The End & Beginning of the Road

I

"How's the fort? Everything went smoothly?"

"Smooth, thanks for Jurko and Aida's help," Tabot pointed at the two.

"Your name is Aida?" Rakai saw the masked woman.

Aida nodded.

"I met her at the fort earlier. But I have to leave when night falls. Too bad we all can't talk any longer," Rakai reached for Tabot's knee and patted him lightly.

"And here we are now. We have plenty of time, and so do the things we want to talk about. Is that true?" Kozsack looked at Jurko unsure of his words.

"Yes, plenty of time," agreed the old inquisitor.

"So what do we want to talk about?" Tribuana joined in the conversation.

"What is our future?" Rakai looks at the fire. "We're all new here to this living environment. The Spearhead with the castle island, a different part of the story from the previous one in the south.

And I, the new king, strive to protect and strengthen Hukoleen. I'm not used to royal politics, that's why I appointed my sister and her assistant Kozsack to help build our archipelagic kingdom," he smiled at Tribuana.

"Surely we'll set up a new destination again. Definitely recruiting veterans, maybe. From Hukoleen and all over the northern and southern continents," Tabot replied.

"Then?"

"We will work as usual."

Rakai spat on the sand behind him.

"Surely you have big goals!" he exclaimed. "How about you, Aida?"

The masked woman lifted her face.

"I... I have a wish I'd like to do something when I have time."

"When that time will come?"

"Maybe when this fort is finished?"

"I see. And what about you, inquisitor?" Rakai calls out to Nazeir.

"My answer is the same as Ada's. When the fortress doesn't need urgent help, then I will go again."

"Go look for a contract?"

"Maybe yes, maybe not. Surely this is not the end of my path, there is still a big thing I want to achieve."

Rakai pursed his lips and nod a few times, knowing the inquisitor still has a path forward.

"In that case, I will wish both of you the best of luck in achieving your goals. I don't want details, just wondering if you guys have a target."

"How about the king, what is the target?" Kozsack spoke up.

"Me? As usual, no different from my childhood."

"Uniting the central islands," explained Tribuana. "That's what he told our father."

"And I will pursue it till the end closed my eyes"

"Are there any plans to subdue them?" Luka is listening.

"The largest islands in the central archipelago are three. Hukoleen, Koto Tigo, and one of the puppet kingdoms of Hattan, you know as Orkney."

"Oh, Hattan, huh?" Kozsack scratched his head. "That's a challenge."

"I'm happy with subduing the northern world, but I have a question. What country is this Hattan?" the princess is desperate. "I can't remember all the shards of the north and south."

"Hattan is the largest country in the north. When in the south there are Brindorum and Uthgaard which are super power countries. The North has only one, and almost dominates the entire North. Hattan is this kingdom," explained Tabot.

"How big is this kingdom?"

"One third of the northern world is in the hands of him and his puppet state. This is a great challenge to Uthgaard and a blessing to the people of Brindorum bordering Talmyra. A much smaller kingdom."

Hearing this, Tribuana looked at her brother.

"Are you sure you want to fight them?"

"I'm absolutely sure, Tri. Hukoleen's fleet has never been this big, and with the knowledge we're about to learn from Kozsack, we might as well win."

Rakai accidentally looked in the distance, a ballista sitting on a small hill. Untouched after the battle a few days ago.

"Take a look at that," Rakai pointed at his massive artillery. "Imagine what we could do with that war machine."

"Th-it's a ballista, you want to take it on board?" ask Tabot.

"Then we build a ship that can carry it. That thing has sunk ships, right? Then we can use it to sink the much weaker northern ship."

"Can you guys do it?" Nazeir raised an eyebrow.

"I can't, but he could."

All eyes turned to Kozsack, the engineer who was daydreaming in the fire. He straightened up and looked at everyone who was eyeing him.

"Yes! I agree, whatever you say, my king."

"Can you build a big ship that can put..." Rakai pointed at the ballista, "that big thing at the end of the ship?"

"I'm not a ship engineer, but by slightly calculating the weight of the ship and the gigantic weapon," Kozsack fiddled with his long, thin mustache. "Maybe that thing can go up. Let's say we can build the big ship in 4-5 months. When we know more precisely, maybe your Majesty can get 1 ship per month."

"What an amazing brain, isn't it, Mr. Tabot," joked Rakai.

"Maybe he understands a thing or two more than you do about ships," Tabot joked back.

"Make it hundreds, master. I'm lucky, no. We're all lucky to have each other. And I'm thankful I met you, inquisitor," he directed his remarks to Nazeir. "If we didn't meet when my parents called you, maybe we wouldn't be here. Near the beach, talking about the future for all of us. Of course, everything looks bright and well," Rakai smiled to himself.

"Uh, Nazeir," said Kozsack.

"Yes?"

"How is the story now that there are no more inquisitors?"

Jurko, and Nazeir looked at Tabot. He knows the answers. Seeing the two inquisitors looking at Tabot, made everyone look at him too. Tabot acknowledged and flexed his palm.

"That question requires to understands why the two worlds are hostile to each other," Tabot drank a water from his drinking bag. "I hope you're not asleep when I tell you."

"I'm still going strong," Kozsack yawned jokingly. The man was slapped in the head by the princess.

II

"I may not have been born yet, but this is what I've heard from scientists before me.

The northern and southern continents is an empire. Led by their respective emperors and have stood for hundreds of years. Before these empires was formed, small kingdoms filled the northern and southern worlds. Many things happened at this time. Like the Amiens voyage from north to south, where they landed to the lands of the south they called Nazaire.

When the small kingdoms became big, two victors came out of the smoke of war. With Nazaire in the south and Castiglione in the north . These two small kingdoms will rule over their respective territories, and will become big empires.

This kingdom has a strange relationship, you could also say that they are like two brothers who are fighting. Sometimes friends, sometimes foe. When there was an external threat such as an invasion of the steppes, the two empires would help each other. And it was fortunate that the mountains that bordered the inner and outer world existed. Otherwise, the nomads will enter our world.

Okay, hundreds of years they lived together. And before they reached their greatness, there was a small gathering on the southern continent. They had a small fort, made of wood and stone. This is where the next hundred years will be the guardians of the northern and southern continents. This is an ancient sorcerers fortress where the beginning of the sorcerers is located.

Everything went smoothly, there was no direct conflict from the two empires. Sorcerers come to help if there is an attack from outside, everything looks peaceful.

In the middle years of the empire, an institution was built within the sorcerer's society. This institution gave birth to people who played more science that could be understood by ordinary people and sorcerers. It's the birth or the scientist.

While sorcerers can select a few people to join them, scientific institutions can include anyone who wants to pursue knowledge. People without houses and food can come if they want to study seriously. But this all has consequences. The sorcerers who saw it became uncomfortable. Ordinary people enter their institutions without any magic skills and eventually become extraordinary scientists. Much smarter than those who play sorcery.

This is the road leading to everything starting to fall apart. In recent years sorcerers have removed scientists who have no sorcery skills from their fortresses. Thousands went to all corners of the continent, looking for job opportunities. Some succeeded, but many didn't. This problem began to get out of hand, sorcerers and scientists began to clash in the fortress. This goes on and on, until the scientists are really angry.

At this time scientists are building an army that can protect the inner world from the attacks of the steppes and elves across the inner world. These people are selected through... how can I say it to you all. There seems to be no softer word than 'selective breeding'. The children who are still babies are brought by scientists to the fort to be used as experiments who will later become soldiers."

"Wait a minute," Rakai slipped. "How did they get these babies?"

"They... they made some kind of campaign about race. This sounds very impudent, but I'm telling you the truth. When the humans were at war with Elves and nomads, everyone strengthens their race, the inner world race. They brought women and men all over the continent for this optional participation. However, when you think people don't want to give their babies into the hands of scientists? So many do! Thousands of these babies were taken and grown in laboratories hidden from everyone, except scientists. Their experiments failed and failed again, but they kept pushing harder than ever.

What happened next is unclear, but scientists found a way out and succeeded in giving birth to the world's first inquisitor. Not a baby, but an adult woman. She was one of the sorcerers who participated in the test. And there it is. The first inquisitor is a woman. The mother of all inquisitors."

"And what does that have to do with the disappearance of the inquisitor?"

"Do you remember about the clash of scientists and sorcerers? Not the first one, but the second one. It's somewhere in the history books, you can look it up. Finally, the fort containing the anger finally exploded. The sorcerers secretly entered the scientist's lab and broke the mutagen tubes that scientists use to keep inquisitors alive in their rest. They're afraid that if the sorcerers want to get all the scientists out of the wizarding society, the scientists will send out inquisitors to kill them."

"Why are they afraid of inquisitors? They can definitely kill Nazeir and Jurko with their magic," said Kozsack.

"Nazeir killed two wizards and four guards without a sword, he only needed his hands," Aida slip in.

Hearing that, Kozsack was a little surprised.

"inquisitors are born to be adept at battling magic-wielding enemies, this was once aimed at elves. When the scientists realized what had happened, they removed the inquisitors from several hidden sites that housed the inquisitors. A small war between sorcerers and scientists ensued, which ended up creating a chain reaction sending the northern and southern continents into battle.

In the south scientists and inquisitors stand together, in the north is the place of the sorcerers. No one won, the inquisitors were outnumbered by one in ten, but managed to exterminate thousands of sorcerers somehow.

And finally now we are here. Talking with enjoying the evening breeze. Right, Nazeir?"

III

"Life is certainly good. Now and then, with the obstacles that make us human. I hope we will always be like this, one generation and the next. The South has spit on us, and I am sure that the Hukoleener will open their arms for us.

Thank you, for what you did to all of us. Without you, our legacy is gone. This is an ending that will give birth to a new story. Now, we should try to make everything good until our life is up.

We are together until this story ends."

The End