II
Olivia’s platoon spent a night in the town of Amil as planned, then traveled another week or so, passing through the towns of Coscelia and San Caledo before leaving Fernest and journeying out into central Duvedirica. Separated from the road, they now traveled by the forest to the north, where lay a small nation. The Kingdom of Swaran, ruled by its boy king, Alan von Swaran, boasted a storied history that stretched back nigh on three centuries. Tempus Fugit 997 had seen the breakout of what was now called the Swaran War, which had resulted in the Asvelt Empire defeating the Kingdom of Swaran. Heid von Swaran, the former king, had been beheaded in front of their lamenting citizens, along with his key senior ministers. Following the annexation, the Kingdom of Swaran had joined the empire’s vassal states and taken up a hostile stance against Fernest. Memories were fresh of the attack the previous year on Fort Peshitta, defended by Lieutenant General Sara.
We have to do everything we can to avoid unnecessary contact.
On Claudia’s orders, they advanced southwards to avoid the notice of the Kingdom of Swaran, until at last, the platoon arrived at the picturesque village of Lago.
Claudia checked her pocket watch and saw it was already close to dusk. She proposed to Olivia that they stop to rest in Lago and received her immediate consent.
But things did not go as expected.
“You want us to leave? Right now?” Claudia asked the elder who had come out as soon as they arrived at the village, naming himself their representative.
“I am very sorry...”
Claudia frowned. From what she’d seen on the map, there was nothing resembling a town or village beyond here. They were more or less used to sleeping rough, but it had been a long journey, and both the soldiers and the horses were tired. If possible, she wanted to give them a solid day of recuperation here. Besides that, Ashton was looking at her with hope in his eyes, imploring her to somehow persuade them.
“I realize we’re imposing on you,” she tried again, bowing her head, “but is there really no way we can make this work?”
The elder’s face hardened, not budging in his refusal.
This isn’t going anywhere... Claudia decided that pushing any further would only cause a nuisance for the village.
“Esteemed elder, I apologize for making demands of you. We will leave, but before we do, could I trouble you for an explanation?”
After a moment’s hesitation, the elder said in a low voice, “Our village is small and remote. We’ve managed to live in peace without being swept up in any wars. Now you appear at our doorstep. Frankly, letting soldiers such as yourselves into the village, even for a night, would be calling war upon ourselves.”
Claudia was taken aback by this response. “I’m impressed that you recognized us as soldiers,” she said, her frown deepening. As they were leaving Fernest’s domains, Claudia and the others were all disguised as merchants. This was, of course, a precaution to avoid being caught up in unnecessary conflicts. They naturally were dressed not in military uniforms, but the kind of garb favored by merchants of the day. Even the swords that usually would have hung at their belts were all hidden inside the carts. Short of a close inspection of the carts’ contents, no one should have been able to tell they were soldiers. She did have a knife on her belt, but it was only good for self-defense. Any traveler might carry such a thing.
The elder’s response shed light on her questions. “I don’t know whose army you’re from, but there’s been no end to the fighting in these parts since the war began. We’ve seen our fair share of soldiers.”
“I see...”
From the center out to the west of the continent, Duvedirica was fragmented into a great many minor nations, and all of them fought tooth and nail among themselves to further their own agendas. In truth, they had passed places along the way to this village that bore the marks of comparatively recent conflict. As such, Claudia had no choice but to accept the elder’s words.
“I really am sorry,” he said, bowing low. Following his lead, the assembled villagers also started bowing awkwardly. It was clear the villagers wanted their platoon to hurry up and leave. Claudia stifled a sigh, then turned and whispered in Olivia’s ear so as not to be overheard by the elder.
“General, they aren’t going to be persuaded. We’ll be camping out in the open tonight. Is that all right?”
Olivia nodded at once. “That’s totally fine by me. I like sleeping outside.”
“I’m truly sorry for the inconvenience.”
“Don’t be. It’s not like it’s your fault.” Olivia didn’t seem put out in the slightest, and she immediately gave the order to depart.
At this, the elder visibly relaxed. But the next moment, his eyes widened in shock.
“What is it?” Claudia asked, sensing something amiss. But the elder only stood there as though frozen in time. The other villagers had reacted in the same fashion.
“Mama, mama,” said a small child, tugging on his mother’s sleeve. “Are those the bandits?” He was pointing at something behind Claudia. At once, the mother swooped down and clasped her hand over the child’s mouth.
“Not bandits, lad! You’re looking at the noble Warriors of the Sunrise!”
Claudia turned. A group of fierce and wild-looking men stood blocking off the entrance to the village, their leering grins turned in the group’s direction. One man clad in crude armor stepped forward, at which the villagers scattered.
“What did I tell you?!” the elder shouted, his face now twisted with hatred. Leaning unsteadily on his walking stick, he hurried away after the others.
The man watched him go with amusement, coming to a stop in front of Claudia.
“Well, well! You’re some mighty fearsome-looking merchants, now I see you up close,” he declared. “And it’s a rare day we see such a fine selection of goods out in these parts. I think it might just be our lucky day.” His eyes slid from Claudia to Ellis to Olivia in turn; then he grinned as his comrades had, nodding with satisfaction.
“Can we do something for you?” Claudia gritted out, disgusted. At once, the man’s face turned serious.
“One of my boys brought us word that there were merchants here without any guards. You know about the brushups between the Republic of Lean and the Carnera Kingdom in these parts, yeah?”
“Can’t say I do.”
“You don’t?! For merchants, you’re taking all this pretty lightly. I’d expect— Eh?” He broke off, his eyes finding the crests painted on the doors of the carts. “You’re merchants from Fernest?”
“We are,” Claudia said at length.
“Well now,” he said, nodding as though it all made sense now. “Then you can’t help being out of the loop, eh?”
“So, can we help you?” Claudia asked again.
“Begging your pardon. I got sidetracked there,” the man replied. “Cutting straight to the point, what do you say to hiring us as guards?”
“You want us to hire you?”
“Like I said, these parts are far too dangerous for merchants to wander about without protection. You’ll tell us where you’re headed, and we’ll make sure you carry on your journey without getting mixed up in anyone’s fighting. Ah, on that note,” the man added, “I haven’t introduced myself. The name’s Domon Gilborough, captain of the Warriors of the Sunrise.” He drew his sword with a flourish, then twirled it a few times, showing off. He had the routine down pat, so clearly he wanted them to see his confidence.
“Sorry, but I’m afraid we’re not in need of any protection. You’ll have to find some other merchants,” Claudia told Domon, inwardly smirking. The idea of soldiers hiring mercenaries as guards was too stupid to even be laughable.
Domon’s bushy eyebrows shot up. “Was that a refusal?”
“Well, that’s what I meant it as.”
“Good grief...” Domon shook his head in disbelief. “You know what it’s like around here, right? You hear me telling you you’ll most likely end up caught in the fighting? Now isn’t the time to be stingy.”
“I believe I understand the situation. I still tell you we have no need of protection. Besides, aren’t you mercenaries? Surely you’d make far better money on the battlefield than guarding merchants for a few coppers.”
Mercenaries served no nation, but they would go into battle if the price was right. With the world in the state it was, mercenaries were in hot demand—especially if they knew their trade. In essence, mercenaries were those who lived with death always near at hand, in exchange for which they received a substantial amount of gold.
Claudia had thought her question more or less reasonable, but Domon’s face twisted, and he spat in irritation. No sooner had he done so than Ellis burst out laughing, coming forward to face him down.
“Something funny, wench?”
“Well, obviously it’s funny,” Ellis said. “Warriors of the Sunrise, was it? Well, you can call yourself by whatever grand name you’d like, but my guess is you’re a bunch of washed-up sellswords who can’t find anyone to hire you. Even if they did, you’d probably just cause trouble, right?” When Domon didn’t respond, Ellis said, “Was I spot on? Oh, you poor things. Of course, if you were any good, most would turn a blind eye to the small stuff and hire you anyway. So in truth, you’re nothing special. Which is why you’re here offering protection to merchants...” A giggle burst out of her. “If it were me, my pride would never let me do that!” She buried her face in her hands in mock embarrassment. When it came to bad-mouthing an opponent, no one could hold a candle to Ellis. Not even close.
It’s not that uncommon for mercenaries to offer protection services for merchants, Claudia thought. Though more importantly, the lashing she gave him. That woman scares me...
In the wake of this deluge of scathing remarks from Ellis, Domon’s eyes glinted dimly, and when he spoke, gone was the friendly air from before, replaced by a menacing tone.
“All right, you’ve run your mouth off enough. Thing is, you don’t seem to get it. This offer of protection isn’t optional. You don’t get a choice in the matter.”
“No, stop it!” Ellis cried, doubling up with laughter. “Don’t say any more, or I’m going to die laughing!” There were even tears in her eyes, so presumably she actually did find this hilarious. Ashton and the other soldiers all stared at her in awe. All except Evanson, that is, who buried his head in his hands.
“You bitch!” Domon shouted.
Ellis, gasping for breath, got herself under control. “All right, all right. How about this, then? You—Dommy, right?—and me, in single combat. If I lose, we’ll give you everything in those carts.”
Domon frowned. “Say what?”
“You planned to rob us from the start, didn’t you?” Ellis said, smirking.
“Ellis! What are you—!”
“Big Sister Olivia!” Ellis called out cheerfully, drowning out Claudia’s objection. “You don’t mind, do you?”
She’ll never say yes to this. As though in mockery of this thought of Claudia’s, Olivia agreed without a moment’s hesitation, and with a beaming smile on her face to boot.
“Oh, I knew I could count on my lovely big sister,” Ellis cooed. “You know me so well.”
“General!”
“I said it’s fine. Besides, you know what the outcome will be, don’t you, Claudia?”
“Well, yes, but...” She glanced at Domon and saw him swing his sword a few times, his face contorted with fury.
“You lot think you’re all that, you little twerps! If you think I’d ever lose to a merchant you’ve got another thing coming!”
“What’s that?” Ellis said, in a tone of exaggerated concern. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of single combat?” Her every word dripped with contempt, but then again, antagonizing one’s opponent was a valid battle strategy. Not that Claudia believed for a second that Ellis had thought it through that far.
“Like hell!” Domon shouted. “I’m gonna make you sorry!” The other men behind him nodded uncomfortably. They were probably just as thrown off by this unexpected turn of events as he was.
“Hey, you ever heard the saying, ‘a barking dog never bites’?” Ellis said. She then ordered Evanson to bring her sword, and he ran off toward the carts. Claudia wondered if he understood that he outranked Ellis.
“You’re a mouthy one, eh? Here I was thinking I’d wait for the right moment and have myself some fun, but you—I just have to kill you myself!”
“Mm, okay. That’s the most small-time speech I ever heard.”
Evanson rushed back and tossed the sword to Ellis, who caught it casually. She slid the blade from its scabbard, threw the scabbard aside, then raised her hand and beckoned Domon forward. She clearly didn’t respect him at all. In battle, underestimating your opponent like that was wont to trip you up.
But that wasn’t what happened.
“Damn you! How?! How come some merchant wench can fight like that?!”
Domon’s hands slammed into the ground, his breathing ragged. Ellis brought her sword down to the point between his eyes. Claudia, seeing that this time everything had gone as she’d expected, breathed a sigh of relief. If Ellis had lost, Olivia would undoubtedly have handed over the contents of the carts.
Ellis looked coolly at Domon, as though he were a worm. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? I’m stronger than you, plain and simple.”
Domon’s face turned scarlet, and he beat his fists on the ground. “What are you pissing around over there for?!” he bellowed at his men. “Get over here and kill the bitch!”
“Oh, you’re going to be like that?” Ellis said. “I’m afraid even I don’t find that funny.”
“Screw you! Now you’ve done it. We’ll tear every one of you to pieces!” He looked back. “Hey, what’s the deal? I said get over here and kill them!”
His men looked at one another. Then they all turned and walked away.
“H-Hey! You bastards! Where are you going?!” Domon shouted after them, but they only moved on out of the village in silence. Every single one of them ignored his command.
“Th-They... Why?!”
“That was the proof that your men—or former men now, I suppose—read the situation better than you did,” Ellis said. “Anyway, it’s about time you died, I think.”
At this declaration from Ellis, all of Domon’s bluster left him. He raised his arms in a show of surrender. “W-Wait! I know these parts, I’ll guide you, I’ll do whatever you want! You don’t want to get mixed up in the war, right? Right?” He laughed foolishly.
All emotion left Ellis’s face. “If there’s one thing I hate,” she said slowly, “it’s people who start begging for their life the moment things aren’t going their way. Just looking at you makes me sick.” With that, she raised her sword and lopped off Domon’s head. His decapitated body spasmed violently, then fell forward onto the dirt.
“Looks like that’s that,” Olivia said lightly. “Shall we go, then?” And as though nothing had happened, she gave the order to move out.
The only one to reply was Ellis. “Yes, ser!” she cooed sweetly.
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