Chapter 18 Promised Soldier

“What’s the matter, young boy? Weren’t you going to give me hell or something?”

The Magistrate kicked some dirt into Josiah’s face.

“Say… What is your name?”

“Josiah.”

“I see. So you are ‘the’ Josiah. No wonder the prodigy farmboy could take one of my soldiers. I want you in my army, little one. We are going to do wonders to someone as talented as you.”

“N… No…”

“No…?”

“This… This fight is not over yet!”

Josiah lifted his body out of the grass with the last ounce of strength he had, with what appeared to be a last desperate surprise swing.

It actually caught The Magistrate by surprise. He reacted slowly and the swing managed to hit the armor on his chest, causing his body to get bounced a bit back.

‘Such strength for a young boy. This strength probably comes from the level of his sword’ He thought.

He watched as Josiah took the opportunity to stand barely once again.

“You are resilient. I’ll give you that. No matter. We just do this again.”

The Magistrate invoked his weapon to the air once again and stepped forward, but this time the blade couldn’t work properly. It tried striking at Josiah, but its trajectory went on a descending zig-zag, and the sword ended up dropping on the floor.

“What!?”

The Magistrate realized he had suffered damage from Josiah’s dagger, as his body was starting to feel the same nauseating feeling his soldier went through.

“You little bastard, when did you…?”

He quickly realized:

‘I see, he swung widely his sword while his body was on a downward angle to create a blind spot, then he swung the dagger with the other arm to actually get the hit. This way I could suffer the effect from his bloodbound dagger and he could get his chance... This effect of nausea the thing causes is bad news... It briefly modifies the way the blood runs inside me, and because of that if I try to use bloodbound powers they fail miserably for a short while. Just like that…’

Josiah jumped and pointed his sword to The Magistrate, who was now unarmed.

“It’s over, old man!”

The Magistrate lifted his hands, worrying about what he’d do next, but he got saved by a scream coming from outside the trees:

“Josiah!! No!”

It was old man Thomas’ voice.

Thomas appeared carrying a somewhat washed-out look, exhausted by his condition and the run he had to go through in order to get to that spot

“Don’t get into trouble within Eneris’ army! They are protectors of the kingdom!” Of course, Thomas didn’t believe that last wording, but he knew that dealing with the army was as good as digging a very deep hole.

“Sir… So sorry about my kid… He is short-tempered. And he is friends with the other children you are trying to take care of, you see…”

“Thomas, he wants to…” Josiah started shouting angrily but realized Thomas probably already knew all of that.

“And what is your name, old man?”

“I’m T… Timothy. Pleased to meet you.”

“Haven’t I just heard the boy calling you Thomas? Haven’t I seen you somewhere?”

Thomas had changed drastically his appearance in order to hide from the men inside the castle during those five years. He no longer dressed as a servant and he had grown his facial hair all over.

“I’m Timothy Thomassalian.”

The Magistrate brought his hands down and changed his tone to a calmer, more peaceful one:

“It’s ok… Is he your kid then? If this kid is really yours, we are not going to take him from you. Plus… I am a man on my word. You win, young boy.”

Josiah set his sword down, his hands still shivering from all the exhaustion.

“Here.”

The man in the dark red armor threw a short rapier in front of Josiah. It was a brand new rapier, painted gold. Also a binding one. But it had never been used before, as the crystal in the middle of the hilt didn’t indicate any level number.

“?”

“You receive weapons from the creatures you slay. Isn’t it fair that you also get weapons for your troubles on defeating men? If I admit defeat I should gift you with some loot. That’s how the fighter sportsmanship should be. Take a look at your sword. You are level 7 now.”

“It’s true!” Josiah doublechecked the hilt of the blade promised to him at his birth.

“This way, we shall be leaving my gentlemen. Let’s go.” The Magistrate said for the other two men. The one who got injured was now standing, although he still had some collateral effect from the attack, similar to the one Thomas had to withstand the whole day.

“Thank you, Josiah!” Lenny said after the soldiers got out and everything ended.

“It’s nothing. We are friends. We should protect each other like that.”

The other kids started talking about Josiah and his admirable skill at that young age.

“Ahem. Forgive me the interruption, Josiah, but…”

Josiah had to leave, following Thomas back to the farmstead.

In the way Josiah asked his caretaker:

“Thomas… What did he say about the weapons that come from creatures?”

“Don’t you remember? The bloodbound daggers you got came from a creature you slew during these years of leveling up. Not all creatures raise the level of the sword via their blood, but the ones who do have an interesting connection with the material that involves the blades. Weapons bloodbound by nature are formed just like that. That’s why they are separated from the human-made ones.”

“I know, I saw when I got the daggers on that day, but I never understood exactly where they come from.”

“That, young m… Josiah… Is a mystery.” Thomas refrained from calling Josiah a young master outside home.

‘I wonder if is it a mystery someone can solve with knowledge from another world…’ Josiah though inside his head.



Not far from there, near the farm, The Magistrate was coordinating the other groups of soldiers who had got some children to work with. In the end, his group didn’t find any children but some of the others did. Some children were willing to help in the army, some were being forced to, but none of them were children the villagers valued very much. That’s the kind of profile Eneris wanted to be taken in, in order not to cause too big of a rebellion from his people.

“Good old man Benson. Thank you a lot for finding me these children. They are going to come in handy.”

“That’s ok. I’m sorry you couldn’t get the very ones you were really after. Josiah has been quite the influence among the people in Coache and the girl… She became his friend very recently. Had you come just a few days earlier…”

“Ha! That’s fine. I promise you and myself: I still am going to take Josiah in my army. And he is going to be part of my squad. You can rest assured that day is going to come. I thank you for being my eyes and delivering me all of that information regarding him. Today I could finally witness his inborn ability myself.”

“Whatever I can help with.”

The Magistrate browsed his pockets and the farmer Benson extended his hand. A generous amount of Bucoa’s highest-valued coins.

“Thanks you very much, Isaac.”

“Please, call me Magistrate. We don’t use that name anymore.”

“All right. I’ll be going. We don’t want anyone in the village seeing me talking to the evil leader of an army squadron. You said you are going to try and bring the boy in?”

“Oh, yes. I am definitely going to be back.”

“Whatever I can help with.”

With a wave, old farmer Benson said farewell to The Magistrate, who went in the direction of the other groups of soldiers who were preparing to move back to the castle.

The smug Magistrate giggled to himself as he formed his inner thoughts:

‘I am definitely going to be back for you, Josiah. But next time I’m going to invite you in less abruptly, when your village really needs you in the army, in a way you cannot refuse... That’s why until then… We are not going to fight each other seriously again.’