Arielle felt her eyebrows knit together when she heard Ian’s response and she couldn’t help blurting out a question.
“The Crimson Cult?”
“Yes my liege-lady, a couple weeks ago, a supply convoy travelling to Belmud was raided by members of the Crimson Cult. Although the defenders managed to fend off the attackers, they took heavy casualties and lost two carriages as well as a couple dozen horses.”
A supply convoy? Why would the Crimson Cult be interested in a mere supply convoy?
She felt a sense of unease as she listened to the contents of Ian’s report, prompting her to inquire more about the event.
“And where is this caravan now?”
“Well… that’s the thing my liege-lady…”
Ian seemed hesitant as he paused for a few short moments before he continued speaking.
“A few days after the incident they all… disappeared. The entire caravan never arrived at its next destination, Miyani. The crew, the carriages, everything. They’re all gone.”
Arielle felt her teeth subconsciously grit together behind her lips as she fell into deep contemplation after Ian recounted his report. It would seem that this mission was significantly more complicated and difficult than what she originally expected. Before she had even set out from Riliana, the Crimson Cult already made their move, even if it was only once.
On the other hand, she had only just settled in and started her investigations. It was clear as day that the goods being transported by the supply caravan wasn’t the Crimson Cult’s target. However, she also couldn’t confirm whether their target was the transmigrator who was with the caravan for some reason or if the cult had a completely unrelated goal.
Regardless, it was impossible for Arielle to investigate further into the matter. It didn’t matter who was responsible for the disappearance of the caravan, everyone who was involved in the incident was either dead or long gone. Thus, she could only make educated guesses and assumptions.
The more she thought over her current situation, the more Arielle felt her heart surge with anger.
She excelled at intricate court diplomacy and large-scale open battles, not hunting down cowards who rarely left the shadows. While she was still capable of conducting manhunts to a satisfying degree, it only took one evening for her to realise that she was clearly out of her element.
The only logical move was to swallow her pride and enlist outside aid. Not from Duke Katsuragi and his pegasus knights for they two were ill-suited for this type of mission. Instead, the aid she was interested in enlisting was far more ‘pious’ to say the very least.
Although she would rather work with those arrogant knights over those pompous pious people, objectivity took precedence over personal preference. As such, the right decision to make was obvious.
“Ian.”
“Yes my liege-lady?”
After confirming that she had his attention, she turned her attention towards the city below her as she spoke.
“Send a message to the Inquisition's Headquarters of this city. I believe that dealing with heretics is their speciality.”
With a slightly hesitant tone, Ian replied.
“Excuse me for my rudeness my liege-lady, but do we really require their aid?”
Arielle didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she surveyed the large sprawling city for half a minute before she answered.
“The best way to deal with problems such as the one we are currently faced with is to treat this entire city as if it belongs to us, perhaps pretend that it is our ‘house.’ And now pretend that ‘our house’ has been infested with vermin. Sir Ian, in that situation, how would you deal with those vermin?”
Ian only said a single sentence in response.
“I would call an exterminator.”
…
The next day, at the northernmost tip of the Valhan Mountain Range, two men flanked by a squadron of skeleton knights and a horde of skeleton goblins approached the entrance of what appeared to be an abandoned mineshaft. If it weren’t for the dilapidated wooden support beams, the entrance of the mineshaft could have been easily mistaken for a natural cave formation.
“After you my lord.”
Walter made a joking remark towards Thyvin as the two stood at the entrance. With a similarly joking tone, Thyvin made his reply.
“You jest too much my lord. We already agreed to ‘allow’ the skeleton goblins to go ahead.”
“But of course.”
Making the best use of the skeleton goblins, a group of them lead the way into the cave with torches and weapons in hand as cannon fodder. Even as Walter, Thyvin, and the skeleton knights followed behind the skeleton goblins, there were still many more that trudged beside and behind them, forming a ‘wall of bones’ to protect their master.
At first, the narrow mineshaft remained cramped and confined, especially with the amount of skeletons that were part of the expedition. Apart from the sound of heavy footsteps and equipment clanking, nothing else but ambient noises could be heard. Eventually, after walking down the mine’s corridor for a long while they reached a large open space.
Before, the light of the torches was able to touch the walls and ceiling of the mine’s corridor. Now, instead of being enclosed by mossy stone walls, they were surrounded by darkness. No matter how far the light reached, they would still be met with nothing but darkness. Such a sight would have made Walter feel uneasy if he wasn’t surrounded by skeleton goblins.
There was also the notion that he may be immortal that made him feel a greater sense of ease. Out of everything that Walter has done so far, this gambit was perhaps the riskiest gamble that he had ever partook in. Soon, Thyvin quietly whispered in a volume that was just loud enough for Walter to hear.
“Some of the goblin skeletons died.”
“Then I guess that it’s time.”
To his own surprise, Walter found that he was quite confident as he made his way out of the crowd with a torch in hand. Conversely, Thyvin stayed behind the wall of bones which continued to protect him. As he made his way towards the front, he casually checked one of his inner pockets with his hand.
When he felt the sensation of a cold metal object, he smiled to himself in a self-assured manner before he glanced behind him. There, he could see that Thyvin and his skeletons haven’t moved from their spot, remaining near the corridor and perhaps ready to escape should the moment call for it.
The one who is capable of manipulating life is afraid of death. How ironic.
After making a mental quip to himself, Walter took another step forward before he shouted aloud in a nonchalant manner.
“You can all stop hiding now! We know you’re out there! Why don’t you come out so we can have a friendly chat!?”
“...”
Nothing but silence prevailed for a short moment until finally, they heard a voice which came from the darkness. One that was deep, hoarse, and gravelly, often being interrupted by its own sniffs and stutters.
“M-man-thing, you-you come to talk-speak with u-us?”
“I haven’t just come here to talk.”
Walter calmly responded to the voice in the dark.
“I’ve come here to make a deal.”
“...”
Once again, the voice in the shadows remained silent before–
“Guaha! Guahahahahahaha!”
The voice started laughing maniacally.
“Guahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”
Within a few seconds, more voices joined the first voice in laughing, all of which were similarly hoarse and gravelly. Amidst the choir of mad laughter, the original voice spoke up.
“A no-fur wants t-to make-create a d-deal-deal?!”
As it was speaking, Walter saw a myriad of beady eyes suddenly appear in the darkness, the light of the torch flames being reflected in each one. Each pair of eyes stood at a height which was only slightly above half of an average man’s height and with every passing second, another pair of beady eyes would emerge.
But out of all those beady eyes, there was a pair that was larger than the rest and stood at a taller height. It was also the one at the front. Soon enough, the owner of those eyes stepped out of the darkness and into the light, revealing its rather unpleasant appearance.
It was a creature which stood at the same height as Walter despite its hunched back. Its lean figure somehow managed to bear its shoddy armour which consisted of multiple metal pieces of varying thickness hastily stuck together through various means. In its hand was an equally crude metal ‘sword’ which had multiple scratches and stains on its surface.
Its skin was covered by black, matted and probably dirty fur. With its mouth hung half open, it revealed its disgusting array of yellow fangs, the two frontmost ones being far larger than the rest. A naked tail which sprouted from its tailbone slowly swished left to right while the whiskers on its nose vibrated violently as it sniffed quickly.
Although the creature possessed a long snout, Walter was vaguely able to see its ‘smile.’ The creature was a being which resembled a rat standing on its hind legs in parody of a human, the aptly named ‘rattman.’ Obviously, the other beady eyes in the darkness were all rattmen too, following their leader into the light.
Unlike the first one, the other rattmen were all considerably shorter and had matted brown fur instead of black. While some stood on two legs, there were some who supported their body with one or both of their hands. In stark contrast to the initial rattman, these rattmen wore thin clothes that seemed to crafted from their own fur instead of metal armour.
Yet Walter was unphased by the leading rattman’s monstrous figure. He had already seen and interacted with malicious and imposing demons which dwarfed both Walter and this rattman in size. In comparison to what he experienced in the ‘afterlife,’ this rattman looked no more horrifying than a typical man.
As such, Walter remained calm and even replied to the rattman in a casual tone.
“Of course, I want to make a deal. I assume that you are the leader of your… community?”
“Impudent man-thing!”
Apparently offended, the rattman furiously bellowed.
“I am-am the Warlord of-of Clan Primis! Rootek Blackfur! To-to not cower-quail, you-you must have a d-death-wish!”
“Why should I cower in front of you?”
However, Walter only ‘impudently’ replied.
“Based on just your looks, you don’t appear to be any sort of threat to me. Your malnourished body tells me that you are running low on food while your crude equipement tells me that you lack resources. Fortunately for you, I am willing to grant you both of those things in exchange for you services.”
“...”
Rootek stayed quiet for a short moment before–
“Gnahhh!”
He shouted before he pounced on Walter, closing the distance in an instant. Before Walter could even process what had just happened, he felt a sudden tremendous weight which knocked him onto the floor as well as a sharp stabbing pain in his stomach. Glancing at the area where the pain originated from, he found that he was impaled by Rootek’s sword.
A second later, Walter heard Rootek’s guttural voice taunt him.
“I am-am l-low on food-food you say-speak?!”
While Rootek spoke, Walter fiddled with his coat as he attempted to retrieve an item from one of his inner pockets. A mere second later, he felt drool drop on his face as Rootek opened his jaw and turned his head perpendicularly, seemingly preparing to rip out Walter’s throat with his teeth.
“Then I eat-eats you!”
But before Rootek can move in for the kill, Walter managed to pull out the weapon from his coat and ‘aimed’ it towards Rootek’s head.
Bang!
A bright flash of light erupted from the ‘metal bar’ in his hands and was accompanied by the sound of bones crunching before Rootek’s body collapsed backwards. Not long after, Walter stood back up, Rootek’s blade still embedded in his stomach.
Ignoring the pain, he turned his attention towards the rest of the rattmen who remained on the sidelines.
“I am Walter Faust and I’m going to grant all of you two choices!”
No rattmen dared interrupt the emerald-eyed man’s speech.
“You can your pledge allegiance to me now and be gifted with food beyond your imagination! Or, you can flee and throw away your chance for a better existence!”
One by one, each rattman slowly prostrated onto the ground, each one proclaiming the same sentence as they kneeled.
“I serve-obey Walter Faust.”
