Guredalheim Delivery
That day of travel was a bit tense. It didn't help that Yngvarr had decided to pick this day to evaluate how good we were at fast travel. Fulvia continued to talk Kalfr's ear off as she did mine the previous day. Vesta and I stayed on our sides of the wagon so we had no chance of discussing her seeing my Lydos aura.
We didn't even stop for lunch that day and kept pressing on towards Guredalheim and the city came into view a few hours before supper. It was only about half the size of Torinheim. After passing through the gates, Yngvarr took us to the wealthier part of the city and to a small mansion. He gave a letter of introduction to the guards and they led us into the courtyard. A portly man in lavish robes came out to greet us.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes. I've been waiting for this for years. That old man has finally decided to retire." He said.
"Master Bragi, I'm Yngvarr with the Rainbow Blades. We have your items for delivery." He handed the letter to him.
After looking over the letter Bragi said, "I've been waiting to get my hands on Master Arndorr's equipment ever since I was his apprentice. If only I could have out bid those other two for everything. Magnhilda and Vegaror never truly grasped the Master's ways. But the greedy bastards had to take what should be mine."
Some of his men had started to unload the crates that had yellow marks while Bragi enviously eyed the ones with blue marks. I started to understand Vegaror's suspicion that I was a spy the first time we met, if people like this were his associates.
"Why don't you all come inside and let me treat you to some wine. I have a wonderful bottle of red from Kelel." Bragi said.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea. Runa and Wilmaer, stay with the wagon." Yngvarr said.
"Oh that shouldn't be necessary. I want to reward all of you for your hard work." Bragi said.
"The Rainbow Blades can't be fully slacking while on the job." Yngvarr gave him a wide smile.
Through a forced smile Bragi nodded. Vesta handed me Zephyr's reins and followed the others inside. Runa pulled her horse up next to mine and the men unloading crates gave each other glances as she eyed them down.
"I'm guessing he's trying to evaluate how they interact with clients." I said to Runa as I made sure they didn't try to interact with the blue marked crates. It seemed our presence put a stop to any plans to look through them.
"Being an adventurer is more than just killing monsters. You can never know what can come out of different evaluations. Like someone being at the Intermediate stage of the Osgar aura. How'd a kid from the south who grew up in the capital, ended up in the north come by a Lineage from the west?" Runa had been listening to my discussion with Fulvia yesterday.
"Is this a part of my evaluation?" I asked.
"Just curiosity. As someone who has trained in defensive combat, I've often cursed the Spirits for not birthing me with that line." She said.
"I had always been fascinated with the north and didn't have anything holding me in the capital. My parents ended up there because of the plague years back. And from my understanding, my grandfather was an adventurer that had a number of kids throughout the south. When he found out about them he left them with a scroll on how to cultivate the Osgar aura and didn't look back." I had come up with the last part after talking with Vesta last night.
"If you still have that scroll, I'd be looking to purchase it from you. Even if I could only enter the Novice stage I've dreamed of learning it. I'm not sure you realize how lucky you are. It's nearly impossible to get information on the Grand Lineage's outside of the black market and I tend to kill people involved in that before I can make an offer for them to track a scroll down for me." She said.
"I can understand that. High nobles don't really like commoners using their Lineages. Unfortunately, the scroll burned in a fire. I've been meaning to write down what I remember. Maybe when I get the time I can make a copy for you?" Not only could it earn me some coin, but it'd put her in my debt.
"I'd appreciate that and could definitely compensate you for it." She said.
After about an hour the rest returned. Bragi and Yngvarr had their arms around each other's shoulders and were laughing boisterously. Kalfr and Vesta looked fine but Fulvia was a little red faced and had a slight teeter to her steps. I felt sorry for her as this wouldn't bode well for her evaluation.
After Bragi and Yngvarr exchanged a few jokes, they bid goodbye. We headed out of the courtyard and Yngvarr led us to the Union Branch in Guredalheim, every major city and some important towns had branches of the Adventures Union. It was a lot smaller than the one in Torinheim that took up a large city block; this one was closer to a large inn.
When we entered the courtyard of the Union stables, a woman in leather armor with long loose blonde hair that had a few smaller braids down the back approached us. She had a frown on her face and folded her arms in a hostile way for a few seconds before breaking out into a big grin.
"Hey there old timer, long time no see." She said.
"Well, maybe if you'd apologize to your sister, you'd be able to get to Torinheim more often." Yngvarr said.
"Ah that wench knows she's the one at fault. I'll start coming around once she apologizes to me." She said.
"Hahaha. Why don't you just both admit you're wrong and get back to killing things together for a change?" He said.
"Why don't you just stay out of it?" She replied.
"You're guild leader Fritha's younger sister, Gurtha. Master of the whip. Expert in basic aura and your families Lineage aura. You single handedly killed the frost giant that was terrorizing the mines outside of Haldienheim." Fulvia, who was still tipsy, blurted out.
"Here, drink this." Vesta handed her a small vial of brownish yellow liquid. After drinking it, Fulvia shook her head at the bitter taste but then went wide-eyed as the red in her cheeks changed from being under the influence to embarrassment.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." She started to sputter.
"I see the kids are excited as ever." Gurtha said.
"You have no idea. Do you have the help ready?" Yngvarr said.
"Right over here." She led us over to one side of the courtyard where three other adventurers were waiting.
We handed over the wagon to them and headed into the Union branch. There were a few adventures in the common room and we soon sat down for supper. I came to learn that Gurtha ran the Rainbow Blades in Guredalheim. As night wore on more people came into the common room and most of them weren't adventurers, it turned out the branch wasn't as strict on who could enter and eat. Soon a group of musicians entered and the room became lively.
"This is another reason I don't bother going to Torinheim. Branch Master Urd doesn't have a stick up their butt like Master Alfarund." Gurtha said.
"Ha, I'll let him know you think that." Yngvarr said.
"Come on you old dog." Gurtha stood up and pulled Yngvarr forward to an empty space in the common area. Others followed their lead and began to dance.
"Let's join them?" Kalfr held out his hand to Vesta.
"I'm not much of a dancer." She replied.
"I'll join you." Fulvia grabbed his hand and pulled him forward as he scowled. I was getting to like her more and more.
"I think I'll be turning in for the night." Runa stood and gave us a big smile as she left.
It wasn't too long after that when I heard the popping sound that told me that Vesta had cast the One Way Sound Barrier.
"So the Lydos aura." Vesta must have been dying to start this conversation.
"You seem to have guessed the implications. It's not something I want to talk about. For some reason I trust you more than most but it's not something I want to go into right now." I said.
"My uncle ran the Azure Shadow. I still have connections if you…" She started.
I interrupted her. "Thank you. I'm giving myself four years. If nothing happens to force my hand by then I should be strong enough to… I don't even know what to do. If I knew how my father would react, I might be able to form a more concrete plan but for now I'll just focus on getting strong."
My eyes widened when I heard what her uncle did. The Azure Shadow was the spy organization that reported directly to the crown. If he had raised her in that environment, it was no wonder she knew more than the average person.
"Why would you want to help?" I had to ask. This wasn't something you just told people.
She didn't reply right away. "While I have my reservations, Zephyr likes you."
"Well I'll just have to make sure I stay on his good side." We gave each other a smile and she released the barrier as we enjoyed the music for the night.