Chapter 269: Preparing for Battle

Chapter 269: Preparing for Battle

"You enjoyed that far too much." Suzette was pouring strong tea from a pot and passing it out to everyone. Layla took hers and smiled without shame, admitting as much. "Nothing says I can't enjoy my role in our little play-acting. But I'll make it up to you and let you stab those odious creatures first. I want them dead, but you had to endure quite a bit more of their abuse."

"Trust me, if I thought I could solve the problem by getting rid of them, I'd have poisoned the peanuts. But you're right; I don't like them. The more innocent I acted, the more they wanted to take advantage of me. They were anxious at the end and drooling at the idea of lining their pockets. It was pretty uncomfortable."

Ben waved aside the tea and went for a large glass of wine. "Which is why Ozzy is out in a field helping a group of farmers settle into their new houses. I'm not sure what he would have done if he had heard how they talked to you. And I don't want to find out."

Rolly was of a different mind. "Are you kidding? It would be awesome to see. Squirmie saw him fighting some ghouls this morning, and now she wants me to buy her another wand of fireballs."

"Huh, so that's why the little stinkers were so cautious today. I tossed some raw meat to them to draw out a bunch, but only a couple slunk out of the shadows. They grabbed some breakfast and ran away to hide." Billy's campaign against the ghouls was paying off, with fewer and fewer undead appearing at night. "But let's talk about fun stuff like killing ghouls later. Right now, we have to do some brainstorming on dealing with these unexpected expenses. First, I'm making an official statement that any instructions we gave Suzette in the last ten minutes were not serious, and she should ignore them. All except the part about the tax on Contract Workers. I think you should be responsible for that."

Suzette looked at the Baron, wondering what the joke was.

Rolly's eyes grew large as he realized what Billy was talking about. "Oh! Yes, I agree. Suzie is responsible for taxes in Sedgewick, including the contract workers living here. This is going to be so awesome!"

"I have no idea what's going on. Rolly? Why are you agreeing with Billy?"

Rolly had found several passages in the tax books he was double-checking. "Yep. It's all here. Let's do this." He turned to Billy. "Consider your taxes paid, or at least creatively delayed your excellency." He turned to Suzette. "Trust us on this. Might be better if you have no idea what horrible, sneaky people like Billy and I are doing."

Suzette sighed and gave in. Her curiosity was killing her, wondering about what they were planning, but it wasn't the first time she had trusted one of Rolly's crazy schemes.

Layla was scowling at her wine glass. "I want to know who's behind them. Mid-level managers don't decide to run up to see a Baron one day and try to pull crap like this. The imperial bureaucracy is as corrupt as a real-world government; kudos to the game designer for making things so realistic, but there's more to this than three greedy idiots."

Billy turned to the biggest problem. "We have a handle on two out of three of their schemes. Now I just need to find out how to afford a teleporter for the new keep. They can use that as leverage to force the storehouses and try to get their claws into the Fae and Smoke trading. The first thing to do is find out who we dispute the need for a bigger stone with. Some bureaucrat? The Duke? The Emperor? This place needs better marketing; I don't know who's in charge."

He paced back and forth. "Another thing I'll have to talk with Marcus about. But assuming that we have to upgrade the damn thing, what other options do we have besides paying for it? Can we make one? What about stealing one? Are there teleports in dungeons or old cities we can grab for free? What do we know?"

"I looked into it briefly before when you wanted Gadobhra to start selling things direct for real dollars." Layla hadn't liked what she'd found out then and didn't like it now. "It's an old system, controlled by specialized mages and tightly controlled by the empire. We know it takes that huge stone and has to be made of Tier 2 or higher materials. Beyond that? I don't know."

Ben looked out the window and over to the Inn. "I wonder if they know? It would violate guest courtesy for someone to snoop through all that paperwork. I know the baron would never ask that of anyone."

"Oh, heavens no. Unacceptable to ask."

Ben had a few other ideas. "So we won't be doing that. The big slab up at the Keep is magical and carved with runes. It stores mana. They mentioned we'd need something to upgrade the mana storage for the upgraded teleport stone. Those are all clues we can pursue. I suggest that Suzette talks to whoever taught her to make a gigantic Hermetic Seal. They may have some knowledge." He looked over to Billy. "Wouldn't Gadobhra have had a stone? This was a Barony of the Empire once. What happened to the teleport stone they had in the city?"

Layla looked at Billy. "That's a good question and something you could go poke into. Maybe there's one sitting in that castle?"

McTeeth spoke up. "Not on the first floor or the second. I've only gotten glimpses of the throne room but didn't see anything. But I don't think it would be. Castles are to keep people out and protect your gold. Having a teleporter inside ruins the reason for having a castle."

"I may have a place to look for information, but it means taking a few days to a week off for a long ride. Unless, of course, his excellency has official paperwork that needs to go to the capital." Ben looked at Billy. "Possibly a letter disputing the need for an improved teleporter?"

Billy nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. You and Rolly write your letters, and then you can take off for the Capital. How long is the ride?"

"A lot quicker if I have official correspondence and can use the teleport stone. Horses travel fast; magic travels faster."