Chapter 779: Stationed in the Village

Over the next few days, Akta puts out a steady series of small paid jobs.

Sweep the courtyard, wash clothes and cookware, tend the pack animals, gather wild vegetables...

Akta will pay for work. He will not hand out charity.

By day, his squad uses Lanku Village as a base and searches the surrounding land in a widening fan.

The town orders the village elder and militia captain to cooperate with Akta's squad.

They must also report the squad's movements every day.

After a few days, Akta's soldiers and the villagers grow more familiar with one another.

The villagers are less frightened of the burly soldiers, each nearly 1.9 meters tall, but remain respectful.

A few bold children often come to watch the squad train.

One boy named Sambik is particularly clever. Two of Peace Haven's pack mules seem poorly suited to the local environment.

They have barely eaten for two days, and Sambik volunteers to fix the problem.

He gathers wild herbs and feeds them to the mules, claiming the plants will drive the curse from their bellies.

Akta says expressionlessly, "If our mules die, you pay with your life."

"So listen well, brat."

"You'd better not be fooling us, or I'll send you to a nearby noble for punishment. It won't be gentle."

Sambik trembles with fear, but grits his teeth and insists the remedy will work.

Sure enough, both mules improve after eating the herbs.

The plant doesn't drive out a curse. It kills the parasites inside them.

Lanku Village lives off fragrant herbs, which merchant caravans arrive to buy every autumn.

The caravans' animals sometimes pick up local parasites from grass they eat in the wild.

Experienced merchants know to find this herb and use it to deworm their animals.

Sambik must have seen them do it. He didn't understand why it worked, but he remembered.

Akta asks, "Well done. You solved a problem for us. What do you want as payment?"

"I can give you three silver coins or some food. If you want other supplies, you'll have to wait two days."

"We'll buy them when we pass through Grayearth Town and bring them back."

Sambik hesitates for a long time before asking, "My lord, could you teach me some swordsmanship?"

Berio laughs. "Ha! You're barely grown, and you already want to learn the sword?"

Sambik lifts his chin. "I'm fourteen! I'm a man already!"

The laughter dies as everyone looks at the scrawny, sallow boy, not even 1.4 meters tall.

Fourteen!

A fourteen-year-old in Peace Haven would stand half a head taller and be far stronger.

Their silence frightens Sambik. "My lord, I asked for too much. A little grain would be enough!"

Akta beckons, and one of his soldiers emerges from the house with a sack of grain.

Akta says nothing. He only glares at the man.

The soldier looks at the sack, which weighs well over thirty kilograms, then at the frail boy. He laughs awkwardly, goes back inside, and returns with half as much.

Akta gives the grain to Sambik. Disappointment flickers in the boy's eyes, but he still bows to every soldier and thanks them.

As the boy reaches the door, Akta calls after him. "We return before sunset every day. Be here on time."

Sambik freezes and turns to stare at them.

Akta's voice remains calm. "One hour a day. No more."

Delight floods Sambik's face. He drops to his knees and bows again and again.

Akta does not stop him. He knows that one moment of softness has given the boy a chance to make something of himself.

A slim chance is still a chance.

For the next few days, Sambik arrives on time for his sword lesson with Akta.

Akta teaches him how to hold a sword and walks him through the basics. Sambik makes himself a wooden practice sword.

The boy works hard. After practice, he washes the soldiers' dishes and heats water for their feet without being asked.

During the day, he gathers dead wood and stacks it neatly in a corner of the courtyard.

Technically, even that is illegal!

Local law forbids it.

The lord claims everything in his territory, down to dead wood lying in the wilderness.

The militia captain and village elder enforce that rule. Whether villagers can take scraps the lord would never miss depends entirely on those two men.

If they are the lord's loyal hounds, every offense draws a harsh punishment.

If they get along with the villagers, they are more willing to look the other way.

The two men here fall into the second camp.

They may be arrogant, but they won't torment the villagers over every petty rule.

More importantly, Sambik is gathering the wood for Akta's squad.

Anyone with a shred of sense knows that minor figures like them cannot afford to offend these elite soldiers.

Sambik is now allowed to eat with the squad, though he gets only meat broth and plain wheat dishes.

Akta isn't being stingy. Rich food introduced too quickly could make a malnourished child seriously ill.

Even after only a few days, Sambik looks much healthier.

More than half a month after their arrival, Akta's squad finally finds traces of calamity creatures.

A colony appears to have moved into the area only recently.

Beside a small river stand several structures like enormous burial mounds. The Subterranean River Bandits are hiding inside.

Two days of reconnaissance confirm thirty-five Subterranean River Bandits, plus one unknown creature hidden in a mound.

The squad will strike tonight.

Akta will lead five men in a frontal assault. Nadal will lead five more and provide ranged support with crossbow bolts.

Berio will take the last two soldiers as a mobile reserve, ready to reinforce either side.

The three of them also assemble a heavy crossbow.

This modular weapon sits between a light ballista and a military crossbow. It was built specifically for missions like this.

With a lethal range of nearly four hundred meters and several specialized bolt heads, it can bring down a powerful target or lay down covering fire.

The soldiers synchronize their watches and prepare to move at dusk.

That is when the Subterranean River Bandits emerge to fish in the river.

The squad secures its horses. Spring floods have softened the riverbank too much for a cavalry charge.

At the appointed time, Akta leads five soldiers from hiding. They form an assault formation and rush the enemy.

Nadal and five others follow twenty meters behind, military crossbows raised to guard Akta's flanks.

Before the Subterranean River Bandits can react, Akta takes the lead and cuts the head from one still staring at him in confusion.

His soldiers draw their swords and cut down several more.

The creatures charging up from the river take crossbow bolts through their necks and crumple.

A shrill scream tears through the air, and the battle begins in earnest!