"I'm leaving Whitestag …" That was the first thing Borkal said.
Claude didn't mind. Last year, Borkal followed his father to inspect the three southwestern prefectures and only returned to Whitestag in the latter half of the month. "Are you going to inspect your family's branches with your father again?"
"No, I'm going to my aunt's house in Simrok this time. My father isn't going. He wants to stay here and wait for the fleet to arrive.
I don't know when I'll be able to return after leaving Whitestag. Maybe it'll be more than ten years later, or maybe I won't be able to return to Whitestag at all. "
"Huh?
What do you mean by that? "Claude was taken aback. Was this a parting of life and death?
"My uncle pulled some strings and after the new year, I'll be going to Bangilia, the prefectural city of Siromichistan to join the garrison and join the army.
My father wants me to be recognized as a citizen before I can return home. "
Borkal sighed. "But I'll be joining the logistics department of the garrison. Even though I'm a soldier, I'll be working as a civilian, so I don't have to worry about my safety."
"When are you leaving?" Claude asked.
Borkal told him that the matter was already set in stone and that it couldn't be stopped. Claude didn't have the ability to make Borkal stay either.
However, Claude didn't expect that the first to join the army would be Borkal. He thought it would be Welikro.
"Tomorrow morning." Borkal lowered his head and kicked the stones on the ground. "I'd like to visit Eyke in the afternoon. I saw Madam Elena just now. Instructor Wickham gave her Eyke's diploma and she left in a hurry.
I wanted to ask her how Eyke is doing, but I didn't expect her to leave so quickly.
That's why I want to go see him in the afternoon. Even if I don't get to see him, I've done my part.
I'm a little sad that I wasn't able to help Eyke in the slightest. "
"It's not your fault."
Claude grabbed Borkal's shoulder. "Eyke asked for it himself. Who would've thought he'd have the guts to take that modified fishing boat out to sea alone?
It happened too suddenly and Wero and I were in a hurry to find him. That's why we forgot to inform you.
You don't have to blame yourself. It's our negligence … "
Borkal nodded but didn't reply. He continued kicking a rock protruding from the ground in silence. It was obvious he wasn't in a good mood.
"It's fine, Boa. Even if you go to Syromikshire, we'll still be good friends.
Even though we can't meet in person, you can write us a letter. As long as you give us your address, we'll write you a reply. "That was all Claude could do to console him.
"Yes, I will write to you."
Borkal's voice was a little gloomy. "I still have some things to sort out, so I'll head home first.
Goodbye, Claude. "
Borkal turned around and left. Claude could clearly see him wiping his face as he turned around. He seemed to be crying.
However, Claude only stood there in a daze as he watched Borkal leave. He had graduated. After the new year, he would turn 18 and become an adult. Everyone had to shoulder their own responsibilities, and no one was an exception.
Borkal would be leaving Whitestag the next morning and Claude didn't know if he would be able to see him again.
His father had told him about his plans in the past. When the fleet returned to Nubissia after the new year, he would have to head to Tyrrsim to meet the viscount whose godfather was the viceroy and enlist in the army.
He didn't know when he would be able to return to Whitestag either. His days of leisure in the wood could be counted on one hand.
Claude didn't want to go back to school to attend the graduation banquet. His carriage was parked at home and he had come with his father in the town hall's public carriage in the morning.
Now, all he wanted to do was walk quietly on the path that he and his friends had been going to school together for the past three years. There was a lot of sadness in his heart.
When he got home, Borke and the snowhound kept pestering him, allowing him to calm down.
Angelina was also on break and was helping her mother prepare lunch. When she asked Claude if he had eaten, he shook his head.
His mother, on the other hand, grumbled about why he didn't freeload a good meal in school. After all, the food at banquets was much more sumptuous than what they had at home.
After a simple lunch, Claude played with the snowhound with Borke and tossed a wooden ball out for the snowhound to pick up.
Borke was having a lot of fun and made a lot of noise. He only went upstairs reluctantly when his mother came to tell him that he was going to take a nap.
His sister was reading a book in the dining room. She was fourteen now and was becoming more and more obedient, like a quiet lady.
Claude went over and stroked her head. She was a little angry that her brother had messed up her hair again.
He looked at the title of the book in her hand. It was a small encyclopedia on marine life. It was a general introduction to the species of marine life that had been discovered.
However, the book didn't go into the habits of the marine life in detail. Instead, it focused on the economic value of the marine life.
For example, what kind of marine life was more valuable and what parts could be sold for a high price.
After saying goodbye to his sister, Claude drove the carriage back to the wood.
He decided that from that day onwards, he would go hunting and earn more money to buy more materials for his alchemical experiments.
In the days that followed, Claude's life became rather busy and fulfilling. He hunted in the wood and went to the southern outskirts of the town to set up a series of traps in the forest and hills.
With Jaime as a means of transportation, Claude's hunting range was greatly expanded.
The only thing that displeased Claude was that after he sold the fifty pheasants and hares to the tavern, Pjard refused to buy them as expected.
However, Claude had managed to earn seven thales from him during that time.
He was also sick of eating hares and pheasants at home. Angelina even gave him the nickname 'Pheasant Killer'.
In the end, Claude smoked the remaining ten or so pheasants and rabbits and hung them under the roof of the wooden hut.
Apart from the pheasants and hares, Claude also hunted a big grey wolf, three wild goats, two boars, a red-furred fox and two boar badgers.
Claude sold them all at the open-air market and once again had three crowns in savings.
As he was busy patrolling the wood and hunting, Claude didn't notice that the merchant fleet hadn't returned. The uneasy atmosphere in town grew more and more oppressive. Rumors started to spread in the taverns.
It had been a long time since Morssen smiled. He was getting more and more bored at home and his smoking addiction was getting stronger and stronger.
His mother often sat in a daze and no one knew what she was thinking about.
Claude only wanted to hunt and earn money. Apart from bringing some game back home, he didn't have time to talk to his parents. At most, he would have dinner before returning to the wood.
Morssen wasn't willing to discuss anything important with Claude either. In his eyes, Claude was still a child and it was already good enough that he could take care of the wood.
It was less than a week away from the new year. Claude rode Jemmie out of the mountains. Jemmie was carrying the carcass of an adult clouded leopard on its rump. It was Claude's catch from his hunt in the mountains.
The clouded leopard had obviously come out in search of food after the snow stopped and set its sights on Claude and Jemmie. In the end, not only did it fail to hunt, it ended up being hunted instead. Claude used a mental shock spell to make it submit to the muzzle of his gun and be shot to death.
Claude was rather excited. He didn't think that the snow would stop after three days. He came out to patrol the wood and rode into the mountains to see if there were any deer.
Who would've thought that he would be ambushed by a clouded leopard in the pine forest at the foot of the mountain?
Fortunately, he was prepared. The moment he saw the shadow pouncing at him, he cast a mental shock spell and shot it to death once more.
He tossed the carcass onto his horse and prepared to return to the wood.
If he sold the clouded leopard at the market in town in the morning, he would have five crowns, enough to buy a box of whiteroot powder.
The last time he bought a box of whiteroot powder from Hurian's underground market, it cost him seven crowns. That was practically killing a pig and he even foolishly agreed to it.
He didn't think that he would find whiteroot powder for sale at the market too. A box only cost 18 thales, which was equivalent to three crowns and three thales. That was almost half of what Hurian had offered.
The thought of that made him want to skin Hurian alive. After all, Claude had been hunting pheasants and rabbits for a month only to earn a crown or so.
He returned to the wood and put his gun back in the wooden hut. Then, he hitched Jemmy's carriage and tossed the clouded leopard's carcass onto it. Then, he prepared to drive the carriage to town.
He didn't think that he would bump into the Sioris who had just returned from selling charcoal. They were sitting in the old carriage that looked like a handcart. There were no longer any sacks of charcoal on it. It seemed that their charcoal business had been quite good since the snow had stopped. They had finished selling their charcoal so early.
However, the Sioris looked at Claude strangely and seemed like they wanted to say something.
Claude didn't mind it and said politely, "You guys go ahead first. I'll make way for you."
The two carriages passed by each other and Sioris said, "Manager Claude, there are soldiers in town. Be careful when you go down the mountain."
There are soldiers in town?
Claude found it odd. The new year was only a few days away. Which army would come to town at that time?
Did they have nothing better to do than come to town for the new year?
When they reached the town, Claude realized that it wasn't a military visit but a martial law.
There were many soldiers dressed in dark blue uniforms standing at the entrances of the streets and alleys. They weren't holding standard Aubass mark 2 matchlock muskets, but rather the slightly outdated Kemiller mark 3 matchlock muskets.
They weren't the kingdom's field army, but the garrison of the prefectural capital, the Baromese garrison.
But why would the garrison of the prefectural capital suddenly come to Whitestag to enforce military law? What happened?
However, judging from the soldiers' expressions, it didn't seem like anything major had happened. They weren't very disciplined either. Some of the soldiers were even chatting with the women who were watching the commotion on the streets. They didn't reveal what happened and only said that they were ordered to temporarily enforce military law in Whitestag.
Claude's carriage was stopped by two soldiers. When they saw the carcass of a clouded leopard in the carriage, they made a big fuss and attracted a group of soldiers to come and watch.
In the end, an officer came and asked for Claude's identity after looking at the carcass of the clouded leopard. When he heard that Claude was the supervisor of Normanley Wood, he dismissed the surrounding soldiers and let them pass.
After giving it some thought, he drove the carriage to the tavern and had someone call Pjard out to show him the carcass of the clouded leopard.
"How much do you want?" Pjard asked, though he looked at Claude with a hint of pity in his eyes.
"I hunted it in the wood this morning. Feel it. The carcass hasn't completely hardened yet.
Just name a price and I'll give it to you if it's suitable. I won't be selling it in the open market anymore, "Claude said excitedly. He didn't notice the way Pjard looked at him.
"Eight silver thales, then.
The fur is worth one crown, and the flesh isn't worth that much, "Pjard said after some thought. That was a fair price.
"Alright, the clouded leopard is yours." Claude was delighted. He had expected the carcass to sell for around six to seven thales.
Pjard called for a few servants to move the carcass into the inn and took out his money pouch to pay Claude. "You haven't been home?"
"Yes." Claude nodded.
"Go home and check on your father. He was arrested this morning," Pjard sighed and told Claude the bad news.