“Ah!” Emelia said her face suddenly blushing. “Well…I just…You need a bath, you smell like ogres,” Emelia said quickly retreating inside.
“I was had,” Ash said as Emelia disappeared through the door.
As they did every time, Ash and Emelia bathed together. After they had gotten over their nervousness about their bodies, they had started talking during this time, but today they had returned to the uneasy silence. “Are you mad?” Emelia finally asked, her voice slightly shaking as she washed Ash’s back.
“I…Am not really mad,” Ash replied as he tried to sort out his feelings. “I just don’t know why you didn’t tell me sooner or ask earlier.”
“It was really hard to ask you at all,” Emelia said as she placed her forehead against Ash’s bare back.
“Why?” Ash asked, not understanding. It was true it was a pretty big favor, but he didn’t see why it would be so hard for her to ask.
“Because I…Was afraid you would say no,” Emelia admitted. “But now I have you and I am not letting you go,” Emelia added as she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought her head next to his ear. The feel of her breath against his neck sent a tingle down his spine.
Listening to Emelia’s words, things started to move into place in Ash’s mind. Turning his head, his face was only inches from Emelia’s and her eyes looked into his while giving off an intense feeling. “Emelia…You,” before he could finish his sentence, his lips were sealed by Emelia’s.
Pulling back, Emelia blushed a light pink all the way to the tips of her ears. “I…I love you,” Emelia said, her voice weak and slightly trembling. “I have ever since I watched you sleeping on the carriage.”
Ash was stunned by the sudden declaration as Emelia pushed herself away and hid herself in the bath, sinking so low that only her eyes were visible. Looking at Emelia lurking in the water, Ash felt a twinge in his heart. He was the same age as Emelia and in a way they were a lot alike. She had been sheltered by her father and had little experience with others. At the same time, Ash had been pushed away by others and pushed others away. Emelia was the first person he had started to get close to. He still didn’t know if it was love, but he felt comfortable when he was with her.
Shaking off the thoughts that plagued his mind, Ash rinsed the soap from his body and entered the bath. Emelia watched him, but since he could only see her eyes it was hard to tell what she was thinking. Slowly he walked over to where Emelia was and sat down next to her and let himself sink deeper into the water while stretching out his arm and wrapping it around Emelia’s shoulders. He didn’t say anything, Ash just pulled Emelia close.
Emelia didn’t fight against his pull and brought her head out of the water and lightly placed it on his shoulder with a content smile on her face.
After the bath, they dressed and sat down to eat. Emelia’s declaration was the last thing said and neither of the two could find anything to break the heavy silence that now hung over them. Though they were trapped in silence, they still sat close together and there was no feeling of dissatisfaction from either of them.
After eating, Ash and Emelia went to the study. With the news that a war might break out, Emelia was working on checking on her personal forces so that if the King called for troops, she could at least meet the minimum requirements demanded. Emelia’s father had neglected keeping a large group of soldiers and instead only kept a well-trained group of knights. The reason for this was because the adventurers in a region could easily be hired to preform most duties normal soldiers could do without the constant cost of upkeep. The downside was that in times when the King called for troops, it would take every knight to obey the call to arms, leaving the duchy weakened for years. Right now Emelia was making a general call by ordering all the knights within her lands to take on three squires for training.
The knights had the right of conscription so they could take anyone older than fifteen as a squire but they were limited to have no more than five at one given time. It would take two to three years before most squires would be trained enough to fight in a battle, but if push came to shove Emelia could still conscript adventurers into her personal army when the king called. They would be more expensive in the short run, but would still be cheaper than keeping a large standing army year around. Also, if any of the adventurers fled from duty, which was a good chance, it would give her a bad reputation with the royal army and King but it was the best solution she could come up without mass conscription for a war that may or may not happen.
While Emelia worked on the troop issues, Ash had been tasked with figuring out the cost to hire enough adventurers if the need arose along with the cost projections of the added new squires. The Hawkwing duchy had a number of lesser nobles but she couldn’t use them for troops for a war since the King would call on them from troops as well. Currently there was only two hundred and sixty-two knights under Emelia’s command. While squires didn’t receive pay, their families were given a sum upon the conscription and they would also need equipment and fed as well. The payment to the families was only ten gold, but when you took into account that they were planning to conscript over eight hundred squires it added up to eighty platinum coins. The cost for food and gear changed depending on the skills of the knights. While Ash said knights they had different knight guilds that could only be entered by those sword to a lord. Like common guilds, they had unique skills and most of them were seen as far stronger than those of the common guilds.
The people belonging to the Dark Knight Corps were the cheapest to outfit as they used short swords and leather armor. On the other hand, the Heavy Knights were extremely expensive as they needed horses, swords, lances, and heavy armor. Thankfully knights received no coin. If they needed anything, they simply had to show their knight identification card and Emelia would be sent the bill. If the knights wished for their own coin to buy something outside of what they were allowed, they had the option to work for the adventurer’s guild when they didn’t have an official task. They were also allowed to sell half of whatever they gained from the monsters they killed while the other half was reserved by the duchy. As long as the knights trained hard and there was not much trouble within the duchy, it was possible for the duchy to make a profit from their knights.
Along with the new squires came a second problem and that was their training. Knights trained their squires in a number of ways but the most common was in the labyrinth. That meant that soon the city would be filled with knights who needed a place to stay and so the inns would be filled to busting and still there wouldn’t be enough room. That meant that Ash had to find a place for them to stay while not spending a lot of coin.
“Why don’t we have them build their own knight training facility within the city?” Ash asked as he went over the numbers again.
“What do you mean?” Emelia asked tilting her head.
“Well from what I see, other than the capital the knights have no real place of their own,” Ash said as he flipped through the papers. “There is a guild hall here, but it is small and only has a place for one or two knights to stay and the training yard is barely big enough for a horse. If we build a place for them to stay for long periods of times, then when they aren’t on duty they could stay and train in the labyrinth.”
“That’s not a bad idea, but building a place that large would cost a large amount. Something that large would rival one of the outpost forts.”
“That is the point,” Ash said while shuffling through the papers again. “The duchy has been in three wars with other minor nobles over the past two hundred years. Each time they were only barely able to win. If you kept a well-trained and larger group of knights, that wouldn’t be as much of a problem. As for that, it could also be used if worst came to worst and you had to endure a siege. It would cost a lot up front, but keeping a large contingent of knights where they could fight in the labyrinth would turn a profit once it is finished,” Ash said as he handed over the paper that he had been working on over the past two w
eeks.
The cost for the fort and castle would cost over one hundred thousand platinum coins and thanks to magic could be finished within seven years. The walls and temporary barracks could be finished within six months.
Emelia read over the papers as her face was pinched in concentration. “I think it could work but there is one problem…Someone will have to take on this project. None of the nobles I can trust have the time to do it and the ones who do I can’t trust.”
“I could do it,” Ash suggested.
“It could work, but how would the King take it,” Emelia said with a slightly worried voice. “You aren’t a noble, but you could do it under my authority. The problem is getting the funds for the construction. We are one of the more prosperous lands within the kingdom, but even the king has trouble paying for a new fort to be built and manned.”
“The initial cost will be staggering but unlike the other forts, once it is finished it can make money with the knights constantly fighting in the labyrinth. You said so yourself, that the labyrinth is better than a gold mine since it is constantly filled with magical power.”
“That is true. Some people say that demons live at the bottom of a labyrinth, but since no one has ever made it to the bottom in the past thousand years that is just a rumor. Older books said they were created when fragments of the five evil gods fell to earth. It has never seemed to run out of power in fact, if left alone, the monsters in the labyrinth have been known to escape and wreak havoc. That is the reason cities are built around them in the first place. My family’s main task is to keep the labyrinth in check.”
“Then even if you built a fort, the King couldn’t complain since it is part of your duty,” Ash suggested.
“Ok look, if you think it will help, look through the budget and find out how much we can really use to fund the fort. If you need more, you will have to wait until next tax season to get it or find it yourself. Even if I do love you, I can’t let you spend the entire duchy’s funds.”
As soon as she said the words, the air filled with silence again. “I care about you as well,” Ash said fidgeting.
Emelia looked at him while frowning then a small smile spread across her face. “I’ll take it,” she said before jumping on him and pushing him down on the couch while kissing him.
6-3
The next morning Ash went through the budget again, but no matter how he looked at it the most he could come up with was three thousand platinum coins and even that was pushing it a little. In the end he had decided that to be safe, he would only take twenty-five hundred to start with. After showing what he came up with, Emelia wrote him a write of charge so that he could draw on the duchy’s funds from the royal bank. At the same time, she wrote out an order for all knights to gather in Tellian.
Now that Ash had a starting point for his work he headed back home. Shortly after he entered, he was greeted by Zelan and three other men who were unfamiliar to him. “Ash, perfect timing. I would like you to meet the people from the Seven Swords Guild that have been sent for the duel. The young man is Gai and the person who you will be fighting. The older young man is Rein, and the beautiful woman is Yu.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ash said slightly bowing.
“Enough Zelan, we need to hurry and get this over with,” the woman said tapping her foot. “I would like to get back to the guild hall before they start slaughtering each other.”
“Fine let’s get started,” Zelan said slightly annoyed at the woman’s attitude.
Ash and the young man who was a few years older than him moved about a fifty yards apart while Zelan handed them both wooden swords. “The rules are simple. You fight until one person can no longer fight or one of you concede the fight. Also, no intentional killing, that always puts a damper on things.”
As Zelan walked off the field, he passed by Ash and bent down close to his ear. “Don’t take it easy. Finish it quickly.”
When the woman signaled for the fight to start, Ash kicked off the ground and flashed in front of the other man, striking for his midsection. Though he had moved like a flash, the other man had been trained since birth and moved to intercept his attack, but no matter how skilled he was, his speed could not match and he took the blow full force and was thrown to the ground. Doubled over on the ground, the man emptied the contents of his stomach while Ash casually walked over and placed the blade of the wooden sword to his neck. “I Win.”
“What is this?” The woman bellowed storming up to Zelan. “Your letter said that he was clearly only level ten. At most, if he fought every day nonstop, he could at most be level fifteen now. Yet he is clearly at least level forty. You shame yourself and the guild,” Yu said angrily.
“If you wish to bring him to the guild to check his level you can, but he is only level fourteen. It is not his fault that your student is only at this level,” Zelan said shrugging his shoulders.
“What is that…Then let me test him myself,” Yu said as she pulled the wooden sword from her student’s hand.
“That will be up to Ash. My request was for him to fight someone within his own level. Just as the request made of me was to teach someone and have them fight against someone of their own level,” Zelan said as if he were bored.
“What about it young man?” Yu asked, eyeing him with anger flaring in her eyes. “Care to try your luck with me?”
“I don’t mind an honest competition, but only if the previous rules are still in place. I don’t want you to come at me with my life on the line over a simple duel with no befit for me,” Ash said calmly.
“I have no interest in killing you boy,” She said, taking off her mantle and placing it on the ground. “I just want to see what kind of pupil Zelan has raised.”
Since Yu was fighting him, Zelan took the place of the adjudicator and signaled the start of the match. Unlike before, this time Ash didn’t rush forward. Though he could not see any of her stats using analyze, Ash could feel power close to that of Zelan coming from her. “If you won’t attack, then I will boy,” She said before calmly approaching him.
Yu started with a series of simple attacks that Ash was easily able to block. Her speed was good, but not nearly as quick as Ash, nor as refined as Zelan’s. Once she saw that Ash had no trouble blocking her attacks, Yu started to attack more randomly then Ash saw a flash above her head. “First sword,” but Ash had no clue what the skill was so he had no way to prepare for it so instead he jumped back.
Just as he retreated, Yu’s sword flashed blue and surged forward at an amazing speed. Thankfully Ash had moved back just in time and the sword stopped inches from his chest. Ash had wanted to get the hang of her movements first, but it was clear that if he didn’t counterattack she wasn’t going to give him time to learn how she fought.
Ash thought about using gambler’s gambit but decided to wait. If he used it now and if he needed it later, it would be too late. First Ash invoked Stick Thread and a stream of fine thread shot from his palm. Yu reacted quickly, but thanks to their close distance she could only sidestep a portion of the thread while trying to block the rest with her sword. The thread wasn’t that strong and while it clung to Yu’s sword, she quickly removed it. By that time Ash had already started to circle around to her back.
As Yu turned to face Ash, he invoked Cone of Frost but this time Yu was expecting something and easily dodged the attack. Even though his attack failed, Ash didn’t let up and quickly followed up with Poison Vine Whip. Once again Yu dodged the attack cutting the vine off at its base.
Her eyes narrowing, Yu jumped at Ash as her blade turned red. Ash quickly invoked Shock Armor and brought his sword up to parry the incoming blow, but instead of one strike there were four and Ash was only able to block two of the strikes. One of the other attacks was blocked by his luck shield, but the last connected knocking the air out of his chest but at the same time his Shock Armor took effect and the woman was temporally stunned.
Knowing the shock would only last a few seconds, Ash invoked Po
unce and jumped forward, hitting her hard in the chest and sending her flying back more than twenty feet. As she landed, Ash readied himself for her next attack but his sword had broken at the hilt. When Yu didn’t move from where she landed Ash began to worry.
“Ash wins,” Zelan said before running up to where the woman still lay on the ground.
Seeing Zelan’s worried look, Ash quickly joined him. Yu was laying on the ground with her eyes rolled up showing the whites of her eyes. Zelan removed her chest plate that now had a large dent in its center. Under the chest plate her chest was wrapped in a thin cloth but it did little to hide her large chest but it did clearly show the large purple bruise that had started to appear.
Zelan bent his head down and placed his ear against Yu’s chest. After a few moments he raised his head and breathed a sigh of relief. “She is still alive,” Zelan said standing back to his feet.
A few moments later Yu eyes fluttered open. “Aurgggg,” Yu gasped in pain as she sat up. Then noticing that her chest plate had been removed, she quickly covered her chest with her arms and with a fierce glare looked at Zelan who was resting against the side of the manor. “Why did you take off my chest plate?” Yu asked angrily.
Zelan tossed the dented chest plate to Yu who grunted in pain as she grabbed it out of the air. “Would be pretty hard for you to breath with that on don’t you think?”
Looking at the dent in her armor Yu turned to look at Ash who was sitting not far away talking with Shina who was currently holding Milly who happily smiled up at Ash while playing with the broken wooden sword. “You still insist that he is only level fourteen?” She said, turning back to Zelan.
“He is,” Zelan said, tossing her Ash’s adventurer’s card. “Look for yourself.”
“How can he be so strong and only be level fourteen?” Yu asked, looking back to where Ash sat.
“That is his secret, but it had a bit to do with his guild,” Zelan replied cryptically.
Reborn: Demon Core Page 2