Novels2Search
No Need for a Core?
167: Minor Tribulations

167: Minor Tribulations

Bellona strolled around the little trading post town that was pretending to not be a part of the dungeon itself, despite being run by the dungeon inhabitants. In retrospect it seemed obvious that something was up, being outside of the dungeon territory meant there was a risk of real, permanent death if something happened. Then again, she hadn’t thought about that when she’d first seen the trading post, and the rest of the world lives with that as their normal state. So maybe it wasn’t so odd that no one had caught on yet.

Well, almost no one. From what the cores had told her, the kobolds who were descendants of Mordecai’s previous dungeon-born clan and Gil had both been able to tell they were in a dungeon’s territory. But not everyone was going to be able to notice it, Bellona certainly hadn’t. Oh, she could tell now, at least for this dungeon, but that was due to feeling the slight change as her benefits of being a contractor went away or came back. Being able to mentally communicate with the cores and the inhabitants was useful, but kind of weird.

She wished that she could communicate directly with Moriko that way, she rather liked the woman from their brief meeting, but the monk was only able to talk to the cores because of her unique connection. It didn’t let her talk to the rest of the dungeon when she wasn’t in the territory.

The late summer sun felt good, and she was glad she was only lightly armored. She had swapped to her chainmail and had opted for simple bracers for her arms and greaves over sturdy boots instead of gauntlets or armored boots. Her normal shield had seemed like overkill as well, but she felt uncomfortable without something available, so she had a buckler instead. It might seem comically small compared to her axe, but it would do in a pinch. The tight, 6-in-1 weave chainmail would normally be rather stiff, but she’d had this set made in mithral when she could afford it.

Though she had to admit, she was rather jealous of the armor that the dungeon could produce via loot. Having neither rivet nor solder, each ring was a perfectly formed piece. The lack of a weak point in the rings made them much more durable. Technically, she could be wearing a suit of that right now, but if she had to step outside the territory it would dissipate, as she couldn’t claim loot like delvers could.

Bellona was enjoying a stick of roasted meat and vegetables when a commotion near the lines caught her attention, and she quickly finished off the food as she turned that way. The source of the commotion turned out to be a rather richly dressed elven woman. Bellona quickly pegged her as spoiled and possibly noble; while she was wearing leather armor, it looked a little too supple, and decorating it with gold plating on the rivets as well as using some sort of silver-infused thread for the stitching was just spending money to show off. Of course, Fuyuko’s armor was even more supple, but hers wasn’t actually made from normal hide either from what Bellona had been told.

And even more to the point of this woman being spoiled, she had six guards who had clearly been chosen in part to be decorative. Three elven men, and three elven women, all physically beautiful and wearing well-polished armor and shields. They stood quietly behind her as the woman berated a bored-looking pair of laganthros: Kuni, the bunkin mistress of arms, and Seon, the rabkin mistress of magic. “How dare you demand to test me! I’m here to prove myself in a proper fight, not play with a pair of bunnies. And I saw you let that girl go by, it was clearly her first time here as well. Or does your master play favorites with his preferred type?”

The sneer in the implied insult brought a reaction from the two bosses, and Kuni’s hand dropped to her blade while Seon’s power gathered in preparation for casting a spell. Bellona intervened before they could act, a growl in her throat as she closed the last of the distance to interpose herself between the elf and the rabbits.

“Watch your tongue, lest you lose it,” she wasn’t normally given to such threats, but the woman’s words had riled her blood. “In one breath you’ve insulted no less than four gods, one of them your own.”

The spoiled elf narrowed her eyes at Bellona, “And now an orc interferes. What do you know of my gods, oh tribal one?” Behind her, the six guards had loosened their own blades, their eyes wary.

Bellona ignored the attempt to insult her ancestry as she replied, “You insult Ozuran by insinuating one of his priests would act that way; you insult Amirume by implying that I, one of her champions, would allow such a thing; you insult Li Zarb by implying that he would allow such harm to come to a young one who is dedicated to him; and you insult Danu by implying that one of her high priests, Traxalim, would encourage that young woman to come here for such a purpose.” Her tone was cold and hard.

“Wha-? Champion? You? And how is the old man possibly involved? You lie, orc.”

Bellona’s lips curled up to show her teeth, and it could not be called a smile. “I’m not privy to all the details yet, and the cores are both busy with things more important than a petty thing like you so I won’t be bothering to ask right now, but I swear an oath on Amirume’s honor and in Ozuran’s sight that I speak nothing but the truth here. The girl is here as a guest by the request of others, and Traxalim knows and approves of it. Now, stand down or be taken down.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Various bunkin shopkeepers had drawn weapons from their stalls, many of them bows or guns, and the nearby visitors who had been preparing for battle anyway had formed a circle around them, focused on the elven group.

“You dare insult a noble with a threat of violence? I’ll bring the wrath of the kingdom upon you if you try to lay a hand on me!” The woman’s own mana was gathering tight, and that slight tug of power was enough to let Bellona know she faced a mage of some sort, though clearly one untested in battle.

In response, Bellona lifted her left hand to show the back of it, willing the Mark to come to life and display the elemental symbols around a protective shield. “If you feel insulted, then know it comes from Kuiccihan’s liaison to the Azeria Mountain Dungeon, who also officially acts upon the dungeon’s behalf as their contractor. Oh, and I have a title as well. Lady Bellona, at your service. Now, stand down and back off, you’ve lost your privilege to delve the dungeon without being considered a hostile invader.”

She paused in thought as she watched the shocked woman, who had stepped back and was looking around at all the gathered and very hostile faces. “But Mordecai and Kazue have a vested interest in keeping up diplomatic relations. So a compromise: your guards may explore, but only all of them together, and without you. As for yourself, hmm, you can only go down the non-combat path, and only with a group of at least three others who are willing to help you, other than your guards.” Bellona gestured to one of the bunkins, who dashed to the official entrance and crossed the supposed threshold before making a show of listening to something before returning.

“The Master and Mistress both agree with your proposed penalties, Lady Bellona.” The display had been just for show, Bellona had already checked with them after she’d come up with the idea, but she felt better making sure it didn’t look like she was acting unilaterally.

The noble ground her teeth angrily, but the reality of the situation had cut through her arrogance as she clearly realized that there was nothing she could do. After a moment, she turned on her heel and stalked off, headed back to the inn. Bellona didn’t know if she was going to stay or was just picking up traveling gear, but either way, the immediate issue was solved.

Bellona sighed and rolled her neck as she allowed herself to relax, then turned to their other guests. “I’m sorry about the interruption folks,” She really hated what she was going to say next, but it felt like the responsible thing to do, rather than let rumors run rampant, “And I imagine a lot of you are very curious about the dungeon's newest guest. I can talk about the little I know, within the limits of privacy, but I don’t feel like being swarmed and we need to let the lines reform and go. So I’m going to go take a table at a tavern and will entertain three people at a time with questions. Anyone who needs to know right now, you figure it out amongst yourselves who is going to be buying me food and drink.”

She really wished Xarlug was up here with her, she could use his company, but he seemed to be uncomfortable with being in this sort of public socialization. Bellona was pretty sure that part of it was his fiend-touched bloodlines, as there were always some people willing to assume the worst, but there was something else too, and she wasn’t quite sure what else was bothering him.

To a certain extent, he was a puzzle she wanted to figure out. He wouldn’t talk about his past beyond some of his travels with Orchid and Paltira, and he could vacillate between being bold and brash one moment, and being uncertain and shy the next. He was rather cute when he was like that too, though she certainly hadn't told him that!

He also seemed quite content to take things slowly, which she didn’t mind at all. Mysteriousness was intriguing, but she only wanted to go so far with someone she didn’t know better. Really, if it wasn’t for the company he kept that clearly knew Xarlug’s past, Bellona would be much more suspicious. Instead, she felt more content to wait until he was ready to share more.

When she took a seat at the tavern, she dismissed those thoughts to dwell upon them later. It was time to deal with people who had questions, not that she had a whole lot of answers. The few groups that she had the patience to deal with got pretty much the same information: “The girl’s name is Fuyuko, she’s an orphan who took up a suggestion that she come here, she met Traxalim on her way through Riverbridge, and traveled most of the way with a wandering weapons master she met on the road. The cores are considering taking her in as a ward until she reaches her majority, but nothing has been decided yet.” It wasn't a long story, and most people were a little disappointed that all this fuss was over something so mundane, but that was life sometimes.

Really, no one would have been so interested in the luponi girl if it hadn’t been for that damn brat of a noble making such a fuss and then insinuating those sorts of motives just because she was upset that she wasn’t getting her way. The bloody woman had shown her nature by trying to insult Bellona as well. Sure, it was only a few generations ago that her own family had been part of one of the nomadic tribes to the south, but she had no personal issues with that and found it weird that some of her kin were ashamed of it.

Of course, the ones who were over-proud of it were pretty weird too. They didn't live in the tribes, why did they feel the need to put on the trappings and pretend to be living like the tribes did?

When she'd reached her limit of repeating the same facts to new faces, Bellona rose from the table and thanked them for the food, but insisted she had to get back to 'patrolling'. There wasn't really anything so specific waiting for her, she was just present to be the face, voice, and/or hand of the dungeon as needed, but she wanted the excuse to escape the questions.