366 366 Playing The Part
The soldiers started to dig through the bodies, starting at the top of the pile while trying not to vomit or flee in terror a what they found. The myriad types of damage that they found suggested that this had been a group attack, but there was only one Demon here waiting for them.
Their biggest fear was that there were more Demons in his group who were hiding among the farmers headed into the city right now and that they were going to do the same thing to the whole population.
“Sir, might I ask how these men were killed?” The Sergeant asked.
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That last bit was an explanation for Ella’s vines, some of which had torn the victims apart after forcing their way down the throat. The description was gory enough that they wouldn’t ask any more questions about the specifics, Wolfe hoped, and they didn’t look inclined to attack him, so his plan was working perfectly.
“Fair warning, guys, some of those bodies are going to be messy.” The Sergeant called to his comrades, who shot him a dirty look while they sorted through the charred and mangled remains of their former comrades.
This was not what they were expecting when they got the message that the camp was under attack. There were hundreds of well-armed soldiers here, masquerading as bandits, and they had called back all the other camps to help them as well.
“What did they do that upset you so much that you killed them all?” The Sergeant asked, stalling for time so he didn’t have to take a turn sorting the pile of bodies.
“You wouldn’t believe how rude they were to me. I was just riding on a farm wagon, catching a lift to town for the farmer’s market to get some mangoes, and out of nowhere, they shot me.
Can you believe it? Not a warning, not even a demand for money or whatever human thieves want. So, once I dealt with the ones on the road and the witnesses, I came over here to demand an apology, and they did the same thing. Not even an attempt to atone for their misbehaviour.” Wolfe complained.
“I… see.” The Sergeant replied slowly.
“I knew that a civilized fellow like yourself would understand how egregious their behaviour was. Now, it might not have been necessary to kill them all, but I couldn’t see any of them being willing to apologize, and I was already in a bad mood after being shot during a nap, so you know how it is.” Wolfe explained.
He could see that the Lieutenant closest to them was making notes of their interaction to report back to the boss in the city, but that wasn’t a problem for him. If they knew that he was capable of hunting them in large units, they would be more cautious about attacking random travellers. That would be a relief to the farmers who were coming later today, who would normally have been targets of the bandit group, looking to gather supplies for the city without having to pay at the market.
Four hours later, they had corpses scattered all over the camp and a long string of notes made in dozens of notebooks. That should cover everyone, but some had been burned to ash, so they wouldn’t show up in the recorded logs of killed in action here.
“Were there any more? Or did you get them all?” The Sergeant asked, at the direction of his team leader.
“There were a few dozen more, but when I showed up, they were fleeing off into the woods with some girls. I think they were just looking to get laid and party for the evening, and it would have been wrong of me to chase them down to ruin their good time.
I’m sure they’ll show up sooner or later. Thirty men in camo and a few dozen witches with null stone bracelets on aren’t exactly subtle, and they ran south right past the city, so they might not even know what happened here yet.” Wolfe shrugged.
The look on the Lieutenant’s face was positively murderous. Like everyone else, he assumed that Wolfe couldn’t lie, so he took his words as proof that a large group of their men had deserted and taken the prisoners with them.
If they showed up in the next day or so, they would have some explaining to do. If it took more than a day, they would likely be doing the explaining from inside a prison cell, with a professional interrogator present.
“Are you planning to spend the evening here?” The Sergeant asked.
“Not anymore. I was going to burn everything and tidy up, but now there are bodies everywhere, and it smells awful. I think I’ll go to the city and look for a hotel room for the night. I have some coins. Hopefully, they’re enough.”
Wolfe held up a stack of bills that he had looted off the bodies, and the Sergeant nodded at the stack of cash.
“That’s definitely enough to get you a room for a while. A good hotel room in the city shouldn’t cost more than a hundred crowns a night, including breakfast and dinner, don’t let them scam you. Also, please don’t kill them if they do try, it would be my unit’s turn to deal with it, and after today, we would really rather that we never have to sort through a pile of bodies again.”
Wolfe smiled at the dirty looks the man was getting from his unit. He had chatted with Wolfe all afternoon and hadn’t sorted any bodies, unlike the rest of his unit, who were covered in unmentionable filth and had long since plugged their noses to avoid vomiting from the smell.
“We should go for drinks. But first, I will clean you off after we get away from this place. Should we ask your Lieutenant for permission to burn it all before we go? Or are they going to clean it up? The bodies will attract monsters if you leave them here.” Wolfe asked.
“They will load them into trucks tonight. I’m afraid that I can’t leave yet, but if you’re around tomorrow, I will meet you for breakfast. I am staying at the third barracks. Ask for Sergeant Zimm.”