Kuzunalis
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FLTL Ch. 157. Reunited
🕑 Added 2025-01-21 14:30:01 +0000 UTC~ Calubo ~
~ Hiding behind a limestone block in the quarry ~
~ A few moments ago ~
Calubo wasn't feeling good to be left out of the fighting. And he really wanted to help in killing those bastards! But Hudan had sent him away just before the attack had begun, saying that the bandits might try to take someone hostage, so there had to be someone to strike from behind the bandits if needed.
So the guard captain had sent him to circle around the camp and ordered him to stay outside of the fight, so he could intervene if that happened, because the guards still had the numbers on their side even with six against four. Calubo had thought of protesting, before realizing that he was the only one who really knew the terrain of the quarry, so he had the most chances of finding someplace good to hide, instead of just tumbling over into the pit and dying.
So in the confusion of the start of the battle, when the bandits were disoriented, Calubo had crouched to the side and following the stone walls of the quarry, he had found one of the limestone blocks which had been already cut on the other side of the fire, close to the stonecutters' hut. Since then, he had been crouching there and biding his time, hoping he got a chance to cut down at least one of these bastards.
He kept looking towards the huts with worry, not knowing if Hyola was okay now. And he really wished he could see her face once more, but it had to wait until after the bandits had been dealt with.
Luckily, he had found a place with a good view of the battle, and he had been watching it with nervous anticipation, hoping the stonecutters stayed inside their huts until it was over. And it shouldn't be long anyway, since the bandit who had been sleeping had barely woken up in surprise before one of the guards had slashed his neck. Now it was six against three, which should be easy enough for Hudan.
Right at that moment, the stonecutters started streaming out of their two huts, probably after being woken up by the sounds of the fight. He gazed there for only a moment, and although the light of the fire was quite faint here, it only took a moment for him to see that surprisingly, the tall woman who came out of their hut after the older woman was Hyola!
He couldn't describe in words how relieved he was to see her. She looked startled by what was happening, but otherwise she seemed okay, if a little gaunt. She also seemed to have chopped off her long reddish hair to a shorter length now, but to him she looked just as beautiful as earlier. His heart had started beating much faster, and he wasn't sure if it was only because of the fight to the death happening nearby.
Suddenly he saw that one of the bandits had noticed the stonecutters coming out, and he ran directly towards the women, and then put his sword to the neck of Hyola, who screamed in fear. That bastard! Was he going to kill her?
Calubo immediately stood up and was going to run towards them, when he heard the bandit shouting at the guards to move back. He paused for a moment, and realized that the bandit only wanted a hostage for now, instead of killing her immediately, just like the guard captain had anticipated. He thanked the goddess that Hyola's life wasn't going to end right at this moment, but he was still seething inside. How dare this bastard put a sword to her neck!
He had been crouching on the side of the huts, so he didn't have a very clear view, but he still saw that Hyola had started crying in fear now. He wanted to immediately run towards them, but he knew how risky that was if the bandit noticed him rushing towards them.
He also remembered everything that the guard captain had kept teaching him on the way, including a few simple hand gestures to indicate something when they couldn't speak openly. Hudan had told him that it was the new baron's idea, and he had already taught it to the guards when training them, but since Calubo hadn't been around for it, the guard captain had taught him as well on the journey here.
Calubo crouched lower and moved in front of that limestone block, trying not to make any sound. Thankfully, Hudan was trying to talk to the bandits in a loud voice to calm down the bandit - who was still shouting at the guards to move back - which helped muffle the sound of his own footsteps. He didn't know if the guard captain was doing it intentionally, but he would take any advantage he got.
He kept moving closer to that bandit, as fast as he could but without making any sound. It also helped that the ground was mostly dry rock, and there were no leaves here for his boots to crunch on. Once he was less than a dozen feet away, he stopped there, ready to spring at that bastard at any moment.
Earlier, he had put his sword back in his scabbard, and had his dagger ready in his left hand. When Hudan had told him to do that while telling him to circle around, he had been confused by how he was supposed to fight the bandits without a sword, but now he understood.
He looked closely as finally, Hudan put up an open hand to gesture to the guards to hold back, who gave nods, and took a few steps back with their swords still ready in their hands. The bastard who had taken Hyola hostage, seemed to get more confident at that, and gloated to the guards, while gesturing to the other bandits to move towards him as well. Probably to take more hostages.
Calubo really didn't want to wait even a single moment more, but he had been looking carefully at Hudan for his signal. And within a few moments, the guard captain spoke something to the other two bandits who had been moving towards that bastard, making them turn around to face the guards. And at the same time, Hudan started clenching and unclenching his left fist again and again. Right! That was the signal they had agreed on!
Immediately, he moved forward with silent steps until he was only a few feet behind the bandit, who was using his right hand to hold his sword around the neck of Hyola.
Calubo took a deep breath, and stood up to his full height. It seemed that being left-handed was going to be helpful to him for once. He then quickly rushed just behind the bandit, and used his right hand to hold the bandit's sword arm and pulled it away from Hyola, who moved a few steps further in surprise. The bandit immediately turned his head to the right to see who had clutched his arm from that side, but right at that moment, Calubo used the dagger in his left hand to slash at the bastard's neck from the left.
The bandit screamed in pain, and dropped his sword on the ground to start clutching at his neck which was openly spraying blood now, but Calubo did not allow him to move even a little bit. This bastard didn't deserve to live anymore. Right at the moment, he heard Hudan shout something, and from the corner of his eye he saw the guards rushing towards the other bandits.
The dying bandit in his hands slowly grew limp, and within a few moments his body slumped to the ground, while Hyola who looked white with fear seemed to recognize him suddenly, and jumped in his arms while sobbing loudly. He moved his bloody arm with the dagger away from her, before letting the blade fall down and hugged her back.
He patted her on the back to console her, but it took a while for her to calm down. As he looked around them towards the fire, he saw the guards were finishing up the last bandit, with the others already dead.
The other stonecutters still seemed to be in a daze about what was happening, but since none of the guards were trying to kill or threaten them, they didn't seem as edgy as they would have been otherwise. And even in the faint pre-dawn light, it wasn't difficult to see that the stonecutters looked even more gaunt than they did when he had lived here. It was obvious that the little food they might have been hunting or gathering here was mainly going to the bastards who were dead now.
Soon, Hyola took a step back and looked at him from up to down with glistening eyes. "How are you here?" She asked, but carried on without waiting for his reply. "I thought the bandits had killed you! And why are you wearing fur coats like them? Did you join another bandit gang? And what happened to Nokozal and the other bandits?"
"Slow down..." Calubo tried to reassure her with a smile. "I didn't join a new bandit group. You know me better than that..."
"Yeah, I do, don't I..." Hyola looked down for a moment in embarrassment before gazing at him again. "Then how?"
"It's a long story, and I'll tell you everything about it after we are done here," Calubo replied, "but for now, just know that the dark days for you and the other stonecutters are over now. Lord Kivamus, the Baron of Tiranat has sent us to liberate you all from these bandits."
Hyola looked confused but before she said anything, Hudan, who had been ordering the guards to check out the rest of the quarry to make sure that there weren't any other bandits or wild beasts left here, called him up. "Calubo, come here and help us! You can talk with her later."
Calubo gave him a quick nod, and looked at Hyola. "I'll be back soon, okay? You don't need to worry about anything now."
Hyola gave an uncertain nod.
But after he turned around to go towards the guards, she hugged him from the back again and mumbled, "Don't leave me again, Calubo..."
Calubo couldn't help but beam with happiness as he held her frail hands on his chest. "Never again..."
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>>> Next Chapter >>> FLTL Ch. 158. Unexpected Choices
Comments
Secret Weapons
I don't think RR is that bad... as long as you are upfront about what your story is. Stuff thats labelled as progression which meanders and wallows about trying to hold the MC back with idiot ball writing, yeah it gets slaughtered, but if you're upfront about your story being slower paced, slice of life, kingdom building, I think there's a place for that. I've seen a few successful kingdom building stories on RR especially.
Kuzunalis
Thank you Garran for writing such a detailed review. I'm glad to know that you have been enjoying it. I'll keep these points in mind in the future and I'll continue trying to improve my writing so you can enjoy it even more. And thank you for your support as well!
Hilly
Oh and I would also like to point out that RR has a community with a rather limited comfort-zone (no-harem, litrpg, fast paced progression) when it comes to novels and anything falling outside of that comfort-zone tends to get downvoted to hell. I’ve only been on RR for a year now so if anyone would like to correct me on this feel free. SH is a bit more open for other things (harem, smut, romance, alternative writing styles.) I believe you are already on there. WN is pure harem focused action xanxia/wuxia/murim and anime tropes basically… not sure if you’d find a fanbase there. Just be careful of their contracts, I’ve read horror stories about them.
Hilly
Well, I just finished binge-reading the whole novel over the last week, and I really enjoyed it. So thanks for writing FLTL Author. I would however like to give some feedback and also why I think you might be getting some of the bad ratings on RR. Prepare for a text-wall! #1: The click-bait adds! I first found FLTL by clicking on one of your adds on RR, the one with the cute girl bathing in the river. I though this was going to be an isekai kingdom builder with a harem/romantic subplot. Yet this story is one big sausage-fest with zero romance. The only female character of interest is Maisy, who is without a doubt the star of this story! But being a 10 year old kid she is an absolute no-go for romance. So yeah, I can imagine some guys clicking your add, reading the synopsis, seeing your tags and then giving you a 1-star review for baiting them. I on the other hand decided to give your story a fair chance which brings me to point two. #2: Research, I’m not sure if you planned the whole seasoned wood thing or if you really didn’t know. But Kivumus definitely should have known what seasoning wood means as an engineering graduate and a person from earth, wood seasoning/drying is pretty common knowledge after all. I learned about it when I was a kid and many more times while in high-school. You managed to fix that pretty decently though, so kudos for that. Yet still, I can’t help but wonder if you could have solved it in a more fantasy like manner. Such as claiming that fedarus trees don’t have to be seasoned because they only hold moisture in the bark or something like that. That is of course assuming you didn’t plan all of it, which you might have. The second fault I could find was the lack of tool-variety. Carpenters and blacksmiths use a lot more tools than just saws, axes and hammers. And while you don’t have to go into details about each tool, a short mention (and how many more they need) would have been enough to add realism. The third fault I could find was when you stated that they would make wooden roof shingles from planks. In the middle ages they would only consider making roof shingles from planks when there were more than enough planks available and they were cheap (so if they had a sawmill.) And even than they would still mostly make them from the heartwood parts of logs by hand, using a froe/axe and wooden mallet. Mostly because shingles made like that last 20-30 years while those made from planks only last 10 years or so unless treated with preservative agents. In case of this novel it would take a lot more time to make planks first and then cut them into shingles, than to just straight up cleave them from wooden logs. Especially since they could also use the sapwood part of the log as well since the shingles don’t have to last more than a couple of years. I noticed you also changed the whole wooden shingles idea to vertical placed wooden planks as a roof, which is arguably a better solution under the circumstances. My point is though, that it feels like you only did basic research, rather than a more in-depth dive into the intricacies of medieval crafting. But for such a detailed story which follows a more historical accurate narrative, good research is a must. The alternative would be a more fantasy like solution, like wood-magic or something. I nearly considered dropping the story when I read that line about roof shingles. And yes I know this is a fantasy, which is why I overlooked quite a few unrealistic deadlines and smaller details. (Seriously, 5 axes a day, who is this guy, Hephaestus reborn?) I highly recommend you watch some informative YouTube videos about medieval roofing, carpentry and blacksmithing as google and Wikipedia tend to be lacking when it comes to these things. #3: Pacing, or to be more precise the excessive planning and speculating. Often times it feels like I’m reading things twice because you have your characters plan things in detail first, and then have them execute those plans in great detail (though often with some variation as nothing ever truly goes as planned.) The best comparison I can make is like going to a movie after your over-enthusiastic friend already spoiled all the mayor plot lines. It’s just not the same as going in only knowing the basic outline of the story and it ruins a lot of the suspense. Most authors only give a small summary when they have their characters make plans, and then they go into greater details as things unfold. For example, the planning of the quarry rescue could have been summarized as: After hearing the heart-felled plea from Calubo, Rivamus decided to send his guards on a rescue mission. After spending some time planning with the others he went to bed feeling he made the right decision. Then the next chapter would start with some more details from let’s say Calubo’s perpective: Calubo couldn’t be more happy, the baron had send eight men and horses with him to kill the bandits and rescue the slaves, including Hyola…. That’s basically one of your chapter’s summarized. The thing is though, I don’t recommend you change your writing style to this more common and compressed way. Mostly because anyone who is still reading this story past chapter 50 actually enjoys your over detailed, slow paced style. So changing that now would probably cause you to lose a large portion of your fan-base, including me. I would recommend trimming down a bit on the planning and speculating, letting some of the details come forward as the events unfold instead. But other than that, your unique way of writing makes you stick out. As long as you’re happy with the response you’re getting, including the financial aspect, it’s probably best not to make drastic changes. You can always experiment with a new novel since you definitely have the talent and drive for writing!
