Chapter 28: Welcome Back

---D-Day+18, Nizhen 21st---

Our nighttime jaunt finally comes to an end as the walls of Colrac appear out of the comfy gloom. Its after midnight, so of course the town has closed down. Even the gates are shut with only a guarded wicket, man sized door, available for passage.

Torch bearing patrols walk the walls, to keep monsters from climbing over, and the streets, to keep thieves from getting too brave. Now for clumsy monsters like goblins, slow monsters like zombies, or large monsters like giant spiders? Such patrols are enough. But for quick and quiet ones like living shadows? Not even close.

The four of us are easily carried up and over in the dark between patrols. Then start walking down the silent moonless streets.

Thanks to the shadows? I know where the Marquis's carriage is. Thanks to my cheat? I know its a trap. As soon as we crossed the wall, people that reek of the divine begin moving. Likely setup wards to warn them when anything crossed the walls.

Not surprised. Shouldn't have been hard to realize I would come back. For the Marquis's property and or for revenge.

Hell, they might have even detected the shadows snooping around. Of course that's not entirely a bad thing. If the church figured it out? The guild could have too.

Possibly confirming my suspicions? As we approach the rear of the guild building I pick up a couple dozen hiding. Impressive. Can barely sense them. Pros. And three who are not. Its dark, but my juiced eyes can tell two of them are beast guy and slutty witch. I'm betting the third one is-

"Dad!" Ernesta is off like a shot. In his arms in no time flat.

Awe...

The church stench is still moving but gathering around the stables. They either didn't figure out we would be going to the guild first? Or don't care. The tension of the hiding adventurers drops like a rock. I guess whether the loli was a alive or not was not known until now.

"[Detection]" "[Dispel]" "[Disruption]"

Slutty witch is quick to start making sure Ernesta is, Ernesta. Understandable, but also kind of insulting.

After a minute or two. "Its really her Rasmius. I've found no signs of curses or control either."

Guide's dad looks at me. "Thank yo-"

"Don't care!" I cut him off. "I just want to know two things." Lets have a, test. "First, are any of my team that stayed still alive? Second, where are the church troops and how many?"

"From everything we've been able to find out, no." Beast guy speaks up first. "The church moved quickly but your comrades fought like champions. They moved so fast we couldn't get word to-"

"Bullshit."

"What did you say?" Slutty witch is pretending to be offended.

But I'm not in the mood. "Hey, bitch! Are you stupid?" Her mouth is hanging open now. "Then why are you acting like I am?"

Beast guy is grinding his teeth. "I am trying to be polite-"

"No, you're not. You're trying to save your ass!" Shorty is looking confused. "I bet the cost for betraying a marquis's son will be a lot worse than the price of ignoring him."

"Rasmius?" Loli dad's narrows his eyes. "What is he saying?"

I'm not a fan of people who blind themselves.

"Does anyone here, including the ones hiding, really think the thieves guild of Colrac is that incompetent?!" Dad's eyes get big. "So blind that they miss hundreds of heavily armed church troops converging on Colrac? So slow that they could not get a single message into the vault before the church closed the entrance?"

Honestly? Maybe they are. I'm kind of winging it here.

"Rasmius?" Slutty witch is now looking confused.

Guide's dad isn't as he draws his sword and puts guide girl behind him. "You son of a bitch! You knew my baby was with them!"

"Uncle?" The guide girl is looking at beast guy with tears in her eyes.

Beast guy's shoulders slump. "I didn't have a choice! An inquisitor showed up the night before." Delude yourself for fun and profit! "He had a messenger from the baron with him. If we made a move the baron would revoke our charter."

"Hope they paid you a lot."

Boom! Head-shot!

"Wh-what?" Beast guy is looking distressed.

Can you feel it?! Can ya?!

"Once I'm done with the church here? I'm going to make sure they find out how grateful I am for all the help you gave me. That I could not have killed hundreds of their finest without the help of Rasmius, the Guild Master of the Colrac Adventurer's guild."

"No…" Good, beast guy gets it.

Wow, you really can tell how pale he's getting under that fur.

"So, I imagine the inquisition will want to have a chat with you."

Slutty witch has caught up. "Lord Barton. Please forgive us. I-"

"No."

"Wha-?"

"Eighteen walked into that dungeon. Fourteen didn't come back. Six were my lovers. All were my companions. On a guild sanctioned commission." These shits made their choice. "Fourteen deaths are on your hands. It will be reported to the Lord General."

Can't help it so I keep going.

"I would kill you myself but... Recently I got some, shall we say, 'insight' into what the inquisition does to those who fall into their clutches." Oh yeah, you fucked. "What they do to even the innocent is bad enough. Guilty as shit bitches like you two? Your suffering will go on and on and on."

"Then for us to survive. You must die." Slutty witch gets it.

While the pawns will survive? The leadership won't. If the inquisition doesn't purge them? The marquis will. If the marquis doesn't? The guild will. The only thing worse than trying to kill someone? Is trying to kill someone and failing.

I can feel her mana building up. "Oelfon, I will take the-"

"No!" Man she is getting interrupted a lot. "I warned you about that beastkin's stupidity!" Loli dad backs away a few steps, keeping Ernesta behind him. "If you had known? You would have kept spreading your cheeks for him anyway!" Okay, some personal history there maybe. "You almost killed our daughter! Share the fate of the dick you left us for!"

Slutty witch is guide girl's mom? Adopted I guess but. Wow. Does this world have popcorn? I need popcorn. Fuck, why is there no popcorn?

Guide Girl's mom is bearing her teeth at me, mustering her magic and courage.

"Mom? Did you, really?" Guide girl's voice pierces slutty witch's heart like a spear.

Her mana vanishes and her face goes slack. Being exposed as a whore and a bitch in front of your ex and coworkers is bad enough. Being exposed as a whore and a bitch in front of your kid? So much worse.

Well, at least for parents who love their kids. Being outed drops Ernesta's mom to her knees.

And that's all she wrote folks. All of the hiding adventurers' hostility is pointing at beast guy and slutty witch now instead of me. Ernesta is back with her dad. Said loli dad is now positioned to survive the coming purge.

The baron's going to need fall guys to pin this fiasco on. A furry meathead tripping over his own dick and a faithless bitch trying to ride that dick to the top? Should fill the bill nicely.

Of course I was lying. I'm not going to tell the church shit. Someone in the church's upper ranks tried to kill the son of the Lord General and failed. That person also lost hundreds of personnel I bet the church spent a lot of time and money training and supporting.

It would be so much worse if the church admits they tried to kill the hero they summoned. Me being a northern barbarian and an adopted son protects the church too so they'll likely stick with that story. At the least the church is going to have to compensate the marquis for killing his subordinates.

Them trying to kill me just days after failing at Sanriel so completely? Shows how desperate their management must be.

However, I'm not going to humor them. Lead Ushi and Edel to the stables. The ones by the back gate. Not the ones by the main gate where the marquis's carriage is. Along with the church's trap.

Debuffs from my oracles easily drop the watchmen into unconsciousness and we stroll right in. Now the horses make a little noise at first but are soon too terrified to make a sound. Hmm... Who should I pick first?

"[Shadow Rise]"

While not a person? These horses are healthy so should serve as a good test. We are in the nicest, by far, looking part of the stables so I'm betting these are the baron's horses. Again, these are not the horses Earthlings would expect. Every equine here is built for strength, not speed. Clydesdales, not Arabians.

Whoa. Turns out shadowing something healthy burns several times the mana needed for the dying. Itself several times what's needed for the already dead.

Get the feeling that shadowing a sapient like a regular human? Would be even more expensive and might just fail.

Still, the result is impressive.

A carnivorous looking stallion, nice teeth, made of ink and smoke climbs out of a large tear above the now ex horse. However, like shadows created from the dying are more distinct than those from the dead? Each one I raise looks unique from each other.

Where nine proud steeds fit for nobles once stood? Now nine shadow chargers stand menacingly over nine equine corpses.

Yep. Killed every horse in the noble's section. Petty? You betcha. Pointless? Maybe. Wanted some payback and had more experiments to do. Two birds, one bloody shadowy stone.

As suspected, like with other living shadows, they spawn with the equipment they used in life. Their gear just looks, well, eviler. That's a word, right? No need for separate tack and harness. Sweet, save me a bundle on stable fees.

Though the only stable that will take them is probably Dracula's.

Next test.

First, have Rowl mount up and take a few laps around the yard. Seems my shadow mounts are willing to follow their rider's lead. Second? Ushi and Edel get in the saddle. Can these boneless mustangs handle the weight of the living? Will they even accept a living rider?

The answer to both? Yes.

Finally, Alex, two oracles, two paladins, and I, get in the remaining saddles. Recall all of the shadows but the destriers, riders, and Rowl's two hounds. Couple more practice laps and its time to go. The church must have felt my [Death Magic] because several groups leave the trap at the main stables, heading our way.

Its a heroic struggle but I manage to not say 'shadowbots, roll out' as we leave. Promise myself that I will, someday.

Easy to avoid the baron's patrols even though these horses are noisier. Their hooves still make that familiar clip-clop sound just, hollower? Even though each looks unique, they feel like my other shadows. What's solid, the black ink, feels like icy plastic. What's not, the dark smoke, is like passing your fingers thru freezing water.

I've thrown saddle blankets from the stables over the saddles for Red and Frankie to protect them somewhat. Touching living shadows leaches your body heat. We'll need to take a break every hour or two to keep their core body temp from dropping too low.

I've noticed that I'm not affected by the shadow's touch. While Ushi feels more resistant to it than Edel. Probably has something to do with knowing dark magic.

We ride up to where we crossed the wall before. Next experiment? Crossing a wall while mounted.

Check.

The chargers bend their bodies in ways no living horse could. Their hooves transform into claws that dig into the stone. And they sprout extra legs. Horse spiders?

Up one side and down the other without me even having to lean in my saddle. Quickly returning to their normal appearance on the other side. Okay...

Edel is giggling again. "Jon, you always show me such impossible things."

Glad you're having fun. Personally? Not a fan of spiders.

*shudder*

As we circle the town? Sense the church troops panicking. They've reached the smaller stables and probably found the horse corpses and passed out guards. At the same time I feel blood spilling at the guild. Guess beast guy decided not to go peacefully.

The sun is still hours away so when we reach the roadway? Its completely empty. Tell the mustangs to not let their riders fall off and open up the throttle.

*zoom* *zoom*

Whoa...

...Fast

Slow down!

*ptuh* *ptuh* *hack* *cough* *ptuh* *ptuh*

Okay, galloping on a shadow horse with no bug screen? Equals bad. I hear Frankie and Red spitting too.

"Sorry." I meekly apologize.

Wow, look at their hair! Uhoh. Don't look. Don't look at their hair. For the love of god don't look! Ushi looks like she's ready to sacrifice me. To myself. And Red? Yeah, her face is red. But she's not blushing.

Hello class.

Let's talk about horses. Horses walk about four miles per hour. People walk about three miles per hour. Of course horses can get up to forty plus miles per hour when galloping, but can't maintain it for long. Dead horses with no weight that never get tired? Wowsers. That dash had to be sixty plus and could have gone for hours.

What this means is our daily horse slash wagon speed of twenty to thirty miles a day for eight-ish hours of riding, six or seven days a week? Can turn into three to four hundred plus miles in the same eight-ish hours. So our four hundred mile, six hundred road miles, trip to Stormgarde? Will be over in a couple of days instead of three weeks.

Yes, this will be on test.

While I'm twisting my brain doing the math. Ouch. Math is math! Edel has noticed the heat being drained by her shadow steed so she warms the three of us up with her fire magic. The convenience of magic strikes again! Well this reduces the need for breaks.

The sun is just beginning to rise and Carloc is a good hundred miles behind us.

Oelfon (male, human, tourinese)