After finding further traps along the path leading out of the city the column of professional soldiers, scattering of nobles and other volunteers had slowed their pace considerably. The King-Consort Ulrich was silently examining his options when he was interrupted by a returning mountain scout who signalled to him with her hands that she had important news to impart.

After the usual accompanying Priestess of Light and Purity, flanked with two of his own personal guards briefly inspected her for traces of corruption and gave her the all clear she approached the King-Consort off her house and knelt down on one knee near his position with others watching closely.

She was a thin woman, small for her age but fast enough on her horse that he doubted that anyone could have caught her on foot, even corrupted which had burnt off their life force to achieve speeds would prove a challenge. Her hair was black and tied up in a bun behind her and her eyes were a deep brown.

Her armour was plain leather and she had already removed her sword and dagger and left both, along with an armed small crossbow on her mount before she had approached the king. The gesture had become a type of standard approach during the early parts of the sortie, but if the situation became dangerous if would insist that everyone remained armed even inside his presence.

The old noble Baron Richtson with his twin bodyguards paid closer attention than most as he whispered quiet words to the pair as he sat down on the ground resting his legs. He was one of the few nobles who refused to enter the sortie mounted, saying that his old legs needed the exercise and the scouts needed it more.

‘Yes Saskia. Speak freely, we hide nothing on our sorties. Not a one of us, lest we all die. Guards, you will watch her but not intervene. My armour will protect me but I will not have either of you hurt for nothing. Please. Off your knees, bad enough that newcomer did it for as long as she did. Outside of the walls of our capital city I am simply the commander and the one who takes responsibility for the sortie. Nothing more.’ said King Ulrich as he approached the unmounted scout guard and pulled her arm with one armoured arm.

He had his own reasons for doing so as well though, his golden armour had been thoroughly blessed, altered and magically imparted to immediately fight even without his consent to protect him from either corrupted or in times of extreme danger.

If not for the armour, his own wife would never have allowed him to maintain his weekly sorties as a both a means of entertainment, a form of morale boosting and lastly his own small contribution to the running of the kingdom. He had little else to offer besides opinions and honesty and with the council of six there was little else for him to truly rule over. Besides, he trusted his wife implicitly, her decisions were his decisions. They had loved and knew each other since before they had even been betrothed as young teenagers.

‘Your maje-. Sir Averill. There are complications outside the walls of the city, I’ve found traces of dead badly corrupted folk. Judging from their clothing, some of them were soldiers on the field of battle and others were only years more recent. All were dead. But it was how they died is the issue, I’ve not seen it before.’ said Saskia as she spoke to him with her head down. Even though he tried to be a fair man, the strength of his nobility and the traditions of the kingdom held strong as she spoke without directly looking him in the face.

The fact that the strange woman had done so even though she had bent a knee was only telling of her ignorance and lack of understanding.

The personal guards around the king tensed slightly and Priestess Wendler showed clear signs that she wanted to speak. The other mounted scouts were yet to return as was Sergeant Reinhard and the baker turned mercenary called Etsuko, given her ability to discern hidden traps he had tasked both of them with checking the entire path leading out of the city and either disabling or force triggering any tracks which could have caught merchants or visitors to the city gates.

He expected their return soon enough, he’d given them a time limit or a trap limit and then given clear instructions to return. Checking the path meant that both of them were in short running distance if needed and it gave the young woman a purpose with his sortie. King Ulrich liked her, she was the sort of oddball who belonged in his motley group and he’d rather recruit her before his wife could.

He gave the Priestess standing next to him his full attention with an apologetic glance.

‘One moment. Berthild, you wish to speak? We can hold a council if you deem it necessary but I need to finish listening to Saskia first. I feel that she has more to say. My apologies, please continue Saskia.’ said King-Consort Ulrich.

The weather was holding fair and the clouds had been pushed back by strong winds the night before, it had been one of the reasons that he hadn’t held off form his sortie. There were many forms of protection and he would take as many as he could to keep his people safe.

‘There are further traces which are unclear to me, I found that when I backtracked the path of the corrupted I found a hidden shelter which had been built a long time ago and in which a dozen bandits were dead. They had been attacked by a group of corrupted as one of their own had been turned and killed and the body dumped outside and then set of fire. The remains and the physical transformation were obvious but the dead bandits were another issue.’ said Saskia with her head remaining bowed.

The sound of horses drawing closer caused the King-Consort’s personal guards to tense up before the old Noble Baron Richtson raised an arm and let it drop signalling the return of the scouts.

His two twin bodyguards were watching the path in both directions, one of them had cupped her hands to block the sun from her eyes as she watched the Sergeant and the newcomer Etsuko who had learnt both of their names as well that of their charge without even meeting them.

Both had hands on weapons and were prepared to fight, run or defend at a moment’s notice. The old Baron had aged faster in the last fifteen years he had both taken care of them and trained them after rescuing both of them from the street of one of the poorer quarters of the capital city. Even if he had wanted to his knees wouldn’t allow him to run the distance back to the city unless one of them coopted a horse and he had always refused it, saying that he’d walk as long as he was able to.

‘How were they killed Saskia? Did they turn on each other out of fear? Or a cultist could have infiltrated them easily and caused discord. These have happened before and we’ve dealt with enough similar events in the past.’ said the King-Consort.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

The scout hesitated for a moment before speaking.

‘Sir, the entire bandit base had been scoured clean with purity and light magic. And a flag was placed in the middle. All of the belongings of the bandits of any value had been removed with a scroll of parchment warning that any who dealt with the corrupted would be killed and the land belonged to the Reclaimer Movement. Every single bandit had their throat slit cleanly with not a single other wound on their bodies.’ said the Scout.

The King-Consort Ulrich considered the news as the other three scout troops returned. He gave them a hand signal and they halted a distance from his position as he made his decision.

He nodded to the priestess and spoke briefly. ‘Priestess Wendler. You will signal for all members of the sortie to return, then send another signal to the city warning that we have discovered an issue that needs investigation. As of now all weapons are to remain drawn and ready to use at my command. For the attention of everyone there is a viable threat to our capital city, I don’t know the details but communication is permitted. We all travel in groups and line of sight. Not a single person leaves us even for absolutions. Priestess Wendler, remain with us. If anything happens we need you to signal a warning to the city. As of now we are on a war footing. Military discipline will be enforced. We will protect each other and every single one of us will return as long as you obey commands. I need to inform everyone else when they arrive. Saskia, I need you and the other scouts to locate Sergeant Reinhard and Lady En’Yu and bring them here, I doubt there are any stragglers but be careful. Remember, no direct combat. Retreat if you need.’

The scout simply nodded her head and turned under the watchful eye of the pair of personal bodyguards and other soldiers in comparative close proximity who all had their own hands on their own weapons.

The other three scouts gave their reports but had found nothing familiar or unfamiliar, the area around them was simply deserted and there were no signs of either corrupted, travellers, merchants, bandits, robbers or even farmers moving their goods to market.

The latter operated more along the lines of mini-strongholds around their own farms and would only bring their produce back to the city under armed escort. This early in the day it was unlikely that any of them would have been active unless attacked.

Priestess Wendler held her staff with both hands as she drew in intakes of breath before she glanced at the surrounding soldiers and spoke aloud as the powers of the Goddess flowed through her.

‘Your Majesty, I’m no longer young and my contact with Goddess Aliza is limited at most. I can give two signals at most and then I’ll need time for my body and soul to recover. Besides, there remain people on the walls watching and my fellow brethren will be keeping a close eye on your progress.’ said Priestess Wendler.

King-Consort Ulrich simply nodded his agreement with verbally responding and signalled for a handful of his personal guard to protect the Priestess.

He knew that there were those in the city who thought his weekly sortie a form of comic relief and a waste of resources, all they saw was him in fancy golden armour befitting a High Noble, several other hangers-on and the odd newcomer who usually never came back or quit before they even left the security of the city walls.

The Council of Six barely gave him the resources to outfit and equip his own guards with food, supplies, weapon and armour maintenance. He’d had to rely on the generosity of old friends like Baron Richtson to supply the scouts with horses, all in all he struggled to perform a duty which was necessary.

The borders of the kingdom were barely occupied at the best of times and if not for patrolling groups of mounted soldiers they wouldn’t have a decent clue if the kingdom was going to be invaded. Granted that most of the corrupted either turned, created or the remnants of the Dark Lord’s final army had already been killed when they had attacked the capital city a decade ago and the power of the Goddess Aliza had turned them into ash.

A cough behind him reminded him that his personal guard had remained close despite being on look-out for any immediate threats. Usually given the relatively flat plains surrounding the immediate area of the city corrupted were easier to spot.

All of them were armed and had trained with crossbows and they were easier to dispatch or at least incapacitate until the priestess could dispel the vile magic inhabiting their forms. Or the King-Consort could release the stored magic within his golden armour but he preferred to keep that as a last resort in case they were swarmed with corrupted.

The latter had only happened a handful of times over the decade in which the sorties had been taking place but he preferred caution over losses. It was simply his own way of trying his best to be a noble of example and inspiration.

The same voice coughed again, this time with more purpose. King-Consort Ulrich began to smile as he considered how he needed to explain the situation to the relative and strange newcomer.

The female soldier trying to get his attention was one of his personal guards who had been with him for at least ten years, she had refused to advance further saying that she preferred her present position but that he was one of the few nobles who deserved to be protected. The fact that she got fresh air and time away from her husband and children was a bonus when she was paid to do so.

Karlotta. Always the cautious one. Go on then, say what you need to.

He had wanted to promote her to a higher role but she had always wanted to keep her position. As one of the private guards of the King-Consort they held a rank and status similar to the Queen’s Guard without such nice armour, weapons and boosted light and purity magic physical attributes.

‘Your Majesty. I would suggest that we maintain a command centre here and send out the scouts with soldiers and any volunteers to further investigate the issues. We’re in close enough proximity to the capital city to request emergency relief if needed and your personal safety is the main importance of our mission. The Queen has made this quite clear to us. As your personal guard, we will support your sorties but we will not risk your life. Not any any cost. Also, your wife is an extremely powerful woman and I’d prefer that my husband doesn’t suffer her wrath because you were too stubborn.’ said the female soldier whom he only knew as Karlotta preferred as Karl.

She had never given her last name and he had never pushed for it despite meeting her husband and three children in person.

‘Thank you Karl. Are we all in agreement with her judgement? I value all opinions, I will take full responsibility for any actions and will blame none. For the situation, we need more information and a better idea. I need to know whether the Reclaimer Movement in the city has been out here operating without express permission from the Queen or if this is another threat. There have been rumours that the three surrounding kingdoms have grown tired of our efforts to eradicate corruption within our borders but nothing more. We have an idea of a dead bandit hideout but given the use of Light and Purity Magic we need to discover a nest of corrupted. I’m not going to tell anyone to do it but I will ask for volunteers. Karl, you will take the soldiers in the immediate vicinity and establish both a patrol and a point for withdrawal.