ILIAS VAN PAYNE
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I told Camaro and the others that I wanted to stay behind to make sure Tank got back safely. In reality, it was because I didn’t think I would’ve been able to control myself eating dinner with Armstrong. If he had said the wrong things or tried something, I would’ve attacked then and there.
That wouldn’t have been good.
I was sure I could handle Armstrong—but the problem was that the entire mansion would be filled with trained soldiers. A battalion of soldiers would be too much for me to handle. A handful might even know basic jynx.
There was also the presence of a deadly and easy-to-use weapon that was issued to every soldier—a pistol.
Gunpowder was something we didn’t dabble with a hundred years ago. They were too unstable and no one dared to experiment with it lest they wanted to lose a hand. Usually, they were poured into mines—large circular vessels with spikes protruding from every direction. Men would place several mines at the weak point of a castle and throw in a torch. But even this was rarely used. It was easy to shoot them with flaming arrows while men were hauling them around on the battlefield. There was a also chance dropping one could trigger an explosion.
However, during the past century, researchers were able to stabilize gunpowder enough to put a tiny bit in projectiles called bullets. These bullets would go into a device called a pistol and pulling a trigger would cause a hammer to hit the bullet. A tiny explosion would launch the bullet faster than any arrow.
This dangerous weapon was truly fascinating. I wager that in a few decades, they could make devices that could carry a hundred bullets.
The colonel and his unit had been gone for over two hours. Midnight was in an hour and a half, so I put on a coat and wore my hat to keep warm before heading out into the cool darkness. I used Inner Light to transform one of my gates into an orb of light and waited just outside of town holding Camaro’s used shirt.
Lights and fires were a bad idea if you were alone in the woods as they would attract animals and all sorts of creatures. But I was still close enough to town that anything that dared to approach was either a friend or a fool.
I had seen nothing in the darkness and was spooked when Tank all of a sudden started nudging his head into my chest.
“Hey, buddy. Where did you come from?” I scratched his head. “Good boy. You did such a good job.”
Surprisingly, as heavy and bulky as Tank was, he barely made a sound when moving. His flat feet helped spread his weight.
“Let’s get you all rested up. I bet that mission with Private Gama must’ve been stressful. I’ll see if I can sneak you a couple of apples during the night.”
Just as we began to head back, Tank glanced upwards. I couldn’t see it at first, but what caught his attention was a carrier pigeon.
The nearby towns were in Armstrong’s pockets, so there’s a chance he’s asking for help.
Things could turn sour if reinforcements for Armstrong were to arrive.
I hovered above the ground and pushed myself towards the bird with a gust of wind. The pigeon evaded my grab, but I managed to catch it with a levitation spell and pull it back down to the ground with me.
Corporal Rudolf taught me a trick to calm down birds. They become calm when they can't see anything—which was why falconers put hoods on their birds of prey during transport. I gently bent the pigeon’s neck and tucked its head under its own wing.
The pigeon stopped resisting and let me carry it back to the inn. It perched on the chair after I removed the letter strapped to its leg.
The letter read:
Colonel in charge of taking care of Gilead,
Ignore everything that Private Gama will tell you and heed this message instead. This letter is to inform you that everything here in Rockbell is being taken care of and military personnel from the Northern region are on their way to deal with this whole mess. Gama’s been a loyal soldier and I promised him a bonus, so please treat him at the tavern and I will pay back the cost. Plans for the party celebrating Ilias’ promotion to becoming a State Jynxist are with Lieutenant Doria—so please ask her to start getting ready for that as we will be home soon. Should there be any problems involving cost, please tell her it would be no problem. Proceed as soon as possible as we will be home very soon.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Thanks, Colonel Ray Van Camaro
This letter was written in Camaro’s hands, but these were Armstrong’s words. That dinner must’ve been to corner Camaro and force him to write this letter.
Good thing I intercepted this message before it got out.
Camaro and his unit arrived not long after. Old Man Marcel was eager to know what happened.
I handed Camaro the letter. “Colonel, I intercepted this while waiting for Tank to arrive.”
“Where’s the pigeon?” he asked.
“In my room.”
Camaro rolled up the letter and placed it in the pouch on the pigeon’s leg before throwing it out of the window where it disappeared into the night sky.
“Wait, what’d you do that for?” I asked, heading to the window to try and catch it. “That’s instructing Private Gama not to come with help.”
“Colonel Armstrong and I had a long talk during dinner. We’re on good terms now. There’s nothing worth reporting here so Gama’s help isn’t needed.”
“This has happened every time,” Old Man Marcel yelled. “You outsiders promise to help then you pretend like nothing has happened. Let me guess what that long talk was about.” He reached into the colonel’s jacket and produced a pouch filled with fifty gold coins. “You’ve been bought out.”
“Careful with your tongue, innkeeper.”
“Why you— Get out! I don’t want you staying in my inn!”
“A stay at an inn is throughout the night. If you want us out, give us our money back and we’ll find somewhere else to stay. But I know that money is something you can’t let go of considering your situation.”
Old Man Marcel banged his fist on the counter. “You lot better not show your faces around these parts ever again.”
“Why would we? There are better towns nearby.”
“Colonel,” I said. “Can we talk?”
Hendrik and Rudolf stayed outside with the angry innkeeper while I was escorted into my room by Camaro and Kaiser.
“This is part of the plan, right?” I asked. “You’re playing along to make them think they’ve bought you out.”
“Listen, Ilias, there are some opportunities that you might have that will never come again in your lifetime.” Camaro showed me the pouch. “Colonel Armstrong will be away on a hunt tomorrow, but he’ll be back in the evening. Even though you’re a kid, I’m sure he’ll give you the same deal without taking away some coins.”
Camaro isn’t greedy or malicious enough to deny this town help just for a bit of money. He also let the message I intercepted fly back meaning no help will come. All these things are so out of character for him.
“The pouch,” I thought aloud. “What were the rules Colonel Armstrong gave before you accepted that pouch of gold.”
“To keep quiet and help conceal his secret. It’s not a lot of effort and you get so much money in return. The deal is worth it.”
I slammed a fist onto the bed.
Camaro and his unit have been tricked into forming a contract. That weasel-looking bastard placed a contract on that pouch and accepting it makes you follow its instructions.
The more limit you put on something, the stronger it’ll be. The instructions to help conceal this town’s secret is so limited that it was powerful enough to force people to do things out of character.
“Colonel, I think it’s best to keep Ilias under house arrest until he accepts Colonel Armstrong’s offer,” Kaiser suggested. “He might escape and ride to Gilead himself.”
“I don’t think he’ll get far—but again, he is a State Jynxist.” Camaro snapped, summoning two Marching Dolls to stay in the room with me. He even partially summoned an arm to hold the door closed. “Ilias, behave yourself and stay here until tomorrow evening.”
That night, I took out both of Camaro’s Marching Dolls and tried to sneak out of the window, but was caught by another six standing guard outside and another five guarding the stables.
He responded by adding three extra Dolls and locking the window from the outside. I was only allowed out to use the privy. He also took away my wand and forced me to give ownership of my Talking Book to him.
As much as I hated Camaro, it wasn’t really fair to put the blame on him. I would’ve pretended to take the bribe as well.
Other than their precaution to make sure no help came to this town, everything else about Camaro and his unit remained normal. When the sun rose the next day, they came and made conversation with me to make sure I was alright. Talking to them felt so normal that I forgot they were practically brainwashed.
This must be why no outsiders have reported anything.
I tried to escape two more times. The first was by bursting out of the privy and knocking back Hendrik and Rudolf. I rushed to the door but was caught by Kaiser and the colonel’s Dolls. The second time I broke the wooden flooring in my room and turned the earth underneath into a quagmire. I then swam through the ground and emerged outside. However, Porco reacted so loudly to me popping out of the ground that by the time I made it to the edge of town, Camaro’s Dolls had caught me.
Why does this town have to be so detached from the rest of the world? Things would not have turned out like this if that wasn’t the case.
Rockbell was a detour from the main road which meant this place was isolated. Any outsider would stand out and the townsfolk would ask for their help. Armstrong would then invite them for dinner and offer them gold. One of two things happened from there. Either they actually were bribed or they were only pretending to and planned on reporting Armstrong once they left. But a contract was formed when they accepted that pouch, forcing them to keep this town’s secret. This must’ve happened so often that everyone living here had given up all hope for salvation.
Because of the contract, the Camaro Unit was doing everything in their power to make sure the plan we set into motion was undone. But whatever happens, it must come to fruition. For the people’s sake.
That’s what Colonel Camaro would want.