Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 12

Ludmila stared down at the Spider Lily clasp as she and her company formed back up in the empty city plaza.

“It seems we were sidetracked before you could share your thoughts on the fight with the Sword Wraith, Miss Zahradnik.”

She looked up from the clasp to where the Sorcerer King was descending the steps of the barracks entrance with Lady Shalltear. The three of them had conducted a thorough search of the barracks but, in the end, the piece of jewellery was the only thing that they came away with.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Ludmila replied. “Was there something in particular that you would like to know?”

“Considering what happened,” His Majesty said, “the nature of that Sword Wraith is of interest to me. It is not often that Undead can elude domination like that.”

Ludmila frowned as she recalled the strange behaviour of the Sword Wraith.

“It was like fighting an intelligent opponent,” she said, “yet it seemed mindless at the same time. She used something like a highly-advanced form of the style that rapier users in the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Adventurer Guild have just started to develop. Everything from her attacks to her movements was like fighting a live opponent.”

“I see…in what way was she mindless, then?”

“It was either mindlessness or single-mindedness,” Ludmila replied. “I timed her lunge Skill with the first two uses and was reliably able to exploit that timing to bait her into the attack that severed her right arm. I also had no way to conceal my presence from her, so she should have known I was Undead. Even so, all of her strikes were aimed at Human vitals. It was like fighting an Undead from a Bard’s tale – she was filled with rage against my existence and seemed entirely committed to my demise.”

“That much I’ve noticed,” the Sorcerer King seemed to smirk. “The only thing that comes to mind at the moment is that the item was a magical trap left to defend the building even after the city was destroyed. It’s a shame that it appears inert now – my Arcane Vision cannot detect even the slightest trace of mana coming off of it.”

She gave the intricate piece of jewellery one last look before putting it away. Beside the Sorcerer King, Lady Shalltear raised a hand to her ear.

“Lord Ainz,” she said. “Cocytus has prepared the first batch of troops.”

“Excellent,” the Sorcerer King said. “Have him send them over right away. Since we’re out on the field, have someone…hm, one of the fellows from the library should be fine.”

“By your command, Lord Ainz,” Lady Shalltear lowered her head. “Also…”

“Hm?”

“Cocytus wants to come too.”

A deep chuckle rose into the air.

“With what this excursion has turned into,” the Sorcerer King said, “I suppose I should have expected that. Cocytus has really taken a shine to his role as Grand Marshal.”

With the gradual organization of the Royal Army into a formal state institution, official military ranks started to manifest as well. At the top of the nation’s military stood Lord Cocytus with the rank of Grand Marshal. Ludmila wasn’t sure if it was an exact translation, as Lady Shalltear’s mouth moved to form distinctly different words in her own language, but it since the term came across smoothly, it was probably close enough.

The orderly nature of the Sorcerous Kingdom meant that ranks and titles matched the responsibilities of those who held them, just as Clara and Liane had been promoted from Baroness to Countess to reflect their expanded administrative authority. The rank of Grand Marshal represented the highest authority in any regional military under their nation’s executive branch. It would not be proper to address Lord Cocytus as ‘King’ or ‘Emperor’, after all.

His Majesty struck a thoughtful pose, cradling his chin in a pristine skeletal hand.

“We’re fine as we are,” he said after several moments, “but have him come to the city. A second Floor Guardian nearby will be helpful in the event that a true threat appears. In the meantime, he can oversee the refurbishment of this old garrison. It should serve well as a local base of operations for the Royal Army. Let’s step up our game, shall we, Miss Zahradnik? We’ll be taking a short break while I see to some things at home and Cocytus establishes his headquarters here. Once we resume our exploration, Cocytus will be the ‘General’ while you act as one of the ‘Captains’ under his command.”

“Oh, he’s going to go crazy when he hears that,” Lady Shalltear said.

“I imagine so,” the Sorcerer King chuckled again.

“If I may ask, Your Majesty,” Ludmila said, “is it alright for us to be doing this? It was meant to be your personal excursion…”

“Don’t make it sound so lonely, Miss Zahradnik – Adventures are meant to be shared. While the course ours has taken was unexpected, it is just as I said about Adventures back then, yes? They are not only the concern of small parties and may expand to become grand in scope and purpose. A minor ‘campaign’ like this is not unwelcome. We are enjoying ourselves, learning new things, exploring the unknown and changing the world around us. The Adventure that I hoped for has become one in truth.”

The dark portal of a Gate spell widened in the plaza nearby. Lord Cocytus appeared out of the portal, moving out of the way of the contingent that followed. His insectoid head turned as he scanned the surroundings with his many eyes. Upon spotting the Sorcerer King, he strode forward with purposeful steps. He planted the base of his massive halberd on the ground and went to a knee.

“Lord Ainz. As commanded, I have come.”

“And so another Adventurer joins our party,” a smile seeped into His Majesty’s tone.

“A-Adventurer?”

“Umu. Did Shalltear let you know what your role will be here?”

Lord Cocytus rose to his feet. His gaze went to Lady Shalltear.

“I thought it would be a nice surprise,” she answered his unspoken question.

“A…surprise?”

“Indeed,” the Sorcerer King said. “Our Adventure has become a campaign of sorts. Starting from the border of the Sorcerous Kingdom, we’ve ‘conquered’ our way down the river to this city. The building you see here is the result of our latest victory – it will be the headquarters where you will serve as the ‘General’ for our little campaign.”

“Oh…”

Lord Cocytus’ posture shifted, and a blast of frozen air pushed the mists around him away. Though he had uttered a single syllable, excitement filled his tone.

“Your first task, however,” His Majesty said, “will be to fix up your headquarters. We can still use it as a garrison building when we’re done here.”

“Garrison…then, the Katze Plains: will be taken?”

“For the time being, send forces to secure the areas that we have already travelled through. Prepare teams for reconnaissance, as well: it’s high time we stop relying on these nearly useless local maps. In a few hours, we’ll be resuming our advance, so have a basic map of the city available for us by then. Miss Zahradnik here will be serving as one of your captains on the field – she has a special company under her command.”

Ludmila’s new ‘General’ turned his head to inspect her contingent.

“Red Skeleton Warriors. These forces…not ours?”

“They’ve been dominated out of the local Undead. Not long after we entered the plains, she formed a company starting with low-level Undead like Skeleton Archers and Undead Beasts. What you see before you is the result of her advance down the river, slowly replacing her old soldiers with vanquished ones.”

“A challenge…interesting. And enviable.”

Ludmila frowned at Lord Cocytus’ choice of words.

“Enviable, my lord?”

“Cocytus’ first battle employed forces not dissimilar to what you started with,” the Sorcerer King told her. The initial results were rather catastrophic, but he made gains for the Sorcerous Kingdom in the end. I’m sure he would love to try his hand at it once more with all the experience he has gained.”

Another blast of frigid air washed over the surroundings. A new Gate appeared, delivering contingents of Death Knights, Death Warriors and Death Cavaliers riding Soul Eaters to the plaza. Several wagons rolled through, filled with what appeared to be construction supplies and materials for the barracks. The Sorcerer King glanced over at the activity.

“I’ll be taking that Gate back to the Sorcerous Kingdom,” His Majesty said as he walked over. “Hm…I suppose I should focus on creating Death Priests for the next few days…”

His voice cut off as he entered the portal, leaving Lady Shalltear, Lord Cocytus and Ludmila amidst the bustling preparations. Ludmila glanced over the growing piles of supplies.

In all honesty, it was a minuscule amount for the effective strength gathered in the ruined plaza. A conventional Human army had a one-kilometre long baggage train for every thousand soldiers. Demihuman armies could have much shorter baggage trains depending on if they could eat the people they fought and raided along the way. Rangers could operate without a baggage train, but there were limits to how much foraging and hunting an area could support.

Undead armies, on the other hand, required no baggage train at all. What were they transporting, anyway? What was needed to restore the damaged barracks was plainly apparent, but other the articles, not so much.

An Elder Lich holding a clipboard approached him, its Imp familiar sitting on its shoulder.

“Lord Cocytus,” it said. “The construction materials will be stored outside, but what will we do with the rest?”

“The basement of the barracks is in good condition,” Ludmila spoke into the silence between them. “It will require a thorough dusting, however.”

The Elder Lich glanced at Lord Cocytus. The Grand Marshal nodded once and the Elder Lich went on its way, calling together a score of Death Knights to help unload the wagons.

“My apologies if I spoke out of turn, Lord Cocytus.”

“It’s fine,” Lord Cocytus grunted. “More importantly: our orders.”

“Of course,” Ludmila nodded. “Will you be setting up a war room as you did in the Dwarf Kingdom?”

“Yes. Other rooms, also. Offices. Archives. Divination chambers.”

Ludmila briefly reviewed the layout of the building. Once repairs were complete…

“This structure was formerly a garrison barracks,” she said. “I’m not sure how quickly the third floor can be restored, but the areas formerly used as living space should provide more than enough room for everything you describe.”

“Good. War room, first. After, assist with the rest.”

“Yes, my lord…or would it be Grand Marshal here?”

Lord Cocytus seemed to start sparkling at the latter, and Ludmila’s lips turned up in a slight smile. The Grand Marshal eyed her for a moment before turning away with a brusque grunt.

Still smiling, Ludmila went to see if Lady Shalltear needed anything before going to help with the new local headquarters. She found her liege idly filing her nails near the fountain. The focused expression that she wore while escorting the Sorcerer King had melted away. It must have been quite draining to maintain her vigilance as His Majesty’s sole protector for days on end.

“Is there anything I can do for you, my lady?”

“There are many things that I desire of you,” Lady Shalltear replied lightly, “but nothing that would be appropriate in this setting…though I did hear something about a collar and a secret meeting with Mare in a public garden at night.”

“I probably don’t want to know where this is going,” Ludmila frowned. “How are things on your front with His Majesty? I feel that I’ve been sabotaging your efforts since he’s been so keen on observing my progress.”

“Despite my wanting to grow closer to Lord Ainz on a more personal level,” Lady Shalltear told her, “It is still a joy to spend so much time by His Majesty’s side. Your gaining his approval also works in my favour – just as you are my responsibility, your achievements are also my own. If things continue as they are…well, we’ll just have to see what happens when the time comes.”

Lady Shalltear turned her attention back to her nails, leaving Ludmila with that mysterious note.

Making her way from the fountain back to the barracks, Ludmila watched as a pair of Elder Liches unfurled a banner of the Sorcerous Kingdom. They flew up and fastened it over the entrance of the building: it was so huge that it hung all the way down to the top of the gate. She shook her head as she made her way inside – where in the world had they gotten a seven-metre long banner on such short notice?

Furthermore, the banner was woven out of the same precious threads as those displayed in the Sorcerous Kingdom. The existence of gold embroidery was known to Ludmila, but having an entire banner fashioned out of precious ores was a ludicrous notion. The vermillion banners of the Sorcerous Kingdom were beyond the silken flags displayed by great houses and nations in their highest halls – they fluttered in the wind, catching the light to glimmer with the fiery radiance of a field of perfect rubies.

Of course, there was no light where they were. It was also in the middle of a wasteland littered with ruins. The part that made her shake her head marvelled over the fact that such an incalculably expensive banner had been used. At the same time, however, she recognized the statement for what it was: this was no simple cloth flag that could be abandoned on a whim and trampled.

It represented the will and investment of the Sorcerous Kingdom. Raising this banner was a bold declaration to the entire world that they were here to stay.

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