Secret Agent Chapter 067 - Mob (Patreon)

Here and there trainees begged for just one more tip, one more spar from instructors trying to pack up and leave after a long day of work. Assistants explained to those who hadn’t made it out of the line where to go for training out in town, and universally the people grew angry when they heard the normal, non-discounted price for training like that which had been offered today.

This stoked the flames of anger and resentment even further.

Zack Adder leaned into his character as he joined the crowd, taking one last swig of his oral deodorant before cramming the bottle, still over half full, into an overflowing wastebin.

Jack Werdruf, new adventurer, wasn’t angry that he hadn’t received training. He’d had a full day of learning and was satisifed with that.

But now he wanted to go home, and he was annoyed at the long line.

So it was irritation and mild annoyance that showed on his face, not the anger and resentment of those surrounding him, or the impatience verging into desperation for those who had places to be very soon.

He wasn’t the only one leaning towards more relaxed and satisfied. Here and there, other young adventurers were comparing the tokens they had earned that day. One had three, another had five, and one sloshed individual was being supported by two of his companions, having discovered that his four tokens entitled him to Castle ale for one lindra a tankard.

Jacks’ two tokens would be a mild good showing, and explainable. Slinging was complicated stuff, after all, and even after all his practice Zack still didn’t really consider himself proficient enough for the sling to be his main weapon against the thurgenrats he planned to hunt, if he made it to tomorrow.

Well over a thousand people were pressing towards the city wall, and Zack joined the back of the crowd, soon finding himself safely tucked away into the blooming mob as more people joined behind him.

The small gate to the right had had a cardinal of the Church likely [Appraising] men his age and size.

The left gate had reeked of danger, and set off his [Paranoia].

He would aim for the wide center gate, the most likely place for security to be slackened to let people just go home, or the most likely place for a mob to break through uncontrolled.

Things went just about how he expected.

There was a small crush, the people in the back pushing and shoving while City Guard and Knights seemed to be holding the crowd back, trying to explain something that only those in the very front could hear.

“What’s the hold up?” a man next to Zack grumbled.

“I heard someone stole a book; they’re checking everyone’s bags,” a housewife offered. Despite her slender frame, people trying to shove into her bounced off like she was more concrete pillar than human, and so she stood straight and relaxed even in the crowd.

Ah, so that was the conceit.

Maybe there was even actually a thief; given how expensive books were, in the range of tens of fortin or thousands of Earth dollars (the exchange rate was Zack’s own very rough estimate), they would make a tempting target for any red-blooded thief.

The volume rose, and angry yelling condensed itself into a chant.

“Let us go!”

“Let us go!”

“Let us go!”

There were also sporadic curses at the Kingdom and the Church, young men and women enjoying their anonymity in the crowd and yelling what they really thought.

Zack [Stifled] a grin.

This was perfect.

And then it wasn’t.

A wave of pressure, some mix of gravity and air pressure and heat swept over the nascent mob in the blink of an eye, and half the people collapsed. Zack, though taken by surprise, steeled himself and tried to resist…

*ding!* The skill [Magic Resistance] has been acquired!

Zack hesitated only the barest fraction of an instant before he [Mimicked] the man next to himself and fell to his knees, groaning hoarsely.

Still, he peeked up towards the front.

Fifty yards ahead, he could see the city wall and the main gate, and standing atop the wall wearing a red dress was a woman with fiery red hair, looking down at the crowd imperiously.

His hearing was just good enough to hear her next words, as the chanting and shouting died down into a chorus of groans.

“Liffy,” she said with a tone of boredom and mild displeasure.

Zack didn’t know what that meant, but wind swirled around the woman, causing her hair and dress to billow in the light of dusk.

All could hear her next words, booming down as though a giant were scolding them.

“This is disgraceful and ungrateful behavior,” she said. “I am Ruby, the second daughter of King Onyx Forti, and the Second Princess of the Kingdom.”

All could hear the capitalization even as she spoke. Her voice pressed down on them with authority.

“Kneel.”

The command was irresistible, though not magically so.

Ruby, the woman on the battlements, simply possessed that much gravitas.

Those still standing fell to one knee, and those who had fallen now found themselves able to rise.

In short order, everyone, including Zack Adder, was kneeling and looking up at the Princess.

Although, here and there, whispered conversations were still taking place.

“Eh? There’s a second princess?”

“You idjit, she’s been raised in sek-loo-shun, ain’t nobody seen her in years!”

“I heard she’s a mage of some kind…”

Ruby spoke again, her words magically amplified.

“Royal Family property, brought here today as charity to the people after a terrible accident, was stolen,” she explained. “As such, there will be checks of all bags at the side gates.”

“Screw you!” A middle aged man got to his feet and yelled, making an obscene gesture. “Terrible accident my left foot! You and the Church screwed up and got people killed!” He spread his arms wide. “I ain’t got nothin’ stolen on me, let me go! I gotta get home!”

After the first man, a full two thirds of the crowd got to their feet and started shouting back at the Princess as well.

Zack got off his knees, but stayed low in a ready crouch. He wasn’t sure which way things were going to go, but he wanted to be ready to move.

Would the mob break through?

Would the Princess loosen the security?

Here and there he saw people dropping their bags to the ground, willing to leave behind whatever was in them to get out of the camp faster.

He only had free rocks in his own bag; although he was sure the bag had been given to him by Nerezza.

He almost missed what the Princess said next as his mind raced with thoughts of his next move.

“Lammy, an experiment,”

The voice was cold and clinical and ripped Zack from his thoughts.

That wasn’t the voice of someone on the back foot.

That was the voice of someone with overwhelming power and an excuse to test it immediately.

He quickly fell back to one knee, but remained ready to spring to his feet as necessary. His eyes were locked onto the red-haired woman claiming to be a princess, who raised one slender arm, palm up to the sky.

“Channel Fireball.”

Her voice was nearly lost in the crowd, but a moment later the angry shouts were replaced with screams of fright.

At first, a ball of flame the size of a baseball or apple had formed above her palm, shining brightly even in the harsh rays of the setting sun.

But then it grew.

And grew.

And grew.

It swelled to the size of a beachball, then the size of a large van, then wider than a shipping container.

And it didn’t stop growing.

People in the back of the crowd started running in terror, until the Princess spoke again.

“Halt.”

Zack looked over his shoulder and saw those fleeing fall forward, everyone simultaneously tripping and smashing their faces into the leveled earth.

This was a mage?!

Zack turned forward again and focused on the most dangerous person he’d met so far in this world, straining his ears to catch what she said next.

“Hmm,” she hummed to herself. “This is a bit much. What to do…”

She sounded perfectly at ease.

“Lammy, you won’t dispel this one? What a troublesome spirit you are.”

Her gaze swept over the crowd and she huffed a small sigh.

“Very well, into the sea, then. Liffy, guide it down into the water away from any ships, would you?”

The fireball was as wide across as the the city wall separating the Campus Martialus from Fortinium. The princess turned, lowered her hand a few degrees down and pointed north by northeast.

And then the fireball launched, instantly accelerating like a bullet or cannonball, and within seconds it was gone from sight.

“Thank you, Liffy. Lammy, we’ll have to practice that more another time.”

Zack discovered that he could [Stifle] the cold sweat threatening to soak his body, and all around him others released their own bodily fluids involuntarily.

The scent of terror rose from the crowd, and the princess wrinkled her nose. A moment later, a breeze swept the scent away from her.

“Now,” she said to the terrified crowd. “Those with bags move to the side gates to be searched. Those without bags may leave through the center gate. If you are called to stop, do so immediately. Failure to do so will be taken as proof of guilt and disrespect to me, personally.”

She narrowed her eyes and glared at them a moment.

“Rise, and go forth.” That done, she relaxed slightly and climbed down from whatever platform she had been standing on.

Every single person on the Campus Martialus was cowed into submission by the Second Princess.

Zack stood quickly.

His plan was shattered.

There would be no mob, and he had two choices to make.

First, ditch the bag or not.

Second, if he kept the bag, which gate to choose.

He faced the wide main gate and squinted, leaning on both [Night Eye] and [Keen Eye] to examine it though he was dozens of yards back.

His [Paranoia] flared worse than it had yet.

It was a burning on his skin.

Something was wrong with that gate.

It was a trap.

Though, he couldn’t see how.

Besides the reaction of his skill and the feeling of his gut, it seemed like there was a gauntlet of City Guard lining the walls, and a few bollards with ropes strung up to force people going through to move slowly in a back and forth pattern, to give the guards more time to observe them.

Other people were starting to stand, so he swept his gaze to the right.

There were a number of grey robed priests there, and…

Maria.

The [Priestess] Maria was there, looking extremely annoyed, glaring at the people who were still trembling from the Princess’ display.

The left gate.

The one that had set off his [Paranoia] earlier in the day.

There Zack spotted Knights and Maids standing, ready to check bags once people regained their composure.

Emma. Abigail. Quillon. Thomas. Henry.

Barclay.