Chương 11: Chapter 10 – In The Loop

One barely intelligible phone call later, the mayor's red Audi drove into the yard, and a woman in her fifties with immaculate makeup and wavy brown hair climbed out. Freshly tinted, Laura knew – there was not a single speck of grey at the roots. Andrea Hoffmann charged up the stairs to the veranda, where Laura was already sitting with two steaming cups of tea. She skipped the greeting, getting straight to the point.

"What the hell is going on, Laura?"

"Hello, Andrea. Please, sit down. Cookie?"

"... Yes, please. Now explain. Why is my office full of farmers demanding a 'neighborhood watch', why did my brother break all speed limits to tell me a private citizen bought seventy tons of useless steel, and why did your name come up in both regards?" Laura took a sip of her tea. Darjeeling, two-and-a-half minutes. Her hand did not shake, which she counted as a professional achievement.

"Something has been killing and eating livestock. People are worried, and the police won't do anything about it."

"I know," Andrea complained.

"What I don't know is what you are doing in the middle of all that, and why you're throwing money at my brother's failing business." Damn it. The old cover story won't do, we can't exactly use fancy curved beams for a new barn.

"The Kurzes' cow was killed right next to our property. I found that quite concerning."

"Laura, don't try this crap with me. We've known each other since kindergarten."

"Look, Andrea. Something weird is going on. The internet is dead, and even the landline is getting worse. The authorities are overwhelmed. I'm doing what I can to keep things together."

"Without involving me?" Laura felt familiar irritation flare up. Because you would have blocked me every step of the way, obviously.

"What would you have done, had I involved you?"

"I… Given what is going on with the police, I probably would have done the same thing," Andrea admitted.

"Still, there are proper procedures to this. Public announcements, formal advance notices for the authorities, just in case."

"And those proper procedures would have taken time. Time we don't have while something is rampaging through our woods."

"You keep saying that.

'Something'."

"Well, it's dangerous enough to kill a cow, at the very least."

"Right, Martha. I heard Daniel investigated that? He has a 'hunting license', after all. Even though I can't seem to find him in the huntsmen register. I suppose I must have been looking in the wrong cabinet, then." Shit. Andrea pressed on while Laura was still caught in the open.

"Also, why did you spend a five-digit sum on steel bars for an opera house? Are you trying to profit from the 'war' that is supposedly at our doorstep?" Laura's old not-quite-friend was riding on the high of something finally happening in her constituency. She was firing on all cylinders, and nothing Laura could say here would defuse the situation. A fighting retreat would be her preferred strategy had the stakes not been so high. So, she swallowed her pride, and allowed Andrea a victory for, hopefully, later gain.

Plan B it is, then. And I have to hurry before Daniel gets back and crashes the conversation. She emptied her cup of tea and lifted her hands in a gesture of mock surrender.

"Alright, alright, you got me." Andrea's left eye twitched.

"Spare me the theatrics. What is going on?" Instead of answering right away, Laura reached out to the ivy growing on the patio roof. A vine slithered down to the table like a leafy snake, and, upon request, lifted up the teapot to refill her cup. A terrified little squeak told her she had the mayor's undivided attention. Andrea was pale as a ghost, mouth moving without any coherent words.

"Thanks, dear," she said once the vine set down the teapot again. It did a cute little wiggle, then slithered away. The mayor just stared, giving Laura time to organize her thoughts. Finally, Andrea spoke again, her voice unsteady.

"Remote control?"

"No."

"... I'm going to need something stronger than Darjeeling." = = = = = Lena felt nothing but relief when the family van finally turned left onto the familiar driveway towards her home. The city had been even more horrible than usual. People everywhere, shouting, confused. She could already feel a migraine building up. The relief was short-lived. There was another car parked in the yard. Expensive, red, license plate RHW-HA-72. The usual RHW for the county of Rheinwald. HA?

'72' was probably the owner's birth year. One of Mom's friends then. Maybe from the choir? Hopefully they weren't practicing. When the van stopped in front of the barn, she checked her hoodie's large front pocket. Ibuprofen, magnesium supplements. After two gulps from her water bottle, she was feeling better already, even though there was no possible way the tablets could have worked so fast.

Dad and Kai were already unloading their haul: some motorcycle gear, a few pieces of Kai's equipment from his apartment, a large box of leather straps. The most interesting and space-consuming part was the military surplus gear from a cramped store that smelled like canvas and rubber. They had bought up almost the entire supply of plate carriers, helmets, and basically anything else that seemed useful. To Lena's great chagrin, the store had no actual MOBAST gear, but that stuff was basically unobtainium.

The civilian stuff was… fine, even though the real thing would have been much cooler. She tried her best to help unload, but was shooed away, with the unequivocal recommendation to raise her Strength to at least three with the next level-up. So, she stood there and waited for either of the men to go first, since the conversation on the veranda did not sound particularly inviting.

"Oh," Dad said suddenly while unloading a heavy crate. He dropped it back into the van and stepped back.

"[Displace]." The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The remaining crates disappeared with a barely audible 'pop', and blinked back into existence inside the barn where Kai was currently setting down a stack of helmets.

"When can I learn that, Dad?"

"Tier III Hermetics," he replied.

"With enough preparation, you could already do it with a ritual. Though it would be much slower than carrying it by hand or even levitating it with an air ritual." Interesting.

"Can I try?"

"Later. It looks like the mayor is here." Ah, that explained the license plate. Hoffmann, Andrea. She had probably chosen 'HA' to avoid historical implications. Kai let out a drawn-out sigh. Perhaps he felt just as enthusiastic about having someone over as she did. But Dad just shrugged and walked towards the increasingly loud women on the veranda. Were they fighting? There were full wine glasses on the table, but the bottle was already half-empty. Was this really the time for Mom to get into drunken arguments?

"We're back, honey. Hello, Andrea," he greeted. Mom's eyes briefly lingered on Lena before settling on her husband.

"Hey, honey. I made pasta bolognese, it's on the kitchen table. Go help yourselves, you must be hungry."

"Thanks, we'll do that," Kai agreed and began dragging Lena towards the front door by the arm. How rude.

"…Wait a second," the mayor said. She was wearing shiny shoes and black dress pants.

"Lena, right?" Lena froze for a second, then nodded.

"What's that on your head, dear?"

"T-that's a Steinwehr V93 Full Cut. Thirty-layer aramid-resin composite." A few seconds of silence. Lena noticed some mana residue in the plants above the patio. Did Mom do something?

"That's an army helmet," the mayor finally said. Her assessment was close, but not quite correct.

"Technically, it's–""Come on." Kai prodded Lena again, causing her to yelp.

"I'm hungry." Lena felt her cheeks heat up.

"Stop that."

"Why is your daughter wearing a helmet, Laura?"

"I told you. There are things in the forest."

"... What kind of thing would warrant this?"

"Honey?" Mom turned to Dad with a sigh.

"Can you fetch a goblin for me? Alive?"

"Sure, I need to check on the dungeon anyway," he replied.

"Plan B, then?"

"... Yes." Lena was not sure what exactly was going on here, but it seemed like the mayor had been introduced to the incoming 'reality patch notes'. Still, she drew in a suitably awed sharp breath as Dad lifted off and flew towards the forest. Levitation really was a beautiful spell. Mrs. Hoffmann emptied her glass in one go, which could not possibly be healthy.

"So, the two of you are also some kind of magical superhuman?"

"Not a–""In a way," Kai interrupted her. Lena stomped on his foot as a matter of principle. He flinched, but strangely didn't retaliate.

"I'm sure our mother has told you about it. We're heading inside now, have a nice day." He was trying to get out of this situation, Lena realized.

"Sorry," she told him.

"... Huh?" he blinked, dumbfounded. Mom was rubbing her eyes with her palms. Was she really this drunk? Her glass looked basically untouched, now that Lena could see it up close. No lipstick marks or wine smears. A loud screech from above made them all flinch. Dad landed on the veranda, a goblin hovering in the air next to him. ~ Goblin Fighter, Level 5 The magic holding it in the air seemed similar to Levitation, but that worked only on the caster according to Dad. Lena posed the obvious question.

"What's that spell called?"

"Susp–" An uncomfortably shrill shriek from the goblin interrupted Dad.

"Shut up. [Stasis]." The goblin froze in mid-air, only its yellow eyes darting around.

"Suspend. Tier III Meteorics," he continued.

"Why are all the cool spells Tier III?"

"Complexity. Displace and Suspend can both interact with souled targets, which means they need to overcome the inherent resis–""WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" Everyone turned to face the mayor. Or, in Lena's case, her shoes.

"It's… green! It has a spear! What in the name of…?"

"That's a goblin. Looks dangerous enough to kill a cow, doesn't it?" Mom spoke quickly, preempting Lena's own, more specific explanation.

"Goddamnit," the mayor cursed.

"What… Where did it come from?"

"The wild dungeon," Dad explained.

"It's unstable and spits out monsters from time to time."

"What the hell is a dungeon?"

"Doesn't matter for now," Mom interrupted.

"The important thing is that they're dangerous, and they will not stop at cows."

"We– We need the police." Mom sighed." Everyone will need the police. Too many problems, too few cops. We need to handle this ourselves."

"But–""Look, we can either panic like a bunch of schoolgirls or we defend ourselves. I know which one I'm picking, Andrea." Mom rarely insulted people directly, and that one seemed rather pointed even to Lena's sensibilities. The mayor agreed, judging from her affronted gasp. But she quickly recovered.

"Is it… It looks almost human. Is it an animal, or…?"

"It's sapient," Lena said, happy to offer her expertise.

"They communicate verbally with each other, form large social groups, and organize complex ambush tactics." A beat of uncomfortable silence.

"Then, shouldn't we try to–""Feel free to talk to it," Mom offered, and Dad dropped the Stasis. The creature immediately resumed its screeching. The mayor recoiled, then stood up and attempted to open dialogue.

"C–can you understand me?" The goblin went quiet, then made a strange guttural sound.

"I–If you understand, please nod." It blinked with its double-lidded eyes and briefly bobbed its head up and down.

"It's going to attack you," Dad stated.

"It's trying to communicate!"

"It realizes that it can bait you closer. It wants to hurt you, then eat you."

"I have to try anyway. If we can somehow avoid violence–""We can't." Mrs. Hoffmann took one defiant step forward. The goblin struck at the same moment. Dad flicked a finger, and a translucent barrier shimmered into being in front of her, effortlessly deflecting the barbed spearhead. The mayor squeaked and stumbled backward, falling into her chair.

"Shit!" Mom sighed.

"Daniel?"

"[Thunder]." The goblin's head vanished as a sharp crack sounded through the garden. Green blood and mushy brains rained down on the grass. Dad released Suspend, and the headless monster fell to the ground. It began dissolving almost immediately, though the process would take a while. Only its gear and core would remain after an hour or so. Mrs. Hoffmann's shiny shoes were nervously tapping on the wooden floor. Mom's were, too.

"... You killed it."

"I did," Dad confirmed.

"You let it move because you knew it would do that."

"Yes." Mom chimed in.

"Andrea. It's only a matter of time before one of these things kills a child." Nobody spoke for a moment, then she drove the point home.

"Don't bother with the authorities. The same thing is happening all over the country. All over the world, even. We have to handle this ourselves."

"... There are fifteen legal guns in this village. All of them owned by–""The Hofstedts, the Walters, and the Pfennings."

"All of whom just happened to be the ones you visited this morning."

"And all of whom just happen to be the old farmer clans who keep you in power."

"... You planned this. You bi–""Language," Mom chided. Another insult, another critical hit, judging from the outraged back-and-forth that ensued. Lena found herself deeply fascinated by the process of monster decomposition. Once the goblin's digits had almost entirely dissolved into bubbly green goo, the two older women had gotten to an agreement.

"So, you ease the clans into it carefully and handle the militia. We can provide proof and information. And Daniel can step in if things are getting out of hand."

"Don't call it a militia.

'Volunteer self-defense group', 'neighborhood watch', whatever. I'll come up with something less loaded," the mayor grumbled.

"But you said I could get magic, too." Mom sighed deeply and turned towards Dad.

"Honey, can you set up another one of those circles?"

"The convergence array?"

"... Yes, that. The mana thing."

"Okay. Come on, you two," Dad waved Lena and Kai towards the barn. Lena jumped on the opportunity, but Kai elected to practice sword forms instead. His loss.