Part Fifty-One

“That vile, sneaking rat! How dare he make a fool of me!”

Finnél was in the middle of a complete breakdown. Last night had not gone well for them. Over half of the remaining pawns had died, and their cover had been nearly blown. And to make matters worse, they’d only stolen a fraction of their intended quota. The battle between Sávos and Michael had set off a chain reaction that alerted the entire fort, exposing their plans. While their identities had yet to be revealed, it was only a matter of time until someone figured it out.

“If only that rat had died in the forest! Then I wouldn’t be in this mess!”

It wasn’t fair to blame Michael, as it was his own decisions that caused this mess. He was the one who decided to accelerate their plans, it was him who decided to target Michael, and it was him who decided to rob the mercenaries in the first place. All because of his own judgments.

He’d believed that the humans were far beneath him. Sure, he and Sávos were stronger than most of the mercenaries, but the pawns were only of a comparable level to them. And there was also the fact that he never gave much thought to their exit strategy. And that there wasn’t anyone who could advise him. Even Sávos wouldn’t risk defying Finnél. To them, he was the bigger danger.

All in all, it was his own fault.

“Damnit! Gather whatever we have left and prepare! We’re going to use what we found to escape during the next attack!”

[Protag’s POV]

Ow and ow. Oh, my everything hurts. Guess that’s what happens when you slam into walls over and over. It could hurt just a little less though. I don’t think anything's fractured, so that’s good. So, where am-? Oh.

“Huh, I’m in a jail cell. Wish I could say this is the first time, but it ain’t.”

That had been a really sticky situation, though I hadn’t actually been charged with anything. I’d gotten into a fight with this scumbag, and ended up breaking his nose, jaw, and cracking his orbital socket. Though since he’d had a knife, it was labeled self-defense. I’d still had to do some community service after that though.

“I wish I could say that I’m surprised, but I’m not. Michael, are you aware of how much trouble you’re in right now?”

“Braddock? I was certain you’d be Alicia.” I kind of wish it was her. Not because seeing a cute girl is preferable to this grizzled old man, though it totally is, but because I only said that because I thought it was her in the first place. That isn’t something I’d tell just anybody.

“So, what the heck’s going on? Is this about those guys I killed? Because they attacked me. Oh, and while I’m at it, where’s my gear? And who stripped me?” I’m totally going to lodge a complaint about that one. At least they left me the clothes I usually wear under my armor.

“Be serious for once! Over twenty people are dead!”

“…What?”

“You heard me. Last night, after whatever the hell you did woke everyone up, we discovered that a number of people had been murdered in their sleep, and robbed of all their possessions. So if you know something, you need to tell us, now.”

Oh my God. Is this my fault? If, if it was the same people who put the vial in my bag, then by not telling anyone… I fucked up. I fucked up really bad. Wait, he said people were murdered?

“W-what about-?”

“They’re fine. They were both still in the infirmary when the commotion happened.”

Oh thank god. If they died because of a blunder on my part, I don’t think I could forgive myself. It’s bad enough that this hurt other people, but if it affected those who trusted me?

“So you do know something?”

“Maybe.”

Somehow, I couldn’t make myself lie to him. The look on his face was of someone who’d lost someone important in the most unfair way imaginable. It was a look I’d seen before, not on myself, but on someone close to me.

“I have to go talk to the guards. We’ll see about getting you out of there.”

And with that, he stood and walked away. Well. This isn’t good.

***

It’s amazing just how much you can beat yourself up. I’ve always lived the way I wanted, doing what I thought was right in the moment. It’s screwed me over in the past, but I was usually fine with it. But now? Now my stubbornness had gotten people killed. People who were completely unrelated to the issue at hand. I was fine killing people who came after me, they were no different from the monsters that attacked me, but this? This was solely due to my blunder.

The worst part was that I’d known of a way to discover the culprit, I just hadn’t taken it due to the complications it would inevitably bring. But I swore to myself that if I survived this, I wouldn’t make the same mistake.

Of course, I may not have the chance to make that mistake again. It’s highly possible I could be executed, especially if they think I had something to do with the incident. Couldn’t some Deus Ex Machina bull crap happen to save me? You know, that’s a very fun phrase to say. Maybe that’s why so many people use it too much.

The sound of the jail door slamming open broke my train of thought. Several NPC guards entered the room and after unlocking my cell, told me that they were to escort me to the conference room, where I was to be “interrogated”. While I wasn’t happy about it, I didn’t really have any other choice.

With four guards on either side of me, I was marched through several corridors. Thankfully we only saw NPCs along the way, which was good since I didn’t want the other mercenaries to gawk at me. Also, I no longer had my helmet on, meaning they could see my face. And to my surprise, it turned out the jail was under the central headquarters. So I don’t have to go outside? I guess that’s one positive.

It didn’t take much longer to get to the conference room. I could sense several people inside, so someone would be sitting in on whatever this was. One of my escorts opened the door and ushered me into the room. I’d been in this room multiple times, but I’d never felt so vulnerable here. My armor was more than just protection for me.

Only a handful of people were waiting inside. First were the two NPCs in charge of the fort (I just assumed they were the only ones in charge, there were never any others around). Then Braddock, who I’d expected to be here, though Jansen and Kalia were conspicuously absent. There were also a few of the newer mercenaries that I didn’t know, and a guy dressed in full tactical gear. Oh, and Alicia, who was giving me a wonderful glare for some reason. I could just see her yelling at me as soon as this was over.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say this has been an eventful night. I might be willing to overlook a minor argument or scuffle, but full blown murder I cannot ignore. Thirty-eight people have died within the last few hours, and not at the hands of monsters. Someone must be punished.”

There were a few glares aimed at me from the others. It seemed that the prevailing theory was that I was somehow involved in whatever conspiracy had occurred. Or at the very least, I was being blamed for it. It wasn’t outright hostility, more like simple distrust, so that gave me a little hope. Maybe I wouldn’t be straight-up executed.

“And so, we have brought you here. As there is still much confusion about what happened, we would like for you to inform us about the events leading up to now.”

Honestly, this was starting to piss me off. I know I fucked up, but come on. Not only am I attacked by multiple assailants and pushed to the point where I passed out, but now they’re all low-key accusing me of stuff? Keeping myself in check has never been a strong point of mine, but it felt like I was only one snide comment from snapping.

“Inform you about what? I’m still in the dark about what happened, or why I’m even here.”

“Are you serious!? Do you think we’re all idiots!? You were found at the site of a battle along with multiple corpses! How isn’t that connected!?”

One of the nameless mercenaries jumped out of his seat and started screaming at me. He was quickly restrained by his companions, but they were still glaring at me. Guess that was too brash of me. They’re probably connected to someone who died. But still, I don’t like it when people act like this with me. Don’t think you can talk down to me without any consequences.

“Are you an idiot? All I know is that I was attacked earlier and then passed out. And after I woke up, I found myself in a jail cell. So excuse me if I’m a little testy.”

All of this was said in the lowest, most threatening voice I could manage. Their faces started to redden, most likely in anger, but the Commander spoke up before they could reply.

“No, he has a point. This must be most confusing for him. So explaining the sequence of events to him would be the most effective method to settle the issue.”

That took everyone aback, even me, as the commander was the one who’d gathered everyone for this, tribunal? Court martial? Whatever it was. So for him to be the one to suggest explaining it was unexpected.

It turned out that the Combustion Bomb I set off had caused widespread confusion in the fort, which was compounded by the fact that one mercenary on watch thought it meant an attack was occurring and sounded the alarm. When the NPCs had investigated, they had discovered both me and the butler, who was near-death from his injuries, along with a number of corpses.

The issue had begun because the alarm was sounded. Believing that we were being attacked, the mercenaries had begun to assemble at the walls. Some hadn’t shown up however, and when their comrades went to check on them, they’d found them murdered in their beds and all their possessions stolen. This I had already known, but it was what came next that had gotten me involved.

“One of the intruders was killed when their intended victim awoke and retaliated.” He gestured to the Hunk wannabe, who nodded. It must’ve been him who killed the intruder.

“What you don’t know, is that all of the mercenaries were registered upon entering the fort. Not only do we have your names, faces, and mana signatures, but we also know what group each mercenary is part of. And so, when we checked the register, we discovered that the killed intruder was partied with some of those you had killed. That is why you’re here.”

Well, that’s illuminating. So that’s how the NPCs know who we are. Though I have to ask how they decide that. Maybe the System does it for them, but how? Is there a party system of some kind we haven’t been told about?

“What about the guy I was fighting? Was he registered with anyone?”

“No. He wasn’t registered to any group. In fact, we didn’t even know he was inside the fort in the first place. And all the rest of those who were killed were registered together.”

Well now what? I don’t think that butler was behind everything, but how to find the mastermind? I guess I’ll have to explain myself.

“So what do you want to know?”

***

I explained just about everything. Finding the vial, feeling people periodically watching me, the battle in the alley, and my fight with the butler. The whole story took about a half-hour to tell and by the end of it, everyone was flabbergasted. A few people had even questioned my sanity over the whole thing. And I was certain to hear from Alicia later on.

The oddest thing was that no one tried to call me a liar. I would only learn this later, but the Archmage had been employing a spell that would indicate when someone lied. This kind of spell was why magic was so damn useful.

“So, you were fully aware that someone was trying to kill you, but you didn’t tell anyone?”

“Yep. It definitely wasn’t one of my best choices. At the time, I thought that someone merely had a grudge against me for some perceived slight. I in no way thought it would come to this. In fact, I kind of thought it was over after I killed those other guys.”

“Yes, this “butler". Can you describe him in more detail?”

“Not really. That was the first time I’d ever seen him. Aside from his age and outfit, the only distinguishing feature about him was his absurd strength.”

“But you didn’t recognize him?”

“Not at all. Like I said, he had to be into his seventies or eighties. Has anyone else seen someone that old around?”

“Nope.”

“Not even close.”

“Nada.”

“There you have it.”

“So we have no idea who was responsible for this? Damnit! There has to be a way to smoke them out!”

And there was. I’d already had a plan prepared for the possibility that another attempt was made on me, but I wasn’t able to identify the culprit. Before, it would’ve been harder to pull off, but now… now, I could get the support of more than just my party. Hm, there’s more than enough of us. And if I can get the NPCs on my side, then it’ll go even more smoothly. It is risky, but so is leaving them to their own devices.

“I may have an idea. But it’ll take everyone’s cooperation to pull it off.”

Cooperating with those I didn’t fully trust was my biggest anathema, but if it was the only to get revenge and deal with the traitors, then I’d put up with it. I don’t know who you are, but you’re going to pay. I’ll make sure of it.