Chapter LXXVIII – We the captains. (Patreon)

(Computer still in repair…)

55th of Summer, 5859
Commander-in-Chief’s Office, Azdavay

The former mayor’s office had found new purpose as the office of old John Brown. Not much had changed in the office though – Brown wasn’t expecting to stay here for much longer.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.” Commander-in-Chief John Brown greeted the newly appointed captains that were seated around him in a semi-circular fashion akin to a half-eaten donut. “I think we all know why we’re all gathered here.”

“Are we planning on sieging Casamonu?” asked Ayomide, former maid café worker turned revolutionary catgirl wizard turned captain. “Isn’t it a bit too quick? We’ve barely settled down here, what if we get kicked out of this town when we march out?”

“Quickly, quietly, and efficiently. That’s how we should operate, young lady. We should strike while the lords are in a tussle amongst themselves.”

“I’ve spent some time in the Adventurer’s Guild, talking to people there and learning what they think. The people there don’t seem to be looking to cause trouble, rather they’re just surprised that they’re still alive. I think we’ll do fine if we leave a small garrison.” replied Shinasi, former winesop adventurer turned winesop captain.

“That is true as well. If I was back home, we’d be having people shooting at us from every street corner if the slaves rose up and took control of their town.” Brown had assumed that their job would be much harder, but the common populace was seemingly more interested in obeying whoever was in charge rather than fighting for some vague notion of racial superiority, at least for now. “Those people would rather burn their whole town down if it meant that their town stayed ‘pure’.”

“Those people never went away, unfortunately.” added General Tubman, whose title hadn’t changed. “May the Lord have mercy on us.”

“And may the Lord have mercy on us if we do not liberate each and every last person on Gemeinplatz, or die on the way to that goal, for that is the least we can do. Ahem!” Brown exclaimed to get their attention back to the point. “Our faith will be dead without works, so let us return to the liberation of Casamonu. Now that our ranks have swelled to over a thousand, it is prudent that we organize our forces accordingly so that we may fight efficiently. We have four people here including me. That means that each of us will lead a company of troops, each company being around two hundred and fifty men. Of course, you shouldn’t lead every troop personally: 250 men are hard to manage just by yourself. Thus, you should select a few able men as officers and let those lead platoons of around a hundred within your company, and let those officers select their own trusted officers to lead smaller squads if the need arises during combat. We’ll be setting off in a week, so you should be quick to act.”

“One week is barely enough time. We haven’t even begun training the newly freed slaves that joined us.” To be truthful, Ayomide had slacked off thinking that they’d be staying in Azdavay for a while. She hadn’t drilled anyone ever since the town had fell.

“Then you should train them quickly. A week is more than enough to make them capable of marching in formation, especially if the veterans in their company advise them.” Brown would have begun work on a drill manual for the League if not for the fact that he neither had the time or writing implements to do so, not to mention that there seemed to be no printing press of any sort to copy such a manual if he did write it. “In fact, all of you should identify and separate the veterans in your companies for such a purpose and get to drilling as soon as possible.”

Shinasi had a query. “What about volunteers from Azdavay, captain? Should we accept them and drill them as well? I’ve seen one or two people at least who wanted to volunteer to help our ‘hero’. There are also some adventurers who’ve asked me if they could sign up and acquire themselves some loot.”

“No, no we won’t be having any mercenaries, especially not any of those glorified bandits who are looking for plunder. However, we do need some auxiliaries for logistical purposes. The pack animals we got from that caravan won’t be enough to carry all the supplies we need for a thousand people, paying some people to carry our supplies would help with that problem. Same with the volunteers - let them carry supplies. Young man, if you could, you should also look if anyone is willing to sell any beasts of burden. Those are as crucial as the spears we hold; no army will march and fight on an empty stomach.”

“Understood, captain.”

Brown paused for a moment, thinking if there was anything he missed. The room was silent, not eerily so, as everyone was planning on what they’d begin doing. Next week would be a very busy week for everyone. “Well, this has been a productive session of discussion. I can see that you’re all already busy, so let us spare no more words and get to action.”

Quietly they all stood up from their seats to get on with business.

(CHAPTER DIVIDER HERE)

56th of Summer, 5859
Adventurer’s Guild of Azdavay Building of Azdavay, Azdavay (Azdavay)

Things should have been quieter than before in the Adventurer’s Guild building in Azdavay. Sure, there were still many adventurers visiting to and fro in the building, but their sudden visitors had slowly trickled out. Some had established tents and other temporary housing outside the building, others had found relatives to stay with, and the rest had been evacuated by the League of Gileadites to the emptied houses of the permanently vacationing slaveowners.

Shakira should have had some peace and quiet on her sleeping table for once if not for the fact that the League had gotten up to something odd again. A line had formed leading to the guild’s receptionist, who was frantically dancing her quill on paper to register everyone. Having newly woken up, Shakira was quite curious as to what could cause such a crowd. She couldn’t read the quest board itself, so she entered the line herself and whispered to the stranger in front of her. “Hey, do you know why so many people are in line?”

The man shrugged. “I don’t know myself. I assumed that it was a high-paying job so I followed everyone else.”

“I see…” Shakira wasn’t all too surprised to see that the herd of adventurers had followed each other. The line did smell of potential profit though, so Shakira was obviously going to follow the Adventurer’s Code and go where the money presumably was. Slowly the line went closer and closer to the desk until Shakira was face-to-face with the receptionist, who looked tired from having seen a load of people and full of despair from having to process even more like her.

“I’m here for… uh… whatever all the other people were lining up for.” said Shakira.

Thankfully the receptionist was more than capable of inferring what her vague request was. “The logistical job posted by the fugitives? Do you have any useful magic, like hydromancy or pyromancy?”

Shakira unsheathed her ridiculously large slab of steel that she used as a sword. “I have this massive blade?”

“…is that a form of magic?” The receptionist’s bored tone was dropped for an impressed one when she examined the sword which was the same size as the woman holding it. “How are you even holding that?”

“Eh, I got used to it.”

“…okay, I guess you can help guard others and carry heavy items.” The receptionist noted down her qualifications down to a small piece of paper, not that Shakira could read what she was writing down. “Take this paper to the fugitives gathering in the town center and listen to whatever they say. Next!”

Shakira was quickly pushed out by the next person in line, not that she intended to stay in place. She made her way out of the building, to the narrow streets and from there to the town square. The once wide open square had become quite crowded with jobseekers and those seeking to profit from the jobseekers. The square was already often inhabited by merchants and other businessmen, and some had set up stalls to sell goods to those who were about to go on campaign. An enterprising individual had even set up nine pins on the sidewalk for those who wanted to bowl while waiting.

Unfortunately, Shakira would have no time for a round of bowling. An old guy who seemed to be some sort of important figure for the fugitives rode to the square on his horse, followed by some soldiers also on horseback. Despite his seemingly important stature, the old man had simply donned on a leather coat and a straw hat. Even the soldiers clad in gambeson and copper helmets seemed even fancier than him. He sort of seemed familiar to Shakira, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Old men with flowing beards were aplenty; there was no surprise that he’d look sort of familiar no matter who he was, or so Shakira thought to explain away this odd familiarity. For her, there was something even odder about this fellow: “Why is a lightskin riding along with the darkskins?” Shakira thought that he was either getting paid a lot or that he was just doing whatever would get him power. Those were pretty understandable motivations for an adventurer like Shakira, so she wasn’t judging him for it.

Meanwhile John Brown, famous abolitionist and the infamous old man riding a horse, was taking a good look at the new recruits. There were a lot of people for a small town like Azdavay, mostly due to the fact that Azdavay was full of adventurers looking to earn cash in the frontier. Whether that money came from slaying slimes, hunting fugitives, or aiding an abolitionist slime soap maker mattered not. Brown detested that attitude, but educating people on how to be less materialistic would come after abolishing slavery and destroying the Empire.

“Good, thank the Lord, it seems that we have a lot of people here. We’ll be assigning everyone here auxiliary jobs based on your skills.” Brown was speaking in a rushed tone to go back to the army outside the walls of Azdavay. Every moment was precious this week, even more so than time usually is.

“Follow me, ladies and gentleman. Be quick now. We have a very long and busy road ahead.”