Chapter 40: Royal Duties pt 2
N: England followed after him, warning Johann to hold on tight, and slowly led the mare into the water. Just as Rowen said, it wasn't deep at all, and the country was able to go through the river with ease. When he reached the other side and joined the captain, he looked back at the river, and wondered out loud, "looks can actually be deceiving."
He turned back and continued to follow Rowen towards their destination, and Johann relaxed as he rode, swaying softly with the trotting of the horse.
———
As the group approached the farmers, Saxon spotted two figures standing next to each other, clearly angry at each other, and the entity guessed that they finally arrived.
M: Mandara sighed at the sight of the angry adults, he had a feeling they weren't going to be very cooperative, and that was strengthened when one of them started speaking in an angry tone.
"He said where is the king," Mandara translated, "do you honestly expect us to believe that the Lord of Insurgents will settle this dispute fairly."
The other one started speaking and threw up his hands in the air, "the gods have surely cursed us, the treacherous Saxon will take away our homes and families like the poor souls who had the misfortune of living in a town that bore his name!"
"Wow, don't you have quite the reputation," Mandara grumbled after he finished translating, "perhaps it's best if we let Sir Anglo take the lead?"
N: "Perhaps we should," growled Saxon, and he rode up to one of the farmers, "because if the first thing that you mention when you see me is my insurgent behavior, then I must then do what you expect me to do."
"Saxon, don't you dare. That's enough," Anglo warned, but the entity spun around and faced him.
"I didn't CHOOSE to be the Head of Insurgents," he snarled, "and the deaths of the people in Saxony will forever plague me." He faced both the farmers, "I can be a fair person, as I do not discriminate who to kick their face in."
"Ich sagte, es reicht, Saxon (I said, that's enough, Saxon)," the winged country fumed. He asked Mandara not to translate what Saxon said, and he approached the entity, "you were allowed to stay in this Kingdom, safe away from the people who want to kill you, and this is how you treat the subjects of the King. You disappoint me."
The entity huffed and began to lead his horse away from the group, slowly trotting as Anglo watched. The country asked if one of the knights could accompany the entity, and he spoke to Mandara, "let him go and think over his actions. He needs to relax." He then turned to the farmers and apologized for the entity's actions and continued, "King Mandoria is injured and therefore unable to come here. I come on behalf of him to help settle the situation, with the help of Prince Mandara."
M: Mandara translated for Anglo, and even though he was told not to he did pick and choose a few things that Saxon said, mostly that he deeply regrets what happened in Saxony. The farmers' faces softened a bit but that was the extent of relaxed that they were going to get, as next they started talking about the problems they've been having with each other.
"The older one's name is Francus and he says that his neighbor has been stealing his crops at night. The younger one, Arter, claims that Francus had planted his crops on his land so that makes them his crops, and that the crops were planted in his goat pasture so most of the missing crops were eaten by the goats."
There was a bout of shouting that came from the older one that made Mandara flinch, "and now I suddenly wish I couldn't understand Mandorian."
N: "Now, gentlemen," Anglo spoke, "mind your language. There is a child here." He paused so that he could think about how to solve this problem, so he asked, "So, Francus, it seems that Arter here has an alibi, so do you have any proof or any witnesses to support your claim?"
He then turned to the other farmer, "the same does apply to you. I believe that you need a minimum of two witnesses for a claim to be substantial so you need to also provide proof."
M: Francus dug into his pockets and took out a piece of paper, handing it to Mandara, Artur doing the same.
"So these are the deeds of their lands," Mandara said, showing Anglo, then translated what they said next, "Francus says that his deed clearly shows that his crops are planted on his land, while Artur says the same thing. Francus also said that his hired hand had seen Artur taking the crops but Artur denies it."
After studying the maps on the deeds he said, "is it just me or does it look like the lands overlap?"
N: Anglo also studied the maps and nodded in agreement, "that seems to be so. Well, this got a bit complicated," he muttered to himself. He turned to Francus and asked if he could bring his hired hand.
———
As they saw Dewhurst in the distance, Johann suggested, "since Sir England is not an expert on the Mandorian religion, maybe Sir Rowen should lead the talks but Sir England is here on behalf of King Mandoria so he could report back."
M: "That does sound reasonable but I can explain it simple enough," Rowen said, "you see, each major town has its own patron god or goddess, Dewhurst's is Empyr, the dragon god of weather and a guardian spirit of the afterlife. Every town has a church or temple dedicated to its patron god or goddess that people will go to worship said gods, and the priests and priestesses will sell miniature blessed figurines of the deity so someone visiting from another town can take it home to worship, all money collected goes to those in need and to keep up the sacred sites. If my memory serves right, the previous temple to Empyr was burnt down in a freak accident, though no one knows how or why. The head priestess believes that Empyr himself destroyed the temple because it had been desecrated and neglected, so she and the mayor hope that building a new one will appease him."
———
Francus grumbled and muttered a few words that Mandara refused to translate, he then started getting angry and pointing to Artur like he was accusing him.
"He says that his farm hand had mysteriously stopped coming to work three days ago and his family doesn't know where he is, he suspected foul play and blames Artur," Mandara repeated.
Artur looked offended and started screaming at Francs, leaving Mandara having difficulties translating, "he didn't do it, slurs, how dare he accuse him, more slurs, death threats, and more slurs," he tried to summarize.
N: "Artur," Anglo said sternly, "for the sake of Prince Mandara, and for this to move smoothly, watch your language." He was about to ask another question when he heard someone shout his name in the distance.
"ANGLO," Saxon bellowed, galloping towards him, "LOOK WHAT I'VE FOUND!" When he arrived, the knight came soon after, visibly annoyed with the entity. The entity proudly lifted up a bag of wheat, causing the winged country to raise a brow.
"Saxon," he asked, "where did you get that?"
"So while you guys were going nowhere, I went into the younger farmer's home and-"
"You did WHAT," Anglo exclaimed, and he face-palmed himself, "Saxon, listen, that is not how you carry out an investigation."
"Never mind that," the entity ignored, and he continued with his story, "I went into his house and as I walked in I noticed one of the floorboards was out of place. After prying it open, I found a whole stash of wheat bags, just like the one I have."
"That doesn't prove anything," Anglo commented, but the entity waved his hand to dismiss him.
"First of all, why would you store wheat underneath your floor? Also, there was a piece of paper that, after the help of this dear knight, found out it was some sort of cheque of some kind. Maybe the farmer here paid someone off."
Anglo faced the knight and asked, through Mandara, if this was true.
———
England nodded along with the information and arrived at the first couple of houses, the country dismounted and walked, leading the horse with Johann still mounted towards the stables.
M: Rowen also dismounted and led everyone to the public stables to put the horses away, then led them to the town square where the mayor was most likely to be waiting. As predicted the mayor was in the town square with a female wearing a pink robe with gray fur on the collar, on the front divided in the middle was a dragon face with deer-like antlers.
Rowen walked up to them first and shook their hands, they spoke for a bit and introduced them to England and Johann.
"Greetings my Lord," the lady said in English to England, "we thank you for coming on behalf of the king. I am Grand Priestess Evelyn Nibbs, and this is the mayor of Dewhurst; Ivan Serlo."
The mayor nodded and spoke Mandorian, even though he did seem to understand English. The two then bowed to the countryhuman.
"He said it is an honor to be in the presence of another deity, and he humbly thanks you for going out of your way to come here," Rowen said with an amused smile, "yeah, I forgot to tell you that the people here think countryhumans are demigods."
———
The knight rolled his eyes and nodded in confirmation, showing them the note.
"Saxon, you just ruined the case," Mandara said, "the law states that any evidence of a crime that is collected illegally or without a warrant is void and cannot be used in a court of law to convict the guilty, now we have nothing on Artur."
"Natin," Artur said, his demeanor was slumped and he seemed to deflate, Mandara translated his next words, "yes it's true I have been stealing the crops, but I didn't have a choice. The Prussians had come three years ago and taken my family, they told me that they were staying to spy on the kingdom and I was going to supply them lest they kill my wife and our three children. They demand half of my harvest and a third of my goat herd every two months and I have barely been able to keep up with the demand, this year was a bad harvest so they-"
Tears welled up in Artur's eyes as he started to cry, "they killed my only son, and said they would kill my wife and daughters if I didn't pay up, so I've been stealing Francus's wheat to meet the demands."
Artur then fell to his knees and started full out crying, Mandara was shocked at what he had been translating but he kept going, "I couldn't tell you because my family's lives depend on my cooperation. When the farmhand saw me stealing, the Prussians killed him too and fed his body to the wolves, saying that if I said anything my family would suffer the same fate, I ... am so ... sorry."
N: "Don't apologize," Anglo spoke, walking up to the farmer and wrapping his wing around him to comfort him, "now we understand why and the situation you were in for this to happen. No one deserves to live in terror of anyone, especially the Prussians, so we will find a way to safely return your wife and daughters. And remember, your son is always with you."
He looked up to the rest of the group and said, "with the problem with the deeds, split the disputed land equally between the two farmers, as they both have equally valid claims to it and there must have been a mix up with the deeds." He glanced back at Artur, "as for the new situation we are in, perhaps if Francus here could provide him with the necessary wheat -"
"That wouldn't work," spoke up Saxon, who felt slightly bad for what he did to Artur. The winged country filled in the entity on what happened and he still shook his head. "The Prussians want his cooperation, and this is most likely secret, so when they notice that Francus is helping him, they might drag him into the situation as they could assume that he knows. That in turn would risk both their families. Maybe, Artur continues to steal, despite the other knows, and give the impression that he doesn't know. Just keep this up until his family is rescued."
———
"I am quite aware," England replied, glancing at Johann, who smiled back.
"Of course you remember, my lord," the boy teased, putting on a dramatic voice, "how could thee forget about thy sandwich?" The country only rolled his eyes and faced the priestess and bowed.
"It's an honor to be in your presence, Grand Priestess," he turned to the mayor, "and the same to you and your city, Mayor Serlo." Johann waved hello, and with that, the country stood up straight and began, "I understand that we are to discuss the planned church to the god Empyr, how do we go about its construction?"
M: The two humans stood and led the group to an area with lots of debris, clearly the spot where the previous temple stood. In the middle, there was a large statue of a dragon, the reptile's head looked like the one embroidered onto the priestess's shirt except slightly more detailed, the tail wrapped around the podium it stood on and in its paws it was holding a disk with symbols of different types of weather. There was a little bit of damage to it caused by the fire; one of its antlers and both of the wings have been broken off and it was covered in soot and ash.
"This is where the temple used to stand," Evelyn stated, "the cause of the fire was unexpected and mysterious, word around town say that vandals had destroyed it as an act of desecration to Lord Empyr."
The mayor nodded and Rowen translated his words, "normally when a fire breaks out, knights and architects come to the scene, record the damage and unearth the cause, then swiftly rebuild, but this location had been contaminated with controversy so no one had set foot near this place, believing it to be cursed."
"And that's where you come in," Evelyn added, "we hope that if another deity came forth to help find the cause then it will bless this land again and we can rebuild.
———
"It's too late," Artur cried, "they have eyes everywhere, they know when things happen, they'll already know about this, I'm sure my family has already been slaughtered."
"Well, what do we do now," Mandara asked fearfully, "the Prussians could be watching us right now."
The two knights were wary of that too, they had their swords unsheathed and were scanning the woodline for danger. Mandara was hiding behind Anglo and fearfully clung to his feathers. Francus looked like he would bolt at any second if there were enemies nearby.
N: "Don't say that," snapped Saxon at Artur, but immediately regretted it, he didn't address it though.
He was on full alert, squinting his eyes as he watched for any movement, and for a while, he didn't find anything. Anglo watched him, holding Mandara beside him, and said quietly, "let's, as discreetly and calmly as possible, move towards the horses and leave."
"Maybe, you sho-THERE," he whisper-shouted, and he tried to show the knights what he saw without making it obvious. While Anglo was talking, Saxon saw a glint in the sunlight, and he knew that the only thing that could produce that was metal, and he counted how many glints he saw.
"Take them," ordered Saxon to Anglo, "take Mandara and the farmers. We're outnumbered. They need to be somewhere safe."
"But what about you?"
"They are the priority," the entity said in all seriousness, "I am not."
———
"I ... find ... bless ... rebuild," England stuttered, as he gazed at the grand statue, even if it wasn't in its former glory. He walked cautiously towards the statue, staring at the eyes and wondered if it was following him as he approached. When he was just in front of it, he got onto one knee and lowered his head.
"This is your place of worship, and quite frankly, I feel like an intruder and unworthy to be here, never mind being called a deity." The country sighed, "I will do my best to find the cause of the fire, to bless the land, and for this temple to be rebuilt. I only ask for your assistance to do this right and help, as you watch over this city."
M: "Of course, my Lord," Evelyn agreed, seemingly not finding it odd that England was bowing, "we will help you with whatever you wish."
Ivan said something after that but it went untranslated, Rowen was busy looking behind himself from where they came from. He had a bad feeling in his stomach, and he learned that whenever he felt that then something bad was going to happen, he didn't know why he had that power but he never once was wrong about it.
"I think you guys are going to have to search without me," he said, "I have a feeling that something bad is happening and that feeling has never once proven wrong. I'll be back later, right now I need to go."
With that, the captain ran back for the stables, hopped on Star Dust again, and sped off back for his knights.
———
Artur and Francus heard the change in Saxon's voice, they didn't need to know what he said to understand they were in danger. Artur slowly stood up and looked to where the entity was and saw the glints, except he saw what was glinting, there was a musket barrel sticking out of the bushes, pointed straight at Saxon's face.
He had a split second to choose, save Saxon and take the bullet, or let the entity die so he could live. He knew that the chances of his family being alive now were zero and he wasn't ready to live without them, so with his life already over, he decided to at least do something good while he had the chance.
Artur charged Saxon the second the gun was fired, and the man used all of his strength to bodyslam the entity out of the way, then he closed his eyes and braced for impact.
A sickening crunch, a splatter, and a thud, Artur was on the ground, unmoving, a river of red flowing from his head as his lifeless eyes stared at the man he gave his life for.
N: Temporarily stunned, the entity sat up and his eyes widened when he saw the person who saved his life lying motionless near him. Crawling over to him, he tentatively stretched out his hand as he tried to find the man's pulse, almost wishing it to exist, but all he got was nothing, and his hands took on a darker hue of red as he retracted it.
"Nein," he muttered to himself, his body shaking as he placed his hand over Artur's chest, "nein, this shouldn't have happened. It should have been me."
"Saxon," Anglo called out, shaking the entity out of his thoughts, "focus. We need to safely escort Francus and Mandara out of here. What are you going to do?"
"I will - I," he stuttered, his eyes flickering from the body to where the Prussian musketeer hid. His body suddenly stopped shaking as he stood up; his clothes stained red, and he faced Anglo, "Töte ich sie alle (I will kill them all)."
Anglo glanced worryingly at the entity, worried that Saxon would go on overdrive if he left him unchecked, so he warned, "Remember, once they're gone, they're gone." However, he was quickly pulled down to the ground as another shot was fired at the group, and the winged country watched as the entity dashed into the woods. The average reload time of a musket was around 20 seconds, so Anglo knew he had that amount of time before they could attack again.
Lifting up Mandara, he ushered him and Francus towards the horses, who were startled by the noise. "We need to go," he said as he began to mount his horse, but slumped back as a shock wave of pain rushed through his body from his back.
Quivering as he knelt down, he reached for his back and felt where the musket ball hit him, trying to block the wound as he suddenly felt weaker. He looked up and ordered weakly, "go, I'll catch up with you."
———
Johann looked back as he watched Rowen ride away, and as he saw him disappear, he had a feeling something bad was going to happen, but he ignored it when he saw England stand up.
The country, when he was on his knee, noticed something peculiar about the soot around him. Some patches seemed to be darker than the rest, and when he picked some into his hand, it felt much more coarse than soot should be. Standing up, he walked toward the group and stated, "why would there be gunpowder in the temple?"
"How do you know it's gunpowder?" Johann asked as he saw England study the powder.
"I know it when I see it," he replied, "although this might be a less refined version of it, called black powder." He faced the two adults and questioned, "How much smoke was produced when the fire took place?"
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