Chapter 4

Village of the kings [https://imageshack.com/i/poElnspyp]

Upon exiting the forest, Jack was welcomed by a nice and peaceful countryside scenery. Birds flew over vast farmlands, and a large number of farmers worked in wide fields attending to crops and trees. Every individual field hosted different kinds of exotic-looking plants.

Field workers and farmers were pulling weeds and hoeing earth, just as they would do back in England.

Some men were not doing any labor in fields; instead, they just stood around with their hands flexed upwards. Some of them had staffs or scepters, while others didn’t. Despite that all of them had one thing in common, they emitted green light like a bunch of green streetlamps. A warm green light washed over the fields in warm pulses, and it was clearly visible even in bright daylight.

“Magical farming in a magical world,” Jack mussed, massaging his still-tied-up hands.

There was a squad of five armored guards close to the forest line, just observing trees with bored expressions on their faces. There were squads of similar size further along the treeline on both sides.

The guards had different armor from the group of hunters that Jack had come with. These guards all had black metal plate armor with chain mail sticking out below it. Each had a black cape with a red curled snake on it. Their helmets didn’t hide faces like hunter ones, instead, they were adorned with impressive-looking deer horns. From the looks of it, it was probably just an aesthetical choice, but Jack didn’t exclude the possibility of some magical purpose for horned helms.

“Magical horns on magical guards in a magical world.”

“No, my friend. Those are just decorative horns,” Merlo said.

“Bummer.”

The squad saw the hunter party exit the forest and approached them in a friendly manner. All the guards bowed their heads in front of Merlo and greeted the party with warm smiles and nods. Merlo asked the squad leader for his cape, which he gave up without a question. Merlo put it on Jack and closed it to hide Jack's bare body.

They started trekking over the fields towards the village, which was still a great distance away. After half an hour of walking, Jack couldn’t help but ask.

“Say, Merlo?”

“Yes?”

“Is that a city wall in front of us?”

“That’s the defense wall of Westel village,” Merlo said proudly.

“Where I am from, we don't have large fortifications like that anymore.”

"Your defense walls are lower?"

"We don't have any. There is no need for them anymore."

"It must be a safe place to live then. I hope Rosmorre will be as safe one of these days."

From a distance, it was already obvious that the grey wall was enormous. The settlement behind it should have been a huge city, not a forest village. The large fields and the number of workers in them also didn’t seem like something you would see in a desolate village.

“I suppose your world is safer than ours, but it's not that bad here in the middle of Empire. This wall was built by Emperor’s royal architect himself a millennia ago. It was a gift. Gifted by Emperor to pioneers of Westelwoods.”

“A defense wall of such magnitude seems like a great gift to receive.”

“In the past, this land was still wild and untamed. Ancient beasts roamed Westelwoods and the first pioneers were warriors and mages of great renown. The wall was built for them to rest in peace after long hunts. Great beasts were killed and warriors left, but the wall stood here since.”

They walked in silence for a bit. A few farmers threw curious glances at them and, seeing the hunter squad, smiled and waved. Jack met farmers' smiles with a smile of his own.

“There are a lot of people in the fields,” Jack said.

“There is a lot of work to do. Food, medicine, and wood are our livelihood.”

“Why don’t you call your home a city? You clearly have size on your side.”

Merlo gave Jack a perplexed look, “We don’t qualify for such a title.”

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“Surely, you do! How many people do you need to call your settlement a city?”

“It’s not about the number of hands. We don’t have a great house or an order settled in our village. By imperial decree, only they can uplift settlement to the status of a city. Each can claim only one city and they are denied to expand their grasp to any other place.”

“What is even point to that?"

“Empire finances cities to help them nurture the best warriors, mages, and artisans.”

“Haha! You could have half an Empire's worth of farmers here, and you would still be a village. That is a stupid system if I have ever seen one,” hunters around Jack threw annoyed glances at him for his brash words.

“It’s our way,” Merlo said calmly.

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After walking for a while, they arrived at one of the Westel village gates. The gates were open and black flags with red snakes fluttered by both sides. As they entered the village, a large guard squad welcomed them.

Stalwart Steel Warrior – Lvl 36

“Divines bless Emperor!” the strong-looking guard captain greeted Merlo.

“Divines bless Emperor!” Merlo answered.

“You are back quickly, Elder. Is there a problem?” he scanned Jack up and down, and Jack gave him a friendly nod in return.

“Who knows? Divines shape our way, we can just walk on it.”

Guard captain thought over Merlo's words with confusion, until one of his underlings whispered something in his ear and understanding finally dawned on him.

“I understand,” captain flicked his hand at another guard who ran into the gatehouse, “We will have to do an essence check on your party. Merlo, hope you don’t mind a quick distraction before you continue on your way.”

“If you insist,” Merlo gave him a shrug.

Men exchanged a few more words while waiting for the guard to return from the gatehouse. Everybody in both parties acted nonchalantly speaking and joking around; however, the sideways looks some guards threw at Jack made it clear that something was not right. They were still holding their weapons, and hunters inconspicuously put down their bags with supplies and camping gear on the sides. Helmets hid the expressions of the hunters, but the guards had no face plates and their distress was obvious.

Jack didn’t know what these people were so worried about, but he couldn’t care less. He was still tied up and as harmless as they come. What he saw past the gates was infinitely more interesting to him than whatever was on his captors' minds.

It was a village brimming with life. The main road from the gates went all the way up to the village center, which was located slightly uphill. There was some sort of village hall and a few bigger, fancy-looking manors around the village square.

The rest of the village housing was built from the same dark wood. Despite that, none of the houses looked shabby. Dark wood came from Westelwoods and the craftsmanship put in every building was exquisite. The skill of the builders and woodworkers of Westel village was evident even to the untrained eye. Every house was different and special compared to its neighbor, with decorative ornaments and animals decorating the facade of each.

Most of the residents were out in the fields, but there were still plenty of people in the streets, mostly children. They were playing and running around. Their laughter made Jack smile as well. His hands trembled slightly when he followed a small girl with his gaze. She kicked a ball to her friend. Her friend didn’t see it coming and the ball bounced off his head. The kids laughed and Jack chuckled too. His eyes slowly turned more glossy and a tint of violent madness was visible in the depths of them.

“Brings back memories,” Jack murmured to himself.

The guard came back with a small, beautiful ornate wooden chest in his gauntlets. The captain opened the lid and took out a pair of iron pincers. With these, he pulled out a small black orb from the chest and turned towards Merlo, holding the weird orb far from himself.

“Elder, would you please?”

Merlo opened his mouth wide, and the captain put the orb in it. As soon as it touched Merlo’s tongue, the orb dissolved into nothing. Black veins bulged on his neck, clearly visible under his skin, and his eyes went pitch black. But, after just a second, it passed. His neck and eyes were back to normal, as if nothing had happened.

After a moment of silence, the guard captain spoke, “All good. Who will be next?”

“Jack, you can be next,” Merlo turned to him with a reassuring smile.

Jack watched their theater performance with a great deal of amusement. The warriors around him were afraid of him greatly. Back home, people had been afraid of him when they got to know him better. Here, things were backwards. People were terrified of him because they didn’t know anything about him.

Whatever they were so scared of, they were worrying in vain. He was their Guardian, and it was burned into a big blue window. You don’t go against big blue windows.

“Bravo!” Jack said, acknowledging their performance.

“Please, open your mouth!” Merlo said with steel in his voice.

Jack followed his request and opened his mouth.

The guard captain took one more black orb out of the chest and slowly approached Jack with it. He put it into Jack's mouth, and it dissolved instantly. A cold ripple went through his body, and black veins bulged under his skin. His body tried to desperately resist the cold. It was fighting against it, barely holding on. His heart almost stopped right then and there, but a moment later, cold simply disappeared.

It was over.

Jack looked up and saw that everybody was closer to him, with weapons drawn, waiting and ready to strike. Forty guards and hunters around him were all waiting for something to happen. Bows were drawn and aimed, spears were pointed, swords were unsheeted, and mana was swirling.

“So? What happens next, fellas?” Jack asked.

With those simple words, every man around him relaxed. Weapons were lowered, and relieved laughs and conversations filled the gates. Hunters took off their helmets, and some came forward and made friendly claps on Jack’s shoulders. They were mostly young men, and from seeing how talkative they were now, it was obvious that a silent walk back to the village was out of the norm.

“You were telling the truth. Welcome to Rosmorre again, Guardian!” Merlo smiled, came forward, and released ropes on Jack’s body, ”This time for real.”