21 Working As a Merc... Again (1/2)

”Lance, did you know about the inner struggle of the kingdom?” the merchant who was sitting on the carriage asked me.

Lance nodded at his back, ”Honestly sir, I don't know much about it. I'm just a mercenary working for the money and the glory. Why do you ask?” Lance asked politely.

”No, just want to share the kingdom's inner struggle to a young man like you,” The old merchant explained to him.

”Sure, sir, you can go ahead,” Lance said.

”The Soulisphate kingdom has five major powers. The Harrison family which govern the southern region of the kingdom, the Sharrington family which govern the west region of the kingdom, the Glas and Thompson family on the east, the Barnes family on the northern region and last but not least, the king itself on the central region of the kingdom.

Though the governmental structure is like that, the king still holds the highest order. The other family rank is a duke except for the Glas family, which is a count. Each of the families tried to expand their territories, hardy it ever ended in a small-scale conflict between the nobility.

The recent conflict was a conflict between the Glas and the Sharrington family. The war between them was in Sharrington's favor until suddenly, the whole Sharrington family got assassinated out of nowhere. The Glas family took over the whole east region as its own territory.

The king has always been the middle-man for a small scale conflict, but the scale of this one was so big that the king's interference was too late. The king can't find the assassin, so the Glas family was not guilty; to be exact, there is no evidence. The power struggle has died down lately, though, but still, the next crown has not been decided yet. It could spark something, but I don't know,” The merchant rambled to him.

Lance listened to him and asked him a fundamental question about his army view in the citizen, ”Sir, How about the green man that suddenly appears in the Portsmouth? Who are they?”

”The green man? Man, I don't want to mess with any of them. That green man that suddenly appears out of nowhere with witchcraft that nobody could ever imagine, I mean who in the right mind can blow up the duke's manor in one strike. That green man can conquer the Portsmouth in less than one day, hell, even the Glas family took about a month to take over the region,” The merchant said.

”What do you mean? They seem to be harmless,” Lance tried to make a joke.

The road between the town was paved, so the ride was relatively smooth. Well, smooth enough until the tax collector arrived. The tax collector of the Soulisphate kingdom, the soldier, was guarded by two knights in a horse and four mages behind him. They all were wearing the same red uniform as the one that Lance found on the fort back in the day, albeit the rank of the soldier was way lower than that admiral.

”Good evening, from the Portsmouth region? Pay three gold coins in advance,” The collector said.

”Holy moly, that's a robbery,” Lance said.

”Every merchant and traffic coming to the Portsmouth must pay tax according to the king,” The tax collector said as the merchant gave them the coins.

”Duh, ok,” Lance said as he whipped the horse again.

'3 gold coins? No wonder why the PCI and the number of traders are way too low, the tax is absurd,' Lance thought to himself. The merchant looked pissed off too.

”That tax collector is a robber,” The merchant and Hamid said as the horse got far away from the tax collector.

”I see why commodities from outside the Portsmouth are fucking expensive. The tax is just absurd, without that green man, they won't survive,” Hamid said.

After some hours of riding, they finally arrived at the Hopeville. Calling it a town was an overstatement. It was a rural village, in fact. Sure, there was a market and things like a tavern, but it was a rural village with a lack of guard.

”Lance, thanks for the help, eh, oh, here is the reward, split it with Hamid ok. He is a good guy,” The merchant said as he gave Lance two gold coins.

”Ok, good luck, old-timer,” Lance said as he got out of that carriage and approached Hamid.

Hamid leaned his back at someone else house wall while smoking. Lance have him all of the gold coins and asked for his payment. Hamid gave him his payment, which was some silver coin, ”All of my debts settled then, I will take a journey to the capital. Care to join?” He asked as he walked to a horse rental.

”Nah, see you, Hamid,” Lance said as Hamid whipped his horse.