Just as Rui was about to leave, the man who had guided him here interjected.
"Excuse me..." He sheepishly said, drawing attention. "I do not mean to be rude, but the Martial Apprentices of our group have informed me of some troubling observations surrounding you..."
Rui sighed, having expected this. "I don't feel like a Martial Squire?"
"Yes." The man replied. "It's not that we're distrusting the Kandrian martial Union's credibility by any means, but it would be of great relief if you could provide us with some form of demonstration of your power or status as a Martial Squire."
Rui sighed, yet before he could even respond, the old man interjected.
"That won't be necessary." A grin cracked at the edge of his mouth. "This man is the real deal."
An amused smile cracked underneath Rui's mask. "Are you sure about that?"
"Do I look uncertain?"
"But sir.." The man tried to appeal to him
"Forget about it." The old man snorted before turning to Rui. "Please, forgive the indiscretion."
Rui nodded, before turning to the bowing servants who offered to escort him to his quarters. As he was escorted out towards a tent that had been prepared just for him, he was deep in thought about his conversation with the old man. Everything about him made him feel wary about the mission. He realized he needed to pay careful attention to this mission. Once he entered the tent, he immediately used Seismic Mapping and Primordial Instinct to surveil the entire camp, gathering as much information as he could.
He had counted a total of twenty-seven Martial Apprentices, not a bad number for a group of this size. There seemed to be many thousands of men in the camp that was well-hidden in the densest region of the canopy of the forest. This roughly matched the intelligence that the Martial Union had provided him with. A decent force, but it was questionable whether this was enough.
After all, the fore occupying the fort was not small either. According to the Martial Union, Fort Zurtun was occupied and controlled by a five-thousand-strong military battalion of the Royal Britannian Army with more than two dozen Martial Apprentices.
While the Britannian battalion that occupied Fort Zurtun was a little smaller than the rebel force, they had other advantages that more than made up for the gap in numbers with superior Martial Artists and soldiers, superior militaristic technological assets and weapons, as well as terrain advantage as the rebel group would be fighting against the Britannian battalion uphill while the latter was protected by a fort.
Furthermore, Fort Zurtun had the Hlorn canon as well. Fighting against them in a head-on symmetrical war was practically suicide, it was a wonder they hadn't all been wiped out.
('It must be thanks to the old man.') Rui hazarded a guess. He couldn't be sure since the mission bill didn't cover that information but based on what he had gathered about Fushin Hunfer, the former general of Fort Zurtun and the leader of the Zurtun rebels, it was clear that the old man was the reason this rebel group was even together at this point.
He surveilled the rest of the camp, observing what the rebel soldiers did with their time. Most of them were tending to logistical matters. Preparing weapons and armor, a large number of horse-pulled carriages. Many of them were stocking up the final bits of food supplies that would be necessary for their climb to the fort. It did seem as though they were nearly ready to begin the assault on the fort at any given time.
A person carrying a tray made her way to his tent.
"Excuse me, sir..." She addressed him from the outside.
"Come in."
A young woman carrying a tray with a bottle of water and some light edibles walked in. "Some water and food for you, sir."
Rui nodded as she placed the tray on a table in the tent. "Thank you."
She bowed before scurrying outside.
He glanced at the tray, noting the small little balls on a disposable plate that was supposed to be his food. "Food pills."
It was to be expected. The rebels were not leading a particularly luxurious life such that they could provide guests with lavish meals at any given point in time. Rui suspected that for the most part, food pills were consumed for two out of three meals.
It made too much sense, they were cheap, portable, and had a long shelf life. They weren't appetizing, but they were nutritious and gave the human body everything it needed. They were perfect for the circumstances under which they were in.
Eventually, a few hours passed and the sun had gone down.
"Sir?" The lady addressed him. "It's time for dinner, please join us."
"I'll be there soon enough." Rui nodded.
He was looking forward to the meal considering he already knew that they had gone hunting. What he was surprised by when he came out was the intensity of the lamps that they used, they were rather dim.
('Ah, it's to avoid drawing much attention.') Rui immediately realized.
The intensity of the lamps was low because even if they were some ways away from the fort, brighter light would draw attention and reveal their location.
He glanced towards the many animals they had caught, ranging from rabbits all the way to bears. Feeding a small army was no joke. He sauntered steadily, ignoring the many eyes he felt on him. Yet, it seemed that not all of them were going to ignore him.
"Hey, you!" A Martial Apprentice approached him, sizing him up exaggeratedly. "So you're the Martial Artist they hired to help us eh? You sure don't feel like one!"
('This shit again.') He sighed. He realized he needed to drop the mind mask before he met clients, otherwise, it created too many problems. That was two times in a row now, as far as human-related missions went anyway.
