I see the noble for the first and only time. He is seated on a throne, his arms pierced by blood transfusions. He is small in stature, between a human and a normal woman. Next to him are numerous modern doctors. His arms are thin, folded, and show the inside. His face indicates suffering. His gaze is lowered. His ears are almost non-existent. His features express horror. He whispers something. Guards are on all sides, scrutinizing the outside and inside, every movement of the doctors, extremely attentive, perhaps even every movement of the noble.
Suddenly my fear diminishes. He becomes almost sympathetic to me - even though I am on my knees, two spears framing my head.
—
I wake up with a smile in an energized carriage, faster than a car, and travel to the village of Roaes in less than a day. I laugh a lot with him, sitting on a bench, thinking about the past. Then, I slip to the meeting point. A hooded figure waits for me there.
"I don't have much time," said Rargnes.
"Me neither. She teleports me once this is over," replied Jean.
"Is she with you? Can she hear?"
"No, don't worry. I arranged it. So, tell me everything, were you able to find a weakness? Before you contacted us, we were scared with that letter."
"I was forced. I did my best to make it different from how I usually speak."
"Yeah, yeah, I saw that."
He looked at him intensely.
"I saw the noble only once during these last eleven months, and I think it will be the only time. Moir, the capital, is ultra-secure. We can't get through. They didn't explain everything to me, but from what I feel, the whole structure is a mass of mana organized in formation. Infiltration is insanely difficult, and even the power of classes is greatly reduced there."
"How did you manage not to die?"
"They wanted my power."
"Precisely, didn't they buy you to kill you and steal your power?"
"No," Rargnes shook his head, "all this power-stealing story is false, just another lie from a paranoid noble. He can barely stand. He's afraid. He generally doesn't intervene because he's afraid of making enemies. He lets others do everything and never leaves Moir."
"But wait, I'm not following you anymore, we have news of people who saw him on the battlefield."
"It's not him. Listen, this guy is the stranger, commissioned to wage war. You have three central people, a goblin, Milton, and this guy who never removes his helmet. The noble is just a puppet."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Once we kill that son of a bitch Milton and the goblins, most of the work will be done."
"And how do we deal with the goblin and the stranger? Even, to kill these goblins or just Milton?"
"Well, I can't help with that. At best, we could ally with the stranger, he speaks our language and is from the second apocalypse."
"Did you find a weakness for them? For the goblins?"
"None, except their intelligence. The goblins seem more like machines in the capital." This made him think of RedStar, who had certainly been judged as a defective product. That's what Milton wanted: a series of slaves who could never lie and depended entirely on him. "The commander had found them peculiar... I don't know. Maybe he revealed more to his wife."
"She says she doesn't remember anything."
There was a silence that seemed to connect them.
"To be honest, I'm not sure we can win. They're almost immortal."
"I understand, it scares everyone... but what can we do? They've done unacceptable things and then..." he leaned closer to his ear, "do you want to be chased by someone who can teleport?"
Rargnes shook his head.
"How's Truckdriver?"
"They barely consider him human. When we fled from Milton, everyone nearly starved to death."
Rargnes had a realization.
"It's true they don't have animals."
"Yes, but also the canned goods don't last. It's as if this world rejects everything that bears life."
"But you, between us, do you approve?"
"Well, not really, but the faction of Mrs. Teleportation doesn't want to hear anything, even after changing location."
"They just want slaves."
"Maybe."
"And after them, whose turn will it be? Truckdriver had done nothing against them, nor against any of us."
"I know, you're preaching to the devout, but our faction has really weakened since Heze killed the commander. Meanwhile, the goblins remain neutral, and Mrs. Teleportation has rallied the commander's former allies. They talk about weird and unethical plans. But come, let's not discuss this. We don't know who might be listening."
"Hey! You told me this was safe. You got a micro on?"
"Calm down, buddy. Normally all's okay, but who can be sure?"
Rargnes looked at his watch.
"I've still gotten a few minutes. Let's be quick. Roaes can't cover me too much."
Jean nodded, they talked for a moment, then parted.
"So?" asked the woman, suddenly turning visible.
"He agrees, but he wants 300 class improvement tokens."
"That's way too much." said Laure
"That's what I told him, but he said he had already lowered it a lot from his initial proposal of a thousand."
"150 max."
"300 and he can deliver Sengrar and the teleporting person to us."
"Can he really?"
"That's what he told me at least... but we'll have to wait for the right opportunity."