Proofread By Thomas F. 30th March 2025
"If you were not an honorable merchant, Mister Remus, I would have invited you to join our mercenary company," said Dan as he helped me get up.
"You praise me too much, Dan," I replied as I got up.
A lot of people gathered; when I came here, there were only six people here, but now, there are around twenty, including Captain Markus, who is coming toward me.
"My uncle was not exaggerating about you, Mister Remus; you are really something," he said.
"It was only a spar, Captain Markus," I replied humbly, to which he smiled.
After speaking a few words with Captain Markus, I walked out of the training area with Dan, my legs already starting to feel like jelly.
I have overdone it, and now, I will pay the price.
Though, I do not regret it; if I were to fight that orc now, I would have a much better chance against it; I might even be able to score a few strikes.
"Use a muscle numbing medicine; it will help with soreness and pain," Dan advised as we began to climb the keep's stairs.
A mirthless smile couldn't help but appear on my face; I did not have any with me.
I have it home, and if I knew something like this would happen, I would have brought it, but I am no seer to know; I might have needed that.
Click!
Soon, I reached my chambers. I closed the door behind me and was about to go for a bath when suddenly, I remembered something.
It is a way to relieve soreness and pain; it is expensive compared to muscle numbing cream, but it will help.
I immediately took a healing potion and filled the glass with water before carefully dropping a single drop and mixing it well with the spoon.
After that, I dipped a clean cloth in the solution before applying it to my body. The potion could heal any kind of body damage, including the soreness that appears due to the strained muscles.
I applied it all over my body; it took a little ingenuity to reach the hard-to-reach places, but I was able to do it.
I lay naked on the floor as I let the healing potion do its magic; it would take around ten minutes to seep inside my muscles and work its magic.
Ten minutes passed, and thankfully, no one had disturbed me.
I got up and took a long bath in a heated tub; it relaxed me, especially after the taxing days.
I stayed in the bathroom for nearly an hour before getting out, changing my clothes, and going to breakfast.
Thankfully, I was alone and did not have to suffer the presence of the family.
After breakfast, I returned to my room and read the book I had brought for about two hours before getting up and leaving.
"Mister Remus, I am glad you are joining us," said Captain Markus as I appeared at the entrance of the stable, where the horses were being readied.
"I can't resist the offer," I replied.
We will tour the barony; everyone important is present: my brother, madam, and uncle. I don't want to join them, but I have no choice.
It is what Grandfather asked. I have to do it.
Captain Markus knows the territory well since he has been here for over a month.
Ten minutes later, all the horses were readied with their saddles. One of the guards brought me the horse, a red horse with green metallic hooves.
Iron-scaled horses are bred with monsters, which gives them better stamina and bigger size while making them easy to train and control like normal animals.
Seeing the horse, I couldn't help but remember my parents.
My mother loved horses. She competed in her younger days before she had to leave due to injuries, but her passion never died out.
My parents had even planned to buy a farm after retiring, where he hoped to rekindle that.
I hope they are following their plan.
I petted the horse a few times before mounting it; it was very well-trained and barely reacted as I sat on it.
"Good boy," I praised as I petted again gently and waited for the castle gates to open.
Soon, the gates opened, and horses trotted out under the lead of Captain Markus. He seemed to have some skill in controlling the large group of horses, which is not surprising, seeing as he is a captain in the cavalry.
As the horses exited the gates, we approached the forest.
"The weather is wonderful today, don't you think, mother?" said my Edwin. "Yes, Lord Baron, it is perfect for a tour of the barony," she replied.
They talked while I stayed silent, talking to them only when they asked questions.
"Lieutenant Vans, what do you think of bandits around?" I asked the woman beside me,
"Most groups could be defended with the men you had, like the ones you encountered yesterday, but there are some groups that are very powerful," she replied, and her eyes became a little distant.
"Some groups have high numbers that reach over a hundred, while some barely have twenty, but they could easily break through the castle walls and slaughter everyone," she added with a low voice.
Numbers aren't everything; levels and skills have a far more significant impact on battles, as do the weapons they wield.
So, if the bandits are at reasonable levels and skills, even a quarter of the numbers would be more than enough to break through the castles.
"But they would not attack the castle, right?" I asked. "Yes," she replied, "Unless the bandits have good enough reason. "
The bandit orcs are not idiots; you could loot but never attack the castle, especially kill the noble, as it would bring the wrath of the empire.
The empire will send forces to wipe them out, and if they hide in places where armies can't come, there will be a huge bounty.
Adventurers and mercenaries would be more than willing to finish the job that the army couldn't.
Time passed as the horses trotted through the forest. It was a wonderful place, especially in sunny weather. I wish there were only a few people, especially not my brother, who was constantly running his mouth.
I did not listen to his chatter and focused on something else: the trees and the very fertile soil.
If used well, it will bring Edwin huge benefits through farming.
"This is where the western boundary of barony ends, Baron Edwin," informed Captain Markus.
Even if he hadn't informed us, it was marked by the massive stones and deeds that detailed the boundaries of the barony down to the last inch.
So, it is hard to mess around with boundaries.
Our horses turned and went toward the northern side; as we did, our expressions turned serious.
Blain is one of the last baronies; at its northern border, there is buffer land, and after that is the territory of the Oksall city-state.
It is a large forest with a lot of orc tribes.
Most of them are good. They trade livestock and hunt, but many tribes have resorted to banditry.
Oksall sent their forces to clean them out occasionally, but given how vast the forest was, they could never deal with them, and it was not very important to them.
For more than one hour, we found nothing more than a few prints of orcs, but when we reached the northern boundary, we saw them.
"They are not even trying to hide," said my uncle, looking at the small hill ahead with his spyglass.
I also looked through mine and saw the tiny figures on the hills, some even waving at us.
"Why didn't Prince send the forces and wipe away these bastards?" asked Edwin as he looked at the orcs hatefully. Even his rock for a brain understands that he will have many problems dealing with these orcs.
"Because, Lord Baron, we won't be able to kill all of them as they could easily hide on Oksall's side and come back when the force leaves," replied Captain Markus.
Edwin wanted to speak, but his rock-for-the-brain couldn't think of any question and closed his mouth.
"There is another solution. Give us the job, and we'll finish them off until not a single one remains," said Jonah, but loud enough for those around me to hear.
"Which will be very expensive," I said softly, to which he smiled.
Even a prince wouldn't want to spend that much money, and he didn't have to.
The bandits are now the problem of these new nobles. They will have to deal with them on their own if they want peace.
"One day, I will wipe away these bastards from the face of the earth," declared Edwin, and I could literally see more than half of the people rolling their eyes at his statement.
Idiot should understand the complexity of the problem before making such statements.
We stayed there for a few minutes, watching orcs as they watched us before returning to the castle.