94. Unlucky veterans

As he passed the Western Springs post that night, Jace went over to the barracks to look around.

The size of the camp had even shrunk a bit compared to a month ago when he had come this way with Grid to deliver food, and I heard that it was because some soldiers had gone to Red Ridge Mountain to help clear out the Jackals.

He watched for a moment, especially looking near the lone tent where the strange soldier had not appeared.

“What are you looking at here?” A soldier carrying a wet soldier’s shirt in his hand approached from the side and asked, “Look at you sneaking around, what do you want?”

“I’m looking for the commander here.” Jace said, “I have something …… kinda important I want to report.”

The soldier said, “Just tell me what’s up, the Captain’s gone south to scout, I can tell him when he gets back.”

The soldier was topless, didn’t look much older than Jace, and had a straight face with a bit of anger, probably thinking of Jace as a thief or something as well.

“You know that guy in your tent who sells scrap metal?” Jess asked.

“I know.” The soldier replied, “Egmont, he’s the oldest qualified soldier we have here, he’s been a soldier longer than the Captain, he was wounded before so he’s not on the front line now.”

“He said he was a deserter.” Jess said.

“Did he tell you so?” The soldier scratched his head and said, “What about him? I’d suggest that if you’re having a run-in with him or something, you might want to stay out of trouble here, man, no one’s going to help you.”

“I have no conflict with him.” Jess said, “Do you know anything about his wife?”

The soldier suddenly grabbed Jace by the collar and pulled him in front of him, asking, “You want to mock Egmont? Who do you think you are?”

Jace grabbed the soldier’s wrist and clenched it hard, and the soldier frowned, like he kind of didn’t expect Jace to have such a strong hand.

“I’m from the Wizard’s Temple, soldier, please calm down.” Jace warned.

The soldier noticed his ring and the stick on his back, and glanced at the pockets at his waist, and what was still a slightly angry look dissipated for a moment.

“Sorry.” The soldier let go of his hand and said, “Egmont takes good care of us juniors, and as for his wife …… he doesn t have one. That’s just something he got tired of thinking about, if that’s what you’re really asking. Did he tell you that he had a wife in the fishing village waiting for him to return, and would say that his wife was more beautiful than Queen Tarea ……”

At that point, he paused and said, “You know the rumors about those sea mermaids, those mermaids that suck the spirit wei from people. I don’t know if that’s the case with Egmont, but based on his description, we all think so. Why are you so interested in this matter?”

“I was investigating the fishmen settlers and their relationship with the jackals.” Jace said, “That Mr. Egmont of yours told me earlier that he had a wife living in that fishing village, and I was going to go and consult with them about such seaside dwellers, but went and found nothing before I planned to come back and ask.”

“So it is.” The soldier said, “I’m sorry that I misunderstood you because some people over at the post were fond of laughing at the story of Egmont and his wife. As for Egmont …… we feel that it was because he was mesmerized by those mermaids that he did something wrong on the battlefield. Do you think there is such a possibility, Mr. Mage, you surely know too much more than us in this regard.”

“Mermaids can indeed use their voices to mesmerize people.” Jace said with a slate, “As for whether the soldiers will be bewitched and cowed …… I can’t say, but I guess the soldiers who have been bewitched by the mermaids will definitely be like a different person.”

“I knew it.” The soldier said.

After the young soldier left, Jace looked out over the fires of the barracks, when the strange old soldier with the limp had just come out of the tent, and was walking slowly toward the separate tent that held the worn weapons, seeming to mutter something to himself the whole way, but completely inaudible.

Jace knew in his heart of hearts that the chances of the veteran being compelled by the Naga to become a deserter were unlikely, and if he had been infested by the Naga on his way to the Hillsbrad Hills, would the Naga have followed him all the way across the Palatine Gulf to the Wild West?

Is it hard to be true love?

If the young soldier’s guess is correct, and the veteran encountered a Naga before he deserted, perhaps the Naga siren in the fishing village had nothing to do with the veteran. Either way, there is no point in looking for the veteran, either his “wife” has died a horrible death, or the veteran is just a poor unlucky man who just happened to lead Jace to an unlucky place.

The next morning, Jace returned to Stormwind, and after dropping off his things and taking a bath in the canal, he headed straight for the basement of the slaughtered lambs with a few scales and a broken bag containing herbs.

He hadn’t slept very well last night either, considering that the jackals were probably making some sort of poison, and while it looked as if it was meant to be used against the fishers, what if they were planning to use it against Stormwind as well?

Especially considering the Jackal riots in Red Ridge Mountain, Three Forks, and Western Spring Fortress, it seemed as if the Jackals in the entire Stormwind Kingdom were planning to unite and cause trouble recently.

Does this all have something to do with Hogg? Is Hogg the overall leader of all the entire jackal packs today?

Hogg is a powerful warrior, yes, but to say he’s intelligent enough to unite all the jackal tribes together against the humans again after the orc war?

Greeting Zare, Jace stepped into the back room and looked at the deep, dark cell door leading to what could be called a “dungeon” underground shelter, remembering how the Storm Kingdom in the game took care of all this trouble.

At the time point of the World of Warcraft game, that is, eighteen or nineteen years later, the power of the Jackals was still rampant, but still had not touched the several large human settlements to directly jeopardize the rule of the Stormwind Kingdom, nor had they heard of any large-scale poisoning incidents. Could it be that the Jackals’ union was thwarted in the middle of this?

Or was that alchemy room just a normal alchemy room that supplied the jackal horde with potions to cure diseases, and had no other purpose like making poison or anything like that?

Jace overthinking it?

No, there’s a huge turning point in the middle that can’t be ignored, and that’s Onyxia.

Since Onyxia’s arrival, the unstable elements within the Stormwind Kingdom had been quickly reined in and practically unified under her wing.

Perhaps the threat of these jackals was eliminated by Onyxia as her political capital in Stormwind ……

Of course, this was all conjecture on Jace’s part as well; perhaps something had gone wrong within the Jackals themselves, or perhaps something had gone wrong with the pusher hiding behind the Jackals.

But right now, the threat is real.

Entering the alchemy room, Ursula was sitting in the corner reading a book, the crucible wasn’t burning, and a faint smell of medicine floated within the air, much clearer and brighter than when she had arrived earlier.

Ursula looked up and asked, “You’re back so soon?”

“It won’t do any good for much longer.” After opening the bag and handing it to Ursula, Jace asked, “Can you help me see what all the herbs in here are?”

Ursula took a whiff of the smell, frowned, and said, “Mourning Grass, it’s been sitting there for a bit too long, otherwise it wouldn’t smell like that.”