Pierce was growing tired. They had been flying for about an hour now.
The majority of the flight back was full of silence.
According to Alice, the king had only used the soldiers to aid villages that were attacked by Vaequiles.
There were no other tacticians that they knew that they could call for.
Zealorus really wasn't prepared for offensive maneuvers against Vaequiles, and the king never bothered to try.
From what they had seen, they would have been a great addition to their team of tacticians.
Maybe it would be better if the kingdoms joined hands.
Zealorus is unstable due to having so little power, and Vaequiles is unstable due for having too much power.
Pierce shook his head.
This is all foolish. There is no way Vaequiles would ever suddenly decide to work with Zealorus.
Pierce looked down toward the gates as they landed.
Arlo was waiting for them.
After the pegasus landed, Pierce hopped off.
"Where are they?" Arlo asked as he approached them.
"They said they won't be able to help us anymore. They had a... small problem with Varquilians."
Arlo frowned.
"Let's talk to Gale about this."
They arrived at the meeting room and found that several commanders were already there, discussing something.
"General Gale, Claire and Alice have returned." Arlo announced as he opened the doors for them.
Pierce stepped into the meeting room, underwhelmed, as he had been living in Vaequiles for all his life.
The lower class homes in Vaequiles were bigger than it.
"Oh! Arlo, welcome. What brings you here?" Gale had been surprised by the sudden entrance.
"Claire and Alice have returned from Faegris."
"I see. Well? Did they agree?"
"Unfortunately, no, they didn't."
Pierce noticed Gale's eyes showed disappointment.
"The reason?"
"They... didn't want to get involved with Vaequiles." Claire replied.
"And why is that?"
"They have their own reasons..."
"Maybe we could hire them instead of having them join us voluntarily?"
"I don't think any amount of money will be enough."
Gale stopped talking.
"I understand. My apologies for this, but please go see them again one last time. I'll prepare some money to see if we can buy them into joining us."
Claire sighed.
"I don't think this..." she paused, "nevermind. Let's go."
Pierce had stayed up in bed, keeping an eye on the clock attached to the wall.
It hit the first hour in the morning.
His barrack was shared with some other soldiers.
He carefully pulled up a loose plank that was on the ground, revealing a bag underneath. He took it and slid the plank back in its spot.
He left the barrack and began walking toward the gate where he found Keith waiting for him.
"Are you ready?" Keith asked, also carrying a small bag.
"Yeah. We don't have much time, though."
Pierce looked over to the borderline, where torches had been placed to mark it.
He pulled out the cloak from his bag and put it on, and Keith did the same.
"Let's go."
