Felicia's Second Life

Prologue to Felicia's Second Life.

How I Became Felicia Belphere Metrune

I am Malcolm Stokes, Cornwall born, Cornwall bred but London dead. I am 29 years old systems analyst, with no wife, no children and presently, no girlfriend.

Not that I need actually need one. I'm fine with being alone. I did have a few girlfriends, but they all paled in comparison to 2D girls. Just why can't real girl be as perfect as anime and manga girls?

Ah yes, even though I look like a respectable man, I'm actually an anime otaku.

Just look at Suzumiya for example. She's crazy but her craziness is adorable. I had spent many days just rewatching the anime. Perhaps because of that, I found myself a crazy girlfriend.

It was all good.

At first, at least. Then her craziness went up a notch. As the weeks passed by, she went past crazy and into the realm of insane. It was when I realized that she was psychotic, and not the adorable yandere type that I made a decision to dump her.

Big mistake.

The next day I was hit by a truck. It was a hit and run. She didn't even bother to get out of her truck and laugh at my misfortune. How I found out that it was her truck? It was the colour. I'd recognize that anywhere.

Damn you, Susan! At least call an ambulance for me.

An empty space.

Neither light nor dark.

Neither white nor black.

It was simply an empty space.

All I could see, was myself.

From the distance, I could see a truck speeding straight at me. In my mind, I have already imagined that I would suffer another hit and run. What a stupid way of dying twice in a row.

"Hello!" a voice greeted as the truck stopped incredibly close to my face. It was probably less than 3 centimetres distance between my knees and the front bumper of the truck.

"Err... hello."

"It seems like you're dead."

"That was my first thought too."

"Allow me to assure you that you're not dreaming."

"That thought came second."

"Well, you've lived a boring life."

"... I don't want to be told that by an old truck."

"Old truck? I'll have you know I'm only 3,594 years old!"

"Shouldn't you have rusted over by now?"

<i>Do they even have trucks 3000 years ago?</i>

"How rude!" With a poof, the truck turned into a young girl.

"..."

"How do you like me now, huh? This tight thighs, this tiny waist, this figure sculpted to perfection, if you had known the value of trucks, this is how you would perceive my appearance!"

"... I have neither a fetish for trucks nor for little girls."

"I'm not a little girl, I'm 3,594 years old!"

"Isn't that what you'd call a loli grandma?"

"I'm not a grandma! Aren't you over 46,000 years old yourself? You're way older than me!"

"You must have mixed me up with someone else. If I have lived for such a pointlessly long time, I'd end up killing myself out of boredom."

"Such a boring guy! Not only is your life story boring, your attitude is boring too!"

"I don't want to be told that by a flat-chested loli grandma."

"Haa? As an otaku, have you never heard the phrase 'Flat Is Justice'? This is justice!" She pushed out her ironing board chest.

"Sorry, I'm in the big breasts faction. You know, plot."

"What? Those floppy things, hanging around everytime they move. What's so good about those balloon-like things?"

"The plot. Big breasts are a man's hopes and dreams."

"Eeyaaa! Don't say something so lewd to a young lady!"

"Your loud voice is too annoying. Aren't you too old to be a 'young lady', despite your flat chest? I pity those chests to be flat for 3000-something years. Besides that, aren't you an old truck?"

"Eeyaaa! How dare you make fun of a lady's age! For this insult, I'm going to have you reborn as a flat-chested girl! Suffer! Hahahaha!"

Ah... I may have said something unnecessary.

The next thing I saw was a baby.

Eh? A baby? Where did that loli grandma went off to?

Such a cute baby. Is it a girl or a boy? Oh it's looking at me with those bright green eyes. Oh, it's trying to touch me. How cute!

I try to reach the baby's hand, but why does it feel strange? I try moving my hand, but it feels so cumbersome. So awkward. And what's with these small, short and... wait... am I a baby too?

Hold on, didn't I die?

Eh wait, please stop the spinning, I'm feeling dizzy.

"Come here, Felicia. Crawl to mother," a beautiful woman kneels on the floor that is covered in some kind of fur. She speaks with such a kind and gentle voice that makes me crawl towards her as if hypnotized.

"Good girl! You're such a good girl, Felicia." The woman picks me up once I reach her. She rubs her face against mine while hugging me tightly to her rather large bosom.

It feels quite good, I've never been so close to such large breasts before. Or could it be that I feel it's big because I'm a baby?

Wait, did she call me Felicia? Isn't that kind of girly for a man's name?

"Ah, Terrens. You're home. Good timing, please hold Felicia for me, I need to run outside. Suin is late. I need to find out what happened."

The woman who calls herself my mother shoves me into the arms of a boy who looks to be around 9 to 10 years old. He has light brown hair and electric blue eyes. He's wearing some kind of overcoat and a very thick pair of glasses. He looks very flustered as he catches me from the hands of my 'mother'.

"Mother, I can't. I-I have to study," the boy says. His arms feel so cold despite the layers of cloth between our skins.

"Oh, it's fine to take a rest sometimes, Terrens," the woman says as she ruffles his hair, "Take care of your little sisters, okay? I'm only going to be gone for a couple of hours. Lilicia is sleeping in the crib and if any of them cries for milk, there are some on the table. Don't forget to burp them."

The woman grabs something that looks like a travelling cloak, wraps it around her body and goes out into the blizzard.

Ah, no wonder the boy Terrens's skin feel so cold. It must be winter.

Terrens raises me up with his young arms until our eyes are at the same level. He looks into my eyes as I look into his, as if we're trying to reach deep into each other's souls. But in my case, I'm only looking at his eyes. It's so clear, like glass, and its colour reminds me of expensive sapphires. It's so beautiful.

Since we're supposed to be siblings, do I have the same eyes too?

"A pity..."

Pardon?

"For you to die at such a young age. Your fate is cruel."

Well, I did die, but I wasn't at all young. Sure, I wasn't exactly old, but in the middle ages men at my age would've already had grandchildren, I'll have you know.

"Why would you come to this world, Felicia? Why would you reincarnate into this fate? Is it because you had no choice?"

Well, don't ask me such questions. How would I know?

"Or is it because only you can do this?"

What is it that I'm supposed to do, actually? What fate?

"You are my sister. Regardless of who you were before, just remember, you and Lilicia are both my sisters. I will not let your fate cut your lives short. I will find a way. Before it ends, I will find a way."

Wait, life cut short? Are you saying I'm going to die young this time?

"Even if I have to make a contract with the deep spirits. Even if I will be cursed for my whole life. I will not let your fate win. You shall find happiness in this life, that is my vow as your older brother, Felicia. And Lilicia too. You will both find happiness."

The world spins again. The feeling of Terrens's cold hands disappears from under me. Within seconds, or perhaps centuries, my body float inside a tunnel of time. Everytime the clock turns, my body ages, little by little.

Within the tunnel of time, I see from my eyes, a boy with similar looks to Terrens, but younger than him playing a prank on me with a spider and a dead snake.

I see a girl, who looks the same age of me, who takes me by the hand and calls me Felicia. I know by instinct, that this is Lilicia.

Father introduces me to four boys and girls and tells me that they will become my friends.

Father working the family farm alongside Terrens, my other brother and some villagers. Despite being the baron, he still works at the farm like a commoner.

My first allowance. One silver for me to keep and Lilicia throwing a tantrum for not getting the silver coin as well. A maid admonishes her for being rude and they both apologize to my father.

When nobody is around. I slip the silver into Lilicia's hand and she is so happy that she hugs me. But then she returns the coin to me, while saying something that I can't hear well.

Terrens at 13, leaving home for the first time. For some reason, I can feel that it will be many years before we meet again.

I opened my eyes slowly. The first thing I noticed was the worn ceiling. I realized I was lying on a bed. A noise of wood slapping against wood caused me to turn my head to the right. The window was slapping against its frame under heavy winds. Could it be there was a typhoon outside?

I tried to get up, but my body was weak and unresponsive. As memories of my journey through the tunnel of time started to wane and disappear, I could only offer a curse for my new life, "God damned, I'm a girl!"


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This was originally planned to be Sidestory #1 but should I place it as Chapter 0 after all? Instead of Sidestory #1? This has not been uploaded to my blog yet as it has not been edited. Do you think the way I tell it is okay? Feedbacks are very appreciated.

 

As always, your comments are very appreciated. I have also posted some other stuff in my blog since the last update.

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Good evening, everyone. My name is Felicia Belphere Metrune. I am the only daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune. I am 10 years old. I haven't always been Baron Metrune's daughter though.

I am a reincarnated into this life.

Wars always bring hardship. With the men leaving for war, the women are left behind to take care of themselves. To some, this is a good opportunity to profit at the expense of the defenseless women. That was, until I came along and changed everything. Fear me, scoundrels!


Hello everyone. It's me, the reincarnated Lady Felicia. How are you all doing? Just a recap, we received news some time ago that the neighbouring kingdom of Surfes was building up their army in preparation for a war. We feared that war would come in summer.

We were correct. Right now, we are in summer and nobody doubted that it will happen. Specifically, we are approaching the Aging Ceremony.

The 'Aging Ceremony' on the final day of the Summer Harvest Festival was originally the time of celebration when everyone became one year older. Unlike modern times, the dates of a particular month had no particular value to such middle age society. Instead of saying "I was born on the 5th of May 1990," in this society, people would normally say, "I was born in the summer night of the 50th year of Moonlit Flames". Therefore, while there were some minor variations, generally a person became one year older during the Summer Harvest Festival, which the 'Aging Ceremony' was a part of.

This summer's harvest festival was a sad one. The day after the Aging Ceremony, the army would march forth towards the ducal capital of Renus. From there, they would march towards war. Some of them might not even make it back alive. Some would become maimed for life. Some would return, but from what father said, there was no guarantee for that at all. After careful consideration, father decided to lead the troops only after the aging ceremony was concluded, to give the troops time to say goodbye to their family members.

Mother cried a river. She begged father not to go, asking father to stay and just send Sir Mosro instead. Of course, father had to disagree. Father was a baron after all. It was his duty to go to war. Besides, my second brother who was studying in the knight's academy in the kingdom's capital of Forlen would also be fighting as part of the apprentice knights corps.

Of course, I worry about father, and about my older brother. But I knew why they had to go. It was their duty to protect the people and to fight for our king. It was the sacrifice we had to make for the privileges we received. To do anything less would be a betrayal of our station. I showed father a determined face as he led the column away on the dirt road. Finally, just as father's silhouette was about to disappear beyond the hill, I yelled loudly, "Father, come back soon! Don't worry, I'll take care of mother!"

Father must have heard it, because in front of the rising sun, he raised an open hand towards the sky without looking back. Then he was gone. Mother and I, as well as all the women and children of the village stood watch, some shouting promises and encouragements, until all of the soldiers were gone from sight.

What are you saying? I'm not crying. These aren't tears. It's... morning dew. Yes, that's right, it's just morning dew. Damn, there's so much morning dew this morning.

On the first day of the 10th year of my second life, my father left for war.

******

Everything went as normal, until two weeks later.

Some scruffy looking people rode across the town escorting a carriage that looked pretty extravagant. They rode past me while I was discussing with the representative of the fishermen about the possibility of switching to a new method of large scale fishing. I didn't think anything of it, assuming that it was probably someone important either passing through or stopping by to meet mother.

When I went back a couple of hours later, though, mother was on her knees, crying on the dirt ground while the crude men loaded up our silverwares and mother's gold jeweleries onto a cart they found somewhere.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" I yelled at the top my lungs.

It shocked them so much that they stopped working for a few seconds. The moment they saw me though, they went back to work loading our valuables onto the cart, totally ignoring me. Meanwhile, a fat man wearing some kind of expensive looking velvet coat stood in front of mother saying some stuff that I couldn't hear while waving one of those thick papers in front of her face.

"Stop what you are doing!" I commanded, which the rough men ignored.

"Maids, stop them!" I commanded, to which our two household maids took up spears and thrusted it at the five rough men loading up our valuables.

They were clearly surprised at suddenly being attacked by these gentle-looking household maids. Unlike the rest of the kingdom, it has always been a Rusenfel tradition to arm and train our household servants in warfare. Our household servants weren't just servants, they were also our family's bodyguards. While their skills wouldn't be comparable to a trained knight, they were more than capable of fighting bandits.

Thus it was that the five men quickly drew their swords and surrounded the maids. Then suddenly the fat man turned away from mother. He look at me the way one would look at an insect with his small piggy eyes.

"Go away, peasant, or I'll have you stripped, crucified and lashed at the center of town."

"How dare you call me a peasant! I am the Honourable Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune, first daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune. How dare you come here and cause such ruckus!"

"A lady? Wearing peasant's clothing?"

I was visiting my farm, why would I want to wear my best gowns to visit my farm?

"Impersonating a noble is a serious crime, little girl. You, the spiky-haired one, catch the girl. We're taking her with us," the fat man said as he turned around, scolding mother again.

The spiky-haired man sheathed his sword and came forward, while making a lewd face. One of our maids tried to stop him but she was intercepted by two of the men. If given a specific order, though, they would still rush towards me, even if it would kill them.

"Serin, take care of him," I ordered as I walked forward towards the fat man.

"Yes, my lady."

"Hey, little girl, where are you going? Come have some fun with big brother," he laughed.

"What are you waiting for, Serin?" I asked as I took another step.

"Y-yes!" Serin replied before she took a quick step forward, swung her 5 foot measuring staff towards the spiky-haired man's legs and brought him down. She then took off the fake end of the staff, revealing a sharp knife which she pointed at the man's neck. "S-sorry for this. Are-are you in pain?"

"Not as much as the pain I will give you, little girl!" The spiky-haired man growled as he put his hand on his sword while still on the ground.

"Th-that's good!" Serin said as she stabbed that hand with the knife end of her staff, "Th-then please forgive me for this!"

The screams of that man grabbed the fat man's attention. He turned around seeing one of his men on the ground, bleeding. Then his gaze turned towards Lili and I, who approached him calmly, walking past the thugs and our maids.

"You dare attack a ducal official?"

"You dare cause trouble at someone else's barony and terrorize the baroness?"

"I will have you hanged, little peasant."

"It's funny that you say that, because I'll make sure you hang first. You are in MY territory and that is MY mother after all."

"Impersonating a noble is a grave offense, little peasant."

"Impersonating a ducal official is a grave offense as well, fatty."

We must've glared at each other for minutes until he seemed to give up and turned away.

"Let's go, men. We've got what we're here for," he said as he turned to enter his carriage. Meanwhile, one of his lackeys moved to attach the cart to his horse.

"You will leave our stuff here!"

"You don't seem to understand, little girl. This is payment for a debt the baron have with the duke. Unless you can pay 300 gold right away, I'm afraid we will have to take these as prepayment."

"Please don't take away my mother's locket..." mother sobbed on the ground.

I knew the locket she was talking about. It was an oval locket 2 inches long made of solid gold, inside it was a drawing of mother and grandmother when mother was young. Grandmother died of some mysterious illness 4 years ago.

"You will leave them here."

"Are you deaf, little girl? I said this is prepayment for the debt. This here is the proof!" he said, waving a piece of paper that vaguely appeared to have some writing on it and a wax stamp on its lower right corner. I couldn't tell what was written on it though, as he kept shaking it around.

"Then you should've talked to father while father was here. He left less than two weeks ago."

"I go wherever I'm told. I was told to come here, right now to settle this debt. It's not my fault that the baron isn't here!"

"You know what? I think you're lying, so go away before I have you hanged." I was very confident that this man was a scoundrel looking to steal our family's stuff, because the duke knew that my father was fighting at the battlefield. Grandfather wouldn't be so cruel as to do this to his own daughter and granddaughter. But unless I could find proof, I couldn't just execute him. I didn't have the baron's authority.

He looked very angry at my words but turned around and entered his carriage. "Leave it!" he said towards the man who was unsure about whether or not to connect the cart containing our silverware and jewellery to his horse. Towards me, the fat man said, "This is not over, little girl. I'll be back!"

******

That night, after I managed to calm mother down, I asked her what happened with the fat man. She told me how the men suddenly came to the mansion, kicked open the door and told her that he was a ducal official and he was there to collect on our family's debt. Mother said it was true that father had some debt with the duke, but not as much as 300 gold.

Let me give you an idea of how much 300 gold is. 10 gold would be enough to make a nice small house. A mansion would cost around 40-70 gold, depending on the size. To build a small port with two docking arms, it would cost only around 120 gold. It would be unimaginable that father, who was always careful with his money, would take on that much of a debt without telling mother.

Not to mention, the timing of the 'official's' arrival was too suspicious. If he really was the ducal official, then he could've just talked to father two weeks ago before he left for the battlefield. It would be unlikely that the duke would forget such a big debt as well.

But it was all simply an assumption. We had no proof that he was an impostor. So the only thing we could do was to ask the duke himself. Thankfully, he didn't go to the battlefield with the army.

So the next day, I gathered the villagers and informed them that we may have been targeted by a scoundrel and that my mother the baroness had conscripted them all to protect the barony until I could get an explanation from the duke himself. It wasn't the best arrangement, but the villagers accepted their duties readily. The sowing of seeds would still be done, but now there would always be militias consisting of the women of the village patrolling day and night.

To make my journey easier, I had mother write a letter of introduction for my journey to the city of Renus. I also took some of the money I had in my stash for travel expenses as well as a secret weapon I made the moment my steel foundry was completed. I planned to travel quietly to meet the duke and hopefully arrive home before anything bad happened.

The letter of introduction would help greatly. Of course, the duke himself knows who I am, I am his granddaughter after all. But his guards probably won't recognize me, as the last time I visited the duke was two years ago, during the Aging Ceremony. That was about the time when father and the duke discussed marriage between me and that jerk.

I also couldn't just take the family carriage. For all I know, there could be a trap somewhere along the road. If I travelled as the Lady Felicia, there was a good chance I would be beset by bandits. No, I had to travel incognito. I needed to make myself look like a peasant or a free lady. That would be the best course of action while still allowing me to reach Renus in the same time it would take if I travelled as Lady Felicia.

A one-way trip to Renus would take three days after all. A round trip would probably take seven days. Many things could happen in seven days. If anything happened to mother or the barony while I was away, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

I did promise father that I would take care of mother after all.

"Serin, Lili, take care of mother. I'll be back within a week," I said as I wrapped my body in a leather cloak instead of the velvet ones that nobility often used.

"But we are your servants, how can we let you go on your own?" Lili argued.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Stop calling yourself my servant. We're friends, aren't we? Besides, you know what my mother's like," I said while holding both of Lili's shoulders.

"How cruel, are you calling your own mother weak, stupid and incompetent?" mother sobbed at the dining table.

Aren't you the only one saying that, mother?

Lili gave mother a pitying gaze before she said, "I understand. I'll stay with the baroness, but at least take Serin."

"No, Serin has never been outside the barony, and she's not used to camping outside. It would be best if I go alone."

"Then you won't mind if we tag along, will you, my lady?" said a voice at the door.

"Ah, you guys. Shouldn't you be at the farm?"

"We heard what happened and we wish to offer our help in any way, my lady," Lemy said as he, Somme and Gani knelt on the floor. "Please take us along, my lady. We swear to protect you and serve you in every way we can."

"But even so, what can you all do? Even you, Lemy, you are only 11, what can you do if we are ambushed by bandits? It would be best to avoid battles altogether."

"My lady, if you go alone and you are ambushed anyway, where would we, your servants be able to hide our faces, my lady?"

"Geez, you and Lili are just the same! I've told you many times, you're not my servants, we're friends!"

"Then will a friend watch friends go into danger alone, my lady?"

"Ahhh!!! Fine, you can come, just be quiet. No, Lili. You and Serin will stay here. But we only have two horses left, and I don't want to share my horse."

"You can take a farmer's wagon, can't you? It would look pretty suspicious anyhow for little kids like you to ride for three days without adults' supervision," mother said, suddenly sounding very wise.

My mouth made the shape of an 'O' as the realization sank in. Of course, mother was right. Even though children could enter the workforce far earlier than in the modern world, they would still be considered 'children' and would not be allowed to travel far without adults. For a young girl and three young boys to be riding all the way to Renus on our own, it would definitely look suspicious even if we all wore cheap peasant clothing.

"But we still don't have any adults!"

"Fariha can be the adult," mother said as she gestured towards one of our maids, who stood silently behind mother. The 21 year old Fariha then bowed towards me as if acknowledging the order.

"Okay that will work. All three of you go home and bring whatever you may need, but we will travel light. Fariha, please prepare the food and supplies for the journey and change your clothes to something more normal. In the meantime, Lili and Serin, find me a wagon that looks worn but still in good shape."

"Yes, my lady," everyone said at the same time.

******

"Ahh, this is the life, isn't it, my lady? The open roads, the refreshing nature and the sound of crickets as you sleep, it makes life worth living for."

"Stop talking nonsense, Lemy. You acting like an adult disgusts me."

Lemy looked like he got hit by two arrows on his chest as he received my words. He then sat quietly at a corner of the camp with his knees up and his head between his knees. He kept repeating the words, "nonsense" and "disgust" with a sob.

As for me, I couldn't care less. Such horrible playacting was embarrassing, annoying even. There was no need for him to go out of his way to sound like an adult. His everyday actions were already adult-like. I wouldn't trust the management of my farm to anyone other than him. So he should be more confident with himself and stop trying to be someone he was not.

We camped alongside the main road to Renus on the first night of our journey. We had made good progress and there was no sign of bandits, so we were confident that we could make it to Renus in two or three days. The wagon and horses were in good condition, so we had no worries there.

I was cleaning my weapons in front of the fire when Fariha approached me.

"My lady, it's my turn to keep watch," Fariha said with a bow.

"Oh, is it time already? Did you even get any sleep?"

"I've taken a nap, my lady. It's not a problem."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, please have a rest, my lady. We'll have to move first thing in the morning."

"Alright, wake me up at dawn," I said as I laid down on the same cloth Fariha just vacated. Closing my eyes just as I heard Somme and Gani replace Lemy, my mind drifted off into dreamland.

******

"We are entering the Barony of Halston, my lady. Should we enter the town or go around it?" Fariha asked while urging the horses faster.

"How far will going around it set us back?"

"If memory serves, if we arrive at the intersection at noon, we will be spending the whole day and night on the road. We will only be able to enter Renus the day after. If we enter the town, we can reach Renus by tomorrow afternoon."

"Then the choice is obvious. We don't have the time."

"Understood. If we push the horses a little more, we should arrive at Halston before dusk. My relatives run an inn at Lapis Square. We'll be safe there."

True to her word, we did arrive at Lapis Square in the eastern part of Halston just before the last light. Fariha's cousin was fast with his work. The horses were quickly freed from their burden and the cart shoved into an empty space next to the stables. As Fariha seemed to be the most experienced, all of us followed behind her as she asked for a room at the desk.

"Welcome to the Laughing Fox. Are you looking for a room?" the receptionist greeted with a bewitching smile. She was a young girl probably around 11 or 12.

"A room for two, feed for the horses, dinner for five and a warm bath, please," Fariha answered.

"Right away! That will be 3 big copper, please. Or if you wish to pay with wheat grain, it's 15 cups," she said with a wink.

"Will silver work?" I asked as I placed a single silver coin onto the desk.

The receptionist raised an eyebrow at the single silver coin on the desk. I was wearing a cloak that covered my body and part of my face, so she couldn’t see my face very well. She looked at me curiously as she quickly placed a single palm onto the silver on the desk, effectively hiding it under her hand. Then with a smile, she said, "Of course! Let me find you some change. Please wait a moment."

As the receptionist entered a room behind the desk, I looked at Fariha and asked, "Did I just make a blunder? Should we start running?"

"Too late to start running. Don't worry, she's my cousin. She won't betray us," Fariha assured.

"Oh, so you DO know she's your cousin? Years you disappear without news, didn't even come back for your own little sister's 14th Aging Ceremony. Suddenly you return with a bunch of people who look as suspicious as that old witch by the creek," said a voice from behind.

The person speaking it was a striking woman in a barmaid uniform. She looked to be an adult, but it was hard to tell her age for sure. Her voice and the slight wrinkles on her face suggested that she might've been at an advanced age, but her body still looked like a young woman. She was also quite beautiful and enticing in an adult kind of way.

"Good evening, aunt. How have you been?" Fariha spoke in a respectful tone.

"Busy! You have absolutely no idea how hard it was to find someone to replace you when you ran away."

"And how is Faruna?"

"Ignoring me, it seems. Faruna's fine. She married the son of the carpenter at Lyre Street."

"I see, is she happy?"

"Your sister's fine," the woman said just as the receptionist girl came back with the key to our room and the change.

I quickly put the 12 big copper into my pouch under the cloak while Fariha grabbed the key.

"Mama, please don't scold big sister. I'm sure big sister had her own reasons, right big sis?" the receptionist made a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Fariha looked away uncomfortably.

"Well, go take a seat. Tonight's menu is barley bread with rabbit strips and spinach soup. I'll get papa to warm up this morning's baked beans for you and your friends."

"Ah, aunt. Please don't trouble your-"

"You still like baked beans, don't you?" the woman asked with a piercing look.

"Yes..." Fariha said with her eyes to the floor.

"Good, papa cooked too much this morning. Don't forget to say hello to papa."

Later after dinner...

"Why exactly are you boys following us?" I asked, turning back to the Lemy and the others.

"Err, my lady, we were wondering where we'd be sleeping."

"Isn't that obvious?"

The boys shook their heads.

"The stables, of course."

The boys made a look of shock.

"Have you ever seen peasants pay for two rooms when they stay at an inn?"

The boys looked uncertain. To tell the truth, I've never actually looked at peasants on the rare chances I was able to travel. For all I knew, peasants could possibly rent two rooms, but I wasn’t going to tell them that. An inn's rooms are pretty pricy after all.

Unable to argue with me, the boys dejectedly left for the stables.

"Actually the inn has a boarding room for low budget travellers. They'll have to share the room with other people and there's no bed, only straw mattress. But they'll get to sleep inside and they'll only be charged for the mattress they're sleeping in."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"Because you looked like you were having so much fun, my lady."

"I did not!"

"But you did! So should I ask for three mattresses, my lady?”

I pondered, considered and decided.

"Nah, just let them experience sleeping in a stable."

"I'm pretty sure they've had plenty of experience sleeping in a barn, my lady."

"But not a stable," I said with a giggle before she added a giggle of her own.

"So do you want to talk about it?" I asked while having a bath. Fariha was behind me, washing my arms and the back of my neck.

"Talk about what, my lady?"

"You know what. I'm talking about you, this inn and that woman you called aunt."

Fariha hesitated as if trying to decide if she should, but at my prodding she sighed and started telling her story.

"10 years ago, when the war with Surfes was at its fiercest point, my little sister and I lost our father during the campaign to retake the River Country. Our mother died of pneumonia the following winter. We had no way to support ourselves, so we went to the only relative we knew. Aunt was father's little sister, but to tell the truth, we had never met her and we didn't know what to expect. Thankfully she sympathized with us and took us in."

She paused as she washed my back.

"But?"

"There was always something off about it. As if I was living a life that wasn't meant to be mine. Then one day, I came across a handsome nobleman who swept me off my feet. He told me he'd like me to serve him personally both in public and in bed. I accepted the job. I've served him ever since."

I turned around, my face making taking on the shape of '0', "Wait, you're talking about father? You have an affair with father?"

"I wonder if it's too early for you to know this, my lady." She sighed with her palms on her cheeks.

"Does mother know?"

"She does. She told me, "Fufufu, I'll allow it, but don't expect any child you give birth to will get equal treatment." The baroness is so kind."

"Mother said that? She knowingly let father have a mistress?"

"I was told it's quite common, my lady. But you should already know the baroness's habits."

"Yes, she's like a child in an adult's body, always playing around," I agreed as I got up and allowed Fariha to wipe me dry. "So I'm guessing you have no problem with your relatives now?"

"None, my lady. It turns out they were never angry with me."

"Then can you ask them if they know anyone who rent carriages? We can't go see the duke in a farmer's wagon. The guards will never believe us even with mother's letter. Besides, we need to hurry. Being entangled in bureaucracy won't do us any good. I wonder if the fine dress I left in the wagon still fits me."

"I'll ask them to arrange it, my lady. But it will have to be in the early morning, there's a curfew in place right now."

"Alright, I'll leave it to you."

"Good night, my lady."

******

"Felicia Belphere Metrune thanks the duke for granting my humble self audience at such a short notice," I said as I made a curtsey with head bowed.

"Raise your head Lady Felicia and come join me for tea."

I did as told, sitting on the chair opposite the duke. A maid arrived shortly bringing tea and cookies with her. After placing the tea and cookies onto the table, she made a bow before leaving without a word.

"I must admit I was surprised to hear that you asked for an audience just two weeks after I sent your father and brother off to war. So to what do I owe this pleasure, granddaughter?"

"Didn't mother explain it in the letter?"

A pause as we made way for the wind to blow.

"You mean this letter?" Grandfather tapped on two pieces of paper on the table.

"I think so."

"Read it yourself. Sometimes I wonder if she really is my daughter," grandfather said as he did a facepalm with his right hand.

"Please excuse me," I said as I took the letter.

[blockquote]This letter is to certify that the lady carrying this letter is Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune, daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune and Baroness Latreia Tullenaris Melstad of the Barony of Mruna as well as the granddaughter of Duke Reginald Aubray Melstad of the Duchy of Renus...[/blockquote]

"Oh, this is the letter of introduction. Should be this other one instead."

[blockquote]Dear father,

I'm not in the mood to write. Ask my girl what happened.

Latreia[/blockquote]

Without realizing it I also made a facepalm, with both hands. With both letters in my hands, I lamented my fate of having such a carefree mother. It was no wonder that grandfather was depressed. In that brief moment of time, grandfather and I truly understood each other.

******

"I see, so this scoundrel tried to grab your family's valuables using my name?"

I nodded.

"And your mother did nothing?"

"Not exactly, she was... well... crying..."

"I see. She pulled a magnificent performance again. It seems."

"What performance?"

"She did the same thing when she was younger. Let's just say that your valuables would likely be safe even if they were taken."

"I don't follow..."

"She was playing. Your mother is everything from a schemer, a queen, a bully all the way to a villain. But one thing she isn't, is a victim. She likely already arranged for someone to steal the valuables back. It's possible one of your maids, Suin, that was tasked to do that. That maid had a reputation before she became your maid."

"Oh! I never knew, Suin has always been nice, and the meals she cooked have always been excellent."

"Meals, heh, right, of course. If you had known her past, you probably wouldn't want to eat her cooking ever again. But let's put that aside. First of all, it's true that your father owed me money."

So it is true after all?

"Now, don't look like that. It's not the kind of debt that scoundrel made it out to be. Your father simply owed me some back taxes. Two years of back taxes to be exact. Your barony hasn't been doing well financially."

"We'll pay, don't worry, after the war is over, we'll pay everything."

"War over, you say? Certainly you are still a child. I am sorry that my daughter is so irresponsible that you have to shoulder her burden."

"What... do you mean?"

"This war will not end with the coming of winter. This war will last for generations. Many of us will grow old by the time the war ends. Some, like me, will probably die of old age before truce is signed. Even you will likely see your sons off to fight the same war your father fought."

"But won't they all come home as winter comes?"

"Yes, but only because no army can fight both the enemy and the cold at the same time. If any army can do that, then they will likely own the battlefield. Unfortunately such a thing is impossible. No army will march against the snow so they can be frozen to death in enemy lands."

"So the war will pause at the start of winter and start again in summer next year?"

"Correct, and every year the same cycle will start again. Until either side loses or both sides run out of men to fight their wars. That was what happened before you were born."

I couldn’t believe it. I expected it to an extent, this was of course a medieval-like world. So I wasn't surprised that we have wars. What I wasn't expecting was that the same war would be waged in summer every year. Would we have to keep watching our men go to war every year? Would we have to live in constant worry that our men would never come home?

"You look worried, granddaughter. I understand how you feel, I felt the same way every time I sent men to their deaths. Rest assured that even if all your family's men fall in battle, I will not take the barony away from you."

"Oh my, how comforting are your words, grandfather."

He laughed loudly, smacking the table as he did. I quickly held up my cup of tea to avoid it from spilling onto my expensive fine dress. That made him laugh even harder.

When he recovered, he said, "You should come often, Felicia. My other grandchildren are such bores. Putting that aside, your must be tired. I'll have the maids prepare-"

"Please, grandfather, there is no need for that. We are in a hurry. If you will write a letter denouncing the scoundrel and giving me power to execute the troublemakers, I'll be out of your way immediately."

"Execute?" he looked shocked, "Are you really 9 years old?"

"10 right now, grandfather."

"My point exactly! That is too young to decide on executions."

"We need a strong and firm message, grandfather. Otherwise, this thing will happen again."

"Still, you're just a... alright, I'll write the letter. Please wait here. Call the maid if you need anything."

About an hour and a short nap after, grandfather returned with a piece of paper in his hand. He handed it to me and told me to read it first.

[blockquote]By the authority of Duke Reginald Aubray Melstad,

Baroness Latreia Tullenaris Melstad and Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune shall have the full authority of the governing lord, which includes raising an army, performing trials on criminals, signing treaties that do not infringe upon the rights of the crown and the duke and giving mortal judgement in the absence of the governing lord Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune.

This document is lawful and applicable for as long as the War of Surfesian Agression that started on the summer of Year 241 of Succession has not reached its conclusion.

Signed and stamped,
Duke Reginald Aubray Melstad[/blockquote]

"This 'mortal judgement', is it referring to death sentence?"

"Correct, though it can also mean 'life imprisonment'. It's open to your own interpretation, really."

"Thank you for this, grandfather. Having my name there can be useful," I thought as I imagined all kinds of ways I could abuse this authority.

What good is power if it can't be abused?

"Umm, my dear granddaughter, you're making a very unpleasant face right now."

******

"Please thank your aunt for finding us the carriage, Fariha. It would've been a lot of hassle if we had gone to Renus with the farm wagon."

"They don't mind it, my lady. They did get paid for it after all."

"Right, shall we go have breakfast, then?" I said as I led the way to the restaurant side of The Laughing Fox.

We had arrived at Halston yesterday night, right after curfew after spending half a day in Renus. Grandfather had offered us lodging in the castle for the night. I refused politely as we needed to return home as quickly as possible. Grandfather relented but he asked me to come again for a longer visit next time.

I did feel a slight tinge of regret. The duke's castle at Renus was a beautiful castle by any standard. Instead of a castle, it should be called a palace, because there was absolutely no chance for it to withstand enemy assault. It was simply not built as a fortification. Perhaps the original builder thought there was no need to build a fortified castle as the city of Renus was protected by two layers of huge limestone walls. Comparing it with my family's mansion was like comparing heaven and earth. As I looked back at the majestic castle behind me, I swore that I would build a castle too.

That would be prohibitively expensive, though.

I took a seat at the table already taken by Lemy and the others. While waiting for breakfast to arrive, I sipped on a cup of coffee gently. Fariha wasn't around for breakfast, she told me she'd be in the stables getting the wagon ready for travel. I asked her if she needed the boys' help, but she told me no, since she was only going to check its condition as well as transfer some stuff from the carriage. Apparently, she planned on having her breakfast during travel.

What a dutiful maid.

And as for the boys, I paid for them to sleep in the inn's common boarding room this time. As the tension had passed, I didn't think there was anymore need to be so careful. Since this was probably the last time they would be here, I decided to splurge a little like any good employer.

Thank me you ungrateful wretches!

Today's breakfast is some kind of stringy roasted meat with carrots and mushroom soup, yum. I'm saying that with full-on sarcasm. Whoever the cook was, he or she didn't seem to know how to soften meat for roasting or maybe the cook simply didn't know how to roast meat in the first place.

I would have liked to have a choice. But it seems like the inns of this world don’t offer such convenience - you eat what they cook. I swear, if Mruna ever becomes an important trade port, I'll build a fast food joint. 'Felicious' will be a good name, I think. Wait, maybe that's not a good name, it will give the wrong impression that I'm delicious or something.

Uaaah! Imagining men licking and biting my body now! Ewww!

Fariha returned shortly after my breakfast arrived, carrying with her my leather travel cloak. Curiously, she was already in her travel gear with the hood of her cheap travel cloak covering her face. She put the leather cloak on me, making sure that the hood properly covered my head before she whispered, "We need to go, my lady, right now."

"What's the hurry? I haven't even finished my breakfast yet."

Sure, the roast meat wasn't at all good, but it was food. While I wasted food, some villagers in the town could be starving to death.

"The enemy is here!"

Hearing that, I abruptly stood up, accidentally knocking over the cup of herbal tea, spilling its contents on the table. The boys followed suit, though I noticed both Somme and Gani had the time to grab the roast meat from their plates and hide it inside their bags. I quickly crossed the distance to the front door as I told them to hurry.

"No my lady, not that way!"

Shortly after Fariha said that, I collided with someone at the door, causing me to fall back on the floor. With my hood falling back from my head, I could clearly see the person blocking the door. Of course, he could also see me. It was the thug whose hand was stabbed by Serin's staff.

"Watch where you're going, brat. Unless you want to...IT'S HER!" he yelled as he pulled out his sword with his uninjured left hand. I noticed that his right hand was bandaged and he seemed to take special care to avoid moving it. He raised his sword as if he wanted to cleave me in two.

But before he could do that a slab of meat flew to his face and knocked him out cold.

I could hear Fariha mutter, "Ah, it must be Yoru's turn to make breakfast."

My relief was short-lived,though. Before I could catch my breath, three more thugs appeared and advanced with swords drawn. Fariha quickly pulled me by my cloak with an apology and led us out through the back door. She told me to run to the stables to get the wagon out while she held them off. I didn't waste time arguing with her, Fariha would know how to take care of herself. So along with Lemy, Somme and Gani, we quickly made our way to the stables. Fariha arrived just as we managed to take the wagon out of the stables.

"My lady, we should take their horses too so they can't give chase!" she said as she pointed at three horses and told the boys to take one each.

It took them several tries to get the horses to obey. I was plenty worried that the thugs would appear at any time. Fariha seemed to understand my worry, so she had us leave first and told the boys to catch up to us quickly. They agreed and shortly after, Fariha and I left the town of Halston behind in our open-topped farmer's wagon. The boys caught up to us way later, almost at noon. We breathed a sigh of relief at seeing them and allowed the horses to proceed at a trot. It wouldn't be good if the horses go tired or twisted their ankles when we needed them.

That night, we made camp a little further into the woods for fear of being discovered by the thugs. We also had to forgo making a campfire, as the light could be seen from the road. Thankfully, we had blankets prepared, though we had to share them. Needless to say, none of us slept all that well, that night.

I'm sure some of you are telling me to just ride through the night, but you need to remember, this isn't the modern world. There are no streetlights, no headlights and no electricity. The only type of light would be ones that come from fire. If there were any ambushes on the road, we wouldn’t be able to see them before we were right where they wanted us to be.

We broke camp at first light. With yesterday's episode still fresh in our minds, we prepared only the lightest of breakfast. It was only some pieces of dried meat, some bread and a bottle of clear water from the nearby stream to be consumed while on the road.

A decision was made to send Lemy and Gani riding ahead to uncover any traps or barricades in our way. They were to return if they discovered anything such so that we could try to find another way home. With a bow, they quickly galloped forth, leaving Somme as our sole protector. Somme was also riding one of the horses we stole from the thugs. Only Fariha and I sat on the wagon.

Seeing as they had not returned, we picked up speed and tried to cross into Mruna as quickly as we could. The tension was thick as Fariha pushed the horses fast while I kept my hand on my precious secret weapon, that I finally managed to complete after many failures. Somme was riding by our side, trying to match our speed with his beginner-level riding skill.

Everything was fine, until we arrived at the narrow road about two miles from the border of Mruna. Logs of wood on wheels, covered in sharp spikes were suddenly pushed in front of us from the bushes on both sides of the road. Seeing this, our horses abruptly stopped in front of this blockade and within moments, another wheeled log of spiked wood was pushed in place behind us, trapping us on that tiny section of road. My mind suddenly wondered if Lemy and Gani had been captured, or worse, betrayed us.

No! No, they would not betray us. They can't possibly betray us. We're friends!

"There you are, you little bitch! It took us the whole night to prepare this. When we saw your friends riding ahead, we knew you were about to arrive."

It was the same man that Serin stabbed in the hand, but...

"We left you at the inn!"

"Of course you did, and stole our horses too. Your mistake was that you didn't steal my horse. I thought this would be a failure, we couldn't catch you when you left, but to think that we can catch you when you arrive, fortunate turn of events. For us."

More men appeared from the bushes with swords in their hands. I counted twelve men that just appeared, not including 'stabbed hand'. They were circling us, waiting for a chance to pounce. Somme and Fariha had already took out their weapons; Somme wielded a poor quality sword that he bought from the blacksmith while Fariha wielded an 8-foot long spear.

"What are you all waiting for? We're not paid to capture them. Kill them!" Stabbed Hand commanded and the bandits roared as they rushed towards us.

So I pulled the hammer of my musket and pulled the trigger.

BOOM! Two of them fell. It seemed like at such a short distance, the gunpowder had enough power to send a bullet through an unarmoured man and punch through to the unarmoured man behind him.

Ahh, this recoil is too much! It's hurting my wrist.

Everything became quiet for a while, as the smoke, thick as it was, settled. They looked at the two men on the ground who died instantly with the sound of an explosion. Their faces pale, not able to grasp what just happened.

"All of you, throw down your weapons and surrender or should my boomstick kill more of you?" I ordered as I pointed the barrel of my musket towards a concentration of bandits.

Spooked by that action, the bandits I aimed the barrel of the musket at immediately threw their swords to the ground and raised their arms in surrender. To be fair, though, it wasn't actually a musket. It was actually more like a two-barrelled deer rifle that got shortened to one foot in length, the buttstock replaced with a shorter buttstock that looked more like a pistol's handgrip. In other words, it was a two-barrelled pistol, with one barrel on top of the other instead of side-by-side. The only reason I called it a musket was because it looked like a musket or a flintlock pistol.

Let's just call it a pistol from now on. Or a gun.

"Pick that up! Pick up your weapons!" Stabbed Hand yelled, before he grabbed the two closest bandits to him and pushed them both forward, "Kill the bitch now!"

So I pulled the hammer for the other barrel, took aim at Stabbed Hand and pressed the trigger. BOOM! The muzzle of the pistol released more thick smoke. The bullet travelled the air, punching through the two bandits that Stabbed Hand threw in front of him until the fragments pierced through and hit Stabbed Hand's body in multiple places like a scattershot bullet. Unfortunately, the penetrative power was greatly reduced and the fragments didn't have enough mass to cause serious damage. However, it was enough to wound Stabbed Hand and push him to the ground.

"Put down your arms! If I have to ask you to surrender again, I might as well just kill all of you on the spot." I said with false bravado. After all, my pistol only had two barrels. I had just shot two bullets. I couldn't just tell them to wait while I remove the casings of both bullets and insert new ones.

In other words, I was out of ammo.

That still didn't stop me from waving the barrel of the pistol around, though. Even though it was empty, just holding it allowed me to keep their fear trained on the smoking barrels. Early firearms were, in actuality, no different in killing potential compared to a bow or crossbow, especially considering the reload time of early firearms. What put firearms heads and shoulders above the bow and crossbow, was the intimidation and psychological effects it put on the enemy.

Everyone would pause if they have a bow or crossbow aimed at them. Replace the bow or crossbow with a piece of metal pipe that spouts fire, thick smoke and loud bang, everyone would stop in their tracks. To a society that had never seen anything like it, the psychological effect brought by fear would most definitely be double or triple that of people who saw it on a regular basis. Add to the fact that the weapon killed four people and wounded another in just two shots, the fear was total. It would've been like watching trebuchet balls falling feet away from where you were standing.

Out of the 14 remaining bandits though (8 of them pushed the logs to block the road, 12 more appeared after, 4 of them killed by my pistol, one wounded, some of them killed by Fariha), two of the bandits refused to lay down their arms, despite having my gun aimed at them. This was very unsettling. If this went on a while longer, I would have to make an example of them. Unfortunately, the gun was empty, so I wouldn't be able to make an example of them anyway.

Just as I was sweating about what to do, Lemy and Gani returned with a group of spearmen at their tails. They were actually women, though. Lemy and Gani had apparently ridden through the road without encountering any opposition or blockades. So they went ahead up into Mruna. At the border, they came across the border guards and asked them to go and provide escort for us. Then they went into Mruna and informed mother about us before riding back to meet up with us.

"Wait, border guards? Since when did we have border guards?" I asked Lemy while the border guards tied up the bandits, including the two bandits that refused to lay down their arms earlier.

"Apparently the baroness had them organized while we were away," Lemy answered.

"And where did they get the spears? Father took them all with the army."

"It seems like the baroness had them prepared during the days that we were gone. They had only started their duties this morning."

I guess we're lucky, then. Had mother decided to start their duties a day later, we would likely have been killed. So my lazy mother can actually show some initiative.

So with the bandits tied and walking behind us, we marched into Mruna.

******

"This trial is to judge the crimes of the bandits. Let them in!" the wife of the village chief spoke.

Mother and I were sitting at the judges' seat, basically a long bench with a table in front. On our right, was the gallows, which to my knowledge, had never been used. One our left and front were the audience, villagers who wanted to see the trial. The bandits were brought in as a group, all 18 of the surviving ones including Stabbed Hand and The Scoundrel, into the clearing in front of the gallows. Cries of anger and insults abounded as apparently these men had done as they wished in the village while we were away, prompting mother to organize the women's militia patrols.

Accusations against them were read one by one, witnesses and victims were called. Most of them committed only minor offenses, offenses that would've been normal in a tavern or a bar. However, four of them made terrible crimes that made me explosively angry.

The Scoundrel tried to take our jewellery and finery , as well as my gun prototypes from my lab, and stabbed one of my farmhands when he got in the way. Stabbed Hand raped a woman and killed her only son when he interfered. The other two not only raped the village girls, they even attempted to rape both Lili and Serin, and would've succeeded if Lili's mother Suin hadn't fought them off.

"The gallows! All four of you! I want your necks dangling on a string!" my judgement was met with cheers by the villagers.

"Felicia, why don't you sit down and let me handle this?" mother said.

"No! Your crimes are unforgivable. Your punishment is death!" I cried with more cheers from the villagers.

Beside me, mother sighed and stood herself. "With the authority granted by the Duke of Renus to both myself and my daughter, all four of you are sentenced to death by hanging. Sentence will be carried out immediately."

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, my anger, that felt like it would explode violently, started to ebb away. Looking at the four criminals being pushed to the gallows made me feel good that justice had been met. I wasn't ready to watch them dangle, though. Killing people when they were charging at me was OK, my life was on the line after all. But watching people being executed while I sat a small distance away would give me nightmares. So I quietly left.

Or tried to leave, when mother caught the collar of my dress.

"Where are you going to, dear daughter?"

"Ah? I'm just going back to my farm."

"What's the rush? Stay and enjoy watching them dance to their deaths."

"Mother, how do you expect me to watch people die? I'm a little girl, it will give me nightmares."

"Yet, you didn't mind passing judgement just now. Are you still calling yourself a little girl?"

"Mother?"

"Sit and watch."

"Mother, please, let me go. I don't want to watch," I pleaded as I tried to pull free from mother's grip.

Mother made no sign of letting go or loosening her hold on my clothes.

"No, you will watch, my girl. This may be the only thing I will ever teach you in all seriousness, but listen well and carve it into your head. Everything has a consequence. Once you execute someone, they die, and someone will grieve for them."

Mother pulled me to her, face to face, her hands on my cheeks, she told me, "As a fair ruler, you must also grieve for them by watching their final moments until the end. Only when you watch and feel nothing about it, have you crossed the line. Once that happens, you are just another monster. Kindly protect the world by removing yourself from it or you may soon find your life cut short by those you care for the most. Remember this well, my lovely daughter. Watch and grieve, for that is the last respect you can give them for their struggles in this world."

"No, mother. I can't," I pleaded as my vision blurred.

"Yes, you can. You are destined for great things, I can tell. Inevitably, you will have to do this again. When that happens, remember my words. Grieve, but do not despair. Reflect upon it, but do not regret. Let their ghosts rest in peace knowing that their deaths make the world a better place. Now wipe your tears, my daughter, it has ended."

In front of us, the four scoundrels swayed in the strong wind that signified the coming of autumn. It was supposed to be a little hot, but it felt cold instead. It felt like I was doused in cold water. I wasn't wet, but I was shivering, and the tears in my eyes flowed anew.

Father, please come back soon.

 

Thanks for the meal.. So you go for the truck route again huh...

I couldn't hold back the temptation to recruit you to my world lol..

 

Yea, you will be seeing more of Truck-chan soon, just not in this story. Thanks for reading.

 

hmmm, seems like heibon (based on later synopsis) and your usual way to go to alternate world

will see this one, seems legit though

 

Yes, the synopsis suggests that it's like Heibon. I did came up with the basic idea from Heibon. I was dissatisfied with the direction the author took with heibon and decided to write a story where Heibon was not mutilated in the author's bid to get more readers. The similarity can only be seen in the first chapter but only barely. From chapter 2 onward, it has absolutely no similarity to Heibon as I mapped over 300 chapters of this story.

There will also be another story after Felicia's Second Life, called Felicia's Third Life, but it will depend on whether or not I live that long. Thanks for reading. Please continue to read the future chapters.

 

so far it's good (well... chap 1 won't get me anywhere lol)

regarding fix or editing, I think its better to do it if you planned to make it commercial
the example is LN and WN, WN goes without editing (more like draft) and its free

you don't need to put the effort to edit too much, it's not like translating, one or two mistakes won't change the story too much (I think?)
as far as it's simple, I guess it's good enough

this comes from someone that having english as 3rd language

 

okaay, I have read all the chap
well, I might be harsh and I read by leech on others work so my word seems weak
all of my words are perspective from a newbie who just read... hope you can forgive me beforehand

Spoiler

umm to be frank, it's nice but kinky
I don't get the plot of this story, is it the 'daily life of felicia' or 'things you can do in medieval world after reincarnated'?
took the example of other novels, they have goal point
this one lacks ambition, I mean what is the MC goal?
what will happen if the MC have succeed in flourishing his family?

next is the characters, most of the characters only serve as MC's filler, I mean those characters didn't give strong impression
believe me, if you didn't put the characters aside MC in a few chapters later, nobody will ask

and this last one is bugging me, the MC seems didn't have trouble setting new manufacturing methods
such as pillowing the land, plant a few kinds of crops
believe me, farming is not easy as it seems to be
try plant a turnip or wheat or potato (not the potato here, it's NOT potato, definitely... yeah...) in a pot, and you will get what I mean
later, the MC going to a mine and then manufacturing steel and so on
it seems MC is given cheat on remembering his past life perfectly (watching youtube at 12 years ago and still remember today)
what happened to her crop business, family house business, siblings, or other family members aside MC's grandfathers and parents

please don't take it at heart
this is my honest opinion, others may find it different
keep it going, there's more room to improve since this is only 4 chap

 

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback. This will all be addressed in the following chapters. The first few chapters are only there for introduction. The real story starts when she's 11. It's basically a slice of life, a story of how a girl survives in a medieval world and how she overcomes her problems.

I wrote about her improvements since for the purpose of telling the story, she must be seen as a threat. Remember, each chapter from 1 to 3 are told in 1 year intervals. I didn't elaborate on the improvements because I don't want to put too much emphasis on it. There's going to be drama soon and prolonging the introduction is not good.

Please keep on reading. Thank you for your honest opinion.

 

New chapter released! Have a look at Felicia's Second Life Chapter 4 Part 2

Or you can just subscribe to my blog. Do inform me if the subscribe button's not working, though. I will have a look at the code.

Spoiler: Felicia Second Life Chapter 4 Part 2

Let's Interrogate (Not Torture) The Bandits! Part 2

"Non-violent method of questioning prisoners?" Suin asked when I found her in the kitchen two days later.
"Yes, is there any that you know of?"

"Why bother when torture gives you the information you want easily, my lady?"

"I don't want to torture people."

"But it's the most efficient, my lady."

"I said I don't want to torture people. Is there any way to persuade people to tell me what I want to know? I mean like a drug, hypnosis or music that makes them more suggestible?"

"Hip-no-sis?"

"Hard to explain that, sorry."

"There are herbs that make people more willing to follow orders. If you can wait until after dinner, I'll show you some of them."

"That works, thank you."

After dinner, Suin, Lili, mother and I sat together at the dining table. Suin showed us a collection of herbs that she once used in her previous profession. Some of it was so nasty that she kept them sealed inside lacquered wooden boxes.

"Here we have the Grieving Lady Thistle, it's harmless by itself, but mixed with vinegar and drank, it has the ability to dissolve everything from the stomach and below."

"How is this non-violent?"

"You don't actually use it, you threaten that you're going to use it."

"Rejected!"

"How about the Moonlit Grass Oil?" she showed us strands of blue grass and a dark blue liquid in a vial.

"What does it do?"

"As grass it merely causes upset stomach. As concentrated oil, it is absorbed into the skin and causes twitching of the body part in question. If dripped against the naked chest, it will cause heart attack."

"Isn't that fatal?"

"Not really, just rub it into the person's arm and threaten that you'd put it on their chest. They'll confess everything once their arms start twitching like it's possessed."

"Umm... I don't know about this."

"If diluted 10 times in water and rubbed on a man's penis or a woman's breasts and other sensitive parts, it raises its sensitivity and acts as an aphrodisiac."

"Ah?" before I could say anything, the basket containing the grass and its concentrated oil disappeared.

"This horrible thing, I'll keep it safe for you, my lady," Lili said with a red face and heavy breath. The basket which disappeared like magic was firmly in her hands.

Lili, were you a certain character from a certain anime with a wish-granting dragon in your previous life?

"How about this? The Wormsight Weed Powder causes terrible itching when used on skin."

"How will it help in interrogation?"

"The way you use it is to strap the victim down, then liberally rub the powder against skin. The victim will go insane from the unbearable itch," Suin said with a grin as she appeared to recall a particular point in her past.

"I said no torture!"

Suin looked disappointed.

"Well, next we have the Gravewort Concentrate. If consumed, the victim will have until sunset before the poison becomes active and kills the victim in the most painful way." Suin showed a bottle filled with pitch black liquid.

"I know I said non-violent, but I don't want to kill them either."

"It won't kill them, if they drink this potion," she produced a bottle filled with a clear liquid with purplish tinge, "It'll counteract the poison and acts as an antidote. It won't work if the poison is already active, though."

"I don't know about this... it still sounds like torture to me."

Suin pushes aside all the other herbs and then brought out a vial containing a clear liquid. "This is the Tincture of Truth. It makes people tell the truth."

"So you DO have something like this. Why didn't you show this earlier?"

"Actually, it doesn't force people to tell the truth. It only makes the victim reveal surface thoughts and a trained assassin can easily fool it, providing misleading information that can end up being a trap. The stronger the surface thought, the more likely it will come out instead of the other weaker thoughts. Alternatively, it can also be used to control the victim by putting the victim in a suggestible state and controlling the victim through soft whispers in the ears. The victim will accept and follow whatever he is told like a puppet. Avoid complicated instructions, though."

"This is still a lot more pleasant than your other solutions," I remarked as I inspected the vial. If I wasn't told it was a potion, I would've thought it was spring water.

Suin took the vial from my hand, poured a small amount of it into a glass of water and told Lili to drink it.

"Eh? Me?"

"Yes, drink it. I'm sure Lady Felicia wants a demonstration."

"Umm, my lady?"

"Are you sure it won't harm her?"

"Yes, it won't harm her at all, I think."

"Go ahead, Lili."

Lili looked conflicted, before she took the glass of water and gulped it down quickly. "Uuun, please don't hate me, my lady," she said as she handed the empty glass back to Suin.

"What is your name?" Suin asked after a few minutes.

"Why are you asking that, mom? You know..." Lili suddenly became quiet.

"What is your name?" Suin repeated.

"Lilicia."

"What is your duty?"

"Assisting Lady Felicia."

"What is one plus one?"

"Two."

"Wrong, it's eleven. What is one plus one?"

"Eleven."

"Ohh, this is fun," mother said as she clapped her hands, "Rub your cheeks."

Lili rubbed her cheeks until she was told to stop.

"Pick your nose," mother said again.

Lili picked her nose. I snorted at watching my always tensed best friend doing as told. Suin on the other hand, kept a neutral face.

"Bark!" mother commanded again.

"Woof!

"Again!"

"Woof!"

"Louder!"

"WOOF!"

"Howl to the moon."

"Arooooooooo!"

I couldn't help myself, I rolled on the floor laughing my ass off. Mother was the same. Even Suin appeared to have a hard time maintaining her composure.

When I finally recovered, I wiped the tears that came out because of laughing too hard and asked Lili, "What do you think of Felicia?"

"Felicia is beautiful, kind, smart and generous."

I puffed my nonexistent chest.

"I love Felicia. I love her beautiful face, her long brown hair, her narrow waist, her budding chest, her delicious lips, her cute buttcheeks and her hairless xxxx. I want to kiss her, hug her, lick her, have xxxx with her. I want to xxxx and xxxx her xxxx. When we bathe together in Halston, I wished Felicia had touched my xxxx and kissed my xxxx and licked my xxxx and used her pretty fingers on my xxxx. I wish Felicia had taken me to her bed and xxxx me gently for the whole night."

The whole dining room went silent as all of us turned to stone at such a declaration. I briefly thought of hiding in a hole somewhere. Suin looked greatly troubled. Mother looked amused, but at Lili's next confession, she laughed merrily with one hand on her belly and the other slapping the tabletop.

"Ahhh, I can't stop myself anymore. My love, please make xxxx to me," she untied her hair, "Put your xxxx on my tongue and ride me like a xxxx. Make me your xxxx. Please be my bride and xxxx me all night long. Let's make sweet, sweet xxxx and climb the peak of pleasure together so we can xxxx and xxxx forever!" she moaned loudly while pushing down her dress, revealing a nice pair of breasts under a brown camisole.

Then her eyes rolled up and her head crashed onto the table faced down with a loud bang. Suin told us not to worry as she had expected that. Lili woke up about half an hour later. She moaned in pain and asked us what happened.

"As you can see, the victim will lose all memory of the interrogation. Any conditioning you placed will also disappear, unless you reinforce the conditioning every day."

"I see, it's good to know."

"Umm, what happened at that time? Did I do or say anything embarrassing?"

The room was quiet as we allowed the wind to blow.

"Umm... mom? My lady?"

"Nothing happened. You just said some stuff and fainted shortly after," Suin said.

"What kind of stuff?" Lili sounded a little panicked. Only now she noticed her state of undress.

I nodded while averting my gaze. "Just some stuff. Nothing you need to worry about."

"Indeed," mother tried her best to control her laughter while also averting her gaze, "Just some funny stuff."

"Ehhh? What stuff? What did I say? Please tell meeee!!!"

Of course we never told Lili what she actually said while under the potion's influence. Suin told her that Lili revealed about wetting the bed at 8 years old to her horror. If only she knew what she actually told us. What a precocious little girl Lili was.

Suin then put a few white pills covered in cloth into my hand. "This is the antidote, take two of these and for the next hour, it will neutralize the effects of the elixir. But be warned, it must be taken before you consume the potion, not after."

I thanked her and hid both the vial and the antidote inside my stash and locked it with a key. With the way mother was eyeing the potion, I half expected her to steal it from me while I was sleeping or working. Later I found out that mother asked Suin to make some more of the potion for her own use.

The next day, I went to the stockade. It was built last year, shortly after the trial where I ordered my first ever execution. The memory of the four men dangling under a rope was still fresh in my mind. The trauma was so debilitating that I couldn't hear, speak or see anything for a whole week after seeing them hang at the gallows. My sleep, whenever I could get it, was filled with nightmares of the four men coming for me with the noose still around their necks and their tongues hanging out of their mouths. Mother did her best to comfort me, and told me that she would've done the same even if I didn't judge them so. Despite that, mother told me that I should be judging criminals with a clear mind and neutral disposition, as a cloudy mind and biased preconception can easily judge an innocent wrongly.

I took it to heart, but I realized that as someone from the modern world, I couldn't do something like this. For Malcolm, who lived in a peaceful world, things like death sentences were only read about in newspapers. It wasn't something that you’d hear or participate personally in the modern world. In many countries of the modern world, death sentences were even abolished completely. As a modern person with modern values, I simply couldn't handle it. So ever since that trial, I had mother deal with the trials in father's absence. Maybe people would say that I was running away, but I'm a little girl now, I'm supposed to run away from this stuff.

"My lady, may I ask what we are doing here?" Lemy asked as we rode our horses closer to the wooden wall of the stockade.

I looked at the stockade with its large gateway building and four watch towers. It stood atop a cliff by the coast, overlooking the village, the port and a large area of the river. It was made entirely of log and earth, large enough to keep a maximum of 500 prisoners simultaneously.

This was what mother and I came up with after the execution of the four criminals last year. Having been peaceful for years previous, we have had no need for a dedicated prison. Stocks placed at the village center were often more than enough of a punishment. With the scoundrel's arrival, he also brought with him a bunch of outlaws which we had no idea what to do with. Executing them would be cruel as their crimes were only minor ones such as disturbing peace and tavern brawls as well as the error of following the wrong person.

Since putting fourteen people in stocks at the center of the village would not only be a hassle but also a waste of space, mother and I decided on having them build a stockade a short distance outside the village, on a rocky area that overlooked the Mrun river and the village. It was pretty much the first fortification built in Mruna ever, except that instead of keeping people out, it kept people in. The stockade was built out of logs, placed in two rows before having dirt packed in between the two rows of logs, creating a raised walkway from which sentries could look into the yard where the prisoners were kept. The only entry gate was a big building that connected the outside and the inner yard through two doors. In between the two doors were staircases that connected to the upper floors and the raised walkway. Apart from functioning as a sentry house, the gateway building also functioned as a billet for the stockade's sentries.

As for the bandits locked inside, we took great pains to ensure that they were taken care of as well any prisoner deserved to be treated. They slept in comfortable shanties, ate the same food as the sentries and got to walk around in the inner yard at any time they were free. Of course, we couldn't just let them eat and sleep for free. At this point, it was all me, mother stopped caring about them after they were locked up tight away from the village. Mother did suggest that their punishment should last until father came home in the winter, after which they could be released for good behaviour.

Apart from that, I had full authority. So I had them work on building my port first. It was great, I had my port along with its accompanying warehouses finished in just three weeks instead of two months that I previously expected at a quarter of the price. Definitely, slave labour is the best. Of course, having construction engines helped shave the man hours necessary. After that, I had them build the shipyard, clear some forest area for timber and farmland as well as build roads.

Yes, we have all-weather roman roads now! No more muddy roads in the winter or dusty roads in the summer. Woohoo! Of course, this only applies to Mruna, the rest of the road that connects to Halston and Renus is still dirt road.

Maybe now you're wondering about what we did with the loot we got when the bandits surrendered? Well, to tell the truth, it was all trash. I allowed my friends to choose anything they wish to take home, but the rest I just smelted into steel, because it was really just total crap to begin with. We did acquire some twelve horses, though. Thanks to that, all five of my best friends have their own horses now. The rest were left at the guard posts we recently built all over the barony for speedy delivery of messages.

"My lady?" Lemy asked again.

"Sorry Lemy, my mind was wandering. Well, we're here for some information."

"What kind of information, my lady?"

"I was thinking that our barony couldn't possibly have been the only one to be targeted by the scoundrel. They were too organized to have only done this for the first time. So we're going to ask them only one question, "Where do they keep the loot of their thievery?" Depending on their answer, we will ask the exact location.

"But they won't answer, my lady." Lemy argued.

"Of course they won't. You just let me handle that. Just ask the question when I told you to," I said as I walked into the stockade's gateway building and straight through to the south tower, where their meals are being cooked.

Only Lili accompanied me, I left the others in the gateway building.

"Excuse me, is breakfast ready?"

The cook, a slightly plump woman in sentry uniform was about to rebuke before she saw me and bowed at my appearance. "It's already done, my lady. All that is left is to share it with the prisoners."

"Very good, which cauldron is their drinking water?"

"That one, my lady," she pointed at a small cauldron filled with water. "It will be lowered into the inner yard shortly."

"Very good, leave us for a bit."

"My lady?"

"Stand outside. I'll call you when I need you to lower it to the inner yard."

The cook made a worried face as she wondered if she should follow that order. She probably thought that I was going to poison the prisoners' food. Considering that it had been a year since the trial and that most of the bandits were released for good behaviour months ago, one could imagine that the leftovers were the worst ones among them. Certainly, these men left behind were the veterans among the bandits, with a lot more pride and testosterone than common sense.

Sure, I was going to poison them, but I wasn't going to kill them. If I do kill them, I will probably get in trouble with the bandits that have turned over a new leaf and now living peacefully in the village. I'm not going to be the cause of a rebellion or rioting in the barony.

"Please don't worry. I'm not going to do anything that can't be reversed."

"Yes, my lady," the cook said as she went outside and closed the door.

I took out the palm-sized Tincture of Truth and after a short deliberation, decided to pour half the content of the vial into the prisoner's drink.

"Don't you think it's too much, my lady?"

"I'm worried it's not enough. Suin poured a few drops into the small glass of water that you drank last night."

Hearing me talk about last night, Lili's face coloured and she turned away. Lili was obviously still very much ashamed of what she thought she said. She still didn't know what she actually said under the influence of the Tincture of Truth, she thought she confessed to wetting the bed at 8 years old.

I mixed it well with a ladle and declared, "It's done. You can come in now."

The cook entered with a bow and made way for us to leave. Then from the top of the gateway building, we watched as one by one the prisoners, numbering six people, stopped moving and speaking with empty expressions on their faces.

"It's time. Let's go," I told the others as we walked down and into the inner yard before we started our interrogation.

Of course, since we were kids, we couldn't help ourselves from having fun with the mindless prisoners before us. We had these formerly prideful bandits dance and do embarrassing stuff that they would never do, with the guards on-duty laughing in good humour. We left the stockade with the information we needed and I left the sentry captain instructions to let the prisoners rest for the rest of the day.

******


"Is that it?" Gani asked as we hid behind some bushes about 200 feet from the camp.

We were hiding in the bushes of a forested area within the Duchy of Renus. My friends and I came here following the instructions given by the mindless veteran bandits we interrogated yesterday. Accompanying us was a 'section' of the spear sentries, a militia system comprising almost entirely of women of the barony, numbering 20 sentries not including the sergeant. Though this particular section was led by a captain as she also lead the entire 5 sections of the spear sentries, collectively called a 'company' of spear sentries.

You're asking if I got permission to cross over into the duke's land with an army? Who cares? Besides, if grandpa protested, I'd just say, "But how would I know I was supposed to ask for permission to hunt bandits, grandpa?" Then I'd give him my most innocent look and bat my long eyelashes like a clueless little girl. It will be absolutely flawless!

"Should be, they said it's a small camp in front of a natural cave," Lemy answered.

"Let's attack them," Somme urged.

"Not too fast," I said as I turned around towards a spear sentry behind us, "Captain, have your girls on standby downwind of the camp and wait for my call."

"Yes my lady," the spear sentry by the name of Merisa nodded. She silently slipped away through the bushes, her spear and round shield nowhere to be seen.

The spear sentry was designed similar to greek militia hoplites and also received the same types of training. Among others, they were trained to run two miles a day in full equipment which consisted of an 8 foot-long spear, a round steel shield, steel helmet, boiled leather body armour, boiled leather boots, their day provision, a shovel and two roman stakes. At first they were easily tired and couldn't even finish the two miles run in full equipment. But after half a year, they could run five full miles in full equipment and still had leftover stamina for mock battles.

Of course, when talking about hoplites, it wouldn't be complete without talking about phalanx. Apart from stamina training, I also drilled them in phalanx tactics. Due to that, they could now maintain phalanx formation even after charging the enemy for two minutes, beyond which their formation suffered. They could now even change the direction of their phalanx quickly.

Unlike the original hoplites though, I made some modifications to their equipment. First of which was their signature 8 foot-long spear, with a steel spearhead at one end and forked bronze point at the other. The forked bronze point, apart from providing another weapon in case the spear point breaks, also allows them to stab it into the ground to free their hands as well as giving them the possibility of pushing away ladders during wall sieges.

The second modification was their body armour. Instead of the linothorax favoured by the hoplites, I gave them studded boiled leather body armour, shaped to fit a woman's figure snugly. So it looked a little sexy, but it couldn't be helped. Lined under the boiled leather was a half inch layer of waxed paper.

Yes, waxed paper. Instead of scaled or splint paper armour that the Chinese once used, I used hundreds of sheets of very thin waxed paper to line up the inside of the leather armour, held together by glue and the steel studs. Now, for those sceptical of paper armour, it was actually a very common armour type in ancient China. Chinese records stated that paper armour worked just as well as steel armour at a fraction of the cost. Mythbusters also did a special on paper armour and proved that paper armour was just as good as steel in stopping arrows and sword slashes in comparison to steel armour while being significantly lighter. The thickness of the paper in the spear sentry's armour probably won't be able to stop bullets entirely, but more than enough to stop arrows and crossbow bolts at medium range without inhibiting movement.

Of course, the helmet was made in the same way. Even the large round shield was made of a steel plate, hammered into shape and lined with waxed paper on its back. It wasn't only to give extra protection against slashing and piercing attacks, it also gave the arm holding the shield some padding in cases of being hit by blunt weapons. Behind each shield were fastened three throwing knives 10 inches long for short range supporting attacks or for melee where it is too tight for them to use their long spears.

I do think my spear sentries are better armed than their husbands and brothers who are fighting on the front lines of the war. Better trained too, but that's not my fault. I offered to teach the men fighting techniques, but their pride was too big and they refused to be taught how to fight by a little girl who couldn't even raise a long sword. Thankfully the spear sentry that consisted mostly of women never had any problem with that.

The roman stakes were called sudes murale in Roman era. It was used in building temporary barriers. The spear sentries had regular training in building these temporary barriers due to their role of being patrolling policemen as well as border guards.

I looked at the place the spear sentries were positioned and the moment I saw their signal for 'ready' - a single spearhead raised vertically, I took out both my guns. On my right hand was the old pistol that I used in chapter 3, the double-barrelled flintlock-like pistol dubbed Boomstick Mk VII. Yes, it had been that many prototypes and failures. On my left hand was the new version of Boomstick Mk VII, the Boomstick Mk VIII, Sunset Screamer, made with better steel and citrine handle with Metrune family crest drawn inside.

I walked out of the bushes confidently. I was flanked on my right side by Lemy, and on my left side by Somme. Behind me was Gani with his long spear. All the boys were carrying the new spear sentry's shields. I left the girls behind to watch our backs.

"Bandits, stop what you're doing and surrender now!" I yelled to the mob of bandits numbering around 50 men in front of me.

The bandits looked at each other and laughed.

"Little girl, why don't you go play somewhere else?"

"Maybe she's here to play 'something else'?"

"Come sit on papa's lap, baby."

Hearing their words, I got very pissed. So I repeated my words with a bang. Nobody got hit by my bullet, but I couldn't care less if anyone got hit. Hearing my shot, all the spear sentries, numbering twenty women rushed out of the woods in phalanx formation, blocking the bandits' escape. Seeing that, the bandits quickly drew their weapons and charged against the spear sentries. The first few ones stupid enough to charge headlong against a wall of spears immediately got pierced by at least three spears at the same time.

Instead of pushing forward though, I told the spear sentries to hold position and gave the men another chance to surrender. Of course, they refused, even threatening to do some nasty things to the women once they've crushed the spear sentries' formation. They then blew a horn and retreated into the cave behind them.

It felt strange to me. It was extremely suspicious for the men to withdraw so suddenly after blowing the horn. I looked behind me, wondering if they called for reinforcement. But there was none. Then I could feel something hitting my back. It was an arrow, stuck in my leather and paper body armour.

Archers! The horn was to signal the archers positioned on the cliff. The archers fired again, raining arrows on our position.

"Raise shields! Raise shields! Block those arrows!" I ordered as the spear sentries raised their shields in the arrows's direction.

Suddenly I felt pain in my thigh. I looked down and I saw blood flowing down my leg. At the mouth of the cave, the men that retreated into the cave had come out firing arrows of their own. Seeing that, Somme stood in front of me, taking all of the arrows meant for me with his own body.

"Tortoise formation! Withdraw into the trees!" I ordered while shooting my guns at the archers firing from the cliff. Out of the three shots I had left, only one managed to hit, as they were slightly beyond the effective range of my guns.

Hearing my order, the spear sentries changed formation and provided protection for our retreat. Lemy and Gani quickly pulled Somme into the trees under cover of the spear sentries' shields. It was a quick and efficient retreat.

I had Serin have a look at those injured by the arrows, especially Somme. Thankfully nobody from our side died, at least not yet. The body armour did its job well. Many of the spear sentries’, Somme’s and even my own back looked like porcupines with so many arrows stuck on our armour. Some arrows managed to hit skin, but only Somme suffered serious injuries. Had we used normal armour, we would've likely died as a group there.

It was my fault. I was too confident. I thought they were just dumb bandits. I couldn't see the trap they had laid. It was entirely my fault.

"Withdraw to Mruna. Run like hell!" I said, intent to reduce further casualties.

As such, we withdrew from our first battle and our first defeat.

******

"My lady, they have started moving." a scout from the spear sentry informed.

"Perfect. Captain, is everything ready?" I asked the spear sentry's captain.

"Yes, my lady. My troops and the reinforcements are in position," the captain said, the front part of her body armour still had bits of arrows stuck into them. She only cut the rear part of each arrow instead of pulling them out, probably for bragging rights.

You know, like how people say 'you're not truly a rapper unless you've been shot at twice'.

"Good, wait for them to get in position."

"I'm sorry my lady, for not being able to join you this time," Somme said from his bed. Serin was right next to him taking care of his wounds.

"Don't worry about it. You've done your job well," I said as I walked away from him, "Now it's time for payback."

What? Did you seriously think I would run home with my tail between my legs? Hah! If you think so, you obviously don't know me yet. We only retreated the way we did to make them think we were running in fear, but in actuality, that was all an act. We retreated in order to lay a trap of my own. They thought they made a good trap? My trap was better.

The battle was short and decisive. We caught the bandits as they were moving their treasures from the cave to another position which I couldn't care less about. We had to wait half a day, but the moment spear sentry reinforcement numbering sixty women from Mruna arrived, we had them lie in ambush along the only road out of that area. Once they were in position, the captain blew the horn, signalling the spear sentries hiding in wait to spring up and attack the bandits from both sides of the road with their spear phalanx.

It was a clear victory. All ninety bandits, from the swordsmen to the archers were pierced by the spears of eighty women warriors in just a few minutes. In comparison, only sixteen of our spear sentries suffered light wounds and no casualty. The only survivors were the women and children they probably kidnapped from somewhere else to be used as forced labour or sex slaves. Those bandits who tried to run away were quickly downed by my pistols and my mounted friends.

Oh, we also took everything they carried with them such as horses, wagons, oxen, gold, silver and various other treasures. There were enough horses here to start a horse ranch. Not a lot of course, but the twenty horses we just looted should be enough to start breeding. We would've gotten a little more, but our overexcited spearwomen stabbed some to death.

Defeat? Pfeh! What a foolish thought. We just suffered a setback because I chose the wrong place to fight. There is simply a time and place for everything. I simply forgot about that for a moment. Silly me.

Ah, you were wondering why it worked? Simple. Imagine you're a drug lord and the cops stormed your hideout. You managed to beat them back, but if you are in the drug lord's shoes, would you still stay there and wait for more cops to come, probably bringing along heavy weapons? Of course not, it's only logical to protect your investments and your life. The only course of action would be to move your stash. The moment they came out from their fortified position, that was when I strike. Bye bye, good game. Muhahahahaha!

******

"So how much did we get?"

"Lots!" Lemy grinned, with jewels and gold coins in his hands.

"Give a silver coin to everyone who fought today. Then let's move the spoils back to my warehouse. Fuhehehehe."

A ransom of 200 gold? Pointless! Now I can pay it easily. Thehehehehe. You should've asked for 300 gold. Fuhahahahaha!

"My lady, you're drooling," Lili said as she took out a handkerchief.

While Lili wiped my drool, I wrote a letter addressed to grandfather and gave it to Lemy. "Take Gani and go meet the Master of Arms for the Duchy of Renus. Tell him the Barony of Mruna requests twenty guardsmen with sailing experience and give him this voucher."

"What are you planning, my lady?" Lemy asked.

"We're gonna sail up the Mrun River all the way to Lytis and bring our fathers home."

"Yes my lady," both Lemy and Gani saluted eagerly.

I spent the whole week selling whatever loot I could sell. Some I kept hidden as there were noble crests on them and I didn't want word to get out that I had the other noble family's treasures. It had nothing to do with feeling guilt. After all, if they were stupid enough to be cheated by the scoundrel, they deserved to lose their treasures.

What I was worried about was that if they found out I got their treasures, they would demand the whole thing back. Of course, I wasn't going to kindly return it to them like a saint. It's all mine now. Mine!

******

Lemy and Gani returned a week later with an army.

I put my hands on Lemy's shoulder. "Lemy, think I told you to come back with twenty guardsman?"

Sweating profusely, Lemy said, "Yes, you did, my lady."

"Then explain to me why you bring back THE WHOLE DAMNED DUCHY!"

Not only there were hundreds of duchy soldiers crowding the main street, I could also see the faces of the old counts and barons from neighbouring counties and baronies. Even my aunts were here.

Heck! Why is that horny feral dog here too?

"Hahaha, please don't blame the young man. It was my wish to come see what this plan of yours was. And when I said that, everyone else wanted to come too. Please forgive me," grandfather said as he stepped out of his ornate carriage.

I fumed at seeing my grandfather's face, the memory of being snubbed for two days resurfaced in my mind. "Grandpa!"

"Papa!" mother screamed as she jumped out from the front door, "I've missed you, papa!"

I frowned.

<i>Mother, please don't ruin my pace.</i>

"Ahh, my dear flower Felicia. I've heard of your exploits with the bandits. If you had only told me beforehand, I would have been more than happy to ride to you with my whole cavalry unit," Feral said as he took my hand and kissed the back of it.

"Lemy..." I threw a smile at Lemy before I grabbed his face with the same right hand that Feral was just kissing.

"Ow, ow, ow. My lady, you're hurting me."

"Exactly what did you tell them?" I asked, still maintaining my smile as I tightened my grip on Lemy's skull.

"Just the battle, my lady, nothing else!"

"What about after the battle?" I asked, referring to the gold, jewellery and the rest of the loot.

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

"What are you hiding, Felicia?" grandfather asked with mother still wrapped around him.

"Geh! Nothing, absolutely nothing you need to worry about, grandfather! Ah! Now that you're all here, want to take a look at the ship?"

******

"Heave ho!" the men cried together as they used the on-board pulley to bring up one of the ballistas meant for the stern hard point.

The original design included only one ballista in front for harpooning small whales or delicious tuna. I decided to add two more ballistae in the rear considering where we were going. Building the ballista wasn't all that hard, we had skilled carpenters and my steel spring could easily replace animal tendons, the only hard part was making sure that every ballista was of the same size and same quality.

I firmly struck the hull of the ship with my hand, feeling the cold, hard wood against my blow.

"Have the divers checked for any cracks?" I asked.

"Yes, my lady. They informed me that there are no cracks or leaks. The soaking of the wood went well," Gani answered.

"Good, was afraid I would end up sleeping at the bottom of the river."

"There is no need to worry, my lady. Nobody has experience building a boat of this size, but the builders followed your instructions to the letter."

"It's a ship, not a boat," I said, referring to the brig that was 165 feet in length with a beam of 40 feet and two rows of oar holes on each side, numbering 40 oars in total. Apparently, it was the first of its kind and also the largest ship to date.

This was supposed to be an ocean-going fishing vessel, capable of catching and carrying tonnes of tuna easily. I designed it to be the maximum survivable ship for ocean fishing. I even visited the shipyard every day and rejected every piece of log and lumber that wasn't cut or trimmed according to my specifications, causing dissatisfaction and disgruntlement among the shipyard workers. Later, I was told that it was twice larger than the largest ship anyone had ever seen. When it was almost complete, people asked me if I was building a warship. I kept telling everyone that it was a fishing vessel, but nobody believed me.

When I showed it to the nobles yesterday, everyone kept saying it would never float. They said it was too big and would be too heavy to float and I was like, "Dudes, did you even learn about buoyancy in school?" I made a profit out of them by making a bet that it would indeed float. I never knew cheating nobles of their money was so very pleasant.

I should do it again soon. I wonder if there are any scams they'd fall for. Oh no, not the kind of scams that the scoundrel did, I mean the kind of scams where they'd be happy to give me their money for.

Anyway, even grandfather was sceptical about it and offered to buy the ship at 80 gold coins if it would float. He didn't make a bet, but when the ship hit water in front of the shipyard, he looked like he fell in love for the first time. When grandfather saw it this morning after I had the sails fitted and the oars loaded, he raised his offer to 120 gold. Grandfather seemed very eager to give me his gold. Maybe his offer was below the market price?

I wonder if I should just sell it to him or wait for a better offer. Now that I've seen the finished stuff myself, even I doubt that it's anything other than a warship. I might've mixed up my measurements but it's too late to change it now. Guess I forgot a lot of stuff from that time I built a boat from scratch with my father as Malcolm. Anyway, even if I agree to sell it to grandfather, it's not like he can pay it now. All his money is tied up in the effort to pay the ransom.

Right now, grandfather is walking excitedly on the top deck, like a schoolboy on a trip to the zoo. He’s busy inspecting the central loading hole, the sterncastle, the tall masts, the sails and pretty much everything else he can touch. He even holds the ballista at the bow and turning it around on its swivel mount, as if he is aiming and attacking an invisible enemy ship. I had mother send all the nobles to rest at a local inn when grandfather started making 'pew pew' and 'foosh' sounds. Watching grandfather like this now reminds me of the term 'big boy's toys'. It was embarrassing to watch.

Seriously grandpa, get off the ship. You're bothering everyone.