RSTUM 95 (Patreon)

95: Minerva

The Marth barony consisted of many rural villages and a big garrison. Such baronies would hold a gathering for their citizens at a central land between all the villages to hold a weekly market for exchanging food and goods.

Upon hearing news of this local market, Vadim, who was adamant about not wasting any more time, was the one to suggest a detour.

Rather than his love for rich dairy products and local county ghee, he wanted to make a disguise for Leon, one that would make it so that he can cross the coming checkpoint without being sniffed by the Royal Hounds.

The Bison that Leon rides was one of the many different creatures in this world that are used as mounts. While nothing tops a real horse in both stamina and speed, many domesticated monsters possess various traits that would give horses a run for their money.

Wholly Buffalos, Giant Capybaras, Great Rams, and Axetriches (ostrich with an axe-like peek) were some of the mundane yet rare means of transportation Merchants and Mercenaries favor to pick. Nobles and Wizards would sometimes employ Winged Horses, Magic Golems, Griffins, or Hippogryphs but they are considered high-cost means of transportation and are better suited to battle rather than traveling.

As for the Assassin Bison, Leon caught that one by a strange miracle, and it doesn't look any different than a regular bison except for the moss covering its fur and its mean-looking long horns. And so with the right amount of money, Vadim paid some village women to equip the Bison with a saddle and enough baskets on both sides to pass for a merchant mount. He even added some decorations on the horns and marked the Bison with many paints across its fur to appear like it is a regular wholly beast of burden.

"So that's your big plan, make Diesel look like a hippie and dress me like a merchant." Leon asked.

"Yes. And I'll be the mercenary escorting you." Vadim nodded with a big smile.

"On a Dire Wolf?" Leon asked again.

"Exactly." Vadim nodded again.

Leon looked at his side seeing the Assassin Bison calmly chewing grass as it turned to him and exhaled out a breath of digested hey at his face.

"Remind me again, what was your role in a mercenary party before?" Leon asked.

"I was the leader." Vadim replied proudly.

"Did you do strategy?"

"No, that was Elenaor."

"Did you oversee training?"

"No, that was Erielle."

"Did you at least manage the books?"

"No, that was Anna."

"Did you scout?"

"No, that was someone else… Just… What are you trying to say?"

"What was your role then?"

"I was the main frontliner and the face of the party at negotiations."

"No wonder."

So Vadim was the loud muscle guy, the kind of guy who would be relieved if Stealth was optional in a mission.

"Alright, let me break to you how stealth works." Leon spoke, "First, you blend in your surroundings; second, you don't raise suspicions; and third, you leave no trace behind."

"You lost me at the second." Vadim said.

"For fuck's sake." Leon rolled his eyes, "Just let me handle the clothing thing."

Leon walked away leaving Vadim with Diesel and headed into the market where the villagers sell their handmade clothes. He was planning to pick what the ladies would recommend knowing his style in clothing is just black on black, which isn't any better than what Vadim would dress him in.

"Have you heard the news?"

"What news?"

"Some returning pilgrims have appeared on the road heading to the east."

"Pilgrims? At this time of year. That's a month too early."

"I know, right? Were the Ministers not generous enough to the people at this year's festival?"

"My ma has gone to the pilgrim this year, this means that she's only a couple of days before she arrives."

Leon overheard that conversation in the market between a man and a woman who were selling clothes. According to them, the Pilgrims who would travel to the Yearly Festival at Saint Lanus, the City of Light, shouldn't return before a month from now but some started appearing.

This was an opportunity!

Immediately, Leon returned to Vadim and told him what he heard. Hearing this, even Vadim could tell what Leon was going for. They would dress like Pilgrims who returned from St Lanus.

"How can we pose as Pilgrims?" Leon asked.

"Those who go to the Pilgrim don't wear anything specific but those who return must always wear white clothes and olive wreath. The rich would dress in silk and buy wreaths of gold and silver while the poor would wear cotton or linen and wear wreaths of actual olive."

"We'd definitely pass for poor folk." Leon said.

"I am a prince and you are technically one too."

"Say that to the ground you've been sleeping on." Leon said, "Is it culturally strange for a Dwarf to make a pilgrimage to the light?"

"Dwarves lean more towards Fire veneration but no, it is not uncommon."

"And you said your Dwarven Homeland is in the east. This is a good pass."

The two nodded to each other and their disguises were ready in less than a minute. Even better, Diesel's new appearance as a regular bull-like beast of burden was perfect with their white Roman-like togas and wreaths. And with that, they were back on the road again.

Unlike before, Leon and Vadim decided to make the Dire Wolf follow them from a distance while avoiding the road and the two of them rode on Diesel together, which was large enough to accommodate the two of them and would take 3 more people.

From that point, they attempted to search and ask for any group of pilgrims while pretending to be pilgrims who got separated from their caravan while visiting the local market for a quick restock. It took them less than two hours before finding one.

As they joined their fellow pilgrims, they repeated the same process and asked for a different caravan while keeping the act that they were separated from their original caravan. This would provide them with a cover story and it would easily make them accepted as fellow pilgrims who were heading home.

"This is exciting, way too exciting to keep still! My first assignment."

"Senior Sister, you have been excited since the moment we entered Amber. You can tone it down a notch."

"It is my ancestral land. I've always dreamed of visiting the fair meadows and ancient forests. Saint Lanus is just too barren compared to this blissful place."

"Sister! The holy land… Just don't let anyone hear you saying that again."

"Fufufu!"

Two ladies in white dresses were conversing in a harmonious atmosphere as they sat on top of a wagon that was transferring grains and food as supplies for the caravan.

"Ladies!" At that time, Vadim approached the wagon and greeted the ladies with a big smile and a wheat straw between his teeth.

The two ladies turned to Vadim, one with the cheerful mode she was in and the other with a bit of a passive attitude.

"Master Dwarf!" The cheerful one replied.

"Oh! Excuse me manners!" Vadim immediately apologized, "Never thought I would run into Minster. I beg your pardon."

What Vadim noticed was the type of dress this Minister Lady was wearing. She looked youthful and young for the status but she was in a white dress gilded with three lines of straight golden embroidery. The dress of a Minster, a figure of authority from the Temple of Light.

"Not at all, Master Dwarf." However, the cheerful minister was down to earth and smiled widely to Vadim, "How may I be of service?"

"It is I who'd be honored to serve." Vadim replied with the friendliest tone ever, "We've bought grains and fresh food from the local market, sister of light. We were planning to restock our previous caravan but I am wondering if the wagon is low on supplies too."

"How generous!" The cheerful minster jumped off the large grain sack she was sitting on and helped her friend up, "Let me see. We have a sack of grain, two barrels of water, honey, wine… oh, we are short on flour."

"Your lucky day then, sister." Vadim said, looking at Leon, "Bring up a full sack."

Without losing any balance, Leon stood on the large saddle of the bison and opened one of the large baskets on its side. With one hand, he lifted a sack that seemed almost as large as he is and jumped with it onto the wagon.

"Excuse me." He said and laid the sack of flour beside the large grain sack.

"My! You're a strong brother." The cheerful minister complemented Leon who looked down and acted awkwardly before jumping back behind Vadim.

In truth, Leon was stealing some peaks at that woman since he heard her laugh and for a moment there, he lost his cool and so he decided to keep on the dumb awkward act.

She was a charmer of a woman. A brunette with brown hair and a warm skin tone. Her body was feminine and got the right curves in the right places. She even had the scent of a spring garden that mimicked cherry and peach flowers. Even as a minister whose official dress was very conservative and modest, many couldn't help gawking at her as she spoke with her friend and laughed cheerfully.

Still, with Leon's awkward act, she felt a bit awkward too with her friendly comment getting ignored and so she sat back down on the grain sack.

"Well, glad we were of help, sister of light." Vadim said and got hold of the reins that held the bison by his horns.

"You are from Amber, Master Dwarf?" Still, that woman kept the conversation going with Vadim.

"Born and raised." Vadim replied, "Most dwarves you'll meet come from Mt. Dane and Mt. Quarym but I hail from Mt. Dandarus near Blackwood."

"I'm not familiar with the topography of the east yet but in which Duchy is the Eastern Regional Temple of Amber?"

"Ah! That'd be at the border point between most of the duchies near Mt. Ash."

"Is it any close to any Dwarf Kingdom?"

"No. The closest is my home Dandarus but it is a fair distance to the northeast. The closest human city would be the marine city of Moonvale."

"Yes, yes, yes… Amazing!" The cheerful minister put her face in a notebook and started recording all of Vadim's geographical knowledge. She then paused as if she felt she was rude and then introduced herself, "I am Minister Minerva from the City of St. Lanus but Amber is my ancestral home."

"Pleasure to meetcha!" Vadim replied, "I am Yafim son of Ivan and that's my traveling companion Ricardo." And he pointed at Leon.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too, Master Yafim and young Ricardo." Minerva said.

"I'd take my leave then, Sister Minerva." Vadim said and steered the bison away.

"Let's talk again sometime." Minerva said with a big smile.

"It would be a pleasure." Vadim said with a wide smile before turning to Leon and speaking with a grin, "How nice it is to be young! Hehe!"

Leon kept his silence but as soon as they were at a fair distance, he spoke.

"That's one scary meeting." He said.

"Aye! We tried to leave an impression on the other pilgrims but I'm afraid we were seen in a bad light." Vadim replied.

The two had killer instincts and as soon as they started a conversation with that Minister Minerva without taking note of her identity as a Minister beforehand, many sharp auras were felt in their surroundings, especially from the pilgrims who were on horseback.

"Did we attract some unwanted attention?" Leon asked.

"The Temple of Light is not our concern and neither we are theirs." Vadim said.

"The temple of Light… how do they operate exactly?" Leon asked again.

"A large organization, they hold the nations together even those who do not believe in their dogma. Their symbol is the Sun as you know and their ranks are vast." Vadim replied.

"And their members."

"There are two kinds, the Clergy and the Holy Knight." Vadim said, "They have ranks like Acolytes, Clerics, Ministers, High Ministers, and Arch Ministers. The holy knights are Cadets, Holy Guards, Inquisitor Knight, Inquisitor Judge, and the Grandmaster of the Inquisition. Those two branches all fall under the authority of the Supreme Anchorite which is the prophetess who communes with the Holy Mother."

[A/n: The Clergy ranks are based on the Church ranks. Clerics are Deacons, Clerics are Priests, Ministers are Bishops, High Ministers are Archbishops, and Arch Ministers are Cardinals. The Supreme Anchorite is the Pope and the Holy Mother is the figure of divinity.]

"That's oddly authoritarian." Leon scratched his chin.

"Tell me about it." Vadim shrugged his shoulders.

"This makes that Minerva lady a big shot, that's why she had such a heavy secret escort." Leon concluded.

"She's carefree though." Vadim added.

"People don't get to be so carefree when they are accompanied by heavy security detail." Leon analyzed, "Either she grew up this way or she has no idea she's under this much protection."

"To be frank with ya, lad, I'm very pleased you've got such good senses and knowledge but it still terrifies me." Vadim laughed.

"Whatever it is, it is not our business. This caravan will be perfect to avoid capture and get to safe lands." Leon said.

*Aye! We're approaching the Marth Bridge soon. I think I can see its towers."

Vadim had his eyes sharpened and made sure to be at the center of the caravan to have the best amount of cover.

"The rest should be around the bridge somewhere." Vadim said.

"We can't rely on them. They will attract attention." Leon said.

"That's what we're counting on." Vadim said as if he was following some sort of a plan.

It was simple for Leon to figure it out. Vadim and the others were hoping to create a diversion for the pursuers that are watching the bridge to follow and allow Leon to pass. Practically, this is the best strategy possible in this situation.

Still, the lack of communication and reconnaissance is bad in this situation. Leon had his own Plan B laid down in case Plan A goes to shit… which he was sure it will for some reason.

Aside from the fact that he can't do a Reading on the people around him in this situation, because it can be sensed by magic-adept people, he needs to rush this situation through which is not his style.

As the pilgrims' caravan grew closer to the Marth Garrison that overlooks the bridge, something unexpected seemed to be happening, so unexpected that when Vadim tried to look back at Leon, he found that he evaporated from his place with no trace left behind.

"Shit! Shit! Fucking shit! They are not hunting us from the shadows anymore." Vadim panicked but as he turned around, he saw Minerva looking at him with wide eyes.

What happened just now was that the Knights of the Marth Barony, accompanied by a large group of soldiers on both sides of the road stopped the caravan and started searching everyone. In their hands, they had posters for not just Leon, but also Vadim, Erielle, Eleanor, Lance, Lara, and a number of their known associates.

Leading the Marth Knights was a man clad in black armor and wearing a vicious helmet that took the shape of a wolf or a hound.

"Conri Marth!" Vadim recognized the man immediately.

Lord of the Marth Barony and a vicious bastard that serves the Royal Family. Not just that, he is someone who has a personal vendetta against Leon.

His son is Eric Marth, the knight who served as the bodyguard of Prince Edward and the one Leon killed during his escape at the bridge leading to the Northern District.

Vadim looked around him and aside from Minerva, nobody has looked at them as well as she and the Caravan's leader.

Vadim looked at Minerva, who seemed like the only one who noticed their identity. He let out a sigh then put his hand in one of the grain sacks and pulled out his Warhammer.

"Smelly Bastards! Ya're looking for me!" He shouted as all eyes landed on him.

And then the chase began.