Chapter 93: Truth (1/2)
The lumber region was on the south side of the river, in the eastern parts of the delta, furthest from the city. Jason had long been refining his long-distance running style that employed the weight-reducing power of his cloak. It was really more like a series of floating, horizontal hops over whatever surface he was crossing, be it land or water.
He’d been through enough of the delta that he had most of it mapped out and he could save time by taking direct routes instead of following the embankment roads. He could walk on water and teleport past obstacles, so while he might not match the speed of airboat travel, his straight-line navigation outpaced an ordinary mount. It required occasional replenishment from mana and stamina potions, but Jory’s low-cost options were easily worth it. Their moderate effects might not have the kick required for intense combat, but they were perfect for Jason’s travel needs.
The days were growing shorter as summer moved into autumn, and the sun had just set as Jason arrived in the town of Leust. It was one of the largest and richest towns in the delta, with paved roads and stone instead of mud-brick for the buildings. Mostly it was the cheaper, yellow desert stone, but there were green stone buildings as well.
The interior coolness produced by the water affinity of green stone was appreciated by everyone who could afford it. In the muggy heat of the delta, it was often the difference between a good night’s rest and a sweaty, sleepless night. For that reason, Jason selected a large, green stone inn to stay the night. Pausing outside the door, Jason stopped to put on his game face.
His posture shifted and tightened, face and shoulders both scrunched up in annoyance. He threw open the door and marched inside, face full of aggravation. Striding across the room, he parked himself angrily on a barstool.
“Drink,” he demanded of the barman. “Best you have, and same for food, after.”
The barman reached for a bottle of amber spirits behind the bar.
“Not that bitter crap,” Jason said. “Do you have any Norwich Blue?”
“Uh, yes sir, we use it to make blue juice-jumpers.”
“Blue juice jumpers?”
“It’s a mixed drink, sir, but…
The barman leaned in close.
“…usually we serve to our female patrons.”
“If someone has a problem with what I’m drinking then I’ll be happy to clean them off my sword.”
Jason was in full adventuring gear, weapons at his hip and bandolier of throwing darts on his torso. He turned and took in the busy common room at a glance, no one willing to meet his gaze.
”That's what I thought,” he said, turning back to the bar.
“If I may ask, sir,” the barman said as he made the drink, “are you an adventurer?”
“That’s what the badge says,” Jason grumbled. “Some bloody adventure they’ve sent me on, though. Do you know how many people they sent out before me after this imaginary frigging monster? Eight! I’m the ninth, and I’ll be the last, one way or another. You can believe that. If this monster isn’t out here this time, I’ll personally see to it that the prick sending out these notices gets black marked. A fergax that doesn’t kill anyone or break anything? What a load of crap.”
“That would be the Lindover Lumber Mill you’ll be heading out to, then?” The barman asked.
“Probably,” Jason said. “They gave me a map; I don’t care what the place is bloody-well called.”
Jason had trouble grumbling through what turned out to be a delicious drink and a quite excellent dinner, but he did it anyway, resisting his normal urge to seek out the recipe. He retired angrily to his room, performing a simple ritual to shield himself from surveillance magic before dropping the act.
The next morning he left the inn, as irritably as he arrived and set out for the lumber mills. The lumber region was more solid ground than marsh, like most of the delta, but not dry and hard or dead and empty like the desert. It was like walking through a forestry reserve, with straight, earthen roads passing between trees lined up in neat rows. Sometimes it was akin to a natural, if neatly-arranged forest. Other times he was walking past a sea of saplings or the devastation of a recently deforested field. Wagons went past on a regular basis, wheeling loads of lumber to Leust.
Jason passed several large, wooden archways with signage declaring the name of the lumber mill the road behind them led to. When he reached the one labelled Lindover, he walked through it. He followed the road through the trees to a large lumber mill, but it was still and devoid of people. Jason kept going past the mill and up to a sizeable farmhouse.
Knocking on the door, he was met by the most lumberjack-looking man Jason had ever seen and they made introductions. Kyle Lindover was a leonid even larger than Gary, with a red plaid shirt, tough worker’s pants and huge, thick boots. He looked like he could knock down trees by punching them.
”If I was a tree and saw you coming my way,” Jason said, ”I think I'd just surrender. Do you like pressing wildflowers?”
“No,” Kyle said. “Why do you ask?”
“Just something I heard about lumberjacks,” Jason said.
Kyle showed Jason around. Kyle had shut down the mill after the repeated fergax sightings, not wanting his workers to get hurt. His business was lucrative enough to sustain the downtime for a while, but his reserves were falling short and most of his workers had taken up with other operations, having their own families to feed.
”My wife and kids are staying with her parents in Greenstone,” Kyle said. ”I've been maintaining things here, but every time I look at starting back up, the monster appears again. I keep getting adventurers out here, but they don't find anything. I'm afraid I'm going to be black-listed.”
“We’ll have to see what we can do about that. I’d like to start by seeing all the places the monster was spotted.”
Kyle did exactly as asked, taking Jason all around the property. There was the lumber mill, the farmhouse, and a dormitory for the people working the mill. There was also a small farm, producing food for Kyle, his family and the workers. Kyle was doing his best to keep everything in order, but he was clearly getting overwhelmed.
Jason said he wanted to look around for himself, leaving Kyle to go back to the farmhouse. Jason made his way around the property until his map ability had fully unveiled everything. Afterwards, he sat down with Kyle at the farmhouse, enjoying some fruit punch Kyle made while Jason was roaming about.
“This is really good,” Jason said. “Can I get the recipe?”
Looking over his map, Jason marked out the areas the fergax had been spotted. He could just tap a finger to the map and set a marker, or drag his finger to mark a whole zone. Kyle watched curiously as, from his perspective, Jason was waggling his finger in empty air.
“Invisible magic map,” Jason told him, not looking up.
“I figured it was something of the like,” Kyle said.
Looking at the map, the general area the monster was coming from was quite clear. Jason marked out a grid pattern to search, then left the farmhouse to get to work. He took out the watering can Jory lent him, complete with extra-dimensional water storage, and started sprinkling it over the area marked on his map. Kyle looked on with curiosity.
“What exactly are you doing?” Kyle asked.
“Looking for salt,” Jason said. He kept moving from spot to spot, sprinkling little bits of water as he went.
“Salt?” Kyle asked.
”That's right,” Jason said. ”When you use an essence ability to summon a monster, the first step is to make a summoning circle. It isn't complicated, but you do need to use the right material. I have some friends who use obsidian dust and iron filings, but exotic materials like that are generally for the fancy summons. Most people just need a circle of good-old salt, including people who summon a fergax. I'm betting the summoner just kicked it into the dirt, after, rather than collect it up.”
“You think someone is summoning the monster?”
“I do,” Jason said.
“You think someone is trying to drive me off my land?”
“I do,” Jason said.
Kyle hung his head.
“Why us?” he wondered aloud.
“You’re independent,” Jason said. “You don’t have a backer in Greenstone to push back with.”
“How am I meant to prove what’s going on?”
“You’re not,” Jason said. “I am. Adventure Society, at your service.”
“I’ve had the Adventure Society out here before,” Kyle said. “How are you going to prove any of what you’re talking about? We don’t even know who’s behind it.”