NOVEL NEXT CCXXVI – Heading Ever Onwards
“They are fighting more intensely as you expected, Exalted One,” reported one of Ani’s scouts after they returned from taking a careful peek at the frontlines near Fort Gurzil. Esperanza’s group had continued traveling further west from the ambush spot, taking care to remove all traces of their passage, with only the scouts keeping an eye on the situation at the battlefield for a while longer. “The humans mounted an attack after a few days and had been pushing the demons back to the fort by the time I left.”
“Bueno. They should be able to take care of things on their own at this point,” noted Esperanza with a nod at the report. The time spent in the Human Kingdom taught her quite a few things, especially about the people there, many of which she would have probably never learned if not for the infiltrations the group performed. That she met and came to a sort of agreement with Alissa was a bonus as well. “We already tarried a bit too long, so we should carry on.”
The group was headed deeper into the demon territory, to learn more about the internal situation of the demons as well as to see if they could sabotage some more important things that would be kept safe deeper in the Demon Territories. Alissa told Esperanza the intelligence she had about the Demon [Champions] while Esperanza also spoke about the [Champion] she faced back in Navef. Both of them agreed that those [Champions] were probably the largest source of potential trouble in their way, unless they could do something about them.
The one [Champion] Alissa faced so far spoke English, but that seemed to be a stroke of luck as the one Esperanza faced did not and they only managed to understand each other since Esperanza’s [Language Understanding] encompassed both sides’ languages. As such, Esperanza was the only one who had a better chance to be able to meet with and speak with the [Champions], to see if they fully bought into the local narrative or not.
Since Esperanza would be able to don the guise of a demon in the process, she would also have an easier time infiltrating cities and towns in the demon territories as well. Out of her group, not everyone could come with her. Anyone with human heritage was straight out, so only the likes of Val-Kas’j, Legisvula, Nalihimatu, and Ilavakide could accompany her as they were purely of demon stock. The other four [Progeny of Yore] had some human blood in them or in Resitia’s case, was purely human.
Similarly, the five infiltrators from Zikeal would not be able to join them, though several people from Ani’s group could. Those with Gour-ug’rech lineage were also out of the question, as there were no such demons in the deeper regions within the demon territories, but there were a couple from her group that were descended only of the other four demon races.
Other than Esperanza, none of the others had done anything like infiltrating a city or pretending to be different people, so the five from Zikeal took the time to coach them in the acting methods while they traveled. Fortunately everyone already learned to hide the presence of Oldies’ blessings within them, so that part was already taken care of.
“It’s still another week or so to the next city, Exalted One. We should be prepared for infiltration by then,” said Val-Kas’j as if he noticed the worry in Esperanza’s mind.
“I know. I just can’t help but worry a bit. Those human cities, we had more of a frame of reference thanks to the folks from Zikeal. I was human myself, once, so I have some idea on what to expect,” said Esperanza with a shake of her head. “None of you have ever been to a demon city, however. Those bases we burnt to the ground don’t really count. I’m worried mostly that we’d make some sort of social gaffe or the like that would give us away.”
“Hell, I have no idea what to expect out of the demons myself. For all I know I could be the one who gives us away with my preconceptions, and that wouldn’t do,” she added after a moment of thought. They would have to split up when they go into town since apparently the demons did not mingle between the different races as often as the believers of the old gods, and many of their smaller tribes and villages might only be inhabited by members of a single race.
“Uh… While it might be rather demeaning, Exalted One, one of our usual tricks might work well for situations like these,” interjected Kurt, the older of the brothers from Zikeal.
“Go on, I’m listening.”
“We… when we were still new to this, we simply pretended to be bumpkins from the wilderness that had never seen any place larger than a village before. A literal country bumpkin heading to town scenario. We found that people excused a lot more mistakes in terms of demeanor and customs from us under the assumption that we were too stupid and backward to be aware of them,” he explained somewhat nervously, probably uncertain if Esperanza would take offense to the suggestion and eat him for it. “If the demons are not too radically different as a people, this might apply to them as well.”
“Given what we have learned so far and the information from the [Hero] that you have passed on to us, this seems highly plausible, Exalted One,” noted Ani with a nod from the side. “The demons have different social customs and do things differently, but not so differently to the humans that certain things aren’t the same either, as there have been a lot of cultural things that bled over in the centuries they have warred with each other.”
“As much as they might hate where it came from, convenient things are just convenient so both sides have been adopting things that they found beneficial from the other side pretty regularly.”
“Fair point. For the time being, we’ll continue practicing our cover identities. We will be going in groups, so I want everyone to have their cover stories memorized,” said Esperanza with a nod in the end. The arrangement was still riskier than what she liked, but it was the best they had for the time being, so it would have to make do.
Esperanza trusted that Alissa – and the large army she was part of – should be able to take care of the demons that occupied that human fort they captured on their own. In the meantime, Esperanza and her group returned to the demon territories to both look for more information and to hunt down the demon [Champions], if they could.
Especially the one that Alissa hypothesized might be a crafter of some sort, as the demons were using more artifacts than was normal. If Esperanza could root that [Champion] out – capturing them would be a tall order for her group, but disrupting the supply and base of production were things they were good at – it would be helpful for the human side and also give her a chance to meet with the individual and see if they could perhaps hash things out.
She knew that it was a long shot that the [Champion] would be amenable to hearing her out, but it was worth a try, at least, especially since she was the only one around who could freely communicate with them without being part of the demons.
First things first, however, she needed to find out more about how the demons actually function as a society, their habits and customs, and whatnot. The planned infiltration of a demon city was for that purpose, and as most of the group hid themselves deep in a forest some distance from the city, the people who would go out to infiltrate the place left in groups.
Nalihimatu and Ilavakide posed as hunters who had lived in the wild bringing some of their catch to sell in the city. It was an easy enough role for them to settle to, since Ilavakide was an archer to begin with. They casually hunted down some prey to really sell the image on their way out of the forest. There was nobody living inside the forest they came from, but demons were hardy people, so some of them living in there wouldn’t have been too strange either.
Val-Kas’j went with Legisvula and a warrior of Ani’s named Ul’Van, who was himself a hybrid between a Ma’Varok and a Tesh’ka. The three posed as young villagers from a distant, isolated village on a trip out to see the world, something the [Progenies] easily did, given their actual ages. Ul’Van played the role of their chaperone of sorts, an older member of the village sent to watch over the youths.
Esperanza herself took the guise of a Nevilosk and went with Isfrea, a young Nevilosk warrior from Ani’s group, would pretend to be traveling peddlers, having taken some items from the things they stole off the demon bases that would be feasible for such peddlers to peddle with them. The three groups departed the forest at different times and from different directions, so that even if someone paid attention, the only connection that would be noticed between them was that they reached the city in the same day.
