Chapter 107: 6-9 Picking Up Pieces

By the time the knights finally broke through the undead, I had managed to calm down a great deal. The kids… no, the shadows were a threat to me, coming after my life. Killing them had been justified, at least that’s what I told myself. It was still the first time I had killed someone without being under the effects of the emotionally dampening [Cold Hearted]. It was… difficult how easy it had been in the moment.

As the knight squad moved to surround the carriage and mop up any remaining undead, Ferdinand strode towards me, “Lady Stahlia-”

I held up a hand, stalling him, “My apologies, Lord Ferdinand. It seems I allowed my nerves to best me… Please, have these men move out and secure the surroundings.”

He gave a short bow and waved his hand. Since all the men had heard me give the order repeating it seemed to be unnecessary and they departed, “Everyone is alive then?”

That’s what I said in my message, isn’t it?

“Other than my knight, yes. I left them in the carriage… For the sake of the record, I would hear your recommendation.”

“That was why you sent the knights away. Lady Edith and Miss Sarala already know of course, that leaves  Lady Lester and Miss Suzane.”

So that’s her name then.

He must have read my expression; I wasn’t trying to hide it or anything, “You suspect I think they should be disposed of.”

You usually aren’t this wordy. Probably calculated that it would be a good idea to play nice after how I snapped at you.

“You think we should kill them. Please do not mince words around me.”

“…As you wish. Yes, if it were up to me, I would say that both she and Lady Lester died in the attack. Probably Miss Sasha and Miss Sarala as well to avoid suspicion. It is not up to me though, and I am well aware that plan is off the table. But yes, I do believe that Suzane and Lady Lester should be, as you said, killed.”

…Yea, NO SHIT that plan is off the table, what the hell!? 

…breathe…

His confession made my anger flair right back up, and it was a struggle not to explode again. But the worst part of it all, was that his plan sounded logical. Effective even. Certainly, there would be less loose ends this way, I could follow along with the reasoning he must have used to come to the conclusion.

“Lord Ferdinand, I despise you on a fundamental level.” He did not react to my statement, it was probably also something he’d expected to hear, “That said, I cannot agree to either plan; there is no world where killing them benefits us. All it would do is risk antagonizing the other nobles, and were we to kill only Suzzane and attempt to blackmail Lady Lester… Well, I shouldn’t need to explain what that plan sucks.”

I can’t believe antagonizing Lady Lester is my biggest concern here.

Ferdinand nodded, “I agree.”

That pissed me off, “Then why in the nine hells did you just recommend killing them!?”

Ferdinand shrugged, as though he was doing it intentionally, “Because you wanted me to advocate for her death, so I played my role.”

I blinked, the anger suddenly taken from my sails only to flare back up almost immediately.

Give me a break!

“You played your role, to what? Get me to kill someone? Is that all you’ve been doing this whole time? Playing your role!?”

He actually crossed his arms as he looked down at me. It was as though every single motion he performed was calculated specifically to piss me off more and more, “Well, I don’t need that! Don’t play a role and tell me what I expect to hear, I’m not a fucking demon!”

I did not need someone telling me what they thought I wanted them to say, that was only one step above having a yes-man. Only above it since that’s what he thought I wanted him to say, not what I wanted to hear.

Sarala’s head peeked over the side of the carriage; she was still on top of it keeping an eye on the undead and the knights, “St- Lady Stahlia, my mistress expresses her concern.”

Haaa… Damn it all.

Forcibly calming myself again, I addressed Ferdinand, “…In the future, share your opinions plainly. Do not play any role you think I might be expecting. Really, why in the name of everything do I have to ask something like that…”

He did not say anything outright, merely staring down at me from behind his crossed arms. His face was inscrutable, so I deigned not to try and merely turned away, “One of you! Please help Lady Lester and Lady Edith get out of the carriage, then the maids.”

One of the knights broke away from the expanding clean-up operation and made his way over to the carriage. It was of course possible for me to get them all out myself, but there was no immediate danger and I still had enough sense to understand it would not be a good image. After taking a minute to appraise the situation, the knight began to move to extricate the remaining passengers. It would not be proper for me to detail everyone’s injuries to him, as much as I wanted to ensure proper treatment. Sarala was there, and the knight was a knight; he would be familiar with handling the injured.

“Stahlia.” Ferdinand called out to me while that was ongoing, and I noted the lack of any title, “Stahlia, I believe I owe you an apology. It would seem my life in the dark has skewed my judgment, it was my assumption that you needed an adversary to play against. Someone arguing for the extreme, so that you could properly consider every angle. I was mistaken. In the future, I will counsel you as I see fit, and only as such.”

He had uncrossed his arms, and for the first time since I had met him, there was some actual light in his eyes. Though my anger was still a bit much for me to forgive him outright, I could at least accept the sentiment for what it was. Admitting he had made a mistake was probably rather difficult, especially considering my background and our relative ages, “See that you do.”

“I will. Now then, Lady Stahlia, I believe we should move to a more secure location.”

Yea, that makes sense.

“I will, as soon as they are out.” I waved at the carriage, where Lady Lester was being helped gingerly down. Considering her injuries, the fact that she was keeping composure was quite remarkable.

“In my opinion that is an idiotic notion. Your own safety is paramount.”

…I won’t get angry, he’s only doing what I literally just told him to do.

“I understand, but have decided to ignore your opinion. I will go once my guests are safe.”

Fortunately, his interpretation of his new orders did not seem to extend to after I had made a decision on a matter. That did not mean we couldn’t move on though, “What do we know about all of this? My primary concern is where so many undead came from.”

I couldn’t see him, but he sounded thoughtful as he answered me, “We are still figuring that out. The operators seem to have been the three you fought. There could be more, but if there were then you would be dead.” I grimaced, not that he would have been able to see it from where he stood behind me, “As far as the undead are concerned… Well, I can tell you where they came from, but we will not know if there are any left without doing a rather thorough investigation.”

Something we lack the resources to do… Or, we would.

“The undead came from the slums, I would guess. That would be the best way to gather a large number of people without raising suspicions. Do not concern yourself with the investigation; I will have Aaron do it.”

For safety’s sake, I kept the crystal bit he had given me on my person. After fishing it out, I enhanced my fingers and crushed it in my palm, the degree I needed to boost my strength to do so was actually kind of ridiculous. At once, I felt a sudden feeling of vertigo, not unlike when Adroni had merged my consciousness with various people while I was dead. It was a bit less intense, and faded quickly.

“Hello?”

“Ah, Stahlia. I thought I might be hearing from you soon. Be quick, this will only last a few seconds.”

“I want a quest posted for all of the adventurers in the city and the surrounding areas; investigate for signs of undead activity. Pay special attention to the poor areas and sewers of major settlements… A day’s wages if they take part, and a month’s for any leads that pan out.”

“Wasting no time, good. What about our agreement?”

“You know I have not spoken with Rupert yet; I will do so as soon as I return to the palace.”

“Then, I will take your word for it. This is, after all, a rather outrageous event; you are aware the demons are involved?”

I wanted to question what he meant, or more specifically what he knew, but the connection was already starting to fade out.

“I am, thank you.”

There was another flash of vertigo, and an empty feeling in my head. As if something had gone missing. After a moment when both of those had passed, I turned to face Ferdinand, “I need to see Prince Rupert as soon as we return. If possible, the King as well; it would make things go faster.”

“Indeed, will Aaron do his part?”

I nodded sharply, then turned again to watch Suzane being brought down from the carriage. Contrary to her mistress, her face was white and pale with suppressed pain.

Well, here goes.

Lady Lester saw me striding towards their group and stiffened slightly. For someone of her social acumen, that was enough to let me know that she was shaken. Pausing a few meters away from the group I held my arms out and did a small spin, “Well, what do you think?”

It only took her a moment to answer, and though shaky she managed to come up with a halfway decent quip, “You look remarkably lady-like for a twelve-year-old.”

“I take after my mother. This is not the time or the place for word games or lessons about word games; my retainer,” A quick pause and glance over my shoulder let her know it was Ferdinand, “Believes that I should report the two of you as casualties in this.”

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Their reactions were different, and spoke to their personalities; Suzane shrank back and then winced from the pain, while Lady Lester’s face shifted to one of grave severity, “…However, I do not believe I will need to do that; all of my close friends are already aware of my secret. We are friends, are we not?”

The duchess paused, and looked to Edith and then Sarala. When Edith gave a subtle nod confirming my words as true, her face morphed into a smile, “Indeed, I do believe we are friends.”

There was no guarantee of course, and I barely knew her. The fact was though, that the kingdom really could not afford to lose one of its leading nobles at the moment. For better or worse, my hands were tied and all I could do was trust in her discretion and intelligence; the kingdom would not always be in this position after all.

“Excellent. I feel I must apologize to you then, Lady Lester, for how our outing turned out. I will endeavor to make it up to you at a future date, for now though I am needed back at the palace. These knights will escort you wherever you wish to go, and ensure your safety.”

When I turned to leave, she called after me, “You claim social ignorance, but you are quite good when threats of violence are involved. Lady Stahlia von Drakas.”

That… That scheming… I basically just threatened to have you killed, and your reaction is to dig for information and confirm a hunch? Lady Lester has quite the courage.

She was, unbelievably, even more dangerous than I had given her credit for.

I think I might need a spy embedded in the ranks of the noble ladies. I’ll bring it up with Rupert and Ferdinand after we deal with all of this.

I was, unfortunately, not able to totally stop myself from showing a small reaction so I opted to play into it by pausing for a full second. Then, I continued on my way.

★★★★★★

An hour later I found myself sitting in a meeting with Rupert, Gustav, and Ferdinand. The king had declined to join, and merely informed Rupert that whatever decision we came to was approved. A maid I had never met before attended to me by refilling my empty cup. Sasha had been whisked away for treatment, and my attempt to bring Frieda had been vetoed. This was someone Ferdinand had produced, claiming that she had the trust needed to attend the meeting. I made him drink the first cup, and had been randomly giving him every third or so since.

Call me petty, and I don’t really think he’d try to have me poisoned, but doing this makes me feel good. Although, I do kind of feel bad about how many dishes this is generating, but I’m not about to drink after or before him either.

My actions were even worse in light of what Ferdinand was recounting at the moment; the immediate aftermath and the sequence of events leading up to the attack, but I wasn’t going to stop. I did care about what had happened and was listening attentitivelly, but I felt like if I did nothing to break my own tension, I might go insane. Nobody was giving me any disparaging looks and Rupert hadn’t told me to knock it off, so I was going to continue.

“And that concludes the preliminary report; atleast three dozen among the commoners dead, five knights including your own,” He nodded towards me before continuing, “And we know without a doubt that these undead are the products of demon magic; based on my own observations, they are Husk.”

 

Ah… That explains why they were acting weird.

Husk were a type of undead in name only. Strictly speaking; they were still alive. Twisted by a succcubus’ magic, Husk formed a sort of eusocial colony and moved as one unit. The individuals would drain vitality from new victims, which resulted in the hollowed undead appearance, funneling it back to their creator and growing their colony. That would explain how Aaron had known the demons were directly involved as well.

Having finished his piece, Ferdinand glanced at me and I began to reccount events from my perspective. Starting with a summary of my and Aaron’s meeting, “That is why I need the knights retasked; using the coup as an excuse, we can reduce the monster patrols while contracting the adventurers to pick up the slack.”

Rupert stroked his chin in thought and began mumbling to himself as his mind processed everything I had said; a full account of my meeting with Aaron, the attack, and my actions immediately thereafter. As he processed, Gustav chimed in his thoughts, “Well, what are you going to do about your stats?”

Not what I thought you would bring up, but with Rupert in thought this makes a decent way to pass the time. Besides, you might have an insight I missed.

“First, I intend to level up. I am… close, now.” Killing the two shadows had netted me a confusing amount of experience; each had seemingly only been worth a thousand. Considering that the Rosial impersonators had been nearly four times that, it was odd. Of course, it could just be that humans weren’t worth much; those doppelgangers had been monsters. This had left me five hundred experience, or five goblins’ worth, away from leveling up for the first time in almost a year.

Though, I suspect some experience may have been diverted… My seed increased a bit as well. I don’t want to consider how many people I’d have to kill to finish it. And this is only the “Seedling.” There are possibly other stages… I’m not going to become like that one Hungarian monarch, killing hundreds of innocents for my own personal gain. No way in hell.

Life Summary Screen:

Life Point Balance: 115

Name/Age: Stahlia von Drakas und zu Ris, 16

Gender: Female

Class/Level: ̧͘͟҉̕C͡͏͢u̸ś̨͡ţ̷͢͞͠ò̡͠m҉̛͝ ̡̡́́̀C̨̛͘ļ̴̴̢a̴͢s͏̧͝͝͝s͏͢͏́͝,̧́͡͠ ̨2̛͟͡0̶̀҉͘͘ ̴͘͟|̡͝ ̡͘͘͢͝C̴̢͟ư͞ş̧̕͢͝t̸̛̀o̴̧͡m̷̢ ̧͠C̶͘͡҉l̛҉͘͝ás̶̀͟͝s̛̀͢͠,̷ ̵̨3̷̡̡͞͝ Experience: 35500/36000

Species: Human (Halfblood[Revenant])

Social Strata: Nobility (Baron Ris, Drakas Kingdom || Princess auf Drakas, Drakas Kingdom)

Starting Gift: Implanted Seed: Progress 0.01%

Title: Goblin Slayer*[Swap Title]

Ability Values: 

 

• Strength E: 138

• Endurance C: 224

• Dexterity S: 415 + 46

• Intelligence S: 480

• Charisma C: 224

• Mana A: 281

 

Fighting Style: Drakan Style* [Swap Style]

Talents 5/5: [Browse Talents] P̶r̛ơdi̷gy ͞I҉II*,͢ ̀Ei͡detìc͞ ̡Me̢mơry͜ ̵II̵*, Śtea͞lt̵h̶ ͡V,̨ Ch̷ár͝m͟ Resi̛stan̛ce̵ I͢I*̧, Fléx̨i͟b͝le͡ ͢I͡I*̡,̕ ||͡ Mòn͠stȩr ̴Ha͝ndlįng ͘I҉II*͞, ͏D̶a͏g͝g͜er ҉F̧ìg̀ht̨i͘ng ̀V̕*,̨ ̕S̸wòrd ̛F͢ighţíng I͡I̴*҉,̧ U͝na͟r͡me̢d Fight̵íng͝ IV*̡, Aļc͏h̡emy̨ Corre̴çti̴o̴n͏ ̡I҉V̨*, Ţea͢chi̴ng͟ II*,͢ ̸M̡a͟na͜ ͘E͏f̀f̧i̕c͡íen̕cy͜ III̷*, ̶F͠ir̵e ̛Màg̢ic͏ ͝II̴I*́,̡ ̧W͜a̵ter͘ ҉M͟ag̨i̡c II*̢,͝ ̷Ear̵t̸h M͝agic I͟I̡*͢,͏ Wi͘ńd M͟agic ̡I̸I*̛, ҉I̷ce̕ ̢Mag͜ic VI̛*̡, Wi̷n̸téŗ Magi͘c ̷I,͡

 

Skills 5/5: [Browse Skills] D̶iv̢i̸nę ̡Auţho҉r͠it͠y[̛C̨la͜s̀s F̨ea̡ture͟s͡]*͝,̴ ͢F̀in͞es͜s͢e Figh͟tįng͝*, ̧B̷lu͞e ́B͏l̕oo͡de̛d*,͢ ́K̷inet̕ic ̷P̛e͝ŕce͟p̶t̡io̷n*̡,̶ ̕Ma̵n͠a ̴C͟ŗy̡s͡t͠a͞ll͡iz͏atio̶n*, |̷|́ L̢a̛ng̀u̸ag͡e P̡r͞ofi̶cien̸c̛y͘[̶Ce͢n̴tr̸al Huma͝n͢]*̷,̕ ̶F̷ig̕ht͞ing S͟ty̷le̢[S̵h͡ad̛o̴w҉ Bla͏d͏e]*͢, ͢Fi̴g̕h͢t͞i͘ng S͡t̶yle͢[̀Drak̷a͢n͝ ͞S͝t̕y͢l̶e]*, Rule Breaker*, Revenant Physique*, 

Talents Experience: [+]

“And if that does not work?” There was the long absent glint of a mad scientist visible in his eye, but it was hard to begrudge him for that. This was, after all, a wholly unique situation, a new discovery.

“Then, if that does nothing, I would like to speak with another ancient personality about it. If I can find someone who has lived a long while.” I of course already had somebody in mind, a certain tsundere exposition device, I mean, a dragon. But neither Gustav nor Ferdinand knew about his existence, “Though, I expect that short of the gods or a demon, I would not be so lucky. If I can not find anyone in the next… three months, then I will remove the offending skills.”

That caused a reaction. Ferdinand glanced at me sidelong, while Gustav briefly crossed and uncrossed his arms. Even Rupert paused for a moment to look at me, demonstrating that he was still listening passively.

“Three months from now, because you are concerned you will be put out of commission?” It was unlikely Gustav was asking a serious question, more that he was stating the obvious and seeking confirmation.

“I have fallen into a coma every other time I used my authority. I see no reason why this would be any different.”

Rupert finished the thought for me, “And you hope to leave enough time to wake up before the start of the Demon War, hence why you would try in three months, and not delay longer.”

I inclined my head in his direction, “Exactly. I… I would rather not go that far, but I can’t do anything in what is to come without my skills.” That was hyperbole, it was very likely that I would be able to do something. But it would be extremely heavily restricted if I had to rely on Blood Magic entirely.

My best bet is to get a bunch of “auto” skills and talents, then supplement that with Blood Magic enhancements. Eventually, my Blood Magic will get to the point where I can fight without skills, but until then I can only do what I can.

Rupert nodded, “Proceed along that line of thought. I will see if I can find anyone for you to talk with as well,” So he’s going to approve me going to see Drakas then, good. “Sitri comes to mind as well; she is rather old and you have already crippled her. If we can capture her, we might be able to have a nice, pleasant conversation about your situation.”

For once, I did not mind the idea of torturing someone. In her case, I was actually sort of looking forward to the prospect, “Then how will we proceed with Aaron?”

“You made the correct call with that; I will have the armies begin mobilizing slightly earlier than planned after blaming my brother for the undead attack. Regarding Lady Lester, approach her through Ferdinand. It would be wise to keep her within arm’s reach, as we cannot get rid of her for the time being. Any questions?”

None of us had any, so Rupert adjourned the meeting. We all had our tasks, and Ferdinand departed first. Just as I was preparing to do the same, Rupert called after me, “Stahlia, Gustav has informed me that you quite possibly already arrived at this conclusion yourself.”

I paused and turned around again, “Yes?”

“…When the war starts, my father will ask us to amend our contract to publicly marry early. He insinuated that this morning.”

Well, I thought that I’d be starting the queen-in-trial thing early, not redrafting our contract and becoming the actual legal queen. …At least he kept me informed instead of just springing it on me this time. I should make my own suggestion then.

I started with a curtsy, “I am against that plan.”

“What would you suggest I tell my father?”

“We cannot expect to hide my age from the people and nobility forever, especially not with a war looming. I suggest we go public with it; I would like to fake a miracle.”

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