“So, you are saying that you people had absolutely no idea what’s been going on,” said Gadric within the main lobby of the Durrell manor. He paid a sudden visit one day via the teleportation spell. Gavin and Ansel were present, seated on the opposite side of Gadric. Selena was gracefully putting down tea cups with an additional maid placing a silver plate with cookies.
“Sir, we’ve been fairly busy rebuilding this town,” Gavin replied.
“Well, the baron has been fairly busy with the baroness more like,” Ansel added. “Mentor, she is pregnant.”
Gadric’s eyes went wide. “Already? That’s pretty fast. While good news, that’s not the purpose of this visit. My visit is strictly about business. I was sent by the Duke’s order to find out what’s going on.”
Count Rassier apparently sent a strongly worded letter to the king, demanding an explanation of what was going on. He unified the Moshil region and received no words whatsoever from the royal family. For Duke Grimhill, the Durrell was a good source of insider information, hence the visit.
“To be absolutely fair,” Gadric said, “The fault is on the royal family instead of the count. The count is within his rights to demand an explanation.”
“Then why the panic?” Ansel asked.
“That’s due to how the letter was worded. The count sounded as if he was willing to enter a conflict to get what he wants.”
“What does he want?”
“The title of duke.”
“I don’t see a big problem?” Ansel tilted his head. “He has unified the whole southern region. Doesn’t he deserve to be a duke?”
Gadric folded his arms. “Lad, the title of duke has usually been given to those who are loyal to the crown for generations. The Rassier isn’t one of them.”
Due to the distance, the Rassier or any southern noble houses had a rather distant view on the royal family. They were loyal on paper but, in reality, they minded their own business and discarded the influence of the royal family. This shouldn’t have been like this, but the royal family always had a rather distant relationship with the southern nobles as well, which cemented this practice.
“In other words, the title of Margrave is as high as Count Rassier is going to get,” Ansel said, to which Gadric nodded slowly.
So, it’s going to be a war then. It’s only a matter of time. The count has too many excuses to start a conflict.
“Mentor, you did say that the fault lies with the royalty. Why did they not send any congratulative letters? It could have cooled the count’s ire.”
“Well…” Gadric looked around to see Selena lingering nearby. Noticing this, Ansel swiftly dismissed her, at which point he leaned forward for a whisper.
“The king is ill due to old age. He hasn’t been in shape to pay any attention to the internal affairs for a while now.”
Both Gavin and Ansel leaned forward as well.
“Still someone has to do paperworks?” Gavin mused silently.
“The crown prince has been working but, ehm…, he is a bit of a slacker.”
“And the duke is backing such a man?” Ansel added. “Why?”
“Because he is the crown prince.”
What a load of non-sense. You back a capable man. But he didn’t say it out loud.
“Is there something wrong with the first prince? Why wasn’t he chosen in the first place?”
“The queen was accused of infidelity with the first prince. No credible evidence was found, but the king never trusted him to be his biological son.”
Internally, Ansel shook his head in disappointment. The kingdom’s upper structure was in tatters.
“The count has excluded the baron from all internal meetings, probably due to his marriage to Lady Grimhill,” he explained. “Besides, even if we are called to arms, the baron isn’t capable of sending an army. All we can muster is ten or so soldiers.”
This was something Gavin didn’t mind. He wanted to be left alone and just focus on his family. Ansel knew this as well. Since neither the count nor the baron thought that it was an issue, it wasn’t even brought up.
“He could still call you though,” Gadric said. “Because he has only a single mage which isn’t enough to tackle other noble houses. In fact, having you under his command may be the reason he is going so firmly.”
“Does that mean, if I leave the baron and go elsewhere, the potential conflict may be prevented?”
“Perhaps, I am unsure. He may still have a hidden card.”
Here was the thing. He wanted conflicts and wars. Such was the only way for him to climb the ladder of the society with relative ease. He had absolutely no reason to stop the count from rising up. As long as it wasn’t rebellion, he was willing to assist the count.
“Is it going to be a rebellion if the count raises an army over this?”
“Well…” Gadric trailed off for a moment. “Not exactly. He is not aiming for the throne. He simply wants the title of duke. A rebellion is an act to topple a king’s throne. It’s not exactly that, is it?”
Ansel nodded. But, in his mind, the difference was very thin. Gadric pulled back, relaxing on the sofa. Gavin and Ansel did the same.
“Mentor, as discussed, we know not a damn thing,” he said casually. “On behalf of the baron, I apologize for disappointing the duke.”
“I apologize,” Gavin added with a grim look.
“Baron, what will you do if a conflict does break out?”
Shrugging, Gavin beamed a resigned smile. “I’ve retired from battle. I don’t have an army to send. I will stay here. I’ve roamed my 30 years of my life on battlefields. It is time to call it quits. All I wish now is to be a good husband and a father.” He hesitated to say this for a moment. “My job now is to make Isabel happy. I swear to the tri-moons that I will bring smiles back to her face. As her knight, this will be my final duty.”
Well spoken, Baron, Ansel thought. Gavin had his roles, and those were precisely them.
There wasn’t anything more for Gadric to add because Gavin wasn’t going to be a threat. Even if Count Rassier was defeated, the baron wasn’t probably going to be punished in any meaningful way since he would contribute nothing to the cause. Besides, his wife was a Grimhil. He may be soft-banned from entering politics, but it was clear that he didn’t care for it. Unfortunately, the flip side of the issue was that Gavin was going to be largely useless to Duke Grimhill as well. The formal meeting was adjourned shortly after. An informal meeting between Gadric and Ansel began at the stables nearby the Durrell manor.
“Lad, you said the Count would arise. Lo and behold, he did. Your foresight isn’t something to scoff at, so tell me. What do you think will happen?”
They were inspecting horses from a distance at least.
“The upper structure of the kingdom seems weak. The king’s week. The crown prince appears to be a fool. Need I say more?”
“There is the Grimhill.”
“Mentor, I haven't met the duke, so I can’t make any proper judgement, but the Count Rassier is capable of raising a significant amount of troops with his allies. I find it strange that he has only one mage. He may have more, hidden probably, in order to make himself weaker so that he will be attacked instead which will give him the perfect justification to retaliate.”
“The duke will be very displeased. But the bottom line is … that we are heading to a war.”
“Most likely, yes.”
“Are you happy?”
He had no reason to lie, especially to Gadric who gave him so much. He decided to be completely honest for once.
“Yes, I am. I am happy that we are heading to a war. I will grab my chance to climb higher.”
There was even a faint grin on his face, which made Gadric’s eyes go wide.
“Yes…, chaos is a pool of opportunities, isn’t it,” he lamented. “Human history is full of it.”
“Peace is built on blood, sir. We go to wars, get sick of it, and desire peace. Then we get sick of peace and we go to wars again. The circle will forever continue.”
Gadric beamed a crooked grin. “Pray tell that to the empire of Sol. They’ve been waging wars non-stop for nearly a hundred years.”
“They must suck then, seeing they failed to conquer the world even after a hundred years of trying.”
Gadric had to laugh pleasantly. “My, my, that’s one beautiful way to put it. Are you interested in conquering the world?”
“No, sir,” he replied promptly. “All I want is a piece of land to call mine.”
“The duke can certainly grant you.”
“I wish to earn it so that nobody can doubt that the land belongs to me rightfully.”
“The most noble goal…” said Gadric while patting the back of a random horse’s neck.
He grew an urge to ask, “Say, sir …, have you ever talked to a monster?”
“Talk to a monster? Have you?”
“I’ve met a deep goblin recently.”
“You did? They are fairly rare. I’ve talked to them as well, only three times in my whole life.”
“You have? Well -”
Ansel described his encounter with the deep goblin without leaving anything.
“A mana stone,” Gadric explained. “The mana potion I gave you, it’s from dissolving a few mana stones. It’s the alchemist’s job to do it. Doing so destroys perfectly fine gem stones, so that’s why it’s morbidly expensive. Generally, mana stones with undesirable qualities are chosen.”
Ansel did his own research on the price of a mana potion. A single potion apparently cost almost five silver coins or half a gold coin. It was indeed “morbidly” expensive.
“The goblin seemed quite pleased to have it drained of mana.”
“Of course, it would have been happy. Mana stones have another name, blue diamonds.”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“Diamonds? As in the most precious gem?”
“Indeed, lad. Blue diamonds are considered impure and are cheaper. You just gave the goblin a good gift. This tusk you’ve received in return, I’d like to see it. Monsters are quite fair when it comes to trades unexpectedly. It would have given you something of similar value.”
“Certainly, sir, please follow me to my room.”
Gadric recoiled a few steps backwards when he saw the tusk in a corner of Ansel’s room.
“Oh, my tri-moons…,” he said with a shaking voice. “Lad, this is … an alicorn…” His hands were shaking as he reached out to it. “This is the horn of a unicorn…”
“A unicorn?”
“A pure white divine horse with a horn on it… Lad, this is a priceless artifact. How in the world did a mere goblin manage to get a hold onto this?!”
“Sir, it had a cluster of blue diamonds.”
Gadric chuckled. “You do have a point.”
“What good is it for?” He asked nonchalantly.
“If ground up and consumed, it can cure any illness. However, it won’t probably work on the king since he is probably at the end of his lifespan.”
“And?” He couldn’t care less about the king’s health. In fact, he wanted him dead.
“It’s tougher than any known metal, not even ash steel is stronger than this. You could make this your spear. Only a few mythical creatures are capable of breaking this.”
There was just one issue with him using it as a spear. It was too heavy. He was physically unfit to use it at the moment.
“I see. Anyway, will you be seeing Lady Durrell before you go?”
“No, this visit was strictly about business. And it looks like she won’t be able to leave here for the foreseeable future. It’s probably best that she gets used to it here and settles down truly. This is her home now by the baron’s side.”
He agreed with a nod.
“Besides, she was never one for tea parties and whatnot. She will fit in just fine.”
Standing up and distancing himself from the alicorn, he sighed. “I hope you will have mercy on the first mage you will need to fight.”
“If I touch him or her, it will be as good as over, right?”
“Indeed. Remember that I told you I’ve met a voidkin decades ago before? I’ve seen him touch a mage, and it wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was stuff of nightmares.”
“... That bad?”
He understood why the deep goblin was barking at him to stay away.
“You will see for yourself soon enough at this rate.”
“It’s very likely that we will be enemies soon.”
“I am semi-retired, and the duke has a good number of mages. Therefore, I won’t be likely to be called to arms. I do not know what the future will hold for you and me. We will have to see.”
Ansel nodded. There were no hard feelings between them. Both were rational enough to know that they had to be professional.
“But, no matter what happens, I pray that you will look after the baron.”
He was indirectly asking to look after Isabel, a message Ansel did not miss. He never intended to let Gavin fall from grace anyway. Gadric cast the teleportation spell and vanished from the spot. Heaving a long sigh in the now-quiet room, he placed both of his hands on his waist and fell into a train of thoughts. While he did say that he welcomed the war, it didn’t change the fact that it was going to be awfully messy and he had a sneaky feeling that the count was most likely going after the throne because, in order to force the royal family to grant him the title of duke, he would need to defeat them. If he defeated them, then he might as well take the throne for himself.
“.............”
The count was probably going to call him soon and, once he left to work for the count, he wasn’t probably going to come back to the baron because he was going to leave the count before he would take the royals down and overtake the kingdom of Steterra. Leaving the kingdom was never on his cards … until he saw the world map. The world was vast, and he didn’t feel the need to be weighed down in a corner of the map.
“Novar… Another Asvete…, the countess…”
He had little intention to join the empire of Sol simply because they were the most powerful nation. His contribution wouldn’t matter much to them. But, if he assisted Russet Asvete, a countess in the kingdom of Novar, there was a decent chance of a swift promotion.
“Once this kingdom falls into a civil war, I suppose the empire will tackle Novar once more… That will be my cue.”
Thus, his mind was made up. He chose to go to the kingdom of Novar at some point of the impending civil war. When he left his room, he found Gavin standing a short distance away from the door.
“Baron?”
He had a heavy expression on his face. “Ansel, what should I do?”
“Well? Come on in first. Nothing much inside though.”
Gavin stood besides the only window in the room, leaning his arm against the window frame, looking through it with a vacant gaze.
“I realize I cannot keep asking you for help, but … this is way beyond me.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“Baron, you now have your lady. She is fairly smart. You should ask and listen to her now.”
“She is a Grimhill though. Her advice is going to be biased.”
“True, but she is a Durrell now and is with your child. She will not give you any advice that will harm you.”
“I suppose you are right… But why do you speak as if you aren’t going to be here.”
With a subtle sigh, Ansel sat on the only bed in the room. “The count will summon me for sure and I will have to assist him. But I am going to leave him at one point.”
“What? Leave?”
“Fear not, Baron. I will make sure that no harm will come to you, at least not from the count. You will need to rely on your lady now.”
“Ansel…, you’ve served me for only a few years, but it feels like you’ve been here for eternity.”
He beamed a faint smile. “It has been fun, Baron.”
He wasn’t joking. He did enjoy the time he spent with Gavin and Finnic. Those few years were the best part of his life.
“I won’t stop you. This place is too small for your caliber anyway. Where do you plan to go?”
“I cannot tell you. It’s better you don’t know.”
He beamed a bitter smile. “You are probably right…”
“As for what you should do, do ask your lady, but I will tell you what I think will occur. I may be wrong since it’s too early.”
Gavin gulped, waiting for him to continue.
“As things stand, I feel that Count Rassier will emerge victorious. Not only that, he will probably overtake the throne, becoming the new king.”
Gavin’s eyes widened.
“Your position will be tricky. You are his direct vassal, yet you married a Grimhill who is his foe. You probably won’t receive any more promotions.”
“I am fine with being a baron. I do feel for Isabel though…”
“If the royal family emerges victorious, you will probably need to abandon Ateria and seek a shelter in the Grimhill territory.”
“Will they even accept me?”
“You will contribute nothing to the war since you don’t even have an army. They will welcome you due to your lady. You do have the option of staying put since your contribution will be zero. They may not punish you directly. But I fear that they may force you to divorce your wife as an indirect punishment."
“So, in a nutshell, if I want to keep Isabel, I need to act proactively.”
“Yes. And you may want to replace Finnic sooner than later.”
“Finnic?” He seemed surprised by the unexpected turn of topic. “How come?”
“He left you once. He will leave you again, should an opportunity arise. He doesn’t really have the discipline to be a knight to be honest. Ted is a better person to be a knight.”
Ansel found out that Ted excused himself from the drinking party on that day because he probably knew what was going to happen. He was probably a better fit for Gavin than Finnic ever was.
“I can’t just fire him though. You, he, and I …, we’ve been through too much just to dismiss him.”
“I will try to get him the rank of baronet during the conflict… It’s going to work only if the count wins though. Anyway, the bottom line is don't be surprised to see him leave.”
Gavin gave him a firm nod. “Ansel, I honestly don’t know how I should repay you. You’ve done so much for me, and I’ve made you only a mere page.”
He beamed a smile, a genuine smile. “Don’t worry, Baron. You’ve given me enough.”
Gavin was like a father he never had. All he wanted was to see him prosper, nothing else. No payment was needed. As long as the couple was allowed to live in peace in their little world that was Ateria, he was fine.
Of course, I need to make sure that the count understands this…
The count, should he emerge victorious, was very likely to purge all Grimhills. Isabel would be no exception. He had to get a guarantee from the count that he wouldn’t harm Isabel under any circumstances. A clear look of determination appeared in his eyes. He wanted to save his mentor as well. He certainly had the option of siding with the Grimhill and acting against the count but he didn’t like the idea of supporting an incompetent king. In his mind, the count was a capable leader although he didn’t like his other qualities. Should the count lose the war, nothing would change for him. He would still leave the country and head for Novar.
“I feel like tearing up…,” he said while vacantly staring out of the window. “I kind of miss the old days where I didn’t need to care about anything and just run on battlefields.”
“You will get busy enough, Baron.”
Once Ansel left and his child arrived, he was going to get his hands full indeed.
“Your lady is good with paperwork, so give her the workload as well. She will welcome it.”
“Yeah…”
She loathed boredom and didn’t like how men wouldn’t let women work. Thus, she would more than welcome it.
In spite of the doom and gloom, they had work to do regardless. And it wasn’t as if the conflict was going to start right away. It took about seven days for Finnic and his men to clear out ruined structures, debris, and whatnot. Some villagers joined since they knew that it was something that needed to be done to solve the housing crisis. Yes, the housing crisis. People were returning in waves, and the population of the town was rising rapidly. Hence, housing became an issue. With the ruins and debris cleared out, there was finally space for temporary huts to be constructed.
“Woo, fucking yeah, this is the stuff!” Finnic shouted as he took a bite on a roasted rig. He sliced a piece off its belly. With a beer mug in his other hand, he was enjoying the fruit of his labor that went on for a week. The other soldiers were enjoying it as well. Town folks were allowed to join, and it became a huge festival. Thus, two more pigs were brought in to fulfil the need. With a giant camp fire a short distance away from the wooden gate to the Durrell manor, over a hundred people were gathered to enjoy two roasted pigs and beer. There didn’t need to be anything else quite frankly because -
“Nothing beats roasted pigs!” Finnic roared with his mug in the air. Others cheered with agreement. Common folks rarely had a chance to consume red meat. Those living in a coastal settlement had the luxury of consuming fishes, which wasn’t an option for these folks. Therefore, this was pretty much once in a blue moon type of opportunity. Case in point, women brought out their children even and let them eat the roasted pork as well, which was a rare sight. At this point, they were going to need a third pig.
This is going to go way over budget…, Ansel thought.
“So, yummy!” A boy’s voice was heard, and he recognized it. It was Mikely Jr Jr, or Kent. He was with his parents and elder brother and was enjoying the feast to its fullest. His mother was patting his head gently with his father bringing pieces of roasted pork to both of his sons. He stared at them vacantly. They looked happy.
Why couldn’t my parents be like them?
There was no jealousy but there was sadness. His mood was soon lifted as soon as he began chewing a small piece of deliciously roasted pork belly. The taste and aroma was so good that nothing else mattered for the moment. His overall food quality had certainly gone up ever since coming to Ateria and working as a page. As a foot soldier, his main dishes consisted of a bowl of porridge and a loaf of bread. He still regularly received the same porridge and a loaf of bread, but their qualities went up. And sometimes he was given a piece of cheese which had his mind blown when he took a bite out of it for the first time. Cheese added so much flavor to his otherwise bland cuisine.
“You know, I don’t recall ever seeing a paper about this.”
It was Gavin’s voice which made Ansel turn around. In fact, it was the couple.
“Baron, Baroness,” he curtly responded due to his hands being full. “You haven’t been tending paperworks for a while.”
Gavin chuckled in his response. “Can’t deny that. The lady would like a piece.”
“Certainly.” Putting his own plate down, he grabbed a new one and sliced off a chunk from its greasy belly. Presenting it to Gavin, he gracefully cut a small piece, sprayed some salt on it, and presented it to Isabel’s mouth directly.
“B, baron?!” She seemed rather shocked. “I can eat it on my own…”
“Come on, dear,” he replied with a big smile. Sighing subtly, she took the bite. Her troubled expression smoothed out soon after tasting the piece. Covering her mouth to hide her jaw movement, she swallowed it after a moment.
“Very nice. Simple, yet very delicious,” she remarked. Noble cuisine had a strong tendency to get complicated. It must have been refreshing for her to eat such a simple dish. Moreover, she grabbed the plate from him and went inside where Selena was waiting at the main entrance.
“Seriously, this must have cost a small fortune.”
Ansel nodded. “I went over the budget.” It was way over the budget, but he didn’t need to make that clear. And this wasn’t the first time they held a large-scale party like this. “This is probably the last time we can hold a feast like this, sir.”
With the population returning, thus growing rapidly, an event like this was not going to be possible without spending a fortune. The last time he conducted a population census, the number exceeded 200 people. This was already pushing the little budget he had. Besides, he wasn’t probably going to be here for the next time. Perhaps, Gavin realized this and tapped his shoulder as he approached him.
“Well, let’s enjoy the moment for now,” he said.
“Yes, of course.”
The centre of the town was very much empty, which used to be full of ruined structures. The stage was finally set to start the real rebuilding of the town. It saddened him that he wouldn’t be there to see it. According to various sources from town folks, he concluded that the town had around 2,000 population right before the war. With slightly over 200 people, at the moment, it was one tenth of its capacity. Gavin and Isabel were about to get really busy once more waves returned. While it did pain him to leave them behind, he had to in order to achieve his goal which was to become a lord of his own fief. Count Rassier, should he succeed in his ambition, could certainly grant him what he wants. But he wanted a little more than that. He was looking for a specific fief. He wasn’t sure what kind of land he wanted but knew that, in order to be able to have a choice, he needed far greater achievements. Perhaps, he will find this opportunity in Novar while fighting the empire.
