Winter's Crown: Act 2, Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The younger footman opened the gate, while the other led them to the main entrance of the manor.

“I don’t recall calling ahead,” Shalltear whispered over to Ludmila.

“Ah, that was me, my lady,” she replied. “I let them know we were on our way while we were walking here. I hope you don’t mind.”

“It was the proper thing to do,” Shalltear told her. “You’ve certainly grown accustomed to using your abilities in daily life.”

“They’re quite convenient where they can be prudently used,” Ludmila said. “Though it’s only been a short while, I can’t imagine not having them now.”

The footman opened the tall oak door and Baroness Wagner curtseyed in greeting with a maid at her side.

“Good morning, Minister Bloodfallen, Lady Zahradnik,” she said, “I hope the day finds you well.”

“Good morning, Lady Wagner,” Shalltear smiled. “I hope that I’m not imposing on you.”

“Of course not, my lady,” Liane Wagner rose with a smile. “Please, come in. I’ve had a room prepared for us.”

With a swirl of her shortened pastel skirts, she led them into a drawing room where some light refreshments awaited them. Shalltear seated herself on a firm, yet comfortable, couch, and the two noblewomen followed suit.

“I can’t believe you’re able to sit in that,” Liane eyed Ludmila in her suit of armour. “What war are you going off to fight, anyway?”

“Just Adventurer things,” Ludmila replied. “This armour is quite easy to move around in, too.”

“Uh…if you say so,” the younger noblewoman said dubiously and turned to Shalltear. “Anyways, Ludmila mentioned that you needed a Clean spell for something, my lady? Rose here can take care of that for you.”

"Yes, that’s right,” Shalltear produced the Ainz-sama doll and placed it on the table between them. “This has been infused with an odour that will simply not go away no matter how many times it’s been washed and aired out, arinsu.”

“This is…His Majesty? It’s pretty cute – where’d you get it from?”

“It’s custom-tailored, arinsu.”

“That so? It might sell well…though I guess owning a limited item has a charm of its own.”

“As expected of Baroness Wagner,” Shalltear replied, “you have quite an eye for these things.”

“Hehe, always.” Liane grinned, “Let’s see if we can get rid of this stink for ya.”

Liane waved her maid forward, and Rose lowered her head.

“Pardon the intrusion, Lady Shalltear,” the blonde-haired maid said as she extended her right palm towards the plush doll.

“「Clean」.”

A light swirl of magic-infused the doll on the table for a few seconds before dissipating into the air. Shalltear reached out to take the Ainz-sama doll and brought it up to her nose. She inhaled lightly.

The smell was gone.

Just to make sure, she pressed the doll to her face and inhaled deeply. Not a trace of Albedo’s obnoxious musk remained.

“What tier of magic was this-arinsuka?” She asked, and looked up to Rose.

“Clean is a utility spell of the First Tier, my lady,” Rose answered smoothly.

The Guardian Overseer, defeated by a First Tier spell. The day kept getting better and better. Beside her, Ludmila withdrew a small coin purse from her Infinite Haversack.

“How much does this service cost?” She asked.

Even in armour, her vassal had slipped into her role as a lady-in-waiting.

"Uh…cantrips and First Tier spells are the same price since they use the same amount of mana,” Liane replied. “One copper.”

Ludmila fished a copper coin out of her purse and placed it on the table. Liane looked down at it strangely.

“...is something the matter?” Ludmila asked worriedly.

“House Wagner deals with dozens of merchant companies every day,” Liane said, “moving thousands of platinum coins. Now House Wagner is dealing with the Minister of Transportation of the Sorcerous Kingdom, moving one copper coin.”

A frown slowly formed on Ludmila’s face.

“W-what should I do?" Ludmila said in distraught tones, “I don’t have any Platinum coins on hand – I can fill an invoice if–”

“Woah!” Liane shouted, holding up her hands, “I didn’t mean anything like that. I just thought it was funny – y’know…irony?”

Liane half-rose from her seat, leaning over the marble table in an effort to calm Ludmila down. Liane quickly glanced to Shalltear, who returned a neutral look, then froze.

“M-m-minister Bloodfallen,” she said in a small voice as a horrified look crept onto her face, “I have absolutely no intention of overcharging you for this, just so you know…”

Her voice trailed off as her face turned ashen, Shalltear’s crimson gaze reflected in her ice-blue eyes. The pale blonde hair framing her slender neck shook lightly as she began to visibly tremble. Liane’s reaction was far cuter than what Ludmila could offer in similar circumstances – she bore a bit of a resemblance to another girl around her age that she had enjoyed many months ago.

“Lady Wagner,” Ludmila produced a clean sheet of parchment from her bag, “how much platinum should I put us down for?”

Baroness Wagner wavered on her feet; she looked like she was about to be sick. Shalltear raised a hand to cover the smile on her lips, but a short laugh that escaped gave her away. The strength in Liane’s legs seemed to give way as she fell back onto her seat with a sigh, slouching slovenly on her couch. Out of the corner of her eye, Shalltear saw Ludmila stick out her tongue.

“You–” Liane started, and Shalltear burst out in laughter.

Ludmila started to laugh as well, and with a weak groan, Liane fell over sideways onto the couch cushions and curled up. It wasn’t long, however, before her shoulders started to shake with laughter too.

Yes, this is nice. Shalltear thought to herself as their laughter chimed over the air, this is how it should be. To be able to enjoy the day: with refined, talented and attractive young women to keep me company. All I need to do is get my hands on the other two. Let Albedo play her games of intrigue with that silly Golden Princess. By the time any of her plans come to fruition, I will have long created my own cadre – their quality proven, and loyalty beyond question.

When they finally settled down again, Shalltear withdrew several volumes of records from her inventory and placed them on the table.

“I should thank you for lending me your records,” she told Liane. “These have been quite useful as a reference for logistics and trade in the region.”

“I’m glad that House Wagner was able to be of service,” Liane replied, having returned to her usual form. “If you need anything else, please let me know: it feels good to be at the forefront of progress instead of chasing after it while it happens everywhere else. Rose–”

Liane cut herself off and looked around: Rose was passed out on the floor nearby, skirts spread over the luxurious rug.

“Oh, hmm…” Liane leaned over her armrest, “Rose.”

The maid immediately stirred at the sound of her mistress’ voice. It felt an age ago when Shalltear first met Ludmila and encouraged her to explore and harness the powers of her class. Now, she and her friends were reliably able to do so whenever it was required.

“My lady, we’re…alive?”

“Guess so. Put these things away, will ya?”

The maid rose from the floor and straightened out her uniform before proceeding to take the materials away. Liane fidgeted a bit in the meanwhile before she broke the silence with a question.

“Lady Shalltear, I was wondering…have you heard anything about Frost Giants?”

“It’s strange that you should ask,” Shalltear replied. “I was about to bring them up myself, arinsu.”

“You were? I mean – did you have questions about them, or do you have some sort of official statement on them?”

“Perhaps a bit of both: on matters of transportation and security, I probably have the answers you seek. The Royal Court has several questions that they are trying to find answers for as well, arinsu.”

“Oh, that’s a relief,” Liane stood up and walked over to a mahogany cabinet along the wall, drawing out a pen and some parchment. “Quite a few petitions from various associates of House Wagner have been presented to the administration, but no one’s received a reply so far.”

Liane reseated herself and looked up at her.

“How would you like to start?” Liane asked.

“Forming a common foundation of knowledge should be the first step,” Ludmila said.

“Yes,” Shalltear agreed. “The Prime Minister only handed off the query to the rest of us at the end of her initial investigations, so what I have so far has the feeling of having been handled halfway, arinsu. We’ve only been able to trace the source of this Frost Giant…issue…in the form of a widespread rumour that has permeated the merchant population.”

“That sounds about right, from where I stand,” Liane nodded. “Starting about four days ago, several of the merchants working for House Wagner all approached me with the same rumours. Over the next few days, even more merchants came to me – a bunch of those didn’t even work for us…they were just associates, even rivals in some fields. Then, my contacts from the Empire started asking about it starting yesterday.”

Ludmila made a sound from the side at Liane’s account.

“Yeah,” Liane said, “rumours fly really fast when profit and risk are involved. Just by keeping track of who is contacting me, and when, I can see how fast this news is rippling out from E-Rantel and spreading all over the Empire. It’s especially annoying since it deals with something entirely unknown to us: the imagination can just blow things completely out of proportion…or just trivialize things, but the real damage is the unfounded speculation causing irrational fluctuations in the markets. It’s a good thing that trade with the Dwarves just started, or it would have some pretty nasty effects on trade.”

“I wonder if we’ll be getting official queries from the Empire soon,” Shalltear mused. “Momon initially attributed these rumours to the Dwarves, since they are from the same area – what are the chances of this being the case?”

“Zilch, pretty much,” Liane said flatly. “It’s easy to use that kinda logic to draw a careless conclusion, but, in reality, it’s often not the case. I’ve had a lot of meetings with Dwarf Merchants, and they’ve never once mentioned Frost Giants. As far as I’ve gathered, their races rarely have any sort of interaction. I sent out about two dozen agents to make sure – checking around the taverns and other gathering places for gossip and such – when I first became aware of this rumour, but the Dwarves appear to have nothing to do with it. Most of the time, it’s the Dwarves picking up the rumour from Humans…and then those Dwarves come asking me.”

“What are these rumours, exactly?” Ludmila asked.

“It’s pretty much divided into two parts,” Liane said. “The first part is some vague history of the area – it’s pretty dubious when you consider how far back it claims to go. The second part is about the Frost Giants: their strength, what they’re like, and how, with their Frost Dragon rivals no longer opposing them in the Azerlisia Mountains, nothing is stopping the Frost Giants from expanding and subjecting others to their belligerent behaviour.”

“Whoever is spreading this rumour is claiming that the Sorcerous Kingdom will be at fault for any Frost Giant incidents?” Shalltear frowned.

“Hmm…not directly, if that matters any,” Liane said. “It’s a nice and juicy rumour but, at its core, it’s more like a story where you have two opposing sides and one suddenly disappears – the rest of it just a predictable enough outcome.”

“Are Frost Giants actually that strong?” Ludmila raised an eyebrow, “It’s hard to imagine anything defeating the Sorcerous Kingdom’s armies in a direct confrontation. What’s to stop them from just being rooted out of the mountains and eliminated as a threat entirely?”

“Oh boy, here comes Surshana’s Chosen,” Liane rolled her eyes, “bringing death to all Demihumans.”

“Ludmila has the gist of it, however,” Shalltear said. “If these Frost Giants cause the Sorcerous Kingdom to lose face through their aggressive actions, the reprisal will be exactly that severe.”

“Okay…maybe I’m in the minority here, but maybe we shouldn’t be going around obliterating entire races for relatively minor incidents? Leaving piles of rubble everywhere nets little in the way of profit for us – it mostly benefits vermin and scavengers.”

“The Prime Minister is only considering it as a last resort,” Shalltear replied. “We’ll be exploring more…diplomatic avenues first.”

“That sort of diplomacy takes time,” Ludmila said. “In the meanwhile, what can they do to inflict harm on the Sorcerous Kingdom and those we’re on friendly terms with? How can it be prevented so diplomacy has the time it needs to work?”

“From what we’ve gathered,” Shalltear replied, “they potentially have prominent members among them that can face off directly against Soul Eaters, but not against the hundreds we have working with the Dwarven migration at the moment. The most damaging actions they can take are indirect – using natural hazards to wipe out merchant caravans and infrastructure. Their ancient rivals, the Frost Dragons, are working with the migration as well, so their constant presence should keep the Frost Giants at bay until the Dwarves finish moving back into their old cities, arinsu.”

“How much time does that buy?” Ludmila asked.

“I suppose that would depend on them; we care little for what they do otherwise. The bulk of the move should be completed within the next two months, but the mountain roads will still see use after that. The Dwarves are short on hands overall, and they still want to restore the ruins of their westernmost city.”

“An opportunity for the Sorcerous Kingdom to market the merits of Undead labour, then,” Liane mused.

“I believe that’s the plan, yes,” Shalltear replied. “A free trial to demonstrate the advantages of our Undead labour, followed by promotional leases and such, arinsu. The reception seems to be favourable so far, arinsu.”

“Hmm…so if you have all that under control,” Liane said, “all you’re looking for is the source of this rumour? To be honest, I’d be tempted to take advantage of it – the more widespread this rumour becomes, the more recognition the Sorcerous Kingdom will earn when a resolution is achieved.”

“The Prime Minister has expressed her desire to control the spread of any new rumours by dealing with the source if it exists as a single person or isolated group,” Shalltear shook her head. “If it is a single source, it has demonstrated the capability to distribute destabilizing information at a disturbing rate, so its potential to undermine confidence in the Sorcerous Kingdom is Albedo’s main concern.”

“What about the current rumours surrounding the Frost Giants?” Ludmila asked.

“If it’s as widespread as Liane says,” Shalltear replied, “then there’s no point in trying. Any attempts to do so will only reinforce their credibility or even blow things out of proportion. Flailing around trying to contain this information when it could be all the way out in Karnassus by now will only serve to portray us as incompetent.”

“Gotcha…I’ll let my people know and send word out that the Royal Court is already looking into the problem,” Liane looked up from her notes, “and we’ll continue keeping an eye on this rumour. Was there anything else you wanted to throw on top of this?”

“Not in particular, no,” Shalltear rose from her seat. “Just balancing out the effects of this rumour with our assurances should be fine.”

The two noblewomen stood after she did, and Liane did a sort of half-bow.

“I’ll get to work right away on this, Lady Shalltear,” she said. “Though I’m afraid we’re nowhere near as effective as…”

Liane unbent herself, and a concerned frown appeared.

“What is it-arinsuka?” Shalltear asked.

“I just keep thinking that this rumour is too powerful,” Liane said.

“How do you mean-arinsuka?”

“It’s too effective, and it’s too cohesive – too perfect in the information it delivers,” Liane explained. “Usually, when you’re dealing with rumours, you notice them slowly change the longer they last and the further they travel. This one, no matter how far the report comes from or how many days it’s been out there, is always exactly the same. Maybe it’s because merchants usually have very good information networks, but still…I can’t help but wonder if this rumour is the result of an ability or a spell.”

Shalltear furrowed her brow. In Yggdrasil, there was no such vague, widespread magic capable of producing the results described. Again, this strange new world presented a potential threat that could not be met with direct force.

“Who would the perpetrators be if this was the case?”

“I’ve never heard of anything like this done with a spell,” Liane replied, “though, admittedly, we’re not exactly a high magic society here in ex-Re-Estize. The alternative would be someone with oration abilities.”

“Like a Noble?” Ludmila said.

“Probably not small-time nobles like us,” Liane shook her head. “Sometimes you hear stories about great nobles galvanizing their people with stirring speeches or fantastic deeds and such, but I don’t think any of us have been going around doing that recently. The other options would be Commanders, preacher types and performers. I can’t say for sure, but it’s probably not the first two since they probably have no stake in planting such a rumour.

“We may just have had a wandering minstrel or something that rolled through the city and spread the tale with no particular intent to ruffle any feathers, as insanely irresponsible as that would be. I’m not sure about the extent of their abilities, however. We’d have crazy information flying all over the place if every Bard could pull this sort of thing off. Maybe one of the Guilds can answer that question.”

Liane and Rose accompanied them back out to the street in front of the Wagner manor, where they parted ways. Far to the north, clouds dark with rain were rolling in over the foothills.

“It looks like Mare went to change the weather before heading to the Adventurer Guild,” Shalltear noted. “Speaking of which, weren’t you supposed to be going there when I came across you, arinsuka?”

“I usually head out an hour or two early to take a look around the markets, my lady,” Ludmila replied. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Actually, yes…if this individual spreading the rumour is operating with clear, malicious intent against the Sorcerous Kingdom, you can track it, right?”

“That’s, er…” Ludmila lowered her head. “Apologies, my lady, but I lost that ability.”

“When did this happen?”

“Around my first or second death,” there was a hint of annoyance in Ludmila’s voice. “They happened within a day of each other; I was knocked straight back down to Iron rank…at least that’s where they tentatively placed me. I didn’t even realize it was gone until I tried using it sometime later.”

“So you lost whatever class level it was that conferred the ability,” Shalltear said. “Have you been able to get it back at any point?”

“I go through a checklist of things every time I finish a session in the training area now, but I haven’t been able to do it since…I’m sorry, my lady.”

“Well, hopefully you find it again soon: that tracking ability seems perfect for this sort of thing.”

“I agree, my lady,” Ludmila nodded. “The Adventurer Guild is starting to become quite thorough at cataloguing their members and their abilities now, but there are still all sorts of issues with isolating Classes and making various associations with them. This tracking ability is unique to me in the guild, which leads me to believe that it’s from some Class that I gained through activities outside of what Adventurers usually deal with.”

“So you won’t get it back just by training with the Adventurer Guild.”

“That should be the case, my lady. It’s possible that I’ll just pick it up again while I’m performing my regular duties. I’ll have to pay close attention to how I get it.”

The sound of a lute drifted over a nearby hedge. When they crossed an opening to a garden nearby, they saw a Bard entertaining a small group of wealthy patrons. Shalltear slowed her steps to listen to the lyrics being sung, but it was just some exaggerated tale about Adventurers hunting some local monsters – a pack of Trolls and some other low-level forest creatures. After moving on past the garden and onto the main street leading out of the district, Ludmila looked at her.

“My lady,” she said, “I think I may have our culprit.”

“That Bard?” Shalltear glanced over her shoulder.

“Not him – but he was singing about local monsters and such. To have such knowledge of the Frost Giants, who live in relative isolation within the Azerlisia Mountains, the source of the rumour should also be from a local of that region, no?”

“Well, traffic from the Dwarf Kingdom is starting to pick up now,” Shalltear said. “So you’re saying this is the work of a Dwarf….Bard, arinsuka?”

“A Frost Dragon Bard,” Ludmila replied. “Wagner mentioned that the rumour started four days ago, and four days ago I saw a Frost Dragon – in the appearance of a Human woman around my age – entertaining the queue as I was coming out of the Merchant Guild.”

“I would think that you’d remember that sort of thing right away-arinsuka,” Shalltear reached into her inventory to pull out a binder.

“I’ve been leaving people alone if they’re not doing anything suspicious looking, my lady,” Ludmila replied, “and it’s not uncommon to see someone using a magical disguise once in a while now that trade is flowing freely again. The Frost Dragons are subjects of the Sorcerous Kingdom, and a part of our delivery staff, so I did not immediately suspect that anything was amiss.”

They stopped on the side of the street as Shalltear leafed through the pages of the binder. Each section was a dossier for a Frost Dragon, which included their traits, abilities, and special notes – along with their current schedule. Finding the Dragons currently flying between E-Rantel and Feoh Berkana, she realized that one matched Ludmila’s account perfectly and sighed.

“My lady?”

“I really should have pinned that one to the wall.”