Nero Walker, Book 4 Ch.68 (299)

Merrick stepped back, carefully maintaining his footing. His left shoulder was burning from holding up his shield, and his panting was making his side hurt. But luckily, he could tell that the battle was finally almost over.

Over his link to the Battle Hub, he heard, “All right Wackos! That should do it. Everyone back up slowly. 10 units distance at minimum. Maintain your spacing!”

Not wasting time or energy interpreting the orders, he just did as he was told. He’d long since gotten used to reacting to orders by reflex.

“BRACE!” a voice called out loudly from somewhere off to his left. Recognizing Team Leader Blackwood’s voice, Merrick ducked behind his shield.

With how few kobalds were left, they likely wouldn’t be able to maintain their shield under a concentrated spell bombardment. So Merrick wasn’t surprised that Blackwood had chosen to end it this way.

Feeling the rush of wind along with the sounds of explosions and hissing screams, Merrick huddled his shoulders closer together and hid even further under his borrowed shield.

It took a few heartbeats before he realized the sounds of battle had gone silent. Relaxing his shoulders, he slowly stood back up. After lowering his shield, he was greeted with the gruesome sight of what his fellow mages had done. The kobalds were done for. There didn’t seem to even be any casualties that they’d be forced to finish off. Everywhere he looked, there were just charred and mutilated corpses, some of which were still on fire.

Somewhat stunned at the sudden end to the fighting. Merrick took a moment to process that he’d both survived and done well. He wasn’t used to being a frontline combatant. It had been a new experience for him, and he could feel the beginnings of pride in his accomplishments bubbling up from his center.

Looking back on how he’d performed, he hadn’t done that poorly. In fact, one might say he’d even done well.

“Alright, teams who’ve been fighting can head back and get some rest. Food is being distributed back near where we entered. Your original teams are likely waiting for you. Also, meditation areas have been set up, but don’t expect to have a lot of time to get your leveling done. That being said, good work everyone,” Blackwood called out, his essence-infused voice carrying throughout the area.

Merrick sighed in relief, happy to hear that he wouldn’t have to participate in the cleanup. The Wackos who’d been assigned to clear the kobald corpses from the battlefield hadn’t been able to keep up with the number of enemies that had been dying. Even now, there were still kobald bodies splayed out all over the place. The route back to the rest of the Wackos would have plenty of bodies he’d have to step over.

“Well done team. For a bunch of mages, you all handled yourselves better than I thought you would. If any of you would like to change your focus, speak to your superiors after we get back to Dorchester. For now, return to your original teams and await further instructions. I expect we’ll be moving out soon, so don’t get too comfortable,” he heard his temporary team leader say over his link.

Feeling the connection to the temporary command channel his team had been assigned cut off, Merrick didn’t waste any time, reaching out to the command channel for his original team to reestablish his connection with them. Almost immediately he felt their presence appear in the corner of his mind. The moment they arrived, he heard one of the two Helens greet him with, “Hey Merrick, you’re back! How was it? Pretty different than what you’re used to, right?”

Claire, the team’s defacto leader when Team Leader Keening wasn’t around didn’t give him a chance to respond, interrupting with, “Where’s Peter? Was he injured?”

Out of their original team, only he and Peter had been given the option of joining in on the last phase of the fighting. They were both mages and had both somewhat reluctantly agreed to participate.

“No idea, we were assigned to different teams. I’m sure he’s fine though. The fighting wasn’t that bad,” Merrick replied as he made his way back through the corpse field.

On his way, he noticed the Wackos who were in charge of handling the borrowed equipment waving him over. Nodding in understanding, he dropped off the shield, leg guards, helmet, and sword he’d been loaned. While he would have liked to thank the Wacko who’d let him borrow them personally, he realized that doing it this way was likely far more efficient.

While he dealt with the equipment, he patiently answered his team’s questions. Helen in particular was interested in how he’d felt about crossing blades with the kobalds directly. He knew she was a fighter herself, and often felt insecure about how bad she was at magic. From her tone, he could tell that she was hoping to hear that he’d done equally poorly in melee.

“... I’m telling you, I think Lord Walker was right. It’s a matter of mindset. I don’t think I got any better at fighting, or that I will ever be considered a good fighter, but I will admit that I did get better at being in a fight. I don’t know how else to explain it…” Merrick said, somewhat tired of her relentless questions.

By the time he finally arrived near where the team was waiting for him, he was thoroughly fed up with the woman.

No longer kneading the link to communicate with them, he said out loud, “Enough Helen, I’m begging you. Just let me eat something and get a little rest.”

Luckily, he was saved from hearing her rebuttal by the arrival of Peter.

“Hey all, glad to see you’re still alive. You made it through too, huh Merrick?” Peter asked as he walked up with a smile on his face.

Taking a seat on the ground after accepting a bowl of food from Claire, Merrick replied, “Yeah. That was something, wasn’t it…”

Glancing up at him, Merrick could tell that Peter was handling the emotional aftermath of the battle much better than he was. He watched Peter accept a bowl from Claire and take a seat alongside him, internally wondering if the man had learned as much as he had from the battle.

Now that the team was reunited, Team Leader Natalie Keening appeared out of nowhere as if she’d been summoned. Walking directly into the middle of the group, she instantly gathered everyone’s attention while staring down at Peter and Merrick as if she were evaluating them.

“I’ve heard from both of your temporary team leaders, and they both had nothing but praise for how you’ve handled yourselves. Good job, both of you,” she said.

Turning away from them to address the group as a whole, she said, “Lord Walker and the leadership have been in discussion for a while. They’ve heard word from Dorchester that the nobles will likely choose to prohibit Lord Walker’s further participation in the war. I’m sure you can all guess why. So, for the time being, we’ll be returning to the Walker estate until such time as Lord Walker decides the future direction House Walker will take.”

Several people, Merrick included, exchanged glances with one another. Would they be sent into battle without Lord Walker, or would they be doing something altogether different than fighting kobalds? Maybe they’ll be dealing with the density shift, fighting monsters in the wilds? Or maybe training?

Natalie Keening, having always been good at interpreting the mood of the room, immediately chose to address their concerns. “I can’t tell you what our Lord is thinking, or even what he’ll likely decide. You all know how unpredictable he can be. But what I can tell you is that there is every possibility we’ll be leaving Dorchester. We’ve all known since we signed up that this city is too small for a man like our lord, and while this upcoming change in scenery might be coming sooner than we thought it would, we need to prepare ourselves for the widening path before us.”

Merrick had always known that eventually Lord Walker’s path would lead him toward the larger kingdom beyond Dorchester’s walls, but Team Leader Keening was right, he hadn’t expected it to be happening so soon.

“You may not have realized it yet, or maybe you’ve just not had a chance to think about it, but what we’ve accomplished here over the past few days is something that will be talked about in Dorchester for years to come. It will be recorded in the archives and studied by countless generations after we’re gone. House Walker defied the odds and our forces, along with our lord, personally did the impossible and closed an active anchored gate in the middle of a battle. What we’ve done is worthy of legends. Remember that,” she said with a tone of pride tinged with congratulations.

Merrick could feel that he wasn’t the only one feeling proud of having been part of something so monumental. Across from him, he could see both the Helens patting each other on the back while squaring their shoulders like they were at an awards ceremony.

Stifling his smirk, he heard Peter mutter under his breath next to him, “And this is only the start. Who knows how far Lord Walker will lead us.”

Glancing over at his fellow mage, Merrick felt a sense of comradery with the man. A few weeks ago, they were both bottom-rung mages in the hierarchy of the city, neither being worth much in the grand scheme of things. But now, they were both Wackos… warriors of renown.

Choosing both his words and tone carefully, he asked, “So, are you going to be staying with the team as a mage, or pursuing a more martial path?”

Peter met Merrick’s eyes and replied with a smile, “You’d think I’d leave the rest of them with only you to protect them? With that sad excuse for spellcraft you believe passes for magic? Not a chance. The team needs me. Don’t worry, I’ll stick around and continue teaching you how to properly be a mage.”

Shaking his head at the gentle ribbing, Merrick replied, “Say that again after you can manage to cast something more powerful than an essence light during combat.”

Scoffing, Peter replied, “I said I’d be a mage, not a war mage. You’re getting too full of yourself if you think you’ll be warcasting anytime soon.”

Smirking, Merrick couldn’t help but reply, “That’s what being a Wacko is all about. We don’t believe in limitations, we believe in results. As the Walker says, ‘If you believe it, you can achieve it’.”

Peter, sensing how serious Merrick was, replied with a smirk of his own, “That’s right. It’s just a matter of time. We’ll both be casting firefields and meteors in no time.”

Team Leader Keening’s loud voice interrupted them, catching their attention. “Everyone eat up and enjoy a few minutes of rest. We’ll be heading back to Dorchester within the hour!”

—--

When the meeting broke up, Nero felt the connection he’d established fade away. The moment it did, he felt the increased mental processing beginning to distract him with random thoughts. He barely even noticed when Cathleen left to handle the final stages of the fighting.

Why was Cathleen so interested in returning to the North? It sounded awful up there… like the Canadian wilderness crossed with a monster-infested mountain range. And why did she bring up skin color? So what if northerners were all dark-skinned? And why does she find being called ‘black’ funny? Were they racist against white people? And evolutionarily speaking, how did they even develop that much melanin when they were in a land full of ice and clouds? Shouldn’t they look like Vikings? They certainly think like Vikings…

And why did Angelton want to fight the nobles for a continued chance to participate in the kobald war? Kobalds were weak. Maybe not all of them, but certainly most of them. Was it because he was so attached to Dorchester? Is it like a former knight thing?

Nick’s adamant refusal to take a position also sounded suspect. Shouldn’t he have sided with his wife’s plan to request a new emergency quest dealing with the density shift?

While not entirely sure of her motivations, Nero thought he understood why Vera wanted him to stick around. With his forces aiding in the destruction of essence disturbances, there would be a ton of essence crystals to be made. And if the quest were considered an ‘emergency’ then it would also serve to fend off any requests from the capital demanding his presence.

But, Jennings’ plan was even more suspect! He’d made a case for asking the Tower of Magic in Hennings for help. He believed that his contacts could find a city that merited visiting under the auspices of official relief efforts. The man made it sound like it was only logical to go somewhere else and do the same thing they’d be doing if they stayed right here and fought the kobalds. Apparently, there were countless city-level threats across the kingdom that would benefit from House Walker’s and his presence.

Despite repeatedly asking Jennings what made fighting somewhere else different than fighting here, he never received a sufficiently satisfying answer to that question.

Honestly, when considering the conversation he just had as a whole, the only thing they could all agree on was that his idea of hiding with the dwarves was a bad one. This was naturally why Nero was leaning toward choosing that as his preferred method of handling the situation. Besides, he’d already seen how humans here lived, and he was looking forward to a change of pace.

But was he only thinking that way because he was being paranoid? He didn’t like the idea of anyone controlling him, and his newfound understanding of people’s motivations made it clear that they each had an opinion motivated somewhat by their self-interest. However, thinking logically, that didn’t mean they weren’t also considering what was best for him and House Walker as a whole. What he really needed to do was think about things objectively, analyzing the situation from a place completely absent of any bias…

“Are you all right, my lord?” asked Angelton, his large hand gently shaking Nero’s shoulder.

Snapping out of his rapid and confused thoughts, Nero wrangled his attention span enough to create his mage armor. The amount of brainpower available to him was instantly affected, clearing up his mind somewhat and allowing him to refocus on his surroundings. While he would no doubt eventually have to address the issue of his magical ADHD more directly, giving his mind something else to focus on temporarily worked well enough for the time being.

Glancing up at Angelton, Nero replied, “Yeah, I’m good. Just thinking over what everyone said.”

Angelton, having apparently chosen to remain with Nero, nodded in understanding. “Whatever you decide, we’ll be with you. But be sure to consider your options carefully. Your choices will affect many more people than just yourself, and you now have a responsibility to House Walker as a whole.”

Rolling his eyes, Nero replied, “I get that. Despite my history of not giving a shit, I’m not oblivious to the fact that my choices have consequences.”

Narrowing his eyes, Nero then asked, “Is that why you’re advocating staying in Dorchester? So that the Wackos and everyone has more time to get their affairs in order before we leave?”

Angelton didn’t deny it. “In a way, my lord. Everyone who agreed to follow you knows that at some point we’ll be leaving Dorchester, but they likely believed that we’d be leaving the city only after it was saved. There are still trials the city needs to overcome before we can leave knowing that it will survive.”

Thinking over what Angelton was saying, Nero tried his best to take his words at face value. While he was somewhat annoyed that the man wanted him to stay and play politics, all for the benefit of putting his life on the line for a bunch of nobles who didn’t even seem to want him here, he still tried to look at the situation objectively.

“Well, Vera has a point too. The density shift may end up being a bigger problem for the city than the kobalds…” Nero started to say before he was interrupted.

“That’s true! But not for a while. With how many hunters are currently in the city and the constantly increasing number of refugees, there are plenty of people willing to face the dangers of the wilds to manage the monster and beast populations. It may be months or even a year before the disturbance becomes a large enough threat to matter. But the kobalds are a threat right NOW. As you are arguably the city’s most effective tactical resource, keeping you away from the fighting is a mistake. The nobles simply fear your effect on the economy due to how much they’d have to pay you. If you are willing to renegotiate the terms of your quest, I’m sure you could convince them to drop the recategorization of your power level,” Angelton declared emphatically.

Replying in a soft but firm voice, Nero countered, “But it’s not just the matter of how much I’ve earned by closing the portal, is it? There are also the social ramifications of allowing someone as capable as I am to participate in the fighting. Considering how easily I’m able to use the kobald’s soul stuff to cast spells, with a solid group of people protecting me I could basically steamroll them, clearing out the tunnels in no time. While I personally don’t see a problem with that, I’m beginning to understand that doing something like that would be… bad.”

Scoffing, Angelton replied, “Bad? That’s an understatement. Do you honestly believe that there aren’t people in this city who couldn’t do the same? Setting aside the archmage, who could handle the matter with a wave of his hand, I can think of several residents who could wipe out the kobalds all on their own. But, as you’re beginning to understand, it is not their place to do so.”

Shaking his head, Nero replied, “Yeah, that’s where you lose me. I just don’t understand how you can limit what powerful people can do. Why wouldn’t they just ignore you and do it anyway?”

Widening his eyes a little at the thought of what Nero was proposing, Angelton replied, “Because then they would earn the attention of the Populators. Cities must face their trials on their own, otherwise they will never grow. If a powerful person chooses to remain in an area below his or her level, then they must willfully make the choice to stand aside and allow the locals to handle their problems themselves. An equivalent force from both sides is how you raise a ship… otherwise, if one side is too powerful, the ship will capsize.”

Chuckling at the fortune cookie wisdom, Nero replied, “Yeah, metaphors are always a great foundation for a society.”

Turning his head away from Angelton, Nero looked around at how the rest of the cavern was doing. He saw the conversation circle he’d started was still going at it, while activity remained high everywhere else. Kobald corpses were being stacked, and their supplies looted. Rubble and what little defenses the kobalds had set up were being broken down, while team leaders shouted out orders all over the place. While from where he was he couldn’t see everything, from what he could tell everyone was busy.

“Why are they bothering dealing with any of this? Aren’t cleaning teams eventually going to be dispatched to handle the aftermath like they were in the tunnels?” Nero asked, hoping to at least temporarily change the subject.

Angelton looked around at where Nero was pointing. “Yes, eventually. But, it will be easier for them to handle things if we prepare the cavern for them beforehand. Doing it this way also gives the fighters who were handling the last phases of the battle the opportunity to meditate and recover before we move out. This is standard operating procedure for after an engagement.”

Nero, not impressed with Angelton’s reasoning, replied, “Uh-huh. Sounds like a waste of time to me, but whatever. You’re the expert.”

Turning away from the sight, Nero took a deep breath and said somewhat decisively. “About what we’re going to do when we get back to Dorchester, I haven’t made a decision. I want you to know that I both heard and understand where you are coming from, and I will take your opinion into consideration. Whatever I decide, I’m gonna be disappointing someone. In fact, maybe everyone. We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, let’s just stay focused on getting back to Dorchester safely.”

Angelton’s expression remained just as stoic as ever when he replied, “Understood, my lord. As I said before, whatever you decide, we’re with you.”

Nodding in thanks, Nero turned around to go and rejoin the conversation circle. Hopefully hearing a few more opinions would give him some much needed perspective on how he should handle the nobles along with the big bads in the capital.

Pausing his steps, he gaped in surprise at noticing a series of cauldrons set up to distribute the slop that passed for combat rations which Cathleen and the army had arranged prior to them entering the mountain. Considering that he had several tubs in his personal space filled with hearty stew along with multiple kegs of beer, he was instantly pissed that people were voluntarily choosing to eat that crap over what he’d brought them.

Even being aware that they likely didn’t know better, Nero still couldn’t stop himself from shouting, “Awe, Hell no! Stop what you’re doing and step away from the cauldron! Git I said… Git!”

Stomping over to them while waving his arms in a shooing motion, Nero immediately began replacing the slop cauldrons with his stew-filled tubs of tasty goodness. Ignoring the looks of surprise on the Wakos’ faces, Nero continued to mutter a curse-filled rant about how unappreciated he felt and how hard it was being so awesome.

“This is what being considerate gets you. Ungrateful assholes, every one of them. Next time, I’m charging them. I’ll start an entirely new business craze… battlefield bowls… no, battle-biscuits! Bread bowls filled with stew sold at a drastic markup. That’ll show ‘em. People fighting kobalds won’t be the only ones making a ‘killing’. I’ll have to remember to talk to Vera about this… she’ll love it!” Nero muttered to himself as he worked.

*Chapter 299 - The perils of listening to people.

*Spoiler - Taking people's opinions into an account is important.  It also sucks.  There is a reason that the most effective form of government from a productivity standpoint has and always will be a monarchy.  Now, I'm sure people will bitch and moan about that fact, but its irrefutable.  The problem is, no one wants to be told what to do. So the moment a stable monarchy shows any weakness, people rebel.  That's why 'democratic' systems of government are so popular.  Like out of around 200 governments in the world, half are democracies.  They give people the illusion of control in that every few years, they get to legally overthrow the government and feel like their opinions matter.  But, at the end of the day, having a singular person in charge, steering the metaphorical ship, will always be the most effective way to run things.  Personally, I have no preferred method of government, and I have no desire to propose anything.  I just like to watch how everyone does things and complain.  Really, I'm just taking advantage of the fact that I'm not important enough for my opinion to matter.  One day, if I'm ever unlucky enough to find myself in a position of authority or influence, I'll have to learn to keep my mouth shut.  Until then, I'll likely continue to quote and reference all the thoroughly reasoned, logical, and well supported sociological studies that upset people and are therefore quite-rightly ignored by the general population.