Battle for the North (Rogue Merchant Book #4): LitRPG Series by Roman Prokofiev (the dot read aloud .TXT) 📕

(I had a feeling that I was in for a fierce battle with nary a chance for a breather), I had to deal with my current affairs.

Weldy — Olaf had told me the truth — like all other important NPCs, she had been taken to the Varangians’ castle. Still, the northern citadel could be attacked at any moment, and the girl had to be sent to safety. I asked Borland to get her to Eyre, and he attended to my request on the next trip passing through.

As soon as Weldy saw me, she jumped from the mooring skiff and quivered in my embrace. From the looks of it, she was happy to see me and not at all angry. Frederick gracefully leaped behind her and lazily rubbed his forehead against my leg.

“HotCat, finally! I was afraid I’d never see you again!”

I carefully stroked her head. My little traveler.

“As you see, we’re back in Eyre.”

“Home!” she corrected me. “Can I go back to my shop? Back to work?”

“Unfortunately, no. You’re going to live in the palace.”

I had made use of my Friend of the Nation status and asked the Err to shelter the girl. She would be safe in the castle, as much as it was possible in those troubled times. They met in a funny way, Endved examining Weldy as she dropped in a low curtsey. Their ranks didn’t matter a bit to me, but to the girl, he was the Err, the ruler of her faction. She gave me a reproachful glance, probably implying that I shouldn’t have taken her to the palace fresh off the boat.

“Your uncle was my friend,” Endved said after a cough. “His tower was restored, but I still haven’t found a new court mage. You can take his quarters.”

“Thank you, my Err,” Weldy chirped, her gaze still low. “But I haven’t inherited his talent — ”

“I know that,” the young ruler interrupted her, grinning. “I didn’t mean that... Just live there as long as you’d like. Everything you might need for your alchemical research will be delivered to you. I recall you’re the one supplying the royal guard with elixirs, aren’t you? Then continue working for the good of the Nation.”

And thus, it was settled. I helped the girl get the hang of the place, but there was no time to linger — the Silver Stronghold needed me.

The Shift Module’s installation into the Temple of Shadows was finally over. The shrine of Tormis could leave its prison in Helt Akor at any minute. Moreover, just like the Maidens’ fortress, it could freely travel between worlds. Tormis’ quest was complete at last, but the temple was empty, and the god didn’t react to my arrival. I decided against waiting for him by the altar. My inbox was bursting with messages from different people, and I was catastrophically running out of time.

The Seven were waiting for me in the stronghold control room — or, rather, just three: Romanova, Svechkin, and the newly awakened Cey-Rus. I noticed that the citadel was levitating, disconnected from the ellurite lake — apparently, its storage tanks had been replenished.

“The Glowing has been restored, and our fuel supplies are full,” the First Maiden informed me, her tone ice cold. “HotCat, we’d like to leave Helt Akor. Have you changed your mind about the sword?”

“No, I haven’t. I’m really sorry about this, Maxim,” I told the golden-haired elf, but he simply shrugged and smiled. He seemed well-adjusted and even evoked some sympathy, unlike his girlfriend. Them having some kind of relationship was clear — there were all kinds of sparks between that couple.

“We’re going to the Upper Worlds. The fifth Key is there. Do you want to go with us?” Cey-Rus suddenly asked.

“I’m a bit busy at the moment. I might join you later,” I replied evasively.

Romanova snorted, clearly expecting that. I ignored her and reminded them, “I hope you didn’t forget your promise to deliver the cargo to the Bazaar.”

“We didn’t. You’ll get your ellurite in a day or two.”

“Don’t take too long. The Bazaar will be on fire soon!” I smirked.

“What do you mean?” The First Maiden narrowed her eyes.

“You’ll see.”

* * *

Guerilla warfare instantly broke out in the Dorsan territories captured by the Pandas. Without waiting for the rest of the Northerners’ castles to fall, our warriors split into dozens of mobile groups and went on the offensive, sowing terror all around. What did it mean in actual practice? Nightly attacks on outposts under construction, raids on caravans and airships, severing communication lines, hunting lone enemies... Just like the clans of Don and Artist that used to block all transport across their holdings, they never engaged in direct battle, immediately retreating as soon as the enemy rolled out in force. It was a sneaky, cowardly, and dishonest war — but Pandorum left us no choice. This tactic had two goals: first, wear out the enemy with a series of endless scuffles, and second, make them constantly redeploy their astral fleet, reacting to new threats.

Pandorum’s vassal that had received our lands clearly didn’t expect such resistance. They suffered considerable losses daily and were forced to keep a large garrison force in each outpost. This significantly slowed down their advance: although the Northerners kept losing one or two provinces every day, fighting mostly occurred within occupied territories. I agreed to leave five hundred Veils for our raiders, and it really made a difference, allowing them to stage sudden attacks and ambushes. The rest of the amulets, other than several lost in battle (despite the strict orders to “lock” the artifacts in battle, some members had been stupid enough to forego this), were necessary to pull off Black Friday.

I don’t know the details of those round-the-clock battles that made boys into men: I was too busy preparing the economic attack on Pandorum, spending almost all of