Valkyrie's Shadow

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 1, Chapter 4

The Tiger and the Dragon: Act 1, Chapter 4

Chapter 4

20th Day, Lower Water Month, 0 CE

She opened her eyes to a familiar scene: one that she wished would happen less frequently.

Upon the empty space beside her rested an unused pillow. Half of her blankets were draped over the unruffled sheets, echoing her yearning for the person that should have been there. Dissatisfaction rose within her as birdsong gaily drifted through her windows – how many days had it been since they last lay together? Or spoke? Or even seen one another?

A knock sounded at her door, followed by the sound of its latch being released.

“My lady, breakfast will be ready in thirty minutes.”

Clara pulled her blanket over her head. The sound of the drapes being drawn open rasped against her ears. She could imagine the cold morning scenery beyond: the thick winter mist blanketing the vineyards and orchards of the Katze Valley, suffusing the air with the scent of dew and moist soil.

Something tugged at the end of her blanket. Clara tightened her grip, digging in to defend her bastion of lonely warmth. A moment passed and the looming presence of Taiya receded.

“What will you be wearing for the morning’s meetings, my lady?”

Bleh…

She already knew what she would pick but resented the fact that it mattered. What to wear, how she would wear it, how she carried herself in it – everything was purposely calculated to maximise the effectiveness of her actions. In her world, it was others who decided what one was worth and whether one was to be treated seriously. Before a single word could be uttered, a mere glance could entrench someone in their assessment.

Thus, she had an image to maintain: one that preempted what others might construct on their own. One that dictated what was and how things would be. She was the Radiant Jewel of the Riverlands; a person of incalculable value beyond her pleasant appearance.

A reputation. An expectation. A promise.

Clara let out a tired sigh. If only people didn’t care for how others looked. She would be able to wear the comfiest clothing at all times and not care a whit about accessorising. Everything could be done as a fashionless blob on her bed. Something like a Slime. A Slime sounded good. If she was a Slime, Ludmila would take a detour from whatever she was doing to play with her.

“What is it like outside, Taiya?” Clara asked.

“Sunny, but fairly cold, my lady,” her Lady’s Maid replied. “Enough to mist my breath when I went out into the gardens.”

“Mmh…let’s go with the new spring silks, but throw on the winter mantle with the white scarf. The platinum iris pin, as well.”

“Nothing else for the head, my lady?”

“No, that should already make for a good balance.”

On their trip to the Empire, Clara managed to secure several magical conveniences, including a silver clasp enchanted with Endure Elements. Her thought was that she could do away with cumbersome winter clothing, but things didn’t turn out that way in practice.

The magic item worked, but the fact that she was the only person using it made her look out of place. Furthermore, people would run up to her, offering their coats and mantles thinking that their precious liege was freezing in the streets. The fact that she was ‘off’ drew energy away from where she wanted people to focus it, so the initial idea had been a failure.

That being said, she was able to achieve a degree of success with some experimentation. As long as observers could rationalise that she was protected from the elements, she could still dress lightly. Being a half-step ahead in seasonal fashion seemed to lend to a ‘forward-facing’ image that was very well-received. Clara was already seen as a harbinger of progress and prosperity by her subjects, so her modified look fit in nicely to maintain that impression.

Once her preparations for the morning were complete, Clara stepped out of her solar on the fourth floor of ‘Castle Corelyn’. In reality, it was the palace on the grounds of the actual Castle Corelyn, which was the fortress that encompassed the eighteen hundred-metre-long island south of Corelyn Harbour. Everyone started calling the palace ‘Castle Corelyn’, however, so the name stuck.

Did I make it too small? No, this is fine…probably.

The fortifications were manned and operated by the Royal Army, which suited her just fine. Fifty per cent of the fortress grounds contained storage facilities for House Corelyn. Twenty per cent was managed woodland and ten per cent was the ‘killing field’ that the highway ran through. The remainder was the ‘palace grounds’, upon which her new home had been built.

Her palace was a rectangular complex that covered roughly twenty thousand square metres and was divided into western and eastern halves. The eastern half was the administrative section containing offices and archives. It had been built with the future development of the Sorcerous Kingdom in mind, so there was still much in the way of unused space.

In the western section, there were four basement levels. On the bottom level, experiments on indoor farming using magical means were being conducted. The third and second basements were storage areas while the first basement was where most of the facilities related to household maintenance were located. Housing for the regular palace staff occupied the main floor.

The second floor contained all of the facilities required to host diplomatic functions. State rooms, which were essentially self-contained manors within the palace where guests were accommodated, comprised the majority of the third floor. Clara’s residence – which included the rooms of her personal attendants – made up the entirety of the fourth floor.

Finally, there was a private garden on the roof of the fourth floor. Within this garden was a one thousand square metre structure that served as the physical court of Lady Shalltear Bloodfallen – at least as far as her role as their liege was concerned.

While the builders were Dwarves – with the majority of the labour provided by Undead and Golems – the pristine limestone architecture still conveyed the hallmarks of riverlands culture. The palace was a provincial chateau that projected the relaxing, pastoral atmosphere of fertile valleys filled with prosperous villages amidst orchards and vineyards that stretched as far as the eye could see. For now, the grounds were bare, but they would soon be overflowing with vibrant greenery.

Accompanied by two of her maids, Clara made her way down the stairs that flowed into the atrium of the eastern palace. There, over a half-dozen figures awaited her.

Standing at the leftmost was Dix, the head of the Elder Lich administrators assigned to Corelyn County. One Elder Lich was assigned to each of the fourteen baronies in her demesne while three Elder Liches were assigned to each of the three towns along the highway. Dix coordinated them all from its office in the palace, making for a total of twenty-four Elder Lich administrators working in her fief.

Next to Dix stood three Vampire Brides. One was in the dark blue uniform of the postal service and another sported the blue-grey uniform of the harbour staff. The third was one of the three assigned to her by Lady Shalltear as staff from the Ministry of Transportation, still adorned in the ‘default’ alabaster silks of Lady Shalltear’s handmaidens.

Beside the Vampire Brides was the Guildmaster of the local Merchant Guild and next to him was one of the Paladins from the Slane Theocracy, Giorgio Martelli. He was accompanied by his two Squires, Rosalina and Xavier. The entire assembly lowered their heads at her approach.

“Good Morning, Countess Corelyn.”

“Good morning,” Clara smiled at their greeting. “Shall we attend to business?”

She bid Dix accompany her, then stopped to address Brother Martelli. The man’s neatly-trimmed golden beard shifted as he set his expression under her gaze.

“It was not necessary to come so early, Brother Martelli.”

“I could not risk being late, my lady.”

Far from being late, he was roughly two hours early. Clara’s schedule was not set in stone, but it usually took at least that long to see to her morning tasks.

“Ophelia,” Clara said, “please attend to Brother Martelli and his Squires. See to any needs they might have. Brother Martelli: feel free to use the gardens or one of the empty offices for instruction while you wait.”

“Then we shall take you up on your offer. Thank you for your consideration, my lady.”

After watching them walk part way to the entrance, Clara turned to head to her office, ascending the spiral staircase of the eastern palace’s northwestern tower. Like those on the third floors of the palace upwards, the room stood above the fortress walls and offered an unobstructed view of the landscape in all directions. As she settled behind her desk, a pair of Elder Liches from the Royal Army flew by, pausing to investigate the activity in the office before resuming their patrol.

“Is there anything that requires my immediate attention, Dix?”

“Nothing critical has been brought to my attention, Lady Corelyn.”

Clara leaned back in her seat, collecting her hands in her lap.

“We should get through things in order, then. What do you have for me first?”

“Lady Albedo has received your proposals,” the Elder Lich told her. “She has voiced her tentative approval for each one but official approval will be pending a more thorough analysis.”

“Good. What else?”

Dix reached into its inventory, withdrawing a nondescript brown folder. He placed it on the desk in front of her.

“Copies of the customs papers you requested for the party of House Flavella,” the Elder Lich said. “Are you certain the security arrangements are sufficient?”

“If we arrange for any more ‘security’,” Clara said, “our guests will be jumping out of the windows. Aside from that, when entertaining dignitaries, supporting elements should be invisible. The only visible elements are purposely selected and positioned to impress the prestige of the host and the nation upon our guests.”

“In that case, should our preparations not have been more robust?”

In addition to the castle guard and the river patrols provided by the Royal Army, six Shadow Demons lurked around the palace grounds. A dozen powerful Ninjas from Ijaniya were operating undercover as palace staff with a pair of Hanzos close at hand under orders from Lord Demiurge. They referred to their duties as ‘niwaban’ or something to that effect and were strangely enthusiastic about it.

Corelyn Castle had enough security to level half of the continent, but the Elder Lich’s question was to be expected of one of His Majesty’s created servitors. When it came to their service to the Sorcerer King, ‘restraint’ vanished from their vocabulary. Lady Albedo, who trained Dix, should have been aware of diplomatic protocols and the reasoning behind them, but Clara supposed that they wouldn’t have been a part of an Administrative Lich’s education.

“Diplomatic functions are a battlefield of their own,” Clara told the Elder Lich. “An adept diplomat always prepares the right tools for the right job for every step in their negotiations. The excessive deployment of assets may be interpreted as belligerence, desperation or incompetence on the part of the host. In all cases, it does not help to build respect for His Majesty or the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

“With fear comes a form of respect.”

Clara looked up from her reading, holding the Elder Lich’s crimson gaze with her own.

“Respect out of fear is never genuine,” her firm voice carried softly across the office. “Reverence out of respect is never false. Do you not wish for the world to genuinely revere His Majesty? Or do you wish for His Majesty to be the target of hatred, malice and scorn? Do his directives for the Sorcerous Kingdom not indicate a desire for one over the other?”

“I would wish for all to revere our Master, of course. But I do not understand the processes of ‘diplomacy’.”

Nor would the Elder Lich ever, it seemed. A summon was created with strict specifications and could never step past the bounds set by those specifications. The Elder Liches created by His Majesty were intelligent but their limitations had become clear over the past year.

They could not be taught ‘diplomacy’ any more than they could be taught to cook or smith. What amounted to diplomacy for an Elder Lich was a set of simple demands and threats that one might hear made on a battlefield. The extent of what they could do had been noted by Clara and several others as ‘mundane’ – which amounted to basic functions in Clara’s estimation.

Their administrative training also observed this limited capacity. Procedures, manuals, almanacs, tables and forms were provided so that the Elder Liches could function in a basic administrative role. Complex management decisions without precedent were simply beyond them. At best, they amounted to random guesses as to what might work. There was a certain ‘threshold’ in their functionality and anything above that threshold was impossible. Skills and Abilities related to civilian vocations were entirely out of the question.

Not that she wasn’t unappreciative of the Elder Liches. Their work was invaluable, compiling a nation’s worth of data so that those who were capable of making crucial and complex decisions could do so with an unprecedented wealth of information.

What it did mean, however, was that the Sorcerous Kingdom needed more administrators qualified to fill middle-management positions. If they happened to have another large chunk of land dumped on them, Lady Albedo – who was not only the Prime Minister but effectively the sole decision-maker in the executive and judiciary branches of the government – would be buried in work. Knowing her, she would be supremely pleased over the chance to further demonstrate her quality to the Sorcerer King, but understaffed was understaffed.

The broad shortage of qualified government functionaries was perhaps the greatest emergency facing the Sorcerous Kingdom: for all of its might and wealth, they were a one-year-old country that was formerly a duchy on the edge of Re-Estize. They lacked the institutions required to produce the officials necessary to run a country – institutions that took decades to raise. For the time being, they were managing under the excellence of Lady Albedo and what remained of the local leadership, but things were clearly lopsided and bound to get worse.

“For the time being,” Clara said, “just leave it to us. Diplomacy is one of a civilian Noble’s strong suits, after all. The Elder Liches will still have an invaluable role as administrative aides to our diplomats, but getting our domestic affairs in order has been the priority thus far. Much like your work with the local administration, your assistance in and observation of diplomatic proceedings will contribute data from which procedures can be derived in the future.”

Dix was probably looking forward to that. The eagerness of the Elder Liches when it came to observing new things related to their duties was rather cute, if not unsettling for those unaccustomed to their intense scrutiny.

“An anomaly has been identified for administrative division C13, Subsection 11.”

Moving onto more mundane business, Clara’s thoughts travelled to the village in question.

“Was there something wrong with Form S0021?”

“Indeed,” Dix nodded. “The tabulations have produced values beyond projected parameters for lines D2, D5 and G3.”

“That should be a problem with Forms S0009 and S0013,” she told the Elder Lich. “Dispatch the administrator for district C13 to confirm the values. I suspect we will see the same anomalies across the county, if not the entire duchy.”

“…then this is indicative of a greater problem?”

“It is indicative of progress. The improved processes facilitated by our new equipment, labour utilisation and agricultural techniques are rendering last year’s materials obsolete. We have a lot of new data to collect.”

Their exchange was probably the most glaring indication of the Elder Liches’ limits. Without data, the materials that they needed to function nominally could not exist. Even with data, they were remarkably inflexible and prone to enforcing what they believed to be unquestionable bureaucratic standards. Having them arbitrarily force procedures and standards onto the citizens in nonstandard situations led to all manner of issues and only those with recognised authority could override them.

Lady Albedo foresaw the problem, of course, but what could be done in such a short span of time was limited. The Sorcerous Kingdom was undergoing radical change and everything was in a state of flux. For the time being, acceptable margins of error were widened and contingencies were implemented for results that they could do nothing about. All anomalies were reported to their superiors and handed up the bureaucratic ladder until they reached someone capable of analysing and addressing the problem – usually one of the Nobles or guildmasters.

We need to hurry with that academy...

They needed qualified professionals for many positions. The lowest-ranked administrative functionaries under the old system – village chiefs – needed to become proper magistrates. The nobility needed to all be brought onto the same page and required properly-trained support staff.

Towns without presiding Nobles still needed staff for their town halls. Standards for the militia and judicial agents were called for at all levels as well. A mountain of work lay before them and they had barely started laying the foundations for institutions crucial to the state.

Despite the countless challenges that lay before her, Clara was generally pleased about her work. The Faith of the Six called for everyone to do their utmost in their respective vocations, but with her ability, nothing had remotely been a challenge until now. That she could live in a time that allowed her to explore the limits of her capabilities was both uplifting and edifying.

Furthermore, she did so in service to her god, who had returned to live amongst them once again. Truly, her life was blessed.

After spending an hour going over regular demesne business, Dix left the office to update its subordinates on the morning’s decisions. In his place came the three Vampire Brides.

Unlike her meeting with the Elder Lich, they went to make themselves comfortable around a table where teacups were set out for her guests to use. Clara tended to prefer speaking in more familiar settings, especially when it came to those she regularly dealt with. Lady Shalltear’s Vampire Brides all appeared to be well-versed in matters of etiquette – at least according to their customs – and they expressed their appreciation for her hospitality.

As representatives of different branches within the Ministry of Transportation, they should have come in separately but Clara supposed that it didn’t matter too much as they were all Lady Shalltear’s handmaidens. Furthermore, while there was a sense of rivalry between ministries when it came to their service to the Sorcerer King, conflicts of interest within departments appeared to be nonexistent.

Clara waited until they filled their cups with the bottles of blood that they had brought with them. A light ‘second breakfast’ would be served at her next meeting with the head of the Merchant Guild, so she refrained from taking any refreshments.

“Lady Corelyn,” the postal official said. “A group of our new employees has requested accommodations here.”

“…here?” Clara frowned.

“Castle Corelyn, my lady,” the Vampire Bride told her. “More precisely, the cliffs on the southern side of this island.”

The Vampire Post’s ‘new employees’ were Harpies who had come down from the Azerlisia Mountains: Demihumans who had talons like birds, the bodies of humanoid women and wings that spanned over three metres. They were a carnivorous race but there was more than enough meat to support them. All they needed was work, which they found as local delivery staff for the Vampire Post. Clara had offered them a place to nest in one of the residential areas of Corelyn Harbour, but perhaps that hadn’t been enough.

“Were there issues with the accommodations that we provided?”

“According to their representative,” the Vampire Bride replied, “they were ‘liveable’. After familiarising themselves with the area, they found the cliffs to be highly attractive by comparison. They’re suitably tall, isolated, warm and shielded from the wind.”

When it came to understanding and working with different races, Ludmila and Florine were far ahead of her. Aside from the Undead, the Harpies were the first non-Humans to take up residence in Corelyn County.

“I see…well, I don’t personally mind, but we will have to check with the Royal Army first. There are security regulations to observe. After that…”

If they were allowed to nest there, how would tenancy work? She guessed that they would consider the old contract a bargain. At some point, she would have to corner Ludmila and pick her brain on the topic of other races and how to accommodate them. She probably had an intimidating pile of incomprehensible bylaws and special dispensations that streamlined her territorial operations.

“…aside from amendments and additions to the crown laws,” Clara said, “Corelyn County’s regulations are still, by and large, the product of Human legislation. Updates to local laws will be required to properly determine how tenancy for each race will work.”

“I will let them know, my lady.”

“Is there anything else?”

“No, my lady,” the Vampire Bride replied. “The new employees appear to be generally well-received.”

That was saying a lot for a population that was entirely composed of followers of The Six. Not a year ago they would have probably chased the Harpies off with sticks and stones.

Clara had an inkling as to what the Vampire Bride from the harbour had come for, so she skipped to the official from the Ministry of Transportation.

“We’re running low on stone, my lady,” the Vampire Bride said. “Our supplies are projected to last two more weeks.”

“I was afraid of that…” Clara sighed.

With development accelerating in Warden’s Vale, the once abundant stone from Ludmila’s territory was being reserved for local construction. Ruin’s Wake had cleared the glut in supply over the winter and what was delivered after that came from a contract that Clara felt was fair for the both of them.

That being said, there was a new initiative slated to begin over the summer in the frontier territory that would result in a fresh supply, so the shortage would be a temporary one.

“I suppose House Ardoin’s quarries are still delivering on all of their existing contracts, as well…”

“Yes, my lady. The trade agreement between House Corelyn and House Zahradnik ensures that we get stone in greater quantities than what every other house purchases from House Ardoin, but, at the same time, we have more territory to cover than the rest.”

Purchasing stone from the Dwarf Kingdom was an option but the northern highway hadn’t been completed yet. Between tolls and the costs associated with labour and animals, transporting those goods through the Empire would double their price relative to stone sold in the Sorcerous Kingdom. Stone from the Theocracy was even more expensive as their lands had long been developed and it was usually the Theocracy that imported stone from the north.

Undead logistics made everything else seem exorbitantly expensive by comparison and opportunity costs weren’t high enough that anyone was willing to import. The Nobles who held the contracts to House Ardoin’s stone didn’t dare resell what was delivered to them out of the fear that they would be seen as stalling development for personal gains.

As a result, most were simply content to wait for the completion of the highway and the increased flow of cheap materials from the Dwarf Kingdom.

“Delays will be inevitable, it seems. Do the Katze Plains not have any stone?”

“There’s plenty of rubble, but the ruins are still being studied. The remaining structures are being preserved for other purposes. According to the findings made so far, most of the stone used in construction there was imported from elsewhere.”

“At this rate, we may as well ask the Katze Institute to summon stone instead of salt.”

“…can they do that, my lady?”

“…they cannot?”

They stared at one another for several moments. Such were the times: even a statement made in jest could lead to some possibility made possible by the circumstances and capabilities of the Sorcerous Kingdom.

“I-I’ll send someone to ask after this,” the Vampire Bride said. “That was all I had to bring to your attention, my lady.”

The Vampire Bride working with the harbour authority reported at the last, bringing the news that Clara had been anticipating for the last few days.

“My lady, the first of the barges has been gated in from the north.”

“Were there any issues with the trials or delivery?” Clara asked.

A grey folder was produced from the Vampire Bride’s inventory. She placed it on the table between them.

“These are the results from the sea trials. The barge is being inspected in Drydock One at the moment, but a cursory inspection has revealed no damage from the transfer.”

“Excellent,” Clara smiled. “What about the other vessels?”

“They’ll arrive as they finish their trials. If all goes well, all twelve will be in their berths here before the end of winter.”

“What about Wagner’s end of things?”

“Our associates in, erm…the town report that everything is going according to schedule. The harbour equipment has been delivered over the past week. Everything else will begin to arrive when Lady Gagnier and Lady Wagner return to the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

Clara nodded, suppressing the excitement welling up within her. Nearly a year of their combined efforts was finally coming together. By summer, their world would be a very different place.

“Would you like to inspect the new vessel, my lady?” The Vampire Bride asked.

“I will wait for Wagner,” Clara answered, “she is certain to get angry at me if I sneak a peek ahead of her. Get everything assembled as it arrives, but do not take them out yet.”

“Yes, my lady.”

The Vampire Brides rose and lowered their heads respectfully before filing out of the room. Taiya and the others prepared the table for the next meeting.

The head of the Merchant Guild was a man who could almost be described as portly. He wore the trappings of position, which included the ubiquitous brown uniform with the eight-spoked wheel of the guild embroidered in thread-of-gold on the breast of his coat. He almost looked like a retainer of House Wagner, though Clara supposed it was actually the other way around. Formerly a senior member of the E-Rantel Merchant Guild, he had come to Corelyn Harbour with a handful of staff from the city to assume a position that had likely accelerated the greying of his midnight hair.

Between them, her maids set a modest breakfast of toast, sweetened preserves and a strong black tea imported from plantations in the Theocracy. They settled down for a bite before getting to the business at hand.

“I am not opposed to this method, my lady,” the man’s curls bobbed as he set down his tea, “but are you certain you wish to relinquish so much power to the guilds?”

“While I cannot speak for the rest of the House of Lords,” Clara replied, “House Corelyn, House Wagner and House Gagnier all agree that it is better for the long term. The markets are best served by quick and efficient transactions and what we are doing merely formalises the regulations of the guilds in international trade.”

“I can’t imagine that the other houses will be pleased.”

Clara suppressed her urge to smile at the odd exchange. Generally speaking, Merchants did what they could to maximise profits, but the change she was implementing probably felt too good to be true.

“No one accustomed to the old ways will like this,” she replied. “But they will be forced to compete regardless. I believe that, more than anyone, the guilds understand the implications of the ongoing developments in the Sorcerous Kingdom. This is a necessary step to a prosperous future.”

The ‘old ways’ that Clara referred to were the conditions imposed on industry and trade by the nobility, who held the legal rights and authority to run their territories as they saw fit as long as they did not run afoul of the Crown Laws. Presumably, this allowed a local lord the freedom to regulate and make fine adjustments to their territorial economy, ensuring that their lands as a whole could smoothly function to support its people.

In practice, however, whether this happened or not was at the whim of the seated administrator. In most cases, ways that were seen as ‘normal’, ‘traditional’ and ‘moral’ were opaque, uncompetitive and stifled innovation. Administrators could be incentivised to maintain inefficient market practices and prop up various industries and interests with unfair and arbitrary measures. In the worst cases, issues became systematic and progressively worse.

Industries could be forced to sell their goods at favourable prices to companies owned by local authorities or lose their licence to operate entirely. Exemptions were purchased through bribery and other private arrangements. Racketeering became rampant and tenant agreements effectively became contracts of serfdom and slavery.

Were the problem limited to the nobility, it could be easily addressed. Unfortunately, it was behaviour that could be found at any level of administration and business. One’s actions could even be affected by external elements, such as powerful political interests, Merchant and industrial cartels, and criminal syndicates.

If she were to parrot Liane’s cynical views on the matter, people did what they thought they could get away with to get what they wanted. The degree to which proper, righteous behaviour regulated the people was not uniform. Thus, enforceable rules and regulations needed to be enacted by those in authority. At the same time, however, they could not be harmful to the territory.

In the Sorcerous Kingdom, the usual barriers to change did not exist. A remarkable degree of transparency was made possible by the tireless efforts of the Elder Liches. Powerful individuals could not simply walk in and erase those in authority for enacting progressive change. Economic pressures were on their side and the Royal Court of the Sorcerous Kingdom strove for universal excellence.

Everything was in place to begin the transformation of their nation into the beacon of civilisation that the Sorcerer King desired. All that was left to do was to do it.

“I guess that something like this is usually impossible,” the Guildmaster chuckled. “It makes it too hard to believe.”

“Make no mistake,” Clara replied, “the guilds still have many challenges ahead of them. Do not take your new freedoms for granted; I still technically hold all of the rights, authority and duties that come with my station. If I see that regulation is required, there is no doubt that I will act. If things get out of hand, I have no qualms rescinding these freedoms to reexamine the entire arrangement. The success of this experiment and further progressive measures will be in large part due to the efforts of the guilds and their members.”

“Of course, my lady,” the Guildmaster nodded. “As always, we understand that you do everything for the greater good of your subjects.”

Clara rose from her seat, offering the Guildmaster a quiet smile as he brushed the crumbs of breakfast from his lap. He beamed as he bobbed his head before leaving her office.

Shouldn’t he be sweating a bit after having a threat like that hung over his head?

He certainly would if he was speaking to Liane. If it was Ludmila, he would have probably fainted on the spot. Clara couldn’t decide whether to be annoyed or not.

When it came to herself and her friends, their image always preceded them, pulling whatever they presented up or down. Ludmila could say something perfectly pleasant and it would terrify everyone around her. Liane always left people wondering, though she often did that on purpose. Florine didn’t need to say anything at all and thoughts invariably turned lewd, much to her embarrassment – which only led people on further.

As for herself, Clara could sentence someone to death and they would probably thank her for it. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, but they would at least respect her ruling and accept it with good grace.

Supposedly, these outcomes were due to how they employed their ‘Job Classes’ and how the Skills and Abilities that they had developed influenced others. That one could produce fear or adoration on demand was seen as a natural measure of a charismatic individual’s ability, but once they started qualifying and quantifying everything according to the concept of Class Levels, things became a bit disconcerting.

Everything that they did was suddenly part of an experiment as they strove to develop their capabilities. They could even gauge the capabilities of others by how well they could ‘contend’, which again was something once considered ‘common sense’, but warped by their new knowledge.

Many other aspects of their former sensibilities were similarly cast in a new light. The common knowledge that people became stronger and more capable as they grew in their craft became ‘stat arrays’ and ‘skill growth’ that influenced the quality of a ‘build’. This, especially, was becoming very apparent to Clara whose divine blood had now unmistakably manifested.

Where she was once no stronger, faster or resilient than an average city girl, she was now as physically capable as a Silver-rank Adventurer…and that was without the equipment bestowed upon her by Lady Shalltear. With it, she could do things that shocked the people around her. That being said, she was no warrior – the growth of her physical capabilities was more a convenient side-benefit that came with her ongoing work as the head of House Corelyn.

With this being the case, she often wondered how strong Ludmila now was, especially considering that she was an Undead being with far greater physical capabilities than a Human.

Maybe I can get her to teach me how to fight a bit. That way we could…no, that is a sinful path.

She needed to focus on her own way of doing things. It was one of the reasons why they went so well together, after all.

Clara looked outside, squinting at the sun glinting against the river. It was roughly two hours to noon. She stretched as she went back down the tower stairs, sending one of her maids ahead to call for her carriage. An appointment in the Katze Plains with Brother Martelli and his Squires awaited her.