Larua and Fulgeo accompanied him in his escape. Fulgeo as the fourth son would need his siblings to all perish before inheriting anything. Thus to make a name for himself he left his family to become an adventurer.
Lars, who naturally had little to his name tried to return all the Vals he saved up from his salary back to Aurum. After parting ways with the [Convent of Shadows], Aurum took him in as a servant and gave him an above-average salary.
As most of the man's needs were supplied by the Standar family, he had little use for the money he earned over the years. Aurum who felt like the most pathetic person in the world could only accept in humiliation. He made a vow to return the money when he could. To which Lars didn't even think was necessary.
While traveling felt a whisper in his mind as he prayed for a destination. The faint voice told him to seek a seer inside the church of eternity and ask how should he find his purpose in life. He found one which charged a hefty premium for his services. Against Geo's pleas to reconsider, Aurum followed his gut and bought a one-time fortune for nearly all their money.
The fortune only detailed a few things. "Your future is to serve the one who will stand against the darkness. Suffering will you always be by his side; Yet, your life shall find meaning in protecting the weak and punishing the strong. Go to the place where the tears of the morning turn to ice. In the bosom of the forest shall he you seek come forth. The one to lift you up from despair rampages there."
Geo who only believed in logic, couldn't help but lament. "I knew this was a waste of time, the fortune is a scam and utter bullshit! That quack intentionally spoke in riddles so no one could sue him for lying! None of what he said made any sense. That used up nearly all our money, we have nothing left to rent an inn or even buy food with!"
"Aurum, did you feel like it was a good trade? What do we do now?" Lars who believed in Aurum didn't bother lambasting his decision and simply asked for instructions.
The son of Standar felt cheated at the fortune he spent good money on. wondering if the whispers intentionally lead him astray, he felt the world around him collapsing.
As they didn't have money to travel, they tried to look for alternatives or some semblance of a plan. It was then they noticed a large number of men rushing off in one direction.
"Huh? Where are they all going? The energy is unbelievable!"
A random passer-by heard Aurum speaking out loud and answered. "Oh, you didn't know? They said something amazing happened. The previously cordoned-off area, the Frozen dew forest is now passable! Merchants are now in a hiring frenzy in preparing expeditions. Carriages drivers, escorts, porters everything."
"Frozen dew forest? Where the tears of the morning turn to ice… it is just a coincidence?"
"Aurum, I know what you are thinking but dew is not called tears of the morning! Stop trying to see shit in everything just because you are desperate! Focus! We need a heading and a place to earn money from otherwise we will starve!"
Following his heart, the son of Standar followed the mass of people heading to the market. Fulgeo and Lars naturally followed him even though they had their own reservations. Upon arriving they saw long queues of people applying for jobs on the expeditions.
Looking around they saw a large number of merchants organizing caravans to journey to other kingdoms using the Frozen dew forest as a passageway. Originally the lands of the now fractured Valorious empire needed to follow an extremely treacherous route to reach the Dominii empire.
Traveling from one empire to another would need months and carrying provisions and manpower for such a trip needed a lot of money. Naturally, the routes were monopolized by well-established merchants. Thus the draw of suddenly being able to sell their specialties in the Dominii empire whipped the Valorious merchants into a frenzy.
The trio suddenly heard a man debating with a clerk at a shop. "What do you mean I need a nobleman's guarantee? I am from the Srayver merchant family! I just need insurance for a one-way trip."
"I know sir, but the Srayver family is not a noble family. Only nobility-backed caravans can claim insurance. Not unless you find a sponsor I cannot help you its company policy."
"Please! This is my last chance to make up for all the losses I had over the course of the year! If I do not journey forward I will go bankrupt!"
"Go find a sponsor then come back, I have other customers to attend to."
The troubled merchant then walked away fuming, his bald bodyguard then asked in concern. "What do we do know Alan? We can try going without insurance, but I doubt my men would want to. That insurance is the only guarantee our families will not starve if we die."
"I know Hach, and I am not asking you to force your men to comply. Nothing good comes from brute forcing negotiations like this. Shit! All the nobles already had caravans preparing!"
Aurum who heard the merchant's plight felt like he stumbled on his answer. The only question was if he was willing to risk it all for a fleeting hope. "Geo, do you still have your medal for your peerage?"
The redhead unaware of his friend's intent answered in reflex. "I do, it's worthless though, even If we sell it we won't get much. It's just a token to prove I am from the Renacida. Being the fourth son, the guarantee is not even worthy of mention."
The son of Standar then asked again. "Has the Renacida sent any expeditions to the Dominii empire?"
"Ha? Where would we even get the money to finance one? Or rather why would we even do so? My family the Renacida are warmongers, all our funds are funneled to our armies, weaponry, or armor. We don't really spend on anything else."
Members of the Renacida family were notorious for being the most frugal of nobility. But none had the audacity to disrespect them due to the fact that they were one of the most powerful of the noble armies; Despite being mere barons. Although the royalty imposed army size limitations to deter rebellion. They do not interfere with how nobles managed their forces.
Thus the Renacida whose name meant reborn trained the men they hired under intense grueling circumstances. After generations of painstaking development, they now had an army that never lost. The Renacida army called the "Phoenix Company" grew in fame for having each member at level 50 and ranks no lesser than [Adepts].
Even though they were only allowed a standing army of 100 men. If all the 100 were superhuman the damage they could inflict was a very good deterred even to armies thousand strong. Thus everything from monster exterminations, and punitive expeditions, to squashing out rebellions. The Renacida were treated as the sharpest sword of the kingdoms in the Valorious empire.
It could be said that this particular family passed even viscounts in terms of power and influence. Aurum then asked his long-time friend. "Geo, if I asked for your medal would you give it to me?"
"Huh? What in the world are you saying? How can that stupid trinket help you?"
"I need it to go to my next destination, I also want to know if you trust me enough to follow. The same question applies to you, Lars."
