Chapter 109: The tragic past

"How did the old kingdom came to an end? You surely know how to pick heavy topics…"

Judging from how Latiel instantly directed his attention to the door to check whether it was properly closed the moment he heard what kind of topic Fen wanted to talk about, the young man understood that even in Kinar this wasn't something that could be discussed openly.

"You see… In order to learn how such a great country could disappear from the maps in such a short amount of time, vanish from the people's minds so suddenly and rapidly, you need to know what kind of problems plagued it in the first place."

Shaking his head, Latiel changed his position a bit, clearly preparing for a long story that he was about to tell.

"Let's begin with the fact, that no one really knows how far in the past that kingdom was established. It could be mostly attributed to the fact that instead of some major founding event marking the beginning of the rule of the Phoenixian legion. Rather than that, when the founders of the kingdom appeared in those lands, there simply wasn't any force capable of standing against their disciplined might."

Suddenly stopping his story, Latiel stood up and approached one of the shelves in the room. Pulling out a clean sheet of paper and some specially prepared handles with a piece of charcoal on one end, he placed it all down on the small table before starting to scribble some shapes and words on it.

"In general, we can divide the entire history of the old kingdom into four phases. At first, comes the Young Kingdom. To be quite frank, its name is quite misleading, as, at that point, they only controlled a single city and just enough lands around it to sustain their basic needs. Only over the course of several years did the founders managed to establish themselves somewhere else, putting the founding stone for a greater nation. Those two places that they controlled at the height of the Young Kingdom, are respectively Araled and Arad."

Pointing the dull end of his writing utensil at two dots located at the far right side of the simple map that he drew, Latiel raised his eyes to make sure that Fen was following his words.

"You might not know this, but those two cities experienced a month-long period of sacking, followed by two disastrous draughts and hunger waves… And still remain as the most populated areas in the entire continent. What's more, both of them were turned to the capitals of the Shalian and Shagon Kingdoms respectively. But we will return to those two later on."

Using the back of his hand to erase the dotted line that circled around the two points that indicated the location of those two cities, Latiel moved his hand further to the left, increasing the scope of the entire map.

"By the end of the Young Kingdom period, their lands were called a 'Mercenary Kingdom' as they held yearly auctions during which, any interested party could use exactly half of their force in exchange for riches, slaves or land. Once this tradition properly established itself as common, they entered the age of expansion."

Moving his hand in long strokes, Latiel quickly created another piece of the map, many times bigger than the entirety of what was drawn before. 

"You need to understand one point here. Our ancestors… Never waged any war by themselves. It was an unwritten rule that all the neighbouring countries quickly grew to support, that all the lands that belonged to the mercenaries would be forever free from the warfare and conflict. That's why, the entirety of the lands that the mercenaries possessed by the end of this age, was either earned or bought with the gold their earned from their contracts. Obviously, near the end of this phase, the mercenary kingdom grew to be rich enough to finance its further expansion without wasting its manpower or stupid wars. After all, the more they grew, the more people they required to keep the law and order within their borders."

Watching the strokes of Latiel that continued to modify and expand the map, Fen suddenly realised that he could recognise a single distinguishing feature of the land that Latiel drew. It was the southern border of the mercenary kingdom. The way in which it was laid out, made it obvious that back in the past, city of Akhaz along with nearly the entire northern coast of the great icy lake was actually a dominion under the control of Phoenixian kind!

"Next, we enter the phase of stagnation. This is where most of the problems that lead to the disastrous end of the Kingdom was born, or rather, showcased. With the borders of the Kingdom already stretching way too far and the Kingdom itself becoming a major power of the entire continent that no one could ever think about rivalling… Their expansion simply stopped. Instead of lusting for more of the poor and useless land, the high lords of the kingdom received a simple task. To develop their lands."

Despite the picture that he drew already containing what could only be seen as the borders, Latiel started to draw even more of those dotted lines, connecting warriors small landmarks that he didn't forget to mark beforehand.

"This third phase… Is often called a golden age of not only the old kingdom but also the world. Using their immense wealth and discipline that was ingrained in all of its inhabitants, our ancestors set new roads, populated cities, invested in both agriculture and craft… But instead of keeping this drive for the fortune to themselves, they generously shared their wealth with others. In a short span of just fifty years, the tribal confederations that didn't progress above their technological and social level for ages were now introduced to all the good stuff that comes with a civilisation based on hard work."

At this point, Latiel dropped his pen on the paper, completely disregarding the surprisingly detailed map that he drew as if it had no meaning anymore.

"What others take for a golden age, brought not only the good things with itself. As the neighbouring lands and people that could only enjoy the benefits of the old Kingdom generosity learned about the true wealth that laid on the other side of the border, obvious attempts to raid the borders begun. To the north, some of the kings and rulers were pretty dissatisfied with how they could no longer rent the mercenaries, feeling as if the kingdom cheated them out of the lands that they used to pay for the troops in the past. In short words, the situation outside of the Kingdom quickly turned nearly the rest of the world against the old kingdom."

Shaking his head for a moment, Latiel suddenly raised his hands, put them together and rested his chin against them as his elbows landed on the table. Taking a moment to calm down, his eyes wandered over the picture he drew a moment ago with clear agony filling them.

"At some point, the innovativeness and development had to slow down. People that lived their lives working hard ultimately did so for the sake of their own future, so after fifty golden years, the progress of the old kingdom slowed down. If only our ancestors made sure that no external threat would bother them at that exact point, maybe we could still enjoy the benefits of belonging to the highest caste in the world, enjoying the wealth and respects that no one can have in the modern world."

Picking up his narration after a moment of calming himself down, Latiel stood up, picked his writing utensil and started moving around the room in circles.

"And now, we are reaching the last period of the Kingdom existence, the crusade."

Suddenly stopping in his tracks, a wave of convulsion moved through his body. The next moment, his pen suddenly crashed against the map, leaving an ugly scar where the charcoal bit happened to smear against the paper.

"After using up all the help that our ancestors offered to them, nearly every neighbouring country united and organised a coalition aimed at dismantling the old Kingdom. With a huge chunk of veterans that saw the time of the expansion and war already too old to participate in the war… They still joined the fray, willing to defend their homeland. Yet, when faced with the wrath of the swarms of barbarians… The outcome was inevitable. In just two years worth of the war, the entire mercenary Kingdom was dismantled. And the country that we are currently in, the Republic of Kinar… Contributed to its loss immensely."

Casting a hateful glance at the map that he just drew, Latiel raised his eyes at the mortified face of the young arcanist that was still seating, frozen by the sudden realisation that reached his mind.

"Seeing how the war wasn't going according to their plans, the people that invested so much into developing this part of the Kingdom… Revolted. Claiming that they are doing it to save the legacy of the mercenary Kingdom from total destruction, they abandoned the official structures of the military, cast away the officers and separated from the rest of the Kingdom, creating the republic that we know today. Losing this major power base of their funds and manpower, the mercenary Kingdom could no longer stand against the wrath of the barbarians, succumbing to the crusade in just the next two months. And I think you are the last person that I should explain how did it influence the lives of Phoenixian kind that was unlucky enough to remain outside of Kinarian borders!"