Sarah's Story Chapter 015 - Aunt Nadine

“Which one?” Nadine replied with a sarcastic tone. Helen frowned and opened her mouth to retort, but Nadine quickly raised her hands to cut her off. “Sorry, sorry. The last one I got was about your daughter’s choosing day coming up, and that you’d be free to start looking for James yourself. But I didn’t think you’d be here, what, a week after the day?”

Nadine turned to Sarah. “Did your choosing day come early or something? Most people need months of training after getting their classes to be able to fight on that level.”

“Uhm,” Sarah started nervously. “No, my choosing day was three days ago…”

“Three days!” Nadine exclaimed.

Sarah hurried to explain. “But I’ve been training to fight for years before getting my class.”

Nadine turned a stern look to Helen. “You’ve been training an unclassed child?”

Helen huffed and averted her gaze. “No, of course not. Stephen took the lead. The most I ever did was spar with her.”

Nadine breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re just as much a handful as ever…” She turned a concerned look to Sarah. “Sarah–”

But Helen interrupted her. “Nadine, tell me, what do you know about James.”

Nadine looked torn for a moment, then turned back to Helen with a stony expression.

“As I said in my letter, I’ve been asking around and keeping an ear open. As far as I know, there are no kidnapping rings here in the capital. Or elsewhere in the kingdom, for that matter. Matter of fact, the kingdom has been cracking down on kidnapping. They raised the mandatory punishment to life in prison, and missing children cases are highest priority for the guards.”

Sarah wondered how her Aunt knew all that.

“But no, I haven’t heard anything of James. Poor boy…” Nadine’s gaze and stony expression fell momentarily.

“But what about the request to the Adventurer’s Guild?” Helen asked.

Nadine looked back up. “What, the one from almost three years ago? I’m sure it’s still posted, unless it was canceled, but I doubt anyone’s taken any action on it.”

“And why not?” Helen huffed, her ire rising.

Nadine again raised her hands. “Helen, it’s because the crime didn’t happen here, the evidence pointed to the criminals moving away from here, and it’s a very old request. They call them ‘cold cases.’ Basically, unless the reward keeps getting raised, the request moves to the bottom of the stack and gets ignored in favor of better paying, more recent requests. ‘Hotter’ ones.”

Helen frowned. “What a stupid system.”

Nadine frowned back. “It’s not a stupid system, you’re just mad it’s not doing what you want.”

Helen sipped her water. “And that’s what makes it stupid.”

Sarah wanted to gape but schooled her expression. She’d never seen her mother act so… childish before.

Nadine also sipped her water. “What was James’ second class anyway? From what I remember in your letters, he was a Smith, but you never said what his other class was.”

Helen grimaced, and looked around. Nobody was in earshot, so she lowered her voice and leaned in to whisper.

“Enchanter.”

Nadine responded with a blank expression, before leaning back and thinking, sipping more water.

Sarah watched on tenterhooks.

Eventually, Nadine leaned forward again.

“Well, I suppose I can see what he wanted to do. But I’ll say this: it was a good thing you didn’t spread that around.”

“What do you mean?” Sarah asked.

Nadine turned to Sarah. “On the face of it, there’s good synergy. You may not know about Enchanters, growing up where you did, but they are notorious for having a hard time working with Smiths. Smiths hate ‘em, unless they’re a rare Smith and Mage combination, and by rare I mean there’s less than a handful of them in the entire kingdom. I couldn’t tell you exactly why, mind you, but it’s common knowledge in the craftsmen’s district that they don’t get on well. But if the nobility knew about a Smith-Enchanter combo, they’d–”

Helen interjected. “Nadine, please. Have you heard about anything that could lead us to James?”

Nadine shook her head slowly. “No… No, I can’t say I have. A Smith-Enchanter combo would either have been big news, or there would have been rumors about exceptional equipment spreading around. That, or James would have to be refusing to either Smith or Enchant, just sticking to one… But, pfft,” Nadine scoffed, “ain’t nobody willingly living with just one class.”

A grimace flashed across Helen’s face for the briefest moment.

“Uhm…” Sarah started, “Actually, Aunt Nadine, do you know of any classes that can help find people?”

“What, you mean like a Bounty Hunter? Yeah, there’s a few around, but they’re pretty expensive to hire.”

“Do they offer training?”

“Training? Why would–” Nadine trailed off.

Sarah leaned in and whispered. “I still haven’t chosen my second class.”

Nadine’s mouth fell open for several seconds, gaping at Sarah.

“I want to pick a second class that can help find James, and I didn’t have any options except Avenger–”

At this, Nadine stood up abruptly, as did Helen who put a hand on her shoulder.

“Nadine, sit, it’s fine.”

“Helen, what the hell–” Nadine hissed.

“Just hear her out.” Helen said firmly.

Brawler Class Skill [Danger Sense] has reached level 6.

Nadine sat down tensely and nodded, prompting Sarah to continue.

And so Sarah explained herself: about her commitment to find her brother, about her years of training, about her choosing day, and about why she was holding off on choosing her second class.

Finally, Nadine spoke again. “And it’s been days since your choosing day?”

“Yes.” Sarah nodded.

[Brawler] Class chosen. 1/2 Classes chosen. Please select a Class.

The intrusive thought was still there, in the back of her mind, but she pushed it down like usual and focused on the present.

Nadine turned to Helen with a look of fear on her face. “What the hell have you done, Helen?”

Helen frowned. “This was Sarah’s decision, Nadine.”

“You made her swear an oath!”

“I would have done it anyway,” Sarah retorted. “I like being a Brawler, and I want to find my brother and bring him home. I’m going to do it, oath or no.”

Nadine gaped at Sarah, then closed her mouth and said, with an intense expression. “Sarah, listen to me: if you ever need to talk, and you don’t think you can talk to your parents, you can come talk to me, I promise.”

“Uhh, okay?” Sarah replied, confused.

“And please, well, obviously, please don’t choose the Avenger class, but please don’t tell anyone else you have an Avenger class lined up in your second class options. That’s scarier than having a knife at your throat…” Nadine rubbed at her neck unconsciously.

“Okay.” Sarah nodded firmly. She believed her Aunt.

Nadine turned back to Helen. “Please tell me your other children aren’t this… unusual.” She delicately chose her words.

Helen shook her head. “Nope, my other boys are Farmers with normal combat classes. No Brawlers, unfortunately.”

Sarah saw Nadine roll her eyes.

They all paused while the waitress replaced their pitcher of water, and they all refreshed their glasses and sipped, taking a moment to process.

Helen put her glass down first, with just the slightest hint of impatience.

“Anyway, Nadine, our priorities are finding any hint of James’ whereabouts, and getting Sarah training to expand her second class options.”

Nadine nodded and turned to Sarah.

“Finding James is one thing, but for you, the best option is the Adventurer’s Guild. They offer training, and you can look into that old request. If you add some coin to the reward, it’ll be more attractive and might draw in more information. Other than Bounty Hunter, I’d guess that getting some Scout training might be helpful, not that I’m an expert on Adventuring.”

She then turned to Helen.

“Helen… I can see how hard this is for you. I didn’t realize…”

She trailed off a moment, looking at her younger sister across the table.

“I’m sorry.”

She didn’t say for what.

Helen nodded.

Nadine continued. “I’ll start asking around the shadier parts of the city, using my connections. If there’s any unusual enchanted gear floating around, I’ll hear about it, no doubt.”

“Thanks, Nadine.” Helen said, her expression softening.

“But what will you do, Helen?” Nadine asked quizzically.

“I just have to play to my strengths, like I always do.” Helen grinned.

“Huh?” Sarah grunted.

“I’ll do my best to gather information as well. And I’ll be tending the home while Sarah’s getting training, as well.”

“Wait,” Sarah said, “Is that really it?”

“Don’t underestimate me, Sarah.” her mother said with a dashing grin. “And don’t underestimate Homemakers. As long as we’re living together, we’re a household, and I can [Gossip] and [Eavesdrop] and keep an eye on you while you’re getting training.”

Her expression fell momentarily. “With James, it was different, because he was a young man and already Jared’s apprentice…” Her gaze returned to Sarah. “But with unwed girls, it’s different. I’ll be able to keep a much closer eye on you, as long as we’re living together and I’m taking care of you. That’s why I’ll handle all the chores, and all you have to do is focus on your training and trying to find James.”

Nadine frowned at this but remained silent.

Sarah felt reassured. “Okay,” she nodded.

It was at this moment that the arrogant young swordsman came down the stairs and entered the dining hall.

“Nadine, what happ–” he called out before spotting the other two women at the table with her. “You!” he started, before Nadine cut him off.

“Get over here, Leon.” She stood up and met him in the middle. “I won’t comment on your general behavior, but you have indeed been slacking on your combat training, just like I’ve been saying! That girl, who it turns out is my niece, had her choosing day just three days ago, and she had you knocked out in under a minute!”

Sarah raised her eyebrows. The fight had felt much longer than a minute to her. The swordsman, however, flushed red with embarrassment.

Nadine continued. “I can no longer remain silent about this. If you’re getting your ass handed to you by freshly classed young girls, I must report this to your father.”

The man paled now. “But, Nadine–”

“No, it’s too late for that. I am going to make a report to your father. The only thing you can change is whether I report that you learned your lesson from this, and you’re taking your training seriously, or I report that you learned nothing, and you’re still not taking your training seriously.”

The swordsman sputtered. “But, that’s why my father hired you! To protect me! In fact, it’s your fault for not protecting me!” He raised his voice, but Nadine just scoffed.

“You laid your hand on a young girl and let her throw you across the bar immediately. There’s not a bodyguard in the entire kingdom who can keep such an unskilled idiot–” she stretched out the word, “out of trouble. You put your hand on the stove and got burned. Learn your lesson already!”

He trembled with rage for a moment. “We’ll see what my father has to say about this.”

Nadine just gazed at him with her normal stony expression. “Yes, I suppose we will.”

And with that, the man stormed back upstairs, refusing to acknowledge Helen and Sarah still sitting at the table.

Nadine returned to the table and finished off her glass of water before pouring another. “Phew, looks like my schedule’s opened up and I’ll be getting a bit of a bonus.”

A faint grin crossed her face, and she turned to Helen. Helen smiled and nodded.

The next day, Nadine was indeed released from her contract. The swordsman’s father, the head of one of the larger trading syndicates in the capital, was most displeased with her report on the brawl and his son’s pigheadedness. He offered Nadine a bonus, given that his son had come close to losing his life, but Nadine turned it down, asking instead that he ask his trading network for any information that could lead to finding James.

Nadine then spent the next week making the rounds to everyone she knew in the capital, putting the word out about James, and meeting up with Helen and Sarah for dinner to report in.

Helen took on some odd jobs at their inn, helping out with the cleaning and cooking, and otherwise spent her days for the first week making friends with the other working women and housewives in the neighborhood. Day by day, her social network expanded farther and deeper, and her grasp on the goings-on of the capital grew stronger.

As for Sarah, the day after her first brawl, she walked up the broad main street towards the center of the city, and found herself at mid-morning on the threshold of the kingdom’s Adventurer’s Guild Headquarters. The large doors were open, and as she stepped into the room, a fair bit dimmer than the outside had been, all the conversations died down and she felt everyone’s gaze turn to her.

She stepped forward confidently.