Seashore didn't have much wealth.

If one were to put it somehow, then the word poor was the only proper description for it.

The run-down houses barely served to protect the people living inside them. The atmosphere that was breathed was one of desolation and pure lack of interest, and it found itself plastered on the disheartened faces of the people who there resided.

It wasn't something as emotional as despair. The people that had grown and gotten old in this place only knew the life of farming, picking, weaving, fishing, and repeating. This was their lives and they had gotten, somehow and somewhat, used to them a long time ago. When compared to the relatively big and thriving village of Hillside, the lonely stand of humanity that was Seashore could only be called sad.

The hunters brought their prey into the village and the gatherers carried their baskets filled with herbs and fruits. At noon, the people had already started to gather in the central plaza of the village, surrounding a big wooden tower where a bell was. People laid out their blankets with different materials and foodstuffs, ready for the other villagers to come in and do a simple trade, or if they could spare it, some coin.

Today, some big news had been going around the village. The people had started to mutter that the baron had already found a replacement for the previous lord of Seashore, who had been executed for treason.

The only manor at a far hill of the village had been lonely for a good while, but today, it would open it's doors again for someone to barge in and suddenly act like the lord of the land. Although it was a strange occurrence for everyone, they were already used to not being asked about important matters like that.

It was still unclear whether the lord would arrive that same day or not, since the position had been fulfilled just about a day before. Those better versed in political affairs knew that the acquisition of the land had probably been through a large movement of money, since the fief of Saltbide hadn't welcomed any strong officials as of late. Baron Argrand also had only one son, who had been ruling over another nearby settlement for several years already.

The fiefdom of Argrand was big enough to be split into one city and two major villages, after all. Although smaller settlements were scattered here and there, they were not in need of one lord to be appointed. A chieftain tended to be enough for a hundred people or less.

The baron was not responsible for the construction of any of the villages, but they paid strong taxes as a penalty for building in a place that was his, even when they had settled there long before he ascended as a baron.

This happened not only in Saltbide, but in every fief, duchy or county, in Kulkus.

"I guessed things were not going to be so free forever."

The voice of a tired young man lost itself in the sea of voices of the marketplace. Surrounded by people going about their daily purchases, he stood at the very top of the wooden tower, grabbing the string of the bell as he had been appointed to do for the day.

His eyelids shut tight for a second, then opened explosively. It was an attempt to not fall asleep while doing such a boring job. Although it wasn't of his preference, standing at the top of the tower and watch for anything that could happen was a job that someone had to take care of, and he had been chosen for it today.

His hand was aching to grab the grip of the broadsword at his waist, run into the jungle, and fight the first thing he found. Although he had been doing such things for pretty much all of his life, that routine occasionally stopped when he was the one to be in charge of the bell.

"Hey, Kei! Are you not gonna have anything for lunch?"

A voice called him from below. He quickly put his head above the edge of the tower and peeked, seeing a young girl wave at him with a smile. Just like him, she was blonde and blue-eyed, with a small number of freckles on her face.

"I'm fine! Cannot get down now, the new lord might be here at any moment!"

"Whatever! I'll leave some fish soup for you, come get it when you're hungry!"

The girl waved her hand and started to distance herself from the watchtower. Kei couldn't help but smile after seeing how much his little sister had grown into a proper teenager with the years, feeling also lightly proud of it. Not long ago he was teaching her how to cook a simple dish, but the girl quickly took over and was almost as good as him with a cauldron.

Not only that, but her skill with the sword had also gotten better. Nobody could deny that Kei and Rii Predsman were the son and daughter of a celebrated knight, and both of them were proud of the fact.

Although some would be sore that a knight's family lived in such a run-down village, the decision laid on his hands. The baron could not complain about such a thing.

"Hm?"

Just when Kei had started touching his stomach in hunger, the image of a singular carriage started to appear in the distant road.

"Aha... So they come without a caravan."

Kei was dubious of the identity of the people inside the carriage, but taking into account nobody ever visited Seashore, it couldn't be anyone else. Kei pulled from the bell three times and whistled with his fingers inside his mouth, making the villagers scatter from the market and go into their houses in a rush. The stalls were quickly picked up and taken inside as well, and the sound of doors upon doors closing was the replacement of the busy marketplace from before.

Kei smirked as he let go of the bell. The five stationed guards of the village stopped sleeping behind the watchtower and hurriedly readied their stances, waiting for the carriage that came riding from afar. Kei, as the villager in charge for the day, stayed behind.

The gallop of the horses turned from a whisper to a chatter soon enough, and then slowed down as it neared what could be called the entrance of the village. People could be seen peeking through their windows and looking with certain curiosity at the carriage.

In front, there was a black-haired man using a ponytail, wearing robes that seemed recently tailored. A cotton jacket over a black shirt, fine pants, and a pair of boots. If Kei's eyes served him right, they had been bought at a popular and expensive store back at the city where his father had bought clothes before for Rii.

The carriage stopped at the plaza, and the guards placed themselves alongside the horses.

When he saw that the man was handing the reigns to the guards without much thought as he straightened that expensive cotton jacket, Kei was made sure that the black-haired man was the Lord, and not a driver.

Kei jumped down and grabbed onto the wooden edges of the tower, proceeding to climb down and fall on the ground. He calmly walked towards the black-haired man, but before he could even say hi, the possible lord walked towards the back of the carriage.

Kei frowned after feeling ignored, but the reason for this was quickly made apparent. From behind the carriage came a black-haired woman with her hair tied up in a similar fashion to the man, wearing clothes that resembled his in every way.

Did they... Buy those clothes before coming here? Are they really nobles if they dress like adventurers trying to appeal to young teenagers?

The men peeking from the doors had suddenly gotten even more interested as soon as they saw the woman get down from the carriage, but Kei's eyes were fixed on their attire. They did not give off the sensation of being nobles in the slightest, but rather, wealthy adventurers that happened to like designer clothes.

Although clothes were important to find out what kind of person someone was, Kei smiled as he noticed something way more revealing than clothes.

The man, even above the fine pants, carried a heavy leather belt with a pure white scabbard tied to it, where a pitch-black sword was sheathed. Besides this, a worn-out bag hung from his shoulder, something that didn't go at all with his clothing.

The woman wore a similar belt, as well as a claymore on her back that could probably only be pulled if it was tilted ninety degrees to the side. It seemed slow and heavy, something Kei could not see himself using unless he was in a very bad spot.

But more important than that, their auras were heavy and bright, one like a deeply rooted tree that surrounded everything, and the other like an impenetrable fortress.

He wanted to fight them.

"We salute thee, tis... Er..." The man started talking first in an archaic form of speech, but quickly covered his mouth as if trying to correct himself. "Pardon. Is this a more proper way of speaking? I feel like it is better if I refrain from using... unsavory speech. We've been practicing our Kuulkiam, you see."

"Seems 'bout the same, but aight. Nobles do nobles, I ain't give a shit." Kei simply shrugged. "I'm Kei Predsman, the guy that takes care of stuff for today. I'm sorry, we just received a short notice from a very ill-spoken mouth, so you gotta understand my confusion."

The black-haired man smiled as he seized up Kei from the boots to the hair. He closed his eyes and went "Hmm..." as if thinking of something, making the young blond man feel quickly irritated.

"Is anything a problem, man?" Kei asked.

"My name is Thom."

"..."

Contrary to what he was thinking, the new lord extended his hand forward with a warm and honest smile, leaving Kei in a daze. He was nervous enough to not know what to do, until the girl by Thom's side grabbed their two hands and forcibly laced them together.

"Huhu, you gotta shake a hand if they extend it towards you, young man! You gotta let your elders teach ya!"

"Like you're any older than him." Thom smiled at the girl.

Eh? What's going on? Why have they suddenly started acting so friendly? What happened to that pedantic speech from a while ago?!

"Well, Kei, nice to meet you. You see, we're kind of in a rush, so we're looking to settle some things with whoever is in charge and then kinda just go an play in the city or something." Thom pointed back as if signaling to the city several miles away. "Are you the man in charge?"

"Sigh... Have you not been paying attention? I am, for today. From now on, you are the man in charge."

"Uwah..." The black-haired girl looked at Kei with very judging eyes, placing her hand in front of her mouth. "Are you a sexist? I bet it didn't occur to you for a second that I am the one actually holding lordship over this land..."

"Wha- I'm, I'm not!" Kei's face went red as he tried to shake off the girl's comment. "Are you two trying to play tricks? State what you want already!"

"Alright!"

The man named Thom dashed past Kei without crossing more words, and the girl slapped him in the shoulder before doing the same. They climbed up the watchtower in a short second, getting a hold of the wooden stakes that kept the roof the tower together.

"Ehem!" The woman loudly cleared her voice, tapping her chest with her hand. "Villagers of Seashore, men, women, and children alike! Your new very well-looking lords have arrived, so we demand thee to come out and say hi!"

Thom pulled several scrolls from his bag and threw them over to the girl on the right. She caught and opened them as if she was putting on a circus act, and showcased the contents to the village. The people were already half-body outside the windows, checking the show in the plaza.

"Behold! These are the papers that state we're the lords! You can read them if you do not believe me! Unless you can't read, which is very probable, and if that is the case then I'm truly sorry and I will be explaining the contents of the scroll later on!" She said with a very stern voice.

The people started muttering from their houses. Kei was feeling like in the middle of a fever dream, looking around to find nothing but familiar faces pointing at the two new strangers that had suddenly interrupted their normality.

Were things with nobility always this messed up?

"My name is Suu! Nice to meet y'all!"

"I'm Thom, it would be nice if we could get along!"

The two lords made a perfectly normal introduction, which made Kei break into a sweat. He was extremely confused— since when did nobles behave like commoners and talk to them without gagging?

Several voices started ringing out. He turned around to find the plaza had already been filled with people looking up at the lords of Seashore, and he was the only one questioning what was actually going on. Then, the man by the name of Thom smiled with a very refreshing look, and declared at the top of his lungs:

"As my first decree, everyone's fucking rich!"

Thom put his hand inside his bag, and next, he threw a barrage of silver coins down the watchtower. People started to jump and throw themselves to the ground, fetching as many coins as they could gather in their shirts and pockets.

The loud laughter of the lords above the rest of the people was the only thing that could be heard between the incongruous bustle of the villagers. Thom and Suu were seemingly overjoyed by the act of throwing coins, their swords flailing at their sheathes, smiling happily as if they had been waiting for this opportunity their whole lives.

"Huh..."

Kei didn't bother to pick even one coin, as his sight was placed on the odd image of the two people above them.

"What the fuck."

He said.