Chapter 124 - Duel of Interest
The beginning of the next day was met with anxious feelings from Logan and the Eventa family. Armin had enough reasons for wanting the law to be removed, and his son, even more, when he was captured after a dastardly duel. Logan’s was a personal matter in several ways.
Logan felt an attachment to other casters, a kinship with those in a similar position. After seeing how they were harvested for parts it only furthered that relation. There was also the nestled thought in the back of his head, that like other Oracles before him, he had to work to improve the world somehow before he left.
Either way, it was going to also help both Logan and Marcus work around Avanar without the looming threat of duels, though those fast declined as their titles and fame inclined.
Fame. That was also a contributing factor to one of their later objectives, to create a guild. Logan had many ideals to put forward with a collection of allies, but aside from that, he’d be an advertisement for all other PCs to come out of hiding. To come together and work towards common goals.
But that was for later, for today, the rest of the Congress.
The morning was full of chatter around the duelling laws. Many were fighting back against the complete abolishment, trying to just make it much stricter. Again, the same reasonings, though some had more people to speak on their behalf.
As the two hours passed, the addresser called the hall to a vote.
“For.”
“Against.”
“For.”
“For.”
“Against.”
The collection of votes, the scribbling of numbers into the ledger. Logan could feel his body tense at each mention of “against” while it became calmer with every “for” called out.
It was hard to recall the last time he was so invested in something that wasn’t directly in his control.
At least four years had passed on Earth where he had lost interest in most hobbies and interests. It was work and survival. Write code, input data, and get a slip of paper at the end of the week.
It was at least simple. He could follow a manual or ask a colleague for help on something he didn’t understand. But here, it was like he was sitting in a meeting room, with the board of directors, and not all shared his views.
Losing track of the words, the votes came to an end with the monarchy casting theirs.
“For, for, for, for, for”, they all announced.
Logan smiled. His cheeks pained at the stretching of his skin, as if he had a mouthful of sour candy and his friend made him laugh. If the monarchy, in full, were behind this then who could oppose the final decision if it came to a complete abolishment?
The addresser turned to others at his counter, showing the ledger to them and nodding to one another. Logan could make out some words such as, “Do you confirm?”, and “Is this number correct?”
Making a final scribble in the ledger, the addresser announced, “The topic of the complete abolishment of our duelling laws has concluded. With a total vote of 54%, the petition has been accepted. Henceforth, duels are now illegal. There will be a grace period of one month for previous engagements to conclude and for mistakes, but after this time, ignorance will not equate to innocence.”
Sections of the hall were full of scowling faces, some even punching their counters in anger, but it didn’t go further than that. Logan felt his whole body melt into his shoes, the stress leaking out of him as a victory washed over his body.
“The next topic…”
The day of voting came to a close, Logan walked out tall, his head held high. The Eventa family could tell he had a skip in his step as he got to the carriage first.
“One day left of meetings”, Armin, the father of the Eventas, announced.
“It’s been soooo boring”, Castore, the son, added as he slouched in the carriage chairs.
The mother, Orell, pulled at her son’s collar to make him sit up straight, “Sir Logan, I see it hasn’t been so for you.”
Logan didn’t bother bolding back his smile, “Not at all, ma'am. The whole event has been enlightening. I can’t say it was nice being so close to a failure, but no complaints for me to see it through.”
“I am glad our arrangement could end on such amicable terms”, Armin replied with a more reserved smile, “Will you continue to watch over proceedings tomorrow?”
Logan nodded, “It would be good for me to see it all. Gives me a good heads up to upcoming changes.”
Thinking on previous conversations, people mentioned they would give their vote if nothing else came up for them to discuss. This seemed to be a misnomer, it was closer to say their “vote” beforehand would be them investigating the topic and creating a case to boost its validity.
In terms of the Lightbeam guild, Prevesna had gathered intelligence and built a suitable backing for Logan’s topic. Instead of, say, creating solid words to reinforce a topic from someone else. At least what she did bring helped to sway the minds of others.
One concerning part of Logan’s counter’s topic was the number of people vehemently against it going forward. There was a possible target placed on his back if the opposition believed he had suggested the abolishment, if not just against the Eventa household.
Armin seemingly saw this thought across Logan’s focused face, “You need not worry about the fallout, Logan. Mine is a family closely garbed in vampire cloaks. If someone aims to get vengeance on me, they’ll meet a nightly guard, I’d wager.”
“That’s good to hear. Though if something does crop up from it, feel free to send word to me for assistance.”
Armin let out a small chuckle, “You’ve grown fond of my coin in your pocket, have you?”
Logan laughed back.
Reaching the Meek Moat Inn, after saying farewell at the Eventa Estate, Logan was greeted by the anxious faces of Yetveka, Marcus, and Amalia.
With the response of a thumbs up from the Spellthief, the three cheered. Yetveka quickly took out four mugs and started to fill them with frothy ale as they all celebrated Logan’s win.
“Couldn’t have done this at rank 2”, Marcus laughed between sips.
“There’d be more, but all the other hunters are out on work”, Yetveka informed as she refilled mugs.
“Can’t get too hammered if you got another day left”, Amalia reinforced towards Logan.
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Some of the guards were talking about bonuses…”
“It’s fine if…”
The celebrations went on for a good hour before fading out into the night. With everyone getting a good rest they went their separate ways again for the day.
Logan sat tall within his chair at the Eventa counter, listening halfly to the topics at hand and then the votes given on each side. It felt less tense than when it came to discussions over defensive measures, or the duelling laws, but everyone had their own focus placed on the topics they put forth.
Without anything to really grip his attention, or put him on an extended period of waiting for his turn, Logan felt like the day went by slowly. But like anything else, the congress meeting came to an eventual end, a bit later than estimated, but without many issues for required court sessions.
Spending a few hours longer at the Eventa estate, Logan looked over some documents, signed others, and chatted with the two heads of the house.
It would be some time before any further blood deliveries would be made, but the Spellthief was offered a chance at teleporting them around again. The job was good pay, a gold a day for little in the way of danger. It also was income without experience gain, meaning he could improve his gear while stagnating his level progression.
With thanks given on both sides, Logan moved to leave but was stopped in the hallway by a young Castore. “Sir Logan, are you busy these upcoming days?” the young master asked with hopeful expectation in his eyes.
“I might be, what do you have in mind?” Logan replied with a smile.
“Father has allowed me training, I am soon to be fifteen after all. The right age to become an adventurer!”
Logan looked at the boy for a few seconds, contemplating his aptitude, “You don’t want to become a merchant, like your family?”
Castore shrugged, but noticed his informality and shook his body into a straighter position, “The ability to make money out of nothing is grander than one coin for two”, Castore recited.
“I think you’d find that you’d be putting in a lot of work, investing sweat and blood into making coin. Instead of just using your head and spending candle wax to make your income.”
Castore pouted slightly, “The world has enough merchants to meet demands. But there’s always more monsters than there are steady sword arms.”
“That’s mostly due to people dying in this line of work. Much more than just bandits out there”, Logan alluded to Castore’s previous capture.
“Yes. My past blunders still haunt me. However, the power granted via combat and effects will place me at a higher chance to protect myself against such brigands.”
Logan relented, “What sort of training?”
Castore smiled again, “I was identified as a Fighter at birth, well a few months after, but regardless. I’d like a renewed assessment by someone of your strength. Pinpoint my best and worst capabilities and give advice”, Castore listed off his fingers before clenching his fists in excitement, “The adventuring halls hardly give wisdom. Father also put me within schools of knowledge and commerce, not combative academies.”
A class census was taken every ten years, essentially magi or non-magic individuals with magical utensils were sent out to identify the classes of the unrecorded populace.
In his research, Logan found that the number of people born with classes was increasing with each census, about a hundred years ago there were only 49%, reaching 58% with the most recent census.
Fighters had always been the most common, a quarter of people being born into that specification. While Logan’s displayed class of Wizard was the most rare, at 1%.
“I can at least see where you’re at. But I’m afraid I am not geared towards much teaching.”
“Anything!” Castore replied with a wide smile before turning and giving a wave, “See you tomorrow then!” he said as he walked away.
Logan caught up with the young master to talk about his payment before turning to leave.
At the Meek Moat Inn, Logan saw Wriske slouched on one of the sofas, her body wrapped in a dark shawl.
Approaching the gashriek, Logan asked, “How’s everything, Wriske?”
Wriske looked up slowly and replied in a raspy voice, “Above’s damn, got infected out on a hunt.”
Sitting at her side, Logan continued, “Below. How’d that happen?”
“Demon-kin monsters. They were being utilized by the AV Club, hunting a coven down who asked for hunter aid. I dealt with most, but some got away. Got partially paid for the work though”, Wriske explained with a cough.
“Vampire haters using demon-kin to take them out? Sounds hypocritical.”
“Who’s to say? Not much versed in their antics myself. Maybe they just hate vampires and not all those with demon blood.”
“Will you be fine?” Logan asked.
“In time, I’ve dealt with most of the curse energy. It’ll dissipate as my own spellforce replaces it.”
Logan was put at ease, he didn’t want another Marta issue. As long as the curse was countered in a good enough time span it could be dispelled, otherwise, it’d be much more expensive or just incredibly difficult to remove.
“You said you were helping out a vampire coven? I think I saw that hunt at the guardhouse”, Logan pondered aloud.
“Twenty gold pay?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s the one then. The client upped the reward due to the unforeseen adversaries. If you go into it, be warned the demon-kin are lovers of magic.”
“Oh?”
“Near damn cast a day’s worth of spellforce in one encounter, they did.”
Logan had to hide a smile back as he knew how well-kitted he was against such a fight. “I guess I can look into it in a few days.”
“It’s rather risky, but a much better reward now. A solo mission for, I think they said, fifty gold.”
Logan was surprised at the number, but it was getting to the point it would be commonplace for the level he was at. At least it would, if it were a raid of some sort. The coven requesting this must be quite powerful, if not in actual power than influence or capital.
“I’ve been meeting a few more vampires lately, what’s the harm in a few more”, Logan asked rhetorically under his breath.
“You said a few days, you staying around for the congress festival tomorrow night?”
“That I am.”
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