With all this armor I am hardly recognizable, it is the same as with all of the paladins of my rank.
The only thing I have to distinguish myself is a small leather part at the chest made for medals. Some paladins put it on and stroll through town with their medals while but I always thought it’s in the way.
Some think I’m humble, but the medals I cherish could get lost in a battle and I learned that a battle could come from anywhere.
Perhaps the blankness of my plate I have is the most recognizable part of my appearance.
Mandosa, it is one of the largest cities in Uesteroza, and also the place I grew up.
My subordinates follow behind me, walking like this through a city during an assignment is unusual enough for a paladin but to make it even more awkward we walk through a busy market street, and toward the biggest guild in town, perhaps in the country.
The people around are also somewhat wary, frightened even. But in order to finish our assignment we must first collect information, that is what I have been taught.
The guild itself looks like a big pub, in essence that is exactly what it is. Normally guilds are big taverns who decided to take the gathering of rumors and thugs to the professional end.
My subordinates know how to act in a pub at least, honestly I’d prefer them to stay at the paladin dorms in town but they insist on accompanying me. Some of them wanted to see the town, some wanted to be seen in my company and were let down by my indistinguishable appearance.
Either way I need to leave them at the tavern and walk over to the guild registry. But before that I notice a young boy being courteous with a voluptuous women, a woman slightly too beautiful to be true.
“You know, boy, people say fighting is kind of like… you know.” The women says with an inviting tone “Would you like to train with me?” the young boy seems confused, and slightly interested. That’s when I interrupt them.
“I was going to see the main desk looking for you. But since I see you’re already here, there is no reason wasting time.” I interrupt their conversation. The boy and woman look in my direction, unprepared for someone to interrupt them, I playfully add one more word. “Father,”
The boy is confused, he is not my father, then that must mean… The woman changes her shape to look like a young man looking like the boy just slightly older.
The boy is shocked by the transformation and after a second of a blank face with an open mouth gets up and leaves in a hurry, with a light tone of fear in his steps.
My father tries to explain to him but the boy is already gone by the time my father opens my mouth.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” My father says to me, almost angrily.
“You need to stop doing things like that! And shift to your normal look, it freaks me out talking to someone who isn’t you.”
As he shifts to a slightly older, full bellied, male version of me he says “I’m always me, no matter how I look. Man, Women, or even monster.”
He changes his tone to a softer one, and looks straight to my eyes “How has my daughter been? This must be the first time you came to visit.” He comes in for a hug but I take a step back.
“Wash yourself first." He makes a hurt face "I have some information I need to get from you. It is regarding my latest assignment in the paladin order.” he continues to look hurt, acting melodramatic and emphasizing emotions, as if I’m still a child.
“So you mean you didn’t come to visit anyway? it’s all work for you?” Unrealistic amounts of water exit his eyes. Honestly, if he used that magical prowess for anything other than small talk enhancing, this world would look different.
But that is my father after all.
“Stop looking away, give your father some love, it has been years since I last saw you. Maybe take off that helmet, I can’t even see your face.”
“For some one who can’t see my face, you sure know where my eyes are pointing, huh?”
“It doesn’t matter, you are my daughter and I want to feel like my daughter is here for me.”
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“But she isn’t. She’s here for a lich.” When I say that his face stiffens.
“I was given an assignment to take it out and I will carry this job. After that I might come back to see you, father. When people are no longer in danger here.”
“I see, come into my office. your paladin friends can stay here, unless you wish for someone to accompany you.” He says as he changes appearance to a big bulky adventurer and walks toward the guild part of the tavern.
“And maybe you can call me ‘parent’ instead of father? it might give some the wrong idea.” thinking about how how young men and women might see him.
“I don’t need anyone to accompany me.” I say as I follow him, I already know where his office is so I walk beside him.
“Maybe they need you to let them accompany you? I heard your are considered for a promotion, you should train your subordinates to fill for you.” He points out while holding the door open for me.
I walk inside without a giving a reply, he understands the message and lets out a “hmm”.
“Would you like to sit in my chair? like old times?” still a father, no matter the circumstances.
I quietly sit in the chair in front of his desk. He looks at me and points to the chair, then he wiggles the chair in place, still trying to make me sit there… uhh, did he not hear the word ‘Lich’?
“I do not want to sit there. And maybe you forgot, but the paladins are intent on doing things by the book, a very strict book at that. Plenty of them already look down on me for my hunter-adventurer methods. It’s simply not within their honor to do such things.” He looks as if he understands, changing into the father appearance again, probably by habit.
“I see… but hunting a lich is a job for a member from the inner circle. They must understand that it is not a joking matter, perhaps you can change their minds? How were you given such an assignment anyway? Are they testing you for the promotion?”
While my father is strong and kind, his view of the world is too simplistic. ‘Just change their minds’. This isn’t the first, ‘just build it yourself’ or ‘Just show them they’re wrong’.
I don’t know how he grew up, and he never mentions it aside from life lessons he learned, sparing the detail, but he is so talented that it seems like nothing is impossible for him. Everyone else, on the other hand, including myself, are powerless next to him, but he talks like all you need to do to get something done is try, as if failing is not even an option.
In training or hunting he knows things might go wrong but when a problem arises ‘Just solve it’ is his solution.
“I cannot change their minds, no. I’m in the paladin order, I’m not Sorteiva. Not that even he could turn the Paladins whole ideology and manners.” He rolls his eyes a bit but I don’t care, face reality! I can’t do this just by choosing to.
“And this assignment was regarding a necromancer. He was operating near the border with A’yamaar but he escaped, and took the lives of 7 paladins in the process.”
The taking of lives has always been a major problem with my father. He treats it as a part of nature, but he also hates it and heavily disagrees with it.
How I wish I could say something like ‘Just stop death from being possible’ knowing that is one of the only things he can’t do, but I can’t bring myself to say that, it sounds too childish to say.
Besides, what if he actually tried? and succeeded? I can’t even imagine what that would look like, I just shiver at the thought, frightened to even try imagining something so scary.
“We chased him for a few months, had a couple of other run-ins into him. In one of those times he tried to eradicate a village, while he failed, his plan turned out miscalculated and he absorbed some bad magic and for some reason turned into a lich.”
“If it escalated so much why not involve the circle?”
“Are you worried you didn’t train me well enough?”
“I am worried that you’ll lose more than 7 the next time. Lives lost is a heavy burned for the conscience to bear.” He talks quietly, I have seldom seen him so serious. I didn’t even consider what losing them would do to me.
“Why would I consider this? They are the ones dying in that scenario, not me.”
“But you are the one left alive in that scenario, not them. They will reunite with the world, you will forever bear their pain in your heart.”
“Well, I can’t talk them down from it. They mourn their friends who died and seek revenge to settle this with their souls.” He looks disappointed at this answer, but I don’t think he is disapointed at me, he just dislikes the notion of revenge.
“And even if I could, the circle is engrossed. There is not circle paladin out there who can take on this assignment in the next year. They already had to choose between 4 different assignments. This was picked because of how little it is concerning the public until it will be too dangerous, and here we are.”
“I guess I wasted enough time making excuses why not to help you, it is time I gave you some information.” he says as he opens his desk drawer and pulls out a document.
“Let’s see here…” He says skimming through it.
What is that?” I ask, I don’t know of the guild master documents, what could he do to help with this?
“This is a list and brief explanation of guild requests that are too underpaid to consider. And this” he hold another document in his other hand “is a document regarding this months unfinished requests. I’m looking for something that might scream ‘undead’ in any of these.” then he returns to quietly reading.
“I thought you already know of a rumor, or have a word from the other guilds about a rumor.”
“…I’m afraid nothing in the realm of ‘A lich moved into town’ have creeped into my ears lately…” his is too focused on reading to say this in the same tone of the conversation. I might need to leave him for the time being.
I get up form my chair, and he looks up to me. He put on his ‘reading glasses’. That is : he transformed to a boring looking bureaucrat with a dull looking face with round glasses.
No matter what happened before, he always goes on with a joke of some sort.
“I’ll finish up soon, you can go to the library and prepare better for the lich. maybe it’ll give you an idea on where or how to catch it.”
“Just what I was thinking… parent…” He looks a bit enthusiastic “I don’t think that’s gonna catch on, father. I’ll be back after my trip to the library, and a stroll through town, to get supplies.”
He then whispers “Maybe I should give this to Carla and go hit on the new girl who came to the bar…”
“I heard that!”