Valkyrie's Shadow

Empire in Chains: Act 4, Chapter 2

Empire in Chains: Act 4, Chapter 2

Chapter 2

?Spies, my lady??

?That’s what they want. Have you found any??

?I’m not sure if they’re the spies you’re looking for, but there are about seventy of them following us around these days.?

?S-seventy? I don’t think you can mishear people over Message, but…?

?They’re…they’re not very good spies. Most aren’t much better than a common Human.?

?Oh. That doesn’t sound like what they had in mind. Mmh…I don’t think we need them right away, so shop around a bit. I want the best spies you can find!?

?May I ask what you need these spies for, my lady??

?Understanding is not required. You have your instructions.?

Lady Shalltear’s Message spell cut off, and Ilyshn’ish blinked away the pouring rain. An ocean swell lifted her as high as the walls of E-Rantel before she was lowered into a similarly deep trough. She cleared her throat and dipped her head apologetically.

“Sorry about that.”

“It happens. So, what are you doing in my domain?”

“I wasn’t aware that it was,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “It’s difficult for my kind to detect Sea Dragon domains.”

“I get that much. That’s why you’re not dead.”

Before Ilyshn’ish loomed an Ancient Sea Dragon by the name of Qoryn’thextrilin. Though only his neck and head stuck out of the water as the winter storm raged around them, she was well aware of how large and powerful he was. Clad in dull teal scales and measuring nearly forty metres in length, he dwarfed Ilyshn’ish and could easily bite her in two.

“A Human in the city south of here is looking for a fish.”

“A fish?” Qoryn’thextrilin’s long, drooping whiskers twitched, “Why?”

“I have no idea,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “All I know is that they’re paying well for one. Thirty gold coins for a male and a female. The big trade ones, not the little coins from the Baharuth and Re-Estize.”

“That’s…not bad?”

“I know, right?”

They rose with another surge of the storm. Qoryn’thextrilin eyed the distant shoreline with a thoughtful look.

“What kind of fish is it?”

“Something called a ‘Phantom Polar Snapper’, the description said it has two blue stripes and can cast Invisibility.”

“Ah, I know what they’re talking about. You’ve missed them by a few months. They’ve migrated around the Argland Peninsula and down towards the equator already.”

“Argh, I knew it was too good to be true! Well, thank you, Lord Qoryn’thextrilin – I suppose I owe you a favour now for saving me so much time and trouble. Hmm…ah, what about a piece of advice?”

“Sure, let’s hear it.”

“A new terrestrial nation has appeared at the southern end of the Azerlisia Mountains – one called the Sorcerous Kingdom. The rulers there are ridiculously strong, so if they come this way I would advise that you cooperate rather than resist.”

“They came to your domain?”

“That’s right,” Ilyshn’ish said. “My father – the Frost Dragon Lord of the Azerlisia Mountains – was instantly slain when he attempted to resist. We’ve been working for them ever since.”

“Hmm…”

In terms of raw, physical might, Frost Dragons would be close to the bottom of True Dragons alongside Brass Dragons and Shadow Dragons. They each had advantages that somewhat made up for this, of course, but raw strength was the universal gauge by which Dragons tended to size up threats at a glance. Also, an Ancient Dragon like her father was still nothing to scoff at.

The Sorcerous Kingdom was rather underhanded in the way that it didn’t make such differences clear from the outset, so Ilyshn’ish considered it a valuable piece of information to exchange.

“Strong enough to instantly slay an Ancient…is it around that time again? I guess so…”

“Around what time?”

“Things like that show up once a century or so. I guess you’re too young to know. They usually stick to the surface of the continent so it’s generally not a problem for the rest of us, but I will keep your words in mind.”

With that, Qoryn’thextrilin turned around and swam away. As his head sank towards the waves, he muttered something about hiring Merfolk to catch some Phantom Polar Snappers the next time they came through.

Ilyshn’ish dove five lengths before reversing direction to launch herself out of the ocean. She twisted in midair before winging straight back towards distant harbour lights of the city on the bay. She concealed her presence when she came within two kilometres of the city, gliding silently over the harbour and walls of Nixhaven.

If one went from west to east along the northern imperial highway, Nixhaven was the second of the cities on the Golden Strand: the prosperous northern coast of the Baharuth Empire. Though the ocean trade was subdued due to the inclement weather of winter, land routes continued to run, bringing goods from the inland territories. The city also hosted a small shipyard and naval station for the Imperial Army and the territory surrounding it consisted of well-developed agricultural land.

It was a popular place for wealthy citizens to escape the summer heat, so the city was larger than it probably should have been. Modest villas nestled in small estates occupied several rises overlooking the rest of the city and the sea, though they were mostly dark for lack of residents.

Banking into a steep dive, Ilyshn’ish assumed her Human appearance as she dropped into the alley beside the city’s Adventurer Guild. She peeked out from the shadows before making her way into the plaza and up the stairs to the entrance. The hubbub of the hall quieted upon her entry.

It was the part of her job to ‘market’ the E-Rantel Adventurer Guild that she hated the most. They wanted her to be seen and thus she couldn’t conceal herself when picking up or submitting commissions. As a Frost Dragon, this was naturally a bad thing since they tended to ambush their prey and there were many beings that could harm or even kill an Adult.

Frost Giants were the most well-known of these and there were also threats like other types of powerful Giants, rival Dragons, Polar Worms, various monsters and rare strong mortals. These rare strong mortals included certain Adventurers, so walking into a lair of them exposed and vulnerable always made her nervous.

Dozens of eyes followed her as she made her way to the reception desk. It was expected behaviour for Humans, but, at the same time, it felt like it had become a ritual of sorts.

“Welcome back, Shiver,” the receptionist smiled.

“Thank you,” Ilyshn’ish smiled back. “I’ve completed these two.”

She set down two of the jobs she had taken earlier in the evening. They both called for the cold-blooded murder of innocent families in their homes by the Imperial Administration, which was a simple matter to accomplish. The Adventurers in the hall seemed to quiet even further as the receptionist picked up the commissions.

“The pacification of the Scrag tribe in the North Cape tidal caverns,” the receptionist said, “and the removal of the Monstrous Crab colony near Wheaton Harbour.”

As the commissions were read out, Ilyshn’ish placed several receipts from the Merchant Guild on the counter. A group of Merchants on a route to Arwintar had immediately purchased the rights to the dead Monstrous Crabs that she dumped onto the rocky beach near their home. She settled on liquidating the Scrag bodies to the local Alchemist Guild.

Ilyshn’ish was somewhat divided over eating one of the crabs, which was admittedly delicious but was also worth quite a bit as luxury food. While she didn’t get much for the Scrags, they had accumulated quite the sum of treasure in their lairs. Overall, she would be roughly ninety platinum trade coins wealthier from the corpses and loot alone.

The receptionist finished flipping through the receipts, gathering the sheets together and tapping them neatly on the desk.

“I’ve confirmed the receipts,” she said. “Thank you for your hard work, Shiver.”

Low conversation rose from behind her as the Adventurers discussed the results. They were both Orichalcum-rank commissions that had been left unfulfilled for over a year. Supposedly, this meant that they were harder than their difficulty rating suggested but Ilyshn’ish couldn’t tell at all while she was dispatching her targets.

After she collected her pay of twelve platinum imperial coins, she set the unfinished commission on the desk.

“I realised that Phantom Polar Snappers are out of season after I left,” Ilyshn’ish told her. “Sorry for the trouble.”

“As expected of an Adamantite Bard,” the receptionist said. “Your knowledge is vast. The employer wasn’t aware of it at all and neither were we.”

“Out of curiosity,” Ilyshn’ish asked, “do you not interact with the aquatic Demihumans living in the seas nearby?”

The receptionist stared at her blankly for a few moments before shaking her head.

“Not at all. Though there are occasionally raids conducted by Sea Naga and Sahuagin against our coastal villages if that counts.”

“How often do these raids occur?”

“Along the Golden Strand, almost never. Attacks become more frequent past Norfeld in the east. Undead like Draugr, Sea Ghouls and Chillbones do sometimes appear if you wanted to know about possible threats to the area.”

“Ah, no, I was just wondering if commerce or something similar went on between the Empire and the neighbouring kingdoms to the north.”

“K-kingdoms? No, I don’t think so…”

The receptionist looked past Ilyshn’ish’s shoulder as if looking for help from the Adventurers beyond.

“No worries,” Ilyshn’ish told her reassuringly. “As I said, I was simply curious.”

She wasn’t sure if someone who processed bounties on people would know or care, but it was worth the attempt. So far, it appeared that the Baharuth Empire’s maritime trade routes only connected to ports in Re-Estize and the City State Alliance.

“Speaking of commerce,” she continued, “How is that escort commission coming along?”

“The escort…oh, yes: the forecaster from the army station said that things should be clearing up sometime tonight. We have several dozen Merchants already signed up for the trip to Niederislein in the morning. Are you sure this is alright? A caravan escort is only a Platinum-ranked commission and the pay is split between all of the members…”

“It’s fine,” Ilyshn’ish said, “I was heading that way anyway and it’s an opportunity for me to learn a few things. I may be Adamantite, but that doesn’t mean I know everything, yes?”

Murmurs of admiration rose from behind her. Humans were strange. Power, wealth and other displays of superiority impressed them, yet the notion of humility and offering obvious truths did so as well. Sometimes it felt as if everything that she said and did worked in her favour no matter how stupid it felt.

After obliging a half dozen questions on the way out of the Adventurer Guild, Ilyshn’ish walked through the drizzle to the merchant inn that they had stayed in for the past two days. She concealed her presence and entered through the back, stopping at the stairs to the second floor to double-check her surroundings.

Two of Zu Chiru’s apprentices were sitting at tables with what appeared to be local Merchants. Several ‘spies’ – or whatever they were – kept an eye on them from a distance. They occasionally glanced around the inn’s tavern with bored expressions.

There were eight or nine of them when they had arrived at Oestestadt and that number grew to two dozen by the time they left. That number, in turn, had tripled by the time they reached Nixhaven, though the specific individuals appeared to shuffle themselves around. At first, the majority were women. Now, they were mostly men. Humans were a species where, all else being equal, males were generally larger and stronger than females, but they all seemed equally weak to Ilyshn’ish.

Recalling Lady Shalltear’s new orders, she examined each of them carefully but could identify no individuals that stood out. What was she even supposed to do when she found them? Confused over the vague orders, Ilyshn’ish let out a sigh before ascending to the second floor of the inn. She found Zu Chiru and his other apprentices sitting around the floor with their ledgers scattered around them.

Ilyshn’ish placed one of her Infinite Haversacks on the table near the suite’s beds.

“I have more inventory for you,” Ilyshn’ish said.

Zu Chiru looked up from his work, whiskers twitching in her direction.

“Zu Chiru’s inventory is becoming very strange,” he said. “It cannot be called an ore stand anymore.”

“Your ore inventories are two-thirds gone already,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “Plus, you were too scared to buy lumber so you should be happy I’m filling it with something.”

“It is two-thirds gone because the stand has become so big. Zu Chiru did not expect this – we have gone from a stand to a shop.”

“That’s a good thing, is it not? Lady Wagner and Lady Gagnier will be astonished by the time we get back to the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

The Quagoa Merchant made a long sound, then walked over to examine the contents of the Infinite Haversack. He reached inside and pulled out a strand of kelp.

“What…?”

“Erm, I’m sure that was wrapped around something…”

Ilyshn’ish went over and started to empty the magical container. Several small chests went onto the table, followed by several Adventurer teams’ worth of equipment. After that came two tapestries, three rugs and a metal contraption she had no idea about. Zu Chiru reached out to grab a Trooper’s Towel to Clean the items and clear away the reek of Scrag.

Since her first evening in Engelfurt, Ilyshn’ish took a few Adventurer commissions every night they stayed over in a city. There had been no Adamantite ones available thus far and any Orichalcum commissions tended to be those left untouched due to strange conditions or particularly problematic opponents. While these jobs paid well, what Ilyshn’ish found that paid the best were those involving corpses that were used for materials and targets that hoarded valuables.

Thus, her ‘Adventures’ became a nonstop procession of murder and pillage sanctioned by the Imperial Administration and its citizens. Never in her admittedly short life of 108 years had she ever expected to be paid and lauded as a hero for committing such deeds. Though fearsome when one was a prospective target, things became very different when on the delivering end. Adventuring had turned out to be everything Ilyshn’ish had read it to be.

She hired Zu Chiru to sell her spoils at his stand for a small commission. Her riches piled up and happiness filled her whenever she thought about how much larger her hoard would be when she finally got home.

Zu Chiru lifted the lid of the first chest, revealing its glittering contents. He picked up a spherical object, sniffing at it with a suspicious look.

“Limestone?”

“I think it’s a pearl,” Ilyshn’ish said. “At least it looks similar to the pearls on display at jewellery shops.”

“Strange. Smells common, yet seems valuable.”

“Now you know how I feel. Pearls and a few other things aside, some peoples’ sense of value is utterly strange. Oh, by the way, the receptionist at the Adventurer Guild says that the weather will be clear for travel tomorrow morning. Let Miss Gran and her minions know as well…where is she, by the way?”

“Miss Gran left the inn with the others before you returned,” Zu Chiru replied. “Something about meeting a friend at the eastern gate.”