Even before meeting the refugees, we had planned out our strategy. At first, we were going to be confrontational but then when the refugees explained their situation we were going to be accepting and even welcoming.

Everyone was playing their part quite well. When we set up a large tent that we wanted to use to question people we got our first major pushback. This was to be expected but they soon accepted when we told them that we were worried about spies.

I had been holding back from everything and not dealing with anyone. I was just one of the soldiers, but I kept my eye on everyone. I trusted my ability and our nation's wisdom in categorizing people that came into our land with different colours. But I also wasn't certain that this couldn’t be circumvented by some ability or artefact. Overall, it seemed to be working as intended as I didn’t see anything opposite. Still, some of the refugees were a lot more confrontational but still marked as blue.

When the first person was taken to the interrogation tent, I moved closer to the refugees in case someone acted. I wasn’t the only one as other soldiers did the same. This also gave me a better chance at understanding the bugs that gave off weird energy signals. One thing I was certain about was that the kid wasn’t the one controlling them. I had spotted five of them and it was really hard not to stare at any of them.

When the third person was taken one of those bugs flew close enough, and I was finally able to understand that they weren’t real bugs. They were constructs of energy and mana. This ability that made and controlled them became even more interesting.

My mind was working hard on connecting the puzzle pieces to understand what was happening, but I was running out of time because the fourth person that was going to go into the interrogation tent was the enemy scout.

He was already nervous, and I knew that he was going to do something as soon as he reached the tent as he couldn't be certain we didn't have anyone that could detect lies. My ability that helped me judge a person’s character pretty much just marked this person as a black skull. The marks themselves I was able to make up myself and that mark meant it was better if that person died but even without this ability, I could already tell that he was not a pleasant person.

I was not going to let him prepare anything and the soldiers taking him to the tent already knew what to do. Around the halfway mark one of them quickly put suppressing cuffs onto the scout and I was glad to see that whatever abilities he tried to use came to him too slowly, so our soldiers were able to punch him hard enough to make him fall to the ground and lose his concentration.

“What is the meaning of this? We aren't going to sit silently and let you treat our members like that.” Yelled the person in charge of the refugees. “Silence,” I yelled back while putting enough power into my voice that everyone knew that I could kill everyone there.

This made the scout understand the situation a bit better. I walked closer to him and looked into his eyes seeing the hate in them. “This man is a scout and a spy to the slave Kingdom down South,” I said while controlling the anger in my voice so everyone would think that I was holding back anger.

“Did you really think our watchers wouldn’t recognize your face?” There was even more anger in his eyes, but it looked more personal this time and I quickly figured out what was going on. Seems like he can still care, useful. I looked towards the refugees, and they had all calmed down and were now quite hatefully looking at the man who was still on the ground.

“You look a bit white faced scout. I guess those cuffs are quite powerful. You would be surprised how many interesting things you can find in a mad noble’s carriage.” I took a small pause and figured that the refugees might need some more information and it would help break the scout as well.

“This man is a scout and a spy, and his masters have quite a few towns and villages under their command including a big city. I don’t know why but they have decided to embrace slavery. An awful practice. They also have quite a big army, but they also have quite a lot of territory to keep. Isn’t that, right?” I looked towards the scout when I finished my announcement.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I crouched down a few feet from him waiting for him to say something. I didn’t have to wait for long. “I am not going to tell you anything and even if you kill me, you will die or become a slave.” I laughed out loud which made him even angrier and I could see him gather some energy into his hands.

“I won’t be killing you yet as I want to know where your partner is. When you first got here there were two of you. I was expecting him to come with you, but we haven't seen him since. Where is he and what's his current objective?” That information made him question his knowledge. The energy in his hands dissipated quickly as his anger morphed into confusion. I let him think for a moment before continuing.

“Oh, this is funny. Did you think that we got to him? We didn’t but you don't know where he is either. I guess he got smart and got away from this place. Something you should have done.” He was panicking now but even so, he was able to control himself quite well as only his eyes gave him away. It took him only a few moments to latch onto a detail that didn't make sense.

“If you don't know where my partner is then how could you possibly know that information about my kingdom? There shouldn't be anyone up here with all that knowledge.” I laughed out loud again after he finished his questions.

“Have you ever done something where right after or even while doing it you know that it was wrong for you, so you never again cross that line?” I asked him and waited for an answer. He gave a small nod even though he didn't want to.

“I thought you might have. Well, you see I have had many of those experiences but one of those was when I used a child to bargain for the people under my care. At the time I would have killed the child if my enemy hadn't given up the people they had taken. I was glad that situation didn't turn ugly as I knew from that moment on, I was never going to use another child again for bargaining.” He then glanced towards the child that he brought with him, and I could see his mind trying to connect the pieces.

“That bastard.” The scout yelled as he moved his energy to his hands. I could see a form of a throwing dagger slowly being made and his hands already moving to throw it towards the child. I was prepared for this and acted. In an instant the scout had his arms cut off and I let him scream in pain until he finally stopped.

“I guess killing a child isn’t something you draw a line at. I sort of expected that, but I guess you know that as the evidence is lying next to you.” I said while chuckling a bit which made even the scout shiver in fear.

“Are you perhaps ready to answer some questions? Perhaps this isn’t a question that you can answer but I would like to know who was the idiot that thought it would be a good idea to send a bargaining chip in the form of a child into enemy territory.”

I did not get an answer back although the scout did focus more. And just as he got his focus back, I pierced his head with my dagger. His death was instantaneous. I looked at the dagger that did the job. It was a lot thicker than a regular dagger meant for cutting. It was obviously meant for penetration, but they were still trying to keep the cutting-edge useful. I wondered if there were rondel daggers in this world.

I killed him because he gave me all that he was going to, and I didn't want to risk him having some sort of artefact or ability to report what has happened here. I stood up and looked towards the soldiers. “Burn the body and everything on him. We can't be too careful, he might have some spying device on him.” I was given two quick fists to the heart as a salute.

While the soldiers were dealing with the corpse I looked towards the refugees. Some of them were worried but most were scared. I gave a nod to the refugee diplomats, and they quickly started to give further instructions and assuring that every refugee was welcomed as long as they weren’t hostile. I tuned out whatever they were doing as I looked at the child that I saved just a few moments ago.

I waved him all over and he approached us slowly. I crouched down so I would be at eye level with him. When he finally made it here, I looked him in the eyes and said. “Hey there, my name is Rich. What is yours.” It took almost a minute of waiting before he answered in a meek voice. “My name is Meer.”

“We are not going to hurt you no matter what happens. You will just be another refugee and we are quite welcoming to new people.” I waited a bit before continuing. “I will be honest I’m not the best at this, but I also need to speak with your brother, I assume.” When I said that I looked towards the bug that was on the child's shoulder. The most likely 8-year-old child with charcoal black hair and grey-blue eyes looked at the bug. After a moment the bug turned to me and nodded.

Meer now a bit more confident looked at me and spoke. “My brother’s name is Mirhit.” I nodded to that. “So, no direct communication?” I asked the bug and got a nod in return. This was going to be difficult and time-consuming.