I can hear people laughing. Unconsciously I start to sigh, I cut off the sigh midway with pure willpower. I've been sighing a lot these days. They're not my problem, one way or another neither the Empire nor the Northern Kingdom can hold on much longer, but at least I won't be there when shit hits the fan.

I enter the biggest room in the old wooden building, which interior is unusually bright. There are at least sixty people singing, playing card games, and getting drunk. So no resources for a new sword, but there's plenty to go around for booze and candles. Who's surprised? Scanning the room I find the "mayor" and walk over to him. As I get closer he notices me, turns to look at me, and gives me a smirk. "Three trolls, nearly a dozen ice wolves, and eight goblins. And add another dozen wolves two kilometers from here. Where are the scouts? I would kindly ask you to castrate them right here, right now."

The room fills with roars of laughter. Some of them are rolling on the floor, some slamming the tables in their laughing fits. Cleaning a tear from under his eye the "mayor" starts to speak "I wouda belivd a halfa dozen ica wols, but gablins an tralls? Ahahahaha. Who da fak sold ya firegrass? I need som mahselv! Smokad ol ma shit a wek ago." I barely keep the disgust off my face. I take a sack from my belt and throw it on the table. It spills half its contents onto the table, troll eyeballs and goblin ears lay around the table. "I don't give a fuck, it's not my problem anymore. I'm going to rest for a few days, and then I'm going to travel to Emeral. Good night."

Half the room goes back to their drinking and gambling. The "mayor" squints at the eyeballs and ears, while I turn around and find my way to the barracks. Reaching a "practically" empty room filled with straw beds, a small smile finds its way onto my face. Finally, a bed, after weeks in the mountains even this half-rotten excuse of a bed looks comfortable.

...

I don't remember falling asleep. Waking to the local alarm call, aka the rooster mating call, fills me with a sudden desire to see how far I can put my arm into the rooster's asshole. All of the sudden a new, strange sounding noise, that a yak typically makes, totally kills any possibility of going back to bed. Getting up I look around and find half of the beds empty, most of the local shits probably fell asleep on the tables or the floor of the tavern. Straightening my clothes and checking equipment, I go outside to breathe a bit of fresh air. There was no need to hide anything of value, as I don't have anything worth stealing, I'm closer to a beggar than anyone else in this outpost. So why hide it in the first place?

Well everyone here isn't a soldier or hunter, there are plenty of "ex"-bandits. Whoever was in power didn't care enough to send people to manage this region, so they make the biggest local bandit the "mayor". The "mayor" collects taxes, and receives a budget, as whoever is in charge decided that it would be cheaper than any other option. Well it's not like fugitives becoming "official" is anything new, at least for those people who actually know the true history of the world.

I start to plan my next moves. It'll take two weeks to get to Emeral, the sixth largest city of the Northern Kingdom. I'm going to need to collect the debts owed to me, or at least as many as I can. I'm also going to need a decent sword, new clothes, and a map, the tricky part is getting everything on the last day. That piece of shit "mayor" can take anything he wants and no one can say a word against it. Quite a few have tried, they went missing or ended up dead, the hierarchy out here is very simple, the strong use fear to suppress the weak one, and it has to be constantly enforced.

The "mayor" has been looking to get at me for quite some time now. Is it his pride? Personal hate against me? I don't know, at least I don't remember taking anything of his, or creating trouble. But in most cases you don't need to cause problems, you just need to have something they want, or dislike the way you look.

I go to the butcher, and tell him about the wolves laying not to far from here. He knows me well, kind of a friend, I guess. Incidentally I provide him with more than forty-percent of his goods. Taking his horse with sledges, I travel to the location where the encounter with wolves occurred. During this season there is barely any light, so finding the wolves took some time. Their bodies lay under twenty centimeters of snow, if I didn't remember the location of the fight, their bodies would lay there till the snow melts. I pile the bodies of the sledge and travel back. Bringing the bodies of the wolves to finish the transaction, as agreed to beforehand, he takes the meat for a silver coin, and a friend of his would make some armour from the hides for me. The pelts would be taken as payment from the armour. I agreed.

Now, what's left? Sword, debts, and a map. The map part can be postponed till Emeral, and the sword and debt can be combined. I start walking around the outpost, looking for the little shits that owe me money, I know I can't get them all, and even the one I can will just beg and ask me to spare them because they're broke. Fucking cock suckers, they have money for booze but never anything else. But maybe I will be able to get a sword in place of money.

...

The next several days were spent searching for hiding idiots and prepping for everything for my departure, I didn't see the mayor much during that time, and he didn't search anything either. But goddamn, nights are fucking cold, and every day another idiot was found frozen to death because he got drunk and fell asleep outside.

...

Day of departure, I'm dressed in the filthy rags I came to the outpost in, and the broken sword still in my sheath, I sigh as I prepare for what is coming while I walk to the gates. The "mayor" and a dozen of his underlings are standing there waiting for me.

"So warrer, wha leavin sa erly? Ya contract still workin."

"It'll expire a few days before I get to Emeral."

"But see, ya still working for me."

"I never worked for you, I was assigned to this region. I have to be at the legion stronghold the moment the contract expires."

"A pity, ya wer in tha right place, togetha wit us. But ya never sho da respect ta me."

Piece of shit, I could bury you all alive right now if I had normal sword on me. I hold myself together as best I can.

"See, ya glarin at me like ama bad guy. I even gave ya a sword. Nice one too."

A grin appears on his face.

"Sho it ta me."

All of his underlings have their hands on their swords, and I can feel several arches in hiding, just

waiting for the signal. Slowly taking out what's left of the sword and show it to him.

"Ah mah god, look wha ya did ta it. I even gave ya the best one arund, a expansive one. But Imma good guy, I can't send ya off like dat. Ya kno what Imma do? I can get ya a new one, but, itsa expansive."

He stares into my eyes and breaks into another grin. Fucking retard it's "expensive" not

"expansive". He wants to get more money out of me for the fucking sword? Fucking racketeer.

"I kno ya collectn coin. Give everathin ta me, would be a pity if ya lost som on da way bak."

I can hear my teeth grinding against each other, but at the same time I can hear several bows being drawn. I slowly reach for my purse and stretch it out to him. One of the goons takes it and goes back to the grouo. The mayor grins.

"Been good knoing ya. Off ya go then. Hope we be seein ya again."

"Sword?"

"What sword? Ya got one alredy don't ya? We just came ta say goodby. Right guys?"

The goons start to nod and smirk at me. The mayor starts to laugh as he heads to the main hall. I hear the arches release their drawn bows. I walk out of the gates slowly in the direction of the south. Killing them even with the stump of a sword would be easy. But those archers have enchanted arrows, they cut through flesh like a hot knife through butter. I still don't understand how that magic shit works, I can use mana to strengthen my body's bones, and muscles. Using mana like this requires some basic understanding of chemistry and biology, but those arrows have the power of a catapult, where in the fuck does all that kinetic energy come from? Hear the "whisper of the wind" and the "roar of the fire", bullshit, how in the name of holy cock does that work? In the academy they told me that you can feel it with your core, but that's worth about a shit stain on the seat of the outhouse to someone who has no affinity like me. So I spent my time reading about engineering and physics, in the end it was useful, but still.

After getting to the point where the watch tower can't see me, I turn in the direction where the arranged sword and armour should be. It takes me roughly an hour to reach the designated place. As I circle around the "boulder" I find items missing and in its place, was shit, no goddamn package. They knew, they fucking knew. The butcher, or his friend, or maybe everyone knew. So my friendship was worth that much, I saved their lives several times, helped them, and defended them, and it still wasn't worth a penny in the ass.

[They will always be like that. Nothing will ever change.]

Dark thoughts passed through my mind. You know what,...fuck it. I wait for night to fall, and the blizzard which will provide me cover, and I start back.

...

The next morning greeted the denizens of the outpost in a way that no one expected. The heads of the outposts "management" were laying before the main hall. Those that entered the hall would tell horror stories of what they had seen. The endless amount of disfigured body parts, and the blood that stained every single room in red which would never really wash out. Ever since then the outpost was known as the [Red Hall Outpost].

...

Far ahead of me the skies are clearing, bringing a grin to my face. Looking down on the noisy yak, I try to calculate how long the animal will last. I don't have any food for it, so the moment it collapses I will have a bit of extra meat. It's fate was sealed the morning it woke me up. His colleague, the rooster, already waiting for him in my stomach.

A decent sword on my hip, purse full of silver, and armour made of wolf pelts. Looks like what comes around goes around. This should be enough to get the South Dungeon. But Legion first.

A new day shall come, and it looks like it will be a bit warmer than the last.