“Are you sure this is the place? This is a pasture. The boy could never govern a place like this,” the dwarf said, a hint of pity in his eyes.
Three figures traveled through the streets of Graymont in a wagon, their appearances drawing the attention of every passerby.
“There are no other settlements farther north than this, and from what I heard, his father was a nobleman with Bretonnian traditions,” a woman replied. Despite her disheveled appearance, with a few loose strands of hair here and there, she still carried herself with dignity.
“Useless, in a few words,” Brogur exclaimed as he drove the wagon, which was pulled by two giant rams. They had obtained the creatures at Blackfire Pass from a dwarven trade caravan, along with the wagon.
“Although I’m sure my countrymen wouldn’t appreciate the comment.” A man in gleaming armor joined the conversation. “I can see that the town has a great deal of influence from and customs of my homeland.”
“Enjoy it while you can, Tristan. If there’s one thing I know about Edmund, it’s that he hates Bretonnian customs,” Victoria said.
She was a princess of Estalia, but unlike Bretonnia and the Empire, which were unified nations under a single ruler, the Estalian realms were numerous and varied in size, with more than a dozen duchies and kingdoms. The kingdoms remained deeply feudal, with lords ruling over the miserable lives of their subjects according to ancestral traditions.
That was why she herself despised her title and had decided to follow her heart, which urged her to leave her homeland in search of adventure stories and epic poems.
“I only hope the Lady shows him the right path.”
Tristan was a Grail Knight Errant, a knight of the cult of the Lady, an order of chivalry devoted entirely to their goddess.
But before being granted the honor of becoming a Grail Knight, a Knight Errant had to slay orcs, dragons, and countless monsters, fight duels against Chaos Knights, and resist every kind of worldly temptation. If he remained faithful through these trials, he would eventually find the path to a hidden glade and behold the Lady of the Lake.
Something they usually did as part of groups of Knights Errant, but for some reason, the knight had ended up joining an adventuring group.
“Do you still believe Edmund needs to find the right path?” Victoria asked, somewhat amused by the idea of a religious Edmund.
“Of course. I think he could become the strongest Grail Knight of them all.”
“I’m sure he could serve as a Grail Damsel.”
Tristan remained silent, somewhat indignant at the distasteful joke.
Brogur burst out laughing from the front seat.
“That’s certainly true.”
Victoria looked at the streets around them.
“Although I have to admit, I expected something worse.”
Brogur glanced over his shoulder.
“Worse than this?”
Victoria ignored the comment.
They had seen enough human settlements during their travels to recognize one in decline. The people were the very image of a town falling apart, wandering aimlessly through the streets or with dozens of them begging for alms. Visit novelping dot com for the full chapter.
But Graymont seemed more alive than it should have been, with workers carrying materials. Merchants entered and left the warehouses, and the docks appeared to be filled with ships.
The wagon continued forward until they reached an area where several men were working on repairing one of the streets, seemingly pouring a mixture of lime and gravel.
One of them raised his head when he heard the noise of the rams and was even more surprised when he saw the travelers sitting atop the wagon.
“What the hell...?”
Brogur stopped the wagon.
“We’re looking for Edmund Lusignan.”
The worker first looked at the dwarf, then at the others. Although they were strange, he could tell from their appearances that they were adventurers.
“The lord?”
“That’s the one.”
The man pointed toward the upper part of the city.
“The residence is up there. Ask anyone. Everyone knows where he lives.”
Brogur took the reins again, somewhat excited to see an old acquaintance he had not seen in years.
“You need to rest your cheek against your shoulder and focus your vision on the tip of the sight,” Ellaria said as she handed the crossbow to Eliza.
They were in the mansion’s courtyard, where Ellaria was demonstrating how to aim to Eliza, who had been insisting for several days that she wanted to learn.
“It’s heavier than the ones my father had, and somewhat different,” Eliza said as she weighed it in her hands.
The crossbow was unloaded for safety, so there was no danger of her accidentally firing it, and that had been a condition for Ellaria to teach her.
“Your brother made it for me. It not only has a greater range, but its power is enough to pierce a tree.” Ellaria was proud of her weapon.
Edmund had built it after her family bow had been destroyed during an expedition against a group of trolls. He had reused part of the old bow’s wood and designed the rest of the crossbow himself, basing it on mechanisms he had only seen in Imperial machines.
At first, Ellaria had doubted whether she could get used to using a crossbow after having used a bow for practically her entire life.
But when she discovered that Edmund had spent several days working on it, barely sleeping to finish it, she decided to give it a chance. Once she became accustomed to it, it eventually became one of her favorite weapons. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
The problem was that after seeing her use it, practically every member of the group had ended up asking Edmund for a customized weapon.
“Like this?” Eliza asked.
Ellaria approached and slightly corrected the position of her arms.
“Almost. Relax your shoulder.”
Eliza obeyed.
“And now?”
“Much better.”
Eliza smiled in satisfaction.
“Can I fire it?”
“When you learn how to load it properly.”
“That sounds complicated.”
Before Ellaria could answer, the door connecting the courtyard to the interior of the residence opened.
A servant appeared hurriedly.
“Miss Ellaria.”
She turned around.
“Yes?”
The man gave a small bow.
“Some guests of Lord Edmund have arrived. They’re waiting at the main entrance.”
Ellaria frowned slightly, thinking about how they had taken longer than expected. It had already been two weeks since she had arrived in Graymont. Edmund had been forced to postpone some of his plans while waiting for his former companions to arrive.
The three of them headed inside the residence.
For the first time since arriving in Graymont, Ellaria felt that the peaceful days at the mansion were about to come to an end.
And considering who had just arrived, Edmund probably wasn't going to enjoy that feeling very much.