Chương 20: Chapter 19 - Dustin's Expertise

After the excitement of the fight died down, Kiara felt a pull to open her World Engine interface. As she did, she saw a new message from the World Engine waiting for her. Congratulations! You have showcased the merits of your class by defeating a tier 1 mage in combat for the first time. You will be given the following rewards: A 5% increase to each of your stats. Your soul space will now have a time stasis effect on it.

Anything placed inside will be frozen in time, preventing decay or spoiling Stats: Strength: 120 => 126 Mind: 100 => 100 (MAX) Endurance: 54 => 56 Healing: 30 => 31 Sleep Fatigue Resistance: 20 => 21 Food / nourishment requirement: 20 => 21 Durability: 80 => 84 Life Expectancy: 61 => 64 Huh. Well that was unexpected. * They arrived in Portish a few days later, and parted ways with the caravan. The caravan was headed further North, and Kiara needed to go East from Portish.

There were cheery farewells, especially from Hank and Jeff, who said they would miss sparring with her at night. Hank once again encouraged her to seek out the local sword fighting academy in Portish or a nearby city, and she said she would check it out. Easton, the smaller city near her village, was only a few days' ride from Portish. With no caravans heading that direction, Dustin arranged for a small group of guards to escort them via horseback to Easton.

As they rode, Dustin and Kiara let the guards get far enough ahead of them that they could speak in private. Dustin asked about her plan once they got back to her village.

"It's pretty simple, really," she said.

"I'm going to stand up to Lord Grivalt, and demand he release my family! If he has any problems with that, then he can take it up with my sword." She patted the handle of her sword as she spoke. Dustin chuckled, and thought to himself for a moment before responding.

"I saw you fight during the bandit attack. I watched you spar with Hank and Jeff a few times, too. You've gotten pretty good."

"Thanks!" she beamed.

"Would you be open to some advice?" She twisted sideways in the saddle to face him, with a look of surprise on her face.

"Advice about what?"

"Lord Grivalt."

"Oh." She fumbled with her words a bit, "Um.. sure." Dustin breathed in and out deeply, then spoke slowly and thoughtfully.

"These noble types aren't put into positions of leadership by accident, even in those small, backwater villages out in the boonies. It might be wise to get the lay of the land before you take any action."

"What do you mean?" she asked with a furrowed brow.

"Well," he explained, "in order to be the Lord of a village, Lord Grivalt is undoubtedly someone's son, or nephew, or cousin. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the baron ruling Easton is a close relative of Lord Grivalt. Or maybe even the count that rules in Portish." Kiara nodded along slowly.

"So what, should I report his behavior to the baron or something?" Dustin laughed.

"No, that wouldn't get you anywhere. The baron has his own city to run, plus he manages all of the lesser nobles that rule the small villages around Easton, he's very busy. He likely wouldn't even meet with you, and if he did he probably wouldn't listen to anything you had to say.

"My point is, all of those lesser nobles are likely cousins or nephews of his, and an attack on Lord Grivalt is likely to ruffle some feathers.

"Barons are well funded, and their house retainers are likely to include a large contingent of guards. The baron himself is likely to be a tier 3 mage, which is…" He glanced sideways at her.

"Well, maybe you aren't worried about that, I guess I'm still not sure." She sighed.

"Well, what do you suggest? I can't just let Lord Grivalt get away with enslaving my family for the next twenty years." Dustin smiled a keen, sly smile.

"Well, if it was me, I would buy a place in Easton and set up shop there. Establish some connections, make some friends, see if we can send a delegation to Lord Grivalt's place to get invited there as a guest so we can scope things out. You'd be surprised how much you can accomplish with money on your side. Maybe you could purchase your family's debt."

"Buy my family from him?" Kiara asked, a hint of disgust in her voice. Dustin shrugged.

"Whatever gets them out safely." He glanced sideways at her again.

"Mind you, I'm not a fighter, so don't expect me to get involved in any of the violent parts, but if you want help with any of the financial or business aspects of things, consider me at your service. I have... quite a bit of experience in that area." Kiara nodded to herself. From what she'd seen, Dustin had seemingly made connections everywhere he went, even helping establish a black market of sorts with Luther, in the army near Livalia.

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"So, assuming that we do… take over my family's debt, what then? Does Lord Grivalt just walk free?" Dustin pursed his lips.

"Well, how vicious do you want to be?" Kiara considered that question. Was it her place to mete out justice and judgement on Lord Grivalt? There wasn't any other recourse she could take, no one else that would make sure things were set right, and yet… she didn't know if she wanted to be the one to shoulder that responsibility. That being said, Lord Grivalt had literally killed her. If not for the World Engine, she would be gone.

She wasn't sure what that meant exactly, to be gone and move on, and the World Engine had certainly made it sound like it wasn't a bad thing, but it certainly felt bad, at least to her mortal mind. She had no doubts that given the chance, Lord Grivalt would kill her again. As it stood, even though she was here in Shian's body, Kiara was in some respects still dead. She would never be able to tell her family who she really was, of that she was certain.

They had certainly grieved for her loss, and she wouldn't be able to step back into their lives in quite the same way ever again. After a few minutes, she made her decision.

"I don't want to be a vigilante," she said, "but I also won't stand by and let innocent people get hurt or taken advantage of. I don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else. In Lord Grivalt's case specifically, I have a personal score to settle, and not just because of my family's situation."

"Oh?" Dustin raised an eyebrow at her. She nodded.

"He k… aghg." She was going to say 'He killed me', but the World Engine had prevented her from finishing the sentence, and a choked noise came out instead. She coughed awkwardly.

"He uh… probably shouldn't be in a position of authority anymore, to say the least." Dustin narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't press for details. After a moment, he faced forward in the saddle again.

"In the business world, rival merchant guilds are constantly vying for power. Physical attacks on the heads of those houses or organizations is obviously frowned upon, as it should be in a civilized society. Targeting their financial interests, however, is completely acceptable. Expected, even.

"When wealthy people attend fancy parties, it isn't to spend time with their friends. Rather, they mingle with their enemies, and put on fake smiles and airs of pleasantry. They get together to spy on each other and learn as much as possible, but they have to pretend to like each other while they're there. It's a kind of social dance."

Dustin looked lost in thought as he talked, and his face betrayed a slight annoyance at the scenario he was describing, but Kiara also saw what she thought was a spark of excitement in his eyes. It seemed as if he detested the so-called 'social dance' that he was describing, but was nevertheless good at it, and enjoyed it to some degree. Had he been to those kinds of fancy parties? Dustin continued, "At those fancy events, rumors flow as easily as the wine, and you learn to read between the lines.

You pick up on what the different houses are worried about, what they're dealing with, where their attention is focused, all without betraying your own interests. Or better yet, you lay false trails for others to chew on." Kiara had a sudden realization. Dustin was speaking from personal experience. This was why he was so good at Royal Bluff. His ability to read people came from time spent dealing with the type of nonsense he was describing. Picking up on peoples' motives and intentions was second nature to him.

She kept listening.

"In between the parties, you hold meetings to strategize, to determine how best to undermine the competing houses' and guilds' businesses. When house Roselle grows too fast, you might buy the businesses that supply their main trade goods and refuse to supply them anymore. They'll find new suppliers, of course, but that takes time, and their growth will be cripplied beyond repair." Dustin paused and nodded to himself.

"Never underestimate the importance of your supply chain." Kiara narrowed her eyes. That had seemed like a very specific example. Dustin ran his hand through his hair as he continued, "when the Norton Guild opened a new trade route that threatened to compete with our main trade routes into Brostik, the Savage Merchant Guild convinced many of their suppliers in Brostik to sign exclusive non-compete trade agreements.

The Norton Guild was expecting a quick turnaround, and found the route harder to maintain than they wanted. They abandoned it, even though it carried a lot of long-term potential." He trailed off in thought after that, and Kiara eventually chimed in.

"You sound like you know a lot about it." Dustin broke out of his reverie and looked over at her.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I enjoy the complexities of running a business empire." Kiara stared at him with wide eyes.

"You run a business empire?" Just who exactly had she partnered up with as a travel companion? Dustin laughed.

"No. Well… not anymore." Kiara couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

"My family is very wealthy," Dustin replied after a short pause.

"Unusually so. They run the largest merchant guild in Chestara." Kiara's eyebrows shot up at the sudden admission. Chestara was another kingdom that bordered The Central Kingdom, and was Ventalia's only ally in the war against The Central Kingdom. Another realization hit as she remembered that Dustin's last name was Savage. He had just mentioned the Savage Merchant guild.

"I was pretty involved in running my family's guild," he continued, "but things got ugly once the war started, and I didn't like what I was seeing." He glanced over at her.

"My parents are the heads of the Savage house, so they make the final decisions in regards to the guild. They allowed me a fair bit of latitude in running things how I saw fit for quite some time, but the war changed all of that.

"Our trade routes into Eshela were cut off, and we had to cut back in a number of areas. Competition got more fierce than usual, and my father took to some… unsavory means to remain competitive." Dustin's face betrayed hints of sadness and disgust, and Kiara's heart swelled in sympathy. It wasn't easy to step away from something you enjoyed on a matter of principle, especially when family was involved.

"I endured it for a time," Dustin mused softly, almost to himself. Kiara had to strain to hear him.

"I thought that maybe it was just temporary, that we would find a way to stabilize things without needing the… underhandedness." He shook his head.

"But it just got worse over time. People were dying, and eventually I couldn't stomach it anymore… so I left." He was staring at the ground as he finished, and Kiara thought his eyes might be glistening slightly. Kiara was a sympathetic crier, so she sniffled slightly and turned away to avoid the sight. She didn't want to cry right now.

"Do your parents know where you went?" she asked.

"No… I left them a note, explaining why I'd left, but I didn't really know where I was going at the time. Just… anywhere but there."

"Are you worried about running into them?" she asked. He shook his head.

"No, that's why I settled near the war front, they stay clear of it. When a single battle can move a kingdom's boundaries by dozens of miles, it's too easy to lose contact with your caravans. Crossing through the war zone with a caravan of trade goods is risky and dangerous. And now that we're in Eshela, I don't anticipate seeing anyone that would recognize me for quite some time." They rode in silence for a bit after that. Kiara could tell that the subject was sensitive for Dustin.

She wanted to comfort him, but she wasn't sure what to say. Besides, with her luck, she'd say the wrong thing and make him feel worse somehow. No, sometimes silence was the best way to comfort someone. With that being said, Dustin's point was clear. If they rushed into Lord Grivalt's estate blindly, hoping to save her family by force, they might get themselves into a situation that they couldn't find a way out of. Instead, it was wise to play it slow and get the lay of the land first.

She had been gone for about a month, and although she didn't know what her family's condition was, surely another day or two wouldn't hurt right? Especially if it helped lay the groundwork for a cleaner resolution? She hoped that was true, she would never forgive herself if she arrived a day after something terrible happened.