Not long after the two of them left I started a small fire under a tall set of thin screens meant to disperse the smoke while it was still low so that it was less visible up high. I only brought some fresh foods for tonight and for the rest of my stay here I would be living on protein bars. So, tonight, I was going to smoke a large roast for the group with some portal spices that were acquired on my last mission.
For myself I had a small can of fruits and for the others I had large fruit cups to enjoy alongside their foods. For drinks, though, I only had a large three-gallon plastic jug and some steel cups. If I needed a replacement jug before the day of the objective then it would be brought to me by Lucinda.
To keep up the appearances that I had been stuck wounded here for several days, though, I would need to dump out at least half of the water.
My story was that I had been ambushed by a lone upper D feline predator not unlike a saber tooth tiger and broke my leg. This would at least explain why I had water and why I was forced to tap out of my survival training mission so close to the wall. The 'actual' mission was to go from the south entrance to the north base and I was oh so close to success.
Because of the on-sight kill order for this mission, I doubted I would need to stall for that much time but at least the first minute or two had been prepared for me. If I honestly needed to stall longer than that to present an opening, I might as well clash with the team leader to get in close and keep him in one spot. For about two or maybe even three seconds I could present an opening before being overwhelmed but after that I would probably be pushed down and tossed aside.
None of that would matter until tomorrow, though, so tonight I only needed to tend the low fire of bark and coals and enjoy the sound of fat oils dripping into the hot ashes. The sweet and herbal otherworldly scents of dried and blended magical plants filled the air with an almost tangy aroma on top of hybridized oak smoke and the faint smell of the cheap meat itself. Currently, my mission was one of simply relaxing.
Poniard and Si-Pon returned from their foraging about halfway through the smoking and simply joined me by the small fire to go through their loot once more. This time their loot was mostly stuff like plant materials and a few more stones but they organized them just as seriously as before. Both of them even shared a few of their new stones with me.
Despite the fact that tonight's dinner was nothing special the three of us enjoyed it in companionable silence. Well, I enjoyed my food quietly. Si-Pon and Poniard spent most of their time clicking and clucking back and forth as if discussing the rest of their plans for this trip.
"Si-fu-u," Si-Pon suddenly coos, pulling me away from my current thoughts about the mission. "This place… why ar-re we her-re?"
Raising my eyebrows at the bird in surprise, I say, "I knew you'd have learned more about our speech, but that was pretty good. And, we're here because there are bad humans doing bad things. As a good human, it's part of my job to stop those bad humans."
"That…" Si-Pon starts to say, probably searching for the right words.
"Does not answer your question at all?" I ask to finish his sentence for him, at which the bird simply bobs its head up and down. Nodding more slowly in kind, I say, "Those bad people are killing good people like me, good people stuck in tough places like this and usually injured like I am pretending to be. They kill us, tell others they found us dead, and then enjoy our things. We are technically at war, we cannot abide by such selfishness. So, those people will die."
"Yo-u will kill them?" The bird asks curiously, tilting its head to the side.
"Has," Poniard suddenly hisses softly before clicking and grunting a few sounds and then pretending to eat from an empty hand.
"I MIGHT not have to kill these guys, the people from yesterday will shoot them the way they usually shoot people and I will probably only need to fight one," I reply calmly, disregarding the fact the Poniard had probably just revealed that we had killed people together and he ate one's heart. "These guys are all probably stronger than me, though. One of them definitely is, but he should be the first guy to get shot."
Si-Pon did not say anything for almost an entire minute after that, but eventually he said, "Do-o yo-o need help?"
Honestly, I was actually pretty surprised that the bird offered to help me despite our previous agreement. With his powers and uncaring personality so far I kind of thought the bird would only step in to catch bullets or stop a weapon right before they actually hit me. Now he was asking if I actually needed some back-up.
"Protect Poniard," I simply state with a small but grateful smile. "Since they're stronger than me, I cannot say for sure that I can protect him. I know he has magic but they have better versions of these," I add, patting a revolver at my hip. "These reach further than a mage can and can throw as many attacks as you can fill your pockets with."
Another few moments of silence and then, "I can pro-o-tect Pon-pon. What o-of Si-fu-u?"
Long since finished with my dinner, I lie back in my lean-too not far from the dying cook fire and say, "I won't know how strong I am if I don't fight with my life at risk. Don't protect me unless it's something like me being stabbed or shot in the back. Anything else and I'll probably live to learn my lesson."
"I se-e," Si-Pon says from his nest of herbs and grasses in the shelter he shared with Pon-pon before lowering his head to his chest to sleep. Even asleep, I trusted the bird's abilities enough to sleep soundly only a few minutes later.
During the night was when the rescue mission was officially posted and sent to our targets who had residences in the state. By the time I woke up the next morning with the sun rising high enough to shine in my face they were probably already on their way to the territory. If entry from the base was allowed, I would see them by evening but as it was it would not be until the next morning at least.
Because I had no actual priorities, I simply climbed my way up to the top of a small storage building and watched my surroundings from the sparse shade of yesterday's tree. This late in the morning there was a fair amount of activity in the region. A kobold water party was transporting large and warped sheets of metal full of shallow water to and from the still water of the crater.
They were neither slow nor hurried, simply walking three bodies to a sheet with two teams of three traveling at any given time. The other creatures in this region close to the wall were not many, only a few of the large beast types that wandered in small groups while perpetually grazing. It was amazing that there was still any grass even here.
Si-Pon was already out before I woke up and refreshed myself but Poniard was wandering around the edge of the property as if patrolling. To me, this was just some other place with things to shoot and stab. To Poniard, this was a place behind enemy lines surrounded in all kinds of scents both new and familiar and most of them dangerous.
If not for the fact that he only had his remodeled staff and poniards, it would have been cute. Without the reach and weight of his spear, Poniard probably felt downright naked. Although his magic was formidable, Poniard was basically raised to melee combat and probably only considered magic as an emergency option despite his overwhelming mana pool.
After another hour of world watching Si-Pon finally returned from whatever he went off to do with what looked like a fur bag clutched closed in one of its feet. Hovering over the storage building where Poniard and I were relaxing, the bird elemental coos at us briefly before gliding off back down to camp. Briefly sharing a look with Poniard, I simply shrug and lead the way down while awkwardly preserving the brace on my leg.
When we got to camp we found the bird standing over an open animal skin looking down at a rather large bounty near the safe from last night. Right now, it was making a small pile of all the smallest stones and metallic insects it had collected. From the sheer number of them, it must have traveled for miles around since sun-up.
Once it had diminished its bag of loot by about a fifth of its contents, the bird unceremoniously began tossing these small rocks and dead insects into my safe. I said nothing but simply smiled and nodded gratefully before the bird started giving Poniard a share of his loot. Poniard got less rocks and bugs than me overall, but his rocks were bigger and brighter so they were definitely of a better quality.
These would be the pebbles I put into starter kit wands for goblin mages while the rocks I originally received from Si-Pon and then Poniard's extras would be what I gave to Karen for use on the team. The insects, though, were debatable. I could make use of them in a lot of ways.
I wanted to do my own magic training which meant I would need a catalyst until I developed an actually ability or even affinity. The more precious metal insects like the few gold and silver ones I saw would be saved for me to make a magic weapon. The rest I could use to make lesser metal D grade wands like copper and aluminum for my goblins and give the iron or possibly steel ones to Karen to make MP scrap or I could do the same in reverse.
As well, Poniard did not even receive a dozen insects but his were the largest gold and silver dragonflies and portal bugs in the bag. The rest of the loot, including the other odds and ends only barely exposed, remained in the bag as the bird folded it up and kicked it to slide aside. That bag probably had the collective value of the surrounding land for at least four miles in every direction.
"Si-Pon, have I ever told you what common courtesy is?" I ask while going to the food bag to fetch some protein bars for me and bags of jerky for the others. "Common courtesy is treating other people with a healthy amount of appreciation whether or not you know them. For people like me who work in these areas and make most of our pocket money by pocketing this stuff, we usually… don't take everything there is. I'm not complaining, but you can't do that again after this trip unless it's inside the portals."
Looking back and forth between the bag and I several times, the bird clucks irritably and then makes a few odd grumbling noises before finally cooing, "I o-only take this mu-uch, there still mu-uch mo-ore."
"I believe you," I reassure him gently. "But now there will be fewer scattered over a larger area. It will probably take two breeding cycles to replenish what you've gotten I usually don't care much for the so-called other people because they could be people like the ones we are here for, but we're not really supposed to be here to begin with."
The last point I made seemed to be what struck a cord with the bird because it simply looked at the bag and then seemed t nod to itself before silently breaking apart jerky.
*