Upon reaching the age of 10 years old, a few things changed for Ewald. First of all, he was given his own study. Secondly, although mundane, he was given a tiny amount of paperwork to do. Finally, instead of a random allowance, he was now being paid about 25 iron coins a month. He was told by Elias that his wage was exactly the same as a maid. When he asked if all maids were paid the same, Elias responded that those in the loyalist faction were paid a bit more.
Under normal circumstances, 25 iron coins would not be enough to survive a month. However, given the fact that maids lived in the manor where lodging as well as meals were taken care of, 25 iron coins were more than enough. In fact, according to Emily, his headmaid, she had no reason to spend any coins and she had saved up quite a bit. For some maids, such savings were important in case they left the manor for one reason or another. The common cause for maids to leave the manor was marriage where their savings would come in very handy to start their lives anew. In fact, he did see a maid getting married with his own eyes. She was in her mid 20s and ended up marrying one of the guards. Apparently, their relationship had been going on for a while. When they tied the knot, they had a small marriage ceremony in the rear garden, and she was allowed to depart the manor gracefully with gifts from other maids. Until this event, he didn’t think maids got married at all.
According to Emily, maids with outside connections, like having a family, tend to marry at one point. And maids with no outside connections at all, like orphans, generally ended up staying in the manor for their whole lives. Basically, for orphan maids, the manor would become their whole world and they would have no desire to leave their comfort zone, which was understandable.
“My own room,” He said to himself as he adjusted himself in a comfy chair. He felt the surface of his new desk with his hands, sweeping it across with a giggle. I didn’t really like being in his own room which felt simply too large for him. This study felt home.
His study was eerily similar to Elias’ study. It was a small room with modest furniture; nothing was fancy like what he had in his room. But there was one aspect that was clearly different in this room; there were two desks. One was for Ewald. The other was for Flora. It was his own request to have another desk for her. Normally, a noblewoman wasn’t given her own study unless she was a head of a house. However, since she was aspiring to be an author, he figured he’d give her her own desk. Until this arrangement, she had been using the library. Interestingly, Edmund had no say in this according to Elias. Because Flora was to be his wife eventually, anything regarding her was down to Ewald entirely. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that, the marriage part. He didn’t dislike Flora; he just wasn’t entirely sure of his feelings about her. Granted, she was the better of two evils. It was either her or the second princess, the latter would make the king his father-in-law which he wanted to avoid at all cost since his goal was to kill him. In the end, he got what he wanted, thus he couldn’t really complain about the whole situation.
While he was enjoying his new desk, a knocking was heard.
“Yes?”
“Milord, it is Leszek.”
Leszek was the tax man he had met some time ago during the tax matter. Ever since the event and, after he was given his own study, he made reports to him while simultaneously reporting to Edmund. After all, he was the catalyst for the tax alteration.
“Come in.”
He reported his renewed encounter with farmers after the new tax measure was implemented.
“It’s still not easy. I mean they aren’t pleased to part with their produce. But, at least, they are not arguing how much we are taking.”
He went on to explain that, for the first time in his career as a tax collector, his guards didn’t restrain anyone. The guards themselves were shocked as well according to him.
As Tom in his former life, he didn’t really understand the purpose of taxes. As a mere, simple, hunter, he saw taxes as daylight robbery because he couldn’t fathom where the money would be used other than filling the noble's coffer. For all he knew, the money was just taken by the rich.
Now, as Ewald, a noble, he started to see where the money he never saw as Tom was going. The Fenchel paid wages for all guards in the city and maintained the infrastructure, such as roads and city walls. They also kept keen eyes on the local market to ensure that no one was purposely manipulating prices; They were essentially keeping everything in order to make ordinary folks live comfortably. This was a thankless job; The ordinary folks wouldn’t notice what the nobles were doing unless specifically aware of what they were doing.
“It is all thanks to you, young master. Without your input, I would have never realized,” Leszek said.
“I thank you for your kind words. But there is something that has been bothering me.”
“Oh? Do let me know if I am allowed to hear it.”
Ewald explained to him that he wished to find a solution for perishables.
“Keeping vegetables for longer would surely benefit us, no?”
Leszek nodded firmly. “True, we lose more than half. I don’t see how we can keep them younger though. Keeping them cool is the only way I know.”
Ewald folded his arms with a sigh. “Perhaps with magic?” It was just a wild guess.
“I’d personally ask Sir Waszak if it has anything to do with magic.”
“Waszak?”
“Cezary Waszak, the word keeper, Milord.”
Ah, him. I completely forgot.
“Oh, Sir Waszak. I do know him. Is he good with magic?”
“I personally don’t know much about him, but he was given the title of scholar for an invention.”
“An invention? What did he make?”
“It’s the exploding fire crystal.”
He never heard of such an item. Leszek seemed to have read his bemused expression and explained what it was.
“It’s a fire crystal that explodes when thrown.”
Wow, such a thing exists?
“I see. I suppose I shall have a talk with him then.”
Leszek bowed, then left.
“Cezary Waszak, huh…”
He figured he’d summon Cerary. However, to his surprise, he refused the summon, citing that he was employed by Edmund, not him. The messenger who brought the message was sweating in front of Ewald, fearing that he might be punished for something he wasn’t responsible for.
“I see. Well, I will go see him myself,” He replied nonchalantly. He was a little surprised by his refusal but wasn’t offended. The messenger, after a sigh of relief, left his study with haste, not wanting to earn any unnecessary ire. He did find Cezary a bit erratic from the first encounter, thus his odd behavior didn’t get him.
Upon arrival at the library, he found Cezary tutoring Flora. She was sitting down with an open book, and he was standing up with a wooden pointer in his hand. He would occasionally point at lines in the book while telling her something. He had been teaching her advanced grammar and vocabulary for a while. While Ewald was silently observing the two, Cezary eventually looked up, and his face stiffened when he spotted Ewald standing by the door.
“My time has come, Milady,” He told Flora who was confused at the sudden statement.
“I beg your pardon?”
Without elaborating further, he walked toward Ewald and declared with his arms open.
“You can have my head if you wish, young master. But I stand by my words. I do not work for you, yet. I work for your father.”
“What?” Ewald blurted awkwardly.
“What?” And Cezary repeated.
“What are you talking about, Sir Waszak?”
“Aren’t you here to order my execution?”
Flora stood up from her desk at once upon hearing that with her face looking like she had just been punched.
“What?” Ewald blurted once again, looking bemused.
“Huh?” And Cezary tilted his head in confusion.
“What is going on?” Flora demanded, approaching them at once.
It took a while for both of the men to explain what happened to her. It should have been simple, but Cezary kept on inserting nonsensical phases.
“... And that’s why I summoned him only for him to refuse,” He explained.
“Thus, it was my understanding that I crossed the line,” Cezary interjected while gesturing his arms like an actor featured in a tragic action play on a stage.
“Anyway, I came here to see him so that I could-”
“Thus, he has come for my head!” Cezary interjected again with a progressively saddening face with his arms in the air as if he was surrendering himself.
Sighing, Flora placed her hand on her waist and raised her palm toward Cezary and told him.
“Sir Waszak, all due respect, please quiet down.”
And that shut him off for whatever role he was trying to play. Then, she asked.
“Sir Waszak, why did you refuse his summon?”
“I do not work for him. I work for his father. He has no right to summon me.”
“Look, I don’t have a problem with that logic. I am not here to punish you or whatsoever,” Ewald explained.
“But you are a noble,” He retorted with this dumb look on his face. He genuinely looked as if he was confused.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Nobles hate being looked down upon. Is that not true?”
“If you know that, why did you refuse my summon to begin with?”
“I am sticking to my principle.”
Even if it might cost you your life? I can see it happen for a grand reason, but for this? What an odd person.
Shaking his head, Ewald attempted to get back to the topic he came here for.
“Let’s forget this ever happened. Now, my purpose of seeking you out is to have you look at something.”
He went on to explain that half of vegetables collected as tax were being lost to elements and that he was looking for a way to preserve them longer.
“I was told that you are the inventor of the exploding fire crystal. So, I figured you could come up with an idea.”
Flora immediately reacted with a surprised face.
At the same time, Cezary placed a hand on his waist and replied, “You are asking me to find a way to lower the temperature. The principle of the exploding fire crystal is simply trapping the potential of fire magic inside a medium. Do you know any magic that lowers the temperature?”
Ewald and Flora looked at each other with Ewald shrugging his shoulders in return; neither knew any such spells.
“Don’t need magic like that really,” Cezary continued his explanation, “You just need an ice room.”
Again, neither of them knew what ice was because they never experienced winter at all in their whole lives. In fact, in Lux, the temperature had never dropped below the freezing point all year long. The same applied to Dido where Flora was from although it was somewhat cooler.
“What is ice?” Ewald asked innocently.
Cezary looked flabbergasted and uttered, “Ice? Snow? Hello?” Then he grimaced. “Right…, we are in Lux.”
“Where are you from, Sir Waszak?”
“I am … from the North.” His answer was vague with clear hesitation in his voice.
It turned out that he was from Vrnojka of the Siwen which was quite shocking to hear. For all their lives, they were taught that the Siwen was their mortal enemy. His confession made them realize that they had never actually met anyone from the Siwen.
“Pretty sure that there are some Siwens among us,” Cezary claimed. “They just won’t let you find that out because … you know.”
“Vronjka…, that’s pretty far,” Flora remarked while Ewald had no idea where that was. Noticing that, she attempted to find a map.
“There is no detailed map of the Siwen dynasty in Lux,” Cezary said, shaking his head. “Hell, the world map you guys have is laughable also.”
That, Ewald had to agree. The so-called world map he was shown previously by Greta was nothing more than just a simple drawing of what was supposed to be the world and just rough borders of three nations.
“What made you make the journey so far down?”
“Vronjka is ruled by the Goss family, and I hate the Goss. Their condescending attitude gets on my nerves greatly. In this country, the gap between nobles and commoners is a lot thinner.”
His eyes filled with clear disdain. Whatever he experienced back home, it couldn’t have been pleasant. In the Kingdom of Egra, the gap between nobles and commoners was thin indeed. As long as one had a talent, he was easily given a title regardless of his social rank. It was primarily due to the fact that the kingdom had far less population, meaning a far smaller talent pool. They couldn’t be picky like the Siwen.
“Your family?” Flora asked, sympathy in her eyes.
“I had one. Not sure now. I’ve been away for over a decade.” Noticing her eyes, he quickly added while waving away. “I don’t need your sympathy, Milady. I know what I’ve done and I’ve cast away my origin. I am here as Cezary Waszak.”
Unlike Flora, Ewald took no interest in his personal affair especially when it was clear that he wanted to forget his origin. Thus, he changed the topic.
“Sir Waszak, what is this ice?”
Cezary blinked a few times as if he was trying to reset his brain. Soon clearing his throat, he explained, “Ice is what water becomes when the temperature gets low. At a certain point, water becomes solid and is very cold to touch.”
Flora clapped her hands once with a bright smile. “Wow, I’d love to see something like that.” She sounded excited. “What does it look like?”
“Eh…, it looks … like water? Except it’s solid. It’s colorless like water, or is it? Is water colorless?”
Why are you asking me?! How the fuck should I know?
“Solid water that’s cold…,” Ewald mumbled, ignoring the latter part of his question, and tried to imagine what a piece of ice might look like, and asked, “Would it be possible to create that with magic? I know water magic can literally conjure water out of thin air.”
“Well, it’s easy to heat things up with fire,” Cezary replied, “But to cool things down with magic? I have never heard of such a spell.”
Ewald was fairly certain that magic arrows didn’t exist before he came along. Evidently, everyone was surprised to see how his magic arrows worked. From what he had observed so far, magic had been cast on its own whereas his magic arrow worked in conjunction with a physical object, a bow. That opened some possibilities in his mind. Some unorthodox means to cast something new… However, for the time being, this was it. All he had was a vague concept.
“Well, it’s something to think about,” Ewald told him, “If you come across anything that might help us to create this ‘ice’ with magic or elemental crystals, please do let me know.”
Cezary folded his arms with his head slightly downward. “I will keep that in mind,” He eventually said.
Since the discussion with Cezary, Ewald had been testing several things with Flora because she had an affinity with water. After having done some further research on this “ice”, it became clear to him that water magic may be the key.
At the moment, there was a book on his desk which was about general magic. On Flora’s desk, there was a wooden basket where she had been creating water out of magic. However, she wasn’t casting water arrows like Sarath had done before.
With her palms facing the bucket, she chanted, “Spirits of water, please heed my call. Grant me drops of water: Create water!”
About 200 ml of water formed about 10 centimeters from her hands. It floated as if it was levitating for a short moment before falling down into the bucket. She had been practicing this spell for a day, taking breaks as needed.
“So, it certainly works,” Ewald remarked, “You don’t have to follow what the books say about magic spells. You can literally make up whatever you want.”
Flora was panting subtly. She wasn’t used to casting spells like this. In fact, it was only recently that she was taught the basics of magic.
“Are you alright, Flora?”
“I, I am fine, just a bit tired.” She wiped sweat off her forehead. With an affinity level of three, she wasn’t going to use her magic in any meaningful way in combat. Basic mundane spells were all she could cast without exerting herself too much.
“Let’s call it for today then. Thank you, Flora.”
“Thank you,” She replied curtly and relaxed her shoulders. It looked like she was feeling uncomfortable to be with him in a small study. After all, he was the opposite gender even if he was four years younger.
The principle of magic was the title of the book on his desk. It told its readers to start chanting magic with, “Elementals of
Everyone in his knowledge seemed to believe that the teachings were absolute because he had never seen anyone deviating from the standard chanting cited in the book. He disagreed however.
Once Flora left the study, he stood in the middle of the room after taking his bow from the side of his desk. He wielded it and shut his eyes halfway. He didn’t chant any words out loud. Instead, he chanted in his mind. The green butterflies he had seen numerous times before; it meant that the spirits and elementals were capable of reading people’s minds. He did not feel words were needed to cast magic.
Elementals of wind, grant me an arrow!
He shortened it on whim. Even so, the familiar-looking translucent green magic arrow slotted itself into his bow regardless; it worked.
“So, I assume it doesn’t matter what words I use as long as I have a clear image of what I want in my head…”
That wasn’t quite the truth. The book wasn’t entirely wrong. The chanting phrases were developed and refined over many hundreds of years. It was the most optimal way for ordinary people to borrow powers from elementals. Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to cast magic by just thoughts. It was just that he was a different case in more ways than one.
First of all, his belief in the existence of spirits, elementals, and Gods was unquestionable because he met Gods and retained his memories from the encounter. The latter part was important; every human being would meet the Gods for their judgment eventually. No one would retain their memories in the end however. He was an exception and a huge boon.
Secondly, in his former life, he pledged his life to wind elementals in exchange for a miracle. While he perished before the elementals took his life, his pledge formed a bond between him and the elementals. This granted a small boost to his affinity. What was more important was that the bond acted like a direct communication line between him and elementals. Essentially, he was able to communicate with elementals even though he was unaware of this at the moment. As a result, his spells were at full potential from the very beginning. He didn’t need refined phases to borrow powers. He simply had to think, which he had just found out.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Finally, there was Fionara’s blessing.
Taking a deep breath, he attempted another shot by just thinking. Just then…
“Huh?”
He heard blowing horns. Normally, he’d understand that as a monster attack. However, it was different this time. It wasn’t just a single horn. It sounded like there were blowing horns from all directions. Could monsters be attacking the city from all directions? Very unlikely.
Lowering his bow, he walked over to a window to find Edmund dashing out to greet a lone man. They were very animated. One aspect of the supposedly messenger struck him as odd. He was wearing a crimson cloak. The color was so vivid that it could be seen from afar. Unknown to him, the crimson cloak was a sign of war. The horns were blown when guards spotted the cloak.
“What’s going on?” He wondered aloud.
When he descended down to the lobby, the place was packed to brim with maids and guards. He simply could not get through to reach Edmund.
“We are at war!”
He heard his father’s voice from afar.
“But we’ve been preparing for this!”
What? War? WHAT?!
It was too soon, way too soon. Lord Flissing said he expected the invasion in three years. It has been only a year so far. Then he realized.
I see. He lied, sort of.
He didn’t feel Lord Flissing would be amiss by this much. That meant that he was purposely lying. Why, he wasn’t sure yet. What seemed puzzling was that, from the way Edmund was speaking, he had more accurate information than what was given by Lord Flissing.
“Our bredren at Dido spotted an invasion army of 45,000 soldiers approaching fast. We all know whose army they are!”
“The God damned Siwen!” A guard exclaimed.
“Indeed!” Edmund replied back with a shout.
Some maids whispered to each other with deeply concerned faces. From overhearing their concerned voices, it looked like some maids had their brothers enlisted in the Fenchel army, meaning they’d be heading to a war. Rightfully so, they were concerned.
“We feast tonight!” Edmund exclaimed powerfully. “Bring out our best food to everyone! Then we go to war tomorrow!”
The guards roared with their hands in the air while the maids looked either content or concerned. Once the crowd began to disperse, he approached Edmund at once who was with Elias and Noah.
“Noah, you will lead our main force. Get the troops ready.”
Noah bowed respectfully with a palm on his chest. Then, he turned around and left.
“Elias, you prepare the mage corps.”
Mage corps?
Then their attention turned to Ewald afterward.
“May I go?” He asked right away, and Edmund’s response was rather unexpected.
“If you wish, you may.” Having noticed the surprised look on Ewald’s face, he elaborated, “You are the heir to the Fenchel house. I will not shelter you from the real world. In fact, the sooner you experience war, the better.”
Elias nodded in agreement although there was a bitter expression on his face.
He continued, “I do ask you to say farewell to lady Flissing since you may not come back. I also ask you to employ your own guardknight, someone you can trust your life with.”
Raem, it is.
It was an easy choice. He turned fourteen also. He was practically an adult at this point.
“I will choose Raem.”
“Very well. So be it. Elias, send a messenger right now.”
“You are going? To war?”
Flora, as expected, looked shocked to hear when he informed her that he was going to partake in the war.
“But you are only …”
Ten, I do know.
Perhaps a bit too young, but this was a chance, a rare chance. He could approach the king without much protection. Regardless, he attempted to come up with a cool answer.
“I am the heir to the Fenchel house. I will not sit by.”
With her eyes downcast, she seemed to be considering something. Soon, she looked him into his eyes.
“May I go as well?”
“Huh? What? Why would you want to tag along?”
Her hand was on her chest, and she clenched her hand as if she made up her mind about something.
“I wish to be an author. And, for that, I need to experience things. I simply cannot write stuff with just imaginations. I need to see the world.”
He felt that her excuse made perfect sense. She wouldn’t be able to write things she hadn’t experienced. Well, perhaps she could, but there would be limits to how much she could make up inside her head.
“Still, it is war. It’s not a picnic. It will be bloody.”
“I am well aware of the dangers.”
They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment. She wouldn’t look away; she was determined.
“Very well. I don’t actually know whether I am allowed to make this decision however. I shall ask the lord.”
It turned out that he was in fact allowed to make the decision. He was visiting Edmund in his study. Unlike normal times, however, he was busy looking after papers while standing up. There were Elias and a butler present also. They were looking down on a map. Edmund responded without looking in his direction.
“She is yours. Thus, it will be on you. I will not get in your way,” He said, “But she should have her own guard knight, preferably a female. I believe her maid is combat-capable but she needs one more. Speaking of which, I’ve informed Emily to go with you. She is your headmaid after all.”
Then he shooed him away, telling him that he was too busy.
“Her guard knight, huh. I know who I am gonna choose,” he said to himself as he walked down a hallway. The obvious choice was Lara. She was the only one who fitted the criteria. Actually, if he searched through the loyalist maid faction, he was pretty confident that he could find a better guard knight for Flora. But it had to be Lara because he wanted her to learn some etiquettes as well as experiencing the outside world. It was a pity that she’d go to the war, but it wasn’t as if she would be partaking in an actual battle. She’d be a guard knight who’d mostly guard her tent. Once his mind was made up, he visited the decoy house where he found Raem gearing up with Karla and Lara’s assistance.
“Sir,” Raem said curtly upon seeing him.
He had gotten so much taller that he was a whole head taller than Lara. And, due to his growth spout, he had to purchase a whole new set of armor. He had spent pretty much all of the earnings from the goblin hunt about a year ago to get his gears up to date. He was donning studded leather armor with chainmail shoulder pieces. On his belt, there was a long sword with a full round iron shield on his back. At fourteen years old, he looked like a young adult with his height pretty tall.
“Raem, Lara will also be coming along.”
Lara pointed at herself, dumbfounded. “Me? How come?”
“You will be Flora’s guard knight.”
“What’s a guard knight?”
Raem answered instead, “You will guard Lady Flissing all the time, even at night. It's a high honor.”
Karla seemed sad to see Lara go although she wasn’t saying anything. He assumed that she’d feel lonely. Indeed, she’d be alone in the decoy house for a while, perhaps even over a year or … forever.
“I will have Flora’s maid to teach her some etiquette.”
“That is actually a good idea,” Raem replied with a grin. “The girl does need some education.”
Lara booed at him cutely in retaliation. They used to look like friendly siblings when Raem was about her height; that was no longer the case. Anyway, he looked the part as a guard knight. Lara, however, was clearly not. She was wearing the same oversized tunic as before although it wasn’t as ridiculously oversized anymore. Her current wardrobe wouldn’t clearly work.
“Lady Karla, do you have any armor for her and better clothes?”
She shook her head. “I don’t have any clothes for her. We will have to source it right away. As for her armor, it might be better asking the guild.”
He pulled out his coin pouch. It had 15 iron coins inside.
“This won’t be enough, but please use it however you see fit.”
“Thank you.”
He looked through a window. Sun was starting to go down. There wasn’t much time left.
“I believe we will depart tomorrow morning. Please get her something before then.”
Karla’s expression changed as if she had just realized that time wasn’t on her side. Grabbing Lara’s hand, she rushed out of the house while Lara was waving good-bye to the boys gleefully. Once they left, a short moment of silence dominated the house.
“So, it has finally come to this,” Raem said with determination. “I’ve been waiting for this.”
To be honest, Ewald didn’t know what to expect. He never had participated in war. Well, technically he had, but his participation ended so fast that it might as well not count.
“I will see you and Lara tomorrow, Raem.”
“Of course.” He bid farewell with a bow and a palm on his chest.
That evening, the Fenchel manor halls opened for everyone. It was the first time seeing a large-scale event unfold before his eyes. It felt like every maids in the manor was going overdrive to bring in food and drinks. Like Edmund declared, it was indeed a feast. The best food they could make was being brought into the halls. Anyone who worked in the manor was allowed to join in, even maids if they wished. There was no etiquette to be found in this event. Guards and some gardeners sat down and gobbled down whatever was within their reach although they seemed to favor protein-based stuff. Wine was also out which would be a rarity for commoners and the like. While there didn’t appear to be any maids among them, he did spot several maids taking bites on the goodies in a corner, away from eyes.
He’s really going all out here.
At one point of the loud commotion, Edmund walked up to the stage. It was at the same stage he was introduced to the noble society as the heir. The crowd in the hall didn’t mind his presence at all and continued to gobble down their food. He didn’t seem to mind, either, but cleared his throat loudly to gain some attention.
“I am going to be honest here!”
From get go, he was literally shouting. His voice wouldn’t be heard otherwise over the casual chatters.
“Not all of us will come back alive! Perhaps none of us will!”
Those closest to him turned their attention toward Edmund on the stage.
“But this is what we must do! We must protect our country from barbarians! However, know that I don’t want you to die pointlessly!”
More and more people in the hall began to pay attention to him, progressively damping the noise.
“You don’t have to die for the country! Hell, fuck with dying-for-your-country patriotism! A man has to look after himself first and foremost, especially if you have a woman to return to!”
More and more people looked at him, either pausing or slowing down their gobbling.
“But that does not change the fact that we all have to fight for something! So, fight!” He clenched his fist in the air. “Fight but don’t die! Run away if you must. Do make sure that you return to your loved ones!”
Most of them were tipsy at this point. Alcohol, especially wine, was considered a delicacy for commoners, and thus they couldn’t help it. A few of them had already passed out. Regardless, those who were listening agreed with him loudly with their fists in the air.
“Fuck the Siwen!” One of them bellowed with a chicken leg in his greasy hand up in the air.
“Fuck the Siwen!” Another repeated with a wine bottle in his hand in the air.
One after another, they began to chant “Fuck the Siwen” across the hall loudly which brought a satisfied smile on Edmund’s face. This wasn’t clearly an event he should participate in. Thus, he went to his room.
At night, in bed, Ewald was having a bit of trouble sleeping. It wasn’t excitement that was disturbing him. It was this ominous feeling that something would probably go wrong at one point. There was another reason that he couldn’t fall asleep soundly. The manor was loud. The maids were working all night to prepare whatever they were told to prepare. It wasn’t just the maids, either. Taking a peek outside through a window, he could see guards running about. Everyone was so busy that it didn’t feel like time to sleep.
What else can I do though?
Once he changed back to his daily wardrobe, he visited his study for no particular reason and found Flora and her maid inside.
“Flora? What are you doing here?”
She was in front of her desk with an open blank book. Her maid was silently cleaning the room meanwhile. The maid bowed upon noticing him and discreetly left the study.
“I was too nervous; I couldn’t sleep. I figured I’d do something here.”
“That book is blank though?”
“Yes, it’s blank. This shall be my first book. I plan to write about this war.”
“A noble cause,” He said with a smile. He didn’t actually mean it however. Entirely all commoners were illiterate. Who’s going to read her book? The ever empty library in the manor was a prime example. No one read for leisure.
She beamed a smile in return. There was a small bag on a corner of her desk that seemed to contain her writing supplies.
“If…”
It was a difficult topic to bring up.
“If I perished in the war, where would you go?”
She froze up at once with her face turning pale quickly. But it was a reality one had to think about.
“I would not be able to go back to the Flissing.”
“May I ask why not?”
“Because…” She closed the blank book gently. “I am a Fenchel.”
We are not married yet though?
But he couldn’t dare telling her that.
“I would either stay here for the rest of my life as a widow or depart to somewhere else with Avina.”
“Avina?”
“It’s the name of my maid.”
So, that was her name, Avina. Hmm, it rhymes.
“I see. Would you remarry?”
It was a stupid question, he felt.
“No, I would not.”
It was a simple answer, and she wouldn’t elaborate further. He figured that she had her own circumstances.
“My apologies if I was out of line.”
“No, it’s quite alright. It’s better to know where we stand. Speaking of which…” She looked at him with scanning eyes. “Perhaps, it’s a bit too early to ask this but…”
“Oh? What is it?”
She really hesitated to ask.
“How many mistresses do you plan to acquire?”
Perhaps, she was right to hesitate.
“What?”
“It seems the norm is two. My father has two mistresses, and it seems your father has two mistresses also.”
What is she getting at?
“So, I am willing to accept that you could take up to two mistresses.”
He had to take a step back in utter shock. The way she casually declared that she was fine with her future husband taking two mistresses was not something he expected to hear from a girl with a face that looked like she couldn’t kill a bug. He couldn’t even retort due to the shock.
Eventually, clearing his throat, he nodded repeatedly in understanding.
“I see. I see. If you say so …”
He left the study afterward. He didn’t want to stay there for any longer in fear of whatever awkward topic they might start talking about. Besides, it was true that he perhaps might fall in love with someone. Like she stated, it was indeed too early. At least, there was comfort in knowing that she was willing to accept up to two mistresses.
The hell am I thinking about? I am about to go to war!
Shaking his head, he went back to his bed to get some sleep.
Early in the morning, it was Emily who woke him up. It was a rare occasion where he was woken up by someone. Usually, he woke up pretty early for a child, now a teen. It was a force of habit as a hunter.
She was in her usual maid attire but with some changes. She had twin daggers on her belt, one on each side. Her weapon of choice reminded him of Fiorana who had a similar setup. This also immediately told him that she was likely trained as an assassin. Only after reincarnation, he realized that Fio was an assassin. She never told him, and he wasn’t interested at that time.
“Milord, we are ready to depart.”
She had dark circles under her eyes, indicating that she didn’t sleep at all last night. He was certain that nobody slept well last night even if they did try to sleep. She assisted him putting on his brand new leather armor. This armor was given to him as a birthday gift. This was his first time donning it. It was simple leather armor, nothing spectacular about it. As an archer, this was all he needed really. In fact, he felt he didn’t need armor to begin with.
Interestingly, she was alone. Normally, she’d have at least two more maids with her, one of who was usually Noelle.
Once equipped and ready, she noted.
“We will be skipping breakfast. We will eat snacks on the road.”
Nodding affirmatively, they headed out and went down to the lobby to find Raem and Lara who were waiting.
“Lara, is that you? I could hardly recognize you.”
Giggling, she posed a victory sign toward him. She was wearing a breastplate under a shirt. She was a spearman and relied on agility. For such a fighter, heavier armor was more of a hindrance. A breastplate provided the basic protection for one’s chest idea, protecting heart and lungs, while retaining one’s agility. She also had her hair trimmed neatly, presumably by Karla. It also looked like she took a bath because her face was very clean, which was an uncommon sight.
Conveniently, Flora and Avina were walking down the stairs as well. Avina had a long sword equipped on her back while Flora had a dagger on her belt. Her attire remained the same as before, a white blouse and a pair of brown pants. He had yet to see her wear a dress ever since the first day.
Some instructions were in order, and Ewald introduced Raem and Lara to Flora and Avina.
“Raem is my guard knight. Lara here will be your guard knight, Flora.”
Upon hearing that, Avina swiftly looked up and down on her with a disapproving look on her face, which was understandable given Lara’s small stature.
“I am doubtful that this girl can protect my lady,” She said bluntly.
“Hey, grandma!” Lara retorted “I’ve killed many rabbits!”
How does that help your case, Lara?
“Grandma?!” Avina raised her voice with a vein popping on her forehead.
“I do understand your concern,” He rushed to step between them while Raem was becoming pale. He must have recalled the cat fight between Rivka and Lara. Apparently, he just couldn’t stand girls’ fights.
“She hasn’t killed anyone, has she,” Avina pressed.
“No, she has not.”
“She is unfit to be a guard knight.”
Lara started to growl like an annoyed dog in response. She even had her hand reaching her back for her spear.
Flora interjected, “Avina, stand down. I am sure Ewald has his reasons.”
Very reluctantly, she stood down by taking a step back. From his own observations, Lara had feral-like instincts and reactions in fights which, in part, helped her to catch rabbits. She also had a very high burst strength which was a good attitude for a spearman. True, she had yet to kill a man, but he felt that her abilities were there. How she might react after killing a person would probably determine her future. Some people just weren’t built to kill someone and remain mentally stable. Even if one acted rough after killing someone, there was always a chance that he’d eventually break down mentally after some time.
“I vouch for her ability,” He declared. “Do not judge a book by its cover.”
Avina sighed, clearly displeased with his explanation. Regardless, the group made out through the front doors where he found Edmund and Elias on horses. Elias’ attire was the same as usual, a robe. However, Edmund was donning full plate armor with a helmet, which made him barely recognizable. He glanced at his son from above.
“Our army has gathered at the North gate. You are to go there,” He told Ewald curtly. Then he took off. Elias circled his horse around once and followed him.
As they walked out of the front garden, he looked back. The whole manor looked eerily quiet. There were no guards at all in the immediate vicinity. He used to see at least a pair of guards at the front doors and another pair at the gate; they were all gone at this point.
I suppose the loyalist maids are the guards now.
He didn’t know how many maids were left in the manor. He figured that some of them were going with the army, seeing he and Flora were allowed to bring their own maids.
As they walked toward the North gate, the city felt quiet as well. Children weren’t running about, and the market stalls were all closed. There was still some traffic on the road, but the usual vigor just wasn’t present. It felt like the whole city was having a day of mourning.
Once they reached the North gate, he saw a very large group of soldiers lined up neatly just outside of the walls. All of them were wearing leather armors and helmets. Their weapons were mostly identical. The majority of them had a sword and a shield, just like Raem. Some of them appeared to be archers and spearmen. The only one on a horse was Edmund, riding his horse in front of his troops. He drew out his sword and raised it.
Elias is not here?
Indeed, he was nowhere to be seen.
“Our destination is Fadin! We are to rendezvous with a supply regiment there!”
He was leading a 4,000 men army, composed primarily of infantry. This army was currently carrying their own supplies which was good for about a week. There were also about ten wagons which carried camping equipment for the men. Those wagons were mobilized by horses and had its own set of soldiers which were about 100 people.
The men roared cheerfully in their reply and started moving North. Without paying any attention to Ewald and his group, Edmund turned his horse around and stayed nearby the wagons.
“I assume we walk alongside the soldiers?” He wondered aloud.
“We should stay close to the wagons,” Avina suggested.
The wagons were positioned in the rear, making it generally a safe place to be in an army. Of course, when in retreat, it was the reverse.
The army was in a walking pace. Thus, it was not hard at all to keep up except for Flora who barely had any physical exercise under her belt. She was barely hanging on after just half an hour of walking. Thus, she, Avina, and Lara were allowed to stay on a wagon. They complied except Lara who volunteered to walk alongside. She grew up in dirt. This was not a problem for her at all.
At one point, he noticed something odd.
Where are the mages? Sir Harder is supposedly leading the men. But I haven’t seen Lady Harder and Sir Ros.
He scanned the area. There was no one in a robe of any kind. It seemed like all the mages were not present.
He did mention this “mage corps”...
He was sure that they were plotting something. They had to since they were against an army of 45,000 men. Only a fool would fight fairly under such a circumstance.
“I assume that the monster attacks at night won’t be an issue here with an army?”
Raem laughed and replied, “I would assume not. This army could take on thousands of werewolves at once.”
He looked at the soldiers around him. They were in good spirits. They should be since they were just starting out.
The day was uneventful, and the first night out for the army commenced. Soldiers swiftly unloaded tents and began setting them up. It was a simple operation but, with four thousand men doing this at once, it was a sight to behold.
Meanwhile, Raem and Lara set up a campfire for Flora to sit by while Ewald set up tents. Avina observed them with a curious look.
“This is not the first time you’ve done this,” She remarked.
“No, it’s not our first time,” Ewald replied curly as he was checking out a tent he just set up to see whether it was going to hold.
With hundreds of campfires, the whole area was fairly well lit. It was also fairly noisy with casual chatters from the soldiers. With this amount of trained soldiers, they need not fear monsters.
The gang sat by the campfire; Emily and Avina prepared snacks which were strips of jerky and waterskins. They weren’t allowed to cook anything for this trip.
“What is this?” Flora wondered aloud as she took the jerky from Avina.
Ewald explained, “It’s basically dried meat. It’s the staple food when camping outside. There are also hardtacks which are basically hardened biscuits, but you are going to break your teeth if you eat it without water.”
“He speaks the truth,” Avina added. “But we are not carrying hardtacks right now.”
Jerky was more expensive than hardtacks obviously and it was the more preferred choice.
Flora took a bite carefully after sniffing it once.
“It’s … very salty,” she remarked.
“It has to be to preserve the meat,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Raem and Lara were standing guard, walking around vigilantly.
“I see werewolves,” Lara reported while pointing her index finger to a direction, “But they aren’t approaching.”
“Really?” Ewald stood up and turned his attention to where she was pointing to. Indeed, he could spot glowing eyes. Just like she said, they were not advancing toward them, which was a sign that they knew they were vastly outnumbered.
“They wouldn’t dare,” Avina said as she had her hand on her sword handle.
“They wouldn’t,” Raem agreed. Some soldiers seemed to be aware of their presence as well and were on alert.
Ewald sat back down, feeling safe enough. Then, he stood back up again right away.
“Something wrong, sir?” Raem inquired.
“No, I just like to see my father.”
Nodding affirmatively, Raem was about to accompany him.
“No, I can go on my own.”
But he refused sternly and explained, “I am your guard knight now. I go wherever you go.”
Ewald couldn’t actually argue his point which was perfectly valid.
It was easy to spot where Edmund would be because there was only one large tent with a pair of soldiers standing by its entrance. It was also brightly lit as well, making it easy to spot from afar. The soldiers recognized him at once and allowed him inside although Raem was told to wait outside, which he complied.
The inside was pretty spacious, and there was a makeshift desk in the middle with a makeshift bed on the side. Two candles on the desk lit the temporary study.
“Hm? What brings you here?”
Edmund glanced at him before looking back down on what appeared to be a map of the Kingdom.
“I was just wondering what our plan is. We reach Fadin and?”
Edmund groaned with his fingers on his chin, hesitating to tell him. He eventually told him, “Once we reach Fadin, we stay put for the time being.”
Ewald grimaced. “What?” He raised his voice slightly in confusion. “Aren’t we supposed to reach Dido ASAP? They would be under siege at this point, no?”
“They are. And they are prepared to be besieged. That is their job.”
So, they do have a plan.
“We do have a plan, yes?”
“We do. It’s just that I cannot reveal it to you. All will be clear in due time.”
Elias, Greta, and Theo, they were all nowhere to be seen. The mages were clearly a part of whatever their plans were. Alas, there was no point in probing further when he was clearly not going to say anything.
Once they were back at the campfire, he contemplated what they might be planning. If Dido was meant to endure a long siege, it probably meant that they were preparing for something that’d take time. While he wished to discuss it among his peers, seeing how Edmund was keeping the plan close to his chest, he didn’t feel it was alright to reveal it to anyone. Whatever they were trying to do, he just had to wait, for now.