Star
1833 Words
"Your Majesty, you had done a really great job...! We were firstly taken by surprise by the effects of the arrowheads when you had released on the heavy wooden bay doors of that pig's house. We never had expected an arrowhead of such could have a devastating effect...!"
"Well, it just a concussive arrowhead and would be effective against a human target but not against a fortification like a wooden door at all."
"Besides, it's a new design that I had seen before and fortunately, Andy Cole, the one who manufactured this could understand how the design would be like and how it could be fully utilised during wartime."
"What happens next, Your Majesty? We had aimed to get more residents over and now we had achieved more than that."
"Would the tasks for getting new residents still be ongoing or would you need us to attend class since the Guinness needs to take up some lessons as well in school to learn how to read and write."
"Oh, at this moment, all tasks would be on hold since we would be ensuring that the Adventurers all would be equipped with the two courses that I had mentioned before."
"For those who had gone through the courses such as charting maps, could always go on ahead because they won't be interacting with people much. The other one that covers the mythical creatures, I have not seen how the approach would be and it would be advised by the teachers themselves to us."
"Then as for the uncovering of the good and evil Witches, as it was deemed as a four-star ranking task, it would be put on hold at this moment. We need to have a backup plan on how to purge these good and evil Witches out from their hiding places."
I continued as we travelled along the outskirts of the marshlands and towards Broderbund. It was already past midnight and we were not sure if Fat Bastard was sleeping already at this time or not. It was normal for town folks to head to bed as early as 7 in the evening or by latest at 9.
Since it was past midnight, we decided to give a shot and to see if Fat Bastard was still awake or tinkering with his water purification plant at this time of night or not.
I continued the small chat with the party of four and they seemed excited to know of their success in bringing a whole village over to ours. Even the amount did not exceed 500 but it was well worth it...!
Little did they realised that their total cumulative residents that they had pooled over to our town had already reached 500 and our residents now had increased to 3,500 with the inclusion of Romani Gypsies too.
I was straddling the Dandy horse while chatting with the party of four when we had arrived at the outskirts of Broderbund.
The town looked eerie at night since it was mainly made of cruck houses and only they had a clear underneath the houses that made it stand out from the rest of cruck houses across the lands.
There were no lights which indicated that the residents had already slept through the night and it wouldn't be a good idea to be knocking on someone's door at this unearthly hour.
We went to the front of Fat Bastard's house and discovered that the house too was dark and looked kind of eerie from the outside as well. Since Fat Bastard was sleeping, there's no point to wake him up and so we decided to leave him a note instead.
I tore off a sheet of paper from my journal that I carried in my saddlebags and then ink it and wrote down that the takeover was successful and we would be heading back to Gracehaven.
I also noted that the town folks had already moved out from that village and there are no inhabitants left except for the swelled up face Lord of the house and his servants.
After writing the small note, I slipped it under the slit beneath the door and went back to the Adventurers where they recommended me to get a rest near the Hawthorn bushes up ahead.
It would be a good idea to rest up since its already dark and there's a need for the 16 wagons to regroup with us which would take some time by then.
There was a small shack in the village and we discovered some firewood and took away some after securing it with some twines. I left 2 pieces of silver coins near the chopping block and then headed out with the Adventurers.
Since the party of four had equipped themselves with pots, leather skins and also some tea leaves and bread, I decided to heed Guy's recommendation as we headed some miles out towards the Hawthorn bushes.
There, we set up a simple campfire while Gillian and the Guinness went to look for more firewood to stoke up the fireplace. The night was dark and any signs of a bonfire would be attractive enough to be seen from afar.
Guy was preparing some tea when Gillian and the Guinness returned back to the small encampment and had brought some hares with them that they had caught when they were finding some firewood.
I clapped my hands to congratulate them and Gillian quickly dressed the hares and put the meat over the fire to roast them. 6 adult sizes hares would be enough to satiate our hunger since it had been some hours we had our last meal. We had forgone lunch and had a late supper which was completed in a hurry. With the adrenalin of merely watching the show earlier, hunger began to slowly creep in.
Gillian had brought some condiments with her and she sprinkled some of the salt and pepper over the toasting meat. The fat of the hares slowly melted and this made the fire's crackle underneath it as the meat was slowly roasted. It had been some time since I had eaten a live catch and I can't help to wait to get my hands on one of the hares.
Since the hares were trussed up on wooden skewers made by cleaning off some twigs, it wasn't long when the meat slowly turned from raw to medium-rare.
"How do you like your meat, Your Majesty? Normally wild animals caught outdoors would be best consumed if it's well done. Do you wish yours to be well done too, Your Majesty?"
Gillian asked me as the Guinness were drilling and were fanning the fires and turning the meat occasionally so it would be cooked evenly.
"Well done it is then. The fresh meat smelled terrific...! It is good to have you around and Guinness here would be able to learn and lead in the future." I smacked my lips when I smelled the sweet aroma wafting around the fires.
From afar, we all could see the incandescent lamps that were hung from the top of the wagons and Gillian also raised hers as a sign that they should be heading straight on instead.
While waiting for the meat to be cooked, I sipped on the warm weak tea that was brewed by using Hawthorn berries. It tasted quite mild since too much would make our stomach churned.
I took out my journal and quill as I began to doodle on a fresh page. As I drew on it, a form slowly emerges and it became a sort of honours medal. It was a star with five-pointed edges and had a soldier giving a salute in the centre of it. From the looks of it, it would be attractive enough to be worn or put on display.
There weren't many intricate designs to follow as it would be made from the materials that would be smelted down from the valuables we had retrieved from Powers' House. At least it does serve its purpose.
After doodling on it and adding some simple designs to make it more attractive and coveted by many, it is time for me to name the honours medal. There would be two items included with the medal, it itself and a ribbon clasp that could be worn on their tunic at all times.
The honours medal would be named as Macleod Star. It is going to be used to award the efforts of soldiers and Adventurers for their gallantry, valour and unselfishness on and off the front lines, putting themselves over others and in front of danger itself.
There's also another medal to award Mackenzie's party as well and it would simply be like a shape of a gold coin and be named as Good Service medal. While the Macleod Star would be adorned in silver and gold, the Good Service medal would be in silver instead.
After finishing up the doodling, I didn't realise that the Adventurers were looking at me as I had been intently drawing those two medals and had been calling me that the roasted meat I had already been done.
"Ah... Sorry sorry... I was too engrossed in my work earlier that I didn't hear you calling. Have you ever thought about the rewards that you would be getting right after this?"
I reached out and began to bite and tear away at the cooked and well marinated piece of hares thigh as I asked this important question to the Adventurers. The answer that I got from them well differed from what I had wished to hear...
"Your Majesty, the rewards that we would like to see are the happy and delighted faces of those newly inducted residents from Camp over to our town. Those are the rewards they would be hard to a place win after a victory such as this, Your Majesty."
I lauded the youths before me when they answered the question with such a straight face. I nearly thought that they were pulling my leg when they had replied to me in such a manner.
I made a sound in my throat as I continued with the hare's meat before me as I thought of the monetary system) reward that the Adventurers would receive.
Would not want them to make it a habit as if they would be expecting rewards after each completed tasks besides the standard ones that have gotten, would they?
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