No matter where you went, no matter what the situation, there were always rules. Obviously you were bound by laws while living somewhere civilized like a city, but even being alone in nature came with its own set of restrictions. For example, if you built a house in a relatively safe part of the woods, you still had to sleep at night and work during the day.
You might say that such a concept was basic enough that it didn’t even qualify as a rule, but if you lived in a city, you could easily stay up late into the night drinking or reading books, as long as you didn’t mind spending the oil to keep the lights on. In the woods, securing firewood was an issue of life or death. You couldn’t afford to waste it on staying up late. On top of that, the trees of the forest would block any moonlight, so with the ground being uneven and unpredictable under your feet, it was dangerous to operate outdoors unless you could see very well in the dark. Basically, due to the circumstances of your lifestyle, your actions were bound by the movement of the sun.
Animals had similar rules. If they caught the scent of another animal, they wouldn’t step into its territory unless they had clear intent to fight them for it. Even if they were able to win that fight, getting injured in the process would make them vulnerable to being hunted in turn. So unless it was absolutely necessary, it was better to avoid those kinds of risks.
Rules had purposes behind them. That was why they existed, and why they were kept. However, it was also true that as long as one could stomach the risk, any rule could be broken. There were plenty of situations where breaking the rules could be more rewarding for someone than following them.
Zieden’s invasion of Kirkoim was an example of breaking such a rule, an unspoken agreement between nations. Kirkoim had maintained friendly relations with all of its neighbors, though it never allied itself with any of them. It served as a mediator for disputes between others and helped to maintain international cohesion in the area.
For example, back before the collapse of Paulogia, it had been constantly at war with Vilestorika. But even so, Paulogia and Vilestorika maintained a small amount of trade between each other indirectly, through the intermediary of Kirkoim. That weak relationship led to Vilestorika toppling but not conquering Paulogia, allowing the surviving nobility to build a new nation from the ashes. I had no doubt Kirkoim played a significant role in those discussions too.
However, Kirkoim no longer fulfilled its role as a diplomatic channel for other nations. The sudden invasion from Zieden had taken half of their land, and they had been forced to submit themselves into being a vassal state of Vilestorika to survive. This left the other nations jumping at shadows; their connection to their peers, an influential source of stability for the region, and the rule formed by their unspoken agreement had all gone up in smoke. The church, headquartered in Radlania, was doing everything in its power to ease international tensions, but their efforts had yet to bear fruit.
This situation is probably what led to the current discussion. After four weeks in Janpemon, I had produced a fair number of spears and swords. Through the blacksmithing guild, the duke had started pushing for a review of whether I qualified for an official appointment to the royal court. I had been summoned by the duke to fulfill a specific work request fifty years ago, but this was on an entirely different level.
At any rate, I could more or less guess where this was going to go. Rather than eyeing my skills as a blacksmith, Travoya was more interested in solidifying relations with the elves. The elven caravan made no efforts to spread the news of how much it helped the elves living in the human kingdoms it traveled through, but anyone who paid attention to them would notice it quickly. They must have thought that by having an elf in their employ, they would indirectly draw the aid of elves at large to their kingdom. On top of that, with the official standing of the elven caravan allowing them in places that ordinary merchants could never go, they would know more about the current state of the continent than anyone. Amid the chaos of the current day, it wasn’t hard to guess that this information was what Travoya was really after.
Of course, I politely refused. Being requested to use my skill as a blacksmith was one thing, but a life as restricted as one serving in the royal court was as unappealing as you could get, especially if it was only to make use of my connection to the elves. If I had accepted the appointment, I imagined the elves would take to Travoya in a far greater manner than the duke ever expected. I wouldn’t be surprised if it even exceeded my expectations. It wasn’t hard to imagine such a situation to develop to the misfortune of both the elves and the country itself.
I guessed it was about time for me to leave Janpemon. It pained me not to stay long enough to make the example piece or the masterpiece sword for the duke, but staying any longer would sow the seeds of future trouble, and that was something I wanted to avoid. I loved this city, so if I ever wanted to return here, I couldn’t afford that risk.
The other problem facing me was with Aina. We had grown quite close lately, but now I was going to have to find a way to tell her of my impending departure. As the daughter of an innkeeper, I felt like she was likely to see me off with no more than a wave and a smile, but at her age, losing a playmate might be difficult for her. Although, if she didn’t struggle with my departure at all, I’d probably feel a little sad myself. How much will she have grown the next time we met? The small wooden sword I had carved for her would be far too small for her by then, I imagined.
Looking up at the sky, I watched the wind carry the clouds north. It felt like it was trying to push me forward. While I was concerned about the actions of Zieden, I wouldn’t learn anything new by staying here. So I decided to head north...or more accurately, northeast, toward Odine. The place where I learned magic from Kawshman, where we learned to make magic swords together. Once I finished my stay there, I would head west through Zieden toward Ludoria. I wasn’t confident that I could just effortlessly waltz through Zieden at this point, but if I avoided human settlements and stuck to the forests and rivers, I doubted anyone could really stop me.
If I wanted to investigate the goings-on in Zieden, I needed to go there myself. But honestly, I had no idea what I was going to find.