Empirica #3

Once the leader of the green cloaks had regained his breath and composure, he scowled at Alyssia. "You damned beast. Leave this place before gods judgement comes down upon all of us. This is my final warning for a heathen like you, begone from our lands!"

Alyssia yawned in response which showed how little she cared for his snide remarks. "Sure.. resort to racist remarks and hurtful words to mask your ignorance. I will be straight with you since you are the leader here and I do not wish to bring you any harm in the long run."

The leader frowned. "What do you want?"

Alyssia shrugged her shoulders and complained a little. "If your men had been so much easier to talk to then I would not have had to get rough with them but I guess it is their own duty to attack someone like me so I did not harm them too much. What I want is actually quite simple and that is the cooperation of your group over a certain amount of time."

The leader responded coldly. "You are putting so many lives in danger just by being here so why would you remain? You must have seen my allies response to you being here. This will be difficult to cover up…"

He had already grasped that the opponent opposite him was not so simple as she seemed but his faith in the power of the ruler was greater.

Even the exiles held a large amount of reverence towards their ruler whether it was due to their faith or the fear they held towards them.

Unlike usual religious groups that worship a god, a demon, a symbolic figure or a certain concept, the people on the island worshipped a human.

That human was the ruler of Empirica and was revered even more than what most people would for a god.

There was several scriptures detailing how their ruler was invincible not only in power but also that they were undying.

Throughout the long history of Empirica as far as has been recorded, there has only been one ruler mentioned and nobody has ever taken over that position.

Whether that was a tale passed down to gain more loyal followers and obedient citizens or not was not confirmed.

The ruler rarely appeared unless it was during important matters and had others sent out to complete any tasks.

The ruler may have been living an extra long life much longer than an ordinary human for some reason or they were simply a person who was a symbolic figure for the temples to continue their dominance over the island.

It was not difficult to create a figurehead from the descendants of the previous rulers and have the closest ones to resemble them appear at important times.

The ruler rarely appeared within the past couple of hundred years and did not display their strength to the public so there were some that had begun to doubt their ruler and the temples teachings but they could do nothing against the power possessed by the temples.

Whether the ruler was a puppet and a pawn of the temples or was as they were written to be was not known to the public but it did not matter much to Alyssia.

If such a person really did exist then one day she would like to get to know them one day but the current situation of Empirica was not very good for her to do so.

Alyssia responded. "Hmm.. it should be easy to cover up. Just say that they were hallucinating after eating something bad and that this was just a test set to see their response to an unexpected attack. This way you can cover up what they have seen and explain away why they had been attacked. Say.. what is your position on this island? Do you have any connections with those inside the walls?"

The leader became defensive. "W.. what are you saying? Why would that be the case?"

Alyssia smirked as she explained. "Such an operation can be kept going and be maintained so long as you are useful. Some can even look the other way if your people kill a couple of people that venture into the forest and cause trouble.. you must have some kind of deal ongoing and if my guess is correct, you have a certain level of freedom out here but it comes at a cost."

The leader coldly looked into the eyes of Alyssia. "Then what do you think it is?"

Alyssia pointed towards the forest area beyond the protection of the walls. "Out there are many dangerous beasts, insects and all kinds of plants that need to be reduced so that is one reason for your existence being maintained. If I was to guess the other then it would be special or wild goods that can only be found in the forest. Perhaps some of them may be rare or are difficult to obtain. Right?"

The leader's eyes shifted for a moment which revealed she had caught onto him. "Ahem.. get straight to your point. What does this have to do with me?"

Alyssia went on to explain with a slight smile on her face. "In exchange for my stay here and you keeping your men away, I will take my people away without causing any problems but I do need a certain amount of freedom to act without being bothered. If you cannot trust me then maybe set me a task to complete. I am here for a cooperative relationship and not to make enemies after all."

The leader took some time to think things over. 'This outsider sounds confident but I cannot be reckless enough to trust in them. One mistake and.. how can I deal with her? What will work best in my favour?'

His eyes lit up suddenly as an idea came to him. "You want a task? It will be difficult but there are some things I could ask of you."

Alyssia could faintly sense his intentions even if she could not read minds. 'Let me guess.. sending me somewhere dangerous? If I die then it is beneficial for them and if I return successful then they have had me do their jobs for them in exchange for our stay on the island and their silent cooperation.'

Alyssia answered him without even thinking things over. "I am here for adventure and exploration so how could I say no? My name is Alyssia Lucine, how about you?"

The leader let out a snort before answering. "Fine then, we will go over the details but if you so much as draw attention to yourselves then I will not hesitate to send everyone after you with our lives on the line. I am Barry, Barry Green. We of the green cloaks were born without a second name or had lost our family names upon being exiled. Everyone in the green cloaks is a part of the Green clan."

Alyssia nodded calmly. "Alright then, let's get to the important details."

While they went over the specifics of the task, Alyssia had made sure to collect everything she could from him and from anyone nearby about the island which could help with navigating the dangers of the island and to complete the task with as few injuries as possible.

A vast amount of knowledge was stored into the system which ranged from the animals, plants, herbs and many other things which could be found around Empirica outside the walls.

Those that lived inside of the walls rarely ventured outside but when they did, it was usually to gather the rarer materials which could only be found in the forest but with the green cloaks around, they did not have to leave as much and could stay away from the dangers.

Many would be too fearful to enter deep into the dangerous areas but Alyssia and her crew saw it as an opportunity to explore and discover new things.

Alyssia walked towards the door and opened it, just before her figure disappeared she had left behind some words. "I will be going now. I hope you stick to your side of the deal otherwise I cannot promise the next time I visit will be a friendly one."

Once she disappeared quickly, Barry Green had opened his eyes and mouth wide in shock upon seeing the speed she displayed. "What do I do now? This person is not like any of the previous outsiders that appeared in the past. I hope she keeps her word otherwise I am doomed."

He knelt down and prayed devoutly facing towards the city walls. "Gemini please pardon my sins. This sinner has no choice but to use this method. Please spare my people from your great wrath."

The room returned to silence and he walked out of his room to check on those that had been dealt with by Alyssia. "Now.. I just need to handle this."

Through the night, there was a commotion within the fortress as everyone was gathered and each person had been briefed that a security inspection had happened to check for weaknesses on the fortress which had failed.

There were some that had been injured but would be fine after a little treatment while there were others that had been injured more and had been left outside of the walls to be retrieved.

Those outside the walls had been kept out of the eyes of the others and had slowly been fed with the story that they had ingested something which caused them to hallucinate before passing out.

To explain their injuries, it had been blamed on them being hit by a wild animal which came across their bodies and had stepped on them before it had been chased away by the rescue team.

The story did have some holes in it but it was dealt with very quickly to contain any rumours from spreading within the fortress.