De-Bugging Another World

VOL.4 Chapter 27, Hope returned.

Once all the hostages had been freed, it seemed the most skilled members of staff had been saved for last as sacrifices. Among them, they also had found the actual overseer chained to the walls along with his staff.

"Aelanna, what did the Queen tell you about the situation?" Kanrish asked once he, his wives, Aelanna and the overseer sat in the office where they had initially met with the imposter.

"It seems this guy had been missing since shortly after the encounters we had with their small faction in the Cardinal City. His father disavowed him over the transgressions and took his title and everything from him. Not much later, the man had turned up dead with a dagger in his back and much of the family's funds had been stolen. She already suspected he had been to blame for that. Similar things happened with the other major families that had youngsters who were part of that anti-orc alliance. Seeing they had not made a secret of their existence nor did individuals of their membership, most of them had lost their rank and fallen from grace over the incident with us.

We have permission to execute him ourselves and will be repaid for the trouble this caused us. She will round up any remaining anti-orc loyalists, strip them of their title and lands and have them publicly executed over staging an assassination on the Princess and the Dukedom of Swifteye." Aelanna replied, leaving the gnomish overseer pallid with what he had just heard and what he learnt of the group that had attacked them to take over his factory.

"I cannot believe this, to think that not only have we all been saved by a first rank adventurer, the very one whose songs tell of how he took down Algusdorth by himself, the fiend's daughter attacked my factory simply for revenge on her father's death and was slain in similar fashion, singlehandedly. And then to think each of the mercenaries that had stormed in back then had been made into a demon already... it's truly horrifying. And then what we all had to witness in that attic of the bunkhouse for months on end." The man spoke, his breath wheezing as he spoke.

"Oh, right... almost forgot. The factory will receive temporary staff to fill the loss of those who were sacrificed until new members can be hired, military personnel for security and a relief fund from the royal family. In addition, the Queen will personally pay for the rescue of the facility staff and elimination of the 'almost' Demonlord Jal'vannoth and her minions. As she told me, while we did save the staff and facility, the price that would be adequate for this deed would bankrupt the facility ten times over, if not more." Aelanna added and the gnomish man leapt up into his chair, bowing so deep, and fast, he slammed his head into the desk before him and sang his praise of Kanrish and his family and their Queen.

Although the Gnomish man had insisted upon yet another feast as thank for their rescue, Kanrish had to decline this one. They had just that day received the new sawblades they had ordered and had to leave for the road again.

Over the past week they had been guests of honor at the Torrine Metals Factory, but now they had to leave again.

In addition to the sawblades, Kanrish had placed a personal order for quality arrowheads that was finished within a fraction of the time it had taken the sawblades to be finished. All that remained for that order was to find a fletcher who could make the arrows for Ayame so she had a stockpile of ammunition.

But with their goodbyes said to the many blacksmiths and other staff they had befriended during their stay at the factory, Kanrish and his family had left the compound again and were on their way back to Thornshade to report on the progress that they had the sawblades and would soon return with the lumber they had gone to purchase in the first place, hopefully.

"Not to be rude, but I'm glad we're out of there, I was getting sick and tired of a 'feast to honor us' every single evening and the leftovers for both breakfast and lunch." Akane grumbled once they were well on their way for that day.