Chương 172: The Return

I stood behind the reception desk in the guild hall lobby. The majority of the guild members stood in front of me. They passed around a single slip of parchment, and pressed a signet stamp in the bottom corner of the page. (It wasn't a wax seal; we didn't have enough wax, and they didn't have individual family seals, anyway. So we just had them press a ring down on an ink pad, then press it onto the corner of the page like a stamp, confirming their employment in the guild.) Finally, the page reached Hardric.

He signed, and I motioned to him.

"Hardric will be my deputy. He will act as head of the guild while I am gone." I'd already spoken to him in the minutes before the meeting, so this wouldn't be a surprise. The rest of the crowd turned to him. Most gave a soft stomp and rattled their shovels in support of him.

"Likewise, Eadgeat will serve directly under him as his direct assistant," I continued.

"The rest of your roles are fluid until the guild grows more, but I expect you to follow Hardric and Eadgeat as if they were me." Finally, I held out one of the saplings Sage had given me. A ball of dirt held the plant's base, and roots hung out the bottom. I passed it to Hardric and said, "Plant this in a pot. It should be relatively difficult to kill, and try to keep it near you as often as possible. Assuming everything is going alright, I'll speak with you once a week."

The rest of the guild stared at the plant with confusion, but Hardric knew what it was, and that was good enough for now.

"Now, I have to leave," I continued.

"Grow the guild as much as you can, increase production, and don't burn things down when I'm gone." Again, the guild members made a clatter with the tools and boots, stomping and pounding. It was their equivalent of clapping. ~ ~ ~ I returned to the barracks and helped pack everything up that I could. The others had done most of the work, but I still checked Burr's staddle and tightened it, then made sure my kit bag had everything it was supposed to.

While we prepared to leave, a crowd gathered near the edge of the barracks, watching us load our bags and attach our shields to our saddles. Once we were ready, I found Cuthward waiting at the gate to send us off. I gave him one of Sage's saplings as well, then said, "Best of luck. If things get bad, call me, and I will come. I'm not going to leave anyone out to dry here, even if it would make my training slower."

"It is appreciated, Sir Levi," Cuthward said.

"But we will all benefit from a thegn who is more powerful. I will only summon you if the situation is dire."

"Thanks." I was about to climb up onto Burr's back, but before I could stick my foot in the stirrup, Eadgeat pushed through the crowd. The boy rushed forward and caught me in a tight hug. I could've reacted, but I let him do so.

"I owe my life to you, Sir Levi," Eadgeat said.

"You saved me."

"That's what a thegn does," I replied.

"If only," Sage muttered from behind me as Morph helped her climb up onto the back of Brawl's horse.

"To think it's only been a week," Eadgeat told me.

"Sir, please return soon. This is the first time in my life, and for most of the other boys, when our lives have truly gotten better. I'm scared it won't last…" I nodded and patted his back.

"I can't promise it will last. If you want it to keep improving, though, I'll need effort from you, and from everyone here. I can help, but I also need everyone to step up. As of now, you're all free to seek your own improvement, and if you choose to be exceptional, Tunmod and people like him can't do anything about it." Eadgeat let me go and backed away, nodding.

"We'll make you proud, Sir Levi."

"We owe you," Hardric said, standing back in the crowd.

"When you return, you'll return to something better than you found it. I swear it." Nodding, I swung up onto Burr's saddle. Behind me, the rest of the riders from the 294th formed up into ranks behind my squad. Cuthward made a channel in the crowd, and the citizens backed away so we could ride through the center. I snapped Burr's reins and tightened my legs on her flanks, and she trotted off down the road.

Though they couldn't gallop the whole time, I wanted to make a theatrical exit (perhaps it was my time in film school influencing me). Our horse's hoofs churned up dust, and we raced away down the road. I turned toward the trail we'd followed on the way in and galloped until we couldn't see Hyrdford anymore, then slowed down. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Alright," I told Anchor.

"You've got the map. Lead us back to Castle Urcia." Before we set off, I took one last look behind us. Though I couldn't see Hyrdford, its chimneys and hearths still sent wisps of smoke up into the sky over the sides of the valley. A swell of pink wild roses grew on the ridge behind us, and they swayed in the wind, as if waving goodbye. It didn't quite feel like home—not yet—but it was hard to believe that it had only been a week. We'd be back.

~ ~ ~ We rode back to Castle Urcia, following the same route we'd taken to get here. Along the way, we planted one of Sage's saplings at an even interval. It was about one a day, though sometimes we planted two, depending how much progress we made. Whenever we placed a plant, we made sure it was far enough away from the road that no one would hear its leaves resonating, and that no one would even see it. I didn't need a curious traveller damaging my line of communication.

With each plant, we tested it to make sure that our voices would carry through and reach the plants that Cuthward and Hardric had.

"Testing, testing," I said, speaking into the saplings' leaves. They trembled as if a wind blew through them, shaking, and the resonance travelled off into the distance, aiming for the second node in the chain. I couldn't explain how I knew, but it just felt like something was moving through the fabric of the universe—like some sort of mech beneath the world. A few seconds later, the plant's leaves rattled again. They vibrated, creating frequencies with the strands inside their leaves.

It wasn't a perfect voice, and sounded more like a high-pitched lute than anything, but Cuthward's voice still came through, words intelligible.

"We hear you." We continued on like that for a few days. Halfway back to Castle Urcia, we encountered an army of Dupes. They marched on foot, geared in basic armour—a gambeson, a chainmail coat, a helmet, and a pauldron. Unlike the soldiers I'd gotten used to seeing, this army wielded patternless shields (painted orange, of course, but that was it) and spears. They halted to let us get ahead, since we were mounted, and we asked their commander where they were heading. This was an entire battalion.

"We're moving to the front," the commander said.

"This is the 513th Battalion. Fresh recruits for the southern front, to replace what the battalions lost last year."

"How many more of you will there be?" I asked.

"The 514th and the 515th," he said.

"That's it. The 515th is slightly larger than average, and some of those recruits will go to other battalions to replace lost men." I swallowed. Only three more battalions? We'd lost more than that in the attack last year. Besides, the 294th's numbers were still dwindling, and we didn't have much to replace it with. Hopefully, the 515th would help with that.

"It's not ideal, I am aware," the commander said.

"Word is that the situation on the front up north has gotten more dire, and they needed more reinforcements up there. We're lucky to be sent down here." Yeah, lucky, I thought. There was probably some truth to that, though. They needed soldiers to fight in the North. But yet again, they were abandoning the southern front. The Warlord had given up on it, or was trying to let it fall and use its fall to seize more direct control up north. Either way, I wouldn't consider these soldiers lucky.

The chances of survival down here were dwindling, especially if we were meant to lose. I nodded, and didn't say anything.

"We're lucky to have you, though, Sir Levi," the commander said.

"You know me?"

"Everyone knows you. Everyone in the army, at least. The Dupe who became a thegn? I dare not ask how you did it, though."

"That's… that's good to hear." I didn't know what else to say, so I just bobbed my head, then added, "We won't keep you any longer, though. I appreciate the update." Smooth as usual. One day, though, I'd be better at making speeches and encouraging people. I'd have to be. ~ ~ ~ When we were two-thirds of the way to Castle Urcia, we split with the riders from the 294th. They rode farther south, taking a different and more direct route to return to Slowbend.

Diagonal, instead of having to ride all the way east to Castle Urcia and then south. (Apparently, there was talk of renaming Slowbend to something else, given its growth. It would need a whole new name, too, because 'Slowchester' didn't really roll off the tongue. But that was only a rumour. I hadn't been there in a while to see if it was true.) My squad was faster on our own, anyway. We didn't need to sleep as much overnight, and we could camp in the woods, rather than having to stop at a village every night.

It only took two days to return to Castle Urcia after that. When we arrived, it was evening. We left the horses in the stable, and I rushed to the castle's keep, where I hoped Lord Ceonwin would be. I navigated through the hallways, dodging castle staff, until I found his office, then knocked on the door. A mercenary captain, who had been meeting with him, stepped outside, then walked away down the hallway. Inside Ceonwin's office, only Sir Sidal stood with his Ealdorman, looking over a map and talking softly.

"Whoever's next may come in," Lord Ceonwin droned, without looking up.

"You didn't sense me, sir?" I asked, pushing the door open wider.

"Ah, Sir Levi. You're back."

"Yes, my lord," I said.

"I have good news…and probably some bad news."

"As expected. I'm sure you angered someone. You can tell me in time." He paused.

"Your timing on your return, however, is very good. We've finished excavating the Labyrinth entrances that we collapsed three weeks ago, and delves can resume. You can begin exploring the second level of the city."