After four days of travel on sea, the Amurdan Harbor was within sights.
"Meh, this place looks rather small. The size of the harbor itself is at least ten times smaller than that of the Greater Bay's."
Larne laughed and said, "How can you compare a place like this to Nornak City? Originally, this place started off as a group of fishing villages. Had it not been for formation of the Alomo Duchy, nobody would even bother to come here after seven years of war. Rumor says that the smuggling operations run by the Akan Trade Alliance in the empire were mostly carried out here. For it to be developed into a small town right after the war is already a rather amazing feat. I bet that in a few years it would evolve into a rather populous port city."
"No matter how populous it becomes, it has nothing to do with us anyways. Milord, you said that the fatty is waiting for us there?" asked Evans.
"He told me in the letter that he would set up camp outside of town. We'll get to know more when we ask around after we get off on the port," replied Larne with uncertainty.
While the harbor was already within viewing distance by noon, they only managed to dock their ships around three in the afternoon due to the curvy waterways which made it hard for anyone to reach the harbor safely without getting stranded on shallow sea if they didn't have a guide.
Larne, Evans, Sophia, Harrison, Randy and Pitt all got off the boat and noticed that nobody was at the harbor to receive them and felt that something was off. That's weird, Pella said that he would send someone over to the harbor in the letter, but why haven't I seen a single one of our people?
Evans nodded towards Larne without saying a thing and headed towards a tavern nearby with a sign that depicted a beer cup and a fish to gather some information.
Larne waited for a while and the tax collector got off the boat with Sheams following behind. Larne waved towards him and the tax collector came over respectfully. "Milord, how may I help you?"
"I believe that around 3000 people got off at this harbor around ten days ago. Do you know where they have set up camp?" asked Larne as he stuffed a gold Kan into the officer's pocket.
The officer's face instantly gleamed as he said, "Of course I do. They're within a small pine forest to the south of the town. They must be your subordinates, right? The roaring lion symbol on their flags is identical to yours."
Larne nodded at that statement.
The officer continued, "Milord, I'm afraid that your people have run into some trouble. The place where they set up camp is near the Porto Slavers' camp. I heard that some sort of conflict had sparked between the two parties and your people have been stranded within the vicinity of their camp for four days now."
"Oh? And who is this Porto fellow?" asked Larne.
"This..." The tax collector started hesitating.
Larne tossed him another gold coin and his expression changed. In a low voice, he said, "Milord, Porto is a famous leader of a mercenary group. He is really formidable and he is closely affiliated to the people at Port Novo. If it's possible, I advise you to send someone to visit him with a gift and apologize for your subordinates' actions to settle the issue."
"Oh, I see. Thank you for your kind advice," said Larne, unmoved.
The officer gave a bow and replied, "You're welcome. Then, I'll take my leave here."
...
"Everyone, get back onto the boats. Randy, ask Rahman and Uriel to come over," instructed Larne.
...
Evans quickly got back to the boat and told everyone the news he had obtained from the people at the tavern. According to him, the mercenary group leader called Porto was in actuality the head of a slave trading syndicate and is currently the local hegemon whose power and influence rivals even that of the local lord's. The lord had no choice but to come to a concession with Porto that states that as long as his slaver group doesn't impede the businesses in the area so that he can collect taxes from the business owners, he would leave the group alone.
Evans said that Pella had arrived 11 days ago at the harbor and had set up camp within the pine forest south to the town, which was within vicinity of the syndicate's own camp. For some reason, they have attracted the slavers' attention and battles broke out between them. Having not enough weapons and armor for his forces, Pella could only quickly have someone cut down several trees to block up the entrance of their camp. It also seemed that several people have already been captured with a few more dead.
Porto's syndicate also had a formidable fighting force at their disposal, including three Grandmasters, more than forty Master Swordsmen as well as at least two hundred Apprentice and Adept Swordsmen. It was no wonder that the dominion lord didn't dare to find trouble with them. There were even rumors that a subordinate of Porto was a Blademaster, however he rarely spent his time with them.
Everyone was sullen at hearing the news. None of them would have expected to run into an obstacle that early in the journey.
"Pitt, Randy and Sheams, you guys stay on the boat and take care of Harrison and Sophia. Uriel, make sure you have at least twelve other guards with you and protect our goods. Even though the boats fly the flag of the Madison Merchant Guild and not many people would dare to get on their bad side, we must prepare for the worst. Set up the carroballistas and make sure they are well shielded. If anyone attacks, kill them."
Currently, Larne was filled with an air of bloodlust. "As for the rest of you, suit up in your armors. Rahman, prepare five carriages and load a large amount of crossbow bolts onto it and follow me to the camp. We'll kill anyone that dares bar our way."
There were 38 senior students from the academy that were willing to accompany Larne on this journey, among which 12 departed early with Pella, another 12 stayed behind with Uriel and 5 of the 14 left wore full body armors like Rahman. Another 7 of them and Evans were equipped with the light cavalry armor purchased from the Orca Academy, each armed with a crossbow and five javelins. Larne picked a scale armor that only protected his upper torso and tried moving around in it. Satisfied that it wasn't impeding his movement and agility, Larne got on his horse with 12 javelins within the quiver hanging from side of the saddle.
Renting five transport carriages from the port at a high price of one large silver each, Rahman had the coachmen follow them to Pella's camp and promised that they wouldn't be held responsible if they lose the cargo should an attack break out.
With six fully-armored knights as the vanguard and Rahman riding at the very front, they set out towards the south and quickly exited the city and proceeded towards the highway that led to the pine forest.
After traveling for a while, they could see a simple roadblock up ahead which was formed by a few trees stacked up together. A few other people could be seen standing around the area and one of them signaled for Larne's group to stop.
Without a single word, Rahman lowered his lance and pointed it towards the front. The other knights behind him soon followed suit with exception of the one in the middle holding the battle standard of the Ruslans up high in the air.
All five lances of the knights emitted a blade of light as they charged forward. "Gah! They're all Master ranked knights!" The road blockers didn't dare to stand in front of them and hastily moved to the side and started running to their grazing mounts as they cursed out loudly.
The first one to crash against the trees blocking the way was Rahman. Bang! A loud sound erupted when the trunk was smashed into smithereens, clearing up the path ahead. All five of the carriages and the rest of the group rushed forward without delay.
Pointing at the carriages while swearing in loud voices, some of the enemy got on their mounts and gave pursuit while the others fired at Larne's group with their bows in a fit of rage. In the midst of all that chaos, a sudden cold, crisp voice could be heard. "Men, ready your javelins! Kill them all!"
Screams of agony rang out on all over the place. Evans's group dashed around the battlefield and the ones closer to the enemy fired their crossbows with some further away launching javelins in the enemy's direction, killing ten or so overwhelmed fighters in but an instant. The few archers of the enemy were the first ones to fall, followed by two mounted fighters with their horses nailed to the ground from the javelins aimed at them. The shrieks of the fallen horses were extremely unpleasant to hear.
Holding his horse by the reins, Larne picked up a javelin with his left hand, focused on his target and let the javelin fly. In a few moments, 12 of the road blockers died beneath the lightning-bolt-like javelins. Upon seeing Larne run out of javelins, one Master Swordsman who was playing dead rushed towards him with a loud cry and jumped high up in the air with both his hands raised as he prepared to unleash a downward slash, aiming to strike Larne off his mount and escape with it himself.
A blade of light started emanating from the assailant's sword. When the assailant saw Larne drawing his sword and preparing to parry his own, he didn't give it much heed as Larne's blade did not have a glow on it. Hmph! A Sword Apprentice like him wants to block a strike from me, a Third Level Sword Master He'll die instantly after I break his sword in half and then the horse will be mine.
Beyond the assailant's expectations, Larne's sword didn't break and instead, a strong force could be felt passing through his own sword into his hand. His weapon was sent flying far through the air as he helplessly stared at Larne's agile sword strike slither like a snake through the space between them and going for his throat before everything turned pitch black....
Corpses could be seen scattered all over the road. Of all the people who dared to block their way, more than 30 of them were lying on the ground dead with four or five others frantically escaping whereas Larne's group of nine were completely unscathed. The result of the battle was really satisfactory to Larne. He didn't expect to kill 13 people just at the start of the battle, as well as 10-odd of the 20 plus people that followed later. Els and the rest of the group didn't even have to face one person each of the remaining enemies.
One senior student came up to Larne and saluted him respectfully with an expression full of admiration.
"Check the bodies again and make sure to drive a blade down the ones who are still alive. Collect their belongings, I'll join you guys shortly," instructed Larne.
The belongings referred to the enemies' mounts, weapons, clothes as well as provisions and other resources. Larne believed that he was already quite generous for not taking their undergarments. Had Pella been the one to manage this, he'll leave the bodies stark naked on the ground after stripping them of everything they had.
"Yes, milord," replied the senior student.
"Evans, when we arrive at the camp later, give them the mounts, weapons and armor that you've collected. As for the money, you guys can divide it among yourselves. Don't forget to leave some for Rahman," Larne told Evans.
"Milord, the way loot is divided is already set by Pella. You can't just decide by yourself to change the regulations like that," reminded Evans.
"Oh, apologies. I've forgotten. Then let's divide it according to the regulations," said Larne.
—————————————————————–
After taking a turn at the road, the flag of the Roaring Lion could be seen within the camp. There was another encampment two hundred plus meters away from the aforementioned one, fortified by a rampart made of mud and stone, making it look far more secure and tidier than Pella's camp that was constructed with simple wooden trunks. That must be the slavers' camp.
When the main gate of the camp was finally open, a cheer erupted when the ones inside saw Larne. The slavers in the other camp gathered to see what was going on with some of them riding to where they set up their road block, obviously curious at how a small convoy of five carriages managed to make their way to the pine forest.
Getting off his horse, Larne told Rahman, "Secure the area and distribute the spears and the crossbows."
A senior student from the academy with a bandage on his head hurriedly came over to salute them. Larne recognized this fellow: he was one of the 12 academy students that set off with Pella's group.
"Ah, you must be Dunsin. How did you get injured? Is it serious?" asked Larne worriedly.
Dunsin replied gratefully, "It's just some bruises, nothing big. Lord Landon, you're finally here. Pella is within that tent over there and he has been injured while Knight Krarft is resting up because he was on patrol last night. I've already sent someone to notify him."
"Alright. Bring me to see Knight Pella," said Larne.
...
Pushing open the tent entrance, Larne saw Pella sitting down all wrapped up like a dumpling.
"Hey, fatty. Somehow, you don't look as fat when you're all wrapped up!" joked Evans.
Staring at Evans, Pella pouted before saying, "I knew that you would come along. It's a shame I didn't make a bet with somebody, otherwise I would've won myself quite a bit of money."
"Ajeh..." Evans was completely speechless.
"How are your injuries? Are they grave?" asked Larne.
"It's fine, I only got slashed a few times and lost some amount of blood. Ludwig told me that I'll fully recover within 20 days. Lord, I really didn't expect for us to falter right at the start of our journey," said Pella.
Ludwig was one of the 12 senior students of the academy that went to Port Novo with Pella and he was a Level one herbalist.
Evans sat down by Pella's side and patted on his thigh as that was the only part that wasn't wrapped up in bandages. Evans said, "Fatty, who did this to you? Your brother will definitely make him pay."
"The likes of you? Drop that notion. That fellow's a Grandmaster Swordsman! I already got seven wounds from fighting against him for only a while. If you were there, you would've been stained red with your own blood in no time," Pella replied.
"Aje, don't forget that I'm stronger than you. I'll show you how I take care of that guy," said Evans, dissatisfied at being looked down upon.
"Alright, cut that. Pella, tell us more about the situation," said Larne.
Basically, after Pella and Krarft arrived at Port Novo, the latter got in touch with several of his old comrades. One of them was working as a bodyguard for a slave trader and Krarft managed to easily purchase over 700 young and fit slaves from him without a hitch. It was worth mentioning that all of them had awakened their CoreEnergy and most of them were of the Apprentice Level with the rest being at the Adept Levels. Many of them used to be troops of the former Adox Empire or garrison troops from different cities who have been taken captive during the conflict and sold to slave traders. They were mainly held back from escaping due to their captured family members.
Pella said that he managed to get the slaves for a total cost of 16000 gold coins and also spent quite a bit on clothing and food. However, after paying the down-payment for the food he ordered, he noticed that he was only left with around 4000 gold coins and he still needed to pay around 3000 gold coins to settle the whole bill as well as transport the food. That's why he was hesitant to purchase weapons and armor to equip the slaves he had just obtained, since he expected Larne to bring those over when the time came to meet. It ended up with the Porto Slavers setting their preying eyes on them due to the slaves not being armed.
The slavers had been paying attention to Pella's group for two whole days after they set up camp and believed that they were another rival slave trading group due to the slaves they bought. That being said, Porto's group weren't going to let them off that easily and sent someone to notify Pella of their conditions. First, they were to pay 5000 gold coins of toll. Second, they must leave at least half of the slaves they had behind.
Naturally, Pella refused those conditions and explained that they weren't slavers but rather the army of the Ruslan Family. However, the other party was completely ignorant of the existence of the Ruslans and even said that even if the Ruslans were nobles, they must also heed their demands.
Originally, Pella would still try to negotiate peacefully with them if that was an option. However, the moment the Ruslan Family was humiliated like that, Pella instantly killed one of them and beat up the rest before chasing them away. It was after that when Pella noticed that something was wrong as the folks of the town viewed them in hostile light and refused to sell them any weapons, even down to the smallest kitchen knives.
Unable to do anything about the fact, Pella quickly went back to the camp and tasked the soldiers to fortify their it with an ad hoc wall made from tree trunks. With less than a hundred sets of equipment and more than 3000 people, they almost crumbled under the forces of the slavers. It was fortunate that Krarft and his two ex-colleagues managed to hold back the enemy's Grandmaster Fighter. Coupled with the 12 academy students' rampage, they managed to cause the slaving group roughly 30 casualties and forced their forces to retreat.
For the past three days, 17 slaves have already died with 50 more injured and 40 others captured. 7 of the 12 academy students were also wounded from the battle and were currently recuperating from their injuries. The slavers have also changed their tactics and started to besiege Pella's camp and waited for them to run out of food and other resources before finishing them off. Thankfully, Larne's group arrived just as the provisions were about to run out.
At that point, the tent's flaps were pushed open and Krarft came in with two other men.
Upon seeing Larne, Krarft said, "Milord, you're finally here."
After that, he introduced the two men beside him to Larne. "Milord, these two are my former comrades in the army. This one here is Lase Wanimi and he's a Second Level Grandmaster Swordsman and this is Musa Malik and he's a peak Third Level Master Swordsman . Both of them would like to follow us to the Northlands to check that place out."
What Krarft meant was simple: these two wanted to find a family to serve, but they didn't understand Larne's demeanor well enough. That's why they decided to join the journey to see whether Larne would be a good fit with their principles before deciding whether to join the forces of the Ruslan Family. Krarft hoped that Larne would allow them to tag along.
Standing up and saluting the two, Larne said, "I thank you two for helping us out. Had it not been for you guys, the camp might have been breached long ago. The Norton Family will definitely not forget this favor. If there's anything the Ruslan Family can help the two of you with, we will try our best."
The shorter guy, Lase Wanimi, smiled and said frankly, "Milord, you're far too polite. It goes without question that we would help our comrade Isan here out when he's in trouble. There's no need to go out of your way to thank us."
Musa Malik wore a serious expression without saying anything and merely nodded.
Just as Larne was about to continue speaking, Dunsin rushed into the tent from the outside with a nervous look on his face. "Lord Landon, the enemy is preparing to attack us again!"