Baron Fynn von Ris, Thirty-Three Years Old, Fifth Month of 948.
Looking out over the field of barren dirt, my heart twinged.
So much death.
This was the location where my daughter had helped to defend our home from a force of several thousand goblins only a few months ago. Though the bodies had all been rounded up and disposed of, it was like the land bore a permanent scar; all of the plant life in the area that her spell had affected, was dead. It was as though a snowless winter had sunk its teeth into the land.
Though there was no longer any snow, the trees had not recovered their leaves at all, and the grass had not regrown following the onset of spring. A few of the knights speculated that this was a side effect of Stahlia’s spell, but none of them were well-versed enough in magic to say for certain.
Still, other than being barren, the land harbored no ill effects that we could discern; animals that crossed through it survived, and a volunteer had spent a night there with no discernable repercussions. In a way, the lack of plant life was a sort of blessing. It made it much easier to spot any incoming threats, or so the knight garrison told me.
These knights… what strings did Stahlia pull?
The knights who had originally been only a temporary measure had one day announced that they had been permanently garrisoned here and placed under my command as the lord of this region. They immediately set to work constructing a fort from which the mountain pass could be observed and guarded. The village’s guard force, those that survived the battle, worked with them and were presently being trained into a proper militia force.
All this had happened shortly after a pair of letters arrived from Stahlia. The first was greatly concerning, detailing a string of trouble that had occurred with her engagement. The second had been confusing; if it was to be believed, she had managed to figure out a solution to the problem only a few days after it first occurred. It made me feel a bit silly, given that I had only just sent a letter myself urging her caution.
Turning around, I went down from the fortifications to greet the commander.
“I would be lying if I told you that I knew about things like this, but to my inexperienced eye, the fort is most impressive.”
The knight chuckled, “Aye, but we have a ways to go yet before it’s finished… See there, that wall is only the outer skin; we need to raise the inner portion and fill it with compressed earth.”
Following his finger, it was obvious now that he had pointed it out; that portion of the wall was only about a half a meter thick, a single row of felled trees. The wall I had just been on top of had a walk way built into it, and a full row of more tree trunks supporting it from the rear.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
I had thought that that wall was not built similarly since it did not face the pass. But then, the fort would have a weak side, should the enemy encircle it.
This was why I had given the knight’s commander carte blanche with the construction effort and direction. My domain was rich beyond its station thanks in no small part to my daughter, so we were able to hire outside help for planning. A fact which the knights had taken full advantage of.
“Well, I shall trust your judgment on the matter. If not for you and your men, we would not have been able to garrison a structure like this in the first place.”
He nodded, “About that, several of the young men from the village have expressed interest in joining the militia force.”
“What of it? Some do every year or so.”
“Aye, but those are fourth sons and failed adventurers; boys with no future. This lot of boys are made up of first and second sons.”
Closing my eyes, I thought for a moment, “Sark and his group? My daughter’s friends.”
“Yes, those are the ones.”
This was a dilemma. My village needed defenses, and for those we needed men, I knew that much. But taking first sons was… It was not something to be done lightly.
“…Hold a try-out. Show them real fear, scare them. But do not actually hurt them if it can be avoided… After that, if they still wish to fight, then I will speak with their fathers.”
The knight nodded, “I can do that. You aren’t like most nobles, you know that?”
“So I am reminded, most often by my wife.”
“Ha!”
The two of us enjoyed a quiet moment before it was time to continue my inspection-in-name-only.
We made our way out of the fort and towards the ramshackle parade ground where the knight’s vice commander was drilling the militia. The survivors of the Goblin attack were going through drills with sweat on their brows and determination in their eyes. It was a sight that really spoke to some part of me, and for a moment I felt the desire to join them, but my station would not permit it.
“How goes it?” The commander called out to his second, who responded with a crisp salute.
“Sir! About as well as you can see.”
Given the grimness of his face, that probably wasn’t so good. But I lacked any military context so I couldn’t tell for myself.
“Captain?”
“Ah… Well, your villagers have spirit. Sir Cristoff here is just used to working with people who have a combat-orientated purpose.”
That makes sense, to get into an Order of Knights requires one to have a combat purpose. The men who join the village guards had no other options, if they had a purpose they wouldn’t be here.
“Is there anything we can do?”
Sir Cristoff appeared to think for a moment.
“Well, we can somewhat close the gap with decent weapons and armor. They’d never be able to stand up to a knight or mercenary who was blessed with purpose, but they wouldn’t need to worry about stray monsters anymore… It would cost a pretty penny though.”
I merely nodded; I had learned my lesson. The reconstruction had been long completed, now I was making sure that my daughter would never again need to risk her own safety.
If only I knew, what had transpired mere months ago in the capital.