There was much to do, much that couldn’t wait for morning. Vance got up and left his room. He made sure not to make any sounds that could alert Kathi or the other party members, and he locked the door from the outside and kept the key in his pocket. His ultimate goal was to meet up with Timathor, but it wasn’t easy to walk out of Fort Hamadryad in the dead of the night, especially since the area was swarming with guards and illuminated by a constellation of orbs, the light magic that kept the Saturn Tunnel working. I don’t think I can bribe every guard who stops me. I’ll have to find another way.

For a while, he wandered around Fort Hamadryad and learned more about its corridors, ladders, and sections. Whenever he saw guards or conscripts, he hid himself and observed them from a good distance. And it was by prying on such oblivious groups that he made some interesting observations. There were wine and beer stains on their clothes. Some were simply too cheery for night duty, and others were outright drunk. When he listened in on their non-stop banter, Vance heard a lot of drivel but also some promising comments. One guard was talking about how “the booze” was worth the risk. Another was reconsidering whether “the trip” had been worth it.

Vance suspected that he had found what he was seeking. He continued to spy on the guards and conscripts, and eventually, he selected from among them an apt target for a daring stunt: a full-fledged drunkard. Intoxicated, inebriated, full of the stink and stick of cheap booze. He was a young miner who had been given a spear to fight for his Count. His friends were leading him back to his bed in the barracks, but he was answering their efforts with crass jokes about their mothers. He was rowdy and uncooperative, and eventually, he forced all of his friends to give up on him. They left him sitting like a duck at the bottom of a ladder that he was supposed to climb. He shouted for them, but they never looked back and told him to shout some more.

“Shout and rouse the commander with your beautiful voice!”

The drunkard fell silent and started to sob. And that was when Vance made a move. He approached with light steps, and as if it was the most natural thing, he sat on the ground next to the fuddled fellow. He made no sound and made no effort to start any conversation or introduce himself. He sat in silence, as if he were a fact of nature, until the drunkard noticed his presence. The man turned to Vance and looked at him with the most intense green eyes—as if he was going to attack and strangle him. A moment later he did raise his hands as if to grasp the neck, but then he grabbed the shirt instead. He clung onto it and sobbed.

“They left me behind … all of them.”

Vance said nothing.

“Just like Nicole. I miss Nicole. I want to fuck her … but not the way the town guards f-f-fucked her. I want to fuck Nicole. Why did she leave for Cromsville? Did she think I’d d-d-d-die here? I won’t die here. I’ll die in the mines under a big slab of gold. I won’t d-d-die here.”

“You won’t,” Vance said.

“You g-get it,” the drunkard sobbed. “You get it … You get it.”

“You don’t need to think about her now. You need to forget.”

“Forget everything! To hell with the world!”

“You need another drink, don’t you?”

“N-Need a thousand! I’m thirsty, so damn thirsty!”

“I can get you one,” Vance said.

“You can? Isn’t that mighty k-k-kind of you?”

“You just need to tell me where you keep all the drinks.”

“Where I keep ’em?”

“Yeah,” Vance smiled. “Tell me where you keep them so I can get you one.”

“I don’t keep any d-drinks … I buy them at the bar.”

“Then I’ll buy you your next one.”

“You will?”

“Sure. So where’s the bar?”

“Where? It’s out there in the other t-t-tree.”

“Out where?”

“Out there! Fredrick’s foxhole! Fredrick’s … hole … Nicole …”

Vance pushed the drunkard away and stood up with a jolt. Fredrick is the guy who came back with the witnesses … the guy Commander Lyon sent out when the Saturn Tunnel suddenly collapsed. Vance chuckled a little. Just as the old saying goes: Corruption begins with those you trust the most. Vance walked away from the miserable drunkard and headed for the fort entrance. Alcohol was banned at Fort Hamadryad, but it seemed that this Fredrick had his own bootlegging operation. When there’s high demand, there are always those who try to profit. And just as this dirty business had the potential to benefit the dwarves, it offered Vance several advantages.

If the bar is really “out there in the other tree”, then getting access to it will give me a pretext to leave the fort at night. Vance went down a long wooden ladder. I can also make use of the place itself … But I have to check it first before I make any concrete plans. He reached the ground floor and turned toward the portcullis. And if I’m lucky enough, I could even make use of this Fredrick guy himself. He stopped at the front gate and looked around him, without any effort to conceal his presence. Eventually, one of the gatekeepers approached him and started to recite the old instruction manual.

“Adventurers are not allowed here at this hour. We have strict orders from the Commander, and we can’t make exceptions. Please return to your room.”

Vance waited for this boring monologue to end before he smiled and said, “I don’t want to cause you any trouble. I’m just looking for Fredrick. Can any of you call him over, or is he too busy brewing?”

“Go back to your room! This is your last warning!”

“And if I don’t, what will you do? Will you really wake up the Commander?”

“Go back to your room, adventurer!”

“Sure, we can involve the Commander in this—”

“Go back to—”

“Or you can tell Fredrick I’m waiting for him right here.”

The gatekeepers heard Vance loud and clear, and their faces turned either pale with fear or red with anger. A few of them disappeared; a few surrounded him as if to prevent him from running away. It was a tense situation, but Vance maintained his calm and smiled at their scowls. After around fifteen minutes, there was suddenly movement again. The standstill came to an abrupt end, and the gatekeepers stepped aside and made way for a young man in chainmail. The fort’s second-in-command, the fabled Fredrick himself, had finally appeared and graced Vance with his presence.