Chapter 98: a long and fun day (are we eating at home?)

Upper Earth Month, 1st Day, 600 AGG

"Wonder what the commotion there is all about," Gagaran commented on the Archangel Flames descending upon a street not too far from them. "Bet somebody had a lil too much to drink, eh? Can't blame 'em."

"I doubt it," Evileye remarked while perusing an informational sheet she'd picked up from the Draconic Kingdom's Royal Institution of Magic. Lakyus gently guided her out the path of a frantic wagon. She didn't want to deal with having to replace whatever goods and belongings that would be damaged in a collision with the vampire. "You'd have to be pretty damn stupid to cause a pointless ruckus when security is this tight."

"I just hope it's not somebody from our end…" Leinas Rockbruise, once a member of Jircniv's Four Knights and now Imperial Ambassador to the Draconic Kingdom through a quirk of fate, tiredly mumbled. The poor woman was careful to keep the cursed side of her face hidden, dabbing under the bangs with a handkerchief every now and then.

'What a way to reunite,' Lakyus recalled accepting a request from the Emperor to lift the mysterious affliction and how the affair ended in bitter failure. She had been concerned Leinas would hold it against her, but the ambassador didn't even make the slightest mention.

"It'll be fiiine," the Royal Guard accompanying Leinas, Mira Calventa, slurped soup out of a wooden bowl. "If it was an actual biggie, there'd be more than just Archangel Flames popping up. Probably a case of public disturbance or something—you all know how people get."

'Shouldn't a Royal Guard be on duty during a time as hectic as this?' Blue Roses had encountered the unlikely pair whilst wandering the streets of Oriculo and they'd stuck with them ever since. To be fair, Lakyus admitted she had been very welcoming, and the more the merrier, right? They weren't unpleasant company by any means. "The city guard is consisted entirely of angels then?"

"Eh, no way!" Mira finished off their soup and failing to find a place to put the bowl, settled for keeping a hold on it. Why didn't they simply ask the rest of the group if they could've paused and taken a break at the food-stall? Lakyus was certain the bowls weren't meant to be take-out. "The angels are the first responders, but the actual city guard deals with the issues, you see? They're great, don't get me wrong, it's just that accurately figuring out what's going on is better left to not-summons."

"You're close to her," Evileye noted to Lakyus's wordless approval. "The Lady of Wings."

"Yup! Me and her go waaaay back," the Royal Guard bragged. Lakyus wondered if it was really okay to have somebody like this as a sworn protector of Draconic Kingdom royalty. She swiftly reprimanded herself; the information they were sharing wasn't that sensitive and their strength was rare to see among the retainers of human authorities. Criticizing Mira when she hardly knew them was unfair. "Well, like a few-months-back kind of way back, but yeah! Queen Oriculus and her would still be bumbling around if lil ol' me didn't give 'em a good push!"

"I can see how," Tia muttered under her breath. The priestess of the Water God was inclined to agree.

"You've got some guts!" Gagaran boisterously laughed, slapping the Royal Guard on the back with enough strength to cause them to stumble. "Most folks probably can't even look her in the eyes!"

"You get used to it," Leinas fiddled with the charm she'd purchased from one of the angel's faithful. "Queen Oriculus's Court, at the very least, appears to have regained some measure of comfort in her presence."

"Sounds like a solid sign, Evil Boss," Tina whispered into her ear. "If the Dragon Queen's nobles can relax near the angel, then Princess Renner's suggestion to apologize isn't bad."

"Always great to have confirmation, I guess," Blue Roses had decided on that course of action regardless of additional information on Lady Yuriko's disposition. Manners aside—well no, the issue was essentially about Evileye's manners, or lack thereof. 'It's hard not to worry even with all these reassurances.'

The priestess chose to not lose sleep over the upcoming meeting that Renner had kindly volunteered to arrange. She really had to get them a present sometime.

"Are the temples of the Four canonizing the Dawnwing Cult's beliefs?" Lakyus asked the Imperial Ambassador in a friendly tone, nodding at the charm on their person. There would be time for secretive team meetings later. "Those established within the jurisdiction of the Draconic Kingdom, I mean."

"Hm? No, I can't say they are, Lady Aindra," Leinas twitched; the question had interrupted her musings. "Or not yet at least. If you're referring to this trinket," she raised the roughly hewn bauble. "I bought it from Lady Yuriko's followers."

It wasn't heretical per se, but publicly displaying symbols of a 'deity' outside of the canonized pantheon was a little…

"In any case, I expect it to help with my new responsibilities," the Imperial Ambassador seemed to have come to the same conclusion as her if that wry smile was any indication. "And the temples haven't denounced the Cult, have they?"

"Like they got the balls," Mira huffed. "It was funny seeing the temples—and I'm talking both faiths—get pissy when people stopped paying them for healing. What're they going to do? Throw their boogeymen at the angels? Na, only option they got is to suck it up and keep their heads down."

"You know, I am a priestess of the Water God…" Couldn't the guardmage have been a bit more tactful? "Depending on how far Lady Yuriko and Queen Oriculus plan to take this, a response should eventually be forthcoming. To my limited understanding, neither of them are keen on antagonizing the Draconic Kingdom's neighbors to that degree."

"Sounds like a question for them then, ain't it?" Mira shrugged, not caring one bit about the possibility of the troubles that could come to afflict her nation. "Plus, they shouldn't be keen on antagonizing us now."

"Hard to argue against that," Evileye folded the flier away. "You better keep an ear out for new openings in the Cult, Lakyus."

"Well aren't you in a good mood," she grumped, inwardly delighted the spellcaster had banished their previous malaise.

Tia tilted her head, picking an ear. "Temples are just going to take that on the chin?"

"If healing here is free, people will travel," Tina added. "Some can't afford the journey, but others can."

"Yeah, aren't they already doing a lot of 'antagonizing?' " Gagaran frowned at the implications. "Lots of folks are gonna get hurt if there's a war 'cause of this."

"I can't speak to the policies Queen Oriculus has in mind, although it's not impossible the temples might pressure their local governments to limit travel to the Draconic Kingdom," which was still a pretty bad outcome, honestly. The Lady of Wings struck her as the type to freely offer her blessings regardless of nationality; which, while kind, came with problems. "It probably won't reach that point. The vast majority of people who benefit from sacraments, as much as I hate that this is the case, don't have the leeway to make an eastward journey this long."

Peasants could not afford to leave their fields untended for any extended length of time. Delays in planting and harvest were already devastating on a local scale, and if disruptions got bad enough, the effects would cascade up every strata of society. It was thanks to this truth that the Baharuth Empire had managed to deal considerable damage to Re-Estize with minimal military commitment.

Perhaps nations closer to the Draconic Kingdom like Karnassus and the Empire would have to worry about more 'healing-tourists,' but then there was still the issue of the supplies required to make the two-way trip.

"Hard to feel smug when you put it that way…" Lakyus stared at Mira in disbelief. At least they understood they were in the wrong? "Emperor El-Nix is probably over the moon though. Guy's always been looking for chances to stick it to the temples."

"Ah, regarding that, I should probably inform you all that the Empire might be softening its stance towards the temples," Leinas suddenly divulged. "It's not exactly a state secret since Lord Paradyne was public in announcing his new stance in cautious support of the popular faiths, but the situation there isn't as clear-cut as it once was."

"What?" Evileye sounded confounded. "Why would he…" The spellcaster cut themselves off before they spilled the beans. The only people aware of Fluder's tentative undead nature were Blue Roses and the Dragon Queen plus their divine partner. "Didn't think that brat—old man would change his tune."

'It really doesn't make sense. Why would Fluder advocate for the strengthening of his staunchest enemies?' She figured it might be a desire to advance his magical research in the field of the divine, but if that were the case, wouldn't he have done so before he became an undead? Why now all of a sudden?

"I can't say for sure," Leinas glanced at the towering spires of Oriculia and the host of heaven that stood watch over Queen Oriculus's residence. "Were I to hazard a guess, he seeks to draw closer to Lady Yuriko and further his research. On the other hand, and I believe this rings truer, Emperor El-Nix is taking it as a warning to avoid making an adversary out of the Goddess."

Lakyus found Leinas's theory doubtful. The more time he spent around the angel, the more he ran the risk of being exposed and confronted. Assuming the Tri-Arts Caster regularly communicated with Jircniv, then they were almost definitely aware of the angel's aura as well. 'The downsides are too significant. But, what else could it be? Jircniv's suspicions are also missing an important element… again, it's strange for an undead to support institutions that despise its kind.'

She shook her head, and decided not to draw conclusions while they were operating on insufficient information. For now, Blue Roses just needed to keep an open mind and wider eyes.

"Why can't these damn problems be simple?" Gagaran grumbled, wistfully taking in the sight of the streets and the parade marching towards them from the other end.

"Tell me about it," Mira quietly concurred. "First the beastmen, figuring out how to deal with our neighbors, and this temple business too… Her Majesty has a lot on her plate."

'Eight Fingers with their Laira business, typical monster infestations plaguing the countryside, and this crap with Fluder…' The priestess didn't dare compare Blue Roses' responsibilities with the Dragon Queen's, but it went to show how much humanity had to suffer in this part of the world. "Yeah. It's… it's something."

Maybe other places were less like this. Less being forced to take each day as it came, less worrying about unpredictable disasters cutting your life short, less… everything.

Inveria, the Silent City, the Long Rain—and for the Beastman Country, the Lady of Wings.

Sometimes you ended up on the wrong side of history, bleeding out in the wake of a hero's blade.

Sometimes shit happened and everything you ever knew was upheaved and destroyed in the span of mere seconds, leaving a single person to bear the memories.

Sometimes, you died forgotten and unnoticed, relegated to a statistic in a footnote of some dusty tome.

Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra sighed. She had become an adventurer because of Uncle's stories: all grand tales of subjugating foul evils, narrow escapes, breathtaking vistas. The truth wasn't too far from his accounts, just that—even with how she eventually came to realize the sheer irresponsibility of Azuth Aindra—there were details he had omitted.

'What next, after we apologize to Lady Yuriko? Back to rooting out Laira? Busting the slave trade?' She didn't want to admit it to Renner, but she was growing tired. No matter how many fields they torched or chains broken, there were always replacements. Lakyus knew, gods she knew, it did make a difference for those they saved, but was wishing for actual change too greedy of her? Unlike the Draconic Kingdom, Re-Estize had no nascent numen eager to shatter the status quo. 'Things are changing. It's just taking a little longer for us.'

And when she looked ahead, at the same joyous scene her friends and acquaintances shared in, it became a lot easier to believe.


"—from Your Majesty's humble and obedient servant, Dhartha Auta," he finally finished dictating his missive for Her Majesty—the Dark Scale Dragon Lord, wouldn't you know it—to the human named… Freeder or something, he didn't remember. "Aaaand, done. Don't put that part in by the way."

"Too late," the human huffed, taking a cruel amusement in his suffering. "I'll go pass this to the courier angels if you're sure that's everything."

"Hrmph! Do as you please, hairless monkey."

"You take care as well," they ignored the jovial insult and exited the room. Really, weren't the humans stationed here getting acclimated to their old enemies rather quickly? Though he figured such a phenomenon wasn't too uncommon; the six superpowers were skilled hands at integrating hostile populations.

"I need to hurry up and learn this damn language already…" Dhartha glared at the small stack of books sitting on his desk in the borrowed apartment. Relying on others to communicate his intent didn't sit well with him. "Why can't they just write in the same script, damn?"

Although in all fairness, he was fairly sure Queen Oriculus understood the Republic's language well enough to comprehend the gist of what he wanted to convey, but making assumptions seemed detrimental to his continued well-being, sooo… yeah. Here he was.

Guess he was gonna be bothering that shockingly well-educated human for a while then.

"If you somehow ever get the opportunity to work for the state, don't," he directed the dubious piece of advice to the snowy ball of fluff lounging atop a cushion on the floor. The thing was nearly as big as his head, or some people's fist, and had the meanest set of teeth he'd had the displeasure of seeing. "It's all just paperwork, talking to folks you don't want to talk to, and paperwork."

The ball boasted no eyes, but Dhartha had the feeling it was looking at him. Scornfully. "Well, to the Eight Hells with you too."

He flinched back, nearly falling out of his chair, as the creature shook with a rumbling growl. For all that it—it, she, they, he had no clue—tolerated him, he entertained no delusions of taming the cursed thing. Truthfully, he was the tamed one in this relationship. 'What was it doing in the village anyway?'

"Don't ask for the good shit," Dhartha threw an entire hunk of Nuk chuck to the gaping maw. "You're already gonna eat me outta house and home, gods-damn."

With his masterly duties completed for the next half-hour, the gnoll flipped through the pages of a mind-numbing historical record, courtesy of Her Majesty, and got to reading.

Trying to read, he should clarify. Draconic, or at least the dialects dumbed down for mortals, came in countless vernaculars with as many variations between each one. Suffice it to say, it was a pain in the ass, and it was a pain in his ass.

Still, it took his mind off—unwelcome memories. A-And this was the stuff he'd be working with the most, so getting familiarized was necessary!

Fuck.

'Could be worse. At least I've got some prior experience,' Dhartha grudgingly admitted as he skimmed through mentions of some baron who lived seven-or-so decades ago and tried his best to avoid thinking about Jirs and their family. 'Are my numbers off? No way my memory is getting this spotty already. Let's see…'

Huh, his comprehension wasn't off; the guy really had been dodging taxes and blowing it on recreational substances of dubious quality. 'Went on forrr… eight years before he was attainted? Damn, who the hell lets that go on for eight years?'

This was actually sort of interesting once he got into the groove and was reading something applicable to his Path. He'd have to see if Her Majesty would let him dig through the Draconic Kingdom's Royal Library for a bit—

The creature growled again, but at the door this time. He put the book away and resolved to follow up on the baron stuff later. "Come in!"

"Merchant," Rogrek barged through the door and addressed him without preamble. "A word if you will."

'Do I have a choice? No,' Dhartha didn't blurt that one out; it paid to keep the authorities happy because it usually meant they were more likely to look the other way. "Of course, Rajan. How may I be of assistance?"

"Correct me if I'm mistaken, but you've been assigned as a liaison by Her Majesty, yes?" Ahhhhh, this was gonna be something big, wasn't it?

"I have," he confirmed with a nod. "I'm guessing this isn't about Srlschr."

The tigerman's eyes softened for an instant before reverting to something more inscrutable. "Indeed. I reassure you we're cooperating with Clans Gharedar and Ispava to investigate the… unfortunate development."

Whatever they found, Dhartha was dead-certain it wasn't a problem he could do anything about. Did that mean he shouldn't agonize over it? He didn't know. Probably never would.

"Glad to hear it," the gnoll swallowed thickly and forced a smile. "So what do you need the Dragon Queen's servant for?"

"You can relax; it's nothing too worrisome," those were incredibly worrying words. "Varush Aanyaj, the current High Vizier, has decided to reform the Council."

"Okay?" That was… a good thing? Propping the government back on its feet and getting things moving again on a country-wide scale seemed pretty good. "Sounds like he's already received permission. I could help by linking him with a few of my contacts, but I'm not exactly in the business of politics, you see."

"My request isn't about that," Rogrek bluntly corrected him. "Because the last generation of Viziers are no longer in commission," killed like a bunch of chumps, he meant. "The current Rajans will be required to step up and fulfill those roles. Rajans of which one of whom is the Goddess."

"You want me to tell her the wonderful news," it wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"And how did this happen?" Dhartha scoffed in disbelief. He'd heard things here and there, but nothing conclusive. "She just, like what? Go up to one of you guys and said 'Hey! Lemme run one of your clans, 'kay?' Shit."

"It was a mautkshan," the tigerman lord explained like that meant anything to him. "An admittedly ancient custom that mandates the victor of a sanctioned death match receive everything the deceased possessed. Naturally, this includes their titles and holdings as well."

"Very interesting," this was insanity. How hadn't he heard of this before? Was it really that ancient, or was the custom irrelevant to the point nobody invoked it anymore?

For some reason, Dhartha figured it was the latter. Crazy dead folks making his life harder than it already was… on the bright side, they weren't undead 'cause he knew a few things about the horror show that was the southern border of Arazmir. "So, which clan?"

"Vadh," Rogrek grimaced. "Clan Zrak exterminated most of them until the Goddess returned the favor as she did for every other clan unfortunate enough to live near Kruurat."

"Right, right," angels or no angels, the Republic was still a nation of cutthroat warriors. "This 'mautkshan' stuff, you're not allowed to refuse? Also, if you're fighting someone who ain't from here, then what's forcing their side to uphold the terms of agreement?"

"Pallavi was the one who initiated, but refusal is allowed," Dhartha was glad he never met the late Sword Saint. Bitch turned out crazier than the stories that circulated; nobody in their right mind would challenge a Deva to a one-on-one. "As for your second question, there's a reason we keep it in the house."

So we don't get messes like this, went unsaid.

"I'd tell you to invalidate the whole thing, but that's probably a bad idea," takesy-backsies weren't going to improve the situation since the remnants of Clan Vadh needed a strong leader anyway. "Pffff… Rajan Kroh'or, you want me to inform her? Wouldn't the humans be better for this?"

"I, the Council, would appreciate it if you took the time to do that," Rogrek inclined his head. He was polite, and that helped the gnoll calm down a bit. "We could ask the humans, but I'd rather we take the opportunity to deepen our bonds with our new… partners."

'Since this joint is relying on the angels to make sure the Mac'tal and Mirewood Dragon Lord don't break their half of the deal, getting chummy is necessary,' Dhartha scratched the underside of his jaw. Messenger duty wasn't terrible despite what people loved to say about it. "Fair enough. I'll see it done, Rajan."

"Thank you," Rogrek lowered his head again before taking a glance at the carnivorous ball of fur on the cushion. "Will you be taking your pet with you?"

The creature shook with what looked dangerously like rage. "Errr… I think I'll be leaving my companion with Yassin." Bringing a mysterious monster with anger issues to meet the Deva didn't strike him as a wise idea. "It's real picky about what it eats, so could suitable options be provided?"

"It will be well taken care of then," Excellent. Now he wouldn't have to worry about his spiking food expenses for a while. "Try to complete this as soon as you can. I'll be taking my leave."

Dhartha made no effort to stand up, bow, the whole show and dance, as Rogrek left. There was something weird about their shadow, but—na, he'd zero clue what that was about. Probably a trick of the light.

"Well buddy, you heard 'em!" He turned his attention to the furball. "This ol' gnoll is heading out!"

Dhartha waited for a response and frowned when none was forthcoming. "Be that way then. Punk."

Come to think of it, he hadn't given the creature a name yet, had he?

"You've got a nasty mouth on you, so I'll call you…"

A flash of inspiration struck the gnoll. He wanted to, hells, he went ahead and patted himself on the back.

"I'll call you Chomper—oi. Oi! Back off!"