Chapter 4 Part 2 – The End of winter (2)

Author: J. Arque

Editor: –

Proofreader: –

Exton, 29th Late Winter, Markadia Calendar

"Uncle Bob!"

As I got closer I could see the faces of the people Bob and Pateyk had brought from their journey. Those six men consisted of one old man about the age of 60, four men were around the age of 30 to 40, and one young man that seemed at his late teen. The other two women who followed these men looked fairly similar to each other which then I guessed they were siblings. These two women wore some kind of straw containers as if they were backpacks. I freaked out when I saw two babies' head came out of the top of the containers, but thankfully those babies were moving. I also looked at the 12 slaves in the cage and I realized some of them were only a few years older than me. Just when I tried to examine the slaves, I heard Bob shouted, "Karl!" While he sprinted his destrier further in front of the convoy to approach me. I got too excited that I forgot my lungs weren't trained to run continuously for a mile.

When I stopped to take a deep breath, Bob already arrived at my side with the large destrier he rode on.

"Pant*… pant*… Welcome back Uncle" I still found it too difficult to speak while I was trying to fill my lungs with oxygen.

"Hahaha It's good to be back" Bob grinned and I could see the strange expression that attached to his face. I had never seen him this happy before. Maybe something good happened in Trakken.

When the oxygen flowed in my blood, I could finally straighten myself and asked the most important thing that had bothered me the most since I saw the convoy. "By the way, who are those people? I understand about the young slaves, but others? Most of those people are older than twenty! Didn't we agree not to inform anyone you know at Trakken about our business? Or did you forget that?" I said with a voice that slightly sterner than the one Karl usually had.

"It is a long story Karl, but don't ye worry about that. I'm sure except me, Pateyk, and the auction house folks, nobody else know the origin of the Starwood Sword; if that's what ye wanderin' about"

"Starwood Sword?"

"Yea, our Sword. It's a long story, though. I will tell ye about that tonight. But now come with me, I'll introduce ye with my Brothers-in-law"

"What? Did you get married again while you are there?"

"No ye idiot, they are Kashia's brothers"

I knew I've heard this 'Kashia' name before but I forgot where and when. But then I recalled one night where even though he was sleeping but Bob kept saying things like 'Kashia don't ye die' or 'Kashia, I'm home'. I immediately knew this Kashia was Boban's wife who died few years ago before he got back to Exton.

Before I got into his body, Karl had tried to inquire about Kashia but Bob always ignored Karl's question and Karl as a normal kid, wasn't really interested in his uncle's personal life so he decided not to push Bob for answers.

"Hey! Don't call me an idiot! You never told me a thing about your wife before" I said.

"Oh, really? I am sorry then. I promise to tell ye about Kashia later" then Bob gave his hand for me to reached, "Hop on, they are waiting for us" With a single pull from Bob I got on the destrier saddle. The saddle itself literally just a blanket. A piece of leather strapped to the horse's back.

Based on what Karl had seen and heard over the years, I initially guessed the technological advancements in this part of the world were relatively similar to the one that historians said as the Europe in the early middle ages. It wasn't a surprise for me that stirrup for horse riding wasn't even known in Rohrkadia. Yet, the one that surprised me was the saddle. This blanket-type saddle only found in the ancient Greece period. If they really had not invented a better saddle for the horse-riding yet. This should be a big opportunity. Forget Xnethar or Karvali horsemen, I could build a better cavalry troop with proper tactics, better equipment, and better supply line. But let's not got ahead of ourselves here, maybe they already developed it but only known to the one from the higher caste. I also had never seen one of Xnethar or Karvali horsemen before, they might already have stirrups and better saddle than the rest of the states in the peninsula. If that was true, those horsemen should be as terrifying as the tale Karl's heard from the travelers. I needed to acquire more information from a reliable source about this matter later on.

As the horse started to sprint, I felt something really wrong with my balls. "Did you really travel for hours with this kind of saddle?" I asked.

"Of course, it is great, isn't it? Ye have never ridden a horse before, right?"

Great my ass!

This even worse than the roman saddle replica that I had back on Earth. Fortunately, my balls didn't have to be smacked by the back of the destrier anymore after we arrived at the front of the convoy.

I saw Pateyk's eyes wander around restlessly when Bob and I dismounted the destrier. It was weird to see the usual calm Pateyk became like a chicken who was standing in front of a butcher's knife. "Pateyk, why are you so restless?" I asked.

"Ingrid, my wife… Is she okay?" Pateyk asked me.

Ingrid the infamous grumpy foreigner was Pateyk's wife. She married with Pateyk when he lived in Etherton to pursue his carpentry career. I remembered I saw her and her 15 years old daughter yesterday while I strolled around the village with Natasha trying to find the bee hive.

"She is fine, I saw her and Gischa yesterday chopping the firewood," I said.

"Did she angry?"

"No… I mean I don't know" Of course I didn't know. How could I afford to pay too much attention to Ingrid's state of mind when my own head filled with vengeance for that goddam honey bee?

"Oh, gods" Pateyk's face lost its color. I glanced toward Bob to find out why he was restless but Bob only shrugged and said that Pateyk already like this since they departed from Trakken yesterday.

Unless…

"Don't tell me you didn't tell your family about your trip?" I asked but I only received a nod from him as confirmation.

Goddam… no wonder he was restless. I rather stay single than to marry a scary woman like Ingrid.

Few days ago when Pateyk got home from the forge to helped us with the sword, he was whipped and spanked by Ingrid, which was a weird thing for me and Bob to know but sadly I could not erase the images of that spanking and whipping scenes from my head -and I was sure Bob too- when I could clearly see the marks on Pateyk's skin next day we met him at the forge. However, the strange thing was despite his complain about the pain, Pateyk smile even wider that day as if he just got the best night of his life.

"Err… I got to go Karl" Pateyk said as he moved to dismount his black destrier.

"Eh?! Why do ye get down? It is yer horse, ye know?" Bob said.

"What do you mean? Isn't it Karl's?"

"It is yours. You helped us after all" I said.

"And take the foodstuffs on yer horse too. I'm sure Ingrid and Gischa will be happy with that" Added Bob.

"Eh? You are kidding right?" Pateyk couldn't hide his disbelief.

"No, of course not," I said.

"But, this is too much! I only helped a little bit!" Pateyk said tried to be polite but I could see the glint of happiness from his eyes.

"Oh, ye shut up! Ye know how much money we got on this trip. Just go and take a good spank from yer wife!"

"Thank you, Bob! Thank you, Karl! Both of you! From now you just have to call me Pat like my late brother and father did! If you need anything just…"

"Just go!" I shouted

Pateyk nodded, kicked his destrier with the back of his leg and rushed towards his house in the southernmost area of the Exton. I could hear Pateyk's voice from afar. "Ingrid! Gischa! Daddy's home"

"Brother Toni, Lando, Sister Rea, Chaeryn come 'ere! And bring Mikhal, Brother Shoren, and Danzael too" All the men and women who previously followed Bob and Pateyk come forward, except the Oldest one who just ride his horse at the back.

"Brother Toni, this is my nephew, Karl, the one I told ye earlier, he is the son of my little sister, Tatia," Bob said to a man who now stood next to him. Then he turned his head toward me, "And Karl, this is Kashia's oldest brother, Antonei, one of the best potter in Trakken"

Antonei himself was a tall man with a long full beard despite the baldness of his head. His dark auburn beard, however, indicates that his original hair should be auburn too. His eyes displayed a sense of guilt and regret. I could also see the dirty fingernails that Antonei had which was normal for a potter.

The man who stood next to Bob and Antonei also had dark auburn hair. So I guessed this one should be another brother of Kashia. I turned my attention back to Antonei and said, "Hi Uncle Toni, I'm Karl son of Xander, Welcome to Exton"

Instead of receiving the normal answer that I expected, Antonei bowed his head towards me and said, "Master Karl, I'm Antonei son of Vyktor, but I'm not exactly a potter anymore… And thank ye for made it possible for me and Shoren left that hell"

"Master Karl? Left that hell? What does he mean by that?" I asked as I pierced Bob's eyes with my stare. I really suspected Bob has said or done something that he shouldn't have.

Bob avoided my stare and scratched the back of his head, "Er… the truth is… I sort of bought him and Brother Shoren from the slave market few days ago"

"What the… You bought your brother-in-law from a slave market?" I demanded an answer from Bob.

But he only answered with his usual 'tell ye later', "Yes, I will tell ye about it later…"

"Sigh*… Fine" I gave in and turned back to Antonei, "And Uncle Toni, you are family to Uncle Bob so you are my family too. So please don't call me master again… I don't like the way it sounds especially if it comes from my own family"

"But…” He tried to protest.

But before he finished his sentence I insisted, "Just call me Karl"

"…"

Bob who saw the awkwardness of the situation moved to the another auburn haired man next to Antonei, "Ehem, Let's move on, Lando, this is my nephew, Karl", Bob touched my shoulder, "Karl, this is my best friend when I was living in Trakken, Lando, who also a little brother to Brother Toni. A stingy man but still generous enough to let me marry his little sister. And yeah… He is also a jester"

Lando was a very thin man, He even thinner than the thinnest man in Exton. I didn't understand what sort of life, people in Trakken had. At first, I thought the pay for a Jester must have been very low. But when I looked at these Trakken people, almost all of them were in worse condition than we had here in Exton. I couldn't even imagine the impact of the great famine to the people in Capital -Markadia City- which entirely different scale with Trakken and had a greater demand for food than any other place in this state. Yet despite his pathetic condition, Lando was a very cheerful man, I could sense it in his eyes, the limitless energy, determination, and curiosity.

He wore this really colorful tunic that rarely seen on a lower caste people which probably his jester uniform. His top hair was covered with a blue and white colored liripiped hat.

"I'm not a jester, ye prick! I am a poet!" Lando smacked Bob's head.

I raised my eyebrow but not because Bob's head was smacked but because Lando voice was really peculiar. I didn't know how to describe it but it kind of similar to the sound you would produce if you speak in front of an electric fan. It added to the fact that Lando spoke really fast, it became a sound that you would not expect from a man in his thirties. In earth, he could easily be a comedian if he knew how to tell a smart joke but if not he could always be a clown for some kid's birthday party.

"Am I right?" Bob laughed while pointed at Lando.

Since he might be useful for me in the future and I needed him to respect me, I wasn't trying to antagonize Lando. So instead I ignored Bob's remark and said politely, "A poet, eh? Nice to see you, Uncle Lando, I'm Karl son of Xander"

Lando’s jaw was dropped as if he just saw something unbelievable. But when he recovered he reply, "Hi Karl, I'm Lando son of Vyktor and a Jest… I mean a Poet"

I nodded "I would really like to hear your poems Uncle Lando or maybe you could teach me one or two things about a good prose and poem"

Suddenly Lando burst into tears "Ye are a very polite boy, ye know Karl!" He continued as he wiped the tears with his hat, "All the kids in Trakken would always laugh at my voice, ye are the only one except Kashia who acknowledge me as a poet… hiks* hiks*"

Bob was quite disturbed by the scene of his best friend/brother-in-law crying in front of an 8 years old. So he pulled me from Lando and deliver me at the front of a woman who looked like in her late thirties and a young man in his late teen. Bob said, "Ehem… Karl, this is Brother Toni's wife, Sister Rea and their son, Mikhal"

"Hi Brother Mikhal, Aunt Rea, I'm Karl son of Xander, welcome to our humble village"

"Hi Karl, I'm Reandra daughter of Tysot and this is my son, Mikhal"

Reandra was a woman with short light brown hair and light green eyes which quite similar than the one Karl and Xander had but Reandra and her sister had a different kind of shade of brown and green. Both sisters had this tattoo on their forehead which I could recognize as Azai's monogram. A symbol of some kind of sect of the major religion in Rohrkadia that followed a particular god instead of all of them. And in this case, it was Azai the god of the sea. I didn't really interested in this religion business when I arrived on this planet, and I didn't plan to bother or prevent anybody to follow what they believe as long as they didn't prevent me gain revenue from my business. Besides, religion also could be another source of revenue and a tool for society control if one had the brain to do it.

"Hi Karl, I'm Mikhal son of Antonei, Nice to finally meet ye, yer uncle told us a lot about ye" Mikhal, on the other hand, were the mix of Antonei and Reandra except the strong jaw line that none of his relatives that I had seen so far -Antonei, Reandra or Lando- had. Probably it was from his grandparents.

"I hope it is not about my embarrassing moments," I said.

Reandra giggled when she heard my words and said, "He told us one or two things"

"Shame on you Uncle Bob"

"Ei! I didn't tell them about any of that! It's only about the god in yer dream!"

"I do not give you the permission to do that either"

Bob shrugged and took me to the other woman who I already guessed as Reandra's younger sister, "Well, let's move on, 'ere is Sister Reandra's younger sister, Chaeryn"

Reandra and Chaeryn appearance were pretty similar. But I could see Reandra was older by 5 to 6 years than Chaeryn. If they were in the same age, it would be difficult to differentiate them.

"Hi Aunt Chaeryn, I'm Karl son of Xander, and who are the little one on your back?" I asked about the baby's heads that popped out of the straw containers back then.

"Hi Karl, I'm Chaeryn daughter of Tysot and 'ere is my little twins Gigi and Aura," Chaeryn said. But I didn’t know whether they were girls or boys since their name in this area could be assigned to both genders. And their baby's faces weren't reliable enough for me to get an information about their gender. I wanted to ask but decided not to, since I really didn't have the patience to talk about other people's kid and I knew how parents sometimes got too excited when they started to talk about their children.

'Meh, it doesn't matter if they are boy or girl, they are only babies', I thought.

"Oh, they are your twins? Who is the father?" I quickly changed the subject.

Chaeryn pulled the man with a short neck on her side, "Shoren say hi to yer master"

"Master again?" I couldn't help but ask.

A thick eyebrowed man next to Shoren, who looked slightly younger than Bob replied to me, "Yes, both of them had their guild membership revoked and sold themselves to slave market before Bob bought them"

I nodded to this man's reply and turned my attention back to Shoren, "Hi Uncle Shoren, I'm Karl son of Xander and please don't call me master like Uncle Toni"

"Hi… Karl, I am Shoren son of Zabal... I supposed I'm a slave now that my caste dropped to the lowest" said the short-necked Shoren with a depressed expression.

"Are you a potter like Uncle Toni?"

Shoren shook his head, "No, I was a mason unlike my failure of a brother here who have never enter the mason guild in the first place," he said while threw a nasty look towards the thick eyebrowed man who apparently was his own brother.

The thick eyebrowed man ignored his brother words and smiled at me, "Hi Karl, I'm Danzael son of Zabal, and yes I am a self-proclaimed mason but also self-proclaimed sculptor only because I don't have enough money to enter the sculptor’s guild! And at least I am not a slave like my idiot brother 'ere who got swindled by a stranger"

"Welcome to Exton, Uncle Danzael," I said calmly, but inside of my mind, I shouted 'Wow! Well done Bob!'

Just a few days ago I wondered about the shortage of skilled worker in Exton, now, Bob brought these people. Former Potter’s and Mason’s guild members, a Poet -or Jester- and a Sculptor! What next? A dragon tamer?

However, while I was busy getting excited by the prospect of these people. Antonei, Shoren, and Danzael started to argue with each other.

"Hey screw ye Danzael, I am not at fault 'ere. Toni was the one who introduce me to that fraud"

Antonei who heard Shoren's loud remarks slowly walked to our direction "Hah! Ye want to fight again Shoren?"

"Bring it on Toni!"

Reandra hurriedly pulled her husband then smacked both Antonei's and Shoren's head, "Shut up both of ye! Ye embarrassed yerself in front of yer master"

Both Antonei and Shoren immediately bowed their head "I'm sorry master"

"Fuck it! Just call me anything but master! I am only 8 years old for heaven's sake!"

"Young master?"

"It is the same thing!"

"…"

"Ei, it is fine with me if both of ye want to call me Master Bob," Bob said tried to break the silence.

"Fuck ye Bob! We know ye can't get all yer coins without Karl" Shoren said while Antonei agreed as if nothing had happened between them before.

"What? Do ye mean I can't get rich by myself?"

"Of course, ye can't!" all seven of them said in unison.

"Fuck off all of ye"

Boban turned his head back to me, "Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce ye to Ol' man Edmene"

"Ei! Ol' man Ed! Come 'ere! Meet my nephew" shouted Bob to the man who previously stayed at the back of the convoy.

I really hoped this one was a dragon tamer, but unfortunately, he wasn't.

"Karl, this is Ol' man Edmene who is a horse tamer and also the one who sold us all these excellent horses. But, I don't know why he wanted to follow us back to Exton"

Well, horse tamer could also be useful to take care all these horses rather than let amateur handled it.

"Hi, Uncle Edmene, I am Karl son of Xander and I really like your horses by the way"

By looking at the way Edmene handle the horses, I could conclude that he knew what he was doing. Even the hair of the horses was cleaner than Edmene's white long beard. It showed how much love he gave to the horses.

"Hi Karl, I'm Edmene son of Rahus but just call me Ol' man Ed like everybody else. And thank ye. These horses are my family's proudest creation. My late father was the one who first started a method to create these fine horses, but I'm the one who personally breed these boys and girls"

"Oh, your family already started controlled selective breeding! That is impressive!"

"Controlled Selective breeding?"

"Yes, by carefully selecting the one you breed to enhance some characteristics of the Horse. For example, those large strong horses," I pointed to the Belgian draft horse, "should come from the same type of this black great horse, right?" then patted the black destrier.

"How can ye… Did the god in yer dream also tell ye about my family secrets?"

"Oh! Did you hear it from my Uncle too?"

"Yes"

"Well, I'm not really sure about your family secret but I know one or two things to breed animals like horses, cattle or sheep or even crops to make them better over the generations"

"Now I understand why Bob said ye are special"

"I'm glad to hear that, but you should not believe everything you've heard Old man Ed, especially from a shady guy like my uncle. I might be a fraud, you know?"

Reandra smiled at me "A fraud would never admit themselves as fraud, my boy"

"But why do you believe my uncle's claim so much? I mean you've never even seen me before today"

This time, Chaeryn was the one who answered my question, "Hehe, one thing we know about Bob when he lived near us for a couple of years, he would never tell lie to his friends and family, ye should've known that Karl"

I nodded "You are right, I should've known that"

"Well, that's that, now let's get all of ye some place to sleep in the meantime," Bob announced.

"That should be easy, there are a lot of empty houses in the village after the raid. Some of you could live in my former house or the house of my late uncle Karling" I suggested.

While Bob's backyard was quite large, but for 20 people and 29 horses it would not be enough. Fortunately after the Red Swamps' raid, half of the house in Exton either empty or destroyed by nature after several years. Xander's house which was only several yards next to Bob's in the northeast area were still used by Bob to store some of his tools and foods, so it was still maintained. I didn't exactly know that house current condition since Karl himself never visit that house again after he saw his mother raped and killed inside that house.

Xander's older brother, Karling, however, built his house entirely with stone so it was still stood strong even after it was empty for several years. It could also be a good place for some of these people to live since it had several rooms and large backyard with abundant grass to let the horses graze on them.

Since Karl was the only one from his line of family that still survive, automatically the house was Karl's.

I probably would have to begin some construction projects in this village sooner than I expected to accommodate these people. Proper stable for the horses and a dorm for the slaves would be my priority for the spring next year. Hopefully, it would be finished before the planting period.