Shortly after lunch, Doran planned to continue training the soldiers and perhaps patrol around Goldenveil, so they could begin to ta the forest that surrounded them.
But just before resuming training, Ethan appeared at the barracks.
"My lord..." Doran knelt imdiately, bowing his head.
"How are things going?" Ethan asked as he entered the office, picking up a few sheets of paper from the desk where Doran was writing, apparently combat techniques.
"Well, my lord. I’ve begun teaching the guards the swordplay of the Fallen Sun Empire, and they’re learning well." Doran said, taking a second to notice the shock on Ethan’s face.
Ethan had already read, in his family’s library, about a past empire led by the Emperor of the Burning Sun, who unified the entire continent.
It was said that he once cut the sun itself in half in the sky, giving his empire that na.
But there was a problem.
The Fallen Sun Empire had collapsed so twelve thousand years ago, marking the end of an era known as the Golden Age of martial and magical arts.
Any technique from that era, even the most basic, was worth fortunes that even the Darkwall family would be unable to pay.
"The Fallen Sun Empire that collapsed twelve thousand years ago?" Ethan asked, still in shock.
"Well... the empire was still at its peak when I died in battle."
With a sigh, Ethan simply nodded.
"Continue teaching them and ensure that all your techniques are recorded on paper. Even those you haven’t fully mastered, or that you see as useless. Ethan ordered.
Even though Doran was rely an instructor who had never advanced beyond the third rank in the Burning Sun Emperor’s army, his techniques were a priceless treasure.
Doran seed a little confused by the idea of recording techniques he considered useless, but in the end, he simply accepted the orders.
"Are you here just to inspect the guard’s training?" Doran asked.
"No. I ca to tell you to get ready. We’re going to the confluence of Lake Azur and the Solene River. We’ll leave in an hour; so fishern will guide us."
"Hm... I’ll get the n ready." Doran bowed and hurried out to the courtyard, where the soldiers were finishing their lunches.
He was also excited to leave Goldenveil for a while.
His n were already learning Imperial fencing well, but they also needed to start escorting and getting to know the surrounding lands.
Starting the next day, he would teach them in the morning and, in the afternoon, divide them into squads so they could escort and make their own maps of the surrounding areas.
After so ti preparing, Doran presented himself to Ethan alongside the twenty n, already ard and equipped for any eventuality.
Accompanying the group were two local fishern: Haron and Torven, both middle-aged n who had been fishing on the Solene River and Lake Azur for over a decade.
"All set?" Ethan smiled, checking to make sure his sword was secure at his waist.
"Yes, my lord." The two fishern nodded, standing nervously in front of Doran. "The trails aren’t in good condition, since we haven’t maintained them in a long ti, but they’re passable."
"Good." With Evelyn and Alice already by his side, Ethan set off.
They stayed right in the center of the formation, with Evelyn to Ethan’s right and Alice to his left, and the two fishern leading the way.
A few minutes later, Ethan stopped.
A cool, pleasant breeze made his golden hair sway in the air. The tall forest grass was soon left behind, replaced by soft, white sand.
When they finally left the embrace of the trees, Ethan could only sigh in enchantnt.
The sa expression took hold of Evelyn’s face, Alice’s, and even Doran’s and the guard’s.
For dozens of ters, a beautiful white carpet stretched out until it reached the crystal-clear water, spreading for miles in every direction, as far as the eye could see.
A few coconut palms dotted the white sand alongside a handful of other trees beyond the dense forest, casting pleasant shadows.
The spot was commonly used by hunters and fishern, even having a tent with fishing and hunting gear.
"It’s a beautiful place..." Evelyn whispered beside Ethan, holding his hand.
It was hard to believe they had slept, for so many days, right next to such a lovely scene.
"Yes..." Ethan looked toward the horizon, on the south bank of the Solene River.
The river flowed eastward, and to the west lay Lake Azur, stretching out like an ocean.
The river was already wide, spanning about five kiloters from one bank to the other and stretching approximately three thousand kiloters until it poured into the North Sea.
But Lake Azur was on a completely different level. In a way, it wouldn’t be wrong to call it an inland freshwater sea.
Covering about five hundred thousand square kiloters, it was the size of a country, much larger even than the Caspian Sea, the largest lake on Earth.
The lake stretched from that region to the western plains, a fertile area completely surrounded by the Eternal Forest and inhabited by isolationist human settlents that functioned as large city-states.
In the western plains, just a few dozen kiloters from the lake, there was a second saltwater lake that supplied much of the continent.
Because of this, Lake Azur and the Solene River were extrely important.
All the salt extracted by the city-states of that region passed through that five-kiloter-long passage, from where it flowed to the North Sea and then spread across the entire continent.
What if Ethan could gain control of that passage?
Not just the salt. All exports from every city-state engaged in any kind of mariti trade would have to pass through it, paying taxes to him.
Obviously, trying to take control of that without considerable power was madness. But nothing stopped Ethan from already starting to pave the way for the future.
"Hm..." Ethan turned his face and walked over to a coconut tree.
With a quick swing of his sword and a small leap, he landed on the ground with two coconuts in his arms.
He chose them because they seed to be the sweetest among the coconuts on that tree.
He cut them open quickly, handing one to Evelyn and the other to Alice.
"Hm... this one is delicious! Alice declared, holding the large coconut with both hands and taking a greedy sip.
Evelyn did the sa, blushing slightly as she drank.
It was sweet and pleasant, and there were plenty of them.
Ethan could only smile at the sight, feeling a strange pleasure at seeing those two won happy.
"Doran, take your n and seal off the area within a radius of about a kiloter from here. Don’t let anyone approach. I’m going to relax a bit with my wives."
Evelyn and Alice, standing beside him, couldn’t help but blush.
It was the first ti Ethan had truly acknowledged them as his wives in front of his people.
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