The Blessing of the Blade Goddess

Natalia Crestfall had the same dream again. It was a blank, endless space, with only a single sword at the center of it. She loathed that sword, but forced herself towards it each time. It was the only thing in that world, and thus, by all logic, she had to pick it up. Each night she did, again and again.

“My lady,” A voice echoed out. “My lady…” it said again with a slightly annoyed tone.

“My lady, time to wake up!” Shisa ripped the covers off the bed, practically dragging Natalia with them.

“Ah!” Natalia cried, rolling on the floor.

“My lady, please act according to your station,” Shisa corrected.

Natalia sat up, still half asleep. Her long red hair was completely disheveled, saliva ran down the side of her mouth, and her night gown was wrinkled and riding up in an unladylike fashion.

“What time is it?” Natalia mumbled, leaning her head against the bed frame.

“Already half past 8. You have a meeting in half an hour with the banking guild leader. At noon, we have tea with the adventurer guild master. At two, sword exercises, and an S rank meeting in the early evening to discuss the deep delve next week, and then we need to start preparing your speech for the Star Festival next month.”

“Too much… I sleep,” Natalia muttered, burrowing her head back down into her covers.

“My lady, need I remind you, you are the Blade Princess,” Shisha scolded.

“Mhm.” She twitched in response.

“Get up!” Shisha screamed, dragging Natalia to her feet.

Shisha dragged her into the bath, stripping her and washing her. Afterward she dressed Natalia in a simple but fashionable white dress, combed out the knots in her long red hair, fixed the same hair into simple braids, before shoving Natalia out the door ten minutes before her meeting.

“I'm going! I'm going!” Natalia declared as Shisa pushed her along the path.

The Crestfall manor was quite lively this morning. Several gardeners milled about, meticulously trimming the hedges and tending the flowers of the yard, giving passing greeting bows as Natalia walked past. She nodded politely, as she was trained, greeting each in a practiced motion. Elsewhere in the manor, waves of maids and butlers scrubbed the floor and dusted the various artifacts that adorned the halls. They, too, greeted their master, and in practiced motions, she greeted back.

“Who am I meeting again?” Natalia asked, her eyes wandering to the streets outside the manor’s various windows. She caught glimpses of adventurers off to the dungeon.

“Doran Allborne. The banking guild leader, remember?” Shisa prodded Natalia’s side.

“Ah, the one who always smells like booze? I hate that guy,” Natalia pouted.

“Stop acting like a child. It’s important to maintain this relationship. Although a good amount of your wealth comes from your adventurer exploits, most of it comes from our banking guild investments. Be nice. Be polite. Hold your tongue.” Shisha hissed.

“Yeah. Polite. Got it,” Natalia nodded. “Just like I always am,” She sighed.

Doran was waiting in the dining hall. Already the servants had set out the table, preparing a nice, light lunch for a friendly business meeting. The exact type of meeting that Natalia despised.

“Ah, my lady,” he gasped, The thickly bearded dwarven man leapt from his seat to greet her.

He wore a fine gray suit that denoted wealth, but the image was broken by the thick smell of cheap liquor that burnt Natalia’s nostrils.

“Lord Allborne, a pleasure as always,” Natalia lied, but she was a good liar. She bowed politely to him.

“Always surprises me,” Shisa muttered under breath, impressed by the mature image Natalia was capable of faking.

“Please, let us sit,” He kissed her hand.

“Of course,” Natalia smiled, biting her tongue, keeping her eyes close to hide her annoyance.

Natalia sat there and listened. But she wasn’t really listening. Her thoughts were elsewhere. On the pretty flowers in the garden. Or the fact that she wanted to sleep some more. Or the fact that she was glad Shisa listened to her and put Doran’s seat far enough from her so she wouldn’t have to smell him. She couldn’t give a damn about how the banking guild was glad for her investments, or how her family renown and fame boosted profits last quarter. She really, really didn’t care. But this was her world, and she was an expert of going through the motions.

“My lady?” Doran asked.

“Uh huh,” She nodded politely.

“Really!?” Doran gasped.

“What?” Natalia turned in confusion.

“My lady meant she is flattered, and will take the offer into consideration,” Shisa interjected.

“Oh yes. I see. I am glad,” Doran laughed.

“My lord, you’ll have to excuse us, but my lady is very busy today. We have matters to attend to,” Shisa said.

“Ah, of course. A pleasure as always. Please do consider my offer, my lady. I would very much like to have you,” Doran said with a grin.

“Yes,” Natalia nodded.

The dwarven man made his exit, departing the dining room with haste, but no before finishing the bottle of summer wine that was given to him. Natalia waved to him as he left, Shisa fuming next to her.

“My lady, you need to pay attention,” Shisa instructed.

“What am I considering?” Natalia asked.

“Lord Allborne proposed to you to strengthen the alliance between the banking guild and us.”

“What!? Gross!” Natalia spat. “No!”

“My lady….” Shisa sighed.

“We… let’s think of a way to let him down gently,” Natalia suggested, composing herself. “It is what a member of the Crestfall house would do.”

“Of course, my lady,” Shisha nodded.

She went through the motions for the rest of the day. Meetings after meetings. Polite nods and bows when greeted. “Yes. Of course. I'm flattered,” Came from her mouth without thought.

The day passed by quickly, ending as the sun crested below the horizon at the S rank hall. It was a short carriage ride away, and was pretty much the only time Natalia would leave the manor grounds without going to the dungeon.

“Lady Crestfall, welcome,” She was greeted at the door to the guild hall by a young receptionist.

Shisa had accompanied her. Despite being Natalia’s personal maid, she was also a very capable adventurer in her own right, achieving a B ranking through her efforts. In addition, she had to be there to take notes, as Natalia rarely listened.

“What meeting was this for again?” Natalia asked.

“The deep delve,” Shisa rubbed her temples in irritation, nearly knocking her glasses off.

At the top of the adventurer food chain, the pinnacle of all dungeon delvers, stood the S ranks. Nearly all that currently sat at the rank inherited the position from previous S rankers. In Natalia’s case, she inherited it from her late father, who was killed on a deep delve when she was thirteen years old. Skills were hereditary. Natalia knew her father died the moment it happened, as that was when her skill finally manifested. It was a terrible feeling, and one she still remembered to this day. Suddenly thrust to the top of society, she had little choice but accept her fate as the Sword Goddess’s chosen.

“This means we’re going to be to sleep in the dungeon again,” Natalia complained.

“Yes, we are. Deep delves usually go for a week or two,” Shisha added.

“A week?!” Natalia suppressed the urge to groan loudly.

The S rank hall was a special room for their meetings, personally chaired by the guild master himself. Natalia had tea with the man earlier, but she could not for the life of her remember what they talked about. The guild master nodded as she entered the room, taking her designated seat, Shisa standing by her side ready to take notes.

“We’ll wait a bit for the others before we begin,” The guild master said.

Natalia could see that Liandra was already here. She smiled at Natalia, and Natalia found herself smiling back. As the High Priestess, Liandra was one of two current S rank adventurers that did not inherit their skill from a family member. In fact, Liandra’s skill, Divine Providence, was usually random, but generally picked slum children as its inheritor. This meant that she never really played the politics and alliance game. Liandra was the only person in this room that Natalia considered a friend. The rest pissed her off, especially Kagan and Ronin. Speaking of Kagan, he entered the room only a moment later. The towering beast man was a wall of muscle, his top half only covered by a vest, his enormous biceps bulging out for all to see. He was followed by his vice captain, and younger brother, the much weaker Leo. Kagan took his seat, crossing his arms, and before smirking at Natalia. She gave him an annoyed look. Kagan was the only one she couldn’t stand putting up an act for. Ronin was just as annoying, but at least he seemed like a somewhat decent person sometimes, while Kagan always gave her a bad feeling.

“Who are we missing?” The guild master asked about ten minutes later.

In that time, Zena and Markus had arrived. With the five S ranks there, they were only missing one, Ronin.

“He’s gone. I don’t think he’s going to show up,” Zena, the Void witch, waved her hand dismissively.

“Shame. Figured he’d want to get in on this action,” Kagan frowned.

“You and Ronin are such battle junkies. I don’t understand it,” Markus, the high elf ranger, shook his head.

“Well, more for us, I guess,” Kagan grinned.

“Very well, let us begin this meeting,” The guild master said.

Natalia readied herself to space out.

“As you know, the guild is planning a dungeon deep delve next week. Courtesy of Lord Markus here, we seemed to have discovered a new route deeper into the heart of the dungeon. Markus, if you please,” The guild master gestured to the elf.

“Of course. It seems that this new route is completely unexplored. My party only briefly traversed it.It was empty, but it had an ominous feeling to it. I am unsure where it truly led, but I fear that even deeper within lies a dangerous boss.”

“Been a while since I fought a boss worth anything,” Kagan said, leaning back on his chair. “Probably a weakling, though.”

“I don’t think so. My skill says otherwise,” Markus continued.

“Ah yes, your little hunting skill,” Kagan laughed.

“My skill, Mark of the Wilds, allows me to assess the strength of creatures I haven’t encountered before. And it’s telling me whatever lies at the end of this path would be challenge, even for us S ranks.” Markus explained.

“We need a plan of attack,” The Guild Master said. “Perhaps the Blade Princess…”

“Yes im listening!” Natalia sat up, prompted by a thick prod to her side by Shisa. “My Blade Goddess blessing allows me to anticipate surprise attacks. Using it, I have the least amount of risk facing this new boss.”

“Good. We can send your party as a vanguard,” the Guild Master said.

“Then let me support you,” Kagan huffed. “In case it’s a bit too tough for you.”

“Sure. Please do,” Natalia faked a smile, closing her eyes to hide her annoyance.

“That settles it, then. Let’s go over a few more details, but we’ll post the quest listing tomorrow. All C rank and above parties are welcome to participate,” The Guild master continued, going over the various ins and outs that Shisa will fill in for Natalia later.

The shadow the evening came quickly, basking the town in a soft purple glow. After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Natalia loaded into her carriage, bound back towards her manor at the center of the town. Shisa drilled her on meetings points she had missed, but Natalia wasn’t listening. Instead, her eyes were on the people. Adventurers from all over the country, all filled with dreams of making it big, rising through the ranks, and earning wealth and glory. All of them hoping to one day reach the position she was born into.

Her gazed lingered on a passing trio. A boy about her age lead the group with a brilliant smile, wearing a simple leather tunic with a small breastplate over it. For some reason, he had an empty scabbard. Must have lost his sword. The girl was small for her age, draped in priestly white robes and a hood over her short cropped hair. She lingered nervously behind the other two, both hands tightly clinging to her cheap iron staff, which had a religious symbol affixed on it. The final one was a red haired boy, dressed in green dyed leather, a quiver with only three arrows, and a worn down bow reinforced with rope bindings. They seemed to be struggling, given the state of their equipment. Natalia wondered what it was like to be them. Despite having nothing, they were giving it their all to be adventurers. It was feeling she didn’t share with them.

“My lady, you’re not listening again,” Shisa chided as they got out of the carriage.

“Ah, what are we doing again?” Natalia asked, bowing in apology.

“The Star Festival speech. I have it prepared, but we need to practice,” Shisa said.

“The Star Festival?!” Natalia’s eyes brightened.

“Now you’re listening,” Shisa sighed.

“Can we go to the booths afterward?” Natalia asked, grabbing Shisa’s hand with her own.

“No.” Shisa said curtly. “You know just as well as I that we won’t have time for that.”

“Oh…” Natalia cast her eyes downwards.

“We can visit one,” Shisa patted her lady’s head like she was a child. “If we move some meetings around.”

“Really?” Natalia beamed again.

“The speech, my lady. We need to work on it,” Shisa redirected.

The evening was the only time that belonged to Natalia. She sat by the windowsill of her, looking beyond the grounds of her manor. She could see the lanterns of the adventurers coming late from exploring the dungeon. She remembered a time from her childhood when she would wait for the light of her father’s lantern. It wasn’t coming now. And so the hour for sleep came quickly, and Natalia readied herself for bed, readying once again for the monotony of life, only occasionally broken up by dungeon raids. And again she went to sleep, and had the same dream again.