“End report.” Reaver forced out as she gave Ubel a death stare.

Ubel wasn’t offended by the stare and merely started changing up his plans.

“Hmm, those fox-kin did better than I expected. With three core necromancers dead and another heavily wounded, there will be more strain upon our enemies to control their army. At most their side has regular necromancers and necromancy initiates, so they’ll be forced to divide up the uncontrolled undead or keep them in storage somewhere. Add in the information we’ve gathered and our attack will go much more smoothly.”

If we had a few more of those priest bombers to change into bombs this battle would be so much easier. Ubel sighed inwardly as Reaver yelled at him.

“Those fox-kin died!” 

“They didn’t die in vain. They effectively traded their lives to remove three kill on-site targets which in turn makes for three useless bone mechas. I’d make that trade any day of the week since fewer people will die thanks to their sacrifices.”

“You strapped bombs onto them and sent them to their deaths!” Reaver grabbed Ubel by his uniform’s collar, giving off a dangerous air.

Ubel's expression remained unchanged despite being pulled up from his seat, unnerving Reaver. 

“I merely offered the choice to them as a last resort. They all agreed to it without hesitation. Blame me all you want, but weren't you the one going on about making sure they came back alive?”

The words hit Reaver hard, yet Ubel didn’t stop.

“You had the chance to pull them back, but you didn’t. You could have disobeyed my orders, yet you didn’t. Blaming me means you can’t live with the choice you made. If you wanna throw all your hatred at me, fine. I’ve lived with it all my life. What's one more person to millions of others? Now if you're done with your tantrum get back to work. if not, get out. I’m busy making shit into gold.”

Hands shaking, Reaver looked into Ubel’s dead fish eyes. She stared into the abyss with barely restrained rage.  

She threw him down onto his chair.

“This isn’t over.”

“It never is until you're dead, and even then look at where we’re at. Now go send a message around camp. Tell them to get ready to welcome our scouts when they return as heroes. It’ll raise morale for them to know that they killed off a few core necromancers.”

“You're a monster.”

“And you work for said monster so what does that make you? Now chop chop. I want to wrap this up so we can focus on putting the finishing touches on the assassination.”

…

A little time later the scouts who risked their lives out in enemy territory entered the village. Despite showing downcast expressions, they were given a hero's welcome by all those residing inside thanks to the info Ubel had spread. 

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The village threw a party to celebrate the scout’s safe return. The celebration lasted through the night yet in the morning Agate was right back at making bombs.

“By tomorrow I’ll have these done for that bastard.” 

Agate lazily spat as he worked on the core in his hands. Bishop stayed silent as he shaped the required formations, but Agate kept on talking.

“Ya know brother… I’m sorry I snapped at you. Perhaps I should’ve thought longer before putting you on the spot. So I’ve been thinking... how about we kill that shit stain Ubel after this is all over and seize control of the army.” 

Bishop opened his eyes wide and looked over at Agate, who was staring at him while scratching his head with a smile.

“If you wanna live this way I guess I could take a step back and live under Urist. But that Ubel I cannot stand— meaning he has to go. What do you think? I think it’s a fair middle ground. We’d do a much better than that snob that only sits around on his ass.”

Bishop put on a thoughtful expression as he stared into Agate’s eyes as if hoping to find something. Yet the only thing he saw was the harsh reality of a dancing, scheming light glowing brightly within.

Your words are tempting like honey but as usual, your eyes give you away, brother. For this new life I… I must harden my heart, even if it means cutting off my past. I hoped that you would think to change, yet now nothing can save you from death… not even me.

Bishop put on his best smile and laughed.

“Haha! What a novel idea, brother. Maybe we could pull it off, but we’d need to plan for it correctly. How about after this campaign is over we move on it. I mean, after showing off your bombs I’m sure a lot of support will come to you, asking you to take a high position in the military. We can work our way from there to overthrow Ubel, and then when the heat dies down we’ll kill the bastard!”

Agate immediately brightened up, “I knew you’d turn around! Listen here, we’ll…”

…

After finishing up their work, Bishop headed to his room to find one of his handlers, Vesi, laying on his bed. She was reading a book on knife tactics, looking as languid as one could be.

“I’m just here to remind you to think abou-”

As she was talking Bishop began undressing, taking off his robe to reveal his chiseled body. Without minding the woman lazing within his bed as if it was her own, Bishop threw his robe towards the side and poured himself a drink. The robe fluttered through the air and gracefully covered Vesi’s head

“I know it was all a sweet lie for my brother, but I don't half-ass things. Now get out of my bed, I need to sleep.”

Vesi threw the robe off, huffed, and climbed out of his bed.

“I was just checking, asshole. If you wanna share a bottle over it later, just give me a call.”

Bishop gave her a look.

“Thanks for caring. Now get out of my room, flat chest.”

A vein twitched on her forehead as she pushed past Bishop.

“This is what I get for trying to give a shit... I’d fight ya if… Whatever.”

Bishop watched her storm out and slam the door.

Instead of getting angry, the dwarf silently walked towards his bed, and numbly fell onto it.

He buried his face into his pillow and took a deep breath. A sweet scent invaded his senses, and for the first time in a long time, Bishop started to cry.

…

The night passed, morning came, and afternoon arrived.

“Here’s the last of them,” Agate smirked as he passed Ubel the finished crystals.

Ubel smiled and took them without batting an eye. 

“Thank you for your contribution to the war effort, Agate. With this, I’ll be able to convince the other dwarfs and the fox-kin that your previous actions were all a misunderstanding. After all, actions speak louder than words.” 

“Cut the shit, just make sure you pay me when we go back.”

“Of course! You can go relax now. Everyone else will handle the rest.”

“Humph.”

Ubel watched Agate leave with a slam of the door, and the moment the door closed, his face became expressionless.

Tonight is the night you die.