A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor
Chapter 1403 - 1403: Childish - Part 9

"Do I take this to mean that you approve of the tournament to be held, General?" Oliver said.

Lord Blackwell left him in silence for a good few tense moments. For all his size, he looked like a furious bear whenever he allowed himself to dwell on even the mildest of thoughts. Without him talking to reassure the person across from him, all would assume him to simply be angry as his natural state.

"I am willing to give my approval, under certain conditions," Blackwell said.

"I see. And what are these conditions, Lord Blackwell?" Oliver asked.

"You shall make it known that the House of Blackwell shall be assisting you," Blackwell said. "That is the first condition. And secondly, though I am willing to lend you men, you will take care of the coin involved and all planning."

"Oh? The second part, naturally, is what we had thought to do from the start, but aren't you being a little too generous in attaching your name to all this? It will only benefit me, in the gathering of a crowd. It won't be too much of a boon for you, will it?" Oliver asked.

The General twisted his head, and gave his reply looking into the fire. "…If you are attempting it, I would ensure that it shall happen. And if it be a tournament, I would not see the day sullied by pointless bickering. With my name attached, that should not be so. It should be a matter of pleasantness."

"When you are so straightforward in your good intentions, General, I almost feel as if I am deceiving you," Oliver said awkwardly. "You are well aware that your son and I have been having something of a competition. In aiding me, you will be putting him in a worse position, as far as victory is concerned."

The General snorted. "You proposed something that I have an interest in. It is not the individual that I am favouring, but the idea… Though, I suppose even if Ferdinand had proposed it, it would not have worked to the same degree. You are a curiosity, people will wish to see that. And since you were not petty in rejecting Karstly's attendance, nor did you go about this in a petty manner in regards to me, even though you and I have not seen eye to eye lately, I'll give you what you need."

"Besides," the General continued, his look darkening. "Before that son of mine does any competing, he will need to clear up this mess that has been made with the Guild. Another step more, and I will be getting involved myself. That sort of thing, on my streets, it will not be allowed to happen. The seeds of corruption have been allowed to sprout, and if he can not weed them out properly, then it shall be left to me. Ironically, in all this, he ought to be grateful to you, for provoking what the Guild has become. Now he knows the extent of the hand that he must deal with."

"…You've been generous in your evaluation there too, General," Oliver said. "It was my childish proposition that brought it about, out of frustration for the Guild's demands. In reality, I inconvenienced your son, and now he's being left to clean up the pieces."

"Your stealing of Harmon should not have been enough to put the city in an uproar," Blackwell said. "I will hear no more on it. It is up to you to make your tournament a success. My son can still attack you through other avenues, if he wishes. Though, I hope he will not resort to the same methods that have sullied my streets once before…"

He trailed off, and drummed his fingers on the back of the sofa. "You know, Captain Patrick, strategically, the move that you made in this… It was far from being incompetent. I suppose that there is another reason that you have my support. The board state being what it is, that is the sort of move that I would expect from you, as the student who received such praise from Volguard, and the man who has the backing of both Minister Hod and General Skullic. I wonder why it is that you have not been able to show Karstly or I that level of aptitude on the battlefields?"

"I would not look too deeply into it, General. My Battle play is as exasperating as ever. I only came upon the solution of the tournament in a particular fit of amusement. I wonder if Ferdinand will be glad to hear what dire straits he managed to put us in. A few weeks more, and my merchant was convinced that would have been the end of my village," Oliver said.

Blackwell frowned. "That does not gladden me to hear. My heir should be nurturing his future subordinates, not crushing them."

"That was the nature of the competition that I proposed, and my own folly," Oliver said.

"If that is what you put forth, then folly it indeed was," Blackwell said. "Or unbelievable competence. Perhaps it is the case that you simply looked down on that heir of mine, and on the Guild, and thought that you could take them head on, no matter what they threw at you?"

"…Heavens no," Oliver said carefully, but he distinctly remembered the emotion he'd felt when he'd made that decision. It had been the wilfulness of Ingolsol, refusing to bow down to no man, raging against the fact that there were those that sought to subdue him.

"So it was the case," Blackwell said, seeing straight through him. "You need not hide it. You were not the first to take Ferdinand lightly, nor the last. I have built a House, in my generation, even more inclined towards military prowess than that of my father. Being that he lacked talent with the sword, the position that he has been put in is difficult. I will not ask you to reconcile with him, when this is done with, but I would ask that you understand. The boy of mine is looking for strength through other means."

"Progress is not only manifest in the sword," Oliver agreed.

Blackwell looked at him carefully. "The words of Dominus, perhaps? Then, I ask you this. If progress is not only manifest in the sword, why do the Gods deign to Bless only those that pursue combat with their Boundary Breaks?"