23

Having stayed overnight in Derevnya, Id and Sasha left for Nordburg early the next morning. It was a peaceful three day journey before they left the Forest of Evil Spirits. After a lot of manna had accumulated in Id’s manna hall, the beasts could sense Id’s energy from afar and avoided him. There was no longer anything that could be a threat to Id in the forest.

************

“The current situation is awful, Lord.”

A Knight, in his mid-forties, wearing armor and carrying a helmet on his side, said. Baron Kozlov, a fat aristocrat whose face was dripping with oil, was receiving a report by the knight. He shouted while wiping his sweat with a towel.

“How can I, once a high-profile aristocrat in the capital, be defeated like this by a bumpkin?”

Kozlov, who could not control his anger, was reminiscent of an angry boar. Kozlov’s Knight commander Aleksey bitterly smiled as he watched the scene. Though he knew well that his lord was unwise, he had no choice but to fight for his lord since he served as Kozlov’s Knight for more than two decades after being knighted by him as a young man and then becoming his knight commander. His lord Kozlov had once been a central aristocrat, pushed back from the power struggle. He was on alert for an opportunity to return to the central political arena, not forgetting the splendid life he led in the capital. In his attempts to rise back to prominence, he received the animosity of his people as he collected excessive taxes for this purpose.

The most ridiculous of Kozlovs decisions was picking a fight with Viscount Korolyov, the lord of the bordering feud. Citizens and soldiers of Korolyov’s estate were loyal to Viscount Korolyov. His family has been taking good care of its estate for a long time over generations as an indigenous aristocratic family in the northeastern region. Eight years prior, there had been a territorial war between the two lands because Kozlov had belittled and insulted the provincial lord, Korolyov. Though it had ended in a draw at that time, thanks to Korolyov’s backing down despite the prevailing war situation after heavy casualties on both sides, the spark of conflict had not been wholly extinguished.

After the feudal war, the economic situation in the Korolyov Viscounty has improved over time. In contrast, Kozlov’s estate gradually declined during the eight years. During the territorial war, Kozlov had conscripted a large number of citizens and specifically farmers into the war, among whom many casualties had occurred, resulting in a shortage of farmworkers.

Korolyov did not forget the insult he had received from Kozlov and was looking for a chance to repudiate Kozlov’s estate. As eight years had passed since the previous feudal battle and the balance of power between the two lands entirely collapsed, Korolyov began to provoke Kozlov little by little. He deployed small-scale squads of soldiers to camp at the already ambiguous boundaries between the territories. Having discovered this during a territorial inspection, Kozlov ordered Aleksey to send Knights to attack Korolyov’s soldiers. Though Aleksey thought it might be a trap, he could not disobey the orders of his furious lord. Having lost a few soldiers, Korolyov used it as an excuse to declare a territorial war. As the official witness arrived from the capital with the King’s permission for the feudal war, Kozlov realized his mistake, but it was too late to salvage the situation.

‘Kozlov Barony’s fate is over. The destiny of my men and I is already predetermined.’

Aleksey sighed with an ominous foreboding. Kozlov was still not aware of this reality.

“Contact the Mercenary Guild right now, and hire competent mercenaries, as many as possible!”

Aleksey shook his head with a dark look.

“Since we didn’t pay the balance for the dead mercenaries we hired eight years ago, the Mercenary Guild has informed us they’ll no longer send mercenaries to our estate.”

Unable to contain his anger, Kozlov shouted, smashing his hand on to the table.

“Conscript all the peasants! We must protect the territory by any means.”

Aleksey could not disobey his lord’s order, although he knew no more commoners should be conscripted for the estate's future. After losing the feudal battle, the estate's future would no longer be relevant to him.

************

Arriving in Nordburg, Id and Sasha went to the street of leather shops to sell the hides of the evil beasts and earn travel expenses to the Empire. Id went to the store he had visited with Andrew five years back. Though the quality of the hides brought by Id was no different, the price offered by the clerk was only a quarter of the previous price. At that time, almost all the hides had been estimated to be of the highest quality, but this time most of them were rated as secondary or inferior. As Id had a troubled look on his face, Sasha stepped up.

“Do you think we’re stupid as we’re too young? We have sold these hides three or four times more expensive to the merchants who visited mountain villages. Return them. We’re going to another store.”

A loud voice was heard from further inside the store and the store owner came out from the inner room with three bodyguards.

“Our staff worked for two hours sorting out the hides, so you will have to pay for the processing fees to take them back.”

As Sasha put his hand on the hilt of his sword, hearing the nonsense of the store owner, the three rough bodyguards stepped up to Sasha holding his maces. Being afraid that Sasha would kill them, Id stepped up to the bodyguards and told the store owner.

“I don’t want to hurt anybody. Return the hides, and we will leave quietly.”

Glancing at the guards, Id tried to persuade the store owner.

“If you pay me three golds for my staff’s hard work, I’ll return them right away.”

The tip of Id’s blade, pulled out of its sheath, touched the store owner’s neck momentarily, and then several flashes could be seen lingering in the air. All three bodyguards dropped their weapons and stepped back, holding their wrists, as a drop of blood flowed down the store owner’s chest. The terrified store owner, whose face turned blue, begged for Id’s mercy, stuttering.

“P-p-please forgive me. I’ll return your hides right now.”

Having sheathed his sword, Id spoke to the owner in a calm voice.

“There’s no guarantee that other shopkeepers are better than you. I visited this store with my master five years ago, and I still remember you. If you pay me the same price as then, I’ll sell you the hides. I don’t want to go through any more of this again.”

The store owner entered the inner chamber and returned with a heavy bag of gold coins — five times the original offer, more generous than when Id had come with Andrew. Having received the gold coin bag with a bitter smile, Id calmed Sasha, who was still angry.

“Don’t be too upset. We’ll have another fight soon enough. It looks like there’s useful travel stuff here. Let’s look around.”

In addition to leather goods, the store was selling various items. They bought some easy-to-use suits, leather boots, ropes and portable pots for camping. Leaving the store, Id said to Sasha.

“Let’s go to the tavern where you worked before. On the way, we can observe their movements.”

Sasha quickly understood the hidden meaning of Id’s words and looked around. He could feel the eyes on them all over the alley. They went to the tavern where Sasha had worked as if they were taking a walk, ignoring their eyes. The taste of beer and food in the tavern was still excellent. Having had a laid-back meal, Id told Sasha.

“We have to leave Nordburg anyway, so let’s not cause an unnecessary scene and just run away. Isn’t there a way to the Southgate of the city that other people don’t know well?”

Sasha knew the alleys around the tavern better than anyone.

“Good. We haven't run at full speed for a while. Shall we bet who’s faster?”

Id and Sasha ran more than ten kilometers in the forest almost every day for the last five years to train their bodies. They ran at great speed through a shortcut to Nordburg’s Southgate. Security guards only checked on people entering the city, and unless a particular wanted order was issued, they did not care about people leaving the city. Id and Sasha, not slowing down, ran through the city's south gate onto the highway to Scandia City, the capital of the Kingdom of Scandia.

************

Sergey Korolyov was the eldest son of Viscount Korolyov. Though he was still at a young age of eighteen, having trained in swordsmanship and military strategies and tactics systematically from an early age, he was a well-known talent in northern Scandia. Participating as a centurion in the feudal war, he led his soldiers across the border into the Kozlov estate. Since there were no defensive forces on the border, Sergey marched northward toward Kozlov Castle without any resistance.