Bellona’s arrival had certainly made Mordecai’s day more interesting. He’d noticed her well before her group had reached the trading post village, and it hadn’t been hard to guess who she was, but he’d let everything run on its own until she was ‘officially’ inside the dungeon. Unless she did actually become a contractor, there were a few secrets they intended to keep for now.
That business with the wolf monster had been unfortunate. Clever and insane is a nasty combination, especially with a species as aggressive as that one was. He was just glad that he’d only had to kill it once, it had held so much violent, hostile intent hidden away in its heart that he’d been able to cancel the Mercy boon before he fed it the poison. That boon could only be removed by consensus between Kazue and himself, and they had to spend time removing it per individual, and it still required that the individual had the proper level of hostility.
The conversation between Bellona and the others had been interesting, and Princess Orchid’s actions also had some responses invisible to the rest of the people in the room. “Did, did she just hit on you? And me‽ Did she really mean that?” Kazue sounded almost panicked, and it drew Moriko’s confused attention as Mordecai responded.
“Yes and no, Love. Orchid did not mean it seriously, in that she does not expect any of us to act on it. She was putting on a display to make a point. However, she did mean it seriously in the sense that if she thought it would get the information she wants and thought it was worth it, she would be willing to seduce any or all of us. It’s clear that she’s worked out something with Paltira to ease the impact of such work on their relationship, and it seems that she’s mostly removed herself from being a seductress and spy as a common role, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t act with all sincerity if she thought it was the best option. And I imagine that her shape-shifting abilities come in handy to play different roles.”
Moriko’s response was incredulous, “Princes Orchid just flirted with the two of you? What the hell is going on over there?”
“She was making a point to Bellona about duty and roles, and a particular sort of trust. Speaking of which, I think I need to step in here.” Out loud he said, “I think we can avoid any conflicts of interest. To start with concepts you are more familiar with, do you not owe different duties to the Church, to Amirume, and to Kuiccihan?” While his attention was on the room, he could hear Kazue explaining the situation in more detail to Moriko.
Bellona looked thoughtful as she answered slowly. “Technically, maybe, but I don’t see how they could come into conflict.”
Mordecai smiled slightly, “I think you have had it easy if that is not a concern. Do you not think that two champions of Amirume have never found themselves on opposite sides of a battle, each owing fealty to their own kingdom in the midst of war? No matter who survives the battle, Amirume loses a champion. But she is the goddess of civilization, and for a civilization to survive it must be able to depend on the loyalty of its warriors and soldiers. To not fight to their utmost for their kingdom would also be a betrayal of their goddess, barring other situations that would require them to quit the battlefield. Similarly, if a superior in your church asked you to do something that you believed was against Amirume’s teaching, would you not be obligated by your faith to refuse? And depending on the circumstance, might you not be obligated to report them to the Kuiccihan government?”
The orc woman rubbed at her temple, “I suppose. That seems unlikely, but at a stretch, possible.”
He nodded before continuing, “Exactly. While a conflict between Kuiccihan and Azeria Mountain Dungeon is possible, it is unlikely. But we can define that contingency as well, assuming that we all decide to go ahead with forming a contract. You have been assigned here as an Envoy, and to represent Kuiccihan’s interests in helping defend its ally. Our agreement would simply have the condition that so long as you are assigned as our envoy, you will operate as our agent and contractor while maintaining your other duties as envoy. Should your position be withdrawn because of a conflict that obligated you to no longer work for us, you would also be obliged to leave our territory before you would be relieved of your duties as a contractor to the dungeon, and of course, we can not obstruct such a departure,” He looked over at Orchid, “In your position as a Princess, do you agree that this is reasonable?”
Orchid sat up at the question and took a moment to compose herself into the proper mindset as she considered the question, “Yes, as a representative of the Kuiccihan Kingdom, I find those conditions to compatible with your duties as an assigned envoy to an affirmed and trusted ally that needs our active support,” She shook her head when she was done, then sighed, “Great, I am going to need to write it up as an addendum, get your signatures and sign it myself, and then go get this recorded in person to make sure it’s official. I prefer avoiding the court, if I am there as Princess then I can’t show any signs of being a kitsune too.”
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“Okay,” Bellona said, “Well, I guess that clears that up. I still have questions about how you are also a kitsune, but I suppose that can wait. So, the plaque upstairs didn’t go into great detail about the duties of a contractor, what else should I know before I consider it? And what are the other benefits?”
“Honestly, it’s pretty straightforward,” Mordecai said, “Defend the dungeon, gather new materials for sampling, escort incarnate avatars, and otherwise be available to assist as needed. Obviously, you can’t do everything at once, which is why having multiple contractors is useful. Moriko has done all of those at one point or another, including playing the part of our river floor’s Boss when we had a temporary gap to fill. She also provided some training to some younger folk up on the first floor. That sort of interaction also helps improve mana flow.”
He shrugged slightly. “There’s a lot of downtime really, so you can do as you like so long as you remain available. As for benefits, well, we are already providing you with room and board as an envoy, so that’s redundant. A contractor also stops aging while in their dungeon’s territory and is on the same heal and revive cycle as inhabitants are. Material benefits vary by dungeon, but since we have a higher-than-normal ability to craft from raw materials, thanks to my previous history, we can keep your gear up to date. Money availability varies, but if someone trades us, say, half a dozen cut gems for a dozen larger, raw gems made from our mana, then those cut gems would be available to finance trips or what have you,” Mordecai grinned at Bellona, “I can’t say that many contractors become independently wealthy from the deal, but the living conditions are fairly luxurious here and you still get whatever the pay is from Kuiccihan for being an Envoy.” Keeping the kingdom and the person separate in his mind was a little strange.
Bellona grunted thoughtfully, “I can see why some people would seek it out. And I am considering it, but I’d like to get to know you all better first. And while you said that you’d accept my prior accomplishments as proof of my martial skill, I wouldn’t mind a spar either so that I know what to expect from you too. Well, I would like to settle in and get the road dust off. You said that the bunkin will get me food whenever I like, but when do you normally eat?”
Mordecai gestured toward the others in the room. “For the moment I don’t bother unless I am dining with my guests, but Moriko and Kazue like to keep a more normal schedule. You can talk with them when it's relevant, but if you want to eat when others eat, these are the ones to talk to.”
He took his leave to let them talk and let Bellona settle in, but also to take some time to think about an idea sparked by something Bellona said. It would be best if all the potential defenders had a better idea of what each could do. Which would mean lots of sparring matchups. Mordecai had walked over to the final corridor leading to the feast hall, and examined the arena beneath the crystal floor.
Match-ups that could be scheduled in a rotation that would see consistent winners, so that people could push themselves to ever tougher fights. Multi-round eliminations seemed fairest, plus setting a baseline of having cleared the library level on the combat route. He’d set himself up as the final boss, and maybe bump some of the known stronger entrants to later rounds just so that the other entrants had more of a chance to show their skills.
His thoughts were shared with Kazue and Moriko, with Moriko’s first thought being, “Don’t you dare do that before we get back! I want to participate!”
“Hah, you are one of the people I would seed into later rounds. But I’d want to let word of mouth spread anyway. I’m thinking when you two get back from the first lap of your trip would be good timing.”
Kazue didn’t mind the idea at all, but one thought in particular made her happy. “I bet the einherjar would want to participate. And maybe that would distract them enough to keep them from feeding my poor tea pet mead and ale all the time. Those aren’t the right colors!”
Mordecai grinned as the two women started adding their thoughts to his idea for a tournament. This could be quite fun.
Speaking of fun, he should go find Li, and let Bellona meet the ratling she’d been chasing back in the capital. She matched all of their posted qualifications for contractors, but he wanted to let their interaction be a final personality test. Mordecai was pretty certain she’d be fine, but if their previous interaction proved to be a sore point, well, that would be a point against her.
And this wasn’t an option he expected to have for too much longer. Spending too much linear time as a single shard in a particular area always seemed to put a strain on the shattered god, and honestly, Mordecai was surprised that the ratling was still present. It made him a little nervous too.