The Achievement Junkie 257 What's Next?

Rydel finally made himself visible as he addressed the team. "Everyone, I think it's best we leave town as soon as possible. We can't stay here for long."

"Aaaahhh…" sighed Eliza. "And we finally got to relax."

Keela added, "Don't we deserve at least a few minutes of rest? Though me and Eliza did nothing back there, we were on edge and ready to do anything needed."

"It went too smoothly, looking back at it all," stated Daliea. "It should have been far more difficult."

"That's because we weren't as successful as we had planned," Rydel began to elaborate. "We were unlucky enough to run into not only both of General Toms's assistants but the general himself. I managed to wound the general pretty badly, but I'm sure he's more or less fine by now."

"Then why did you pull us out of there?" asked Jack. "Weren't we supposed to commit to getting the job done then and there?"

"We did commit, but there was no telling if we would succeed even if we did stay," replied Rydel.

"But we could've tried at least. Now we'll never know. Now we'll have to think of a new plan of attack to delay them, and we'll have to commit to it."

"Look, Jack, it sounds like you're starting to accept the fact that we're putting our lives on the line, and I'm glad for that. But I'm not willing to waste our lives in a situation that is likely to fail even if we all died."

Avoiding Rydel's confident gaze, Jack looked to the rest of the party before looking down at the ground. "Was it really that bad of odds? I thought we were ready… You already killed one assistant and crippled the general, so all we had to do was fight off the captains and the last assistant. How hard could that be?"

"It would still be difficult Jack. You��re forgetting the army," Daliea interjected. "Though they are weak in terms of level, their sheer numbers can become overwhelming, especially if we still have high-level opponents to face."

"It's not just that…"

Everyone turned to Rydel as he shook his head and continued his explanation, "I saw the general contacting someone the moment I rendered him unable to fight. And since I've already seen an executive order from the general be handed off to a bounty hunter, it's likely that if we had stayed and fought, that we would've been overwhelmed."

"Are you sure?" asked Jack.

"I'm almost certain of it. It's one thing to face a mostly low-level army with a few captains in an unsuspecting environment. But that's completely different than facing a team of experts trained to hunt and kill," reasoned Rydel. "The man I saw receive our execution order was strange and twisted, and I was unable to see through his level."

Jack spoke but paused his words, "Well... That doesn't mean--"

Rydel cut off Jack's unconfident statement. "And if that man has a team behind him, it's likely that they would've arrived at the camp sooner than later. It's also likely that they're searching the city for us right now. We should exit the city and revisit the plan once we're in the clear."

"But if we exit the city, then there's no way they'll let us back in," argued Jack. "Then what will we do?"

"I'm… not sure yet." Rydel shrugged, unhappy with his own lack of knowledge. "We don't know enough about these bounty hunters to plan effectively. So long as we get out and keep near the city, then I can do more reconnaissance and better take them into consideration."

Torn at the thought of either failing due to lack of action and the party perishing entirely, Jack took a deep breath as he vigorously scratched his head.

If he pushed for them to stay in the city and continue to fight, there was now a chance that the party would be overwhelmed and slaughtered. It was even possible that the party would be wiped without accomplishing anything significant.

If he agreed with Rydel's plan, there was a chance that they would fail to delay the army entirely. That would lead to the loss of countless lives of both Trodan soldiers and Trodan citizens. Though Tralon would have his new army ready in a few days, Jack understood that after two attacks, the astute General Toms would likely decide to attack as soon as possible in order to avoid a third raid. The secret army wouldn't be able to reach the capital, but they would make it further into Trodar than ever before.

Jack didn't like either option, which only made the decision all the more difficult.

"Jack, I think Rydel is in the right," stated Daliea. "You've learned that you can't guarantee all of our lives on every mission. Now, you must learn that not every mission will end in success, at least not a complete success."

Eliza took this chance to give her opinion as well. "Daliea's right. Jack, we all know that you've been under a lot of stress and want to do your best. But Jack, you have to see that what we've done already is amazing."

She walked up to her husband and grabbed his hand, softly brushing her thumb along his palm. "Jack, it's gonna be okay. We're all still here."

"But we still haven't finished the mission. If we can't delay them, then--"

"Then people will die, we know." Seeing a kink in Jack's defenses, Eliza pulled his arm into her chest as she leaned into him. "But that's how life is sometimes. People will die every day no matter what we do. But at least we can leave here knowing that we've already saved a lot of people."

"...But…"

"Jack, imagine how bad things would've been if we hadn't come at all. It would be way worse. With everything we've done, we've already saved countless lives, even if others will still die."

Struggling to find an argument for his wife's statement, Jack sighed, "But… If we can delay them just a bit more, then we can save even more lives."

"And what if we die?" questioned Eliza, striking Jack dumb. "We're not questioning your intent, Jack, or you're willingness to help out in such a dire situation. But if we all die, even if we succeed and prevent the army from breaching Trodar, then what will happen to Trodar the next time something unexpected comes up? Wouldn't it be defenseless?"

"... Ummm…"

"And what about Maura and Lina? What will happen to them if you died along with all of us?" Eliza continued to destroy Jack's mental defenses. "And Sterfen and Linara? They each chose you as their descendant, making you a demigod. If you die, who will avenge all of the suffering Halmut caused them, even taking away their only child?"

"Eliza, please--"

"Jack, it's normal to feel guilty in situations like this," Eliza's tone of voice again became calmer and more caring. "But you can't let that guilt affect your view of the big picture. We can try again, but even if we fail, we've managed to do a great good Jack. And that outways the bad that could've been. Okay?"

"... Okay." Unable to defy her logic, Jack patted Eliza on the head. "Thank you, Eliza."

"Don't thank just me. Thank them too. Everyone else feels the same way, you're just too dense to figure that out," stated Eliza, who was smiling happily.

"Well, now that she finally got you to open up, at least we have a way for him to really listen to us now," laughed Keela. "From now on, we'll let the wife handle Jack, that way she can threaten Jack if he doesn't listen."

"Hey, there's no need for--"

"True, if it's really needed, then I guess I can just ignore him for a while, not giving him massages or spending the night with--"

"Okay, okay, I get it! I'm too dense for my own good, now let's move on," stated Jack, not hiding the blush on his face.

"Good, now we can focus on the next task, escaping the city," Rydel continued the original discussion. "Do you have any ideas, Jack?"

Jack coughed to regain his composure before he answered, "Taking everything into account, getting out may not be too difficult so long as we leave as soon as possible."

"I'm not sure about that. Since General Toms was decisive enough to come personally to recruit reinforcements, then that means he's somewhat predicted our movements already. Taking that into account means he's most likely already closed off the exits to the city," reasoned Rydel.

"True… But we have two people able to escape without a trace thanks to the bracer. What if you and one other person left first, then you could bring back the bracer for the next person?"

"That may work, but it would take more time than we'd want." Rydel shook his head. "We'd have to go far enough from the city so that whoever comes with me can wait alone without being caught. By the time we've all exited the city, General Toms may have already left for the border or may have even crossed it."

"Hmmm…" Jack, along with everyone else pondered the situation, trying their best to find a fast and safe escape route.

"I may have an idea," stated Daliea, "but it's a bit different than what you all may be wanting."

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Chapter end