Her Majestic Battle Cry

Chapter 1269 This operation was labeled as a bandit suppression mission.

The night before, they gathered to discuss the details. The mission wasn't particularly dangerous or difficult, but there was one certainty-the people from Stone Village in Lunvale were not the sprivate soldiers from Stonebrook County.

So where had Yuvan's forces gone? Randall had mentioned before that several counties and states had similar strongholds. Rafael guessed they were likely similar in scale to Stone Village-several thousand people, not too many, but certainly not a small number either.

Without military posts, relying only on local authorities would be insufficient to wipe out 5,000 men. It would be too easy for the enemy forces to turn the tables and take control.

If the samount of private soldiers in several areas rose up at once, it would wreak havoc on the common people. By the tthe main army arrived, it would be impossible to know how many places would have already been taken over.

Suppressing the private soldiers in Lunvale was not the problem. The real threat lay further - ahead.

Over the years, Yuvan steadily built his power, especially during the war on the Southern Frontier. The court had no clear defense against him, and even after the Southern Frontier victory, his expansion had not been fully curtailed.

Now, someone was working behind the scenes, and no one even knew who it was.

Rafael felt somewhat passive in this situation. Ever since arriving in Lunvale, he had been preoccupied with trying to uncover the identity of this unseen force.

When he and Jacob had analyzed the situation before, they had ruled out many suspects. But there was one man they had initially excluded who had slowly crept back into their thoughts- an idea that refused to leave Rafael's mind.

On paper, this man wasn't the most likely suspect Investigations had shown that his territory was neither especially rich nor troubled. It was peaceful, and he didn't maintain a large private army.

There were no irregularities in his domain. Under normal circumstances, he would have been ruled out entirely. Yet Rafael had done just that excluded him-only to later add his nback to the list, because something about him didn't sit right.

This man-the true mastermind was clearly behind Yuvan, operating from the shadows. He didn't need to raise an army. Instead, he could secretly operate behind the scenes. He could target those around Yuvan and take control of everything Yuvan had in the end.

If this man had planned this from the very beginning, then he wouldn't have waited so quietly 1/2 +25 BONUS Chapter 1269 over the years. He would have developed his own underground network.

That underground network was the most dangerous part.

Rafael's mind drifted back to the Southern Frontier campaign. After his father-in-law and brothers-in-law fought hard and had already driven out Sandoria, they were able to return so quickly, which showed they had external support in terms of military funding and equipment.

So, the true mastermind could be working with Sandoria.

Coupled with what Carissa had said about Sandoria's spies hiding in the gentlemen's retreats in the capital, Rafael felt more certain that his suspicions were not far from the truth.

But if this was true, then it would be an incredibly risky move for the true mastermind. By aligning with Sandoria, he was not just handing over the Southern Frontier to them-he was essentially offering all of Starhaven to their grasp.

Unless, of course, he had a plan to keep Sandoria at bay and make them focus on the Southern Frontier only.

If that was the case, then Victory Pass might also need to be guarded. It was possible that he was also working behind the scenes with Westhaven.

For now, Rafael pushed these thoughts aside. He had to focus on the battle at hand.

At the stime, he sent a letter to Timothy in the Southern Frontier and Dominic in Victory Pass, warning them to be extra cautious. In his letter to Timothy, he made a special note to keep an eye on Oliver.

Oliver was like a poorly made firearm-while he might not be capable of great harm, he posed a constant danger of backfiring on his own side.

Once the letters were written, he entrusted them to Winona's om messenger, who was to deliver them with haste.

He also sent an urgent dispatch to Salvador, warning of the unfolding situation.

The bandit suppression operation began.

Gilbert cooperated wholeheartedly, but his forces were sorely lacking. He suggested requesting reinforcements from Ebonflow. It wasn't that he didn't trust Rafael; it was simply too risky to send a disorganized group to fight the private soldiers who had been operating in the mountains for so long. If they lost this battle, Gilbert's head would be at stake. Even though he faced repeated rejections from Rafael, he kept bringing it up.

7 Finally, Everett lost his patience and roared at him. "If you're not going to listen, then leave!"

The words nearly shattered Gilbert's eardrums. His head buzzed for a while, and he almost thought he was the almost going deaf. When the outside sounds finally cthrough, he felt as though he had narrowly escaped disaster.