Bab 49: Amicable Treatment
Embers from their small campfire sputtered and danced in the dusk wind. As the cool evening breeze raced through their camp, Lieutenant Nils could smell the fowls they had hunted just recently gently roasting next to the flame on their makeshift spit. He ignored his small team of subordinates commencing their evening routine around him. All he cared about was filling his belly and the aroma that wafted across his nostrils was causing his stomach to growl wickedly. It was the only pleasure he had to look forward to in this, what he considered, uncivilized back end of the world.
He looked down at the large metal container that he was sitting on. This, he proclaimed in his mind, was the cause of all his frustrations. Within lay a beast in the skin of men and what caused the deaths of a good dozen men along with grievous injuries to half another; the tomb-like box filled to the brim with Demanafication Chaff. Now his forces dwindled to just barely over three dozen. His benefactors, however, reassure him their sacrifices were necessary for the advancement of the Empire.
The Artefici, they call themselves. Officially named the Glavian Institute of Technology and Sacred Mysteries, the Artefici back in the Capital had a vested interest in great many things. Spirit Beasts, ancient technology, monsters and all other manner of unsavory ideas that Nils would rather leave buried in the earth or to some godsforsaken corner of it. An institute adopted from Albano; Glav's former neighbor and one of the few nations to the join them willingly. The Empire initially had their own robust research division but once they had joined hand with the Artefici, their progress began to go by leaps and bounds. Theirs was a voice had held much sway all the way to the Imperial Palace and the royal family.
The Lieutenant shook his head in disgust. They had already surgically installed one of their damnable devices inside his chest. Something that would allow them to track their location and provided bodily reinforcement, or so they claimed. He did admit that wounds did heal much quicker and pain became more tolerable. Even the recovery after surgery was only less than a week. Not even a scar was left to show where the incision was made.
The sound of footsteps took him out of his thoughts as one of his subordinates approached, giving a quick salute with his free and handing him a roasted bird meat in the other.
"Thank you, Corporal." Nils gruffed out the words; mind still heavy in reflection. He idly took a bite. The Corporal, however, remained where he stayed.
"S-Sir." He began, voice unsure, "Has there been any word from the Captain?"
Nils sighed, "None so far. But I'm sure when he does, he'll have orders at the ready. Just... go enjoy your meal with the rest of the unit."
The Corporal's expression turned to dejection "...Yes, Sir." He replied. His shoulders sank as he turned to walked back towards the campfire.
"One last thing, Corporal," Nils began. His subordinate turned on his heel, "Has the evening patrols left camp?"
"They're ready to go, Sir, as soon as all afternoon patrols return. One has returned but the other is running a few minutes behind..."
Concerning, he thought. While it wasn't unusual for a patrol to run a few minutes late, these were not normal circumstances. Everything right now is under the assumption that their existence is known when they learned about the mountain fortress' fall.
The lieutenant started to voice his decision, "Tell the patrols to start now. One mile perimeter in every direction and report here every hour on the dot. If anyone sees a local, they need to return immediately. Engagement only as a last resort."
The corporal gave one last salute before returning to relay the orders.
Nils watched him go about his way. Another thing to worry about, he thought. His men were on edge since the scouts returned this morning. The outlaw camp they contracted with had been wiped out to the last man. A fully manned fort, makeshift as it was, obliterated overnight. A force that reputed could be mustered nearby and be already alerted to their presence here. They were now in a compromised position but unable to move until ordered. Under stress, his mind began to recall the last few days bitterly.
Their pyrrhic victory over the she-fox had cost him too much. He had permission from his Captain to supplement their work by hiring the bandits to capture the last two of their targets with the promise of gold and some spare martial equipment awaiting them. The rapacious vermin only managed to drive off the wolf; it's offspring becoming their only prize. The Rudelian warlord had assured him their forces will strike again when they recovered but afterwards had spent the last few days raiding caravans to fuel their voracious appetites for gold and flesh.
He turned his attention back to his meal when he started to hear shouting as the camp's warning bell began to loudly ring out. Nils dropped his meal where he sat, grabbed his sword scabbard resting against his seat and ran towards the commotion. As he got closer he could see what was the cause. A golem had forced his way into the camp.
"A craftsman golem?", the Lieutenant wondered aloud. But one wearing armor and a spear in hand. Nils could feel a knot form in his chest as he shouted, "Identify yourself!" His spies had reported local hearsay to him from time to time. He had dismissed a certain one as some drunkard's tale. An intelligent golem. One that could fight a horde of orcs and goblins on its own.
A drunkard's tale, hoping to be given more ale as he spun his story.
The golem stood unwavering. A voice reminiscent of the sound speaker to Nils erupted from within its frame, "One chance! Lay down your arms and surrender peacefully!"
Nils choked on his own saliva in surprise, "Is this a jest!?" he blurted, "Surrender? Are you short a few wires, golem? Or are the Southerner's making light of us?" His men had already began to ready their arms for a possible attack from the forest. But the woodlands were thick in this section of the mountain. A large force would have a much harder time traversing the area. Too slow to move. His scouting party would have sighted them easily.
'My scouts...' he thought.
"I gave a few others of your group some distance back the same option." As if the golem was finishing his thought for him, "I'm hoping for a better decision here." Nils gripped the handle of his sword tightly in anger.
The golem continued, "I would have given the mountain bandits the same option but I didn't have any say in the matter." The faces of all the soldier's began to turn white on hearing those words, "But now I do. No more bloodshed. Surrender yourselves and the hostage and I promise you amicable treatment."
Nils could hear one of his subordinates spit, "You really are mad. Amicable treatment? Till what? Till the headsman's noose in Haldin?"
"If they were smart, they would use you for negotiation."
Nils' stare bored into the golem, "Would you surrender?"
"No." The golem quickly and curtly replied, "But you're not me."
It looked right back at Nils with all seven of its eyes, "None of you are. Last chance. You've all got wounded. I can treat them. They don't have to die today either." It sounded like it was pleading with a hint of desperation in it's voice.
"Lieutenant..." the corporal from before approached him, "What are your orders." He was young, Nils thought as he looked into the wavering eyes of his subordinate, barely older than his own brother. The Captain is still out there. The thought of rescue was still possible after their surrender. And if the Captain was doing it...
"Oh for the love of...!" A voice rang out from the wilderness as an arrow flew out from the wilderness behind them and embedded itself into the body of one the soldiers. He fell unceremoniously onto the cold soil.
"Godsdammit," He let himself lower his guard. Let himself believe for just a moment. Now he was paying the price, "We're surrounded! Protect our rear! Shields up!"
Three sky blue objects flew out from the trees behind the golem. Arrows of light shot right through the shields and armor of those closest to the spear wielding machine.
The ones left standing decided to take action and started to rush the golem. Muttering something unintelligible, It lowered itself with it's spear in both hands. With lightning precision, the spear shot forwards and stabbed one of its assailants through the neck. The others next to him were taken aback at the sudden, unexpected action, and dodged backward, only for another to hit in the face by the golem's own fist. The loud cracking of bone rang out upon impact.
The last soldier launched himself at the golem in fury, sword swinging low, aiming for its leg. His weapon unexpectedly bounced off it's mark with nothing more than torn leather to show for his effort. His opponent's feet rushed up to meet him and hit the off-balanced man in the chest, his lungs sharply exhaling his breath as he collapsed. A large dent made of the golem's foot in his armor and went deep into his rib cage.
Angered, Nils drew closer to the golem. What he just saw is beyond belief but he needed to put a stop to it. A hand on his shoulder pulled him back as he took another step, "Sir, you need to leave!" It was the corporal.
Nil's neck snapped as he turned to face him, "What nonsense are you speaking, Corporal!?" A crackling noise turned both their heads. The medical tents have caught fire from flaming arrows and were now collapsing onto the wounded within. "That bastard golem! I won't let them get away with this!" He tried to turn away but the corporal held on tightly.
"Sir, you're the only one with the tracker! The Captain needs to know what happened here!" His subordinate pleaded. Nils hated the thought but he was right. As long as he hid in the wilderness, the Captain would eventually find him. But that would mean abandoning his men.
The thought began to crush him. He couldn't bare to look at the Corporal.
"Going southwest is your best chance, Sir. No arrows have flown from there," the Corporal once wavering eyes were now resolved, "We'll hold them off here as long as we can. Tell them... tell the Captain we held on."
Nils knew what the boy truly meant as the Corporal gave one last salute before joining the rest of the fray. If there were any Adventurer's Guilds left in the north, all of those under his command would have been classified as promising C Rank aspirants.
The golem was slaughtering them.
A glint caught Nils' eye as an arrow of light flew out from the trees towards him. With deft hand, and filled with his mana, his sword effortlessly blocked all three that went towards his way. Cursing at himself, he slunk down and ran into the forest.
He ran as fast as he could through the thick tree trunks. He felt a warmth seep into his chest as the device inside him began to work. Despite his speed he didn't feel tired at all. He needed to get away, find a safe spot and wait for the Captain to find him. He surely must have noticed his sudden movement of his tracker now. He must have noticed something was wrong.
Nils thoughts were interrupted as he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. Another figure was now running along side him and closing in.
'Was it the golem?', he thought. His battle stance didn't change even when the figure following him came into view.
Mateo stepped out from the thicket, arms in the air. A sheepish grin plastered over his face.
"You traitorous bastard..." Nils let the words spill out of his mouth.
Mateo swiftly shook his head, "Swear on my mother's grave, I didn't lead them here. Your bandit friends didn't do you any favors by not killing the Wolf Lord. He tracked you all the way here and made himself a friend with that golem."
"What the hell is that thing?"
Mateo laughed, "Quite the monster isn't it? No wonder the Artefici are so interested. It was telling the truth, you know. Would have spared your entire unit if you had just surrendered. But the Captain's orders are absolute. Have to follow them to the letter."
Nils' eyes widened as Mateo's words reached him, "What do you mean? Where's the Captain?"
Mateo pointed upwards towards a tree behind Nils, "He's been up there since we stopped."
Nils' head turned upwards as he saw a figure leaning amongst the broughs of the tree, wearing a familiar gray coat adorned with the markings of high ranking imperial officers.
Nils gasped in relief, "Captain-"
His sentence was cut short in his mouth by the feeling of a dagger sharply sliding between his ribs. His Captain, however, did not move. Still silently watching as he began to gasp for air.
"M-Mateo..." he said weakly, "W-what are-"
"Already told you, Lieutenant," Mateo replied with the same sheepish face he had before, "Orders. It's unfortunate that you're Glavian, along with the rest of that unit of yours. If this was an imperially sanctioned mission, the top brass would have noticed the kind of soldiers who died but the Artefici couldn't care less. Your dear Captain however is just taking advantage of the leeway. And enjoying some self satisfaction."
"Enough." The Captain's deep voice billowed around them. Another soldier appeared next to Mateo, dagger in hand, and punctured upwards into Nils skull. Mateo let go and the Lieutenant's body fell over.
The Ostian kicked the corpse just to make sure, "All done then? Will you be taking things from here, Captain?" A hint of mockery dripped from his voice.
"Not yet," the Captain replied, "We're nearing the end of the full evac. Once I receive the report of my men leaving the area, we'll be the last to teleport home along with the golem."
Mateo couldn't help but chuckle when he heard the emphasis used on "my men". He knew that it didn't include himself or the now dead Glavians under the Captain's command. His superior may appear to be loyal but he knew when to bite the hand that fed him. 'The imperial family is so sure of that', he thought, 'They have a certain child's corpse and a broken, conquered nation to prove it.'
The Captain continued, "We'll need you delay them until then."
Mateo cocked his head, "Exactly how? With a distraction?"
"The fox woman should suffice as such. She'll need time to recover after being seeped in chaff."
"The Wolf Lord is still alive, you know." Mateo shot back, "That hulking beast is injured but wouldn't have problems carrying someone her size. It won't be a problem." He began to get annoyed at the fact that he burned down the medical tents. A few of those injured soldiers would have slowed the group down.
"Then we just need to create more." The Captain motioned to one of soldiers below. In one motion, the soldier pulls out his dagger once more and slices deep into Mateo leg.
Mateo, however didn't flinch nor buckle under his new injury. He still stood as he was, looking at the Captain with an annoyed look on his face. "Tsk, really? The golem can heal wounds as well."
"Hmm, really now? Healing magic?" his voice was piqued with curiosity, "Adjustments can be made."
The captain motioned once more. The soldier's dagger moved and sliced an artery in Mateo's leg. Mateo looked shocked as blood began to gush out like a river.
"I suggest you run back now," the Captain articulately replied, "Have a hearty meal tonight. We will leave at a moment's notice."
Mateo gave the man one last furious stare as he ran towards his group at full speed, swearing along the way.
Once the Ostian was far away enough, the Captain jumped down from his vantage spot. In his hand was a metal device he had fished from his pocket.
"Prepare the body. The Lieutenant still isn't relieved of his duties just yet."
A few more soldiers arrived from the thicket and began moving the corpse in position.
"Your Empire still has need of you, Lieutenant Nils. One last fight for your Emperor."
He began to configure the little remote in his hands. Captain Becard Amatsson let out a hint of smile.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Serphio
Serphio Not quite dead yet. God it's been over two years I know. Two years of this in my head but I couldn't never figure out a way to write it to my liking and I just been putting it off. Honestly, the worst part of just me being afraid of writing this story again, wondering if it'll still be the same. There's a few more chapters I have to burn through but at least I'm somewhat satisfied with this one. Once again, I'm sorry for the rough quality. Thank you all for support over the years.
One last thing. This current story arc is called "The Hunt and the Harvest".
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone