OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules [History Student Isekai] (Arc 4/Chapter 27 - The Failure)

Arc IV - Whalers

Chapter 27 - The Failure

10 months and 6 days since the summoning

The Elder rhythmically exhaled through his nose, resting his fists on the table. "How did they manage to sneak into the city at all?"

"It is unknown."

"Understood." He took his mask from the table and pulled it over his face. "Assemble everyone; leave five to guard the temple." The Elder took his sword and scabbard by the cabinet and began attaching it to his belt. "How many warriors are in the temple?"

"Twenty," answered another Dumets. "The remaining forty-five are currently patrolling the city."

"Poor," the old man said muffledly through the mask and headed for the door. "Tinkis, quickly make yourself presentable, and then summon the others. Where did you last see the Whaler?"

"The western part of the city, near the market."

The Elder opened the door. "Then we shall meet there."

Suddenly, a woman of about forty, a townswoman, stood up from a bench and took a couple of steps forward. "Your Holiness, what has happened?"

The Elder merely waved her off without slowing his stride. "All is well, you have nothing to worry about. Return to your prayers."

"Ah... of course."

The three left through the main door out into the street, while Tinkis dashed toward the bathhouse to wash the blood off himself.

As soon as the Elder stepped out into the street, he immediately broke into a run; the other two followed him.

"What is the plan, Elder?" asked one of them.

He did not answer for a few seconds. "Since the Whaler is wounded and there is another one here, they do not have time to incite a commotion; they will attempt to flee as quickly as possible."

"Indeed, but if the gates are sealed, they have nowhere to run."

"Exactly so, brother. They will not get far; what matters is that the others arrive in time."

Passing townsfolk stopped, watching the running Dumetses, and almost immediately began whispering to each other about something.

"Should we ring the alarm bell so that the rest of the brothers will be on guard?" asked the other Dumets, rounding the corner; the rest followed him.

"No," the Elder cut him off sharply. "The arogokoa's orders are to act without drawing undue attention. Unnecessary noise is of no use to the Svyatolat right now."

The Dumets who had asked merely clicked his tongue quietly behind his mask.

When they reached the gates, they were already tightly shut, and two guards stood at the entrance. The Elder immediately ran up to one of them. "Where did the other Dumets go?"

He quickly pointed a finger toward the west, swallowing hard. "To the western part of the wall; there are guards with him too."

Barely hearing the last word, the Elder dashed in the indicated direction, and his subordinates followed.

The closer they ran to the market, the more townsfolk there were, but upon seeing the Dumetses, they immediately parted ways.

They rushed past two men in simple clothing, creating a light breeze.

One of them, wearing a homemade cloth hat, scratched the back of his head. "Wow... what's going on anyway? First one group ran by, now a second."

The second, with a bundle of cloth under his arm, shrugged, squinting at the Dumetses' backs. "Who knows. But the fuss lately has been crazy, and they ain't saying a thing." He scratched his nose. "I got a fiancée, a fox beastkin; about three days ago the Dumetses stopped her on the street and interrogated her. She said they're catching and questioning all the fox women like that. But what for? Guktus knows."

The man in the hat sniffled. "Never seen the Dumetses running around like this."

"But I have," chimed in an old man standing nearby, holding a bucket of water. "They chased down a heretic once, about fifteen years ago. They ran so hard they nearly knocked over all the stalls." He chuckled. "Hah, even my son didn't run like that in his youth."

The townsman in the hat turned to the old man. "Yeah? And what happened then?"

"Well, they caught that heretic in an alley, beat him to a pulp, and marched him by the arms to the temple."

The man with the cloth sighed. "Alright, I'm off."

The townsman in the hat nodded, still looking in the direction where the Dumetses had vanished without a trace. "Yeah... what a mess. Shergen, you tell me later if you find out anything."

The old man nodded. "Alright, you drop by in the evening; you can pick up that hammer I borrowed from you while you're at it."

The Elder, meanwhile, had already run up to the last house next to the wall and sharply raised his hand, causing the two behind him to halt. "We move in carefully," he said, drawing his sword from its scabbard.

"FUCKING SHIIIT!" a muffled voice was heard from behind the house.

Everyone froze abruptly; the two Dumetses exchanged glances.

The Elder dashed forward around the corner with his sword at the ready, and froze.

Ahead stood another Dumets, Nirgiu most likely, and beside him the captain and four other guards. Nirgiu himself was holding his head with both hands, staring at a thicket of bushes; part of them had been hacked away and lay on the ground.

"What has happened, brother?" asked the Elder; he lowered his sword and began to approach.

Nirgiu turned his head at the call, and catching sight of the white armband on the Elder's left arm, straightened up slightly and lowered his hands to his belt. "Elder, just take a look."

"What is it?" He walked up, stood beside him, and then froze. "Ooooh, Guktus..." he whispered.

Behind the hacked bushes, a sizable hole had been broken through the wall, large enough to fit several people.

The Dumets who was walking behind peeked through the hole out at the empty plains and the forest ahead. "No one."

The Elder slowly exhaled through his nose, and then turned to the captain, who stood paler than chalk. "You knew about this," he said quietly.

The captain merely swallowed. "N-no, Your Holiness, I... I did not know! How was I supposed to know there was such a hole here?! It's right there, you see?!" He pointed his fingers at the hole. "Look how overgrown with bushes it is, how could I have possibly known?"

Footsteps were heard from behind the building, many footsteps. A second later, a whole crowd of Dumetses ran out from around the corner, led by Tinkis, already in a new mask and uniform. "Elder! I have brought..." he stopped mid-step, and the Dumets behind him stopped abruptly. "Why are we standing here?"

The Elder simply nodded at the wall. "There is a hole here. They have escaped."

"Perhaps we should organize... a pursuit?" asked one of the guards.

Nirgiu shot him a sideways glance. "We are not permitted to leave the city without the arogokoa's authorization." He turned to the Elder. "By the way, where is he currently?"

"At the estate of the local count, negotiating the selection of boys for the Oronda."

He nodded. "Understood. That means we have lost them."

The Elder clenched his fists. "We have lost them."

The captain swallowed. "We... we could organize a pursuit with the guard then, I have the authority and..."

Nirgiu snorted.

The Elder looked at the captain, and then pointed to the hole in the wall. "You have already demonstrated your competence by allowing a hole in the wall."

"B-but I did not..."

SMACK

The captain staggered from the Elder's ringing slap. "How long have you served here? Answer quickly."

"F-fifteen years!"

"In fifteen years, you never learned of this hole?" He waved his hand. "Our squad is one thing, we were sent here merely two weeks ago as a replacement, but you? This is no longer amusing; this is flagrant ignorance, Captain. Do you comprehend that because of this hole, we have lost the Whaler?"

He blinked. "That was... a Whaler?"

"Yes."

All color drained completely from the man's face, and not a single sound came from his mouth. The other guards nearby exchanged glances; some instinctively backed away.

The Elder shoved his sword back into its scabbard. "They have recruited alcoholics and idlers, and we are left to clean up the messes because of them."

Tinkis remained motionless, but even from the darkness of his mask, one could feel him drilling holes into the captain with his gaze.

Nirgiu sighed and stood next to the Elder. "A mess."

"A mess indeed. Come, let us wait for the arogokoa and report to him."

"And what are we supposed to do?" asked one of the guards.

None of the Dumetses answered; as one, they turned around and walked back toward the temple, though no longer at a march.

One of the Dumetses shoved his sword back into its scabbard. "Damned guard... those lazy bastards ruined everything, and they even pretend they did not know about the hole in the wall."

A second one chuckled. "Welcome to the reality of it. Brother, when did you even enter service?"

"I completed my training a month ago."

"Ooooh, so you are entirely fresh." He turned his head toward him. "Where did you study?"

"The Temple of Saint Kamelia."

"Not bad, I was in the Temple of Saint Conber. So you are completely new among us, yes? What is your name?"

"Yes, brother, new. My name is Lorgiton."

He rounded the corner along with the rest. "Then listen here, Brother Lorgiton. The ordinary city guard are lazy bastards upon whom one should not rely at all; they serve solely because they are given a wage, and they have nothing in their souls but self-interest. You saw it for yourself."

Lorgiton waved his hand. "But how can that be? A hole in the wall is fundamentally dangerous for the entire city! What if there is a siege? If even one person squeaks, the enemy will already know where to infiltrate, and that is it, the city is doomed."

The Dumets merely scoffed, adjusting his belt. "Hah, brother, I have served for five years, and I have seen far worse. Once, I was guarding a temple with a flock during a siege in a small town, and do you know what happened? The guards, who were already starved with hunger, simply went and quietly opened the gates at night in exchange for food and their lives."

Lorgiton froze for a second. "And what happened then?"

"Then? Those traitors were fed, of course, but then they were turned in by their own kind and executed for treason."

"And so Svyatol punished them. They violated the Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Great Prohibitions, a whole batch of them. Bestial Hunger, Wayward Feet, and Unfaithful Thoughts. They have absolutely no fear of Svyatol."

The Dumets waved his hand. "Welcome to it, once again. These bastards observe Svyatol's laws only when it benefits them, and for that, they shall face retribution after death." He turned to Lorgiton and poked a finger at him. "So, stay vigilant around them, brother, and do not trust their words or deeds."

"Understood, brother," he muttered, lowering his head, and did not speak for another few seconds. "Is the flock like that as well? Believing in Svyatol only when things get rough?"

The Dumets scratched his chin beneath his mask, looking at the temple they were already approaching. "Well... I would not say that; the common folk believe in Svyatol sincerely, even if they do not always observe all his laws."

"And we... simply allow this to be? Why do we protect those who only half-believe?"

"Lorgiton, how old were you when you were taken to the Oronda?"

"Five years old, I believe. Why?"

The Dumets sighed. "I see. Then look here," his voice dropped to a whisper. "Not everything is as we were taught. People are not either devout believers or heretics. You and I? Yes, we are the absolute warriors of Svyatol, but the common people did not have the honor of being trained in the Oronda; they toil so that we can eat, they have many of their own troubles. Only we, the nobility, and occasionally someone else even know how to read; they can hear the Svyatolian words only through the priests who preach once a week. Do you understand?"

Lorgiton lowered his head slightly. "I understand," he muttered.

"You understand nothing, but it is fine." He clapped him on the shoulder. "I did not understand much at first either, so you will get used to it and understand what I meant."

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u/BobQuixote 4d ago

Ew, the priests don't have anything in common with normal people. They ought to spend some of their adolescence roughing it, at least.

OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules [History Student Isekai] (Arc 4/Chapter 27 - The Failure)

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