Ogre Tyrant

Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 41 – Cause for violence – Part Two

Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 41 - Cause for violence - Part Two

Massaging my face, I decided that two hours of sleep was enough for the time being. Forcing myself to rest any longer was likely to make me more tired, not less. I began a simple exercise routine of pushups and situps to get my blood pumping and banish the lingering fuzziness in my head.

By the time I finished exercising, Fesk had stirred from his cot and begun an odd exercise routine of his own. With the sheath of his sword bound to the sword by the guard, Fesk shifted through a series of offensive and defensive motions as if fighting an imaginary opponent. He had performed these exercises before, so I wasn’t all that surprised, but it was still a little odd to watch.

When Fesk finished, he washed his upper body off with a rag and some water from one of the barrels before dressing himself and standing by the main door to the warehouse. As with everything else, he did it all in near-complete silence.

I had given Fesk an examination in Mournbrent, as best I could manage, in an attempt to diagnose the cause for his being mute. It had revealed nothing relevant, and even outright Commands had failed to coax anything more than grunts of pain.

I was unable to read proper sentences and couldn’t write the local language worth a damn, and this left us with a distinctly one-way means of communicating with one another. It had not been a particular problem thus far, but that could change at any moment. While persisting in teaching myself the written form of the language, there was a possible somewhat short term solution to the problem. I could try and teach Fesk sign language.

I had learned Auslan, Australia’s official sign language, as part of an elective course in disability care. While I hadn’t practised much since passing the course, I figured I probably remembered enough to at least try and teach Fesk some basic signs to help us communicate. I didn’t want to enter the Labyrinth until the guild’s building was thoroughly secured anyway, so this left us with a reasonable amount of time to work with for the time being.

Staying decidedly clear of the alphabet, I decided to first make a list of the words and short phrases I thought would be the most useful. Using a piece of charcoal for writing with, I wrote the list down on the warehouse wall so I could keep track and mentally review the signs or amend the word to one that was similar but for which I knew the sign.

After twenty minutes, I felt like I had a decent list to get started with and waved for Fesk to join me by my cot. “Fesk, this is going to ultimately be your choice, but I would like to teach you how to speak with your hands. Is that something you would be interested in doing?” I asked while doing my best not to pressure him.

Fesk’s eyes widened in surprise and he stared down at his hands before looking back up at me.

“Yes, your hands,” I repeated while slowly making the signs as a demonstration and explanation.

Fesk did his best to mimic the signs while nodding his head.

#Hands# “Hands,” I repeated and waited for Fesk to copy the sign.

Fesk slowly repeated the gesture, #Hands.# He looked up at me for confirmation.

I smiled and nodded.

Fesk learned the first few signs easily enough, but as we continued, it began requiring more and more repetition to get the signs to stick. It was a common enough problem with signing that I didn’t worry about it much. Proper memorisation was going to take time and repetition. It helped that most of the words I focused on were rather intuitive in how they were visually represented in signing.

After a couple of hours of repetition, I decided to take a break outside.

Gregory had added a new Slave to his Party, a Gnoll named Khibi. Investigating further, I felt my pulse quicken as I scanned through the low single-digit stats. The Gnoll was a child, I was almost certain of it. The presence of the child in Gregory’s party was most likely to serve as an improvised form of evidence against the guild. After all, he would have to be profoundly stupid to think I wouldn’t notice a Slave being added to a Party under my authority.

Sure enough, after waiting for about ten to twenty minutes, I felt a slave enter my sphere of influence. The challenge for control was immediately surrendered and Khibi was added to my party. A few minutes later, a procession of slaves began entering my influence in scattered groups of three to five. Unlike Khibi, these Slaves were not under control by anyone but were wearing Slave Collars. Taking control was almost effortless, simply draining mana to establish control.

It took another hour before a procession of caged wagons stopped on the main road a short distance from the warehouse.

Gregory soon came into view holding a bundle of black and grey fur to his chest with his left hand and holding a handful of documents in his right, “Majesty, the raid upon the guild building has revealed deep-seeded treachery, and their deeds serve as proof!” Gregory waved the documents to prove the former and jostled the furry bundle slightly to prove the latter.

The spotted ash-grey bundle giggled nervously and tucked itself tighter against Gregory’s chest.

“This is Khibi, I presume?” I asked while fighting to keep my voice level, not wanting to scare the poor thing but livid at the implications of its presence.

Gregory nodded, “She was one of the lots being sold at an illegal auction on the guild’s premises. There are other Variants as well, and I don’t think you are going to like how the guild came into possession of them,” he warned while waving the handful of documents slightly.

The news of the illegal black market auction was in itself not all that different to if it had been a public auction. The primary difference was whether or not the crown was paid its due in taxes, and those rarer specimens, which were more valuable, were saved for the black market auction.

However, the means of obtaining their stock was something else entirely.

“How?” I demanded, fighting to keep my breathing steady.

“To paraphrase,” Gregory excused himself, “The guild claims that its Foothold on the third floor was attacked by a Variant Tribe of Gnolls, the Ashfurs. Repelling the attack, guild officials ‘purchased’ captured combatants from the adventurers and then prepared them for sale. That’s the official record.”

“And the unofficial record?” I asked angrily.

“Firsthand accounts from the Enslaved Gnolls in question-” Gregory waved back towards the wagons, “-says that humans have been raiding their camps for the better part of a month. The attack did take place, but they were provoked, and it was obvious that the treaty was no longer being honoured. After some convincing, one of the guild officials confirmed this version of events.”

“Then the third floor is where we are going to start,” I growled.

Gregory nodded, “I thought your Majesty might say as much and have already dispatched men to arrest guild members and officials from the second and third floors in addition to the first, as originally planned.”

“Good...” somewhat mollified. I turned my attention back to Khibi, “What are their projected casualties?”

“The Ashfur?” Gregory asked, “Not good. The survivors weren’t particularly trusting, but the guild officials believe they have gutted the tribe. Just about what’s left of their warriors and hunters is in the wagons, and besides their Matriarch, Gnolls only send their females to fight as a last resort. I didn’t see any besides Khibi, so I think that the survivors might be fighting to establish a new Matriarch. Which is almost guaranteed to take a toll all its own,” he explained wryly.

I understood what he meant. The female Gnolls were vicious in establishing their hierarchy. Even with Surgeons standing by, the fighting was bloody and left prominent scars. Rikit had become the Gnoll Matriarch of Sanctuary’s resident Gnolls after fighting her way through every one of her rivals, losing half an ear and gaining a plethora of nasty scars in the process.

To prevent that fight from being rehashed again, I had given Rikit permission to take Evolution Elixir four times a week. After pulling suitably ahead of her competition, the fighting had died out. Unlike the Daemons, the Gnolls only had the one coveted leadership position, it was Matriarch or nothing. They didn’t seem to particularly care who was second or third strongest at all.

“I Want the guild removed from the Labyrinth outright,” I grunted, “I know the higher floors will have higher level adventurers, so I don’t care how long it takes, just that it gets done.”

“Yes, Majesty,” Gregory agreed.

“Are these all the Slaves in the city?” I asked despite feeling quite certain I knew what the answer would be.

Gregory shook his head regretfully, “I am sorry Majesty, but no. Besides commercial interests, a number of wealthy citizens will most likely own a number of Slaves to serve as servants.”

Reminded of the living conditions of Rikit and her pack, I wrinkled my nose in disgust, “Use the money, the coins, confiscated from the guild to buy up all the privately owned Slaves in the city. IF they want workers, then they can pay a wage for them,” I grunted irritably.

Gregory nodded in understanding, “I will have a proclamation to that effect made and pay off some informants to identify anyone who seeks to defy the order.”

“Good,” I looked towards the wagons and the slow procession of monsters now headed in our general direction.

With the grey-furred Gnolls comprising the overwhelming majority, a handful of green-scaled and bipedal lizard people kept a wary distance while trailing along behind.

“Lizardmen?” I muttered curiously as the name of the species came to mind. It seemed a bit on the nose.

Gregory looked towards the crowd and nodded, “They are from the fifth floor and upwards in the Laine Labyrinth, Majesty. Favouring ambushes and skirmish tactics in the swamplands and rivers, it is actually impressive that the adventurers managed to capture so many without direct guild involvement. All the more so since they appear to be Variants.”

“So there are variants on the fifth floor as well?” I asked while making a point to look towards the documents in Gregory’s hand.

“Officially? There is no record of them being there,” Gregory replied thoughtfully, “So it is possible that they are a relatively recent addition to the Labyrinth and were unfortunate enough to get caught at this formative stage. As much as it pains me to admit it, the guilds prefer to have long term dealings with Variants for the greater profits trade provides. So unless this is related to the activities against the Ashfur, then it is probably just bad luck.”

As the lizardmen drew closer it became obvious that they were a sexually dimorphic Species. Although, if I didn’t have access to their Status I may have mistaken them for two different Species entirely. The males were heavily muscled to the point that gravity caused them to hunch forwards, if it weren’t for their large crocodilian tails, it was doubtful they would have been able to stand upright at all.

Males and females both had flat wedge-like heads that reminded me of bluetongue lizards, but with the addition of crocodile-like teeth protruding from their upper and lower jaws. The Lizardmen also had the same raised ankle and elongated toes as Ushu, giving them the appearance of a perpetual crouch,

The female Lizardmen were considerably lighter in build, and despite being shorter still managed to stand head and shoulders above the males' thanks to being able to stand upright. Similar to the Serpent-Kin, the females had pronounced chests and hips that lent them a more recognizably female appearance despite the former most likely lacking any true breast tissue. Finally, the females had more muted colouration to their scales.

With five males and six females, the male Lizardmen were making a point of doing their best to shelter the females as best they could, while the females did their best to hide from sight. All the same, the group of Lizardmen had diverted from their direct approach to the second warehouse and were headed for Gregory and myself.

“There is another potential complication,” Gregory warned, “However, after conferring with the Lord Regent, I was instructed to inform your Majesty that the Lord Regent and high command will support any decision you deem appropriate.”

Before I had the chance to ask him what he was talking about, the Lizardmen had arrived in front of the warehouse and the males had parted to allow a slightly older looking female to step forwards.

Dressed only in rags that provided a minimum level of modesty, the female Lizardman lowered her head and bowed low against the ground, “Great one,” she raised herself up by the waist and then bowed again, her raised hands returning to the ground in front of her, “We will obey...serve always...Ask only...return eggs!” The female Lizardman begged.

“You didn’t find the eggs at the guild,” I stated flatly.

“No, Majesty,” Gregory replied.

“But you know where they are, or have a good idea, don’t you?” I asked while doing my best to repress my resurging anger.

“A strong suspicion, Majesty,” Gregory replied evenly.

“Which is why you contacted the Regent,” I reasoned aloud, “Where are they?” I demanded.

“I believe,” Gregory qualified, “That they were purchased through an intermediary and intended for Baron Reynold Karaticus. Although I have no proof to this effect. Unlike his son, the Baron has enough sense not to attend an illegal auction in person, and they had the good sense not to linger after making the intended purchase.”

All but the spokeswoman of the Lizardmen followed my conversation with Gregory intensely. The monsters of the Labyrinths were primitive, not stupid, and it was clear that the Lizardmen had a general idea of what was going on.

“The Baron’s son has already been apprehended while attending the illegal auction, and act of treason as the auction intended sale of Variants, further worsened to high treason in accordance to your laws in the trafficking of children,” Gregory explained with mounting excitement, “This provides just cause to search the Baron’s holdings with impunity, and arrest him should he or his staff attempt to bar our investigation. A count which may very well apply to the father as well as the son, if my hunch holds true.”

“Fesk!” I snapped and waved him over. #Stay. Watch. Female# I signed and then pointed to Khibi huddled in the crook of Gregory’s arm.

Fesk nodded, #Agree. Understand.# Walking over to Gregory, Fesk gently took Khibi in his own arms and allowed the scared little fluff ball to bury herself in the front of his tunic.

Gregory watched the silent exchange with interest but said nothing.

I turned back to the female Lizardman, “I accept your oath, but you will need to wait here while I search for your eggs,” I warned the group at large. I would have considered bringing them along, or maybe one of the males to provide Racial Synergies, but their Racial Abilities were too insularly oriented, similar to Ushu.

The male Liizardmen hissed in disapproval, and I felt a couple of them test my control before falling silent. The Females were more visibly distressed, twitching their heads and making strange squeaking noises.

The female representative turned her head while still pressed to the ground and hissed aggressively back at the others, quieting them almost immediately. “We accept...We obey...” The representative insisted as she turned her head back in my direction. Rising back into a full standing position, the female led the others into the warehouse and towards one of the open water barrels.

“Fesk,” I waited until I had his full attention, then pointed to the Lizardmen and then towards the wagon. #Show. Food. Later.#

Fesk nodded to show he understood, but with his hands occupied he couldn’t sign back.

Going back to my cot, I began strapping on my armour while Gregory waited by the door.

Rejoining Gregory a couple of minutes later, I briefly considered leaving Shady behind but thought better of it. Shadow Step was too useful not to have access to in the event of an emergency.

The road up to the next gate wasn’t nearly as long as the winding path from the first gate to the second, but knowing that a straight line would have cut the travel time considerably managed to serve as a near-constant source of irritation. That irritation only intensified when we repeated the march through what appeared to be the primary residential and manufacturing district.

Dozens of large wagons were drawn by small teams of large hairy goat looking Beasts with wolf-like teeth. Serving as something approximating a public transportation service, payment seemed to be a single copper coin regardless of the distance travelled. By the time Gregory and I reached the gate to the noble and merchant quarter, I had figured out that the wooden signs hanging off the sides of the wagon denoted the route it would take through the district.

I had felt a number of other Slaves present in general vicinity of the manufacturing areas, but I was willing to allow their current owners the opportunity to do the right thing and accept compensation in exchange. All the same, it still irked me to leave them like that.

I had been attracting a great deal of attention thus far, but passing through the next gate and entering the upscale merchant and noble residential district amplified that attention tenfold. If it weren’t for the large sigil of house Asrus on Gregory’s padded armour, I would have had no doubt that someone with more money than sense would have attempted to ‘buy’ me. As it was, a number of gaudily dressed merchants, quite possibly foreigners, had looked as if they wanted to approach as we had passed. However, Gregory had given them a dead-eyed stare and grinned as if daring them to do it. The merchants had rather quickly remembered that they had business elsewhere.

“They were Deroma traders,” Gregory explained warily, “They will buy and sell anything for a profit. They would sell you their own grandmother if their father hadn’t already beat them to it.”

Despite the approaching enemy army, there were a surprising number of foreign merchants still in the city. When I asked Gregory why they hadn’t left, he gave me a strange look in response.

“I believe, Majesty, that they have zero qualms about who precisely controls the city,” Gregory’s demeanour darkened, “And that a number of our foreign visitors very likely intend to buy up as many of our citizens as Slaves to sell on for a profit. Assuming we lose, of course, and assuming the empire’s Commander decides to share.”

The thought of men, women and children being dragged off in chains, to who knew what hell, left me in a thoroughly dark mood as we passed through the final gate. Similar to Mournbrent, the final section of the city was heavily fortified. The Adventurers Guild’s offices were a constant flurry of activity as the military appeared to be in the process of moving into the building.

Private guards of the other walled-off estates appeared incredibly nervous despite gathering in objectively excessive numbers. Once they noticed me, their nervousness evolved into overt fear. A number of guards dropped their weapons and fled back towards the gate to the lower districts, confirming that they were at least in some part familiar with their master's actions.

Waiting outside of the guild offices while Gregory gathered men for the search, I noticed more guards being sent from within the largest of the fortress estates to muster in the front yard behind their large brick and cast iron-barred wall. Many of them were holding crossbows already primed and loaded. At their head was a small group of adventurers.

The intense focus from the adventurers was unsettling. They were the only ones that didn’t seem concerned by my presence. Instead, they were focusing on the soldiers, pointing and speaking with one another as if planning something.

Runners began moving from one estate to the next and a full quarter or more of those estates guards would then migrate towards the forces of the largest estate. The only estate to send no guards at all was somewhat rundown and closest to the gates. The estate was also the only one with what I would have considered to be a normal number of guards, with only three standing watch by the front gate. Instead of sending guards to the largest manor, a pair of grey-haired guards emerged from within the estate and were dragging the panicking messenger towards the guild offices, drawing the attention of the soldiers.

“Conspiracy sir,” one of the guards grunted to a nearby Sergeant while fighting to maintain a hold of the messenger.

“The Baron conspires to repel his Majesty’s army,” the other added.

“Lies!” The messenger squealed in a panic, “Slanderous and baseless lies!”

“The letter is in my belt, sir,” the first guard explained while motioning to his hip with his eyes.

The Sergeant nodded and pulled the slightly rumpled letter from the guard's belt before giving it a cursory glance, “Follow me,” the Sergeant ordered and led them into the guild building.

The messenger wailed in terror as he was dragged across the threshold. Whipping his head about in search of a potential ally or means of escape, all he found was the icy cold glare of the Asrusian soldiers that now surrounded him.

Fearing the worst for the Slaves I had detected while passing the estates, I decided that it wasn’t worth risking their lives in the impending conflict. One by one, I began challenging the masters of the Slaves for control. As I had suspected might happen, the resistance was minor at best, making it obvious that none of the slaves' masters intended to risk pain and death for their ‘property’. That is, with a single exception.

It was the estate located closest to the estate of the Baron, and with the second largest contingent of guards. Whoever controlled the Slaves in that estate had held out longer than the rest combined, and it seemed to be with good cause.

[Celeste - HP: 3/18 - Diseased, Poisoned, Starving, Dehydrated ]

Besides her Toughness, the stats were what I had come to expect of children, that she was human was largely beside the point.

Entering the guild building, I ducked into the first room that would accommodate my size and banished the soldiers before closing the door.

*Tingling*

Ril appeared on top of a large stack of papers on a nearby desk, her inky black eyes regarding me curiously.

“I need Nadine, now,” I stated bluntly. Wraithe would have been better, but there were too many witnesses, and as loath as I was to place Nadine in harm's way, I didn’t have much of a real choice.

Ril took a few moments to take in her surroundings and then disappeared.

A few minutes passed and Ril returned, this time in the flesh and joined by Nadine, who was herself carrying a First-Aid bag and wearing her old armour.

“Ril said there was an emergency?” Nadine asked warily while talking in the empty room.

I nodded and shifted Nadine and Celeste into the same party.

“Status,” Nadine mumbled hurriedly and began darting her eyes back and forth to navigate the Party Status. Suddenly growing quite still, Nadine’s eyes widened in shock, “Where...” She croaked before roughly clearing her throat, “Where is she?” Nadine asked worriedly.

“I’m not certain,” I admitted, “Somewhere below a nearby estate, but that’s all I know.”

“An estate?” Nadine asked in confusion before looking around again, “Tim, where are we?”

“The city of Laine,” I replied without hesitation, knowing there was no point in lying to her.

“I thought you were chasing the Liche in Mournbrent?” Nadine seemed even more confused.

“The Liche is stalling for time so its allies can intervene,” I explained, “So, I am helping reinforce Laine against its impending siege.”

“Which will buy more time to hunt the Liche,” Nadine guessed, “But how did you find so many Slaves? I thought you weren’t going to do that anymore?”

“They were the empire’s combat Slaves, for the most part. I hadn’t exactly planned on taking them,” I explained defensively, “Besides, it was this or watch them be slaughtered...and there are others that wouldn’t have been freed if I hadn’t.”

Nadine sighed and shook her head, “No, your right Tim, it’s just a little shocking to see how much you have changed since we first met, or even since the last time we spoke more than a handful of words to one another,” she explained apologetically, “What you have doing couldn’t have been easy.”

I grunted in reply and did my best not to think about it. My degenerating moral compass was not something I felt comfortable discussing right at the moment, not when it was becoming more likely by the minute that I would be a party to killing a number of humans.

“Do you need anything else?” Ril asked quietly, her mature voice and tone very much at odds with her diminutive appearance, “Mama will be wondering where I have gone.”

“Not right now, but in a few days I will Summon you again to establish another Waygate,” I replied with a deep sigh, “Tell Toofy that I miss her, alright?”

Ril nodded and then disappeared.

Nadine gave me another strange look, “Toofy but not Lash?” She asked curiously.

“I spoke with Lash less than a week ago,” I answered defensively.

Nadine seemed confused for a moment before nodding to herself, “You summoned her...You summoned her!” She grew incredibly excited, “Tim, you could summon Celeste and we could ask her where she is being held!”

“I don’t think that will be much help,” I countered, “Based on what I felt just before taking control from her captor, It’s obvious that she is being held in a basement or dungeon of some kind. I doubt she would have been conscious when they took her down there...or that she would remember even if she had been conscious.”

Nadine glared at me for a moment before shaking her head, “No, you're probably right...” She agreed apologetically, “So what do we do?”

“We need Gregory,” I replied thoughtfully, “He has, talents, that will come in useful,” I explained while shifting uncomfortably. Gregory’s aggressive interrogation techniques were something of a necessary evil I had come to grudgingly accept. Unable to ‘rough someone up’ for information myself without risk of killing them by accident, Enslavement was just as risky, since a determined resistance would kill them. Gregory’s unique training and skills had been vouched for by the Regent himself. It was quite a compliment considering he was barely in his early thirties.

Opening the door, I waved over a nearby soldier, “Tell Gregory, the Ranger, that I need him, now,” I ordered.

The soldier snapped a solute and went running down the grand hallway and towards the main offices.

Gregory came running out of one of the distant offices and upon spotting Nadine he gave her a wary look.

“Nadine isn’t the problem,” I growled and rearranged Gregory’s party to now have both Nadine and Celeste as members.

Gregory’s eyes darted downward for a moment and then forward again, “Another slave?” He asked with a confused frown, “Status,” Gregory’s eyes widened slightly, “A human child...”

“Kept somewhere below that big estate next to the Baron’s small castle,” I explained.

Gregory’s eyes widened further and he glanced in the general direction of the estate before narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. “I will make enquiries, Majesty,” Gregory promised and headed for a large and recently repaired set of iron banded doors at the end of a long corridor.

“Do we really have time for this?” Nadine asked, “That poor girl could be dying as we speak!”

“I know,” I shifted uncomfortably again and popped my knuckles without meaning to, “But going in without a clear idea of where to find her could be worse.”

Nadine winced, “I...I hadn’t thought of that...” She admitted, “But isn’t there something you can do? Maybe if you Summoned Celeste, she could tell us if she is being watched by any guards?” Nadine anxiously suggested a little louder than she had probably intended.

The pair of old guards from earlier had been lingering by the main entrance to the guild building for who knows what reason, but Nadine’s words had a similar effect on them to being struck by lightning. One of the old men collapsed, and the other barely managed to catch him in time to stop him from hitting the hard floor. Both of the elderly men stared fixedly at Nadine, sparing only a moment to glance at one another before stiffly rushing towards her.

“Ma’am did you say Celeste?!” The first demanded with a strained voice.

“A little girl, no more than seven!” The second added insistently, “Brown hair like yours, but a little darker, and pale blue eyes!”

“I, uh...” Nadine looked to me for help.

“Our master will pay you for any information you might have!” The first added, jabbing a knobbly finger into his own chest and the house sigil emblazoned on the left side.

Shifting my weight while I tried to decide how best to enter the conversation, the rattling and clanking of my armour silenced the old men almost instantly.

With wide eyes and open mouths, their heads slowly tilted upwards and towards my face before the blood drained from their faces.

Before I could say a word, Gregory had returned and was wiping his hands with a rag, “Well, this is perhaps just as well,” Gregory observed cheerily, “You both serve Lord Janis, yes?”

The pair of old guards nodded, still too shell shocked to speak.

“Then you may inform your Lord that his missing grand-niece Celeste is being held in a hidden dungeon beneath Sumire manor,” Gregory declared with an excited grin, “As a representative of the Lord Regent Francis Asrus, I am also empowering Lord Janis with the authority to prosecute her rescue by any means he deems appropriate to the circumstance.”

The pair of elderly guards appeared as if they might keel over at any moment, but quite suddenly they both began to tremble and shake with rage. Eyes bloodshot and brimming with tears, the old men raced from the building as fast as their knobbly knees would allow.

“So, you are Nadine,” Gregory observed with a smile, “Am I safe in assuming you are ‘that’ Nadine as well?” He asked.

“It depends on what you mean by ‘that’ Nadine,” Nadine replied a little testily, “Do we really have time for this? We need to rescue that little girl!”

“Definitely ‘that’ Nadine,” Gregory commented and nodded to himself, “Don’t worry, I am planning on doing just that once the good Lord Janis provides the necessary distraction.”

Leaving the guild building, Nadine was given her first look at the Sumire estate and its assembled guards.

“Why not just have the military arrest them?” Nadine demanded, “You have enough manpower don’t you?”

“We do,” Gregory agreed, “But the Colonel would prefer to proceed differently, and so would I.”

“Tim?” Nadine looked at me expectantly.

I shook my head, “I trust Gregory’s judgement.”

Nadine deflated dejectedly, and looked away.

“Well, I had best move into position,” Gregory said cheerily, grinning widely as he began walking out into the street. He continued past the Sumire estate and instead proceeded to skirt around the wall of the next estate over.

A few minutes later, the front gates of the Janis estate burst open and a horde of grey-haired and bent-backed guards, chefs, maids, butlers and all manner of servants began surging down the street. Each and every one of them tightly clutching at a weapon, improvised or otherwise. Vastly outnumbering the guards standing outside the Sumire estate’s gate, the tide of enraged elderly servants was led by a tall man in a brightly polished breastplate and feather plumed helmet.

Some of the Sumire guards opted to flee, throwing their weapons into the street before running in the opposite direction. No doubt intending to circle around the Adventurers Guild building and around the back of the horde to the gate to the lower districts. Those who remained formed tight ranks in order to better weather the inevitable charge.

However, just before the two forces clashed, a lanky groundskeeper from the Janis ranks hurled a lantern into the midst of the Sumire guards. Crashing against the paved street, the spilled oil erupted into flames and caused the Sumire centre to scatter just as the Janis closed the final few feet.

With their centre lost, the guards were overrun and disappeared beneath a furious tide of withered liver-spotted fists clutching candlesticks, rolling pins and brooms.

A cry rang out from the guards posted in front of the Baron’s estate, prompting a full half of the guards to begin charging towards the melee.

Almost equal in number to the mob of elderly servants, they formed ranks with halberds and spears in front, intending to make full use of their superior reach to drive the elderly horde back.

Arrows and bolts had begun peppering the Janis force from the vantage of the estate, but the old servants continued their attack on the gate.

Just as the Baron’s guard began to charge, they collapsed into a heap as hidden Archers scythed them down. Their arrows punctured the guards' armour with ease. The guards by the Baron’s gate fared little better, turned into porcupines before they even realised what was going on.

Soldiers began pouring out of the guild building and roughly taking formation as they surged towards the Baron’s estate, shields held high to ward off incoming arrows.

Guards protecting the other noble estates fled rather than risk the soldiers coming for them next. Those inside the safety of the estates were no different, throwing open the doors and gates and fleeing towards the lower sections of the city.

“We...We need to help!” Nadine insisted and began running towards the elderly Janis forces which were still laying siege to the gate with minimal success.

“Stay here!” I barked and began moving towards the Sumire gate, “GATHER THE WOUNDED!!!” I roared and pointed back towards Nadine, “BRING THE WOUNDED TO THE GUILD!!!”

Soldiers still leaving the guild building diverted towards the Sumire estate.

Doing my best not to tread on any of the fallen, I waded through the flagging ranks of the elderly servants and guards, giving no small number of them a fight in the process. Pressing my full weight against the gate. The hinges groaned in protest and then shrieked as the steel tore free of the surrounding stone.

*Clank*

I continued forward towards the main doors to the estate and made it about halfway across the open ground before arrows began pelting against my armour.

“FOR CELESTE!” A voice cried from somewhere behind me.

“FOR THE LITTLE MISS!!!” Cried another, inspiring a ragged roar as close to a hundred old men and women began charging towards the fortified estate.

Balling my right hand into a fist, I began to charge. Arrows continued pelting against my armour, growing more frequent and accompanied by muted frantic curses from within the rapidly approaching building. As splintering shafts whipped past my visor, I was reminded of the importance of wearing a helmet.

With the doors now only moments away, I gathered mana into my fist. Reeling my arm back, I pivoted and swung my hips as I launched my fist towards the rightmost door.

*BOOM!*

*****

Nadine was surprised by how few wounded there were to tend to. With the majority of injuries involving minor cuts and projectiles, she was rather unnerved by the bloodthirsty ruthlessness of her geriatric patients. Not a single one of the guards had been spared. Nadine had even witnessed one of the maids, a woman old enough to be her grandmother, bash in a fallen guard’s head with a fire poker while ignoring the arrow protruding from her left shoulder.

A dozen soldiers had remained behind in order to discourage the elderly berserkers from retaking the field.

Doing the best she could with what she had on hand, Nadine didn’t feel nearly as panicked as she thought she ought to be, considering she was technically on a battlefield performing triage. All the same, the arrows were thankfully not barbed, so removing them and stitching shut the wounds was a relatively straightforward affair.

Holding back on healing all but the most life-threatening wounds in order to conserve her mana, Nadine couldn’t help but continue glancing towards the Sumire estate.

*Boom!*

Another explosion from the grounds of the Baron’s estate echoed down the street.

With only the reports of passing soldiers to piece together what was going on, Nadine had learned that a team of adventurers was trying, and failing, to subdue Tim. Three of their five-man team had already been disabled and captured, leaving only two others. By all accounts, the adventurers had drastically underestimated Tim’s intelligence, even going so far as to discuss their plans of attack openly in front of him.

Nadine couldn’t help but cringe as she recalled a time when she herself had done something similar.

Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, Nadine looked back towards the Sumire estate and saw the arrogant Ranger Gregory hurrying across the open ground with a small figure bundled in blankets in his arms.

Just as he cleared the Sumire estate gate, Gregory staggered as an arrow from the direction of the Baron’s estate caught him in the left thigh. Somehow managing to keep his footing, Gregory continued a limping jog across the street, heading straight for Nadine. “Inside!” He called out with a warning tone, “We need to do this inside!”

Only halfway through stitching shut an old butler's arrow wound, Nadine was pushed away by the same old butler, “I can handle this seem,” he insisted weakly, “Attend the little miss!”

Grabbing up her bag of supplies, Nadine chased Gregory inside and then followed him into an empty room.

Gregory set the bundled figure down on the top of a desk, grunting in pain as he accidentally broke the shaft of the arrow in his thigh. Grimacing, he waved Nadine towards the desk, “She’s having trouble breathing and has a bad fever,” Gregory stated sharply while hopping around to a more open space in the room.

Feeling a flush of anxiety, Nadine carefully unbundled the blankets to reveal a deathly thin little girl in a ragged filthy shift. Already informed by her Status that she was starving and dehydrated, Nadine withdrew a small flask of fresh clean water from her bag, removed the stopper and did her best to cradle the poor girl’s head and dribble water past her cracked weeping lips.

*Clunk, Clunk, Clack, Clank.*

Nadine glanced irritably towards Gregory, intending to tell him to be quiet, but the words died on her lips.

Gregory was materialising crates, barrels, cookware and blankets seemingly from thin air. “Right,” he grunted determinedly and limped from the room, taking care to close the door behind himself, “Which one of you old biddies can cook?!” Gregory shouted from somewhere outside.

There was a short pause.

“Good! A thin broth if you please! And you! Boiling water!” Gregory ordered sharply

*Clank Clank, Clunk, Clunk Clunk Clunk.*

“You!” Gregory barked, “Gimme your belt for a minute, I need to take care of something.”

There was a longer pause and the smell of smoke.

“Gah! Damnit!” Gregory cursed loudly. A few moments later he reentered the room, “So, besides boiling water and broth, what do you need?” He asked calmly and bit into a large boiled sausage.

Nadine’s nose wrinkled at the smell of burning meat and her eyes drifted down to Gregory’s smouldering bloodstained trouser leg. “I need the willow bark extract from my bag, and a cup or a bowl to mix it with water,” she replied hesitantly, “Did you just rip the arrow out of your leg and cauterise it?” Nadine demanded incredulously.

“Sure did,” Gregory replied distractedly, only limping slightly while untoping one of the barrels to reveal it was full of water. Materialising a simple ceramic bowl in his hand, Gregory scooped it full of water from the barrel and then put it down next to her back. “Which jar has the extract?” He asked, “The one with the willow leaf on it?”

Nadine nodded, “The small bottle. We won't be able to give her much at all, even with Tim’s Ability. I need half of one of the pellets, but try not to crush it,” she insisted.

Gregory unstoppered the ceramic bottle and rolled a small white sphere onto his hand before setting down the bottle and drawing his knife. Using his knife to carefully cut the pellet, he still turned a quarter of the pellet into a crumbly mess.

Nadine gently shook her flask to see how much water was left inside before handing it to Gregory, “Take all the crushed parts, put them into the flask and shake it together,” she ordered while checking the poor girl’s eyes. Finding them bloodshot and jaundiced, Nadine hoped that her system would be able to handle the medication long enough for Nadine to cure her.

Gregory did as he was told and handed back the flask.

Nadine carefully dribbled it into the girl’s mouth, pausing every so often to massage her throat the way Tim taught her to in order to ensure that she swallowed. After depleting the flask, Nadine turned her attention to the weeping sores on the girl’s skin, flinching slightly at the sight of the ragged and raw angry flesh around her right ankle.

“Paste next,” Nadine muttered, “She won’t be able to handle the pain,” she removed another jar from the bag and scooped out a thick dollop of paste with her fingers. Now wasn't the time to be stingy.

Smearing the paste of Celeste’s wounds initially prompted whimpers of pain, but as the numbing paste did its work, she began to relax.

Banishing Gregory from the room for what came next, Nadine carefully cut away the filthy shift and recoiled as she discovered the layers of filth beneath. Retreating into the lessons Tim had taught her, Nadine worked without thinking, running through the list of steps in her mind to prevent the scene from overwhelming her.

Breaking Celeste’s fever cost Nadine most of her remaining mana, taking several attempts before finally winning out. This left very little for the girl’s injuries, but Nadine was more concerned by Celeste’s persistent Poisoned condition. Unfortunately, with no mana left, Nadine could no longer attempt to cure it and had to hope that Tim’s accelerated recovery Synergy would now be enough to do the rest.

Waking up with her eyes aching, Nadine groaned weakly as she slowly took in her surroundings. Instead of the stone walls of the Adventurers Guild, she seemed to be in a sort of warehouse. Taking note of the improvised table, chairs and enormous bed, Nadine relaxed slightly upon realising that at the very least Tim had stayed in the same place.

She wasn’t alone either.

A trio of pointy-eared human-like monsters were staring daggers at her from the opposite side of the warehouse.

The albino Nadine remembered from Mournbrent was here as well, feeding loose meat to something that was hiding beneath a blanket.

Lastly, there was a rather large group of anxious Lizardmen which Nadine was surprised to realise were Variants.

“Hey,” Nadine waved her hand to get the albino’s attention.

The albino waved back.

Gritting her teeth and suppressing the urge to say something unpleasant, Nadine took a deep breath and tried again, “Do you know where Tim is?”

The albino nodded and pointed towards the warehouse door.

Nadine’s right eye twitched, “I mean, where is he? I assumed he wasn't in here, because I can’t see him.”

The albino pointed to the door again.

Massaging her temples, Nadine prepared to try again.

“He can’t talk...” A quiet voice said softly.

Nadine looked around but found no sign of who had spoken.

The albino pointed to the stack of crates at the foot of Nadine’s cot.

Getting to her feet and walking barefoot to take a closer look, Nadine was surprised to find a girl with long black hair sitting on another cot hidden amongst the crates. Wearing one of the army tunic as a dress and with her knees tucked against her chest, it was difficult to tell how old the girl was. There was also something unnerving about her that Nadine couldn’t quite explain.

“Are you okay?” Nadine asked, doing her best to inject a softness into her tone.

The girl shrugged, “For now...”

Nadine didn’t like the sound of that at all. “Has someone been hurting you?” She pressed.

The girl raised her head to look back at Nadine. “Not anymore...” She replied, her black hair falling away to reveal two milky white eyes, “He’s dead now...”

The breath caught in Nadine’s throat as she recoiled and raised her arms to defend herself. Fearing an attack by another possession Spirit, Nadine was surprised when the Girl made no attempts to follow her. After calming down slightly, she noticed the scarring around the girl’s eyes and realised that she was just blind, not possessed.

“Afraid?...” The girl sounded amused, “Of me?...”

“Sorry...I just wasn’t expecting...Sorry...” Nadine apologised awkwardly, feeling awful for reacting like that towards a poor blind girl.

The blind girl shrugged and lowered her head, hiding her face again behind a curtain of hair.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Nadine’s pride took another blow when she realised the albino had seen everything, and so had everyone else. Mortified, Nadine mumbled another apology, walked stiffly back to her bed and hoped that somebody would have the decency to smother her in her sleep.