A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands

Book 3: Chapter 45: Rewards

For five generations my family has held back the tides of disease, injury, and death. Until me, we had always ultimately lost. Now, finally, I have achieved an unsteady stalemate and those ignoramuses would have me fall upon my sword.

- an excerpt from the journal of Vincenzio Barbieri.

The majority of all human conflict was born from miscommunication. This was my conclusion as I slung the bloody bundle of rat tails over my shoulder, sighing inwardly at the current state of affairs. Was there no such thing as a friendly, or at least neutral, interaction? Despite the recent tribulations, I was now faced with my favorite part of combat: going over recent gains, and looting.

It was with a note of pleasure that I noticed that both my Rust and Inferno Bolt had increased in level. Two hundred and twenty-five points in experience and an organic gain in Intelligence was the icing on the cake. At just over halfway to my next level, I was pleased, indeed.

As for the loot situation, Muram was a smoking slag heap, his armor still glowing a dull ruined red, and his equipment was unsalvageable, save for the naked Zulfikars that lay next to him. I felt no guilt at taking what I deserved, the swords would be worth a few coins, scabbards or not. Larynda and I quietly wrapped the fine curved steel, before placing them in her pack. The girl had recovered for the most part. In her, I suspected, was the iron that only a hard life could give. That, or she was simply adaptable in the way children were. Either way, it won her a pittance of my respect.

Tally was a different kettle of fish. The Inferno Bolt had struck her lower back, making a cooked and cauterized mess. Her earlier screams testified to a swift, albeit painful, demise. I flipped her corpse over and turned away as I saw her face, contorted in a final cry of anguish. This was the first woman I had ever struck, much less killed. Instead of feeling satisfaction for having dealt with a threat, I felt an overwhelming emptiness. Tally had been a significant danger, more so than Muram, and I couldn't simply let her escape. In a moment of introspection, I realized my weakness had led to her death. If I were truly strong, I wouldn’t have perceived the small woman as a threat at all.

It was a grim milestone. My magic hadn't identified her, so the death notification merely stated that I had ‘slain a human’ for a considerable amount of experience.

Acidic bile rose in my throat as I confronted what I had done. I suppressed it with a determined effort, knowing this was no time for weakness. With a tight-lipped smile, I instructed Larynda to loot Tally for valuables. It wasn’t in me to do the task myself.

Though I was finding the entire episode deeply unpleasant, it no longer troubled me in the same existential way it once had. The deaths of others no longer reminded me of my own. Iasis' words had not just taunted me—they had also given me hope and a renewed sense of purpose.

I busied myself by pretending to be on the lookout for other threats. Oddly, my thoughts turned to Zariyah and I wondered at what she was doing as I was running about in the sewers. And then Kidu, Cordelia, and Elwin. No doubt the Rogue, Elwin, was up to some manner of mischief.

“This one was loaded, she was! Got a few bits of jewelry on ‘er. Looks like a sapphire and a ruby ring. A silver bracelet… and a bunch of these paper things. The ones you say that are money, like…” intruded Larynda onto my thoughts.

I closed my eyes before I formulated a response, secretly delighted at being an opportunity to educate. “They have value. Their worth is derived by the trust we place in them, and not their material value, like for instance gold. If the majority of people believe a thing to be of value then that becomes the truth of it.”

“So, like, what's to stop ‘em from just making more then?”

“Nothing in the short term really. But in the long term, well… the people would lose trust in these scraps of paper, and with their loss of trust would also come the loss of their value.”

She mulled this over, rifling through the woman’s corpse before handing me a few notes. Feeling generous, I refused.

“Keep those… you’ve more than earned them. And keep anything else she had on her that might be of value. Isn’t that staff better than yours?”

“You really don’t know? Or you just testing me?”

I shook my head in response.

“To her… it would have been her focus. To you or me, well, it's just a piece of wood with fancy bits on it. Least that’s what the old biddy said. Ain’t you got one? You can use Mana, right?”

I was taken aback by her casual disrespect of the person who had introduced her to the mysteries of her element, but more so to her question. Would it be possible for me to craft one of my own? Or were there class restrictions on usable equipment?

“I don’t know how,” I said, feeling foolish even as the words left my lips.

“Well… don’t know if it's the same and all, but I can tell you how I made one, later if you like,” she beamed pridefully, chest puffed out and her hands proudly on her hips.

I was preparing a snarky response but realized it would do me good. Swallowing my pride I responded politely, “I think I would like that very much, Larynda.”

Her smile grew even wider, and for a moment I imagined I smiled back.

*****

The woman Tally had nearly a gold piece about her person and a few valuable pieces of personal jewelry. Though none of them were magical, they were pretty and, no doubt, quite valuable. Another job for Elwin. In addition, we were able to get two potions of Mana, one of which I gave to Larynda, who gave me a hollow thanks.

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She seemed a little out of sorts. Odd, I thought to myself, for the girl had killed before. How was this in any way different, and again, in self-defense no less?

As we turned to leave I surreptitiously cast Decay on Tally’s corpse, letting Larynda walk on a few paces ahead of me while the magic took root. If there was to be an investigation on the matter, it would help to cover our tracks.

Luckily we encountered neither man nor monster for the rest of our time trudging through the dank sewers. The strain had begun to take its toll on Larynda and we had to often stop for her to catch her breath. I found this particularly annoying, as with my high Constitution, I did not feel tired in the least.

Where we finally exited was quite a ways from where we had initially entered. Close to the western walls, it was an industrial area, and the smoke of its many forges and factories was most unpleasant. A saving grace was that leaving the sewers was infinitely easier than entering. This time, the Perfumed Men gave us nary a second look or even a quick word of inquiry. The bloody bundle of tails draped across my shoulders and the look in my eye might have helped in this.

We next took the time to wash the worst of the sewers off at a public fountain. We exchanged only a few words with each other, our priority being to get some semblance of cleanliness, as soon as possible. The people here all but ignored us, even as the water grew dark and grimy with our accumulated filth. This must have been, if not common, at least not a too rare thing for them to witness.

For me, it felt like I was washing away the memories of that horrible place. Remembering my communion with the rats, I shuddered and inwardly and vowed to never go down there again.

Except for the part where Larynda unwrapped her headscarf to give it a rinse, the people paid us little attention. Then they truly stared, but a glare from me set most of them quickly about their business. Elves were a rare thing on this continent. It would be good to keep in mind that, even though here was ostensibly a safe haven for her, it would do us no favors for us to advertise her existence. Better to not stick out at all.

A seed of an idea formed, though I doubted she would agree to my suggestion. Her human genes were strong, and if not for her ears, she could pass off as just another young girl. If I could use my magic and knife, I could solve this problem, albeit crudely. She would thank me later.

I smiled at her as we finally washed off the worst of the muck, and she gave me a wan smile in return. The smell of our latest adventure still lingered but a good soak in a proper bath would sort that out once we returned to the inn.

Our next stop was the Adventurer’s Guild. Thankfully, the citizens of the city of Al-Lazar kept their distance, only giving the occasional wrinkled nose and looks of disgust. Oddly, on the way, my experience rose by a single point for seemingly no reason at all. Was I gaining experience points by simply existing? Perish the thought.

Arriving at our destination, we made quite an entrance as I dumped the whole bundle of tails down onto a designated marble counter with a heavy thud. Aldina, the freckled clerk who had taken down our details before and provided us with our map, looked positively anxious at the collection of tails. Apart from wrinkling her nose briefly at us, her manner was polite.

“Even if I had ten mouths I would have no words to say. You have already finished!” she squeaked in surprised disbelief. “This was meant to take a few days at least… no group has ever done it in a day…”

“I guess we were lucky,” I replied without missing a beat. For a woman who, but scant moments ago, professed to be tongue-tied, she was surprisingly loquacious. I could almost hear Larynda’s rolling eyes.

“It’s been a long day. Just give us our money,” the half-elf barked out of character.

“Manners. No need to be rude. The woman is just doing her job,” I chided the girl. Larynda simply shrugged and I had to fight an urge to…….

“Of course. Of course,” the mousy clerk answered quickly, nodding as she counted out our payment. At nine silver pieces, it was not a bad haul for less than a day’s work.

“Thank you,” I replied brusquely, returning the map of the sewers to her. “And apologies for my ward’s manners.”

“No matter at all… I can’t imagine what you must have gone through to have finished so quickly. Since you were able to do it so quickly… I’ve given you a bonus silver. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?”

“A quick question. Will this go some way also to improving our rank? I believe I have succeeded in three tasks already with the Guild, but not exactly at this branch. At the Ansan branch, I have fulfilled several tasks already. Will that be taken into consideration? I feel that Copper does not suit a man of my caliber.”

“Oh, yes! Most certainly! I can make a request to check the records but it might take a good while. Still, keep this up and Bronze should be…” she bubbled excitedly, her enthusiasm clear for all to see.

I interrupted her. “Yes, but is there… perhaps a faster way? A faster way for one of my potential,” I added, placing one of the silver notes back onto the counter. With our payment now an even number, it would be easier to split our earnings.

Quick as a fish, her pale hand darted forward and the note disappeared into the folds of her puffy sleeves.

Aldina pursed her lips for a moment. “I will see that the proper eyes take note of this achievement,” she bowed graciously, before glancing at Larynda, “On this girl's first day of registration, too… Hmm, if you were to officially challenge someone at least two ranks higher you could get promoted, if you were to win. You’ll need an appointment with the Guild Master first though, to sort that out. But I would not recommend that, as our Silvers are exceptionally skilled…” I mentally chuckled at this description.

“Or you can do well in the upcoming Festival. That goes quite a long as it helps promote the Guild’s reputation,” she explained.

Inside, I was seething slightly as the woman didn't quite grasp the significance of the money I had just used. Likely she just saw that it was a form of tip. I didn't need commonly available information; I needed to know which wheels to grease to fast-track my promotion.

“I see, I was planning on joining this Festival. Where can one find the rules and information for this event?”

“The Festival will be held at the square near the Dome in two weeks’ time. I can register you if you like. As for the rules, you can read them here,” she suggested helpfully, handing over a thin wooden slate inscribed with a series of characters for my perusal.

“If you can not read, I can have someone…” She left the offer hanging.

“That will not be necessary. I can read well enough,” I said with a tight smile.

“Of course. Is there anything else?”

“Yes,” Larynda chimed in, “There any prizes for the Festival?”

“There most certainly are! There are monetary awards for those who finish in the higher brackets. And a grand prize for the winner, awarded by the Council. And the acclaim of doing well will go a long way toward a promotion!”

“Sounds right fancy then,” cooed the girl.

“Oh, and when are you usually on duty?” I inquired of Aldina as casually as I could, wanting to make the very most of my silver. I was surprised to see Larynda shooting me a dirty look.

“Every day, save for the Urd Saba!” she squeaked in reply, playing with an errant strand of hair.

“Oh before I forget, there is a package and missive for you, Gilgamesh, from our resident Alchemist. Master Barbierri. I shall fetch it right away. Please wait a few moments and I will be right back!” She beamed at me before disappearing into a backroom.

I mulled over her words and felt a vague pang of pity. Urd Saba in the local nomenclature was the seventh day, if I was not mistaken, and the girl was working a dreaded six-day week.

Despite the freckled girl being slightly high-strung, I commended her manner, for, apart from wrinkling her nose briefly at us, she had been polite.