"King Gangrel, you must punish that abomination! The very fact he walked in this very place is one of the most sickening events…"
Yesterday was a glorious day. One of the best days in my entire life. Finally, the war I've been craving is happening and the bastard of Ylisse will finally be killed. Sadly, some idiot decided that it was a good idea to run in the middle of the crowd without a single care.
I couldn't care less about the boy or whatever amount of stupidity this idiot had. The matter is, this idiot's clan is demanding that I do some execution or another stupid action like that.
"Shut up! Why should I care about this person, exactly? Don't you see that I have way more important stuff to do than dealing with your problems?" Abrahim, Ibrain, the Ibrahim dude cowers under my powerful and righteous power, but it seems this brainless guy will not give up on him. FUCK!
"My lord, your majesty has to understand. He is no one, but his existence carries the messianic sect alongside him. He is a menace that must be stopped no matter what."
Can't he do that himself? Why should this matter to me? Because this boy - this stupid little boy - has something against me? What the hell is he talking about?!
"And why is he a menace then?" I interrogate him while getting out of my throne to confront the bastard.
"He has one of the daggers, your majesty! My clan's most estimated fortune! We must retrieve it!" He spat back.
What alcohol is this man drinking? Because who is this guy and clan to think they have some kind of authority over me and that I should solve his little insignificant problems? Is he drunk or is he so arrogant enough to have the audacity to ask me to solve his useless problems? Nobles are the worst kind that exist, fuckin little worms that drain me!
I approach him, getting within striking distance, ready to breathe his asinine breath and glare into his eyes. "I don't see how that is my problem, Ibrahim. I'm not the one who lost a simple dagger to a boy. Also, I'm not related to your family in any single way to care about. And most of all, you are wasting my time to fix the mess you created yourself and all for what, your family? Don't you people have enough luxuries already!?"
"You don't understand, your majesty! He has a sacred artifact from the messianic sect! My family's entire heritage. It's no simple matter and you are the most capable of eliminating him and his evil roots away from my family, letting the weed rot before it infects the rest of the tree. Think of Grima and the future of the Vessel!"
This guy is hopeless! I prepare my fist and aim at his face.
"Messianic, Orthodox, or whatever you want to call your little pathetic cult. This. Isn't. My. Problem. I didn't become a king to deal with this stupid religious matter and I'm not the one who deals with Grima and whatever shit he wants! You bring this stupid boy as a servant, and now you come here to complain about him, and that he screwed your little daughter! Talking about matters that aren't even important to the fuckin war! Get out now, or your worthless and pathetic clan shall face consequences . One more interruption about this matter from now on and you can consider yourself dead, got it!?" I scream at him, the damn Fatimid, and their stupid problems.
He cowers away and gets out of my throne room. Thank Grima, one more second of his stupidity and I would have killed the bastard. Validar wouldn't be happy a single bit if that happened, but it didn't. So he can't call off his support of me. Just wait a few more weeks, and they will learn that I'm the top dog and they are mere puppets. And whenever these cultists dare threaten my rule again, they will learn to love the punishment or wish it were the Ylissean son of a bitch instead of me.
Am I forgetting something?
I need to prepare myself for the army. I go to my room, ready myself with the most expensive clothing I can find, and put it on. Going to the mirror, what I can see is my frowny face, one more empty than the time the city burned. Despite its luxuries, I can't find any joy in it. It was all stripped back in that stupid war the idiots of Ylisse made.
I will shove their message about peace right into their gut. That infernal Exalt will burn! How does she dare talk about peace or some other bullshit? They only know war and I will give them what they want. But that will be my war. They are going to pay with their blood. They will learn the lesson I've learned in the past. They are going to learn until the last man, woman and child are exterminated from the continent.
I head out to the army stationed in front of the desert. I glee with what is in front of me: a massive army painting this little yellow sand into pure red, because of their red turbans. The most prepared army Plegia has ever seen or will ever see, prepared to eliminate the Ylisseans vermins and raze their lands to the ground. Even more, their discipline is so obvious to look at, just watch and see how everything is organized according to my orders. If I go left, they go left and if I go right, they go right. I can already smell the Halidom's capital burning.
Yes, my order. I'm not a street urchin anymore. No, I'm the king of this entire place. I own them, they are my property, and rightfully so. They will smash so fast through their Halidom, that they will not even be able to see what hit them. Of course, those cowards don't even need warning, just like I was not given any over 10 years ago. They will taste their own medicine and learn to love it.
"Your majesty, the troops are ready to march. Do you want me to give the signal?" Mustafa says to me. Of course, I want that, but there is something else on my mind. I'm forgetting something, aren't I? What was it? What was it? Damn it, how could I forget? Yes, the meeting. The darn meeting!
"You can tell them to wait, I have another matter to deal with, right now."
Mustafa frowns. "But sir, they have been waiting for a while for your command. You can't just tell them to wait"
Assholes! As much as I love their bloodthirst, they need to know that I'm their king, and they only have a say on matters when I allow them. They need to behave more like a dog, it seems their discipline isn't enough. They will see.
"You are the general, right? Tell them to obey my orders. If it is too hot, they can go to the shadows and suck it up."
Mustafa bows and doesn't face me, good. He understands what his true position really is in here, unlike some other pathetic creatures.
"Wait!" Mustafa screams from my back
What does this annoying prick want!?
"Can't you conduct your business in the tent we made for this expedition, your majesty?"
"No, it's a very valuable secret, one that not even Validar and his lackey would even know! Just shut up and let me go." And I get away from him and go back to my room.
I ask the guard to bring me a person I know very well.
"Hey, Biggrel. How are you doin?" He is a Ylissean, but a different one: a fellow thief.
"I'm doing great. Everything is going as I wanted," I say while he giggles to himself, I forgot how much he laughs sounds like a dying hyena.
"Huh, never expect you to get so far! Doing better than old me, still needing to steal stuff to get my candy." He laughs. The idiot hasn't changed one bit. From fellow street urchin to a thief, no matter what his obsession with candy will follow him. And speaking of stealing stuff...
"I don't think you called me for nothing" Gaius continued with a somewhat unconcerned face.
"Yes, of course! I don't have the time to kill! All I want is that you infiltrate Ylisse." I state the order to his face, he becomes surprised.
"Just that? That seems too little. Are you sure it is only that, Biggrel?" Gaius asked in confusion. Just like I remember, an idiot. One of the more idiotic kinds of people I've meet, perhaps surpassing even that one moronic guy from earlier.
"Of course not, but don't worry. I will pay a ton for the job. I'm the king after all. Everyone must listen to me and they will, even if I have to threaten the steward again, and allow me to divert more funds"
Gaius doesn't react to my words in the way I come to expect of him, he does an uneasy laugh instead. What? He didn't expect that I, the king, would not use my power to get stuff done? He has much to learn for his place in my army.
"I accept the offer, Gangrel. My sweet stock has been gone for a while. I need to restock it." He laughs to himself, but the thought of laughing at his jokes was less doable than having to please a cursed Ylissean
"Good. Now, I have some other things to do, but when I arrive in Ylisse you will come to me. You are dismissed," I order and I go on my way back to the army. They are more important for now than whatever this orange guy is until the plan comes to fruition.
"Not even a goodbye for an old pal?"
Greetings and such, doesn't he see that I have way too much stuff to do? Ylissean will always be Ylissean, you can even put them in Plegian clothing, but that will never change. Still, he has his uses on my side.
"No, I have other things to do. Just go and do your job."
"I see," he says, a little bit depressed. Whatever, he will get way better when I give the money.
He gets out.
I finally head out of the room and go back to Mustafa.
"Have you already finished your meeting?"
"Of course. Unlike everyone else here, I don't speak in riddles and always go straight to the point. Yeah going back to it." I read the speech, finally the moment I was waiting for my entire life is within my grasp.
"Hello, My army! Now we are going to march towards Ylisse and kill the bastard! We are going to do it! Now, we are going to march. March!"
I give the glorious speech and the troops begin marching towards Ylisse. What a great feeling, the greatest feeling ever.
"Now your majesty, aren't you going with them?"
"Not really, I already have a tent only for me and whatever asshole comes asking for me. I will go now, if you want to follow the troops, I couldn't care less." I reply to him while he becomes shocked by my reaction, although he tries to hide it. Is it really that important? Pssht, I have way more important things to deal with
I head out to my special location. A little bit behind the army, but it's a pleasurable one since I'm alone here. I doubt even the messianic assholes will come and annoy me. But to my utter surprise and dismay, Aversa, the most annoying whore in this entire kingdom, is already waiting for me beside the throne. What does she think she is? My wife? Whatever, I need to know what she comes up with.
"So you are going to stop paying the bandits? Despite what my report said, there was still some groups of them attacking Plegian soil." The plan is working as intended, just need to eliminate some undesirable attacks.
"Very simple: we just kill all that are here and leave the others alone. I want the Ylissean army as weakened as possible, got it?"
"Yes," she spat. That bitch! If it weren't for Validar, that tongue would be rotting right now.
"Good. Get out."
Thankfully, I don't need to worry about that whore. I can already smell the Ylissean blood coming and flowing into their damn rivers. I don't care who needs to pay for it, but I will do my best to get that image to become reality. War, what a sweet little revenge.
"The air feels quite different from yesterday." I say to no one in particular, while I count the profit coming from today's endeavor. Despite some very hefty selling of some spices coming from Chon'sin, a rarity in the land of hearty food, today wasn't what would be called a busy day.
"How is it going outside?" I ask the man guarding the little caravan.
"Nothing new," Gregor replies. Well, thank Naga! Despite the boring day, I wouldn't trade it with fighting bandits, no thank you. Already had that one when I crossed Plegia and almost died. Heroism isn't something I can afford, especially considering it uses a currency I can barely understand.
"Phew, come here" I shout to Gregor. He comes without hesitation. "Here is today's payment." I give a bag with a few coins to the foreign mercenary. He grabs and smiles tenderly at it, coming to the man with a scary face and voice. I've come to the conclusion that he is more docile than a sea with the right wind.
Speaking of the wind, how much I've missed Genezia. At least the pay is going well for the time being. I can't wait to get the gentle breeze to my face and get the spices from the port. I wonder how these people can live off this land, can't they see the pleasure of navigation? I will go back, just need to eliminate this stupid expedition to the patriarch from the to-do list.
"We are in City. Mind to drink?" Gregor speaks with his ruffian accent. Although it's quite tempting not to go and tend to my trade, it also would be very much against my own interests. The tavern is always greeted with news of something, which could lead to a very lucrative trade deal, or at worst, a place to avoid in the next few weeks.
"No. Besides, I have some matters to attend to in the tavern." I reply. He just gives me a dumb smile, looking more like a dog than a human being.
"Glad to hear," he replies with satisfaction.
As such, we go to the local tavern in the city near our vicinity. The city isn't exactly the biggest, compared to Themis and especially Genezia, this place could be considered a backwater city that everyone forgets exists. But compared to some villages in the region, this is the closest thing we have to a hub without doing a trek all the way to Themis, something that isn't exactly great for business, and my horses.
We enter the Tavern.
"What do the young lad and the rough man want?" the innkeeper asks while greeting us.
"Very nice beer," the mercenary replies.
"Is there any wine in this tavern? I ask.
"Yes, we have some."
"So bring some, please," I reply.
"Anything else you want with it?"
"Soup," the mercenary replies. I don't bring myself to become mad with him. I've learned the hard way that he will have something with that beer of his no matter what.
"So wait, right now lads." And he goes to pick up our orders, leaving us alone in the downright empty place. Gregor suddenly speaks.
"Enrico never told Gregor why you are a land merchant. Enrico's clothes tell Gregor you are from a naval place, somewhere where having boats is more common than drinking."
Rather than give the answer immediately, I wait for a few seconds. We aren't here for bantering, but then again it's better than waiting in this quietness, so I relent.
"I'm from Genezia, a merchant island under the boots of Plegia. Sadly, instead of having a very happy life with my fellow merchants, someone in my life told me to go to the land instead of the ocean. Suffice it to say, I'm stuck here until I finish it."
"Gregor understand. Gregor is already far away from home. Sometimes memories pop back, some part of Gregor still misses home. But life of mercenary told better to never go back to it. Never."
"Got it." There isn't much point anyway to learn about his past anyway. He is just a mercenary. Once I get out of this Ylisse, he and I will never meet again. Meanwhile, the innkeeper goes back with our drinks and soup in hand, handing it out to us, sadly.
"Here lads. Pay after you finish it." He goes to other clients' tables.
I thank him and Gregor does the same. and I go sipping the wine. Wine, the best of all drinks. It isn't as good as the one made by the artisans at home. It is way less fruity and has a more hearty taste. It lacks the sophisticated and aged taste of the Genezian's wine. Still way better than beer though. After all, the best of beers can't compare to the worst of wine, because grapes are way tastier than bread. Meanwhile, Gregor slurps on his soup like a wild animal. Mercenaries are always the same in this land, I doubt a genezian would be this animal-like.
"Why don't Enrico drink beer?" Gregor asks , looking to my wine and then to my eye a little bit addled.
"Of course not. Wine is a way better beverage than beer, a more sophisticated choice to a more sophisticated palette."
Gregor laughs at it. "Enrico has great sense of joke. Beer tastes better than wine, Gregor's home is best beer though."
I'm not going to get mad over it…
"What are you talking about? Wine is way better! Give a genezian's wine to a drunkard and he will abandon even the most tasteful of beer that ever existed.
"Sure?"
"Yes, I'm pretty sure about this, Gregor."
And we laugh at it, this is one of the dumbest conversations ever. Seriously at least better than being alone in this place.
"Anyways, here is the money." I give the coin to the innkeeper.
"Thanks very much. Do you want anything else?"
"Is there any rumors circulating about Ylisse or new events?" I ask. The innkeeper turns somber as something keeps creeping upon his mind.
"Yes we have, lad. There is a passing rumor that a Plegian army has been marching towards somewhere."
Wait, what…
"Tell me more, please," I say with worry on my face.
"Aye, There is more. It seems their king has been missing for a while and that his whole entourage has also been gone for over a week by now. Although some have claimed that the kingdom has gone to war, but that I don't know. A cousin of mine who lives over in the capital said that people were mentioning a lot of stuff about the war. I guess I will have to be prepared to make this little tavern way more protected than it already is now. We already have to deal with the bandits, now there is Plegia invading. What is next, the world ending?" The innkeeper replies, getting more exasperated.
"I see, thanks."
Naga damm it! They are going to war. We need to get to the capital as quickly as possible. I don't want to die to the damn overlords.
"Hey, Gregor."
"Yes?" He says while slurping on the soup, ignoring his surroundings while at the same time having a smile in face.
"We are going to the capital now!" I grab his forearm, but he resists, becoming confused by it
"Why so fast? Is something happening?"
"You don't have any idea. This place is going to war right now. We must go. Now!" I say, almost screaming. Dammit this is the last thing I needed.
"Gregor understand. War with nation is bad with both of us. But Enrico, don't worry, Gregor will protect Enrico, since Enrico gave me money."
"Thank Naga" He listened
I ready Falchion for the thousandth time, a part of Frederick's training regimen, a straining one, but more than necessary, an essential one as to keep Ylisse at peace. I can't leave my body untrained. After all, how can I leave my people to suffer while bandits roam in the countryside, raiding the villages of the common folk?
Anger consumes me. They shall be brought to justice for their crimes.
Crack, another training dummy destroyed, its parts going everywhere. It still isn't enough. The bandits are increasing way too fast. We eliminate one entire band of them and two of them come to recover them. This isn't enough!
"Hey, Chrom!' Lissa chirps.
"Hey, Lissa, how are you doing?" I ask.
"Doing better than you. The day has been very sunny today, so I decided to take a little walk," she says.
"Was it any good?"
Lissa pouts, seemingly annoyed by the question. "No! It wasn't! The sun was awful, it made me sweat like a pig! Naga, I need water."
Sure sure.
Thank Naga, she is getting some payback for that time she put a frog in my boot. But this isn't time for petty revenge.
"Why don't you rest then? You know how the situation is right now."
"Yea, yea. Though don't you think you have been exercising too much? This month holds the record of how many dummies you destroyed. I think we'll need a team of carpenters dedicated to repairing them soon."
This isn't enough, Lissa. This isn't enough. I must eliminate the bandits before they can harm Ylisse further.
"We need to keep the people safe, Lissa. If we don't do our best now, everyone will suffer for it."
"I'm well aware of that Chrom! I'm a princess after all, I know the plight of the people. I keep talking with them daily, instead of brooding here."
Low blow, Lissa. Besides, that naivety is striking back. There is something fishy about the bandits.
"But Lissa, you have to understand. There is something very wrong with the bandits."
She becomes confused. "Aren't bandits always wrong, though?"
"Yes, but there was something amiss when we fought the ones in Southtown."
Southtown. It was pure luck we were nearby, but it wasn't enough. The bodies, the children screaming, they couldn't—
Don't dwell on this, you can't peace with only bloodshed as father thought
"No, I don't think there was. They were just bandits, right?"
Lissa isn't wrong, but-
"Are you sure, Chrom? Isn't the bandit thingy getting you a little bit stressed?"
I should be honest with her. "Maybe. The swarms of them are getting way too much for my likings." I reply, and she knocks my arm with her staff, healing a bit of the strain.
"C'mon Chrom. Lazing for a day isn't much, you know?"
"I know, I know Lissa. But the people are going to suffer if I don't train hard enough and help them." I can't let another Southtown happen again. I can't!
"Just for a single day. It isn't like bandits are going to suddenly destroy everything in Ylisse."
"Maybe you are right, Lissa." I said while guarding falchion and let my arms drop for the first time in the day.
"Yay, finally."
Liz gets out of the room without saying goodbye. With that, I sheathe the sword and let myself breathe for a while. Despite this adherence, it finally gets under my skin. Liz is right, I need to get myself a break for once. But what should I do next? What could I do…
Maybe checking on the other Shepards would be a good idea. They may have good news, and gods know I'm starving for those.
Going to the barracks, I check how the others are doing. And as always, Vaike keeps asking me for a fight. "Spar with Teach, Chrom! It's getting boring here, while you keep fending off against the bandits. It's not fun."
"Not now, Vaike. Liz recommended I stop for today, and for once I agree with her on something."
"C'mon, you too scared to fight with Teach?" Vaike replies with a mixture of disappointment and superiority in his voice.
"No, but I need to rest. The whole bandit thing has been weighing me down. Although I promise that tomorrow we can arrange a one on one match if you want."
"You can count on Teach!"
And I leave him there.
After that, I check on the other ones. Stahl was eating, Miriel was doing her experiments and trying to prove to everyone that the Earth was indeed a sphere and not an oval and so on and so forth. Nothing unusual. I'm glad for that, I need some familiarity in these trying times.
Things haven't been this complicated ever since Mom died. Please Naga, don't let things turn out the way they did in the last war.
"Why aren't you training, my lord?" Frederick asks suddenly.
"I noticed it was wearing me down, so I decided to stop for today."
"I see. Still, you better be training tomorrow morning. We can't stop those bandits if we can't keep our bodies in shape."
"Nor our minds, Frederick. It is only a day and, in the end, it makes Lissa happy."
"This was her doing, wasn't it?"
I nod to him.
"I will accept this, but only for today."
"I get it. Meanwhile I'm going to visit Emm."
"Do as you wish."
And with that, I go to the throne room. Emmeryn stands there graciously. It's funny how much she has changed in the past years. I remember when she always played with us without a single care in the world. But nowadays, just seeing how she acts gives me the shivers. Truly a ruler worthy of respect. Respecting everyone in the Halidom and making peace for these last years..
"Hey, Emm," I say while giving her a respectful bow.
"It isn't necessary, Chrom. You already did a lot for the people of Southtown."
She pauses in a brief seconds after mentioning the name, her smile disappearing and turning into a frown.
"You must have heard of the bandits already?"
"Yes, Emm. We are trying to contain them, but at every turn, they keep coming back more numerous and brutal. At Southtown there was an entire brigade of them, instead of only one or two. If this keeps going we are going to have a problem."
"About that, the Pegasus squadron got a hold of a bandit yesterday. From the looks of it, he can't speak Ylissean. The report said he was scared, but when he spoke, it was in a completely different language."
"I see, Would you allow me to see them? I might get a translator, and then we can see if there is something causing this mess."
"I will, Chrom. Phila will lead you there."
I bow to her and let Phila lead me towards the place where the bandit is being held alive. We get in there. The pegasus squadron is checking on them incessantly.
"Hey- Hello chrom,"
Cordelia stutters for a little bit, somewhat trembling.
"Are you fine?"
"Yes- no need to worry"
she regains her composure, although having a blush in face for some odd reason… anyways.
"Did you get anything from him?"
"Sadly, I wasn't able to get anything from here, the book didn't serve that much. Whatever he spoke, I couldn't get a hold of what language he spoke."
"I see, let me see if I can get anything from him" They let me see the man. His clothes are all sprawled, while he looks afraid of us. Whatever how frail he looks right now, he has hurt people.
"Please, introduce yourself." I speak to the man, who doesn't seem to understand and then he pronounces unintelligible words. Whatever his language may be, this will not be a job for me.
"Can any of you call Virion, please?"
"Of course," Phila answers and in a prompt, the man appears.
"Yes, Chrom?" he says with a grin. "What may I help you, my lord?"
"Drop the lord, please? Anyways, do you have any idea what the man's speaking?"
A few moments of doubt come to his face as if he is trying to register what he is saying. "Well, my sir, this man sounds Plegian."
"What, Plegian?"
"Yes, Plegian."
"Thanks, Virion. Your help has been immense."
"Only doing my duty." And he bows then gets out.
Plegia, why would bandits going out from Plegia to plunder and destroy our little villages, despite the war all the years ago, didn't they recover? Whatever it may be, I should prepare for it.
We don't need another Southtown in our hands.
Well, I'm back from the hiatus. Hope you liked this chapter, although I have some other things to say beyond the return fare. Before all that, I want to give special thanks for Cavik and Sushion for betareading this chapter and for all the people who still somehow are reading this mess, if you are somewhat happy with it… then that is good, I will not judge you or anything like that.
But, as I have said before, there are some other things that I want to address in this part and be honest with everyone, since, justly, you have spent time with my fic and time is always lost, not gained. First of all, no, this is not telling you, the reader, that I'm cancelling the fic or putting it back on hiatus for indefinite time, it will be going in the 12th and 24th as always, since now I have a decent backlog to work with.
With that out of the way, one of the things to say is, despite having to betray some of the readers and what I promised to some of them and for that I apologize immensely, don't expect a pairing X to happen or not. In other words, this fic will not try to pursue any pairings, unless, the story tells me to or I change my mind on the subject and try to force one, and I would rather much prefer if things in the story goes more natural and right rather than try to force one outcome, hypocritical, I know. You must be asking why?
Well, this whole thing has been stressing me and making me way more anxious for such a small thing and I would rather not have it, specially when I suffer from anxiety disorder already, and I'm very much sorry to all of you that had expectations towards one of them, I apologize immensely and don't feel obligated to continuing reading if that was the thing you were looking for, there is a whole lot of very well written fics over mine that you could be reading instead of mine.
And speaking about reading, if you don't like this fic, and I get that, there are a whole bunch of problems in it, please don't keep grinding yourself to read it. It's way more useful of your time to read something that you like than focusing on reading something that you don't like, especially if you are looking for something to have fun with. But just because I said that, don't feel afraid to put a review critical of my fic, everyone needs to improve and pointing out the bad is good, doesn't mean that I will take always in great stride, I'm only human and I will fail a lot or get defensive, so I apologize for that as well.
In the end, what I want to say is that stress got the better part of me and my writing, for example, this last scene of this chapter took me literally a month to get something even remotely readable and it is the worst scene by far and I despise it . So if the chapter's quality is bad, I apologize for that and I hope you can get some enjoyment from this mess.
In the end, I apologize for a lot of things and sorry if this sounds like a venting, because it is in a sense. But you should stop reading my ramblings, there is something that isn't healthy to dwell upon, especially when this text is more egotistical and narcissistic than something even something patrick bateman would write.
Anyways, I should be reading reviews by now:
Cavik: Well, I'm glad the last chapter was a bang for you!
Stormtide Leviathan: true, the first 100k words is always a milestone, although like you said I'm practicing poetry, so it wasn't that great.
2010si: thanks for the kind words!
Mudsoldier: Well, I see you don't like Gabriel. If that is the case, I will be honest with you, I don't think you will like the rest of the fic or what is to come, especially when you put him with words like the most boring MC ever or a loser.
And also he told no one he is atheist, you, you must be thinking of the phrase: "you don't have any power over here" well, he did think that, but spoke to no one this and was meant as a joke for himself. But glad you like the worldbuilding aspect of the fic. But, In the end, if you don't like this fic, please don't force to read it
Well, hope you people have a nice day, as always reviews help me a lot in this messy process called writing.
I also participate in a discord, feel free to check it out if you want : discord . gg / 9XG3U7a