17 – Ranger

“You don’t know who the Caldimores are?” Saffra asked incredulously.

“The name sounds vaguely familiar.”

“Vaguely?” Saffra rubbed her face with both hands. “They run the most powerful guild in the Kingdoms. Not him, I’m sure, I’ve never heard of a Barnaby, he’s probably from a branch family. Even so, he’s a count, and a Caldimore!”

“A count?”

“You know what a count is!” She seemed unsure. “You know what a count is.”

Vivi was doing a good job demonstrating her lack of common knowledge. She did know what a count was—sort of. If someone asked her whether a count or an earl ranked higher, she had no idea. Dukes were right below the king, right?

She waved a hand dismissively, playing the part of Vivisari. “I haven’t thought about human nobility and their titles in a long time. I’ve forgotten.”

Saffra blinked, and seemed to accept that explanation. “Oh. That’s fair.” She hesitated. “You told me to point out if you’re doing something strange, right?”

Vivi raised her eyebrows. “I’ll tell you if it’s intentional.”

“The silencing spell around us. It’s rude.”

“It is?”

“And suspicious. They’ve probably noticed.”

“Wanting privacy is suspicious?”

Saffra shrugged. “No…but yes?”

“It’s fine. I don’t care what they think.”

“If you’re trying to keep out of the spotlight, antagonizing a group of noblemen, and a Caldimore especially, isn’t the way to go about it.”

“They weren’t polite to us, so I don’t intend to return the favor.”

Saffra didn’t press the point, though seemed torn on the issue.

“A count is important?” Vivi asked, continuing the thread from earlier. “And how could you tell he was one?”

“The insignia on his lapel.” She fiddled at her neck to indicate where she meant. “A count isn’t as high up as you can get, but disrespecting nobility in general is a bad idea. It could get you thrown in a cell if they’re in a bad mood, executed in the worst of cases.”

Vivi shouldn’t have been taken aback by that, but she was. This wasn’t the fair, democratic society she was used to, she reminded herself.

“I guess not you, though,” Saffra said. “Not with your immunity.”

“My immunity?”

“From your levels.” She tilted her head when she saw that Vivi didn’t know what she meant. “I’m not sure what the real term is. When it comes to settling disputes between high-leveled people and nobility, you get an honorary rank, so that there aren’t—issues. As far as the law goes, mithrils are treated as barons, orichalcums as counts, and Titled as marquesses. If I remember right.”

That answered her question on how the ranks went. Baron, count, marquess, duke, then the king. And the High King above that, unifying the five human kingdoms.

“But in this case it isn’t even about rank. You might have an honorary legal title, maybe even higher than his, but disrespecting the Caldimore family is what’s really playing with fire.”

“They head a powerful guild, you said. Which?”

“The Wardens.”

Vivi had wondered whether she would recognize the name, perhaps as one of the competing guilds in her previous life. But it rang no bells.

“Hm. What of Vanguard?”

Saffra looked surprised. “The Party of Heroes?”

“Their guild, yes.”

“Well…nothing? I mean, the only members were the five heroes, and their craftsmen and other staff, but they’ve scattered to the wind. Since the guild can’t really exist anymore, not without an officer. I mean, you do know what happened with the Party of Heroes, right?” She blinked. “Surely.”

“I do.”

Bringing herself up in a roundabout manner hadn’t triggered a sudden realization in Saffra. Enough indicators were there to form a suspicion: extremely high-level demon mage missing for many decades narrowed a person down, and one named Vivi no less. But some things were too unbelievable, she supposed, to formulate in one’s head. To Saffra, Vivisari was a hero of legend. She might never make the connection unless Vivi hit her over the head with it.

As for her guild. In stasis, she supposed? She knew the guild existed thanks to how her affiliation appeared when checking her status screen, but anything beyond that remained a mystery. Hopefully the building still stood, and more importantly, the vault. The items inside were more valuable than even her personal stash.

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“Anyway, point being, being rude to a Caldimore, branch family or not, is maybe not the best idea,” Saffra said. “I’m just letting you know. You can do whatever you want, of course.”