CHAPTER 45 And Fine Luck

CHAPTER 45

And Fine Luck

Rufus

When Bronwynn told me she was taking me out to dinner, I couldn’t have imagined the glorious all-you-can-eat buffet before me.

She had excellent taste that matched mine perfectly. I wasn’t saying we were a perfect match; we just enjoyed the same things. And honestly, everything was better with good company.

And she was the best company.

I coughed at my own wandering thoughts.

Bronwynn grinned, her face full of contentment from a delicious meal. “I’m sorry I butted into your meeting with a fake dinner date, but I don’t regret it.”

“Me neither.” A warmth filled my chest, and it wasn’t from the rogue pepper grilled boar. “Thank you for the invite.”

The other members of her fan club would go to great lengths to see Minstrel Bronwynn for just a few minutes after a show, and here I was spending every waking minute with the half giantess. I didn’t know what I was going to tell them, but I knew there was no way I could keep this a secret … I’d simply say that Commander General Rufus Triever had been seen traveling with her. I might even do a quick update this evening.

The next stop for Bronwynn was the Peldeep Apple Blossom Festival, while I was headed to the Peldeep Assassin Assembly.

“So!” Brownie eyed me across the table, a conspiratorial look on her face. “What did you learn? Anything I am allowed to know? I understand that you are on an official quest and it’s none of my business, but I just can’t help asking.”

“It’s fine,” I reassured her. “I learned that the guild master isn’t the mastermind, but is still working closely with the person who’s been causing all the molten ash vane cases … And the person who actually makes the potion is probably in Peldeep.”

“No!” The vehemence in the bard’s voice startled me. She set down her cup of rosehip iced tea, her next words more controlled. “Really? I thought that Servalt was definitely the prime suspect? I mean, they kidnapped me …”

I shook my head. “It’s not that simple. I’m going to report back to Keith and Henrietta on my findings, and then head straight for Peldeep. Are you, um, are you still headed there next?”

Bronwynn fiddled with the handle of her glass, distracted, but after a second, she said, “Yes. I’m going to need to head out pretty soon if I’m to get past those three encounters before I make it to Vitol. Their Royal Highness has commissioned a live show.”

“Would you like to go together? Or are you already tired of me?”

“What? No! I’d love that!” Bronwynn looked at me, and I could tell that whatever had crossed her mind, be it the kidnapping or something else, was behind her. “Are you really done here? Can we head out tomorrow?”

“Let’s enjoy one last sleep in a real bed before we hit the road.” I picked up my own glass, a sparkling peach tea with frozen blueberries floating on top. “To fair weather?”

She clinked her glass with mine. “And fine luck!”

We finished and headed back to the Wistful Cup. Bronwynn left me to go check in on Donna, and I went up to my room to finish my reports.

I opened my window when I heard the unmistakable sound of a city-wide musical starting in the street outside.

After the song and dance, I finished sending an update to my fellow bardic lovers. Then I pulled out a small trinket golem linked to the Dark Lord. Even with minimal magical theory, I could tell the connection was faint, and it would take a great deal of mana to use it at this distance … I was tempted to activate it anyway; Keith had an almost endless supply of mana.

Still, anything I had to say could wait until I crossed the threshold of the Dark Enchanted Forest. If we hurried tomorrow, we might make it across the border, and if Keith was in a hurry, he could send Gimtak to collect the treaties with the imp’s [Teleportation] skill.

Then I could sit back and enjoy a lovely trip with Minstrel Bronwynn.

I went to sleep with thoughts of the redhaired half giantess on my mind. I also woke up with dreams of the redhaired half giantess on my mind.

I definitely had a problem.

“I’m ready! And I’ve got the workings of a new song I’d love to practice … if listening to me on repeat for a few hours won’t drive you absolutely up the wall?”

“No, that sounds wonderful.” And it was .

We packed up and headed back the way we came—faster, since we wouldn’t need to detour off the main road to visit Duke Wyldon’s castle.

I didn’t have a [Patient] connection to the thousands of people in Servalt’s capital city … but it didn’t matter; the information from my passive skills still fed me information from [Empathy] and [Keen Senses]. The moment we were good and clear of the walls, the constant hit on my notifications tab started to show.

And the light music playing beside me made it easier than ever to leaf through them.

For some reason, when the last notification had been processed, and I was sitting there surrounded by the sound of soft lyre harp music, I had to resist the urge to laugh. Or cry. The relief of completing my task, the sheer weight of everything, just fell away as we rolled over hills on a steady road.

I was happier in that moment than I’d been in a very, very long time.

It didn’t hurt that I was getting to hear Bronwynn create a new song, one that even Henrietta hadn’t heard yet. I knew; I’d asked. The song she was working on was a love story. A lively piece with a catchy chorus.

Thia of Foxgrove was pretty and sweet,

she kept the herb garden; she kept the ferns neat.

And any who traveled through Ironhold pass

would stop for a poultice, a cream, or liltgrass.

“So? How do you like it?” The voice of the minstrel beside me dragged me from my thoughts. She must have seen that I wasn’t immersed in my character sheet and logs any longer and was finally free to talk again.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, meeting her eyes. She was blushing a bit but had a wide and confident grin. I added, “But I love all of your music, so maybe I’m not the right person to ask?”

“You are the perfect person to ask!” Bronwynn shook her head at my supposed nonsense. “So—Oh, here it comes.”

“What?” I followed her gaze ahead of us. We were a few hours out before we reached the next town, and the countryside was a mix of tiny farms and rolling fields with a patch of forest here and there. The Sumbrian Empire had spread from their thick forests in the south, claiming these lands for agriculture many centuries past, and it was still a major exporter of berries and vegetables to the rest of the continent.

Which meant the hooded figures ahead of us probably weren’t simple down-on-their-luck farmers who’d turned to highway robbery.