335. The Grind
Fort Sunflower, Riveria kingdom.
The Northern Duchy of Riveria was previously the seat of Count Conrad, who was now the King. But still, the Duchy was ruled by him directly. The reason was simple—he had killed all his siblings. He had nobody trustworthy left to lead the duchies. He only had one younger brother, who was already ruling the more important Duchy in the south.
Of course, ruling a whole Duchy from a castle outside the Duchy was not easy. It became nigh impossible to keep an eye on all the nobles and governing officials, and corruption became rampant on the lower levels.
When corruption came, many opportunities arose for activities usually considered treason. And taking advantage of that, many opportunistic men saw their own rise.
"Kaecilius, you are going to fight five men today. Do you want to take them all together or one by one?" A guard knocked on the small underground room of the longtime slave champion.