Firstborn: Return of the heir

“What a strange man he was…”

With the sun already setting, Saulus had no other option but to order his men to slow down considerably. In a relatively short time from now, Saulus would have no other choice but to order the torches to be lit, otherwise, they would end up stranded in the middle of nowhere, just a short ride away from the comfort of their quarters in the city!

“Sir, do you need someone to keep an eye on him? While I understand that you have respect for him, is it really a good idea to keep such a powerful and potentially dangerous person around without any oversight? Who knows who he sides with…”

The relationship between Saulus and his direct guards was quite different, especially for the strict regime of the legion’s set of rules. But as surprising as it could be to those outside of the ranks, the general’s guards were not a part of the legion in the first place.

Selected from the most loyal veterans who bound their future to Saulus, they had a special kind of relationship with their superior as well. While it would be unthinkable for the high officers to approach Saulus so openly with their personal views, Saulus didn’t even bat an eye when Vesser voiced his concerns.

“No one’s side. He is on the side of the village he lives in. Did you notice how strange that entire village was? Or rather, did you realize that his village is less than a year old?”

Already lighting a torch, Saulus graciously took the chance to turn his whining into a proper discussion. Even though Vesser was more focused on using his sword than his brains, that didn’t mean he was stupid.

“Just a year? That would explain the wide array of housing types, out of which the worst was already abandoned. But a year? With all due respect sir, I don’t think it’s possible to create such an organized structure so quickly.”

Just like Vesser said, setting up a village was not an easy task, even at the border of the plains formerly used for colonization. From the land deed required to stop the local lords from taking advantage of the newly established place, through setting the fields, rearing the animals, hiring some artisans…

To a point, some of the more advanced problems could be solved by trading with nearby cities or just setting up stalls directly on the main trading road… But that still required a lot of time. In reality, though, the greatest giveaway to how actually rich this village was, lay in the existence of the stables.

“Now that I think of it, tell me. How many horses did you see in the stable? I mean, the horses owned by locals.”

Leaning his head to the side, Saulus glanced at his trusty soldier with a small smirk on his face. Even though he never entered the stables himself, all the other hints that swarmed his attention back at the village allowed him to make a general guess.

“Hmm… I think… five. Yeah, there were five horses in the stable.”

Hearing the answer, Saulus’ smile turned even brighter as he moved his head to its natural position. At the same time, the long efforts of trying to light the small package of dried-up plants with his flint finally paid off, allowing the general to light up his torch before passing it to his friend.

“And now, tell me. How many boxes did you see back in that stable?”

This single question alone was enough to put Vesser into a mute mode. Once again, this crafty soldier patiently took his time to analyze both the words that Saulus said directly and what was implied behind them.

The reason why Saulus was so focused on the horses in regards to the village was quite simple. This was the easiest way to evaluate how prosperous it was. While there were a lot of ways to replace horse labor with the use of other animals, it was still the horse that was most versatile, easy to tame and inexpensive on the market.

“Sir… I think I know the answer… But it’s just too strange for me. Or could it be…”

After taking his time to analyze Saulus’ question, Vesser finally looked at the general. Yet, he hesitated. Only after a long while, accompanied only by the sounds of more and more torches lighting up, did Vesser finally dare to respond.

“Sir, if I’m not wrong, there seemed to be at least forty boxes in the stables.”

Hearing the answer, Saulus smiled. With their horses walking at a pretty slow pace due to the limited light that the torches could cast on the road, there was barely any clamor that would make it hard for him to catch Vesser’s words.

“In a year, this man organized, moved and settled the population capable of establishing a permanent presence. From the few glances of the areas I got, they already have their fields tended and waiting for the harvesting season. The amount of free space in their stables only shows how grand of a plan Sir Rand has for this village of his. And that means…”

Stopping his sentence before finishing it, Saulus glanced at his friend riding his horse barely two steps away from him. This time, Vesser didn’t need almost any time at all to finish Saulus’ words for him.

“He will be too busy managing his village to bother causing problems for us?”

At this point, it was hard for the young general to turn his smile even wider. Talking with his friend like that and leading him to the same conclusions that Saulus himself reached was strangely addicting.

“Yeah. If he’s capable of turning an empty plot of land into a potentially prosperous village in such a short amount of time… I don’t want him to encounter any problems from our people either. It’s people like him that will bring prosperity not only to their location in particular but to the entire area of our household at large. That’s why I only have one request for you and the rest of our unit.”

Looking forward, Saulus strained his eyes for a moment before finally noticing the first, dim lights of the city hidden in the darkness of the setting day. Given how the light of the torches made it harder to notice slight lights in the distance, it could only mean they were already in the proximity of the city of Mengia.

“Not a word. I don’t want anyone to know I met that man. For now, it will be better to keep him as nothing more but a legend.”