Viceroy of Hell (18+)

Apparently, this world had passenger caravans. Just outside the city was a flattened square similar to a bus terminal, except there were stone-brick houses and horse-drawn carriages. But this world’s horses were stockier, like hairier rhinos with longer legs. And the carriages were so large they might as well be containers for eight-wheeler trucks.

This caravan hub had inns and shops around it, and the statue of a four-headed eagle at the center. Caravans were lined up neatly, forming long lines of passengers. There were mercenaries around, maybe to guard the caravans en route. Barkers yelled the destinations of caravans.

I pulled up my map marked marked by Horeln.

“To Vonditz, that should…” I looked back at the caravans, “okay, the caravan to Mainerfitz. Let’s go, Sae.”

Sae was, once again, in a trance. The dusty, shit-smelling caravan hub took her breath away.

“There are a lot of places to be amazed by and this isn’t one of them.”

“Can you blame me? We don’t get this in Thelassi.”

“Have you tried attaching carriages to seahorses?”

She looked at me confused. “Why should we?”

“Because…” I sighed, “let’s just go.”

I grabbed her hand, but she was proving difficult to tow. Well, she didn’t have feet that was why.

We approached the caravan headed for Mainerfitz. It had almost twice more mercenaries around it.

The barker examined Sae from head to toe before talking. “Where are you off to, you two?”

“Vonditz.”

“Yeah, where in Vonditz?”

I looked at my map. There were a few cities and a lot of towns.

“Uh… the capital.”

“Morenburk, then? Three for you, five for the serpentine. She’s large.”

I thought Sae would be offended, but she was too busy gazing at the liveliness of the hub.

I stared at the mercenaries while I untie my pouch. There were about thirty soldiers around us. Most were armed with melees, but some had borestaves and crossbows.

“Why does this caravan have more guards?” I said, handing him a coin.

“Cause of trolls.”

I inquired more. News of troll attacks spread from the mountains down south. Several Goldenwheel caravans and an aristocrat went missing along the highway.

Trolls usually kept to themselves. But they suddenly began ambushing travelers and attacking nearby villages. No one knew why.

I remembered Amea. She warned me about the trolls back when we were traversing Xitlachtan. I was just down there more or less a couple of months ago.

We hopped into the carriage. It had to be filled before it departed. As for our baggage, it was packed above.

After ten minutes or so, the carriage was full. Multiple races pushed against each other tightly. And everyone stared at Sae, particularly at her gray scaled lower body. She eventually got tired of it.

“Can’t we just ride something more private?”

I asked the coachman. Unfortunately all private carriages were rented out. The next one would be available in three days.

“Do you want to stay here for three days?” I asked her.

“Sure. I’d love to explore.”

“Not me, though. Suck it up.”

It was a couple days of travel. Some people dropped at the next villages and towns, only for the newly-vacant spots to be refilled in smaller caravan hubs. The carriage was always packed.

We ate and spent our nights in the village and towns we passed by.

To pass time, I chatted with people for information. Since they knew I was a foreigner, I got all the information I needed.

Apparently this whole German-esque region was called Creonrein, where the currency was named after. Based on the map, Vonditz sat on the south-eastern part of Creonrein, and it only made about five percent of the entire region’s landmass.

I also acquired information regarding politics. Crevesmarch, an empire to the west, held great influence over Creonrein, affecting the politics of the whole region. It also served as the seat of Creonrein’s regional religion, the Circle of Creation.

It somewhat reminded me of the Holy Roman Empire.

Crevesmarch was the reason why most people in Creonrein were free. Its promise of freedom attracted people from all over Corocea, resulting in its diversity.

Unfortunately, taxes on almost everything was fifty percent. Talk about freedom.

Although I enjoyed chatting with people, Sae eventually grew tired of the attention she was receving. She was my companion and I didn’t want her to suffer that much so we dropped to the town of Roela.

We hired a private carriage to Morenburk. It was only half a day’s journey. By the time the sun was setting, the city started peaking from the green slope we were descending from.

Morenburk was built around a massive lake with a huge river running south. Multiple winding rivers splintered the sprawling city, reconnected by numerous stone and wooden bridges. Some parts were walled, especially the elevated area where a massive castle stood proudly. Around the outskirts were vast fields and ranches where livestock roamed.

No forests obstructed the view, and the setting sun in the background enhanced the sight. Add a dragon soaring in the orange skies and it would be perfect.

I leaned forward to take a better view of Morenburk. But Sae pushed me aside to steal the whole view for herself. But I couldn’t blame her. It was magnificent.

The roads were packed with both people and carriages. I discovered new races like a hybrid of bird and wolf. Apparently, interbreeding existed in this world and it could result into pretty-creepy outcomes, like that bird-headed man with tiger paws and legs.

After an hour of waiting, we were finally through the checkpoint. The city was smelly, but hey, it was part of what makes a medieval city.

It was even more packed than Ozburk. The streets were twice as wide, but the population was thrice as dense. Caravans of all types from basic wagons to fancy ones filled the road, making the traffic worse.

After checking in a decent inn, I went to the market. It was bigger than Ozburk’s and had a bit of space to walk around. All sorts of stuff were sold – anything you could think of in a fantasy world, really.

One stand caught my attention. It sold bladed weapons, but mostly daggers. The seller was a wolfman with a huge build, wearing an apron. Loud strikes of hammer rang from inside the building behind him.

A dagger with an intricately carved scabbard caught my attention. The bronze hilt also had etches of runes. A magical dagger, maybe.

I grabbed it to reveal its blade, revealing a bluish tint that glowed weakly. The blade was jagged like a kris, and the tip was needle sharp.

“You have great eyes, brother! That beauty right there is forged with Gihaurat’s katele steel and enchanted to last for eternity. May I?”

He borrowed the dagger. Despite his huge arms, he played with the dagger skillfully. He gently inserted it back into the scabbard. I had to clap for that.

“How much is this?”

“Seventeen golden creons for you. Cash or papers.”

“That’s too much,” I said, sheathing it again.

I liked the blade but it was too expensive. Not like I needed one anyway.

“It’s from Gihaurat, my brother. And it’s enchanted, too! You don’t see anyone walking with it!”

Regardless, I handed him a few silver coins. “For the show. You’re good.”

“Thanks, but this won’t earn you a discount.”

“I don’t need to, but I do have a question though…”

Behind him was a smithy, so I asked if they forged jodglass. He quickly backed off before answering.

“Oh, no way! Only the royal smiths can forge them!”

“Right. Where can I find them?”

“In the first district north-west from here.”

I inquired more. The first district was the area around the castle. Aristocrats and richer freemen lived there. Some of the biggest churches in the country was built there, too.

Before I left, I bought a cheaper dagger. My old one was worn out from constant maintenance. The new dagger was nothing fancy, but the steel looked well-forged. I managed to haggle it down to a golden creon, almost a 50% discount.

Sae and I went to the first district. It was half an hour of walk. This city sure was massive. Apparently the districts were divided by numbers based on the distance from the castle.

The first district was the only walled district. There was a stark difference from outside. The roads were cleaner, and the houses were larger. The abundance of plants gave the district a vibrant look. People were dressed better and not a speck of dung laid on the road. Even if a dung splattered out from a carriage, someone immediately scrubbed it.

People stared at us. Not just at Sae, but also me. And I knew that meant something else.

“We’re underdressed,” I said.

“What’s with you landers giving clothes a lot of importance?”

“It’s like our skin, and we want our skin to look the best.”

We bought new clothes. It wasn’t anything fancy, just enough that we would blend with the slightly richer folks.

For me, I had to emphasize comfort. Clothes of male aristocracy in Creonrein were thick and heavy, and the pants almost kissed the ground. They also competed on the tallest heels on their shoes – that shit wasn’t for me.

After dressing ourselves properly (and also wiping ourselves clean) all the attention returned to Sae. Well, she was the only fancy-looking serpentine around.

Still, I hated how colorful I looked. Much like a clown, except with shades of blue, yellow, and green. And with frills, too! I swear to God I would forbid anyone in Farisle that wore shit like this.

We passed by a plaza of churches. The first church reminded me a lot of the roman building Pantheon, but smaller. Twelve golden status stood around a marble plaza, including the four-headed eagle back in the caravan hub.

As for the other church, it was grand. Hell it might as well be a cathedral. It looked shiny and pointy, but what caught my attention was the same Illuminant symbol from Ozburk, the eight-rayed sun.

After roughly half an hour, we finally reached the forge. It was one of the older buildings next to the lake. The view of the medieval cityscape from across the lake was amazing.

The interior was expected of a royal forge: spacious work areas, lots of tools, multiple floors, and weapons on display. But there was a lack of activity. In fact it was pretty dead. There were three people around but no one was working.

I approached a tall, lean man with a fancy mustache but a balding head. He sat behind a desk near the entrance writing something.

“Good day. I’m looking to hire some smiths.”

The man gave shot me a glance before returning to scribbling.

“Talk to his excellency. He owns us.”

And that meant spending way more time just to get his audience. I couldn’t be bothered with that.

“What if I tell you I want someone to forge blacksteel?”

He stopped writing for a moment.

“And I can fly. The only blacksteel in existence belongs to the king of Swegon and it’s a great sword.”

I showed him a small chunk. He examined it. After about a minute, he went totally quiet, focusing his entire attention on the metal. He lit a candle to verify the mythical violet luster.

He looked at me with a serious expression.

“What is this?”

“Like I told you, it’s blacksteel.”

“How did you get this?”

“Look, I just want someone to forge it into a spearhead.”

He hummed as he thought. Then, he shut his book.

“Ask his excellency duke Homerheit for permission. Once you have it, I will personally forge it for you.”

Although he wasn’t enthusiastic about it, he couldn’t peel his eyes and hands off the blacksteel.

“I thought the prince owns you?”

“He does, but the royal forge falls under his excellency the duke’s management.”

“I see,” I said, swiping the blacksteel from him.

“Hey, lemme have a look first!”

“Later once I got his permission.”