Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 320 - 319: Santis’s Home

The little girl poked her head out the door, with a mix of nervousness and overwhelming curiosity, she eyed the three carriages parked at the entrance—large carriages bearing aristocratic emblems seemed out of place in this neighborhood, but it was much better than being parked on Sturgeon Street. Some residents of Cross Street were drawn to the sight, observing from a distance, but no one dared to get too close: imposing soldiers clad in black steel light armor, draped in dark blue mantelpieces with badges, stood by the cars. The black steel longswords at their waists, with peculiar triggers and magic symbols, were daunting to behold. For the residents of Cross Street, these soldiers were not to be provoked.

From inside the house, her mother’s voice called out, "Pepe! Don’t leave the door open! Come back quickly!"

The little girl took one last longing glance at the heroic soldier standing near her house, who noticed her gaze and nodded at her with a kind smile.

The girl let out a low gasp, quickly turned, and ran back inside the house.

"The Duke ordered me to return to the royal capital to recruit a batch of Mages," Santis explained the reason for his sudden return home to his parents in the living room, "I won’t be staying at home, and will head to the Duke’s residence on 4 Crown Street afterward."

The middle-aged couple had understood what happened and calmed down, but they still looked at Santis, dressed in a finely woven robe, with disbelief, as if unable to believe that this spirited young man was their son, who had ventured to the Dark Mountain Range and was presumably enduring hardships and trials outside. Their gaze inevitably settled on the people beside Santis, and the mother spoke, "They are..."

"Hello, ma’am, I am Giply, a Mage apprentice loyal to the Cecil Clan, appointed as Mr. Santis’s assistant by the Duke’s order."

"Pierce, a mere guard."

The two, agents from the Military Security Intelligence Bureau and graduates, introduced themselves according to their identities and character settings. However, Santis, caught in the middle, was evidently not very comfortable with the atmosphere, prompting the young Arcanist to quickly break the somewhat awkward situation: "Where’s Myles?"

Myles was his brother, the second child of the family.

"Myles went to the cobbler," the father said, "There’s not much work in the winter, but he found a job tanning hides for the aristocrats."

Santis nodded—although outside the Cecil territory, it was nearly impossible for commoners to find work during winter, this was the royal capital after all, and the aristocrats still needed some help for tasks in winter. These scattered jobs were a great boon to struggling commoners, so even though the pay was minimal, everyone competed for them.

Yet, as his gaze swept across the living room of his home, the young Arcanist’s brow furrowed slightly.

"Haven’t I sent money home three times?" he said with a frown, "Even if it’s not enough to move to a slightly better district like Felton, you should at least have repaired the doors and windows, or expanded the fireplace... Why is it still like this?"

Santis’s father worked as a chef for a noble family, and his mother was a herbalist, making their family relatively affluent among commoners. Several years ago, they actually had the chance to move to a better "upper district," but to send Santis to the Royal Mage Association, the family exhausted their savings, losing the opportunity to move and "rise" in status. This was the greatest guilt Santis felt towards his family after failing to advance to a level three Mage. Therefore, after settling in the Cecil domain and securing a stable income, the first thing he did was save money to send back home. According to his estimation, with Duke Gawain’s generosity, he would only need to save for two to three years to enable his family to move to the better conditions of Felton District. Yet now, upon his return home, he found the house still in its dilapidated state, and even his parents were still wearing patched clothes at home. The father’s only decent outfit was probably still the "chef’s uniform" he wore for work at the noble’s house.

What happened to the money sent back home?

Hearing their son’s inquiry, the middle-aged couple exchanged a somber glance. After an awkward silence of two to three seconds, the father spoke, "The family’s conditions were supposed to improve... but before winter, your brother fell ill."

The mother continued, "Herbs couldn’t cure him, so we took him to the Church of the Holy Light. The Priest there said he was cursed by an evil cult follower because his faith in the Lord was not firm, hence he couldn’t resist those evil forces...

"The Priest performed an exorcism and sprinkled Holy Water, which eventually cured Myles. But because your father believes in the god of trade, the Priest of the Holy Light said that having someone at home who believes in an Otherworldly God made us a target for the evil cult follower’s curse, which was a sin, so we had to pay ’Indulgence Money’ to take your brother back.

With a resigned shake of his head, the father seemed overwhelmed with guilt for having "incorrect beliefs," which caused trouble for the family: "The Indulgence Money originally required one-third to one-half of the family’s assets, which meant almost all the family’s valuables would be taken unless we mortgaged the house. Fortunately, the Earl Tout I serve spoke a few good words, and since you’re listed with the Royal Mage Association, the church reduced part of the Indulgence Money... but the money that was meant to repair the house before winter is now gone."

Santis’s expression gradually darkened.

He clenched his fists, feeling anger for the first time, something he had never understood before.

Standing behind him, Pierce and Giply exchanged a subtle glance.

The two agents silently recorded everything they saw and heard in their minds, after which Giply stepped forward and whispered in Santis’s ear, "Don’t forget why we’re here, Mr. Santis—the duke will remember everything that happened here for you."

Santis took a deep breath, looking resolutely at his parents, "I’m here to take you to the Cecil domain."

"To the Dark Mountain Range?" his mother exclaimed in surprise.

"It’s the Cecil domain," Santis corrected earnestly, "The Dark Mountain Range is just a place, the Cecil domain is a paradise there. Father, mother, don’t believe those superstitious rumors about the Dark Mountain Range. It was indeed desolate originally, but Duke Cecil has built it into a safe, prosperous, and stable home. The houses there are sturdier and warmer than those in the royal capital, every inch of land is watered with Druid potions, as fertile as the best lands of the Plains of the Holy Spirits, and Cecil’s powerful army ensures the entire domain’s safety—you’ll certainly live better there than in the royal capital."

"We’ve seen your descriptions in the letters, are they all true?" his mother looked incredulously into Santis’s eyes, then said, "But what about the royal capital here..."

"This city isn’t worth longing for; it never treats its people as people," Santis found his words flowing smoothly, "We have no land here, even if we have a house, the church can find a reason to take it away at any time. It’s better for the whole family to follow me to the Cecil domain. I am now an advisor to the leader, and the leader is having me teach at the college he established, mother, you could go to the Alchemy Factory; they need herbalists who can identify various herbal ingredients, father, you could work at the leader’s residence, they need a chef, Pepe can go to the college, and Myles can also go to school or the mechanical manufacturing facility, following a wise Grand Artificer to learn how to make machines...our whole family can live a respectable life there."

The couple looked at each other, making a decision to leave the place they had lived in for half their life was evidently difficult, but Santis’s words were persuasive. Seeing their hesitation, Santis continued, "This time, I returned to recruit a group of scholars to develop the domain as per the leader’s orders and to bring the families of the craftsmen who went to the Cecil domain with me earlier—those craftsmen have long been determined to bring their families over, so I’m not the only one making this decision."

"...I need to bid farewell to Earl Tout first," Santis’s father finally nodded and said, "I can’t just leave like this."

Santis’s mother looked surprised at her husband, "Joen?"

"Our son is right, we should try life elsewhere," the father said through gritted teeth, "Last week... the Mackintosh family’s fields and barns outside the city were seized because they worshipped the Goddess of the Night and refused to change their beliefs. My dear, I have a bad feeling, the atmosphere in the city is changing, and we should take this chance to leave."

Used to following her husband’s arrangement all her life, the mother lowered her head, "...Alright, I’ll do as you say."

An hour later, after informing his returning brother of the arrangements at home, Santis got back into the carriage with the Cecil Clan’s emblem. Three carriages rolled over the Cross Street, which had a history of over two hundred years, turned a corner in the square, and headed towards 4 Crown Street located in the royal capital’s central district.

"Where should we start?" Inquiring humbly for Santis’s opinion, Giply, who had never been to the royal capital, decided to listen to the "local’s" experience despite her eloquence and training by the Intelligence Agency.

"I’ll write to my friends who meet the criteria; ’General Labor Association’ can hire couriers who can deliver letters anywhere within St. Soniel city within a day. Later, send a messenger to the Royal Mage Association, using the duke’s emblem as proof to announce the recruitment of Mages. Miss Giply, please also take the duke’s certification documents to the ’Scholars’ Hall’ beside Silver Castle, which is the organization for the royal capital’s scholars, where you can publish information to recruit scholars—perhaps they will be interested in the Gondor Relics unearthed in the Cecil domain and the rare flora and fauna in the Dark Mountain Range..."

Santis distributed tasks one by one, finally pausing, then turning to "Quick Leg" Pierce, "Mr. Pierce, please go to the Craftsmen Association, no proof documents are needed there, you can spend an Anzu Silver Shield Coin to post a recruitment announcement for craftsmen, mainly recruiting rune craftsmen and skilled mechanists, post according to the domain’s ’Mage Technician’ pay. Also, clarify that recruited craftsmen will receive training in the Cecil domain, but they can still receive two-thirds of the pay during the apprenticeship. I believe the Mage Technician income in the Cecil domain will make quite a few people interested."

Giply watched Santis, whose demeanor was calm and whose words were coherent, and suddenly couldn’t help but laugh, "Mr. Santis, you seem to have changed a bit."

"Have I?" Santis was taken aback, then smiled, "Maybe it’s because I’ve finally realized the significance of being sent here by the duke..."