Winter's Crown: Act 7, Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“H-hello? Excuse me…”

A woman started at the sound of Ilyshn’ish’s voice. She looked up from where she appeared to be tending to a row of wounded Humans laid out in the midst of the expedition base camp. Her brow furrowed as she glanced over her.

“Who…?”

“Ah…”

Ilyshn’ish had entered the camp in her Human appearance this time, as she did not want to be viciously struck with a sword by a howling Human again. She shifted from foot to foot as she adjusted the weight of the half-dozen Infinite Haversacks slung over her shoulders. The woman returned her attention to the bleeding man before her.

“I’ve come to deliver a parcel from E-Rantel,” Ilyshn’ish said.

“Supplies?” The woman stood, wiping her hands on her black scapular, “Quick, hand me the restoratives. We’ve long run dry here.”

“R-restoratives? Um,” Ilyshn’ish felt around her waist, “one moment while I figure out which one it is.”

She reached into her bag to withdraw a folder, scanning the first page within.

“Number three?” She muttered, “And number four…”

“Hurry it up!” The woman snapped.

“Hiiiieeee!”

Ilyshn’ish frantically flipped the bags back and forth, looking for the numbers attached to them. The woman snatched the ones that she held out and rifled through their content. A number of healing potions and scrolls were placed on the ground.

“This…this is highly irregular,” Ilyshn’ish told the woman as she started using the scrolls and potions. “You need to sign before–”

“Rainbow is fighting out there right now,” the woman did not spare a glance in her direction. “You’ll have to wait–”

Shouts rose from nearby, and the woman froze. After a moment, her attention turned back to Ilyshn’ish.

“Actually, you can’t loiter around here,” she said. “It’s not safe – go back to E-Rantel.”

“But–”

“Go!”

Ilyshn’ish’s scurrying feet carried her away beyond the perimeter of the camp before one fear superseded the other. She couldn’t just leave. The postal service’s procedures were quite clear. One needed to confirm their delivery and receive a signature or stamp from the recipient. If she returned without doing so…

It had never happened before, but she shuddered at what the potential result might be. What if they claimed that they never received her delivery, or accused her of theft? Sneaking around the perimeter of the camp out of sight of the ornery woman, Ilyshn’ish went off to find someone who could sign off on her delivery. Then she could head back to the city and see about selling her eggs.

Not far into the woods, she came across another Human, who looked a bit bruised and battered. He stopped in his tracks and stared at her, as if wondering what he saw before him was real.

“Who…who are you? Where did you–”

A feral growl rose from the bushes nearby. The Human stiffened and turned towards the source of the sound. A three-metre long beast covered in snow-white fur leapt out at him with a snarl, fangs bared. The Human fell backwards with a shriek. Ilyshn’ish stepped forward and slapped the Winter Wolf into the ground.

“I’m with the post office,” she said. “Would you be so kind as to direct me to the nearest member of Rainbow?”

“T-the post…? Er…”

The man pointed to the north, and Ilyshn’ish smiled in return.

“Thank you very much.”

She was about to leave the blushing man behind, but stopped as she eyed the corpse of the Winter Wolf. Her casual swat had left it in pristine condition – there was something to be said for not having razor-sharp talons. A crafter in E-Rantel would probably purchase it from her. Did she have enough room in her bag? She leaned over to pick up the dead Magical Beast, sighing in relief when she was able to stuff it into her Infinite Haversack.

Several hundred metres further north, she came upon a small group of Humans clustered against the trunk of a giant redwood. A Bard was plucking at the strings of her lyre, weaving a horrible-sounding Spellsong that encompassed the area in a healing effect. A couple of the Humans looked up at her approach, but most stared at nothing with tired expressions.

Ah, this is just like what we do at the Justice Dragon Dojo.

Ilyshn’ish nodded in understanding. The Monks training with Master Tian often had that tired and shocked expression as they recovered under the effects of her Form of Restoration. She smiled at one of the males looking up at her.

“Good afternoon,” she said. “Might you be so kind as to direct me to the closest member of Rainbow?”

“Who the hell are you?” A woman seated near to the man scowled up at her question.

“I-I’m with the post office,” Ilyshn’ish backed away slightly. “I’ve just dropped off a parcel, but I need one of the senior members here to sign the delivery receipt…”

The music stopped, and the group looked up at her with uncomprehending expressions. Did she say something strange? It was standard procedure.

Ilyshn’ish spotted movement in the distance, then a familiar voice sounded through the trees.

“Ah, never mind,” Ilyshn’ish said, “I found one.”

She padded off through the trees towards the activity beyond.

What are they doing? It’s an expedition, so this is ‘diplomacy’, right? Of course, it is – Frost Giants won’t even pay attention to you until you make a name for yourself. I wonder how many they’ve killed so far…well, they still have a long ways to go if it’s just these weaklings.

Along the banks of a bubbling brook, roughly twenty Adventurers faced off against six Frost Giants. Half of the Adventurers stood in the thick of the melee. Their expressions ranged from determined to desperate, depending on how well they appeared to be handling their opponents. Most of the Frost Giants were facing off against a pair of Adventurers, while those standing at a distance appeared to be focusing their attacks on the strongest-looking Giant.

Against that Giant was the portly man who had signed off on her delivery to the camp southwest of E-Rantel. He was the strongest amongst the Humans in the clearing, but his face was fixed into a look of grim determination against his superior foe. Ilyshn’ish stepped over the bodies of several Humans as she made her way over. The Frost Giant glanced in her direction, and the Human standing before him stabbed up into the Giant’s thigh with his sword.

“I’m your opponent,” the Human said in response to the Frost Giant’s growl. “Don’t be distracted by anyone else now.”

A booted foot lashed out, but the Human caught the brunt of the kick against his shield. The attack sent him through the air to the edge of the treeline over two dozen metres away. The Frost Giant took a step towards Ilyshn’ish, but an arrow sailed in, setting his pale beard aflame.

“What the – skank?” A familiar voice called out, “What are you doing here?”

“Please don’t call me that,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “I’m not that sort of female!”

“Oh, yes you are – wait, never mind that: help us clear out these Giants!”

Ilyshn’ish dodged away from a hand that reached down to snatch her.

“I’m not qualified to join expeditions yet,” she said. “I just need your signature for this delivery…”

The hand appeared to grab at Ilyshn’ish again. Annoyed, she stepped inside the Frost Giant’s reach and whacked him across the wrist. He rose to his full height with a pained noise, shaking his arm.

“A-anyways,” Ilyshn’ish said, “I can’t participate in your diplomatic efforts here – those are the rules. Ishpen will yell at me if she finds out.”

“If ya don’t help out,” Merry replied, “I ain’t gonna sign.”

“What!” Ilyshn’ish cried, “That’s entirely unreasonable! I’m going to get into trouble…”

“Not my problem.”

Ilyshn’ish ducked under the long-handled battleaxe that arced in from behind. She backed up between the Giant’s legs on the return stroke, and he twisted around, trying to stomp her into the ground. The attempt met with no success, however, as she was far too agile. She mused over the situation as she wove an impromptu dance with her unasked-for partner.

Being small has its perks – I wouldn’t be able to do this as a Dragon.

“Hey Moknach,” Merry called from somewhere, “let’s switch targets.”

“Uh, what?” Moknach looked up from where he was trying to get back into the fight, “Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah, this guy is screwed.”

“Hey, wait,” Ilyshn’ish called out, “my sig–”

She stepped back as an axe blade whistled through the air where she once stood. Perhaps because of Merry’s noisy pronouncement, the Frost Giant finally got it into his head to create some distance and bring his weapon to bear. He glowered down at her as she continued to deftly dodge his sequence of attacks.

“「Ability Boost」!”

“「Greater Ability Boost」!”

The Frost Giant’s attacks increased in speed and intensity with the activation of his Martial Arts. Ilyshn’ish continued manoeuvring away from the clearing in the direction from where she had last heard Merry’s voice. Her eyes widened in surprise as her shoulder bumped into a tree at the edge of the clearing, and the Frost Giant’s eyes gleamed in savage glee.

“「Bonecleaver」!”

The axe came down in a diagonal cut towards her. She ducked under the blade, which buried itself deep into the tree.

This idiot…there’s no way a Dragon wouldn’t realize that that tree was there. Actually, I guess he doesn’t know what I am…

She hopped onto the tightly lodged weapon, running up its handle and onto the Frost Giant’s right arm. Leaping from the crook of his elbow, she landed a flying kick into his throat. He stumbled backwards with a choking sound, and the ground shuddered as he crashed onto his back. An arm came in towards her, but she slapped it away with the back of her left hand. Leaning over, she dug her fingers into the Giant’s throat and ripped it out.

“Merry,” Ilyshn’ish said after she wiped her hands off on the dead Giant’s beard, “I’m done with this one. Could I get your–”

“Busy.”

The red-haired Elf didn’t even look in her direction, instead continuing to loose arrows into the fray. With a vexed noise, Ilyshn’ish moved on to the next Frost Giant. Why did this woman have to be like that?

She stepped over another fallen Adventurer and wondered if they even needed her help anymore. The five remaining Giants were young and impetuous individuals looking to prove themselves, as was customary for scouting parties searching for raid targets. While most of the Adventurers present did not individually match them – especially in terms of raw strength – they were numerous and capable enough to prevail by working together if they understood how to handle their adversary. The much stronger warrior that was leading them should have been the only real threat.

A Frost Giant ahead eyed Ilyshn’ish warily as she approached. A loud whistle pierced the air, and two Winter Wolves dashed out from the trees on the north side of the clearing.

“Look out!” Someone cried.

Adventurers scrambled back as the Magical Beasts came forward. The area around Ilyshn’ish and the Frost Giant was blanketed over with the Winter Wolves’ freezing breath attack. Ilyshn’ish eyed them with a calculating gaze through the supercooled mist: did she have enough room in her bag left for both? Maybe she could just carry them back.

As she pondered the problem, she made her way over to the nearby Frost Giant and grabbed his ankle. A startled cry went up when she wrenched him to the ground, flattening the bushes along the brook. By the time the mist cleared, the Giant was dead and Ilyshn’ish was making her way over to the next.

Several minutes later, Merry placed her stamp on the delivery receipt.

“Thank you for using the Vampire Post,” Ilyshn’ish dipped her head politely.

“Uh-huh,” Merry said.

Ilyshn’ish made her way back out into the clearing. She walked halfway to the place where the two Winter Wolves were, then stopped. They were gone. Of course, they were gone – she didn’t kill them before moving on to the next Giant. Her head drooped and she sighed.

“H-hey!”

She jumped at the voice with a squeak. It was one of the Adventurers in the clearing. Her Blindsight allowed her to sense everything in the vicinity, but it didn’t prevent those in range from startling her with sudden noises. She turned to face the group nearby.

“I-is there something I can help you with?”

“Naw, you’ve helped us plenty already,” the Adventurer beamed. “Just wanted to thank you for pulling us out of that crazy mess.”

Did she do something like that? Aside from the first Frost Giant, they seemed perfectly fine. The Adventurer’s gaze fell to her breast.

“I-I thought you were an Adventurer from somewhere else,” He said, blushing slightly at her notice, “but you don’t have a tag. I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”

“I’m from around here,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “I’ve also only just recently registered for the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Adventurer Guild.”

A dozen Adventurers moved from where they were to surround her from all sides. Her shoulders shrunk nervously and she glanced about, looking for a way to escape.

“That’s great!” Someone behind her said, “It’ll be good to have you with us on these expeditions.”

“Are you a Monk?” Another voice sounded from her right, “I’ve never seen a Monk with such a beautiful outfit before!”

“She has to be a powerful Bard – you can feel the charisma flowing right off of her.”

“A Bard doesn’t fight like that…wait, are you a Dancer?”

“A Dancer?! Isn’t that nearly impossible to pull off?”

“It is! I’ve never even heard of a Dancer becoming an Adventurer before, but you all saw it!”

“She absolutely manhandled those Frost Giants!”

“She grabbed the one in front of us and threw her!”

“What’s your name?”

“Are you seeing anyone right now?”

A clamour rose as they crowded in around her. Ilyshn’ish froze. Half of her basked in their attention; the other half wanted to flee away from it as quickly as possible.

“I…I…”

“Hey!” Merry shouted from where she was standing at the edge of the clearing, “Get back to cleaning up! And watch yourselves around that skank – she’s a real carnivore. If you’re not careful, she might devour you.”

The gathered Adventurers quieted down, looking towards Ilyshn’ish as if they were waiting for her to say something. She licked her quivering lips and gathered her courage, deciding that she should put her best foot forward.

“M-my name is Shiver,” she lowered her head, “I’ve just recently registered for the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Adventurer Guild…no, wait, I already said that. Erm…I just failed–I mean, haven’t been able to pass the Copper-rank exam yet, but I hope I’ll be good enough to join you all one day!”