From Londoner To Lord

~ Kivamus ~

~ A short while ago ~

Kivamus was waiting for dinner in the manor hall with Gorsazo and Duvas, while Hudan had begun to tell another story to Lucem and Clarisa near the fireplace which had kept them enraptured. While waiting, he had been thinking about how to begin the process of paper making after all the required wooden parts were made, while the majordomo seemed to be discussing something about the classes with his former teacher.

Although he had mostly adjusted to life in this medieval world, once in a while he still wished he had the luxury of having a variety of restaurants and coffee shops near his apartment, like he had in London. While he lived there, he always had a habit of laying down on a recliner with a cup of coffee in his hands after a long day of work, with the tv showing some pointless show, unless he wasn't just reading about random stuff on the internet. That was such a mundane habit and yet it always relaxed his mind a lot, but it had been so long since he had experienced any of it.

Having a nearly instant access to soda drinks, coffee, tea as well as to all kinds of snacks from all over the world was something he was pretty sure that everyone living in London took for granted, and yet it was only after coming to this world that he realised that having those modern conveniences were such a huge luxury.

Thinking about his old life was making him feel wistful, as he tried to recall the taste of everything he used to like eating in London. Amongst the beverages, somehow he had always preferred coffee over tea, since tea just didn't have that impact which caffeine gave to a tired mind, but right now, he would be grateful if he could find any of those drinks here. He had even asked Gorsazo about it and found that while there was indeed something similar to coffee here, it was not grown in Cilaria and had to be imported from other parts of the world, which meant it was costly enough that even the luxury preferring previous baron of Tiranat hadn't dared to buy it.

However, Ulriga was a big port and always had some merchant willing to sell it, which is why it was always stocked in the palace of Ulriga, but the original Kivamus had never liked that beverage, which is why he didn't have any memories of how it tasted and whether it was really similar to coffee. He had even thought of buying a small quantity of it from there in the future, but in their current situation they simply couldn't afford to buy something like that just for his own luxury.

While his mind was still lost in the past, suddenly, he heard the sound of a horn blowing from somewhere in the village. Without wasting a moment, Hudan stood up with his hand on the hilt of his sword, and ran towards the outer door.

"Stay inside, everyone, and bar the door," the guard captain instructed, before he exited the hall and closed it from the outside.

Kivamus was the one closest to the door, so he quickly followed the guard captain's instructions, and barred the door with a thick wooden bar, wondering what had happened. Was it Nokozal? Had he finally gathered up enough bandits to attack the village again? Or was it Torhan's group, who must have realised by the news from their scouts and Feroy's recent caravan journey to Kirnos that Tiranat was ripe for raiding again?

While the ex-mercenary was already back with the other three guards, there were at least three hunting groups out from the village right now, which meant they probably didn't have enough guards to resist a full scale raid. He walked back towards the chair next to the long dining table while wondering if it was a mistake from him to send that many hunting groups out when the gates weren't completed yet.

It was already dark by now so the northern and south-eastern gates must have been locked by this time, but the south-western gate was still not finished. That had to be where the raiders were coming from. His mind was still feeling calm enough, because he trusted his guards, and knew that they had successfully repelled a raid already, which meant they knew what to do in such an emergency.

However, he did realize that without any way to look into the distance - like from the top of a watchtower - the horn would be blown only when the bandits were already too close to the village. That meant he had to prioritise the construction of watch towers as soon as he could. Once the last gate was completed, those watch towers would be the only way to see around the village and to give an early warning to the guards in case of such an attack.

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Duvas was looking upwards saying a prayer, while Gorsazo was trying to calm the kids. However, looking at the still-fearful faces of the kids, he wished that the guards would reach the open gate in time to help the two guards already there. If this was a serious raid with enough bandits and they came inside the gates, who knew how much damage they would do. No, he trusted Hudan, and had to believe that he would be able to deal with the threat somehow.

Once again wishing he had a way to communicate directly with the guards, he sat down on the armchair. It was going to be a long night.

*******

~ Hyola ~

Hyola was running with all her might back towards the gate, along with many other guards wearing leather armour and armed with swords and spears, who had been off-duty in the manor, while Hudan, Feroy, Tesyb and their other good fighters had already ridden to the gates on horses ahead of them. She hadn't seen Calubo amongst them, so he might have been put on duty on one of the other gates, even though they were supposed to be barred for the night by this time.

She kept running while she wished they would manage to reach the gates before Kerel had to fight with those bandits by himself. She didn't even want to imagine how it would feel if she saw Kerel's corpse near the gate - only because he had sent her away to safety and decided to fight the bandits by himself.

Before long, she and the others had passed the last houses of the village in the south-west, and immediately, she saw that there was a group of guards gathered near the gate in the distance. It was already dark, but the brazier burning near the gate was providing just enough light for her to see them.

She still didn't know the fate of Kerel as she kept running, but at least it meant that she had managed to warn the manor in time and the guards had reached the gates before the bandits entered inside. That meant the village should be safe tonight, unless there were bandits attacking from other directions too. Shaking her head, she tried to focus on the present. Thinking about the whole defence of the village was better left to Hudan and other senior guards. They must already have thought about it. She just had to focus on helping the guards here.

She put her hand on her side to feel the reassuring touch of the crossbow before she realised that she had already given it to Kerel when leaving. While she did have a dagger with her, it just didn't feel right without her crossbow on her side.

Before long, she and the others reached the south-western gate of the village, and saw that some of the guards were standing defensively just inside of the gates with their swords out, while the mounted guards had exited the gates with burning torches in their hands and seemed to be circling around a stationary group of people some distance away. Were they the bandits?

That couldn't be right. Even if they would have realised by now that the village was better prepared to repel a raid than they thought, they still shouldn't be standing motionless like that, without trying to attack the mounted guards, should they?

Suddenly, she realised that she hadn't seen Kerel so far, and her mind went into a panic. She frantically began asking all the guards about his whereabouts, before one of them told her that he had gone with Hudan and the mounted guards to brief them about the raiders.

Exhaling loudly, she thanked the goddess that he was alive, while waiting for the mounted guards to return. Something still didn't feel right to her, seeing that the raiders seemed to be huddling together in the lights of the burning torches from the mounted guards surrounding them. However, the rest of the guards were also waiting here on Hudan's orders, so that's what she had to do as well.

Soon, she saw that one of the guards was riding his horse fast towards the gate, while the group of raiders had slowly started walking towards them as well, with the mounted guards circling around them.

Once the mounted guard - Tesyb - reached the gate, he looked at the anxious expressions of others and jerked his head towards the village. "Going to inform Lord Kivamus 'bout this sorry lot." With that, he started riding once again, and was soon lost to the darkness towards the village.

What did that even mean, she wondered. Why were the bandits walking towards the gates so peacefully? Why was Hudan even allowing them to come towards the gate and the village? Was there some other attack as well on another side of the village, which is why the mounted guard had gone to inform Lord Kivamus about this? She kept waiting anxiously to get more answers while looking impatiently at the people now reaching the gates.

Soon, she saw Hudan walking in the front while holding the reins of his horse, while the group of unknown people - the bandits - followed behind him with downcast eyes, with the guard captain talking seriously to one of them - probably their leader. Once they were all inside, with the remaining guards standing around them in a circle with their swords ready, she saw Feroy, Kerel and other guards following behind them, before the ex-mercenary ordered the guards to put the unattached part of gate in its due place to close the gates, and make the village just a little more secure.

Finally, she saw Hudan bringing his horse close to the waiting guards, ready to address everyone.