Noctis made his way down the ridge carefully in the early morning on a certain day. It had been a few days since the start of the so called training and the owlings had now started hunting.
In the same vein Noctis too started employing his skills for hunting living prey but owing to his inability to see at night unlike his fellow students he decided it best to get back on his natural circadian cycle.
Fortunately the ridge wasn’t too steep and had some grass and trees growing which helped him descend safely although a little tired.
Taking a moment to gather his breath, Noctis looked towards the vast expanse of blue with towering clouds over the rich fauna in front of him.
From where he stood he could hear the sound of water falling off into a pond continuously.
Taking a deep breath he stretched out his body.
"A great day to hunt. Let’s get it going."
He didn’t have much chance to scout the forest between running around from the hounds and practicing in the pitch black darkness.
He planned a quick look around the forest floor in the vicinity of the ridge itself.
He expected moving stealthily would be especially difficult in the much denser and humid climate of the deep fauna but his senses had increased yet again after the... stag incident.
After a brief stalking Noctis decided to hunt a small gazelle.
Sitting on a tree a few meters from the gazelle silently eating some roots Noctis started focusing on the surroundings along with the flow of energy inside him.
A vine sprouted from a tree behind the gazelle slashing towards it. The gazelle however jumped with incredible power and sprinted away before it could get a hold of him.
Expecting such initial failures, Noctis wasn’t discouraged and started moving to find another prey.
’Perhaps encircling them rather than hoping for capturing them in one fell swoop would be easier. But it’s require much more focus time to-’
Halting his thoughts and drumming his heart was a sound he had come to dread as of now.
Exhaling a sigh and inhaling a deep breath with barely a moment in between, Noctis turned on his heel and sprinted towards the ridge where he had departed from.
Two armoured men with a spear in their hands moved through a semi-trodden path that showed signs of neglect.
Shrubs and greens here and there hinted at its lessened usage from its hey-days and the reclaiming of nature much like the deciduous forest surrounding the path.
They wore long black pants with knee high boots and a fitted dark purple jacket. The leather strappings as well as the emblem at the arms as well as helmets on their heads hinted at them being soldiers or guards serving someone.
After a while of walking they reached what looked to be a small village located in the middle of nowhere.
The larger of the guard kept moving without a cursory glance at the houses at either side of the road towards the deeper part of the village with familiar gait.
The smaller younger one curiously looked at the people now making their way out of their homes and staring at them.
They bore extremely worried expressions. To the point the guard thought they were looking at the devil itself coming to snatch their first borns from their hands rather than guards of their lord.
"Why do they look so... worried, sire?"
He asked softly to his senior.
"Don’t they look oddly like those crooks living among the Mendiants after they get caught stealing."
He replied with a smirk not at all silently.
The junior guard tilted his head but said nothing.
Eventually they stopped in front of a slightly larger house made up of fired bricks and laid with coloured clay making it stand out among the mud and hay huts of the village.
The senior guard knocked the door loudly.
Soon an old man opened the door. Seeing the intimidating soldiers at the door the old man’s breath hitched the same as every year no matter how many times he had gone through this.
He uttered with difficulty.
"Save it. You’re given a notice a week earlier. Present it."
The old man looked deeper in the house as a young man came out with a scroll.
Taking the scroll the larger guard looked into it and said in an authoritative tone.
"910 Livres and 16 sous. Pay up and we’ll be on our way."
"Yes t-that. How about we talk a little inside Monsieur."
"There is nothing to talk about. You owe a sum in this year’s taxes to the Earl of Chagmantine. You were given the details in advance. Now get this over with, we don’t have all day here."
The young man came back from inside to the gate and handed the old man a pouch.
The old man took the pouch and handed it towards the guards with shaky hands and nervous expression.
The junior guard took the pouch without orders and started counting the silver coins inside.
After a bit he looked up towards the old man and the expression of the villagers, swallowed his saliva at their stead and relayed something towards the senior in his ears.
The senior’s expression morphed into a scowl as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"311 livre 12 sous too short."
"As you m-might know Monsieur the flooding of the Houtti river caused most crops to die causing the h-"
"That’s been your excuse for the third year in a row now."
"Ye-yes. You see the river flooded again not long after causing the crop to go bad because of water logged soil as well as the unseasonable rain previous year and.. and.."
"And what? How many more excuses do you have for your laziness? You have a forest behind you, a natural river stream close by. A major route just ahead and you still make up this minor sum!"
The guard banged his spear on the ground.