Triple Strength

275. The Boss: Wiremu

“I beg to differ, Colonel,” I said, “The Black Rock Mercenaries are responsible for security, and we are better in a disused quarry where few know about us and where we can deploy our full set of security measures than being restricted in an army base with everybody knowing about us.”

“The Free Republic Defence Force can offer you a level of protection that you can't get anywhere else. Lieutenant Pūriri here would be assigned as full-time protection. She has an Affinity for a local hardwood called a Pūriri and is very proficient and experienced in personal protection.”

I was about to respond to that when Master Matua spoke up. “Colonel and Lieutenant, I feel I need to interrupt. The one thing I am known for in my long career is my sensitivity to Spiritual Energy. This means I know what is going on in this room better than anybody. There are currently five affinity users in the room right now and two bonds with affinities. There is another bond lying in the sun by the front door.” Never trust old people.

The Colonel looked shocked, but he was quick, looking at the three strangers in front of him, and his Lieutenant made four.

“Shit,” said Tabitha, and there was a flash of movement, and the Chief’s Administrator slumped to his desk with a dagger through his back and into his heart.

“Kerry!” the mayor said, surprised, but Tabitha had kept moving. She collected the papers he was writing on, and I saw them disappear into her Spatial Pocket. My Hunter Marks were cut off as the papers went into the pocket. I hadn’t realised the pocket would do that. That was very useful information.

Tabitha kept moving around the table. The Lieutenant had created a solid wooden shield and drawn her sword. The Patroller Chief was standing and checking on her assistant. As Tabitha moved, her Body Image changed, and she was no longer looking like Kerry Te Kanawa but closer to her normal look in supple, tight-fitting leathers.

“Sorry for the violence, but your assistant was selling information to the Mad Mongrels, Chief Waiata. They are a street gang/crime lord wannabe. I was going to follow him later to get to their boss, but I couldn’t take the chance of the affinity information getting out.”

“Who the fuck are you?” demanded the Colonel.

“And what happened to Kerry?” said the Mayor.

“Kerry’s fine. She is sleeping off a particularly fun night on the town last night. I got to know her more intimately than strictly necessary, but she is a very fine woman. I would hire her away from you, but I doubt she will ever trust me again. I am Putia Mangu of the Black Rock Mercenaries.”

“I hope you have proof of that accusation.” Chief Waiata said menacingly.

“Check the locked drawer in his desk. He wasn’t that careful.” Which means he either wasn’t that careful or she planted it.

“What is this about you all having affinities?” the Colonel asked.

I spoke, “How about we all sit down again, nobody else is going to get killed,” I looked at Tabitha, “Right?”

“He is the only leak I found so far.”

“But we can’t just sit down and talk, there is a man lying dead there!” said the Mayor.

“He’s not going to mind,” Tabitha said.

“I think it is the Mayor that minds,” I said. “I can dispose of the body, but you won’t get it back.”

“That body is evidence,“ the Chief said.

“Of what? Surely you have enough reliable witnesses as to what happened. The Mayor, The Patroller Chief, a Colonel, a Lieutenant as well as two respected enchanters. I would rather finish this conversation now.”

“He might have family,” the Chief said.

“Not particularly,” Tabitha said. “He was trying to make the Mad Mongrels into his family. Any way they can hold a memorial service without a body. I have done that for two people I was very close to.”

Really Tabitha? Modrica and my memorial services don’t really count.

“I will dispose of the body. It will be a good demonstration of our ability to protect our own.” I walked around the table as everybody parted for me. The Lieutenant still had her shield at the ready. They parted, but they made sure they were where they could see. I grabbed the body, pulled out the knife and tossed it to Tabitha. I then lay the body on the floor. I noted Tabitha had already taken his coin pouch. I hadn’t seen that. She was getting good.

Before I proceeded I said, “It is obvious we don’t want our affinities to be known.” I looked pointedly at Matua who had spilled the beans. “However, Master Enchanter, you are not to blame for this man’s death. He had a terminal illness and would have passed away within 24 hours anyway.” Well, he would have unless Tabitha found a use for him but they don’t need to know that. “You people all have access to information, so it is going to occur to you that the four Affinity users here are not the only affinity users in the Black Rock Mercenaries.”

The Colonel said, “The Orc with the Dire Bear. Who the hell are you people?”

“We are the Black Rock Mercenaries, currently on contract to Wiremu Hunter. If that doesn’t tell you about the importance of Mayakku’s work, then you should retire from your positions immediately. We don’t want this known and we will find out if it is leaked. Putia,” I pointed to Tabitha, “is not even our main assassin, she doesn’t even have the class. The eight people in this room who are not Black Rock are the only people who know all this.”

I knelt down and encased the body in a stone coffin. They couldn’t see it but I made it very thick stone, especially at the bottom. Then I let Puia pass through into the coffin. Despite the thickness of the stone heat started radiating from it. Intense heat. I lifted the coffin slightly on short legs to try to avoid marking the wooden floor. It might already be too late. After about five minutes Puia passed back into me and I put my hand on the stone, which had a bit of a glow to it. The coffin changed shape, reducing in size and shape to resemble a traditional urn. My Thermal Manipulation (Mineral) reduced the heat to a manageable level and I placed the urn in front of the Chief.

“His ashes, for any family members,” I said and went back around and took my seat.

Matua opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted, “Matua, I do believe you signed a confidentiality agreement. Please think carefully about what you might say.” He shut his mouth.

Mayakku spoke up, “Lieutenant, may I have a look at your shield?”

The Lieutenant looked at the Colonel who nodded, and she passed it over.

Mayakku looked at it carefully, then said, “This is fantastic material for enchanting. If you want some coin on the side you could make us some.” Matua and Laura perked up at that, obviously interested as well.

“I will think about it,” she said.

“If you want to keep this shield, I could add a few enchantments to enhance it for you.” The Lieutenant made a hand wave that indicated the was OK by her. Mayakku then laid the shield down on the table, flicked out a claw and then calmly and carefully started carving runes into the back of the shield. The hardwood shield, by just using her claw. It took her about ten minutes and everybody just watched. I think she was doing it partly to let everybody calm down and process what had just happened.

When she had finished she showed the Lieutenant what she had done. “This is the standard Recharging rune that any enchanter can use, but the wood is so saturated in Spiritual energy you won’t need it. If you have a hardening or strengthening Skill to go with the wood, just applying that would recharge the wood and therefore the enchantments. This is a Toughening Rune, This is fire resistance and a cold resistance rune. This last one has to be activated. I am assuming you have a Shield Bash-type Skill?” She nodded, “This gives it a bit of extra power.”

Laura was flabbergasted, “You did all that without any tools or reference material! That is incredible.”

Mayakku shrugged, “I am the Black Rock Mercenaries’ Enchanter. That is all standard stuff.” She handed the shield back to the Lieutenant.

Time to get this meeting back on track. “As you can see Colonel, we are more capable than you of guarding Mayakku and the work she is doing.” I looked at the mayor, “And a quarry is a good defensive position for us to work from.

“I will have the city gift it to you. You can take possession immediately.” the Mayor said. I would be surprised if Tabitha wasn’t already in possession of it.

I nodded at the Mayor, “Thank you.” I turned back to the Colonel. “Colonel, you were going to offer to have the Lieutenant be personal protection for Mayakku. As she is one of the eight people in the know, we would be happy to have her work with us.”

There was no way he was going to let us operate without some eyes and ears in our group, so I extended the branch to have her join us. We can manage one person.

The Colonel nodded, “That is acceptable for now, but we will need to regularly review the security needs.”

Yes, you will keep trying to get more people inside our group. I know that.

“Very well, we will need a few days to get the place set up, but it will be faster with a wood affinity user, as long as you are willing to help?” She nodded. I looked at the Chief, “We will let you know when we are ready to make our first attempt and you can arrange to arrange to have the slave come to us. It would be better for the slave to come to us, but if you want us to go to the slave that can be done as well. I am sure we will be ready within a week.”

The Chief nodded, “We will be investigating this,” she pointed to the urn.

“You know where we will be,” I replied. Not that Putia Mangu may ever make an appearance again, but we will see.

With that, the meeting broke up and we were escorted from the premises. When we got out front Cōmpēṟi joined us and then Dusk trotted over to Tabitha. Matua could sense exactly what type of horse Dusk was. I am very glad senses like Matua are incredibly rare as it is one reliable way to track us. I will have to work on ways to hide better.

We parted ways with Matua and Laura. They would come out and help in a couple of days. I think they were in shock a bit. Go home and have a cuppa tea and a biscuit, but don’t forget the confidentiality agreement.