Chương 27: Chapter 26 – Defenders of Lindenfeld

Kai stared blankly at the stage, waiting for the mayor's speech to finally end. It hadn't even been particularly long, but he had much better things to do than accept this sham of an award. Mrs. Hoffmann spewed some more platitudes, then her monologue wound down. To his great chagrin, however, she turned towards the village choir that had assembled behind her.

"Now, 'Oh Fields Beneath The Linden Tree'." Kai couldn't suppress a groan. He cringed to his very core as the choir began to sing the stupid village anthem, something usually reserved for village fairs and traditional events. It was exactly the sort of song one would expect – centuries ago, its writers considered it majestic and dignified, but he was willing to bet twenty cores that even back then, people found it lame. However, as the song droned on, Kai noticed more and more people actually joining in.

Looking around in disbelief, he found his own sister humming along. After two more verses, he could barely suppress the urge to add his own voice to the growing chorus. What the fuck is happening? At this point, the only person not visibly affected was his father two rows over. The Wizard was glaring daggers at– At Andrea. ~ Bard, Level 7 By now, Kai was familiar enough with his sorcery to feel it welling up before the heat became impossible to ignore.

He didn't even need to voice his demand; his thoughts carried his magic through his body and soul. Get out of my head. The urge disappeared, along with a single mana point. Andrea almost imperceptibly flinched on the stage, threw him an unsettled look, then returned to whatever she was doing. Kai repeatedly poked Lena's side, until she too was taken out of the trance. Lena's displeasure usually manifested in sarcasm, snarky comments, or silence.

Only in the most severe of cases did her expression change – currently, it was a mask of fury. Kai looked over to his father, who gave him a sneaky thumbs-up, mouthing 'Bards' with exasperation written on his face. When the performance finally ended, the atmosphere in the hall had shifted. Instead of mild boredom, there was a sense of solemn dignity. People were staring at the stage with rapt attention. Nobody talked. Freaky. The mayor thanked the choir, then sent them off-stage.

"Today, we have come together to honor the brave hunters keeping this village safe. They are the ones slaying the monsters that have thrown our world into chaos. They are the ones we thank for keeping civilization alive in Lindenfeld," she intoned. By that metric, Dad is the only one deserving of any honors here.

"Finn Hofstedt, please come up on the stage." The visibly nervous young man rose from his seat near Kai. He almost stumbled on the stairs, but was saved by his Dexterity. ~ Archer, Level 8 Kai briefly wondered how high Finn's kill count was by now. Or rather, his kill steal count. Andrea ceremoniously handed him a blue sash.

"In the name of the people of Lindenfeld, I hereby appoint you Senior Warden."

"T-thank you," he stuttered, clumsily putting it on.

"And in recognition of your bravery as one of the first hunters to fight for our village, I award you this medal. You are a true Defender of Lindenfeld. Congratulations!" To Kai's surprise, the applause was deafening, the crowd's enthusiasm palpable.

"Tom Pfenning, please come up on the stage." The Marauder's demeanour couldn't have been more different from Finn's. He swaggered up the stairs, a confident grin on his face that made Kai want to throw a Fire Bolt at him. He accepted the 'honors' with a wide grin, spreading his arms towards the crowd like a celebrity receiving an award. And the audience ate it up. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Kai forced himself to swallow his rising anger as Lena was called up. It took her a few seconds to stand up from her chair, so before the situation turned weird, he poked her again.

"Make sure to give the mayor a good Zap," he whispered. She snorted almost inaudibly, but finally stood up and walked up the stairs mechanically. She did not say a word during the whole affair, only glaring at Andrea's feet while avoiding even the slightest glance towards the audience. Only once the medal was attached to her sash did she flinch briefly. What happened?

"Kai Brandt, please come up on the stage." Let's get this farce over with. With most of his scowl hidden behind a mask of casual indifference, he made his way towards the Bard waiting with the worthless trinkets.

"In the name of the people of Lindenfeld, I hereby appoint you Senior Warden." He simply nodded before putting on the sash, not trusting himself to stay polite.

"And in recognition of your bravery, I award you this medal. You are a true Defender of Lindenfeld. Congratulations!" The crowd cheered. ~ Title awarded: Defender of Lindenfeld. Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me. ~ Wizard, Level 7 ~ Defender of Lindenfeld That was acceptable. Lena deserved the title. However, Kai dreaded what he would find with the next inspections. ~ Marauder, Level 8 ~ Defender of Lindenfeld ~ Archer, Level 8 ~ Defender of Lindenfeld That was not acceptable.

= = = = = Laura watched the proceedings from the sidelines, growing increasingly concerned as the four main awardees were politely ushered into the background to make room for the many others who would be declared simple 'Wardens'. Lena had already snuck behind her brother and a stage curtain, but that was not the primary issue. No, the significantly more problematic part was said brother's expression.

It probably wasn't visible from the audience seats, but his jaw was clenched painfully and his eyes were burning holes into… well, into everyone they fell on. Kai had made it very clear what he thought of the idea beforehand, but up until he actually received the medal, he had only seemed slightly annoyed instead of genuinely upset. Even after he broke out of Andrea's 'performance', his mood hadn't soured further. So, what happened? She glanced over to Daniel, who was sitting in the audience like a statue.

When he noticed her eyes on him, he briefly raised his hand, pointing above his head. What is he trying to tell me? He repeated the gesture, then motioned towards his eyes. It took her a moment to figure out his meaning, but eventually, she inspected him. ~ Wizard, Level??? ~ Adventurer I'm glad he stopped using that other title. But what does he– Daniel pointed towards Kai on the stage. ~ Fighter, Level 8 ~ Defender of Lindenfeld Oh. Oh, damn. Oh god, what have we done?

= = = = ="Some titles are simple," Daniel explained, sprawled out on the couch with a cold pack on his forehead.

"Like 'Adventurer'. You get it for ten successful quests.

'Delver' you get for clearing a wild dungeon. Others, like the one you inadvertently created, require popular consensus. That's how I got my various 'Hero of XYZ' titles."

"... Did you expect this to happen?" Laura asked, face buried in her hands.

"Not at all," he replied.

"I've never heard of a title just being created out of nothing. In the other world, titles have precedents. But I suppose they have to start somewhere."

"Do they… do something? Other than just being there?"

"Interesting question. Mechanically? Nothing. However, some titles naturally come with huge social benefits. Identification, implied expertise, authority. A title can't be faked." Those were, indeed, huge social benefits. Laura's mind was already reeling from the possibilities.

"Do you… think we can create more?" Daniel shrugged half-heartedly.

"Probably. I suspect you'll need a very specific set of circumstances, though."

"Like a Bard whipping up the crowd?"

"That probably helped, but I doubt it's the full picture. I don't think the System would recognize a title based solely on that. But this is new ground for me as well, so who knows."

"... You know, I'm surprised you agreed to Andrea doing that."

"I can see the value in it," he sighed.

"I don't particularly like it, but bardic magic has its place. That said, I'm glad to see our son managed to resist it."

"How did he resist it, by the way? Sorcery?" Laura asked, a note of worry creeping into her voice.

"Yes. I couldn't tell you what exactly he did, but I assume his Concept does not take kindly to compromised agency."

"Do you have a theory about what it might be?"

"Several. Some more worrying, some less. But I'm not going to share my findings. Your tendency to meddle might inadvertently push him further."

"That… that is very rude of you to say," Laura retorted weakly, knowing full-well that he was right.

"I would apologize, but I am right," he said, forcing her to take a calming breath. With supreme effort, she shelved the topic and returned to other pressing matters.

"So, we accidentally gave the Pfennings and Hofstedts far more than we thought we would. How should we proceed now?" Daniel gingerly lifted the cold pack off his eyes and turned his head to look at her, thoroughly unimpressed.

"Just as before, but hopefully with more dairy products and less stupid drama."