Second Life as a Soldier

Peter and I stared at Barry with deadpan faces.

“That much we gathered. Explain how a spy task got you involved with a Tier-4,” I asked.

Barry broke eye contact. For some reason, he was not able to meet my eyes, which was honestly an improvement in my book. This was the first time I had seen him look ashamed. Most times, he would just give me a shameless smile without showing a hint of remorse.

Barry looked down at the floor, clutched his wound in pain, and slowly got into a sitting position. Then, taking support from the wall, he launched into his story.

And as I heard his story, I finally understood why he looked a little ashamed. He did not just divert a little from the plan I had given him. He completely threw my plan away in the gutter and approached the task objective in a completely chaotic way: barging into the village head’s house, demanding gold, and then staying to get more gold.

Honestly, it was my fault for leaving someone like him completely free. I should have made him report his progress and decisions every day instead of connecting only when he had some important information.

But realizing my fault did not mean I was not angry at Barry. If he was not already half-dead, I would have strangled him.

Taking a few deep breaths instead of shouting at him, I asked,

“Why were you so interested in gold? The mana crystal I gave you would cost more than any gold you could find in some village head’s house,”

Getting angry at him was not going to help in the current situation. I might as well understand his way of thinking.

“At first, mostly for the thrill. It has been a long time since I snuck into a house and stole. I wanted to have some fun,” Barry replied with his usual shameless grin.

I rubbed my temple in irritation. This was the dumbest thing I had ever heard.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. Did I not provide you with so much important information? For you, I spent multiple days listening to that fucker’s every conversation.”

I just shook my head. “Get to where you got attacked by a Tier-4, and tell me whether I should be ready for him to show up here and attack us.”

“No, I was already expecting the village head to kill me. I was just not sure how. So when I sensed a lone flying figure entering the village head’s house two nights back, I sneaked out of his house and made a run for the village tavern in hopes of hiding there. I did not inform anyone or leave my room at the tavern for two days, afraid that flying fucker would find me. Later today, I casually approached the village head’s house to see if the person was still there. But that cripple was waiting for me with some type of rune or talisman from Tier-4 and used it to attack me.”

Listening to Barry’s reply, a lot of tension left my shoulders.

“But we should get ready for a fight, though. The village head has gotten some new guards, and they are not village people. I am not foolish enough to let a person who wants to kill me get close to me. That cripple ambushed me with two Tier-2s who had good armor and the skill to back it up. I think they arrived today. First, the village head wanted to kill me using them, but when I killed one of the Tier-2s and escaped, the village head used the talisman.”

“What the fuck is that man planning? Do you know who these new guards are? And why would he cooperate with Frosthallow?”

“I don’t know, but if I had to bet, they are mercenaries or bandits. As for what he is thinking, that fucker only cares about money and his position as village head. Something I did not report because I thought it was not important, but I found out that for the last year, that bastard has been sending his men every week to fight with the barbarians in the village to stop the village people and barbarians from uniting. He hates your new pet.”

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“Halvar.”

“Yeah, him. He was trying to unite the barbarians with the villagers and even allowed barbarians to marry people from Avalon. A lot of local merchants respect Halvar more than the village head. I know at least the tavern owner does. So the village head spends a minimum of two hours a day plotting his murder.”

Wow. I didn’t know Halvar was such a forward-thinking person and had such a great reputation. Yes, people were respectful to him when we did our watch duties, but I only thought it was a casual show of respect between villagers.

“As for why he cooperated with Frosthallow, they are paying a huge amount of money. You already know about the talisman. I am also sure that crippled, money-hungry old man will not spend his own money on Tier-2 mercenaries or bandits. He is definitely receiving money, and a lot of it,” Barry continued.

“Why do you think we should get ready for a fight?”

“Well, I don’t think the village head would hire just two Tier-2s. I am sure he would have at least enough people to attack our squad and take care of Halvar and me.”

I turned to Peter, asking him to weigh in.

“I think Barry is right. Why bring only two Tier-2s? That would hardly give any assurance to the village head,” Peter confirmed.

“If we are talking about enough people with the capacity to take care of our squad, then it would mean at least 20 people. How did he bring so many people inside the village? We have been assigning people at the village gate since we got here, and hardly one merchant came to this village. Do you think one of the sergeants is helping the village head smuggle people in?” I asked.

“I don’t think...”

“The fuck they are not. If your soldiers do not know who they are allowing to enter the village and for what reason, then they are helping the enemy, no matter how you say it.”

Then Barry scoffed and continued his angry rant. “Royal army soldiers who are not aware of people with fucking armor and weapons entering the village should just leave the army.”

Peter and I shared a look and shrugged. He was right. This was gross negligence in duty, if not treason.

“Let...” Before I could continue, Rokan ran into the hall.

“Sergeant, come out. The other squads are outside, and Varric and Garran might kill some people.”

Fuck, I cursed internally. I had already consumed half of my mana healing Barry. I was not ready for a fight.

Standing up in a hurry, Peter and I made our way outside.

There, I saw Rowan, Colin, and Aaron’s squads had surrounded the whole front yard as if they were here to arrest my whole squad, while my squad was also standing in guard positions, with Garran and Varric blocking the entrance through the door.

What was even more surprising was that the village head was standing shoulder to shoulder with Rowan while his guards stood near the fence, ready to jump in.

“Hey, pigs, let us in,” said one of the privates to Garran and Varric.

I took a deep breath and walked to Varric.

Looking at me, the private smiled, but before he could utter any word, I kicked him in the chest using my full force. He was pushed ten to fifteen steps back and then fell on his ass.

“Ahhh!” the private let out a scream.

I followed that by releasing mana and killing intent, catching everyone by surprise. Rowan and the other squads raised their guard, but before they could take any action, my whole squad let out their killing intent.

“Garran, Varric, from now on, if anyone insults you, cripple them,” I ordered while maintaining eye contact with Rowan.

Mine and my squad’s killing intent caught everyone by surprise, but this was something we had practiced a lot in the wild. A lot of times, when you face a Tier-3 beast, your killing intent becomes one of the most important tools to make them retreat. Especially when you know the fight is unwinnable, it gives the beast a message that we might die, but we will take you down with us.

This killing intent had a severe effect on the soldiers in front of us. Almost all of them froze up. Even the sergeants were slow to react, mostly because this was my first time being aggressive in the last two months we had been together. I had never raised my voice or released this amount of killing intent, even when we faced the Tier-3 wolf.

“Edward!” Colin shouted, finally getting his bearings. “Have you betrayed Avalon? We were informed you are protecting a criminal of the village whom the village head suspects is from Frosthallow.”

“You fools, you are the ones who are traitors. That man is my squad member.” As soon as those words left my mouth, the village head’s guard closest to me attacked me with a spear thrust directly aimed at my throat, while the rest of the guards jumped over the fence, trying to enter the house.