BXBX NOVEL Chapter 265 264: After Action Report
Pushing it back, we all stared down at the revealed woman for a few moments, before Jahi muttered "Don't know if I should be surprised, or..?"
Laying on her back was a human woman, her hair pulled into a braid that started from her brow and went down her skull, while the sides of her head were clean shaven.
Her lips were opened in a shocked expression, and her dull brown eyes stared up at us, letting us know she didn't expect to die at that moment.
Dark brown skin shimmered under the firelight, and I unsheathed a dagger and began to cut away the cloak, not trusting the corpse whatsoever.
With the cloak now little more than tatters of cloth, we were greeted with the sight of a leather clad body and dozens of various hidden weapons.
Thin throwing needles were holstered across the woman's chest, while four different daggers were strapped to her waist, alongside a rapier.
Pouches and pockets were filled with small spherical objects, each one laden with explosive runes, and a few small tinctures of dark green or blue liquids spilled out onto the floor.
A pair of vials filled with pills joined the poisons, and Leone had begun to sift through the alchemical weapons, her nose twitching as she sniffed each one.
Laying out the weapons, I nodded to myself as I looked between them, before returning to the corpse.
Gingerly patting her down, I searched for any other weapons or items, before frowning as a thin tube was pulled from her ankle.
Uncorking it, I shimmied out a rolled up piece of paper, which I unfurled and looked over.
"It's her orders..."
Handing it to Jahi, I continued to search her body, before sighing as nothing else turned up.
Leone held up the pills and said "Think these are a diluted healing pill mixed with some general antidotes, while the poisons are rather... common as well. The blue one is a combination of Nightshade and Azure Rotberry, which is a basic slow working poison that shuts down you body's systems, while the green one is a Goblin Hemlock extract, which makes you extremely ill in moments. Both of which would be nulled by a quick healing spell."
That made me frown, and I looked down at the collection of daggers and needles, gently lifting them up before handing them to Anput, who ran her fingers over each.
"Basic iron too. This can't have been the same person as last night, right? I mean, Kat found this one in moments, but the other was smart..."
Nodding, I added "This woman must've tried to scale the tower from the outside, but hit my barrier. That alerted me, but she must've thought she could continue to sneak around, hence me catching her on the stairs."
Jahi nodded before placing the paper on the woman's chest, saying "Let's burn her before going down to the camp. The orders were simple; wait for the fighting to start before scaling the walls and going for our tower. This could've been the Westerners sending an assassin of their own to sow chaos during their initial attack, or..."
She didn't need to finish, as we all knew who she was referring too.
"The problem is that this isn't a case where we can definitively say it's them. This could've easily been the West doing this on their own. Which is annoying, but..."
Everyone nodded, before Anput swiftly created a coffin for the assassin, while Leone enveloped the corpse in flames, burning her body.
Descending down the tower, I glanced at Leone as I asked "What are you going to do with the poisons?"
The Vampire pursed her lips, looking down at the vials in her hands before sending a suspicion filled glance at me.
"Why?"
Putting on a fake offended expression, I smiled at her as I said "Just... curious is all~!"
Narrowing her eyes at me, she sighed as she handed the poisons over, making my smile widen slightly before I dropped it, swiftly storing them inside my armor as I coughed gently.
"Oh, you didn't have~ to..."
Rolling her eyes at me, Leone continued descending down the tower, before we reached the carriage, where Nirinia was waiting for us.
The Djinn let out a sigh as she nodded towards us, asking "What took you so long?"
Leaning on the carriage beside her, Jahi's amethyst eyes flickered around as she muttered "An assassin tried to climb the tower."
Nirinia smirked, throwing her arm over Jahi's shoulders as she muttered back "Any clue on who they were with?"
Catching on to the Djinn's act, the Demoness grinned back and chuckled slightly, while the rest of us dispersed around the camp, getting some chores done.
"No, it was a human woman. Could've been the West, could've been them. Poorly equipped too; iron weapons, low level poisons, poor understanding of magic. The only interesting things were these..."
Reaching out slightly, Jahi handed Nirinia one of the small spheres, which the Djinn looked down at before frowning.
"Well this is new... what's this, a timed explosive? Interesting..."
Slipping it into her pouch, the Djinn released Jahi and turned towards me, patting her stomach as she said "When's dinner~? Bit peckish after that~!"
We all rolled our eyes at her simple thinking, before we turned to look at the approaching Wolfkin Banner Bearer.
Her expression was worse then before, and as she went to speak Nirinia waved her hand, saying "Alright, alright, we'll be there in a few moments~"
Glaring at the Djinn, the Wolfkin sharply nodded before turning around swiftly, returning the way she came.
"Pleasant one isn't she~?"
Getting up, I brushed off the dust from my armor before joining the rest as we moved towards the Command tent.
Our journey there allowed us to get a grasp of the Legions morale, and...
Well, it wasn't too great, but it wasn't dire; many were humbled by the Justiciars joining in the fight, letting them know that this wouldn't be some simple defensive battle.
No, this would be a harsh, hellish fight to simply survive.
Many sat around staring down at the ground with blank faces, whilst a few openly shed a few tears as they looked at the belongings of someone who died.
Reaching the tent, we entered to find a few other people inside beside Adelina; two of which wore noticeable green sashes.
Nirinia strode forwards confidently, and we all followed behind her as we filtered into the tent, standing beside the Djinn as she crossed her arms and stared straight at Adelina.
Most in the tent were Centurions, a few of which brought along their Optio's, their second in commands.
They all stared at the Knight with awe, all of them looking at Nirinia like shewas some kind of Goddess that descended before them.
As for the two Sariel Envoys, they stared at us with fake smiles and barely concealed pride, the two Elves haughtily standing off to the side as they observed the meeting.
Adelina cleared her throat, forcing everyone to turn back to her, and she began to speak.
"Although it was just a preliminary attack, it cost us a few troops. The enemy Praetor Squads were dealt a solid blow, but they sent one back as well. As for the two Justiciar's, well... Julius managed to damage a good portion of the gate and its defenders. Ovliea, report."
A bulky Boarkin woman stepped forwards, her metal armor clinking as she moved.
"My Cohort took minimal casualties, but many injuries. Quite a few soldiers are suffering from burns or temporary paralysis, but should be back on their feet and healed in a few hours."
Nodding, Adelina continued down the line, getting a report from the twelve different Centurions.
It was a similar report each time; few died during the attack, but many suffered injuries.
Apparently Julius' parting gift, that barrage of lightning bolts, managed to cause quite a bit of smaller damages to the troops, meaning the healers were working overtime right now.
"Good. Trivag, your Sixth Cohort will man the walls for now; keep a look on the Westerners, and warn us when they begin to move. Ulvi, move your Seventh Cohort up to the gate and be prepared to switch with the Sixth if need be. Dharmsta, send a few of your sharpshooters to join the Sixth and Seventh."
Each of the Centurions nodded before exiting the tent, and Adelina continued to give out orders, slowly emptying the tent of people.
Now, only our group, Adelina's squad, and the Envoys remained.
Stepping forwards, one of the Envoys smirked as he asked "Is there a reason you've not given any orders to Lady Nirinia, Commander?"
Adelina glared over at the Elf, but before she could say a word the Djinn let out a sharp peal of laughter.
"You think you can command me to do anything, Elf? I could snap you like a damn twig."
The sneer on Nirinia's face made the Elf frown, before he blanched as the Djinn leaned forwards, her eyes hardening as she whispered "Say another word and I fucking will. You don't have any authority over me; only the Marquess and the Empress can order me around, and last I checked, they weren't here. I have my orders, you have yours. Piss off."
The other Elf stepped forwards and bowed slightly, grabbing his friends shoulder and saying "Apologies, Lady Nirinia. Quintus doesn't have much... experience as an Envoy yet. Do forgive him. Come now Quintus; let's leave the commanding to the Commander, hmm?"
Giving the tent another bow, the older Elf dragged his friend away, leaving just us inside the tent.
Adelina sighed, before she glared over at Nirinia.
"I know that you don't... like them, Nirinia, but must you antagonize them?"
Glancing at Adelina, the Djinn dropped her smile as she shrugged, before turning around and moving towards the entrance.
"If that's all, Commander?"
Peering over her shoulder, Nirinia waited for a moment as she stared at the Lioness, who flinched slightly at the term, before she shook her head.
Scoffing lightly, Nirinia led us back to our tent, the walk silent as we looked around us.
With someone having tried to attack us just a little bit ago, each of us were wary of the potential threat lurking inside the Legion, but there was nothing we could do.
Not when we didn't know who was truly under the Sariel's besides the Envoys.
With that joyful thought in mind, we returned to our camp and began to rest up, since we didn't know when the next attack would come, be it external or internal.