Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

Henry jumped off from the coachman’s seat and went to open the carriage door.

The first one to step out of the carriage was Alaric who was holding his baby sister.

Dudu closely followed behind him, holding onto his pants, unwilling to let go.

The ladies then stepped out one by one.

“That’s His Highness!”

“His Highness is here!”

“Greetings, Your Highness!”

The people stared at him, bowing their heads with utmost respect.

Alaric smiled at the crowd, nodding his head occasionally in response.

“Your Highness, you can go in first.” The store owner, a chubby middle-aged lady, invited him inside.

Alaric accepted her offer. If he had to queue up with the rest of the people, he would have to wait for some time before he could go in.

They followed the store owner inside.

“What should we buy for the children?” Alaric turned his head to Hershey. She was more familiar with these matters since she usually did this with Maria.

“We need to buy them new clothes to prepare for the next season. We must get enough for all the children.”

She thought for a moment before she added.

“We can also buy them some toys and books so they can keep themselves entertained.”

Alaric didn’t have any objections.

“You heard her. Get all those things for us.” Alaric instructed the store owner.

“Yes, Your Highness. I will get them ready right away.” The store owner was eager to help them.

Knowing that the items were for the children, she felt even more respect for House Silversword. She felt lucky to be under their jurisdiction. If it were any other lord, they wouldn’t even care about the lives of their residents.

Dozens of clothes were packed into several wooden boxes. The toys and other items were placed in separate boxes. They were sorted neatly so it wouldn’t be difficult to distribute them.

More than ten servants helped in packaging everything, including the store owner herself.

With everyone’s efforts, all the items had been packaged in just less than an hour.

“Thank you for the help, everyone. I added a little extra to the payment. The store owner will distribute your share later.” Alaric handed a pouch filled with coins to the store owner.

“You can rest assured, Your Highness. I will only take the payment. The rest will be equally distributed to the servants.” The store owner promised with a solemn look

Alaric smiled faintly and nodded his head. “Alright. I believe you.”

The generous rewards made the servants cheer. They volunteered to help them carry the packages to the hired carriage which saved Alaric’s subordinates quite the effort.

After everything was in place, they didn’t linger for long and left the place.

Inside the carriage, Hershey beamed at Alaric. “I’m sure the kids will love the gifts we prepared for them.”

“They sure will.” Alaric agreed with a chuckle.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived in front of a newly constructed three-story building. In front of the establishment was a garden where numerous kinds of vegetables were planted.

“The children planted those vegetables with the help of the orphanage director and the caregivers,” Hershey explained when they passed by the garden.

Alaric rubbed his chin and remarked. “The orphanage in Vale also did the same thing, but they did it out of necessity.”

William and his wife opened that orphanage to take care of the abandoned children in Vale, but they received no support from the government and the aristocrats so they were forced to be self-sufficient.

They planted their own crops and raised different kinds of farm animals just so the children would have something to eat.

Alaric sighed when he recalled that day.

“You’re, right. We followed the same strategy done by the orphanage in Vale.” Hershey smiled.

“Although our orphanage here doesn’t lack funding, the orphanage director wanted the children to be independent and disciplined so he taught them how to raise livestock and plant simple crops.”

Alaric admired the orphanage director’s dedication to raising the children.

“He sounds like a very compassionate man. I would love to meet him.” He was curious to know who was appointed as the orphanage director.

Was it someone he knew or was it a stranger?

As the group walked towards the establishment, they saw a group of children coming out of the building.

“Sister Hershey!”

“Sister Elena!”

The children recognized Hershey and Elena since they were frequent visitors. They excitedly rushed towards their group, giggling.

“Don’t be rude to our guests, kids!” A stern voice suddenly drifted over.

Hearing this voice, the children obediently stopped in their tracks.

Alaric looked at the person who had stepped out of the orphanage. It was a healthy-looking old man with short gray hair. He looked like a random neighborhood old man, but Alaric could sense a faint trace of mana from him.

Alaric quickly used his Appraisal and discovered that the old man was a Knight. He wasn’t particularly strong, but he was definitely a Knight.

Where did Mom find someone like him?”

He wondered as he observed the old man from head to foot.

“Greetings, Your Highness. I hope you don’t mind the children’s behavior. They are always like this every time they see Miss Hershey and Miss Elena.” The old man lowered his head.

Alaric quickly helped him. “It’s just a small matter. It’s nothing to fuss about.”

“Let’s talk inside.” The old man invited them to the building.

Alaric was planning to chat with him so he followed the old director.

The old man brought them to his office on the ground floor.

Upon taking their seats, Alaric didn’t waste any time and stated the reason for their visit. “We came here to deliver the gifts we prepared for the children. I hope you can distribute those items to the kids, director.”

The old director saw the warriors unloading several boxes from a carriage so he seemed to have expected this. “I’m grateful for your kindness, Your Highness. I hope you will receive more blessings from Aru.”

Alaric chatted with the director, while the ladies occasionally joined in.

They discussed the future of the orphanage which almost made the old director cry in gratitude.

…

A few hours later, the group left the orphanage with a mixture of emotions.

“I hope someone will come to adopt those kids.” Mathilda sighed while shaking her head.

The others shared the same sentiments.

“Where are we going next?” Yvanna asked.

Everyone turned their gazes to Alaric.

Sensing their gazes, Alaric thought for a moment.

“It’s about to turn dark so we should go somewhere less crowded. I know a place.” He smiled.

“Sir Henry, please bring us to the church.” He instructed.

“Right away, Your Highness.”

North Pine Town didn’t have its own church for a long time, but House Silversword had already addressed this issue recently.

The church was located in the outer corner of the town near the newly built residential complex.

It still new so the church didn’t have many visitors. Moreover, there was a severe lack of priests so sermons and masses were rarely held.

“Why bring us there? That sounds like a boring place.” Nivis raised an eyebrow.

The other ladies stared at her with unusual gazes, but Nivis ignored them and kept her eyes on Alaric.

“Nivis, do your people believe in god?” Alaric looked at the centauress with a faint smile.

Nivis furrowed at the sudden question, but she still nodded. “Of course. We believe in the Great Goddess of the Sea, Aequor.”

Aequor?

Alaric vaguely remembered the name. She was said to be the controller of the entire seas. Many fisherfolk and coastal residents believed in her. To some, she was their religion.

“We too have someone we revere. Almost everyone in Astania believes in the Benevolent God, Aru. We follow the words of Aru and we share the words of Aru.”

“I will share with you the teachings we learned from Aru.”

“I am not interested. I only believe in Aequor.” Nivis shook her head.

“You don’t need to believe in Aru. You can just listen to Aru’s teachings.” Alaric didn’t give up.

“You sure are persistent. Fine, but don’t get your hopes up. My belief will never waver.” Nivis scoffed.

Alaric didn’t bother to argue with her. He just changed the topic and began to engage the other ladies in another conversation.

Suddenly, their carriage abruptly stopped.

Alaric frowned and asked. “What happened, Sir Henry?”

“Your Highness, someone is blocking the road,” Henry replied in a hesitant voice.

Hearing this, Alaric was taken aback.

Who would even dare to block House Silversword’s carriage in their own territory?

Curious, he handed his baby sister to Mathilda and stepped out of the carriage.

To his surprise, the ones blocking the road were members of House Paxley and the man leading them was his father-in-law, Nathan Paxley.

“Hahaha! How have you been, Your Highness? I came here as soon as I heard that you guys are back!”