Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Still, he did not want to be accused as a lax commander. 

'Continue' the commander said. 

'Lord' The commander startles a bit being called lord. 

He is of peasant stock. 

But in the Empire, where most of the high ranking position is still occupied by the old nobles, still, even thought that is the case, there is a lot of new nobles that have been entitled.

Nobility is no longer just about blood. One could be entitled to a noble stock and be demoted if they did something wrong

It might seem to the rest of the world, that the Empire is still a feudalistic society. But only those who lives inside it knows it is unlike the MontBlanc dynasty rule 

Under the Empire, there is social mobility unlike in any of the dynasty before. For such a large empire to be administered to a point like a well-oiled mechanical device, to maintain such a large standing army with the navies and development projects all over the Empire, it requires a fusion of bureaucracy and the nobility system

In the past, yes, there is officials. But official are all nobles and there is no such thing as imperial examination other than during the time of Emperor George of the Wise. 

Most people who became noble either descended from a noble family or won some land and develop their forces to become a noble

Even the Vermont family in the beginning starts from a merchant family who then grow powerful enough that they were wooed by the Alan family who gave them authority and land 

It is from that land that they extend their influence and reach which grew to a peak when the Vermont family backed King Adrian during the War of Succession

With the victory, Vermont family rose to become an influential family that controls a large vast of land and also hold powerful political power

That is how it was to be noble in the past. But not in his generation, the commander thought to himself.

Of course he did not think that he could recreate such miracle story of the rise of the Vermont family 

He is content enough to do his job well enough, to have some position in the Imperial Army and when he grows old enough, he would retire to the countryside.

But to the local man, for someone to be a commander of the wall, even though it is just the outer wall, it must be someone of the nobility stock.

Because even though it is just a post on the outer city walls, the nobles of the city would usually send their bastard sons or second sons to learn basic stuff about guarding walls before they would be promoted to some other position. 

The commander understood the local man misunderstanding but since it would not affect anything he is lazy to correct the local man

'Milord. I was hunting on the nearby forest when I pass that old man'

'You passed the old man? Where did you meet him?'

'There is a small lake in the forest nearby. I was resting there when a group of people riding warhorses appears not far away from me. I fear that they were the forest bandit'

The commander heard the term forest bandit and felt that was weird but that is not his main concern right now

The local man keeps speaking.

'I saw the old man leading them. Fortunately, they are not bandits. They were only there to let their warhorses drink'

He nodded. 

'Still, I did not dare to stay there for long even though they did not seem to have any bad intentions. All of them are heavily armored except that old man. But at that time, I could not see the old man clearly, milord'

'It wasn't until later when I was about to enter the city, that I pass the old man again on the bridge'

Then hesitating he said

'Milord, I really think the old man really only wanted his duel. He had enough time to bring his group of people. Now that I think about it, they might be Warchief of some other tribes under the rule of that old man'

The Commander seems to be thinking so the local mad added

'He could have entered the city wall but he did not, milord. To us, when we ask for a duel and stated the terms of the duel, we would honor. A public declaration is even more so for a warrior that disregard their own oaths of duel would forever be shunned by their tribe.'

'Of course, some had forgotten this matter' he spoke under his breath.

The local man then sighed and said

'Even as milord soldiers were closing that gate, the old man was just standing on the bridge looking at them without any desire to attack. Such an honorable man must not be killed in such a disgraceful way. If not people would be dissatisfied with milord methods'

The commander eyebrows rise a bit. 

'There is a smart one' he thought to himself. 

The local man is trying to make him understand that doing such thing would agitate certain people. 

And the commander himself is not a vain and arrogant person. He also knows that the Emperor did not want the people here to hate them

They are after all Outlanders. Not only they came from a different land, they also do not worship the same God, they do not have the same culture 

There are more differences between them than there are similarities.

It is already a miracle that the Emperor manage to take over this city and the people here did not rebel and try to assassinate the Emperor like the time during the Conquest War. 

Of course, to the commander, he could not have understood that most of the people of the tribe believes in the prophecy of Asrana. 

Asrana is a savior figure yet he would not come from their own kind. That is the belief of many of the people of the Thirteen Tribe. 

Of course, Arial is not the only Outsider that have manage to take over a city and gain a mass following.

Some of those Outlanders even claims themselves as Asrana. 

The commander nodded. The commander sighed as he looks toward that old man in the far distance. Seeing it from this height it looks like the old man is tiny

But it is this tiny figure that had shocked his soldiers. 

In front of the city wall, there is a stream from a river. The stream is not that big but the water is clear

And there is a stone bridge there. The stone bridge itself is wide and large. But the distance of the bridge is short. 

Right now, he is no longer at that bridge and instead he is in front of the gate. 

Even though the distance between the walls and the ground is not that high, it is also not that low either.

Yet, the old man voice would still reach them and was as clear as he was talking beside them

This old man is a remarkable person, probably one of the heroes of the tribe. 

'Who is that old man?' the commander asks the locals

'It is High Lord of Maroth, Varnikar Son of Vaerhan of the Veranian tribe'

The local man said. Then the local explains to him about this Veranian hero who is the High Lord and even then King of Vernium had to respect him.

This is a hero of the kingdom. 

He fought Darkspawn and fought those mountain tribe people. 

He is a man blessed with incredible strength and is said to possess the power of ten thousand men. 

Hearing the description of this man, the commander almost could not believe it. 

But to fight against ten thousand men even though this kind of strength is a bit over exaggerated, the grandmaster of martial arts does have the ability to fight thousands of men alone.

And High Elven also possess magic that could fight tens of thousands of people. Then it is not such an impossible feat. 

The old man once again points his claymore toward the soldiers on the wall, a smile on his face, his back straight. 

'No blood had to be shed. I propose a duel between me and your ruler!'

Once again he stated his desire. 

The old man shouted

'Tell the Outsider Monarch that I challenge him for a duel! If he wins, Maroth become his and I would voluntarily become his vassal. If he loses, accept his death and the people of the city would be my people!'

The Commander of the wall frowned. But he did not ask the soldiers to once again fire the arrows.

'This man has the qualification to bargain' he thought to himself. He then orders his messenger to quickly relay the news to the two generals 

And he then waited as his eyes is trained to that old man in the distance.

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