Chương 86: Chapter 87: Subterfuge

They're not using the players to their full capacity. If they were smart, they'd only be sending out players as scouts. That way, if something happens to them, they can still report in on the last thing that they remember. I don't know if the one that I killed will be able to say anything of value, but he'll at least be able to report that he was killed. But they're sending out the native scouts as well, which means they're not using our kind to their fullest capacity.

If they were, that would mean using our spatial bags to carry all their supplies. If they aren't doing that, then that means that they have supply wagons. If they have supply wagons, then that's something that I can attack. That's some damage that I can do. If they're smart enough not to need supply wagons, then I'll at least learn that much. First, though, I have to repair the scout uniform.

It doesn't take more than an hour, mostly just washing off blood and adjusting a few things on the studded leather to make the arrow holes less obvious. Mountain army scout uniform. Uncommon armor 6/10. Set bonus (per piece) +6 defense. Pieces in set: 3. I can't wear my regular armor with this armor on top, so I put the regular armor in my spatial bag and get dressed in the colors of the enemy. I know I have to be careful now; if my side sees me dressed like this, they'll probably attack me.

And I won't really be able to blame them. But once I put on the armor and start moving towards the army, moving quickly rather than necessarily sneakily, I console myself with the fact that I'm still way ahead of the groups that were heading out from Elmspire when I left. I'm not going to run into any local forces. Only the invading army. I don't make much effort to hide from the invading army when I reach them late that night.

They're setting up a huge sprawling camp when I arrive, with plenty of guards spread out around the forest. I wave to them as I move by, hoping that my speed and my intention to look like I belong there is enough of a bluff that they don't attack me. If they do, I'll just run off. But I'm hoping they don't. I get a level of subterfuge every time I wave. By the time I've circled the army, my subterfuge has gone up from 3 to 9. This is working. I wonder how long I can keep pulling this off.

I wonder if I can sneak into the camp, or just walk into the camp, and steal more intelligence. Probably not. Sooner or later, someone will ask me to report. Then what do I do? Do I tell them what the scouts would've found? Do I run? Too risky. I circle around to the back of the army, the part that is even now barely in the forest.

I try to keep an accurate count of the tents as I go, but it's impossible; they aren't clear cutting the forest to set up their camp, so the tents are scattered every which way, with no rhyme or reason to the way they're spread out. This is a very temporary encampment, and it shows. But towards the back, I do find the supply wagons. They're still moving even this late at night, trying to catch up to the camp. There are a dozen wagons, each being driven by two soldiers and each surrounded by another five.

They're ready and waiting for someone to attack the supply chain. I can't kill them all. Even with Mab's Rage, I couldn't wipe out all those soldiers fast enough. Other soldiers from the camp would join the battle, and I'd be hopelessly outnumbered. But that doesn't mean I can't do any damage. What should I do? I could sneak up to a wagon, climb under it, and sabotage the wheels somehow. I could cut into the axle with my sword, weakening it so that it'll break as they travel.

That'll slow down that wagon, but not the army as a whole. If I had poison or something, I could ruin their supplies. That would be good. But I don't have poison. So that's a moot point. I could try climbing into one of the wagons and sabotaging the equipment that I find there. There might be arrows that I could break, or bows whose strings I could cut. That would require me getting into the wagon without anyone seeing me, and enough time to do the sabotage without getting caught.

I could try just burning the wagons. They aren't exactly doused in oil or anything like that. There are lanterns at the front and back of the wagons, but even that might not be enough oil to get the wagon burning. Maybe if I sneak up and smash the lantern against the wagon. Or maybe if I use Trick Shot. That's a non damaging attack that is almost impossible to make. A shot that would shatter the lamp, spilling oil all over the cart would definitely qualify as a trick shot.

Of course, if I do that, I'll be exposing myself and letting them know that there's an enemy about. If I'm willing to do that, I might as well start casting spells and doing as much damage as I can. I think subtlety is called for here. Damage the carts. But not with magic, and not with Trick Shot. That's something I can do another day. Or something I can do once they're in camp and settled down for the night. Maybe they'll extinguish the lanterns and won't keep guard beyond the general guards of the camp.

Then I could sneak in and probably set fire to at least one of the carts. That'll tell them that Elmspire knows they're coming. It'll ruin the element of surprise. But there are already people on their way to do that. I wish I had a bunch of lantern oil. I could spread it over the carts during the night, then wait until the next day and set fire with Fire Bolt. Or I could spread it over the carts now and sneak out of camp and set it on fire from a distance. Fire Bolt has a pretty decent range now.

There's so much I could do. But I'm not sure I want to tip my hand. I go to the final wagon, the farthest one from camp. I sneak up behind it, using Blur to slowly catch up to it and climb underneath. Once I'm under there, I use Magical Dart on the axle, splintering it but not quite shattering it. I repeat the spell on the other axle, then begin prying at the bottom of the wagon. If I can wrench something free or break a hole, perhaps things will drain out of there without anyone noticing.

While I'm under that wagon, I shoot Magical Darts at one of the wheels of the next one in line, breaking it partway but thankfully not quite doing enough damage to destroy it. Hopefully, though, pushing the carts through the path will be rough enough that they'll break down some time tomorrow. Some time when it would be easier for the group that is intended to harry them to do some damage. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

I drop to the ground and let the wagon roll over me, letting it move on to catch up with the rest of camp. If I'm going to do things to the camp itself, I need better supplies and skill with alchemy or poisons or something like that. I don't mind learning a new skill, but it seems like that's not the best use of the limited time we have. The best use of my time is killing off the soldiers in this army. I let them gain more distance from me and pick out the last soldier in the line.

She seems tired, and isn't paying the greatest amount of attention to what's going on around her. She's human, which means she can't see all that well without light. But she's still level 50, and she still has 12, 500 hit points. I could hit her with Rapid Shot and then immediately follow up with Sniper Shot, but I have to be ready to run. I don't think I'll be able to take her down without at least someone noticing.

Since I'm going to get caught anyway, I use Trick Shot to shoot out the back lantern, plunging the area into darkness. The soldier I've chosen moves quickly to the lantern to see what happened, but for some reason she doesn't call out just yet. Maybe she will when she gets hit. I use Rapid Shot, following it a second later with Sniper Shot. The first hit does 5, 460 damage, the second 2, 940. I got sneak attack for both shots. That's awesome.

She tries to say something, making a croaking sound, before the bleed from the six shots drops her dead. I'm already moving away from the army, in case she manages a scream or someone comes looking for her. I start to circle the army again, trying to get a better count of the tents on the way out than I did on the way in. I hear them discover her body and shout out an alarm, and I watch for the guards surrounding the camp to come running. They're better organized than that, though.

The guards stay on guard, not leaving any part of the camp unprotected. Other soldiers come to investigate, armed and ready to fight. But the soldiers that come are all soldiers from the camp as a whole; none of the soldiers protecting the carts leave their charges, and none of the perimeter soldiers leave their assigned locations. It's like they're expecting there to be a distraction in one place and an attack somewhere else.

I take my time walking around the camp, trying to get a better idea of the numbers in this army. I dare to walk closer to conversations, close enough that I can pick up snippets of what is being said. If I were really lucky, I'd happen to walk up to a group of people talking about the makeup of the army, and speaking in very clear numbers. I am not that lucky. Instead, the conversation I get close enough to overhear is just about the players in the army.

"--like six guilds worth, if I'm identifying people right. Yeah, like the entire guild has signed up. They got a protection status on their guild hall while they're with the army." says Liam, a level 48 knight.

"That's too bad; would've made a great time to attack." This from Daisy, a level 47 thief.

"Yeah, seriously."

"How many of the unguilded are there?" asks Daisy.

"Just like the five of us," Liam replies.

"Maybe another one or two scattered around, but I haven't seen them yet."

"Yeah, it's hard to see everyone. The army is pretty big." I lean in, hopeful.

"Think it'll be big enough? I mean, they've got earthlings too, so it's not like we have that advantage."

"How many do you think there'll be in the elven city?"

"Are you kidding me? I think a lot of people chose to be forest elves. I'd be surprised if there weren't more of them there than in Cloudspeak." I decide to take a chance.

"According to the commanders, there are as many as two to three thousand of them," I say, stepping into the light and giving them both as charming a smile as I can. They look at me for a few seconds.

"Wolf blood?" Daisy asks.

"What's that?" Shit. I forgot they'd be able to identify me, especially with my lower level.

"It was one of the beast kin options," I say. My subterfuge goes up.

"I ended up in the plains outside of Cloudspeak." Liam looks me up and down, taking in my armor and nodding slowly.

"Working as a scout, then?" My subterfuge goes up again.

"Yeah," I say.

"I've actually been to the edge of the elven city, too."

"Have you?" Daisy seems more interested.

"Do you know how many earthlings there are in that city?" I have to be careful here. I can't give away credible intelligence, but the more I lie, the harder it will be to keep up this conversation.

"It's like he said," I say.

"As many as two to three thousand of them. A bunch of guilds."

"Are you in a guild, Caleb?" Liam asks me. I shake my head.

"No, you don't seem like the type. That's not an insult; we're not the type either."

"Yeah, I'm more of a loner type," I agree, giving what I hope is perceived as a wolfish grin.

"I gotta ask," Daisy says.

"How the hell did you get so many hit points? Do you just put all your points in vigor or what?"

"Pretty much," I say, chuckling.

"Plus a few talents to make me hardier. You need a lot of hit points when you're going solo against monsters."

"That makes sense," Liam says.

"Have you died also?" I laugh.

"Yeah, once or twice. Like I said, you need a lot of hit points when you're going against monsters solo."

"That makes sense why you're such a low level and still part of the campaign," Daisy says.

"We have a friend who's only level 30, and they wouldn't let him come along." I look at her for a few seconds. Is she testing me? Does she not trust me? I don't know if my charisma is having as much of an effect as I'd like it to. Maybe I should get going, not prolong this conversation any longer. But I have to figure out if she's suspicious. If she is, I might have to kill them both.

"Yeah," I say. It's as noncommittal of an answer as I can manage.

"I was level forty five when I first signed up. But then I got killed." An idea strikes me.

"Apparently, there's someone from the other side taking out scouts. An assassin of some kind. He took me out before I could see him. Luckily, I have a crap load of quests to turn in, so I got back up in level really fast."

"Ooh, hadn't thought of that," Liam says. He seems oblivious. That's good.

"But yeah, if you have the quests and haven't turned them in yet, you would level up really fast."

"It still sucks to lose the levels," I say.

"But I'll get back there eventually."

"This war should help with that," Daisy says.

"They said that we can expect to earn as many as half a million experience just for going along with the war, win or lose." I let out a whistle. I had not heard that.

"That's going to be a huge help," I agree.

"That might even be worth enough to get me to back to my old level."

"Did you not know how much experience we were getting for this?" Daisy's eyes narrow. She's suspicious. This is not good.

"I hadn't really thought about it," I say.

"I knew it would be a lot, but no one had ever put it in that kind of numbers for me. But I guess if every enemy we slay is worth twelve thousand five hundred or so, then yeah, we'll get up there pretty high."

"Just have to avoid dying right at the end," Liam says with a laugh.

"That would truly suck." I stand up and pat my legs.

"Just make sure you keep the war quests and don't hand them in until after," I say. I really hope they get war quests. They must, right?

"You heading out?" Daisy asks. Her hand is drifting towards her dagger.

"Yes," I say.

"I need to get back to scouting. It's easier to move at night. I was just checking in with the commanders. Well, with my commanders. Not, like, the big ones."

"We'll see you around then?" Liam asks.

"Could be," I say.

"I'll keep an eye out for you." I leave before he can ask to be friends and before she can ask any more questions that might lead to me having to kill them both and then wake up in Wrax's cave.