CH 21 : Back at the Capital

Packing his bags, Martin stored all his stuff in his storage space knowing that it would be a while before he came back home if he attended the Academy.

Finishing what he was doing, Martin made his way up Sayno Mountain, which was where his parents built their house and the resting place of his family. After his grandparent's death, he buried them next to his parents.

visiting them one last time, he said, "I will be on my way now, but I will visit whenever I get the chance", saying those words, he left the mountain, and made his we back to the capital city.

Walking along the road, Martin had already familiarized himself with the trip, he already has made this trip twice. Walking for several hours, and taking breaks, building a small campfire, all he had to do was collect sticks from the trees that already surrounded the road, and cast a fire spell, lighting it up. As for food, all he had to do was take out the already cooked or smoked three-horned boar meat and enjoy.

After about a day of walking, Martin was finally able to see the capital city's huge walls, this time the trip took him only one day because he was stuck on the road. On the contrary, the last time he was leaving the capital which took too much more time, he had to find his way back through the woods and detour many times around dangers such as monsters that he couldn't yet stand up against.

Walking for another 20 minutes, he finally reached the city gates, he was prepared to sneak through the guard's side door if the gates were still shut, but on the contrary to his expectations he saw the gates wide open, with a line of people at the entrance, this scene didn't look any different than the first time he had arrived here.

He stood in the line waiting to get in, and that's when two guards standing aside recognized him, it took less than a minute until the news arrived in Captain Gerard's ears.

Standing in line for a few minutes now, two guards approached Martin, one of the guards was none other than the rookie who got punched by him two months ago.

When the guards reached Martin, they greeted him saying, "Hello young man, can you come with us for a bit?".

Nodding his head, Martin followed the two guards into the platoon's outpost. Recognizing the rookie, Martin asked, "Is this because of last time?".

"No, nothing like that, but Captain Gerard wanted to talk to you, that's all, and besides just like you said, it's all water under the bridge."

The two guards led him into their outpost, taking him up the stairs until they reached the third floor, going up the stairs from one floor to the other, he saw how the outpost was buzzing with guards, reaching the stairs of the third floor, which was a corridor full of doors, but two heavily armed guards holding a long spear in their hands stood in front one of these doors.

Pointing at the said door, one of the guards said, "Here we are, that door over there is Captain Gerard's office, we have to get back to work, take care".

After saying their goodbyes, Martin approached the two guards, who in the next moment crossed spears blocking his path. One of the heavily armed guards sternly asked, "What's your name, and what business do you have here?".

"Martin Immortella".

Hearing his name, they both placed their spears back at their side making way, "The captain is waiting for you".

Nodding, Martin knocked on the door, suddenly a low voice can be heard from inside, "Please come in".

Entering the room, his eyes got fixed on a desk with towers of paper at top of it, in the next moment, Captain Gerard appeared from behind the pile of paper while he was standing up.

"Hello, Martin! So, the guards were right, it is really you!"

Shaking hands, Martin replied, "Captain Gerard, I'm happy to see you, how is it going?"

Hearing Martin's question, Captain Gerard released a long sigh while looking at the pile of paper on his desk. Gesturing to the coffee table, they both sat beside it.

"What do you want to drink?"

"A cup of water is good thanks."

After a bit of chitchat, Martin asked, "So what happened after I left?".

"Nothing much, we opened the gates the next day, and everything went back to normal, but because of those bandits' actions, and our search for them, I was left with a pile of work", captain Gerard said as he looked at Morton who was lost in thought.

Out of nowhere, Martin asked, "Do you think that something is wrong?"

"What do you mean, the whole situation is wrong?

"That's not what I meant, who was the owner of the caravans that were attacked by the bandits?"

"Well, it is owned by a couple of small merchants. As for the large caravan it was owned by an upcoming famous merchant, he is new to the Kingdom, focusing on transporting goods, and profiting from the difference in prices."

"Do these small merchants have a disagreement with him?"

"Not one that I know of, they recently formed an alliance alongside him."

Getting lost in thought again, Martin asked, "So you know what that means right?".

Hearing Martin's question, Captain Gerard looked at him with a confused expression.

"Let me spell it out for you, these bandits were hired to attack those caravans."

A shocked expression appeared on Captain Gerard's face. Suddenly he stood up, and started yelling, "Do you understand what you are saying right now, what you just said is a serious accusation, you can't throw something like that without any proof!"

Looking at Captain Gerard with an indifferent gaze, Martin said, "Hold your horses, I didn't accuse anyone, let me explain, you just said that this famous merchant is still an upcoming one, meaning that he still hasn't fortified his position yet, and there is a bunch of huge merchants out there who would strike him down before he becomes a bigger issue to them. It was a smart move on his part, to form an alliance with small merchants, but the huge merchants hired bandits to damage him and his reputation, as well as a threat to the small merchants that associated with him."

Hearing Martin's reasoning, Captain Gerard gasped, and was shocked, "How did he not think of that?"

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