~ Tesyb ~

~ Outside the baron's manor ~

Tesyb was standing near the makeshift stage outside the gates of the baron's manor while listening to Lord Kivamus give a speech about the bravery of the guards in the defense of the village. It was also quite chilly here, although the burning braziers around the crowd and the gathering of so many people together had meant that the place wasn't as cold as it would be otherwise.

Even so, that cold was increasing the pain in his leg where that huge bastard Nokozal had slashed him with a sword. But at least the cut wasn't too deep, so he would be fine in a few weeks. Still, he felt that even today wasn't a good day for him, since after running around so much to find and kill the bandits yesterday where he barely survived that fight, today he had to stand here for so long in the cold, and that made his leg hurt even more. Damn the bandits! And that bastard Sejkil who was still alive. He should have been executed! What was the baron even thinking?

Well, there was nothing we could do about it. Orders were orders, and he was going to follow his orders, even if didn't like them. As he felt a sudden pang of pain in his leg, he wondered how long he would have to endure the pain. Hopefully his injury will heal soon.

Coming back to the present, He had recently found out that the baron was even going to give medals to some of the guards after this. Tesyb wondered who would be those lucky guards. In the past, he had heard from his father that once he had been in a ceremony where the Count of Cinran was giving a reward to a knight who had saved someone's life - and it was said to be made of pure silver! - so Tesyb knew what it meant to get a medal - even though he hadn't even seen one yet.

For now, he was keeping an eye on the crowd which had grown to nearly as large as that in the feast yesterday. The news had gotten out about the reward ceremony, so a lot of villagers had gathered here in curiosity. Nearly all of the guards, as well as the servants and maids from the manor were standing close to the stage to see the ceremony, and this was where Tesyb was standing as well.

He even saw his parents standing in the back of the crowd, listening to the baron. Giving a smile at his father's newfound confidence after he began working as a foreman, he looked at Lord Kivamus as well. He listened as the baron praised the hard work of the guards - which was certainly a new experience for them, since he had heard that the previous baron had never treated the guard this well. And then, the baron even promised to give the medal receivers cold hard coins as part of the reward!

Of course, Lord Kivamus told them that their majordomo would only note their pending reward amount in a ledger for now, and they will receive that coin once they start selling coal again after the winter. It was the same thing though, since Tesyb had no doubt that the baron would come through on his promises.

Before long, it was time to give the medals, and the baron took the name of the first guard who would get the Baron's Medal of Sacrifice - for getting injured in the line of duty. The guard whose name had been taken looked thoroughly surprised as if he couldn't believe what was happening, but when the other guards who were standing nearby started congratulating him and patting him on his back, he gave a huge grin.

Then the guard confidently walked to the stage and Tesyb watched as the baron put a medal around his neck. Immediately, the crowd started cheering for the guard, but the loudest cheers were from Tesyb and the other guards. He was one of their own, after all!

Before long, the guard who had got the medal returned back while grinning from ear to ear, and immediately, the other guards crowded around him to congratulate him again and to see the medal for themselves. Although the medal was only made of iron, and didn't cost too much by itself, it still meant that the man had done something special, and it was seen and recognized in front of everyone in the village. That medal would easily assure him a mug of ale for free in the village alehouse - assuming they were even allowed to visit there anytime soon. As Tesyb thought about how long it had been since he had drunk some ale, he wondered how it would have felt if he had gotten a medal too.

Soon, the baron took the name of another guard who was going to get the same medal, and the same thing repeated again with everyone cheering loudly for him. Even the two new female guards - Isomi and Savomi - were cheering loudly for the guard. Looking at their frail bodies compared to the male guards, Tesyb still felt uncertain about how the women were going to fight against a bandit, but he trusted the baron now, and knew that he must have a plan in his mind.

Before long, it was time for the Baron's Medal of Courage - which Lord Kivamus had described to the crowd as the second best medal that could be awarded, but it was still above the first type of medal. Tesyb wondered which was the highest kind of medal, although the baron had told them earlier that that medal wouldn't be given today.

Soon, the baron took the name of Calubo - the guard thought to have been killed by the bandits in the past, but who had surprisingly come back from the dead and helped them a lot in so many ways. Calubo looked like he didn't believe that his name had been taken, so another guard had to give him a nudge on his back towards the stage. And then Calubo went and took that medal as well, and returned back grinning like an adzee which had spotted an isolated deer.

Then, the baron gazed at the crowd, and said this would be the final medal for tonight. Tesyb tried to guess who would be the one to get this medal, and his best guess was hudan, since he had been the one to scare away Nokozal. And then the baron's eyes found his own and he took Tesyb's name as the person who'd get the last medal, and his mind went completely blank.

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What was happening? Did the baron really say his name? No, it couldn't be! He had barely done anything in the fight! And it was his overconfidence which had nearly led to the merchant's children getting kidnapped by the bandits. How could he be getting a medal? Perhaps he had started taking a nap while standing, and he was daydreaming now. Yes, that had to be the reason!

Then the guards who were standing next to him started congratulating him and patted him on his back repeatedly. But he still couldn't believe it. Was he really going to get a medal tonight? Along with the coin reward as well? Could it really happen to someone like him?

He had been rooted to his spot for a while now, so Yufim, who had been standing next to him, gave him a gentle push towards the stage, and then someone else did the same, and before long Tesyb was climbing the stairs and walking towards Lord Kivamus, who was still smiling at him. And then as his mind tried to process what was happening, the baron congratulated him, and put the Baron's Medal of Courage around his neck.

Tesyb could hear in the back of his mind that there was a loud cheer from the crowd, as well as from the guards, but he was still struggling to comprehend this. Then he looked at the crowd and found his parents' faces grinning at him. Tesyb blinked. No, this wasn't a dream. It was real.

Just a few months ago he would never have imagined that such a day would come where the villagers would be cheering for him. Even more than the villagers, it was the vaunted manor guards who were cheering for him!

But now, he was also a manor guard, wasn't he? He grinned and after turning towards the crowd, he raised his hands high, and gave a loud whoop of joy, and the crowd responded back with an even louder cheer! The baron patted him on his back, and he walked back towards Yufim and the other waiting guards, who surrounded him and began asking to see the medal for themselves.

As he gazed around, he noticed that even Isomi and Savomi were clapping for him! Truthfully, he had known the two sisters for years now from the time they used to work outside the coal mines to transfer the coal in small baskets from the coal piles to the wagons, but he had barely ever talked to them, since he was deep inside the mines most of the time. But now they were colleagues - they were comrades, and hearing the two pretty young women clapping for him, he could barely stop a blush from creeping on his face. Immediately he looked at others to distract his mind, and started to thank them for congratulating him.

And then the reward ceremony ended, and the crowd started to disperse. Apart from those villagers who were staying back for their free meal, others began to return back to their homes, after a rare day of entertainment for them.

As he looked at his medal closely, he saw that it was a circular shaped piece of iron connected to two thin bars of metal, with some space between them for a ribbon - which was only a thicker thread in his case - to pass through it. On one side there were a few words written in the common tongue - although he couldn't read any of it - and on the other side there were two symbols engraved on it. One of them was a sword, but he wasn't sure about the other thing, which looked mostly like a long stick which was a little wider on one end. He was curious about it for sure, but he shrugged for now. He would ask someone about it later.

He turned back towards the manor gates and thought that although he hadn't gotten the coin reward for now, he couldn't wait for that day! Three months wages as bonus? And now that his father was also getting a good wage after he became a foreman, he didn't need to support his parents anymore. What would he even do with that much money? Three months wages would be... more than ten gold coins! That was... a lot of money!

Then he thought of his only sister who was living in Cinran. Yes, he should buy something good for Isuha the next time he visits her. She had mentioned the last time that the food situation was getting worse there, so maybe, for a change, he could even take her to one of the fancy restaurants in the town where they served various meat dishes and sweet tasting pies everyday! Maybe a place where the rich merchants and even some of the minor nobles ate. It certainly wouldn't be cheap, but he could splurge for a single meal, right?

He snorted. There he went getting daydreams again. Even with the much improved situation of the village, his family was still in no situation to waste money like that, since all their savings had been stolen by the bandits in the previous raid. So he couldn't waste the reward money like that.

He nodded to himself, while thanking another guard who was congratulating him. Apart from keeping a small portion of the reward to foot the bill when the guards eventually asked him to pay for their ale in celebration - whenever it would be - he would give the rest of that money to Isuha when he visited Cinran, so at least it would be helpful to her to buy food in case the shop owner couldn't pay her any wages for a while.

He thought about the amount of gold he would get in the future. It was three months pay for a manor guard - which was even higher than that of a manual laborer - so even with the higher prices of everything in the bigger towns and cities, she should still be able to afford at least a month of living expenses in Cinran with that money, and perhaps for even two months.

Yes, that was a much better idea than eating a noble's meal for a single day, and then not being able to afford food later. He didn't even want to imagine what many people, and especially women, must have had to do to earn even a single meal in the bigger towns like Cinran these days. So he was immensely thankful to the Goddess that at least Isuha had found an honest job there.

Yes, that hardened his resolve to give her the reward money, so she wouldn't even have to think about such things to buy food in case things got tough there. But he still wished that she would just come to Tiranat so he wouldn't have to constantly worry about her. Although that was out of his hands, he would still try to convince her of it again when he met her next time.

However, all that was for after the winter, since he would only get that coin after the winter ended and they started selling coal again, and he couldn't travel to Cinran before that anyway. But for now, he was going to enjoy this rare occasion. And maybe, if the guard captain allowed it, tonight he'd even buy a mug of ale for the others to celebrate!

Suddenly, he realized that In the hustle and bustle of the reward ceremony, he had forgotten about the pain in his leg. Hah! He didn't think that he would be able to get rid of that pain for weeks, but it had still happened - even if only for a short time - and he had gotten a medal as well. And he was also going to get bonus wages as a reward! So as it turned out, today was a good day, after all!