[interlude]The company arrives

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introductory chapter for the Prussian company in the North

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POV of Karlon

I returned home, organizing what little I had brought from the south that had stood the test of time.

I would have liked to have more time to assimilate things, but life went on. I had some coins that would allow me to buy some food to hold on to since there was practically nothing of value left in the empty shell of my house. I do not want to point out guilt, but I am completely sure that my neighbors took advantage of the situation and plundered everything.

Without leaving a single object of value. Although it pained me to think of the betrayal of those I considered friends, I could not let that stop me.

Everything was scarce in this town, including workers, since all the young people who would be of a working age died in the south, leaving only women, older men, and children. The harvest had already been quite scarce since several fields were abandoned due to the lack of workers, and we had to wait for the snow to stop falling.

One of the first things I did was take an axe that I had taken from an idiot who didn't know how to use it well. The cost and life of cutting some firewood were bone chilling.

And we needed to keep the fire going in order to survive. As I chopped wood, I remembered all the friends and acquaintances who had lost their lives in this tragedy. It was a constant reminder of the harsh reality we were facing. Despite the scarcity of resources and the hopelessness that surrounded us, we had to find the strength to carry on and wait patiently for the snow to stop falling.

The wood was very wet, and it was almost an extremely difficult job to light the fireplace in my house, which generated an enormous amount of smoke, but it helped to dry my clothes and keep me warm on this cold and desolate day.

I then created a makeshift bed using what little fabric I had left from repairing my clothes and the straw that wasn't going to be used to create a place to sleep.

Food was quite scarce, and although I still have silver coins from the payment I showed you, sir, they are of no use, as no one is willing to sell what little they have and risk starvation.

Hunting was not an option; there were some small forests in the surroundings, but the stags are the property of the lord, in addition to the abundant wolves that inhabit the area, which always attacked the livestock of the village elder, not considering that I do not know how to use a bow.

In addition, the weather was becoming increasingly hostile, with heavy storms and intense cold that made any attempt to forage in the wild difficult. I was trapped in a desperate situation, not knowing how to survive in this fortunately forsaken place. Before despair completely overcame me, I had to find a solution quickly.

I plucked up my courage and decided to explore the surrounding area in search of some way to find food. I walked for hours, entering the thick forest surrounding the village, hoping to find something that would help me survive.

In the forest, armed with a sword, I moved around, always looking everywhere, looking for everything that seemed edible. Everything that seemed to be edible I kept in a bag.

My search continued, and I found a lot of mushrooms. The problem was if any of them were poisonous. I remember that a southerner ate some mushrooms in the camp and died poisoned a few hours later. I didn't want to run the risk of suffering the same fate, so I decided to leave the mushrooms on the ground and continue exploring in search of other options. Hunger and fear kept me alert, but I also felt a sense of hope as I found more and more traces of life in that dark forest.

The movement of something small alerted me immediately; it was a rabbit, looking in all directions, and, like me, it was looking for food.

Taking advantage of the fact that it had not seen me, I used the best weapon I had learned: to use a stone in the south. A well thrown stone was deadly, and I knew a southerner who used it as a slingshot with which he killed a knight.

Hiding in a tree and trying to make as little noise as possible, I took a stone and waited for my chance to throw it with precision at the rabbit. My heart was racing, fearing that the noise of the impact would alert other predators in the forest. With a quick and accurate movement, I threw the stone and managed to hit the rabbit in the head, leaving it stunned. Seizing the opportunity, I ran as fast as I could and jumped to catch it, and when it was in my hands, I quickly broke its neck.

My breathing was irregular, and I could feel my heart beating uncontrollably. I quickly put the rabbit in my bag and took advantage of the fact that the sun was still shining to continue searching the forest.

In addition to some leaves and roots that I found along the way, it seems that the rabbit was a gift. Soon I heard the sound of the flow of the river that was near our village.

I approached and observed the crystalline waters of the river, where I saw several fish moving on the river bottom.

With my sword, I cut a branch that was a good size and started to sharpen the stick, trying to make it have four points, which increased my chances of success, something I learned in my time in the river lands.

For almost an hour, I was trying to catch fish but only managed to catch two good-sized ones.

Seeing that I was running out of time, I decided to head back home. With the cold, I could hardly stand the cold anymore and decided it was best to continue fishing another day. I packed my two fish in a bag and headed back to town, hoping to enjoy a delicious dinner of fresh fish.

That night I ate well, although it was not the norm. Many of the plants I brought in were dangerous, leaving me with quite little, and as the days continued to pass, it was not every day that I was lucky enough to catch something.

I began to do all kinds of jobs that were available to find something to eat, as the village was not the shadow of what it was. Because they were all bitter with life, many of their children or parents did not return from the war.

When the snow stopped falling, I took the opportunity to try to buy agricultural tools and seeds, but there were none in the village, which led me to have to travel between other villages to buy tools and seeds that were obviously expensive, but there was no other option. I realized that the scarcity of resources affected all the neighboring villages and that the possibility of finding something affordable was very limited. Still, I decided to invest in those tools and seeds, as it was the only way to have a long-term livelihood.

The work was exhausting since I tried to cover most of the fields that my family had the right to use, and after plowing, sowing, and watering, I had to go out to look for something to eat in the forest or do some work in exchange for food.

But after several moons, I watched with pride my work for a long time, when my fields were full of barley that I would use for a more stable livelihood.

The problem with all this was that the harvest in general was not good with my neighbors; most of them had terrible harvests or even worse total crop failure, which produced many problems in the village, as we depended heavily on agriculture for our livelihood.

The lack of people for the fields took its toll on the village; although we all contributed to a common granary to receive and give help in these cases, only some of us had decent harvests.

Many of my neighbors began to point out that I should contribute more, but I was not going to risk myself by helping more than I should. But then they became demands of some inhabitants, and I had to remind them who was the one who had access to a sword and who could use it.

This forced the elder to ask for help from our lord, requesting support in grain to last until the next harvest, which was accepted.

But the problem was that the help that was promised never arrived, which made the fights between everyone increase for food.

According to what they say happened, a band of thieves settled in the area and could not resist such a prize that passed under their noses, and the grains that were supposed to arrive were left in the hands of these thieves.

Everything continued the same; the snow fell again, but this time there was more animosity than ever in the village. As fights for food increased because few had any, I kept my routine of visiting the forest.

But when I returned home, I found that there was a group of three horsemen watching the village.

''KARLON, good that you came back. Can you do something about them? I think they are bandits, the ones who stole the grains?'', said the village elder after running towards me.

The men who were watching the village, besides obviously having horses with which they could run me over, were wearing armor.

I had learned to value good-quality armor, and they were wearing plate armor of superb quality under the furs they wore. If even the northern lords could afford such good armor due to the shortage of steel, only the most powerful ones

''I doubt they are bandits; the armor they wear is worth a fortune,'' I said to the village elder as I tried to reach my home.

''Karlon, you are the only one who knows how to fight what happens if they start attacking us. Now no one is in a position to defend themselves. We should warn the others and prepare for a possible confrontation. You said you had other swords in your house. We can't allow them to loot us and take what little we have,'' said the elder, very worried.

I nodded and tried to get to my house, trying not to attract attention.

''Hey you, the Northmen with the Sword'' said one of the riders getting off his horse.

The rider approached me, and it wasn't hard to notice that he was impregnated with the smell of blood. Looking a little closer, I could see some blood stains on his clothes.

'Shit, yes, they are bandits.

''Unlike the rest of the village, you are young; do you know what happened to the rest of the people? This village was supposed to have around four hundred inhabitants, and with a lot of luck, we counted three hundred''said the rider, taking one of his hands to his hip, where he had two swords.

I looked at his companions, who were distracted and talking. Escape is not an option; they have horses. The best I can do is kill one and let the rest help me control the other two.

''Probably, you killed them bandits'' I said, drawing my sword and trying to give him a slash to the throat.

But he easily dodged it, simply taking nimble and skillful steps to the left and counterattacking by grabbing me by the arm that held my sword and throwing me into the snow.

I fell and rolled, quickly reached for my sword, and picked it up again, getting up as fast as I could so as not to give my opponent an advantage.

His companions did not react; they stayed watching the fight from their horses.

The bandit pulled out one of his two swords and got into a weird fighting position; even weirder was his somewhat curved sword.

I tried to take the initiative by attacking him, but all my attacks were blocked or deflected with excellent technique by the bandit.

I tried to hit him with a high cut, but he quickly stopped it, and using his deft hand, he grabbed my arm again, trying to make me lose my balance, leaving me with my back against him.

Without armor, his sword would go through me like a pig, but what I received was much more embarrassing than painful.

A loud sound was heard as the bandit used his sword to spank me with great force. I felt humiliated and hurt by the unexpected blow. The bandit was mocking me and demonstrating his superiority. My confidence was fading as I continued to fight him, hoping to find a way to counterattack and defeat this skilled adversary.

As I turned around, I saw the bandit's mocking face and heard his companions laughing their heads off on their horses. The rest of the villagers just watched in fright from their homes as I frantically fought the bandit. I felt the pressure of their mocking eyes on me as I struggled to stay on my feet. Despite the pain and humiliation, I knew I could not give up. I had to find a way to defeat him.

''What makes you think I'm a bandit boy?'' the bandit said.

''You're covered in blood, and covered in that metallic smell it leaves'' I replied, resuming a fighting stance.

The bandit looked at his clothes and sniffed them.

''Yeh, you're right, I stink of blood. Sorry about the habit; I've gotten used to this smell.'' said the bandit.

I attacked him again, but he showed no weakness; he wouldn't back down at all. My blows were deflected or blocked to the point of desperation.

As I concentrated on keeping my breathing steady, another group of riders arrived, this time carrying the banner of the local lord.

'Again, luck seems to be on my side.'

The local lord, followed by his retinue, arrived, but they completely ignored the bandits.

''What is the meaning of this?'' said the Lord, staring at me.

Seeing me holding my sword and looking at my opponent, I could see fear appear on the lord's face.

"Ah, Gustav, sorry... I'll take care of this insolent peasant who doesn't know his place'' said the lord, getting off his horse completely scared and drawing his sword.

'shit'

The lord approached me nervously, but the man whom the lord was afraid of grabbed him by the shoulder.

''We were training. Weren't we kids?'' said the swordsman.

''Yes, we were just training,'' I said to escape the situation.

The man signaled to the other riders, and they approached and threw two bags covered in blood. When these rolled around a bit, they uncovered two severed heads. The macabre scene caused the lord to feel a shiver run down his spine.

''As for you, it is with whom I must show you your place; you promised me a village of almost five hundred inhabitants with healthy people for jobs, and you only asked for a little gold, and we were to take care of these pests'' said the swordsman, pointing to the heads and placing his sword on the lord's neck.

''We did our part; the bandits were imprisoned and their leaders executed, as their crimes were serious, but this town is far from what you promised me, old people, children, and women, and the only one who would be free to work is a soldier... that you tried to execute... the company doesn't like liars''

''We are not your tool, nor are we a toy you can handle; next time there will be consequences'' said the swordsman, using his sword violently on the lord's neck.

I thought he had slit his throat, but the Lord touched his neck, showing that nothing had happened.

The sword had no edge, and he put it away and pulled out another one, which looked very sharp.

''Don't try to cheat the company again, or you will suffer the consequences'' warned the swordsman as he put away his sharp sword.

''Yes, yes, yes, Gustav, sorry, but the village meets the requirements you asked for a nearby river'' said the lord, trembling.

''Well, take me to the river''said the swordsman.

The Lord approached me.

''Do you know where the river is?'' said the lord with a hand on his neck.

''Yes, my lord, to the east'' I answered, lowering my head and putting my sword away.

''Take us now'' said the Lord.

I led the lord and his men, accompanied by the other riders, to the river, leading them through the forest.

''Where did you serve, boy?'' said the swordsman as he followed me on foot.

''What makes you think I'm a soldier? I could be a peasant with a sword,'' I said as I avoided tripping over the roots.

''Well, the way you move, how you were observing, looking for targets, thinking what to do, you have skill with the sword, but it shows you are used to fighting in formation and with your hands. Although you have wounds from working, in the fields you also have common soldier wounds'' said the swordsman, cutting some branches with his sword.

''in the war in the south'' I said, looking back, seeing that the Lord was lagging far behind.

''I have a question,how many of the young men went to the south? According to my companions, we believe that this village could provide five soldiers without affecting their economy on the basis of houses and families,'' said the swordsman with a serious face.

''more than thirty, and I was the only one who returned'' I answered seriously, remembering all that I had witnessed in the war. The destruction, the suffering, and the loss of life were things I could not forget.

''Appears that this man is more incompetent than we thought; it seems that you were the only one that the training served,'' said the swordsman, jumping a root.

''Yes, the week of learning how to use the spear saved my life several times'' I said, turning to look at the swordsman's surprised face.

''Is this a bad joke?'' the swordsman said, very surprised.

I shook my head, and my answer seemed to infuriate the swordsman a lot.

Finally, we arrived at the river, and the group of strangers stood watching it for a long time, pointing out some areas where the river joined the mountain stream and the lake stream.

After that, they talked to the lord, and we returned to the village.

The strange men took out a chest they had on one of the horses and began to take out gold coins.

''Here you go, one thousand golden dragons'' said the swordsman to the lord.

''We agreed on four thousand'' said the Lord, getting serious.

''We were supposed to get people of working age nearby, but that's not so. The people have no value to us, but the land does,'' replied the swordsman.

''three thousand? Said the lord with a hesitant tone.

''Two thousand, and we want the servitude of the small folks,'' said the swordsman.

The lord agreed, took the chest with the gold coins, and left with his men.

''Good, now you are the property of the company'' said the swordsman, smiling.

The people looked at the swordsman with fear and resignation. They knew that their fate had been sealed and that they would now be at the mercy of the company. The deal was done, and now the servitude of the small folks belonged to the company, along with the valuable land they so craved.

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