Chapter 412: Chapter 396 – Playing Find-the-Messenger

“Reinforcements like us. That sounds good, but how do we do it?” Rissa hadn’t looked away.

Serenity reached into the saddlebags for a map case. He doubted Rissa had even recognized what it was, but waterproof containers for paper were quite common off Earth. “We check the map. I made sure to get an Effran map; that way, we know what they’re working from.”

He’d gotten a lot more than just an Effran map. It was the one thing so far that had seemed unrealistic; he’d actually managed to get a map of the Effran sewer system as well as the road map, general map of the area, and a map that included all of the Mist Gates. Sure, they were in a map case that would destroy them if they fell into unauthorized hands, but who would give something that vital to a mercenary that just arrived? It was clear that “Avan affiliation” meant something.

Well, either that or the maps were available because they were useful for some alternate Events. That was easily as likely.

“Why didn’t you say that before we left, then? We could have planned at a table?” Rissa’s words sounded accusing, but her tone was curious.

Serenity shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t want to even hint that Effra’s under attack. Saying that without having triggered an event where we can know about it will cause problems in some dungeons. It might even result in reinforcements not being sent at all, never mind what it screws up about our own tasks. Sometimes things like that can lead to interesting places, but generally you have to trigger them properly, which requires knowing more about the situation.”

Serenity pulled out the two maps he thought were the most relevant as he had his horse move forward to stand next to Rissa’s. One of the maps was a simple geographical map with some roads marked, while the other was similar but had the Mist Gates marked as well.

The maps didn’t match each other. The general outlines were similar, but the distances and exact locations weren’t. “I hate poorly surveyed maps,” Serenity muttered as he tried to figure out where they were on the first map. He knew which Mist Gate they were at, but he had to match its location to the other map for it to be useful.

Rissa looked over the pair of maps as well. “I think we’re somewhere in this area. And the road from Effra to Aval is over here, it doesn’t really go past where we are, but it’s close.”

Serenity nodded. “This is the closest Mist Gate to where the attacks have been. It’s not quite the closest to Effra, but it’s almost as close. Given how inaccurate the maps seem, it might well be as close.”

“Yeah, and it’s closer to the route between the cities. Did you notice this hamlet? What is it, Greenfir?” Rissa tapped the first map near the road.

“Yeah, I can’t tell if we’re closer to it or to Holloton.” Serenity tried comparing the noted landmarks again; the problem was that each map had several the other map didn’t.

“Why don’t we just head south to the road, then turn east? That way, we’ll hit one of them, we can ask where we are after we get there. We can also ask what news they have, and if anyone’s come through headed the other way.” Rissa grinned. “I know you hate asking for directions, but c’mon it’s not that bad.”

“It’s not the directions that are the problem, it’s having to talk to people,” Serenity grumbled. They’d had the discussion before; Rissa was far more willing to talk to strangers than Serenity was. “You’re right, though. We should stop at a town and see what they know. Figuring out where we are is a plus, and since we’re supposed to be foreigners that won’t break the scenario. I doubt they’ll be farther than either village before we can get there, but it won’t hurt to ask.”

The town they found an hour later barely qualified for the term “hamlet”. It was more of a wide spot in the road with half a dozen houses, surrounded by plots of farmed land and a few barns. It was clear that they depended on travelers for some of their basic needs. If they produced any excess, they must take it to a larger village to sell it; that was probably also when they handled the rest of whatever they needed.

He’d seen places this small before, but they were rare. The fact that there wasn’t even a wall around the hamlet really brought home the fact that this was supposed to be Earth; the juxtaposition of magical trinkets with a clear lack of monsters worse than ordinary animals was strange and somewhat unsettling.

The other strange thing about the hamlet was the road itself. It was a detail he didn’t think he’d have noticed if he hadn’t seen roads from places other than Earth; after all, who from modern Earth would wonder at a flat road?

Well, some probably would, but even then many would simply dismiss it as dungeon artifice. That might well be all it was, after all. A dungeon was never completely accurate, even when it was telling a true history - and an Event dungeon was only loosely based on a true Event.

It wasn’t the dirt road he’d expected or even an old Roman road; instead, it was a single stretch of stone, as far as the eye could see in either direction. It wasn’t concrete or asphalt; it actually seemed to be limestone. Serenity could even see a few fossils when he looked closely. He’d never seen a road like it on Earth, but he had seen roads like it elsewhere in the universe. They were rare, because they required a lot of power or time to make and the services of capable stone or earth Affinity mages.

Serenity had never been that interested in how they were made when he’d seen them as Vengeance, but this made him wonder. Was there any possibility that some old Roman roads had been laid on the locations of older roads that were originally created by magic?

Rissa led the way into the tiny village. She dismounted, then handed her reins to Serenity. After looking around for a moment, she led the way to one of the houses. Serenity didn’t know how she’d picked the one she did; it wasn’t particularly nicer or worse than the ones to either side. Serenity stayed a little ways back from her; if she wanted him closer, she’d call him forward.

Rissa knocked on the door; a moment later, it opened. “Hello. We’re a bit lost; where are we?”

“This be Greenfir. Who be you?”

Oof. Serenity doubted that was a real historical accent, the words were far too clear for modern ears, but it did a good job of making the woman seem uneducated.

“I’m Rissa. We’re on our way to Effra. Which way is it?” Serenity knew Rissa knew the direction, so he wasn’t certain why she asked.

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The woman pointed towards the east. “Be a twoday travel that way. Well, twoday for my cart. Your horse, maybe only a day.”

It was definitely doable in a day unless both maps were off by more than Serenity thought they were. It was possible.

“Anything I should know about? Anyone come through here lately?” Was that why Rissa asked about directions to Effra? Serenity wasn’t sure why she hadn’t just asked if there was anything going on. That was why he was letting her handle it.

Well, that and it meant he didn’t have to talk to a stranger. He was certainly capable; he’d managed fine with Sir Tor. He simply didn’t feel like it.

The woman shook her head; Serenity saw Rissa pass her something. He wasn’t sure what, but the woman grinned then wished them a “G’day.”

As Rissa mounted, Serenity asked, “What did you give her?”

“Hm? Oh, for answering questions? A small coin. While we were getting supplies, I asked what would be appropriate if we asked for help along the way, and the man helping me gave me a small pouch of coin and walked me through using it.” Rissa suddenly smiled. “I think it was while you were getting maps.”

It was good to have people around who thought of things he wouldn’t. “Sounds like we each triggered something. I wonder how many different things we could have gotten if we’d asked?”

It probably would have been limited to one or two per person, but Serenity bet there were events that could be triggered with each thing they’d asked for. Perhaps one of them was a relief effort into Effra, using the sewer map?

Serenity didn’t want to try for that one. The goal was to get out of here quickly and talk to the dungeon core, after all.

After twenty minutes or so of riding down the stone road, Rissa broke the comfortable silence. “So how do you think the dungeon’s handling time?”

Serenity shrugged. “Probably not quite linearly. It dropped us at the beginning of the day even though we entered at a bit after six PM. It either started them at noon or at the beginning of a day then sort of skipped time ahead when nothing was happening. It wouldn’t surprise me if we’re on slightly different schedules than they are, too; there’s no reason our morning and theirs has to sync up until we meet. If we’re right and going to run into a messenger soon, I expect we’ll find that it happens after we’ve both been traveling for a while and don’t know exactly what time it is.”

“You always know what time it is. So do I.” Rissa sounded puzzled.

Serenity chuckled. “Well, I know how much time has actually passed. That’s not the same thing, especially in a dungeon.”

As he spoke, Serenity watched the road ahead. There was something happening in the distance.

“True.” Rissa sounded rueful, then her head whipped around to look at the scene ahead of them. “Is that someone running towards us?”

“It’s someone being chased. Can’t make out the colors yet, but he’s on foot and the pursuers aren’t.” Serenity shifted his weight in the saddle to ask the horse to move faster. He didn’t want a gallop; Rissa wasn’t a good enough rider to be able to do anything at a gallop, and her horse would follow his horse’s lead. She’d likely dismount to fight, but they needed to get to the fight first.

Serenity caught a glimpse of a gold-and-white emblem on the running man’s chest before he hurried off the road into the trees. It was a smart move against horses, though it still wouldn’t stop him from being caught if his chasers had hounds. They couldn’t have been chasing him for long.

Serenity pulled his horse to a halt next to where the man hurried off the road and called into the trees. “Are you from Effra? Who’s chasing you?”

He needed to make it clear that he wasn’t with the pursuers.

Rissa arrived moments later and hopped off her horse. She started to hand the reins to Serenity again, but he shook his head. “Off the road; we don’t have time for more than that, and I can’t watch a horse while I fight.”

They might be able to track the horse down afterwards if it fled, but if it was war-trained it might well not run. Serenity briefly wished he’d had a little more time to learn about the horses, but that was silly; this was a dungeon.

More than that, he wished he’d had time to practice fighting on a horse. Actual combat wasn’t the best time to see if he was as skilled as he remembered, especially when he didn’t think he was.