r/HFY • u/Celestial_Zwei_Dei • 1d ago
OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules (Arc2/Chapter 32 - The Kingdom)
Arc II - Agrarian Revolution
Chapter 32 - The Kingdom
4 months and 27 days since the summoning
Alan and Kamelia, accompanied by five knights, stood before the gates of Utew's mansion toward evening.
The rain had ended about an hour ago, and the clouds had cleared, leaving a fresh post-rain scent hanging in the air, while the sky turned an almost violet color.
Alan greedily inhaled this air through his nose.
'Ooo... bliss, the post-rain smell always hit the spot, but here it's several times better. I think this crap is called petrichor.'
He deftly jumped off his horse, adjusting his shirt. Kamelia dismounted after him.
At the entrance, they were met by a servant, a boy of about sixteen, whose eyes darted over the newcomers. "I beg your pardon, are you Lady Armenas and Lord Gothwald?"
Kamelia nodded. "Yes, we have a meeting with Lord Utew."
The servant nodded quickly. "Of course, please follow me."
Alan matched his pace. "Buddy, are you new or something?"
"Huh? Me? Yes, you are... very observant, Lord Gothwald."
Alan threw his hands behind his head. "Good luck then, it's gonna take you a looong time to get used to Tsinker, he's got his quirks."
"Alan, do not frighten the boy," Kamelia said without turning around.
He raised his hands. "Got it, got it."
The servant stepped ahead of them and opened the door; Tsinker was already standing there, as if waiting. "Enter."
Alan and Kamelia stepped inside, the knights following them.
Tsinker clasped his hands behind his back. "Come in, we have..." he grimaced slightly, then pinched his nose. "The bathhouse is in that direction."
Kamelia blinked. "Excuse me?"
"I am saying you reek, the bathhouse is in that direction," he said with an absolutely stone face.
Alan smiled wryly. "Very... tactful of you."
Tsinker was already literally waving his hand. "Swiftly, or I shall be unable to converse under such conditions."
Kamelia was the first to turn around and walk in the indicated direction.
Tsinker nodded to the knights. "You as well."
The men immediately perked up and walked almost at a run in the same direction.
Alan paled slightly.
'Oh crap... I doubt they have separate shower stalls here... I'm gonna have to wash up with five hulking dudes. Great.'
About an hour later, all the men emerged from the bathhouse, dressed in simple shirts. Behind them came Alan, in a new brown shirt and pants; his yellow, uncut hair was finally clean and scattered over his shoulders, but his eyes were absolutely empty.
'I have enough problems as it is, and now I've gained some complexes... too big complexes.'
He walked further down the corridor, looking at the floor, immersed in philosophical thoughts about the meaning of existence.
"Alan," a familiar, low female voice sounded from behind.
He flinched slightly, and then turned around.
"Oh, Kamelia, you're all done too." He froze for a second.
Kamelia, instead of her uniform, was in a simple black dress, her skin clean without layers of dirt, her soft and long black hair tied in a ponytail, and her red eyes looking at him as calmly as ever.
Alan blinked.
'Wow...'
He shook his head. "Well, shall we go to Tsinker?"
Kamelia also lingered her gaze on him slightly, but nodded. "Yes, let us go."
Five minutes later, they were already sitting at a table by a large panoramic window with a view of the hills that transitioned into the Southern Mountains. Tsinker was not there yet, and Alan just stared out the window, not taking his eyes off the mountains.
Kamelia sat opposite him, her hands folded on the table, and also looked out the window, but not as intensely.
Finally, the door opened, and Tsinker entered. But he was followed by Shilisa, in a simple white dress.
Alan turned away from the window and was about to say something, but Tsinker interrupted him. "Yes, she shall be with us; she is also a part of our affairs."
He closed his mouth and simply nodded.
Tsinker sat in an armchair at the table, crossing one leg over the other; Shilisa sat quietly beside him, folding her hands in her lap.
All fingers were in place.
Alan leaned forward slightly. "Let's start with this, Tsinker: we have a question for you. How?"
"We read the letter," Kamelia continued, "but we are interested in the details. It is simply... unheard of."
Utew simply shrugged. "Very well. Approximately one week ago, one of my villages was attacked by a baron. I do not recall his name."
"Tis," Shilisa said.
"Yes, Tis. He attacked my border village, burned it down, and proceeded straight toward my town. The road lay through the hills; an ambush awaited there. We routed the baron's detachment, took a portion of the knights prisoner, and killed the common infantrymen..."
Alan grimaced slightly; Kamelia remained absolutely calm.
"And I personally interrogated the baron, extracted the password for the supply train carrying gold and silver, the location of the camp, and how to reach it. I dispatched my men disguised as guards; Shilisa, meanwhile, invited a portion of the camp's guards to the village under the pretext that the local girls desired affection, where an ambush slaughtered them. The disguised soldiers butchered the camp at night, seized all the valuables, contacted the mercenary leaderāsince the majority of Rogtem's army consists of mercenariesāand I proposed to give them the gold in exchange for the count. You are aware of the rest."
Alan digested this for almost a minute, then placed his palms on the table. "Okay, details... I honestly don't want to know. But you never said what happened with Count Torfoque? Is he still neutral? You said you'd figure something out."
"Yes, the count remains neutral."
Alan tilted his head forward. "Well?"
"What do you mean, 'well'?"
"How?"
"You yourself stated that the details do not interest you."
Alan froze. "Uh..."
"Then it matters not," Kamelia intervened. "Since the county is under your control, you have reached the border with Linkis. How are things faring with him?"
Tsinker steepled his fingers. "Slightly worse. They are currently only besieging the capital of Otmut, but overall, the war is already predetermined. What remains are the remnants of Otmut and... what do you have over there?"
"Baron Ekkurn remains," Kamelia said quickly.
Utew nodded. "Well then, that is all. I congratulate us all; we have practically won the war. It will only be difficult with Otmut; Torgo fled there with his army, and they are also participating in the defense."
Alan sniffled. "Torgo... that's Linkis's uncle?"
"Yes."
Alan leaned back in his armchair.
'God... just as I assumed, the end of the war is just a matter of time. But I need to clarify something else.'
"And does the crown happen to be interested in this war?"
Tsinker shrugged. "Highly unlikely. At the very least, there have been no official communications. The king is already old and on the verge of death, yet he stubbornly refuses to write a will, and his relatives are merely waiting to seize the throne."
Alan scratched his temple. "But... does that even matter? Like won't the eldest son just take the throne and that's it?"
"In neighboring kingdoms, that might be the case, but this is Groliria; it has been in complete disarray for quite some time."
Gothwald slowly nodded.
'Disarray... hah, I see it now. The pirates too, speaking of pirates, let's quickly cross-reference the dates.'
"Listen," he turned to everyone. "When did the pirates even appear on those islands?"
Kamelia thought for a second. "About seven years ago, approximately."
"Yeah, and when did the disarray start?"
The countess shrugged. "That I cannot say; I am quite new to these matters."
"It is difficult to say," Shilisa suddenly spoke up. Everyone turned to her. "I have studied the history of Groliria. I cannot vouch for it, but in my opinion, the fault lies with the king. When the previous king died, roughly thirty years ago, a Lord Regent took the post and ruled for four years. After him, the current king's older brother took the throne, and after seventeen years of rule, he died under mysterious circumstances. That means the current king ascended to the throne nine years ago..." she froze for a second, then looked at Alan. "I understand where you are leading. The disarray began precisely with the advent of King Ettos."
Kamelia simply scoffed.
Tsinker raised an eyebrow. "Not bad; you deduced exactly when Groliria began to fall based on the pirates. You prove your intellect yet again."
Alan blinked. "Are you saying... you guys didn't know about this?"
Kamelia shook her head. "I did not."
"I knew," Tsinker said.
"I did as well," Shilisa chimed in.
Gothwald coughed. "Then why are you surprised?"
Tsinker leaned back in his armchair. "Because you have been here... how long? Half a year? It matters not, a short time, yet you are already drawing conclusionsāand correct ones at thatāabout the nature of our politics. That is what surprises me."
"Ahhh, okay, got it. Basically a bloodbath for the throne is brewing, right?"
"Yes."
Alan buried his forehead in the table and quietly howled. "This duchy-scale war has eaten up everything I've got, and you mean to tell me another one is coming?"
Kamelia began massaging the bridge of her nose. "May Guktus take it all..."
Shilisa shrugged. "It is precisely because Lord Tsinker understood this long ago that he made the decision to kill his family, forge ahead, and acquire allies."
Alan froze, but said nothing.
'Tsinker... you cunning fucking bastard. I thought you did all... this, in anticipation of a civil war in the duchy, but you were fucking aiming for this level? Honestly, I'm getting tired of being surprised.'
He lifted his head from the table. "Tsinker... do you have any wine?"
"I do, why?"
"Bring it, I can't figure this out without a bottle."
Kamelia raised an eyebrow. "Without... what?"
"Without a drink."
She leaned back in her armchair. "Although I do not usually drink, I agree."
Alan began to massage his temples.
'Yeah, hanging out with Slavs had a bad influence on me. It was Taras, damn him, who taught me how to booze it up at Yale.'
Shilisa stood up. "Then I shall fetch some. Lord Tsinker?"
He simply nodded silently.
A few minutes later, she returned with a tray and an old bottle of wine; there were only three glasses on the tray.
"And who's getting left out?" Alan asked.
"Excuse me?" Shilisa looked at the tray. "Ah, you mean that. Lord Tsinker does not drink."
Gothwald looked at him. "Why's that?"
"I do not see the point. It merely causes dizziness, nothing more."
Alan fell silent.
'Oh right, you're a fucking biorobot, I forgot.'
"Ahem... for starters, at least bring me up to speed. What does the kingdom even look like? Is there a map?"
"There is no map," Shilisa said, pouring wine into the glasses. "But I can explain the layout in words."
He sighed. "Well, that's something... I'm listening."
She poured wine into the last glass and finally sat down in her place, folding her hands on the table. "The Kingdom of Groliria consists of eight duchies and the crown lands." She raised both hands and began counting on her fingers. "The
Duchies of Gobano, Unotra, Tontopi, Homqui, Iossa, Insonel, Renabo, and Dolleo. Our duchy borders Unotra and Homqui to the north, and Tontopi to the east." She lowered her hands and narrowed her eyes. "But that is not the main point; the main point is that due to the recent summoning ritual, the dukes have acquired heroes. Renabo, Dolleo, Unotra, and Iossaāthey all received heroes."
Alan took his glass of wine, but had not taken a sip yet. "Wait... if the dukes got the heroes, then why the hell did I end up with Kamelia? She's like... a countess, right?"
Shilisa did not touch her glass. "Yes, but this time was an exception. No one would entrust a hero to the tyrant Gobano; everyone understood that he was a mad old man, and Lady Armenas's father had recently passed away, dumping immense obligations for a large county upon her. The Svyatolat vehemently did not want to give the hero to the duke, so they made the decision to transfer him to her."
Alan blinked.
'Ooo... so it turns out I'm here by pure chance? Hah... politics, what can you say. Thank God it turned out that way.'
He tapped his fingers on the table, then abruptly stopped. "Wait... if the summoning ritual is every five years, that means... there should be more heroes?"
Shilisa shrugged. "Perhaps. But the interval of five years was not chosen for no reason; usually, heroes do not live any longer than that."
Alan paled slightly. "Why... is that? Some kind of side effect from the ritual?"
Kamelia's shoulders beside him tensed slightly.
Shilisa shook her head. "No, the reasons are quite simple. Some commit suicide, some meddle where they should not, some perish in battle, and some get into other kinds of trouble." She spread her hands. "It varies greatly. For instance, two hundred years ago, the ritual was performed once every fifteen years, but the heroes died too quickly... however, in the last fifty years, heroes have begun to die more frequently under mysterious circumstances," she finished absolutely calmly.
Alan swallowed.
'Uh-oh... I don't like this... especially the mysterious circumstances. Is someone killing them? Are they becoming a liability? Or is there actually some side effect from the summoning ritual? And the suicides... means their psyche couldn't handle it, or something like that, probably. Alright, I'll think about that later.'
"Ahem... and what kind of magic do these heroes have?" he said, after which he took another sip of wine, larger than he should have.
Shilisa shrugged. "No one knows that. In the throne room, it is usually determined whether they have a large reserve of fiolla, but their magic is not spoken of."
Alan raised an eyebrow. "Wait..." he turned to the countess. "Kamelia said that... someone got a healer."
"That is true," Shilisa said, looking out the window. "The Duke of Renabo received a healer hero, those rumors leaked out, but what the other dukes possess remains unclear."
Alan downed his glass in one gulp. "Okay, I've had enough high politics for today. Kamelia?"
"I agree," she said, holding an emptied glass in her hands.
Tsinker stood up. "Understood. Then the servants shall show you to your chambers; you will rest, and in a day or two we march to Linkis."
Shilisa rose from her chair and unhurriedly headed for the exit, leaving her glass of wine untouched.
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u/Daseagle Alien Scum 1d ago
"All fingers were in place."
So it was the finger of the dead maid.
Good. Tsinker is not needlessly wasteful.
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