Chapter 98: The Captain

‘Knock, Knock.’ Come in, Average says to the guest. A large man; adorned with clean white armor, steps into his office. Lifting his helmet, he reveals light facial hair across his face. Grey eyes, middle-aged with clearly powerful muscles. Stepping forward, he sits on the chair opposite Average; leaning back in comfort before turning to Average; “Hello Average.”

“Hello, Sir Leonard.” Averages forehead wet with perspiration.

Leaning forward, Leonard levels his gaze with Average, shoulders strait; “I have some questions, Average.”

“Of course, Sir, I will answer to the best of my ability.” Average maintains eye contact as best he can.

Pleased with his response, a slight smile appears on Leonard’s face. “First, give me the details of the situation at the lake.”

Averages shoulders loosening before Leonard interjects, “In less than 100 words, I’m a busy man after all.”

Average straitens his back once more. Speaking in a clear all be its quiet voice. “One of my associates discovered a secret facility under the lake. Inside holds several dangerous machines of unknown origin. One was eliminated, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. My reports speak of a great goliath leaving the lake. Made of black metal with red lenses for eyes. Bipedal with lense-based laser weaponry and mounted gun. We have not searched the laboratory due to the inherent danger to the town.”

Contemplation on Leonards’ face, “Where is this goliath now?”

In the same neutral and polite tone, “Unknown, it disappeared shortly after surfacing. Reports speak of a figure approaching it before both disappear.”

“Someone has the goliath; do you have photos of the creature.” The concern now on Leonard’s face.

“A scout took a single photo before dying due to one of its weapons; this photo was recovered.” The mayor hands Leonard a single photo.

After careful scrutinization, “That’s definitely under the category of goliath, and here I thought you embellished the story.” Carefully looking at every aspect of the photo, running his finger over a shadowed human figure.

“I would like to speak with this associate.”

Average pauses for a moment, face like a stone while slick sweat drips down his face. “He values anonymity; I wish not to break that by seeking him out for you.”

Leonard looks Average dead in the eyes. “And I asked to speak with him; I will not repeat that again.”

Average begins to rub his hands under the table. “I will… contact him. But I cannot promise a meeting.” The stutter short but noticeable.

“I doubt he would refuse a meeting with someone such as myself, make sure he is aware of who I am.” Leonard slightly puffs his chest.

“Be assured, I will do that.”

Leonard rests his face in his hand, thoughts running over his eyes. Average doesn't do anything but wait patiently.

“You mentioned one was already eliminated; what did it drop, and how was it killed.”

“It was destroyed by a traveler of unknown origin; it was of a smaller variety from witness statements. What is dropped we don’t know, but it left a massive crater after its destruction. The noise of an explosion was heard for miles.”

“And of the traveler?”

“Left with haste before authorities could reach the blast site.”

Leonards face red in anger, “What are your soldiers doing! You fail to apprehend potential suspects and didn’t gather meaningful information.”

“I apologize, sir, most events took place in later hours or during skeleton shifts. All incidents were over in minutes at massive distances across town.”

“I don’t need excuses. The soldiers are your responsibility, get them up to scratch, or you will be on the front lines instead.” Average has left scratch marks on his desk from stress.

“It’s useless for me to tell you what I’m going to do but since you’re so incompetent, I will deal with your mess.” He murmurs “Damned lower nobles.”

Removing a small booklet from his chest plate, Leonard reads a few pages before writing notes in chicken scratch.

“Now, I am also here to answer reports of a royal family member being here.”

Average freezes, not a single muscle out of place; “I see, I will help you to the best of my ability.”

“You see, it’s odd how everyone is accounted for, so who is here? Is one of the royals at the capital using an imposter to get out work again?” He says with a deep sigh.

“I don’t know who the royal is.”

Leonard levels his gaze with Average. “You do know, it’s a grave offense to lie to me.”

“I am aware sir.”

“Who is the royal?”

“No royal has visited me, my scouts failed to find them after a brief glimpse in town.”

“You need new scouts.” Sighing, “We only have 4 sets of that armor. Both the armor and the people allowed to wear it are very distinctive.”

“May I speak out of turn, sir.”

“You may.” He replies with slight curiosity in his voice.

“Is it not possible that someone other than the royal family could craft and or wear the armor?”

Leonard loudly bellows in laughter, “You must be joking. It’s made out of very rare materials. It’s very unlikely someone had the rare resources to discover the crafting recipe, much less craft it. Only the royal family could do so after pushing vast resources towards its blueprint.”

“Not even the blueprint or armor was stolen?”

“Ah, you see little mouse, I had this thing called for-sight. First, the armor is soul-bound and the facility holding the blueprint is untampered, I checked.” Leonard stops for a moment before standing up. “I know you haven’t told the whole truth; once I leave that door, if you lied to me it’s on your head.” He says with a smirk.

“I wouldn’t dream of lying to the royal captain, sir.”

“Good, because I find people who lie are my least favorite type of people.” He says while removing the gem-encrusted blade from his side, gently stroking its edge. “I beautiful blade is it not?”

“It looks great, Sir.”

“I’ve slain many a beast with it. I’ve also slain many liers with this blade.” Leonard says while focusing on the mirror shine, before turning the reflective surface towards Average. A red face wet and creased with wrinkles reflects back. “I do hope you are not lying, I expect full support in my investigation.”

“I will endeavor to support you to the best of my abilities.”

“Good, now get me a list of all the resources you have available, including manpower.”

“Yes sir, I will do so immediately.

‘Beep, beep, beep.’ ‘bang, crash.’ “I hate that alarm.” It’s important but I hate it; I’ve crafted a good dozen of them by now. I never used to smash them, but now I know they are super cheap; I find it difficult to care.

Getting up from my messy bed. Realizing I slept at a funny angle, finding my neck aching. “Damnit.” Sitting up stiffly. Rubbing my sore neck in hopes the pain will pass, it never does. I could gamble with going back to bed. It will either get better or far worse. Mentally feeling out the pain, “It’s not that bad, shame I don’t have paracetamol here.” Wait, checking NEI. We do have paracetamol but, it’s really annoying to make.

It’s a shame, but nothing to be done, so with that, I get on with my day. Stumbling to my kitchen, my mind slowly coming into focus. Just in time to dodge a sneakily placed web trap. Spotting 8 eyes peering at me from a dark corner, “better luck next time.” I say with a wink.

4 eyes wink back, which gets a chuckle from me. Finding my way to the kitchen, I take out an item I rarely use – coffee. Crafting it into instant coffee for convenience. I fill a cup with ice before adding coffee and half the water I need. I shake the cup violently resulting in a frothy, iced coffee. Adding some sugar and the final amount of water, I shake once more before serving.

Enjoying the caffeinated beverage, I feel the fog quickly clear from my mind. With new energy, I begin breakfast. Holding a pepper over an open flame until it's completely covered in black carbon. I then place it in ice-cold water before rubbing away the carbon skin. Revealing a cooked and skinned red pepper.

Slicing the top with a sharp knife and removing the inside. Making sure to keep the top and not to damage the pepper. Taking some leftover white rice, I heat it slowly in a pan with salt pepper, paprika, cumin, caramelized onion, spring onion, and a dash of sugar. Taking the mixture, I fill the peppers before adding the top back on. Using a wooden stake to hold the top on before placing it in a hot oven. Slowly roasting it before removing the steaming hot stuffed pepper.

Slicing into it and watching the rice spill out was a great deal of fun. I consume the tasty rice and pepper quickly. Finding it sweet, but still savory.

Leaving a few to the side for my pets to find. Sending a mental hint food was about to Chic. Resulting in several mental images of previous food I’ve prepared. I reply with a question mark. “No spoilers for you.”

As much as Chic can use broken English, she still prefers images and emotions. It’s annoying because her mind is alien compared to mine. Her emotions feel different and her logic completely different. It’s strange, but I’ve grown used to it. Although, I quickly regretted looking through her vision. Gave me a headache and nightmares.

I do wonder how Sling sees, alas I have no method to figure it out just yet. I assume it must be some kind of echolocation or something given the lack of… eyes.

Well, as long as my lovable slime can move around, it doesn’t matter. This evening I should continue my leveling of the vampire body. I’ve got 2 quests to complete, and I don’t wish to test a god and godlike creatures’ patience.

Wondering what to burn the day on, I head into town. Wearing smart clothes and my wyvern armor. Of course, the camouflage paste was reapplied, which was annoying. Avoid water, got it.

I love the suit, but I feel too formal in it. Even if it’s of interesting colors. It definitely attracts no small amount of attention as I walk through the town. Normally my face gets a lot of attention, but they were definetly looking at my clothes. At least I think so anyway.

Finding my way to the market, I catch a glimpse at a group of soldiers. Not normally an uncommon thing here. But these soldiers were in large white armor. Large feathers adorning their helmets in varying colors. They walked in sync towards the high-class district. Quickly leaving my vision.

Refocusing, I start with the spice merchant. “Anything new?”

“Sorry lad, nothing new; but I got your order over here.”

“Sweet.” Taking the neatly packed bundle of spices and dried herbs I was running low on.

“I snuck a little lavender oil inside, you are looking a little tired.”

“Thanks, I will try it.”

He tips his hat, “Any time.”

Leaving the spice merchant I swiftly move through the crowd. A few pickpockets go for my pockets before being rebuffed by my invisible armor. I smile in amusement. Picking up a few vegetables and fruits along the way. I even spotted a merchant selling some mangos. I love mangos, they are amazing. I buy some mangos to grow and a couple slices of dried mango to eat while walking.

Happy with my haul, I head to carnival island for something interesting to do. Flying up to its ridge before wandering around. I spot another white armored soldier, a gem-encrusted sword at his side and the largest feather out of them all. He must be important Adding him to my avoid list, I turn around and go to a different part of the island.