Chapter 25: Accepting a Request

  Garfield awoke to the feeling of someone biting his neck. He looked down by his feet and saw two bears, so neither of them were the culprit. He then turned his head in the direction of the sensation and confirmed that Hannah was sucking his blood. He wasn’t necessarily against the idea, but he didn’t understand why she was doing this right now. He gently pushed her away and she settled on her side, asleep.

  “I’ve heard of people doing some pretty outrageous things in their sleep, but sucking blood?”

  Garfield used his sensing magic on Hannah. Her stats were now much higher than they were after sucking the dog-man’s blood. Her blood supply was mostly full. In the list of blood types, a new one was added: ‘demigod’.

  “The hell? Who decided that?”

  Hannah groaned slightly as she seemed to be waking. Garfield looked closer at the information provided by his sensing magic and noticed one more thing. Under the ‘transformation’ ability was the word ‘flight’. It wasn’t that strange that vampires could fly, but until now Hannah was not capable of it.

  “Mm. Good morning,” she said.

  “You’re naughty in your sleep.”

  “Huh?”

  Garfield tapped on his neck where Hannah had bitten him. Hannah covered her mouth with her hand. Garfield was convinced it was an accident, at least.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Okay. Maybe a bit stronger?”

  “Did you gain any new abilities?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure…”

  Hannah climbed out of the bed. She had to stretch a bit for her short legs to reach the floor. As she went to lower herself, she just kinda floated there.

  “Wha!?”

  “I think you’re able to fly, now.”

  “Really!?” Hannah was elated.

  “We don’t know the limits of that ability, so be cautious for now. Maybe you can only fly within a couple of meters of the ground, or something like that…”

  Hannah flew all around the room while Garfield got dressed. One time she screwed up, banging into Garfield and slamming him into a wall. A moment later, the butler knocked and came rushing in to see Garfield sitting on the floor in a daze with his back to the wall and Hannah looking down at him from the air, apologizing profusely. Garfield used healing magic on himself and stood back up.

  “We’ll be going to the Adventurer’s Guild after breakfast.”

  The butler nodded and stepped out while Garfield finished dressing himself. As soon as he was out of the room, the butler thought, ‘So, we’re just going to pretend that didn’t happen…?’ but Garfield was beyond caring about stuff like that.

  Garfield and Hannah picked up Yttria, who was eager to adventure after so long. They stepped into the Adventurer’s Guild, and the room became silent. This was Garfield’s first visit since he became so popular, after all. The assembled adventurers seemed unsure whether they should treat him like a fellow adventurer, a Duke, or something in between. The group walked over to the smaller counter used for registration.

  “My friend Hannah here would like to register. The Guild Master should have made special arrangements.”

  “Bearclaw! No, Duke! …What should I call you?” the employee asked, seemingly as confused as the adventurers.

  “May as well use Bearclaw while I’m here.”

  A few nearby adventurers visibly relaxed at that declaration.

  “Very well, Bearclaw. Yes, the Guild Master informed all staff to be ready to assist when you bring a friend for registration. Please provide only the information you want to for the purposes of registration.”

  Garfield quickly filled out a registration form, as follows:

  Name: Hannah

  Age (if under 16): ---

  Other Guild Affiliations: ---

  Prior Convictions: ---

  Address or Base: Garfield Estate, Northern District

  Class (see list of recognized classes below): Fighter

  Evaluation Requested?

  Classes Recognized by the Fenwick Kingdom Adventurer’s Guild: Warrior, Fighter, Archer, Rogue, Priest, Mage-Attack, Mage-Support, Mage-Summoner, Supporter (non-combat)

  “What should we put for ‘Evaluation Requested’?” Garfield asked. “Did the Guild Master say how to handle this?”

  “Oh, no, he didn’t particularly tell us what to do about rank… He just said to accept the form even if some personal details are omitted. Let’s see… wait, she’s really not under 16?

  “She’s young-looking.”

  “I see… Oh, is Garfield Estate where you live as well, Bearclaw? I’ll need to update your registration.”

  “Please do.”

  “And… fighter? This little girl?”

  “She’s also able to use attack magic, but I think she’s most talented as a fighter.”

  “Oh, then can’t we have her complete an evaluation as a fighter?” the employee suggested.

  “…They’ll probably die.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t think you have anyone strong enough to spar with Hannah.”

  “…If it’s you, Bearclaw, I’ll believe you. Why don’t you go see the Guild Master about this?”

  “Good idea.” The trio went upstairs.

  “Ah, I see,” the Guild Master began. “Honestly, Bearclaw, I’m not even sure what to do about your rank. I think I’ll just write you a letter which says, ‘Please choose your own rank from now on.’ If Hannah is as strong as you say, then she can just have the same rank as you whenever she’s adventuring with you. If she wants to adventure without you later, we can just address it then.”

  “That’s fine. Oh, are there any advantages to being a Diamond adventurer? I’ve only ever seen a few requests that were above Gold, and they were Platinum.”

  “Generally, there are no practical advantages. In very rare cases, the guild might request Diamond adventurers deal with very difficult situations, but those events are extremely infrequent. Oh, Ms. Yttria, are you satisfied with your registration? If you’re going to adventure with Bearclaw, I ought to ask that…”

  “Oh, I’m fine as Silver - Upper Half.”

  The Guild Master nodded. The party returned downstairs and looked at the request board.

  “Hm, how about this, for a change?” said Garfield, pointing at a request. “Provide escort for a caravan departing Bretten towards Lorenzo to the east?”

  “That will take several days, won’t it? Can you afford to be away that long?” asked Yttria.

  “This is why I have Assistant Duke! Hannah, what do you think?”

  Hannah excitedly nodded. A multi-day request with Garfield must have seemed fun to her. The rank of the request was only Silver so Yttria could request it on behalf of the group. While Yttria went to speak with the clerk at the main counter, Garfield and Hannah returned to the employee at the registration counter.

  “Did the Guild Master provide you with any guidance regarding ranks for Hannah and me?”

  “Yes, although it’s the strangest guidance I’ve ever seen, if I’m honest… You may both choose your own ranks.”

  Garfield turned to Hannah. “We should both have the same rank for now. What rank do you think we should request?”

  “Diamond!”

  “Well, I don’t think anyone will complain…”

  “Bearclaw, I couldn’t help but overhear,” a nearby adventurer said. “Nobody will object to you promoting straight to Diamond, but what about this little girl? She shouldn’t become Diamond-ranked just because you are…”

  Another adventurer tugged on the first adventurer’s shoulder, trying to get him to back down. Garfield decided to get this out of the way right now.

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  “Hannah here looks small, but she’s actually really strong. If she defeats you in arm wrestling, will you accept that?”

  “Her? Hah, sure, why not?”

  Garfield whispered instructions to Hannah. “Don’t try to win immediately. First, just carefully keep the competition tied. After a few seconds, slowly increase the force and bring his hand down gently. If you overdo it, you could hurt him and possibly destroy the table. Don’t squeeze his hand too tightly.”

  Hannah nodded. She sat opposite the Adventurer. A crowd of other adventurers came over to watch.

  “Garfield, we’re all registered but… what are you doing?”

  “Oh, just watch,” Garfield told Yttria. “It will be over in a few moments.”

  A volunteer officiated. When they shouted ‘Go,’ both parties put force into their arms. Neither arm moved, aside from a bit of shaking.

  “What the!?” The adventurer’s hand eventually met the table, signaling his loss. The observers were all shocked that such a small girl could defeat a burly adventurer.

  “Did you let her win?”

  “Did she do something to you?”

  “Me next!”

  Garfield decided it was time to go before a line formed.

  The group reported to the building indicated by the guild.

  “Hello, we’re here on behalf of the guild to provide escort to a caravan departing for Lorenzo,” Yttria reported.

  “Ah, let me see. Hmm. I see you are a Silver adventurer and you have a party, so there shouldn’t be any problems. Does your party have a name I might have heard of before?” the staff member asked innocently.

  Yttria turned to Garfield, unsure of what to say. Garfield spoke up.

  “We’re friends but we only joined up as a group today so we don’t have a name yet. We’re all skilled though and we can work together without issue.”

  The staff member nodded and provided instructions.

  “The caravan departs tomorrow morning at the usual time. It will include several merchants as well as Baron Fisher returning to his domain with his family. The Baron’s safety must be protected, even if you cut loose the merchants’ wares in the worst case. You should expect one other adventuring party assigned to this mission. Do you have any questions?”

  “No, thank you!” Yttria said for the group.

  The group stepped back and Garfield spoke. “Yttria, since the request is not until tomorrow, do you need to go back home? I have some ideas for how we could use the time.”

  “…Ideas?”

  “I was thinking the three of us can develop clothing, armor, and weapons. If you prefer to stick with what’s available here in the city, that’s fine as well.”

  “Oh, that. Yes, I would love to join in,” she agreed.

  “All right. Let’s head back to my place.”

  “It’s funny to hear someone say that when ‘their place’ is one of the largest estates in the kingdom…” Yttria observed.

  Garfield, working together with his staff, set up a covered area in the yard behind the manor house, as well as an uncovered practice area for combat or even magic training. Yttria requested Garfield try re-making her current clothing using the special fabrics at his disposal. While Yttria took some samples into the house to try on, Garfield started making more outfits for Hannah, including some of a larger size.

  “Garfield, these clothes are amazing!” Yttria called out as she exited the back of the house. “What IS this fabric—who are those garments for?” Yttria saw Garfield working on clothing that was clearly too big for Hannah.

  “Oh, yeah, there’s something we should probably show you about Hannah.”

  They stepped into the manor, then returned to the outdoor area a couple of minutes later.

  Yttria sulked. Hannah, in her small form, floated up half a meter off the ground and then patted Yttria on the head.

  “Wha!? You can fly, too!? I knew you were able to change your appearance cosmetically but… you can even make yourself older…” Yttria was deep in thought.

  Garfield decided to change the subject. “So, clothing aside, what should we do about gear? Is that sword the ideal shape and size for you?”

  “Huh? Ah, yes. This is the standard form of a knight’s sword. There’s nothing wrong with a knight acquiring backups but normally we would never try to improve the design.”

  “I don’t want you to become too dependent on my enchantments, but if you are going to be adventuring with me, you deserve an upgrade. Let me see your sword.”

  Yttria pulled out the scabbard and carefully handed it to Garfield, sword inside.

  “?Duplicate Item, x12?.” A dozen identical swords with decorative scabbards clattered to the ground.

  “Wha!?”

  Garfield handed the sword back to her and picked up one of the duplicates. “This is my first time enchanting an item… Stand back. ?Enchant Item: Foxfire On Swing?. ?Enchant Item: Self-Repair?. ?Enchant Item: Quickdraw?.”

  With each spell, the sword glowed for a moment. Even after the effects dissipated, the sword gave off a bit of a detectable aura, but only if you paid close attention to it. Garfield handed the enchanted sword to Yttria.

  “This sword has three special effects. Whenever you swing it, flames will erupt from the blade. They don’t do much damage but they can distract the enemy. If the sword becomes damaged, it will heal back to its like-new form. Also, any attempt to draw the sword gets unnaturally accelerated. Do you ever attack directly from a sword draw?”

  “Uh, no,” said Yttria. “I’m not a practitioner of that technique, although I have heard of it…”

  “Now’s the perfect time to practice, then. I think you’ll be impressed by how well that sword handles such a motion.”

  Yttria took the sword to the practice area and tested it. It really did release flames whenever it was swung. Also, she tried a practice swing by drawing straight from the scabbard. The entire motion was impossible to track with the naked eye.

  “I recommend you only use that sword while adventuring with me or in desperate situations, otherwise your skills with normal swords won’t develop.”

  “I understand.”

  “Hannah, do you want anything?”

  “Yes!”

  “…Anything in particular?”

  Hannah placed a small hand on her chin while she thought. She didn’t really need a weapon.

  “Can I have armor for my back and chest?”

  Apparently, Hannah was thinking about a vampire’s weak points. Garfield agreed to give it a try. “We need to give you armor that protects the torso, is reinforced around the heart without making that obvious, and also looks fashionable.”

  “Um, Sir Garfield, I’m not sure if the armor needs to be fash—“

  “Yes!” Hannah agreed, cutting off Yttria.

  Garfield decided to summon a piece of armor using magic, then duplicate it with modifications until it matched Hannah’s size and needs. Finally, he had a staff member from the estate help him stitch colored fabric on to make it look nicer. Hannah happily put it on. Metal plates, hidden between layers of leather, secretly protected Hannah’s heart from attacks.

  “How about you, Sir Garfield?” Yttria asked. “Do you need armor?”

  “Nah. Too heavy.”

  “Well, if it’s you…”

  They spent the rest of the afternoon making more gear and practicing with it. A messenger stopped by the estate and delivered a note stating that the commission to name Garfield’s bears would be meeting in a few days, its members already selected. Yttria joined them for dinner then returned to her family’s home.

  Before retiring for the evening, Garfield asked Assistant Duke how the fox-people in his employ are doing. He learned that most of the staff who managed the estate before Garfield moved in had already turned over all their responsibilities to the new helpers. The property was staffed mostly by fox-people, and they were doing a good job. A couple of the fox-people had accepted work in the city and were in the process of moving out, likely because they didn’t consider themselves suited for servant work at an estate.

  Also, rumors were spreading around Bretten, at least among the servants. Garfield’s manor was becoming famous because of its unusual lineup of fox-girl maids. Apparently, some other nobles in the northern district heard about this and were very jealous.

  A fox-girl from Bretten with no relation to Garfield’s current staff or Yttria’s family had even applied to work at the manor as a maid, although Assistant Duke had told her to stand by while he and the head butler assess their current staffing needs. Garfield decided to stay out of it.

  The following morning, Garfield awoke to an unusual sight. One of the bears was snuggled up between him and Hannah, and the other was cowering in the far corner of the room. Garfield turned to look at Hannah, who was awake but staring up at the ceiling, wide-eyed.

  “Um, what happened?”

  “I… think I bit the bear in my sleep…”

  “…” Garfield got out of bed and consoled the bear, who calmed down.

  “Do you feel any different?”

  “Yes…”

  Garfield narrowed his eyes and then used his sensing magic on Hannah. The changes were typical and minor except for two: Her list of bloods now included ‘bear’, and her list of abilities now included ‘control’.

  “How do you feel?”

  “It’s hard to describe. It’s like, before I could fight with physical attacks or magical attacks. But now, I have a third method of… attack?”

  “That sounds kind of like you developed a new sense beyond sight, smell, etc.”

  “Yes, it’s like that,” Hannah agreed. “I feel like I can directly attack the mind of my enemy.”

  “Does it hurt or bother you?”

  “It’s strange but, I think I’ll get used to it soon.”

  “If my prior knowledge is any indication, you probably are able to hypnotize people now, at least temporarily. We’ll need to be very careful how we test this.”

  “I understand.”

  The two departed after breakfast and met Yttria at the designated location. They introduced themselves to the Silver adventuring party, Razorflash. The party included four warriors specialized in various bladed weapons and a priest for healing. Razorflash wasn’t particularly well balanced, but their party was likely adequate for escorting a caravan.

  Before Yttria had a chance to introduce her party, the clients stepped over. They included a lead merchant, two additional merchants, and Baron Fisher. A few carriage drivers remained with the merchandise.

  “Are both parties ready to depart?” the lead merchant asked.

  The leader of Razorflash spoke first. “Ready.”

  “We’re ready as well,” Yttria confirmed on behalf of her party.

  “You’re… Count Polonio’s daughter?” Baron Fisher asked.

  Everyone turned to look at Yttria.

  “Yes…”

  “Oh, I couldn’t possibly put a Count’s daughter in danger on my account…”

  “Oh, it’s fine. I really enjoy adventuring and of course my father does not object. We also have a strong group here so we shouldn’t get into any trouble.”

  The Baron looked over the two adventuring parties. “Strong, you say? I think Silver is adequate for an escort mission such as this one but, one of you is a little girl and—DUKE!?”

  Now everyone turned to look at Garfield.

  Garfield: “Present.”

  “My Lord, why are you undercover here with adventurers!?”

  “Oh, I’m not undercover. I practically consider myself an adventurer first and a Duke second. In fact, I’ve delegated virtually all duties to Sir Assistant Duke so that I don’t have to do anything.”

  “I… see… Are you truly all right with helping to guard a lowly caravan? I feel silly being guarded by—”

  “It’s perfectly fine,” Garfield reassured the Baron. “Just consider this my hobby. Treat me like any other adventurer.”

  The caravan set out in a single-file line of carriages. The Baron offered for Garfield to join him in the decorated carriage specialized for transporting important people, but Garfield declined. They made camp that evening, as planned, in a clearing along the route.

  Razorflash began laying out bedrolls and the like. The merchants started cooking for everyone. The Baron had an aid and a couple of guards with him who also helped.

  “Sir Garfield, what do you intend to do about sleeping accommodations? We did not discuss that ahead of time…”

  “Yttria, there are a few perks to joining my party. The tricky part is surviving the jealous stares from other adventurers.”

  The members of Razorflash looked at each other and just shrugged as they overheard this. It was doubtful they’d complain, no matter what Garfield did, given that he was a Duke. Still, they were doing a good job of at least pretending to treat Garfield like any another adventurer, albeit a Diamond-ranked one. Garfield stepped a little further away from the caravan.

  “?Summon Item of Fancy: Home of the Arcane Researcher?.”

  A unique-looking house appeared in front of him. Green smoke rose from the black-bricked chimney. The mortar between each brick also glowed green. The walls were black with glowing red lines forming curved patterns throughout. The windows were mere horizontal slits. The only door appeared physically and magically reinforced to withstand siege weapons.

  Garfield summoned a few hunting dogs to patrol the perimeter and howl if anyone tried to attack the caravan. After Yttria recovered from the strangeness of this house, Garfield’s party walked into the building.

  Razorflash’s leader weighed in. “I don’t think anyone’s jealous of them for going into a weird house like that!”

  Baron Fisher had a different opinion. “Oh, I can think of one particular Court Mage…”

  Inside the house, the party explored each of the small rooms. Yttria agreed to sleep in the smaller of the two bed-equipped rooms. Garfield would take the larger room.

  Yttria passed judgment on Hannah: “If you’re in Sir Garfield’s room, you must remain in your small size!”

  “Okay!”

  This time, there were no bears for Hannah to bite, so Garfield would need to be on guard himself.