My Fusion System: Fusing Weak Soldiers with Direwolves at the Start
Chapter 49: Edric’s Greed

Chapter 49: Edric’s Greed

"Look..." Edric drawled, his eyes drifting lazily across the encampment, as though the place itself bored him. "...You no longer bear the authority of the Dravion Household. Your younger brother, the duke, cast you out the moment he took over from your father. Threw you into this forsaken patch of land like yesterday’s scraps. This land has always been tended to under Baron Fenlan’s watch."

He leaned forward in his saddle, his voice lowering to a condescending murmur.

"Submit to the baron, and you’ll live a comfortable life in this forest. Who knows... maybe he’ll even be kind enough to send women to warm your bed at night. Not that you’ve earned it."

Beside him, Mirabel’s eyes flared with quiet disgust. Her gaze remained fixed on Kaelor, but it carried a weight now, a silent reprimand for the indignity of Edric’s words.

Kaelor, unfazed, responded not with anger but with a smile that hinted at something deeper. Slowly, he dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out a single gold coin. Its surface caught the sunlight and shimmered like firelight off still water, drawing every pair of eyes like moths to a flame.

"Here," Kaelor said calmly, his voice smooth as still wine. "I’ll give each of you a gold coin. Return every month and I’ll keep giving you one. All I ask is that you tell the good baron we’re ’taking care of his fields.’"

The weight of the coin’s offer settled over the group like thick smoke. Even Edric and Mirabel faltered. They were paid fifty silver coins monthly, five thousand copper coins, a decent wage for their work, perhaps even noble by some standards.

But Kaelor was offering them ten thousand copper coins in the form of a single golden coin... for silence.

And silence, in that moment, became tempting.

Unfortunately, too tempting. Edric cleared his throat, stealing a glance at the grinning Footmen behind him and then at Mirabel’s unreadable, stony face.

’He clearly has money.’ His thoughts twisted into greed as his lips curled into a wolfish, gold-hungry smile.

"Just one gold coin? It’s only been two months since you became lord of this backwater town. There’s no way you’ve spent all that money sent from the capital. Ten gold coins for each of us."

"And we must see what lies beyond that wall," Mirabel added, her voice cool and unbending, eyes gleaming with suspicion.

"I see." Kaelor’s voice was calm, his nod slow and measured. "Go back then, and tell your baron I’ve taken what’s mine."

"You!" Edric snarled, leaping off his horse in one fluid motion, steel hissing free of its scabbard. A Warden loosed an arrow, but Edric smacked it aside with practiced ease. Another followed, he knocked it away again with the flat of his blade as he charged, each step pounding heavily on hardened earth.

He raised his sword high and brought it down in a fierce arc toward Kaelor.

Kaelor lifted his arm, not to block with a blade, but with his bare forearm. The blade struck with a resounding clang, bouncing off the Mountainhide Armour. Sparks danced in the air.

This time, Kaelor’s smirk widened, revealing a sharp canine. Edric froze for a split second, eyes widening in dawning horror, just before Kaelor’s hand clamped around his neck. His claws dug in, puncturing flesh with effortless strength.

Mirabel’s breath caught in her throat. Kaelor was lifting him, lifting Edric clean off the ground with one arm. No ordinary man could do that. To such a feat, Kaelor had to be... at least an Expert!

Shing!

Kaelor drew Ignis in a single motion, the blade hissing with restrained flame.

Mirabel’s composure cracked. "Kill him!" she screamed.

But it was too late.

Three of Kaelor’s Wardens released their arrows, swift, merciless. The Footmen dropped where they stood, some after a step or two.

Kaelor plunged Ignis through Edric’s chest, steel and heat piercing flesh and bone. A pained gasp escaped the man’s lips as Kaelor flung him aside like refuse. It wasn’t easy, he had never truly killed a man before. But some things must be done.

Mirabel opened her mouth, perhaps to scream, but an arrow thudded into her chest.

She leaned back, eyes wide with disbelief. Her body fell from horseback and hit the earth with a muffled thump, breath fleeing her lungs as blood spread across her chest.

"You just started a war with the Baron." Vi’s voice rang from the ramparts, crisp and clear, as she rose from her hiding place.

Kaelor turned slowly to face her, calm as ever. "He wanted what’s mine. Besides, we have time. It’ll take a week or two before he even suspects his men are dead. Another week, maybe more for him to rally his logistics, gather provisions, and march his forces here. We’ve earned ourselves a month at the very least. But even that’s uncertain."

He paced a step, voice steady. "The merchants are coming. And they won’t make camp at Graystone Town, not with me in the picture. The Baron knows that. He’ll have to win them over first, and they already see greater value in what I offer. At our next meeting, I’ve promised them something rare. Compared to winning over the merchants, war can wait."

Vi leaned on the parapet, eyebrow cocked in faint surprise. "You thought far."

Kaelor’s gaze lowered to the blade in his hand, Ignis, still faintly warm. "The weight of my sword," he said softly, "is the weight of those people. I’m bound to think far. Let’s make the best of the time we have."

With that, he turned his back on the wall and walked back into the town. Behind him, two Guardsmen went out to take care of the corpses.

Twenty Guardsmen stood at attention beneath, all ready for the storm to come. He met each of their gazes.

Then his eyes found Hound. "Prepare," he commanded. "We head for Ivory Hills at first light."

Hound gave a sharp nod and departed with quiet urgency, barking orders as he went.

Kaelor looked at the town that was slowly blooming with life. The homes, crafted from pale stone and fresh timber, could house three hundred now, and more were being built every week. Hammer strikes rang in the distance where workers still toiled.

The fields shimmered faintly beneath the dusk. The first and second yields from the Starlight Rice harvest had been nothing short of miraculous grain loaded into the cool stone granaries. Damien handled the rations, giving out small portions daily according to the labour done.

But Kaelor had a different vision.

Soon, the people would no longer work for food. He would replace that system with coin, beginning with copper and birth something enduring. A true society.

Redwood Town was taking shape.