Chương 286: Chapter 537: Parley

A broken and burnt branch from the tree Ozzy had destroyed became a flagpole, and a torn tablecloth from the tavern became a flag. Diego held it before him as he marched out, followed by Ben with his drawing board, paper, pens, and charcoal. On the walls, people made ready.

With Ben already on his way, Rolly had excused himself and spent several minutes changing to his dragonfly form, emerging with a still sleepy Squirmie who refused to do anything until she'd had a bite to eat, but agreed to provide an airlift for the Butcher when Ben needed help. Things were complicated by the fact that the Courier hadn't shared his plan with anyone else.

"Just wait for it, and follow my lead." While a classic Franklin-Style plan, it often confused people outside of the family. The wolf packs parted before them, giving a narrow walkway that allowed them passage to Chartok. Ben and Diego did their best to not look nervous, but the effect of the synchronized snarling of the wolves was just a reminder that there was only one puppet master they had to worry about.

The six Snarlfangs forming an honor guard around the old wolf pulled back, giving them space to come forward. Ben immediately became engrossed in setting up his drawling board, sketching and measuring Chartok's size. Chartok looked amused.

"I have to thank you, Diego. I've never done a parley before. You know how it is: Fast and furious raids. Skulking in the bushes and giggling as the hunter goes past you in the darkness. Setting ambushes for the overconfident and foolish people who race after me into the dark forests. It's always a treat when I get to talk to the people I'm about to devour. And I'm so curious about your ultimate plans.

I assume that you're offering up yourself and this wanna-be Paladin as sacrifices to delay me while you set something up in the town?" Diego sighed, "I would dearly love for that to be the case. No, this is the result of someone making official quests through the system and not thinking hard about the ramifications. They promised rewards, and the system will go harshly on them if they don't try to follow through. The plaque is going up on the gate of Gadobhra as we speak.

Ben has been working with the stone carvers since the quest first went up, and all of them are quite excited about it. I imagine it's in response to their inevitable deaths and the destruction of the town. People always want to take their minds off future unpleasantness. And of course, artists in general will carry things to extremes to leave a small reminder that they once lived." The Inquisitor gestured at Ben.

"He's the best artist we have, but he gets too into his work. You'll see when you destroy the town hall, drawings everywhere with planned expansions, parks, huge buildings, and memorials to past battles. It really is... well... was, a lovely little town that could have been the gem of the north. Gadobhra is... Gadobhra. Not a place one goes to visit unless you are there for the dungeons and the fighting. It will always be a dangerous place. Sedgewick is...

or was, poised to be the place visitors came to stay, relax, enjoy the sightseeing and a center for local culture and cuisine." Chartok started to say something, but Ben intervened, "I'm done with my size estimations. As normal, we'll be sculpting using 'Heroic Scale', making everything 30% larger and using a stone plinth for added height. What pose would you like done?"

"Pose?"

"Yes, what pose? To get everything perfect, I'll need to sketch you correctly, and for that, you need to pose for me. We could do howling, crouching to pounce, full run, or go for a traditional heroic pose, one foot on top of a fallen pile of enemies, a rock, or a large skull, with your head held majestically high. It's very important we get this right for posterity if they ever rebuild the town."

"Oh, how exciting. But I have no idea how to decide." Ben pointed to the Snarlfangs, "What if we use these to mimic the poses I'm suggesting, and you can compare them and choose the one you like best. Of course, I'll be making my detailed sketches for you. It's important to capture every small detail to convey your spirit and bearing."

"Of course. My, so nice to have someone pay attention to the details. It's always annoyed me when someone misspells my name, or I get blamed for something I haven't done. This will make sure my glorious victory today is remembered correctly. Hmm, I think I'm going to go with the traditional pose, but bring my gaze lower, and maybe a little more teeth in the smile.... ah, there we go. What do you think?" Ben walked around the Snarlfang, only a couple of feet away from its slavering jaws and sharp claws.

"Beautiful. This will be perfect. But I'm not sure about having dead wolves for the piece under your right leg. Granted, they were from winter, but it would possibly look better with another foe. I'm sure they had Beastmasters and some Rime Knights leading this assault, and they're all dead now. It's a little artistic license, but the result is worth it. What would you say to substituting the bodies of three Rime Knights for wolves?"

"I see your point, but I'm unfamiliar with this type of Knight. And I prefer to kill Paladins." Ben kept sketching and showed the Necrowolf his ideas, "Really, they are the same thing. Winter just sticks to a theme with all their troops: Winter Wargs, Frozen Dead, Ice Wizard, Rime Knights. But there isn't much difference between a southern Paladin, and a northern Rime Knight.

They both are martial fighters, love gigantic swords, shiny plate armor, a little magic, and, of course, they have a stick up their butts and noses in the air. That whole 'I'm better than you attitude.' Seriously annoying. Especially with those long, flowing white locks and perfectly sculpted looks." All the wolves howled, and Chartok looked annoyed.

"That attitude is the worst! I don't know how many times I've had to listen to some idiot in shiny armor pontificate about his prowess before I kill them. Truly, it's the reason I don't begrudge dying now and then to a farmboy. They go on to be humble heroes. I feel that between inspiring a better breed of Paladin and killing off the idiots, I'm doing humanity a favor." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Ben stopped sketching, and he looked hard at the wolf.

"That is interesting. Diego, how many new Paladins has Chartok created in your lifetime from likely lads and lasses from the farms?" Diego began counting on his fingers, "Seventeen that I know of. We keep track of them as they arrive to help them along. You saw that yourself when you intervened when Sir Eustace summoned a demon to 'Test' the new recruits. Doby Finigan had just arrived at the Capitol, the latest lad to kill our wolf here.

Sir Eustace singled him out for punishment immediately, and even attempted to kill him during the 'test." Chartok laughed,"A Paladin summoning demons to kill an aspiring Paladin? And people call me a monster! What did your Inquisition say about that?" Diego chuckled, "Not much. We didn't get a chance. Benjamin here drove his sword through his black heart. We cleaned out quite a few tainted Paladins and Inquisitors that day.

And the farm boy, Dobie, is now Sir Dobie Demon Slayer, Knight of the Order of the Sacred Flame."

"I find that tale extremely satisfying, and agree, let's go with the dead Northern Paladins for the statue. I'm warming to the idea. I can't wait to see it. How long until it's done? Should I let you cower in fear for another day? I must admit I don't know anything about making statues." Diego looked at Ben.

"You're the person who does all the scheduling for the village. How long to construct the statue?" Ben carefully set aside his drawings and pulled out a new sheet of paper.

"Let's assume that the town is destroyed and all non-essential people are eaten. If the wolves do a thorough job, there won't be the problem of bodies. I'll need four stone carvers and four hefty Contract Workers to cut the marble from the caves under the quarry and haul it to the surface. Probably best that I send them out immediately to avoid the slaughter and destruction. Can I ask that the park in the center of town be spared? We're down one tree now, and they'll frame the statue nicely.

I'll ask the townsfolk not to hide anywhere near it so the grass doesn't get trampled." Chartok nodded,"Certainly. I can guarantee that."

"Great. They'll have the stone hauled by wagon to the town and can begin carving the day after you leave to destroy the surrounding area. The tavern and inn will have a supply of groats for them to boil and eat, so we won't need a support crew. They should be able to finish in a month's time, and then you can swing by and eat them as well, if it meets your approval. Don't be shy about asking for creative changes or looking in now and then at the progress. This project takes precedence, of course.

It will outlive the town and everyone else. I'll make sure people hurry things along so we can finish in time." Chartok looked from Diego to Ben, then back to Diego.

"This all sounds fabulous, but I have to ask a pertinent question. You people are normally all ' Fight to the Death' and'I'll be back to rain hell on you and your little dogs, too!' But you seem quite complacent about your impending doom." Diego shrugged, "I'm old, and the Grim Reaper is coming sooner or later. Frankly, it's a relief to get it all over with. My knees ache terribly. I think the whole town feels the same way. We've been staring death in the face ever since Winter started this invasion.

With their 'Frozen Earth' policy, they won't leave anything in this valley alive. Only a frozen wasteland. And frankly, I'd rather be killed by a local nemesis than turned into a frozen zombie by some out-of-town invading Paladins." The wolf seemed uneasy,"Frozen wasteland?" Ben nodded and said, helpfully.

"Yep. Ice-covered fields, frozen livestock, frozen chickens. The people will shamble off as undead with ice in their veins, leaving behind everything. No more farmers. So really, we're dead either way, and as Diego said, this way it comes at the hands... err, teeth, of someone familiar. I just hope Winter gets delayed long enough that we can finish your statue, and that they have the decency not to desecrate it when their army of Northern Paladins rolls into the destroyed town. But...

you know how a pack of Paladins can be."

"This is unacceptable. Frozen chicken?! I hate frozen chicken! Surely the farmers will come back and rebuild. They always rebuild!" Diego shook his head sadly.

"Not for a long time, I'm afraid. The Winter army is pushing the Empire's forces back, and they have little chance of winning. The grand fortress a few miles from here will hold out, but not without all the people in Sedgewick helping to supply mana for the shield and food for the soldiers. I think we're looking at a new Ice Age. It could be centuries until the cycle turns again. You might want to consider heading south. There are some nice lands a few thousand miles below the empire you could terrorize.

Hopefully they have chickens there. But I think the Saurian tribes cultivate lizards."" Leave the Hollywood?! Unacceptable. And I will not stand for frozen chicken." He turned and glared at Ben.

"You're one of those Couriers who ride around annoyingly warning people and causing trouble. Plus, you seem to know a lot about these northern Paladins and Winter."

"Oh, I certainly am, and I do. It's a shame. I wish I could figure out some way to delay them until your statue is finished."

"Don't wear yourself out thinking about it. It takes an insidiously clever mind to deal properly with Paladins. You have to be patient and wear them down. It's a wolf sort of thing. But that doesn't mean I don't have uses for someone like you." Ben bowed, "I live to serve, but I do have to get these drawings back to Sedgewick." The wolf shook his head,"I'm sure old Diego can limp back to town. Oh, better, I'll have one of my Snarlfangs escort him."

One of his bodyguards grabbed Diego by the back of his collar, hoisted him in the air, and began loping towards Sedgewick."" You're coming with me, and we're going to show that bunch of upstart, pretentious, poultry-freezing invaders what it means to interfere with my chicken stealing!"