Bog Standard Isekai

Chico the [Bard] obeyed Ian of Avion’s instructions and played the first song of the night as a line dance, so the students dutifully lined up with men on one side and women on the other. It reminded Brin a lot of the dances back in Hammon’s Bog, and a lot of the steps were the same as one of the ones he’d learned there.

Jeeves stayed and played with the band, fitting in with the group seamlessly

He ended up across from Bia, and he really hoped that she wasn’t counting this as her “one dance” because they never got closer than three feet from each other, and spent most of the dance further than that. The dance paid a lot of attention to footwork, and they spent most of the time with both hands raised in the air, bringing them together to clap at certain points. It really felt like a country dance; a strange choice for a bunch of snooty nobles, but they all seemed to be having a good time.

He certainly wasn’t complaining, since even though he wasn’t exactly dancing with Bia, he was situated where he couldn’t help but watch the sight of her bouncing on her feet. Her high Dexterity was doing her a lot of favors here, making even this dance seem smooth and graceful.

He wasn’t too distracted by Bia that he completely forgot about Vitor, of course. He sneakily covered the floor under Vitor’s feet with glass, and then stabbed up with glass knives right as Vitor was stepping down. Vitor never let the knives touch him, though, and kept up the steps without looking like he was bothered at all. The only sign that he even noticed them was towards the end of the first dance when he winked at Brin briefly before turning his attention back to Gyromia.

The dance ended and a second one started up. Bia curtsied and then backed away from the dancefloor, making Brin worried that she really was counting this as her one dance. She was replaced by Erivira, a dark-eyed swanlike [Student of Magic] who was one of the girls that Sancha had to chase away the most often.

This song was slower, almost mournful, but also a line dance. He hadn’t ever actually practiced this one, but he thought he could mimic the steps well enough since it was slow.

Small sneak attacks weren’t working on Vitor. He’d keep them up, of course, but he had to assume that Vitor’s anti-projectile Skills would deflect the majority of Brin’s airborne attacks, and his in-combat Dexterity would help him avoid the rest. Brin was going to need a massive, all-out attack if he was going to have a chance of wounding the [Thirsty Blade].

For that, he had some options. Hogg had a field day with preparations for this thing, so all of the furnishings on the tables were made of glass. The food would come out soon, but the knives, forks, plates and cups were out–all glass. There were also big glass candelabras on the tables, and Hogg had even hidden pure bricks of glass under the tablecloths. Brin had been up half the night pushing those bricks through his furnace. They were high quality and would be useful for anything he needed when the time came.

His preparations hadn't just been for him, though. He'd also stashed a backpack for Sion under one of the tables. Brin didn't get it, but Sion had insisted that he needed his best stuff on hand if he was going to make his magic happen. Most of Sion's power came from his money, connections, and sheer cunning, so Brin often forgot that he had a variant of the [Merchant] Class that made him very good at finding the exact right item for the exact right person.

He took stock of his surroundings, getting a feel for the nearby glass with his magic, readying himself to reach out and grab it when needed. His plan was to wait for someone else to cause a distraction and then attack Vitor when everyone was looking the other way. This was a group of [Mages]. Something would happen tonight; Brin just needed to wait for his chance.

The second song ended. Brin bowed to Erivira and then stepped out of the dance to hang back and talk to Rhun and Sion.

“You got that thing I gave you?” Brin asked.

“I have a plate. But where’s the food?” Rhun asked, and held up the disc with a target on it that Brin had given him.

“They’ll bring it out soon. Just keep that thing safe,” said Brin.

“Am I to carry it around everywhere I go?” Rhun asked.

“You could give it to Sion and then protect him instead if you want,” said Brin. “As long as it doesn’t break.”

Rhun was Brin’s ace-in-the-hole. If he could protect his fellows from enemy [Dread Knights] and raging [Witches], he could protect a plate from a jumped up sand mage.

One of his Invisible Eyes noticed a clump of sand harden into a rock and then shoot towards a target on the other side of the hall in a flower arrangement. It was a bit far for his range, but Brin managed to grab the target and move it out of the way. Just because he trusted Rhun didn’t mean he’d let the others break so easily.

“Have you seen Marksi?” asked Brin.

Sion shook his head mournfully. “Hiding, I assume. You know how he hates conflict.”

“He loves conflict,” said Brin.

“He loves battle. He hates arguments,” Rhun corrected.

“And there you go, picking a fight with the first noble lord you see. For shame. Did you not think about how this would affect poor Marksi? But forget Marksi! Did you not think about me? How can I endure, knowing I’m being robbed of seeing him scuttle around this party wearing that top hat?” asked Sion.

Brin hung his head. “I’ll do better.”

“See that you do,” said Sion. Then he rubbed his hands together. “Now. Who is my first victim?”

Brin laughed. “Right, your plot to take over Steamshield’s iron business. Princess Gracia isn’t here yet, but I bet she’ll come later. You should talk to Ares over there if you get the chance. Gyromia, obviously. And… um, I think Rafael of Makado’s family owns an iron mine? They’re not exactly allies of mine, though. Oh! You should talk to that [Fire Mage] over there. He’s a commoner, but sworn to Vargas and he’s already working in their factories. I bet he’s got the ear of Loys Vargas even more than Gyromia does.”

“Excellent,” said Sion, and Rhun put the target plate in Sion’s hands to keep him from continuing to rub them together.

Brin noticed a group of seven ladies heading his direction, and split away before he could get cornered. But he noticed that the ladies turned towards Rhun instead of him.

Right. He was only popular when Rhun wasn’t around.

The third dance ended soon after, and the band waited before playing another, because the servants wanted to cross back and forth across the room to start bringing the food out.

Brin stepped over to Ares to commiserate. “I’m a tall, handsome, foreign knight, too. Just saying.”

Ares was watching the food like a hawk and barely seemed to notice Brin. “You’re on the short side of average, I’d say.”

“I forget who I’m talking to. Beanpoles don’t get to talk about average.”

The food looked delicious. The fact that they were serving it buffet style didn’t mean it was quantity over quality. Value Sense told Brin that some of the dishes on the table were measured in silver capitals. Did Ares ever get to eat anything like this?

“Come on. I’ll be your taste tester,” said Brin.

“I didn’t want to be the first one to rush over,” said Ares.

“You won’t. I will, and you can follow.”

“Then forward, friend, and I’ll follow you to the feast.”

Brin grabbed a plate, filled it with seven different meats and three slices of pie, and then found a table to enjoy it. While he ate, his other mind put shards of glass into Vitor’s carrots. The guy was such a boy scout he was literally choosing to eat a balanced meal with fruits and vegetables.

He was elated when Vitor actually popped the glass-laden carrots into his mouth and chewed. Brin tried to use his magic to take control of the glass and slice into Vitor’s tongue, but quickly found his connection to the glass completely shut. He sort of knew about this: a [Mage] often lost efficiency with his magic when it entered another person’s body. It made perfect sense if you knew anything about the Wyrd. But he’d thought he’d still be able to do something. And now Vitor was just eating glass. That couldn’t be healthy.

Vitor chewed, swallowed, and then spat out a puff of glass sand into a napkin. Then he turned and smirked directly at Brin. Then, still making eye contact, Vitor reached over to the stack of plates and pulled out the exact one that Brin had put a target on, and smashed it on the floor.

Brin pounded the table, making their plates clink. “Sancta Solia.”

“You’re being really weird tonight,” said Ares.

“It’s the duel,” said Brin.

“I know. You should go more down-low, though.”

Brin suddenly felt something strange on his tongue. “Oh, shoot, don’t eat the bacon bomb.”

“What? No! I was saving that for last!” Ares looked genuinely dismayed.

“Let’s get a second opinion,” said Brin. He met Sancha’s eye where she stood talking with her friends and waved her over.

She came over and Brin held up his fork with a piece of the cheese and chicken wrapped in bacon. It probably had a fancier name than “Bacon Bomb” but that’s what he was going with.

This story originates from NovelFire. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Rather than accept the bite off his fork, she leaned over Ares and cut herself a bite with clean silverware off of his plate. She ate it, and then stuck out her tongue and waggled her fingers near her mouth. “Ooh! It tingles! This is assuredly poisoned. I surmise it lieth in the cheese.”

Ares gave such a downcast expression that she pulled him up from his chair. “Oh, but haste thee, friend, and I shall guide thee to where finer tastes await. Thou shalt sup on dainties so divine that thy Pork Roulade shall be but a faint remembrance.”

Now Brin wanted what they were having. He let them go, but kept an Invisible Eye on them so that he could try out all the stuff that Sancha picked out.

He also sent a quick message to Lumina in the Silent Voice to warn her about the poison. Sancha had been fairly blasé about the poison, but he knew that Lumina would want to track down the person who'd done it and punish them harshly.

Soon it was time for the first partner dance, and Bia sought him out first without him needing to track her down. For the first time that afternoon, the dance hall was completely quiet except for the sound of the music. Conversation had completely died down now that near everyone was on the dance floor.

He noticed Sancha really had given Ares her first dance. Vitor was with Gyromia. Guoncal was a wallflower, but he hadn't fled the ball completely. Rhun had selected the most soft-spoken and timid of the ladies who'd swarmed him. Sion, on the other hand, had waited until near the last moment and then approached one of the girls who looked like she might not get a partner. The fact that she was a level 37 [Mage of Flame] at seventeen, talented but from a poor family, was just one of those things that kept Brin wondering if Sion really could plan that far ahead or if he was just lucky.

"Do you talk when you dance? I do," said Bia, snapping Brin's attention back to his date. "I noticed Lumina skipped the dance. That's customary for the first dance. If there was going to be a fight, it would be now. You know, other than your little spy vs spy game with Vitor. Should I be jealous? I squeezed into this tiny dress for you and you're paying almost as much attention to him as you are to me."

The steps weren't exactly simple and he had to move around the other dancers in the exact right way, so Brin was paying more attention to the dance than to either Bia or Vitor. "Oh, don't worry about him. You're still my favorite enemy."

She giggled. "Do you mean it?"

"Of course!"

Brin was thankful for every minute he'd spent practicing his dancing. Lumina had showed him a couple whirls and flourishes that a talented dancer might add to the ballroom dance, and Bia was moving through each of them as effortlessly as if they were the absolute bare minimum.

The overall level of talent in this room was high, but Dexterity didn't automatically make you good at dancing; you still had to practice. All that meant was that the average student was at the level of a seasoned professional from his old world, and not supernaturally graceful like Bia and the other few Dexterity-mains in the room.

"It's kind, what you're doing for Vitor," said Bia.

"I honestly wouldn't bother if it were just for him, but I'm also saving all the ladies in the room from his so-called 'accidents.'"

"Can't fault you there."

He noticed Vitor stumble a bit on one of his steps, and panicked, worrying that Vitor's curse was switching to out-of-combat mode. He took one hand away from Bia's waist, and without pausing in his own steps, drew a glass throwing knife from his pocket and chucked it at Vitor.

Vitor caught it, and crumbled it to glass sand in his fist, also without pausing or fumbling any more steps.

Brin didn't mind at all. He was still biding his time. He would get his chance.

"You're squeezing my hand," said Bia.

"Sorry."

She shrugged. "So tell me about your study group with Lumina. Is it true she can speak the Language? And what does that even mean?"

Spreading Lumina's prestige and fame wasn't something he needed to avoid, so they spent the rest of the dance in conversation.

Brin was quickly approached by Erivira for the next one, and danced with Sancha for the third. Both of them were much less challenging partners than Bia had been, and he had a fun time. Neither of them were as observant as Bia, either, and he didn't think they noticed his potshots at Vitor as they danced. Bia danced the next two with her friends Sallvador and Rafael, and he figured three dances was the bare minimum socially acceptable amount, because she quickly fled the hall after the third.

Lumina did end up dancing on the fourth song, just as Bia predicted, with Ian of Avion of all people. Brin was very firm with himself that it didn't bother him at all. Why should it? It was just a dance. It was just weird, was all. And where was Hogg? He should be here.

He had in mind to follow Bia, just until this song was over, but there were some pit stops along the way. For one, Princess Gracia had finally arrived, and she was looking extremely interruptible right now.

Brin approached, and she raised a hand to silence the group of ladies who'd gather to fawn over her diamond-speckled ballgown.

"Princess Gracia, your highness. Have you met-- wait, forgive me, I'm not doing this right. You look outstandingly radiant tonight... and so on and so forth."

The surrounding ladies made sounds of shocked affront, but Gracia's slight smile told him he hadn't completely flubbed it this time.

"Have you met my friend Sion?" He nodded towards Sion who was pretending to be interested in the buffet, though his plate was empty. "He's from the Wogan Mercantile Group. I'm told they engage in some manner of trade in Prinnash."

"The Sion Wogan? I suppose it would be expedient to make his acquaintance," said Gracia with a sigh.

That wouldn't do. Viewing this meeting as just one more chore was the last thing Sion needed. He needed to come up with something quick, and had an idea. Was it a good idea? Frankly, no, but a bad plan boldly executed was better than doing nothing.

"I'm told he may be the best person to help you with..." Brin leaned forward and said suggestively, "...your problem."

This was a complete fabrication. But what kind of Princess didn't have a problem or two?

With a stern glance to either side, Gracia sent the admiring ladies shuffling away. Then she glared at Brin. "How did you know about that?"

Brin licked his lips. "I will of course explain should you require it, but to do so would be to betray a trust." Again, a bold-faced lie.

Gracia closed her eyes. "No. No, I can guess." She opened them again, steeling herself. "Very well. I'll speak to him."

Brin watched her approach the stunned Sion. The [Merchant] kept his composure--Sion was a true operator--but Brin knew him well enough to see that he was panicking on the inside. Gracia twisted a ring and it activated some kind of anti-eavesdropping enchantment. He really wasn't going to find out what her problem was.

Well, hopefully whatever it was, Sion could handle it. Brin had thrown him an opportunity in the form of a cruise missile directed at his face, but it was an opportunity.

Next he approached a group of laughing ladies and gentlemen standing in a ring. In the center, he found Marksi, complete with his top hat attached with a string on his head. He was snatching bits of food out of the air that the ladies and gentlemen threw him.

"Oh, how cheekily he capers. Lord Mistaken, I had not seen thee there. Art thou his master?"

Brin snorted. "Marksi doesn't have a master. Are you taking advantage of these poor people for their dinner? What are they going to eat if they give everything to you?"

Marksi was unapologetic. That was their problem. But he did have something he wanted to say.

"I thought it was below a dragon's dignity to speak to lowly humans. Using me as a translator kind of violates the spirit of the rule, doesn't it?"

Marksi was long-suffering with Brin's simple nature. Of course that wasn't the same thing.

Brin laughed and said to one of the gentlemen, "He likes your vest. The dragon whose hide you're wearing must have been a mighty opponent."

The man spluttered. "Ah, I apologize. I... I never meant any offense--"

"No, he's not offended. The strong eat the weak; that's the dragon way." Brin patted the guy on the shoulder and then kept walking. It was good to see Marksi out and socializing on his own. He had just needed to make sure they remembered he was a dragon and not a pet.

Finally, tasks complete, he left the hall to find Bia in the garden. The setting sun was behind her, a perfect backdrop for the beauty as she leaned on a stone bench, peering down at a ladybug.

"Is that one of Guoncal's?" Brin asked.

"Oh, maybe. I don't know. I saw what you just did to your friend Sion. I think you might be an actual devil," said Bia.

"Can you see through that anti-snoop spell? How's he doing?"

"He's shuffling around in a backpack, and I can't feel everything, but my sense is that he's having the time of his life," said Bia.

Brin grinned in relief, and then stepped over to sit down beside her. He leaned back on his elbows, facing the sunset. "So why don't you like dancing?"

"I have nothing against it. It's fine for other people," said Bia.

"I'd think someone with your high Dexterity would like it more than most," said Brin.

She sighed and matched his posture, also leaning back and watching the sunset. "I don't really care about the buffet, either. Strong senses are worse than most people think. They only think about how nice it would be to be able to hear what the other girls are whispering about over there, and not about how much comes with it. I can see every mosquito eyelash and I can taste every molecule of mouse poop. I'd drink every meal if I could. Alcohol burns the little nasty bits away until I can't taste them anymore."

"Someone spiked one of the punch bowls."

"Yeah, you should warn Lumina about that one, too. That's not alcohol, and the commoners could get hurt," said Bia.

Brin did, and soon after a pair of servants carried the offending punch away. He wasn't sure how long he should stay out here. He didn't know if Vitor's curse would revert now that Brin wasn't even in the same room. He ordered the conscious thread harassing Vitor to ramp it up to compensate, but they were treading new ground here.

He didn't hurry to leave, and instead watched the sun move until it was completely buried behind the water of the Alent.

"We don't have to be enemies, you know," said Bia.

Brin sighed. "I think about Ares. He's smart, talented, ambitious, and an overall great guy. He should be able to make whatever he wants from his life. It kills me that he's going to be forced to become an Oath-slave to some greedy noble family. And that... that's just a compromise Chaos made with Cobol's side. I hate to imagine what it would look like if they got everything they wanted."

Bia sat upright. "I'll tell you what it would look like. Power, real explosive power capable of leveling entire cities wouldn't be handed out willy-nilly to people who..." She shook her head and leaned forward. "Look, if Chaos was really interested or capable of defending commoner [Mages], he could. And if he was interested in protecting commoners from rogue [Mages] in some other way, he could do that, too. But since he doesn't, we need another solution, and pretending it isn't a problem doesn't make it go away. Cobol would be the first to remove that rule if unattached [Mages] weren't being assassinated all the time."

"We could ask the nobles to stop killing people, to start," said Brin.

"And Chaos could make them stop. So why doesn't he? Chaos has the 'do anything, kill anyone' magic and he doesn't do anything with it except grow his own power. He could bring us into a golden age if he shared his magic. Or even if he just used it. If you think Cobol is going to rebel, well, Chaos could stop that by himself. He could've fought Arcaena for us, too. But he doesn't. He doesn't do anything. I bet he's never even shared the secret of summoning chaos with Lumina, has he?"

"Lumina is--"

Bia put a hand on Brin's knee. "No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't vent. Lumina is a great woman; even Cobol respects her. It's inspiring how far she's come, and I'd hate to see her Oathbound to any family, even my own. It's just hard, you know? Knowing there's someone who could fix things, but decided not to."

There was more that Brin could say to that, but even in this short amount of time Vitor had destroyed three more of his targets. Also, his Invisible Eyes noticed a disturbance back in the hall. For once, it didn't have anything to do with him. An argument between two ladies had resulted in mutual slaps, and when their boyfriends came over to break it up, it turned into a fistfight between the two of them.

Already Lumina was moving to put a stop to it, but for the moment, all eyes were turned towards the commotion. This was the perfect moment to ambush Vitor.

"Go," Bia said with a wave. "Go fight your second-favorite enemy. I'll be fine, and... I'm sorry."

"It's fine. But I trust Lumina. And she trusts her Master," said Brin.

"And maybe she should! I don't know. I'm just a pawn in this game, same as you."

Brin left it at that.

He swept back into the hall, suddenly surprised at the bright light now that he'd grown accustomed to the dimness of dusk. People were shouting and anxiously watching the other drama unfold, but he didn't spare it a glance as he marched through the crowd.

He swept up the blocks of glass from the tables as he past, forming them into spears of glass. Others, he turned into Mirror Men, until there was a small army of Brins pushing through the crowd. He started summoning glass chains on the spot, just because they were fun.

Vitor still hadn't noticed Brin marching toward him, and Brin was ready. He aimed his spears of glass. "<Fire!>"