《Technically Abroad》Shuffle 2.B

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At a desk, surrounded by papers, a woman who wore the cloak of a soldier around her casual clothing was writing out something on a scroll of paper, finishing up the work and sliding it to her right alongside five scrolls and a stack of individual papers about one finger in height. On her left was a stack of paper half the height of the other and one scroll.

Standing and stretching, she stood from her chair and extended her arms above her head as she put the lid on her ink bottle.

“That’s enough for today. I need to be mentally rested enough to talk to him when he gets here. I just wonder if he will confirm what we were told or if it will turn out we were lied to. The poor slave seemed to think he was honest, but that could just some good acting to escape more trouble."

Leaving the room, switching from a military cloak to a casual one, the woman sniffed the air and went towards the dining hall to have her meal.

"Smells pretty good today," she idly thought to herself.

Two turns down the hallways she passed a few people, some in military garb, some in casual clothing, and one dressed to impress despite her age. Unfortunately, the size of the woman's outfit inconvenienced others in the hall making it harder to get past.

Stopping in place, she stood off to the side as the woman walked her way. Bowing to the woman she smiled and soon found that the woman, rather than passing her by stopped causing her to have a small, internal, sigh before standing upright and speaking.

“Lovely as always. Are you here on your own or are you visiting your son again lady Perte?”

The woman smiled as she was greeted, replying after a slightly longer bit of silence.

“My dear Elya. Still trying to be a soldier I see. I hope you know that there are many fine young men who would love to be with you. My grandson would be a great husband for you and it would mean you are marrying up. Your beauty is so good for someone of lower status. You should marry as high up as you are able while your beauty still draws the eyes of the suitors.”

Internally cringing at the women's words, Elya offered a bright smile, “Oh thank you for the concern, but right now I have other things which occupy my thoughts. I even saw a young man not long ago that I am interested in getting to know better. At least give me time to have my love spurned before you help me with a marriage.”

Lady Perte looked Elya up and down a little bit, “At least you haven’t gotten any scars while working. A scar on a woman is not only an unforgivable sin cast upon those who gave it to you but one left on the men who allowed it to happen as well.”

Elya offered a small bow in response, “Of course lady Perte, I was on my way to enjoy some lunch. I have been doing paperwork and thought it best to enjoy some time before I have to attend a meeting later. I’ll just be on my way.”

“Oh paperwork,” Lady Perte said with a hint of relief in her voice, “Just the sort of job for you to do. Of course. Go and enjoy your meal. Just don’t eat too much. You don’t need to gain any weight dear.”

Keeping the polite smile on her face, Elya left the woman, after she felt the dress pass over her ankles, and continued to the dining hall. Collecting a tray for her food she took a slice of meat, cheese, and a mix of fruit and vegetables in a salad, sprinkled with some nuts on top.

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Grabbing a mug she filled it with some light ale from the barrel at the end of the food line. From there, Elya sat in the first empty space she found in the food court, sitting with seven others at a table that could occupy ten comfortably.

"I see you left your cave. Did you manage to get all that paperwork done?"

Looking at the source of the voice was a young man, eating with one hand while moving a coin between the fingers of his other.

"Don't go poking your nose into my business unless you want to be put to work," Elya retorted, "I won't be as easy going as the return trip from the last training outing. And put away that damn coin this is the dining hall."

Grabbing the coin and putting it on the table, the figure on it was one that none of the people in the hall would recognize except for those who saw him buy it not long ago on the return from a training routine.

"You're just jealous because the only interesting thing you got was a fire starter. I mean honestly why even bother with it when you can just start a fire with a bit of mana and concentration? You're just trading one form of magic for another," he exclaimed.

"Because Jaul," she started, "This isn't magic. I talked about it with a friend because I was wondering about a couple of things. There is not one bit of mana or magic in the tool I bought. That means if I am ever being tracked by someone who is able to detect magic this will be a way for me to start a flame in a cave without being noticed. That boy seemed a bit unsure about magic if you remember, and I think perhaps his island uses tools. Perhaps it is a place so rich in leerenite that the people living there can't even use magic. It's made me curious. I tried to find him the other day, but it seems he left some time ago."

Finishing his meal, Jaul leaned back just a bit, since the seats had no back, latching his foot against one of the table's legs, "I would say that explains quite a few of his things. The folding knife, the very well made books, the large number of pouches on his bags. I wonder what he had that was stolen. We should keep our ears open for items like his that could lead us to those who killed his family members. I bet if we can do that he would even explain what the tools do for us or how they work."

"You act like I'm not keeping up to date on reports anyway," Elya scoffed, "I had an eye on that one, through my usual local means. He joined the guild like we suggested. He had something called pepper spray that prevented a theft in the inn he chose to stay at. You know the small cheap one that tends to have some problems every so often. I suspect that it's not magic either from what I heard. If he comes back here I want to talk to him."

Eating some of her meal, Elya allowed Jaul to have a moment to speak.

"Well, aren't we supposed to be going to the capital soon to help with security at the tournament? Well maybe not soon, but kind of soon?" Jaul asked a bit uncertain.

"I know most of it's just making sure the people don't go to wild, but if someone tries to climb up to the castle or break the chains holding..."

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One of the people sitting next to Jaul, a woman who looked to have just a hint of dwarven heritage based on the shape of her face and shorter size, jammed two fingers into his side.

"Those chains were well made you ass. They won't break that easily. You would have an easier time breaking the stones holding the chain in place and you would have to dig through stone taller than the Colosseum itself to do that. You're just being an over-thinker. Our job is to keep them in line and maybe make an arrest of someone trying to have slippery arms that found themselves a place to linger."

Grabbing at the hand that jammed into his side, Jaul, instead of taking hold of his target, found himself with his hand behind his back.

"Don't be getting handsy with me boy. Not unless you want to find something broken when I give it back."

Elya sighed and took a sip from her drink, "Skalit, you put your hands on him first so let him go. If you don't I won't allow you any sort of combat or physical training for the next twenty days and instead make you study the war tactics during the entire time and if you fail that test I will suggest you need to start over from the beginning of your training instead."

Slightly loosening her grip on Jaul's hand, Skalit seemed a bit uncertain, "You'd go that far?"

"He is a loud mouth, likes to report on others' shortcomings, and gets interested in the oddest things," Elya said, "But he does his training, work, and he fills out his paperwork properly. Something I think you could use a lesson in. How many times have I made you redo your work? I believe two scrolls just since I returned from the last training outing. Perhaps I should make you go over every piece of paperwork that has been filled out this last year. We need to make a copy to bring to the capital ahead of the tournament anyway and it would let you see how it's properly done."

Skalit released Jaul's wrist and stood away from the table abruptly, taking her tray with her and moving to another table.

With an audible sigh, Jaul looked at Elya, “Thank you, ma’am. I still don’t know what her issue is with me, but I hope that what you said will keep her a bit more professional when we work together.”

“Oh, I don’t care about how well you two get along,” Elya stated, “I just expect those I am helping to train will keep things in order when in any training or work setting, meals included, and she wasn’t. Her attitude is a bit abrasive at times, but she is skilled at combat. I think her dwarven side really comes out when she is outclassed, but she struggles a bit when it should be an even fight. I think it might be a mental block I want her to break past.”

After finishing the meal Elya stood up and was quickly followed by Jaul.

“So what do you have today? You look like you should relax some so how about you relax or get out some aggression by sparing with the recruits? I’d say you could even get ready to fight in the tournament.”

Stopping in place, Elya turned to look at Jaul, “Unlike you, I have stuff to do and sadly I don’t know when I have to do it. I can’t just leave the area to relax a bit since I am expected to do some questioning eventually.”

“Oh did someone capture a bandit leader or some foreign spy?” Jaul inquired.

Elya shook her head, “Nothing along those lines. I just have to ask a few questions related to that slave that was found not long ago.”

“Which one?” Jaul asked, “The one who tried to escape, the one who tried to attack her owner, or the one who was caught trying to rip the ring out of his ear?”

Turning a corner, Elya picked up the pace a bit, “No, the one who either saw something that could be the start of a war, albeit that’s only making a lot of assumptions or lied so skillfully that he might have killed the people who had rented him. I don’t suppose you read any of the reports on this issue. You look like you don't have a clue.”

“You're right I don’t,” he confirmed, “But now I’m a bit curious. What happened?”

Turning again, looking into a room, Elya made sure that nobody was in there before ducking in and closing the door after Jaul entered.

“The slave was rented for a job by some people who take jobs from the local guild. Pretty typical situation, but he returned alive, told us a big story about someone killing everyone who had been part of the group to hire him. It sounds like a story made up by someone who failed to do his job. We already found him in one lie.”

“One of the people who he said was dead is alive. The guild verified this by telling us the crystal status of everyone in the group. A beastkin named Tarin was found and is on his way here to talk about what happened. He is expected at some point today, but I wasn't told when. I'm hoping it isn't past the late day bell."

"If it turns out the slave was telling the truth then we have a lot to worry about. If, however, the slave was lying he has a lot to worry about.”

Listening to his superior, Jaul rolled his shoulders just a bit as he thought on the words he had been given.

After a moment Jaul spoke, “Do you think the slave lied? Does he seem like the type to slaughter those who rented him? Or someone with the connections to sell them out to someone? What was the crime that put him into slavery?”

“If you want to know,” Elya said as she left the room, “Look into it yourself. Visit the slave shop, check the paperwork, do some damn work yourself. You only do the minimum, even if you do it well. I won’t say that’s bad, but overall I’d take someone like Cylla over you. Sure she takes risks when she tries to self improve, but at least she works to do better. She even did a full discharge after we returned last time.”

“She blew up a chunk of the ground!” Jaul exclaimed.

Elya nodded in agreement.

“She did. She also took another step to improving as a result. She knows the risks for all three forms of mana improvement. That's why she went far enough away so all that got hurt was a rock and some plant life. She takes risks but she isn’t stupid. That is why she will likely end up stronger and higher ranked than you.”

Jaul left the room, moving past Elya without looking back at her, muttering something under his breath.

“It’s lucky that I’m not on training duty right now or I would make you run laps for that comment!”

With that distraction taken care of, Elya went to the training grounds and picked up a quiver full of arrows and a short bow. Once she was ready with her items she walked to where she saw a beastkin man sharpening an ax.

“Any of the people around who can give me a moving target?” Elya asked of the man.

Looking up, the man slammed the ax into the ground and stretched, “It depends on how big a target you want and how fast you want. I can get someone, but it might not be what you want.”

Patting the quiver of arrows, Elya speaks confidently, “I’ll take whatever you can give me. I just want to practice my reaction time on smaller targets. I’ve been dealing with situations that haven’t given me a chance to grow and I need a challenge. So if the targets are too big or slow I’ll just figure something else out.”

Looking at some of the recruits in their first year she smirked, “Maybe borrow a few of them for a bit.”

“Right now,” the man began, “Only Pocrett is around right now. He can move really heavy things, but he isn’t able to move them especially fast.”

“How many things can he move at once?” Elya quickly responded.

The beastkin scratched the base of his neck a bit, ruffling the fur as he did, “I think he can only manage two if you want them to move differently. Three if they can stay in line with each other. Should I send for him?”

“No,” Elya retorted, “I’m going to grab a few of the newest recruits. I think they could use a bit of..... training.”

A short walk brought Elya to where the newest recruits were. The ones who were having basic rules, basic practice, and basic forms of training even before they got to leave the compound for any sort of practical application of the skills.

She stood there a moment looking at them. A small group of thirteen fresh recruits were repeatedly unpacking and repacking their marching packs with an older man watching them. He had scars in various places on his body and the lower part of his right arm was thin where it looked like the muscles had been removed in some way.

“Martileen do you mind if I borrow a few of the fresh produce for a while? I want to get a bit of practice in and I need some help… or should I say some targets.”

Rolling one arm the man looks at the recruits, “Are you doing what I think you’re doing?”

“Perhaps,” was all Elya said until she held up four fingers, “We’ll see how well they do.”

“Listen up arsikots.” Martileen bellowed to get the recruit's attention.

“Elya here wants to use four of you for something so if you’re tired of packing and unpacking she will take the first four of you for a project. That means you get a break from packing and unpacking as long as she needs you, but you will do exactly as she says in exchange. If I hear you volunteer and you don’t do everything that's expected you will spend the whole night packing and unpacking your packs and then go about your usual day the next morning!”

Five of the recruits didn’t even look up and continued to work on their packs, effectively saying they will stick to their training. One of them stood up and approached Elya while the remaining seven seemed to be debating what they should do.

Barely any time passed before Martileen let his deep voice spread over the recruits.

“You don’t want to volunteer, fine I’ll choose which of you help. At least some of you made it clear you weren’t going to do it and kept working right so those five get a short break after they finish their next packing.”

Looking at the seven who hadn’t made a choice, he cried out the names of the ones he would force into volunteering.

“Hasard, Qui, Frinel you three stand your asses up and go do as she wants. Molasy you can skip morning cleaning tomorrow. Whichever of the three I just called that does the worst, based on Elyas standard will do your share on top of theirs.”

The one who stood up on her own was a human of a slightly short stature. If she was a bit wider or had less soft features some people might mistake her for having some dwarven ancestry.

Getting up from their spots on the ground was a dwarven male who made the difference between him and the only volunteer obvious, and two mixed races. One who looked like he was elf and human based on a few cosmetics in his face that made his skin look softer than most humans could hope for. Last was someone who looked to have some distant beastkin blood. Only a few small patches of fur and barely existent claws gave hint to that part of her lineage.

Using the recruits to throw targets between them, Elya barely got to shoot the bow five times before she heard a few people walking up behind her. Tossing the bow to one of the two recruits who weren't actively working the targets she turned and saw two soldiers approaching her with a beastkin between them.

The two men looked similar. Both human of about the same age, same hair, and eye color, as well as a similar facial structure. Only the height of one being about a head above the other was the true difference between them.

From what she had been told Elya wasn't surprised that the beastkin named Tarin was as large as he was. Apparently, he used an oversized magical hammer or mace of some sort to fight, but it didn't quite fit with how his body was acting.

Slowly moving and looking aimlessly, the spark of a fighter wasn't anywhere to be seen. Beastkins who hadn't had non-beastkins as part of their ancestry often had a spark beyond those of other races. Elya hoped that he just had a bit of elf or human in him that was hard to notice.

“Sorry it took us so long but we got Tarin here now. Want us to take him somewhere for the one on one?”

Looking at the taller of the two soldiers, Elya nodded her head and started to clean up what she had to, “Alright recruits. You stay here and keep practicing the throwing between yourselves in pairs of two. I will let Molasy decide who takes over her job tomorrow.”

“As for the talk,” She began, “I want to meet with him in my office. I got the documents I need to compare his testimony there. I’ll bring some snacks and drinks in case it takes an extended period of time to get through.”

Leaving the recruits, soldiers, and beastkin behind she went to get everything she might need for the talk. A small part of her hoped that she would be able to tell her superiors that the slave needed to be punished further and possibly executed. Another part told her, however, that the panic and fear he expressed during his interview was honest and the kingdom would need to be a bit cautious at the least. Even if it was just one person, the way that he had managed to kill so easily was a big concern. Especially when she considered what else she had been told.

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