Chapter 39: Ambush
By the time I left the O'Dell's house night had already arrived, two moons shining bright. I remembered what happened last night when the town guards sent people after me and couldn't help but chuckle. There probably isn't a single person in this town that could defeat me, I hope they send more people. I'd happily take the essence. Then I remembered the old man. Well... I wouldn't want to fight him. I wouldn't last one second against that seemingly weak old man.
I made my way through the side streets and passed the well lit main street. There weren't any drunkards out since what little alcohol was in the process of being made couldn't have fermented yet. It would at least be another half a year before most human settlements would have readily available alcohol and even then it would be the cheapest and weakest available. The Una on the other hand make incredible alcohol, like nothing you ever tasted before. When trade routes start to open up it will be a hot item for the social elite.
Humans will eventually become a kind of medium that connects Agartha together. That doesn't mean all races like us. The Fey in particular hate us. It's more because humans are so adaptable to their environment. This allows us to live anywhere and with our nature inclination to trade goods we develop a kind of network that connects areas that otherwise would have stayed apart.
The natives here don't trade with each other and for the most part don't interact unless it's for war. The Una build their cities in and stay near water. The Fey mostly live in mountainous areas. The G'eth tend to live in forests and the Shades, what few have been found, tend to stay in valleys or in areas constantly covered in storms. The widely accepted theory by humans is that natives of Agartha lean towards certain elements and therefore are more comfortable in environments surrounded by it. Also their combat prowess is higher in their environment. A G'eth's combat would be significantly diminished in a desert and significantly boosted in a forest.
Humans on the other hand could reside any and everywhere, which is why we were able to establish settlements all over the planet. Of course, there are risks involved, especially near Fey Kingdoms. Luckily for me this area was mainly plains and forest so G'eth were the most common race around. There are glacier mountains to the west and woodland mountains to the east, however, no Fey had tried to develop those areas yet. The closest Fey Kingdom is over a 1000 kilometers southwest and there are many Una cities a few hundred kilometers away if you follow the river that flows southeast from Lake Lyenas to King's Sea.
Lost in my thoughts I had passed main street and entered a side street heading towards Captain's Manor when a noise drew my attention. It was subtle but it sounded like a chain rattle coming from the alley just in front and to my right. Curious I headed in that direction. Just as I was about to turn the corner of a house I could hear the whistling sound of something flying through the air.
"CRUNCH!"
I had just managed to duck down when a chain embedded itself into the side of the house I was walking by, snapping a few of the wooden boards.
A rough muscular bearded man stepped out from around the corner the chain wrapped around his wrist and his upper body bare. He looked at me and started laughing loudly.
"It looks like you didn't defeat Captain Sauer for no reason," he said as he glared at me.
Instantly another man came from the alley behind me and one more from the other side of the street. I glanced around taking stock of the two men. Both slim builds in dark clothing, one with a small shield and shortsword the other with a dagger. They surrounded me in a triangle. It must be my lucky day, I was just hoping to get some more essence.
"And what has you fine gentleman appearing before me this evening?" I said flippantly.
"Haha a smooth talker, we'll see what sounds you make when I've slit your throat," the muscular man replied.
"Me? I guess you could say that. Surely, that's not the reason for your visit though?" I didn't much care about them attacking me, but the reason why might be important.
"Of course not!" He said angrily.
"You stepped in something you shouldn't have! I don't know how you found out about Sauer's plan but when you killed him in the Arena and Lord Morrow didn't kill you I knew something was up. Me and my boys went into hiding and sure enough Morrow had the other mercenaries start to round up everyone involved. I'm not stupid, I figured he'd planted you in the mercenaries as a spy. He had to trust you a lot to do that so I thought he might make you the new Captain. Sure enough here you are headed for the Captain's Manor. I figured we'd relieve you of your arena winnings and make our escape from this stupid village."
For someone who claimed to not be stupid he didn't notice some glaring gaps in his logic, however, surprisingly he wasn't too far off. Him and "his boys" must be three of the guys on Sauer's payroll.
"Arena winnings? You mean this?" I opened the sack at my waist with only 1 gold in it.
"What?!?! I thought you said he collected his winnings?" The large man looked at the man with the dagger to my left.
"He did!"
Interesting! The man with the dagger must have a pretty good disguising and tracking ability to have known that I placed a bet at the Arena and went back to pick it up. That also means Sauer was probably having me tailed after I killed Silent Killer since that's the only way he could know I made a bet. That means Sauer might have found out about Valerian when I went to see him after defeating Silent Killer. Luckily I killed Sauer before he could tell Morrow or else my plan might have failed. At the minimum Morrow would have brought it up in our conversation. As long as these fools die no one should know about it. My eyes turned cold as I looked at them.
"Aghhh! You must have hid the gold somewhere. Tell me where it is and I'll give you a swift death."
I sneered at him, "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Fine," he calmed down. A cold killing intent emanating from his eyes, "Even if I can't get some easy gold before I leave, you'll still die right here."
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Muigetsu
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