Inside an ancient castle in Prague, an elder past fifty asked sternly, "Holst, are you truly prepared?
"Once you accept the government's assignment, you'll have to endure hardship for a long time to come. By then, it will be too late to regret it."
Holst answered earnestly, "Father, the Vicks Family has already declined. In the last struggle for power, our network of connections within the government suffered devastating losses.
"If I want a position in the government, I can only take the civil service examination. There are too many competitors on that path. Besides, our family has always developed within the military, so we have no advantage in this area. I'm not confident I can make something of myself.
"The situation on the European Continent is stabilizing. Austria will not see war for a long time to come, so the chance to stake everything on the battlefield has also been cut off.
"Now there is an opportunity. With the military merit I accumulated on the battlefield, if I stay in the country, at most I can become a Knight of Honor.
"If the family contributes some money, we can trade it to the government for an estate. But if I go to the Balkan Peninsula now, I can leap straight to becoming a hereditary knight and directly obtain an estate twice as large.
"Under normal circumstances, I might not succeed even after struggling for twenty years at home. Since that is the case, why not risk everything on a single throw?"
In order to strengthen its control over the Balkan Peninsula, the Vienna Government had launched a mobilization campaign within the country. Just as Prime Minister Felix had expected, lower-ranking nobles seeking to rise further could not resist such temptation.
Compared with opening up overseas colonies, the Balkan Peninsula