front. Would anyone dare disregard their own King's safety?"

"Heh. Most likely, some of those fools in the garrison got drunk while warming themselves and set a building on fire. Or the wind blew a lantern into a post, and it accidentally ignited a grain stack or wine barrel. Those mage lords probably haven't even sobered up. What a bunch of useless fools!"

"Hmph. Back when I was in charge of fire prevention, I had the warehouse district fitted with fireproof Magic Lamps imported from the Duchy of Weissen. The quarters even had heating machines. The moment I left, they sold all that equipment."

Garrisoning a fortress was a lucrative job. Trins