Chapter 29: Im starting a collection. (1/2)
The trip back was spent mostly in silence. They all had things to mull over. They returned the horses, then Viv left Farren on the doorstep of the temple just as the sun was setting. They walked to what she had come to call home.
And to an unpleasant surprise.
Three people waited for them by the entrance. There was the male mercenary with a villainous moustache and cheeks pitted with scars who had insulted Marruk when Viv had first met her. He was still wearing chainmail under a leather surcoat. By his side were two other men. One was tall and strong, and looked rather uncomfortable while the other was small and wore an ill-fitting leather jerkin. He was trying to grow a moustache and failing rather miserably.
“Walk in, then stand by the door,” she whispered to Marruk. The Kark looked surprised, but she nodded in acknowledgement.
Her little troop approached the mercenaries, then left them behind as they walked left and through the fence gates leading to their front porch. Viv bent forward to pick up her stuff from the sled, but stopped when the taller mercenary placed a hand on the fence.
“This is a private property,” she told him in a cold tone.
The brawny man turned to his boss, who elbowed the scrawny lad with little discretion. Marruk had taken a step forward and her hand was on her mace. Her eyes scanned the street and the house for more threats. Arthur clawed her way out of her nest, glaring at the newcomers with undisguised appetite.
“My boss says that you speak Old Imperial, so I’ll speak Old Imperial for him.”
Viv waited.
“Right. My boss says that we heard that the tunnel contract was closed. He said that it was bad practice to steal a job from other mercenaries, especially from him.”
“Curious. I was under the impression that he had refused.”
The scrawny one turned and translated. The chainmail boss spoke Enorian, but with a thick accent that made him hard to follow for Viv. She really had to find time to learn the vernacular.
“My boss says that he and Farren were negotiating his wage. He says that you owe him for the lost opportunity,” the scrawny man translated with some hesitation.
A wave of fear went through Viv. It came from the chainmail man and she recognized it well. It was intimidation. She instinctively fought back with her own, but it was not enough. The sense of dread the mercenary emitted was palpable.
Viv had not spent her youth being exhibited by her politician Dad without learning how to hide her emotions. She did it now. She took a deep breath and let the fear wash through her once. When her breath ended, the fear was in the background. It was still there, but it was no longer paralyzing. Just something that gripped her guts and made her want to swallow her saliva.
“Your boss wants money?”
“Yes,” the man said, suddenly hopeful.
One thing she knew was that she could not let herself be bullied once. If you allowed it to happen once, it would haunt you for a long time. She had to act now, so she removed her purse from a pocket under Marruk’s scandalized gaze, took a single iron bit, and threw it on the ground beyond the fence where it plinked against a stone.
“Tell your boss that if he sings me a nice song, I’ll consider giving him another.”
The scrawny mercenary’s answer choked in his throat.
“Tell him.”
The man turned around and translated with visible fear. The boss’ anger leaked from his expression as his smile grew strained. Viv did not understand. Casters were supposed to be scary. Was it because she was inexperienced and the man knew it, somehow?
“My boss says that you are far from your home, and that you never know when something bad might happen and you might need friends. It’s not that filthy Kark who—”
The boss had withdrawn a dagger from a hidden sheath and was checking its sharpness with a thumb. This, Viv could not tolerate.
A charged purge spell shot from her right shoulder, before angling down. As expected, the mercenary saw it come, but surprise and the strange trajectory threw him off enough for the spear to land. The dagger’s tip fell to the ground as the entire blade was severed near the handle. If it could cut through stone, it could definitely cut through half a centimeter of iron.
“If you show me a naked blade again, I will assume that you intend to use it,” she coldly declared. Inside, she felt super giddy because that was definitely on the awesome end of banter. Like a girl Dirty Harry. Speaking of which…
Intimidation: Intermediate 2
That goon must have thugged vigorously to reach a higher intimidation level than hers, because she was most certainly working hard.
“I think this discussion has gone on long enough. Feel free to leave now, I am done listening to you.”
“You can’t use magic against us!” the young man yelped, “It’s illegal!”
“Feel free to complain to the relevant authorities then. I wonder who they will listen to, a bunch of useless dogs or a church-sanctioned witch? Now scram, or I’ll start aiming for shorter blades.”
“This isn’t over!”
Viv scoffed and walked in with her pack, eyes opened for anything weird. She and Marruk checked every room since she was feeling that her space had been violated, but that was probably just the idiots outside. She checked and they had left. Someone had pissed on the fence by the door though, and Marruk cleaned it with a bit of fresh water.
Petty.
Viv’s attention was captured by something new. By the inner door, there was a box with a slit and a small flag that was currently up.
“Ah, we have mail.”
Inside, she found two envelopes, which she brought back inside. Marruk had lit up the mana stones providing light as twilight gave way to the dark. The Kark woman was already lighting a fire to prepare dinner.
The first missive came from Lady Varska. She invited Viv to join her for tea the next day, if it pleased her. The letter was polite and the handwriting smooth. The paper also smelled faintly of flowers.
The second letter was much more formal and sort of summoned her to meet the mayor at her soonest convenience. It was signed by the head honcho herself, Resh Ganimatalo.
“Looks like we poked the hornet’s nest.”
//Your Grace?
Viv turned around to see Solfis deployed and operational. His yellow glare fixed something at her back.
Someone knocked on their door.
Marruk jumped around at the same time as Viv. Irao stood in the room with them, one fist on the gate.
Bong bong bong.
The assassin lowered his hand and waited politely.
“Errr. Come in?”
Irao smiled and bowed, the gesture strangely graceful.
“Hellow.”
“What do you want, Irao?”
He stopped and seemed to give it some thought.
“A safe haven for my people.”
Viv massaged the bridge of her nose and tried again.
“I will consent to it when I am the undisputed queen of my own country. Now, what can I help you with right here, right now, and within reason?”
The man pointed at the door to one of the empty bedrooms they had kept as is.
“Spare space?”
Oh fuck no.
“You want to… live with us?”
He nodded.
Ok ok, that was weird. That was definitely weird. And creepy.
On the other hand, she was looking to improve the security of the place. There was no doubt in her mind that Mr. Chainmail would come back at some point to annoy her or something, and the presence of a legendary assassin could help? If Solfis was not around? Maybe?
Actually, there was another reason to accept. It felt like a test, or a challenge. The cave, then showing his face to her, then now? He was testing her. He was… testing her acceptance.
Farren had said that Irao was bad with people, not that he was a manipulative asshole.
Ok, so far, Viv had gathered as followers an arcane terminator made of bones, a small pantry-raiding pocket dragon, a big exile from some non-human steppes people, and now there was the possibility to get a weirdo assassin as well. Was she growing a collection? Would she get a prize if she got ten of them?
In the end, it was Irao’s patient face that decided her.
“Base rules: you clean after yourself, no noise at odd hours and no stealing stuff. If you absolutely need something, you ask me. And don’t spook Marruk.”
The assassin nodded. He walked to his newly designated room and… disappeared.
Viv wondered for a moment how he knew which room was empty. Better not dwell on it. She turned to Marruk, only to realize that she had been quite rude.
“Sorry, I should have asked you as well.”
Yet, to her surprise, the strong woman merely shrugged.
“It is your home. Also, I cannot blame you for giving him a chance. You gave me one as well. If I refuse it to others, it makes me fake-hearted.”
“Ah, err, thank you.”
The Kark’s unexpected generosity surprised her. Arthur, however, was less enthused. As for Solfis, she feared the worst.
When the meal was ready, they were surprised to see that Irao joined them. He brought only pickled vegetables. Viv tried and thought that it was acidic enough to sand wallpaper off, but for some reasons Marruk loved it. She crunched it between her large teeth with obvious delight. They shared the rest of the food. Irao piled a little bit of everything on his plate and excused himself back to his room. Viv and Marruk wished him good night, and the door closed with a whisper.
It was a bit weird to Viv, but more like the normal weird of getting to meet quirky people and less the new ‘undead abominations and bolts of pure darkness’ weird, and that was refreshing.
Since Marruk had cooked, Viv said she would handle the dishes and the tall woman retreated to her own territory. Arthur settled in her covers and Viv started to charge the core.
“I may have acted a bit hastily.”
//One must seize the moment, Your Grace.
//Learn from your choices, but do not regret being decisive.
//Sometimes, a good choice taken too late is worse than a bad choice taken in time.
“Hmm. Yeah, well, are you not worried about him?”
//Irao is probably at, or close to the fifth step of his path.
//Most people branch at some point, for example, Lady Varska is a court mage, according to Farren.
//This means that she is on the third step of spellcasting and the first or second of a courtly path.
//On the contrary, Irao is extremely specialized, from what I have discerned.
“Does it mean that I will have to branch out as well?”
//Sometimes, it can be productive to do so.
//The requirement to improve one’s path increases dramatically with each new step.