Chapter 32: Chapter 32 – Crossroad

Scarlett closed the last page of the book she'd been reading and put it off to the side on the desk before her. This was the third book she'd finished in as many days covering different aspects of noble society and etiquette in this world. This last one had been a compendium on prominent families in the Empire, which she'd felt was relevant as she was soon supposed to travel to the capital for what was apparently some kind of noble gathering. Suffice to say that there had been and were a lot of important families in the Graenal Empire. The book had even mentioned the Hartfords—albeit only briefly—due to some of the predecessors being famous mages.

While she couldn't possibly memorize all of the different families in this short time, now she at least felt some certainty in being able to tell some of the noble houses apart if necessary — which was about as much as one could expect after binging through a book in the span of a day. She still had more books she wanted to read through before she had to leave and actually begin interacting with the nobles of this world. And that wasn't the only thing she wanted to do before she left.

The trip itself to Elystead was supposed to be through Kilnstone in two days. Then the Light Fest began two days after that, on the 31st of August, continuing over a period of eight days. From her meeting with Evelyne a couple of days before she knew that the younger woman was supposed to have left earlier this day and was probably already at whatever residence it was that the Hartfords owned in the capital. The thought of sharing the same building as Evelyne for over a week didn't exactly excite Scarlett—considering how uncomfortable it was, just being in the same room as her for a few minutes—but there wasn't much she could do about it in this case. She could probably try and restrict Evelyne's movements to avoid things like that, being the head of the family and all, but she certainly wouldn't. That might have been something the original Scarlett would try, it wouldn't surprise her, but it wasn't something she was willing to do. As such, living with Evelyne during their stay in the capital was just something she'd have to deal with.

She'd probably manage it without too much trouble. Hopefully. Their last meeting hadn't been too bad, all things considered. She'd largely succeeded in restraining the flaring feelings of anger and disgust that arose when speaking with Evelyne, and if you were to ask her they'd had what she'd genuinely call a productive conversation... Wherein Scarlett had learned some things she hadn't been aware of. Namely, that she wasn't as loaded as she had previously thought.

She had to admit that she had been a bit lax when it came to confirming her current financial situation as 'Scarlett Hartford'. She'd intended to, but then it turned out she could just wave her hand and the Hartford family would pay for it, which she had felt was fine for now until she actually got started on any of her plans. A definite oversight on her part. She probably shouldn't have just assumed Scarlett was filthy rich. Although she did feel it was somewhat defendable, considering that she lived in a huge mansion with over a dozen people working under her. And honestly, if you asked her this still fit under the 'filthy rich' label, despite any current financial troubles the family might have.

But Scarlett did feel a little bad for Evelyne, thinking of how the woman must have reacted when she first saw the cost of the things she had done this last month. It still surprised her that the destroyed carriage had been worth as much as it had. Sure, it had been a comfortable carriage—the one they'd switched to afterward definitely rocked a lot more—but to think it was worth several times the amount of an ordinary house. She assumed the high cost was because it was enchanted in some manner.

Anyhow, what she had learned from this was that she had to be a bit more frugal in the future. At least until she could start earning some real money herself. She still felt pretty confident in the plans she had for amassing a decent amount of wealth, as long as she had the time. She also still had the gear that she'd looted from the Cabal Adepts that had attacked them when they left for Whistlecreek. She hadn't done anything with it yet. For now she was planning on just bringing it with her to the capital. She only knew of one store from the game that dealt with enchanted armor here in Freybrook and she wasn't sure if that place could necessarily be trusted with equipment like this. But there was one store in Elystead that she was certain could do it. Although she'd have to wait until she was actually there to decide whether she would simply try selling the armor or repurposing it in some way.

Another matter she'd almost forgotten about was the reward for the servants that ended up having to deal with the aftermath of the fight with the Adepts, as well as the bodies. Although Scarlett did try to keep up at least part of the 'villainess' facade she had going from the original, there were some points she didn't mind acting differently on. The servants that had dealt with that matter deserved some kind of reward, she felt. At least to the degree she could afford at the moment.

She had also wanted to get Kat some kind of armor, as compensation for the equipment the Shielder had lost along with the burned carriage, but that turned out to be a bit difficult under the current circumstances. Kat hadn't actually brought the matter up—perhaps the employer wasn't considered responsible for any lost equipment while the Shielder was under contract—but Scarlett felt it would be better for both of them if it was resolved. Maybe she could get a good deal along with the gear from the Cabal Adepts?

Just as Scarlett was about to pick up and begin the next book that lay on her desk, a knock sounded out from the office's door. Scarlett looked up as Kat's voice rang out from the other side of the door.

"Hello? You busy? Can we talk for a moment?" From the way she spoke, it sounded like something serious.

Scarlett opened up the drawer where she kept her journals for the moment and placed the books she'd been reading there before closing it. "Enter," she said.

Kat soon opened the door and walked in, the blonde woman sitting down in the single chair across Scarlett.

"Is there something you wish to say?" Scarlett asked, examining the Shielder's expression. Kat's expression did indeed look like this wasn't an ordinary matter.

"I just got a message from my colleagues at the branch," Kat began, folding her arms across her chest. "There's come in a request from the Guild's branch in the capital, calling for the assistance of all senior Shielders in the empire ranked B or higher."

Scarlett raised an eyebrow. This was unexpected. "Did they inform you of a reason?"

Kat shook her head. "Nothing specific. Even if they did, I doubt it's something I could share. I just know it's an emergency of some kind."

Scarlett leaned back and tapped her finger against the armrest in thought. It wasn't too long until the Tribe of Sin would start causing some ruckus here in the Empire. In fact, that would be the start of the process that would light the fuse of the main questline in 'Chronicle of Realms', though as far as she knew the player could never be involved in matters this early. The first movements of the Tribe were instead something the player would read about in the Empyreal Chronicle after the fact.

Could it be that the Shields Guild was aware something was going down and was trying to counteract it? She hadn't really considered the possibility, but it did sound like it from what Kat had just said. In her first playthrough Scarlett had only been an F-ranked junior Shielder at this point, so she didn't really know too much about the inner workings of the Guild this early. Considering how things went in the game though, whatever they were trying to do now was bound to fail. Or at the very least not go completely in their favor.

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"I assume this means that you will no longer be able to act as my escort until the emergency has been handled?" Scarlett asked after considering it.

Kat looked at her for a moment, then slowly nodded her head. "Probably, yeah. It's rare for the capital branch to send out empire-wide requests like this." She grimaced, pulling her hand through her unbraided hair, leaving it slightly ruffled. "They actually wanted me to leave immediately, saying they'd pay damages for the broken contract. But considering your circumstances I didn't feel comfortable leaving just like that. I convinced them that I'd stay with you at least until we're in the capital, and then I was thinking that I could find some replacements for me there... If that works for you? I have a few contacts at their branch."

Scarlett stayed quiet for a while, gazing at Kat. Would that work? Or could she find someone else to replace Kat? She didn't know many organizations except the Shields Guild that so easily would let you hire and give you access to such strong individuals without needing any prior connections.

In fact, she only knew of one. But the Vanguards made their base in Wildscar, near the Empire's eastern border, where the Everdust Barrier protected the empire from the threats of the Unresting Steppes. Even if you discounted the fact that Wildscar was one of the few major cities in the empire that didn't have a Kilnstone, meaning getting in contact with the Vanguards might be hard, she wasn't even sure they accepted normal escort requests. They mainly took jobs that meant venturing out into the Unresting Steppes themselves, which—while there were certainly things of interest to her in the large desert—wasn't exactly what she needed right now.

Any replacement Kat found was bound to be at most C-ranked. Which wasn't weak, but it could be problematic if that was all Scarlett had to defend her. But it was also better than nothing. And considering she was planning on picking up one of the game's companions while she was in the capital, it might be enough for now.

"So?" Kat asked after Scarlett had stayed quiet for some time.

Scarlett gave the woman a nod. "It seems to be an acceptable compromise, under these circumstances. I would appreciate the consideration on your part."

Kat let out a relieved sigh, before giving a small smile. "I'll make sure they're capable enough so that they don't just get in your way."

"Anything less and I would be quite disappointed."

Kat chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure you would be."

"As for this 'emergency'," Scarlett brought the subject back to what they'd spoken about before. "There was no indication as to for how long it might continue?"

Some of the events related to the Tribe's coming actions had been covered by the weekly news report in the game, but she really didn't know too much about the details related to the different factions' movement this early in the timeline. For all she knew it was possible things continued for months behind the scenes.

"I have no idea. I don't know what the reason behind it is yet," Kat said. "The last time something this major happened in the Guild was during the Dragon Rampage seven years ago, and I heard they dealt with the aftermath of that for months on end."

"I see." Scarlett gave another nod. "Nevertheless, you are more than welcome to return to my service after matters have been concluded. You have been of significant help up to this point, and I will not easily forget it." It looked like she wouldn't be able to get Kat any new armor before the woman left. But at least this gave her more time to prepare something for the future.

"I'll keep that in mind," Kat said with a smile. She then looked towards Scarlett's empty desk. "You busy now, by the way? I was thinking that now that we didn't have much time left, we could use some of it to get you some more training. The best defense is the one where you can defend yourself, after all."

Some of the hairs on Scarlett's neck rose. As she'd had more and more training sessions with Kat and had grown more and more used to being in a fight, the Shielder had also grown more and more aggressive in their practice. And while Scarlett could usually ignore the slight feeling of annoyance that was almost ever-present when she interacted with the rather informal woman, she found that her self-control was pushed to its limits when that very same woman threw her to the ground like a sack of rice. But she couldn't deny that it was good training.

"...Very well."

The smile on Kat's face grew wider, and Scarlett felt that perhaps she would be less careful with her Aqua Mines this time than usual.

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