Eldrics Explorations Into The Fishery & The Group Of Strangers

Eldric gave a somewhat disappointed sigh but quickly asked to be shown the fish they had caught. The two men led Eldric into the storeroom, where Eldric saw the dew patches of dugouts in the ground. There were a total of five holes, each almost measuring two by two meters.

Eldric was surprised by the size of the storeroom, but his gaze was quickly attracted to what was in the holes. Eldric could see a large grouping of fish in two of the holes, while the other three holes only had two fish each.

"We have been able to raise the total amount of fish to 20," the younger of the two fishermen spoke with a sense of pride, to which the older of the two men quickly added, "And of that, twenty fish, thirteen are Alpine Trout, and seven are Silverback trout."

Eldric's eyes sparkled with excitement. Although they were not able to catch a new species of fish, they had been able to increase the number of fish they could breed with, and that alone was something worth getting excited about.

Eldric took another careful look in one of the holes where a group of Alpine Trout was clustered together, "How come these ones look different compared to the previous batch we had caught?" 

The small group of fish had a different scheme of colors compared to the previous batch, and Eldric assumed it to be a certain disease, which made him somewhat worried, but fortunately, his concern was unfounded. 

The older fisherman hurriedly replied, "Well, thanks to the recent knowledge we have gained from the towns, we now know the difference." He spoke with a hint of embarrassment in his tone, "At first, we too thought that they were sick, but since then, we have gained quite a substantial amount of knowledge about the river and mountain fishes in these areas."

"The Alpine trout has vibrant speckled scales ,mixed in between their grey or mottled brown color, it is only when they sexually mature that they change their patterns from the distinct speckled scales to a crimson stripe that runs along their side from gill to tail, and numerous small black spots scattered across their back" the man explained with his own eyes twinkling.

"Oh? So when are they sexually mature then?" Eldric asked with interest. "Mm… the exact age is not mentioned, but we estimate it to be around two years of age. The extent of our knowledge is still rather limited," the man sighed.

"That's good! Based on these fish, I can assume we can start breeding Alpine trouts," Eldric asked in quick succession. Yes, Patriarch, six of the Alpine trouts can start breeding, and all seven of the Silverback trouts can be bred as well," the younger of the two men said with excitement.

Eldric nodded and praised them for their work before he took his leave. Eldric did not know much about fishing, and he was not going to pretend to be an expert and give them advice; he would leave it for them to figure it out.

***

Meanwhile, at the outer edges of the mountain where the enclosures were being built, a group of knights stood guard. Only a few men were stationed there, but both Garen and Cael were present.

They were arguably the strongest knights, and since they were dealing with leopards, the elders had agreed that they would stand guard.

The materials for the enclosures lay untouched between a few makeshift posts where the knights stood. One large post was made right in the center of the mountain area. 

"I hope that the beasts don't come this way. It's troublesome to deal with these types of beasts," Cael sighed while lying against a thick wooden post. I thought you would even go out and seek the beast yourself." Garen glanced at him with a small smile.

"Hmpf! I'm not that crazy to go out and seek a battle that would lead to my death," Cael responded with a scoff.

Garen chuckled in response. "Those architects the Patriarch spoke of should be arriving today. I wonder how fast we can complete the enclosures," he said softly.

"The quicker, the better. I don't want to be stuck here all day doing nothing!" Cael said, frustrated, "I would rather go and train some more than waste my time here."

The two men did not speak much after that as they silently monitored the surroundings. 

***

"So… you're saying that an unknown party approached the commerce and requested to speak with the Patriarch?" Evander asked a knight clad in the regular armor of the house in surprise.

"Yes, Elder! Yesterday, early in the morning, a group of strangers dressed in leatherskin cloaks made of high-quality leather in a rich brown color. There was not much we could do to base their identities off except for a run medallion on their cloaks, but we found nothing," the knight replied in full detail.

"And these strangers? What did they look like then?" Evander raised a brow in response when he asked. "This medallion, what did it look like?" he added after some thought.

The knight did not waste a second and quickly delivered a full, detailed report, which could not even be considered 'detailed.' 

"So, they hid their faces and we couldn't even get a glimpse of their faces?" He frowned and massaged his temple. "Did they specifically ask for the House of Snow?"

"Yes, Elder! Their words were 'Our master wishes to speak with the Patriarch of House Snow'. The merchants feigned ignorance, and after some time, they were able to see the strangers when they asked me to come and deliver the message. I have been circling a few times and making sure no one followed me before coming."

"Good work." Evander nodded before dismissing the man. 'This could be trouble,' he thought as he saw the picture of the rune medallion the knight had drawn.'Better find Patriarch.' 

Evander stood up and left the room in haste.