The woods were perfectly normal after reaching them on the southeast side of Piori. Reivyn could see where the forest had historically run all the way up to the city walls, but they had been cleared for about a hundred yards all the way around. There was still that strange sense of gloom permeating over the day, but Reivyn couldn't identify the culprit.
All of the colors were still vibrant. The woodland creatures and birds still moved about, making noise and acting like their usual selves. It was like a gray undertone shown through everything, though.
It just has to be my mental expectations of the "war zone," Reivyn thought.
After traversing through the woods, the platoons spread out to cover hundreds of yards across, and Reivyn began to see the tell-tale signs of combat. At first, it would just be a couple of spots that were clear where there had obviously once been a tree. Sometimes small clearings would appear in their way, but there wasn't enough undergrowth and too much soil indicating it was recent.
It seems the debris has been cleared up to allow for easier maneuvering through here.
Reivyn's mercenary company hadn't been given any real duties for the first full week that they had been on-site, but after a week, when new major orders were being passed around, they were given the duty of patrolling a swath of forest between Piori and one of the forward outposts closer to the actual line of engagement with the enemy forces.
They didn't have to use the entire company to make the trip, but Reivyn was doing a complete sweep for their first outing. It wasn't just that he wanted to do a thorough job. He was more wanting to get his men out of the walled city to get some practical experience. They weren't expecting to run into any enemy ambushes on their route, but Reivyn made everyone treat the exercise as if they were under imminent threat at all times.
Most of the newer additions weren't able to just flip the switch in their minds. There was nothing out here, and there was nothing other than the direction of their superiors to keep their attention, so their focus wandered. Those that had experienced combat in Drallo were completely focused on their tasks, and not every one of the new adventurers was distracted, either. Those who had been around longer and had seen serious combat situations, whether in a Dungeon or otherwise, were much like their veteran counterparts.
Even though Reivyn could perceive the lack of focus in his soldiers, he could tell they were giving it a true effort. The NCOs were constantly whispering down the lines to keep everyone's mind on track, and it was a good experience for them, too.
Overall, Reivyn was pleased with the results. He couldn't expect people who had never been in any real danger to understand the mentality that came with it. They had all the theory and training they could get, but until they looked death in the eyes, it was a distant concern. It was something to be worried about later. Repetition and discipline from the NCOs were the only way to iron that out of the untested mercenaries, and even then, it would pale compared to actual combat experience.
After venturing forth for a couple of hours, not moving slowly but not moving particularly quickly, the forest terrain finally shifted. No longer were there empty places where trees had once been. The downed trees remained in place.
There was wooden shrapnel and splinters from the destroyed trees still littering the ground, and as they moved closer and closer to the actual frontline, the pockets of destruction continued to increase.
The frontline was extremely noticeable, even from dozens of yards away. At the point of contention, the forest wasn't one with occasional pockets of downed trees. Instead, Reivyn saw a long, straight line of trees covering the floor, exploded trunks and limbs scattered about until there was no ground to step on, and there was the occasional standing tree. It was completely flipped from the forest leading up to the front.
The forward outpost was built just behind the tree line leading to the swathe of destruction, and it had been built to camouflage among the rest of the trees. It wasn't a perfect job, and Reivyn could guess that the people who had built it hadn't unlocked the Camouflage Skill when it was constructed. It at least made it so that one had to actually focus to see it, though it wasn't particularly hidden.
With a high enough Skill Level, Reivyn had found that Camouflage worked against even Mana Sight.
When it's our turn to occupy the outpost, I'll have the men with the higher Skill Level work on remodeling it. Speaking of, this is really something I'll need to get the officers to have the men practice going forward.
Reivyn hadn't neglected teaching the Skill to all mercenaries, but one never knew what exactly to focus on until it was time to move. He had vague memories from his Dreams of the Past of militaries always seeming to train for the previous conflict. With Skills, that was something he was confident he could stamp out with his men and have a more all-around approach.
If Kefira ever gets powerful enough to cast a long-distance teleportation Spell like the fixed ones in the Capital, all sorts of climates will open up for training for us.
Reivyn brought himself back to the present and had the troops take a break inside the tree line. Scouts were positioned to crawl closer to the swatch of destruction to keep a better eye out, but their mission wasn't to ward off an impending attack. From what Reivyn could see with his enhanced Perception and Mana Sight, there weren't even any troops present on the other side of the downed trees.
Reivyn walked into the outpost to make contact with the commander on the scene. It wasn't strictly necessary to meet up with him, but Reivyn was giving him the courtesy of reporting what they had seen, even though it was nothing.
Always good to set a professional precedent. I've already begun with other mundane things in-house. It doesn't hurt to extend that to professional courtesy among my peers.
The commander of the outpost was a young lieutenant. He was a few years older than Reivyn, but Reivyn had stopped viewing people based on their age long ago. His Sense Threat Skill let him know the young man was a low Tier 3, which would put him considerably below Reivyn on the power scale.
Unless he also has a powerful, hidden Bloodline, unlikely as that may be.
His Sense Threat Skill wasn't high enough to gauge nuances. It only fed back to him how the other person's Level would stack up against his own. There had to have been some sort of System calculations, though, because pretty much only Tier 5's ever came back as "fatal threats." He didn't have access to the information locked within the Skill, but the System must have been able to.
Which makes sense, considering literally everyone is connected to the System, even before their Classes are unlocked.
The only thing that made sense was that the System was comparing his Rarity against the others' Rarity as well as Tier and Level. If not, even the young lieutenant at the outpost, with his low-Tier 3 Level, would have registered as a significant threat instead of negligible.
"Captain Reivyn here to deliver the scouting report," Reivyn announced himself as he walked inside.
The lieutenant wasn't the most powerful person present, but that wasn't the main factor when it came to leadership. Being personally strong was a good first step to gaining the trust and confidence of those below oneself, but it wasn't the main metric to determine a good leader. Reivyn didn't have interactions with the other man, and he knew nothing about him, but from the way the other more powerful people in the outpost conducted themselves, he could tell he was at least respected by his men.
Nobody was slouching, and nobody was slovenly. They were stationed at the outpost for a week at a time, but everyone appeared to be in high spirits. If the men didn't respect their leader, or if their leader was poor, Reivyn would expect to see people lounging about, not caring about their appearance. It was a well-run outpost from the first impression that Reivyn got.
"Let me guess... You saw nothing?" The lieutenant joked with a small smile.
Reivyn feigned a shocked expression.
"How did you know?" He broke into a grin and chuckled at the corny joke between the two officers.
"You know, you don't have to give us a report if there's nothing to report," the lieutenant said, extending a hand to shake Reivyn's.
Reivyn accepted the handshake, but he shook his head.
"Not going to happen," Reivyn said. "I won't personally deliver a report - I'm only here because it's the first excursion, and I'm introducing myself to you - but you will always at least get word that we found nothing. Who knows? Maybe someone will see something small, and it will turn out to be significant. If we ever let ourselves get into the habit of shirking the small things, we could miss the big things."
"Hmm... that makes sense when you put it that way," the lieutenant said with a thoughtful expression.
"Well, as I said, I'm Captain Reivyn. I'm the commanding officer of the newly arrived mercenary company, in case you were unaware. A lot of us already have experience fighting these guys in a different Region. We're all going to be working together for the foreseeable future, so let's get along."
"Certainly," the lieutenant agreed. "Not everything is gloom and doom back in Piori. I'll invite you to a cafe to meet some of the other officers sometime in the future."
"Sounds like a plan," Reivyn smiled.
Reivyn stayed inside and conversed with the other officer and the senior sergeants for a time as the mercenary company took a break. It had taken them about four hours to walk to the outpost at the pace Reivyn had set, and he was going to set a similar pace on the way back. The trip was going to take the majority of their day, and he was allowing the others to get some rest even though the conditions were pretty rough.
The outpost wasn't large enough to house the entire company. Since there was already a platoon occupying it, there wasn't much room for the patrolling mercenaries in the little outpost compound proper. None of the men complained, though, as they were used to roughing it as Adventurers.
The entire line, which traveled in both directions as far as Reivyn could see, was dotted with little outposts. They weren't designed to hold off an enemy invasion. They were more lookouts than anything else. They would ensure word got back in time to mount a proper response to enemy encroachment.
Based on how long the line was, Reivyn suspected that a good portion of the soldiers on duty was stationed at the outposts. It was a long line to watch, and it could be devastating if the enemy found a missing link to sneak past and approach the city walls unimpeded.
"I guess that's about it for us today," Reivyn said, standing up from where he had taken a seat. "I thank you for your hospitality. Tomorrow, it'll just be one platoon led by one of my lieutenants, so I'll see you when you rotate back to Piori."
"All right, you and your men have a safe trip back to the city," the lieutenant said. "Though I doubt you'll run into any trouble. There aren't even any wandering high-Level beasts or monsters for miles around, much fewer enemy soldiers sneaking past the line."
Reivyn gave one final nod and exited the small building. He made eye contact with Jekle and the other officers, including Refix. His father, as the Vice-Captain, had obviously come along with them, but he had remained outside with the other officers. He still needed some time to build a rapport and reputation other than just a crazy training demon with the troops.
The officers immediately spotted Reivyn exiting the building, and they ordered the NCOs to get the soldiers formed up. Walking through the forest wasn't an act that could be done in formation, but it was the best way to get set up to begin with. After getting formed up, the mercenaries spread out, and they once more made their way back.
The return trip was exactly the same as the journey to the outpost. The NCOs kept up a litany to keep wandering minds focused, but there was no danger or anything of import to take note of. It was just an exercise in mental fortitude for those that hadn't experienced the horrors of actual warfare. Fighting against monsters was one thing, but fighting against other humans was an entirely different experience. Just the visceral experience of ending another person's life, over and over again, would change a person.
The company formed back up into neat formations once they made it back to the city and exited the forest. They Marched in good order into the city and immediately made their way back to their barracks.
Reivyn didn't have the company wait around for a long time. The mission for the day was over, and even if there were still several hours left in the day, they could better spend it on other issues other than standing around in formation.
"Officers, have the senior sergeants take charge of the platoons. Follow the remaining order of the day. Join me in the conference room for debriefing."
Reivyn strode off to the main building he occupied with Refix, Kefira, and Serilla in tow. Sefia and the other maids had obviously stayed behind, and the extras that had come along with them had held down the fort while they were away. In the future, they would only be sending out one or two platoons at a time unless otherwise ordered.
Reivyn walked into the admin building and headed straight for the conference room on the first floor. His Divine Sense picked up traces of the maids going about their duties within his sphere of perception, and he frowned as he stood in the front of the conference room.
He looked up at the ceiling out of habit, noticing an intrusion in his office that was coincidentally located directly above the conference room. It hadn't been done on purpose, but he and Refix had just happened to choose the living quarters on the same end of the building where the conference room on the first floor was located.
"What's wrong?" Refix asked, immediately picking up on his son's peculiarity.
Kefira and Serilla looked over and noticed as well. They all walked up to him and looked up where he was looking, trying to see what he was seeing.
"One of the maids is in my office," Reivyn said.
Reivyn had made it clear that there was to be nobody in his office other than Kefira, his father, and his direct subordinates at any time, and even then, they were expected to go in only when he was present. He had expressly instructed the maids to keep out after the initial cleaning of the building.
"Let's go investigate."
Reivyn shared a look with his father, and he nodded in return. Refix exited the building and made his way down the hall to the far end, where another, more narrow, set of staircases was located. Reivyn walked to the main staircase in the center of the building with Kefira and Serilla trailing behind.
The four quickly made their way up, Refix blocking any path of escape in the opposite direction, though it hadn't been necessary as the maid hadn't come out or tried to leave. Reivyn opened his office door, which had been closed, and entered without preamble.
A familiar maid was dusting the mostly empty shelves, and she was startled at the sound of Reivyn entering the office. She didn't look like she had been caught doing anything wrong, and she quickly made a hasty curtsy and continued cleaning as if nothing was wrong. Reivyn just watched her with a frown on his face.
He focused his attention on everything in the room while keeping his eyes on the maid. He activated his Mana Sight to scan the room, but nothing came up as out of place. His Divine Sense didn't pick up anything unusual until he brought his focus back to the maid.
His Divine Sense was always picking up everything in its sphere, but he had long since learned the trick to tune out things or focus his concentration. He would have gone mad if he hadn't been able to with the sheer amount of information dumped into his brain at all times.
There was something strange about the maid's face. On the surface, nothing looked out of place, but his Divine Sense was giving him the impression that her face was like a set of clothes. It was set on top of her skin, not her skin itself.
Reivyn broke free from his examination and strode to the maid with quick steps. The girl didn't seem to realize that there was anything out of the ordinary.
"What are you doing?" Reivyn asked, looming over the girl.
She had stopped her dusting to turn and face the four people entering the room. Refix remained firmly in the center of the doorway. The maid cowered against the bookshelf, holding the duster to her chest. She looked back and forth between Reivyn and Kefira before she mustered her courage to answer the question.
"I'm not sure what you mean, my lord," she said. "I'm just doing my duties."
"Your duties?" Reivyn quirked an eyebrow at her. She nodded her head. "Were they assigned by Sefia?"
"Of course, my lord, Lady Sefia oversees everyone's duties every day."
Reivyn noticed that Kefira's face had hardened into an emotionless mask, and he could feel Serilla's body go tense. None of the maids had ever addressed Reivyn as "my lord." He was either "sir" or simply "Imperial Liaison." He didn't technically hold a position of nobility within Wispan.
"Hmm... I wonder..." Reivyn trailed off. He brought his hand up to stroke his chin as he leaned forward toward the maid further.
Without warning, Reivyn's hand shot forward. His fingers were wrapped in un-aspected Mana, and he dug them into the maid's face. She screamed in terror and pain, and Reivyn ripped the mask off her face.
It peeled away, little bits still remaining from the haste with which he had removed it. Underneath the skin-mask was an unfamiliar face, and a prominent "3" was branded on the new girl.
Knowing the ruse was up, the girl's eyes hardened, and the duster seemingly transformed into a dagger. She thrust it at Reivyn's stomach with a ruthless look, but Reivyn's Divine Sense missed none of that. He easily captured her wrist and applied pressure. He felt the pop of her wrist bones breaking, but the girl didn't utter a single noise from the intense pain.
Reivyn felt her body tense and coil, and she attempted to launch herself backward, away from Reivyn, even at the expense of further damage to her wrist. Reivyn didn't let her go, and she simply lost her balance, still held in place by his iron grip. She grit her teeth as she stared at Reivyn with hatred.
Reivyn started to open his mouth, but then his Divine Sense picked up something else. A tooth in her mouth was dislodged, and before he could do anything, she crushed it with her other teeth. Immediately, foam started to bubble out of her mouth, and he felt her life dissipate in mere moments.
"Poison," he said, letting the dead girl drop to the ground. "Pretty powerful, too, if it killed her that fast."
"What is going on here?" A frantic voice interrupted everyone in the room.
All four people turned to see Sefia rush past Refix. He didn't try to stop the woman. She made a beeline for the dead maid.
"Harriet!" She shouted, running up to cradle the dead maid in her arms.
Sefia was about to lift the girl into her embrace, but she faltered when her gaze landed on the unfamiliar face.
"One of yours?" Reivyn asked.
"Certainly not!" Sefia denied. She hastily stood back up and backed up a few steps. "I thought she was Harriet, but I don't recognize that face at all."
Reivyn's Divine Sense didn't pick up anything strange about Sefia's face, so she was most likely just startled and confused when she showed such concern for the dead maid.
"Did you instruct the maids to clean my office while I was away?" Reivyn asked.
Sefia snapped out of her daze and brought her eyes away from the dead spy to meet Reivyn's.
"I did not," she denied. "I didn't know she had made her way in here. I only instructed her to be in charge of this side of the building."
"It seems like she wasn't around when the word was passed not to enter the office under any circumstances," Kefira said. "She didn't know that she had given herself away before we had ever laid eyes on her.
"More importantly, where's the real Harriet?" Kefira turned her head toward Serilla. "Begin a search of the compound and the surroundings. If she's dead, we need to recover her body and pay the proper respects. If she's alive, she needs rescuing."
"Yes, Princess," Serilla said. She immediately departed, Refix following after her.
Reivyn nodded his head at his father's decision. The mercenary soldiers and the officers respected Serilla, but she wasn't in the chain of command. Refix's presence would give her orders to begin a search legitimacy.
Reivyn picked the dead girl up and carried her with him out of his office.
"What are you doing?" Kefira asked.
"I'm taking her to the conference room," Reivyn replied. "I'm not going to ask one of you to carry her corpse; the officers need to see this. After that, we'll need to report it to the commanding general.
"There are probably spies like this littered all over the city, so we'll need to keep it under wraps as much as possible. I'll clean up the remnants of the poison when we're done. I don't know what kind of Stats and Skills the maids have, but I wouldn't want one of them to accidentally get that poison on them if it's deadly enough to kill a Tier 3 in seconds."
Reivyn walked into the conference room with the dead body. The lieutenants were already seated and waiting, but they didn't react to the presence of a corpse in Reivyn's arms. They were all veterans of the war in Drallo, and this wasn't their first time seeing a dead body up close.
"We might have a problem in the city," Reivyn said.