“It’s been a while, father.”
Ewald was in Edmund’s study. It had indeed been a while since he met him the last time. Elias was next to him, standing.
There were two sheets of papers in front of him, full of words.
“It seems you are doing well,” Edmund remarked as he glanced over the papers.
“Yes, I am.”
“The reason I’ve called you here today is that there is going to be a party in the capital soon. Only landed noble houses have been invited. I plan to bring you and introduce you to the others in the party.”
Ewald glanced at Elias which Edmund noticed.
“Hunt has also told me that you wished to speak to my father. Why?”
“I love war stories, and grandfather would be the one to speak with on that topic, no?”
That was a pretty much perfect excuse. Seeing no reason to deny Ewald’s request, Edmund agreed reluctantly.
“I will let you meet him briefly before the party starts.”
Why do I get a feeling that he and his father don’t get along?
He shrugged internally. Regardless, he secured a chance to talk to him at least.
“There is another matter I want to talk to you about,” Edmund continued. “It’s my understanding that Noelle has been rejected. Correct?”
“It’s more like she rejected me. I will be honest here. I got to talk to her only once, and that lasted only for a brief moment.”
“Isn’t she a part of your maid crew?”
Ewald explained his maid situation with Macomaco tea and the loyalist faction.
“Oh, boy,” He, too, rubbed his temple just like Elias and himself did. He glanced at Elias.
“Should have told me that,” He whispered to him. In response, Elias cleared his throat.
“The bottom line is,” Ewald said. “They pulled her out for not being good enough.”
He continued to rub his temple which gave Ewald an impression that it wouldn’t be so easy to reinitiate her back.
“Is it hard to bring her back?” He asked anyway.
“The loyalist maids…,” He trailed off before answering further. “A few of them were my wet nurses. In other words, they were practically my mothers. I do not stand against them in general over trivial matters.”
“In other words, I won’t be seeing Noelle.”
“Not as your maid, no, unless she becomes good enough.”
Well, that’s that.
Edmund changed the subject.
“And I was told that you met Esther also. What is your impression of her?”
“She was hot,” he replied curtly. “That’s all I can say. I barely talked to her.”
“Hot, eh,” Edmund chuckled. “Do you want her then?”
“Pardon? I thought she was off-limits?”
“The reason she is becoming a permanent maid is due to her affinity to fire. I do not wish to lose a mage. She was found to be a mage after a decision was made to cut her off. I wish to keep her now though unless she wants to leave.”
“Won’t our marriage be a sibling marriage?”
That was a big no-no no matter how one would twist it.
“That is true…,” Edmund trailed off as he rubbed his temple again. “It will be hard but there are ways to make it happen.”
“I do not want a sibling marriage on paper,” Ewald pressed. Esther was his cousin in truth. “I do not want the stigma.”
Edmund and Elias exchanged a glance. Then, Edmund nodded firmly.
“That is true. You certainly would not want that. I will see what can be done. Meanwhile, do try to choose one from the pool. Esther will be the last resort.”
“Thank you. Is this all?”
“Yes, for now. We are to depart in a month. Nothing for you to prepare. Your maids will do most of the job. You may actually dance with someone this time.”
Bowing lightly with his palm on his chest, Ewald withdrew gracefully from Edmund’s study.
“Three days, hmm?” Ewald said to himself as he rushed out. He’d be away for a while. Therefore, it was imperative to see where Lara’s training would go.
“Faster! Harder!”
Raem was apparently overseeing Lara’s spear thrust when Kamil arrived at the backyard of the decoy house. Her hair had grown a bit, and she looked more like a girl. She looked like a really skinny boy previously.
“Milord!” Raem greeted Kamil.
“H, hello!” Lara greeted powerfully in her own way.
“How goes her training?”
“She's still at the starting line,” Raem replied, which made her pout.
“I thought I was getting better…,” she retorted weakly.
“You are, but you were behind the starting line. You need to put on more muscles and build up more stamina.”
Kamil informed Raem about his impending departure to the capital, Keviel.
“I see. I can’t keep relying on you after all. Perhaps, this is a good opportunity for me to start working with Lara.”
“Probably. Wild boars are likely off-limits though.”
Raem folded his arms, looking concerned. “We won’t be able to catch rabbits with melee weapons…”
Basically, any prey animals were hard to catch with melee weapons because they’d flee. Kamil wanted to teach him how to make and lay traps but he felt that would have been inappropriate since he wouldn’t be able to explain how he’d know such a thing.
“Oh, by the way, I purchased a new shield.”
“You have?”
Raem ran upstairs and came down with his new shield. It was similar to his previous shield but it had a small round iron circle in the middle. He showed it proudly to Kamil.
“How much did it cost?”
“65 iron coins, sir.”
That was a lot of money for Karla and Raem. At the same time, a shield was his livelihood. It wasn’t something a warrior could cheap out on.
“It should hold out longer than the previous one,” Kamil remarked as he inspected the shield.
“We should test it out. The blacksmith I purchased it from said he’d guarantee its durability and told me to come back if it breaks down in a month.”
Kamil nodded affirmatively. “We are hunting a wild boar today then.”
“Should we bring Lara?”
“Might as well.”
“Really?” Lara herself was surprised to hear it.
After a short preparation, the trio exited Lux and headed to a nearby forest.
“Lara, you run like the wind if we run something like a bear, got it?”
“Never seen a bear, what does it look like?”
Both Kamil and Raem paused to think.
“Have you seen a wolf?” Kamil asked.
“No.”
“A dog?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it looks like a really mean dog and it’s like 10 times bigger.”
“Wow!” her eyes sparkled in excitement. “I want to see one!”
“You don’t,” Raem retorted while rubbing his temple, recalling the encounter with a greater bear not long ago.
Raem had a sword and a shield equipped and donned leather armor. Lara had a spear on her back and didn’t not don any armor because there was none he could spare. He was wielding a sword because he didn’t have two spears. Kamil’s setup was the same as before, a bow and a shortsword on his back and no armor.
As they made their way to a forest, Kamil remarked.
“No rabbits around. It looks like we may have really eradicated them all around here.”
Once they reached the forest where they encountered the greater bear, Raem tensed up instinctively while Lara remained clueless.
“Critters should be back since the bear is gone,” Kamil explained.
The burnt house from the previous incident had already been rebuilt. It was a simple wooden house after all.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“It’s spooky,” Lara remarked timidly as they made their steps into the forest. It darkened immediately, and owls’ singing was heard.
“You know, isn’t it weird that we couldn’t hear the owls when we were outside? It’s like five steps away,” Kamil commented with a chuckle.
It didn’t take them long to find a wild boar inside. It snorted as soon as it noticed their presence and began to dig one of its front legs, a sign that it was going to charge at them.
Raem immediately readied his shield and walked forward.
“Lara, you poke at it from a distance, got it?”
“Oka-, woah!” Just as she readied her spear, she was surprised by the boar charging right at Raem whose shield held firm this time.
Kamil chanted, “Elementals of wind, hear my call! Grant me an arrow: Wind arrow!” He drew the bow and fired the shot which pierced right through its hind leg. The difference in raw power was there to see. It was just that the greater bear was simply too powerful.
The boar squeaked painfully. With one of its hind legs hurt badly, it lost its ability to make a full charge.
“Lara, poke!” Raem shouted to which Lara responded with a high pitched warcry. She thrusted her spear onto the boar’s body.
“Ah?” she was mildly surprised to see that she couldn’t pierce through the boar’s skin. “Eh-” She withdrew her spear and thrusted it once more. She couldn't even pierce its skin. Perhaps this annoyed the boar because it moved its attention from Raem to her.
“What, hey!” Raem bashed his sword onto his shield to regain its attention to no avail while Kamil summoned another arrow to shoot. It punctured through one of its buttlocks to its sides, pouring out blood from both holes. Growling, it turned its attention toward him by turning around. At this point, Raem slashed hard on its head with his sword. It made a cut but wasn’t fatal. The wild boar, at this point, was confused about what his next action should be and was just turning left and right repeatedly, trying to pick a target to charge forward to.
Kamil summoned another arrow and fired which went through its neck, and Raem plunged his sword from below under his neck. He couldn’t quite puncture his skin however.
“Damn!” He muttered as he put all his might. “Go in!”
The boar in his final act of resistance swung its head widely and its tusk rammed on the side of Raem’s head.
“Ouch!” He fell to the side. Lara, at this point, went pale and simply charged in with her spear aimed. Out of sheer luck, the tip of the spear plunged into the eye of the boar. Kami, at this point, drew out his shortsword, aimed its tip on the boar’s neck and charged forward.
“Just die!” He shouted as he rammed his sword into its neck.
In the end, the boar fell.
The trio were all on their knees, huffing and puffing.
“God, these never go down easy,” Raem complained loudly while rubbing the side of his head. There was no external wound, but he was sure that he’d get a nasty bruise.
“Well, at least…, I think it was easier than the last time?” Kamil wondered aloud.
“I do think it was,” Raem replied. “Your elemental arrows did help. In fact, your arrows were the only things that did considerable damage to it.”
“Uh…, Ah….,” Lara babbled with her index finger pointing somewhere.
“What is it?” Raem followed her finger to see where she was pointing at. “Oh, shit,” He uttered. There was another wild boar, digging its front leg.
“Crap.” Uttering, Kamil stood up at once and drew out his bow. He fired three elemental arrows today. He wasn’t sure how many more he could conjure. He fired one anyway and it struck right on its forehead. He was hoping the arrow would break its skull. Alas, it didn’t and all the damage the arrow did to the boar was a small hole on its forehead. It was bleeding from it but it wasn’t a fatal wound.
Raem swiftly stood between him and the boar and readied his shield, and Lara picked up her spear with trembling hands.
“Should we flee?!” Raem asked to which Kamil shook his head.
“No! We take it down.” He dashed sideways while Raem took a full brunt of its charge.
“Urrrggggh-!” His shield creaked loudly, and Raem was being pushed back. Interestingly, Lara put her back onto his in an attempt to stop him from being pushed back.
“Elementals of wind, hear my call! Grant me an arrow!”
Readying a wind arrow, Kamil fired his shot at its hind leg. It was the same tactics as before. He had to degrade its ability to charge first because it was their most damaging action. The arrow went through its hind leg with ease, blood pouring out from both punctured holes. He felt slightly light-headed at this point. He knew what it meant; he was at his limit. He could fire probably only one more elemental arrow.
So, six elemental arrows or ten spirit arrows, I see.
“Lara, grab your spear! We need to kill it! Being defensive here means nothing!” He barked at her.
Timidly, she grabbed her spear off the ground and readied it before charging. Sadly, she failed to puncture its skin.
“Try aiming for its eyes …” Kamil trailed off for a moment. “Or its butt!”
Her eyes went wide and repeated, “Its butt?”
“Yeah! The butthole!”
It wasn’t something hunters were proud of doing, but anus was the weakest part of any animal. Therefore, it was an unspoken rule for hunters to tackle really tough targets by attacking its rear. For wild boars, its anus was exposed and was fairly easy to hit, making it an ideal spot to attack.
As Lara moved behind the boar, the animal turned around to track her. It was as if it understood their conversation. But then it exposed its rear to Kamil and Raem.
“Aw, whatever! Take this!” Raem, not liking what he was about to do, muttered as he shoved his sword right into its anus. Needless to say, his sword cut into its skin easily. It wouldn’t be fatal right away but it would certainly die from it, given enough time. After all, feces and open wounds didn’t mix.
Meanwhile, Kamil summoned his final elemental arrow for the day and fired it right at its other hind leg, crippling the boar for good. At the same time, his vision hazed although it soon came back. That was it. No more magic for him for the day. Drawing out his sword, he charged toward the boar.
In the end, the final struggle turned out to be a messy brawl. From its damaged anus, the boar started to leak feces as it struggled with everything it had. Raem was bashing its head with his shield, and Kamil got on top of its back while attempting to puncture its belly while Lara pierced it numerous times, including its anus where she was actually successful in piercing.
They had no idea how much time had passed when they were leaving the forest with a boar tied to a stick. They’d need to come back fast to pick up the second corpse once they dropped it off at the decoy house. Raem and Kamil were covered with some feces due to literally wrestling with the boar.
“Oh, it’s evening,” Raem remarked with a long sigh.
“I am so beat that I should fall asleep right now,” Kamil muttered.
Lara was the only one who came out completely unscathed due to her weapon being a spear.
“Oh, my, what happened?” Karla covered her nose as she welcomed the trip at the decoy house.
“A long story, mom. I will tell you later. We got two boars, so we need to go back quickly.”
“You killed two boars?!” She raised her voice.
“Not intentionally, lady Karla. I am sure Raem will tell you. For now, we need to head back. Lara, you stay home.”
“Okay.”
Once they brought in the second boar, they skinned them and began smoking the meat. Kamil was unable to oversee the whole operation, however, since he had to return. This was fine since Raem was taught on the basics of smoking.
After sleeping like a log, Ewald woke up refreshed. Soon after he woke up from the bed, four maids rushed in to invade his personal space. Three maids were from the loyalist faction, and there was Emily. Seeing that she was never rejected by the loyalist maids, he had to assume that she was good enough.
After breakfast and a bath, the maids were preparing to leave the room.
There were clear differences between the loyalist maids and normal maids. The loyalist maids bothered him a lot less. They were quick in what they did and left him alone unless called specifically. It was as if they understood that their presence wasn’t exactly welcome.
“Emily,” He called her softly.
“Yes?” She replied with a light bow. The loyalist maids fired glances at her.
“Do you know a fellow maid named Esther?”
She grimaced momentarily. “Yes, I do.”
Why the frown?
“Do you mind summoning her here?”
She asked carefully. “Do you know her personally?”
“No, I happened to run into her and found her cute.”
She grimaced harder this time. “As you wish.” She complied nevertheless. It wasn’t as if she had a choice after all.
When Esther was brought in, she, too, grimaced upon seeing Ewald.
Did the Gods cast something on me that is universally disliked by women?
Regardless, he greeted her. “Hello, Esther.”
“Hello, I’ve answered your summon.” Her tone was polite, but her face said otherwise. Ignoring her semi-hidden displeasure, he acted normally.
“Have you thought about the proposal?”
It was about her becoming an adventurer.
“I thought… I gave my answer.”
“You have. I figured you might have had a change of heart.”
There was clear hesitation from her. Thus, he decided to pry further.
“What is stopping you from leaving here? Job security?”
It took her a while to answer. In fact, she bit her lower lip as she took her time to make a reply.
“I have no permanent home. If I leave here, that is it. I will have no home of any kind. I…,” She trailed off. “I have no family.”
Is this what it’s about? Well, she is a child after all.
“Esther, home is something you can make at will. A family is also something you can also start. Do you think I like it here?”
“What?” Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked at him skeptically.
“Do you think I like it here?” He repeated.
“You are the heir of the Fenchel. What more would you need?” There was a tint of frustration in her voice. Perhaps, it was jealousy.
“Everyone is sucking up to you is a good thing?”
She opened her mouth to retort but no words came out.
“Sure, you may think I am a spoiled brat.” He shrugged having said so. “But this isn’t home. Trust me. A place where you cannot relax at will isn’t home.”
She remained silent.
“So, I am wondering why you are clinging to something so fake, Esther. You have no future here. I can understand if you had no means to carve your own destiny. But you do have the tool. You are a fire mage.”
She remained silent still although she was biting her lower lip.
“You may leave. But I am going to expect your firm answer next time I summon you. Think well and hard, Esther. You are at the crossroad of your life.”
As she opened the door to leave, Emily was waiting outside. They glared at each other and went the opposite ways. Ewald rubbed his temple as he observed them.
“God, maids don’t have it easy, either,” He whispered to himself.
Walking toward a window, he observed the scenery outside. To be honest, he had no intention of ending up with Esther. In fact, he didn’t want to end up with any of his cousins. Edmund may want his blood to continue in some shape or form. He understood that. Initially, he did plan to choose one from the choices he was given. But he had a change of heart recently. He had no intention of being invested in any girls until he was finished with his revenge. That was because he didn’t want any distractions toward his goal, and he wasn’t sure what kind of events would unfold after that. Yes, he may end up having to choose a girl before he could exact his revenge. When it came to that point, he would have to choose one. But he wasn’t going to be attracted to one until he was certain that his future was clear. Therefore, he decided what he could to send Esther away from the Fenchel, basically to remove her from the equation, because he didn’t wish her to be locked in a loveless political marriage anyway. She was too hot for that, he felt.
“Well, let’s check on Raem.” Turning around he left the room.
Raem had a huge bruise on the side of his face. It made him look quite awkward.
“Does it hurt?” Kamil asked.
“Not really. It makes me look a little weird. That is all. Lara also cast healing dose on my face. It may have prevented the hellish moment that I experienced with my arm.”
They were in the backyard of the decoy house. He was busy smoking meat from the day before. There was too much to have it done by the end of the last day. Lara was also helping out with drying the skin and other miscellaneous tasks.
“Anyway, we are not selling any meat,” Raem declared. “I’d rather have food than coins.”
Kamil laughed. Yes, that was the important thing. He was glad to see Raem’s switch in what he valued more at last. You couldn’t eat coins after all. He saw why Raem was so hell-bent on getting money however. That was the only way for him to purchase food. Now that he learned to hunt, the priority had shifted in a positive way.
He complained as he watched the smoking station. “I really wish there was something weaker than wild boars that won’t run away like rabbits.”
“It’s either run or fight. Those that fight are strong enough to put up a real fight. No other way around it really.”
Raem was fully aware that he couldn’t rely on Kamil for food. Like he told him previously, he couldn’t be here forever. He had to find a way to ensure some sort of steady income.
“My advice is just do wood rank requests from the guild. They aren’t much but it’s something. When Lara becomes strong enough, you might be able to go after a wild boar.”
Although he doubted that Lara would become strong enough any time soon. Raem would be pretty much on his own for the foreseeable future. The only other way he would be able to hunt wild boars was if Esther joined him. Then, they’d be able to hunt the boars without Kamil.
“Are you turning twelve anytime soon?”
“Oh? Oh. In about two months. Yeah, I will be an iron rank soon. Even then…” He trailed off. “I am not sure any party will welcome me. A twelve year-old swordsman doesn’t strike much of confidence if you ask me. They are expected to be on the front line after all.”
“True, it will be better off finding someone of your own age range and form your own group.”
There was Dion who was thirteen, but he was a warrior like Raem. Given how little damage they did via melee to the boars, he needed a magic user rather than another melee. It would have been much better if Lara’s affinity was earth. The spell, stoneskin, would have been a big help for Raem.
“At least, the future isn’t so dark,” Kamil remarked as he watched the smoking station spewing out endless waves of light gray fumes to the sky.