Chapter 411 - [Bonus ]Day MDCCCXL, Part I

To tell you the truth I didn't expect this day to be any different from the previous one. Normally I would just go to Loistavadvaar, but since I promised Aisha to be around, I was staying.

It started when out of the blue, Jayadeva sat in front of me, as I was eating my breakfast in a busy cafeteria.

- Good morning Peter - he said to me.

- Morning - I replied, holding a full spoon in the air, then I showed it in my mouth.

- I came to ask you for a favor, and also thank you for whatever you gave my son yesterday.

- Ok...

- Rishi really works a lot, and it was taking its toll on him, but yesterday he looked way better than usual, and when I asked him why, he just mentioned your name.

I nodded to that, still trying to keep eating.

- And about the favor... - he continued. - The soldiers received a clearing for hunting and F rank badges yesterday. Their captain asked me to help them with making you their supervisor since they need one during the first hunt. 

- Pass...

- I know how you feel about the whole thing. I feel the same. I heard from Aisha about the CIA agents poking their noses in other people's lives. She warned me to be careful, and I am, but this place needs earth, and to access other countries we need India. I, just like you, want this city to remain safe heaven of freedom.

- Fine, I'll do it.

- Thank you. I owe you one, Peter.

I just shook my head and returned to eating. He didn't go and waited patiently for me to finish, and then he led me to the camp of India's forces.

They had few big-ass military tents set up on some streets, a bit from the rebuilt part of the city, towards the goblin gate. There were about thirty people there, but not all of them clearly were there to become hunters.

Around twenty relatively young guys in uniforms were preparing for the department, with empty backpacks, helmets, and some old-fashioned cold steel. I remembered few faces from a couple of days ago when we had our little sparring.

- Capitan, I brought him - said Jayadeva to the commander.

- Thank you Jayadeva - said a guy in his thirties, with a cleanly shaved face, square jaw, and hair cut very short. - I'm captain Asim Patel, and you must be Peter.

He was a different guy from the one I last saw supervising the training of troops. I also noticed two other guys coming our way. One had long, curly hair, and a nicely trimmed beard. The other looked kinda young, with a little goatee, and a slight mustache. He was wearing glasses.

- Yeah. I'm Peter. I've been told you you wanted me to supervise your troops during your first hunt, but why? You are new here, aren't you?

- Yes, I am - he agreed.

- Actually, it was my idea - said the approaching guy with glasses. - I'm agent Bharat Kumar, the Intelligence Bureau. Soldiers were talking about you, and what you did, so I thought this might be a good idea.

I nodded slowly.

- And who is your friend?

- I'm Kunal Dara a field surgeon - he smiled at me. - I also am partially to blame. Marcella told me you can heal people, so I actually started this whole thing...

- Marcella?

- Yes. I've been sent to take care of the health of our troops here and also help in the local hospital.

- What else she told you about me?

- To not piss you off - a wide smile appeared on his face. - If I want to live, that is.

- That might be a good idea - agreed Jayadeva. - How are the weapons?

- Good, but it's still a bit weird to my boys since they are tingling because of magic. It was a generous donation - said Asim.

- My pleasure. I wish you a good hunt, but now I need to go. There is a lot of work waiting for me in the workshop.

- Send my regards to your son - added captain, and then turned to me. - We are ready for departure, what about you?

- I was born ready.

He smiled upon hearing my words.

- Grab the equipment, we are departing! - he yelled at his guys.

The whole group grabbed what was necessary, and started moving towards the goblin gate. The four of us were at the frontline, with the regular soldiers following.

- So, Peter, where are you from? - asked Kunal after we have been walking for few minutes.

- It doesn't matter where I'm from.

- Ok... I just wanted to start a conversation...

- Then think of a different topic.

- How about you tell us about your abilities? - asked Bharat. - I know you can summon an army, and heal people. What else can you do?

- I can walk. I can breathe, and I can talk.

He chuckled.

- I get it, you don't want to talk about that either - he concluded.

- I had enough CIA agents trying to fish for stuff about me, and I don't need you to do the same.

- Okay, I won't. Then how about you tell us of the goblins?

- Short, green, stupid. They will charge you no matter what. It's easy to kill them if one on one, but they might surround you, and broke your bones if you are not careful.

- With our numbers this shouldn't be a problem - said Asim.

- And what if we go to the dungeon? - asked Bharat. - I heard there are different types there, and also the boss, like in video games.

- If you go to the dungeon, you will probably die.

- That's how strong the other kinds of goblins are? - asked Asim.

- No, because of how many of them are there.

- But aren't they in a cave? They cant attack us all at once. If we can block them in a passage, then we should be able to deal with them - he argued.

- You think your soldiers will hold for so long? I doubt they can go for longer than five minutes with optimal speed, and after that, they will get slower, and slower, and they will die eventually.

- Fair point. I'm used to having men with guns, not swords, axes, and spears - he explained.

- So we shouldn't try the dungeon? - asked Bharat.

Something was telling me he was trying to bait me to help them.

- You are a grown man. You might try whatever you want - I replied.

- I'm asking you for advice.

- My advice is, don't go.

This ended the conversation for a moment since they clearly didn't get the answers they were looking for from me.