Chapter 47 – A Village on the Treetops

RIKU AND THE OTHERS followed Robin and her group back to the place where the Rogue Archers fortified and improved for the people inside Shiromori.

The place was not that far away from where they were now. It was about ten to fifteen minutes of jumping and swinging from one tree to another. The Rogue Archers were already skilled in maneuvering the forest, especially with their tools specifically designed to maneuver the trees of Shiromori. Riku and the rest, however, found it challenging.

Robin and the rest of the archers stopped on top of a certain blancipress tree. Riku and the others did as well, catching their breath as they were mesmerized by what was in front of them.

“Everyone, welcome to Shiropolis, a village hidden on top of Shiromori,” Robin said enthusiastically.

Shiropolis was mostly composed of treehouses that perfectly blended with the trees of the forest. Few bridges made of wood and ropes that were camouflaged with leaves and vines connect two or more blancipress trees. Even the clothing of the residents was camouflaged.

The tallness of the blancipress trees was perfect to hide the people from the giant beasts. And the giant beasts themselves kept unwanted people out of Shiromori, mostly.

With the broad branches of the blancipress trees, the people could build shelters on it. There are also some trees inside the forest as well that provide edible fruits all year round. And from time to time, the Rogue Archers would also hunt giant reptiles that provided meat to the people, making them self-sufficient.

The blancipress trees themselves provide potable water to the people. By making a hole in the tree’s trunk, clean water will come out that the people could use to drink and clean themselves, which was safer than going down to the river to fetch water.

The group was escorted by Robin and Raghnall to a particular treehouse where Rogue Archers meetings were usually held. The residents were all staring at the group, wondering why were there outsiders in Shiropolis, particularly on Riku and Jack who both were elves. The archers guarding the area were also watching them keenly, hands in their bow, and an arrow on another.

Robin looked at Riku and her group who were all feeling anxious. “Don’t worry about them. The people here are friendly. It’s just not every day we entertain outsiders, especially elves.”

“Are we the first elves to visit Shiropolis?” asked Jack.

“Yep. You three are our first elven guests. But here in Shiromori, I believe there have been elves that have been coming and going from time to time. But we’ve never welcomed them here specifically. We would sometimes face them, but they would just go on their way without any problem.”

“I also doubt that Seekers will miss this forest,” said Riku.

“Seekers?”

“Oh, that’s what the elves that are allowed to leave our island are called.”

Riku told Robin more about the elven culture and about the Seekers.

“I’m not sure if they are what you would call Seekers. They don’t seem the type to be looking for anything related to elven treasure.”

Riku and Robin put a pin on their conversation as they finally reached a certain treehouse. Raghnall continued to a separate treehouse not too far where he set Daisuke down on a bed made of wood and a bunch of leaves. Daisuke was still fast asleep and was not even bothered by the travel.

“Please, make yourselves comfortable,” Robin offered at the main treehouse. “Ah, here, have some tea.”

“Your friend is still fast asleep. Are you sure he’s alright?” asked Raghnall as soon as he came back from the other treehouse.

“He’s fine. It’s just that, he lost a lot of mana,” Brunnhilde answered.

“Ah, I see.”

Brunnhilde studied the face of Raghnall. “You don't look...convinced.”

“Oh! It's not like that. It's just that I have never used mana before. But Robin here, she's fairly great with it. As expected from the Royal Knights.”

“Are there any power or magic users here in Shiropolis?” asked Mirana.

“No, Emergent Kingdom never had power users. As for magic users, we only have runestones. No spells or other forms of magic,” Robin answered.

“Almost like Colosseum Empire. They only have magic users with healing and protective spells.”

“Yeah, like the Colosseum Empire,” Robin affirmed. “That empire relies heavily on its military prowess and boasts their number.”

“Speaking of the Colosseum Empire, we received a newspaper regarding its current state,” said Raghnall.

“What happened?” asked Siegfried.

Raghnall took the newspaper he saw on the table in the room and read the headline aloud. “The headline is about Colosseum Empire. ‘War against a Tyrant: Colosseum Empire in Civil War!’”

* * * * *

The Royal Family, the Seven Knights of the Emergent Table, and members of the Emergent Kingdom's Noble Cabinet all gathered in the castle's meeting hall.

A weekly meeting was conducted to ensure that all the high-ranking officials were aware of the state of the kingdom.

The Royal Family focused on most foreign affairs and few domestic affairs some of the portfolios have to be delegated to other people like the seven highest knights and the noble cabinet.

King Daffodil primarily focused on the United Alliance and the concerns of the citizens of the kingdom and keeping the government and military in check.

Prince Rafflesia served as his right hand and was primarily concerned with the kingdom’s land border and security.

Prince Dionaea focused on the coastal portfolio, including fisheries, the coast guards, the kingdom’s maritime border, and the welfare of the people in general.

Princess Cattleya focused on diplomatic visits and trade agreements with other kingdoms in Aria, especially those that signed the Zentolian Accords. She become the face of the Emergent Kingdom and was highly favored by their allies.

The Royal Family was sitting all together; Princess Cattleya was on the left side of Prince Dionaea, who was on the left side of the king. On the king's right side was Prince Rafflesia.

The Seven Knights of the Emergent Table, most commonly known as the Royal Knights, was a group of seven appointed knights that were chosen as the lords of the seven divisions of the kingdom.

The Emergent Kingdom is divided into three arcs: the Sandersonia Arc, which was the outermost arc and the nearest to Shiromori, the Cannopia Arc, which was the middle arc, and the Emergania Arc, which was the arc nearest to the sea. Inside the Emergania Arc is the kingdom’s castle where the royal family resides and is independent of the Emergania Arc.

Sandersonia and Emergania are divided into two divisions each while Cannopia is divided into three.

Together with the Minister of Defense, Princess Rafflesia, and Prince Dionaea, the Royal Knights ensure the safety of the people within their division.

They were all sitting together near the princess's side; Sir Thoras was just beside the princess, followed by Sir Drancei, Sir Lancea, Sir Rourke, Sir Ronan, Sir Garanin, and the youngest member, Sir Percethal.

The Emergent Kingdom’s Noble Cabinet was a group of eight people called ministers, appointed as well by the king to help on other subjects that require specialty and/or proper knowledge.

The ministers were as follows:

Minister of Defense: Bentley of House Halberdon; Minister of Treasury: Eadwig of House Pernach; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Border Control: Timothea of House Spetunia; Minister of Domestic Affairs, Health, and Safety: Graeme of House Stillenos; Minister of Public Service and Infrastructure: Edmund of House Onageria; Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources: Wulfton of House Guisarme; Minister of Fisheries and Coast Guard: Zelene of House Lucernes; and Minister of Technology and Research: Hayden of House Berdiche

The meeting for that week focused on four topics: the Zentolian Accords Auction to be held tomorrow, the continuous exodus of the citizens from Sandersonia and Cannopia arcs that consider themselves poor and deprived, the frequent skirmishes with the so-called Rogue Archers inside Shiromori, and the apparent civil war in the Colosseum Empire.

“Everything’s prepared for the auction tomorrow evening, Your Majesty,” said Timothea. “Minister Graeme and I have been working closely for this matter, ensuring that everything’s perfect. Minister Edmund has been helping us out as well.”

“That’s great. I also understand that many foreigners are already here in advance and will be spending the night in our inns. I want their safety to be top priority. Now, let us all talk about the civil war in the Colosseum Empire,” said King Daffodil. “I want to know what will be the impact of their war on our kingdom.”

“Your Majesty,” addressed Bentley, “We have strong ties with the Colosseum Empire. We conduct trade and military training with them. But since what happening is an internal conflict, I believe we should not intervene.”

“That is true, dear father. Also, it would be wise to prepare for the worst. Preparing for our defenses would be the best course of action as we do not know if the claims of this Aurelius is true. Until then, we need to assume that this is nothing but a coup to bring down their emperor,” added Prince Dionaea.

“Then we better fortify our defenses in the northern and western borders. With the vast and dense Shiromori in the north spanning to the eastern side of the kingdom, we will hear them coming in case they decided to invade their surrounding lands,” said Prince Rafflesia.

“I have no choice then but to ask for United Alliance’s support as well. With the number of the Colosseum Empire’s soldiers, we are no match,” said the worried king. “Very well, Bentley and Timothea, kindly iron out our plans and actions. Reach out to any of my child and royal knights for assistance and report to me once done.”

“Your Majesty, the next topic we need to discuss is the continuous departure of our citizens and the frequent skirmishes with the Rogue Archers inside Shiromori,” said Princess Cattleya. “I believe these two issues are closely related.”

“I concur,” said Sir Thoras. “Sir Garanin has been receiving reports that those who are leaving actually seek refuge in a place called Shiropolis.”

“Have we already found where this Shiropolis is? Does it even really exist?” asked Prince Rafflesia.

“We are not yet certain,” Sir Garanin admitted. “All we know is that inside Shiromori, there should be a hidden place where all these people, including the Rogue Archers, live in. Otherwise, they would not survive inside. The place is home for giant beasts.”

“And the reason for our citizens’ departure?” asked Graeme.

“Oppression. Lack of potable water. Lack of enough food. High and unrestrained taxes. That’s only to name a few,” said Sir Lancea as he counted them with her fingers. “Most of the people leaving are the commoners and those from the slums.”

“Farmers, fishermen, laborers, retainers, if they continue on leaving the kingdom, soon we will lose an integral part of our kingdom. I’m pretty sure none of the nobles would want their hands to get dirty or even sweat a little,” added Sir Percethal.

Edmund jumped from his chair. “How dare you?! Are you blaming all the nobles for the departure of those peasants?!”

“Why, minister? Are you guilty of oppressing the poor?”

“That’s enough, you two,” said King Daffodil.

Percethal and Edmund immediately apologized.

“We will look into this further. If the middle and lower class feels like there has to be a change, then we will see to it if we can achieve such change and provide whatever they seem we are lacking to provide. We have vast farmlands to cultivate wheat and produce, we have rich seas to catch seafood, and we have clean rivers to get fresh water. Minister Hayden also leads his people to ensure that we could mass-produce and mass-process all the necessary items that everyone requires in their day-to-day lives. We should be able to provide our citizens with what they absolutely need.”

The knights and Princess Cattleya felt relieved.

“However, we better ensure as well that these people that depart from our kingdom are not joining the Rogue Archers and become part of the frequent attacks on our nobles. That I’ll consider as an act of terrorism and treason. Princess Cattleya, in regards to the diplomatic visit to Shiromori, I assume you already have a plan?”

“Yes, dear father,” Princess Cattleya confirmed. “Together with some royal knights, I’ll go to Shiromori, and hopefully, some Rogue Archers would find and bring us to their hidden camp called Shiropolis. Only then we will be able to speak with their leader and ask them for a bilateral ceasefire agreement.”

“Shouldn’t this agreement be conducted on a neutral ground?” asked Timothea.

“Shiromori is a neutral ground that will stay unowned by any kingdom as per the Zentolian Accords signed by the twenty-three kingdoms and countries of the continent Aria near the said neutral grounds,” said Sir Thoras.

“Simply put, the Rogue Archers are outlaws relying on guerilla attacks with the forest as their base of operations. If we could convince them to stop their assaults with what we could offer, then we will be able to convince the people to return and the Rogue Archers to surrender with minimal to no penalties,” Princess Cattleya added.

Edmund scoffed. “Your Majesty, I cannot help but think that the princess is being too idealistic. Should we really rely on the princess for such an important matter?”

“Idealistic as I may be, minister, I only want to believe that we could solve our problems with peaceful ways, for instance, a dialogue. I am not stopping the kingdom to resort to bloodshed if that’s what you want. That’s what the soldiers and knights are for, am I wrong?”

The minister cleared his throat. He can see in the eyes of the princess that she’s not bluffing. Even the knights are looking at him with a serious atmosphere. He decided it is best not to respond.

The meeting was supposed to continue but a soldier came inside the meeting room with urgent news.

“Your Majesty! I apologize for barging in. The United Alliance has arrived.”