Haruto Ichika reclined back on the luxurios couch of the Vancrus household, enjoying the goose down pillows on the sofa.
"Ahhh...life isn't so bad. Holidays are great!"
After passing the school end of year exams with flying colours, his proud parents, the duke and duchess of the Vancrus dukedom had joyously picked him and Miyuko up.
Unfortunately for Miyuko, she had only come in 29th place out of 300 studennts, which was a great score for the second top school in the Alarian kingdom.
But Duke Vancrus being a good father, wasn't satisfied.
"Look at Haruto over there, he scored 2nd in the grade! Miyuko, you should try harder, study more! I saw your arithmetic was only a B, I'll get you a tutor right now!"
"Haahh?! I don't want a tutor dad, I can study by myself! After all Onii-chan's been helping me a lot, it's why my results went up!"
Duke Vancrus sighed, releasing a big puff of air.
"Well, while you two are still here, why don't you help me with a little thing..."
Haruto turned around, mildly interested.
"There's been some issues at the border of our dukedom...we are currently allied with the Crimson Falcons, one of the four royal houses. However, the Crimson Falcons are currently in a cold war with the Black Dragons, and since we are a vassal of the Falcons, I'm sure the Dragons hired some dirty bandits to soften us up.
If you two could please go out and take care of the problem, it would be much appreciated! Think of it as a holiday! I'll send along a few guards for your protection!"
"Hey! You can't be sending our precious kids to deal with those nasty stuff at our border, can you?"
Duchess Vancrus sashayed into the room, clutching a fan in mock disbelief.
"It's such a dangerous place now, I would never risk my handsome boy Haruto and my beautiful daughter Miyuko in such a risky area!"
Haruto and Miyuko were bundled up by the insistent arms of Lady Vancrus, who pouted at the duke.
"Sigh...I'll send the head of my guard with them, they'll be safe! Haruto here already has a future apprenticeship with Kensei Zenka himself, he can deal with those bandits easily! And Miyuko here can also hold her own!"
Sighing, Duchess Vancrus reluctantly let them go on this 'trip'
...
The carriage trundled through the picteresque countryside, and Haruto couldn't help but imagine it would make a great postcard.
The scenic, golden wheat farms, the idyllic countryside villages and windmills made for a charming ride through the country.
Miyuko was constantly bored, always riding ahead on another horse or summoning small ice soldiers to battle each other for her amusement.
As for Haruto, he delved into a book, intent on learning more about the world he was in.
Throughout the journey, he learnt many new things about the political system in Alaria.
There were 4 'noble' houses, the Crimson Falcons, the Black Dragons, the Silver Wolves, and the Golden Bulls.
The leaders of these 4 houses alternated at being the king of Alaria for 5 years each, with two members each from each of the remaining households to serve as 6 loyal advisors.
Yet the houses were constantly engaged in petty feuds over land and resources, leading to cold wars and sometimes even assassination attempts.
Right now, the current king was from the Silver Wolves, but it was due to transition to the Golden Bulls next year.
There was a surrounding controversy around the patriarch of the Golden Bulls, who was rumoured to not even be an A-Tier mana user, as a weak king would be unacceptable.
Haruto didn't pay it much mind, as one of the more recent power struggles were between the Falcons and the Dragons, who recently had an ongoing dispute over some valuable ore mines in a nearby mountain range bordering both their territories.
Relatively smaller dukedoms and baronies were forced to take sides, paying taxes to the noble houses and making up more land for the houses.
The bandits were most likely sent by the Dragons to stir up unrest or protests against the Vancrus dukedom so the Black Dragons could swoop in and claim everything for themselves.
As the carriage arrived in the border town of Meranza, Haruto thought it was quite a scenic village, with cozy thatch and wood cottages and a relatively large inn in the center of the town.
Haruto, Miyuko and the guards sent with them quickly checked in, securing rooms.
The room was relatively clean, and Haruto dined on a delicious dinner of roast beef stew before turning in for the night.
"G'night, Onii-chan..."
Miyuko slept on the bed next to him, curled up beside him.
Well, this is awkward...
Due to this, when Miyuko was already asleep, Haruto was still wide awake, listening to the soft breaths of the surrounding people.
Yet it was because to this alertness that Haruto first head the sounds of fighting in the distance, the tiny sounds of clashing steel and raised shouts.
Suddenly sitting up, he looked out the window, where he could see a dim blazing of orange fire spreading over the roofs in the distance.
"Miyuko! Hurry up! Wake up, there's an attack on the village!"
Miyuko instantly sat up, sleep banished. They woke up the guards and moved silently out the inn and into the cool, night air, carrying a faint waft of smoke and char on the breeze.