Herald of Steel

Aboard the largest Margraves ship, its flagship, currently a very weird and tense situation was unfolding.

On its decks were close to ten to fifteen men divided into two neat groups, each menacingly staring down the other with their swords fully drawn.

But neither seemed willing to make the first move, treating the imaginary line dividing them like a giant impassible chasm.

Which was strange given one side grossly outnumbered the other- around three to one to be precise.

It was a discrepancy that shocked Lord Bernard to his core, for he did not think Ser Robert was this popular.

Most of the time when a lord chose to deal with a commander, the rest would mostly select to keep their mouth shut and simply observe, fearing his wrath would be upon them next.

Thus for so many to take arms in open defiance of his orders, it stunned the man so much so that he did not dare to make a move.

There were too many for them to deal with and they were too close.

So if they were to fight, what guarantee was there that they would not accidentally wound or kill him despite his status?

As they say, swords had no eyes.

And perhaps such a blind sword would be wielded by an equally blind and idiot fool, one who would let the lust of battle get to him and attack fatally, forgetting just who the other side was.

The cowardly Lord Bernard would never dare take that risk.

But at the same time, witnessing the sight of a group of commoners opposing someone of as high status as him, quickly incensed the man, and it soon translated to anger and unbridled fury.

“You mongrels! What is the meaning of this? How dare you do this? I am your lord! This is a mutiny! You are rebelling against your lord!

I will have all of you hung for this! You hear me! Hung!” Thus he shouted as such with extreme malice and malevolance towards all the surrounding men.

It was a very powerful threat as for any soldier of this time period, ‘mutiny’ and ‘rebellion’ were the two gravest accusations that could be laid against them.

It not only meant death and dishonor for oneself but many times even his entire family generation was punished, the extent depending on the specifics of his crime and how vindictive the judge was feeling- thus letting it range from simple monetary fine such as no bereavement payment to the seizure of lands and homes to imprisonment and forced enslavement to lastly death.

And even among the death sentences, there were different tiers, ranging from the relatively painless beheading to the painful hanging, to the agonizing quartering, to many other forms of torture that would make one’s stomach churn.

It was recalling such unsavory techniques that many of the men who had instinctively drawn their swords were now beginning to waver, finding Lord Bernard’s threats of retaliation a truly frightening prospect.

Many even regretted going against the man in the first place, having only done it because the others around them had done it.

“Disarm them! Take all of them, prisoners!”

It was also realizing this that Ser Robert quickly barked out this order, intending to finish the fight before his men got the chance to cool down and think about their actions.

So immediately following this, the man led by example, personally charging across that invisible line and sprinting toward the angry and unsuspecting lord before suddenly grabbing him by the wrist.

The move caught Lord Bernard by surprise, who being no fighter, did not have a ghost of a chance of reacting.

So he was caught and disarmed even before he could really understand what was going on.

While the bodyguards around him, although able to react found themselves hesitating.

The other side had not struct lethally, neither did they intend to do so, as announced by their commander.

They only wanted to capture them.

And so, if the bodyguards were to strike with lethal forces themselves, well they might be able to kill Ser Robert, and even rescue their lord, but then what?

No one knew exactly.

Perhaps everyone on the deck would back down in fear and shock but letting Lord Bernard establish his absolute dominance

Or perhaps the crew would all strike in absolute anger and fearing retaliation for their defiance, and that would turn the entire deck into a bloodbath, producing at least five corpses, if not more.

The three men were not willing to take this bloody coin flip.

And so they all obediently surrendered, sheathing their swords and raising their hands.

This act of course got a torrent of abuse from Lord Bernard, who cursed them for being ‘disloyal dogs’ and threatened to ‘see to them later’.

But for now, the disturbance deck quickly subsided, as the guilty four were moved to a remote part of the deck, and left abandoned there, letting Lord Bernard seeth and marinate in his own anger and hate.

If looks could kill, Lord Bernard’s kill count right now would definitely be in the hundreds, claiming everyone on the deck.

But it fortunately could not, and so peace returned to the trouble ships, causing Ser Robert to let out a great sigh of relief and say of himself, ‘Can’t believe these bastards brought out their swords for me! Hahaha, for a moment I thought I was a goner.’

The men’s rapid and firm reaction had even surprised Ser Robert back there, because, like Lord Bernard, he too did not think he was that adored among the men.

He was usually very strict with them.

And so when the other side decided to suddenly kill him, the man thought for a moment that he was a goner.

At that moment, he even regretted his words a bit. The man had no idea what came over him that caused him to let out such an intense burst.

Usually, he would have just nodded and gone along with it, despite the cursing in his heart but still keeping a tractable face.

But today, it seemed the man was just feeling different.

The surprising contrast was even noticed by his adjutant, a black man by the name of Anoon, who slowly approached him and noted to him in a soft whisper, “I never thought you had it in you!”

The trace of glee and admiration in the compliment was unmistakable.

“Hahaha, neither did I.”

And Ser Robert too let out this hollow chuckle, although his eyes were a bit unfocused, for he well knew the trouble he had just made for himself as well as many of his men.

Lord Bernard was quite the vindictive man and crossing him did not end well.

But even knowing this somehow Ser Robert’s heart still felt light, pleased that he had done the right thing. He could never sleep if he were to let a thousand men die just like that.

“I will owe all of you guys a good drink once we get back.” He thus ended with a chuckle.

“…” Anoon only pursed his lips at the nonchalant reply, before taking the opportunity to close the distance between them and spookily whispered in a barely audible tone,

“You should have taken the chance to finish him off just now… when they were about to attack. We outnumbered him. This is a battlefield. It would have been the perfect cover. None of us would have talked.”

The dangerous nature of the content made Ser Robert twitch his thick lips a bit, but he did not appear too shocked, letting the man end in a slightly annoyed tone,

“And now, look at the trouble you have caused. He is going to sink all of us to the bottom of the sea the next chance he gets. How do you plan to fix it?”

“What do you suggest?” Ser Robert eschewed offering any grand reason for why he had suddenly decided to go against his lord, and then let him live despite knowing his nature.

Those were moot now, and instead, he only turned for advice to his adjutant, adding the condition, “Be aware we cannot kill him.”

“…” The right hand man thus once again pursed his lips, falling into a well of contemplation as he stroked his stumble, before suddenly he clenched through his teeth in an unwilling but determined tone, “Let’s go rescue General Achillas first. Then we can tell him the entire thing. Maybe he can get Bernard removed. If not, then maybe we can seek asylum with the Heeats.”

“….” For a moment this stunned Ser Robert.

This was basically treason- the act of betraying the Margraves family for the Heeat family.

But at the end of the day, he did argue, knowing the die had been cast.

Thus soon the Margraves’ ships were moved to extend a ladder to the general of the Heeat family and he became the very first man to start climbing down the ladders while cursing the Margraves for taking so long.

However, remember how General Achillas was dressed in a very gaudy, shiny armor that drew everyone’s attention.

Well it worked now too, and seeing this juicy, defenseless target, one crossbowman in Alexander’s ships could not help but take a snipe.

And wouldn’t you know it, it hit!

Let us say no to piracy! Don’t take part in a crime! Don’t patronize thieves!

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