General Ekkerson put the piece of paper illustrating the specifications of the Mule down and looked at the robot before him instead. He hadn’t liked the piddly little thing called the Hound when Arascus had shown it off, but this?

It was an armoured bathtub on legs. That was the best to describe it. Painted in stripes of yellow and with tiny rubber knobs on the ends of its joints that made it look like it wore socks. A little head on a rotor with blinking red lights for eyes. The machine did not even rock from side to side as Ekkerson grabbed its side and tried to move it. Easily half a team’s kit could be thrown into that space. A whole platoon’s worth of bullets. A wounded man would fit with room to spare. Hell, two would fit!

The robot did not move as General Ekkerson walked around it with his team that were inspecting it. “Arascus says we have six of these and four days to make sure they’re ready for mass production. Apparently Marshal Tremali is testing them too, but we’re to try with the desert.”

“Four days?”

“He said to put them through hell.”

“Oh we will.”

“Is this a village or a town?” Lyca asked as the group of four neared this small collection of buildings conglomerated around a highway. There was a gas station, a shop, maybe fifty or so houses all stood independent of each other. Most had Anarchia’s black red banners hanging off their roofs or walls. Men and women were walking around, all with rifles slung over their backs. Most of the homes had cars parked, there were two trucks at the station, but the highway was empty. “Or a town-let?”

“What the fuck is a town-let?” Edmonton asked.

“A small town.” Lyca replied flatly, Eliza chuckled to when she heard the answer.

“It’s a village.” Fleur said as they neared. Lyca squinted as he inspected the rifles. Several of the people had already looked at them, but most didn’t even bother or gave them a single fearful glance and then continued. No one had to say it, but the silent communication from the people living here was obvious: Mind your own business and we’ll mind ours.

“I’m disappointed.” Lyca said as he inspected the rifles. He knew they looked familiar! It was surplus Imperial bolt-actions that had ceased production before the Reclamation War had even finished.

“Village.” Fleur said it with a horrendous strained Rancais accent, somehow a word that had two syllables managed to pretend it had five. That was more like it. “The word is the same in Allian as is it in Rancais.”

“Sad.” Lyca said.

“Shut the fuck up. At least people speak Rancais.” It wasn’t even annoying or surprising, Lyca was just amused by the fact that Fleur managed to embody every stereotype of her pretentious nation.

“Gracja’s claim to fame is that we house Arcadia. That’s enough for us.” Lyca said and then his smile dropped as the four got to the metal barrier that marked the start of the highway. They looked one way. Nothing. An empty horizon of green fields utterly stuffed with orchards and vineyards and empty pastures for grazing cattle, all clambering up small yet steep hills. The other way? The exact same thing, bar the fact that the sun wasn’t blinding them from this direction and the sky was a marvellous light blue.

Lyca looked to Eliza as she prepared to vault over the metal barrier. The girl was unbelievably filthy. Her white shirt covered in sweat and grape juice, her black skirt was dirty with soil and her palms were purple. But then her smile that didn’t have a care in the world was exactly why the Lyca wouldn’t trade her for anyone else. Lyca extended his arm for the girl to help her clamber over. Even with the backpack, the girl wasn’t too heavy. Edmonton saw Lyca, then looked hopefully to Fleur. She stuck out her tongue at him and made a rude gesture before hopping over herself.

Lyca vaulted the metal barrier, his heavy hiking boots landed on the black tarmac and his mind reached for sorcery. He felt Eliza and Edmonton and Fleur just about grab theirs too. No one revealed they could wield the art, but when there were rifles about, it was simply better to be ready to flick bullets away at the notice of a heartbeat. The party crossed the highway carefully as the local populace started to return to the homes.

Just as Lyca had sensed before, he sensed it now. No one was afraid of the people who had come over the hill, no one was going to come and shout and chase them away, but no one was going to come and say hello either. They would simply get out of the way without a word. Windows weren’t smashed, cars weren’t crashed, homes weren’t burned down, but the air was heavy. “Good atmosphere here.” Lyca said sarcastically.

“Like the mountains.” Eliza said.

“To the station?” Edmonton asked then answered his own question. “We need to stock up on water.”

“Here’s the more important question.” Lyca said.

“If you’re going to ask what I think you’re going to ask then you can fuck off.” Fleur quickly said.

“I was going to say whether we’re staying the night here?” Lyca already knew that no one would agree, he himself didn’t particularly want to either frankly.

“We should ask about anyway.” Eliza said. The girl’s bravery always impressed Lyca, Eliza always made herself out to be scared and timid. That always made Lyca twice as brave, for himself and for her sake, but sometimes he thought if it was just an act. “To see what is going on here and get a feel for the area.” Lyca looked at Fleur and Edmonton as they looked at him. All of them were annoying and argumentative, all of them knew that, but it was difficult to pretend not to see sense when sense laid itself bare before you. “And like Ed said, pick up water.”

“Do you think they take money?” Ed asked. Lyca looked at the tall man in borderline shock. He hadn’t considered that whatsoever.

“They probably don’t at this point.” Fleur said. “But let’s just go on in.” She led to the gas station, two trucks were parked. One had an occupant who was watching them carefully from the cabin. A few cars were parked next to the building too and Lyca smelled the petrol and diesel from the pumps. The front of the building itself was made entirely out of glass that hid little. Half the products were gone but there was actually a man stood behind the till, in a blue shirt. No weapon on him though, maybe he had one under the counter. Lyca’s eyes scanned the door and the immediate area for tripwires or spikes or any of the other traps he had seen soldiers set up during the Kirinyaan Invasion. Apart from the fact that the very idea of being near a fuelling station which could be blown up made him nervous, there was nothing.

Edmonton went in first. “We’re closed.” The man said it in the same way a judge would declare a sentence for a criminal he had a personal grudge with. The tone immediately said that diplomacy would not work. Military lieutenants would have the same one when they were simply forbidden from doing something and no amount of begging would get them to change their mind. Edmonton saw it too, and Edmonton looked to Lyca.

Lyca did not need to be given permission to make a show twice. He walked in and tapped the sign on the door. “It says open.” Lyca said as he made a show of looking around the shop first, then at the till worker. “Do you speak Allian? Dosch? Rancais? Gracjan?” It was an irrelevant question since the man obviously understood him, but it asserted that Lyca would not be leaving. He just about managed to stop himself from saying Kirinyaan, that would have given too much away.

“Allian, you can fuck off.” The till keeper replied coldly.

“That’s no way to speak to a customer.” Lyca pointed to the waters and Eliza went off. “Marks? Monets? Krowns or Koruns? I even have Imperial Marks if you want it.”

“If you want water then take water and go.” Lyca looked around the shop. There were some nuts, some sweets. A bag of crisps.

“Do you have alcohol?”

“No.”

“Cigarettes?”

“No.” Lyca smelled the air. What a liar.

“I can smell it.” Lyca said and the till keeper finally took a step back. His brown eyes narrowed at Lyca as he scanned the youths again.

“Who are you?”

“Travellers.” Lyca said. “Once we go, we were never here.” The shopkeeper shook his head. Lyca saw eyes go to his side. The direction of the truck with the occupant. “Do you have an issue with Anarchia’s men?” The shopkeeper froze. The man’s smile dropped, sweat burst out over his head.

“Wow.” Fleur said. “You couldn’t have more tact?”

“And here I thought you’d try to not be so blunt about it.” Edmonton added.

“We were spotted already.” Lyca said.

“Why would say that?” The shopkeeper cried out. “Why? I have nothing to do with you! You just came in, I don’t know who you are!” Lyca, Fleur and Edmonton all looked at the man as if he had lost his mind. Who exactly was he speaking to?

“They can hear us.” Eliza said as she pointed through the glass and at a group of odd men in odd clothes who were looking out from behind the truck.

“In that case, I was wanting to offer my services.” Lyca said to the shopkeeper. “I run Lyca’s Anklebiter Removal. I remove Anklebiters, very dangerous and very common in Rancais nowadays. There’s a whole plague of them. They swarm you the moment you step outside, all I charge is-“ The door swinging open and five men coming in to block it put a stop to Lyca’s speech.

Lyca made a double take as he looked at them. The man in the front was unnaturally tall, but terribly proportioned. His legs were the same length as Lyca’s and Lyca was no Edmonton, but this fellow’s spine was half again the height it should be. Behind him came a man with quivering ears, he had bulging muscles, as did another. Those both had clubs by their sides whereas the tall fellow had a rifle on his back. The two others simply looked off. They were ill proportioned, with shoulders too large for the rest of their bodies. One man had a neck so horrendously thick it looked like he had no neck at all!

That was nothing about the clothes they were wearing. Vests and tight trousers and capes, all in the black and red colours of Anarchia’s flags. Lyca shared a glance with Edmonton, Fleur and Eliza. No one wanted to step in, so it was for him to take the stage. Before they could introduce themselves, Lyca spoke up, there was nothing to lose. One glance at the faces of these men said that the situation could only end in one way. “I make it policy not to donate to freak shows, go beg elsewhere.”

Edmonton sighed and Fleur slapped her face. Eliza giggled though. That was important. “Who are you?” That unnaturally tall man said. Lyca leaned back on the counter, making sure to lounge on it. He made it purposefully theatrical and annoying, even putting his elbows behind him, sliding one leg over the over, and flicking his hand dismissively.

“Depends who’s asking.” The shop-keep behind Lyca took steps away from the counter. His arms raised as if to show off how none-threatening he was.

The unnaturally tall man narrowed his eyes at Lyca. “I asked first.” Lyca scratched his beard and yawned. Eliza giggled from the other side. Fleur and Edmonton both made tired sighs. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”

“Should I?” Lyca asked. Some of the men around the tall fellow made stupid grins. One of them looked at Eliza. Lyca thought about how long his death should be.

“We’re the Popular Militia of this area.” The tall man said the title as if Lyca was supposed to be impressed. Maybe someone else would be. The shopkeeper certainly was, he scurried away from under the tall man’s gaze. But Lyca? Or his team? Were they supposed to be impressed by man who looked like his spine had grown too long? The man opened his mouth to continue, but Lyca interrupted him.

“Popular Militia like Honest Politician?” Lyca asked. Eliza giggled again, even Edmonton and Fleur found it funny, both of them tried and failed to hide their wry smiles. Lyca thought about how to annoy this man even more.

“Popular Militia like militia of the people. As in we’re the people who protect the post-state society from counter-revolutionaries.” The tall man said carefully. “What are you here for?”

The answer came instantly. “I run Lyca’s Anklebiter Removal. What do you think?” Lyca said coldly. “I remove Anklebiters, I’m staring at five right now.” The five men shared cautious looks. Lyca was surprised that this conversation had been allowed to go on in the first place. If he was in that man’s position, blood would have already been spilled.

“Let’s take this outside, no need to break anything in here.”

Lyca slapped the counter as he pushed off and spoke to the shop keep without even turning around to look at the man. “Offer has changed. Lyca’s Anklebiter Removal is free of charge.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep