Chapter 11: Chapter 11 Time skip and a march to war.
In the year 1054 on a day like any other, the sun shined brightly on the capital city of the Kingdom of Aragon. On that day like so many days before then in the center of the city the nobility of the two Iberian Kingdoms gathered in the royal castles Great Hall.
There, a great meeting regarding the two kingdoms geopolitical and internal issues was taking place. But unlike the many times before this, the meeting was a lot more dire as the world situation had seemed to just worsen during recent years. So now the atmosphere over the Great Hall was quite dark as heated debates that could change the fate of all of Iberia or even further beyond raged.
In the circular Great Hall with balconies all around that were filled with the nobility and two great thrones at the far end of the hall facing the massive double doors sat the two kings listening to the nobility's bickering.
" We have received reports that the Greenskins are amassing on the borders of The Sultanate Of Arabia for another massive Invasion. This time it is uncertain if Arabia will be enough to stop their advance as they seem to be expanding ever closer to Jerusalem. " Said the Duke of Valencia.
" Certainly, the recent attacks against borderlands of Eastern Mesopotamia are evidence enough of this I would say. If we do not go now to the aid of the Arabians then soon I fear the Greenskins will be at out door next. " Said the Duke of Murcia in support.
" I agree the Greenskins are on the move. We must act now. Before it is too late. " Said the Duke of Cordoba in agreement.
"This is absurd, why should we send our armies to help the Arabs? For as long as history recalls those bastards have raided our lands and enslaved our people! I will not stand for this! I say, let them all die and burn in hell! " Said the Duke of Granada sternly.
" I agree. Besides the Greenskins are not our primary concern here. How many times must I repeat myself? King Ramiro of Aragon you must heed my warning. These Ratmen that infest the Pyrenees mountains could pose a dire threat to us if we do not end their infestation now. Already a large quantity of grain and many herds of sheep and cows have been taken by those wile things. " Said the Duke of Navarra.
" Ratmem? Ridiculous they have not posed a threat to us for the last one hundred years. All you have is an infestation of bandits and thieves because of your own poor governance. " Lots of Murmurs were heard in the hall as men started to argue and discuss the man's words.
" Even if these Ratmen pose a threat to us, what are you proposing we do? " Asked a noble.
" As I have said the church has already started measures to place the region into strict quarantine. We must cut the Ratmen food sources off first. Then when they venture out into the plains we will surround them and kill them. " Said the Duke of Navarra.
" Enough. I will not institute quarantine without proper proof of your claims, Duke. I will not make my people suffer by becoming prisoners in their own lands. " Said the King of Aragon.
As the great hall went quiet the sound of the Great Double Doors opening to the hall could be heard. From behind them emerged two well-built arrogant-looking young men wearing medieval hunter outfits.
Four years had passed and Marino was now a 16 years old extremely Muscular young handsome man. He had yellow eyes and three small scars going over his right eye.
One was the second-born son of the Duke of Faro Tadeo and the other was Marino. They were dragging with them a black hooded humanoid creature with a rat tale. As they got to the center of the hall they knelt.
" What is the meaning of this? " The king of Aragon said angrily.
" My apologies Your Majesty for the disturbance but we bring urgent news with us that all of you must hear of. " Said Tadeo while kneeling.
Hearing this Marino lifted the dead Ratmans head so that they all could see as he took off its hood revealing a hideous-looking rat-face.
As the nobility gasped in shock at the sight of the creature Marino started to explain. " Four years ago a farming family in my village was attacked by a black hooded red-eyed creature. After that, I heard many reports of cattle going missing near the Granadan border. So just a week ago we finally decided to go investigate the situation. And that is where we encountered this red-eyed black-hooded Ratman. Your majesty, I believe this here is the culprit of the murders in my village and he is not the only one. There have been many signs of creatures resembling this Ratman residing in the southern mountains. I believe that the murders in my village are proof enough that the Ratmen must be exterminated once and for all. "
" Preposterous. Are we to believe the mere words of a merchant and a secondborn? " The king laughed in response.
" No, I do not expect you to believe my words. But maybe you will believe this. " Tadeo said as he took out a paper and seal from the Ratmans black shirt.
There on the ground, they saw a coat of arms unlike anything any of them had ever seen. One side was white with a pomegranate which resembles the Granadan coat of arms. The other side was red with a black-horned rat on it. Under the symbols, there were letters inscribed on it. The letters seemed to be of crude design written in some foreign language.
Seeing this the king of Andalusia asked. " What sort of language is it? What does it say? "
Hearing this everyone stayed silent as they eagerly waited for the boys answer.
" My King I am no expert on this matter but I believe the words talk of a union. It's the Confederacy of Independent Nations. According to this paper, this Ratman was carrying out reconnaissance missions on the Dukedom of Faro, in preparation for war. " Tadeo said with a firm tone and waited with his head held low for an answer. Though he said this as if he knew it to be true, in truth he had no idea what the paper said and merely took a guess.
Hearing this serious accusation all the nobles turned to look at the Duke of Granada for answers only to find his seat empty. Along with the Duke, all his underlings were gone also. The Granadian balcony was completely empty of all occupants.
Seeing this the King of Aragon roared out loud. " Where is the Duke? Guards bring him to me! I demand answers! "
Hearing this a Guard came into the hall and said. " My apologies your majesty. It appears that the Duke has already left the city and is now most likely heading back to his fiefdom. "
Hearing this the room turned into uproar. They all started to demand the head of the traitor.
In the Western human kingdoms, it was considered a heretical action to even speak to a Ratman. In their eyes Ratmen were not even deserving of being considered animals, they were worse than animals. They were man-eating monsters.
Seeing that their plan had some how worked. Marino and Tadeo quietly left the hall as Marino thought about how they had gotten there.
During the last few years, Jesus had started to train Marino in the use of sword's, Shields and bow's. Apparently, Jesus was a former crusader and a master swordsman.
Marino's growing business and crazy intense training had caught the eyes of many. So he created the first public outdoor gym where he, the town's people and visiting travelers trained. That is how he met Tadeo who decided to start training with Marino.
Marino and Tadeo were close as they both had great ambitions and they had decided to help each other reach their goals.
Tadeo wanted to become the Duke of Faro and Marino wanted to become a noble and a rich man. So they had conducted an evil plan together.
During this time he had also created the world's first toothbrush made of boar hair. Of course making such a product would not be easy and so he had started to hunt plenty of boars.
One day while Tadeo and Marino were hunting for boars they had come upon the ratman scout. After killing the Ratman and investigating its corpse and the secrets it carried. That's when they decided to use this opportunity for their own advantage. If they managed to convince the Kingdom's to start a war it would bring them lots of opportunities.
For instance, when a war would start it was a tradition that nobility take their firstborn to the battlefield to learn the art of war. The Duke of Faro would then take his firstborn to war and if everything worked out they both would die. Or that's what Tadeo hoped for. If they both died then he could take his father's place and become Duke.
While Ratmen could be defeated on the open field and castle walls, it would be completely different underground. Or that's what they thought.
Thinking of this Marino and Tadeo walked away from the city of Madrid laughing like evil villains. Muha ha ha haaaa!
Soon Tadeo would be Duke and then Marino would take the town of Segres from the lord. After that Tadeo would legitimise his position as the new lord and Marino would become a part of the nobility.
Or that's what they hoped for.
...
After the lords of the Kingdom's returned to their domains, they all started to prepare for war. Old weapons were being sharpened and armors polished as the blacksmiths created new ones. There was great excitement in the air of every village and town.
Marino and Jesus were also preparing for the upcoming war by dueling and honing their skills. While Marino swung his sword with power and great speed, Jusus calmly parried with skill.
When Marino came at him with a powerful overhead strike. Jesus just deflated the attack and kicked him in the stomach, sending Marino flying to the sandy ground of the beach where they trained.
" Focus boy. You are too emotional. Calm your mind, feel yourself being one with your blade and use your head. " Jesus said calmly.
Hearing this Marino frowned and got up from the ground. " Bullshit, I will show you, real power Father. " He thought to himself as he got ready for round two. When Jesus put his right leg forward and got into his fighting stance. Marino quickly pushed his left hand forward as if trying to grab Jesus's right leg. Then in the next moment, he pulled.
Jesus tried to counter him with his own hand but it was too late. Jesus was out of balance as his right leg aimed towards the sky.
Seeing this Marino jumped forward with inhuman speed and kicked Jesus to the stomach, sending him flying to the ground.
" Got you! " Marino said excitedly
While Jesus shook his head in disappointment and said. " Did you listen to anything I said, and anyway that was a cheap shot. "
" Well if you ask me it's not the method but the result that counts Father. " Marino said arrogantly. Jesus just shook his head as they both dusted off the sand and headed home.
Two years ago He had decided to start creating toothbrushes from boar hairs. He discovered that killing the boars in brutal and sadistic ways, made him feel powerful and he started to feel some sort of a mysterious force growing around him. The first time he had felt this was back at the Lopes Farm where he had brutally killed the chickens and most of the family.
Marino discovered that this mysterious power let him move objects with his mind and enhance his physical power overall. Now finally he had discovered his isekai overpowered powers.
As he grew stronger he started to notice that some others had traces of this mysterious force in their bodies also. One of these people was Jesus his father. Noticing this he had started to teach his father in the use of this power.
Jesus learned to use this force but in a different way. While Marino got stronger from harnessing negative thoughts and emotions. His father got stronger by calming his mind, getting rid of all emotion and just focusing on becoming one with the force.
Just like that, two different schools of thought were created. Marino had his disciples who used their primal emotions to twist the force to serve their will. While Jesus and his followers tried to work with the force and become one with it.
When Marino and Jesus walked home they could see the two different groups training. While Jesus's followers were practicing techniques and meditation. Marino saw his followers doing hard gym exercises and fighting each other until their bodies were bloodied.
When They got home they saw Lara and Mary preparing food in the kitchen. While two little toddlers played happily together on the floor.
Two Years ago the two women had gotten pregnant and given birth. The Colombo family had grown by two additional members. Thanks to Jesus and Mary's efforts a new baby boy and girl were born to the family. Now the boy named Adam whom Mary gave birth to was two years of age. Thanks to Marino, Lara had given birth to a healthy baby girl Eve who was also 2 years of age.
While miscarriages were common in this early time period due to many reasons, like poor health care, hygiene, poor diets or harsh lifestyles overall. Thanks to their family's wealth and healthy practices like exercise they could avoid this somewhat better. Also thanks to those exercises both of the women had beautiful butts and big birthing hips that also helped in giving birth.
And now once again the duo was pregnant, normally this would be a big financial drain for the family but not for them.
With the opening of the world's first fast food restaurant SubColombo, their family's wealth had increased greatly. It apparently was a great hit and quickly they were able to spread all around the country and even into the Empire of Arabia.
They had even opened their own clothing brand and many stores. The store was a massive hit also. Marino had decided to go straight for the Victorian-style women's clothes with a mix of modern underwear and stockings. The store also sold many beauty products like nail polish and hygienic products like shampoo. It was a brand meant just for women but there were also hygienic items like the toothbrush made of boar's hair that were highly recommended for all. Although products like shampoo would have been beneficial for the men also, but in this day and age Marino found out that many men didn't really care about smelling good so it wasnt really bought by men.
Marino was not interested in helping society he just wanted as much profit as possible, which is why he only focused on women's products and not things like improvements in agriculture.
But even with the Colombo name and brand becoming known through the neighboring countries it was not enough. The maintenance of the businesses was way too high as many production methods were crude and unreliable, leading to many unforeseen accidents and situations that led to a lot of potential profits being lost.
By this time he had only managed to put together 6 exploration ships together. That was only double the number that Columbus had in history.
And since he didn't have the king's blessings and with the war coming up he needed to find his own crew. Lucky for him he had managed to create somewhat of a fanatical cult of followers for himself thanks to his force powers. His family's prestige was extremely high so that helped.
In the cult he was called the grand master and below him were his 7 hands. 7 extremely loyal force users like Tadeo who was one of them. Together Tadeo and Marino had managed to put together a sailing force of 420 cultists who called themselves the chosen. Every ship would have one of the hands as their captain and Marino's ship would have two of them managing it alongside him.
Marino could have waited longer but with the war brewing and time never stopping he had decided to accelerate his plans. He greatly desired to become rich and powerful but most of all he wanted to do it while he was still young and maybe once he became strong enough he could attain immortality and live for an eternity.
Weekly Power Status
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