Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Strengthening the Guard
"Although you’ve decided to worship an Elf Deity, I can’t say I’m too surprised," Aive said, glancing at her. She took the medicine Ron handed over and began treating the wound. "It’s actually a good choice for someone who has suffered injustice."
"I’ve heard that Lady Intoxicating Bee isn’t stingy with her blessings for people like me, and she’s quite famous among races other than the Elves," Silvia said with a smile. "But isn’t this a bit too opportunistic of me? She probably won’t look kindly on me."
"A large proportion of the Intoxicating Bee’s followers are people driven by lust, enthralled by deception, and hungry for revenge. And those who pray to Her, outside the moment of prayer itself, make no further promises to worship the goddess," Victoria said. "But She herself is a fickle goddess, so I’m sure you won’t have any issues."
"Of course, whether the Intoxicating Bee will answer your prayers is another matter entirely—even Her most devout followers can’t predict Her moods."
The Chaotic Neutral Intoxicating Bee and the Lawful Neutral Heim were incompatible, but Deities were one thing and mortal followers another. Victoria wouldn’t distance herself from Silvia because of this. However, Silvia would likely find it hard to escape the occasional sermon from her Priest friend.
"Your rate of growth is truly impressive," Quest said as he came down from the second floor. He had been using Stealth to avoid being recorded by the assassins’ magic tattoos. "The assassins of Carolina are infamous throughout the entire Western City-State Alliance, and a full Death Squad is fearsome enough to make a child stop crying. I never expected you to handle them so easily."
"You hiding your accomplishments like that makes me look bad," Ron said with a laugh, clapping the Demon Descendant on the shoulder. "I was probably the only one who needed your help from the sidelines."
"You’re a Mage—young and inexperienced in these matters. It’s perfectly normal," Quest said with a soft chuckle. "I was initially worried you’d go straight to your companions for help, which would have surely tipped them off. Letting these people escape to plot their next assassination is far more dangerous than you walking into a trap you’re prepared for."
"Hmm, who’s this gentleman? Aren’t you going to introduce us?"
Silvia sized up Quest curiously. "Your man on the inside?"
"The name’s Quest. It’s a pleasure to introduce myself, beautiful lady," the Tiffling said. His smooth-talking tone seemed to be right up Silvia’s alley. "The moment I first saw you, I knew you were no ordinary Half-blood."
"Silvia. A pleasure to meet you," Silvia said, briefly shaking Quest’s hand. "And you know what? I have the same feeling—you’re no ordinary Tiffling, are you?"
"Ah, hahaha," Quest laughed, showing Silvia the wooden staff, dagger, and darts he carried. "You’re a sharp judge of character! I’m a Martial Monk. I only started working as a Spy for the city-states and Lords to repay a debt my master left behind. As for helping young Ron, that was an investment I made."
"There’s just one more thing to take care of here. Miss Aive, could you give me a few scars? Then I’m supposed to ’miserably’ flee back to report on my mission and complain to Ming Datiss."
"My pleasure," Aive said with a wicked grin. "Perhaps sawing off a horn or cutting off your tail would be a little more convincing?"
"I’m rather fond of my horns and tail!"
After Quest disappeared into the night, bearing injuries that were neither too light nor too severe, Silvia stared at his retreating figure. "Benefactor," she said to Ron, "I shouldn’t question your judgment, but you really need to be wary of that man."
"How so?"
"I can sense it. The smooth-talking Tiffling Martial Monk is just his disguise. Beneath that red skin hides another person, another face."
"Right? I feel the same way," Aive agreed with a nod. "But honestly, I’ve never been able to get any leverage on him. He really does seem to be on our side, and genuinely so."
"Let’s wait and see," Silvia said noncommittally. "We just need to be on our guard. Watch out for him ’spitting in your face and stabbing you in the back.’"
"If I may interject," Rurik said, "Miss Silvia, a person can’t spit in your face and stab you in the back at the same time, unless they can duplicate themselves."
Silvia: "..."
Apparently, while this Dwarf could speak the Common Language and had lived a very long life, his race’s innate lack of a sense of humor made him unable to understand some of the idioms and witticisms of the tongue.
"Looks like we’ll need to strengthen our defenses," Ron said with a sigh, looking at the hall, which was now in ruins. "When Klade gets back, have him assign a group of goblins to perform extra patrols and guard duty."
"Two shifts, at least," Delaford said, nodding grimly. "There are very few elites like me left in the Lair. We’ll have to make up for the lack of quality with quantity."
"Two shifts it is."
Ron had originally planned on three rotating shifts, but while goblins were certainly prolific, it took at least eight years for one to reach adulthood. By then, the grass on his grave would have grown into a tree.
They would make do with two shifts for now and arrange for some of the newly arrived young people to fill the vacancy for the third.
Fortunately, the assassins’ target was crystal clear: Ron and the five people with him. Rurik was just an incidental target. Annie, who was upstairs at the front of the building, and Lavinia and Buni, who were resting in the back, were only woken up after the attack had already started.
Knowing they weren’t skilled in combat, they had all cautiously remained hidden in their rooms, which saved a lot of trouble.
The repairs to the trading post were handed over to Annie and Sulina’s construction crews. The assassins’ corpses weren’t wasted, either. Ron buried them in the front yard and even put up a row of tombstones, all with the same epitaph: "Clumsy, overconfident murderers from Carolina."
On one hand, this served as a warning. On the other, it was a potential reserve of fighting power—he could raise these dead to help him fend off any potential successors.
Victoria strongly objected to this, but she ultimately compromised. Her condition was that after they were used, the bodies had to be properly disposed of and buried outside, since a corpse could not be reanimated a second time.
In fact, Ron had even wanted to use them for dissection, but he had to abandon the idea because he couldn’t come up with a research topic. Besides, that proposal had drawn opposition from nearly everyone except Silvia and Delaford.
"An attack?!"
A few days later, Klade’s second team returned completely unscathed. The first thing they did upon learning of the attack was to immediately demand a meeting to address the situation.
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