I felt happy. Very happy. The happiest I had ever been. It felt good. It was so simple! I could just be like this all the time now! No need to… was Corinn saying something to me? I could consider it later. Right now I would just stay happy… wait it might be important. I would have to stop being quite so happy…

“I was saying, we’re nearing the village of Vanden. We should probably consider the matter of your… attire.”

Ah, yes. That was something I needed to consider. Something I wouldn’t have considered if I had just focused on staying as happy as I could, until it caused problems for me and made everything go wrong. Unfortunately, it seemed that being perfectly happy all the time was not a strategy for long term success. Irritating, but unavoidable.

The matter of my attire unfortunately put me in a bit of a dilemma. The discussion of classes the previous evening had included the matter of class restrictions. It was something Corinn was familiar with: his Mounted Knight class was actually higher level than his Noble class, and the former required him to hold to a set of oaths in order to utilize the full power of his Class and Abilities. In his case, the main oath was to seek the good of the Yrmanni Imperium, and never seek to undermine it. If he ever violated those oaths, the bonuses from his class would grow weaker, and his Abilities likewise, until he confessed to his failure before his peers, and performed adequate restitution. The greater the violation, the greater the loss of power.

It stood to reason that wearing anything would violate the restrictions of my own class; a hypothesis we had confirmed this morning. Just something as simple as a shirt and pants left me feeling weak, and I found I could support only half as much weight in boulders when so dressed. Anything more and my capabilities dropped further. At least we had tried more pleasant things afterward…

Finding out I was a Courtesan last night had made things briefly awkward, but he had come to terms with it, if his performance this morning was any indication. Now, as I was once more riding behind him in the saddle, it was time to consider what came next.

The robe from the mage I had killed earlier had been recovered, and Corinn had even cleaned off the blood from where my boulder had crushed her ribs. Magic items really were convenient! Trying it on, I’d found that it only reduced my strength by about a quarter, if I didn’t include the sash, kept the hood down, and sliced off everything below the thigh. That did rather reduce its value, but items existed to be used.

I reluctantly retrieved it from one of the saddlebags and slid the sleeves over my arms. I immediately felt my strength decline, and my movements slightly slow. I could still feel my Personal Arsenal, but it took more time and effort to use it. I hated this. I hated being weak. I could make myself hate it less, but I didn’t want to: being weak was something that led to failure. It was something I needed to hate.

Perhaps someday I wouldn’t need to worry about crippling myself whenever I wanted to enter a city. Yes, people with more power and reputation always got extra perks, and it sounded like the Yrmanni Imperium placed particular emphasis on this principle. I would keep getting more levels, outperform all of the other Fighters and Soldiers and Adventurers, and eventually, they would all fear and respect me enough that I could do whatever I wanted! Just how I liked it!

For now though, I would have to settle for a compromise. For the duration of our brief stay in Vanden, I would accept a reduction to my capabilities, and remain in the background while Corinn obtained fresh supplies. I just hoped it wouldn’t be too boring.

We reached the outskirts of Vanden two hours later. The watchtower was the first thing we saw, with the wooden palisade coming into view shortly afterward. The forest around the village had been cleared, presumably to provide better visibility of approaching threats. As our group rode up to the gate ahead, Corinn hailed the guards: “Greetings, our party is in need of supplies after our patrol!”

Seeing the quality of our group’s mounts and equipment, they didn’t hesitate to let us in, though a few gave me odd looks. One minute back in civilization, and I already hated it. I would show them eventually. I would level up and show them all! I would just have to… wait for now. More people were looking at me strangely as we passed through the streets, heading for the market, but I could make myself calm.

I was calm. People still looked at me oddly, but I wouldn’t let them influence me. I was better than them. They were irrelevant. We were coming up on the market, selling an assortment of food, weaponry, tools, leather, and travel equipment. Evidently this place served to supply people traveling into the forest beyond. Based on the amount and variety of goods on sale, they apparently did good business.

Corrin dismounted and helped me down as the rest of our group exited their saddles. He led his horse up to one of the grocers and began discussing how much he planned to purchase. I got another odd look before the discussion began. Yes, my attire was unusual, and yes, I was dressed differently than everyone else in my group, but they were all looking at me like I was some kind of…

…my Courtesan class was only for the Abilities okay? Like I would ever have sex with someone for money! My own enjoyment came first! I was done with putting up with unpleasant things, like a town full of snobby, weak, rude, ignorant… yes, I was done! I would walk up to that shopkeeper and demand to know what his problem was, and then…

…and then it would probably get awkward, and if he was rude I would probably have to punch him, which could cause more… unpleasantness… this was why I now hated civilization! All these rules to get in the way of doing what you wanted!

How had I ever tolerated it? I… had gone along with it because I was supposed to, because… my parents would have punished me if I hadn’t. Not something I wanted to think about. So… was everyone just going along with civilization because they were supposed to? How had it ever started? Probably some warlord who wanted to make other people follow his rules.

So why should I care about any of that? Yes, the country probably had powerful enforcers, who I couldn’t afford to get on the bad side of… yet. And I was technically working for a Prince, which meant many of the rules of this nation were working in my favor… theoretically. It didn’t feel like that right now.

Corinn and the other bodyguards were now loading food into their saddlebags. They finished shortly afterward, and he helped my back up into the saddle again. It was time to put this village behind us. People parted as we rode forward, making way for those who were clearly of higher social rank. As we passed by one cluster of people, I happened to overhear a man speaking to his friends.

“…see, I can understand a noble keeping a whore, but it’s odd to take her with him into monster-infested-”

I jumped swiftly from the saddle. As I landed, a push of will materialized a halberd in my hands, its point resting against his throat. “Care to repeat that?!”

His face paled. His eyes darted to my face, then darted downward. His face now adopted hues of red as well, making it look somewhat blotchy. Everyone was staring. Glancing downward myself, I realized that my robe had fallen open. Oh.

“Enough!” shouted Corinn, his face red. He turned to the man in front of me. “You will apologize to Miss Talia now.”

“I- I am sorry for, um, questioning the nature of your, um, employment,” he stuttered. In the meantime, I used one of my hands to pull my robe back together.

Corinn levelled his gaze at me, and I reluctantly returned the halberd to my Personal Arsenal. He presented his hand to return me to the saddle, and hauled me up again, more firmly than last time. We rode onward and exited Vanden without another word.

*****************************************************

“Was that really necessary?” asked Corinn, turning to me after a quarter hour of riding. I considered his question. Technically it was not: in all likelihood, I would never see that man again, and nothing he did would ever affect me afterward. I had responded because I would not stand idly by while others demeaned me! I didn’t have to do that anymore, so I wouldn’t.

“If someone tries to treat me like some… worthless servant, I won’t just let it stand.” I wanted to raise my voice, but that would make me sound less reasonable. Getting what I ultimately wanted required control. “I don’t have to put up with other people demeaning me.”

Corinn sighed. “And did your actions there help that?”

Long-term, no. But… “They felt good.”

He looked at me, seriously. “Word of that incident may spread, if others inquire about my passing there. People will see you as a hothead who doesn’t care about their appearance, and my own reputation will suffer by association with you. Was that your goal?”

Now he was lecturing me! He was good at making me feel nice, but there were limits! Maybe I shouldn’t be going back to civilization after all! It sounded like it was full of people who cared about stupid appearances! Maybe I should just go back and keep killing monsters until I was so high level that they would HAVE to respect me! That was so much simpler than having to make nice with people I didn’t like, and follow a bunch of stupid expectations I didn’t care about.

I’d been doing just fine without them! That big crab had been a challenge when I faced it, but I’d won, and that pack of scythe-monsters… well, I was only fighting the whole group because Corinn’s party had caught their attention, right? Had I been getting lucky? What were the odds of running into something that would kill me before I could escape if I went back?

…Why couldn’t I just do the things that made me happy? Why was life so complicated? If I didn’t go back, that would mean accepting restrictions, and it would giving Corinn a measure of authority over me. But I was more important! How could that even work? I looked at the prince, patiently waiting as I considered his question. His face was still very pleasant to look at, and I caught the hint of a blush as he noticed me staring. Well, I did have ways of making him do what I wanted…

Well then, time to start practicing how to make nice again. “Okay, my approach wasn’t the best way of getting what I wanted. But I don’t want people treating me like a streetwalker.”

Corinn considered this. “Well, given your class restrictions and your unwillingness to take a higher penalty when we’re in public, that does pose certain problems…”

Unfortunately, that part was hard to dispute. If I didn’t dress up, my appearance would reflect poorly on both of our reputations. If I did, I would be nearly helpless in a world where many people had immense destructive power solely by virtue of the levels they had gained. Perhaps there was some master tailor who could come up with a solution to this problem, but in the meantime, there might be a simpler approach. I’d already seen Corinn using several magic items, and the one I had in mind was fairly obvious…

“Corinn, are there any magic items, like, say, a ring, that would let me turn invisible?”

“Ah, yes, the enchanting formula for a Ring of Invisibility has been well known for over five hundred years. They’re a bit expensive, but… I think you could get good use out of it. Bear in mind that you would still be visible to people using certain spells or wearing certain detection equipment.”

“Would any of those people feel comfortable pointing out that there’s an invisible naked woman walking around?” I asked.

Corinn briefly winced, then sighed. “As long as you aren’t doing anything illegal… probably not. But you wouldn’t be able to follow me into government areas.”

I wasn’t particularly interested in going there anyways. “I could just guard your other stuff in the meantime,” I offered.

“Okay, then we have a deal,” declared Corinn. “I should be able to procure a Ring of Invisibility for you once I reach the capitol. Prior to that, we’ll be stopping overnight in Hannvahl, the only city between here and Almandir. Can I trust that you won’t cause any more incidents for the rest of our trip?”

A difficult question. If someone provoked me… I could handle it myself, or I could trust Corinn to handle it for me. Did I trust him to respond appropriately to anyone who dared to scorn me? I didn’t really know him that well… maybe I should just ask him?

“Assuming someone disrespects me, how would you respond?”

“Well… background chatter isn’t worth dealing with, and a normal citizen who challenges us is looking for trouble. In the event that someone of higher rank should demean your stature, I will remind them that you earned your position as my bodyguard, and that a challenge to you is a challenge to me. There will not be anyone in Hannvahl of equal rank to myself; they will apologize and back down.”

Hmm… not as satisfying as putting a blade to their neck, but… I had to pick my battles. I couldn’t take on civilization by myself, and wandering alone through the wilderness had too many risks. I would have to learn to win in this society, which meant I would have to learn the rules as soon as I could. For now though, I would simply have to not lose.

“Okay, I’ll trust you to handle this.” It took an effort not to grit my teeth, but with Controlled Emotions, I managed.

Corinn breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. We’ll start seeing farmland in less than an hour, and we’ll begin passing towns an hour after that. We should reach Hannvahl before nightfall. Once we arrive, we’ll stay the night at an inn, and get moving first thing in the morning. I want to reach Almandir as soon as possible.”

His expression turned grim. “Whoever sent those assassins may be waiting for us there, and I don’t want to give them any more time to prepare…” With that, he turned forward once more.

The scenery changed in accordance with what he had said. We had been following a gravel road since leaving Vanden, and as we passed the first significant township, it became paved. Nearby, what had once been a stream grew larger as tributaries combined, until it was more of a small river.

Finally, we caught our first view of Hannvahl as the sun began to set. Smoke rose above a blocky grey skyline, as another river in the background joined the one we were following to form an even larger one heading south. This city had proper walls; it was hard to make out exactly how tall, but I could spot a gatehouse at the end of the road we followed, and another at the start of a bridge over the river nearby. Apparently, this city had at some point been prepared for war.

We rode onward in companionable silence. As the walls loomed closer, we passed by a network of lower income residences, in various states of repair. Clearly some people hadn’t been able to afford the space inside the walls, and the downside of such fortifications was that they were difficult to expand. We reached the gatehouse, over forty feet of stone looming above, and rode up to a squad of guardsmen with chainmail and halberds.

“Welcome to Hannvahl,” spoke what appeared to be the officer. “State your name and business.”

“I am Prince Corinn Illorum. I will be staying the night, with my bodyguards.”

The guards hastily saluted. “Sorry for not recognizing you, your highness. If you need anything, we are at your service!”

“No need,” said Corinn, waving them away. “Be about your business.”

We rode on. I had gotten some funny looks as I approached, but meeting a Prince had distracted their attention. Still, this wasn’t the sort of thing I wanted to get used to. I couldn’t wait until we reached Almandir and could get a longer-term solution.

Corinn rode confidently through the streets, and we arrived at our immediate destination before the sun had finished setting. The inn was a well-built structure of grey stone, with a sign hanging from a curled-up gargoyle proclaiming the place to be “The Sleeping Guardian”. Corinn signaled a stablehand, who took our horses as we walked inside.

“Three rooms, and stabling for four horses, overnight.” Corinn addressed the innkeeper crisply, who nodded and accepted the offered coin. Dinner was being served, so we found tables to sit at, Shira joining Corinn and myself, while Renfry and Veers sat nearby. We were soon able to place orders, and while we waited to be served, Corinn started a discussion.

“Well Shira, I know returning to Almandir after failing to kill a creature that evidently never existed isn’t ideal. What’s your take on how to handle it?”

“All we can do is present the evidence,” she answered, looking unhappy. “We were ambushed by a group that clearly knew we were there, and had accounted for our numbers and composition. Meanwhile, there was no indication of an Umbral Ceraphid passing through. Those creatures aren’t exactly subtle. Altogether… it’s not definitive proof the thing never existed, but the evidence is compelling enough to convince those who haven’t already decided they’re opposed to us.”

“Yes,” acknowledged Corinn resignedly, “and of course, the problem is that there are plenty of people who have decided exactly that.”

“What is it that’s made you so many enemies?” I asked. The implications that the man I was now working with was politically vulnerable were concerning, but I wasn’t about to find a better supporter on short notice. Besides, I wouldn’t want to lose someone so… perfect.

“I mentioned earlier that I’m working to bolster defenses against potential Olgierian aggression. If other people took a more clearheaded look at our current vulnerability, they might be roused to do something about it, but many are so fixated on ever-increasing profits from agriculture and industry that they refuse to see how all of that could be wiped away in a matter of months.”

“The point of contention is that the Olgierians would need a massive fleet in order to avoid a time-consuming and dangerous mountain passage on the way south. So far, our spies haven’t spotted anything of the sort, so the majority assume there is nothing to worry about. They have taken notice of the large-scale mobilization starting a year ago, but most dismiss it as posturing, since an assault through the Transpyran Divide would impose massive logistics problems and give ample time to respond.”

“They fail to recognize that the Empire specializes in large-scale mobilization: a tyrannical level of state control may be miserable to live under, but it does mean they can complete massive projects faster than anyone else.” He leaned forward, his voice hushed. “They’re preparing something: the evidence our spies have found shows that much quite clearly. I don’t know what it is, but if we’re caught unprepared, it could mean the end of the Imperium.”

Corinn’s voice returned to its normal volume. “Despite that, most of the other royals would still prefer not to deduct from their own enterprises to assure our mutual survival. And… I’m not really the best person to convince them. I only reached this rank two years ago, when my parents died… I hope you understand how I’m counting on you not to make things harder.”

Well, this trip to another world was certainly piling on the hazards. First I was dumped into a hostile wilderness with literally nothing, now I would have to find a way to survive in an unfamiliar society, and at some point in the future, everywhere around me would get invaded by a massive, tyrannical Empire, which might catch them all completely by surprise. If this was all a deliberate attempt to mess with me… I would have to keep getting stronger. Strong enough to survive, then strong enough to show whoever was responsible for this that they picked a fight with the wrong woman!

Dinner was served before the conversation could continue, and we focused on our meals before heading up to our rooms. Shira followed us inside, and closed the door. “It’s time to talk about who hired those assassins,” she announced.

Corinn nodded at her, and she continued. “You have many political rivals, but they wouldn’t accept the risks of an assassination attempt unless they stood to take major losses from your continued survival. From what I know of the various Princes and Princesses, none of them are even close to that position. To speak frankly, you are currently making no headway in convincing a majority to invest more in defense, so you aren’t a financial threat to anyone.”

“This means that either some of them have hidden interests so precarious that any disruption in funding could destabilize them, or, more likely, that the assassins were hired by interests outside the Imperium.”

Corinn paused to think for a moment. “Could the Empire have finally managed to train agents capable of operating in the South? In the past they’ve always had trouble finding people with both loyalty and the right temperament…”

“If the Empire is behind this, it’s more likely through an intermediary,” replied Shira. “There are plenty of groups in both the Imperium and Kehldirad that don’t particularly care where their money comes from. The question is how that group achieved high enough influence in the Imperium to manufacture reports of an Umbral Ceraphid, and make sure we were dispatched to deal with it.”

“Yes, that is indeed the question.” Corinn’s response brought a lull in the conversation, and it seemed Shira didn’t have anything more to say. She nodded and left the room, leaving us alone. Corinn turned to look at me, suddenly uncertain. I let myself relax, waiting until he had un-tensed.

As he opened his mouth to say something, I let the robe fall from my shoulders and pounced, slamming him into the wall with his arms held above his head. A quick yank removed his shirt and then I climbed onto him, one hand wrapped around his back as the other started working on his pants. It felt good to finally stop holding back! Time to work off all of today’s frustrations!

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[Level Up: Courtesan Level 10!]