Chapter 25

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The next day I didn't even sneeze.

No, the infection does not stick to me, the thick layer of fat prevents it. Larna-chan was right to say - I'll be long enough in the cold mountains! By the way, what should I get her? A hoof file or horn polish? It's not that she doesn't take care of herself, but a girl should get gifts.

"Boss?"

"What?"

I think it was the first time I fell asleep before Junior. And nothing, I woke up in one piece.

"Yesterday I bought what you said - axes and machetes, a dozen spears. What else do you need today?"

Judging by his shuffling, he had plans for tonight. Is he pulling Tomboy on a date again? What did Daddy say on such occasions? Oh, come on, he so young: "I'll call you if I need anything. Maybe I'll spend the night in another world, I don't know yet."

What kind of things can a dummy do? Will he be celebrating his skill up? He got his trading up to level two yesterday, so there's a reason for that. I've got two big challenges today. First, since yesterday could not, will have to go to the dragon's lair in the morning. You never know, maybe I'll get through and take what I need, no problem... Or maybe I'll be brainwashed until the evening on the subject of "Family Honor and how not to lose it".

And the second is to solve the issue with the creators' orders. Take the skills from them, and then go back to the setting. That's anxious somehow, will not cheat mages? Or I overestimate the importance of the order? Maybe to hire guards? And of what, the adventurers against the mages will stand? Or ask the Trade Guild for guarantees? But they would probably ask for a share of the guards.

Tomorrow I'll go to the umruns - should I take them all at once? Shall I take one of them out first? Yes, I suppose so. It's a long way. I'll take one out and then I'll begin to think how to take all of them. Perhaps I should really hire a convoy of adventurers?

Of course, it was worth making a plan, and it all went very wrong.

Bleep.

I had to look up what it was that called me. Another tab appeared in the Delivery app, with a single voicemail message without a return number. Something tightened in a knot in my belly, and I clicked "play".

Cloudy... I feel the change. The wind says I'm going to leave home soon. I would have left long ago but I have nowhere and no reason to go. I'm used to being here, waiting for something. It has come, this something. I know what it means, I remember those for whom it has come, and I want you to know that my only regret is that I could not grow a beautiful flower for you.

I poked my finger again, missed, swore, poked again, and now the tab slid to the side, and when I swore and swiped back, there was no record. Message delivered, order closed.

Well.

Well-well.

The wind, then. Well, there's a lot connected with it in Delivery, as I've managed to figure out. That is, the System tapped into what was said, it is unclear what it took in payment. The words of farewell were delivered to me... Screw you! Let her say it to my eyes, we'll see about that!

Bleep.

This message was sent via private message through the forum: Marius, we have a problem. Big demons are trying to break into the circle, small ones are attacking in groups. We don't waste dew, we need help!

Putting the phone down, I sighed. A train dilemma, huh? Dear System, your tentacle case?! One or a hundred-plus? The one who has been tormented for centuries or the one who still remembers how to be alive?

I put the phone in my pocket and started to pack. There was not much choice... Just ten minutes ago there was a great plan and everything is clear, no complications, just a lot of walking and talking. Everything is solvable! And now... whom to sacrifice? One might, of course, think "hey, nothing has happened yet, the problems have just begun!" Except I know where I work.

The bag, loaded with gaffes, axes, and machetes, became noticeably heavier. The cape is fine, the rings are charged... ah yes. I reached into my bag and pulled a scroll out of my pocket. I thought it would come in handy as a test to see if Umruns could learn, but it turned out to be a quest item. You know, like in the games, when you carry some gaunt splinter from the sandbox, and then it turns out that it's the one that opens the Dragon's treasury.

Skill Scroll - Spear, 3 Lv.

Contains the "spear" skill and the "Precision Strike" 3 Lv.

From the description, it allowed me to strike a critical blow every two minutes exactly where I was aiming. Activator... It's like an anime, damn it. All right, that'll do. I could use anything right now.

Study.

The scroll scattered instantly disappeared ashes, that's it.

It took me almost a minute to figure out how I'd changed. Then I took one of the staff out of my bag and tried it on. Well... ...mentally I know I couldn't do it before but it was strange to realize it, because... what's so hard about it?

I swung the staff in my hands and made a few quick lunges in different directions, then tried it on, but after estimating what the "critical damage" to the wall might be, I decided not to take any chances. It was a strange feeling, to realize that just now I, like a fool, was not able to do such elementary things. It's easy!

I spit on the economy and ordered a cab. There was no way I was going to get away with one pole, not even if the umruns supported me, because a demon was the last thing I wanted to do in close combat. I've seen what happens when they claw me, which means I have to go to my grandfather.

The cottage village was old, and academic, with high fences and large trees.

Poke-poke.

A branch creaked beneath me, and I clutched at the trunk with my hands while I looked around. So, two dogs on the porch, one in the grass, walking across the yard would kill me. They're going to start licking me. That would be all right, but they would whine and bark, and that's a shame. From here you can not see the first-floor window, put there an exit point is dangerous, there is little that hides in the depths, and the fourth dog is not observed.

After running through the sequence of actions in my head, I sighed and began to act.

Poke, poke - the exit is on the roof of the garage, the dogs jump up and wag their tails.

"Have a good day!" I said, activating imperceptibility.

Poke, poke, I'm in the house. Wow, what smells, it's clear right away that grandma came! Don't get distracted! Listen carefully.

"Who is there?"

A voice from the second floor! The way was open - I forgot about the teleporter and on my toes, slipped quietly past the library, peeked into my grandfather's office as I went, then jumped up with a quiet squeal... The big white dog poked his cold nose into my side, as usual, managing to hit the only place not covered by clothes. I waved my fist at him, to which "Faithful" majestically paid no attention.

"Marius, is it you?"

I'm not there!

Poke, poke... Here are the closets with the collection. Where is it? Yeah, here it is... I shoved the loot in my sinus and fluttered about. The grandfather had already managed to come down and judging by his footsteps was a few meters away!

"Marius Julius... Ugh, let me go! Ugh!"

I was saved by "Faithful". He got up on his hind legs and put his front ones on my grandfather's shoulders. I saw the white wagging tail, but the venerable ancestor did not have time to take exactly one step to see me and catch me red-handed. And while the dog was licking his ward's cheeks I had time to aim. Poke, poke, poke, poke, poke... It was only outside that I exhaled. Yes, I'm certainly a bastard and a creep, but I do not have time for another conversation about the fate of the world and the duties of posterity. I'll save everybody and then I'll give up. Oh, what's in store for me for ruining the collection! How about buying back some rarities in the magical world?

My thoughts were confused by the adrenaline, but I somehow figured out that the trail could start from here.

Deliveries app, forum, private messages... order conversion. Minute wait, confirmation rang and the text of the quest appeared: Walk barefoot on the side of the road.

With my sneakers in hand, I stood in the warm, sun-warm grass and took the first step toward trouble. Courageous and determined. After all, who doesn't want to be a hero!

Well, lots of people do, but I certainly don't want to. My dad says that I'm just overeager. Our generation has too many choices. It's frightening, and that's why we are drawn to cling to one thing and pretend that this is exactly what we wanted. Everything was different with them - 10 miles to school in the cold without flannel boots and a computer on paper charts... Yes, yes, it was a hard childhood, cell phones with buttons, they were grasping at everything at once, just to get something. Maybe that's why they got it.

And I don't want to. Why do I keep getting thrown into some kind of trouble? Is it just the title of "messenger"?

Turn at the black rock between the two moons.

The more I adventure, the more difficult my quests become. So I have to think about how to do everything quietly, calmly, and without violating the laws of nature.

Although... "can't tame these lions inside".

No, I'd rather do everything normally and as an adult. Especially since it's not worth it to become famous in Delivery. I've heard the story about the demons from that game being incarnate... But if someone is created, their existence has a purpose, a beginning, and an end. Then demons are aimlessness and the resulting bad habits. I wonder if it is possible to give a demon a purpose for existence and thereby reborn it into something useful.

Some thought scratched at the edge of my memory... something to do with the umruns... "He turned out to be decent, he didn't bring anything, so he ran out," the Inspector told me, once upon a time, a week ago. So the unreal is the road to immortality if you take something from it. What can be taken from the chaos of disembodied? I don't know. No time to think, I have to hurry.

I went out into the wasteland, not even paying attention to the heat. Yesterday the cold, today the heat - it's all bullshit, just the job. A familiar circle of menhirs, a small figure standing on one of them, waving. Noticed? Warning?

I looked around - indeed, there were small flocks of small, knee-high creatures all around. The scanner didn't detect it. Far away, but nothing good. You don't have to be huge and strong to attack in a pack and tear apart.

The sentry waved her handkerchief and shouted something, and when she realized I could see her, she started waving somewhere in the direction. There didn't seem to be any time - I sped up sharply, wasting teleport charges. Poke, poke, poke, poke... The umruns fussed over one menhir that was suspiciously tilted and seemed to be trying to put it back up. A hundred paces away, three big, horse-sized - brrr! - the size of demons. Something so absurd, wiry and muscular at the same time, gray and fuming.

"Marius! Over here!"

In two jumps I was in the crowd, immediately surrounded. They were like living people, yelling and demanding something, interrupting me, and waving their arms. After walking through the crowd, I found myself standing next to the Professor.

"What have we got wrong?"

"They got two of us! They attacked at dawn, while we fought off the petty crooks, the three of them fell the stone and entered the circle. They are not comfortable here so far, quickly retreated. But I fear they may attack again."

It's bad. Demons are obviously intelligent enough for such a plan. Maybe not as a human, but they were familiar with concepts like "deceptive maneuvering". Okay, now I know why I was whining all the way here. They wouldn't let us out without a fight, and there's no one else to fight except me. The Urmruns are not, in any way, a unit, nor are they special forces, but ordinary civilians. To meet a bear in the woods, even if you have a knife, what is the prognosis? And here, even if he fights back, there is no ambulance, no reliable shelter. Maybe the unreal will start to change somehow, but when will it happen? We will be eaten sooner.

I threw off my bag, took out the spear, and checked my equipment. Teleport ring - a hundred and fifty charges. Glove - charged. Spear - sharp.

"Marius, perhaps it makes sense to call someone for help?"

Does it make sense? Judging by the two dozen packs of little demons, we'd be eaten sooner. So there's no point. Delivery sent me here for a reason, didn't it? There aren't enough heroes around to send them to help everyone in need.

And without answering, I set the portal, and then I stepped toward the demons.

They jumped up excitedly and rushed to the food. To me, in other words.

It cannot be confused with a living animal even at night - there are no cheeks, only fangs, there are some gaps in the paws, there is skin in some places, and bare muscles in others. Fangs and claws, which is good, because their presence suggests some habitual tactics. And any habit can be taken advantage of.

Okay, I need them to chase me on the run.

Poke-poke.

One of the demons started to accelerate, clearly intent on knocking me down but he stepped out of the teleport behind the slower one and knocked him off his feet. A moment's confusion, followed by a growl, and all three of them lunged for me at once.

Poke-poke.

I turned - the demons were picking up speed. Twenty paces away, rocks, aiming more accurately... poke, poke, poke...

Three hard blows, I'd smile, but somehow I don't have the breath. Adjust, poke, go behind the back of a demon stunned by the collision:

"A precision strike!"

The tip of the spear entered the back of the creature's head, breaking the bone.

My greatest fear was that the demon would bleed. That it would squeal and all that stuff that happens in real life. But the misty flesh only let out a cloud of smoke and slimy sludge where the spear had struck, and the demon hissed, recoiling. The blow that tore off a third of its head did not stop the demon, but it started moving unsteadily. And the wound seemed to be starting to heal.

Poke-poke.

The creatures gathered into a single fist and slowly retreated. They didn't look puzzled, and they moved more cautiously. So, to summarize, I can't kill them. I can ask my colleagues in the forum, but one spear and teleport are not enough. Yes, once every two minutes I can catch them and cause increased damage... So what? I can already see that the smaller ones have begun to flock to the trio of big ones, encircling them in a protective ring. A dozen bites to the legs would be enough to render me incapacitated. There are a hundred umruns, but they are not Spanish Tertia, mere civilians with sticks.

"Well? Can you handle it?"

The umrun Alex was standing next to me, clutching his machete. The others crowded in behind him, looking at me with a casual, impassioned eye.

"I can pass by, but I can take you out... It's a lot of demons, and I'm not an Archcourier after all."

"I see," he wasn't happy, but he didn't make a scene. "Why are you shining?"

I brushed him off:

Remaining radiation from an artifact.

"Oh, I see... I just thought it was your job requirement."

Umruns smiled. Joker, damn...

"Okay, it's time for the last chance. Did you collect the water?"

The water of life, as it turned out, was almost half a liter. Isn't that why they are so quiet, because they didn't keep anything for themselves?

Taking the bottle, I once again checked where the demons were sitting, noting with displeasure that the trifle was indeed gathering in a guard circle.

"Everybody turn away! Don't even look in my direction!"

The thing I had robbed the venerable ancestor of was very much in my hand. Indeed, with the heat all around, my brain melting, and a bottle of moisture in my hand, how could a mug be out of place? It was a soldier's, aluminum, with "42y Tere" scratched on the side, and the rest was indecipherable.

I swallowed my saliva, made sure no one was peeking, closed my eyes, exhaled, and then poured the mug of water of life to the brim and placed it on the stone and turned away.

"Sol... Ahem. Soldier, would you drink some cold water?"

Silence.

And then the mug creaked with the bottom on the stone, someone sipped noisily: "Thanks a lot, bro... It's so hot my brain is melting."

Wow, it worked.

"Hey, leave some to the others!"

"Yeah, I know, don't worry."

It was a little scary to look around. The silence of the baking poured out gradually as the mug was passed from hand to hand.

"Tereshchenko, report losses!"

"Comrade Lieutenant, everyone seems to be here."

"What kind of answer is that - 'seems'?! Teach you, teach you... Give Panin a drink, he's already transparent from the heat."

"I'm fine, I'm a little tired."

I turned around.

The search party, led by my grandfather, found the place of the last battle of the hastily formed unit according to old documents. And grandfather had been excavating there for two years. Apparently, the mug belonged to this young kid, even younger than me. "Tere" must have been the first letters of his surname, he just didn't have time to scratch out the rest back then. So, what should I tell them now?

Professor, not surprisingly, got his bearings before I did:

"Comrades! I am a military doctor of the first rank of the reserve, we are stuck with a group of evacuees, please help! If you have wounded, we can take care of them."

"We'll help you, Comrade Military Doctor, just let us figure it out..."

I glanced at the mug handed around the circle by the soldiers in their dusty uniforms. They drank carefully, half a sip at a time, but they had enough. Some of them were hardly aware of the ghostly hands they were dragging. That's all right, they had enough water of life for a day... and then on to the next world. Much more interesting was that together with the shadows of the fallen horses, carts, and a machine gun lowered to the dry ground were pouring with colors.

Grandpa would kill me, it was his favorite mug in the collection. Well, that was begging for it, wasn't it? Not everybody's lucky enough to be in the circle. And the undead must be wandering around here somewhere. And how do you summon them, if not by making offerings to the shadows?

Damn, I managed to hit my back again, it hurts like hell. And there's so much to do.

A shot bangs out.

"Ivashov?!"

"Comrade Lieutenant, the wolves have grown impudent! I scared them off. I don't like wolves, ever since I was a kid."

In the steppe, we could see the swiftly retreating streaks of mist. The demons obviously didn't like the firearms. I'm not sure about that, but the cannon has finally shown itself, and you can catch a dragon that isn't very strong with it, either.

The next hours were sort of as bad as the fight with the demons. First, his stubbornness had come back to life along with the non-young lieutenant. He was even a little distrustful of the "Comrade Military Doctor of the First Rank", and he looked at the glowing me as a "cleric abomination" and demanded to "stop breaking the light camouflage". I couldn't because even after removing the glove I did not stop glowing.

Then he didn't want to believe for a long time that he couldn't get to his destination from here. I had to hint for a long time that there was no sun here, but there was plenty of light and heat. However, he quickly put the Umruns to work, put some on carts, and the rest went along with the soldiers.

So we walked back up the trail, stretching into an ugly long caravan. Miraculously, we didn't meet anyone dangerous, and a dozen demons were dealt with faster than I realized. The soldiers' shadows considered their rifles a reliable weapon against all manner of evil, and so it worked.

When we arrived at the gate of the city I knew, I finally took off my glove, glowed a little more, and then turned it off.

The new problems started here: first, they wouldn't let the whole crowd into the city, then they demanded a visitor's fee of unimaginable size... Mira came out of nowhere, waving papers and saying that it was her squad and her employer was waiting. I just sat back and watched as everything is done without me for some reason. The travel documents were written out, lists were compiled, and the lieutenant was persuaded - it's a miracle of miracles. Came running some monks, sprinkled holy water, prayed, took a fee, and promised that for at least another week, no one will not disappear And if we find a place with the appropriate magic, then we can live. Larna, who turned out to be a paladin of some neutral-good god, took it upon herself to beat a blessing out of her divine patron for everyone.

And I came to my senses and thought.

The girl in the circle of stones, feeling the end approaching. What should I do? Ask the children of the world to clap their hands so she doesn't die? That only works in fairy tales; in life, you have to do everything yourself. I need to get to the circle without the trail. How? What do I have for that? The system doesn't give a trail, I've already tried, how to talk to the wind I don't know. I could set a hunter on it, follow it, and when it comes to the circle, shoot it. Not a good plan. It would be a backup.

What else - is it safe to ask about her on the forum? There are quite a lot of people willing to get a flower; I don't believe that all my colleagues are exceptionally decent people or anything else. Skills? Buy something to track? Granted. The time is toward evening... Maybe one of the demons can guide me? I'll pay later, I got to do what I can first...

Bleep.

The voice message was again without the sender's name.

I clenched my fists and sighed. I didn't want that to be her last word.

"Cloudy... I'm so glad! The Old One has come! Now I have two whole friends again! He's figured out a way for us to go into the land where everything is green! I'll be able to grow new trees, they're already calling me. Cloudy, for some reason Old isn't happy that I thought of you. Don't be offended, okay? I don't want you to kill each other. But I remember about the flower! It's going to be very, very pretty!"

What?

What the...

Bleep.

This time the message was a text message:

You're not getting another slave, you fat freak.

I covered my face with my hand and tried to hold back a chuckle, then chuckled.

That was a shame - I'm not a fat freak at all! I'm handsome!

But very, very stupid.

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