It was a rainy day. For Ewald, it was very rare to experience rain during the day because rain came almost exclusively at night only in Lux, making it convenient for everyone, especially for farmers. The weather pattern in Lux meant farmers could maximize their output. For ordinary folks, having almost perpetual sunny days was just better.
“Man, this is depressing,” He said to himself as he peeked out of his tent. With a clouded sky, the outside was miserable. The tent wasn’t helping the situation, either. While its fabric was coated with candle wax, it wasn’t perfect. Creases in wax allowed water to seep into the fabric. A brief exposure to elements might have been fine, but his tent had been taking rain for hours and it was now leaking water. He figured that everyone was experiencing the same issue. In his specific case, there was a visible crease in wax right in the middle of the ceiling of his tent, resulting in occasional drops of water.
They were about an hour away from Fadin. Edmund announced that they weren’t actually going to go near the city because it would only unsettle the local residents. Thus, they had set up a temporary ground for the troops to stay for the time being.
“What for…?” He whispered to himself.
He really did not see why Edmund was staying here. They should have been going straight to Dido. He had been trying to come up with a reason why they were staying near where they were. Dido should be under siege at this point.
“God, stop already,” He complained at the never-ending rain. Raem’s tent was adjacent to his and was listening to him the whole time.
“It’s pretty rare to see rain in daylight like this. You’d never see this in Lux,” Raem remarked.
“Indeed, you’ve got to appreciate how good Lux is.”
Life in Lux was indeed good. One could hardly find anything to complain about. Warm weather all year long and nocturnal rainfalls, those two were crucial elements for a settlement to prosper, the latter being especially nice for those who enjoyed sunny days.
“Say, Raem, why do you think we are staying here?”
“I haven’t really thought about it. I mean … I just follow orders.”
Is it possible that he is trying to raise a flag of rebellion?!
However, that seemed unlikely because, if that was the case, the supply regiment wouldn’t have been waiting for them in Fadin. This movement was clearly pre-arranged prior.
“Errr, I am so bored…!” Rolling around the tent, he uttered. “I am gonna see Flora.”
He actually wanted to visit Fadin. Given that he had the levitation spell, it was certainly within his ability to fly to the city. However, he wasn’t just someone. He had a guard knight, and it was Raem’s duty to be with him all times during the war. Ignoring that just to fulfill his curiosity and boredom was downright irresponsible, he felt. Thus, he wasn’t going to do anything too reckless.
As he dashed out of his tent, Raem also stood up and followed him closely.
“Halt! Who goes there!” Lara exclaimed aggressively with her spear aimed right at Ewald, who looked back with bemused eyes. She was standing right in front of Flora’s tent. She was soaking wet from top to bottom which she didn’t seem to mind at all.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Who is me?!” She barked at Ewald. They would glare at each other for a while before bursting out in giggles.
“How did I do?” She asked casually while withdrawing her spear.
“Not bad, you scared me real good.”
She stepped aside. “Your wife is safe and sound.”
“She is not … Nevermind.” No point in correcting her, he felt. She was a bit of an airhead. Once she remembered something in a certain way, it was really hard to alter it, meaning, since she recognized Flora as Ewald’s wife, it was almost impossible to correct it.
Just as he approached her tent, Avina came out of the tent and faced him after a curt bow.
“If it’s not too much of an ask, Milady would like to have a bath,” She said.
“A bath? Here?”
“She hasn’t taken a bath in ten days. It is too much.”
He felt it was a ridiculous request. At the same time, she was a noble lady who probably bathed at least once every single day. Well, he, too, bathed every single day in the morning back at the manor. But it wasn’t like he wanted to take a bath every morning; his maids forced him to.
“There is a river nearby. Drawing water shouldn’t be a problem,” Avina added.
“We don’t have a bath tub though,” He argued.
“That is where you come in,” She replied curtly, basically leaving everything to Ewald to sort out. He glanced back at Raem who shrugged back.
Dang it.
She was correct that there was a river nearby. It was within a short walking distance. The fuel to warm water wasn’t an issue, either. The only issue was the bathtub. He just wanted to refuse the request. If he did that, she’d ask someone else anyway, and ultimately the job would befall onto him. In short, there was no escaping this because, as Edmunt explained, Flora was his responsibility.
Walking back to his tent, he found Emily wandering about; she seemed to be getting ready to cook something in a tent. With how wet and damp it was right now, it wasn’t going to be easy. When asked if she needed any assistance, she actually did ask.
“I would very much appreciate it if you could cast a breeze in the tent.”
Right now, the tent she had set up had two openings, front and back. She set it up purposely like this in order for smoke to clear easily. He had no reason to refuse this request, thus he cast a breeze at which point gentle wind began to blow across. Emily looked surprised however.
“You didn’t even chant for a spell,” she remarked.
Indeed, all he did was ask for a breeze in his head. There wasn’t really any reason for him to chant out loudly for a spell anymore.
“I simply asked for a breeze in my head.”
“And that works?”
“That works. I am not the only one who can do this. Lady Harder is able to do this also.”
“Really…, I’ve always thought incantation was mandatory…”
He decided to change the subject. “Anyway, since I helped you out, you help me out.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Should I be worried?”
He asked where he could source a bathtub.
“Come again? I mean, I beg your pardon?”
“A bathtub. Flor-, ehm, Lady Flissing desires one.”
At this point, she had already started cooking. She was stirring an iron pot after throwing in salt and some sauce in. There were some veggies next to her along with fresh meat. It looked like she visited Fadin and brought back some ingredients.
“Well, she could visit a tavern. It’s not far…” She trailed off, then added, “A bad idea, I guess. We could rent a bathtub instead?”
“And bring it here?”
Are you mad? He wanted to ask her. A bathtub was a heavy thing no matter what it was made of. The one he had in his own room was a cast iron one. Such a bathtub would require a whole wagon to carry it over. Such a hassle for a lady’s bath, he felt.
“Then perhaps we could make one here?”
“With that exactly?”
“Wood? We have plenty of wooden planks.”
“Wouldn’t it leak?”
“It would, but I’ve seen taverns having wooden bathtubs. I’ve seen some shoving straws between gaps to slow down leaking.”
He glanced back at Raem who, once again, shrugged.
“I take showers, sir,” he responded. His response lit a light bulb in Ewald’s head.
“Showers!” He exclaimed. It would indeed be much easier to set up a shower system, or was it? While there would be no need for a bathtub, a need for a storage medium for water existed regardless. It would also need to be placed higher up, requiring a small construction even. In short, the lit bulb in his head quickly vanished. A bathtub seemed to be an easier choice.
“Nevermind,” he said weakly with sagging shoulders. In the end, he decided to throw money at the issue, literally speaking. Handing over a small leather pouch, which contained 60 iron coins, to Raem, he asked to head over to Fadin, source a bathtub as well as a wagon, and send them over to the camp. Raem, being his guard knight, was reluctant to carry out the order since it meant leaving his side. However, given the fact that Ewald was in the army camp, his safety was pretty much guaranteed. Still, Raem threw in a suggestion.
“Sir, perhaps it’s about time you get an errand boy.”
He laughed internally at the suggestion. He, too, was just a boy after all. With Raem having departed for Fadin, he walked over to the river. There was a river running across from North to South in the Kingdom of Egra. The name of this river was Harriet; this river originated from the mountain Siwen, all the way to the North. The Kingdom used to be divided using the Harriet river as a border not long ago. Where the troops were at, there were two cities adjacent to the river. He was at Fadin, and there was Larok on the other side. In fact, he could see Larok from where he was as he approached the river.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6320/mUztsi.jpg]
Unlike Fadin where the city was located a bit away from the river, Larok was located right alongside the river. He could even see a dock which he couldn’t recognize because he had never seen one in his whole life.
“What is that?” He wondered aloud as he saw a dock with clenched eyes. Anyway, he got down on his knees and checked out the water; it was really chilly.
“Why is it so cool when it’s so warm?” Again, he wondered aloud. Life was full of mysteries when he started to question various things around him. This began from trying to come up with a way to refrigerate vegetables. He was nowhere close to finding a solution for it at the moment.
“A spell that lowers the temperature…,” he mumbled as his hand remained submerged in the river. He recalled that his body would feel chilly when coming out of a bath. Taking out his hand, which was now wet, he cast a breeze spell. His hand felt cooler as the wind blew it by. He would vacantly stare at this hand for a moment as water on his hand progressively vanished. Once water was gone completely, his hand no longer felt cooler. Well, due to blowing wind, it felt cooler, just not as cooler when water was present.
No one in this world had the scientific knowledge to connect the dot between evaporation and lower temperature, but Ewald was pretty close at this point.
“It feels chilly when the wind touches my wet hand. Water itself is cooler.”
He stroked his chin. “Blowing air over a wet cabbage is not going to work, is it?”
After another moment of contemplation, he said to himself, “Water vanished progressively as my hand became cooler. Where does the water go?”
He felt like he had something; he just could not pinpoint what.
“Actually, why did the water vanish? Where does the water go?”
Then he looked up to the sky. It was raining a moment ago. Rain was water. Everyone instinctively understood that water evaporated even if they failed to understand how that worked and how water became invisible.
“Water goes up? And it comes back down to the ground as rain?”
Looking up and down, he attempted to piece together the middle piece: how does water go up to the sky?
He knew he was going off topic; he was trying to find a way to lower temperature artificially. Yet, the more he questions how mundane stuff worked, the more off the rail he went. At one point, he stood up, stretched, and went back to the camp. He couldn’t piece together, so it was time for a break.
When he returned to his tent, he saw Emily cooking busily. The pot inside her tent was boiling, bubbles popping out of the meaty vegetable soup. It was also steaming, and conscientiously he saw water forming on the ceiling of the tent.
Water, steam, water?
He froze on the spot with his mouth open.
What makes water become steam? She is using fire, so heat. What made the water on my hand vanish? It was the wind. What do those two have in common?
……………..
Power?
Power or energy in other words. He understood that water upon receiving too much power became invisible as in steam, and steam would always rise up, reaching the sky. From there, it’d return to the ground as rain. Now, he also understood that, when water became steam, it did because it received too much power. What he was unable to understand was why his hand felt cooler when water was present on his skin. He understood that the wind was likely a source of this “power”. But, again, why did his skin feel cooler?
Is it possible that water on its own craves heat? Is it possible that water will try to absorb as much heat as it can before turning invisible?
However, that line of thought left a hole. If water craved heat, why was the river water so chilly?
Is it because it’s constantly flowing?
It made sense, he felt. At this moment, he was looking at water as some sort of creature that loved heat as a food source. Water in a river was always flowing, and flowing was a movement, like running. When a creature ran, it exhausted its energy. In this specific case of water, he assumed that water was using heat as a form of energy to flow.
Why does water flow to begin with?
He felt like he was getting a headache at this point.
Eventually, a schematic came to his mind. Turning away from Emily’s tent, he searched the camp for several things. The first was wooden planks which were easy to be found among the supply wagons. The second was nails and a hammer which was also easily found. The last thing he needed was a piece of fabric which was, again, easy to find. Once he had what he needed, he returned to his tent and started tinkering.
What he created was basically a wooden wind tunnel with pieces of wet fabric attached randomly from top to the bottom inside. Then he cast a breeze spell at one end of the tunnel and felt the breeze from the other end.
“Hmm, it doesn’t feel any cooler.”
He added more wet fabric pieces, thus increasing surface area. He felt that the wind at the other side was cooler but knew that he could well be biased. He had to ask for a second opinion. Not wanting to bother Emily who was busy doing her thing, he waited for Raem to come back.
When Raem came back with a wagon, the sun was almost reaching for the horizon.
“Sorry, sir. A bit of complications ate time,” He said and went on to explain what happened.
Basically, nobody was willing to “rent” a bathtub. They were willing to sell it, not rent, which meant that the 60 iron coins he gave to him was obviously not enough. Long story short, Raem visited the mayor’s manor and explained his situation. The mayor wanted to verify Raem’s identity which took time. Once verified, the mayor sold his own bathtub for 60 iron coins and sent it over on a wagon.
“Ouch, I am sorry that you had to go through all that trouble.”
“That’s fine. Guess that’s a part of the job. Anyway, the tub is here. It’s a cast iron one, very very heavy.”
Setting it up was as simple as bringing it to nearby Flora’s tent and dropping it off. Water had to be boiled in pots and mixed with river water to make it comfortable for bathing. A makeshift tent was constructed with the bathtub in it. Once everything was ready, she was off to her bath with Avina giving her a hand. Lara was vigilantly guarding the tent.
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Leaving them alone, Ewald and Raem went back to their tents. Emily left some of her stew for him apparently.
“Thank you, kindly,” He replied as he took the warm bowl from her. Grunting, he sat down in his tent.
“Must have been a long day for you,” Ewald remarked as he, too, sat down in his tent. “How was Fadin?”
Placing the bowl next to him, Raem took off his boots with a grunt. He looked so relieved to have taken them off and proceeded to take off his chain shoulder pads as well. Only then, he grabbed the bowl back and took a long sip.
“A decent city, not as good as Lux tho,” He eventually replied. Picking up a spoon, he served himself a piece of meat. “Oh, wow, meaty stew.”
He finished up the whole bowl quickly and let out a burp.
“Oh, I feel alive!” Yawning and stretching, he laid down. Both of them would not say a word for a while. Ewald was watching the crimson twilight sky, and Raem was just staring at the ceiling of his tent.
“I want to fight, sir,” Raem eventually said, “I want to earn prestige ASAP.”
Ewald beamed a bitter smile. While he understood his desire to lift himself from the bottom of the social chain, he felt Raem was underestimating the war. He hadn’t killed a man so far. How would he even react after his first killing? It remained to be seen.
“You know, Raem -”
Then he heard his snoring; he had already fallen asleep. He had a long day after all. How would he react after killing a man, he also had to wonder that for himself as well.
Watching over the darkening twilight sky, he slowly closed his eyes.
The next day, he showed the contraption to Raem.
“What is that?” He had absolutely no idea what it was. Alas, Ewald also did not know what to call it.
“I, ehm, don’t know, but -” He faced the contraption toward Rame’s face and cast a breeze spell. “Does the air feel cooler?”
“Not sure…”
Do I need to make it bigger and longer?
He decided on the latter, attaching more planks and adding even more wet fabrics. At this point, he was starting to feel that the whole thing was looking a bit ridiculous because it was about 2 meters long.
Once again, he cast a breeze spell at the end with Raem’s face at the other end.
“How is it this time?”
“Not … really sure. It does feel cooler but that’s probably because of the wind rather than whatever you have in there?”
At this point, he wanted to consult Cezary. He would probably have had more feedback than Raem. Flying back to Lux was a possibility for him since he was now able to cast the elemental version of levitation, but that would be sheer irresponsible for him at the moment. For the time being, this was as far as he could go.
Even though the whole contraption was a failure, he felt positive about it because he felt like he was onto something. He realized that water turned into steam and it would come back down to the ground, and that water required power to turn into something else. These were still loose pieces of knowledge that were yet to be pieced together to function as one.
For the next three days, it was as boring as it got. The only noticeable change that was Flora was now taking a bath daily. He felt like they were basically settling down in the middle of wilderness nearby Fadin.
Then a messenger arrived with a crimson cloak which he understood as a cue for a very important message. As soon as the messenger left, he entered Edmund’s tent and inquired as to what new message he had received.
“REBELLION?!” Ewald had to raise his voice to almost a scream. He even recoiled by taking a few steps back.
“The Strobel, the Gaessler, and the Mesurii have raised a flag of rebellion and have amassed an army of 6,000,” Edmund explained with his fingers crossed. His face was calm, showing no signs of concern.
He pointed at him with a sheer shock on his face. “You knew about this, didn’t you. That’s why the army has been staying here.”
“I have, although I did not expect the Mesurii to join in.”
The Mesurii had their house leader recently changed. Ludwig finally retired not long ago, and his great grandson took over. Had Ludwig, who was a pragmatist, stayed, the Mesurii wouldn’t have joined the rebellion.
He approached the table and placed both of his hands on it. “What is going to happen Dido? Are we abandoning the Flissing?”
Edmund let out a short laugh, almost a sneer.
“Hah! No. They will hold. Don’t underestimate the Flissing.”
His voice was confident. Ewald didn’t know why he was so confident. They were supposedly holding against an army of 45,000 men. Alas, now was not the time to question his confidence.
“Are we to move out and confront them?”
“Indeed, we are now moving out. We will crush them and take care of the business and head to Dido to take care of the fucking Siwen.”
Edmund looked fully confident. There was absolutely no doubt whatsoever in his voice. Was he forgetting that the rebellion army is larger than his own by one third?
“Other houses have been ordered to ignore the rebellion and head straight to Dido. The task of eliminating the rebellion has been tasked exclusively to the Fenchel.”
He stood up and called guards outside to prepare to depart. The once quiet camp just became very noisy with everyone dismantling their tents and getting ready to depart.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/9269/ejuzjL.png]
Apparently, the messenger was keeping a good track of the rebellion army. According to him, the rebellion army was heading toward Dido after mobilizing at Vedo. The Fenchel troops moved swiftly to intercept the enemy on a field about two days away from Lyatan. Ewald was about to experience his first real combat.
“What…?”
Ewald was flying above the enemy troops. He was given permission to scout the field before any formal engagement. The opposing army troops, notably their equipment, were clearly interior. Some weren’t even wearing any sort of protective gears and looked like hastily recruited conscripts even. In the rear of the enemy army, he noticed two men clad in full plates on horses, presumably they were the leaders of this army. They noticed him flying around but did nothing to stop him.
Once he reported back his findings to Edmund, he laughed in response.
“The nobles of the West, they’ve been in peace for far too long. They’ve become too lax.”
Noah Harder was also present in the tent. His eyes were burning with determination.
“I shall lead us to victory,” He declared while cracking his fingers.
Nodding in response, Edmund pulled out a detailed map of the immediate surroundings. His index finger pointed at where they were right at the moment.
“We shall fight them right here right now. There is no reason to waste any more time on these useless scumbags.”
“Then?” Noah inquired. In their eyes, their victory was already a foregone conclusion. Ewald wasn’t so sure however. In his mind, they were underestimating them too much.
“While we don’t wish to waste time, we are going to have to hit Vedo and take care of the Strobel,” Edmund explained as his index finger moved to Vedo on the map. “We will leave the Gaessler and the Mesurii alone for now.”
Noah nodded affirmatively. “Any specific instructions for the battle, Milord?”
“Make it quick.”
Positively smiling, Noah turned around and left the tent.
“Is there anything you wish from me, Lord?” Ewald asked.
“A leader never fights on the front line. Thankfully, you are an archer. You may assist in the battle in any way you feel useful. My instructions to you are the same. Make it quick. We do not want to waste more than a day for this battle.”
“Understood.”
His heart was racing like crazy. He could feel as if his heart was at his throat. Controlling his breath and hiding his whirlwind of emotions inside, he left the tent to find Raem, his eyes full of eagerness.
“We are going,” He told him. “We are joining the vanguard group.”
Raem smiled back brightly.
It seemed that both sides did not wish to waste any more time. As soon as their vanguards spotted each other, they engaged in a battle. The vanguard group from the Fenchel was being led by Noah Harder. He had 1,000 men with him and ran head on against the opposition vanguard group.
Holding a sword and a shield, Noah bellowed as he ran forward, “CHARGE! SHOW THE MIGHT OF THE FENCHEL!”
The soldiers roared powerfully and followed him. Ewald and Raem were keeping a short distance since he was an archer.
As soon as their swords clashed against each other’s, it became clear to his eyes that the enemy soldiers were terribly inferior. Noah cut down several men with ease, and so did his men around him. None of them was showing any hesitation toward the killing whereas Ewald was reluctant to fire a shot. He never killed any human beings until this point. Well, that was a lie. He did kill a few soldiers back in his former life during the massacre, but the situation back then was chaotic, and thus he didn’t remember the killing.
When the main force joined the battle, it became truly chaotic. Shouting, screaming, crying, howling - the word chaos was created to describe this very situation. Scent of blood quickly dominated the area, and corpses started to fill the ground. So far, Ewald had yet to fire a single shot, and likewise, Raem had yet to run into an enemy soldier.
I can’t distinguish between an ally and an enemy!
He cried internally. That was his biggest issue. His shorter height was making it worse. Therefore, he became increasingly hesitant to pull a trigger to fire. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally kill a friendly soldier.
At one point, a soldier ran toward him at which point Raem intercepted him. They exchanged several blows before Raem slashed right across his chest. Blood flew out like a waterfall momentarily from the long cut across the man’s chest and he slowly collapsed, facing downward. The man wasn’t even wearing any sort of armor. If it wasn’t for his sword, he would have been seen as a farmer.
“I … killed him!” Raem exclaimed. Regrettably, Ewald was in no mood to congratulate him because they lost sense of direction completely and were mostly just aimlessly wandering around the bloody battlefield, occasionally running into enemy soldiers now and then. He noticed that almost all bodies on the ground were not Fenchel soldiers. He spotted maybe two or three soldiers who he felt were confidently Fenchel men. Those who were on the ground, some of them were seemingly still alive. Raem also noticed this.
“Shall I finish them off?” He asked for permission. It was this moment when a downed soldier jumped back up after sneakily slashing at his lower leg.
“UGH!” Raem moaned painfully but did not lose his balance. Without a second thought, Ewald reflexively drew out his assassin’s blade and thrusted it right into his left chest, killing him instantly.
Raem was more surprised to see that blade than his own leg wound.
“It’s just a cut,” He explained. “I will have Lara cast healing water on this. Anyway, what is that sword? You took out your belt and it’s now a sword?”
The snake sword had been painted to look like a belt at this point.
“It’s got two names, a snake blade or an assassin’s blade. We can talk about this later, let’s get moving!”
Unexpectedly, he ended up killing someone. Interestingly, he felt nothing. Was it because it was so sudden? He had no idea at the moment. With Raem limping, they stayed put and formed a defensive formation. He felt that it would not be a good idea to reveal that Raem was wounded. It would invite only more hostiles.
At one point, he heard Noah’s loud declaration from afar.
“I HAVE THE GENERAL’S HEAD!”
It wasn't a victory cry yet but as good as one.
“Flee! Run like hell!”
They heard several men shouting, “Run!”
The battle was effectively over.
“VICTORY!” The men on the field roared powerfully with their fists in the air.
“VICTORY!”
“VICTORY”
Then the cleanup commenced quickly afterwards. Ewald was told that the dead bodies must be cremated. If the bodies were left alone, monsters would consume them. And, if monsters were to get used to the idea of human flesh, they would raid settlements. For larger settlements like Lux, this posed little problems. However, for smaller settlements, there was a genuine possibility of being wiped out over a night. Therefore, getting rid of the bodies was taken seriously.
While soldiers were quickly gathering corpses and lit them on fire, Edmund addressed those who gathered in front of him in the rear. Noah and four soldiers were lined up. Noah was holding onto a head by his hair. Blood was still dripping from his severed neck. As disgusting as it looked, the head was a very precious war trophy for him. It was the very mark of prestige for warriors.
Ewald and Raem were a short distance away. Neither had performed any notable deed, and there was no expectation on them, either.
Edmund gave an affirmative nod to Noah as he presented the head with both of his hands proudly.
“Noah Harder, your achievement will be noted,” He declared and looked around. “The rest of you here will receive five silvers each.”
The men performed a light bow with their palms on their chest.
“I thank you, sir!” They exclaimed in complete synchronization.
“Now, about those who perished in their service, I am going to send a silver each to their families if they have one.”
“Thank you, sir!”
Those who perished in the battle would have their equipment along with a silver coin sent to their families if they had one. It would probably not be enough to cover the loss their families would have to deal with. Obviously, it was still better than nothing in the end.
The battle was an overwhelming victory for the Fenchel. Overwhelming was even an understatement. They lost 21 soldiers overall. It was 4,000 vs. 6,000, and they lost only twenty one people with about a hundred wounded. Now, the reality was that the enemy army lost about 900 soldiers. The rest of them fled once Noah Harder defeated their enemy general. Regardless, however he looked at it, it was an overwhelming victory.
With the rebellion army scattered around, they wouldn’t be able to reorganize their force before the Fenchel army would storm Vedo and finish the Strobel off. Edmund believed that Benjamin Strobel was the leader of the rebellion. The other rebellious houses would be taken care of eventually by others. They would have nowhere to flee at this point. No one in their right mind would harbor them even if they tried to escape, not even the Siwen would accept them.
Not wanting to waste any time, Edmund ordered the army to push onward to Vedo with minimal rest. Now, he chose to leave 200 men behind along with the wounded. This would give them several days to recuperate from their wounds before joining back up when the main army returned from Vedo.
There was a decent chance that the Strobel family had already escaped the city. They would be captured eventually even if they did. Regardless, he marched on. They had to reach Vedo and let it be known that the rebellion had failed.
Meanwhile, Raem was allowed to rest on a wagon due to his leg wound. Lara did cast healing water on his cut, but it’d still take several days for it to heal. Being Ewald’s guard knight, he had to tag along. Remaining with the wounded was not an option for him.
It was a hectic day for everyone, especially for Ewald. He experienced the real battle for the first time, and it was safe to say that it didn’t go too well. He was confused for most of the time and didn’t really get to fight. He did end up killing a man though and didn’t feel much about it. There was no sensation of guilt or anything at all. He felt stoic over the death of the man.
“Vedo in sight!” A soldier announced after several days of journey.
In Ewald’s eyes, Vedo was similar to the village of Bronn. Both were built on a base of a mountain although Bronn was located a bit higher up on actual slope whereas Vedo was right at a base of one. The city was decently walled, presenting a possibility that they might put up a resistance. Bad news was that the Fenchel army had no siege equipment. Should the Strobel put up a resistance, they would have a really hard time cracking their defense.
However, his concern did not become a reality. As the army approached, a group of soldiers exited via the closest gate to them. A nobleman was tied up in front of them. The local soldiers, upon receiving the words that their rebellion had utterly failed, had decided to arrest those in power, namely Benjamin Strobel and placed the Strobel manor under a strict watch in case anyone tried to escape.
“Lord Strobel…,” Edmund approached the seized nobleman, flanked by Noah Harder, Ewald, and Raem.
Benjamin looked up and beamed a bitter smile at him. His face was dirty and there were bruises. He seemed to have resisted.
“So, this is how it ends,” he lamented.
“Why?” Edmund demanded, and Benjamin responded with a bitter laugh.
“Doesn’t matter now, does it?”
True, it didn’t matter. As the leader of a rebellion, he would be executed no matter what excuses he could come up with. There was no chance at all that he'd be spared, especially under a ruler like Karsten Egra.
“I can make it easy for you if you wish.”
Benjamin sighed with exasperation. Edmund was asking whether to end it now or end it later. In Benjamin’s mind, there was a chance that the Siwen might still defeat the Egra. In such a case, there was a chance that he might survive. He probably wouldn’t be able to retain his noble status but he would survive. However, there was something he had to remind himself: His family would be killed before the day was over. He may be kept alive as a prisoner of war, but his family? It was guilty by association, and they would be outright executed before the day was over. No one would survive, not even children and babies.
He may be able to survive but at what cost?
In his mind, a decision was made at this point.
“End me.”
Just as he finished his sentence, Edmund drew his sword and slashed at Benjamin’s neck, severing his jugular veins in one clean slash. Benjamin immediately began to choke in his own blood as he recoiled backwards. The soldiers behind him caught him from collapsing and slowly laid him down. He was already a goner at this point. Nothing could save him, not even magic.
Edmund glanced back at his own soldiers.
“Men! You are to storm the Strobel manor! You are to kill everyone! Maids, butlers, chefs, gardeners, children, and even babies!”
Noah led the charge and was bringing about a hundred men with him.
“Maids, children, and even babies? Could they not be spared?” Ewald argued.
“No!” Edmund replied back firmly. “Noblewomen can easily be disguised as maids, and there is literally no point in sparing the underaged. They would die of starvation. I’d say it’s mercy to kill them now.”
He couldn’t actually argue back his points. It was indeed true that there were nobles among maids. There were some even in the Fenchel manor, like Noelle for example. As for the underaged, there would be no one who’d look after them, and they were children of rebels. No one in their right mind would accept them.
By the end of the day, the whole Strobel family in Vedo were executed. The Strobel house was no more, leaving Vedo and Alrez up for grabs. The fate of the Gaessler and the Mesurii were unknown at this point, but it was easy to foresee that they would be heavily punished if not outright executed like the Strobel.
“Lord Ludwig would be livid right now.”
It was Avina who said that while the army was walking back to where the wounded would be. Ewald met him only once at the royal party. The encounter was so brief that he couldn’t even recall what he looked like. The only aspect he remembered was that Ludwig didn’t seem to bear any hostility toward him.
“He spent his whole life trying to hold his house together, and it crumbled down just like that by an impulsive decision by a young man…,” she continued.
Ludwig passed the leadership to his great grandson not long ago. He had ruled the Mesurii for over 50 years, and his retirement was long overdue. Perhaps, he shouldn’t have retired at all, given what had transpired.
“You seem to know a lot of the Mesurii,” he remarked.
“I do. I am originally from the Mesurii.”
Nothing really surprised him anymore. She was probably an illegitimate daughter who was cast away in the end. Noticing the lack of any reaction from Ewald, she inquired.
“Were you aware?”
No, I just don’t care.
“No, I simply assumed that you were of a noble lineage. That’s all,” he lied.
“Would both houses be exterminated like the Strobel?” Raem asked. He was walking along now. Due to the healing water effect, there would be no scar on his lower leg.
“Perhaps some might survive. The Strobel was seen as the flag bearer of the rebellion. Thus, they had no chance for survival,” Avaina said, “Still, I don’t believe either house will keep their noble status.”
Ironically, Avina being cast away from the Mesurii probably saved her life.
“That doesn’t matter for now,” Ewald said, “We are heading to Dido. First and foremost, we must repel the Siwen.”
“True.” Raem nodded in agreement.
The Fenchel was indeed strong. When an army of 4,000 men defeated another army of 6,000 men with minimal casualties, Edmund had every right to be arrogant. The Flissing was probably equally strong as well, given Edmund’s lack of concerns. It was clear that they had everything thought out and were executing what they had been planning to near perfection. The way the rebellion was stomped within days spoke volumes about their preparation. Additionally, there had not been any negative news from Dido. If they were struggling, they might have sent out messengers to entice reinforcements faster. None of that was occurring. The Flissing was dead quiet. Whether they were doing their part of the job to perfection or they were already defeated remained to be seen.
Besides, they were clearly scheming something. All the mages he knew were not present. He assumed that this “mage corps” were going to attack the main Siwen army.
More importantly…
Would the king’s army be at Dido at one point?
He wondered. His plan during this war was to kill the king. However, after experiencing the first battle, doubts clouded his confidence. He realized it wouldn’t be straightforward. The most crucial aspect that was hindering him was his own age. He was simply too young. He was physically weaker and had no authority whatsoever.
I won’t probably be able to kill the king in this conflict. When will the next war come then? What if the next war never occurs?
The longer it took for him to avenge Fionara, the harder for him to sever ties. Unless he somehow managed to assassinate the king without being found out, he would be branded a traitor. If he was branded as a traitor, those close to him would be executed. Flora and Raem would be executed. The Fenchel would probably be wiped out like the Strobel as well.
Is revenge worth their lives?
It was his emerging question. When he was Kamil back in Laufeld, he was adamant to carry out his revenge; He was confident that he could do it. As years went by, he began to doubt the possibility. He truly wished to carry out the revenge but without harming those around him.
He was at a crossroad: Do you care for the future and abandon the past? If he did abandon the past and give up on revenge, why did he choose to be reincarnated in the first place? Why did he forfeit his soul? What for?
He grimaced at the thought.