Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age - Chapter 115

Count Drian was sat down on his personal throne inside his keep. Clad in a purple tunic and silks, be showcased his immense personal wealth by his clothing alone.

Standing by his side was his personal aide and mistress, Lady Anne. She was clad in thin iron armor around her ċhėst and legs. She was a disavowed knight of the Empire’s Knighthood.

Despite her status as a disavowed knight, Count Drian still took her in as his mistress after his wife was found in bed with another man.

Count Drian admittedly wanted to marry Anne instead but the wife escaped before she could be executed.

Knelt in front of the count and his mistress was another knight in charge of the fortress city’s garrison.

There was an urgent matter that needed to be attended to. If not, they risked invoking the wrath of their lord.

“You’re saying that the party of knights you sent out to finish her have not returned?” Drian said.

“Yes, sire. It has been 5 days since they gave chase. I believe they have been killed by the magical beasts that roam around the Forest Of Death,” The Knight commander said.

“Tsk, how can my well-trained knights of ten be defeated by mere magical beasts?” Drian wasn’t pleased.

Drian did not reply. Instead, he fidgeted at the word ‘well-trained’ he, being knight commander of the garrison, knew how ċȯċky those group of knights were. They were inexperienced and glorified bodyguards of Count Drian and were in no way experienced with fighting off magical beasts.

The best thing they could do was fight off peasant revolts and wave their swords around.

“But if they were indeed killed by a magical beast then we can just also ȧssume that the wretched woman whom fled from our Lord was also killed by the creatures,” Drian said.

“Yes, sire,” William said.

“Well, then. Off you go, send a messenger to Lord Toris and tell him the whore has been dealt with,” Drian said with confidence.

“Yes, sire,” William said. He then stood up and left the Count’s presence. As the guards shut the door behind him, he sighed.

“Idiots, I’m ruled by a gluttonous bastard and bossed around by a disgraceful knight,” He whispered to himself as he walked through the streets of the Fortress city.

He was in the inner district where the garrison were less respectful of his command ever since the Anne took control of managing the inner walls.

He passed through one of the three gates that connected the inner district to the outer district. The inner walls towered 30 feet, an expensive venture funded by the profiteering merchant class that have the support of the count.

He despised the inner walls. He lost a dozen good men who were forced to work on the walls in perilous conditions a decade ago. The living conditions on the outer district were incomparable to the inner district.

The outer district was immensely poor but the only reason they still worked and lived under such conditions was because they had no other choice.

There weren’t any more jobs available in the nearest city to the west that wasn’t as better off than the Fortress City. They couldn’t afford to journey further since they had nothing to pay with.

The surrounding areas were continuously being ravaged by  magical beasts that attacked in packs. Half of the residents here were descendants of those who fled their villages when the magical beasts first started appearing.

Althougu magical beasts have appeared decades prior, only in small numbers. But a few years ago, the number of magical beasts skyrocketed until attacks became ever more frequent that resulted in the destruction of all eastern villages over the span of just a year.

Many fled to the Fortress City, causing more problems to the peasants already living there. Violence soon erupted but were immediately suppressed by William.

William remembered the events in their entirety. His regret on killing innocents who were just trying to find for their survival lingered in his heart.

“Greedy pigs,” William would always say behind their backs.

If for some inexplicable reason the entire merchant class and the Count were to be murdered overnight, he would even partake in it.

But the peasants did not wish to become like the ‘other’ city that did the same.

The thought of which was enough to shut down any thought of rebellion within the starving masses.

As William reached the main gate in the outer walls, he was greeted by his friend Jorn on the wall. Jorn was a young man whose average looks were nothing of note. He was a skilled spear man and had been serving under William since he was a child.

Although at first he joined the garrison out of desperation, both have become close friends throughout the years.

“How did your meeting with the bastard and the bitch go?” Jorn said with a chuckle.

“As always. They want me to clean their mess,” William said with a smile.

The rest of the knights with Jorn laughed.

“Alright, call me someone from the messenger Corp,” William ordered.

“Yes, sir,” One the knights ran off to call a messenger.

“So what messege and to who are you going to send it?” Jorn asked since he was curious.

“Lord fuċkɨnġ Toris,” William said. His face looked as if Toris disgusted his entire being.

Jorn laughed.

“Seriously? That fat bastard? The sucker can’t even maintain a good relationship with that elf that escaped,” Jorn said.

William smiled.

“That’s true. But orders are orders. Anyways, what happened to the other girl? The mage that smuggled her all the way to here?” William asked.

“Wait, you haven’t heard?” Jorn said.

“No, Anne was supposed to handle it.. wait..” William realized.

“What the hell did that bitch do?” William asked.

“The girl has been thrown into one of the cells inside that tower,” Jorn said as he pointed at a tower to the western side of the city.

William’s face became pale.