After a few more pleasantries, Vanessa finally got around to explaining why she and Lucas had arrived in Falcon’s Bend.

"So, while General Balfour is hunting the Saberclaw Raptor pack, she had her Disciples as well as a large convoy of refugees set out from Iron Rock, heading towards Misty City?" Count Lester Randolph summarized.

"But a day ago, in order to present the situation to the Royal Council and upper nobility, Celestina and young Lucas here traveled to the capital," General Oscar Caldwell followed up.

"That’s correct," Vanessa nodded, tilting her head slightly, "I’m surprised neither of you were in attendance."

"Mother was already in the capital dealing with some business with the Council, so she went in my place," the Count nodded explained.

"I needed to remain here, so I sent my adjutant" the General commented before moving the conversation along, "In any case, after the summit ended, you brought Lucas here to meet-up with the river convoy."

"Pretty much," Vanessa shrugged, "The convoy seems to be running late though, so I was hoping to entrust Lucas to one of you two. I never expected to run into both of you the moment I landed, however."

"Just a coincidence," General Caldwell waved his hand with a smile, "Lester and I met tonight to go over some plans for the new shipyard expansion when we received a report that a Golden Hawk had been spotted approaching the city."

"I see. That makes sense," Vanessa nodded.

"Shipyard expansion?" Lucas chimed in, the words catching his attention.

Raising his brow slightly, Oscar Caldwell glanced down at the young Disciple of his fellow General before glancing back at Vanessa, silently asking her for an explanation.

Understanding the inquiry, Vanessa smiled broadly and declared, "Lucas is a veritable fountain of curiosity and creative ideas. He’s also knowledgeable about a large number of subjects. If you’re having a problem with the shipyard’s expansion, you might want to consult him about it."

Hearing this, both Count Randolph and General Caldwell showed interested, if not somewhat skeptical looks on their faces.

The True Disciple of Celestina Balfour couldn’t possibly be normal, but a 10-year-old boy being knowledgeable enough to help them with a logistics problem that had been troubling them for the past couple of years was a bit of a stretch.

Neither of the two men voiced their opinions out loud, but it was obvious from the way they responded that they weren’t taking Vanessa all that seriously.

Despite noticing this, however, Lucas didn’t take offence. After all, if their positions had been reversed, he would also be skeptical.

Still, just because he was being underestimated didn’t mean Lucas was going to meekly back down.

There was a reason he took a particular interest in the word ’shipyard’, so he decided to speak up, "Commander Clark is exaggerating my abilities somewhat, but I do happen to know a little bit about ships and their construction thanks to a certain acquaintance of mine."

"Oh?" Surprised by Lucas’ reaction, which was very-much unlike an ordinary young boy’s, General Caldwell decided to humour him by asking, "Does this acquaintance of yours have experience building ships or managing shipyards?"

"En," Lucas nodded, "Perhaps you’ve heard of her. Her name is Victoria Moore."

"As in Viscount Victoria Moore of Port Calden?" Count Randolph cut in, clearly taken somewhat aback.

"Yes," Lucas affirmed, "Although it would be more proper to say former Viscount. She recently stepped down from her position and now... er, now she works together with me."

"Really?" General Caldwell’s eyes lit up, "Even if she’s stepped down as their Matriarch, she should still be in contact with the Moore Family."

"Indeed!" Count Randolph said excitedly, "This might just be the lucky break we needed. The Moore Family doesn’t have much experience with military vessels, but they’re still among the best in the kingdom when it comes to civilian ship-building."

Thinking so, the two older men turned to Lucas, their earlier skepticism replaced with cautious hope as Lester Randolph requested, "Would it be possible for you to arrange a meeting for us with Lady Victoria, young Lucas?"

"Certainly," Lucas smiled happily, "In fact, she is onboard the river convoy I was traveling with, together with a number of others from the Moore Family."

"Excellent! If we can secure the help of the Moore Family, perhaps we really can solve this accursed problem," General Caldwell beamed, obviously quite excited by this prospect.

"Wait a moment," Count Randolph paused, his brow knitting slightly, "Why would so many members of the Moore Family, including their former leader, be traveling here aboard a refugee convoy? I know that Port Calden was lost in the recent disaster, but given the wealth and power at their disposal, surely the Moores could’ve rebuilt themselves in the South-West Province."

"Ah, that’s a bit of a complicated story," Lucas scratched his cheek, "But suffice-it-to-say, the Moore Family decided to become a vassal of the Balfour Family and immigrate to the South-East Province."

"What?!" Count Randolph was stunned to the point where literally shouted aloud in disbelief.

A prospering Viscount Family actually accepting a demotion and vassalage was quite a shocking piece of news.

"If that’s true, perhaps we could recruit them to Falcon’s Bend," General Caldwell mused, "If the Moore Family settled here and lent us their skills, we would be able to expand the shipyard significantly more than we had originally hoped."

"I’m afraid that won’t be possible," Lucas cut in, "The Moore Family has already reached an agreement with my Master to pioneer a new town further south of Misty City."

Both Lester and Oscar frowned when they heard this, deflating somewhat.

"But," Lucas continued, "While the new town is being planned and built, I don’t think the Moore Family’s Elders would refuse a temporary contract with Falcon’s Bend, assuming the deal is lucrative enough."

"And you can speak on their behalf?" The burly Count questioned.

"Uh, let’s just say that if I made a recommendation to the Moore Family, they would seriously consider it," Lucas replied somewhat vaguely.

Lucas had a contract with the Moore Family in which he, and the Balfour Family, agreed to help them establish a new settlement with the stipulation that they build a jointly owned, state-of-the-art shipyard where research, development, and production of next-generation ships would take place.

As part of this deal, Victoria Moore was to step down as Viscount and become Lucas’ exclusive subordinate.

However, neither Lucas’ side, nor the Moores, were particularly interested in the details of this arrangement coming to light in the near term; hence why Lucas didn’t even try to explain himself clearly to Count Randolph and General Caldwell.

In an attempt to shift the topic, Lucas quickly asked, "Out of curiosity, what exactly is the problem with the current shipyard? I was under the impression that our kingdom had a substantial naval presence along the Lorren already, and that Falcon’s Bend was producing multiple new warships each year. Is there really an urgent need to expand the shipyards?"

Lester and Oscar exchanged a glance when they heard this question, the two of them pondering if they should reveal such sensitive information to an unrelated boy.

Sure, Lucas was Celestina’s Disciple, but the shipyard expansion was part of an ongoing military operation, so information about it was quite sensitive.

"If you’re worried about his ability to keep secrets, don’t be," Vannesa saw their hesitation and persuaded, "Lucas already regularly assists Allina with managing logistics and planning missions for the Raging River Legion."

"Huh?" General Caldwell gawked, his jaw going slightly slack as he tried to process this new information.

Unlike Celestina, Oscar Caldwell was less a frontline leader and more a backroom strategist. He was by no means weak, of course, but his strengths as a General were skewed towards devising tactics and implementing plans rather than charging forward into combat.

As such, General Caldwell actually had much more contact with Allina Crest, Celestina’s adjutant, than the General herself.

Celestina was an inspiring leader on the battlefield, and her instincts for both single combat and large-scale warfare were unmatched in the Rockwell Kingdom, but it was Allina who supported her from behind, working out the exact details and managing resources to make each operation a success.

To hear that this young boy standing before him was actually trusted by Allina to help with such complex tasks was something General Caldwell never dreamed possible.

I guess there’s even more to this boy than meets the eye, Oscar concluded before nodding, "In that case, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to share a little bit of the current situation with our young friend here."

With the General having already agreed, Count Randolph didn’t raise any objections either and simply began explaining, "Over the past 3 or 4 years, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in the amount of smuggling along the Lorren."

"An increase in smuggling?" Lucas’ brow rose, his mind immediately drifting to the incident in Crystal Lake, "Is it about black market sugar from the Darr Kingdom?"

"Hm? That’s a rather specific question" General Caldwell frowned, "Have you run into sugar smugglers?"

"En, in Crystal Lake," Lucas nodded, "We coincidentally uncovered a smuggling ring being run out of an orphanage in the slums of the city, but before we could launch a proper raid, the smugglers burnt down the building and used the ensuing chaos as cover to escape."

"Damn it, they’re getting more and more outrageous by the day," Count Randolph grumbled, palming his fist angrily.

"Sugar is indeed one of the most commonly smuggled goods," Oscar Caldwell acknowledged, "but it’s not the only one. All kinds of items are being brought in and out of the kingdom to be sold in underground markets. And..."

Pausing here, the General’s face became even more stern, "We’ve also seized a few ships that were carrying unregistered slaves."