Chapter 9 - Company Politics

The siege goes on and time runs out. Over the course of a couple weeks, I've been gathering intel with Paul, and everything seems to be going well so far. The problem is that now I endure the grueling task of finding and recruiting suitable people for the strike group that will bring down the walls. I have never been the most sociable nor the most charismatic person, so I don't think it will be easy at all. I don't look forward to this.

Anyhow, there are other things to keep me occupied, the company's engineers have finally put their act together and deployed the new siege weapons. Currently, everyone is preoccupied with a prolonged bombardment operation to the enemy town using trebuchets and catapults. These machines are absolutely massive and more than twenty men are required to man each one of them. While they're impractical and expensive, they have more range than artillery magic and can't be countered by enemy support mages, so they still have a significant role in today's warfare. The trebuchets consist of massive wooden beams, slings and counterweights that are able to launch projectiles such as debris or boulders over large distances. It's a simple machine, but many improvements and auxiliary mechanisms have been added to improve the fire rare. They are apparently state-of-the-art Stracian military technology, although I'm not that impressed.

As powerful as these machines are, their firepower lacks in comparison to most high- energy spells artillery mages have at their disposal, so the damage they do to the town's thick, reinforced walls is negligible. As such, most projectiles are sent over the walls to target the civilian population of the town. This demoralizes the defenders and puts pressure on the Sulostan garrison.

Speaking of which, it's been roughly two years since the siege began. How are these poor bastards not starving yet? I figured the population of the enemy town must've been at least halved by now.

Such thoughts go through my mind as I observe the trebuchets continue launching debris to the enemy town. A sizable amount of our forces is currently on standby to protect the engineers and the siege weapons in case the Sulostans launch a sortie to attempt to stop the bombardment. It happens a lot; we lost our previous siege equipment during a sortie a couple months ago. Although I'm a sub-officer now, I'm still required to provide my services as an artillery mage every now and then. Thankfully, it doesn't look like the Sulostans are too keen on launching a sortie right now.

So, I just stand around staring into the distance. The scenery is as disgusting as always, I try to not pay much attention to it.

Regretfully, a young officer approaches me and ruins the little moment of "tranquility" I'm having right now.

"Are you Rose Thorne?" He asks as he scratches the back of his head.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Uh... The other officers have summoned you to an urgent meeting. Please report to the command headquarters."

I sigh. I don't like this at all. I had been hoping I could just stay away from the rest of the officer corps.

I step closer to him.

"What if I just don't? I'm not really in the mood right now."

"You kind of have to, Ms. It's an order from your superior after all. You know what happens to insubordinates..."

"Ugh. Fair enough."

"Uh, Ms.? You should probably be careful... Those men are not exactly a trustworthy bunch..."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks for the advice anyway..."

I set forth to the headquarters. The headquarters are a big tent right in the middle of our camp. This is where the staff of the commanding wing of the company gathers to discuss future plans, strategy and logistics. I've been doing my best to avoid this place ever since I started working for this company. Same as the infirmary.

Once I step inside, I see a bunch of mean looking officers sitting around waiting for me. There have been few times where I've felt more awkward.

I reluctantly sit down. They stare at me.

"...So, did you summon me here?" I say, trying to break the ice.

One of the officers, who I'm assuming has the highest rank, introduces himself as Phillip Engel. He has a leather eyepatch and terrible burn marks on his face, which indicate he has seen combat at some point, unlike most career officers and tacticians.

"Yeah, Ms. Thorne. We just wanted to ask you some questions."

"Go ahead."

I try to conceal my uneasiness. The officers surrounding us seem to pierce me with their gazes. I notice they're all armed.

"So, say Ms. Thorne, do you know anything about the two murders that happened a couple days ago?" Engel asks and I detect a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Fuck. Not this...

"I only know that they were messy." I reply.

"Interesting." He speaks.

"Yeah. What are you going on about?"

"We know you were involved with the murders, Thorne." He says while keeping a polite and professional tone. I hate it.

"Ha! Oh yeah, really? How exactly?" I make it a point to look irritated, insulted even.

"Some of our colleagues have stated that they saw you wandering around the night before the corpses were discovered. You're suspected to be the culprit." Another officer speaks.

"Well, I'm not sure what you're implying, but if you're keen on making unwarranted accusations, you're free to piss off to the local CULT office and report your 'suspicions' there." I point to the exit as I speak.

The officers exchange gazes. The Engel guy smirks ever so slightly.

"We'll sure do. Anyway, that's not the reason we summoned you here, Thorne."

"What is it, then?"

"As we all know, you were promoted to your current rank of sub-officer a couple weeks ago, but you haven't really been carrying out the expected duties of such a position. In fact, you have not involved yourself with the rest of the officer corps in the slightest."

"What have you been actually doing, Thorne?" Another one asks me.

I can't tell them anything about the special operation to breach the walls or the deal I struck with the Overseer. These men clearly do not have good intentions.

"A lot of reconnaissance, basically. I'm sorry, I can't give you all the details since it's a delicate matter." I dismiss them.

"Oh, yeah? So, it's true that you have been working closely with the Overseer then." Engel remarks.

I frown.

"I never said that."

"No, but we aren't stupid. We did a little investigation and found out that you have been reporting to him directly almost every other day."

 "..."

I suddenly feel threatened.

"Anyhow, Thorne. This is not a source of tension, but a great opportunity for all of us. You see, I personally really dislike the Operations Overseer. He is an old, dumb, incompetent man that has mismanaged the siege from the very beginning. It's his fault all our efforts to end the siege have been in vain so far." Engel explains nonchalantly and politely.

"Huh." I say, cautious.

"We suspect the Overseer is plotting something treacherous and vile, so we're hoping you, a close associate of his, could assist us in figuring out what he is actually planning for the betterment of our company. It would be a great help if you provided us with valuable insider information. You'd be handsomely compensated, of course." 

I squint my eyes and think. These guys are definitely the saboteurs the Overseer mentioned before, and they are asking me to spy on him. They said everything is the Overseer's fault, in contrast to what he himself said about it being the officer's fault instead. But who to believe? As far as I'm concerned, both of them could be lying or telling the truth.

Either way, I don't really care about all this dumb company politics drama. I just want to be on the winning side. The officers have made a decent offer for sure, but in the end, the Overseer has offered me a better deal, so I decide to remain loyal to him for now. Besides, he has implied that he already has a plan in motion to eliminate these guys. It's a bad idea to get on his bad side now, lest I get added to his hit list.

"I appreciate the offer, Mr. Engel, but I'm not interested." I state.

"Well then. She has placed her bets, gentlemen." Engel says.

Suddenly, all the officers unholster sidearm wands and point them at me. I scramble to get up and shoulder my staff to defend myself.

"You should have at least tried to be friendlier if you pretended to draw me to your side!" I remark as I point my staff directly at Engel.

"Noted."

Even though the situation devolved into a standoff, it's clear to all here that I won't survive if spells are cast. I am heavily outnumbered and surrounded from all sides.

"I'm sorry, Thorne. But we can't allow you to leave and continue hindering our business. You should have accepted the offer." Engel is completely unfazed by my weapon.

"I suppose no one will bat an eye if we execute you right now. You murdered two men, after all. Haha." He continues.

I feel my heart beating faster and the adrenaline flooding my blood stream. It's evident I won't be able to get out of this predicament using violence, I'll have to find another way.

For now, I transfer aether to my staff as a deterrent. The officers do so with their wands too.

"Move, one inch, and I'll cast an air-shatter spell! All of you will be shredded to pieces in an instant!" I threaten and raise my staff above my head to get in position to cast the spell.

"You wouldn't. The shock wave would kill you instantly too?" An officer says.

"Try me! Try me, I fucking swear!"

 "We can be here all day long, Thorne, so cut it out already. You're as good as dead."

I don't know what to do, so I intend to stall as much as possible until I get a chance to get out.

Every second that passes feels like an entire hour. No one dares to move an inch.

As my fingers tremble from the anxiety and fear, I notice there is a small lantern beside the table we just sat on. I kick the table slightly and the lantern tips, falls and breaks. The carpet on the floor is set on fire.

"HEY! What are you doing!?" An officer yells.

"You might want to put that fire out before the entire tent burns to the ground."

Engel scoffs.

"Ugh. Just take her down already, what are you waiting for?" He speaks.

"If we kill her right now, her spell will be released and we'll all die, Sir!"

"Do something then! Don't just stand around!" He barks.

Still, no one dares to move a muscle. The fire creeps across the carpet.

Then, someone is heard outside the tent. It's Paul's heavenly voice.

"Hello? Thorne, are you there? I've been looking for you for a while and I was told I could find you here..." He yells from outside.

I thank the gods for giving me an opportunity to escape unharmed and I yell back at him before these assholes can say anything.

"PAUL! Yeah, I'm here!"

"Are you okay? It smells like something's burning in there."

"Yeah! I'm just having a little bit of trouble, I'll come out in a bit..."

I exchange gazes with Engel. Seeing the standoff is going nowhere and that the fire will soon grow out of control, he is forced to let me go. He sighs heavily and makes a gesture with his hand, ordering the officers to make way.

"We'll be seeing you soon, Thorne." He says with a concerning tone.

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks for your hospitality..."

Still with my staff pointed up, I slowly back down all the way to the exit. Once outside, I grab Paul's wrist and hurry to leave the area as soon as possible.

"Wow! Why the hurry? Did you kill someone again?" He remarks sarcastically.

"Remember the thing you said about buying me a drink?"

"Yeah...?"

"I want that drink right now. Let's go."

We leave the camp in a hurry, lest to not be killed by those officer assholes. I fear for my life now, so it might be a good idea to keep Paul around once more since his detection spells could be useful in preventing me from getting fucking ambushed and killed.

Paul is confused, as always.

"I don't get you. You and your mood swings..."

"Fuck off."