Chapter 45: HelperDay 47

  When Sherry spoke in her native nguage st night, it sounded like something East European. Was her red beet soup a clue? Nah, probably just a coincidence. She said that her home vilge is near a town called Dobro. [1] I don’t know if that’s significant, but the next town, Saboja, sure sounds Russian. Of course, it doesn’t matter what nguage she spoke except that wasn’t completely alien. Neither is Elvish so maybe even Valic is simir to something spoken on Earth, though I still have my doubts.

  Speaking of foreign, I should try doing something with the pistachios. Since they’re already (technically) edible, it seemed fine to try roasting some while making breakfast. I stopped when the porridge was ready since they looked good enough.

  Theo came in and started to set the table. “Why does it smell like pistachios?”

  “I bought some in the capital recently and decided to try roasting them. Help yourself. I’ll salt the rest ter.”

  “Thanks, Boss. I love these.”

  No one else seemed interested so I gave a rge portion to Theo. I also gave him the rest of the raw nuts to roast ter. With the exotic snacks taken care of, we got into gear and went to work.

  “OK, folks, we’re on the 15th floor of Nordselm’s Labyrinth. We’ll still have some mermaids and shrubs to deal with so, oh, I see that the next enemy is Bitch Butterfly, which we’ve fought before. Um, these can fly so they should be sensitive to wind magic, right?”

  “Yes, David, and they resist fire. They can also stun.”

  I spam breeze storms and the occasional sand storm if there aren’t any butterflies. The stunning weapons certainly help and I stay in the back most of the time now that we also have chant interruption on the front line. I send out a group heal from my Priest job after even a minor injury. The best part is that I can do this even during the normal cooldown between Mage spells since my jobs don’t interfere with each other.

  After going for what was probably a few hours, we stop for lunch in the vilge. The others go to Bernhard’s room while I go out to the fields to find him.

  “Hello, Bernhard. How are you today?”

  “Very good, David. Letter for you in my room.”

  “Thanks, I’ll check ter. Were you able to name the children?”

  “Sad, no. I could not get chant right enough.”

  Yep, I only realized ter that we should have helped him practice his spells during the Brahim lessons.

  “OK, show me what you have so far. Maybe I can help.”

  “On the sprits that bar no ledge with will to unwell the un-sewn, many fest and open status card.”

  Had to bite my tongue to avoid ughing at ‘no ledge’. Well, we skimped on the lessons and he couldn’t ask the locals for help. After a few corrections, he eventually managed to open my card. He immediately looked away from it to avoid vioting my privacy. Not sure why he thought I’d be so secretive, not that he’s wrong.

  Bernhard ran off to share the good news and I rejoined my party. Sherry had already found the note and read it — a bit intrusive but fine. It seems that Rutina is asking to see me. Well, I did say that I’d help her so I’ll go during our next break. Back to the butterflies we go.

  We made it to and through the boss room before evening. This time, we went far enough on the next floor to see that we’d be facing cms next time. I’ll need to ask Sherry about those ter. Instead of fighting, we warped home, I wiped off a bit, changed and warped to the forest near Selmer’s Castle. Raining again — what a pce.

  I announced myself to the guard, “David Moreau is here to see Lady Rutina, at Her Lady’s request.”

  Not sure why I’m using third person or why I’m still reluctant to refer to myself as a ‘lord’ when nearly everyone else does. I was escorted to a different location than usual. After a couple of hallways, we came to an office that looked a lot like the duke’s. Rutina and the duchess sat there, talking about something important. There was a bored-looking guard standing against the right wall.

  Rutina shot up at seeing me. “Ah, Lord Moreau, thank you for coming.”

  “Your Grace, Lady Rutina. Have I come at a bad time?”

  “Not at all, Lord Moreau. I was just informing Rutina of the test news in Harz Duchy. It seems a new byrinth has opened.”

  “Oh, right, I almost forgot about Bode’s Labyrinth.”

  “Um, no, it’s near the vilge of Tahra.”

  “Oh, that’s probably how you say ‘Tare’. I didn’t want to meet another rude vilge chief so I didn’t go there.”

  I wonder if our activity in Nordselm slowed the activation of the byrinths in Harz or if it’s too far away to influence it. Maybe they always open at a certain time regardless of nearby activity and it’s just the strength of the byrinth that’s affected by activity. Oh no, I just realized that it sounded a lot like I knew this would happen even if I got the location wrong. Worse is that this will look really suspicious if Bode’s Labyrinth opens soon. Nah, these nobles won’t hang on my every word. Still, it’s sort of disconcerting how they’re staring at me right now. Distraction needed.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest that all vilge chiefs in the Elven Territories are rude. In fact, I’ve already met a nice one so I know they can’t all be bad.”

  “Um, no offense taken, Lord Moreau. Anyway, as I was saying, the new byrinth demands immediate attention when we were already focused on Harba. I will need to spend much of my time assisting those parties.”

  “Your Grace, I was under the impression that a new byrinth is typically rather calm and stable. At least, that’s how it seemed when Vale’s Labyrinth opened. The explorers guild didn’t decre an emergency or even say that it was particurly urgent.”

  “Ah, I don’t actually know if this common or if this byrinth is different. Regardless, His Grace has asked for my help.”

  “Of course, Your Grace. Duty first.”

  “Now, I must be on my way. I’ll come back in a few days, Rutina. Take good care of my dear sister, Lord Moreau.”

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  The guard left with Cassia and the room fell silent. Rutina looked sort of nervous so I started to wonder what the duchess meant. Well, best to just ask.

  “Now then, Lady Rutina, why did you ask to see me?”

  “Um, I wanted to ask for your help, but I saw how mad you got at the duke.”

  “The duke was trying to force me.”

  “Like I did when we first met?”

  “Just that once. Otherwise, you’ve treated me much better than the duke has. So, go ahead and ask.”

  “Teacher, please let me join your party.”

  “Nope.”

  “Why not?”

  “Form your own party with your knights.”

  “We’d lost most to brigands earlier and Gosr dismissed most of the rest. The few that remain are needed here.”

  “Then join one of your uncle’s parties.”

  “He won’t let me. He’s not as bad as my father, but I’m still over-protected. I’m afraid if I don’t get more experience soon, I’ll lose my inheritance. I know it isn’t your problem but I’m asking for your help anyway. Not trying to force, just ask.”

  “Crap, I shouldn’t have revealed that being nice would work on me.”

  “It’s true though.”

  “You’re not part of my household so I can’t just accept you into the party without some very strict conditions. Most important is that you may not tell anyone about how we fight — especially Gosr.”

  “Oh, do you mean not having to use chants?”

  “Huh?”

  “I already know.”

  “Do you?”

  “No, but it’s the only thing that makes sense. Despite your years of experience, you had trouble chanting — almost like you forgot how. Besides, I saw you do it twice in duels and you simply had to have something like this against Heinz’ gang, since even surviving was miraculous.”

  “Who shares this wild theory of yours?”

  “Gosr suspects but needs to see it again to confirm. It’s obvious that you’d need to keep it secret since only a few items with that skill are known in the empire.” [2]

  “OK, OK, enough. Yes, please don’t spread it around, assuming everyone doesn’t already know. Anyway, I may have other tricks. I need to know that you won’t tell anyone.”

  “Yes, Teacher, I promise.”

  “Fortunately, I trust you well enough that I won’t have to threaten to take back your Mage Core.”

  “Um, really?”

  “Nah, just kidding. Anyway, we’ll try to keep you safe and allow you to slow us down. What can you offer us?”

  “I have maps and I can pay. I don’t have much money now, but can pay more ter.”

  “Save your money. Access to your maps will be enough. We’ll spend a day or two to prepare you for the intermediate levels. Have you gathered proper equipment from the treasury?”

  “We don’t have a good list and haven’t had time to bring in merchants, or really want them to see everything.”

  “I have a lot of experience with Mage gear if you want help. Only if it’s allowed, of course.”

  “Really? Thanks.”

  Down in the treasury, I’m trying not to snoop around, except, that’s exactly what I’m supposed to do. I just need to snoop with a critical gaze and not grin like a kid in a toy store. Rutina already picked out a Sacred Robe — it’s a relief that I hadn’t been given the only one. This pce is actually pretty well-stocked, not that I have anything to compare it against. I end up selecting a Sacred Staff, dragon-leather helm, gloves, boots which have water, wind and fire resistance, respectively. She’ll also have a wand and a long knife for backup.

  “Your current gear rivals your sister’s, except for one important item — a Cord of Substitution. Do you have one?”

  “Yes, several in this box.”

  “Um, no, actually you don’t. None of these have the Substitution skill.”

  “What? How can that be? Father paid a huge amount for these.”

  “I’m sorry to say, he was either tricked or robbed. Sorry to be insensitive, but the Cord he wore for the duel was fake as well. The fact that he, um, passed after a sigle hit is proof of that. Anyway, we happen to have an extra at home.”

  “Oh, that’s very generous of you, Teacher.”

  “Not really since I’ll have you pay for it, after you have it checked at a guild temple. You need to be certain with something like this.”

  “Ha ha, that’s good advice, but not in this case. Would three gold coins be enough? I could pay four.”

  “It’s a spare so two gold will be good enough. How about meeting an hour after dawn in Nordselm Vilge.”

  “Yes, thanks. I’ll be there.”

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  They’re setting the table when I get home. Looks like we’re having stew.

  “Rutina asked to join the party.”

  Sherry asks, “Isn’t she a noble? Is that allowed for an elf?”

  Alina concludes, “So, she chose David over her inheritance. It sure took her long enough to decide.”

  “No, Rutina hasn’t ‘chosen me’ like that.”

  Alina retorts, “I bet she seduces you on the first night.”

  Sherry asks, “Is she already your sve?”

  “Please just listen. Rutina will not move in and there will be no romance of any kind. I’ve simple agreed to let her join us in the byrinths. Nothing more.”

  Alina asks skeptically, “If isn’t to get to you, why would she join our party?”

  “One of the new byrinths opened in Harz and taking care of Rutina got pushed onto us. The duke probably wants her to spy on us too. They already know that I don’t have to chant but I don’t think they know about my warp yet. They probably don’t know about Sherry’s job either. Rutina will just be a temporary member so don’t share any unnecessary secrets.”

  Sherry asks, “Why do we even want to accept a spy?”

  “This particur ‘spy’ can be threatened with being turned back into a Vilger. Also, I’ve been to her castle and private study so I could reach her at any time.”

  That sounded a bit creepy but at least it stopped the questions. Of course, I won’t sneak in for no reason and I have no intention of harming her. Well, I don’t have the best track record on peaceful resolutions and there’s always a chance that this is part of a revenge plot. Rutina seemed to accepted her father’s death a little too easily, which could be a cover for not accepting it at all. Or, this is simir to her reaction regarding Brunhild — dead and gone.

  Later that night, I brought my weapon along with Kobold and Carnivine skill crystals to Sherry. She didn’t even bother to ask if it’d be OK to add a third skill and just performed the enchantment as usual. To be honest, I wasn’t completely certain if there would be an increased chance of failure for multiple skills on a single item — it was worth the risk anyway. Soon, I had a Damascus-steel Sacred Rod of Hypnotic Absorption with no remaining skill slots.

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  ? Student, I’m no longer your teacher, so I’ll call you ‘Rutina’. ?

  ? Hmph. ? Well, it’s alright if it’s you, Dawit. ? ?

  “Gah!”

  “David, are you alright?”

  “Sorry — bad dream.”

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  [1] In the LN, Dobro is one of the towns on the way to buy mirrors. This is a very common Svic word so it’s likely to be intentional. The LN’s description of Sherry’s borscht looks sort of Ukrainian so she probably speaks an Old East Svic nguage.[2] In the LN (v2 c3), the first mention of Fragarach (level 5 sword)) says that it has Chant Interruption, etc. When the sword is used, this changes to Chant Omission and it’s very clearly described as a way to omit chants. Other bonus items (e.g., Ring of Determination) are possible to obtain through Fixation (v6 c5). Therefore, it is possible that items granting Chant Omission exist.