Chương 195: What Does It Mean?

"The Dun Altir Order has accepted our offer," Hardric told me, excitement audible even through the leaves of the plant and the static of the line. Today, the interference was especially intense. It was raining somewhere between Castle Urcia and Hyrdford, making the leaves of the intermediary plants shake unnecessarily.

"All of the offer?" I asked, leaning closer to the plant to make my voice heard, while holding tight to the lower leaves to reduce any losses of vibrations. A late summer wind washed over the castle—fallout from the gusts on the nearby hills—and the roofs rattled. It was getting darker sooner, and inside our room in the barracks, the candles flickered. Brawl and Anchor prepared for bed while I held my weekly meeting.

"They gave us the money, and they said that if our supplies did what we said they did, they would continue paying for it," Hardric said. I sighed in relief.

"Now, even under your new tax breakdown," Cuthward added, "some of the guild's income will be taken as tax."

"Some, but not enough to break us," I said.

"Now that we have a paying customer, it frees us up to actually start spreading and spending."" If our supplies are as effective as we say," Hardric warned, "It's no guarantee that the Order will come back to us."

"Our potion bases will help them brew stronger potions of their own, correct?" I asked.

"There's no risk about this. We know what it does, and so do they."

"No, sir, but I like to be cautious," Hardric said.

"So far, this is just a one time purchase. They've sealed no contract." I nodded, even though they wouldn't see it, then asked, "What about sending anyone to train their alchemy at the source of all the resources? Did they accept that part of the deal? Did you bring it up?"

"We brought it up. Their negotiator—some Adept Brother of their order named Malin—was hesitant, but he says he might send a party of their young learners along with a few teachers, if we are willing, to experiment with some of our supplies. They could always use more experience in brewing potions. And yes, healing potions specifically."

"Good work," I said.

"Any other progress to report, Cuthward?"

"Almost everything is in order," the man said.

"Much of it will require your seal to be truly official, but the people are respecting the law as if it was official. You should, however, consider getting a seal of your own. A unique seal."

"Are there any local artists who would like a commission?" I asked.

"Is it a…coat of arms?"

"What's that?" Hardric asked.

"I am not sure what you mean by 'coat of arms,' my boy," Cuthward said.

"But your seal should be the symbol on your shield. Thegns have a unique symbol painted on their shield—or they should."

"What if I like the raven?" I asked.

"It kinda fits…with me being a Dupe and all, to just use the standard flag that all Dupes march under." Cuthward snorted.

"I suppose we could make a raven seal. But you might wish for it to be slightly different, to help identify you better in a crowd and during a battle. And, perhaps, to make it less presumptuous. You are claiming the flag of that nation as your primary symbol, you realize?"

"I suppose," I said.

"Very well. If you find a local artist, we can think about making a proper symbol. Soon, I'll get a proper shield crafted, one that will last me for a while. Once I do come up with a symbol, I'll let you guys know, and we can imprint it on a signet ring." I knew they used signet rings, even if they didn't have coats of arms.

"Yes, sir," Cuthward said.

"It will be done." ~ ~ ~ During our next Labyrinth run, as I extracted the Presence from the corpse of a fallen Silver-tier giant mole, I turned to Sage. With Morph's help, she knelt over Anchor, who'd gotten injured in the fight, and patched him up.

"Hey. Is giving flowers to a girl a good sign, here?" I whispered. She scrunched her eyebrows.

"Are you thinking of poaching me from Brawl? Because it won't work, dustbrain." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Not at all," I said.

"I just need some advice regarding your world's conventions. You know…with, uh, romantic stuff. I haven't had much experience dealing with dating in this past year and a bit."

"Yes, giving a lady flowers is a signal that you're interested. Her asking for flowers is a sign that she is interested in you," Sage replied.

"Who asked for flowers from you? Was it…Fleda? The one you told us about from Slowbend?"

"No, no," I said.

"And hey, who's to say I didn't take initiative?"" You, sending flowers to a lady without first being prompted? Nuh uh, dustbrain. I'd sooner imagine the walls of Eraen-Kalora crumbling than you doing that." I chuckled.

"Fine, you got me."

"Who?" Sage insisted.

"Can you focus on the task at hand, please?" Anchor complained.

"My leg is still…I don't even want to look at it." In the fight, the mole had gotten behind us and swatted him into a building, and the bone had shattered on impact. It was nothing that we couldn't fix, and with Sage getting stronger, her Arts worked faster. But I imagined it was painful.

"Yes, yes…" Sage said, holding her hands over the wound. She whispered, "Levi, who was it? I need to know. Spill the potion. Was it some mystery lady from before the sappers that you haven't told us about?"

"I had better not be Hild, brother," Brawl complained.

"Dude…" I said.

"She's like, forty." Brawl shrugged. I shook my head.

"There's something wrong with you…"

"Well, I'm going to say it's her unless you help a sister out and tell me who asked you for flowers." Sage triggered her art over Anchor's leg. Her hands glowed, and the bone snapped back into place. Skin knitted itself shut overtop.

"You're clueless, Levi. You could use some real insider advice from another woman, don't you think?"

"So you want to help me?"

"You've helped us more than enough," she said. I sighed, wrung my fingers together, then finally, whispered, "It was Alis." Anchor laughed, shifting from side to side. He slapped the ground, either in amusement, or because he'd just caused himself loads of pain. Morph growled at him, and Sage put a hand on his chest, pressing him back into the ground. Finally, when Anchor caught his breath, he said, "Fat chance of you getting under a princess' dress, Sarge."

"She did grant him thegnage," Sage said.

"And she was the one who made him a royal thegn…" I clicked my tongue.

"See, Anchor? Take that, Sage thinks I have a chance."

"I didn't say I thought you had a chance. You are going to need more than just luck, dustbrain." Sage shook her head.

"You are dealing with a princess. Your dealings with her must be perfect."

"Are you sure?" I tilted my head.

"I mean, she seemed interested in more of a…normal guy."

"That is how they all try to present," Sage proclaimed.

"It's perhaps only half true."

"You should know," Anchor teased.

"After all, you fell for Brawl. He's anything but normal."

"I can stop healing you any time."

"Apologies."

"I am…half-normal, brother," Brawl said.

"He was just joking," I said, standing up and moving to Brawl's side and looking over the loot we'd gathered. I decided to change the subject and said, "It's a pretty good haul. Now, once Anchor gets on his feet, what do you say we get looking for whatever treasure this mole was guarding? I'd bet it's something in a cellar."

"And don't forget the mole's saliva," Sage commented.

"I won't," I said. I'd continued my research on sap and the makeup of sap from arcane trees. Sap, in the eyes of the Path, was a pure substance, but it was still similar in purpose to blood. It just came from a tree, not a monster. But you could make a monster's blood more like sap by combining it with other alchemical resources. I didn't know exactly how it worked yet, but certain monsters' saliva was an excellent resource for the natural energies it contained—according to the books I'd read in the library.

Since we weren't likely to find any un-burnt arcane trees down here, it was the closest I'd get. ~ ~ ~"Three different Skills," Drywsone said, looking over the scrap we'd left him. He'd shuffled another ring, a dagger, and a cloak brooch off to the side. They were all bronze, but they were enchanted.

"You four had a good haul today. I'll save these for later and add them as ornaments to the finished product. Now, I'll have Shatter take your orders with the rest of this Imperial Steel."

"We should plan out your full kits," Shatter said, beckoning us over to the other side of the blacksmith shop's counter.

"You'll still need to gather as much Imperial Steel as you can, but it shouldn't be a bottleneck for your squad. You should have enough Steel by the time training is done."

"And you've been setting aside a percentage for the squads who got left behind working the elevator, right?" I asked.

"Correct," Shatter said.

"I'll need a chainmail hauberk," I planned.

"Scale mail overtop. Pauldrons, vambraces, and greaves, too. A new helmet, of course, a spear, and a new crossbow with bolts." This world didn't seem to use full plate armour much. For regular soldiers, I could see why. It was expensive and difficult to make. But for us? However… there was something about the enchantments. Apparently, you could only fit one extra enchantment (from Labyrinth loot) per sheet of metal. With plate armour, that meant one enchantment per plate.

With scale mail, that meant one enchantment per scale.

"At this rate, it'll still take you a few months to get enough Imperial Steel," Shatter warned.

"That's fine," I replied.

"We still have a few months. And when the armour's ready, I'm sure it'll be worth it."