by Ennki Hakari
“Dammit! So, I only eliminated that idiot, Dakares? If Yuriarna returns, the nobles in his camp will almost certainly align with her. Maybe I shouldn’t have disposed of him so soon.”
Until recently, Dakares’s supporters had been against Yuriarna. But now that he was dead, support for her would almost certainly increase.
The prince rubbed at his throbbing head and took a deep breath.
“Pouting won’t change anything. I need to put a stop to the uprising in Houvan and make my way back to the capital. If I’m not careful, I may be the next one snuffed out.”
Sekt’s eyes narrowed as he glowered at the town of Houvan, visible through the flap of his tent.
It was his money and weapons that had made this uprising possible, and now he was commanding royal troops to quell it and bring peace back to the town.
He turned his gaze east, mumbling comforting platitudes to himself.
***
The Holy East Revlon Empire held domain over the massive swath of land on the eastern side of the northern continent. The town of Kaysehk sat on its southernmost border.
To the west, on the other side of the Siana mountain range and its dense forests, was the Great West Revlon Empire. To the south lay the Rhoden Kingdom.
Kaysehk itself looked almost like a fortress, surrounded by stout, stone walls that stretched high into the air. A military fort, made of simple, wooden structures, had been set up outside the town’s western wall.
In one of the fort’s barracks, a man sat alone.
Though the interior was simply furnished, there were a few decorations scattered about to give it some atmosphere. The large flag of the Holy East Revlon Empire above the door marked this room as that of the fort’s commander.
A knock came at the door, and a man marched smartly into the room.
“You called, Commander?”
The man who’d entered had a thickset body and a wild look in his eyes. He sat across the table from the commander and saluted. The commander acknowledged the salute and set a wooden box on the table, sliding it toward the newcomer.
“These are the magical items you will need to carry out your operation, Major. Or so I’ve been told.”
The commander spoke in a deliberate manner, his tone carrying a deeper meaning shared only between the two men in the room.
The major straightened. “Understood!”
He took the wooden box and carefully opened the lid, peering inside. However, upon seeing its contents, the major’s eyes narrowed.
He wasn’t exactly certain what he was looking at.
Inside the box was a crystal sphere, polished so brightly he could see the commander’s face reflected on its perfect surface. Encased in the center of the sphere was a grotesque green and red eyeball that stared blankly off into space.
The major looked up at the Commander, his face a mask of confusion.
The commander let out a heavy sigh.
“This is, apparently, a magical item developed by the Runeology Cloister that can tell you how much mana is concentrated around you. The higher the concentration, the darker the crystal becomes.”
The major picked up the freakish-looking crystal and squinted at it. “So, with this…?”
“With this you can find a safe route through the forest…or so they claim.”
The commander shrugged, stood up from his seat, and walked over to the window facing the forests that stretched off to the west.
The major allowed himself a low chuckle. It was clear that both he and the commander weren’t sure they could believe any claims that the Runeology Cloister might make.
The commander continued staring out the window. “Never mind that the Runeology Cloister brought about this whole situation in the first place. Anyway, that’s all. Dismissed.”
He turned back around to face the major.
“Yes, sir! I’ll be off.”
The major returned the crystal to its box and put it under his arm. After offering another salute, he left the commander alone in his room again and made his way to the parade ground at the center of the fort, where many soldiers stood in rows, waiting.
Behind them stood several more rows of ogres. The monsters wore metal battleaxes on their backs and steel collars around their necks that gave off a dull glow. Several minotaurs, even taller than the ogres, stood in the middle of this formation. The monsters made for an awkward sight behind the soldiers.
Suddenly, a massive roar broke the silence, causing the trees off in the forest to shake violently, as if being whipped about by a sudden breeze.
Side Story:
Lahki’s Merchant Diary, Part 3
Olav, capital of the Rhoden Kingdom.
Through one district ran a street lined with various workshops, the craftspeople who owned them known throughout the capital for their excellence. One such workshop was devoted to leatherwork. Despite its modest size, this workshop was filled with experts in their craft. It was so famous that even nobles frequented it.
Off to the side, a small room served as the workshop’s administrative office. It was a simple affair, built almost as an afterthought, that consisted of one wooden table and several stools. The room stank of leather treatment chemicals, making it difficult for those unaccustomed to the unique smell to spend much time there.
Two men sat across the table from each other, scowls gracing both of their faces.
One of them was clearly a craftsman, as evidenced by his dirty leather smock, balding head, and untamed white beard. This stubborn-looking old man was the manager of the workshop. He stroked his beard, his forehead wrinkling, as he fixed his piercing gaze on the young man sitting across from him.
The second man, a twenty-year-old merchant, wore fine clothing that complemented his attractive face and mussy brown hair. He smiled weakly.
“Forty-five! And that’s the best yer gonna get!” The wrinkles in the old man’s forehead deepened as he crossed his tree-trunk-like arms.
The merchant frowned and let out a sigh. “I guess asking for anything more would be a bit much, huh?”
“Yer damn right! And I’m only meeting with ya ’cause the old lady at the druggist introduced ya. Usually, I wouldn’t deal in leather from unknown sources. My suppliers would give me all sorts of grief if they found out.”
“That’s certainly true.”
Workshops in large towns typically only bought leather from specific guilds that they had preexisting agreements with. These guilds wouldn’t care to hear about some stranger coming in and trying to make a deal behind their backs. Since workshops rarely ever purchased leather directly, they were able to demand heavy discounts to bypass the guilds.
When this merchant had sold kobumi flowers from Luvierte to a druggist he knew, he’d mentioned to her that he’d stumbled across some dead sand wyverns, and she’d made arrangements for him to meet with the old man here in the workshop. Without her, this man never would have come to the negotiating table.
“So, forty-five sok each, yeah?”
“Yes, that works for me.”
The older man uncrossed his burly arms and offered a hand to the merchant with a grin. The young merchant nodded and shook it.
“Oy! Come over here and pay this man!”
A young man came running over with a leather pouch. He opened it up to show its contents.
“Go ahead. Make sure it’s all there.”
The merchant took the pouch and began carefully counting the coins.
“Lahki, was it? Well, ya came at the right time! The whole capital’s run out of sand wyvern leather. We have an enormous backlog from some of the nobility. Now we can finally get started on those orders.”
The young merchant, Lahki, stopped counting the coins and looked back up at the old man with a wry smile.
If the affiliated guild didn’t have any leather in stock, then dealing directly with a workshop was generally allowed. This meant that Lahki could have sold the sand wyvern leather at an even higher price than what t
he guilds normally sold it for.
“Well, looks like you got one over on me.”
“Gyahahaha! No, I didn’t. The guild would’ve given you no more than thirty, y’know. I was treatin’ you right.”
The old man shot Lahki a white, toothy grin and patted him hard on the shoulder before standing and returning to the workshop.
After he’d finished counting the coins, Lahki said his goodbyes to the young man who’d brought them and left the shop.
His cart was now significantly lighter without the three sand wyvern carcasses. The horses made good time as they pulled him back to the inn. Along the way, a young man with short-cropped blond hair waved him down.
This muscular man wore leather armor, a simple sword at his waist, and a small shield on his back. He was clearly a mercenary.
Lahki acknowledged the man and slowed the cart. The man jogged over, calling out to Lahki as he got close.
“Hey, Lahki. If you’re heading back to the inn, I wanna ride.”
Before Lahki even had a chance to answer, the man hopped into the back of the cart. Lahki looked back at the newcomer.
“All done with your errands, Behl?”
Behl smiled back and nodded.
“Yup! I got my sword sharpened, so all that’s left is to laze about on my bed and rest.”
He crossed his legs and sat down in the back of the cart, looking at all the people as they rode past. After a few moments, he turned back to Lahki, as if he’d just remembered something.
“Did you get a good price on those sand wyverns?”
Lahki responded with a pained grin as he recalled the meeting at the workshop.
“Not really. He knocked me all the way down to forty-five sok each. Ah well, I don’t usually deal in leather anyway, so I’ll just tell myself it was a good price.”
Behl laughed. “Anything’s a good price for something you find lying by the side of the road, right? Hey, have you noticed how tense the guards here seem?” His gaze narrowed in on a group of soldiers clustered in the already crowded streets.
The soldiers had surrounded a suspicious-looking man. Passersby picked up their pace, giving the group a wide berth. Several other guards stood nearby, fixing their steely glares on anyone who came too close. Lahki focused on the road ahead to avoid making eye contact.
“I wonder if something happened here in the capital.”
Behl sat up from where he’d been leaning against the side of the cart and pulled himself closer to the driver’s seat, glancing around before speaking to Lahki in a hushed tone.
“I heard that, just a few days ago, the slave markets here were attacked—a coordinated attack. A lot of slaves are currently on the run. And the biggest of the markets was completely leveled. I went to see it myself. It’s just literally a pile of bricks.”
Lahki knitted his brow. “Judging by how the guards are acting, it seems like they haven’t caught whoever’s responsible.”
“Seems like.”
The two lowered their voices even further, exchanging glances as they neared the guards.
“Probably best to not stay too long.”
Lahki let out a heavy sigh and agreed with his friend. Behl resumed his seat, leaning against the side of the cart.
“You said it. One wrong step and we might end up like that guy.”
The cart pulled onto a street full of inns, and the two began scanning the area.
Behl’s eyes fell on a woman standing in front of one of the inns and called out to Lahki, pointing in her direction.
“There’s Rea. Over there.”
Lahki steered the cart toward her. As soon as she spotted them, she began waving.
Rea was dressed in mercenary garb, which allowed for easy maneuverability. She wore her chestnut-colored hair tied up in the back. She smiled at Lahki as the cart pulled up to the inn.
“Heya, Lahki. How’d it go with the leather?”
Lahki hopped down and started cleaning out the cart. “They really hammered me down on the price, but I sold them. The kobumi made me a tidy little profit, though, so this has been a good trip for us.”
Behl butted into the conversation. “Speaking of which, where are we going next? Should we just bum around the capital for a while?”
Rea glared at Behl, though she was curious how Lahki would respond.
Lahki stared off into space for a moment before looking back at his two companions.
“Now that we’ve got some coin to work with, and since the capital doesn’t look like the safest place to be right now, I was thinking about heading to Lamburt for a bit.”
A bright grin spread across Behl’s face at the thought of finally returning home.
“Ooh, maybe I can catch up with some friends!”
Rea, however, looked confused. “Does that mean you’ve finally saved up enough for a permit to run your own shop?”
“I dunno about that. I might have enough to buy a permit for a small shop at the officially listed rate…but I’d need some connections to make that happen. If it went to auction, there’s no way I could afford it. And that’s all assuming that there are even any permits for sale.”
Despite the despondent look on his face, Lahki still seemed like he was enjoying himself. His cheerful demeanor spread to Rea and Behl.
Behl hit his fist into his open palm. “Well then, whaddya say we start preparing for the journey?”
“Sounds about right. It’s a ten-day trip to Lamburt from here, so we’ll want to make sure we’re well stocked up.”
“I should to get some souvenirs from the capital for my family while I’m at it.”
The three returned to their room for a final, fitful night’s rest in the capital.
***
It had been nine days since they’d left the capital, and the trio was heading along a road flanked to the east by the Riebing Mountains as they made their way toward the glamorous port city of Lamburt. The road was usually well traveled, making it relatively safe from bandits.
However, the monster in front of them had apparently scared away most of the other travelers and sent them running for their lives. The three were completely alone.
A massive, three-meter-tall, bear-like creature covered in brown fur was blocking the road. Atop its massive body was the head of what looked like a wolf, its large, droopy ears giving it something of an endearing quality.
For Behl, who was slowly approaching the beast with his shield and sword at the ready, it was anything but endearing.
Though it wasn’t, strictly speaking, a monster, its massive body, combined with its sharp fangs and claws, made it far more formidable than the likes of goblins and orcs, putting it more in line with ogres in terms of raw power.
“Dammit! I never thought we’d run into a bear wolf out here! And now he’s fixated on us.”
Behl continued hurling insults at the bear wolf as he slowly advanced on it, swinging his sword at its face, trying to keep the beast’s attention on him.
Rea started chanting behind him. “Stone of flames, heed my call. Strike my enemy down!”
Two large, flaming stones shot off toward the bear wolf, but the beast avoided the attack by lunging toward Behl. It was surprisingly nimble for its size.
Rea’s failed magic attack had only served to infuriate the beast.
Behl lunched himself at the bear wolf, delivering a light gash to one of its front legs before diving back to safety.
“Lahki! On my mark, I want you to release the horses as a decoy and get out of here with the money. Start getting ready!”
“G-got it! Don’t do anything too dangerous!”
Lahki began looking over the cargo in his cart. A moment later, he retrieved the bag of money that he kept hidden away. He heard a whistling sound as something cut through the air, causing him to lift his head.
“Gwaaaaaargh!!!”
At the exact same time, the bear wolf let out a bellowing cry in anger and pain.
Lahki saw an arrow embedded deep in
one of the beast’s eyes. It writhed about wildly, pawing the air with its front legs.
Another swishing noise, and three arrows embedded themselves in the bear wolf’s hind legs, causing it to lose its balance and stumble backward.
Never one to let an opportunity pass her by, Rea used her fire magic to sear the bear wolf’s face, the sudden heat causing the beast to tumble to the ground. Behl thrust his sword into the creature’s throat, the blade twisting and turning in his grip as it ripped through thick flesh, taut muscles, and bone.
He heaved a sigh of relief and yanked his sword out, sending up a plume of blood and filling the air with a warm, coppery smell.
Lahki looked around for the source of the arrows. He spotted a small group of young mercenaries standing atop a hill a short distance away.
One of the men, holding a bow, waved to Lahki and started making his way over.
Behl, who’d been catching his breath next to the bear wolf, suddenly noticed the man.
“Axe, is that you?!”
“Hey there, Behl! You’re still alive?”
Axe offered a warm smile, which Behl returned, and the two shook hands.
Axe turned his attention to Lahki and Rea. “Well, if it isn’t Lahki and Rea. It’s been a while.”
“And once again, thanks to you, we’re still here.”
“Heya, Axe.”
Axe was a longtime friend of Behl and Rea. They’d met him when all three of them were members of the Lamburt mercenary guild, back before joining up with Lahki. After that, Lahki got to know Axe as well, and would occasionally request his protection when doing business near Lamburt.
While the three chatted, Behl turned to the other mercenaries as they approached from behind Axe. Axe waved the four men over.
“I’m the leader of a small squad now, still working for the mercenary guild.”
Behl gave an overly dramatic gasp of surprise, then patted Axe on the shoulder and smiled brightly.
“Well, you’re moving on up in the world, Axe.”
“You could say that.”
Axe gestured to the bear wolf collapsed in the middle of the road, blocking traffic.
