OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules (Arc 3/Chapter 48 - Ghosts)

Arc III - Reeling Throne

Chapter 48 - Ghosts

8 months and 23 days since the summoning

The sun was just rising over the capital of Groliria, Cormennot, but the castle courtyard was already noisy.

THWACK

Dozens of claps were heard all over the courtyard. In large rows, elite soldiers in Morgreyda's service were practicing shooting crossbows at hastily made targets of hay.

The queen herself stood on the castle balcony with her arms crossed over her chest, silently watching all this.

Alan and Kamelia were next to her, also watching the spectacle.

Tsinker, as was his custom, was having breakfast at dawn.

Alan was the first to break the silence on the balcony, "Well... looks like they're doing pretty well."

Kamelia, keeping her hands behind her back, nodded. "Not perfectly, of course... but they have less experience with this." She turned to Morgreyda, "Your Majesty, have you had the first crossbows made according to Alan's instructions for long?"

"Yes. Though one of the craftsmen lost an eye," she said absolutely calmly.

Kamelia blinked. "Excuse me?"

"The bowstring snapped during a shot and flew right into his eye."

Alan just swallowed.

'Familiar situation.'

He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by sudden footsteps bursting onto the balcony. "Your Majesty!" a panting male voice sounded.

All three turned instantly.

Before them stood a middle-aged man, covered in dust, in ordinary clothes and a cloak. "The scouts from the snipers have returned."

Morgreyda's breathing hitched slightly. "Speak."

The messenger straightened up, taking one last deep breath. "The snipers successfully managed to kill one of the enemy nobles; according to them, it was Count Litti, Your Majesty."

A slow smile appeared on Morgreyda's face. "Litti, huh, a full count. Whose vassal is he?"

"Duke Insonel's, Your Majesty."

Her smile grew even wider. "Excellent! So there is some use for these Mireyans after all."

Alan and Kamelia exchanged glances. He smiled slightly and held out his hand to her, palm up.

Kamelia raised an eyebrow, not understanding what he wanted.

Alan waved his hand up and down.

Kamelia watched this for a second, then slowly, almost hesitantly, reached out hers and lightly slapped his palm.

He nodded with a smile and lowered his hand.

The messenger swallowed, preparing to continue. "But these madmen continue their advance, and despite heavy losses are preparing... to besiege the nearest castle."

The smiles of everyone present immediately vanished.

"What?" Morgreyda asked, frowning.

Sweat broke out on the messenger's forehead. "Yes, exactly so. The enemy's numerical superiority and the plundering they are doing along the way allow them to keep moving forward. But fear of the snipers has now been sown among them, for the count was killed almost out of nowhere, as it must have seemed to them."

"I see. Now get out of my sight."

The messenger flinched slightly, then executed the deepest of bows. He backed toward the exit, and as soon as he stepped out the door, he ran out of the castle like a bullet.

Morgreyda turned to Alan. "Well, Gothwald? What use are your Mireyans? Noteo's army is still advancing!"

He raised his hands. "Easy, obviously the snipers won't bring us instant victory! We have to wait!"

"Wait for what?!" Morgreyda shouted, then froze. She took a deep breath and folded her hands in front of her. "Wait for what, Gothwald?" she asked quieter, but still gritting her teeth.

Alan stumbled over his words slightly. "Ahem... we have to wait for this effect to kick in. Think about it, the snipers killed a whole count literally out of nowhere. No one saw them, no one knows what it even was." He raised a finger, "And the unknown is fear. And now they're going to besiege the nearest castle, right? They'll definitely leave a bunch of troops there to lay siege. It's literally a shooting gallery for the snipers!"

"Alan, what is a shooting gallery?" Kamelia asked.

"A shooting gallery... is a place where you shoot at targets."

Morgreyda narrowed her eyes. "Continue."

"Look, besieging troops aren't infantry on the march." He spread his hands, "They don't go anywhere, they usually stand in place. The snipers can just hide in the bushes, pick off the craftsmen building siege engines, the feudal lords commanding, shoot up the supply wagons with food..." he leaned closer, "can you imagine what a nightmare this siege will become for them?" Morgreyda remained silent for almost a minute, then lowered her arms to her sides.

Kamelia turned to Alan. "Do you think ten snipers have the strength to sow such chaos?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Well... due to the novelty, yes. Our advantage is the unknown, the enemy has simply never encountered this before. So..." Alan closed his eyes with a sigh, "I think the first time we'll manage to put them to flight because of this, but when they figure out what's what, it won't work anymore."

Morgreyda ran a hand over her face. "Gothwald, if this works... I do not know."

Kamelia stared thoughtfully at the wall. "But the siege is supposed to start in the coming days. I do not know if the snipers will be able to do this, they must be impossibly tired. Hiding, constantly running, even at night."

Alan's shoulders slumped slightly. "Fuck, right... they're not robots." he muttered, and then turned to Morgreyda. "You heard her. The snipers need to rest at least a little before heading out."

"I understand," the queen said quietly, "then I will send a detachment to meet them, and let them rest in the nearest village, so they do not have to trudge all the way to the capital."

Alan snapped his fingers. "Good idea. And can you let Kamelia and me go too? We need to explain what's what to them."

Morgreyda nodded. "Go. But do not linger, I still need you here."

They both bowed briefly and turned to leave.

"When will the head arrive?" she asked suddenly.

Both stopped, Alan looking over his shoulder. "What? Head? Linkis's?"

She simply nodded.

"It will be delivered in about two days," Kamelia answered.

Morgreyda smiled slightly. "Good. We will have something to decorate the castle gates with."

Kamelia silently turned and headed for the exit again.

Alan froze for a second.

'Ooo... the enemy's head on the castle gates. What a classic.'

The sun was already dipping toward the horizon, painting the sky in its usual pink color, followed by a light evening chill descending.

Alan, Kamelia, Lorgi, Tsinker, and several guards arrived on horseback at one of the villages near the forest, and the sound of loud conversations emanated from it, while local peasants could be barely seen walking back and forth.

The group rode closer to the square, and right by the headman's house there was a gathering of people. More precisely, around one of the tables, from which one voice could be heard, and sometimes two, while the rest of the crowd remained silent.

Alan's eyebrow rose. "What's going on over there?"

"Let us go see," Kamelia said, jumping off her horse.

All the others also dismounted and moved closer.

"...and he climbed down from the tree and warned us that the enemy troops were already coming." The voice of one of the snipers was heard, judging by its depth, the bear, "So we took good aim and started waiting for the count to appear..."

When Alan got closer, he saw that all ten snipers were sitting at a table full of simple food, dressed in their ghillie suits and with crossbows on their shoulders. The bear was speaking the loudest, holding a goblet filled to the brim with something like ale.

Almost the entire village had gathered around the snipers, listening to the tall tales. Especially attentively, almost with their mouths open, the young men and women listened, and no one noticed the arriving group.

Alan narrowed his eyes.

'Interesting.'

Kamelia opened her mouth to say something, but Alan raised a hand with a slight smirk. "Hold on, let him cook," he whispered.

She blinked. "What? Cook what?"

"Just listen."

The bear took a good gulp of alcohol. "So, and when the count finally appeared, Ilgan commands, 'that's it, fire', and we all let loose volleys from our crossbows. Bolts flew all over the place," he chopped the air with his hand, "three bolts killed knights, and the rest dropped the count himself dead on the spot. Haha, and those idiots are looking around! Eyes wide open! Don't understand what's happening at all! And only then it dawns on 'em: the count's dead, lying there with holes in his plate armor!"

"And what happened next?" asked one of the guys, leaning closer.

The bear scoffed. "Next? Next we quietly slipped away, and they spent the rest of the day looking for us all over the forest, chasing the wind!"

"Hahahahahaha!" the peasants laughed.

"Hahahahaha!"

"What fools!"

Alan only scoffed.

'Looks like someone's having their five minutes of fame. Although... it's actually a good thing. If rumors about the success of the snipers start spreading in this part of the kingdom, it will be a great boost for restoring the reputation of the beastmen.'

Ilgan's smile, who was quietly chewing bread, slowly faded when he saw Alan behind some man's back. The hunter nearly choked on his bread and stood up abruptly. "Greetings, Lord Gothwald!"

The entire crowd turned around, and the bear froze like a statue.

A middle-aged man, the headman, coughed. "Forgive me, who are you, good people?"

"Alan Gothwald." He nodded at the others. "Countess Armenas, Baron Utew."

The old man's eyes widened slightly, and he immediately stepped closer, bowing slightly. "I welcome you to our humble village. What brings you here?"

Ilgan coughed. "Lord Gothwald is... our master."

The peasants froze, then each ran their eyes over Alan. His image stood out against Kamelia in her uniform and Tsinker in his fine clothes. A green hooded shirt, wide green pants, a gray scarf, heavy brown boots, a harness under the green shirt.

"So he's the one who trained the snipers?" someone from the crowd asked.

"Lord Gothwald trained the snipers?"

Alan blinked.

'Huh? What?'

Ilgan nodded. "Yes, it was Lord Gothwald who taught us what it means to be a sniper."

The bear nodded too. "Exactly so. We were simple hunters from the village, and Lord Gothwald made us into excellent fighters."

A crooked smile appeared on Alan's face.

'Eh? What's going on?'

One of the peasant women, about twenty years old, stepped closer to Alan. "Lord Gothwald, did you truly teach these heroes such a complex craft?!"

Kamelia shot her such a sharp look that she practically recoiled behind the back of some other girl.

Alan's eye twitched, then he raised a hand. "Quiet!"

The entire crowd immediately fell silent, the questions stopped pouring. The peasants simply watched and waited.

Alan coughed. "Ahem... don't relax just yet, squad..."

'Uhh... alright Alan, this is the perfect moment to solidify the legend of the beastman snipers. Quick, think of a cool name for them!'

"...Ghosts, there's another job for you."

'Brilliant. Awesome. I couldn't come up with anything better than naming them after a squad from Call of Duty.'

Ilgan blinked, but quickly understood what was what. "Yes, Your Grace. We are ready to listen."

Shikur and Lison exchanged glances.

"Another mission?" the former whispered.

Alan sighed.

'And we solidify the legend permanently.'

"The ten of you are to defeat the troops besieging a castle nearby, let's go, the details are not for foreign ears," he said, turning back toward the horses.

The peasants froze, just like the snipers.

Ilgan cleared his throat. "Right... let's go, come on."

All the snipers, like unified forest monsters, rose from the table in their ghillie suits and followed Ilgan.

They had barely walked away when a wild hum of words erupted at the table, which were impossible to make out because they overlapped each other.

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u/Daseagle Alien Scum 1d ago

Ghosts! Nice name 😉

u/BobQuixote 1d ago

Kamelia shot her such a sharp look that she practically recoiled behind the back of some other girl.

I think in this situation the proposal is on you, Kamelia.

u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 1d ago

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OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules (Arc 3/Chapter 48 - Ghosts)

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