The city of Rochdale was as busy as usual, but with a noticeably tense feel to it due to the troops' movement. Guards patrolling the streets kept one hand to the hilt of their weapons, glancing left and right for any sign of trouble.
After leaving the castle, John made his way through the main street, spending almost an hour to reach the city gates. Some of the guards posted at the gates turned to look at the lone guard walking out of the city but, fortunately, no one tried to stop him.
He spent another hour walking through the outskirts as he went from grassy plains, a small hill, and finally a forest, the reverse path he took when he arrived at Rochdale all those years ago. In all these years, this was his first time stepping out of the city.
After reaching the forest, he didn’t need to walk for much longer before coming across a trio of men resting by the shade of a tree. A little further ahead there were four horses tied to another tree. The men all wore the armor of the city guard, with one in particular being a captain if the cape and heavier armor were anything to go by.
The captain had his helmet under one arm, his bald head and bushy black beard in full display. As John approached, he turned to look. “Finally, the half-bred arrives,” he said with a clear look of disdain, the small scar over his nose moving as he did so.
John recognized the captain as the same one who tried to hold him back when he first arrived at Rochdale along with the two noble kids. So this was the friend who Marleya chose to look after him. “Yes, I’m here. Let’s go,” he said, walking past the trio towards the horses.
“What, you’re not even going to apologize for making us wait?”
John approached the nearest horse, a strong chestnut beast with a white stripe in between its eyes, and untied it from the tree. He then placed one foot on the stirrup and used it to climb up on its saddle. “Marleya had already warned that I might take some time, so I don’t know what you’re so upset about.”
“I’m upset because we’ve wasted hours waiting for some half-bred while the rest of the army marched ahead, and now we’ll need to ride a lot to make up for the lost time.”
“In that case, you should start moving instead of talking.” John pressed his calves against the horse’s ribcage, signaling the beast to walk and it promptly responded. “I’ll be moving ahead.”
The horse walked through the forest’s dirt road, and John clucked his tongue twice so that it would speed up, changing from a walk to a faster trot and leaving the trio behind. At the castle, he took the opportunity to learn a bit about horse riding, and it wasn’t all that different from back on Earth.
He rode for a good minute before the captain and the other two caught up to him. The man now had his helmet on, though it failed to hide his look of discontentment. He tilted his head to the side and spit before continuing speaking, much to John’s displeasure. “You have absolutely no sense of respect for your superiors. I should expect nothing less from an ignorant half-bred.”
Part of John wanted to just keep quiet in hopes that the man would do the same. That part lost in favor of the one that wanted to put this arrogant bastard in his place. “Unless I have things mixed up, you’re the one sent to escort and protect me, a clear sign of who is the most important person here.”
The man pursed his lips at first but then broke out into a yellow-toothed grin. “You know what else this is a sign of, half-bred? That we’re the strongest party here while you’re the weakest. So you better show us the proper respect as you never know when there might be an enemy ambush and we’re not around to save you.”
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“That would certainly be unfortunate.” John raised his helmet’s visor and, for the first time, turned to look at the man. “What’s is your name?”
He scoffed. “Why the fuck should I give you my name, half-bred?”
“Fair enough. In that case, I shall address you as Jacke, because that’s the name of another arrogant fool who thinks too highly of himself.” Jacke looked ready to retort, but John continued speaking. “Now, Jacke, have you ever wondered how I, a half-bred as you so often like to remind, managed to be accepted at the earl’s castle and become a squire to the city’s most celebrated knight?”
Jacke’s blank look was enough of an answer.
“Of course you haven’t, because thinking clearly isn’t one of your strong points. The answer, my not dear friend, is because I am that fucking important, so much so that you’ve been specifically asked to protect me. That’s why if we ever get ambushed as you mentioned and anything happens to me, it’ll be your heads on the line. Understand?”
Jacke scowled but ultimately nodded, same for the other two.
“Good. So, now that we’ve established where we all stand, I don’t want to hear another sound out of you. This will already be a tiresome enough travel without your babbling. You don’t like me, and the feeling is mutual. As soon as we reach the main army, we’ll keep our distance until this is all over with and we’re back home.”
After saying his piece, John pressed harder against the horse’s ribcage, causing it to increase its pace. He couldn’t wait to be done with this all so that he may forget the Jackes and focus back on his cultivation, the Squire’s Tourney, and the Secret Realm.
Through gaps at the canopy above, he caught glimpses of the sun as it slowly reached its zenith and began its descent. More and more often, he also caught glimpses of huge birds flying low. Although they weren’t as large as the Gale Eagles used to carry large carriages, they should still be able to carry one or two people on their backs.
This signaled that they were getting close, which was proven when they came across a man flying, not on the back of a bird, but by his own powers. From what John studied, flying was a Warlock-level air spell useful for simple patrolling, though it couldn’t be maintained for long before the user was forced to land.
There were a few hours left of daylight when they finally reached the army, already making camp for the night. Large earthen walls had been raised around the camp, certainly by Warlock-leveled geomancers. Men and women in full armor were posted by a gap on the walls that served as an entrance.
They turned to look at the newcomers, and Jacke pulled ahead to greet them. He spent less than a minute explaining the reason for their lateness before being allowed in. It wasn’t all that difficult given that most of the soldiers were supposed to be from Hagen’s domain. The Duke’s forces were much less numerous, but they made up for it in strength, with all of them supposedly being either a Paladin or a Warlock.
From what John gathered, earl Skanler would meet up with the main army as soon as they reached Knight’s Crossing, though they would only be useful due to their knowledge of the terrain. Due to earl Skanler’s terrible rule, he wasn’t able to dispatch as many troops as Hagen, and, as an earl, his troops weren’t as strong as the Duke’s. As such, he lost both in quantity and quality.
As they passed through the entrance, John noticed a geomancer standing on the other side. John was still just a Mage, so he couldn’t tell a person’s level just by looking at them, but her intricate robes and lack of armor already told that she was most likely a spellcaster. She was probably serving as a gatekeeper, prepared to raise a wall of earth, and close the entrance at any sign of trouble.
Jacke led the way through the various tents that made up the camp, using the various standards and coats of arms for direction. John recognized a few of them as belonging to some of Hagen’s vassals, particularly one depicting a silver moon behind a bow and arrow on a black field. It represented house Teer, a powerful baron house. Bellatrix, the girl John rescued soon before arriving at Rochdale, belonged to it.
Nevil, her friend from back them, belonged to house Ullrich, and the two families were supposedly on bad terms. This may explain why John couldn’t find the Ullrich’s coat of arms anywhere near the Teer’s.
Jacke finally came to a stop after they reached a collection of gray tents. Men and women donning armor of the castle’s guard walked around. Jacke dismounted from his horse and walked towards one of the tents. “This one is yours,” he said to John. He then pointed to the two other guards who rode along with them. “Dwan and Elden will be the only ones sleeping along with you, so you shouldn’t need to worry about covering yourself. My tent is the next one, and if you ever need anything, then please, ask someone else. Now if that’s all, then I’ll see where I can get a drink around here.”