In the small canyons of Ferlrikan Hills, a small platoon marches protecting a caravan. A sellsword knight, along with his 5 squires and thirty-five soldiers, march to Martin capital.
Ferlrikan Hills were a large group of hills that originated from the East and extended towards the West of the Empire.
It acted as a separator of the sand desert of the south and the frozen deserts of the north.
The trade had to be carried out through canyons and ravines.
Small caves of the mountain harbored insect beasts as well as bandits.
So, it was quite important for knight squads to accompany the caravans.
The platoon of Grethan Dome were just a small group of sellswords. They traveled from outer cities to the capital and from the capital to the outer cities.
Generally, he would avoid a job requiring travelling through the canyon, but 10 gold were too good of an offer to refuse.
Now he guided a normal merchant caravan with a contract of 2 gold for his security.
Generally, he would avoid danger on a returning trip, but the journey from the canyon was quite common, and His Majesty the King had declared his project to exterminate all bandits.
Since the rebellion was crushed, the Empire was relatively peaceful. So, this time the knights were actually exterminating bandits and beasts, reducing his job prospects significantly.
Now, his goal was to collect enough money so that he doesn't have to work anymore. Therefore, he reduced the salaries of his men, pretending that the King's new decree had decreased the payments.
His men were demoralized, but still they couldn't do anything else with their non-existent skills.
Most of them were soldiers who had spent 5 years at war. Some came from poor families, and some were orphans who had nowhere to go.
Even if they were to leave the group, where else would they go, and what else could they do except kill men and loot their corpses?
They did earn 50% more income by the practice of looting. The rules were quite simple for them.
The leader takes contracts. He gave them pay per week, and anyone they kill, they got to loot.
But the squires were not only there for the money. Every year he would knight a squire, and then that squire could form his own squad, if lucky maybe even a platoon. It happened very rarely, but sometimes a sellsword could become a knight of a minor noble house.
Which came with privileges, food, shelter, security, and connections, but they were just fantasies of those who couldn't live in reality. These five were quite pragmatic and realistic in their approach to life.
They knew what they wanted to do. Two wanted to become senior guards, two wanted to join military, and one wanted to be a hunter, a beast hunter.
Suddenly an alarming screeching sound was heard, and then something jumped down behind them, something very big. As it landed, it crushed 18 of the soldiers, killing them instantly.
The caravan master quickly hid alongside his companions.
"Sir Grethan, do something," he shouted, looking at his calm face.
"I am sorry, Mr. Merchant. We were only paid for bandits, not beasts," he replied.
"I will give you 5 gold. Just protect us from that Latrodectus," he said, pointing to the huge eight-legged spider-like insect, 8 feet tall and 5 feet broad.
Its web was right above them, so it was obvious why it had attacked, but of course Grethan noticed it, but he had decided not to alert anyone.
It would be nice if all soldiers died right here and he could keep 15 gold himself, reinvesting it as he liked.
Now he told everyone to charge. They hesitated, and of course he knew they would. They had seen such a creature for the first time, after all.
This hesitation caused the creature to rush at them, throwing poison at them. Grethan knew the caravan master had the antidote.
So he explained simply.
"Mr. Caravan Master, sell me that antidote, and you can cut its cost out of my pay. Or else we all die."
The merchant tossed a small vial, and all others in his caravan also carried some, so they drank their own.
Now then, he unsheathed his sword and with one good strike to the head killed the creature.
"Gentlemen, rub its blood on you and let's keep moving."
"But why should we dirty our pristine robes with the blood of a beast?" one of them asked.
"Well, the beast in this case is a predator. His blood will repel other insects from approaching."
"So, if you don't want to do it, you can stay here, but anyone going with me has to do this," he said solemnly.
They mostly agreed after hearing they could be left behind. After all, life was much more important.
But the boy continued to rebel, "Then what are we paying you for if we have to protect ourselves?"
"Well, let's see. First information, second strength, third you can't fight yourself, fourth your merchandise needs to reach the duchy capital safely, or else you might be beheaded by the head of Martin household. Is that enough, or should I list more?" he spoke confidently.
"How… how did you know it was Lord Martin's merchandise?" the leader exclaimed in surprise.
"Well, for one the caravan master of the previous caravan offering 10 gold was actually looking at me while I was fighting more than the goods, and you knew there will be these kinds of spiders in the canyon, which confirmed my doubt."
"What do you want?" asked the caravan master.
"Nothing much, just knighthood from the Martin household and control of caravan," he said.
"But before that, I just want to get out of this canyon with all the merchandise," he continued.
They quickly escaped out of sight. Then, as they moved, there came someone in normal clothes. He kept a sword around his waist. His hair red and his body lean but muscular.
The man in his twenties stopped and observed the massacre.
Then he activated his aura, and he could hear a faint pulse with his aura concentrated in the ears.
He checked the bodies one by one. All others were dead except this one boy who was fighting the poison with all his power.
Next thing the black-haired boy saw was he was in a strange place, his clothes removed and somehow still alive.
Then came the man who had rescued him.
"Hello boy, I am Sir Rick Clayman, a knight of Belmont."
"Sir," the boy stammered out, trying to bow.
"No need, boy. What I want from you is information," said Rick.
"Information about what, sir?" asked the boy.
"First of all, your name and what were you and your platoon doing at the Contact Canyon?" asked Rick.
"Sir, I am George Domes, from the village of Greenwood in the east. I served as a squire to Sir Grethan Vertin along with four more of us. While escorting a caravan a spider-like beast attacked us."
The boy paused suddenly, remembering.
"Sir, how are the other members of my platoon?" he asked wrongly.
"Well, by the time I saw your platoon there was only you who breathed, but the so-called spider, a Lethrodectus, was dead on the ground, head split from the middle."
"So he really did cause our deaths," exclaimed George.
His anger started to increase.
"My friends, my enemies, and all that I had as a family, he got killed for no reason at all. We weren't weak. It wasn't circumstance. Normally I would have thought that he must have run to save his life, and that was still acceptable, but this… I will kill him."
His eyes shot blood red in anger.
"Sir Rick, please teach me the way of a knight. After my mission is complete, I will become a slave to you or kill for you or serve the Belmonts, whatever you would like me to do," said the boy with a solemn voice.
Rick looked at him and simply replied,
"Ok."