Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 4

27th Day, Upper Wind Month, 1 CE

“One Beastman Lord,” Tira said, “as requested. I’d call it an abduction, but we never left his place.”

Ludmila glanced at the Gao Lord, who was glaring at them from where he was chained and bound to a column in Phelegia’s central keep. Unlike the great halls in the cities of Re-Estize and Baharuth, those of the Draconic Kingdom did not belong to any presiding lord. Instead, every city belonged to the Queen, and every keep was one of her seats of power.

“Thanks, Tira,” she offered the intelligence officer a lopsided smile. “They disintegrated faster than expected.”

“I don’t think it was much of a surprise,” Tira replied. “Most of the Beastmen came in from elsewhere. They never put down their roots here. Once we shook ‘em up, they decided that moving on was a better idea. Did you get the chieftains that ran?”

“We did. It would have been much harder to find them if you hadn’t identified them in advance.”

Now that the ‘Undead horde’ was moving on to what their reconnaissance forces had identified as the far more organised provinces of the Beastman occupation, the need for in-depth information grew more urgent. They had, of course, been capturing and interrogating various Beastmen fleeing from the Royal Army’s advance since their arrival in Oriculon, but they were all mysteriously ignorant of the bigger picture.

According to them, they had come from the Beastman country in the east, following the Oriculon River downstream. They continued until they reached Rivergarden, where they were issued instructions to head northwest. It was as if they were common folk migrating to build a new life in a new land, and she supposed that that was precisely what they were.

“You can start preparing for phase two,” Ludmila answered. “The army is reorganising to form the new front and we’ll be seeing how the Beastmen react to the news of our advance. There should be about a week to do what you need to do. Also, when the Queen’s entourage arrives in Phelegia, you’ll need to consult with Baroness Gagnier about phase three.”

“Gotcha.”

Tira wandered off with a casual wave. Ludmila left the Gao Lord with the Elder Lich watching over it, exiting the throne room to take a look at the freshly-liberated city. It was dawn, but the sunrise was concealed by heavy grey clouds inundating the city rooftops with rain. The unfamiliar, shifting weather was something that the general staff hadn’t accounted for, and she had a sense that it would heavily influence how they proceeded as spring progressed.

As she continued gazing over the cityscape atop the keep’s battlements, a pair of familiar figures approached.

“Baroness Zahradnik.”

She turned and smiled down at Liam and Saye. Both she and her brother had grown by half a head since she first met them in Fassett County, and their condition was much improved from their time in its impoverished capital. The young Bard held out a hand, revealing the glittering band in her palm.

“Here’s your ring back.”

“Thank you, Saye,” Ludmila said. “Did anything happen when you took it off?”

It was something Ludmila hadn’t experienced. She was wearing a Ring of Sustenance when she died in the Azerlisia Mountains, and she had attributed her lack of hunger and fatigue to the ring when it was in reality her newly-Undead state.

“I don’t think so, my lady,” Saye replied. “I ate and slept just before I took it off, so maybe that’s why it felt like nothing changed.”

“I see. And you, Liam – I hear you’ve become an Assassin.”

Liam nodded.

“That’s what they say,” he said. “I don’t feel any different from before, though…”

“Unless you gain a completely new skill, ability or spell,” Ludmila said, “it’s hard to notice as the person doing the growing.”

“So it’s like that for you, too?”

“It is,” Ludmila replied, “but it’s not hard to keep track of if you prepare some ways to measure the changes happening to you.”

Ludmila produced a metre-long steel bar from her Infinite Haversack, holding it out horizontally in front of her with one hand. She grasped the other end with her free hand and twisted it into a loop. Liam and Saye gaped silently at the result.

“Something like that,” Ludmila said. “The important part is that you use something that can offer a definitive measure of your growth. Some vocations have simpler ways to figure out whether one has advanced, but everyone has some way of checking.”

She dropped the steel bar into Liam’s hands. The young Assassin strained to unbend the metal, but it didn’t budge in the slightest.

“Well,” Ludmila said, “are you two ready for your next job?”

The two orphans-turned-intelligence-agent-trainees nodded. Their next job was the aforementioned ‘phase two’ of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s intelligence operations, which involved infiltrating the Human populations behind the enemy lines in the east. To do that properly, however, they needed to be able to blend in with the locals.

“Saye’s really good at this stuff,” Liam said. “We’ll be okay.”

“You shouldn’t make baseless statements, Liam,” Ludmila said. “Saye may be apt at this type of work, but you also have no idea what you’re heading into. It’s impossible to make a reasonable assessment in this situation.”

“But you’re sending us there, right?”

“Just because I did doesn’t mean that everything will go flawlessly. Our country is still establishing its essential institutions, and there are bound to be problems along the way. When it comes to raw strength, the Sorcerous Kingdom is thus far unmatched, but we have plenty of other issues to address.”

Simply saying so was a colossal understatement. After Lady Shalltear formally convened her court, Ludmila started to learn just how much work her friends had been putting into transitioning the Sorcerous Kingdom smoothly from all of its disparate ‘old’ elements. In many cases, there wasn’t even an old element to transition from. Everything her friends were doing was far more complex than the straightforward progress she had achieved in her demesne.

Florine, especially, had put in a monumental effort. She had barely received any recognition from the population of E-Rantel because her work wasn’t with Humans at all: it was with the millions of non-Humans beyond the duchy’s borders that had become subjects of the Sorcerous Kingdom. The laws of their country had been arbitrarily imposed upon them and Florine frantically worked to untangle the chaos that ensued. Her trading posts dotting the Great Forest of Tob, the Azerlisian Foothills and the Azerlisia Mountains were only the ‘tip of the iceberg’, as the Frost Giants were wont to say.

After Liam and Saye left to study the population of the city, Ludmila called down Raul, who was loitering high above on a Skeletal Dragon. The Undead Construct landed atop the keep, and the captured Beastman Lord was brought up to be taken away for interrogation.

“I’ll be heading to Blighthold to deliver my report to Queen Oriculus,” she told Raul. “Can you handle the transfer of the prisoner?”

“Yes, Captain,” Raul replied. “Should I join you after that?”

“Keep an eye on the front for now,” Ludmila said. “The activity along the front is likely to change, and we won’t be as responsive to new developments as I’d like. Make sure you stick to high-altitude observation: if they notice you, it might ruin everything.”

The Gao Lord let out a distressed yelp as the Skeletal Dragon grabbed it firmly in both foreclaws. Raul took off and headed south with an escort of four Elder Liches. With her business in the city concluded, Ludmila activated her hairpin and flew to the northwest.

Following the liberation of Helama, the Royal Army repositioned itself to surround Phelegia. The Beastman occupation fell apart within a day of the intelligence division’s arrival, however, so now the army was awkwardly trying to form a proper front for the next stage of their operation. Given how much ground the canine Beastmen fleeing their advance could cover, they would probably start seeing a reaction to the west’s ‘fall’ within the next day or two.

Ludmila alighted on the road across the river from Phelegia, picking up speed as she skipped over the ground with her flight enchantment still in effect. She returned the salute of the Death-series servitors as she skimmed over the vanguard of the ‘Undead horde’. It took her just under three hours to reach the Seylan Estuary, and her flight over the river mouth landed her atop Blighthold’s southern gatehouse.

Concealed as she was, no one noted her arrival. She made her way over the rooftops – partially out of curiosity over what it was like to move around like a Ninja – and then dropped down into an alley near the city’s central plaza. With the arrival of Queen Oriculus, all of Blighthold city was in a festive mood, but she ignored the colourful and animated goings-on as she made her way to the city hall.

Now that the building had been cleaned up and redecorated, Ludmila realised it was a palatial office not dissimilar in function to E-Rantel’s Royal Villa. Upon her entry, a noblewoman in a light outfit of mint silks looked up from behind the front reception. She visibly swallowed as Ludmila approached.

“…Baroness Zahradnik,” the noblewoman said, “we weren’t aware that you would be in the city.”

“I’ve arrived to deliver a report to Her Majesty,” Ludmila replied. “If Her Majesty is unavailable, then Marshal Zorlu will suffice.”

“Her Majesty has already departed on her tour of the countryside,” the noblewoman replied. “His Excellency the Marshal is accompanying her.”

Ludmila calmly waited for her to continue, but she simply stared back. A few heartbeats later, the noblewoman started to tremble.

“What part of the province is she visiting today?” Ludmila prompted.

“Ah, er, they’re on their way northeast up the river at the moment.”

“Thank you. Have a good afternoon.”

She left the office and departed the city. Her friends had been complaining about how uncooperative the Draconic Kingdom’s courtiers had become, but the way that they interacted with Ludmila made them seem more airheaded than anything else.

From above, the area around the city looked abuzz with activity. With the removal of the Beastmen and the makeshift administration implementing the Royal Court’s directives, the surviving citizens were reorganising and moving to occupy lands made vacant by predation. It wasn’t hard to spot where the Queen was, as a large train of wagons and soldiers formed her entourage several kilometres away from the city.

The first to notice her approach was, of course, Lord Tian, who looked over his shoulder straight at her from two hundred metres away.

I was concealed, too…well, it’s not as if the sky has much cover.

Lack of cover aside, her equipment was still supposed to raise her concealment ability by a substantial amount. Not long after she had received her equipment, Lady Aura noted that Ludmila had about the same stealth as an unequipped Ranger in their ‘high-30s’ while she had her mantle on. She had become stronger since then, so that had likely gone up accordingly.

Ludmila had become so accustomed to being nearly undetectable to everything that it felt a bit odd to be noticed when she didn’t want to be. This was especially true when flying around, as very few beings paid attention to what was going on above them. On the bright side, it meant that not very many individuals could get close to Queen Oriculus without the Royal Butler noticing.

Out of habit, Ludmila circled the village where the Queen was holding court with her subjects to check the surroundings before landing on the road leading to it. The first person to notice her aside from Sebas was a Ranger that she recognised from the Highfort garrison, who did so at about twenty metres.

“Captain Zahradnik,” he nodded. “Captain Inserra’s in charge of the security detail. He’s just ahead at the edge of the village square.”

“Thank you,” Ludmila replied with a smile.

The man knew who she had to see and directed her straight to him without prompting. Was it so difficult that a highly-educated noblewoman couldn’t do the same?

Queen Oriculus was in the centre of the village square, her ‘innocent young queen mode’ in full swing. Ludmila idly wondered what would happen if she acted as cutesy as the Queen did. The citizens of the Draconic Kingdom seemed to receive their Queen’s pseudo-child-like behaviour well. While Ludmila’s subjects also received their Baroness well, she wasn’t sure if she could stomach the sheer intensity of the attention lavished upon the Draconic Kingdom’s sovereign. Not that she thought she could pull it off.

“Captain Inserra.”

“Hm? Oh, Captain Zahradnik. Did something happen?”

“I’m here to deliver a report, but it can wait until she’s done holding court.”

The villagers looked so pleased that she wouldn’t be surprised if they attacked her if she interrupted the proceedings.

“How are things going in the province so far?” She asked.

“No problems on our end,” Captain Inserra answered. “I doubt there’d be any issues so long as the Nobles are around to keep things organised. Once everything’s set up, it should be pretty quiet until the harvest.”

“You seem absolutely certain about that.”

“Hmm, how do I put it,” Captain Inserra drummed his fingers against the helm in the crook of his arm. “This is something like the best part of life here. When the Beastmen come raiding, it’s the time right after that’s the safest. People spread out to their new lands and life’s got that green feeling to it. Like you got a future filled with potential ahead of you.”

“I suppose I can see how you can see it that way,” Ludmila said. “Raiding is cyclical, so it becomes akin to seasons.”

“Yeah, like that. If being raided is winter, then the time following that is spring. Once a part of the border is attacked, we get years to grow again while the Beastmen target other territories.”

Though they were often included in the same broad ‘sphere’ as the rest of the Human countries in the region, the people of the Draconic Kingdom had drastic differences in their mindset and lifestyle. While places such as Re-Estize and Baharuth saw raids as an absolute negative and did everything that they could afford to stop them, the Draconic Kingdom had little choice but to account for them politically, economically and culturally.

Being raided was a form of ‘performance benchmarking’, if one were to use the terminology of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Elder Lich administrators. It was an unbiased assessment of the progress achieved since the previous assessment. Since the raids tended to leave infrastructure intact, the Draconic Kingdom always bounced back with few domestic issues and could thus continue refining what they had.

Many aspects of the Draconic Kingdom were likely far more advanced than the other countries in the region due to their unique situation. People from those other countries just had difficulty seeing it because they were raised on an entirely different paradigm – one that was in reality built on completely false foundations.

The Draconic Kingdom had one ‘false cornerstone’ of its own, which was the fact that the Theocracy turned away raids that the Draconic Kingdom was incapable of dealing with. Even so, that assistance always came after those raids demonstrated what was lacking, so it wasn’t the same as what the Theocracy had been doing in the north.

At least that was the case until the most recent invasion, which she still had absolutely no reasonable explanation for. It was a good thing that the Sorcerous Kingdom was around to make up for the shortfall.

Queen Oriculus finished holding court fifteen minutes later. Ludmila lowered her head in a curtsey as the Queen and her entourage made their way back towards their carriages.

“Baroness Zahradnik,” Queen Oriculus inclined her head slightly. “We are surprised to see you here. Did you not say you would be overseeing the liberation of Phelegia?”

“Plans rarely go completely according to one’s calculations, Your Majesty,” Ludmila replied. “Phelegia has been liberated two days ahead of schedule.”

The elated voices that rose in response to her statement were somewhat tempered. Phelegia being liberated was good news, but it also meant that another province was waiting for administrators to oversee its recovery. The Nobles of the Draconic Kingdom had barely started with Blighthold, and there were still more provinces to go through before they got around to Phelegia.

“Again, We cannot begin to express Our most heartfelt thanks for your work,” Queen Oriculus said. “We assume there are some matters to discuss? Otherwise, the update would have been delivered through Countess Corelyn.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Several sundry matters require your approval. We should also review the strategic situation going forward.”

“Let’s do that on the way to the next village. Yorsten; Zorlu: attend.”

Amidst the cheerful farewell of the villagers, Prime Minister Ioena Yorsten and Marshal Emmad Zorlu stepped into the carriage with Queen Oriculus and Lord Tian. A footman closed the door behind Ludmila after she seated herself beside the Marshal and across from the Queen.

“So,” she said. “What do you have for Us, Lady Zahradnik?”

“First is the matter of Lakefort,” Ludmila started with the fortress guarding the pass above Phelegia. “We’ve cleared out the Beastman occupants and request Your Majesty’s permission to assume control of the area.”

“Meaning there were no survivors…”

“Regrettably not, Your Majesty,” Ludmila shook her head. “The traces of conflict are even older than the fortresses preceding it, so I suspect that the trend will continue.”

Queen Oriculus released a small sigh. Her lips formed into a へ shape, but she still had the sense of one resolutely facing adversity.

“Your forces have Our permission to assume command of Lakefort,” she said. “How are the people of Phelegia doing?”

“The depopulation of the city and its province is increasingly severe the further east one gets. Reconnaissance suggests that over seventy per cent of the population has been lost overall.”

Leather creaked as Marshal Zorlu clenched a fist over his knee beside her.

“On the bright side,” Ludmila added, “this should be the worst of what remains, Your Majesty.”

“Are you sure that report was accurate? After the reports of what happened in the north, We fear to hope it is the case.”

“It was,” Ludmila replied. “Furthermore, we regularly update our information and things have remained stable since we started monitoring the provinces along the eastern front.”

While losing fifty per cent of the eastern population was still significant, it was far better than losing over ninety-five per cent, as had happened in the provinces just west of Rivergarden. As long as they could free the rest of the country with the same degree of efficiency as they had so far, the Draconic Kingdom would be well on its way to a robust recovery.

“You mentioned that there will be a shift in strategy…” Marshal Zorlu said.

“Yes, Your Excellency,” Ludmila nodded. “The drastic differences in management between the eastern portions of the country and what we’ve recovered so far merit caution. We need to gauge their reaction to our advance to see whether the methods we’ve been using can still be employed.”

“How could they not be?” Marshal Zorlu said, “Your forces are practically unstoppable. The only reason why the Beastmen haven’t been wiped out is due to our desire to minimise collateral damage.”

“Which is a desire that remains unchanged,” Ludmila said. “What has changed is what we face. We’ve relied heavily on chaos, confusion and ignorance amongst the Beastmen thus far, and the nature of our opponents in the east suggests that they may not be as susceptible to our tactics.”

Marshal Zorlu’s dark-eyed gaze went to Queen Oriculus. The Queen pursed her lips, as if pondering her options.

“If Our subjects were under immediate threat, We would urge you to free them as quickly as possible. But that isn’t the case, is it?”

“No, Your Majesty,” Ludmila replied.

“And Our administration has a weeks-long backlog as it is,” the Queen continued. “Your previous reports said that our captive subjects are simply tending to their lands as they normally would, yes?”

Ludmila nodded.

“Then We do not see a problem with waiting for a while to see how the Beastmen respond. Whether they are returned to the fold or remain under the Beastmen, they would be doing the same thing until the administration catches up. Is there anything that We missed?”

Prime Minister Yorsten and Marshal Zorlu shook their heads. Queen Oriculus nodded quietly.

“We understand that the people would consider it a relief to be under Our rule again, but their safety comes first and foremost. What is the next item on the table for discussion, Lady Zahradnik?”

“Next, would be how we should approach Foca Bay. The way we execute the southern offensive will depend on that.”

“Do you have any information on how things are going there?”

“Not since we arrived, Your Majesty. It was under siege much like the cities in the north.”

“Hmm…the southern provinces will be harder to handle than the riverlands. They’re always the last to be cleared out whenever the Theocracy sends its forces. If the people there are facing the same situation as our western provinces, however, it would be best to relieve them as quickly as possible.”

“In that case, I’ll arrange for a transfer of personnel while we develop a better picture of the area.”

“A transfer of personnel?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The Undead forces currently under my command have undergone training in terrain similar to your riverlands. We can leave them on the main front while I bring in squads from my territory that are accustomed to operating in terrain similar to your southern provinces.”

“One must wonder whether legendary, country-destroying Undead require such training at all…”

“That’s probably a common question,” Ludmila smirked. “The answer is yes, though. As with any other intelligent being, they must learn how to function optimally within any given environment. Since Death-series servitors are fundamentally soldiers of different types, they have the same benefits and detriments as their living counterparts.”

“Except for the fact that they never tire, never break and are worth an army on their own.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

It was probably better to leave the details to a proper briefing. The fact of the matter was that Death-series servitors performed poorly in terrain unsuited to them. They didn’t have any abilities that helped out with it and thus had a hard time getting around. Zombies and Squire Zombies were already slow and clumsy and it was impossible to fight any sort of running battle with them. Differences in elevation and plentiful cover gave stealthy, ranged combatants a significant advantage. Overall, they might be facing a headache if they found themselves fighting Beastman Rangers. At least they didn’t have Gnolls to contend with.

Ludmila went through a few more bits of business before they arrived at the next town. After the Queen and her entourage went ahead to do their thing, Clara came along and playfully bumped her hip against hers.

“You didn’t even say ‘hi’ to me,” she pouted.

“Hi.”

Clara rolled her amethyst eyes.

“I don’t see Liane and Florine,” Ludmila said.

“They stayed back in Blighthold to do their own thing,” Clara told her. “Meanwhile, Her Majesty’s court stuck me and Taiya in a carriage by our lonesome.”

She glanced at Clara’s Lady’s Maid.

“Has Clara been behaving herself?” She asked.

“For the most part, my lady,” Taiya replied.

“Wha–! When since did you work for Ludmila?”

“Bits of the old you are coming out, so I felt it prudent.”

“They’re not ‘coming out’! Getting ignored constantly is just annoying.”

Ludmila took Clara by the hand, leading her away from the clamour of the village. Clara immediately stuck herself onto her after they went around the broad trunk of a laurel tree at the village boundary. Ludmila smiled to herself as she idly stroked the silky strands of golden hair under her fingers.

“They’re ignoring you?”

“Not any more than before,” Clara rested her head against Ludmila’s shoulder. “It’s more that the Queen’s court is getting swept up in their duties. They have mountains of work and they’re woefully understaffed.”

“So, no time for the foreign delegate.”

“Since we’re here to help them recover,” Clara said. “I can hardly interfere and they make all of their decisions behind closed doors.”

That part needed to change. Making inroads, building trust and broadly collaborating with the Draconic Kingdom on multiple levels was crucial to their long-term diplomatic efforts.

“In that case,” Ludmila said, “you should have plenty of time to plot and scheme.”

“I can ‘plot and scheme’ just fine either way,” Clara replied. “Honestly, I’d rather be with Liane and Florine since they get to do all of the fun things. As the head of the delegation, however, I need to stay with the Queen.”

“What are they doing in Blighthold, anyway? Whenever you bring up ‘fun’, it makes me want to run into a forest and hide.”

“Oh, you know: setting up the new exclave, investigating the markets, briefing our Merchants…and hatching our plots and schemes.”

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