Chapter 25: QuestionsBrunhild approached the guard, “I present Lady Rutina, daughter of the Count of Selmer, come to see Lord Captain Gosr.”

  “Yes, please come this way, Lord Knight and My Lady.” Another guard ran off to get help.

  Seems like we’re considered part of her entourage so we followed along. Either the guards recognize her or they just let in any armed group based on clothing, accent and knowing a couple names. Considering that everyone in this world carries reliable identification at all times, a quick check at the gate should be standard.

  Since it’s raining pretty heavily, we’re led to a small but comfortable conference room with a couple couches, a few chairs and a low table. Rutina sat down in a chair as did I, a couple spots away.

  Brunhild gres at me, “Don’t forget your pce, Moreau.”

  Not bothering to give a response, I just sat there comfortably, but the rest remained standing. Showing immediate deference wouldn’t help my case.

  Soon, a tall, distinguished-looking elf approached:

  [Gosr Nordbrun Anhalt][Male, Age: 46][Wizard: 61]

  Close enough to the name I remember from the manga so this is probably the duke’s main aide. [1]

  “Lady Rutina, it’s certainly been awhile since your st visit… oh, have you been injured? Do you need help?”

  “I’m fine, Gosr, no need to alert anyone. However, we do have a dispute to resolve and could use your help.”

  “Certainly, Lady Rutina, I’ll call for a scribe.”

  Gosr sat down and a clerk appeared shortly after. Tea was served by a maid to make the entire affair look much more like a social visit than an official hearing that could determine someone’s fate.

  “So, Lady Rutina, who is involved in this dispute?”

  “My guard, Knight Brunhild, has made a serious accusation against this man, Lord Moreau.”

  Being a formal matter, one of Gosr’s Knights came over to open my card. Gosr looked a bit surprised — he probably wasn’t expecting to meet an unknown Mage. Quickly regaining composure, they moved to Brunhild. When Brunhild’s card popped up, Gosr made a casual gesture and Brunhild was quickly restrained — ah, the work of a true professional.

  I didn’t like having another noble learning about me, but it was worth getting Brunhild captured with so little social risk. Her Thief job certainly doesn’t prove collusion, but it should put the suspicion where it belongs, i.e., away from me.

  With genuine surprise, Brunhild shouts, “What is the meaning of this?!”

  Gosr ignores Brunhild, “Lady Rutina, it appears that your Knight is actually a Thief.”

  Brunhild is promptly gagged and taken away.

  “What? Brunhild’s been with me for years… like Jakob, I guess. Lord Moreau, please accept my apologies.”

  “There is nothing to forgive, Lady Rutina. I feel honored to have received fair and impartial treatment, even against someone close to you.”

  Gosr procims to the scribe, “This hearing was duly adjudicated by Gosr of the Duke of Harz’s Knightly Order. I testify that the accusation is moot on the grounds that there is no accuser. Lord Moreau, do you have anything to add?”

  “No, Lord Captain.”

  “Then the matter is concluded. Now, as to the former Knight’s betrayal. How do you wish to proceed, Lady Rutina?”

  “Please do as you see fit.”

  “Understood. The sentence shall be immediate execution.” The scribe scurried off, presumably to rey Gosr’s decree.

  “Thank you, Gosr.”

  “Now, Lady Rutina, something has certainly happened to you.”

  “It is of no importance. Is big sister here?”

  “Yes, Lady Rutina, I’ll escort you.”

  …and then they left, just like that. I guess Brunhild’s trial ended after her card was seen. Sentencing seemed less upsetting to the 14-year-old Rutina than a torn stocking. I’ve sin more than my fair share of criminals, many of them today, but this situation was surreal.

  Rolf gave no reaction and casually walked out of the room. I followed with the guys and then proceeded through the corridors with no one questioning us. No one questioned Brunhild either. Even if her guilt was assured, she may have identified co-conspirators. I guess a disgraced knight cannot be trusted.

  We left through the main gate — unchallenged — and walked to the adventurers guild. Absolutely no reason for anyone to be interested in me… and yet, maybe they are. Just to be extra careful, I’ll avoid using movement magic so close to the powerful nobles. I don’t even want to be tracked to Curatar so I asked around for a pce to go fishing. I had pnned to go fishing on a day off so may as well take care of that while (unnecessarily) covering my tracks. I paid for the three of us to go to a pce called Hafen.

  Hafen looked like any little, rainy fishing vilge back in my old world. This is nice but I was expecting a quiet ke or river rather than a spot for fishing boats. A quick scan of the area helps me spot the vilge chief.

  “Excuse me, can you direct me to a pce to go fishing?”

  “What would a human know about fishing? Just go buy what you need and go back to your side.”

  “Hmm, quite the racist, aren’t you? I wonder how many customers you drive away.”

  I didn’t buy anything, not that I had pnned to anyway. We continued to the tree line in silence and warped back home when we were out of sight.

  ────────────────────────

  “You’re back early. Did everything go well?”

  “We got ambushed so decided to end early.”

  I gave Alina a quick summary including Brunhild’s betrayal and subsequent execution.

  “It didn’t feel like Brunhild would betray Rutina, but even if I was the target, she had to know that Rutina would be in danger. Regardless of intent, she colluded with brigands to set up an ambush and tried to implicate me as the vilin. The result was shocking but unavoidable.”

  “And then, Brunhild suddenly became a Thief, huh?”

  “She had the Thief job in the past. It just happened to become her primary job after she lied.”

  “Good, though she deserved worse.”

  “The whole ordeal reminds me that life is fleeting and anything can happen. With that in mind, Marcus, Theo, I want to change your contracts so that you’ll get released if anything happens to me.”

  Marcus says, “Boss, that’s really generous. Thank you so much for your faith is us.”

  Theo adds, “I must confess some selfish concerns when you venture off alone, Boss.”

  “Yeah, sorry, that was crappy. I’ll try to be more careful… for my own sake as well.”

  “Um, David, sorry to ask…”

  “Well, since you’re free Alina, I expect that you’d just take a share of my belongings.”

  “Free? I know you don’t like to talk about it, but I’m not actually free, you know. I’m not compining, it’s just…”

  Almost certainly knowing something I didn’t, the guys quietly left the room. Have I really done something weird again?

  “Alina, is there some special rules for employees?”

  “I don’t know that word, but even without the mark, I really am yours.”

  I quickly equipped Knight and checked my status card. “Nope, no change here. Give me your hand.”

  “What just happened? How did you do that?”

  I grabbed Alina’s hand and checked her card. Yep, there it was, Sve, with no owner listed.

  “Alina, why are you a sve? Oh, you must have been Rutina’s sve. I guess that connection was cut when you came to my house.”

  “No, David, the elves rarely use svery. I became yours when you bought me. We just haven’t been registered yet.”

  “I know it must sound unbelievable, but I really didn’t know. Let’s get this fixed right away.”

  “Oh, thank you for accepting me, David! I’ve been so worried. Thank goodness it was just a misunderstanding.”

  OK, let’s just stop and think about this from Alina’s point of view. She was already a de facto sve for the elves and believes that she’s simply been transferred to me. For her, actual svery is just a technicality. It’s just some paperwork that I had neglected. I can’t just assume that she wants to be freed. Well, I can’t assume that she wants to remain a sve. When all else fails…

  “Alina, I’d like you to be honest with me. If it was completely up to you, would you rather be freed today or remain a sve? Nothing else would have to change.”

  “David, are you saying that…”

  “No, I’m not trying to send you away. Don’t worry about my feelings or tradition or anything other than what you want.”

  “Alright, David, I’ll tell you everything because I trust you.”

  “I promise, Alina, I just want to know what you want.”

  “I like you, David. I really like you and want to stay with you. You’re good to me, especially ■■■ ■■■■ ■ ■■■■. I hate the idea of you getting hurt, but I don’t want to die. On the practical side, svery protects me from high taxes. Even if you’d be willing to pay for me, a retainer costs more than a sve for no real benefit. I want to be with you as long as you’ll have me.”

  Wow, that really was a full confession. I only meant for her to tell me about svery. I’ll just pretend I didn’t understand that middle part, at least for the moment.

  “Yes, Alina, I fully accept you and I’m sorry you had to go through all that just to expin what should have been obvious. There were a few details I’d love to discuss further, but let’s get the official matters taken care of.”

  I left the room to fetch the guys and to hide my embarrassment. Is that sort of explicit talk normal here or have I just met unusually expressive women?

  “Let’s go to the sve shop and then I’d like to check on Nordselm to make sure they’re OK.”

  ────────────────────────

  “Hello, Mr. Moreau. What can I do for you today?” I guess a good merchant never forgets a name though I guess I really have come here quite a few times now.

  “Hello, An. This is my new party member, Alina. She already has sve status so we’re here for registration. Also, I’d like all three to be released should something happen to me.”

  “Certainly, Sir, if that is your wish.”

  Alina and I walked up to An for him to perform the marriage, uh, sve registration. As much as I’d like to deny that this isn’t svery, there’s no chance in hell I’d voluntarily become a sve. The difference in power is so great that Alina is grateful to have me own her. It’s hard to fully accept, but at least she’s happy.

  I tried not to think about how the guys must feel now that they won’t be forced to follow me to the grave. They really didn’t deserve to have that hanging over them just because I couldn’t accept the shock of Tessa trying to kill me. Well, I’ll just try to think of it as being somewhat less evil now.

  Morality. Right, I almost forgot. I’d better check to see if my next s-, um, party member has arrived yet. Right on cue, An seems to smell an opportunity.

  “While you’re here, Mr. Moreau, would you like to take a look at some of our test acquisitions?”

  “Well, it’s a bit too soon for that, but, sure, since I’m here anyway.”

  I decided not to look back to see their reaction but instead left them behind and followed An upstairs.

  “This will just be a casual look since we haven’t prepared for the visit.”

  “That’s perfect, An. I’ll probably be ready in 10 to 20 days and I know some changes may occur before then. Of course, if we find an especially good match…”

  “Excellent. So, male, female, any special characteristics?”

  OK, how do I ask for Sherry without asking for her by name?

  “Female. Should be able to fight but doesn’t have to be experienced. Full literacy would be nice as well.”

  “Full literacy isn’t common but can be arranged. We have several who meet your other requirements.”

  We looked at several candidates without finding Sherry or anyone who felt ‘right’ for the party. With so many distractions, we still haven’t progressed to the point that we really need anyone who isn’t a perfect match.

  After thanking An for the quick tour and telling him I’d come back soon, I rejoined my not-in-the-least-bit-curious party members and we walked to a nearby alley.

  We warped to Nordselm to find everything basically fine. Some vilgers had seen portions of the fight, but none seem to have witnessed the details. I asked Alina to apologize for bringing such a bad person as Brunhild to their vilge. They seemed quite pleased to hear that she’d been executed.

  In fact, the news prompted a mandatory toast. I had the distinct impression that they believed I had personally executed Brunhild solely for the crime of disrespecting a vilge child. Well, it wasn’t like I had no hand in her fate.

  Apparently, Brunhild had sought refuge from the vilgers. Perhaps foolishly, they refused her. So gd that Brunhild hadn’t retaliated against them violently. Either she wasn’t that ruthless or was just in too much of a hurry.

  Alina helped me warn Bernhard that some Knights might come to investigate the battle. I advised him to just report everything honestly and to cooperate fully. There’s absolutely nothing to hide.

  After taking our leave, we went to do a little work on the fourth floor of the byrinth, which introduced slugs (Green Caterpilrs). We eventually went home, had dinner and baths.

  Our night together was very pleasant. Alina got proof of my commitment and I conveniently forgot about svery.

  ────────────────────────

  [1] Yes, this is the same guy from the LN. The manga used an unexpected transtion of his name so I pushed it back towards the WN. Gosr is the name of a real pce in the real Harz region of Germany so this seems to be the intended spelling.