307. NOT SO SIMPLE: WIREMU.

Of course, things aren’t so easy. We left Tabitha and Lee to hammer out the details with Longstrider. I could tell Tabitha was still very suspicious of Longstrider. The biggest problem was that the largest single owner of slaves in the city was the Imperial Army, and with war imminent, they were buying, not selling.

“The vast majority of army slaves are in their supply and service divisions,” Ruku said.

“I have to keep reminding myself we cannot free everyone now. This is a gradual war of attrition.” I said.

Ruku nodded, “In my officer training, one of the things that is emphasised is the importance of your supply lines. If you can’t feed or equip your soldiers, they can’t fight effectively.”

I nodded, “So reducing the slaves in the army supply divisions would be crippling.”

“Yes, but you can’t just think about the enemy supply lines. You must think of your own.” At my puzzled look, Ruku continued, “In freeing slaves, what is the most critical thing?”

“My Granite and Copy Skills can produce the slates… Aha!”

“Yes, Monster cores. It is unnecessary for you and me as we have the flesh enchanting, but we can’t reproduce that. The slates need monster cores to empower them. Monster Cores are already scarce. The Empire restricts the sale of Monster cores, and with war, this will become worse.”

“We need a steady supply to distribute…” I looked around. Tabitha was not here. “I meant a supply to sell.”

Ruku smiled. “A steady supply is not really possible. Obtaining a stockpile, on the other hand, would only be nearly impossible.”

“The army.”

“They will have a stockpile to power their larger war enchantments. The city will have a stockpile to empower the wall defences. The city is probably the easier of the two.”

“We have some, especially the small ones from the hornets. There will be private individuals with some,” I said, remembering some of the nobles in the Kingdom.

“True, but only a couple at a time. But they will be easier than the city. This is more you and Tabitha’s area of expertise rather than mine.”

I nodded, “True. It was your expertise that identified the weak link in our supply lines. I would much rather hunt the monsters, but this is a built-up area, so stealing is what is available. If only there were a nest of gargoyles nearby.”

“If only.”

“I’ll scout the city for a bit and discuss options with Tabitha. It’ll probably need to be a joint heist.”

First up was to map out the city and identify key places. Not just heavily armed storage places but also guard stations, patrol routes, and other important places. With my Mapping Skill, I could make sure I covered everything above and below ground. The Empire was predominantly human, so they did not build below ground as much as the dwarves.

The Radiant Sanctuary was different. It was built as far below ground as above, but it was a blank to my senses. I hit a blank wall. What are they hiding? I had not heard of any gods or super-beings, but I wasn't arrogant enough to think I knew everything. It was made from a lot of spiritual material, and the whole building blocked my senses. What I did know was that nobody would spend that much money for no purpose. So what was the purpose? I watched people come and go for a couple of hours. Some were normal people or looked like normal people. The priests, or officials or whatever they were called, were obvious from their rainbow sashes over white shirts. There even seemed to be a military order belonging to the Radiant Sanctuary.

Radiant. Light, white and rainbow symbology. Sanctuary: a holy or dedicated space to escape from danger or persecution. It is built like a fortress. Not a fortress to fight from, as there were no arrow slits or towers. There were no windows. A fortress that is a place to hide, like where a treasure house would hide its valuables. What are you hiding?

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One spire rose from the centre of the building about ten meters above the roof. My Granite Senses said a spire was sunk into the earth below. My Granite Sense could not pierce the earth spire, but it seemed to mirror the one going up. Three stories above ground and then the spire, three stories below ground and then the spire. The one that went up had a shiny surface to it, so it was easy to find, which I guess was the point.

It is a curiosity, but it is not my main target here. When I go out drinking next, I will ask some locals about it. I bet Tabitha wants to see what they are hiding. Maybe I will attend one of their public services.

Once I had mapped the city, both above and below ground, I drew a map for everyone to see. There were tunnels underground. Not many, but some. There was one between the City administration building and the City patroller's buildings.

There were some private tunnels connecting expensive residences and commercial buildings. No dwarves were here, so the tunnels were few compared to the kingdom. Modrica and I were good at tunnelling, so it may be a way we can use to get around without being noticed.

Even though there are no dwarves here, they still like to hide their valuables underground. A large guard fort near the southern wall has a protected area underneath. I can’t sense into it, but my coin is on that being where the Monster cores are for the wall enchantments. It is time to get with Tabitha and plan a raid.

“He is definitely going to double-cross us,” Tabitha declared. “I don’t know how, but he is.”

“The easiest way would be to sell us to the Imperials,” Ruku said.

“He will get everything he can before that,” Tabitha said.

“He has a full set of enchantment slates and our business plan. What more does he need?” I asked.

“Monster cores,” Tabitha said.

“And training,” Ruku said, “The enchantment is not easy to use. You can stuff it up fairly easily.”

“He could work it out,” Tabitha said. “He is a trainer who upskills his people. He will have an enchanter he can access, and the instructions we left in the Republic will soon be public knowledge.”

“He is not a trainer like me,” Ruku said. We looked at him curiously. “For me, training is an extra. From what I heard, he is passionate about teaching. I wouldn’t be surprised if his first basic class were Teacher, which I am pretty sure would now be master-level with multiple specialities.”

“If that is true, I wonder how he got where he is today?” I said.

“It doesn’t matter how he got here. All that matters is what he will do.” Tabitha said.

“I think it does matter,” Ruku said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he thinks of you as his star pupil, Tabitha. Teachers are proud of the achievements of their students.” Tabitha narrowed her eyes at him, and he went on, “It doesn’t mean he won’t continue to test you and give you challenges to reach greater heights.”

“I would want my star pupil to join my group,” I said.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Ruku said.

“How much do you think he has figured out?” I asked.

“Too much. Tabitha said.

“He will definitely know everybody who came into the city with us, and the animals will give a clue,” Ruku said. “I don’t think he has connected either of your Kingdom personas yet, Tabitha.”

“Just picking up on the affinities is dangerous,” I said. “How much information do you think he got? Don’t overestimate him. He hadn’t figured out Cooper yet.”

“It is better to overestimate him than underestimate him. He is definitely going to double-cross us,” Tabitha stated.

“Then we are going to need a multi-layered plan for this heist and plenty of escape options,” Ruku said.

“We don’t want a three-way war. How many affinity users are in the army garrison?” I asked.

“According to Longstrider, three. Water, Earth and Fire, or similar. I haven't got independent verification yet.” Tabitha said.

“And at least three thousand troopers?” I asked.

“About that from the size of the garrison, but they are always patrolling out,” Ruku said.

“Plus, however, many are in the town guard,” I said.

“Four to five hundred, I would guesstimate,” Ruku said.

“If they get stirred up, we will need to get out in a hurry,” I said.

“We need the cores, but this is not going to be simple,” Tabitha said.