Ch 97.1 (Patreon)

Giovanni Turrini’s Point of View:

“Here you go, Boss,” Marshall sets down yet another stack of documents.

“Is this all of them?” I motion to the four stacks of parchment covering my desk.

Marshall shakes his head, “This is only the last eight months. Grey’s activity increased significantly over the last year.”

“He’s been this active??” I ask, starting to feel the fatigue catching up to me. Opening my desk drawer, I take another swig of the bitter stamina tonic I have hidden there.

Marshall watches me place the now almost empty vial back into my desk with a worried expression on his face. "Sir, I think you should rest. You can't keep this up on tonics alone. We've been working all night, and the sun has been up for nearly an hour now."

"I'm fine," I try to reassure Marshall, but his frown just deepens. I don't have time to argue with him, so I ignore his looks of concern. "Which of these are his most recent deals?”

"The stack on your left," Marshall points out to me. "But all of those reports were submitted before we were cut off from Drey.”

“We don’t have anything more current?”

“Just the reports from One and Elizabeth,” Marshall tells me.

“Was One able to recover anything from the fire? What about Elizabeth? How is she doing?”

"Nothing of value," Marshall hangs his head. "The explosion destroyed all of Grey's records, and the subsequent fire torched most of the other documents kept in the building. In regards to Elizabeth, One is periodically checking in on her while also hunting down as many of Grey’s men as she can. Like you, she refuses to sleep until she has had her revenge.”

“Is that wrong?” I send a challenging glare at Marshall.

“No, it isn’t,” he responds with a straight face. “But when you crash from constantly sipping stamina tonics, you’ll be out for much longer than if you just took a quick nap.”

“How can I take a nap when Grey is still out there?” I clench my fists in frustration.

“Two and Four are in pursuit,” Marshall reminds me. “Both are good at covering long distances quickly. They should be nearing Drey at any moment. I’ve already debriefed them on the situation, so the two of them can immediately start tracking down Grey and Max.”

“Will the two of them be enough?” I ask Marshall. “I’ve already lost enough people to that conniving bastard.”

“Max has been working for Grey for years now, and if the information we received from Elizabeth was correct, his level is close to my own. In a straight fight, he might be able to hold off Two and Four, but that's not how they hunt. The outcome will be decided the moment they catch up to Grey and Max,” Marshall reassures me.

“As long as they catch up to them,” I cynically remind Marshall.

“It isn’t like you to second guess your men,” Marshall gives me another worried look.

I sigh and bring my hands up to my face, tiredly rubbing around my eyes. It's only been a few minutes since I sipped my stamina tonic, and I can already feel its effects waning. Other than Vitality, I only have a few status points invested in my physical skills. Mentally I can continue, but my body is insisting I stop. I hate to say it out loud but, "We need to be prepared for the possibility Grey might escape. And if that should happen, it’s even more important that we find every person Grey has been colluding with and eliminate them as soon as possible.”

“We’re doing all that we can.”

“Are we?” I hiss in frustration.

“All the numbers are on the move,” Marshall reminds me. “One is handling things in Drey. Two and Four are hunting down Grey. Three is searching around Blaiton for whoever tipped Grey off. Five is moving to Yleles to keep an eye out for any of Grey’s men trying to leave the region. Six is already in Teeburn, and word of the situation should be reaching him soon.”

When was the last time all six of the numbers were mobilized at the same time? One and Four are the most active numbers and prefer always to be working. Two likes to deal with bandit groups, while the other three mostly gather information.

I hate to admit it, but Grey picked the best moment to run. Most of the numbers were tied up around the main office on account of the war. Then he threw everything into chaos with the explosion yesterday, right when we were reestablishing our lines of communication with Drey and Teeburn. It's been challenging to convey orders with the chain of command severed.

Elizabeth was to take over the Drey branch after Grey was killed. But with Elizabeth injured and Grey on the run, not to mention Drey’s branch nearly burning down, none of my people in the city know who they should be reporting to.

Elizabeth was also in charge of keeping in contact with Six. The magic tool’s signal can’t reach Teeburn, meaning Six won’t know what’s going on until he gets a physical letter by way of a messenger bird. Not that he probably won’t hear of what happened before our letter reaches him.

Both Pacore and Lord Bullok have already responded to our letters and assured me every Scholl soldier would be on the lookout for Grey and his bodyguard. And judging by how fast we received a reply, I can only assume they used their mages to send their response. Casting a message spell over long distances uses a lot of mana, and few mages outside militaries are practiced in such magic. And I’ve been told commanders are hesitant to have their mages commit to sending such messages because of the mana cost and that they run the risk of something important happening and being unable to send further messages.

Unless perhaps Lord Bullok has a magic item similar to my own?

“Uggg," I groan and rub my head. My mind is drifting. I need to stay on target.

The point is, word of Grey is spreading rapidly. If Six is doing his job, he'll have heard about what happened and will be on the lookout for Grey. And hopefully, along with Two and Four, the three numbers will be able to box Grey in.

“Boss,” Marshall calls out to me. I lower my hands from my temples and look at my concerned friend. “We’re receiving a communication,” he points over to a small desk up against the wall.

My office is locked down for the moment, with only Marshall and myself able to leave or enter. I moved the communication magic tool off to the side so Marshall could use it while I sort through documents. “Is it Two and Four reporting in?” I ask.

Marshall moves over and checks to see who’s calling. His eyes widen in surprise when he sees which gemstone is flashing. “Boss, it’s Aaliyah again,” he tells me.

"Aaliyah?" I repeat. I'm just as surprised as Marshall. Oh gods, was she not able to break her contract with Grey!?

I push back from my desk and jump up from my chair, intending to join Marshall by the communicator. In hindsight, the sudden movement was a bad idea. My legs buckle underneath me from sitting too long. Thankfully, I catch myself on my desk before I fall to the floor and worry Marshall further. But my friend noticed that I almost took a tumble and moves over to support me. “Let me help you,” he offers me his shoulder.

“Thanks,” I give Marshall a half-hearted smile as he helps me over to the magic item. Marshall activates the device with his right arm while keeping me stable with his left. “Hello, Aaliyah?” I ask into the magic tool with all the professionalism I can muster at the moment.

"Morning Giovanni, I'm here," her perky voice raises a few questions. It's safe to assume she isn't calling to tell me she failed to break her contract with Grey.

“I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon. Is everything ok?”

“More than ok,” I can feel the excitement in Aaliyah’s voice. “I’m pretty sure Grey is dead.”

And like that, my world stops for a moment. My legs give out on me, and Marshall has to help me to the floor. "Can… can you repeat that?" I ask in a distant voice. I feel myself trembling, waiting for her response.

"I'm not 100% sure that he's dead," Aaliyah's clarification leaves me speechless. Bringing my hand up to my chest, I try to calm my beating heart. My jaw quivers as I try to ask Aaliyah the myriad of questions plaguing my mind, but my tongue refuses to work.

Marshall sees that I’m having trouble responding and asks what I cannot. “Please explain!”

“What, who is?” Aaliyah is caught off-guard by Marshall’s raised voice. But she quickly catches herself, “Oh, you're Giovanni's man. Sorry, you didn't say anything yesterday, and I forgot you were probably listening in."

“It’s fine. Please explain why you think Grey is dead,” Marshall quickly brushes off Aaliyah’s apology and pleads for her to explain herself.

The two of us hear Aaliyah take a deep breath on the other end of the magic tools. She must be collecting her thoughts.

“I was experimenting and tried a different way of terminating Grey’s contract,” Aaliyah begins to explain in an almost cold voice.

“Why would you do that?” My hoarse voice slipping through my lips unintentionally.

"I thought it would be more painful for him," Aaliyah answers in her calm, cold voice.

“Then he suffered?” I nervously swallow back a lump in my throat.

“Verry much so,” Aaliyah reassures me. “Anyway, after I terminated our contract, I received some experience points.”

“You leveled a skill?” Marshall guesses.

“No,” Aaliyah’s flat reply sends a shiver down both our spines. “I’m positive the experience wasn’t from leveling a skill. It was late at night, and I sure as hell wasn’t crafting anything either. That only leaves one explanation for why I would get any experience.”

My office is silent as Aaliyah takes a dramatic pause. Marshall and I wait with bated breath for her to continue. And when she does, it's like a lightning spell strikes us.

"I had to have killed something; that's the only explanation I can think of," Aaliyah confidently tells us.

“That makes sense,” Marshall nods along in agreement. “If it isn’t too much to ask, about how much experience did you get?”

There’s another pause from Aaliyah, but right when I think she isn’t going to answer Marshall’s question, she does. “I got about 1,800 experience. But I’ve never experienced something like this before; is 1,800 a lot, or too little?”

Marshall hums in thought. "Grey's level was in the high fifties, maybe low sixties, based on how much experience you gained, I'd say whatever you did to his contract must have incapacitated him. Something else must have killed him, or else you would've gotten more experience."

“Even though I was that far away from him?” Aaliyah questions Marshall.

"The distance might affect it a little bit, but the distance doesn't matter so long as you helped kill him. Think about archers; depending on their stats, the best of them can hit a target a quarter of a mile away, even farther if you factor in skills and magic. The archer may earn less experience if it was a lucky shot, but he'll still be rewarded for the kill," Marshall explains.

"Same applies to a support mage using magic to boost the archer's attack. The mage might not have personally killed the target, but depending on the scale of magic used and how much he could boost the archer’s attack, he’ll still be awarded a varying amount of experience points for his contribution.”

As Marshall explains the nuances of combat experience, I manage to calm down and gather myself to stand back up, though only thanks to Marshall helping me. “So, the two of you believe Grey is dead?” I ask soberly.

“It sounds like it, Boss.”

“Yeah, try not to sound so excited,” Aaliyah’s sarcasm is clearly transmitted through the magic tool.

I should be happy, but for some reason… I’m not.

Grey is dead. It will need to be confirmed by Two and Four, but Aaliyah and Marshall seem convinced. I should be jumping for joy, figuratively speaking, of course, I don't have the energy to walk by myself, let alone jump for any reason. The point is the man who betrayed me is dead, and all I feel is tired and hollow inside.

“Boss?” Marshall gives me a concerned look.

“Is everything ok over there?” Aaliyah picks up on the heavy atmosphere on our end.

“It’s fine,” I tell Aaliyah. “We’re just tired on this end.”

“You should get some rest then.” Aaliyah’s suggestion earns me an ‘I told you so’ look from Marshall.

"I'll get right on that," I let out a sigh and change the topic. "Thanks for taking the time to let us know about Grey. We'll have our people look into the possibility of his death. If something important happens, I'll send word from Drey."

“Does that mean the branches are connected again? I mean, even after the explosion yesterday?” Aaliyah sounds surprised by how quickly we’re recovering.

"The explosion complicated things, but we'll regain control shortly," I downplay the trouble that we're having. Aaliyah is a vital ally to Silver Herd; we can't shake her confidence in us more than this situation already has. “I should be able to send Kervin back to your village in a couple of weeks; is there anything you want or need? Or do you wish for Kervin to wait until the new year before he returns to your village like your contract with Grey stated?”

"I don't think there's much point in waiting," Marshall and I hear Aaliyah scoff on the other end. "The whole point for Kervin not to visit our village was to keep us from getting noticed by Scholl. I'm pretty sure that ship has long since sailed. Tell Kervin he better be ready when he returns to the village; our fields have exploded in size, and I hear a certain kingdom is looking to buy food.”

“I’ll be sure to let him know; anything else?”

“Now that you mention it, I could use some more kaglese ore if you have it.”

Does she not have enough to complete her order? We’ve already started negotiations with Scholl over Aaliyah’s weapons. "I can see what we have, but kaglese comes from a mine close to Olebert's capitol. Since Pacore took over Yleles and the earl's fort, we've been cut off from our normal suppliers. I can scrounge together some ore but not much. How much do you need to complete your order?"

“Oh, I’m already almost done with that,” Aaliyah’s casual remark sends my head spinning. Weapons that can be enchanted take a lot longer to make, and a blacksmith needs to spend time testing the weapon to make sure it fits the bill. Should I ask her if she's sure all her weapons can handle enchantments, or would she consider that rude?

Heedless of what she's saying, Aaliyah continues to brag about her work. "I have forty spears and swords ready, and all I have left is to make more of those special arrows."

“Arrows like the one sold to General Pitz?”

"Yeah, those," Aaliyah cheerfully replies. "In fact, if it will be a few more weeks until Kervin makes it back to the village, I should have them done by then if you want them early?"

Usually, craftsmen ask for an extension to their deadlines, not the opposite. And she’s managed to make eighty kaglese weapons! We should’ve done more to keep her hidden from Scholl. “But you have enough kaglese for the arrows?”

"Oh, yeah, I have enough kaglese for the arrows; I was just wondering if you can get me more so I can make a few more weapons. It's ok if you can't; I know it can't be easy getting kaglese right now."

She sounds so confident; it’s making me feel even more tired. “I’ll see what I can do,” I tell her.

“Thanks. Now I don’t want to be the rude one, but I have a battle junky probably waiting for me to return to the village.”

“Battle junky?” Marshall repeats.

“Don’t worry about it,” Aaliyah mumbled voice comes out of the magic tool. “I just have to get back to the village.”

“Then we won’t take up any more of your time,” I politely move to end the conversation. Good thing too, Aaliyah told me a lot of things I need to think over.

“Until next time then,” the communication magic tool goes dark.

“Marshall, can you help me back to my desk?”

“Sure, Boss,” Marshall helps me stager back into my chair. Once I’m seated, Marshall asks me, “What do we do now?”

He must be referring to Grey’s death.

It still doesn't feel real; I have all this anger pent up with no one to direct it at. It's good that Grey is probably dead, but I wanted him to die by my hands. I wanted to be able to tell Elizabeth that it was our numbers who got him when she wakes up. Well, I guess I can still tell her that he’s dead, but it won’t be the same.

“Try to get in contact with Two and Four, let them know about the change in the situation and that they might have to search for a body,” I give Marshall my orders.

“And you, Sir?”

Leaning back in my chair, my eyes start to droop. I don't even want to lift my arms to reach for the remains of my stamina tonic.

What’s the point in me staying up now? The man we were hunting is no longer a threat.

“Boss?” Marshall asks me again after I don’t answer him for a few minutes.

“Wake me up in four hours,” I tell him, letting my eyes close. As soon as they shut, I feel the full weight of my fatigue kick in. I can feel myself slipping into unconsciousness. “Remember, four hours. I’ll fire you if you let me sleep longer than that,” I mumble as I drift off to oblivion.

“Yes, Boss, have a nice nap,” is the last thing I hear before sleep takes me.

**********

Author’s Notes:

3,100 words

Discord link

Surprise, I’m not dead.

I was just having a bad case of writer's block. I know I should've posted a notice, but I couldn't bring myself to admit it. So, like a big baby, I avoided Patreon and pretended that my problems weren’t real. Spoiler alert, it didn’t help.

I rewrote the opening to this chapter three times before I settled on this. I know the general direction the story is going, but I was drawing a blank as to what would happen in the following few chapters.

I don’t want to keep skipping over entire weeks, but it’s hard to come up with what I almost want to call ‘filler chapters.’ I know another crafting chapter is coming up, but that’s about it.

The reason I split this chapter into two was, so you could have something to read today even though I'm not done with the second half. The second part of the chapter will be out tomorrow, and it will focus on our girl Aaliyah.

Please comment down below on not only this chapter but your ideas on where the story should go in general. I've said it before, but I never expected my story to take off, let alone go for a whole year as it has. I'm running out of ideas at the moment.

Fair warning, I might have to scale back to a chapter every five days, give myself more time to plan things out without dropping down to only four chapters a month.

I hope you understand, and as always, stay safe.