Chương 45: 1-44 A noble bearing

Linda still couldn't believe things had gone this far. She was supposed to be sitting in her family's estate, enjoying the finest wines made from berries of the southern glades and exchanging gossip with Aunt Helena about those less than smart nobles in the frontier towns. Those foolish elves who had decided to leave behind the glory of their homeland and try their luck cavorting with the animals further up the continent. Could they not see that there was no honor in doing so?

That building wealth reliant on those creatures didn't turn them into true nobility, but an empty mockery of it? Suddenly, she was stuck in one of those backwater holes herself, with no wine in sight, and even the local pastries were less than ideal. Did these people not have enough sugar to prepare proper food? It was an indignity, and one that she had every intention of fixing. If only Papa had answered any of her letters, but unfortunately no reply of his had arrived yet.

Clearly the mail was as unreliable as the rest of this rabble. Otherwise, he would have already sent a delegation to bring her home into the safe folds of their family estate. This was no place for a noble lady to live, and even if they were not on the best of terms, he would surely not leave her in such unacceptable circumstances. Once she was back, she would find whoever held responsibility for delaying her mail and give them a proper scolding before having them removed from office!

But for that, she would first have to get out of this nightmare the locals called a dungeon. How could they not see that this was, at best, an infested sewer? A real dungeon came with proper presentation, the flair and glow that was supposed to show off a city's greatest asset. There were supposed to be leaderboards, announcers, and even guided tours! These plebeians didn't even glamour up the entrance, leaving everything a bleak black hole in their otherwise already ugly town.

In a way, the dungeon fit the rest of the local aesthetics, as she had come to realize. At least she still had Aifreed at her side. Dear loyal Aifreed, who had been by her side as long as she could think back, and that was quite far. Her most loyal and honorable knight was there from the day she first learnt how to walk, and never once wavered in his commitment to her needs. He was there to take care of her injuries and sickness, taught her decorum and leadership, and had even baked birthday cakes for Linda.

Never once did he fail her, so great was the degree of his loyalty. Until today, when death came to take him away, unjustly demanding his leave from service. It was the most upsetting experience she had gone through ever since the passing of her mother, but at least she had Aifreed by her side to dry her tears when that tragedy had happened. Should he also leave her behind, who else would she turn to? If it came to that, how should she even…

She barely saw her father a handful of times a year, when he deigned to visit her, nagging and letting her know to uphold the family honor and not make a fool of herself. Sometimes she wondered if he took her for an idiot, or worse, a commoner. How could she ever diverge from the honorable road her ancestors had prepared for her? After all the effort she went through to get an authentic Berserker class stone, just like the one the honored founder had used on his famed hunts.

She even had a copy of his greatsword made, the original of which was proudly hung in the family vault. She truly struck an impressive figure when swinging her sword, and even her forefathers would be jealous if they could see her today! Her efforts even went so far as to receive proper guidance in handling the weapon, learning how to swing it properly without causing further harm to herself. That was something Aifreed had taken charge of after a slight mishap had ruined one of her dresses.

It was a tremendous effort that took several days to accomplish, but it was all worth it in the end when her loyal knight praised her skill! If only her father had shared that opinion, but he only ever called her swordplay a waste of time, as the future of a noble lady lay in expanding the family's reach through marriage. Yet, when she returned to proper etiquette and graceful tea parties, he continued to belittle her efforts.

"Wipe that ugly sneer off your face! How dare you call that flailing dancing! How could you turn down that prince, only because his nose is a little shorter than yours! When will you finally bring me a proper son-in-law? Useless girl!" It was always the same with him, only checking in to file complaints. Honestly, letters would have accomplished the same, because she didn't need to see his ugly mug just to receive those.

At least it brought her a small amount of comfort whenever he got too angry to talk and needed to take a rest before his heart gave out. That served him just right for shouting at a delicate flower like her. In the end, he had sent her away to Highsend, to join with the local branch of Sanctum, those upstarts who were trying to enter the folds of political power, blind to the fact that no amount of gold and marble would hide their lowly birth.

She had warned her father not to trust those people, but he was deaf to her words as always. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He traded her away like cattle for promises he didn't even deign to share, and had practically thrown her into a small carriage, with only a few coffers of belongings and Aifreed as her only attendant. How was she supposed to even get a proper bath without a maid by her side? Did no one think this through?

She might not know what they had promised her father for this outrageous act, but it better be worth it, because once she found her way home she would curse him fiercely. He might even deserve a slap for this cruelty! At least the local mongrels were decent enough to assign her private quarters, unlike all the other knights of Sanctum that had to make do with those filthy barracks. Had they dared to send her into such an unacceptable circumstance, she might have had to demand their execution right then and there.

Luckily, they appeared to be aware enough of their difference in standing to make an effort within their own meager means. However, there had barely been enough time to settle in and unpack her clothes when the next outrageous demand cropped up. They wanted her to enter the dungeon, clad in the same armor as their regular knights. How could they expect a refined being such as herself to wear that ugly, standardized eyesore? Silver had been out of fashion for almost three decades!

Had they not kept up with the times? If it hadn't been for Aifreed calmly explaining the advantage that they must have perceived in hiding her noble heritage within a bland shell to fend off possibly harmful parties, she might have collapsed from sheer anger. Maybe they should improve their security, or even better, let her go to the safety of the elven homelands, if this was the extent to which she would have to suffer for her own safety!

And finally, after fighting waves of disgusting creatures, wading through the filth of these canals, Bishop Thaladur had announced that she was to carry out a special mission. They had remembered that a member of true nobility was among them and decided to honor her with work too important for the common rabble, or so she interpreted the decision. Perhaps the feat they required of her was grand enough that she could leave immediately without facing reproach from Papa!

They were to track down a dog who had attempted an assassination of one of Sanctum's healers the week prior, and that individual was supposedly hidden within the dungeon at this time of crisis. Maybe both incidents were connected? If she could solve this issue, and with her taking part in the mission there was no doubt about it, surely she would bring great honor to her house and ensure the support of this quaint town.

If this had been the plan all along, then maybe she would even forgive her father for placing such a burden on her. Though he would at least have to buy her a commemorative dress for the occasion, as an apology for keeping secrets. Linda had wondered what kind of idiocy could drive someone to attack one of the few people who could maintain the health of the populace, but those animals were never the smartest, so it wasn't completely surprising to her.

It was common enough for dogs to bite an elf if they were not properly trained, and putting them down afterwards was the only correct consequence. It had disgruntled her somewhat when Bishop Thaladur gave those instructions and even a magic artifact into the hands of his own underlings, who were supposed to accompany her on this mission, but at least she was assigned formal leadership of that group.

In the end, it was only natural for the grunts to handle the bulk of the work, as a noble should only step in if it became absolutely necessary. Aifreed had been a little jittery at that point, as he was wont to do whenever he perceived any danger that might befall her, but what could happen to a group of skilled knights with only such weak creatures around for combat?

Was she supposed to be afraid of an assassin who had failed to strike from the shadows once before, while fighting them openly in tunnels with few ways to hide? Ridiculous, she didn't train in the blade to act shy about swinging it! Never could she have imagined that the very knights assigned to her would reveal themselves to be turncoats, set on taking her life. How dare those traitors make a mockery of her skills and mission, when her very future might rely on the outcome of it!

They even claimed to follow the will of Thaladur himself, who had assigned this mission to them, to get rid of both her and that fiendish dog. It was preposterous! How could they lump her in with a dirty criminal, neglecting even the dignity of sending dedicated assassins after herself? That was truly adding insult to injury! This had not been the first attempt on her life, but there was a proper procedure to these matters that couldn't simply be ignored!

But alas, these mongrels had truly brought her to wits' end when they heinously injured her poor, loyal Aifreed in their cowardly assault. How dare they strike at him, three on one, these honorless bastards! She had almost feared that her end had truly drawn near, when the world once again reminded her how much it loved her, as help just wandered into their fight, eagerly responding to her call of distress.

How else was she supposed to see this divine intervention afterwards, when it even brought her a healer, who by all means shouldn't even have been in this backwater place! Finally, the universe had remembered what was right and proper, and saved her precious Aifreed from the claws of death! With justice restored like that, she wouldn't even complain about the lizards she now had to make camp with. At least they appeared to be competent, and truthfully, didn't even smell as bad as some of those knights.

Maybe those claims to dragon ancestry were true, and those reptiles were a step above those furry animals. Now if only she could figure out why the healer, whatever his name was, was staring at her so… Had her beauty mesmerized the disfigured man? Or did her explanations not offer sufficient detail? That nickname was supposed to bridge the gap in standing, a trick Aifreed had taught her to handle people out on the streets! She was not so conceited as to deny that even she had weaknesses.

Talking to the common folk was her greatest one, as they never appeared to understand the nuances of her words, so they would often just gape at her eloquence, incapable of comprehending her meaning. Fortunately, she had Aifreed to take care of these little diplomatic incidents, so she once again put him in charge of explaining their situation in his own words. Honestly, she had more important issues to deal with, like that overdressed swine that called himself bishop.

Thaladur must have thought her family had lost their teeth after the age of dragons ended, but she would make sure that this man would regret the day he had crossed Dietlind Siegfried, great-granddaughter of Siegfried the Dragon-slayer!