Chapter 5
The Tamed Ox
Axios, Upper Midgard
13 Ianuarius 652
The little corner guardhouse was packed wall-to-wall with uneasy City Guards. Pawel came with them willingly to get Arjun off the hook, but when a Player is strong enough to best a City Guard, they get put on high alert whenever any action is taken against them. The World seemed to have some knowledge of how fragile it was with its lopsided power-balancing, and there were more than enough Players willing to dedicate themselves to maintaining order in the realm.
Speaking of which, in walked a rather formidable-looking Knight. Even without seeing the Knight's numbers, Pawel knew he was outmatched. He had to hope that even in his current state, he had enough Intelligence points to talk his way out of this. Then a familiar voice spoke.
"Pawel..."
Pawel cocked his head. The Knight took off his helmet and Pawel felt a little bit of relief. At least he did not have to worry about Intelligence points.
"Oscar."
"It's Oscarius," the Knight said peevishly. "You've got a lot of nerve coming back here."
"You think I wanted to come back?" Pawel retorted with equal peevishness. "It wasn't my choice. It was the World's."
"The World never should've let you go in the first place."
"The World never should've taken me in the first place," Pawel countered. "It never should've taken anyone, but it keeps on carving off more meat for the grinder, doesn't it?"
"You speak heresy."
"Heresy?" Pawel scoffed. "Look who's become a true believer while I was gone. Aren't your Spirit points still in the single digits?"
"Belief is more than a number," Oscarius said. "The same for intelligence, because I know what you're thinking."
"Yeah, yeah, it's all an abstraction to quantify the transcendent power exhibited by the inhabitants of the World. I remember the lectures."
"Why did you attack my men?"
"Your men?"
"I am the Captain of the City Guard now."
"When did this happen?"
"A year ago today, in fact."
"Well, happy anniversary."
Oscarius repeated his question.
"Why did you attack my men?"
"What the hell are you teachin' these goons anyway, comin' out full force against a brand-new Rookie just because of some peddler's peepin'?"
"Some peddler...?"
"Sir, we heard a citizen raise the alarm," one of the guards who was there said. "He said there was a Thief."
"And there was," Pawel said, "only he wasn't stealin' anything."
"We would have held him for questioning and if there was no evidence of thievery, he would have been released," the guard said.
Pawel turned to the guard, pointed to his halberd, and said, "You don't point those pigstickers at a damn kid."
"We did not know the suspect was a child," the guard said. "We are trained to have our weapons at the ready."
"If you'd've hurt that boy, you can be damn sure I wouldn't've stopped at a lil' Wind Shot."
"What boy?" Oscarius asked. "What's this about?"
"It got our kids, the World did," Pawel explained. "I think they were what it was after. Me and Zosia just got caught up in it. It was Arjun your goon nearly skewered."
"Arjun? You mean..."
"Rama's boy, yeah. He wandered away from the rest of us and got tangled up with some peddler brat sellin' Experience Charms. You know how they get those, right?"
Oscarius furrowed his brow.
"It is distasteful, but you see that sort of thing when you venture into the Rats' Nest."
"Why don't your boys clean it up?"
"You know how it works. The Lord Mayor has an arrangement with the Four Dons. They help keep crime at a tolerable level and the City Guard doesn't infringe on their territory."
"You mean the Dons make sure the Lord Mayor gets his slice.
Oscarius tightened his fist as he said, "The Lord Mayor is a duly appointed official of the Crown. To speak against him is the same as speaking against the King."
"Do you wanna hear what I think of the King?" Pawel asked.
"Enough!"
Oscarius slammed his fist on the table, splitting it in two. Pawel was reminded what a bad idea it was to make a person capable of breaking rocks with his bare hands angry.
Oscarius drew in a deep breath to calm himself before speaking again.
"So it's you, Zofiya... and the three children you took with you? What about Miss Jun?"
"She didn't get caught up in it," Pawel replied.
"A pity," Oscarius said, "She was always the most reasonable of your group."
"I think it would've been more the pity if she'd been brought back too."
"Are you sure about that? Do you think she's happy about being left alone?"
Pawel averted his eyes and didn't answer.
Oscarius cleared his throat and said, "I'm willing to drop this whole business on the condition you keep a closer watch on the children in your care."
"Oh, I don't need you to tell me."
"I'm telling you all the same. And I want to know your intentions. Are you trying to be the Brave?"
"There was only one man I thought was worthy of bein' the Brave," Pawel replied, "and it sure as hell wasn't me. I plan on getting us out again. I don't know how we're gonna pay for it yet, but the kids need to be stronger if they're gonna survive. I'll get them ready as soon as I can and we'll head out to the Trials. Weinsberg is a nice enough town. If all goes well, we won't be back here anytime soon."
"You really hate this city, don't you, Pawel?"
"How far did you get?" Pawel asked in turn.
"We cleared the Sixteenth Trial. We... were not so fortunate on the Seventeenth... We were defeated by the Third Harbinger."
"You've got my sympathies," Pawel said. "Anyway, you've seen the Last Stronghold and everything in between. You tell me what I should think of this city."
"Axios is very cornerstone of the World," Oscarius said. "The fact that the people here don't need to go day to day in fear of being overrun is a good thing."
"Easy times make soft men."
"The People of the World don't have our blessings. You can't expect the same of them as you would of us."
"And yet there are these poor buggers farmin' cassavas out in Wokka, not knowin' when a Manticore might tear them to pieces or one of Ataxia's kids might turn them to goo, all while connivin' sons a' bitches safe behind these walls get fatter and fatter. How many people does it take to lift Duke Heinfried these days?"
"Duke Heinfried is dead," Oscarius said.
"Let me guess, a surfeit of peaches."
"I'll not have you insult our patron. Without the support of His Grace the Duke, our Companies never would have gotten as far as they had."
"Do you get belly rubs when you wag your tail like that?" Pawel asked.
Oscarius balled up his fist again and said, "I've already broken the table. What do you think I'll break next?"
"How about you let me go on my way so I don't raise your blood pressure anymore?" Pawel suggested. "You look like you're about to pop."
"And who do you think I have to thank for that?"
Pawel shrugged.
"I dunno. Must be a real asshole."
He grinned and for the first time since their reunion, even Oscarius could not help cracking a little half-smirk.
"You can say that again. Now get out of here."
"It's like music to my ears," Pawel said. "You have fun keepin' the peace." He then eyed the one guard from earlier. "And you mind where you point that damn pigsticker."
The guard said nothing and Pawel stepped around the ruin of the table to leave the guardhouse. Once her was outside, he looked around with more than a little consternation.
"Now where in the hell've they gotten to?"