Author's note: The end of the "bandit arc" is close. If anyone has a suggestion for a small intermission or "filler chapter" (like the ever-popular visit at the hot springs), tell me and I will seriously consider adding it.
Chapter 13: Informant
Paul hurried upstairs and stashed the backpack in his room, then went down and requested his dinner from the innkeeper.
Vincent was still sitting at the table with his stew in front of him and staring off into space. He was a young man in his twenties, a little older than Paul in his current body. Paul approached him and spoke up in a friendly tone.
“Good evening! Mind if I take a seat at your table?” When Vincent did not respond immediately, Paul placed his bowl on the table, on the opposite side of Vincent, and quickly took a seat. “Have not seen you here before. New resident? My name is Paul”
“Hmm… I’m Vin, and sorry, but I’m not in the mood for talking” Vincent took a brief look at the smiling Paul, then got back to staring into his stew.
“Ah, sorry, you must be tired from the journey. Didn’t mean to intrude. I’m just a poor traveller, so I thought you we could get to know each other over a mug of mead or something. My treat”
“Sorry, I don’t swing that way” Vincent replied without looking up.
Paul was embarrassed “Heh? No no no, I just mean share some stories.”
“Hm”, Vin didn’t look up. Paul did not know if that sound meant yes or no to the mead, but at least he was not hostile. Considering that he had just lost all of his companions to an unseen attacker, his behaviour seemed pretty much understandable.
Paul decided not to initiate any more talking for now and quietly ate his stew. He finished even before Vincent, although he was not especially hurrying.
“Alright, I will go to my room then. Perhaps we’ll see each other again tomorrow. My invitation still stands. Night!” Paul stood up.
“…yea” Vin’s reply came late.
Back in his room, Paul finally checked the contents of the bandits’ coin purses. Combined, they contained coins worth 6 silver. He then compared the quality of the swords to the one he was carrying as a back-up weapon, but they weren’t much different to each other, so he decided to just keep the one he was already using.
At some point, he would go to the market and try to sell the items. With a little luck and care, he might be able to get some information from Vincent as well. Considering he basically abandoned the bandits in the forest and then rented a room here instead of returning, the chances were good that he would be interested in their demise.
Paul wrapped everything in a blanket and shoved it under his bed, then practised his [Night Vision] skill before falling asleep.
The next morning, he got up as soon as he could manage. He had breakfast in the community room and supplemented it with cheese he had bought on the market. He ate slowly, waiting for Vin to show up.
After a while, Vincent came down the stairs. Paul decided to take the initiative and called him over. “Good morning, Vin! Come join me, I have something to talk about.”
Vincent’s face had a little more colour than last night. He didn’t answer, but joined Paul after picking up some bread.
“Good to see you are looking fitter than yesterday, you looked pretty worn out last night.”
“Oy, don’t say things that others might misunderstand.” Vincent started talking. He was indeed less meek than last night.
“Sorry, of course I just meant you looked tired. So tell me, are you from the area here.”
“Yea, you could say that. I have not been to Prozor very often though, so I can’t be your guide. I’m from a village to the south-west.”
“Nah, I’m not looking for a guide” Paul decided to be blunt. He had considered befriending the guy and waiting for him to drop some information, perhaps under the influence of alcohol. This approach was taking far too long though and might not yield the results he wanted, and perhaps Vin would leave town altogether.
“Let me get to the point. I saw you coming from the forest to the east yesterday, so I think you may have some information I want.”
Paul could have sworn that he saw the colour vanishing from Vin’s face.
“Ahhh, the look on your face tells me I am right. Don’t worry, this can be a situation where both of us profit. But perhaps we should talk about the details somewhere else, yes?”
“Huh… look, I really don’t know what you are talking about…” Vin was definitely a worse liar than Paul.
“You cannot fool me, Vincent. If you don’t want to help me out, I can also talk to the guard… or maybe your “old friends” in the mine?”
“Shhh, keep your voice down, man! …Look, you said your name was Paul, right? I don’t know what you want from me, or how I could help you, but I’m sure we can figure something out, right?”
“I’m sure you can help me” Paul realized that he needed to phrase things more carefully after Vin’s look got even more worried than before and quickly added “I just want you to tell me a few things.”
They left the inn together and walked around town. First, Paul wanted to confirm if his suspicions about Vin were right. When there were no other people within earshot, Paul started to question Vin “So, tell me why you ran away from your friends first.”
“Because they were bad people. I’m sure you already know that. I mean, I was prepared from some of the things when I joined, but it got worse over time. Recently, they started taking prisoners, and I mean, just for entertainment… I never understood how the leader could allow that…” Vin fell silent.
“Hmm, I see… Then tell me, how large is the group?”
“There are around two dozen people, including those that are currently out in the field. I was part of a group about to head out, but we were attacked in the forest. When we left, there were 6, or no, 7, people left at the base, plus some prisoners. As far as I know, there was a party working south of Prozor, and two nights ago three guys left the base but didn’t show up the next morning, even though they should have. Including the remainders of my group, it is likely that some people have returned to base by now.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Good, that wasn’t too hard, was it? Let me treat you to a meal then, I saw you didn’t finish your breakfast earlier.”
They went to the market square together. Even though Paul had been a little forceful earlier, Vin didn’t seem to hold it against him. While eating some skewered meat, he even told Paul about his former life. It wasn’t too eventful. He was farming out in the fields and then went to Prozor to learn tailoring as an apprentice. Which was why he mostly stayed indoors after he joined the bandits, taking care of the equipment.
He was approached by a group of young men at the tavern one night, and, impressed by the money they were throwing around, soon was caught up in the banditry business.
“So, what are your plans from here?”
“I’m actually not too sure. I took all of my meagre savings with me when we left base yesterday, so I can survive for some time I guess. I’m sure the group has contacts here in Prozor, so I want to leave as soon as I can. I should probably get back to home village and see how my folks are doing and go back to farming. I honestly just want to get away from all this as quickly as possible.”
To Paul Vincent seemed like a decent guy who just got involved with the wrong people. In fact, if things were different, Paul would probably have made similar decisions, so he couldn’t really blame him. The things he told him so far matched up with Pauls encounters with the bandits, and he felt that Vin was telling him the truth.
“Hmm, if things don’t work out like you think, you might consider joining a settlement downstream. It’s a bit more than a day from here, a few hours behind the next village from here. Their leader is called Marcus, and he was a former guard here, so better don’t brag about your banditry past. They won’t ask if you don’t want to tell, that much I already know. It is basically just a few fields and shacks, but they are nice people and will certainly welcome someone with a bit of skills.”
“Thanks, I will certainly consider it.” Vin was smiling.
They went back to the inn and Paul urged Vin to stay in his room as much as possible for a few days. He even gave him his remaining cheese and dried meat so he didn’t have to leave for lunch. Paul was planning to kill off the last bandits in the mine, and when word of their demise spread in town the bandits’ contacts should lay low as well. Until then he didn’t want Vin to take any unnecessary risks. If Vin was targeted, Paul’s life, or worse, the loot he had stashed in his room, might be in danger as well.
Paul did some preparations for the upcoming raid on the bandits’ hideout. He packed the rucksack and linen-bag into the large basket-backpack, and filled up his water bag. He also packed the black cloak. It was crusted with blood, but Paul would need it later.
Preparations were over quickly, so talked to Vin for a while and headed out for lunch. He bought a brush and soap as well as a torch for a few copper coins, then headed back to the inn and cleaned his equipment, the copper ring and necklace to kill some time until dinner.
When the sun was slowly setting, he
He considered telling Frank at the bridge about the bandits, but decided not to, so he just made a minimum amount of small talk. Frank seemed to be tired after spending the better part of the night breaking in the deck of cards with some of the other guards after they went back to barracks. Paul told Frank that he planned to camp outside for the night, then headed straight to the forest surrounding the hills in the East.
Paul stashed the bag pack at the beginning of the hidden trail he had discovered yesterday, lit the torch and went into the deep part of the forest.
According to Vincent, the mine was a bit further away from the small trail than he had thought, and there were lookouts stationed between the trail and the entrance to the hideout. The part of the forest behind the trail was surrounded by hills and the bandits had mostly cleared it of trees, for firewood and to give the lookouts a better view, so a hidden approach was nearly impossible. Luckily, Vin had given Paul some helpful information. Paul switched into the blood-soaked black cloak and put on the hood. Unlike yesterday, only one red dot showed up on the edge of the radar.
Paul raised the torch straight above his head while approaching the position of the lookout and the dot switched to yellow. When he was around 50 meters away, Paul shouted out “I have brought gold and jewels”. This was not a declaration of his loot, but a parole the bandits had come up with. Paul thought it was pretty silly, but it proved effective, as the red dot on the radar stayed as yellow for now.
“Oy, man. You’re alone?” The lookout asked loudly. Paul walked up to him without saying anything.
He observed the minimap, but the guard seemed to stay unaware and his indicator stayed yellow. Paul tightened his grip on the spear and without giving the bandit a chance to recognize him as a stranger, stabbed him in the chest as soon as he got close enough. The attack came so unexpected that it counted as a *sneak attack* and Paul quickly finished him off.
He wasn’t feeling guilty about it. The guard was only “friendly” because of the deception, not because he had surrendered.
He had a rough idea where the entrance to the mine was situated because of the information he had received from Vincent. A few dozen meters further, dots started showing up on the minimap. Paul counted 7 red dots and a couple yellow dots in between.