From Londoner To Lord

When the crowd had calmed down a little, the baron started something else which surprised him once again. The older man next to him offered a small piece of metal tied around a thin rope to the baron, who called out the names of the guards who had gone on the trip to Kirnos. Joric couldn't understand any reason for this, so he tapped the shoulder of a guard standing nearby.

"What's the baron doing? What is that square piece of metal for?"

The guard gazed at him from up to down for a moment. "Ya look like you're new here. The baron is givin' medals to the guards for their bravery. He is giving the Baron's Medal of Sacrifice to the three guards who got injured in the line of duty, while the rest 'f the five guards will get Baron's Medal of Courage for risking their lives for the village."

Joric frowned while glancing at the baron putting a medal around the neck of another guard. He wasn't really sure what these medals were meant to do, but he had heard from someone in the past that there were some prizes given by the Count and the Duke to their knights and the people who had pleased them, although they were supposedly made of gold and silver. He looked at the guard again with confusion. "But what's the point of these medals anyway? It's not even made of gold!"

The guard glared at him. "Are ya kidding me? Wearing a medal marks you as someone who is the best of the best! All the guards hope to get a medal from the baron one day! Of course, those who get a medal also get around a month's wages as a bonus, not that they would even need it anymore..." He grinned. "All they need to do is to take a seat in an alehouse or tavern and start telling their stories to get enough free meals and ale for themselves for a long, long time."

Joric nodded slowly. As a former merchant, he could certainly understand that getting some extra gold would be a good incentive for any guard to do better, but he still couldn't really understand the charm of getting a medal.

As the baron called out the name of another guard before putting a medal around his neck, all the guards started cheering loudly for him, including the man standing next to him.

The guard who had got a medal gave a huge grin and jumped down from the bench, when the man standing next to Joric looked at him from up to down. "Ya know what? Ya look like you got some good muscles on ya. Why don't ya join up as a guard? I'm not sure 'bout it, but I think even the former slaves can join up as a guard."

"Haha, no, no..." Joric shook his head vehemently. "I feel like I'd wet my pants whenever I see a man with a sword running towards me. Fighting is not for me." Suddenly, his brain realized something the guard had said which didn't make sense. "Wait! What do you mean by the former slaves? Did the baron free some of his slaves recently?"

The guard looked at him like he was a naive child. "Oh, I forgot you're new here. There is no slavery allowed in Tiranat."

Joric nodded, remembering how nobles were always so greedy. "So the baron keeps all the slaves in the village for himself? He doesn't even allow the local merchants and craftsmen to own slaves?"

The guard laughed loudly. "No, I meant there are no slaves in Tiranat at all. Even Lord Kivamus doesn't own any slaves, and he has told everyone clearly that he will punish anyone who tries to buy, trade or own a human being. Believe it or not, everyone is free here, and everyone earns a wage... or at least some food in return for their work. Did you see that tall redhead Hyola who just got a Baron's Medal of Courage? She used to be a slave working under that bandit Nokozal in the past. But now she is a regular guard here and respected by everyone for her skills with a crossbow."

"Wait, what? Hyola used to be a slave?" Joric couldn't even think about how the rugged woman could have been owned by Nokozal. "I never could have imagined it..."

"Hah..." the guard chuckled. "You have a lot to learn about life in Tiranat."

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"But... but what if someone has a big debt to pay? Wouldn't the baron have to take the person as a slave in that case?"

The guard shrugged. "I'm way too low in the food chain to know all the details, but all I know is that the baron will never allow slavery here. I think if someone had a big enough debt, they would just have to pay for it by working harder. And not by selling themselves or their children."

Joric was thinking about how difficult life had been for him in the past few months, so he tried to imagine how pleasant life could have been here in Tiranat. He wished he had been born in this village...

"You better not wish that," the guard retorted, making Joric realise that he had spoken it out loud. "Life was never easy for us people before Lord Kivamus arrived here. It hasn't even been half a year since then, but he has already changed this village in so many ways, making it better than it ever was."

"I can see that..." Joric muttered, while he thought about the implications of what he had just found out.

The guard turned around to cheer for the next one who was going to get a medal, while Joric's mind was working furiously. If there were no slaves allowed in this village, did that mean he was also a free man? Until now he had been thinking that his ownership would just be transferred to this baron now, instead of Torhan, and he would still have to complete his duty for the coming three decades before he got free and got a chance to see his family. But now...? Assuming he really was free, all kinds of possibilities were open to him now. If he didn't have to live here as a slave, could he return to his family once again?

No, that would never work. The guards in Kirnos would hand him over to Torhan immediately. Perhaps he could just visit his home secretly to meet them? What if he found a way to bring his family here? He hadn't even been here for a day, but he could already tell that life in this village was going to be a lot better for his family in so many ways.

He had to think more about this and soon. If Nokozal had realised that he had run away at the beginning of the fight, and told Torhan about that, what if that bastard took it out on his family? No, the Baron of Kirnos was as greedy as any other noble, but he was still fair - unlike his son. So Lord Farodas wouldn't allow Torhan to take his family as slaves in exchange, now that he had escaped. Right? Right...?

No! He had to stop thinking about the bad outcomes, and plan a way to help his family. Maybe he could even petition Lord Kivamus for his help? No, that would be asking too much, not that the baron would ever agree to that anyway. If the baron had really made him a free man here, that was already more than he could ever have wished. He didn't even remember when was the last time he felt so much hope for getting to live a good life in the future, maybe even with his family right next to him in this unusual village.

As he watched the next guard climb on the bench to get a medal, his mind just couldn't stop working, wishing he would find a way to reunite with his family. This time... in Tiranat.

******

~ Levalas ~

~ Count Ebirtas' Mansion, Cinran ~

Levalas gratefully took the bucket of water which a maid had just pulled out of the well, and thanked her. Pouring some water from the bucket onto his grimy hands, he washed them as well as he could, before using some water to wash his face as well. Working as a groom for the horses was dirty work, and he had to try to make himself a little more presentable before he would be allowed to enter the Count's mansion to visit that fat bastard Zoricus.

The last few months of the winter had been mostly peaceful for him, with Zoricus only ordering him to take the usual monthly kickbacks from the merchants of the town, instead of ordering him to do another assassination or something. Some of the merchants had even begged him to give them some extra time just yesterday, claiming that they were barely able to sell anything these days in the marketplace, but as much as he disliked acting like an attack dog of the fat bastard, it's not like he had any other choice of work available for him. Unless he found a more powerful benefactor whom the fat bastard couldn't touch, Zoricus would make sure he never got out of his clutches, one way or another.

So Levalas had simply shrugged and told them frankly that unless they gave the monthly bribes to the baron, Zoricus would just send someone to kidnap a member of the merchant family for a ransom. Simply put, Zoricus would get his money, one way or another, so it was better if the merchant just gave it peacefully. That being said, he had already handed over all of this month's kickbacks from the merchants to the fat bastard just yesterday, so he didn't know why he had been called to see the baron once again.

He stood up straight and after drying his hands and face with a somewhat clean cloth he found nearby, he turned around and started walking towards the mansion of the Count of Cinran. The sun had already dipped below the walls of the mansion, nearly ready to set by now, which meant the fat bastard should have been busy fulfilling his insatiable appetite of anything greasy that he could find, instead of calling Levalas to meet him at this hour. That's why he was getting a foreboding feeling that this time it wouldn't be something pleasant which the baron would ask from him.