He was standing on the edge of a sharp cliff. It was Ewald who donned half-plate armor. He wasn’t a child; he looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. He had a bow in his hand. For a moment, he looked happy. For another moment, he looked dejected. He looked down, the bottom could barely be seen from where he was.
As he looked behind him, waves of soldiers were approaching with spears readied forward. The clouded sky roared thunder, then a god ray was upon him at which point his figure started to disintegrate into hundreds of glowing green butterflies.
Within seconds, his entire figure was nothing more than a blob floating glowing green butterflies that started to rapidly disperse. The soldiers rushed in to catch him. Alas, it was too late. He was gone. And then the cliff crumbled, making the soldiers fall to their demise.
……
….
Ewald opened his eyes at once, staring at the wooden ceiling of his room. His vacant stare lasted several seconds.
“... That was a weird dream,” He mumbled. He didn’t feel like it was a nightmare, but it didn’t exactly feel good, either. It was … a plain weird dream. He got up, and maids led by Emily entered his room on cue.
He turned nine years old recently. He had been spending time with his interminate swordsmanship training ever since he got back from the royal party. While it was understood that he was an archer, a close combat skill was still required understandably. Thus, Edmund had put him under intense training. He did undergo swordsmanship training before, but it covered only the basics and did not last long enough. He had undergone a training regime that was equivalent to something that a foot soldier would go through.
Noah and he were in the training ground. It was to be the last day for his intense swordsmanship training. After this, his training workload would be reduced significantly. Basically, he'd finally have some spare time. He had been training for months intensively.
Noah was donning light armor that was a mix of leather and occasional plates. Ewald was donning full leather. Greta was not present because she was expected to give birth at any time. Normally, she’d stay at home, but her home was … nothing more than a hut and without a maid. Therefore, Elias allowed her to stay within the manor. She’d be allowed to nurse her newborn at the manor also. Normally, this wasn’t allowed, but Elias used his influence to make this happen.
Noah drew his sword and placed it upwards close to his chest. Ewald did the same. They’d glare at each other in silence for a moment before charging toward each other. Previously, Ewald used trickery to defeat him, but that was not allowed in the current training sessions.
Their swords clashed with a sharp resonance, and they were locked as Ewald tried his best not to become overwhelmed. There was a clear difference in raw strength. Since it was clear that he wasn’t going to win in a show of strength, he pushed his sword away and readied for a counterattack. However, instead of being recoiled, Noah swung his sword in a circular motion smoothly by using his recoil, hitting Ewald’s sword hard enough to push it out of his hand.
Normally, the fight would be over at this point. However, Ewald cast levitation and caught the sword in the air. Then he swung his sword down at Noah as he dispelled the magic. It was a heavy blow since he was using his entire body as a weight to strike down. Noah let out a heavy grunt as he endured the swing with his sword sideways.
As soon as he landed, he took a few steps back to keep a distance. He’d glare at each other until Noah let out a long breath while placing his sword back into its sheath.
“Not bad,” Noah said. “Your quick wits continue to impress me, young master.”
Looking uninterested, he replied, “Yeah, yeah. How is lady Harder by the way?”
He beamed a happy smile. “About to give birth any day.”
“Do you want a son or a daughter?”
That was a stupid question, Ewald felt. Everyone wanted a son. So much so that a dude he knew murdered his own daughter.
“Doesn’t matter which,” He replied curtly. “It’s not like my child will have anything to inherit.”
“Yet,” Ewald retorted.
Noah smiled in return and changed the subject.
“Anyway, the training ends today. I’ve taught you the basics. The rest is up to you. I suggest you stop using a bow for a while and use a sword to further your skill.”
He was all sweaty from the workout. Thus, he summoned Emily and told her to prepare for a bath. She brought two additional maids for the task, one of whom was Noelle. It seemed Emily favored her. He did request to bring Esther numerous times previously, but she never did so even though she would comply on the surface. There was clearly a schism between them, but it was a girls’ matter which wasn’t easy for him to pry into. He simply had to let it be. Maids at the manor had their own hierarchy and own rules. Basically they lived in their own bubble. Even Edmund had a hard time controlling them. As long as they did their job, they were untouchable.
After taking a bath and dressing up, he silently gestured to Noelle to come over without Emily noticing.
“Could you call Esther over?” He whispered to her quickly. She nodded along and went right back to her work.
Once the maids left, he expected Esther to show up. However, instead of her, someone unexpected showed up instead.
“Sir Hunt?”
“We need to talk.”
It was rare that he had visited him. Once they sat down at a table, Elias began a long explanation of what was going on and why he had come instead of Esther.
“There was a verbal request from the royalty to arrange a marriage between you and a princess.”
Crap, I saw that coming.
“I see,” Ewald replied calmly.
“This is not something we can say no to.”
“I’d guess not. Why verbal though?”
“You are a bit too young. They are going to wait until you reach ten before sending formal documents to be signed.”
Ewald crossed his fingers on the table. Elias’ presence meant a decision was made about something, probably Esther.
“So, what is going to happen now? And Esther?”
Elias rubbed his temple and sighed with exasperation.
“The plan is in tatters. We cannot refuse the talk. Thus, your father has made a decision on Esther.”
Apparently, it had been decided to let her go.
“Meaning?” Ewald questioned.
“She will change her name. Under a new identity, she will join Raen at the decoy house and will accompany you in future adventures.”
“What is going to happen to the plan? You know, the one where I am supposed to marry one of his daughters.”
“It’s no more,” Elias replied curtly.
“No more?” He repeated.
“Your father has decided to forfeit the whole thing. It was already getting a little too complicated as is.”
“But I thought he wouldn’t let go of a mage like this.”
“True, Esther will be employed by the Fenchel house as a mage. Under her new identity, people won’t know she is his daughter as long as she is outside. She will remain outside of the manor most of the time.”
Ewald had mixed feelings about this. While he was glad that the whole thing had been shelved, the prices Edmund had to pay so far to keep it going…
He killed his own daughter for this even.
“So, I am not expected to marry Esther then.”
“Well, feel free to if you wish.”
“Huh?”
“Marry her if you wish. Not as a wife but as a mistress.”
Ewald narrowed his eyes, his eyes dotted around to progress the meaning behind his sentence.
“So, that’s his new plan?”
“Sort of. Your father has given up. This isn’t exactly a plan. Should no son be born between you and the princess and have a son from Esther, you could acknowledge him to be the heir.”
This time, it was Ewald who rubbed his temple. “That’s … just pushing your luck. May I speak bluntly?”
Elias nodded.
“That’s a stupid idea. You might as well shoot an arrow to the sky and hope it will hit your target.”
“Indeed, he doesn’t expect such a scenario to occur. If it does though, well…”
Sighing, Ewald asked, “What’s going to be her new name?”
“We don’t know yet. Your father has informed her, and she will come up with a new one on her own. She has yet to tell us.”
What the hell, man. Now, my target is going to be my father-in-law?
Ewald folded his arms and grimaced. They both sighed deeply in the end for very different reasons.
“What’s going to happen to Noelle then? And the two other girls? I forgot their names.”
“It’s Idda and Alena. Since Noelle has been working as a maid, she will become a permanent maid. I mean she might as well at this point. I am unsure about Idda and Alena.”
“He is not getting rid of them, is he? I do recall you telling me that he was planning to cut them off to reduce financial burden.”
“Your father will cut ties to them for sure. It’s just a matter of when and how. Noelle has been cut off already, and the same will happen to Esther soon also. She will have to earn her own keep for a living.”
He wondered if he could take them under his care. However, soon he realized that his hands were already too full. At least, Esther and Noelle would be under his watch, sort of.
“There is one more, isn’t there? Esther’s younger sister who is known.”
“True, it’s been decided that she will be married to a wealthy merchant.”
“She isn’t getting married to a noble?”
“Her life will be better off as a wife of a wealthy merchant than a wife of an impoverished noble.”
Yeah, I guess. If you are never gonna get into nobility and politics, you might as well have money instead and enjoy a luxurious life.
“May I talk to father?”
Elias was taken back by his sudden request. He looked as if he didn’t expect that from him.
“Why would I talk to him, you wonder, right?”
Sighing, Elias gave him a weak nod carefully.
“It’s true that I don’t lose much, if any, from this turn of events. But I do know how much he has sacrificed.”
“Do you?” Elias interjected.
He doesn’t believe me. He must think that I am putting up an act. Well, I am a kid on the surface after all.
After a short moment, Ewald told him with a grave voice.
“Icilia Fenchel. Where is she now?”
Elias grimaced but did reply, “She is with her mother.”
“Oh, is she.” He folded his arms. “Sir Hunt, I know she has been killed.”
He had this blank look on his face as if he was going through some sort of extraterrestrial crisis.
“Sir Hunt?”
There was no response.
“Sir Hunt!”
Still no response. Ewald had to shake his shoulder to get him back to reality. Jolting weakly, Elias cleared his throat.
“You were with him when he did the deed, weren’t you.”
His reaction wasn’t that of someone who was told what had happened. He had to have been present when Icilia was killed, and it must have been traumatizing for him.
Elias’ eyes were downcast. His eyes were shaking ever so slightly. Was it shame or regret, or something else entirely? Ewald wasn’t sure. What he did know was that both men suffered for what they had done. He didn’t truly understand why the men had gone that far. What he did understand was the desire for his bloodline to continue in some shape or form. Whether that desire would have justified what they had done, it was something he couldn’t fully agree with.
“Let me talk to my father,” He pressed, and Elias seemed to have given up.
“Very well,” He replied curtly, standing up. “Follow me.”
When they arrived at the door to Edmund’s study, Elias glanced at him for a brief moment before knocking the door three times and opening it without waiting for a reply.
Edmund seemed to be taken a bit by surprise when he saw Ewald entering the room. At that very moment, he was looking over a file of documents. There was also a large leather parchment rolled up on a side of his desk which looked similar to the world map Greta had shown him before. Needless to say, he did look pretty busy. He would glance at Ewald and look right back at a document he was reading.
“What brings you here?” Edmund asked casually.
“Sir Hunt told me.”
“Of course, I ordered him to give you an explanation.”
“Yes, I’ve been told that the whole plan was in tatters and that you’ve given up.”
Edmund seized reading. Taking a deep breath, he put down the document and turned his attention to him.
“When I adopted you, I did so because of your quality. Ironically, your outstanding quality is also the reason for this. I can see why the king has decided to come forth with the proposal. He wants to tie you down by using his daughter as a pawn.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
“Do you wish to rule, father?”
That was out of nowhere. Thus, rightfully so, Edmund titled his head in utter confusion.
“Do you wish to rule, father?” He repeated with a stronger voice.
Edmund’s eyebrows started to furrow progressively as he understood what he meant.
“Are you out of your mind, son?”
Ewald had been racking his brains on how he’d exact revenge on the king. While he didn’t have clear evidence, he was most likely the target. Even if he wasn’t, there was absolutely no way that he would have been completely innocent. After all, he was the decision maker.
Having met him at the royal party, it was clear to him that he was no fool; he wasn’t someone who’d be driven by his advisors. He also seemed to be a competent man who was clearly aware of where he stood.
To sum it up, it looked to be a hard man to kill. Therefore, one of the ways he thought he could kill him was … rebellion. This would also accomplish a secondary goal, the marriage Edmund wanted for him. While it was true that he wasn’t thrilled to marry a cousin, he couldn’t outright ignore what he had done for him. He paid a heavy price.
However, he felt the whole idea was way too extreme, even for him.
“I am of sound mind, father,” he replied firmly. “This is the only way to nullify the marriage proposal.”
Edmund looked utterly flabbergasted. Planning a rebellion just to avoid marrying a royal princess?
“You have absolutely no idea what you are saying, son,” he raised his voice. “What you’ve said, if anyone else heard it, is severe enough to be outright branded as a traitor.”
“Most likely. This is just an option you may consider.”
“Enough!” Slamming the desk, Edmund stood up at once. He pointed at the door. “Out!” He barked.
This is enough for now.
Turning around at once, he left the room. He did feel that his idea was too extreme to even consider but, at the same time, he wasn’t wrong, either. Rebellion seemed to be the only way to cancel the potential engagement.
Just as he opened the door, Elias was waiting outside.
“Elias! Come!” Edmund barked at him. He was clearly angry and unsettled by what Ewald had told him.
I did convey my point to him though.
He showed Edmund how far he was willing to go to keep the promise. Whether he’d understand his point was an entirely different matter.
With the training over, he had some spare time at last. Thus, he figured he’d visit the decoy house and check things over with Raem. As he made his way to the shed by the tea farm, Elias caught up to him.
“Wait!” He exclaimed while running toward him. “I need to talk to you!”
Apparently, Edmund was very worried about what he had proposed. He wanted to make sure that he’d never speak about the conversation with anyone.
“I am not a fool, Sir Hunt. I do know the gravity of the conversation.”
“Did you mean it?”
Now, how should I answer that?
He did mean it. He felt that was the only visible way to kill the king. And, as a bonus, the marriage would be nullified, allowing him to marry a girl of Edmund’s choice. That was Ewald’s end of the bargain, which he intended to keep if possible. He wanted to make it possible.
“Of course, not, Sir Hunt,” he said with a shrug. “I just wanted father to know that I am aware of the sacrifices he has made.”
Narrowing eyes, Elias scanned him. His eyes conveyed doubts.
I am just a kid, you know. A nine year-old, kid. Why so suspicious?
“Very well,” He conceded eventually. “I remind you again. Never speak about that with anyone.”
“I understand.”
And, thus, he proceeded to the decoy house and found only Karla doing miscellaneous house chores at the moment.
“Oh, Milord, it’s been a while,” She remarked upon seeing him coming up from the basement.
“Hello, lady Karla. It has indeed been a while. I’ve been busy with swordsmanship classes. Is Raem home?”
“He and Lara are at the guild, looking for jobs.”
He is twelve now, isn’t he? He should be eligible for better jobs. The only issue is that he can’t do much with just Lara.
“I see. I will be visiting the guild then. How have you been doing?”
Apparently, despite having reached the iron rank, he had still been doing mundane jobs because no self-respecting adventuring group was willing to hire him. He was a swordsman with a shield, meaning a frontline fighter. Leaving the first line of defense to a twelve year-old was understandably risky.
“Regardless,” She pointed out, “He has been bringing in money no matter how small. He has changed, all thanks to you. He didn’t used to bother with small jobs.” She beamed a smile afterwards. For her, any income was better than nothing.
“How has Lara been doing? She hasn’t seen her parents for a while, has she?”
“I don’t think she has shown any signs that she missed her parents.”
He folded his arms and considered her situation. She was abused and was clearly neglected in favor of her younger brother. Perhaps she knew this subconsciously. As a consequence, her longing for her parents was non-existent. Compared to his own family, the difference was day and night. However, he was a son, and his family was financially stable.
“Do you wish to do something about her?” She asked carefully as if she was afraid of an answer she might not like.
“No, let her be. I mean, her parents are within a walking distance, and it is not as if we are locking her up. If she really wishes to see her parents, she is free to do so.”
Her face brightened up slightly and replied curtly, “As you wish.”
“I shall pay a visit to the guild now.”
Lux was as busy as usual. The city was more livelier than Keviel where it felt more like a heavily controlled city.
“Hmmm.”
He realized one aspect that felt amiss when observing the city as he made his way to the guild. He did not see any children running about in the capital.
“Weird, how come?” he wondered aloud. “Whatever.”
The guild was always sort of empty whenever he visited there. He assumed that the place would get busier during evenings where groups of adventurers return to report their jobs or just go there to have dinners.
The guild receptionist, Sarah, welcomed him with a warm smile.
“Oh, it’s you, Kamil. I haven’t seen you for a while.”
He beamed a smile in return.
“It’s nice to see you, ma’am.”
Her long curly blonde hair was always a beauty to look at -
He froze at the spot. Her long hair that reached her waist was no more. It was only shoulder length now. He was about to ask what happened. After all, women didn’t change their hairstyle at whim. Something must have happened.
During his past life as Tom, the only time women ever changed their hairstyle was when they got married. Fionara didn’t change her hair style however. Given how short her hair was, there wasn’t much to alter.
Did she marry? Or is it something else?
Either way, he learned not to ask such things from his past experience.
Beaming another smile, he turned away from her and went straight to the request board where there were Raem and Lara searching for doable jobs. Lara was the first one to notice him coming their way.
“Hello!” She waved cheerfully which alerted Raem to look back. He got down from a chair and was about to bow but realized he shouldn’t.
“Hello,” He greeted casually instead.
“How is the job search?”
“There are a few jobs we could take on if you join us. Like this one here.” He pointed at a piece of paper on the board. “It’s about exterminating a goblin camp.”
The piece of paper explained that a small goblin camp was located by a small group of hunters a day away from the city. It wasn’t marked as urgent.
“The pay is about 75 iron coins,” Raem added. “That’s excluding whatever loot we may find.”
Kamil stroked his chin. It seemed doable. The only issue was the distance. A day away meant camping in the wilderness. His experience during the trip to Keviel taught him that the three might not be enough. Even with Esther, they might be forced into stealth camping to avoid a pack of wandering werewolves and whatnot.
“I have a new member joining us soon,” Kamil announced. “We will wait until then.”
“A new member?”
“Yeah, a fire mage even.”
Raem looked delighted to hear that. A fire mage was the most offensive magician. Elemental damage was something they needed badly because wild boars were very resistant to physical damage.
“With her, hunting wild boars will be a piece of cake,” Kamil said what was going through Raem’s mind.
“Her? It’s a girl? Finally, a girl-friend!” Lara sounded very happy.
“Yeah, well, so let’s wait on the big job and hunt a wild boar today. You should be out of meat, no?”
“We’ve been out of jerky for a while now, but our overall food quality has improved,” Raem said.
“It’s not so bad!” Lara chimed in.
“Alright, let’s go.”
While on their way out of Lux, Kamil asked Raem about the sudden change in Sarah’s hairstyle.
“Oh, that.” He seemed to know the story. “I was actually there when it happened. It was ugly for sure.”
According to Raem, he was looking for jobs as usual. Lara wasn’t with him that morning since he was helping out Karla.
“I missed out on the fun,” She complained cutely with a pout.
“Well, the short story is that her boyfriend cheated on her.”
“Is there a long version?”
“Err, yes.”
Sarah’s boyfriend was a fellow adventurer. After getting wasted the night before, he overslept and lazily got down from the second floor of the guild. Upon seeing Sarah, he complained loudly that she was never there for him when he needed him. Basically, she wasn’t giving him enough bed time.
Flustered by his sudden outburst that exposed their private lives, she got really mad at him and told him to get the f out.
“Then it got uglier,” Raem added with a giggle.
The boyfriend’s new girl backed him up after dashing down from the second floor. Apparently, they slept together the night before. Without feeling any shame whatsoever, the boyfriend barked at Sarah that his new gal was much better in bed than she ever was.
Kamil face-plamed at this point while Lara was clueless as to what they were talking about.
“Wasn’t he sober?” He wondered aloud. “I can’t even… What a dumbass…”
“The guildmaster had to come down to intervene. Sarah was crying and all. It was messy. The guy and girl were eventually kicked out by the guildmaster.”
“I mean, I get the urge to bang your hot girlfriend frequently… But time and place, please, time and place.”
“What does ‘bang’ mean here?” Lara asked innocently. “Is this the adult talk?”
Kamil and Raem exchanged glances with both of them clearing their throat in the end. They decided to speak no further on the matter.
Tracking down and hunting a wild boar proved to be an easy affair this time. Raem took the full brunt of a boar’s charge which he took like a champion without being pushed back at all, and Lara was aiming at the boar’s softer belly which was much easier to puncture and cause internal bleeding. Seeing the battle in their favor without his contribution, Kamil decided to use his shortsword instead of a bow as per Noah’s suggestion.
Aiming the tip of his sword toward the boar’s belly, he charged forward. There was some resistance initially but, with a popping sound, his blade sunk right into the belly of the beast. Having punctured both sides of his belly, the boar squeaked painfully as it violently ran in a circle. Because Kamil did not disable its hind leg this time, the animal was able to run around still. However, blood was literally pouring out of wounds on its belly. With its breathing very uneven, it wasn’t going to last long due to massive blood loss.
“Ugh,” Lara uttered as the boar’s blood was making a small pool on the forest floor. It wasn’t a pretty sight.
The boar dug its front leg to charge. When it did, however, it slipped on its own blood, making unpleasant slashes that reached the three of them.
“Awwww!” Lara exclaimed, looking disgusted. She jumped backwards to avoid the blood splash.
Unable to stand, the boar struggled and ran its legs pointlessly in its own pool of blood. It was not a pleasant sight to watch it die slowly.
Kamil walked toward it, and the boar attempted to get away while breathing very unevenly to no avail. He held his shortsword with both hands and aimed for its neck and finished it off.
“If I make a suggestion,” Raem said after seeing him finish off the animal.
“Go ahead.”
“Use your magic arrows to disable its hind legs. This was unnecessarily ugly.”
“Agreed. I was told to practice swordsmanship, but this ain’t worth it.”
They took a breather before getting ready to carry the boar home.
Perhaps, it was due to the stronger scent of blood this time, but they were soon alerted by a growling from a distance. It sounded like a dog’s?
“Wolves!” Raem shouted as he entered his battle stance.
There were a pack of six wolves surrounding them; hunger clear in their eyes. Kamil and Lara stood back to back with Raem, forming a triangle for defense.
Six is a bit too many. Time to thin their numbers.
Drawing his bow out, he summoned an elemental version of wind arrow and aimed at a wolf at which point, they spread out at once at unbelievable speed.
They had encountered hunters before!
“Raem! Forget about the boar for now. Let’s slowly relocate. We’ve got to move out of here!”
The forest was their playground, meaning the trio was already at a disadvantage by just being there. Besides, who knew what else might get attracted to the scent of blood.
“Understood!”
While maintaining the triangle formation, they progressively made their way out of the forest. However, just before they could move out of the forest, the pack circling around them closed in at once and some jumped at them.
Lara, having a long reach spear, had the most success in defending as she struck a wolf in the air. The wolf was pierced by the spear and was literally sliding down toward her. It whimpered loudly as it struggled to get free but there was no way.
“Ewwww!” She didn’t know what to do and panicked at which point Raem, using his shield, launched it into the air. However, his other arm was bitten by a wolf and was bleeding.
As for Kamil, when he saw a wolf jump at him, he ducked and turned around swiftly. Without giving a moment, he thrusted his shortsword into the wolf’s groin. Its testes fell off, and the wolf whimpered. It dashed away from the battle.
The remaining four wolves continued to circle around, but their battle spirits appeared to have been damped. Once they were out of the forest, the wolves simply watched them leave.
“Um…, the boar?” Lara wondered aloud.
Ignoring her, Kamil asked Raem.
“Raem, how is your arm?” Were you bitten?”
“Yeah.”
The medical knowledge in this world wasn’t advanced enough to know the term, rabies. However, the general knowledge was there that, if bitten by a wolf or a dog, there was a chance that they might die from a strange disease. This was known to hunters mainly.
Among the three, Kamil was the only one aware of this because he was a hunter in his former life.
“Lara, cast an antidote spell on his arm right now. Use the elemental version.”
“Eh?” She was confused.
“Just do it!”
Startled, she touched his wound and began to chant, “Elementals of Water, please hear my call. Cure this person’s poison and disease: antidote!”
A blob of greenish water formed on his bite marks on his arm.
“Not healing but antidote?”
“Yeah, just for precaution. I’ve heard of people falling ill after being bitten by dogs and their kind.”
“Never knew that…”
“What about the meat?” Lara asked.
“It’s gone. I am sure the wolves took some bites already. It’s tainted meat now,” Kamil explained.
She looked visibly down.
“Don’t worry though. We can still bring meat home.”
It had been a while since the last time they hunted rabbits. Thus, when the trio searched farm fields, low and behold, there were rabbits roaming about. Raem snickered as he saw a pair of rabbits munching on carrot leaves on a farming field.
“Brings back memories,” He said. Indeed, this was where it began.
“Easy peasy squeezy,” Kamil remarked as he drew his bow, summoned a magic arrow, and shot. It was a series of very skilled movements.
As a rabbit was shot in its head, the other rabbit dashed away to safety.
“Yay!” Lara jumped up and down, and Raem dashed to grab the dead rabbit. He held it up in the air as he walked toward them.
A rabbit meat wasn’t enough to even last two days, but it would be a feast regardless for them.
“Let’s not overhunt like last time,” Kamil remarked.
Once they were back at the decoy house, Kamil told Raem to treat the bite wound while he skinned the rabbit. Lara was setting up the smoking station. Apparently Raem taught her how. By time, skinning was done, Raem was back with a bandaged arm.
“If you feel any fever, run straight to Sarah,” Kamil told him. “And tell her that you got bitten by a wolf.”
“Is it that serious?”
“I think it depends on the person, but one could die from it.”
Raem’s eyes were widened. “Really…”
“If we didn’t have Lara with us, I would have taken you to the guild right away. Your wound was treated pretty much right away, so I reckon you will be fine.”
Shocked by the fact that he could have died from getting bitten by a wolf, he looked a bit unsettled. He stared at his bandaged arm, moving it around. The wound itself looked really minor with just a few tooth punctures. He would have overlooked it and may have not even bandaged it.
“Anyway,” Kamil changed the subject. “We need to make preparations if we are going to do one of those goblin camp extermination jobs.”
“Such as?” Raem was clueless.
“It will be the four of us, so prepare four backpacks and four cloth sheets for a bed of some sort. We will need rations, but I guess jerky will do. We will need to carry water bottles as well.”
Essentially, it’d cost money.
“It will cost money,” Kamil said. “But consider it an investment.”
Sighing, he pulled out a knife from his belt and started to slice meat off the skinned rabbit skillfully. Lara, too, began to assist with a knife in her hand.
“Everything costs so much coins,” He muttered eventually. In his mind, once he reached the iron rank, he would be good to go. Of course, the reality wasn’t so straightforward. In fact, nothing had changed.
“Cheer up, Raem,” Lara attempted to console him which didn’t do much if anything.
It was at this moment that he realized he had money: his allowance which he hadn’t actually spent any at all so far. He was given 100 iron coins once in a while and he had 300 iron coins at the moment. It was too heavy to carry them around, thus most of it was left in his room.
“Raem, I do have some coins, like 300 iron coins.”
Upon hearing that, Raem stood up at once like an excited kid waiting for candies.
“You do?!”
“Yes, get a list of equipment we need and write down how much they would cost in total. We can go from there.”
“I will do just that. I am gonna visit the guild and ask Sarah about what we are going to need.”
“Not a bad idea actually. Do that.”
With the matter settled, he headed back to the manor. He was greeted by several maids at his tea farm along the way. Even with his busy schedule, he had kept working on his farm diligently, providing a small but steady supply of delicious doses of sweet sweet Macomaco tea to maids. It appeared that only members of the loyalist maids were able to drink it which Ewald had no issue with. They were the longest serving maids. Therefore, he felt they deserved it. Besides, he felt it wasn’t even his business.
After having dinner in his room, Emily and her two maids withdrew from his room with a catering cart. Being left alone at last, he laid down on his bed with both of his hands on the back of his head.
Do you wish to rule, father?
He asked Edmund earlier the day. Rebellion if failed would bring ruin to the entire house and then some. It wouldn’t end with the Fenchel, either. The Ros, The Harder - all landless nobles employed by the Fenchel would be punished if not outright wiped out. Alas, he saw no visible solution to kill the king. However, there was one event that he could bank on: the war.
If the invasion by the Siwen was inevitable and would occur soon, perhaps there would be new ways to get rid of the king. After all, he would be exposed unlike the present where he remained in the castle.
Lord Flissing declared that they’d invade in three years. He’d be twelve by then. He’d be a bit too young to partake in the conflict but it wouldn’t be impossible.
If he could just manage to fire a hurricane arrow right at the king from a long distance…, he might just be able to pull it off. He would also need not to pass out. The last thing he’d want is to get captured and bring harm to the house Fenchel.
If he was unable to pull that off, he’d go for the alternative: the rebellion. Of course, it’d take many years to pull that off, and he’d be married to this princess by then. He’d be essentially trying to get rid of his father-in-law.
A truly evil deed indeed.