The shaman had to be exfiltrated.
But how? Tailyn couldn’t find a good answer to that question. Heading back over to the animals, the boy noticed something strange—the yaks loaded up with loot belonging to the different squads had been divided up, with a few dozen meters between each group. Tailyn had gotten lucky coming across Berad’s share, which was the largest. But approaching a group belonging to a different commander just earned him a challenge.
“You lost, Berad? This is our squad’s loot!”
A big character Tailyn didn’t know popped up suddenly. That scared the boy, and he responded automatically by hacking him, blocking him, dragging him over to the yaks, plopping down next to him, and practically howling in frustration at his own stupidity. Who had asked him to attack the bandit? Why hadn’t he just turned around and walked back? Killing the guy wasn’t going to help—his commander would have instantly noticed his squad’s numbers drop and raised the alarm. Could he drag him over to the lixes? That would have meant getting through space dotted with other bandits, and one of them would definitely have wondered what Berad Gor was doing with a fighter from a different squad. Leave him there? As soon as the boy got forty meters away, the block would have worn off...
It was ridiculous.
Still, nothing else was keeping Tailyn from checking out the yaks. He found out to his surprise, however, that there were fewer of them, and they were each loaded with just two sacks. Even the sacks barely earned the title—they were more large bags. With no protection from marauders or even traps, the boy just took what he wanted, wondering all the while at what that commander was thinking. But there was nothing useful for either himself or his lixes, so Tailyn just sold it all.
Coins +26820 (64645).
And that just left the question of what he was going to do with his prisoner. Tailyn glanced over at the next group of yaks, but there was no way he could have gotten that far without being spotted. With the space around lit up by a fire, the bandits on that side were so conscientious about their jobs that they weren’t falling asleep.
As often happens in those situations, the solution came to the boy suddenly. He took a few moments to dig around in Vargot’s audio settings, making his voice rougher, dragged the blocked bandit over to Berad’s yaks, and did his best to imitate the mercenary leader’s manner of speaking.
“Demi, get over here!”
“Commander, we’ve got this! A mouse couldn’t get by us without being spotted.” The response was even more slurred, making it clear how the previous two hours had been spent.
“Even this one?” Tailyn kicked the blocked bandit. “What did I put you here for?”
“On it!” the drunk shot back as he pulled himself to attention. “Nobody got... What? How dare he?! We’re the strongest group!”
“Grab him and follow me. Where’s Solor?” Tailyn asked as he checked Raptor. The second fighter was right there next to Demi.
“He’s... He can’t come with us, Commander. How do I say this...? He’s just tired.”
“Okay, then it’s just the two of us. What are you waiting for? Are you expecting me to carry him?”
That was enough to get Demi moving. Heaving the stiffened body up onto his shoulders, he set off after Tailyn.
“Where are we going, Commander? It’s dark—I can’t see anything.”
“He needs to be punished. Nobody steals from our squad—we cut off hands for that. And that’s what we’re about to take care of.”
“But what about the agreement?” Demi asked, fear creeping into his voice. “Aren’t the squads supposed to not attack each other?”
“You do your job and keep your mouth shut. I’ll take care of the commanders.”
Demi fell silent and trudged after Tailyn only to be grabbed by the waiting lixes three hundred meters later. The poor guy didn’t have time to squeak before he was tied up.
“That’s pretty much it...” Tailyn said as he wrapped up his report. “I’m not going to be able to loot the yaks on that side, and I didn’t try the ones over there. But we do need to take Mu-Ro-Din with us. The people would be great, too, of course, but that’s only if it works out.”
“We can’t just get in there and sneak off with the cage,” Ka-Do-Gir said thoughtfully. “I was watching as you came back, and there were quite a few eyes on you. The crystal fences know Berad Gor and one of his warriors dragged off a fighter from a different squad for whatever reason. And that means we can’t get to the shaman’s cage.”
“We need to distract them,” Bar-Truk said. “We can attack from the other side of the village and use the commotion for cover—that will give us enough time to extract Mu-Ro-Din as well as a few dozen people. And what about sending the yaks off to cover our tracks? We’ll send them running deep into the Gray Lands. Two fighters is enough to get things started and disappear without leaving tracks, another two will drive off the yaks and head back to Mean Truk, and Ka-Do-Gir and I will get the people and the cage out.”
Building the plan took an hour. Once the schedule was in place, the squad split up, with two lixes dashing off to one side. The rest crouched low and followed Tailyn. The boy could feel every one of the eyes Ka-Do-Gir had said were on him. From their spots around their respective fires, the bandits were awfully curious to find out why one of the squad commanders was coming back alone from the steppe. He hadn’t left the camp alone, after all.
Tailyn headed right over to the yaks and made sure he got himself lost among them, though he had to admit the other groups were too well defended. There was more space, more light, more inquisitive glances. In order to give the lixes time to get over to the cages, he left the herd and crouched down next to Solor, quickly stripping him of three thousand gold, five hundred coins, and a complete set of level two armor. The sleeping mercenary didn’t even notice he’d been hacked.
“Chief, we’re ready,” Bar-Truk called over the communication system. “The locks on the cages are easy enough—picking them won’t be a problem. Can we take the green lixes with us? They’ll be a big help.”
“Yes, go ahead. All right, let’s get started. Make some noise!” An odd excitement overcame Tailyn, and he even leaped to his feet, once more attracting the attention of everyone in the vicinity. Just then, wild screams broke out as someone began burning alive. Without anything better to resort to, Tailyn had suggested using the grenades that released an absorber. The two lixes were hard at work—another bandit started screaming. Then another. And another. Tailyn had given the pair they ten elixirs he had with him, and it sounded like they were all seeing action.
Just then, the yaks belonging to Berad Gor’s squad took off running with a chorus of frantic bellowing. The lixes were surprisingly precise—the crazed animals dashed along the village wall, getting the other herds to follow them. Almost all of the hundred and thirty head ran off with the mercenaries’ loot as noisily as could have been hoped for.
Suddenly, none of the crystal fences cared any longer about Berad Gor or what he was doing. A crowd of people dashed toward their horses to chase down their loot, and that commotion was more than enough for a few dozen lixes and humans to hurry off in the direction of the Gray Lands. At the end of the column came Ka-Do-Gir and one of the freed green lixes, both of which were busy erasing tracks. Once they were sure nobody could see them, everyone took off running. The lixes did their best to help the humans along, even carrying them on their backs, but everyone was exhausted by the time the sun began peeking up over the horizon.
“Take a break!” Tailyn called as he squeezed out the last drops of mana he had remaining to heal the erstwhile prisoners. “Bar-Truk, set up a protective dome to make sure nobody sees us. Ka-Do-Gir, erase the tracks for the last three hundred meters. If anyone’s looking for us, let’s make their job a little harder. Okay, now everybody line up one by one so I can hand out food—that goes for humans and lixes. Once you’ve eaten, I’ll tell you what your freedom is going to entail...”
The population of M
ean Truk increased by 15 humans and 18 lixes.
None of the newly freed humans and lixes declined Tailyn’s offer. Plopping down onto the ground, the exhausted group fell asleep almost instantly, though the young city leader couldn’t permit himself the same luxury. Somebody had to stand guard. Sending Bar-Truk off to get some rest, Tailyn sat down next to Ka-Do-Gir, the latter having clearly been waiting for just such an opportunity.
“I have a question. An important one. Remember, I told you about Li-Do-Ga, the most beautiful of the green lixes, the one Vu-Rga killed.”
“We’ll need twenty crystals. If we can get our hands on them, we’ll be able to resurrect her—I don’t have any right now.”
“Your word is all I need, my Chief.” Ka-Do-Gir bowed his head, for the first time referring to Tailyn as someone other than his master. The boy was a leader. First in all things.
Tailyn was about to say something, though he fell silent when he saw the message that popped up in front of him. A gleeful smile crept across his face. It had been a long time since he’d felt that happy.
You set up Berad Gor, convincing everyone else that it was his fault the crystal fence squads lost their loot.
Level +1 (18).
Protection +1 (4).
Chapter 8
The Treasurer paid the Builder 7000 coins to clear the city.
The Treasurer paid the Architect 5000 coins to check the buildings in Mean Truk for structural integrity and the potential for future use.
THE MESSAGES popped up for Tailyn when his group was about ten kilometers away from their destination. The freed captives were moving ever so slowly, the exhaustion and necessity of constantly covering their tracks taking a toll. But there was no way the city head was going to lead the crystal fences right to Mean Truk. Even from that distance, however, his perception alerted him to something strange: a new mountain had arisen not far from the settlement. He sped up and made it to the high embankment first, quickly climbing up it only to find his jaw dropping when he got to the top.
The builder had really gone all out. Not only was all the earth cleared away, the demolished walls and stone blocks had even been returned to their original positions. At least, that was the case where it was possible. The ancients working on the old buildings had made liberal use of metal and glass, not a trace of which remained three thousand years later. Only the bare skeletons of homes made from reinforced stone showed the past glory of Mean Truk. But even that was impressive. Never having suspected his city could be that big, Tailyn looked around and realized it was even larger than Culmart.
It was a bit more than three kilometers from the ruined city wall to the earthen embankment. Having leveled the area to keep it even with the city, the builder had turned the embankment into a kind of mountain—the first barrier. Anyone who didn’t use the cut-out would be forced to climb a sheer five-meter cliff. All around the cleared area, numericals were marking out future plantations. They would only represent a drop in the ocean compared to what the city was going to need to feed itself, but Forian was most concerned with putting everyone to work. Tailyn was spotted, and the guard rushed over—the embankment was its fiefdom. As soon as it got there, the enormous sphere carefully reached out with one of its proboscises to touch its master in greeting.
“It’s good to see you, too,” Tailyn replied as he placed a hand on the monster. His other hand pointed in the direction of the approaching group. “They’re ours—leave them alone.”
The monster agreed mentally as it peered out across the steppe. Tailyn followed its gaze and frowned, something telling him the group had grown slightly larger. Shrugging and deciding the guard could handle whatever happened, Tailyn sent it off to patrol the area.
Valia, I’m back! Where are you?
Training, came the annoyed reply. I’ll be here for another couple hours, but I’ll be back soon. Go see Forian in the meantime. Ah!
The boy’s perception pointed out two bodies dangling from a nearby cliff. Valia was higher up, her arms, legs, and, it seemed, even her teeth clutching the rock. Below her, Valanil was reclining comfortably in a chair hanging from a rope tied around Valia’s waist. The latter huffed and gasped as she pulled herself and her mentor up the cliff.
The pavilion and mage’s tent were in the central square. Freed from the oppressive soil, the city turned out to have both a remote terminal and a fairly spacious square housing it. That was apparently where the temple and palace were going to be built. The once smooth stones had been reduced to rough boulders, making it clear they would have to be replaced. The same went for everything else in the vicinity.
The treasurer was busy taking a report from Motar by the pavilion. Judging by the happy look on the guard’s face, his troops had been able to use the dummy to improve their skills. One of them was even then doing his best to cope with the nimble device, his face red and sweaty. Nobody was skipping practice.
“Excellent!” Forian said before finally noticing Tailyn. “Motar, welcome our guests—they all need food and shelter. After that, I’ll have a conversation with each of them. Head, follow me. There’s a job for you.”
Taken aback by the encounter, Tailyn mutely fell into line. The mage had changed. Once an even-tempered card-maker, he’d turned into the prototypical ruler, demanding the impossible of everyone around him. He led Tailyn over to the tent and threw back the flap leading to one of the rooms, revealing eight piles of soil, each topped with shimmering ancient loot.
“This is everything we were able to find. I had them delivered here since you’re the one who should open them, though the last word statements were read automatically. Nothing interesting. Valia opened them—I believe the mission is synchronized between you two.”
There had been no updates to his ancient history mission, so Tailyn just went straight over to the nearest pile.
Loot received:
Virtual inventory with 20 slots received (5).
KORT-II ray pistol received (3).
U-II energy rifle received (2).
Food (32).
Force field-II (3).
Attribute syringe (12).
***
Force field-II modified to Amulet-II.
Attribute syringes modified to crystals.
KORT-II ray pistol modified to ordinary Electric Strike-II card.
U-II energy rifle modified to rare Dark Strike-III card.
Compensation received for modifications:
Epic Telekinesis-I card.
Forian beamed when he saw the result.
“As if we needed confirmation, once again we see how the god favors you, Tailyn Vlashich! You take the crystals; I’ll handle the rest. Do you need telekinesis?”
“No, I already have it,” Tailyn said with a sad glance back at the loot. It didn’t turn out to be nearly as much as he’d been counting on. Deciding that dealing with trifles like that wasn’t befitting his status, the young head emptied his inventory of the loot he’d gathered during his recent campaign.
“Hopefully, this will be enough to equip the humans and lixes both.”
The treasurer cast an appraising eye over the pile.
“Not bad. I’ll set up a meeting in the pavilion for two hours from now so you can tell us how we came to pick up so many new coins and residents. In the meantime, get yourself cleaned up. Motar! Come get all this.”
A few people marched into the room to grab everything on the ground. Apparently, none of them had any concept of personal space or living quarters. Tailyn could only mutter under his breath about nobody giving him a moment to rest, though he had to agree with Forian—he really did need to get the dirt cleaned off him. With the tent set up not far from the lake, it had both a shower and a spacious bathtub. Tailyn filled the latter, climbed out of Vargot, and grimaced. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken a bath, the smell hinting at somewhere around three years before.
Setting his armor to clean itself, the boy climbed into the bath and closed his eyes blissfully. His
body relaxed for the first time in a while. No longer did he have to carry around heavy loads, run, jump, work until he dropped. It was just warm, soapy water and—
Wild screams filled with unimaginable pain exploded right next to the boy’s ear. Just about choking on the water, Tailyn leaped up and stared in horror at the two people writhing in agony on the ground. A dark goo was slowly spreading across their bodies—an absorber, Tailyn immediately realized. Someone had tossed a grenade in.
Isr Kale's Journal (The Alchemist Book #4): LitRPG Series Page 12