《Scene Unlocker》 Chapter 1 - Pre-First scene with Anne [START] ¡°You are Prince Carlos. You have 3 months to prepare, gather an elite force, and beat the demon champion.¡± That¡¯s frankly the opening message I got when I woke up. Simple, really. Not much cutting corners from whoever decides to dump me into this alternate reality world. Anyway, Prince Carlos Magnus, eighth child of King Forlan Magnus. Yes, eight, that means I have 7 elder brothers and sisters, so I¡¯m quite far back on the throne succession. And each of the prince and princesses are given their own dominion to manage, to learn the ropes, so that we are ready to take over the country, some day. There¡¯s a bit of tension between the elder brothers, but that¡¯s not the focus at this time. I¡¯m the Lord of a town called Imensluma, or fondly referred to by the locals as Loom. Because it¡¯s a mouthful. Loom itself, is home to about 15,000 people, and about 10,000 more live across the valleys, farmlands and the hills, in small villages. In this world, there¡¯s magic, and there¡¯s skills and levels. It¡¯s pretty much a typical fantasy, magical world. How do I know this? Well, when I woke up, I inherited all of Prince Carlos¡¯s memories. So, back to that central mission. What do I have to beat the demon champion? [Prince Carlos] [Level 1 Prince] [Level 1 Healer] [Eye of affection] Multiple filters available. Sees affection levels of people, their type and element, rank, and other affection-related effects. Also allows identification of items that can be made into affection-items. [Crafter of gifts] Make gifts and items to boost affection. [The Power of Love] Those with high affections receive passive boosts to their stats, and various other benefits. That¡¯s it.
[Chapter 1] To be honest, the first day when I woke up, I wasted it. I just end up struggling to believe that I¡¯m in this other world, and I sat in denial. A quick assessment of my skills seem to make it very obvious that i need to gather allies. In fact, the mission itself states I need an ¡°army¡±, so this is not something I can do alone. ¡°Prince Carlos, are you awake?¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± I smile at the source of the voice, a cute twenty year old lady called Anne. There¡¯s a small number that floats on top of her head, the ¡°affection¡± quantifier. ¡°32%, Blue, Level 7 Prince¡¯s Assistant. Rank 4.¡± She puts a plate on the table. Food, and a cup of coffee. I walk over and start eating, and she sits opposite me. She¡¯s got silver hair, and a beautiful face. ¡°Nothing much to update today, Prince Carlos.¡± The Kingdom of Magnus is largely peaceful, but there are monsters every now and then. ¡°That¡¯s good. I¡¯d like to visit the soldiers later today.¡± ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll let the captain know.¡± Anne bows, and stands. ¡°Uh. Wait.¡± I go over to one of my cabinets, and open a drawer, where there a few small bangles. Small bangle, +5% affection for Blue and Yellow. Common. Female only. I¡¯d had to test it out. ¡°Come here.¡± Anne walks over and sees the bangle, she didn¡¯t react, until I took it out, grab her wrist and put it on her. She blushes. ¡°Uh¡­ Prince Carlos?¡± ¡°For you.¡± She blushes even more. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes. Take it. I insist.¡± She looks at it intently, smiles, and nods. ¡°Thank you, Prince Carlos.¡± As she walks out, I see the percentage on her head change to 37%. I wonder what happens when I hit 100%. Dirty thoughts cross my mind, but then, I got an objective. So, next is to visit the soldiers. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The barracks in Loom is a massive occupying an entire part of the town. Like a fort, it has towers and walkable parapets and walls for archers, and guards, and before I was assigned to this town by my father, this building is the center of government, led by the previous Lord. When I came about three years ago, the royal family commissioned the construction of a small mansion in another side of Loom, one that befits a member of the royal family. ¡°I have informed Captain Mattis of your visit. He should be ready.¡± Anne walks to me, she¡¯s wearing the bangle. She beams, and leads the way. It¡¯s a small town, so Anne and two guards accompany me. The two guards ¡°16%, Red, Level 11 Soldier Rank 2, Male¡± ¡°21%, Green , Level 8 Soldier Rank 2, Male.¡± Even men has the status overlay floating on their head. Everyone does, and it''s as if I am in an online MMORPG, where everyone has floating indicators. ¡°Are you okay, Prince?¡± Anne smiles, she holds my arm. ¡°Ah. Yes.¡± She¡¯s very close, and her blue eyes seems to glow. We walk past the citizens, and I quickly notice most of them are rank 1 to 2. I wonder whether I can filter them out. ¡°Filter out rank 2 and below?¡± A menu pops out. I mentally choose yes, and most of the indicators disappear from above their heads. ¡°You¡¯re zoning out again.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. It¡¯s fine now.¡± I nod at Anne, and we¡¯re at the barracks. The captain and about a hundred soldiers gather. Men. The soldiers, most of them don¡¯t have the indicators above their head, suggesting they are all rank 2 or 1. The captain is rank 3, and one other soldier is rank 4, but he looks much younger than the captain. ¡°Milord.¡± The captain bows. I nod. ¡°Thanks. How are we doing?¡± ¡°Not as well as we liked, milord. Monsters appear throughout Loom, and we do not have enough men to fight all of them.¡± Ah yes. Throughout Loom, I have about 1,000 men, but most of them are spread out, manning garrisons, doing escort work, patrolling borders, and about half of them are stationed in the various smaller villages throughout the region. It¡¯s a small force, relative to the overall population of 25,000, but it¡¯s relatively speaking, peacetime. ¡°Can I see your training?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± The captain barks some orders and the men proceed into their training gear. And I watch them practice some basic swings and blocks, knowledge I inherited from this body. I focus on the rank 4 soldier. Adam. His swings are clearly smoother, his blocks seems to be a bit more tight. This rank thing does seem to suggest some competence. ¡°Hey, do you know whether there is a way to test a person¡¯s potential?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Anne responds, almost instant. ¡°There are, indicator, and tests of physical or magical ability, but potential is an unknown.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I keep my eye of Adam. ¡°Captain, can I spar with you for a moment? With practice wooden sword.¡± The spar went through quickly, and I could tell they were giving me chances. They intentionally lost. ¡°I think you gave me too many easy chances, captain.¡± ¡°No I did not.¡± Lies. I see the affection percentage on his head, 3%. Perhaps he is still wary. ¡°Ah never mind. Can I spar with more guys?¡± I point to Adam. He nods. ¡°Yes milord.¡± As with the captain, Adam lost. Intentionally. I see his muscles twitching, struggling to hold back, and one time he pretended not to see a swing, which is a huge struggle for him, because he did see it. I laugh. I could not help it. ¡°You guys, seriously. Beat me up if you have to. Do you want me to be a liability when you have to protect me?¡± Any soldier in my domain can be summoned to serve as my royal guard. It is the power granted to each and every Prince, over his domain. I point to Adam. ¡°Anne, he¡¯s to be assigned to be my royal guard every other week.¡± Anne nods. Adam looks really shocked. There¡¯s additional pay as a royal guard. I walk over, and say, ¡°And while you are my royal guard, you, are going to spar with me the entire freaking week.¡± Adam gulps. Its not what I said. Its the horror of having to hold back. The captain on the other hand breathes a sigh. ¡°Milord, we are short of men¡­¡± ¡°Anne, the two guards that I have, let the captain have them, but still pay them the royal guard wages?¡±. ¡°Certainly.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡°So, I am Prince Carlos. You are?¡± ¡°Adam K, milord.¡± ¡°Adam, lets go for a drink.¡± ----- One of the Town¡¯s Bars Adam¡¯s surprised to be in a bar with me. He sits uncomfortably at the table, even then, that is after I insisted that he sit. I glance at his readings. Rank 4, Adam K, Level 8 Soldier, Yellow, Male, 0%. I look at the waitress walk past with beer mugs. Strangely, some text appeared over it. Beer. Yellow and Red. Affection +10% for males, +3% for female. -10% for females of other colors. Affection bonus only applies once per person, every three days. Can be mixed. Ah. I order 2, one for myself and Adam. Anne is next to me, and I ask the waitress for anything more¡­ sweet, or dessert-ish, and she recommends an orange juice. When the orange juice comes, I glance at it. The usual tooltip pops up. Orange juice. Neutral. Does not reduce affections. Can be mixed. It seems if I stare at something long enough, wondering whether it will make a suitable gift, the words appear. Anne though, seems a bit pleased by the orange juice. ¡°How¡¯d you know I dislike beer?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I, I just thought so.¡± I then turn to Adam, and pass a beer to him. ¡°For you.¡± I look at both of them, and lift up my beer. ¡°Cheers?¡± I take a sip, and the two others follow afterward. And a few more sips. And I am a bit tipsy. That of course, led to me babbling. ¡°Adam. Look. I can.. I can sense you are a talented fighter. And, I need your help. There will be a disaster coming a three months. I don¡¯t know much details, but I had a vision, and it tells me there will be a demon attacking us.¡± Anne¡¯s shocked at what I said. ¡°Really?¡± Adam takes a chug. He listens, and lets me continue. ¡°Yes. But I suspect the others won¡¯t help us much, so I can only rely on the people in this region. And that means you.¡± Adam shakes his head a little bit. ¡°Prince, you are drunk.¡± ¡°Maybe But, can you help me if the day comes?¡± Adam pauses, takes a sip. ¡°Milord, I am not a fan or believer of weird visions. But I am a soldier, and if you need my help to defend this region, I will do so.¡± ¡°Good. I ask of nothing less of our soldiers.¡± And we then talk about less¡­ meaty stuff. About their families, their career so far, and then its time to call it a nigjt. Later that night, as we leave the bar, I see Adam¡¯s affection indicator change from zero to 10%. Good. If this is how the game is played, I need to get them up to 100%. Experience gained. Level up! You may choose a skill or job to level up! ¡°Are you drunk, Prince?¡± I smile, and Anne looks concerned. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°That thing you said back there¡­.¡± ¡°About the demon?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is it real?¡± ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°I¡­ it sounded like you really mean it. Like, you are very sure.¡± ¡°Honestly, I am not. But, I do have a ¡°quest¡±, to defeat it.¡± She leans closer. ¡°Really¡­¡± Anne looks at me, her eyes seem to sparkle in the candlelight. ¡°A quest?¡± At that point, a few tooltips pop up. Option A - Explain that you have a quest to defeat the demon. +5 affection Option B - Say Nothing -5 affection Option C - Say that it''s a secret. I mean, obviously I choose option A. ¡°Yes. A quest. One day when I woke up¡­ the day I woke up from the accident, I had a quest, a voice in my head. It tells me to defeat the demon champion, and gather a group of elites¡­¡± ¡°Oh¡­ I like it when you speak with such¡­ conviction.¡± Anne pauses¡­ She somehow touches my arm with her fingers, and then she touches my cheeks. We are alone in my room now. Anne¡¯s affection increased to 42%, Do you trigger the first affection checkpoint scene? Yes / No? [2] Anne 40% Scene Anne 1 - 40% Yes. Yes. Hell yes. I mean, what else do I choose. It is the clear choice, and once I did, Anne¡¯s eyes somehow burst with a look of courage ¡°Prince?¡± Anne looks at me with those, sparkly eyes. The candlelight flickers, and the background quiet. The cozy room is drenched in shades of yellow and brown from the candle fire. It¡¯s¡­ eerie, but also kind of romantic. I smile, I still feel tipsy from the beer earlier, I unbutton the top highest button on my shirt, so I feel less¡­ hot. Is this going to go the way I think it will? Ah, lets just go with the flow. ¡°Emmmm¡­ Prince¡­?¡± Her lips twitch for a flicker of a moment, then she smiles back at me. ¡°Yes, Anne?¡± I use my fingers to support her chin, and lightly push her face upward so our faces look at each other directly, about two to three feet apart. ¡°Do you¡­ what do¡­ what do you think of me?¡± Her voice comes out a little shy. After she says it, she blushes. It looks as if she musters up the entirety of her courage to say it. Maybe she has always had a crush on me? Memories of Prince Carlos flood my mind. I stare at her, our eyes meet, and she blushes. I, Prince Carlos, am relatively good looking, I would rate myself a 7/10, if I look in the mirror. I am no dashing pop superstar but good enough. But anyway, lets not fawn over my isekai self, so I continue to stare at her features. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. She¡¯s pretty, with a lovely smile that would melt a cold heart. Her hair waves slightly from the breeze, an open window that somehow is not closed. But maybe that''s not what she¡¯s asking for¡­ is it? During that moment as I ponder this question, some tooltips appear. Option I - Talk about her strengths in administration, in helping you run the town. Option II - Talk about her charm, about how you enjoy her company, and how she helped you settle into your new role Ah¡­ I think I pick option II. Sounds like to romantic choice. Inherited memories of Prince Carlos and Anne surfaces, and I suddenly have more words to say to her. ¡°Anne, I think you are pleasant to have around. I really enjoy your company.¡± She blushes. If she could get more red, she would. ¡°...Really?¡± She leans a little closer, and I can smell her faint perfume. Or is it just the smell of her hairwash? ¡°Yeah. I really do. I feel happy to see you¡­¡± Man, this otherworldly me is such a smooth talker. How come I don¡¯t have such clarity of thoughts when I talk to girls in my own life? She blushes, and she twiddles her fingers. ¡°...and?¡± ¡°And I think you are very charming. You¡­ and I would not have felt so comfortable in Loom without you. Leaving the capitol to find a gorgeous lady like you, waiting on me, is like a gift from the heavens.¡± She blushes, her twiddling becomes faster. ¡°Really¡­ is that soo¡­¡± My right hand touches her fingers, and I hold them gently. She somehow freezes. ¡°I think you are wonderful, Anne. Thank you for being with me, and helping me settle down into my role. It¡¯s been really lovely, spending these past months with such a lovely lady like yourself.¡± Affection checkpoint reached! Anne will learn the following skill when she sleeps tonight. [Prince in shining armor - Passive - Double Prince¡¯s combat stats when Anne is present. Stackable with other skills] ¡°Really¡­¡± Her face steams, and after enjoying the moment for about half a minute as our eyes gaze into each others souls, she shakes her head. Her left hand pinches herself on her thighs. ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡± My face closes in. We almost kiss, before she pulld back. ¡°.... you.. you are drunk, Prince. I¡­ I¡­ forgive me, I should not have asked.¡± Anne, her face still flushed, somehow starts to be nervous. Is this too much for her? Is she afraid this is moving too fast? She stands and bows. But the smile on her face is not going away. ¡°I... I really enjoy your company too, my prince.¡± She abruptly gives me a brief hug. Then she steps few steps back. ¡°Good night, my prince.¡± Then she runs out. As she runs out, I lay on the bed and smile. She¡¯s cute. [3] The Grind 1 ¡°Morning, Prince Carlos.¡± Anne greets, she¡¯s wearing her usual uniform, with the exception of the bangle on her wrist. Food¡¯s on the table, and there¡¯s some reports already on the other desk. ¡°Anything unusual, Anne?¡± I smile, remembering how close she is to my face last night. ¡°Nothing today..¡± She smiles, and sits down. ¡°I do have a good news though. I seemed to have gained a skill...¡± ¡°I see. Let¡¯s hear it.¡± I sit down and munch on the banana. Her explanation matches the tooltip I gotten yesterday. I take a look at her, and the tooltip reappears. 42%, Level 7, Prince¡¯s Assistant At that point I recall I leveled up last night, and so my menu appears. Skill Menu (1 skillpoint available) (+) indicates can be upgraded. Ah. Choices! I like choices, and my goal is to beat the demon champion, so I should pick something aligned to that. I think I will go with [crafter of gifts], so that I can get more gifts, and amass a larger ¡°force¡± against that demon. And¡­ that''s it. Ah. If I understand crafters, that means making stuff, so I should go look for¡­ parts and materials. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the market.¡± The market of Loom is small, mostly comprising of irregular traders, people who have their own day or full time jobs as a farmer, hunter or from other villages, but occasionally drops by in the main town of Loom to trade their extra goods or produce for cash, or buy necessities which their villages do not produce. The market is basic, nothing fancy,, its essentially a large square with some coverings and awnings, and most of the traders just spread cloth on the floor, and their wares on it. I glance at the traders, but my focus turn to the wares. Vegetables, Neutral Can be mixed. Apples, Neutral Can be mixed At this point I realise mixing is probably a process of crafting, since I see that on quite a lot of other wares. ¡°Looking for something, Prince?¡± Anne asks, herself looking at some trinkets. ¡°Yeah.. things. I¡¯d like to make some¡­ things.¡± I go over to where Anne is standing, a trader peddling some shiny stones. They look mostly uncut, and are really raw. A greyish round stone. Shiny stone,Unknown,Further processing needed Shiny stone,Unknown,Further processing needed Grey stone,Contains small emerald,Further processing needed Grey stone,Contains a bit of jade,Further processing needed. Ah¡­ and the rest are mostly regular stones. Something interesting for a change, so I kneel and smile at the trader. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°I will take these 4, please.¡± The trader smiles, and tells me the price, it''s rather cheap. Maybe he doesn¡¯t know their value either, but I will take a good deal, so I pay up, and put it in the small pouch at my side. ¡°Do you know how to identify stones, Prince?¡± ¡°Ah¡­. not really. It''s just that I thought those looked interesting.¡± ¡°Really¡­¡± She walks a little bit quickly, catches up to me. ¡°Yes¡­¡± I smile at her, and she holds my arm. We stop at another stall, when I saw a tiny pendant for sale, among other tiny handmade things. Traditional pendant Green Female +10% affection Receiver has a one-off defensive boost. ¡°Green¡­¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Anne looks at me, wondering what I am mumbling about ¡°Ah¡­ Can I get that?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Next! A young spectacled lady sitting on her mat, her wares spread out in front of her. She sells vegetables, some herbs and some wood products. Name unknown 0% (locked), Level 3 Trader & Harvester, Rank 6, White Whoah! Rank 6! Its the first time I have seen a rank 6 individual, but¡­ but she¡¯s a trader. ¡°Hi, you are?¡± She pauses, raises her head up and we trade glances. She¡¯s got that cute busty librarian look. ¡°I am Selena, a trader from the villages. Greetings, your majesty.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± A pop up appears. Selena¡¯s unlock-quest cannot be triggered at this time. Oh. It¡¯s locked. Dammit. I turn my attention to her wares, they are neatly, pleasantly arranged. None of them have any unusual tooltip explanations, so I nod at Selena. ¡°Ah¡­ thank you for your time. See you around.¡± She smiles back, and nods. Anne holds me upper arm, and probably squeezes me a little. The rest of the market has nothing much of interest, so after the market is done, I still had time, so I went to the barracks again. ¡°Captain.¡± ¡°Your majesty.¡± He bows. ¡°A training spar, perhaps?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ okay.¡± I win, but once against because the captain intentionally lost. I then proceed to spar with the rest of the soldiers, and some of them went all out, but I had enough skill to beat them. It seems in terms of swordfighting ability, I am above that of a regular soldier, but below anyone with a tinge of talent. This means, I am likely to be mostly useless in an actual combat against demons. Hmm. But maybe the idea is not for me to be on the front line. By the time the spars are over and I am done, its almost evening. And I felt a little bit generous. ¡°Men, all of you come with me. We going to a bar.¡± They seem shocked, but they nod. Anne holds my arm again. I turn to Anne, and nod at her. ¡°I know you are not a fan of bars, but I¡¯ll be alright, give me some time to spend with the guys, okay?¡± She pauses. And she nods. ¡°Ah.. yes. Yes you should do that. I will wait for you back at the mansion.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Its the same bar as the day before. Adam isn¡¯t here today, he has guard duty on the walls. But the captain and the rest of them is. ¡°Guys, order what you want.¡± Most of them though order just beer, taking after my order of beer. They are still a bit shy and awkward, having drinks with their Lord. Realising this, I ask the waitress to serve some finger food, fries, fried chicken, for everyone to munch on. And after the first mug of beer, everyone starts talking a bit more. ¡°Prince Carlos, I didn''t realise you enjoy drinking beer. I thought you royalty indulge only in wine.¡± One of the soldiers started. I laugh. ¡°I used to, but after I tried beer, I think I like the lightness of it better.¡± ¡°Really¡­¡± ¡°Yeah. Wine is¡­ just too intense sometimes. Especially when you wanna just sit back and relax.¡± To be honest, this was the real life me speaking. ¡°I never had wine.¡± One of the soldiers chime in. The captain too, a little tipsy, pokes in. ¡°I had it once. I vomited. Apparently I should not chug it down like beer.¡± The soldiers, everyone really share a laugh. ¡°That''s okay. My first time with wine, I was only 12, and father thought it is compulsory for all men to drink. I could not take it and peed on my bed.¡± This is actually Carlos¡¯s memories, but hey, men need to talk shit to build rapport. Everyone pauses, trying to suppress their laughter. They probably wonder is it a crime to laugh at their prince. ¡°Oh just laugh, dammit. Its true, and I think its funny. If you guys don¡¯t laugh it makes me feel bad.¡± And they do. The captain leans in. ¡°Prince Carlos¡­ is.. is something happening? What are you planning? You¡¯ve changed since you woke up that day, after you fell from the horse¡­¡± Ah, my recent outreach these few days is suspicious. So I pause, thinking how to best answer this question. Do I be truthful? After a while, I sigh. ¡°When I slept that day¡­ I had a dream.¡± ¡°A dream?¡± The soldiers lean in. Everyone is interested now. ¡°Yeah. Its about Loom¡­ I see it engulfed in flames, and a giant monster killing everyone.¡± Everyone pauses, and the captain goes ¡°And?¡± ¡°I heard a voice, that tells me to gather an army and defeat that monster. To prevent this destruction¡­¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°That''s it.¡± The captain slams the table. ¡°Prince, you mean to say you¡¯re doing this because you had a dream?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ yeah.¡± The captain gulps and finishes his beer. And then orders another one. ¡°I think I need another one. That''s the most.. stupid answer I heard all month.¡± I laugh. ¡°Yeah, when you think of it, it is kind of funny.¡± Some of the soldiers, already quite drunk, lean in. ¡°Prince, are you superstitious?¡± ¡°A bit. Most royalties are.¡± Another one asks something rather cute. ¡°Have you done it with Miss Anne?¡± I pause. ¡°Erm¡­. not yet. Maybe someday, I hope.¡± I think I am drunk too, even though I only had a mug. Did the waitress gave us a spiked set of drinks? I think I will regret saying that. Everyone laughs. ¡°She¡¯s really cute. Plenty of men tried to go after her, but it seems she¡¯s got her eyes on you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Yeah, drunk. The captain leans in. He is already halfway through his second mug. ¡°Prince, you¡­ you seem like a good guy. Honest, I like that about you.¡± Then, he pulls out a dagger and stabs it on the table, missing my palm slightly. The rest of the soldiers don¡¯t react. ¡°But, Anne is like a little god-daughter to me, I watched her grow up. So, if you ever hurt her¡­¡± Ah. This trope. I have read of it. I smile, ¡°I don¡¯t plan to hurt her, ever.¡± The captain then chugs on his drink. ¡°Good.¡± After my 2nd mug, I decide to call it a night, so I pay for the drinks, and head back home. I do manage to walk back, eventually, after I sat at the town square that night for about an hour, and let the alcohol subside. [4] The Grind 2 Grind 2 Next to the town of Loom are multiple large forests, home to beasts, animals, herbs, and stuff like that. What started of as a brief conversation with the Captain and Adam about flowers led me into the woods with a band of riders and archers. ¡°Should be somewhere here¡­¡± One of the archers led the way. His band of soldiers patrol this part often, and therefore it¡¯s relatively safe. Relatively. It took about three hours, then we found it. A purple flower, like a cross between a rose and an orchid. It¡¯s unique and popular because it¡¯s shaped like two hearts stuck together. Two Hearts Blue +10% Affection for Blue, +5% affection for all other females, Affection boost applies once a month. Can be combined & further processed, Wrap in a bouquet for extra boost Ah¡­ ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± ¡°It¡¯ll make Anne happy. It¡¯s her favourite flower, but it¡¯s not common in our part of town.¡± The captain says, he¡¯s more helpful since the day we had a drink, so that¡¯s the tip he gave me, and even offered to help find it. Well, the reading next to him says 10% now.. One of the archers lean down, and extracts the flower. ¡°Well, let¡¯s go.¡± After that, I quickly head to the workshop. It¡¯s actually where the blacksmith works, but I¡¯ve decided to rent the space from him, while a room back in the mansion is being renovated. Of the four rocks I bought from the market, one of them is a dud, containing nothing. The other rock contains a small shiny rock, but does nothing other than ¡°can be combined¡±. The other shiny rock contains a tiny quartz like crystal. Clear crystal, Neutral, Boosts magic regeneration by 3% when set as a ring or pendant. The small emerald, now extracted from the rock, is a bit more useful. Small emerald, Green, +4% affection to green. Can be further processed. Affection boost is higher when set in jewelry.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The other one, is a jade. Small jade, Green, +3% affection to green. Can be further processed. Grants small defensive bonuses, and higher chance of learning Jade-series skills. Affection boost is higher when set in jewelry. I don¡¯t have silver or gold on hand to process into the next step, but I suppose if this is how it works, a jeweller would be a candy store for me. Sadly, there¡¯s none in Loom. It¡¯s too small a town, and if one does come by, it¡¯s probably the travelling merchants from the larger towns. I guess they can¡¯t make it too easy for me, eh. Still, I don¡¯t have any green targets to give to, so I keep them inside my magical pouch. It¡¯s one of those hammerspace pouches, with expanded storage capacity, far larger than how it actually looks and feels. Then I turn to the flower. I take out a few pink pieces of cloth and paper, ribbons and some other common flowers, transformed it into a bouquet. Two Hearts Combination Bouquet, Blue, +15% affection for Blue +5% affection for others, Usable once per person. Oh. A single use item. But that works. You¡¯ve gained a skillpoint!
Later that evening, I ask the other maids to organise a private dinner for myself and Anne, in a cozy room in the mansion. ¡°Huh?¡± Anne walks in, surprised when she sees a nicely lit dinner table. Unlike the normal, large, long tables common for royalty, I insisted on a more¡­ intimate setting. A small round table, a small pot of fresh flowers,, and a small candlelight. ¡°Thought you¡¯d like to have dinner with me¡­¡± ¡°But¡­ this¡­ this feels¡­¡± ¡°Please sit.¡± I stand, and guide her to her seat. She sits, obediently, but still a bit shocked, as I take the seat opposite her. A maid serves the food. Not many dishes, just three, in fact, it¡¯s just our usual dinner dishes, either a chicken, some vegetables, and a soup. She¡¯s speechless. ¡°Please, let¡¯s eat together.¡± She pauses, and then she nods. She seems to have momentarily forgotten where the utensils are, so she fumbles. I smile, and intentionally help her to it, touching her fingers. ¡°Relax¡­¡± She blushes. ¡°...yes, prince.¡± I start to eat, and she too joins me. But she looks nervous, thinking what¡¯s going to happen. ¡°I went to the woods today.¡± ¡°Oh¡­ how¡¯d it go?¡± ¡°It went well, the captain brought me there. Saw quite a few animals, and tried to hunt, but I didn¡¯t manage to get any. I kept missing with my arrows.¡± She smiles, ¡°Ah¡­ you¡¯ll get them next time.¡± I shrug, ¡°Heh, I think I¡¯ll stick with swords and shields. How¡¯d yours go?¡± Anne pauses, and then starts, ¡°Ah, I spent some time sorting out some logistics for shipments to the other town at the administration office, then I was at the farming superintendent¡¯s place to help out with sorting through some of the villager¡¯s requests, then I went to the barracks to get a report on their patrolling schedule to the other villages¡­¡± I smile, and I then touch her hand. ¡°So, it went well?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ erm.. Yes. yes it did.¡± We stare at each other for a moment. And then I took out the bouquet. ¡°For you.¡± She freezes as she holds the bouquet, and I think I see a small tear in her eyes. ¡°... this¡­¡± ¡°I thought you would like this flower. We found it in the forest¡­¡± She stares at it, I could see her hands shake, as she tries to hold it. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s beautiful.¡± She looks up at me, and gives me the most genuine smile I¡¯ve ever seen from her. Of course, I smile back. The affection numbers on her head change to 57%. I smile, and look back at the plates of food. It¡¯s not finished yet, so I resume eating. Anne however, keeps admiring the bouquet in her hand, and she didn¡¯t want to part with it. At least, not yet. I lean in, ¡°Anne. It¡¯s yours okay. The food¡¯s getting cold though, so let¡¯s keep eating.¡± Ah! On hindsight, what a lousy way to break the moment! You¡¯ve gained a skillpoint! Yay! I have two skillpoints now! [5] Village 1 After dinner, as I laze on my bed, I decide to spend my two skillpoints. I actually do not have much choice, so, I use it to learn Heal, and the other skill to level up Prince. Skill Menu (After spending skillpoints) (+) indicates can be upgraded. And the next morning when I woke up, I suddenly seem to know how to cast heal, which I can do so 5 times per day, and I feel.. stronger, which i attribute to the Prince level. Anyway, I need to gather more allies. 3 months is ticking away! At this time, Anne comes in with my morning briefing, and a maid brings in the day¡¯s breakfast. ¡°Anne, are there any skilled mages or archers in the outskirts, the villages of Loom?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ there might be.¡± I pause, wondering what''s the best way to go about gathering allies for my upcoming challenge. ¡°How many royal guards can I afford?¡± ¡°Currently in the expenditure budget of Loom, allocation for the royal house is able to support of the wages and benefits of 15 full time royal guards, of which 5 has been filled. Though if you want a larger royal guard, we could use the profits from the royal lands, or dip into our treasury which has a decent pile of funds¡­¡± Loom is far from the capitol, but the land is relatively productive, so exports is a big thing, even though it is mostly handled by the resource administration office. In short, I¡¯m quite rich. ¡°Is there¡­ something you would like to do?¡± The maid steps out, and we start eating breakfast. ¡°Perhaps¡­ to prepare for the demon?¡± ¡°Yes, you¡¯re so good at reading my mind, Anne. Adam is currently one, but him alone is not sufficient.¡± ¡°So¡­ you want to organise a public audition?¡± ¡°Not public, all I ask is for them to come forth and meet me, have a few words, and I will decide from there. I will know who I want once I meet them.¡± ¡°Would it be better if we schedule a trip for you to visit each of the villages, then? Most of the potential candidates would not be able to travel due to financial concerns ¡°Yes, that would work. Set specified dates at each village, and we can go on tour to fill my royal guard vacancies.¡± And so, the next phase begins. The tour of the villages of Loom. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Adam and Anne comes along, as my guide and guard, both are locals to the region, and are quite familiar with these places. Of course with a small squad of soldiers, about 15 of them. ¡°First village we visit is coming up.¡± ¡°How many people live here?¡± ¡°About 180.¡± The ¡°audition¡± is held in a village hall. When I say, audition, its essentially a party, a free meal. Kind of like those get togethers politicians throw whenever they visit a town. There may be some candidates who refuse to turn up for battle or combat auditions, perhaps a fear, or feeling or feeling of inadequacy, or other reasons. But free food? Well, the hall is full. It costs some money to buy the produce and arrange for a local chef to cook, but it¡¯s a good way to get to know a place. I give a short speech, explaining how I recently came to the role of Lord of Loom, I am on tour to get a better understanding of the people and the place, and also looking for good people to work with me. Typical political speak. Even Prince Carlos knows it, but it works. And then I turn to my real focus. The crowd is mixed, comprising all ages. There are some children, some elderly, mostly of the working age. I scan through their indicators, and only one pop up on despite my filters. But I can¡¯t make it too obvious, so I mingle with the rest of them for a while, before finally approaching my target. A middle aged man, I go up to him to speak. ¡°Hello, you are?¡± I extend a hand to greet him, my eyes looking at him. Name unknown, 0%, Red, Brawler & Farmer, Rank 3, Level 12. ¡°Reese¡­ erm.. your majesty.¡± Awkward. He tries to curtsey but comes out odd. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I do not expect the common folk to know the formalities of the court.¡± I flash a smile, and tap him on the shoulder instead. ¡°Ah¡­¡± He¡¯s not really relaxed. ¡°So, how are things?¡± A temporary waitress passes by, with a few mug of drinks. I grab a beer and pass it to Reese. ¡°Here, a drink.¡± ¡°Ah.. erm¡­ things are tough sire. Farming is hard work, and the land here can be odd.¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard from the elders, it seems many of you speak of sudden, unnatural deaths of crops. It¡¯s something on my list, Anne¡¯s helping to check whether we have any specialist that can help.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ the elders speak of it too¡­¡± ¡°You have any idea what¡¯s causing it?¡± He sips on the beer, after I took a sip of mine. He¡¯s still nervous, being next to royalty, but the alcohol helps. ¡°I reckon its the monsters upstream. Their poo gets into the water sometimes, and its not good to our crops. But the elders don¡¯t think so, saying those monsters has been there for ages¡­¡± [Reese¡¯s Sidequest obtained- slay the monsters upstream. Reward Reese¡¯s + 30% affection] ¡°Hmmm¡­ I see.¡± Ah this system is so clever. ¡°Ever try doing it yourself?¡± ¡°No sire, too many of them. And I may know how to fight, but it ain¡¯t smart to walk into a den alone.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡°Say, you have family here?¡± ¡°Naw. Since my pops passed away its just me here, tending to the family land.¡± ¡°Ahh¡­. I see. Anyway, about that monster thing¡­ how many do you think there are?¡± ¡°I think I recall seeing about 15 of them when I checked, the last time my crops died a few months ago. No idea whether they multiplied.¡± ¡°What are they?¡± ¡°Black batdogs, sire. The size of cows.¡± Ah, batdogs. Giant dogs, with batlike wings, capable of short range tree-to-tree flight using their wings as a glider. Not much of a combat threat, to any regular force, but they are a pest. Is there an expiry date to the quest? Expires in 2 months. Ah, dammit. I turn back to Reese and smile. ¡°Say, if we ever try to attack the pests, would you know who would join us?¡± Reese pauses. ¡°Uh¡­ really?¡± ¡°Yeah. Its a pest and, here I am, with a small squad. If there is slightly more 15, I think we can take it easy. So, gather your friends. We strike tomorrow morning.¡± Reese¡¯s eyes shine a little. ¡°Really.¡± ¡°Yes. Meet us tomorrow morning at the guesthouse.¡± Adam and Anne comes over and I explain my plan. ¡°Milord¡­ you sure about this?¡± Adam looks, wondering¡­ ¡°We have time, don¡¯t we. The next village is a day away, and going upstream to the den and back is going to take only half a day.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Anne looks at a small notebook, a scheduler. ¡°We have some time. I did spare some time slots for such moments, tomorrow morning, and even then we could arrive at the village the day after.¡± Hah! Anne expects such things. She¡¯s good. After the little eating event, I would stay a night at the village''s guesthouse while the rest of the troops stay in camps. I spoke to them briefly about the batdog hunt, while Adam, another soldier and Anne shares the guesthouse with me. The two men initially refused, Adam especially, saying he did not want to intrude or be a bother between myself and Anne. Anne, of course blushes and insists its fine for them to join. ¡°It''s nothing like that!!!¡± She says. Ah, she¡¯s cute! [6] Village 2 [6] Village 2 ¡°This way, sire.¡± Reese leads us, a few other villagemen decide to join us on this little hunting exercise. We climb upstream, through the thick forests, following it. The water of the stream, next to us becomes obvious, it¡¯s a bit brownish, and has a stench of poop. Maybe he¡¯s right, but we still don¡¯t know whether the batdogs are the source of the poop. We follow, the men and all, all armed and ready. It is a small squad of men meant to protect me, so combat-readiness is a given. So, if Reese is right, and it''s just batdogs, we should be fine. He doesn¡¯t have a reason to lie, and somehow, I believe him. Maybe it¡¯s that quest tooltip hovering above his head. We take a formation where the villagers lead the way, Adam, and a few of the soldiers follow, while myself, Anne and a few more soldiers behind us. The hike is relatively pleasant, to be honest. If it¡¯s not for the poop smell coming from the water, I may very well recommend this being converted into a tourist trail, if there¡¯s such thing as tourists in this world. It took a short hike, about an hour, and we approach the area Reese claims. Reese, and Adam scouts it out. A few fallen trees create a small covering, like a small cave, and the batdogs made it their home. The batdogs, 17 of them, large and small. Relative to our force of about 15 men plus the 6 villagers who join us, we outnumber them. And that¡¯s good. GIven that these batdogs attack with their claws, and bites, outnumbering them means we can handle them better. ¡°Ready.¡± Adam and a few of the men whisper, signals their readiness. They look to me, and I nod. Arrows. For most soldiers, practicing in both bow and sword is standard, so on my signal, a volley of arrows rain down on the den, injuring a few of the batdogs. They bark in retaliation, and all of them scramble out, defending their den. In anger, they charge, reactively towards the men. The soldiers, change to swords, and spears, engage the batdogs. The villagers, like Reese, have daggers or machetes. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Combat started, everyone joins in except myself and Anne, who stands behind me. Thankfully, because we kept our distance, none of the 17 batdogs figured to attack us, and kept their focus on the soldiers and villagers. We watch the men hack the batdogs to death, Anne standing behind me, a bit overwhelmed by the brutality of fighting, so she sometimes cover her eyes. I take this opportunity to observe the true skill level of my men. Adam is clearly the most skilled of the group, easily dodging and retaliating, but here I also see that Reese isn¡¯t that bad himself. If the pest infestation was only four or five he could have taken them on, as it seems quite clear that he is quite good with the machete, and seems to have some combat related skills, as he mixes in kicks in between his hacking machete. The batdogs, outnumbered, are quickly cut down. The soldiers gang up on the batdogs and in about fifteen minutes, all of them are soon killed. Awesome. Easy first battle! The men did suffer a few bites, cuts and swipes, but no fatalities. And this is where I use my [heal], to mend their injuries, which impressed everyone. Even Anne who did not know I know such an ability. And that ends my short excursion to hunt some pests. Once back in the village¡­ ¡°Thank you, milord.¡± ¡°Ah, small matter. Thank the men, they did the fighting.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let Anne know if the water and crop situation improves.¡± ¡°Good. Also, can you do me a favor?¡± ¡°Yes? If its within my abilities, I will try.¡± ¡°About 11 weeks from now, can you come to Loom for about 2 weeks? Anne will arrange accommodation, I just want some of the better fighters around.¡± ¡°Ah¡­. I think I can do so, sire.¡± ¡°Great.¡± I did not ask Reese to be a royal guard, I sensed a great deal of respect for the land that his parents left for him, and I somehow understands that he feels obligated, a responsibility to tend to the land. So, if I asked, he would have said no. Bur for him to come to Loom for 2 weeks, just for the fight, that was still well within what he is willing to do. As we say our goodbyes, I saw Reese¡¯s indicator change to 40% (10% from the beer the day before and 30% from the quest). Reese 40% scene - to be triggered when certain situations Ah, I can¡¯t wait for that, so we head for the next village, which is half a day away. ¡°Do you think the pests really caused it?¡± Adam asks, he¡¯s still skeptical. ¡°I don¡¯t know, may be something else. But it does not really matter.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I wanted do something, that I am helping. So, you fought side by side with him, what do you think?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ you mean the villager?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not bad. Good form and posture, but more of a street fighting, brawling style though.¡± ¡°Good. He¡¯s the only one I spotted¡­¡± ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Magic of course, but I can¡¯t tell him that, can I? [7] VIllage 3 [7] VIllage 3 The next village is a slightly bigger one, located next to a lake. Home to about 250 people, once again we do a food party. I like food parties, and I get the sense that the men like it too. Some of the men are single, so I think some are taking the chance to get to know the locals, I mean, they must be disappointed that Anne isn¡¯t interested in them, so¡­ Too bad, such is the life of being a sidekick in a harem MC¡¯s story. Once again, I repeat the routine. A speech about how I came to rule the land of Loom, and now I¡¯m getting to know the place. The villagers buy it, I think, but I¡¯m sure they are skeptical. I doubt everyone¡¯s that gullible¡­ right? Anyway, routine, routine. Gotta catch the next big fish. I pass Adam and the men a beer each. I specifically arranged for beer to be available at all my outings, since the men respond well to them. It boosts +10% affection! What¡¯s not to like about beer, and to be fair, beer tastes pretty good in this world. In fact, I think all alcohol generally tastes better here, it¡¯s my noble tastebuds! Must be! ¡°Prince, please control yourself¡­¡± Anne tugs at my arm, and Adam takes a step back. I nod, ¡°Yes yes.¡± After taking a sip of the beer, I stop, and turn to look at her. ¡°Let¡¯s walk around and meet everyone else.¡± She smiles, ¡°Okay.¡± A Rank 4 or Rank 5 person to add into my Royal Guard, that¡¯s the ideal target to look for, but at the moment, it looks like it¡¯s relatively rare. After the filter has been applied, there¡¯s not a single Rank 3 in the village. ¡°Did everyone turn up?¡± I ask the village¡¯s elder. ¡°Ah.. most of them who are free are.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°What do you mean.¡± ¡°Ah quite a bit of the men and women are out hunting. There¡¯s wild deer migration passing by, and this week is our only chance to get them before they move too far away.¡± Damn. ¡°Anne, were you aware of this?¡± ¡°Uh.. no.¡± She looks scared, as if I¡¯m going to scold her. Well, I am a bit annoyed, but what can I do. This is just reality, I can¡¯t catch everyone at a good time. ¡°Never mind then.¡± I smile back at the elder, and nod. ¡°Do you happen to know if any of them have¡­ erm¡­ inclination to join my royal guard?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ perhaps some of them do.¡± ¡°Can you ask them to come to Loom sometime within the next 2 months?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ uhm¡­ I¡¯m not sure, but I will try to ask them, milord.¡± ¡°Good.¡± I shake the elder¡¯s hand, and smile. It¡¯s a social smile. I¡¯m unhappy. But I¡¯m a prince, I¡¯ve got a practiced smile, I can do this. After the event is over, Anne sits next to me and apologises. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my prince¡­¡± I pause. Do I punish her? Is it her fault? I take a deep breath, and then turn to look at her. She looks really sad. The system then gives me a prompt Huh! That¡¯s an odd one. I¡¯m really curious what the special scene is, but then, I think now is not the time for it. If she commits mistakes the next time, I will then punish her. ¡°I¡¯m disappointed, Anne. I think this could be arranged better, next time.¡± She nods, and bows. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, your majesty. I will plan better, the next time, I promise.¡± ¡°Good. I hope so.¡± I flash a weak smile. It¡¯s intentional. As she walks away I think I hear her sobbing a little, but never mind. She needs to do better, I expect that from my subordinates. If there¡¯s a monster coming in 3 months, I need my people ready. We are supposed to head to the next village the day after, and so I had the rest of the day free. I took the time to just walk around, and get to know Adam a bit better. ¡°Everything okay with Anne, there?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Just a bit disappointed I didn¡¯t get to meet anyone with combat competence.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Adam didn¡¯t know how to react there. ¡°Never mind that, how¡¯d you like the villages so far?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ nice. It feels good to visit the villages, and do¡­ work. I suppose. It¡¯s like this is our duty, why we joined the army. To protect everyone, and this is.. Good.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you have that sense of duty with you. Some of the men just do it for the money¡­ mostly. So, if things go sour, I¡¯m not sure how much I can count on them.¡± ¡°Ah, don¡¯t say that. Some men may look greedy and all, but when push comes to shove, they will find that some things are worth fighting for.¡± ¡°You believe so?¡± I¡¯m skeptical, as I look at the soldiers accompanying us. They¡¯re busy trying to hit on the locals, they are single after all. ¡°I think they think with their little brothers some time.¡± Adam chuckles. ¡°Well, we all do. Sometimes.¡± [8] Village 4 [8] VILLAGE 4 The next village is a lot further, and took us two days to reach, so we spent a bit of time in camps. Its also because of the hilly terrain, which greatly slowed down our progress. ¡°It''s a nice view though.¡± I say, admiring the hilly view, it reminds me of the alps villages. Vast lakes, surrounded by evergreen forests, with villages at the water¡¯s edge. ¡°Yes it is.¡± Anne smiles, hiking up the trail next to me. She¡¯s gotten over the incident, and is back to normal. ¡°The village is further down here, no?¡± Adam and another soldier nods. ¡°Yes, yes. We should be there soon.¡± Ah, a village. This one is about 200 in size, and thankfully, everyone is around for the big lunch party. I saw two Rank 3 villagers, one is a farmer, and the other is a blacksmith. They have non-combat roles, but the blacksmith is a very old lady, in her 50s I think, 60s even, but with muscles that put me and some of the soldiers to shame. I feel intimidated standing right next to her. Adam comes up, ah, just at the right time. ¡°Hi, mom.¡± ¡°Oh hello-¡± Wait. What¡­ ¡°Mom?¡± ¡°Ah yes. This is my momma.¡± Adam gives the lady a huge hug, and the lady returns it. She¡¯s incredibly fit, and when she smiles she looks like she is only in her 40s. I feel awkward. ¡°Momma, this is Prince Carlos. My new superior.¡± She rejects my hand, and gives me a hug. Ah, she is squeezing me. Wait, why is she squeezing me so hard? ¡°Ah. Momma, don¡¯t do that, he¡¯s a prince!¡± Adam blushes and looks awkward. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me you coming back!¡± Phew, I am free. ¡°Prince Carlos just decided to visit the villages, so I thought of giving you a surprise, momma!¡± Adam smiles, and he hugs the momma. The momma is bigger than him though. ¡°You still too damn skinny. Like you pops.¡± ¡°How¡¯s pops.¡± ¡°His leg hurts, so he¡¯s at home resting. Go see him.¡± ¡°Sure sure.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Damn. If this lady is Adam¡¯s mom, I¡¯m not gonna recruit her. Momma then pulls out Adam¡¯s sword, and goes through it. ¡°Ah.. good. Good work in keeping your sword well maintained.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°No! You missed this spot. And your angle is wrong!¡± ¡°Ah¡­ really????¡± Hmmm. I should walk elsewhere. The mother and son are catching up, so I quickly grab a beer and walk elsewhere, to mingle with the rank 3 farmer instead. ¡°Hey, hi.¡± I smile, and greet the farmer, strangely, a young lady about my age. She has a nice scent, she looks like a cute country girl, with a large straw hat. ¡°Oh.. hello.¡± She blushes and shakes my hand, shyly. ¡°You are?¡± ¡°Nina. I¡¯m a farmer¡­ and I also raise some animals.¡± She blushes and turns sideways. ¡°Ah¡­¡± She¡¯s really shy. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Nina, Level 6 Farmer & Cook, Rank 3, Yellow, 0% Huh... She¡¯s yellow, so when the waitress comes over with beer, I take two mugs. Hmm, I try my luck. ¡°Would you like to have beer with me?¡± She pauses, thinks, and she does. After two or three sips, she smiles. ¡°Ahhhh. I like beer. It¡¯s made with local hops and wheats or barley. Feels good to taste the end result of our hard work.¡± ¡°You grow a lot of crops?¡± ¡°Yes yes, I have a farm next to the village, its not that big but I am doing quite okay so far. I have yet to try brewing beer though¡­¡± ¡°Fascinating. How are you preparing for the seasons?¡± ¡°Ahhh we ferment some of the local veggies with chilli, spices and salts, and store them in large jar buried in the ground.¡± ¡°Oooo.¡± ¡°You can taste them if you visit us during the season of snow. They are amazing when eaten right out of the jar.¡± Hah. She may be a rank 3¡­ but I guess her value to me right now is minimal. It¡¯ll be better if I focus on getting combat roles first. We chatter a bit more, and then we move on to other people, I speak to the local guardsmen, and they are actually part guardsmen, part farmers, part hunters. It seems they take up the guardsmen role because the regional authority (ie, me, indirectly) give them money. Eventually, the party is over and I retreat to the village¡¯s guesthouse. As I lie on the bed, I lament my bad luck. ¡°Ah¡­ I guess rank 4s are not gonna appear so easily after all.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Anne pops up next to me, she sits on a chair next to the bed. ¡°Oh, hi Anne.¡± ¡°What were you talking to yourself about, Prince Carlos? What is this rank thing?¡± ¡°Ah.. its.. its nothing.¡± At this point, I need to explain that rank as a concept does not exist in this world, at least, to the natives. They do not perceive ¡°rank¡±, and all they can see are levels, skills and jobs. But, I believe this rank thing is actually a mix of ¡°potential and talent¡±. So, keeping this ability of mine secret, is valuable, else I may be captured to do weird things. ¡°I was just mumbling about how I would rank myself.¡± Anne then sits down next to me. ¡°Well, I think you¡¯re amazing. I¡¯ve not heard of a prince going about¡­ mingling with the villagers like you do.¡± I laugh, ¡°Pray that father and my brothers never hear of this.¡± Anne¡¯s face pales. ¡°Ah¡­ oh.¡± ¡°What.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t realise the king may be disagreeing with your actions.¡± ¡°Nah he won¡¯t.¡± I smile back at Anne, and Anne breathes a sigh of relief. I push myself upright, to a sitting position, and reach for a small bowl of local fruits the villagers prepared. It¡¯s some kind of berries, and its tasty. I munch on another one, and then I realise Anne is staring. ¡°Why are you staring? You want one?¡± I take one of the berries and offer it to her. ¡°Ah.. ermm.¡± She¡¯s being coy. So I adjust my position, and lean closer, so the berry is right in front of her mouth. ¡°Open up.¡± She blushes, and she opens her mouth. I out the berry in. *2 skillpoints gained* ¡°Prince Carlos¡­¡± She looks at me funny. Her face is red, is she feverish? ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Those berries¡­ do you know what they are?¡± ¡°No. No I don¡¯t. I assume its a kind of snack.¡± Anne blushes even more. ¡°Its an¡­ erm¡­ aphrodisiac and erm¡­ libido enhancer.¡± Her face is burning red. Ah. Oh. Oooooh! ¡°And we both just had it.¡± Ooooo? [9] Village 5 9 Village 5 ¡°You¡­ okay?¡± ¡°I feel a bit¡­ dizzy.¡± Anne says, and she sits on the bed, and clearly intentionally, leans on my arms. "And a bit..." She looks at me with those bright eyes of hers, a look of sleepiness. ¡°Ummmm.¡± She¡¯s still in her dress, but when she is leaning on my arm , staring at me like that, I do not know what to say. Anne is exaggerating the effects of the berries! Ah. It is a trap! Thank you, system! I guessed its not so fast for things to progress to that level, even if the opportunity does present itself I smile, and help her to her bed. And I pat her head lightly. ¡°If you are dizzy, get some rest.¡± She leans, gets in bed, and I cover her body in the blanket provided by the guesthouse. ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything from the berries, though. Maybe it works differently for others.¡± This time I am the one sitting on her bed. ¡°Good night, Anne.¡± I lean in and pat her head gently, again, and then return back to my bed. I then look at my status, as I now have 2 skillpoints available. Skill Menu (After spending skillpoints) (+) indicates can be upgraded.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. I decide to spend my 2 skillpoints on levelling up my Prince job and crafter of gifts. And once that is done, I close my eyes and go to sleep. The next day, we decide to move to the next village, and Adam walks next to me. The affection indicator reads 30% now, after multiple beers that we have together. ¡°How¡¯s things with you and your family?¡± ¡°Momma¡¯s good. She¡¯s still working, but pa¡¯s knee hurts, I think his old age is causing his knee to be weak, so he tries not to walk too much. A pity healing magic can¡¯t undo the effects of aging.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ but he is healthy?¡± ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s fine. Occasionally needs a herb or two to help with the pain, but other than that he is fine.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear.¡± ¡°Yea. Pa taught me swordfighting, yknow. If he¡¯s at his peak, he¡¯d still beat me.¡± ¡°Ooh. He must be rather amazing then.¡± I glance at Anne¡¯s tooltip. 67%. Good. If I am not wrong, there should be another trigger at 70%, or maybe 80%? Or is this like those cheapo games where its only 40% and 100%. ¡°Yeah. He is. I wish I could watch him fight at his best again. The image of him, is still one I am chasing¡­¡± I tap Adam on the back. ¡°Ahh. That¡¯s life. Cherish the moment when you have it. You can¡¯t have it back.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Say, Prince Carlos¡­ how''s things between you and Anne?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°She looks really happy when we started our journey today. She had a huge smile when she was organising the documents.¡± Well, the head pat is super effective? ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± ¡°You kissed her yet?¡± ¡°Huh. No.¡± ¡°You should. Take her first kiss.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± I think it''s kinda strange I am getting dating advice from a man that is obsessed with sword fighting and does not have his own girlfriend. ¡°Thanks for the advice.¡± ¡°The men are all rooting for ya. Anne would make a great lady.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Or are you the type that wants a lot of women?¡± ¡°Yea.¡± I rub my head. ¡°I was not thinking of being monogamous¡­¡± I mean, come on, I get a second chance in another world and I am gonna just accept one wife? In a world where royalty often has a harem? Naw! I am gonna get a harem! Adam laughs, and then places his hand over my shoulder. ¡°A long time ago, when Anne was still working for the mayor, I asked whether Anne is willing to share her husband, with other women.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± This is entirely relevant to my interests. ¡°Guess what she said?¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°She said, ¡®If I ever marry a royal, I think its normal if they have multiple wives. There are many political, and practical reasons. A man who would be king or lord would want many strong offsprings, with women of different magical, or physical attributes, and it would be selfish of me to deny my husband that right.¡¯¡± Whooooooahhhhhhhh. She¡¯s okay with harem! Great!!!! But I do have to ask her first, right? Second hand information is always not as reliable. [10] Village 6 - Saras introduction & Pre-Adams 40% Scene 10 Village 6 The next village is a bit larger, having trekked a whole day to reach it. Home to about 450, it has a proper road that leads to Loom, but because we wanted to hit the earlier villages, we kind of took the long way to get here. The elders are quick to come and greet me. Ah, the typical niceties are exchanged, and we are led to the village¡¯s event hall. Once again, beer, and food flows! ¡°I¡¯m honestly getting kind of sick of parties.¡± I whisper to Anne, and she chuckles. ¡°The villagers are happy, and that¡¯s all that matters?¡± Adam suggests. ¡°Well, I guess. Maybe you can be my delegate, next time.¡± Both Adam and Anne shrug. ¡°Nahh.¡± We start with the usual speech, and then we proceed to have lunch. The villagers, some of them, decide to put up a small performance for us, which feels really awkward. I feel like a politician being entertained at events, again. And then, one of the dancers caught my attention. She looks like a young girl, about my age, with shoulder length brown hair, and slightly tanned skin. Her body is lean, but toned, as I see the muscles twitch and stretch as she twirls. Name unknown, Rank 4 Ranger, Level 5, Green. ¡°Who¡¯s that lady?¡± I point, to which the elder nods. ¡°That¡¯s my daughter, milord.¡± He grins. And he gives me that disturbing grin. ¡°...oh.¡± I feel my face heat up, but I hold it back. I am a Prince! ¡°Her name is Sara. She¡¯s a looker, don¡¯t you think? Like her mother.¡± I take a better look, as she dances, her face is pretty. ¡°Ah. Yes.¡± ¡°She¡¯s single, and not dating anyone. Would you be interested, Prince Carlos?¡± Uh¡­. what?! I did not know what to say, so I did not reply. I just stared at the elder, and the elder smiles. After the performance, the elder beckons her over. ¡°Sara, meet the prince.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. She nods, and offers her hand. I take it and shake it. ¡°Ah¡­ hi.¡± ¡°Ah. Hi¡­¡± The elder smiles. ¡°It should be a hug, Sara.¡± ¡°Uh dad¡­¡± ¡°I mean, okay it is your first meeting, but he¡¯s gonna be your future husband!¡± Sara blushes, and pushes the elder aside. ¡°Dad! That¡¯s not the kind of thing you should be saying to strangers! Even if they are the Prince.¡± The elder smiles, and adjusts Sara such that she faces me again. ¡°Sara dear, remember when you were young, and mom used to read story books to you, about how the prince would save the princess?¡± Her face is really red now. ¡°You used to say, when I grow up, I want to get married to a prince.¡± Her face is glowing red. Maybe steaming. ¡°Well, a prince is right before your eyes, Sara dear. You¡¯ve caught his eyes, because he pointed to me and asked about you!¡± She turns to face her dad. ¡°Dad. Stop. Stop embarrassing me.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re gonna be a princess, you got to have the courage to stand next to a prince with pride.¡± The elder pushes her a bit, such that she stands right in front of me. ¡°So, introduce yourself again. Like a lady, this time.¡± Sara fidgets and twitches. She glances back to her dad, the elder, and he returns with an encouraging nod. It¡¯s like he is saying, ¡°Go on.¡± She takes a deep breath, and she bows before, like an attempted curtsey. ¡°Pleased to meet you, Prince Carlos, I am Sara Mielland.¡± I freeze. ¡°Ah¡­ ahm.. yeah. Pleased to meet you too.¡± She¡¯s still red. The elder seems pleased with the outcome, and then runs off. ¡°Alright you two, please talk. I¡¯ll go off and let you be now.¡± He walks away and starts telling everyone not to interfere in our conversation. I shrug and turn to face Sara. ¡°Are you a ranger?¡± ¡°Ah.. ah yes. How¡¯d you know? Sorry about my dad, really. He¡¯s been trying to marry me off for some time.¡± I laugh and nod. ¡°It¡¯s from your movement.¡± I lied! ¡°And I thought you have nice muscles.¡± She blushes, and tries to cover her muscles. But because of the somewhat skimpy dressing of the dance, she can¡¯t. ¡°Ah.¡± I forgot how ladies react to mentions of their muscles. ¡°I mean, you look really nice in this dress.¡± She blushes. Her face turns red again¡­ but after an awkward 5 seconds she looks up and asks. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She smiles, and her skirts twirl a little. ¡°So¡­ you are a ranger?¡± ¡°Ah.. yes, yes I am. My dad doesn¡¯t like it though, he thinks I should be a lady, like my mom¡­¡± ¡°I see. But you are quite good at ranger stuff, or not?¡± She sighs, ¡°Ah yes. I think I am. I think.¡± ¡°Good. Ever thought of joining my royal guard?¡± She pauses. ¡°...really?¡± ¡°Yes. Join me. Come with me, I need you.¡± I offer my hand. She pauses, but then she blushes. ¡°You know¡­ I thought this would be a bit more... erm¡­ romantic. But it''s actually just recruitment...¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Sara is still giving me that look. ¡°I¡­ I will think about it. Give me a day.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± At which point, Adam comes over. ¡°The food¡¯s almost finished¡­¡± ¡°Ah yes.¡± ¡°Oh hi.¡± Adam smiles at Sara, and Anne follows behind. I introduce the two. Anne smiles and squeezes my arm. Sara bows and walk away. ¡°So¡­ you recruited her?¡± Anne looks at me. ¡°Yeah. She did not give me an answer, yet.¡± ¡°She¡¯s cute.¡± Adam says, ¡°But I think she will punch you if you hurt her.¡± I shrug. Anne chuckles. The party wraps up, Anne and the men help to clean up, and I hang around the village, walking and talking to the villagers, while Adam accompanies me as my bodyguard. ¡°It¡¯s nice, these villages, there¡¯s a rustic, warm charm to them, and the air here feels clean and fresh.¡± Adam nods, we walk along the lakeside. There¡¯s a pleasant breeze from the lake. ¡°It¡¯s worth protecting.¡± One day, pollution, technological change will destroy such rustic livestyles. If this world goes through the same process of industrialisation, globalisation and economic concentration as my own, much of these quaint villages are going to go away. Adam pauses, and looks at me funny. ¡°Yes¡­ Yes it is.¡± ¡°The world will change. And the way lives were lived, will not be the same.¡± Some day, somebody¡¯s going to create electricity, perhaps augmented with the magic that exists in this world, and printing press, and perhaps the internet. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°It may be others, it may be ourselves. But change is inevitable.¡± Adam stops, and looks at me. ¡°Prince?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± I turn back to glance at Adam. 40% Do you want to trigger Adam¡¯s 40% scene? Uh¡­ okay. Yes. [11] Adam 40% 11 - Adam¡¯s 40% scene. Adam pauses, and stares. ¡°What are you really planning, Prince Carlos?¡± I nod. ¡°You really want to know?¡± ¡°This tour you are doing¡­ why?¡± Adam takes a step forward, his eyes looking into mine. I turn to face the lake, and take in the view. It¡¯s gorgeous, a lake, with forests and mountains in the distance. ¡°Let¡¯s play a game. Guess?¡± Adam steps up next to me. ¡°Your eyes is on the throne. This tour, to travel the villages, is to gather people to support that initiative. You seen to have some kind of eye for talent, and with it you intend to build something, perhaps your own force.¡± I pause, and I laugh. I honestly have not thought about so far way, though I suppose it does look like that. A prince being sent away, what better way to return than to return with an army. ¡°Is it?¡± Adam¡¯s eyes try to read my expression, a little worried. Perhaps he wish what I said was not true. Or does he wish it was true? There¡¯s a bench right by the lake, a strange silence hangs over us, as I ponder my answer. I sit down, and take a sip of a water flask that hangs on my belt. ¡°No. I did not think that far.¡± ¡°Really? You don¡¯t seem that naive, Prince Carlos. If your eyes are on the throne, I can totally understand it.¡± I smile, ¡°Adam, I¡¯m being honest. My focus is really on that¡­ disaster that is coming in the next 2 months or so.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. He didn¡¯t reply, he¡¯s still waiting for me to continue. ¡°I really do believe there is a threat, a monster or something coming. We have about 9 or 10 weeks left, and I need all the good warriors I can find to face it.¡± ¡°Is it some kind of magic?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°This ¡®vision¡¯, or whatever. Is it a magic of some kind?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. I guess you can say so.¡± ¡°Why not run?¡± Huh? ¡°All my life, I have seen, met, nobles who fled when the going gets tough. When their life is at risk, the nobles would ask others to take the fall for them, all of us peasants, to fight in the muddy fields while the nobles rest and relax in comfortable camps. Even the previous mayor, he¡¯s delighted when he got the chance to be transferred back to the capitol. So, if a big monster is coming, why not run?¡± ¡°Well, maybe I will flee and run too, if it looks like we will lose. But I play to win, so I will stay.¡± Adam laughs. ¡°Might be too late then.¡± I shrug, ¡°If it comes to that point, it is my mistake.¡± He pats me in the back. ¡°What.¡± I mean, you pat me on the back and say nothing. You have something you mean to say, so say it. ¡°How many are you looking for?¡± Adam¡¯s just asking everything that comes to his mind, isn¡¯t he? But I suppose he wants to know? ¡°Your recruits. Sara, Reese, me. How much is enough, before that 2 months is over?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. But honestly, everyone I can get my hands on. Better to be over prepared, right?¡± Is quantity better? Or quality better? I had thought about it, whether do I train one subordinate so that he can fight the monsters, or do I go for volume and throw bodies at the problem? The system has no answer, and I suspect both is possible. There¡¯s a small group of ducks swimming on the lake. ¡°Maybe, just maybe, ten?¡± I mean, that¡¯s a good number. If this isn¡¯t one of those merciless systems, it won¡¯t be too hard? Or is it? ¡°Ten¡­¡± Adam too takes a sip from his flask. ¡°That¡¯s a good number. You intend for us, to be a hit squad to take on the enemy general or a monster?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the intention.¡± We pass by a local street vendor. It¡¯s actually an old lady selling snacks and souvenirs, right outside her home. Adam buys one, a small donut like snack, and he then also offers to get me one, ¡°Which flavor do you want, Prince Carlos?¡± What. The system just shoehorned an ability choice into a food selection? Why can¡¯t I pick all of them? Or none? ¡°I think you can only have just one flavor. Anne will kill me if she finds out I stole her date for tonight¡¯s dinner.¡± Adam seems to just remind me, to stop me from getting too greedy. ¡°Cheese.¡± Grand Slash sounds like the perfect choice for an anti-boss fight. [12] Village 6 12 ¡°So¡­ what are we doing?¡± ¡°Going to village to village, finding talent.¡± I explain, Sara walking next to me, to the meeting place. She¡¯s packed up, and in her ranger gear, so she looks every bit the stealthy protector of the forest. I somehow knew she was going to say yes. Maybe because she¡¯s going to be a member of the harem, so, the default, and eventual answer, is going to be a yes. ¡°Huh. Why?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a big bad guy coming. Might be a demon or some kind.¡± ¡°Oh. Okay. How long have you been running around like this?¡± ¡°Maybe a few weeks.¡± ¡°You knocked your head or something?¡± Sara seems to somehow actually hit the nail on the head. Anne chimes it, ¡°Yes. He fell, and woke up, and starts telling me he had a vision. Or something like that.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± Sara seems a bit disappointed, but no matter, we arrive at the meeting place. The men are ready, for the journey to the next village. ¡°Hey Adam.¡± ¡°Morning, Prince.¡± And we set out, on the journey to the next village. Sara quickly takes the opportunity to demonstrate her ability as a ranger. She¡¯s got some kind of [forest-walk] ability, which allows her to almost run in the forests, incredibly quietly, but also very fast. Stolen novel; please report. She¡¯s also good with both a longbow and a small hunting dagger, but, she¡¯s inexperienced, as her level is still quite low. Oh well, she¡¯s new to the team, maybe she just wants to impress me. ¡°I got a skill last night.¡± Adam walks next to me. We¡¯re not exactly running, only Sara is. ¡®It¡¯s cool, it¡¯s called [Grand Slash].¡± ¡°Nice!¡± ¡°Yeah. You got anything to do with it?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ No?¡± I mean, should I tell him, or no? I suspect if such an ability is known, it¡¯ll be really¡­ disturbing. And I¡¯ll look really manipulative, no? ¡°Haha I¡¯m kidding. Don¡¯t look so nervous, Prince Carlos.¡± ¡°...ah.¡± Anne smiles, ¡°But I think you do probably have an influence, somehow. Maybe just being around you makes us learn new skills.¡± I laugh. Awkwardly. This isn¡¯t exactly the conversation I thought of having, but I guess they somehow pick up on such things. Sara finally realises we¡¯re still walking at our own speed, and she turns back to rejoin our group. ¡°Did you see how fast I was?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± All three of us look at her and shake our heads. ¡°...no.¡± The next village is smaller, probably about 300 in population, and unlike the earlier village, it¡¯s located right outside a mine. An iron mine, so this area has smelters, blacksmiths, and quite a bit of merchants importing in coal. Even on the day of my visit, the elder says about 30 of the men are in the mines, working. Ah, of well. I¡¯ll meet them separately at night, where we will have a smaller dinner arrangement. The daytime lunch even we went through the usual flow, speech, and the food. No performance from this group, and food was rather interesting. More collected herbs and some algae which apparently lives in the mines. The elders, the blacksmiths are fascinated to meet me though, apparently it¡¯s the first visit by a prince in their entire village¡¯s history. Even the mines itself was officiated by a town mayor, without much fanfare. Some of the young men and women think I¡¯m like some kind of imaginary beasts, having never met a royal. Of them all, sadly, no one in particular was above rank 3, so I didn¡¯t pursue anyone in particular. I did however, end up purchasing a fair bit of a small sparkly gem, that is also harvested from the mines. Because they are gift materials that transcend colors. Sparkly clear crystals - All colors + 3% affection. Usable once a month per person. Can be set into jewelry or other gifts I bought all they had, which is like, 16 pieces of them, and dumped them into my hammerspace. Later that night, we had another dinner, this time just the elder, and the men who returned from a hard day¡¯s work in the mines. They are all muscular, strong men, and are amused when a young prince comes to meet them. Still, though they may have personal reservations, they didn¡¯t try or say anything too offensive. The miners, one of them is rank 3, but his job class is miner, so¡­ I felt it¡¯s probably not worth the effort to pursue this, since I¡¯m actually looking for combat roles. Perhaps I¡¯ll come back and meet him again one day, but, since my time is limited, I need to be laser focused. I do, only have about 10 weeks left. [13] Village 7 & Meeting Lani 13 - Village 7 The next village was about 2 days away, and it¡¯s much further out. Located in one of the drier parts of Loom¡¯s province, it borders one of the neighbouring nations, and therefore has a higher percentage of travellers. As I only have 10 weeks left, I intend to spend the last 6 weeks training and getting all these talents to work together as one cohesive team. Perhaps we can somehow develop a combo attack or discover some kind of combat synergy to exploit against whatever that¡¯s going to come. So, that leaves 4 weeks for my talent scouting. Sara, Adam, spar occasionally in their rest periods, and I can see that Adam¡¯s higher level shows. Sara is naturally talented, so her progress is fast, and she¡¯s already got good basics, but she lacks in the combat experience against others, unlike Adam who¡¯s actually served on various monster suppression skirmishes and anti-bandit raids throughout Loom. ¡°Not joining?¡± Anne sits next to me. ¡°Uh¡­ I like to watch. I prefer to, actually.¡± ¡°I prefer not to. I like more¡­ non-violent things.¡± I smile and stare into her eyes, and she looks back at me. She looks a bit tired from the journey, and we¡¯ll reach the village a day away. At the rate we¡¯re going, we can probably visit another 6 or 7 villages before we¡¯ll return to Loom. ¡°Do you want to go back to Loom? Will things be fine without your presence?¡± Anne shakes her head. ¡°No, Prince Carlos. The chief secretary Augustine is great as his job, and my job is mostly just to help him with all the paperwork, and lighten his load so he has some free time to rest. I¡¯ve asked a few friends to help out...¡± ¡°Ah.¡± The next day, we continue the journey, and as we go on, the terrain starts to change. The terrain here is a bit different, and so are the trees and flowers. So, I¡¯m rather delighted when I spotted a small shrub with a whole lot of white colored lilies. Lilyflower, All colors, affection +3%, Single use, once per month. Can be made into a bouquet. So, I took a lot, and with a piece of paper, I wrapped them into two bouquets. I suppose this is my [Crafting] ability, since I seem to innately know how to do so, and how to do it well. Simple Lilyflower Bouquet, All colors, Affection +8%, Single use, Once per month (overlaps with Lilyflower) And I give the two to both Anne and Sara. They both blush when I pass them the bouquets. Adam and the men grins, ¡°Really smooth, Prince. Real smooth.¡± I turn back and stare at them, not to ruin the moment. ¡°It¡¯s the first time I got a bouquet¡­¡± Sara fidgets. Affection 8% Anne smiles, ¡°Thank you. It¡¯s pretty.¡± Affection 75% ¡°Well, we all been having a long journey, so, some flowers for the two lovely ladies who¡¯s going through this with us!¡± Adam loudly says, ¡°Why do girls get flower and us men get nothing.¡± The rest of the men laugh.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Oh shush! Dress up in a skirt and I¡¯ll get you some. I didn¡¯t say that, of course. I fear that Adam might just try it, just to test me. I turn around, ¡°You guys get beer in the village.¡± Well, it¡¯s true, the men enjoy beer a lot more than the girls do. Anne hates it. Sara probably does as well. Given than Sara is green, I would think she hates it. [1 skillpoint gained!] Oh yay. I quickly spent it. Skill Menu (After spending skillpoints) (+) indicates can be upgraded. We arrive at the village about 2 hours later, right before noon. Anne had already somehow sent a message using the messenger pigeons to the elder that we¡¯re arriving, so the party is only waiting for us to begin. Again, it¡¯s a routine now, I give a speech, and then we start eating. This village, as it has some ¡°outsiders¡±, have a population of about 500 people. They mostly do farming work, planting all sorts of beans and fruits, and also quite a bit of goats. So the local specialty is food made with goat¡¯s milk, and fermented beans. They also have an alcoholic version of goat¡¯s milk, which tastes really bad to me, but the locals love it. It¡¯s absolutely appalling, but I had to put on my best poker face and cheer on the elders who are happily drinking them away. Adam tried it too, and he doesn¡¯t find the taste particularly horrible. In fact, none of them did. I think it¡¯s my otherworlder palate. The girls, both of them didn¡¯t want it, of course. They didn¡¯t like it, so they were rather surprised when I whispered to them, that I think the drink is horrible. Anyway, focus! I¡¯m here to look for talent, so I get to it. As I shake hands and greet the people, I then spotted one interesting thing. A girl in a cage, next to the event hall. I didn¡¯t spot it earlier, but now I did. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± I ask the elder. ¡°She¡¯s someone we caught earlier, she¡¯s been begging for food for days, after she ran here, but after a few days she started stealing. We¡¯re going to punish her by chopping off her hands.¡± Unknown, Rank 5, Level 3 Elementalist, Yellow, 0% Rank 5! That¡¯s the second highest I¡¯ve seen, since Selena who¡¯s rank 6! So, I approach her, and I beckon Anne to come over. ¡°What¡¯s the norm for punishment around here?¡± ¡°Depends, it¡¯s up to the elder, really. The legal system grants judgement powers to all village elders for lesser matters, and criminal matters to two elders in unison. More difficult matters will be referred to the magistrate in Loom for deliberation. There¡¯s only 2 principles when deciding punishment, that the punishment is sufficient to achieve deterrence, and the punishment is reasonably proportionate.¡± Ah yes, we do have a proper judge in Loom, but I¡¯ve only met that old lady once¡­ when I was not yet¡­ me. ¡°What are my legal powers?¡± ¡°As prince, you have overriding veto powers to all decisions made, except for that of a High Judge, which only the King can overrule.¡± ¡°Great.¡± ¡°May I decide punishment?¡± The elder pauses, ¡°Uh... certainly.¡± ¡°Can I have some food? And beer, please?¡± One of the soldiers take it for me, and then I smile at the girl in the cage. She¡¯s got light yellow, almost sand-colored hair, and a slightly dark complexion, and she¡¯s really, really skinny, like she have not had a proper meal in weeks. She¡¯s so skinny she would be labelled as anorexic, and her face, her cheeks actually sink into her face because the total lack of fats. ¡°Here. Have some.¡± She stares back, and somehow, she doesn¡¯t reach for it. She heard the conversation, and I would think she understands me. ¡°Cooperate, or I¡¯ll make it even more difficult for you. So eat up and drink. You like beer, don¡¯t you?¡± She stares, trying to have a measure of my intent. But after 5 secs, she decides to eat and drink. The elders of the village of course come and watch, surprised. An elder whispers, ¡°Your majesty¡­ what are you doing?¡± ¡°Relax, I just started. I do intend to punish her.¡± The elder nods. ¡°Understood.¡± I wait till she finishes, and I lean down, looking at her through the cage. ¡°So, tell me your name.¡± ¡°Lani.¡± ¡°Hi, Lani. They tell me you were stealing, is that true?¡± She pauses, and she sighs. ¡°...yes.¡± ¡°And why did you do it?¡± ¡°Hungry.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s wrong.¡± ¡°Hungry. Cannot think.¡± ¡°I see, but stealing is wrong. How much did you steal?¡± She tries to count with her fingers, and shows 7 fingers. ¡°Bread¡­¡± ¡°So you stole 7 loaves of bread.¡± She nods, and I sigh. ¡°Elders, may I propose I compensate the villagers for the bread, such that I may decide punishment however I wish? I will take her back to Loom.¡± I got money, time to use it! So, the elders talk among themselves, and they eventually agree. I even paid them a bit more. Anne and Sara then comes over, ¡°Prince, what are you trying to do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m bringing her back to Loom, and I¡¯ll punish her.¡± Somehow the girls and guys give me a look that just screams ¡®you pervert¡¯ or ¡®you sick man¡¯. What, did I imply anything sexual? [14] Village 8 14 - Village 8 ¡°Eat.¡± I pass the food to Lani, and the rest of them look on. They¡¯ve really been suspicious of my intentions since I ¡°bought¡± her from the elders, so I can feel that uncomfortable glance, like trying to me that they are not okay with this. Lani¡¯s really really skinny, and we told her that if she wants to eat, she¡¯s gotta follow me. So she does. As an insurance her legs are chained. I turn to face the men in the camp. Anne and Sara is there too. ¡°So I did not want to explain my intent back in the village.¡± Everyone nods, even Lani. I think she¡¯s the one most surprised at being fed so much food suddenly. ¡°As some of you would have guessed by now, I have an eye for talent. And, I see that in her. So, I thought of rather than she lose her hand, she would do better to earn her right to food, by working for me.¡± ¡°Work?¡± Everyone asks. ¡°What can she do?¡± I turn to Lani, ¡°I think you have a talent¡­ I think, perhaps, some kind of¡­ elemental magic?¡± Her face changes, pales. She looks at me, her eyes a mix of fear, suspicion and perhaps, anger. ¡°Or I am wrong?¡± I shrug. ¡°If you want to live, follow me and serve me.¡± She shakes her head. ¡°I don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°Why not.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Lani doesn¡¯t answer for a while, but as we keep eating and resting, she then suddenly says. ¡°Because I don¡¯t know you.¡± ¡°Then get to know me.¡± Lani munches on the bread, and she seems to be thinking over what I said for quite a while, before she finally says, ¡°Okay.¡± Anne, Sara and Adam share a glance, and then they shrug. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°Anyway, the next village is another day away?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Adam says, and Anne looks at me funny. I find it strange that there¡¯s no 70% affection scene, or perhaps I did not set it up correctly, that¡¯s why it had not trigger. Ah never mind. The next village is relatively disappointing, as once again, there is no rank 4 or above individual that I can recruit for my purposes. So instead, I have the guys practice, Sara, Adam, myself continue practicing. Lani¡¯s starting to look a bit less skinny. She¡¯s following me to the feasts, and I insist she eats up, so now that she doesn¡¯t look so anorexic, she starts to look a bit more appealing as woman. This village, like the other one where we met Lani, are somewhat ¡°border¡± towns, and though I did not find any worthy individuals to recruit, the news here is¡­ worrying. There¡¯s been increasing monster attacks in the nearby kingdoms, and armies have been deployed to suppress it. The fact that an army is deployed means the matter is a lot more serious than I once thought. Yet, there¡¯s no intel to inform us of this? Would the royal army back home know? ¡°Anne, can you send a note back home, to let them know that an army has been deployed?¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ll do so.¡± My gut feel tells me this is the early warning sign, of what I am going to face in 9 weeks. It is best I have some smaller battles, to get a taste of what¡¯s ahead. ¡°Do some of those¡­ creatures, come over?¡± The village elder shakes her head. ¡°Thankfully they are still contained over at the other end.¡± Well, my gut feel tells me, that¡¯s not going to last. ¡°Do you guys, have an escape planned?¡± The elder shakes her head. ¡°No. We will stay and fight.¡± ¡°Do you want to reconsider that, and move to Loom?¡± I mean, I am trying to save lives here. ¡°No. Our lives are built here. So we will stay here.¡± ¡°Ahh¡­ Okay.¡± Later, after the event, I made a point to talk to a lot of the travellers, some from the nearby kingdoms. The monsters they face seem to be a kind of ogre, but ogres aren¡¯t native to this area, so they frankly have no idea where they came from. Perhaps somebody is summoning them¡­ ¡°You want me to scout it out?¡± Sara looks baffled, but at the same time, she understands why I am asking her to do it. ¡°Yes, I know its dangerous, but you are the only one that can do it, as a ranger of the woods.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ okay.¡± As Sara goes and prepare herself for her little reconnaissance mission, I walk to her, and give her a little gift. A small jade bracelet. I made it using the jade from the market, some strings, and a few shiny stones at the mining village. Jade Bracelet, Green, +6% affection boost and grants defensive perks. Special : Prince¡¯s memento : One-time-save ¡°...Ah?¡± ¡°To keep you safe. Come back to me okay?¡± Sara blushes, as she immediately puts it on. ¡°Yes Prince Carlos. I will return to you.¡± 15 - Orc 1 15 - Orc 1 Arrows criss cross the jungle, as the men take aim at the orcs, and that one giant orc. How did it get to this point? Well. Sara left the village and started scouting, into the neighbouring nation¡¯s territory (boundary laws in this time and age is rather loose, and people movement between nations is normal), and eventually bumped into a small group of orcs. At first, she did not engage, and merely continued her recon mission, and she soon spots a bigger band of orcs, about 60 of them. The bigger band is actually under attack, from the army of the neighbouring friendly nation, and they have an army of about 100 men. They manage to scatter and kill quite a lot of the orcs, but some are now fleeing towards our village. So, Sara ran ahead to warn us, and we then moved to intercept the fleeing orcs. Its relatively easy, to be honest. They are already wounded, and are being chased by an enemy force behind them. So all we had to do is hide, and cut them off as they approach us. And this worked, for a while. Until we bumped into the giant fleeing orc. Large, green, angry, and flings a massive rock club, its ability to smack through stuff is ridiculous. Its so big, we just did not dare to approach anywhere near its rampaging path, so we shot arrow after arrow after it. But this exposed our positions, and the rest of the men had to retreat, else the rest of the orcs would attack. So here we are, in a retreat-and-fire kind of maneuver, dodge that giant orc. The giant orc smashes a tree. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Arrows just bounce off its skin. Seriously. ¡°Prince. We can¡¯t run forever, I am going to engage it.¡± Adam shouts, changing to a sword. A few men rally around him. ¡°Uh, wait?¡± I try to look around, he¡¯s right, we are running out of forest. Any further it will be the village, and that''s not good. Too much collateral damage. ¡°Anne!¡± I shout, who¡¯s running ahead of me. She turns, stops. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°We are going to fight.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°Turn on that skill of yours!¡± I had previously ask her to turn it off, just so I know what my true un-skilled strength is. She nods, blushes and the passive ability [Prince in Shining Armor] kicks in. Then, I too activate my skill, [The Power of Love], which creates an aura around me, and somehow, boosts the strength of all the men, including Adam and Sara. The giant orc charges at Adam, and he prepares for it, his hand on the sword, his grip sweaty. [Grand Slash]. His sword glows yellow, and he cuts the giant orc. And the giant orc¡¯s body is instantly severed in half. The rest of the orcs, now panic, and tries to run the other direction. Adam, the rest of them give chase, and a while later, chased or killed the rest of them. Ah. Easy! I like that. Maybe its just a warmup for me. ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± Adam walks over, looking quite satisfied. ¡°What''s that ability you used back there?¡± ¡°Ah.. its a passive boost thing¡­¡± ¡°Not bad. I felt much stronger when you used it.¡± Somehow I felt kind of embarrassed, when Adam actually praised me. So I end up rubbing my own head a bit. ¡°Ah¡­ it was nothing much.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯ll be useful someday.¡± ¡°Yeah. It will be.¡± I mean, that''s what a passive support boost is for, right? After some cleanup and checking the orcs for any loot, I found a few rather interesting bones and items on the giant orc. Ah. At this point, it seems I get full rights to the allocation of any collected loot. Benefits of being the prince, I suppose, if my siblings were here it would be a conflict. War Gauntlet, Male Only, +4% affection, Yellow. Boosts attack. 2 x Bones of a basilisk, gift crafting material, (Yellow, Blue, Green, Red, White), Affection depends on end product. 4 x Drake Teeth, Gift crafting material, Yellow and green. Affection depends on end product Small emerald. Green, +4% affection to green. Can be further processed. Affection boost is higher when set in jewelry. Small aquamarine, Blue +4% affection to Blue. Can be further processed. Affection boost is higher when set in jewelry Ooh nice. ¡°Adam, you can have the gauntlet.¡± Well, he¡¯s been eyeing it for some time, so when I said it, he flashed a bg smile. ¡°You sure? You don¡¯t want it for yourself?¡± ¡°Nah. I¡¯ll have the bones, teeth and the gems. The men can split the rest of the loot.¡± There¡¯s also a some basic armor, some loose metal chains that the orcs carry, some rough axes and clubs, so that goes to the rest of them. ¡°It¡¯s still kinda scary seeing a monster die like that.¡± Anne recounts the battle, shaking her head. ¡°But if this is the future, I need to toughen up.¡± She smacks herself. ¡°You okay?¡± ¡°Yeah. I will be. Just¡­ need some time to get used to it.¡± I pat her on the shoulder. ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re tough, right?¡± She gives me a huge smile. ¡°Yes.¡± 16 - Orc 2 16 orc 2 ¡°Huh, so that''s why the orcs came running back.¡± A group of neighbouring soldiers approach us, as they notice my men cleaning up the mess. A captain, a tall, well built man walks up to me. He¡¯s in full armor, and a big greatsword at his back. Name unknown, Level ??, Rank 5, Knight, Red ¡°Greetings. I take you are the leader?¡± ¡°Yes, I am Prince Carlos. My men intercepted the fleeing orcs, so here we are.¡± ¡°I see you got the giant orc as well. Good job. Saved us the trouble.¡± I smile, ¡°Ah not me. He did.¡± I pointed to Adam, now wearing and testing the gauntlet. Adam notices of course, and smiles back. ¡°I see.¡± He bows lightly, offers his hand, and I shake it. ¡°Thank you, Prince Carlos. I am Captain Cedric of the 5th Eastern Knight Corps. Such cooperation should happen more often.¡± ¡°Well met, and yes. Monsters are our mutual responsibility, though resources are a bit lacking on my part.¡± He smiles, ¡°A decent force is measured in good men, not numbers.¡± ¡°Ah, true that, true that.¡± ¡°Well, we shall return now. Glad to see the orc matter did not spill into the villages as we originally feared.¡± ¡°Goodbye.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. And the neighbouring soldiers left. That Captain Cedric, I would recruit him if I could, but it is not to be. Maybe some other day, when our paths cross under different circumstances. We return to the village, and have a rest. Some of the loot need to be further processed, so the men would borrow the blacksmith¡¯s forge and tools in the village to clean up the loot. ¡°That went well, Prince.¡± Sara sits next to me, I see the indicator on her head says 14% now. ¡°No casualties is always a good thing.¡± I nod. ¡°You did well.¡± Sara pauses¡­ ¡°Ah. Thank you.¡± After a short blush she regains her composure, and brags. ¡°I shot three orcs in the head! I should level up!¡± ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± I flash my biggest happy smile. She somehow fumbles when she sees my smile though. ¡°... ah. yes. yes. I would be happy to level up.¡± Her face is kind of reddish, so she stands and gives me a light bow. ¡°Ah... I will go help the guys out.¡± And she runs away. ¡°She likes you.¡± Lani says, eating a bread. She¡¯s been eating a lot. Her body is gradually gaining all the lost weight, so her face is still somewhat sunken in at her cheeks, but no longer as malnourished. ¡°Good.¡± ¡°Good?¡± ¡°Yes. I like my people to like me.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Lani takes a bite of her bread. I notice she has a pouch at her side, which contains more food. I think her experience with hunger made her stockpile food. ¡°How about you, do you like me?¡± She stares at me, kind of surprised that I had the gall to ask such a question. ¡°Do you?¡± I lean in a bit closer, and she shakes her head. ¡°...Ah¡­ You feed me, so¡­. I am happy¡­¡± ¡°Good. We might be fighting more bad monsters in the future. I hope you can be on our side then.¡± She didn¡¯t reply, and continues to munch on her bread. Anne then comes over, ¡°I met the villagers to tell them to repair their walls and have more patrols.¡± I nod, and Anne sits next me, between myself and Lani. ¡°Are you hungry? Let¡¯s go and eat something?¡± Anne asks, she holds my arm. Lani glances at her, and shrugs. ¡°Ah, I do feel a bit hungry. Come, let''s go then.¡± Anne smiles, ¡°The villagers tell me one of the aunties makes good chicken wings, so let''s get that.¡± At the auntie¡¯s grilled stall, we dig into some tasty chicken wings, seasoned with the regional spices. ¡°So¡­ what did you talk about?¡± Anne asks. ¡°Oh, nothing much. Just about the fight earlier¡­¡± ¡°Ah, Sara looks really happy though.¡± Anne nudges me with her elbow. ¡°Really, nothing?¡± ¡°Hmmm, I might have praised her for doing well.¡± ¡°Ahhh. How about me?¡± ¡°You did well too, Anne. I am amazed you kept up with us so easily.¡± She rubs her head. ¡°I do have to run around Loom, and travel between all the various administration offices¡­¡± Affection summary Anne - 75% Adam - 50% Sara - 14% Lani - 6% Reese - 30% 17 Village 9 & Meeting Wark We left the village for the next one, about a day and a half away. We¡¯re on guard, after all, we just had a battle with orcs, and would not be surprised to still find survivors walking around the countryside. ¡°Did you gain a level, prince?¡± ¡°No I didn¡¯t.¡± I begin to suspect that my leveling has little to do with combat at all, instead it¡¯s driven by my progress on the affections, and when I create gifts. It¡¯s a logical assumption, given that my skillpoints have been coming from those ¡°affection scene¡± moments. ¡°Ahhh that¡¯s strange. You¡¯re in front and center of the battle¡­¡± Anne muses, ¡°Yet I did.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± I pat her on the shoulder and I smile. I really am happy for her, and yet somehow this makes her feel weird. Anyway, we soon arrive at the next village. Home to about 300 people, the group here mostly tend to the farms, as there¡¯s vast flatlands behind them, which they use to cultivate various crops. The village itself though, is located on a small hill, with a small wooden palisade protecting the entire village. It¡¯s a basic fortification, but, at least there is one! The earlier villages, most had fences, that can easily be removed! Some were just outright broken from neglect. ¡°Greeting prince, the feast is ready.¡± I nod, and we go through the usual motions. Speech, handshakes and little small talk with all the folks, while the men generally keep watch. Food purchased, and the villagers are generally happy. Inside, I feel sick. I mean, after so many feasts, and so much small talk, I kinda feel like I¡¯ve just sold my soul to some kind of extroverted devil. Anyway, time¡¯s running out, and I don¡¯t have much time left for this. I¡¯ll just have to bear with it. With less than 9 weeks left, I can only do that many villages. So I pray to my lucky stars I find someone. ¡°Hey.¡± Anne whispers to me, and I jolt out of my daze. ¡°Ah, yes.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like you to meet someone, if you don¡¯t mind?¡± I nod, so Anne leads me to meet a rough looking man, with long unkept hair to both sides of his face, and unshaved facial hair. I smile at him, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Prince Carlos.¡± The man didn¡¯t bow, but he offers his hand. I shake it anyway, even though he kind of broke protocol. I¡¯ve kinda gotten used to not following the protocol anyway. There¡¯s no point in punishing villages over not knowing protocol that they would almost never use. His eyes scan me, up and down, perhaps sizing me up.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Anne then introduces him. ¡°This is Wark. He¡¯s a master hunter around this area, and he kinds of help out with the army as a volunteer.¡± ¡°Ah. I heard from the elder that you do a lot of good work, spotting monsters and orcs before they get too near.¡± It¡¯s true, the elder did say that. Somehow as a Prince, I have this innate ability to remember snippets of what¡¯s being said, that I can easily recall later on. Wark nods. ¡°Damn right. If only your men are a damn lot better at what they do. Then I don¡¯t have to volunteer.¡± I shrug. ¡°We try our best.¡± ¡°Trying ain¡¯t good enough. That¡¯s why I got to step up.¡± ¡°Thank you for doing it.¡± Wark somehow didn¡¯t expect me to thank him, and he stumbles at my response. ¡°Ah.. yes. Your men need me.¡± ¡°Yes we do. We need all the villagers to support us too, we do not fight alone, after all.¡± Again, Wark stumbles. He looks at me, trying to size me up again. ¡°Are you for real?¡± I didn¡¯t reply to that. I didn¡¯t see a need to. Real or not, my actions will prove it, no? Words are useless for men of this type. I offer my hand this time. ¡°Thank you for helping to keep all of us safe.¡± Wark blushes. He didn¡¯t seem to trust what I just said, but he took my hand anyway. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s my duty.¡± With that, I leave Wark alone and proceed to make more small talk with the rest of the villages. No one else had rank 3 or higher, so I felt kind of sad. ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°Uh.. he¡¯s okay?¡± ¡°Okay? He¡¯s easily the best hunter this side of the country.¡± Anne seems kind of surprised at my assessment. ¡°He once beat royal archers in during a hunt through the forest, and has almost always gotten his prey. He¡¯s real good, but as you can see, he¡¯s a bit older and has kind of lost faith in the system.¡± Huh. That¡¯s odd. If he is at that level, his rank should be higher¡­ unless¡­ Unless he can hide it. That certainly seems to be the possibility, so I turn back to look at him, and mentally disable my filters. And indeed, even without the filters, I still could not see his rank and level, even though I could for everyone else. I see, perhaps he has some kind of [hide levels] or [hide presence] kind of ability, or perhaps it is just [stealth]. Oh well, my initial contact with Wark makes me think he¡¯s going to stay here no matter what I say, so I don¡¯t really plan to push my luck too hard with Wark. It¡¯ll be better for the villages to have somebody reliable to count on. So, after that, we spend some time in the village, before moving on to the next one, a day later. The next village is also a day¡¯s journey, so we spent a night in camps. By now we¡¯re all quite used it, and some days, when the weather is lovely, it¡¯s really beautiful. Tonight is one such night. We made camp in a large open field, next to a small stream for water. Here, out in the open, away from the city lights, the night sky is a spectacle of stars. So, I rest myself on the piece of cloth, and just stared. I¡¯ve not seen stars like that, stars that look right out of CGI wallpapers, of the cosmos. I just lie down for a good 30 minutes, then Anne sits next to me. ¡°You like looking at the stars, prince?¡± I pause, I suppose I should say yes? ¡°Yes.¡± The stars are beautiful out here, and we could vaguely make out the constellations. ¡°Me too.¡± She sits, and points at some stars. ¡°When I feel down, sometimes I will make a wish to the stars, for something good to happen to us.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ when¡¯s the last time you did that?¡± She pauses, and she blushes. ¡°When you had the accident...¡± [+1 skillpoint gained] Affection summary Skill Menu (After spending skillpoints) (+) indicates can be upgraded. 18 - Anne 70% 18 - Anne 70% The grass here is a bit pokey, I think they are a little dry, and I¡¯m thankful I brought a piece of cloth to lie on. We stare at the stars together, and then¡­ the moons. There¡¯s two moons in this world, or more, but for now, there¡¯s two of them, high up above the night sky, surrounded by the stars. One is larger than the other. ¡°Aria, and Aira.¡± Creation mythology in this world has the two moons were once whole, but somehow split into two. Now they chase after each other in the night sky, wishing they were together once more, but alas, what is done, cannot be undone, so the split is permanent. Anne smiles, and under the glow of the two moons, her eyes seem to glimmer like the stars themselves. She leans in, and I could faintly make the scent of her hair, and the natural herbs she uses to clean herself every day. It¡¯s a gentle fragrance, and, perhaps a mark of her faith in the men protecting hs, that she still uses it. ¡°I liked that story.¡± I smile, and I know that story too, from Prince Carlos¡¯s memories. She pauses and her hand reached out to touch my arm. ¡°When you had that accident and hit your head, I was right next to you. There was so much¡­ blood.¡± I didn¡¯t know this part. I was afterall bedridden and asleep, and at that time, not really me. Or when I had the accident, all I remember during those last moments were absolutely hazy. Maybe Carlos would have died. Maybe. ¡°We rushed you back to the mansion and called every healer we could to help you, while we tried to stop the bleeding. The healers said you might make it, but you will end up being in a vegetative state even if you survived.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it I think I see a bit of a tear in her eyes, or maybe it is a bit watery. Prince Carlos, the old me, wasn¡¯t exactly a jerk. Playful, softhearted, and generally kind. Brought up without the pressures of the throne (being so far away from the succession hierarchy), the people around Prince Carlos are not there for a share of his wealth, or his power. In some ways, that allowed Prince Carlos to grow up relatively well mannered and centered. ¡°I was really sad¡­ those days. I cried a lot, and one night, when the sky was unusually clear, I made a wish to the stars that you would recover, and come back to us.¡± I smile back at her, and place my hand on her hand. ¡°Thank you. It seems your wish worked, and I am here.¡± Now, she doesn¡¯t need to know that the real, actual Prince Carlos¡¯s soul is probably dead. Either that, or is asleep, and within me. She rubs her eyes a bit, and then she turns back to the stars. ¡°Yeah.¡± She put her hands together and made some kind of prayer. ¡°Another wish?¡± I wonder. ¡°Just saying my thanks.¡± She closes her eyes, and somehow, that moment of her sitting on the grass fields, under the sea of stars, making a prayer, it feels like that is a moment I should have captured with a camera. ¡°I guess I should make a wish too.¡± I too get into a similar position as her. She notices, of course, and nudges me. ¡°No copying.¡± ¡°I am making a wish, not saying thanks.¡± She¡¯s done, and she turns to face me. She pouts. Well, I am not exactly making a wish. Hmm, no, maybe I should. I decide to wish for safety. That we survive whatever challenges that gets thrown our way. So I clasp my hands together and pray. And when I¡¯m done, Anne is staring at me. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°... nothing.¡± Anne shakes her head, her hair a bit dishevelled from the breeze. We are still sitting side by side, the rest of the men cleverly not ruining the moment for us. But, we turn our gaze back up, to that gorgeous night sky. And we just sat there, for maybe a minute plus, in that comfortable silence. It felt really nice, to be looking at the stars together. Stars. ¡°I like looking at the stars.¡± Anne broke the pleasant silence first, she said it before. I nod. ¡°Me too.¡± ¡°I like being with you too.¡± She said, and then she blushes. I nod, ¡°Me too.¡± She smiles, and we look into each other''s eyes for a short moment. It didn¡¯t feel strange, instead it felt really comfortable and warm. And she leans closer. Our arms and shoulders touch. And then, I stretch my arm out and give her a sideway hug. She blushes, and I too feel a bit flushed. I hear a bit of muffled cheering. I think the men are spying. ¡°The guys are watching¡­¡± Anne whispers. ¡°I know.¡± I tighten the hug a bit more, and Anne somehow shrinks. I think she¡¯s happy, but embarrassed. So I lean in, and I kissed her on the cheeks. [+2 skillpoints!] [Anne will learn the skill - Blessed Maiden¡¯s Protection] And I hear more cheering. 19 - Village Dance & Marty 19 - Village 10 After the kiss, Anne somehow blushed so much and couldn¡¯t take it, so wants to retreat. I could feel it, her body both wanting to stay and a part of her wanting to go. She struggles for a while, before I decide to cut it out for her. ¡°Let¡¯s go to sleep. We got a journey to make tomorrow.¡± Anne nods, her face reddish. But happy. I think she¡¯s really happy to be kissed, and so we stand and start walking back to the camp just a short distance away. I could see the men scurry to pretend like nothing happened, but come on, it¡¯s a little too obvious. -- The next day, we continue our journey to the next village of 350, where the usual food party routine continues. This village¡¯s elder decides to spice things up with a small village dance, however, where all the villagers participate in some kind of a dance event, accompanied by music from the local musicians. It¡¯s a pleasant change, and I find myself enjoying the beat. The girls are happy, and so we took our turns to participate in the dance. It¡¯s nothing complicated, just a few steps back and forth, and a spin, and then you change partners. We also participate with the locals, but Anne and Sara both seem really happy when they get to dance with me. Lani, choose to eat at the side. The first of those who dance with me is Sara. She¡¯s blushing, but she tries to play it cool. ¡°Hi Prince.¡± I step closer, and she steps back a step. ¡°Hey. You dance often?¡± ¡°I am a dancer in the village¡­¡± Ah yes good point. That¡¯s how I spotted her anyway. ¡°You seem to have had some practice.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ trained.¡± I smile, and it¡¯s true, I did have training. ¡°We saw what you two did last night, I¡¯m sure you know we were watching.¡± Sara blushes when she says that. ¡°Well, yeah.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a bit jealous.¡± OH? I smile, and Sara turns. I take a step back, and she takes a step forward. ¡°Well, maybe one day I¡¯ll give you a kiss too.¡± Sara pauses and blushes. Her step goes a bit wide, but she quickly adjusts when she realises. ¡°...ah¡­ really?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°You¡¯re such a player¡­¡± Sara pouts. ¡°Are all royals like this?¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I joke, ¡°Well, kings have harems, no?¡± Sara twirls, and I take a step forward. ¡°...true.¡± It¡¯s time to change, and I give Sara a nod. Anne¡¯s my next partner. Sara nods at Anne and changes. ¡°Did you had a good sleep, Prince?¡± Anne smiles, we dance a bit. Somehow, all the villagers make some space for us. ¡°Pretty good.¡± Well, I actually did think about the taste of her skin a bit when I kissed her, and how nice she smells so close. ¡°Me too.¡± She blushes, but I think she lied. Her eyebags look a bit bigger. Maybe she stayed up all night. ¡°Really, sweet dreams?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ maybe.¡± She smiles, and she twirls. Then its my turn to turn around. ¡°Its nice to have a dance like this. Maybe I should organise one once we are back in Loom.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ that, that is a good idea.¡± Anne nods, and as we dance, we make more small talk. ¡°So¡­ how do you like this village?¡± ¡°Its nice.¡± Well, its like all the other villages. Nothing actually super special about it. I am here to look for targets to join my little army. ¡°Ah¡­ its time to switch.¡± Anne pouts, but then, time to give others a chance. I dance with a few other local ladies, most of them looks rather mature, probably in their late twenties or early thirties take turns to dance with me. Well, I am the Prince, so I guess I help fulfill some lifelong dreams there. After the dance, we had some light snacks, to refill our energy levels. It is then I spot a young man. ¡°Hello.¡± I go and greet him, he is working in the kitchen all this while, and now finally has some time to come out. ¡°Oh¡­ hello.¡± He bows, after noticing my princely attire, which is rather dirty after so many days of travelling. ¡°You are?¡± ¡°Marty.¡± ¡°Hi Marty, were you working in the kitchen?¡± I mean, I saw him walking out of the kitchen, and he looks to be wearing a kitchen staff attire. Still, had to confirm. I might have just missed him. ¡°Ah¡­ yes. I help to cut the vegetables and fruits, and do the washing¡­¡± ¡°I see. You must be quite good at it.¡± He is well built despite his age, and his build and muscles look like that of a brawler, with strong, toned muscles, and tough skin. He smiles. ¡°Yeah I think I am pretty good.¡± Marty, Rank 4, Level 6 Heavy Arm, Yellow. Heavy Arm, ie a heavy infantry with shields. ¡°Are you¡­ are you one of the guards here as well?¡± Marty shakes his head, and I notice that he has a mark on his hand, common in our neighbouring nation. ¡°Marty¡¯s one of the guys that moved to our village last year, there was a massive fire that destroyed his village.¡± It is then I saw his legs has burn marks on them. ¡°Ah yes, the elders have been good. I¡¯ve been working and helping with the kitchens and doing some labor since I arrived.¡± I see. An immigrant, that explains a bit. ¡°Ah, Marty, do you have any family here with you?¡± ¡°Ah yes my little sister is here with me.¡± ¡°Are you happy in this village, so far?¡± ¡°I am okay. A nice place, and the people treat me well.¡± Hmm this conversation is not going the direction I want it to. I guess I should be direct. ¡°Marty, I would like to employ you.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Yes, ever thought of joining the army?¡± Marty pauses, and seems a bit surprised by the question. He seems unsure and looks at me suspiciously, a look he never gave before. I think he is wondering certain things, like perhaps, how did I know he is a soldier? ¡°You can mull over it. I¡¯ll be here till tomorrow.¡± ---- [Anne¡¯s Blessed Maiden¡¯s Protection] [When activated, all hostile attacks reduced by 70%.] Affection summary Skill Menu (After spending 2 skillpoints) (+) indicates can be upgraded. 20 - Marty Recruitment and Village Defense 1 It¡¯s nightfall in the village, the party¡¯s over. And we rest at the village¡¯s guesthouse, then a knock on the door. ¡°Prince?¡± ¡°Ah Marty.¡± ¡°Can we talk?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± We walk outside, and we sat around a small coffee table. Anne had some local drinks made for us. ¡°Are you serious, on that offer? Or is it a prank?¡± ¡°I mean it. I would like you to join my army. I need good men, I can feel it, that you¡¯re a man who¡¯ve seen fighting.¡± It¡¯s the truth, and I tell him that. Marty pauses and sips on the drink. ¡°I see. What am I getting myself into?¡± ¡°Nothing too much, just some monsters and probably a big monster of some kind.¡± He chuckles, before realising that I did not laugh. His face turns serious, and asks. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah. If I told you I had a dream that a disaster is coming, would you believe me?¡± I look into Marty¡¯s eyes, and somehow, he stops chuckling. ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re serious.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I lean over. ¡°I am. Some monster is going to come, and it''s going to kill me, you and maybe going to everyone else as well. So I need an army of good men. I can¡¯t throw regular men at a giant beast, I need men of skill and ability. Together, we might defeat this beast.¡± Marty stares at me, and I stare back, I try to seem as serious about it as I can. ¡°So, Marty. Are you a man who is willing to stand against beasts, to protect the people of Loom?¡± He gulps. I think some of my princely presence is leaking too, and he tries to distract himself by sitting on his drink. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°I will do what I can to reward those who stand with me and display great valor in battle.¡± And he glances at me, noticing I am still staring, my face still serious. ¡°...yes. I will join you.¡± ¡°Good. A few more villages and we will head for Loom.¡± He nods. - The next day, we set out towards the next village. Lani¡¯s getting a bit more meaty, and as a result she¡¯s beginning to look attractive. At this point it occurs to me all the high rank individuals I meet, either men or women, are all attractive to look at. I suppose it¡¯s a feature of this system? I wonder is this ¡°lookism¡±? Anyway, as we travel towards the next village, we bumped into a group of orcs, a small band, and did not hesitate to crush them. With the advantage of Sara¡¯s ranged attacks, and Adam¡¯s sword, we pretty much slaughtered the orcs. It¡¯s also a good time to see Marty¡¯s combat abilities for the first time. He¡¯s a defensive fighter, using a shield and a short sword, kind of like a legionnaire, but without a tower shield. I suppose this is where I should get him a tower shield once we get back to Loom, as clearly his borrowed equipment is not doing his skill any justice. The small band of 20 orcs killed, we arrive at the village. It¡¯s fortified. Clearly they were expecting enemies, and so they were pleased to see us. ¡°Prince? I¡¯m afraid our party¡­ has to be delayed.¡± ¡°Orcs?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°We killed some on our way here. Any more?¡± ¡°They say there¡¯s a band of 100 or so, apparently one of our men spotted it yesterday.¡± 100! ¡°Looks like we¡¯re in for a battle.¡± Adam sighs, and we¡¯re in the village, helping with the fortification. No partying this time around, and I feel a bit bittersweet about it. Yeah, it¡¯s great that there¡¯s none of that partying, but here we are, fighting monsters. We meet up with the elders who are helping to defend the village, and it seems they¡¯ve already sent out a mail to the nearby villages requesting for aid, and to warn them of the orcs. ¡°Sara¡¯s out on recon.¡± Anne comes over to inform the village. ¡°She¡¯s a ranger, so she¡¯s got a good chance of spotting them.¡± The elders nod, but they are still worried. Well, I would be too, but Sara¡¯s good at being a ranger, so I have faith in her. ¡°It¡¯s going to be bloody, isn¡¯t it?¡± Lani asks, and I nod. ¡°A hundred or so orcs. That¡¯s way more than before. We have a good chance if we can whittle them down before entering close combat.¡± Lani nods, and we pass some of the villagers arming themselves with pitchforks. Our presence helps assure them, after all there¡¯s now about 15 extra trained fighters, and that helps against orcs. ¡°I¡­ I think I¡¯ll help.¡± Lani offers. ¡°Ah great. I think you can stay back, let the men cover you.¡± I¡¯m happy that she does and I want to ease her into this role. ¡°Stay behind Adam or Marty, alright?¡± ¡°...okay.¡± Marty then comes over, and immediately stares at me. ¡°You knew this was happening?¡± No, but I figured it¡¯ll get there. Monsters are just going to be more frequent, then a big bad guy comes out as a mastermind. That¡¯s how stories go.¡± ¡°You read strange stories, Prince Carlos.¡± Affection summary Anne - 75%, Blue, Rank 4, Level 8, Prince¡¯s Adjutant Adam - 50%, Yellow, Rank 4, Level 9, Soldier Sara - 14%, Green, Rank 4, Level 6, Ranger Lani - 9%, Yellow, Rank 5, Level 3, Elementalist Reese - 30%, Red, Rank 3, Level 12 Marty, 0% Yellow. Rank 4, Level 6 Heavy Arm, 21 - Village Defense 2 21 - Village Defense 2 The orcs attacked at night. To be honest, we saw it coming. Sara had warned us beforehand that the orcs will try to attack at night, from their pattern of movement. So, we reverse-ambushed them. Sounds easy right? Well, it¡¯s bloody, and tough. Using traps that Sara made, we found ways to quickly disable small groups of orcs and kill them. And of course, help to thin the orc horde numbers before the rest of them catch up. After using the traps to kill about 10 orcs, this draws the attention of the nearby 50 or so orcs, causing them to charge at us. And this is something we wanted, so we retreated to something resembling a choke point, where our archers, a few of them can shoot a few more arrows at the enemy. And after a few more of the orcs fall, we descend into melee. We had chosen an easily defended slope as our battlefield, where we have the elevation. As a level 5 prince, and healer, my role is to actively heal the soldiers, and defenders, and use my passive ability to boost them. Of course, when facing about 50 or so orcs, we¡¯re talking about a lot of fighting. Blood, dirt, splatters everywhere, as the men, try their best to hold back the horde of 50 of so orcs. The orcs may be relatively easily to kill, but their numbers give them strength. ¡°Arghhh.¡± One of the men got stabbed in the chest, from the orc¡¯s chipped axe. He falls. Ugh. The soldiers trained for this, and they try to help, but it¡¯s too late. He¡¯s dead. We hack and slash away, trying to push the orcs back. From behind us, arrows kept flying towards the orcs, hitting one orc head every other shot. A horn blows. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. It¡¯s our sign to fall back abit more. It means more orcs are coming. Despite having to leave a few of our men out there, probably dying, or already dead, we somehow found the steel to retreat a bit more. And I see Lani¡¯s ability for the first time, as a thunderbolt flashes out of her hand, and chains through a few orcs, killing them instantly. A thunder-elementalist! Realising that we could take advantage of our ranged units, we retreat, and let Lani and Sara bring down their numbers further. A few more thunderbolts, and I think they are more like chain-thunderbolts, the odds are now in our favor. Which is good. But as with all orc groups, there must be a boss. A giant orc. Finally appeared at the end, he endured a few thunderbolts like they were nothing but little mosquito bites. Okay, I exaggerate, he took them, it probably hurt, but he¡¯s alive and so he march towards us. It¡¯s time for the new Adam-Marty combo attack. Which is nothing more than Marty forming a defensive position, and ¡°taunt¡± the giant orc¡¯s attack, while Adam attacks the giant orc¡¯s back. Marty has a ¡°taunt¡± skill, which makes sense, since he is a defensive fighter. One [Grand Slash] from Adam, and the giant orc¡¯s head falls. It¡¯s actually getting a bit easy at this point. Is this a tutorial? Anyway, I hope whatever comes at the end of my timer is this easy as well, That would be a much needed relief. And when the giant orcs fall, the rest of the orcs didn¡¯t stand much of a chance. Still, the orcs fought with great ferocity, and we didn¡¯t leave unharmed. The orcs still injured some of the men, and a few of the villagers. Before we killed the rest of them. The defense of the village is successful. ¡°It¡¯s so horrible, to see death.¡± Anne says, helping with the funerals. In total, 5 villagers, and 1 of the soldiers died in defending the village from the orcs. A lot of the villagers cried, after all, in a small village like this, everyone knows everyone, so the loss of any one man is deeply felt. For the soldier, we have a duty to send the body back to the family, so the villagers assist us with embalming the body for shipment. A wagon will come by a few days later to pick it up. ¡°Such is life, in a world of monsters.¡± I say to myself, such scenes will be common when the monsters increase in frequency. ¡°I always wish we can do a bit more to protect our people.¡± Anne sighs. ¡°Perhaps.¡± ¡°But so long there are monsters, such dreams may be hard to come by.¡± I see a small tear at the side of her eyes, she¡¯s trying to keep it together. When one of our own dies, it is still brutal. We¡¯ve become desensitised to death of the monsters, but not our own, not yet. Perhaps in some places, death has lost meaning, and people just come and go whenever disaster strikes. I see it in some of the villager¡¯s eyes, that emptiness. Some of them are used to it, this feeling of loss. To build only to lose it. They¡¯ve come to terms that this is how life is. Fragility is the norm of a world where monsters roam, unlike the permanence I am so used to. It really gives meaning to the term, life is short. But it should not be the norm. If this is a world of magic, there should be golems, animated protectors, machine guardians to protect the citizens from the monsters. Then perhaps, we can bring some permanence into this fragile, magical world. Even though my power boosts those around me, I hope to never have to use them. 22 - Defense aftermath, another village 22 - The plans After the battle, I felt the urge to return to Loom. Not to hide away, but to figure out other ways of fighting. There must be something, somewhere in this magical world, that can give an alternative solution to the fighting. ¡°There¡¯s still two villages.¡± Anne says, as we depart the village. ¡°Fine let''s go for that two and then lets head home. We need to start training properly as a team, and develop new strategies together.¡± But my mind is still occupied with the deaths. It''s senseless. Even if I am numbed by Carlos''s memories of death, of brutal wars. Scenes of gruesome deaths from my, no, his past. I need some other kind of strategy. Sara walks up next to me. She looks a bit distant, but I somehow sensed that she wants me to reassure her, that things will be fine. I think that''s my [prince] ability working. [Sara needs assurance. Rewards +10% affection] Ah, yes. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± I ask, as she walks a bit nearer. Sara pauses, and our eyes cross. I give her a knowing look, a nod, a look of assurance, if I could. She then takes a breath, and then shakes her head. ¡°It feels¡­ it feels empty. Sometimes I wonder whether we have failed, even though we did not. We successfully defended the village.¡± I nod. ¡°That is how I feel too. We should have done better, even though such is the nature of this world, where death often accompanies combat.¡± I pat her on the shoulder, my palm lands on her leather shoulderpads. "But we will survive. We will remember them for their sacrifices, and protect those who remain with us." ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll get stronger.¡± Sara says, she looks into the distance. ¡°And I will shoot more, all of them down before they get near." I pat her on the head, I am glad all she needed is just a bit of comfort. ¡°Good. I will count on you. Every one of you.¡± She smiles, and I smile back. It¡¯s not an unreserved smile, after all we just walked away from death, but I suppose in such a sombre mood, it is good enough. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. She nods. "Thank you, Prince Carlos." "It''s nothing. We all need to talk it out after a tough day." "Yeah." I dig into my pocket and look at the small piece of emerald, and decide to start crafting something on our way to the next village. As we walk, Anne comes up next to me and notices me working. ¡°Making something?¡± ¡°Yeah, for Sara.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Any reason?¡± ¡°I thought of cheering her up abit. She¡¯s a bit upset she failed to shoot down some orcs before the orcs got to some of the men.¡± Anne nods, ¡°Yeah, some of the guys are unhappy too.¡± ¡°I plan to buy them a toast once we get to the next village, let me feel a bit better.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think the men need a pep talk.¡± I nod. And I smile at Anne, her skin a little dusty. I think she probably didn¡¯t get a bath since yesterday, as she worked really hard on the burials and the transportation arrangements for the corpses to be shipped back to their homes, so I lean in closer to her, and whisper. ¡°You should take a bath.¡± She blushes. ¡°Oh dear, am I smelly? I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry if I stink.¡± ¡°No. That¡¯s not what I meant. I think you need the rest. You¡¯ve been working really hard too. A bath will do you good, you look like you need it." ¡°Ah¡­¡± Anne nods. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± I think she¡¯s look gorgeous in a bath, but I didn¡¯t say that out loud. I am after all a man, and lately, I¡¯ve been sleeping and dreaming about Anne. ¡°I insist. You take a rest at the next village." "I think I can have that once we get back to Loom." "No." I use my princely, commanding voice. "Rest. That is an order. Take the girls with you" Anne''s eyes widen, I think she''s surprised to hear that from me, but strangely, after a short pause, perhaps that is her mind trying to digest the order she''s given, she decides to nod. "Yes, Prince Carlos." "And take the girls with you. They need a break too." She nods. - We arrive at the village later that evening, and once again, a feast. Why do I still continue with the feast? Because consistency. As a prince, and Lord of Loom, I must be seen as treating the villages equally, and so, even though we had an unfavorable background of just having some of our men dead, I still pressed on with it. "Our journey here has not been easy. From Loom, me and my men visiting multiple villages, and, along the way, we have fought monsters. Most of them time, we got out with just some scratches, nothing a healing spell won''t fix. But two days ago, we had a battle with casualties, defending the village from the orcs. Few of my men, and the villagers who took arms to fight with us, perished in the battle." The villagers gasp. A look of fear passed through the men. "So, it must be said that my heart is heavy, my conscience clouded by the blood on my hands as Prince of Loom." A eerie silence in the hall. "But, their deaths are not burdens. Their death is a reminder of the dangerous existence we live in this world of monsters and magic, we must always strive, to be at our best, so, a feast like this must continue. We must all be able to appreciate and thank the dead for their sacrifice, and continue living the life they fought, and died to give us." Its a statement the villagers already know. They are all too familiar with the fragility of life, and how death may come ever so easily. "Eat. And drink. Be merry, eat up your fill, and more, eat the share of those not here to share it with us too. Let that fullness remind us that it is their sacrifice that gives us this luxury and life of plenty." There''s starting to be some smiles in the crowd. "And for those among you who feel like taking the monsters on. Join the guards. Train. Monsters are coming, and we will be ready for them." Everyone seems to be waiting for me to continue. I think I ran out of words to say. "To the fallen, we are here to remember you. To eat for you. To the living, be better, stronger. We will fall no more." [You''ve given a pretty good speech] [All units affection +5%] 23 - Villages 23 - Revised 6 weeks left After the speech, some of the villagers came to talk to me and say strange things, and that made me think about my role as prince. "It''s a pretty good one, Prince." Adam came, and we had a beer together. "Didn''t know you had such words in you." "Thanks, I think I can do better with practice. And probably time to come up with better words." I could just copy great speeches from history¡­ if I could just somehow remember them. "I would cry if you said more inspiring words, so, actually its fine. Not a good sight for the others to see, so, yeah." We both laugh. "But yeah. The men probably want to have a beer with you again." I smile, "Sure. You coming along?" Adam shrugs, "Yeah why not." The men were gathered round a small table, all sitting, and all slightly tipsy. "Prince, I liked your speech." I smile, and I take a seat. "Glad you do." I signal one of the workers to take some beer over, and the workers quickly rush over with a mug for each and every one. "Drink up, men. We will have many days of fighting ahead of us, I''m afraid. So let us all share a beer while we still can. Cheers, to the living, and the dead." "Cheers!" Everyone knock their beer mugs together. ¡°Prince¡­ are we going to die?¡± ¡°Maybe. But I hope not.¡± Adam smacks the guy who asks the question on the back. ¡°I¡¯ll cover all of you, so don¡¯t say things that attract bad luck!¡± ¡°Haha¡­¡± The guy laughs, and one of the other guys quickly change the topic. ¡°Prince, are you going out with Ms Anne?¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. I pause, and I think for a moment. ¡°I guess so.¡± ¡°Great! We¡¯re rooting for you.¡± I grin, ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s going to be complicated in the future. There¡¯s probably a lot of other girls¡­¡± Adam laughs, ¡°Prince, you really want a harem?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah.¡± I gotta be honest, right. ¡°I do want a harem. It¡¯s one of my dreams.¡± The men laugh, and they joke. ¡°I¡¯m jealous, I wish I¡¯m born a prince with a harem in my next life.¡± ¡°Oh please if you¡¯re a prince, I¡¯ll be the King!¡± Another of the soldiers jump in the joke. ¡°I¡¯d have 1,000 ladies in my harem, like the emperors of the east!¡± ¡°You know, I wonder how they actually get down to so many¡­ ladies. I think after a while I¡¯d be sore.¡± One of the men joke. ¡°They must be eating some crazy drug or herb to stay up so long!¡± I laugh, this kind of joke reminds me of high school. People, even in this world, are not so different after all. ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯ll let you know when I come to that point.¡± ¡°Come to that point?¡± Everyone catches the double entendre and laughs. And we share a few more drinks, before I decide to take my leave. I still have work to do, and I need to catch up with the girls as well. I hope Anne brought the girls for a bath, all of them. - So later that evening in the guesthouse, Anne returns, looking noticeably fresher. There¡¯s a little pleasant fragrance in the air, her hair looks a little more glossy, her skin looks less tired, so I smile and nod. ¡°Looks like you had a good bath?¡± Anne nods, ¡°Yes. After the party, the girls all went for a bath together. Thankfully the village does have a small bathhouse that we could use for all of us girls.¡± I smile, and return to my little notebook, making some notes. Time is catching up, and we¡¯ve got to start training. ¡°How¡¯s everyone?¡± ¡°Much better, the bath helped as you suggested. We also liked your speech.¡± ¡°Glad to hear that. Anyway, let¡¯s get some rest, we¡¯ll go for another village, and we¡¯ll head home after that. We need to start training.¡± Anne nods, ¡°Yes, Prince.¡± The guesthouse has multiple rooms, and in the largest room, there¡¯s multiple beds. I take the main bed, while Anne takes one of the single beds. ¡°Prince¡­¡± Anne asks, while she¡¯s lying on her pillow. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Will it all be okay?¡± ¡°Yes, Anne. All of us will be fine.¡± - So, the next morning, we set out to the next village. It¡¯s going to be our last stop, so I hope I can recruit someone, but if I can¡¯t then, that¡¯s too bad. It¡¯s time to train up. ¡°Adam, Sara.¡± I call both of my combat ¡®leaders¡¯ over so that we can walk together. ¡°I¡¯m thinking of working on some practice sessions with our men, together. During this journey, and perhaps at the next village. Any ideas?¡± ¡°We could do formations.¡± ¡°Formations then.¡± Ah, Adam brought up a good point. Formations are useful in fighting hordes, a good one can make fighting a lot easier for the frontliners, and provide better cover for the ranged attackers. So, with that, I let Adam and Sara start discussing some formations to try out, given their existing mix of combatants. My knowledge on this is relatively low, so it¡¯s better I leave it to the experts. Affection summary Skill Menu (+) indicates can be upgraded. Level 5 Prince (+) Level 1 Healer (+) 24 - Last village 24 - The Last Village. 5.5 weeks remain. The usual happened. Buffet, drinks and some meet-and-greet session. This is the last village, and I hope to hire someone for a change. ¡°I¡¯ve never been this far.¡± Marty comes up next to me, making small talk as the crowds gather for the usual party. ¡°Well, now you have. Hopefully someday, we can go further, for leisure.¡± Once again, I give a speech, this time nothing fancy, the usual one, and then proceed to meet with all the village elders and the guards, later, the rest of the villages. This village¡¯s niche is actually flexible woods, harvested from a special forest nearby that has a type of tree known as the Bow-tree, simply because their wood is incredible for bows. Sara¡¯s bow for example, is made from Bow-tree. ¡°See anyone you¡¯d like to recruit?¡± Marty asks, and I shrug. ¡°Unfortunately, not yet.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got a skill, isn¡¯t it? I hear a lot of leaders and senior people have similar abilities to spot ¡®talent¡¯.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± A young man walks up to me, and bows. ¡°Prince Carlos, I¡¯ve heard from the elders that you¡¯ve been visiting all the other villages, to hire people.¡± I pause, ¡°Well, yes.¡± ¡°Can you hire me? I¡¯m a good fighter.¡± I look at him. Rank 2, farmer. Looks like this is one of those trick questions, and frankly, I¡¯m not sure I want to take a chance. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°...Yes. I¡¯m really good at fighting.¡± He tries to put up a brave, fierce face, but it¡¯s crumbles under a bit of pressure. I take a step closer to him, and touch his hand. ¡°My young man, I can tell when a person has not seen combat before.¡± And his face changes, his act crumbles. ¡°...I¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Can you tell me why do you want me to hire you?¡± ¡°My friends in this village all say I¡¯m average at things, and I¡¯m destined to be a farmer. You know, maybe I think I am a farmer, but at the same time, those words from my friends really hurt me. So, I¡¯d like to try working as a soldier, and see whether I can be something more.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. I glance at Marty, and Marty nods in agreement. What, seriously he thinks I should hire him? ¡°Let me ask you again, and this time, answer me honestly. Do you have any experience with any kind of weapons?¡± ¡°...no.¡± He looks down, afraid. I take a deep breath. Well, things like this happen. ¡°I see, well, I admire your guts for coming up to me and asking me to hire you, but unfortunately, the royal guards are looking for experienced fighters to fight¡­ bigger, nastier things, things, even I am afraid to fight alone. If you¡¯d like a taste of fighting, I recommend that you travel to Loom and join as a regular soldier. You can speak to Adam or Anne, they can guide you on how to enlist as a part of our guards, and the guards have regular trainings and practice sessions, so that you are better prepared before you actually taste any combat.¡± He frowns, but then, a while later, he nods. ¡°I see. Thank you Prince Carlos. I will try that.¡± Marty looks at me after the boy walks away. ¡°You¡¯d have to tell him that?¡± ¡°He¡¯ll die if I put him in front lines against whatever I think we¡¯ll end up facing. I¡¯d rather not have my people die senselessly out of silly bravado.¡± Marty pats me at the back. [Marty¡¯s affection +10%] ¡°Prince.¡± Ah, I soon speak to a few more other villagers, but nothing really catches my eye. So I end up walking out and buying some bow-tree wood for the archers back home. It is then I hear a noise coming from one of the houses in the village. It sounds like a snort. Wait, no. It¡¯s not, so I draw my sword and carefully approach the house. I¡¯m no master fighter, so I look around and notice a few soldiers walking as well, so I signal them over. Carefully, we open the door. A loud growl. And a wild boar runs out, and somehow quickly leaps into the woods. All the soldiers jump, but at the same time, equally relieved that it¡¯s just a damn wild boar. ¡°Fuck that scared me.¡± A soldier says. ¡°How¡¯d that hog get inside the house anyway?¡± We look inside, and well, it¡¯s actually not a house. It¡¯s more of an abandoned storehouse, and clearly, it¡¯s so abandoned that there¡¯s an unpatched hole in the wooden wall. The commotion caused by the hog causes one of the village elders to come over. ¡°Ah, sorry about that¡­ it¡¯s one of those old warehouses that¡¯s disused. We¡¯ve not touched it in a long while¡­¡± I walk in to see, well, it¡¯s really old. There¡¯s some crates here and there, and well, rotten corpses. Of rats. So it stinks. ¡°Ugh.¡± But then, a part of my intuition kicks in. My [eye of affection] tells me there¡¯s something here. ¡°May I have a look at the crates?¡± ¡°Oh, help yourself. It¡¯s unclaimed, so do whatever you want with it.¡± Well, that¡¯s music to my ears, so I use my sword to yank one of the crates that¡¯s triggering me. Inside the crate is a few things, but my eyes are drawn to a small wooden container, and a small wooden ring next to it, and I pick it up to inspect it. [Scented wood container] [A special perfume within increases your attractiveness to the opposite sex. Has 10 uses. When applied, is extremely effective on green and white. Used to trigger 70% and 100% scenes with shy characters] Oh. [Enchanted wood ring] [Grants defensive passives]. I¡¯ll need that, so I dusted it a bit, put on the ring and kept the container inside my magical bag. ¡°Well. I guess it¡¯s time we return home.¡± [1 Skillpoint gained!] I decide to level up my Prince level, since that job makes me better at fighting, and makes me tougher. Level 6 Prince (+) Level 1 Healer (+) 25 - Returning to Loom 5 weeks remaining. Loom. Time¡¯s running out, so it¡¯s time to practice. Reese should be on his way to join us within the next few weeks. ¡°I¡¯ll need to catch up with the rest of the officials.¡± Anne bows, ¡°I¡¯ve been away for quite long and it¡¯s time I relieve them from their tasks.¡± I nod, Anne feels strongly for her colleagues that agreed to take over her responsibilities, so that she can go on this journey with me. So, now that we¡¯re back, she¡¯s going to try and catch up on all the paperwork that goes into running a region like Loom. Oh well, so I trouble Adam to arrange for the accommodations of Marty and Reese, while I arrange for Sara and Lani to be housed in one of the spare homes we have in the town. Initially I offered the same facility to Marty, but he insists on being with the rest of the soldiers that he will be fighting with. It¡¯s one of his key values, so I don¡¯t press him on that. ¡°Okay, the plan is simple, we have 5 weeks left, so please bear with me. The next 5 weeks, we¡¯re going to practice 6 days a week. We¡¯re going to do everything. Spars, drills, exercise, fitness routines, monster extermination. We¡¯re going to be ready for whatever that comes.¡± ¡°You sure about this?¡± ¡°Yes. If nothing happens, I¡¯ll let you guys have a break, and I¡¯ll pay you guys a bonus out of my own coffers. So please, just give me your next 5 weeks¡± Sara, Lani, Marty, Adam nods. ¡°As you wish, prince. A bit of hard work is not a problem.¡± Indeed, as part of my commitment to this training, I too am part of the training. The idea I have in my mind, is that everyone can seamlessly work together, to achieve a kind of mental ¡®connection¡¯ that a ¡®team¡¯ has. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. So, I have Adam and the captain, who¡¯s rather pleased to see me return, to design the training for us. Adam¡¯s our front liner, and in a way, he¡¯s got the best battle sense of anyone, with Sara slightly behind. We start with just being comfortable of fighting together, so that means sparring battles, where a large group of other soldiers try to attack the 5 of us, meaning me, and the 4. And we quickly discover a flaw in this training. ¡°I can¡¯t use my magic in a practice setting against other people.¡± Lani frowns, she has certain ¡®values¡¯ too, and one of those is that her magic must be carefully used, not in cases like this. ¡°My magic is very dangerous, and I can¡¯t use weaker versions of my magic.¡± Darn. Adam¡¯s obviously doesn¡¯t know much of magic, so he¡¯s training is designed for swords, bows and shields. ¡°Hmm¡­ Lani, why not you use this sling.¡± ¡°A sling?¡± ¡°Yes. This sling represents your magic. I know you can chain your spell, but think of this sling, with its soft rubber bullets as the time you need to charge up your spells, and you can fire them.¡± Lani pauses, and eventually realises that it could work. I walk over to brief the soldiers to play dead once they are hit with the rubber bullets, and so we try it out again. And well, the first time is a little awkward for everyone. But I insist to try a few more times, and gradually, everyone seems to be getting into the groove of this combat sessions, and we end up having multiple rounds of it. Partly because the guys were abit frustrated at how they fail to protect Sara and Lani from getting hit. It¡¯s breaktime, and so after I use my healing magic to mend the soldiers from their sparring wounds, I also catch up with my newly formed ¡®elite¡¯ team. ¡°It¡¯s tougher than I thought.¡± Marty frowns. ¡°My shield is big, but when there are many, I can only push so many back.¡± ¡°We need to keep distance, have a certain way of picking off the attackers so that we can protect ourselves.¡± Sara nods. ¡°Maybe we can focus on one side and leave the rest to the others.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s hard to just ignore that side and leave it to you guys though.¡± ¡°That¡¯s part of teamwork. It¡¯s why we need these 5 weeks of practice. Whatever it is, by the end of this 5 weeks, we¡¯ll be a decent team.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Later that evening, after dinner in the mess hall with the rest of the troops, I return to my chambers. As it gets dark, I hear a knock on the door, and Anne walks in. She looks rather exhausted, but she¡¯s got a smile on her face. ¡°Hi Anne. Sit, you look like you¡¯ve had quite a day.¡± She sits on one of the chairs next to mine and our eyes cross. ¡°Well, how¡¯s your day?¡± ¡°Tiring, but we¡¯re getting help.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°The King is sending someone over, someone called Rozario.¡± ¡°My dad? Why? And who¡¯s that?¡± Well, I kind of have a bad feeling about this... 26 - Loom I 5 weeks left ¡°Rene Rozario, reporting for duty.¡± She¡¯s a beautiful lady, with jet black hair tied into ponytail, and equally black eyes. Her skin is fair, her figure is lean, her muscles are obviously toned, and occasionally radiates slight magic. She wears a plain armor and there¡¯s two swords at her side. Rene Rozario, Rank 5, Former Knight, Level 15, White, 0%. ¡°Greeting Rene. What brings you to our part of town?¡± I smile, and shake her hand. I¡¯m a Prince, I can put up an act while in my mind, I¡¯m thinking about that ¡®former knight¡¯ status. She¡¯s rank 5, so, I think her combat skill must be decent. Anne¡¯s right next to me, and she smiles. ¡°Greetings Rene, I¡¯ll arrange for your accommodations. Would you like to stay in one of the spare houses, or in the quarters?¡± She pauses, and looks at me. ¡°I¡¯ve been sent here by the King. And to the lady, I¡¯d like to stay in the spare houses.¡± Anne takes notes, and I realise the next conversation is probably not pleasant, so I whisper to Anne to leave the two of us, so I can find out a bit more. Anne nods, and walks out, leaving Rene standing in the room, while I go back to my seat. ¡°Well, sit. Tell me more. Why¡¯d my father sent you?¡± She pauses, and she tries to hide it, but I use some of my princely pressure. She sighs, and she sits on the chair opposite mine. ¡°It¡¯s a punishment.¡± ¡°For what?¡± She looks at me, and I look back. We looked at each other for a good 10 seconds, before I nod. ¡°Look, Rene. I know my father sent you here, but until I know exactly why you are here, all you will be doing is guard duty on the streets, and training.¡± She pauses, and she nods. ¡°So be it. Guard duty on the streets and training sound good.¡± I sigh, ¡°Well. So be it.¡± Well, to be honest, I was hoping for her to just open up and tell me. That would be against my expectations of the usual tropes that occur in such settings. I actually already have some kind of idea what she did. If my guess is right, it¡¯s going to be some rather lame secret, but I¡¯ll have to get her affection up till 40% before she even tries to open up to me, and tell me her rather lame secret. I¡¯m also guessing that it¡¯s going to be some honorable thing she did, but somehow my father or the nobility is pissed off, so she¡¯s sent off to this faraway region. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Ah, never mind. I¡¯ll see whether I can get something for her in the market later. If this is how the system works, let¡¯s play along. After the meeting, we resume training, to keep up the momentum. Practicing daily, so today¡¯s routine is a bit more straightforward, as it¡¯s just plain exercise, stretching and pushing the body a bit harder, so that we have a bit more reserve. We¡¯d run around the barracks, and run around Loom a few times. Do some jumps and ducks, some sidesteps, and after a few hours, we¡¯re all sweaty and tired. ¡°Tired...¡± Lani¡¯s the most exhausted. She¡¯s changed since that village defense, now showing interest in participating in all the defensive battles, and maybe, I suspect maybe, my speech got to her. I smile at her, even though I¡¯m just as exhausted. A prince must keep up his appearances! So, I encourage her. ¡°It¡¯ll get easier, you might even gain a skill!¡± Lani nods, ¡°Yea¡­¡± I think she¡¯s a bit too exhausted to say more than one word responses. Adam, Marty and Sara looks exhausted, but they¡¯re fine. ¡°How¡¯s your sister adapting to Loom?¡± I make smalltalk with Marty, as we rest, sitting on a bunch of medium sized rocks near the field. ¡°She¡¯s okay. I think Loom¡¯s a bit more busy than she¡¯s used to, but Anne¡¯s really nice to her. It¡¯s a great idea for her to work with Anne too.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡°I think Anne¡¯s the big sister she wanted all this while.¡± Adam laughs. ¡°Anne, a big sister? Somehow that imagery doesn¡¯t match what I know of her.¡± Sara throws some sand at Adam¡¯s feet. ¡°Hey, not nice to say that Anne. She¡¯s a lovely lady.¡± Marty chuckles, ¡°If you can¡¯t imagine her as a big sis, can you imagine her as a mommy?¡± Adam¡¯s face pales. ¡°Uh¡­ no.¡± ¡°Come on guys, don¡¯t talk about Anne like that.¡± ¡°Oooh prince is protective! Okay okay!¡± Adam puts up his hand like he¡¯s surrendering. Sara smiles, and pats me on my wrists, trying to say, ¡®good job¡¯. ¡°Oh yea, Sara, do you mind walking with me for a while, I¡¯ve got some things to talk to you about.¡± ¡°Ah, sure.¡± After the training, it¡¯s late evening, so the sun is gradually setting on Loom, the sky a shade of dark orange. This is about the time when the lights and lamps start to go on. And we¡¯re headed to the market. ¡°So¡­ what you wanted to talk about?¡± I hand her a small present. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to give you this for some time now. It¡¯s a present from me.¡± As she holds it, she blushes. ¡°Uh¡­ me?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°...okay.¡± Sara smiles, and puts it into her pocket. She¡¯s a ranger, so her uniform normally has pockets. ¡°I¡¯ll keep it then.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been working hard, I¡¯m happy to have you on the team as well.¡± She nods. ¡°Working in a team is different, and frustrating. But, when things go well, the joy is amazing.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Affection summary 27 - Loom 2 27 - Loom II - Training Arcs 4 weeks left Training went on as planned, and every day we work to refine the combat ¡®sense¡¯ of the team. It¡¯s tough, but when those moments where it just works, everyone feels good. ¡°How¡¯re you doing?¡± I sit next to Lani, she¡¯s exhausted after the exercise, but smiling. I think she¡¯s gradually enjoying this. I see her smiling and being better friends with Sara, and that makes me happy. ¡°I¡¯m okay. I think I¡¯m okay.¡± Lani nods, and Sara then comes over to sit next to her. ¡°I think we¡¯re both starting to work a bit better together.¡± Sara adds, ¡°If we can coordinate our shots¡­¡± Lani nods. ¡°I¡¯m happy for both of you.¡± I smile at both of them, and they both smile back. ¡°It¡¯ll pay off.¡± Lani nods. ¡°I think I will, I¡¯m gained a level.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Sara tugs at Lani¡¯s arm, and praises her too. ¡°You¡¯ll be awesome, don¡¯t worry.¡± The two girls share a playful laugh, and Lani ribs her gently. ¡°Not in front of the prince¡­¡± And Sara laughs, and pokes Lani back, her body no longer as skinny as before. Lani¡¯s figure and body is now back to normal,, and that¡¯s good, because she needs a healthy body to perform at her best. Whatever we¡¯re facing, we can¡¯t go face it with a handicap. Of course, she¡¯s now a lot prettier as well. I mean, that¡¯s a trope isn¡¯t it? Malnourished lady that¡¯s gorgeous when actually fed? ¡°Want to go for dinner?¡± I ask the two ladies, and they both nod. Sara claps her hand, ¡°Ooo.. prince¡¯s treat?¡± I nod. ¡°Of course.¡± I¡¯m a prince, I can¡¯t go dutch, even if I want to. What would people say if a prince doesn¡¯t pay for the lady he¡¯s eating with? I mean, I¡¯m all for going dutch, but I¡¯m a prince, and rules are just way way more different for a prince. Ancient, weird rules of chivalry applies. So I bring them to one of the smaller eateries in Loom, a small establishment, not exactly romantic, but we¡¯re seated outside, alfresco, under the stars. Mainly because the actual building is used for the kitchen and the storage of foods.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. One of the things I like about this restaurant, is the choice of food. It has beer like all other places, but at the same time, they also have a lot of vegetables on the menu. I picked this, because Sara¡¯s at 39%, so I¡¯m hoping to push her over the barrier to hit 40%. So I stare at the menu carefully, and spot something. [Blended lychee juice, Green, +3% affection] Ah. And there¡¯s [Chef¡¯s specialty - lightly roasted quarter chicken, with corn cob and mashed potatoes, all colors, +1% affection]. That¡¯s good, so I order the lychee juice for Sara, beer for Lani (she¡¯s yellow) and myself, and the lightly roasted quarter chicken for all 3 of us. ¡°You seem to know what we girls like.¡± Sara leans in, and teases. ¡°Is it a talent all princes have to seduce young innocent maidens?¡± I chuckle, ¡°Close. If I say it¡¯s a skill, does that scare you?¡± Sara shakes her head, and somehow she blushes a little. ¡°I¡¯d be relieved.¡± Lani nods. ¡°I think it¡¯s fine. That¡¯s how love is in our world anyway¡­ if it¡¯s not money, it¡¯d be skills.¡± Woooo, very sharp observation there, Lani. What did you go through in your past, eh? Oh, the drinks come. I smile and nod at the waitress, and she smiles back at me. Oh. She¡¯s a rank 3 waitress? Oh, she¡¯s new. ¡°So, why¡¯d you be relieved? It¡¯s not creepy that I¡¯m using a skill?¡± ¡°Everyone uses skills. It¡¯s part of life.¡± Sara nods. ¡°I feel relieved because at least I know why it¡¯s happening¡­¡± Huh. Strange. Transparency has this sort of effect, eh. I raise my mug of beer, and have a small tiny toast with the girls. No big movements like with the guys. They smile, and Lani nods. ¡°I¡¯m really lucky.¡± Sara smiles and pat her on the back, ¡°Yes you are. If the Prince didn¡¯t spot you, you¡¯d be dead. But that¡¯s how the coincidences of fate work, they say. The grand spirit of fate weaves a path for everyone, and it is not yet time for you to die.¡± ¡°I¡¯m desperate and hungry. I¡¯ve not gotten the chance to properly thank you.¡± Lani stands, and bows to me. ¡°Thank you, Prince Carlos, for saving me. This¡­ team, it¡¯s really given me a new meaning in my life.¡± I nod, ¡°You¡¯re welcome, Lani. I hope to have you at our side when we face the demons.¡± There¡¯s a short moment of silence, then Sara smiles. ¡°Alright alright. Too serious. Let¡¯s talk about something else¡­ Prince, are you engaged to anyone in the capitol?¡± I pause at the question, and grin. ¡°Why¡¯d you want to know?¡± ¡°I mean¡­ would Anne be your wife? Does the Queen need to be royalty as well?¡± Oooo¡­ touchy. ¡°Two questions, maybe, and no. The queen need not be royalty. The queens of the past have been yes, a mix of royalty, but also highly capable mages, warriors, and figures in their own right. The King would often choose from his¡­ harem, the lady who would be the lead.¡± Sara nods. ¡°Oooooo¡­ would you want a harem?¡± I smile. I didn¡¯t want to answer that, but both the girls get what I wanted to say. Sara grins sheepishly, ¡°Well, do you have any criteria?¡± Ooo. Another tough question. Do ladies all like to ask tough questions? ¡°Currently, no. I depends on how much I like the girl, I guess?¡± Sara leans in, ¡°Would I qualify?¡± I don¡¯t think she¡¯s drunk, since her lychee doesn¡¯t have alcohol in in. So I think she¡¯s trying to be cheeky, therefore, I play along. I lean in on the table, ¡°Sure. You¡¯re interested?¡± Lani looks lost, but I think she knows what is going on. She just has that look on her face, a practiced fake obliviousness. And she¡¯s not trying to stop Sara. Sara¡¯s a bit taken aback by my question, and she blushes. I think that¡¯s a yes. Well, given that the system works like this, it¡¯s going to be a yes. But I probably shouldn¡¯t push too hard. I smile, ¡°Well, don¡¯t worry, think about it slowly. The spot¡¯s always open, for both of you.¡± Lani seems shocked that the conversation suddenly drags her in, and she quickly shakes her head, blushing. ¡°Ah.. erm.. Ah¡­¡± I decide to just let it stew a bit, and conveniently, the waitress came again with our food. I think it¡¯s a skill too, that the timing is usually just nice. ¡°Well, let¡¯s eat!¡± I grab my utensils and start eating, as if that earlier conversation didn¡¯t happen. [Flirting was successful] [Both girls affection +5%] 28 - Sara 40% After dinner, I walked Lani and Sara back to their house. They both share a house, though they have their own rooms. Loom is a medium sized town by the Kingdom''s measures, and the state (in short, me), own a lot of properties and land in Loom and the surrounding. After seeing them to their rooms, I set to walk home. Then I felt a tug on my back. Ah, Sara. That''s quick, I did not expect the 40% scene to trigger already. But hey, not picky. "Prince¡­" "Ah, yes?" "Can we talk for a while, just the two of us?" I smile, "Sure thing." I look around a spotted a few stone benches right outside, so I walk over and take a seat, motioning Sara to join me. She sits next to me, and she smiles at me. "How''s Loom for you?" I try to make conversation, my eyes peeking at her. She nods, "It¡­ its okay." She looks shy, but not exactly blushing. She plays with her hair a little, and shakes her leg. "It helps that I have you, and the rest of them around to help me ease into life here¡­" "That''s good, I''ll do what I can to help you." She smiles, the sky is dark, and a cold wind blows. She has a shawl over her body, and a small flickering lamp at the side for a bit of light. She''s thinking, and she rocks her legs. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. "Prince, can I ask you a question?" "You already are. But sure, you can ask one more." She blushes, and she asks, "What¡­ what happens after we fight the big bad evil guy?" ¡°Oh. Peace, harmony for all?¡± Sara pauses, ¡°Oh fine, but¡­ what about us? What happens to us?¡± Well, that¡¯s a tough one. That depends on what happens to me first, doesn¡¯t it? If I get sent back to my world, then I have no idea what happens in this world. If I stay, well¡­ then I should keep these talented ladies and gents around. ¡°I don¡¯t know, really. I might get summoned back to the capitol or something.¡± Sara looks sad that moment. ¡°But if I don¡¯t, I would like to keep the team together, as a special task force, my personal elite guards.¡± Sara seems to perk up at that time. ¡°So it¡¯s not just a team for a special event?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to think so.¡± She looks at the little flickering lamp, the wind¡¯s blowing, and she pulls her shawl around her a little tighter. ¡°I¡­ I should go get some sleep now.¡± I nod. ¡°...could you read me a bedtime story?¡± Uh. Uh¡­ wait. Is that some kind of weird sexual hint? Should I say no? Wait. I don¡¯t think Sara¡¯s that sort of person, and the affection is too low. It¡¯s probably legit. ¡°Okay.¡± Well, it turns out Sara¡¯s got a bedtime story, a small handwritten book with 2 stories in it. It¡¯s really short, and is actually meant for young children. The room she¡¯s in is really basic, I think she does not have the time to make any decorations or personalisations yet. But there is a small stool which I sit on, next to the bed. It¡¯s a simple story, of a young girl who was attacked by wolves while picking herbs in the forest, and saved by a prince. They talked, they got married, and they lived happily ever after. The end. ¡°You gotta say the words with more flower and drama.¡± Sara sulks. ¡°Not just read it flatly.¡± Okay. I try again. It¡¯s a short story, and I can do dramatic voice. This time, Sara claps her hands, and lies down on her bed. ¡°Thank you, Prince.¡± I smile, well, that¡¯s just a small favor, really. So, as I walk to the door, Sara in bed, she suddenly speaks. ¡°Do you think stories like that can happen?¡± Oh. This is so stereotypical. This girl wants to be a disney princess, doesn¡¯t she? Well, I¡¯m in a game, so I play along. ¡°I think so. It depends on the kind of prince you bump into, hopefully someone who reads bedtime stories like you do.¡± ¡°Are you teasing me?¡± I grin, but she can¡¯t really see me as it¡¯s a bit dark. Or maybe she can since she¡¯s a ranger. ¡°A little bit. Good night, princess.¡± I could somehow sense that she blushed there. Even though I can¡¯t see a thing. [Sara¡¯s first special ability unlocked!] [Arrows of evil-slaying] 29 - Loom 3 3 weeks left. "You had something to do with it, didn''t you?" Sara pinches my arm. I shake my head. "I¡­ What you are talking about?" "I gained a skill after I talked to you that day. You don''t learn skills that easily, so don''t lie to me. How? Is it some kind of prince power?" I rub my head. Her face is right in front of mine. "Come on. I''m a member of the team, tell me, please?" She''s trying the cute approach now. Anne happens to walk over and looks surprised. "Oh, what''s happening." "I got a skill when I woke up. I am asking whether the Prince here, got anything to do with it. You know about it, Anne?'' Anne rubs her chin, "Oh ya, did you like, have a moment with the prince last night?" Sara''s eyes immediately widen. "Yes! Yes! That''s exactly it. You had it too?" "Yup. I got a skill the next day too." Sara then looked at me. "See! There''s something. Is it a skill? Tell us?" I shrug. But then I sit both the girls down. "Fine¡­ I''ll tell you." "Uhuh." "I can''t give you any skill. But, I can, under certain circumstances, when our¡­ uh¡­ relationship hits certain "milestones", trigger you to pick up a skill. I have no idea what those skills are until it happens." Sara and Anne goes, "Ooooooo¡­" "So¡­ does that answer your question? It''s not really a skill, I think." "Hey it is still quite cool." Sara nods. "So¡­ who did you give skills to so far?" "Both of you, and Adam." "Wow." Sara looks amazed and then suddenly she looks at me quizzically, "Does that mean, all this while you have been nice to us, because you want this to happen?" I sigh. "See. This is why I did not want to tell you. I have no way of proving what I did is¡­"The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Sara cut me off. "No no. I think it''s a good thing. It''s a mutually beneficial skill. I get treated nicely and get skills, and you get good help. I like this skill. It''s not selfish." "Uh¡­" I was more worried about being accused of being emotionally manipulative, but girls in this world don''t care about that? Is it because they live entirely in a world where skills are common so they don''t see it that way? Huh. Strange. Anne nods. "Yeah. If you got a skill like that you should tell me. I''ll help you make the most out of our people." I nod. I guess common sense works differently here. "Okay." Thankfully, thats the end of it. The two ladies stop harassing me on the topic and we turn back to practice. Later, as I walk around town, I spot Rene petting a small cat, and feeding it food. Curious, I decide to stalk her. "Ahhh who''s the cute little kitty." Rene offers the cat some bread. The cat''s rather skinny and looks like a baby. So its a kitten. Ah well, kitties are cute after all. So, is this meant to be some secret backstory of this conflicted character with incredible sword fighting powers? The kitten nibbles at the bread, and it scratches her. Then it runs away with the bread. "Ow." There''s no scar or blood, but I think that would hurt. "Hey come back cute kitty¡­" The kitty didn''t come back. Rene stands there, her posture a little saggy, and she turns, and sees me standing about four steps away. And she jolts in surprise, her sword coming out instantly, out of instinct. Thankfully, I am still a distance away from her, so her sword didn''t hurt me at all. "Oh my god how long have you been watching-" She burps out, her hand still holding on to her sword. "Huh. Pointing a sword at your lord¡­" Which causes her face frown, then shock and horror at the realisation of what she did, and instantly kneels down, and sheaths her sword. "I¡­ My apologies Prince Carlos. I mean no harm. It is just my sword instinct when I am¡­ surprised." "Is this why you got expelled?" "No." She responds instantly. Well, now I ruled one out. "Heh. Do you know the consequences of drawing your sword against your superior officer, outside of training?" Her head goes lower, touching the floor. "...Yes." I wait for a good 10 seconds. Then a few choices appear before me [Enslave her - Gain a sexual partner. Rene''s affection will be locked at 0%. If others find out the rest of the girls will lose 20% affection] [Free her - Future affection gains doubled] [Kill her - Gain title [Ruthless]. Enhances attack damage.] [Lightly punish her - Nothing] Ah, I don''t intend to enslave or kill or punishing anyone at the moment. "Well, Rene, I don''t feel like punishing you, so, I''ll forget this, please stand up." "...Thank you for your mercy, Prince Carlos." She says, kneeling. After a second, she looks up and starts to stand. "Seems like you are enjoying your patrols¡­" "...ah." She didn''t know what to say. I can understand that. If you nearly accidentally get yourself killed, and the person then teases you like that, how would you react? The conversation tone just shifts too much. "Good form, though." She didn''t respond. I think she looks a bit shaken that she might have just died, had I been a bit more¡­ cruel. Ah, I think I should leave her alone and talk to her next time. "Anyway, go home and get some rest. See you around." [2 skillpoints gained!] Yay levels.
Affection summary
Skill summary Level 6 Prince (+) Level 2 Healer (+) Decided to boost my passive support skill, and level up my healer level. 30 - Looming Dangers 30 - Looming Danger I 2 Weeks remaining. "Reese, welcome to Loom, happy you could make it." "I made a vow to come. A true man does not back down from their vows¡­ mostly." Reese says with a slight bow. "Good, good. Time for practice, we need to get you into the team formation as soon as possible. We have little time left. And Reese didn''t get much time to rest, actually. I should have asked someone to ask him to come earlier, but my decision was made earlier. I pray this mistake does not cost me. I thought things were going fine. But somehow, as the weeks counted down, I suddenly had that fear, a panic attack. Like an unprepared student right before an important final exam. Will it really be fine? I only have 2 weeks left. I should get Rene into the battle formation as well. Oh god do I have time for that? Should I focus on improving the team and leave Rene for later? She''s at 0% and I won¡¯t be able to get her ready, even if she has double affection gain. Oh shit. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Shit. Shit. I am going to die, isn''t it? Shit. Am I sufficiently prepared? Images of death flash before my eyes. All of them, sprawling over the battlefield, mauled to death by massive monsters. Death. "Prince, are you alright?" Anne holds my hand, her soft skin brushing my arms, and I turn to look at her. Death. Somehow I imagine her bloody, her face bleeding. No. No. I must not submit to this panic. This is my mind playing tricks at me, scaring me. "Prince?" I look at Anne again, this time she looks normal, and I breath a sigh of relief. I start doing some breathing techniques, telling myself this is my anxiety talking, this is me panicking when the time is running out. It¡¯ll be alright. It¡¯ll be alright. I¡¯m stronger now. I have more levels, and the team is getting stronger. It¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s just 2 weeks away. ¡°Maybe you should rest. You¡¯re tired. The rest of them will continue.¡± You know what, I think so too. I need to lie down. So Anne helps me back to the mansion, back to my room, and gave me some water and light snacks. ¡°You look pale....¡± Anne takes a cloth and wipes of some of the anxiety sweat. ¡°Are you getting a fever?¡± Her palm touches my forehead, and it feels really nice. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I¡¯m.. I think I¡¯m just feel anxious that I only have 2 weeks left.¡± I lie on the bed, and lay my head on the pillow, my body¡¯s weight sinking into the mattress behind me. It feels nice. ¡°Everyone¡¯s working really hard. Everyone believes you.¡± ¡°Do you?¡± I feel like I¡¯m doubting her. I shouldn¡¯t. ¡°I do.¡± Ah. Anne¡¯s too pure to lie to me on this. ¡°Rest, my prince. We¡¯ll be here to protect you.¡± I pull Anne closer, and after a brief initial resistance, she lets herself pulled over. There¡¯s only 2 of us in my room right now, and well, maybe I just feel like it. ¡°Can I kiss you?¡± I¡¯m not well today. I think I missed a medicine shot. Is this the side effect of my earlier anxiety attack? Anne smiles, and instead, she leans in and pecks me on my forehead. ¡°I think you need some rest, Prince Carlos. I¡¯ll let you kiss me some other day, when you are better.¡± I flash a big grin, and close my eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll remember that, Anne.¡± 31 - Abrupt Ends Practice. Practice. Everyday it¡¯s practice in the morning up till evening, and then, I¡¯m trying to get Lani, Reese and Marty¡¯s affection up to 40%, so I¡¯ve been taking them all out for dinner every day. Time is running out. But I will survive this. "All peaceful so far¡­" Sara nods. "I have a few of the soldiers on scouting missions as you commanded. So far we do not have any news." "Huh." I thought it would be an invasion, looks like what is going to happen is either a portal, or a secret hideout popping out, that they are beneath us all this while. "Do we have secret sewers or something? Perhaps underneath our town?" Anne thinks for a while¡­ "Maybe? I will need to look up the records." We try our luck, and go through the archives with Anne. It took us about half a day of looking through old records and surveys, then we found it. There¡¯s a few underground chambers beneath the old markets, and I let Sara know about it. "Can we go check them out as soon as possible?" Sara taps her chest. "Leave it to me, I think I can find it if I use my skills. I''ll get a few men, Adam and Marty and survey the town, perhaps we¡¯ll be able to find something." I nod. ¡°Be careful, if you spot anything, tell us and let me get the team together before you try anything.¡± Sara nods. ¡°I know.¡± At first, there was nothing. But a day later, Sara came back, looking ominous. ¡°There¡¯s something down there. I see some people gathering¡­ and some chants. Something¡¯s not quite right down there.¡± I nod, and I signal Anne to quietly gather the men. We will spy and attack this group tonight. Later that night, as the moon hung high on the night sky, we gathered at one of the market stalls, there¡¯s a sewer gate that leads to the old chambers, built few hundred years ago. All of us descends into the chambers, Sara ahead, Marty right behind her, Adam at the back. At first they told me to stay back, but I think I should be there. Something, a strange instinct tells me I need to go, and I pull Anne along as well, even though she has no combat ability. Sara guides us to a small room, with a view of a larger hall, filled with rubble and multiple piles of rubbish. There¡¯s a foul stench. ¡°Wait here... they should be coming soon.¡± All of us nod, and we hide. Thankfully, there¡¯s a lot of rats and other critters walking about, and their squeaking and other noises helps mask our presence. As the night gets darker, a group of men and women stream in. They look like regular villagers, but once they are gathered, they put on a black robe, and start to mumble. ¡°The stars are aligning. It is time.¡± ¡°Yes. It is time to end the Magnus dynasty.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Shush. The King may have sensed it, and sent their prince over to suppress us. But till today, he knows not of our presence.¡± A young lady walks in, and she too wears the hooded robe. ¡°This summoning will take a week, do we have the materials?¡± Two pairs of villagers walk into the larger hall with 2 large bags, they look like bodybags. Let me guess, blood sacrifice. One of the older villagers smile, ¡°It took a while, but yes, we have before you, two young virgin men.¡± I think I will refer to them as cultists now. The young lady nods, and two older cultists start opening the bodybags to reveal two gagged young boys. They are probably not even teenagers yet, just 12. ¡°Young.¡± The girl says. ¡°Will that be a problem?¡± The old cultist asks, I think he¡¯s the ringleader. ¡°The book says the summoned demon will need a bit more time to regain their strength.¡± ¡°Ah, we should start.¡± The cultist girl nods. ¡°Yes we should.¡± The cultists spreads out the hall and start working on some kind of markings on the floor. It looks like a kind of blood paint, and they are writing runes. Anne and the rest of the men look at me, I tell them to wait. I want to know a bit more about these men. They draw two large circular rings with those blood runes, with an overlap, kind of like a mathematical overlapping set, and they set up stakes. They then tie the two young boys¡¯ hands and legs to the stakes on the circular runes, so they are spread open like the vitruvian man. The men spread around, forming a larger circle around the two smaller circles. ¡°Everyone here?¡± ¡°Yes. Let¡¯s get going.¡± I felt this was a good time. I signal the men to get ready, and note to Adam to secure the exit. The cultists start their chanting¡­ ¡°Go!¡± And our arrows and thunderbolt fly, zapping the cultists. ¡°HOW?!¡± The old cultists shout, drawing a dagger. The rest of the cultists grab some wooden sticks, and try to fight off the guys. ¡°Kill them!¡± I shout, all of us charge in, Sara, Lani and a few archers pop out of the smaller room and unleash a wave of attacks on the cultists. It is then, a prompt appears on my head. [You¡¯ve unlocked a secret mission!] [Kill all the cultists and enslave the demonic summoner girl!] Ah! I rush ahead, and jump in. The cultists seem very lightly armed, only a dagger or sticks, so I think there¡¯s no real risk. The cultists fall like flies, as the arrows and lightning shots from Lani easily take these cultists out. Their physique is just like any other villager, so, frankly it¡¯s no real challenge. The old cultist and me cross eyes. ¡°The prince? You knew all along?¡± He tries to stab me, but before he gets to, Sara¡¯s arrow pierces him in the chest. ¡°Ugh¡­ curse you and your Magnus dynasty¡­¡± And Sara lets a few more arrows loose, piercing the cultist in the head and the chest again. ¡°Thanks!¡± I shout out, and rush to the demon summoner girl, who¡¯s clearly looking afraid. Our eyes meet. ¡°Hi. I¡¯ll have to knock you out.¡± And I punch her in the gut with all my strength. The force causes this small petite demon summoner girl to stagger back and I take another step forward, and this time, hit her on the back of the head with the hilt of my sword. And this demon summoner girl didn¡¯t even dodge. She whimpers, collapses. ¡°Oh we won.¡± Reese smiles, and most the cultists are dead, a few heavily injured and unconscious from their injuries. We will have to interrogate all of them later. Sara helps to free the two young boys, who look drugged and is still unconscious. Is this it? [You have successfully completed the secret mission! Completed the secret end to the main mission! Countdown timer removed!] Huh? Wait. What?! [Special mission rewards given] [All characters who participated gain affection + 15%] [You learned a new special skill - The Harem-reality distortion field - All girls will magically accept that a harem is normal with you. Harem end unlocked!] [You learned a new special skill - Special catalogue - Traders selling unique affection and intimate items will now be available!] [2 skillpoints granted] Seriously? Is this really the end? ¡°Wait.¡± I look around, at the rest of them, who seem to be clearing out the summoning site. It seems everyone¡¯s rather happy that they managed to stop the cultists. Marty summoned the rest of the army to come over and haul the injured cultists in jail. The demonic summoner is handcuffed with special anti-magic cuffs, and also sent to jail. ¡°Good call, Prince.¡± Anne nods, ¡°I didn¡¯t think we have a threat within the town itself.¡± ¡°They seem relatively harmless though. Other than some of them with daggers¡­ but they obviously are not trained to fight.¡± Marty comments, looking a bit puzzled. ¡°And they think they can control demons?¡± ¡°Who¡¯s the mastermind?¡± Adam wonders. ¡°The girl? Since she seems knowledgeable about demons.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to ask some of the prisoners and the girl later on.¡± I add. ¡°You think we¡¯d have more of those next week?¡± Adam looks quizzical. ¡°Or will they be summoning more demons?¡± I pause, before I let out a huge breath of relief. It probably sounded like a sigh to everyone, so everyone turns to look at me. The timer that seems to be counting down whenever I pull up my skill menu is no longer there. ¡°Ah, actually¡­. Actually.¡± Everyone waits for my next sentence. ¡°I think we killed the demon before it even appeared. So there¡¯s no threat anymore.¡± 32 - Aftermath Well, that was anticlimactic, but a part of me is glad. I accidentally stumbled on a way to prevent the incident, and the death of 2 young boys. There are multiple such cults throughout the entire country, not just our own town, and this is something we need to communicate to the other leaders and regional lords, so Anne¡¯s busy preparing all the letters, which I will personally sign. I¡¯m concerned about the security of the letters since they did get their members from the regular populace, but I don¡¯t have more secure means of sending letters. Anne comes with a stack, and places them on the table. She then leans in, her body extremely close, and guides me to sign on the letters. "Your signature please, my Prince." I can smell her perfume at this distance, her lean body is almost touching my own. I am tempted to just put my arm around her waist. But work. I nod, and pick up the quill, and start signing. It took about 15 minutes to sign all the letters addressed to all my neighbours, father, and the rest of my brothers. Anne nods, helps to seal all the letters with my personal seal, and carries the signed letters away, probably to the courier. "I''ll be back in a while." She smiles as she walks out. I felt my heart skip a beat. "Okay." After she leaves, Sara and Adam walks in. ¡°Everything¡¯s good so far. The scouts report nothing, and the villages all say it¡¯s peaceful on their front.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± It feels too easy though. There must be something else to it. ¡°Erm¡­¡± ¡°Yes?¡± I look up, ah, they are still there. ¡°What.. what about us?¡± I look at both Sara and Adam, and wonder for a moment. AH! ¡°Well, all of you are going to be assimilated into my royal guards, I¡¯ll get Anne to do up the documents once she¡¯s done with the letters.¡± They both smile. ¡°That¡¯s great. All of us?¡± ¡°Of course. Reese¡¯s planning to go back to his village, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. He seems rather disappointed though, I think he¡¯s itching for a bigger fight.¡± Adam laughs. ¡°He thought it¡¯s going to be some big demonic monster or something.¡± It would be, if the demonic summoners got their way. ¡°Well, true. Glad we found them first. I rather that than having to fight for our lives.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Adam shrugs, ¡°True. So, business as usual?¡± ¡°Yup. Back to regular training schedules. Adam, can I task you with coming up with the new training routines for everyone? We can have more rest days now that we don¡¯t really have an active threat on the horizon¡­ Perhaps 3 rest days a week?¡± ¡°Aye.¡± ¡°Yesh.¡± Sara fistpumps. ¡°More rest days! I¡¯d like to go back and visit my pops too!¡± ¡°Ah yeah, you should do that. Adam, may I task you with that as well, to come out with a ¡®leave¡¯ roster? Or maybe you can work with Marty or Lani to do it.¡± ¡°Aye.¡± Adam¡¯s got more admin work on his plate now. With that, there¡¯s not much else, so they both leave, and Anne returns. ¡°Welcome back.¡± I smile at Anne. I love the way her hair sways when she walks, her silver hair seems to bobs up and down each step she makes. Oh, she¡¯s holding tea this time. ¡°Snack?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I leave my desk behind and walk to one of the sofas in my room. It¡¯s a two seater. Anne brings the tea over and places it on the coffee table, and she looks around. I think she¡¯s thinking where should she sit. I guess that¡¯s my queue, so I pat the seat next to mine. ¡°Sit next to me.¡± She blushes and takes a seat. ¡°Yes.¡± I lean in, and wrap my hands around her waist. ¡°Can you feed me?¡± She looks at me, and playfully pushes me away. ¡°Prince, it¡¯s still daytime, and people might see us¡­¡± ¡°So if it¡¯s nighttime¡­¡± She blushes, this time her face flushes red. I think she¡¯s having lewd thoughts. I chuckle, and lean in to peck her on the cheeks. "Well¡­" I then take a quick walk to the door, lock it, and sit back on the sofa. "No one will see us now." She tries to turn away. "Ah¡­ I... I am not ready." My eyes lock on the three slices of cake, and I pick up the small dessert fork, and cut a small piece. It''s chocolate, a rarity around here, and I gently try to feed her. "Open up." She seems to pause, then she obediently opens her mouth, and takes a bite. "Yum." I smile, and I feed her a few more mouthful of the cakes. She giggles happily, and then she takes the spoon and also feeds me back. ¡°You¡¯re more relaxed lately.¡± Anne smiles, ¡°I like that.¡± I intentionally lean in closer, such that our bodies are touching. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have to worry about demons anymore, of course I can focus on the people around me.¡± My left hand wraps around her waist, and it¡¯s pretty much a side-hug. She giggles. She¡¯s warm, and I squeeze her a little. Our eyes lock, ¡°So, what are you doing tonight?" "Ah¡­ erm there might be something¡­ but I¡¯ll clear it out, so¡­ nothing?" "Great. Would you like to spend some time with me? Dinner, and drinks?" She blushes, ¡°Are you asking me out, prince?¡± ¡°Yes, and more than that.¡± She stares, and then when she realises what I mean, her face turns really red. She wriggles, my left arm still on her waist. ¡°Uhmm.. ah¡­ erm¡­ ah¡­ okay.¡± ¡°Alright, do you need some time to prepare?¡± It¡¯s only about mid afternoon, so there¡¯s some time more before dinner. I¡¯ll need to get one of the attendants to make the arrangements at the restaurant. She nods. I give her a squeeze on the waist. ¡°Well, see you tonight then.¡± I give her a peck on her flushed cheeks, and let her go off. I wonder what kind of lingerie she''ll pick. Affection summary Skill summary Level 6 Prince (+) Level 2 Healer (+) 33 - Anne 100% (R) 33 - Anne 100% (NSFW) Candlelights flicker, it¡¯s a quiet room, the initial decoration is basic, so I had the attendant put some flowers up, to make the place a little bit more cozy and romantic. There¡¯s also a performer, playing some music in the background, I hired him often for our events, so this time, for the date. ¡°This is nice, Prince Carlos.¡± Anne looks around, she¡¯s wearing a slim, tight fitting maroon cocktail dress, revealing her fair shoulders and the top of her cleavage. It¡¯s sexy, I like it. She had her silver hair bunned up, and she even put on matching maroon lipsticks. I think it¡¯s a good blend, the strong dark colors stands out against her fair skin and hair. I lean in, taking a bite out of the fried vegetables. ¡°I think it¡¯s nice too. A pleasant atmosphere to spend some time with a beautiful lady.¡± Anne blushes. ¡°Oh Prince¡­ you¡¯re being so... cheeky.¡± ¡°Really?¡± We¡¯re seated perpendicular to each other, I wanted something different, instead of the usual seating arrangement of opposite each other, this way, my left hand can easily touch her. I find the face-to-face arrangement a little too hostile, and I feel this helps put Anne a bit more at ease. ¡°Calling me beautiful. That¡¯s cheeky.¡± She pouts, and I¡¯d like to pinch her right there and then. But then I might smear her lipstick and makeup, so, not yet. I lift my glass of wine. It¡¯s not a particularly clear glass, high quality glasses are still reserved for the capital¡¯s use only, but hey, the gesture¡¯s what counts. ¡°Cheers, Anne? For our successful prevention of a demonic invasion.¡± She turns her head slightly, and grins. ¡°Ah. Yes, cheers.¡± Our glasses meet and we both take a sip. It¡¯s so-so as wines go, the good stuff tend to stay in the capital anyway. Anne¡¯s face flush slightly red after a few sips. ¡°It tastes rather sour, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Well, there¡¯s a hit of that fruity tang to it, probably a relatively young wine, but I think that¡¯s a part of the tipsy me bullshitting. ¡°Really? I can¡¯t taste a thing!¡± Anne seems rather amused, and I think she¡¯s a wee bit tipsy too. ¡°Do you like wine?¡± ¡°Erm¡­ I don¡¯t have it enough to know whether I like it or not. But¡­ it¡¯s okay so far, after all, they usually mean I¡¯m having dinner with you¡­¡± Anne twirls her finger, and my left hand closes in, my fingers gently caressing her fair white skin. ¡°Well¡­ we could have dinner a bit more often.¡± She smiles, it seems so happy that I feel happy too. Ah, the beauty of a happy innocent maiden. ¡°I¡¯d like that.¡± She takes a big bite of the fried river-fish. Funny, she wanted fish this time around. ¡°I like your dress.¡± My fingers touch her chin, ¡°And your lips.¡± She blushes. ¡°Ah¡­¡± I lean in, she freezes, then she closes her eyes. And I kiss her on the cheeks instead. Not yet. ¡°Eh.¡± She opens her eyes. I wink, she¡¯s red. Her eyes look at me. ¡°Uhm¡­¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I thought¡­ I thought you¡¯d kiss me on the lips.¡± She then covers her face like an embarrassed schoolgirl. ¡°Let¡¯s keep that for tonight.¡± ¡°Tonight?¡± She looks puzzled for a split second, before she gets what I mean. The red on her face gets even more red, and she quickly turns her attention to the food. There¡¯s some fish left. Oh, some of the fried potatoes is still there. Most of the foods in our region are fried, either with oil or with some sauces. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. As she hesitates, I cut some of the fish, and use my fork to feed her instead. ¡°Have some, Anne.¡± She looks even more bewildered, but she obediently takes a bite. ¡°It tastes better when you feed me.¡± ¡°Well, can you feed me too?¡± I adjusted my seat a bit closer, so that it¡¯s easier for Anne. She nods, and we exchange a few bites of food, and very quickly, we finished all of them. ¡°What do you know, it really is better when you feed me.¡± I tease Anne, we¡¯re seated very closely, and my hand casually fondle her exposed things and touch her smooth shoulders. ¡°Ah¡­ it¡¯s all finished. So quickly¡­¡± Anne looks a little sad. The wine is finished too, and Anne¡¯s face is still a bit reddish. "Well, it''s time to go, then." "Huh? Go home?" "Oh. No, no. You''re not going home. You''re coming with me." I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her along, and we walk back to the mansion. It''s not far. "Uh... uh¡­" Anne''s red and tipsy but'' conscious. "Are you thinking of something naughty, Prince?" My arms tighten, and she yelped a little. "Yes. I have a gorgeous beauty in my arms right now, and I am not letting her go." Her red face, now almost like an apple, turns away. Her earlobes are red, I think what I just said made her feel really nervous. I pull her a bit closer, and gives her earlobe a little nibble. "I want you, Anne." I felt her entire body shiver. She looks at me, her eyes a bit wet. She didn''t say a word, we reached the mansion. To the room! It''s already dark, the only light being the stars and moonlight coming through windows. And Anne''s still holding my arm, so I walk to my large bed, and we both sit on the edges, and I try again, I lean in, my mouth right next to her ears, and say the words gently, softly. "Anne. I want you. Do you want me too?" She''s red, and after those words, she turns to face me. She nods, I lean in to kiss her, on the lips this time. Our lips lock, and we hug. Then I pull her to the center of the bed. We kiss. Vigorously. I bit and nibbled on her red lips, the lipstick smudged, but no matter. We kept kissing. I want her. I want to do naughty things to her. I kissed her exposed shoulder, and she moans. I licked the skin, nibbled on her earlobes, my fingers trying to undo her dress. She notices, of course, but she''s also sucked up by the passion and heat of the moment, as she''s also trying to undo my clothes. And our eyes meet, with me on top of her on the bed. "You''re really beautiful." She''s already red, the lipstick is slightly smudged, she grins. "I¡­ it''s my first time¡­" "I know. I''ll be gentle." I take of my shirt, and then I pull her dress off, revealing her cute lingerie. I admire her cute choice for a brief moment, but I quickly decided to get down to business, and do what I always wanted. Sex with Anne. We''re both naked, she''s spread out on the bed, I start with a kiss, my fingers touch her genitals gently, feeling out the condition. It''s slightly wet, and as I kept simultaneously kissing and fondling her genital area, I could feel it getting more moist and slippery. Her breathing is ragged, moaning when I touch or make certain motions. Her eyes could not focus, and when I take a bite out of her ears and lick it gently, her body twitches. "Ah¡­ ahh¡­" She sounds sexy, and its more intense that I ever imagined it to be, and I keep up the foreplay for another few minutes, her face red and she keeps twitching whenever the sensitive spots gets touched a certain way¡­ "You''re really beautiful." "Ah¡­ ah¡­ you''re so cheeky Prince¡­ can... can we do it? Can we be one?" I lean in, "Yes, Anne. I always wanted to be one with you." And so, the main event. My little brother has been erect the entire time, as I focused on preparing Anne''s pussy for what is to come. Her thighs are spread, and I get in position. She''s really wet from all the stimulation, and my cock slides in. We both moan at the same time. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh." It''s so warm, it''s the first time I had sex in this world, the flesh of her pussy wrapped tightly around my cock. She''s a virgin no more. "Ahhhhhh¡­" I start to thrust, and our bodies rub against each other. I push my body forward, and I kiss her, my lower body keeping up the thrusting motion. And I feel like it, the muscles and flesh twitching and tightening, the heat from the friction and bodily contact making us both a little sweaty and sticky. I kept at it for as long as I could, and her legs lock around my body. "...I''m not letting you go." I whisper as our bodily fluids continue to mix, "I''m not planning to let you go either. You''re staying with me tonight." Then I lean in to kiss her, and I feel like her entire body convulses. "...ah¡­. ah¡­ I can''t take this¡­ this is so intense." Anne moans, her voice is really ragged, and the pitch shaky. And it keeps going, for god knows how long, long enough for me, we both climaxed, my entire lower body exhausted. We both moaned loudly as our juices mix inside her, and then I hugged my beautiful woman tightly, my lips kissing her neck. Exhausted, we both just stared at the ceiling, my arms around her for a while before we realised should both wash up. It''s her first time, and she looks a mix of confusion, fear and joy from what just happened. Well, I''m going to reassure her, so I hug her, and squeeze her. "I really enjoyed what we did. Anne, would you be my woman?" Anne looks at me, and she nods. "It''s not fair that you ask me such a question when I''m already naked." I hug her, and pull her a bit closer, my lips kissed her cheek. "Well, is your answer a yes?" "...yes." I felt really happy that she said yes, so I squeezed her and pulled her closer, kissed her on the forehead and then on her lips. Then, we slept together, Anne''s gorgeous nude body as my pillow and company for the night. There''s a puddle of blood on the mattress, but I''ll get the maids to clean that up tomorrow. Tonight, all I want to do is cuddle with Anne to sleep. [Anne''s 100% scene cleared.] [Anne will learn Immortal Bonds] [Both of you will have a special ability to revive each other. Ability has a 6 month cooldown] [2 Skillpoints gained!]