18 The Village

Mark looked at the men in front of them, faces hidden behind their cloaks, hands chained tightly together. They looked a sorry bunch, and Mark wondered why they were still chained. Eduardo grabbed the lead cloaked Slave firmly, and dragged him forwards, lifting the cloak of the man in the lead.

"Little John!" Mark exclaimed. The leader of the Mount Tai Woods Bandits.

"Gan Ning recognised him when we headed through town, he was seeking medical help from a doctor in town for an arrow wound and a serious cut up his back, no idea where they came from. Gan Ning mentioned this to me and I had a conversation with Crassus on Captain Zheng's Behalf. There was a sizeable bounty on his head from some merchants, so just a short time later and we had procured ourselves some very happy slaves." Eduardo replied happily. Smirking at Little John's obvious displeasure, His wounds hadn't closed properly, and if the bandages came loose he was worried about catching an infection.

"Who are the others?" Mark asked intrigued.

"They are a fellow bandit and the doctor who was treating him, we bought them as a package." Gan Ning chipped in. "Thought it would be a nice gift."

"Thanks, this is actually a great gift, we'll discuss more later. Wait did I pay?" Mark asked suddenly.

"Yes you did, but many people pay for their own gifts?" Gan Ning added. "I remember one time, my father's birthday, he bought his own gifts from the whole family, he seemed pleased as well."

Eduardo and Sakura shook their heads in dismay.

Gan Ning smiled at his quick conversation turner. Mark still looked confused as to how he had paid for his own gift, but he was happy with the gift so shouldn't complain too much.

"Who is this lovely lady?" Gan Ning asked cheekily, the smile on his face growing as his eyes finally noticed Sakura.

"This lovely lady is Sakura." Sakura replied with a glint in her eye. There was a dangerous undertone in her voice, which caused Mark to shiver. Mark looked at her and recognised that look, Boudica did it before trouble arose. Mark shook his head and felt sorry for Gan Ning.

"There are a couple of cells underneath the Headquarters, I am unsure of their condition as they haven't been used recently." Eduardo offered quickly, attempting to save Gan Ning from a beating.

"Please take them there and feed them, I will have some questions for Little John later." Mark replied. "Sakura, I am sure you can help me with that?"

"That I can." She nodded in agreement.

Little John looked at Mark angrily, there was no fear in his eyes, just a stubborn belief that he would not give in to any torture. The two behind him started to cry out, but Eduardo hit them hard across the back of the head.

"Shut up if you know what is good for you." Eduardo threatened. "We only need his tongue, I will happily cut yours out!"

Mark nodded at Eduardo's threat, he was a scary man and Mark was impressed.

"Sakura, ask Vlad for some more of his special drink concocted." Mark asked, causing a giggle from Sakura.

"Whose Vlad?" Gan Ning asked curiously, intrigued that a new person had made such an impact.

"Come with me and you'll see," Mark joked "let's meet the rest, Eduardo join us shortly after you have dealt with these."

Mark headed towards the Fort, following the caravan of goods that had continued to pile in.

.....

Mark stood in front of the group of ex-slaves that had been purchased by Gan Ning and Eduardo. Boudica and Gan Ning at his side. They looked a haggard bunch, with untidy hair and dirty hands. The clothes they wore were well worn and Mark had a lot of sympathy for them.

"Welcome to Raven's Peak." Mark introduced. "As you already know, you are no longer slaves."

This caused a loud cheer from the people in front of him, a tear glittering down a few sets of eyes at hearing this come from the boss's mouth. One man went to his knees, bowing respectfully to Mark for allowing him this freedom.

"I will need to hire you though, to help build this Raven's Peak in to a bustling town of it's own. I would like you to be our first villagers, working together to transform the surrounding fields in to farm land, and building the fort in to the monster it needs to be." Mark continued. "My friends, you will be paid a fare wage and will be able to build lives of your own without a master ordering you around."

This caused further cheers to come from the crowd. Smiles appearing on some of the faces, some of them had never believed they would have a life again, lots of slaves were mistreated or ended up in mines. The life of a slave in any of the kingdoms in Greater Finland was harsh, most slaves were from poor families or clans that had been destroyed or fell on hard times. It was especially hard for slaves in the Eastern section of Greater Finland, were the Honda Clan ruled their Kingdom with a corrupt and harsh fist.

"My priority is to re-build the bunkhouses for temporary accommodation. Those on the west of the Fort will be for my Red Ribbons, whilst those on the east are for yourselves until a time comes where you can build your own. Farm Land is also a priority, allowing us to grow our own food will make us less reliant on others, with time I aim for more people to join this community and help it grow." Mark further added. "Between yourselves, nominate a spokesperson for Farming and a spokesperson for Building. They can come and find me later to discuss things in more detail. For now you will find all of the equipment you need in the caravan of goods that arrived with you. Eduardo will direct you to what you need. If you have any questions, my office door is open."

Mark turned and left, followed by Boudica and Gan Ning. The Ex-Slaves quickly ran towards the caravan, enthused to begin work on the Fort and surrounding land, this would be their village going forwards and they wanted it to flourish.

Mark turned to Boudica and smiled.

"You stuck to your word." Boudica said. "And seem to have a natural management style. You would have made a good Chancellor in my parents kingdom, if not for your lack of gold control"

"There will be no slaves in our Kingdom." He replied sternly. "And he's my gold problem" Mark added, pointing at Gan Ning

"It felt liberating." Gan Ning added excitedly, oblivious to the comment. "Can I buy more?"

"Not yet, we have limited resources, a fort to maintain and an army to grow. They will be enough to get things started for now." Mark replied truthfully.

"Inform the men to stop training for now and help our new villagers, the more hands the better. I want our men to sleep happily tonight." Mark ordered Gan Ning, who nodded in return. "Grab Little Tai and Bertrand and meet me at the Headquarters."

Mark then turned to Boudica. "Get Sakura, Tsubotai and Eduardo and meet me in the Headquarters as well."

"I will, is that all you want, not Coyotl or Vlad?" Boudica asked intrigued.

"I think that is enough to make major decisions for now, I'm going to meet with Sengo and Jorg first, I will see you at the Headquarters shortly." Mark replied, "If you have trust in them, have Coyotl and Vlad take the lead out here for now."

Boudica headed off towards the headquarters, whilst Gan Ning headed towards the training Red Ribbons whom were outside. Mark smiled at the current situation, they were growing and he was happy. He headed towards the area he had designated for the armourers and walked past the bustle of new villagers who started to get to work. They smiled at him as he passed, excitedly pulling tools and materials from the carriages.

"Make sure you keep yourselves well fed and your thirst quenched." Mark ordered them, making them more relieved at the new direction in their lives.

Mark approached the area to see Sengo on the back of the carriage, pulling large boxes to the edge, whilst Jorg who was below grabbed them from him and stacked them neatly.

Sengo was wearing a loose fitting black kimono with white embroiled flowers adorning it. He had very short black hair and a small goatee on his chin, his eyes were black and soulless. Jorg wore a cream tunic and brown pants, his muscly arms on show, he had medium length blonde hair and deep blue eyes. They noticed Marks arrival and smiled.

"You must be the boss then." Jorg shouted to him.

"Something like that." Mark replied jovially.

"Pleasure to meet you." Sengo shouted as Mark approached them both.

Sengo placed the crate down and jumped from the carriage, the dust on the ground parting as he landed. He had an aura around him that was chaotic, and caused the hairs on the back of Marks neck to stand. He walked to Mark and bowed slightly.

Mark stretched his hand out in greeting, which Sengo grabbed and shook happily. Jorg headed round from the back of the carriage and shook Marks hand as well.

"It's a good spot you have picked." Sengo started, "But we could do with some water running through here." He added, drawing a line in the air with his hand, a smile never leaving his face.

"We could also do with some spare hands to get everything built, I suspect it will take a couple of days to get everything up and running." Jorg added politely.

"Thank you both for joining us here, I'll make sure to get some people immediately to assist, ask any of my Red Ribbons and they will happily help." Mark offered.

"Those Honda's are a nasty bunch you know." Sengo added spontaneously.

"So I have heard." Mark replied.

"You really think you can take them down?" Sengo pushed.

Mark looked at him shocked, did everyone know his little secret?

"Don't look so shocked, It's why we are here. Bit of adventure, build the worlds best weapons and take down those nasty Honda's." Sengo added.

Jorg nodded in agreement.

"We are from out west, near the borders between the Saladin and the Honda. Saw a few clashes over the years, both nasty bunches. Any option is better than that, and most people are to scared to say anything." Sengo continued. "Plus the Honda said that my clan's swords were too evil and vile for this world, Outrageous!"

"They said my armour was a waste of metal, I just don't think they think their men are worth it." Jorg added.

Mark understood now, these excitable armourers didn't have anywhere else to go in this world. Travelling and selling their wares was their only livelihood, having a stable base this far from their troubles was perfect.

"You are welcome here, I am excited to see what you can create." Mark replied truthfully.

"We've brought stuff with us, you can purchase it later. We'll bring it to you tonight." Jorg stated happily.

More gold spent, Mark thought, he should really watch his tongue.