Chapter 143: Chapter 126 – A Jarl’s Hospitality

"The way Jötunbergians arrange their political and social system is unique to them. Their society was basically divided into three castes. Lowest are the Thralls, or serfs, which also includes those who had commited crimes and were punished with slavery. In the middle are the Karls, or the freemen, who form the middle class of artisans and merchants of the society. At the top of the hierarchy are the Jarls, or nobility, who rule over the rest. Despite the strict caste system, an individual could move through the castes relatively easily through their lives. Most thralls would become karls with time unless they were hopelessly lazy, while on the other hand worthless karls could just as easily lose their status and end up a thrall. Similarly, history had recorded cases of thralls who worked or fought their way to jarldom, and of people born a jarl who were demoted straight to thralldom." - Garth Wainwrought, professor of socioeconomics at the Levain Institute of Higher Learning.

Sigval borrowed the wendigo's skull from Cal and raised it high to show to his party, as he yelled out to them that the beast is dead. Most of the party cheered, though a few grumbled and questioned if that meant they would not be paid. Those grumbling turned to cheers when Sigvald said everyone will be paid the bonus pay for combat regardless.

 

He then returned the skull reverently to Cal, who accepted it and made it disappear into her pendant. They then travelled together with Sigvald's group.

 

It was a slower trek down the mountains with the group, as they moved slower than if Cal was just with her nieces, but she was fine with it and kept her pace.

 

As they headed down the mountain and passed a particularly thick pile of snow, a rather small - only three meters long or so - white bear burst out from its hiding spot beneath the snow, and charged the nearest person to it.

 

Unfortunately for the poor bear, that person was Cal. Sigvald didn't even get a chance to yell out in warning before Cal caught the bear's paws with her two hands, and with a twist of her waist, threw the bear over her shoulder and smashed it to the ground in a bone-crunching slam.

 

Before the eyes of the baffled adventurers, the bear rose up, whined pitifully, and bolted into the wilderness with its tail between its legs. Cal only watched it go and didn't chase, unaware of the awed looks the adventurers gave her.

 

"I must say… lady Ambervale, that the rumors and songs did not do you justice," said Sigvald after he gulped and calmed himself from the sight he just witnessed. He had heard stories about the Blood Demon of Al-Shan before, but hearing stories and seeing the person in question manhandle a three-meter bear like it was a petulant stepchild were two very different things.

 

"Most of them are likely horribly exaggerated, I'm certain," Cal replied while she brushed off the snow that had fallen on her when she threw the bear. "I thought Blood affinity mages aren't that uncommon in Jötunberg?"

 

"Well… they aren't," answered Sigvald somewhst nervously. "But ones of your caliber definitely are, and not just here I wager."

 

"I guess," replied Cal nonchalantly before they continued with their journey.

 

Once they reached the foot of the mountain, Cal saw the adventurer party's transportation, left there and guarded by two younger adventurers. Since it had snowed the past few days, they had made the two-day journey between the city of Hagenbadd and the mountains on sleds, each pulled by a team of twenty large, wolfish dogs.

 

Despite their large size and fierce appearances though, the dogs were very docile and playful, and greeted the returning adventurers with tackles and licks. A couple even sniffed around Cal and her nieces in curiosity, and Cal smiled as she bent down and rubbed one dog's head while she tickled its chin with her other hand.

 

Her nieces also played with the eager dogs for while, as the adventurers packed up and readied for departure. Once they were ready, one adventurer whistled, and fhe dogs flocked to him and were soon harnessed to their respective sleds.

 

Fortunately the goats her nieces rode on were fast enough to keep up with the dog-pulled sleds, while Cal easily kept up with them on foot, at a pace that was merely a casual walk for her.

 

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They spent a night camped in the wilderness, where some of the adventurers looked with a bit of envy at Cal's large, warded and enchanted tent, before they looked at their far more normal tents and sighed with disappointment.

 

Shortly after noon the next day, they reached Hagenbadd together. First Sigvald led the adventurers go the guild and settled their payment, then he led Cal and her nieces towards his father's mansion.

 

Jötunbergians had no habit of building castles for their nobility, and the Jarl's mansion was merely a better decorated, larger longhouse situated at the northern end of the city.

 

They were received and seated in the large common room that tripled as the living room and dining room as well, where they seated themselves on fur-coated wooden chairs. Sigvald had went further into the mansion to fetch his father, the Jarl.

 

The man in question arrived as he followed behind his son not fifteen minutes later. At a glance their family resemblance was obvious, as the father had the same heroic build as the son. He also had the same shade of red in his hair, though by now it had been thoroughly streaked with grey.

 

He welcomed Cal to his house politely and shook her hand, then asked if he could see the wendigo's skull. When Cal brought it out on a table, the Jarl's eyes sparkled and he inspectex the skull with obvious passion in his expression, while his son behind him shook his head at the sight.

 

"Milady Ambervale, if I may be so bold to ask, would you part with this magnificent trophy if I were to offer a sum for it?" Asked the jarl with a wide grin at Cal.

 

"I don't see why not," she replied nonchalantly. "I don't exactly keep trophies anyway."

 

"Excellent, how does a sum of four platinum sounds then? I believe it to be a fair price for such a good specimen as this."

 

Cal raised an eyebrow when she heard the high price offered, and nodded to the offer. The Jarl quickly counted out four platinum coins from his storage ring, then after some calculations, added a fifth to it.

 

"The extra is for the promised bonuses in my request to hunt this creature," explained the Jarl gleefully. "I know you had not taken on the request formally, but fact is you had killed the beast for us, and I'd be a poor host to let that go unrewarded."

 

"I won't say no then," Cal said as she took the coins and stored them in her pendant.

 

"Please, I beseech such noble guests to stay in my humble abode for the night. At least allow me to show you some hospitality for the help you have offered us."

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