Family Matters

Chapter 132

Elim wasn't worried about catching anything, so he walked among the serf families without fear. Since Tanner had obligingly left, he didn't have to worry about getting caught as he took liberally from the inventory. As he went to the first house, a basket of food and spiked mead was on his arm.

The first woman he treated, Lira, was in a bad way. She had a new baby in the crib and couldn't even get out of bed, though not for want of trying. She didn't want the mead, tired from throwing up, but Elim got her to drink it anyway.

Lira threw up again right after, but to Elim's relief, it was a lesser version of the putrid mess his mother had rather than pure bile. A sure sign the potion had done its job, and she held down the next one he gave her, a blue one 42 said would help her recover faster.

Elim treated the baby, muttering some soothing lies about food poisoning as he did. Nobody at the manor was a cleric or any sort of mage, so they wouldn't know the difference. Food poisoning and seasonal fevers killed plenty of people, after all. The difference was those weren't as contagious and wouldn't result in a purge.

It was nearly noon by the time Elim sorted everyone out. All of the serfs had been sick. Only two of the manor servants had been ill, but everyone had caught the flu before. So it would have only been a matter of time until the rest sickened. Task done, he retreated to the outdoor cooking area.

"I didn't realize Jacob had taken ill," Tanner muttered as lunch approached. Elim nodded, forced only to observe while everyone else made soup. He’d wanted to help and been unceremoniously told no.

"It's easy to overlook at first," Elim said with a shrug. Since the manor itself wasn't in use, everyone on the property was used to keeping a relaxed schedule. So someone taking a day or two off wasn't something worthy of comment.

"I'll be heading into town, but I'll be back in a few days. Keep everyone that's ill on bed rest for two or three days more, just to be sure," he added.

"We will, but are you sure you don't want a ride? The cart’s really not so bad," Tanner asked.

"Nah, I can use the walk," Elim lied with a grin. He had August and Sven join everyone for lunch and had them stay at the manor when he left.

Once Elim felt confident nobody would see him, he took a horse complete with saddle out of the inventory. He made good time, but wasn't surprised Storm found him before he reached the caravan. The foul-mouthed bird tried to shit on him, but he was expecting it and dodged it narrowly.

"Fuck you too," Elim grumbled half-heartedly. He would never like Storm after what he'd said about Bess, but Elim wasn't one to expend energy on hatred. So instead, he followed after as the bird led him to where his family was.

"Elim! What happened!?" Erica asked in worry. She was looking past him for the two men who were still at the manor, likely misunderstanding their absence.

"Everything's alright. It's just... a bit of a story," Elim laughed nervously. Explaining what had happened took little time, mainly because Elim knew relatively little. The local nobles being shady fuckers wasn't particularly surprising to anyone.

Elim left out the bloody mana fever issue. He had included the men he'd hired for the basic explanation. They deserved to be aware of the situation and make their own choices about staying or going. The rest he could relay to Tiller and his mother later.

"They all stayed on?" Erica asked in astonishment. That had caught her interest, though she'd kept it to herself until Elim was finished with his story.

"Yeah, ma. They were excited to learn you were alright," Elim relayed. It was the happiest bit of news he had to offer. Erica nodded, eyes a little damp with emotion, while she hugged Bess tightly to her. Tiller stood off to the side, contemplative.

"Tiller, what do you make of it?" Elim asked. Tiller knew at least as much as Elim did about the penalties for tax evasion and the Earl's brutality.

"If we looked at a tree of lineage for the viscount, we'd find the new baronet is a relative if not one of their kids. Territorial embezzlement is usually managed in-house," Tiller said, then spat as if to ward away evil. The other ex-soldiers joined her, and Elim did too when Bess wasn't looking.

"Hadn't thought of that, but it's true," Elim agreed. His mind had primarily been set on figuring out what to do next, rather than working out the odd little puzzle with the taxes.

"Ma… Do you want the house?" Elim asked. It was the single sticking point for all of his possible plans. His mother hadn't spoken of her old life fondly, but that didn't mean she might not want part of it back—particularly since her bastard father was dead. She could be the lady of the Silvertree family again and do as she saw fit. Anyone who wanted to get in the way of that would be answering to Elim directly.

"Gods no, boy. It was trouble when I was a girl, and I'm not back even two days, and it's trouble again," Erica said and snorted in disbelief. Tiller laughed discreetly, seeming to approve of Erica's view of the matter.

"Alright," Elim agreed, feeling a flood of relief where there had only been tension before.

"Back to Selton then?" Graham asked. He didn't sound put out at the prospect of turning tail and running. Elim suspected that had more to do with his pay being guaranteed already than trepidation about the baronet or even the viscount.

"Where next is a discussion I'll be having with my family, but you'll know before the day’s out. If it's not Selton, I'll make an offer to keep you all on, but I'll understand if you don't want to travel further," Elim explained.

"Right then," Graham said. He moved to give the family privacy, and the others followed him. Tiller moved to follow suit, but Elim caught her by the shoulder.

"Funny," Elim muttered when Tiller gave him a questioning look. She settled in against the side of the carriage, looking rather pleased, but not even half so smug as Elim's mother.

When Elim was reasonably sure nobody was close enough to see or overhear anything, he rummaged in his pockets. The move was a front, he was pulling an item from the inventory, but it didn't hurt to be careful.

"So, it's a bit far, but there's a place I'd like you to consider moving to," Elim started. He'd opened a folded-up drawing of the house in 42's valley—the one she'd sent him absurdly tempting pictures of not so long ago.

"It's… pretty," Erica said diplomatically as she looked over the drawing. Elim couldn't do more than nod. The paper had an ink drawing of the house and then layouts of the floors, of which there were two. Having never seen architectural drawings before, he didn't know if they were good from a technical perspective. As art, though, they were lovely.

"And it's ours if you want it," Elim said. His mother looked at him suspiciously, and rightfully so. Nothing was ever free. Not really.

"What, is it haunted?" Tiller asked with a smirk.

"Noooo, not haunted," Elim replied. He was reasonably confident that the local skeleton population didn't constitute a haunting. Technically.

"Is it currently on fire, then?" Erica asked.

"It's in Mistress 42's territory," Elim admitted. There would never be a good moment to say it, so saying it quickly was better than letting it drag out.

"Son, did you hit your head when I wasn't looking?" Erica asked, looking confused and offended. Tiller just let out an affronted huff.

"It sounds horrible, but it's really… Let me show you the contract," Elim said. He withered a bit under the gaze of all three females as Bess had decided to join in. He doubted she knew why Erica and Tiller were glaring, but it was something to do.

They all ended up in the carriage with the sunshade drawn up so no one else could accidentally see the interface window. Elim had gotten used to the strange glowing bit of nothing that displayed words. Tiller and his mother took a few moments to compose themselves after the initial shock. On the other hand, Bess was having fun batting at it and watching her hand go through unresisted.

"So, for all the other possible faults involved, 42 won't hurt you," Elim offered after Tiller and his mother finished reading. Bess was disappointed to see the glowy thing disappear, but Elim promised to let her play with it again another time.

"I think she'll be a gracious host if anything," he added.

"Why's that?" Erica asked, sounding less than impressed.

"She's mentioned that she wants people to live there. Something about attracting adventurers to the dungeon," Elim admitted.

"Oh, so we'd be bait," Erica said, a brow raised.

"I mean… yes?" Elim said, since there was no way of getting around it. For all the faults one might point out with a house in a valley ruled by a dungeon master, Elim felt like it was the best option. His family would unquestionably be safe and very well taken care of. 42 was a strange creature, but one who had to abide by her deals.