Ruthless: Path of Conquest

Mina and James were walking back from the service when they came upon the unknown.

Others, including Yulia, were still there, eating and talking. When Mina planned the service, she had asked several people with the Cook Job, including Alba, to prepare a dinner to follow the funeral.

But James had decided to make an early exit, and he expressed the preference to Mina tersely.

“I think we should go now,” he had said quietly.

Observing that her husband seemed a bit distracted or stressed, Mina agreed immediately. The two made a quiet move back toward the apartments. It helped that with food being served, James was no longer the center of attention.

Some others had already begun walking off, not in the mood to eat. Mina could not hear anyone commenting on her and James’s decision to leave, although superhuman senses were more in his wheelhouse than hers.

“I thought you delivered that beautifully, skapi,” Mina said in what she intended to be a light, soothing tone. She placed a hand on his bicep.

His eyes had been staring straight ahead, almost boring a hole in the apartment buildings, but her touch seemed to bring him back to the present.

“Oh, thank you,” James said. “I thought your plans came together extremely well. The funeral was a success. Did you see that guy in the crowd wearing a mask?”

Mina had planned more or less the entire funeral while James was semi-incapacitated from blessing people, only occasionally asking his opinion on some detail she thought might be more important than the average.

“I—wait, what guy? There was someone in there wearing a mask?”

I was watching you almost the whole time, she thought. Wait, did you try to Identify him?

“I guessed he probably wasn’t part of the plan,” James said. “When I saw him, I was divided on whether to just attack him or ignore him until he made a move. It helped make my decision that he was by himself and not making any threatening moves. But there was something a little unsettling—”

His voice broke off suddenly.

“What was unsettling?” Mina asked.

“Sorry,” James said. He pointed into the distance by the apartments. It was close to dark now, so the long, deep shadows hid much of the front of the buildings from view in the area where he was pointing. Mina couldn’t see what he was gesturing at.

“What’s over there?” she asked.

“The guy in the mask,” he said, his tone still calm but now with an edge to it. “He’s talking to my Mom.”

That’s creepy…

They walked the rest of the way back to the apartments more briskly.

They were halfway there when Mina’s eyes were finally able to perceive the details in the darkness. Spotting Zora was not hard. But the man next to him, dressed in black hood and cloak, blended almost perfectly into the shadows.

Mina shivered as she saw the shape of him. The image had the instant feel of the supernatural to her, like she was seeing the glowing rune markings on Hecate’s servant Charon. Except this was just a figure, standing in the distance. No glowing, no apparent magic.

He turned to look at them, and Mina saw what her husband had been talking about. Beneath the hood, the man wore a featureless mask. A flat, smooth, black oval. No eye holes, even, as far as she could see. She couldn’t see his hands clearly from that distance, but that suggested to her that he was probably wearing gloves, too.

Investigate.

A Status screen appeared for the figure, but it was far from illuminating.

[Status

Name: Unknown Entity

Race: ?

Class: ?

Job: ?

Health: ?

Mana: ?

Stamina: ?

Stats

Yes

Skills

Wouldn’t You Like to Know? Lv. 100]

“What the heck?”

“Oh, I guess you tried to Identify him, too,” James said.

“I used Investigate,” she said.

“But it gave you just about as little useful information as my Identify, right?”

“For Skills, it says, ‘Wouldn’t You Like to Know?,’ James. I don’t like this.”

The more she thought about this person, the more she felt a pit forming in her stomach.

“Me neither.” But his voice sounded calm. Calculating.

He’s probably using that Skill he’s mentioned that gives him odds of winning a fight, she thought.

James shook his head. “Yeah, I have no idea who or what this thing is. Hester?”

Mina did not hear what the spider said in response, if anything.

Her husband resumed walking toward the figure, though. Perhaps James knew something she did not. Or perhaps he was simply acting on his general predilection toward action.

As they drew closer to the figure and Zora, the quiet murmuring of the conversation came to a halt before Mina could overhear any of it. All of this heightened her anxiety.

If James felt the same way, however, she could see no sign of it. He seemed to have recovered completely from his unease about the stranger from earlier.

They reached within a few feet of the masked man, and James increased the length of his stride and stepped between Mina and the stranger. Without needing an exchange of words, Mina understood that he was trying to signal to her to stay behind him. She obliged and kept her distance from the mysterious man in black.

“James Robard,” pronounced a deep, slightly mirthful voice. “It feels as if I have been waiting a long time to meet you.”

“You’ll forgive the delay,” James replied acidly. “I was dealing with the small matter of presiding over the funeral you crashed. But I’m glad that my mother has been entertaining you.”

You’re not being very diplomatic, Mina thought. What were this guy and James’s mother saying to each other? Does she know who he is?

“She has,” the nameless figure replied. He turned to Zora with an approving gesture. “You are fortunate to have come from such a wise woman, Your Majesty.”

Zora smiled cautiously. “I believe this gentleman is a friend, James,” she said.

“Has he given you his name?” James asked, his tone slightly more relaxed. “I’ve been wondering.”

“Ah, pardon my poor manners,” the unknown figure said. “A guest should not so test the patience of his host. I walked into a funeral to which I was not invited, and I still have yet to introduce myself.”

He had a slightly old-fashioned style of speaking, Mina noticed.

A guest should not so test the patience of his host?

“I would not expect that you would be comfortable calling me the Unknown Entity, or something equivalent to that.” He paused as if waiting for them to acknowledge that they had already tried using Identify and Investigate on him. “In any case, you can call me Bear.”

Meaning that is not his real name. Whatever Skill or item he’s using to conceal his identity, it’s entirely intentional.

“Fine, Bear,” James said. “What brings you here?”

“That is complicated. You see, I want your help, James Robard. But I need you to trust me—or perhaps more accurately, you need to trust me—before I ask you to do something that has no obvious benefit to yourself. So I intend to help you first.”

It was hard for Mina to imagine that plan working out as the stranger expected. James would never trust Bear until he knew something about him. James also wouldn’t willingly accept help from a stranger who he knew would want some favor in return later.

“Why not remove the mask and tell us your real name if you want to be trusted?” Jame said through clenched teeth. “A face and a name goes a long way.”

“Alas, I cannot,” said Bear. “There are rules to this universe, as you know. Think of me as someone on a quest, for whom the System does not permit the removal of my customary attire or admission of my identity. I cannot tell you or show you who I am, even indirectly.”

“There are strict rules to the System,” James said slowly, as if chewing on some significant piece of information.

Mina thought that something had been communicated between the lines that she lacked the background to grasp. Is this person subject to some special rules that we’re not? Maybe he could be a proctor. They wore masks…

“You mentioned that you wanted to help me,” James said. “To win my trust. What form is that meant to take? Are you going to fight alongside me in my next battle?” The skepticism in his voice was palpable.

Bear’s voice deepened an octave and switched to an almost scolding tone. “You correctly understand that I will not, James. For reasons I would rather not discuss.”

“That’s fine,” James said. “Only citizens have to fight for me. You’re a guest, right? Just passing through?”

The masked man nodded. “I will be gone long before you tire of me, I promise,” he said.

“They say that fish and guests start to stink after three days,” James replied.

Mina wanted to smile at that. James had first heard that expression from her, and she had taken it from a book about Benjamin Franklin.

“I will bear that in mind.”

“So, you won’t fight. How will you help me?”

“I am a wise old man,” Bear said in a more jovial tone. “I know you cannot see my face under the mask, but I have a long gray beard trapped under here. This old guy has seen some things.”

Mina wasn’t certain she had heard that last sentence correctly. Was that word “guy” or “eye?” And does he realize just how many advisors James already has? There are people to tell him when the wheat should be planted and how to organize a military unit. There are fellows who think they can get the electricity back on. James has a god on speed dial. What extra advice could he possibly need?

“Do you have advice for me now?” James asked.

“Absolutely,” Bear said. “The first thing is that you have a serious threat to the stability of your kingdom on your land right now.”

James waited.

“Monotheists.” Bear dropped the last word as if it were something dirty.

What, like Yulia? Christianity, after all, was a monotheistic religion.

Mina raised an eyebrow, and James chuckled quietly.

“Did I say something that you found funny?” Bear asked, his tone carefully neutral.

“Until just now, half of the Earth was monotheistic,” James said. “Not you, though, I guess.”

“Oh, as I said, I have seen some things,” Bear replied, his tone slightly barbed. “If your young eyes had witnessed the sights that I have seen, you would not dismiss the danger of these monotheists so easily.”

What has he seen? Mina wondered. I feel like everything he says is laden with clues as to who he is. As if he’s inviting us to guess who he is. But then why not just come out and say it outright?

“I didn't say I dismiss them,” James said. “Just pointing out that if I want to worry about monotheists, I’ll have a lifetime of work cut out for me. It’s half the planet. More than that, depending on how you think about Hinduism. I figure these people will work things out for themselves, anyway.” He gestured toward the sky. “It’s a wide open universe, now. We all know there are more than just one god.”

“Do not be so certain that they will ‘work things out’ in the way you would like,” Bear said. “Do you know how intolerant of difference they are? I assume they still teach history in schools these days. Can you imagine what they might do to your precious newborn country when it becomes obvious that you do not subscribe to their view of reality?”

“This is a nice country I have, and it would be a shame if something were to happen to it,” James said, his tone slightly heated. “Is that where you’re going with this? If I don’t do something about the people who just showed up—”

I don’t think that was what he intended, skapi, Mina thought. But she understood why her husband was growing angry. Someone had appeared in their land to play mind games with them. He was making vague statements about the future danger of people James had decided to allow in. This person ought to know how he would be perceived.

“We should table this topic, perhaps,” Bear said. “I sense that we are getting onto the wrong track. I did not imagine you would be so hot-headed. I am sincerely trying to help you, not threatening you.”

“Any other advice for the moment?” James asked. “If not, the wife and I were going to go and relieve my sister. She’s been watching the kids.”

“You could stand to do some of what the young folks call ‘min-maxing,’” Bear said. “To better prepare for certain violent eventualities.”

“Obviously I’m already doing that,” James said.

“You could stand to improve your magic,” Bear replied, “but actually, I meant for your wife. I can tell that you have trained yourself a great deal, but she is still almost as weak as she was when Orientation started. The baby is out of her. There is no reason why she should not be out fighting, the same as you.”

Mina felt unpleasantly surprised to have been suddenly brought into the conversation. Am I really that weak? I kind of saved the day back in my Orientation. I thought that was progress…

“We seem to keep getting off on the wrong foot,” James said, stepping in closer to the masked man. “First, you give me advice that sounds a lot like threats. Then you insult my wife.”

That’s right, Mina thought. Kick his butt!

She knew that she should not be rooting for the situation to escalate to violence, but the man had insulted her. The sight of her husband stepping up to fight for her honor made her heart beat faster. And it made the actual insult sting a little less.

“Think of the future, James,” Bear said. He had not moved at all in response to James inching closer to him—as if James posed as little threat to him as a bee sting. “You cannot always be standing by your wife’s side, ready to offer your protection. You have to allow her to face real dangers and grow, not sit on your property or fight only in your tamed dungeon.”

Mina wanted to raise the fact that she had gone with Zora and Alice to raid Sister Strange’s base, but even that had been while James was distracting Sister Strange herself. But Mina recognized that she had faced very little direct danger, in comparison with the hundreds of soldiers who had needed to be revived by James’s blessing. With Zora and Alice there, none of the Wraiths had even gotten close.

Maybe he’s right, she thought. I have been relying on James a lot since we got back here. Whether he had good intentions or not, the advice to improve her own power made sense.

As she considered that, she noticed that her husband’s posture had stiffened in response to something in what Bear had said. She could not be sure what had provoked that reaction.

“Do you have any other advice?” James asked coldly. “If not, we’ll bid you a good evening.”

“No further advice just now,” Bear said. “Just a little prediction.”

“We have more than enough people who think they’re fucking prophets here already,” James said.

He stepped past the masked man and opened the door to the apartment, and the sound of the children playing drifted down. Mina instantly felt a little bit better.

“Ah, but this one will come true very soon,” Bear said. He put his hand to his mask theatrically, as if he was receiving a psychic vision or something. “You will meet someone from your Orientation again, James Robard. Someone who you will know you can trust. I think he can corroborate my warning about the monotheists.”

“That’s great,” James said, turning back to face Bear. “When that happens, I’ll look forward to getting more of your sage advice.” He looked at Mina and gestured as if to take her hand.

By that, she understood that he wanted her to go with him quickly up the stairs. She had the feeling that James still thought this man was dangerous—or at least potentially hostile.

But the situation was too strange for her to believe that now. No, this stranger might be a prophet or some sort of huckster, but he posed no threat of immediate violence. Otherwise, the elaborate ruse would be unnecessary.

“That is the wise man I expected,” Bear said. “Distrust until you verify.”

Mina could hear the smile in his voice.

James ignored those last remarks completely.

“Are you coming up, Mom?” he asked.

“No, I might entertain our guest a little longer,” Zora said. “He’s more than he seems.”

“Okay,” James said, visibly suppressing a sigh. “Let’s go, then.”

Mina stepped close to him and took her husband’s hand, carefully ignoring the masked man, and she felt James’s mood lighten almost instantly.

As the door closed behind them, she heard the scraps of a last quiet exchange between Zora and the unknown figure.

“That didn’t go as well as I might have imagined,” she was saying. “I had hoped you would be a bit more diplomatic.”

“They do not need to like me, Zora,” the entity who called himself Bear replied. His style of speech seemed to have changed for her, as if he was taking the conversation more seriously perhaps. “Trying for that might even decrease the odds of mutual trust. They only need to understand that I am telling the truth and that they can rely on my information. That should be more than enough to facilitate a mutually beneficial exchange. The time of wolves—”

The words were cut off by the door.

Their new visitor, with his advice and vague prophecy, had left her with far more questions than it had answers.