NOVEL NEXT Chapter XCV – Your infiltration come.
65th of Summer 5859
Casamonu Castle, Casamonu
Casamonu Castle: a grand and somewhat new castle, established several millennia after the Empire of Gemeinplatz had been born. The castle overlooks Casamonu itself alongside the ruins of all the Casamonus before it which paint the environment in various shades of gray with rubble. For the last week, the castle had been housing the ever-important supplies of grain and other non-perishables required for Casamonu to survive the siege. Such an important castle requires excellent protection, and excellent protection requires experienced guards.
Unfortunately, experienced guards require money. Money that Sir Korvus definitely couldn’t afford to spare for some men to stand around all day checking a gate.
“So, what’re you doing this weekend?” asked Billy (whole real name was still Bilaleddin), who had survived many a political chaos and gotten himself reassigned to protect the castle of the count. Such a prestigious job meant that he had finally managed to afford himself a tabard to cover his gambeson filled with unfixed holes.
“…don’t you have anything else to talk about?” replied Bob (who real name had been Boron until he had gone to court last week and legally changed his name to be Bob), who too had survived many a political chaos and found himself stuck with the idiot right next to him. He too had managed to save up to buy a tabard, and the tabard had made him look professional enough to be assigned right next to the castle gates.
“Not really. There hasn’t been anything to do due to those bloody savages.” Billy scoffed with such derision that one wouldn’t be mistaken to think that he could bring down a whole sieging army down just with pure scorn.
“Right, everywhere is boarded up… even the nunnery!”
“The nunnery? My wife and I were planning to visit them to bless our marriage this weekend, are they not accepting visitors?” Billy had become visibly disappointed in not being able to get himself blessed as soon as possible.
Bob hadn’t meant the sacred sort of nunnery, but he kept his cool. “…is the nunnery an appropriate place to bless one’s marriage? Isn’t that usually done in a temple?”
Billy shrugged. “When I showed my old man the girl I wanted to marry with, all he said was ‘leave her at the nunnery’, so I’m doing just that.”
Bob gave up on trying to dig into Billy’s family and instead turned forward to dig into the night. It was completely dark as the new moon was hidden behind a menagerie of clouds. The only thing lighting them were the lanterns they were generously given by the castle’s owner. Everyone was asleep, so it was all quiet save for Billy’s yappings. So quiet in fact, that Bob preferred to speak to Billy more instead of getting bored out here all alone. Bob was searching for some conversation topic to open to his comrade just before he heard faint footsteps approaching the door. “Halt! Who goes there?”
“Me goesh ‘eer!” The reply came from a man who sounded most chemically inconvenienced. “Where thish?”
Bob sighed, even though he was happy to get some action. The drunk man approached them close enough for his spiky, disheveled black hair to be visible. His gambeson and a shield haphazardly attached to his back suggested that he was an adventurer of some sort. “Great, it’s a drunk. Billy, do you know how to deal with them?”
“No, Bob.”
“I’ll show you then.” Bob flipped his spear to have the blunt side facing the drunk man approaching him with bottle in hand. He then swiftly prodded at the man’s stomach with the spear’s shaft, pushing him away and making him lose breath.
The drunk man quickly retreated after having been defeated with this expert show of arms, though he apparently forgot his bottle on the ground. Bob took the bottle into his hand, realizing with a smile that it was still sealed with an unopened cork. “This looks like some good stuff.” He opened the bottle with his bare hands like an uncivilized barbarian and had a sip for taste-testing. Then he almost spat it back out due to how strong it was.
“That’s no fair, give me my share as well!” Billy received his own sip, then Bob another, until the bottle had reached its bottom and there was nothing else to drink. Boredom had made being blackout drunk seem very appealing to them.
It was not like anyone would dare infiltrate the castle of all places.
66th of Summer 5859
Casamonu Castle, Casamonu
“Snore…”
It was morning.
“Zzz…”
Bob and Billy were still fast asleep.
“Yawn…” CRACKLE! “What the hell?!”
A burnt piece of wood had fallen right next to Billy. He jumped up, and turned around to see… “The granary… Bob, the damn granary!”
“Hm? What are you screaming bloody murder?” Bob slowly opened his eyes, though he could barely see anything with how hammered he was. He turned his head to where Billy was pointing to see… “The granary!” Or, to give a more accurate description, he turned around to see not the granary, but a burnt patch of land and rubble in the place where the granary behind the walls once was. There was a smell of burnt bread in the air, possibly from the wheat which had turned into ash alongside the building.
“So… w-what do we do?” asked Billy. His hands were shaky, both from being hammered and from having doomed an entire city with said hammering.
Bob gave an answer to Billy by dashing away from the castle before anyone could come to see their cockup. Billy joined him in the dash, running as far away from the castle as possible.
66th of Summer 5859
Some inconspicuous forest near Casamonu, Casamonu
Shinasi raised his arms up, praising the sun finally brightening him up. “Phew, I hate these tunnels. They’re dark, irritating, damp…”
The tunnel guides provided by Ayda had already gone back to the tunnels, leaving Shinasi alone with Ayomide whose ability to see in the dark had helped them greatly, and Kyauta who had helped them with being sneaky. He took in the fresh air, so unlike the oppressive air found in the underground tunnel system of Ayda. Fresh air, one of the only truly free things in this world, seemed most precious when he had been deprived of it for a measly couple minutes.
“Then, let’s get away from these tunnels as fast as we can.” Ayomide raised her crystal up and lit up the surroundings for her comrades.
Shinasi looked back at the exit of the tunnel, sighing. He was carrying an empty bottle. “Shame about the bottle of rectified spirits, the guards ended up drinking it all… I’m surprised they were able to wake up afterwards.”
Kyauta pushed Shinasi forward towards the outside of the forest. “Are you really thinking about that right now?!”
“He did a good job Kyauta, don’t be too harsh on the man.” Ayomide took Shinasi by the hand to lead him. “Especially his drunken act. I was actually concerned for a second when I saw him limp like that…”
Kyauta shrugged. “Fine, whatever you say.”
Ayomide and co. made their way out of the forest, unaware of the fact that they had set fire to something more than the granary.