ushernet Chapter 203 – Spiders (1)
Chapter 203 – Spiders (1)
Chapter 203 – Spiders (1)
"Did you read the reports?" I asked, looking at Yuri, whose belly was starting to grow as we were heading into winter. If everything played out right, my third child would be born early next year.
"Yeah, and I would go investigate it myself, but I know you won't let me."
"Damn right!" I chuckled, looking at her, inviting her over to my side of my drawing table, pulling her into my lap, and gently rubbing her belly. "Send your people down to my Uncle, along with a handful of my soldiers. Bring enough instruments to discover and mark everybody who is suspicious and keep tabs on them!"
"Should we capture some of them?"
"No. Let them be. I want to know what they are after, what they want, who they are. Let them operate and keep tabs on who they interact with. We will see which people fall for their bribes... We can marginalize those because Avalon won't work with untrustable families. On the other hand, those who can refuse to be bought, note them down and pass their names onto our Merchants' Guild."
"Roger! It was a good idea to install CC detectors at the gates! I wonder who sent people over with magical devices hiding in their carts..."
I don't think it even needed to be asked. This was precisely why I made sure that Elliot's city was equipped with the same defenses as Avalon. It was the first time it alerted us that someone was smuggling magical components into the city, but I was sure it wasn't the last. This means that we probably had our very first spies trying to infiltrate us, and our security system pinpointed it perfectly for us.
"Probably Ishillia. The question is, which one? Mirian? Or the old fucker. I sent Elena over to the capital with a handful of letters to inquire about it."
"Heh!" Yuri chuckled, stretching while sitting in my lap, "I heard she wasn't too happy about it!"
"She wasn't, but she is now an ambassador. She has responsibilities! Plus, she doesn't need to complain too much! Mirian was invited for the winter, so when she comes, Elena can return on their flying ship."
"Do you think she will really come?"
"I am sure of it. I also invited Matilda, but she won't return, not with all that happened to her."
"Mmm, I think she will. Her kids have arrived, so I think she would come and check on them!"
"I heard!" I shrugged, moaning a little that made her giggle, "Right on their first day, two of them trashed a bar because they got shitfaced immediately."
"They won't do it again~! Now, they are confined to bed just like their eldest brother."
"Was your hand in it?" I asked with a grin, but she shook her head with a wink.
"Nope! I just gave the order to break their legs. I won't allow three bastards to vandalize our city! We are renovating the bar and have paid for the damages, which will be deducted from what we are sending to Matilda for the steel."
"I bet they didn't expect the harsh punishment. Good work!"
"Yeah, they did not. Now, all three cannot stand, and their house is guarded by ten soldiers! They are watching them... Mmm... Twenty-four-seven, as you would say."
Through the autumn, trenches were dug into the ground, traps laid out as far as the eye could see, and multiple battlements built to funnel possible beasts to a narrow corridor where we could stand and fight them. We were prepared for a proper battle.
Was this necessary? Wouldn't it be better to be on the walls? Maybe. But if I want an army that can genuinely fight and survive, I need them to endure hell first. I still remember my very first deployment, straight out of boot camp, where I was transferred into a hellhole where I was replacing the previous mechanic who blew up with his tank.
Well, that was then, this was now, but still. The current circumstances reminded me of how it was before, and mingling with my soldiers boosted everyone's morale more than I expected. When I was not in my mech, I walked and talked with them, helped maintain our gear, shoveled snow, and checked the howitzers, getting dirty like any mechanic would. It was... like returning to a much simpler time. It helped me relax, however weird that sounds.
Yet, winter was winter because our first 'attack' came in the second week of continuous snowfall. It was the middle of the day when the sentries, up in their balloons, spotted something crawling through the Pass. Yes... crawling. Up in the Princess's cockpit, using the newly added Marker spell, I could look into the distance and pick out the outline of a... thing. I would want to say it wasn't scary, but I would be lying. It had eight thin legs surrounding a disc-shaped body. As for size, I put it somewhere around the size of a horse, so it wasn't enormous, but it was hairy... It gave me the creeps!
"Are you seeing this?" I asked, transmitting my voice to the cockpit of the Lion.
"Yeah..." Father answered after a moment of silence, "It looks horrid. I hate fuzzy bugs!"
"Same... What do you think? Should we shoot at it? It is in range of our howitzers."
"It is moving slowly, so it is probably a scout. I don't think we should engage, not yet."
"I agree. If we miss, they will know about our range." I hummed, handling the enemy as if they were just as intelligent as humans. That way, we wouldn't be surprised. We were keeping a watch on the thing in the distance, sometimes disappearing under the snow or behind the curves and jagged edges of the mountainside, advancing slowly and carefully.
We were on high alert after that encounter, but in the end, whatever it was, it didn't approach us, remaining five-ish kilometers from our position. But it did come close enough to let us take a better look at its weird disc-shaped body before scurrying away. The whole thing was a nightmare up close... Not enough that its stick-shaped legs were hairy, it had a massive mouth on its underbelly with multiple eyes on the side of its torso. Ugh... Of course, we get the nastiest-looking creature when I am at the frontlines!
Anyway, after its arrival, we were officially in the winter season, and we kept scanning the Pass every hour so it wouldn't sneak up on us by burrowing under the snow. For the next few days, it never returned, but on the fifth morning, there it was again. This time, four others came along with it, the same shape, same size, and the same kind of hair-raising look.
"What should we name them?" I asked, feeling disgusted, something unsavory welling up in my stomach.
"Spiders." Father answered me, not really in the mood to go far with it. I could tell he was just as creeped out as I was. We were watching them raise their bodies, stretching their long legs into the air like antennas, rubbing them together or swaying in the wind as if waving at us.
"Head crabs?" I asked, chuckling, knowing he wouldn't get it anyway.
"Crabs have those clickity-clanky things on them. These are spiders."
"You mean claws?" I laughed, receiving a snort from the radio as an answer.
"Whatever... They are leaving again!"
"Do you think it is because of the mechs?"
Most likely was his answer, and I agreed, even if not because of size but because of the monster core within our machines. My and Merlin's guess was that beasts could feel it and mistake us for their kind. Being the same kind of beast that we killed. I had no other explanation as to why they left again. As for proof? It arrived a week later, in the middle of the day... It came in the form of a much more massive but still disk-shaped monster. It was about 14 or 15 meters high, and to complete the nightmarish look, the smaller ones crawled on the big one's legs and back, hanging off from their 'mothership.'
"Let it walk closer." I opened a radio channel, speaking to our soldiers while I was marking the position for the howitzers. "When it gets into the marked zone... fire at will!"