The Twin Suns were on the cusp of breaking the horizon and the soft glow of sunlight was bleeding into the desert's blue landscape from the Fractured Moon.
The Ratusk, Ashari, their warriors, and I were at the foot of the outcrop. Behind us, the cage that Vask had left in the village was tugged along by the warriors. Vask was blinded and hogtied inside of the cage.
"Halt." One of Vask's men warned as we approached the outcrop's turn, he gawked at Vask's sorry state.
"We have captured your leader." Ratusk took a step forward, ignoring the shortsword pointed at him by the mercenary.
More men approached to meet us from the outcrop-- some were not even fully armored and only carried their weapons. They likely never expected us to make a move, never mind surprising them with this fell swoop.
"Mmf! Mmff!!!" Vask squealed like a pig inside of the cage, his mouth had been stuffed with cloth to prevent him from speaking.
"What do you want, Demon." The mercenary from earlier said as he looked like he was about to pounce on Ratusk at the slightest tell of weakness.
"If it were my victory, I would've wanted war-- I would've wanted to smash your fetid corpses against the jagged rock of this outcrop and to use your bones as shafts for our tents," Ratusk growled, some of the Human men took a step back in fear.
"But, luckily for you, it is not my decision to do so." Ratusk took a step back and motioned me to come forward.
"Hello," I said as I revealed myself to the Humans, I held the chest I found earlier under my arm.
"State your business." The man hissed, he knew he was at a massive disadvantage.
"It's simple. Give us all of your slaves, and we'll give you back Vask." I cooly replied.
An uproar escaped the Humans as they overheard my trade. Some howled for blood and others to cut their losses and to leave Vask behind.
But the man who I was speaking to kept his cool, not a slip of emotion escaped his steady face.
"Those slaves are worth far more than the fat man." He said as he spat on the ground.
I could see Vask shudder overhearing what his comrade had said.
"You're looking at the finest soldiers gold can buy. Either you let us leave in peace or this fight--- this fight I promise to you will be bloody." He said so with conviction; he wasn't bluffing.
Some of the Zepar warriors stomped their spears, they too were also itching for a fight.
But, I knew that if a fight were to break out-- the losses for the Zepar would be too great. And with those children now rescued back at the village, the village wouldn't survive a collapse of the workforce from the warriors.
I understood them, I too wanted to let loose and fight these bastards. They're slavers, the lowest of the low.
But, it was important to know when to pick your battles.
I dropped the chest to my feet, catching the leading soldier's attention.
"What I have here is all of your mercenary contracts," I projected my voice to the Human crowd.
"W-What!?"
"Impossible!"
"You're lying, Demon." The leading Human snarled at me, his cool facade from earlier now slipping off; he looked startled.
"It's no lie, Vask himself even tried bartering this with me to save his life." I laughed, hiding my lie.
"Fat fool!" He roared at Vask.
"Mmmffff!" Vask tried once again to talk through his gag but couldn't.
Back in the game, mercenaries can only be hired through contracts with set limits. If those contracts were either destroyed or lost, whatever payment they were promised at the end of their employment would be considered null and void. In essence, these contracts were the sole thing keeping them here and not back in their homeland; these thin sheets of paper were their livelihood.
"So that's the angle you're playing at you bastard." He looked back at me, pure vitriol in his eyes.
"It's just a simple trade deal," I said so mockingly.
Suddenly, one of the men swooped forward aiming his sword right at my neck.
But, like a clap of thunder, Ratusk swiftly side-stepped and caught the soldier's blade with his spear; sending it flying upward. And with a murderous kick, he shot the soldier back into the crowd of Humans. The sword fell back down to the desert floor a few feet away from me harmlessly.
"How barbarous," Ratusk chuckled as he mocked the failed attempt at my life.
The Human at the front gnashed his teeth as he had no cards left to play.
"Fine, we'll give you the children." He at last admitted his defeat.
---
As the Twin Suns finally left their cradle at the Horizon's edge and gently rose into the morning sky, we watched as the slave caravan turned instead into a line of downtrodden Human troops marching out into the desert back to where the Sufolk field was. Vask was being dragged along by a rope at the end of the line, his pathetic squealing escaping into the air.
"The children are safe back in the village, there are so many of them-- some of their tribes I do not even recognize," Ashari said as she stood beside me.
"Good, I hope it won't be too much for your village to house them for a while," I replied.
"..." Ashari fell silent.
"Sorry, did I hit a sore spot for you?" I asked her.
"No, it's not that... before, when other outsiders would come to visit our village--" She let out a long sigh.
"Our trust, the Zepar, had been broken once long ago by our own kind, Demonkind." She cleared her throat.
"And my father, he had failed to uphold the safety of his people from doing so, from trusting in outsiders."
"The Zepar children," I muttered, Ashari slowly shook her head.
"My father will never let any harm ever befall any child ever again, that is the new truth-- the stalwart trust that I have in him." She rubbed at her eyes.
"They will be fine here until a better solution can come up. I, Ashari Zepar, Princess of the Zepar steppe, promise you that." She said as she pounded her chest twice.
"Thank you," I replied, smiling.
"Now, before we go back... how did you find those contracts? I do not recall you ever bringing up that with me or the chief." She asked.
"I didn't, I have no idea what those documents were," I replied.
"W-What!?" Ashari took a step back in bewilderment.
It was true, I didn't know. And to my discovery, I couldn't read either. It's been an odd experience being able to speak and understand people, even though I'm pretty sure we weren't speaking English. But, it almost felt grounding to me not being able to understand what those papers said; there was some reality to all of this.
"Won't they come back?" Ashari tensed up as she asked.
"Nah, I doubt it. By the time they realize, they'll be too far to set up a new attack. Besides, if I were them, finding out that my boss had 'sold' me out, the last thing on my mind would be to keep working for him." I laughed.
Ashari only stared at me with astonishment.
"You scare me, Ignis." She finally spoke.
"Some say, a wiser Demon would've simply fought and taken his spoils."
"But I disagree-- a wiser Demon should take his spoils without lifting a finger." She laughed.
"Come, let's go back to the village." She asked as she began to head back.
I only silently nodded as I followed her back.
Finally, a break from all this excitement.