When they got back to the base that night, Soral was banned from gathering food. Ruena confiscated all of the delicious poisonous mushrooms, berries, and even flowers. He didn’t think she would notice that he was planning to eat the flowers. His disappointment didn’t last long, though. Not after Jazz managed to communicate what he had found.

“A secret weapon?” Ruena clarified, “That seems far too obvious.”

“It’s just a test. What if it really is that simple?” Rosalie pointed out.

“We should definitely investigate this further,” Dillon agreed, unable to hide his excitement at the idea.

Ruena turned to Soral. “Find out if this is a ruse or not,” she ordered, “I will send Jazz somewhere else as a distraction.”

Jazz slipped out before she could officially send him anywhere. Cats weren’t known for waiting on orders. Luckily, Ruena did not seem to mind.

Then it was Soral’s turn. Before he set off, he tried to recall if there were any laws against hearing thoughts. Nothing specific came to mind, but he felt it was probably best to keep that ability under wraps. He would have to figure out what excuse to use when he knew the secret if it came to that. For now, he would sneak about.

Who would know the secret? Ronav would, but approaching him might be too much of a risk. As for his subordinates, they had shown clear disdain from the start. Soral couldn’t think of anyone else who might know the secret, but scouting the teams near the edge might be a good idea. Actually, were there teams near the outer edge?

“Should I make a map of team locations while I am out?” Soral suggested.

“If you would mark any you come across, that would be helpful,” Ruena agreed, “Just remember not to use anything from your pocket. I know you’ve already connected a new one.”

“Right,” Soral realized. That would make things a bit more annoying, but not impossible. He found some thin wood and charcoal that would work for now. He would have to remember to keep his eye out for paper too. Not being able to steal would make that annoying as well.

Soral started with his easiest task, looping the outer wall. He noticed that several of the teams had decided to set up in the convenient cave-like structures there. Despite having seen the crown in the courtyard earlier, it was still a bit surprising to see just how many teams there really were. He did note that the only other team that had focused on a more central position was the one that had arrived near the same time as them.

Once his loop had reached the main gate, he found the rickety looking shack the judges were staying in. He slowed and approached with careful steps to see if he could hear anything with his ears alone.

“-group this year is a bit different from usual,” a female voice was commenting.

“Well, it is the last year,” a man replied.

That confirmed the information Jazz had given them earlier. How had that other team known?

“That isn’t public knowledge, of even officially decided yet,” Ronav scolded. He seemed displeased with their topic of choice.

“It’s as good as,” the woman scoffed, “It’d take a miracle to change their minds.”

“See any miracles among those newbies, Ronav?” a second man asked.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Not yet,” Ronav answered, “but I have my eye on a few.”

Miracles? Who was it that needed their minds changed? Was there someone powerful trying to get rid of the mercenary system? For some reason, Ruena’s mother came to mind. That meant there would be no second chances, but it didn’t really change much.

“What about secrets?” the first man asked, “Have any of them picked up on a trail?”

“I dropped a hint about a secret weapon while that cat was around. I wanted to see what it would do to communicate that information.”

That cat could only mean Jazz. If they could notice Jazz eavesdropping, had they really failed to notice Soral. He had to admit he wasn’t being as subtle as he could be.

“We removed that secret last year because things got out of hand,” Ronav reminded.

There was a pause. “I forgot about that. What should I do now?”

“Nothing,” Ronav ordered, “It is up to them to find out the truth of their information.”

That all but confirmed Soral’s theory that this might be an act to throw him off the trail. There was one way to be certain.

‘Wait,’ Insanity warned him, ‘Not yet. You aren’t the only one listening.’

Why would that matter? Still, Insanity never warned him without reason. Soral glanced around to see if he could catch the other eavesdropper. He caught a glimpse for just a second. That didn’t look like one of the testees. It wasn’t one of the judges either. An intruder?

Should he tell the judges? That would give away that he was listening, but if what they had discussed was true, someone was trying to stop this mercenary test from happening.

‘What should I do?’ he asked Insanity.

‘You must not use mental magic here. There is one among them who can sense it.’

That explained why she had warned him, but not what he should do next or which side the one with mental magic was on.

‘Should I warn them about the intruder?’

‘They may not believe you.’

That was true. Before Soral could take any action, the conversation inside picked up again.

“I feel something unpleasant outside,” the woman growled.

Soral quickly ducked into a hiding place, but he noticed the intruder was still standing out in the open as if trying to be seen. Was that the plan? Would the test be halted if there was a threat inside?

The woman who had spoken about the unpleasant feeling stepped outside. Her gazer landed on the intruder almost instantly and she readied the crossbow at her side. The intruder didn’t even flinch as she aimed her weapon right at him with swift precision.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“Someone who will put an end to this farce. Call it off now, or terrible things will happen to those under your charge.”

It was hard to say if it was good or bad that Soral did not recognize the voice of the intruder. At the very least it was not one of Qilin’s skilled assassins.

“We are perfectly capable of protecting our people,” Ronav told the intruder as he too stepped outside.

“We’ll see about that,” the intruder scoffed before skillfully vanishing from view. He was fast, but nothing compared to Storm.

“Looks like we will need that old secret weapon after all,” the woman muttered.

“I will announce a large scale combat test. Perhaps a mock battle. Hopefully the teams will hace the sense to work together,” Ronav decided, “Paz, bring in the weapon. Mack, keep an eye on the wall and check the barrier. Ronda, get a sense of the combat level of our contestants.”

As he ordered, the judges immediately left to fulfill their tasks. One, two three, four… Hold on, hadn’t there been five? Soral lingered for a moment to see if Ronav would call someone else out from the shack. Instead, the man suddenly walked right in Soral’s direction. Had he been discovered? Since when? He needed to stay hidden just in case it was a coincidence. Panicking would only make the situation worse.

Ronav came to a stop right in front of Soral’s hiding spot. “How long do you intend to pretend to hide?”

Not a coincidence then. Since there was no point in staying hidden, Soral came out into the open. “Hi?”

“You seem out of practice, little thief,” Ronav said with a smile, making Soral flinch. How much did he know? “Don’t worry. You’re not disqualified. Thieves become mercenaries all the time. Especially those who used to work the streets.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Soral asked.

“You heard what is going on. Don’t be afraid to use your talents. I can’t condone stealing, but the difference between stealing and not always comes down to payment. Trading is encouraged in this test.”

Was this man telling him it was fine to steal as long as he gave a proper payment in return? No, he was saying if you paid, it wasn’t stealing. At least not according to the rules of this test. That certainly made things easier, but Soral was still suspicious.

“Is there something I should be acquiring?” he checked.

“That is up to you,” Ronav told him, “One more thing. Feel free to use the resources you have at hand.”

As he spoke Ronav looked right at Soral’s newly enchanted pocket. Just how much did this guy know?

“Even if it brings things from the outside?” Soral asked.

“Within reason,” Ronav answered, “You musn’t get caught by the others. Not everyone sees things the way I do.”

Soral couldn’t tell if this was permission, a warning, or a trap. Either way, he had a lot to discuss with Ruena and the others.

“I’ll get going,” he told Ronav.

“Good luck.”