Chapter XVIII - Heroes and little birds

*** Tirak ***

He didn’t understand why the Guild master had sent them to such a remote town. Northwing was inconsequential. No one really cared about a place like this. Far from the capital and any real place of power. They were a silver-ranked party. Well on their way to a gold rating.

Some infant Arachnids climb a town wall, so what? Why was this their problem? The town’s militia had taken care of them, and even if there was a grown Arachnid out in the woods. It was work for an iron or bronze party, not Golds like them.

He had been warned that this town housed some people of exceptional status. Some old hag called Magdalena Thornwing among them. She used to be a family head and of some political influence, before getting half her family killed and exiling herself in this backwater town.

“I am already sick of this dump,” he said to Jamar.

They were sitting in the town’s only inn. Lirael was out and running errands for them. Some potions and other materials, he doubted they would need, but couldn’t do any harm. She always took every task way too seriously. Nagging and criticizing him. If she weren’t such a beauty, he would have long kicked her out of the party.

They worked great together. Jamar was a capable and reliable tank. He hadn’t much to offer on an offensive front, but he could take a beating. Fenric, archer and tracker of the group, helped them find their targets and gave Jamar and him some long-range support. Lirael was a mage focused on blessings, healing, and fire magic. She was a recent addition to the group. For the last three months she traveled with them.

Under normal circumstances, they would never have taken this job, far too little money or fame to be gained. The guild master himself had sent them. The old fool probably believed the letter about an Arachnid queen. They would do their job and be gone as soon as possible.

*** Lirael ***

The defenses of Northwing were mostly still the same as written in the report she had received. The town wall was a master piece. She would have loved to study it in more detail, but her orders were not to raise suspicions. There were three safe zones in the town and a larger command structure on the town square right in front of the town hall. All of them were hidden to blend in with the surrounding Mana and the structure of the buildings. A few traps sprinkled throughout the town were not listed in the report.

Both her target’s house as well as her daughter’s were too heavily warded to go near, without running the risk of being discovered. Something was bothering her. Northwing looked like a normal town, but it felt dangerous. She had identified more high-level personnel than she would have expected, and her [Danger sense] tingled almost uninterrupted.

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She collected the rush order she had placed with Sia Nord on the day of their arrival. The old woman was another person on her list. High-level alchemist, specialized in healing potions, poisons, and perception-enhancing potions. Her products were among the main reasons why traders even traveled to this town. If she raided her shop, she could probably loot a small fortune, but her orders were clear.

The inhabitants of Northwing were to be left alone. Both Magdalena Thornwing and Lork Ashhand posed too much of a risk to run any possible operation here.

She had gotten approval to take Magdalena off the board if she was certain she could achieve it and did not risk her own life doing so. Sometimes she thought her superiors had left the field for too long. You were never entirely certain of anything, and to take someone like her out, you would have to risk your life.

Admittedly, she was a little bit disappointed by the security measures she found in Northwing, given her reputation, but not enough to believe the old lady had lost her edge and was ripe for the picking.

If everything went according to plan, they would simply head out, exterminate some Arachnids, and return home. She would write a few pages for her report, and nothing else would become of it. Maybe she would request a reassignment. Tirak was getting on her nerves. He seemed to believe his presence alone was something that needed to be celebrated.

*** Magdalena ***

A curious little bird had entered her town. It seemed someone wanted an updated status report on Northwing. The group she had arrived with seemed capable, but nothing exceptional. Her Mana pool was too large even for the mage she posed as. It triggered her passive monitoring.

She had followed her all day throughout the town. An adjusted version of the observation orb connected by a thin wire to her receiver allowed her to keep close watch, without ever getting close to her.

She stopped at all her level 2 security measures and found a few of her more obvious level 3 traps, but nothing that had her worried. The little bird was obviously well trained in the art of Mana sensing. Either assisted by a skill, artifact, or potion.

The only thing she was worried about was her granddaughter. Kiara should probably stay at home for the next few days. Just to be sure. They would not stay for long and hopefully take care of their Arachnid problem. Hopefully.

She had seen enough Guild fuck ups to remain skeptical.

*** Kiara ***

In my past life, working on a construction site was way more fun. As it was, she couldn’t even raise her father’s trusted sledgehammer. Carrying bricks was nearly as frustrating as picking up the hammer. Even a single brick had her sweating and struggling. Her father picked up a huge stack of pricks and carried them with ease. There was surely a skill involved, but nevertheless, she respected the feat.

In the end, I functioned mainly as an assistant to Arabikus, bringing him tools and whatever else he needed. Dad and my brother were teaming up and working on other parts of the site.

Arabikus was not the best company. He liked to tell her over and over how he and her father had stopped the Arachnids from taking over the town. He even showed her his heroic battle scar. The only problem was that she had heard the story in a slightly different version from her father, but she decided not to ruin his fun with it.

She would be sore tomorrow, of that she was sure. Some of those tools were quite heavy and she was only five after all.