The Battle for Leyta

The journey to Ytrea - 1

As Dromer said goodbye to Yeria, he turned east and started on his journey.

'This is gonna be a pain in the ass, but... I have to keep moving. As soon as we're done here in Leyta, We'll be able to go back to the heavenly realm and beat the s**t out of all demons that are now living there, especially, Perfentius.'

Dromer took his map out to check how many settlements he might encounter throughout his journey.

'Let's see... The first settlement seems to be a village named Gyera. Seems to be about three days walk from here. Next, is a town called Uirga. That's... An interesting word to call a town. Hmm... The map doesn't extend further than that... I'll buy a new one in Uirga, or maybe even Gyera if there's a merchant or a shop there.'

Then, Dromer checked his money pouch.

'Huh, I still have about six hundred gold pieces left. I hope I'm not gonna be considered a noble or some dumb s**t like that...'

Dromer tied his money pouch onto the hilt of his sword and kept walking. As he kept going, the scenery slowly changed, from a half-forested area to plains with mountains in the background.

'Holy s**t this is beautiful.' Dromer thought to himself as he looked upon the scenery before him.

The plains were full of flowers of every colour of the rainbow. A small river flowed through the plains to the east. There were some animals there as well. As Dromer kept going on his journey, the sun was starting to set.

'Gotta make camp somewhere... Near the river will be perfect, I think.'

As he went towards the river, he heard a horse to his left. At first, Dromer didn't pay attention to the noise. Then, he heard that the sound of the horse's hooves was getting closer and closer to him. He finally looked in the direction of the sound. It was a group of humans on horseback. One horse at the very front. The woman on that horse seemed to be in distress as if she were running from that group of people.

As soon as the woman saw Dromer, she made the horse go full speed towards him. She was getting further and further away from the group. In two minutes, the woman reached Dromer and, without getting off of the horse, spoke to him:

"Help me, please! Those men are trying to kill me!"

Dromer looked at the woman. She was dressed in very fancy looking clothing. In clothing that only a noble would wear.

"Sorry, lady. I don't do bodyguard work. I'm on a journey to Ytrea. I don't have time to think about anyone other than myself."

The woman, after a brief pause, said:

"I am known as Regia. I'm the daughter of Count Leron. If you defend me from those men, I'll make sure you get compensated accordingly."

After a long sigh, Dromer replied:

"Seems like you won't be backing down... Alright, I'll help you, but I don't need any compensation. Not from you, or your father."

"What is your name, if I may ask?"

"Dorian of the Sacred Sword. I'm an S-rank adventurer from the Great Empire. Now then, I've got some bastards to kill."

Dromer then put his money pouch into a pocket, unsheathed his sword and turned towards the group of men on horseback.

"Regia, please stay behind me. Do not, under any circumstance, try to run further away. A smaller group of them will go after you if you try to run."

Regia nodded, went behind Dromer and got off of her horse.

In one minute, the group had stopped near Dromer and Regia. The commander of the mercenary group, Tholward, got off of his horse and spoke to Dromer:

"Hey there, traveller. I am Tholward. The commander of this mercenary group known as Seldoms. We were tasked to bring Regia back to her father's domain, but she ran away from us."

"Let me stop your right there, Tholward," Dromer spoke, "From what I understand, you are actually trying to kill Regia for whatever reason. I'll let you take her, only if I can tag along so I can be sure she's safe and sound back at her father's mansion."

Tholward looked at Dromer and asked:

"Who are you, my friend?"

"I am known as Dorian of the Sacred Sword. I'll say this only once more. I'll let you take her only if I can tag along to ensure her safety. I do not trust you, because, from my point of view, she was in distress trying to escape from you."

Tholward, after a brief moment, pulled out his sword and said:

"We're taking the girl and YOU won't follow us, got it, pal?"

Dromer, with his sword still in hand, started laughing

"Ha ha ha, you don't know what you've gotten yourself into, my friend. You have five seconds to put your sword back, get on your horse and get the f**k out of here. And if you don't, I'll be taking your head, and the heads of your subordinates, understood?"

Fear was clearly visible on Tholward's face. His whole body was shaking from the intense fear.

"O-o-okay, man. J-just don't h-h-hurt me, p-please!" Tholward begged.

Tholward saddled up quickly and ran away. The group followed him.

"Thank you, Dorian! I'll be sure to inform father of your heroism!" Regia exclaimed.

"No. You won't tell anyone about what happened here, got it, Regia? If you do, there will be huge consequences."

Regia nodded, got on her horse and was about to leave when Dromer spoke up:

"Pause for a moment, Regia. If you leave on your own, you'll be in danger. I'm going with you."

"But you can't walk faster than the horse," Regia said.

Dromer whistled loudly, and a horse came running. After the horse stopped near Dromer, he sat on the horse and said

"Well? Are we gonna just stand here and wait for a bird to s**t on us, or are we gonna move?"

Regia seemed shocked but quickly regained composure.

"W-why yes, let us depart."

As the sun set, they arrived at a town called Orphein. When they arrived at the gates, the guard spoke up.

"Halt, travellers. The entrance fee into Orphein is 5 coppers."

"My name is Regia. This man saved me from the group known as Seldoms."

The guard immediately changed his attitude towards both Regia and Dromer.

"Oh, please enter, pardon my insolence, miss! You too, good sir. You can enter without paying the fee too."

Regia thanked that guard and they both entered Orphein.

"Well, thank you, Dorian, for escorting me. I'll be fine from here on." Regia said to Dromer.

"Didn't you hear what I said to Tholward? I'm not gonna go away until you're safe at your father's residence." Dromer replied.

"Oh, you were serious? Alright, come along then."

As the two of them passed through town, many common people were greeting Regia and sometimes talking to her about day-to-day things.

"Seems like you're pretty friendly with the commoners here, miss daughter-of-the-count."

"Don't call me that... I'm friendly with them because I know what struggles they go through in their lives. I see what happens in the shadows, I see what happens in the light."

Dromer said nothing. He was too surprised to say anything.

Then, they came upon the gates that cut off the common and noble districts.

"Halt! Miss Regia, you can pass through, but the man that's following you will have to stop right there and either go to an inn nearby or leave the town altogether."

Regia spoke up with slight anger in her voice:

"I apologize, guardsman, but this man saved me from the Seldoms. I have hired him as my bodyguard until I get back to my father's residence. So, either you back off, or I'll report to my father about your misconduct."

The guard didn't want to budge:

"I'm sorry, milady, but he's a commoner, I can't let him enter the noble district!"

"Listen here, guardsman. This is an order! Let him in or pay the price!" There was audible anger in Regia's voice.

"Stop, Regia. That's enough. Hey, guardsman! If I'm leaving, then YOU will have to escort her to the count's residence. If she gets even ONE bruise anywhere on her body, I'll be coming to claim your head and present it at the town square, got it?"

The guardsman had fear smeared all over his face.

"U-Ummm... You see, I-I can't leave m-my post."

"In that case, you'll have to let me pass through, isn't that right? Or is there a special reason you want her to go alone? Maybe someone's waiting for her in an alley and that someone was sent by you?"

"N-No, of course not! I'm not one for dirty tricks like that!" Guardsman exclaimed.

"Then you wouldn't mind letting him in, right?" Regia asked.

The guardsman finally let up and said:

"Alright, fine... Your "bodyguard" can pass through as well..."

"Thank you," Regia said and the both of them went into the noble district.

When they finally reached the count's residence, the doors opened and a well-dressed man came outside.

"Regia! My darling daughter! It is so good to see you've returned!" The man, who appeared to be Regia's father, said.

"Hello, father! Yes, I've returned. This is Dorian of the Sacred Sword. An adventurer from the Great Empire. I met him by a river in the plains near the Forest of Broken Dreams while I was fleeing from a group called Seldoms. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you." Regia told her father with happiness in her voice.

"Is that so?" Leron looked at Dromer and said "Well then, young man. I'll have to reward you for saving the life of my only child. What would you like as a reward? Money, items or maybe my daughter's hand? Ask, and you shall receive."

Regia seemed flustered and then spoke up:

"Father! You did NOT just say that!"

Dromer, as calm as ever, replied:

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, sir, but I don't want anything. I don't need money, items or your daughter. I'm simply doing what I can to make sure a lady gets back home safe after I've rescued her."

"Well, here's the thing, Dorian of the Sacred Sword. It is a rule of mine to reward anyone who does good deeds for me or my household. So, what do you want as a reward?" Leron insisted.

Dromer let out a huge sigh and replied:

"I don't want ANYTHING! Do you understand? I've got plenty of money, the items I have on me right now are more than enough for me, and I don't want to marry anyone's daughters. Now, if you'll excuse me!"

Dromer turned around and was about to leave when he felt two people approaching at high speed.

"REGIA, COUNT LERON, GO INSIDE, NOW!!!" Dromer commanded.

Then, two men appeared on the right of Dromer. They tried to attack Dromer, but he evaded their attacks. Although, they did scratch him a bit. Dromer then pulled out his sword and went in for a counterattack. He slashed one of the men across from his left shoulder to his right leg. The man's innards fell out onto the ground and splashed a bit of blood onto Dromer's face.

The other man then lunged at him. Dromer parried his attack and as a counterattack, kicked the man centre-mass. The man got the wind knocked out of him and collapsed on the ground. Dromer then stabbed the man in the middle of his back and pulled the sword towards himself, cutting through the ribcage and splitting his head.

'Where the f**k did these guys come from?' Dromer thought to himself and then, he collapsed due to exhaustion.

Two days passed before Dromer regained consciousness.

'Huh? Where am I? Oh... Wait... Don't tell me this is the house of the count... For f**k's sake...' Those were Dromer's first thoughts after waking up.

He sat up and then the door, to the room he was in, opened.

"Pardon my intrusion," Regia said, and when she saw Dromer sitting in bed, she was surprised "Dorian?! When did you wake up? Lie back down, you can't move around too much or you'll re-open the wound!"

Dromer looked at his body and saw that his torso was covered in bandages.

"But it was just a small scratch. Why the hell would you bandage me up?" Dromer asked.

"It was for your safety! Who knows what would've happened if it got infected!" Regia explained.

As Dromer was about to get up from the bed, Regia rushed over and decided to try and help.

"You really are stubborn, aren't you?" Regia said, concerned.

"I do my best to not listen to others. I walk the path I've set for myself, not the one others want to set for me."

When Dromer stood up, he looked around the room for a bit more and found his clothes folded on a chair. He walked over to the chair, put on his clothes, took his sword that was on the bedside and was about to leave the room when the doors opened and Leron came inside.

"I heard that my guest had awoken and I came here to see for myself. Seems the maids were right. Might I ask one question though?"

"Go ahead," Dromer replied.

"How are you able to stand? The men had poisoned weapons." Leron asked.

"Poisons don't do much to me, as you can see. Now that that's been settled, I'm taking my leave. Goodbye."

Dromer pushed past Leron and went outside his house. Regia followed him, but as she exited the house, Dromer was nowhere to be seen. He dashed away before Regia could follow him, to not waste any more time.