Chapitre 22: Brine City
The next day, a strange caravan led by a man on a donkey traveled south. Their goal was the Molten Valley ( https://ibb.co/eaQK8c ).
It was a large valley surrounded by mountains and forests. A large river ran north of the valley to the southeast of the human kingdom where it would eventually reach the sea.
Many of the mountains were extinct volcanoes which explained the fertility of the land, as volcanic ash made for excellent fertilizer.
The long caravan was on its way to an area roughly in the middle of the valley, as this was the spot recommended by Carl as it fulfilled most of their needs.
Chris was riding next to Mia's and Catherine's wagon.
"Right, that's where we are headed." He confirmed.
Catherine seemed pensive.
This made Chris curious. "Is there something wrong Miss Catherine?"
"Hm? Oh. It's nothing. I just realized that if we survive, this will become our capital. I guess I felt melancholic; I guess I might miss the old one a little bit." She answered with a smile.
Catherine changed the subject. "Isn't the river a little too far?"
"That's the only downside. The river is patrolled by the Kunall, if we set up anywhere nearby, they'll spot us, right away. We'll need to transport water by carts, at least in the beginning. Berg told me this was common for smaller cities and villages?"
Mia nodded and took note. Preparing this kind of job was right up her alley.
"Other than that, this should be the best post around." Continued Chris. "Titus' scouts made sure of it. It's also in the center of the human territory. It's surrounded by large mountain chains, which will make it easily defensible. The west and north branch of the river connect us to the dwarves and elves, and they merge downstream until they reach the sea in the south. It's a perfect spot for a harbor."
"The valley is large enough to sustain our expansion and fields required to feed our people."
"And best of all, there is only one entry point for the Kunalls which are in the southern part of our old territory. Which is from the northeast of the valley. That is unless they want to brave the tall and snowy mountains filled with hungry beasts." Said Chris with a smile. "Even they wouldn't be so stupid."
Mia approved. "Easy access to commerce with neutral neighbors, easily defensible, plenty of materials around and large enough to sustain our growth for a couple of years. This is the best we can hope for."
"Right, right?" Chris was very proud. "We really think alike."
Mia did not bite and continued. "But what is your plan for dealing with the Kunalls? We might have moved away, but they will eventually notice that one of their scout patrols is missing. This is too big for them to just let it go. They will investigate, and chances are they will find our new camp."
"Huhu." Chris had a nasty smile on his face. "We just killed one of their patrols right? But they won't know about it until one month later when it fails to return, right?"
Mia and Cat nodded.
"So they'll just continue to send out weekly patrols as usual."
"You mean?" Catherine was the first to get his meaning.
"Right. If we can take care of one, we can take care of the next one. And the one after that too. They are just a bunch of huge targets with their guard down."
"And once their camp is at its weakest, we strike! If we do our job well, they'll never realize what's happening and they won't have time to request reinforcement. That's the easy part, the hard one comes after that."
"No wonder you are not worried about the scout camp." Said Mia calmy. "You already planned on removing it."
That's right, this was why Chris didn't mind that there was "only" a mountain chain between Molten Valley and the scout camp. Their time was nearly up, if everything went according to his plan that is.
Chris had a great time during the trip, which took a full day, on horse... and donkey's back.
Chris and his companions were now standing on what would be the center of their first city. The ground was flat, and nature had clearly taken over. Thick bushes, tall grass, and many forests were thriving as far as the eyes could see. Wild animals fled as the people unloaded their carts nearby.
"This will do!" Shouted Chris. "Bergy! The royal claimer!"
Berg pulled out something from a nearby cart. "Here, my Lord. It's still fresh and unwrinkled as requested."
Mia and Catherine looked at the item with curiosity. [Royal claimer?]
It was a stick with a flag on top of it. Chris raised it above his head and shouted. "Royal claimer equipped!"
And then planted it on the ground.
"I claim this land as the first territory of the Sun Kingdom! It shall be named Brine City!"
... ... Everyone was stunned by the suddenness of Chris' actions.
"Eeh? You already named it? I wanted in on the name." Complained Catherine.
Titus joined in. "Brine City. Is it because we are in Molten Valley? Isn't that too easy, my Lord?"
Mia looked at Chris reprimandingly while Ferlin was nodding along in agreement. Only Berg did not join in, instead, he went to pick up something else from the cart.
"Geh." Chris chose to fight the stares and started over stubbornly. "I shall name you Brine City!"
The stares intensified. "L-look it's too late okay?" Explained Chris. "Look? We already have the banner."
They turned to Berg who was holding a banner with a deadpan expression. "Brine City" was written on the banner.
...
"Sigh. Fine." Said Catherine. "But what's with that weird flag?"
"Good question." Said Chris with a beaming smile. "For now our territory is only this valley. But our old territory is much larger than this. Part of it has been taken over by bandits, other factions or even other races. This will get even worse when we get rid of the Kunalls. I will use this to add newly captured lands to our territory. I named it, the Royal Claimer!"
"And the drawing?" This time it was Mia who asked. The flag was unmistakably a drawing of Chris sleeping on a bed.
At this, Chris turned strangely silent.
"Cough... Let me explain." Berg joined in. "Our Lord requested a valiant portrait of himself. And our tailor obliged. She asked our Lord to model the pose for her. Unfortunately, our Lord fell asleep while she was getting her tools..."
[And she thought this was the pose he wanted? She played a trick on him didn't she...] Everyone thought.
"There was not enough time to fix it, but I'll have it changed later." Said Chris.
...
It was not, as historians hundreds of years from now will attest.
**** ****
The first order for the caravan, after unloading, was to prepare the camping ground.
This was labor intensive and had to be done before night for safety. They had to cut down the tall grass and bushes or snakes and small predators could sneak into the camp. They also had to prepare the tents, gather water, make space by removing big rocks and cutting down trees.
Everyone had to participate, even Chris at Mia's request. Luckily there were just a few hundred people in this caravan, and they had a few days to prepare for the people of Five Cave Village.
This went on until nightfall, the work was not done, but it was now good enough for camping and too dangerous to continue on unfamiliar ground and without lighting.
"Aaah... Aaah... Finally, it's over." Chris was panting as he drank big gulps of water. His job was to move out of the way the small rocks in the middle of the camp. "Bergy, I'm more of an ideas' man."
"I know my Lord. I apologize for having you do this." Berg looked down as he felt ashamed.
"It's fine, you are our general and you are doing your part too. But seriously..." Chris groaned as he just sat on the ground. As it turns out, the body of a nerdy mechanical engineer wasn't made for manual labor. "Carrying the rocks to the outskirt of the camp is just so tiring. Don't you guys have any handcarts?"
"Handcarts?" Berg had a blank look on his face.
"Right. Handcarts, wheelbarrows... Like a horse-drawn cart, but smaller with one wheel. Something that can be used by one person." Explained Chris incredulously.
"Just one wheel? Won't it fall down?" Said Berg. "We do have baskets to carry things..."
[What? They have the wheel and even horse drawn cart but no wheelbarrows? What's with this place?] Thought Chris. "Nevermind. Let's fix this later."
Chris' stomach rumbled. "It should be about time for supper... Nggh.." Chris made a weird noise. "Bergy?"
"Yes my Lord?"
"My feet won't move... Carry me?"
[...]
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