章節 28: Never Split the Party

Yae looked with some awe at the card that made the lawman just go away. Wandering heroes usually had problems with corrupt lawmen, because fighting back from corrupt charges would turn them into criminals. Why would the local lord believe some random stranger over their own insider?

/"That was still a stupid plan, Player, because what would you have done if he called your bluff? I know you won't risk being put in jail where they would risk taking me from your face… I'm too fragile. All technology is irreplaceable,"/ Monika hissed through clenched, nervous teeth. /"Though I guess there really isn't anything anyone can do if we just decided to blast and run. There may be plenty of other stronger adventurers than us, but probably none of them can FLY./

/"It would still be very unscrupulous and cowardly though. I think the girls would have been very disappointed in you."/

I was not so sure about that. I had a strong feeling Elze would enjoy the infamy. I agreed that it would have been much simpler to pay them off, but setting a precedent like that… well, what sort of person do I want to become? It is one thing to obey the law, it is another to mistake petty functionaries as the law.

If I allowed myself to be intimidated by just that, then how could I expect to stand up to greater evils? I wore the face of a man who sought to topple whole governments, and for all his faults one could not say Char was not brave in the face of overwhelming odds.

Besides, they're not getting any of my damn hard-earned money! I was willing to pay taxes just fine. With them I buy civilization. Corruption can just bite my ass!

My attention pulled back to what Yae was saying. "We have heard of the Guild cards even at Eashen. In some ways, I am traveling because of the tales told in my homeland about adventurers, that is so."

"There's no Guild at Eashen?" I asked.

"There is no such thing nor any need for it. Lords and town councils post bounties sometimes, but the ronin have no protections, they do not."

I nodded. This was why the Guild would have great difficulty expanding into Eashen, the local lords would not see any good incentive to diluting their authority.

Linze hesitantly commented "I think that was kind of mean, Sir Zah. They were just doing their jobs."

"Were they? I'm not sure…" I said with frown. "I have a strange feeling there's something deeper going on here, a rich town like this should not be having troubles out in the street. Lack of peace is not a problem with the town guard, it's a point of shame for the mayor or the lord in charge. This sort of thing… should not be happening at all."

Crime gangs actually taking territory would ironically also manage to keep the peace. Swaggering toughs like from earlier would swiftly be taken out, no one gets to challenge them on their own turf. If Yae had caused trouble in, say, a Yakuza or Mafia place – they wouldn't make such a public display out of it. That's just exposing their shame.

The case to recover their standing would only have been once they found her broken mutilated body in the morning.

Adventurers should not be a problem, since competent crime syndicates would seek to recruit adventurers into their ranks. Even the police force should have retired adventurers too.

No, this place made no sense on both on the criminal and the legal level. What drives a ruffian flash mob, really? Maybe there was some cultural imperative in this other world that I was missing.

But even if this place was some fantasy Gotham, it was still not my problem. I magicked some ice cubes onto the red wine on my glass and swirled it around before taking a few thoughtful sips. We had a job to do.

Why was that waiter cringing at me? What, is something wrong with putting ice on red wine?

"So what's your plan going from here? You said earlier that you wanted to head to the capital…?" Elze asked Yae.

"Yes, there is someone in this country's capital who did a great deal of help to my father in the past. I was considering going to meet this person myself, this is so."

"Then why not come with us? We're actually heading for the city ourselves for a quest. There's still room in the wagon, and that would be easier for you too, right?"

"Truly?" Yae perked up. "In truth I could not ask for a more appealing offer, but…" She looked hesitantly towards me, "are you truly fine with someone like myself?"

"Elze, a word if you please?"

"Sure."

We both stood up and went over to stand next to a wall. There, I whispered to her hurriedly "What are you thinking?!"

"What's wrong? We're headed the same way, and I think it would be useful to have another fighter in the group. Linze ends up being unprotected when we both end up charging in."

"That… is a valid point," I had to agree. "But my point is that with bringing along a stranger Monika can't talk openly with us anymore. I won't force her to shut up, not again."

Elze tilted her head to the side. "Why not? Why can't she just keep on talking openly with us?"

"Why? Because…"

Huh.

"I don't think Miss Monika needs to hide herself at all!" Elze added. "Yes, it would look crazy to be talking no one, but it's slightly less crazy when that no one is answering back instead of just talking to yourself. Miss Monika sounds like a spirit following you around, and if she's a spirit then no one will think there's anything of her that they can steal…"

Then she pointed at my face, "and if they try anyway, they're going to be trying all the wrong things to capture a spirit!"

That… that was a very good point, actually.

Running through the possible arguments in my head, it sounded like I was just being selfish trying to keep her to myself and as few I dared let into my inner circle of friends than trying to protect her.

/"Good job, Elze. You certainly convinced me,"/ said Monika.

I put my hands on her shoulders and sighed, bowing slightly. "Thank you. Thank you, Elze. You're such a good friend."

"Y-yeeeees. That is certainly why I'm doing this. Yup."

"We've discussed it, and it would be our honor to have you as a companion." I made a little waving gesture towards Linze, because she was giving me a doubtful look probably just as concerned about the issue I had raised with Elze earlier. "It's fine, we'll deal with all problems as they arise."

"Thank you, Playa-san, it is indeed an honor to join you as well, it is."

"We should leave as early as possible," Elze added. "Where are you staying?"

"I was… planning on staying under the stars tonight?" She didn't look away, but firmly matched our gazes. She didn't have a penny to her name, but she would not be ashamed of it either.

"Unacceptable," I replied instantly. "Look, let's all take the same inn. It will be safer that way."

"It's dangerous to sleep outside by yourself," Linze muttered slowly.

"No, not at all. I could not possibly place myself even more in your debt, I could not. I do not wish to impose." Even if we tried to lend her any money she would just refuse to take it. It was less stubborn pride as much stubborn self-reliance… she was still a samurai daughter, after all. Putting herself in someone else's debt curtailed her freedom.

I shook my head. Maybe there was a way to speak to her sense of values. "I know how to manage a mercenary company-"

/"… well I guess that is something that you could indeed say, [MechCommander],"/ Monika interrupted with a mocking grin.

"… and it is my responsibility that every member of my unit is combat-ready. The comfort of a good sleep is the most basic of my obligations. Don't try to fight me on this, I won't have any of us at anything less than full fighting strength. If you try to sleep outside the walls, that's splitting our forces."

Never split the party. Never. It doesn't matter if you're adventurers or a lance of BattleMechs. Concentrate force and cover each other's sixes!

"Being an adventurer is nice," Elze noted. "You get to fight strong enemies of all sorts and you get paid for it. We could show you how to register once we reach the capital, if you'd like. The Guild doesn't really expect much from its adventurers, you know – there's no oath of loyalty or anything. It's actually very simple!"

"That… does sound appealing, yes it does." Yae looked at me for a few long moments. "Very well, I will obey the needs of our battle plan, Playa-san. I understand when we must move under one command, that I do."

The restaurant vastly overcharged us for the trouble we brought in, of course, but I was happy enough to pay that. At least they provided a tangible good for us to enjoy.

"You haveta pay an exit toll!" the gate guard said with a heavy scowl, and several others around him laid their hands on the hilt of their swords.

I nodded and replied "Four bottles of house wine from Petrov's Place." I brought out four wine bottles from last night's restaurant, all securely bound together by rope.

The guards looked at each other, and the one on the far left shrugged. Sure, money would be the norm but there were things that even their money would usually not buy due to the merchants refusing to do business with people who looked too scruffy.

"Good enough," the guard in front of us happily accepted the bribe. Yae urged the horse forward. Elze and Linze sat at the back, our baggage mainly packed restaurant take-out in magic ice boxes.

And that was how we safely and completely without acquiring any extra hassle or stupid revenge quests left Amanesque very early in the morning.

/"I was really worried we'd have to fight through all the town guards and then anger the local lord and then have to fight through his forces until we needed break through into his manor and hold him hostage and then afterwards have to deal with bounty hunters."/

If we had been the typical hot-headed egotistical idiot adventurers, that might have happened. They might have had fun watching the knights, who trained specifically to defeat other humans than monsters, beat us down.

After you defeat mob, then you have to fight mid boss then you have to fight the boss, and then behind him you have to then fight his relatives.

Pfft. But I was like Jackie Chan. I don't wan' no trabble. Only fight when you need to, this is what every serious martial art teaches. A person who loses control over little things can't deal with larger business.

Real martial artists are not hot-headed morons. Even Bruce Lee was not someone you considered dangerous to be around with; one should feel safe with the strong, not intuitively feel they cannot be trusted because they reek of blood and unpredictable slaughter. Gurkhas are some of the most badass and fearless humans to ever live, but you don't ever see them stop smiling and being nice.

The truly strong can shoulder responsibility for others.

"Monika, might makes right escalation only works when there's no centralized power or authority like a King or an Emperor to force lesser nobles to at least pay lip service to certain bounds of decency or common law. Failure to keep the peace also makes them lose face from being unable to control their own subjects. Adventurers are part of the economy; we can shamelessly take advantage of this deficiency in the market when we have more time. We can easily make use of higher authority when we don't act like violent criminal thugs. Don't meet force with force, meet force with /blackmail/.

"In the end, I just Don't Give a Shit about this noble and his hangups about adventures to take action. Unimportant people should just be ignored, less hassle that way. Reacting to them is just giving them more attention than they deserve. And so, here we are, free and clear, and not wanted criminals."

The thing with murderhobos is that they are hobos. I am a person that can live easy and free and hold real estate!

Yae eeped and started looking around. "What was that just now?!"