The Runesmith

“A noble from the duke household?”

After getting back from the week-long expedition to the dungeon Roland wanted to relax and sleep it off. Before that could happen Elodia dropped a bombshell on his head. Apparently, a very important noble house had taken interest in their little growing city.

This entire island was somewhat a separate entity from the rest of the kingdom and was owned by a strong Duke. The house name was Valerian and they were the undisputed powerhouses of the south of this kingdom.

A duke household was second only to the royal families in this kingdom. Their noble name carried a lot of weight. Even if some just generally related to this family appeared anywhere they would kick up quite the storm.

“Yes, I was surprised too. Isn’t it great? This means that more people will be coming to the city.”

“Ah yeah sure…”

For Elodia this was a good thing as she knew what power nobles carried with them. Only cities that were governed by someone from a noble family could be called proper big cities. If Albrook managed to attract one of them, to the commoners it meant that the city was approved by the people in charge.

This could cause more merchants to arrive depending on how the new lord handled things. Sometimes it could go the oposite way, if the noble was incompetent they could ruin a city from reaching its full potential.

Roland knew of a few reasons why a noble would be sent to a yet developing city like this. The most obvious reason would be that their parents were giving them some kind of test to see if they can manage people. Another reason could be punishment or even banishment.

Albrook was somewhat far away from the main city of Isgard where the Valerian Duke had his main castle. From what Roland knew he had some of his sons tend to some of the larger cities that were more militaristic in nature. A town like Albrook didn’t seem like something that would be run by someone from the direct line.

“Do you know the name of the lord that is going to govern Albrook?”

“No, he arrived a few days ago but they didn’t give any announcement yet… Come to think of it…”

As Elodia was about to reveal something interesting she stopped and looked at the clock that he had constructed.

“Oh no, look at the time, I need to get back to the shop!”

Before he could get more information out of her she vanished through the door.

“Wait… what were you trying to tell me…”

Roland trailed off at the end there, when nobles were involved he was very interested in what was happening. He didn’t think that he was in any danger but with a new boss in town, things could be changing. The biggest danger would be to his own shop that a noble could find an eyesore.

After living in Edelgard for a few years he knew how some nobles operated. Even if they couldn’t legally go against the contract that he made with the city, there were other ways to make him capitulate. It would be best to get into the good graces of this new wild card that came into the city.

‘I bet all the other merchants and those dwarves are already sending him gifts… should I do the same?’

While in his old world bribing was frowned upon, here on the other hand it was part of the course. Sending the nobles ‘presents’ was something any respectable merchants with deep pockets would do. It was more a show of respect and would most of the time keep the noble happy.

‘What would I even make … a nice durasteel sword?’

With the new resources in hand, he could probably make something eye-catching. The problem there was that he didn’t even begin reworking his old tools that were ill-fit for the more exotic metals.

The forge needed to be remade to handle the higher melting temperatures of the other metals. He also needed to produce better tools for this job which would take him quite some time to finish.

‘It will probably take me at least a month to work out the kinks… probably longer, It would be better to go with something I already made…’

Roland thought some of his older prototypes would still be somewhat adequate to a noble’s tastes. Before he could make a decision he needed more information, was this noble a battle maniac or maybe more of a brainy type?

He at least expected it to be a man as women weren’t really ordered out to govern cities or large territories. There were a couple of families that utilized everyone, so it still could be the case here.

Without the proper information, he decided to rest for the time being. After spending so much time in the deep dungeon he needed a break. After he had recharged his batteries he would tackle this problem with a fresh mind. With that thought in mind, he headed to the bathroom to clean himself first…

…….

Two days ago.

“If it isn’t young master Arthur, on behalf of the citizens of Albrook I welcome you.”

A young man dressed in a militarized uniform stepped out of a lavish-looking carriage. His hair was pure white and it contrasted well with his deep green eyes. His height was slightly above average just like his frame.

“Ah yes, you were the old attendant, your name is?”

“It’s Ferdinand my liege.”

An old man was bowing towards this youth that didn’t look past twenty. Roland would recognize his face as this was the city mayor. To him this young man was someone that he needed to show his respect, even though on the inside he was feeling a bit adamant about it.

“You can raise your head.”

“Yes my lord, let me show you to your quarters, I’ll have someone carry your luggage inside. We have also prepared lodgings for the Valerian knights that have accompanied you but I’m not sure if we have enough space for all of them in the mansion...”

As the mayor that was relegated to butler duties tried to have some of the servants carry the new lord's belongings. He had arrived in a lush-looking carriage and was well protected. To this old man, it seemed that his life could be at stake if he was foolish enough to anger this young lad.

“Luggage? There won’t be much of it and the knights, they won’t be staying”

“My lord?”

Ferdinand was confused at what the new lord had said but soon he would realize the truth. The man in charge of the knights who was an older-looking fellow with a grand stature and a big gash on his forehead approached with heavy steps.

“Young lord, we have fulfilled our duties of bringing you here, as the Duke ordered we will now depart.”

“Is that so captain? I guess if it was a direct order from father, you should move along.”

Arthur Valerian smirked a bit as the knight captain did the kingdom salute and departed. The large force that consisted of fifty heavy armored knights on horseback slowly removed itself from the inside of this compound. What was left was the young lord, his personal maid, and two young-looking knights.

“T-this is?”

“As you can see Ferdinand, you don’t need to worry about me too much… now be so kind as to show me around the mansion.”

The old man was perplexed as he saw the large man in the shiny armor take his leave. It was kind of strange at the beginning as no one dismounted their horses beside the captain. Now it was clear that they intended to leave the moment they got here.

Ferdinand, who had spent a part of his life working as a butler for the Valerian estate quickly realized what this was about. The young lad that he was interacting with was clearly not someone favorably looked at by the Duke.

At least that would be the most obvious reason for such a predicament. It could also have been some strange test that the young lord was meant to pass, one without the help of any retainers lent from the main house. He was left with two bodyguards and one maid, not really much considering he was the son of one of the most powerful men in the kingdom.

The old man wanted to ask for the reason but he knew that he could not. For the time being, he decided to wait while getting in contact with some people from the main house.

“Yes my lord, please walk this way.”

Soon the small group of people walked into the large mansion that was previously occupied by the city mayor. Since someone from the main house was now here it would belong to him. Ferdinand the old mayor would be relegated into a smaller room in the same house as he was still the head butler.

As the main butler of this Albrook estate he still had many duties that he had to adhere to. Normally he would be responsible for the estate expenses and for disputes between the citizens.

Now with the lord being here, it would be up to him, but if he was somewhat lazy he could delegate everything to the current servants. This was a rather common occurrence as many nobles saw it beneath them to tend to commoner problems.

If the young lord turned out to be on the lazier side he might very well abandon all his duties and just relax. The city was already operating by itself and the people living there were not ones that liked changes. The power struggles had all been finished which made this young lord’s appearance an eyesore to the winners.

“These are your bed chambers, my lord.”

Ferdinand gave a quick tour to the Duke’s son. This house might have looked big from a commoner’s standpoint but it was a rather low budget compared to some of the more lavish-looking abodes. The Duke for instance lived in a grand castle with thousands of soldiers defending it. In comparison, this looked like a mansion used for vocational purposes.

It still had all the facilities that were needed to govern the land here. A large dining area, a kitchen with several servants and chefs that possessed expert culinary skills. There was a training area for the knights and soldiers in the back and also a proper library to keep all the notes.

There was enough space for a large family and servants to live here but this was still considered minuscule for a Duke’s son.

“You may leave.”

“As you wish my lord.”

Ferdinand finally left and Arthur was left in this new room with his maid.

“Young master, is everything alright?”

“I would be lying if I said it was, did you see the look on their faces when the knights left? I bet the rumors of the incompetent young lord will soon spread through the city.”

The maid lowered her head a bit along with her ears. At first glance, she seemed to be a normal human maid but after a second look, her cat ears could be spotted.

“It’s fine Mary, I’m used to it, not like I intend this to be the end, no this is only going to be the beginning. You should go visit the other maids, we’ll be spending some time here.”

The cat maid nodded weakly at what her lord said and promptly removed herself from the room. She needed to prepare the young lord’s wardrobe for the next day while making sure that the other servants didn’t mess something up. As she left the young man that went by Arthur was left alone in the large room.

“This is it huh?”

He moved towards one of the windows that gave him a good look at the city landscape. There he saw smoking chimneys that indicated people working and going on with their lives.

Arthur gave out a sigh before sitting down on a somewhat uncomfortable chair. This would be the place that he either rose up to the challenge or was left forgotten. While sitting there many thoughts went through his head but soon he just gave up as the stress of the long journey was getting to him.

“I could never get used to sleeping in that carriage…”

His eyes were red from staying up most of the night during the bumpy ride. The journey here was long as they constantly stopped at other cities to stay for the night. Now he would need to get used to another new bed that he might throw out later.

“They don’t expect me to do much here, it would be best if I just stayed here forever…”

The locket that he had previously looked at was open again. Inside of it he could see a small picture of a beautiful woman with long silver hair. Her ears were a bit longer than what a human's should be. Next to her was a child of about the age of five with the same hair color just with a different set of eyes that were green instead of sky blue.

Arthur moved his gaze towards a small mirror that was on the desk. There he moved his hair out of the way to look at his ears that were also slightly pointier than they should be. Due to his long flowy locks, they were hard to spot but they would certainly be an eye raiser if they were seen by other people.

“I should get some sleep, there is a lot of work ahead of me…”

….

Back to the present.

“So they just left?”

“Yes, it was a sight to behold, I haven’t seen so many shiny knights before in my life, they were also all high quality and that one the leader was wearing was clearly runic in nature!”

Roland was back into the world of the living after sleeping through most of the day. It was close to night time and he was having a conversation with Bernir that had been lucky enough to see a small battalion of knights leaving the city.

“So this Arthur Valerian, know anything about him?”

“Hm, I think he is the 6th? or maybe the 7th son? What was that Duke’s name again… ah right Alexander Valerian. I heard a rumor about that guy, apparently, he had gained a certain nickname…”

“A nickname?”

Roland asked while gulping down a warmed-up sausage that had been gotten fresh from the butcher. Elodia had closed down the shop and already left to tend to the orphans, now wanting to wake the tired Roland up she decided to have Bernir fill him in on the noble situation.

“Haha, get this, he is called the Duke of the Bastards, he just can’t keep it in his pants!”

Bernir started laughing while describing the Duke’s legendary escapades. As the conversation continued Roland also started recalling some long-forgotten information about this man.

As a Duke, he had to have a certain amount of personal power, at least a high level tier 3 class holder of some kind. The battle for attaining a Duke’s position was most of the time quite bloody.

This man in particular apparently had sired a lot of offspring that made his own father look like a beginner. The person that came to this city was supposedly one of them. It was probably someone that didn’t have a lot of pull in the family but still was part of it.

“Well I wouldn’t worry too much boss, your secret should be safe.”

While Bernir didn’t ask many questions, after the Robert debacle he had figured out that Roland was probably in a similar position as this new noble named Arthur.

“A bastard son of a Duke… I wonder what the others will think of it…”

While finishing up his food he began contemplating on that present. With the new knowledge, he wasn’t sure if investing in this new person would bring him any profits. Still, he was a noble and could make his life living hell if he got under his skin. That is if the current officials actually listened to his orders.

“You’re right, there is no time to waste.”

Bernir nodded while gulping beer straight from the bottle. With Roland back home with new materials, it was time for an upgrade.