Chapter 731

Guilliman looked at his Chapter Master and his Second Company Captain with a bit of a headache. The two of them were standing honestly in front of him, not daring to make a sound, their eyes lowered as if in perfect meditation.

After a while, he finally spoke. "I won't ask whose idea it was. There's no point. Both of you must have had a hand in it. Competing in poetry with the brothers of the White Scars? Ultramar..."

Guilliman shook his head, feeling his temples throb.

In just a few short days, the Ultramarines had lost two Thunderhawk Gunships in this wager. Compared to their ample resources, that was not much—but it had only been a few days.

If this went on any longer, would Macragge's Honour have to be renamed the Chogorian Eagle?

Besides, where had they found the courage to compete in poetry with a group of ten-thousand-year-old White Scars veterans?

You were Ultramarines! Not Blood Angels! And even the Blood Angels probably would not dare claim they could reliably defeat the White Scars in poetry. They were not truly barbarians!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, so Guilliman simply sighed and forced himself to shift his attention to another matter. "Marius."

The Chapter Master abruptly raised his head. "Yes! What are your orders?"

"How is Ultramar? I mean, ahem." Guilliman coughed once. "Have there been any more incidents of that sort?"

"You mean the second—oh, no. They have fully understood the Empire's singularity and sanctity."

Marius declared firmly, "You may rest assured, Gene Father. Such a thing will never happen again. I swear it on my name!"

It would be difficult to describe in detail Guilliman's expression when he heard the word "second," or else it would somewhat undermine the dignity of