NOVEL NEXT Chapter 38
Time flies by in a blur of training, eating, more training, studying, eating, and last but not least training. Before I knew it, I was 6 years old. Apparently, this self-imposed regiment of training has made the adults worry about me.
They did not want to discourage my hard work by asking me to stop training to go play, so they sent Charlotte and Emma to use their puppy eyes on me to get me away from training and go out on the town.
The only reason I knew it was the adults who sent Charlotte and Emma at me was because I overheard them discussing their worries about my social life. They were afraid I was going to become some kind of training nut or a shut-in mage before I even became an adult.
I have never been a parent, but I understand their feeling, even in my old life, I have heard of some cases of shut-ins who had been shut in for so long that they did not know how to function as a member of society. The other reason they want me to have some fun and spend some quality time with the family is because when I turn 8, I will be going to the Royal Academy and I will only be able to come back home during the mid and end-year breaks.
So the moment I mastered 3rd circle magic to the point I could cast it via only mental casting, and I had a firm grasp on the basics of stamina energy manipulation for my aura, my training started to ramp down in intensity, and since I have proved to mum and dad that I knew my “words and numbers” they let me off to have more free time.
In my newly found free time, besides playing with my friends and helping them learn their words and numbers, Dad had also decided I was big enough to start learning horseback riding. Usually, this would be taught to me when I was older, but due to the growth spurt caused by years of my low-burning aura and adult servings of food, I was now tall enough to safely ride a horse.
Unlike the war horses that Dad and his men ride on, my first horse was a gentle older mare named Misty. Misty is the stable master’s first horse and is used to teach new riders and show younger horses the ropes of various tasks, so as she did for many riders before me, she is doing for me now. My only gripe is that she seems to be fond of munching on my hair if I stand anywhere near her or lead her around.
After Dad was confident that I was competent enough to ride a horse, and after I had some time to recover from walking bow-legged from using muscles I never knew I had just for horseback riding. Dad asked me to follow him as he carried out his duties, basically a “Bring your kid to work day”.
My day of following Dad started not with adventure, but with paperwork. Fortunately, there were not many complaints or emergencies that warranted a lot of consideration, so me, dad, and his scribe were able to clear the day’s paperwork within half an hour.
After that, we mounted up and left the estate while accompanied by the same scribe who helped with the morning’s paperwork and a few of Dad’s men. We could have taken a carriage, but Dad wanted to put my newly learned riding skills to use.
We rode around town, did some inspections on the gates and walls, and eventually stopped off at the mayor’s office and announced ourselves. Usually, it would be the mayor coming to report to Dad any news or happenings reported by the people, but since we were in the area, Dad decided on a personal visit.
We were led to a waiting room by the mayor’s secretary and served some tea and refreshments while we waited for the mayor to arrive. Soon, a portly man came through the door while greeting Dad, “Welcome my Lord, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”
Dad stood up to shake the man’s hand while saying, “Drop the formalities Philip, we just dropped by because my son just learned how to ride a horse and I was using it as an excuse to bring him on a ride around town.”
“So, this is the young master Luke I heard so much about. Nice to meet you, young man.” Philip said as he turned to me and offered a handshake.
After giving the man a handshake, he offered us to take a seat and he and Dad got to business. “Any news on the bandits?” Dad asks.
Philip shook his head, “The only sightings so far lead to the forest northeast of us, but they are covering their tracks well. I paid a few hunters to see if they could find the bandit hideout, but it seemed like the bandit had someone who is adept at bushcraft and was able to obfuscate their trail. From the latest victims of their banditry the bandits' number at least 50 men.”
Later when I asked Dad about the bandit situation, it seemed like this was a relatively new bandit group that was mainly made up of deserter soldiers from the war Dad fought 3 years ago, and farmers/villagers who had their properties raised by the Valorhelm Dominion’s invasion. Dad said it is a common occurrence for bandit groups to rise out of the aftermath of a war, and needed to be put down fast.
One of the main issues is that usually, the bandits are trained men who know army tactics, which makes it a lot harder than a bunch of normal villagers.
Dad sighed and said, “If that's the case, it seems like I will have to call in some professional adventurers to find these bandits. Once I get the bandit’s location, I can mobilize my men to crush them, it is going to be expensive to attract a good team.”
I heard of the Adventurers Guild before but I have not seen 1 in town before. When I asked about it, this time it was Philip who answered, “Well, young master, it all comes down to money. Unless you are a wealthy high noble, or a border noble like your father whose duty is to secure our kingdom’s borders, most nobles do not keep professional soldiers on the payroll because they are expensive. So while your father can send out soldiers to subjugate bandits or monsters, nobles and normal folk rely on Adventurers to do that job, they are kind of like mercenaries but managed by a guild with more exacting standards than normal mercenaries.”
After explaining that to me, Dad asked the mayor to send a request to the Adventurers Guild about tracking down the bandits and moved on. After a few more reports, Philip flipped to the last page, “Ah, I just got this report before you arrived, there are sightings of goblins by a farming village to the southwest of us named Millfield Village. Nasty buggers, breed like rabbits they do.”
“Make a copy of the goblin report, this sounds like a good excuse to stretch my legs.” he then turned to one of his men and said, “Go ready the men, we are going on a goblin hunt.”