I reincarnated in game

21 Retribution

Long after Hugh and Judi had retired for the night, Bob remained in the tavern drinking the local ale, swirling it around in his tankard.  Ever since his encounter with them in Halea, he was obsessed with how he would get his retribution against a mere Crystal of mixed race, and a woman, who had beaten him and his men, exposing him and his men as weak and easily deceived.  They had made him appear a fool in front of the town guards and worse yet, in front of the person who had employed him.  He had to maintain his reputation as a man in charge; someone to be feared.  Without fear, his standing in the community would suffer and his “business” would take a severe downturn.

The other thing that irked him was that Judi hadn’t seemed to be impressed by his charms; she didn’t seem to be affected by his roguish good looks like the other females in his acquaintance.  “She should be throwing herself at me; grateful for my attention.  After I kill that half Crystal, I’ll take Judi as my spoil of war,” he promised himself.  Although he would never admit it, not even to himself, he just couldn’t get Judi’s charms out of mind. 

After that Matthew had given Bob the payment for his contract, Bob had already made up his mind that his dealings with Hugh and Judi were not yet done.  He had encountered one of his men just inside the alley and gave him instructions to follow the pair to find out where they were going.  He told the man not to engage them in any way … they were his, and his alone for the retribution he was planning.  “Don’t lose them.  Don’t be seen by them.  Don’t mess this up or I will have to kill you.  I want you to bring me your report as soon as possible, otherwise, there will be consequences.” 

The underling took off in haste, sticking close to the walls of the buildings along the street; using the townspeople as a cover so as not to be detected.   He saw that they were with the dwarves and appeared to be engaged in friendly banter with them; not paying him any attention.  He risked moving in a little closer so he could listen to the conversation and happened to overhear Matthew’s invitation to Hugh and Judi to stay with them at the inn for a few days.  After hearing that the two had accepted the invitation, he tailed them to the hostelry and waited a bit to ensure they didn’t come back out … he didn’t want to mess up on this assignment because he knew Bob was not a man of idle threats. 

When the report came back that Matthew had invited the pair to stay with them at the Crystal Inn, Bob set up a surveillance team; he would need to keep close tabs on them … his whole plan hinged on knowing where they were and what they were doing.  When he learned that Hugh and Judi had been seen in town picking up supplies for what appeared to be a road trip, Bob took it that they were about to make a move.  He approached the owner of the inn with a proposition.  “Hey. You have two guests here at the inn, a Crystal and a woman, staying with a dwarf and his son.  I want information on them.”

The innkeeper replied, “Sir, this is a private establishment.  I cannot freely give out information about our guests.”  He had heard about Bob and his reputation as a tyrant and a bully; the last thing he wanted was to get tangled up with the likes of him.

“Free?  I wasn’t asking you to give it to me for free; I am willing to pay for it.  In fact, just to provide a little incentive, here is a gold coin for you.  If you come up with some good information, there will be a few more in it for you,” said Bob, sliding the gold coin across the counter.

The owner wasn’t about to refuse the gold which was freely offered, so quickly reached out and retrieved the coin before any prying eyes could witness the transfer.  “OK.  If I learn anything, how do I get in touch with you?”

“I will have one of my men hanging around in the lobby.  His name is Matias.  As soon as you learn anything, simply tell him that you need to see me,” replied Bob as he turned to leave.

Much later, that very night, Bob received word from Matias that he was wanted at the inn.  He wasted no time; he was anxious to learn what the innkeeper had to tell him.  “So, what do you have for me?” Bob asked eagerly.

“The two you are interested in will be leaving for Riah first thing in the morning,” the owner whispered.

“Thanks,” said Bob, as he turned to leave. 

“Humm, isn’t there a little matter of business we have to conclude?” asked the innkeeper.

“Oh, yeah … I will be back to take care of that right after I check out to see if the information you gave is good,” said Bob, then added, “maybe” under his breath as he disappeared out the door and into the night.  

At first light, Bob held a meeting with his men to lay out his plans to retaliate; his men were also anxious to get even with the guy that had made them look so weak and foolish.  Immediately following the assembly, Bob split his forces.  The majority were given an assignment in the city.  A half dozen of his most trusted accomplices were to accompany him; he chose from the ones who had stayed to fight, rather than flee the scene when they had encountered Hugh and his distraction device.  These six would be the core of his team in Riah.  He was confident that he could hire extra muscle from the local talent when he reached the small town.

Bob needed transportation for him and his men and he needed it now.  Fortunately, he had already scouted out where he could acquire what he needed.  One of the farmers in the area had a steam wagon that he rarely secured in his outbuildings … easy pickings for someone with Bob’s talents.  Using the wagon would cut four days off their journey to Riah, giving him ample time to assemble a larger force to execute his plans.

Before Bob left Halea, he circled back to his place for the contents of a special container which he knew would be a game changer in the upcoming confrontation. 

Bob got up from the table where he had been drinking; he retired upstairs to the room he had rented when he arrived four days ago.  He had been correct in his assumption that Hugh and Judi would pick this tavern because it was the closest inn to the town gates; he knew they would be tired and exhausted after five days on the road.  He locked the door, and then crossed the room to the footlocker at the end of the bed.  After opening the lid, he retrieved a small, brown leather pouch.  He loosened the drawstring and looked in at the fist-sized, polished ball which he had removed from one of the containers back at his place.  A subtle swirling of black liquid could be seen through its translucent surface.  

The container which had held this ball had been part of a set of three which he had acquired back on Third Level Land.  He had heard rumours that they existed; that they used very powerful magic, and were extremely rare.  He had spent months trying to get close to the person who was said to own this prize.  As well, it took him a while to determine how to circumvent the security of the vault they were said to be in.  He smiled to himself at the memory of how he had bribed the guards on duty and managed to sneak in and out without detection … at least so he thought.  Obviously, something had gone wrong after the fact because a few days later, he was arrested and exiled to the fourth level … they may have got him, but he had been able to bribe the arresting guard to allow him to stop at his place for some things before he was taken to the transport ship … those containers were some of the property he had brought with him.  

Now, looking into his pouch, he said to himself, “It will be much different, this time!”