Maya gave her report as William watched on, wincing internally as Denlar was getting more annoyed with each part added to the story. He only lightened his expression slightly as Maya reported on their time as captives. It was short in real time, but would’ve felt like an eternity to the poor women. William felt a warm hand grab his. He turned to see a sad looking Stacey. He imagined that what they went through would make any woman uncomfortable so he could empathize. He gave a gentle squeeze and Stacey returned a small smile, but it was one that was rather subdued.
Maya’s report finished with the rescue executed by William’s party. She also reported her gain in levels from her assistance with fighting Warlock. William hadn’t heard what they were on the return journey, feeling it was wrong to ask, given what she had been through. He knew that she leveled up as Jane and John did. William could feel that he was around halfway to the next Fighter level, and Stacey was nearly at the next level. It seemed that EXP scaling was even rougher when capped on EXP gains. John had reached Mage level sixteen and Human level eighteen. Jane had reached Healer level fourteen and Human level fifteen. Maya had seen some decent gains, going from Scout level ten to level fifteen, which was the same as her Elf level, indicating that she never bothered with her second class. He’d have to ask her what it was later to sate his curiosity.
Denlar’s voice sounded sharply, drawing William’s attention back to the report.
“So let me summarize our report. You had a squad mate abducted and instead of retreating to a tactically sound position, pursued through the woods blindly, not anticipating another ambush. A strategy that left another squad mate dead and the three of you survivors being abused for the libido of the enemy soldiers. You were then rescued by William and his friends, who wiped the enemy out and freed you three,” Denlar said, his voice hard and authoritative.
Maya fidgeted with her hands as her body language shifted, hinting at discomfort.
“Yes. My haste was responsible for the suffering of my squad. I have no excuses to make,” Maya said, her voice barely above a whisper.
William expected Denlar to yell more, but was taken back somewhat as he saw the man’s expression soften to one of pitying sadness.
“Shanna and Jula. Are you willing to continue serving as guards? Or would you prefer to retire from the role and claim your parting bursary. I’ll make sure you can find an occupation here if you don’t feel comfortable serving Everglade’s defense efforts.”
The two timid women stepped forward and shared a knowing look with each other. It was obvious what they would pick in that moment. William could see it coming.
“We’d like to retire from our current roles please, sir,” Shanna said, holding Jula’s hand in solidarity.
Denlar nodded and gestured to the chairs in the room.
“Have a seat and we can discuss the way forward after this debrief concludes.”
The two women nodded and gave Maya an apologetic look as they took their seats. No one could fault them in their decision, and William had a feeling Maya knew that, but he also had a feeling that her mental state had just been hit hard. She stood alone, no squad at her back.
Denlar looked at Maya straight in the eyes, his gaze intense as he said, “Maya, your actions have led to two deaths of your squad mates and the loss of another pair of good soldiers from the service. I would say that your squad is no more and thus disbanded. You are hereby dismissed from your role. Given your pain suffered at the hand of the enemy, you will receive severance pay. After a grace period of three days, you will be banished from Everglade. You were trained better, Maya, you knew better. Yet two of those under your command are dead, and the other two are no longer willing to serve. The only reason you are not being exiled this minute is so you can speak to a mental health doctor first. Get your shit sorted while you’re still allowed here. After that, you’re on your own.”
Maya sagged, her legs trembling as if she was about to buckle under the pressure. This seemed excessive.
“Denlar, I know I’m not an Everglade citizen, but is that really necessary. She has been through the same suffering as Shanna and Jula; a truly horrific experience. She saved my life as well. Warlock would’ve killed me if she hadn’t charged in and stabbed him. Even while captured, I saw a fire of defiance in her eyes. She’s an eager and fiercely spirited person, so I think exile is a waste personally,” William said, partially expecting Denlar to go off at him too.
Denlar looked at William with a blank expression. William wasn’t sure if he was maintaining a poker face for what he wanted to say.
“William, Maya is a good fighter and often a good soldier, but the overall loss of a whole squad due to negligence in leadership is too great an oversight to punish with anything less.”
William looked at Maya again, noticing that she was looking straight at him, her eyes having regained some of the emotion that had been absent during her report.
“If she is to be exiled, then Greenwell will accept her as one of our own. We can use capable fighters, and fearsome friends. Remember, Maya charged in blindly because one of her comrades was taken. The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” William said, ready to argue and insist on his point.
“I see no issue with that so long as she never sets foot inside Everglade or its territory ever again once she is part of your settlement. What she does away from here is not my business, only what she does while here,” Denlar replied, his face now showing the standard professional appearance of a councilor.
Task 1 – Discover location of missing Everglade patrol.
[[Complete]]
Task 2 – Recover any bodies or personal effects related to the missing patrol.
[[Complete]]
Task 3 [Optional] – Kill any potential enemies related to Everglade’s missing patrol and return with a digit from each body.
[[Complete]]
Reward – A service from each of the three Everglade councilors.
Optional Task Reward – One Gold piece for each digit from different enemy individuals.
{End}
William read the prompt and summoned a pile of fingers. Something he had taken from the enemy bodies as his group were packing up camp that morning.
“Eleven different people. I have also collected the bodies of the two fallen soldiers for you to receive to bury or whatever process you do here. I won’t summon them here though for the sake of Maya, Shanna, and Jula,” William said, while thinking about what reward he wanted.
Denlar received the severed fingers and waved his hand, using some glowing ring on his index finger.
“It is indeed eleven different Mana signatures-” Denlar pulled out a coin pouch and plucked eleven gold coins from it, handing them to William “-here is the payment for the service. Do you have a request for me as part of your task reward? We will file paperwork for the attention of the AU this evening and send it off afterwards as well.”
William had thought of several things, but one new option sprung to his mind as he replied, “Can my request be for the exile on Maya to be lifted?”
The councilors gasped along with Shanna and Jula. Maya was gobsmacked, her jaw scraping the floor. William caught a glimpse of Stacey in his peripheral vision, seeing a look of adoration. Beside her, John and Jane were smiling.
Denlar had regained his composure quickly and donned a thoughtful look for a long moment before he replied, “I could do that, but you will see soon that even if I did, she would leave of her own volition. We are obligated to communicate the outcome of these events to the people and they are very talkative amongst each other.”
William knew the very thing Denlar hinted at having lived in a very small town. Information like that got around quickly and he had a feeling that Denlar’s words were no exaggeration.
“Very well then, Maya is welcome to stay at the Inn we’re sleeping at,” William said, approaching the woman.
Maya looked stunned as William approached, giving his friendliest smile.
“Hold out your hand, Maya.”
Maya didn’t move for several seconds before she decided to oblige. William looked at her open hand and put the eleven gold coins in it. More exclamation and surprise sounded from the witnesses present.
To William’s surprise, Milla spoke up, “William, I’m not finding fault, but what is the difference between her suffering and the suffering of her two companions? Will the others receive the same financial support from you?”
William gave a disinterested shrug and replied, “It’s simple. Maya saved my life. A few coins is nothing compared to that. It’ll also allow her an extra pool of money to rely on if need be. Is the bursary she gets out of the severance more than eleven gold pieces?”
“It’s around one gold and fifty silvers.”
“Then my gratitude will help her for longer in whatever endeavor she requires that relies on money.”
Milla shook her head still in disbelief, but replied, “William, the severance is what one guard makes in six months. You’ve just funded a standard cost of living lifestyle for over five years. I can understand your reasoning, but that is a large sum for newly integrated people too.”
William shrugged again, not hiding his nonchalance and said, “I’ve got plenty more. Eleven gold is a small chunk I guess, but the point of our fulfilling of the task was the reward of favors. Those could be monetary right?”
“What?! How? Only leaders of large, well functioning settlements in the region have enough gold to call eleven gold pieces a small chunk. Also, monetary favors can go up to a certain extent but that is circumstantial. I’d very much like to know how you came into a large amount of gold not copper, or silver, but gold.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Milla was fully focused on William, disregarding everything else and William recognized the look of a money miser discovering a potential new source of the stuff.
William looked around and saw everyone watching the exchange, Maya still dumbstruck, clutching the gold coins tightly as she looked between the two.
“I got it off a dead noble on the ground. He had my Spatial Ring, a magical bed, and a bunch of gold-” William said, none of what he said being a lie. “-nothing new to break the mold.”
“That is a shame, but looting bodies is something that can be rather lucrative. Nobles are often cocky and think that a few guards and money will keep them alive in the wilds. It gives adventurers free loot. That is how I used to think, but now, I think that philosophy is too infectious to justify. That’s all from me anyway. I just wanted to ask the questions I had-” Milla looked at Denlar who had another thoughtful expression. “-apologies, Denlar. I shouldn’t have gotten involved in your side of work.”
Denlar gave his own shrug then, surprising William. The man had been defensive and righteous in his harsh discipline.
“It’s no issue, Milla. I had the same question and even a few more I want to ask. Task rewards can be fulfilled when and where you need it William and friends. Right now, I’d like to speak with William in the side room privately regarding this matter,” Denlar said, pointing to the direction of a small side door between two book shelves.
William could see that he wasn’t in any real danger as the man was much lower level. Plus there were plenty of witnesses to see if anything suss happened.
William nodded at the man then turned to Maya and his friends who were all stood together as Shanna and Jula looked on at William with mixed emotions visible.#
“We’ll be back shortly,” William said, following Denlar to the private spot.
They entered a room that had thick walls and a small wooden table similar to that of a typical coffee table, but much more natural. The wood grain flowed seamlessly from the flooring into the table itself. The room was illuminated by candlelight and two red wingback chairs were facing opposite of one another on opposing sides of the table. Denlar gestured with his hand to the chair nearest to William.
William took a seat that was quickly followed by Denlar. The two sat in silence for a moment before Denlar broke it.
“Did you kill the noble? Also, was it by any chance one from Fort Boulder?” Denlar asked, his face the most serious that William had ever seen it.
There wasn’t much point in lying as William had felt his face briefly turn into a grimace before he caught himself.
“Yes. They attacked us out of the blue thinking we were bandits. I left one alive as a message to whoever they were as I wasn’t familiar with who the group were. I hoped that the group would come and kill the bandits in revenge, but it never happened. Later on, the survivor encountered us again, on the way here in fact, but miles away from your territory. We had to kill them all, naturally, as I didn’t want to risk Greenwell’s safety.”
William had slightly bent the truth, but hadn’t outright lied, so he felt in the right still.
Denlar leaned back, pressing the fingers of his hands together in thought, his eyes shifting to the flickering candles and their small flames.
“The fact that it currently can’t be traced to you is fantastic news. As far as they might infer, you killed the bandit leader and his group, ‘avenging’ the death of the Baron’s son. It could win you favor, but I warn you. Do. Not. Accept. Any. Aid. They will be bastards about paying the aid back. Hopefully having a smaller settlement will mean less attention is paid to the place. Corruption in the ranks of Stonegate’s military is prevalent, but they never punish the troops as they need the numbers for their totalitarian and authoritative means. You can as such, pay off any patrols with financial ‘tips’ or bribes to be more on the nose. We had initially thought Stonegate’s military units roaming around was due to a vendetta from the Baron, but I think it comes from even higher up, indicating that their presence was inevitable. War is coming and we will need to be strong for it.”
“I’m guessing that means conscription if needs be?” William asked, thankful that everyone in Greenwell aside from Noctis and Devlin were training in case of a fight.
“It does indeed,” Denlar replied, letting out a long sigh as he tapped his chin in thought.
Silence returned and William wanted to break it, but didn’t want to make Denlar lose focus in case what he said or had was important.
Denlar snapped his fingers in a eureka style moment as he said, “We need something to build solidarity and determination and I have just the thing. William, summon the bodies of our fallen troops. The room is enhanced with repose style magic that keeps everything in a ‘stasis’ state if you will. We can have a public funeral and name drop Stonegate and Fort Boulder then. The evidence is plain as day that they intend harm on everyone in the region. This will be the perfect opportunity whilst honoring our fallen heroes. I hope you don’t mind me saying that they died rescuing their squad mates.
“It will sadly need to include the mistakes made by Maya as people will want someone to be accountable for leading the squad incorrectly. I can’t change that without finding someone else to blame. I will also publicize the banishment order Maya has received so no one decides to engage in folly like revenge. We wouldn’t be able to fault Maya if a civilian tried to harm her and she put them down in defense. If this idea is to work, then it would be better to have you and your friends stick with her during the proceedings. No one would threaten harm to her when ‘official delegates’ of another settlement are present.”
William didn’t say anything for a long while, working through the plan in his head. It would work to an extent, but there was a lot of risk that Denlar was trying to mitigate by having William and his party stick near to Maya. He knew that people were irrational and if they are riled up, that energy needed to be conveyed against the correct target. William couldn’t allow that target to be Maya. Fortunately, he remembered that to the people of Everglade and the other places in the region he was ‘The Bloodbane’. Who would want to anger him by attacking a member of his settlement? That was the main way he could come up with to protect Maya. The other way would be more on the nose and involve his Aura. That could either make things better, or much, much worse. Denlar’s excitement on his face made it abundantly clear to William that he would stick to it. So be it.
“Maya will be recognized affective immediately as a citizen of Greenwell. Any attack against her will be a diplomatic grievance against our settlement. Just so you know, I will lean into my ‘Bloodbane’ title if need be, so please make sure you don’t paint Maya as the main reason of their death. This plan is very much a double edged sword you are trying to wrangle in your favor. I think the plan has its merits, but I personally disagree with the treatment towards Maya. You will be trying to paint Maya as a mini Scapegoat then shift the focus and hate of the people towards the real Scapegoat in your mind. That one being Stonegate, or at minimum, Fort Boulder,” William said, wishing he could just cash in the favors and get back to Greenwell at this point.
Politicking wasn’t his thing and it would show if he remained for too long. He decided it would be best to leave when Maya had to do so, then they could all venture back to Greenwell. He would need to discuss the needs of Greenwell with his friends first and make sure they all used the favors owed to the best of their ability. There was still a lot that they needed to start the process of growing into a proper settlement.
“That is the essence of the plan, yes. I think it will go well however. People when angered want a target for ‘righteous revenge’. Numbers will matter in the fight to come as conscripts can learn to an extent, but won’t gain more than a few levels without being in full service or fighting many real battles, at which point they are a proper soldier anyway. The militaristic culture of Stonegate allows them to rear more battle ready soldiers. Where the farmer with two weeks sword training pauses in battle, failing to finish off the foe from emotions only to be killed by that same foe moments later, the soldier is the one doing the thrusting into aforementioned farmer before moving on to the brewer, then to the tailor, and so on, and so forth.”
William listened to Denlar explain and found himself wondering how the hell the good guys would win. It wouldn’t be through the power of friendship. Would it?
Denlar continued, “The geography of Stonegate’s border with our region is cruel and unforgiving. Fort Boulder is the only safe way in or out of this region in that direction. If all forces in our region unite, then we have a fighting chance on our own lands.”
“Fuck. It is the power of friendship.” William cursed internally, keeping the same casual expression.
“Okay, so its gonna be rough. Fine. Let’s get the show on the road then,” William said, flicking his hand and summoning the remains of the two dead scouts in an open space inside the room.
Denlar hadn’t expected it and almost jumped out of his seat.
“Uh… yes. We should get the burial processes underway. Take your friends and Maya and go relax somewhere. You all will need the rest. Take the time to consider the favors we need to repay too. We can do a lot for Greenwell.”
William nodded and the pair rose from the chairs, moving to leave the room. He stopped Denlar before the man could open the door.
“Maya is one of my friends now. She has been through a lot and I want to give her a new lease on life. There’s something about her I can’t place exactly. Like I want her to be in my inner circle of friends. Someone who can watch my back as I watch theirs. I just want to make that clear,” William said, his heart racing, but tone remaining firm and unyielding.
Denlar paused, took stock of William’s body language and smiled.
“Young love is a fascinating thing.”
William shifted uncomfortably.
“It’s not that. I treasure Stacey and after previous… efforts… with another woman being involved, I only want her. In that way. I just feel like there is something of a spiritual nature when I talk to Maya. Her eyes are fiery and look like flaming garnets. She also appears to stay strong for others. Unfortunately, for her efforts, mistakes aside, she has only got hardship ahead, or would have if I didn’t bring her into my community. There’s still gonna be backlash but I’ll be there with my other friends to protect her and mitigate circumstances. She sadly needs to be at the burial event as she would need the closure to help her mind in the long run. I want her to leave here with no regrets or lingering attachments. That way I can rely on her to put our community and her future first.”
Denlar’s eyebrows were reaching for the sky at this point and he gave a small clap before he replied, “For someone so young, you certainly think like an older man. I would advise that you work on your physical display more however, as your hands are trembling currently.”
William looked down and cursed at the sight. His anxiety was fighting for control and it took everything he had to will it to quiet down. It was harder now he was aware, but he persevered and was able to maintain a rocky composure at least. He then noticed that his back was damp as was his forehead.
He wiped away sweat and muttered, “Fucking bullshit anxiety.”
William leaned against the wall as Denlar waited. William wasn’t sure if he liked or tolerated the guy if he was being honest. The way he discarded Maya had partially pissed William off, but on the other hand, Denlar was steadfast in his want to keep Everglade safe. William had to admit to having a high level of respect for the man. Not that he would say any of that shit to the man.
It took a couple more minutes for William to calm himself fully and for the pair to exit. In total, they had been away for roughly fifteen minutes. Maya and William’s other companions were all together, talking quietly amongst themselves with even Maya getting involved. That made William smile. Shanna and Jula weren’t in the room any more however.
William was about to ask, but Milla jumped in and said, “The women are waiting for us in the other meeting room, Denlar.”
Denlar nodded and the two councilors made to leave, waving goodbye to everyone present. Denlar whispered something to Wylton and caught up with the departing Milla. William was about to go to his companions when Wylton placed his hand on William’s shoulder.
“You wanted answers on why you are spacing out more often right?” The wizened old Druid asked, bearing a genial smile.
“I do, but I need to speak to my friends a second.”
“I’m going to be busy for the rest of the day after this, so if you can spare ten minutes or so for me to explain, then you get an answer to something bugging you and I get to feel like a wise old man of sagely ways and knowledge.”
William chuckled at Wylton’s blunt honesty.
“Okay, I can spare that long. My friends seem to be immersed in conversation of their own anyway, so it’s probably fine.”
Wylton clapped his hands together once in victory.
“Fantastic. You are about to learn important fundamental knowledge of techniques.”