City of Tastur
Brain's mood was much better now after his previous encounter with that beautiful maid.
-Now, this is something I will be looking forward to… .”
A self-satisfied smirk was present on his face.
At the breakfast, he had some soup and a sweet bread. Surprisingly, Brian liked it quite a lot. After satiating his hunger Brian sat down on the bed and started planning his future course of action. He knew that he needed to have some kind of action-plan otherwise he would not be able to last much longer in this world. Through his memories, he had concluded that this world is not a place for weak. Here power meant everything.
Those with powerful magical attributes had the life of utmost peace and prosperity. The social ladder was pretty much based on one's ability to use magic. There was no democracy, no fundamental rights and no equality in this world or at least in his kingdom.
He Had numerous memories yet very little concerning the outside world.
Evan had almost no idea what used to happen in his city when he was alive. So Brian could not get much from the new memories. Brian had the habit of putting quite a lot of emphasis on information. This habit of his had come in handy numerous times in his past life. He needed to have a clear picture of his city and its surroundings to formulate his action plan.
-Damn that brainless bastard.
-What kind of lord doesn't even know about the situation of his own territory?
After cursing Evan for a while Brian calmed down. He lay down on the bed and relaxed a little. The softness of the bed was really something. He had never slept on a bed this comfortable. He had become quite fond of it.
-ahhhhhhhhhh...Now that I think about it, this world has magic.
The existence of magic was a pleasant surprise to Brian. Some People in the world could use mana within in their body to manipulate magical elements like fire, wind, thunder, water and Runes. Mana was present everywhere in the world, although the concentration of mana varied from place to place.
A place with high concentration had always attracted people with the ability to control it. The mana starts flowing into the body the moment one is born in this world. The mana would enter the body and circulate through the veins the same way as blood. Around the age of 18, If the body had got the ability to manipulate mana in one's body. He /she would reach their first breakthrough and become a magic user. In other words, the awakening of magic will take place in the body. The awakening was dependent upon many factors, but the most significant one was the bloodline. The affinity of the body would become inclined to control one or two particular magic attributes like fire, thunder etc.
One thing that piqued his interest the most was Runic magic. He was quite fascinated by the power of runic circuits. Probably because it had applications similar to science had in his previous world. One could conjure fire, water, light, earth using the runic magic circuits. The applications of runes in everyday life were phenomenal. It had applications in alchemy, farming, cooking and whatnot. People could even talk over a distance using the runic magic. Brian knew that there were many other uses, he just did not know about them.
In Evan's room, there was a number of runic magic circuits present. One for lighting, one for heating the room and, one for cooling. There were others that he did not have knowledge of.
Even after all this, runic magic was considered the lowest attribute of all because it had no significant use in combat. It was not an offensive magic attribute.
Evan was not very happy about his magic though. The reason was his inefficiency to use magic, even after having the ability to control mana. His body did not have sufficient mana reserves to use magic. This fact was really heartbreaking for him.
Evan wanted to try his hands on runic magic so badly. His body had the affinity to runic attribute, but not much mana to evoke it.
Brian cursed his bad luck, of all the nobles in this world he had to be stuck in this useless body. Since Evan had low mana reserves, He did not get a chance to learn magic properly as he could not get into the academy. So even his knowledge of magic was limited.
His father even arranged private tutors for him to learn magic, but in the end, all was for nothing. After exhausting all his ideas, his father lost all his hope and ceased his futile attempts.
Brian did not lose hope though. He had the ability to use magic just that his mana reserve was low in capacity. He just had to find a way to improve it. He so much wanted to use magic. He remembered that in the castle there was a library filled with books related to magic which gave him some hope. What was better than having a whole library for himself. He could at least try reading those books to improve his mana reserves. Whether or not he would be successful was another matter. Books were the most subtle way of gathering information. He was going to make great use of the library.
Brian was sorting out details in his mind. There were thousands of questions that he wanted to ask, but there was nobody to answer them.
One thing that concerned, Brian the most was his safety, The concern turned into fear when the thought of his father's assassination crossed his mind. He had no idea who assassinated his father. His father was killed during his sleep in his room. The maid found his lifeless body the next morning.
When he thought about the incident, he felt a sudden chill down his spine.
-I do not want the same fate as the father.
Somehow He overcame his trepidation. He knew he was not going to achieve anything by doing nothing but cowering in fear of death like a coward. He had to ensure his own safety and there were two ways for him to do that
First, make himself stronger, which was very time-consuming considering his lack of affinity for Mana.
The second was to make the city and the people around him stronger. The stronger, the people protecting him, the better protection he would get. Also, this option was much more Practical. Also, Brian believed more in collective strength than the individual.
He had to get a detailed report about the security and functioning of his city. For that, he had one person in his mind, The advisor to the Lord, old Cornell. The one man who he could trust blindly.
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Cornell had been serving the Shelton family since the time of his grandfather. He was like family to him. So Brian decided to have a talk with Cornell.
But Before that, he wanted to go check out the library and get some books.
-Alright, time to move...
He got up from his bed and left his room. The guards stationed outside his room bowed their heads as he went past them. The library was not far from his room. He walked down the hall and then turned left, The library was there a few steps away. As he as going to enter the library.
He noticed Cornell walking towards him.
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Cornell was agitatedly walking to and fro in his room. He was holding a letter in his right hand and looking at it with a frowning face.
A few minutes ago, he received a letter from the bandit group black death. The content of the letter even made the calm Cornell lose his cool.
-Oh god! This is what I have been worried about for the last one year. Ever since lord Bernolt died. I knew those damned bandits are going to make a move and now here we are. Now only God can save this city.
After sometime Cornell reverted to his usual calm temperament. He knew that the situation was as bad as it could get. So there was no use fretting over it.
Honestly, he had no faith in the new lord. He knew that Evan was not worthy of being a lord. Now after one year serving under Evan, he at least knew this much.
Nevertheless, he had to have a talk with the lord. The matter was something that concerned the future of the city. After making his decision he left his room and went straight to Evan's room for a talk.
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"My lord, " said Cornell with a slight bow.
Brian nodded.
"My lord, I need to talk to you about something very important, I was heading towards your room just now "
"This is something that concerns the safety of the city, so I had to bother you"
-Something that concerns the city.
The Cornell's expression was giving a bad feeling to Brian.
"Alright, Since we are already here, uncle Cornell let's talk in the library, " said Brian with a grave expression.
Cornell had never seen such an expression on his lord's face before, It somewhat surprised him.”
“Was I seeing things or did Evan just got serious? ” Pondered Cornell.
He shook his head to discard all other thoughts. He had to focus on the task at hand.
"Yes my lord " Cornell followed Brian in the library.
The library was around four times the size of his room. All the bookshelves were lined neatly in rows. There was nobody there since very few people were allowed to enter the library. The library was quite neat and tidy despite nobody taking care of it.
-Must be some kind of runic magic?
There were two chairs orderly placed near a table.
Brain went ahead and occupied one. Cornell followed and sat on the other.
Brian leaned back in the chair and silently waited for Cornell to start.
"We have received a letter from black death bandit group"
The name black death did not ring a bell for him, but he did not ask Cornell. He remained silent, indicating Cornell to continue.
"They plan to attack the city after the annual harvest before the start of winter and.." Cornell hesitated before continuing.
"And if we want them not to attack us, we have to fulfil their demands.
"And their demands are " asked, Brian.
" Half of the coming harvest, 200 armour sets, 200 barrels of liquor, free entry for the bandits in the city and women…" Cornell did not complete the last sentence
Brian's face darkened the instant Cornell told him the demands. He clenched his fist in anger .Especially the last word hit his nerve.
-They are asking for women, huh...Those pieces of trash acting as if they own this city. I swear by name, you all filthy bastards will regret you ever crossed my path.
Brian calmed himself.
"What's the strength of this bandit group," asked Brian.
"Around 2000 thousand my lord" answered Cornell.
"And what about our strength"
Cornell was not surprised that Brian did not know about the military situation. He knew Brian never bothered to care about it.
"Around 300, my lord, " answered Cornell without any delay in response.
Brian closed his eyes for a few minutes and said nothing. He did not expect the problems to come to him so soon, But he was not to the one to back down.
"Cornell...Tell them we will be fulfilling their demands, but till then they are not allowed to cause any problems for us" said Brian.
Cornell was shell-shocked by how easily Brian had agreed to agree with the demands. He did not know that Brian was spineless to this extent.
This time the surprise was evident on his face. And there was also a hint of disgust present.
Brian noticed Cornell's expression but did not say anything. Caring about what others were thinking of him was the last thing on his mind right now. He had already started thinking about his action plan. But before that, he had to know everything about the city. Previously, he was thinking of collecting the information subtly himself, but now the situation was different. Desperate situations call for desperate measures. His questions might make Cornell suspicious of but he did not care at this point in time. Also, Cornell was still a trustworthy person so he was not much worried about it.
" Cornell... I want you to tell me, everything that is concerning Military, trade, political affairs of the city "
"Leave nothing "
Said Brian looking into Cornell's eyes.
There were a surprise and slight confusion on Cornell's face. He could not comprehend the reason behind all this. But He did not ask the reasons and simply started speaking.
The session with Cornell lasted for around four hours. Cornell gave Brian a very detailed report on the city. His way of explaining things was commendable. Cornell answered most of Brian's questions. Now he had got a clear picture of the city and the things concerning it.
The city of tastur had been ruled by his family for generations. The Shelton family was considered to be one of the strongest in the kingdom.
During the war between the Cosvania kingdom and the Orthax empire, City of Tastur had to face most of the attacks of the Orthaxian army. The reason was its proximity with Orthax empire. Tastur was located in the south of the kingdom surrounded by mountains on one side and forests on the other.
The city of Tastur shared the border with the Orthax empire. Whenever the army attacked, the city of Tastur was the first one to engage them in battle. Roads from the capital to Tastur were not wide and their condition not good enough to allow swift movement of the soldiers to the army. So, reinforcement from the capital always took some time on arrival. Despite these odds, the city held its own against the Orthaxian army, which clearly indicated the military prowess of the city.
The reason behind the city's strength was his grandfather Arnold Shelton, The legendary fire mage. His power and authority was evident from the fact that even the king could not dare to offend him. Even though the kingdom of cosvania won the war. Years of fighting had taken a big toll on the city and also on his grandfather. A few years after the war, his grandfather died. Soon after his death, the Shelton household started declining. Their power and status plummeted.
The once powerful Shelton household was now a mere shell of its former self.
After Charles death, the king' army provided aid to the city. But everything changed years when the king died and the crown prince was crowned as the next king. The aid of the kingdom started drying up. The new king aligned himself with the Ophidian kingdom which was located east of the kingdom. The alliance deterred the Orthaxian army from invading the kingdom. The Orthax empire was very eager to attack because the Tastur city was no longer the same as it used to be.
Although Orthaxian army could not directly attack the city as it still belonged to the cosvania kingdom and attacking the city directly would be the same as declaring war against the kingdom. Orthax empire vented its anger on the Tastur city. They blamed the city for their losses earlier. The empire Sponsored the bandits and mercenaries to harass the city. This hampered the growth of the city which in turn affected the military. This vicious cycle went on for years, resulting in the current situation of the city.
No matter how many times his father asked for assistance from the royal capital but nothing came. The new king treated the city like it did not belong to the kingdom. All the sacrifices made by the city and the Shelton family for the kingdom were forgotten.
Those who saved the city from its imminent downfall were the elves. The elves who lived in the Elven forest bordering the western side of the city and the Orthaxian kingdom supported the city in times of difficulty.
The elves never provided any military support, but helped whenever the city faced a shortage of food during winter since the kingdom never responded to the city's request for food supply. The reason for their assistance was unknown even to Cornell.
After Cornell left the library, Brian sat back in his chair.
-I guess it's time to show this self-conceited world the power of black powder.
He smiled with malicious glee.