Chapter 216: Marden Had More Soldiers Than I Had Bullets

Raven knew Marden wasn’t a normal city before he ever saw the walls. First came the convoys.

Reinforced wagons traveled in groups of six or more, escorted by soldiers carrying long spears, heavy crossbows, and armor marked by real wear instead of ceremonial polish. Every group maintained consistent spacing, scouts ahead, and a second element closing the formation from behind.

Then came the checkpoints. Not simple barriers, but defensive positions. Raven counted three before they reached the main gate. Each had enough room to stop a wagon without blocking the entire road, elevated platforms for archers, and a second line from which the route could be sealed if the first checkpoint failed.

Roland slowed his horse slightly. "Nice place."

Raven looked toward a tower to the west. "Depends what you need it for."

Valeria followed his gaze. "Marden was built to survive Varkess. The War of the Three Passes ended decades ago, but House Caerwyn never stopped treating this border like another one could begin tomorrow."

Raven didn’t need more explanation. The city confirmed the rest. The outer walls were too thick for a commercial city. A second line was visible behind them, with staggered towers and open ground in front of the gates where no attacker could approach without being exposed.

More importantly, the men standing on those walls knew where to look. That was the difference between guards and soldiers. In Greyhaven, Raven had seen uniforms. Here, he saw habits. Two watched the road. One watched the nearby rooftops. Another studied the ground around the wagons. Nobody was distracted talking to merchants.

Raven counted: twelve visible at the gate, another eight on the immediate wall, four in one tower, and probably reserves behind them. Then he counted ammunition. Five usable rounds for the Mk.I, plus one experimental round he preferred not to fire inside a city. Not remotely enough. Good. Remembering that was healthy.

The line moved slowly. Every wagon was inspected for documentation, cargo, permits, and weapons. A mercenary group ahead of them spent nearly ten minutes at the checkpoint because one member carried a monster organ without the proper preservation seal.

Raven watched how the officer handled it. No shouting, no threats. He simply confiscated the cargo temporarily, wrote a violation notice, and directed the group toward a side office. Efficient. That was worse too. Corruption was easier to manipulate than discipline.

Valeria moved slightly closer. "Stop looking at the towers so much."

Raven didn’t turn. "I’m counting."

"I know."

"Then you know why."

"I also know soldiers can notice when a foreigner is counting their positions."

Raven stopped looking directly. "Twenty-six visible."

Roland spoke quietly from behind him. "Thirty-one."

Raven looked back. Roland gestured with his chin toward an inner structure. "Five more behind the second gate."

Raven nodded. "Good."

Valeria closed her eyes. "You two are exhausting."

Elise smiled faintly. "I thought Raven was the problem."

"Roland is learning."

"That does not reassure me."

Raven looked toward the main entrance. Two visible exits, one side route obstructed by wagons, traversable rooftops in some areas, too many elevated firing angles, and too many choke points. If something went wrong, his best option wouldn’t be fighting. It would be making sure nothing went wrong.

When they reached the main checkpoint, a soldier raised one hand. "Documents."

Valeria handed over hers first. The man inspected them carefully, and his posture changed slightly when he saw the Nacht seal. He didn’t become accommodating, only more careful. Raven respected that.

"Lady von Nacht."

"Correct."

The soldier looked toward Raven, Roland, and Elise. Then he noticed the wrapped weapon secured to Raven’s horse, and his attention stopped there. "What are you carrying?"

Raven answered before Valeria could. "Personal weapon."

Partial truth. Nothing more.

"Type?"

"Experimental."

The soldier frowned. "Open it."

Raven didn’t move. Valeria did. "Under what regulation?"

The man looked at her. "Inspection of unregistered weaponry within Marden."

"That applies to siege weapons, area-effect devices, and classified artifacts."

"It also applies to any weapon whose capability we cannot determine."

Raven studied his tone. No provocation. He was doing his job. That made things more complicated.

The soldier looked at the case again. "Is that the Thunder Weapon?"

Silence. Roland didn’t react. Elise did, barely. Valeria kept her expression neutral.

Raven thought quickly. He could deny it. But if the man had already received a sufficiently accurate description, a clumsy lie would only increase his interest.

"That isn’t my name for it," Raven said.

The soldier didn’t look away. "Then open the case."

Raven calculated his options. Refuse, and likely face administrative detention. Accept, and risk them inspecting the components too closely. Lie, and risk escalation.

Valeria stepped forward. "The weapon will remain under my responsibility during our stay."

Raven glanced at her. She didn’t look back. The soldier shook his head.

"Your title does not exempt it from military inspection."

Good. That was healthy too. Valeria couldn’t simply say House Nacht and turn the rules into decoration. Before Raven decided how much he was willing to reveal, Elise spoke.

"Then perhaps we can simplify this."

She produced her religious identification. The soldier took it, read the name, then read it again. His expression changed more than it had for Valeria.

"Saint Veyra."

"The weapon has already been examined in connection with an active doctrinal investigation."

Raven looked at her. That was technically true. Extremely technically. Elise continued.

"Opening it here without proper conditions could compromise material relevant to that investigation. If Marden requires an additional inspection, I can sign religious responsibility so it can be conducted in an appropriate facility."

The soldier hesitated, not because he wanted to argue, but because he now had two separate authorities attached to the same problem: nobility and the Church. And neither was asking him to ignore the law, only to change the procedure. The man called for a superior.

The officer who arrived had a scar over one eyebrow and enough rank that the others stopped talking when he approached. He checked Valeria’s documents, then Elise’s. Finally, he looked at Raven.

"Can the weapon be fired inside the city without additional preparation?"

Raven answered. "Yes."

Elise turned slightly toward him. So did Valeria. The officer raised an eyebrow. "I appreciate the honesty."

"You asked something specific."

"Can it be activated accidentally?"

"Not easily."

"Does it explode?"

Raven thought about the early tests. "It shouldn’t."

Valeria closed her eyes. The officer looked toward the rifle, then back at Raven. "That wasn’t a no."

"Because that would have been a lie."

For a second, nobody said anything. Roland had to look away. The officer exhaled through his nose.

"The weapon remains sealed inside administrative and market districts. It cannot be used except in immediate self-defense. If you enter a military district, it will be confiscated temporarily or formally inspected. Understood?"

"Yes."

"And if I hear a shot matching the rumors, I’ll assume something has gone very wrong."

Raven nodded. "That will probably be accurate."

The officer returned the documents. "Enter."

Valeria waited until they passed through the second gate before looking at Raven. "’It shouldn’t explode.’"

"It was accurate."

"It was socially terrible."

Elise smiled. "But accurate."

Valeria looked at her. "Do not encourage him."

Marden was the same on the inside. Wide streets, clear intersections, barracks integrated between civilian buildings, warehouses under permanent guard, and convoys entering and leaving without stopping traffic. It didn’t look like a fortress that had grown around a city. It looked like a fortress that had allowed a city to grow inside it.

Raven observed without making it obvious: routes, inner gates, places where a barricade could close an entire street, where the wells were, where horses were concentrated, where someone could disappear and where doing so would be nearly impossible.

Then he looked at his group. Valeria had prevented the inspection from becoming confrontational through status and legal knowledge. Elise had added authority without forcing anyone to break the rules. Roland had identified soldiers and positions Raven hadn’t immediately seen. None of those things required more strength. That mattered.

For years, Raven had worked with teams because missions required specialists. He had understood the logic. He had never thought much about applying it to his life.

Here, it was different. He hadn’t been assigned these people. They had stayed. And each of them solved problems Raven would otherwise have needed deception, time, or violence to handle. It didn’t make him less useful. It made him less limited.

Roland rode beside him. "You’re thinking too much."

"I’m counting how many different ways I could have made the gate situation worse if I came alone."

"High number?"

"Yes."

"That almost sounds like personal growth."

Raven looked at him. "Don’t ruin it."

Roland smiled.

They found lodging near the commercial district, far enough from the main barracks that they wouldn’t spend the night surrounded by soldiers. Valeria began checking companies linked to the transport markings. Elise asked about religious records without mentioning the corpse. Roland went out to survey the entry and exit routes.

Raven stayed with the Mk.I, not to use it, but to put it somewhere out of sight. Before he could go upstairs, the innkeeper called after him.

"Raven Ashford?"

Raven stopped. He hadn’t given his name. His hand didn’t move toward the weapon. Instead, he shifted into a position where he could see the door, the stairs, and the reflection in the window.

"Who’s asking?"

The man looked uncomfortable. He pulled an envelope from beneath the counter. "A messenger left this this morning."

Raven looked at the paper. No seal, no name, only one sentence written across the outside.

Welcome to Marden.

Raven didn’t touch the envelope yet. They had been inside the city for less than an hour.

But someone in Marden already knew they were coming.