Soul Art Online

- Arthas -

"And the Marquis?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"What kind of person is he? I mean I was only able to see him for a few moments last time so I don't know what kind of person he is."

"Lord Conrad is a good person, although a bit stiff. He's a Holy Knight so he is close to the Church. He has however only taken the position for a year so he is still learning. He is more of an inquisitor though. Because of this, the security of the territory is among the best. You did see the fast response to the Goblin invasion." He asked and I nodded.

"The power of the House is still in the hands of his grandfather, the previous Marquis, Lord Daren Black. He is a Paladin, a true master. Although he is retired now, his power hasn't waned in the slightest. He is still one of the strongest Knights in the Kingdom. His son and Lord Conrad's uncle, Hector Black, on the other hand is a minister and not really a fighter. He can be a bit… difficult."

"Oh?" Veena asked, speaking for the first time in the conversation. "Is he not supportive of the Marquis?"

Arnold let out a sigh. "As I have already said, our Kingdom gives preferences to strong people to rule territory. This is not just the King but also most Houses. This means that others like Lord Hector Black who are good at management can look over the territory but not inherit the position of the Lord… despite being the elder son." A helpless look passed over the man's face.

"I see. So he holds a grudge for Lord Conrad becoming the Marquis? What of Lord Conrad's father?"

"Hugo Black. He lost his life in a war to save the Kingdom. It was his sacrifice which saved several cities and for this reason, he is very widely respected in the whole Kingdom even after his death. Originally due to him passing away, Hector Black was supposed to inherit the position as the only remaining son of Lord Daren but Lord Daren decided to wait and directly passed over a generation and gave the title of the Marquis to Lord Conrad… well, you can guess the resentment building up from that. Normally, Hugo being the Marquis wouldn't have been bad… or uncommon since the first choice was dead… but directly passing over Hector even in the event of Hugo's death… that part was something Hector held a grudge against."

"Nobility… position and power can make people forget even their blood." Veena said, a mixture of sadness and helplessness in her voice.

Was she remembering her own time with the Bael?

Although this world was perhaps not as I had imagined, what with Bina not being married and a reincarnator roaming around with Great Red, Ophis and a new Dragon Goddess as his lovers… I remember Zekram Bael being similar to what Lord Daren Black sounds like. As for Conrad, I don't know more about him to make any decisions.

"So, what exactly are we supposed to do when we go there? We won't be targeted by anyone would we?"

"Us? No way. They cannot do anything to use apart from passing some sharp comments. Be prepared to be looked down upon and spoken to in a patronising manner. They will never say a word which may be directly offensive although they will never fail to use a tone which will make you feel offended… huh… now that I think about it, those sissies must be talented to keep this nonsense up all their lives…"

I had the urge to facepalm at the guy's comments.

"Is everyone like that?" I asked, feeling a headache coming.

"No. Not really. Those are only the ones who support Hector Black. There will be plenty of other nobles who will be there for business. You can get enough support for your guild if you impress them." He added the last part knowing why I was going there.

"Well, that's all that matters then."

"Eh? Just that? Are you not interested in the party? The food and wine will be out of this world…"

"Are you?" I asked him. He stopped and smiled at me.

"Touché."

We joked around. Arnold might act like a fool when in private but he was the City Lord and was quite accustomed to dealing with nobles and businessmen alike.

He gave us some names we could contact to get jobs for our guild in Greenfrost and told us about the places we could go to get better recipes for medicines.

We also got to know more about other territories of the Kingdom.

We were on the eastern side of the kingdom. East of us was the sea. In the north were the mountains beyond which were the forests which were mostly unexplored and continued to the ocean.

Before the forest was the territory of Greenfrost. It is ruled by the House of Black, a family of Knights who have been serving the kingdom for the last four hundred years. The previous Lord, Derek Black rose up to the rank of a Paladin and helped elevate his house from the position of an Earl to a Marquis.

On the western side was the kingdom of Baweth which has always been at war with our kingdom of Auvudor.

Most of the Knights of the kingdom went there to gain merits and get promoted.

Even Arnold spent time there.

Right now, there was no war but small skirmishes were always present.

Their kingdom was more of a barbarian type, being a collection of many races, strength rules all. Even their King is a T8 Barbarian King.

According to Arnold, they fought like maniacs, the more they got injured the more ferociously they fought.

It reminded me of the Berserk Class in the games I used to play.

They used any means to take down their foes but their main style of fighting was using brute force to overwhelm their enemies. It's one of the main reasons why our kingdom concentrated so much on Knights with high defensive power.

"Their strength cannot be underestimated. Their people are descended from many monstrous races including the fabled giants and while the blood might have been diluted over the centuries, they still have an enormous advantage in brute strength over us humans. It's just that they detest the use of magic. Any magician is looked down upon with suspicion by them. This is probably the main reason we can match them by judicious use of magic and Battle Aura. Just the thought of them learning these two skills frightens me." Arnold shook his head.

"Monstrous races?" I was attracted by the sudden topic.

"Yes Monstrous races like the orcs and ogres. They were separate tribes at the start before the current king was able to gather them together and form a horde and establish the Kingdom of Baweth."

"And Giants?"

"Well, true Giants are beings of legends. They are walking forces of nature. There are stories about their nation being somewhere beyond the Reverse Mountain. There are myths of them being descended from Titans but they don't exist on this continent anymore. The best we have is the King of Baweth, a Half Giant or Buccaneer. He stands at seven feet tall normally but when he enters his half giant form, his height increases to almost double of that. His strength and defence increase along with his height to a level where he can just cleave through the shields of even Imperial Knights and cut through Ogre Chieftains when in an enraged state. The only one who can stop him in such a state is his Majesty." Arnold said, a bit of awe in his voice.

I was however attracted to the Buccaneer title.

Didn't I have a race card for that?

 "Are there other magical races with their own kingdoms?"

"In fact there are. There are Elven colonies in the south. They are reclusive tribes but they do come together if people invade their territory. Fighting them in forests is a death sentence. Kal Kohldur is a kingdom of dwarves. It's a neutral state that sells weapons to everyone. Even the mad barbarians don't attack them or they would be ganged up on by every other nation on the continent."

I had heard of that Kingdom before while on Sabaody.

Arnold continued.

"In the north, there are the Dark Forests. They are mainly unexplored as they are infested by miasma and dark creatures like the undead. Normally they don't come out of the forests but every few decades, there is a breakout in which hordes of undead invade. It's those times that the Holy Knights come in handy."

"What kind of undead are we talking about?" Veena asked.

"Many kinds. Starting from normal skeletal soldiers, ghouls to Liches and Death Knights. The forests are vast, almost the size of our kingdom and yet remains unexplored due to the dangers there. We are still not sure what lies in there. The most the Holy Knights and the Church can do is clean out the edges at regular intervals to prevent the undead from coming out to the populated areas."

I asked him more about the other races and the Buccaneer especially and found out several things.

Mostly about Baweth and its King.

Their entire kingdom thrived on war and was always at war against other nations.

Plundering was their main source of income. Their lands were mostly barren but they had rich mineral reserves which they harvested using slaves they captured from other kingdoms. The fact that it still hasn't been destroyed yet already showed its strength.

"This is why our King is so hell bent on finding a Devil Fruit, especially a Logia Fruit. Their kingdom doesn't have many counters against it and he could just sweep them by himself with that kind of power." Arnold explained.

"I will keep an eye for any of them the next time I go to Sabaody. In fact, we are planning to go beyond the Reverse Mountain when my team gets to a higher tier."

He nodded.

"By the way, how often are there wars against Baweth?" I asked. "Will we be sent there too?"

"Hmm, if you volunteer then sure. You are a part of the Llyne Knights so if we are deployed then you will have to go to the frontlines. As for how often… it depends. It's mostly after winters when they lack food. Those numbskulls don't think about selling their minerals to buy food but instead go to wars by making weapons out of the same minerals… that's just the kind of people they are. I would say we have a few months for that. Although if you want, you can always join early. There are plenty of skirmishes."

"I will have to ask my team before making any such decision. For now, our schedule is full so I doubt we can do anything."

"Pity. Just tell me if you want to volunteer anyday."

"Hmm."

By evening, we had reached the village and decided to rest at the inn and begin our journey early the next morning.

And that's where something happened.