I can hear the sound of people laughing. The unintentional sigh, that came was stopped halfway through by pure willpower. I have been sighing too much lately.
They are not my problem, one way or another neither the empire nor the northern kingdom will hold for much longer, but at least I will not be there when the shit hits the fan.
Entering the biggest room in the old wooden building, which in unusually quite bright. At least 60 people are singing, playing card games and getting drunk.
So no resources for a new sword but wasting money on candles and booze is OK. Scanning around I find the “mayor” and walk directly to him.
When I get close to the leader he finally notices me, turning to look at be and giving me a superior grin.
“Look who we haf here. The maghty warrer.”
Several people sitting by the table turn around and give me a smirk.
“3 trolls, nearly dozen ice wolves and goblins. And another dozen wolves 2 kilometers from here. Where are the scouts? I would kindly ask you to castrate them right here, right now.”
The room instantly fills with roars and laughter. Some are rolling on floor, some are repeatedly hitting the table laughing fit. Cleaning a tear from under his eye 'mayor' continues.
“I wouda beliv a halfa dozen ica wols, but gablins an trals. Ahahahha. Who da fak sold ya firegrass? I need som mahselv! Smokad ol ma shit week ago”
I barely hold the disgust on my face. I take sack from by belt and throw it on the table. It open up spilling half of it's content on the plates with food, troll eyeballs and goblin ears.
“I don't give a fuck. Not my problem anymore. I will rest for few days and travel to Emeral after that. Good night.”
Half of the room continues drinking and gambling. “Mayor” squints at the eyeballs, while I turn around go to barracks to find something to sleep on.
Reaching “practically” empty room filled will straw beds, a small smile breaks on my face. Finally, a bed, after weeks in mountains even this half-rotten excuse of a bed looks comfortable.
…
I don't remember how I fell asleep.
Waking up to local alarm clock, aka rooster morning mating call, fills me with sudden desire to explore how deep I can fit my arm into roosters asshole. A sudden new strange sounding noise, that yak usually makes, totally kills any possibility of going back to bed.
Getting up I look around and find half of beds empty, most of the local shits, more likely fell asleep on the tables or floor. Straightening by clothes and checking equipment I go outside to breath a bit of fresh air.
There was no need to hide anything of value, I am closer to beggar than anyone else in this outpost.
Why hide stuff in the first place?
Well everyone here is not soldier or hunter, they are “ex” bandits. Someone in power didn't care enough to send people to manage this region, so they made the biggest local bandit “mayor”. They receive budget and can collect local taxes. That “someone” decided that it would be much cheaper.
Well yeah, actually, fugitives becoming “official” is nothing new, at least for those who know true history of the world.
I start building a plan of next actions. It will take 2 weeks to get to Emeral, 6th largest city of northern kingdom. I need to gather as much debt, owed to me, as I can. I also need a decent sword, new clothes and some kind of map, but the tricky part is that I need to do it in a way that I get everything on the last day.
That shit of a mayor can take anything that he wants and no one can say a word against. Quite few tried testing it out, they are dead or missing, hierarchy is quite fragile in simpleminded and strength/fear based social structures, therefore it must be constantly enforced.
And I know that he has been looking for a way to hurt me for quite some time. Is it his pride? Or just personal hate against me? I don't know, at least I don't remember taking anything his, or creating trouble.
But in most cases you do not need to cause a problem, just have something they want or look the way they don't like.
I go to butcher and tell him about wolves that are lying not far from here. He know me well, kind of a friend, I guess. Incidentally I am the one who provides him with more than 40% of his goods.
Taking his horse with sledges I travel to the location where the encounter with wolves happened. There is barely any light during this season, so the search took some time. I find the their bodies under 20 cm of snow, if I didn't remember the exact location of fight their bodies would be lying here till summer, when snow melts. I pile all the bodies on the sledge and travel back.
Bringing back the bodies of wolves he finish the transaction. As we agreed beforehand, he takes all the meat, gives me 1 silver coin and gets a friend of his to make me something of hides. Pelts would be taken as payment for the armor.
I agreed.
Now. What is left? Sword, dept and map.
The map part can be postponed till Emeral. Sword and dept can be combined. I start walking around the outpost reaching for the little shits that still owe me money, I know that I won't be able to get them all, and even the ones I find will just beg and ask to spare them because they are broke… Fucking cock suckers, they always have money for booze but never for anything else. But maybe I will be able to get a sword in place of money.
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…
The next several days were spent searching for hiding idiots and preparing everything for departure, I didn't see the mayor much during the whole period of time, and he didn't search anything.
But god damn it, nights were fucking cold, and every new day another idiot was found dead frozen because he got drunk and fell asleep outside.
…
Day of departure.
I am dressed in the filthy rags with which I came to outpost and broken sword still in the sheath, I sigh preparing for what is to come while I walk to the gates. Mayor and about a dozen of his underlings are standing there waiting for me.
“So warrer, wha leavin sa early? Ya contract still workin.”
“It will expire few days before I get to Emeral.”
“See. Ya still workin for me.”
“I never worked for you. I was assigned to this region. And I must be at the legion stronghold the moment my contract expires.”
“A pity. Ya wer in right place, togetha with us. But ya never show da respect ta me.”
Piece of shit, I could bury you all alive right now if I had a normal sword on me. I hold myself together as much as I can.
“See. Ya glarin as ama bad guy. I even gave ya a sword. A nice one.”
He grin appears on his face.
“Show it ta me.”
All his underlings are holding hands on their swords, and I can feel that several archers are hiding and are waiting for the signal.
Slowly taking out what is left of my sword out of sheath I show it to him.
“Ah mah god. Look at wha ya did with it. And I even gave ya the best one around. An expensive one.”
“But imma good guy. I cant send ya like dat. What ama gon do? I can get ya a new one. But itsa expansive.”
Then he stares right into my eyes and breaks into another grin. Fucking retard “expensive” not “expansive”. He wants to get money out of me for the sword? Fucking racketeer.
“I know ya collectin coin. Give everathin ta me. It woulda be pity if ya lost some on da way back.”
I can hear my teeth creaking against each other, but at the same time I can hear several arrow being drawn. I slowly reach my pursue and stretch it to him. One of the goons takes it and goes behind the group.
The mayor grins again.
“It been good knowin ya. Of you go then. Hope we seein ya again.”
“Sword?”
“What sword? Ya already gat one. We just come ta say goodbye. Right guys?”
Goons behind nod and grin at me.
Mayor starts laughing and goes into direction of main hall. I hear archers putting down their bows.
I start slowly walking out of gates and in direction of south.
Killing them even with the stump of the sword is easy. But those archers have enchanted arrows. They go through flesh like hot knife through butter. Again, I don't know how the fuck that magics shit works. I use mana to control body strengthen muscles and bones, like another limb, to use mana is such a way you need some basic understanding of chemistry and biology, but arrow that have the power of catapult… Where the fuck does kinetic energy come from?
“Hear the whisper of wind” and the “roar of fire”, bullshit, how in the name of holy cock does that work? In the academy they told me that you can feel it with your core. But thats worth shit stain for someone like me who has no affinity, so I spent the whole time reading about engineering and physics. In the end it was useful, but still.
After getting to the point where the watch tower can't see me I turn in the direction where the arranged sword and clothes should be. It takes about an hour to reach the place. As I circle around “the” bolder I find the place filled with shit of at least dozen people. No package.
They knew.
Butcher, or his friend…
Or everyone.
So my friendship was worth that much. I saved their lives several times, helped, defended, but it looks like it was still worth penny in the ass.
[They will always be like that. Nothing will ever change.]
Dark thought pass through my mind.
You know what. Fuck it.
I wait for night and the starting blizzard, which will hide me and start going back.
…
Next morning greeted the villager of outpost in a way no one expected. Heads of all “management” of outpost were lying before the main hall. Those, who enter the hall would tell stories of pure horror that they have seen, about endless amount of disfigured body parts, that were littered around, and blood, that painted every single room in red which would never be cleaned. And since that day people would call this outpost [Red Hall Outpost].
…
Far ahead I see clearing skies, which bring a grin to my face.
Looking down on the noisy yak, I try to calculate how long it will last. I don't have food for it, so the moment it falls down exhausted I will get a tiny bit more additional meat for the travel. It's fate sealed the morning it woke me up.
His colleague, rooster, already waiting for him in my stomach.
A decent sword on my hip, pursue full of silver and armor made out of wolf pelts.
Looks like what goes around, comes around.
I think this will be enough to get to south dungeon.
But legion first.
New day shall come, and it looks like it will be a bit warmer one.