Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 5

“Liam, I don’t know about this…”

“What’s there to worry about?” Liam said, “I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”

“But…”

He couldn’t figure out what Nat’s problem was. She voiced her desire to visit her family once in a while, but, now that they were, she was hesitant to do so.

Within days of the incident with House Ovar, House Restelo rolled out several new initiatives to entrench its position in Hoburns. One of them was a quiet ‘outreach program’ meant to improve relations with the citizens under their jurisdiction. The main thrust involved alleviating the economic distress that the people were experiencing by reasonable increments until prices reached parity with the country’s rural regions. This, of course, would conveniently increase their dependency on House Restelo and the industrial output of its labour camp. By doing so, they would appear to the city as saviours while also building up the citizens’ resentment against the other houses.

House Restelo’s retainers were also instructed to open up to the citizens of Hoburns, dropping the traditional exclusivity that rural powers usually practised. It would probably take time for that to happen, but it surely would if the citizens reciprocated their efforts and were ‘adopted’ as a part of their greater social hierarchy.

Liam and Nat were currently doing their part by paying a visit to Nat’s family in the city. In one hand, he carried a satchel filled with Nat’s best work. In the other, he gripped a basket filled with food. At first, Liam thought that this would prevent Nat from holding hands with him as they walked through the city streets, but she ended up taking his elbow and latching onto him with a great big smile. As they got closer to her old home, however, the smile faded and her nerves started to show.

“The food is nice,” she said, “but I don’t think the rest matters…”

“He did, but that was before. You might have set up a workshop for me, but it’s not as if I married into another workshop. They wouldn’t care about this other stuff even if I did.”

No matter how many times he was exposed to it, his mind still railed at her logic. It was fine for her to help her family in their trade, but it was only fine to continue helping in that trade after marriage if she married into the same trade. There was also the rare occasion where a family’s heir was a hopeless layabout and, in desperation, they married him to a woman in the same trade that might be able to maintain their licence and guild membership.

Otherwise, she wasn’t supposed to. It wasn’t a hard rule, but social expectations were so strong that it may as well have been one.

“My parents are going to yell at me,” Nat cast a glum look at the cobblestones, “I just know it.”

“B Company appreciates your efforts,” Liam said. “Even A Company is coming to you for stuff. They don’t think it’s a bad thing.”

“They’re only doing it because I’m your wife. I wouldn’t get any business if I wasn’t.”

“I’m pretty sure that isn’t the case…”

Nat was really good at leatherworking. It was crazy how good she was. When he thought he had never seen a piece of equipment so well-made before, something that surpassed it would pop up the next day. Even so, she continued to insist that it wasn’t much and that she was just trying to be helpful to him. She even tried to give him all of her earnings to spend on whatever he wanted.

“Nat?”

An older Nat stopped sweeping the pavement in front of a modest storefront, staring wide-eyed at them.

“Good morning, mother,” Nat said.

Nat’s mother propped her broom against the wall before sweeping her daughter up in a hug.

“Oh, thank the gods you’re alright! I thought you’d be shipped to the south and we’d never see you again.”

They didn’t even tell them where she’d end up?

It made a sort of sense. If they were in a meaner place, relatives or friends might endeavour to ‘rescue’ the enslaved. This was especially the case when the slaves had been captured in a raid or otherwise abducted from their homes. In the Holy Kingdom, however, debt bondage was no worse than an apprenticeship and was a form of legally binding financial restitution. Technically, she could earn her way out of her ‘marriage’ – which was what Liam hoped she would do – but, so far, she seemed fully intent on sticking to him like glue.

“How has everyone been?” Nat asked.

“We’re holding out,” Nat’s mother answered. “Well, it hasn’t even been two weeks since you left. Things are as they were before, minus one. Who is this young gentleman?”

Liam straightened involuntarily.

“This is Liam,” Nat smiled. “He’s my new husband. Liam works as a thief-taker in the city for House Restelo…”

He fixed a smile onto his face as Nat happily rattled off his specifications. That much, at least, was expected. At the end of Nat’s presentation, her mother – whose name was Josefa – seemed suitably impressed and invited them into the shop.

“José, Nat’s come to visit! José!”

Liam examined the shop’s offerings as Nat’s mother vanished into the back. Leatherworkers were divided into three types in the Holy Kingdom: cobblers, armourers, and those that produced everyday items for industry and civilian use, such as belts, straps, upholstery, harnesses for logistical operations, and so on. Nat’s family workshop was part of the last category, though Nat herself had proven that such categorisations were technically meaningless at her level of skill.

“How long has your family been in the leatherworking business?” He asked.

“I’m not sure,” Nat answered. “My father’s father was a leatherworker, at least. I think the shop is older than that.”

While family history was important to the nobility, it was only as valuable as proving one’s inheritance rights to most. Not that Liam could talk: he didn’t even know where his father and mother had come from – only that they were poor and did anything that they could to survive.

Josefa returned with a thin, plain-looking man in a work apron. Nat had clearly inherited all of her features from her mother. They went to stand opposite the counter from Nat’s parents. The man scrutinised Liam for a long moment before clearing his throat.

“Name’s José,” he said. “I hope my Nat hasn’t disappointed you in any way.”

What kind of introduction is that?

Liam glanced at Nat, but she only continued to smile beside him.

“Liam,” he stuck out his hand. “I’ve only known her for a little while, but she’s been full of pleasant surprises.”

“That so? In that case…”

José leaned forward to shake Liam’s hand. Nat took the food basket and placed it on the counter.

“We brought some gifts,” she said. “It’s not much, but…”

She pulled back the cloth to reveal three loaves of bread, a wheel of cheese, five smoked fish, and two bottles of peach cider. Though she said it wasn’t much, prices in the city were so high that it was probably unaffordable for her parents as a single meal.

“Oh, my!” Josefa raised a hand to her mouth, “Liam, you shouldn’t have…”

“Nat bought everything, actually,” Liam told her.

Nat’s fingers dug into his arm. Josefa’s elated expression faltered. José frowned.

“I-I don’t understand,” Josefa said. “What do you mean by that?”

“As I mentioned,” Liam smiled, “Nat’s full of surprises. She’s been doing a little bit of work during the day.”

He placed the satchel filled with Nat’s crafts on the table. Nat’s parents exchanged a look.

“Liam,” Josefa said, “we’d like to speak with your wife alone if you don’t mind.”

Five minutes later, Nat rejoined Liam on the street.

“I got yelled at,” she sniffed.

Liam took the satchel from her hands, placing an arm around her shoulder as he led him from her old home.

“My father said that you only set up a workshop because I’m not pleasing you as a woman,” Nat said. “He said it means I’m nothing but a tool to you. Mother said that I should be focusing my energy on giving you children, not playing in the workshop like a little girl.”

Maybe they deserved to be eaten by Demihumans, after all.

“That’s not true,” Liam said. “I like the Nat that’s good at leatherworking.”

“If that’s true, then why don’t you–”

A set of whistles sounded from down the street. Marim and a few other men walked up to them.

“Armsman, get these two lovebirds off of the street!” He said, “It’s too early in the morning for all their flirting.”

“Really?” Liam released Nat’s shoulder, “I thought Jorge said that–”

“It was a joke,” Marim grinned, then looked at Nat. “Is he always this serious? I know he’s a real workhorse, but damn.”

“I-I think so…”

Marim sadly shook his head.

“You can’t be all business all the time, Liam,” he said. “You’ll fall apart.”

“Taking a walk around the city with Nat isn’t going to make me fall apart.”

“Where are you two heading?” Marim asked.

“We just paid a visit to Nat’s parents,” Liam answered. “We’re just wandering around now.”

“Make sure you make it look good,” Marim told them. “You two are real lookers, so you’ll be extra effective at influencing people.”

Was it alright to say that in the middle of the street? He supposed it didn’t matter for what they were doing. It was an obvious ploy that people went along with anyway, much like using pretty girls or handsome men to serve customers in shops and at market stalls.

A set of wives appeared to drag Marim and his goons away. Liam examined the storefronts, then pointed to a sign he didn’t recognise.

“What’s that place?”

“A witch lives there,” Nat told him. “We shouldn’t go close.”

“Why?”

“Because she might cast a curse on you!”

“…wouldn’t that count as assault?” Liam frowned, “She’d be arrested for that.”

“It’s magic. And she’ll just use her magic to magic the guards.”

That sounded like a losing fight to him. Even combat casters didn’t last long in sustained combat, never mind an artisan. She would be overwhelmed by the authorities in no time.

Liam took Nat’s hand and walked straight toward the magic caster’s shop.

“L-Liam, what are you–”

“Let’s go and see what she sells.”

“This is a bad idea…”

The door wasn’t locked and a bell chimed to announce their arrival. Inside, a child-sized spider looked up at them from the counter.

“It’s her!” Nat squealed.

That’s the magic caster?

Was she eating insects to save money? Food was pretty expensive in the capital, after all.

“Hi,” Liam walked up to the counter, “um…”

“Are you trying to talk to a spider?”

A blonde woman in an immaculate white robe came out from the back of the shop. The spider skittered out of the way as the woman walked up to the counter, crawling up the nearby wall to sit upside-down over the entrance. Nat scurried to the other side of Liam.

“What can I help you with?” The woman asked.

“I’m new to the neighbourhood,” Liam answered. “I just wanted to see what you had here.”

“That’s not something I hear every day…or ever. Hmm, aren’t you the Abarca girl?”

Nat backed away, her eyes filled with terror.

“Y-You know who I am?”

“You live right across the street,” the mage furrowed her brow.

“Does that mean no one brings you any business?” Liam asked, “How do you survive?”

“I’m a magic caster,” the woman shrugged. “I can survive on mana. It doesn’t taste very good, though. Well, I say that, but conjuration’s making a relatively pretty penny these days.”

Liam looked past Raquel at the shelves behind the counter. There wasn’t anything overtly magical: just jars and boxes filled with spices, sugar, herbs, and unappetising-looking bread.

“So you’re a conjurer?”

“No, but every Wizard knows a few conjuration spells. Learning magic’s expensive, so sometimes you just have to buckle down and eat the nasty stuff.”

“Then what’s your speciality?” Liam asked.

“Abjuration. A shield mage, if one goes by common vernacular. Before the war, I enchanted stuff for the military. Now, I summon this tasty, tasty bread. Oh, the name’s Raquel.”

“Liam. This is Nat. Pleased to meet you.”

Nat continued to cower behind his shoulder. Liam put the satchel of her goods on the counter.

“Since you can enchant items,” he said as he rummaged through the sack, “can you do something with this?”

“Let’s see…”

Raquel picked up the bracer placed between them. It was fashioned out of hardened Lanca leather and ribbed with steel boning. Since Liam hadn’t set up a furnace or forge for Nat, she had to rely on the camp’s smiths for the metal bits. This conveniently had the side benefit of keeping her focused on her leatherworking.

It was Nat’s first piece of armour – one of them, at least. The bracer was one of a pair, and the other had been thoroughly beaten up when the company went overboard with ‘testing’. Cuts with anything up to an arming sword couldn’t get through. Larger blades could probably be blocked, as well, but Sir Jimena looked so enthusiastic about proving his longsword skills that Liam was pretty sure he would have broken his arm, successful block or not.

Piercing attacks could get through, but the steel boning kept thrusts from most swords and daggers from penetrating too deeply. Practically speaking, it was next to impossible to penetrate with anything larger than a dagger. A Rogue ideally closed inside the measure of battlefield weapons and most sidearms, making it next to impossible to stab with them. Additionally, since Rogues relied on agility for defence, lining up a good stab against an unrestrained Rogue was far more difficult than it seemed.

In all, Nat’s armour – well, good leather armour in general – was the best option for agile melee combatants in an urban setting. Leather was superior to plate and chain against bludgeoning damage and just as good as chain against slashing attacks for someone who relied on agility for defence. It was also less cumbersome and didn’t make as much noise.

Of course, using lightweight metals like mithril would put other types of armour on top. The Holy Kingdom had nothing of the sort, however – at least nothing that was accessible to most.

“This is pretty nice,” Raquel said. “Where’s the other one?”

“It’s being repaired,” Liam said. “I just wanted to know what you can do with that.”

“A whole lot,” the mage replied. “I need both bracers, though.”

“…you can’t enchant one, then the other?”

Raquel laughed.

“That’s not how it works. If people could decide what can be enchanted where, they’d wear forty wristbands and twenty necklaces, all with a different enchantment. Bracers occupy the ‘wrists’. That means no bracelets, wristbands, armbands or anything else that goes there working at the same time.”

“You make it sound as if they’re accessories, not armour.”

“I get that every time the army sends a new procurement guy. That’s just how enchanting works. No amount of arguing will change anything.”

“Then how should I make things as a leatherworker?” Nat asked.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the quality of your armour,” Raquel said as she checked the inside of the bracer, “but certain things do matter if you’re making pieces to be enchanted. The spots you have to especially be careful of are the torso, abdomen, arms and legs. I’ve had guys thinking that their breastplate, spaulders, pauldrons, rerebraces, couters, and all of the rest of those bits and pieces could hold separate enchantments. But it’s all one spot – ‘body’.”

“So I shouldn’t make a leather cuirass for enchantment, it should be everything that covers the ‘body’ spot.”

“Exactly,” Raquel smiled and nodded. “A magic item is one ‘piece’. If you have only a cuirass enchanted, you leave a whole bunch of areas unprotected. You can make pieces to cover those areas afterwards, but they won’t be part of the enchanted armour and receive none of the perks of being enchanted.”

“There are perks?” Nat furrowed her brow.

“Sure are…”

Raquel disappeared behind the counter, reappearing with a pair of shears.

“Watch this,” she grinned.

Nat sucked in a horrified gasp as Raquel started chopping away at the sleeve of her fancy white robe. The mage’s grin turned into a frown as she continually failed to cut the cloth.

“Hold on, this is harder than I thought it would be…”

“You should keep your tools sharp,” Nat told her.

“They are! Grr, maybe I need a man for this. Liam, rip off my clothes.”

Liam reached out to grip her proffered sleeve, then jerked as Nat pinched him.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Nothing.”

He looked down at his forearm. There would definitely be a bruise.

In the end, Liam had to brace his feet against the counter and pull with all his might to rip off Raquel’s sleeve. Nat’s mouth fell open as the magic item mended itself in a blink.

“Does that work for any clothing?” She asked.

“Only masterwork crafts or better can be enchanted,” Raquel answered. “That includes clothing.”

“Then wouldn’t it be better for people to have magic clothing?”

“More than a few enchanters advocate for just that, and all of them have their own enchanted clothing. Magic items are tougher, self-mend and fit themselves to the wearer. The problem’s that we’d run out of enchanting reagents long before we could make magic clothes for everyone. Also, despite how it looks, this robe will still need to be repaired after it takes enough damage. It just stays as a single, functional piece until it breaks entirely.”

“I see. But it looks much tougher than regular clothing – does that mean enchanted armour gives that much more protection?”

“Yes and no. Enchanted armour is tougher, but, unless it’s enchanted to provide extra protection, it acts as if it’s unenchanted armour against attacks. A clean hit against someone will go right through the armour to hit the wearer. People trying to attack the armour itself have to deal with the magical properties of the item.”

“…I don’t get it.”

“Most people don’t. Our country isn’t very advanced when it comes to this stuff, so they have a very ‘mundane’ perspective.”

“Then…”

Liam smiled to himself as Nat and Raquel went off into their own little world. For all of her trepidation before trying out new things, Nat quickly became engrossed in discussion once those things became relevant to her vocation. At the same time, it was sad considering her family lived right across the street. Superstition and fear had kept them from establishing a profitable relationship with Raquel.

“So how much will enchanting those bracers cost?” Liam asked after browsing through the shop for an hour.

“Er…there’s actually a problem,” Raquel told him. “I don’t see a master’s mark on this.”

“Does it need one?”

“Yeah. Guild regulations. Members of the Magician Guild can’t enchant any items that aren’t recognised by the Merchant Guild and its affiliates. Those are the rules. I thought this was from the Abarca shop when you first showed it to me, but Nat says you’ve opened a workshop in one of the labour camps.”

“It’s not exactly a workshop like you see in the city. It’s just a working space that I set up for Nat.”

“Either way,” Raquel told him, “my hands are tied until that ‘workshop’ is recognised by the guilds.”

“We should go and get that done, then. Is it hard?”

“Technically, no. But if you’re on the Nobles’ side, you might run into other problems.”

Ugh.

Now that they needed the city on their side, House Restelo’s actions when they were a part of the royalist faction were biting them in the ass. Clearing the bad air between them wouldn’t happen instantly, if ever.

No, the Nobles and their people are probably all as bad as Nat.

Magic items were so rare in the Holy Kingdom that very few considered them an option for equipment. The Temples made up most of the country’s magic item production and all of their work went to themselves and the government. On top of that, Roble was worse than even Re-Estize when it came to the integration of magic into everyday society. He hadn’t seen a single Pouch of Infinite Water or any other invaluable magical tools for civilian life during his entire stay.

“The Leatherworker Guild should be around here, shouldn’t it?” Lam asked.

“It’s just down the street,” Nat answered.

“We’ll be back once we get that taken care of,” Liam told Raquel.

He yawned as they made their way to the guild office, peering up at the midday sun. Unlike the market plazas and warehouse areas of Hoburns, things were relatively quiet in House Restelo’s jurisdiction during the day. The tiny corner office that served as the Leatherworker Guild was empty, save for the sole receptionist who rose from behind his desk as they entered.

“Nat. I thought that–”

“I didn’t go far,” Nat smiled. “This is my new husband, Liam. Liam, this is Guildmaster Abarca.”

“Abarca?”

“He’s my uncle,” Nat turned to the guildmaster. “Liam started a workshop. We need to get registered.”

“Registered…I don’t recall a new shop opening up anywhere…”

“It’s in House Restelo’s labour camp.”

Silence fell over the office. Liam shifted uncomfortably as the guildmaster’s gaze went back and forth between Liam and Nat.

“To begin with,” Guildmaster Abarca said, “we’ll need to assess your work.”

Liam placed the samples originally meant to be shown off to Nat’s father on the table. The guildmaster pulled out a toolbelt and took his time examining it.

“You’ve gotten better,” he said. “If only your brother did some work instead of staying up late with his hooligans and sleeping in every day.”

“Well, it’s not as if there’s much to do with things as they are right now,” Nat replied. “He’ll work when there’s work. When can we finish the registration?”

“It’ll take a few days for the members to submit their assessments. From the looks of it, they shouldn’t voice any issues over the work itself. Make sure you have your dues ready.”

“Thanks, uncle!”

“Mhm.”

Liam followed Nat as she left the office with a skip in her step. There was far less resistance than he had expected.

“Do you think everything will be alright?” He asked.

“I’m sure it will,” Nat answered. “Anyone who doesn’t approve of our shop’s products doesn’t deserve the title of master.”

Nat had an odd way of flipping back and forth between being a submissive ‘wife’ and a proud professional. At times, it was almost as if he was dealing with two different people.

“But what about the tension between the craft guilds and the nobility?”

“Uncle will do something about it.”

Wait a minute…

Had they just effortlessly rolled through a mountain of thorny issues using the power of nepotism? His preparations for working with the Ministry of Transportation labelled that kind of thing as corruption. Then again, the Sorcerous Kingdom was the only country he knew of that saw it as a problem and actively did anything about it.

So, if we use a country’s customs to our advantage, is that good or bad?

He was in a foreign country and he had to play by their rules. At the same time, however, the laws of the Sorcerous Kingdom were in place by the divine will of their god. Was it alright for Liam to disregard them simply because he wasn’t at home?

Liam shook his mind free of meandering thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to be second-guessing himself: he had a job to do.

“That detour took up a lot of time,” Liam said, “but is there anything else you want to do?”

“Let’s go back and have lunch.”

Nat latched onto his free arm, beaming so brightly that he thought that she was trying to compete with the sun.

“After I fix your bracers,” she said, “I should work on the next piece.”

“Sorry about the bracers. Those guys got too excited about trying to chop my hand off.”

“It’s alright. Well, a part of me is relieved since it works. Another part is mad because they damaged it while trying to chop your hand off.”

“Do you need anything special for the next piece?”

“I think I’ll be alright,” Nat said. “I just have to get my hands on an example. It’s weird: all I have to do is look at something and I can figure out how to make it. I thought you had to work under a master for years and become a master yourself to be able to do that.”

“I told you that you have talent,” Liam replied. “You’ll probably be famous one day.”

“That’s just silly,” Nat giggled. “Besides, I don’t care about being famous. All I want is…”

“Hm?”

“I-It’s nothing. I wonder what they’re serving for lunch today…”

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