Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 6

Ludmila went from village to village, tying up loose ends with each while presenting a similar series of questions to the Zurrernorn members in their respective ateliers. They all presented more or less the same answers, reinforcing Moren Boer’s initial notion that those who had come to Warden’s Vale were members of low-ranking groups: expendable individuals allowed to investigate the Sorcerous Kingdom.

Isabella’s description of how the organization operated also brought several concerns to Ludmila’s attention. The foreign policy of the Sorcerous Kingdom was open-armed: His Majesty’s administration worked to prove to the world that they sought to engage with the region as a benign – or at least non-aggressive – actor. To that end, borders were open to all as long as they obeyed the law and visitors were encouraged to spread the word of the peaceful nature of the Sorcerous Kingdom. Even spies were allowed to spy to their heart’s content as long as they didn’t go where they weren’t supposed to.

Warden’s Vale had become a place with various facilities where unauthorized individuals weren’t supposed to go. The way that the harbour and the farming villages were planned separated those industries considered sensitive and confidential by recent legislation. Lichtowers housed them in the villages, while the harbour contained them inside its main citadel. This provided physical distance and defence against mundane intrusion. It did not, however, stop those within from disclosing information through magical means like Message spells.

It was good that magic casters were able to quickly spread word and attract more magic casters, but Ludmila had no way to know what they told others, or if they were reporting to a patron or superior that had sent them there. For the time being, she could only set them to productive tasks that didn’t involve anything confidential and pray that their time and experience in Warden’s Vale would convince them that genuine allegiance to the Sorcerous Kingdom was in their best interests.

If I disclose the fact that I am Undead to the Zurrernorn migrants, will that help matters?

Probably not. They all sought Lichdom, but it was to achieve their personal ends. It was more likely that she became a research subject, in which case she had no answers to satisfy them. She didn’t even know why she was Undead in the first place, so judging the Zurrernorn migrants for their motives would be hypocritical should she discover that her own reason for existence was similarly self-serving.

Lluluvien had already taken over for her sister by the time Ludmila returned to the harbour. Her maid was resting on the second floor, watching her Skeleton helpers clean up one of the rooms. The place was only a few weeks old, but her household was relentless when it came to keeping it tidy.

“Lluluvien.”

“My lady?”

“I have something for you to do.”

“R-really?!”

Lluluvien carefully rose from her seat, and Ludmila winced internally at her eager response. She kept her interactions with everyone – including her own household – to a minimum. Her staff in the city had work enough to keep them somewhat busy, but things were relatively quiet in Warden’s Vale despite the changes going on all around them. With everything as it was, Ludmila felt like she was snubbing the Linum sisters.

“Bring out the maps for the upper reaches from last month,” Ludmila told Lluluvien. “The reports for all of the enemy positions and movements should be in the archive with them.”

“Yes my lady,” Lluluvien nodded. “What shall I do with them?”

“Organize some Undead patrols to check on each battle site: the central valley, the camps, interdiction points – everything where any violence was committed by our forces. Try and find out where the local Demihuman tribes are located now, as well.”

“Is there anything in particular I should be looking out for?”

“The Undead,” Ludmila’s lips drew into a thin line. “A great deal of death happened out there recently, so we need to clean up after ourselves. Destroy any minor Undead that you find. Attempt to detain anything significant. Hand off your duties to Wiluvien when she takes over for the day. It should take at least a week to conduct a satisfactory initial investigation, and we will be keeping an eye on things for the indeterminate future, so please don’t strain yourselves.”

“Yes my lady,” Lluluvien lowered her head. “May we occupy one of the rooms on the second floor for this?”

“Order any furnishings that you require. Make sure you rotate the patrols so they all gain some familiarity with the environment here.”

“I’m to use the servitors from the army?”

“That is correct,” Ludmila told her. “Patrols of two contingents each. One of the officers from each patrol will direct things on the field; the other will work with you here and communicate with their counterpart.”

“What about the local tribes?”

“If they hit you,” Ludmila said, “hit them back. Do not chase them outside of the patrol areas, however. They are free to watch all they want as long as they do not attack us.”

“Do you think the Theocracy will be working out there as well, my lady?”

“It is our mess. They will not move unless the situation escalates into something that threatens Human lands.”

Lluluvien went off to prepare, and Ludmila went up to her bedroom on the third floor. After pulling the shawl off of her head and casting aside her mantle, she flopped down onto her bed. She inhaled deeply as she tightly hugged one of her pillows, kicking her boots off and feeling the cool sheets rub against her feet as she curled up on the mattress.

The Undead had a reputation as unfeeling, dispassionate monsters, yet Ludmila felt that she was more emotional than ever before. Emotional and stressed. She wanted to blame some unknown quality of her new Undead state, but, in her heart, she knew that her suffering was self-inflicted.

She worried constantly. Things that she would note at a glance and seamlessly incorporate into her thoughts and decisions were now details that she examined and reexamined. All of it was because of Ludmila’s new Undead existence and the fears that she harboured about herself.

Even casual conversation could turn sour in her ears. Was there a hidden meaning behind an innocent remark? Did someone just hint to her that they knew what she had become? The things that her former self would take in good humour – be they jokes, offhand remarks or lighthearted banter – could inflict cruel emotional injuries and disturb her mental balance.

It was not that anyone had changed in the way they interacted with her. If anything, they were more open and friendly with her than ever before. She just couldn’t help but overthink everything. A word here; a gesture there – it all slowly piled up around her until she felt like she was wading through a mire of loneliness and guilt over her own existence. She trudged forward until exhaustion overcame her, and curled up in an effort to relax and hope that some of it would dissipate.

An untiring, unfailing body. Yet her mind felt so fragile. As a Human, her mental endurance was seemingly endless. She had to force herself to rest so her body could keep up. As Undead, it was the other way around.

The murmur of distant conversation drifted in through her open window. Ludmila set the pillow aside and stood to look out from the shadows of her bedroom. The plaza below was occupied by dozens of villagers, a sight unheard of in rural regions before recent months. A steady trickle of magical conveniences meant that all of her population centres were now well-lit, freeing the people from their dependency on daylight.

Artisans worked well into the evening. People socialized at night. The abundance and wealth provided by the harvest spread from the farming village to the harbour, slowly nudging the sleepy economy of Warden’s Vale into wakefulness. The long months of planning and uncertainty over the territory’s future were giving way to slow, yet inevitable, progress. Watching those under her charge enjoy the fruit of those efforts was one of the few things that took Ludmila’s mind off of her personal worries for a time.

Of the five farming villages planned, three were fully constructed and mostly populated. The fourth village was halfway done, and the number of labourers she now had available made progress swift. The fifth village had its foundations raised and materials were being collected to be used once the fourth village was completed. After the villages were finished, the focus of development would switch to the harbour. With everything carefully sorted out in advance and contingent on migration and domestic growth, she found herself doing far less work now than in the early months of her administration.

Clara had a maxim – one passed down to her from her father: Hurry up and wait; opportunity is seized by the prepared.

To House Corelyn, it meant that one should be prepared for opportunities before they presented themselves. Those who chased opportunities were bound to have them snatched away by those who were already ready for them. Frantically reacting to events as they happened was both time-consuming and wasteful. One could, of course, not be prepared for everything. Foresight, knowledge and experience were required to navigate the way to the most promising prospects.

Clara was a master of this maxim, and her superlative intellect allowed her to guide Corelyn County to unprecedented prosperity with incomprehensible grace. Ludmila thought it a sensible way of approaching things, but she never had the opportunity to employ it in her demesne before. Now, it felt like she had reached that state of waiting, though admittedly she had little to prepare relative to the other nobles of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

A knock at the door turned her attention away from the window.

“Yes?”

“My lady,” Lluluvien’s voice sounded from the other side, “a guest has arrived to see you.”

That was strange. There were no audiences scheduled for the evening, nor did she see anyone approach the entrance. Those who could get past her notice in the harbour village were few – it was probably one of the Vampire Brides returning from their work around the demesne with something to report. There was also the possibility that it was one of the servants of the Sorcerer King…

“Who is it?”

“It’s Nabe – from Darkness.”

…or an Adamantite Adventurer.

“I will be right down,” she replied.

“Do you require any assistance, my lady?”

“No, I am still dressed.”

Ludmila stepped lightly down the stairs, finding Nabe awaiting her at a table before her makeshift audience hall.

“Good evening, Miss Nabe,” she said. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

In response, Nabe placed her fingers on an envelope resting on the table, sliding it forward. Ludmila retrieved the letter and examined the seal: it was from the Department of Justice. A noble interacted with all of the branches of the government, but having something like this hand-delivered by an Adamantite Adventurer was unheard of.

She broke open the seal, opening the letter and unfolding the document within. A furrow formed on her brow as she scanned through the content.

An appointment as an investigator for incidents in Völkchenheim County, with Nabe as an ‘aide’ – she assumed that it meant as an escort or in the event that force was required during the investigation. Aside from not being aware of anything of the sort, the wording on the order was very broad. It could technically dispatch her to investigate any incident at any time, as long as it occurred in Völkchenheim County.

Ludmila’s breath stilled when she reached the bottom of the missive. She knelt before Nabe, lowering her head. The document was not signed by the Prime Minister or any official from the judiciary, but by the Sorcerer King himself.

“I am at His Majesty’s service.”

“Good. We’re leaving, Woodlouse.”

That Nabe addressed her in such a fashion had completely slipped Ludmila’s mind. She wondered why more people were calling her that in recent times. Maybe there was some story about her that was being passed around. Ludmila brushed off her knees as she rose to her feet again.

“Have you any idea what this is about, Miss Nabe?”

“You will find out when we arrive,” the Adventurer answered.

“How will we be travelling?”

“There is a designated teleportation zone inside Crosston.”

Ludmila quickly went through a mental inventory. Her Infinite Haversacks contained everything she would need for a long patrol, so what she had on her person was more than enough to wander around Völkchenheim County should she be required to. She went upstairs to pick up her shawl and mantle before returning to Nabe and giving her a nod. Nabe placed a hand on her shoulder.

“「Greater Teleportation」.”

Her vision shifted, and the polished stone floor of the repurposed shophouse was replaced by a raised wooden platform facing a somewhat familiar town square.

Crosston’s appearance had changed much since the time she had passed through on the way to Fassett County. The festive decorations in her memory had been replaced with even more festive decorations, and the square was brightly lit. An air of celebration hung over the evening and on the expressions of the townspeople.

Nabe stepped off of the platform and was immediately swarmed by admirers. Ludmila idly wondered how Nabe would be able to do her job as an escort if she was constantly accosted by the citizens. Ludmila spoke to one of the men who was trying to push his way through from the side.

“It looks like there’s some sort of celebration here today,” Ludmila said.

“Count’s got hisself murried,” the man slurred. “‘Ey, you’re not too bad – how ‘bout we–glrph.”

A gloved hand appeared from the throng of people to push the man away. Nabe appeared right behind it.

“Move,” she told her.

Move where?

Ludmila scanned their surroundings, then realized they were standing in front of what looked to be a town hall. Accustomed to seeing manors used as administrative centres in rural areas, she wasn’t sure what the proper protocols were for such a building. The space indoors, however, resembled the administrative office in E-Rantel.

Two Elder Liches stood silently behind a long desk at the end of a long carpet laid over the hall’s polished wooden floor. With the festivities outside, there was no one waiting to be serviced, nor any sign of recent entry. Everything was clean, brightly lit and undisturbed.

After displaying the missive to one of the Elder Liches and speaking with them at length, Ludmila walked away more than a bit confused. Someone was charming citizens and sending them to destroy industrial facilities. The local Rangers couldn’t track the true perpetrator, and the local administration lacked the appropriate resources to handle the situation.

What exactly did they expect her to do? She had a cursory knowledge of magic and its applications, plus she was a Ranger. This did not, however, somehow make her capable of dealing with whatever was going on.

She looked over at Nabe, who only looked back at her expectantly. The Adventurer was assigned as her ‘aide’, which could have also meant that she was to assist in her capacity as a powerful arcane caster. Perhaps they could arrive at a solution together.

Ludmila put away the case records that the Elder Liches had provided, then turned to Nabe.

“To begin with, we should pay our respects and offer our congratulations to Count Völkchenheim.”

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