Mordred took in the fortified farm in front of them and let out a low whistle. "Looks like those others we captured were telling the truth. This place looks more well-put together than the others we've seen so far."

  "Or at least the ones that haven't been pillaged, then left to ruin," Kuch muttered, studying the semi-organized defenses. "This has to be where the last of their organized command is, or at least for the routed soldiers of Viszal. I doubt the bandit gangs we've encountered elsewhere are part of this."

  "Hm. A few mercenaries though on the walls, maybe they fell into working together- oh." The dragon took a pointed step behind her companion. "Archers."

  Beneath their helmet, the doll rolled their eyes but slightly tilted their helmet down to keep a lucky shot from going their their visor for a critical hit. A light volley was fired their way, likely more intended to dissuade and wound than kill. But any that hit merely clattered off the dragon bone plate, none of the arrows penetrating through. When the brief hail of projectiles stopped, the shooters likely gaping in shock, the oathbreaker nodded to the woman. "Give them a single offer. Afterwards, we take the farm back whether or not they're still in it."

  "Same as usual then. Hope these ones are a bit more sensible. No point in a fight that's got nothing to offer me." She ducked out of cover and waved her hand, approaching the wall of wary defenders with a raised voice "All of you up there! I think it's about time you gave up, don't you think?"

  A few raised their bows back up with arrows notched, but didn't draw back yet. She noticed that a few had sent others running, perhaps to fetch their leaders. That lent only more credence to Kuch's suspicions if they actually had a command structure beyond a single leader barking rash orders. Mordred waited patiently, completely lax and unbothered by the archers still aiming at her. If they really did choose violence, she could just activate [Serpent Step] to not just dodge, but also sally up and be among them to start taking heads.

  But she didn't want to if she didn't need to. Heart-Piercer was meant for one target in Mordred head; she didn't want it to start developing an unnecessary taste for that of others before then. Plus, it was simply just far too chilly for a fight- she wanted to nap instead.

  Eventually, some of what looked to be officers emerged out to have a look at the adventurer before them. She took in their stained and battered armors which had definitely seen better days, noting that they also looked exhausted, likely at their wit's end. That didn't stop them from still projecting some sort of authoritative voice at least. "Are you the one they call the Blood Lance?"

  Mordred's teeth immediately set against one another, bothered by the title she'd apparently earned from dealing with those mercenaries that night. Apparently whatever few survivors and witnesses had made outrageous claims, like she was the Divine of Death in human form, having descended to imaple the wicked undeserving of the gentle scythe. It had, quite annoyingly, caught on and spread quickly through the fleeing mercenaries and soldiers, earning herself a moniker that was screamed by the various bandits occupying these farms.

  Kuch had mentioned it probably was also being spread further, likely being passed on by whatever bandits decided to leave their gangs to try their luck elsewhere. So in a way, it had been a good thing, letting her name start to spread and gain reputation. But on the other, 'Blood Lance?' Really?

  She wasn't even a vampire!

  Though it grated her to have such a label, it did sort of come in handy. Sometimes. "If I am, would that change your answer?" Mordred called back in an off-handed manner. To emphasize, she took out her lance and slammed it against the ground, the tip easily piercing through the cold dirt between the wilted crops. "Accompanying me back there too is the one who slew Eifer, heir to Viszal."

  "The Dark Knight," one of the officers spat. Word had gotten around about them too, a few of the house troops managing to bear witness to the duel through the portcullis and fleeing afterwards. "They say that a dutiful retainer has an obligation to avenge their slain lord."

  "Fancy way of saying that you want to lose your head too, but you do you," she responded with a shrug. "Kuch'll even oblige you if you wish to press on it. But that can happen after you first yield the farm and surrender into our custody."

  "You're just two people!"

  "There's actually an entire detachment of house troops coming by later actually. House Cordis really wants their land back."

  There was a rather pregnant pause while the soldier-bandits took in that news. "W-we could hold out. Make it a siege?"

  "Really? With those walls?" Mordred dryly mentioned and pulled out her weapon to point at them. "It won't come to it even. We'll take the farm before you even have to start worrying about your defenses."

  "We...we have hostages!" The dragon gave them a very long look that screamed she knew that was a big fat lie. Yet they continued to bluff with false bluster. "S-stay back if you don't them hurt!"

  "You don't have any, because you kicked them all out to reduce the number of mouths to feed. None of the others kept any, because they needed all the food they could get." Her expression darkened. "Be glad that you at least let them live. If you hadn't, we wouldn't have give an opportunity for surrender.

  "Now, are you going to open the gates, or am I going to have be a big, bad adventurer to blow them wide open?"

  She allowed them a moment of flustered discussion between the officers, each of their shoulders slowly slumping as they finally came to terms with reality. But they still did have their faint pride as leaders for their soldiers, obligations even unto death. "Will you guarantee fair treatment? A fair trial according to imperial law?"

  Mordred shook her head, then clarified. "Not up for me to decide. It'll be House Cordis who takes you in to make that decision."

  "...They're honorable and will do the right then. Even if we wronged them badly. Very well- we surrender to you, Blood Lance and Dark Knight."

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  I followed along through Kuch while the returned farmers went through their pillaged home, figuring out the extent of the damage. The now-captive bandits hadn't exactly been gentle and freely ripped apart parts of the property to suit their needs, having little reason attachment or care. It got even worse when they found out where the food stores had been and devoured most of it up, not even bothering to replace it at all. Clumsily cut and improperly process grain stalks told me that they had tried for a harvest, but being a farmer was definitely a lot different than being a soldier.

  "They couldn't figure out how to do a harvest, so they gave up and let the fields rot and die," I muttered, shaking my head. "Better than at least burning them when they realized they couldn't win."

  "I can't understand why some humans would do such a stupid thing," Mordred angrily grumbled, now wrapped in a warm cloak to stave off the chill. "For what reason would they just...destroy food that somebody else could eat! Me especially!" she complained, leading me to give a rueful chuckle.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  "Because some folks out there are spiteful beings. It's the same logic between letting people go, or killing them. It's an active choice they made, for reasons that appeal to them." I gave her a look. "You know, a few might even say that a quest of revenge is a stupid thing as well."

  She growled loudly, sounding more frustrated than enraged. "It's not for me," the woman settled upon with a grumble. "It's...different."

  The introspective moment was interrupted by one of the expelled farmers, like the leader of this commune made up of a few families. They glumly confirmed what I'd suspected. "It's pretty badly damaged, and there's not enough left to feed ourselves for winter if we just stay here. The livestock's all gutted and eaten, and the building are liable to collapse at any point," they morosely told. "We'll have to take up the lord's offer to stay in the city for the winter, then return to rebuild in spring. Small mercies that he's generous enough to waive the rent this year, all things considering."

  "Rent?" Mordred questioned, focusing on the idea to try and help ward off the weather. "What's that?"

  "Oh, you're not from around here, right. Rent's something we have to pay to the duke year on year, usually with part of our harvest."

  "What! Why?!"

  "Because we don't actually own the land, the House Cordis does."

  "Huh? Wait, how does that work?" Mordred paused, then shook her head. "You know what, never mind. I'm not going to try and wrap my head around it-"

  "You should," I sternly told through Kuch, earning a look from her. "It's the same everywhere from the empire, so not knowing how it works means you'll stand out badly. Plus, I myself am curious too about how this system works." The dragon grumbled a bit more, but at least stayed put instead of wandering off to try and see if that dead cow was still good eating.

  I recalled that in FLOW, the governments the players most interacted with had surprisingly modern notions and allowances, especially regarding player characters and their incredible freedoms. Part of this had been the housing license system, obtainable through raising one's reputation with these NPC kingdoms to a sufficient degree. These had then granted players the ability to claim a parcel of unsettled land within the territory to build a player home in the world. Of course, sometimes players had wanted a specific plot and were willing to compete over it- truly proving that sometimes all the developers had to do was give players the tools of opportunity, and they'll create gremlin chaotic gameplay themselves.

  Ah, returning back to the point, while the license was active, players did have to pay regular rent and upkeep for their home. Combined with the features of [Foundation], it basically had been an account timer to make sure inactive players didn't just occupy a piece of the world forever, as well as giving reason to continue adventuring and interacting instead of staying in one's home all day. It had been hinted this was the same system used by other NPCs settlements in the world, usually with payments to whatever local government power there was to handle protection, benefits, and other sorts of community expenses.

  It looked like the idea had persisted over time in this world, or at least in this part of it. When House Cordis had been restored by the emperor alongside the Duchy of Gabion, they were given the discretion to lease out their land for farmers willing to tend and cultivate the land for crops. They'd supply seeds at the start of spring, then take a portion of the harvest every year as payment for them and rent. If after the harvest the farmers wanted to quit or move, they then could appeal for and receive permission to vacate, though usually only after a replacement family had been brought in.

  It was honestly quite a deal considering that their rent was based entirely on how well the farm did that year. Yet it wasn't all entirely without some conditions. "I heard that in other parts of the empire, they'd actually let you pay in coin too. But that's not something House Cordis let happen- something about how they needed food more than gold," the farmer grumbled. "Also apparently restricted things like cotton, can't grow them. You can't even do it with this weather, what are they thinking?"

  "I'm sure they're just making sure they cover all possibilities, there are actually some cotton strands that could grow here," I patiently reasoned. "But it wouldn't do if you all starved because everybody decided to plant fibers instead of foodstuff."

  The farmer grumbled but conceded the point. "Just a little annoying. But well, I can't really complain. We've got a lord who actually cares and listen in when the smallfolk occasionally tussle with one another to make fair judgements. Heard too that in other places of the empire, you're at the mercy of whatever magistrate or count the duke appoints instead."

  Still, with the western lands now opened up for expansion, I fully expected House Cordis to revise their limitations. Hm, perhaps they'll grant special exception to a select few farms to grow special crops? That'd be nice cash makers. I was still debating if I wanted to start my own field at my manor too, but still worried over the fact I didn't have anybody who could maintain something like that. Maybe a vegetable garden at best?

  The smell of a stew reached through Kuch's nose now and I blinked with them. Mordred noticed too and perked up, the thought of a warm meal easily dispelling the slightly glazed look in her eyes. "Food?"

  The farmer laughed and gestured to where a large pot was being tended to. "Ah, well, figured that we might as well make use of what little is here to make a warm meal for everybody. Even if we're not going to be living here for the winter, we'll be back in spring- starting back from scratch, but not the first time our family's done so. We'll rebuild and we'll survive.

  "And guess we wanted to express our thanks, however poor we are. Really, these are just whatever vegetables that were left uneaten, so can't promise anything tasty."

  "I'm not complaining, I'd love for something hot in this weather!" Mordred exclaimed and hastily made her way over, earning a bemused look from the farmer.

  "It's not that cold though?"

  "She's a little sensitive to temperature," I mentioned in passing while heading towards, at least curious to know what was being used for the stew. It seemed to indeed just be a few poor quality vegetables being prepared for the meal, some cabbages, carrots, onions, turnips. Nothing extraordinary. The dragon eagerly awaited like it was a full roast cow regardless.

  A certain vegetable caught my eye and, before it was diced up, I took and studied it carefully. "Oh? You interested in that beet there?" the farmer asked, a little confused at both adventurers now. "It's got a solid, full flavor that goes well pickled. But well, since we weren't around to harvest and those bandits aren't great at it, this one's a bit overripe. All that nice flavor's unfortunately gone into those seeds there."

  "That's fine." I was smiling underneath Kuch's helmet as I plucked at the prickly seeds. "Because that's what I'm after. How many do you have? Never mind, I'll take them all."

  "Hm?"

  "Tell me, how often do you get to sample something sweet like honey? Or, maybe even more rarely, sugar?"

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