A long yawn escaped out of Lucian’s mouth as he woke up. He didn’t recall having the dream from last night or anything like it this time around, much to his relief.
“Maybe it was just a one-time thing.” He thought to himself, still feeling a little sleepy.
To eliminate the last bits of drowsiness he had, Lucian decided to brew some coffee.
The drink had experienced a sudden peak in consumption during the last century, as coffeehouses began making an appearance. A lot of them, however, were limited to intellectuals and other people of renown, making it pretty difficult for the average person to savor the beverage. Hence, most people had to resort to making coffee by themselves.
Doing it yourself was considerably cheaper than going to coffeehouses, even if the resulting flavor wasn't on the same level as the one served in such places. While the young officer had learned the process of how to brew it after lots of error and trial, he didn't make it often, as the flavor was a little addictive for him.
After it was done, he took a sip of it and brought it with him to the desk where the papers from last night remained.
"Okay, supplies ready, weapons ready..." He said as he took another sip of the cup.
The lieutenant then took a pile of papers and threw it into the trash can next to him.
"People requesting promotions and higher salaries ready... Now I just need to calculate how much money everything will need."
For doing such arithmetic operations, the captain had lent Lucian a device that was made not too long ago by scientists at the capital. After fights for the invention's patent, it was renamed to "Calculating Machine".
The machine itself had 5 wheels which displayed numbers from 0 to 9. Numbers could be added by turning the wheels clockwise and subtracted by turning the wheels counterclockwise. Each digit in the answer was displayed in a separate window, visible at the top of the machine.
While he struggled at first, the lieutenant eventually managed to understand how the machine worked. Since then, it was an indispensable tool with which to calculate the results of the paperwork Galford handed to him, and determine if the things requested exceeded the army's budget or not.
"Right, let's get to work."
And so, he began doing the calculations. When an hour or so passed, Lucian finished with the operations and enveloped his work in order to hand it to his superior. After doing the necessary preparations, he left his house and headed towards the castle.
After performing the usual introductions at the castle gate, the lieutenant made his way towards Galford’s office.
“Sir,” Lucian said while making an obeisance. “I’ve brought you the letters from this past month. Please make sure to read them carefully before approving their contents.”
“I will,” Galford replied as he took the papers from his underlings' hands. "By the way, have you announced what I told you yesterday to your troops?"
The younger officer shook his head in denial.
"Good." His superior said, sighing in relief. "Our lord is going to make an announcement tomorrow to the city dwellers. Wouldn't want any civilians spreading nasty rumors or disrupting the order."
By nature, humans resisted change. When sudden appointments like this came and rumors of it spread around the city, people were filled with fear and wondered about what would happen to them. To combat this, the city administration issued official announcements to soothe the civilians and dispel any baseless information and rumors.
"Indeed. It's for the best." The lieutenant said, agreeing with his superior. "Anyway, my lord, is there something else I can do for you?"
Lucian's superior pondered for some seconds, before coming up with something.
"Have you gone to the barracks lately?" Galford asked, a hint of sternness in his voice.
"I... have some days without going there, to be honest." The lieutenant replied as he put a finger on his chin.
"Don't rest on your laurels just because there isn't anything to do." The captain said, in a matter of fact way. "You ought to go there and check on your men."
"Will do."
"That aside, there's nothing much you can do for now. I'll call you when the next batch of letters comes."
"Then, I'll see myself off," Lucian said, as he made obeisance. "Good day, sir."
"Hm."
After exiting the building, the lieutenant stood at the crossroad in front of the castle and pondered about his next course of action.
"Well, I don't have anything else to do. Might as well check on them now."
Heading right, Lucian decided to make his way towards the garrison town of Norbury. Due to its constructive process, the castle didn't have an area for the barracks. Instead, a nearby town served as the place where the soldiers led their daily lives.
After following the road that led towards the town on his horse, Lucian eventually stumbled upon many trees arching together and forming what appeared to be the entryway to somewhere. A notice that was on the left of the road caught his attention.
"Norbury Forest Entrance."
"Please do not deviate from the road or wander the forest. Monsters may attack you if you trespass their territory."
"Huh... So they put a sign now. I doubt that's going to change anything." Lucian thought while staring at the notice.
Numerous adventurers entered the forest to explore it and hopefully find treasure or something of value. Others went there to train and further their abilities. Most of the time, however, things didn't end up as they planned and most wind up being injured by the creatures living deep inside it. In some cases, they could even be found dead. Exploring the forest was seen as a test of bravery, and those who returned unscathed from there were held in high esteem by their fellow adventurers.
"Let's not waste any more time and get this over with..."
As he entered the forest numerous trees of varying heights filled his surroundings, with rays of mellow sunlight penetrating through them and reflecting themselves on the ground, itself of a dry constitution and colored with a shade of light brown.
The ground was filled with leaves of diverse shapes and sizes, with most of them radiating a deep emerald green. Accompanying the leaves were the occasional rock filled with moss and tree branches that could be seen on the sideways. The rustling sounds of the wind, small animals that walked on the leaves and the chirping of birds were the only things that could be heard by Lucian's ears, making the place a pretty rare sight, a sanctuary of nature in which humans had yet to intervene.
Going through the forest was the shortest way of getting to Norbury, but also the most dangerous. Monsters living in the woods were territorial and didn't take kindly to intruders. While the likelihood of them attacking during the day was pretty low, there was still a chance for them to do it.
Thus far, Lucian didn't encounter anything aside for the normal animals that inhabited the forest, so it had been a fairly relaxing and peaceful trip.
Feeling a slight urge to relieve himself, he searched for a bark in which to do his business. After finding one, he dismounted from his horse and went towards the back of it, checking that there was no one around.
Whilst relieving himself, he felt as if someone was watching him from afar. Despite looking everywhere, he couldn't find anything or anyone near him, making him feel a little on edge.
After finishing his business, he went towards his horse. Before mounting it again, however, he felt something nudging at his feet.
"Huh?"
Looking down, he saw a white rabbit that intently looked at his face, its red eyes giving a faint glow.
"Sorry, but I have no food with me," Lucian said to the bunny while giving it an apologetic smile.
He tried to get away from it, but the rabbit still kept nudging at his feet. Sighing, he directed his attention to the bunny once more.
"I told you already, I don't have any food on me. I need to go."
Despite his best efforts, however, it didn't let go. Lucian grabbed the bunny and held it closely, examining it.
"Looking it from up close, it's kind of cute." He thought as he held it in his arms. After holding it for some time, Lucian felt something unusual with it.
"Huh...? It feels a little hot to the touch..."
The rabbit directed its gaze towards the lieutenant's face and began shrieking, getting hotter and hotter with each shriek. Lucian widened his eyes as he realized that what he held in his arms wasn't just a normal rabbit, but rather a kind of monster known as "Ember Shrieker".
"Shit!"
He quickly took hold of it on his right hand and flung it towards his left. In mid-air, the bunny combusted and an explosion ensued. The shockwave after it sent gusts of wind towards him, sending the lieutenant flying towards a tree.
"Ugh... That was a close one," Lucian said as he stood up and fixed his clothes.
Ember Shriekers, despite looking like a normal hare, were far from being one on the inside. When they felt threatened, they would explode, and if someone was close during the blast, the most likely result would be high degree burns or even death.
As he was going to mount his horse once again, Lucian again felt as if he was being watched. What he saw when he turned on his back, however, scared him senseless. A swarm of rabbits like the one from before had appeared before him and stared intently at him. Lucian widened his eyes at the sight and laughed uncontrollably.
"I should have seen that coming..." He thought to himself, facepalming. "They usually attack in packs."
Quickly mounting his horse, the lieutenant ran for his life, with the hares in hot pursuit. Although the scene could be described as comical and bizarre, it was a life or death situation for the young officer. As he escaped through the woods, Lucian pondered about why the small monsters decided to attack him, as he didn't recall invading their territory.
Thinking about things too much wouldn't do him any good in this kind of situation, however, so he decided to throw obstacles at the rabbits. Tree branches were the only things he could throw at them, as he didn't pick up any rocks or the like before mounting his horse. They barely slowed the hares, if at all.
Two of them caught up with his horse and jumped at him. Before they could explode he grabbed them and flung them backwards towards the swarm, with the hope of eliminating most, if not all of them. To his surprise, however, the swarm of small monsters didn't seem affected at all.
"Should have expected that too..." He thought, gritting his teeth. "They probably developed a resistance to fire itself, being made of similar components and all."
As the chase continued, the young officer remembered that the small monsters had one weakness: ember shriekers had a fear of water in all of its forms. Water negated their powers, making their explosions meaningless. Lucian recalled that there was a stream of water not too far away so he decided to head there in order to lose them.
When he found a fork on the road, he urged his horse to turn right. The steed did as ordered and galloped towards it, with the blasting agents closely following. Hearing the sound of water not too far away, he felt relieved. When he reached the stream of water, however, that feeling completely disappeared.
The stream of water was on a much lower level than the terrain he was standing on. There was land on the other side, but he wasn't sure if the horse could reach it by jumping. Failing to reach there and falling into the stream would mean certain death, as the currents were strong and took away everything that fell into them.
As he thought about what to do, the swarm of ember shriekers had almost cornered him. He looked around and saw that there was no escape. Bracing himself, he decided to gamble it all.
"No time for second-guessing. I'm not dying anytime soon..." He thought, gazing determinedly forward. "And certainly not to a bunch of rabbits...!"
He urged the steed forward, and when it reached the edge, the horse jumped towards the other side. Seized by fear, he held on tightly to his horse as it went through mid-air, bracing for impact. To his surprise, however, there was no recoil at all. The horse had landed on the ground, but weirdly, he didn't feel anything when it did so.
Turning towards his back, he saw that none of the small monsters tried to imitate what he did and simply stared from the distance. When he saw them dispersing and disappearing into the woods, a small sigh of relief escaped his mouth. He then fell to the ground, relieved that everything was over.
"Now, that's a story to remember..." He said, breathing heavily.
He rested for a while on the grass before mounting his horse once again, continuing to his original destination.
