CHAPTER 98: Leaving Endeavour
After receiving King Leopold’s order to leave Endeavour, I moved into overdrive because I only had three days in which to make plans. Thoughts of undoing all the good work I did up to that point gave me a headache, I couldn’t avoid it, something like watching a train smash happening in slow motion.
Late that evening while sitting outside on my deck chair and staring into the campfire, I quietly tried to comprehend my situation. Hana sat down next to me and asked me the question everyone burned to know.
“How do you feel about King Leopold’s decision?”
I could see she felt genuinely concerned about me.
“Even though I know he has his reasons, I’m still angry.”
With so many things in Endeavour left half done, I felt overwhelmed at the sheer task placed before me.
“I only know him for a short while, but I know he isn’t vindictive. I’m sure this isn’t some form of retaliation, if anything, it’s to protect you.”
Hana said while looking up at the night sky.
“If that’s the case, then we were in a lot of danger.”
“I suggest we take everything one day at a time, especially now.”
I nodded. There was no point in crying over spilt milk. If anything, I didn’t want those who supported me to suffer because I supported them. I could only assume king Leopold needed to react to a situation involving the nobles. Although I wasn’t privy to the level of their interference in my life, I could imply it from discussions with others like Karato and the direct impact of strange events on my life. Without meeting a single noble in person, I already disliked them.
I wasn’t one for sitting down and taking their punishment lying down. I recalled one of my first discussions about nobles with Grenfell. He warned me then that when the nobles discovered the existence of my skills they would try to recruit me. Failing that, they would fight me. It was one of the reasons I tried my best to keep my skills under wraps, but even I couldn’t pretend I failed miserably at remaining incognito. Recent events could only be attributed to the nobles’ retribution against me. They obviously consider me a threat.
“Don’t worry, I’m here for you.”
Hana’s hand touched mine as she consoled me.
The following day, Grenfell met us at Endeavour’s gate. Already aware of the news, because we sent a messenger ahead of us the day before, he eagerly waited for our return. We sent instructions ahead of us considering the limited time we had so that Grenfell, Orilay and Sebastien could start the preliminary procedures. For me, the unfortunate task of addressing everyone still lay ahead. Up to then, nobody had spoken to the people since I didn’t want people to panic and come to the wrong conclusion.
“Hi Grenfell, please gather all the people in the square. I’ll meet everyone there.”
As the people received the news of my speech, they gathered as instructed. As I stood high up on the stone steps of the partly built baths, I marvelled not just at how many people waited there but also how well dressed for the cold they were. Furs could be seen everywhere, testament to just how well-off people were. All too soon my time to speak approached. So that everyone could hear me, I used a wind skill coupled with a bull horn Ara created for me.
“Thank you all for coming here. I’ll not mince my words and tell you straight that we received word from the king that I am to leave Endeavour within two days and that a royal representative will replace me.”
I let the hubbub from the people go on for a short while before I interrupted them.
“You all know me well. I’ve never been a stranger to you. Most of you have personally met me and hopefully put your trust in me. Then trust me now when I say that the creation of Endeavour was only possible with the help of His Majesty and for reasons we are not privy to, he has decided I should leave.”
I was lucky I could blame someone else, but it still didn’t make the rest of my speech any easier.
“Don’t blame him. I’m certain His Majesty would’ve chosen another way if he had a choice. As difficult as it is for me to understand the king’s choice, I respect him for that.”
There I paused for a moment before continuing.
“Going forward I’m not worried about a town in the forest built of stone and wood. My concern is for you. Many of you have left your villages and homes to be here by my behest, and I will not allow you to go hungry, cold, or poor because of me. Life will continue in Endeavour as normal. I may not be here in person, but I leave you with capable leaders who will do their best to continue implementing our dreams. Don’t be difficult with my replacement. Try and work with him as best you can and in that way it will go easier for you all and who knows, someday I might return. In future I may be missing from your presence, but you will never be gone from my heart.”
I looked at the saddened faces and shouted.
“Endeavour forever!”
“Endeavour forever…Endeavour forever…Endeavour forever!”
Came the unified shouts of thousands of people, giving me goosebumps all over. As the tears rolled down my face I couldn’t but give in to my emotions, just as there were people in the crowd that cried as well.
Woodcutting activities, the backbone of Endeavour’s economy would continue while the weather permitted. Soon the winter snows would arrive, and all people could do is settle in and patiently wait out the cold. Sure, some animals could be hunted within the area to supplement the pot, and thanks to our clever planning most of the surrounding winter stores for the surrounding Berelli and Obon estates sat in our storerooms.
The worst the nobles were able to do to us was throwing a tantrum by kicking me out. If they thought of attacking Endeavour, it would cost them more than even they were willing to pay. Unfortunately, I didn’t know to what harsh depths the coming winter would push the Berelli family and so I never predicted the coming storm.
On another issue, and unknown to everyone except me, my wood cutting golems had been busy deeper in the woods over the few remaining summer months felling and processing carefully selected trees. They became my plan-B ensuring I could fulfil our contracts with our various timber buyers in Shimmerstal. I had been supplementing the timber supply, slowly reducing the amount until our own woodcutter team came up to speed. Even then, surprise orders were easily supplemented by my supply. Although Orilay and Sabastian quietly knew I managed to somehow produce lumber out of the hat, they couldn’t say how I managed to do it.
Since Ara and I developed the first model of tree cutter, improved models were easily developed. It became clear that once the standing tree’s branches were trimmed by the chainsaw golems, the whole tree could fall into a small diameter transfer storage. A transfer storage event horizon was created under the tree just above the roots and the whole tree slipped into the storage assisted by gravity. It somehow reminded me of someone sucking up trees like spaghetti.
Any remaining branches still lying on the ground were trimmed into different sizes and stored in large piles for later processing where specifically designed golems trimmed the branches into chunk sized pieces. Seven golems finished an average tree in less than ten minutes. The main trunks we stored were later processed by specialised golems, basically intelligent milling machines. All of this happened unsupervised and at various points in the forest.
The golems were so efficient we had a plethora of firewood, enough to supply all our needs through to the end of next winter. Curing the wood required a summer season of drying out, something Obon’s sunny territory would supply in abundance. Yet, despite my use of golems, I never forgot the woodcutters that helped me start my dream.
After my heart felt address to the people of Endeavour, Orilay and Sebastien came to see me about the future of the very woodcutters that made the building of Endeavour possible. Both our license to do large scale woodcutting and our contract to deliver timber to the palace still stood which meant all woodcutters would continue working.
Although I never wanted to leave Endeavour, I didn’t want to raise the king’s ire by behaving defiantly towards him. However, Endeavour would be well maintained and protected regardless of its manager. Despite the king’s edict, he never isolated me from Endeavour. I could still enact transactions through intermediaries and do business with traders in general. Although financially I was still responsible for Endeavour, I decided to act more like a silent partner in the woodcutting affairs, leaving most of the running of the camp to Orilay and Sebastien. My surreptitious woodcutting operations in the forest continued until future weather decided otherwise. My golems might be proficient at cutting trees, but they weren’t designed to traverse snowy terrain and would also battle to cut frozen wood.
The following two days were chaotic for me. Many people came to meet with me, some of them parents dropping marriage proposals to their daughters and others, merchants offering significant posts in their trading organisations. I’m not sure how many times I politely declined them to the point Elle and Hana stepped in to first filter out folks who didn’t want to do either.
To celebrate, rather than mourn, the people held an impromptu festival the likes of which I had never experienced before. Candle lanterns lit the night suspended from strings hung over the walkways. Groups of happy people chatted around roaring fires, amidst the pleasant smells of mead, aromatic wood smoke and roasted meat. Children laughed and played tag around the legs of the adults. We mingled with the throng of people, visiting food stalls, and sharing happy words with others. When people were not eating, they played music, danced, and sang songs late into the night.
Even good times are offset by trouble, and trouble waited for me early in the morning in the form of an uninvited stranger in my office. The blighter sat in my chair with his dirty boots on my office desk as if he owned the place. Overall, he looked slightly older than me. Short, pale brown hair and an ordinary, clean-shaven face. I know what you’re thinking, the royal replacement arrived earlier than expected and helped himself to my office. I wished that were the case because total stranger sitting comfortably in my chair wasn’t my replacement.
The moment I laid eyes on him I realised he was different. He dressed like a wealthy adventurer and yet there wasn’t a mark on him to show an adventurer lifestyle and why did I suddenly develop the urge to remove that smirk on his face? He behaved as if he owned the world, he was either a total idiot or a calculating menace. My mo ney lay on the latter, not only because the intelligence in his eyes said as much, but also because his words.
“Ah, you must be Mr. Karosaki. I hope you don’t mind me sitting in your chair, it’s very comfortable.”
He didn’t look particularly stronger than me, but that matter didn’t seem to bother him, he kept on talking without expecting a reply.
“You’ve been something of a pain to our organisation. I’ve been sent to tell you to stop interfering in my master’s plans. That’s if you don’t want bad things to happen.”
Obviously the man wasn’t from the palace, but some mafioso’s lacky. And it seemed I muddled that mafioso’s plans up.
“What plans?”
“Open your eyes Mr. Karosaki. Do you think everything happening around you is pure happenstance? We’ve spent a lot of time and effort putting things in place and you’re interfering, hence your removal.”
My whole replacement was nothing but a plan to move me out the way of their plan.
“Did Lord Berelli send you?”
“Pfft, what, that flea?”
He exclaimed.
“Don’t compare us with those corrupt nobles.”
For the first time I agreed with him, but that didn’t make him my friend.
“Then who sent you.”
“Nosey I see. My master said to tell you that you’re like him.”
“Ugly and irritating?”
“No Mr. Karosaki, you’re both from earth.”
His words shocked me. The existence of other earthlings always remained a possibility, my presence proving the point, but having someone confirm it outside of my prompting caught me off guard. Soon however I gathered my wits because bad manners remained bad manners no matter what world or planet someone came from.
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“Then tell your master to get lost. He’ll understand what I mean and that I’m not his lackey. As for you…guards!”
Two guards quickly entered the door. Noticing the intruder for the first time caused them apprehension. Since they arrived at my office when I did, they didn’t notice the interloper, an oversight that shocked them. I didn’t need to tell them what to do. They immediately pointed their spears at the man’s neck, making clear we removed the welcome mat. With a smirk the man lifted his hands into the air.
“Hey, don’t kill the messenger. I’m just talking to this fine gentleman. No hostility intended.”
“Escort this man out the gate and make sure he never enters Endeavour again.”
When the guards reached the door with the man sandwiched between them, I gave the unwelcome trespasser some free advice.
“I needn’t tell you not to show up in front of me again.”
“Yeah, very clear. Keep in mind Mr. Karosaki, you’re the interloper and you cannot protect everything you love.”
I didn’t bother retorting and quietly watched our escorts lead our nameless interloper out the gate. Whomever he represented; I wasn’t interested in their politics. I could handle them threatening me, but doing the same to my family and loved ones crossed my no-return threshold. I might have overlooked my threat if I met him again, but after that last statement none of them would live if they ever had the misfortune to meet me in future.
Later that morning after the unwelcome visit, my replacement arrived followed closely by his armed retinue. We waited for them at the top of the hill near the bailey bridge where it crossed the moat. From there we watched his parade march through the gate, between the row of Endeavour residents who quietly watched the spectacle. The large group of armed men looked particularly edgy at Endeavour’s silence. No-one so much as coughed as the group approached us with their horses along the main avenue. An elderly, grey haired man led the procession. Karato leaned closer to me and whispered into my ear.
“That’s Duke Orville, a long-time friend and lacky of Count Berelli.”
The group stopped short of the bridge as the duke continued forward, only stopping his horse when it forced me to take a step back. The horse stood so close I could start inspecting its teeth. In a loud voice, the man shouted out a question.
“Are you Shane Karosaki, the previous leader of this encampment?”
He didn’t call Endeavour by its name or call it a town which irked me, especially considering the level of effort we put into Endeavour. Regardless of his crappy attitude I answered him while not to creating a scene in front of the people.
“Dumb people say what?”
“What?”
“Dumb people say what?”
“What?”
I never tired of that game. Some snickering from the group around me made him weary of me, perhaps his trip tired him out a little and wore down his sense of humour.
“Under the orders of His Majesty, King Leopold; I, Duke Orville, do hereby rescind all your rights to this encampment until further notice. We confiscate all its resources and remove the governorship its people at my discretion. Do not resist or we will remove you by force.”
The smirks on some of the knights following Duke Orville implied something more sinister about the situation. I didn’t intend playing into his game by becoming unruly. Unfortunately for the duke, my university education prepared me for attention to detail far better than him.
“I accept His Royal Majesty’s instructions as stipulated in the decree delivered to me by his messenger three days ago.”
Suck on that, I thought. It seemed the duke took license in removing a lot more of my ‘rights’ than King Leopold intended. No matter what nefarious things he dreamed up with Lord Berelli, the duke couldn’t overwrite the king’s instructions. Ignoring his presence from then on, I circumvented his group and headed for the gate. Despite already saying farewell to a lot of folks before the days leading to the takeover, many people still waited for me along the main street. I shook many hands, sometimes waving goodbye to people I recognised who couldn’t reach me through the crowds. On multiple occasions I found myself holding my tears back as familiar faces echoed my feelings.
Amongst those faces, Floréal and the other elves, surprised me by bowing to me as I passed them on the road. I bowed in return. I still didn’t know how exactly they felt about me, but I knew them well enough to know they were showing me a lot of respect. I insisted they continue staying in Endeavour, and I didn’t release them from their slave contracts. More so for their safety than for mine because I couldn’t look after a group of elves tagging after me. Also, by keeping ownership of the elves, I stopped Duke Orville from misusing them since he couldn’t command them or sell them without earning the ire of the palace. Something Lord Berelli avoided at all costs.
I had no intention of handing them over to the duke and he could try otherwise without the labour guild getting involved. Which led me to the last but certainly not least of my farewells. I said goodbye to the man with the imposing moustache and bald head. The man I had come to admire and call a friend.
“I’m sorry that we need to leave like this Mr. Papadopoulos.”
“Ha. Kid, I had the best time of my life. Going back to Shimmerstal would be too boring. Whatever you do, don’t be a stranger. Don’t let this setback get you down. Trust me, there’ll be many projects you’ll want doing still. Then you know who to call don’t you?”
I smiled but felt saddened by the separation. He was as faithful a person as one could find. He must have read the mood because he suddenly gave me a bearlike hug, nearly squeezing the life out of me. I managed to wheeze out a few words.
“Keep those storage rings as a small thank you from me and keep them hidden from you-know-who.”
His broad smile spoke volumes as his handlebar moustache shivered in excitement. He no doubt would find those rings very useful. As if to reciprocate his feeling, everyone else on his team hugged me with emotional looks on their faces. He whispered a quick word in my ear.
“Don’t worry about these folks here laddie, that duke will find it hard to move without the guild breathing down his neck.”
“Thanks, that puts my mind at ease.”
He nodded and let us walk further to the gate where Grenfell waited for us to exit. He packed his cart to the max. I offered him a storage ring, but he turned it down, saying he didn’t want a target on his back from others jealous to have one. Like us, he intended returning to Obon. A keen looking Antonetta sat next to him, bright eyed as usual and ready as ever to drive the cart. She blossomed since arriving at Endeavour always keen to be involved in everything.
The old man kindly offerred to take Antonetta on as an apprentice. That meant she would be working in the Dryad in future. I felt far more at ease with Grenfell keeping a regular eye on her. She might be my foster sister, but it didn’t mean I intended babysitting her. Since the old man expected her to work for him every day, it gave Antonetta a daily sense of purpose while teaching her some valuable life skills.
“Thanks for taking Antonetta on as an apprentice, she will stay with us at the Screaming Banshee until I sort other accommodation out.”
Now that Hana, Antonella, and I all needed a place to stay, it became obvious we couldn’t stay permanently in the Screaming Banshee. The cost of staying there added up to close to nine silvers a day. I couldn’t get away with calling Hana my slave and Haruhime ran a business, not a charity. Besides, I didn’t want to abuse our friendship by taking advantage of her graciousness. I wanted to bring Antonella’s small wooden house with us, since I originally moved it from her village before, but she turned my offer down, only asking me to take all the interior furniture. Something about her had matured, she no longer needed the security of her old family home, and I suspected her new life offered her far more pleasant memories. I felt glad she moved on.
“No problem. Antonetta’s a good apprentice and doesn't get mixed up on any funny stuff, not like another apprentice of mine.”
I couldn't tell the old man to get stuffed since he was looking after Antonetta, so I just made a humph noise and left it at that.
“Antonetta, listen to what Grenfell tells you. He's far wiser than he looks. By the way, what is he paying you?”
“Ten silvers a day.”
“What? Old man, you never paid me that much!”
“What? I never needed to. Besides, look how wealthy you turned out.”
Why was he smiling? After all those start-up expenses, I probably had less money on me than when I started the camp. I still rankled over his blatant favouritism when I noticed Olivia and the Minstrels followed on a cart behind us. Olivia applied for a branch replacement from the Endeavour guild in her absence, I assumed she intended going back to the Obon branch. Two hundred of Endeavour’s guards escorted us to Obon under the guise of a routine patrol. I personally thanked the captain earlier for his help.
Despite a good representation of fighters protecting the people going to Obon, I still released numerous patrolling scolems into the surrounding forest. Any monster dumb enough to come anywhere near us soon found themselves in my transfer storage. As it was, I already had a good representation of dumb monsters waiting in the creation core from scolem patrols over the previous moon cycles.
After setting up camp that evening I realised just how many families and merchants used the opportunity to travel to Obon under a free armed escort. I didn’t hold that against them, in fact I thought it a wise choice. I would even go so far as to say I appreciated their presence after the children playing catch with each around the campfires that night made for a pleasant atmosphere.
Karato and a few of Endeavour’s guards intending on returning to Shimmerstal, escorted villagers heading in the opposite direction. Some villagers separated from the main group at their respective turn-offs, heading to their villages by following smaller side roads into the forest. Unfortunately some villagers still preferred staying in their villages for the coming winter for various reasons. I
n some way, by inadvertently bringing the food reserves of the Berelli Estate to Endeavour, I contributed to the emptying of the villages in his domain. Something I knew he despised me for. Whatever his rotten demeanour most of the villagers residing in Endeavour decided to stay there, preferring to wait the winter out nearer a reliable source of food and protection.
A surprise guest travelled alongside Karato. Apparently, Mevné followed Karato back to Shimmerstal. Oh, my goodness, and all the time I thought Karato was just waxing lyrical when speaking about Mevné. When I heard of Mevné’s intention to stay with Karato I asked Floréal what she thought about it. She simply shrugged her shoulders and reminded me that the elves outlived humans by a large margin. Mevné’s relationship with Karato would soon be over from their perspective. Floréal remained incorrigible.
The following day I found a lacklustre excuse to quietly separate from the group. I wanted to quietly collect some golems in the forest without causing any suspicion from the others.
“Hey guys, keep going, I need to do something here first. I’ll catch up with you at Mayor’s Escape.”
“That’s bloody suspicious you know.”
One of the Minstrels loudly proclaimed.
“Yeah, every time you slip off to go somewhere, trouble finds us soon afterwards.”
Echoed the old man’s sentiment. Sheesh, they still didn’t trust me, even after all that time.
“Oh, come on. I’m not that bad, am I?”
“Go for it, brother. I trust you.”
“Thankyou Antonetta. At least someone believes in me.”
“That’s because she didn’t need to go through everything we did with you.”
Elle and the dead pan look on everyone’s faces said it all. I just pretended to ignore them.
“Whatever. I’ll see you later.”
So much for my quiet get away. They could stare at me all they wanted. I had business to do. About a kilometre into the forest, I found the golems waiting for me as planned. Those golems harvested the last remaining stone from the ancient wall ruins south of Endeavour. A few lunar cycles ago I realised that the wood cutting golems could easily be modified into stone cutting golems.
Ara and I managed to develop a stone cutting golem that utilised transfer gates to cut and store rock and stone. The golems presented a mustite bar containing the collective stone from the wall in the form of a transfer gate. Only stone pieces the golems didn’t harvest were small stone chips and shattered fragments not worth collecting. When my creation core absorbed the mustite bar it presented a tidy amount of stone; nine and a half million tonnes if you included what stone we already harvested for Endeavour.
Why did she use the diminutive form there? Was she trying to hide something? Anyway, besides that issue I originally purposed the stone cutting golems to harvest the remaining stone, but in truth it could easily be adapted for mining any subterranean minerals. That mesa where I retrieved the hard paving stones came to mind. Still, over nine million tonnes of stone...
Stars already graced the darkened sky by the time I caught up with the others at Mayor’s Escape, the very first campsite we set up and named before we created Endeavour. I found the Goldcastle team sitting around a campfire amongst other campfires from accompanying folks. Antonella and Hana prepared food for the group while the others chatted amongst themselves. The atmosphere around the campfire seemed jovial. I heard some laughter from around the fires making me wonder at the resilience of the human spirit. I expected everyone to be sad at being kicked out from Endeavour, but it seemed only I had any issues. They moved on, perhaps I needed to do the same.
“Hey Shane, you’re back. Come over here, Antonella’s making an amazing meal for us.”
It felt good to meet up with people who cared for me. Much later into the cool night and with a satisfied stomach and a warm drink in my hand, I gazed deeply into the fire, thinking about our future. Endeavour was only the start, much greater things waited for me in Obon.
“He’s thinking crazy things again, isn’t he?”
Pondered Elle aloud. Hana sighed, replying as if she knew everything about me.
“Yep, he has that crazy glint in his eye again.”
At that stage I became aware of their conversation.
“You make me sound like an evil maniac.”
“What does an evil maniac sound like?”
“Bwahahaha.”
I laughed while performing my best Doctor Evil impersonation, holding my pinkie finger to the corner of my mouth. I got weirded out looks from the two. Those Philistines seriously needed to get educated on earthly mannerisms.