The young guard didn’t know what to do when he was face to face with these men. He knew that this message should have only been for the commander’s ears, but he was far too intimidated by the old man’s presence to be able to say anything about it
He was nothing in comparison to both these men, and had no right to remind them about the rules.
The middle-aged man, Elric Roth, had a fourteen pointed star on his chest, signifying his position in the highest rank of military commanders.
Due to its history, the Kingdom of Roddarus put a strong emphasis on its military, to the point where your military rank almost always directly correlated with your status and power as a noble.
Regular soldiers ranged from fresh recruits from the academy who had a single point of a star, to those who had a four-pointed one.
Five points to nine points were for captains in charge of either a group of soldiers, or a particular district of a town or city. The size and scale of either directly correlated to the captain’s rank.
From ten points to fourteen points were your commanders. They covered a wide range of positions, from those who lead active armies, to the leaders’ of military academies, or those who oversaw the military of an entire town or city.
Above them was the most elite and exclusive group of people in the military, those ranging from fifteen points to nineteen points. Each person of these ranks ruled over an entire region of the kingdom, with only a few exclusions that worked in the capital directly under the king.
The twenty pointed star was exclusively held by the ruling monarch.
Since the establishment of the Kingdom of Roddarus, it was decided that the heir to the throne would be determined by their military rank and prowess, and that every able-bodied member of the royal family would enlist in the military once they were of age.
This ruling held true from the beginning of the country till now, and had even become the standard rule of succession for every noble family as well.
Elric was one of the highest ranking people in the city, second only to Lord Whitmore himself.
He was the commander responsible for overseeing the military academy. And it was actually unknown why he had spent the past several days here in this barracks than at the academy.
It had no doubt put a lot of pressure on all of the soldiers positioned here.
This commander alone was someone that this young recruit would normally never be able to talk to under normal circumstances, but the old man sitting next to him made it even worse for the young recruit.
That was because the old man held a similar position in the city to this commander. For he was the current headmaster of the region’s magic academy, and was also a member of Lord Whitmore’s counsel.
He didn’t have a military rank, as he dedicated himself purely to the pursuit of knowledge. However, that didn’t stop him from establishing a position among the highest powers of the region.
Magic was a powerful tool, both in day to day life and in combat. Anybody, no matter their position in life, would jump on the opportunity to learn about it at an academy, assuming they were capable enough to enrol.
This meant that many people in positions of power in the region either studied at his academy, or were under his direct tutelage.
“Go on,” Commander Roth said calmly. He knew the young man was under a lot of pressure at the moment, so he didn’t lose his patience.
Commander Roth’s words shook him from his stupor. He snapped to attention as he remembered what he needed to say. “Guards have come from the far south, saying that they have a message to pass on to the Lord about the bandit situation.”
Commander Roth knew more about the bandit situation than most due to his position. He knew that things were getting quite serious, but due to the distance they had little clue of just how bad it had gotten.
He knew how important it was to have information from someone who was present, so he stood up and walked straight to the door. “Take me to them.”
“Yes sir. They were at the southern main gate.” He walked back the way he came, exiting the barracks and falling into position behind the commander as soon as he told him where they were going.
The old man calmly walked beside the commander, his cane tapping along the ground at a rhythmic pace.
“How many were there?” Commander Roth asked.
“Two. A middle-aged man missing an arm and a young woman.”
The commander nodded. “This doesn’t bode well for us if the only person they could send was injured to such a degree.”
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While the commander’s attention was focused on the injured man, the old man was more interested in something else.
As they got closer to the southern gate, he felt the ball of mana he had sectioned off in his body start to vibrate. The vibrations grew stronger the closer they got to their destination, as if the ball of mana was resonating with something else nearby.
The old man smiled lightly as he kept pace with them despite his advanced age and need for a cane. “It seems like what I was looking for has finally arrived.”
Commander Roth eyed his friend, finding the timing of it to be quite a coincidence. That the arrival of who the old man was waiting for would just so happen to coincide with the arrival of these guards.
But then he shared a look with the old man, and he realised that it might very well not be a coincidence at all. And that their goals were one in the same.
He was a little surprised, but it didn’t break his stride, but he was a little intrigued as to why someone of such importance would be travelling in such small company.
It didn’t take long for the three of them to arrive at the southern gate, where they saw Lucien, Lynn, and the guard waiting off to the side.
Seeing Lynn, the old man pulled out a gemstone identical to the one Kaitlyn had, and activated it.
Mist started swirling aimlessly in the space above the gemstone, as if waiting for something to happen. But that didn’t take long to happen.
As if receiving a signal from the other side, the mist converged, shifting the reflection of the light and connecting to places in space together.
“Grandpa?” Kaitlyn said from the other side of the mist, surprised. She had been waiting anxiously all this time to hear news about Lynn’s safe arrival.
She would regularly use the stone to contact the butler Hargreaves, because she knew they could check to see that Lynn was safe, but she wouldn’t be satisfied until she heard that Lynn was safe and sound.
When she saw the gem light up today, she hurriedly poured her mana into it, expecting to see the butler, but was surprised to see her grandfather instead.
The old man smiled gently with a slight hint of sadness as he studied all the changes in her face that had happened over the past several years. “Hello my little dewdrop.”
Kaitlyn flushed slightly at the embarrassing nickname, but at the same time was overcome with warmth as old memories came back to her.
The two stood their in silence for a moment, taking each other in for the first time in close to two decades.
“Let’s leave them be,” said Commander Roth to the young recruit, walking over to Lucien to give the old man some privacy.
“You should sleep more,” the old man said, seeing the bags under her eyes.
“It’s difficult when your child just up and lea-” she stopped, the words stuck in her throat. Her eyes wandered around, trying to look at anything else but him. “I’m sorry.”
“Your parents were just as much at fault for what happened then. You don’t have to apologise. I’m just glad to see that you’re okay,” he gently comforted her.
“I’ve missed you.”
“That’s all I've wanted to hear.” he smiled. Altering the flow of mana, he flipped what side of the mist was being shown to Kaitlyn, so that Lynn could be seen. “Is that her?”
Kaitlyn nodded. “That’s her. I’m so glad she’s safe. Please take care of her.”
“What kind of person do you think I am? Of course I will... It’s not too late to fix things you know? You can always come back to us.”
“I... I’ll think about it.”
The two continued to talk, catching each other up on everything they had missed in the past two decades.
~
Looks like they’re taking me seriously. Lucien had spotted the trio of people that included the young recruit at the same time that they had seen him.
He focused his attention on the two older men, but especially on Commander Roth, because of the fourteen-pointed star that glimmered on his chest.
While Uther didn’t care much for titles himself, he did make sure to teach Lucien about what the military rankings meant among everything else he had taught him.
Lucien tidied himself up as best he could, stood at attention, and saluted the commander as he approached.
“At ease. What’s the situation like down south?” Commander Roth went straight to the point.
“It’s not great, sir. Many villages have been attacked, and some have even been destroyed. My own village being one of them,” Lucien said.
The surroundings grew silent for a moment as everyone listened to him.
Commander Roth frowned, scanning the crowded area. “Come with me,” he said to Lucien. “The rest of you go back to what you were doing.”
The guards splintered off at his command, heading back to their post at the gate.
At the same time, The old man approached Lynn, the misty gem still active in his hand as he continued to talk with Kaitlyn.
“Let’s head off,” Commander Roth repeated himself as he walked down the main road, expecting Lucien to join him.
Lucien turned back to look at Lynn, wondering if she was okay. He thought he saw someone familiar in the mist, but it was too far away for him to be sure.
He hesitated for a moment, but turned back around to follow the commander when she waved at him that she would be fine.
She’ll be fine. They had already made plans for if they got separated, so he wasn’t worried that he would never see her again. Besides, he trusted her ability to keep herself safe.
He grabbed his horse's reins and caught up with the commander, following behind him.
“When was your village destroyed?”
“Before I set off, so around two months ago now, I’d say.”
A short distance away from where Lucien was staying, there was a wide area sectioned off for carriages, as well as a small building that was used as a break room for the carriage drivers.
Most of the space was reserved for public carriages, which people could hire at any time to get where they needed to go,
The space was fairly empty at the moment, as most of the public carriages were in use. But, there were a few private carriages stored there, including a few belonging to the military.
"You can leave your horse here. Someone will take care of it." the commander said.
"He's not mine. He actually belongs to one of the villages back home." Lucien explained, combing his hand through the horse's mane.
"We'll make sure he gets back safely."
"Alright," Lucien took a breath, his hand lingering on the horse's face for a moment as he said goodbye. He took off his belongings and slung it over his shoulder.
“Get in. I’ll take you to Lord Whitmore.” The commander waved down one of the military drivers waiting nearby, and then got inside.
Lucien joined him inside as the carriage set off for the castle.
Now that they were in a more private area, the commander spoke a bit more freely. “We had already been preparing some troops to quell the troubles down south, you came at the perfect time. Whatever information you have about them will be incredibly helpful.”
“Yes sir.” Lucien answered rigidly, following the instructions that Uther had drilled into his bones.
“You can be at ease around his Lordship, just make sure to tell us everything you need to say, and we’ll handle everything else. I know it must have been hard on you.”