7 House Von Schwert

A world filled with monsters of all shapes and sizes. A world plagued by the disease known as 'greed.' A world where your neighbour remains apathetic to you, and yours, just because they fear the corruption that weaves its dark, blood-stained fingers through the kingdom. This is the world that we live in. At any given moment, for any given reason, you could lose your life, or lose a loved one, and everyone would carry on with their lives without batting an eye.

This sort of thinking isn't uncommon. People of no status or accomplishment would drunkenly voice these complaints on a nightly basis. These same people, who know only how to farm, or sew, or tend the livestock, see the world differently to us - the nobles.

To these country bumpkins, nobles only know how to steal from the poor and live off that wealth. 'The nobles wouldn't survive the harsh conditions that we commoners have to deal with every day!' they would say. Hah! Just what gives them the right to judge the nobles? What do they know of the troubles, the dramas, and the politics that sit quietly in the shadows, ready to stab you through the heart at any given moment in time?

Let these lowborn scum live their simple, basic, mundane lives!

Let them continue to be clueless to the reality of the land that they live on!

No true patriotic noble family would allow themselves to fall into that sinkhole of greed and backstabbery. Definitely not a noble family like mine own. Definitely not the von Schwert household. Definitely not!

Sitting on the balcony of her family-owned mansion, a young woman with lemon blonde hair looked out over the horizon. The soft breeze kissed her smooth white skin, cooling her off from the heat of the late afternoon sun. It was a brief respite for this young lady of the von Schwert household. Behind her stood a man who looked to be in his fifties. He wore a fully black attire, save for his white shirt. The young woman sighed deeply.

"Miss Veronica," a deep and humble voice said. "Your brothers are waiting."

"Yes," replied the young woman. "Tell my brothers I shall be there in due time."

"As you wish," the man bowed before leaving.

Slowly lifting a cup of tea to her lips, the young Miss Veronica von Schwert sipped without haste nor hurry. Today was to begin a long trip towards the castle town of Alexandria. It would take no less than two weeks by carriage, and upon arrival, her family would still need to stay in the township for another week. This trip to Alexandria would see the von Schwert family rewarded for their meritorious deeds in the previous clash between the two neighbouring nations, Alexandria and Grenthora.

Grenthora, known for its harsh treatment towards the demihuman race, has always been trying to invade, and overtake the Alexandria kingdom. Though the lands of Grenthora were not small, there lacked the kind of resources that the land in Alexandria had. Crops that were commonly grown in Alexandria scarcely sprouted in Grenthoran soil. The mines of Grenthora would also dry up much faster compared to Alexandrian mines. From this, already we can see that Grenthora could never hope to match Alexandria's wealth in resources.

Rumours of Grenthora's king colluding with the demon race had reached the ears of the Alexandrian nobles, months prior to the battles, which spurred an alliance between the nobles. It was the first time, in her life, that Veronica von Schwert had heard of such an event. Though the idea was a welcome one, the thought that another noble family could - and would - stab their family in the back lurked in the back of her mind. For sure, her brothers would not allow her to forget that such a possibility existed.

The von Schwert family were once, a few generations ago, a farming family. It was only through their ancestors' deeds in wars long past that the von Schwerts of today are even acknowledged as a proud noble family. It was said that the name even came from their ancestors' weapon of choice: the sword.

Today, the von Schwert household would enroll their young into military academies, when they become of age, so that they can continue to be ready to take up arms for their kingdom when called upon. The recent battles saw the three brothers serving their king, as lieutenant colonels leading three different battalions on three different fronts, achieving victory after victory for Alexandria. This was, by no means, an easily feat. The rewards that awaited them in the royal capital of Alexandria would definitely be well deserved.

Many of the von Schwert household wanted to attend the royal summons, this time around, but the family head, Victor von Schwert, had said that only the main family would be going. This had sown discord among his brothers and sisters, but none were able to refute his decision on that matter. None were strong enough to.

It was well known that, though status and prestige would allow you an easier path in life, it was strength that truly lead one to a better living. With the three sons having achieved such high praise for their heroic deeds on the battlefield, as well as Victor von Schwert's own history of serving his king in small skirmishes, just who in their family could match them?

Tristan von Schwert, eldest of the three brothers, stood in front of the carriage in the gardens. The carriage was to be pulled by a pair of white horses. These two horses would normally only have harnesses on them, however, due to the nature of the ones riding the carriage, light cavalry armour was also worn.

Inside the carriage, the two younger brothers, David and Eric von Schwert, had already seated themselves comfortably - one of them even going as far as to manspread whilst their younger sister was still absent.

"Trist!" the youngest of the brothers, Eric von Schwert called out. "How long is our sister going to make us wait for?"

"Knowing her, it'll take us another hour or so," David von Schwert snidely remarked.

"Just wait," the eldest of the three said, his frustration leaked out. "No matter what, we'd still have to wait for her, else father would crucify us."

"Tch," Eric spat. "I'd like to see her using her magic to speed us up, just to make up for the lost time!"

"You jest," Tristan said. "Best be quiet before she decides to barbecue you with her flames!"

"I'll say what I want to say, about who I want to say it!"

"Then I might just take this opportunity to roast you, dear brother of mine."

At this moment, Veronica von Schwert stepped up into the carriage, with the help of her brother Tristan, and calmed retorted to what Eric was saying. Eric von Schwert sat up in surprise, then shot daggers with his eyes at their eldest brother - how dare he play me for the fool!

"Dearest sister," he said, sweating bullets. "I was simply joking. Joking!"

"No, he wasn't," the trouble-maker of the family, David spoke.

"Haha! You should see your face," Tristan laughed, pointing at the victim, and slapping his knee.

"I'll get you back for this, brother!"

"Not in a thousand years, young brother!"

"Not in a million," David added.

"Coachman," Tristan called toward the front of the carriage. "Let us be off!"

With the sound of a whip, and the neigh of the horses, the carriage set off towards Alexandria, the royal capital.

...

Standing in front of a long wooden board, that stretched the entirety of the wall, Jun Long stood reaching for a piece of paper near the top. Before he could touch it, James Tarker had called out to him from the other side of the building.

"Hey, Jun! Come over here! I found us a job!"

Deciding to leave the job listing for 'Subdue rampaging green dragon' to meet up with James, Jun Long rushed over to see just what job the two of them were going to take. As soon as he stepped away, a slender arm, bandaged in what could only be called old cloth wrappings, reached for the piece of paper near the top and ripped it off the board. The person looked at Jun Long, as he ran over to his partner, then swiftly turned toward their party of burly adventurers.

"I'm here," Jun Long reported, panting a little bit. "What job are we taking?"

"Only the most important of important jobs, my dear man!" James Tarker teased.

"Really!?" the gullible newbie asked excitedly. "I'm not sure that I'll be able to do it, but I'll try my best."

"Errr," James could only scratch his head in guilt, as he could see that Jun was being serious. "I was just joking about the 'important' part."

"Oh. Well, then what job are we taking?"

"You recover quick, don't you?"

"Ah.. haha.." now it was Jun's turn to scratch his head.

James Tarker raised the piece of paper in his hand to show his dark haired friend. On it was a picture of some poorly drawn green midgets, and the words 'Goblin hunt'. Jun Long could tell that no one actually put time into this job listing. It was normal, though, as a job like this would pop up quite often, according to his understanding of a fantasy type world. Goblins, monsters typically low in level, were never truly exterminated, wherever they sprung up - they were the perfect beginner adventurer level job!