Reincarnated As A Peasant - Book 2: Chapter 34: Rogue in the Rough

Landar

As I followed Tanya, I realized she walked with a surety that few people had. She was sixteen, maybe seventeen at the oldest. But she walked as if she were in full control of her every step.

Few soldiers in either life I’d lived so far had that. Let alone homeless street urchins. It wasn’t graceful, exactly. But it was confident, and competent. She avoided potential danger with an almost second nature to her, choosing solid stones among the broken pathway she lead me down with every step.

Eventually we came to where I assumed she was leading me towards. “Here it is boss,” she put a hand on one of the drain pipes. There were four of the things, all of them bound together by metal brackets that connected them to the stone via finger thick bolts.

Everything was rusted, nothing had been properly cared for or maintained in what must have been decades. At the very top of the drain pipes several of the brackets on the top floor had broken, and the pipes were leaning away from the brick wall.

“This way,” she whispered, and she showed me how she held the pipe, and placed her feet to pull herself up. She was to the second floor window before I knew it.

She’s quick too, even with one arm. I placed my ax back in its loop, and did my best to mimic her movements.

The pipe creaked a few times as I positioned myself. That’s not a good sound. Hopefully it stays put.

The pipe should hold you boss. Buuut, you might want to leave your satchel down here just to lighten the load a bit. It’ll increase your odds of making it up there safely by 15%. Would also help if you lost a few pounds, but you meatier types can’t do that easily so . . . ditching the satchel is the best option.

Thanks, I think. Will do. I placed the satchel down and realized just how heavy it was. It was light for me, but the brick pile I placed it on shifted and resettled under its weight. Good call.

You’re welcome!

I started making my way up, using mainly my feet to push myself up, and my fingers like vices to keep me attached to the pipe. I past by the second floor window with a wince, hoping no one inside would see me. Tanya had moved far quicker then I was, she practically jogged up the side of the building and into the fourth story window with an ease and silence that unnerved me. I on the other hand, was bound to struggle.

Increased strength and durability came with a cost. Increased weight. I might not get hurt very much if I fell, even from this height. But I was also much more likely to fall in the first place.

The Pipes creaked and complained as I finally passed the third story window, and I let out a deep sigh of relief. A familiar, lanky, dexterus and feminine hand reached out to me, and I took it. She strained and pulled me up to the lip of the fourth floor window. From there I grabbed the stone and relieved her of my burden.

“Thank you,” I whispered as I quietly landed on the floor of an empty room. It was dark, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. She smirked, and nodded. Then pointed towards the door that was already slightly ajar. She motioned for me to follow her, and I did.

We stayed crouched as we moved past the door, and into the hallway. The floor had several holes in the wood planking we had to avoid, until we came to the large landing where the different units connected to the central staircase.

“Stop,” She whispered, putting a hand out to stop me from moving forward to clear the room as I had done before. It wasn’t her job to deal with the bad guys, just get me close enough to do my job. “Trap.” She mouthed and pointed at a tripwire I had missed a few inches in front of my boot.

Oh, that could have been bad. I followed the wire and found a clumsily made, but well hidden stick on a lever that was hidden by the lip of the roof which went higher in the next room. If I had stepped on it, the stick, which was riddled with rusty nails and discarded pieces of glass, would have fallen and impaled me.

It probably wouldn’t have hurt you too badly boss.

But it would have hurt, and probably given away our position.

True.

Tanya produced a set of what looked like wire clippers, though they were rusty and looked like they were on their last legs, from the small tool belt she carried. I hadn’t noticed it before now, because it was hidden under her loose fitting shirt.

I only got a glance at the rest of the tools and things there, but she looked to have a small lockpicking set, and several knives of various sizes for different uses. All of them were small, easily concealed in a palm or along a wrist.

Hmmm.

I know what you’re thinking. But she’s technically a child, right?”

True Sid, true. Lets ask her her age when we get out of here. At the very least we should get her some proper training. And maybe see about getting her a prosthetic. She clearly has some skills that would be . . .

My thoughts were cut off as she cut the wire and the stick fell down towards us. Tanya caught it with an upraised pillow that seemed to appear out of nowhere, softening the noise and keeping it from alerting our prey.

I see boss, I’ll see what I can come up with in terms of her records from the city.

Thank you Sid.

The trap disabled I moved forward and ensured the room was clear. There were signs others had been here recently, the trap, and a few discarded pie ces of new cloth that has been used to bandage some kind of wound had been tossed into one of the corners with little care.

Tanya came up beside me and together we looked over the three exits. The stairs downward were blocked off by a hastily cobbled together barricade of discarded wood and furniture. The room opposite the hallway where we had come from was also boobytrapped, something Tanya took care of with a few screws of what looked like a screw driver, that made the arm of the contraption fall off.

I caught it before it could hit the ground and cause a clatter. “Thanks” she whispered. “Only got the one arm, see?” She waggled her stump.

“I can see how that would be a problem,” I smirked and we made our way to the last option.

We didn’t find any traps, which meant it was likely the way the hostage takers had gone.

The room beyond was dark, but light streaked through the shattered windows and wooden slats like spears from a shield wall. Shadows shifted, silhouettes in the stark room. Half a dozen pieces of furniture, tables, chairs, and rotten bed frames were tossed around the room. One of the shadows worked at the hearth, trying to get a fire started. Two others stalked the windows of what should have been the bedroom in the back of the tenement, but the wall had long since fallen or been destroyed.

I turned and motioned for Tanya to wait for me, and then made my way inside. I crouched low, and used the detritus to block my entrance. My ax felt light in my hand, and I suppressed the urge to pour mana into it.

I began casting, pulling mana into my hand and shaping it using the spell circuit I had memorized. I was about to unleash the Jet of Flame spell, when I heard someone whimpering, and two bodies in burlap sacks squirmed against one wall.

“Shut up kid, or I’ll give you something to cry about.” The one trying to start a fire threatened, with a sharp kick at the kid closest to him with a tip of his boot.

My head exploded as I pulled the mana back into my body. The mana was attuned to fire, and it wreaked havoc on my meridians as I reversed the flow of mana back into my mana pool. It would take me several hours of meditation to clear it after this, but I’d rather suffer the pain of a mana reversal, then kill two kids.

“Got ta get this fire goin, so I can send this little message.” The man tossed a bag up and down in his palm. “Then we’ll be out of here. You do what we say, and you won’t get hurt. Hell, the boss might even have a job for the two of you girlies.”

One of the other men who had been staring out the window let out a harsh laugh. “Like the boss would use them.”

“Shut up Greg.”

“Sorry.”

I opened myself up to my aura, and ran it as gently across them as I could. But the static from the mana reversal turned it into a jumbled mess.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

I got you boss. Hold on, getting a good read on the closest one. Looks like he’s level 1, and the other two are just common thugs.

Thanks Sid, that changes things.

I pulled my ax, and poured as much mana into it as possible. Instead of its normal blue and quasi purple hue it took on a sinister red light as most of the fire mana that had filled my pool from the reversal activated different runes on the ax.

The head lit up in a flickering flame, as if it were a torch. Huh, that’s new. Something for later. “Hey assholes.”

The three men turned as my ax ignited, and one of them let loose a crossbow bolt. It was a common bolt, no magic to power or protect its flight. It was moving fast, but not fast enough. I dodged it, then plucked it from the wall behind me.

“That was stupid. Now, if I have to kill you, you’re going to die first.” I pointed at the one named Greg who was holding the empty crossbow.

“Stay back!” The third man who hadn’t yet spoke shouted as he lept towards the two kids. His crossbow was in one hand, but the bolt that had been loaded was in the other. He pressed it against the burlap sack and the soft crying turned into terrified sobs.

“Lets all just calm down,” The fire starter and kid kicker said as he tossed the small sack into the newly lit fire in the hearth. It ignited in a plume of green smoke that quickly ran up the chimney and out over the city. “We don’t want any trouble.”

“Oh, so that’s why you’ve been spying on us for days and when you were found out you kidnapped two little girls and used them as hostages?”

“Well uh . . .” he looked confused now more then anything else. “Yeah. We were just making sure we’d be left alone until we left. That’s all.”

“I see. So you were just going to leave them here after you finished sending whatever message you wanted to send with that green smoke?” He winced.

“Basically, yes. Now that we’ve done that, uh . . . we’ll go. Fair?”

I nodded. “Seems fair. Except, I have a little problem.”

“And what, my lord, might that be?” The slimy level 1 said as he moved slowly towards the windows and the other two. Conveniently for him behind the two hostages. I took him in then, he like the other two wore long coats that protected them from the snow and damp cold. The leader had long sleek black hair swept back in a greasy look that screamed ‘scumbag’.

The other two were various types of bald. The one who had shot at me was standing near the windows dumbfounded, a confused expression on his face. While the third was still holding the crossbow bolt to what he thought was the young girls throat. Though no one there could be certain thanks to the sacks they had bound them in.

Boss, drop the crossbow bolt.

What?

Do it, now!

I did as I was told, and dropped the bolt onto the floor near my feat. And continued the little parley as if nothing had happened.

“It’s a . . . cultural thing I think. You see, where I come from, people who harm children are said to be better off if they were to take a ships anchor, tie it around their own necks, and throw themselves into the sea. Rather then face the justice they rightfully deserve. And one of you, right in front of me, is currently threatening a child’s life. So let me be blunt.”

I cleared my throat and adjusted my stance. Trying to buy time for whatever scheme Sid had up his sleeve to come to fruition.

“If either of those children are harmed when I get them out of those sacks, whatever damage has been done to them will be repeated ten fold back onto your bodies. And that, is before I give you the mercy of death.”

“You’re going to torture us?” The sleaze ball leader asked, incredulous. “That’s a pretty big escalation for a little kidnapping of some worthless drudges. Don’t you think?”

“You know, there was one . . . inventive, form of punishment that I heard from a foreigner a while back. Near the ocean there are these little bug-like creatures called lobsters. People boil them alive and then crack them open and eat the soft tender meat inside their hardened shell. They do this because they slowly increase the temperature under the pot so that the lobster goes to sleep and doesn’t feel themselves being boiled alive. They do this because being boiled alive is . . . excruciating when you can feel it and even water bugs know to avoid it. I have heard that it is also a rather long process for a human to be boiled alive.”

I sighed, and shook my head. As if I had seen it myself, rather than simply read about it from history books back on Earth. “Some people, it took hours. Others, I’ve read accounts of it taking days. Have you ever seen a creature boiled alive? Any of you?”

I looked from face to face, and it appeared from their reaction to my words that none of them had. “The skin starts to boil and blister, becoming red before pretty much every inch of the person’s body starts popping and oozing juices. Eventually, almost mercifully to the person, at least at first. The skin sloughs off. Leaving the muscles, bones, sinews and tendons under a person’s skin exposed to the ever increasing heat. At that point, i’ve heard, that particularly petty lords have drenched the person in salt. Burning them in an all new kind of hell even as their bodies begin to marinate in a stew of their own bodily juices. It is . . . not pleasant. Or so I have read.”

My ax flickered as I pointed it at the man holding the bolt to the girl’s throat. “If you don’t remove that bolt, now, I’ll make sure I don’t kill you. And we can put on a little public demonstration of just how effective a technique it is. And we can see just how long a person can survive, and how long it takes for me to grow annoyed with your screams.”

The sleazeball gulped, and the dullard made a sound I could only describe as a whimper.

But the man who I had locked eyes with only narrowed his gaze. “The boss i’ll kill you if you touch us. Tom is a made man, and we’re only scouts. Rules protect us!”

“Rules? I take it you little gangers have rules down here. Well guess what chuckle fuck? I’m not a gangster. I’m a FUCKING LORD! And I will -”

Before he could finish my threat, a bolt came out of nowhere and erupted in his forehead. His arms went slack and he fell to the floor, dead.

Sleazeball tried to make for the window, but he was too slow.

Dullard reached for the girls, only for my fiery ax to appear in his chest half a heartbeat later, pinning him to the wall, and blocking his boss’s escape.

Sleazeball let loose a spell directly at my chest, and a powerful fist made of shimmering smoky magic slammed into me with the force of a train. I went hurling backwards into the wall smashing several pieces of discarded furniture along the way.

Tanya ran forward, put a foot on the dead man’s chest and pulled the bolt from his skull, then leapt back towards where she had left the crossbow.

“That’s mine!” Sleazeball yelled, irate. He charged forward as he placed the bolt in her hand, and knocked the crossbow by pinning it to the floor with one hand and falling backwards with the string in her teeth.

My thoughts were almost comical, she’s quite flexible.

Boss you have a mild concussion. Let me clean that up for you. Wait . . . what are you?

A wolf’s growl filled my mind, and I felt my teeth clenching as the world shifted to a tint of murderous red.

My mind cleared enough for me to move, as the she-wolf fully awoke. I saw Sleazeball borrowling directly at Tanya, murder in his eyes. She let loose the bolt she had just retrieved. It whistled through the air and struck him square over his heart.

There’s not enough room in here for you to manifest, you’ll hurt boss and the kids over there!

She growled deeper, her rage becoming sharper and more focused.

“Think something like that’ll kill me do you? I’m a made man, and you’re just a filthy little street bitch!” He pulled a long knife from under his coat and started forward. “I’ll gut you, smother your little lord over there, and then sell those brats to the slave markets. No one will miss a few filthy drudges!”

I met him with my open palm to his face. A howl split the air and a winter chill filled the room, even as fire erupted unbidden in the palm of my hand. I put every ounce of leverage, power, and mana I could into the single open palm strike, and I was rewarded with a spectacle.

HIs face caved inwards, the bones crunched under my fingers as they flexed. When my palm finally hit his nose it shattered, and blood covered his face and instantly froze, only to be boiled off by the growing Jet of Fire spell in my palm.

The next heartbeat as he was flying backwards and my arm was fully extended well past where the two girls were still tied up the spell ignited. FIre blasted directly at him, turning his body into cinders as he broke through the exterior wall and into open air.

There was nothing but broken charred wreckage as he plummeted, dead, to the frozen stone bellow.

New Spell Acquired: Fire Punch

I waved Sid’s notification and detailed explanation away and it disappeared from my mission. My knees swooned as the effects of whatever the she wolf had done disappeared, and I was left to deal with the full effect of my concussion.

Though she withdrew back into my core, I felt a sense of satisfaction and even a little bit of joy at what we had done together. I dared to hope there was a bit of respect in there as well.

Tanya ran forward and cut the two girls out of the sacks. They cried and clung to her for a moment.

I’ll clear this up in one second, boss!

Sid did as promised and a moment later my mind was clear. Thanks Sid. How long will I need your help, do you think?”

Oh this will clear itself up in a few hours. Minor concussion. Just uh . . . just don’t go to sleep on me okay?

I smirked, You got a deal.

“We might want to get out of here,” Tanya said as she pulled the girls off her and pointed them towards the exit.

“Why?”

Tanya just tilted her head to where I had effectively Falcon Punched a man out the fourth story. The wall was gone, but fire now ate at the exposed wood.

“Damn it. Yeah you’re right.”

It didn’t take long to make our way out of the building. The mother of the two girls ran and grabbed her children and was quickly joined by their father. We left them to their reunion and went to find Gragon and the three task masters that lead the drudges who were standing around looking at the burnt corpse of the man I had just killed.

“ . . . One of Earl’s guys. That’s for sure. One of his lieutenants I think uh, Don something.” The oldest man I have ever seen said, as he used a cane to get back up from examining the still smoldering carcass. He was one of the elders I didn’t know so well. “Someone’s going to have to go tell him. And it ain’t going to be me. I value my life.”

“Tell who?” I asked as I joined the circle of men and women.

“Earl, he’s the local gang leader.” The elder said. “Killed his way to the top about six years ago. Just before all that fighting happened.”

“I see. So this was one of his men?”

“Yeah, pretty clear from the belt. See there?” He pointed towards a belt buckle that looked charred beyond any recognition. “Looks like a snake at the center. That’s his people’s thing. Snakes.”

“Fits. Anyone know where he and his people are?” I had asked this question before but no one had been will or able to tell me. But now, after seeing what I could do, I saw a lot more hope and willingness to comply in these peoples eyes.

“I’ll show you,” Brimhat said, tipping his hat towards me. “Not far boss.”

“Thank you. And you,” I turned towards where Tanya was hiding at the back of the group. “Do you want a job?” I asked, as the dilapidated building continued to burn behind us. And she smiled.