A Trading Fleet.

"Do you know where the power of House Aurellion comes from?"

"From there, territory?"

"Their status?"

"Their army?"

"No, none of these things is what makes House Aurellion terrifying.

"It's their ability to survive."

"Their ability to build an army and make money with no territory."

"No noble title."

"With only a few thousand loyal citizens within 30 years, they became a powerhouse."

"Feared by an entire continent."

"For all fear, the Pelican, when it flies into the sky, cries the call to arms."

Prince Decimus Crestier Known as 'The Fortress Breaker.'

….

Baron Rahler Rushe watched as the mercenaries looted the bodies of the raiders and left the village, taking what loot they could on their horses and in their saddlebags back to their caravan to resume their training.

It was only after they left that he had his men check on the corpses of the raiders, making sure that all of them were dead, as the Rinadian noble tried to think of ways that he could use this event to their advantage.

Rahler watched as the caravan guards rode away and remembered the last conversation he had with that unknown nobleman, confident now that he was no young captain due to his mannerisms and knowledge of the world, showing the young man's excellent political instincts for him to be able to impress Rahler who does not give his respect to others lightly.

The baron had no doubt that these instincts would serve the young lad well in the future.

"My lord, while the deaths among the peasantry are unfortunate, and I am sure you will miss them most deeply."

The young noble said his sarcastic tone was not lost on the baron, who just sighed and shook his head slightly. Though both men knew that Rahler cared not for the wonton destruction that took place on his lands as long as the raiders did not go too far, the young lad told the lie convincingly enough for most to be fooled by his silver tongue and honey-dipped words.

"It would be remiss of me not to mention how you could use the deaths of these brigands to your advantage, maybe even able to gain favour or a reward from your liege lord, who is well known to be a just and honourable man."

Railius said, as Rahler laughed internally but kept his calm. The baron was far too experienced with the world to show his thoughts and feelings, lest they be used against him in one way or another. 

"And what do you get out of this?"

Rahler asked. The last thing he believed was that he was being given this advice out of the good of this Captain Delron's heart.

'Not that it was likely to be his real name anyway.'

The Rindian noble thought with a smile, even slightly admiring the intelligence of the man who was almost certainly of noble birth.

"The threat to my employer has been eliminated, and I have done my duty. I would have had to act anyway because attacking them and taking them by surprise is a far better plan than allowing them to ambush us on the road, especially when the idiots decide to split their forces with no easy way to support each other. Anyway, I think having the favour of a coastal lord could be useful in the future."

Delron said, continuing his explanation, unaware of the thoughts running through the baron's mind to the confusion of Rahler, who could not ascertain why he would wish his part in his to be diminished.

A mercenary company would want its name to be known far and wide, yet this one did not despite achieving something that even Rahler was incapable of doing. This was likely more due to the mercenary soldiers' high quality and excellent teamwork than anything else.

'Though I need to investigate how the mercenaries got so skilled in the first place, as these guys are far stronger than the norm and are not even well known.'

The Baron thought to himself, for it was rare for the secret forces of noble houses to be revealed as even his own had a hundred or so elites not known to the outside world and are used for covert missions and the secret war that is always present in the shadow of stability.

"Thank you for your advice. I wish you good fortune in the wars to come, Captain Delron."

The Baron said as the young man of noble blood rode away alongside his escort, continuing to gallivant around the world.

Returning to the present and out of the dark recesses of his mind, Baron Rahler Rushe began plotting his next move.

A few villagers would know the truth, but with the Baron and his men all spinning the same tale, the truth will quickly become what the Rinadian noble wants it to be; after all, the young lord of Aurellion had already gotten what he wanted. More so, actually, as he did not expect to gain so much loot that could either upgrade the gear of his loyal soldiers or sell later for money that could be used to buy food and other supplies. 

But with this impressive display of martial prowess, Railius needed to try to lower his involvement and cover up his actions as much as he could. Having the baron take responsibility was the perfect way to do it, as very few people would think it odd and investigate what really led to the destruction of the raiders.

Of course, this was not lost on the intelligent baron, but going to such lengths just to keep a low profile was most abnormal.

Especially as most nobles would want to use a battle like this to increase their prestige. 

Not that this mattered much to Rahler, as even if the word did get out, most of the blowback would be against Delron and not himself, as he could just say he was doing a favour for those who had helped him out.

Yes, this was the best way to deal with the problem.

Temporarily ignoring these thoughts, Baron Rahler smiled when he learned from his men that all of the raiders were indeed dead. There was no trickery at work here, not that the Baron had the power to deal with the men who may have pulled it off anyway. The mercenaries had kept their word and removed any witnesses who would betray him to his enemies under the guise of killing the raiders.

He had talked to the elderly village chief and was unsurprised to learn that the mercenaries had called the young acting captain my lord when he was in danger, confirming his own suspicions that the man's background was less than ordinary.

He was still confused by how well-trained the young soldiers were, but it was not unheard of for nobles to have well-trained men hidden from the world's eyes, as wars and conflicts in Dynasties Online happened as much in the shadows as they did on the battlefield.

At times, even more so.

Wars could cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of gold, while a single knife in the dark was a much cheaper way of dealing with problems, especially if one person was primarily pushing for conflict. With the death of that one person, the entire war could be put on hold or stopped entirely.

Yet it is also much more dangerous, as while assassin guilds now refused to kill men of influence and power, there were those not affiliated with them or bound by their rules, and the death of family can lead to an act of bloody revenge many would never have expected from even the nicest and most innocent of souls.

The rampage of a once-wise king after the death of his beloved son is a stark, dark reminder of this truth that cost the lives of millions.

As the rain stopped and the sky cleared, the gods were finally satisfied, making the world at peace once again; Rahler felt a sharp point embed itself into the leather sole of his plated boots as the clouds parted and the sun shone down once again.

Kneeling down his cloak, now brown and muddied from the sodden dirt road, he picked up a small, solid golden pelican thing that looked to him to be a token of some sort.

Rahler smiled, holding the gold token, and rose, waving his loyal dwarven friend over.

"Fokhod, look into every noble house in Nathia with a Pelican for a sigel."

"My lord?"

Fokhold replied, confused, wondering why the baron asked him to investigate such a thing before noticing that his lord had something in his hand.

"It seems we have a clue, old friend. A clue to the true identity of our good mercenary friends."

Rahler said, showing him the small golden token that had been dropped by one of the mercenaries, though Rahler himself thought that it was accidentally dropped by that young, rather rude captain rather than one of his loyal bodyguards, which is what the men accompanying him were.

Of that, he had no more doubt.

Fokhod's old greying eyebrows narrowed as his gauntleted hands scraped a bit of dirt off the token that now shined in the sun as mud squelched beneath his boots and the token rested in the centre of his palm.

"One more thing…."

"That master fighter who put you on edge, his accent seemed slightly different from the young lads." 

"Can you identify it?"

Rahler asked, as the accent was strange to him. However, Rahler had not travelled much except to his neighbouring countries. His duties as a lord took up the majority of his time, and he had no time for holidays if he wanted a well-run territory.

"The accent is well masked, and he has spent around a year or two with the Nathians actively trying to blend, but if I am right, his accent is Chavarian."

 Fokhod said with confidence.

"Chavarian?"

"Why would a Nathian noble hire a Chavarian?"

"Aren't the two nations enemies?"

Rahler began speaking his thoughts aloud, but he only got increasingly confused because the Chavarian Empire had been trying to conquer Nathia since its formation, so it was odd for Chavarians to serve a noble of one of their greatest enemies.

Many times, the Chavarians had tried to break through Nartook Fortress, defended by the king's sword, Ranier Lantier, and each time, they were thrown back, unable to bring down the stout stronghold that acted as the gateway into the ancient kingdom. 

"A better question, my lord, is why a Chavarian would be willing to serve under a Nathian?"

Fokhod said.

"They can be a stubborn lot at the best of times, and even when the imperial army lost their beloved great general, they did not rebel or desert to another country." 

"Look through all noble houses with a Pelican sigel in both Chavaria and Nathia when you return. This is a priority as we need to know if this man will be a future enemy of ours."

"We will find the identity of this mercenary leader yet."

Rahler said with determination because if Rinada ever went to war with Nathia, he may find himself on the battlefield against this noble, and any advantage or knowledge that he could obtain, no matter how minor, could serve him well if he ever found himself against that young lad in the future.

Though Rahler felt a shiver down his spine.

'Will all of his house's soldiers be that strong?' 

The Rinadian noble wondered, feeling fear seep into his bones at the prospect of thousands of elite cavalry cutting him and his men down in an instant.

….

3 in-game months later. 9 in-game months after the start of the server

"Bloody hell! You would think that I would be used to it by now after a month at sea!"

Railius cursed as the boat he was on swayed on the sea. He had just finished throwing up the contents of his stomach over the port side and was catching his breath once again, cursing whichever god cursed him with sea sickness.

Something that he had been doing a lot over the last month or so as the young lord of House Aurellion was not one to keep his complaints to himself.

He was British, after all. 

As usual, Railius was complaining to no one in particular and more so to himself, the sailors and his own Pelican Guards being used to his antics.

'Oh god, not again!'

Railius thought. Once again, vomiting over the port side of the ship.

To say that the young lord of House Aurellion had not taken to the sea would be an understatement.

He fucking despised it!

Promising himself that once this long expedition touring the world was done, unless the situation were dire, he would never again find himself on a ship at sea.

A river, maybe because the waters would be calmer, but not the sea.

Never the sea.

He never wanted to feel this bad ever again.

Even getting trained by Leon and having his body battered and bruised was better than feeling sick all the time.

For someone who loved playing around in the sea and with water in real life, it was ironic that he could not sail if his life depended on it in DO.

Then again, he had never been at sea for a month before. Even with the occasional stops, it did little to improve Railius' condition, as the fallen noble routinely threw his guts overboard.

"Maybe it's best for you to get some rest."

Jordis, his ever-present shadow, said with concern, making sure not to slip up again as he had already gotten a scolding from both Railius and Aldorus after he inadvertently shouted out Railius's identity as a noble lord when his friend's life was in danger.

'Not to mention a few bruises.'

Jordis thought, rubbing his arms where a large purply brown bruise used to be as after their confrontation with the raiders; for the next few days, his training with Aldorus had been far more 'intensive' as the master fighter said than it was before, but to Jordis that just meant more painful.

So much more painful.

People always said that when it came to punishment and retribution, the Grand Commander of the Pelican Guards was the one you had to worry about most, but in Jordis' opinion, Aldorus was as terrifying, if not more so, than his father when it came to pain suffered during punishment.

Of course, he was healed after each bashing he took, but it did not stop the mental trauma as only minutes after one bruise was healed, another was dealt. If this were continued for weeks or months, it would not be abnormal for someone to completely break mentally.

Luckily, after a few days of this 'training', everything went back to normal; however, Aldorus let the last bruise he gave Jordis heal naturally over the next few weeks, citing a need to have him get used to pain and injuries so that he could fight through them if needed. Jordis saw it for what it was.

This was simply punishment for giving the baron clues to Railius' true identity, which was a very well-kept secret, with only the most intelligent and talented people finding out about it on their own. It had nothing to do with increasing his tolerance to pain and injury, even if that was a positive byproduct of his rather painful training.

'Not that it could be called training in the first place.'

Jordis sighed internally.

Railius gave his loyal protector a small smile before heading back to bed, his shadow ever-present protecting him as he stumbled to the comfort of his hammock, which was situated where all the other Pelican Guards' bedding was so as not to raise anyone's suspicions.

There were 5 ships in their flotilla, each a large seafaring trading ship with one hundred Pelican Guards on each + sailors. Railius, well, his company owned the vessels after he had invested a considerable amount of gold into his new trading fleet gold, which mainly came from the massive 50,000 gold profit he made by trading throughout Rinada.

The other money came from Sigismond Security Service, which even now was still making House Aurellion the most gold out of all their endeavours. Malwin, the man in charge of most of the noble houses' civic affairs, even had to stop all their other expansion efforts to raise the 250,000 gold needed to buy the ships and emptying the tidy sum he had painstakingly built up over the years for an emergency to be able to pay for them.

"If you want to do trading across the sea, start with 1 damn ship, not 5!"

The loyal, ageing Chavarian noble cried out, sighing afterwards, cursing his lord in the safety of his house in Detarnor when he received Railius' request. It was lucky that the banks in Dynasties Online were legendary for their discretion, and they had the crown prince on their side; otherwise, 200,000 gold suddenly turning up out of nowhere would have raised some eyebrows.

It cost House Aurellion 50,000 gold per ship, but they were the best ships in the market, suitable for both war and trade. Each boat would have a ballista on both the bow and stern to help defend it from attack, three masts with silk sails, and three decks, though they would bear no sigel as Railius did not want his company to be connected to his noble house for now.

Railius even cried tears when he saw the price he would have to pay, imagining what he could do if he turned all that in-game gold into GBP, but when he remembered that this was all a long-term investment, his mind calmed down, though he would have to start being careful.

The university student had ensured that he was set for three months financially. However, it was getting close to the end of the year in the game, which meant that in real life, nearly two months would have passed, and so soon, he would need to exchange some gold or go into debt.

'Finally, it looks like we're on the up.'

Railius thought, but just as he got out of bed, he started to feel a bit better. The world just had to send more problems his way, as a call from the crow's nest removed any relief he felt from finally not feeling sick 24/7.

"Unknown ship's ahead. They look to be hostile!"

'Damn you, friend system!'

'Carnt a man catch a break!'

Railius complained internally as he grumpily headed up to the main deck to deal with this latest problem the gods of DO and the game system decided to send his way.

There was one thing, though compared to many other players, it could not be said that Reginald, the player behind Railius, had a dull or monotonous existence.