Chapter 26: Mistakes

Just now, a voice went through my head

"Kill them, kill them all. Leave none behind"

I am sure that this is the voice of someone who has a great grudge against Nortus.

This forest is quite cursed.

"Mister, did you hear that?"

"Don't reply to it. It may drag your soul"

When night falls, we settle a camp.

I am the one who watches for the night as usual.

Sharpening dagger, clean up gun and carve

I should check black powder bags.

Not dampened at all

I take a piece of wood and carve some marks.

I remember some marks from the tavern. Complicated and mesmerising

They say if you want to suppress your bloodlust, vent it on a board.

My anger never rests. After all, I want to lop that king's head off but that is too quick.

Savor the taste by slowly destroying the kingdom in hundreds of years.

That is another reason why people usually see me carving things with my dagger at taverns.

The people are not my targets because I am not a savage who cleaves all things in front of my windows. Justice doesn't come from lopping people's heads randomly.

It comes from killing someone as painfully as they deserve to be

****

Arriving at Nakitel, it is still as busy as ever for a frontier village.

People murmur, the sound of the whip on horses and blade sharpening at blacksmiths.

Unload all goods, check items and finally, lay down on an armchair.

I am not tired but I want to think about something for a while.

When we left this village for a flight, I felt an undead presence. A rotting stench was faint but it was still there. When I came back here, the rotting stench was still here. He is still around, possibly lurking for a prey or trying to meet someone indirectly in the night.

****

I am on my way to the tavern for rumors.

Dagger and a gun. They are things that I will need.

Ten and black powder bags on my left sack.

I sense something is wrong.

When the sight is revealed, I am relieved that it is not that again. If that happens again, …

I am not a nice saint who would spare others. I am just another wandering souls that seek for chances to kill.

"Consume them, Jarek. I know you want to do it. Weaker is discarded, strong can be useful."

What was that voice?

"Hiwan, don't you seek for a good fight? I know your hunger. Fill it"

Who was that?

"Dasmuth, poor soul. Aren't you a lonely one? You got friends and then they all died in a night. Don't you think that was from nature's call? I think not. Seek the Nortus and flay them alive"

Damn it, stop messing with me

"You tainted your hands with dogs' blood. Why don't you wash it with something stronger than them?"

Stop it

"You are a coward, an ignorant and an whoreson, Jehidas"

Shut up!

I snapped, I broke a mug. People gasped because a person like me just vented anger on something sudden.

"I am sorry for the inconvenience. All is on me. Here, host, it should cover more than the whole bar for five rounds."

I put a bag of gold coins on the counter.

Someone is tailing me. A robber? I ready my dagger. If he aims for my money, I will slice his throat.

If this is not a robber, then it must be…

A royal spy.

I had once encountered a royal spy as drake. He was sent to give me an urgent message. He was fast and discreet.

But now, I have to ready my gun as well.

Clack!

I keep walking, far away from the bar and people.

This place seems empty enough. But I have only one shot because a gun noise may cause him to run away and may wake up the whole village if I do not be careful.

"Why are you tailing me, undead?" I whisper

"I sense that you are not human. My instinct told me so. But it seems that you are also not an undead nor a demon. What are you? To be so careless about your back?" A voice flies through the wind

Klang!

A sword?

And a bow on his back with a quiver of arrows.

That crest, I had seen it before. That leaf with an arrow.

There is no mistake about it. I had fought that army dozens of times. But yet, they were hard to find. They were everywhere, from bush to leaf and beneath the ground.

My comrades were severely wounded countless times while fighting these cowards. Thundersticks took a long time to feed so they made their chances to attack while we had to make our shots worth.

This time, I am on guard with my gun ready.

Quietly point it on his spine located.

He notices it and disengages.

He takes aim in a split second.

Pew! Thack!

I parry it. Another one, damn it. I throw a bag of black powder on his face. He is stunned.

I quickly aim for his head and…

BANG!

A loud explosion can be heard from here.

He is heavily injured and retreats.

Villagers armed themselves and walked out.

"An undead was here. He is heavily injured and he retreated. We may chase after him next time. He is way too ahead, there is no point chasing him" I raise my dagger

People go back to their homes. The clear evidence of the battle was a few burned arrows and a piece of burned rotten flesh on the ground.

How could he hide his stench so well among people?

Isn't that undead like around a thousand years old or so?

The only answer to this was already known. was a royal elf assassin group and it was disbanded a few hundred years back. Because their tactics were brutal and sometimes considered inelegant back in that time. An undead elf can hide his stench if he is smart enough.

I encountered a few of those undead when I was Hiwan. They were an endless nightmare that kept me awake for months. The screaming of my soldiers, my subordinates and my people. We had to burn them before they killed more of us.

An intelligent undead elf's business is still a shroud of mystery.

Why is he here in Nakitel?

Possibly something related to Garcel Maebi? Or Malia Glank?

Or personal grudge with our lord here?

I can't tell.

I should head back and rest

****

"My lord! They are here!"

"Burn them! Burn them!"

"My baby? Where is she?"

"They are endless, my lord! It is hopeless!"

"Urgah!"

"Argh"

I am sorry.

I was late.

I underestimated them.

We should have had more guards. We should have had more oils. We should have had more weapons.

I am sorry

****

Twas a horrifying experience

What should I do next? It is now morning and I should try and find that undead?

No.

He fights better at night so there is no reason for him to be shown or careless during the day. Since that undead is capable of intelligent speech, it is harder to track him down than ghoul in the mud.

Smarter than ethereal undeads but yet stronger than a ghoul, it seems he could be a draugr.

Rotten corpse that is capable of thinking rationally and is very greedy.

Once this thing has eyed on a treasure, it relentlessly hunts the prey down until either one side dies.

****

I head outside. The sun is scorching hot and the people are in business as usual.

I have my dagger and my gun as usual. With some bullets in my bag and some supplies in my rucksack, these should be enough for a forest stroll.

I pretend to eat on the way so it is a change of habit. Although eating is not my priority nor my necessity, I should try to act normal.

On the way, I notice something gleaming. I don't have interest in treasures or relics but I should investigate since it could be a place where that undead gathered his loot.

****

I was right. There are relics and weapons. These look well-made and all of them are owned. I recognise swords from my customers and daggers from Loreahor. I recognise tools from mines near our villages. I recognise our lord's golden pen, sharp as blade but never tear a single paper.

I gather all of these items and get back to Nakitel. I should let those at the merchant guild know all of these lost items.

I walk back on the muddy way. Gun ready, dagger unsheathed, eyes searching for threats. I can sense an ambush.

Group of ten? No. It is a group of dozens. Not only humans, there are dwarves, elves and a single sandfolk.

"Show yourselves. I know there are 43 of you over there"

"We only have 42 people here. What do you mean by 43?" A girl's voice softly flies

"Who is that 43rd, ?"

"You guys are ambushing me or..."

"Not you, we are attempting to wait for that undead. And you just shortened our time to prepare."

"Fine, I will be with you guys"

****

"I am Narla Lorince, I am currently leading these idiots with me"

"But why are you so short for a girl?"

"I am a dwarf. I may speak like this because I have a good education from my hometown unlike those ruffians."

"Care to explain why you need so many people for an undead?"

"Simply, we have a bounty for this kind of problem and around 21 of us accept this quest at the same place while we are at Galima, 14 from Nakitel and 7 from Loreahor. Who is that 43rd that you sensed?"

"I don't know who but he is there"

"You sure not that undead?"

"I have a sharp nose"

"I understand"

There is no sandfolk in this group so my bet is that sandfolk there, just observing the progress or planning something. I don't think that guy is our ally.

He might kill all 42 mercenaries here.

The race he takes form now is a drake. I better watch out for him.