For the rest of the day, Krion and his escorts had made their way down the dirt road in the dire of Thorn’s Reach. While the road was nothing like those that were ba the city he had grown up in oh, it still made for an easier jourhan traveling through the forest. Despite the faster pace they were setting, however, the fight against the Forest and Night Goblins had deyed them to the point they would arrive at the settlement with the gates already shut for the night. Rather than wait outside the walls, Alesin said they would stop alongside the road at a pce she and Rolfun had camped at when they had begun heading to the location where Krion was due to appear.
For Krion their impending arrival at Thorn’s Reach was both a source of excitement and dread. He was more than a little bit curious to get a sense of what the Empire was really like. Part of it was also the fact he was growing tired of the simple trail rations and stews that Alesin had been making for them at night. They were good, and he had said as much to his sun elf escort, but he would give anything food sandwich. The prospect of other kinds of food had occupied him during the st hour of their jourhough he had to admit to himself, part of the reason he had sunk him thoughts into imagining what kinds of food there would be at Thorn’s Reach was to avoid thinking about what he was dreading.
That soon he would be leaving Alesin and Rolfun behind to enter a world that he was only barely beginning to uand. His escorts, his friends, had already been making it clear how abnormal he was. bined with his apparently high rank, which he still had no real cept of, the potential he supposedly had would quickly set him apart as not only someone who could grow into an asset to the Empire, but also a target for the other nobility around him. And he would be going into that situation blind, with only himself to rely on, as Alesin and Rolfun would be parting ways with him oheir esission was plete. So he thought about food instead.
Some hours ter, they finally came across the site that Alesin had mentioned. A small stream y between the forest and cleared area alongside the road. Indig that they had arrived, Rolfun began unpag their tents, while Alesin moved about preparing a fire to cook dinner. Apparently stew again.
“Do you need help with anything?”
Both Alesin and Rolfun paused in their work to smile at each other before turning to him.
“That is kind of you to ask, Krion,” Rolfun said, clearing the ground of sticks and rocks for the two tents to be set up. “But this your st night out here in the wilds. You should just enjoy it while we set up.”
“It is o travel with a young lord who doesn’t demand everything, however,” Alesin chimed in, attention focused oing up a firepit. “Just rex for a few. We have a bit of a different lesson for you tonight.”
Nodding, Krion found a spot to sit down out of the way. Trying to follow their advice, he directed his attention at the forest that surrouhe road. It was just as dense as what they had been traveling through to this point, but it seemed almost a bit more peaceful. Probably because of how close it was to Thorn’s Read the garrison it held.
Soft birdcalls came from withirees, the birds themselves seeming to be just out of sight. The wind blew gently, the trees swaying ie afternoon light. Raising his eyes, Krion gazed up at unfamiliar stars. A pletely different view from what he had experienced ba Earth, the sky was beginning to fill with pinpricks of light far in excess of what had been viewable from Volksturm. It was an enjoyable view, but he once again thought about exactly how far he was from home and those he cared about. His family. His friends. Were they already frantically searg for him after his abrupt disappearance?
Those thoughts kept him occupied until Alesin called him over to join her and Rolfun for dinner. Pulling his eyes from the stars above, he pushed himself up and walked over. It was stew again, just like he had guessed before. He took the offered bowl and began to eat.
“There won’t be any sparring tonight,” Rolfun said, about to start on his sed bowl of the stew. “No practice with Alesiher. We have something more important to talk to you about. Your st set of lessons.”
Krion swallowed a mouthful of his stew. “On what topic?”
“If I may be blunt?” Alesin asked. At Krion’s nod, she tinued. “While we have been doing our best to prepare you as best we to survive the violehat you might fa the Imperial Academy, that won’t be enough by itself for you to survive. You o know how to behave like a noble as well.”
“Something that you are really bad at,” Rolfun added with a ugh. “Though we have appreciated how easy this esission has been. So thank you for that.”
“Not a problem,” he said with a smile of his ow his bowl down. “So I’m guessing tonight yoing to share with me some tips on how to better pass as one of them?”
“One of you, Krion,” Alesin corrected him gently, setting aside her owy bowl. “You are a hough you don’t feel like one in truth yet. Knowing you,” she gave a fond smile, “that will take time. But you should still have a general idea of how it all works and the expectations of you. Which is what we will be c tonight.”
In the hours before it was time to get some sleep, Alesin and Rolfun took it in turns to tell him everything that they thought he would o know about the nobility of the Empire in the hopes of better preparing him for the years ahead. Alesin began by expining that the nobility, trary to how they were oh, were not just figureheads byt served real roles in the Empire, be it in the military, gover, or ey. She emphasized that every noble, regardless of rank, was expected to pledge loyalty to the Emperor, uphold the values of the Empire, and to tribute in some way to its security and, if possible, its expansion. Rolfun had then added that the power to aplish this came from personal strength, alliances, and ruthless pragmatism.
“Make no mistake, Krion,” Rolfun said leaning forward, casting his long shadow of him. “If you don’t learn how to fight, and fight well, they will tear you apart. You o uand that no one is going to e to help you. Your family is too busy against too many threats to keep more than a cursory watch over you, and the Academy instructors are solely responsible for teag, not intervening in flicts betweeudents. The System might give you strength, but you will o earn every scrap of power on your own. If you don’t, ces are you will just end up another dead noble.”
When Krion had pushed for further details, all that the half-ogre had said was that he would learn more as a student of the Imperial Academy. While Rolfun had refused to eborate, from Earth’s own history Krion already had an idea of what he meant. In the past, the kingdoms and empires of Earth had often been pgued by corruption and abuses of power, infighting raging unchecked by authority in many cases. Of course, when the more modern systems of governance had begun to emerge, it had just been different people engaging in corruption and abuses.
Krion had then asked how he should navigate the Imperial Academy, Alesin had taken back over the versation, ung into a presentation of social etiquette and the game of politics. Given their own ck of rank, Alesin and Rolfun only khe proper behaviors and expectations for their own positions in society and the military of House Bcksword, but they did reassure Krion that he would be taught everything he o know while at the Imperial Academy. While they were not able to teach him themselves, they did take pains to emphasize that any css fog ohings should take priority until he grew fident in how he was to i with others.
Krion could already see it now. When he would o bow; to whom he was to salute; how to navigate versations without giving offense; and how to drink tea with the proper finger extehere was a different fihat he had in mind for that. He was not looking forward to it. But he would do what he o do in order to survive.
Alesin had pulled him out of his musings by stressing that appearance was also extremely important in the Empire. Even the lowest of nobility was expected to maintain dignity and trol in their iions with others. Showiion, even in respoo danger or insults, would be seen as a weakness. While Krion nodded along, he couldn’t suppress a mental wihis was one area he already knew he was going to mess up. He had never been very good at cealing his emotions.
Their expnation of the game of politics was something he could uand a bit better. Not that he had much experien it himself. Rolfun once again gave advice that was more ical in nature than what Alesin was telling him. Both pushed for the importance of f alliances, but the half-ogre warned him that most iions with the nobility would be transaal. Friendships were rare, and even trusted allies could turn on him if they had opportunities for personal gain.
“Krion,” Alesin added, trying to drive the importance of what they were sharing home to him, “the Imperial Academy is not just a school. It is the first arena that you will be in that alliances might be made or destroyed, where the powerful will prey on the weak. It will be the first part of a world where House Bcksword’s enemies will see you as a target.”
That had quickly led to another, unfortable part of the lesson. Apparently, worse still for Krion was the situation that House Bcksword itself was in. While her Alesin nor Rolfun provided mu the way of detail, readiween the lines, Krion could tell that the high noble house to which he belonged had bee weak as a result of extended flicts with a number of oppos, both inside and outside of the Empire’s ranks. The Empire was full of families vying for dominance, and the state of weakness in House Bcksword had tio attract foes seeking t it low. Krion knew he would o be careful with whom he associated with, and guard his ba all circumstances. He would o work quickly to build a reputation of strength, otherwise his weakness would attract predators among the nobility.
Even that might not be enough.
Acc to Alesin, enemies during his time in the Imperial Academy would e in many forms. Noble rivals, assassins, and even disgruntled oners who say an opening to act. They both said that he would likely have no problems with this tter group, but regardless, by being a noble, he would be a target for the reat.
“So, at the end of the day, my ces of survival are very low…”
“No,” Rolfun shook his head, “so long as you take your csses seriously a some bodyguards, you should be ok.”
“Bodyguards?”
“This is aopic we don’t know much about,” Alesin responded, looking over at her husband who was still shaking his head. “All we know is that all nobles who attend the Imperial Academy graduate with at least a few bodyguards that they attained while there. You will likely be able to do so as well.”
Having bodyguards, while pletely outside his personal experiences, was something he was aware the rid famous used regurly ba Earth. Given his childhood experiences of stantly being surrounded by doctors and nurses while he had been struggling to survive in the hospital, the prospect of people stantly being around him, shadowing his every move, did not make him unfortable like it might others oh. No, the he had about bodyguards was that he would have more people reliant on him, and that responsibility weighed heavily on him.
Too bad he couldn’t simply bee a doctor like he had wanted.
When he voiced s about the responsibility to Alesin and Rolfun, they hadn’t had any sympathy for him.
“You will have to quickly grow used to it,” Rolfun said, crossing his arms. “As a s of House Bcksword, regardless of whatever rank you eventually asd to, you will have authority over oners and lesser nobles both. You will be expected to act as such at some point. Part of that means you will have nds, and people, that ao you first.”
Seeing that Rolfun’s words were only starting to stress him out more, Alesin quickly added, “But that is a ways off yet. What you should focus ht now is gaining all the knowledge, strength, and levels you to prepare for that day.”
“That is what it es down to then, right?” Krion asked. “The Imperial Academy is where I will sink or swim, so to speak.”
“It is,” Alesin agreed. “Your time there is where you will establish a foundation for your future.” She gave a small smile of reassurance. “But since you are already aiming to get strong enough to save you family and friends ba Earth wheegration es there, you were already pnning on giving your best anyway.”
“Right.”
“That being said,” Alesin tinued, “you might also sider hiring private tutors once you gain enough funds to do so. Extra training might give you an edge over any enemies you might develop in your time at the Imperial Academy.”
“Well, that was the core of what we wao talk to you about. Do you have any more questions?”
“So very many questions,” Krion said with a ugh. “But nothing I think we go over tonight. I’d rather simply enjoy the pany of friends before the big day tomorrow.”
They both smiled again.
“We do that,” Rolfun said.
“So, I have been a bit curious,” Krion said, ging topics. “How did the both of you meet?”
Rolfun blushed heavily, his grey cheeks turning a bright crimson. Alesin ughed hard, gng at her husband’s rea to Krion’s question.
“The first time I saw Rolfun, he was wearing a bright e and blue dress, wrestling a boar in one of the House Bcksword training pits, while some of his fellow trainees were yelling something about a hairy kiss.”
Krion froze, sho his face. “What?”
“I don’t think the young lord o hea—”
“What happened ?” Krion was quick to ask, cutting Rolfun off.
“Well, right as it looked like Rolfun was about to get the upper hand, two other trainees came rushing over to the pit, a pot filled with what I ter learo be melted butter raised high over their heads. They poured it all over Rolfun and the boar and then…”
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