Voyage to Death Valley

For a month the Guardians, Valkyrie, Golden Knights, and Black Night guilds battled to have their nominees' elected commanders. The month-long battle consumed the first years during and outside of class.

Mark and the viscount's son gave speeches and held rallies to discuss their strength. At first, Will was confused, that a democratic election was allowed to happen in a monarchy. Elder Thaddeus explained this had been the practice since the founding of the academy. In a life-and-death situation, the cadets should choose their leaders.

Both the viscount's son and Vincent bribed and abused cadets coercing them to join their camp. Furthermore, a group of noble cadets signed a petition, saying if Mark were elected, they would not recognize Mark as Infantry Commander.

Vincent spread false rumors about Chloe's chastity, to discredit her achievements and reputation. The headmaster on two occasions encouraged cadets to have a civil discourse. He emphasized knights were held to a higher standard and thus should act with decorum. As the final month approached the rhetoric only rose in ferocity.

Yet, Will never gave speeches, hung posters, or had a rally. The first-year cadets admired Will for not campaigning. Many people thought it showed integrity and confidence. As the election date neared, the rhetoric only got worse, but people's admiration for Will's silent campaign grew.

Without a mention, everyone learned about Will's accomplishments with the Guardians Guild, the youngest commander in over a hundred years. The more people learned about Will, the more people fabricated Will's achievements.

On the day of the election, the students gathered in the coliseum and stood in columns based on their academic year. Will returned to the Knight Academy for the first time in a month. When he walked the halls, he saw the political propaganda and thanked the gods he missed it. Will joined the first-year column, he was the last to arrive.

At the 9th bell, the election commenced, and students in single-file lines took turns voting for their candidates. In one hour, 600 first, second-, and third-year students placed their ballots. The winners would be announced by Headmaster Abe at the 12th bell in the dining hall.

By the 11th bell, the dining hall was filled with students, many foregoing classes to grab a seat and wait for the results. Students sat with their guilds in the dining hall, with half the hall being allocated to the Guardians Guild.

By midday, the cadets, staff, instructors, and Guild Masters sat nervously awaiting the results. Headmaster Abe walked into the lunchroom at half past midday, and the dining hall went quiet, so quiet people could hear the crickets chirp.

"Welcome cadets we arrive once again on election day. Today you have chosen your commanders to lead you into battle. The King chose for us to return to Death Valley, to minimize injuries it is important you listen to your command structure.

Those of you elected commanders, please make sure your command structure is in place before the voyage. Your Guild Masters will help you, please listen to them carefully. Now for the results…we will begin with the first years as always," Headmaster Abe said, stumbling to find the paper with the results.

Mark was elected Infantry Commander, to both cheers and boos. The viscount's son was flummoxed, he had bribed and coerced over half the student body, and he couldn't figure out how he lost.

But, Will knew the viscount's son based his winning on a house of paper cards. Chloe also beat Vincent, which caused him too visible turn red in both embarrassment and anger. Mantis beat Samuel for Intelligence Commander.

The difference in guild size affected the results. The Black Nights did not have a large cohort of cadets, moreover, both Samuel and Mantis were introverts who rarely spoke. The fact the Guardians voted for Mantis and campaigned on her behalf decided the election. Bradley vont Alms was elected Engineer Commander, and regretfully, Will was elected Quartermaster Commander.

Overall, the Guardians were happy that three out of their five nominees were elected. Although losing the top two, most prestigious, commander positions, was disappointing, no one was surprised.

The second and third-year winners were elected, with much fanfare. The guilds cheered when their guild's nominees were announced victorious and jeered when they lost. The loudest round of applause was when the Guardians Guild won four out of five commander positions. Interestingly, neither the second nor third-year students put forth a Quartermaster nominee.

There was precedent because the Quartermaster was a thankless non-infantry position. For the past five years, Guild Masters appointed quartermasters for the end-of-term final. There could be five or more quartermasters each year, and they were usually the lowest-ranked midyear cadet. This was another reason, Will stood out. He was the only top-ranked midyear cadet to not pursue Infantry Commander.

After Headmaster Abe finished announcing the winners, he announced, "Please settle down cadets, I have an important announcement. Since the first, second-, and third-year students will have their end of terms exams in Death Valley, and because there were no second, and third-year nominees for Quartermaster Commander, I have decided to appoint William vont Ballard as the sole Quartermaster.

Each guild will be required, to work through his Command Post and be responsible for funding a percentage of the voyage. In addition, the Knight Academy will also pay a percentage to offset any intermediary fees associated with the expedition," he finished smiling at Will.

The people nearest Will congratulated him for the honor, but Will only saw a headache. The logistics alone were a headache. He was being asked to prepare horses, fodder, wagons, rations, weapons, armor, tents, and god knows what else for over 600 people. Thankfully, he could count on Grace and Sarah to help track orders and payments. But the economics of travel in medieval times was problematic.

Will had to figure out how many horses could pull a wagon economically, given the cargo and cart weight. Moreover, he had to consider environmental factors in his equation. Horses could pull carts longer on paved roads and on flatter terrain.

Will need to inquire about the status of the roads, and how many hills, and waterholes are along the way. In addition to just the simple math, Will had to factor in the unknown of what each guild wanted to order and how to load the wagons to best distribute the weight.

To solve this equation, Will began by interviewing the guild masters, and formerly appointed quartermasters. The interviews were a horror show, Will heard stories about dying horses, starving cadets, and wagons of weapons and armor left behind due to a cracked wheel or axle. What Will heard, was what not to do, rather than what he should do.

Will quickly realized cadets and instructors were the wrong people to ask. Instead, Will went to the Merchant Guilds and asked traders and peddlers. Peddlers were poor merchants who sold goods from their wagons or bazaar stalls. These people made their living using cart horses and wagons. Will spent hours talking to these people, while Grace and Sarah received orders and goods.

Finally, after two weeks, Will solved his equation. Most cart horse could pull twice their weight, thrice on a gravel flat terrain. A wagon typically weighed a thousand pounds or 455 kilograms.

Figuring this number, Will decided to have four horses on a wagon, which meant he could load a wagon with eight tons or over 7,500 kilograms. In each wagon, one-third of the weight would be fodder for the horses, and the other two-thirds being rations, weapons, armor, tents, or other goods.

Will decided to hire inexpensive peddlers to drive the carts because they were used to coming up with inexpensive fixes to wagon problems. Based on Will's math, one wagon could carry enough gear for 18 people.

With 635 people on the expedition, 35 wagons could carry enough for 630 people for 30 kilometers a day to stay in good repair. Each peddler cost roughly 50 silvers a day, and the end-of-term final was set as a month-long conquest which equaled roughly 525 gold to pay 35 peddlers for 30 days.

The travel from Guidon to Death Valley was a week, which left two weeks for the end-of-term exam. That meant Will had to have enough rations to feed over 600 people for a month.

Since Death Valley was a forested valley, Will knew people would presumably hunt meat, but he still needed to schedule for the worst possibility.

According to the dining hall, on average, they paid one gold coin a day to prepare half a ton of food to serve instructors and cadets every day, at an expense of 19,050 to feed 635 people for 30 days.

After several sleepless nights, Will felt satisfied with his progress. However, the last piece of the puzzle required Will to speak with Grace and Sarah. Will thought Grace and Sarah did a commendable job. After Will was announced as the Quartermaster, and all requests had to move through his Command Post, Grace, and Sarah were slammed with requests.

There were several late nights for Will, Grace, and Sarah, often staying in the Command Post until the 20th bell. Just before the 20th bell, a cadet would troll in with a list of items for purchase. Yet, Grace and Sarah handled each request professionally, never forgetting to note it in the ledger. In total, the guilds requested over 20 thousand gold of goods.

Will cheered for his wallet. He usually made three gold a month from the Guardian Guild request, yet now, in one month he made more than 600 gold in transactions. The Headmaster had even permitted his intermediary business, saying the Knight Academy would pay for fees. No one worked for free, and Will felt 600 gold was well worth his effort.

After a month of preparation, Will notified Headmaster Abe and the other guild leaders, and his Command Post was prepared for the voyage. On the day of departure, 35 wagons with four horses fastened stood in a column outside the Knight Academy gates.

The sight was impressive to behold. The tall muscular horses, large sturdy wagons, looked like prepared to siege a small town. Next, to the wagons sat noble cadets on horseback. Many noble families either lent or bought their children a horse for the journey.

The cadets sat on their mounts in full polished steel armor, looking impressive; while the commoner cadets stood on foot ready to march. Even Mark the Infantry Commander had to walk because he could not afford to rent a horse.

Will, Grace, and Sarah sat on separate wagons. Will gave Sarah and Grace an itemized list of everything in each wagon, and all three of them had the same list. Each guild had its own wagons, and Will did not want to mix guild items between wagons.

Will informed both the cadets, instructors, and guild masters, that nothing could be removed or added onto the wagons unless they saw Grace, Sarah, or himself. He would make an account of everything. After making his speech, Will saw a flash in his eyes, he knew he had finally leveled up his rank skills. Sitting down next to the peddler, Will pulled up his screen.

Name: William vont Ballard

Race: Human

Rank: 0

Class: Merchant

Sub Class:

Attributes:

Constitution—42

Strength—45

Dexterity—36

Intellect—63+5

Charisma—14+1

Ranks Skills: Management (30+20), Diplomacy (35), Accounting (43+7)

Class Skills: Appraisal (4+6, 100)

Abilities: Apprentice Swordsmanship (25, 25), Apprentice Terramancer (25, 25), Gaia's Blessing (multiplies your spell strength x2).

Since the grand opening of Will's café, his management and accounting rank skills rose. Coordinating, this excursion also increased Will's rank and class skills. As Will sat admiring his stats, he felt a pull on his shirt. Looking down he saw Elizabeth vont Whitby.

"Um, may I help you, Elizabeth?" Will asked politely.

"Which cart should the first- and second-year light mage sit?" she asked sincerely in a soft dispassionate voice.

"I was not aware you'd travel with us for the end-of-term exam?" Will said.

"Really? Each year light mages accompany the knight cadets to their end-of-term exam. You really didn't put in any effort for this trip, did you? Now, which wagon in ours?" Elizabeth said in a stern tone.

Will thought, 'that is why Headmaster Abe asked for an empty cart. I thought he wanted the wagon to bring home trophy kills or animal meat to sell.' Will knew people often sold beast and dire beast meat.

"Your wagon is the last one in the column," said Will, hurt by Elizabeth's remark about his lack of effort. If only that brat knew the hard work, he did prepare. He missed one glaring detail, the healers, but other than that everything else went off without a hitch.

After checking in with each guild master, Will gave the signal to the peddlers to begin the march. Immediately shouts of "Ho, and giddy up," were heard from the peddlers as they drove their wagons out of Guidon headed for Death Valley.