I headed south towards the arid zones of the Republic. My pace, while fast for a normal person, was still only slightly slower than horse galloping all day. I ate breakfast, supper and slept 2 to 3 hours every day.

The days were short and I often had to run through the darkness, as such for the first three weeks I fell almost every day. Now while this is embarrassing for someone who had (albeit limited) darkvision, in my defence I had never ran for this long before and even my stamina had its limits. Even I couldn't be Father.

I encountered a few travellers around the capital but since I had already been to all the core cities they didn't interest me. They were after all mostly trade or industry cities depending on their location. The single academy city of Druvernon was the only one of them that could be counted as interesting to me, but that city's eccentrics would keep me there for at least a season if I were to step foot in there.

I didn't encounter any monsters or bandits. I know that it was an unreasonable wish to fight a little before I got out of Carthage's province but it was one I had kept. It would have been my first time in an actual battle after all, is it wrong to wish for it to be in familiar territory?

Sadly , or not depending on the perspective, the Legions had quite the heavy presence in the capital province. There most likely wouldn't be anything dangerous out in the middle of the main highway. But I had kept up hope.

As I headed south from the northern port city of Carthage the hills smoothed down into large plains with permanent yellow grass. Olive, laurel and citrus trees slowly dwindled and were replaced by Junipers. I was almost at the province of Salid.

Salid lied directly to the north of the order. Due to the lack of any real lakes the climate was mostly arid. Most of the water was drawn from a massive river flowing from its eastern edge to its south and into the Order nation of Lescatie. A chokehold on the Order. If they were to attack, the water source of their most important nation would be cut off.

I finally got off the main road to head into my first destination. The farming village of Karyuk, a small village mostly focused on tending to its wide fields of wheat and barley. I arrived at the peaceful village . The farmers working the fields were finally in sight. The people of the south had lighter skin than that of the capital, their skin tones closer to that of the Lescatians. The vast majority had brown hair and brown eyes. The farmers that saw me dropped their tools and started calling out for others to look at me. Fearing a swarm of curious farmers I increased my pace towards the town hall and connected school.

The houses of the villagers and the general state of the town was beyond terrible, wood and cloth rotting had left many buildings husks of their original selves. This state was made more apparent by just how much better the town hall itself and the houses around it looked.

The school was also ruined unlike the other buildings near it, I guess there wasn't much cash flowing into the school.

I entered the town hall and requested a meeting with the mayor. The fearful looks and hurried steps to call the mayor seemed odd but I didn't particularly care. I just wanted to know how the town was doing in general. Before I could make any headway into understanding these people I needed to understand their circumstances.

After 5 minutes of waiting the mayor did arrive. He was wearing clothes noticeably of better quality then his fellow townsfolk and I spotted a gold necklace on him. Looks like someone found a way to somehow spend their money in this small town.

"Madam… please come into my study. I will get someone to… prepare coffee, yes?"

His stuttering voice was kind of annoying, poor sod did he have some kind of disability?

"If you could show me the way?"

"Aaah.., yes of course, p-please this way."

After being led into a room decorated quite extravagantly compared to the rest of the town I sat down on a particularly sturdy wooden chair. He sat down on a chair opposite to mine and asked.

"Madam could I implore the reason you are here?"

"How is the village doing? There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the fields or the folk, however the state of the town seems a bit downthroaden. Is something preventing repairs?

His face rapidly paling ( Is he alright? He isn't that old, maybe 30 or 40 at most. He shouldn't be tired already.) he answered.

"No! I mean not necessarily it's just that the harvest this year was terrible and the gains weren't enough to maintain everything."

His explanation seemed a bit odd, that kind of disrepair couldn't happen in a year after all. It seemed odd that almost nothing was left, were the tithes always that high in Salid?

The door was knocked and our coffees were placed before us. After a single sip of my coffee, which was truly delectable; the coffee here smelled and tasted much better than in the capital, I asked if there was anything I could do whilst I stayed here for a day. He said he couldn't dare impose on me so I decided to have a look around the village for now.

The village was truly poor, the people wore patchwork clothes and many shops were abandoned. The farmers looked weak and tired. Almost everyone was in terrible condition, everyone except for the militia, town hall workers and the mayor. After finding a room for a day in the local tavern, I paid with 5 silver denarius from my savings. I visited the farms. It was almost noon by now so the farmers were taking a break.

After overcoming my distaste for social interaction I walked up to them. When they finally noticed me the sheer shock on their faces was worth the conversation I had to endure. Now that I think back on it, taking my helmet off might have helped them form proper sentences instead of stutters. But after about half an hour of questions and almost incomprehensible stuttering I got something of a picture.

The taxes had been irregular. There had been an uptick of 25 percent for 5 years now, somehow the taxes weren't affecting the militia and the mayor's staff, and The militia seemed oddly well armed,all of them had at least a break-action rifle and a shortsword, an odd combination for a supposedly poor town, where they embezzling money? Many of the shopkeepers and tradesmen had left, was this a common sight in small villages?

I wasn't going to stay in this town long but seeing people going about their lives despite being so poor was certainly awe inspiring, some were even close to starvation but they still kept working. Eventually I came across a group of 4 kids playing make-believe sword fighting, a cute sight. Did I once look like this too, or was I always the impressive sight I am now?

When they saw me they looked at me just like the scholars looked at Father, I wasn't a person to these kids I was an Idol, a concept given shape. They set upon me as a swarm of ants set upon rival insects, unending and unstoppable. It was difficult answering their awe filled questions and the questions never ended. 'Are you a knight?', 'Have you slain monsters?', 'Have you been to the barbarian nations?', 'Are you from Kasr Aeviternus?' they just did not eeeeeeeeenndd. Ugh, how do people deal with this? I swear I'll never have kids.

Another question broke me out of my misery induced stupor. "Miss Eques, are you on a quest?"

The high pitched voice of the sole girl asked yet another question, one that made me question myself. Did I count as a questing Knight, like from the Order Nations? I decided yes, I was.

"It's only 'Eques' you don't use 'miss' together with titles, but yes I am on a quest."

"Aaaa, what's it for?" The voice rang out with another question again.

"A quest of discovery. I am on my way to each of the corners of the Republic to understand its folk."

Not looking at their reactions I quickly took the opportunity off their momentary silence to escape. I reached the tavern after wandering and talking with the villagers some more. I didn't need the sleep but after the mental exhaustion it was welcomed. I awoke early in the morning heading down to eat a traditional breakfast spread made mostly out of cheese and oats, a bland meal missing even the olives I was so accustomed to. Deciding I had had enough of this bland village. I gathered my belongings and got out.

Heading towards Salid I decided that I would request for a new tithe officer to be sent to Karyuk. On my way there I neared the border of the Order and spotted a town in the middle of a pitched battle for their souls. Monsters were attacking the frontier town, militia and a centuria of the Army was out trying to keep the beasts wearing the skins of beautiful women back. While I ran towards them I saw one of the militia being dragged into the tall grass.

I skidded to a stop ,pulled out Oracle's Torch from its leather harness and added my own firepower to that of the soldiers. So I took my first ever kill from beyond 450 metres. I couldn't see her face, she was in the middle of biting a man's arm. She was a simple werewolf commonly found in almost all corners of the world. The thick almost thumb sized piece of lead entered from her temporal and exited from the other side. A perfect shot, just as I had been taught… So why are my hands shaking so badly? Why is my stomach churning? I felt the cold sweat flowing from my brows when my shot hit her and she fell down like a log. She wasn't even human!

Forcing myself to move I rushed into the fight still firing until my six shots ran out, yet all of my shots were now hitting in arms and legs. I couldn't bring myself to aim at the head or even the torso. After running out of ammo in the tube I rushed into the fight Mortality Clarified in hand. Rushing up to the biggest werewolf I shoulderchecked her off of a young militiamen whose clothes were torn to shreds. Realising that her meal had been interrupted the wolf-women turned towards me, her features eerily similar to that of a human. She had a rage-filled expression on her face.

"How dare you come between our love?" Her scream of indignation made it sound like I was her husbands mistress, instead of someone protecting the youth from a monster.

I didn't dignify her with a response, instead stepping forward and hooking her paw shaped feet with the backspike of Mortality Clarified, she fell down with a yelp of surprise at my speed. The monster probably had never seen someone faster than her. Losing a few seconds to doubt I had to backstep to dodge the swipe of her legs. Taking a second to steady myself I brought my queue down on the Werewolf.

At least… I tried, a younger werewolf tried to bite my arm off. Acting on pure instinct I hit her with the side of my shaft. Her chin broke under my strength, the wet crunching noise of bone breaking was sickening the impact launching her at least 5 metres away and she landed on her back. She couldn't even scream before she hit the ground. I hadn't even realised she was there till she almost bit me, if my Fathers armour wasn't so tough she might have managed to inject demonic energy into me. Now I don't think I would have turned from anything minor like that, but I had no clue how effective demonic energy was against me. I definitely didn't want to 'fuck around and find out' maybe quite literally.

"Stella, no!"

The sudden scream of the supposed matron made me jump a little. I was getting tunnel vision, how the hell was I gonna fix that? She seemed kind of pissed with her grey fur covered in dirt and eyes eerily red. She really did look like a berserker right now. "You bitch, how could you. She's just 10 years old." I didn't understand why her age mattered in this case but the vicious look in her eyes made my blood pump and did wonders to annihilate any remnants of doubt I had. These things weren't human and my purpose was to protect and guide humanity, it was all simple like that.

The battle had died down around us; the other werewolves had either ran away with their victims, escaped, died or on the ground squirming around. She rushed at me with everything she had, but she was still far too slow. I bat away one of her claws and hit her with the shaft to make some space, then turning at the waist and swinging the full weight of my halberd from right to left I cut her in half. She fell into two halves, dead from the shock alone. Blood and gore sprayed everywhere, the adrenaline high allowing me to forget that I had just now killed again. There was only her corpse, the remains of the defenders and I.

I took a deep breath, looked towards the sky and let it out. Turning towards the defenders I started giving orders. "Militia, get the wounded and the corrupted away from here, one of you go find a doctor! The rest of you help me carry these corpses into the tall grass!"

My voice rang out loud and clear, I had managed to put enough authority in my voice that the soldiers didn't hesitate to obey. However a voice raised a simple question.

"Shouldn't we just burn them?" The voice of the centurion of this centuria rang out.

"If the monsters want the bodies of their comrades back, they'll have to fight the wild animals to get it. They'll clear out whatever's out there and we won't have to deal with them." I answered rapidly. I'd make sure to talk to him after the work was done.

We carried the bodies deep into the surrounding grass and laid them all down on top of each other. The sheer amount of corpses were astonishing, a monument to the sheer zeal and stupidity of monsters. The entire time I kept hearing the werewolf matron's voice, a constant litany of anguish and regret. My stomach churning and a slight migraine had set in.

I forced the unsettling feelings down and found the centurion sitting on a log just outside the town. "Thought you'd want to talk to me ma'am." A clear and loud voice, one meant to command men not to haggle and negotiate, it fit his rough face covered by a long ,well groomed beard. I would say he was in his 30's, maybe something like 32 his battered half plate command armour fit him well, he had his open-faced helmet and top-break revolver right by him.

I nodded, and sat down next to him, my gigantic stature dwarfing even his by a wide margin. I took off my helmet and asked him. "What has been going on around here, is it usual for such large packs to attack towns like this?"

He grimaced "The damned beasts have been getting bolder, we've been sent here a season ago just to halt incursions like this one. They've been coming over from the lescatiean border, the stupid zealot's can't even keep their "Prime Jewel" monster free. The Army wanted 3 extra legions near in Salid just incase."

A bit of a harsh judgement since Lescatie took up a third of the Order's border with the Demon realms, but a fair one seeing as it cost his men their souls. "You think the monsters are up to something?"

My question seemed to have amused him, curious, he let out a chuckle "No way in hel ma'am. Ever since the fourth borne abomination was beaten back from the walls of Aeviternus, those sluts wouldn't dare attack the republic." When he looked back at me it seemed like he had a moment of realisation. "Ma'am, If I may be so bold are you… are you perhaps the daughter of the Curator?"

I knew I was gonna have to answer this eventually, although my face may look like my mothers my bronze skin, long wavy blackhair and of course massive size were absolute indicators of my heritage. "Yes, I am" I didn't know what to say, and the words just slipped out of my mouth.

"Ahh, it must have been divine intervention then. I am not like those easties, weird folk that they are, not gonna get down on my knees and worship you if that's what you're irritated about. But I know when the gods are watching over me."

Really it wasn't the gods he should be thankful for, those lazy bastards didn't do anything for humanity of this I am certain. But I knew it was a fool's errand to argue with the religious. Father always did say faith could motivate people to stupid lengths. So I nodded my head and got off the log. He remained behind staring into the grass, I however entered the town to find an open air feast prepared for the defenders. One of the young girls ran up to me and bowed before me.

"Honourable Knight, if you would accept our meagre offerings we, the folk of this humble town would be honoured."

Her overly formal tone reminded me of the capital, however I wasn't going to be rude and not accept. I moved towards the seat she guided me to, a heavy looking thing made of sturdy wood, they must have noticed that I would break any normal chair. I took off my travel pack, sat down and started eating with the soldiers.

We made merry till midnight, soldiers drinking; eating fresh meat and fruits. I didn't take the offered drinks since to me they were just foul-tasting water, my powerful blood made it impossible to enjoy any alcohol not brewed by Father. Come next morning many of the soldiers would regret drinking so much.

In the morning, I decided to bid goodbye to the town and soldiers, and get back on the road to Salid. With the sun still below the horizon I was on the road, it still took me till the afternoon to reach the brilliant and rich city. Walls made of polished granite shone with a dull red glow, the battlements filled with the best emplacements money could buy, Salid while a frontier city on the very edge of the border with the Order is also a centre of trade for all imported goods into Lescatie. Lescatie is self-sufficient on the food front, but they are the biggest importer for weapons and armour in the entire world. Swords, Polearms, steel plates and sometimes even old generation rifles from military surplus.

Order Nations were a fair bit behind the Republic in technological development, both due to Father jump starting academic endeavours and religion taking a secondary role regarding education in the Republic. Due to this they were reliant on Republic exports for both standard quality high demand goods and high quality weapons. The many companies of the republic with industrial production required raw-materials and markets to sell their wares, a function that the Order Nations handily fulfilled. Many of these Companies had branch offices in Salid, but those weren't the reason I was here. I was here to call for a tithe officer for Karyuk.

I had finally neared the open and welcoming gate, the Legionnaires at the gates stopped me just as they had many others before and despite looking hesitant asked for my identification papers. I had to scrounge around my travel pack but I finally found it, my family ring.

The moment they saw the two Guardian Spears on the steel ring the guards saluted immediately and let me through, although one did call out after me.

"Eques! If you would like, one of us could escort you to the governor's office."

I decided to accept the offer, I didn't want to wander around the city blind.

"Lead the way."

While I was being led around the town I took the chance to look around. There was this sense of tension all around, legionnaires walking all around and many entertainers packing up and leaving. The city was preparing for war, I would have to ask the Governor about this.

We arrived at the relatively humble looking residence, its fence made of simple limestone hiding a well maintained garden full of indiginous flowers. In the very middle of the garden lay a villa of Marble made in the capitals style. Someone was a fan.

I was greeted by the Governor on the steps of the villa, he rushed down to meet me.

"Eques Naotora, I am Governor Kaan Akkurt. I would be lying, if I said I wasn't extremely honoured by this visit! Please come in." His booming accented voice met me.

If the outside was carthage inspired the inside was definitely local. Wolf and Horse motifs were everywhere, traditional rugs and a waist height table with elaborate cushions instead of chairs around it took up most of the room. A luxurious home, however when compared to the rest of the city, it was down right spartan.

"Please make yourself comfortable. Arda, please get us some coffee and snacks." His pale skin and slanted eyes were clear indicators of his local heritage. An enormous man with wide shoulders ,he was almost up to my shoulders. With a friendly visage he put me to ease.

"I thought it appropriate to visit you since I had no urgent matters and I was curious about a few happenings in your province." I began talking, seeing as I was the guest here.

"Oh, well do ask away. I would be happy to answer any questions the daughter of the Curator may have."

"I have seen that the legion is gearing up for war and the frontier towns have been under attack by restless monsters, do you have any Idea what's going on?" His face soured and he began speaking.

"The lescatians have been in another phase of expansion. Now it's good for the arms trade but the sheer amount of monsters running away from them and into Salid has been making the local ones bold." He went on painting a picture for me, it wasn't anything serious. Just the ecclesiarchy of Lescatie causing problems again, however he decided to play it safe and start arming the Legion to protect the towns and villages.

I got stuck in the guestroom for more than 3 hours chatting with him. Apparently my decision to go on a journey was quite the topic these days since even he appeared to have heard of it. He talked with excitement one wouldn't expect of his demeanour and size. On and onnnnnnnnnn…

This was never going to end I am sure. We were on our 6th cup of coffee and he didn't look like he was going to stop any time soon.

"Ahh, I have taken up much of your time. If you would join me and my wife for dinner we would be honoured."

…I was doomed, I didn't know any way to politely refuse the invitation. I wish I could stop past me from saying '... since I had no urgent matters', damn it all. I stayed for supper, it was a very meat heavy meal with small side dishes made of eggplants, herbs and yoghurt.

During the dinner I was also introduced to the Governor's wife, a boastful woman, who was very proud of her husband and children. Apparently their daughter was in Carthage studying at the technical university, because she had decided to chase her passion instead of following her father's footsteps. The son was an officer of the legion here in Salid, but he was away preparing for the incoming hordes, so I had to deal with two people,who had very 'strong' personalities, by myself even longer.

During the meal I finally brought up the matter of that bland village and its poverty.

"There seems to be an issue regarding one of Salid's villages, Karyuk's folk have been experiencing financial difficulties. Would it be possible to send a tithe officer over there to check up on things?"

"'financial difficulties', more like they are being robbed blind and are to idiotic to stop voting for a thief. Sadly, a common sight in Salid, I have to deal with one every few months. Many towns and villages are constantly being robbed blind, I'll send someone but if the village folk don't allow me to remove the current mayor I can't do anything legally. I'll find some way to convict him of a crime though."

His answer wasn't something I didn't expect, I knew that such things existed but I hadn't even realised it at first. And that they are so common that he has to deal with them constantly… didn't paint a good picture.

After the meal was done and midnight was almost upon us I was guided to a guest room to spend the night in. I sat down on the oakwood desk and started maintenance on my weapons. I had already cleared the blood and dust remaining from the previous battle with the werewolves, but my hands being busy with something calmed me and let me think easier. After all That Day was coming, there was only a month before my birthday and the day my mother died. I hadn't been able to visit mothers grave ever before, the reason being that grandfather hated me and my Father for taking his daughter away. I hadn't ever seen my 4 cousins nor my aunt and uncle. Luckily for me however that old bastard was now dead, died from Acidosis of all things. Now I could finally visit mothers grave on the top of Mount Unbesiegbar her ancestral home and the largest fort in the Kasr Aeviternus.

I didn't know if my cousins would be hostile, but I simply didn't care anymore. I would visit that grave, the shrine we had back home was nice but it didn't fill that hole within me. I knew it was stupid but I felt that if I visited that grave I would be able to speak to mother.

My decision made, I plotted a course. I would have to make haste, Mount Unbesiegbar was a fair bit further away than Carthage, however I should be able to visit one of their famous engineering schools and that artisan town Father always imports from Bier on the way there.

My course set I tried to find something to busy myself with. Come morning I would take a look around the city and maybe pick up a souvenir on the way out.

AN: A bit early this time, simply cause I might not be home this weekend

Please do review if you want to say anything, I am a first time writer so every little bit helps!

One answer for a Guest:

I do think that monsterisation would be seen as a disgusting thing by the custodian, but instead of abominations he would see victims and misguided people.

Regarding his strength, he should be able to body most Monsters rather easily even without his armour but things like dragons echidna or baphomets would give even himm trouble, unless he comes with an army. Of course when it comes to a custodian you can't expect anything specific from them, since they are a "legion of heroes". Every single one of them is unique and may pull something out that they have no right having.