The Overlords silently conversed with each other, either with a spell, or just with body language that Karl was missing because he was fascinated with the happy way that the tree woman was snacking on the trail mix one piece at a time.
But he also noticed that she didn’t finish any of the options. She was putting one of each to the side so that she didn’t eat them all.
Whether it was for research, her garden, or some other purpose, he didn’t know. But she was meticulous about it, and even managed to make her bark covered face look sad when she found a lone nut that didn’t have a partner for her to eat.
“Well, if he’s not the spy, and just a danger to the city for some unknown reason, what do we do with him?” The Lamia that came in with the Naga asked the others in a low voice.
The Oracle made a frustrated gesture.
“Forget that, why the hell are there two of him, one troll and one human? Or better yet, where in the seven hells did the actual spy that I detected go? Could he have been with the nomad group that was also fighting the undead?
And for that matter, where is the human who looks like him? He went missing ages ago after the Dungeon Champion challenge, and Morrisa is worried that he might have found another opportunity to advance his power.” The Oracle was whisper shouting at the others.
“Well, we can’t just let him leave without knowing why he’s a danger to the Fortress, can we?”
“Why would we keep him inside the walls, knowing that he’s a danger to the fortress?”
“Those morons should have left him in the wilderness, and he wouldn’t have come within a hundred kilometres of us.”
Karl and the tree woman both smirked at that part, which caught the attention of the others.
“Something funny?” The troll Overlord asked.
It seemed to Karl that the Troll had been nominated to communicate directly with him, as they were supposedly the same species.
What Karl didn’t notice was that the massive Overlord was speaking Trollish, and it was being automatically translated by the System. So when Karl replied directly to him, the others heard it as Trollish and not Common.
“You know that we can all hear you, right? But on a serious note, are you familiar with the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies. The Oracle had a vision, and he told others about it. By telling others, and having them take action on it, he made the prophecy happen.
If nobody had come looking, or they had only come for the undead, who were already destroyed, I would have never been here. If I were never here, there would be no danger to your fortress.
I don’t even know what sort of danger I’m supposed to be. It’s not like I care enough about your existence to make myself your enemy.
No offence intended.
But for all I know, there might have been zombie blood on my equipment or supplies, and my arrival here might have started an undead outbreak.
That is the self-fulfilling prophecy part. In trying to avoid it, any action taken regarding the prophecy actually has a chance of causing it to happen.”
The troll stared at him for a few seconds. “That’s a deep thought for a troll. Who knew that the Trolls still had philosophers among us? So, what do we do to make it not happen?”
Karl shrugged. “At this point, I have no idea. Once the process starts, it continues whether we want it to or not. That’s why it’s better to just leave well enough alone.
I learned that from the Bronze Dragon Orthos.”
[Didn’t he just swear at you and tell you to stop teaching the children strange skills?]
[Same thing, really.]
The green light glowed happily on the desk, and the Overlords sighed.
[What if we just put him in a room with his group members? If they’re only interacting with the maids, it could be a small danger.] The Naga suggested.
The tree woman appeared to be ignoring the others, until she suddenly stabbed a finger into Karl’s hand. It punched right through his palm, as he didn’t have [Eternal Lightning] active, but he did have [Void Body] active, as well as [Limited Invulnerability] and [Trollish Regeneration].
Her finger came back out of his hand cleanly, without so much as a spot of blood on it, and she hummed curiously, much like Rae did when she found a new thing.
“Might I ask what you’re doing?” Karl asked.
He didn’t think that he had actually taken damage, but it appeared that it was possible for certain species or skills to puncture him anyhow, which meant there was a chance he could be crucified and stuck to something, which would be incredibly inconvenient.
“You’re immortal.” She informed him in a matter of fact voice.
“Far from it. I demonstrated that for the guards when they didn’t believe that I was a Troll.”
The green light came on, but the tree woman was ignoring everything except her finger and Karl’s hand.
She stabbed him again and smiled. “I get it. You have to focus on stopping your regeneration so that you will bleed. It might be limited invulnerability? Giving that skill to a troll is the sort of thing that the old Gods would do.”
The Lamia cleared her throat, and motioned for the tree woman to explain.
“Oh, I’ve been trying to figure out what was so strange about him. He doesn’t smell like a Troll, and his energy feels strange, almost bestial, not earthy like most trolls.
I realized it when the Oracle mentioned that he’s from the last resurgence. He’s a Darklight Host War Champion, or at least he was. That means he has a System. He’s not just a troll, he’s blessed by the Gods.
What if the danger to the Fortress is that his very presence is going to cause chaos? If he has enough of the System intact, he might be able to claim the Fortress if he interacts with the City Stones.” She mused.
“And if he becomes Lord of the city, he would automatically receive all the taxes that come to the Fortress. Every single coin collected by the Newbon Empire.” The Troll realized.
Karl nearly choked at the mention of that much money.
“Why would every bit of Tax collected in the nation come here? Forgive my lack of knowledge.” He finally managed to stammer.
“This is where the Council is based, and where the Emperor is resting. Do you know nothing of the Newbon Empire at all?” The Troll asked.
“I never cared about politics, so I didn’t ask. I thought that the Oracle was the one in charge of the Fortress. But if he’s just in charge of defence and strategy, that makes sense as well.”
The tree woman chuckled. “No, the Newbon Empire has two Totem Rank leaders. The Emperor and the General. The Emperor is resting here, while the General lives near the border with the Mountain Giants.
But if you’ve been trading without a home base, you must not have paid any taxes, have you? You never ran into a tax collector to get an annual token?”
“I got one of these. Does this count?” Karl asked, holding out the token he got from the Pirates.
“No, that is not a tax payment token, though I do want to know how you got recognized by the Pirate Lords later. We will let it slide for now, but you should get that sorted out eventually. It is a serious crime to avoid your taxes.” She informed him with a smirk.
Perhaps this Fortress was more dangerous to Karl than he was to it. Few things in the world were more terrifying than having to pay the tax man.
