Two carriages were waiting right outside of the front entrance of the Fenchel manor with about twenty guardsmen in a formation. Edmund entered the first carriage and Elias followed him shortly afterwards. The second carriage was for Ewald and his personal guard Theo Ros. Noah Harder was left in charge of the manor.
I would have preferred having Greta as my personal guard, but oh well -
He sighed deeply internally as he watched Theo entering the carriage.
He was told that the journey would take about 10 days by a carriage. It would have been much faster if they used horses simply, but they had a reputation to uphold since they were attending a royal party.
“What exactly is the purpose of this?” Ewald asked Theo whose dead eyes were vacantly looking through a window as the carriage started to jolt in a rhythm. He, too, didn’t seem too pleased to tag along.
“It’s held annually by the king. It’s basically a social gathering for the high nobles,” Theo replied loosely, looking completely uninterested. “It’s also a place for high nobles to do direct negotiations with each other openly like arranged marriages and so forth.”
“Oh, so, I could get to meet girls of my own age.”
A faint grin emerged on Theo’s face. “You could, yes.”
Theo Ros was a fire mage who specialized in spears. He was the one who dealt the final blow to the fire greater bear a while ago.
“So, Sir Ros, what is your position within your house?”
“I am the first son of three. I am expected to inherit the house.”
He didn’t sound thrilled.
“Are you married then?”
“Well, no. A marriage has been arranged. I have yet to meet the woman however.”
“So, you are to marry a woman whose face you don’t even know.”
Theo’s face grimaced.
“I’ve been guaranteed that she is beautiful,” He responded eventually with a silent snort.
Ewald, too, sneered. “Like hell they’d know your taste.”
Theo’s eyes widened momentarily and looked at him and said to him, “You are in the same boat, no?”
“Aye, and I am actively working on sabotaging it.”
Theo bursted in a loud laughter. Holding his belly, he laughed for a good minute.
“Of all people, you are the only one who understands my dilemma, a child.”
“A child, yes. But a boy nevertheless. I want a girl I like, and I want her to like me back. That isn’t much to ask, is it?”
Theo’s face stiffened at once.
“True, Milord.” He repeated with a weaker voice. “True…”
“Because of that, I am jealous of Sir Harder. Let us be a little informal here. Is that okay with you?”
Theo nodded weakly.
“I mean, the dude got the girl he wanted, and it looks like Lady Brugg likes him, too, as well. That’s the ideal situation, isn’t it? I am so jealous.”
Theo nodded along as he heard Ewald babbling about this and that. On first glance, it looked as if Theo was just nodding along and not listening, but there was a progressive smile on his face that was becoming more apparent.
The carriages stopped at midnight to camp for the day. The uneven ground didn’t help passengers’ bottoms. As Ewald walked out of the carriage, he felt numb down there.
A guardsman was attempting to make a campfire in front of him. He was having a bit of trouble. He was hitting his flint against his dagger repeatedly, and there were sparks. He was grumbling as he got more frustrated.
Ewald approached him at once.
“Let me show you how it is done.”
He looked up and was about to shout back, “Wha- ? Milord!” He stood up at once, dropping the dagger and the flint. Ewald got down on his knee and grabbed the dagger and flint to start a fire.
Lo and behold, he was able to start a fire quickly. He, then, gave out orders.
“Don’t just stand there! Two of you will stand guard tonight. The rest of you, get cooking utensils out and start cooking! We haven’t got all night!”
He then turned to Theo. “Sir Ros, mind having a look around to see if any danger lurks?”
“No problem,” replied Theo with a light bow. He pulled out his spear from a luggage compartment from the carriage and readied it as he progressively vanished into darkness.
Looking around, he noticed that the first carriage wasn’t within visual range.
“Where is father’s carriage?”
One of the guardsmen replied. “We are to camp separately just in case.”
Can’t afford to lose both of us in one sweep, huh.
“Werewolves!” It was Theo’s voice in the distance.
Ewald rushed to the carriage and dug its luggage compartment while guards readied their swords. Pulling out his bow and shortsword, he readied them swiftly. He counted how many guards there were. There were seven of them. He had seen a werewolf before but had never actually fought them.
As Tom, he was simply too disadvantaged to fight one because it was virtually impossible to strike one with an arrow. It was a very nimble monster that was capable of dodging and catching arrows.
“Men, form a formation around the carriage!” Ewald barked out an order. He may have been a child but he was the only one giving out orders. Thus, the guardsmen followed him. In truth, in a situation like this, Theo was instructed to take control of the situation.
“One of you, get on the top of the carriage. Watch out back!”
A guardsman rushed to climb the carriage and reached the top.
It was fairly easy to spot the werewolves in darkness because their eyes were glowing in red. Theo ran back to the group and saw the men in a formation around the carriage with a man on top.
“Good!” He exclaimed as he readied his spear to fight them.
Height of werewolves varied greatly, but their average height was that of an adult man. They had thick dark gray fur that was almost black and had a wolf face while having a body of a humanoid. They were basically a mix of men and wolves. There were rumors that they had an ability to transform into humans but that was never verified. At least, Ewald didn’t think it was true.
“Sir Ros, how do we fight those things? What are their weaknesses?!”
“They are weak to fire. They are melee monsters, so taking them down with swords is not an easy task.”
Having explained so, he began to cast a fireball.
“Elementals of fire, heed my call. Show my enemies in front of me what it is like to face my ire: Fireball!”
A ball of fire appeared at the tip of his spear, and he swung it like he was hitting a baseball with a bat. With the loud sound of “Whoop”, the fireball hit a werewolf and exploded, engulfing several other werewolves in fire. Their furs caught fire immediately, and they began to roll on the ground to kill fire.
“Elementals of wind, hear my call, grant me an arrow!”
Summoning a wind arrow, Ewald aimed at a werewolf’s face and fired the shot. With a very slight grain trail, which was something he couldn’t see in broad daylight, the arrow flew at a werewolf’s head at lightning speed. It was certainly a lot faster than a physical arrow. The werewolf reacted but was too late as the arrow flew right through its head, killing it instantly.
“What was that?!” Theo’s eyes widened as he shouted, and so did the guardsmen.
“A wind arrow, it’s a wind spell,” Ewald explained.
“I never knew such a spell existed?”
“Well, you do now.”
“So, wind mages would make good archers…,” He contemplated.
“Not the time to fall into thoughts!” Ewald exclaimed while drawing another arrow.
“Right!”
Werewolves, while looking very scary, went down relatively easily with magic. They were, however, tough nuts to crack with melee weapons. The guardsmen were having hellish time repelling them with just swords. Theo was doing most of the job with his fireballs while Ewald took down five. He was reluctant to summon his sixth arrow since that was his limit. Thankfully, there were only about 20 werewolves. When more than half of their pack was slaughtered, they withdrew into the darkness of the night.
“Phew,” Ewald swept off sweat on his forehead with his sleeve, and the guardsmen relaxed. He didn’t recall camping in wilderness being this dangerous back in Laufeld when he went on an adventure with Martin and Greta.
“I was told that it gets nastier the further you go north. Is that true?”
“It’s true, Milord,” One of the guardsmen answered. “If we were traveling from Dido, we would double or triple the amount of guards.”
Theo ordered a swift cleanup of the area as the others resumed cooking for the night.
From that day on, on every single camping night, they were ambushed by either a pack of werewolves or a great bear. It was until they were a day away from their destination that the attacks were getting meeker.
How do adventurers put up with these attacks?!
“We see Keviel!” The driver of the carriage shouted.
What appeared to be a citadel was ahead, farrrr ahead. It looked more like a dot at the moment. The citadel was on top of a hill.
Upon the announcement, the carriage stopped at once.
“We camp here today,” Theo announced while exiting the carriage.
“Even though it’s still noon?” Ewald inquired.
“Yes, we are going to rest for a full day.”
“Any reason for that?”
“We don’t want to look beat up when we enter the capital. It’s a matter of reputation.” He gave out a further order to spend no quarter when cooking. In addition, he ordered men to clean their armors if able.
The rest of the day had indeed passed eventually, meaning even the night was peaceful. Everyone had a good night’s sleep on that day. It was long overdue.
“Woah,” Ewald said in awe. They were at the gate of Kevial. Gate guards were checking their papers before letting them in. The walls of the citadel were very tall, and they were clearly well maintained. Theo returned to the carriage soon enough.
“Lord Fenchel is already here. They arrived a day earlier.”
“He got here a day faster? How? I thought we went as fast as possible.”
Which was true. None of the men wanted to deal with waves of monsters every single night. Therefore, they really did march hard during daylight.
Ignoring his question, Theo continued.
“He is waiting for your audience at a Fenchel manor right now.”
Inside of Keviel was less lively than Lux. The overall development of the citadel looked to be on par with Lux, but there were a lot of military installations within the walls. For example, there were watch towers within the walls as if they were expecting urban warfare. Additionally, there were guard posts as well. It was as if they expected to be sieged on any day and were prepared for the worst possible scenario.
There were also no random merchants on roads unlike Lux, and people seemed to be on alert and weren’t as loose as those in Lux. Finally, due to the insanely tall walls, long shadows were cast alongside the walls depending on the time of the day, covering a small but certain portion of the city in shadow always.
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The carriage stopped gently at a small manor. It was a two-story house with about six windows on each floor. It was about twice the size of the decoy house in Lux. Ewald spotted Elias at the front door as he exited the carriage.
He told him with a grin. “It has been a while. I am glad you made it safe.”
“I dread going back. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.”
“Your father is waiting in his study. This way.”
The interior of the manor was modest. Its furniture was better than the ones in the decoy house for sure, but they were nowhere as extravagant as what was seen in the Lux Fenchel manor. It was also quiet as if the place had a small number of staff.
“I am glad that you’ve made it safely,” Edmund greeted him in his study. It was on the first floor, not far from the front door. Again, the room was also modest and was half a size of his own study in Lux.
“We are the first ones to arrive. The party will start only when all other invited nobles are present,” He continued.
Given the fact that Lux was the one of the closest cities around Keviel, it made sense that they were the first to arrive.
“In other words, we are going to stay here for a while?”
Nodding Edmund informed him, “My father is waiting upstairs in his study. Elias will guide you there. You are free to do whatever you wish as long as you stay within the city. The security is top notch here, so I don’t believe you will need any personal guard besides it looks like you can handle yourself fine.”
Ewald assumed that Theo sent in his report.
“I see. Should I refresh myself with some dancing moves?”
“Hmm, that wouldn’t be a bad idea. There could be ladies of your age at the party.”
“I see. Thank you.”
Then Elias led him upstairs.
“The name of your grandfather is Fabian. I expect you to behave yourself in front of him.”
“Please, don’t state the obvious. I am not a fool.”
Once they were in front of a door, Elias knocked twice.
“Come in.” A voice that was eerily similar to Edmund sounded behind the door. Opening the door, Elias gestured to go inside.
Well, he is Edmund’s father. That’s for sure.
In front of him, there was a man whose features were very similar to Edmund bar gray and white hairs. He was behind his desk, relaxed in his comfy chair.
“So, you are my grandson?”
Bowing lightly, Ewald placed his palm on his chest.
“My name is Ewald Fenchel. It is an honor to meet you, your grace.”
Fabian gave an approving nod.
“You are well educated even for an 8 year-old. Good.”
He had a feeling that Fabian wasn’t aware that he was adopted.
“So,” Fabian continued. “Why did you request an audience? It’s very rare that a grandson requests to meet his grandfather.”
“Is it?”
“It’s usually the other way around.”
“Which begs the question. Why do you keep a distance from the Fenchel?”
It took a bit for Fabian to make a reply.
“A good question,” He replied eventually. “I was told that you are interested in war stories?”
“Correct, sir.”
“Do you want to know what happened during the reunification war?”
“Aye, sir.”
He looked troubled as he grimaced.
“What have you learned so far?”
“Nothing much, sir. There were no historical records that I could find. The historian I know has told me only basic facts such as it was a quick and decisive war.”
“It was indeed a quick and decisive war. What more is there to know?”
Ewald hesitated. He was clearly unwilling to spill his beans. Why?
Should I bring up Bronn? A small village that has vanished from the map?
Gulping and steeling his resolve, he told Fabian.
“Since no one was willing to tell me, I have done my own investigation.”
Fabian’s eyebrows twitched at this point.
“I was able to find out that the army left Keviel toward Lyatan. Then it moved to a village called Bronn.”
Fabian stood up from his desk at once. “How?!” He uttered.
Ewald had to make up a story at this point.
“I assume that piece of information was supposed to be sealed. But, grandfather, it was an army. There was no way that all of them would keep their mouths shut. Money speaks.”
At this point, loose pieces of the puzzle in his head were moving on their own. A piece by a piece, it was starting to make sense. The reality he refused to believe was becoming real. But there was one thing he had to know for absolutely certain. It was something he couldn’t just guess.
“Who was the decision maker?” Ewald asked gravely. “Was it the king?”
Of course, Fabian had no way of knowing that his grandson was a reincarnated person who chose to be reborn to exact revenge. In his mind, Ewald knew already too much to a point that attempting to hide anything further would make him look foolish. Thus, he came clean.
He sat back down and leaned his upper body toward his desk. Crossing his fingers, he leaned his chin against them.
“The king wanted a quick war. He did defeat an invasion from the Siwen dynasty, and a peace treaty of 10 years was signed. But, given enough incentive, they’d outright break the treaty and invade again. Thus, we all understood that he wanted a swift resolution to the war.”
Sighing deeply, he continued to explain what had transpired before, during, and after the unification war.
When Karsten Egra started to gather armies from his vassals, none of his vassals was aware of his plan. Only his close advisor would have known. Fabian Fenchel, eager to reunify the kingdom, summoned every possible man he could muster under his banner and headed to Keviel. He had brought 4,000 men.
Soon, an army of 15,000 men was formed under Karsten’s banner. Their first step was to take back Lyatan. This was when Karsten lifted the lid on his plan.
“The only reason the king was able to have his way was because his vassals were only two nobles,” He explained.
image [https://twoclusters.com/novel_img/LM/vol1_ch8_pic.jpg]
At that time, the Fenchel controlled Lux and fort Reen. The Flissing controlled Dido and fort Dido. The Egra controlled the rest. Because the war council had only three people in power, the king was able to overrule the others with ease. Regardless, Fabian was adamantly against the idea. Thus, Karsten came up with a deal.
“I would not partake in the war. I would just lend him my army. I would not speak of the matter and I would gain a fief,” He explained.
“How about the Flissing?”
“The same. They were also against the idea. The same deal. They got Lyatan in the end.”
Ewald rubbed his temple. His target narrowed down to two. It was either the king or his advisor, perhaps both.
“Yet, you told me everything.”
Fabian stood up from his desk and faced a window, turning away from him.
“You already know too much. No point in trying to hide anything. Besides, it has been a decade. I’ve kept my mouth shut long enough. It has been eating me from inside to be honest. I am actually glad to have told anyone at this point.”
“So, even father doesn’t know the full details.”
“He suspects things. I haven’t told him anything however.”
“Is that why you two are not on speaking terms?”
Fabian answered with silence. Instead, he answered differently after a moment.
“That’s why I’ve taken a complete hands-off approach after I abdicated the seat of the Fenchel.”
“Thank you for telling me everything. It has made my head clearer.”
“I should be the one thanking you. It has also made my head clearer. I reckon sleeping will be easier from now on. Speaking to you has made me realize that the future of the Fenchel is secure for the time being also.”
Bowing lightly with a palm on his chest, Ewald silently exited the room.
Standing alone in a hallway, he looked around. He sort of expected Elias to be there, but he wasn’t present.
So, it’s either the king or his advisor… How would I find out for sure?
He racked his brains to come up with a way. Soon enough, his shoulders sagged. At the very moment, as an eight year-old, he felt there was no way to find out who was the mastermind. Digging any further was a risk because it looked like the king went great ways to ensure that the full details of the war would remain under the rug. It was clear that the existence of “Bronn” was top secret at this point.
Then he moved onto his next line of thoughts: How to kill either of them.
“War…,” He whispered as he slowly walked downstairs where Elias was waiting in the lobby.
Elias asked, “Are you done?”
“Yes.”
“Allow me to show you your room during the stay.”
The room, again, was modest. It was one fourth of his room back in Lux. It had a simple bed, a desk, and a bookshelf with some random books in it.
“I like it,” Ewald remarked.
He indeed liked it far more than the luxurious room in Lux.
“Unfortunately, the service won’t be as good. The manor is staffed by only two maids and one butler.”
Which was fine by him. Hopefully, no woman would invade his personal space in the morning for a while.
“Fine by me. Anything else?”
“No, that’s pretty much it. Everyone will be staying at this manor for the time being. It will be a little cramped.”
“How long are we expecting to stay here?”
“We were the first one to arrive. The other six landed nobles should be arriving soon. The Flissing should be here at any moment. Considering the distance, I believe everyone will be here in three days.”
Apparently, nobles who were located further were notified earlier than those who were closer.
Once Ewald was left alone in his room, he said to himself.
“At last, fucking God. I am finally alone.”
Privacy had been in very short supply for the past ten days. He jumped on bed, took his boots off, and stretched loudly. He promptly dozed off afterwards.
……………..
…………..
……….
……
His slumber was disturbed by a ruckus from outside. Stretching, he got off the bed and rubbed his eyes. Through the only window in the room, he was able to see Theo gathering several guardsmen in haste.
Opening the window, he asked.
“What is going on?”
“We’ve received word that one of the carriages from the Flissing has been attacked by a large werewolf pack led by a giant werewolf.”
Upon hearing that, Ewald leapt over the window only to realize that he was missing his boots and climbed back.
“Milord, you shouldn’t come.”
“I am coming.”
Normally, Theo would have strongly opposed the idea, but Ewald had proven that he was capable of taking care of himself.
“If you wish.”
“You go first. I will follow you with levitation.”
“Understood. Men, move out!”
“Spirits of wind, hear my call. Make me fly: Levitation!”
“Oh my God.” Ewald uttered in shock as he approached the carriage in question from the air.
It wasn’t too far away from the citadel which meant it should have been safe. Alas, what he was seeing was a huge werewolf along with about forty regular werewolves. The large werewolf was larger than the size of the fire greater bear. It was holding the carriage in his hand and was about to smash it down to the ground.
Summoning an elemental version of a wind arrow, he fired a shot at its wrist. The arrow was able to puncture its skin but didn’t seem to have done much damage. He then heard a loud shriek from the carriage.
“A woman?!”
He looked behind. A force from Keviel was in sight and was approaching fast. But he did not feel like they would make it in time to save whoever was in the carriage.
In a desperate attempt, he tried to land on the carriage being held sideways in the giant werewolf’s hand. The werewolf swung his hand widely to shake him off. Another shriek was heard from inside. He was forced out to the air.
“Damn it! Whoever you are! Can you hear me!”
“Yes!”
“Can you, like, open the door and jump off?!”
“WHAT?!”
“I swear I will catch you in the air! I am a wind mage! Otherwise, you will be crushed to death!”
Ewald, then, flew as high as he could and made a short distance from the giant werewolf. He looked behind once more. The force was very close.
There was nothing more he could do at this point. He was powerless against the giant werewolf. The regular werewolves couldn’t reach him easily, thus they didn’t seem to be paying attention to him at this point although a few did try to jump at him.
The giant werewolf raised its arm where it held the carriage and was about to smash it into the ground. At this point, the door of the carriage popped open. On the cue, Ewald simply flew there to grab whoever was going to come out. A blond girl in a fancy dress was dragging herself out. He could also see a pair of hands assisting her. It must have been her maid.
I don’t think I can save both of them!
He internally grunted as he flew as fast as he could and grabbed the girl by her shoulder. As soon as he grabbed her, he could sense that he was losing altitude. Regardless, he swung around widely and saw Theo on a horseback. He tossed her into his arms. The girl shrieked loudly in the air.
“Milord!” Theo shouted.
“There is one more!” He shouted back.
The men Theo brought were all wielding halberds.
“There are royal forces on the way! You don’t have to risk it!”
“There is NO time!” Just as he turned around to fly toward the carriage, he saw the giant werewolf swinging it down to the ground.
FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, SOMETHING. I GOTTA DO SOMETHING!
“Milord…?” Theo titled his head as he saw Ewald being surrounded by beautiful green butterflies in the air.
Unaware of the green butterflies, he chanted in pure desperation.
“Elementals of wind, hear my call. Give me an arrow! A powerful arrow!”
An image popped in his mind.
“Wha…t?”
It was an image of a green translucent arrow that was trapped vertically within a very tall whirlwind.
Hurricane arrow…?
“Hurricane arrow!”
A very bright green translucent arrow slotted itself into his bow. It was also shrouded by a thin layer of green strings in the shape of a whirlwind. He aimed at the giant werewolf’s wrist and fired.
“WHAT THE -”
The recoil blew him backwards, He also saw his bow being shattered to pieces. He was flying backwards so fast that the giant werewolf was quickly becoming smaller and smaller. His vision began to fade into darkness shortly afterwards.
…………….
…………
…….
When he opened his eyes, he could see a maid in the corner of his eyes. The maid saw him regain consciousness and dashed out, probably to inform Elias or so.
Unexpectedly, it was Fabian who came to check on him.
“What a mad lad, you are,” was the first sentence he said to him. His voice wasn’t scolding. It was warm.
“.... What happened afterward? Was the one in the carriage saved?”
“Yes, the maid was saved. The magic arrow you fired made a huge mess of -” He cleared his throat. “Well, it basically blew off the werewolf’s wrist. The hand holding the carriage landed behind Theo’s force.”
Closing eyes, Ewald beamed a satisfied smile. “Good,” He said curtly.
“The lady you tossed, she was the first daughter of the Flissing. You’ve earned a great favor from the Flissing house.”
Ewald’s face stiffened. “I care not for that. My question is why there were such monsters to begin with.”
“It is my assumption based on my experience. When humans disturb the land too much, monsters tend to gather. I assume the recent increase in traffic has caused monsters to sniff our scent and gather around.”
“I see… Where is father?”
“He is currently meeting with Lord Flissing. Basically, he is being thanked to oblivion.”
Ewald chuckled. Fabian’s scarred and battle-hardened palm touched his forehead. He beamed a proud smile at him.
“You did the Fenchel proud.”
“I did whatever I could in the situation. Anyone would have done the same.”
“True. But I must applaud when one’s desire was desperate enough to be heard by elementals.”
“Ah?" Ewald titled his head in confusion.
Fabian explained that Theo saw him being surrounded by green butterflies. Ewald recalled seeing them before with Greta.
“They were wind elementals?”
“Aye. Spirits and elementals love raw emotions. It’s something I’ve found out from my own experience from watching many mages.”
The only time he saw the green butterflies was from Greta back when he visited his real parents. She loved children. Thus, her raw emotions would have attracted elementals. The phenomenon made sense when explained that way.
“How long was I out?”
“About half a day. How are you feeling?”
“It’s not the first time I passed out from using too much magic. I will be fine.” Having said so, he raised his upper body and exercised his shoulders. Then he realized.
“Ah…, my bow was destroyed.”
“Fear not, boy. After what you’ve done, the least I can do for you is get you a fine bow.”
“Thank you.”
He stood up and did some quick exercise a few times. “Everything seems fine. What now?”
“Nothing for now. Rest well until the party. I can only assume that you will be very busy.”
“Oh, crap.” Ewald rubbed his temple while sighing with exasperation.