"Creak!"
As John stepped out of the car, Frostahe Manor came into view.
Its outer perimeter was surrounded by high walls built from thick, roughly hewn granite, with crenellations along the tops for shooters to fire from.
Unlike the ornate garden walls of the other nobles nearby, the Winter Wolf Family's manor walls were plain, sturdy, and highly defensive.
Inside the walls stood the main keep, a three-story square stone fortress in the Romanesque style, with narrow windows and observation slits on the top floor.
The keep's exterior was almost entirely undecorated. Its sole emblem was a massive winter wolf head forged from black iron, hanging above the huge oak doors, its wolf eyes set with dim sapphires.
Overall, it gave off a cold, unyielding impression that suited the people of the Empire's Northern Frontier perfectly.
When the guards came forward to question him, John presented the invitation Lothar had given him earlier. After confirming his identity, they promptly let him through. Since John had already replied to the invitation, the West Family had long prepared to receive him.
After passing through the manor's outer walls and entering the courtyard, John saw a line of guards wearing wolfskin cloaks, standing in neat formation along both sides of the road.
When the captain of the guards saw John approaching, he immediately drew a deep breath, clenched his right fist, and thumped it heavily against his left breast before lowering his head in salute.
"Greetings, General John Maslow! Count West awaits your arrival before the main keep."
Under the solemn, orderly gazes of the manor guards, John slowly crossed the courtyard and arrived before the main keep's enormous oak doors.
Lothar stood there at that moment.
By etiquette, the young count had not stepped outside. Instead, he waited within the doorway to