The Fearless War

The Silver Card

"You've got a little stain there, Uncle."

"That's right Oz, looks like I got a little rusty, took longer than expected."

My mind was still wandering a bit, despite wiping the blood off me and polishing my blades, I still couldn't fully process that I had without problem, ended the lives of several people. I stared at my hands as I tried to think of what other action I might have taken until I felt water rushing through my head.

"Don't think too hard Oz. I think you can understand what I'm about to tell you."

"Uh-huh."

"Every person has the power of where to direct their lives, but in this world, many give up when faced with obstacles or situations they deem 'unfair', they think, 'Why wasn't I born with more money? Or, 'Why didn't I have that or this?' They use those ideas to justify their actions, such as stealing, killing, or doing whatever they please without thinking of anything or anyone beyond their interests."

"But I wonder if it's okay to kill like that."

"That's what I'm getting at don't despair. As I was saying, people losing their senses or else their humanity will stop for almost nothing, even going so far as to not fear death. And there are no such things as heroes or defenders to stand up to those kinds of people day in and day out. So, the rest of us must be prepared to stop them, not for the sake of others, but to defend ourselves, such is the reality that even the kingdom omits the crime of killing when the other person is a criminal or traitor."

I could understand what uncle Miles wanted to explain to a certain extent, but despite his talk I could not forget so easily that I would end someone's life even if I did not hesitate to do so. Even if I covered it as self-defense, the fact would not change, but if I wanted to become a knight, I would undoubtedly someday end up in a battle where I would have to kill more. Thus, I had to reinforce my stance and thoughts.

"Therefore Oz ... Help me with the heads of the leaders."

"What?"

"Yes, in the next village there is a knight's post, we can report what happened and see if there is a bounty on their heads."

Uncle Miles had passed me two empty food sacks to return for the heads of the mage and the bandit chief. I also spent a little time arranging all the bodies on the side of the road while Uncle Miles was tearing up the parts of the road blocked by the ice walls that had not disappeared. To my surprise the vocats were asleep despite the disaster that had happened around them.

After the road was cleared, I tied the sacks with the heads to the back of the carriage and we drove on to a village about the size of a full city. On the side of the road stood an archway made of logs and low walls that covered the village, apparently to keep out small animals.

"Oz let me do the talking."

Beneath the archway were two knights in half plate armor and a pure black shoulder pad. When we got close enough to the entrance, we stopped waiting for instructions from the knights on guard. One appeared to have only been on duty a short time as he had a more nervous posture and the other wore a bored expression as he directed us to enter the village.

"Anything to report on the cargo or would you prefer an inspection?"

"Whichever gives you gentlemen the most peace of mind. I just must comment that we had to take down a bandit gang along the way. In the back of our transport are their heads."

Uncle Miles' tone of voice had changed to one that was softer and more respectful towards the knight questioning him, but it felt a bit forced to my ear. As the younger knight inspected the carriage box, he emerged holding in his hand the sacks already soaked at the base with blood.

"Sir Trefor, these are the heads of the Faughn siblings!"

"Don't start today, new guy."

The knight reached over to snatch the sacks from his companion and upon seeing the inside, dropped them as he fell towards the ground. He turned to look at us returning his gaze to the sacks several times, until he regained his composure and approached my uncle as his arms trembled slightly.

"Excuse me, but which of you defeated the bandits?"

"Between the two of us, they were in a group of about 30. We already left the other bodies next to an ice ring left by a mage."

The knights' faces were stunned as they listened to Uncle Miles' declaration of events, describing how the bandits had aimed to steal both what we were carrying and our lives. The knight in command hurried to send for something to his base behind the wall. Out of a structure made of stone with a wooden roof came the knight who had grabbed the sacks along with someone who looked like a scribe. In his hands he carried a thin plate of various metals with a hole no bigger than a finger at the bottom and with ornaments on the edges. The scribe also wore in his hair a feather with a metal tip.

"Excuse me, but although the faces are in good condition, we are obliged to verify the identity of the bandits."

"Of course, you are sir, if it serves as proof here is my kingdom guild card."

"Thank you for understanding Mr. Miles, to see your rank is..."

"Sir Trefor what is it? ... Hematite class?!"

On the continent we were on there was an organization in each kingdom that oversaw administering missions or tasks that were set by people or nobles. Such tasks could range from basic things to hunting or extermination missions. This organization was declared as The Guild, where people with a desire for fame or money could join as adventurers to fulfill the established quests. The quests were classified by classes and the adventurers measured their strength by such classes, which represented their ability and prowess. In total there were 8 classes, hematite being the 5th class from the top, and the most basic being amber.

"What's a Hematite adventurer doing in these parts?" The scribe exclaimed in confusion, grabbing the card from the two knights.

Apparently though the bandit problem had been recurring around the village. There were no adventurers willing to hunt them down as their numbers or abilities were unknown aside from the leading siblings. After the three people calmed down and returned the guild card to Uncle Miles, the scribe proceeded to verify the identities of the brothers.

With the feather on his head, he collected blood from the severed necks and one by one he put drops in the hole of the tablet he carried. When the drop of Andras' blood fell, the tablet emitted a glow and from one moment to the next the name of Andras Faughn appeared written next to a portrait of him. Such was the same result with his sister's blood.

"With the identities verified there is no problem Mr. Miles."

"Thank you, will there be a problem if we buy supplies for my nephew and I so we can complete our journey?"

"Of course not, let me write up your reward for the bandits. While we have not verified the entire group, the bounty for the brothers is 1200 crowns. While you two get some rest, I will contact the guild to transfer your full bounty."

Giving more specific directions as to where the other bandit bodies were, we proceeded with new funds to a village square filled with stalls.  I arranged the leftover furs in the back of the carriage and the carvings that Uncle Miles had made on the road, among which there were figures and several groups of wooden cutlery and plates so I could sell all. When I got everything ready, I tried to question Uncle Miles again.

"Uncle, when were you planning on telling me you were a hematite adventurer? And the scribe's tablet is like the one where people register their children as inhabitants?"

"Well from my adventuring days, you know I took quests with your father, but rank never mattered to me. And your second question, yes, it is the kingdom record that thanks to carved magic in the capital library every scribe with authority can access the records."

"Do you know how it comes to work?"

"It's been in operation for at least more than two centuries so I wouldn't know, but it's something that covers the whole kingdom and is administered in the castle."

During my conversation with Uncle Miles several people from the village had come up to see the back of the carriage and looking for an opportunity to get out of the conversation, my uncle changed his attitude and accent again to sell the people what we were carrying. He tried to explain in fairytale-like stories the qualities of the bear fur we were carrying, pointing to the idea of how one could feel the vitality of the animal when wearing it.

Whereas his pitch for the carvings was that they portrayed the adventures two brothers had made throughout their lives as adventurers before retiring. Several children piled in to get carvings of various monsters or figures of people in armor. While men and women tried to get quality utensils and varnish-treated, luxurious-looking tankards.

After a while we got not only a good number of crowns, but we also managed to trade goods for food and various provisions. Before we finished buying the last things, we needed to continue our way, the knight called Trefor called us to give us the remaining reward.

"I'm sorry I can't give you all the reward but the budget we have is not adequate."

Aside from a sack with a hundred more crowns, he handed us a card containing his seal of the order he belonged to, and signature so that in some branch of the guild we could collect the entire reward. Thus, we were able to finish buying enough things to continue our way without any more stops in any other village.

"Don't worry Mr. Trefor, this is more than enough for us to continue our journey."

"It's nothing Mr. Miles, I wish all adventurers were as kind and respectful as you."

"Pfft..." Hearing how a knight described my uncle as respectful I couldn't completely contain my laughter and scurried to the back of the carriage to avoid trouble. My uncle continued talking to the knight before departing, asking if there was still a branch of the guild in Oldscar.

The sun was already setting when we left the village. At the entrance there were a few bodies of the bandits we had left behind and the scribe was still checking the identities of the lesser-known ones who had no individual bounty.

"Well Oz, we have to hurry, I didn't expect to have to go through so much procedure."

"Uncle You know that happened because you presented your card."

"But otherwise, we would have been treated as scammers or even we would have created fear by being some strangers who killed bandits out of nowhere."

Before nightfall, we were already a good distance from the village and like every night, the signs on the road lit up to point out the route. I tried again to practice absorbing mana while breathing as I was still having complications when I tried to spread it as I breathed.

"Looks like there are wolves in the forest Oz."

"Uh-huh..."

When I tried to concentrate, I was able to manage to spread mana in my arms just as I was breathing only to feel my consciousness fade away and overheard in the distance a deep howl.