Chapter 49: InfamyDay 52

  I wake to the usual bliss of having Alina and Sherry at my side. Even when only one follows me to bed, the other usually slips in ter. I don’t know if it’s completely on purpose, but it’s a very nice combination of individual attention and togetherness. I never would have imagined for a situation like this to be normal.

  The three of go downstairs where breakfast is being served by the guys.

  Sherry reports, “I’m going to start crafting with wood today.”

  “Oh, that’s nice. Do we have all of the materials you need?”

  “Yes, in fact, it might be time to clear out some of the extras to make more room.”

  “We can check through the leather goods for skill slots. Theo, do you have any old stuff in your Item Box to put away?”

  “No, Boss, all clear besides pills and extra swords.”

  “Alina, your new job of Assassin will be avaible soon. To be most effective, I got you a new sword.”

  “Aw, I like the one I have.”

  “Then keep it. You could mount it on the wall, use it for practice or carry it as a backup. We can ask Sherry to enchant the new sword so you can stun or whatever. The Assassin job is especially good for such things.”

  “Oh, that sounds like fun. But, um, can’t we make my old sword do that?”

  “Nope, sorry, that sword can’t be enchanted. Both the crystal and the sword would be destroyed if we tried.”

  “Ah, that’s too bad. Alright, I’ll use the new sword today.”

  “Marcus, I guess you should try out your Defense skill today.”

  “Will that be OK in front of Rutina?”

  “Um, I didn’t think of that. Well, I guess she’ll see it eventually and it’s a natural progression from Warrior.”

  Done with our department meeting, we get dressed and go to Nordselm to meet up with Rutina.

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  Just to be extra careful, we warp to a spot deeper in the forest near the byrinth. To get a better view, I open a portal from the base of a tree to a point close to the top. By just poking my head through, it could be used like a periscope — one which could easily be spotted by just gncing in this direction. [1]

  Gosr, an Adventurer and a couple Knights are waiting by the byrinth. Between his position and ours, two elves are well hidden in the trees. Both have the job of Forester — maybe that’s an elf thing, though I don’t think Rutina has it. [2] Regardless, they’re really good at hiding. There’s no way I could have seen them without Identify.

  “Gosr is waiting at the byrinth and he has spies posted. Only attack if necessary.”

  Noting the locations, I open a new portal just behind the first spy and give him a little strike to the head. I guess a ‘tap’ would have enough to trigger my weapon’s skill. I go to the next and do the same, a bit gentler this time. I bring the party to help disarm, tie and gag the prisoners. With their gear in Theo’s Item Box, Marcus and Sherry grab the prisoners and we walk the short way to the byrinth.

  In an overly cheerful voice, “Good morning Captain Gosr. Are you here to explore the byrinth today?”

  “What? Lord Moreau? What do you think you’re doing?”

  “We found these two men lurking in the forest nearby. They seem to be spies. Do you want to question them or should we just toss them in the byrinth?”

  “Lord Moreau, you know very well that they’re my people. Kindly release them now.”

  “You know, I thought they might be yours — that’s why we didn’t kill them. Sneaking around like criminals sure makes them look like criminals. I might not be so careful next time.”

  Marcus and Sherry put them down and Theo returns their equipment. Thankfully, the spies didn’t struggle or turn on us.

  “Well, happy hunting, Captain Gosr. We’ll be on our way now.”

  “Lord Moreau.”

  “Fine. I’ll listen to what you have to say. Let’s go sit down.”

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  “Lord Moreau, you spoke disrespectfully to His Grace. He has forgiven you this time though you are unlikely to get a second chance. What cannot be so easily excused is your conversation with Lady Cassia. It appears that you told her about the deal regarding His Lordship.”

  “Actually, no, I did not do that. I merely reported that the count had ‘failed to correct his path’. Perhaps Her Grace inferred a deeper meaning.”

  “Are you suggesting that she lied?”

  “Of course not. But, I imagine that, Her Grace could find it necessary to lie to you, but never to your nephew.”

  “What?! Have you been investigating our family?”

  “No, just making a point. It’s possible that I said something that made Her Grace suspicious. It is also possible that you or His Grace accidentally confirmed her suspicions. You know, like you just did mine.”

  “As usual, your answer is pusible and yet impossible to confirm.”

  “Well, fighting the byrinths, killing brigands and protecting nobles all seem to be suspicious activities. What exactly could I do or say to be believed?”

  “Lord Moreau, that’s an oversimplification.”

  “Is it though? The initial response always includes interrogations and accusations.”

  “You seem to be forgetting the subsequent apologies and vish rewards. His Grace even offered to make you his vassal.”

  “I was generously paid for my services. Maybe I could have been granted some trust as well.”

  “I will convey your thoughts to His Grace.”

  “By the way, if I had seen those spies as an actual threat, they would have been killed without hesitation.”

  “Duly noted, Lord Moreau. I’ll be on my way.”

  “Just in time because it sounds like Lady Rutina has arrived.”

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  “Hello, Der Swearte. Why was Gosr here?”

  “Good morning, Demoiselle. He just dropped by to expin what I did wrong this time. I certainly hope you don’t feel the need to do the same.”

  “Not at all. I’m just here to learn and improve.”

  “Excellent answer. Let’s get to it. I’ll just check my notes. OK, the monster of the 17th floor is the Grass Bee. It flies, shoots poison darts, and is sensitive to wind magic.”

  “Poison?”

  “Yes, but we have antidotes. This time, we’ll do the entire floor from start to finish, using the directions we made from your maps.”

  I called out the turns while Sherry and Marcus blocked, Alina and Theo made quick attacks, and Rutina and I fired off spells. By the half-way point, Rutina had taken a couple strengthening pills to recover her MP. This seemed like a good point to stop. Ugh, I really didn’t want to keep faking pee-breaks, especially when I sometimes needed to do it for real.

  Theo brought us back to the first floor so we could take a break. Not wanting to overuse my weak-bdder excuse, I just asked the guys to take a quick peek outside — honestly, this is much better. Why was I overthinking this? We walked out to find a sunny spot to sit. We shared our bread with Rutina and she shared sweets with us. I hope her normal diet is better than this.

  “Has Captain Gosr been asking about me?”

  “Sister Cassia told him not to, not that I would tell him anything anyway.”

  “I tried to convince Lady Cassia to let you join the real expeditions. It’s important that they see you as someone useful and the sooner the better.”

  “You didn’t think to ask me first?”

  “Uhh, nope, never occurred to me. Sorry about that.”

  “Ha ha, it’s alright. You’re just looking out for your student.”

  “Yes and you’re currently my favorite noble, though the other candidates aren’t really trying.”

  “Thanks, though it’s hard to tell if that’s actually a compliment.”

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  Back in the byrinth, I saw that Alina seemed to be getting used to her new sword. This one seemed to be better at sshing than poking so Alina could use more fluid movements. Sherry’s new shield allowed her to repce Theo on the vanguard when three weren’t needed. The two were mismatched in height and weapon, but Sherry’s actually a bit stronger so it seems to work. Both Marcus and Theo are due for some skills to be added to their armor.

  With all her fantastic equipment, Rutina was only marginally helpful. Of course, she worked really hard, but her slow, non-cheat MP recovery really was a limitation. To be honest, I don’t know how hard Mages are pushed in a normal party. Maybe they are supposed to stay back and just put up some defensive walls when the real fighters are in trouble.

  We made it to the boss room, drank a little water and went inside. A normal Grass Bee stood next to its boss, the Killer Bee. The boss is more dangerous since even its normal attacks can poison, which it did. Rutina got hit and Alina administered the antidote. We were still fighting so there was no wink this time.

  After the battle, Alina cheerfully trotted up not to tease about the mouth-to-mouth but to present a crystal. Specifically, a Bee crystal — not the most useful but happily accepted. I took it and we went outside… after checking, of course.

  As expected, Rutina asked about the crystal. She already knew about skill crystals and how they’re used to make items with skills, but she asked a rather obvious question I hadn’t anticipated.

  “Sweart, how did you know what kind of crystal it was?”

  “Uh, right. Maybe that was a bit of an assumption. Well, a broker can check it anyway.”

  “Can Sherry use it then? She looks pretty experienced.”

  “Um, Sherry’s only two years older than you.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Sherry. I didn’t mean anything bad by it. I only said that out of respect.”

  Sherry responds politely, “It’s alright, Lady Rutina. It’s normal to assume I’m much older.”

  Rutina made an uncharacteristic giggle after that.

  “Der Swearte is surrounded by pretty girls and doesn’t even appreciate it. Such a waste. He he.”

  “Uh, what makes you think I don’t appreciate them?”

  “You know. Like, really appreciate them.”

  “Yeah, that’s an inappropriate topic between teacher and student, let alone someone of your age.”

  “Yes, that was too personal. Except, you’re not really my teacher and Alina already told me about you not appreciating her.”

  I turned to Alina who responds defensively, “That was way back before, um, I became yours. You made me promise not to talk to her after that.”

  “Oh, right, forgot about that. OK, Demoiselle, it’s still none of your business, but it’s not a secret either. I like girls, um, women, of course, not girls, only women.”

  “What?! No! That can’t be. I’ve been alone with a man who likes women? Oh no. This is terrible. Who else knows?”

  “Is this one of those racist things against humans again? Not every human is a sex-maniac, you know.”

  “At least the men are. I don’t know about the women.”

  “Sherry and Alina, can you try to calm her down? I’ll do my best not to seduce any vilge maidens while you’re away.”

  “Aah!”

  Oops, bad joke. Well, if she’s really uncomfortable, maybe she’ll push her retives to let her join one of their parties. I just hope they won’t come after me. Now that I think about it, they sure do trust me with her so I guess they think the same. Might have been better for Rutina to keep thinking I couldn’t like her since she actually can trust me. Simply being civilized really seems to be too difficult of a concept here.

  They came back a few minutes ter. Rutina decided to trust me enough to sit down and talk.

  “Alina and Sherry confirmed that you like them. Both of them, which certainly sounds like a human trait. Alina also cims that I’m safe with you.”

  I’d like to say that she has an overly high view of herself, but she would be considered stunning back in my old world, at least in a jailbait sort of way. Cassia would have global impact.

  “Demoiselle, you are an underage, noble elf. Your age makes you highly inappropriate but your elven nobility is a much greater problem. There’s simply no way I would want to interfere with your inheritance. You are off-limits, completely unacceptable.”

  “Actually, Alina said that you’re too shy to make the first move but you’re easily seduced. Sherry agreed and said you folded in less than a minute. We concluded that I should be safe as long as I keep my clothes on.”

  “Well, there’s that too but their lives wouldn’t be ruined by being with me. I may seem ‘shy’ by common standards by being unwilling to use force, but I can still say no if I consider the retionship to be unacceptable. I’ll stand my ground even if it makes me look like a creep.”

  “No wonder Alina didn’t expin any further. It makes you sound really suspicious. But, I believe you and I sincerely hope you don’t try to convince anyone else. My sister will kill you if she finds out you like girls. My uncle believes you’re faking it to trick me. Gosr doesn’t care but considers you to be very dangerous.”

  “And what do you think?”

  “I agree with Gosr except he’s too focused on your combat abilities. Your real power is the way you can manipute people.”

  “Captain Gosr doesn’t trust me. Do you agree on that as well?”

  “No, I really do trust you. Even when you lie, I don’t believe you’ll hurt me. I see how Alina and the others behave around you. They simply can’t be faking it that well all the time.”

  “Well, that’s nice of you to say.”

  “Don’t get me wrong. That doesn’t mean I like you. Besides, you’re way too old for me.”

  (Yep, I’m going to let that comment just slip past.)

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  [1] A simir use of warp is performed te in the LN while looking for Grineer (v12 c5).[2] The LN calls the elf-specific job ‘Forest Ranger’ (v5 c5), but that’s weird without archery. The WN says ‘Forest Protector’, but that doesn’t sound like job name. Forester skills are unknown so I’m guessing concealment and fast movement while in a forest. These fits the observation that many elves qualify but few if any adopt it (maybe forest-dwellers do).