Chapter 29 – Where to go Next

"Geh!" Grimwald grunted as the last of the arrows was pulled from his body. The combined healing of Reina's spirit and Maria worked to patch him up.

Reina had to hand it to him, he was pretty hardy. She couldn't see his HP, but she saw how badly damaged he was, even with his armor on.

Seventeen. That's how many arrows and bolts they had to carefully pull out of him. Reina couldn't see herself standing in those conditions, let alone swinging a weapon around.

"You okay?" Reina asked him, crouching at his side.

Grimwald turned his head slightly from his place on the ground. They'd rolled him onto his back after pulling the two bolts from it and healing the wounds.

"Yeah." He answered, leaning up.

"You should rest for a bit." Maria told him. "Even with our healing, that was a lot of wounds."

"I'll be fine." Grimwald replied. "I've suffered far worse than this."

Reina could believe that. While they pulled the arrows and bolts from him, she saw numerous scars just on his forearms alone. He'd been spared on his face for the most part, a few light scars here and there. Something had grazed his cheek earlier, so a new scar had formed after the healing magic was used.

"Right, well, I want to hear about what happened." Reina said as Grimwald stood.

"Actually, Boss, I don't think we should relax just yet." Maria looked around them. "I don't know if this place is actually safe."

A moment of confusion before realization set it. This area was a small spring, surrounded on all sides by high earth and rock walls with only one entrance. Technically two, if you considered the opening above them, even if it was barred by a metal grate. The main entrance was a short walk before opening out into the world.

And at that entrance were sure to be templars.

The last time they were here, there were three Radiant Cross templars guarding the entrance. Reina learned that the church guarding these spirit locations would change out every week, but that wouldn't necessarily make their situation better.

On the other hand, their situation wasn't necessarily bad. The templars in that town didn't attack her on sight. They didn't attack until she argued against what they did. That meant these templars wouldn't attack right away.

Right?

But then again, those templars had certain opinions about her. She had a Gromnar shaman with her, and most churches certainly didn't like that. What's more, she had a wizard in her party as well, one who wasn't really connected to the Wizard College. It wasn't as bad as having Vyrdrun with her, but none of the churches liked independent mages, and especially not independent wizards.

While these templars wouldn't be an immediate problem, what about the ones in the capital? The Mist Mountains were days away, but there were orators—people able to send messages across large distances. If the templars from the Wave went to another town and sent a message, how long before others attacked them?

And the templars outside guarding this place could point others in the right direction. That seemed pretty likely, considering she'd be walking out without any explanation as to how she got there. It would raise questions. If the churches were keeping tabs on her movements—which she highly expected from powerful groups at this point—the templars outside would doubtless inform someone as quickly as they could.

There was one very safe option, but she didn't want to voice it. She really didn't want to.

"We need to get past the templars outside." Reina murmured. She knew Maria was likely having similar thoughts. Avoiding the topic wouldn't solve anything.

"We should be able to make short work of them." Grimwald said, hefting his cleaver over his shoulder. "I'm sure the ones hoarding these spirit locations aren't nearly as strong as the ones sent to fight the Wave."

"You're right. It wouldn't be hard at all." Reina said in a low voice.

This was different from the bandits they fought outside the insect forest. The people guarding this spirit weren't actively trying to kill them. This would be entirely preemptive.

Reina glanced at Maria. The woman seemed to be studying her face.

"Lord Grimwald." Maria said, looking to the noble. "You offered your services to Reina before the Wave, correct?"

"Just 'Grim', please." Grimwald nodded at her. "And yes, I did, and still do."

Maria smiled. "Then perhaps you could further show your resolve by clearing a path out of here."

Grimwald looked at Maria for a moment before turning to Reina. He, too, seemed to gaze at her with an appraising look, which soon turned to understanding.

"Then I will do so." Grimwald lowered his cleaver as he walked toward the entrance. "Carlo and Dylan are dead. I haven't taken enough blood from Keston for their deaths yet."

Grimwald killing the templars was fine. A cleaver was an uncommon weapon, but no one would connect the dots that quickly, especially if no one showed up for a while. This was fine. This was their best option.

And, of course, that assumed there were bodies to find…

"You doing okay there, Boss?" Maria asked once Grimwald was out of sight.

"Yeah…" Reina slowly nodded.

"If the men and women entrusted to fighting the Wave would do something like that, then what's that say about the rest of the templars?" Maria asked, though Reina could tell it was rhetorical.

"Yeah."

"We probably shouldn't return to the capital. Who knows what might happen."

"Yeah."

Maria really was thinking the same thing as Reina. Those templars killed the townsfolk they were supposed to protect. They even killed one another. It wasn't safe to return to the capital, especially the churches.

Thankfully, Reina had learned her lesson from Savia about keeping her possessions on her. She had all her money with her, as much of the simoleons switched out for geld as she could. The same was true for Maria. Vyrdrun always carried everything he owned with him. Maria's old staff was the most expensive thing they left at the Violent Storm cathedral. Next was the nipeigh and the cart it pulled. The cask of ale from King Tarik was already absorbed into her weapon for safekeeping, since it looked expensive and she wasn't likely to drink it anytime soon. They'd just need to visit a Dragon Hourglass to pull it out.

The tearing sound of metal on flesh echoed from outside. Grimwald had gotten to work. It was unpleasant, having someone kill other people for her; people who weren't a threat to her. But they were. That's why this was fine.

As quickly as it came, the noise of battle ended. When slow footsteps became apparent, Reina wasn't worried about who was coming. Grimwald appeared around the bend.

"It's done." He said, a triumphant look on his face as he wiped the blood from his cleaver on his torn cloak.

"Ah…good job." Reina said.

With their immediate threat taken care of, they now had time to plan.

The four of them sat in a circle—five including Kuromo, who continued to perch on Vyrdrun's shoulder.

"What's the plan, Boss?" Maria started them off.

"We need to leave Keston." Reina said, stating the obvious. "That teleport skill I used has a five day cooldown, so that's not an option. How long can we stay here?" She directed that question to Maria

"I've observed some spirit locations in Keston before. At most, one mage might visit per day, but that's very rare." Maria said.

"You've observed them?" Reina questioned.

Maria smiled sheepishly. "Heh. Well, even as an apprentice to an archmage before, I wasn't granted access to every spirit location. Restricted access, bureaucracy, maintaining control; any reason could be accurate."

Reina nodded in understanding. Some spells were more useful than others, and more dangerous. If more people had that Jaunt spell, they could teleport to the other side of city walls with ease. Castle walls, too.

"Also, templars rotate with a night shift, both staying in a nearby village. That would give us until around sunset before anyone noticed a problem, and they wouldn't think to look for us specifically." Maria added.

"Then the sooner we leave, the better." Reina said. "If I remember right, the sea is somewhere south of us."

"About three days south by foot, yes." Grimwald said. "If your intent is to travel to Hascain by boat, it would take almost a month."

"A month?" Reina questioned. She hadn't looked at any maps of this continent recently, not since she was in Savia, but it surely wouldn't take that long. "Is that going along the coast? Couldn't we go straight there?"

Grimwald shook his head. "Most ships aren't made for traveling that far out at sea. The ones that can are war ships. It's to be expected, since the sea is controlled by a powerful dragon. It's part of why Savia was considered a major trade hub."

That was something Reina certainly didn't want to deal with. If the Demon Lord and his family with their modified bodies were any indication, dragons were powerful.

"And unless you were to charter a ship for travel yourself, we'd be going along trade routes on the coast." Grimwald said. "Without trading, I'd place it at just under three weeks. And if you somehow got a warship to take us south, it would be about a week at sea."

"We'll have to rule that out, then." Reina said. "Lespax's next Wave is in seven days."

Getting to Hascain before their next Wave was looking to be impossible. As was the Wave after that, and possibly the following one.

"Here's what I'm thinking, at least as far as Hascain goes." Reina began. "After Lespax, I use my teleport skill to take us to a spirit I contracted with in Savia. We'll get as far southeast from there as we can, and I find another spirit to contract with. Then, we'll be pulled back to Keston's next Wave, teleport back, and keep going until we reach Hascain."

"Hmmm." Maria stroked her chin in thought. "That could end up taking just as long, especially if we don't get a nipeigh or catch a ride on a ship. Plus, we'd have to worry about people starting problems with Vyrdrun."

That was true. Reina hadn't forgotten how the people in Savia treated him, even after he saved a child's life. In fact, if they had to avoid main roads, it could end up taking longer. He had clothes that would designate him as a servant—though a different word was more appropriate, as much as she hate it—but that didn't guarantee anything. She didn't recall any Gromnar wearing something like that in Savia.

"I think I have a solution." Grimwald offered. "But to do it, we'd have to return to the capital."

Already, Reina was not in favor of whatever he had in mind. "What's your idea?" She asked regardless.

"I will hire an orator to send a message. It may take some time to get it relayed, since I don't want anyone to catch wind of what's being sent. But, I should be able to leave a coded message to have the Cleaver Hero return to Keston before their next Wave."

"You can do that?" Maria asked.

"I can." Grimwald nodded. "We may not see each other or travel together as much, but my old master and I are still close friends. She will come if I call for her."

"That's right. He mentioned he was trained by the Cleaver Hero. So much happened all at once that I forgot." Reina thought.

"All that's left is how we spend our time here." Vyrdrun added in.

"I have a lot of experience foraging for food." Grimwald said. "There are a few forests we can go to that can hide our presence."

Reina shuddered. "These forests don't have giant insects, do they?"

Grimwald shook his head. "Not giant insects, no. Not that I'm aware of."

Reina really didn't like how he emphasized that, but she'd take it. "Then I guess all that's left is getting back into the capital. We'll probably have to leave everything we had at the church." Going back there before disappearing would just bring up a lot of questions.

"Oh!" Maria perked up. "What about your new armor, Boss?"

"I'll have to leave it." Reina sighed. "And I was really looking forward to having something that covered more of me."

"Aw, but it's cute~!" Maria gave her a wink.

"Yes, yes." Reina let out another sigh. "He might not be happy about it, but I'm sure I can get it from Baric another time."

"Baric?" Grimwald looked at her. "As in, the Legendary Blacksmith Baric?"

"Legendary?" Reina repeated. "I mean, I know he's really good, but I didn't think he was that well known." Then again, he'd gotten to Keston around the same time as them, perhaps earlier. Getting access to an Adamantine Gate somewhere else wouldn't be easy if he was nobody.

"He doesn't advertise himself much, but he's the best of the best." Grimwald confirmed as he tilted his body to the side. "Who do you think made this cleaver?"

It was really well-made from what Reina could tell. Her appraisal didn't tell her much, but she'd come to expect that. If something was more in tune with her skillset—such as her learning minor potions or any ritual tools—she'd get more information than something she had no affinity for, like weapons. Once she increased that skill, she'd get more information.

"If he's making you something, you should get it as soon as possible, or at least explain why there'll be a delay." Grimwald pressed. "Hero or not, he doesn't like wasting his time and effort."

"Hm. Yeah, okay." Reina hesitantly agreed. She did commission armor from him, and she knew how good his stuff was. His apprentice said her current armor was sold at a discount—even though King Tarik ended up paying for it through a voucher. It wouldn't be a good idea to give a bad impression of herself to him.

They had a general plan on what to do. Assuming they weren't found, they'd spend a week hiding in the forest. But that was putting the cart before the horse.

"Now we just need a way to get into the capital." Reina said. "I've been around enough there for people to have an idea what I look like. The guards at the gate are sure to recognize me. The gates will probably be closed at night, too."

That was something she found to be true in Savia, and she had no reason to suspect the opposite here.

"Well…" Grimwald stroked his chin. "On that, I have another idea."

~Forging Legends~

It was evening by the time their first plan was put into action. The cart rolled along the dirt road, very few bumps due to the well-traveled path. In another couple hours, the sun would set. More than enough time to get everything done.

"Halt." A guard said, causing the nipeigh-pulled cart to come to a stop. "What brings you to Keston Castletown, traveler?"

"Oh, just here to unload my wares." The man in the driver's seat said coolly.

"This late in the day?" The guard questioned. "We'll need to inspect what you're bringing into the city."

"Oh, it's nothing much, really. Just something I'm dropping off for my brother." The driver said. The faint clinking of soft metal was heard.

"I see. Then I suggest you visit your brother quickly and be off." The guard said, stepping back again.

The cart moved once more, entering the city.

It was a few minutes more before it stopped. A sparsely used alley was the perfect place to disembark.

The sheet that covered Reina and Grimwald was removed, revealing the two cloaked figures. The cloaks were from dead bandits, and something Reina didn't particularly want to wear, but the situation called for it. They pulled themselves off the cart and stood before the gruff man who delivered them into the capital.

"Do be quick." He indicated over his shoulder with a quick dip of his head. "We'll need to leave before sundown."

"We'll be back." Grimwald said, leading Reina out of the alleyway and onto the city streets.

With their heads covered, it'd be hard to spot them. That was compounded by the fact that they left their armor behind with Vyrdrun and Maria. Reina's was too flashy and recognizable, and Grimwald didn't want to arouse any suspicion with the crest on his.

"I guess I'm not really surprised you knew how to find people in the Red Brotherhood." Reina tersely said.

"Why am I thinking that? Because he owns slaves? We were able to escape because he showed up." Reina chastised herself. That distraction allowed them to escape. Even so, she couldn't help thinking badly of him. Not that it wasn't exactly underserved, considering what she knew about him.

"Master always said having friends in high places was good. The same is true for those in low places. Being a lord makes that even more necessary." Grimwald said as they walked. "Though in this case, Master told me ways of finding this group."

"She knew the Red Brotherhood was already active here and didn't do anything about it?" Reina asked incredulously.

"The Red Brotherhood isn't an organization that can easily be taken care of. If one group is wiped out, another will eventually replace it. There are leaders all around the continent. They aren't exactly a top-down organization."

Meaning they're probably not exactly allies with one another, but they won't outright attack each other either. It wouldn't be good for business, not when there are likely competitors.

"Though, I have to say," Grimwald looked over his shoulder at her, "You seem to have a bad opinion of me, yet I don't recall doing anything to you. Do you hate nobles that much?"

He was obviously referring to what she said when they first met.

"The last time I had nobles in my party, they hid their identities and decided to leave with the prince of Savia instead of helping the people when the city was attacked." Reina decidedly left out the fact that the Demon Lord was there as well, and that they most definitely wouldn't have been able to do anything.

"Can't say I blame them." Grimwald spoke almost nonchalantly. "I wouldn't want to fight the Demon Lord's army, especially with him there. They ended up sacking the city and killing everyone, even the prince, right?"

Of course he'd heard about that. He even alluded to it with his comment about Savia earlier. News about the attack spread far and wide, even if it didn't seem to cause a lot of concern. The number of Demon Lords that appeared in recent history must have made people numb to it, even with such devastation.

"It's not just that." Reina pressed on, despite knowing she didn't need to convince him. "You have slaves."

"And you don't? That Gromnar, Vyrdrun?" He asked.

"He—" Reina raised her voice but immediately quieted down. "He's not my slave. He saved my life. It's only because we're in Keston that he has to wear those clothes over his armor."

Grimwald grunted. "Sorry, that was a bit rude of me. I know he's a shaman, so a slave collar wouldn't work on him anyway."

Reina had suspected the same thing, and Vyrdrun confirmed it. Magic items like that could be dispelled with Vyrdrun's magic. The same wasn't true for armor and weapons, but Reina still didn't really understand the difference. Something more to learn from both him and Maria.

"But you do have a monster seal on your dragon, don't you?" Grimwald asked.

"Huh? Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Reina returned. She thought it was pretty common for taming monsters.

"Dragons are intelligent creatures. Older ones learn to speak and do so with humans and Gromnar alike. It probably wouldn't be wrong to say dragons are smarter."

His words struck a chord with Reina. Was she really any better? She could argue that dragons were monsters and, therefore, dangerous. But for the people in Keston, wasn't the same true for Gromnar?

"Regardless," Grimwald continued despite his question, "my two slaves, as you put them, are indentured servants. They are both currently paying off a debt. Once that's settled, they'll be free."

"Isn't indentured servitude basically slavery?" Reina questioned harshly. "They still have those collars on them."

"So they don't flee from their obligations." He responded with ease. "They are indebted to me, and I want to make sure it's repaid. Everyone wants to be paid back what they're owed. I just have an easier time enforcing it."

"Whatever. I know nobles have more training in playing with words. Even if I don't know how you're trying to play me, I know that's what you're doing. I'm sure you have years of experience doing that." Reina all but spat out.

Grimwald actually stopped walking, turning to fully face her. Where she expected to see indignation, she instead only saw confusion. "Just how old are you under the impression that I am?"

That was a strange and entirely unexpected question. She gave him a look over, noting the scars on his face. When he took off his armor, she saw even more scars where his shirt was lifted up. The expression he had on normally seemed to tell a story of 100 hard fought battles. Yet, he didn't exactly have a weathered look to his physical features she saw on people in their late 30s. "I don't know. Mid-to-late 20s? Maybe early 30s?"

The man stood there for a moment. He turned his head to the side and sighed. "I'm 19 years old."

"Nine—!" Reina sputtered. She wished she looked older, or at least looked her age, but that was far too much!

Grimwald smiled sardonically. It was the first time she saw him smile and it just didn't look right. "That expression…you're older than you look, right? I can tell. Reading peoples' expressions in politics is something Duke Balta made sure I learned. Looking older has its benefits, but I'd love to look my age. Being a lord is a stressful occupation." He continued his walk with Reina shortly moving after him. "I know noble women care a great deal about looking young. It seems you won't have to worry about that."

"Huh. The grass is always greener on the other side, I suppose." Given the choice of looking how she did or looking more like Bo's age from her gaming group, Reina would probably go with the former.

Regardless of whether or not he was as skilled with his words as he was with a sword, what he said did give Reina something to think about. Once they were away and resting for the night, she would hear what he had to say about that town the templars attacked.

They continued on for a few more minutes before they came to another street.

"We'll have to split up here for a while." Grimwald told her. "I'll send my message and inform my servants on what to do. I think it would be best to simply meet back up at the cart."

"Hm, yeah." Reina agreed.

The two of them went their separate ways.

It didn't take long to get to the blacksmith area, or at least the one Baric was at before. With her hood covering her face, Reina scanned the stalls, looking for the man in question.

A few minutes later, Reina found him hammering away at the anvil outside the shop she saw him at before.

"Baric." Reina said, loud enough for him to hear.

The blacksmith looked up from work. He was about to speak, but Reina pressed a finger to her lips. She got closer so they could speak more easily.

"I came to talk about the armor. I don't think I'll be able to buy it just yet." She told him.

"You can't?" Baric asked, setting his hammer down. He looked her up and down. "This related to your Gromnar friend? The churches withholding a reward or something? The Wave was today, right?"

"It's…complicated." She hesitantly said. Vyrdrun was part of the issue, but the whole thing spiraled out of control so quickly.

This was the second city she'd had to flee from, and the second betrayal. The two situations were vastly different, but the fact that they both happened didn't escape Reina's mind.

"Hm." Baric tapped his finger against the anvil. "You have 5 geld?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah, why?" Reina asked.

"That's the price of the armor." Baric told her.

"Really? Your apprentice in Lespax said my current one would be 19 geld." After a discount, of course.

"It's not work I can say I'm proud of." Baric explained as he led her into the building he worked in front of. "I have a certain way I enchant things, but using provided materials hampers that. Incidentally, that lowered the cost considerably. The damage to the dragon's insides wasn't as bad as I thought, so I'm able to use the bones for weapon and armor enchantments. Even the cursed parts have their uses."

The two of them walked up to an armor stand inside. It had a suit of armor on display. It was banded mail instead of breastplate like Reina asked for, but it did its job well. Dragon scales covered the chest and arms, trailing down the thigh area. It wasn't fashioned as a skirt, the armor bits covering a pair of thick pants. Scales were around the shins and even a pair of boots. There was even a helmet with a mouth guard made for her, looking very similar to the head of the dragon. The dead dragon's head was much bigger than hers, so this was clearly a design choice and not the dragon's skull.

"Now, it doesn't have as much allowance for magic as the other set, but it's still better than steel. I'd rate it around bronze armor, maybe a little better." He explained further.

"It's perfect." She told him, smiling at the armor. It was a bit flashy, sure, but it would easily hide her identity. She didn't have much in terms of magic at the moment anyway, so she wasn't too worried. Her spirit's abilities that used MP didn't seem to change whether or not she wore her armor, so that was a plus.

After handing over the geld, Baric helped Reina into the armor. She would have preferred to do it alone, seeing how Baric was a man and all, but the armor wasn't easy to get into alone. A few minute later and she was suited up.

Black Dragon Knight Armor
defense up (medium), magic up (small), acid resistance (small), fear resistance (small), magic resistance (small), blind-sense, mana brand, automatic recovery function

It didn't have the same kind of effects her Mirror Bend Armor did, but its stats were still good. The defense was even higher and it didn't interfere with her movement much. Plus, the mana brand on it would let her increase the bonuses it did have. If this was work he wasn't proud of, Reina couldn't wait to see more of his top quality items.

"It increases magic even though it reduces it?" Reina asked, puzzled. It's not like any armor she'd seen specifically said it interfered with magic, but that might have been something she couldn't appraise yet.

"Armor interferes with spells, either making it more difficult or more costly, and to a lesser extent reducing its power. The bonus from this armor will increase the power, making attacks and buffs stronger." Baric said.

"That might improve the MP abilities my spirit uses." Reina thought.

With her armor all set, Reina walked to the door. "Thanks for this." She said. "I'll commission armor and weapons for Vyrdrun next time we meet. Hopefully."

"No problem, lass." Baric said. "I don't know what all's going on with those churches, but you stay safe out there. Hate to see another Spirit Forger die before her time."

"…I will." Reina reached for the door, pulling it open.

She didn't forget what Vyrdrun told her about the previous Spirit Forger. She gave her life to kill the first Demon Lord. And here Reina was, fighting the Waves and random 'fake' Demon Lords that showed up. There would come a time when she'd have to face the 'real' one, Derdir.

When that time came, would she be ready?

Author's Notes:

Ahhh. Much better than making a larger chapter. It's about the length I want all my chapters to be.

Looks like Reina has a new party member now, at least tentatively. Let's see what he can bring to the table.