Once we left the Tomb, the tunnellers allowed themselves to show their emotions. The quick clearing of the dungeon pleased many. Patrick was especially thrilled, jumping and shouting with joy. Katasakh even had to pull his nephew aside and, judging by his gestures, give the young sheriff a serious talking-to.
Since I had no intention of returning to the Silver Meadow, they began counting and dividing the loot right at the gate platform. First, they evaluated the items taken from the dungeon. I completely trusted Katasakh with this, as he hadn't cheated last time, and I didn't think he would do so now.
But, as always, there were disputes. Aklak clashed with Sigerik over some silver brooch. Its price was small, but each wanted this particular item to give to their beloved woman. They argued until they were hoarse, and even Katasakh's intervention didn't cool the heated argument. While the two tunnellers were sorting out who would get the brooch, Patrick approached me and sat down nearby.
"Raven, you mentioned yesterday that you're planning to go to Clayville?"
This question puzzled me. What Clayville? I sat in thought for about ten seconds before I remembered that this was the name of the village where Vidar's group had settled.
"I was planning to," I nodded.
"Listen, would it be too much trouble for you to drop by Cloverton?" Having asked this question, the young sheriff began to speak faster. "It's the village next to Clayville, a two-hour leisurely walk from there. My half-brother lives there, an illegitimate son like me," he confided. "I'll write him a letter right now, could you deliver it to him?" The young man looked down and added more hesitantly, "It's really not far at all."
What the hell made me say yesterday that I couldn't stay in Silver Meadow because I was planning to visit my fellow earthlings? The truth was, I hadn't intended to visit Vidar and his group. Rather, I'd love to see what they had accomplished, but their village was completely out of the way to Katashi. Even more so, Clayville was located east of Silver Meadow, while I needed to go west.
Refuse Patrick? Sure, but that would raise unnecessary questions and gossip, for if someone were heading in that direction, it would be no trouble to deliver the letter. So, I would have to say my plans had unexpectedly changed or admit that I had lied while drunk. The latter was undesirable since, in the locals' eyes, the Sheriff of the Book was infallible. My lie, even a drunken one, would ruin this image that worked to my advantage. Changing my mind would also require a reason; otherwise, Patrick would take my refusal as a personal slight.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. And all because of my big mouth, or rather my reluctance to tell the truth. After all, I could have said I was going to a blacksmith for armor; everyone would have accepted that. But no, I had to tell an unnecessary lie. So what to do? Agree and deliver the letter? That would cost me almost a day...
Although, I could have avoided the time loss by spending gold. Getting to Clayville, then to Westphal, where there is a Gate, and jumping to Minber, a town near Bordum. That way, I would have saved time compared to walking to Katashi. The cost of such a transfer within one region wouldn't have cost that much, especially considering my discounts...
Mentally calculating the approximate costs, I decided that spending seventy gold wouldn't hurt my wallet. I could consider it a fine to myself for unnecessary lying. Because it served me right for lying when I could have told the truth or part of the truth.
"Alright. I'll deliver it." I nodded to Patrick. Besides, the thought of seeing Vidar and his team slightly sweetened the bitter pill of unexpected expenses.
"I'll write the letter even before they finish arguing and dividing the loot." The clearly pleased young sheriff nodded toward the bickering tunnellers.
Having received my consent, Patrick took several sheets of mediocre-quality paper and writing supplies from his belt pouch. As a regional sheriff, he was expected to constantly carry such items to compose any document at a moment's notice. Watching the young man, I made a note to myself that I should also acquire a writing kit, a handy thing.
To my surprise, Patrick wrote the letter in a way that allowed me to see the contents easily. Apparently, the young sheriff wanted to show that he had no secrets. He wrote about how things were going for him, how his father had given him the sheriff's badge and sent him to Silver Meadow to his uncle. He mentioned that everything was fine and that he missed his half-brother very much. Then he recalled childhood stories that connected them and expressed hope for a reunion. After filling an entire sheet, Patrick folded it and sealed it with the sheriff's seal, then handed it to me with a deep bow. Accepting the letter, I put it in the pocket of my backpack, and we returned to the others, arriving just in time for the final part of the distribution.
In the presence of everyone, Katasakh counted out my share, which amounted to a total of only five gold and twenty-two silver coins. However, this was quite normal; on average, even less loot was extracted from Wootz dungeons, when converted into gold. For me, this amount was a trifle, but for an ordinary peasant family, this money could provide for two or even three months of comfortable living.
After placing the coins in my belt pouch, I warmly bid farewell to everyone. The tunnellers, as well as the young sheriff, assured me that they were always happy to see me in Silver Meadow and invited me to visit if the Path of Sundbad brought me to the nearby lands again.
Just to be sure, I checked how the dark artifacts were packed, waved my hand, and headed east. At first, I walked leisurely, but as soon as the path hid me from the tunnellers' sight, I sped up sharply. I ran at a decent speed for about half an hour, distancing myself from the Tomb by about fifteen kilometers, then switched to my usual rhythm, allowing me to train on the go.
As usual, I engaged in a bit of everything. Spear complexes, combining Runes and Illusions, and practicing the extraction of pure prana. I didn't forget to train in quickly charging "cartridges" for the "Mitrailleuse" either. Periodically, I took breaks, switching to contemplation. The unexpected find obtained in the Tomb, where it was concealed under the cursed cover, intrigued me.
The Night Huntress Bracelet. Unfortunately, I knew little about this long-vanished cult. In the records collected by Morpheus, there were only general mentions and a few drawings. According to legends that had survived to our days, this cult was involved in assassinations and espionage. Women who wore such bracelets were not mercenaries but performed a role somewhat similar to the Order of Paladins. Only, while the Paladins served the Light, the Night Huntresses carried out the will of Seguna, as they understood it. I had no specific information about such bracelets. Were they some kind of powerful artifacts or merely symbols, signs of belonging to the Night Huntresses cult? I did not have an answer to this question.
In the middle of the night, when Seguna hovered overhead, I made a halt, unwrapped the bracelet from the cloth, took it in my hands, and offered a plea to the Night Mistress. Alas, either I was not heard or deemed unworthy, but my appeal remained unanswered. The only thing I felt while holding the ancient bracelet was the faint emanations of shadows exuded by the ornament. I invoked my "Shadow Player" skill and watched for a few seconds as all the surrounding Shadows started to dance in circles around the bracelet, clearly liking it.
This convinced me that what I had in my hands was not some fake but a genuine, albeit broken, bracelet of a Night Huntress. After finishing my break, I packed the accessory and placed it at the very bottom of my backpack, under the still-unused bundle of cloth I had prepared for Armani.
To be honest, I didn't have the slightest idea what to do with this find. For me personally, this bracelet, even if restored, was completely useless. I wasn't a woman, and the ancient artifact wouldn't accept me. Passing it on to one of the earthlings? I wasn't sure that was a good idea. The Cult of the Night Huntresses was still banned throughout Ain, and wearing such an item, if noticed, was punishable by death by burning. Not exactly a great gift for someone. The most sensible thing would have been to hand it over to the Artifactors' Guild or the Order of Paladins. The former would have paid a substantial sum for such a rarity, and with the latter, it would have allowed establishing good relations, which was also far from insignificant.
It was reasonable, yes, but I didn't want to. I just didn't want to hand over such a unique, albeit possibly useless, thing to someone else. In the upcoming War with the demons, we would need all the resources we could get, and squandering unique artifacts, even if damaged, by selling or giving them away for reputation, wasn't worth it.
Since I was the Sheriff of the Book, even if someone found this item on me, I could have wiggled out of any accusations. But still, carrying the bracelet with me meant attracting unnecessary attention to myself.
What to do and how to act?
Maybe give the bracelet to Katashi? Not such a bad idea as it initially seemed. The Japanese had always been interested in artifacts. And here was an example of the work of masters before the Fall. He would definitely be interested in tinkering with such a rarity. As for the fact that it was a shadow artifact, such nuances, as far as I remembered, did not bother Katashi much. I recalled, in the Last Cycle, he had pieced together and restored the Plague Bow, the weapon of Nulgle's champion, and the Japanese's conscience did not bother him. Then, this bow had served us well in the fight against the demons until the Paladins got to the artifact and destroyed it along with its owner, one of Nate's officers. Damn fanatics, we needed to use everything at our disposal, but they placed their principles above the survival of the entire World.
Unable to decide what to do with the bracelet, I left it lying at the bottom of my backpack, covered with the alchemically treated cloth, and continued on my way, moving at some distance from the roads and tracks.
I reached Cloverton as planned, at dawn. The village was quite large, even bigger than Silver Meadow, though clearly poorer than the latter.
Patrick's half-brother worked here as an assistant to the manager, also assigned by their father. After handing him the letter, I declined the invitation for breakfast and, quickly saying goodbye, headed towards Clayville, which was only seven kilometers to the north, beyond a fairly light forest.
The first thing I saw when I emerged from the trees into the open space was the human hustle and bustle. Despite the early hour, people were already hard at work. Some were busy tending the fields, others herding livestock, but most of the peasants were engaged in something else - they were helping a large group of carpenters haul logs and planks. None of them paid any attention to me, likely because there were almost more strangers in the village than residents. The small settlement looked like a disturbed beehive from the outside. But that was only at first glance. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that everyone was busy with their own tasks. Noticing a familiar figure, I approached Wong Kan, who was absorbed in yelling at four carpenters, and, stopping next to him, shouted into his ear:
"Aloha!"
The poor guy jumped in surprise, turned to me with a frightened look, but quickly recognized me and broke into a smile.
"Raven! What brings you here? Weren't you heading to Pentapolis?"
"We propose, and Sundbad directs," I replied with a smirk, slightly altering an Earth saying. "Better tell me, how did you manage to build the bridge so quickly?"
I gestured towards the construction site. I wasn't exaggerating; my surprise was genuine. About ten days had passed since my visit to this village, and already a wide bridge had been built across the river, one wide enough for two carts to pass each other with ease. Sturdy supports made of bog oak and spans of logs as thick as a man's waist.
"We didn't expect it ourselves!" Wong chuckled. "And honestly, we didn't do much ourselves. Edi performed the calculations, Gotlake transferred those calculations to the site, and then we just hired professionals." The man waved his hand towards the crowd. "We employed three crews. It turns out that three Bronze workers can easily replace an excavator, and two at Steel are as good as a hydraulic loader."
"Still, it's fast," I said with a note of admiration.
"The work isn't finished yet," Wong scratched his head. "We've only built the foundation. We still need to lay the decking, install the railings, and build up the approach embankments."
"But how did you manage to prepare so much wood? If I'm not mistaken, just drying the logs takes more than one season!"
"We didn't do it ourselves. We bought it ready-made," The earthling shrugged with a slight smile.
"Was it expensive?"
"Not more than money." Wong grinned and then explained, "We hardly spend anything on ourselves, and the loot from four dungeons was enough to cover all the costs. Plus, we already set up a sawmill." He gestured somewhere upstream. "It's over the hill, Lucky is busy there now, preparing the groundwork for the foundation for another crew." Saying this, he glanced at the carpenters, grimaced, and rushed towards them, cursing along the way, "Hey, you slime spawn, what were you told, and what are you doing? Birch is not suitable, yet you're dragging it here!" Then he turned to me and spread his hands. "Sorry, I'm busy now. If you leave these guys unsupervised, they'll mess things up so much that redoing it will cost three times the time and money. You're not leaving right away?" Seeing me nod, he added, "In the village, it's me, Laki, and Edi. Vidar and Hjerta left yesterday to negotiate with blacksmiths to make the saws we need for the sawmill. They promised to be back by lunch. Edi is at the tavern, by the way, doing the bookkeeping. I'll sort things out here, assign tasks, then I'll rush over to Lucky, and we'll head to the tavern in about an hour."
"Got it, I won't distract you anymore," I smiled, not at all offended by being asked to stay out of the way.
Edi was exactly where Wong said she would be. The girl was sitting in the dining hall at a table near the window. The tabletop in front of her was covered with papers and wooden tablets. Apparently, the "accountant" used the tablets as drafts and only after verification entered the final results into a large notebook, which I recognized as a product of Arien's paper workshop.
As soon as the entrance door creaked, the girl raised a displeased look from her papers. Edi clearly forbade others to disturb her during work and was already about to curse but recognized me. Surprise flickered in her eyes, which she quickly suppressed. She rubbed her nose with her fingers, set aside the tablet she was holding, and got up from the stool.
"Aloha!" I waved my hand, showing the most benevolent smile.
"And to you as well." Edi frowned and added, "Is the portal network in Pentapolis no longer working?"
"It is working, but my plans have changed a bit," I replied neutrally to this jab.
"Staying long?"
"I'll wait for Vidar and Hjerta, say hello, catch up on the news, and then - back on the road."
"So, until lunchtime," the girl sighed and, waving her hand, invited me to follow her. "Let's drop off your things."
"I see you're not sitting idle; the bridge is almost built," I said as I followed the accountant.
"Almost," she nodded. "And you wouldn't believe the coin it cost us!"
"I can imagine," I replied neutrally.
"I know the exact figures, and believe me, they are not encouraging."
"Do you have financial difficulties?"
"We'll manage," the girl snapped, stopping by the first door on the left on the second floor. "Come in, it's my room. Don't be shy; we use it as storage; I only sleep here." Edi waved her hand to the corner where a sack of straw lay instead of a bed.
"Looks spartan," I commented on the sight.
"I don't need much," the girl shrugged, indifferently glancing around the room. "There's so much to do that all I can manage is to crawl to the mattress."
"You don't take care of yourself," I smirked, dropping my backpack in the corner, then taking off my chainmail and laying it on top of my things.
"Don't worry." Noticing my hesitation, Edi said, "We checked the locals; none of them are thieves. They are just ordinary peasants who have lived in this village their entire lives. As for the hired workers, they are so busy they don't have time to eye someone else's belongings." After a moment's thought, she added, "And Borchuk, the owner of this wreck that is mistakenly called a tavern, is always in the kitchen, and his hearing is so sharp even I envy it. So no one will steal your things."
"In the backpack, there are dark artifacts that I plan to hand over to the Artifactors' Guild, so if anyone decides to profit at my expense, they won't live long, and it will be painful."
"Um-m-m..." The girl was taken aback by this revelation, glancing warily at my things.
"Don't worry, they are packed in isolating fabric, and if it isn't opened, they pose no danger. I've tested it myself."
"Well, if you did it yourself..." Edi smiled tensely. "Let's go, I need to talk to you."
This was unexpected. What did she want from me? I was even more surprised when we left the tavern and silently moved away from the village for a couple of hundred steps. We went behind a small hill where we couldn't be seen from the settlement or the construction site, and Edi stopped, staring at me.
"The last time, we had some disagreements." Was she talking about when she tried to scan me with her mental magic? "Firstly, I've thought about it, and I apologize. Not under duress and not because Vidar scooped my brains out with a teaspoon. A sincere apology, I was wrong."
"Accepted." I nodded, trying not to show my surprise.
"And secondly, it won't happen again. Not because I promise so, but because I won't be able to pull it off again, physically."
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"How so?" I didn't understand.
"Like this." The girl opened her palm, and above it floated the sign of an Achievement unknown to me.
I took a closer look. "A Gaze Turned Inward," the Achievement's title read. As far as I could understand, it blocked a mentalist's ability to affect others, completely locking all Mental Magic onto the Achievement's owner.
"Oh, wow..." I said. "Can you tell me how to get something like that?"
"It's quite simple. Undergo a ritual at a temple of Ishid. It's called 'A Thought Turned Inward.'"
"Did I understand correctly what this Achievement does? You can no longer direct Mental Magic outward?"
"That's right."
"Strange that I haven't heard of such a ritual." And indeed, I hadn't, even in the Last Cycle. "It's odd because no one likes mentalists, and if there was a way to block their gift, it would have been widely used by now."
"The ritual has its nuances. It can only be performed on someone who voluntarily agrees to it. Also, it only works if a person's talent for Mental Magic is greater than three Stars. Just having three isn't enough; the ritual won't initiate."
"Well, getting voluntary consent isn't really that hard. Threats, blackmail, using their family - there are plenty of options."
"You don't get it. The consent has to be truly voluntary, coming from the depths of the soul. If someone undergoes the ritual under pressure but doesn't genuinely want to limit themselves, it won't work. And regarding why so few know about this ritual, the priests themselves don't shout about it from every corner, and the mentalists suppress all rumors. It's not in their interest for this knowledge to spread."
"Yet you were told about the ritual..." I didn't hide my doubt.
"Only after I described my problem and how even my comrades started to look at me askance." The girl winced. "Gotlake fell into paranoia and began to believe that the whole group was acting under my influence. The fact that my skills, talent, and knowledge wouldn't be enough for such brainwashing, even if I wanted to, didn't calm him. In short, we had a small crisis because of my Talent for Mental Magic, and I had to choose..." The girl looked straight at me without averting her gaze. "And I chose. My team. And I don't regret it."
"My respect." I bowed sincerely. What Edi did was a very serious decision.
"Forget it." The girl waved her hand dismissively, her ears turning red.
"I'm really impressed. To give up influencing other people, to forgo the abilities that mentalism grants, requires iron willpower."
"I'm just a coward who doesn't want to become the next victim of a witch hunt. That's all, and there's no heroism in that." Saying this, the girl turned away.
"Have you watched 'Star Wars,' the prequel trilogy?" I asked.
"Of course." Edi nodded without turning around.
"Do you remember the beginning? Where two Jedi, the good guys, arrive to negotiate with the Trade Federation."
"I recall." The girl's voice was quiet and dry.
"The Jedi were confident that once they got an audience with the Trade Federation representative, they would immediately resolve the conflict. Do you know what their confidence was based on?"
"I never thought about it." The girl shrugged, clearly not understanding where I was leading.
"That's a pity. The Jedi were confident of success because they planned to influence the Trade Federation representative to make the decision they needed. Not negotiate, not find a compromise, but simply influence him. Like in the old trilogy when Obi-Wan influenced the stormtroopers: 'These are not the droids you're looking for.'"
"Why are you telling me this?" Edi turned sharply.
"Influence. Once you get used to solving problems with its help, it becomes second nature. Something natural, ordinary, routine. And to me, those Jedi, considered good and kind peacemakers, are actually hypocrites. Jerks who not only see nothing wrong but also find it natural to dig into other people's heads and impose the decisions they deem advantageous. Local mentalists often follow the same path, which is why no one likes them." The girl looked me in the eyes. "If I had to choose between slavery in shackles and galleys or brainwashing, I'd choose the first option. Because from a galley or hard labor, one can always escape. And even if the escape fails, I'll know that I remain myself. But with brainwashing, the worst part is that you might not even realize your thoughts have been replaced. Someone else made all the decisions for you, and you're no longer entirely yourself. Free will, the freedom of choice – they will be gone."
"You exaggerate." The girl frowned, diverting her inquisitive gaze to the side.
"Just a little. But believe me, a mentalist of the Heroic Coil can turn any unprepared person into their obedient puppet."
"Is that why you got so angry when I tried to read your intentions?"
"Partly. I was more worried about the guys. If you had used that on the local guild sheriff, your names would have been on the bounty hunters' board the same day. And no one would have cared that you decided to do something on your own. You are a group, and by local standards, as long as you are together, there is a kind of collective responsibility, and everyone would have had to answer for the sins of one." The girl paled, realizing what she could have gotten into. "Of course, if desired, the others could have justified themselves, but somehow I think Vidar wouldn't have abandoned you, nor would the others."
"They wouldn't have." Edi clenched her fists to stop her hands from trembling.
"Exactly. So, you did well to pass this ritual and impose such restrictions on yourself."
"Um..." The girl turned away again and, after a short pause, added, "Actually, the ritual has its advantages."
"Care to share?"
"The mental streams that used to flow outward didn't disappear. You could say they turned inward and looped into my internal energy system. This gave me significantly enhanced protection against external mental influence. According to the priest who conducted the ritual, it is now much harder to implant suggestions in me since my mental lines no longer go outward. Besides, the mental energy, being focused on myself, now responds much more easily. It's like they installed top-notch cooling on my processor, allowing it to overclock to new frequencies... Sorry, that comparison is not great."
"I get it. A very clear analogy. Anything else?"
"Yes, right after obtaining the Achievement, I underwent the 'Self-Knowledge' Ritual again and discovered that I now have four and a half Talent Stars in Mental, instead of just four. The same priest hinted that five to seven years of intense meditation and training, and I would reach the fifth Star. And, by the way, don't tell the guys, but I started calculating even faster, and my memory improved."
Wow. The girl imposed some pretty strict limitations on herself, but she also received significant bonuses. Half of the Talent Star alone was worth it!
When I told Edi that I would choose shackles and slavery over living under compulsion, I wasn't lying. And I would never force anything on others myself. But it so happened that I had three and a half Stars in Mental, and not developing this talent would be a complete waste. Moreover, I had already realized that Mental aids in meditations, as well as in mastering and applying spells and skills.
"Could you tell me more about the ritual you underwent?"
"Why do you need to know?" The girl frowned.
"I have three and a half Stars in Mental. Brainwashing others isn't interesting to me and contradicts my principles, so I would gladly undergo the same ritual."
"Are you serious?" Edi was surprised.
"More than serious, more than serious..."
After listening to Edi's detailed story, I began asking leading questions. The girl was smart, but her intelligence was geared towards numbers, and she wasn't very adept at social interactions. My questions helped clarify some details. Apparently, Ishid's priests hinted to her that this ritual was secret and mainly intended for the god of Rituals' servants or those deemed worthy by the priests themselves. An ordinary person couldn't just show up at a Temple and demand the rite; they would simply be sent away. It seemed the priests saw in Edi someone who could become one of them, so they helped her when she came to them with her problem. This detail explained why I had never heard of such a ritual in the Last Cycle. After all, "I" had little interaction with Ishid's servants back then.
I wondered if I, as the Sheriff of the Book, would be allowed to undergo the rite now. The bonuses that come from closing mental lines on oneself impressed me. Moreover, I wasn't lying when I told Edi that influencing another's mind and compulsion went against my morals, and I didn't intend to develop Mental Magic to affect other people anyway.
With the last few leading questions, I found out that the ritual itself didn't require lengthy preparation and could be performed in just a couple of hours. I also learned that the nearest small Temple of Ishid was located halfway between Clayville and Westphal, where I was already planning to go in order to jump through the Gates to the western part of the Rur region.
After finishing the conversation, we headed back to the tavern, where Edi, at my request, showed me the group's financial calculations. I was curious about how much all this village improvement had cost the earthlings. To my surprise, it wasn't that expensive. For instance, the bridge cost only forty-seven gold, and that included hiring three work crews and purchasing all necessary materials. However, these costs were not final, and upon project completion, an additional third of that amount needed to be paid. Typically, such undertakings cost several times more, but Edi's precise calculations, Gotlake's competent project, and Hjerta's discovered trading talent allowed them to reduce expenses significantly.
Half an hour later, the irritated accountant asked me to leave because I was disturbing her work. Not arguing with the girl, I went outside, found Wong, and asked him to give me a small tour of the construction site. The earthling, noticing that the workers were even more diligent in my presence, likely because I had pinned a noble's brooch over my cotta, happily agreed.
I had to admit, the nearly finished bridge impressed me. I thought the earthlings would build a narrow crossing only sufficient to move flocks of sheep to lush meadows, but they aimed for something bigger. However, there was a quite prosaic explanation for this decision. Local traders from neighboring, wealthier villages, upon learning about the construction, offered to cover half the costs if a full-fledged bridge was built instead of an animal crossing. As I understood it, the completion of the construction would significantly shorten some trade routes, so the merchants' interest was entirely reasonable.
Wong was clearly passionate about the construction and dragged me around, enthusiastically explaining the project details. He also shared amusing stories that always happen on any construction site.
After finishing the inspection of the bridge, we walked along the riverbank upstream, where Gotlake had planned to build a sawmill at a small waterfall with a height difference of no more than a meter. Here, too, work was in full swing. Numerous diggers, under the supervision of the earthling engineer, were already completing the preliminary work. Lucky was glad to see me and, after the greetings, immediately dragged me to the pit of the future sawmill's foundation.
"Hey, can you do the same thing you did with the table, but with larger stones?" Gotlake asked.
"It depends on the size of the stones," I replied with a shrug.
"They're not that big!" The engineer rubbed his hands with glee and pulled me to the construction site.
In the end, I spent half an hour using the Des rune to crush the boulders that were obstructing the diggers. I could have refused, but in reality, I was even happy to help.
"Thank you!" Lucky genuinely expressed his gratitude as I crushed the last boulder. "You've saved us a day, maybe even two!"
"Isn't the pit too large for a simple sawmill?" I asked, brushing off the stone dust.
"I assessed the approximate power of the waterwheel, taking into account the flow rate and the height difference," Lucky said, spreading his hands. "It will be enough for five large saws, plus a small extra space and room for a covered warehouse. Everything is thoroughly calculated. If we overspend even a little, Edi will give us a hard time!" Gotlake rolled his eyes, and Wong, who was standing nearby, nodded seriously.
"She can do that," I agreed.
"Hey," Wong turned to me, "can you help with the bridge as well?"
"Only if it's carrying and fetching; I don't know much about construction."
"That's exactly what we need," Kan said, pleased.
Leaving Gotlake, who began assigning a new front of work to the diggers, Wong and I returned to the main construction site, where I was roped into carrying and setting up logs. The hired workers were initially wary of me, as a noble doing simple labor was somewhat of a shock for them. But half an hour later, having realized I wasn't going to bite their heads off, the artisans were already working shoulder-to-shoulder with me. Time flew by unnoticed as we worked until lunch.
Vidar and Hjerta appeared just as the innkeeper announced that the food was ready and we could go eat.
Sitting down at the table, I answered numerous questions and gave a general overview of what I had been doing. I learned from Vidar the details of how the earthlings had settled here, which dungeons they had visited, and what their future plans were. In turn, I didn't forget to mention Katashi, recommending the Japanese as a unique blacksmith they could turn to.
After resting for half an hour after lunch, I suggested a training session. Vidar and Hjerta agreed, while Edi, Gotlake, and Wong declined, saying that they had a lot of work. I spent an hour with this pair, teaching Vidar the proper footwork and training Hjerta on distance control. I also benefited myself, as the earthlings taught me a couple of spells from the household magic section.
For some reason, I felt comfortable among these people and didn't want to leave. I even had the urge to stay here for a few days and help with the construction. But, alas, I had other matters to attend to, and it was time to hit the road.
At the end of the training, I organized a few sparring matches between Vidar and Hjerta, explaining their mistakes and shortcomings, as well as reinforcing the material we covered today. When I stopped the training fight once again to explain Vidar's mistake, Edi came out of the inn and quickly approached us.
"There's a problem," the accountant said, trying not to look at me.
"The balance isn't adding up again?" Vidar smiled tensely.
"That's fine," she winced as if in pain. "The problem is different... We've been robbed."
"What?" the three of us exhaled in unison.
"Someone broke into my room and found the stash where I kept our savings."
"Let's go," Vidar nodded, and we headed to the inn.
We went up to the second floor and entered the room I was already familiar with.
"There are no signs of forced entry," Hjerta said, inspecting the door and windows.
"Yeah, and I didn't hear anything," Edi said angrily. "Even though the room is right above the table where I work in the hall."
While they were talking, I went over to my belongings, dropped my chainmail on the floor, and opened my backpack. The bundles with dark artifacts were in place, as well as the everyday items.
"It's definitely one of the hired workers! Probably one of those working on the bridge," Edi said. "The locals wouldn't steal, they have to live with us, and none of them would want to risk that. The diggers haven't shown up in the village today, so that leaves the bridge workers. There are three crews there now, a total of twenty-one people. We need to gather them all and check their things."
"The work will stop," Vidar said discontentedly.
"We still need to find the thief! If we don't get the money back, we won't be able to pay for the work," the accountant firmly retorted.
"Wait," I said, closing my backpack. "We don't need to round up and shake down anyone. I've been robbed too. They took only two items. One of them is a very expensive fabric. And that fabric is cursed. Whoever touches it will start to itch unbearably within a few hours. Worse than earthly scabies, and no ointments or potions will help. We just need to wait a bit and keep an eye on all the workers to make sure no one escapes. As soon as someone starts itching, we'll find the thief."
For almost a minute, the earthlings were silent, processing my suggestion.
"And the second item that was stolen from you?" Edi asked.
"Nothing important, a broken artifact of no particular value. I was planning to turn it in at the Artifactors' Guild in Bordum," I replied vaguely.
"And all the money is still there?"
"I don't keep money in my backpack. Besides, the thief is not simple. I told Edi that my backpack contained cursed dark artifacts, and they were untouched. Any regular thief would have gone for them, since they look valuable, but our thief didn't even touch them. This means they could recognize the protective fabric the artifacts were wrapped in. So, the thief is a professional, not just some random person who decided to rob careless owners by chance. Most likely, one of the people you hired is an experienced thief who possibly took this job to lay low. Therefore, I think that no searches will yield anything. But my plan might work. I, being cautious, covered the broken artifact with cursed fabric, and I only handled it with gloves."
"But the thief could have been wearing gloves too," Vidar countered.
"Don't confuse Earth and Ain," I smiled bloodthirstily. "The locals don't like to cover their hands, as it interferes with using magic, so there's a nine out of ten chance the thief touched the fabric. And even more likely - since the material is very expensive, the thief wouldn't forget to take it. So, I'm sure that in a couple of hours, someone will start itching until they scratch themselves raw..."