In Shimmerstal's royal palace, Commander Karato knelt in front of the King and dutifully apologised for his ineptitude in losing the battle against the forest dungeon monsters.
“Your majesty, I have come before you, ahead of our retreating troops to confirm that we have lost the battle you ordered me to command. In loosing I've wronged you and our kingdom. There's nothing I can offer that can atone for the men who will never come home. I offer you my resignation as commander of the Royal Knights as compensation for my failure.”
“Karato, please stand up. We knew from the start that this would be a difficult battle to win. I am not expecting anything different from what we already discussed before you left for battle. As for the men we lost, make sure all their families are properly compensated. It is the least we can do for them. I have to say, that I expected the returning people to be far more subdued by recent events, but they looked almost festive.”
There were no aristocratic trivialities between them. Privately, Karato and the king were the closest of friends but in the public eye they were never as cordial, it would create the wrong perception amongst the nobles and the troops. But there, in the king’s office, they spoke to each other as equals because the level of trust was implicit born from decades of mutual friendship in the face of hardship.
“Karato, what are your thoughts on the ambush against your troops?”
Karato sighed as he stood up.
“It was no simple ambush instead it was uncharacteristically well coordinated attack, effectively countering all our engagement strategies. In all my time of fighting monsters I've never seen such well unified manoeuvres against our troops. It’s almost as if they knew exactly what we planned to do before we did it. There’s a new element in the monster activities I've never seen before. That and their sudden access to high quality weaponry has me very concerned.”
The king’s brows knitted. As strange as it might be, he could understand monsters becoming more intelligent about human behaviours but not when it included military ordnance.
“Karato, since when did the monsters start arming themselves with high quality weapons?”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen or heard of them using such advanced weaponry, it confirms our suspicions that someone is cooperating with the monsters, arming them in the process. Whoever made those weapons made them for monster’s hands.”
Karato was referring to the swords, bows and shields which in the case of goblins, made for creatures smaller than humans. In the case of ogres, obviously far larger. The king had already called for an internal investigation into who was cooperating with the monsters. Whomever that was, they would suffer a harsh penalty. The king brushed that thought out of his mind when his eye fell on a light-coloured line crossing Karato’s lower right arm, the only evidence marking a once severe trauma.
“On a different note; you were in the infirmary five days ago yet your arm looks extraordinarily fine if surgeons were discussing the merits of keeping it on you, are our surgeons that good at healing wounds?”
Karato laughed, the king didn’t miss a thing. Looking at his fully healed arm there was no escaping it, it was something of a miracle.
“I have Grenfell’s blacksmith apprentice to thank for that. If not for him, I’d be eating with my left hand by now.”
“Really? Now there is a name I haven’t heard in a while. How is it going with grey beard and since when did he have an apprentice?”
“It’s still the same old him, going strong, although his beard looks a bit greyer.”
The king chuckled at Karato’s words which resurfaced pleasant memories of a time long time ago when King Leopold, while still a prince, had Grenfell working as his personal weaponsmith for many years. It was a carefree time when his father still ruled the kingdom and few of the royal responsibilities plagued him like it currently did. He used that time to explore much of his kingdom and thanks to people like Grenfell, he was able to do it free spirited.
“What about his apprentice?”
“Ah yes, strange young man. I first got to know him a bit better in the encampment where I sparred with him most mornings.”
King Leopold knew Karato well enough to know that he could best all knights in a one-on-one battle, perhaps even with multiple opponents. For him to single out Grenfell’s blacksmith apprentice for his daily attention meant there was far more to the young man.
“After the first sparring session we realised he was using a skill on his blade to reinforce his sword technique.”
Karato explained.
“A skill eh? Interesting. Where did he come from?”
“When I first noticed his ability, I ordered one of my sergeants to track down his background. Shane turned up naked in Obon one day, later getting a job as a woodcutter. He managed to kill an ogre general barehanded and without so much as a stitch of clothing on him, while working in a forest woodcutter camp a few hours south of the main road. Other than he works hard and is trustworthy, he seems to have the habit of travelling around naked for some reason.”
“Excuse me, he killed an ogre general without so much as a weapon?”
Being royalty, entitled King Leopold to hear a lot of wild stories before, but Karato’s words were seriously scraping the bottom of that barrel.
“Apparently, he used a rock to kill the ogre while it slept near a river.”
A picture of the young man was starting to appear in his mind, it seemed he was not only skilled but intelligent as well. Why attack an ogre one on one when you can catch it napping? It made perfect sense.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“What is his name?”
“Shane Karosaki.”
“Shane Karosaki. I’ve never heard of a house called Karosaki.”
“We couldn’t relate it either. It might be that he’s from a disenfranchised knight or noble from another kingdom.”
“That aside, how did he manage to heal your arm?”
The king was genuinely concerned for Karato, who from his intelligence report, had been in a critical state after the ogre’s blade nearly hacked his arm off. Of course, he couldn’t admit to Karato of his thoughts around how that injury would affect Karato’s future career as a knight’s commander. That future would have devastated Karato. But there he stood, a perfect symbol of life, testament to whatever Shane did for him.
“I’m not exactly sure. All the nurse told tell me was that he used some herbs and following that my arm healed within hours of him helping me. I’ve never felt so good since I woke up after that healing, I feel young again.”
So, Shane is brave, intelligent, a healer with skills and unexpectedly capable of surviving Karato’s sparring sessions, the king thought to himself. He set it in his mind to one day meet him, until Karato said something shocking.
“That’s not all. I think he was primarily responsible for how well we survived the monster attack on the camp. I learned that Grenfell came to warn us of an impending attack. Shane raised the original alert. I checked the corpse of the ogre general that led that attack, it died when two hot metal spheres found its way to its brains via the eyes.”
“Are you implying that Shane had something to do with that?”
“They found the ogre’s body at the bottom of the hill from the tent Grenfell used. We could clearly see the marks where the ogre’s body rolled down the hill from. I’m sure Shane killed it when it tried to climb the hill to get a view of the battle. When he did that, he threw the monsters into confusion giving our men the advantage they needed. If it weren’t for that, we would have suffered far more damage because at the time, most of our fighting force were still retreating from the forest dungeon battle. It was only reserve troops and cadets looking after the camp. Once again, the monsters pulled a daring raid utilising our strategies against us.”
The king looked visibly shocked. That was the second ogre general Shane killed in as little as a few weeks and yet he wasn’t a knight, but a blacksmith’s apprentice.
“There’s another thing.”
“There’s more?”
Karato nodded.
“He was the sole reason the elevated morale of our people you mentioned.”
“Eh, just how did he do that?”
“He came up with some strange shadow-puppet show that fascinated people to the point they couldn’t stop watching. The people’s enjoyment was so intoxicating I battled to corral my men so as not to desert their posts to watch the event. The people so enjoyed the entertainment that by the time we entered Shimmerstal’s gates, the were still talking about that event.”
“The more I hear of this Shane, the more I want to meet him.”
“Do you know that when I spar with him, he uses the same technique as that man from Balheimr we met a long time ago.”
No more doubt lingered in the king’s mind. He issued a command.
“Karato. Please arrange a meeting with Shane as soon as possible, I want to meet Grenfell’s apprentice.”
Karato nodded.
“Very well your majesty. What of the issue regarding my resignation?”
“Leave that with me. When the time comes, I will let you know of my decision.”
Karato couldn’t expect more. He received a reprieve, not a pardon but that lifeline could only be used once. As he left the king’s office, he sighed to himself. The nobles were never going to leave him alone for losing the battle. He expected that soon enough, Lady Hull would come trouncing through that same door looking for nothing less than his head. But that would be after she had berated King Leopold for sending out the royal knights on what was obviously her territory and her responsibility to protect, and that without little prior notice.
Had he managed to destroy the forest dungeon the nobles would have to explain why it took the palace to sort out their mess when they had their own fully capable forces. As things stood now, with his failure, he would become the issue and not the desperate situation the nobles had created by delaying military response. With the nobles pressuring the king, it would only be a matter of time before the king would accept his resignation. In some ways he wished the queen were still there to help King Leopold through these lonely times. He sighed again, something he rarely did.
King Leopold sat alone in his office. He suddenly spoke to that invisible person.
“Find out everything you can about that blacksmith apprentice.”
“Yes, your majesty.”
Replied the mysteriously calm, disembodied voice from behind him.
As the retreating troops approached Shimmerstal City the forest surrounds steadily gave way to broad grassy hills filled with farmland. Harry’s Bards waited to find us next to the road since we never had an opportunity to talk after the show.
“Hi Shane!”
They all waved enthusiastically.
“We wanted to find you firstly to say thank you for the amazing opportunity you gave us by including us in your show. Without you we would never have made this much money.”
Said Harry as they all bowed.
“I’m curious, how much did you earn at the end of the day?”
Harry looked proud as he said,
“We earned over 50 small gold all told.”
“What? 50 small gold?”
They nodded in unison.
“Yep, and it’s all thanks to you. But we feel greatly indebted to you and we were wondering what would consider a small thank you from us?”
Well, that was easy for me to decide.
“I would love to have a few of those flutes made for me, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Hahaha, that’s no problem for us. We’ll get you the best we can offer, but that’s still too small a gift to ask from us.”
I hadn’t thought much about it, but there was something else.
“During the last three days of travel, as we did these shows, I realised that the people are desperate for entertainment. Would you consider becoming the torch bearer for the shadow puppets in this kingdom and others?”
Despite the procession sounds of carts, horses, and people only a few meters away, a hushed silence fell over Harry’s Bards as they absorbed the magnanimity of what I proposed. The very idea that someone they barely knew, who so generously gave them everything he earned without holding back a single copper coin, would so simply hand over the means to a wealth beyond their understanding was to put it simply, dumbfounding.
“We, we already owe you so much. How could we even think to accept something so profound from you?”
They looked uncomfortable as they shuffled their feet while looking down towards the ground. They had intended to ask me about rights to the shadow puppet show anyhow, in the end I beat them to it.
“Hey guys. In future I’m not able to give people the joy of experiencing something as wonderful as the shadow puppet show. I have another destiny, but you’re in the right place to take advantage of my offer. I only emulate what I’ve seen in my past, but you already entertain people as a way of life. I would consider it an honour if you can give all the people some escapism from the drudgery of everyday life.”
And that is all I had to say on the issue. Harry’s eyes watered as he looked up at me.
“We’re so grateful, I’m not sure how we would ever be able to show our gratitude.”
“To show me your thanks all you need to do is to spread the shadow puppet shows throughout this kingdom and any others that would have it.”
It was a sad farewell but on the other hand I was relieved to pass that commitment onto them. They looked like they had a fire in them that would help ignite the need in people for something a little different. Little did I know that in the future, a ragtag band and a shadow puppet show would affect my world.