Chapter 17 “Fatigued Visitor”

“…Done.” I put down the pestle as I finished making the compound that Lady Constie ordered. Of course, the main purpose for the compound is to treat burn and to relieve pain. Even after I’ve stocked a lot of them in the militia storage, she insisted that I make a little more for emergency. She also asked me to stock up on the ingredient more than usual.

I can understand her concern, especially after we received the information that the royal family will bring more soldier into the vicinity. When asked about the reason, they said that it is because Count Ferre Grese considers the area around the town a very suitable place to conduct a short drill for soldier that is not accustomed to fighting in the forest. It is a strange reason for me since the cost of getting soldier from the capital is anything but small. Moreover, the effort to prepare the equipment and supply for them will be very enormous. I couldn’t even imagine the paperwork for that. It will certainly be a hellish time for the one that have to prepare those papers.

Hearing that, Lady Constie felt suspicious about his real reason. Unable to say anything to them, she can only ask her trusted sister, Eryell, and me for a proper counter measure. After a long discussion, we came to the conclusion that we can’t do anything at all. Absolutely nothing. That is the unfortunate fact we have to swallow, how bitter and painful that is. All we can do is prepare for the worst without making them suspicious about us in the process because making them suspect us of anything will bring a heap of trouble that will lead to a very terrible end for this town and its inhabitant. Not to say that the Grese Family is cruel and ruthless, but the possibility is there. We can’t take that risk.

While I’m preparing a lot of medicine and potion for the militia, Eryell is also busy with her own job to ensure we can survive the worst of it. She has instructed several more troop for surveillance with reason of increasing the security of the whole town since the royal family is here. But that is just the front. The real reason she did that is because we need to be aware of any strange move the royal family might make all of a sudden. The last thing we need at the moment is getting an unwanted surprise because of their plot.

Ah, that also reminds me. Another reason for that is also to keep the underground movement from getting out of hand. As the three of us agreed, we will not employ more informants than we already have in fear of making them hostile all of a sudden and endanger the whole town. Thankfully, the militia has not detected any strange or dangerous movement from them. In fact, they have become silent for some times. It is as if they have disappeared all of a sudden.

Of course, there is a reason for that. Both Lady Constie and Eryell know that. But they don’t know what. I, on the other hand, know that very well. It is not because I’m smarter than them or anything. The reason for that is very simple. That is because I’m the one behind it. After our short…’discussion’ with the movement captain, Mena, and the one in charge of information gathering, Adart, the fact that I can control them slightly is anything but strange.

So here’s the story. Their name is indeed The Bears of Saxifell. And it seemed that our guess is indeed correct. They are the remnant of the previous king’s clan with the objective of overthrowing the current rule and their supporter. They are carefully planning everything. They really need to do that if they want to have even a speck of chance in achieving their goal. That is because the goal they aim at is a very difficult task. I even think that it is nearly impossible to be done at the moment.

There are many reasons for that, but I can at least give two of the most obvious ones. The first and foremost reason that makes their task difficult is that the king has a very strong rule at the moment. The ones that support the current king has a very firm grasp of the whole kingdom, both in term of economy and military.

In the military matter, there is his greatest supporter, the Grese family, which controls the whole army. They manufacture the weapon and also contribute most of the kingdom’s greatest general and warrior. In fact, if someone can topple the current king, it would be them.

Economic wise, the current king have a great support from the many merchant guilds in the kingdom. Usually, the merchant guilds will stay neutral in the kingdom’s political matter. But the king himself has decided to make the merchant guild to have a say in the kingdom’s economy matter. He has done that by founding a special council that has member of all the kingdom’s merchant guilds. This has made the economic condition of the kingdom grew exponentially.

If that is not difficult enough, the second reason that make the task is very difficult is that the previous clan’s reputation. To put it simply, they are deeply hated. Although they are not to the extent of tyrannical, they are still viewed as one of the most hated ones. At their rule, the kingdom fall into civil war that almost destroys the whole kingdom. The one that caused that is none other than the noble families that fight for their own greed and pride. Due to that, the whole country is thrown into the kingdom’s most terrible war. To make matter worse, at that time many disaster happen. Although it was not the king’s fault for that to happen, the people saw that a curse that fell on the kingdom due to the king’s and his clan’s arrogant attitude.

The moment I heard their goal, I couldn’t help but pity them. They are doing an impossible work. I know that not everyone is content at the way the current king’s way rule the kingdom, but most of them are happy enough. If the royal family and the king’s army will not foil their plot, the people will. But I didn’t say that to them as it is not my concern at all if they succeeded or failed. All I’m concern with is whether they are connected to the Marked Soul’s demise or not.

I also asked them about their so called trump card, but sadly they only know the rumor of it. In fact, I think that they are bluffing. Not the two of them, but their superior. Let’s think about it this way. If they really have a trump card that said to be able to decimate the whole kingdom’s army, then why don’t they use it? Or how about this way. If you really have that, why did they lose the war? Why did they lose the crown? Why did they become the almost exiled noble clan? Many questions will pop one after another if one thinks about it carefully. Well, once again I’m not really concern with that. As long as they aren’t endangering this town, I’m content enough.

Hearing their explanation, the three of us feels that the likelihood of them being the one that cause the Marked Soul demise is quite small. Although they have a lot of branch all over the kingdom and managed to gather substantial force over the time, they are still a weak movement that the kingdom will not view to be a dangerous threat any time soon. They will need a lot more time to grow before they become a threat worthy of the kingdom’s attention.

And that led us to think to the other force inside the town. The royal family, the Grese Family to be exact. Their sudden visitation timed too perfectly with the mission we got. To add to that suspicion, they also brought along a large number of soldier, which will be increased in the near future due to the Count’s plan, which is also a sudden news for all of us.

Switching our attention toward them, I have instructed both Reiyes and Cyrielle to get their information about them as soon as possible. And, as usual, Reiyes came across a lot of them in record breaking time. Really, he is sometimes too scary in that aspect. A master spy and assassin really is not someone you can take light of. Cyrielle, on the other hand, have reported nothing useful at the moment. But I guess it is only a matter of time until she reported back since she already said to me that the shady district has an influx of customer after the royal family visit the town. Most of the customer is, as one would expected, is the kingdom’s soldier. But I think I will have to check on her again sometime soon. Not that I don’t believe he. This might sound weird, but I have a hunch that she is fooling around too much with those two, Mena and Adart. The reason for that is because of her emotion she gave out when those two left the three of us that night. Even without looking at her face, I know that she have something planned for them. I’ll make sure that she is not hurting or anything since I considered the two of them to be my informant too at the moment since I already casted the spell on them.

Getting to Reiyes’ report, I have to give him a compliment. He managed to get the real reason behind the royal family visitation. Surprisingly, it is not because of the underground movement. Well, not surprising after we realized how weak they are. The royal family’s real goal is to intimidate the neighboring kingdom. When talking about neighboring kingdom, what’s come in mind is the kingdom of Meze, the kingdom’s oldest ally. But apparently, that is not their main target.

Their main target is the many merchants that come across this town. Yes, they are trying to show to them that the kingdom’s power is not one that can be underestimated, even after the long year of damaging civil war. That is their message. They want the merchant that came from many neighboring kingdom to report back to their homeland exactly that. The reason they brought along the kingdom’s state of the art Arcane Puppet is also because of that. And, of course, the statement that they want to use the forest around this town as place for experiment is just a cover up. They are literally displaying the might of the army for everyone in the town.

Once again, we are at lost to that we should do. If the underground movement is not the culprit, then the next possibility is the royal family. But for some reason, I don’t think that they are the one that will bring demise to the Marked Soul. It is just a hunch, but I just can’t see it that way at the moment. I was hoping for the underground movement to be the one after hearing their trump card and all, but I guess that is very unlikely of them. At least, not with their current strength.

Investigating the royal family will be a very difficult task. Especially since they have no lead whatsoever. The most we can do is to just stay cautious and be prepared for any sudden change. Although, that is not a very good plan. We really need something that can give the investigation go into a proper direction.

“Hmm?” I stopped my pondering and straightened my sitting posture as the sound of footsteps entered my ears. Since I’m all alone in the office, the possibility of those being Rago or Gire is quite high, but the steps are foreign to me. The thumping sound also told me that whoever that is, they wore a rather thick boots. It could be Eryell, but I know her footsteps well enough that I can tell that the current footsteps don’t belong to her. Maybe it’s Lady Constie? But the gap between steps told me that it came from a male. Whoever that is, they are getting closer.

“Excuse me.” A male voice, as expected. I have never heard his voice before. A new recruit? Or maybe a guest? “Is someone here?”

“Yes, wait a moment.” I got up from my seat and took my walking cane. As I came closer to the source of the voice, I tapped my cane to let me ‘see’ the guest. He is a bit taller than me and possessed a relatively lean build. From the sound, his outfit seemed to be made of leather and clothes, probably a leather vest on top of his clothes. I could also ‘see’ a sword hung from his belt. Hmm, this is interesting. I’ve never meet him before. “How can I help you?”

“E-Eh?” A surprised voice came from him. “A-Are you the only one here?”

“My two assistants are currently out. So, yes, I’m the only here at the moment.” His heartbeats told me that he is a slightly conflicted. I guess it is because I’m blind. Very understandable.

“O-Oh, is that so? Ehem! I guess I’ll come back later then.” Why did his voice came out as a happy one? Strange. “Sorry to disturb you.” I could sense him turning his back on me. The moment he did that, a familiar scent came from him.

“Wait a minute.” I said to him in a slightly loud voice, stopping him from walking away. “You’re injured, right?”

“E-Eh!?” He sounded surprised. “N-No, I’m no–“

“Your left forearm. Not much but a scratch.” A gasp came from him. “And your right hand, your thumb to be exact.”

The sound of him taking a stance against me accompanied with a slight clink that came from his sword entered my ears. He immediately turned hostile the moment I managed to reveal his injury. Really, it was not such a difficult thing for me. While I can’t see, my hearing has been pretty much become my most used sense. The next one is touch and after that is smell. While my smelling sense is not that sensitive, that particular scene is too familiar to me. Yes, the scent of blood is too familiar with me.

“How did you know?” Unlike before, his voice contained a hint of suspicion. Not that I blame him or anything.

“You came here, which mean there are several possibilities. You might want to get some medicine for the soldier, or you might want to get treated yourself, or you just want to chat. I don’t know which one is the right one. But the fact that you have a slight scent of blood tells me that you might be injured.” He stayed silent after hearing my answer. Of course, my explanation did not really give the reason why I can pinpointed his injury and I have no intention to tell him how I did that. I let out a sigh after that. “I don’t know who you are, but whoever it is, I will treat them equally here and will tend to their injury the same.” I then turned around. “If you want to be treated, come inside.”

“…Very well.” I could hear him releasing his stance and his heartbeats that were slightly high slowed down a bit, a sign that he has relaxed slightly. He then followed me into my office.

“There, you’re done.” I said to him as I finished treating his wound. All I’ve done is putting some ointment and bandaged up the wound with clean clothes. Since the wounds were not serious, there was no need to use strong medicine. But I don’t want to be lazy and risk the wound turned into something dangerous. “I hope that is not too restricting.”

“Oh, not at all!” He exclaimed while moving his arm and fingers. “In fact this is quite nice. You are really talented.”

“You flatter me too much. I’m just doing my job.”

“A great job, if I may so. Ah, pardon my rudeness before.” He bowed to me as he apologized for his remark from before. “I judged you just from your appearance alone.”

“Please don’t worry about it. It is a very understandable action. Almost everyone here did the same thing the first time they meet me.” I couldn’t help but let out a small snicker at the many memories of the militia member that was confused seeing a blind being the one in charge of treating injury.

“Ah, is that so?” His voice turned slightly depressed.

“Of course they would be worried if someone that can’t see will treat their wound. Moreover, to mix medicine. Their worry is understandable.” I once again let out another snicker. “So please don’t feel bad or anything.” I tried to calm him down but somehow he was still depressed.

“If you say so.” He let out a silent sigh.

“Thank you for being considerate. Uhm…may I know your name?”

“A-Ah, how rude of me. I’m Ingolf Lange, a knight from the capital.”

“O-Oh, then please forgive my rudeness for before, Sir Lange. I didn’t’ know that.” I lowered my head as soon as I realized that he is a knight. I failed to notice that since his way of speaking was similar to commoner. It was a bit rough and uncivilized.

“N-No, please don’t do that.”

“Eh?”

“Actually…uhm…could you just talk with me like before?”

“Is that fine with you, Sir Lange?”

A slight pause came from him. I tapped my cane as I waited for his reply. I could sense confusion and…fatigue from him. Interesting.

“…May I give my reason?” His question came out in a very low voice. I then nodded at his question. “I’m actually…a newly promoted knight. So I’m not too accustomed in the way of talking like a nobleman. I guess…I just want to relax a bit. It’s a bit too stiff for me and…simply uncomfortable.” Hmm, quite a sincere fellow he is. I can slightly understand his reason for that.

“Very well, if that is what you want, Sir Lange.”

“Call me Ingolf.” His tone softened a bit after hearing my reply. “I’m not used to be called that.”

“Then please call me Nerva. I’m the one in charge of treating everyone’s wound here. Usually there are two assistants with me, but they are on an errand at the moment.”

“Nice to meet you, Nerva.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Ingolf. Please wait a minute.” I stood up from my seat and then moved onto the nearby shelf and took a small bottle. I could sense confusion coming from Ingolf as I did that. I then sat back to my seat and then put forward the bottle to him. “Please have this.”

“And…this is?” He took the bottle yet not knowing the content of it? Aren’t you a bit too trusting there?

“This is for fatigue. It will refresh your body and soothed the mind slightly. The taste is quite good too.”

“You even know my body condition?”

“Just a guess.” I shrugged my shoulder at his question. But yes, I know that. His heartbeats and also his voice. That was enough for me. I might not know his usual condition, so saying that it was a guess is not exactly a lie. “The journey from the capital is a long one, right? And to add that you are a guarding knight. Your job is very physically demanding. So with those reasons, I just guess your condition.”

“O-Oh…is that so?”

“It is fine if you don’t want to drink it right away. The content will be fine about a week or so.”

“I see…Then you have my gratitude for this.” I heard the sound of him pocketing the bottle. The moment he did that, I couldn’t help but let out a small snicker again. “What is it?”

“Aren’t you a little too trusting? What if the bottle that I give is nothing but poison?” Of course, the fact that he didn’t drink it right away might mean that he is still being cautious of me, which is a good thing.

“Oh, I get that a lot.” A small laugh escaped his mouth. “You might not believe it, but I have a feeling that I can trust you.”

“Hmm? Interesting.” I leaned forward while supporting my hand on the cane. “What made you think that way?”

“I guess…just a hunch. My instinct told me that I can trust you and also the fact that you treated me as equal the first time we met.”

“But isn’t that because I don’t know who you are?”

“Hmm, that’s right. Hahaha!” He let out a laugh the moment I said that. “But that doesn’t mean that I trust you completely. But on the other hand, I don’t doubt you or anything too. So…uhm…” He began to mumble. “Let’s just stop at that I trust my instinct. How’s that?”

“If you say so. Just a word of advice from me, though. Be more cautious. That’s all.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Another laugh came from him. One might say that his laugh was a carefree one. But for me, something is hidden beneath that laugh of his. Something important.

After that, we just chatted idly. He is a talkative fellow. I don’t really mind the company. And since my work is already done for the day, it is quite good to have him with me. Not long after that, he excused himself, saying that he needed to get back to his job. It seems that I will meet him often. Just like he said, I have no concrete reason to believe that except that I have a hunch about it.

I then faced my working desk and realized that really have done everything. All that is left is to store the compound I’ve just made and then everything is done.

“Nerva, are you there?” Just before I could start that, a voice entered my office. This time, I know the identity of the voice.

“What is it, Eryell?”

“Oh, there you are.” She then walked toward me. The sound of her boot against the floor really is different from Ingolf. It is a bit more…elegant? I guess you could say that. “Are you in the middle of something?”

“No, just finishing up today’s work. After this the only thing left is to wait for Rago and Gire.” I then wrapped the compound using the prepared paper and then put it aside. “So, what can I do for you, my dear Eryell?”

“I am looking for someone and one of the soldiers told me that he saw him here.”

“Hmm? Someone?” Is it him? “Is the one you’re looking for is the knight, Ingolf Lange?”

“Yes, that’s him.” She let out a sigh. “He really did come here then.”

“If he is the one you’re looking for, he just left a few minutes ago.” Hmm, this is interesting. Ah, that reminds me. “By the way, are you in hurry, my dear Eryell?”

“Not quite. What is it?”

“Can you tell me what is your impression of him?”

“Huh? My impression?” Her tone told me that she was slightly confused at my question. “What made you want to know?”

“I have a bit of chat with Sir Lange. He is…quite a pleasant and interesting fellow. But…something about him is bothering me.”

“Ah, you too?” Eh? What do you mean by that? “I thought I was the only one that felt that.”

“Hmm? Can you tell me what do you mean by that?”

“I saw him fought with a number of soldiers for training purpose, about twenty of them if I’m not wrong.” Twenty? Impressive number. If he fought them all at the same time, that would make it much more impressive. “He beat all of them. But…”

“What is it?”

“I somehow noticed that he showed a rather disappointed expression. At first, I thought that he was disappointed at his opponent. But…”

“His eyes showed that the one he disappointed at is his own, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” I could hear her nodding her head. “I’m not sure, but that is what it looked like to me.”

“Hmm, interesting.” That fellow really is an interesting one.

“But I have to admit. He is really strong. As expected of the royal family’s private knight.”

“…Private knight?”

“Yeah, private knight. As in a knight chosen personally by the royal family, not just by the general. And also in charge of the royal family’s safety.”

“Hoo, is that so?” this is getting more and more interesting. Perhaps…I can use him. Perhaps that might be possible. “So you are looking for him, right?”

“Oh, right! Do you know where he went to?”

“Sorry, I don’t know. But I guess he isn’t going to be too far if you catch up to him.”

“Okay, then see you, Nerva!” She immediately stomped out of the office, leaving me alone.

I guess I have to call Reiyes again soon. I have a new target for him.

Author Note:

The knight appeared.

Please give me comment and opinion for this story, or even critique so that I can improve my writing. Do tell me if you find something strange or wrong with the chapter. Thank you for reading!