Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 36

Upper Wind Month, 7th Day

Nemel’s fingers brushed through blonde hair which had grown halfway down her back over the weeks of journeying through the Empire with Dame Verilyn. Her hand came away with several tiny pink petals which were picked up by a gust of wind. The petals flew up to join their fellows in a swirling dance across the cerulean skies.

Spring was in full bloom in the Baharuth Empire. With spring came its sense of new beginnings.

This felt especially momentous to Nemel. A new life awaited her in a new frontier: a land of potatoes and Goblins. The Sorcerous Kingdom.

No, wait, that doesn’t sound right...

“M-master, what is that?!”

“So vast! Is this a Human place?”

“Yes, yes,” Zu Chiru answered his apprentices. “It is the great warren-city of the Empire-clan. Still, I did not think it would be so large…and flat.”

Nemel supposed that it was indeed quite large and flat. Arwintar had over twice the population of Norford, the second-largest city in the Empire. Its sprawling urban layout filled with shops, residences, government buildings and grand monuments created a sprawling metropolis that covered much of the broad river valley below them.

Zu Chiru’s emphasis on ‘flat’ spoke of his nature as a member of a subterranean race. When she had first described the imperial capital to the Quagoa Merchant, he burst out into his wheezing laugh. Surely Humans were not so foolish as to waste so much space in what was supposedly the crown jewel of their great empire.

Races that lived underground did not build ‘flat’. They built ‘tall’, or maybe it was ‘deep’. When the Quagoa saw a Human dwelling, they wondered how many hundreds lived within. This was because they naturally imagined that the building went hundreds of metres underground and what they saw on the surface was only indicative of a vast network of structures below.

Though their circuit through the Empire probably had them understand that Humans did not build their communities that way, their initial reaction to the sights of the towns and cities tended to always be the same. Where Nemel saw a prosperous city of a hundred thousand, the Quagoa imagined a monstrosity with millions of citizens. Dame Verilyn, who had laired in the Dwarf Kingdom’s capital of Feoh Berkana for over a century, also thought this way at first, but her experiences in Human cities eventually led her to make more proper conclusions about them.

As Nemel had lived in Arwintar for much of her life, everything about it just seemed ‘normal’. If anything, the sight made her nervous. She would be handing in her resignation to the Imperial Army. Worse yet, she would be sitting down with her parents to tell them that she would be leaving the Empire.

Rationally speaking, the army probably wouldn’t dare say anything if the Sorcerous Kingdom was involved. As a spare from a minor house of meagre means, securing her new position was something her parents would be ecstatic about. When her sister, Panasis, managed to secure a position as a Maid for a High Noble’s household, their family had thrown an extravagant – extravagant for House Gran, at least – celebration with five different potato dishes.

Nemel, however, was not very good at being rational. Not when it came to herself, at any rate. Even when she was aware of this, it didn’t help.

What if the army said ‘no’ and threw her into prison? Or her father might oppose Nemel’s decision to leave and lock her in her bedroom forever. And then Dame Verilyn would turn Arwintar into a pile of rubble for detaining her overminion. The destruction of the imperial capital would be Nemel’s fault.

“Nervous…” Elise moaned.

“I know, right?” Fendros said, “What if we run into our parents?”

“How do you think I feel?!” Ida moaned, “If my parents find out I’m back in the city, they might try to sell me again!”

They all swallowed, steps turning heavy as they followed the highway down to the city’s eastern gate. The customs officials took them aside, supposedly because they had many goods to inspect.

“This is strange?” Zu Chiru said as they stood about idly, “The other cities did not stop us like this…”

“Probably because they want to assign agents to us,” Nemel whispered.

They had an official of the Sorcerous Kingdom with them and there was no way they would allow her to wander around Arwintar without handlers or at least observers. Even if Dame Verilyn didn’t do anything harmful, some sort of harm might come to her and the imperial authorities would have to answer for it.

“Spies again?” Dame Verilyn frowned, “should we round up their families? That worked wonderfully the last time.”

A few seconds later, Zu Chiru’s caravan was waved through with profuse apologies for the inconvenience caused.

After checking in at their accommodations, Nemel accompanied Dame Verilyn around the city as she performed her usual wanderings. They eventually wandered over to the First-class District. Nemel fidgeted nervously as they made their way along the pristine pavement to the Imperial Army Headquarters. The grounds were decidedly less dismal than she had left them: the ornamental gardens and trees along the lanes were bathed in sunlight and abundant with the fresh greenery of spring.

Nemel took several deep breaths in front of the Sixth Legion’s office before stiffly stepping up the stairs. She nearly turned on her heel when an imposing figure nearly bumped into her coming out of the entrance.

“Officer Gran?”

“Yes, General Ray, sir! Officer Gran, sir!”

Her hand came up in a rigid salute. The staff moving through the lobby cast curious glances in her direction but they continued on to wherever their tasks were taking them.

“I saw that your report from Horst came in,” General Ray said, “so I was wondering when you’d show up. Come on up to my office.”

Whyyyyyy…!

She wanted to submit her resignation as quickly and discreetly as possible and run away. Why was she suddenly being dragged into General Ray’s office? The world almost certainly bore a grudge against her.

They entered the General’s office, which was filled with stacks of boxes marked with various labels. Some of them contained patrol reports, others were filled with reference materials. General Ray’s desk was similarly piled high with folders, binders and stationery. Once the door whispered shut behind them, he turned to lean against his desk.

“So,” he said, “I’ve been told that you’ll be heading to Zahradnik Barony.”

Nemel felt her eyes growing so wide that she feared that they would roll out of their sockets. How did he know? No, he was a General. Not just any General, but General Ray. Why did she think she could hide anything from him? She was just stupid Junior Mage Officer Nemel Gran.

“Yes, sir.”

That was about all she could manage. General Ray nodded slowly. Nemel wondered what dire things were about to happen to her.

“I’d like to thank you for the excellent job you’ve done,” he said. “I had some high expectations since you’re from House Gran, but you’ve managed to surpass them by far.”

“I…I did my best, sir.”

“And now you’re on your way to the Sorcerous Kingdom. Normally, the Empire would enfeoff someone that ends up as a dignitary in a foreign land as a matter of protocol.”

Nemel shifted uncomfortably, swallowing the lump in her throat.

“A-about that, sir,” she said. “I was going to resign my commission…”

“Resign?” The General straightened with a frown, “I understand that you won’t be able to work your regular job with the Imperial Air Service, but that’s no reason to quit the Imperial Army. If anything, you’ll be holding a very important post.”

“But it’s more a desk job…”

“If you think that’s all it’ll be,” General Ray said, “you’re sorely mistaken. You’ll be within arm’s reach of Baroness Zahradnik, after all. She has a keen interest in all manner of military affairs and I don’t doubt that she’ll take an interest in your work as a War Wizard in the Imperial Air Service.”

Lady Zahradnik had expressed her interest in that, so maybe General Ray knew what he was talking about. Nemel had only been in the army for half a year, however, so she was hardly in a position to serve Lady Zahradnik in that capacity.

“Wh-what should I do…”

“Continue your studies in the Imperial Military Academy, for one,” the General told her. “That way, you’ll be better equipped to answer any questions to her satisfaction. You can take your coursework with you. Taking a Hippogriff along is probably not an option, but they’ll probably provide you with a mount if necessary. Who knows – you might end up flying around with a Dragon.”

Nemel laughed politely on General Ray’s cue.

“Speaking of which,” he said, “you never did directly mention who Frost 19 was in your reports. I was hoping to meet them when they finally arrived in Arwintar.”

“Oh, uh…”

She turned around, wondering where Dame Verilyn was. After feeling around herself for a moment, her fingers closed around something soft. The Frost Dragon let out a cute and decidedly undragonlike squeak.

“Y-you could have just said something,” Dame Verilyn shot Nemel a look.

“I wasn’t even sure where you were!”

“I understand why she was impossible for the other agents to track now,” General Ray said. “So this is her, huh…”

“Yes, sir,” Nemel nodded. “Dame Verilyn, a Knight of House Zahradnik.”

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Dame Verilyn,” the General bowed slightly. “I would love to take you for a tour of Arwintar, but my schedule is packed full of meetings for the next few weeks. Officer Gran is a native of the city, however, so I’m sure she’ll be able to show you around.”

General Ray walked them back out of the building before jogging off to attend a meeting. Nemel sighed.

“That went nowhere near what I planned,” she said. “This is bad, isn’t it?”

“The way he made it sound,” Dame Verilyn said, “it’s to your advantage? The Imperial Army will know they can’t call on you, you’ll be able to learn things that please Lady Zahradnik and I still get my minion.”

A part of her feared where it would all lead, but, for the time being, it felt too reasonable to refuse out of hand. They walked over to the Imperial Military Academy, which was down the road from the Imperial Army Headquarters. Nemel showed Dame Verilyn around while updating her coursework and picking up new materials. At least she would have plenty of time to study while her new lands were being cleared and readied for potatoes.

As the evening’s shadows grew long, Nemel strolled towards her family’s home with Dame Verilyn.

“Thanks for coming with me to get all this stuff done,” Nemel said. “I said it wouldn’t take long but it’s nearly nighttime.”

“If it must be done,” Dame Verilyn replied, “then it must be done. Nothing will keep me from keeping my minions. By the way, Ida mentioned something about her parents selling her – how much will I have to pay your parents for you? Will they haggle? Maybe I should have brought Zu Chiru along…”

“Huh? No! I mean, you don’t have to buy me. I’m your vassal, right? N-not a slave…I hope.”

“I guess? You must see why classic minions are superior by now. They willingly work for free for the greater good of me.”

Her father would definitely have something to say if he heard that.

On the way to the gate of House Gran, they encountered a familiar figure coming out of the gate across from it. A young woman waited outside her carriage as a footman loaded her bags. As Nemel came close, she turned and adjusted her spectacles.

“Nemel?” Dimoiya leaned forward as she peered at them, “And a super hottie! How hasn’t she been mobbed by attainted on the way in?”

“They’re probably scared of her,” Nemel replied.

“Huh?”

“I-it’s nothing. Erm…this is Dame Verilyn, a Knight from the Sorcerous Kingdom. Dame Verilyn, this is Dimoiya Tila El Erex. She’s the eldest daughter of House Erex and a junior official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

Dimoiya straightened with a grin, planting her hands on her hips.

“Hehehe…I won’t be a junior officer for long! All kinds of honours are comin’ my way!”

“R-really? But we're still technically students…”

“I won’t let that stop me,” Dimoiya replied, “besides, this stuff’s basically falling into my lap.”

“What kind of stuff?” Nemel asked.

“Did you hear about the fighting down south?” Dimoiya asked back.

“There was an advisory about the Wyvernmark…”

“Yep, that! The new expeditionary army did some stuff down there last month and now the entire imperial administration is busy reviewing their policies and how they pursue them.”

“That’s uh…weird? Doesn’t the Empire usually just take over and redevelop everything? They even put up commissions hoping that Adventures and Workers will take care of the big problems.”

Plus they transformed the land, making it inhospitable to anyone else. It wasn’t just the big problems: all the animals, plants and everything else that used to live in the land that they developed could no longer live there.

“Hmm…I guess that’s one way to put it,” Dimoiya scratched her chin. “Maybe I can use that for something. Anyway, turns out we suck at expanding and no one knows what they’re doing. Everyone’s busy as heck revamping policies and processes and all that. The Imperial Army is undergoing reforms as well.”

“…didn’t they undergo reforms half a year ago? Wait, we suck? What happened?”

“I think the gist of it is that what we do in the Empire doesn’t work out there. They got in a big fight with Demihumans and hundreds of Imperial Knights died.”

“That’s bad, isn’t it? New Imperial Knights don’t just come out of nowhere…”

“New ones don’t,” Dimoiya smirked, “but old ones do. We have almost two Legions’ worth of Imperial Knights that had to retire early and they all want their jobs back. Competition for empty positions is stiff and interest in the Imperial Army is at an all-time high.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Nemel furrowed her brow. “Why would people want to join the army when it just got beat up?”

Dimoiya waggled her finger at Nemel, making a tch tch tch sound.

“You’re a really nice girl, Nemel, but that’s not how it works. People get interested when they think stuff’s getting done. When that stuff looks tough, all the talented and ambitious people come out of the woodwork because they think they can measure up and the reward is worth their time and skills.”

People were crazy. A life of peace and potatoes was best – why couldn’t they be happy with that?

“Anyway,” Dimoiya continued, “things are pretty busy around here now. The Court Council’s already swamped as it is so Lady Frianne’s taken charge of the initiative and General Ray’s been working day and night to restructure the Sixth Legion.”

If it was Lady Frianne, Nemel didn’t think anything could go wrong. She was a genius superwoman, after all. Still, the sorts of changes Dimoiya described were unprecedented.

“This feels pretty big,” Nemel said. “What did His Imperial Majesty say about it?”

“He’s fully backing the changes!”

“Really?”

“Really! Jumped right on board and told everyone to get to work. A lot of it has to do with the Empire’s approach to Demihuman relations, so…”

Dimoiya shrugged as if the rest was self-explanatory. Nemel wracked her brains for a connection, but nothing came out.

“I’ve been doing army things since the Promotional Examination,” she said, “I must have missed something important.”

“Oh, that’s right…well, the short of it is that His Imperial Majesty’s become reeeeeeeally good friends with a Demihuman sovereign from one of the nations under the Sorcerous Kingdom. That friendship is influencing how he wants the Empire to view Demihumans in general now.”

“Wow,” Nemel breathed, “even that Emperor…the power of friendship is amazing. I guess the Sorcerous Kingdom is really starting to transform things.”

“Yep!” The setting sun glinted off of Dimoiya’s spectacles as she nodded, “If you look down on everything from high up, you can tell it’s the Sorcerous Kingdom’s doing. Every move that they make basically nudges the Empire closer in line with their national policy.”

“That Sorcerer King is really something. He has all sorts of amazing people, too.”

“Sure does. I got to meet a few of them – they’re all great…Baroness Zahradnik is scary though. She appeared in my window just as I was going to bed a few weeks ago and I almost peed myself. Just popped up like some kinda ghost, told me that some stuff was going to happen and left. Lady Frianne and I had plenty of time to prepare for it.”

Did that mean the Baroness popped up in Lady Frianne’s bedroom window as well?

“So you know Baroness Zahradnik…”

“Sure do, she’s–wait, Dame Verilyn…isn’t that the name of Lady Zahradnik's Knight?”

“Yes, she’s a Knight of House Zahradnik.”

“Oh, uh…hmm…”

Dimoiya examined Dame Verilyn, who took a step back at her intense interest.

“Aren’t you supposed to be a Dragon?” Dimoiya asked, “One that can fit under my bed. That threat doesn’t seem so threatening now.”

“Wh-what?” Dame Verilyn blinked.

“Ah, nothing. Forget I said anything.”

“But I can’t!”

Dimoiya hopped into her carriage, shutting the door behind her. Nemel and Dame Verilyn stared as the vehicle vanished around the bend.

“A-anyway,” Nemel said after several moments, “my place is that gate just across from here.”