Chapter 65

These walls didn't inspire any respect. Although the knights remembered them from their blood memory, seeing them with their own eyes was a different matter. The vampires were once again convinced of this. The knights perceived the wooden walls of the city as something extremely reliable and powerful.

People of the twenty-first century saw them only as a kind of high fence. And the memory of the city soldiers told them that there was nothing to storm here; the mages could quickly make a breach, and the rest was a matter of time...

The city was named after the river on the bank of which it stood. Right along the bank ran a wall made of logs, about two meters high. Despite its solidity and, according to the memories of the knights, its width, it was too low and not protected from magic. To enter the city, one had to overcome a majestic stone bridge, a real marvel of local engineering thought.

The baron's castle was also made of stone; it also served as the city citadel and was located on the riverbank, forming one of the "corners" of the city. The castle was frankly small. It was almost a perfect square, with something resembling a keep in one corner and a small tower in another, which used to be part of the city wall. It became obvious why the city residents planned to take the city without siege or any problems — it was designed to withstand goblin attacks. For this purpose, both the castle and the city walls had coped for more than a century.

The city itself was quite large, which was not surprising. There were no other settlements between it and the northern mines. Caravans and columns of convicts left from here, and carts loaded with valuable goods arrived here. There was even a royal representative in the city, which would be nonsense anywhere else, as the baron was a vassal of Duke Kasa, not the king.

But considering the city's importance and the funding provided by the king for its maintenance, both the duke and the baron kindly agreed to accommodate a central government official on their lands, and even accepted a dozen royal soldiers for his protection as their own.

"Who are you?" The city guard soldier didn't even try to be polite. It wasn't customary to expect guests from the north at this time, and unfamiliar people of clearly noble appearance caused genuine bewilderment.

"Alex es'Blood, at his lordship, Baron Savoyardi's service, by personal invitation!"

The guard relaxed. Indeed, Mr. Baron had left an order for the city guard about the visit of someone named Alex es'Blood yesterday, but everyone was sure that he would be alone and would come through other gates. It was fortunate that the outfits for both city gates had been instructed together and at the same time; otherwise, there could have been a confusion. The soldier went to the gate where the grille was lowered and reported to his squad leader. The grille slowly rose. Paying a duty of six coppers, one for each person and horse, they moved on.

As soon as Sergey and Eugene entered the city, they immediately headed to the inn, while Alexander slowly rode along the esplanade towards the castle, where he was warmly welcomed. The servants were clearly informed, which was optimistic. Although they always put game in the soup without a pious face. The baron received him almost immediately and immediately inquired about his guest's affairs.

"Thank you, your grace, everything is fine," Alexander bowed his head.

After a couple of minutes of casual conversation, the baron finally got to the point. He invited Alexander to move from the drawing-room to the study.

"I can allow you to settle on my land. I won't hide that I would be very glad of this, esteemed," the baron looked slyly at his interlocutor, "What was your father's name, you say?"

"Count Luderski, your grace."

Such a count did exist in the kingdom of Toshal. His estates were located on the border with the kingdoms of Valeria and Orod; that's why Count Rur, who died defending the camp, knew him — their estates had a common border. And most importantly, Count Luderski was known throughout the district as a womanizer, fathering bastards by the dozen every year. Although it was highly doubtful that such intimate details of the count's life reached these places; it was too far away.

"Of course, of course! Count Luderski... And you want to found a free settlement on my lands and earn an honest living by working and paying taxes to me."

"Exactly."

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