Chapter 36: MisunderstandingI warped out to the vilge to find my party members resting in Bernhard’s hut. Alina stayed home, so our greetings and good-byes were brief. On our way out, I was clumsy enough to be spotted by a party of Knights who had just arrived.
Still at the entrance of the hut, I whispered to my party, “I’ve been spotted by some Knights and they seem overly interested in me specifically. I don’t want to start a fight so I’ll send you home. I’ll be back tonight, one way or another.” I motioned for Bernhard to stay inside his hut and not interfere. Nobody seemed happy with my decisions, but they silently agreed. I opened a warp portal for my people and walked out to greet the Knights in a cheerful voice.
“Hello, Sir Knights. Sure is nice that the weather has calmed down. Anyway, I was just passing by and don’t have any particur business here.”
“Are you Moreau?”
“Why? Who are you?”
“By the authority of the Count of Selmer’s Knightly Order, you are hereby ordered to come with us.”
“Selmer? Are you colleagues of Brunhild? I worked with her earlier.”
“Yes, we work with Knight Brunhild. She wants you to come with us.”
I accepted their Adventurer’s invitation and tried to look rexed.
“Well, I can certainly trust friends of Brunhild. Let’s go to Bode.”
“No, we are taking you to Selmer.”
Of course, instead of Selmer, we arrived at the main entrance to Bode’s Castle — thanks to the warp portal I created immediately in front of the Field Walker portal. As unlikely as it sounds, the only reasonable expnation is that the Adventurer messed up when I said ‘Bode’. Heck, something like that might even work since the location is only imagined, not chanted.
While my captors were disoriented, I spoke to Bode’s guards, “Guards, please inform Lord Captain Gosr that Lord Moreau has been arrested by these Friends of Brunhild.”
The duke’s Knights immediately sprang into action to surround and disarm the bewildered Selmer Knights. There were no struggles or compints. We all just patiently waited for Gosr to arrive, which took longer than usual.
“Lord Moreau, what’s going on here? I’m very busy so please be brief.”
“Captain Gosr, these Friends of Brunhild told me that she wanted me to follow them.”
Gosr turned to the Selmer Knights and asked, “What is your connection to Brunhild?”
“My Lord, until her recent dismissal, Knight Brunhild was a respected member of our Order.”
“Hmm. What is your business with Lord Moreau?”
“We were ordered to bring Moreau to the His Lordship, the Count of Selmer.”
“Lord Moreau, what do you have to say to this?”
“Captain Gosr, I felt compelled to obey this party of armed men, regardless of their affiliation.”
“Considering the urgency of our current crisis, I hereby order that the party from Selmer shall work under my command for the day. Lord Moreau, come with me. We must speak to His Grace at once.”
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Quite a bit of logistical activity in the courtyard. [1] It was hard to tell if I was in trouble or about to be pressed into duty — probably both. Seems unlikely that I’m in any immediate danger, though I did double-check that my Hero’s Sigil was properly equipped.
We soon came to the duke who looked a bit surprised to see me.
“David, what a time to show up. Just what do you have to say for yourself?”
“Huh?”
Gosr interjected, “Your Grace, it appears that Lord Moreau is unaware of the current situation.”
“Ah, the flood. Yes, I have seen some of the damage further north.”
“Well, there’s that. David, is that the only reason you’re here?”
“No, some Knights hijacked me.”
“Hijacked?”
“Yes, they cimed that Brunhild asked them to take me somewhere. Anyway, Captain Gosr took care of it and brought me here.”
“…”
“So… um, anything in particur you need from me?”
“David, no, Lord Moreau, I regret to inform you that the Count of Selmer has issued an official compint.”
“Oh? Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t defend myself against those men pretending to be brigands.”
“David, is that all you have to say?”
“No, Your Grace, am I permitted to know the nature of his compint? Will I be allowed to refute his cims or has the trial already been concluded?”
Gosr warns, “Lord Moreau, I must ask you to take your hand away from the hilt of your sword.”
“David! Gosr! Just what are you two doing? Calm down, both of you.”
“Yes, sorry, Your Grace. I’ll just stand over here, a bit closer to the window.”
Gosr didn’t respond and continued to watch me. I don’t know what this old man thought he could do — oh, right, he only sees me as a Mage.
“David, you seem to misunderstand. If the situation were that bad, we would have given you over to the Selmer Knights. Now, just rex and listen.”
“Hmm, good point, though I feel that even Captain Gosr would prefer that I stay over here.”
“Fine, do as you wish. The count cims that you interfered with his nds and incited insubordination.”
“Oh, how did I accomplish that?”
“In simple terms, he’s compining that your work in the byrinths has made him look bad.”
“I cannot deny that I’ve been in the byrinths though I don’t know why he wouldn’t appreciate free bor. But, if that’s the charge, I could be found guilty even if the results of my actions were completely unintentional. So, why haven’t I simply been dragged away? Not that I would want that, but does a count actually have to rely on proof against a commoner?”
“He would need my permission, which I will not grant. Instead, a formal hearing will be held in five to seven days from now. Come back here in two days so we can discuss the details. Now, I really need to get back to work.”
“Yes, thank you, My Lord.”
I quickly left the castle and jogged nearly a kilometer through the forest before warping back home.
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“Oh, David, what happened?”
“I really wish I knew. The Selmer Knights tried to drag me away to talk to Brunhild.”
Sherry looked puzzled.
“Brunhild was a Knight that was executed for treason. Anyway, I redirected their warp to Bode and got help from Gosr. He then dragged me to the duke who told me that the count bmes me for his own incompetence. Honestly, I thought he’d hate me for teaching his daughter magic.” [2]
Alina steps in, “Sherry, I’ll tell you all about it ter.”
“Thanks. Hey, let’s go out for dinner.”
We got dressed and I warped us to the capital. Got a recommendation at the adventurers guild for a mid-level restaurant and got in without waiting — we were a bit early. The food quality was indeed mid-level between the hotel in Vale and the duke’s house. Of course, I left that comparison to myself since this was almost certainly the best they’ve ever had, possibly even Alina.
After dinner, I did something unthinkable — I entered one of the fancy stores. Besides high-quality soap I also bought a reasonably good pair of scissors — real, crossed scissors, not just the simple, pinching kind. Getting an entire kit with better nail clippers, a sharper shaving bde and even a file turned out to be the best deal. At least I found one that wasn’t ornate though it still wasn’t cheap.
Getting that stuff was embarrassing, but you gotta dress-up for court. Still, after we got home, we changed into proper gear to go for a te shift in a byrinth. I picked Nordselm’s 10th since we might be banned pretty soon — so we should be higher than the Knights are likely to check. We fought the Mino here for a while till Alina came back with a crystal. Cool, this one’s an Ox skill crystal. We continued hunting till it was time to go home.
In a teasing tone, Alina said, “By the way, David, that’s certainly some nice, new armor.”
“Ah, yeah, I got a good deal. We’ll probably need upgrades soon so I’m looking for special opportunities.”
I don’t know why I felt like I had gotten caught. I knew she was just teasing, but I still wanted to change the topic.
“Sherry, please let me see the Cords you’ve made so far.”
“OK, here you go.”
“Good, a few of these are suitable. Sherry, I would like for you to create a Cord of Substitution tonight.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, David, Runesmiths must practice making simple items for several seasons before attempting crystal fusion. Even then, it often fails.”
“I know what they say, Sherry. Will you please do it for me? It will be alright.”
“But, David, I’ve been told, um, right. OK, I’ll do it.”
“Thanks for trusting me. Now, think about Crystal Fusion.”
This chant seemed a little harder than the previous. Of course, I didn’t know it in advance, but parts like ‘bless with suspicious words’ were easy to identify as problematic. Soon, Sherry felt confident about the wording so I picked out a Cord with an empty skill slot and a Caterpilr crystal from my Item Box. Everyone sat a respectful distance away and kept very quiet.
“Now is manifest the divine will, of the heaven and earth in shadow that bless with auspicious words — Skill Crystal Fusion.”
There was the characteristic glow and then just the Cord remained. Of course, I could see that it had indeed been transformed into a Cord of Substitution.
“Shush, everyone. Sherry, how do you feel? Does your head hurt?”
“No, David, I’m alright. Actually, I’m not even very tired. Oh, does that mean it failed?”
“No, you did it, Sherry! Your first crystal fusion worked perfectly.”
“Yay”, we all congratuted Sherry.
I took away the bonus points for my Hero’s Sigil and picked up Sherry’s new item.
“Sherry, may I have the honor of wearing your first enchanted item?”
“Oh yes, Ma- David, thank you.”
Using normal logic, Sherry should have gotten the first item, but that’s just not true here. Even if my Sigil is technically superior, wearing Sherry’s Cord is more important. I asked Sherry to tie it on my wrist and Alina smiled proudly — maybe she guessed what was going through my mind.
Alina slept in her room and Sherry was especially cuddly that night.
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Day 34
Sherry looks so happy sleeping on my arm. I could just be projecting… no, this is genuine. She’s happy. Well, she could be dreaming about something completely unreted or even my demise. Nah, I respect Sherry too much to believe that even for a moment… more than I just did.
Wearing Sherry’s Cord of Substitution means that it’s time to rearrange my bonus points. Let’s see, Mage is at level 37 and I could probably drop Monk and Alchemist to lower the number of points needed for those jobs. This will leave me with just the basic three:
[Mage: 37, Explorer: 37, Hero: 35]
Ooh, now I can bump up both EXP skills and still keep Durandal. My party will get 10x and it’s a whopping 100x EXP for me. Well, that’s only 4x greater than what I had before so I won’t be maxing out my levels anytime soon. With a single bonus point remaining, I’ll throw it into MP recovery since I’m too rich to worry about a measly 2x on crystal acceleration and critical hit rates are practically meaningless with Durandal.
Bonus Points: 135
Lvl
Cost
Skill
Note
2
3
Char/Job/ID
essential
2
3
Chant Omit
keep
5
31
EXP Needed
1/10
5
31
EXP Gained
10x
6
63
Weapon
Durandal
Accessory
Sherry
2
3
Extra Jobs
3 jobs
1
1
MP Recovery
2x
Crystal Acc
skip
Wearing a visible Cord of Substitution is certainly a useful status symbol, but I also get an extra life since if it breaks, I can just rearrange my points to equip the Hero’s Sigil. With the possibility of being targeted both by brigands and nobles, this extra level of protection might prove necessary.
What’s this hearing going to be like? At least he didn’t call it a trial, though the distinction might be in name only. The fact that I haven’t been found guilty simply by having lower status is a good sign. Still, I’m gd that I did a little scouting for new pces to live. I should enter more byrinths to be able to zip across the empire without needing to step outside. Ha ha, get food from monster drops and grill it with firewall.
Oops, my maniacal ughter woke Sherry. Well, time to get up anyway. An extra hug for the cute Sherry and it’s time to go downstairs for breakfast.
“Good morning, everyone. I’ll go see the duke tomorrow so maybe that would be a good day to take care of other things. Sherry, I’d like for you to do some research for us. How about going to the main library in the capital?”
“Yes, I’d like that very much.”
“Anything else that needs to be done?”
Alina says, “When the vilgers were here, I noticed that some of the rooms of this house could be in better shape.”
Marcus adds, “I agree. We could fix those like the other rooms.”
“Sounds good. So, Sherry will go to the library and everyone else will stay here or is there something else?”
No compints or requests.
“OK, we’ll do that. Construction crew, please check on our supplies and estimate what’s needed. Meanwhile, I’ll talk to Sherry.”
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[1] This is about the time that the previous MC first met the duke and Gosr.[2] That was not a euphemism.