Chapter 164

  The Big Target

  Now that the necromancer assassin had been dealt with, Erin’s group and Rayleen had decided to move to a better place to have their conversation. Much to the surprise of the redhead and her companions, instead of going to a more secluded area such as an abandoned building, the warlord decided to lead them back to The Gassy Miner. Once inside, Rayleen had taken one look around the room of people staring at her with wide eyes, before telling them all to leave. All the patrons wasted no time and practically ran out of the bar, like the building was on fire. With everybody else but the bartender gone, the group went to sit at a large table.

  “This is better,” Rayleen said with a smile, as she took her seat at the table. “Now we can have a proper conversation without any issues.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Erin asked. “You might have driven away most of the people here, but they still saw you. Not only that, but the bartender is still here. I don’t think you’re exactly staying hidden by doing such things.”

  “Who cares? I’ve got a team that can easily make it seem like none of this ever happened!” the warlord said nonchalantly. “Do you have any idea how many people try to pretend to be me in order to get free stuff and other benefits? This will just be another case of someone trying to use my identity to their advantage.”

  “Seems pretty risky to try and pass off as one of the biggest figures on the continent,” the redhead said. “Wouldn’t something like that warrant a hefty punishment?”

  “Of course! If you’re caught doing something like that, you’re lucky to get away with a simple death sentence!” Rayleen replied. “But no matter how big the risk, there are still idiots willing to try anything. That’s just how the world is, I’m afraid.”

  “...Fair enough, but what about the bartender?” Erin asked, pointing at the old orc. “If he hears anything that we are talking about here, can’t he just go and tell that to people who might not be all too friendly with you?”

  “You think that he’s going to tell on me? Watch this,” the warlord said with a cocky grin, before turning her attention to the bartender. “Hey, old timer! Are you going to eavesdrop on us and tell others about it!?”

  “NO! NOT AT ALL!” the old orc said in a terrified tone, while trying to clean his bar. “IN FACT, AFTER EVERYBODY ELSE LEFT, NO ONE ELSE CAME TO THIS BAR TODAY! NONE AT ALL, SO WHAT IS THERE TO TELL!?”

  “See that?” Rayleen asked with a smirk. “That’s called respect.”

  “I think you’re confusing respect with terror,” Durge said.

  “Different words, same meaning,” the warlord said, waving off the orc’s claim. “What matters is that he won’t be spilling any secrets. He knows better than that.”

  “And by knowing better, you mean WHAT exactly?” Erin asked with a glare.

  “Oh, simply that if he goes around talking about things that he has no business talking about, he will soon find his bar torn to the ground and his internal organs outside of his body,” Rayleen answered like it was no big deal. “The usual things.”

  “And you want us to think that you’re better than Golorath?” Ryle asked with a frown. “Sounds to me like you’re no different from any of the Overlords or their thugs.”

  “Hey, I can promise you that once I’m the one in charge, things will change for the better!” the warlord said, sounding offended by the accusation thrown at her. “This type of thing just takes a lot of work, a lot of which is dirty. If you think that any revolutionary leader ever got into power without getting their hands dirty, then you’re incredibly naive.”

  Erin and her companions didn’t argue further. They knew that they were in no position to complain, considering the type of work they had been doing.

  “...So what exactly is this next mission you mentioned?” the redhead decided to ask, not wanting to get stuck in a useless argument. “Do you need us to go after someone else that is close to Golorath?”

  “Nope! There’s no use going after people that are “close” to him. After all, even if his supposed wife was nothing more than a toy that he was willing to discard when it became convenient to him, I doubt there is anyone that he actually cares about,” Rayleen explained. “I have to say, I’ve seen a fair amount of cruel bastards, but this guy takes the cake. You have to wonder just what kind of a monster he truly is behind the scenes.”

  Erin frowned and clenched her fists over hearing such things being said about her former friend. As she knew who the Overlord had been before coming to this world, she wanted to deny the notion that he was a cruel monster, but she wisely kept it to herself. No matter what he might have been back in her world, the truth was that her actions had turned him into a monster, one that the people of this world had to suffer under. Trying to fight against the harsh truth was not going to do anything for anyone.

  “Anyways, as for the person you’ll be going after, this might sound a bit surprising,” the warlord said as she dug into her pocket and pulled out a picture. “This is your next target.”

  Rayleen put the picture on the table and slid it over to Erin. The redhead picked it up, with some of her companions looking over her shoulder to see what was on it. Much to their surprise, the person on it wasn’t anyone that looked like they were much of a threat. Instead, the person was a simple older female human dressed in a chef’s outfit.

  “...Is this some kind of a joke?” Erin asked bluntly. “Who is this supposed to be? The owner of the bakery next door that sold you a bad cupcake?”

  “You know, sarcasm isn’t an endearing quality in anyone. It will only serve to piss off the person you’re using that tone with, so you might want to avoid using it with ME,” Rayleen said in a tone that wasn’t hiding her annoyance at all. “As for who this is, her name is Madeline Fryer. She’s a cook employed in Golorath’s kitchen.”

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  “Okay, so there is an actual connection to the Overlord. That’s good to know,” the redhead said. “But why do you need us to kill her? If she overcooked a steak, shouldn’t that be a good thing for us? With any luck, she might give Golorath food poisoning.”

  “Oh, for the love of my awesomeness and all good things… I do NOT want you to kill her! She’s obviously insignificant in the larger scheme! You of course can kill her, if you want, but it’s not the actual job!” the warlord explained in an angry tone. “What YOU need to do is get her out of the way, so you can get inside Golorath’s palace! Are you starting to see the bigger picture now!?”

  “You… You want us to replace a professional chef in Golorath’s kitchen?” Erin asked and received a nod in response. She then turned to look at her companions. “Any of you guys know how to cook like a professional chef? I sure as hell can’t.”

  “I mean, I do know a thing or two when it comes to working in the kitchen,” Lexton said. “Not sure if I qualify as a professional, though.”

  “I can burn things on a grill! That’s cooking, right!?” Ryle said, only to receive judgmental stares from the others. “...At least that’s what I can do.”

  “I think this kind of disguise requires more than simplistic caveman cooking skills,” Lexton said sarcastically. “Perhaps you should start from the basics and discover fire again?”

  As Ryle cursed under her breath, Erin turned her attention back towards Rayleen.

  “I believe I don’t need to point out the obvious flaw in your plan here,” the redhead said. “There’s no one among us that can take up your target’s place. We would just get caught immediately.”

  “Who needs you guys to cook? My guys have faked a resume for you that will certainly guarantee that you’ll be hired! All you need to do is make a little vacancy for that to happen!” the warlord said. “Besides, it’s not like you’re in any real risk of getting discovered. That fat bastard Golorath has a whole army of cooks, chefs and servers prepping meals for him! They only recently were able to gather a crew that has the required skills and numbers that they can satisfy his gut without the risk of him turning wrathful and slaughtering them all!”

  “So that’s how it is. They’ve reached a comfortable balance that they probably don’t want to be disturbed, so when we ruin it, they’ll hire the first proper candidate on the spot,” Durge said, figuring out the plan. “And once we get inside, I’m guessing you want us to poison his food and therefore assassinate him, correct?”

  “Finally! Someone who isn’t a complete moron and can actually see the bigger picture!” Rayleen shouted. “As for what you just said, that’s a yes and no… While I do want you guys to use something that will finally kill him, putting poison in his food won’t do anything. That guy has a gut that can handle pretty much anything you put in it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was able to drink acid like it was water!”

  “So if poisoning him isn’t the plan, then what is it?” Erin asked.

  “Simple. You’re going to use this,” the warlord said with a small grin as she pulled out a vial and handed it to the redhead. “I’ll have you know that it was very uncomfortable to carry that around, so you better appreciate this.”

  Erin looked at the vial and saw that it was filled with nothing but water. However, she could feel that there was something special about it and immediately realized what it was.

  “This is holy water, isn’t it?” the redhead said. “It’s the weakness of demonic beings like Golorath and yourself.”

  “Bingo. You’re probably starting to see where I’m getting at,” Rayleen said with a grin. “I need you guys to sneak inside Golorath’s place by using the cover of the new chef to infiltrate. Once one of you is inside, they can let the others in. And when that is done, it will be up to you how you use that little vial to take down the big boy himself.”

  “Aren’t you making it sound a bit too easy?” Zeldana asked. “The Overlords are not stupid. They have incredibly tight security protocols in place to prevent stuff like this from happening. They have specifically trained people that can detect holy magic, so that it will be caught before it gets anywhere near Golorath himself. That’s how all assassination attempts so far have ended in failures.”

  “That’s because they never had one thing that we have. Insider information,” the warlord began to explain. “Not only do we know the faces and names of their staff, but routes of patrols and other security. Even the tightest defenses have cracks that can be exploited. Not to mention, now is the perfect time to implement my plan.”

  “How come?” Lexton asked.

  “Because, in a couple of days Golorath will be having a special celebration to commemorate the day he and the other Overlords took over the world,” Rayleen answered. “During that time, he will be ordering an insane feast of the finest foods imaginable, which you can imagine is going to put the kitchen staff through quite a lot. And they DO NOT want to fail, let me tell you! That’s why when we remove one of their chefs, they won’t hesitate to fill in that role as quickly as possible.”

  “Just out of curiosity, what happens to the cooks and chefs that do fail?” Erin asked.

  “Well, it kind of depends on Golorath’s mood, you know? Some get their heads cut off, some get shot, some crushed, some get burnt to death, you get the idea,” the warlord said thoughtfully. “I’ve even heard of some people getting eaten by him, but I’ve never seen it myself.”

  “...Okay, so anybody volunteering for the chef job?” Ryle asked. “Just so you all remember, I’m no good at cooking anything.”

  While most of Erin’s companions began to talk among themselves over who would take the job of disguising themselves and infiltrating Golorath’s castle, the redhead herself was silent. She stared at the vial of holy water Rayleen had given her to use against the Overlord, who was her old friend Gabe. She had thought that she was prepared to kill him, as it was necessary in order to free the world from his tyranny. This was something she had old herself countless times already.

  However, now that she was holding what would essentially be the bullet that takes Gabe’s life, doubts once again began to fill her head. Would she be able to do it? Even if she found a way to defeat him, would she have the guts to actually kill someone she cared about?

  Erin glanced at her friends, thinking back to all the time they had spent together and found her answer. She would have to do it. If not for herself, then for their sake.

  “I’ll do it,” the redhead said, surprising everybody. “I’ll take the role of the one who infiltrates as a new chef.”

  “Erin, are you sure? It’s insanely dangerous!” Ryle said, hoping to get her friend to back out of it. “I’m sure if we think about this, there might be another-”

  “We don’t have any other plans, so this is the best that we can do. And since somebody has to do it, I might as well be the one,” Erin said in a determined tone. “Besides, I’ve had my fair share of work in the kitchen, so I should be able to handle it.”

  Some of the others still wanted to protest, but could tell by the redhead’s tone that there was no chance for them to change her mind. They could only hope her the best in the mission ahead.

  “Well, glad to see you got that all sorted out!” Rayleen said. “Don’t know why you guys are taking this so seriously, seeing as I’m not even expecting you to beat Golorath.”

  “We are well aware of how you view us. We’re here only to create the opportunity for YOU to take him down by wounding him,” Erin said as she glared at the warlord. “I promise you that we will perform beyond your expectations and we will defeat him.”

  “Sure. Sure. If it makes you feel any better,” Rayleen said, clearly not believing the redhead. “Just so you know, I’ve seen far more skilled people try and fail miserably. You’re of course free to surprise me, but I won’t be holding my breath.”

  “Trust me. We will surprise you,” the redhead said before standing up. “Now was there anything else or are we done here?”

  “Not really… Except for these details of your assignment,” the warlord said as she took out a piece of paper and handed it over to Erin. “That has instructions on where to find the person you’re looking for. Follow them and you should be able to accomplish this job easily. Also, don’t feel too bad if you fail to kill Golorath. I’m not expecting you to do more than wound him.”

  The redhead glared at Rayleen yet took the piece of paper regardless. Just as she was about to walk away, Ryle decided to ask something.

  “Hey, while we are risking our lives going against the big bad himself, what exactly are you going to be doing during that time?”

  “Oh, nothing much… I’ll just be going over to Dungard’s place to beat him to the ground,” Rayleen said nonchalantly. “That way I will be able to take the biggest military leader under Golorath’s command, thus weakening his remaining forces considerably. I’ll also be able to find out just what sort of a project he has been working on all this time.”

  “We heard about that from Gotzmeyer. He is apparently working on some sort of a mining project,” Erin said. “Any idea what that is?”

  “No, which is why I’m going there. I’ve grown tired of not knowing just what’s going on and I want some answers finally,” the warlord said. “But you shouldn’t be worrying about that! Just focus on taking down Golorath, okay?”

  The redhead nodded, before putting on her gas mask and walking out of the bar, followed by her friends. While she walked, it might have looked like there was nothing wrong with her, but one closer look was enough to tell you that something was bothering her. Her fists were clenched and her body was also tense, like she was trying to force herself to stay calm and composed.

  The source of her unease was obvious. Erin was going to finally meet one of her old friends, one of the people she betrayed and destroyed. The redhead had often thought to herself what she would do, if she were to ever meet any of her old friends again. Never had she imagined that she would be aiming to kill them, but that’s what needed to be done.

  With a heavy heart, Erin prepared herself for the battle ahead.