Day 13:
Today has been a very boring day. I started my morning by giving Guild Girl the debriefing for our previous quest on Cain's behalf while the commissar slept in. She couldn't believe that the villagers decided to abandon their homes in the middle of the night and wanted to send someone to inspect the village for any clues to where they might have gone. I agreed with her. Hopefully we can find out what happened to those people.
I had to repeat my report to Guild Girl to make sure I didn't miss anything. I know I didn't, but she insisted that it would be better to make sure I didn't accidentally forget to mention something. Inspector and Padfoot Waitress started to listen in halfway through this time too. Inspector asked me a few questions as to what happened to the goblins we didn't kill, or how I knew the exact number I killed personally. I was starting to get annoyed with her after a while, but thankfully Cain came down to help me finish my report by verifying my account. Inspector always gets quiet when he shows up, so I was able to finish without any interruptions afterwards. If only she could listen quietly like Padfoot Waitress did.
Once we finished giving our report and made sure the rewards to our quest went to Priestess so she could buy some better equipment, Guild Girl gave us and several other adventurers a special request. Cain, Spearman, Witch, Heavy Warrior, Female Knight, and I were all immediately put on a carriage and sent to the local Governor's palace so we could hear what he wanted us to do.
I did learn how to drive a carriage on the way over to the governor's palace upon Cain's request. He thought it would be better if I learned how to drive one of the local vehicles. Now if we ever need to make a quick escape, we won't need to rely on any of the local civilians.
Cain and I met with the governor while the other adventurers were escorted by his household guard and daughter. The governor was just as incompetent as I expected him to be, his personal butler was barely any better. For a moment, I thought Cain was going to declare him a heretic for his blatant incompetence at keeping the town he governed safe and execute him before he could do anything stupid. Instead, the commissar showed his merciful side once again and spared him. Cain really didn't like it when he made fun of the common soldiers and adventurers that allowed him to live so peacefully. Hopefully the governor learned something from talking with Cain.
After we finished talking to the useless bureaucrat, we met up with the other adventurers to see why the governor called us in the first place. It turned out that several traders had been robbed and killed while traveling in his territory. The fool might not know who keeps him safe or why it is a bad idea to annoy them, but he apparently knows who keeps him and his people fed. He immediately called for help in purging whoever was making life difficult for the people he governed, Cain being one of the adventurers the governor requested in taking care of his unknown enemy.
Whatever attacked the carriages had to be big judging by the wreckage the attackers left behind. Cain thought they had been shot by boltors after looking at the scars left in the wood. They definitely looked like they had been shot by something, but I didn't know for sure. It was hard to tell since the carriages looked like they had been trampled by a horde of Orks before being retrieved.
Regardless of who attacked the traders, it won't be long until we discover them and end the threat that they pose to the people of this planet. We should be able to take care of whatever bandits the governor thinks is causing the attacks by tomorrow if everything goes well. I'm still bringing my meltagun along, just in case.
Day 14:
We found who attacked the traders. It was Orks, Blood Axes to be exact. I knew I should have warned Cain instead of staying quiet.
We encountered them an hour after departing from the governor's estate. The troops the governor provided Cain were all slaughtered in the initial ambush the Orks laid out for us. We would have died too if it wasn't for Cain's quick thinking. He alone is the only reason why both Noble Fencer, the governor's daughter, and I survived the Orks' trap.
Cain made sure to warn the other adventurers and troops about what we found and ordered them to retreat back to the governor's estate so we could plan our next course of action, but we could not reach one of the squads that we departed with. Cain bravely volunteered to search for them before returning back to the governor's palace. Heavy Warrior tried to argue against him, but Cain was too noble to allow anyone to be left behind in Ork-controlled territory.
Noble Fencer and I followed Cain as he searched for the missing soldiers. The girl and I were wearing shrouds made out of a decoy carriage's coverings to camouflage ourselves similarly to the Ork Kommandos who ambushed us. I don't know how a purple tarp worked as camouflage in a forest, but it did. Must be some Warp sorcery or something. Orks always make things start acting weird like that.
Instead of finding the missing soldiers we were looking for, we instead found an Ork scouting party. Cain made quick work of them, I only assisted him as needed. The Kommando we left alive decided to help us kill the Warboss it was following for some reason. It kept on calling Cain 'Evul Eye' too. Apparently that was the name of some monster or something that the Orks feared more than anything else, and Cain of course used his wits to fool the Kommando into believing he was Evul Eye.
I don't know why the Ork wanted us to kill its Warboss, but for some reason the other Orks we came across wanted him to kill their leader too. It didn't take long for Cain to have his own horde of greenskins marching behind him like a bunch of drunken guardsmen coming back from the local jail after a night of partying. I didn't like letting those vile xenos get so close to the commissar, but Cain told me not to interfere unless absolutely necessary since he had a plan.
The Orks couldn't see me or Noble Fencer despite us being close enough to touch them, so I had to spend whatever time I didn't use to kill Orks on keeping her calm. The poor girl nearly passed out a few times from fear. I wasn't sure what I would have done if she did faint. I probably would have had to carry her on my shoulder and hope the extra weight didn't throw off the aim of my melta.
We did find an Ork claiming to be the Warboss, but I don't know what that 'thing' was. It was green like an Ork, talked like an Ork, but was barely any taller than me and a little shorter than Cain. That was the most pathetic Ork either of us had ever seen, so it is little surprise that Cain managed to kill it without lifting a single finger. I don't know why it killed its own WAAAGH!, but at least it saved us the trouble of cleaning up a few hundred Orks on our own. There might have been a few survivors, though I'm not worried. It's been too long since I killed a real Ork and I could use some practice in case we find another WAAAGH!.
After the Warboss killed itself, I immediately went to find a vehicle that we could use for our own purposes. I don't like driving Ork Trukks, but I would rather drive one of those rust buckets than walk on foot all the time. Cain thought that would be better for us too. I could tell he didn't like the idea of using another one of those xenos' vehicles, but he still gave me an order to find the best one available. He even tried to help me find one with a pintle mounted boltor or shoota, but I made him wait with Noble Fencer instead. It's my job to supply the commissar with what he needs. After saving us and the planet from an Ork WAAAGH! Cain deserved a break.
We arrived back at the governor's estate just before dark. The guards were surprised to see a Trukk coming through their garden, but Cain managed to calm them down after having a quick word with the soldier he was liaising with the previous day. Apparently they managed to find their own way back, so we never had to look for them in the first place.
The governor gave Cain the heroic welcome he deserved once word spread about how he single handedly destroyed the Orks. The governor, Noble Fencer, their guards and servants, the silver ranked adventurers we came with, and Cain all spent the night celebrating the commissar's success. I decided to spend the night drafting up my debriefing and filling in my journal instead of celebrating so Cain didn't have to do it once we got back to the Adventurers Guild.
He checked up on me a little before midnight, but I forced him out since it was my duty to do his paperwork for him. Noble Fencer visited me too. She apologized for the governor's stupidity the previous day even though she didn't have to. The girl also gave me a bottle of wine. She said it was a personal thanks for saving her life or something like that. I don't think she gave one to Cain though, but he did help himself to the governor's cellar. I'm sure the commissar took enough bottles for himself once he was done sampling the governor's amasec collection.
I don't know what I'm going to do with Noble Fencer's gift. I tried a little bit of the wine once the governor's personal butler carried a meal to my room, but I didn't like it nearly as much as the ale served in the Adventurers Guild. Maybe Padfoot Waitress would like it? I think she mentioned something like that when she helped me look for tanna tea.
Quest Results:
Total Confirmed Kills: 397
Total Unconfirmed Kills/Escaped Orks: 26+
Allied Casualties: 6
Day 15:
We returned to the Adventurers Guild today. Cain decided to take the scenic route with Witch while I took Spearman, Heavy Warrior, and Female Knight back in the Trukk. The trip took less than an hour. Cleaning out the vomit that covered the inside took the rest of the afternoon.
I gave my written debriefing to Inspector, who gladly took it without an additional verbal report. I didn't like going against standard protocol, but if it means I don't have to deal with her annoying attitude then I can accept it. If the Adventurers Guild does need me or Cain to give a full report, then I will happily wait until Guild Girl is available.
I also talked to Padfoot Waitress a little bit and gave her the bottle of wine Noble Fencer gave me. I think she liked it. She also gave me a hug. It was weird. Usually people try to stay away from me. Last person to try that turned out to be a chaos witch. The other one was a tech priest.
Cain arrived with Witch in the evening. Guild Girl showed up to give him a message that Priestess was looking for him earlier. We both told her that the kid should be able to find us in the Guild tomorrow since we don't have any plans to go anywhere. Cain wants to relax after saving another world. I want to finish inspecting the Trukk to make sure it doesn't fall apart, has enough fuel to last us for a few weeks, and that I didn't miss any spots after cleaning out the interior earlier. The squat blacksmith said he wanted to take a look at the Trukk too. Maybe I can get him to help.
Not the most exciting day but not too boring either. Maybe we'll get the chance to kill some Orks or goblins again soon. I wonder if I can convince Goblin Slayer to join Cain for a few quests sometime?
Special thanks to Tireless Traveler for beta reading this chapter!
Author's Corner:
Another couple of days in the life of Jurgen. I hope you enjoyed.
