It’s quite strange to feel yourself in the middle of the narrow streets of a primitive city. There were low wooden houses at the foot of which grew slightly trampled grass, and in the distance one could hear muffled human voices, barking dogs, the work of some workshops, and the sound of the wind was heard overhead. We barely reached the tavern to which Granid was leading us, when on both sides of the street our path was blocked by people dressed in leather armor holding spears in their hands and emitting an unpleasant smell of sweat. We were surrounded by city guards.
«What's going on? We just recently entered the city and have already aroused suspicion? Although our appearance should be provocative anyway, so in fact I’m not surprised, because because of this we were overtaken quite unexpectedly. Is this really an ambush?»
Granid at this time looked at these guards with a stern look and, just like I, wondered why they were detaining us. He was not afraid to show his strength at any moment and scare away the obstacle in his path, but he decided not to do this now, deciding instead to behave more calmly and rationally:
“What do you need?”
Granid asked calmly, ready to release magic from his staff at any moment.
The guards who blocked our path did not approach us closer than five meters, but they were not militantly inclined against us either; rather, they were relaxed, as if they did not see even the slightest threat in us. There were quite a lot of them here, about a hundred people, and they were all apparently waiting for an order.
Immediately after Granid’s question, one emerged from the crowd of guards with a gray cloak on his back and a steel helmet decorated with square patterns. He did not hold a spear in his hands like everyone else, but instead a short sword, riddled with many scratches, hung on his belt. His rather large physique told us that in close combat he was a dangerous opponent, and it would be somewhat unwise for us to start shooting now due to the presence of factors in the form of unfavorable open positions, that is, our close location to these guards and the narrowness of the street, where practically there was no shelter.
If push comes to shove, we're definitely dead.
“Is your name Granid?”
The guard who came out asked, to which the old mage nodded in agreement and answered:
“That’s right, my name is Granid and it’s better for you not to interfere with us. We’re just heading to the inn to wait out the night, and that’s why I want to know why you got in my way?”
There was tension in the air. Granid's voice was hoarse, stern and to some extent even threatening, as if he was not at all ready to tolerate anyone but himself. The guard himself did not take his eyes off the old mage and, looking at him for a while, bowed slightly.
“I beg your pardon, dear Granid. I did not recognize you as a mage who served His Majesty.”
The guard spoke in an apologetic tone, and then again looked up at Granid and added threateningly.
“However, I ask you to follow me. Count Laroy wants to see you.”
«Count?»
I didn’t understand the guard and looked around at my people, who also didn’t understand anything and turned their heads in different directions asking silent questions. Even the natives were surprised by what they heard, but Princess Niana was somewhat pleased by these words, as if she now had the opportunity to meet a person of equal status to her.
Meanwhile, Granid decided to give the same threatening answer:
“I serve only the king. I do not undertake to obey some count.”
The guard, to the surprise of the old mage, was not afraid and answered with a smile on his face:
"Count knew that you would refuse, so I will have to order you to be taken by force."
After these words all the other guards clutched their spears tightly in their hands, pointing their ends in our direction, but despite this action they remained in place waiting for a clear order from their commander, who in turn only put his palm on the hilt of his blade and finished what he had started with the following words:
“Once again, please follow me before blood is spilled on the ground.”
«This is not good.»
I thought to myself, tightly gripping the holster with the pistol, ready to start a fight at any moment.
But what kind of fight could there be? They're already close enough for us to start taking losses. There are hundreds of them here, and even if we open fire closely, we simply won’t be able to shoot them all. The situation seemed catastrophic, a massacre could happen at any moment and none of us wanted it. That’s why Granid snorted and finally decided to give up:
“Tch! Okay. Lead us to the Count while you keep me in suspense."
After these words, the guard, without answering anything, turned around and walked towards the largest building in the city, a tall stone castle. The guards continued to surround us while we obediently followed Granid, and he walked towards the castle.
«Looks like our plans have changed.»
At this time, the guards were actively looking at us and even making fun of our appearance. We looked quirky to them, causing them to ask a lot of questions out loud. I even heard a very interesting conversation among those guards who were following us.
“Look, Urof, they have no weapons, but they look like strong warriors.”
“Do you know who they are?”
"How should I know? Tsfeirik ordered us to surround them and wait for orders. Who knew that we would accompany them.”
“They look strange. Beluy said that it is difficult to make blue in dyehouses, but these guys have all their tunics dyed that color. Maybe they are nobles? Well, that is, they are from another country, probably?”
"You better put that rag in your mouth and don't talk about anything else. Tsfeirik will tell you everything later, but for now just make sure those... jesters or whoever they are don't do anything bad. I don't like them. They're so unclean, they smell like goblins. They could be wizard's bodyguards or mercenaries from the south, so be prepared."
"I understood you."
"You are sure?"
“I’m confident about the silver piece. Until the whale on the mountain whistles, I know what to do.”
“Good job... wait... what is a whale?”
Hearing these words, I quietly took the ring off my finger and addressed my entire platoon:
“If they look threatening and provoke us, then do not give in and do not shoot at them. Only when they decide to kill us, then I authorize self-defense. Nod if you understand the order.”
Instead of the usual «Yes, sir», they all nodded, and I put the ring with the Babylon spell back on my finger, after which we continued our way to the castle.
«They expressed concerns about us... we need to be on guard.»
After some time, we reached this very castle, which stood on an artificial island surrounded by a dug moat. For people of this era, this castle was very strong, consisting of many stone bricks, but for us people from outer space it was just a house of cards.
I don’t think that even an ordinary stone wall will withstand a burst from our firearms, and even knowing this, I still somewhat admired what the natives could build without relying on modern construction technologies, making such buildings manually, with their own hands.
We approached the drawbridge, which right now began to slowly descend, apparently due to the fact that the guards on the walls noticed all of us and reacted. Everywhere was full of soldiers and to be honest, I didn’t understand what was happening. Apparently, preparations for war were underway right now. In the distance I heard the sounds of hitting sticks and clanging metal, somewhere within the castle soldiers were training, I could hear the neighing of horses and the clatter of hooves, and we obediently continued to follow the guards while they looked at us with curiosity.
«I feel like some kind of animal from a xenozoo.»
When the drawbridge came down with a loud bang, the guards who had been walking in front of us separated on both sides to let us pass, but for some reason they decided not to enter the castle. Granid, however, did not stop and continued walking, tapping his boots on the wooden bridge. The bridge itself was quite wide, about ten meters wide, and was secured by many chains stretching to the towers where the lifting mechanisms were located.
I was afraid that the bridge would not support the weight of more than two dozen people, the creaking under our feet especially added fear to the likelihood of us falling from the bridge, but fortunately everything worked out and we calmly entered the castle, and to our surprise, the inside turned out to be quite well maintained.
Instead of dirt, there were laid stone tiles underfoot, there were places for plants separated by borders, there was even a fountain and statues depicting some fantastic creatures performing some kind of dance. And as I assumed, training was actually taking place inside the castle. I saw a passage into a courtyard where sweating soldiers in white tunics were swinging their swords, others were dueling with spears, and a few were shooting at targets with longbows.
We did not manage to watch what was going on for long, as we immediately found ourselves at the entrance to the castle, where a delegation was waiting for us. Granid, who was ahead of us, stopped in front of the staircase at the top of which stood a man dressed in a well-groomed garment of green-golden color.
He had a neatly combed short black hairstyle and a long spiral mustache. Although he seemed to be standing over us with his arms crossed behind his back, you could tell from his gaze that he was not looking down on us, but as if we were long-awaited and welcome guests. He smiled before another man standing next to him in a dark, well-groomed suit introduced him:
“Before you stands Mr. Laroy le Oufric, count county Ideoss.”
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After these words, Granid also began to introduce himself:
"Free Mage Granid. My student and guests from distant lands are with me.”
"I know."
Count said and slowly walked down the stairs, approaching Granid almost closely.
“Greetings and glad to see you, dear Granid. We were waiting for you. You have no idea how lucky we are to know that you have visited my domain. It's an honor for me.”
"What do you need?"
Granid unceremoniously declared, causing the guards near Count to tense up, and Count, in turn, did not change his face, clearly expecting to hear such an impudent manner of speech from the old mage.
“Etiquette is not inherent in you, that is forgivable, but if we are to discuss your matter, let us all follow inside, there is just about to be dinner, I invite you.”
“Will I go alone?”
"Yes."
"Then I won't go."
The count twitched a little when he heard the sharp refusal, but continued to keep a satisfied and hospitable expression on his face. It looked as if there was a battle of wits going on, one of them cold and judicious and the other hard and straightforward.
Meanwhile, we continued to watch the spectacle unfold. None of us had expected that we would be meeting the head of the domain that day. Because of that, we kept our combat readiness and at any moment we could fight our way out of this settlement. However, I trusted Granid, at least for now, and hoped for a favorable outcome of this unexpected meeting.
«Count is, as far as I know, not a king... but is it possible to already conclude an agreement with them?»
I was thinking in the meantime until count said the following to the old mage:
“My servants will not feed dozens of people from my table. Forgive me, but I allow only a few to try Itsqueenian dishes.”
“Then he will come with me.”
Granid pointed at me after which the count thought for a few seconds and ultimately nodded.
"Fine. Follow me."
Laroy said and turned around and began to climb up the stairs. Granid followed him, and then this count's assistant contacted us:
"I'll take everyone else to the living room."
"Well."
I answered and ordered the entire platoon and the natives.
“Go to the living room. If anything, you know what to do in case of unforeseen circumstances. Will, you're in charge. Is the order clear?”
The platoon nodded, and in the meantime I followed Granid while my people began to leave in the opposite direction. Entering the castle, dim torches appeared on the sides of the walls, illuminating the narrow corridors of the castle, which at the same time were quite cozy. The guards followed me, but this time there were others, dressed in heavy plate armor and did not utter a word, covering their faces, like some kind of droids.
I felt a little uncomfortable that I was now without my people, especially when Will took command of the platoon. I know him, he can create a lot of problems that I will have to sort out. We were separated inside a primitive city and anything could have happened now. Fortunately, I had my assault rifle with a full clip of cartridges and if something happened I could protect myself.
«Calm down, Boris, the most important thing in any war is readiness... although... what the hell is war?»
A thought crossed my mind, which I eventually shook off and focused on the pressing matter at hand.
After some time, I entered a rather large hall in the middle of which stood a long rectangular table, covered with a white cloth and luxurious silver dishes with all kinds of delicacies and drinks. There was a chandelier with candles hanging on the ceiling, and in the corners of the dining room there were guards and maids silently waiting for the meal to begin.
Count, meanwhile, walked past the table and sat down on its opposite edge with his back to a picture hanging on the wall, which depicted some majestic man in knightly armor and a thick black beard.
«Looks amazing.»
I thought, looking at the picture and drew attention to the people who were already sitting at this table.
To the right of count sat a woman in a golden dress with dark hair tied in a bun, and to the left was a girl with a rather youthful face, but already in a pinkish dress. Both brunettes looked at me and Granid with curiosity, as if they saw strange animals that they had never seen in their lives.
"Have a seat."
Laroy gestured with his hands, ordering the maids to come out of the corners and prepare chairs at the table for Granid and me to sit in front of each other.
Granid sighed deeply at the sight of this and walked forward, sitting down to the right of the count, and I in turn got a seat to the left of the count and beside a young girl, which I believe was the count's daughter. I took my assault rifle off my shoulder and leaned it on the table and took off my gloves, and then just put my hands on the table, not knowing what to do, because the ceramic plate in front of me was empty.
I did not know what customs there were regarding meals here and therefore was in no hurry to eat. I could anger them if I did something wrong, and therefore I just waited for this very dinner to begin. I didn’t know what to do now, everything else too, but the women continued to look at us with curiosity, at which Granid even swore:
“Your hunting looks could even scare away an orc.”
“Oh~... forgive me.”
The mature woman next to Granid apologized and directed her gaze now at me.
«Do I need to say the same? »
I thought doubtfully and looked at the girl who wrinkled her nose slightly, apparently sensing the smell of my body.
«I'd better not do it, or I'll only make it worse.»
Soon count looked at us, picked up the forks and said:
“Bring the food. May the great Sod bless these viands.”
After these words, five maids approached and placed five dishes in front of each of us. Granid and I got some kind of noodles with a cutlet. At first I didn’t know whether I should eat it or not, but since my body was now adaptive only to local food, no poisoning was expected. And about poisoning: who would dare to poison a powerful magician and his guest? And most importantly, why should they do this?
Therefore, I boldly took cutlery in the form of a fork and knife and began to cut the cutlet, imitating halofilms about the nobility of the ancient Earth. Apparently my table etiquette skills were so convincing that "Count's daughter" sitting to my right asked me in surprise:
"Are you a nobleman?"
Without thinking, I answered the following and at the same time asked:
"No. Why do you think so?"
“I thought so because you know what a fork is for.”
She answered with a slight smile and as if she had now realized something, she gasped.
“Ah~...sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Diana le Oufric, Count’s daughter Laroy le Oufric, what’s your name?”
"Boris Kipito."
I answered with tension and before having a good dinner I asked the girl an awkward question.
“This is my first time in this country. Doesn’t my appearance or my actions offend you?”
“No, Mr. Boris, you are our guest, just like Mr. Granid.”
"Right."
Count suddenly responded while digging into his dish.
“You don't have to follow our etiquette, it's how we show you hospitality. After all, you are a friend of Mr. Granid, a free mage and former subject of His Majesty."
«I know this very well.»
I thought and suddenly Granid inserted his word.
"While we're on the subject, I want to know why you invited me to this dinner. Do you want to show off to the court how you take care of the court magicians?"
Count laughed a little at these words and answered calmly:
“By no means, Mr. Granid, but the reason you are here is very important. However, let’s discuss it after the meal?”
"Okay."
Granid said disappointedly and began to eat the dish.
I did not lag behind him and also began to eat the food. And what can I say about the food here: it’s tasty and nothing more. Of course, earthly food is more familiar to me, but the taste of food for the nobility suited me quite well. True, I was then offered to wash down these dishes not with water, juice or beer, but with vodka.
«Seriously? Vodka? Where did they get this from?»
Instead, I didn’t drink anything, because I had to stay sober to command a platoon, but count saw something suspicious in this.
“Would you like to drink some of our drinks?”
"I'm sorry but there is no. I must be sober when leading my people."
"Weak."
One of the guards muttered out loud, after which Count’s gaze hardened and rushed towards the one who said it.
“Did I give any of you permission to speak?”
Laroy said sternly, to which the guards and maids, shuddering, bowed before their master and in chorus they all apologized.
“We made a mistake. This will not happen again.”
This action somewhat surprised me, however, Granid, in turn, was not at all embarrassed by it, as if he was expecting something like this. Since even he didn’t pay attention to it, I didn’t dwell on it either and, after finishing the meal, I started negotiations with the others.
“While my dear wife and my beloved daughter continue their meal, I want to tell you some unpleasant news.”
Laroy said after finishing eating his dish.
"War will break out soon."
“So you already know.”
Granid grinned and after that, after taking a sip of his drink, he asked Count a question.
“Have you already figured out how you are going to fight the Empire?”
At that moment, the girls stopped chewing their food and turned their surprised heads towards Granid. It seems that Count himself did not expect to hear such words from the old mage.
“With what Empire? Are you really talking about Antigone?”
"I made a mistake?"
Scratched Granid's beard.
“Oh... and I’m far from high society. Is there really someone else planning to attack the kingdom?”
"Yes."
Count nodded, maintaining curiosity from the words he heard while the women continued to eat the dishes.
“The Duke of Fellrick gathers an army, two thousand men. War, for which we are diligently preparing, could break out at any moment.”
"We noticed it."
Granid said, reminding me of the military bustle within this castle.
“But war is your business, you will stand against the Duke, but what about the Empire? You should know that behind the goblin forest, the kingdom of Hippolyta fell.”
“Unfortunately, this news has not yet reached us.”
Chagrined, the count said, and added.
“I regret to inform you, but the kingdom will lose the war with the duchy, at least without you, that’s for sure.”
“The Duke of Fellrick... as far as I remember, he is His Majesty’s brother, which means that he just wanted to take the throne in his own right. He’s not going to ruin the country, so why should I interfere in your games?”
“You don’t understand, dear Granid, the kingdom of Lakuus is now divided. Few nobles cling to the royal family, others supported the traitorous royal council that poisoned our king all these years. If Fellrick takes the royal throne, the kingdom will plunge into the chaos of a years-long war, with every noble house fighting for the throne. At a time like this, the kingdom needs someone who will protect the people and that someone is you.”
“A free mage will follow his own will, and not carry out your decrees. How do I know if you are telling me the truth or not? Maybe absolutely nothing you say is true. Why should I take sides when I swore to protect Lakuus from outside invaders? It is because of you, the nobles, that the kingdom is divided and therefore does not live in peace. Previously, this city, the domain of your ancestor, was the most pleasant place in the kingdom where joy and peace reigned, but what about now? Right now there are half the poor people roaming the streets of the city while the other half are your thugs."
"Enough."
Count said sternly, taking a sip of the drink and clenching his free palm into a fist, and then after a short pause he chuckled.
“I realized that it would be difficult to convince you. You are generally difficult to control; you are an all-powerful mage, not the only one, but one of the few. But how will you serve a dead country in the future? Or was your oath just idle talk?
“You're making this country dead, Count Laroy. There is no need to involve me in your games. The struggle for the throne does not concern me and it does not matter whether I am a friend to His Majesty or just a faithful servant. I have retired from royal affairs, and I no longer wish to have anything to do with the nobility.”
“If that were the case, you would never agree to dine at my table.”
“There was another reason for that.”
“I wonder which one?”
Granid, after these words, looked at me, perplexed, and said:
“That’s the reason.”