Chapter 82: Special conquest.

Chapter 82 - Special conquest."Why would you do this to me?!" The shorty under stress wasn't as silent as before, and Lee found the transformation hilarious. He wasn't showing it on his face, though.

He said, "How was I supposed to know you're a thief?"

They currently rushed through the closest tunnel that led to the surface. After realizing his companion carried a very special message, Dwafex immediately departed, pulling Lee along.

"I'm the real messenger! It was obvious you were hiding something so I had to check!" The shorty defended, "How could I have known it was the message to ..."

"... to Coulax?" Lee dropped the name again that forced cold sweat to run down Dwafex's back few moments ago.

Coulax was the only higher-up Lee knew – the guy in the purple hooded robe who held the speech in the fortress before the first conquest.

"Don't ... call the Head Caretaker by his name, are you crazy?" Dwafex said angrily, but at the same time almost whispering, "More importantly, you can't delay special packages!"

Seeing the lack of reaction on Lee's face, he continued, "We, real messengers, are different. We carry only oral messages. You are delivering an item and it's illegal to delay things like these! ... There! The exit! Go!"

Turns out the surface was surprisingly close. After rushing for thirty, maybe forty breaths Lee could literally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"How do I know which direction I'm supposed to go now?" Lee teased the shorty, pretending to be confused. Dwafex's reaction amused him to no end.

"Ask someone on the outside. That's it! Goodbye!" Dwafex said and ran back.



He cursed the moment he met Lee and if anyone ever asked, he would pretend he didn't know the guy. He didn't like special things. Special meant trouble.

Lee, on the other hand, slowly walked out, took a deep breath of the thin air he didn't like, and went over to the nearest clerk to ask for directions. The little underground adventure was over.

***

Even though he currently looked like a bum, Lee resisted the urge to steal better clothing or armor from the warehouses near the tunnel entrance. He was out of one mess and it didn't feel right to risk getting into another straight away.

After finally taking a refreshing nap between two warehouse buildings, he ran directly towards Ashland, on the way meeting quite a few travelers bringing goods in both directions.

Once again he could enjoy the incredible speed he could muster without being encumbered by weights or armor. He considered whether he should join another group, but since no one payed any attention to him, it wasn't necessary.

It became even less needed after he arrived to the only city in this world.

Ashland was bustling with activity, people of different races hanging out all over the place, and aimlessly wandering the streets. But Lee already expected such atmosphere.

Being a bunch that lived from raiding other civilizations, the scourge had nothing to do at home.

There were many who bartered with the things they looted and didn't register after a successful conquest. There were even more of those who wasted their lives roaming the streets or sitting at the places where the disgusting stew was prepared.

Lee had only one goal here – to find Victoria. Afterwards he would think of ways to deal with her and then leave when the so called God decided to raid a world inhabited by humans.

The plan was simple.

While there were endless things he could curse Lunax about, Lee had to praise the elemental lord for the idea of providing the free homogeneous food for everyone.



He wasn't clear yet whether the blobs were native to this place, but they were the key to allow all races to process the food that was made basically out of random organic matter.

Potato's claim that the product's side effect made everyone sterile was alarming, but at the same time comforting. Lee knew the spark would fix him on its own, but no one eyeing him or anyone else for unwanted sexual interaction was a good thing.

Another positive he noticed while wandering the streets of Ashland, was the lack of any physical confrontation. No matter how bored the people were, the loud arguments they had never escalated into brawls, to not speak of a murder.

Apparently the purple hoods that Dwafex called Caretakers actually took care of the troublemakers. Obviously the lack of alcohol or other intoxicating substances also was a positive in this regard.

The downside of not being able to get drunk was ninety nine people out of hundred living in constant, never ending boredom. With nothing better to do they conversed about the same nonsense over and over again, and got up from their buts either to get food or to pray to the God.

Lee wondered why Lunax kept them around since most of these so called treasure hunters unlikely went to hunt anything at all. Even if they would, imagining these weaklings going against a beast to get its spark was funny. Most of them couldn't lift an empty bucket, to not speak of holding a spear.

Some of the actual treasure hunters were amazingly fit, though. Lee noticed people doing strength exercises and even having friendly spars, but such enthusiasts were very few. But these were his primary source of information gathering.

He was absolutely certain that the haughty princess would never let go of her superiority, and even after she realized coming here was the wrong idea, and her group was in deep shit, she would keep herself in a good physical condition.

The last and only time Lee saw her here, she wore a full set of scourge armor, but it was impossible for her to never take off the helm. Someone surely had noticed her peculiar features, thus all Lee had to do was to continue to ask around.

Meeting strangers inevitably caused many harmless misunderstandings. Most people thought he was looking for a treasure hunter squad to join, but with how young and worn out he looked, no one took him seriously.

In addition, most recruitment usually was done after the conquest was announced thus Lee's efforts were dismissed before anyone actually listened to him.

After spending several futile days, Lee decided it was the time for a change. He stopped his unsuccessful inquiries and began to methodically gather pieces of clothing he could find. He intended to make a complete personal make-over.

Since no one wanted to talk to someone young, he was going to transform himself into an old person. But because of his physical characteristics as an old man he would still look weak, and the lack of beard was an unnecessary giveaway. Therefore he turned himself into an old woman.



Of course, having a wig with longer hair would've been helpful, but since Lee hadn't cut the hair after leaving Sunwell, it was relatively passable. It was already dirty enough before he buried himself next to the fortress wall, thus it was hard to tell whether it was gray or any other color. The same went for his face and hands – he did his best to make them so dirty no one could tell his age.

Lee wanted to find gloves or at least one to cover up the mark on the right palm, but didn't have much success in this regard. He didn't have pockets either, but as it turns out, pressing the hand to the thigh made it look like he was slightly limping, and luckily that served as an improvement for his disguise.

It was strange how the change in attire could transform the attitude of others.

Either it was the inherent respect for the elderly or maybe the local tradition, but from the moment Lee began to wander around as an old lady, no one allowed themselves to rudely blow him off.

There were even few who offered their spots in the line while waiting for their portion of stew, and one person invited him to spend the night in his shack.

Inquiries went also more efficiently.

Turns out few people had seen Victoria and her entourage, but didn't know her current location. The problem was – Ashland was too big to search in a short period, to not speak of doing it alone.

***

"A gathering conquest! Lunax is announcing a gathering conquest!" Twelve days after Lee arrived, big news spread through the city. Everyone, even the laziest bums, all of the sudden grew excited, but especially the treasure hunter squads.

Lee had taken part only in recruitment conquests, and could only guess what gathering meant, but these were good news. With actual treasure hunters converged in one spot, his job would become much easier.

The only question was whether he should look for the princess before the raid or after. And while finding her before the departure could turn out useless since she could mix with the crowd afterwards, there was a chance he might be able to find ways to deal with her while in the foreign world.

In addition, there was always the risk of her permanently remaining on the other side of the rift. Then he had to stay there as well.