It was during mid-afternoon, likely around 3 or 4 PM, that the 7th Knight-Order approached Brightfield Village. Court-Magus Helena explained it was a mid-sized settlement home to about 5000 souls. Not quite large enough to be a city, but still relatively substantial. Because it was so close to the Oberon Wilds, it also held a branch-office of the Adventurer's Guild, and often relied on local Adventurer's to handle requests related to monster-slaying and the likes.
Apparently, local law-enforcement like guards, and military-men like the Knights, handled human-to-human conflicts, while Adventurer's dealt with monster slaying and requests to that effect. Occasionally however, Guards and Knights may be called upon to assist the Adventurer's guild with emergency tasks, but that was often a last-resort since they were also the nation's strength. Sending too much of their military might to deal with monsters would leave them open to attack from foreign adversaries. Which was why nearly all nations had adopted the Adventurer's Guild. A neutral, international organization that specialized in dealing with monsters. In the face of war between nations, individuals connected to the Adventurer's guild were strictly neutral.
In return for protecting nations from monsters, the Adventurer's Guild and their Adventurer's enjoyed various perks, from commission fees to free passage between nations without the need for paying any tolls. The fact that the 7th Knight-Order had been dispatched to the Oberon Forest was primarily political theater, but also the payment the Adventurer's Guild had required to send a team of adventurers in there had also been astronomical, given the danger and risk involved.
As they approached Brightwood, Lyra realized the entire settlement was encased behind a 3-meter high wooden palisade. There appeared to be two gates in and out of Brightwood. An eastern Gate, and a Western Gate. Both gates and sections of the wall appeared to be manned by guards. The guards were provided by Baron Hellsbrand, the local lord in charge of this territory. The Revean Empire, and most human kingdoms, appeared to be functionally feudal. Which meant a rather decentralized power, where the ruling elite, being the Royal Family, granted power and control of land to trustworthy nobles. These nobles were then individually tasked with managing this land in the stead of the royal family. The nobles would collect tax from the populace, and manage the population. The nobles employed their own soldiers, tasked with protecting the lands they had been granted by the royal family.
In times of war, the nobles of the Empire would be called upon to send as many fighting men they could muster to assist the standing-army employed by the Royal Family themselves, which were the Knight-Orders. All of this meant that life in the Empire could be vastly different depending on which territory you lived in. Some nobles ruled well and taxes were low and prosperity high, while others were less kind to the citizens under their care. Naturally, the nobles could not run wild, as the Royal Family had the power to recall titles and lands, meaning the act of managing lands could be revoked.
But as with all things human, politics and greed play their parts, and the Royal Family couldn't be too harsh either, least they have to face rebellion from the nobles. All in all, it was a system of checks and balances where the Royals ensured the Nobles didn't mismanage the lands and people too much, while the nobles ensured the Royals did not end up tyrannical. Baron Hellbrand however appeared to be a rather benevolent lord. As Lyra approached the Western Gate, she noticed the guards were plenty and well-equipped. A lot of people also passed in and out of the gate, and they seemed healthy and happy.
When Lyra and the others arrived at the gates themselves, the Captain of the guard stepped out of the guards-office, eager to greet his Highness and the Knight-Captain. It was clear it wasn't every day that the village had such high-ranking officials on visit.
"I greet the small sun of the Revean Empire! How fortunate we are that you have returned. Prey tell, does this mean you have succeeded in your mission?" the Captain of the guard said after having bowed deeply.
"That remains strictly confidential I am afraid, Captain, however we will be resting here for a day or two, before we are set to return to the Capital City." Prince Henry said in response.
"Of course, of course. Please, do enter, there are no needs for any ID checks for you and your company." the Captain said and quickly stepped out of the way.
And so, Lyra marched into the village together with the other knights. Everyone was in their ceremonial uniforms now, the one Lyra had worn for two days now already. Men, women and children stopped and stared, some pointing their direction. For once, Lyra was not the one at the center of the attention. Her hair was tied up in a bun under her beret, her elf ears hidden, so she remain rather inconspicuous, except for her stunning natural beauty of course. But here, the villagers just saw the uniform, and the marching of knights.
As they walked through the village's main street, the passed by various market stalls, selling everything from simple goods like shirts and tunics, to food stalls with bread and roasted meat on display. Lyra watched as men and women bartered with the stall-owners, and how copper and silver coins changed hands. She glanced ahead, and spoke to the knight beside her.
-"How does money work here in the empire exactly, sir?" she asked.
The Knight seemed more than happy to make conversation, and answered her in kind: "Oh right, you wouldn't know. There are three main coin denominations. 100 Copper coins is the same as 1 silver coin. 100 silver coins is the same as 1 gold coin. So 1 gold coin would be worth 10,000 copper coins. Then, 10 gold coins would be worth 1 large gold coin, but no one ever really uses large gold coins, unless you work in the royal palace treasury really. Most commoners living out here like this have never even seen a gold coin in their lives. Copper and Silver are the most common currency. In the bigger cities and Capital City, there you might see more gold coins."
-"I see, I see. So what can you buy with them? I mean, purchasing power." Lyra asked, glancing his way.
"Ah. Well, you can get a loaf of bread for five copper, usually. An egg goes for a copper a piece. A bucket of milk is a bit more expensive, usually around twenty coppers. An overnight stay at an inn or a tavern, food included, usually goes for about 50-60 copper a night, but that depends on the quality of the establishment. There are places in the capital which charges even five silver a night." the Knight responded with a smile, happy to be of use to the fair elven maiden.
-"So how much do you earn as a knight?" Lyra asked, suddenly curious.
The knight proudly bashed his chest with a fist, before responding. "We in the 7th Order are amongst the better paid knights. We earn 50 silver coins a month, and we do not have to care about living expenses as we have our lodging in the barracks by the Royal Keep. That means we can actually save a lot of money, though a lot of Knights like to spend theirs as soon as they get them." he said with a chuckle.
-"What would you spend your money on, usually?" Lyra followed up, which made the Knight blush. He stammered a bit as he formed his response:
"W-well... Not saying I do, obviously... but many spend it on drinks, or women, or both. N-not all though! I for one am saving to buy my own house in the capital. I need 10 gold for that."
-"On women? You mean... prostitution?" Lyra said, tilting her head sideways.
"Yeah, but not just that. Sure, there are a few brothels, but many knights are hopeless romantics. Courting women requires buying gifts. Dresses, jewelry, hats and purses." he explained.
-"Oooh, I see. When you put it like that, it makes sense." Lyra responded, bobbing her head. Their conversation was cut short however, as the company of knights stopped outside an inn. The Prince and Knight-Captain headed inside, and then returned some five minutes later, holding a bunch of keys and wooden tags in their hands.
"Alright, step on up. You'll be in rooms of four, come get your keys here. Take the rest of the night off, rest up, have a good meal down in the tavern, get plenty of sleep. We reconvene for shared breakfast and 7 AM sharp tomorrow." the Knight-Captain shouted out, as the Knights approached in groups of four, getting their keys and tags which seemed to show which room they were going to. Naturally, Lyra could not read it, or any signs around the town. However, she was assigned a shared room between just her and Lady Helena, and since she had no money, the Prince said he was more than willing to foot her bill for the time being.
She spent an hour together with Helena in their room, and she pestered Helena for a quick language lesson. Eventually, she'd have to stop relying on her "Aura: Translate" spell after all. However, because of how the spell work, she did still hear the original language, just that the meaning of the words were immediately understood. Because of this, she had already picked up a few words here and there after these two days, and understood the sentence structuring by now.
Helena said she was a very quick learner, and said she'd probably be able to hold proper conversations in a few months. She also explained there were two main human languages, divided between West and East. This language was simply called Revean, as it was the main language in the Revean empire, which was the largest of all human nations. All nations friendly to the Empire used this language, albeit often with a bit of a dialect, as they had their own unique separate languages still. Further west, there was an Alliance of 7 Kingdoms who stood in opposition to the Empire and its vassals, chief amongst them was the Kingdom of Ytrand and the Holy Kingdom of Demuria. There were quite a few differences between the Empire and its Vassals to the East, and the Kingdom Alliance to the West. Chief among them was religion.
With the Holy Kingdom of Demuria as its chief advocate, all of the 7 nations worshiped a single Goddess, keeping no other gods and accepting no other religion than the one true religion, as they so called it. No other gods or goddesses were accepted, as they were all false idols in the eyes of the Demurian religion. Meanwhile, in the Empire, they worshiped a Pantheon of Gods, but also held no state religion. Most humans worshiped this pantheon, but it was in no way required. Some kept other faiths, while others held no faith in their hearts at all. To the Kingdom Alliance, this made the people of the east seem like heathens and heretics, while the Empire in turn thought the people of the Kingdom Alliance were zealots and fanatics.
In truth, to most ordinary citizens, there were no massive difference in the quality of life. The matter of religion was mostly a contentious issue between those who held power. There were also a few differences in culture and tradition, based on religion of course, and two vastly different languages due to many years of separation. Currently, there was an uneasy truce between these blocks, after a war that had lasted five years ended approximately 3 years ago.
Doing some quick maths, Lyra figured that meant the war must have started some 1-2 years after the Hero Summoning, meaning the Summoned heroes, her former class-mates, had likely been a driving force in the war, seeing they had been summoned by the Holy Kingdom.
Helena explained that the war had ended without either side gaining any real territory, but it had come with a big loss of life. The Empire had lost more than ten thousand soldiers, and double that amount had been injured. The Kingdom Alliance had lost fewer men, but overall the loss of military power had been about equal. Since then, there was an uneasy and unofficial truce, while both sides watched the other like hawks, waiting to see who would make the first move.
After such a heavy topic, Lyra joined Helena and went downstairs to have dinner at the tavern. Today's meal was roasted lamb and potato puree with a mushroom sauce, and it was extremely tasty, to the point Lyra even had a second portion. The Prince was paying after all, so why should she hold back she thought, grinning wickedly to herself.
After dinner, she and Helena washed up in the women's public washroom, and then got to bed. Clocks were still rather rare in this world, but this fine establishment owned a clock and so the owner was in charge of waking up their guests at the desired times. Of course, the village center also had a clock-tower belonging to the local church, but it could not be seen from Lyra and Helena's room, so they'd have to rely on the innkeeper to wake them up at 6:30 as they had asked.
So, Lyra fell asleep in a real, proper bed in a real, proper humans settlement, for the very first time in her new life. But, her rest would be disturbed, by some unwanted visitors that showed up in the darkness of night...