Reborn as the First Boss, Chapter 33 (Patreon)

Chapter 33 – Cheers

Linette walked in, carrying a tray with a loaf of bread, some cheese, and a tankard. Probably with whatever the local ale was. Breakfast in this world, I’d found, was always roughly the same thing, though the details changed depending on how wealthy the locals were, and what was in season. The maid smiled as she saw me sitting up.

“Ah, Mistress, it is good you’re awake. Everyone has been very worried about you, since you collapsed after the battle last night. They’ve been talking about that almost as much as how you killed the Goblin Hero.”

I chuckled as I took the tray from her, and began tearing at the bread. “So, what do they make of it, so far? I’m sure you’ve heard some of the rumors, right?”

Linette chuckled. “Well, what they believe tends to change based on who you’re talking to. The peasants of the town seem to believe that you were blessed by the gods in that moment, while the knights and adventurers are thinking that you used some rare consumable to boost your powers. Both groups have decided that the reason you collapsed after the battle was because the strain was too much for you.”

“Interesting. Well, the truth is my titles gave me a substantial boost to my attributes while fighting the Goblin Hero, but, once he died, they all came crashing down to normal. So, they’re not wrong that the crash is what caused me to collapse.”

I paused, considering this for a moment as I ate. “Obviously, telling them my full titles would be foolish, and I can only lie so much about fake titles. There are enough people here who know the mechanics of the Voice of the World well enough that they might know if I tried that. No, we’ll go with the consumable line. Or, an enchantment that has a long recharge time? That would allow me to explain why I do not use it more often, along with the crash. What do you think, Linette?”

“I believe that the enchantment route is the best, Mistress. I have heard of enchantments that acted like that before. And people will understand that it is not something to be used lightly, since those enchantments always have drawbacks to giving someone such power. But, if I may, Mistress, you should adjust the spell you use to hide your true nature. It still shows you as Level 7, and everyone who saw your fight knows that you should have the Hero Slayer title.”

“Ah, yes. That would confuse them, since there is no way that I wouldn’t rise in levels during that battle. Thank you, Linette, I’ll take care of that now.”

Mhyrsha Shadowsoul

Greater Succubus Female

Level 16 Mind Sorceress / Spellshooter / Courtesan

Titles: Enchantress, Illusionist, Seductress, Virgin’s Bane, Black Widow, Hero Slayer II, Roaming Boss, Baroness, Divine Curse, Executioner

I undid the two [False Appraisal] spells I had layered up, and looked at what [Appraise] had to say about me. I was no expert on things, of course, but I had to admit that my rise from Level 1 to Level 16, in just a couple weeks, was nothing short of meteoric. But I couldn’t let others see this information. It would cause nothing but trouble. Time to reset the [False Appraisal]s.

Alis Pureheart

Human Female

Level 16 Mind Sorceress / Spellshooter / Courtesan

Titles: Baroness, Enchantress, Illusionist, Hero Slayer I, Executioner

There, that was good for the ‘real’ Appraise results. [Enchantress] and [Illusionist] weren’t terrible titles for someone to have, especially as a Mind Sorceress, and they would help explain why my spells were so effective, even on goblins above my level. And everyone had seen me kill the Goblin Hero, execution style, so [Hero Slayer I] and [Executioner] needed to be there.

Alis Pureheart

Human Female

Level 16 Mind Sorceress / Diplomat

Titles: Baroness, Enchantress, Illusionist, Hero Slayer I, Executioner

And, there. The second level of [False Appraisal] ‘merely’ hid my second class and changed my profession. That could be explained easily enough. A second class was rare, and so hiding it would be natural if someone didn’t want to answer too many questions, and Diplomat was a more ‘dignified’ profession than Courtesan, from a noble’s point of view, so changing that made sense, too. I left the titles alone, though. There was no harm in people seeing those, after all.

“What do you think, Linette?”

The maid smiled, and nodded as she looked over my work. “Very nicely done, Mistress. Even nosy people who try to look past the first layer should be satisfied with what they see.”

“Excellent,” I said, as I turned back to my meal. “So, anything I should know, before I head out and deal with the aftermath?”

“Fires ruined several of the houses, as you know. Fortunately, most of the buildings in the village have stone walls, thanks to rubble from the mines and the mountain being right there, so it is really only a matter of replacing rooves and some furniture that burned up. The villagers who did not join the fighting, their possessions, livestock, and so forth were hidden safely in the mines, so they are fine.”

“I assume someone has started work trying to release them from the mines?”

“The locals are on it, Mistress. It isn’t easy work, but they should have the entrance clear by the morrow, according to what I’ve heard.”

“Fine,” I said, before washing down the last of my breakfast with the surprisingly decent ale. “Well then, I guess I should get up. Can’t have people say the Baroness spends all day in bed while everyone else works.”

Linette chuckled as she brought my clothes for me to change into. “With respect, Mistress, I am fairly certain that today, at least, no one would begrudge you spending the day in bed. You might not have the Hero title, but they are certainly calling you the heroine of the hour.”

I chuckled, and said, “If only they knew, hmm?” Thankfully, the clothes I had weren’t courtly finery. I had been riding to a battle, after all, and so I had my ‘adventuring’ getup to wear. The fact that all of my clothes benefitted from the [Unmarred] enchantment, making sure they cleaned and repaired themselves over time, was a big bonus, as well, since I didn’t need to worry about washing or mending things.

After making sure my weapons were all arranged in their proper places, I walked out into the main area of the chapel to Yton that we had taken over as my temporary residence while preparing for the goblin horde. I was glad to see the rest of my party there, waiting for me. “I am pleased to see you all made it through. No permanent injuries, yes?”

Angelina shook her head. “Some wounds, as normal for fighting like we encountered, but none bad enough that they were beyond my healing. The additional power from leveling up so much helped, as well.”

A quick [Appraise] of the group showed that Linette and Astruth were now level 18, gaining three levels from the fight, while Angelina and her sister, Jewell were both level 15, getting seven levels in a single night. I chuckled, and said, “Well, we can’t always count on getting a plethora of levels to boost things. Angelina, you know the Healer’s arts better than the rest of us. What level would you need to be to heal limbs that are crippled or lost?”

“Depends on the type of injury, Mistress, and how quickly you want the healing done. For someone who has lost an arm or leg, and needs one regrown? That’s needing a Priest or Druid’s magic, and even they would need to be at least Level 20, if not higher.

“Now, for a broken bone, rather than a missing limb? I could do the healing now, if I could set the limb and let it be, same as anyone treating such a wound, but I’d be able to reduce the time needed for full healing down to days, rather than weeks or months. If you wished for something to heal them in a more rapid fashion, then that would be Level 30 at the earliest, though I may be able to brew up potions as an Alchemist before then, if I had the right materials. Troll’s Blood Potions are the common way to quickly heal such wounds in a hurry, and they work on regrowing limbs, too.”

I sighed, and said, “And I guess that the most difficult ingredient to get would be the blood of a troll?”

“As you say, Mistress. The brutes are not well known for happily giving up their blood so alchemists can make their brews. More than one expedition to gather materials has ended up needing to use the materials just to recover from the expedition, rather than getting potions to market. But, if we had the materials, and the recipe, then the potions themselves would be usable whenever, so long as they were properly stored.”

“Right, I would prefer to have some on hand, just in case.” I sighed, and said, “This whole thing could have gone sideways in a hurry, and I really don’t want to use up trump cards so soon if I don’t have to.”

“With respect, Mistress,” Astruth said, “do you expect further incidents like this to happen?”

“If we were in the middle of some trashy novel, then I would expect the next crisis to be coming any day now. But, even without that, the Hero title getting thrown around means that there will be forces moving, shaking things up. Better to have potions that can save us a lot of grief and not need them than need them and not have them.”

“I understand, Mistress. In that case, Captain Lunet asked to see you when you recovered, to report on the battle, and the aftermath, as well as other things.”

“All right, then. Let’s go see the Captain, and see how much damage was done.”

I pushed open the chapel doors, blinking at the sudden brightness of the early sun’s light hitting me in the face. However, before my vision cleared, I heard a roar of voices all about me. I opened my eyes, and saw that the area about the chapel was filled with the survivors of the goblin raid. They were cheering. For me.

Five members of my household guard stood in front of the chapel, ostensibly keeping the people back, but no one was pushing it. Beyond them, I saw men-at-arms wearing the colors of Windwater Barony, and some of the adventurers, but most were the villagers that had stayed to fight. Looking about, I saw the signs of battle on each and every one of them. Bloodied clothes or uniforms, damaged armor not yet mended, and some on crutches or with limbs in slings, clearly having been tended by the healers. I was probably the only one who didn’t show signs of the battle, thanks to my enchantments.

“Sorry, my Lady,” Roland said, as the half-elven guildmaster made his way to the front. “You should know that nothing spreads faster than rumors, so when they heard that the Hero Slayer was awake, it seems everyone wanted to come and pay their respects.”

I laughed, and said, loud enough for the crowd to hear, “Well, if they were so lacking for things to do that they all came to check on me, then I guess the village pulled through all right, yes?” That got some smiles from the crowd, so I continued, “Listen up, you lot! If the Healers have cleared you for work, get back to the mines so we can get those people out in some sunlight! Sooner all those people and supplies are back above ground, the sooner we have the victory feast!”

That obviously was answered with a cheer from the crowd. “And those of you who aren’t up for the physical labor, since the healers are knitting you back together? There’s plenty of work that can be done without shifting rock and stone. We need a tally of the damage done to the village, so we know what to get the craftsmen working on first! The battle’s been won, aye, but now comes the part they never sing about in songs of war and glory. Does us no good to win a battle but lose the village because we didn’t put the work in after!”

With that, the crowd started to break up, in high spirits as they went back to the work of recovery. Making my way up to Roland, I smiled, and said, “It is good to see you made it, Roland. Now, I think I best hear about how things fell out after the Hero died. Where are Captain Lunet and Headman Tomas?”

Roland’s face clouded over at that. “The Captain is at the storehouse where we were running the planning out of, before the battle. She’s been coordinating the relief efforts, as well as keeping a watch upon the wall, just in case any stragglers come back. As for Headman Tomas…” He shook his head, and the expression told me all I needed to know.

“All right. Lead the way, Guildmaster, and lets see what the butcher’s bill was.”