novelraw Chapter 52: Camp
Chapter 52: Camp
They made it to Posey’s bandit camp which would now be renamed Morvath Family’s Camp.
The moment they reached the entrance; they had to stop because someone was standing in front of them.
Herald stood there with his massive sword and he did not move.
He just stared them down as his blade rested against his shoulder.
His suit of armour was still mismatched and scratched with his face was hidden behind a helmet with a cracked visor but that did not reduce his presence in fact it just made him scarier.
Talia, Jim, and Roden shared a look before deciding to get down.
The vehicles behind them stopped one by one as the mercenaries climbed out and walked toward the front.
They were curious with most of them already having their weapons ready.
Although the journey had been relatively peaceful that did not mean they would lower their guard.
Talia, Roden, and Jim walked close to Herald and the thrall bowed. His movement was stiff and mechanical and his voice came out just as cold and flat.
"Welcome to camp. Lady Talia. Sir Roden. Sir Jim."
Seeing him speak, Talia immediately knew that Jensen was close by, after all She had also awakened the Thrall creation ability.
She understood what Herald was and why he was doing that.
’Looks like Master is helping us establish our prestige among the mercenaries,’ Talia thought as she straightened her back.
"Thank you, Herald... We are here to carry out Master’s mission."
Herald seemed to take a look at the convoy behind them as his helmet turned slowly.
The cracked visor swept across the line of trucks and the mercenaries standing beside them before he finally nodded.
"I shall return to my duties now, my lady." He bowed again and stepped back then gestured for them to enter the camp.
Then he turned around and walked away as he returned to his patrol.
Talia watched him leave before she finally turned to the mercenaries.
They were just standing there staring.
Some had their mouths open while others had gone pale from the baleful Herald was emitting.
It wasn’t something he was emitting consciously... it was just the effect of been refined by unrefined blood.
Of course, Talia, Jim and Roden were not affected because of their bloodline.
"What are you waiting for?" Talia called out. "Park the vehicles and get to work. There are tents inside. Set them up and get some rest. Tomorrow, you have a lot of work to do."
Most of the mercenaries turned around and climbed back into their trucks and drove into the camp.
But some of them stayed behind.
The mercenary with a scar on his cheek stood near the entrance with his arms crossed as he stayed silent for a bit waiting for one of the others to speak first but when nobody did, he finally spoke.
"Lady Talia... if you do not mind my asking... what about lookouts?"
Talia scanned the speaker for a second. She recognized him from the files she had gotten from the Mercenary Guild.
"You must be Galvin Griffin... leader of the Savage Griffins."
"Yes, my lady."
Talia tilted her head. "Do you think you can do a better job as a lookout and guard than a Level 3?"
Galvin froze.
’Just as I suspected,’ he thought. ’That man was indeed a Level 3 and not just someone with a scary...’
Talia waited. "Yes?"
Galvin gathered himself. "No, ma’am."
"Good." Talia nodded. "Now get to work... as I said, your job is just to search leave protection to us."
"Yes, ma’am."
Galvin turned around and headed back to join the rest of the mercenaries with his mind was racing.
The other mercenaries glanced at each other before following right behind him.
’Just search?’ he thought. ’Just search? Yeah right... If this is just a search mission, then I am an Immortal.’
But he did not try to leave, the pay was too good to pass up on, not to mention the protection of a Level 3 although he truly couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Talia stared at his back for a bit before she turned around and walked toward the massive command tent with her father and brother.
***
Later that night Galvin kept rolling around in bed unable to sleep as he looked around the tent.
He just could shut his mind off.
His wife, Anna, finally opened her eyes and grumbled as she reached out to grab his arm.
"Babe," she said. "What is going on?"
"I feel uneasy," Galvin sighed.
"About?"
"About this entire thing." He stared at the ceiling of the tent. "I mean, we are getting paid one mana stone per day. But nothing is making sense."
Anna looked at her husband, her eyes were tired, but she was listened.
"I understand what you are saying," she said. "And you have never been wrong before. But... you remember why we are doing this, right?"
Galvin sighed again, a lot deeper this time.
"Yes... We want to save enough to send our son to an academy the moment he awakens, so he can have better opportunities than we ever did."
Anna nodded. "Yes... and with fourteen mana stones which is fourteen thousand gold slips give or take, added to our savings, we are almost there."
She reached out and put her hand on his chest.
"And with our transportation and food paid for, we can save every slip of it."
Galvin nodded as he put his hand over hers.
"And we can get out of this life sooner and really settle down, right?"
Anna smiled. "Yes... even if something happens, we always have you to depend on."
She reached up and caressed the scar on his cheek with her finger tracing the old wound as she remembered the reason he even got it in the first place.
Galvin nodded in agreement but inside, he wanted to say something else.
He wanted to tell her that he could not do anything against a danger that would need a Level 3.
That there were some fights a man could not win no matter how smart he was, but he kept it to himself and closed his eyes.
It was best not to worry about the issues they would most likely be facing now.
It was best to get some sleep... after all being sleep deprived would be of no help to him tomorrow.
Anna watched her husband drift off as his body slowly relaxed.
While it might feel like she was being delusional, she truly believed her husband was one of the best mercenaries out there.
Maybe not in direct combat but he had managed to keep all six members of their mercenary group alive for years without a single loss.
He had always found a way out of every situation they had found themselves in.
Sometimes, she felt like she was holding him back especially when she fell pregnant, that they had to stop taking mercenary jobs for a good while.
Choosing instead to stay at home and raised their son, she was very sure that had affected their career his more than hers.
But she did not regret it. Not a single bit.
She was not happy that their career had stagnated but if she had to choose again, she would still decide to keep her son.
He was one of the best things that had ever happened to her.
She waited till she felt her husband’s breath slow a little more showing that he was asleep now.
Then she closed her eyes and went to sleep too.