Karman


    Here’s the fourth release of the week! Enjoy the read while I torture myself over my uing tests :)


    Arge number of people could be seen at the za next to the port in the distance. However, when Lorist rushed over there, the group of people merely stirred slightly before stepping aside to make a path while looking with an odd gaze of wonder and envy. Their tattered rags made their identity clear; they were ves.


    Lorist found it weird that so many ves were gathered at the port and wondered why they had done so. However, Lorist was a little slow to arrive. The guards of the port who had been busy frightening the ves at first had cast away their armor and entered the inner walls of Nupite before hurriedly closing the gates.


    It didn’t take long for another wave of pained cries and moans and a few streaks of smokeing from the distance to take Lorist’s attention. Arge group of enved women and children were despairing on the bridge near the port, where another 17 to 18 small speed boats could be seen carrying huge linen sacks that were set ame.


    Lorist quickly understood the reason for the women and children’s cries. Those ves had been chained to the port and were unable to move away from where they were. They could only stare as the linen sacks burned brighter and fiercer and await their death with despair.


    Some of the ves wore expressions of grief while others looked as if they were finally going to be liberated from their life of suffering. There were also those who were coughing nonstop for inhaling too much smoke. One huge, scarred man seated at the frontmost part with a burning sack behind him called out to his family and implored them to stay strong and live.


    Like a huge bird, Lorist dashed his way to the burning speedboats. The moment he set foot on the deck, a waft of smoke rushed into his nostrils.


    Good Sol, these sacks have all been doused with oil. No wonder the fire’s so strong.


    Without hesitation, Lorist used a long stick he picked up by the side of the port to push the sacks into the ocean, causing one cheer after another to resound along the bridge. A few other soldiers and knights made their way to the bridge and helped their lord save the ves.


    The household knights easily cut the ves’ chains with their silver de glows, allowing those who had barely just survived to reunite with their families.


    "Sir, good Sir..."


    Lorist turned around and saw the man with scars all over his body holding two children around ten years olde to him and prostrate himself as he said, "Thank you, Sir, for saving our lives."


    Lorist stepped back and said, "Stand up, you don’t have to thank me in this fashion. House Norton forbids very. You are free."


    On Grindia, prostrating oneself with all limbs t on the ground was one of the most extreme forms of submission. It was normally reserved for sacrificial ceremonies to the gods. It just so happened that the Hanayabarta kingdom mandated that the ves show them the same degree of respect to sate their egotistical cravings for power.


    The huge man looked bbergasted as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.


    "We... we’re free?"


    Lorist nodded.


    "That’s right, you are free. However, you will still have to be monitored temporarily so that you don’t cause trouble for our operations. We are in the midst of a war, so you will only regain true freedom once I defeat the vers and ve traders."


    The huge man straightened his back and hugged his two children, crying.


    "We’re free... We’re finally free..."


    Lorist took a good look at that man and his two children. The older one was a boy around the age of twelve while the younger child was a girl of around seven. She was dressed just like a boy, however. Her hair was incredibly messy. Lorist assumed it was a protective measure to ensure her safety.


    "Sir, apologies for showing you my unsightly form," the huge man said after a good long sob, "Can you tell me your name, Sir? I will definitely not forget my debt to you."


    "We are House Norton from the Nortnds, also known as the Roaring Raging Bear," replied a guard beside Lorist proudly.


    "Nortnds... Norton... Raging Bear?" the huge man mused, "Ah, I know. You’re here to exact revenge. No wonder your armor looks so familiar. A fight broke out over one of your armor sets and some people even died as a result."


    "Oh, what are you called?" asked Lorist, raising an eyebrow.


    "I’m called Karman, Sir. Ie from the Romon Empire," replied the huge man respectfully.


    "The Romon Empire? Wow, that’s quite far. Stand up. Tell me how you came to be a ve in the first ce," said Lorist.


    "Thank you, Sir," said Karman as he stood up, "I used to be an apprentice attendant to Count Bilop. The count angered the prime minister and was stripped of his dominion and attacked by the empire’s army. After the attendants and guards were captured, of which I was one, we were sold off as ves. It happened about 19 years ago. I was just 15 at the time."


    "You’ve awakened your battleforce?"


    "That’s right. Had it not been for that, I wouldn’t have been able to stay alive for so long. It’s only because of my battleforce that I was considered in a much better light and even allowed to bear two children," replied Karman.


    "Then, why were you chained up over here?" asked Lorist.


    "Look," Karman said as he pointed at the Windstorm near other sunken ships in the distance, "Is that ship one of your family’s, Sir?"


    Lorist nodded.


    "That ship’s far too powerful! The ten of the royal family’s patrol ships were sunk in mere moments. The remaining ones don’t dare to engage it. So, one of the people in charge came up with a ploy to dump ming piles on the speedboats and have them sail towards your ship. They wanted us ves to paddle the boats in exchange for the safety of our families..."


    Lorist felt a chill run down his spine and relieved that he had made it in time to stop the enemy’s n. Over 30 ming boats ramming into the Windstorm would be something terrible to behold.


    "Search all the ships around the port and capture anyone on board and bring them here. Kill anyone who resists," instructed Lorist to the guard nearby.


    "Sir, the crews of the royal patrol fleet have already retreated behind the inner walls. Their ships have long been evacuated," said Karman.


    "Aren’t there still people on the other merchant vessels? Everyone muste here to be screened," said Lorist with satisfaction.


    The 200-odd ships would be his property soon. They alone were easily worth more than a million gold Fordes.


    "Karman, tell me more about the incident regarding the armor of our troops."


    "Did the vers attack your dominion three months ago, Sir?" asked Karman.


    "That’s right. They attacked one of our ind dominions."


    "Sir, the garrison troops of your dominion were really amazing," Karman praised, "I still recall that more than 20 guards from this port joined that attack and only three of them came back. Even though they managed to gain quite a bit of coin, they only managed to get one breastte from your troops. After they returned, the three fought over who should take possession of the breastte without end. Due to being excessively drunk, a fight broke out and it ended with two dead and one heavily injured. The injured one died two dayster from excessive blood loss, so the leader of the guards took the breastte for himself.


    "I was among the ves who were tasked to deal with the corpses, so I got a good look at that breastte. The moment I saw your troops wearing armor of the same design, I knew you were here to take revenge. However, Milord, there seemed to have been lots of people who were captured during their attack. I recall seeing tens of thousands of enved people. We were wondering where they came from in the first ce."


    "Only a part of the people captured were subjects of my dominion. Most of them are refugees who were brought in to develop our dominion. It was precisely because of their presence that the vers decided to attack us. Karman, many of our troops were captured as well. Do you know where they are being held?" asked Lorist.


    "I seem to have heard something about it before," said Karman in deep thought.


    "Bali. Bali,e over."


    Karman called out to a ve behind him.


    A thin young man around the age of 17 came forward timidly and asked, "You called for me, Uncle Karman?"


    "Yes. Bali, do you remember seeing a group of weird-looking ves at the port two months ago?"


    Bali nodded.


    Karman continued, "Think hard about this. Why did those ves strike you as weird? Also, where were they taken?"


    "Oh, they looked a little too prideful to be ves. Many of them were injured and some were even outright cursing, saying that their lord woulde to save them and kill all of the vers without question. The leader of the guards here was present at that time and attempted to use his whip to teach them a lesson. But the vers said that those ves were for the Hamidas Dueling Grounds and that the guard leader would have to pay for the losses should the ves be injured. In the end, the guard leader took his anger out on us and even gave me a few whips," exined Bali.


    "Hamidas Dueling Grounds?" mused Lorist with dread.


    What Karman said proved Lorist’s fears to be right.


    "Sir, perhaps, only a few of your soldiers are still alive. The Hamidas Dueling Grounds is nothing short of hell. That ce hosts the crying souls of the dead ve diators. The vers love performances like those the most. They love to see magic beasts tear helpless ves apart and pit one group of ves against another until one side ispletely wiped out.


    "There is usually a ’show’ once every ten days, but those shows are rtively small scale with only a little more than ten dying each time. Every month, however, there would be arge-scale battle with more than a hundred ves participating for the vers’ entertainment. Last month, they held one of those shows to celebrate the founding of the kingdom. I heard that up to a thousand ve diators died during the fights."


    Lorist fumed.


    He said with bloodshot eyes, "Very well... For every one of our troops that died at the Hamidas Dueling Grounds, I will have ten vers buried with them. If one of my household knights die, I will sacrifice ten of those ver nobles to appease their souls."


    "Milord," a heavy-armored soldier called out as he rushed over, "We have already sealed off four of the city gates, but there are lots of ballistae on the walls that caused us a small number of casualties. demaster Engelich sent me here to ask you when we will begin the siege."


    Lorist raised his head and looked at the distant inner walls upon which many people were gathered.


    "Are there that many ballistae up there?"


    "We estimate at least a hundred," replied the soldier.


    Even though Lorist was still feeling seething anger after finding out where his troops and knights were sent, he didn’t let his emotions affect his decision to order the troops to attack the walls immediately.


    "Order our troops to retreat to a safe distance. Form a defensive line to stop anyone from escaping. Order the wheelbarrow-ballista units to keep firing at the walls around four gates to put pressure on the enemy troops on the walls operating the ballistae. Since we’ve upied the port area, have Ovidis’s Thunderbolt Brigadee ashore for now. We’ll let the enemies in the inner walls live for another day. We’llunch our attack tomorrow," instructed Lorist.


    "Yes, milord," said the soldier before he ran off.


    "Milord," said Potterfang as he came over.


    "What’s up with your situation?" asked Lorist.


    "Yuriy and Josk have already begun operations with the light cavalry scout brigade. Apart from the ships that have docked, we had the remaining onese over to the port over here. I’ve already had the battlefield cleaned up. We have around 300 casualties and more than 2000 dead enemies," replied Potterfang.


    "Good. If Fiercetiger Loze, Malek, and the rest managed to conquer the eight inds, order them to bring their men here. Have all the ves and captives brought over to the main ind and leave apany of troops to defend each of the inds. Make sure to light a smoke signal the moment any enemy movement is noticed. Also, get Senbaud’s Oceanic Legion to increase the patrols around the inds. Assign one brigade of heavy-armored troops and another brigade of wheelbarrow-ballista to him to deal with the remaining 19 inds. Have the ves and captives brought over here as well."


    "Understood, Milord," replied Potterfang.


    "Sir, Sir..." Karman called out.


    "What’s wrong?" asked Lorist.


    "Sir, can you give us a chance to aid you in any way? You’ve saved our lives and have given us our freedom. We are willing to form up and help you attack the walls. Sir, we are not afraid of death. As long as you give us some weapons, we will be more than willing to revolt and pay the vers back for all the pains we’ve suffered."


    Lorist shook his head.


    "Karman, I appreciate your sentiment, but to be honest, you guys are not well-trained and have quite weak constitutions. It’s not that I’m looking down on you guys, but sending you to attack the walls is nothing short of suicide. It is a sacrifice that will not bring us any benefit at all."


    Karman’s gaze dimmed as he understood that Lorist spoke nothing but the truth.


    "However, there is a way that you can help me out," Lorist said as he pointed at the ves gathered up near the port, "Organize them properly. We will need guides to show us the way to the pce’s food stores so that we can get something prepared to feed you. I heard that there are more than 400 thousand ves here in the kingdom. If I merely liberate you and leave you to your own devices, a food crisis would surely ensue.


    "Find some more talented and trustworthy ones among the ves and gather them up. I believe that you are more than capable of this. Form a temporary settlement to help us organize and deal with the ves we rescue. Only after the ver nobles are exterminated can we transport you lot back to the maind and return you to your homes.


    "Also, there’s a lot of things I will need your help with. You guys can help us screen the vers and determine which are worthy of death and help us find their hidden warehouses; you can also help with cooking... Support the injured instead of charging to your deaths. If you are willing, you are also free to follow us back to the Nortnds to our dominion and start your lives there. Karman, are you willing to help me out?"


    Karman bowed deeply and said, "Milord, it is my greatest honor to be able to serve you. I trust that the other ves are more than willing to do so as well."