No Need for a Core?

A small detail of usagisune were the first ones to meet the Trionean airship, where they verified the intent of the visit and who was on board. This gave Mordecai and Kazue enough time to set up a greeting party. At the center was Mordecai and a platform with Kazue's illusion, flanking them to one side were Bellona and Xarlug, while Kansif and Fuyuko flanked them on the other.

They also had two small platoons of forty people each in formation further off to the sides. The first formation was four columns, consisting of ten each bunkin, rabkin, buzzkin, and kobolds. The second formation was of twenty of the Kuiccihan guards and twenty kitsune. The kitsune were a bit of a scramble to ask for help and then get them organized in that short time frame; they weren't exactly known for their soldiering skills. But that sharp contrast also helped highlight that these were two different forces who were joining together here.

The Azeria Mountain Dungeon was in a strange place politically and Mordecai certainly wasn't up for figuring out if this was 'too much' or not for receiving the baron of a major city in a large empire that they had no political communication with to date. But it did send a message. It wasn't a threat, they certainly were not capable of going to war against Trionea, but they were demonstrating that they were a capable force on the one hand and that they had allies on the other.

Having a dragon of living clay curiously watching the proceedings from the roof of a nearby building might have emphasized the point a touch.

A small delegation approached where Kazue's illusion and Mordecai awaited. At the lead was a man with dark hair that was lightly speckled with gray. "Lord Mordecai and Lady Kazue," one of the usagisune escorting the delegation announced, "I present to you Baron Emmanuel Demidov of Cantraberg. Baron Demidov, I have the honor of introducing Their Majesties King Mordecai and Queen Kazue of the Azeria Mountain Dungeon and the Azeria Court."

Baron Demidov bowed to the pair, who gave a somewhat shallower bow in return as befitted royalty being visited by foreign nobility. "It is an honor to make your acquaintances, your Majesties," the Baron said.

"It is an honor to meet you as well, Baron," Kazue replied with a polite smile, "and we welcome you and yours to our lands and home as our guests." The slight twitch from the baron showed that he understood the weight of the word 'guest' coming from a faerie queen. She then turned toward one of the members of the delegation. "And it is a pleasure to see you again as well, Captain Vitomir."

Mordecai looked at Bellona, "Bellona, if the four of you would see to the Baron's people? Thank you. Captain Vitomir, perhaps we can share a drink again later. For the moment, I would like to speak with the Baron in private."

At Baron Demidov's nod, the captain moved off to the side with Bellona, trailed by Xarlug, Fuyuko, and Kansif. Not that Xarlug and Kansif were obligated to any duties, but Xarlug at least seemed to be angling at becoming a contractor depending on how things worked out between him and Bellona.

Kazue bowed to Baron Demidov. "I will leave you in my husband's care," she said before dispelling her illusion.

The two formations were dismissed as the baron fell in at Mordecai's side. "Your court seems rather informal, Your Highness," Baron Demidov said with careful neutrality.

"'Lord' will do, Baron," Mordecai replied with a smile, "if I must be bound by the title of Faerie King, then I will at least take advantage of the more lax social customs of the fey." He led the baron on a walk along the perimeter of the town as he continued, "I mostly just want to take a moment to reassure you, directly and personally, that your son is alive and well, though I can not say he is happy."

"I see," the baron said, "and I thank you. However, I find myself still somewhat confused by your specific request."

Mordecai took a deep breath before he began. "I believe that there is an organization you are affiliated with that has gone out of its way to ensure that I am their enemy. My information also suggests that you are not directly involved or supportive of this organization's recent actions, the same actions that have led your son to be held as my prisoner. It seems to me that it might be time for you to reconsider your position regarding this organization, but before we begin negotiations I think you need to better understand us. To that end, I would like to have you delve the noncombat path of our dungeon. It has proved enlightening for another guest of ours, and I think you will find it just as enlightening. In fact, I think it may be more crucial now than when I sent that letter. The way in which I am now bound to a certain literal truthfulness makes it harder to trust the meaning of otherwise truthful words. If you understand us better, then that should not be as much of an obstacle."

Emmanuel Demidov considered this for a while as they continued their walk in silence, and it was clear that he was taking the time to examine the trading post as well. "You are not the person I was initially told to expect," he commented as they watched the lively little town.

"Mm," Mordecai responded, "while I do not know exactly what you have been told, it is probably fair to say there is a certain amount of truth in some of the stories. There is much that could be said about what pushed me to such extremes, but whatever my pain and turmoil, I made decisions that hurt and killed others, and that is not something that can be easily overlooked. However, there is a lot more than me at stake." He gestured toward the town and the original dungeon entrance. "My wives were not part of that, nor were any of the other people here. I can not undo what I did, but I can make things better for those who are here now. The only reason there has been serious conflict here is because others could not allow me to exist in peace thanks to their own prejudices."

"Thus your desire to have me delve your noncombat path, so that I can see with my own eyes a different side of a dungeon's existence."

He nodded at the baron. "Yes. There are many details to cover later, for now, I will take you to the rooms that your people and mine have arranged for you, and you can figure out your schedule from there. The same rules do apply to your party as to all others."

Later that evening, Mordecai and Captain Vitomir both had the time to sit down for a drink. Once they'd both had their first sip Alain started with, "That messenger you sent was one scary little girl."

"Oh? How so?" Mordecai asked, wondering who Orchid had arranged to deliver the letter as he took another sip.

"She was like a tiny wraith, all but floating into my office without a single guard or soldier having noticed a thing despite the floral scent drifting around her. She had the sweetest smile as she placed the letter on my desk and telling me that it was from you and intended for Baron Demidov. It was only after she disappeared that anyone noticed the trail of flower petals, plus one 'black butterfly' placed on the chest of one of my soldiers while he slept. The one who had hit on your wives."

Mordecai resisted the urge to cough and swallowed to clear his throat instead. "Ah, I wasn't expecting her to hand deliver it to you herself. I think it might be just as well no one tried to stop her." While the black butterfly didn't have a specific meaning that he was aware of, it was a rare species of dark and beautiful orchids, and just leaving it that way could be seen as threatening.

Or romantic, for the right sort of person. Or both come to think of it.

But that certainly wasn't Orchid's intent here, and he shouldn't be surprised that the princess was getting a handle on how to use her faerie sign to her advantage.

"I take it that the lass is as dangerous as I assumed?" Alain asked.

"Possibly more so," Mordecai replied.

"Huh." Alain scratched his chin a moment and then asked, "So why did you pick me for a go-between and ask for me to join Baron Demidov?"

Mordecai smiled. "That's easy. I had a good read on your character and felt you were trustworthy enough to get the letter the rest of the way securely. If the messenger had chosen to deliver it more closely to the baron, he might have felt threatened, but I didn't want to entrust it to standard bureaucracy, given that I would be an unverified sender otherwise. As for your participation here, it was in part to emphasize that I understood his reasoning in sending you here, and in part to ensure that he had an experienced person with a level head within reach to ask advice from. I don't know the man, but we all want this to resolve well. You," Mordecai emphasized by pointing, "are one of our best shots at getting things right, just by being here and being you."

The captain grimaced. "Bah. Politics. There's a reason I'm still only a captain."

"Hah, when you have a chance, you should get a drink with Kansif and Bellona. I think you'd get along with them, they feel the same way."

The two of them continued talking for about half an hour more, but both of them also had duties to take care of and Alain had an early morning in front of him.

As for Mordecai, he had two other guests who had requested his attention. Brongrim and Nainvil had been part of a delving party that had made it to the river zone but had called an end to the delve there. The zones were notably harder than they were when the couple had previously delved with Shizoku and Takehiko.

The pair were fishing off of a dock when Mordecai approached them. "Good evening," he began, "you two wanted to see me? Oh, don't stop fishing on my account, unless you need to not split your attention."

"Ah, yes sir," Nainvil replied and then hesitated, clearly torn between his options.

Brongrim snorted. "Just watch my pole for me, I'll do the talking." The dwarf handed off his fishing rod and got to his feet to face Mordecai. "You did us a good turn, especially given how we met. I know we've technically fulfilled our part in that bargain, but we still feel that we owe you. So here's what we were thinking. You've been attacked twice so far, right?"

After Mordecai's nod, Brongrim continued. "Well, it's an easy guess that you are building toward doing something about it, and I think we've seen the core of your team already. Now, I'd like to offer to help directly, but frankly, I don't think we can catch up to your lot. But I suspect having a couple more people guarding your home while you are gone wouldn't be amiss, aye? What if the two of us rented a place in town long term, and delved with other teams every week or so until you needed us to become contractors while you're gone. After you return, well, we can discuss that then."

Huh. Interesting. Mordecai considered the situation for a short while before asking, "Aren't you two doing well with the Riverbridge guards?"

"We've been doing well enough, but I can't say we're perfectly at home there either. We've done a lot of training for the new guards these past few months, and frankly, I think we'd be more useful to you. Part of the point of contractors is that they aren't as bound as an inhabitant, right? Closer to an employee with a bit of restrictions. So some people at least will trust a contractor more than one of your folk. Having the two of us will free up more of your other contractors to go with you to take care of the source of your problems."

"Well, he's not wrong in that," Kazue's core said, "and we have been working on changing up our spring plans. This would make a couple of things easier."

Moriko added, "I think they would be good to train with once we get back home too. I'm for it."

Bellona and Fuyuko did not know the pair but were open to being convinced.

"Alright," Mordecai replied to Brongrim, "I think we can tentatively agree to that. If you are going to be staying inside our territory, we can do something else as well if you like. We can reserve, say, ten percent of your rewards until it's time to make a contract. This will let us maximize the power of individual rewards within our limits. Also, you need to meet and get the approval of Bellona and Fuyuko, as all new contractors need to be approved by all current contractors. Now, you should go help your man there, looks like both rods have a bite."

The dwarf swore as he turned and grabbed his rod from Nainvil, letting both of them work on bringing in their catch. Mordecai left the duo to their fishing with a smile and began working with his wives about how this might help their other plans.