Culminating Tactics (1)

It isn't even noon yet, and it's already been a long day. I normally don't interact with people this much, and I can tell it's taking a toll on me; my social battery is almost empty. I take a breath to calm myself down. I did a couple of laps around town while I was waiting, so they should be here soon. It's at that moment when I see Blackfoot approaching.

They're much calmer than when I last saw them at the guild. It appears they've found their resolve. Susan walks up to me with a smile.

"Good to see you."

"Okay." Her expression falls, and I can see her shoulders droop at my flat response. "I'm just here to help, so let's get this over with."

I can hear Terry and Kerry giggling in the back. It's good to get some positive feedback when you break the flow of conversation like that. I take a moment to glance over the party and notice how unbalanced it feels. Normally, Mikey would be the tank for the team, but he's just holding a spear. Terry has a shield, but he needs to be able to maneuver to use his size properly. He looks to be about ninety pounds soaking wet, so it would be difficult for him to absorb much of a blow. I decide to just watch for now.

"Is everyone ready?"

"We wouldn't be here if we weren't ready," Kerry remarks while crossing her arms.

"I'm just checking." I lead the way to the woods, which is unusual as I normally fall to the back. To avoid unnecessary incidents, I walk along the path, and we arrive at the edge of the treeline in only a few minutes. I continue walking into the forest but notice shouting from my rear.

"Hey, where are you going?" I turn to see Susan waving at me.

"The forest. Where are you going?" I thought we were all on the same page, so I'm pretty confused about the holdup.

"We can't just walk into the forest! We need to watch the tree line and look for easy targets!"

[If they aren't even going past the tree line, then it's no wonder they're broke. Their gear may be in poor condition, but I can tell it used to be high quality; how did they afford something like that?]

"I'm going into the forest. Stay here if you want." People don't like being told what to do, so it's unlikely that they'll stay behind. Sure enough, they all glance around at each other before following me into the woods. It doesn't take long after that before we face an attack.

I see an Equuinoid charging at me from ahead. It must have heard us marching and came to check it out. I pick my foot up and stomp it into the ground. A few hefty thrusts from my spear are more than enough to finish it. I'm aiming for some Punctastars, so I just leave the bug and keep walking.

"What the hell?" I hear another complaint coming from the back.

[This is just gonna be my whole day, isn't it?]

"See, I told you he was just going to take all the experience for himself! He's just like Finch!" Kerry shouts. I hear an unfamiliar name and start piecing the situation together. It appears I've found the point of trauma. Her voice is thick with disgust when she says that name.

"Sorry." It's important to de-escalate when you stumble into trauma like this. Defending yourself can often make things worse. "Why don't you all take the lead, and I'll back you up? This way, you can get the experience, and I'll make sure no one gets hurt. How's that sound?"

I make my argument intentionally difficult to disagree with. It's imperative that I keep them on my side while we're in the woods. Disagreements can lead to death here.

"Fine." Kerry agrees, and no one else says anything, so I move to the back.

"What about the Equuinoid?" Terry asks.

"I was just gonna leave it there. We're looking for bigger prey, so it'll only slow us down."

"I'll carry it!" Mikey offers.

"Okay, do whatever you want," I reply in resignation. He picks up the corpse with such glee it actually hurts to watch. Being the son of a noble and living a middle-class lifestyle before my transmigration has colored my perspective. I've never wanted for much, and it shows in my behavior. I have a tendency to throw money around because it doesn't mean much to me. Seeing how overjoyed he is at what will amount to only a few Denarii makes me feel a bit guilty.

[I guess all I can do is try to help them.]

I turn away from the sad scene and wait for them to continue walking into the forest. Along the way, I lose myself in my thoughts. There's something so relaxing about walking through nature that it tends to just whisk me away. I don't really focus on anything in particular. I just let the information roll around in my head. The coming war is like a cloud over my future. The impending threat of annihilation prevents me from planning much beyond that.

'Rustle, rustle.'

The shaking of a nearby bush breaks my train of thought. I pull back and allow Blackfoot to take the lead. They form up in a line and face the opponent. A single Equuinoid scurries out from the undergrowth.

"You're mine!" Terry shouts as he swings his sword at the unsuspecting insect. The other members jump in as well and pummel the monster to death. Even Susan joins in and wails on it with her staff.

"Pfft." It's all I can do not to burst out laughing. "What the hell was that?"

The Equuinoid is so beat up it's almost worthless. Even the meat is too damaged to sell.

I'm beginning to understand why they're broke.

The members of Blackfoot look at me with a combination of shame and anger. Having a child laugh at them must have hurt.

[Let's see if we can leverage this to make some changes.]

"My god, if I knew you were that bad, I wouldn't have agreed to help. You have such bad trust issues you can't even share a kill. Honestly, I think you should all just retire." Terry picks up the battered corpse and swings it over his shoulder. It seems he's determined to try and sell it. "I mean, seriously, I thought it was Finch that betrayed you, but it turns out you're all a bunch of children."

No one has it in them to respond, so I don't keep pushing. Just this should be enough to get them to reevaluate their behavior. I shake my head and walk deeper into the forest. The air is heavy with shame.

"So, what do you do if you encounter a monster you can't beat?" Mikey asks, the Equuinoid still hanging over his shoulder. It's been a few minutes, and it seems he's more open to talking now.

"Run, obviously."