"New Rolling Stone City currently has 891 civilians, with fewer than 300 armored warriors." The Black-armored Guard held a ledger, his voice echoing through the reception room. "We have very few slaves or livestock, too. Only a handful of Goblins, fewer than ten Rothé..."
Madra sat in a carved stone chair, his brow furrowing deeper as he listened to the itemized report. He raised a hand to interrupt.
"How much food is left in the tower?"
"Enough for about a month." The Personal Guard paused. "If we exclude the newcomers and count only the Deepforge Tribe's warriors, we can stretch it another two months."
Another Personal Guard spoke up.
"There's also the matter of gold. A bunch of lowborn wretches are clamoring for their wages. More than a dozen miners have submitted a joint demand that we pay them for this week."
"Utterly unreasonable. In a situation like this, they still refuse to consider the bigger picture..."
"Enough!" Madra slapped the table and ordered, "We can't delay any longer. Notify the captains at every section of the city walls immediately. Have them prepare and assemble in the square in three days. We're setting out to find Laduguer's Artifact."
He took several magical letters bearing the Deepforge wax seal from inside his clothes and handed them to the Personal Guard beside him.
"Deliver these to those stubborn old fools according to the names on them. Unless they've gone completely mad, I imagine they'll do as I say."
The Black-armored Guards withdrew with their orders. Madra turned toward Renato, who sat on a stone stool nearby. A hint of smugness showed on the young noble's face.
"Renato, you're the cleverest human I've ever met. What did you think of my speech today?"
Renato was speechless inwardly. So he hadn't been summoned to