Chapter 9: Triumphant Return?

The Shadow State believers were withdrawing. Garfield looked around to assess the health of the rescue party. Hannah didn’t seem to be injured thanks to her special armor. Solana had recovered from the anti-vampire barrier too. Yttria muscled her way back to her feet and was helping the princess. White Glow was doing the same for Kay, as well as the attack mage who had fainted a few moments ago. There was someone else Garfield didn’t recognize.

“Who is she?”

Hannah answered. “Garfield! I recruited her!”

“Recruited?”

“She smells good!”

“…Is that how that works?”

Hannah explained her theory behind why vampires seem to quickly warm up to certain people.

“That reminds me,” Solana said as she walked over to Garfield. She sniffed him. “He does smell good!” Hannah slowly turned her head to look directly at Solana. “Wait, I know, I know!”

“I see pig, dog, and rat, hiding under your cloak over there, but where’s monkey?”

“Oh,” the princess began to answer. “We left the monkey outside the border to the Shadow State because it was too suspicious.”

“You… You didn’t think the pig was suspicious?” Garfield asked incredulously.

“It was a calculated risk.” Kay declared. “And by the way, WHAT. WAS. THAT. SPELL?”

“Oh, would you like to see it again?” Garfield asked as he raised up his right hand towards Kay. By now, Kay was familiar enough with Garfield’s antics to know he was just teasing her in annoyance, but Eleha, who had been standing near Kay, did not. “Wait!” she shouted as she ran away from the spot as fast as she could. Hannah laughed.

--

“There’s still a lot more to discuss, but let’s do it back at home. Does anyone here need to go anywhere else besides Bretten?” Garfield looked at Solana and Eleha, but both of them shook their heads. “I see. Everyone, gather around.”

“What does he mean?” Solana asked. Eleha also tilted her head.

“Closer. Closer. «Teleport».”

--

The group appeared in the open plaza in front of Garfield’s mansion.

“Everyone, thank you for coming to rescue me. It touches my heart that you journeyed all the way to the Shadow State to find me, and it tickles my funny bone that I had to rescue all of you five seconds after leaving the temple.”

The first to respond was surprisingly Eleha. “Please forgive my impertinence, but… what are you?”

“Duke Garfield, Diamond-ranked adventurer, summoner, and proud owner of two bear cubs.” Eleha blinked in response. Eventually, she gathered her nerve again.

“I knew this girl’s master must be an impressive one but, still, you’re not quite what I was expecting.”

“Her master? God, no. I’m nobody’s master.”

“But Garfield,” Hannah objected, “the servants all call you master.”

“That’s different. What you call someone and what their relationship is to you can be two different things. They call me ‘master’, but I’m not actually their master. Similarly, you’re my sidekick, but I don’t call you ‘sidekick’.”

“I see…”

“I want to be your sidekick too!” Solana blurted out. Everyone turned to look at Solana as Garfield pushed on the pressure point above his nose with two fingers.

“Come look at this!” Hannah grabbed Solana and Eleha by the hands and yanked them into the house. Yttria stepped over to Garfield.

“Garfield, do you know what Hannah is doing?”

“She’s probably showing off the soft bed. She likes doing that for some reason.”

Yttria figured Garfield was probably right but she still wasn’t happy about that answer. Recent history showed Garfield tends to lower his defenses when outnumbered in his bedroom.

“What’s this about a soft bed? Is it soft like the clothing you make?” Suddenly Brooke was quite excited.

“Brooke, it’s not proper to discuss a gentleman’s bed so openly…” the princess rebuked, although only half-heartedly.

“Oh, it’s fine!” Brooke responded. “Let’s go see what Hannah was talking about.” Brooke grabbed the princess by the hand and led her into the house.

“Bearclaw, our families are probably worried about us. Could you send us home, or at least to the Adventurer’s Guild?”

Garfield agreed with White Glow’s request (minus Brooke) and teleported the four of them.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“I should report to the King, I suppose…” said Kay.

“Please, let him know the princess is here. Hopefully, he’ll send an army to come get her.” Garfield teleported Kay back to the palace. “All right Yttria, tell me in more detail what happened.”

--

After her explanation, Garfield sent Yttria home, somewhat over her objection. It’s probably rude to teleport someone when they’re trying to warn you about dangers in your home, but he was running out of steam. He walked into the house, greeted the staff, and then entered his room. Stephen and Stephanie, the tiny bear cubs, ran over to greet him for the first time in a while.

Lying on the bed, asleep, were Hannah, Solana, Charlotte, Brooke, and… hm?

“You resisted it somehow?”

“Yes,” Eleha responded. “I sensed… danger from that bed. Not mortal danger but, an attack of sorts.”

“Well, aren’t you the formidable one.”

“Hardly. I was easily captured by Hannah, here.”

“Yes, about that…” Garfield began, “Tell me exactly what happened in that dwarven throne room.”

--

The two relocated to the parlor and Eleha described Hannah’s infiltration to the best of her ability.

“Hm, she’s been paying closer attention to me than I realized. Perhaps I need to a better job setting the example.”

“Hardly,” Eleha responded. “If I may be so bold, she saved many lives in the land of the dwarves. Her methods were unusual, but I am in her debt.”

“Holy Stockholm Syndrome!”

“…Pardon?” Eleha tilted her head.

“I just found it funny that Hannah defeats and then kidnaps you, and here you are singing her praises.”

“Well, I deserved it. We all did. What right do the dark elves have to seize the lands of another?”

“I tried explaining that to those Tyrin folks not too long ago. Haven’t seen them invading my lands since, so I’ll chalk that up as a win.”

“Please forgive my rudeness, but I didn’t learn of your lands before now. You did introduce yourself as a Duke among… other interesting things, but what lands are yours?”

“The Rox Region of this Kingdom. It’s basically the lower tenth of the nation.”

“Hm, interesting. I’d like to learn more about it.”

“Why?” Garfield asked her, honest surprise on his face.

“Ah. Although I was serving as my father’s adjutant, I was not training to become a General or the like. The Caves of the Dark Elves are actually split among four tribes, each with a small council of leaders. I was selected years ago to join the council of my tribe once I’m old enough.”

Garfield nodded along as Eleha continued her explanation.

“All dark elves train with a bow, but I only ever considered marksmanship a fun activity. I had no desire to kill others, which set me aside from most of my kin. Given my predisposition to academic pursuits, I was deemed worthy of leadership.”

“So… you’ve been training to become, essentially, a senior government official?”

“Yes, we view governance a bit differently than these human kingdoms but, that is fairly accurate.”

“I SEE! HMM.” The wheels were turning in Garfield’s mind. “So, what do you want to do now?”

“Want to do? I was under the impression I didn’t have much choice in whatever comes next. You’ll hardly let me walk out of here and return to my people.”

“I think Hannah will be a little sad, but I don’t want to keep someone here against their will. If you want to return to your homeland, it’s fine by me.”

“Wha!?” Eleha thought for a few moments. Garfield noticed a conflicted look appear on her face.

“Let me guess. You have mixed feelings about going back.”

“…How did you know?”

“It’s plain to see. You feel shame. How your people act runs counter to your belief system and you don’t fit in. Meanwhile, your nation has placed tremendous pressure and expectations on your shoulders. Am I wrong about anything so far?”

Eleha’s eyes widened at how accurate Garfield’s analysis was. She slowly shook her head.

“Things were easier when you thought you were our prisoner or hostage or whatever. When I said you could leave if you wanted, suddenly you had to face up to this problem. You’re not sure what you should do.”

“…It is true.”

“Let me ask you a different question, then. If for whatever reason you decided not to return, at least for now, what would you want to do instead?”

Eleha stopped to think for a good while. “Study and work? I’d also like to practice with a bow. Oh, right! I promised that archer I’d help her choose a new bow…”

“I’m going to name a few jobs,” said Garfield. “For each one, I want you to describe the ways in which you are qualified for that job and the ways in which you are not qualified.”

“Uh, okay…” Eleha wasn’t sure where Garfield was going with this.

“Archer who guards the city from enemies.”

“My skill with a bow is up to the task, but I’d spend every day praying the enemy didn’t come. I’m not sure I could let loose the arrow. Even against animals, I only ever killed once to protect a young family member from a rampaging buck…”

“Archery instructor who is exempt from combat.”

“I think I would be quite good at that if the pupils did not mind a dark elf for an instructor.”

“Dairy farmer who spends all day milking cows.”

“Wha!? I, uh, I guess I could do that if it was absolutely necessary.”

“Magistrate who manages the Rox region while I am away.”

Eleha jumped up from her chair. “What!? Please don’t joke!”

“You agreed to play along. Please sit down and respond seriously.” Eleha slowly returned to her chair.

“Magistrate, huh? It’s true I’ve already learned a great deal about how dark elves administer their lands, but I’m not as familiar with human rules and customs. I would struggle to receive acceptance from the people, for certain. Cooperating with neighboring human lords would also be… a stretch.”

“For comparison, from what little you know of me, answer the same question regarding how qualified I am, or I am not for that job.”

“You? Of course you are qualified to rule over this Rox region. You are recognized as the Duke, you are familiar with the rules and customs of this land, and you’re incredibly powerful as well. There’s simply no contest between us.”

“When I first arrived in this city a month or two ago, I wasn’t able to get permission to enter the main gate, so I summoned a magical creature to scare the guards away and leave the entrance unguarded.”

“You what?”

“When the Tyrin Kingdom invaded the region I preside over, the King held a meeting to discuss the strategy for repelling the invasion. When they announced the city being sieged at the beginning of the meeting, I did not know if the regional capital being invaded was my city or not.”

Eleha didn’t vocalize a response this time. She seemed to be trying to make sense of what she just heard.

“I was recently tried for blasphemy at the church and very nearly convicted and excommunicated.”

“…That one seems less surprising.”

“My point is that I’m far less familiar with the rules and customs of this land than you give me credit for. If both of us competed to see who would be a better lord, you would win.”

“E-Even so, there’s no way I could be accepted.”

“I’m quite talented at making people accept strange things.”

“You are serious? You would consider putting me into such a tremendous position of power in this predominantly human nation?”

“Oh, I’m more than willing. I just haven’t decided whether or not to force you to do it yet. You and Assistant Duke should totally compare notes.”

“…Assistant Duke?”

Garfield called for Assistant Duke. “You needed me?”

“I want you and Eleha here to have a nice long chat about her suitability for what we were talking about earlier.”

“An extremely unconventional choice, but I will do exactly as you ask. What will you do, sir?”

“The magic I’m using to fortify my fatigue is about to run out. I need to go to sleep and my bed is mined. I’ll need to deal with that, and fast.”

“Mined?” Assistant Duke and Eleha both asked in unison.

Garfield raised his hands into a partial shrug. “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”