Kishin is a small village of about 1500 residents. It was one of the newest territories to be added to the kingdom. This village was one of the last remnants of a fallen kingdom to the west. What was the cause of this kingdom's downfall? It was a simple misfortune of three labyrinths spawning monster stampedes simultaneously. The Kingdom of Alvara was known for gaining large amounts of wealth thanks to the many Labyrinths that were within its borders. It was a risk to create a Kingdom with so many Labyrinths, but it was a necessary risk.
Alvara's economy was built around mining the Labyrinth's resources, creating and selling high-quality weapons and armor, and farming the many farmlands within their borders. But when three of the Labyrinths closest to the capital started spawning out their monsters, it was too much for the country to handle.
It only took a week before the entire Kingdom fell to the Labyrinth stampedes. Most of the survivors fled east towards Kishin. By the time the capital fell, Kishin was one of the last surviving villages of the fallen kingdom, and the town couldn't support all the refugees, which led to the village becoming overpopulated. With nowhere else to turn, the Mayor of the village reached out to the City of Ironside, declaring that they would join the Kingdom of Fiafyr if they helped defeat the last monster horde.
Upon hearing of their plight, Baron Arathar Coldforge took the initiative before he could get the King involved. Kishin wasn't too far from "The Tomb of the Horde," and it would be a good frontier outpost in the future for farming materials from the Labyrinth and the lands around the Dungeon.
After the dwarven-human army was victorious in defending the last survivors of the fallen kingdom. Baron Coldforge, along with a delegation from Ironside, returned to the capital to gain the King's blessing, and they accepted forty thousand new citizens into the Kingdom of Fiafyr, and the surrounding land became Fiafyr territory. This took place almost one hundred years ago.
Over the decades, the village had expanded into a medium-sized town, with many new residents coming in and out. Kishin established an Adventurer's Guild Headquarters, and their biggest export was lumber, thanks to the large forest to its west.
Everything seemed to be going well until about twenty-five years ago, when Duke Alaric saw the town as an asset. He needed to gather as many Minor Nobles to his side as possible since the Prime Minister had the majority of the support of the Major Nobles. He had been gathering support and money for his goal to get his son to the throne. And Kishin was his most recent conquest. The corruption and greed of the major noble family were making life harder for the townspeople, and the few minor nobles who didn't agree with how the Dukedom was handling their town were slowly being replaced by nobles loyal to the Duke.
Over the decades, most of the population who could leave did so, moving to neighboring towns and cities. But the ones that stayed couldn't afford to leave and start a new life. The town was more like a village again in population size, and when the Labyrinth stampede occurred, they nearly lost the town entirely. If it weren't for the heroics from the Adventurer's Guild, all would have been lost.
By the time Quinus and his party were walking around the streets of the village, a few of the townspeople were out late at night. There was the main square, an open-air bar, and a restaurant that was closed at this time. There was also the usual Adventure Guild building and a couple of stalls where people sold things like fruits, vegetables, and fish. The main street had several houses on both sides, but they all looked empty. The village of Kishin's major attractions were logging and monster harvesting. Thanks to its location being so close to the giant forest to its west, called the Great Greenwood Forest. The only downside was the many monsters that roamed the forest, which was where the adventurers came in handy. They would keep the monster numbers in check. But after the stampede, the town had been undermanned, and the monsters had become a real problem for the small town, which was in a bad state.
Rya looked around and noticed the main street had several houses on both sides, but they all looked abandoned. The doors of many of the buildings were either broken or nailed shut. They didn't see any lights in most of the homes, which made it look pretty gloomy. She could tell that not much had been happening in the village for a while now.
Percy noticed Rya glancing at the abandoned buildings and put his hand on her shoulder. "This village took the worst of the horde before we arrived. Many homes and lives were lost. There were several times when the village had been overrun, but thanks to the Adventurer Guild's guild master, they managed to fend off the horde. But, they lost their Guild Master."
"Isn't there a mayor or a lord that's supposed to keep things in order?" Rya asked.
Percy grimaced and was about to speak when Quinus interrupted him. "The Mayor is loyal to my uncle. He is a coward and wasn't willing to put forth any effort to stop the stampede. Let's just say he is more concerned with his own needs than the needs of his people," Quinus said, clenching his fists.
Rya nodded as she made sure to cover her ears. 'Of course, the uncle is evil... What type of fantasy world would it be if there weren't any evil Lords or Nobles!' Rya thought with a sigh. 'So much for the easy life in the palace... With my luck, I'm going to be drawn into whatever bullshit he has up his sleeve... This is so fucking cliche!'
They continued to walk to the other side of the square, and the few people around were looking at the group strangely. Rya could hear some of them as they started murmuring to each other. But Rya's Dark Elven ears could hear them clear as day.
"Is that the Crown Prince?... Does that mean they stopped the stampede? I thought it was a fool's errand?" A man said to his friends as he walked past them.
"Don't know? Maybe they did? Wait a moment, isn't that a Wolfkin and a Dark Elf? What the hell are their kind doing here?" Another townsfolk questioned as they saw Dalia and Rya trying to hide in the middle of the group.
Rya pulled her hood down when she heard them talking about Dalia and herself. 'What's their problem? Why do they have such an attitude against a Wolfkin and a Dark Elf?'
"Don't worry. They're probably just the Prince's slaves or something," One of the men reassured his fellow townsman.
"Huh? But the King outlawed slavery in the realm... Well, we can't take any chances. Let's get some more guards so we can protect our homes from them," the townsfolk said as they left the town square.
'The fuck? Is this what it feels like to be discriminated against?... This SUCKS!... I have to remember that I'm no longer a white man anymore! Ugh, I hate this... This is an experience I didn't need or want.' Rya thought to herself as she balled up her fists in frustration.
Dalia, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to what the townspeople were saying.
***
Quinus led the group toward a large house, which was probably a mansion, with a wall around it. It was hard to tell, with how dark it was. While Rya was taking in her surroundings, she noticed a man running toward them at breakneck speed from the large house. He was an older man wearing an official uniform of some sort.
"My PRINCE! My apologies!" The man cried.
"Well, look who has come to greet us?" Quinus muttered just loud enough for only the party to hear.
"Aye, the Mayor's minister. I guess Tomas is too busy to greet His Highness in person. Or maybe he's too scared to show his face," Sir George said with a chuckle as he glanced at Quinus for a quick moment.
The man who was dashing towards them finally made it to where Quinus and his party were. Once he was within range of the party, he dropped to his knees and bowed his head before the prince.
"Please forgive my foolishness and disrespect! I- I was unaware of your arrival!" the man pleaded.
"Which one were you again?... Tomas was the one who did all the talking with my cousin the last time we were here," Quinus asked with an irritated tone.
"O-Of course, Crown Prince! I am the Minister of Trade, Mr. Marko Aitken. I serve as the Mayor's right-hand man, my Lord," He spoke without looking into Quinus' eyes.
Quinus looked at him unamused as he was deciding how to deal with this.
"And how is the situation here?" Quinus asked.
"Our people are doing well. Since we haven't had a monster attack for almost three days, my Lord. It is all thanks to your bravery," Marko said with his head still down on the ground.
"I'm sure your people are pleased with that, but I'm not pleased with the welcome we've received, once we returned from the Labyrinth, Mr. Aitken. I'm sure that was Tomas' doing," Quinus stated.
"I-I didn't know my Lord! And I'm sure the Mayor had no idea either. Please don't blame him. I'll make sure the mayor knows that you are displeased. I'm sure he will have a proper punishment for those who wronged you," Marko replied.
"You will do no such thing, Marko. I am going to speak with Tomas myself," Quinus said with anger.
Marko bowed his head in defeat. "O-Of course, my Lord. I'll see if the Mayor can receive His Highness this instant!" Marko said as he quickly turned around and ran back towards the mansion, in the distance. The building was about three hundred yards away from their location.
"Umm. He's going to tell the Mayor everything, isn't he?" Rya said, watching the man run away.
"Probably... If Tomas knows what's best for him, he won't make an appearance, but I don't think that's going to happen," Quinus replied.
Rya couldn't shake the bad feeling she had. "So, what's going to happen now?"
"Well, since he's an ally of my uncle. I'm sure he'll send news that Marcus isn't here," Quinus said with a stern look.
"So, we'll have to fight him, your Highness? I guess our rest is going to be delayed then, huh?" Percy asked, with a sigh. *Poke* "L-Lady Dalia?! Why are you poking me?"
"Hmm? No reason, in particular, young one," Dalia said with a straight face, but her tail was wagging.
'Aw! That's adorable! Haah, but I have to stay vigilant.' Rya thought as she refocused on her surroundings.
"Let's just try and keep our heads up, and deal with this problem. But it has to be the last thing we deal with for the night. I want to sleep in a real bed, Quin," Rya said with a smirk.
"Well... If my Lady commands," Quinus replied with a laugh.
This made Rya blush with embarrassment. She was tired, and it was getting to her.
Sir Menns walked up to the Prince, "Do you wish for us to deal with the Mayor, My Lord? We can handle him."
"No. I need you and your men to patrol the village to see if Tomas tries anything funny. I don't want any messenger leaving the town and alerting my Uncle," Quinus answered.
"With pleasure, Your Highness. We will report if we find anything. Men!" Sir Menns replied, and he gave the signal to the Royal Knights to follow him.
The captain took off to patrol the village with his Knights. Leaving the Prince behind with his retainers and the two girls.
"..."
"Well, let's pay the mayor a visit, shall we?" Quinus said in a serious tone.
They all followed the prince as they walked towards the mayor's estate.