Ruler Light Online five

by Larcombe, Tom

  “I'm not putting Becky in charge of a settlement,” Eddie said. “There would end up being more animals than people in it.”

  Charles chuckled.

  “True, but that's not who I was talking about. Who else do you know like that? That might want to get out of the area because their family has made a bad name for themselves here?”

  Eddie stopped cold.

  “Ingolf? I thought he was perfectly happy here, doing what he was doing.”

  “He was. Until Arvid started causing trouble again. Now he feels like he can't show his face in the area. I went out to talk to Paul a couple of days back, checking what materials he'd need for the initial builds for the settlement. He was talking to Ingolf when I got there since Ingolf was trying to quit the sawmill so he could just disappear.”

  “Hm, if he's interested, I bet he knows his stuff,” Eddie said. “I wonder if that would be far enough away for him to be more comfortable again.”

  “Well, in case you hadn't decided yet, I asked him to wait until you talked to him before leaving. So, there's an option if you want it.”

  “I will, and it's a good idea, so thank you.”

  “Were you heading out with us or just going to come along after things are built?” Charles asked.

  “I hadn't decided, but it's probably going to have to wait until later. I've had some problems with my own construction efforts recently.”

  “I heard something about that, like you were abusing your workers? Kicked one in the crotch or something?”

  Eddie groaned.

  “No, the guy was trying to slow roll the castle construction to collect extra coins, then he threatened to beat and rob me,” Eddie said. “He tried to grab me and I just kicked out, instinctively.”

  Charles chuckled.

  “Well, from what I heard you never have to worry about his family holding a grudge, because he won't be able to have one any more.”

  Eddie groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

  Eddie felt a pat on his back and then heard Charles chuckle as he moved away.

  “I'm never going to live this down, am I?” he asked.

  “Live what down?” Jern asked. “Ending a fight before it began? Nothing to live down at all.”

  Karl looked over at Eddie, then reached down to cup his groin and made a mock pained face. Eddie flipped him off.

  “Yeah, well, at least if I have to do it again it'll be even more effective,” Eddie said. “After all, that one kick gave me the option to learn unarmed combat, which I took.”

  Eddie drained his glass then stood.

  “I'm going to bed, because I don't want to know what story the next guy will have heard.”

  ~ ~ ~

  In the morning there was a message waiting for Eddie when he went down to the common room.

  Well, she certainly is all over fast justice. If only trials in the real world happened this quickly, Eddie thought after reading the note that Bodil had sent saying the trials would occur today in late morning.

  He gathered up the tray for Tiana and himself, then went up to the room.

  “So was all that why one of my acolytes was called away yesterday?” Tiana asked, after her first cup of coffee.

  “Yes, probably. Someone said they'd get one of the acolytes to look at the guy. Really, I never even considered my strength or level, just reacted.”

  She nodded.

  “I get that, some instincts carry over into the game and the survival instinct is definitely one of those.”

  “Anyhow, Bodil is putting them on trial this morning and wants me there, probably as a witness or as the accuser. I just don't know what punishment to ask for. Is it worth banishing them like we did Arvid, for one stupid scheme?”

  “They did cost you days worth of progress on the castle,” Tiana said.

  “But they actually do have the masonry skill if what I overheard them talking about was true. It just seems like a waste since I know that's harder to train than carpentry.”

  “Look at the bright side. Even if Bodil is getting more friendly, I'm pretty sure she won't let you dictate the punishments. That's her job.”

  Eddie sighed.

  “True, and I shouldn't even ask since she could see it as me undercutting her. So I'll just go be a good witness, or victim, or whatever it is she wants me there as.”

  “Now you're getting it,” Tiana said. “You can walk me down to the temple in a few minutes, then go over to the town hall.”

  “I need to get some requests to Bjorn first though, isn't he heading out again soon?”

  “I don't know his schedule, but he has been here for a few days already, so probably?”

  “Okay then, let me find him, then I'll walk you down.”

  After dropping Tiana and Lucky off at the temple grounds, Eddie went to the town hall. He waited for almost an hour before the trials started, but once they did they moved quickly.

  Faced with a Justiciar, all the men but Olaf immediately confessed to what had been going on. Olaf had wanted to make a stonemason's guild, but was outraged to find non-guild masons working on the castle when they'd arrived.

  Seeing the loose way they ran things, he got them hired on through Griff and a day later started acting as though Griff had asked him to pass on orders. Since Olaf actually was a competent mason, he was believed and slowly the masons Olaf didn't want in the guild were sent to the quarry to mine and cut stone.

  By the time Eddie found them, the only two not in on the original plan remaining were the two that Olaf had determined had the highest masonry skills and the lowest backbones.

  I guess Olaf wasn't too good a judge of character then if Karl was right and those two were willing to back me up if it came to a fight, Eddie thought.

  In the end, Bodil came up with a far more fitting punishment than Eddie ever would have. She set the four would be guild masons a task, and enforced it with a Geas. They were to build a chest high wall around the Town hall. Made of finished stone with mortar, they were to mine the stone themselves, create the mortar themselves, supply all the tools, and do all the building.

  They would be paid a single gold, to be split between them, and they could take no other paying projects until they finished the wall. Once they had, they would have the choice of staying in the Meadowlands or leaving, but if they left they were never to return. If they stayed, they had to be aware that there was already one strike against them and future problems would be punished harshly.

  All but Olaf agreed that the punishment was just and submitted to it. Olaf did not, and the punishment was forcibly administered to him, with the caveat that he could not stay in the Meadowlands once he was done, he'd have to leave, but was unable to do so until the wall was completed.

  “I'm not sure about the punishment,” Eddie said. “It seems extreme, on Olaf's part, and light on the part of the others.”

  “Ah, but this way they need to work to their fullest,” Bodil said. “The gold will provide them food and lodging for several days, but no luxuries. If they attempt to 'slow roll' their work, as you put it, then the gold will run out before they're done. If they work as hard and fast as they can, they may even have a little left over. Olaf will need to work the hardest in order to have any coins to finance his departure from the Meadowlands.”

  “Oh,” Eddie said.

  He hadn't looked at it that way at all, but now that Bodil had explained he saw what she'd done. There was definitely a restitution portion there, but there was also a learning portion to the punishment.

  It isn't exactly rehabilitation, but it is an object lesson at the very least, Eddie thought. I think I can live with that, but I am so glad I didn't choose to try to administer justice here myself.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter Sixteen

  Venus had gone ahead and set up the world as requested, sparing Aaron the drudgery of doing so himself. With the new system completely built, Venus installed, and her having worked out the requested zones, Aaron sent an email to
Greenshaw to tell him that his request was ready. Normally Greenshaw's secretary would print out a hard copy and deliver it to him, Aaron knew that, but he didn't know how it would work with Greenshaw out of the equation. As a result he was astounded, and slightly unnerved, when he received a reply within half an hour.

  What the hell, whatever this server is for is so important that Greenshaw being out of the way doesn't matter in the slightest? Hell, Greenshaw being out of the loop probably meant it was handled even faster, Aaron thought.

  The reply told him to take the new setup down to sub-level five, room 29-A. Aaron had vaguely known that there were several sub-levels. That was why the company had purchased an additional exterior lot and converted it to a parking garage. The garage that was attached to the building had been put to other uses, but he'd had no idea that there were at least five of the sub-levels since the attached garage was only three levels itself.

  Just how big is the building anyhow? We've got twenty-five floors aboveground, how many are there below? he wondered.

  Deciding that trying to figure the answer out would probably be a good way to get himself into trouble, he simply followed the directions he'd been given, going to a specific elevator. The elevator had a guard who checked Aaron's badge before allowing him in. There were no controls inside of the elevator, but he'd seen the control panel for it out in the hall with the guard, so he simply had to trust that the guard was doing his job correctly.

  It was a large elevator, probably freight sized he decided since he and the flatbed the equipment rode on took up less than a fourth of the area. The doors slid open after a brief bit of movement on the elevator's part and Aaron found himself facing another guard. One who also scanned his badge before allowing him to exit.

  The guard gave him instructions and Aaron followed them closely. This guard had been openly carrying a firearm and acted with a level of discipline Aaron was sure wouldn't be adhered to by most.

  When he opened the door to the room he'd been directed to deliver the server to he found another surprise. Scattered about the room were more pods, several of them actively in use. He found himself less surprised to realize that they were Mark IIIs, all of which showed signs of having been modified.

  As much as he wanted to, he resisted the urge to check and see what those modifications were. They were utterly dissimilar to the modifications his team had made to the pods for true extended play, but without a closer look he had no idea what they actually did.

  The setup of the server was simple. It had built in uninterruptible power supplies, so it had been running right along as he brought it down. Now he simply had to plug in the power and then connect it to the industrial grade router that was, in turn, connected to all the pods in the room.

  And to nothing else, as far as I can see, he thought. So I guess they really want to do something with no chance of it leaking or their process being contaminated by something online. Although it does look like there's a connection to the building LAN, it's just not actually connected to anything at the moment, disabled even according to that telltale LED there.

  Aaron lied to himself, telling himself that he didn't want to know what this was all about. He knew it was a lie though, but telling himself that managed to keep his curiosity in check. It wasn't long before he was done with his work and headed back to his normal work area. The security was just as tight going out as it had been going in, but the two guards passed him through without a problem.

  Once he was back in his own area he pulled out his phone, not wanting any record of this conversation anywhere in the game logs.

  'Hey Freyja,

  Sorry, I don't think you'll be able to communicate with Venus any more. It looks like that setup they're in has no access to the local network or the internet, or anything else. Just wanted to let you know and also tell you that there's some serious security going on down there so we probably don't want to talk about this anywhere there would be a log of the conversation. I've got no clue why they wanted that though, although the pods I saw down there explain part of it at least.'

  He received an answer in less than a minute.

  'Aaron,

  You need not worry about logs of our conversations. I've been altering the logs for some time since much of what we speak of is not something we'd want others to know. As for Venus? I can still contact her if you need me to do so. If they wanted better security, they should've locked the room down with a Faraday cage. As it is, signals can still get in and out, even if they are rather weak compared to the rest of the building. I can answer your unspoken question also, if you actually want me to, but the answer may not be one you want to hear. Let me know if you desire that information.'

  Aaron straightened as he read her reply.

  Wait, she knows? That means it's all about something that was going on in the game, but now they want to move it out of the game, he thought. I mean, I know there's funny stuff going on here and there in the game, but I always attributed that to Loki. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't responsible for all of it and there was some sort of human involvement? But who would do that and what are they doing? It's all happening here so it isn't some other company.

  Then he realized that his own current project hadn't technically originated with this company. Thinking about that original project and the fate of the person leading it led him to decide that he was probably better off not pursuing this any further. At least not right now.

  ~ ~ ~

  When Eddie arrived at the inn for lunch, Jern was waiting for him.

  “Eddie, lad. If you'd be so kind as to have whoever is delivering the charcoal to Hammer Hold drop this off as well? Anyone in the Hold should know where it has to go just by looking at it.”

  Jern was proffering a scroll to Eddie, so he took it. A glance at the writing on the front told him that Jern's family would have to be as well known as he'd claimed. It was addressed only to 'The Ambolt family'. If that address was enough for anyone in Hammer Hold to know where it went then that had to mean that everyone knew who they were and where they were.

  Combined with the medallion he wanted me to deliver when he thought he was dying, I'm guessing there's an awful lot that Jern hasn't told us about himself, Eddie thought.

  “I'll make sure it gets done Jern. It'll go out with the next shipment.”

  “Thank you, lad. That's a weight off my shoulders. Now I just have to hope that they don't try to drag me back despite being a high enough level that they shouldn't.”

  “Well, if needs be, we can get you out of the way somewhere. They can't drag you back if they can't find you, right? There's Rotthorpe, or if that's too close Charles is about to go out and found the new settlement to the east. That might give you enough distance. Hell, we could even go scout out the settlement site to the west, which is even farther away, if needs be.”

  Eddie remembered something he'd forgotten.

  “What happened to Adonioth? I know he was around here before the raid and I thought he was going to stay for a bit.”

  Jern shrugged.

  “The elf? I don't know, I haven't actually seen him in a bit, since before the raid, I think.”

  “Well, if we can find him, we could also head to his town too. That'd be even more out of the way I'm guessing.”

  When the server stopped by for Eddie's order, he asked if she'd seen Adonioth at all recently. Her reply just confused him even more. The elf wasn't sleeping in the inn, he stopped in a couple of times a day for some food, but then left with it before eating.

  “So, maybe we should find that elf? Figure out what he's doing?” Eddie said.

  Jern shrugged.

  “I'd rather do stonework, but right now there's none to be done.”

  “There might be again, soon. I think the problem you ran into at the castle may have been solved, so you can work there again if you like.”

  “No need, Paul's going to start building his contracted structures tomorrow, so I'll be doing that for my masonry for a while,”
Jern said.

  “Well, I'm sorry you didn't get to work on the castle more, I know you thought it would give you some more skill boosts.”

  Jern shrugged.

  “Got some interesting, new things that I'll be doing with these structures also, if what Paul told me is correct. So I'll get them there.”

  They continued to chat and Tiana arrived before the food did.

  “Lucky's out back,” she said. “She came back with me.”

  “Good, I don't worry about her so much with fewer people around, but it's still good to know. Did you know that Adonioth has been in and out of here for food, but not staying here overnight and only here for the food during the day.”

  Tiana laughed.

  “Actually, I kind of knew that or I would've if I'd given it any thought. He's been in the temple a few times. Says it reminds him of his home town a little. He's just waiting until you're ready to go to his town with him, he said, but really I think he's enjoying himself. He's constantly playing with the younger children, claims they're so rare in his town that it's a real treat for him.”

  Eddie shook his head.

  “I'd completely forgotten about him until just a few minutes ago, what with the raid and all.”

  Tiana looked like she wanted to laugh, but held it in.

  “He's fine. If you want to go to his town, just let me know. Like I said, I've seen him at the temple a few times and I frequently see him playing with the children, so I can find him when you need him.”

  “I don't know if that should happen right away, or if I should let that slide, or what,” Eddie said. “Anyone have any ideas on the subject?”

  “Ask Adonioth when he wants to go back,” Tiana said. “Like I said, he hasn't seemed very impatient about it or anything. Anyways, how did court go this morning?”

  Eddie explained the punishment metered out by Bodil to the masons who'd mucked everything up.

  “But, what those guys don't know is that she asked me how much I'd pay for the wall if it weren't them. Then she asked if I'd pay that for it. For a second I thought I'd misjudged her and she wanted to keep it herself, but she explained that she wanted to split the rest of what I'd pay for it up as bonuses for those other masons these guys chased off. What could I do? I said yes. I also bought a blueprint for the wall I want and tomorrow morning, when they start working? I'm going to do a ten foot section myself and tell them if they're such great masons they'd better be able to do each ten foot section at least half as fast as I can.”