Chapter 280

Red Sands Desert, Principality of Rebirth

City of Darthar

Joruk ducked into a hatch at the last second.

Okay, reminder to self: A ship was hard as hell to infiltrate.

Normally, had he wanted to find out a ship's destination, he would just have to get into the port authority building, or sneak into the shippers' place. Except that the smugglers were paranoid bastards who kept all of their data memorized. No paper, no maps, no nothing. He was starting to seriously admire these guys.

But the airship...they had to plan their routes, there was no choice. They had to have charts, points set aside for shore leave, hell, even bribes to go through certain customs.

So, go onboard the ship at the dead of night, get into the chart room, which would be called the bridge of a military ship, look at their planned voyage, and done. Easy.

Except getting on an airship, tethered to the ground and with only a single access point was fucking hard. He'd had to climb up the chains, making sure not to rattle them, while timing it perfectly so he escaped both the city patrols and the vessel's own watch.

And now that he was onboard, he was having to dodge every which way as skyers moved around in the dead of night, coming back from shore leave, or coming off their watch shift and moving either to their bunks or more hospitable accommodation in the city.

Maybe he should have prepared better, he mused as he dragged himself out of the hatch, and kept moving towards the chart room, darting from shadow to shadow.

He froze as he heard a creak, and flattened himself against the bulkhead by the side of the door, just in time to avoid being seen by the captain, as she exited the room with her executive officer in tow.

Sweet merciful Gods, what the hell were they doing up this late? He caught snippets, 'delicate cargo' and 'extremely generous rapid delivery bonuses'.

Well, at least he was certain he wasn't on the wrong ship now. If anything qualified as 'delicate cargo' it was alchemical ingredients alright.

He waited for the door to close before trying to open it. One look at it told him he'd done the right choice.

It locked automatically...and had some kind of alarm, for anyone entering without what he guessed was some kind of crew badge.

Thankfully, with arcane security came arcane thieving tools, and he made short work of both the physical and more esoteric security. He silently opened the door, and nimbly stepped over the faint beam of light almost level with the deck.

Paranoid bastards. Laser tripwires weren't that complex an enchantment, but few knew they existed or had access to the technology they were inspired from.

He tiptoed his way into the room, and took the time to commit the placement of every single object to memory. Even something as minute as the orientation of a chart or how the pens were in their little holder.

Then, he began digging into the charts.

Most were environmental. Where monster concentrations laid, of which type, one had a full register of usual wind directions and strengths, with a giant book attached for reference and further details. Then there was the normal one, with terrain, borders and cities.

He grimaced. Damn it, nothing was marked on them! He saw the erasable pens, made specifically for these things. They'd taken the time to wipe everything before leaving their own chart room.

Exceptionally paranoid bastards.

But then, he had a lucky break. One of the charts was more economical in nature. It included every places' ULP, Universal Location Profile, a merchants guild invention that catalogued every village, town and city, giving them a hexadecimal code, with a digit representing population, another technological advancement, ect. Attached to it were two books. One was filled with which commodities settlements all over the continent produced or traded, categorized by region, as well as any they were likely to buy at a good price. Some were annotated, things added or withdrawn as the winds of trade changed. Rebirth's entry was a mess, especially, to the point that a the original entry had been crossed out, and half a dozen pages reserved to the new one.

And the second book...the second book contained a list of speculative cargoes to offload or buy on the journey; divided by stops, with 'stop one', 'stop two' and so on. There were no location names, but the purser had to keep track of what was desirable to buy and sell somehow, and plan accordingly.

He cross referenced the ledger with the chart and the massive trade book.

It didn't take long. A single entry was almost impossible to pin down, but several in succession? There were only so many possibilities of several settlements on a route having or demanding specific cargoes like that.

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He took a deep, shuddering breath as he finally traced their destination. There was some roundabout, especially at first, heading west into Sarth, then north into the Western Baronies and finally crossing into the Saphire Kingdom to dodge the frontlines, but otherwise...

They were heading to Sunrise.

*****

"...Shit." Said Allya.

"My thoughts exactly." Elkaryos leaned forward, before nodding at Joruk. "Thank you. Your payment awaits you with my seneschal."

"It was a pleasure doing business." Said the former adventurer, before bowing and taking his leave.

Allya would have made him an offer, but poaching Elkaryos' associates wouldn't have been polite, especially when he'd done her such a favor. She was picking up the tab for the rogue's payment though, it was the least she could do.

They waited for the door to close behind the rogue and the privacy enchantments to come back online before talking.

"Do you think the twins are in with Sunrise?" Asked Pyn, worry clear in her voice.

"Unlikely. No, let's face it, downright impossible." Allya grimaced. "They'd sooner slit their own throats that do that, and besides, they're not that good as actors. No, the problem is that they're probably aiming to do something to Sunrise, and I'm guessing it'll have something to do with their new brands."

"That seems like the most logical option." Elkaryos rubbed his chin as he pondered. "These ingredients would be useful for a large scale ritual, or so I've been told by my people. Mass removal of the brands, maybe?"

"Eismi did say they were unstable, that they'd eventually break on their own." Chimed in Pyn. "Maybe they're trying to get that sooner?"

"That's...probably it." Allya winced. "The results however...slave rebellions are hell. They're bloodbaths of epic proportions, like the fall of the Orlov Empire." The fall that, incidentally, had also been caused by Rook the Sunderer, New Raleigh's leader...and thus the head of state of the twins' home. Probably their damned idol to boot. "And that was with just regular slaves. There's no telling what will happen with slaves troops like those."

"But...don't they deserve to be free?"

"They do. But if they get freed like that, it'll be a slaughter. They'll visit everything that has been done to them onto every free person they get across. Then, if they don't have a unifying figure to keep them in line, they'll fall upon one another like locusts and become raiders and bandits."

"That's..."

"Horrifying? Yeah. It'll completely annihilate Sunrise and Lorenz, as well as finish off whatever's left of Kaidan and Molro. It'll also make Asaria and its surroundings a hellhole for the next few decades. I don't even want to know what'll happen if the raider bands disperse into the western baronies, or try to create their own petty domains."

"The twins aren't doing this alone. If they're undergoing such a project, it's probably in conjunction with New Raleigh's intelligence." Elkaryos shrugged. "At which point...do we truly wish to intervene? They will destroy our enemies."

"They will also destroy innocents. But no, you're right, as horrific as what would happen, it is less horror than what they inflict on those slaves every single day, and every hour that passes, they lose some of those slaves and take more to replace them."

There was also the fact that the post war plan that was being discussed with their majesties involved effectively splitting the kingdom into two archduchies, with the expectation that Asaria recovering Sunrise would make an effective counterbalance to Rebirth's rising star.

If that was not to be...Rebirth would effectively take over the kingdom. Not immediately, but a few years down the line. And that was if other events didn't accelerate the process. With Alexandra's help, they simply could rebuild far faster than their majesties could.

Of course, that left the question of what would the dungeons do once their surface dwellers went and the slaves launched their rebellion.

"So we just...let them?" Said Pyn, and Allya shook her head.

"No. Even if we support what they're planning on doing, we can't let this slide. Who knows what they'll do behind our backs afterwards? They need our help?" Or rather, Alexandra's. "Fine. But it'll be on our terms."

"What are you going to do?" Asked Elkaryos.

"We're going to draw New Raleigh's spies out of the shadows, and send a message. Let's see if they'll talk to us when we hold them by the nethers."

*****

The captain sighed as she checked her watch. The smugglers were late. That was...unlike them.

This was supposed to be their last meeting as well. The cargo would finish loading tomorrow, and then they were off. There just needed to be a few more things hammered out like contingencies for if their contact at the end of the journey was missing, and-

She didn't know what alerted her. A shift in the sound of the airfield's brouhaha of work, skyers suddenly finding somewhere else to be, maybe even the clatter of metal.

But she whirled around, and her eyes went wide as she saw the guards. An entire squad was coming straight for her ship. A quick look told her others were cordoning off the area.

It didn't take a genius to put two and two together, and she yelled out for emergency cast off.

Her crew knew exactly what their business was, and what could happen to them if caught. They took of the chains linking the ship to the ground, and the vessel began to rise.

Then a shadow fell across them as a guard vessel flew over. Wait, no, not a guard ship, it was one of the dungeon's-

The air filled with plumes of light as the jetpacks triggered, and the captain was thrown to the ground as a golem landed on her. She scrambled for her weapon, but froze as she found herself eye to eye with a shotgun.

"In the name of the baroness and the Principality of Rebirth, you are under arrest for smuggling, resisting arrest, and high treason. Resist and you will be eliminated." Enumerated the golem with a strange, toneless voice.

The captain tensed up...and then relaxed, as she heard several shots.

They weren't bluffing. And the toughest amongst her crew had found that out the hard way.

She held out her hands.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

*****

"Great, another emergency meeting." Said Ellyana as she dragged herself out of the house. "I wonder what it'll be about this time?"

"No clue." Eismi, her twin, looked at her alchemist sister. "Come on, don't look like that. We're almost done."

"I know, I know."

They made their way through the streets of Rebirth. The city as a whole had become a lot more relaxed lately. The massive successes on the battlefield and the reopening of the trade routes had done wonders for the economy and everyone's mood. They exchanged pleasantries or hellos with the patrols they came across, and even a few acquaintances, and before long they ended up in front of the baroness' imposing and heavily fortified manor.

The guards, as usual, barely gave them a second look as they waved them through. Still, they seemed...tense.

Must be truly bad news then, for even the guards to know.

They stepped through the door...and found themselves face to face with a wall of guns.

The guards behind them whirled around, and the twins heard the concert of clicks from safeties being flipped off.

"What is the meaning of this?" Asked Eismi as her cybernetic eye catalogued threats, and she estimated their chances.

"In the name of the Principality of Rebirth, you are under arrest for high treason."

Eismi's face fell as she saw the dungeon's 'ambassador golem' step out from behind a corner and calmly walk towards them, Anders and Camille in tow.

She'd seen what those so called 'ambassadors' could do, and she was in no hurry to fight them. And if the dungeon core was involved...

They might make it out of the manor, but the second they were outside, the mesa fortress' artillery would annihilate them.

She raised her hands, and after a tense few seconds, Ellyana did the same.

"Good. You two can be reasonable." The dungeon core's hologram smiled. "Let's see if your bosses can be as well."

"Our bosses?"

"We'll talk in a more...discreet setting. Wouldn't want anyone to overhear after all. Anders, if you will accompany us to the military entrance? I think the baroness is simply dying to have a word with these two." Eismi shivered. She had little doubt that once they were inside the dungeon, they weren't coming back out unless Crystal wanted them to.

"Of course, lady Crystal. Come on, you heard her! Let's get a move on. The baroness is waiting."

Eismi hesitated to bite down on her fake tooth. She looked at her twin, who softly shook her head.

Something was odd here. Very odd. They weren't behaving as if they were expecting to throw them in the dungeons, more like they were trying to prevent them from doing something stupid And push comes to shove, they could still kill and soul seal themselves later.

They followed obediently, back through the city, this time in a very different mood, and into the depths of the dungeon.