14. Unexpected Turn
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With the emergence of the barrier the duchy narrowly avoided a great catastrophe this year. Heaven knows what kind of misfortune will raze the whole kingdom if the walls remain as they used to.

During the attack, bastion guards reported a legion of monsters is converging in the forest only meters away from the wall. Coming from the lowest F-rank to a rare S-rank, they marched awaiting to taste blood in their mouths. 

"Report Lord Commander!" A messenger galloping at full speed rushed into the estate in the early hours of the morning. 

The man quickly dismounted.

"His Grace is in the rear courtyard." The stable boy told him. 

"Thanks!" 

Passing by several tall hedges, he walked on the flagstones circling the side of the great house. As he neared the back gardens, he heard the dull sounds of practice swords. 

"Grip your sword tightly." He heard the duke say in a firm yet patient tone different when he was instructing the knights during a mock battle. 

In the field, Sterne sweated buckets holding her sword on her swollen hands. It's only been an hour but she already looked worse than a rag. The messenger thought that because he used such a soft tone, his training would be lenient. He was mistaken. The moment he came to the field, he was appalled to see the Lord Commander bullying a tiny girl. 

"If you lose it, you're dead." He said. "On the battlefield, losing your weapon is the same as losing half of your body so no matter what, hold on to it."

The duke mercilessly raised his practise sword to charge. This time, the little girl did not try to parry but instead used a skill [Shadow Step] to evade and appear behind him.

"Too slow." He chuckled predicting the move and bent his leg to sweep her feet. 

Oh my God! The messenger cried out. 

To their astonishment, the little girl bounced right before she was caught then disappeared.

"Time's up." Duke Al just finished sparring with his daughter when he spotted the messenger. 

Sterne reappeared to the opposite side. "Thank you for accompanying me today, father." 

"Good job being able to hold on to your sword. Sir Ahmose is truly an outstanding master."

"Hehe." She giggled. "I will be on my way back home now."

"You do that." He replied, patting her head. "Take a long rest before you start lessons with Miss Amy." 

When Sterne was gone, the messenger reported the sightings. Especially about the S-rank monsters. 

The duke installed the wooden sword back to the rack, "I saw the signal torch ignited at about 4:00 in the morning. They come too quickly this time." 

"Vice Commander is already on his way to the walls. The troops assigned to patrol the towns had been mobilized, Your Grace."   

"Good." He said and started making his way towards the manor, "Even when there is a barrier on the wall the monsters within our woodlands might start their attack as well. Give me ten minutes, I'm going out with you." 

The messenger trailing behind hesitated, "But what about the manor Your Grace?" 

Who will remain here to protect the estate? 

As if reading his thoughts, Duke Al thumbed the number of knights in black armour posted at every corner. 

"I have confidence in them." 

 

 

Sleeping Forest Border.

The sun is yet to show but the knights lined up on the ramparts were already wide awake with weapons at the ready. Below them is a horde of monsters numbering up to five thousand marching forward. Unfortunately this time, it was they who were caught off guard by the feeble humans.

"Do not rely on the barrier alone!" Vice Commander Gorgon barked out. "Continue attacking!" 

Arrows fell like halestorm on the waiting horde. The weaker ones were easily caught, while the tenacious beasts continued forward by stepping on the corpses of their fallen brethren.

"Imagine if these things made it in…" Gorgon said to himself with a rare touch of horror.

"Vice Commander, they're relentless." 

The roars of the beast made their ears tingle. 

It was a hair raising sight. 

"An S-rank monster!" A bowman shouted. "Brace yourselves!" 

A five-meter tall chimaera let out an eerie screech as if laughing at them. Flying before them is an abomination that has a head of a lion, limbs and wings of a falcon, a serpent for a tail and a body of a bull. 

Puny humans! 

Must kill…

Food. 

Eat… eat all of them! 

Gorgon gripped the broadsword tightly between his palms. Duke Al instructed everyone not to step beyond the barrier perimeter no matter what but in the event that a monster broke in, he will have to face it until he arrives. 

At this moment Duke Al must have his hands full with the monsters inside the territory. The annual tide rouses every creature from the miasma, once again they will come in stampede destroying all the hard work they built. There are areas around Nachtwald that had to be constantly guarded, Duke Al already had his troops stationed at those significant places. By now their families must have been frightened but the presence of their liege will somehow put their worries to rest. 

The soldiers here in the forefront could not always rely on the duke to direct them at every turn, as his adjutant, Gorgon had to diligently fulfil the part entrusted to him as well. They knew this year is going to be the biggest they have to encounter, and by the time they donned on their armours and weapons ready to take on the enemies they'd been shocked into silence.

The sight was much, much worse than they'd envisioned.    

If this chimaera made it inside… 

The monster dove towards the clusters of ancient trees and uprooted one easily before flinging it to where they stood. The soldiers felt the air tremble but they held their ground, the tree making a volley towards them did not incur any damage as it hit an invisible wall and burned up disappointingly. 

This time the chimaera let out an outraged screech. It flew into circles in restlessness. It appears that the inferior species found a way to defend themselves… but it doesn't matter. 

It tried to flap its wings striking them with wind blades but still to no avail. It dove back again, this time it aimed for the horde and snatched an unguarded giant centipede, throwing it towards the barrier. Again it ended up being blown into pieces of entrails, blood and shells. 

Gorgon looked at the maddened beasts below. If they were to face this without the barrier, no doubt, Nachtwald would disappear from the map.   

The smell of their prey beyond the walls had clouded their minds; they would do anything to reach despite the wounds on their bodies. In the next moment, the knights witnessed the most brutal ways of these monsters. At the chimaera's lead, they flung the bodies of their dead as fodder to the barrier in hopes of weakening it. 

Some of them couldn't take it and vomit. 

The large swathe of grassland was completely drenched in blood now. The beast became even fiercer. To those who persistently refused to yield to the power emitted by the Behemoth's rune ore met their sad end. Hordes of them crashed into the barrier only to end up grounded into a paste.

Several mounds from monster corpses began to form outside. 

Just how wicked is that barrier? It depends on the monster ore keeping it. Behemoth's might is said to be one in a thousand that many feared inside the third layer of Sleeping Forest. Being in its proximity feels like one's bone will shatter and your organs compress. 

Soon as they realized that their purpose failed the monsters howled and quickly withdrew to the depths of the forest.

The horde that had a mutual consensus before has fallen into disorder and started fighting while others run back to their domain to lick their wounds.

Finally, the border guards were able to let out a breath of relief. It was fortunate that even in death, Behemoth's remains are now guarding the border of the forest. Monster Tide or whatever can never come out of it.

The patrolling soldiers on the other hand had an intense showdown with the stampeding beasts from the woodlands. Stirred by the chaotic energy emitted by the horde beyond the barrier, they too began to emerge in frenzy. 

Thankfully, the duke and his men immediately culled the monsters before they could reach the residential areas. This year, the knights especially guarded the fields, although it was possible to keep the fight at a minimum, they still damaged a few farmlands. 

Viktor and the mages promptly came to assist, healing the wounded and reconstructing the devastated areas with magic. Thanks to the scrolls they got, they learned a few useful and convenient everyday spells. 

The fallen trees were rehabilitated, the soil was levelled and tilled once again using [Terraforming]. 

"It's over," Viktor sat on the ground chugging mana replenishing potion. "I thought it was going to take longer."  

The rest of the mages who came with him let out a cheer. 

"Although there were a lot of injuries, there are no deaths." 

Viktor had another vial, "The sun's up and happily roasting people already. Might as well return to the manor…" 

Lucien gagged and looked at his fellow Junior Mage Pietra in horror. Seeing how their friend nonchalantly drank the bitter-tasting medicine the two boys shuddered. 

"How could you stomach this thing?" Lucien mumbled looking at the empty vial. 

"If I could, I don't ever want to drink this nasty concoction again."

Pietra added, "Me as well." 

"It smells like an unwashed stocking left to ferment for a month." Lucien grimaced, pushing the empty vial far away from him.  

True that, but for the sake of their health they had to endure. It's taxing using magic constantly, the good thing is that they rapidly improve their strengths. Alas, a better-tasting potion is yet to be made, their only consolation was the joy of thinking that those old toads in the Magic Bureau also had to taste the same revolting flavour of potion to replenish themselves. 

 

 

Thousands of kilometres away from Nachtwald territory.

Blood red wine swirled within the golden goblet as long slender hands played with it. White elegant fingers made a beautiful scene to a simple act of holding an unadorned cup.

The person sat languidly, his brocade robes scattered atop the chaise with wisps of dark hair mixed. His whole person looked tranquil, but it cannot hide the vivid anticipation in those eyes as they stared at the faraway place.  

"By now, it is over..." A smile graced the man's thin pale lips. The monster tide has come, soon the south will fall. 

Even when viewed from a distance, his beauty was enough to overwhelm the senses. Such were the thoughts of an inconspicuous person standing nearby. 

"Your Holiness," A retainer came in interrupting the solemn atmosphere with bad news. 

The thing he most anticipated did not happen. 

"Nachtwald!!!" 

The roar exploded within the room twisting the already strained nerves of the people inside. It wasn't even a moment ago that the master was in a good festive mood but now? 

There was an ugly sneer marring his pristine visage. An expression so dark one dare not look at it. 

 

***

 

As one of her worries was solved, naturally, Sterne resumed her former activities.

The fief has become livelier than ever, especially in the duchy's main city, Freesia. Knights get out of bed before the sun peeks from the east to do their daily routine. Five thousand soldiers and knights across the field are already up for training in battle formation, horsemanship and close combat.

The training menu passed down by the great commanders is faithfully being practised by the younger generation until now despite being infamous for its harshness.

Every day one can see the men and some selected women rolling on the mud, hanging on ropes for hours and running kilometres from the plains up to the mountains for half a day. Even if one doesn't have high magic aptitude they still have their martial skills along with physical and mental strength to rely on.

While she was lounging in the garden reading a book, Sir Thais approached.

"Hello Sir Thais, how may I help you?"

The usual confident air around him wavered. He looked a little troubled.  

"My lady, today I, I come to inform you that for the whole month or…" He stopped himself from saying it. "I won't be able to escort you."

Sterne tilted her head, "Let me guess, you're participating in the next subjugation?"

Despite his surprise, he answered with a small nod.

"My," She exclaimed happily. "How marvellous! Congratulations."

"You're not upset my lady? I am your appointed guard."

"If you're considering the mood of a nine-year-old child rather than your growth, that is where I am going to be upset."

Hearing that, Sir Thais relaxed his cramped smile. Even though he came here half a year ago, and had a squad of his own to lead, for some unknown reason he remained stuck in the estate, with a little girl to guard. They had successfully finished the Hell Course only two months after arriving, and before that, he was reluctant to be assigned by Sterne's side.

He is a proud man from the royal capital thrown in this faraway land only to end up tailing behind a child. Sir Thais showed no outright protest but she knew it was a bitter pill for him to swallow yet he obeyed. Now that the time for them to improve further has come they should grab it.  

"Father said that he'd been meaning to drag you and your squad in there to increase your skills. Staying here watching over this girl is unproductive." The last part was a joke but he jumped in protest.

"Never, I never thought my days spent here were wasted."

She looked up to him, then to Emilia who's just a few steps near and gave a dramatic sigh.

"What should I do Emi, my guard is leaving me? I know you like the Lord Commander more than me but you see, I have to be gracious and give in here~"

"M-My lady…"

Emilia cleared her throat, embarrassed of her lady's exaggerated acting. Goodness, the outrageous girl wanted to push it further by squeezing out crocodile tears.

"Hahahaha~ okay enough," Sterne said seriously, "You earned it, all of you did so do your best out there Sir Thais!"

The knight startled her when he knelt on the flagstone making his armour clatter, right hand on his chest, with a bowed head he swore:

"I will strive to be stronger so that someday I can become the sword and the shield that protects my lady. Until then, please remember me."

She was lost for words. 

It was truly a gallant sight, there was a brush of warmth spreading in Sterne's chest. She felt pleased and honoured. The slight breeze caressed his soft hair carrying a faint trace of melancholy. He is finally going out there, she could only pray for safety. Unknowingly, Sterne extended her hand to his shoulder.

"I know you will do your best but until then, be safe. Be brave. Return victorious."

Those were the same words she always told her father and brothers before they departed. For her, they are more powerful than any magic spells because it allows her to see them again. Sir Thais' shoulder trembled a little, when he looked up there was a small smile on his face.

"I will ingrain milady's words into my heart so that I will not forget them." 

Thais Wisteria, the second son of an ancient aristocratic family holding prestige on the same level as Nachtwald. In a few years, he will inherit the commander position from his father who dies in some unknown disease.

His existence is one of the biggest factors in Aurum's fall to the calamity.

In that future, the newly ordained commander is extremely hedonistic and despotic. He has little regard for rules and the outcomes of his action making his subordinates grieve. Later it led to the degradation of the knights under him plus the internal dispute among high ranking officers that tore the once monolithic order into factions.

Plenty eyed his position like hungry wolves. With his actions severely damaging their good name, he became a great target for attack and finally became the perfect scapegoat.  

The former illustrious Order will decline. But that is only if his attitude and views are to remain skewed.

Looking at the current Sir Thais, she doubts that kind of future will ever come. In his short stay here in Nachtwald, with Sir Ahmose and the other elders' strict mentoring, his whole personality has taken a huge change. The Thais Wisteria right now are not only upright and loyal but refined and valiant as well.    

It was because he was sent here to learn that brought about this tremendous shift from his original fate. Perhaps even before she saw the future, someone out there had also seen it and decided to secretly watch over the kingdom. 

The days in the duchy went peacefully after the tide, at times when Sterne was not reviewing her ability, she spent time outside frolicking with the other children. Sir Lyon was appointed to be the new guard for the lady because Sir Thais had to commence his survival training inside Sleeping Forest. 

She and her new guard surprisingly hit off splendidly. Today Sir Lyon is with her beside Emilia serving as a brand new tail.

"Sterne, have you heard what the adults are talking about lately?" Ask Freiin, the daughter of Freesia's baron.

"No idea. What is it?"

"A person from Viscount Bragg's place was seen lurking around Nachtwald. That reminds me, didn't his son come for a visit several days ago?"

"He did but he fled home quickly." She answered matter-of-factly. 

"Tsk, you should have punched his face once or twice." Dorn sneered, bumping his fist. "I heard he was quite rude to you." 

As much as she wanted to punch him, she couldn't. Nachtwald is still trying to recover from the blow on its reputation over the years. If she acted willfully chances are, her father and brothers will bear the brunt of it. Viscount Bragg has people inside the Chamber of Lords, one word from him and all his allies will take the chance to attack Duke Al.

"Bragg and his people Mr Kief, all of them are up to no good. I heard from the old folks that they have been eyeing the quarry in Lutum and tried many means to coerce the managers to agree to sponsor them. How shameless. Of course, there is that issue with the highway as well." Dorn continues with a sour look. "That old fart Mr Kief, was here yesterday. I bet he was told to spy on us after knowing that we suddenly started selling products in the market."

Even after getting even by refusing Mr Kief's request to talk with the elders, Dorn could not let go of his wariness. He seems to have developed a bit of cynicism. The good thing is that he looks more shrewd and sharp now that even the likes of Mr Kief could no longer ruffle his feathers.

Freiin added. "Anyone from Bragg's side has done multiple violations, raising prices on their products and buying ours cheaply, not paying a fee when entering the territory, harassing people and their frequent abuse of authority when staying here. All of those are enough to ban them from returning. They should have been unable to trade here a few months back, how come..."

"No, they are no longer allowed to come back. The elders seem to have found the root of the problem already."

Yesterday, there was a commotion when the five chiefs kicked a person out of their office. The man was in charge of collecting business taxes. He hollered for two hours cursing everyone around him, in the end, the man's properties were investigated and impounded then he was escorted and thrown out of Nachtwald. If Sterne's guess was correct, he should have been the person in contact with Mr Kief. Even if Mr Kief has intentions of coming back, he no longer can't since his cohort is gone.

The reason why the elders overlooked him lurking about was to irritate him further. Anyway, there were guards following him secretly and recording his every move so it's impossible for him to do something under their noses.

Everyone is in mutual understanding that only the merchants that sent us a life raft during the crucial times will become partners. The elders preserved a harmonious relationship with them and promised to do business in their company by selling Nachtwald's produce like grains, fruits and vegetables.

Dorn was still peeved about the incident with Mr Kief so he kept a watchful eye on new merchants who came inside the duchy. After the rain, it only took three months for the news to break out, as expected many who have caught wind of it came rushing especially those in the trading sector. However, some spiteful group of merchants from the neighbouring fiefs showed no outward surprise but did not resist diving into a heated discussion. 

"It was just a large expanse of agricultural land. What difference does it have from the other fiefs?"

"Right, our territory has been supplying cereals and all kinds of crops in the market. Only if they offer something different, one cannot truly recognize their products from the rest."

"Unless they started growing golden grains, what can a few tons of ordinary cabbage and potatoes do? The land I heard has poisoned waters, it will take a great miracle to turn those crops edible let alone growing them. People must be dreaming."

"What's the use of making such a huge racket? At the end, when the dust settles Nachtwald is still and will always be a wasteland. Soon everyone will find out that it was all just a ruse. According to the people in nobility, Nachtwald is in dire financial difficulty. I say they better give up their army and return their knights to the Chivalric Order instead of resorting to this trickery to earn profits."

However, right after the first harvest most of the huge markets where their partner merchants sold the duchy's produce created such an impact that left their mouths wide open.

Inside the marketplace in the Earldom of Mare, one stall was already swiped clean, different from the others who still have their commodities on display.

"Usually, there are a lot of untouched vegetables on the shelf. But… it hasn't even been half a week since we placed them yet we are already running out of supply." The merchant pondered while holding his gold bag tightly, his eyes staring at the deserted shelves.

"Not even a stalk of celery left."

"S-Sold out. Our one week stock, everything is gone." His wife said, covering her mouth.

The same happened to other merchant stalls in several fiefs making their competitors fume with envy. Determined to know the cause of all this stir they sent people to secretly buy products from their competitor. After partaking in the fruits and vegetables, they finally knew the reason.

The rich flavour and freshness are superior to the rest.

The small piece of news cast from people's mouths suddenly sent waves that rocked every merchant in the guild.

For days the duke and the elders entertained various businessmen to the point of exhaustion. Most of them ask for consignment but since the elders had already decided of choosing a few trustworthy allies they could only turn their backs empty-handed.

Dorn happily recounted that piece of gossip he got wind of from people around. Finally getting his revenge he is now enjoying a good laugh.

"Now that everything is settled, how about we visit the forest? We can catch fish and steal some eggs in the pheasant nests. We can also help you with the moss thing you're collecting. What does it do by the way?"

Sterne grinned, "Cure wounds."

"Hm, so you are planning on being a Healer as well, but aren't you hell-bent on being a Swordmaster?"

Freiin rolled her eyes at him. "What does it have to do with you if Sterne wants to become a Healer? It's a good thing, perhaps she can cure that head of yours."

Dorn shrunk looking aggrieved. "Aww, women are truly a scary lot." 

"Just stop badgering Sterne to go into the forest. Want me to tell the Vice Commander that you're dragging the little lady everywhere?"

Last time he went alone out of curiosity. When his father found out, he threatened to shave off the braid hanging from his bright red-orange mullet of hair. He is an excellent apprentice scout, quick with his movements but unfortunately, his head is not as quick as his footwork.

Dorn could suggest the most outrageous things at times, almost forgetting his companions were mostly girls, but like Emilia and Freiin, he'd been one of Sterne's closest friends since their toddler days, and so he could be forgiven on his occasional lapses into the denseness.  

"The forests…" Sterne looked as if she was seriously considering it. "That place is dreamy. My brothers said it was their first time entering a forest with fewer monsters. Why don't we go all together next time?"

Freiin's mouth fell open as she was grabbing Dorn's collar. She was looking at Sterne as if she proposed they raid a bandit's den. 

The said forest in the next town had existed before the rain, it wasn't spectacular in any way aside from growing trees. The people of Silva Town were very careful not to thin it out further since it was the only remaining land with lumber within the fief. When the rain happened the foliage immensely grew and tree trunks bulged in size and still showing signs of growth until now.

The grey-green colour was replaced with the vibrancy of deep green, saffron and yellow. Sterne had planned to go back there as soon as she had a bit of free time. After all, the Moonshine moss she needed was abundant inside.     

"See? She wants to go." Dorn said smugly, receiving Freiin's swat.

"It's all your idea again." 

Emilia and Sir Lyon remained quiet all throughout the commotion not showing a single sign of helping Dorn from being severely beaten by his cousin. 

For the children who lived in the former monochrome world, this new sparkling shade is like a dream come true.

Once again she thanked the Herald who gave her new abilities. If it wasn't for this she wouldn't be able to keep this current happiness.

Now that the barrier and the food source is settled it was time to proceed with the next step. It took her months but it came finally.

The Lost Recipe as they call it held tons of possibilities not yet known to men. Aside from the complex looking magic formations, numerous crafting guides also swirl about in the shallows of her consciousness.

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