The Trials of a Modern Paladin 2

by Kevin Culp

  My sister was the complete opposite. She would get my dad to take her hunting even though we always had plenty of animals for meat. My dad would make her fake swords and spears out of wood and she would practice with them all day. She really was the knight in shining armor. She always told me that when I became a princess, she would be the knight that protected me.

  One night, we heard a sound coming from the pin where we kept our pigs. Apparently, a young swamp dragon had somehow come across our farm and decided it wanted a snack. My dad gathered us all up, and we watched through a window as it devoured all of our livestock and stomped through our fields destroying our crops. He told us to just wait till it passed, but it was terrifying, and we knew it was destroying all our resources and late enough in the season there would be no hope to recoup.

  Somehow, my dad didn't notice that my sister had left. We suddenly saw her through the window, holding one of her wooden spears. It noticed her and stared her down for a moment but just ignored her and turned back to eating the cow in front of it. She charged the dragon with the spear, and without even looking up from its meal, it slammed its tail into her. She went flying. There was enough of a cracking sound to know she couldn't have survived.

  My dad let out a loud curse, and my mother broke into tears. The dragon turned towards us when it heard the noise and leered at us through the window, but the sad thing is I don't think the dragon was threatened. It was just annoyed as if we were interrupting its meal for no reason, while it destroyed our lives before our eyes. A torrent of acid erupted from its mouth, and my parents shielded me just in time. I laid underneath their melting corpses for what felt like hours until the next morning when someone from the nearby town showed up hoping to trade.”

  Rin stopped speaking and took a drink. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to go through something like that. It would be a traumatizing experience for anyone. Not to mention the fact that people often felt guilt just from being the only survivor of something like that. I took a drink myself and looked up to see that Rin had tears running down her face. Her expression was as stoic as always, but the tears were clear.

  “Rin I...” She held up a hand.

  “My parents’ names were Layla and Markus. They had two daughters named Rin and Lisanna. Rin was the name of the one that wanted to be a knight. The one that challenged a dragon that was destroying her family's lives as an eight-year-old girl. Lisanna was the one that cowered under her parents' melting corpses too afraid to do anything.

  The man that found me helped me bury my parents and my sister. My parents weren't at all recognizable, and my sister was a broken bloody mess. He asked me if I was Rin or Lisanna, and I told him I was Rin. Honestly, I think I did it because I was too ashamed to be Lisanna, though I guess I had kind of made the townspeople think it was the other way around. I guess none of them expected a little girl to stand up to a dragon anyway.

  After that, I convinced a soldier in the employ of Baron Lyndmire to take me in as his apprentice. I thought I would be protecting the people from having to go through what I did as a little girl. Instead, he just turned me into a brute. It's awful that it took you coming around here for me to remember what I was fighting for and realize that I hate who I've become.”

  “You're wrong, Rin. You may have been misguided and used, but everything you did to get to where you are now made you strong enough to accomplish the goals you set out for. We may not always enjoy the path we take in life, but as long as you realize that you don't like the direction you are going and build the strength you need along the way, I would say you are doing pretty well. Maybe you didn't take your sister's name for the reasons you would have liked, but I think you are doing it justice. If you want to continue in her path and use her name, I see nothing wrong with it, but there wouldn't be anything wrong with deciding you want to be Lisanna again either.”

  “Well, I think Rin still has some work to be done, and we both know I could never be a princess.”

  “I don't know, Rin. I think you would look pretty good in a nice dress.”

  She glared daggers at me, but I could tell she wasn't really mad.

  “Just do me a favor and try to get along with Korana. I understand why you have a hatred for dragons, but they aren’t all the same, and Korana isn't even a full dragon. She's just a young, scared girl who has been ostracized and chased out of everywhere she has tried to find a home. I'm not asking you to become her best friend. I'm just asking that you try to recognize she isn't here to hurt anyone and give her the benefit of the doubt.”

  Rin rolled her eyes and sighed. “You put too much faith in people you don't know, Archaeus. That being said maybe I was a little too harsh on her. I promise that I will apologize to her first thing in the morning and will do my best to treat her as I would anyone else going forward.”

  “That's all I ask.”

  “Okay, so let’s finish off this cask and have ourselves a good time.” She gave me a mischievous grin then tilted up her glass and chugged the rest.

  “Whew, now that's the good stuff. Com'on, Archash, dun mak meh drink the resht uv dis alon...”

  Rin then passed out and smashed her forehead directly onto the table. I guess that's what you get for drinking a strong liquor out of a full-sized mug. Not only that, but it was her second glass. Given the size of the mugs Nicholas had brought, she had probably drunk over a fifth of alcohol by herself. Combine that with the fact that Rin was probably all of 110 pounds and you've got a drunken unconscious girl that I probably need to make sure doesn't have alcohol poisoning.

  I put my hand on Rin's and used my Healing Hands. It couldn't get rid of the side effects of poison, but it could stop it from progressing. Rin would probably still have a very bad morning, but at least it won't kill her. I shouldn't have even let her chug one glass of this stuff when I realized how strong it was. Nicholas came over and handed me the key to Rin's room. He picked up the cask and mugs and shook his head while walking back to the bar. We had probably drank nearly half of it. I had actually just finished my second glass as we had finished talking. Archaeus wasn't immune to poison, but he had a fortitude that was divinely enhanced.

  I picked Rin up and carried her up the stairs and to her room. Considering how long she had been here, I was surprised to see that the room was just as bland as ever. It was my room from when I had first gotten here. Just a normal wooden 10x10 room with a window, bed, and nightstand. I laid her down on the bed, covered her up, then turned around and left. Part of me questioned if it was more or less polite to have left her in her armor. I mean she was half-naked in her armor anyway, but undressing Rin wasn't a topic I ever wanted to come up with Christina.

  As I walked back home, I contemplated everything I had learned about Rin. In a world like this, I guess there were bound to be several people with tragic backstories, but it was feeling like that fit the life of everyone I knew here. Christina, her father, her uncle, Korana, and now Rin all had horrible things happen in their past. Honestly, I couldn't say for certain that if a Dragon had killed my entire family, that I could avoid holding a grudge against dragons either. I know little about this world and swamp dragons, but I think they were kind of an innately evil dragon, to begin with.

  Either way, I was glad that Rin had agreed to give Korana a chance, and I would definitely make sure that she kept her word. Hopefully, Christina had some luck calming Korana down. I know the poor girl has been through a lot, but she didn't really seem to have that thick of skin. At least not in the emotional sense. Christina was the nicest most honest person I had ever met though, and I have faith in her.

  By the time I got back to the house, it was already dark outside, but I could see light coming from the windows. Hopefully, Christina was cooking dinner. I just needed something to get the taste of this liquor out of my mouth. When I walked inside, Christina was standing over a stove stirring a pot, and I could tell from the smell that it was some of her delicious beef stew.

  “How's Korana holding
up?” I asked Christina.

  “She's doing okay. It's kind of sad to say, but she seems to be used to this kind of treatment. Not that that's any excuse, especially from Rin, and while we were there no less. I think she was more shocked that she was having fun and fitting in, then got brought back to her reality. We need to change that, Archaeus. Maybe it's not our responsibility, but I feel like it is. So, what was Rin's excuse?”

  I sat down at the table and stretched for a moment, then started to tell Christina everything Rin had told me. She stood with her back to me the entire time, so it was hard to read her expressions. When I finished telling Rin's story, we stood there in silence for a few moments until Christina took two bowls, filled them with stew, and put them on the table. She handed me a spoon and sat down across from me. She looked sad.

  “I know it's pretty terrible. I wasn't really sure what to say, and she got drunk enough that tomorrow she may not even remember telling me, but she agreed to give Korana a chance, and I will hold her to that.”

  Christina looked concerned. “It is definitely something that she needs to learn to live with in her own way. I was just thinking. What if I found out that some other race was responsible for me losing my mother? Would I hold all members of that race responsible or at least with some level of mistrust? I would like to say I wouldn't, but I know I can't guarantee that. I haven’t met an Orc since I lost my father, but I’m not sure whether I could be around one without some biased opinions.”

  “I don't think you would Christina. You are an amazing, caring, and understanding person. I couldn't imagine you holding anyone accountable for something they didn't do themselves.”

  “Well, we definitely need to do our best to make Korana feel at home, but we also need to consider how Rin feels given the circumstances. She is part of this town, and while having a reason behind her behavior doesn't make it acceptable, it makes it a little more understandable, and something we have to keep in mind.”

  I nodded in agreement.

  We finished our meal, and Christina went to take a bath while I washed the dishes. Once she finished, she got ready for bed while I took my bath. In my old world, I always thought it was girly to soak in a hot bath, but I really wished it was easier here after these months of cold baths. It just wasn't practical to do every day when you had to heat all the water manually. We could probably have the builders design a bath that's easy to heat, but it wasn't worth taking them away from their normal work. Christina was already in bed by the time I finished, and I crawled in next to her and held her tight as I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 5

  I didn't sleep well that night. Christina had gotten up early like she always does, and I just laid there as she got out of bed, cooked breakfast, and got ready for the day. I kind of wanted to pull her back into bed with me and to just lie there together for a while longer, but I knew we couldn't. I pretended to be asleep the whole time, so she wouldn't realize how restless I had been. Just before she left, she came back into the room, shook me slightly, and gave me a kiss.

  I needed to get up and get ready for the day as well. Outside of construction, it was rare anyone needed me, but I had to be available in case someone did need something. I rolled out of bed and went to the kitchen. Christina had prepared an omelet for me, and it was delicious as always. After that, I went back to the room and prepared my spells for the day.

  When I finished, I decided to take another look at Christina's character sheet. I didn't really notice much I hadn't the day before. I was still curious though as to whether her leveling up just automatically granted her the skills she wanted, or if leveling gave her the ability to gain new skills and those were just associated with what she had done. It would seem that the latter would be more likely given how things seemed to work here. People in this world didn't know anything about levels other than spell levels which kind of made sense. If they had access to a character sheet or something like that, a level would be obvious, so was Christina only advancing like this due to being my cohort? I had also noted yesterday that she was at 9/200 experience to reach level 2, and that hadn't changed. We had done some training, but I guess it hadn't given her any experience. That also could be my fault given that in games you don't really gain experience for sparring, only for actually fighting real opponents.

  Having finished my spell preparation and being satisfied with what I saw of Christina's character sheet, I closed the pages and went back to the dining room. I picked up my bag, pulled out the Letter of Sending, and began to write the prince another letter. After assuring him that I would see that cave stayed well-guarded until his men arrived, I told him all about Korana and informed him that I wanted to do what I could to help. He probably wouldn't have any real suggestions of his own. Like me, the prince was a divine caster and a low level one at that, but maybe he could send me someone to help train her. In most fantasy stories, it seemed that great wizards and sorcerers always started out as someone's apprentice, so maybe that was what she needed. I couldn't be sure he could get a knowledgeable caster to move to a small town like Freid to train a half-dragon apprentice, but it was worth asking. I sent the letter and got dressed for the day.

  Like most mornings, Zeus was waiting for me when I walked outside. We had spent more time together yesterday than we had in a long time, and I think he enjoyed it as much as I did. Unfortunately, today would not be the same, and after a few short pats on the side, he ran off into the woods.

  I headed for the build sight of the Elven home. There was no telling whether they would need my help today, but I rarely had much else to do. It's funny how much work had to go into me appearing as if I was staying busy. It often made me feel guilty that I didn't do more for the town given that I was its lord, but I knew little about politics, and while I felt Archaeus might have known a little more, he really hadn’t even gotten involved in politics much in the game.

  Not much had changed about the home since the progress from the previous night, but it was still pretty early, and it looked like Tyler and the others were just getting set up for the day.

  I approached the elves' tent. “It is Sir Velnir. May I have a moment of your time?” It felt weird introducing myself as Sir Velnir, but it was what the people seemed to expect.

  After a few moments, Lianamyr emerged from the tent. “Good day, Sir Velnir, how can I assist you?”

  “I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. I'm not sure if Korana told you what happened, but I can assure you I will do my best to see that it doesn't happen again. I was wondering if I could speak with her myself to apologize as I never got to last night.”

  “Unfortunately, you just missed her. She went on a hunt with her mother. I wasn't aware that anything happened to be honest, but she does seem intent on continuing to train with you, so I'm sure she's fine. I'll admit that she tends to be emotional at times after all the ridicule she has taken over the years, but she is also quick to forgive.”

  It was good to hear that she still intended to train with us, but I still felt bad about what had happened. “While I'm here, Lianamyr, can I ask you a few questions about your recent travels?”

  “Certainly, though I'm not sure how much I can tell you. We arrived on the western coast of this continent about six months ago and have been on the move ever since. About two months ago, we heard of a powerful paladin who had seen Raion for what he was rather than as just a beast, and we headed this way. By the time we got to the Varnelion Capital, you were the lord of Freid, and they were looking for more people to settle here, so we volunteered.”

  I started to think it might be a good idea to get a world or at least a continent map from Gadrick. Assuming he had been traveling constantly as he said, the western coast was six months of travel away. I doubt that the elves had taken a direct route here from the beginning, but I guess that wasn't important right now.

  “Can I ask if you heard any other unusual stories about powerful individuals along the way? I believe some allies I was with before we g
ot separated are somewhere in this world as well.”

  “Somewhere in this world? Then, does that mean you are from a different plane of existence?” Lianamyr seemed to be eyeing me a little more curiously when he said this, but the question was relatively matter of fact as if the thought didn't surprise him.

  “No, I am actually not from this plane and had several traveling companions that all got separated from me when I ended up here. They were all individuals on a level of power rivaling my own, so I would think that they would have been heard of by now, but the capital has heard nothing of them. Some of them were not necessarily typical individuals either. I actually traveled with a goblin, a kitsune, and a dwarf.”

  “I can't say that I have heard of them. Around the time I heard of you though, I heard of an artificer in the Kanna Republic that had developed several strange inventions, but I didn't hear much else about them. I don't know that people said much about him being powerful, but he’s made some pretty useful things as I understand it. Were any of your friends artificers or some other kind of inventor?”

  “No, unfortunately, none of them were.”

  I said it, but I couldn't help but wonder what kind of inventions this person was making. Would an elf family randomly passing through have heard much about it if these devices weren't exceptional? It wasn't much to go on, but I should probably have the prince see what he could find out about this.

  “Can I ask where the Kanna Republic is?”

  “We had just finished passing through it when we started to hear about this, and I'm not sure where in it all of it was taking place, but its closest border is probably about a month and a half journey on horseback to the southwest.”

  “Thank you for the information, Lianamyr. If you recall anything else, please let me know.”