“Is this a test?” asked Verity.
“No,” said Alfric. He raised an eyebrow. “Just looking for opinions.”
“Ay, well,” said Hannah. “Seems the second one might put you into more difficult situations, away from your healer, which isn’t a good place to be.”
“True,” Alfric said, nodding. “The best-case scenario for it is a monster with armor on the front but not the back. I’m not sure that either is necessarily that good, though if I had to go with one, it would probably be the first. There the primary benefit is being able to lengthen or shorten the spear at will, which can be valuable in combat. Normally you choke up on the spear if you need to get closer to the opponent.” He held his hands out in front of him, which was apparently meant to demonstrate.
“Is there a reason you don’t approve of Mizuki dating?” asked Verity. She’d been rolling the conversation over in her mind, and the question had come to her unbidden. She’d only said it out loud because it was Alfric, and he seemed to prefer directness.
“Not really,” said Alfric. He looked somewhat uncomfortable. “My mind goes to certain scenarios where we lose her as a team member or where it interferes with our ability to run dungeons. I’d be happy for her, I enjoy her company, and I want the best for her, but… as far as replacements go, sorcerers are rare, and wizards come with their own problems. Finding a wizard who wants to do a dungeon is a bit of a tall ask.”
“So it’s about her utility?” asked Verity. “And I suppose the same goes for me?”
“Teams fall apart,” said Alfric. “Parties disband. The last year has given me a lot of experience with that. I’m trying to be realistic and to plan for the worst-case scenarios.”
“Once burned, twice shy,” said Hannah, nodding. “I can understand where he feels it and how he worries. Most likely, Mizuki will go on a date or two with Rolaj and have a brief liaison, but there’s a chance she’ll find somethin’ more in him and then declare she’s out of the party, which would be a problem for us all, considerin’ we’re livin’ in her house. Not to say that we don’t want her to be happy, ’cause of course we do, but if you’re Alfric, you’re lookin’ ahead to see the stick through the spokes. If it’s all well and good, there’s nothin’ that needs doin’. It’s not about utility, per se, I don’t think, it’s wantin’ to make sure that if somethin’ bad happens, he’s prepared for it.”
“It’s also a little about utility,” said Alfric. He frowned. “And a bit selfish, I’ll admit to that. Do you think it warrants an apology?”
“No,” said Verity. She paused. “I’d wondered whether, perhaps, it was a bit of jealousy on your part.”
“Jealousy?” asked Alfric. He looked over at the counter. “I don’t have any interest in Rolaj.” He grinned, making it clear that this was a joke.
Verity waited for Hannah to press the issue, but for whatever reason, the cleric didn’t, and while Verity had some interest in the subject of why that was a joke, she’d been taught that it was best to let such subjects pass if those involved brushed them aside.
“Do you think you’ll get the spear?” asked Hannah. “I s’pose you trained with all kinds of weapons.”
“Hammers, blades, and spears,” said Alfric. “Though not equally with all three. Quite a bit of my training was in the fundamentals, meaning how to adapt to unique circumstances and how to train with new equipment. It’s entirely possible that we’ll go into the next dungeon and pick up a trident that’s as good as Isra’s bow, and I’ll end up using that for the rest of my adventuring career.”
“And that’s the sort of thing you like,” said Hannah. “It’s like carryin’ a wardrobe up a hill.”
“In a sense,” said Alfric. “Dungeons and entads both offer unique challenges.” He hesitated, perhaps hearing how that sounded: too polished and soulless. “I really like knowing that there’s not some rule somewhere telling me how to do things. I like feeling like I’m on a frontier, out in the wild.”
“Seems a bit misplaced to me,” said Hannah. “Bemoanin’ the settlement of the world when you’re only eighteen. But I think I’ve come to understand you better than I did yesterday.”
The bell attached to the door jingled as someone entered, and it was only after she saw Alfric freeze in place that Verity turned to look. She’d expected the enigmatic Lola, but it was someone else, a tall man wearing blue robes with stars at the bottom hem. The staff he carried as well as the bangles marked him as a wizard. At first Verity thought he was old, but the more she looked at him, the more she thought that he was just prematurely balding.
“Josen,” said Alfric. He had a scowl on his face.
Chapter 34 — Woods Witch
“You’ve been keeping track of where we’re going, right?” asked Mizuki. It was becoming clear that if she was going to continue along with this profession, she was going to need better shoes. There was simply too much hiking involved.
“No, I haven’t,” said Isra, not glancing back. “Why would I?”
“Uh, so we don’t get lost?” asked Mizuki. It felt like they were deep into the woods, though the area they were in was technically a park, one with marked trails.
“I think that ‘lost’ is something other people get,” said Isra. She had a soft and quiet nature that quite appealed to Mizuki, along with a confidence that was reassuring.
“Well, so long as you’re by my side,” said Mizuki. “We’ll probably want to get going back fairly soon. I need to go see that boy about a date.”
“Mmm,” said Isra.
“I don’t suppose,” said Mizuki, “that you’ve dated?”
“No,” said Isra.
“They do it differently in Tarbin?” asked Mizuki.
“They do,” said Isra. “There are matchmakers.”
“Down in Cairbre they basically do a series of ‘engagements’,” said Mizuki. “Or one engagement, if you’re lucky. It’s much less of a big deal to break an engagement off. I was actually with a guy who wanted to do it that way, but I laughed it off, since it seemed so ridiculous. We ended up doing some normal dates, and it didn’t work out, which seemed like basically the same thing as a failed engagement, I guess, if you squint.”
“Matchmakers seem like they make more sense,” said Isra.
“They do, I guess,” shrugged Mizuki. “But I grew up in Pucklechurch where there wouldn’t have been much of a point to it. There were seventeen kids in my year, and I knew them all through comp.”
“Comp?” asked Isra.
Mizuki looked at her, or rather, at the back of her head. “Compulsory schooling?” she asked.
“Ah,” said Isra. “I knew about that. I hadn’t heard it called that.”
“And your father… opted you out?” asked Mizuki. You could do that, technically. Mizuki had begged her mom for it for a brief few days when she’d had a big fight with another girl at school, and been denied.
“I guess,” said Isra. “We didn’t talk about it.”
“Anyway,” said Mizuki. “In Kiromo, relationships are religious, and it’s kind of like having a matchmaker, but the matchmakers are clerics. And I still wonder how it’s done in small towns like Pucklechurch, where you know every single possible partner by the time you reach puberty. And most people are paired off early, so.” It had almost happened for Mizuki, but then she’d had a falling-out with her possible husband, and after that, it had mostly been a series of brief courtships that never went anywhere, even the ones that had seemed intense and promising. At twenty-two, it was getting harder and harder to find someone her own age who was unpartnered, and she had this sinking feeling that she was going to eventually settle with someone older, a widower, perhaps. So she knew how it was done in Pucklechurch, yes, but she didn’t know how it was done for her, specifically.