After the chaos had settled and the dead were buried, what remained of the village gathered before Lucen. Burned homes stood silent behind them, but in the eyes of the survivors was something that hadn’t been there before: hope.
Lucen was quietly checking his equipment when the first voice broke through the hush.
"Thank you for saving us!" someone cried, followed by murmurs of agreement and nods from the crowd. Lucen paused, sheathing his weapon.
"I only did what I had to," he replied. "As was my duty."
"Even so, we are truly grateful to you and your men. Please tell us the name of our benefactor. The name of the one who gave us back our lives." The eldest of the villagers spoke.
’This is my chance to spread my name and the name of Thornefang even further, got to make this a memorable thing.’
Lucen was once again going to rely on Acting Adept, but then he hesitated for a second as he remembered the feeling of his own persona being mixed with others.
’No, this is no time to hesitate, I must use everything I have at my disposal to reach the ending I want.’
Lucen gritted his teeth and once again allowed the Acting Adept to take over his actions as he thought of the optimal character to use in this situation. Lucen had once again changed the mask he was wearing.
The villagers waiting to hear Lucen’s answer noticed a change in Lucen’s demeanor. They could not understand what had changed, but their eyes were glued to Lucen’s every movement.
"I am Lucen Thornehart. Heir of House Thornehart, the Shield of Norvaegard."
He turned slightly, gesturing behind him with one open hand.
"And these brave souls beside me are the men and women of Thornefang."
The name of Thornefang echoed in their ears. They had never heard it, but they would remember it now.
"The son of the Iron Duke?!" What surprised the villagers was that the young child who had saved them was the son of their lord.
"To think the Iron Duke valued us so much, he sent his son." Another villager spoke almost in tears.
The crowd was silent for a beat, then a voice shouted:
"Cheers to the Iron Duke!"
"Cheers to Lucen Thornehart!"
"Cheers to Thornefang!"
Hearing one of them suddenly shout, the others cheered with him. The villagers who had almost been sold, and who had lost so much, were now cheering with full vigor and hope.
Thornefang did some minor fixes to the village’s inn and is now using it as a temporary base. Harlik had returned with the prisoners in tow and informed Lucen about the information he had obtained.
"So Viscount Reval Drenwick hired them just to scare the villagers, not kill them?" Lucen asked, seated and cleaning the barrel of his arquebus.
"Yeah. The leader you killed supposedly met the Viscount personally. The rest were just told to rough people up and drive them out," Harlik confirmed, arms folded.
"He wanted to herd them into his own territory. A rather childish strategy."
When Harlik and the other members of Thornefang heard what Lucen said, they all looked at him weirdly with the same thought in mind.
’So speaks the child.’
"I’d better inform my father... How about the scouts, have they returned?"
"I see... I’ll contact my father now. Someone bring the communication orb."
Hearing Lucen’s command, someone ran to the wagons to get the communication orb. After several seconds, the person returned with the box that had the communication orb and handed it to one of the mages present.
The mage activated the communication orb, and after a while, a projection of the Iron Duke appeared before them. The members of Thornefang, all except Lucen, knelt on one knee.
"Sir, I have something to report."
Lucen nodded his head and told Vardon everything that happened, the captured villagers, the killing, and the subsequent capture of the bandits. The information gathered about Viscount Reval Drenwick.
"Sir, it’s obvious that the Viscount was going to use this move as an excuse later. If the villagers left or if they had died, he would simply say that it was the incompetence of Stellhart that could not protect the citizens of Norvaegard from measly bandits."
Lucen paused for a second, his voice turning a little bit colder.
"Even if we have subdued the bandits and saved the citizens like we did now, he would most likely say that it should not have happened in the first place, if we had kept a better eye on our territory. He would then most likely say that we should reduce our territory if we cannot protect it."
Lucen then looked directly at Vardon’s eyes.
"If you will allow me, Thornefang and I will give a strict warning to the Viscount."
"Enough. There is no need for such actions. We are the shield of Norvaegard. Let them dance in the courts and play at politics like jesters before the royals, we will not stoop to their level."
Lucen clenched his fist just out of sight. Vardon’s words were noble, but nobility didn’t stop knives in the dark.
’If we keep letting them chip away at us, what would be left is a broken shield, unable to protect anything... This is the reason why the powerful North fell before the game even began.’
Vardon looked at Lucen through the communication orb, it was unknown if the Iron Duke knew what his son was thinking.
"I will send some men over to protect the village. For now, simply guard the village until your replacement arrives."
"As you command," Lucen did a knight’s bow. Vardon stared at the bowing Lucen with his usual stoic face.
"Lucen, remember this: you are Thornehart, but before that, you are my son." Vardon’s voice was still as strict as ever, but there was a hint of kindness in it.
"I shall remember that, Father."
"Very well, until we meet again, my son."
"Until we meet again, Father." The father and son stared at each other for a few seconds, a slight smile on both their faces.
"... Well done, my son." Those were the final words of the Iron Duke before he deactivated the communication orb on his side.
The members of Thornefang were bewildered by the conversation between the Iron Duke and his son. At first, the conversation was as they imagined someone nicknamed the Iron Duke would have with his son, but at the end, the conversation turned weirdly affectionate.
It was not as affectionate as other fathers were with their sons, but it was incredible for someone called the Iron Duke. Even Lucen was quite surprised by what his father said in the end.
’Heh, well done, was it? I guess even he would know how to praise someone every now and then.’