Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Thinking up a plan

Chapter 47: Thinking up a plan

"I let that scum stay under my roof, and he threatens me?" Owen was fuming. He had thought that the quiet red-head was polite and well-mannered. Yet now, he had second thoughts.

"We can't excuse what he did, or rather, promised he would," Thomas was the first to admit that. He had looked up to Lucius. The betrayal hurt him more than the others. "But we need to keep you safe. Do you have any barrier stones? Enough to ward off the entire farm?"

"And where am I going to trade my crops at, if I suddenly can't go to Orestria? The guild is the lapdog of the king. I dare say that it was that old scrooge that put them up to this," Owen buried his face in his hands. He was ruined, even if he ran. No, better stay and protect what was his.

"You can come with us, through the labyrinth," Thomas said. Owen barked a laugh.

"You do know that if they are threatening civilians, then they will follow you down there?" The heads of the three adventurers bowed. The guild had many adventurers within. Heck, if they simply sent Lucius after them, the three could still end up killed.

"What are you going to do?" Rina asked. She didn't want to leave Owen behind to fend for himself, but he looked determined.

"Never mind me. You three need to get your asses to Yaranhold. To warn them that the guild has it out for them. I will manage. I was an adventurer once, too," Owen tried to smile for them, but none of them were having any of it.

"If you die..." Teri gulped. He had imagined that the ranch would be always there to welcome them back after a quest. Yet, now, that might not be the case.

"You will make them pay when you are strong enough, I know," Owen pat him on the shoulder, and pointed at the door. "Get as much food from the kitchen as you can. Get on your slimes and get out of here. They expect you to show up at Orestria by sunset tomorrow, I imagine. The first place they will search for when you don't is here."

The three nodded as one, and got up.

They collected the bare minimum of food, knowing that Owen would need it for when he made his own escape. Then, they were out and racing towards the Alchemist's Lair on the back of their slimes.

Owen stared at the front door, and then nodded. Going to his animals, he herded them all and had his dogs lead them to the neighboring farm. Michael would understand, and he would take care of his new charges.

Then, Owen went to his shed, and opened a wooden chest. In it, there was enough explosive to blow up a village, let alone a ranch.

"Never thought I would use this," Owen said, smiling to himself. He strapped all the explosives to himself and went to his favorite rocking chair.

"Such a pity that Tommy worked so hard to get the next harvest, and now it is going to end up in flames," all that wasted food, and because of the king.

When morning came, Owen was woken by footsteps coming through the walkway. He was bundled up in a blanket. Both to keep himself warm, and to hide the explosives. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes.

The party that came were young, looked green enough to be just beginners. Sacrificial lambs. Owen said a prayer for their youth and lost lives.

"Hello, my name is..." the mage didn't have time to introduce herself because Owen activated the explosives. The shockwave turned the farmhouse into a crater. The only one to survive was the nameless mage, who was on the ground, a broken barrier around her, and burns all over her body.

"What? How?" She groaned when she couldn't stand up. The cries and laughter of goblins were to be heard in the distance. She was too tired to fight, too tired to teleport. With the last of her mana, she fanned the flames, and let the fire consume her.

When the fire died down, the goblins were long gone. The public thought that the farm had gone sky-high because of the goblins, and the guild did nothing to show their involvement into all this. Still, Yima held a memorial service for the three dead adventurers.

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Alesia, the mage who had chosen death to being the toy for goblins.

Konrad, the tank shield wielder that had died in the explosion.

Nestor, the rogue that had joined in on the guild just yesterday.

"They were all brave, and did the guild's will," Yima had a lump in his throat. It was his will they had done. His and the king's. "They died as heroes."

"We will always remember them," the guild chorus.

"The farmer, Owen, was an accomplice to the Slime party. A group of bandits that found a way to cheat the truth potions in their trial," Yima told the gathered adventurer gravely.

"How? Just how strong are they?"

"Cheat a truth potion?"

"We have to bring them to justice!"

"And we will," Yima said, rising his voice. "But first, we mourn. For this unprovoked attack on our person. Remember the names: Alesia, Konrad and Nestor. We are doing this for them!"

Yima held a hand up, and then folded his hand in a fist. His fellow adventurers mirrored him.

"For Alesia, Konrad and Nestor," they chanted, they yelled a clear declaration of war.

"It is a pity, truly. I liked Thomas. His heart was in the right place," Lucius said, when Yima got off the stage.

"You will take the best among us, and still hunt him down, despite that," Yima ordered. Lucius grinned a savage grin and nodded.

"Guess he will lose that weight after all. With the assistance of some worms," Lucius said, and went to take his pick for the hunting party.

At the mouth of the Alchemist's Lair, three lone figures and four slimes stood, faces filled with tears, for they had heard what had happened to their home.

"For Owen, we will save Yaranhold," Thomas made the first step forward, and the rest followed.

 

End of Book One!

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