Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 11

“A fine display, Miss Zahradnik.”

The Sorcerer King brought his hands together, as if to clap. After several futile motions, he seemed to realize that he couldn’t do it very well. He stared down at his bony hands for a moment before bringing one up to clear his throat.

Ludmila’s lip twitched. His flustered actions were extraordinarily endearing.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” she said as the Sword Wraith continued to struggle beneath her. “I’m glad you asked me to make the attempt – I’ve learned much.”

“I admit that it was worrying at first,” the Sorcerer King said, “but you pick up on things at an astonishing rate. You were afforded next to no time to think things out: that vaunted intuition of yours at work, I suppose?”

She nodded in response. Ludmila was still reviewing the fight in her mind, analyzing what she had done.

“One could see how you absorbed information and created working solutions,” His Majesty went on. “You went from having next to no experience or information about a significantly higher-level opponent to securing victory. The two decisive sequences you used might be mistaken as a product of intricate calculation. How many moves ahead of your opponent were you?”

“…five, Your Majesty.”

Now that she thought about it, it sounded ridiculous. If someone in the Adventurer Guild openly claimed that they could predict the flow of a fast, chaotic engagement five moves ahead, they would be dismissed outright as a braggart.

“If it wasn’t for this equipment,” she said, “I would be dead several times over. What you mentioned about Skills having timers was instrumental, as well.”

“Let’s not be so humble, Miss Zahradnik,” the Sorcerer King chuckled. “You mentioned learning much, so I would like to hear your thoughts on the fight.”

Ludmila opened her mouth to reply, but she was jostled slightly as the Sword Wraith thrashed under her boot. The Sorcerer King pointed a finger towards it.

“「Dominate Undead」.”

The Sword Wraith dematerialized. Ludmila jerked abruptly as the foot that was holding it down struck the pavement.

“Eh?”

“What happened, Your Majesty?”

“Erm…I’m not sure. A contingency effect, perhaps?”

Ludmila knelt to retrieve the Spider Lily ornament that lay where the Sword Wraith once was. Her fingers stopped just before she touched it.

“What’s the matter?” The Sorcerer King asked.

“This ornament was in a private room or office on the third floor,” Ludmila answered. “The Sword Wraith manifested when I touched it.”

His Majesty looked down at the ornament on the ground.

“Hmm…I don’t see anything strange about it. As far as I can tell, it’s just a regular piece of jewellery.”

Ludmila touched the ornament with her fingertips. Nothing happened, so she picked it up and straightened to examine it. As before, the item looked nothing more than a well-fashioned piece of jewellery.

“Did anything else happen when you handled it before?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Ludmila replied. “A moment after I picked this up, all of the negative energy in the area was drawn into it. The Sword Wraith manifested following that and attacked me.”

“Something like an event trigger…or a trap? If it was the only thing you found up there, it would explain why it was left alone and why it seems like a mundane item now – whatever it was imbued with was expended to manifest the Sword Wraith.”

“A trap left by the people who lived here, or whoever ruined it?”

“Probably by the people who lived here,” His Majesty said. “The only reason that whoever ruined it would lay a trap would be to protect something crucial that they couldn’t destroy.”

Ludmila eyed the garrison barracks. It was certainly something that weathered past events far better than anything else they had come across so far. She hadn’t noticed anything else inside before being attacked, however.

“If that’s the case,” she said, “I should go and take a closer look.”

Placing the ornament in her Infinite Haversack, she activated her flight item and rose over the barracks. This time, the Sorcerer King and Lady Shalltear followed. Ludmila landed in the office where the Sword Wraith had manifested, crouching down to brush aside the piled-up dust with her hands.

A light current of air played over her skirts as the Sorcerer King landed nearby, and her hand went to make sure it was still in place. Though the piece of armour so far behaved as Lady Shalltear had described, Ludmila still couldn’t trust such a short skirt. She was certain that the Sorcerer King had gotten a good glimpse a few times during her fight with the Sword Wraith. Flying was also a problem: anyone below could just look up to get an eyeful.

“「Summon Monster III」.”

At the sound of the spell, Ludmila looked up at the Sorcerer King. She frowned when she found herself facing a row of metre-tall Water Elementals.

“Summon a few as well, Shalltear.”

“「Summon Monster III」.”

Another row of four Water Elementals appeared. Lady Shalltear’s crimson gaze went from the Water Elementals to Ludmila, and she smiled.

“It would be better to just enjoy this,” Lady Shalltear advised her. “Well, resistance is also perfectly acceptable since you’re into that.”

“I’m not–”

The Water Elementals in front of the Sorcerer King started to move, swirling around rapidly as they swept over the floor. Only the stone floor was left in their wake. Lady Shalltear’s mouth fell open.

“What are you doing, Shalltear?” The Sorcerer King said, “We’ve got a big mess to clean up.”

“R-right away, Lord Ainz!”

Despite her energetic reply, Ludmila thought she saw Lady Shalltear’s shoulders slouch slightly in disappointment. Her Water Elementals joined His Majesty’s as they roamed around the building.

Ludmila wasn’t quite sure what to think about the Sorcerer King and his Minister of Transportation going around cleaning up an old dusty ruin. Did it count if they were using summons? Either way, anyone would express their disbelief if she mentioned it. That, or it would start some sort of trend…

“If Aemilia finds out about this,” Ludmila watched the Water Elementals work, “she’s going to be adding another spell to her strange repertoire.”

“Aemilia…one of your maids?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. With the availability of Undead labour, my maids have started looking for other ways to be of use to the household. Aemilia is studying to be a divine caster at the E-Rantel Cathedral.”

“I see…something along the lines of Pestonya or Lupusregina then…”

“I’ve not had the pleasure of making an acquaintance of Miss Lupusregina, but Miss Pestonya may have been one of Aemilia’s inspirations. I’ve been healed and resurrected so many times by the Royal Housekeeper that Aemilia might believe that we need someone to do that at home, as well.”

“If anything, I thought you’d have maids who are arcane casters instead.”

“Why is that, Your Majesty?”

“It’s because Nab–erm, I suppose it struck me as natural for some reason.”

She wasn’t sure why he would think it was ‘natural’ to have arcane maids, but there was nothing stopping members of her household from studying arcane magic. They were scarce and in high demand for production fields, so it wouldn’t be prudent to hire people who were already arcane casters for the time being.

“If a member of my household expresses an interest in arcane magic,” she said, “I’ll be sure to encourage them to do so.”

With how spotless the Water Elementals were leaving the barracks, she imagined the households of Nobles in the Sorcerous Kingdom becoming even smaller. There was also the potential for Nobles specializing their households into less traditional forms. As a militant noble, Ludmila supposed it would become more traditional with the formation of a well-balanced armed retinue.

A cursory inspection of the newly-cleaned building revealed nothing. Ludmila was in the process of looking for hidden compartments in the walls when a faint noise rose from somewhere below. The Sorcerer King and Lady Shalltear raised their heads in unison, as if sensing something.

“Did you check for an underground floor, Miss Zahradnik?” The Sorcerer King asked.

“I didn’t see the way to one if it exists, Your Majesty,” Ludmila answered.

“The Water Elementals are fighting something,” he said. “…and now they’re dead.”

The Sorcerer King glanced over to Lady Shalltear, who shook her head in reply.

They went down to investigate the missing Water Elementals. On the second floor, Ludmila searched for a way down that led to the blocked-off part of the first floor. As they walked down the corridor, the Sorcerer King stopped and placed his hand on the wall.

“So this is why the building survived…”

“Your Majesty?”

“This building uses enchanted materials,” the Sorcerer King told her. “My Arcane Vision can detect the mana coming off of this wall. The exterior of the building doesn’t emanate any mana, but it seems that the interior does. Perhaps an attempt was made at destroying it, but they gave up at just the right moment.”

“How much stronger do these enchanted materials make the building?”

“Much more so. The rules that apply to enchanted equipment also apply to any material. Enchantments achievable by this region would turn a ten-centimetre thick stone wall as hard as mithril and just as durable. I’ve heard that local ritual magic makes even higher degrees of enchantment possible, so attacking a stone building enchanted in such a manner would be the same as attacking a structure built entirely out of adamantite.”

“So that was the answer…”

“Eh?”

“Ah, my apologies, Your Majesty,” Ludmila lowered her head. “The central administration issued some lofty building standards shortly after the duchy started returning to normal. We were to fortify key strategic positions against Fifth-tier magic, but no one could figure out how to do that. The best I could come up with was planning my development in such a way that it was unreasonably mana-inefficient to destroy even a village.”

“In lieu of having advanced materials,” the Sorcerer King nodded, “I suppose that is a way. Enchantment has high costs associated with it, however. It is a testament to the prosperity of this city: this single building probably cost as much to enchant as it took for Re-Estize to build the entire city of E-Rantel, fortifications included.”

The staggering amount of capital described caused Ludmila to shrivel up internally. While it was true that she now had access to more wealth than she could have possibly imagined having just half a year ago, it was a pittance in comparison to the cost of enchanting the barracks that they stood in. So much for her fleeting dream of shiny new defences for Warden’s Vale.

They found another way down from the second floor, which led to the area of the first that Ludmila suspected led down to the basement. Several Skeleton Warriors stood at the top of the steps. She issued orders for her company to join them, minus the Blood Meat Hulks and Bone Vultures. The Sorcerer King eyed her Skeleton Warriors as they formed up in the corridor.

“Hoh…you’re really doing this?”

“Was something the matter, Your Majesty?”

“Possibly. Let’s see your approach first.”

Ludmila positioned a half-dozen Red Skeleton Warriors across the corridor, putting two more ranks of Skeleton Warriors behind them. She then tossed a stone at the nearest enemy Undead, curious over what His Majesty’s words meant. The shield bashes of the Red Skeleton Warriors made short work of her opponents, while the bladed weapons of the attacking Skeleton Warriors inflicted minimal amounts of damage in return.

When nothing further happened, she glanced back to her Death Priests. Their mana seemed like it was imperceptibly gaining. At their former rate, she was worried that they wouldn’t be able to have enough mana to explore the entire city. Using the new Red Skeleton Warriors, however, it felt like they could go on indefinitely.

Her company’s ranks parted to let her through, and she made her way down into the basement. She crossed the odd line that marked the extent of the Water Elementals’ cleaning efforts, discovering more Skeleton Warriors beyond. With most of the basement level completely intact: it seemed a maze of holding areas, storage rooms and corridors. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, she returned to the main floor.

“I take it that there aren’t any Undead of note down there.”

“Not that I noticed, Your Majesty.”

“A shame,” he said. “I was hoping for a hidden boss or something along those lines. What will you do, then?”

“There are multiple corridors below,” Ludmila replied, “leading to a variety of rooms. Instead of trying to hold three or more routes, I figured it would be easier to bring everything up to the single strong defensive line here.”

The Sorcerer King raised a hand to his chin, stroking it thoughtfully.

“I suppose that is an answer, as well.”

“If I may ask,” Ludmila said, “what were you considering, Your Majesty?”

“It was the perspective of a pet class,” he replied. “Fighting inside buildings can be quite troublesome: one needs to be careful of their surroundings and one cannot see what is behind every wall and door. One may also find that their pets have gone out of line of sight for spell targeting or run off somewhere.”

“Commanders may face a similar situation,” Ludmila said. “In our case, a company Commander would be entrusting this sort of task to their Sergeants.”

“Or their captains,” His Majesty said pointedly.

Ludmila considered the Sorcerer King’s response. Her purpose here was to gain experience as a commander while they explored the Katze Plains.

“In a situation like this,” she said, “it is confrontations with intelligent opponents that one should be concerned about. When storming fortified positions or clearing out stubborn defenders, those holed up would not gleefully abandon their advantage simply because someone threw a rock at them.”

The Undead below were no contest for her forces in their current position, and she would learn little from this rare opportunity if she enacted her current plan.

“Umu. Though it would be more efficient to follow your original plan, the risks are such that you can explore other possibilities. The Undead won’t act like the living in this situation, but it is still an opportunity for practice.”

“I understand, Your Majesty,” she said. “May I participate directly in combat?”

“Of course,” the Sorcerer King nodded. “That was never a restriction. You are a captain, after all.”

Ludmila reorganized her company at the bottom of the stairs, arranging her Red Skeleton Warriors to hold two of the three approaches while she would lead a squad of regular Skeleton Warriors down the last. The rest would be held in reserve, and her two Death Priests were left to manage the two defensive lines. With her makeshift ‘headquarters’ established, she went on her way with the Sorcerer King and Lady Shalltear observing from behind.

Indoor battles were far more challenging than she had estimated they would be. Even with her rear secured, clearing the Undead in one room would draw attention from others nearby. Two-thirds of her squad had to stay behind to slow the rush of enemies. The need for speed and responsiveness became even more pressing than in a field battle. As she pushed to minimize the damage to her soldiers, techniques long drilled into her returned after what seemed like an age of neglect.

Her glaive moved to hook legs and arms, bind weapons and pry shields out of place. The reach of her polearm allowed her to strike through the ranks of her allies, or diagonally into the exposed flanks of enemies to either side. Though mindless, her Skeleton Warriors seemed to take advantage of the opportunities that she made for them, and the results of her actions cascaded to sweep the opposition away.

The extensive martial repertoire handed down to her by her family crystallized into a clear whole. Something stirred deep within Ludmila as she continued to fight. Her actions were not the flamboyant and seemingly selfish moves of Adventurers – they were the resolute will of a captain as she altered the fortunes of her company. A single company could change the course of a battle, and a single battle could turn the tides of war. The fate of nations, balanced on the edge of a single blade.

So this is what it truly means…

Ludmila had heard it many times before, but she had never felt it until now. Tranquil warmth suffused her body, and her spirit resonated with a song sung for untold generations. Undead she might be, but she still possessed the bloodline of soldiers. Be it in a basement, mountain pass or vast battlefield, this place – where she stood and fought beside her comrades-in-arms – was where she belonged. It was her heritage: what she and all of her ancestors had been born for.

Verdant mantle flowing in her wake, Ludmila stormed her way through the corridors. Time seemed to flow by unnoticed as she forged order out of chaos. Her company advanced, empowered by her presence. Reserves replaced the wounded who were sent back to her headquarters, but she never stopped carving a path forward.

Before she knew it, she came face to face with a line of Red Skeleton Warriors. Behind them were a pair of Death Priests. She had cleared a complete circuit around the garrison basement.

“Well done,” the Sorcerer King told her. “Now, we should…are you alright, Miss Zahradnik?”

Ludmila turned her head to look at the Sorcerer King. Beside him, Lady Shalltear silently pointed a finger to her own face. The fingers of Ludmila’s gauntlet slid over her cheek, coming away wet with tears. She blinked as the heat waned away, sending fresh moisture down her cheeks.

“This…I-I’m uninjured, Your Majesty. I…”

Her voice trailed off. Planting the base of her glaive on the floor, she genuflected before the Sorcerer King.

“What’s this?” He asked.

“I don’t know how else to express myself,” Ludmila answered. “All I can say is ‘thank you’. For so many months I’ve been doing something horribly wrong, but your guidance has set me on the right path. Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“The right path, hm? And what path might that be?”

“One that everyone else saw,” she said. “They even pointed it out to me. It was in the actions and words of those all around. Yet I remained aloof. I knew the legends of old, the famous histories, but I only read them and remained a member of the audience. I am a noble born and a soldier bred, yet I blinded myself to my true calling…but no more.”

She looked up at the Sorcerer King, conviction welling up within her.

“No longer will deny the path that I was meant to tread.”

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