Arc 3 - Chapter 11: Mora Kingdom of the Stars (1/2)

They were about to leave January behind and enter February. They were in a different country as they entered the last month of winter, but the snow was doing exactly as well here as it had done in İlonya, still falling enough to paralyze life.

Since Mora is north of İlonya, he had expected the winter to be harsher here, but he hoped that the snow would at least abate in the last month of winter.

Now that their journey had come to an end, he felt both relief and excitement. He felt the anxiety of entering a new place for the first time, but also the excitement of seeing people he knew again.

It took them only a week to cross the mountains between İlonya and the Mora. Of course, this was thanks to the strength of the roarons. The snow made it difficult to get up and down the mountains, but somehow they made it.

Yu felt that he should be appreciated here and that he deserved some praise, but no roaron gave him the praise he wanted. Yet Yu had managed to cross the mountains without loss, without starving any of them or letting them perish from the cold.

Of course, the losses were not inflicted by the group led by Yu. The three bandit groups they encountered in the mountains also suffered heavy casualties and their activities came to an end.

Everyone knew that there were bandits in those mountains. Those who had goods between the Mora and İlonya that could not pass through customs used those mountains, and there, too, groups of bandits were waiting to take possession of these valuables.

Yu was in the same situation. Yu couldn't get the gold through customs and he had to use the mountains to get his money to the Mora. So everything went as expected, but he was seriously surprised that there were still bandits there when the winter was so hard.

Of course he had taken precautions against the bandits, but he found it hard to understand them. They were so likely to die of cold and hunger that it was almost suicide to continue living in those mountains.

Of course, if this is suicide, what would you call attacking a demi-lion tribe of two hundred people with groups of thirty to fifty bandits?

"When you think about it, what they did was not so unreasonable. Of course it doesn't make sense to stay in those mountains or to attack when you know you're going to lose, but they had no choice. Probably their supplies were no longer enough for them and they had to eat. So they had to attack us and capture our goods and supplies."

Yu had armed the roarons, but these weapons were no match for a fully equipped professional army. The weapons they had were mostly axes and hammers found in the villages, which would allow them to kill a man. Still, the roarons managed to get by with them.

"Indeed, they are useful soldiers. They are fit to serve as a special guard unit."

He still remembered the helplessness of the people in front of the roarons.

"I don't think the roarons' weapons are that bad either. The weapons of the last bandit group were good, but the weapons of the first two were not much different from ours. Besides, not everyone had a sword in medieval times, and I saw a video where agricultural tools were used for fighting. So their weapons are not really bad. Of course, I need to get better ones, they should be warriors who strike fear into the enemy."

In total, they were attacked by three different groups of bandits. The first group of bandits consisted of forty people, the second group was twenty-nine and the third group, the best equipped, was fifty-five.

The men of roaron had done what Yu had expected of them and had done their duty in all three attacks, protecting him and Yurine. They were as good as Yu expected them to be.

The first two groups of bandits attacked at night and the roarons defended both night raids perfectly. The last group chose to attack in the morning. They were better equipped and more experienced than the two groups. Although they were unlikely to defeat the roarons, if they had chosen the night raid, they could have at least managed to inflict casualties.

The last group had another interesting aspect besides its strength. Someone in that group managed to stand up to the roarons. And not just against a single one, but even though he was surrounded by five roarons, he kept swinging his sword.

He probably couldn't have kept it up for long, but the fact that he was able to defend for even a minute against five hulking demi-lion warriors was admirable.

"Sivina said she would have a hard time in such a situation. Let's see what she says when she hears this."

Seeing that the roarons had failed to defeat her, Yurine took action, even though Yu said it was unnecessary. Yurine wanted to test her strength on a strong person.

No matter how well he wielded the sword, his chances against a wind mage like Yurine were not very good. Yurine defeated him easily, gaining more respect and admiration from the roarons.

But it was not his skill with the sword that made him interesting, it was who he claimed to be. If he was telling the truth, he was someone important.

He called himself Link Yachi Long. He was a little taller than Yu, but thinner, but that didn't mean he was weak. He had an incredible skill with a sword, but it was his name, not his sword, that determined his worth. Long was the name of the clan from which the ruler of the Mora Kingdom was chosen, and the Yachi branch was part of the Long clan, although the current king was from a different branch.

The Yachi branch was not very prominent, but they too had royal blood and anyone from the Yachi branch had a chance to become king.

"He can't really be who he claims to be, can he?"

Why would someone important be a bandit in the mountains?

"I hope he is not telling the truth. After all, the one the Zodianists want to make king is from a different branch of the same clan. Let's not get arrested for attacking the royal dynasty as soon as we leave."

They had brought Link Yachi Long with them to sell him into slavery like the other seventeen surviving bandits.

"We've finally arrived, Yu. It's been almost a year since we left here."

Before coming to Andromedia, they had stopped at Libra and bought a new wagon and supplies for the roarons. They had also hired a driver for their new wagon.

Yu had made sure that his new wagons were similar to the old one because he liked the one he had lost the day he bought it. This wagon was similar to the old one, but a little bigger and more comfortable.

Yurine looked both happy and sad as she opened the window curtain and looked out. She had left here with her mother, but now she was back without her.

Her sadness made Yu feel as if he had a stone in his chest. He turned his head and put one hand on Yurine's head as he looked out the window. He was stroking her hair.

Yurine was watching the walls. The walls of Andromedia were painted gold and could be seen from several kilometers away.

"Although there are similarities with Rolderhelm and İlonya, the difference is obvious even from a distance. This place has more of a medieval feel. And it's still surprising to see these crowds."

After they had entered the main road and traveled a little further, they were met by a surprising crowd. Yu had expected people to stay indoors in winter, with the snow so heavy and a civil war on top of it, but in the Kingdom of Mora, the density on the roads around Andromedia was immense and increased the closer they got to the city.

"Maybe their problem is finding food."

Two roarons, Kigaro and Dimen, escorted their wagon on the rinos. Yu had asked for Kigaro to be appointed commander of the roarons and Yurine had appointed him commander. Kigaro was now the leader of twenty-nine roaron men besides himself.

Dimen was the one Kigaro had chosen to help him. The remaining roarons would be kept a little further away from the city for a while, as it was impossible to bring them into the city at once. Of course, Yu would take care of the needs of the refugee camp.

"The to-do list is long, but I'll get the simple things out of the way first. I'll sell these thugs and get rid of them first. Then I'll tackle the serious stuff."

Slavery was legal in the Mora and the bandits they captured would probably spend the rest of their lives doing someone's work, working for a living. Of course, if the person named Link really turned out to be who he claimed to be, Yu could have been the slave.

Their wagon slowed down and after a while it started to move in a stop-and-go motion. They were waiting for the long queue in front of them to end and it would be their turn.

"If it's this crowded in winter, I can't imagine what it's like in summer."