Before the Storm: Act 3, Chapter 8

Before the Storm: Act 3, Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“You look relieved to be out of there.”

“Do I?”

Rangobart opened a sleepy eye to regard Countess Waldenstein sitting across the carriage’s cabin. For whatever reason, women loved to make observations about him in their idle time and she was no exception.

Travelling alone with them was a mistake. I’ll be sure to drag one or two other guys along in the future.

Admittedly, everything about his visit to the Sorcerous Kingdom had been impromptu after his arrival...at least on his end. Still, that only meant he had to out-prepare any preparations that involved him in the future, or at least mitigate their effects.

“It probably has nothing to do with relief,” Dimoiya said sourly. “Those women were all over him last night.”

“One can only hope that he didn’t make any mistakes,” Lady Waldenstein said coolly.

Rangobart let out a tired sigh. Trying to defend himself was pointless and might make things worse, besides.

Once the league matches ended – Olga won two to one – he was bombarded by Message spells from no less than sixteen women. He told them he would be attending the post-match festivities as Baroness Zahradnik’s guest, but they came after him anyway. That same night, he endured a siege where the magical lock he had cast on his door was dispelled six times. His two travelling companions interpreted the bags under his eyes in the worst way possible despite his protests to the contrary.

The terraces of grain rolling by the window were suddenly replaced by the shadows of a tall forest. Rangobart straightened in his seat to examine the shoulder of the road.

“Whatcha looking at?” Dimoiya looked over his shoulder.

“The road,” Rangobart replied. “Building transportation routes through The Blister is going to be a huge challenge, so I’m wondering how the Sorcerous Kingdom does it in their heavily forested areas.”

“Is it really that complicated?”

Rangobart turned to frown at Dimoiya, but bumped his temple into her nose instead. The woman jerked her head back and fell onto her seat.

“My fief isn’t anything like the imperial heartland or the south where you had your Promotional Exam. The Blister is half a swamp and the rest isn’t much better. It’s going to take the Empire decades to develop it if they resort to conventional means. This area looks like it gets a lot of rain, so they may have devised some solutions to the problems that we’ll face.”

“I see...are you going to do everything that you said you would?”

“I don’t see why I wouldn’t,” Rangobart replied. “In fact, I’m sure there will be much more to consider once the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Adventurers have completed their survey.”

Needless to say, the opportunities that he was presented with were the sort that were best seized while the vast majority of the Empire was unaware of or averse to what the Sorcerous Kingdom offered. He fully intended to build up as much of a lead as he could and stay there.

“You’re going to attract a lot of flies,” Dimoiya said.

“That much is obvious,” Rangobart said, “but I question how effective they’ll be. These fiefs aren’t the usual titles stripped from one of the attainted, surrounded by developed land and a web of already-entrenched relationships. None of the usual tactics will work and every neighbour is a comrade-in-arms. All of our trade will flow through Enz, and Lord Enz’s son is a Commander in the Second Army Group. He may very well be its General within the decade. Any factional attempt to get to The Blister through Enz will fall flat on its face because the entirety of the Blister is essentially a faction in itself.”

“There should still be ways to get through to people,” Dimoiya leaned back into her seat, crossing her arms over her midriff. “Minor houses would send their daughters to form alliances. Those with wealth to spare will ‘invest’ in development. That includes Merchants. Martial Nobles and Imperial Knights are notoriously bad with money: there are going to be thousands of Imperial Knights looking for financial help after they squander their prize money.”

Rangobart recalled Harlow’s attempted shopping spree after the award ceremony. Dimoiya had a point. Normally, getting landed as an Imperial Knight wasn’t so bad as one could look to their comrades for help after predictably making a catastrophic chain of poorly thought-out expenditures. It was pretty much a rite of passage in the Imperial Army and it was hard to argue with the notion that it built closer ties between the Imperial Knights.

In The Blister, however, thousands of Imperial Knights would be doing it at the same time. House Enz and many of the other Noble families in the area would undoubtedly offer what support they could to make inroads in the new frontier. However, distant interests would still find plenty of vulnerabilities to exploit.

If he was being honest with himself, Rangobart was plotting something similar. He figured that he could offer financial aid to his neighbours using some of the profits from his processing facilities to bind them closely to his bid to develop a major urban centre. The idea that any one of his assumed allies might randomly fall for someone else’s traps presented the possibility of unpleasant complications.

He turned his gaze to the forests outside, pondering how he might secure dominance as they ascended the western slope of Warden’s Vale. Rather than return to Corelyn County via the Katze River, Lady Zahradnik suggested that they take the land route north out of her territory to visit the western regions of the Duchy of E-Rantel. According to the Baroness, Countess Corelyn predicted that most of the Empire would develop along similar lines to the fiefs they would pass through.

For now, however, all he could see was vegetation. Over time, as he took in the occasional meadow, pond, and small ravine, he started to notice certain patterns hidden in the tangle of verdant growth.

“There’s something strange about this forest,” he said.

“Huh? Wh-what are you saying all of the sudden?”

“Hold on...there, did you see that?”

Dimoiya leaned over again to look out of his window, nervously gripping his coat sleeve. Across from Rangobart, Lady Waldenstein shifted over as well.

“I think I missed it,” Dimoiya said. “We’re going too fast.”

“Just wait a minute or two and we’ll see it again,” Rangobart said.

They awaited silently until the forest cleared slightly once more. This time, what he had spotted was much more apparent.

“There,” Rangobart pointed at a set of collapsed timber frames. “Those decayed buildings. It’s an old village.”

“What’s that doing in the middle of a forest?” Dimoiya asked, “Is it an abandoned logging settlement?”

“No,” he answered with a shake of his head, “I’m pretty sure there were a handful of agricultural structures in there and the villages are spaced as if they’re amidst farmland. Baroness Zahradnik mentioned that she reclaimed the frontier shortly after the annexation of E-Rantel. This road we’re travelling on is probably built on an older route connecting Warden’s Vale to the highway.”

“I never realised that Re-Estize was in such a shoddy state,” Lady Waldenstein said. “Wasn’t E-Rantel a royal duchy before the annexation?”

“It was,” Rangobart said. “I’m amazed that House Vaiself would allow its vassals to lose territory like this.”

Such a development would have been unacceptable–no, unthinkable to the Empire. He was raised under the impression that the Kingdom was a rival to the Empire, but, upon closer inspection, the difference between them was likely vast. Never mind the bloated, stagnant country that imperial propaganda always painted it to be, the sights before them suggested that Re-Estize was physically rotting away while the Empire continued to slowly, but surely, expand.

They passed the remains of yet another village, which looked to be in a slightly better state than the previous one. It was almost as if they were travelling through time, witnessing the stages of neglect and decay that had occurred over the generations. Then, all at once, the thick vegetation was replaced by carefully cultivated farmland as far as the eye could see.

“This must be Völkchenheim County,” Rangobart said. “It’s no wonder that the neighbouring Nobles object to Baroness Zahradnik’s style of territorial management. Her forests were farms in the past, so it’s like she’s denying the restoration of Human lands.”

“Given that the Sorcerous Kingdom supports her in her efforts,” Lady Waldenstein said, “I doubt that their Royal Court cares about that bit of the duchy’s history.”

“I still haven’t any clue about their development priorities,” Rangobart said. “Usually, one would see the hand of domestic policy by now, but all I can make out are the efforts of individual houses. It’s almost as if the Sorcerous Kingdom doesn’t care about what they do so long as they do it well. What are the Court Council’s dealings with the Sorcerous Kingdom like?”

Their carriage slowed as they approached the first populated village. Many of its residents stopped to watch them pass through with wary expressions. Was it because traffic was rare, or was it due to the fact that they had come from Warden’s Vale?

“Now that you mention it,” Lady Waldenstein replied, “they’ve been solely concerned with optimising various aspects of the Empire. The overall direction of the country has been left completely in our hands. It is very difficult for most to take our protectorate status seriously until they realise this...well, the commoners care little either way so long as their little worlds don’t crumble around them.”

“Oh, there’s a crowd up ahead,” Dimoiya pressed her nose to her window. “I wonder what’s going on...”

Rangobart reached up to open the driver’s window. There wasn’t a driver to speak of, so he ended up shouting for the Soul Eater to stop instead. The entire village appeared to be present, crowding the lanes near the magistrate’s manor with hundreds of people. The villagers noticed their carriage stop on the road outside of the village, but no one moved to speak to or avoid them. He shared a glance with his two travelling companions, then Lady Waldenstein poked him forward. Rangobart cleared his throat before going up to address a group of women standing at the fringe of the crowd.

“Did they have to do this right now?” Countess Waldenstein said, “Why not wait until the winter? Doing this while there are crops on the way is bound to cause unnecessary confusion.”

“Would the Court Council wait until it is convenient to enact any mandates from the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

The Head Imperial Court Mage sighed. Since it looked like everything would be settled relatively quietly, Rangobart ordered the Soul Eater to continue conveying them on their journey. They reached Crosston, the new capital of Völkchenheim County, ten minutes later. A modest stone wall with wooden hoardings and narrow gatehouses protected an equally modest-looking settlement of several thousand. When they reached the gate, an Elder Lich came to the carriage window.

“Identify yourselves.”

“Frianne von Gushmond, Countess of Waldenstein.”

“Rangobart Eck Waraiya Roberbad, Viscount of Brennenthal.”

“Dimoiya Erex, um...Dimoiya.”

Twin points of crimson light stared down at a clipboard as they declared themselves. A moment later, the Undead mage looked back up again.

“Your arrival has been expected,” it said.

The Elder Lich stepped back and waved them through. The gatehouse’s Human guards gaped at them as they passed.

“Did we do something weird?” Dimoiya asked.

“I don’t think so,” Rangobart answered. “Maybe they’re unused to people used to the Undead? I haven’t seen any in this town so far aside from that Elder Lich.”

“Zahradnik said this place was similar to the Empire,” Lady Waldenstein said. “Is it anything like this in the Second Army Group’s jurisdiction?”

“Strangely, yes,” Rangobart replied as he gazed out the window. “This town wouldn’t be out of place in the Empire. I wonder if this is what most of the Duchy of E-Rantel looks like...”

So far, they had been sent to a set of specific locations, all of which either showcased the future that the Sorcerous Kingdom offered or the state of its allies and subjects outside of the Duchy of E-Rantel. It made sense that they wouldn’t show the territories which weren’t representative of their goals.

“I hope we don’t get in trouble for this,” Dimoiya said.

“We came on Zahradnik's recommendation,” Lady Waldenstein said. “That should mean we’re fine...”

“Does anyone have anything they want to do here?” Rangobart asked.

“Not particularly,” Lady Waldenstein answered. “We’re visiting another Noble’s territory unannounced, so I don’t think we should draw too much attention to ourselves.”

“Dimoiya agrees!”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Rangobart nodded. “But I’d still like to get a feel for how the citizens are faring under their new ruler.”

“The Sorcerer King, or Count Völkchenheim?”

“...both?”

“I doubt anyone would say anything against the Sorcerer King,” Lady Waldenstein said. “Also, we had the opportunity to get to know Count Völkchenheim and his wife before your party arrived. He’s...well, he’s a nice fellow.”

In other words, despite his imperial-sounding name, he didn’t have any qualities that the imperial nobility considered useful. A ‘nice fellow’ didn’t gain any power unless they just so happened to possess extraordinary capabilities. Rangobart didn’t have anything against the type, but they also weren’t very useful connections as they were prone to being exploited left, right, and centre by everyone else and never got anywhere for their time and effort.

“I’m not here to make an acquaintance of the Count,” Rangobart said. “He’s in Corelyn Harbour with the rest of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Nobles anyway. As for how the people feel about the Sorcerer King, just observing them as they go about their daily business should be telling enough. I’m going to walk around the town market. Are either of you coming?”

Lady Waldenstein took a look out the window.

“It’s too crowded for me,” she said.

“Dimoiya will come!”

“Dimoiya, could you pick up a light lunch for me while you’re out there?”

“Sure thing.”

Dimoiya stepped out onto the street after him, shading her eyes as she scanned the townscape.

“Oh, the Temple of the Four is still standing,” she said.

“Your family is pretty devout, isn’t it?” Rangobart asked, “Would you like to visit? It must have been weeks since you last attended a service.”

“Hmm...that’s probably not a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“I feel like I might get caught up in something,” Dimoiya said. “The Temples are already crazy enough about the Sorcerous Kingdom back in the Empire – I don’t want to know what they’re like here.”

He thought he could sympathise with her position. Temples of the same faith could differ in character depending on where they were. Getting caught up in local agendas would be awkward and unwelcome for any visitor, never mind someone from a Noble house.

“In that case,” he said, “shall we take a stroll around the central plaza?”

“Sure.”

Dimoiya latched onto his arm. He stared at her for a good moment.

“You’re not escorting me?” Dimoiya frowned up through her lashes at him.

Rangobart faced forward again, trying to figure out how the market was arranged. Though the early morning rush was long over, it was still crowded enough that they could lose track of one another. Merchants noticed their fine apparel the moment they started walking toward the stands. Fortunately, Dimoiya was more than happy enough to do most of the talking. The Merchants, similarly, targeted Dimoiya over him.

“Welcome, young madam. May I interest you in the newest pieces of woodcraft from the county’s finest artisans?”

Wait a minute. Did he just assume that we’re married?

He looked at Dimoiya out of the corner of his eye. She seemed entirely fine with going along with his presumption, chatting animatedly while poring over the Merchant’s display. As far as he could tell from the inventories displayed in the stalls around them, Crosston didn’t have any specialised industries. It was the plainest sort of urban centre: one whose sole purpose was to service the rural lands around it.

“Oh, I like this,” she gushed over a row of carved sparrows sitting on a branch. “And it’s a set! How much?”

The Merchant listed a figure. Dimoiya dropped some coins into his palm. Rangobart ended up with a bag in his hand. He didn’t like where things were going.