Volume 1, Chapter 19 – Befriend the Duke — Failed
Some time later.
I was already standing in my black shirt with white sweat stains. And I thought: maybe I should put on a military T-shirt? At least it's clean. Walking around in this black shirt with stains and stench is unbearable. But I didn't have time to change before a squad rode up to the fort with banners and the loud snorting of horses. They circled the fort and began moving across the clearing. I actually felt sorry for it — it had already experienced everything: the cargo plane, the helicopters, and now fifty armored horses with riders.
The sun was shining very brightly. Sunbeams bounced off the riders' shiny armor, reflecting in all directions. The sounds of hooves and clanging metal filled this little patch of "garden," and once again the birds fled from the "forest," even though only a few trees remained alive.
And the smell... The smell of manure, sweat, some perfume, and earth.
Forty-eight riders spread out around the entire clearing, surrounding the fort. Two horses stepped into the center — in front of me and Paladin.
On one horse was Alon — in a light black cloak, with golden hair tied in a bun. One strand hung down on the right side.
On the second — a woman in a long white dress with wide, loose sleeves, black at the ends. On her chest was drawn in black with gold trim: "II" and a thin sailboat with a large sail, rocking on the waves. This woman was unarmed, as if she'd come lightly.
I put on the earpiece and asked Paladin to give the same ones to Alon and the woman.
"Greetings," Paladin said respectfully (as respectfully as a huge, greasy giant could). "I would like to present these to you for the purpose of dialogue."
He walked toward them.
"One step — and death," the woman stopped him.
"Seraphim... Without a title. You have been observed constructing defensive fortifications on the territory of Duke Yanski Malevych," Alon declared, adjusting his cloak. "Today, by law, we are obligated to ask you to leave this territory. But... Allow me to introduce Asa Miari. She is the second person in the duke's retinue. Her word will be final."
Alon bowed and stepped aside, giving space to Asa.
(Now that's tension. My pain doesn't even have time to return before a new reason for an adrenaline rush appears. They're planning to drive me out. But if that's an option that doesn't start a war, I'll do it. I doubt that all territories in this world belong to someone — even in my world, that wasn't the case. But what does that "but" mean? What is she planning to decide?)
"Greetings. Seraphim," Asa said calmly, taking a step toward me. It felt like she wasn't touching the ground — no footprints, no deformation of the surface. Maybe she's very light? Well, in any case, even if she weighed thirty kilograms, on this loose soil there would be traces. So this is magic?
(First time seeing magic. And it doesn't look like I imagined. I thought there'd be fireballs.)
"Hello?" I said in my language. Of course, she didn't understand me.
She stopped and stared at me intently — as if looking into my insides. My blood ran cold with fear.
"Speak in a known language. I can conduct dialogue in Yanski, Ruma, or Firkun," she offered options from languages I didn't know at all.
I turned to Paladin.
"Can you explain to her what these things are and why they need to be in the ears? I can't talk to her otherwise — only through you. But I want to personally..."
For some reason, I wanted to personally talk to this high-ranking woman.
Paladin cleared his throat, shook his head, and stretched.
"Esteemed Asa Miari of Duke Yanski Malevych's retinue. I would like to present you with our magical translation technology as a gift. The magic works on its own. You simply need to insert this little stone into your ear," Paladin presented the earpiece carefully and with all due respect.
Asa glanced at Alon.
"Who is this?"
"Esteemed Asa, he is unknown to me," Alon looked at Paladin.
"Introduce yourself!" she addressed Paladin.
Paladin glanced at me, waiting for my consent. I nodded.
"My name is Paladin. I am Seraphim's subordinate," he introduced himself, and thankfully didn't start listing that he was also an officer commanding tanks and artillery.
"Paladin... Good... And why do you obey Seraphim?" Asa said calmly. Alon wrote down the new person in his "list of violators."
"I cannot conduct dialogue on behalf of my superior. Please accept Seraphim's gift as a presentation for our meeting," he tried again to hand the two earpieces to Asa and Alon.
Asa nodded to Alon. He walked over and took the earpieces.
"In the ear?" he asked. Paladin nodded.
And now Alon had the earpiece in. (Amazing how he managed to put it in on the first try? Never mind, not going to dwell on it. The main thing is it's done.)
Asa waited half a minute for Alon to test it. Basically, we were all waiting for Asa to deign to put the earpiece in her ear. I was starting to get tired, and the pain was returning — so it was hard to stand on my feet, and I was feeling nauseous.
Finally! Asa did it. Alon helped her — she couldn't get it right, and the earpiece kept falling out.
"Thank you for accepting my gift," I said. They looked at each other in surprise, hearing the robotic voice in their ears.
Asa regained her strictness and elegance.
"Seraphim. Where are you from, and why did you decide to build a military facility on the duchy's territory?" she immediately went on the offensive, taking a step toward me.
(And what should I answer? Maybe just "I don't remember"? Memory loss? I can't tell her I was reincarnated.)
"I don't remember," I decided to lie. It sounds crazy to say "I was reincarnated."
Asa adjusted her golden hair, tucking strands behind her ears.
"Don't remember your kingdom? Don't remember your path?" she continued with light pressure, taking small steps toward me. I didn't notice how she was already an arm's length away from me. She smelled of pleasant, sweet perfume.
(How to explain it to her? I just can't force it out of myself, because it sounds strange even to me. Maybe it's normal in this world? But I don't know. Maybe here it equals "burn the heretic at the stake"!)
"Yes. I don't remember!" I lied terribly, because of her intense pressure and the weight of her presence. It felt like the air around her had become denser and heavier — pressing down on my shoulders.
I felt terrible. Everything was spinning in my eyes, I felt like a helicopter that had lost its tail. My legs were shaking in different directions, and the air was inexorably disappearing from my mouth. Every attempt to inhale ended with nothing. My eyes were watering, my heart was pounding as if trying to break through my ribcage.
"Lying is bad," Asa declared.
I started falling to my knees, when suddenly I felt huge hands grab me and pull me back to my feet. A mask was pressed to my face.
Inhale.
I started coughing violently. Consciousness began to return. I saw twenty rifles from faceless Soldiers aimed at Asa and all the riders, surrounding me.
I was holding onto Paladin, who was holding me with one arm and keeping the mask on my face with the other, while his second hand aimed a Javelin at Asa.
I coughed — and finally felt better. I was breathing cold, wonderful air. (What happened? How did I almost kick the bucket? I just felt like there was no air, then everything went blurry — and now I'm wearing a mask. And there's an oxygen tank at my feet.)
I don't understand anything at all. Wherever I look — everywhere there are backs of Soldier-functions. I can't see anything else, only the dissatisfied snorting and stomping of hooves.
"What's going on?" I was still breathing through the mask (as soon as I take it off, I start suffocating).
"Commander. Status — hostile. A magical attack was carried out to suppress oxygen in the atmosphere," Paladin answered quickly.
(Magic? So that's what it looks like... Brutal and deadly... Maybe I should confess? She already knows I'm lying.)
I grabbed Paladin's wrist. I need three palms to wrap around just his arm at the narrowest point.
"Hold fire. Soldiers — disappear," I said tiredly and with a pained voice.
All the faceless ones vanished, revealing the view of Asa and Alon and the riders, who were still standing in a circle, but now with swords drawn.
Asa stood calm. Even the Javelin didn't frighten her. Though I can understand — how can you fear something you've never seen?
"I was reincarnated in this world," I confessed honestly through the mask.
"The truth is always better, right? I believe you, because I can see through people. But I don't know the concept of 'reincarnated,'" she explained calmly and turned to Alon: "Do you know?" — and received a negative answer.
(So in this world, it's something new. Should I be happy or sad? I don't know. But I want to finally breathe air, not from an oxygen tank. Nothing else matters to me right now.)
"Can you give me back the air?"
"Of course... But... Tell me about your spirits and your subordinate who doesn't need air. And of course, about this..." — Alon prompted: "Reincarnated." — "...about reincarnated. And about this mask on your face," she said calmly, not even embarrassed by the prompting, and pointed at the mask and tank.
(She really doesn't know what reincarnation is — she doesn't even change the word endings. And now she has so many questions.)
What should I tell her? Spirit-functions are summoned and carry out my tasks or in case of danger to my life. Paladin is an officer of such functions, only for metal carriages. Reincarnation... Died in one world and appeared in another. And the tank and mask are just air in a bottle. I relayed these same thoughts to her.
Asa listened calmly. Alon wrote everything down like a chronicler. The riders remained in a circle.
"Good... Breathe," she said and waved her hand. "The gift you presented to the duke through Alon. What is it? Do you have many of these? And why does it make..." — Alon prompted: "A shot." — "...a shot only once?" she threw out another batch of questions, calmly examining me from head to toe.
I took off the mask and breathed in deeply, feeling the smells of nature, manure, and perfume. The cold air pleasantly enveloped my nose and mouth.
I was completely exhausted. I'm holding onto Paladin — my legs aren't holding me at all, and if I let go, I'll collapse to the ground and fall asleep.
"A pistol. Things like that exist. It fires once because there was only one bullet," I answered, closing my eyes tiredly.
"Good. We can offer this development: you can stay here with the status of Viscount. But under the condition of supplying..." — Alon prompted: "Pistols." — "...pistols to the duke's regular army and training," she offered the deal. Alon started filling out some document.
(Arms dealer?)
"What do you think?" I asked Paladin.
"Nah, I'm zero at politics. Better summon an analyst from CUB. They'll break it down for you," Paladin explained cheerfully.
"Would you mind if I con— cough...sult?" I asked Asa and Alon. I got an affirmative answer.
Hoo-oo-oh. Why did everything have to spin out of control today?
"Summon CUB analyst," I said tiredly into the air.
An officer appeared nearby in a T-shirt with a jacket thrown over his shoulders. He looked around.
"Greetings to everyone," he said. "Regarding this barter... By the way..." He thought for a moment and looked at Alon and Asa. "Could you please remove the earpieces?"
Asa was surprised and took a small step toward the analyst.
"You're planning to speak in an unknown language?"
"Of course. In order to conclude the deal today, we need to discuss all details in confidentiality. Or postpone it indefinitely," the analyst parried, adjusting his pants and placing his briefcase on the ground.
Asa thought for a moment. I started suffocating again. (Why me again? The analyst and Paladin don't even notice.) The air returned. She was clearly testing what kind of analyst he was.
"Alon," she said, not taking her eyes off the three of us. Alon walked over and took out her earpiece, then his own.
Now the earpieces were in hand.
"Thank you," the analyst bowed neatly. "Now to the point. This agreement has many problems. First: we would be training the army of a state with 'undefined' status. Second: any other states that Yanski goes to war with could cause us many problems — from threats to declarations of war. Third: the duke himself could attack us with our own weapons." He listed the cons. "Pros: Viscount means land. We need to clarify the size. Minimum — two hundred square kilometers, and strictly on the coast of a sea or ocean. Since pistols aren't considered equipment, they replenish weekly — so we lose nothing, but could gain problems in the future. In short..." The analyst exhaled and looked around again. "If we agree — conditions: minimum two hundred square kilometers, sea access, autonomy, non-aggression pact, buffer zone. We offer: one hundred SIG Sauer pistols, two crates of ammunition, and professional training. That concludes my brief."
(I felt like I'd attended a lecture on geopolitics. Nothing is clear and hard to process, but I can feel it's important!)
"Can you just say the conditions and the offer? You're good at it," I sat down on the ground, unable to stand and process all this.
The analyst did just that, laying it all out.
Asa thought for a moment. Alon quickly wrote down all the conditions.
"You're asking for too much. Our conditions: one hundred hectares, no sea access, complete submission — up to participation in conflicts. In addition to weapons — monthly tribute and unquestioning obedience to both the duke and any army that may be stationed here," Asa presented her counter-offer.
The analyst made a face and shook his head negatively at me.
"No," I rejected her offer, sitting on the ground, while she loomed over me and looked at me in surprise.
And the air vanished. Then Asa popped the tank with magic.
Crunch.
And then — everything was like a blur.
Faceless Soldiers are loading me into a Bradley. Medic-functions are leaning over me, putting a mask on me. In the background — machine gun fire, the sounds of fighter jets, and loud explosions reaching me in waves.
—
List:
— Get into sports (started)
— Buy or build my own house
— Start some kind of business
— Find a partner
— Plant a tree
— Learn a new craft
From this world:
— Try to learn magic
— Befriend the duke (failed)
[If you liked it, you can support me by subscribing to Telegram or Patreon.]