World of Karik: A Game of Villains 72 Big Plans

I should give Petrovich some credit. There was an obvious desire in his eyes to finish me off and take away my trophy, but he knew that his tyranny had a limit.

"The loser's property fairly goes to the winner!" he said, still staring at me. "Follow Cat's footsteps and you will be able to, perhaps, get something this powerful one day too."

He took a great risk saying that as one could never know what unusual things we would come across during our inevitable advance toward the exit. But Petrovich wouldn't be Petrovich if he wouldn't leave himself some wiggle room. It was not for nothing that he added the word "perhaps".

"Well done, Cat," the blacksmith came up to me and pat me on the shoulder. "Petrovich is right. You deserve that armor. I can imagine the look on that man's face when he resurrects and realizes that he's never gonna see it again. I wanna see it when he comes back."

He burst into laughter. The redhead was right; this man would have to come again in order to conclude the negotiations. I doubted that he brought his tombstone along and hid it nearby. It would take him some time to get back to us.

"You are free to go, by the way," Petrovich said arrogantly. "Don't you have chores to do?"

The audience started to disperse; only the blacksmith, Vlada and I stayed. I wondered what she wanted.

"Vlada Alexandrovna, do you need a special discharge?" Petrovich said sarcastically. "I need to talk to you, Cat."

"I need to talk to you too," Vlada said, staring at our leader. "As far as I remember, I'm not an ordinary member of this detachment, and I'm still responsible for my people. Therefore, I have the right to express my opinion."

"You do," Petrovich agreed unexpectedly, looking at her with curiosity. The blacksmith also looked at her with surprise, as if she was standing in the way of a tank platoon.

"Don't you think that it's strange that Igor came to us?" Vlada asked, keeping an eye on Petrovich.

"Are you afraid?" Petrovich seemed to be astonished and even disappointed.

"Let's assume that I am," Vlada nodded. "I'm afraid. Aren't you?"

"What?" Petrovich exclaimed. "We have a strong detachment. I alone could kill a bunch of people with my lance. We have more people than they do!"

I wondered if Vlada's concerns made him angry or if he was just displeased that I got the armor.

"There's still something wrong here," Vlada said stubbornly.

"Listen to me, woman," Petrovich said wearily, quieting down. "Your intuition might work somewhere else, but not here. There is no reason to suspect a leader of another detachment. If you have nothing else to do but come up with conspiracy theories, maybe you need a boyfriend. Cat is free, for example..."

Rude. Getting me involved wasn't the issue but the fact that his words were like a slap in Vlada's face. She didn't answer, just swallowed convulsively as if struggling to not say something offensive. She then turned around abruptly and walked away. I could've sworn that I saw her blush as she walked past me. Damn it, I must stop thinking about her! Vlada is some ten years older than me. We cannot be in a relationship!

"Why do you hesitate, Cat?" Petrovich asked me point-blank.

"I really doubt that that's what you wanted to talk about," I had to show no emotions. Our leader was on fire today.
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"Whatever," Petrovich shrugged. "I don't need Shakespearean passion in the detachment anyway. Dmitri, leave us," he ordered the blacksmith. He nodded and headed for his workshop.

I stood there, looking at the lancer and trying to guess what he would say to me.

"You know I could just kill you and take that armor, right?" Petrovich asked in a low voice.

"I do," I nodded. "But you won't do that since you don't want to lose your authority."

I was being diplomatic. I could've said that the armor was in my inventory and that he could go to hell. However, I gave Petrovich the opportunity to save his face.

The lancer grinned and stretched, theatrically cracking his joints.

"I won't," he agreed. "But still, Vasily, I would like to warn you that such things have to be discussed with me in advance."

"I'll bear that in mind," I nodded.

"Next time I won't let you go unpunished."

"I got it," I nodded again. The conversation started turning into a farce.

"Okay, Cat, let's get to the point," Petrovich grimaced.

He motioned me to follow him and headed toward the river.

"I hope that, unlike that woman, you understand that Igor and his detachment could be of help to us." He turned to me as we approached the river bank. We were now walking slowly along the stream.

I nodded, having thought about it for a moment. It wasn't that I didn't understand what he was talking about, I just couldn't stop thinking about why Vlada got offended. No, now is not the time for that.

"We have to get going," the leader continued. "If we want to get to the exit from this world, we have to act, not sit idly."

Big talk and standard inspiring phrases again. I wondered what he was getting at.

"I think that we're ready to try to get into the Forbidden City," Petrovich said and looked at me, waiting for my reaction. As I wasn't in a hurry to answer, he continued, "Think about it. We have to level up everybody anyway. And this is one of the few places in the area where you can find really good things and get some really valuable loot. After all, it's time for all of us to get stronger, including you. Your old armor and scythe are shameful gear for one of our best fighters!"

"Well, perhaps," I reluctantly agreed.

"Please, Cat!" Petrovich laughed. "I know you want to go there, too. You know, there used to be a civilization there. If we're lucky, we might find some real artifacts. We could benefit from having such things."

"We won't go there with the whole detachment, will we?" I asked.

"We won't," Petrovich confirmed. "You'll go there."

Chapter end