The Trials of a Modern Paladin 1

by Kevin Culp

  “That was quite the impressive display, sir.” He said.

  “It shouldn’t have been necessary for me to wound this creature just to appease people.”

  “But doesn’t it excite you, battling and besting a giant vicious beast like this?”

  I looked at the so-called King of Lions. “I would hardly call him a vicious beast. A misunderstood beast is more like it. Can I ask how you captured him? Assuming you had something to do with it.”

  “Well, I didn’t, but it’s no mystery. He was spotted in the plains to the south about four months ago. An army was sent with the second prince to capture him. He ran from them and slaughtered them by the dozens every time they got close. Finally, they pinned him down in the mountains and wore him down to a point they could capture him.”

  “Did he kill anyone before the soldiers arrived?”

  “From what I gather he hasn’t killed any civilians.”

  “In other words, he probably hadn’t even willingly attacked a human until we provoked him?”

  “Well, I’m not certain about that.”

  “Who would I talk to about buying him?”

  “That would be me, sir,” another voice came from off to the side.

  A man walked into view that looked to be an eighties businessman. He had slicked-back hair that was salt and pepper and wore a fancy suit. Obviously, the suit was less modern and came complete with a tailcoat. His mustache was more railroad tycoon very thick and curled on the ends but not like the baron’s monopoly man look.

  “I’m interested in purchasing this creature is he for sale?”

  “Everything is for sale, Sir Velnir. That is my business motto after all.”

  “How much?”

  “Well, I don’t know he is a unique creature. I couldn’t imagine putting…”

  I cut him off. “Get to the point. How much?”

  He seemed to be thinking how much he could get off me, “eight thousand gold.”

  “Done. Can you deliver him to the castle?”

  The man was taken aback by my quick response. “Of course I can. How will you be paying?”

  “I’ll pay you in platinum, but I left my bag and normal equipment at the castle. Can I pay you then?”

  “I’m sure I have no reason to doubt you, Sir Velnir. It has been a pleasure doing business with you.”

  I looked at the Lion. He actually seemed to be following our conversation. “Just stay calm. You will be free soon.”

  The lion nodded.

  I was certain he had some level of intelligence. Whether it was on par with Zeus or even beyond that, I couldn’t be sure. It wasn’t really important to me how intelligent he was. The prince had discussed that he wouldn’t have me fight something intelligent, but I was also pretty certain everyone had just assumed the lion was only of animal intelligence. I left the room.

  When I walked back through the Arena, more applause waited, but I quickly exited. By the time I got back to the prep room from the fight, Leovald and Christina were waiting for me along with several soldiers. Christina tackled me in a hug.

  “Wow, that was amazing Archaeus. You really do surprise me every time. I don’t think it’s even possible to know how powerful you really are.” She then took a step back. “Oh my god, you’re bleeding so much.”

  I looked at Christina’s clothes and saw they had blood all over them. At least she wasn’t wearing the dress I had bought her or the one that was refitted I thought. Looking over myself, my armor was crushed and had pieces torn out of it. Blood smeared the whole thing. I hadn’t actually noticed.

  I put my hand on my chest and used healing hands. All of my wounds closed instantly. Unfortunately, the armor was still torn to pieces and would be unusable. This was the first time something had happened since I got to this world that didn’t match the game. Armor in-game didn’t become destroyed through combat unless sundered, and the lion was definitely attacking me not the armor. I mean it was considered that you had to maintain your equipment, but this would be unusable after one fight. Maybe it was because the armor was levels below the encounter and that’s why it wouldn’t survive.

  “I’m sorry about getting blood on your clothes Christina,” I said.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

  “By the way, we have a new pet.”

  “Archaeus did you buy a lion?”

  “Maybe.”

  She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “What am I going to do with you?” She laughed.

  The prince looked at me. “Should I ask why you want such a dangerous creature? I have to tell you it took us months to capture the thing.”

  “Yes, I heard you were part of that, though it sounds like you were just following orders. The lion is intelligent, you know. From what I gather, I think it only killed soldiers out of self-defense.”

  “Well, it will definitely be a huge shame on me if that turns out to be true. We lost a lot of good men to the beast. Knowing it all could have been avoided is just a slap to the face.”

  “That’s why you don’t shoot first and ask questions later.”

  “I’m sorry?” He said it as a question.

  “Oh, it’s a phrase where I come from. It can be different in different situations, but effectively, it means you should act with intelligence before resorting to violence.”

  “I think that should be diplomacy in a nutshell, but I’m ashamed to say that isn’t always the case, especially when dealing with non-humanoids.” He responded.

  “Unfortunately, you are right it isn’t. This place smells too much like blood. Can we get out of here?”

  The prince nodded and started walking out the tunnel. I took Christina’s hand, and we followed after him. When I exited the arena, I was met by cheers. It seemed that the entire audience from the coliseum was now out here waiting. Tons of them were shouting and asking for my autograph. I didn’t feel like giving it, but I looked at a young boy probably no more than ten years old standing at the edge of the crowd.

  “Here you go, kid,” I said as I handed him the long sword. “You’re the next hero. Just remember to always use your head before using the sword.”

  He was ecstatic. I just hoped that mob mentality didn’t take over and cause people to fight over stealing the sword. I imagined what people would say in the real world to giving a weapon to a ten-year-old. I’m pretty certain I would go to jail for that, but here people applauded me more, and I guess even Archaeus didn’t have a problem with it because he didn’t stop me. Christina got on her toes and kissed my cheek. We walked to the carriage and got in.

  When we got in the carriage, Christina smiled at me. “That was so nice what you did for that boy Archaeus. You are going to be a great father one day.”

  I smiled back at her but was really just hoping I hadn’t turned her on to the desire to have a kid or something. “Well, maybe one day, but I have a lot of work to do before I can settle down to that kind of life.”

  She looked at me. “Yes you do. I think this world needs you, and that is the real reason why you ended up here.”

  I knew that Christina probably seemed to think about why I was here more often than I did these days. At the very least, it sounded like I had dodged the ‘her wanting to have a kid with me’ bullet. I loved her, but that wasn’t something I wanted any time soon. We had just started dating. I didn’t know all the formalities of dating in this world, and what kind of pace she would expect us to move at, but in the medieval era, I don’t think it was uncommon for people to be put in an arranged marriage and start trying to have children immediately. Girls had children in that kind of time period at fourteen or fifteen years old sometimes younger and Christina was almost twenty.

  We got back to the castle and were told that we should take a bath and dress into our formal wear. Of course, I let Christina bathe first since I knew it would take more time for her to get ready. By the time I got back from taking my bath and walked into the room, Christina was already in h
er dress, and Melina, the hairdresser from the shop, was in the room doing Christina’s hair and makeup. I guess they had called the woman here since they knew that she had done Christina’s hair and makeup the day before. When we had finished changing, we were escorted to the throne room rather than the ballroom, as I had expected.

  The doors opened. Lining the Carpet for the first length of the room were fully armored knights. Ahead of that were rows of other well-dressed people that I assumed to all be nobles given that I had met many of them the night before. There were nowhere near as many as at the ball, and I wasn’t sure if it was due to this event being more exclusive or simply fewer people wanting to be here after what had happened the night before and at the arena. At the very front of the room stood the entire royal family.

  The king spoke in a booming voice, “Sir Archaeus Alexander Velnir. Will you please step forward?”

  I walked to the front of the room.

  “Sir Velnir. To this kingdom, you were a complete unknown until a short time ago. Since that time, you have freed a town of tyranny and demonstrated power that most of us only thought could be held by gods or at the very least were things of legend. You have shown a desire to not only fight but also speak for those who can’t, and for these qualities, this kingdom is indebted to you.”

  He paused. I’m not sure if he wanted me to say something or if it was simply for dramatic effect.

  “For these reasons, we have decided that you would be a crucial cornerstone to ensuring this land’s future, and so, with the power granted to me by my bloodline and right of office, I offer you the title of Sir Archaeus Alexander Velnir, Baron of Freid. Furthermore, should you accept, any land that you gain in the future will be considered to be in the domain of Freid, and this title will benefit your children and your children’s children for the rest of time. Do you accept this office?”

  I paused for a moment unsure of whether I needed to give some fancy speech like him. In the end, I just looked him in the eye and said, “I accept.”

  “Then kneel before me, please.”

  I thought this was just a part of a ceremony for a knight, but I guess not here at least. I walked up to the king and knelt in front of him. He drew his sword and touched it to my shoulders then my head.

  “Arise Sir Velnir, as Baron of Freid and knight of Varnelion.”

  Chapter 16

  Everyone applauded when it was declared that I was now a baron and a knight. I wasn’t really sure if that was common here, and I don’t know if I had exactly agreed to that, but I mean I kind of already was a knight and of course, I was affiliating myself with the kingdom. I didn’t think it was normal in my world for someone to have both titles though; it was more one or the other.

  After that, we did head to the ballroom, but it stayed pretty exclusive. It was nice to get to dance with Christina some more as last night had been interrupted by poison. Many people were congratulating me, but even more were interrupting our dancing to ask for my political opinions. Welcome to an involuntary life of politics, I thought. Though I guess I couldn’t completely call it involuntary.

  Prince Leovald approached me. “So what are your plans now, Archaeus?”

  “Honestly, I’m not sure. I wasn’t really looking for nobility, just to stop a noble that I felt was in the wrong. Now I feel that I have even more obligations than I bargained for towards Freid at the very least. I suppose we will enjoy the evening and head back home tomorrow as long as they deliver the lion. I feel we have done enough sightseeing. Is that okay with you, Christina?”

  She let out a sigh and nodded. She must have been exhausted with all of this excitement.

  “Well, safe travels then. Should I arrange a carriage for you?”

  I thought for a moment. We could probably just ride the lion, I don’t think he would mind. Then I looked down at Christina. As beautiful as she was, she really did look tired. I don’t think she would enjoy spending several days on the back of an enormous lion.

  “How much do you think a decent carriage and a horse would cost to buy? I don’t want anything too extravagant just comfortable. I guess I’ll hire a coachman too.”

  Leovald responded, “I can arrange to have one delivered in the morning. If you like it, you can purchase it on the spot. If you don’t like it, you can use it and send it back. You will probably be looking at a few hundred gold. A coachman maybe a gold a day.”

  “Sounds fair to me.”

  “Before I forget, I need to give this to you. It is a letter of sending. You can write a letter and sign it with the recipient’s name while thinking about the individual. It will disappear and reappear before them. The person does have to be within a reasonable range, and if they are preoccupied in a way that it can’t be put in their hands, it will wait to be delivered. Once they have it they can write back, but it must go to you. This item can only be used once per day, and if the person doesn’t respond, it will come back to you after three days. It is for emergency quick communications. We make sure all of our nobles have them.” He handed me a small letter with a seal on the front with a sword and halo. “Also, that seal is your crest within the kingdom. If you would like to have it changed you may, but I expected you to want to leave soon, so I petitioned to have it done that way.”

  “It looks good to me. Thank you.” The prince walked away.

  I looked down at Christina. “Do you think it would be rude to leave a royal ball that is being held in my honor before it has finished?”

  “Probably, but is that going to stop you?” She said with a smile, “And I don’t mind. I really am tired.”

  “I should at least say something to the king, I guess.”

  She nodded.

  We made our way through all the guests doing our best to dodge the ones trying to get our attention as they saw me until we came to the table the king was sitting at. The only other ones there were his two youngest daughters and his wife.

  “I greatly appreciate your hospitality your majesty, but I believe Christina and I will be retiring to our room for the evening. We plan on leaving early tomorrow back to Freid. Especially given that it is now a domain I am responsible for, I have been gone for too long and wish to return.”

  The king nodded. “Of course, Sir Velnir. I will make the arrangements for your travel.”

  “The offer is appreciated your majesty, but your son Leovald has already offered to see to them.”

  “Excellent. I would also ask, have you further considered the proposal to my daughter Liandra?”

  I had already declined the king once on this, so I hope this doesn’t become a recurring question, and Christina looked a little upset this time.

  Liandra rolled her eyes.

  “Apparently, I am not as available as I had believed myself to be.” I said gesturing to Christina, “Your daughter is quite beautiful, and I am sure I would have been a lucky man, but I care deeply for Christina and she is the only woman I desire to have in my life.”

  Christina seemed a little perturbed with me bringing up Liandra being beautiful but overall, happy with my response.

  I was a little surprised by the king’s next words, “Young love, huh. That is something to cherish, Sir Velnir.”

  I would think a king would be shocked by me choosing a commoner over a princess, but if he was, it didn’t show. I simply nodded and walked away.

  We went back to our room and started packing our things. Melina had apparently left a bag of makeup and hairstyling supplies that she was just letting Christina keep. I wasn’t sure if that was something the crown arranged, or just Melina being a good person. Christina had got her mother’s dress back a few days ago but hadn’t worn it since except to try it on. It looked even better on her now than before, but it still made her sad to wear it. Once we had packed everything up, we changed and climbed into bed.

  Christina stared into my eyes as I held her. “Do you think things will change between us when we get back to Freid? Here I got to just be with you and shop and have f
un. There I will just go back to being a tavern girl.”

  “Well, then it’s a good thing that the tavern girl is the one I fell for. The tavern girl is the one that I thought was out of my league, but here we are.”

  She smiled. “Well then, just don’t forget how lucky you are to be with this tavern girl.” She said it, but I could tell she was still really nervous about it all.

  I pulled her in closer and kissed her. Eventually, my eyes got heavy, and they closed. As I drifted off to sleep, all I could think was how lucky I was to have ended up in this world dream or not.

  We woke up the next morning and breakfast was delivered to our room again. This time I took my time saying my prayers to prepare my spells. It was still strange closing my eyes for a moment, selecting my spells, then opening my eyes to find an hour had passed. I wondered what kind of prayers Archaeus was actually saying during that time. He must have been doing it right?

  As I finished my prayers, there was a knock on the door.

  “Come in,” Christina said.

  It was Prince Leovald. I guess he had actually come to see us off.

  He led us out to the courtyard, and it was definitely a sight to see. There, just in front of the gate, was a giant cage with an enormous lion in it. Next to the cage was a carriage with two horses that looked very uncomfortable and a wide-eyed coachman. There was another man on the opposite side of the carriage that I’m guessing was too scared to even stand with the lion in his sight. I walked out to the Lion reached my hand through the bars and patted him.

  A muffled voice said, “Excuse me, sir.”

  I walked around the carriage and saw a young man with shaggy brown hair and a patchwork beard. He wore a simple shirt and breeches.

  “I’m here to accept payment should you wish to buy the carriage.” He said.

  I looked the carriage over. It was pretty solid looking and was definitely built more for durability than to look pretty. Regardless, it did have some handsome patterns carved into the borders and looking inside the seats seemed well cushioned.