The Runesmith

“Well, that went better than expected, for a moment I thought he was going to try something.”

“That would be quite dumb if he did. Even if the rest of the troops arrived, their chances off winning were slim.”

“More troops were coming? How many more were there?”

“I’m not sure, it was hard to count… but probably around the snumbers we have here.”

Arthur looked at Roland with sconcern in his eyes.

"I see. Well, we've sent a clear message today, and it's one that Theodore will have to reckon with. His knight couldn't act witharound, but that's something you probably anticipated, right? But I'm unsure if I like being used in such a way, I’m supposed to be the lord here~”

Roland knew that if this were a typical relationship and he was a real knight, such actions would have been inexcusable. Knights couldn't simply call on their lords for help while undertaking tasks they weren't ordered to perform. This incident demonstrated that Arthur was different from other nobles; he didn't seem offended by Roland's tone or actions. In fact, it seemed Arthur even enjoyed being asked for help. Perhaps, as his influence grew, he was beginning to relish his newfound authority and usefulness.

The dust had settled, and Alphonse had retreated with his troops. Roland finally released a sigh of relief as things began to calm down. He had used new technology to open a portal, landing in enemy territory. Though his return had been tough, with the help of his friends and allies, the ordeal was now over. With this additional data, he would likely avoid making the smistake again. But first, he needed to get back home.

"Thank you, my lord, your presence here was crucial."

"Oh, think nothing of it, Sir Wayland. It was quite invigorating, actually. My brother will probably be seething with anger once his knight makes the report. I wish I could see his face when he hears about this…”

Roland could sense a tinge of satisfaction in Arthur’s words. It seemed Arthur relished the fact that his forces had made his brother look bad. Rumors were likely to spread about this confrontation, and Theodore might becthe subject of ridicule at the next noble gathering. However, it was better not to poke a sleeping dragon - especially not while still being just a wyvern.

“Nevertheless, I didn’t think you were such a gallant man…”

With the immediate threat dealt with, Roland and Arthur turned their attention to the group of orphans. It seemed that they were the reason for this whole debacle. Roland could see the men around him looking at him with strange expressions as if he had gained more of their respect.

“It was just a coincidence.”

“A coincidence?”

Arthur raised a brow at the response and Roland noticed that it was better to elaborate further.

“Theodore and his men were capturing people and turning them into illegal slaves.”

“Oh? Those are sstrong words but do you have sproof?”

Roland nodded and pulled out spapers from within his spatial space. While there wasn’t much within the dungeon they were holding the children in, after arriving at the building holding the slaver wagon, spaperwork could be gotten. The documents he gathered contained information about the captured people, their origins, and their intended destinations.

“These lack any signatures or seals that could be tied to Theodore, but it does mention this one merchant family, are they connected?”

Roland nodded, confirming the Abramz family's involvement. However, this wasn’t much to go on, as Theodore could easily deny any connection. The merchant would likely be used as a scapegoat and quickly replaced. Roland also lacked concrete evidence beyond the testimony of the young girl he had saved. Aubert Abramz would probably be silenced before any inquiry could be performed, making the issue difficult to resolve. Nonetheless, in this dispute between brothers, there were ways of gaining new territory and Aldbourne could potentially qualify.

“Hm… interesting, but I’m not sure if we are quite ready to start a territorial dispute with Theo yet…”

“I think so Lord Arthur, we should hold onto this information and use it when the tis right.”

They were still in the development stage. While their armies were growing, they needed more time. Arthur’s troops would struggle against one of Theodore’s Knight Commanders, and his brother had several of them. However, once Albrook began its expansion and the dungeon attracted enough people, they might be able to start pushing their luck.

Roland also had sideas to increase their military might using golems and possibly his phantom limb technology. Training soldiers took a lot of time, but a simple golem could replace a tier 2 class holder. With his skills, a golemic army could be significantly strengthened and repeatedly restored. Once he fully completed his research, they might not even need people with combat classes anymore. If he was right, then even farmers could do their part inside of an army.

“Indeed. Sir Morien.”

“Yes, Lord Arthur, how can I serve?”

After nodding, Arthur called over one of his proper knights, Sir Morien. The man was holding a large spear that needed sbetter enchantments. His armor was also not really something a Knight commander-ranked individual should be wearing. It seemed that once he was back, Roland would have a lot of work on his hands.

‘Will I be able to do everything in a month?’

This was indeed a perplexing situation, with tappearing to be a resource in short supply for Roland. For a fleeting moment, he pondered the prospect of delving into the study of tmagic. Perhaps there existed a means to fashion a chamber where tflowed at a more sluggish pace - an ability often bestowed upon protagonists in various fictional tales. Now he found himself wishing he possessed such a capability as well and perhaps, it was not a pipe dream.

“Sir Morien, take half of the men and the two adventurers. Stay here and patrol our borders, if someone suspicious dares to cross it, you know what to do.”

“Yes, My Lord!”

Morien saluted and quickly guided his horse back to the soldiers, relaying the information. Armand didn’t seem too happy to not be called by his nbut luckily Lobelia was there to pinch his arm before he said something to get them in trouble.

“Ow, I wasn’t going to say anything!”

“Sure you weren’t. Don’t worry Wayland, leave this to me, I’ll keep this idiot in check!”

She called out to Roland while pulling Armand away before he did something stupid. He watch the two with amusement but also relief that they were continuing to get stronger. His tinvested in their equipment wasn’t wasted and they were people that even he could rely on. With these issues now over, he turned to the children that he had rescued. They looked quite confused about the situation and didn’t seem to trust anyone around them.

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“Sir…”

“Vico, don’t worry, they are with me, we will head to Albrook now where you may rest and eat.”

“Okay.”

The young boy nodded without asking too many questions, showing a trust in Roland's words. With Vico’s help, the other children could be convinced easily. Roland hoped these children could act as witnesses to the slave trade incident. This would not be a one-sided arrangement; they would offer the children food and shelter in exchange for their testimony. Their accounts, combined with the documents, could provide enough leverage to keep Theodore’s activities in check for a while.

‘Might be better to keep them around my home, with the other orphans.’

With the help of spells, it was possible to easily extract the truth from most people. If they presented a case for dispute in the noble court, the children's testimonies could carry significant weight. This made the children potential targets, but the likelihood of Theodore going to great lengths for one city and a single revenue stream was low. Nevertheless, it was better to keep the children close and surround them with soldiers and golems for protection.

With all of that out of the way, the two forces split. Half of the soldiers remained on the main road and prepared an encampment. The other half accompanied Roland, Arthur, and the children as they made their way back to Albrook. The journey was relatively uneventful, with occasional pauses to let the children have something to eat. Eventually, they arrived at the city he had left over a month ago.

‘I’m finally back… not much thas passed but it felt like I was gone for half a year…’

Roland had finally returned home, but he knew there was little tfor rest. While the situation with Theodore had been temporarily diffused, it was far from resolved. Lingering tensions with the Castellane house added to the complexity. He needed to reach out to his sister, who had promised to enlist their mother's help in addressing this issue. If his father intervened and resolved the matter, Roland might not need to return in a month's tto keep an eye on Lucienne.

‘Can I build a proper teleportation gate in a month? Do we have enough materials for something like that? I should first make Bernir his arm, I can’t imagine living without one.’

He continued to ask himself questions but his thoughts were interrupted by Arthur, who had caught on to this fact.

“Sir Wayland.”

“Ah, yes Lord Arthur?”

“You seem tired, how about you get srest today, that’s an order. No working.”

“...I understand, My Lord.”

He wasn’t sure how to respond to the order, so he simply nodded. Mary gave him a strange look, and perhaps everyone knew that he was already planning to overwork himself, as he usually did.

“Indeed, you are free to go, your wife is probably waiting for you and worried. Once you are rested, we shall talk about the future of Albrook.”

His hwas now close by, and he continued while mounted. Behind him, a few soldiers followed, ready to guide his mount back once he was finished using it. The closer he got to his home, the more he felt like passing out as all the stress and adrenaline left his body. Eventually, he cto a stop and informed the men to take the horse away. It wasn’t more than a few minutes from his home, and if he walked, he would probably be able to keep himself awake.

‘I haven’t been this tired in a long time…’

A sense of déjà vu washed over him as he approached his home. There, a lone woman stood waiting outside. Once their eyes met, she smiled, and the fatigue he felt seemed to dissipate. With slow steps, he continued to approach, releasing the safety on his helmet. Soon, he took it off, and the two exchanged warm, relieved smiles.

“Elodia, I’m back.”

He said, his voice cracking slightly from exhaustion but also relief.

“Welchome, Dear.”

She replied, her voice gentle and soothing, as she stepped forward, clearly intending to give her husband a warm hug after their tapart. However, before they could embrace, a noise from the distance caught their attention. It sounded like something was approaching from the forest, with the unmistakable sound of branches snapping underfoot.

As the large beast burst through from within sbushes and appeared before them, Elodia reacted quickly by taking a step back. Unfortunately, her husband received the full brunt of the creature's attack. He went down to the ground as a rather overzealous crimson wolf tackled him down. Its moist tongue made its way to his face, beginning quite the slobbery assault.

“Agni, stop! g-get off me!”

It was Agni, his wolven companion that was the size of an adult horse. Agni’s tail wagged furiously as he continued to lick Roland's face with enthusiasm. Despite being knocked down, Roland couldn't help but laugh at the overblown display of affection. Elodia watched with amusement as her husband wrestled with their oversized pet wolf.

"Looks like someone missed you even more than me."

As Roland struggled to fend off Agni's affectionate onslaught, Elodia couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. She stepped forward and gently patted the wolf's head, causing him to pause momentarily in his enthusiastic display of affection.

"Alright, Agni, that's enough. Let your master catch his breath."

The sunwolf obediently backed off, though his tail continued to wag excitedly. Roland pushed himself up from the ground, shaking his head as he wiped the wolf's slobber from his face. It was surprising to see him be so obedient for once and perhaps during his absence, Elodia’s and Agni’s relationships had grown stronger.

“Looks like you’ve been taking good care of him.”

Roland replied while looking at his wife petting Agni, who was showing a rather silly reaction to getting his ears rubbed. One of his legs started to move around in response to all that rubbing. This was supposed to be a divine beast worshiped by the church, but at this moment, he looked more similar to a house dog than a mighty sunlight wolf.

“He has been keeping my company but now that you are here, maybe I won’t have to play nanny anymore~”

“Worf!”

Agni gave out a dog-like bark, as if he was trying to deny the baby allegations. Both Roland and Elodia laughed, attempting to restheir embrace. However, right before they could get closer, the main door to his compound slammed open, and another person appeared to greet him.

“Boss, you’re back!”

It was Bernir, his half-dwarven assistant this taround, and not far from him was his wife, Dyana. But that wasn't all - behind them were more people. Jorg, the half-dwarven stonemason, Marcie the scribe, and even Fin, who was training to be a knight, were all here too. And that wasn't the end of it; many of the young orphans could be heard in the distance. Their lodging had already been created, and they seemed to have moved into the new dormitory where Vico and the others would join them soon.

“Yes, I’m back, you seem to be doing well, Bernir.”

His friend was still missing an arm, and the replacement he had previously created wasn’t on. It wasn’t a pleasant sight, but Bernir didn’t seem to mind that he was missing his arm from his elbow down. The entire journey had been initiated to find a solution to this problem without involving the Solarian church any further and soon he intended to tackle it in his workshop. However, before he started, he wished to enjoy the company of his wife, whom he hadn’t seen in a month, and also rest.

“Aye Boss, good to have you back!”

“Welcback, Mr. Wayland!”

“W-welcback.”

Although he was tired, the sight of his friends and company waiting for his return, filled his heart with warmth. He did not think that something like this was possible when he set out on his journey, but they were there. Bernir moved over to give him a smack on the shoulder as a greeting and then was quickly reprimanded by his wife. Soon, the kids started getting loud and it took stfor them to settle down.

They spent stoutside the shop but eventually moved into his compound. There, he briefly recounted the story of his journey, omitting a few details that he would share only with his wife later.

"Well, it seems like you had quite an adventure, Boss"

Bernir said, shaking his head in amazement.

"A shI missed it."

“Not like you’d be of any help if you were there.”

“What do you mean, just givea runic weapon and I’ll blow them all away!”

“Yeah, sure you will!”

Dyana seemed annoyed with her boasting husband and kept shaking her head at his wild claims, which grew wilder the more he drank. Eventually, he becso inebriated that his wife had to carry him out of Roland’s home. As the day cto an end, Roland felt the need to finally rest. Even though his mana and stamina had recovered, he still felt slingering fatigue, likely brought on by a hidden status effect.

“Finally, they are gone, how about you…”

Elodia led the guests out, and upon returning, found her husband leaning back in his chair, his eyes closed. He had drifted away to sleep while sitting down, and next to him, a rather large wolf had decided to curl up. Its large size took up most of the dining area, and it had almost broken the door when entering.

“I guess, it can wait until tomorrow.”

Elodia chuckles while bringing over a blanket that she tucked around her husband, making sure he was comfortable. She then moved to extinguish the candles around the room, leaving only the soft glow of the moon filtering in through the windows. With a gentle smile, she whispered a soft goodnight to both Roland and Agni before retiring for the night.