Juliana's workshop - Book 1 - Chapter 1

Book 1 - Chapter 1: The nobility carriage that traveled north.

Binary Stars calendar, year 56, April, the spring had come for more than a month and the unceasing rain of early spring already passed. Now, there was still some occasional light rain, but the weather was refreshing, cool and comfortable without the blowing cold wind cutting through cheeks, while the soft spring breeze made people happier.

The Bagan Plain is a small piece of land prominent to the southeast of Olean continent, while in the east is the Yelan continent separated by a narrow and rugged strait. To the east is the continuous mountain range. To the south is the Mara Sea, dubbed the “Great Lake”, ships sailing out of the Dark Sea can sail to wider ocean spaces after getting through the "Great Lake" and the narrow straits in the west. To the west is a contiguous mountain region, with fragmented plains and hills, and further west is the Coast of Ayer Sea with a large number of city states. To the north is the Dark Sea completely surrounded by land, and further north is the endless plain of Olean continent.

A small convoy was travelling on the Bagan plain. The convey had two carriages transporting people, three carriages carrying goods and rations; accompanied by twenty servants, twenty mercenaries, and twelve church knights.

The convoy departed from the King's Fortress, capital of the Twin Eagle Empire. They went along the Olean Plain adjacent to the Dark Sea, then crossed the border line, entered the territory of the Crescent Empire, headed north, then went west, going to the remote Vises Republic on the Coast of Ayer Sea. The convoy wasn’t on a long journey for trading purpose, but for a marriage. The Mullin family of the Twin Eagle Empire sent a young girl for marriage alliance with the aristocrats of Vises Republic. It should be a good thing to celebrate, but when the convoy left King’s Fortress, everyone was quiet, there were no family members to send off, no residents of the capital who came to see the bustle - the team departed in the early morning when the sun had not yet risen.

Paddington Edgar, who was riding in the front, was the leader of the convoy and also the church knights. Paddington Edgar was tall and strong, with crisp short hair and a burly body covered in white silver half-body chain mail, but he was not wearing a gold blouse that represents the church knighthood – as every church knight is like this – there was only a linen coat under the chain mail. The strong knight’s eyes were firm and kept on the front, as if nothing seemed to be able to shake his will. The carriage behind him was carrying the girl from the Mullin house and her two maids, so he had to be cautious.

Someone urged his house to march along with him, "Sir Edgar." The coming man was an old man with white hair, the name is Olga Negril, wearing a maroon robes with leather armor worn on his chest, arms and thighs. Not a knight, but one of the few warriors among the servants. Although he was old, but his burly figure wasn’t any worse comparing to Paddington, his spirit was full of enthusiasm, his eyes were bright, and he can't be seen in the slightest as an old man. "How much longer will we travel before turning to the west?"

Olga is from Yelan continent and didn’t know much about Olean continent.

"Before we go to the west, we have to pass through the Forest of the dead." Paddington replied, "Through the Forest of the dead, travel along the ramp to the west until the Ayer Sea. Then along the coast of the city states, if you go north, you can reach the Vises Republic safely."

Olga said: "Can we not bypass the Forest of the dead and continue this route directly?" The old man looked a little worried and wasn’t very willing to cross a forest with the sound of misfortunates in its name.

Paddington shook his head. "There will be many unnecessary traveling if we go around it. The mountain road is rugged, and it may attract a lot of robbers in the mountains." He apparently saw the uneasiness of the old warrior and continued: "Olga, you are a man from Yelan continent. It is not surprising that you don't understand the situation here. The Forest of the dead sounds like something with misfortunate, but it is only named as such to to remember the soldiers of Twin Eagle Empire who fought and died here. Although there are magical beasts in the forest, but they are all small and weak, which aren’t much of a threat to us. It is better fighting them than fighting the robbers."

After Paddington’s full of confident answers, Olga didn’t say anything anymore but only nodded slightly. It can be seen that he wasn’t very satisfied with the other’s statement, but as the leader of the convoy had already said, and since he wasn’t familiar with the continent, he no longer said anything further. He changed the subject, "The Forest of the Dead is where the soldiers of the Twin Eagle Empire rest?"

Paddington's bright eyes faded a little. "Yes. In the civil war one hundred years ago, many loyal warriors died here in order to defend the glory of the Twin Eagle Empire."

"But this is already the territory of the Crescent Empire," Olga said.

"Yes it is." Paddington heard Olga's words. After a while, he squeezed out a few words. "It is no longer the territory of Twin Eagle Empire. Those loyal souls are left in a land that is not their own."

"I'm sorry, Sir Edgar." Olga put his hand on his chest and bowed to Paddington on horseback. "I don't mean to offend you, to remind you of these unpleasant things..."

"Don't mind that, Olga." Paddington reluctantly smile. "That was a long time ago. So long that you and I haven't been born yet. The warriors who experienced those battles have now returned to the dust. "Paddington did not have any dissatisfaction with Olga's words. He wasn’t a citizen of the Twin Eagle Empire. He came from a peninsula in the west and only grieved when remembered what happened on this land.

Since Paddington was so generous, Olga didn’t have anything better to say.

At this time, a horse-riding church knight came over. The knight was sent out by Paddington to scout and now hurriedly came back with what he should have discovered.

"Sir Edgar." The church knight reported to Paddington, "There is a small village in front of us, also there is nothing unusual. Looking forward, I can already see the edge of the forest." Because Paddington wasn’t affiliated with the Church, so he was the leader but the church knights have no special title for him. The church knight hesitated and continued to say: "I have observed it a little closer. The villagers in that village should have the same faith as us, and worship the God of Light as their only god."

Paddington nodded. "Alright, you should return to the convoy."

The knight saluted and came back to his position in the convoy.

Paddington said to Olga: "The Forest of the dead isn’t as ominous as you think. Even a village can stay on its edge, there should be not much danger around."

Olga nodded as his brow didn’t frown again. "That's good to hear." His answer was concise and clear, he then returned to the carriage behind him, opened the curtain and spoke to the people inside. The vague and intermittent sound would occasionally pass to Paddington’s ear.

Paddington thought that the old warrior was probably soothing the uneasy girl. It’s been half a month since they left King’s Fortress. If nothing serious happen in this trip, then for this girl, there will be no chance to go home again in the future. She will stay in the more affluent Vises Republic, become the wife of a noble, have children, until the day she dies.

If there is nothing unexpected.

At this time another church knight came to Paddington. This is a young man named Leo Pastin. He didn't wear helmet, had blond hair, and looked handsome. His eyes were full of young people's impulses, as well as the pride of a church knight and the firmness of his own belief, making him look like a young lion, full of passion and strength.

"Sir Edgar, I heard that there is a village in front of us that is full of our poor believers." Leo Pastin urged his horse to Paddington and said to him.

"Sir Pastin, your compassionate heart, your kindness is commendable," said Paddington. "But they are already the people of Crescent Empire. Any reckless behavior may provoke the Crescent Empire. It will bring unnecessary trouble to you, your family, and your country. So don't be emotional, okay?"

"Of course, I know what the mission of this trip is, and I will never give birth to troubles outside of it," Leo said. Paddington’s advice calmed the young man’s enthusiasm. "May the Lord bless these poor souls who were ruled by pagans." Leo drew a cross on his chest. "Those robbers also heard the information brought back by our brother. They said that it was the village of apostates and needed to be purified." When Leo said this, his face was full of disgust. The robbers he said weren’t anyone else but the 22 mercenaries. These warriors who came for money and the church knights had never been on good term with each other. Although both sides believe in the Gods of Light, the religion was divided into two centuries ago, one is the church of Illumination far away in the west and the north, and the other is the church of Holy Spirit that is rooted in the easternmost part of Olean continent. The contradictions between the two churches have been in existence for a long time. The believers of each religion also regard each other as sworn enemies, and hatred has spread roots for hundreds of years.

Paddington frowned. "Taking good care of those barbarians from the north, don't let them mess things up. Go and warn Gris to control his men before entering the Forest of the dead."

Leo grabbed his fist and knocked it on his chest. "I will not let those heretics hurt the believers of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, I don't mind letting them bleed on this land."

"If Gris has any dissatisfaction, report it to me immediately." Paddington continued, "I will never condone and tolerate those who don't cooperate."

Leo nodded, because of Paddington’s words he became very determined, and the eyes of him that were laying on Paddington were also filled with a burning passion. Paddington wasn’t a believer of the Holy Spirit, but his knighthood and unquestionable strength had made this young man admire him. When Leo looked at Paddington, he had more than once fantasied that he could reach the height of this mighty knight one day.

Paddington certainly can feel this burning glaze, but he simply turned his head, as if he didn't see it.

Leo turned his horse and returned to the convoy’s rear. He rushed over to the mercenaries who leisurely walked in squads, and then caused some minor disputes.

Leo didn’t look back for Paddington. He knew that these unpleasant mercenaries would probably settle down for now and wouldn’t cause trouble in the village in front of them.

Paddington didn’t like these savage mercenaries who weren’t very different from robbers. They will plunder and destroy everything in the name of faith, but they have never repented of their crimes to the God of Light, thinking that all of these are privilege granted by the lord. But no matter how much Paddington doesn’t like these undisciplined mercenaries, he must temporarily get along with them for the purpose of this trip. Not only him, the church knights, and the accompanying servants were also enduring these coarse guys.

At this time, Olga returned to Paddington's side. "I heard the movement in the back. Your knights and the mercenaries are having a dispute. Did something happen?" Olga asked.

"No need to worry, just a few small businesses." Paddington said, "Just letting the mercenaries settle down a bit and don't mess things up."

Olga turned and looked at the carriage where the noble girl was sitting on, his eyes were full of worries. "Before leaving the capital, I have always opposed the employment of such mercenaries to be the guards of lady Roseanna. They are brusque. Even when the public safety of the Imperial Capital isn’t very good, the residents there were still full of complaints against these mercenaries."

"I hate these barbaric northerners too." Paddington said, "They have no faith worth mentioning, only care about money... but we have to bring them along. There’s a long road ahead. Before seeing the Ayer Sea, I don't know what difficulties will be waiting for us. The robbers, the magical beasts, the underground inhabitants, and even the wild elves... may attack us. Therefore, we can only endure these well-trained mercenaries for the time being, at least their fighting power is guaranteed. And since they will get a small bag of heavy gold coins, the money will at least ensure their ‘loyalty’."

"I hope so." After listening to Paddington’s remarks, Olga could only nod slightly. He still didn’t trust the mercenaries, but he believed in this noble, powerful knight.

"How is young lady Roseanna? Is there anything that she couldn’t adjust to?" Paddington asked.

Olga shook his head and sighed. "Rushing to a distant and strange country before she has the chance to grown up, having to endure the bumps on this road, what good can they do to her? Alas, poor girl."

"When she arrives in the Vises Republic, she won’t think much of her hometown anymore." Paddington said, "The City on water doesn’t have the solemnity of King's fortress, but it is rich and prosperous. It is a romantic place for girls to live there permanently."

"No matter what distant to the Republic on water is, there is no doubt that it’s better than King's Fortress," Olga said. Probably this touched the sorrow in his heart and made his expression look grimmer. "As long as lady Roseanna doesn't need to be disrespected again in that run-down place, it's a good thing no matter where she goes."

Paddington was silent. The run-down place that Olga said is naturally the King's Fortress of the Twin Eagle Empire. Paddington thought that words may hurt the feeling of an empire’s citizen like Olga, but Olga is not a native born in the Empire, so when talking about the King’s Fortress he wasn’t being polite at all.

And Olga didn’t say anything wrong. The so-called solemn King’s Fortress, is now just a suffocating dead city. The so-called Twin Eagle Empire, surrounded by the Crescent Empire, is now just a setting sun left with only a lonely city.

The banner of the Twin Eagle was solitary on the mottled and endless wall of King's Fortress. There is still sunshine shining on the flag, but the twin heads eagle, while slowly getting older, is already a dying bird in its cage.

End of chapter 1