Map for reference

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It was morning, Riou was laid down on his bed for most of it, bored out of his mind. There was nothing there for him to do while Max was not around. He could not read that world's strange letters and there was no way to watch TV or use the internet to pass time.

From the common comforts of modern life, warm showers, snacks and proper clothing, the thing he wanted the most now was electricity and the gadgets it came with it. He remembered his previous life with yearning thoughts on those moments.

Without anything to do, he kept wondering if Maximilian would be able to get information about his situation.

‘Perhaps I could try to learn something from some scholars or mages while I’m here’ he thought to himself not so confident. The realization that he may never get home was strongly present in his mind since last night.

It was late in the morning and with those thoughts bothering him he finally decided to do something else. And when he was about to leave the room, someone knocked on the door.

It was one of the maids, wearing the servant clothes, she had the characteristic Allardian looks, black hair and toned skin.

“Good morning, I’m glad that I got you before you left, the king requested your presence at his Studies room by the next hour”

“The king wants to see me?” Asked Riou confirming the invitation, as it was unexpected.

“Yes, you shall attend his Studies room in an hour, is there anything else you require before I take my leave, sir?” Politely informed the maid.

Riou thought for a moment, having an idea “Yes! Where can I wash myself and my clothes?”

“I could ask someone to bring a wooden tub to the room...” Riou didn’t even let her finish before interjecting “Yes! I can’t take another day like this” He said moving his limbs away from his body displaying his uncomfortable state.

The maid thought for a moment before speaking “I think we have one to spare, I could ask someone to bring it to your room later on the day”

“Please do so” Said eagerly, the joyous Riou, already anticipating the moment.

“Very well, meanwhile there should still be a breakfast being served at the mess hall for all the guests, in case you are hungry” the maid then bid her farewell and was about to go on her way..

“Just a quick question, can I go directly to the kitchen later to get something to eat? I’m not that hungry now” Questioned Riou trying to convey his discomfort in dealing with the nobles.

“It’s certainly not usual… all guests are served in the mess hall, there are no tables in the kitchen” replied the maid.

“No need for tables, just a quick grab and I will be on my way… or is it prohibited for guests to go to the kitchen?”

“It’s not, but…” before she could finished he promptly interjected, walking toward her and slightly pushing the maid forward to accompany him with a smile in his face “It’s decided then, show me the way”

The kitchen was huge, a massive metal stove covered most of the walls. Through the windows Riou could see the backyard garden, nearby the door he saw one of the cooks bringing some herbs inside. They probably had a small kitchen garden nearby.

The stove had thick metallic panes and several pans on top, the cooks could make food for hundreds with that many pans and fire going on. And they were already preparing lunch.

Only a forth of the stove was in use at that moment and there were dozens of lords visiting. The castle was really big and could even support much bigger parties than that.

There were many cutting and mixing tables in the middle of the kitchen with about 20 servants working there.

There was an adjacent room with stairs to a basement, probably a warehouse and cellar.

The breakfast dishes still had some food in them and were being placed in a counter near the door. Some freshly baked breads, dried meat, neatly displayed in pieces on the big plates. Some trays had a few fruits that resembled apples, pears and peaches.

Everyone in the kitchen stopped as soon as they noticed Riou there, they never saw a guest in the kitchen and were a bit confused on what to do.

Noticing the atmosphere Riou smiled and waved, quickly grabbing what looked like an apple. He took a bite at it..

The people seemed to relax and slowly returned to their work.

But the apple tasted strange, it was rather small. It had its characteristic red color but was crumbly and had barely any juice on it. He finished it in a couple of bites and proceeded to grab a pear.

Same texture and taste. ‘The land is probably overused... or these fruits are just bad’ Riou thought to himself opting to forget about the fruits, he went for the bread and dried meat instead.

He made a sandwich folding a slice of the bread and putting the dried meat in the middle of it. It was a good soft bread, very different from the stone hard they used in the army.

As he bit it, a strong flavor of rye came to him while the meat was very salty and tough. The breakfast was very different from the feast, which now seemed to be a boastful of luxury compared with that plain breakfast.

Sated, Riou went to the Study Room as it was about time to meet the king.

Luckily, near the kitchen there was a flight of stairs that took him to the royal wing. Probably to give the cooks and servants quick access to the royal wing. The guards, knowing he was summoned, gave him passage.

He went up and proceeded to head to the study room. Guarding the corridor to the main entry were the two guards he saw the other day.

They expected Riou and promptly opened the doors for him as well.

As he approached the study room, Riou noticed that the door was already open. Inside he could see that the king sat on the desk, doing something at the desk.

Noticing the boy, the king waved for him to come in.

Riou approached as the king finished writing something on a piece of paper. He was using ink and a holed wood straw as a pen.

Riou waited in silence as he finished.

The king put aside the strange pen and wrapped the paper parchment in a letter case and sealed it with wax using one of his rings, the wax took the form of the lion holding the two flags.

“Young man…” Said the king, putting aside the wrapped document. “Fear not, our meeting today has nothing to do about yesterday's events.”

And so he continued.

“You are here because Maximilian has you in such high regard that he even suggested for us to speak, why do you think he’d suggest that?” asked the king, intentionally baiting Riou to explain their relation. Since he got so little from Maximilian, he was hoping to get some answers from the boy.

Such tactics were common and a second nature to the king.

Riou smiled “He’s just too nice” and left it at that.

The king was surprised by the simple response. He couldn’t tell if the boy did it intentionally. Usually everyone would jump at the opportunity to talk to a king.

The king decided to entertain the mage’s suggestion.

“Very well then... What is your impression of the capital so far, I heard you even had a walk with the Magus through the city.” Said the king nonchalantly leaning back on his chair.

Riou pondered for a moment.

“It’s a big city, probably very old and built upon itself several times with little planning for space and larger streets for transportation. But it’s streets are full of people and they all seemed happy. The commerce is abundant which indicates a stable economy. Judging from the size of the city and the farms around it, all crops produced are consumed. Maybe some are even brought from other places… I mean, the feast was something else compared to the normal food I’ve seen so far. And I didn’t see any manufacturing on the city aside from clothing and weaponry… but don’t get me started on the weapons”

The king was impressed and waited for him to continue, he was interested in hearing more.

Riou remembered the night in the city “Banditry and burglary are a serious problem at night as there are less soldiers patrolling the streets. Probably because there aren’t enough jobs since there is no manufacturing of other goods for exportation.”

“Interesting… do continue”

“The positioning of the castle was well though, but in a world where there are mages and magic, I’d be concerned with the lack of soldiers at the walls and scouts outside of the city. Especially at the back wall at the cliffside outside of the city. When I was walking by the castle I didn’t see anyone patrolling there”

Riou looked at the desk and saw a fruit basket, he picked one of those small apples and brake it in half with his hands, to show its crumbled pieces to the king.

“The lands seem poorly utilized, this fruit lacks nutrients to grow and taste properly. I doubt you use any crop rotation system or fertilizer and proper irrigation. Without these things it greatly reduces the yield and quality of the final product. But I couldn’t see any farm at first hand actually, so I’m just guessing based on what I’ve seen here” he crumbled the apple in his showing the crumbled pieces and lack of juice.

The king was clearly confused and surprised, he could not understand how the boy could know that much if he just arrived in the city.

The king doubted that a boy like him could have any knowledge. He must be playing with him, guessing things and inventing scenarios to try to impress the king. It didn’t feel like it, but it was easier to think that than to admit that a boy so young would know so much about administration of a kingdom.

The king dismissed the thought and quickly went about another topic. He would give the boy the benefit of the doubt as Max suggested and test him with something else.

“What do you think about the war that is going on to the south. Do you think we should be concerned?” Inquired curiously the king, as Max was certain the boy was versed in the art of war as well.

Riou played a lot of war simulators and strategy games. He knew the basics, but since he didn’t have any details of the war so far, he couldn't formulate a theory about it.

“I can’t say much actually, I don’t know anything about it… but if I can get some information I can speak what I think”

The king nodded once again, impressed.

He went to a cabinet near the wall and pulled from a drawer a large leather piece. He brought it to the desk and opened. Carved on the leather was a simple map of the region.

Pointing to the map he showed him the Endher forest where Riou was found.

Allard’s capital, Longart, was the bigger castle in the Allard region. The land had rivers, plains and mountains, very diverse and fertile soil.

The king pointed next to the north capitol, Thanes, it was about 4 or 5 palms away from Allard given the size of the map. Elrick explained it was ruled by Ephil Torwald, the father of his wife. They had a better relationship because of that.

The north is under snow most part of the year and surrounded by a chain of mountains. So the main source of food was hunt and the sea explained the king.

Directly south of Longart and still in Allard’s territory, inside the big island, was the Academy of Magic. Mostly supported by Allard with some help from the North kingdom.

Anyone who could pay the expensive fees could attend, which meant only the nobles could afford it.

To the south west of Allard was the Elven Lands. A forest so dangerous that no one dared to enter without an elven convoy to escort them.

The Elven forest was full of magical beings and beasts, it was by far the most dangerous place on the land. Protected and secluded, the elven capital was only known by a very few outsiders that they allowed to enter their domain.

Their leader was called Felaern Lellaenar and it’s said that he is over a thousand year old.

The southern east was divided into two kingdoms, to the north, near the gulf, the Beastman plains that were ruled by the Beastmen clans and their king Oyran Goyvar. The capital was called Khargaz.

Directly south of it was Argos. They came from the old land in the far south. They crossed the Great Desert a long time ago, they are trying to conquer the beastmen for a while now. They claim that all land about the great desert is rightfully theirs.

Skaralt Acre was made capital near the great desert and their ruler is called Harmon Skaralt.

The lands to the extreme south of Argos are a extense and deadly desert. They lost most of their invasion force when they first came through the desert of Kaanth. They can’t move back so now all that remains is to take the lands. So they kept moving north forcing a war against the Beastmen.

The free lands between the elves, the plains and Argos have no cities known and are mostly wilderness, villages were formed there but no known ruler.

The king explained that Argos have a very different mentality than the other kingdoms, religious zealots based on a god of death which they say are his direct descendants, for that reason they are to receive the world.

Riou nodded while looking at the map, and asked “So the religion from each kingdom is not the same?” Inquired further.

The king found it hard to believe he didn’t even know that, that should be common knowledge even outside of the great sea. But he explained it very quickly as if impatient by the boy's unawareness of it.

“Allard and the North believe in the major four elemental gods which shaped the land and provided the us with control over the elements. Fire, Water, Air and Earth. Ragnis the Fire Lord of Destruction, Brine the Water Mother, Gale the Mischievous Wind and Granius the Immovable Mountain.” Paused for a moment before continuing.

“The Beastman worship Vitae, a lesser goddess of nature, daughter of Brine and Granius. But basically is the same religious base. The elves revere what they call the great creator, an entity that died to give life to the world. So now their god lives through them and that’s why they don’t die of old age. Lastly there is Argos” The king paused.

“Argos follow a god of their own, they call it Kror Mhot in their tongue… the translation would mean… he who commands death, or Lord of Death. Like I said before, they really believe they descend from it. They are ruthless and can’t be reasoned with.”

Riou pondered for some moments while looking at the map before him.

“By the way you described it, Argos is the most troublesome one. And if they want all the land above this zone here, why the only ones battling them are the Beastmen?”

“Well… for starters they are a very proud race, they would never request aid. And the war has been going for a very long time now, to join this late without a proper reason...”

“I see… So we have the beastmen holding Argos on its own. The elves probably couldn’t care less as they have their forest protection. Allard has a pretty good thing going on with the North and doesn't want to expend money nor live in a contained war” The king nodded, Riou got the overall idea very quickly.

But then the boy continued.

“So, Argos' goal is to conquer everything and everyone. And your plan is to wait out and see what happens to the south? If lucky, the beastmen eventually will win. But if argos eventually defeats the beastmen and starts marching north then you and your North ally would readily join forces to strike them while they are still weak and recovering from the conflict with the beastmen.” Said Riou, looking at the king in disapproval.

“I don’t know… Argos has no backup support and is held against the desert, the fact that the war is stretching out is not a good sign for Allard”

The king frowned not following his logic.

“If the war has been going for a long time already. In a world like this, with magic casters and powerful warriors, the only reason is that someone is playing the long game. And by the looks of it, it is not the Beastmen, because for them it makes sense to crush Argos as soon as possible to cease the threat”

The king was listening to him with attention.

“A war that is intentionally dragged out for too long like this, can only mean that Argos is not only more powerful and resourceful than expected, but may also be planning something else in the meanwhile. Waiting and seeing is hardly the best play in this scenario. I think Argos can win against the Beastmen whenever it wants to.”

“Why do you think they would be waiting? What scheme could they be plotting?” asked the king.

“Well, think like this. There is only one reasons to why a war like that is stretching for so long. Argos is clearly buying time for another play. If they intend to conquer everyone in this land, they must be prepared to deal with Allard and the north right after they deal with the Beastmen. They know you’d be coming once that happens. Perhaps they fear you two more than the beastmen”

Riou pointed to the map “In a long term war they could use spies to gather information and even weaken the kingdom's positions from within. With enough time they could even grow to influence the lords by bribing or giving wrong advice. Manipulating the court to be against joining the fray in the south, that way Argos can deal with the Beastmen alone. There are several uses for spies in a long war.”

The king nodded realizing it was a plausible strategy.

Riou forced a smile “Before you know, Argos could trample the beastmen and be knocking on your door before you even hear about what happened” Riou got excited as he had another idea.

“If I were them, I’d try to break the alliance between Allard and the Norse, that way when the war front moved north, Argos wouldn’t have to deal with the two together. Maybe with the proper pressure they could break the allegiance and even begin a strife between the two nations.” Riou nodded and continued.

“That's possible with enough time and information. So Argos could just drag the conflict to the south while he prepared all the pieces on the north. And once they could strike from all angles at once they’d make the move! Of course, this couldn’t be done in a few years, many decades or even a whole generation would be needed to pass for these spies to be really rooted within the countries.” concluded the boy leaving the king speechless.

Riou didn’t think much of it, it's a pretty straightforward strategy, some of them very overused in books and movies. But to the king, such thinking was an amazing feat. To be able to develop such ideas in a matter of minutes really impressed him.

Suddenly Riou asked “How long is the war going on anyway?”

Took a while for the king to be able to respond, he seemed still thinking on what Riou had said.

“Over 110 years now…”

“Wow, and they are really still in a stalemate?” Riou was surprised, and the king was now worried.

“Yes…” said the king fearing that there could be some truth to what the boy said.

“Well, I’m not a king, but I’d start considering the chances now. Argos might have people in high places by now… I don’t know if you have this expression here, but you might have snakes in the grass of Allard. You never know, so I’d thread carefully from now on. You never know where they might be.”