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Chapter 13: A Mother’s Dilemma

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The Hammer finally came down.

Mother has chosen her Great-Granddaughter Oruna to be my Spouse.

Oruna’s mother is a Super-Dexterous born of a Super-Dexterous.

Oruna’s Grandmother is my sister Ocilla; the next Knora Matriarch.

However Oruna is the problem child of that illustrious Bloodline.

You see; like Master Ulvid Oruna is a 2 Attribute Adept.

Master Ulvid is a Strengthened-Regenerator and Oruna is a Dexterous-Regenerator.

A 2 Attribute Adept Regenerator is comparable to a super and that means that Oruna’s 【Full Might】 skill is of a sufficient quality to make her proficient. The problem with Oruna is in her attitude and behaviour; she seems to have inherited Svern psychological traits rather strongly for a Vnora. Oruna manifested her 【Full Might】 skill at around 4 and a half years of age after she snuck out at night and fell into a sinkhole. Having to climb out with a broken arm and fractured foot required the ingenuity common amongst the Dexterous and the healing factor of Regenerators.

Thus Oruna’s 【Full Might】 skill is Adept Dexterous-Regenerator which should be enough to secure her a place amongst the Royal warrior elites; like that Osprid with Super-Dexterity. However Oruna is prone to frivolity; doing only what delights her and unwilling to do even the minimal amount of training. Oruna seems intent on living a life of leisure as a Royal Princess and is more like the Princesses of the other humanoid races in that she is content to live a life where all her needs are catered for without her ever having to exert herself.

I can’t say that Oruna is an ideal match for me but it seems that mother had little option but to give me to Oruna.

Apparently the factionalist have scooped up all of Mother’s Red Vnora descendents other than Oruna and I; with me it’s that I’m just to attached to non-factionalism and Oruna won’t consider being part of a faction because it’s too troublesome. That being said the fact that both Oruna and I won’t join the faction being created by Knora Elites to weaken the Vnora has put us in danger; which necessitated our marital engagement and in so doing declare a true Red Vnora Faction.

Perhaps the most surprising thing has been Osprid volunteering to join our prospective family.

I don’t know what Osprid is aiming for but since she’s the Granddaughter of my Aunt she’s also of the Royal Ollo blood and a true Princess. I must say that I was a little shocked by Osprid’s move since she would have been given a little more room to manoeuvre had she waited a bit longer to choose a Consort. But I can understand that my involvement means her children will have a direct connection with the future Vnora Clan Matriarch and there may be other personal circumstances that preclude her joining the other Red Vnora Faction.

It seems mother was also thinking of me when she engaged Oruna and I; that being the fact that Oruna is less likely to be an overbearing head of the family. I think Osprid is also going with Oruna because Oruna is such an easy going person who is unlikely to be demanding and restrictive. From the looks of things we are likely to end up as 3 pairs given our very different personalities; Osprid is a very serious person, Oruna is an easy going person and I’m very Timid.

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I thought I’d have more time but a few days ago a chieftain of an Island village came to the Palace to request aid from the Matriarch. Apparently the Island of Noka has been suffering repeated attacks from Pirates and bandits from the rest of the Federation. The response of the Knora Security Force has been lacklustre and amounts to sending a patrol every several days. Thus Chief Elena Noka has come to request aid from the Royal Guards who are under the direct control of the Matriarch of all Knora.

By coincidence mother believed the threats against me arising from within the Royal Family were increasing since the Knora Elite were convincing many moderate Knora that the rise of the Vnora would displace some of their prominence and privilege. The Royal Palace had started to feel like a den of wolves and I began to feel like an increasingly soft target. Ovis is too prominent a target and I was the central figure for the would be Red Vnora Faction; an obstacle that had to be removed.

The arrival of Chief Elena Noka gave mother a rare opportunity to move me out of harm’s way for long enough to take the pressure off and let the factionalists accept their defeat.

And so mother decided on my home-stay location; Noka Island.

The fact that I was being sent to Noka Island instigated both Osprid and Oruna to join me on the home-stay; for all intensive purposes we are a family now.

When a direct Royal travels outside of the Palace Grounds an escort of no less than a full Battalion with sufficient compliment to maintain daily watch in 3 shifts is dispatched. A Knora Battalion is 450 Soldiers and 50 Officers.

Therefore since both Oruna and I are direct Royalty we travel with an additional 1,000 Royal Guards as protection. Osprid isn’t direct Royalty but is also of Royal Blood so she also gets protection; though in her case it’s a Company composed of 4 Platoons of 40 Soldiers including the Sergeant in Command of every Platoon.

The Company itself is commanded by a Lieutenant, a Battalion is commanded by a Captain, 10 Battalions form a Brigade which is commanded by a Knight/ Colonel/ Brigadier General, 4 Brigades form a Division which is commanded by a Knight Commander / Major General, 5 Divisions form a Corps which is commanded by a Lord Commander / Lieutenant General and 4 Corps form an Army Group which is commanded by a Lord Marshal / General / Field Marshal.

In most of the Federation State Armies the highest rank is normally Lieutenant General but the Knora are amongst the few with a Lord Marshal who can call upon over 400,000 troops.

Originally the Knora didn’t have such extensive military ranks and structures and fought according to villages and towns with Chieftains commanding their own militias. However during the great battle with the demons the Knora realized that their method of command was lacking and they weren’t able to pull their armies out of the fight quickly enough to save their people. It is believed that had the Knora leadership been able to withdraw to defensible positions where Dragon Fire was less effective more of the Knora could have been saved.

Thus when the new Knora Security Force was formed they emulated the Royal Armies of the other Humanoids.

The Orro Federation insists upon similar command structure and all officers from Lieutenant and higher have to graduate from the Officer Training Course of the Federal Academy of Philosophy. The Officer Training Course is year long and at the end of the course the test involves a simulation relevant to the level of rank. Every promotion after the rank of Lieutenant requires the passing of a simulation relevant to the level of rank and involving the appropriate number of subordinates.

Therefore the fact that Oruna and I would be protected by 2 Captains gave me confidence in our security; not even pirates would dare tangle with a properly trained military force. More importantly the chance of there being an assassin amongst the Royal Guards is very low since they are vetted through Psionic Magic. The other thing is that most of the Royal Knora that were assassinated were killed in houses and compounds where their safety should have been assured. Somehow conspirators always manage to find holes in the defences of stationary structures.

So I’m reasonably confident in the level of security around me.

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Chief Elena Noka has with good reason been in a good mood the entire 1400km journey to Noka Island; she went to the Capital looking for 1 or 2 Platoons from the Knora Security Force and was now returning with 2 full Battalions and a full Company from the Royal Guards. Noka Island only had 1174 people to start with and now the population would essentially double, but more importantly the Royal Guards would bring with them enough supplies to last an entire year and they would construct fortifications and instillations for the processing of water and waste.

The presence of so many Royal Guards would undoubtedly deter the criminal elements but it would also accelerate the development of Noka Village into a proper town. Noka is an Island that lacks strategic significance; there are other Islands further away from the main Federation Islands that serve as a screen against the Demons. Patrols closer to the main Orro Federation Islands are left to smaller patrol boats and the heavier BattleCruisers make sure that no Demon Vessel ever gets close enough to be a problem.

Consequently the monitoring of local waters falls to the states and criminality often takes advantage of political intransigence as most states prefer to spend their money on BattleCruisers rather than patrol boats. A BattleCruiser is an optimal tool for dealing with enemy Navies but too slow to efficiently respond to fast attack crafts used by many of the criminals on the high seas. The Knora like others have often left themselves vulnerable to bandits and criminals.

What makes the Knora different is that unlike the Norr and the Habu they are not usually obvious targets for Bandits. If I had to guess I would say that Noka village is probably being threatened with long range attack to force the villagers to flee and allow the bandits to raid. Other wise the Norr bandits would find themselves at a physical disadvantage in mêlée against the physically robust Knora. I assume that the bandits are Norr since they are now 45% of the Orro Federation population; the Habu are 41% of the population while the Gvern and the Knora are 8.3% and 5.7% Respectively.

It is not inconceivable for the Habu and Gvern to be involved in banditry but a Knora female is highly unlikely to get involved and the Knora males have it far too easy to risk their lives for cheap thrills. Additionally significant is that Knora society is essentially a communally lived existence and commoners share both food and resources so there isn’t the extreme poverty that leads people to the kind of criminality seen in the other humanoid society.

There is a social contract between the Royal Family and the commoners; the Royal Family provides food, shelter and security and the commoners hunt the monsters as well as cultivate the land where possible. This is what makes the idea of a home-stay so important; it reaffirms that social contract. By leaving the palace and staying with the commoners the Royal Family reminds all of the Knora that the Royal Family includes a substantial amount of commoners; the Royal Family are commoner elite.

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I suddenly felt the entire moving column slowly grind to a halt as the Royal Carriages came to a complete stop.

The Escort Column consisted of 8 Main Battle Tanks, 15 Light Tanks, 4 Self-Propelled Artillery, 4 Mobile Anti-Air Guns and 45 Armoured Troop Carriers. Oruna and I were each assigned a Royal Carriage to ensure our security.

Royal Carriages are probably the most heavily armoured land vehicles and are designed to survive even Dragon Fire. Depending on the model Royal Carriages can be 50m to 150m long complete with over 2m thick armour and armed with an assortment of both defensive and offensive weapons. Royal Carriages have been said to be the equivalent of a land based battleship; armed with sufficient amounts of both magical and non-magical weaponry to conduct a war.

So the fact that the Royal Carriages were stopping had all of us more than a little puzzled.

After all; Royal Carriages aren’t supposed to stop for anything.

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When Captain Mari the senior of the 2 Captains reached the Royal compartment where all the Royals and Chief Elena were staying I knew that something troublesome has come up.

Captain Mari : " Apologies to your Highnesses and Your Eminence. By the order of her Majesty Ewim Ollo II his Highness Novid Ollo Second Prince of Knora is to participate in all appropriate Combat operations during his absence from the place. So decrees the Matriarch of all Knora."

Novid : " What?"

Osprid : " Eh?"

Oruna : " As his promised Head Spouse I should get a say in this; shouldn’t I?"

Captain Mari : " Apologies to your Highness; Spousal relations are a matter of Cultural custom where royal status is a fact of law in both the Knora Enclave and the Orro Federation."

Oruna : " So even after we wed Novid’s Royal Rank will remain higher than mine?"

Captain Mari : " Yes; His Highness Novid Ollo is the Second Prince of Knora. That means he is the second son born to the reigning Matriarch of all Knora; a Royal Rank that cannot be undone by something as mundane as marriage. Having been born to a reigning Matriarch of all Knora His Highness Novid Ollo like first Prince Ulvid Ollo has fully inherited the Royal Title and Authority."

Chief Elena : " That’s right; those born before she becomes Matriarch gain the Third highest Royal Rank and loose that rank when the Matriarch dies, but those born to the reigning Matriarch keep the Royal Title and Authority forever."

Osprid : " Somehow it doesn’t seem fair."

Oruna : " Yeah; even though they say I’ll be the Head of the Family I won’t be able to prevent my Spouse from being involved in troublesome things if they involve matters of State."

A smile finds its way to my lips as I realize that Oruna is worried for my benefit.

Chief Elena : " It doesn’t seem important now but in ancient times when Royal Females were married at a later age it was important that a prince and princess be the offspring of the winner of the contest for the right to be the Royal Consort. In those times children born before she became the Matriarch could not be legitimately considered Royal since that Title and Authority was only given to the offspring of the reigning Matriarch."

Novid : " Anyway; what seems to be the problem Captain?"

Captain Mari : " Scouts detected a Squeaker horde up ahead "

Ah Squeaker; those are the semi-bipedal rodents that stand about a metre tall. They’re sort of a humanoid rat and like to gather in massive hordes to raid fields and attack larger animals for food.

Little shits like to make spears out of sticks and twigs.

But the Squeakers are nothing to adult Knora; so why are we even stopping to deal with them?

A few incendiary grenades should be enough to scatter them.

What’s going on?

Novid : " If it’s just Squeakers then they don’t really pose a threat to an Army."

Captain Mari : " True …… however as Royal Guards dealing with such things that can inconvenience the larger population is our responsibility. Furthermore since we have been ordered to include your Highness in appropriate combat situation it would be prudent in making an assessment of your Highness’s combat capability against a manageable foe."

Novid : " I understand."

Captain Mari : " Good! As is the norm someone with a Protecting Heart fights at the head of an Army; so this is an opportune time for your Highness to show the Gallantry of the Royal Family."

I’m not fooled this is about getting me some achievements.

After this they’ll send out the video of me fighting the Squeakers with the caption “Red Vnora Prince of Knora fights hordes of Squeakers”

Novid : " Right; I’ll put on my Armour and head out to the front of the Battalions and attract the attention of the enemy."

Captain Mari : " Excellent! I’m told you have a full set of Shock Impact Absorption Vibration Armour, Hatchet and Shield?"

Novid : " The Shock Impact Absorption Vibration Armour and Hatchet are new but the Shield I’ve had for 2 years now. However Master Ulvid has properly instructed me in the proper use of all my equipment."

Captain Mari : " Good; then I’ll see your Highness out there."

Captain Mari leaves and my bodyguard Allegra helps me put on my Armour.

I then decided to offer a little prayer to the ancestors before I go out to battle the little shits.

Novid : " Mother Umvill, Mother Ollo and the pillars of my ancestry; grant me the courage and fortitude to do my duty as I go and protect my people that I so dearly love. Grant me the resolve to fight through my enemies and make it back to my Family."

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As I thought!

I’m having to go out front alone.

Even my bodyguard is held back because of the need to create the image that I rushed out ahead to face an entire horde of Squeakers.

Fuck; that’s not a small horde at all. There must be at least 2000 Squeakers out there.

This is Bullshit; normal 7 year olds only have to face 2 to 5 of these things, so why am I being forced to face thousands.

This isn’t cool at all mother! This is fucked up!

Okay; Okay; Okay.

Compose yourself.

It’s not like they’re gonna let you get seriously hurt.

You’re a Royal Knora God damn-it; get a hold of yourself.

Damn this thing is heavy;

They call it a Hatchet but it’s not really a Hatchet but more like a metal club or metal bat with the end flattened into a sharp cutting like some kind of exotic War-Axe. The War-Axe I trained with before was simpler to use but this new one was specially made for me so I can use vibrations to increase the power its cutting edge. However that makes it harder to control since it weighs about the same and I need a lot of Mana to negate its weight. Controlling the vibration makes it harder to channel Mana into the War-Axe.

But right now I need to Focus.

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Let’s see; I’m about 500m from the closest Royal Guard.

Up ahead is the horde of Squeakers so far only a few have noticed my approach.

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!

Novid : " Shit! They’ve noticed. Time to get started! 【Full Might】! 【Psionic Boost】!"

CLANGGGG!

I’m hitting the blunt part of my War-Axe against my shield to activate the Vibration effect. That’s why I use 【Psionic Boost】to fortify my body.

Novid : " Shit! This War-Axe is too long so I can’t hit with the other end; the best I can do is hit with the middle of the bat part."

CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG!

The Vibrations are getting intense I’m beginning to feel them deep inside my body, but I need more.

CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG!

I’m hitting as hard as I can.

Novid : " I need More!"

CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG!

Novid : " More!"

CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG!

Novid : " More!"

CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG!

Novid : " More!"

CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG!

Novid : " More!"

CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG!

Novid : " More!"

CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG!

Novid : " More!"

CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG!

Novid : " More!"

CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG! CLANGGGG!

SQUUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKK!

Novid : " Ah; little shits are already throwing their Makeshift Spears …… and now they’re rushing towards me. It’s time; I’ve got something special for your asssss!"

CCCLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Novid : " 【Vibration Aura】! "

Now everything with a low Durability that touches my Armour, Shield or War-Axe will experience the Vibration feedback.

Sticks, crude spears, claws and bone shatter against my 【Vibration Aura】.

This is the problem with a rushing horde; the ones at the back are pushing the ones at the front and in the middle to their deaths.

All I have to do is keep steadily walking so I don’t get enveloped by the pile of dead and dieing Squeakers.

Little Fuckers haven’t realized what’s happening to them.

They continue to blunt themselves against me.

This kind of swarm usually works against animals of my size, but Squeakers have made a blunder in not realizing that a Knora isn’t a normal animal.

At this rate it’ll be over before the Royal Guards get a chance to do anything.

Novid : " Ah; the smarter Squeakers have finally realized that their cohorts are already dead. ……… They’re running. ……… let them run."

And that’s how it goes.

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As I walk over to the Royal Carriage I see odd looks aimed at me.

I wonder what that look is about?

Surely they didn’t expect me to be troubled by Squeakers; right?

They’re Squeakers after all!

Even a Horde of them is just a Horde of Squeakers.

Sure I was afraid, but then again I’m always afraid that I’ll mess-up and my stratagem will fail. Or something unforeseen will happen and I’ll get killed.

But that kind of thing is everyday; right?

I’m almost there.

Oruna : " They said you and Ovis are strong; but that is just Ridiculous!"

Novid : " Eh? This much is expected of Super-Durability. I mean it’s not like they could ever hurt me."

Captain Mari : " I expected somebody with Super-Durability would be difficult for even a Horde of Squeakers to injure. But I never expected that you’d have the kind of skill that could kill any weak thing that touched you."

Novid : " That’s my 【Vibration Aura】."

Chief Elena : " The Matriarch has given birth to some truly proficient children."

Captain Mari : " Indeed."

My body feels really weary; I also take damage from the Vibration feedback.

I’ll need a day to fully recover.

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