Chapter 16 - Second and Third Declarations
Whitebeard tried to convince Arnest that the meat was properly cooked and that his grandfather had overcooked his food. But Arnest couldn't really bring himself to think poorly of his grandfather and denied Whitebeard's words, saying that Black Fox was a master at grilling meats. The two of them bickered over the mundane topic.
While the two of them were arguing over how the chicken should've been cooked, Kamu, who had been silent for most of the evening, rose out of his seat in the middle of his father speaking, who was just saying some more flowery words.
"I would like to also announce something." he said with his usual monotone voice.
"Since I've been named the next Zanako, I would like to inform you that as I begin to take my father's position, things will start to change here in Zanabo."
All the guests were now staring at Kamu. Especially the guild leader of the Merchants Guild and his three advisors. Changes? The only thing they could think about was the recent changes in the import taxes placed on traders. Although this had negatively affected some of their business, the Merchants Guild was still prosperous. But if these "changes" Kamu spoke of were even harsher import taxes or maybe internal taxes on the citizens themselves, the Merchants Guild would surely be negatively affected.
"The first change is going to be a cleansing of Zanabo." Kamu raised his right hand and a few servants started blowing into shell horns.
A deep toned horn sounded out and numerous mercenary soldiers stormed into the banquet hall. They surrounded the right side of the table, around the representatives of the two great cities of Ralom and Crul. Those from Ralom drew their weapons as well since they were in full armaments but the people from Crul just stared nervously at them. The air in the room became still, tense like a stretched out taut wire.
"Everyone who comes from Ralom and Crul are no longer welcome in my city. Our men will escort you to ships and you will all have to leave immediately." As he said this, soldiers started to grab onto the representatives.
One of the representatives from Ralom, who wore a huge feathered helmet, yelled out "How dare you treat us like this. I don't care if you're the next Zanako or god, once I tell my king what you've done here you will rue your actions today!"
Kamu just coldly stared at the man and said, "I forgot to mention. I'm also declaring martial law here in Zanabo. Anyone who speaks out against me will be killed on the spot."
Immediately as Kamu announced this, Zanabonian soldiers shot a dozen arrows at the Raloman man and a few pierced his neck and the rest into his back. The porcupined man fell to the ground and a pool of blood spurted out around him as he shook. After a few moments he stilled.
"General!" the Raloman soldiers all shouted.
Those closest to the fallen general ran up and kneeled by his side, trying to stop the bleeding. One of them pulled out the arrows at the neck and even more blood shot out like a fountain. These men were covered in red as they tried to help him but it was all for naught. The general was already long dead.
All the other Raloman soldiers charged in an enraged fury at the Zanabonians, slashing their way to try to reach Kamu. "An eye for an eye! A general for a general!" they screamed.
"Kill them all." Kamu said with an indifference that shocked the entire room.
Even more Zanabonian soldiers rushed in to reinforced the defense between Kamu and the Ralom soldiers. Seeing this, the representatives from Crul all backed away towards the entrance and were ignored.
The Ralom soldiers fought with all their might, displaying all their practiced skills to the best of their abilities, but their numbers were too little. Within a few bouts the charging Ralomans were starting to be pushed back towards the banquet table, forming a semicircle. Slowly they were easily killed, scrunched up together until they were unable to fully swing their swords. With nowhere else to go some of the soldiers on the losing side started to jump onto the table to tryto escape the encirclement and attack from the left side, but this was anticipated by their enemies. Archers in the back raised their bows and fired. A flurry of arrows rained down onto these routed men and the table was covered in arrows and bodies.
This fight continued on for a short while until all the people from Ralom were either heavily wounded on the ground or already dead. The stink of blood and the dead filled the room, ruining any appetite one may have had prior to the fighting. At first everyone stared at the fallen men, some weak willed nobles violently vomited at the sight. Even the people from the Merchants Guild looked ghastly, the guild leader with an ashen face. He was staring at Kamu, appalled by this display of dominance.
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Kamu ignored the stares and walked slowly towards the defeated Ralomans.
"Please... spare me..." cried a young Ralom soldier who was covered in his own blood.
"If I allowed you to live, I'm sure you would come back to try and kill me. And if not you, your sons. And not if your sons, your sons' sons." Kamu said as he pulled out a long dagger from his waist.
"In order to stop this cycle, you must die here today." Kamu drove his dagger down and through the wounded soldiers heart.
Kamu looked towards his men and said "What are you waiting for? I've already said to kill everyone who defies me."
There were men among the Zanabo mercenary group that were wavering. For some of them this was their first time in true combat, that resulted in so many casualties. For others, they were from Ralom and trained to be mercenaries. Now they were killing their own kin. But their leader had ordered them and one of the codes of ethics a mercenary had to follow was "Your master is god." And so, although they didn't all agree with the order, they followed it anyways. Soon none of the Ralom representatives lived.
The people from Crul all were shaking in fear. The head ambassador of the group nervously said "Righteous Zanako, we are willing to go back to our home city. Please spare us."
Kamu wiped the blood off his dagger with the tablecloth and looked at the Cruls. "As I said before, my men will escort you all to the harbor so you can leave. Your belongings and assets have all been packed already. You may leave now."
"Many thanks, kind Zanako." the ambassador said as he started motioning for his people to leave.
The Cruls were herded out of the mansion by some of the Zanabonian soldiers. The only people who remained in the banquet hall were those from the Merchants Guild and Aster clan.
Fear and disgust were on the faces of those from the Merchants Guild while the Aster clan seemed calm and collected. The Aster clansmen all devoutly believed in their next Zanako and didn't even question the reasons for committing such an atrocity.
"This banquet hall is a little too big for just the rest of us. How about we move further into the mansion towards the garden and continue there?" the city lord asked, still smiling. He had been smiling since the very beginning and continued to do so even in the midst of the wanton slaughter.
"Thank you for the invitation but it is getting fairly late. My Merchants Guild must start preparing for trading in the early morning so we must go. I hope you won't mind." the guild leader said calmly but still had a white face.
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave. We still have more to discuss now that the Ralomans and Cruls have been expelled. And-" the city lord continued to talk but Kamu interrupted.
"It's okay father. The Merchants Guild is truly busy, but I'm sure they'll make some time to talk soon. You all may go."
"Ah, yes. You're completely right. We can meet another time, Illius." Helvet, the city lord, agreed.
"Yes, of course. We will meet another time." the guild leader, Illius, said while this time eking out a small smile.
"Let's go." Whitebeard said, pulling Arnest by the arm.
The guild members made their way to the exit and walked out carefully, making sure not to step over any of the dead. Doing so was considered a type of bad luck. There was a superstition that the souls of freshly killed people lingered near their bodies and if you were close to one, the soul could overtake your body and shatter your own soul.
As Illius was about to leave, Kamu called out "I hope you won't forget what I've said tonight. Defy me and there will be consequences."
"I wouldn't dream of doing so, my future Zanako." Illius said respectfully and quickly walked outside.
The boat ride back to the city's shore was gloomy. The night made the atmosphere feel even more ominous than it already was. Arnest and Whitebeard sat in a boat together, speaking in hushed voices so the ferryman couldn't hear.
"Are you still sure you want to do this? You just saw what he just did. Kamu is dangerous." Whitebeard whispered.
"If anything, this is a perfect time to act. For some reason he's distancing himself from the other great cities and even the Merchants Guild. I have to take advantage of this situation." Arnest said in an excited tone.
"If you fail, you must promise me you'll run away. The Merchants Guild cannot protect you now. You saw how the guild leader acted. The guild won't act until they're certain of victory."
"That's fine. Although I wasn't expecting this, I've already have an idea of what to do."
The boat arrived at the shore and the master and his pupil said their goodbyes. Whitebeard headed back towards his residence, which was a small boat house on the harbor, and Arnest walked towards Malaren Road, where the Merchants Guild headquarters was located.
"Time to meet the guild leader.” Arnest said to himself before stepping into the Merchants Guild.