Chương 18: Chapter 17 - Returning the Scene of the Crime

As the pair settled more into their pace and the miles disappeared beneath their feet Astra would occasionally glance in Elias's direction, a look of curiosity on her face. Huffing and sweating beneath her leathers as the time passed her curiosity turned to confusion somewhere around the thirty minute mark. As the run continued, she noticed that Eli's breathing had not only barely increased in pace by he was looking around taking in the sights as if it was only an afternoon stroll.

She grunted in exasperation while mopping her face with a small cloth produced from somewhere in her armor." By the ancients, just how high is your endurance attribute?" Eli flicked open the window to check before replying, " 24? Why is that a lot?" She shook her head." No it's not terribly unusual but it is a bit high for your level, I imagine I was wrong in my estimation. I had you evaluated more as a legionnaire but I guess a scouting role is more your style?"

She held her hands up as she caught her breath again before eyeing his spear and daggers." I mean no offense, but front line combatants typically dump more free points into strength and dexterity than endurance, and you seem the type to prefer to get in close." Puffing along some more, " Don't let me belay the point, endurance has its place in extended battle, but most prefer power and agility over maximizing their staying power." Elias shook his head before taking his turn to look back in confusion."

None taken, but you are right that I prefer close combat. I don't even know what the free points are or how to use them. I barely know what the attribute points mean?"" My only reference point is fiction and what the system menus tell me." Astra gave him a strange look as she seemed taken aback." Strange, another mystery for later perhaps." She chuckled before giving an exasperated sigh." Some people have all the luck.""

Well, in normal circumstances when your system unlocks they are a measurement of your base line capabilities. The average is somewhere from 5-10, and higher values are usually only found in families or organizations where martial or scholarly training is especially rigorous."" Performing manual labor or regular physical training from an early age might earn a respectable strength attribute as high as 12 or 13, or a similar score if you have an advanced education in magical arts.

As the scores climb higher the system enhances your baseline abilities, but only with skills and free points with a child class." Astra huffed for a few minutes, after finding her wind again she rolled her eyes." Sorry, I need to focus on running."

"You are weird, your situation is weird, and your attributes do not make sense."" Ask me later."" When."" This." Is."" Over." Huffing between the last few words, she looked back towards Eli with a sly grin." I can definitely appreciate a man with great stamina." Eli barked out a laugh before shaking his head before giving her an appraising grin." I bet you do." Astra grinned back with a wink before perking up as they passed a boulder that rose above the river bed on their left."

I recognize this place, we are getting close to the battle site, let's pick up the pace." As she leaned forward and raced ahead bracing the longsword at her waist, Eli may or may not have glanced appreciatively at her toned form in her leathers before dashing after her. Who am I kidding she definitely has a fantastic ass.

With a 15 minute sprint that left even Elias winded, he finally caught up to a heaving Astra as she gulped down air trying to catch her breath, while taking in the state of the camp she had left behind. Elias strode to her side and planted the butt of his spear while taking in the disarray. A bend in the river around a small hill created a short stretch of fine gravel riverbank that rose into a wider bank of coarse sand before cresting into a short grassy meadow before disappearing into the treeline.

Stretched along the sand was what Eli could picture was once an orderly camp at one point, a straight line of a half dozen or so canvas tent the stakes level enough to bring a tear to a quartermaster's eye, each paired with a small campfire and a handful of small folding chairs. At least the camp appeared to have been orderly before it was ransacked. The tent lines and canvas were cut and torn, the fire pits had been stomped over and several of the folding chairs were smashed.

Splashes of blood and streaks of soot adorned the remains of the camp, and Elias's face became grim as he spotted the site of the firewatch's final stand a short distance towards the river where a small cooking station had been set up. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

A wooden prep table and large pot over a large fire pit had been turned on their side, with both the side facing the river and the one facing the forest riddled with arrows and scorch marks. The charred, arrow riddled corpses of four defenders were found behind the barricade, and Elias examined the remains as he approached and crouched before them. His face hardened in disgust at the sight before him, taken from behind, his eyes flickered over the scene surrounding him, this camp reeks of an ambush.

The soft crunch of gravel behind him indicated Astra's approach, and he glanced back to find her gritting her teeth in a fierce grimace as a single tear tracked down her face as she looked down at the bodies. He gave her a knowing look." Let me guess four to a watch?" Astra nodded once." And that fire of your's, does it explode or just burn?" She spoke quietly, " Not unless I empower it greatly." Eli stood and gently clapped a hand on her shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze before continuing with a sigh."

Well, it's a small comfort, but this answers one of your questions." He gestured at the bodies and the overturned table with her confused expression." There are arrows and burns on both sides of the table but far fewer on the river facing side." He gently nudged one of the arrows with the butt of his spear." They were clearly struck from behind since there are no successful arrow strikes on their chests, only their backs, and given the blood spray patterns, they were likely all struck at the same time."

Elias glanced at the forest to the west, the hill across the river to the east, and back at Astra. He rubbed his stubble as he explained further." If I had to guess, I imagine they were approached from both sides, one force hidden in the forest, and another on the ridgeline across the river. The river force exposed themselves and drew their attention, most likely with either a small force or a friendly face so they wouldn't alert the rest of the camp.

Then once the forest group had approached close enough, they drew weapons, and once your watch was 100% focused on them, the ambushers struck them down swiftly from behind." Astra followed his gestures with a complicated expression, quietly contemplating Eli's deductions, before heaving a deep sigh." Aye, that's reasonable. You are right. It is comforting, I do not like questioning the honor of men and women sworn to my service, especially if they gave their lives for the protection of others."

She made a small noise of disgust." They deserved better, a better end, and a greater trust from me." She glanced towards the row of tents in confusion." If there was no treachery, how did Mira end up in chains before the fighting could even begin?" Eli paced over to the line of tents, examining the forest facing side, stopping at the tent second from the south, he fingered a large slit in the backside, before glancing back to find a streak of crushed grass approaching the tent from the treeline.

After looking at the line of tents he noticed the southern most pair of tents shared a firepit instead of having their own. He walked back to Astra where she was covering the fallen with spare blankets weighing the corners down with stones. Eli watched her finish, and after a moment of her gazing down at the covered forms he cleared his throat to get her attention. She startled slightly, swearing beneath her breath." By the Ancients, you move like a shadow. Did you find something?"

Eli smirked slightly before it faded, " Give yourself some credit, if these were my battle brothers I would be distracted too."" Couple questions first, do you set camp the same way every time you stop? When you are in a town or village do you camp outside or do you stay at accommodations in town?" Astra gave a strained smile, " Fair point." Shrugging her shoulders, " Aye, we usually use the same layout.

We might swap the latrines or the cook station depending on the lay of the land, but otherwise don't alter it much." She dipped a cloth in the river and wrung it out before washing her hands and face as she spoke." We will usually stay in town if they can accommodate our patrol, either at a local inn or garrison if they have one. If there are issues with corruption or abuses of power among the local guards or governors it's easier to root out if we spend time with the citizens.""

We do our best to ensure that at least one of the officers is always assigned to mingle in such a way that they are easily approachable during our stay, so if any of the citizens fear reprisal they can bring their concerns to us without the notice of the local power structures."" It is a minor anti-corruption measure, but a surprisingly effective one. My clan's reputation is strong enough that many would feel comfortable bringing issues to us that are beyond their own capability."

Standing she gave another shrug as she continued" Some villages are too small however, and we need to camp on the outskirts. We did camp at the last stop… Why?" Astra looked at Eli curiously. His face grew hard at the last statement." Let me guess, the southernmost tent is yours, and the one next to it is Mira's?" Astra stiffened at his question, " Aye, they are…" Elias sighed and scrubbed his face."

Ok, well it wasn't hard to guess given the layout, and I imagine it would be even more obvious if I watched you camp in a town. I found tracks going from the forest directly to her tent, and a slit through the canvas on the side closest to the forest."" They clearly knew where she slept, and I would hazard a guess also when she typically would fall asleep." Astra's face hardened into a grim expression to match Eli's as she grimaced in disgust." Aye, I see. Well it seems we have some rats to catch.

All right, let me see what they left behind. It looks like they were in a hurry, hopefully I can find my equipment." Astra stomped off towards her tent in a fury as Eli quietly called after her trying to avoid his voice carrying too far." I'll look for their tracks, we'll need to move fast though, so travel light."

She waved him off before ducking into her tent, and Eli's gaze followed her retreating form until she disappeared from view before padding over to the edge of the camp and started circling it looking for tracks. His thoughts swirled in his mind as he contemplated the series of events that had brought them to this point, a small ember of anger was kindled in his heart as he pondered the likelihood of Astra's patrol being betrayed. A well of sympathy swelled in his chest feeding the ember within.

W hat kind of grade A asshole would sell out their own protectors? I mean I've only known Astra a few hours, but unless she's a world class liar I have little reason to doubt her story. No, I'm pretty sure she's being truthful. While Eli was no Marco Polo, he had traveled the world, met plenty of terrible people and helped put many of them either behind bars or six feet deep.

He had developed somewhat of a sixth sense for when he was being fed a line of manure, this same sense told him Astra was the real deal, and the same sense also left him with a heavy heart as a hunch formed as to what he would find on the other end of this journey. As Eli bent all his focus to the task of deciphering the clues the battle left behind, his heart beat started to rise slightly as he contemplated the violence he would be bringing a certain on the group of assholes in the near future.

Ding [Congratulations! [Tracking] has reached Lv 4] Ding [Congratulations! [Tracking] has reached Lv 5]