Chapter 59: Saintess Summons Skeletons

“Why? That’s a question with many answers,” Harvey grimaced, cupping his chin in thought. “In return, let me ask you a question in return. Can monsters think?”

My first reaction was to reply in the negative: of the admittedly limited selection I’d encountered so far, almost all of them had been mindless creatures, their heads filled only with mindless aggression and a thirst for blood. The keyword there was almost, because the Horsedra had shown worrying signs of intelligence, catching Harvey off guard and very nearly killing him with a surprise kick, were it not for his own life saving techniques. Even at only Level 7, it was noticeably more intelligent than the rest of the rabble, and if I extrapolated that to higher levels…

“Most of them can’t, but the ones that can are the most dangerous.”

I grimaced at the realisation, because it wasn’t the conclusion that I wanted to reach, but the truth rarely cared about one’s feelings on such matters. Pumpkin meowed loudly, having finished his own meal, and the sound made me wince. That was concerning, because he was never a particularly vocal cat, so why was that so loud just then? Straining my ears, I realised belatedly that there was no other sound at all, not even the crackling of the fire or the hiss of the wind could be heard, despite being in immediate proximity to me. Indeed, not even the ever presenting ringing of my ears remained to keep me company: something that I’d believed for many years to be part of the normal human condition, until an old doctor informed me that it was tinnitus. Something was suppressing all sound in the region.

“Exactly,” Harvey grunted in assent, and his voice remained, much as Pumpkin’s did, and my own.

“Not all monsters are mindless, some of them are just as smart as you and me, others still can put both of us to shame. These monsters don’t throw themselves mindlessly at the Wall in the North, they look for other ways to infiltrate, and all of them are bent towards humanity’s destruction, working from hidden cults and cabals the world over. Now, consider the founder, the greatest Necromancer to ever live, who also frequented those same places, away from polite society, in pursuit of her craft. In the process, she had the misfortune to encounter such specimens many times over, far more than she’d ever wanted to, and out of such encounters was born the Dead Hand, to stand guard in the darkness against the eternal enemy.”

“...So we’re not actually smugglers?”

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“We most definitely are,” Harvey retorted. “Our entire organisation consists of criminals, outcasts from society for one reason or another. We band together, beyond any authority but our own, breaking a hundred laws just by existing as we earn our coin in blood across the length and breadth of the continent. Everything I told you back in Allensward was true, I simply didn’t share the full picture at the time.”

“I can understand the need for such an organisation,” I admitted.

In truth, it would be more surprising to me if such a group didn’t exist, as the idea of a security and espionage apparatus was as old as mankind itself.

“Why us, though? This sounds like something Frontier should be leading the effort on.”

“The Kingdoms run their own efforts, of course, but in certain areas, the legitimacy behind them is actually a detriment. While the common citizen will happily run to a town guard with proof of monster activity, most aren’t likely to stumble upon it in the first place. It’s the outcasts and criminals of society who are most likely to find it, and they’re the ones least trustful of authority figures. What they wouldn’t tell a sheriff with their dying breath, they’ll happily confide to their fellow criminals. Now, and always, we police our own.”

“Huh.” That made sense, in retrospect, and I could see the benefits of such an arrangement. “I assume there are back channels as well, between us and the local governments? In case we find anything too big to deal with by ourselves.”

“Of course. Corruption is a fact of life, such that it’s entirely expected of us to maintain ties with local officials, guards and so on. Usually, we use those channels to pay bribes, so that our shipments can pass through customs unnoticed, but once in a while, we give them an unsigned note with more important information. As much as it pains me to say this, as a Thief, there are more important things in the world than money. Survival, for one, because the monsters are united in seeking our end, so humanity has to unite in turn. If I’m fighting a lawman to the death in a dark alley, and we stumble upon a monster? You bet we’re both turning on the spot to face it together.”

“That’s. Well. What am I even meant to say to this?”

I’d known from day one that the situation in this new world was suspicious. It just seemed a bit too neat to me, that all the monsters were far to the North, hidden from sight behind ivory walls, because from my modern knowledge, wars were far messier affairs. Even with that in mind though, I hadn’t expected to stumble headfirst into the shadow war, not this early into my career at least.

“I felt the same, back when I had the truth explained to me,” Harvey chuckled. “Granted, I didn’t learn about any of this until it was time for my Class Upgrade: I had a good idea at the time, what I’d get after Thief ran its course, but when something like Thief of Souls shows up? I had plenty of questions, and eventually I got my answer, much to my regret.”

“Right, you said you’d explain how your Class worked,” I latched onto the change of subject, happy to return to familiar ground. “Also, how does a Class Upgrade work, for that matter?”