PATRIARCH FOWL
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Casual Heroing, Chapter 151
🕑 Added 2023-07-28 17:33:53 +0000 UTCNext chapter comes out Saturday, July 29th!
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Chapter 151 – Carriage
Arminius, Twenty Years Prior
Underneath the sprawling azure sky, the bustling crowd of potential recruits of the Royal Guard exited the Royal Academy in a great hurry. They ignored the stall vendors, the parents waiting for them outside, or the attendants—every single recruit with half a brain knew perfectly well that they had to hurry to make it to Florientia, the island infested with the damn Aracnolids, to retrieve one of the dead drops left there by the instructors.
A group went out in an ordered line, one of the most composed – if not the most composed one – of the entire pack.
“The [Stablemaster] will want to see the coin immediately,” Drusillus, the skinny warrior, spoke from the front of the line. They had let the [Blacksmith]-[Warrior] go first to part the crowd. “I will need two gold coins from each of you. That is the fairest price we will be getting under these conditions. The carriage will bring us to the port and wait for us on the way back.”
Lucianus, clearly knowing about prices more than the others, nodded, “That ain’t half-bad. I was thinking about horses, but an enchanted carriage is definitely much better than flattening our balls on horseback.”
“I am a decent rider,” Arminius shrugged, “but speeding all the way to the port without stopping would have tired us before even landing in that rotten place.”
Aurelianus was following behind Arminius, with Mercuria, the [Mage]-[Squire], closing the line.
“There is also a chance that the [Instructors] might have placed ambushes on the way to the port. It would only make sense for them to try and catch us off guard—it’s just too easy for them to let us believe there won’t be any interference or attack on the way. Me, I would have paid bandits to test our preparedness.”
Everyone turned to look at the slimy man who had joined the group last.
“That is—” Arminius found himself speechless. He hadn’t even considered such a thing. Now that he was thinking about it, though, it did make sense for the Royal Guard to try and put them in a tough spot.
“We can work guard shifts,” Aurelianus said with a smirk. “They will probably try and attack at night if anything—thinking that we would sleep to try and save our energy. That would be the biggest mistake they should be exploiting. I would also expect more than one ambush on the way back. If we are making good time, we should consider taking a longer route that they wouldn’t have stuffed full of bandits.”
“All these bandits… why would the Royal Guard even make deals with them? Or are they going to dress up as bandits themselves? It really doesn’t make much sense to me,” Mercuria voiced her doubts.
Everyone looked at her with an eyebrow raised.
“Why would you think they wouldn’t do that?” Arminius said.
“Because they are the Royal Guard?” Mercuria replied.
“So?”
“So, they are the ones upholding the law. How would they even go about getting bandits to do their bidding? Wouldn’t they simply arrest them?”
“Mercuria,” Lucianus spoke from behind Drusillus, who kept his stoic silence even among the few jaw twitches, “are you from the Nine Towers?”
“Yes?”
“Oh, that explains it,” Arminius exhaled. “You [Mages] really don’t know shit about the real world, do you? Rotten roots, the Royal Guard is probably dealing with more illegal things than the worst criminals you can think of. Laws, tsk. Mercuria, we are trying to climb a very big tree here—you should think of it as the biggest criminal organization of the continent.”
Arminius’s condescending tone obviously made the argument devolve into senseless bickering until they reached the [Stablemaster]. The Nine Towers’ graduates were some of the most ingenuous people one could find in the entire continent. They were often pampered [Nobles] with very little in the way of worldly experience.
“I’ll be negotiating the price down to what’s fair,” Drusillus announced and entered the smelly place alone.
“That man doesn’t like talking more than a tree would, but he’s the one negotiating?” Lucianus shook his head and laughed. “What an interesting crew we’ve got.”
That said, the [Rogue] turned toAurelianus.
“You, I have never heard of you. Are you a [Noble]?”
Aurelianus returned a slimy smile and shook his head, combing his hair back.
“I come from a fishing village near Amorium, Ferrium.”
“Amorium, huh?” Arminius smiled. “I’ve heard it’s a beautiful place. They are trying to carve it up like the Capital, aren’t they?”
“The reserves of marble run very deep,” Aurelianus said, “but it is unlikely it will ever look as majestic as Aethereum.”
Aethereum was the name of Epretos’s capital, a majestic city designed with grandeur and intricate beauty. The entire city was a masterpiece, carved straight from a colossal mountain. Every road, every building, every bridge, and every single street corner was sculpted meticulously from the mountain's marble, reflecting the sunlight in a way that made the city shine like a beacon.
The towering palaces, grand halls, and the Royal castle were a sight to behold. Their pillars stood tall, reaching to the skies, and the vast courtyards sprawled in every direction, adorned with exquisite statues and fountains. The city's rooftops, painted in vibrant hues, created an incredible mosaic of colors against the backdrop of the azure sky.
The paths leading to Aethereum were narrow, twisting, and winding. The mountainside offered the city a natural defensive advantage. No massive armies could easily penetrate the city. Only single-file lines of merchants or diplomats, even on horseback, could navigate the serpentine roads to reach the heart of the city.
But what made Aethereum even more fascinating was the vast expanse it covered. It was a mega-city, the likes of which the world had never seen before. The mountain it was carved from wasn't just tall but wide. This allowed the city to sprawl and spread, encompassing a large region, with streets and alleys running in every conceivable direction.
And yet, despite its colossal size, Aethereum felt empty, as though the city was too large for its inhabitants. Even with the bustling marketplaces, the crowded inns, and the Royal court filled with nobles and officials, there were still vast areas of the city that remained uninhabited. These unused quarters echoed an eerie silence, adding to the city's mysterious aura.
"Yes," Arminius nodded, "Aethereum... there's nothing quite like it."
The city predated the Elves—it had once been a Human stronghold. Many [Historians], though, knew that the Humans, too, had just been guests in the city. The history of Epretos was much older than its current inhabitants.
Resting under the shade of a big oak tree, Arminius briefly checked his gear and rations.
“Does anyone need to shop for supplies? We should probably get going as soon as possible,” he spoke out loud.
Mercuria hummed in reply, “I don’t really have much food on me; why?”
The rest of the group turned to the [Mage].
“You… didn’t bring rations?” Aurelianus looked at the [Mage] with a frown. “But you surely knew that the second stage might have turned out like this?”
“No?” Mercuria shrugged. “I took the test because I wanted to level up my classes, and becoming a Royal Guard is a great way to do so. The theoretical part of the exam was extremely simple and had been covered in my first years at the Nine Towers. I didn’t really know what the second test would be like, and all the information about it seemed extremely expensive. I thought I would just, you know, feed on whatever berries I would find along the way.”
That wasn’t literal. It was an Elven saying. But it might as well have been literal since Mercuria wasn’t prepared in the slightest.
“Do you have at least potions on you?” Arminius asked, slack-jawed.
“Yes, yes. I always carry potions, both Mana and health potions. But I don’t have many spare changes of clothes nor food, though.”
“We’ll have to pool the rations,” Arminius sighed. “Let’s not waste time. Many other idiots might have had the same problem, and the market has probably been swarmed already. If there’s a chance, we’ll buy more food before we land on the island.”
“Excuse me, what did you just call me?” Mercuria’s face darkened, but Arminius completely ignored her.
“Aurelianus,” Lucianus turned to the sketchy-looking man, “I wanted to finish asking about you. So, what can you do exactly? Are you a [Warrior]?”
“Something like that,” Aurelianus replied cryptically. “My specialty is knowing the enemy. Aracnolids, for example, I can show you how to kill these creatures. I’ve fought a few. Did you know that legend is that they come from Foresta?”
“Foresta, the continent?” Arminius raised an eyebrow.
“No, Foresta, your mother,” Mercuria replied from the side, drawing glances from everyone.
See, Arminius would have gladly decked the woman in the mouth for such an insult, but Mercuria had gotten a wand out that had put all three’s [Dangersenses] in the state of alert.
“The carriage is ready to go,” Drusillus came out from the stables and looked at the tense group with a confused face.
