VOLUME 5: CHAPTER 1

VOLUME 5: CHAPTER 1

After the awarding ceremony, the soldiers of the Coalition Army were given two gold coins each, an amount enough for them to live without working for a year or two. The family of the soldiers who perished in battle were given three gold coins and each of them were posthumously given a bronze medal for sacrificing their lives for the sake of the Kingdom. 

It wasn’t much, but the rewards were enough to appease the returning soldiers and the souls of those who died. 

There were rumors that the National Treasury was almost depleted, that the Kingdom would soon undergo financial crisis. But despite this, King Alvis made sure to reward the soldiers who fought in the front lines for the country. 

Personally, Lark believed that the move of the King was right. Money wouldn’t bring the dead back to life, but it would propel the family left behind to continue living forward. 

After the rewards were handed out, the Coalition Army was disbanded. The soldiers started going back to their home town. 

Lark and his men were currently outside the city’s gates, on their way to Blackstone Town. 

“Brother,” said Lui. “Why don’t you visit Gryphon City? With your recent achievements, I believe it’ll be possible to change father’s mind. We can live together again in the Duchy! There’ll no longer be a need for you to live in that small town.” 

Lark shook his head. “It’s been several months since I’ve left my territory. I need to go back soon. And brother, you don’t understand. I like Blackstone Town.”

Lui already expected this answer, especially after he heard Lark rejecting the King’s offer to rule of Tranta City. Still, he had to ask. He wanted to leave no regrets behind. 

“I see,” Lui clenched his fists. “After I take care of the matters in our Duchy, I’ll come visit you.”

Lark smiled. “You can visit Blackstone Town any time.” 

“And that Master of yours?” 

“I’ll introduce you to him when the time comes.” 

Satisfied with this answer, Lui bade his goodbye and left with his men. The moment Lui left, a middle-aged man with a missing arm approached Lark’s group. Zacharia rode his mount and stopped right next to Lark. 

“Going back to that town?” 

The war veteran was as stoic as before. He looked disinterested despite asking Lark this question. 

“Yes,” Lark nodded. “Baro—no, Viscount. It’s Viscount Zacharia now, right?” 

Faint smile formed on the Zacharia’s face. He seemed really pleased of being elevated into a Viscount. It was a dream of his ancestors, after all. And he achieved this feat in his generation. 

“I heard your sword broke,” said Zacharia. He ordered his soldiers, “The chest, give it to him.” 

Zacharia’s soldiers handed Lark a medium-sized chest. Lark opened it, revealing several black ingots. 

“Mithril?” said Lark.

Zacharia was surprised that Lark identified the item at first glance. “It’s not much, but it should be enough to build a sword or two. There’s a blacksmith in Lion City called Garma. Tell him I sent you. He knows how to forge weapons out of mithril. He’ll surely help you.” 

Even in the blackmarket of Lion City, mithril was impossible to find. Even Big Mona would have a hard time getting his hands on it, despite being a renowned merchant of a major city. 

To think that he’ll get his hands on several mithril ingots at once, and for free at that. 

Lark closed the chest. “Thank you. I’ll surely repay this favor someday.” 

Zacharia quizzically looked at him. “What are you saying, Commander Lark? You’ve saved my life – and the lives of my soldiers. Just this alone isn’t even enough to repay that.” 

The soldiers of Zacharia nodded. They all saw Lark favorably, unlike the soldiers of Arzen. 

Lark smiled wryly. “Mithril’s not something you can buy with money.” 

This was true, especially now that the Dwarven Kingdom closed off its borders to the other races. 

“With this gift, let’s just say that we’re even.” Lark reached out his hand. 

Zacharia dismounted and shook Lark’s hand. “I’m envious of your father, the Duke. My oldest son will turn ten years old this year. I sincerely hope he’ll grow up like you.” 

Zacharia said these words without even flinching. Lark scratched his cheeks in embarrassment. 

Zacharia stared at Lark for a moment. “Commander Lark, have you met Valcres before?” 

It was a familiar name. Lark didn’t expect to hear it from Zacharia’s mouth. 

“The Lord of Lion City?”

Zacharia nodded. “That’s right. That psychopath. The sadistic bastard who loves beastmen meat.”

Zacharia was obviously disgusted. The way he spat those words felt as though Valcres was the most despicable man in the world. It seemed that the two of them had bad history in the past, but Lark decided not to ask. 

Austen and George looked at each other. They’d been living in Lion City for several years. Indeed, there were rumors among the rats of the slums that the Lord of the City would feed on beastmen meat every now and then. The rumors were so absurd and disgusting that the brothers dismissed it. But to think that it was actually true. Austen and George shivered at this revelation. 

“Beastmen meat?” Lark frowned. It was the first time he heard of it. 

“Be careful of him,” warned Zacharia. “That one’s a backstabbing bastard.” 

Zacharia firmly believed that the territory governed by Lark would eventually prosper, until it became a small city. Lord Valcres might someday point his sword at Lark and decide to swallow up his territory. Valcres was greedy, after all. 

Lark seriously considered Zacharia’s words. Although the time they’d spent in the battlefield was brief, he knew that the war veteran was a trustworthy person. 

“Thank you,” said Lark. “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

Zacharia mounted his horse. “If you have the time, come visit the Leonard School. My brother’s the current Head Master. I’ll give you a personal tour.” 

Lark smiled. “I’ll be sure to visit someday.”

After that exchange, Zacharia and his men left the Capital. Slowly, the number of soldiers camped outside the city dwindled. The Coalition Army had really disbanded. 

Lark turned towards his men. Over half of the Blackstone Knights perished in battle, and a few dozen soldiers died as well. It was not a bad number, but Lark still felt that it was such a waste to have lost so many soldiers. He could create more Blackstone Knights, but he could never bring back those who died back to life. 

Lark looked at his disciples. 

George and Austen were now both capable of casting first tier spells. Anandra, on the other hand, had grown considerably stronger after facing innumerable imperial soldiers and after personally fighting General Rizel. 

And the last disciple. Chryselle. 

Lark and Chryselle locked eyes with each other for a moment. She smiled, her eyes filled with excitement, as though she was thrilled to finally go to Blackstone Town. 

“Shall we go?” said Lark to his men. 

“Yes, Young Master!”

Lark and his men started moving towards Blackstone Town. Behind them were several carts containing hundreds of iron ingots, seeds, and other crops. These were bought at the Capital at a relatively cheaper price with the help of the Royal Family – tax free. 

Lark planned on creating more living suits of armor to help with the massive northern farmlands. Furthermore, it was finally time to convert the western fields of Blackstone Town into arable land. These seeds and new crops would be a great addition to the vast fields of wheat in his territory. 

A group of riders approached Lark’s group. The lead knight spoke, “Are you Lark Marcus?” 

Lark noticed that the five knights were protecting the rider at the center. A figure clad in hooded cloak. 

“That’s right,” said Lark. 

The five knights were obviously elites. The rider on their center was probably a prominent figure in this territory. 

The lead knight said to the hooded figure, “Princess, it’s fine now.” 

Princess?

Lark bewilderedly looked at the rider at the center. She slowly pulled down the hood, revealing a familiar face. 

“Princess Esmeralda?” Lark was stunned upon seeing the princess here. 

They were already several hours away from the Capital. What was she doing here? In the middle of the wilderness? 

The Princess was clearly disgruntled. She locked eyes with Lark for a moment then immediately averted her gaze. 

She angrily said to the leader of the Knights, “Parzival! I can’t believe you’re forcing me to go with this lot! Even if it’s the order of my father, aren’t you supposed to be serving me? Aren’t you my personal knight?! We could have gone to that place even without their help!” 

Parzival bowed his head. “I’m sorry princess. But I cannot go against the wishes of his Majesty, the King.”

Esmeralda glared at the knights. 

It was clear that she was brought here against her wish. 

“What’s the meaning of this?” asked Lark. 

Parzival pulled out a scroll and read its contents. “As decreed by his Majesty, Princess Esmeralda will undergo cultural exchange training at Blackstone Town. This will last for a year. Until then, she wouldn’t be allowed to come back to the Capital.” 

It sounded stupid. It was obvious that this was a mere pretext of the King to force the princess to come with him. 

Cultural exchange training? Just the name alone sounded ridiculous. No wonder the princess was clearly in distraught by this development. She also glared at Lark; clearly unhappy of what was happening. 

“She’s a princess,” said Lark. “We’ll be passing through monster-infested territories before reaching Blackstone Town.” 

Parzival confidently replied, “All of us here are High-ranking Knights of the Capital. We’ll be responsible for the safety of Princess Esmeralda.”

It was good to hear. At the very least, Lark did not want to be responsible for the security of a Royal. He already had his hands full with managing Blackstone Town. 

Parzival momentarily looked at the coachman. He realized that Mikael was the knight assigned to oversee Lark. Currently, Mikael was dressed in dirty tunic as he guided the horses pulling the carts. 

Mikael noticed the gaze of Parzival. He wordless told the young knight to avert his gaze and mind his own business. Parzival momentarily shuddered upon seeing Mikael’s eyes. He could still remember the hellish training he underwent several years ago in the Military Academy under instructor Mikael. 

Lark looked at the sulking princess then at the knights following behind her. 

“Princess,” said Lark. “It’ll take us several weeks before we reach Blackstone Town. Although it’s a bit dirty, we do have free space inside the third cart.”

Although peevish, the Princess muttered her thanks then went towards the cart Lark indicated. She must have been tired of riding for several hours to catch up with Lark’s group, as she immediately fell asleep despite the constant rattling of the cart. 

After the Princess fell asleep, Lark approached Parzival and said, “I expected her to turn tail after hearing that it’ll take several weeks to reach our destination.” 

Parzival paused before replying. “Well… there’s another reason why she’s coming to your territory. The Endless Forest. The Princess deemed that she might find the item she was looking for in that place.” 

Lark shot a quizzical gaze. “What do you mean?”

Parzival fell silent and didn’t utter another word. 

It was true that the King forced her to come to Blackstone Town in hopes that his daughter would become closer to Lark. It seemed that the King highly regarded Lark’s talent in warfare and his ability to govern his territory. He deemed that the second son of Duke Drakus would someday become a prominent figure of the Kingdom. As a monarch, he could not let this opportunity pass. 

But the reason why the Princess eventually yielded to her father’s request was because of a certain item. 

Tears of Ubroxia. 

The Princess’ personal knights were aware that the King was slowly dying from an unknown curse. And it seemed that the Princess found out a few months ago that the tears of a certain flower may potentially cure her dying father, and that that flower was known to grow only in two places – the Forbidden Region and the Endless Forest. 

The Forbidden Region was too dangerous, even if an entire army escorted her. The only alternative was the Endless Forest. 

The King didn’t know that her daughter agreed to come to Blackstone Town because of this. 

Thus, despite being clearly against the idea of marriage, the Princess eventually conceded and agreed to come along with Lark and his small army. Parzival and his fellow knights felt relieved at this. The Princess would be a lot safer during their travel if they rode along with this group. 

“What item is the Princess looking for?” Lark asked again. 

Parzival shook his head. “Nothing. Please pretend you didn’t hear me talking about it. The Princess will surely be furious at me if she finds out.”

Lark was curious. What were they trying to find inside the Endless Forest that the princess was willing to travel to a faraway town in the middle of the wilderness? 

Seeing that the knight was unwilling to divulge any more information about the matter, Lark decided not to pursue it any further.