Third day as King. Ridlockia's earnings:
Wealth +13
Resources +104
New People +342
Ryan sat on the throne, head resting on his fist. Having finished with the matters of the court, he slowly tapped the arm of his chair, waiting for the boredom to pass.
A stray thought crossed his mind. 'Doesn't the army have recruits? Why not visit the Barracks?'
A smile crept onto his face. "That sounds like a trip I'll enjoy."
Without wasting time, he called a guard who was stationed below the steps, "Tell the Counsellor, I need–"
On second thought, maybe he didn't need that many escorts; he changed his mind at the last second. "Fetch me a few guards, I'll be gone soon," He said.
"Yes." The guard bowed before appending, "Shall I fetch Sir Nameless as well, your majesty? I heard that he's awake and now returning to duty?"
'Oh.' Ryan tilted his head to the side. He'd nearly forgotten that everyone knew about Pierre, but not his real name. "Him as well."
If anything were to go wrong, he sincerely hoped he wouldn't have any stumbles.
~~~
A string of horses rode through the stone bridge. From the back of one, a rider watched as the waves crashed against the outcrop, the cold breeze from below sending tingling sensations into his skin.
"Does his Majesty want to explore the city a bit before we ride off to the barracks?" The Leader of the riders, named Robert, suggested.
"That would be splendid!" Ryan replied, keeping his eyes glued to the view.
A straight cobblestone path lined directly from the city gates till it reached the base of the mountains, splitting the city into two halves.
Multiple roads, slightly smaller than the main one, were connected to it from the sides, dividing the two halves into separate sections.
Eight of them, to be exact. Much smaller roads ran through the districts, each with a unique geometry characterized by bends, curves, and twists, or a diagonal line that cut the sections into even smaller ones.
He deduced that those were the streets.
There was commerce, housing, even a section for the officials, but one place in particular caught his eye. It was around the eastern half of the city, among the first two that came after the wall.
No roads ran through this one, and instead of houses, all he saw was dirt and a long wall that blocked it from the cobblestone road.
"Is that the barracks?" He pointed, questioning Robert, who controlled the horse.
The soldier nodded.
As they rode ahead, he spotted massive fields of brown, green, and yellow looming outside the walls of the eastern half; farmers moved around the fields, plowing, tilling, and planting.
'Farmers and their farm animals, very interesting.'
As the horses continued down the winding dirt path. Ryan spotted people running towards another section of the city, located at its heart, where countless stores were situated, holding various goods for profit.
'Might as well visit one of those and see what they have to offer.'
Although it was at the heart, the Market was located on the western half. Being the second district after the walls, cushioned between the main road and a smaller one.
As their advance continued, Ryan spotted men on horseback riding towards the gate, a man in a white cape guided them.
"It seems another search party is off," Robert remarked.
Another rider interjected, saying, "I wonder how many wanderers are going to be found in the forest today."
"It's quite sad," A Third rider joined.
The band of six riders, plus the King, turned to the one who uttered that statement, "What do you mean?"
"Well," Robert's voice sounded ahead of them, "Most of those wanderers don't remember who they are, where they were from, or their families. They simply find themselves spawned in the forest."
Those words shook Ryan deeply.
'Spawn? How? Is it some sort of voodoo?'
His thoughts returned to the blank portion of the Book's first page.
'Maybe there's something deeper that it can't show me or something else.'
"At least, they got another chance at life rather than dying near a beast lair and being consumed," Robert added before yanking his horse's reins.
The Rider faced the ground with a saddened look, "Yes, at least they do."
~~~
Stone walls stood firmly beside the cobblestone streets, covering a wide expanse of land. A long stone tower rose from the center, its battlements engraved with flags that bore a golden sun.
"We're here, Sire," Robert announced as the cavalry stepped into the barracks and entered barren, dry territory.
Men in simple clothing and leather boots were present; some used wooden swords for skirmish while others ran around the perimeter, breathing heavily as they jogged under an afternoon sun.
To avoid unwarranted attention, Ryan had ditched the flags and wore a simple white shirt with brown pants. Hence, the appearance of strange men on horseback garnered attention from those who wanted to poke their noses.
"Halt!" A woman with a ponytail shouted as she slid in front of the horses, blocking their path.
"State your business!" She said with a demanding tone.
Before Pierre or anyone from the riders could respond, another shout resounded in the background, "Lieutenant!"
The Woman instantly shook at the mention of her name.
"Yes, Commander!" She shouted back.
"How dare you just barge into them like that?" said a burly-looking man with a bald head and a scar across his right eye.
He stepped in front of the Lieutenant's face, being covered in armor from head to toe.
"Can you not tell that one of them is in a very important position?!" He shouted.
The Lieutenant shrank back, bobbing her head as she apologized before scurrying away.
As the Commander looked back at the group, Ryan wondered whether such drama was necessary.
"My King," The Bald man welcomed them with a smile before raising his voice, "Recruits, get your butts up here right now!"
The riders in front squinched their faces at the unpleasant tone of his voice.
"Seems climbing the ranks puts some pounds of microphones in him." Ryan laughed at that thought before realizing there was an entire stream of recruits standing before the riders.
"Attention!" The Bald Commander's microphone voice boomed.
The recruits immediately straightened up their poses, eyes alert as he walked into their midst before shouting again, "Salute!"
The recruits obeyed, raising their hands near their heads to give the King a greeting.
After the commands and shouting were over. The Recruits returned to continue whatever they were doing.
The Escort band eventually moved into the commander's camp, and Ryan now found himself sitting on a carpet with the former seated on the opposing side.
Pierre and Robers were also inside the tent, being silent and observant.
"His highness was glorious in the ascension ceremony. It was truly a sight to witness!" Berny said as he took a pearl from a grapefruit before crushing it with his teeth.
He then retrieved a bronze cup and filled it with wine, "This Commander wishes to see the King's prosperity radiate over the common folk."
Ryan picked up the cup in front of him, and they both drank from their cups at once.
[You cannot view information from someone three levels higher than yours.]
'Damnit.'
As soon as Berny was done drinking, he went straight to the point. "There are a few talented soldiers amongst the recruits of this season." He started.
Ryan instinctively smiled, happy he wasn't going to drink with this fellow till evening, "Would the King like to see them display their skills?"
"Indeed."
Amidst a small clearing in the barracks, a group of soldiers cheered as two of their comrades walked into the arena, circled around by stones with glowing dash marks.
From the distance where he was seated, Ryan watched the first two contestants step into the ring.