Jaxin stood and, with the same smooth motion, slung his chair in Hildai's face while downing the last of his beer. Hildai's charge was interrupted as she batted away the chair, and the rest of the room responded, piling on top of her and disarming her.
A guild officer shoved his way through the crowd. "What's going on?" he bellowed, and he used some sort of Presence skill that cowed nearly all of the Free Lancers, including, to an extent, Hildai. Cerise felt it breaking around her, but both Jaxin and Mykhal straightened from defensive postures to more of an attentive stance.
Cerise watched the officer point out individuals to provide their testimony. A part of her was shocked by Hildai's actions enough to just shut down, and that was a problem -- for Hildai, because the part that shut down was the compassionate and merciful part of Cerise, leaving only the Surgeon looking at a threat to the health and well being of her family.
Hildai calmed enough to shout, "That arrogant ox-end [Healer] girl cursed my father! I'll kill her!"
That got everyone upset and took the officer a few minutes of calming people down again before he got Hildai to point out Cerise.
The officer, Yohanais, asked, "Is that true?" anger and wariness in his gaze as he looked to Cerise.
She used the Ritual Casting skill she had recently unlocked with a runic spell to Reveal Truth. That meant using her finger as a Scribing tool while Channeling Mana to create a glowing rune hanging in the air. The spell was very similar to the runic enchantment in the filigree for the clerks' use.
Cerise then locked gazes with Hildai. "I showed your father mercy he did not deserve."
"You cursed him!" she shouted back.
Cerise asked, "Did you send him to attack my family?"
Hildai yelled curses and obscenities at Cerise, who merely repeated her question. After the fourth repetition, Cerise demanded, "Yes or No, Hildai! Did you send Kafrais, Initiate [Merchant] of the Sea Crest Dungeon Village, to attack my family?"
"No, you stinking incompetent idiot!" she yelled and the rune remained a solid blue.
Cerise leaned back. When Hildai paused to suck in a breath, Cerise said, "Good! Next problem: Did he tell you to come here and attack me?"
"No! He doesn't need to tell me to defend my family!" she snarled.
Cerise clapped her hands, cutting off Hildai. "Good again! Last question: do you realize that attacks on my family are attacks on people under the aegis of the Lady of the Silverwood Grove, daughter of El-Ahrand? This, too, is a yes or no question."
It took the reverberation of the high god's name for understanding to cleave through Hildai's rage and drain the blood from her face.
Cerise nodded and sighed. "I'm going to accept your expression to mean 'not before this moment'.
"Your father attacked the prosperity of my parents. It was not a direct, physical attack so I did not have to slay him. I cannot lift the curse upon him, and I would not have bopped him had he just accepted the terms of his atonement. I already told him he will have to complete that atonement to be rid of the curse, and that his actions will affect how the curse grows in the meanwhile."
Cerise shrugged. "I don't know how the Lady of the Silverwood Grove will view your actions today. She and I did discuss that I was a Free Lancer before she bestowed her authority upon me, and I have her leave to leave her out of the internal workings of the Free Lancers Guild. As far as I, alone, am concerned, if the strata of all involved includes 'Free Lancer' I don't plan to involve the authority I bear. The problem now is that you're here on your father's behalf on a matter that already involves her aegis."
Looking to Yohanais, Cerise said, "I think, Officer, that if we treat this according to the Code of Conduct sections ... 352 through 357? I might have the numbers mixed up, but around there. Well, I hope that will mitigate whatever actions the Whisper in the Leaves, Lady of the Silverwood Grove, finds to be an appropriate reaction."
Yohanais called for a copy of the Code of Conduct and read through the sections. Then he sucked on his teeth and flipped to a different section, and then to a third part of the book. He set the book down, tapped on its closed cover while he thought a moment, then focused on Cerise. "You think this will appease your Lady?"
Cerise shrugged, starting to feel the drain from keeping up the lie-detecting spell. "I'm the bearer, not the authority, nor the person who wrote the Code of Conduct. At the least, it should show good faith on the part of the Free Lancers Guild. Beyond that, I have more hopes than beliefs, and I don't feel comfortable giving any guarantees."
Yohanais said, "Fair enough. Um, about this [Healer's] Curse. What exactly does it entail?"
"The manifestation differs for each individual so cursed," she answered, her rune a steady blue.
"Well, what does it attack?" he asked.
Cerise responded with her own question. "What can [Healers] heal?"
Yohanais paled. "That's --. Harsh."
Cerise nodded. "A [Healer's] Curse is not to be invoked lightly. It cannot be lifted, only broken. The terms for breaking the curse can be as manifold as the ways the curse grows."
Someone in the crowd said, "You don't look drained from laying on a curse that powerful."
Cerise pointed out, "I am the bearer of the authority of the Lady of the Silverwood Grove. I was acting in that face when I invoked the curse, and it was laid as a punishment for refusing to atone for transgressions against the Lady's aegis. Naturally, the quicker one complies the less severe the punishment need be."
A woman loudly stated, "The sky is grass green." Cerise's rune switched from blue to an angry shade of red.
"My tits are huge!" The rune turned white at the opinion.
"Equipment repair costs eat up my money!" The rune turned a pale shade of blue.
A man beside her said, "You snore in your sleep." The rune returned to the bright blue it had been throughout Cerise's statements.
People chuckled.
Cerise waved her hand and ceased channeling her mana into the spell.
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After Yohanais sorted out the Guild's punishment for Hildai's actions, they got to have their turn with the clerk.
Hildai forfeited half of her income from guild requests and commissions for the next year and a day to Cerise and was responsible for the accounting fees for that forfeiture, which included establishing an individual account for Cerise to receive her forfeiture and the maintenance fees of the account. She had opted for that over handing over half of her present wealth, which included her gear in the tallying. In addition, that turned out to be one in a string of infractions, which resulted in Hildai personally getting knocked down to Bronze rank in the Guild, which also knocked her team down to Bronze rank once more. Her team captain was summoned to receive the news, and he asked for a private room discussion with Yohanais.
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What that all meant for them was when they got to the clerk, they sorted out the sharing of commissions. Jaxin left with his business seen to. Mykhal established his personal account, and they divided the funds in their team account between the three accounts. Mykhal had been using a blank journal to record their ledgers and cited that to argue Cerise into taking the manticore's share of the gold based on it coming from her gift from the Lady of the Silverwood. They agreed to split team commissions three ways going forward, an equal portion to each of the accounts with any remainder added to the team's account.
After that business was seen to, they rejoined Jaxin and made plans with him to delve the next day.
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Cerise double checked her gear with Mykhal beside her, doing the same with his gear. They started with the things they packed, then their pockets, armor, and weapons. Satisfied, they went to the food hall and laid out coin for a packed lunch. Jaxin met them there. He opened his mouth to protest when Cerise and Mykhal immediately got up to leave.
Mykhal grinned and said, "Mama gave us some of her delver experiments to share around for breakfast and dinner, and I don't want to get mobbed for them."
Jaxin spun on his heel and led the way out the door. "Yeah, let's go!"
They waited until they were on the road, past the palisade gates, to share out the breakfast rolls. Tatara took one of them and then excused himself, "to stretch his wings" before darting off into the tree line.
They were licking their fingers to get the last of the buttery goodness of the egg and ham stuffed pastries when they heard the clop-clop of a horse on the road behind them. They moved to the side to let the rider by, only to stop and cross their arms over their chests on spotting the faerie dragon perched between the ears of Daisy the dire horse mare.
Daisy still wore her cloak, meant to keep the flies off, though she had a pair of panniers draped across her back.
"What's this?" Cerise asked.
"Daisy," Tatara said.
"And why are you bringing her here?" Cerise asked.
Tatara returned her flat look. He tapped a claw to his nose and said, "Geomancy, Aquamancy, [Mage]!" Then he stroked a fore paw-hand down Daisy's forelock and said, "[Shieldman]."
Mykhal said, "Eh, works for me."
Both Jaxin and Cerise turned to stare at Mykhal. He just looked at Cerise with an arched eyebrow. "Byctses. Where was Daisy? Happy to stomp their heads in. We already agreed to explore the dungeon carefully, and by all accounts a centaur can fit into the first and second floors with ease, and every exit tunnel, too. If a centaur can fit, Daisy certainly can. You've already confirmed that Tatara can talk with Daisy like you can, and she listens to both of you. And, at the first bit of trouble, Tatara will take her home and have to wait for us to return."
"I agree to that," Tatara said.
Cerise turned to Jaxin. "Are you okay with the plan?"
"Actually, yeah," he said, almost musingly. He glanced to Cerise and saw her inquiring look, so he explained. "I didn't think of your faerie dragon as a caster, but if that is how he helps, yeah, he is going to need a shield. All we really need to worry about in that case is the party bond."
The humans spent a few minutes walking the magical beasts through adding themselves to their party, then resumed their progress.
When they arrived, there were two parties already waiting to be admitted to the dungeon. Cerise cast a quick Appraisal, noting that all of those waiting were Free Lancers. Her party went up to the guards to add their names to the queue.
Keiteral was currently in charge of the log book. His expression soured on spotting them, but two Identify skills moved over them and two of the now six total guards moved over next to him. One grabbed the log book from Keiteral while the other pulled him off to the side. The guard who took over was a mature woman who Identified as Josefine, an Adept level [Guard].
"Good day, Miss ban Silverwood. What floor are you delving today?" Josefine presented a professional dispassion.
"The Delving Lights, with guide Jaxin and two tamed companions, will be on the first and second floors," Cerise answered.
"The kinds of your companions?"
"Faerie dragon caster with dire horse guardian," Cerise answered.
Josefine physically paused then looked from Cerise to the monsters with their team. To her credit, that was as close to commentary as she gave, simply recording the information. "Have a good delve, Miss ban Silverwood."
Cerise glanced to the other waiting teams. One of them was full of scowling people. "Are they waiting for different floors?" Cerise asked.
"You are a diplomat, Miss ban Silverwood. Short of closing the dungeon off entirely, we cannot constrain your comings or goings," Josefine said.
Mykhal said, "That whole point of the queue is to give the dungeon time to reset between teams, right?"
"Yes, Mister Mykhal," Josefine agreed.
"And what would happen to the teams waiting if we entered now?" he asked.
"We would add another three rushmarks to their entry time," Josefine said.
One of the scowling people watching on said, "That's not fair! We've already been cut off once before!"
Cerise asked, "How many teams are waiting to delve the first floor?"
"Just the one, Miss ban Silverwood."
"Then three rush marks after they enter, we will enter," Cerise informed the guard. "If you would kindly provide us the same timing notice you give to those in the queue, I would appreciate that." She unslung her pack and withdrew a basket of still warm breakfast pies. "Oh, and my mother was experimenting with some take along styles of food. I think she wanted us stocked for days in the dungeon, but we're hoping to be out before evening. May I share these with you? If you like them, you can ask for more at Bergin's Food Hall. Mama said they should be good cold, so if you wait to eat till after your shift, that should be fine."
Josefine had tensed at the offer, but relaxed at the mention of waiting to eat. "We would be happy to help you make these disappear."
"Thank you," Cerise said. She pulled out another basket and made her way to the other waiting teams. They were all watching, the scowling team now looking merely grumpy and the other speculative. Cerise asked, "Anyone else want to help me avoid disappointing my mother?"
"I'll be happy to help out," a [Warrior] of the speculative team volunteered.
"Pass the basket around, and if it turns up empty, just hand it back," Cerise said, walking over and handing over the basket.
Everyone watched the [Warrior] take his first bite. His expression changed from interested to surprised blankness that faded into reverent bliss. "Please tell me your mother's looking for a husband!" he finally said.
"No," Cerise said, feeling both amused and upset by the comment. "But if you want more of her cooking, she runs the food hall on the road to the dungeon."
The rest of the [Warrior's] party claimed a breakfast pie and enjoyed similar expressions of joy.
One of them asked, "What's a food hall?"
"It's like a cross between a restaurant and a tavern," Jaxin said. "The only alcohol so far is small beer, and you have a choice of kinds of meals. There's always pottage and small beer for a small copper. So far, roasts only happen when we're successful on a hunt, but Miss Bergin also makes 'walking meals' like these, and she tries to open close to sun up. Means she closes around sundown."
While Jaxin answered questions, she and Mykhal took a third basket to the grumpy team. "Would you like some?" Cerise offered.
"Thank you," one of the least grumpy of them said, and took the proffered basket. She took a bite and smiled. "These are really good. So, you don't Inspect as 'Honorable Miss'. Why were the guards going to let you jump the queue?"
Cerise casually said, "I'm an authority bearer. It gives me diplomatic privileges under Druerjan's laws. I was a Free Lancer first, but this is all pretty new still. The land god who gave me the ban Silverwood name and made me a bearer of her authority permits me to let Free Lancer stuff be handled without having to consider how people treating me reflects on her, but with the nobles I have to play the political games."
"So that authority thing makes you a noble?" one of the [Scouts] asked, picking out a pair of pies from the basket.
"Same strata, different privileges and responsibilities," Cerise agreed.
"Are we supposed to bow and scrape?" another said, squinty-eyed.
"If it's Free Lancer stuff? Nah. I'm just a Free Lancer. I don't have to bring all the diplomatic and political stuff into it. If it's not Free Lancer business, I have to insist on respect for the Lady of the Silverwood Grove." Cerise turned up her palms in an "out of my hands" gesture.
After a few minutes of talking, the grumps were mostly mellowed and all the breakfast pies had been eaten. They were called into the dungeon, and Cerise and Mykahl went over to see what they could do to better secure the panniers and Daisy's make-shift barding.
"We'll need to keep back some hides if Daisy becomes a regular delving buddy," Mykhal said.
"Yeah, we'll want to armor her legs, belly, back, and neck. If she grows horns, we'll have to figure out how she'll use them before settling on a helmet for her." Cerise liked the idea and secretly hoped Daisy would grow the large circling horns that made dire goats so fearsome.
Mykhal glanced at her as if he were reading her mind and considering judging her poorly for her thoughts. "As long as she doesn't grow fangs."
That thought made Cerise crinkle her nose in disgust. «If you grow fangs, I won't feed you apples anymore,» she warned the horse.
«Fangs make bad to eat apples?» Daisy asked, swiveling her ears uncertainly.
«Very bad,» Tatara agreed. «I have fangs and even berries are messy-hard to eat.»
«I no grow fangs,» Daisy stated, quite firm.
Cerise cooed at her mare and gave her happy pets.
The other party had been called up by the time they were finished with Daisy, and Cerise got out her staff and began doing warm ups. Mykhal and Jaxin joined her, and Cerise called out instructions to Daisy to get her warmed up and ready for the delve.
Three more teams showed up, and two more were heading up the road when the Delving Lights were called in.