Game Master in Another World

The next day was a typical, sunny summer's day; stepping out into the early morning light was quite pleasant. We made our way to the North Gate.

When we arrived at the North Gate, the walls were still in the process of being repaired. There was a large contingent of cavalry getting ready—at first glance, it looked to be at least one hundred men—plus a substantial number of packhorses.

As we approached, we noticed a familiar face: Captain Grisham.

“I’m pleased to see you doing well, Captain Grisham,” Juliana called out.

Captain Grisham looked in our direction. “Ah, Juliana, you’ve made it. Good to see you again.”

He walked up and shook her hand.

“We have a horse for you and Toby over here. We expect to move out in around thirty minutes. If you have any luggage, you can add it to the packhorses.”

Juliana looked at the horse, a handsome, chocolate-coloured mount with a white diamond mark on its forehead.

“Thank you, Captain Grisham. I shall go talk to the horse and get ready,” Juliana said, smiling serenely.

Juliana walked up to the animal and cast a small spell. “Hello there. Do you mind if we ride you today?” she asked.

The horse looked at Juliana before answering, “I’d be honoured to have a person of your standing on my back.”

The sudden ability to understand what an animal said seemed almost normal initially, until I realised the absurdity of it.

“Thank you. I’d be glad to ride you, then. What is your name?” Juliana asked.

“My name is Griffold. I am a proud stallion, and I have fought many battles,” the horse replied with a hint of pride.

“Nice to meet you, Griffold. I look forward to working with you for a while.”

Juliana and Toby had no extra luggage other than a small bundle of spare clothes, so they mounted Griffold.

“You both are so light; I feel completely unhindered,” Griffold said.

Juliana practised moving Griffold around, directing him with the reins. He followed every command precisely, weaving between other riders and pieces of rubble effortlessly.

“It seems you are quite the skilled rider, Juliana,” Captain Grisham said, looking over from his mount.

“This is the first time I’ve ever ridden a horse, but Griffold here seems to like me, which makes it easier to convey what I need him to do.”

“Oh? Where did the name Griffold come from?” Captain Grisham asked.

“That is the name he told me,” Juliana said plainly.

“Who told you?”

“Griffold himself, of course.”

“Right… I guess that makes sense,” Captain Grisham replied hesitantly.

Captain Grisham rode slowly away, looking a little confused.

After around thirty minutes, the leader of the cavalry began to move out. We followed in a column, riding through the remains of the northern gate and into the field towards the original enemy encampment.

It wasn’t long before we were walking through the encampment itself. The site seemed to have been picked clean of anything valuable; not even the tents remained. There was just old, rotting food and the remains of firepits.

We continued through the camp without stopping. One thing I noticed was a large number of paw prints from what were likely wolves. Any leftover food would have been scavenged by the massive pack now roaming the countryside.

As we continued to ride, following the path the enemy soldiers had taken, Juliana began talking to our neighbouring soldier.

“Hi there, comrade. May I have your name, please?” Juliana asked.

“I’m Private Corvis, ma'am,” he stuttered.

“Nice to meet you, Private Corvis. I am grateful to have you ride alongside us today,” Juliana said, smiling broadly.

“Yes, ma'am! I’m honoured to be riding alongside the Angel of the Nameless God today.” He was almost shouting, his voice cracking.

“Tell me a bit about yourself, Private Corvis.”

“I’m a resident of Freyton City, and I have been in the army for one year now. My wife is pregnant with my first child.”

“Congratulations! When is your child due?”

“In half a year, ma'am.”

“Great. I’ll visit them when they are born, if I am able to,” Juliana said kindly.

“Oh, you would? You don’t need to do that, ma'am.”

“I would love to support my riding companion,” Juliana said with a smile.

“Okay, I look forward to it, ma'am.”

For the next hour of riding, Private Corvis would make furtive glances towards Juliana, yet say nothing.

Eventually, we came across the remains of a village; all the buildings were burnt to the ground. There were patches of blood, but no bodies. Juliana dismounted, helping Toby off the horse.

She took a closer look at the ground. There was a mixture of old footprints and wolf paw prints. It seemed the villagers had been slaughtered, and then their bodies eaten by the roaming wolves.

“What are you looking at, Juliana?” Captain Grisham asked, pulling his horse up beside us.

“Investigating where the bodies of the villagers went.”

“What have you found?” Captain Grisham asked while dismounting.

“It seems the wolves have been eating the bodies of the villagers.”

“Are we safe from the wolves?” Toby asked.

“I think so. I don’t think they will attack a group of humans this large,” Captain Grisham responded. “However, merchants haven’t been so lucky. Many are being attacked by large packs of wolves, and patrols have had to be increased on trade routes to help provide protection.”

The repercussions of my in-the-moment summons had created yet more problems for people.

Juliana, Toby, and Captain Grisham mounted their horses once more before rejoining the column.

We continued through a forest before coming across another burnt-out village, again with no villagers or bodies to be found.

“I heard that the Forlinth army killed everyone in these villages, even those who surrendered, whether they be women or children,” Captain Grisham said.

“It certainly seems that way,” Juliana responded.

“Why would they kill everyone?” Toby asked.

Captain Grisham seemed to think for a moment. “Likely to prevent information leaking, if I were to guess, or it is just in their nature. Every city they have attacked, they wipe everyone out to the last person.”

“That sounds horrible,” Juliana replied.

“Indeed. That is why I will show them no mercy myself; they all deserve to die for what they’ve done,” Captain Grisham said, clenching his fist.

“By everyone, you mean soldiers?” Juliana asked.

“No, everyone. The civilians have also enabled the genocide, so they deserve punishment,” Captain Grisham replied.

“Well, I think the civilians should be spared; otherwise, we are no worse than them,” Juliana replied, sounding almost angry now.

“Being someone not from here, you probably don’t understand, then. Don’t worry, you will when you meet them. I’ve heard that they even practise cannibalism.”

This seemed unlikely to me, so I took control of Juliana to ask a few questions.

“Where did you hear this from?” I asked.

“Gavin down at the barracks said that his friend's dad’s blacksmith's son had seen it.”

“So, no firsthand knowledge, then?”

“No, but it seems like something they would do. They murder women and children, after all; it isn’t that much of a leap to say that they practise cannibalism.”

“But you don’t know that for sure, Captain Grisham. Rumours aren’t enough to condemn an entire people.”

“Ah, well, you haven’t seen it, so I have to disagree.”

With that, Captain Grisham rode further up the column.

Juliana dismounted and said to Toby, “It is a full moon tonight. I will need to do my dancing ritual.”

Ah, no you aren’t, I thought to myself. Not amongst one hundred men. Dancing naked would very much attract the wrong attention.

I took control of Juliana. “Actually, I won’t tonight. It wouldn't be appropriate given our current company.”

“Oh, why not?” Toby asked.

“Well, it involves being naked, and dancing like that in front of so many soldiers would give the wrong impression.”

I released control back to Juliana.

“Okay, please warn me before you do that. I don’t really want to watch,” Toby replied.

Juliana, slightly dejected, said, “Sure, I will wait for a more appropriate time.”

Once the horses were tied up, we sat down next to some soldiers with bowls of gruel. The flavour was fairly bland, and the texture was strange, but the meal still felt satisfying.

The soldiers Juliana sat next to were no longer talking, keeping to themselves. The atmosphere felt awkward.

“So, fellow comrades, why did you join the army?” Juliana asked suddenly, scooping up some more gruel.

A grizzled older soldier with a scar on his chin spoke first. “I’ve been fighting for fifteen years. When I first joined, there was no war, and I thought it would be a safe job.”

The veteran laughed.

A younger soldier answered next. “I was part of a village that got attacked. I managed to survive by hiding in the well. My whole family was killed; I was the only one left. From that moment, I vowed to get revenge, so as soon as I was able, I enlisted. So far, I have killed twenty of those bastards, but it still isn’t enough. I won’t be happy until I see their nation destroyed.”

“Why did you join, Juliana?” the veteran asked.

“Well, I made a deal that they would end poverty in Freyton City if I did,” Juliana responded proudly.

“Heh, I don’t think that is likely,” the veteran replied.

“Why’s that?” asked Juliana.

“Poverty has always been a part of society, even before the war. They may fix it temporarily, but it won’t be solved permanently. That is just the nature of things.”

“Well, Lady Evelyn has made a promise, and I can but try,” Juliana responded defiantly.

The rest of the conversation revolved around what we had gotten up to so far before Juliana retired for the night; both she and Toby were quite tired from the long day on the road.

The next day, the group broke camp at first light, packing quickly and getting back on the road. This far out, there were no villages, just seemingly empty wilderness. We came across several smaller campsites, likely used by the retreating army.

Around midday, there was a shout from the front of the column: “Enemy caravans spotted!”

The cavalry began to group up and charge across the open plain; ahead of us, we could see four fully laden carts being slowly towed by horses through the tall grass.

The drivers happened to glance back. Upon spotting the approaching charge, they abandoned their carts and began to run. The empty plains gave them nowhere to hide. It wasn’t long before our unit was upon them, cutting the fleeing men down as they ran. Cheers rose up in celebration as the last man fell to the ground, screaming.

A few more riders trampled the man with their mounts until he finally stopped moving.

Once the charge halted, a number of soldiers dismounted and started to search the bodies. They then took trophies, tearing off bits of clothing, pieces of armour, and even fingers. They looked like a flock of vultures picking at their prey.

Eventually, the corpses were reduced to a naked, bloody mess on the ground.

“Let's go, men! Hopefully, we can catch more of these bastards before the day is done!” shouted the commander.

Juliana seemed utterly repulsed by the display, and I, too, found it difficult to watch. We remounted, and the column now travelled with more purpose, moving much faster than before.

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