Bastion and the girls spent a month traversing Subterra's surface-level tunnels, fighting off mysterious creatures and collecting unknown resources as they took down two kobold encampments closest to the Kingdom of Spores's demarcated war zone. They each gained two levels, except for Elyra and Bastion, who each gained four after taking down the Rank 3 leaders. They also collected more kobold heads for the tax exemption, along with any additional resources they found interesting in the camps.
They were on their way to their third and final encampment when they suddenly found themselves surrounded on all sides in an ambush. They were in a tunnel with both ends blocked by combatants in Rank 2 heavy armor. The figures were too tall to be kobolds, which meant this was likely a bandit ambush. That was until a well-dressed man with a noble's appearance and a familiar crest on his chest stepped forward and addressed the carriage.
"That looks like an envoy from the Kingdom of Spores," Ariel noted. "They probably aren't bandits, but this is definitely an ambush. What should we do?"
"I'll head out and talk to them," Bastion said. "You girls prepare for combat just in case, but the carriage is going to run toward the right wall if fighting breaks out to avoid being surrounded. I've already sent Pebbles to start hollowing out a cavern for us."
"Will you be fine?" Lilia asked worriedly. "Do you want one of us to go with you?"
"I have Elyra with me at all times," Bastion said. "I'll be fine."
"Be careful," Seraphina added.
Bastion donned his intimidating all black plate armor and stepped out of the carriage before making his way to the front to face the envoy.
"I am Gregor Sorell, envoy to the Kingdom of Spores, and I demand you identify yourselves!" the envoy declared.
"I am Bastion Diamondhart, leader of the Wanderer's Trove merchant caravan, here to recoup our losses in taxes as permitted by the Adventurers Guild and Merchants Guild," Bastion replied.
"Ah, so you are responsible for disrupting our military operations in Subterra."
"As you claim, but since your kingdom has not made its intent known to the Adventurers Guild, I will not be held accountable for any disruption of your hidden plans."
"You dare talk back to your betters?" he shouted angrily, scowling.
"This is Subterra!" Bastion shouted back. "The kingdom's authority cannot reach me here."
"No… I suppose not, but its might can," the envoy said with a sneer.
The Rank 2 soldiers at the front stepped forward and took on a battle-ready stance. There were easily over a dozen of them, with a dozen more at the back. It was a number Bastion wasn't too concerned with if they were anything like his own soldiers back in the Kingdom of Brilliance. Unfortunately, he wasn't familiar with the classes they had in this kingdom, which would easily put him on the back foot.
"Bring it on! But know that I bring with me the confidence of having taken down three kobold encampments," Bastion declared, his aura and fighting intent rising to the surface, his hand ready to cast Earth Rampart and Arcane Lockdown.
"We are well aware," the envoy said thoughtfully, his threatening scowl easing into a neutral expression as he took out a magic contract. "I am here under the authority of the Kingdom of Spores to offer you a contract."
A Rank 2 Knight stepped forward, took the contract from the envoy, and passed it to Bastion, who accepted it and read it over.
It was a contract that demanded Bastion and his party leave the Kingdom of Spores and the next 20 kingdoms from its vicinity within a year, never to return for the duration of a thousand years, and to keep secret that this contract and any reasons for it ever took place. In exchange, they would receive a tax exemption for all corpses submitted prior to signing the contract.
After doing a bit of math, Bastion determined that they would have to leave the kingdom the moment this contract was signed, since 20 kingdoms was a significant distance to cover with their carriage. It would require them to continue without stopping until they reached near the Rank 3 ring of the Central Empire.
Doing a bit more math, they would in exchange receive roughly 7 magic crystals' worth of tax exemptions, which would completely undermine their plan to reach 10 magic crystals' worth before deciding to pay off their taxes in the kingdom.
Frankly, it was an insulting offer that gave them no real benefit other than leaving with their lives, something they could easily accomplish without the contract. On the other hand, if they refused to sign, they would likely earn a bounty on their heads from the kingdom, which would lead to a host of legal complications they would be forced to deal with instead of continuing their journey.
'Why are they even doing this in the first place?' Bastion thought.
'Master,' Elyra called out through telepathy. 'Ariel, through rumors and complaints from other adventurers, has surmised that the reason they are doing this is to keep the war from ending. It has gotten to the point that they unjustly target merchants and adventurers when they enter any fortified cities. Because of our recent activities, we have become a similar threat to them, and so they likely desire our immediate departure from the kingdom.'
'That is the how of this problem, but not the why,' Bastion replied. 'Why would they want to keep the war going?'
Bastion thought it over from the perspective of a former duke and immediately arrived at several interlinked reasons that stood out to him. Seraphina had mentioned that this kingdom didn't have crystals and that kobolds were considered useful only for fertilizer for spores. Perhaps the kingdom's dungeons weren't sufficient to supply the biomass needed to meet their quota of spores for export as taxes to the Central Empire, and as such, they had started this war to collect more and secure lower tax requirements while they were at it.
The reason for the thousand-year ban and the secrecy clause, then, would be to conceal the fact that they were manipulating adventurers, especially powerful ones like himself and the girls who could significantly influence the war. After all, progress had been stalled for centuries, and yet a brief visit from them alone was enough to scatter 10% of the tribes attacking the kingdom. Surely, other opportunistic Rank 2 or Rank 3 adventurers could achieve similar results, unless they were being deterred, either through intimidation, severe unfair losses, assassination, or perhaps even bribery from the kingdom itself.
"You're going to have to pay us more than this to convince us to leave with our mouths shut," Bastion said with absolute confidence.
The envoy narrowed his eyes as he considered his options. He could increase the price, as he was permitted to do, or move to kill Bastion and his merchant caravan. His force of 25 Rank 2 soldiers would be enough to deal with Bastion and his 5.
That assumption faltered when he recalled the scenes of carnage he and the others had investigated while tracking Bastion.
At all three sites, the kobolds had been killed with almost no signs of resistance before the survivors fled. It suggested that Bastion possessed the means to wipe out an army in an extremely short amount of time, though the exact method was unclear from the markings left behind. The only clues they found were metal pellets scattered far behind the battle and encampments, ranging from Apprentice to Rank 1 in quality. From that, they had deduced they were projectiles, but not how fast they had been fired.
It stood to reason that Bastion and his merchant caravan might possess a weapon capable of killing them in the same manner, or at the very least hold them off long enough to escape.
"What do you want?" the envoy asked.
"Forty magic crystals' worth of tax exemption," Bastion answered without missing a beat.
"Are you insane?" the envoy shouted, more shocked than enraged. "Do you think you can just demand some random number and expect us to go along with it?"
"Of course not," Bastion said. "Since arriving in this kingdom and doing business with its people, we've managed to accrue that much in taxes owed. Why do you think our merchant caravan is out here destroying kobold encampments instead of selling our goods in the next kingdom?"
"You mean to tell me you sold over 44 magic crystals' worth of products in just a few months? How do you even have that much inventory?"
"My wife is a Scribe," Bastion replied with a shrug. "She sold off all her scrolls upon arriving at the first village, which they happily bought at half the Mages Guild's price. We also made a killing selling Rank 2 armor, weapons, and jewelry to the nobles in the capital. Plus, the adventurers we encountered along the way were more than happy to demand repairs and make purchases, since the kingdom wouldn't even allow them into fortified cities without being robbed, for reasons we both know and understand."
Disbelief colored the envoy's face as he worked through the calculations. For Bastion and his caravan to reach that figure in just a few months, they would have had to sell thousands of pieces of Rank 2 equipment across the kingdom. It justified their almost rabid drive to hunt down as many kobolds as possible. They were deep in tax obligations.
"Let me make a call," the envoy said as he stepped back and took out a paired crystal, a rare device used for situations like these.
He contacted the king directly and relayed Bastion's terms. After an hour of checking with the Merchants Guild, they confirmed the total. Bastion's group had indeed earned that much during their visit. They had even sold one of the princes a piece of Rank 2 underwear that he refused to take off, even in the bath. It was self cleaning, temperature regulating, resistant to damage, and incredibly comfortable.
"His Majesty has accepted your plea," the envoy said, looking tired after having his ear talked off for an hour. "But you still have to surrender all the kobold corpses in your possession."
"That's fine," Bastion said as he held out his hand.
The shadows beneath him stirred as a magic bag emerged, clutched in a shadowy tendril. It rose from the ground and settled into his open hand.
"There, all the kobold corpses we have," Bastion said as he held out both the magic contract and the magic bag.
The Rank 2 Knight approached, took them from Bastion, and handed them to the envoy.
The envoy glanced inside the magic bag and his eyes widened at the sheer amount of shredded kobold corpses. There were easily over a hundred thousand by mass alone, which suggested far more we likely killed. It was a good thing they hadn't chosen to fight. Otherwise, their own corpses would have been added to the pile.
He quickly made the necessary edits to the magic contract before signing on behalf of the kingdom.
It was then handed to Bastion, who triple-checked the document before signing on behalf of his party. Finally, he was given another document that promised 40 magic crystals' worth of tax exemption, redeemable at any Merchants Guild on the continent.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Bastion said as he retreated to the carriage.
"Good riddance," the envoy said as he stood watching the Wanderer's Trove caravan drive off along the path to the surface, back to their journey across the Central Empire.
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