Chapter 170: Troubling Shallians

"Betrayal… Help me, brothers… Great betrayal…"

With his face covered in ashes and his clothes half-burned, Fen didn't even need to speak anything at all. Just the way he looked said wonders about what happened to the approaching patrol from the north.

Only able to utter yet another set of cliche lines that a person in the situation that Fen wanted to sell would most likely yell or whisper, as before he could open his mouth even once again, the young man was already supported by the strong arms of the Shalian soldier.

"What happened?"

Not bothering to ask any unnecessary questions, the man looked at Fen's face with all his attention focused on the young man's eyes.

'Shit, they had to actually send someone capable…'

One's expression could be faked. It wasn't even all that challenge out of a trick. But the same couldn't be said about the eyes. The only good thing about it was that only a few people in the entire world would be capable of intuitively learning whether the other party was being honest from their eyes alone.

But no matter how small the chances of such thing occurring were, somehow Fen could feel a shrill travelling down his spine. 

"Treason… We were returning from the trade negotiations with Laska family… We were attacked…. Wait, didn't you see the fires yourself?"

Instead of keeping up my act, I decided to go on the offensive. In a discussion, the one asking the question was the one ruling over the flow. And there were many ways to take over such lead without appearing strange or suspicious.

"Who are you guys…"

Backing down a few steps, Fen placed his hand on where his sword would hang from his belt… Only to act as if he just realised that he was missing the weapon! 

Instantly putting up a grimace fo annoyance and fear mixing together into determination, Fen raised his eyes as he lowered his centre of mass, awaiting the response of the other party.

"We saw them, we saw them. You don't need to put your guard up with us…"

Noticing the strange behaviour of the stranger he just met, the commander of the patrol backed down as well, as if in an attempt to let the man regain his confidence.

"I understand that you are worried. We are the forward guard of the border defence. Could you please tell us what happened?"

Just like Fen expected, people from Shallia were extremely interested in anything that would be happening in the proximity of the border. That's why instead of taking the things slowly with the questions as to get as much and as accurate information as they could, they were clearly opting for the quicker, even if less accurate version.

"I don't know… we were riding from Kharb… Wait, we? Where are my friends? Where are my people?!"

Suddenly erupting, Fen threw a fit of panic mixed with extreme sadness. Playing around with his expressions as if he was just an actor in some grand theatre, Fen wanted to up the stakes even a bit more, when a sudden slap across his face made him realise that not everyone would dig that kind of situation.

"Listen, I know that you are distressed, but right now, the stakes are way higher than you can imagine. Tell. Us. What. Happened."

Now, Fen could be sure that his guess was correct. Not only were the Shallian troops basically inviting on Kinar lands, but instead of helping out someone who they thought to be their fellow Shallian, they were willing to put pressure on him instead, just for the sake of obtaining quick information!

"Fire… As soon as the building site disappeared from our view… Just a few moments after we left the area, a fire appeared everywhere… It killed my friends, my people… It… It…. IT KILLED MY BROTHER!"

As much as the Shallian troops wanted Fen to speak, as much Fen had to stop himself from feeding the bullshit to their eyes. The less info he provided for them, the more value would it hold. As simple manipulation tactic as it was, it still struck one of the core parts of human psychology that Fen tested on himself.

People desired the most what they couldn't obtain. That's why, the harder a task was to achieve, the greater the inner pleasure of achieving it would become. And in a situation when their task was to learn what happened, Fen had to be careful to guide their expectations in a way that would put the discovery of Kinar republic constructing a fort on the road to coincide with their realisation that they touched a secret they weren't supposed to.

"I know. Trust me, I know how it is to lose someone you love."

Once again daring to approach Fen on the road, the commander of the patrol unit placed his hand on his shaking shoulder, as if trying to calm him down in order to fulfil his own task. After all, if pressure didn't work well, that man was bound to find other ways to achieve what he wanted.

"But I really need you to tell me what you saw back then. Forget about the fire, there is no need for you to think about it for now. You will have plenty of time to mourn your fallen compadres later on. But now, in order to prevent more casualties, more tragedies, more desperation, please, tell me what you saw before the attack."

Allowing Fen's body to fall down on its knees, the man who was supporting him lowered his own centre of mass along with him. If Fen's target was to kill him, now would be the best opportunity. With just a single fist put right into his belly, the young man could inflict more than serious injuries right away, instantly throwing the man into a state of confusion, only to finish it off with a hit to the head later.

But this wasn't what the young Phoenixian wanted to achieve at all. After all, what would be the point of acting so much if all he wanted to do would be limited to killing those people? It would be way easier to just overwhelm them all from the skies instead of allowing them to meet with him on the ground, where his abilities were heavily limited!

"Before… The fortress."

As if understanding what the officer wanted to know, Fen caught his own shoulders before curling up, right on the road and pretending to attempt to subjugate his own convulsions. 

"It's still early… But they are building a great castle, great fortress… We were supposed to travel west, to go through that mercenary occupied province. While we wanted to go to Shabinar, we heard that we could avoid paying taxes on our… souvenirs… But they forced us to go north… And now there isn't even a road to speak off that I could use to return!"

As soon as the young man mentioned the building project that was actually happening - the single element of truth in his entire story - his words would already move on to the next topic. This time though, instead of making it hard for the Shallian troops to ask more about the fortress, Fen simply wanted to make it seem as if he didn't realise the importance of this particular part of the news that he brought.

"Wait, where are they building it? What do you mean the road is gone?"

At this point, Fen had to bite his own lips in order not to laugh. Those people were simply too gullible. They were swallowing all the bullshit that Fen was feeding directly to their mouth. They were listening to his words as if he was some kind of prophet. Without checking whether he was telling the truth or anything like that, they simply accepted all his words as the words given by the heavens.

But even if they attempted to verify his story, all they would be able to do would be to reach and see the fortress-in-making all by themselves. Not because this was the most important part of the story. Anyone who ever involved himself in the shady dealing of the secret shenanigans would know that there was no point in challenging the most vital part of a story one heard. Only by checking the facts with the small details one could find the discrepancy between a carefully crafted story and a reality.

But it didn't seem that the man who was questioning him, with those big, sincere eyes of his, would bother to put Fen's words in doubt. After all, he saw the young man escaping from the fire in a sorry state with his very own eyes!

"Sir… I know you saw those fires… But they weren't anything even remotely close to what I saw with my own eyes before. The stone… It was melting. Right now, I would be surprised if a man could cross the area of that disaster on foot, not to speak about doing so from the horseback!"