Approving shouts and raised fists followed Thea’s question.

Or rather, accusation.

In fact, their entire entrance seemed hostile. Angry faces, agitated voices, eyes in search of confrontation. One of them even had a hand on his sword grip. A nice preview of the fruitful discussion awaiting me.

The troublemakers had experienced neither punishment nor suppression over the last days, yet their conduct told a different story. As if they had to fear the men inside this hut.

As if they were a small group on its way to confront the evil emperor.

Would they celebrate after my fall?

It was surreal.

I will behead one man if that can quench a fire that would consume ten or even a hundred men.

At this moment, Rhoslyn’s explanation echoed in my mind.

Back then, I had seen the bleak logic behind her reasoning. Reasonable words full of wisdom. I had accepted that her words contained a truth I wasn’t able to see. But it also didn’t concern me.

Like those rules and formulas concerning the planets’ movement. A massive accomplishment as science took its baby steps and it still brought smiles to science teachers around the globe. But those symbols and letters would never affect my life.

Or so I had thought.

Yet this time I understood Rhoslyn’s words.

If I exchanged one troublemaker for fifty motivated recruits, wouldn’t that be for the best?

More motivated men to finish the walls. To defend the fortress. To scout the area around the fortress. Some troublemakers displayed enough talent or experience that even an attack on the leprechauns might become feasible.

One life for a glimmer of hope?

One life for the chance to save a lot more?

These questions drifted through my head and slowly changed.

‘Would I do it?’ became ‘Could I do it?’

Torphin’s light cough stopped the whirlpool of questions.

Both the troublemakers and the commanders watched me, but I hadn’t reacted at all. This confrontation might change the fortress’ future, yet I had kept quiet after my decisions had been challenged.

For now, the commanders obeyed me thanks to Rhoslyn’s display or their own motivations. Drew, Torphin, and the small group of scouts. Only a select few followed me. Even the commanders might change their stance if I failed one too many times.

Connection to Rhoslyn or not, this wasn’t the time for further daydreams.

“I would like to ask you the same.” Slow and steady words, devoid of kindness. An attempt to appear unfazed and blank the pressure out. “What are you doing here?”

A moment of silence.

“We are here to demand answers.” Thea’s response was a lot less overbearing. Did she expect a different reaction? “Why did you forbid us to leave the fortress?”

Though the men behind her still displayed self-satisfied smiles. Was this only a game to them? Was the situation not bad enough? Will I fail thanks to such petty reasons?

“Demand? I don’t think you can make any demands.” Genuine anger soaked my voice. “Or am I the next one you challenge to a duel? Was one defeat not painful enough?”

“That’s. Not.”

“Then get out!” I gestured towards the curtain behind them. “This is a meeting for the commanders to discuss the recent leprechaun movements. So your presence isn’t welcome. If you have something to say, wait until it is over.”

“But I’m also one of-”

“No, you aren’t. You abandoned your position, forced your duties on Drew, and even challenged my decisions. What kind of leader is that?” My sigh sounded inside the hut. A part of me understood her behavior, but the situation was too far gone. “So now you want to come back and play leader once more? Is that it?”

“No. It’s just. Um.”

“That wasn’t our intention at all.” A slimy voice continued the discussion. “Our comrades already reported all those small groups. We don’t need to hear another excuse.”

The voice’s owner was a middle-aged man with a short but burly build that made him look like an oversized dwarf. Black hair with gray strands framed his tanned face that proudly displayed numerous small scars and a lopsided nose. A sign of his lifestyle. A gambler and a henchman. At least, according to one commander.

Yet his new identity was the troubling one.

“Nobody came to question your orders. All of us know their place.” The troublemakers’ strongest leader announced with a grin. “In fact, it was the lack of aggressiveness that… disappointed us. We want to fight and earn our glory, so we to discuss with you. Like civilized people.”

“And you have the right to stand here?”

“I believe the strong have a right to determine the course of history.” His wide smile revealed several missing teeth. “So shouldn’t we take the place of those weaklings?”

His hand gestured towards the commanders, infuriating them.

Yet they also couldn’t retort, as all of them had lost to him during the sparring fights.

“And I’m stronger than you.” A smile appeared on my face. I really had to thank him for his behavior. Nothing better than a common enemy to keep the commanders on my side. “And the strongest person says this: Get. Out.”

“But here is the problem.” My counterpart laughed. “I don’t consider you the strongest.”

In the next moment, the temperature inside the room dropped drastically and obscure shadows danced along the walls, dimming the lights. Three thuds shook the air. One for each step the small man took toward me.

His body deformed and grew larger before he stopped two meters in front of me. Eye to eye.

“You think you are stronger?” A deep voice escaped his lips. One so powerful that each word pressed down on my chest and forced my heart to beat outside its rhythm.

The commanders fared even worse and retreated toward the wall, their faces pale as a sheet. Even Thea displayed a fearful expression and took a few steps back, now surrounded by three smirking men.

“Torphin! Ax!” I stretched my hand out, still keeping eye contact with the man before.

The hunter didn’t react at first and only the third order snapped him out of his stupor. Only then did he rush out of the hut to get my ax.

Inside the fortress, I only wore the sword at all times. I had no sheath for my ax and my usual construct of linen was too uncomfortable for long meetings. I could still get it when the leprechauns attacked. After all, who would attack me inside my fortress?

Although that would change after today’s events.

Pressured by the troublemakers’ leader, the next minutes felt like an eternity. The smirk in front of me grew wider and wider. Wouldn’t a single tooth be enough to crush me? How did such a monster infiltrate the fortress?

The commanders, now shivering, tried to hide in the furthest corner. Their fingers scraped over the dirt floor in a delusional search for an exit.

To combat my own urges, I bit the inside of my cheek.

The shadows and the ghastly figure remained, but his smile had shrunk. The face behind that smile had lost all color, and I even spotted some drops of sweats on the forehead.

Thank god for my laziness. It prevented a stupid mistake.

Two minutes later, Torphin returned to the hut, avoided the troublemakers, and even took the longer way around the table.

“It is a nice trick.” The ax in my hand boosted my confidence. It was the weapon that had solved countless challenges inside the game. “But can it stop an ax?”

Not breaking the intervisibility, I took a few steps back, positioning a log-seats between us, and activated Heavy Strike.

A deafening impact scalded the air.

Or rather, the freezing cold vanished.

In front of me stood a rather short man. One might even mistake him for a dwarf from a distance.

The smirk, the shadows, the pressure. All the strange occurrences had disappeared as well.

Only the half-split log remained.

“So. What do you think?” A smile bloomed on my face. “I don’t want to praise myself but I’m rather talented with the ax.”

In contrast, the thug’s smile became cramped.

Thug. One of the classes inside the game. A mix between the thief and the brawler class. Focused on debuffs and melee combat. And it came with a class skill on its own.

Hallucination.

It would meddle with the opponent’s mind and destroy their judgment, allowing for a sneak-attack in broad daylight.

In the game, this skill was rather basic. One unguarded attack with a long cooldown wouldn’t faze other players that much. In fact, the thug’s role soon became that of an anti-priest. Someone who would stay in the back and throw his debuffs at the enemy. A weak support role.

Yet in this world, an unguarded sneak-attack could inflict lethal wounds.

If I had followed my urges and attacked his imaginary head, I would have missed him.

Self-defense as an excuse and a free attack.

This thug might have become the new leader of the entire fortress.

“You are really talented.” The thug displayed a rather radiant face. “But, as I said before, we just want to talk. Like civilized people.”

I chuckled.

“Then let us talk.”