Chapter 24: The fallen leaves tell a story
Sorry for the massive delay, a lot happened today.
First, I reset my Pc and reinstalled windows due to a few problems, so that took a while.
Second, Webnovel was a bit laggy today and wasn't letting me log in, so that also contributed to me forgetting about this.
Anyway, here is today's chapters.
PS:I know where the Title comes from and I put it there for the memes since I thought it was fitting haha.
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/15 minutes later…/
/Creak…/
"I am sorry for the wait everyone, let's start this meeting." Said the village head as he entered the room and sat on a chair
Misgurd scoffed and said:
"Can this even be called a meeting?"
The head smiled, saying:
"That will be up to that young man to decide."
And with that everyone in the room looked at Dale, making him tense again.
'Act natural...'
"Look at you all, stop putting pressure on the kid." Said Tina
One of the old men, someone with large muscles and a thick fat belly said:
"I was just a bit curious, his armor was quite interesting and that sword…"
He looked very excited as he looked at Dale's armor set.
"It's been a while since I saw you so excited about working in the forge, can you even lift the hammer old bum?" Asked Tina with a smirk
The man got a bit angry and he was about to lash out when…
/Clap!/
The village Head interrupted the two with a strong clap.
"Tina, Barme, please, refrain from causing a commotion. It's late."
He looked at Dale and said:
"First, allow me to introduce everyone here properly, starting from me. My name is Edimund, I am the current head of Resko, an unofficial title but still... There isn't anyone willing to take the position and the village can't go on without leadership..."
"This has a long story but let's leave it at that for now."
He looked at the person on his left and said:
"You already met her, this is Tina Eino, she is one of our village warriors and currently acts mainly as a herbalist."
Tina chuckled and said:
"I am far from my youth and am too old to be called a warrior, but I can at the very least grab a few herbs and fruits in the forest from time to time."
The Village leader nodded and looked at the person next to Tina, she had long white hair that went to her waist, and her eyes were also blue, different from Tina who had brown eyes and curly white hair.
"Next is Adamante, she is our village's best leatherworker… "
"You forgot to add I am the one behind everything from butchering to processing of monster materials."
"Haha! Of course, Miss Adamante is the one in charge of making most of our guards cloth armor, without her, I bet most of us would be half-naked…" Edimund said with an awkward smile
"Next to her is Barme, he is the best smith in the village, and his family are the only ones who know how to forge."
"Nice to meet you kid, would you mind if I took a look at your armor? It's been a while since I saw such a thing…"
"Sure I don't mind." Replied Dale
Barme smiled, allowing Edimund to continue.
"Next is Misgurd, Ophelia, and Jyter. Veterans of their respective fields. With Misgurd being a retired Mercenary, Ophelia being a retired Hunter, and Jyter being a retired Miner from when the mines were still in operation several decades ago."
"..."
'The Mines huh, it's the second time I heard about it.'
The village head turned his gaze one more time and said:
"And the final member of the Elder council is Testors… But he isn't here now. And that is about it."
Edmund looked at Dale and asked:
"What about you young man? Who are you?"
(Insert Skyrim character creation screen)
"Me? My name is Dale and I am a… Hum… An adventurer?"
'Really... Should I say I am a fallen Noble? But how would they react to this?'
Edimund nodded.
"That is enough, we won't press you about the past. And now that everyone knows each other… Tell us, what happened?"
Dale became focused as he started to narrate the events, from when he arrived at the church to the boy's help and what he found in the labyrinth.
He modified the last part slightly, saying that there was some sort of creature gnawing at the Icon, which is true, but not entirely so...
He further added how he used Caladgolg to slash the creature down and how he purified its body with the Icon, of course, he didn't mention that David, the golden head, was actually aware and very much 'alive'.
This made everyone's eyes pop out. But Edimund was silent.
"I knew there was an extensive array of passages beneath the village, but I didn't expect it to hold such secrets… Besides, this is news that Testros would love to hear…"
"Don't worry, I am here."
Everyone looked at the door to see the old man with spiked white hair entering the room.
"No need for formalities, I already heard everything."
Tina had a cheeky smile as she said:
"Aren't you a bit old to eavesdrop on other people's conversation?"
But Testros smiled and shook his head.
"I had to go there and confirm for myself, so I took a bit longer to return…"
This made Edimund frown.
"That was dangerous, I thought we had agreed to wait…"
"I apologize, I just couldn't hold myself when I saw Caladgolg… In any case, I am fine so let's cut the chase and get down to business."
Edimund shook his head and let out a sigh.
"So, as I was saying, beneath the village lies the Catacombs of the Fallen order of the Southern Wall corps, it runs throughout the entire village, and it goes a bit further than that in some points."
"It's a relic of a time when Resko used to be a much more prosperous territory… From time before it went from a bustling town to a broken down village…"
Testros continued from where Edimund stopped:
"This happened around 150 years ago… Kid, you must've realized something happened in the past, and from then on people started to migrate, and worse, conflicts started to rise and problems came into being day after day."
"This all boils down to the Southern Wall corps."
Dale asked:
"What is the Southern Wall corps?"
Testros had to think for a while, refresh his memory and choose the right words before he replied:
"The Empire's influence covers the entire continent, but this means it's scattered. This can cause massive problems when it comes to resolving problems."
"To this, the empire created 5 corps to manage its territory and protect it. The Northern Infantry, the Western and Eastern Navy, followed by the Southern Wall corps. Lastly, in the center of its territory lies the strongest of the 5 corps, the Imperial Arms."
"Let's ignore them and go to what matters. The reason why the Southern Wall corps is called Southern Wall corps."
Dale nodded, fully focused.
"Kid, did you know that there isn't only one continent?"
"Yeah?"
'Quite an abrupt way of introducing it but...'
"... You don't seem surprised, did you know about it?"
"Well I mean… No, I didn't know, I just always thought somewhere out there. Beyond the ocean would be another place."
Testros smiled.
"You're right kid, I don't know how many, but I can confirm at least one."
"4 centuries ago, when the empire had been first established after many brutal wars and conflicts, the Emperor at the time realized how dangerous and precarious the South was."
Edimund opened his mouth and continued:
"The South is by far, the most dangerous on average out of all zones in the continent. And that is due to its proximity with another continent."
"If we go deeper into that forest near us, go on for a few days… Around 2-3 weeks on foot, we will arrive at the shores."
"If you go into the sea you will enter into what is called, the Sinking Cluster. It's a zone with an extreme quantity of islands, condensed, you could even call them a path since they go all the way to the other continent."
"As for the other continent itself… It's hell, terrific monsters and worse all prowl that place day in and night."
"Every once in a while, a few manage to cross the sea by using these islands as footholds, some even migrate between the continents as part of their habits…"
"The emperor of the time couldn't stand these creatures, they were too dangerous to be left alone, especially when the entire Southern section of the continent was filled with precious resources and those monsters would oftentimes cause mayhem in its neighboring areas…"
"So a massive plan was created and the monsters were pushed back, and with it, a wall was raised and the creation of the Southern Wall corps was officialized."
Everyone nodded, and this gave Testros the chance to continue:
"Resko was built and used as a base for these Corps to rest and improve themselves. Not only that, Resko was the first town of the South, and because of that, many immigrants were sent here to help harvest and explore the resources of this area…"
"Everything went well after that, many powerful warriors rose within the corps, and Resko grew massively, and at one time, one of the emperors even considered making Resko into a Capital city, although that plan failed when that happened…"
"Time is cruel kid, and nothing is meant to last forever… The rich resources of Resko started to deplete and since the corps were so Goddamn good at their job, people had long forgotten what it meant to live right next to a Continent full of monsters."
"And after the rise of the Corps' greatest hero, the empire got afraid…"
Tina interrupted him.
"Testros! That is a bit too much to say out loud…"
"Humph! As if those lousy asses will hear me… Don't interrupt me, I am reaching the end of my story."
Tina eyes's rolled up in annoyance.
"Cough! The Hero had died mysteriously, the resources were close to depleting, and there were no more monsters to kill since everything had been pushed outside of the wall... Because of this, people started to leave Resko."
"And this wasn't all..."
Testros started to clench his fists in anger...
"With the diminishing help of the Empire that was afraid of the potential power and influence of the corps, it became harder and harder to keep things steady…"
"Recruits got scarce and the equipment started to get rusty and tattered due to lack of materials…"
"Resko wasn't the city of dreams and opportunities anymore, so the talented and ambitious people didn't have a reason to remain there anymore... The problem was that this was done too abruptly, causing many problems…"
"And it comes mostly due to the fall of the Southern Wall corps..."
"Eventually, we were overrun… At the time, I was nothing but a low-ranking soldier… I grew in there and was raised from a young age."
"I watched with my own two eyes the true horrors of what lies beyond the wall, and yet, I could do nothing."
"I was told to flee and tell the Empire of what happened, and so I did… I never regretted my actions, I only did as I was told, even if it was against my own beliefs…"
"My superiors died doing their duties and protecting the people… Even if they weren't deserving of it as most just left us behind… What I regret is how their actions meant nothing! Since in the end..."
"No one listened to me, and the empire never sent reinforcements… And now our legacy is on the verge of ending."
Testros slammed his fist on the table in anger.
"This is the oversimplified story of Resko… As for why this is important… Well, it's just a bit of context for you kid, since most of the people here know some of these details."
"The most important thing about this discovery was without a doubt the Icon, however, I would also like to thank you personally… For helping me give my fallen comrades one last…"
He shook his head.
"The problem from this was the creature you told me you slayed… I don't remember much of my old days as a low ranking soldier, so I can't help in that regard."
"However, whatever lies sealed in there is by no means something we should ignore."
"It's okay, thank you for sharing all of this, it's a great help nonetheless." Said Edimund
He turned to Dale and said:
"Thank you Dale, you helped our village survive another day, I can't imagine what would've happened had this situation escalated further."
He, together with everyone else, bowed.
[Your reputation rises massively! Resko Reputation +10*2=20]
[You have achieved the minimum Reputation threshold! You are now an honored guest!]
"Please everyone… This is a bit much…"
Dale tried his best to keep calm and solve this situation but…
[DING]
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Notes
Lore dump! Yeah, this chapter was just a massive dump.
Also, there it is, more Reputation gain, one quest gave multiple reputation gains, scattered through several interactions, this is to make things a bit more realistic and less like a game.
Well, we now have a big picture of what Resko actually is and signified for the rest if the continent, and perhaps even a bit of a sneak peek into what the Mc will do in the future, lets's see where this story will bring us.
See you all!
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