Godfather's System

045. Crucible - 22

As I walked back with two beasts in tow, I expected two things. First, I expected to meet with the caravan midway as the first carts started to move, hurrying up to catch up with the others. Second, I expected to create a spectacle as I dragged two large beasts back with me.

Curiously, neither happened. As I moved back, I could see that, rather than piling the tents on the ground, they were establishing those tents again, just in a tighter manner, closer to the huge bonfire. Very interesting, as other camps were already on the move, which meant that ours would stay back.

No one paid attention to me, because everyone was locked into a huge row that was going in the middle of the camp… Between several people, from all three gangs on one side … and Jertann on the other.josei

Curious, I thought as I dragged forward, with most people not even pay attention to me, either busy watching the argument or setting the tents.

Setting the camp in a tighter formation made sense. The lack of archers already reduced the overall fighting capabilities, and without the other camps, the number of beasts attacking would increase significantly. Resettling into a more permanent formation was smart.

Especially since we had no idea just how long the camp would last. It didn't take a genius to decide the sudden stop was about the delay of the young lord, but that didn't give me any idea about just how long it would last.

Either way, turning the camp into a more defensible organization made sense. Pity that the nearest abandoned town was on the other side of the river, making a temporary relocation an impossibility.

I would have much preferred to have some walls around.

Yet, as I noticed the details of the reshuffle, a frown appeared on my face. Something was wrong.

The camp was not small, with a population that was just a touch below three thousand, and the arrivals had pushed the population to somewhere near four thousand.

Those thousands of people had already split into smaller groups, like the groups that had been a part of the defensive line yesterday. The size of the groups was significantly bigger compared to that. Back then, the average size was about ten and the largest was just above twenty — and ours was the smallest, with five members.

Right now, I could see several subgroups with more than a hundred members, and even the smallest group was about thirty people. But, the way they had dispersed was interesting. The members of three gangs stuck together, each covering exactly a quarter of the camp.

Leaving the last quarter to the unaffiliated. And, it was, without a doubt, the worst location, right next to the bonfire. Previously, that location was the prime location, right next to the tent of the commander, but without the knights to handle any emergency, it would be the area that would receive the most intense attacks.

It didn't take a genius to realize that it was a bad idea, and considering the obviousness of it, it was intentional.

Several factors went into its horribleness . The first was simple. Numbers. After days of continuous recruitment, most of the members had already become a member of one of the three gangs. The Greens had the smallest number, with a bit more than five hundred, but even their numbers were higher than the remaining unaffiliated members.

However, as I observed, I noticed it had changed slightly. Of the new thousand people, more than half had joined the unaffiliated, while the rest dispersed among the other three. Meaning, that the unaffiliated had more people than the Greens after the change, but still below the Reds and the Blacks.

The difference in numbers was bad enough, but that was nothing compared to the difference in capabilities. The stronger combatants had already been recruited by the three groups, creating a gap in terms of fighting capability, whether in terms of levels, classes, or equipment.

I had a feeling that the recruits had also gone through the same pattern, which only widened the gap. Combined with the danger of defending the bonfire, where the monster was already focusing, things would turn ugly.

One side of the unaffiliated was held by the Blacks, and the other side was held by the Greens.

I didn't need to see several people at each side, listening to the begging of the unaffiliated with a gleeful expression to realize soon things would turn into a forceful recruitment.

Yet, even as everything going on, people's attention was on Jertann as he shouted, waving his hammer with veritable fury as he threatened all three gangs.

"What a mess," I muttered as I watched Jertann arguing with the gangs. Naturally, Silas and Terma were with him to support him.

Zolast was standing at a distance, but I noticed that he was holding his blades, ready to intervene. And the fact that his cart was already in the area set up for the Unaffiliated, the situation was rather clear.

Rather than putting me into the mess, I walked toward Zolast, who noticed my approach halfway in, his surprise clear. I walked calmly, and while a few people looked at me, no one paid much attention to me, probably not recognizing me under the dirt of the constant combat.

In the camp, I looked like an old man assigned to the menial task of dragging corpses.

"That's a surprising face," Zolast commented. "They thought that you already went to the other camps."

"Really?" I said with a shrug. "I was bored, so I decided to hunt a bit. I certainly didn't expect to find such a mess on my return."

"Unfortunately, it's a bit of a mess," Zolast said. "Do you want to go and stop them? Maybe you can stop that boy."

I just shrugged in dismissal.

"Why?" Zolast asked, surprising me with his tone. I expected his voice to fill with resentment, maybe anger. After all, he ended up in the middle of the ongoing mess due to me. Yet, he was just curious.

I shrugged. "I might have stopped him before everything started, but I wasn't here."

"And why don't you stop him now?" he followed.

"It's already too late. And, who am I to stop a young man from creating a ruckus?" I said, trying to look like an old wise man who was willing to support the decisions of his young friend.

Of course, the truth was a bit different. I could have stopped that … but then what? I would watch the forceful recruitment of the unaffiliated, and considering the intensity of the begging that was going on, I doubted the conditions were particularly attractive.

I was not a good, selfless man, but I had my perspective of right and wrong. There were times I had taken a more flexible approach when things were dangerous, and murder of various kinds was just business. But my morals were never flexible enough to watch more than a thousand people forced into painful servitude — with my Perception, I already caught enough snippets about the conditions that the gangs offered to the newcomers.

I didn't stop Jertann, because I had no problem with his decision.

Admittedly, the same didn't apply to the path he had taken. I would have just gone and declared my leadership of the Red group, beat — and if necessary, kill — the troublemaker, and use the whole gang to confront the other two.

Unfortunately, by challenging all three gangs at the same time, Jertann already ruined that possibility. If we tried to pull that now, they would support each other, confident of their victory … and it would end in a bloodbath.

I never liked such flashy approaches.

And, if I were to be honest with myself, the situation was not exactly to my detriment. The number of beasts that would constantly attack us was one of such benefits. It would allow me to walk forward 'recklessly' and kill many more monsters to defend the weaker people, giving me more experience.

More importantly, our side would be the weaker one, meaning people had to get more and more tired, maybe enough to give me some chance to experiment with other aspects of Charisma. I didn't expect to suddenly turn into an expert, but a chance to experiment without nobles to detect was certainly welcome.

Zolast sighed as I stood next to him, his tone enough to confirm it wasn't the first mess he found himself in either. "It's going to be a ruckus, right?" he asked.

"Without a doubt," I said watching Jertann have an explosive verbal fight. Then, I pointed at the large birds I brought along. "Since you're free, why don't you start cooking for me? Hunting them had been exhausting," I said, neglecting to mention it was less about the wounds they inflicted and more about the Health I spent to maintain the effect of the Charisma.

It seemed that I needed to prioritize Vitality when I leveled up.

I stayed at a distance, ignoring the long account of promises, threats, and old events during the fight. My attention was on the way the people were reacting, especially the members of the Greens and Blacks around them. I was ready to intervene if they tried to envelop Jertann and the others.

The situation came to an end as calmly as it could have ended. Jertann threw his red band on the ground and stomped, walking away in anger. Terma and Silas repeated it and followed him, toward us.

Amusingly, only when they arrived next to us, they recognized me through all the dirt. "Euon," Jertann gasped. "We thought that you left!"

"I was just hunting," I answered with a shrug. "However, maybe I should have stayed? I might have exercised more."

He blushed. "I'm sorry, Euon, but I can't just stand and —" he started, and I gestured for him to stop.

"Stop, what's done is done, now it's time to act," I said. "You have declared yourself as the leader, now, go and lead," I said.

"I … I didn't," he stammered, only to stop as I pointed at the Unaffiliated, who didn't miss the huge fight or the meaning of the discarded armband. The new camp was smaller, and everyone had watched the fun chaos.

"You did, and it's too late to change your mind," I said with a chuckle. It was a bit messy, I had to admit, but it worked to my benefit.

"But, I don't know how to lead," he said.

"How about you go to the center and fight for the moment, people need some inspiration," I recommended, then turned to Zolast. "I'm sure he can handle the logistical details of the situation," I commented.

"Why don't you handle those, old man," Zolast said, his petulant tone rather grating coming from a man of his age.

I smirked as I pointed at the line where the Blacks and the Unaffiliated were creating a line, then the other side where the Greens were standing. "Feel free to take my place to suppress the others," I commented.

"On the other hand, the logistics sound interesting," he said, once again showing little fear against the risk of combat, showing that he was confident to defend himself.

Interesting man.

I turned toward the edges of the group, where Blacks and Greens were making trouble already. It was time to make a show…