“You need to sleep sometimes.”

“Not now, Astra.” Oscar kept reading the reports. They were staying in a military camp. His companion had offered a more luxurious place to stay in, but Oscar had refused.

Here, Oscar could train, have the newest information just as it came in, train some more and sometimes eat. He looked up from the letter to rest his eyes for a moment.

The tent Oscar was staying in was more spacious than those the average soldier received. At least he could fit a table, a simple bed and a chair.

Technically, Oscar wasn’t part of the military. But to receive help from their information network, he had promised his strength in upcoming battles - a fair trade in his mind, but Astra was not happy about it.

The man who had approached with the offer was someone closely connected to the King. Oscar didn’t know nor care for the intricacies of the politics between the Crown and the Temple. He just wanted to avenge Munny.

And besides. While Oscar didn’t voice it after Ocheon was razed… He feared what Inquisitors were able to do. Not that the Kingdoms temple approved, but… Well, he didn’t know. It had been an important matter, and he was not.

“Still, I must insist. You have barely slept for the past two weeks.” Astra tried to touch his shoulder. Her remaining arm extended and attempted to soothe Oscar.

A mistake.

An intangible tentacle lashed out at her, hitting Astra’s wrist and making her wince.

Oscar tiredly sighed. “Sorry. Maybe you are right. I can’t even…” He covered his face with his palms. “I don’t know. Sleeping is such a waste. They are out there - probably killing someone even now. I just… I just want to stop them.”

“I know.” Astra didn’t hold the wild attack against Oscar. She knew he had trouble controlling his newfound power. “And you will. Your progress has been astonishing. Soon, you’ll be one of the most powerful people in this kingdom.”

“How soon?” Oscar already knew the answer. And he hated it. He wished it would be different this time.

“In a few ye-”

“I DON’T WANT IT TO BE YEARS!” Oscar slammed the table, making the reports covering it fly in the air. He gritted his teeth and tried to calm down. This wasn’t good. Sometimes, he was slipping into rage too easily. He was aware it was a problem, but…

“You can’t rush into it.” Astra tried to reason. She finally managed to land her palm on his shoulder. “We are doing so much. You will burn out at this rate.”

Oscar didn’t have an argument to make. He knew Astra had been working just as hard, if not more, than he was. She… Grandpa Drun had been like a father to her. She hated those girls just as much as he did.

And yet, despite the supposed widespread search, there were no clues. Oscar slammed the table again. There simply weren’t enough resources - he had been told. They ‘said’ they were searching. They ‘said’ they were close. The military always was just about to reach their goals.

The temple wasn’t any better. Oscar knew Astra had been just as frustrated with the lack of results as he was. She also told him there was something strange happening within it.

The world just didn’t want to cooperate with Oscar. He blew out the frustration and returned to the paper he was reading. Each assassination happening in one of the cities near Ocheon’s ruins was written down, and the details were handed to him.

And there was a lot. Every evening, Oscar was paging through hundreds of new reports. So many people died in mysterious circumstances. It happened everywhere. He wondered how anyone could sleep.

But…

There was also war. Oscar knew there had been devastating losses on Tordgo’s side. Most of the coastline was overrun. Even more people died there.

When Oscar looked up again, Astra had left. She had tried to speak with him some more, but he hadn’t felt like answering. He really should treat her better. Now that Grandpa Grun was gone, most of the training he received came from Astra. She wasn’t quite as good, but the common goal helped.

“What am I doing?” Oscar fell back in his seat. His eyes were growing blurry. He really should get some sleep. It was almost morning. An hour of sleep was better than none. He spent some time simply looking up at nothing.

“Mr Vilmin?”

Oscar blinked. The usual messenger had arrived once again. It was strange for the older man to call him ‘Mr’. At the age of sixteen, he wasn’t Mr, but it was better than ‘boy’.

“Enter.” Oscar watched the bearded man with a serene smile enter his temporary home.

“Got more news for ya’ Mr Vilmin.” He handed a bundle of papers to Oscar. “Fresh from the horse's back. The messenger drove the poor beast to blood.”

“Thank you.” Oscar untied the bundle and tiredly sorted the contents. “Anything noteworthy?”

“Oh, yeh’.” The man nodded. “The old shithole - Stilag got a large scandal brewing.” He laughed morbidly. “One of the nobles was discovered to be in cahoots with a criminal. Too bad the noble won’t get in too much trouble. The bandit and his gang got wiped out overnight.”

“Is that so?” Oscar didn’t particularly care about the rumours of some noble’s misdeeds.

“Yeh, yeh.” The man nodded. “I heard some whores had sworn it was a blood-covered lass who did it.”

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Oscar froze. “A girl?”

“Yeh.” The man combed his beard through his fingers. “Some say she did in a large part of one of the City’s guards posts too. A bunch of bulsshit, I say. There was some male assassin who killed those useless cunts. The guards saw him. Well, but the imprisoned said it was a girly, so who knows. Can’t trust the bunch. Stilag is full of traitors and glib-mouthed asslickers.

“A girl?”

“Yeh, that’s what I said.”

“Which report?” Oscar frantically searched through the text.

“Well, one of ‘em?” The man shrugged. “It was the juiciest morsel the messenger brought. I didn’t see the paper. Got told while taking a piss with ‘im.”

“You can leave.” Oscar dismissed the man. He found it. A two-page report of what had happened in Stilag during the night. “Stilag, Stilag…” He tried to recall where it was.

From what Oscar could remember, it was a city overrun by criminals. He quickly read every word in the report.

It was her. Oscar knew it. “It IS her!” He had to get ready. They had to move out now before she got away. “Astra! We know where they are!”

How far was Stilag? Oscar racked his brain while packing his stuff. From what he could recall, it couldn’t be further than just a couple of days walk away.

And they wouldn’t walk. Astra could get them horses. The fastest ones.

—

“This FUCKING ashole!” Viola shouted at the clouds. “Fuck this place! Fuck you, Litro!” She pointed at her companion.

“It’s Percy…” Litro powerlessly tried to get her to use his alias. “And why?”

“And FUCK Tordgo!” Viola finished without explaining why Litro got the flack as well.

This wasn't an isolated outburst. Viola had done it several times in the past few days. At least the woods didn’t try to argue back and make her stay silent.

“One of these days, someone will hear you.” Litro sighed.

“But not today. There is fucking nothing here.” Viola stomped the moss, then kicked it, then stomped again. She wanted a bath. And a proper meal. Perhaps even clean clothes, Sea Father forbid.

“You don’t know that.”

Viola tried to burn a hole in Litro’s face. When that didn’t happen, she spoke. “I do know that. Do you know how?”

“Yes.” Litro was clearly regretting the choice of trying to argue.

“Because-”

“I said - I do.”

“-my-

“Please.”

“-Nose says there is NO ONE here!”

But before Viola could launch herself into a new tirade, one of her subordinates interrupted her.

“Hey, Boss. We got an update.”

Viola turned towards Sally, who at least allowed her to use her actual name and opened her mouth. Only for it to fall shut. There was the Messanger behind Sally. She cleared her throat and straightened her back. “What is it, Sally?”

“New orders. The upper echelons are not happy with our progress.”

That hurt. Viola was proud of her ability to track people. She could track anyone!

Or that was what Viola had thought. As it turned out, her current target was an exception. Sure, Inquisitors were always trouble, but usually, they weren’t particularly savvy when it came to covert stuff.

Viola had tracked down every last one of her target’s retainers, but no one had known where the Inquisitor had vanished. And she was inclined to believe them.

“Does it mean I can have my position back?” Litro, the ashole he was, raised the question.

“No.” The messenger - ever mysterious, rejected the motion. “Pepper stays the leader. But she has a new target.”

So it was final. Viola had failed. She ruffled her hair and refused to accept it. There had to be a way for her to still find her guy. “I can still track-”

“Your next assignment is heading towards Stilag.” The messenger didn’t listen. “Oscar. Yes, the same from Ocheon. Our assigned assassins failed to reach him. He is constantly guarded by Astra Plak, an inquisitor from the Temple of Nature.”

That didn’t sound good. “We are not assassins.” Viola cautiously inserted. She couldn’t refuse the order, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t argue against it. Litro nodded along. “And isn’t Stilag known for their export of crime?” She tried to recall details.

Not that it did any good. In Ocheon, they had done the dirty deed often enough. The leadership used what they could. Even if Viola’s group was better suited for infiltration and tracking, they could substitute for assassins for low-priority targets.

Which Oscar was not. Not with a damn Inquisitor hoovering around the boy.

“You are not expected to kill him.” The Messenger explained. “At least not right away. There is more.” He handed Viola a letter, which she immediately opened.

“You think Oscar is chasing after Mila,” Viola concluded.

“Our analysis suggests it to be true.” The messenger nodded. “The boy might make a mistake during the process. He certainly is fixated on your ‘friend’.”

“Yeah, but…” Viola kept reading. “You want me to make contact with the little minx again?”

“She is developing to be a valuable asset. As are her friends.” The Messanger affirmed. “One of our agents made contact with Mila. However, he refuses to work with her.”

“What? Did he get bullied?”

There was a silence.

“Wait, for real?” Viola raised her head to look at the Messanger. “No way! I mean, I kind of get it, but… No, that sounds right.”

“You already have built rapport with the girl. Her proclivity of… Freeing the world of some people is something we need. Due to your upbringing, we believe you are a good match for this mission. Her group has shown unmistakable hostility against this Kingdom.”

“Yeah, this is going to suck.” Viola handed the new orders to Litro. “Isabel is going to eat me alive.” She murmured.

Litro finished reading and handed the paper further down the chain. “At least you’ll get your bath.”

“Well, at least Mila is interesting.” Viola gave up on thinking. “Really fun to be around.”

“I don’t think that is a sentiment shared by many.” Litro disagreed. “She killed a lot of people in Stilag. A lot, lot.”

“I already like her. No need to praise her like that.” Viola moved to the campsite. “Common, people. Let’s start moving.”

“I wasn’t praising her. Pepper. Wait, Pepper.” Litro chased after her.

Viola ignored him. The Messenger had vanished a moment ago. She sometimes tried to guess how he moved around so fast, but it was safer not to know.

State secrets and all that. Viola looked up at the clouds. They moved slowly and with purpose. She had failed, but at least there was no punishment.

And…

Perhaps there will be something fun to do in Stilag. Viola smiled. Roof, bed, bath and a whole new set of people to mess around with. Yeah, it wasn’t so bad.