1 Prologue

You're the heir of the Aetum family, which is one of the most influential noble family in Eiraenys. Eiraenys is a kingdom ruled by King Tykonus, who subdivides his kingdom into multiple states and appoints his trusted noble families to rule over them. Your father, Duke Xander Aetum is one of the 2 Dukes among other noblemen. He resides in Faelya Castle to rule over the state of Ouraelus.

As the heir of the Aetum family, you are the commander of the army in Faelya Castle. Your remarkable martial prowess has earned the respect of your fellow militants. This evening, you are summoned to the castle's main hall by your father. Despite donning a full suit of armor, you walk hastily, but with the bearing of an earnest knight along the passage toward the main hall. Upon arrival, you knock on the door before entering.

"You are in need of me? Father." You spoke with eagerness before noticing your father is speaking with another man. He has long curly hair and bearing a dark suit of armor. He turns toward you with a stern stare, you couldn't recognize him immediately but with a quick glance at the coat of arm on his armor, you see a sinister-looking serpent coiling and devouring a man, that's the symbol of the Fidiraecus Family, which is the only family that earned the title of "Duke" apart from your own.

"Ah, greetings pup. You remember Duke Melios?" Your father turns toward you while slightly extending his arm with open palm pointing toward him. Duke Melios Fidiraecus, the leader of the Fidiraecus Family, whom you first met during the royal banquet last year, who doesn't strike as the most pleasant person in the world as he always carries a steely expression.

"Honor to meet you, Duke Fidiraecus." You bow while placing your fist near your heart, it's a standard salute among Eiraenys folks. He nods faintly, with no intention to returns salute or makes any pleasantries, an awkward silence creeps up behind you and devours you whole. "Anyway, Melios and I have some urgent matters to discuss. Could you in charge of the routine patrol on my behalf?" Thankfully, your father drags you out from the bowel of the awkward silence. "With haste, father." You bow with a salute and your father returns the salute. You turn around and exit the main hall. Before closing the door, the sight of your father talking with Duke Melios Fidiraecus sends an ominous chill up your spine.

Upon arriving at the bailey, you see a huge entourage of royal steeds characterized by their shiny armor and silk dyed with bright royal blue sewn onto the saddle. The steeds are mounted by royal mages double as banner bearers carrying the coat of arm depicting a golden eagle spreading its wings that symbolizes your family, and some royal knights carry sword and shield with your family coat of arm as well.

You walk toward your horse, upon seeing your arrival the patrol officers salute you. The clank of the gauntlet and the breastplate ripple through the royal patrol as the officers notice your presence rank by rank. Your lieutenant seated at his horseback ahead of the entire royal patrol alerted by the clanking of salute immediate turns around and salutes to you as well.

"Greetings my lord. I was expecting your father." He said. You climb onto your horse, turn toward the patrol officers to return salute, and answer: "Father is meeting Duke Fidiraecus. I am leading the patrol." He raises his eyebrows in suspicion, "Duke Fidiraecus? At this hour?" Implying nobles always avoid meeting each other in the evening, as nightfall causes all sorts of dangers during the return trip, and staying in others' castle is discomfiting. "It's fine, we'll get it done." You replied while dismissing any residue of doubt within your lieutenant, or in this instance, within you as well.

"Open the gate!" Your lieutenant yelled. A deep metallic grind erupts above you as the portcullis in front of you begin to raises. You wait for it to ascends completely, before gently squeezing your horse's girth with your leg to signal it to walk. As you slowly exiting Castle Faelya, you see the road in front of you is flanked by blacksmiths distinguished by their chimney that constantly coughing out soot.

As your horse slowly trot through the blacksmiths, you are welcomed by the smell of burning charcoal, the relentless gushing of heat toward your cheek, the persistent clanging of the hammer, the cracking of firewood, and the roaring of the furnace. You had been roaming the street of Ouraelus since you were five. To you, the sounds and scents from the blacksmiths are always the beginning of an exciting adventure.

Ouraelus is a city that thrives on commerce. It has a harbor at its southeastern border where ships carrying exotic goods would dock here while her crews would unload their cargo to the quay. Once those cargoes are offshore, sentries stationed at the southeastern entrance would inspect it before letting them pass. Connecting the entrance inward is a broad avenue bustling with merchant carts and flanked by hawker stalls where the hawkers flailing their hands, calling out to the passerby in hope of getting them to stop by their stall.

Following down the avenue is a market square where wealthier merchants set up their more illustrious stall and selling more valuable goods. The wealthiest merchants on the other hand, would erect their storehouses in the market square where they have a more conducive environment to conduct trades. All sorts of goods are sold here, be it nose stinging spices, dazzling colored silk bolt, majestic handcrafted fur coat, aromatic wine, sparkling jewelry, and so on.

Castle Faelya is situated on the west side of Ouraelus. The road leading out from it is populated by not only blacksmiths but weavers, painters, musicians, and other craftsmen as well, which ends in the market square. Hence, the royal patrol can exits Castle Faelya and heads directly to the busiest section of the city for a routine inspection.

Upon arriving at the market square, you saw a huge crowd surrounding an angry merchant shoving and spewing curses at a man with ragged cloth whom at first glance, one would assume he's a beggar. Worrying that the incident might turn violent, you dismount and walk toward the crowd.

"Make way for the royal patrol!" called your lieutenant.

The crowd turns around in shock, and upon seeing you, they immediately back themselves up and open up a path. "Greetings my lord." The citizens bow, salute, and address your arrival.

You tap your chest with your fist and walk toward the crowd, "At ease. What's going on?"

The merchant steps forward with his face is glowing rage: "My lord! This...... wretched dog! He tries to steal my coins!"

The beggar frown in misery, clasping his palm together and rocking it back and forth: "No! My lord! I was merely borrowing some coins......"

"Hmph! Borrowing is no different than stealing to a despicable scum such as yourself!" The merchant says furiously while pointing at the poor man.

"No! I'm not! I did promise him I'll pay him back......" The poor man pleads.

"Hmph! Pay me back! With what?! With your filth?! My lord! I urge you to arrest this...... this rat to prevent further commercial disruption!" The enraged merchant salute and bow to you.

"I swear! I did promise I'll pay him back! I promised in front of them!" The beggar dropped to his knee and plead. "Would any of you please exonerate me?!" He stands back up and quickly steps toward the crowd, but the citizens just back up even further to avoid physical contact with him.

"Ha! No one is going to help you! Filth!" Said the fuming merchant.

"Calm down! Both of you!" You interrupt them in an attempt to de-escalate the commotion. You sink into the ocean of thoughts, the beggar seems sincere about his promise, there's no way he could lie in front of the crowd and get away with it. On the other hand, you can get rich easily if you help the merchant. How would you decide?

Help the beggar - continue to Warrior Chapter 1

Help the merchant - skip to Warrior Chapter 2