Chapter 4 - Celebrating Arson

“My friends. To our success!”

The man somehow still cloaked seemingly in darkness itself raised his tankard in front of the small crowd. A cheer rang out in the secluded glade they found themselves in away from the prying eyes of the city.

As the cheering continued the man threw back his tankard, greedily gulping down the cool ale. Somehow those watching still couldn’t make out his features under the dark hood even while he drank.

Warlock slammed the tankard onto the tree stump he was using as a makeshift table. “Say what you will about that traitor of a guild master but he makes good ale!”

A grumble passed through the crowd and Warlock patted the air in an effort to calm the group.

“Yes, yes, I know how many of you loathe the very idea of the existence of men like him. Men who only think about themselves. Men who debase themselves treating with demon. Playing games with monsters while our country is still crushed under the yoke of their tyranny!”

An angry cheer rang through the crowd as everyone nodded and a few shook their fists.

“But…but!” Warlock paused dramatically. “Just because he’s a traitor to our race doesn’t mean we can’t use him. Or at least drink his ale. Besides, it’s not like we paid for it!” He raised his tankard in a salute with a laugh.

Warlock scanned the crowd until he found a short woman with her hair tied back in a long, tight braid. Her name was Margaret and she worked in the guild hall’s kitchen. He gestured towards her with his tankard and bowed his head slightly.

“Three cheers for Maggie! Our angel of the ale for this evening’s festivities!”

Whoops and hollers ran through the crowd as those around her patted her small back a little too hard and made her stumble as she waved, embarrassed.

After waiting for the merriment to die down a little Warlock spoke again.

“But filching a cask of ale was hardly our only victory today!” A cheer forced him to pause again. “Let have a status report. Rose, begin.”

He turned his attention to a young woman with hair the colour of her name which was cut short and framed her pretty face. She was wearing leather armour that only seemed to emphasize her lithe body and she moved with practiced grace.

“Our infiltration of the adventurers guild went as planned.” Her small voice seemed incongruous with the sharp, clipped tone of her words.

“That idiot Witt had no idea who we were when we registered our group two months ago.” She jerked her thumb behind her to indicate three men standing near her.

“I established our team as The Valiant, with me as their leader. Ajax and Apex were logged as our team’s fighter and scout,” she gestured to each of the two men who looked similar enough to be brothers as she spoke, “and Kaelen here,” she gestured to the last man around her, “was listed as our trainee with no specific skill set yet. The guild has no idea he is actually a mage.”

Warlock’s head nodded along with her report. “Good. Good. We need to keep the fact that we have a way to hurt even a greater demon secret for now.” He bid her to continue.

“We picked up simple quests for the last couple months exterminating monsters on nearby trade routes like you instructed Warlock.” She paused, a slight grimace crossing her face. “Are you sure we should be doing that? It feels like we’re helping those bastards who killed my father.” Her arms wrapped around herself like she felt dirty.

“You should.” His tone left room for no doubts. “As I have said, we can’t allow our righteous fury to blind us to reality. Those bastards,” he copied her tone, “rule this land whether we like it or not. And they took over despite every nation in this world trying to stop them.” He paused to let his point sink in.

“More importantly, culling the monsters on those trade routes doesn’t only help trade flow. It also means you’ve learned which routes are the most important. Remember, no one pays adventurers to protect an insignificant supply route. You’ve also gained more trust from those who use those routes.”

He kept speaking, “Besides, I can tell you there will come a time very soon where your knowledge of those routes will be of paramount importance. We will be taking on a mission even greater than we did today and your work will ensure that no monster interrupts what I have planned.” His grumbling voice left hanging in the breeze, the crowd could only imagine what kind of nefarious plans he next had in store and they nodded along to his words eagerly.

“Now, tell me about the kafsi bombs. Did they work as expected?”

A man named Orson stepped forward. From his clothes and his build he looked to be a farmer, but the steel in his eyes made it clear he was every bit a die hard member of this group as anyone here.

“No Warlock…they didn’t.” Orson paused, clearly struggling to find the right words. “They worked…almost too well actually.” He scratched at the stubble on his face as he spoke.

“The counting house. The book storage room the green demon uses. They and most of the buildings we hit were razed entirely to the ground.”

A soft chuckle escaped Warlock’s lips. “She called that a library. Said anyone could come and use it for free. Ha!” he barked, “Full of propaganda I’m sure.”

Orson nodded. “The only target that didn’t burn entirely was actually the guild hall. We even threw the bomb in the doorway like you said to make sure it would trap everyone inside once we made sure our people were away. I don’t know what kind of magic they used, but other than the doorway and few scorch marks the place still stands.”

“Interesting…” he drew the word out in long syllables.

“So, I don’t know where you got these kafsi things sir, but they worked like a bloody miracle!”

Another cheer rang through the crowd and Warlock chuckled again.

He pointed at a few towards the back of the crowd. “And excellent work to you four. Having the wheels on your market carts break at just the right time to block the main thoroughfares worked perfectly. I’m sure no one suspects your involvement making sure any help to put out those fires was delayed.”

The two men and two women Warlock singled out all nodded their heads as everyone raised their drinks yet again.

“So what’s next? Do we finish the job and take out the guild master?” Rose’s voice echoed as the cheers died out. Everyone turned to Warlock to see his response.

“No.” He shook his head. “Killing the guild master was always just a potential bonus as part of today’s plan. If the building had been destroyed along with many of the stronger adventurers then your group Rose would have been well placed to rise in whatever organization replaced them. But with the guild still standing and its members intact…killing the master would accomplish little.”

He leaned towards Rose. “But don’t worry. I have a special task for you involving the guild master Rose. Something that will play a very important role in our next plan.”

Turning to the crowd at large. “I will discuss this with Rose as I return to the City. The rest of you enjoy Maggie’s contribution of ale then follow your standard protocols to slip back into town unseen in small groups in the morning. Remember, if you are asked abut why you were out just say you or your family were worried about today’s…vicious,” his tone was almost a mocking, feigned fear, “attack.”

The crowd laughed and went back to their drinking as he and Rose began to walk a dark path towards the city together.

“Rose, I have a very difficult task for you. Do you think you can do it?”

She couldn’t hide the eagerness in her voice as she responded. “What is it Warlock? You know I would die for the cause!” She straightened her shoulders and stood stiffly upright as she answered him.

“No Rose. I don’t need you to die for us.” He wagged his finger back and forth like a teacher pointing out a wrong answer to a child.

“What good would that do? Besides, i told you before. Dying is easy. If that’s all you wanted to do you need only go tell that Xorn you were involved today.”

She grimaced as he chastised her.

“But don’t worry. I know what you mean is that you will do anything to rid us of the demon filth.”

She nodded quickly.

“What I need is for you to do is get very close to the guild master. It’s important for our next attack.”

“What?!? You want me to seduce him?!” She couldn’t hide her surprise and her voice squeaked.

“Ha ha…while you did say you would do anything…that isn’t what I had in mind. Though I admit you have some” he glanced at her body, “assets that others lack, you are far more useful in your adventurer role at present.”

Rose blew out the breath she didn’t even realize she was holding as he continued.

“Though I do need you to ingratiate yourself to him. Make him believe you are eager to gain fame and fortune as an adventurer and that you are always available to take on whatever job he needs. What I need is for you to have a reason to be in that guild hall as much as possible. Your other work for us can wait. I need you to lean on your adventuring role so that you can be our mole on the inside of his operations.”

“Oh, ok. That makes sense. I can do that.”

“I suppose if you flirted with him just enough to make him think you had a crush that would lend credence to why you are in the hall as much as you are. But I’ll let you decide what you want to do in that respect. Whatever you do is useless unless you are comfortable and it comes out naturally.”

He stopped walking a moment to check his surroundings and make sure they were alone. “That said, I give you permission to reveal to him that you are the former Viscount’s daughter. I realize that the knowledge may put you at risk, but no more than you already are. And if you do reveal it I am curious to know what he does with that information. That man always seems to have plans that defy expectations. And say what you will, he never helps the demons without a personal benefit so I suspect we can trust him with the information just long enough to get through the next event and test his intentions.”

“I appreciate your trust in me sir! I’ll find a way to stick to him like glue, no matter what.” Her eyes gleamed with pride at having been given a special task. “Anything I should look out for in particular?”

“Indeed there is. I believe very soon that man will approach that purple haired, green skinned greater demon known as Euryale. She operates as the seneschal of the Viscount’s castle. Witt seemed oddly interested in her reaction to the fires. So observe. Observe, but do nothing…nothing…to interfere. I must know what he’s up to so that we can enact the second phase of my plan.”

“I won’t let you down sir!” She snapped her hand into a salute as she and Warlock parted ways on the path