Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 600: The Fuel Of War

What fuels a war? Men? The ability to march on in the face of adversity? Or is it the food, the clothes, the preparations done to sustain your soldiers longer than your enemy? In reality, it is a combination of them all–a thorough preparation goes a long way, but what goes further is always staying a step ahead of the enemy no matter the cost.

Such thoughts roamed inside of Reignaʼs head as she continued to hammer the hundredth blade this week. Her body was drenched in sweat, and she was wearing nothing but a pair of rugged underwear. Working behind her in the same makeshift tent was Darius–his eyes were glued to the parchment as he continuously scribed runic scrolls to be of aid in the war efforts.

The last of the bunch was Linkle, working in the middle of the room with a massive cauldron being stirred by the floating vampire head, Vlad. The witch, on the other hand, was looking through a stacked shelf of bottled minerals and other resources. All the while, her clones helped the other two to the best of her ability.

”More dark water from the arachne cave…” Turning around with a shake of her head, Linkle glanced over to the cauldron with the hammering of iron ringing in her head. Clicking her tongue, she tapped her teleportation ring and whispered. ”Jenna, weʼre gonna need more dark water. Can you arrange that?”

For a moment, nothing came from the other line, but then a crackling voice whispered back.

”Iʼll ask the queen, she should have some set aside for us.” As Jennaʼs voice disappeared again, Linkle set her hand back on her sides and turned to the cauldron instead.

”How many potions do we need?” She murmured, and her frustration was felt throughout that room.

”Never enough, apparently,” Darius responded while closing his eyes as they had begun to ache.

Reigna groaned with the hammering too, but she was in no mood to speak as her body was burning with the furnace right next to her. The room itself was flooded with fumes, both from the metal and the brew that Linkle was making.

Drawn by her grunting, the two stared at the blacksmithʼs muscular back. Her sweat dripped like thick oil, and her slightly charred look appeared like sugar-glazed candy. The first thought that crossed Linkleʼs mind on seeing her hammering away was how much her growth mustʼve been stunned from that hammering, but to her surprise, during the time theyʼd been working together this year–everyone, even Reina, appeared to have grown tremendously.

ʼMy butt grew too…ʼ Glancing down at her breasts–the only thing that hadnʼt experienced change, she wondered what she could do to even out her pear shaped frame. ʼThat trip from hell affected even those around us, so maybe if I send someone there and stay around them later, then perhaps I can grow more?ʼ

A mere speculation that she had no intentions of testing, however, being a witch, of course she was curious about anything and everything.

”At least the warʼs supposed to be over by tonight. We can finally go home in a few days,” Darius said, pulling the two women out of their thoughts.

With the hammering finally coming to a halt, everyone turned to the only man inside of that tent.

”Who told you that?” Asked Reina, a flicker of a smile quivering on her lips.

”Yeah, even I wasnʼt told about the war ending or anything like that…” Linkle added, just as confused as Reina but more doubtful about Dairusʼs claim than her.

”Well…” Throwing his quill to the side, Darius looked up at the two while wiping his ink-stained hands. ”Helps to be friends with a general. He told me that the main party had a plan the last time he was here, and if my calendar dates are right, tonight is when theyʼre going to assassinate that lesser demon general.”

”Just like that? Why have they been fighting for so long if they couldʼve just killed him outright?!” Reina complained, enraged by a misunderstanding that sheʼd created herself.

”A few hundred people died fighting the horrors, but if we get the general–thatʼs also the keeper in this case–we shouldnʼt have to fight them any longer.” Talking to herself with her chin resting on the back of her hand, Linkle pondered the matter in greater depth than Reina. ”My guess is that theyʼd been planning something or maybe setting up the assassination while also keeping up the pretense that our efforts are focused on a frontal war.”

Lifting her head slightly, Linkle stared sharply at Darius. The mage had little clue what the plan actually was, but after thinking it over for months, he too had arrived at the same conclusion as her.

”Thatʼs as good a guess as any, in the meantime–” Picking up the quill again, Darius began staining parchment with ink again. ”We all have a role to play, so letʼs keep going.”

Scoffing at his response, Reina turned her back to the other two and began hammering once more. As for Linkle, with the main ingredient missing for her special potions, all she could do was wait for them to arrive through the colossal portals that sheʼd finished building recently.

ʼIt took most of the corrupt souls that we had to finish the project, but at least now we can move goods–even ships–from one city to the other in a matter of minutes.ʼ Much like the upgrade on the teleportation ring that allowed her to talk to others over long distances, the colossal portals–the size of a warship allowed for anything and everything to phase through one side and emerge on the other. To further ensure that the portal did not fall into enemy hands, the portals were integrated with the same dark potion that allowed Arche to shrink with a simple gulp.

Reaching into her pockets, Linkle could feel the rings that could easily be turned to the massive portals whenever she wanted. Carrying them with her for the most part, she was in charge of the goods moving back and forth from one city to the other.

”Witch? Witch?”

”I have a name, Jenna!” Suddenly hearing Jennaʼs voice from the ring, Linkle barked at her for having to correct her all the time. ”What is it?”

”The queen is sending the dark water now. Can you open the portal?”

”Give me a second…” Leaning against a wall for just a moment, the witch took a deep breath and heaved a sigh. She was tired from the constant work just to defeat the lesser of a true demon general. The news from Darius may have been comforting, but if the execution of Ravenʼs plan was messed up, then… ”I hope you know what youʼre doing.”

ʼIʼll place my faith in you as you had in me once. Donʼt disappoint me, Raven…Please.ʼ By the time Linkle returned to work, far to the front of where she was, Ravenʼs plan was already taking place. And although the mage himself was on the frontline with a handful of other elite soldiers, he was but bait–for the real action was about to happen elsewhere…