~ Jasper ~

Jasper walked into a small room alongside Dioica, observing his surroundings along the way. Unlike what he had imagined, a village as small as Rosemary did not have a full audience chamber for the city council. Rather, meetings seemed to take place in a small room not unlike the meeting rooms that were common in companies in his world. The room was around six meters long by three meters wide, and one long table sat square in the middle, surrounded by chairs.

At the table, four men sat, clearly waiting for Dioica. All seemed to be of above-average age, with the youngest Jasper estimating at around forty years old. However, they all had one thing in common: their faces reflected impatience with Dioica’s lateness.

“Do you know how long we have been waiting for you, Dioica?” one man asked, “This is a serious, imminent matter we’re dealing with here!”

“I assure you, Ox, that I have a good reason for my tardiness,” Dioica responded sternly, “I would like to introduce a young man I met today who I believe may be of assistance. Reishi, please step forward.”

Jasper, somewhat intimidated by the audience, presented himself to the rest of the council. The group observed him keenly, seemingly unsure what they should be seeing. After a moment, another one spoke up.

“And what, exactly, will this young man be able to help us with?” the man questioned, “He doesn’t look any different than any of the other kids in town. And even if he was, it’s not like one extra arm is going to mean much to our paltry town guard.”

“I understand your skepticism. However, I have it on good authority that earlier today, this young man defeated two orcs in combat, by himself, with very little effort exerted on his part.”

“So what?” the man known as Ox retorted, “Sure, maybe he’s good, but we’re up against a whole tribe, numbering over one hundred. Just because he can take down one or two doesn’t even the odds.”

“Fair enough,” Dioica conceded, unperturbed, “But there’s more reason to be hopeful in his skill. You see, according to him he was trained by none other than Lingzhi Goldbreeze.”

Jasper was surprised by Dioica’s statement. While he knew that Lingzhi was well-known amongst the general public for his heroics, the old man had never mentioned his last name.

The statement clearly left an impact on all of the council members, as they all looked at him with curious scrutiny.

“Is this true, young man?” A third member of the council asked him.

Jasper nodded.

“He never mentioned his name was Goldbreeze, but I can’t imagine it would have been anyone else.”

The fourth and oldest member laughed heartily at this.

“That’s old Lingzhi alright,” he guffawed, “Never did enjoy discussing the war. So tell me, lad, how’s he doing? It’s been years since he’s visited Rosemary.”

Jasper hung his head slightly.

“Actually, he died about a month ago,” Jasper murmured, embarrassed.

The council member’s smile dropped slightly.

“I see,” he mentioned, “I imagine you two were close. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Back to the matter at hand,” Ox interrupted sternly, “What I said earlier is still true. Not even Goldbreeze could go up against a full tribe of orcs, and I can’t imagine this ‘Reishi’ is his equal.”

“I must agree,” the second member followed, “He’s only one arm, after all.”

“I don’t know, I think he’d be a good asset,” the third member pondered.

As the discussion moved forward, Jasper couldn’t help but think that it was going nowhere fast. Rather than try to come up with a solution, they were debating the merits of letting him on board at all, and it was beginning to frustrate him. As far as Jasper was concerned, this town’s problems were their own, and not his. He was only brought here because Dioica seemed to think he would help, which was something he had never agreed to.

“Excuse me,” Jasper interrupted, “But no one’s told me what I’d get out of helping you.”

This brought the conversation to a crawl, and Ox turned to glare at Dioica in annoyance.

“I thought you said that he was willing to help, Dioica. Why would you bring him if he isn’t going to help?”

“I never said that,” Jasper insisted, “But I have my own goals here. I don’t have time to simply help everyone I come across for nothing but a pat on the back. So I’ll ask again, what can you offer me?”

“We never agreed that you would be necessary, anyway,” the second member insisted, “So you might not want to be so presumptuous, young man.”

Jasper simply turned around and began to walk out, when another voice called.

“Wait a minute, Reishi,” Dioica called, somewhat desperately, “We can figure something out. Don’t leave quite yet.”

Jasper stopped and huffed at them.

“Then please, stop wasting my time and start figuring out what we’re going to do about this.”

Jasper returned to the table and took a seat, before continuing.

“If you want to solve this problem, you need to stop panicking over what the orcs could do to us, and start wondering what we can do to them?”

“Excuse me, son,” Ox sternly addressed, “But you are not a member of this council.”

“Then kick me out,” Jasper stated simply, “Because I’m not going to sit here while you bicker over nonexistent issues.”

Ox closed his eyes in obvious frustration, before sitting back and motioning Jasper to continue.

“Okay, good,” Jasper continued, “So let’s start over. You all are treating this like a numbers game. Because the orcs have more, the orcs win. Am I wrong?”

“Would you recommend something else, young man?” The fourth member asked, “The facts are set in stone, no matter how you think about it.”

“What you should be doing is treating this like a game of Spicket,” Jasper instructed, “The person with the most pieces on the board doesn’t always win. If you’re down four pawns and a bishop compared to your opponent, but still have your queen, you can turn it around. All you have to do is find the hole in your opponent’s defense.”

“Hole?” Dioica repeated, intrigued.

“The biggest thing I learned from Lingzhi, aside from when to retreat,” Jasper joked humorlessly, “is that every opponent, no matter how strong, has a weakness. It is the person who finds that weakness and exploits it first that wins.”

“Yeah? Well, our weakness is our lack of numbers!” Ox retorted.

“True,” Jasper acknowledged, “But that’s not what’s important right now. What’s important is finding the hole in the orcs’ defenses. Unfortunately, I’m not very familiar with orcs beyond my two lifetime interactions where I found myself on the wrong end of their sword. Does anyone here have anything they can contribute?”

“Orcs are not particularly intelligent,” the third member offered, “But they are prideful. They take their strength very seriously. I’ve heard rumors of orc males dueling over women before, with the strongest taking the bride.”

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

“Prideful, huh?” Jasper murmured, “Does that mean that if I challenged one to a duel, the others wouldn’t attack me in the meantime?”

The third member shook his head.

“That’s not wrong, but you’re forgetting something,” he informed, “Even if you win, the moment you do the others will all attack. After all, they only respect the duel as long as it is active.”

“Would it at least prove an effective distraction?” Jasper questioned, “After all, if we lower the number of orcs guarding the prisoners, it may be possible for a smaller force to rescue them.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” the second member pondered, “But the duel would need to be significant enough to draw the attention of even the guards.”

“What’s their leadership structure like?” Jasper asked.

“Each tribe has a chief that calls all the shots,” the fourth member informed, “Usually the chief is the most skilled orc in the village, since it takes a challenge from another member or his death to end his tenure.”

Jasper gained a slight grin at this.

“What would happen if the chief went down?”

The eyes of everyone else in the room widened comically at this suggestion.

“You can’t be suggesting,” Ox trailed off.

“Yes, I am,” Jasper confirmed, “I can duel the chief.”

“Reishi, I don’t think you understand,” Dioica protested, “The chief is by far the strongest orc in the tribe. Compared to the two grunts you faced earlier, he’s on a completely different level.”

“My master once defeated four orcs in less than a minute,” Jasper countered, “And while he wasn’t at his prime anymore, I’m confident I’m just as good now as he was then. Besides, dueling a stronger opponent like the chief means that the duel will last longer than otherwise, buying more time for the rescue team to do their work. Plus, when I win the entire village will be in chaos from their lack of a leader. It’s the perfect cover to slip away with the hostages intact.”

“Are you sure you can do this?” the oldest questioned, “I don’t doubt Lingzhi could have defeated an orc chief back in the day, but even he would have struggled with it a little bit.”

“It’s okay,” Jasper nodded, “Lingzhi taught me to fight the only way he knew how.”

Jasper tapped his head knowingly at this.

“And it’s the one way the orcs can’t counter.”

An hour later, Jasper finally exited the meeting with the city council, and his exhaustion was immediately evident to anyone looking. His eyelids were slightly lowered, and every minute or so he’d let out a yawn.

It turned out there was a reason no one liked going in front of the government back home. Even after explaining his plan to the councilmen, they spent more and more time nitpicking his ideas, objecting to the most minor thing simply to try and divert any responsibility should the plan go south. Jasper was under no illusion that the plan was foolproof, but it was a ridiculous notion that any individual member of the council would be held any more responsible than the others if the worst occurred.

“You look like you ran a marathon,” Dioica commented, following close behind, “It wasn’t that bad, you did quite well in there.”

“Doesn’t mean I ever want to do it again,” Jasper insisted, “It just kept going, and going, and half of the time the conversation was just repeating itself on loop.”

“Well, it’s just part of the game,” Dioica stated, “You get used to it. The important thing is that we have a plan in place, now.”

Jasper nodded, then stayed silent for the rest of the walk back to Dioica’s residence. When they got back, he turned to her.

“Are you sure it’s okay I stay here for tonight?”

Dioica smirked slightly.

“Do you have an alternative? I’d say it’s worth letting tomorrow’s hero get a good rest tonight. Maybe I’ll even kick Hazel out of her bed, teach her how to respect her elders like you.”

“Respect?” Jasper laughed humorlessly, “I was far from respectful in there, and I don’t regret one bit of it.”

Dioica simply kept her knowing smile and made her way toward the kitchen, while Jasper took a seat on the couch. A moment later, Hazel made her way into the living room, and sat in the chair across from Jasper.

“Took you long enough,” she snapped, “You know how bored I was here?”

Jasper gave her a sideways look.

“It’s not like I wanted to be out as long as I did. You had it lucky if you ask me.”

“There’s no way you were as bored as I was,” she argued.

“There are worse feelings than boredom, you know,” Jasper retorted, “I’ve spent the last two hours dealing with irritating politicians, and I’m a little short on patience. I’d appreciate it if you kept things civil.”

Hazel huffed and turned away.

“What in the world could you possibly have been talking about?”

Jasper narrowed his eyes.

“We were planning a rescue operation, if you must know.”

Hazel’s eyes widened as she turned back to Jasper.

“You’re kidding, right?” she exclaimed, “That’s awesome!”

Jasper grinned a bit.

“It’s not a big deal. I’m mainly in it for some information and goodwill.”

Hazel tilted her head, and sported a look of confusion.

“Goodwill?”

“Never mind.”

Jasper waved off the question, and Hazel shrugged and relaxed on the couch.

“So,” she started, “Any chance I can come along and help?”

Jasper’s eyes widened. Why on Earth would she ask such a thing?

“What do you mean?”

“What?” Hazel replied, “You know I have a mean punch, and I really want to serve one up to those greenies!”

“No way,” Jasper denied, his eye twitching, “This mission is relying on a very specific plan, and everyone involved needs to play the exact part they have already been given. We can’t allow an amateur to throw everything out of whack.”

“Amateur?” Hazel growled, “You saw the broken nose I gave Carpa, I can take care of myself!”

“That’s not the point,” Jasper declared, his voice firm, “If things go south, we need people who are trained in making the best of bad situations. And the last time you ran into orcs, it didn’t end so well for you, did it?”

“So what? You were there.”

“Hazel, that’s exactly why you can’t go. We need people who can take an orc one-on-one and win if it comes down to it. Our numbers are already worse, we can’t afford to take on liabilities like you.”

Hazel’s eyes widened, and her face hardened.

“Liability, huh?” she whispered angrily, “I’ll show you who’s a liability.”

With that, she marched out, the front door slamming behind her.

Jasper sighed heavily, his emotions still running high from the argument.

“I probably went a bit far there,” he muttered.

A moment later, Dioica walked into the living area, her face looking serious.

“Hazel did leave then?” she asked, “Oh well, she’ll cool off in time.”

“Did you hear us?” Jasper asked.

Dioica nodded.

“I agree with you on this,” she told him, “This is no place for a girl like her.”

“Was I too harsh, though? I feel like I shouldn’t have said what I did.”

“No, you said what needed to be said. It’s not your fault Hazel took it personally,” she reassured.

Jasper sat for a moment, replaying the conversation in his head. He then stood up, and stretched his arms and legs.

“I think I’m going to go for a walk as well,” he decided.

Dioica turned back toward the kitchen.

“Don’t take too long, now. Food will be ready before you know it. And if you see Hazel, tell her to come back.”

Jasper signaled his understanding, then made his way outside.

By this point, the sun had set almost completely, with only a hint of light shining from beyond the horizon. Stars were already beginning to appear in the sky, providing the remaining illumination, along with a small bit of moonlight.

Unsure where to go, Jasper began to wander toward the center of Rosemary. Almost nobody was out at this time, which created a peaceful atmosphere for Jasper to indulge in his own mind.

Earlier that day, Dioica had challenged his goal. His desire for revenge, which was brought out of the sheer pain of seeing Lingzhi killed in cold blood. In the month since it happened, Jasper had not questioned his plan at all. On the contrary, every time he thought back, his thirst only grew stronger. The mental image of the killer lying dead at his feet brought a feeling of vindication to him that he wanted to see realized.

But Dioica had seen right through it. And she was onto something. Up until Lingzhi’s death, his mind had been occupied with a different goal; one far nobler. But as time had passed, it had begun to fade. Jasper was beginning to see a reunion with his sisters as nothing but an ideal. It was something that wasn’t realistic, but something worth fighting for in lieu of anything else. At this point, Jasper wondered if he had, in his subconscious, already given up on the possibility of saving Amber and Ruby.

And then Lingzhi was murdered, creating a new focus in his mind. Only this time, it was one consumed with anger and hatred, rather than love and care. Had the face of Lingzhi’s killer just replaced the faces of the twins in his mind? Was it simply a goal for the sake of having a goal?

A noise interrupted Jasper’s thought. He looked around, unsure what he heard. Then he heard it again. It sounded like a female grunting in pain, or exhaustion. Quietly walking toward the source of the noise, he quickly realized what he was hearing.

About five meters away, Hazel was on her feet, slumping slightly and breathing heavily. It had the look of someone who had just completed a long sprint. After a moment, she stood up straight again, and began throwing punches in the air, over and over again.

Jasper’s eyebrows raised in surprise. This is where she had come to vent?

Her voice could be somewhat heard from Jasper’s position, and he listened in carefully.

“That Reishi…said I couldn’t…show him,” he heard from her.

It wasn’t surprising that she was upset with him, that much he could glean from her reaction earlier, but seeing her out here, clumsily training herself? Was she that determined to prove what he said about her wrong?

“Damn, Hazel,” Jasper whispered, “I’m almost impressed.”

Her resolve was something to witness. She had just been outright told that she would be a liability in a fight, but rather than sulk about it, she came out here, determined to change that. It was somewhat reminiscent of Jasper’s early days training with Lingzhi, when he was unable to keep up at all, but kept at it simply out of pure stubbornness and desire to see his ambition through.

Coming to a realization, Jasper simply chuckled to himself.

“Of course,” he murmured, “Why did I ever doubt myself?”

He wanted revenge, yes, but it was out of a sense of justice for Lingzhi, who was killed for no reason by an Aurumian soldier. It was because Lingzhi himself deserved it for all that he had done for Jasper in their three years together.

Leaving Hazel be, Jasper walked back to Dioica’s house, his fist clenched.

No matter what happens, I must not doubt myself again. This quest, this goal, it is just and right to want to see this through.

Isn’t it?