Chương 413: 408. Departure - II

The married guards had already met with their families yesterday, while some of the unmarried ones had formed good friendships with maids and the female guards and were saying farewells to them. There were many such examples in the manor now.

Hyola was already thinking of marrying Calubo, who had gone with the portly merchant Pydaso to Ulriga, while Yufim—who wasn't going with the others to the west, although he had whined a lot about it yesterday—was quite popular with his good looks and was talking with a couple of maids standing nearby. Isomi—the older of the two sisters—was talking with another guard coming with them, although he didn't see Savomi, the younger sister, anywhere.

He had found out that she was also learning as an apprentice to Nurobo, and would later become a medic too. That's when someone tapped on his shoulder from behind. Tesyb turned around in surprise and saw that it was… Savomi. He immediately smiled on seeing her, which was something that happened every time he saw her. She was 21, a year younger than him, and still unwed. It helped that she was easy on the eyes, even with her short cropped brown hair.

"Ready to kill the bastards?" Savomi asked with a grin.

"Hells yes!" he replied enthusiastically, not knowing if his enthusiasm was coming from the fact that he would be taking revenge on Torhan soon, or if it was from Savomi coming to talk with him. He wanted to say that he would do his best and that Torhan would get what was coming to him, but for some reason he always got tongue-tied in front of her. Savomi just grinned as she patted his bicep once.

"Be safe, 'kay?" Tesyb could only nod as she returned to the side to watch along with the others. He was confused, though. Why had she just come to talk with him? Most of the manor residents observing from the sides had been talking with whoever they were friends with, but Savomi had only come out to talk with him, and then returned to watch. But why? Before long, Yufim walked to him with a grin.

"You lucky bastard!" Tesyb raised his brows.

"How exactly am I lucky?"

"One of the reasons is that you are going to get a chance to kill Torhan. He didn't burn only your house, you know? I was also homeless for weeks until I was selected as a manor guard and got to live here." Tesyb gave a confident nod.

"Don't worry about it. If that bastard is there when we arrive, he won't live for long." He tilted his head.

"Wait, you said that was the first reason? What's the other one?" Yufim just grinned.

"Never mind that." Tesyb was going to bop the self-proclaimed best archer of Tiranat for hiding the second reason, when he saw a commotion near the manor house. Everyone turned around to look as Lord Kivamus, with his unique silver hair glinting in the light of the burning torches, came out of the manor hall, followed by Feroy, Sir Duvas, as well as the captain. It seemed it was time to depart. The captain walked to the guards.

"Listen up. The baron has something to say to you all." Lord Kivamus stepped forward into the torchlight, dark shadows shifting across his face as he looked at the group of guards waiting at the gate. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to, for it was as quiet as it could be with everyone straining to hear his words.

"Last year, Tiranat was a place bandits came to take from," he began.

"Torhan's men walked in, stole what they wanted, and burned what they couldn't carry. Some of you lost homes. Some of you nearly lost your families. But all of you learned what it feels like to be treated like prey." He let that sit for a beat, eyes moving across the guards.

"We could've stayed like that," he continued.

"A poor village that bows its head, pays what it's told, and hopes the next pack of bandits and beasts passes us by. But we didn't... We built! We trained! We bled! We worked through cold and hunger and fear, and we turned this place into something that can stand on its own feet." His jaw tightened.

"Today, you all are not going out to take revenge. You're going west to make something clear to everyone. Nobody attacks Tiranat and walks away! Not bandits. Not clay-mine owners. Not anyone who thinks our village is an easy meal." The baron lifted his chin slightly.

"While you're out there, watch each other's backs. Follow the orders from Feroy and Hudan, and bring everyone back home." He pointed at the closed gates of the manor.

"And when you come back through those gates in a week, I want every bastard in this region to understand one thing." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. His voice sharpened.

"Tiranat is not prey anymore!" For a heartbeat there was silence—and then the guards roared. So did the servants and maids gathered nearby—fists raised, voices crashing together loud enough that even the rainclouds above felt smaller.

"All right," the captain said, turning back to the line.

"We'll leave immediately. Open the gates." Tesyb nodded, already feeling in high spirits as the two guards on gate duty opened them. He waited for Feroy to take the lead according to their earlier instructions, then the rest of the guards followed behind. He was in the middle of the column near Nurobo the medic, while the captain was bringing up the rear. As they walked west through the village in the dark, he didn't see anyone else out at the moment, with it being so early in the morning.

That was also planned by the former mercenary, since he didn't want any villager to get any idea of such a large group of guards going out together which would start unnecessary rumors. Of course, if the counter-raid went well, then there would likely be an announcement by the baron to proclaim their victory. Tesyb couldn't wait for that day... Soon they passed the market square and moved further west, where he saw the small wooden compound of the temple of the goddess.

For some reason Father Edric was awake at the moment and was standing outside the temple, looking at the guards curiously. Most of the guards, including Tesyb, immediately bowed his head towards him, as well as the temple, and Father Edric raised his hand and smiled. Tesyb believed that the priest had no idea what the guards were going to do, but for some reason he felt that Father Edric knew a lot more than he should. Either way, his confidence was boosted further seeing that the priest had blessed them as well.

He clenched his fist thinking about that bastard Torhan, and hoped they would find him in that compound. He was the reason the villagers had become homeless right before the winter, and hardly any of them would have survived if Lord Kivamus hadn't arrived in time and built those longhouses. But finally, it was time to take revenge and to make sure that bastard never tried to do that again. If they liberated some slaves from there, and got some loot from that compound, well, good for Tiranat!

Soon, they reached near the southwestern gates, and Feroy raised a fist.

"Gather around," he said. Once the whole group of 31 men—guards, medics and Joric—was standing closely, the ex-mercenary began.

"From here, we will break into three groups of 10 each. I will lead the first group, Tesyb will oversee the second one, and Hudan will take care of the third group. We are not going to walk on the road, but we'll still be walking close to it through the forest. All the groups are still going to walk close enough to be in sight of each other, but we will maintain a gap of around fifty paces between each group, to make it easier to move through the forest.

In case any of you see a bandit or a dangerous beast, whistle the signal you have been taught, so the other groups can flank the threat. I still don't expect there to be any problem until we are close to Kirnos. Any questions?" Tesyb looked around and only saw acceptance. When nobody said anything, Feroy added, "Good. We will stop for a short meal break around noon, and then we will resume the hike. My target is to reach close to Kirnos by late morning tomorrow, assuming it doesn't rain too much."

"Will we walk the whole night?" one of the guards asked. Hudan snorted.

"Why? You feeling tired already?" The guard looked down in embarrassment.

"I don't think I have ever walked that much!" Joric complained.

"Don't worry," Feroy said.

"Your body can do a lot more than you think, and you have been working as a laborer for months, including your time as a slave. You can follow us just fine." Joric gave an uncertain nod.

"Unless there are some problems on the way," the ex-mercenary continued, "my plan is to continue the hike till it gets dark tonight. I assume we will be two-thirds of the way to Kirnos by then. We won't make any camp, but will rest for most of the night, and leave again before dawn. We should reach near Kirnos by late morning or noon at the most. Then Joric will lead us to that compound."

"I don't think I remember the exact path Torhan's men had taken when they took me to the clay mine..." Joric said.

"That's fine," Feroy replied.

"You only need to tell us the general directions. One of our scouts has orders to find us on the way, and then they will take us to the compound. From what I know about its location, we should be able to reach there by sunset tomorrow."

"I still think we will be too tired after walking for two days straight," Nurobo said while adjusting the strap of one of his many satchels.

"Can we really fight immediately after that?" Hudan gave the answer this time.

"We have already planned for that. Two days of continuous hike for reaching close to the compound, then at least a full day of rest. We will use that time to talk with the scouts and find the best way for the assault on that compound. You all will get enough rest that day, and then we will attack that night or the next day, depending on the conditions we find there. Any other questions?" Tesyb shook his head, with many other guards doing the same.

"Alright then," Feroy grinned.

"Let's break into the three groups and move out immediately." Tesyb nodded as the teams were divided. He knew that the captain was trusting him to lead the guards safely through the forests, and even though he didn't have much experience in leading others, he wouldn't let them down. For Lord Kivamus. And for Tiranat!