The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]
Chapter 379 – Wolf In The Grapevine

Premier General Abakwa and General Domkat walked in front of the line of eighteen other mages as two high-ranking magicians in blue uniforms explained why a military plane from Arcadia had suddenly arrived. “There’s been reports of rains and the ash turning into rivers, we got here quickly but…” The woman talking trailed off and looked up at the light blue sky. There were some clouds in the horizon over the sea, but that was nothing special.

“Yeah…” The magician said. “It seems like we came too early.”

“Your assistance is greatly appreciated.” General Domkat said as he sent Abakwa a doubtful look. “I could ring Sokolowski to see what this is about.”

“You should.” Premier General Abakwa replied. “I apologize for there being a lack of flooding.”

“Mmh.” The woman replied.

“Then can we help out somewhere else?” The male magician replied, his compatriot witch replied with an all-too-obvious glare but the man wasn’t swayed. “Do you want to explain the situation to Elassa then?” The mention of the Goddess of Magic changed the woman’s mood immediately.

“Oh no, we’d love to help out. We’re here for flood control but terraforming or ground clearing is within our range of expertise too.” She said hopefully. “Any large project would be good. Not for me specifically, but for the novices.” Abakwa looked at the line of younger mages to his other side. They all stood there and pretended not to hear what the woman just said.

“I’m sure something will be found.”

“We’re here on training so anything will be good.” Abakwa and Domkat shared another look. Mages were always useful, but… Well, it was difficult to find a job for them when they just suddenly turned up out of nowhere for no reason at all.

“This is your field Premier General.” Domkat said coyly as if trying to contain laughter.

“I’ll find something.” Abakwa said.

At first, there had been plenty to talk about. Between the four of them, Fleur only returned to Rancais every semester’s end in Arcadia for the month-long break, Edmonton had visited the nation once. Eliza had only dreamed of seeing the country that invented wine and romance whereas Lyca had given it a passing of curiosity every now and then. The skydive from Raptor One had taken first place for the most uneventful skydive Lyca had ever been on although at this point, maybe he was simply biased. The Kirinyaan Invasion had seen all of them dive from helicopter and plane into open fire. Whenever Ekkerson requested sorcerer-support to aid in the defence of a coastal city, they would be dropped over open water and then be tasked with simply cutting a swathing gap through enemy lines as they returned to shore. The few times sorcerers had been used in Epa, it had been as airborne shock troops which served as a hammer, with the ground itself being anvil for the enemy army in-between.

So a drop during the night? With backpacks full of supplies? Without any incoming anti-air to worry about? Without needing to corral a dozen men so braindead it was a wonder they didn’t forget how to breath? Lyca had taken morning strolls that were more taxing. Further east, Rancais apparently was mountain but here it was merely sharp hills, steep but not particularly tall. At first, the landscape had awed Lyca. The villages and lone farmhouses that made the sides of the hills shine up. The horrendously thick woods. The obvious signs of a wine-making region were here too: fruit trees grown wild and in plantation as well as grapevine crawling over ancient stone walls that farmers probably used to mark off their fields.

But that had been the first day. By the second, the landscape started to blend into one. By the third, Lyca was baffled as to how he wasn’t pissing grape-juice already. It was good that Edmonton was here because he too did not let the wine in the air cloud his senses. Fleur was obviously amazed but it was her home, so Lyca assumed she would want to show off. Eliza would stop and pick at least one grape from every vine and a fruit from every tree.

And now, as the sun was starting to set on the fourth day in Rancais and with the party of four averaging thirty kilometres a day across country roads, feet were starting to hurt. “We should get a hotel today.” Lyca declared loudly as the team walked down a country road. Rancais wasn’t uninhabited, but it was obvious people were avoiding each other. Windows would shut their blinds and more than once Lyca saw men pull out rifles as the four walked through villages which had quickly made sure to shut their doors.

“I’m not even going to argue against you.” Edmonton added from the side. “It’s a good idea.”

“Imagine how good a bed would be.” Lyca said and Edmonton made a humorous whine of joy.

“Don’t even make me think about it.”

Fleur sighed from ahead of them, obviously she wasn’t feeling the cheerful call of civilization, but Eliza did join in. “Imagine a shower.” She said as she threw a grape from the collection of fruit into her mouth.

“Imagine not smelling.” Lyca said and everyone laughed. The hot weather of southern Rancais had taken a toll on all of them, but most on him. His beard and the amount of hair on his body was a second set of clothes. And it was clothes fit for winter rather than the hot weather down here. He walked in his shorts and boots and with his shirt dragged through the straps of his backpack. Edmonton had his unbuttoned and was still sweating, also in shorts. Eliza, brown hair-tied back, had a white shirt and red skirt, the former drenched in sweat and stained with the juices of fruit, the latter dirty with soil from when they sat down. Fleur had worn darker clothes that didn’t make such a show of sweating, but the way the girl’s skin sparkled with droplets in the setting sun made it obvious that she was feeling the heat too.

Lyca didn’t know if it was good or bad that the weather was so hot. If he had to assess the group, he would obviously say that they were dangerous but would civilians? Maybe it was the amount of time he had spent in his childhood in Arcadia but coloured jewellery now always set him off. Eliza had the simplest ones, two modest earrings that had utterly immodest topaz studs. Fleur had a two rings with white gemstones. Lyca had a chain on his neck with a small ruby hidden on within it. Edmonton had done the best option though, Lyca actually was jealous of it. The man wore a watch with a sapphire hidden on the base; the utter classiness of it.

“Do you want one? These are good.” Eliza held out the purple grapes in her hands. The grapes here were nothing like the ones in shops, which were as wide as Lyca’s thumbs. These were as small as a fingernail and had so much flavour that it could have been ten grapes concentrated into one. Fleur, Lyca and Edmonton all took two or three as Eliza stuffed the rest into her mouth and rubbed her hands together to get the juice off.

“They are good.” Edmonton said.

“The ones near my estates are better.” Fleur said as Lyca swallowed his set. They were good… but he did prefer meat.

“They’re good.” Lyca said it so that Eliza wouldn’t feel bad and the girl scooted close to him. She smelled horrifically sweet with the different juices of fruit all on her. “So Fleur.” The girl was jumpy because it was her family on the line but… Lyca sighed. He wasn’t a psychopath by any means, but he did look at things realistically. If they were already dead, then delaying would not change a thing. If they were still alive, then they’d probably stay alive. What was the chance of them arriving to save things in the nick of time?

“We’re two days march at this point, fifty kilometres left.” Edmonton replied as he twisted a series of nobs on his phone. The radio towers on the ground may have failed, but Iliyal had provided them an antenna which was plugged in and allowed for satellite connection. “We’re not doing that in one day at this point but two days is easy.”

“Either way, we do have to make a stop.” Eliza said. “And it’s non-negotiable at this point.”

“Why?” Fleur asked.

“How much water have you got left?” Eliza asked and Lyca immediately reached for the bottle on the side of bag. It was warm, it tasted rancid, and just by touch he could tell there was a third left at the most. Ed’s was almost empty too. Fleur had been the most conservative with the water: she had a grand half a bottle left. Edmonton spun his bag over one shoulder and started inspecting inside.

“Actually I didn’t think of that.” Lyca said and saw Eliza smile at him.

“Everyone knows you’re not a housekeeper Lyca.” She said.

“I have you.” Lyca said slyly and Eliza smiled lovingly at him.

“You two make me sick!” Fleur replied.

“It’s the country of romance Fleur, the air’s getting to me.” Lyca said and Eliza burst out in laughter as Edmonton finished throwing everything in his bag upside down and put his bag back on.

“Ela’s right though. I don’t have any water left after this.”

“So the next village is necessary then.” Lyca said as Fleur sighed.

“How about this?” Eliza said in a soft voice that simply made you want to agree with her. “No detours, but if we find a hotel, then we stay there, if not, then we camp outside.”

“Alright, that’s good.” Fleur said. There. Settled. If Lyca could anyone or anything along with him on travel, then it would be Eliza because the woman just made life easier. She wasn’t a pushover by any means, but if she wasn’t here then the decision on whether to stay in a hotel would have devolved into a shouting match between him and Fleur. Lyca had no doubt it would.

“Can’t argue with that.” Edmonton said.

“That’s the plan then.” Lyca agreed and the party of four kept up their endless trek. Down a hill, into the heart of a valley where the air was actually cooler because the two hills forced the wind into speed. Everyone took a deep breath as the country road turned into a paved one for vehicles. The stone walls by the side were covered in vines although no grapes. These had orange flowers and bees instead. “Nothing’s driven here for a while now.”

“How do you know?” Edmonton asked, Lyca made a demonstration of kicking up the dust from the tarmac.

“Dust has collected on the road.”

“Ahh.” Edmonton said.

“It always gets dusty in these areas.” Fleur said. “Now it’s the dryest period before the autumn rains start.”

“Are those bad?” Eliza asked as she looked around at the flowers on the walls. A bee chased her hand away when she tried to pick one.

“I’d rather the heat than the rains.” Fleur said.

“I have this to say though, and I think everyone will agree.” Lyca said.

“What?”

“This heat, it’s hot, but compare it to Kirinyaa and its pleasant.” And again, everyone burst out in laughter. It was true and it was partly why none of them had taken to complaining about how hot it was. They simply drank their water, they put one foot in front of the other, and they kept up the march.

“Oh my fuck.” Edmonton said. “Do you remember the mountain camps?” And again, everyone laughed. The mountain camps had showed Lyca exactly how unpleasant this planet could be. A fifteen minute flight from a desert onto a mountain could make the temperatures go from being able to fry eggs on open sand to freeze them.

“Honestly the worst were the packs.” Eliza said. “You’re in the hot and you’re carrying your own weight on your back? Wow, no thank you.” She gestured away from herself with her hands. “Not for me. These are fine enough.”

“Honestly here it’s just dry, that’s it.” Lyca said and everyone agreed.

“Best part is that it’s just you guys.” Fleur from the front and everyone looked at the girl. Lyca blinked in surprise as he had to look the woman up and down to make sure it was still Fleur. Still the black hair and the skirt and the hiking boots. Fleur must have felt their gazes and she turned around to shoot them an angry look with those blue eyes of hers. “What? I’m not allowed to be nice?”

“I didn’t think you had it in you.” Lyca replied immediately.

“Oh shut the fuck up!” Fleur shouted in a faux-angry tone.

“Honestly I agree though.” Eliza quickly inserted herself into the conversation. “It’s just easier with just us.”

“I didn’t mind leading a team.” Edmonton added and then he got three dirty looks.

“Of course you wouldn’t.” Fleur somehow managed to make her tone sound as if she had predicted and was already tired of her own disappointment. “I did, my teams were always terrible.”

“Mine were alright.” Lyca said. It was hard to talk badly about men who you fought besides, Fleur could do it obviously, but Fleur was the exception to the rule. Normal people could not. And besides, Lyca knew that of all teams, his were the ones that pushed the hardest. Fleur’s had the highest rate of burnout, but his had the highest rate of battlefield casualties.

“I really didn’t like it.” Eliza said carefully. “It’s just not for me. I don’t mind leading, but that was terrible. They didn’t misbehave or anything, but just making sure they wouldn’t kill themselves was just a headache.”

“I liked it.” Edmonton declared and the other three shared their collective, unimpressed look.

“Of course you did.” Fleur said sarcastically and Edmonton chuckled.

“We got news from Iliyal by the way.” Edmonton said as he looked through his phone. “He just sent the message in fact, minutes ago.” The man didn’t wait for confirmation before he started reading, but then all four of the sorcerers knew each other well enough to know they didn’t need it. “It’s short.”

“Good to know.” Lyca interjected.

“He says there’s bonus pay for each Hero we confirm dead and more for finding out the intricacies of how they got power.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Fleur asked.

“I said it’s short, didn’t I?” Edmonton replied.

“We can ask, can’t we?” Eliza said and everyone looked at the shortest member of their team as if she was slow. Eliza blushed under the three pairs of gazes and shook her head, her brown ponytail swishing from side to side. “You all know what I meant.”

“Do we?” Edmonton asked.

“If Anassa said ‘just ask them’, you’d understand.” Eliza explained herself, and it was a good explanation. That was something Anassa would say, and Lyca would know exactly what the Goddess of Sorcery would mean.

“We’ll ask around then.” Lyca said lightly. He was excited to face off against a hero frankly. Iliyal had given them a report on their super-powered strength, but it was almost difficult to believe such people could exist. The group began to chat as they marched out of the steep valley and onto the hill. And the four came to a stop.

There was a village ahead. A village indeed. It was almost worrying. Almost. Lyca’s heart started to pound with too much excitement to be worried. No detours they had said. Any other place, and Lyca would say it didn’t look too bad. A series of large houses conglomerated near the junction of a highway. There was a gas station and a motel and nothing drove on the road. From this distance, it was easy to see people walking about between the buildings and the parked guards and some of the houses even had their lights on.

That wasn’t the worrying part. Rancais had signs of life, it’s just life which would flee the moment it sensed anything try to approach it. What was worrying were the flags. The black and red banners of Anarchia. “Straight ahead?” Edmonton asked and the three others looked at the tall, dark-haired Allian. “I’ll take that as a yes.”