The Quest (Dark Paladin Book #2) LitRPG Series

by Vasily Mahanenko

  Moving Elizabeth from one room to another would not make sense. Even if the pendant were just an arm’s length away from the old lady, she would not be able to take the vitally important item herself. Without the pendant Elizabeth lost her mind. That’s why the players could not find out the circumstances of theft from the owner herself; Ervan, who had taken to drinking what had previously been forbidden to him, was actively taking advantage of that. That’s a fine how’d-ye-do. He started a veritable campaign to rule the estate, which would have been impossible while the old lady was in her sound mind. He actively interfered with the search, threw players out and introduced a three-day limit. However, as Sleevan stated, those were just the subjective thoughts of one individual herald, which could not serve as records for the case. The spiritual advisor working this month had personally checked the owners and all the hosts for connections to the theft. None were involved. The estate had a high level of protection; intrusion by an outside thief was quite unlikely. Therefore it was someone who had freedom of movement within the estate. But who? That was completely unclear. The estate was equipped with surveillance cameras that operated both in normal and magical range, but footage from them showed no sign of the theft whatsoever. For understandable reasons Elizabeth’s actual room was not in the camera circuit, but during the night the thing disappeared no one came into or left the room. It was practically impossible to enter the estate via a portal‒that required special permission. There were only twelve of those issued‒to the spiritual advisors‒ however, they could be crossed off the list of suspects right away.

  During the two weeks that had passed since the time of disappearance, the players were practically no closer to solving this mystery. First of all, there was little information; second: Ervan was relentless. He hosted major parties, getting the players dead drunk, then throwing them out three days later. As for the teetotalers, he found what to do with those as well. For example, he threw them into the basement for a day until Sophie released the poor creatures. In other words, he was an active and devious guy!

  I finished the examination with a demand to provide a picture of the pendant. Sleevan immediately withdrew, perhaps upset that he had shared with me his own thoughts concerning Ervan. Oh well, he’d just have to get over that.

  “There is information!” As soon as I looked at the picture, Steve yelled with joy, or at least so it seemed to me. “This is the very pendant that is shown in the picture of the warrior lady in the main hall of the Citadel!”

  A series of video records flashed in front of me. The Citadel. Minutes before departure to the Sanctuary. Langirs dragging me towards the portal, eager to finish with his orders, while I look around trying to see my surroundings for at least a few moments. My video recorder records. The frame stopped and zoomed in on one of the walls of the hall. Painting. A woman in Paladin armor, with bright golden hair and gray eyes, raising a bloody sword. In the Citadel I only saw the top part of the painting, so it was not clear what kind of monster she had pierced. So there was the detail of interest to me: the pendant that I had already seen was hanging around the warrior’s neck. Feeling what I would like, Steve zoomed in some more. The image drifted, turning soft, but I was able to see the earrings and the ring. They were in the same style as the pendant. So then Elizabeth’s teacher was a female Paladin? And the portrait was hanging in the hall among other Paladins’ portraits. Surely they did not all end up in there for the cuteness factor, right? Paladins must know their heroes!

  My communications device did not offer a lot of Paladins’ numbers. In fact, there were very few. Gromana and Bernard were unlikely to be able to help me. I ruled out Dolgunata right away.

  “You chose a bad time, as always! Is this something urgent? Or are you calling to tell on Dolgunata?” — Archibald picked up at once, but I could clearly hear sounds of battle in the background, and he sounded like he was short of breath at times. But that did not prevent my teacher from his usual mockery. “I won’t tell you how to beat her – I bet on her. So don’t let me down.”

  “In the Citadel, next to the main hall, there is a Paladins’ portrait gallery.” I ignored the catorian’s testy comments. “One of the portraits shows a woman in golden armor wielding a sword. Who is she?”

  “Is this related to the pendant?” Archibald asked. I had to admit that it was. “You are barking up the wrong tree, Yari. The pendant is still in the Lecleur estate. Search there. We’ll talk about the painting later. It’s not so important, and I, as you understand, am a little busy here!”

  “Archibald, for once, can you simply answer a question? Who is in that painting?! Was she Elizabeth’s first teacher?”

  “Good bye!”

  Upset, I stared at the silent device. What happened had not been unexpected, but it had been worth a try We could leave this question for now. Time was passing and Sophie was not in a hurry to release us.

  “Steve, what will happen if I miss the duel?” I decided to find out more about the rules, just in case.

  “The duel was to take place in a couple of hours. There is still time,” the assistant reassured me, but immediately added: “If we stay here, the reason for not appearing at the duel will be justified, and it will be postponed by five days. If you fail to appear again you will be considered the loser regardless of the gravity of the reason.”

  At least there was one piece of good news. Dolgunata, of course would not fail to humiliate me and accuse of cowardice. But by now I had developed an immunity to her vitriol. The timer counted minutes till the duel, and I suffered from idleness and boredom. I tried the “Templar’s Blow” on the chain a couple of times but the recoil hit me pretty hard even through the armor, so I abandoned my attempts to unshackle myself. Sleevan went quiet in his corner, so there was nothing else left for me to do than to try to use the remaining time in the basement with maximum utility – that is, have some sleep.

  “Monsieur Yaropolk!” Sophie’s concerned voice broke through the sweet drowsiness. “Monsieur Yaropolk, wake up! Please! Believe me, I am so sorry!”

  The servant who accompanied me quickly released me from the shackles. I looked at my watch: it was nine o’clock at night. An hour since I had missed the duel. Despite her assurances, the madam did not look regretful in the least. Quite the opposite – her pleased stare was fixed on me, while a sly smile danced on her lips.

  “Your room is ready; your companions have already checked in.” Sophie moved closer, took my hands and said confidingly, lowering her voice: “Monsieur Yaropolk, do assure me that this small misunderstanding will stay between us. And us alone. On behalf of all the Lecleur family, please accept my sincere apologies! But on the other hand, Monsieur Yaropolk, where else would you spend time to such advantage?”

  “So am I supposed to be actually grateful to you on top of all this?" I raised an eyebrow ironically.

  “Well, not to go so far as gratitude… But think for yourself, monsieur: I am certain that you were able to have a fruitful conversation with our herald.” The hostess underscored the “certain”, and I silently wished that the ears in the local walls would ring for a long time or, even better, go deaf completely. Meanwhile, Lady Sophie kept going. “You rested well here. Believe me, the guest rooms are so crowded right now, it would have been problematic there. And as far as I know… Lady Dolgunata is aware that the duel was rescheduled for a good reason. Please do not consider that I am meddling. I am just a silly woman and don’t understand all these games, but there were plenty of witnesses to see that she imposed that duel on you…”

  “Really? Straight benefits every way I look.” I picked up that “torch” and even smiled at the lady. Her attempt to force me to owe her angered me. “Please do not consider me too forward, but it’s by no merit of yours that I was able to have a useful conversation with your herald. Then, I prefer to choose myself where to rest. As for the duel… Are you trying to hint that I am weak or cowardly?”

  The smile ran off Sophie’s face, and she rattled on, fr
ightened:

  “No, not at all monsieur. That could not have been further from my mind. Please, I understand that you were insulted by my husband’s actions, but I do hope for your mercy. Of course, I owe you. May I request that you do not report this to Sir Bernard?”

  Wringing her hands, Sophie took just one careless step towards me, stumbled on the chain and nearly fell, but I was there in time to help her.

  “Thank you.” The lady dropped her eyes, adjusted her dress, and turning towards the entrance.

  Purely out of reflex, I was being helpful, and placed my hand on the lady’s back in order to be able to support her in case she took another careless step. Silence fell over the cell, and I fell the lady’s back tense even through the heavy dress.

  “With respect to nobility this gesture indicates that you are willing to share a bed with lady Sophie,” Steve noted calmly.

  I jerked my hand away, but it was too late: Sophie blushed and stopped. The servant carefully looked elsewhere, pretending that none of this was any of his business.

  “I will be prepared to discuss your demands in one hour,” Sophie said breathlessly. “Sleevan will accompany you to your rooms.”

  Great Game! Could she really think that this was my way of requesting retribution for the insult and my silence? Sophie left the cell quickly. The servant followed her, and I was left standing still, with my mouth open. Sleevan, who had also been released by then, showed some signs of life:

  “Please follow me.” The herald cast me a glance of pure hatred as he was passing by me.

  “I am noting a deterioration in the herald’s attitude towards you to the level of personal hatred. Potential reason: your desire to share a bed with lady Sophie. Probability of herald having certain feelings towards Milady: 70 %,” Steve supposed constructively.

  We walked to the room assigned to me in silence. Despite the lateness of the hour, players were still wandering to and fro around the estate.

  Mizardine was waiting in excitement for me in the room. The hunter was pacing, and as soon as I opened the door, he rushed to report to me:

  “They grabbed Alard! Today at midnight under the walls! They said that you should come… Alard resisted, but they…”

  “Quiet!” I barked, and he froze. The hunter was so eager to convey all the information quickly that he swallowed words.

  “They who?” I tried to find out more about the situation.

  “I don’t know. Mages.” The hunter had not yet not recovered, so he answered briefly, but to the point.

  “When and how was Alard captured?”

  “Three hours ago. We went outside the walls; the orc just wanted to say a few words to someone he knew. Then seven mages grabbed him there‒ the eighth one was directing them. He gave me this for you.” Mizardine handed me a sheet of paper.

  "Yaropolk! We shall be waiting for you at midnight at the main gate, on the outside, for a conversation. If you come, I promise not to touch the orc. Otherwise – no offense, but... Ahean.”

  I knew the name without Steve having to remind me. Ahean was Devir’s other student. There would be no visit to Sophie then.

  Chapter Six. Mummers

  “WHAT ARE WE going to do?” Mizardine was nervous and probably regretted not having spent an extra day in line.

  “You will do nothing. While I will go talk to people,” I looked at the hunter in contemplation. Having him as partner was of questionable value: he had no experience, and his nerves were shot to boot. The only thing he was good at was hysteria. It was hard to believe that a player like that had completed the Academy. “Where are you from?”

  “From Delgard,” Mizardine replied. “You've probably never heard of it.”

  I nodded to indicate he was right.

  “It’s a small game world,” the hunter continued. “People are not well respected there. We are considered inferior goods. Too fragile and capable only of being servants.”

  “Were you a servant?”

  “Yes. One player needed a servant, so he hired my great-grandfather. Then my grandfather served him, then my father, myself and my son. A couple of years ago this player reached the hundredth level of Grandeur and an echo appeared. I was nearby and was able to hold it up for a few seconds. My master ran off and brought help. To reward me, he made me a minion. After the Academy he sent me to Earth to gain experience. In Delgard a human player would be a pariah.”

  “I see,” I said slowly. There were as many stories as there were players. I had thought, naïvely, that only outstanding individuals became players, such as I, who had completed the harsh trials of the Academy, or, at least, after some time in the school of hard knocks as minions. What a pain; it was simply a game of chance! And it did not matter that accidents were not accidental. “Wait here‒ I need to prepare for the meeting.”

  Just before leaving I remembered that I had never received the standard report on the disappearance of the pendant. I borrowed it from Mizardine and went to look for the herald.

  I found Sleevan in his cottage. He was preparing to make his nightly round of the estate, and was not glad to see me. Without hiding his feelings, he asked ironically if I had been lost, wandering around at such a late hour.

  “I need a portal to the Sanctuary, to the headquarters of the Paladins. Who would be the person responsible for this on the estate?

  “Monsieur Ervan, Madame Sophie and myself.” The great level of access Sleevan enjoyed on the estate was still a mystery to me. I could not help but ask:

  “What did you do to deserve such an honor, Sleevan?”

  The herald gave me a venomous look and said through his teeth:

  “If Milord’s wish is to exhibit curiosity, the best way to find out would be to hold another interrogation!”

  “Sleevan, I wanted to talk in a nice way at first," I said apologetically. I did not want to aggravate the drunk or explain myself to Sophie, so I had to negotiate with Sleevan. “I need the portals right away. Do I have to talk to the owners, or are you in a position to resolve this yourself?”

  “No reason to bother the masters with such minor things. Two scrolls will cost you one-tenth of a granis.

  “Portal scrolls in this game world cost from one-tenth of a granis to five granises, depending on the distance and the precision needed for destination coordinates.” Steve piped up in time to explain Sleevan’s actions, because I was going to protest such a huge price. “For your information: players are prohibited from rising above the surface of the world more than eight thousand eight hundred and forty eight meters.”

  “Why?” I asked aloud, without even thinking whom I was asking.

  Herald was the first one to respond:

  “The Lecleur estate does not set mark-ups for scrolls intended for friends of the family, monsieur Yaropolk. Madame Sophie has accepted you as a friend. That’s why for you the scrolls cost just one-tenth of a granis, and not half of one as it would be for everybody else.”

  Steve provided clarification on his part:

  “Conventionally a player who has left the current game location without permission to transition to another one (in this case the ‘Solar System’) is treated as a violator and is destroyed by the Game. The upper boundary of the game location ‘Earth’ is the peak of Mount Everest, and the lower one is the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Below it is the ‘Underworld’ location.”

  Finally a lot of things became clear. In fact, in the beginning I could not figure out why, in order to get to the Games in Brazil, it was necessary to buy a portal rather than fly on a plane, which would have been much cheaper. I paid, Sleevan made the scroll using the local anchor point, and an instant later I was standing in front of the Paladins’ headquarters, just as planned. Old Grizdan obviously suffered from insomnia, as he was sitting at his work desk at that late hour.

  “Are you done with your quest?” he said, by the way of greeting.

  “No: I need to complete some training in order to do so.” I decided to not waste time with polite
ness either. “Who would be a Paladin who could help me?”

  “Training?” Grizdan frowned in surprise. “That’s an Archibald question. He is your teacher.”

  “He is not available right now, and I cannot wait,” I almost did not lie without batting an eye. What I needed to do was get a normal teacher, whereas Archibald had long ago disgraced himself in that respect.

  “Is that so?” Grizdan scratched his head. “Unavailable, eh? In that case you need the teachers of your teacher. Milord Iven or our Head, Milord Gerhard van Brast. These are the only teachers you can have among the Paladins. The rules allow no others.”

  “Maybe Sharda?” I reminded him of the gnome.

  “No, Shardaganbat works only on the training of new recruits, without exception!”

  “How do I arrange to see Milords Iven or Gerhard?” I was not going to give up.

  “What, are you just going to show up as you are?! Kind sirs, would you please train this young one for the sake of Light?!” the old man straightened, and even though he had just one eye, that did not prevent him from looking at me as if I were a retard. “Are you in so much hot water, or has Mister Bernard’s mark made you so forward?”

  “Not Light.” I felt somewhat embarrassed. “I am a Dark one, after all. So how do I see the Milords?

  “Both at once? Or do you need to see them individually?” a mocking voice inquired from right behind me. I did not even bother to turn around, trying to delay the moment when I would have to stare into the insolent catface, and I kept looking at his tail swishing at my feet. Even the catorian’s tail showed how pleased he was with himself for catching me as I was trying to go over his head. When it became completely impolite to keep turning my back to him, I turned around sharply: