Chapter 251 — Part 1

The visit of the next king, Crown Prince Sperion, and his younger sister, Frau, to the barony of Bern truly came as an earth-shattering shock to many people in the barony.

Christina and Selina, with their extraordinary—or perhaps inevitably cultivated to the extreme—grit and sensibilities, were already acquaintances of Sperion and Frau. Hence, they felt it inappropriate to express themselves in an embarrassing manner. The rest of the public, however, was astounded.

Even during the settlement era of the northern frontier decades ago, royalty had never visited Bern in person. The most authoritative figure from Arkrest who had ever set foot in Bern was the former head of the pioneering campaign and Christina’s paternal grandfather, the former Marquis of Almadia.

Sperion would soon claim this honor from the former marquis, and Bern would have the honor of welcoming royalty. Both old and new residents of the land and of all ages were brimming with excitement.

The visit of the royal family was the perfect opportunity for the large number of prominent and new merchants gathered in Bern seeking business opportunities. With the news of this event, they were eager to purchase new goods, develop new items, and even advertise their products.

Mercenaries, adventurers, and wandering knights without a lord looking to serve the barony were also fired up by ambition, hopes, and this wonderful chance to leave an impression on the royal family.

Caravis Tower had finally been opened to exploration, and those who had flocked there could not ignore this royal visit as well. Quite a number of them had traveled from Caravis Tower to Bern, causing a pressing need for Bern’s leaders to reorganize their manpower and security measures.

Although this event was not publicized, there was no doubt an increased number of spies attempting to infiltrate the barony during the brief commotion. Christina, Dran, and their team were left with even more tasks concerning countermeasures to tackle such domestic and foreign intrusions.

Within the stone fortress grounds in the western area of Bern village—the headquarters of Bern’s knights—Lynette and her two sisters had detained the spies captured over the past few days. These secret agents and their items had been thoroughly searched to prevent any attempts at suicide, with all forms of poison confiscated from them. The men and women were then put in separate cells.

The simple cells contained only a clean bed, a window with iron bars facing the outside, and a lavatory with a partition. Such facilities were sufficient for spies whose lives were in the hands of others now.

The flowers under the spirit stone lamps in the corridor were not only meant to preserve the sanity of these prisoners, but they also served the purpose of monitoring these prisoners.

On the other side of the thick wall segregating the cells, Dran, Baran, Lynette, Gundeus, Kyrlinne, and the other key figures involved in the capture of these spies had gathered.

The prisoners had undergone the usual interrogation, as well as the draining of their knowledge and memories. They were not making a fuss in their cells, but such docileness was probably because they assumed their interrogation had not ended, and Dran and his men still saw value in them as prisoners of war.

If these prisoners knew that all possible information had been obtained, they might become desperate enough to harm themselves or afflict damage on Dran and his folks. All these would be done in a bid to convince their own camp that they had not leaked any information if they were ever released

The soldiers guarding the cells had been relieved of their usual duties. As Baran stroked his cleanly shaved head, he inquired about the situation.

「Well, we used to send such guys to Galois, but we’re an established barony now. It’s our responsibility to handle this at our discretion. We’ve gained whatever information available thanks to Dran, and they’re useless to us now. I reckon an execution would be too bloody, and that’ll ruin Bern’s good reputation thus far. Either we go on with interrogations and wait for assassins from their camps to kill them, or we can use them as laborers in mining spirit stones and at Caravis Tower. Wait, mining is out of the question.」

Baran’s suggestion would make for an appropriate punishment in the current barony of Bern. However, spirit stone mining had long been the financial bedrock of Bern, and the villagers working there would certainly feel uneasy about prisoners joining them.

In that case, a severe punishment in Bern would be to have these convicts engage in life-threatening exploratory work inside untrodden areas of Caravis Tower or hard labor of construction work and plowing of lands.

「Forced labor at Caravis Towers sure is a brilliant idea, but these folks are foreigners to our lands. Whoever sent them would deny all relations, and they are people clearly used to such situations this time. I think we should shove them to, or rather entrust them to our respected ones.」

Dran was implying that these prisoners be offered as souvenirs to Crown Prince Sperion and his entourage who would be visiting Bern. Certainly, the crown prince with the king’s support and his vassals would be more adept at dealing with such people.

Despite this suggestion, Bran still frowned at the idea of imposing on the very people they were supposed to welcome and host with utter sincerity and devotion. Other potential concerns also weighed on his mind.

「But isn’t that just exposing Bern’s inability to deal with such issues?」

「You could see it that way, but we were still made to handle an unexpected situation due to this initiative by the crown prince or His Majesty the King. So, isn’t it acceptable for us to receive some kind of compensation for our labor?」

「You sure are capable of speaking such outrageous things with utter nonchalance on your face. I’ve always known you to be a little out of your mind, but your ideas are becoming more audacious and appalling by the day.」

「Now that I’m finally in a position that I’ve longed for, perhaps I’m getting a little complacent. Baran, I’ve been in your care for a long time, so it might be easy for you to think that I’ve let my pride get to my head.」

「Well, you’ve achieved enough to justify that arrogance, and I have no retorts left. Even so, I’m taken aback by your audacity toward His Highness the Crown Prince.」

「His Highness the Crown Prince of our kingdom is a magnanimous man, and he’ll forgive me with a grimace nonetheless. However, the information we’ve obtained from those guys isn’t tied to the Romal Empire in any way. As expected, they were chosen so that capture wouldn’t pose any problem.」

「Are they just the first wave of spies sent for a cursory assessment? They may not seek to harm His Highness the Crown Prince or our baroness, but are you keeping matters in check?」

「Some incidents at the end of last year formed the basis of our acquaintanceship.」

「You seem to have been embroiled in quite a lot of events as soon as you left Bern village. No, perhaps I have to consider the anomalies in Ente forest and your early encounter with Selina as well. Your departure from Bern village wasn’t the start. Rather, you’ve been involved in all of the sudden happenings that occurred last year.」

「Fumu, it’s certainly true now that you’ve mentioned this. Thinking back, I have been living the most packed and unfathomable days ever since I turned sixteen, a life that had never been so before. I’m pretty sure there won’t be a change so soon, and I’ll be stuck with no time to relax at all. Baran, you’ll undoubtedly be a much-needed company. First and foremost, we can begin with the welcome of the crown prince, Knight Commander.」

As Dran spoke to Baran jokingly, the latter heaved out a heavy sigh.

Baran had been nothing more than a captain of the soldiers stationed in the remote and rural village of Bern until very recently. For someone like him, it was unfathomable that he had to greet the royal family of his kingdom as the knight commander; this was certainly a situation that made him wonder if he was simply dreaming.

As one of the representatives of the barony of Bern, Baran had to behave in a manner that would not put their territory to shame. Though, he would certainly be lying if he claimed that he had the confidence to perform this task perfectly.

Baran would certainly do his best, but it was also true that he was under an unusual amount of pressure and mental strain. The same was true of Shenna and the village chief who managed the village’s finances, as well as Christina’s vassals. There was no doubt that Baran envied Dran’s gall and nerve, clearly reflected in Dran’s smiles and laidback nature.

「Lately, I often think that anything can happen in the world.」

「That being so, more good is happening than bad, so let’s stay positive.」

Dran replied to Baran cheerfully in a bid to comfort the knight, though he had concerns he kept to himself. As Baran had pointed out, Dran’s life had certainly taken a tumultuous turn after he had turned sixteen. Dran was curious as to this particular age of sixteen instead of fifteen or even seventeen.

Even before Baran had shared his thoughts, such notions had already taken root in the corners of Dran’s mind. Whether it was mere coincidence or an intentional scheme, Dran was wary of the possibility that there had been a catalyst for the change in his life.

NEXT CHAPTER

01d 17:53:30

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