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Nero Walker, Book 3 Ch.3 (118)
🕑 Added 2024-02-26 23:30:01 +0000 UTCRose Vikander was not a happy hunter. She had agreed to spy on the new noble for the general, but she hadn’t signed up for all of this political intrigue. The little lord’s words were replaying in her head despite how hard she tried to repress them. ‘Are you using me? Or am I using you? Layers upon layers, my dear Rose. Like I said, misinformation.’
Currently she was with Sergeant Wesker at one of the side gates, waiting for the rest of their team to show up. Rose wasn’t looking forward to the reunion. It wasn’t just the grumpy sergeant standing next to her, or the likely argument the man would instigate when he saw the little lord. It was the fact that the general had reacted exactly how the little lord said he would.
She recalled the calm look on the general’s face as he listened to them recount everything that had occurred in the wilds. The assassination attempt, Lord Walker’s surprising magical competence, his combat abilities… everything. She even went out of her way to detail Nero’s analysis of the general and the military, and how he expected the general to respond. Without letting her worries deter her, she relaid the conversation she had had with the young man, stressing how little trust the young lord had for the military and the general specifically.
Instead of getting angry, or denying his knowledge of the assassination plot, the general had just nodded in thought. Seeing the general’s muted reaction to the accusations, she couldn’t help but wonder if the military HAD actually been involved in the plot.
Even now, she couldn’t stop herself from giving Wesker the side-eye. Even though she didn’t want to believe it, there WAS the possibility that the sergeant had known about the plot, and was only angry because someone had tried to kill him to cover up the military’s involvement. She hated the feeling of not knowing what was going on.
But now, she had her orders, and she’d be going back into the wilds with a team led by a sergeant of dubious character. Her only companions would be a scheming young lord and his retinue who didn’t trust her in the least. It was contrary to everything she had been taught. She’d be heading into the wilds without backup, putting her life in the hands of people she couldn’t rely on.
The pit in her stomach refused to go away.
Leaning against the wall, she watched the citizens of Dorchester going about their day. Small groups were chatting, smiling at each other while enjoying their morning. Shops were opening, stalls were being rolled out, and a sense of unity pervaded the courtyard.
Even when she had been in the wilds, isolated and on her own, she had never felt so alone. Yes, Rose Vikander was not a happy hunter.
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Nero eventually put the communication orb in the magic satchel he’d gotten from Jennings, doing his best to forget about it. There was no point in studying how it worked right now, as the last thing he wanted was to be distracted by stray thoughts concerning enchanting while being surrounded by monsters in a magic-forest.
But before he got to enjoy the nightmare of the wilds, he’d have to deal with Rose and Wesker, neither of which were going to be happy to see him. Even though he expected the general to have kept their team together, it was still somewhat annoying to have the upcoming drama hanging over his head.
When he and Nick finally turned the corner and approached the open area in front of the side gate, Nero was as ready as he was ever going to be.
He could see Wesker and Rose standing off to the side of the gate, clearly ignoring each other. ‘I guess their talk with the general went as well as I expected it would,’ he thought to himself with a smile.
Waving his hand in greeting, Nero sped up in order to be the one to initiate the conversation. Seizing the initiative in a conversation was important, as it would put him in charge of the tone. If he gets to act cordial first, then any grief they give him would only make them look petty.
As he closed in on the duo, he felt a psychic signature appear on his left out of nowhere. Suffering a jump-scare, Nero yelped in a manner he wasn’t entirely proud of.
Feeling his heart race, he looked over to see a smirking Cathleen looking down at him. She was calmly walking alongside them, using a tall spear as a walking stick.
With a growl, Nero nearly shouted, “What the hell woman! How in the hell do you do that!?!”
Cathleen didn’t bother to match his volume, and simply replied, “You’re getting too reliant on your psychic field. It’s a common problem with young mages. There are many ways to hide in the ether, and your enemies will not refrain from using your ignorance against you. Learn to be ‘more’, little lord, or you will find yourself in a battle you are unprepared for.”
He could feel Nick grinning on his other side, but he had a great deal of practice ignoring the old man.
Glaring at the warrior-woman, Nero replied, “You know, when you talk like that, it makes you sound old. Instead of talking in riddles and being all… ‘mystic warrior’… you could just say, ‘hey, having a good morning?’ Then we could have a nice chat, and you could walk me through how someone could fool my psychic senses, and then maybe give me some tips on what to watch out for. You don’t have to scare me half-to-death, then say some ‘deep’ nonsense in order for me to listen to you.”
While Cathleen was just returning Nero’s glare with a smirk, Nick interrupted their staring contest by throwing in his two-valens, “Nero, the art of getting a point across without being overly verbose is an important skill. ‘A person who speaks little has a lot to say. After all, they spend most of their time listening’,” he said as if he was quoting some great truth.
Nero slowly turned his head away from Cathleen in order to focus his glare on Nick. “Don’t you start with that crap! You love being long-winded. In fact, even what you just said was a bit wordy. I think people who talk like that are just trying to sound smart. But there is a difference between being clever and getting your point across. When you speak, you should do it in a way that the person you’re talking to understands what you are getting at, otherwise, why open your mouth at all. Saying a few clever words that can mean anything is just as useless as wasting ten minutes and having no one understand what you’re talking about,” he said with some heat in his voice.
By the time Nero finished with his min-rant, the group had reached Sergeant Wesker and Rose.
Shaking off his annoyance with his companions, Nero greeted the two with a smile and said, “Hey guys. How did your meeting with the military go? Did you get to speak with the general?”
Nero did his best to alleviate any awkwardness and stave off the confrontation by keeping his tone light.
Rose glanced at Wesker and she could see the man was about to say something rude, so she preempted him by replying, “Greetings Lord Walker. Yes, we spoke with the general. He saw no reason to break up our team. After all, we at least have some experience fighting as unit by now. But for the record, I’d like to say that I’m looking forward to fighting alongside you once again.” Doing her best to sound like a respectful young lady, Rose once again showed the team a new face.
Sergeant Wesker turned his head to stare at Rose with some surprise. He wondered how the young woman could be so shameless. He was in the room with the woman when she told the general exactly what she thought of the ‘little lord’. In fact, her exact words were, “Lord Walker is a ruthless man. He can lie to your face, plan your death, all while smiling as if he were your best friend. Don’t underestimate him general, he is not as simple as he wants you to believe. And after seeing him fight, I’d not believe someone killed him even if they showed me his body. A reassignment for the sergeant and me is probably a good idea, because I’m not sure Lord Walker will allow us to return with him again.”
Despite guessing that Rose was, once again, full of shit, Nero maintained his smile when he replied, “I’m glad to have you back. After hearing about the investigation by the military and the leadership council, I feel like I should apologize for my suspicions. Both of you are trustworthy people, and deserve the benefit of the doubt. I know you will continue to report on me to the general, but I want you both to know that I have nothing to hide. My trust in both of you is absolute, and I feel much safer heading into the wilds knowing that you will be there to have my back.”
Nero wasn’t nearly as good a liar as Rose, and pretty much everyone could tell that he was talking out of his ass. Nevertheless, they all exchanged smiles and agreed to work together once again.
Soon enough, they were on their way through the side-gate and heading back towards the wilds. Although he was even more quiet than Nero remembered, Sergeant Wesker took up the lead and acted as the guide. By mid-morning, the companions, now reunited, were standing in front of the forest, doing a last minute check to make sure they were ready to brave Dorchester’s eastern wilds.
While they stood in a circle checking each others straps and equipment, Sergeant Wesker asked, “So, Lord Walker, did you finally get a chance to read over the mission packet?”
Nero’s hands froze as he was tightening the support strap on Nick’s backpack. ‘God dammit,’ he swore in his head.
He had leveled last night, and he hadn’t been thinking about the stupid packet. Even though he’d known he was going back into the wilds, he just hadn’t thought of it. ‘Why in the hell do I keep forgetting to read the damn thing?’ he chided himself.
If this were just last week, Nero would have probably replied with something snarky and then insulted the man. Yet, Nero had grown a lot in the past few days, so instead he replied cheerily, “I glanced at it sarge. However, I was too busy leveling last night to think about it. It’s probably been a while for you, but if you remember, leveling is based on experience. After getting one over on the leadership of Dorchester, and once again foiling the plots of my enemies while increasing my holding at their expense, I needed to spend some time refining those experiences. But thankfully I have you here, and I’m sure you’ll take time out of your busy schedule to remind me of what I missed while you lead us into our next ambush.”
Hearing himself speak, Nero came to the unfortunate conclusion that he hadn’t grown as much as he thought he had.
Everyone paused what they were doing and stared at Nero in various shades of surprise. Even Cathleen raised an eyebrow at Nero’s cutting rebuke. After only a second or two, they returned to what they were doing. Sergeant Wesker didn’t say anything, he just turned red while harshly yanking on his bootstraps.
However, Nero heard Rose mutter, “Damn, that was brutal.” He couldn’t stop his smile from growing just a little bit.
When everyone was finally ready, they took their places in formation, returning to the positions they had adopted after some trial and error. The sergeant took the lead, Nero and Cathleen watched the flanks, while Nick and Rose brought up the rear.
While Nero was sarcastically thinking about how the oh-so-important ‘mission packet’ had an obsolete formation listed, he felt Rose approaching from his left. Turning to look at her, he gave her a quizzical tilt of his head and asked, “What’s up?”
Waving her hands, she pulled out a large shield from her personal space, then started panting as if she were out of breath. Leaning on the shield, she muttered, “Gods, how the hell do you make that look so easy?”
Surprised at the shield, Nero didn’t know what to say. ‘Why is she out of breath?’ he wondered.
The ever helpful Nick saw Nero’s confusion and offered, “Nero, that shield probably filled her entire personal space. It takes a great deal of effort for lower levels to manipulate their center like that. I’m actually a little surprised she managed to create a personal space. Well done!”
Rose, having caught her breath, stood up a little straighter at Nick’s words. “I’ve been working on it for a few years. Hunters need to have an emergency supply of food and other support items when entering the wilds. The earlier you start building a personal space, the better. My skills at essence manipulation may not be at the level of a mage, but they aren’t non-existent. I’ve learned a few tricks.”
Nick and Wesker shared a look at how impressed they were with the young woman. Even Cathleen nodded, pleased to see such a talent.
Nero however, held his mouth shut so hard his teeth ached. ‘That is a big deal? It’s one god-damn spell. It was kinda complicated, but it’s nothing major. And what’s that got to do with her being out of breath?’ he wondered. Forcing himself to take a second and think before he speaks, he told himself, ‘There is no point in asking about this. It’s just going to sound insulting. Don’t be an asshole. It’s just like when a kid shows you their finger-painting. Nod along and say it’s great. Don’t think about it.’
Nero did his best to smile and nod along with everyone.
Rose, doing her best to not show how proud she was at the attention she was receiving, said, “It’s not that impressive. But, I wanted to give Lord Walker a replacement for the shield he lost during our last excursion. May this shield protect you, as you protect us.”
Taking a few steps forward, she presented the 4ft tall tower shield to Nero as if it were a trophy. Considering that she was taller than he was, Nero had to reach up a little to receive it. It was almost identical to the one the assassins had destroyed last week. It wasn’t surprising, since it was a standard tower shield from the military’s armory.
Nero was a little touched. Although, a little part of him realized that Rose was just trying to reinforce the idea that Nero was responsible for her safety. ‘Clever girl,’ he thought to himself with some amusement.
The moment he received it, Nero started infusing his center into the shield, pushing out Rose’s influence. In his psychic field, he could sense the shield coming under his control.
With what he hoped was a regal smile, Nero looked up at Rose and said, “Thank you for thinking of this. I didn’t have a chance to replace ‘the wall’. It feels good to have something to hide behind once again. Nick’s shield spell was a pain in the ass. This is much better. Thank you.”
Nick smirked, and shook his head at Nero’s jab. He had become rather immune to Nero’s casual insults.
Sergeant Wesker broke up the happy atmosphere by saying, “Hopefully everyone has their gear sorted… now.”
Everyone turned their heads to look at the serious man, waiting to hear what else he had to say.
Looking at Rose with a frown, he asked, “Do you need us to wait while you recover your center?”
Frostily, she replied, “No, sergeant. My center is strong. Using that much at once just winded me a bit. I’m good to go. What’s the plan?”
Nodding at her, he said, “Well, in the future, if you’re going to do something like that, don’t do it right before we are heading into the field. No surprise is worth your life. And we don’t have time for you to refill your personal space with supplies.”
Rose bristled at the criticism, but replied evenly, “Understood sergeant.”
Nero was about to say something snarky in her defense, but Cathleen spoke up with some disdain in her tone, “Uh-huh, don’t carry replacement gear for others. Got it. But you didn’t answer her question. What’s the plan?”
Nero looked over Cathleen with some admiration. ‘Subtle. Dismissive of his opinion, and a little insulting. Nice job,’ he thought.
The sergeant mentally cursed the general for sending him back out with these people, and bit back his reply. Instead, he said, “We have most of the day remaining before nightfall. Command has been in contact with Captain Angleton at the base-camp, and we’ve got orders to hit two ‘marks’ before we make our way to their location. Based on where we are entering, it is a relatively straight shot. Scrying reports are a little light on information, as the essence in the area is making everything difficult. However, expect two spawn-points for class 2 monsters, not beasts. They only appeared recently, so they shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Everyone nodded along, understanding what he was saying. Nero, as usual, was a little confused, but didn’t bother to ask for a clarification. Instead he just hefted his shield, and prepared for the silent trek through the forest.
Before long, they were ready.
Looking over his shoulder, Sergeant Wesker said, “All right. Let’s move out.” Then pulled out his sword and hefted his shield.
As the group moved into the forest, everyone watched their assigned areas, ready for anything. Nero muttered, “Back in the forest, surrounded by mutated freaky animals and magic monsters. How does this already feel familiar to me. It must be something in the water. I bet magical fluoride is 10 times more mind-controlling than the fluoride I had back home. Wait, does the water I conjure from the atmosphere not have fluoride? The cleaning spell for my morning breath should prevent cavities, right? Does the elite monster hunter training program have dental coverage? How much does a magical dentist cost?”
From behind him, he heard Nick say harshly, but quietly, “Nero, what are you muttering to yourself?”
Nero cringed his shoulders a little, embarrassed that his private musings were overheard. Replying lightly, he said, “Nothing. Just commenting on how I’m looking forward to massacring the local animal population while restoring this forest to its natural beauty. It’s not often you get to kill things and have the environmentalists thank you for it.”
Their quiet conversation was halted by a vicious snarl by the sergeant. His tone full of venom he whisper-shouted, “Would you two please shut the fuck up! We’re in the wilds now, and I swear to the gods if you get me killed, I’m coming back as an undead to make what remains of your lives a living hell!”
Nero heard Cathleen and Rose lightly chuckling at the sergeant’s threat. Nero, not even remotely apologetic, muttered to himself, “I’ll just rez you again, you bastard. No zombie strength for you. Maybe this time I’ll remember to resuscitate your personality.”
Rose, who was on his left heard what Nero said, and couldn’t hold in her chuckle. Nero glanced over at her and smiled. His cheeks warmed a little at seeing her smiling at his joke.
While Nero was thinking about how it was much easier going through puberty when you realized what was happening, he heard Cathleen’s strong voice call out, “Contact, Right!”
As Rose turned to help, Nero kept his eyes peeled on the left, monitoring the flank. ‘Yup, back in the nightmare forest. Oh, joy,’ he told himself.
Comments
Adam Roundfield
I laughed, she laughed, the table laughed... Good chapter.
Leetle Sheet
Eh, it's all relative. He's also the kind of guy who would stand on a scary platform because he believed you when you told him he'd be fine, then immediately forgive you for lying because he got the joke. I like to think of him as the childhood friend who would drive 3 hours to bail you out of jail for the express purpose of seeing your face while you were being led out of the cell. His mockery is just a facet of his charm.... or something like that. Maybe I just had weird friends.
Ocean Breeze
I'm so glad I don't know Nero in real life. I think I would hate him.
