Unintended Cultivator
Book 11: Chapter 20: Inventing Bogeymen

After a quick look around, Sen decided that he needed to take the conversation with the soldiers he’d picked out somewhere else. Anywhere else. While everyone had been dismissed and even told to go eat their dinners, a distressingly large number of them were dawdling nearby or angling their paths to intersect with Mo, Sen, and the dozen spear wielders he’d chosen. Plus, if I take them elsewhere, it’ll buy me a few more minutes to figure out what in the thousand hells I’m going to do with them, thought Sen.

“Is there somewhere we can talk with a bit of privacy?” Sen asked Mo.

The general thought briefly before he said, “We can use the tent where my staff usually works.”

“As long as it can hold all of us, that’ll be fine,” said Sen.

“Follow me,” said Mo, and began walking in a different direction from the majority of the crowd.

Sen trailed after the general. After a few seconds, the dozen soldiers followed after them like nervous, hesitant ducklings. Sen knew that their concerns were his fault, since he hadn’t given them any information. He just didn’t have it to give, yet. There was an inkling in the back of his mind. It was related in some odd way to Misty Peak, but he couldn’t quite drag the idea into full view yet. It was like a shape in the fog. So, he remained silent as they all walked. Of course, after all of this, he would have to make whatever he had these soldiers doing something important. Anything else, and people would assume they were all lying about their tasks. He didn’t want to saddle them with those kinds of problems.

Sen didn’t fail to take note of the man who was trying to watch them surreptitiously. He recognized the man as one of Kang’s subordinates who very clearly had not been trained in stealth or spying. Sen wasn’t sure if that was a comfort or a concern. It seemed like there should be at least some soldiers trained in stealth. It would also stand to reason that all of the generals would have at least one person close to them with those skills. Then again, thought Sen, I did kill that one subordinate of Kang’s. He probably filled that role. Sen didn’t imagine it was easy to find people like that who also met whatever trust requirements someone like Kang would have.

Irritated with the man’s obvious spying, Sen tripped him with a light application of air magic and activated his qinggong technique. He covered the distance between his small group and the tent the man had been peeking around in a blink. The spying officer did manage to suppress his scream of surprise when he looked up to find Sen looming over him, which probably said something good about his courage or at least his self-control.

“Is there something you need?” asked Sen.

“Are you sure? You have been following us. A more paranoid man might have simply killed you out of hand. Are you going to take that kind of risk and not even ask me anything?”

The man stared up at him like he wanted to run away, but he choked out a single question.

“What will you do with them?”

“Whatever I want,” said Sen. “Now, leave my sight.”

Seeming content to leave with his life, the officer scrambled to his feet and sprinted away. Sen returned to the group, who had all stopped to watch. General Mo just looked entertained. The rest appeared a little ill. He wasn’t sure why that was their reaction. Maybe they’re worried about retaliation, he mused.

“Kang hasn’t dealt with many cultivators, has he?” Sen asked General Mo.

“None of us have. Not really,” said Mo. “Or, it might be more accurate to say that we’ve all avoided it. The sects in the city have their rules, but who wants to be the person to find out that the cultivator they’re dealing with doesn’t care about those rules?”

Sen thought it over before he nodded and said, “That’s fair.”

The general took them a little farther before he gestured at a very large tent.

“A moment,” said Mo before disappearing inside.

About two dozen people evacuated the tent over the next minute, some of them casting curious glances at Sen, before Mo stepped back out and gestured toward the open flap. Everyone filed inside. Sen simply glanced around, saw piles of paperwork, and shuddered. The soldiers looked around with far more curiosity. He supposed that they weren’t likely to find themselves in a general’s tent very often. It’s probably like outer disciples in a sect suddenly finding themselves in an elder’s private office. It could happen, but it wasn’t likely to happen very often.

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Sen let them gape at their surroundings for a moment while he tried to finalize a plan about what to do with them. There were a few different options that had flickered through his mind on the way to the tent. He just hadn’t settled on a single one as the best approach. Time was up for pondering, though, so he just picked one and plowed forward.

“Each of you has too much skill with the spear to be left in the army proper,” announced Sen.

It was a little unnerving to have twelve pairs of eyes all fixate on him with such raw intensity, but he did his best to keep a calm face. General Mo watched with open curiosity, but didn’t seem inclined to say anything.

“So,” Sen continued, “I have an opportunity for you if you want it.”

The soldiers all traded glances, but no one seemed ready to speak. He wasn’t sure if it was courtesy or an abundance of caution. Probably both, he decided. With caution in mind, Sen finally remembered to erect an air barrier around the tent to prevent eavesdropping. Not that the results of this meeting would be secret for that long, but there was no need to ruin the surprise.

“It is painfully clear to me that there is a schism in the leadership of the army. The kind of schism that could lead to unfortunate decisions in the future when I must inevitably split our forces up to deal with multiple threats. I need people to act as my emissaries to the army command. People empowered to relay my wishes and commands to the generals. People equally empowered to deal decisively with officers who believe they don’t need to do as they’re told.”

When this idea had first entered his head, Sen had dismissed it. Putting that kind of power into the hands of people who had been, up until a few seconds ago, little more than peasants, was bound to be controversial. Yet, it was obvious that he couldn’t draw from the officers. They were too invested in the fates of their patrons to be trusted. By elevating these soldiers, he couldn’t guarantee their loyalty, but he suspected the odds were better. Plus, since even he hadn’t known he meant to do this until he did it, there was no way for someone to have planned for it. This was similar to what he was doing with the foxes, except these people would be more public and focused on the military and government, rather than on the shadowy manipulations needed to keep nobles in line.

“Us?” asked a young woman.

“You,” agreed Sen. “You are all very good with the spear now. I will personally train you to be all but unbeatable by any other mortal. I will grant you enormous power in the lands I control. You will be paid exceedingly well. If you wish it, I will grant you land.”

Sen could see excitement and even a flicker of modest greed in a few eyes. Money was a powerful motivator. Grandmother Lu had lectured him relentlessly about that once she discovered just how little he cared about it. Even if he still didn’t care about money, he wasn’t going to ignore that it would be a useful tool in securing loyalty. It was the mention of land that drew the most interest. Owning any meaningful amount of land was normally reserved for the wealthiest of families and the nobility. Still, he saw their uncertainty. He was glad of that. He’d presented them with the benefits. Now, it was time to reveal the downsides.

“Don’t be too quick to accept. It isn’t a question that this will make you targets. The generals will hate to see you coming. If the time comes that I have people ruling over conquered territory, some of them will want you dead. Some will inevitably try to kill you just to pretend that they never received their orders. Others will attempt to dissuade you, trap you, or bribe you. Your lives will be a risk. I will, of course, do what I can to minimize those risks, but the risks are very real. Nor will you be free to simply do as you please. I will require oaths to the heavens from each of you to ensure your loyalty.”

One of the young men stepped forward and said, “Can we ask questions?”

“I’d be concerned if you didn’t,” answered Sen.

“How long would we serve in these positions?” asked the young man.

Sen’s initial thought was to say for life, but he saw the unreasonableness of that immediately. These were mortal, not cultivators. No matter how skilled they might be, they would age. They would slow. Most of them would likely want to have families. Then, there was the added problem of him potentially vanishing from the world far too soon to guarantee their safety after they retired. He’d have to find ways to obscure their identities so they could retire.

“Twenty years,” said Sen, and lifted a hand to prevent any immediate follow-up questions. “My plan is to bring in more people over time, based at least partially on your recommendations, so that you can fade into a more supervisory role over time.”

Sen hazarded a glance at Mo to see how the man was taking this. The general was likely a good trial run to see how a nominally reasonable person in a command position was going to react to this change of affairs. Mo looked thoughtful and more than a little uneasy, but there wasn’t the instant hostility Sen had feared he might see.

“What happens if someone does have one of us killed?” asked another woman.

Sen looked at her and offered a bleak smile when he said, “There will be no mercy for them, no matter who they are. I will rip them out, root and branch. Your family will receive enough compensation to live out their lives quite comfortably.”

“If we win the war,” muttered someone.

“Yes, if we win the war. If we don’t win, none of this will matter to anyone.”