Chapter 353: The Slums of Torun

Michael walked into August’s tent to find him deep in thought, slouched over with his foot bouncing. "Augusts," Michael called out coldly, but the man didn’t react, only staring at the ground with deep, cold eyes. "August," Michael called out again and dragged a seat over to sit before him.

Finally, he looked up and smirked, before shaking his head. "Why are you here?"

"Your opinion was noticeably missing whilst planning for the next phase."

"Ahh." Michael waited for him to say more, but the old Duke didn’t. It confused him. Although he had hardly known August, he knew he was the man he hated most. Self-serving, selfish, cruel and dishonourable. But most importantly, he always had his own opinions to add. Michael had to give him credit; they were usually good, but suddenly he disappeared and never returned.

"Is that it? Where’s your usual confidence gone?" August looked at him coldly, his eyes hardening. Michael subconsciously readied himself to be attacked, but stopped seeing that August was only deeply annoyed. "What did that scout tell you?"

"It’s over, Michael. I’m just waiting for the confirmation." Michael wasn’t going to accept that as an answer, and August could tell. With a sigh, he looked down at the ring on his finger, showing his family crest. "Malbork has fallen." August hesitated but eventually clicked his tongue, "My son has pledged allegiance to the Emperor, and my brother is being used as a leash."

"And you believe this?" Michael scoffed and turned away, not noticing August’s fist curl.

"You may be an old man but spent your life on the battlefield. My life was politics. Shaking hands with men who lie as easily as they breathe. What I was told wasn’t a lie. All I’m doing is confirming my knowledge."

"So you’re giving up. Pathetic."

"THEY ARE HOLDING MY FAMILY HOSTAGE! MY LEGACY!" August blew up and stared deeply into Michael’s eyes with pure hate, "You can swear your vows of sacrifice easily because you have nothing else. It is easy to give your life when you think of yourself as the hero who martyred himself. I give my life up for my son, and I have no guarantee he will live after." As August clenched his teeth, Michael didn’t dare speak.

The silence lingered, and Michael eventually sighed, "What are you going to do?" It didn’t slip past August that Michael became slightly more tense, his body waiting to fight.

"I have a choice. Live or die. My family or myself." August stood up and looked down at the Templar, "It’s obvious what I have to do. As a patriarch, it is my duty to die. As a father, it is what’s right."

"So," Michael stood up and looked at August, "We are no longer allies is what you are saying." The air seemed to warp as their two stared at each other. Both men could tell if anyone made even a slight movement, the other wouldn’t hesitate to go for the kill.

"Until I have confirmation about Malbork, we are. Then we will see." August watched Michael as the old Templar gave a single cold nod, leaving the tent.

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"Your Majesty. Commander Hardly has arrived with his forces." Alfred smiled and looked at Torun.

’One more day.’Giving a nod toward the scout, Marcus didn’t take long to arrive and kneel behind Alfred. "I greet His Majesty the Emperor."

"Marcus." Alfred didn’t turn back and looked at the walls surrounding Tourn. "William sent you here for a reason. This city. How do we attack it?"

Marcus stood up and walked closer. Staring with cold eyes, he frowned. "The walls are thick and tall. Hard to scale and even harder to break. The gates, if they are anything like those in Brookhaven, will have at least three levels of fortifications. We would have to take the walls before we even consider opening them." Marcus watched. It was a good distance away, but he could see every section of the walls manned by soldiers, waiting for the siege to begin.

"We can’t starve them out. At least not in the time you would wish, Your Majesty, a city like this will have a large stockpile of food." Marcus continued getting a single nod from Alfred. "I think we will need to stretch around the entire city and assault from each side. If we can force the defenders to be spread thin, we can minimise damage dealt against us in return for taking slightly longer."

Alfred nodded and looked at Marcus, "Good. Create a plan. We begin on a day." Marcus saluted Alfred and walked off. Looking at the city, he wondered if Oskar would do what Horace ordered him to do."

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The slums of Torun. Oskar walked through them, trying his best to hide the disgust he felt every time he took a step and his boot squelched from some unknown waste. Whilst he was used to the stink of a city, it was suffocating here. He wanted to cover his nose and turn around.

Looking down at his side, he would occasionally see men drinking themselves to death, muttering incoherently as they held their hands out. The women stood by the doors, their clothes trying to make them sexier, only looking ghastly, showing their malnourished bodies. They tried to reach out to him, trying to entice him in, only to get pushed away by his guards.

Oskar hated everything about it—the stench, the filth, the people. He begged in his mind to go home, but he knew if Horace found out he had given up, then he would die without even seeing it coming.

He would occasionally see some men and women with cold, calculating eyes watching him before disappearing around corners. He knew these were the people they wanted and walked deeper. The shift in atmosphere was obvious with each ride he went down. The sights became more depressing.

"Oi." Someone called out to Oskar, making him stop. His two guards slowly tightened around him, their hands reaching for their weapons. The man who called out looked out of place. Being slightly better dressed, like a lower noble. "You don’t belong here, boy."

The disrespect was obvious in his voice as he spoke with venom. The guard wanted to say something, but feeling Oskar touch his arm, he stopped. Oskar knew this was the type of person he wanted. The terrible feeling he got from just looking at the man added to the deep chill hidden by the facade of luxury. "I have a job."

"I don’t care. I don’t deal with the king’s people." He strode forward without a worry in the world. The building seemed to come alive around him. Windows and doors opened as people slowly stood outside. Oskar gulped, telling him he was outnumbered and wondered if it was a mistake. "You’re an important person. I can tell. It’s bad for business if you dissapere here so fuck off."

"I’m not with the king." Oskar reached into his pocket, sending everyone onto high alert. The man stopped and reached under his cloak, grabbing a weapon. Raising his hand, Oskar moved more slowly and grabbed a bag of coins and jewels. Throwing it over, it landed on the ground and got stuck in the dirt. "That’s half of what I will pay if you do what I want."

The man squinted and looked at his people around. They understood and slowly readied themselves as he walked forward and picked the bag up. The greed in his eyes exploded seeing the ruches inside as his demeanour became slightly more friendly. "What’s stopping me from just taking this boy?" The man cruelly smiled as the guards around Oskar pulled their weapons.

"Nothing," Oskar told the truth. Having interacted with criminals, he didn’t understand how to deal with them. But he knew someone who had—the man who sent him here. He tried to mimic Horace as best as he could, "But that would be terrible business, wouldn’t it?" The man smirked, amused by Oskar. "What I’m offering isn’t a simple job. It’s also a chance for you to get revenge. All of you."

The man frowned and looked at Oskar with a deadly chill, "What do you know..."

"Nothing." Oskar cut him off, "But I do know that no one willingly chooses to operate in this filthy place because they want to. I’m a noble, I know every dirty trick we use to suppress you. Now I am giving you a chance to let loose. Get back at Snowid and the rest of those who work in the Palace."

The man stared at Oskar for a few minutes, but finally raised his hand to reassure everyone. "Interesting." He quietly muttered under his breath just loud enough for Oskar to hear, "What’s the job?"

"Burn Tourn to the ground. Make way for the Empire. In return, I will pay you and connect you with Underwells. If you know who they are." The man took a deep breath, but looking at the money in his hand, he couldn’t help but let his greed take over.

"Fine. Get out of here now."

"I will give you the rest after the fires start. Meet me at the address in the pouch once it starts."