“Arlin for All, All for Arlin” is one of several national mottos, but has a deep connection to the general culture of the empire. The idea that all can help the empire has led to relatively progressive gender relations and a strong diversity of gender in the military and other industries. It has not led to true equality, as patriarchal structures from many of the original fiefdoms and nations still persist to this day, and positions such as those in mining camps remain almost entirely male due to its stigma and a belief that males have a higher resistance to magore poisoning.

***

It was nice having Sera back with the group at dinner now that she had been up and out of the bunks. She was working with the criminals on cleaning the gear of both the guards and slaves as well as cooking meals at breakfast. I assumed it was part of the deal with Captain Galen, but she was still allowed to eat dinner with us rather than be stuck eating with the penal laborers. Breakfast was an exception, because she ate with the penal laborers after serving food. I also considered the possibility that it wasn’t her, but the penal laborers who pushed for her to still be separated from them because of their meager remnants of Arlinian pride. Whatever it was, Sera didn’t really care to elaborate. It was now 36 days until the planned break, and I was almost done with a plan to actually get the key.

The problem was layered, but it mostly came down to the fact that the Captain’s office was the building which could be easily protected and that Captain Galen had some aptitude which I wasn’t informed of. Elm was, again, keeping information from me. I’d push him more aggressively for information, but he held a power dynamic over me and was very aware of it. Luckily the plan was enough to get Alex to start talking with other people and getting them aware of the plan. In the span of the day, he’d already gotten 3 people to side with the cause and be willing to follow instructions even without knowing the full plan. Alex seemingly had a revelation and had spent some time practicing how to whisper which gave me a needed boost in confidence.

I snapped back to reality to find a lively discussion with Sera about her day to day labors. While the rest were posing questions, Sera was presently struggling to tear apart a piece of jerky with her teeth and Elina was playing with her canteen, pantoming how one would successfully throw it while Elric watched in what appeared to be pure dread of his future role. I subconsciously smiled before turning to Sera who was still struggling with the rock solid jerky.

“Oh yeah, we talked about recruiting them. Did you find anyone who could help us out?” I asked while taking a bite from my own jerky.

Sera finally took a break from her futile efforts to respond.

“Oh yeah, I did. Well, she approached me actually.”

The table all stopped their individual actions to look at her with a sense of both hope and confusion.

“Apparently she figured out that something must have been up with how you all have been interacting whenever she was working at breakfast or dinner, mostly thanks to Alex. She approached me yesterday and asked if I was doing a revolt or escape, and if she could help. Her name is Twig.”

I turned to find Alex scratching at the back of his neck, clearly unhappy with the fact that he had been found not once, but twice by those who were inquisitive. It was very worrying from my position as the leader, but it simplified the process by a lot. Before I could respond, Elric took the initiative.

“Twig? Is that her real name or a nickname?”

“I don’t know. I was thinking the same thing too. I think it’s a nickname, judging from what the other laborers said, but when I asked her she told me ‘her other name had been stolen from her’ and didn’t elaborate.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

How do you have your name stolen from you? I knew that some of the criminals were probably a bit off in the head, but that was bizarre.

“The other penal laborers seem to respect her, so I think she can help us get the rest of them on our side.”

That was a relief, and definitely gave another boost to the group. The only thing that needed to happen was for me to somehow figure out a plan to get the key and help make sure that we can survive the mad dash to the armory. I was missing a piece and needed something to fill it. Although, I did have one idea that might help push me along the path towards getting the hell out of this place.

***

As I was handling another burner and putting the pieces together, I noticed that Elm was watching over me instead of doing work. After I finished putting in the last screw and securing the primer, I turned up to him to see his face with what looked like the faintest smile.

“Sir?”

I watched his eyes look over the newly put together piece before picking it up off the table to examine it.

“You’re a lot less shit at this than I was expecting you to be.”

Was that his way of complimenting me?

“Thank you?”

He shook his head to reorient himself before grabbing another burner off of the table. Something was on his mind that was a lot grander than the little metal room we were located in, and it was something he clearly didn’t plan on discussing.

“We got one more piece to run a checkup on for the night. Grab the scope in the corner.”

I nodded before heading off behind him, crouching down to rummage through the small tool box in the corner, located directly next to the chest which contained the refined magore. The chest looked like a smaller version of the room which we were currently residing in, coated in layers of metal. When I informed him of the plan, his only response was to shrug and say that as long as I thought it would work, he’d be fine with it. The only thing he did was to show me that I needed to be extra careful with the scraps of refined magore, since they could still react if jostled around too much. Putting them in the canteen was possible, but somewhat risky and would require the person to be extra careful with them to keep them from reacting. There was one thing that was still on my mind and something that I needed to do if I wanted to move forward. I stood up, scope in hand before turning to Elm.

“I need you to teach me magic.”

Elm paused his work with the burner before letting out the deepest groan I’d heard from him so far. The mood from his compliment had vanished and was now replaced by clear and simple frustration.

“Why should I do that, when I have expressly told you to be as careful as possible with your light magic?”

His opinion hadn’t shifted whatsoever. Still, I needed to stand my ground.

“Because if I want to do this, I need to use every tool at my disposal. Plus, didn’t you say that basically nobody else would come in this room? This is the perfect place for me to learn it.”

His glare was soul piercing as he thought about my words. Although I wasn’t showing it, I was praying that I had somehow turned the tables on him. I didn’t know a lot about him but his understanding of magore tech and general magic meant that if there was anyone at the camp who could train me, it was probably him. There were other accomplished combat mages at the camp such as Elina or Alex, but they seemed to lack an understanding of how to teach it to others. Elina didn’t really seem to really care how her magic worked, only that it was really good for killing Arlinians and Nacilians.

But Elm had knowledge that was able to be utilized and was the only person who I had the opportunity to train with. If I couldn’t get to work with him on this, then it was likely that the rest of our plan was screwed.

Elm sighed and placed his head on his forehead, his frustration palpable.

“Fine, but it’s not going to overtake the work we do each night. I’m not letting you use this as an excuse to not help me.”

As a smile began to form on my face, Elm interrupted me.

“And don’t you fucking dare practice it outside of this room. I know you’ve been messing around with it at night when I expressly told you to not do that.”

Can’t deny that one…