Chapter 7

Village of Visomar, situated on a base of Menten hills. Once it was a town known around the Central continent for production of its famous Visomar ale. It was a town of around 1500 people. But the town was reduced to ash by Imperial's 40 years ago. After their defeat at Greta river. Emperor Gustaf ordered the remainder of his army to burn every village and town on their way back to their homeland. Visomar was one of those towns.

After a decade Markus Elckester, in an attempt to rebuild Visomar and it's ale and wheat trade he ordered around fifty families to migrate and rebuild the town. But in the end the plans failed and now Visomar is a small village that is a home to about thirty to forty people.

These people never lived good lives in that place but now it's even worse. The war ended but the damage done to them and their property is great. Armies seemed like devil armies send to whipe them out. They would come and go, taking food and women whit them. Leaving nothing behind. Some of the villagers sold their daughters to the soldiers so that the rest of the family can survive.

All of them suffered greatly. And because of that they started to hate newcomers. Then one night a fight broke out in the village. By the time they came to the spot where the fight was happening it was to late. Their neighbors laid dead on the ground. Angered by this they gave chase, they had enough of strangers coming to their village and making mess. They will catch the three men who did this and kill them.

They releassd the dogs that were being kept in cages. But they were cut down by the hooded man. In the end they gave up. The men entered a forest near the village and escaped. Well at least now they had three mouths less to feed.

"Ha...Ha.....Haaahh.....Fuuuuuu. Man that was close." Said Robert out of breath. He sheets his sword and leans on a tree.

"You should really lose some weight old man."

"Shuth up, Leonard haaa... I told you to stop calling me like that. Besides you are breathing heavily too."

"Well of course I'am we just ran for our's lives. But man look at him. Didn't even brake a sweet." Leonard said to Damien who was now cleaning his sword from all the blood.

"I thank you stranger. If you didn't saved me back there i would probably be dead."

Robert slowly approached him while keeping his guard. "But now if you would be so kind and explain us why did you help us and WHY do you need ours help?" Damien removed his hood leaving both Robert and Leonard suprised. He looked like he was in his sixties. He was bald and had a grey short beard. He looked tired and dried up. He certainly didn't look like a man who could so skillfully fight whit a sword like he did before.

"I'm on a mission."

"Mission?"

"Yes but context of that mission will not be given to you. All you need to know is that I could use your protection and that I'm willing to pay. A lot" Robert looked at Leonard looking if he had something to add. Leonard just shruged.

"Protection? The way you fight?"

"I can easily deal whit three or four opponents, but any more. It becomes too risky. And I will not take risks that I can avoid."

Makes sense. Leonard thought, then spoke.

"How much are you willing to pay?"

"100 ester."

Robert scoffs.

"100 ester!? Yeah right."

Ester was a universal currency used throughout the central continent. It was mostly used by nobles and merchants so that they don't need to go through the trouble of converting to the other currency. And the risk of being cheated at the exchange office was negated that way as well. That made it very useful to people who travel to different kingdoms a lot.

"Your name mister?"

"Robert. It's Robert."

"Mister Robert do you really think that Sentinel order can't afford to give me a 100 ester? I will pay you 50 now and 50 when you escort me to my location."

Yeah he is right. Robert thought. They are not powerful as they were 20 years ago. Ever since they became enemies of the church. But still they hold a lot of power. They were given land and money by Kovandar's King. Well firstly I should get more information about this mission.

"And where is that you are headed?"

"Tovder. Town of Tovder."

"Let's accept Robert."

Leonard joined in the conversion.

"Huh!? Why? You know that Church is looking for his kind it's going to be dangerous Leonard!!"

"Oh com'on!!! Tovder is less then a day's travel from here. And 100 ester!! And that money will surly help us in future."

After pondering for some time Robert spoke.

"You know this might be dangerous. Are you aware of that?"

"I know."

"Fuck it. As you wish you are my Lord after all."

"Lord?" Confused by this. Damien asks.

"None of your business. Just give us that 50 ester and we have a deal."

Damien takes out his pouch of coin. Takes out half of the coins and throws half of it to Robert.

"There you go, that's fifty. Now let's go."

Three of them started making their way towards Tovder.It's been few hours since they set out from the forest near Visomar. The sun was at it's highest. The road they were travelling on went over the small hills and through the fields of wheat that were being harvested by people from the nearby villages. There were a lot more people then there should be. Leonard thought while looking at them work. They are even gaurds watching over them. Must be because the war ended few days ago.Sight of golden wheat had a nostalgic feeling to it.

"Ahhhh, that was long time ago."

He said whit a smile.He remembered the days when he was a child. His mother would take him and his sister to their mansion right outside of Doren. They would go and suprise their father when his duties kept him in Doren for large amounts of time. Weeks, sometimes even months. Doren is surrounded by fields of wheat and corn. Four of them together would take long walks through those fields. Sight of his mother walking through the golden wheat would always bring a smile to his face.

"You must be thinking about something good. Judging from that stupid smile of yours."

Said Robert while slapping his back.

"Hey! Where did that came from!?."

"I'm just fucking around."

"Well stop then."

"Fine, sorry. It sure is hot today."

Lonard was confused by this. By no means was it hot. It was as Leonard calls it a perfect weather. Not to hot and not to cold. After all he hates both, if it was hot he would be complain all the way to Tovder. But if he was to chose between the summer and winter he would chose winter. As he said many times before. When you are cold you can easily warm yourself up. But when it's hot. Even if you get naked you will still be hot and sweat like a pig.

It didn't take long for him to notice Robert holding his hand on his wound. Leonard became more and more worried about that wound, if it got infected they would be in trouble. Robert did clean it before. When they were spending a night in the barn but whit no stitching and any real medication or herbs his wound can't heal properly.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Huh what you mean."

Leonard looked at his wound and poked it.

"Aaarrgh! So you mean the wound?"

"Mhm. I don't want it to get infected."

"Don't worry it won't. I will visit a doctor when we get to Tovder. But enough of that what were you thinking about before?"

Don't want to make me worried huh. He is always like this. Leonard thought.

"About father, sister and..... Mother"

Robert noticed the sad face that Leonard was making.

"Was it a sad memory?"

"Oh well no, at first."

Every time they spoke about his family or his mother he would always get sad.

"Before or after i came to your estate?"

"Before."

"I see. Well after all when I came her sanity already left her."

"Yeah."

Sanity. That word brought back memories of his mother slowly faidig away in a husk that she was in the last year of her life. At the start she would forget name's, event's, what they talked about in the morning. But it got worse. Sitting in a chair looking out of a window was the only thing she did in her last day's. She did not talk, eat, drink, sleep.

Every time Leonard entered that room she would just starre at him. That cold starre hurt Leonard. At the time he was just a young child, he would cry and scream at her. Why are you like this mom!! Why do you hate me mom!? He was to young to understand. And just days after his eleventh birthday his mother passed away in her sleep. Or so he thought. Later when he was older his father told him that he could not take watching his wife suffer any more. So he put poison in her meal and feed it to her. Minutes later she passed away.

"Man... sometimes I wish I could go back in time and beat the shit out of my younger self.

"Bhahaha. Really? You would?"

"Yeah! Don't laugh!"

After laughing Robert sighed.

"Me too Leonard."

Then after a short pause and whit a sad expression Robert said.

"After losing my family to bandit's I went on a path of revenge. After I hunted them down and killed every last one of them. I lost the will to live. From one battle to another. I fought hoping to die while fighting. But I guess i was not that lucky. Heh If you'r father didn't found me drinking my life away in that tavern near Pernik I would probably be a corps rotting away on some battlefield. If I didn't that my life before that."

"I already know that. Both you and my father told me that multiple times."

He still remembered the day his father brought Robert home. He set out a week ago to city of Pernik on some urgent business. Four guards went whit him, once he returned only one remained. As they traveld back home, they found them selfs in a middle of a storm. They found shelter in a small tavern. In that tavern was Robert.

His father told him that one of his guards started a fight whit him after Robert by accident spilled one of theirs drink's. Robert had none of it. He drew his sword and killed the man. Then he killed the other two after they attacked him. His father told him that they would probably be dead if Robert wansn't drunk. After Leonard asked his father why he didn't kill him his father said that he saw potential in him and he brought him home.

"I was a real pice of shit back then. I stole, raped, killed. Some of them were bad people that deserved it but most of them....." At that moment Robert looked like he was remembering someone or something that happened in the past. "Most of them were ordinary people, just trying to live their lives in this shit world."

"Like I said I already know that. What are you trying to say?"

Then Robert puts his arm on Leonard's shoulder.

"All I'm trying to say is that if my family were alive and that they saw me when I was in my worst. They would hated it. So don't blame your's self your mother would not like it."

Leonard stayed silent for a while, thinking about it. Yeah that's the truth. Mom was a good person after all.

"Yeah I know. I will try not to from now on."

"Good. Good. I want to tell you one more thing."

Robert then whispered to Leonard's ear.

"Your father gave me a second chance at life so if you chose too. I will follow you through hell."

He pointed at Damien who was walking ahead of them as he said that.

"Oh com'on he is not that bad."

"We will see."

It will all go well. When we get to Tovder he will pay us. Robert will clean his wound, we will rest for a night and then we will go to Doren. No need to stress about it.

He said to him self whit confidence.

But what he didn't know was that very soon his confidence will be tested.