Chapter One-Hundred Fifty-Nine

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~~Rezlar~~  Larrez

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The young elf noble does his best to ignore the curious glances of his guards as he selects a bunk at the back of the barracks.  While he does have his disguise on, his guards do still need to know where he is, at least when on the grounds, so the veterans are at least read in on the ruse.

When Miller suggested telling even them, Rezlar was against it.  The fewer people who know, the fewer people can blab.  Miller smiled at that argument, but shut it down with his usual ruthless efficiency.  The veteran guards are trusted, otherwise they would not be veterans at his estate.  Just as Miller takes his job seriously, so too do they, and they would not be able to do their jobs if kept in the dark.

Even Rezlar’s protests that they’d see it as weird were only met with a smile and a twinkle in the older elf’s eyes.

“The so-called common folk expect some strangeness in their lords, Young Master.  I recall hearing of one lord who greatly enjoyed baking pastries.  He and the head baker had a very close relationship, and the noble enjoyed doing something so uncouth as to leave him filthy and sweaty, and his mother was happy to be able to provide an outlet for that which didn’t involve him being in any actual danger.  As far as I’m aware, while it was an open secret among the staff, none of the nobles ever knew.  While I’m certain they all enjoyed sneaking some of the baked goods, it’s also something that endeared the noble to them.  It helps break down a bit of the us vs them that so many people think in.  If you are them, at least in some small way, they will tend not to question your decisions as hard, and grant the benefit of the doubt, so long as they don’t suffer because of the choices.”

When he was even younger, Rezlar would have gasped at the very idea of the ordinary citizenry questioning the decisions of the nobles, but now understands that the citizenry will always talk and have opinions on it.  Any noble who pretends otherwise, or worse: tries to stop it, tends to not have the chance to pass their noble title on further.

He shakes his head to clear it, and focuses on the task at hand, which is to get his bunk and locker organized and secured.  While the veterans know who he is, the other guards do not, so he’ll be disciplined if he doesn’t keep his ‘assigned’ area properly.

Speaking of the vets, a halfling with a sword on his back bigger than he is comes up to Rezlar.  “You’re the new one, Larrez, yeah?” he asks, looking amused to be talking to his boss like this, but staying in character.  Rezlar does his best to stay in character, too, and stands stiffly at attention.

“Uh, yes sir!”

The halfling smiles and points a thumb over his shoulder.  “Your friends are at the gate, wanting to know if you’re free to delve.  Adventurer Guild rules say we have to give reasonable accommodation for delving.”  He makes a show of looking over the bed and locker.  “Looks like you need to practice tucking your sheets, but I don’t see anything that would bring shame on lord Rezlar.  You’re free to go.”

The elf is surprised at the news of his friends being at the gate, and for a moment can’t think of who they could even be.  His eyes widen and he barely manages to not facepalm at himself.  It must be Freddie and Rhonda!  Miller must have learned of their plans to delve, and that’s why he’s been furthering this alternate identity.  They can’t exactly come and ask the Lord Mayor to go delving, can they?  But asking their friend who happens to be a guard should garner hardly any attention at all!

He hurries to get ready, and the halfling leaves him to it, shaking his head and smiling.  Rezlar is dimly aware of one of the newer guards complaining about him getting to leave, and can’t help but feel a spark of pride when the halfling responds.

“Get strong enough to get accepted into the Adventurer’s Guild and you can take off on delves, too.  Until then, thanks for volunteering to cover his watch!”  

The guards, vets and new, laugh as Rezlar leaves, and he’s soon at the gate and seeing his party.  Rhonda and Freddie both smile as they see him, and their arachnid companions wave.  He doesn’t bother to fight his smile as he hurries, and his quick salute to the guard at the gate is returned with practiced ease.  So dismissed, he turns to the rest of his party.

“Hello!  What is, uh… what’s up?” he asks, trying to remember to talk more casually with them.  Among nobles, misspeaking can be leverage to be used against you.  With friends, flubbing words is ignored, or a good way to share a laugh.

Freddie smiles but stays quiet, letting Rhonda give the details.  “Master Staiven needs some bubblekelp, so I accepted the quest.  But I don’t have the stuff I need to make water breathing potions, so we’re going to delve Thedeim today and get the stuff, and then delve Hullbreak tomorrow to get the kelp, and whatever else we can get!”

Rezlar is nervous about the idea of delving Hullbreak, but Thedeim did vassalize the dungeon.  He’s even been getting financial reports already about the fishing vessels, and the jewelers have started selling various pearl pieces already.  Freddie notices his unease and nods.

“Yeah, Hullbreak will be different than Thedeim, but it’d be a good idea for us to get used to other dungeons.  And I’m looking forward to just exploring under the water.  I’ve only really splashed around in ponds before.”

They all chat as they head to Thedeim, mostly about how much swimming they’ve all done.  The consensus is that Larrez will probably be relied on heavily for their first delve in Hullbreak, until Freddie and Rhonda get more used to water.  As they enter their favorite dungeon, the conversation shifts to the details of their delve, and Rhonda explains what they’ll need.

“It’ll probably be a shorter delve.  I need a bunch of herbs in general, but we need ochredill from the yard, spell spore from the basement, and mustard moss from the tunnels.  Do you guys mind carrying any extras I gather?”

Freddie and Larrez shake their heads, not minding at all, and look over the hanging quest boards, considering what they should take.  They both are looking at the various slaying quests, with Larrez wondering if they could handle a rockslide.  A clatter of wood draws his attention, and the front door squeaking as it opens draws his attention from even that.  Freddie picks up the quest offer as Larrez looks at the door.  His confusion turns to wary concern as he spots the zombie boxer exit the manor.

The zombie grins around his mouthguard, showing his sharp teeth for a moment before he pounds his fists together.  Larrez’ growing concern turns to abject terror as Freddie reads the quest.

“Challenge Rocky?”

What kind of fool would challenge Rocky?!  He’s Thedeim’s only scion specifically trained for battle!  Even the mighty Fluffles, who ate a hurricane isn’t trained for battle!  Rhonda’s gasp at least lets him know she understands the insanity of the quest.

“Your arena is finally finished?” she practically squeals with glee, and Rocky happily nods.  Larrez just stares at the two, trying to figure out when the punchline will hit.  Freddie dashes his hopes of it being a joke.

“Don’t worry, Larrez.  Rocky was part of our quests for our classes.  I bet he’s been itching for a rematch ever since.”  Freddie smiles at the undead boxer, who eagerly smiles back.

“Rematch?  You fought?!”

Freddie shrugs.  “Technically.  And technically, Rhonda dealt with Rocky.  I had to deal with Aranya.”

Larrez isn’t exactly comforted by that, and Rhonda smacks Freddie’s elbow, before turning her attention to the elf.  “It was… more like a game of tag, and Rocky was it.  Staying away from him gave me insight into his magic, and is why I got the class I did.”

As a demonstration, she and Rocky both summon a lick of flame and a thin sheet of snow, before letting them dissipate.  The goblin eyes Rocky, who grins at her.  “It also feels like he’s gotten better with his control.  I don’t think I’ll be able to steal it from him again.”

Rocky points at the piece of wood with the quest on it, and makes a pleading look at the party.  Larrez is absolutely against it, but the others all look like they’re considering it.

“I’d love to have a match,” starts Freddie, and Rhonda continues.

“But we need to get some herbs to be able to delve Hullbreak later.  I don’t think we can afford to lose what we gather if you beat us.”

Rocky waves that off and motions for them to follow him, but Larrez finally digs in his heels.

“You guys can’t seriously be considering fighting him!  He’s Rocky!  I’ve heard people talk about full liches with less magic than him!”

Rocky smiles at the compliment, but the kids and spiders all shrug.

“He won’t actually hurt us, Larrez,” replies Freddie.  “He’ll fight us, and push us to our limits, but we can always just surrender.  Even if we don’t, I’m pretty sure the worst we’ll face is some bruises… and losing some stuff.”

Rocky shakes his head at that, and motions for them all to follow him again, earning a confused look from Rhonda.  “No?”

Rocky shakes his head and motions for them to follow a third time, which Freddie and Rhonda are ready to do.  They wait for Larrez’ opinion, which he’s immensely grateful for.  He wants to argue to stay as far away from the zombie as possible, but has to grudgingly admit to himself that he’s the least experienced when it comes to Thedeim and his scions.  The others trust Rocky, and Rocky seems to want to show them all something, too.

He sighs and offers a compromise.  “We follow, but don’t take the quest yet?”

Rhonda nods at that.  “It looks like he wants to show us something about the quest.  I guess Teemo is too busy to explain whatever it is?  Either way, we can gather stuff on the way, if Rocky doesn’t mind a few detours?”

The fighting scion taps his glove to his chin a few times, then nods.  While the others are happy at that, Larrez can’t help but feel like it’s only a stay of execution.