Audrey returns to the mayor's residence in the late evening with a smile on her face. Her mouth is humming softly.
Gerald who just woke up from his nap is walking in the garden at the front. His eyes then fall on Audrey who just crosses the entrance gate. He looked at her with a frown, "Why are you so happy?"
Audrey lifts up her hand and shakes the bags she is holding, "I just came back from shopping."
"I see." He instantly finds her reason is logical and reasonable. "Hurry up and drop those bags in your room then go to the dining hall. Samuel and his wife are there. The maids are preparing dinner for us as we speak."
"Okay."
Approximately an hour later, dinner was served. Samuel's wife, Aurora breaks the silence by striking up a conversation with Audrey.
"So, Miss Audrey...Did you find Baroks interesting?" Aurora asked.
"Yeah, the scenery here is beautiful and breathtaking. I feel like travelling to another world. The food is good as well; snow pie, stir-fried rabbit meat, cloud genoise and inferno chicken. The people are nice and friendly too. And the jewellery here is unexpectedly cheaper than in the capital. The design is a bit inferior though." Audrey replies nonchalantly.
"That's good to hear. Jewellery is one of the main products that have a high sales volume. Although the design is indeed lacking, it is still popular. Inverians noblewomen come here frequently to buy jewellery and dresses. For them, the designs and workmanship in Baroks were far better than the jewellers and tailors in their kingdom. The constant war caused their people to gradually abandon creativity and arts in their life. They deem it as a useless talent in war."
"That's sad to hear." She couldn't imagine if Inverians women stepped foot in a jewellery store in Bideford. They're gonna freak out seeing thousands of fashions and jewellers' skills. Being on the main trade route and capital city of a kingdom at the same time, it is not an exaggeration to say Bideford is now a centre of culture, creativity, knowledge and power.
"You bought jewellery?" probed Gerald.
"Yeah, just a pendant though. I don't bring a lot of money with me."
"Shouldn't you save some for emergencies?" Gerald ask. He feels Audrey is splurging her money wastefully.
As a former merchant, being unable to manage a huge sum of money is not a good thing for young people like her.
It'll become a bad habit.
ραпdα nᴏνɐ| сom "Relax, I have my savings in the bank. Compared to my friends, I can be said to be doing pretty well for a nineteen-year-old girl. My friends are all married and busy with their families. They don't even own a piece of jewellery as I do."
"Impressive, you're quite successful for a young girl of your age, Miss Audrey." Aurora complimented her.
"Of course, I am. My finances would be even better once I got paid later." Audrey happily said.
There is not much activity they can do after dinner so everyone simply returns to their room.
Audrey inspects the pendant she just bought. She still couldn't believe that she bought it with her own money. Even after hours passed, she never got bored staring at the pendant.
"Yawn~"
Under the starry night sky, she drifted into her dream.
....
A new day has arrived in Baroks.
The sky is clear without any sign of rain. It is the day the soldiers start their military exercise.
In the southern part of the city, Duan is commanding the soldiers there to move the artillery to the foot of the mountain. It's a place in an open area, far from the main road and has no settlement nearby. A perfect place to practice without minding the safety of passersby.
The training is planned for two weeks with two sessions a day. One in the morning and one in the late evening. Each session involves half the number of troops stationed in Baroks, 2500 men. No one is allowed to skip the training. Every soldier must have basic skills of handling artillery even if they're not artillerists.
When there's a large movement of the army, it's hard to not attract any attention from people. Added to the departure of the mayor and his family in the same direction, people in the city couldn't help but to be curious.
Samuel is ultimately a pivotal and respected figure in Baroks. Everything he does becomes a talk among the populace. Because Samuel made no announcement about it, question after question begins in their mind.
Where did the mayor go?
Why is the army moving out?
Is it true that it's just training?
Has the war broken out?
Did the mayor abandon us?
As they didn't get the answer to their questions, some started to search for it. The braves go in the direction Samuel is headed to.
Among them are spies of Inver blending into the group.
It's not hard for them to find it since the practice is never a secret. Furthermore, the mayor's carriage is conspicuous compared to others. All they need to do is ask everyone who came across the luxurious carriage.
*Boom*
*Boom*
*Boom*
Reaching the exercise area, they heard a deafening sound followed by the sound of rocks collapsing. Every time they heard it, their heart shook yet they never took off their eyes from watching the cannons destroying the targets.
Soon, people began to crowd. As much as they want to look closer, they can't.
The soldiers are guarding the perimeter and blocked them from approaching.
All of the commotions didn't go unnoticed by Gerald, Audrey, Samuel and his wife.
"Dear, there's a lot of people gathered there," asked Aurora with a concerned voice.
"I know. Let them be." Samuel gives a short reply.
The Inver spies have a sense of dreadful feeling watching the cannons' performance.
'I have to report this to the capital.' said one of them before returning to Baroks. There's a lot of information he needs to write in his letter.
Duan on the other hand ignores these people and focuses on training the soldier. There are four main points he wants to focus on during teaching the soldier in Baroks; reloading speed, accuracy, coordination with one another and tactics.
"Do you think they see the cannons?" Audrey ask.
Gerald sneered, "Definitely. They would be an idiot if they're not reporting this crucial information."
"When should we depart to Inver?" She asks again.
"Let's see...If they depart today, it will take them five to six days to reach their capital. That if they're moving fast with very little rest. At a normal pace, probably seven to nine days."
"So, we will depart in six days then." Audrey doesn't believe the spies will take their leisure time.
"Yes."
Inwardly, she's rejoicing in the fact that she gets to eat free food for another six days.
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