Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 3

『If I get dragged off into the jungle, will you come and save me?』

『Why would anyone drag you off into the jungle?』

『Do you see how many Beastmen there are around here? There are bound to be a few who see me as a snack.』

『Your equipment makes you stronger than the average Beastman. They wouldn’t be able to harm you, either.』

『What if a stronger-than-average Beastman drags me off? A pack of ‘em.』

Liane frowned in concern as Ludmila rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to their surroundings. Weren’t Martial Nobles supposed to protect their frail and helpless counterparts?

She took a step back as a Beastman carrying two armfuls of straw walked past her. Being in Rol’en’gorek wasn’t anything like being in the Demihuman Quarter in E-Rantel or the cosmopolitan streetscapes of Karnassus. The sheer number of predatory Demihumans around her combined with the decidedly not-for-Humans environment caused her to be constantly wary even when she didn’t want to be.

It wasn’t just her who was being affected, of course. Clara couldn’t speak at first when they made their introductions to Countess Xoc. Even now, she clung onto Ludmila’s arm as if her life depended on it. Florine at least outwardly seemed composed. Maybe it was because she had spent months in the Abelion Hills doing stuff with all the Demihuman tribes there.

“What are those bundles of dried grass?” Countess Xoc asked.

“It’s straw,” Florine answered. “A byproduct of our grain crops. It has an endless number of uses – including being supplemental fodder for livestock.”

“What kind of livestock do you have?”

“My territory has cows and pigs,” Florine replied. “Lady Wagner is starting to raise flocks of sheep, but the rest of our duchy is primarily focused on crops and lumber.”

“I don’t know what any of those animals are,” Lady Xoc said.

“I believe pigs are related to wild boars,” Florine said.

“Oh. We have those…at least we used to until recently.”

“As for cows and sheep, I’m not sure if there’s something similar here. We raise cows for milk, meat, and leather while our sheep are primarily raised for their wool, which is spun into yarn for textiles.”

“We have Nug here for that,” Lady Xoc said. “Except for the milk part…Humans take milk from animals?”

“Milk is used in a sizable portion of our cuisine,” Florine replied. “It’s used in everything from stews to baked goods and can be rendered into cheese, butter, and cream.”

“Sorry,” Lady Xoc said, “I’m not familiar with any of those.”

Then what is she familiar with?

Despite having the appearance of a built-up society, it seemed that dealing with the Beastmen would be closer to dealing with the Demihuman tribes in the Great Forest of Tob than the Beastman races in Karnassus. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. They might not be as easy to deal with as people with a similar frame of reference, but their undeveloped state suggested that there were plenty of untapped resources to take advantage of. ᚱ𝙖Νổ฿Ë𝒮

“In that case,” Florine said, “shall we focus on the needs of your people? The exploration of non-essentials can wait.”

“Right,” Lady Xoc said. “The closest herd isn’t far from here. Is everything we’ve offloaded so far fodder?”

“We made sure to have the samples for your livestock offloaded first,” Florine said. “If we’ve missed anything, we can just have someone bring it over.”

Lady Xoc looked up at the Humans and Goblins looking down at the wharf from the safety of their ship.

“What about the people who came with you?”

“I believe that many find the city a bit overwhelming at the moment,” Florine replied. “It will take them some time to accustom themselves to it.”

The Beastman Lord led them west along the wharf, passing the lift that had conveyed them to her court atop the hill. They continued following the river far past the end of the port facilities using a well-worn trail that gradually left the river below them. Liane eyed the construction underway on the opposite shore.

“What’s that?” She pointed across the river.

“Ah, we’re building a set of locks so our barges can bypass the dam here,” Lady Xoc said. “There’s a lake and a string of trading outposts on the other side.”

Is that unexpected, or not?

As far as she could tell, the Beastmen of Rol’en’gorek were pretty primitive from a technological standpoint. However, they relied heavily on the river networks of their home so that might explain why their river-related infrastructure was so advanced by comparison.

A few minutes later, a wall of dark stone that stretched across the narrow valley came into view. The top of the wall was broken near the centre, creating a cascade that churned the waters below.

“It’s broken,” Liane said. “Why not fix it?”

“Our ancestors built this dam,” Lady Xoc replied. “We don’t know how it works anymore.”

“So your people just forgot?”

“It’s more complicated than that. A long time ago, we were attacked by…something. That something destroyed the country of our ancestors. We’re merely the survivors. The courtyard where I received you and the pyramids surrounding it were left behind by our ancestors, as well.”

“How long ago did this attack occur?” Ludmila asked.

“From what’s survived of our history,” Lady Xoc answered, “over six generations ago. Honestly, we don’t remember much about that time. Just surviving afterwards was hard enough.”

“How long is one of your generations?” Liane asked.

“Um, about thirty years?”

Was she talking about the Demon Gods? People tended to forget about stuff pretty quickly if it wasn’t recorded somewhere, so it probably hadn’t happened much further in the past than the six-generation figure.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the lake on the other side of the dam. Just beyond the grassy shore on both sides, countless structures could be seen in the shadows of the trees. Liane pointed up at one of the basket-like structures that hung above them.

“We saw a bunch of those floating on the river,” she said. “What are they?”

Lady Xoc looked up to see what she was pointing at.

“Those are bowers,” she said. “They’re sleeping places for Ocelo.”

“Just Ocelo?”

“Well, there’s no rule that other races can’t sleep in one,” the Ocelo Lord replied, “but they’re not comfortable in the trees. I guess it’s kind of an advantage for Ocelo clans since we can use the ground below our homes for agriculture instead.”

“I noticed other races in your territory, Lady Xoc,” Ludmila said. “What is their relationship to the Pa’chan Clan?”

“They’re a part of the clan,” Lady Xoc said. “That’s a recent thing, though. Pretty much everyone you see here was a resident of the city. Well, they still are, but they were clanless before.”

“So it isn’t normal to have multiple races in a single clan.”

“It isn’t. Clan Pa’chan is unique in that aspect. The city slowly grew over our territory. After a while, we became city dwellers as well. It wasn’t until this year that we reasserted ourselves as a clan.”

“What does it mean to be a ‘city dweller’ here?” Florine asked.

The Ocelo Lord fell silent for several moments.

“I guess the biggest thing is that you’re clanless,” she said. “For most, there’s no one to look out for them aside from their immediate family and maybe their closest friends if they have those. The people here are descended from clan outcasts from every race or are clan outcasts themselves.”

“When you say ‘outcasts’,” Florine said, “does that mean they’re guilty of some crime?”

“Not usually,” Lady Xoc. “Being an outcast can mean anything from being deemed unsuited for clan life or there being too many mouths to feed. How the clans see the cities is similar. They’re just places where the unwanted and extra resources collect. It’s not an easy life.”

“Then it was your experience of being a city dweller that led to accepting other races into your clan?” Ludmila asked.

“Not specifically,” Lady Xoc answered. “Before the Oriculon started to flood, we were just an Ocelo clan trying to slowly reestablish itself. When the waters didn’t recede like they usually do and the herds lost their grazing areas for the dry season, I saw the threat facing all of Rol’en’gorek and started taking in everyone that I could. Not just people from the city, but also the local tribes. We’ve also made friends with many clans around the cities nearby.”

“So it was compassion?” Florine asked.

“It’s just normal,” Lady Xoc said. “The clans and tribes of Rol’en’gorek usually keep to themselves. When something threatens everyone, we all work together.”

“That’s weird,” Liane said.

“Why?”

“Well, in my experience, individuals and groups of people usually look out for themselves when things get tough.”

“Why would they do that?” Lady Xoc asked in a puzzled tone, “Banding together with others in troubled times improves the chances of a group’s survival. If we did what you said, we’d have long been destroyed by our enemies.”

After walking by some odd-looking construction on the shoreline that Lady Xoc claimed would be a new shipyard, they found the crates taken from their cargo neatly arranged at the edge of a recently grazed patch of land. A small crowd of assorted Beastmen turned from their discussion to face them as they approached, offering a mix of disjointed greetings.

“So these are the potential source of fodder you mentioned,” a Nar at the front of the group said.

“Yeah,” Lady Xoc said. “Um, this is Baroness Florine, Baroness Ludmila, Countess Liane, and Countess Clara.”

The Beastmen once again offered a mix of disjointed greetings, which didn’t sound unlike a group of villagers in Re-Estize or the Empire. It seemed that simple folk were the same wherever one went.

“Baroness Florine is the chief of a tribe that raises livestock,” Lady Xoc told them. “She’ll be able to explain what all of this stuff is. Erm, if you don’t mind.”

“It would be my pleasure,” Florine smiled. “To begin with, let’s take a look at these Nug your people raise.”

Two Ocelo disappeared into the trees, reappearing several minutes later with animals resembling Nuk with less hair. The lumbering beasts plodded into the clearing in a tightly packed group, stopping a good distance from the gathering.

“They caught wind of the Humans’ scent and fled into the trees,” one of the Ocelo said. “Our Nug are usually quite docile, but they can become violent if spooked or feel directly threatened.”

『So they’re scared of Humans, yet perfectly fine around the Beastmen that eat them?』

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Nuk were massive Magical Beasts that weighed well over a ton and Nug didn’t seem any different in that regard. The idea that they would be frightened of relatively tiny Humans didn’t make much sense.

『It’s more likely that our unfamiliar scent unsettled them. These animals shouldn’t have any history with Humans.』

Florine made her way over to their assembled samples, picking up one of the bundles of straw piled at her feet.

“We call this ‘straw’,” she said. “It’s the stalks of the grains that Humans grow for food. Our livestock can’t subsist entirely on straw, but it is a workable supplement for the diets of all sorts of animals.”

One of the Ocelo tentatively took the bundle of straw in Florine’s hands and padded over to the herd of Nug. The largest of the animals shuffled over to sniff curiously at the offerings placed on the ground between them. After several moments, it shuffled back to its herd, issuing guttural grunts and groans as it did so. The Ocelo turned back to Florine with an unfamiliar expression.

“She’s either not hungry or not interested,” he said. “Nug readily feed on grasses and reeds, so I was hopeful that this straw of yours would be acceptable.”

Liane tamped down on her disappointment. Straw was the thing that the Sorcerous Kingdom had the most of. A vast jungle full of hungry herd animals would have been an ideal outlet for it.

Florine shifted over to the nearest crate, opening the lid to reveal the grain filling it to the brim.

“This is barley,” she said. “It’s one of the main crops we cultivate for Human consumption.”

“You mean to say that you’re willing to part with your own food?”

“We’ve had a significant surplus over the past few harvests.”

The Ocelo knelt to run his claws through the grains of barley.

“Our herds often graze on grass seed like this,” he said. “There shouldn’t be any problem with this ‘barley’ of yours.”

Once again, the largest of the Nug plodded forward to investigate the new offerings. Once again, it returned to its herd without partaking of the offered food, grunting and groaning as it did so.

『What! That’s perfectly good barley.』

『Maybe they don’t like unfamiliar food.』

『Just watch.』

Liane glanced at Ludmila, who continued to observe the distant herd. The animals shuffled around until one of the smaller Nug emerged, tailed by a single calf. Plaintive calls sounded from the calf as the other Nug settled in to feed on the grain.

“It looks like she’s eating the straw, too,” Ludmila said.

“Are these things screwing with us?” Liane muttered.

“No,” Ludmila said. “Chances are that the herd is prioritising which of their members feeds first. This one is a nursing mother.”

“Uh, they can do that?”

“Since they’re related to Nuk,” Ludmila said, “they’re also Magical Beasts. All Magical Beasts are at least as intelligent as a Human child, even if it doesn’t look like it.”

“What you say is true,” a Nar in the group of Beastmen said. “We’ve been rationing each animal’s fodder for so long now that the possibility didn’t immediately come to mind.”

“In that case,” Florine said, “we should offload more feed. We don’t want anyone being left out, do we?”

As it turned out, there appeared to be nothing that Nug wouldn’t eat – not out of the samples they had brought with them, at any rate. Now, it was time to figure out what the Beastmen had to offer in return.

When they returned to the wharf, they found that the Lizardmen and Orcs had disembarked and were conversing between themselves. Lady Xoc’s eyes went from one group to the other.

“Who are these people?” She asked.

“This is Chief Kesstris Esess of the Winter Scale Tribe,” Ludmila said. “And this is Chief Dyel Gan Zu of the Gan Zu Tribe. Both of their tribes dwell within the borders of my territory. Chief Esess; Chief Gan Zu, this is Countess Xoc of the Pa’chan Clan.”

“We greet you, Countess Xoc,” Chief Esess nodded in a Human-like fashion. “When Baroness Zahradnik told us we would be visiting your people, we had no idea that you ruled over so many. To call them a clan is an understatement.”

“Erm, thanks, I guess?” Lady Xoc said, “I don’t know very much about the outside world, so you’ll have to bear with my ignorance. Speaking of which, I’m confused about how you address one another. I thought it was Baroness Ludmila, but you call her Baroness Zahradnik instead.”

“I told you it doesn’t work,” Dame Verilyn said. “Lady Zahradnik was the one who decided to assign Human equivalents for Rol’en’gorek’s honorifics and now they’re stuck with them.”

Lady Xoc turned to look at Ludmila.

“Eh? So they don’t hear ‘Countess Xoc of the Pa’chan Clan’?”

“They don’t,” Dame Verilyn replied. “They hear something that you have no equivalent for, much like they have no equivalent for how your people address their lords.”

“I see…wait, how do you know so much about my people?”

“What are you talking about? It’s me.”

The Ocelo Lord peered at Dame Verilyn.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve never met you…”

“Of course you have. I’ve been around for months.”

“Months? But the only guests we’ve had for months are…y-you’re Winter Moon? I didn’t know you were a Human.”

“I’m not a Human,” Dame Verilyn was the very picture of affront. “Humans do not have the ability to alter their selves. At least not that I’ve seen.”

“I apologise for the confusion my vassal has caused,” Ludmila said. “Dame Verilyn is a Dragon. A Frost Dragon.”

The confusion in Lady Xoc’s voice only grew.

“Vassal? Eh?”

Liane cleared her throat.

“As amusing as this is,” she said. “We should really continue with our trade talks. Looming starvation and all that.”

“Of course, Countess…”

“Wagner. Human Lords are addressed by the name of the land they rule.”

“I see…so you rule the land of Wagner. She rules the land of Zahradnik.”

“No.”

“No?”

“Baroness Zahradnik is weird.”

“I’m not ‘weird’.”

“Wanna bet?” Liane said, “Anyways, let’s move on.”

“Right. My clan’s Merchants have been looking forward to dealing with you. This way, please.”

Lady Xoc led them to the caged lift that had conveyed them to the top of the cliffs earlier. Since Rol’en’gorek’s river barges used a similar method to power them, one could easily come to the conclusion that it wasn’t an out-of-place piece of machinery. However, something about it suggested otherwise…at least by Liane’s reckoning.

“This lift looks pretty new,” she said. “When was it built?”

“Just before the last Deluge,” Lady Xoc replied. “It’s saved us a lot of time and trouble.”

“The Deluge…as in the rainy season?”

“That’s right.”

“Funny,” Liane said, “they call it the same thing in the Draconic Kingdom.”

“I know.”

The floor shuddered slightly as they reached the top of the lift. They stepped onto a lane paved with cut stones that clearly looked out of place, leading them along a street that wound between rows of stone houses that also looked out of place.

“Why is it so different up here compared to everywhere else?” Liane asked, “Is it because it’s a high-class district?”

“No,” Lady Xoc answered. “We started fixing up this terrace just before the Deluge. The entire clanhold will have buildings like this eventually.”

“How come the stonework looks so different from the older construction?”

“Because we’ve lost the method to construct them,” a hint of bitterness entered Lady Xoc’s voice. “Just like the dam. The old buildings you see here weren’t just big stone buildings – they were magical big stone buildings. All of the ruins that you see had some function that doesn’t function anymore. The new buildings you see here aren’t magical: they’re just what the Human masons recommended as a balance between material costs and comfort.”

“That makes sense–wait, did you just say ‘Human masons’?”

“Yeah, I have a couple of them among my slaves.”

“What?!”

Lady Xoc flinched at Florine’s sudden outburst. The Ocelo Lord turned to regard them, ears flattened against her head and tail tucked between her legs.

“D-Did I say something wrong?”

『You didn’t say anything!』

『Because I wanted to see you reaction.』

『But Ludmila didn’t say anything either.』

『Well, if I told her, then she would have told you.』

“We would like to see these slaves,” Florine asked coolly.

“We were on our way to meet them,” Lady Xoc said. “Some of the Merchants I want you to speak with are Humans.”

Lady Xoc resumed walking, periodically looking over her shoulder at them. Liane turned her attention to Dame Verilyn, who strolled nonchalantly beside Ludmila. They followed the Ocelo Lord in a wide circuit below the top of the hill, making their way past more of the same simple stone construction. Occasionally, they would walk by clearings with ruins carved in the more substantial style that Lady Xoc’s distant ancestors employed.

『I smell Humans.』

Liane glanced at Ludmila.

『You smell Humans? You sure it isn’t us?』

『It’s not your individual scents, it’s the scent of Humans and Human habitation.』

There wasn’t any wind to carry the odour of cookfires or any other telltale signs of a Human settlement, so Liane wasn’t sure how Ludmila was able to tell. It wasn’t long, however, before the scenery ahead of them dramatically changed. Lines draped with bright streamers were stretched between the buildings and each home sported gaily painted facades and flowers in fired clay pots. After they passed several such homes, they caught their first glimpse of the resident Humans.

Liane smiled and waved at a little girl watching them from the window of one of the buildings.

“Hello,” Liane said.

The girl left the window, disappearing into the shadows of her home. Liane clicked her tongue.

“Liane!” Florine hissed.

“What?! I’m not allowed to say ‘hi’ to people?”

“Not if you’re going to have that sort of reaction.”

“Tch.”

She quickly put the incident with the unsociable child behind her as they entered what could only be described as a market square. It was also unmistakably Human in design, complete with covered stands and storefronts fashioned in the aesthetic of the Draconic Kingdom. Lady Xoc stepped aside to give them a better view of their surroundings.

“Here we are,” the Ocelo Lord said. “This is where all of the Human slaves in the clanhold live. Just beyond here is the place we’ve prepared for you.”

Liane and her friends stared at Lady Xoc for a good, long moment. The Beastman took a step back.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Sticking those two lines together didn’t sound very nice,” Liane told her.

“I’m sorry,” Lady Xoc replied. “I don’t know what it sounds like to you, but it sounded fine to me.”

There was little they could do but take her word for it. Things would go more smoothly – probably – once they had a handle on Ocelo expressions.

“A-Anyways,” the Ocelo Lord said. “Feel free to stop and take a look at anything that interests you. I’m going to go and look for our negotiators…”

With that, Lady Xoc slipped into the modest crowd of Humans and Beastmen. Liane sized up the Beastmen standing between herself and the first few stands, trying to figure out how to get through them.

『She does a lot of stuff on her own as a leader.』

『Lady Xoc gives off the feeling of a ruler who hasn’t quite yet established her rule. Many things about how she conducts herself in an official capacity are still very much unofficial and the hierarchy under her seems mostly unused.』

Florine’s assessment just about summed things up. Of course, Lady Xoc herself admitted that her clan had just reestablished its rule so it was to be expected…sort of. Unlike the Human countries in the region, they had little idea of how Rol’en’gorek’s clans administered themselves in the first place.

Unable to squeeze herself through the Beastmen, Liane had to wait until they moved on from whatever they were looking at to finally get a look at the front stands. The glitter of gems and precious metals caught the midday light, causing her to squint several times as she walked up to a table arrayed with jewellery and framed by carvings of obsidian and jade.

“Welcome, my ladies,” a middle-aged man of slight build greeted her. “You must be our guests from the Sorcerous Kingdom.”

“Sure are,” Liane replied as she eyed the tools pocketed in the man’s leather apron. “You’ve got a lot of impressive work on display here. Are they all yours?”

“I am the Lapidary, Altan,” the man bowed slightly. “The smith responsible for the metalwork is currently manning his forge in our shared workshop.”

“Have you been partners for long?” Florine asked.

“Oh, yes,” Altan answered with a gentle smile. “Decades. Life has taken an interesting turn as of late, but the more strange things become, the more I find that what is important remains familiar.”

“We’ve heard that all of the Humans here were taken from the Draconic Kingdom as slaves,” Florine said. “Is there anything you can tell us about that?”

The artisan blinked as if he never considered that the subject of his enslavement would become the topic of discussion.

“That’s…what is there to say? I suppose most of us consider it a second apprenticeship, my lady.”

“A second apprenticeship?” Clara frowned, “Do you mean to say that the terms of your enslavement are similar to a contract of indenture?”

“Why, yes, my lady. That is exactly what it is. In exchange for getting us out of Rivergarden where we would have surely been eaten, we signed contracts of indenture for ourselves and on behalf of our families.”

“That’s quite the gamble given what you knew at the time,” Clara said.

“The process was a formal procedure through the Merchant Guild,” Altan seemed to shrug. “The Beastmen who suggested the idea were quite well-versed in them.”

Liane’s eyes wandered from the artisan to the Beastmen around the market. Familiar with the procedures of the Merchant Guild? How could that be? Then again, the Beastmen who had invaded the Draconic Kingdom did give Human Merchants special treatment. Maybe it was something related to that.

“Does that mean there are other slaves from the Draconic Kingdom elsewhere in Rol’en’gorek?” Liane asked.

“I can’t say for sure, my lady,” Altan answered. “What I can say is that demand for our work seems endless even with the troubles the Beastmen are facing.”

Meaning that if Human slaves dwelt elsewhere in Rol’en’gorek, they probably weren’t anywhere nearby. If they were, they could have been tracked down by the distinct goods they produced.

“Sorry for the wait,” Lady Xoc’s voice sounded to their left. “Here are the negotiators I mentioned before.”

She turned to find Lady Xoc with a mix of Beastmen and Humans behind her, all of whom were adorned in all-too-familiar uniforms. Liane fought to keep her laughter from escaping as Ludmila froze in place at the sight.