Chapter 385 - Mercenaries

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'He seems more calm than I imagined,' Doevm thought as he stared at Frey, who sat on the other side of the carriage. Frey was quieter than usual, and growing more so the closer they got to Petal Town. However, compared to his volatile state back at the swamp, where they fought bullfrogs and venomous salamanders, Frey was much more approachable.

'What caused him to change?' Doevm thought, 'Did I miss something? No matter how much I interact with humans, I still can't understand them.' He turned his attention towards the window. He watched the passing trees transition into tree stumps, and the path became more defined by traffic. Soon enough, he spotted a sign which marked the edge of town: "Welcome to Petal Town".

Hammers, saws, nails, and wood; construction crews worked in the crisp, morning air, and breathed life into new houses. The town was more alive than Doevm had ever seen before. Unfortunately, that liveliness spread to the once-lazy town guards.

"Halt!" a voice called out.

Olpi brought the carriage to a standstill, and metallic jingles, likely chain mail, surrounded the carriage in a collective, organized fashion. Doevm counted seven. Even for a checkpoint, that was overkill. Frey had a similar thought, as he exchanged a curious look with Doevm. They both surrounded their ears in life essence.

"Those are some fancy garments for an Elf," a man called out, whose voice Doevm didn't recognize. "What are you doing out here? Who's in the carriage?"

"I am headed for the Virility Estate," Olpi replied.

"Of course you are, just like everyone else who passes through. In that case, you'll need to be inspected. Have all passengers step out of the carriage."

"Is it usually like this?" Elero asked. She went to stand but Doevm motioned for her to sit back down.

"It is more efficient if a guard handles it," Doevm reassured her.

Elero chuckled. "This should be entertaining."

Doevm stepped out, finding the carriage surrounded by seven guards. Weapons were drawn, but what surprised him were the depictions of flames etched into the strangers' armor. There was not a single emblem of the Virility rose in sight. The only things he did recognize were the types of men they were. Scars, unkempt hair, and weapons that were nicked and stained; mercenaries. 'We are gone for seven weeks and Lord Reginald hires mercenaries,' Doevm thought, frowning.

One of the mercenaries closed in on Doevm, a toothy smile plastered across his youthful face as he sauntered over. His eyes sparked with a certain cocky greediness patented by the stupid and the self-entitled. He pushed Olpi out of his way, puffed his chest out, and parted his greasy lips: "You, what is your purpose and your name?"

"My name is Doevm. I serve as the personal guard to Thomas Virility," Doevm replied. He held out an insignia to prove it.

The representative snatched the insignia out of Doevm's hand without even looking at it. "You, a guard? You're just a kid. We've been doing this for years and heard all sorts of lies, but that's a first."

Doevm scanned each man head to toe, confirming that they were indeed strangers. "I don't know any of you people. Give me back the insignia."

The representative brought the insignia to his mouth, then picked at his teeth with it, all while staring straight into Doevm's eyes. "I don't think so. We were assigned here by the lord himself to be on watch for any suspicious activity, and I find you guys…" He paused to glance at Olpi's pointed ears. "...highly suspicious. Hand over your spatial ring. We need to confirm its contents." He held out his hand.

It was as if he had gotten bored of harassing them. His smile faded. Now, it was just thievery.

Doevm looked at the surrounding men, the insignia, then the man's open palm. "You want to fumble through my personal property?"

"Yes, now hurry up and you might get to keep half of it," the representative insisted.

A thousand possibilities played out in Doevm's head, none of which were painless. However, he found it strange that lord Reginald would hire mercenaries. While the mercenaries were greedy and stupid, he had caught some semblance of truth in their words. "Ok, I'll hand over my things." Doevm said.

The representative rolled his eyes. "Just fucking hand it over already." He extended his hand closer to Doevm.

Doevm didn't want to make the poor man wait. He pulled a dagger out of his spatial ring, then jammed it through the man's palm.

Blood dyed the snow, and the representative fell to his knees, screaming in pain. "What the fuck? Men, kill this son of a bit-"

Doevm twisted the dagger with all his might, the force alone crunching the representative's bones. Olpi grimaced and stepped back in pure shock. "What is happening?"

Doevm tilted his head to the side, and an arrow whistled by his ear. As the mercenaries converged onto Doevm, he stared into the representative's eyes without a hint of emotion within his gaze, and held out his hand. "What did you expect? You threatened a personal guard to the lord and disregarded a noble insignia. Hand me back my insignia."

Swords, daggers, and arrows raced to hit Doevm first, who didn't bother to move out of the way. The door flew open and, in the blink of an eye, Frey's shield intercepted everything. Frey called upon his life essence and glared at the group. "You crazy bastard, you didn't even give me a signal."

Doevm raised an eyebrow. "I said a guard would handle it."

"How was I supposed to figure that out!"

"Regardless, do you want to let out some frustration?" Doevm responded. Frey smiled.

In the background, construction crews either watched on in morbid amusement or went looking for guards.

"Kill these crazy people!" the representative screeched. "Teach them not to mess with the Fire Knives!"

Frey began to call upon his life essence as he fought against the mercenaries, but let the energy fade away.

Doevm ducked under a longsword. "Let it out, but don't be arrogant," he reminded Frey.

Frey retracted his shield, then sent three mercenaries flying with a sweep of his pole axe. Copper life essence reignited around him, and he took a breath to calm himself. "You're right."

'It wasn't just my imagination,' Doevm thought as he watched the show. 'Frey has changed, and for the better.'

After a few moments of overwhelming strength, the troupe was splayed out on the ground.

"Why did we do this?" Olpi asked, wide-eyed at the viscous display. "They were mean but this is overkill."

"Who the hell are you?" the representative asked, having gotten a little braver, even with Doevm's dagger still inside his hand. He glared at Doevm, who stared back as emotionless as when the fight began.

Doevm yanked the dagger out, then cracked the hilt against the representative's skull, knocking him out. "Not even worth killing."

"Hold it!" a voice called out. Doevm turned to see both the Virility emblem and a familiar face: Wade.

Wade had adopted an awkward manner of walking after losing his toes in the Lava Boar incident. Even though he was no longer Frey's and Doevm's squad leader, the vein bulging on his forehead still made him hesitate.

"Doevm, Frey," Wade said. "I don't know what happened, but let them…oh you've already mopped the floor with them. I guess that solves that."

Doevm cleaned the dagger, then retrieved his insignia. "I was simply doing my job, sir. Did the lord really hire mercenaries? Why hasn't my father straightened them out?"

Wade lowered his head. "It's…complicated. Something's happened to lord Reginald, and Jameson is picking up the pieces. Come, it's best if you see for yourself."

Doevm kicked the representative. "What should I do with this lot?"

Wade shrugged. "Kick them to the side of the road. I think they've learned their lesson about harassing people."

"No formal punishment?"

Wade rolled his eyes. "There isn't time anymore. Come to the estate, that's an order from the new head guard, me."

'If Wade is the new head guard then what happened to my father, Jameson?' Doevm thought.

"Hey Doevm," Olpi said.

Doevm turned around. "What?"

"Where's Frey?"

Doevm looked around and to his surprise, Frey was nowhere to be found.. However, there was a trail of deep footprints heading into town.

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