VOLUME 15: CHAPTER 27

VOLUME 15: CHAPTER 27

[Kingdom of Thornforge]

The Kingdom of Thornforge had grown considerably stronger over the years, its influence stretching far beyond its borders after quietly annexing the Dukedom of Mauko in all but name.

Outwardly, the Dukedom remained an independent state, flying its own banner and keeping its own regimen. Yet in truth, its policies and survival hinged upon the kingdom’s will.

Militarily, the Kingdom of Thornforge was no match for the great armies of the northern realms. But in the south, geography and politics rendered them unchallenged.

The Dukedom had become a reliable shield that prevented the beastmen from reaching the Kingdom of Thornforge.

The United Grakas Alliance, should they decide to invade the kingdom, would have to cut through the Dukedom first before they could reach Thornforge’s lands.

For this reason, the Kingdom of Thornforge would always discreetly send reinforcements to the Dukedom whenever its grip over the Mauko Plains wavered.

These schemes and carefully measured interventions prevented Mauko’s fall while keeping the balance of power in the south tilted in the Kingdom of Thornforge’s favor.

In the royal palace of the kingdom’s capital, King Gram, the King of Thornforge, was having a sumptuous breakfast with his children.

Three sons.

One daughter.

Although King Gram was known for his large harem, he had stopped siring children after his daughter, the youngest of all his children, was born.

He treated the members of his harem as mere playthings – a pastime to keep him occupied during his idle time. The only person he truly loved was his first wife, the mother of all his children.

Of course, the rumors said otherwise.

“Father,” said the First Prince. “The captain of the western garrison reported that bandits have been rampant in the west recently. There have been numerous attacks on our farmers during the harvest season.”

“Is it the Eye Collector Clan again?” said the king.

There was no trace of anger in the king’s voice, as though he’d long accepted that these things would happen during this time of the year.

The Eye Collector Clan was a notorious bandit group in the southern continent.

They avoided the lands of the beastmen, but for decades they had roamed freely across the Dukedom of Mauko and the Kingdom of Thornforge.

Reports claimed they numbered well over ten thousand, with dozens of hideouts scattered in forests and mountains.

They weren’t an organized army, just a collection of thieves, deserters, and murderers, but their numbers and the reach of their territory made them difficult to deal with.

Efforts to wipe them out often failed.

Soldiers sent into the wilds found themselves outnumbered, ambushed, or simply chasing shadows.

No matter how many times they were crushed, the Eye Collector Clan always seemed to resurface, as if the land itself kept breeding them.

For this reason, even the Kingdom of Thornforge had long given up actively attacking those bandits’ strongholds.

“We believe so,” said the First Prince. “Father, our citizens are living in fear each day because of those bastards. Several villages have even started allocating a large portion of their harvest as tribute to the Eye Collector Clan.”

The Third Prince said grimly, “Is that why those peasants have been struggling to pay proper taxes recently?”

Although the Third Prince was the youngest among the king’s sons, he was already forty years of age and had a couple of wives and several children.

As the youngest prince, he’d been tasked with overseeing the tax collection processes of the kingdom.

“The peasants have started taking loans recently despite the bountiful harvest this year,” said the Third Prince. “They’re definitely throwing all that money away to the Eye Collector Clan. Tch. Maybe it’s time we cut off all accessible loans to those stupid illiterate peasants.”

Knowing they couldn’t do anything against the infamous bandit group, they chose to blame the farmers instead.

For decades, the royal family had been treating the bandit raids as seasonal nuisance. Something inevitable rather than a crisis.

Since even the king had been shrugging it off, the princes had learned to treat bandit violence as mere background noise.

As long as those hooligans didn’t touch the towns or any of the cities, they would just leave them be.

The Second Prince, who was in charge of the patrol, smirked. “Should I ask my men to make an example of them? The land those farmers are using belongs to the kingdom. By giving out tributes to the bandits, they’re basically robbing the royal family of the resources needed to run the nation. It’s the same as stealing from us.”

King Gram was about to give his approval when Princess Vivienne, who’d been silently eating next to him until now, spoke.

“That’s enough,” she said. She elegantly cut through her steak. Without looking at her brothers, she added, “You’re making me lose my appetite, brothers. Can we not talk about these gruesome things over breakfast?”

The king laughed. “Hahaha! Of course! Of course! It’s not every day we get to eat together like this, so let’s just enjoy our meal, shall we?”

The princes looked at each other before nodding affirmatively.

Everyone knew how much the King of Thornforge doted on his only daughter. Had the laws of the nation permitted it, he would probably hand over the throne to her on a platter.

But alas, she was a woman, and her only fate was to be married to another powerful family.

Of course, as a doting father, the King of Thornforge wanted her to marry only someone greater than him. The more powerful her husband, the better. This was the reason why he proposed a matrimonial bond with the leader of the Coalition. Only someone like him should be worthy to wed his beloved daughter.

While eating, the First Prince couldn’t help but ask, “Father, regarding Vivienne’s marriage…”

“What of it?”

“…Are you really sure about it? I’ve heard about Lark Marcus’ numerous achievements, but he’s too young. He’s at least ten years younger than Vivienne.”

Although the Princess was the youngest among the king’s children, she was already thirty-five this year.

Given a few more years, she would find it hard to find a husband.

Under normal circumstances, a princess like her would have been married off to another influential family long ago. But King Gram doted on her too much, and he couldn’t find anyone fit enough to be her husband.

The king sipped his wine. “Doesn’t that make his feats even greater? Imagine a king in his early twenties already wielding so much power. It’s apparent how much more he could achieve in the future. For someone as capable as him, it’s not a question of how, but when. Everything is only a matter of time.”

The king went on to say that some men were born for greatness, and Lark Marcus was undeniably one of them.

The First Prince’s gaze moved to Vivienne. Just like before, she remained expressionless, as though the topic didn’t concern her.

The First Prince was worried that Lark Marcus would mistreat her should he decide to proceed with the marriage in the future.

Someone like him surely had a large harem just like their father.

Although the king cherished his children, the First Prince had seen firsthand how the women in the king’s harem were treated as mere disposable tools to satisfy his father’s lust.

The First Prince was afraid that the heavens would retaliate on their family, and the same fate would befall the princess in the future.

“Vivienne,” said the First Prince. “You can’t just remain silent like this. Tell father what you truly feel about this marriage.”

“If it’s father’s will, I shall gladly accept it,” she said.

In truth, she believed that Lark Marcus would never accept the marriage. This was the reason why she never bothered to think too much about it in the first place.

First of all, their age gap was quite huge. Men always preferred women younger than them, not the other way around.

Second, the King of Lukas held unfathomable power on the continent right now. No one in their right mind would willingly get tied to a small nation like the Kingdom of Thornforge through a matrimonial bond.

From the perspective of someone like Lark Marcus, it would be better to marry the daughter of Emperor Sylvius rather than the princess of a mere kingdom.

Sure, the Kingdom of Thornforge held remarkable military might in the south, but they were mere small fries compared to the behemoths of the north.

If the Beast King suddenly went crazy and decided to conquer the entire southern continent, even the Kingdom of Thornforge and the Dukedom of Mauko combined wouldn’t be able to stop him.

Princess Vivienne believed that it was only a waste of time to think of these things.

Lark Marcus would never accept someone like her. Or maybe he would? But as a plaything.

“Vivienne!” said the First Prince.

“My decision is final, brother,” said Princess Vivienne.

The First Prince sighed, and the other princes shook their heads in dismay. They were also against this marriage, but they couldn’t do anything since the person herself was in favor of it.

After their breakfast, Princess Vivienne went back to her room and changed into an inconspicuous, modest outfit. She was about to wear her favorite mask when several knocks were heard on her door.

“It’s me.”

It was her brother, the Second Prince.

Vivienne hid the mask in the drawer. She gave the go signal to her lady-in-waiting to allow her brother in.

Seeing Vivienne’s attire, the Second Prince said, “Going out again?”

“Yes,” said Princess Vivienne.

“As promised, I’ve been keeping your weekly rendezvous from father and our brothers,” said the Second Prince. “But the Eye Collector Clan is becoming rampant recently. As the head of the patrol and as your brother, I’ll be increasing your escorts.”

“…Thank you.”

“Haaah, seriously. What do you get from helping those peasants? And can’t you just delegate that task to someone else? I still remember how shocked I was when the infamous Saintess we captured back then turned out to be my little sister in disguise.”

The Saintess was a renowned figure in the Kingdom of Thornforge who always appeared in calamity-stricken areas. Her face hidden behind a mask, she went around the kingdom to attend to the sick and hand out supplies to the struggling.

Since the Saintess was capable of healing magic, the citizens of the kingdom thought she was one of the priests of the Temple.

No one aside from a select few was aware that she was the only princess of the Kingdom of Thornforge.

“Thank you for worrying about me, brother,” said Princess Vivienne. “I’ve been keeping track of the Eye Collector Clan’s routes recently, and I’ve been avoiding going to places near their territories.”

“Please… just be careful,” said the Second Prince.

“I will.”

She was no longer a little kid, and even the Second Prince couldn’t stop her if she really wanted to go.

Unless he reported her secret identity to their father, of course.

But if that happened, it would put a crack in his relationship with his little sister.

After reminding his sister to stay wary of the Eye Collector Clan, the Second Prince left the room. Princess Vivienne gathered her belongings and retrieved the mask she had hidden in the drawer.

She only put it on once she was safely outside the city walls.

“I trust all of you know how to keep a secret,” she said to the new guards her brother had assigned to her.

The men nodded firmly. A few still found it hard to believe that the famed Saintess was, in truth, the princess herself.

At first, most of them had been displeased with the assignment. Princess Vivienne’s reputation was far from spotless, and many had expected little honor in guarding her. But after learning of her secret identity, the guards started viewing her in a new light. They vowed in their hearts to protect her with their lives.

“We’ll keep this secret to our graves, Your Highness!” said the captain of the guards.

Princess Vivienne smiled behind her mask. “I’d rather you don’t do that. I don’t want anyone to die because of me. Please, treasure your lives.”

With the addition of the new guards, her escort now numbered thirty strong. Some of them were even elite swordsmen, and there was also a formal magician mixed in.

With such a lineup, even the Eye Collector Clan wouldn’t be able to easily mess with them.

The Princess looked at the walls of the capital behind her. Various thoughts ran through her mind.

If only she wasn’t born a woman, a princess.

Although she was doted on by her father, a single person like her couldn’t change the rotten ways of this kingdom.

She had already long accepted the limits of what she could do.

At the very least, she wanted to do what she could to alleviate the pain and struggles of the marginalized.

Even if some people mocked her and said that what she’d been doing was temporary, that those people would fall back into the pits of despair again eventually, it didn’t matter.

It was a small step, but an important one regardless.

“Let’s go,” said the Princess.

Their destination today was the Dried Leaf Village, a territory that had been ransacked by the bandits recently.

***

Inside the forest leading to the Dried Leaf Village, a large band of bandits from the Eye Collector Clan hid.

“We’ve been waiting here for nearly a week. Are you sure they’ll be coming here?”

“Who knows? It’s been half a month since we attacked the village, so the Saintess must have heard about it by now.”

“Ptooey! Fucking hell, I’m so bored!”

“Shhh! Lower your voice! You know the Boss’ temper.”

“Tch!”

The Saintess had been growing immensely in fame these last few years to the point that the bandits started recognizing the patterns in her movements.

Without fail, she would always come to the aid of the people who had suffered from calamities, diseases, and bandit attacks. And most importantly, she would always bring supplies to aid the victims.

Sometimes it would take her months to arrive, depending on the severity and urgency of the situation.

The Eye Collector Clan purposely burned down half the village and left a few dozen survivors alive in the Dried Leaf Village this time to lure the Saintess out.

If they massacred everyone, the Saintess wouldn’t come to this place in the middle of the wilderness.

In a lower voice, one of the bandits spoke, “But wouldn’t it be better to let her keep doing her charity work? That way, the village will be able to recover, and we’ll get tributes again.”

Targeting the Saintess now was akin to killing the goose that laid golden eggs. Even some of the illiterate bandits realized the flaw of this mission.

If they attacked any of the towns or cities under the kingdom, the royal family would mobilize the army to attack the bandit strongholds scattered throughout the region.

Therefore, they could attack only villages and smaller settlements in the area.

These villages, coupled with the toll fees they’d been receiving from the passing merchants, were the lifeblood of the bandits.

Some of the bandits believed they shouldn’t take too much from the villagers lest they ended up collapsing, rendering them incapable of harvesting crops in the future.

Fewer crops, fewer loots.

Of course, not all bandits thought like that. Some simply wanted more violence and blood, and they never considered the scenario in the future when they would run out of villages to plunder.

“I don’t know what the higher-ups are thinking, and don’t you dare voice your opinions if you don’t want the Boss to gouge your eyes out.”

They were known as the Eye Collector Clan for a reason.

Without fail, they would always gouge out the eyes of their enemies while they were still alive, before killing them. These bandits would preserve the eyeballs with a solution, before turning them into necklaces to showcase the number of people they had hunted before.

The leader of the Eye Collector Clan, in particular, was currently wearing one of the eyes of the daughter of the Jade Merchant Union’s head.

“Hey, look! They’re finally here!”

“Haha! Our long wait is over!”

After waiting for several days, the caravan led by the Saintess finally entered the path leading to the Dried Leaf Village.