Chapter 16 — The Truth

When they returned home, Ria prepared a meal for Jarrel using the firestone while he went out back to wash up. She used her staff to power the stone this time and avoided burning herself.

“Just how many wolves did you kill?” Jarrel asked when he came back in, clean-shaven. He had left his armor outside, and his hair was slightly damp.

“A dozen,” Ria answered. “I scared off another dozen or so. I need you to help with cleaning the pelts, if you don’t mind. I’m just not strong enough yet.”

“And here I thought you only had to fend off a pack of about ten or so. A girl your age driving off over twenty… no wonder you were calling it a battle. Though, seeing that lightning, I can believe it.” Jarrel paused and slowly nodded as if convincing himself then continued, “Don’t worry about the pelts, I’ll take care of it. That’s lucky timing. We’re going to need them.”

Ria nodded. She was thinking the same. “Let’s eat while the food is warm.”

“Right, right. Thank you for the food,” Jarrel said with a wink. “Ooh, fried egg. Wolf steak, I’m guessing. Mushrooms and fresh vegetables, too. And… ale to wash it down! Nice!”

“The steak is not as good as yours, but I wanted to try doing something other than soup and stew to celebrate the festival… and your safe return.” Ria looked to the side to hide her expression. “I’m planning to make a cake later—after cooking the wolf stew.”

“Oooh, a cake! That is special.” Jarrel chuckled and dug into the food. “After almost a week eating jerky, this is really nice. Thanks, Ria.”

Ria just nodded and kept eating to hide her flushed cheeks.

Jarrel inquired about their current food situation while they ate, waiting until the meal was finished to bring up the main topic, “So, what’s this important discovery that you mentioned earlier?”

“Wait here. I’ll be right back.” Ria retrieved the duke’s letter and quietly returned to her seat after handing it over.

Jarrel’s expression darkened. He read silently, then dropped the letter to the table, and leaned back in the chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “So, it’s true then. Was this letter just lying around at Sir Tellis’ manor?”

Ria nodded. “I think he purposefully left the duke’s letter where it would be found. There were also draft letters expressing how upset Sir Tellis’ was about the order.”

“Seems risky for him, but he has always worked hard to grow this village and had good relations with the families living here.” Jarrel sighed. “That aside, the letter does give credence to one of the more unbelievable rumors. Apparently, one of the northwestern village mayors, Baronet Gennis, rebelled upon receiving the conscription order and evacuated his entire village into the nearby Coldwind forest.”

Ria perked up at the mention of rumors and rebellion. “You were able to meet with a caravan then?”

Jarrel nodded. “Yes, but not until the third day. Other than letter couriers and soldiers, the roads were completely empty. It was a good thing that I camped in the forest while I waited and not out by the crossroads. I followed the caravan south and watched from the edge of the forest when they approached the border checkpoint. All of the people who were pretending to be part of the merchant group were arrested and later sent north with others who had been captured.”

“So, the border checkpoint is impossible,” Ria muttered and slumped her shoulders.

“Seems so,” Jarrel agreed. “I don’t know how they could tell, but all of the people who admitted to me that they were from villages that got conscripted were arrested.”

“They knew about the conscription?” Ria asked.

“Yes,” Jarrel confirmed. “After the villages were cleared, an announcement was made about the King’s order to conscript all but four villages and to begin immediate construction on a new physical wall to supplement the Great Barrier Wall. The four exempted villages will gain a garrison of soldiers and have fortifications built.”

Ria’s eyebrows shot up. “Every village in the whole country but four?! Where will the country get its food? From the four remaining villages?!”

Jarrel shrugged. “Sounds like the King plans exactly that, but there’s still the possibility of importing food from Crysellia or the Arengrade Kingdom. For the situation to be to this extent, the King’s advisors must be expecting an imminent collapse of the Great Barrier Wall.”

“How could the King let it come to this? Surely there has been some kind of warning sign?” Ria lamented in frustration.

“There’s been rumors of monsters slipping through the barrier since before I came north with my first trade caravan, but replacing the Great Barrier Wall? A relic of ages past that has lasted for hundreds and hundreds of years? How would one even begin such an undertaking? It’s human nature to focus on the problems of today and to leave the unsolvable problems of the future to the future,” Jarrel pointed out.

“It’s no excuse! Every villager knows that if they don’t prepare for winter their family will starve! The responsibility of nobility is to govern and plan for the future! The responsibility of a king is to provide leadership and direction to a country! It’s entirely the King’s fault!” Ria ranted.

“As you get older, you’ll realize that reality rarely lives up to such ideals…,” Jarrel advised, shrugging.

Ria glared.

“Ria, I’m not defending the King.” Jarrel held up his hands in a placating gesture. “I’m just saying that nobles and kings are human too, and humans fail.”

Letting her gaze drop, Ria muttered, “I can still hate him for it.”

“That you can, Ria. You, at least, have earned that right,” Jarrel replied quietly and finished off his ale.

After reflecting silently for a while and sipping her own ale, Ria spoke up again, “I still don’t understand why elderly villagers and children were conscripted. What does it even mean to conscript a baby?”

“Maybe the King didn’t want to separate families. Maybe they’ll be safer with the soldiers than living in undefended villages with no one to hunt and work the fields. Or maybe the King didn’t even think about it. There doesn’t have to be a sinister reason,” Jarrel offered.

Ria shrugged. “I guess.”

Jarrel leaned forward. “You know, Ria, our families and friends aren’t dead. If you look at it from another point of view, they are heroes working hard to save the kingdom. If the new wall is completed, they might even be rewarded. It’s not unheard of for commoners in service to the crown to be made knights or given honorary titles.”

Not dead, yet. But they are being forced to do hard labor in a dangerous place that could be overrun by monsters at any time. Though maybe she should have more faith in her family and friends to survive.

Ria breathed in deeply and slowly let it out. “I hope that you are right, and that they do return as heroes. But, that doesn’t change the fact that we are criminals and can’t stay here. What’s your plan?”

“There’s still some time before we risk facing a highlands crossing during winter, so we will use that time to start getting ready everything we need to cross over to Crysellia. There are some things like tools and more rugged clothing that we should prioritize in case we have to leave in a hurry. Our food situation should be in good shape once the remaining dried jerky is made. Cake is good, but if you can make cookies, those would substitute for bread and would keep longer.” Jarrel paused and waited for Ria’s confirmation.

Ria hesitated. “My mom’s cookie recipe uses butter, and we don’t have any…”

“Can you substitute lard? We have plenty of that,” Jarrel suggested.

“Maybe. It’s worth a try.”

“Okay, I’ll leave that to you.” Jarrel nodded and resumed detailing his plan, “While we’re preparing, I’ll continue your hunter training so we can toughen you up and improve your strength. I want you to also keep working on your magic studies. Alternating physical training days with mental training days will give your muscles time to recover. If you’ve got any books you want to read, you should do it soon, bringing more than one book will be difficult. With that in mind, we’ll plan to leave in two weeks, okay?”

“Yeah, that sounds okay,” Ria agreed. “Staying longer than that seems risky anyway.”

“Good, how about you get started on the cooking then while I work up a list?” Jarrel prompted.

With a plan for the future, and a full evening’s worth of cooking to do, Ria threw herself into the work.