His Name is Aegeus: Chapter 2 – In the Presence of Superiors

Chapter 2 – In the Presence of Superiors

“Agh!” Claude says as he sets his shield and spear down.

“Is something wrong? Are your arms hurting?” I ask.

“No, that’s not it. Nothing’s been happening since that beastman attack two weeks ago. I’m just getting impatient and bored is all. I shouldn’t even complain because Jacqui is having a difficult time teaching the kids at school. They’re anxious because it’s almost time for them to go on vacation from school.”

“We were anxious too. I also remember us fake being sick so we could have an excuse to not go on certain days.”

“I remember the one time I set a fire in the garden at the end of the day so we could get out earlier.”

“That was you?”

“Yeah, but don’t tell anyone that when our next school reunion party happens.”

“I won’t tell.”

“Me neither,” Felicite says from above us. “Catch!”

She drops down a basket full of fruits that I have to drop my shield to catch in time before it hits the floor.

“You should let me put down my shields before dropping the basket next time,” I say.

“Sorry, I’ll do that next time. Later!”

“Remind me to drop by food of my own to your house for all the food that Felicite gives us,” Claude says as he takes off his helmet and starts eating.

“You don’t have to,” I say while placing down the basket and taking off my helmet as well so I can eat.

“I do. I’m not unappreciative of her coming out here every now and then to do us this favor. I’ve also mentioned it to Jacqui who’s a bit jealous of her since she wants to do the same and repay her in some way.”

“Well, I’m sure she’s not jealous of the farm work that Felicite is doing, especially since she works at the many farms that supply the army, stores, and restaurants in the city. They work her hard there.”

“Honestly, I may be jealous of her. I’d rather do something than pace around all day.”

“Keep your eyes up, gentlemen. We got company,” an archer from the walls says.

We place the basket of fruit aside, put on our helmets, pick up our weapons, and stand at attention.

“Is this the convoy we were expecting?” I ask.

“Yes, it is,” the archer says.

As the convey gets closer, we see a horse-drawn carriage accompanied by Assault Knights who are riding horses. Among the many knights, the ones that catch my attention are the ones that are wielding crossbow shields, shields with long spikes on them, and ones that have long spears like jousters. The gates behind us open for them as they approach and close behind us after they pass through. Usually, when visitors come, we check their papers, judge their personalities, and then choose whether or not to turn them away, but it’s only the most special of people such as the Pope, bishops, military, and business leaders that have the news of their arrival sent to us before they arrive, so these people must be important. After a few minutes pass, Claude and I go back to finishing the fruit in the basket and then put it on the side for me to take back home.

“Aegeus, you should get your fiancée to get us some fruit baskets too,” one of the archers on the walls says.

“Sure thing. She’d be happy to,” I say.

“When are you two getting married again? Do you have a date set?” Claude asks.

“Sometime next month. Even though the Church gives us a discount on the ceremony and renting the hall because of our service, it’s still expensive to pay for.”

“Right. I totally forgot about that and remember why I did. I left all the planning and what I had to contribute to Jacqui since it was headache-inducing to get all that sorted out.”

Not too much time passes until Commander Maxime comes to us and says from the top of the walls, “Claude, Aegeus. Your help is needed in the inner city.”

He then tells us we need to go to a basilica where the military holds masses and ceremonies and sends two replacement gate guards to take our position while we’re gone.

As we walk to the destination, we pass by many of the city’s many sights that make it popular to visit such as statues depicting events of the past, saints, and the Lord Jesus and His Blessed Mother. We take note of the many restaurants and parks that we could take our family to and the museums to visit.

“We can do it all when we finally get our well-earned promotion. I’m sure that this task Commander Maxime gave us will speed along that process if we can accomplish it correctly. You’ll get your job as a city guard while I’ll get to work as an Assault Knight,” Claude says.

I agree with him and keep walking until we reach the basilica where those visitors we saw before are waiting for us with Commander Maximus.

“Weren’t these the same guards we saw when entering the city?” one of the knights asks.

“The same ones eating while guarding the gate?” another knight says.

“They don’t usually do it and the fruit baskets they receive are from the fiancée of one of them who is just trying to help them get through the day. Trust me when I say they’re tough and disciplined,” Commander Maximus says.

“Oh, I wasn’t criticizing them. In fact, I would’ve liked to have someone giving me snacks while I was on gate guard duty. My name is Remy,” the knight with a horse helmet and crossbow shield says.

“My name is Soleil,” the knight with a shield and spear says. “You’ll be accompanying us while we escort the bishops throughout your city.”

We accept the task and accompany the Assault Knights and the bishops as they tour the city and give gifts and assure certain groups of people such as farmers, blacksmiths, and tailors that the aid they give to the army hasn’t been for nothing. After which, we go to the families of victims of bandit, ratmen, and beastmen attacks and we give them gifts of gold, jewelry, and crucifixes and our assurance that what happened will never happen again and their loved ones will be avenged. Everyone we visit appreciates what we have to say and give to them and more and more people start following us as the day goes along as word of the bishops’ deeds and arrival spreads through the city during which, we have to make sure the crowds keep a safe distance away from them and that only certain people are allowed to them.

“If you become a city guard, this is what you’ll have to deal with,” Claude says.

“I’d rather deal with this than hordes of enemies trying to kill me,” I say.

“Eh, good point.”

Eventually, we make it to a stage where more clergy and people are waiting for the bishops. Here, they start to give their talk on recent events and to assure the city of the Church’s might and ongoing efforts to protect them and ensure a brighter future. In the blink of an eye, this peaceful day turns chaotic as a single arrow is shot from out of seemingly nowhere and pierces through the eye and skull of one of the bishops. We don’t have time to react as another barrage of arrows hits several other of the clergy and some of the guards and squads of orcs charge at the crowds killing whoever gets in their way. Claude, the Assault Knights, and I along with all the other guards race to defend the citizens and clergy against the orc threat in a bloody battle that feels like a nightmare. For every person I save, another person dies.

From where I am, I see Claude being equally frustrated since he can’t use his spear correctly in such tight quarters with civilians around until they get out of the area. Once they’re gone, we’re able to effectively eliminate the orcs and restore peace to the city. By the end of it, many civilians and clergy died along with many guards who threw themselves at the enemy to protect others. Commander Maxime doesn’t give us a moment to rest or grieve as we regroup with him and the rest of the soldiers, guards, and commanders to discuss what happened, however, we must wait for the city guard’s report before starting the meeting. While waiting for them, everyone murmurs to one another about what happened and how it could’ve happened in our city without an alarm going off or it being thwarted beforehand, and it isn’t until the city guards arrive that things quiet down.

“Seeing as we’re all eager to hear your report, can you please tell us what you found, Chief Officer Percival,” Commander Maxime says.

“Yes, commander,” Percival says as he lays his papers on the table in front of him. “What we were able to find during our investigation is that the orcs managed to sneak their way into our city through holes that were dug underneath the ground in various places.”

“They dug holes? First, orcs don’t typically make use of surprise attacks and now they’ve snuck their way here by tunneling underneath the city?” Commander Maxime says.

“Correct. It’s highly unusual that they’d use a ratman strategy to get to us, so we’re assuming that ratmen have something to do with this and theorizing that these holes were dug during the beastman attack on the city two weeks ago. Tomorrow, we’ll have several teams searching for more breaches in the city and other teams clearing out the tunnels as we’re sure that they’re still hiding beneath our very feet waiting for another opportunity to strike.”

The commanders and chief officer discuss how many people and which kinds of knights and guards are in what groups and how we’re going to execute our plan tomorrow. All I can think about is if my family and Claude’s family are okay. Usually, people are kidnapped when ratmen are involved and are sometimes never seen again and if they are, the victims are typically found to be dead or in a state of pain because they were experimented on or used as slaves. Claude also thinks the same when I talk to him after the meeting and we both go our separate ways to check on our families, and thanks be to God, they’re okay. We embrace in one big hug and cry tears of joy with one another as we tell each other how much we love one another.

Eventually, we eat and tell of how crazy today was. I can’t help but think of the holes that the enemy used to enter the city and that they’re probably still below us and may attack at any time. This thought keeps waking me up in the night with every little noise making me nervous. Tomorrow can’t come fast enough so I keep praying to God to keep everyone safe until I fall asleep for good and don’t wake up until tomorrow morning.