An Application for a Field Trip

"Remember that eagle that injured you my lord." Nathen paused.

"You killed it right?"

"No, my lord it's still alive."

Alfred's eyes widened after what his former chief of knight informed him. He stretched his back and leaned a little towards the direction in which Nathen was standing.

"Is that really true?" Alfred asked with a hint of surprise in a voice. "I mean the eagle that attacked me previously, is it truly still alive?"

"Yes, My Lord." Nathen nodded, confirming his previous words. "Although it was wounded in our fight, it is very much alive and safely chained in the dungeon of our castle."

"Good, very good." Alfred said while showing a wide grin on his face. "This is the first piece of good news I have heard after waking up. Nathen you did a good job capturing it."

"But I don't get it my Lord," Nathen said while tilting his dead. "My Lord, I thought you would be angry?"

"Why? No. Why would I be angry when you did such a good job?"

"Well I thought you would want that eagle dead. After all it did attack you my Lord." Nathen said while bowing his head in front of Alfred.

"Well it did attack me. But that was because I was blocking its way previously." Alfred said, acknowledging his previous actions. "Other than that, there are no grudges between the eagle and me. On the other hand, you have done a great job capturing it alive. Do you know how much this is going to help it in the future?"

Nathen looked lost and then shook his head indicating that he did not understand what Alfred meant.

"Ooh? You understand what I mean, do you?" Alfred questioned Nathen.

"No, my Lord." Nathen denied.

"Then why did you bring the Eagle back. Why didn't you kill it?" Alfred asked curiously.

"Well I thought that after waking up my lord, you will be angry, so I kept the damned beast alive so you could kill it yourself. Other than that, my lord could kill the beast in front of everyone, so that everyone could be inspired and lord could even increase his prestige among his men." Nathen explained.

Alfred finally understood why Nathen went through so much trouble to bring back the eagle alive. It was plain old medieval propaganda.

Nathen's plan was for Alfred to kill the eagle in one fell swoop, in front of all his men, proclaim himself as stronger than the beast. Not only would this increase his prestige, it will also boost the morale of his men.

"Not a bad idea Nathen. I will surely consider it putting on a scripted show later, after I am done studying the eagle's behaviour first." Alfred side to Nathen.

"Lord, do you mean 'study' as in getting in close contact with the eagle?" Nathen asked Alfred stressing the word study in his question.

"Of course." Alfred replied nonchalantly as if it was a matter of fact. "How else do you think I plan to get to know it."

"My lord, I respect you very much but I must disagree with you this time." Nathen said sternly. "It not at all safe for you go nowhere near such a beast. What if something happens again. What if the eagle breaks its bindings and attacks you? It has already injured you my lord ones, what if something similar happens again."

Nathen's complaints overwhelmed Alfred.

"So, you are saying that I should not go see the eagle in the dungeon?" Alfred asked.

"Yes"

"Just because it is dangerous?"

"Yes. Anything could happen in there. It is nowhere safe to go near such a dangerous creature. It's better for my lord to stay in his study." Nathen replied.

"You do know the reason I am here right? We are here to fight against such beasts. Encountering such beasts is a daily occurrence in this fortress."

"And we have seen how that went. Just in the last battle my lord was wounded and nearly died. As the last hair of the Autarch family, I beg the lord to be more careful. As long as lord survives there is hope to revive the Autarch family and make it prosper. In the meantime, if something happens to my lord and my lord dies without leaving a hair, I don't know how I am going to face Lord Edward in the afterlife." Nathen replied earnestly.

Listening to Nathen's words Alfred sighed. He could not refute Nathen's words at all. In medieval time it was not uncommon for teenagers to get married and have children early. Alfred was twenty three years old this year and due to Autarch family going through some rough times Alfe's marriage issue was not brought up. As far Alfe's memory goes, Alfred was a virgin in this world.

Alfred suddenly felt Awkward. Currently, he was like that one uncle everybody has who is in his 40s and is unable to get married. And to rub salt to the injury, he has no other siblings, his father had no sibling and even his grandfather had no sibling. So, he has no brothers, no uncles and no extra grandfathers to take over the family name.

And this being the medieval period, where status and property are inherited based on bloodline, Autarch family, no Alfred is put in a difficult situation. He can't even adopt someone to inherit the name, as according to the law adopted family member cannot inherit, the property and the title.

As what happens to the property after a clan is wiped out? Well the short answer is, it is divided by its neighbours. After all, why would anyone bother finding another replacement, when the cake can be easily divided between each other.

This was another reason the Autarch family was chosen as a pawn that was to be sacrificed. After all there was the sweet iron mine at the stake. After the Autarch family becomes extinct, the precious Iron mine and Autarch family lands will be grave for its three powerful neighbours. And what convenient way was to do things using the hands of beasts. A time consuming yet full proof plan.

Nathen knew about it full well and so he did not want to risk Alfred's safety.

On the other hand, Alfred was battling a headache. He had not even spent a full day in this world and the guy in front of him pushing him to have kids.

"Brother if you like kids so much go produce your own. Please don't bother me. I have more important things to tackle right now." Alfred thought in his mind.

As Alfred was lost in the thought, Nathen had started to get worried.

"My Lord? Are you ok, My lord?" Nathen asked with a hint of worry in his tone.

"Ah?" Nathen voice broke Alfred from his daydream. "Yes? What happened?"

"I asked my lord, are you alright?" The Worry in his tone heightening.

"Yes, I am perfectly fine." Alfred said sobering up.

"That's good then." Nathen said, feeling a little relieved.

"So, will you now take me to see the eagle?" Alfred asked thinking Nathen had changed his mind.

"No." Nathen rejected again resolutely. "As a part of my job, protecting you is my first responsibility. It also includes keeping you away from all kinds of potential danger."

"Look here, Nathen." Alfred said. "Me going in there is very important. If I could go in there, I could potentially find the beast's weakness or at least find what it is afraid of. This could mean us surviving the winter and as well as most of our men. If you block me here my friend, I can't do anything. When the beasts attack again, all I could do is throw stones at them in the dark and do things randomly. But if I can go down there and find out more about the beasts, may be I can save some lives."

"But my Lord, what about your safety?"

"Nathen it's your job to protect my safety, right?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"You see, those down there protecting the fortress and risking their lives to fight for me are my men. And it's my job to protect their safety. So even if you don't give me your permission, I am going down the dungeon to see that beast, and as my subordinate you can't stop me." Alfred stated. "Nathen, what I am asking you is not your permission, but asking you to do your job. Are you up for the job?"

Nathen started to hesitate.

Seeing this Alfred became silent and decided to wait for Nathen to make a decision.

Suddenly the system's voice rang.

[Host I salute on you because of your great acting skills.]

"Not now system. I am in the middle of an emotional drama." Alfred said in his mind.

[Host I nearly believed what you said previously. I nearly thought you are going in some kind of suicide mission. Shame on you host for breaking my heart.]

[-5 magic points]

"What the f*ck, system. I don't even have a single magic point and you started deducting them from me. And what was that for?"

[Host stop lying. System has already given you your newbie gift which contains 1500 points. And as for deduction, I was testing this new feature out.]

"What newbie gift? What 1500 points? You didn't give me shit."

[…]

[System checking…]

[Congratulations to the host for receiving 1500 magic points from the newbie gift pack.]

[+1500 magic points.]

[You happy now host?]