Его не звали, но он приперся / They never called, yet he is here: Интерлюдия четвертая: "Шагая навстречу"

Interlude Four: "Walking Toward"

Camrad_RIP 09.08.22 в 18:11

"No, I understand that this training is really necessary for my further development, but isn't there any other way to acquire relevant skills, Shaal?" The overly unpleasant sensations in his body made Sigismund not only lose his usual gloss but even begin to speak in as simplified a speech as possible, as his exhausted body lacked the stamina for colorful turns.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 08:49

"Ara-ara, my lord." His personal assassin smiled softly, stirring a new batch of some kind of fortifying infusion. "The other methods are either ineffective or far more dangerous, despite the fewer side effects."

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 08:50

This training, which had been going on for almost a month, infuriated the young heir to the glorious House of Lanorsk, but there was nothing he could do about it. It was largely because he himself had asked for this kind of training. Or rather, not exactly that, but to teach a specific list of skills. As it turned out, training was not the most pleasant thing to do, and Sigismund had missed the best time when the process itself could be initiated when he was still a child. Honestly, he sort of understood himself from the past, if even now all he wanted to do was lie down and die.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 08:54

In fact, it's very rare to train by such methods, even if they are very basic, relying more often on all sorts of amulets, tasters, or other servants. Or even trivial guards! The problem is that Sigismund, more than anyone else understood and remembered that the guards and amulets can not help if you get into a really serious trouble. That's why he demanded that the skills required be put directly into the one thing that no one can take away from him: his Status.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 08:55

To be quite honest, the very first reason that made him start thinking in this direction was the same Shaal, or rather how easily a professional Seductress could influence the young lord's mind without any magic or active skills at all. Not many people like to realize that you were literally led by the collar around your neck, and all you could do was flap your eyelashes, not understanding even the fact of the influence. A shiver-inducing sensation that he was willing to tolerate and even enjoy in the company of the faithful Shaal, but only with her alone. To allow himself to be influenced in this way by anyone else he would never dare again. Their home had nearly fallen because of the betrayal of those they trusted, so leaving his heart uncovered was something he simply could not afford to do.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 08:57

The wish that had been expressed to Shaal brought a thoughtful expression to the beautiful black beastie's face, and she asked for some time to make a plan for the training. And judging by the fact that Shaal didn't even joke in her usual self-deprecating way, the training was going to be very unpleasant, if not dangerous.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 08:58

It's worth mentioning that the exhausting and exhausting training fight with Benedict didn't even merit the "mild inconvenience" label. A good reason to think about the trouble you brought on yourself. Not enough to give up on what he had in mind.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 08:59

The first thing they began to do was to work with Shaal's usual seduction, and very lightly. It was not even training, but a trivial assessment of the resources already available to Sigismund and his... now, perhaps, his mentor. A few facts were given to the boy each morning, with a slight note that they could not be told to Schaal under any pretext. After which the woman herself was to somehow obtain the code phrase - by stealth, trickery, or caressing, it didn't matter.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 09:06

Of course, Sigismund had had some training, so he knew how to keep his mouth shut. To be honest, he even flashed a humiliatingly weak hope that Shaal would be forcing "secrets" out by tenderness. Not that it was such a strong desire, but if the nightmares he'd experienced had taught him anything, it was the ability to admit his shortcomings to himself.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 09:09

No cunning tricks of Shaal's were necessary to his mild disappointment and enormous annoyance. It was enough just to ask a question in time, catching the boy in a moment of thoughtfulness or absent-mindedness. Since no one canceled the other classes, fatigue and a slight faintness were frequent guests in Sigismund's mind. Schaal, on the other hand, was very good at, as she called it, "jamming up" the somewhat slow-witted boy to the point where he, in a flood of words, questions, and interrogations, did not notice the moment when he answered the secret question, not even realizing how she had turned the subject down.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 13:53

He had to watch himself constantly and incessantly, tracking his every movement and word. It was even more exhausting than other physical training, but the results were not long in coming. At first, he stopped catching at her tricks every couple of hours, then he managed to keep at least some of the "secrets" secret until the end of the day, and after the first week of hellish tension, he learned either to filter out what Shaal said or simply slow her down when she tried to bury Sigismund under a pile of empty words.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 14:04

She still managed to catch him occasionally during a conversation, or some other clever trick, but these were one-time blunders that he already knew how to fix. No, he hadn't become a master secret guard in an instant, but he had acquired the useful habit of listening and thinking at the same time, as well as the ability to always remember to whom and what he had already said, and what you need not say.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 14:04

Shaal frankly admitted to him that the result was far from perfect and that it would take a long time, if not a lifetime, for him to practice such concentration, letting himself relax only in the safest places and among exceptionally reliable people. Likewise, she didn't shower praise on his pride, truthfully letting him know that his results were only slightly above average, but they were good nonetheless. Such honest praise was much nicer than the praise of his former teachers. The fact that he had previously refused to work with those of them who didn't flatter him at every turn only added anger to the fire of irritation.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 17:47

Somewhere along the way, the second stage of the training he ordered began.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 17:47

The first potion Shaal gave him was a trivial "chatty" tincture of Blue Poppy flowers. For the next few minutes, he simply could not bring himself to shut up, vaguely aware that the feverish and gradually becoming incoherent verbal effusion was the result of some kind of influence. The original potion, according to Shaal, even gives the effect of a wild hangover and the loss of memories of the last hour of life, because of what it is so fond of pouring in alcohol all sorts of spies. Sigismund was given the antidote immediately upon awakening, both to clear his memory and to take away his hangover. Well, at the same time, they helped him learn his lesson.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 17:48

After the chatty composition came various variations of the love potion, from which Sigismund was ready to die for the sake of the same Shaal, not to mention the secret passwords. Because of them, he had acquired the unpleasant habit of checking every meal with impurity detectors. In response, Shaal applied a charm potion to the doorknob of his room. It was certainly a very hot night, but Sigismund had the feeling that towards the end, Shaal had had enough of listening to his endless assurances that he loved her more than anything else in the world. At least it wasn't the loss of his strength that knocked him out, though he didn't notice the stabbing or the attempted stabbing with a needle.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 17:56

After he had dug out the old and slightly worn gloves in the family arsenal, which did not allow any impurities to pass through their fabric, he was clearly explained that potions could be atomized in the air, delayed action, multi-component, and many other options, which could not be foreseen. In the meantime, with a truly unhuman meanness, Shaal began to use potions that had far less obvious effects. It is difficult to distinguish that blurred line beyond which the desire to speak out ceases to be your own, especially if you are already annoyed with everything.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 17:57

The height of Sigismund's frenzy was the day Shaal drugged him with some strange relaxing compound that made him very attentive and gullible. After which, throughout a two-hour conversation, she convinced him that she was in fact the heiress of Lanorsk and he was her servant. He simply drank too much last night and hit his head, which made him believe in his own delirium. A very painful blow to Sigismund's ego, who was genuinely grateful that Shaal did not remind him of it unnecessarily.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:17

"Understand, young master." She spoke as she massaged his tired body after another exhausting sparring session. "I'm not an elite Seductress, so most of the damage to your mind was done with potions that weakened your natural defenses of consciousness in one way or another. If your training had not been ignored by all your guards, allowing me to do as I saw fit, it would have been incredibly difficult to spike such bouquets of potions on you. A true professional of the highest order would be able to woo you, young lord, without any magic at all. I have basic skills in persuasion and even hypnosis, but I was trained as a whore, not as a high-class intelligence and influence agent."

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:18

"Then why all this circus?" He asks, not angry at all, knowing full well that the reason will be explained to him. "Why did you forbid me to put on or take off the full set of amulets? Why do you have to go on and on about me like a court jester? I noticed, by the way, that most of the servants have been replaced, leaving only the quietest and probably the most loyal, but I don't understand why?"

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:18

"You see, young lord, here's the problem." The movements of Shaal's palms on his back slowed and slowed. "I had hoped to be able to induce the right reaction in you, to make your skill of danger sense react to any possibility of affecting your mind and critical thinking. If you had unleashed the skill of intuition, discernment, or even insight, things would have been much easier. But I had to work with what you already have, hoping to either expand your anticipation or uncover a new skill. Can you guess why it didn't work out for you and me?"

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:20

There was no need to even think about it. First of all, Sigismund was not a fool, having come to similar conclusions to what he had heard. Secondly, he had long ago found the reason, even before the conversation began, impartially concluding his own inferiority.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:23

"Because you did it." Not even asking, but only asserting, Sigismund explained. "I'm too used to being seduced by you all my youth. Subconsciously I accept your supremacy over my thoughts, don't I?"

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:23

"I asked your father to send me away." Deadly serious and dry answered him. "Even then, when I realized how attached my body was to you. I even tried to get permission to drug you and make you think that I was just a light affair. Alas, but then I was the only one who could make you act. A little more and the house rivals would have begun to speak of your mental inferiority, young lord. They already have, to be frank, though not yet in voice."

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:27

"And Father decided that ordering you to fuck me into total submission would be better for the family than having me declared incompetent." For the first time in a very long time, Sigismund used a commoner swear word, causing Shaal's hands to stiffen. "A quick marriage to whomever my father chose and a quick birth of an heir, whom he still had time to raise a true Lanorsk, would follow. The wife would most likely have had an accident, for no one would allow a stranger's family to have such influence over the current head, even a nominal one. As a resource too valuable to remain at my disposal, you were to raise a girl or two to keep me busy, keeping me from thinking about anything but their charms. Did I say it right?"

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:29

Now for some reason, it seemed to him that Schaal was ready to be torn between her desires and her thoughts. Cold logic asserted that Sigismund would not forgive such a thing to his father, and it was Frederick she was loyal to in the first place. Despite everything, she had been through. But at the same time, she had endured too much in his company to turn away now. Despite all her loyalty. Class skills, hitherto sleeping quietly in the back of his mind, rose again, prompting him to speak and wound with words. He did not doubt that he was now capable of driving a former slave girl to suicide, just so long as she did not have to choose between him and his father.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:31

"Almost." The assassin said, still dry and indifferent. "No one would have killed your wife, rather an amicable arrangement, or with the help of a hired mentalist."

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:32

She said nothing more, frozen like a statue, unable, it seemed, even to breathe. Still, she wasn't just ash, no matter how much she tried to believe otherwise. The long years of service, loyalty, and the most ordinary life, though it was very difficult to find a moment for this "ordinary life," had gradually made her thaw a little. His class, his skills told him that twenty years ago she would have simply put him to sleep with a poke in some nerve knot, spiked him with some junk so he wouldn't remember his conclusions, and then gone to report to her father. The fact that she was hesitant now, unable to choose, was already much better than the cold executiveism that had been nurtured in her all her long life.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:41

"That's a good plan." That's all Sigismund said. "I don't approve, but I understand. You can tell my father that I would certainly fall to the despicable peasant ways of solving problems by beating the skin of my fists against his face, but my upbringing does not allow me to beat infirm old men. And now I would like to sleep, Shaal."

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:42

She stood silently, not even wiping her hands of the massage oil, put on her clothes as fast as the wind, and raced away, away from Sigismund, who was suddenly cold and prickly and unpleasantly frightening. He knew that she was running to his father for the report, and convinced herself that it was for the report that she was wringing all her strength out of herself, trying to move as fast as she could.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:43

That she is not really running away from herself.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:43

Frederick Lanorsk had a very high level, which logically derived from the experience of his youth, maturity, and old age, enough to write a couple or three cycles of adventure novels. It so happened that this man was forced to take over the management of the house in a crisis period, managing not only to keep it afloat but also to float higher, right on the heads of competitors, which had arranged the young Frederick mentioned crisis.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:44

Then there were long years of peace and quiet prosperity, during which the head of the house feverishly rebuilt what was lost, chewed up what was taken, and strengthened what was there. He proved incomparably more competent as a manager than as a father and a family man. After he had to poison his second wife, who by that time had managed to get a vial of perfume from her relatives, which was the first part of a very cunning multi-component poison, family life was over for him. Moreover, an heir had already been born.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:47

But the upbringing of the heir turned out to be a real failure, so the old aristocrat simply spat on the stupid son and began to look for ways to prolong life enough to work closely on the upbringing of his grandchildren. A mistake, perhaps even a directed diversion, for he seriously had to work out the assumption that the child had somehow been cursed or poisoned, turning him into an almost sorrowful mind. This blunder he took with the same cold concentration with which he was accustomed to receiving blows and striking back.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:47

Sigismund and his upbringing, if training through the female body can be called that, were dumped on the shoulders of Schaal, in whose loyalty he did not doubt, and Frederick himself began to work to leave his grandson home in a state that could not destroy the unsuccessful offspring. Ideally, he would bring him up himself, no longer allowing past mistakes, dumping the child's work on babysitters and servants. At the very least, he was ready to educate even a girl, thankfully there were enough mentions of successful ruling ladies in the chronicles, even if there were none among the Lanorsk.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:48

What he certainly didn't expect was for his son to get his mind right. Had he known, he would have organized several attempts in succession, honestly! He would have spared neither gold nor men, not even the possible answer in the form of poison in the glass, sprinkled by his son who had appreciated the lesson. Little had changed in him, but so successfully that the battered and uncontrollable coward had grown into a deadly venomous snake, dangerous, cold-blooded, and patient.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:49

Sigismund could not become a great warrior even now, despite his class, but he was still dangerous. The boy ceased to be frightened. He was no longer afraid at all. But from some unknown source came the ability to frighten, the ability to control himself at the level of not the lowest-level spies and pretenders, the ability to get to the truth, worthy of a professional interrogator, and, most importantly, an almost painful desire to become better, stronger, smarter. Even Frederick himself, for how seriously he took his development and learning, did not show such zeal at his age!

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:51

The boy grew up jokingly managing to withstand loads that would have broken a professional soldier, let alone a pampered young man who had never seriously engaged in anything heavy. Even the always unwavering Rossi had to admit that the calm indifference with which Sigismund takes blows and fractures makes him nervous. Yes, he knows that the healers assigned to him will instantly put him on his feet, that fatigue will be relieved by perfectly matched complexes of remedies, but still, but still...

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:52

Now this insolent boy, to whom he was woefully lacking in fatherly admonition as a child, is just as calmly trying to gut him with a training rapier, categorically refusing to accept the fact that blunted weapons are not meant for such things. And that's not to say he has no chance at all. Yes, Frederick has a higher level, but both of his classes are not combating, but administrative, designed for maximum control over the lands and holdings of the Lanorsk. The old earl had honed skills and high characteristics that the young man could not keep up with. He also had a weakness that hadn't fully healed, despite a full recovery, after a near-successful assassination attempt, a lot of old injuries, and just a venerable age.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:54

A month ago it would not have prevented him from kicking the dust out of Sigismund, who had just received his first class, but, as already said, the suddenly well-formed boy had too much desire to tear his own heart out in training. And he really knew how to endure pain, swatting away the blows like flies.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:55

His lower back ached unpleasantly, where he had once been hit by the blast wave from the explosive artifact placed under the tub, anticipating the imminent touch of the heavy cavalry boots, thoughtfully worn by his favorite son.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:55

It's bad.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:55

At first, when Shaal, barely dressed, burst into his office with a report of his son's sudden findings, he was indeed frightened. The house might not have survived an internal war, and explaining his motives to an angry teenager would hardly have worked. To hell with death, he had lived enough, but Sigismund himself was not yet ready to accept power!

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:56

Contracts have not been handed over, agreements have not been renegotiated, the retinue has not been sworn in, the spy network has not been renewed, and the allies have not been informed that the old comrade is retiring either. And most of them will gladly use the "we don't work with despicable patricide" argument to get away nicely from the commitments they once made! This is to say nothing of the fact that the same Shaal, could reflexively eliminate the threat to her master, even against his direct order. Even if he would execute her afterward!

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:58

After calming down a bit, after briefly hearing the full retelling of the conversation, which had suddenly turned to a very uncomfortable topic, the old man began to boil over little by little. Let's put aside the little fact that Sigismund managed to catch his teacher at the same trick she taught him to resist. Even pros have slip-ups, especially since agent training is still not the main specialty of Shaal, who is actually more of an assassin, or a honey trap, than a spy.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 18:58

But the words about the plebeian beating of infirm old men hit him harder than he wanted to admit. Yes, his years of glory and youth were long gone, his body was failing more and more often, old wounds ached and repeatedly broken bones ached. But what right did he, his son, have to point that out to him? Frederick wasn't going to argue that what he'd done to his offspring was far from the most humane and loving. Except it wasn't for him to point that fact out, not to him at all.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 19:19

Frederick did everything to preserve the House, to preserve what generations of Lanorsk had lived for and died for, while the impudent youth could only waste the family gold and hide behind the skirts of Shaal and the other servants. It was not he who spent nights sitting at maps and papers, building a web of intrigue, not he who struck back for every attempt to take another tidbit of the family's assets. He did nothing but obstruct! And now he dares to point out his senile infirmity, trying to hurt him more?

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 19:20

The Duke of Lanorsk was determined to beat an apology out of the mouth of his overly self-important son.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 19:20

Only the dust was knocked out, and not at all as gracefully as he would have liked. The young man was still spitting pain, striving at all costs to get his father with the flickering steel-colored snake that his rapier was turning into. Undoubtedly he was inferior to the possessor of high levels and advanced stats, only not nearly as comprehensive as the man wanted him to be.

Camrad_RIP 10.08.22 в 19:23