Chapter 4
24th Day, Upper Wind Month, 1 CE
Studying was hard when one was cold, wet, and miserable. Additionally, it was not so much studying as it was trying to figure out what Fendros, Elise and Ida’s capabilities were. Nel hadn’t really thought about that while she discussed her plans for Da Verliyn’s desne – she had simply assud that, since they were all Noble scions who had gone through two years of the Imperial Magic Academy as she had, they would be in a similar situation in terms of managent and administration.
It didn’t really help that they had gone along with everything she had spoken about without revealing any of the major flaws in their upbringing. Having Da Verilyn around – who needed to have everything thoroughly explained to her – probably made it easier for them to play along. In the end, however, Nel was angry with herself for failing to properly scrutinise them when she had months to do so.
Lady Zahradnik said that there are so issues with them…
Back when she had first introduced Nel to Lady Shalltear, Da Verilyn had said that of Fendros, Elise and Ida. Nel hadn’t given the statent much thought after that. The fact that Lady Zahradnik had caught on to their charade not long after they had been introduced was awe-inspiring. Maybe it was the difference between a Noble who ruled in her own right and a Noble scion barely out of the academy.
Nel didn’t know what they were thinking for all those months. Did they believe that they would be able to get away with it? Would they have continued to pretend that they knew what they were doing, praying that they would just be able to just fake their way through life? Right up until the point that they drove Da Verilyn’s territorial operations off of a cliff? Nel couldn’t wrap her head around how people could live like that.
…but it shouldn’t be anything that can’t be fixed.
Lady Zahradnik had said that as well. At least Da Verilyn said that she had.
She still wanted to believe that her three forr classmates were products of their terrible upbringing. They were all terrified of what the future held when she encountered them in Oestestadt – maybe that terror still gripped them even after being shown so much kindness. Maybe that kindness crushed them with guilt and the hole just got deeper and deeper, their mounting sha preventing them from confessing their situation.
Then again, they did seem to rember a lot of what they learned at the Imperial Magic Academy. They were all good students. It was possible that they honestly didn’t think they were that far off from Nel. Ultimately, however, it was Nel’s screwup and it was her responsibility to fix it.
They were strong in certain aspects of their Noble upbringing and their shortfalls weren’t irredeemable. The fact that they were practising Wizards wasn’t sothing that could be faked. All Nel had to do was get them up to the sa standard that House Gran demanded of its sons and daughters.
After she was done being mad at them, she started to formulate a training plan. They had a lot of work to do with their new land, so Nel couldn’t afford to figure out what was necessary right away or stand around and lecture them on everything they needed to learn. For the ti being, she had them organise the camp’s inventories – which was similar to helping organise Zu Chiru’s caravan inventories – and continue their respective magic studies.
The Rangers returned around noon and gathered around the fire to deliver their reports. Over half of them identified a rocky escarpnt less than a hundred tres deeper into the brush.
“What we’re standing on right now is actually wetland,” one of them said. “There are bodies of water all along the valley floor. A few weeks ago, this entire place was probably underwater from the spring lt. If all this snow above us is going to lt away now, we’ll probably see another flood.”
“How high is the escarpnt?”
“Three to six tres, depending on how far the river’s cut into the slope. The top ain’t flat, either – it gradually gets steeper.”
It sounded like they had co ashore in a bad location. Nel scratched her temple, trying to figure out whether it was a good idea to set up their base camp yet.
“Let’s try this a different way,” Nel beckoned to Joel Baur. “I’m going to send you up, Mister Baur.”
“U-up, Mistress Nel?”
“I’ll enchant you with a Fly spell. Then you can fly up and down the river and survey things from above.”
Nel cast the spell on the nervous Ranger. His feet lifted off the ground uncertainly.
“I can maintain this spell for six hours with a full mana reserve, so don’t worry about dropping out of the sky. The spell has a set acceleration, so make sure you don’t co down too quickly.”
Joel Baur gingerly tested the enchantnt for a few minutes before flying off to the east. Nel returned her attention to the other Rangers.
“What’s the land like here?” She asked.
“It’s nothing like the copses back in Gran Barony, that’s for sure,” one of them chuckled. “Everything’s wild. Rangers and similar types will be able to get around, but this brush along the river is almost impassable to anyone else without using animal trails.”
“Did you see anything dangerous?”
“Not yet. There are those animal trails I ntioned, but we haven’t seen tracks from any big predators yet.”
“What about food and such? Can we survive here or will we need to keep resupplying from Warden’s Vale?”
“We can survive no problem out here. There’s plenty of wildlife and there’ll be plenty to forage once spring cos to the mountain. We just need a place where the river won’t wash us away.”
“That’s great,” Nel bead. “In that case, we can dedicate most of our revenues to developnt.”
“How will our taxes work, Mistress Nel?”
“I’ll be assuming full control of the settlent’s resources for now,” Nel told them. “We need to focus everything on getting our base camp up and running before winter arrives. I don’t think anyone wants to be sleeping in a tent during winter here if spring can be like this.”
Technically, that ant she had set the tax rate to one hundred per cent. With as little as they had, however, dividing their resources and labour in thirty-four different directions would get them nowhere quickly.
“When will things beco more normal-like?” Soone asked.
“Once we stabilise,” Nel answered. “This land is completely undeveloped, so even if I wanted to set up a normal tax sche, I have no way to figure out what desne revenues will be like until we’ve sent goods to market for a season or two.”
She pulled out the notebook tucked under her arm, flipping it open to the fourth page.
“Now that we have our land under our feet,” Nel said, “I’ll go over our migration plan again. We have three waves coming in before winter. The first wave is, well, us. In addition to establishing a base camp, we’ll be surveying the territory to figure out the optimal location for our main settlent. Once we’ve done that, the second group will co in, which will include the people needed to build the settlent and our farrs.”
Nel hoped it wouldn’t take long to reach that stage. She wanted so fields to test how various crops would do. Potatoes would be nice, but one never knew whether a land was suitable for growing any given thing. They also couldn’t delay long if they wanted dry and warm hos to shelter in before winter.
“What’s the third wave?”
“More farrs,” Nel said. “But, more importantly…won.”
“Won?”
“Yes, won! There are thirty of you right now and only four of us! That number will beco even more lopsided when we bring in the next wave!”
The few spare won she found unmarried in the city didn’t want to migrate. There were too many risks and unknowns. They all believed that the Empire was the best place in the world to live, despite the fact that they were struggling to make ends et in the cities. Not only that, they were brought up in a culture where n took risks and won were usually seen as sothing to be protected. Even the won in question saw themselves that way.
Nel could empathise with certain aspects of their position, as it was grounded in the realities that ca with Human existence. All else being equal, the average man was bigger and stronger than the average woman. A man could have children with many won at the sa ti, but not the other way around. If a Human settlent lost many of its mbers, it would repopulate faster if it lost n rather than won.
Thus, n were expected to face danger. The vast majority of the Imperial Army was made up of n. When new lands were claid, the first settlers were always n. Taking risks and seizing success was one of the foremost asures of a man’s worth in the eyes of society.
Won, on the other hand, were kept ‘safe’. Preferably out of reach of everything that saw Humans as food or competition. This idea dictated what won were expected to do, neatly packaged in their cultural norms. Generally speaking, jobs that kept won out of danger were seen as proper. One could be a Tailor, clerk, Chef or so kind of entertainer. Blacksmiths, Carpenters, and Engineers were also fine so long as they worked in settlents. Magical researchers, temple staff and arcane artisans were in high demand.
Unlike n, won weren’t pushed into taking bold action to validate their existence. For those possessed of rare talent and ambition, the attitudes that evolved from such a culture were often chafing. For the vast majority, however, it was a highly favourable situation. If one could pursue a reasonably prosperous life in peace and safety, why do anything else? Before coming to Warden’s Vale, Nel herself had chosen a career that offered a degree of freedom in relative safety while also offering all sorts of cushy benefits. She couldn’t expect others to not do the sa.
The few won who strayed from the beaten path and achieved spectacular success were not seen as role models for everyone else. They weren’t even seen as won: they were icons far beyond the reach of regular people; celebrities so long as they did not otherwise act beyond the boundaries laid by societal norms. If they did, they beca a threat and their influence was suppressed whenever possible.
It was far easier to aspire to diocrity than it was to greatness, so that suppression usually worked. The average person could not beco a powerful Adventurer or Fourth-tier caster just by wishing so, after all. Going off of the beaten path would get one beaten into submission by the world itself.
To get won to migrate, she had to make her territory seem close enough to the ‘beaten path’ that the image of her territory would start to attract them. This was more difficult than it should have been, as the Sorcerous Kingdom was seen as a dangerous place filled with the Undead. Nel’s neighbours were Demihumans and an ‘evil Dragon’ would be their liege.
Fortunately, the expectations that society placed on n worked in Nel’s favour. So long as she kept them focused on their goals and they saw themselves making tangible progress, her band of intrepid pioneers would cooperate. For her n to attract wives and start families, they had to be seen as successful. Not only did they need titles and licences, but they also needed decent hos in settlents with everything an imperial citizen was accustod to having.
Additionally, her father always said that n needed many things that would only be considered ‘nice to have’ as a woman. They needed a sense of pride and accomplishnt in sothing real, they needed sothing to protect, and they needed soone to love. Without those things, n were rely caricatures filled with shallow values and empty lives.
When looking at things from that perspective, what had to be done beca remarkably clear. She would create a place where people did not rely exist from day to day, but one where her people and the generations that ca after them could truly live.
The Imperial Magic Academy didn’t teach anything like that. To the Empire, being a Noble was a purely administrative role, revolving around numbers and models for what the central bureaucracy considered a functional territory. Even things like ‘public sentint’ and ‘satisfaction’ beca numbers plugged into sterile formulas dictated by a faceless body of ‘experts’ in the ministries.
Nel didn’t like that at all. Since it was entirely up to her, she would run Da Verilyn’s territory according to the values of House Gran.
Joel Baur returned from his flight, landing far more slowly than he had to. Nel dispelled the Fly spell.
“Report,” she said.
“Yes, Mistress Nel,” the Ranger bobbed his head. “There’s a great spot about four kilotres upriver. It’s just above where the other river joins this one. The escarpnt there is only a half dozen tres or so from the shore.”
“That sounds great, Mister Baur,” Nel smiled. “Can the boat go up that other river?”
“A little. The other river falls over the escarpnt about a kilotre from the site I ntioned.”
That was more than good enough. Since the territory was on a major waterway, building a pier for the village was a given. She inford the Death Warrior captain of the new location and instructed her people to head over and begin clearing the site. As for Fendros and the others…
“We’re going to Warden’s Vale,” Nel told them.
“We are?” Fendros blinked.
“If we fly straight over this ridge,” Nel said, “it should only take about thirty minutes to get there. It’ll take these guys two hours to muck their way over to the new site. We’ll take a look around while they do that.”
Nel cast Fly on Ida and herself. Fendros cast the spell on herself and Elise. They went straight north over the ridge that the Katze River flowed around. Near the top of that ridge, a voice popped up in Nel’s head.
『Unidentified flyer, this is Royal Army Air Patrol 56. You are ordered to halt and submit yourselves for inspection.』
A pair of Elder Liches descended upon them. Fendros and the others floated closer to Nel as one of the Undead mages produced a black clipboard. The sound of its pen scratching over paper carried over the cold winds.
“Identify yourself,” it said.
“Nel Gran,” she replied. “I’m Da Verilyn’s new seneschal.”
“What is your destination?”
“Warden’s Vale.”
The scratching of the pen resud. After a mont, the Elder Lich looked up again.
“Do you have proof of your identity?”
“I, uh…no?”
“「Summon Undead V」.”
A startled cry rose from Ida as the two Elder Liches summoned eight Wraiths, which imdiately surrounded them. One of the Elder Liches flew behind.
“You will co with us,” the one in front of them said.
A mber of the Imperial Air Patrol being taken in by the Royal Army Air Patrol…
The grim procession descended northwards, skimming low over the Katze River. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the army base. Two Death Knights ca to stand on either side of them. They were brought to a grey granite office with severe-looking furniture.
“You will wait here,” one of the Elder Liches said.
The Undead left the room. Nel seated herself on a plain wooden chair.
“A-are we in trouble?” Fendros asked.
“But we didn’t do anything wrong!” Ida wrung her hands nervously.
“Maybe we need permission to fly around in the Sorcerous Kingdom,” Fendros said.
“But Da Verilyn was flying around…”
“Da Verilyn is a Knight. We’re pretty much commoners. There’s a huge difference.”
Several minutes later, an Elder Lich appeared in the company of two other Elder Liches. The newcor looked a bit familiar. Its crimson gaze moved back and forth before settling on Nel.
“Visually, they appear to be who they say they are,” it said.
“Is there any possibility of deception?” One of the other Elder Liches asked.
“It is not impossible.”
The first Elder Lich pointed a bony finger at Nel.
“You will be subjected to mind control magic,” it said. “Do not resist.”
“Eh? What?! Mind con–”
“「Charm Person」.”
Nel squeaked and shielded herself with her arms as the spell washed over her.
“The subject has resisted the spell. Escalation is advised.”
Two Death Knights stomped into the room. Wicked blades brandished.
“W-wait! Do it again! You did it so suddenly that I just reacted…”
The Death Knights looked at the Elder Lich. A dry sigh issued from the Undead caster’s throat, and it pointed its finger at her again.
“「Charm Person」.”
Nel blinked and looked over at the Elder Lich. She rose from her seat and threw her arms around its bony fra.
“I’m so sorry!” She said, “I didn’t an to cause you so much trouble.”
The sound of a scratching pen rose to her side. Nel released the Elder Lich, looking at the other with a frown.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing? Why are you writing up my friend? What did she do to you, hah?”
“What is your na?”
“Look here, you–”
“Answer the question,” her friend said.
“Nel Gran.”
“What is your quest?”
Nel narrowed her eyes. She looked at her friend, who nodded slightly.
“A trip to Warden’s Vale,” Nel answered.
“What is your favourite colour?”
“Lavender.”
The Elder Lich’s pen stopped. It turned its head to nod at her friend.
“You are free to go about your business,” it said. “Have a pleasant day.”
The army Liches and their Death Knights left the room. Nel turned to smile at her friend.
“Say,” she said, “I’m new here. Since we’re friends now, would you like to go out with and–”
Nel froze as the Charm Person spell was dispelled. She tried to see what Fendros and the others’ faces looked like out of the corner of her eye.
“I think we saw a side of Nel that we weren’t supposed to see,” Elise said.
“Nel Gran,” the Elder Lich said. “You and your aides will co with .”
Nel resisted the urge to cover her face in her hands as they filed out of the building after the Elder Lich. She picked up her steps to walk alongside it, trying to ignore the gazes of the other won.
“You’re the one Lady Zahradnik introduced to us at the harbour,” she said. “Nonna, right?”
“Correct.”
“Why did they ask for my favourite colour?”
“That is confidential.”
“…about what I was going to ask–”
“No.”
She sighed and fell back to walk with the others. They boarded a wagon parked not far from the office. When they reached the intersection leading to the harbour, the wagon turned left towards a cluster of stone buildings arranged around a bare stone plaza.
“Are these all houses?” Elise gaped.
“They’re huge!” Ida stared.
Nel nodded in silent agreent. They were huge. Even the smallest one was about as large as a minor Noble’s provincial manor. The shophouses were three or four tis as large. Furthermore, they were all fashioned from granite.
A few n and won moved around the plaza. Most of the residents were probably working. A bell tolled from the spire of a long structure at the northern end of the plaza. Its door opened and disgorged dozens of children.
“A school?” Fendros murmured, “I wonder if all the kids here attend…”
“Truancy is prohibited,” Nonna said. “Violators are returned to the institute by army patrols.”
Is it a school, or a prison?
The wagon stopped at a house with a small jungle inside. Nonna led them into a small office to the side of a hall filled with plants.
“What is this place?” Nel asked.
“The temporary office of Baroness Zahradnik,” Nonna answered. “I assu that you have arrived for orientation?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Nonna went over to a shelf, pulling out several volus. The Elder Lich placed it on a nearby desk.
“The first red to contains a summary of the public laws of the Sorcerous Kingdom as of the first of spring. A summary of the Sorcerous Kingdom’s civil laws is contained in the second red to. The green to contains the bylaws of the territories under House Zahradnik’s managent, including those of the special administrative zone. The black to contains the military regulations of the Royal Army. As administrative aides, it is your duty to familiarise yourselves with all of them.”
“…do you have a crate for those?”
The Elder Lich produced a map of Lady Zahradnik’s territory, as well as a directory for local industries. A Death Knight appeared with a crate and packed their things away. On their way out, they ran into a walking plant.
“The other kids want to do weapons testing again…um, hello?”
Nel stared at the humanoid figure. She was actually quite beautiful. Almost any noblewoman would be put to sha by comparison.
“Are you a Dryad?” Ida asked.
“Yeah,” the Dryad answered. “Oh.”
The Dryad dipped into a curtsey. It was rough and awkward-looking, as if she were unaccustod to the movent.
“Da Glasir Gel Gronvidr,” the Dryad said. “It’s a pleasure to et you.”
First a Dragon Knight, now a Dryad Knight…I guess the latter shouldn’t be as shocking as the forr.
Contrary to their attractive appearance, Nel was taught that Dryads were extrely dangerous. Any reports delivered to the Imperial Army concerning them had to do with attacks against frontiersn and even army patrols. As Heteromorphs, they were far stronger than most Demihumans. They also had an array of powerful Spell-like Abilities and the strongest ones were often Druids.
They took turns introducing themselves to the Dryad Knight. Da Gronvidr put her things away sowhere in the tangle of plants in the hall before returning to them.
“So you work for Da Verilyn, huh.”
“Yes, that’s right. We just dropped off our people in her territory and we ca by to look around Warden’s Vale…actually, if you’re not busy, we would love it if you could show us around.”
“I guess I have a few hours,” Da Gronvidr said. “Just a minute…”
The Dryad went past the hall and up a flight of stairs. After a few minutes, she ca back down and led them back outside. On the street, there was a gaggle of kids waiting with expectant looks.
“They said to et outside the forge again,” Da Gronvidr told them.
Nel watched the children disperse around the plaza. Having so many gathered like that was fairly rare in the Empire. Past the age of six or seven, most would be apprenticing under their parents and busy with work.
“Did you say sothing about ‘weapons testing’ just now?” Nel asked.
“Hm? Yeah. With the league battles postponed, most of my classmates are trying to improve the stuff that they craft for matches. Anyway, where do you want to go first?”
“Could you introduce us to all of the businesses here?”
“Sure.”
Da Gronvidr made her way across the plaza, her golden red leaves rustling in the wind. Despite looking like an Elf or a Human, she didn’t walk like one. It almost seed like she was attached to the ground as she stepped forward.
The familiar tread of a Death Knight sounded from behind them. Nel looked over her shoulder to find one of the powerful Undead warriors following them with a potted tree in its arms.
“…is that your tree?”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t know Dryads could pot their trees,” Nel said.
“ neither,” Da Gronvidr replied. “It was already like that when I was born.”
Like Dragons, Dryads appeared to be a race born knowing things.
“Are you going to plant your tree soday?” Nel asked.
“Not for a while,” Da Gronvidr answered. “Dryads can’t go very far from their trees. I have to finish school and all of my other studies first.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, Da Gronvidr, how old are you?”
“Uh…six months or so.”
“…”
Hetermorphs were unfair. In the ti when Nel would still be unable to talk or walk properly, Da Gronvidr was going to school, had been granted a knighthood, was probably much stronger than Nel was now, and had an amazing figure that Nel could only wish for.
They went along a row of shops, stopping to introduce themselves to each of the proprietors. Everyone was polite and friendly, answering their questions in good humour. Along the way, however, they discovered several alarming things.
The first was that the prices quoted for timber were extraordinarily low. Since they were in a heavily-forested frontier region, she did expect depressed prices relative to what one might find in the cities, but what she found in Warden’s Vale was beyond that.
Secondly was that everything generally felt ‘off’. At least compared to the Empire. Essentials were cheap and plentiful. What a frontier territory would consider luxury items were also readily available. The problem was that they were items that not only shouldn’t have been there, but should have been expensive enough for no one to be able to afford.
Yet, people ca and bought them. It was all she could do to keep her jaw from dropping open when a lone little girl ca by on an ‘errand’, casually placing enough gold on the counter to support a common household for two years. She knew exactly what the magic item was and how to use it, too.
Nel was thoroughly confused by the ti they started heading over to the wagon lot to go ho. They could save on mana by riding over to where their new camp lay across.
“Da Gronvidr,” she said. “Do you know how much the average tenant household here makes?”
“No,” the Dryad shook her head.
“Do you have any tenants or incos?”
“Unless you count worms and insects, I don’t have any tenants in my pot. I do make so money as a Druid, though.”
“How much does it cost for divine magic here?”
“Two copper coins for an Orison or First-tier spell. I can make a few silver coins a day, but that depends on what’s going on.”
Druids weren’t like Priests and Clerics, who worked for Temples that had various operational expenses to take care of. Da Gronvidr was probably the highest-earning six-month-old in the entire world. That people could afford double the rate of divine magic in more developed lands ant that they were relatively affluent as well.
“Are the taxes really low here?” Nel asked.
“Uh…I’m not sure if it’s low or not, but I think there’s a ninety per cent tax rate here.”
Nel’s mouth fell open. Warden’s Vale was well past the point where anyone should expect to give up ninety per cent of their production.
“H-how does anyone pay for anything here? They’d have to produce an awful lot to afford ninety per cent tax!”
“I haven’t heard anyone complain about it. Everyone looks happy here.”
That much was true. Baroness Zahradnik’s subjects all looked motivated and generally content with their lives. If it was the Empire, a ninety per cent tax rate would starve everyone to death.
They parted ways with Da Gronvidr, directing the wagon south out of the city. What they discovered in Warden’s Vale and the implications that it carried were not lost on Fendros, Elise and Ida.
“Um…what are we going to do?” Ida asked, “Timber is crazy cheap here!”
“The price of at is high, though,” Elise noted. “Our Rangers should be able to bring in decent revenues.”
“Is it really that bad?” Fendros mused, “The Rangers said we should be able to easily sustain ourselves. Essential goods are cheap, so our exports should manage well enough.”
She had a point. They wouldn’t be able to afford any luxuries, but their basic needs were covered. Achieving the sa quality of life as the residents of Warden’s Vale, however, felt like an insurmountable wall.
Nel dug through the crate of administrative materials provided by Nonna, looking for clues as to how they could match whatever the other people in the territory were doing. In addition to the legal references, the Elder Lich had included almanacs and manuals. It didn’t take long to figure out what they were missing.
“It’s the Undead,” she said. “They’re using Undead labour.”
As silly as it seed, she had forgotten all about it. The Sorcerous Kingdom was well-known in the Empire for its utilisation of Undead labour. They even made efforts to market it abroad. Despite this, Nel never assud that Undead labour would be used in her new territory for so reason.
“Are we really going to use it?” Ida asked.
“I don’t know…”
Up to this point, the fact that the Sorcerous Kingdom used Undead security and labour was seen as sothing that couldn’t be helped. This, however, did not an that her people would so readily embrace it.
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