There were three airships in the air, circling around the landing platform in Laufeld. They were waiting because an airship had just landed, and it was taking in refugees. Nestor was duly checking them out by names. The whole scene felt unreal because Laufeld was very busy. Traveling merchants as well as wagons full of people were arriving every single day. The refugees weren’t pouring in but were arriving at a steady rate. Once it became widely known that Laufeld was a good place to gather before choosing a final destination, migrants flooded into the town from mostly Gonne. An insignificant number were from Maiava and Tonga. They had a good reason to flock into the town because Kamil had allowed them to be fed for free of charge before leaving for their final destinations.
Among the four airships, two of them were Lord Weber’s. He was really investing everything into getting as many refugees as possible.
According to Nestor who had been keeping head counts diligently, he claimed that 3,000 people had arrived in Laufeld so far, and about 700 people chose to settle down in the town with 400 having departed for Tantan. This meant that Gonne had lost about 10% of its population. From what the refugees had told them, the city was already experiencing a breakdown of its social structure because laborers were leaving in droves. Low income folks were the basic drivers of the economy, and with a large portion of them gone, the city was experiencing a sharp recession, which was pushing even more people into leaving the city.
Cezary reckoned that, within a year, Gonne would lose half of its population. Once its upper classes were unable to sustain themselves, they’d also eventually leave for either Maiava and Tonga. He predicted that Gonne might just vanish from the map within three years at this rate.
Nestor also remarked that, although insignificant, some were from Edvia, Keviel, and even Fadin. Those settlements belonged to the king.
“They all voiced the same issues. Higher taxes and higher prices for commodities,” he added.
The latter was due to traveling merchants refusing to pay gate tolls and simply going elsewhere to sell their wares, resulting in dwindling stock for supplies and thus higher prices for everything. Traveling merchants had free wills after all and were not obligated to sell if they didn’t like it. If they didn’t like being over-taxed, they’d move elsewhere. And, surely enough, they did.
“Why is the king doing this?” Kamil wondered aloud.
“He is probably doing whatever he can to restore his lost army,” Cezary replied with folded arms. “The royal army is very well equipped. I can see why he is doing this although I do think he’s pushing his luck.”
He stated that this wouldn’t immediately affect the king in the short term. He was uncertain about the long term effects.
As for Laufeld itself, any development had completely stopped in the old town which was slowly turning into a giant refugee camp. The new focus was the mine. Even diehard farmers who wanted to stay began to see the writing on the wall and realized the sooner they relocated the better.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/254/rKObxT.jpg]
The living situation in New Laufeld was improving clearly and rapidly with each passing day. Lodgings for miners had been built to accommodate most of the miners. Farmers were progressively settling down with some of them building their own houses on their own. The tavern back in old town had also relocated and built a far larger building in anticipation of a bigger customer base. This was such a welcome addition to the new town since this meant that ale was finally available. The tavern was packed full to brim every night. With an airship dedicated for the two places in service, the round trip took less than half an hour. Finally, a new manor for the lord had just begun its construction. The masons and carpenters both said that it’d take a while since the manor was, unlike others, a more sophisticated structure. At this point, Kamil put in an order to build a library, near the central market. The carpenter was puzzled since a library was generally seen within a lord’s manor but complied nevertheless.
Meanwhile, Julian visited Kamil and presented something he had completely forgotten about.
“These are spices.” He pointed at a package that was covered in dirty linen.
“Spices?” Kamil repeated, having forgotten that it was him who asked him to import them.
“Yes, these are from Makarlika. I personally don’t know how to use these. I’ve only wasted the end product. I think a chef may know more than us.”
That reminded him that Karla had been acting as the chef the whole time. He wasn’t picky about his food due to the experience as a former hunter. But others may disagree.
“Ehm, we don’t have a chef.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“We don’t have a chef.”
A moment of silence passed them by with Julian eventually massaging his forehead with his eyes shut.
“You surprise me more than once, Milord…”
“Look around, do you think I’ve had the leeway to hire a chef?”
A noble not caring about his food quality wasn’t something Julian had ever seen. He was surprised in a good way.
“I shall leave this package here then. When you hire a proper chef, perhaps he will know how to use it.”
“Thank you. How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing, sir. I am earning aplenty from the quartz. I shouldn’t be greedy.”
“Speaking of which, how is the mood over there?”
Kamil didn’t visit the new Laufeld every day and he was already busy as is in the old town. Until the new manor was complete, he was to stay here.
“Extremely busy. I don’t think they have time to think about their situation at the moment. But the opening of the new tavern has done wonders for the folks. Nothing beats ale after a long day after all.”
Kamil agreed 100%. Nothing beat ale and roasted rabbit legs when you were exhausted.
Julian continued, “People are getting the picture that there is no future in the old town. I assume once the current wheat farming circle is over, most farmers will migrate to the mine.”
I should tell dad to relocate also.
Knowing Grent, there was a chance that he may not even be aware of what was happening. His farm was pretty isolated as well, and the family was pretty much self-sufficient.
“Do you have an opinion on what we should do with the old town?”
Julian gave it a thought before answering. “I don’t know how much longer the refugees are going to flock in. Once it slows down, I honestly feel it’s just better to abandon it outright and remove the walls.”
“I see. Thank you.”
Bowing, Julian left the study. At the very moment, Laufeld was using its own wheat supply to feed the refugees, meaning they were not going to get any tax revenue for this cycle. Thankfully, the sales from the airship schematic was keeping them afloat. The profit from quartz sales hadn’t quite caught up yet. Besides, they were using one third of quartz mined for their own airships with Kamil enchanting the crystals.
Letting out a long sigh, he did feel that they needed at least a fire or a wind mage to lift some workload off his shoulders.
“So, we need a mage, a chef, and …” He trailed off. “God…, this is so hectic.”
Several days later, the Sprengen as well as Western Egra sent messengers asking for the airship schematic. Cezary suggested two gold coins per, and they accepted, netting four gold coins into the coffer.
“It cannot be a coincidence that the messengers from those two houses arrived at the exact same moment, can it?”
Cezay replied gravely, “No, it is not a coincidence. Those two houses and the Weber are in the same faction.”
Those three houses were against the king. No one could hardly blame them, but the way they were acting was a bit too bold. It was as if they didn’t care to be known as such.
“I do wonder where they think I stand,” He mused aloud.
“Lord Weber sees you in a favorable light clearly. That’s probably because you two share the same dilemma and the fact that you gave a deep discount for the schematic.”
“Do you think they will try to get me into their faction?”
“You are a tier 2 lord. You stand with the Fenchel.”
Crossing fingers, Kamil asked, “Is there any way to be free of the Fenchel?”
Cezary narrowed his eyes. It was an indirect way of stating that his loyalty was not with the Fenchel.
“The easiest way is to earn prestige from a war. You could also bargain with Lord Fenchel. I don’t think the latter is going to work however.”
Well, that’s that.
He had no ambition to actually break free from the Fenchel. But he would be lying if he claimed to be happy being a tier 2 lord. He wanted Laufeld to be truly his. Cezary read his mind.
“Fear not, Milord. No one can take Laufeld away from you as long as you do your job. Of course, the Fenchel can always demand the town back from your grasp, but you will resist if such an event occurs.”
“I thought I didn't have a choice?”
“You don’t,” He replied curtly. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t try. It looks like you have the Weber on your side. Additionally, you have the Flissing. You have friends. The Flissing is very much going to file an appeal to the king on your behalf if the Fenchel ever revokes the land from you. What I am saying is that there will be ways to resist.”
The Flissing, huh…
Whether he liked it or not, the Flissing was his best ally. He also got along with Daniel well, the future head of the house.
“If I may lodge a suggestion.”
“Go on, Sir Waszak.”
“If you want security, you should make friends.”
“Friends?”
“Diplomatic relationships with other houses so to speak.”
Kamil folded his arms in his chair. “Who do you suggest?”
“I have two houses to suggest simply because they are already favorable to you. One is the Weber. The other is the Knell. I also understand that you are close to Lord Harga, but sadly they won’t stand up for you in times of need since they are more close to the Fenchel.”
He had a point. Without Edmund’s recommendation, Noah wouldn’t have been granted Valet. If he had to choose between him and Edmund, he was likely to side with the latter.
“Tantan and Rokk, huh…”
“Both are insignificant settlements but they will grow with the airships in service.”
“Wouldn’t being friendly with the Weber mistake others into assuming that I am in his faction?”
“Probably if you were being friendly with the Weber only. That’s why I suggested befriending the Knell as well, who is siding with the king.”
Kamil nodded along. “So, what do we do to be friendly?”
“If you allow me, I will send a letter to the Weber and the Knell, kindly informing them that you will visit them. Once we receive a positive reply, you will visit them with your lady on an airship. We do have a spare we can use after all.”
With the airship, visiting both towns wouldn’t eat up many days. In the old days, it would have taken up to a month if he were to visit them on foot, not to mention the danger of camping in the wilderness. It would take a mere half a day to reach Rokk and just a few days to reach Tantan from Laufeld. There was no reason not to do it.
“Do it.”
“As you wish.”
Then a day later, a letter from Keviel arrived. Kamil was initially worried that he was being summoned to explain the current commotion. Thankfully, however, it had nothing to do with the current migrant phenomenon. The letter was basically informing every lord that they decided to dismantle fort Dido and fort Nanlon.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5375/DYWn2I.jpg]
Maintaining a fortress required both manpower as well as money. Due to their now expanded territory, they now had fort Edimaia, making fort Dido a surplus to requirements. Additionally, the Flissing was maintaining two forts which was deemed too much.
I’ve been to Dido before. The whole city was a literal fortress itself. They don’t need the fortress for sure.
He agreed with the assessment to dismantle the fortress. As for fort Nanlon, it was under the Weber’s control. He personally did not see any strategic value in the fort. If Tantan didn’t exist, he could see some value as a defensive fortress. Given the dire situation at Tantan, the king might have given him some breathing room.
He summoned Cezary and showed him the royal decree. He skimmed through and nodded along.
“Dismantling fort Dido seems to make sense. It’s redundant at this point.”
“And fort Nanlon?”
Cezary narrowed his eyes. “It looks like a punishment to me.”
“A punishment?”
“It takes enormous manpower to dismantle a fortress. Do you think the town can afford men to do the work at the moment?”
Certainly not. Lord Weber would not have the leeway.
“Do you know why the fort is there to begin with? What’s the purpose of building a fortress on that location?”
“I do not know. I do know Tantan existed for many generations. The town is older than the fort.”
“Hmm, curious…”
“Well, Milord. You will be visiting him soon. I am sure you can hear his side of the story.”
“Right.”
Then several days later, another royal decree had arrived, stating that Lyatan was to be dismantled as well. He immediately called Cezary to discuss. He didn’t look too surprised.
“Lyatan never really recovered from the reunification war,” He explained. “The last time I checked, it was just a village of maybe 1,000 people. They tried to migrate people to the place to start over, but it wasn’t working out. Perhaps, you should summon Julian. I think he’d know better.”
Julian was a traveling merchant not long ago. True, if anyone knew more, it’d be him. When he was called and was informed of the news, he also wasn’t too surprised.
“I went there several years ago, purely out of curiosity. It was a very desolate place. The Flissing and the king tried to send some migrants to rejuvenate the place, but folks considered the whole area cursed and simply ran away after some time. Those who stayed stayed only because they couldn’t flee.”
So, in the end Lyatan meets the same fate of Bronn…
“I see. Thank you, Julian.”
“No problem, Milord.” Showing respect, he departed the study.
As soon as he left, Cezary remarked, “It looks like the king is rearranging things. What Julian told us, I think I now know why the king decided to abandon the town.”
“Explain then.”
“He is clearly aware of the airships now. Common folks now have the means to travel. He can no longer keep people at Lyatan anymore, hence he’s calling it quits. This would also save whatever budget he had set to keep the town afloat.”
Damn, this guy’s really smart.
Kamil may have eventually reached the same conclusion but definitely not as fast as he did.
“The bottom line is that it looks like he is already occupied with whatever he is trying to do. Rest assured, Milord. You are safe for the time being. But it may be a priority to meet with Lord Knell first. He is the king’s advisor after all. Be on his good side.”
Lyaten was supposed to be the Flissing’s fief. They must have agreed with the king or, knowing the king, he may have simply forced down the order. Whatever the case, the former trade city was no more.
Then Avina visited, asking for a tailor. Apparently, Laufeld had no professional tailor which was more or less to be expected. Until Kamil came along, there were no middle and upper classes, just farmers.
“Milady is growing out of her dress as well as her regular wardrobe,” She explained.
It was just a tailor they were lacking. There wasn't a quality cloth vendor, either.
“We also need a chef as well,” Kamil replied. “Has she complained about the food?”
“She hasn’t,” She replied curtly, but her extremely stoic face said otherwise. Flora may have not lodged any vocal complaints, but Avina was not happy. “If possible, I’d like you to hire two more maids. Marat has been busy on her own and hardly has time to do her job.”
“She’s been busy? Doing what?”
“She has been creating materials to teach writing and reading. Now, I will say that this is not entirely on her. Milady has also been helping.”
They both stared at each other and heaved long sighs at this point in sync.
“Alright, I will take care of this pronto.”
Two maids and a chef.
Because the manor had been so understaffed for a prolonged period, everyone had been overworking. It was time to relieve some pressure. He called Julian and asked to send a wagon to Lux to patch some maids and a chef.
“If i may.”
Kamil nodded.
“Perhaps you should ask the Fenchel. Qualified maids are actually hard to come by. More so for a chef.”
“We also need a tailor as well as a cloth vendor… Do you have any advice?”
Julian nodded along. “Yes, this place needs a lot of things…”
“I will write a letter for Sir Hunt. I want you to send a dedicated wagon for this. We need at least two maids, a chef, a tailor, and whatever a tailor is going to need.”
“Understood.”
On the same day, a reply from Rokk had arrived, affirming the visit officially. It’d take a while longer for a reply to arrive from Tantan.
“God, this is busy.”
He immediately informed Avina to prepare Flora. They’d depart the next morning. She lodged a complaint that her lady needed a new wardrobe and that he should delay visiting the Knell until everything was ready. He refused.
“I don’t need her to wear a dress,” He declared. “Besides, we will be on an airship. A dress will be a hindrance more than anything else.”
His statement shocked Avina. It was simply unthinkable for a lady of Flora’s status not to wear a grand dress for such an occasion.
“Milord, all due respect, a certain level of etiquette must be kept -”
He interjected, “Bring Flora here. I don’t want your opinion. I want hers.”
Looking clearly not pleased, she withdrew herself. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand her position. Her sole task was to serve and make Flora shine as much as possible. But the time was changing. A dress on an airship was asking for trouble. He knew this because he observed Marat having troubles with her maid dress on an airship previously.
Avina brought Flora to the study soon, and he informed her that they were to depart on an airship to Rokk the next morning and asked her not to wear a dress. He’d allow her to wear a dress but did not recommend it due to strong wind.
“Then I will not wear a dress,” Flora replied to which Avina almost barked.
“Milady-!”
“I don’t like wearing a dress, period,” She declared which made Avina take a step back in shock.
“I am sure a woman can be made to look pretty in pants. A tailor is going to arrive here soon. Make yourself new suits.”
Kamil had absolutely no idea at this point, but this was going to kick off a new fashion trend for women.
As soon as the sun was poking his nose over the horizon, Kamil headed toward the wooden platform. Lara was with him. Raem was to stay behind since he was afraid of heights and was vulnerable to motion sickness. Flora, wearing a white blouse, brown pants and ankle boots, followed. Avina was following behind her obviously, looking clearly displeased about the whole wardrobe situation. But there was nothing she could do. Her husband permitted it, and Flora was fine with it.
An airship was already waiting for them on the platform. This was a slightly improved version. The main difference was that there were rooms under its deck, allowing passengers to escape elements such as wind and rain. It also allowed storage of food. Quite frankly, this version was overkill for just its current purpose which was just going around between the old town and new Laufeld.
Cezary came to see them off while Nestor was bringing in luggage bags with several platform workers.
“I guess we will be back in two or three days,” Kamil told him to which he nodded.
“If on a carriage, this journey would have taken two weeks,” He remarked while watching Flora and Avina aboard the airship from below. He looked proud.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Once Kamil and Lara were abroad, they were off.
It was the first time for Flora and Avina to ride an airship, and they were feeling clearly uneasy as the ship ascended into the sky. It was the first time for Lara as well, but she looked excited in a stark contrast to how Raem reacted.
“Wow, we are flying!” She exclaimed joyfully.
“Welcome to technology,” Kamil replied gleefully.
Flora and Avina looked around nervously. Flora’s eyes were soon fixed at the new Laufeld. It’d be her first time seeing the new town in action. She looked back and forth between the old and new town.
“It’s so close, yet so far…,” She mumbled.
The distance was two hours by foot. With an airship, it was about ten minutes.
“So, this is what Sir Waszak has been working on,” She said with a louder voice.
“Yes, we’ve come a long way. The first time he showed the basic concept of this, it was just a small linen bag with a fire crystal in the rear garden of the Fenchel manor.”
He chuckled upon saying so. It felt like decades ago when, in fact, it happened not too long ago actually. It had been barely over a year. The progress had been rapid with Cezary improving the design on every iteration. He was pretty sure that the next airship they would build was going to be better than this one.
“If you feel uneasy about the height or just feeling weird, go back down to the deck. There are rooms!” The pilot exclaimed in the back.
“No way, I am staying here.” Lara stepped toward the fore of the ship and started merrily humming while vertically holding her spear in her hand.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/1290/6h1MYK.png]
Her unhinged side was starting to surface a little, probably because Raem was not around. Kamil let her be. She tried hard enough to change her ways.
“How are you doing with Raem?” He casually asked.
“He’s mine,” She flatly replied with her eyes fixed forward.
“Yours, eh.”
“Mine,” She repeated.
“When will we arrive in Rokk?” Flora asked.
“An older version arrived by evening.” He looked at the pilot. “When will we arrive?”
“I don’t know, sir. This airship has ever flown between the old and new town.”
It turned out that this new version was faster. The airship was hovering over Rokk even before evening. How Cezary managed to make it faster, Kamil had no idea. Flora and Avina were shell-shocked on how soon they arrived in Rokk. The latter looked especially shocked with her mouth agape.
“They don’t look like they have a landing platform, so I am just going to land it near the manor. Please hang tight!” The pilot announced.
As the airship descended, maids from the Rokk manor poured out, preparing to receive the guests. Meanwhile, Kamil surveyed the town while he could from the sky. He could see that houses were being built in the outskirts, indicating that the town had been receiving refugees. He also spotted a mine nearby.
The airship stopped just before hitting the ground, leaving a gap of about half a meter. Given how casually the pilot did this, he must have been trained. An engineer grabbed a wooden ladder and placed it down for everyone.
“Sir Waszak instructed us to stay in the sky while you are visiting. We will get back down when we see you out,” The engineer informed Kamil.
He nodded affirmatively. After Flora, Avina, and Lara walked down, he made his way down the last. There were about ten maids lined up by the entrance with a butler standing in front of them.
“Lord Fenchel, we welcome you to Rokk,” He spoke as formally as possible. Kamil was flanked by Flora and Lara with Avina staying in the rear.
“Please follow me. Lord Knell is waiting.”
They were led to the same living room he had been before, but this time the place had been decorated more lavishly. Only Kamil and Flora were allowed to enter. There was an antique wooden table with a pair of sofas on each end. He recalled clearly that there were wooden chairs in place of the sofas before. Not long after they sat next to each other, Isaac Knell entered along with a lady in a fine dress. The lady reminded him of Esther. She had a very similar hair color.
“Lord Fenchel, we welcome you to Rokk. This is my wife, Sylwia.”
She curtsied at which point both Kamil and Flora stood up and showed respect. Once they all sat down, they greeted each other more casually, and Kamil took out a small linen pouch. It was about the same size as a small coin pouch.
“It is Macomaco tea,” He declared to which Sylwia’s eyes shone up like the sun.
“Oh, my, such a fine gift!” She said joyfully. She looked like she wanted to dance around.
“We thank you for your thoughtful gift,” Isaac said, smiling. “I also thank you personally for the airship. It has brought some fresh blood to the town.”
“If I may ask, where have you been sending the airship to?”
Grinning bitterly, he reluctantly replied, “It’s Gonne.”
Yeahhhh, figured as much.
He may have been the king’s advisor, but he was a lord of his own town first and foremost. His people came first obviously. He called for his butler to take the tea pouch away at which point a pair of maids entered the room with tea cups on plates. They had some casual chit chat such as talking about the weather and challenges as new lords. At one point, Kamil carefully brought up the royal decree he had recently received, specifically about Lyatan.
“It was simply not working out.” Isaac’s initial reply was just as he expected. Then he made a troubled face as if he just ate something foul. He turned to his wife with a smile on his face. “Sylwia, why don’t you check out the Macomaco tea.”
It was subtle, but she did look uneasy and looked as if she wanted to be excused.
“Are you sure, darling?”
“It’s quite alright. I know you are dying to taste it.”
She didn’t argue further and excused herself.
“It’d be the first time for her to taste the tea,” He remarked with a grin. “She wasn’t a noble, you see.”
Commoners would never be able to afford the tea with the exception of rich merchants.
“Have you married a commoner?” Flora asked softly.
“No, I married a maid.”
Isaac’s answer seemed to surprise her. There had been cases of landless nobles marrying daughters of rich merchants for their dowry. But a landed noble marrying a maid was very rare if not unheard of.
“I don’t care about her status. She is the love of my life, period.”
He went on to tell how he met her at the royal castle and how they had been secretly dating for over a decade before marrying her after becoming a landed noble. Seeing that his affection toward her did not waver even after becoming a landed noble where he’d have a lot more choices, it was clear that he wasn’t joking when he declared that she was the love of his life. Glancing at Flora, Kamil realized quickly that she was going to turn his story into a romantic novel. Her sparkling eyes pretty much confirmed his suspicion.
Once Isaac was done telling his personal story, his face darkened.
“Now, there is a real reason why Lyatan was abandoned,” He confessed. “Promise that you won’t tell this to anyone else. Only a select few knows this.”
“Why are you willing to tell us then?” Kamil questioned.
“Because you two are young. You may be the ones who end up cleaning up what we’ve started.”
That was a weirdly ominous statement to make.
Taking a deep breath, Isaac told them how it all began.
“Lyayan was originally a trade hub with 15,000 people. That was before the reunification war. During the war, the king chose to make an example of them to expedite a conditional surrender. He killed every single soul in that city. I genuinely believe no one was left alive. It’s possible that some may have escaped, but I doubt it.”
Flora looked flabbergasted while Kamil remained stoic. He knew this after all. He even experienced it the first hand.
“I do know that it was wrong. However, if you look at the incident from a different angle, it wasn’t too bad. If the war went on for a long period, the overall casualties would have ended up about the same if not more.”
Then he laughed weakly.
“I do know I sound like I am making an excuse, but I feel it’s the harsh truth. What happened afterward is something that has been kept a tight lid on.”
Soon after the reunification war, efforts were made to restart Lyatan. Migrants were sent to live there, and investments were made to restore infrastructures. All was going well for about half a year until something unthinkable started to occur.
“Undead,” He said. “On some nights, zombies rose from the ground, attacking citizens.”
Kamil had never encountered undead in his whole life. Even as Tom, he had never run into them. He had heard of them however. Regardless, Lyatan at that moment had barely any guards. They felt there was no need. Nevertheless, by the time a tax man was sent to the village, he found everyone dead. Initially, they believed that it was a monster attack and sent another wave of migrants along with more guards. Soon, they would find out the real cause: zombies.
“You cannot ‘kill’ undead per se. They are already dead after all. Fire is effective, but it doesn’t truly kill them, and they return some time later. Basically, the land is cursed.”
“How do you kill undead?”
Isaac shook his head. “I don’t believe we know the way. It is believed that undead creatures are servants of the God of Death.”
“Perhaps, the servants of God of Life could…?” Flora said weakly.
“Mayhaps but we don’t know what those creatures are,” Isaac replied. “It is not as if there are mages of light and darkness.”
There was a known life mage: The holy queen Maco. But she was seen as an exception rather than norm.
“So…” Kamil crossed his fingers on the table. “The bottom line is that the land is not salvageable.”
“No. Thankfully, zombies do not venture out. Thus, as long as nobody goes there, there is no immediate danger.”
Given Isaac’s confession, it was clear why Lyatan was abandoned. It had to be abandoned.
He didn’t say it, but the reason for the curse is clear…, isn’t it?
The massacre was the reason. Then it was quite possible that where Bronn used to be may have turned into a spot for undead as well.
“I see. Thank you for telling us. Our lips are sealed…, right?” He glanced at Flora who nodded repeatedly in panic.
“The truth will probably come out eventually,” Isaac said with a weak laugh. “Not while our current king rules the realm though.” Then he stood up and flexed his shoulders. “I feel better as if invisible weights have been lifted from my shoulders.”
Just as Kamil and Flora entered the lobby of the Rokk manor, the butler had something. It was very heavy and was covered in linen; It was the size of a dagger. Lara and Avina were also waiting for them.
“It’s a copper ingot,” Isaac explained. “It is going to be what Rokk is going to be known for.”
“Copper?”
Isaac shrugged. “I honestly don’t know what good it is for. It is metal and is really easy to work with. That is all we know. If you ever find a use for it, please kindly let us know. I will give you a deal.”
Kamil had never heard of copper. The only metal he knew was iron which was predominantly used to craft weapons. The existence of copper was known in the world but it was not in demand since nobody knew its application. It was too mellow to be used as a weapon and was discarded.
Well, I will give this to Cezary. If anyone can find what this is good for, it’s probably that guy.
“Thank you.”
As soon as they were outside, the airship in the sky made a quick descent. It was quite impressive how the airship got down in a matter of a minute. It stopped at exactly the same height, half a meter, and the engineer on deck lowered the ladder. Flora climbed first, followed by Avina.
Come to think of it, they never made a remark about her not wearing a dress. I thought they might care enough to make a comment.
He looked back to see Isaac and his wife looking at them with a smile. As the king’s advisor, he thought that Isaac might have been a questionable character but he turned out to be alright. He felt that he was someone he could trust although it was too early to tell.
Once everyone was aboard, and the airship was airborne, he asked Flora about her impression on the couple.
“They looked like a lovely couple,” She replied with a smile. “It really did look like they loved each other.”
Loveless marriages were bread and butter in nobility. Some couples would grow to like or tolerate each other after their marriages, but it was quite common to see noble couples showing no affection toward each other.
“You are going to write a story about them, aren't you?”
She didn’t answer verbally, instead she shot a grin.
“Anyway, I’d like you to know that I placed an order to build a library.”
Her face brightened up hearing that. “Really?!”
“Yes, I’ve told them to build it near the central market. I figure that’d be a good spot. But you are free to change when we get back. It won’t be too late.”
“The spot should be fine. It should be near a busy place, so yes. Your choice was wise.”
“Once the library is complete. I will relieve Marat from her duty and reassign her as a word keeper.”
She nodded along excitedly. From a distance, Avina was looking at them. Lara approached her sneakily and gave a nudge to her side.
“What,” Avina said.
“Grandma, you should get yourself a man,” Lara joked with a giggle.
Scoffing, Avina ignored her.
They were back in old Faufend by early morning. Kamil handed the copper ingot over to Cezary who came out to welcome them while platform workers were busy taking luggages off. Flora and Avina had already left at this point.
“Is this copper?”
“Wow, you know what it is by just looking?”
“Hard to mistake it for color. Where did you get this?”
“Rokk has a copper mine now apparently. Lord Knell gifted it to me and asked me to let him know if there is any application for this metal.”
“There are some applications,” He replied right away. “It’s pretty soft but, for some small parts, using iron is just a waste of money and time for a blacksmith. One could shape copper with just a hammer without using a forge.”
Then he pointed at the airship.
“See the pipes? It is currently made from iron but can be made from copper without any loss of performance. This should cut down the initial cost of building new airships somewhat.”
There were two pipes in the airship. One was a long pipe that was vertically installed from a pilot’s room directly to the linen balloon. At its bottom, a fire crystal was installed to generate heated air. The other pipe was a short one that was installed in the back to install a wind crystal. Neither needed the durability of iron. Copper was an adequate substitute.
“Send a word to Rokk then. Lord Knell said he’d cut us a deal.”
“I shall do that right away.”
“Have we received a word from lord Weber?”
“Yes, actually, an airship from Tantan dropped it off. He said you are welcome at any time.”
“I see. Could we depart tomorrow morning then?”
“Please depart two days later. I’d like to use the airship to send a message to Rokk right away.”
Using the airship to send messages…
Cezary added, “If I may, I’d like to build another airship, but it will be a different type. I shall optimize it for speed for sending messages exclusively.”
It was as if Cezary read his mind.
“Swift communication will be possible.”
Kamil had no intention to stop him.
“Do it.”
Cezary bowed. “Thank you, Milord. This one shouldn’t cost as much since I will be using copper and it will be far smaller. I wager about 2 or 3 gold coins should do it. It will depend on what kind of deal Lord Knell is willing to give us.”
It was a lot of money. Still, he wasn’t wrong. In comparison to how much they had been spending, it wasn’t much.
With that settled, he went back to the manor and spent the two days slacking. Amazingly, refugees were still coming in every single day by wagons. Nestor was busy as hell to record everyone’s name and count. The guy was doing a very good job keeping everything recorded. The central market at this point was gone. Almost every stall had relocated to the new place. There was a single stall that was selling bread. Since rationing was in effect for refugees, those who wanted to eat more had to go out of their ways to purchase additional food.
I really need to check on the new site.
Casting levitation, he flew high and accelerated toward New Laufeld. While on the way, he spotted some black shadows running swiftly toward the town.
Werewolves!
It was a group of four werewolves.
“Just four, eh. Shouldn’t be too hard,” He said to himself in the air.
Conjuring his magical bow, he readied an arrow and took a dive toward the werewolves. When he was close enough to ensure a headshot, he fired an arrow, instantly killing a werewolf. The other three, shocked at what had just happened, spread out. Interestingly, they were running in a zigzag pattern, making them a hard target to hit.
I wonder if it’s possible to make a homing arrow…
“Elementals, hear me? I wish to fire an arrow that tracks my target.”
He waited a moment before firing an arrow which made a noticeable curve as it tracked a target and hit on its back. Precision aiming didn’t seem possible with a homing arrow. Therefore, he had to shoot numerous arrows before the second werewolf eventually collapsed, drenching the ground with its blood.
“Two down, two to go.”
However, the new town was in sight. He probably wouldn’t have the time to finish them off before reaching the settlement. Therefore, he decided to fly ahead of them and warn the guards instead.
“Two werewolves! From the west!” He shouted while circling around right above the central market. He repeated once more. About six guards swiftly formed a formation while civilians ran toward the mine.
“That way! I see them!” He shouted at them while pointing in a direction. There was a watch tower nearby with an archer in it. He was also pointing in the same direction, having also spotted them.
The guards, equipped with swords and shields, made a line formation with their shields in front. The two werewolves attempted to circle around to attack them from behind, which may have worked under normal circumstances. Unfortunately for them, just being two of them put them under a huge disadvantage. The guards simply turned around at once to fight them head on. They eventually went down rather meekly. The guards looked decently trained and their battle readiness was good. They were clearly trained to work in unison which was crucial against monsters like werewolves.
Martin is doing a good job. Maybe, he deserves a raise or even a promotion.
“..........”
What does Raem do anyway?
Martin had a clear role. He trained guards and clearly it was paying off. He started to wonder what Raem did around the town. Yes, he was more or less his guard knight. However, if he simply had him in that role, he wasn’t going to earn any recognition. Without it, he couldn’t grant him knighthood. In his honest opinion, Martin was closer to knighthood than Raem was. He wasn’t going to grant Raem knighthood just because he wanted to become a noble. A man had to earn the right. He wasn’t going to resort to nepotism.
“Time to have a bit of chit chat with the guy. I think he needs a new role,” He said to himself while hovering around the new town. The guards were making sure that the werewolves were dead meanwhile by slashing it several times. A costly rookie mistake was assuming that your opponent was dead and turning your back to it, inevitably exposing yourself to a sneak attack. Martin, as an ex-adventurer, was clearly aware of this and taught the guards well. When they moved onto the second downed werewolf, it got up and started to dash at surreal speed. It ran so fast that it was gone before anyone could react. Werewolves generally fought to death unless it was clear that they were vastly outnumbered. It was two versus six. It should have fought to death. If it ran away, then perhaps it had another purpose.
Was it a scout party?
He landed skillfully near the guards who bowed at once upon seeing their lord.
“Milord!” They exclaimed in unison.
“Is anyone hurt?”
“No, sir,” One of them replied on their behalf. “We thank you for prompt warning.”
“I killed two before coming here. There may be more coming at night. I want you to be alert today, including the night.”
They looked at each other, surprised to hear that a child had managed to take down two werewolves alone seemingly effortlessly.
“Are there more of you?”
“More or less, sir. We do have two archers who man the watchtower on shift. They support us if they are able.”
It was a similar setup as Bronn.
“Send a man to the old town. Ask for some more guards. We might have a wave of werewolves tonight! Ask for Martin and Raem!”
The guards were confused by the sudden information.
Kamil barked, “Werewolves rarely run away. I think they may have been scouts! Prepare for war!”
Then he looked at the sky. It was still noon. There was time.
“Hurry! One of you, run to the old town!”
He could have used levitation to reach the old town sooner but chose to conserve his stamina for the upcoming battle.
“Y, yes, sir!”
“Contact the local guild also!”
Brian and his team could be really handy. Unfortunately, they were out for a job. He didn’t know how big of a wave he’d encounter. He expected at least twenty. If Raem and Lara were here, they’d be able to take them. If there was more, then the guards would be needed.
Werewolves had some intelligence. They didn’t attack human settlements out of sheer rage. Well, some did but those enraged werewolves wouldn’t employ scouts. They had been planning to attack the settlement for a while.
Taking a deep breath, he surveyed the town. It was rapidly developing and without walls. Building walls was not easy even if they’d be wooden walls. The main issue was the sheer amount of raw labor it required.
Pretty sure that the werewolves were keeping eyes on the new Laufeld. This wave must be defeated. In fact, all werewolves that will attack need to be eradicated.
Since he didn’t know how many he’d be dealing with, extra caution was required. The safest place to gather people was the mine and its barracks in his opinion.
“Inform everyone to gather at the mine!” He barked another order at another guard.
Hours passed, and the sun was slowly going for its night break. Under the twilight sky, Kamil had gathered everyone at the entrance. Eleven guards were gathered along with Martin, Raem, and Lara. Two archers were on the roofs of the barracks, and there was also an airship in the sky with Cezary and Nestor aboard. Standing on the roof of a barrack, he made a brief speech.
“Civilians will stay in the mine and the barracks. Under no circumstances are you allowed to be out until we say otherwise. You are free to bring your tools with you. If any werewolves manage to enter where you are, you must defend yourself after all.”
If possible, he would have liked to put everyone in the mine because it was the safest place with only one path to enter. But there were around five hundred people gathered, and they weren’t going to fit in the mine that was yet to be extensively established.
“Guards! Your job tonight is to survive!”
They were surprised to hear that; They expected to be told to fight to death or whatnot.
“As long as all of you survive tonight, we are going to win!”
There was merit in his speech. Werewolves wouldn’t leave them alone until they were dead. If everyone survived, it would equally mean every werewolf would be dead.
“Survive!” He shouted vigorously.
“YEAAAAAH!” The guards shouted back in unison.
“WEREWOLVES!” Nestor from above on the airship shouted. Then he began to cast spells. “Elementals of Earth, heed my call! Grant them the protection of nature! Stoneskin!”
Kamil’s skin turned slightly brown and began to crack like overly dried soil. This visual effect soon vanished. He continued to cast stoneskin on Martin, Raem, and Lara before passing out from exhaustion.
“Milord!” Cezary shouted from the sky. “I am seeing at least forty of them!”
“What…?” Guards uttered, and others murmured.
That was more than anyone expected.
“Fear not!” Kamil shouted from the roof. “Maintain your formation!”
There was nowhere to run anyway.
“Fear death! And survive!”
The guards nodded at each other, holding their weapons and shields firmly. Martin, Raem and Lara stood in front of them, showing no fear whatsoever.
“Bring it on, doggoes,” Lara joked.
“Brings back memories, this,” Martin said with a wide grin.
He had chronic shoulder pain which was actually improving thanks to Lara who had been casting healing water whenever he complained about the pain. Healing water wasn’t a powerful healing spell but it did seem to work to ease his pain to a point that he was no longer being hindered by it. He was really grateful for it and treated her really well. It was like a father and a daughter relationship they had.
As darkness swiftly descended upon the land, animated waves of glowing red dots appeared on the horizon.
“That’s a lot of them,” A guard muttered.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2633/ZlGwiY.png]
“Archers, fire!” Kamil ordered while he was also drawing magical arrows. The two archers on roofs began firing while those on the ground braced for an attack.
“Men, hold the formation!” Martin barked. “We are the last defense line before civilians!”
“Here they come!” Raem shouted as he bashed his shield at a charging werewolf’s face which left dazed.
“Fuckers!” Lara shouted as she thrust her spear into the neck of the dazed werewolf. It was a typical pattern for the duo.
The battle commenced in near complete darkness. Thankfully, it was easy to track the werewolves since their eyes glowed vividly. Bad news was that attacks were hard to dodge because they couldn’t see them coming. Once archers realized that they could no longer shoot, they jumped down while pulling out their swords. As for Kamil, he stayed on the roof, keeping keen eyes on the tide of the battle. His eyes were weakly glimmering in green; He was able to see, thanks to elementals. He continued to fire his magic arrows whenever there was a chance. As the battle intensified, it was becoming harder and harder to find an opening to fire his arrows.
“I am hurt!” A guard exclaimed in anguish.
“Pull back!” Martin barked.
A man’s scream was heard.
“God damn it! I can’t see them!” Another guard shouted in frustration.
Is it possible to create light?”
“Elementals of fire, hear my call! Grant me a source of light!”
A blob of floating fire appeared above his head, providing some light but it wasn’t helpful from where he was because it was him who needed the light. The guards did.
“Move over there!” He pointed at the guards.
Although faint, they could finally see and began to fight back properly. He continued to fire arrows. He took down at least ten on his own at this point.
This is going to get ugly.
There were simply too many of them. The guards were struggling to attack and defend at the same time. Their formation ensured that they’d at least be facing attacks from front only. If this was wilderness, there was no chance that the guards would survive to see the next sun. If they were equipped and trained better, they may have stood a better chance.
………………..
………….
……..
When the sun was coming up, there were still two werewolves that were locked in with the remaining survivors: Raem, Lara, and Martin. Everyone else was dead. Body pieces were scattered everywhere, and it was a bloody mess. Martin was heavily wounded and lost his left arm. It was literally bitten off by a werewolf. Raem and Lara weren’t hurt at all, thanks to the stoneskin spell in addition to their formation of sticking to each other’s back and pending off attacks. The two archers also didn’t make it.
Everyone, including werewolves, was facing extreme exhaustion with Martin barely standing. Drawing the last bit of stamina, Kamil fired a magical arrow to finish a werewolf off, freeing Martin who recoiled several steps backwards and collapsed slowly after leaning his back to a wall. Raem and Lara also finished off the last werewolf finally.
Panting, Rame uttered, “That was … fifty third werewolf!”
Kamil jumped down to the ground just as civilians began to leave the barracks and the mine. Lara was casting healing water on Martin’s severed arm but it wasn’t working since the wound was just too big. He wasn’t bleeding, but it wasn’t because the wound was bandaged. He simply did not have any blood left to bleed. Nobody had any time to apply first aid. All they could do was push on regardless of their conditions.
“It is not working! She cried. He was down on the ground with his back against a wall. His face was pale due to massive loss of blood overnight. Kamil approached him slowly.
“You’ve done well, Sir Martin,” He told him.
Martin looked up and beamed a tranquil smile. His face was really pale and his lips were blue; He was on the brink of death and he knew it.
“You’ve earned the right. I hereby knight you, Sir Martin.”
He smiled once again only for his head to drop soon after.
“Martin?” Lara began to shake his body. “Marin!!” Hugging his head, she started to cry. Folks began gathering around and moaned for the death of the brave guards. Kamil could feel tears gathering in his eyes. Taking a deep unstable breath, he announced aloud.
“These men never wavered, never faltered in the face of darkness! They fought to the end to protect us, protect you!”
His lips quivered. He wanted to let out but resisted with steadfast will. He was sure they wanted to flee at one point. He saw the fight unfold on the roof. It was just absolutely chaotic. At one point, some of the guards were blindly swinging their swords in hope of hitting something. He also witnessed some guards being eaten alive by werewolves. If the hell existed, that was probably it.
It probably won’t mean much but -
“We will build a monument to honor them!” He pointed toward the market. Even though he resisted, still a drop of tear flew down his cheek.
He saw how Martin fought back even after his left arm was basically ripped off by a werewolf’s fierce bite. Screaming and cursing, he fought back with everything he had. Even during hours of massive blood loss, he continued to fight back. The sheer tenacity he displayed inspired whatever hope was left in the guards’ minds. The dark truth was that he probably realized that he wasn’t going to make it once his arm was ripped off. The only way for him to survive was to stop the bleeding, but he knew that wasn’t going to happen. Knowing that his fate was sealed, he fought back with everything he had in both body and soul.
By the time the sun was coming up, he had spent everything, literally everything. Nothing was left in his tank; He didn't even have energy to speak.
Thanks for everything, Sir Martin.