With the things that he knew could happen, Gaius began to think more seriously about the future. He also confirmed that Relia and Rein managed to enter the city and sell a bunch of things. He didn’t know how, but it looked like they got around three gold coins by selling half of the things they obtained. The economic system in that place worked with the usual one hundred copper coins equal to one silver coin and one hundred silver coins equal to one gold coin.
“I guess I should tell them to stop with the sales and equip everyone properly. The group was going to stand out by walking together, so I will have to split them,” Gaius thought.
Over the past week, Gaius resummoned those who had died and also a bunch more of the soldiers he had killed, so he already had two hundred soldiers under his control. Letting them move together would be difficult unless they did so only at night.
At some point, Relia reported that they had also obtained a wagon with two horses to transport all those things, and he wondered how she did that. Gaius was thankful that she was that useful, but it was a bit troublesome to only hear about it so much later. She was being helpful, and trying to stay on his good side. That would be fine if she didn't cause so much problems and headaches with her antics.
“Change of plans: use all the money to buy all the necessary things for everyone to operate in groups of ten,” Gaius declared. “You will need to work in different areas and in different jobs as well to avoid drawing too much attention. I will give you further details in the next few days.”
“Okay,” Relia said. “I guess things will become more interesting since I won’t have to do everything by myself. What should I focus on when buying the supplies?”
“I will leave that to you,” Gaius replied since he didn’t know enough about the world to decide that.
That afternoon and the following night passed without any issues, so Gaius, his father, and everyone else had the chance to rest well. The next morning, things got busy in front of the entrance of the city since some soldiers began to build a wooden platform. It looked like later that day, the veteran officers of the army would join the lord for dinner, but that was a closed-door event. Only the higher-ups were going to participate since it would happen in his house; the other ceremony was open to the public.
The ceremony started around noon, and at the same time, some soldiers began to spread some barrels of wine around to make people relax and enjoy the atmosphere. The soldiers and guards from the city were drinking from those as well, so they certainly weren’t poisoned or anything.
Some people of the city came to see the warriors and talk with some of them as well. They had heard rumors about the conflict, but they wanted to confirm things by themselves. Those guys looked rich, so maybe they wanted to hire some of the warriors of the village as bodyguards. Since they were acting like that in broad daylight, perhaps it wasn't a big issue.
One hour after people began to drink and get noisy, some guards around someone who looked pretty suspicious showed up. That was Lord Ekirenton. Just as Gaius had expected, Ekirenton was a lanky guy. He didn’t look like he had used or trained with a weapon in a single day of his life. That only showed that one only had to be born into the right family to become a ruler in that world. But Gaius couldn’t see much about it when they didn’t have the strength to protect themselves.
Wearing a dark blue cloak that had been closed by golden buttons connected to each other, Ekirenton at least looked a bit worthy of respect. At the same time, he looked to be around thirty years old, since there were no signs of age in his dark brown hair and green eyes. Considering what he did six years ago when he annexed the village, Gaius assumed that it had been one of his first actions once he became the ruler. He was quite reckless and young to back up that recklessness.
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“Thank you for coming today, brave warriors,” Ekirenton raised his voice once he climbed the platform and looked around. “Thanks to your efforts, our people survived the most important and dangerous moment of our history. Today we celebrate our victory in that war, and we mourn the deaths of our brothers in arms who died with their swords in hand.”
“Yeah, right… our brothers in arms who died fighting while you were hiding at home,” Gaius thought grimly. "Don't think that you will have the chance to do that forever, though. I am more edgy than I thought."
“Our enemies will pay for the losses that we suffered… but today we won’t worry about that; today we celebrate!” Ekirenton raised his voice again while grabbing a cup of wine and raising it. “Enjoy my best wine and use well the rewards that you will receive for your valiant efforts!”
It goes without saying that Gaius and most of the kids weren’t drinking, but Zairus and half of the adults weren’t drinking either. Those one hundred men were planning to buy horses and return home as fast as possible, while the other half couldn’t help but want to wash away their tears after losing their friends with alcohol.
“All the villages that sent their warriors to help us in this war will receive one gold coin for each soldier sent, no matter the age,” Ekirenton added. “The families of those who have fallen will receive their shares as well. At the same time, the bravest warriors of the villages that joined our ranks will receive more support, and one of their soldiers will receive the title of Captain to work with us better in the future. When I call your name, step forward and climb the platform.”
Gaius didn’t know that, but it looked like his village wasn’t the only one that was annexed that way. Five others were added to Ekirenton’s territory. He assumed that since he saw five other men, aside from his father, being called to the platform. Those six stopped in front of Ekirenton and were forced to bend their knees. Gaius could almost hear the sound of his father’s teeth grinding against each other while he was doing that.
“From today onward, you all will be the captains of your villagers, and you will work together with us to protect our lands from the dirty invaders like the ones we faced this time,” Ekirenton declared, and then some soldiers stepped forward while carrying some sheathed swords in blue scabbards. “You all will have the right to train your children in your village again, but they will have to be tested periodically. This will be the proof of your position and task. We all expect great things from you all.”
Ekirenton was using some nice words, even though he basically used brute strength to annex those villages to his territories. No one fell for that, though. He needed to work more on his acting skills. Regardless, the captains received the sheathed sword and some bags filled with silver coins. It was more impressive than giving a small bag with gold coins, after all.
“Including some youths who proved themselves to be worthy warriors despite their young age, please come forward,” Ekirenton said and then called the names of ten boys, with Gaius being the last one. “These young warriors showed some skill, and the commander decided to give them specialized training. Some of them are too young for that, so they will have the chance to make their choice. We will wait patiently for it. Regardless, you all achieved great things and deserve some rewards as well.”
Gaius and the other kids received some bags with money as well. He assumed that he gained half of what his father did. He began to count the coins right there and ignored some people frowning while looking at him. That was the downside of being sneaky, people couldn't see what he had done. Otherwise, he would have received more money.
"I guess this is fine... getting rich by killing people still makes me feel troubled," Gaius thought.
“Drink to your heart’s content; all the wine today will be free!” Ekirenton said and raised his cup of wine again.
Some people cheered, and others clapped. Around that time, Gaius confirmed that he got five hundred silver coins. Ekirenton was really rich, or he was using the money he wasn’t going to use anymore to pay for the fallen soldiers. Still, maybe it wasn't that much money since in the village they rarely used money or interacted with merchants.