Chapter 69: Chapter 69
"Now, Georgina Esta De L'Orion, mind telling me what someone like you is doing all the way out here, in the Plains of the Green, far away from Ando City, hm?" Darius asked her playfully.
The moment her full name was mentioned, the young lass shivered even more as her fears were further reinforced. Gazing at the calm Darius, she took a deep breath and removed her hood.
Darius noted that Georgina was not bad looking, definitely much better than Portia. With golden-red short-cropped hair that was bound by a black headband, sapphire blue eyes, and a small nose, Georgina would have definitely attracted unwanted attention from her own compatriots had she ever shown her true visage.
Interestingly, she seemed to be around 16 or 17 years old and with her soft chin as well as reddish lips, she did seem a bit mature for her age. Darius noticed all this in passing, but he was more interested in her answer.
"I was sent here by my family to observe and report on the activities of the Poleria Homestead. I only chose to work with the Diato Bandits because they were the weakest and least professional bandit group of the lot."
"Oh? But why send out such a beautiful young lady like you to this wretched place when you are clearly meant for greater things?" Darius asked with his hand on his chin, multiple theories forming in his mind.
Georgina's face displayed an expression of grievance and anger before she quickly tried to hide it, but the opposite party did not miss it. Chuckling internally, he listened to her reply patiently.
"That's… well, I was sent here because of… personal reasons." She answered, struggling to find the right words.
"Please, don't insult my intelligence. To be foolish enough to send such an intelligent and skilled woman like you out here, your family must either be incompetent - which is unlikely - or there must have been foul play involved - which is typical in our circles - on your freedoms. So, Georgina, which is it?" Darius questioned gently.
The young lass reacted to Darius' soothing praise and nodded almost subconsciously. "It was... my elder sisters." She sighed deeply, as if a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "As the youngest and prettiest of us three, they were jealous of me and pushed for me to be given this 'simple' task."
"On paper, the reward appears quite lucrative and the work should be simple enough. But the struggle I went through to gain a footing in this wretched place could have seen me dead many times over, my body used by mere brutes to pleasure themselves!"
"Unfortunately, I couldn't reject due to their posturing and pandering to my family elders, I had to accept! I simply had no choice! Now, here I am, about to die in some unnamed forest."
Georgina vented out her pent up frustration due to a mixture of the circumstances, her boiling stress, and Darius' simple prodding. His eyes flashed as he put two and two of her story together and he recognized this as an interesting opportunity.
Darius leaped over to Georgina's branch slowly and non-threateningly, shaking his head as he did so. "While we all will have to die eventually, you will not die here today, Georgina, not unless I say so."
Jorge gazed at Darius with a mixture of relief, wariness, and confusion. Relief due to having verbal confirmation that she would live, wariness because she was smart enough to know that verbal confirmation could be rescinded at any time, and confused because of Darius' final words.
"What I mean is simple. I need you, Georgina. Your skills in stealth and espionage, your ability to deduce and rationalize as well as your connections, I need them all. I want you to join me." Darius elaborated.
Georgina's hunched shoulders and slightly raised hackles subsided as she heard his words, and curiosity began to rise in her, as well as some positive interest. "What exactly for?"
Darius smiled genially. "I wish for a person of your caliber to act as my shadow. As you've probably deduced yourself, my plan was to create a situation which would see me become a hero and use that to rub in with the Equality Faction."
Darius's eyes narrowed and their hazel glow intimidated Jorge easily once more. "However, now that I know your circumstance, I can make use of you to gain connections with the Superiority Faction."
Jorge trembled, but sighed after a second or two. In her mind, if Darius could cook up such a devious scheme, he had to have enough deductive abilities to ascertain that she and her family worked for the opposite faction.
It was obvious enough if one thought about it deeply. There was no reason for a noble lass like her to be out here in the wilderness, spying on a mere homestead unless there was a conflict of interests going on in the background.
Since Shanks represented the Equality Faction, it stood to reason that Georgina - dressed as Jorge - would represent the Superiority Faction who wanted to mimic Fraterina and turn the Andrato Kingdom into a sexist, matriarchal state.
Darius patted Georgina on the shoulder and gestured to the ground. "Let's head down and talk a bit more. There are some things I need to inform you and teach you."
Jorge hesitated for a split second before nodding. She had already come this far, so there was no use pretending to be tough or spunky. She wasn't the hot-headed type anyway.
Both parties landed on the ground and Darius took the lead as he spoke to Jorge calmly. "First things first, we need to make the Equality Faction think you've disappeared. That's why I chased after you in particular, because you'll need my help with this."
Jorge froze and question with incredulity: "They know of my existence?"
Darius nodded with an amused smile. "Of course. Probably for a long time at that."
Jorge shook her head, only partly believing Darius at best. "How? How do you know this?"
Darius chuckled playfully. "Oh Georgina, just think about it. They've sent one of their agents to this frontier to form a homestead and see if there is anything of interest they can develop. Not to mention that we are close to the Plains of Death too."
"But at the end of the day, Shanks is merely an agent and his main goal in coming here was to live out his retirement with his family. They can't force him to fulfill their objectives, but they also can't leave him to his own devices."
"So Georgina, what would you do if you were the Equality Faction?"
She answered with eyes glazed over in realization. "I would send spies to monitor his activities and use them against him."
Chapter 70: Chapter 70
Darius clapped lightly. "Precisely! How could they just leave him be? What if he defects? What if he purposely sends back fake reports? What if he simply becomes lazy and gets usurped?"
He then placed his hands behind his back casually. "You have to understand that the Equality Faction is in no position to play around. Like Fraterina when they sent Juliet here to form this kingdom, there is something situated in the Plains of Death that they want… that everyone wants."
"So Georgina, show me your cleverness. Who do you think was sent to watch the homestead just as you were sent by your faction?" Darius asked her calmly.
Jorge thought for a few seconds before realization came over her once more. "Garwen! And his bandits! They were all just a front!"
Darius nodded. "It only became obvious to me just now too, as I spoke with you. The first clue for me was the fact that, in terms of banditry, only the Diato Bandits actually do what one would expect from bandits."
"The Foldo Bandits barely deserve their name, seeing as they mostly push contraband and slaves about. They hardly bother raiding any passersby for their goods. Interestingly from what I gathered, the Garwen Bandits also raid very scarcely, only when certain merchant groups pass through."
Darius left something out here on purpose to allow Georgina to come to that conclusion.
In the library, Portia had mentioned that the Garwen Bandit's targets were often merchant groups that were bringing in materials for nobles known to be part of the Superiority Faction.
Darius would never have realized this if not for a resident of this area like Portia pointing it out.
"The next big clue to their involvement... was this attack on the homestead. Frankly, it should have caught them unawares. Heck, the fighters of the homestead should still have been strapping on their pants while the monsters broke in and cut them down."
"Instead, they were able to mount a respectable defense and gather more than 50 men who were already armed enough to meet the foes outside of the homestead altogether."
Darius shrugged. "Of course, this could just mean that the fellows of the homestead might be combat-ready at all times, but as someone who has lived with them for a while, I can confidently say that this isn't the case."
He turned to Jorge who was listening thoughtfully. "Again, Georgina, what do you think of this?"
Jorge's answer came quite quickly this time, as the answer was obvious. "Since your plan was to become a hero, it must mean that one of the bandit groups informed them beforehand."
Darius agreed. "That's right. As you were with the Diato Bandits, you know they are not capable of such subterfuge. The Foldo Bandits could have been culprits, but let's just say I have a way of knowing that they definitely are not the ones."
"Monsters cannot think that far ahead, only considering bestial topics like food, water, and sex on the daily. As such, the only culprit left... are the Garwen Bandits."
Darius raised a finger. "There are many bizarre things about their group, but I don't need to elaborate further, do I? A group of archers way out here when they could be raiding closer to the towns and still be safe? During the raid, they hardly attacked any known villager of the homestead. Their arrows always barely missing them, or at times even 'accidentally' killing a monster nearby. And yet the moment my servant entered the fray they concentrated their fire on him, who seemed foreign enough to be sacrificial?"
There was a spell of silence as Darius finished. Georgina eventually gathered her thoughts and considerations before asking carefully: "And what do you want me to do?"
"Right now? I need you to continue as-is. Your former group, the Diato Bandits, have been ruined and shall no longer exist henceforth. As for the Garwen Bandits, they are being dealt with by my servant. As such, I shall introduce you to Foldo, and the two of you are to create a force for me in the area." Darius replied grandly.
Georgina felt her heart throb. A force in this area? He wanted her and that cunning old fox to create one?
Despite various misgivings, there was a thread of excitement and anticipation in her heart. For the first time, she was given some modicum of free responsibility, a chance to prove her worth without having things jeopardized or forced down her throat.
Darius noted her expressions and found what he wanted to see. Georgina was his favorite type of victim, an above-average intelligent and capable person who had been foolishly mistreated or suppressed by her peers or relatives.
Once you highlighted that you respected and cherished their talents, you only had to present them with a chance to prove themselves, and they would find themselves magically pulled towards you.
Of course, you had to establish two things first.
The first was to convince them that the talent they had was inferior to your own. For example, Georgina was currently convinced that Darius was far more intelligent than her due to his scheme and ability to deduce so much. Additionally, she believed his power to be endless given his identity as a mage capable of casting spatial spells with ease.
The second was to denounce their bullies. In every mention Darius had made about the Superiority Faction or her family, he had used adjectives like 'foolish', 'incompetent', and the like. This was to create a bond between the two parties as the aggrieved victim would subconsciously agree with such observations.
And the payoff was to come. Darius nodded to the forest beside Georgina, who also turned to look. She was frightened into silence when she saw Gunner suddenly appear, his body bloody and his fists practically dripping with it.
Of course, none of it was Gunner's own blood. It was then that Jorge couldn't help but notice that Gunner held a human head in his left hand. When Darius nodded at him, Gunner raised the head up for the young lass to see.
It was Garwen!
The former bandit leader's expression was forever frozen into a mix of horror and pain, a testimony that his death at Gunner's hands was anything but pleasant. Well, since Gunner had no knives to slash foes cleanly, one could imagine how all his targets had perished.
Darius whispered to Jorge seductively. "And that brings an end to this saga. Now it's all up to you. Do you wish to return to your family and remain suppressed by them as well as the Superiority Faction, or would you prefer to join me and finally experience what it's like to be on the winning side as more than just a sacrificial pawn?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Kotario
Kotario
Heads up, the novel will likely be going premium from chapter 71+ as the first arc has come to a close.
The release rate will stay stably at 3 a day and at around 5-7 coins at most per chap.
There will also be a bit of privilege since I have a nice stockpile, but as I want to add a bit more, the novel will go on break until Thursday.
At that time, I'll give y'all a nice and fat mass release!
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
6 Power
stone You may also Like
Paragraph comment