A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Apparently surprised to hear that, or maybe reading something from the sentence that Beam hadn't intended to put there, the merchant gave a smile of his own. "Alright then… I don't mind that. As for your information – the girls put in work, but they couldn't find anything on the little lass. She may as well just have vanished into thin air.

I've been keeping an eye on the Elder a bit, but he's back to his routine as normal. The old bastard was probably just sick. Aside from that… I suppose all the drama is within the soldiers' camp," he said.

"You mean, with the soldier getting killed?" Beam said.

"There's that, aye, but there's also the monster attacks. They've got more than a few men wounded. Lombard there is looking serious, cos as it stands, he's more likely to fall to monsters at the moment than men, he's going to do something drastic in response, I imagine, that's why he's setting up that meeting later today – or getting me to set it up, the bastard," Greeves said.

"Mm…" Beam frowned, not liking the sound of it. "I was planning a search. Can I not make use of Judas and his men for a while?"

"'Fraid not. He wants this organised before dawn. After then, aye, you can probably use them a bit," he said. "You want to help me get everyone in the square? I think it'll serve us both – you can get information out of them as you go."

With a long sigh, Beam gave a reluctant nod of agreement.

He finished his meeting with Greeves, after offering a few more complaints, and then he went to fetch Nila and update her on what had been happening. Despite the tired look on her face, the determination was more than obvious, and when Beam repeated Greeves' suggestion that they gather information at the same time as gathering villagers, she had eagerly agreed.

Mrs Felder had tiredly come to the door as well, and now that David wasn't quite as bad as yesterday, she took him by the hand and went to gather information as well.

Soon, a wave of people were heading back towards the market square, their breath misting up in the cold morning air as they wrapped their arms around themselves and fought to stay warm, despite the thick clothing that they were wearing.

Lombard came soon enough – though not without making them wait for a while. The villagers were all packed into the market square, just as they had been on the day that the soldiers had arrived, only this time, they were lacking the wooden platform.

The village Elder was waiting alongside Greeves, as the town's representatives. The smith was nowhere to be seen. It was only later that Beam found out the smith was in a rougher state than all of them – with the number of monster attacks, the repairs he had to do on the soldiers' weapons just kept adding up.

Lombard came strolling down the muddy road, on the same white horse that he'd ridden on the day that he arrived. Only, this time, it was two men beside him – each wielding a spear – not an entire army.

The crowd parted as he waded through them, until, soon enough, he was at the centre of the square, where the village Elder stood, along Greeves, Judas, Beam and the Elder's attendant. Lombard made no move to dismount as he towered over them. He and his soldiers merely glanced at them with the typical harshness of military men, before the Captain turned to address the crowd.

"Solgrim," he said, silencing them with a single word. "When I arrived a short time ago, I declared your village a garrison. My words have not changed. Instead, they have become increasingly necessary. Your freedoms will be limited in the interest of strategy, for circumstances have changed."

"The population of monsters within the mountain forest does not match the intelligence we have on them. We expected goblins, and now we find Gorebeasts, Konbreakers and other such mutations that otherwise should not exist in a region so lacking in mana."

Lombard took a deep breath in, as he stifled a sigh. He had to put a hand to his scalp to encourage himself to continue his explanation. Beam could see from the look on his face that he apparently saw little point in explaining himself to the likes of mere peasants. But someone amongst his officers must have convinced him that it was necessary, for he continued the explanation all the same.

"As such, your access to the forest will be terminated," Lombard said sternly. A gasp went through the crowd and anger flashed in the eyes of the populace, who were still finishing up their winter preparations. The hunters especially looked ready to rage. Before they could say anything, though, the Captain held up a hand for quiet. "I will repeat myself: this area is under military law.

With me in command of this garrison, my words, my orders, are such law. No man henceforth shall set foot beyond the village perimeter without my permission, all who do will be executed."

Another ripple went through the crowd. Shock, horror and ultimately displeasure. The villagers that had already begun to grow tired of the soldiers after their arrogance and their disruptions, they only grew angrier. If their lives were not on the line, they would have been screaming their rage.

Despite the animosity of hundreds being directed his way, and with only two guards by his side, Lombard merely glanced at them coolly, entirely unmoved by their emotion. Beam observed him carefully, wondering exactly what skills lay behind such confidence.

"Fools," Lombard muttered, "if we allowed you to continue attending that forest, the lot of you would die." But with such words said merely under his breath, only those closest to him heard them. His horse stirred, shaking its head. He gave it a gentle pat on the side to calm it. After another deep breath, he continued his speech.