Chapter 108: Hunted

‘He’s got a two day head start, on you, which is more than he needs. William Oh’s got friends in every town and village from here to the wastes, he speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom. He’ll blend in, disappear, you’ll never see him again.’

• Jason Salazar

‘Who are you talking to?’

• William Oh

*** Caddock, level 65 High Paladin ***

Old paladins were hard to come by.

Young paladins are untempered by the harsh realities of life, and tend to drop like flies until they grow wise enough to build a fortress around the faith in their hearts and filter out the malign forces that would take advantage of it.

In short, young paladins were stupid, reckless, and prone to being taken advantage of.

Granesh, I hate young Paladins.

Caddock watched his tracker crouch down in an animalistic fashion, the leather-clad Ranger Archetype nearly burying his nose in the floor and inhaling the lingering scents. He must’ve had a few Sacrifices that had strong scenting abilities.

It was one way to get things done.

His apprentice on the other hand, watched the tracker snuffle around the village with visible discomfort.

“Do you have to do this? You’re-“

Caddock’s apprentice shut his mouth at a raised hand and a glance from his master.

“Don’t interrupt your men while they’re doing their job. Instead, find something useful to do.”

Caddock scanned the assembled townsfolk, standing in a straight line hemmed in by half a dozen warriors.

One of the tavern’s serving women seemed a bit more badly shaken than the others, too young to be properly deceitful. A good place to start.

Caddock motioned for Hiro to follow him.

As they walked, Hiro leaned closer to whisper.

“Is it not improper for a member of the church to…behave that way?” Hiro asked, glancing over his shoulder at the tracker sniffing around the village like a dog.

“Where in the holy texts does it say we have to maintain a dignified appearance at all times?”

“It literally says that in the first volume: A priest of Granesh should strive to cultivate a sense of dignity in himself and those below him.”

Caddock glanced over at the young paladin and raised a brow.

“It says cultivate a sense, not focus on appearances, you young twat. Look at these terrified civilians. Do you think us appearing as pompous as physically possible would cultivate their dignity?”

“Wha-“

“Do you believe they’re below us?”

“In terms of-“

“Shut up, answer’s yes. If they’re below us, then we must see to their dignity as well. How would you maintain a sense of dignity in the people you’re holding by force of arms?”

“…I don’t know.”

“By finishing as fast as possible and leaving without causing undue fear or damage, not by nitpicking how your subordinate uses an Ability in front of civilians!” Caddock thwapped Hiro on the helmet with his badge of office.

Clank!

“Yessir,” Hiro said, nodding.

“Get me a table and some chairs.” Caddock said, pointing at the inn. Outside the door, the day’s special was written in charcoal on a rough-hewn board.

Hiro nodded and hustled to the inn, grabbing two soldiers to bring with him. in a matter of seconds, the young paladin returned with the requested furniture.

“Hmm…” Caddock took a moment to set the chair in the partially cobbled street in such a way that it wouldn’t rock, allowing the prisoners to see him frown with visible effort for a second before he found a position he liked.

Humanizing himself.

“Send her over,” Caddock said, pointing at the young serving wench.

She tottered over to the table. Terrified, but not quite as terrified as she might’ve been if she were in an enclosed room separated from the rest of her family.

“I saw that today’s special is sheep stew.” Caddock said as she sat. “Is there any available?”

She shook her head, shivering. “W-we hadn’t started it yet.”

Ah yes, we did get here rather early in the morning, he thought, glancing up at The Tower, which had barely begun to radiate heat.

Caddock took a couple gold out of his bag and handed it up to his apprentice. “Let the cook back into his demesne and order the troop a batch of the stew before the meat spoils.”

Hiro nodded and went to make it happen.

“Now young lady,” Caddock said, turning back to her. “My name is Caddock. And you?”

“Mary.”

“Mary. If you can help me here, you may just be the first and last interview of the day, and we’ll be out of your hair in a matter of minutes. Well, after the stew. I’ve always been a fan of mutton.”

“O-okay.”

“Now, did you see a young man come through here recently? About this height?”

She nodded.

“Can you describe him?”

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She did, and Caddock’s brows rose with disbelief.

“He was starving?” he asked.

“yes-no?” She asked, trying to gauge his reaction.

“Don’t bother yourself with what I will or won’t like to hear, only tell me the truth.” Caddock said, raising his hand.

“He had sunken cheeks, and his collarbones stood out underneath his robe. He ate like it was his last meal.”

“Fucking monks,” Caddock said, palming his forehead. They had that ‘purity in poverty’ mindset that dovetailed nicely with their desire to punish the child for resisting their plans, so of course they thought starving a growing boy who was critical to their entire religion was a good idea.

As excited as he should be for catching wind of The Prophet, it also shone a light on how badly the Laniston monks had bungled things, and how difficult it would be to get Jason Salazar back on the team.

Maybe we can trade him to another religion for a profit.

Such thoughts were above his paygrade, however. And heretical.

“Sorry?” his interviewee said, cocking her head in confusion at his outburst.

“Oh, it’s nothing to do with you,” Caddock said, waving it off. “Did the young man have anyone with him?”

“Oh yes, a strange black kobold, and a young Climber…” She wiggled in her seat, expression brightening. “He was rather dashing, actually. And generous.”

Caddock blinked, his skin turning cold.

“Did this young Climber by any chance have a missing left hand?”

“Oh, he wore a gauntlet on his left hand for some reason…” She cocked her head in thought. “But I never saw it move. Maybe he was missing a hand. How mysterious.”

Caddock kept his cool and got the Deceiver’s shopping list out of the girl, then interviewed the general store owner, confirming that those items had actually been purchased, and no one knew anything more about the strange visitors.

No one had seen them leave.