Syl: Chapter 198 (Patreon)

Chapter 198: Spider Pageant

We reached the gate without issue but were stopped when I attempted entry.

"Err... Miss, is that monster registered?" One of the guards asked, pointing to Vee sitting on my shoulder.

"Nope, I bonded with her while on my quest. I'm unsure what the procedure is to get her registered and accepted entry," I responded and flashed my gold-rank identification.

The dwarf nodded. "Good, so it's not my eyes going bad. I thought maybe I missed you carrying her out." He chuckled. "For a newly tamed monster, there's a procedure to follow, forms to fill out, and a test to be administered. I'll send one of our runners to the guild to fetch an evaluator for you. You'll have to wait outside till you're given the all-clear."

"Sure, no problem; any idea what the test involves?" I questioned.

"I think it differs from monster to monster?" The dwarf answered, scratching his beard. "It's not a very common occurrence here, but I did see a dwarf one time bringing a badger. They made it do a few tricks and let him go inside."

"Someone tamed a badger?" I asked in apparent shock, recalling how vicious those things were.

"Aye. They make good diggers if you avoid the claws... And teeth... And don't step on their tail..." He paused and then let out a hearty chuckle. "Actually, I kind of see your point! I'm sure your little spider will be no problem!"

I nodded and stood off to the side, allowing traffic to pass unimpeded.

"So, what do you think? You up for doing a few tricks?" I questioned Vee mentally.

She gave a sort of shrugging gesture with her little front arm legs. "I mean, if I have to so they don't kill me, I guess it's not the most humiliating thing I ever did. Vomiting in front of you during a life-or-death situation was probably way worse."

"It wasn't life-or-death..." I corrected.

"It certainly felt like it to me. I thought you would either melt me in the ooze or put brainworms into me. Maybe even both?" She replied.

"I do not have brainworm powers..." I complained.

We spent some time waiting for the guild to send its representative. Eventually, a small group of dwarves came to the gate and pointed to me at the waiting point.

"Ah, Miss Syl, sorry for the-" the dwarf began before pausing. He stared in surprise, which transitioned into shock.

One of the other dwarves was the first to speak. "Is that a tier-five creature!?" a scholarly dwarf blurted out. She looked amazed.

Everyone tensed up. A few reached for weapons.

"Isn't that the extermination target?" Another dwarf asked.

"Syl..." Vee whispered with worry.

"I promised I'd keep you safe," I reassured her mentally.

I held up my hand.

"Firstly, the quest was to remove her from the mine, not specifically to kill her," I first clarified. "Secondly, it was reported that she never attacked dwarves outright, even letting them escape if they retreated. Finally, I've successfully bonded her, as the Emblem shows."

Some of the dwarves grumbled in complaint, while a few nodded in agreement.

"That may be true, but that spider still invaded and took over a vital dwarven mining operation!" One of the dwarves complained.

"Not by choice. She was planted there, captured while she was in an evolution coma," I retorted.

That got a big reaction out of them.

"That's a big accusation to make; I hope you have some proof to back that up?" A grumpy dwarf asked.

"Well, the spider did appear out of nowhere..." Another commented.

"Would the fact that I learned it from Vee herself count?" I questioned.

"Preposterous!" The grumpy dwarf blustered.

However, the scholarly-looking dwarves raised her hand. "No, she does have a point. A bonded companion can convey feelings, images, and eventually thoughts through the bond if it reaches sufficient advancement."

"Plus, can't elves talk to monsters?" Another dwarf questioned.

I was about to correct him, but another dwarf interrupted.

"Non-magical monsters only; clearly, this spider qualifies as that," The scholarly dwarf clarified.

"So definitely not a trustworthy source then!" The grumpy dwarf now seemed gleeful.

"Let me finish!" The scholar dwarf scowled; evidently, she despised being interrupted. "While it won't work on magical creatures, no doubt it means she is well practiced with talking and interpreting much more exotic and primitive thoughts."

"Hey!" Vee complained mentally. "I'm fully intelligent, you bearded bastard!"

"Yeah, but we're a special case," I responded mentally. "I mean... Comparing myself to my slime brethren is... Upsetting, to say the least."

"Look... The monster is clearly tame, sitting on her bloody shoulder like a parrot."

"But what about the lost time and money?"

"Surely that's for the Flinthearts to worry about, not us?"

"Ore procurement is the duty of all dwarves!"

"Well, I agree with you there!"

I cleared my throat to get their attention.

"I was going to withhold this until a more official setting, but I had attempted bribes to stop me from completing this quest twice."

The grumpy dwarf tried to interject, but I continued.

"And when I refused to accept the bribe, I was attacked."

He shut his mouth promptly.

"So I have my own account, as well as my companions. The fact this quest went unresolved for so long should be proof enough of foul play. But, if money is the issue, well..."

I was about to pull out a hunk of obsidianite and toss it out in front of them. I was getting super annoyed by all this talk of money, and I'd bet this grumpy guy was on the take. But... My rational side won over, and I hid my original intentions with a fake cough, well-timed thanks to [Acting], and made my suggestion.

"I'll accept no payment for the quest and donate to cover the lost income. Call it paying rent for Vee's stay in the mine?" I suggested.

"You think you can pay the loss of income from an entire mine?" The grumpy dwarf said mockingly.

"Ask Kaldrour Flintheart yourself; he knows my financial situation," I responded bluntly.

The grumpy dwarf looked a blend of shocked and upset by that statement. He was going to retort when the scholar silenced him with a gesture of her fist.

"Very well, we shall send a runner to confirm with Mister Flintheart," She gestured to one of the tagalongs, who nodded and ran off. "I understand it is elf custom to become very close to one's [Bonded Companion] if you are willing to go this far already for this..." She cleared her throat. "Apologies, that was rude of me. If you are this close to Vee already, then I can understand why you are willing to go to such extremes."

"Wow, they really think you're an elf, huh?" Vee commented. "Also, are you sure about going this far for me? I mean, I did try to kill you a few hours ago... Surely a trait point discount isn't worth that much? I'd hate to put you in financial ruin or anything."

I wanted to burst out laughing. "Vee... From what I understand, I have more money than I know what to do with. And that was just a small portion of what I gave them. I got a lot more where that came from; it was a big worm, after all."

I could sense Vee's confusion over the mental link, but our mental relay was interrupted by the scholar dwarf talking up again.

"While we are waiting for confirmation, we might as well proceed with the tests. Although, considering Vee is literally sitting on your shoulder, it almost feels more like a formality than an actual test..."

The grumpy dwarf harumphed, but it looked like he would finally do his job.

"What is the procedure for registering a [Bonded Companion] with the guild?" I questioned. "I have no doubt Vee will pass your tests."

"Vee will receive her own tiny tag, linked to your own. It will help indicate to other adventurers that she is tamed and presumably an ally," the scholar explained. "If she starts showing ferocity or signs of the bond deteriorating, she will need another evaluation. While such high-tier companions are not unheard of, you must always remember the risk of her going evolution-crazy. You will be held responsible."

"Evolution-crazy?" Vee questioned, but I had to ignore her for now.

"Talk about it later," I shot her a quick mental reply.

"Sure, that all sounds reasonable," I replied to the dwarf.

"Wonderful. Now, let's proceed with the test; I'm eager to see how close you've managed to become already!" The scholarly dwarf admitted with a big grin on her face. "Also, it goes without saying, but this must all be accomplished without using [Order]."

I nodded.

Not that I would even if I could.

What followed was me effectively asking Vee to do some tricks: Go here, jump there, climb that, retrieve this, and give the scholar dwarf a handshake.

"This is very demeaning..." Vee grumbled. "I feel like I'm participating in a dog pageant."

I had no idea what a dog pageant was, but I begged her to endure it for a little longer.

Then, I had to ask Vee to demonstrate a few, but not all, of her abilities. They had clearly never heard of this strain of spider before, or if they had, it was extremely rare.

I didn't want to reveal Vee's full capabilities, nor did she.

"We have to show them something... What about just growing and shrinking and a bit of web manipulation?" I suggested. "Don't show your [Rift Thread], and definitely no [Dimension Magic]!"

"Yeah, that's fine, I guess..." Vee agreed.

"Vee, could you grow a bit? Maybe about the size of a large wolf?" I requested out loud for the sake of appearance.

Vee nodded and then began to slowly grow. She could have done it in a mere instant, as I knew from our fight, but clearly, she didn't want to cause the dwarves to get a fright.

"Remarkable!" The scholar shouted in surprise. "I don't think I've ever heard of anything outside a dungeon with something like this. I can only imagine the storied life such a specimen must have lived through to evolve in such a way."

Then Vee began her thread demonstration. The scholar clapped her hands excitedly, and even the grumpy dwarf seemed surprised. She weaved some threads into some intricate patterns, and while they looked visually impressive, I knew they weren't as good as the traps she had spun during our encounter.

It was becoming quite a spectacle, and now we had accumulated many onlookers. We were about to move on with our next demonstration when a runner came sprinting frantically.

"Stop!" The tired dwarf shouted, almost falling over with exhaustion. He was desperately clutching something in his hands.

Everyone turned to his gaze. He held up his hand and waved what looked like a letter in his hand desperately.

"I have a missive from the embassy!" He shouted amongst gasped breathes.

"The embassy?" The scholar looked confused, and then she tilted her head at me. "I guess this must be related to you. How on earth did they hear about this so quickly?"

"Friends of yours?" Vee questioned.

I shrugged in response to the dwarf before mentally replying to Vee. "No idea... The last elf I met ran away in a panic; I thought I had offended him or something. It was a bizarre encounter."

"Bloody spies," The grumpy dwarf spat.

The scholar accepted the missive, broke the seal, and began reading it. She frowned and then sighed.

"Well, that's a bloody bummer..." She cursed. "I had no idea questioning an elf about the capabilities of a [Bonded Companion] was a diplomatic offense. I guess we will have to stop here..."

"What!? It's a bloody monster; who gives a shit?" Grumpy yelled.

"Kratot!" The scholar screamed at him. "If you'd stop interrupting me, you'd stop putting your foot in your mouth! Or would you like to explain to the bluebloods why The Grove is now personally pissed off at us?"

He shut his mouth, now looking a little worried.

She cleared her throat. "As I was saying... The missive clearly indicates, as per our long-standing and prosperous agreement with our wonderful elven allies, [Bonded Companions] are to be treated as any person would. It is a sacred bond not to be besmirched by ignorance."

Grumpy looked visibly pale.

"Woah, did you know all of that?" Vee asked me curiously.

"I had no idea... Although I'll take the win for us." I replied.

"I apologize profusely for making Vee perform these probably humiliating tests..." The scholar replied and bowed her head. "I hope she will forgive me."

"No problem. I wanted to follow the guild rules," I replied.

The original runner also decided to finally make his appearance.

"Sir Flintheart has vouched that Miss Syl has more than enough to compensate any loss or damages suffered," he replied, handing over a hastily scribbled-together document.

"Well! Looks like things are lining up very well for us!" Vee exclaimed happily.

I agreed, although I was still a little concerned. Why were the elves sticking their nose into my business?