14 Ethan's Rewards

Mia felt relieved when she saw the 26 explosions pierce the sky. [I did not voice any of my doubts that this plan would go perfectly, but I certainly felt some doubt. A lot of things could have gone wrong, but didn't. Ethan's gunpowder could have not worked as well as he thought it would, The 'delayed spark' enchantments could have not been cast perfectly and therefore not worked, the lizard-people could have realized it was a trap and not swarmed, the timing of the barriers could have not been perfect, the lizard-people could have had some kind of unseen countermeasure for explosions; if any of these possibilities had happened, we would have died. This was truly the best possible outcome.] thought Mia as her knights hacked apart what remained of the lizard-people force and the barrier that Friedrich had cast wore off.

"Don't let them regroup!" Mia shouted.

"Charge for their center, don't let them retreat in an organized fashion! Make sure that any enemy survivors are either killed or thoroughly routed!" She added.

This battle was reaching its successful conclusion. Just then Pieter Von Verafgelegen shouted "Johan Alchemis! I see you hiding there, you coward! You would rather side with these monsters than your own kind! Would you abandon your fellow man, your countrymen, to their death, you traitor! I always knew that you were a weasel of a man, but to think that you would collaborate with the lizard-people against your own village!" at a scared looking young man who was hiding behind a tree on the edge of the where the Ancient Forrest met the clearing that the village was built on. He was watching in horror as the lizard-people were defeated by the knights and adventurers.

"Mercy, my lord! Please I beg you for your mercy!" Johan Alchemis said while prostrating himself, knowing that he had been caught just as most of the knights and adventurers were celebrating their victory.

"I knew that it was a little too inconvenient. Just as our alchemist abandoned us and brings all of his potions with him, the attacks from lizard-people began. And now to see you watching this from the Forest, it has removed all my doubt that you have collaborated with the enemy." Said the angry lord of Verafgelegen as he, Mia, Hans, and Friedrich approached.

"Please, mercy my lord." said the alchemist who was now shaken to the marrow.

"When-" Mia started to ask the alchemist.

"Please Mercy-" Said the alchemist while crying and still prostrating himself.

"Shut up about that and stop crying. I don't have time for that. I am the Captain of the Sun Knights in the service of the King, and you will answer my questions: When did it start? How long have you been in communication with lizard-people?" Asked Mia clearly irritated that this traitor had dared to interrupt her with his pathetic pleas for mercy.

"I first spoke to them a couple of months ago when I first came to this village. They didn't seem like monsters at first, they just gave me advice about alchemy, and gave me some valuable slime cores. All I had to do is give them insignificant information about the village like how thick the walls are and how much supplies we keep on hand. They really acted like they cared about me. Then when Sofia *sob* rejected me and then everyone laughed at me, I told them that I wanted to *sob* show her that I was a dependable man. They said that they would help me do that if I took my potions out of the village and hung out with them for a few days. They said that it would just be a siege for show and that I would come in and look like a hero. I-I really didn't want to hurt anyone." said the alchemist.

[Is he an idiot, or does he think that I am? How in the world does he think that how thick village the walls are or how many supplies are in the village is 'insignificant information'. That is exactly the kind of information that a potential conqueror would want. And doesn't he know that lizard-people don't just break off sieges halfway through unless their own casualties are too high, and certainly not to make some human look like a hero. If he had any intelligence at all he would know that he was being used for the raiding of the village by the lizard-people.] thought Mia.

Pieter seemed to be having similar thoughts to Mia's because he said, "If you really think that then you're an even bigger idiot than I thought."

"Hans, Friedrich, bind his wrists, and bring him inside the village. We will take him with us. The king will decide his fate because his crime is treason against humanity." Mia said and the twin knights brought the alchemist inside the village.

[Speaking of people whom I have ordered Hans and Friedrich to lead away while their wrists are bound, I wonder where Ethan is. I don't see him anywhere. He has as much right to celebrate as any of us, after all this victory is, in large part, thanks to him. I should go look for him] Mia thought.

She then went back into the village and started to look for him. She finally found Ethan in the alchemist's abandoned workshop. He was sitting on the floor with his knees pressed against his chest and his arms wrapped around his shins. His face was pale and sweaty as he was staring at the doorway. Mia, who had gone through many battles in the previous war against the Western Empire, knew that look on Ethans face well. She had seen it on the faces of several good knights who had gone through particularly bloody battles. In the Kingdom of Vorbei, they called it 'battle sickness', and it could affect even the toughest warriors. Mia then went and sat beside Ethan.

"You saved many lives today. Among the adventurers and knights, there were no casualties." Mia said.

"I know." said Ethan.

"Regardless of how you may feel about this, you did good work today, and you have a duty to accept the rewards when you feel better." Said Mia.

"Rewards? I don't want a reward." Said Ethan.

[I understand that he doesn't want a reward because it will remind him of the battle, but the law of this Kingdom states that a commoner must accept all rewards that a noble or royal offers in good faith. He has no choice but to accept the rewards, but we can at least wait until he feels better.] Thought Mia.

"A village was saved, a traitor was caught, and over five hundred intelligent monsters with valuable cores were killed thanks to you. Of course there's going to be a reward. You will need to accept the cores of all of the lizard-people that you killed plus half of the cores of all the lizard people that were killed with your assistance, i.e. killed with explosives that you made. Plus Pieter will have to give you a reward, probably an honorary title and a sword, that's pretty standard to give to a commoner who provided significant assistance in saving a village and he may also give you all of the traitor's property. Plus the King will likely reward you for assisting the Sun Knights, and the Von Ritter family will reward you for helping me. Of course, you'll no longer be our prisoner, more like an honored guest. We'll still be escorting you to the capital though." Said Mia.

"I have a couple of questions."said Ethan

"Go ahead." Said Mia.

"Do I have the option to refuse the rewards?" Asked Ethan.

"No. As long as its given in good faith by someone of higher social rank, you can't turn it down." Said Mia.

"Who's the traitor?" Asked Ethan.

"Johan Alchemis, the alchemist who owned, and abandoned, this shop. It turns out that he was collaborating with the lizard-people for months." Mia said.

"What's a core?" Ethan asked.

[Right. I forgot for a moment that Ethan lacks any common sense of this land] thought Mia.

"Did you see those glowing circles of mana on the chests of the lizard-people?" Asked Mia.

"Yeah." said Ethan

"Right inside their chests where you see the circle of light is a sphere that is the monsters' power source. It's basically pure mana, and it can be liquified by a skilled alchemist and turned into a mana potion. Each one from a lizard-person can be turned into about thirty mana potions."

"I know that I drank some last night, but how valuable is mana potion?" Ethan asked apparently not knowing the value of things in this land.

"One mana potion is worth about one large silver coins. One large silver coin is worth ten standard silver coins. One standard silver coin is worth about one full day's labor for a common laborer." Mia answered.

Ethan seemed to be doing some math quickly in his head "So, last night, when I drank ten mana potions?"

"Yep, you drank down the equivalent of one hundred days wages for the average common laborer. Not that I was expecting you to have such high mana capacity, or maybe I would have been more conservative in giving you potions. Don't worry about it though, as your rewards combined will be worth a lot more than ten mana potions." Mia said

[Its true. He killed 35 lizard-people himself, and contributed to the deaths of an additional 482. That much alone will give him 276 lizard-person cores. Given that each of those 276 cores can make 30 mana potions, that is the equivalent of 8,280 mana potions, or 82,800 days labor for a common laborer. That is not even counting the rewards he will receive from the King or from my family which will both likely be extravagant. He will be set for life financially, and may even be given a title of nobility.] Thought Mia, though she thought that this may not be the best time to say that to Ethan given his current state.

"The gunpowder. Now that you know how to make it, will your country use it in warfare from now on?" Asked Ethan.

"Probably, although not as much as you might think." She answered honestly. "I can see how that could be a world-changing weapon in a land without magic like your homeland, but here, it will be much less useful. High ranked attack magic will be more destructive than a physical explosion anyway, and once we start using gunpowder against a smart enemy like the Western Empire, it won't be long before they develop magical defenses against these types of explosions. That's not to say that it won't have any use at all. We could arm people who are not skilled with swords or magic with gunpowder based weapons, but I don't think it will be the world changing destructive force that you fear. It will likely be a niche weapon and a subject of study for scholars. It would only be in specific situations like this, when we don't have enough mana to win the fight with magic, and are too outnumbered to win the fight with the sword, that an order like the Sun Knights would consider using gunpowder based weapons." Said Mia.

[Of course it is for the interest that scholars might have that I am primarily seeing value in this substance. Josef Von Buch, the Minister of Education will not be able to contain his excitement with this substance. He will be begging me to learn how to make it so that he can study it once I show him what it does. I will offer to teach him how to make it if only he would do one favor for me and cast his vote to remove Von Geld from his position as Treasury Minister. I will then be one step closer to removing Von Geld from his wealth and political power. Muahahaha!] Thought Mia.

"Why do you have an evil smile on your face like you're plotting something?" Asked Ethan.

"I don't!" said Mia.