The Tales of Draconic Warlock

Ah, we have finally arrived in the Rethorne Empire.

It was not an easy thing. Teleporting too many times consecutively is not a good thing for both body and mind but since we are all high-ranking awakeners, we made do but that was not what I was talking about.

I was talking about the town where the teleportation to Redthorne is present, Reckless.

They should have named it Bandit Town as that would have perfectly suited the town and its people. Most of them are like bandits wearing very shiny clothes. Bandits who appear as law-abiding citizens.

Everything costs here a lot more than what they actually should and do in other places.

First, reaching this town wasn't easy. It took days for us to reach the town, though it should have taken only a day at most. This was because of the route that connects Reckless Town to the Border Town.

It was not an easy path to traverse. There is a lot of forest in between these two towns and the cleared path is not a straight line. the forest si not normal on but a swamp forest. So veering off the path is pretty dangerous.

The kingdom made this path with the future in mind.

If by chance the empire or any enemy gains access to that town, Reckless, then this path would slow them down. It would give time for the kingdom to prepare or flee depending on the situation.

Though no one would say that they were just getting time to flee, that was always an option for the ones in power. The ones in the lower category would have no such options.

If a war happens and if that is lost, the ones with less power die and would gain nothing from that war. There would be only losses and losses in every direction.

The top powers would have a chance to escape if the scenario appears where they would lose the war. By fleeing they would lose the power and authority that they held over the kingdom, but they would still have their lives and the resources that they collected all this time. It would be more than enough for them to start elsewhere.

If fate gives them a chance, they can regain what is lost somewhere else too. So, there was no need to worry about the lost kingdom for them. It was not similar to losing an empire, which is like losing a lot of land and resources and also soldiers.

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Anyway, because we had to take the safe and designated path it took longer than it should. Even though it was designated safe, it was not safe.

There were many monsters that appeared from time to time. There was even a bandit group that attacked us, seeing that we were only three people and took us for weaklings. I didn't participate much as the twins thought that I was weak and that I was not going to spill my secrets anytime soon.

I took care of some of the weak bandits, while the twins cleared all others, including their leader.

For a time, the travellers along the path would not face any bandits but that would be only for a short time. Within days everyone would know about the absence of the bandits and that means there is a vacancy for new bandits to occupy and they would.

New bandits would appear in a few days but there is nothing we can do about that.

Trade would flourish as long as the paths of travel and increased trade would improve the economy of a nation but that doesn't mean the kingdom would be interested in making the routes safer any time soon.

I posed such a question to my father and what do you think he said to me?

"So, it is not as simple as that. Yes, clearing out the paths for trade would increase the economy of the nation but there is something called politics. No one cares about the nation as a whole but only about themselves".

"It wouldn't be a problem if they think about themselves and try to improve but what many do is think about how to destroy others while improving themselves. Sometimes, instead of developing themselves, what they spend their time on was on how to destroy others".

"There are many envious people in the kingdom and they can't see one developing more than them. The only way to destroy economies without directly showing their hand is through bandits and monsters. Monsters can't be controlled by bandits, they would do evil things as long as they were paid. Many a time, they won't need to be paid".

"As long as there are bandits in trade routes, the growth of the economy would slow down. So, these envious people would make sure that these paths were not easily cleared and this is why the royal forces won't leave the central region. To them, those lands are important and that is where they would actively act against the bandits and monsters".

"If the kingdom has the king as the sole power holder, then he can do whatever he wants to do but there are many noble factions, if united can bring them down. So they would never let any faction merge with another or even become close allies".

"There is a lot you don't know. You will come to know about these things later on. For now, concentrate on ranking up. After you graduate, you may not have much time to improve as you do now".

Yes, that is what he said back when I was still in the academy.

So, to appease one faction or another, the kingdom won't directly involve itself. If not for that, there wouldn't be as many bandits there as of now, but it was not my problem.

The new bandits that come here to occupy the vacancy would have nothing to do with us, not until we return home.

We didn't stay in the town to rest for long. Only for the night but they charged more than the cost of one night in the capital. Originally we wanted to spend another day here as we don't know how the other side would be but with how pricey this place is, we decided not to.

In the morning, we found the teleportation hub and paid for our travel.

Now, we are in the Redthorne Empire.