Chapter 2: Are you sure it's a good idea?
For Rose, the sound of horses' hooves was usually quite relaxing, though on this occasion, due to what he was observing, it wasn't relaxing at all. The prince could clearly hear the whispers of Carter and his son, as if they were speaking loudly, even though they thought they were being discreet.
"Father, how long do you think the boy will last before he sells our territory and the city?" asked the son with what the prince could only imagine as a malicious smile.
Although he couldn't see the ex-baron's son's smile, Rose did distinguish the flicker of malice that flashed for a few seconds in Carter's eyes. The ex-baron wasn't particularly good at hiding his true emotions, or at least not from someone who, since birth, had been trained to perceive such things. After all, according to his father: "Even though I brought peace to the world, gave absolute equality before my law, and everyone lives well and with dignity... there will always be non-conforming idiots, it's human nature itself."
"This young man is... certainly unique, from what I've seen, but I don't think he'll last long. We haven't managed to keep anyone for more than a year in those lands abandoned by His Majesty," Carter said in his most arrogant tone.
"Hehehe," the baron's son couldn't help but laugh as he looked back, only to meet the empty gaze in the silver eyes of his new victim, which made him shiver and look back at his father. "He's a bit scary, Father," he commented before shaking his head. It didn't matter that he was scary; in the end, he would just be another of the many idiots who came to become the lord of the city and ended up leaving with their tails between their legs or, in the worst cases, ended up burned at the stake.
Carter simply narrowed his eyes and frowned, annoyed that his son, a quite strong knight in those lands, would flinch at the mere gaze of the young man riding behind them on what was undoubtedly a much better steed than their own.
Still, he didn't give the matter much importance. A cold, dead gaze didn't guarantee success, as not just anyone could become a lord of the city, especially one as destroyed as theirs. After all, they had starved them enough so that they would even eat each other if necessary. Several idiots who tried to become the lord of the city in the past had already been devoured.
Of course, it had become a double-edged sword: if it hadn't been for the aggression of those villagers, they wouldn't have had to sell their lands or abandon their palace. However, that same wild and aberrant behavior provided them with great income, since a city, no matter how destroyed, was worth more than a hundred gold coins.
"Hehehe," with that in mind, Carter couldn't help but laugh out loud as he spurred his horse to go faster. After all, the sooner they arrived, the sooner they could carry out their usual routine.
[They're idiots, aren't they?] Desmos asked in his best friend's mind. Clearly, these idiots needed very, very important lessons on subtlety.
"Completely," confirmed Rose, who didn't need to read their minds to know what the hell they were thinking; they were completely transparent despite having their backs to him.
After two more hours of travel, the group finally arrived at a city. Rose couldn't help but observe it with great attention. He didn't understand why, but even the simple sight of the wheat growing gave him a strange sensation in his stomach.
"What do you think? This territory is quite beautiful, isn't it?" asked Carter, who had slowed down to be by his side.
However, Rose didn't offer him a smile or deign to look at him; he simply limited himself to nodding.
"Good, let's go. First we'll enter the city, and after my announcement, this territory will be yours," Carter said with a somewhat forced smile.
A new nod was enough for Carter to move ahead again, while Rose continued his meticulous observation of the surroundings. It didn't take him long to realize that this place was even worse than the small town where he and Carter had met.
"Are you sure it's a good idea, Des?" Rose asked his best friend in the world.
[Seeing what I see... no... but we can't turn back] commented the spear, which, if it had a face, would make a grimace of contempt. Damn, these people were skin and bones.
"Start planning how we're going to get out of this," he demanded; after all, he had been the one who got them into this mess.
After a journey of approximately fifteen minutes, they finally arrived at the small city of Sedona. It was protected from the outside by a precarious wall, about three meters high, made of compacted earth. Above the main entrance, a wooden sign displayed the city's name: Sedona.
The interior of the city far exceeded his worst initial predictions. If this were the capital, it would be the slum of the slum of the slum. The fact that Carter and his son merely spurred their horses to speed up, without showing the slightest reaction, made it absolutely clear to him that they were responsible for the place's decay.
The only thing it resembled the great cities in was its center: a wide street, about five or six meters across, flanked by stone and wooden houses. However, these constructions were so deformed and crooked that it was a genuine miracle they were still standing.
Just looking at them gave him a severe headache. It was obvious that this place was one bad day away from becoming a damned ghost town. In fact, it already was, dammit! He could feel his power intensifying, and he didn't like it. As the son of the goddess of ghosts, he grew stronger in places with tormented souls, and at that moment, he felt an obscene amount of power flowing through his veins.
Naturally, seeing Carter's expression, the young man couldn't help but smile, especially noting that he was reaching for the spear on his back. "My friend, they are nothing more than a bunch of commoners. If you don't like how they look at us, you can kick them out. They are just mere rabble."
"It seems that the trust the great emperor placed in you was... misplaced," Rose said in a voice so icy that Carter couldn't help but shiver.
Carter's smile tightened even more, but he opted for silence, moving ahead again until they stopped before a stone and brick castle.
"My friend, this is where you will live. A tall, secure, and comfortable castle. It should meet your expectations, shouldn't it?" Carter said.
"My expectations right now are to impale you through the backside until the tip comes out through your trachea," Rose replied dryly.
Despite everything, the castle was actually quite attractive; however, it only stood out by rural standards, since by the empire's standards, it was rather mediocre, perhaps bordering on decent.
He supposed that the high and apparently sturdy walls of the place would serve perfectly as a fortress while he managed to stabilize the situation, facilitating its defense against the civilians until he could guide them back to prosperity.
Sure, he could kill Carter and his son right then and there, but to be brutally honest, he was more certain that, if he did, the people would only see in him the image of one tyrant replacing another. So, even though every part of his body and his demons screamed for him to impale him and use his body as a standard, his rational side decided not to do anything to him for the moment.
"You're quite rude, have you been told that?" Carter said, frowning, not understanding why this young man was so different from all the ones who had come before him. "Anyway, this is the medal that accredits you as a baron. Now it's yours."
After saying this, he simply handed the young man a bronze medal the size of a small child's fist. Engraved on it was the city's symbol and the word "bronia."
"This document accredits you as the next baron, you just need to sign it," and with those words, Carter handed him a parchment.
Naturally, Rose didn't sign it thoughtlessly; he read it carefully, paying attention even to the smallest print. He found nothing particularly strange, which was further proof that Carter didn't expect him to live long. Still, he supposed he would simply sign and consider the matter completely settled.
"Hahaha, baron... uh, what was your name?"
"Rose," the young man said calmly.
"Your name is Rosa in English?" Carter asked, completely bewildered. What kind of father would name his son that? "A very nice name," he retracted as soon as the unmistakable sound of the spear's edge cutting a wall reached his ears. He didn't even know why he hadn't drawn his weapon at any point. "Congratulations, Baron Rose! From this moment on, you are a noble."
End of chapter.