21 Welcome Home

I didn't have to think for a long time, I don't need beauty, strength won't be of much use to me, unless it is one that Superman has. Charm and love ... it is even worth mentioning. The only logical choice was wealth and health.

"I choose wealth and health." (MC)

"As you wish. Wealth, Mokosz blesses you, the land you own and you will have will always be fertile, and the crops will always be abundant." (Weles)

At first, when I heard Weles' words, I was a bit disappointed, I was hoping that I would get a large mound of gold or something like that, but if you think about it, grain is gold, you can always sell it and people will always have to eat. That is a long-term investment.

"And health?" (MC)

"The blessing of the Goddess Żywia will keep you from getting sick and poisoning ." (Weles)

"It protects against diseases and poison, but does it also protect against fractures, burns and similar injuries?" (MC)

"No. Pass me the amber." (Weles)

I was a little disappointed, it's nice not to have the flu and not to be afraid of poisons, although they were not popular in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ... but it would also be nice not to die when someone shoots me or stabs me with a blade.

I handed Jurata's heart to Weles, he looked at it, whispered some words and threw the amber onto the frozen surface of the sea, a second later the stone was struck by lightning. Weles stretched out his hand and handed me ... a piece of amber.

"This is a gift from Jurata. You have one wish that she will fulfill, but only within the Baltic Sea ..." (Weles)

"But Jurata is dead?" (MC)

"We resurrected her ... The wish is only for the Baltic Sea ... you can ask that your ships do not sink, or that your nets are always full or for all the treasures from the bottom of the sea. You don't have to make this wish now, think carefully what you want. Goodbye ... we'll see each other again." (Weles)

I looked at the piece of amber and put it in my bag ... I wanted to tell Weles something else, but it was gone and I felt a gust of wind ... Only now I noticed that before that there was complete silence and even the tree branches were still.

I left my tools on the ground next to the chapel and went back to the settlement, got on a horse with the intention of returning to Gdańsk, I didn't want to spend another night in the forest ... when I got to Gdańsk it was well past midnight. I found the nearest inn, rented a room and threw myself on the bed... I was exhausted, all day digging in the ground, and then a few more hours in the saddle. I don't even know when I fell asleep, in the morning I was awakened by the noise from below and the smells of prepared food.

I wanted to return to Jazłowiec as soon as possible, but a passion for history awakened in me ... and I spent the whole day visiting 17th-century Gdańsk. In the evening I visited several taverns to find my people, when I found them I informed them that tomorrow we were going back south... Of course, it was not without problems, some of my men were so drunk that they could not sit in the saddle ... I ordered them to strip naked, throw them into the snow and pour cold water on them. When they regained consciousness, I told them they had a few minutes to pull themselves together or I would leave them naked here.

We had 900 kilometers to cover, which is over a month in the saddle ... Due to my fault, the journey was extended by a few more days. We had our first longer stop in Warsaw. Being in the capital, I wanted to raise my prestige a little and wrote a letter to Grand Marshal of the Crown Mikołaj Wolski. In which I described the events and the course of the war in Livonia.

Then, not wasting any time, we continued our way to the southeast. We arrived in Jazłowiec in mid-April. It was already warm, there were lower temperatures at night, but nature was slowly coming to life ... you could feel the spring in the air.

The first thing I did after arriving was dismissing my soldiers from service and paying them the agreed pay, 70 of the initial 120 came back with me, according to the agreement with I distributed the money of the fallen among the living.

"Each of you was to receive 124 ducats for the year of service. There were 120 of you, there are 70 left, so each of you will receive 213 ducats." (MC)

There were no shouts of joy, no satisfaction ... they either didn't feel it or they hid it, but I didn't care. My treasury was reduced by 15,000 ducats, that's more than half of my annual income ... I really have to think about extra income, or about my grandfather ... I haven't heard anything about him to dying.

Most of the soldiers scattered around the nearby towns, they returned to Bar or Kamieniec Podolski, to spend what they had earned. One who remained in Jazłowiec was Ensign Olszewski.

"Lord, I'd like to remain on duty." (Ensign Olszewski)

"I do not plan to go to war any time soon, and you are not a man used to peace ... you can be a soldier anywhere, why do you want to stay?" (MC)

"Lord, because I believe that my fortune, with yours, can grow ... and you do not lack fantasy, not everyone would blow up with the enemy." (Ensign Olszewski)

I admit, I would need someone like him, he knows war and his moral backbone is flexible. I can't just rely on secretary Kowalski.

"You can stay, but remember one thing if you betray me or my secrets ..." (MC)

"I'll pay for it with my life." (Ensign Olszewski)

"There are worse things than death." (MC)