Sebastian's party continued to harass and steal from Yokkun's shipments for the next few weeks. The result was always the same - the shipment would be stolen, while the adventurers and coachmen would be knocked unconscious during the attack. When they woke up, their equipment and the shipment would be gone, and their carriage destroyed.
The offending party was currently lying in the snow, waiting for the next carriage to come around. This time Yokkun decided to split the shipments into two carriages, each taking an entirely different route and without his markings this time. With an increased number of guards and carriages, it seemed Yokkun was desperately trying new things to circumvent the robberies.
Jin turned to Sebastian who was beside him. "So we perform the usual attack on this carriage while the others attack the other carriage, dump the entire shipment into our cave nearby, and sell part of it back to Yokkun. How long are we going to continue this plan?"
Thanks to Zes and Aima, the party found a cave nearby. After clearing it out, they used it to store Yokkun's waylaid shipments after placing traps all around the cave. Sebastian wanted to use everything to smith new magick weapons and gear for the party, but Jin was adamantly against it. He didn't want to be likened to 'highway robbers' as he called it. As a compromise, they decided to sell a portion of it back to Yokkun to continuously gain favour from him without arousing suspicion.
Sebastian continued to stare into the distance, anticipation building on his nerves. "I know this might seem like a very long and tedious process. However, this is the only one I could come up with to draw Yokkun out. From my previous work in the other world, it's like when you want to remove a complicated tumour in the body. During the surgical operation or even with the use of medicines, you aim to cut off the blood supply to the tumour. Once it shrinks or dies, it makes it distinguishable from the healthy surroundings. We are limiting his supply of ores and mana stones with our continued operation. I simply hope that this would be enough to draw him out. We just need to see him once to be able to tail him and I'll interrogate him." He omitted the part about surgically removing the unhealthy tumour. Whether it was intentional, only Sebastian knew.
"Like how you and Zes interrogated Aima's assailants?"
Sebastian couldn't help but turn and look at Jin's face. Even with only half their faces showing, Sebastian was able to tell his facial expression from his tone alone. "So you heard from someone. Did Zes tell you?"
"I wasn't even sure it was you, I was simply guessing. I only heard that you interrogated them, but surprisingly you didn't turn anyone in with the guards." Jin shook his head slowly.
Maintaining his calm composure, Sebastian continued. "They threatened me and Zes, even managing to physically harm her. You should be able to see it in her adventurer tag. She merely defended herself against those hooligans. My adventurer tag should show I didn't kill anyone."
Sebastian remembered during the Erimead Village when Becky dealt the final blow to Oswin. Even though Sebastian fought with Oswin for an extended duration before they arrived, there were no records of him killing Oswin on his adventurer tag. It was instead placed on Becky's tag. Sebastian guessed that this was because she dealt the fatal blow. This was the reason why he had Zes finish off Yokkun's goons after he tortured them mentally and physically.
Through his hood and mask, Jin's eyes showed sadness and a hint of pity. "I know that you're trying to get revenge, but that was just too much. If I wasn't here, I'm not even sure if you would just slaughter everyone around Yokkun's shipments."
"I haven't stooped that low yet. Don't worry Jin, I know that you will stop me if I do reach that point. Speaking of which, here they come." Sebastian readjusted his hood and mask, signifying that the operation was about to start. With a sigh, Jin prepared his glaive and ran his mana through it. Even with more adventurers placed to guard the carriage, they still fell to Sebastian's overwhelming speed and Jin's enhanced weapon.
***
Klance City castle. In one of the fairly-sized rooms with bare decorations, a dwarf sat merrily in front of a table filled with food. He was even humming to himself as he looked at the food selection in front of him. Although he sat alone in front of the food, two guards were stationed near him, indicating his importance.
knock knock knock
"Yes?" The dwarf looked up from his trance and looked at the door expectedly. He was even preparing his utensils while looking at the door.
"It's me, your grace. Yokkun Orebasher." An almost muffled voice could be heard on the other side of the door.
"Finally." The dwarf turned to one of the guards in the room. "Let him in."
With a bow, Yokkun faced the other dwarf in the room and waited for his gesture before he could sit across him.
"It's about damn time Yokkun. I'm about to faint from hunger. How could you let the earl of Klance City wait this long? Come, let's eat now."
"Ah yes, your grace. Please do the honours." Yokkun held his utensils and waited for his host to eat first.
"Just cut the formalities. You know that I don't like that here. That's why I usually have my 'meetings' in this room. Away from the prying eyes and ears of the masses."
"I understand your grace - "
"Say 'your grace' one more time and I'll throw you out this room Yokkun."
"I see. Thank you for having me over, Yodmak." Yokkun said the last part with care.
"That's good. I don't like the pretence that politics bring. Let's eat now." Even as he was saying that Yodmak was already stuffing his face with food.
Halfway through their dinner, Yodmak broke the awkward silence first.
"I heard that your shipments are being stolen. You even posted a quest for this in the adventurer's guild. How is it going along?"
"As expected from your information network. I have tried various means to defend my shipments but they still go missing. I'm barely making ends meet now."
"Oh? The wealthy Yokkun is barely making ends meet? Is that why you reduced the number of your shops? However, I think that happened before the robberies occurred though?" Yodmak was slowly pressing into Yokkun's personal affairs using the dinner as an excuse.
"Ah, you see, um. I invested during that time so I sold my shops. I was meant to focus on ores and mana stones, but you can see the situation now. It's not helping anyone, except those robbers I suppose."
There was a brief glint of coldness in Yodmak's eyes. "I do hope you're not going to extreme measures for this. The city guards are doing their part to catch the thieves as well."
The rest of the meal went with Yodmak's questioning and Yokkun's awkward answering as he tried to deflect suspicion. Needless to say, at the end of the meal, Yokkun left the private room with a pale face. It almost seemed that he had lesser the amount of nourishment than before he came in.
A female beastkin servant led Yokkun down corridors as she showed the pale-faced dwarf the way out. Once they passed by an empty corridor, the servant's pace slowed down.
"Baron Neil wants to see you after this if possible."
Yokkun stopped on his tracks, swallowing his saliva. "First I'm semi-interrogated by Earl Yodmak Blackbreaker under the guise of dinner, now I'm being summoned by Baron Neil? Haaa..." Yokkun let out a sigh that didn't contain any relief whatsoever.
"I'm just sent as the messenger. It seems a meeting with the earl of Klance City is quite big - the baron simply wants to talk to you. Don't quote me on that though." The servant continued to walk, prompting Yokkun to follow her once more.
"These damn robberies are doing my head in. I might lose my head over this." In the corridors of Klance City castle, a dwarf could be seen mumbling to himself and shaking his head while walking the corridors.
***
In a lavish house in the outskirts of Klance City, a human male dressed in noble clothes stood on his balcony overlooking his estate. Even though it was in the middle of winter, he was only wearing loose clothes which looked elegant. He dubbed this custom-tailored outfit as 'pyjamas'.
A servant knocked on the window pane, calling the noble's attention. "My lord, Yokkun has arrived. He is waiting in your study as you instructed."
"Very well. Thank you." With an elegant turn, he made his way to his study while cancelling his [Oakskin] spell.
As soon as he went inside his study, he closed the door and turned the key. Yokkun stood up from his seat, sweat forming on his forehead even with the cold weather outside.
"My lord, you wanted to see me?" Yokkun was still fumbling with his hands while speaking.
"Cut the bullshit Yokkun. You know me outside of this facade. I was merely wondering what happened with your production rate for our magick weapons?"
"Ah yes. As you know, recent robberies have targeted our shipments and it has affected our production rate. I'm looking at my other sources, but the winter is limiting their supply as well. Please give me time."
"Aiming for a noble was important in the early stages of my plan but now it's fucking annoying since I can't easily move around. How do people put up with this fakeness? sigh. I'll give you more time up until spring, however, know that my patience is wearing thin and that you are replaceable. For now, focus on the 'revolver' and 'shotgun' design."
"Got it. Thank you for sparing me, Nate. You'll be happy to know that the mana stones are still being produced at the usual pace. We lost the dungeon near Erimead Village but the remaining slaves are still producing their optimal amount of mana stones."
"Haa... Don't remind me about that event. That prompted me to aim for being a noble quicker. Even now I'm just a fledgeling noble by name only you know. This is causing me more stress. I'll relieve myself in a nearby brothel. Cover for me while I go."
"I understand. Just like before."
With the same elegant turn as before, Nate turned around and headed to his room to prepare to head out. Only this time, there was a look of ruthlessness in his eyes.
***
Clunk
With a dignified sound, Aima placed an iron-plated bow on her workbench. They were still using the rented workshop in Klance City's commercial district. With the amount of time they stayed in the workshop apart from their raids and the inn, it almost seemed like it was part of their daily grind.
Sebastian picked up the bow and allowed his mana to flow through it. "Hmm... Lightness and durability. It feels like it's almost similar to Jin's enhanced glaive at this point." He passed it to Aima who also ran her mana through it and tested wielding the bow.
"I think you're right Sebastian. So with this, we've confirmed quite a few things then. You can imbue your mana in a weapon that's forged in flame. It doesn't seem to apply to cloth, leather, or accessories. Also the properties you endow it are random at this point. Are you sure you don't want to sell this? You could retire by next season if you keep this pace and sell them off."
Sebastian shook his head. "I don't want to draw unnecessary attention towards myself. Also, you know the reason why we are doing all of this."
Aima looked into the distance while she slowly nodded. "I remember. I've lost a lot of colleagues and party members before, but Becky was different. You should know that."
Seeing the awkward situation in the workshop, Zes broke their silence by offering herbal teas.
"Please don't forget to replenish both your mana pools."
"Ahaha, that reminds me. Do you both remember when Jin suffered a mana burnout after a raid?" Aima chuckled loudly as she took a cup of herbal tea from Zes.
A few days ago, Jin kept infusing his mana through his glaive while using reinforcement spells. He wasn't able to gauge his mana expenditure properly and ended up collapsing when their attack finished. After that surprising event, everyone agreed that Sebastian's mana-enhanced weapons needed caution to wield. It became part of their practice routine to regulate the amount of mana they infuse in the mana weapons and to alternate using it with their spells. Winter brought a lot of changes and improvements to the party in more ways than one. However, it wasn't finished just yet.