Bog Standard Isekai

Book 2 - Lumina Interlude

Book 2 - Lumina Interlude

Lumina sat on the open window sill of the tower, letting her legs swing over the edge, looking down. The tower was absurdly tall, and only a year ago she would've been petrified at this view, but things like heights held little fear for her now.

Little fear, and much allure. All of Recidor lay open before her. The fort city was more fort than city now that the suburbs outside the walls had been cleared away. Past that was the jagged canyon. Normally the bottom would be full of water and ferries taking travelers back and forth, but that had been pumped away for the battlefield. Now only a dusty plain separated Prinnash's forces from theirs.

The canyon was a jagged wound in mother earth, eight miles wide and twenty miles long. It looked like the effects of her own Shatterbolt spell, lightning mixed with earth magic, only her spell was still on the scale of mortals and this looked to have been done by a god.

Although, if power output were the only difference, perhaps this was obtainable. With a couple years of research, the aid of a score or so of [Mages], and the proper reagents, she bet she'd be able to create a ritual device that would... Oh, what was the point? It was an interesting idea, but she had many ideas and no ability to test them out. Not while she was stuck in this stinking tower.

Not that her suite in the tower was poor or shabby. Quite the opposite. It reminded her of the time back when she’d first been apprenticed. Her Master asked her to design her own villa in Steamshield, she'd modestly insisted that she didn't need much.

Master hadn't gone so far as to rebuke her; he hardly ever even contradicted her. Instead, he'd let those bushy eyebrows droop sadly and said, "You won't be designing a home for the daughter of a [Choirmaster]. That girl could leave any time she wished, to visit the fish market and to chat with her friends on the way. Lumina the [Mage] doesn't have this luxury. You cannot leave home without everyone knowing. Every time you go anywhere it will be an event. If you visit a store, they will clear all the other customers out in advance. If you see a play, they will write about it in the papers. What did Lumina mean by watching this play instead of that one? No, my poor sweet girl, I'm asking you to design your own prison."

It was like that now. The Kingdom would give her anything she asked, but she couldn't leave her rooms. No one could know she was here. If Prinnash found out, they'd send their [Mages] here to counter her. Or more likely, they would attack one of the other border cities in her absence. Even sitting on the windowsill was probably too much of a risk, despite the tower's anti-espionage enchantments, but she had to allow herself this much or she'd go mad.

The sound of horns sounded the advance, and even from up here Lumina could faintly feel the [Bard]-imbued energy and excitement. ‘Do your duty and follow orders, and everything will be fine,’ they seemed to say. The soldiers in their tidy ranks looked like little toys. It was hard for her to remember that each of them was a real person. It was hard to think of them as individuals at all, instead of groups and numbers.

[General] Grimwalt sent Cavalry first, then a phalanx right behind them, five-hundred strong. It looked to her like an error, so clearly Grimwalt knew something she didn't.

The Prinnashian general, [Lord] Pomba, responded by sending two groups of irregulars in a pincer formation. Unlike Grimwalt’s cavalry and phalanx, these soldiers were Commoners. They were armored and as professional-looking as any other group of soldiers, but their weapons gave them away. A wide variety of axes, scythes, hoes and spears, each of them optimized for their various Classes. Their goal would be to hit hard, using any cooldown Skills they had, and then back off.

Pomba also sent a group of archers down the center. They loosed, using Skills to send their arrows incredible distances, but of course not a single arrow wounded even one of the heavily protected [Knights] of the cavalry. Waste of arrows, honestly.

The cavalry swerved to the side, making clear their intention to engage the irregulars on the right side. That group of irregulars stopped in their tracks, and the cavalry on Frenaria's side slowed down as well before reaching them, waiting for the order to engage.

That left the irregulars on the left side free. The phalanx was in trouble. With their long spears, tall shields, and [Warrior] Skills, they were as close to invincible as it was possible to be against any threats coming from straight ahead. That left them painfully vulnerable to enemies coming from the side, which was the case now. Grimwalt's valuable [Warriors] were so exposed that for a moment, she thought Pomba might actually give the order to engage.

Then a new call sounded from the trumpets. The phalanx stopped, as one, and turned. It was, frankly, an impossibility. To do something like that, every member of the phalanx would have to know their part perfectly. Their spears were twenty feet long; they couldn’t simply point them to the side, the rows of spearman and shield carriers all had to move as well, and the ones at the edges had to move quicker than those towards the middle. Choreographing a group dance would've been easier, and yet, they somehow pulled it off.

She wondered if Grimwalt had a new Skill, or perhaps one of the [Bards] had leveled up.

The phalanx moved to face the irregulars dead on, which just left Prinnash's archers free, who still weren't hitting anything.

Flags came up from Prinnash's side, a cross of blue on yellow signifying an intent to withdraw. They weren’t going so far as to sound the retreat; that would admit that Frenaria had won this battle. They were simply stating their intent to return to their camp for the day.

For a moment, Lumina rebelliously longed to see a flag of red and black from her side, to see [General] Grimwalt press the advantage and lead his forces to slaughter. It wouldn't be a perfect rout. The irregulars would get off their cooldown Skills before succumbing, but it would still be a victory. It would be something.

Instead, Grimwalt did what she expected and sent a cross of yellow on blue, signaling acceptance.

Both sides withdrew in good order, the same as every other day. The history books would call this a battle, even though she was fairly certain not a single life was lost.

According to Grimwalt, weapons were for scaring your enemies and for slaughtering them as they ran away. He wouldn't signal the attack for anything other than an absolute victory.

She had the urge to fly down there herself. She'd throw a tornado of fire into the archers first, then destroy both groups of irregulars with a series of shatterbolts, gouging smaller canyons into the larger one and filling them with blood. Then she'd enter the enemy camp, blazing with fury and power, laying waste to all she saw... and... and then what? She had literally nothing to gain personally by destroying Prinnash's army here. What was the point? What did she care if the borders shifted slightly or if one side got slightly better mining rights to the mountain range they shared? Had she really fallen so far that she'd consign thousands to death just to assuage her boredom? None of the men down there even knew why they were here, except because they were getting paid.

The frustrating lack of movement in this war was exactly what they were aiming for, she knew. As long as they [Mages] stayed hidden, no one would risk committing their full armies, and the loss of life would be minimal. The best solution, the solution that Grimwalt was aiming for, would be to delay like this until their rulers came to an agreement.

It was a perfect symbol of the absolute state of this war that [General] Grimwalt had a Prinnashian family name while [Lord] Pomba, the Prinnashian general, was of Frenarian descent.

She sighed as their brave soldiers made their triumphant return, armor gleaming, only slightly dirty from the dust of the canyon. It was good that Grimwalt was in charge instead of her. He held their lives dearly, while she probably would've wasted them by now out of boredom, or out of frustration at the increasingly difficult logistics of keeping them all fed.

She walked down to her kitchen, fully stocked by her servant. The pots and pans and knives would fly into action, quite literally, upon hearing her order and make her whatever she wished. At first she'd ordered all sorts of challenging dishes, but that had lost its fun. Today she ate a simple lunch of bread and butter, with fresh berries and cheese.

She checked herself in the mirror, fixing her hair, fiddling with her dress. Red, of course. She left her wide-brimmed hat in her room. Hats were currently in vogue in Steamshield, but who was she fooling? She didn’t need a hat. She never went outside. Then it was finally time to go. She marched towards the council chamber, and returned quickly when she decided she wanted the hat after all. Then it was on to the meeting.

Every member of the war council was sworn to secrecy about her presence, of course. She went to the door and listened as they filed in and took their seats. They couldn’t risk someone without proper clearance to see her through the opened door, so she waited outside while the rest of them came in. Only when they were all in place and the other door was shut, did they knock on the door to her suite.

When she entered, all eyes were fixed on her. If she was ever tempted to sleep in one day and show up in her pajamas, this part would convince her otherwise. Every man at the table stood at her arrival and bowed. The only other woman, [Lady] Odessa, stayed seated and put a hand over her heart while bowing her head.

Odessa was an interesting figure. Officially, she was here so that Lumina wouldn’t be alone in a room full of men. Unofficially, Odessa had recently advanced her Class to [Assassin] after [Rogue] had stopped giving her levels.

Lumina walked across the breadth of the room, passing fine vases and golden pillars and the officers of Grimwalt's army who turned their bodies to stay facing her at all times. She sat at the head of the table, opposite [General] Grimwalt, and only then did the men take their seats as well.

"Let me express my gratitude at your presence, my lady Lumina," said Grimwalt, as he did every day.

"And where else would I go? Honestly, Grimmy," said Lumina.

"Nevertheless, your involvement in these meetings is an incredible honor." Ever the perfect gentleman, her general Grimwalt. He was a sharp-faced man with a pointed chin and eyes like an eagle. His fine-pressed suit, his flowery words, and his rehearsed manners didn't fool her for a minute. Grimwalt was a soldier through and through. A killer. Steel and velvet--minus the velvet.

"Officer Diali will begin our briefing," said the general.

Now, Officer Diali was a treat. He was only a second Lieutenant, which always made Lumina wonder why he was here. Either he had some family connection she wasn't aware of, or the general had noticed how inconveniently attractive Lumina found him. Tall, with wide shoulders, sandy hair, pronounced cheekbones, and pouty, kissable lips. She could stare at him all day, and the fact that he gave the summary of the day's battle gave her the perfect opportunity.

He stood behind the general at the front of the room, and an image of a top-down view of the battlefield appeared at the wall-sized viewing mirror behind him, complete with indicators that identified the major elements.

He indicated positions on the map as he spoke, and if she kept her eyes focused on his mouth as he spoke, well, Master always said it was polite to pay attention when people spoke to you.

He took his seat when the briefing was finished, and she gave him a polite smile. He didn't so much as glance in her direction, the spoilsport, but she noticed a bit of sweat under his collar when her eyes stayed on him just a bit too long. Ha! He didn’t need to worry. She liked older men; Diali was just nice to look at.

There was a brief discussion of the war effort and the overall strategy, but it didn't last long. Today's farce of a battle had gone as it should, and the farce of a war would continue as it had.

Grimwalt cleared his throat. "As for the next item of business, I'm happy to announce that we've completed an assignment that was issued by you, my lady Lumina. I'll let Gelber explain."

A thin, bespectacled man stood next. One glance and she could tell he was no [Warrior]. He looked more like an accountant. A quick [Inspect] informed her that he was, in fact, an [Accountant]. Rare, for someone to take a Common Class that specific when [Merchants] could do most of what [Accountants] did.

"We have successfully frozen the assets of the [Illusionist] identified as Hogg. We believe we have eliminated his ability to smuggle funds to Arcaenean agitators.”

[Lady] Odessa raised a hand timidly, the slow movement making her many bracelets clink down her arm. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t here when this started. What’s this about?”

“No, dear, nothing to apologize for,” said Lumina. “I have a friend, an [Illusionist] who pretends to be a [Rogue]. He lives in that little town I keep asking the general to keep an eye on.”

“Hammon’s Bog,” said Odessa.

“Just so. There was a matter of some undead in the area, and he was keeping an eye on it and sending me regular updates in the form of mirror images.”

“To here from somewhere in the Boglands? How is that possible?” gasped Odessa.

“This is when I was still in Steamshield,” said Lumina.

“Still, that distance…”

“I suppose he is a somewhat powerful [Illusionist],” said Lumina with an idle flick of her fingers as if such things were beneath her notice. That elicited a little twitch from Grimwalt’s normally stoic features. “Then one day, the mirror image wasn’tHogg. It was an imposter. I captured his consciousness and kept it in a little jar on my desk, but it disappeared, no doubt because the main body was killed before I could figure out how to interrogate him. We later found out that I wasn’t the first person that the imposter visited. He’d been visiting Hogg’s businesses and accounts, trying to funnel his wealth towards supporting Arcaena.”

“And the real [Illusionist], your friend. Is he dead?”

“Oh, no I’m certain he is not. It worries me that I haven’t heard from him since the incident,” said Lumina.

“I dare say,” Grimwalt announced with a snooty little sniff that was adorably fake, “that I’m a little concerned about the real [Illusionist] in question. That an [Illusionist] of his ability operated in this kingdom for decades without any of us the wiser, speaks to an extraordinary talent. What will he do when he finds out all his money is unusable?”

“Fall down on his knees and thank me, I expect,” said Lumina.

She wasn’t worried Hogg would be angry about the money; she really had done him a favor in that regard. She was more than worried he’d take offense to the fact that she’d outed his Class to the Frenarian regime. There hadn’t been any other choice. Frenaria’s counter-spies had been willing to look the other way when Hogg had just been a random informant. When they started to find signs that he was an Arcaenean subversive, she’d had no choice but to spill everything to save him from being branded a traitor.

“Continue your report,” said Grimwalt.

Gelber the [Accountant] stood up straighter. “The man in question operated in forty-three towns and cities, under at least seven different pseudonyms. He was the sole owner of seven businesses and an angel investor in more than eighty. It isn't possible to say that we found every investment, but we estimate as verified by accredited fate-aligned Classes, that we captured at least ninety-seven percent of them.

“Forty percent of the businesses in question took our offer to buy out Hogg’s share, and those funds have been transferred to accounts in his name in the Steamshield National Bank, the First Bank of Frenaria, and the Merchant’s Cooperative Union. Seven businesses were defunct, six of them because of the death of the owner. The remaining businesses have been issued an edict of non-transferability. Hogg will not be able to direct the movement of funds or collection of funds unless he arrives in-person, verifies no illusions, and bears a seal of release from the King. Further actions–”

There was a knock at the door. “An urgent message for you, general.” All eyes moved to Lumina. She huffed in irritation, and stood. Of course, that meant all the men stood as well, and watched her leave towards her private rooms.

On the other side of the door, she patiently waited as the messenger was let in. A short time later, a knock on her door let her know that she was allowed back in.

They repeated the ritual of everyone waiting on her before they could finally be seated, and she was surprised to see that they’d allowed the messenger to remain. A young man, who couldn’t be more than six months past his System Day.

“Tell her what you told me,” said Grimwalt. “And remember: Not a word of what you see in this room to anyone.”

“Yes sir,” said the young man with admirable composure. Would Brin look like this? Well, no. This lad was much taller, and had all of the nobles' little tricks and cheats working on him to make him stronger, smarter, and more handsome.

Brin was just an ordinary boy, growing up in a village. A sweet, weak, perfectly regular child, despite the hardships of his past.

It pained her that he was still basically a stranger to her. She should have gone to him by now, especially with all the strangeness reported in the area of Hogg’s supposedly “safe” hometown. Curse this sham of a war for keeping her from where she really ought to be!

The messenger reported, “Our scouts in the Boglands report that the undead have begun to move. Hammon’s Bog is under attack.”

There was a minor racket as every chair in the room except [Lady] Odessa’s scooted back. Lumina looked around, wondering why all Grimwalt’s officers were looming over her, looking grim, until she realized that she’d stood first.

“I will depart immediately,” said Lumina.

“With respect, you’re needed here, my lady,” said Grimwalt.

“With respect, I wouldn’t have to leave if you’d done what I asked and sent soldiers to the Boglands weeks ago! Here we are, posturing and play acting against our friends in Prinnash while Arcaena moves with impunity in our heartland!” She slapped the table, drawing a cloud of sparks and leaving a black imprint of her hand in the fine wood.

A side effect of being an [Archmage of the Mystical Elements] was that magic seemed to leak out of her sometimes, especially when her emotions were high. The air in the room had turned blisteringly hot at some point.

“There was a time when Frenaria was a country, a real country! When a single rumor of undead would send every [Knight] worth their name to scouring the country-side until all evil was rooted out and destroyed. And now we have an entire army in our borders and you want me to do nothing!” Oh dear, she was starting to sound like Master. Perhaps better to cool off a bit.

She took a calming breath, willing the temperature to drop. The air cooled until it was merely warm, and then kept going, colder, colder, until she saw the beads of sweat start to freeze on the officers’ skin.

“I’m going,” Lumina said simply.

He gave her a long, hard look, and she endured it, gazing back evenly. She didn’t know why staring contests intimidated some people. She’d never found anything all that interesting in the eyes of another person, and definitely nothing to be afraid of.

After a moment, he nodded. “It may be for the best. Take some [Knights], say a hundred or so, and make a show of it. Prinnash won’t have any idea of what to make of that. My guess is they’ll stay back for at least a week while they try to figure out what our game is.”

Lumina shrugged. “Verify that, if you wish. I am leaving. On the hour.”

The general muttered a few words to his messenger, who walked to the door, but paused before opening it. All eyes turned to her.

“Really?”

“In an hour you said. Before then, it is my duty to keep you safe,” said Grimwalt.

He was just being annoying, no doubt to make up some of the face he’d lost when she’d openly defied him. Well, no matter. She didn’t sigh or complain. She kept her chin up and walked back through her door. She could endure minor vexations if it meant that he didn’t have a major vexation in mind.

They made her wait outside the room while some soothsayer or fate reader was let in to give their premonitions. Then she heard the door close as that person left, and they still didn’t let her in.

She couldn’t hear what they were talking about; the anti-espionage wards were too good for that. She could hear voices and any footsteps or movements, but she couldn’t tell what anyone was saying or who exactly was speaking.

After what must have been forty minutes, the door on their side opened and two more people entered the room. Only then did they knock on her door again.

When she reentered, it was to face two heavily armored [Anti-Mages], standing to either side of the general. “I have a mind to put these two in your escort. For your protection, of course.”

She felt a bit of heat under the collar. She was in complete control of herself at all times, of course, but perhaps in her field of vision there was a slight tint of red.

“Are they prepared to depart immediately?” she asked.

“Immediate departure would not be ideal,” said Grimwalt with a pained smile. Ah, so here was the major vexation she’d been worried about.

She found herself entertaining a daydream, at that point. A tower exploding, flinging shrapnel every direction, showering down on the fort city and shattering the walls. Two [Anti-Mages] falling to the earth like comets, the rest of them completely eviscerated. The neat and clean ranks of soldiers running for cover. And there, in the middle of it, in a blazing sphere of glory, would be her. Lumina.

Just for fun, she thought about the exact spell combination she would use to make it happen. First something for Odessa; it had to be instantaneous. Then something for the [Anti-Mages], then shielding for herself, perhaps an inverted glimmermoss array? After that she would–something Grimwalt said drew her back to the moment.

“...after you leave in the morning.”

“The morning?” she asked. At some point she’d moved to stand in front of him, between him and the [Anti-Mage] who’d been forced to step back to make room. She clicked her nails on the conference table.

Grimwalt’s face was impassive, but his complexion had taken on a greenish tint. “You will depart in the morning.”

She smiled. “The morning is acceptable.”

“The morning… of the third day. Of next week.”

She kept drumming her fingernails on the table, thinking.

He rushed out the rest. “To go to Favora to inform your Master. With his permission, you’ll be free to continue on to Hammon’s Bog.”

The Kingdom bound her with Oaths to her Master, not to the King and definitely not to Grimwalt. She didn't think Master would strip her of her her Class and Levels even if she really did kill everyone here. Master had never used her Oaths against her, and she didn't think he ever would.

They probably think they had her beat by sending her to Master, but he never denied her anything. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was more than a week’s delay, in addition to the time it would take to travel there. Could Hogg hold out that long, alone against an entire army of undead? She doubted there was anyone else in that town worth mentioning.

She frowned. After she destroyed the tower, Prinnash would attack, so she’d have to deal with that. There was a good chance she’d find herself between both armies, fending off attacks from both sides. If Prinnash really did have one of their better [Mages] hiding in that army, she might have a difficult time. Even in the best case scenario, her mana would be spent; she’d hardly have anything left for the journey.

“A week, my lady. There is more to this war than you know. Things will be clearer in a week, for better or for worse.”

She glanced at him, but didn’t respond, still thinking. There was of course the chance that Grimwalt was bluffing. No, he definitely was. Probably. If he didn’t waste the lives of Commoner soldiers, he definitely wouldn’t want to lose all the officers here. Would he?

He might, however, call her bluff. She had no desire to slaughter thousands of people today and then spend the rest of her life being feared and hunted. Not to mention how disappointed Master would be. It also occurred to her that there was likely nothing she could do for Hammon’s Bog. She wouldn’t be able to get there in a day no matter what, and if they could hold out one day then they could probably hold out for two weeks.

Grimwalt reluctantly added, "This delay... will advantage a certain resident of that town as well. I would stake my life on it.

He thought that having her show up early would endanger Brin somehow? Preposterous! How could Brin be safer than when she was near. But he was staking his life on it. The King would call her a traitor if she disobeyed direct orders from a superior, but he wouldn't alienate one of his greatest [Mages] if she settled some scores after the war was over.

She sighed. “Very well. As you command, I’ll wait until the third day of next week.”

An audible sigh of relief went through the room. One officer forgot himself entirely and sank into his seat.

“I’ll prepare my best [Knights],” said Grimwalt.

“Prepare your fastest ones. Anyone who can’t keep up will be left behind.”