bookpub Chapter 615 Skullic's Mission - Part 1
Chapter 615 Skullic's Mission - Part 1
"Nowwwwww today's a good morning for killing," a jovial voice sang out. "Would you look at that! Beautiful winter sunshine, the freshest breeze. By the Gods, you couldn't get a more perfect day – and with it all, there's even a beautiful woman. Damn, she overheard me. I'll blame it on you.
You can handle the heat, can't you? This is the start of a long and prosperous relationship, after all. You can stomach this little bit of fire, eh?"
It was early in the morning, the sun had just barely come up – which given that it was winter, didn't make it that early – and the other Academy students were still sleeping. Breakfast was held later on a weekend, giving the students time to lie in.
Whatever hopes they might have had of a lie were soon disturbed by Skullic's loud proclamations. Oliver had never seen him outside of his room in the Central Castle and it was only once he was outside that he realized how lucky he'd been.
He'd never been at his best in a morning, Oliver hadn't. He'd merely endured it because he needed to. To see the contrasting type of person in Skullic, a man that evidently seemed to be a fan of the early hour, it made him realize just how much he was liable to hate that type of person.
He hadn't given them a single moment of quiet since Oliver had arrived at his office, and now that he was outside, he blamed his outburst on Oliver, as Mary glanced back at them with a fierce glare.
"I told you, it wasn't me!" Skullic protested. He was almost like a child.
"I've been around you for long enough Daemon that I know the sound of your voice. Gods, I know more of you than I know of myself – a hard fact to come to terms with," Mary said.
"But you pledged yourself to me!" Skullic protested. "Surely you should be delighted to see that your efforts haven't been wasted?"
"Don't say things that are so easily misunderstood," Mary said, sparing an apologetic glance for Oliver, who was still having a hard time figuring out their relationship. Almost as hard a time as he was having figuring out Daemon's personality.
"Isn't that obvious?" Skullic said, as they neared the main entrance hall, their feet clacking a rhythm upon the corridor tiles as they went. "Killing. They'll all likely be that simple. This person here needs killing, in the name of the High King, cut him down. Today, it's a bandit encampment. A few peasants have gone rogue.
They've gone and requisitioned an old military for and they're holed up in there, assaulting trade caravans."
"How many?" Oliver asked.
"Two hundred, three hundred, around that mark," Skullic said.
"And we're sending in a hundred men? Against fortified enemies?" Oliver asked.
"A hundred trained soldiers, boy. Our resources aren't infinite. Though you were employed to this position out of a degree of maliciousness, these are tasks that need doing. Our forces are stretched thin, with the war in the East. We don't have enough men at home to deal with brigands and rogues. We're making the most of the resources that we can," Skullic said.
"Besides, if you're anywhere near as good as the dreadful reputation you've built up, this should be a walk in the park."
"Right..." Oliver said.
"You don't look the part, though," Skullic said with a disapproving frown, now that he looked Oliver up and down. "You look like you're on the way to the Grand Forest. You haven't even got armour on, boy. Are you trying to ensure that my men don't take you seriously?"
"I need to buy some armour for this sort of work," Oliver said. Throughout his combat career, he'd never trained with the weight of armour. It continually slipped his mind. Though, he supposed with the gold he was making with Nebular, he could easily afford to put some extra coin into that sort of thing.