Chapter 69 - Nice

Drake sneaked a glance at the blue-coats, only to receive a snarl from the one named Holber. He was starting to regret saving the scouts, but what was done was done. Opening the jail's door a little, he peeked outside. The four guards were still unconscious on the ground, and no one else was in sight.

"Let's go."

The five scouts nodded, and followed him, not forgetting to pick up the weapons from the black-coats. As much as he was unsatisfied with their behavior, Drake had to admit the group was good. They moved without making a sound, and even in their conditions, they had assumed some sort of formation.

"You did this all by yourself?"

"What?"

"Forget it, we can talk later. Where is the exit?"

The leader of the scouts, the woman with short curly hair, murmured something, her eyes fixed on the guards, but then seemed to change her mind.

"The gate is just around the..."

"F*ck! There's someone there!"

He was interrupted when one of the ex-prisoners uttered a curse, barely audible. At least he had the presence of mind not to shoot, but instead warn them.

Following the pointing finger, Drake saw a familiar person. Ava was reclining on the window of what Drake supposed were the dormitories prepared for travelers, and had yet to see them.

"We should silence her..."

"No! No killing, remember? Leave it to me!"

Drake's head snapped back to Holber - who had obviously been the one to propose murder as the first option - and he stared at him intently until the blue-coat backed down.

When the girl turned in their direction, eyes widened in surprise and shock, Drake put a finger over his lips, the universal sign of silence. The Mystic Iferes be blessed, Ava understood.

Drake could see she had a lot of questions, but they would all be answered on the morning, when news of how the prisoners escaped spread. By then, how she viewed Drake would change entirely, but there was nothing he could do. The thought saddened him a little, but he didn't have time to dwell on it.

Nodding one last goodbye to her, Drake led the scouts to the gate. Thankfully, the soldiers had yet to wake up, although they soon would, especially with the drizzle that was starting to fall.

They only stopped when they got to the small clearing where Drake had left his Yscalent. He only had two mounts, including the one he... Confiscated from the hooligans, so most of the scouts would have to walk. Who would be the lucky one who would ride was up to them to decide.

"What now?"

"Now, we should put as much ground between us and the outpost as possible, and then find somewhere dry to pass the night. It doesn't look like it's gonna stop raining anytime soon."

"Uhum."

The group of six continued walking quietly. The rain started to grow stronger, drenching them from head to toe, but they didn't care. Drake was lost in his thoughts, and the scouts were finally allowing themselves to feel happiness for escaping death.

It was only a few hours later, at about three in the morning, that they stopped. There was a nice little clearing in the forest, near a small creek. By now, the pouring rain would have erased their tracks, so even if they weren't that far from the outpost, there was little chance of them being discovered.

Squinting, Drake looked at the sky. It didn't look like it was going to stop raining anytime soon, so he asked one of the scouts to help him extend a canvas between two trees. That way, as long as they squeezed together, they wouldn't get - too - wet.

"I think this is as good of a time as any for proper presentations, isn't it? I'm Ruli Undelave. Those are Jeff Holber, Max..."

"Jeff? Your name is Jeff? Pff..."

Ruli didn't get to finish before she was interrupted by laughter. Drake was looking at Holber, and chuckling. Needless to say, the scout wasn't happy about it.

"What the f*ck are you laughing about, prick?! Got a problem with my name?!"

"Haha! Nah.... Hahaha... It's just... Jeff isn't exactly an impressive name, is it? I expected something more badass from someone who wanted to kill everyone we saw, even a little girl."

Drake thought Holber would get angry - it just seemed like the kind of reaction that scout would have - but it didn't happen. Instead, he just stared at Drake intently.

"Is that what this is about? The reason why you are provoking me?"

The adventurer chuckled. Holber couldn't be more right.

"Yeah. I want to see what kind of people Menoraz's prized Advanced Scout Unit are, and if I made the right decision by saving you."

"Uhmm... And what is your verdict?"

Drake stared at Ruli, but this time, he was the one to back down first. The woman was displeased, and that made her even more dangerous than Drake first considered her to be.

"I'm still deciding."

"Bah! We are at war, Drake, or whatever your name is! That silly, innocent little girl, as you called her? Tomorrow she could be fighting and killing our people! Your people, if you truly are one of us!"

"The keyword is 'could', Jeff. Or can you predict the future, and already know what's going to happen?"

"F*ck off!"

The other blue-coats, including Ruli, seemed happy to watch Drake and Holber's antics. They were using it as an opportunity to discover what type of person he was, and if he was on their side. Drake knew the scout was doing it half on purpose, but that didn't change the fact that their views clashed radically.

"You said you are a scout like us, back at the outpost. Is that true?"

Drake frowned, wondering how much he should say. He didn't know why General Lilac wanted him as her personal scout, and as such, he wasn't sure if he should divulge that fact.

"I'm not a real soldier, if that's what you mean. At least, I don't think so. Some higher-up I won't say the name asked me to investigate something for her. Gave me a badge and everything, but I had to throw it away."

"How did that happen, anyway?"

Not seeing a reason not to tell then, Drake quickly recounted the events of the last few days, just keeping a few details out. After he was done, the scouts' gazes seemed to carry a little more respect than before.

"So you don't have problems killing the Cleaners, but the other soldiers you do? Makes no bloody sense for me."

"The guards weren't trying to kill me, the Cleaners were. It's simple as that."

"Sounds like a whole bunch of bullsh*t for me."

Drake didn't have a response for that. Or, rather, he didn't want to continue the discussion. He had already decided that first thing in the morning tomorrow, he would leave. The scouts were old enough to fend for themselves. Before falling asleep, he only had one more thing to say to them.

"Yesterday I killed three men who were trying to rob and **** that girl you wanted to kill. If, hypothetically, a member of the Menoraz Army would try to harm her, or any innocent, from Lapidum or any of the other kingdoms, I wouldn't mind doing the same. Hypothetically."

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"F*ck! These bastards got lucky! If it wasn't for this f*cking storm! Any luck tracking them?"

"No, sir. The rain wiped out any tracks. Even our Iferes can't catch their scent."

Uncaring to the heavy rain that was drenching him, a Lapidum Army major, the commander in charge of the outpost where the scouts were being held, cursed. Just a few minutes ago, one of the guards that Drake had knocked out had awakened, and sounded the alarm.

It was as if everything, including the weather, had been planned. Not only he had fewer soldiers with him, since some had been called to assist with the rescues in nearby locations, but the black-coats he sent to hunt the escapees couldn't find a trace of them.

"And the useless pieces of trash that were supposed the be guarding us? What do they have to say?"

"Not all woke up yet, major, but all who did said the same thing. They saw just one man, young, about 180 centimeters. That's all. And..."

"And what? Speak, for f*ck sake!"

"Whoever it was, they didn't kill anyone, not even Ifere companions. Didn't hurt them, in fact, just put them out of combat."

The major was having a hard time controlling his temper, and that information didn't help. In his eyes, the mysterious attacker was belittling the Lapidum Army by not deigning themselves to kill the guards. It wouldn't be a popular opinion amongst the soldiers, though, so he kept it for himself.

Looking around, the major saw several faces staring at him, trying to understand what he was saying over the sound of the bellowing rain. The civilians who had been awakened by the alarm were curious as to the reason behind it.

His gaze landed on a young girl, maybe sixteen years old. For a moment, she stared back, sparkling a seed of curiosity in him, but then she looked away, and it was gone. There was no way such a person would know anything about the break, so he quickly forgot her.

"What do we do now, sir?"

"What can we do? Put out a warrant for the blue-coats, although I doubt they will let themselves be caught again. And arrest the guards. Two days in prison will teach them to pay attention to their job, and not f*ck up."

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Surprisingly, Drake woke up feeling relaxed the next morning, even though it was still raining profusely, he only slept for three hours, and was cramped together against five other people.

His movements woke up the scouts. Like him, they didn't seem to mind the weather conditions or lack of sleep. Ruli squinted her eyes against the pouring rain, and frowned, then grinned.

"I got good and bad news. Which do you wanna hear first?"

"Punch first, kiss later."

"Haha... Bad news is we are all gonna catch one hell of a cold. Rain during this season can last for days. Good news is no one is going to be able to find us. We are probably the only ones crazy enough to walk around in such bad weather."

"Not like we have an option."

The scouts laughed, and it took them a few minutes to discover that Drake was saddling up his Yscalent, and getting ready to leave. When they did so, Ruli and Holber - because of course - stepped forward to stop him.

"Where are you going?"

"Somewhere. Back to Menoraz, probably. I was thinking of staying in Lapidum a little more, but the encounter with you guys made me rethink. I want to get to my companions as soon as possible."

"We can make the journey together, then! Just give us a few..."

"I would rather not."

Ruli choked, not expecting to be cut off like that. Drake turned around on his saddle to stare at her.

"I've had about five encounters with the military in the last month, Ruli. In four of them I almost died. So no, I don't want to travel together. In fact, I want to get as far away from you as possible."

"You..."

"Jeff, shut up. Now. Drake, may I talk to you for a bit?"

Clearly, Ruli's prestige with the team was pretty high, because Holber stopped talking immediately. Drake frowned at the request, but didn't see any problems with it. The two of them walked about ten meters away from the group, which was more than enough for the rain to drown out all other noises.

"So?"

"First of all, I wanted to ask you not to be so hard on my team. I know you don't fancy soldiers, but... We used to be seven before we were captured. More if we counted our... Uff... Anyway, we are trying not to think about it right now, but it's painful. Holber might be taking it out on you, but please understand."

"Oh! Uhmm... Sorry..."

Of course. It was no wonder the scouts wanted to kill anyone from Lapidum. If it was him who had lost friends, and, more importantly, his companions, Drake probably would want to do the same.

"That's not all I wanted to ask, though. There's something else. You don't need to answer if you don't want to. Your reactions will tell me everything I need to know."

Raising an eyebrow, Drake hesitated for a short moment before nodding.

"You mentioned that some higher-up in the military asked you to be a scout, but you didn't seem very happy with it. Were you forcefully enlisted?"

"Yes... Why?"

"Thought so. Then, that higher-up, her name wouldn't be, by chance, General Isabella Lilac, would it?"

Drake's eyes widened, and he saw a flash of accomplishment in Ruli's eyes. She truly didn't need him to say anything to know the answer.

"How did you know? Or, how did you guess?"

"Haha! Because I am quite used to how the general behaves. She has some kind of charm that makes you want to follow her, even when you don't want to follow her, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, she does. I take it you know her?"

"Of course! Let me present myself again, without interruptions this time. Leader of Menoraz's 37th Advanced Scout Unit, Captain Ruli 'Lilac' Undelave at your service."