I stood on the roof of an abandoned store (one of many abandoned buildings in the dying city) about roughly 300-400 meters away from the South Gate. As one would expect, a free-for-all battle broke out right in front of the gate as minor nobles hoped to take advantage of the sudden extermination of House Essex. Like vultures to a rotting carrion, the pitiful fools fought with ferocity and determination, each thinking that it was their destiny to rise above their stations.

I had a feeling if we gave them a few more days, they’d do us all a favor and kill themselves. But we hadn’t the luxury of time. Aside from the troubles in the city, we simply didn’t have the supplies. Hell, I planned for 2 dozen children on this trip; not 70 kids crammed into 7 wagons with 6 adolescents and grannies walking besides the convoy. This was gonna be a rough trip back home.

The convoy crawled to the gate, some 50 meters from the melee. I watched as Sapphy unleashed her Expert-level spell <> on the rabble. This one went on particularly long compared to the last time she used it in the city. After all, Skera wasn’t here to slaughter everyone. This time we’d have to suffocate them all.

I carefully adjusted the angle of the mortar with the hand crank. Since Sapphy would be drained after casting that spell, the mortar shells were one of our few remaining methods of persuading the natives to leave us the fuck alone. Based on the math I did last night, a launch angle of ~75 degrees should be good? I only had 2 shells left, so the adjustment better be on point.

Shit, I hated how I had to rely on unfinished weaponry for this op. Pouring indirect fire at danger-close ranges with a weapon that was yet to be perfected was literally tempting Fate, and I knew for a fact that Fate is my enemy. If only I had mo-

OH COME ON! You can’t let me finish my whining before springing a hidden wave on us?!?

I noticed a sudden commotion as a group of a dozen men rushed out of one of the abandoned stores along the street near the gate. They must’ve been the smart ones who were gonna wait out the melee to claim the prize at the end.

Without hesitation, I fired the 1st mortar shell, hoping to score a decisive hit to disperse them. But it missed and smashed into the building across the street. A big explosion rocked the street, and a few wounded men ran/jumped/crawled out of the demolished building like a bat right out of hell.

That attack really stirred the hornet’s nest. Dozens more men rushed out of whatever building they were hiding out of. The ones that came out first apparently seized 2 carts and the 6 women and children that were on foot. Fuck!

A mortar shell is not the weapon of choice when dealing with hostages, especially if there were roughly 3-4 dozen men doing the hostage-taking. Tali reacted well, and her machine gun burst stopped the 3rd cart from falling to the marauders. We now had a standoff, which was the last thing I wanted.

I rappelled down the building after drawing the mortar into my spatial storage. As I desperately ran to the gate, I took out Lady Vengeance. We were in a bad spot. I anticipated a few stragglers and wiseguys hiding in the midst, but nothing this organized. Hell, if those noble contenders were that smart things wouldn’t be in this much of a deadlock. How the hell did 2-3 factions suddenly gain 20 IQ points and cooperate for an ambush?

Oh.

Damn, I fucked up. I didn’t think the Pantheon could force people do something against their will (otherwise I’d be fucked). But if they… convinced them somehow? These sneaky bastards are less idiotic than I gave them credit for.

Well, this was gonna get traumatizing for Tali. It was a statistical certainty that some of the hostages would not make it. There was no time for a hostage negotiation, not that it would've worked. It was clear what those parasites would “demand” for the hostages. For Tali’s sake, I’d have to make the hard-

*BZZZZTTT* *BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTT*

Tali fired into the crowd. Men scattered and took cover in the chaos. Even from ~50 meters away, I could hear the screaming and yelling as the machine gun fire reaped men second by second. The mages in the back retreated to the side and began to chant. Looked like I needed to pitch in too.

I laid prone and slammed down the receiver on the ammo belt. Before the mages got off any spell (the sheer slowness of their casting made me think those guys were likely just civvies who got caught up by this bullshit). As much as I sympathize with their plight, these people were not allowed to harm my boss/love interest. So off they went…

*BZZZTT* *BZZZZZZT* *BZZZTT* *BZZT*

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

With <> guiding me, I opted for small bursts of fire to minimize risk to the hostages. Not that I could see that well at 50 meters. I prioritized hitting the mages around the back fringes, then the men who were running at me (or running away from Tali). I saw a few non-men bodies on the ground. I knew right there and then that no quarters would be given. All of these rats deserved to be exterminated.

*BZZZZZT* *BZZZZZTT*

At this point, the survivors were hiding back in the abandoned buildings again. I see Sapphy rushing forward to get as many kids into the one cart that still had a living pack animal. Now was our chance!

*BZZT* *BZZZZT* *BZZT* *BZZZT* *BZZT*

I provided cover fire by peppering the buildings, thoroughly convincing these fuckers to stay down. After my belt was used up, I dumped everything in spatial storage and ran for the gate. Tali and the caravan had already left the city, so it was time for me to bug out as well.

As I closed in on the gate, a sharp pain suddenly erupted on my right shoulder. I looked back and saw an arrow expertly put there from at least 75 meters out. Well, that narrowed down the list of suspects quite nicely, didn’t it?

“Ranger Rummy, I think you owe us an explanation.” A familiar voice called out to me as I turned around and nonchalantly pulled out the arrow. It was Decanus Vinnick, my former comrade.

“Not a Ranger anymore, Vinnick. I don’t owe anybody jack shit.” I replied emotionlessly. I activated <> on my wound. With Severance Pay in hand, I stood defiantly against a squad of likely 10 Rangers.

“You know, I was gonna sleep through this skirmish, like I do with any other one. I mean, who cares if those rich asshats kill each other off? Hell, we even got orders from brass to back off until things got bad enough.”

“Lemme guess, you were ‘divinely inspired’ to come out for this particular one…” I replied resignedly.

“Something like that.” He affirmed my suspicion. “Look, let’s go back to the castle and talk this out. I promise you’ll be well-treated. I swear my name upon this.”

“No can do, Decanus. I’ve got a caravan to protect.” I slowly back away, step by step. The Rangers advanced in my direction, step for step. The atmosphere was as tense as the taut bowstring of the bows trained on my center mass.

“I don’t think you understand how much trouble you’re in. This ain’t about pocketing mana crystals while on the job, Rummy. This is the kind of bullshit that gets you hanged!”

This big talk wasn’t from arrogance. Vinnick shot my right shoulder, which would’ve effectively crippled my ability to fight back if I were still using my bow. Too bad conventional wisdom screwed him for this encounter.

“You think I give a shit what the fucking Pantheon wants?” I smirked. “I was meant to be more than some noble’s bitch!” I released the safety of Severance Pay as <> had completely sealed my wound. I was finally at the gate.

“I don’t understand what you mean! Please! Just stand down and explain all of this! Things don’t have to go down this way!” He earnestly pleaded, desperation clearly in his voice.

I sighed. “Decanus Vinnick, the moment you were persuaded to come here, things were fated to go down this way.”

After raising my garand, I activated <>. I pulled the trigger at the nearest Ranger.

*Boom!*

9 arrows came streaking my way. But with <>, I easily dodge them.

*Boom!*

Another down.

Another volley came my way, and once again I side stepped them all. Time to get serious.

*Boom!* *Boom!*

In an instant, 4 Rangers were down. Vinnick was horrified by what he saw. I held fire for a moment, hoping he’d make the right call. I didn’t have forever, sadly. After all, my mana was getting thin.

“Retreat! We need to wait for reinforcement! We’ll get him later!” He said in frustration. His mauled squad carried the wounded and the dead back north. Vinnick gave me one last sad look before turning back.

Whew! I quickly turned around and ran. And after 1 klick, I finally stopped to catch my breath.

“Fuck, I got so out of shape. Been a while since I got chased out of this shithole…”

I blew on a whistle, emitting a high-frequency sound. 10 minutes later, Loki showed up to fetch me. Dog whistle for the win!

I gave my puppy the love he properly deserves, then hopped onto his saddle.

“Alright, let’s catch up to the pack!”

With an excited bark, Loki dashed into the forest. This shopping trip from hell was finally over. On the tactical level, I’d say we earned the W- but not without serious cost. Fucking hell, there must’ve been at least a dozen women and kids that didn’t make it. Poor Tali… so close to saving them, but yet so far.

On top of that, the exposure that Tali and I got was definitely a catastrophe on a strategic level. Good thing I dropped off the pigeons with Mike. Who the hell knew what kind of response the Pantheon would muster after this?

Bah! These worries would be future Rummy’s problem. Right now, I’m just a tired man heading home with his beloved puppy so he could possibly hook up with his 3rd woman.