Home. It was nice to be home. I put aside all my concerns for the time being and just enjoyed being home. Tomorrow would be a day for worry, today was just to enjoy.
Chef put on a special dinner with all Ramram and my favorites. Of course, Ramram’s favorites were focused on deserts, while mine were more on the side of meat. It was a small celebration for our return, but also for Ramram’s promotion to House Stewart. We even went and brought in a trio of musicians. Everybody danced and some of the girls sang. It was a lovely evening.
After the festivities died down, I retreated to my office. It was quiet, and I wanted to study the tome I found. I decided that I needed a better variety of combat spells, both defensive and offensive. I opened the tome and learned Fire Stream.
I also decided to study the Resurrection scroll. Even though I had cast it twice, something itched in the back of my mind. I wondered if I could learn the spell from the scroll. If I could figure out the structure from the scroll, it should be possible. I spent an hour looking at the scroll, teasing out possible structure, but in the end stopped. I was tired and it was time to go to bed.
The next morning, I was awakened by Gabriel. It was time to open the shop. As you can imagine, there was quite a line of patients needing healing. Even though I had one of the other healing mages filing in, there were enough serious injuries to create a backlog.
I had Chef whip me up a quick breakfast sandwich, and went to work. It was a long busy day. In my time away, I forgot just how busy it could be. Medieval cities were a hazardous place, and there was only one “real” magical doctor. The most common thing I had to do was replace fingers, and toes. There were a lot of missing fingers and toes today. Mostly, this was due to apprentices forgetting their safety measures, or being in a rush to finish the job. Of course, the Noble Houses also did martial training and that sometimes got out of hand.
Luckily, there was only one person who needed a new hand. There were some who had deep internal injuries, and I repaired their organs. And, of course, there was also the people with STDs. We finished late that evening, and still expected a full day tomorrow.
What I didn’t expect the next day was for a line of Guards to show up led by Senior Captain Hounti aka JackAss. Apparently, he figured that since we were back in Forest Glen, my prohibition against treating Guards was no longer or, more likely, he thought the pressure of so many injured Guards would change my mind. He was wrong. While I felt sorry for the low-ranking Guards, I was not going to heal them. Instead, I gathered them all together and told them of the actions of one Lieutenant Indrisk and what he did to Ramram, then about how I was treated when I went to Senior Captain JackAss and complained. I also covered the duel and the meeting with Earl Donnert and the other nobility. I closed with the Earl stating I did not have to heal any member of the Guard. Senior Captain JackAss was quite red in the face by the time I was done, but they all left without incident.
It actually took five days before I finished catching up. Not too bad, considering I was gone for over two months. Which was good, because the Earl had requested my presence at the manor for the sixth day.
I was pretty sure it would be about one of two things, the location of the dungeon or my meeting with Captain JackAss. This thing with the Guard was going to have to get resolved. Being at odds with the Guard while living in Forest Glen was too fraught with danger to my family. I realized that my real issue was with Captain JackAss and his actions that night. I was further aggravated by his insults in the meeting the next morning and his most recent stunt.
Well, that was for tomorrow, tonight was dedicated to creating the magic tomes I promised. I had Gabriel send someone to Eldro’s to pick up some cheap magic ink. These were going to be single use tomes, so I didn’t want to use my expensive inks. I spent two hours working on creating a single instance each of Close Wounds, and Minor Life Regenerate tomes. I then created two Minor Healing tomes. Unlike my other tomes, these had very weak magic, and were good for a single use only, thanks to my use of cheap magic ink and using a minimal amount of mana. This would fulfill my promise.
The next morning, I got up, had a great breakfast, and went into the store to see if I needed to deal with any emergencies. While I didn’t have any emergencies, there was a visitor. An unexpected visitor at that.
Captain Willop head of the Earl’s special operations team was waiting to see me. Had he grown even more in the last 5 days? I swear he looked taller.
I invited him back to my work office for what I assumed would be a private conversation. My office was covered in privacy spells. These spells were from mages recommended to me by the Bank manager. They were top notch. No one could eavesdrop magically, nor could anyone magically record any conversations.
Captain Willop spoke bluntly “We have a problem. The Guard, by which I mean Senior Captain Hounti, is trying to get the Earl to sanction you for not healing the Guard. But I think that is only an excuse. He is the grandson of the Healing Guild’s former Grandmaster. I think it is personal.”
“I knew the root issue with the Guard was the Senior Captain. He has done everything he can to vex me, and he did it on purpose. I just didn’t know why. Now it makes sense, with his being related to the Grandmaster. Thank you for the information. I have a meeting with the Earl in an hour, do you know what it is about?”
“I don’t, but I know that Senior Captain Hounti will be attending. I suspect he has more complaints about you.”
“You are probably right. Now on to another subject. Have you grown taller? I swear each time I see you, you are taller.”
Willop smiled. “Yes, when you removed the curse, my body started to grow again. It has been quite awkward, and quite expensive, since I have to get several sets of new uniforms.”
“Sorry about the expense, but I couldn’t leave the curse there.” We both laughed at that.
We bid each other farewell, and I made my way to the Earl’s manor. While I was on my way, I increased my Negotiation skill to level 6. I need every advantage I can get.
*-------------*
As usual when I was summoned to the Earl’s manor, I was made to wait. Normally this wouldn’t bother me, and I would look at the artwork. The Earl had a nice collection of paintings and statues. Today, however, I took the time to review my history with the Earl and Forest Glen. The Earl had given me Covern House, extensible for saving his life, but now I believe it was to keep me in Forest Glen. As the only real magical healer at the time, it gave his nobles access to a valuable resource and kept me close for emergencies. It also gave Forest Glen a level of prestige. Altruistic it was not. It was politics. Possible Ruberm caught a look at a future event that needed me.
I probably lowered my value by teaching others the lower-level healing spells, but knowing what I knew now, I would still have done it. It saved a lot of lives during the monster wave. Of course, all those new magical healers were part of the Adventurer Guild. They weren’t known for their friendly relations with the Guard, or being able to keep a confidence.
I came to the conclusion that things in Forest Glen weren’t as rosy as I thought they would be. Politics were becoming more pressing the longer I stayed in Forest Glen.
Originally, I planned to stay for five years because that was the timeline Arigulius said I needed to heal my soul. Now that my soul is healed, I don’t have a compelling reason to stay. I have my second ‘family’, but I can provide them enough gold that they can live comfortable for the rest of their life. If I stay, then they may be put in danger from the Guards just because they work for me. I wouldn’t put it past Captain JackAss.
I could give Rose Flower Manor to Gabriel or return it to Justinian. I am sure if I left, Covern House would be taken back by the Earl. I was certain property rights weren’t vigorously enforced. I am pretty sure that I could reduce my foot print to zero in a matter of days.
Where would I go? That was the real question. I would definitely have to leave the county. I couldn’t stay anywhere the Earl controlled. The Empire sounded too regimented for my liking. Stugertia probably had more politicking than here. Maybe the Alliance of Free States. I am sure I could find one the small countries to be acceptable. I think one even has a magic academy. It might be worth checking out. One thing I was certain of, was that I wouldn’t be returning to live in a cave in the middle of the forest. Being a hermit was not for me.
My musings were put to an end, when Ruberm came into the waiting room and asked me to follow. Of course, I did, straight into what I considered the Earl’s courtroom. It was where he made his declarations, heard and settled disagreements, gave our awards and did most of his public duties. He even sat on a raised dais in a large chair.
There were quite a few people in the room. Many nobles, including Viscount Justinian, Countess Majora and heir, Baron Viktor and a few other nobles I had treated. They were all studiously looking away from me. I got a lot of side long glances, but none would meet my eyes.
Ruberm led me to the petitioner’s place in front of the Earl. I stood there waiting.
The Earl of Renovolt, Mikael Donnert rose from his chair and began to speak. “Trevor of House Tierra is brought in front of us to defend his refusal to heal members of the Guard. Senior Captain Hounti has lodged a complaint, stating that Trevor’s refusal jeopardizes the safety of the city. Guards injured in the performance of their duty have a right to the best care the city can provide. Senior Captain Hounti further states that because the former Guard Lieutenant Indris was summarily dismissed from the Guard, Trevor has no valid reason to continue his ban on healing Guards. When Senior Captain Hounti brought injured Guards to Trevor’s store, they were refused without reason. Senior Captain Hounti has requested that I order Trevor of House Tierra to heal the Guard. How do you respond Trevor of House Tierra.”
I waited before I replied. I needed to formulate my answer correctly, because if I showed disrespect to the Earl, I was as good as done. I looked quickly around the room. No one would meet my gaze.
“My Lord Earl Donnert. Since I have come to Forest Glen, I have healed many people, including yourself, Brakford of House Templar, Jaster of House Corville. When called upon to defend Forest Glen from a monster wave, I answered. I taught other mages healing spells, so that the loss of life was significantly reduced during the last monster wave. My store was open to all and all I helped. I was drafted to help clear a dungeon that would give Forest Glen ten years reprieve from monster waves, and I went without a single complaint. How was I repaid? The Guard beat up and stole from a member of House Tierra, my House. A twelve-year-old boy, left for dead by the Guard. Oh, I am sure Captain Hounti will say it was just the work of one man, but I no longer believe that, even though I have no solid proof. Since Indris was a member of the Guard when he did his foul deed, the Guard leadership should have taken responsibility. What was done instead was a flat-out denial of what was known to have happened. Then when called in front of you, Captain Hounti insulted me and ridiculed me, even when asking for my healing. This is why I refused to heal the Guard. I have no animosity toward the rank-and-file Guard, but the leadership is another matter,” a slight pause before I continued.
“But you are the Earl and the lord of Renovolt county. So, if you order me to heal the Guard, then I will open the office to them, as I stated before. Though I should note the office is closed today and tomorrow.” I bowed signaling the end of my speech.
Silence reigned. Captain Hounti had a huge grin on his face thinking he had won.
“Will your office be open on the day after tomorrow?” the Earl asked.
“It may, your lordship, but it will no longer be my office. I will ask those I taught Minor Heal to take over, but I cannot guarantee they will. Their primary focus is adventuring, and I don’t think they would be too interested in running a healing store. Besides, Minor Heal is more suited to adventurers than those with serious injuries or illnesses. Maybe Captain Hounti can run the store. He is the grandson of the former Healing Guild Grandmaster, after all.” JackAss seemed shocked when he heard that I knew he was the grandson. “As for myself, as I have said before I will leave Forest Glen. I do need the rest of today to settle my affairs, but I will be off at sunrise tomorrow. My honor will allow nothing else.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
If it was silent before, it was even more so now. This should not have been a surprise to the Earl, because I said this was what I would do. The silence dragged on. The Earl was deep in thought, then he stood up and said “Everybody out. Everybody but Ruberm, Trevor, Hounti, and Majora. Out.”
People turned and left in a quick but orderly manner. While they were leaving, I just stood there staring at nothing in particular. I was pretty sure the Earl was pissed. Whether at me, Hounti, or just the situation I did not know. What I did know was the Earl had to weigh the value of having me in Forest Glen versus his Guard. His Guard was a power, not only in the city, but in the county. I was, literally, an outworlder. A stranger in a strange city, and Hounti somehow thought that made me less. We all stood there waiting on the Earl.
“Majora, what do you think?” the Earl asked.
“My Lord. Imagine the Guard attacked a member of House Templar. Attacking a member of my House, is an attack on the House itself. The attackers would be dead. And if it were a conspiracy, as this might have been, then House Templar would kill all those involved, and all those that stood in the way. I believe that Trevor of House Tierra has shown remarkable restraint. Especially, since he could wipe out the Guard single handed.”
“What do you mean by that? I mean, he is an exceptional fighter, but his focus is as a healer.” The Earl seemed confused.
Majora replied, “No, my lord. Trevor of House Tierra is more than a healer. That isn’t even his class. I will also say that the only person that could stop him is Viscount Justinian, and even that would be questionable.”
All eyes turned toward me. I saw fear in Hounti after Majora’s reply. Ruberm simply nodded his head when the Earl looked at him questioningly.
“Trevor of House Tierra. May I ask your class and level?”
“I would rather not say in front of Hounti, but since I can tell both Ruberm and Countess Majora know, I may as well. My class is ‘Champion of Life’ and my level is now 45.”
I swear Hounti almost fainted. I cast Identification on him. He was a Warrior and level 20. Both quite respectable for a Guard. Not so much in this room though.
“THIS, THIS IS WHO YOU ARE SCREWING WITH?” The Earl pointed at me while screaming at Hounti. “What were you thinking?” Hounti physically cringed. “It doesn’t matter. Your bad judgement cannot be countenance. You are no longer a Senior Captain in the Guard. You are demoted to private, and transferred to Toverville. I expect you on the road tomorrow morning, and in Toverville in 4 days. I will send a message tonight letting them know you are coming. Now get out.”
Private Hounti ran from the room. All his plans came crashing down on him. He’d be lucky to be on latrine duty in Toverville.
Earl Donnert looked at me and said, “What do I do with you? I need the Guard and I need them to be happy. If I order you to heal them, you will leave, but you are the only one that can provide the high level of healing needed.”
“My Lord Earl. Because you have removed the reason for my not healing the Guard, you do not have to ask. I will heal the Guard, but standard rates apply,” I said with a smile on my face. Wow, things turned around quickly. One minute ago, I was already planning my escape route, now I am staying in Forest Glen.
Majora just stood there watching it and taking it in. I don’t know how she knew but maybe that is why her nickname was The Witch, but in a good way. My announcing my class and level changed everything. I would remember that.
The Earl sat down heavily. “Majora, let everyone know that Trevor has agreed to heal the Guards and will stay in Forest Glen. Don’t mention Hounti, please. Ruberm, go get Tyus and Willop, I need to speak to them now. Also send in Justinian.”
Both Ruberm and Countess Majora left. A few seconds later, Justinian came in.
“What may I do for you, my lord?” Justinian asked.
“Do you know what level is Trevor of House Tierra?”
“He is a level 45 Champion of Life, my lord.” Justinian replied.
Damm, does everyone know, I thought. Majora, sure. Ruberm, yeah, I get that, but Justinian? Who else knows.
“Who else knows my level and class?” I asked.
“Everybody in the dungeon group knows your class. You level is only known to a select few. This includes Majora, Ruberm, Earl Donnert now, Captain Willop, and myself.” Justinian easily replied, as if it were common knowledge.
“Let’s see if we can keep it that way, okay?” I asked.
“You two are the most powerful individuals in the county, if not the Kingdom.” Earl pointed to Justinian and myself. “They already know about Justinian, but I have to inform the King and Crowned Prince about you. Other than that, no one else needs to know. I must admit that knowing your true level puts my mind at ease. For a while, I was thinking you were a Nephilim. Now knowing your level puts that out of mind.”
When Tyus and Willop arrived, the Earl dismissed Justinian and me. I so wanted to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.
*-------------*
I didn’t go straight back home. Instead, I went to the bank. Even though I didn’t have an appointment, the bank manager saw me right away. We discussed my accounts, and I was able to set up an account for each of my staff members. I put in a little over 100 gold in each account. This should be more than enough to see them through, if anything happened to me. I arranged for the Bank manager to handle the notifications after my death.
Next, I went to see my partner in the trading company. We went through the accounts for the last two months. Everything appeared to be in good order, and we were making a good profit, even with hiring adventurers to guard our caravan. I also discussed how I wanted the partnership settled if anything were to happen to me. Basically, Mr. Morisa would be the executor and ensure my people were taken care of. He would divide my profits between them, so they could have a good income. He wouldn’t have direct access to their bank accounts, except the ability to deposit the gold. Gabriel and Fabia would be responsible for auditing the books. In addition, if Chef wanted to open a restaurant, the trading company would finance it for one year.
After feeling good about how everything was set, I wandered over to Eldro’s. This time I knew exactly what I wanted. Spells, spells and more spells. It was time to take my magic seriously. If I used Tayla as an example, then I needed over 30 offensive spells, and at least 20 defensive spells. Eldro was happy to comply.
I first wanted to see what offensive spells he had available. He had a limited supply. Not because they were that rare, but because they sold out quickly. He expected a delivery next week and would hold on to the better ones for me. I did pick up the Cone of Ice and Water Gun spells. Both were good to give me a little diversity.
For defensive spells, he only had two buffs. Eldritch Protection raised my magic resistance, and Flame Shield did the same for fire. I took both. I asked him to set aside any spell that did multiple buffs. I also wanted an invisibility spell and a Quiet spell, like Tayla.
For utility spells, he had a Create Food, a Create Water, Water Breathe, and Portable Light. I took them all. Portable light was very similar to Light Sconce, except it follow you around. What I was really looking for though was a spell that would keep the rain off me. He promised if one came in, he would set it aside for me. Not surprisingly, many mages wanted that spell.
I as almost done with my task for the day, but had one more stop. I stopped by the general store. I needed pens, paper and ink. I bought all that he had. It wasn’t that much and it was very cheap. With that done, I headed back to Covern House.
When I got there, Gabriel greeted me and I asked him to follow me to my office.
“How many staff members cannot read?” I asked.
Gabriel was startled, but answered “Eight, that I am aware of, but it doesn’t affect their job performance.”
“I am not concerned with anyone’s job performance. I want everyone to have opportunities, if they want them. So, I would like you to get a tutor to come to Covern House and teach those that want it to read and write. Ramram as Chief Horse Stewart needs to be able to read and write, so his participation is mandatory, but anyone is welcome to attend the classes. Classes will be reading, writing and basic math. Can you find me a tutor for those classes?”
Gabriel thought for a second, the answered “Will they be required to live in Covern House?”
“No, they do need to be here in the afternoons, seven out of every ten days. I will want progress reports on each student every month. I also want a syllabus, or a plan on what they are going to teach.”
“I know of a retired university professor from Decharte City. I think I can persuade him, but he will want to live here. I should also add he is my uncle.”
“Okay. However, if he lives here, he has to understand that you run the house. If he can’t, then he can’t work here. I don’t want the hassle. If you think he is willing, then bring him on.”
“Yes sir, when do you want him to start? I will speak with him this afternoon.”
“I would also like to talk with him, if he can come by this afternoon. Not that I don’t trust you, but I just want to meet him before he come to live in Covern House.”
“Yes, young master. I will get him here as soon as I can,” and with that Gabriel left to go get his uncle. Sometimes it seemed Gabriel was related to everyone in Forest Glen.
Now that I was alone, I spent the next hour learning my new spells. Each time I learned a new spell, it just got easier to learn the next. Familiarity breeds speed. As I have said before, and will say again. Magic is weird.
I had Gabriel bring me a map of Renovolt county, and another of the areas around Forest Glen. I was trying to find a good site for the dungeon. I wanted it to be a few hours away from Forest Glen. Far enough away that if something happened, Forest Glen would have enough time to prepare, but not so far that you would have to camp out to get there.
I pulled out the Dungeon Core and asked D’Voice to come out. D’Voice appeared and I asked him which area appealed to him. He studied the map for a time, then answered “Here” and pointed to a place on the map. It was at least two hours away on horseback, maybe three by wagon. It wasn’t near any farmland or other civilized area, so that was good. The nearest populated place was a mining camp and it was over an hour away. I thanked D’Voice and put the core away.
Now, I just had to buy up all the land in that area. Could I do it without people finding out I was the one buying it? I was afraid the owners would jack up the price, since everyone seemed to know I had the Dungeon Core. In addition to a dungeon, I wanted to build an inn, maybe a tavern, and a small general store next to the Dungeon. This way, adventurers could stay at the inn, and buy supplies if needed. They would also be able to sell any items or ingredients they found. I could make a nice little company town.
For those who don’t know. A company town is where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same person, who is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with such amenities as stores, temples, markets, and places to work. In this case, it would be tavern, inn, small general temple, general store and dungeon.
First step, find out who owns the land. See if I could buy it directly or would if I need a proxy. Maybe I could have the Banker by my proxy, or Morisa. Either would be good. I will go see both tomorrow to check if I can even buy the land. One of them should know.
I started making a list of what I would need to create my mini-town. When I was done, it was a long list. Quite daunting in its length. I would definitely need to partner with someone who understood the logistics needed to run a place like this. Just setting up a weekly caravan to bring in food and other merchandise was going to be a hassle. Maybe interviewing a few retired adventurers would be a good place to start. Since they knew what adventurers needed, they would make an excellent liaison. But they would also need to know how to run an inn, a tavern, and a general store, just to start. I expect that many a noble will also be wanting to run the dungeon, so being able to work with others is also important. I would need a manager to oversee the people and the dungeon schedule.
It's getting complicated. Too complicated for today. I will pick it up tomorrow. After I find out about the land.
The rest of the day was to be spent relaxing at Covern House. Of course, that didn’t really happen. I tried to study the resurrection scroll but couldn’t focus. I decided to quit after I almost accidentally cast the spell. It wouldn’t have been a disaster, since I have ten scrolls, but it would have been a waste.
My distraction was the Dungeon. Not the support buildings, but the Dungeon itself. I brought out the Dungeon Core and D’Voice. D’Voice appeared and asked how he could help.
“I want to know about the Dungeon. I have a lot of questions. What types of monsters and level can I put in it? Do I have to make the decision or is it automatic? How many levels can it create? Is it a single instance or multi-instance?” I asked.
“Okay, let me give you a little primer. First, the Dungeon Core you have is a powerful one. It is capable of creating a 20 level Dungeon. You can start the first floor with level one mobs, and have level 20 consist of a few 40 level elites and a level 45 boss. The interior levels would automatically populate accordingly. The monsters can be predetermined, random from a list, or completely random. You can choose a theme like ‘Undead’ or ‘Goblin’ for your monster type. This can be done for either a floor or the entire Dungeon. Traps are also an option, anywhere from none to all over the place, nuisance or deadly, simple or complex. Environment can be either floor specific or same throughout the Dungeon. You can make a multi-instance Dungeon, but you will need to limit the number of floors to ten for two instances, and five for four instances. Unfortunately, you are restricted to level 20 monster because of your Dungeon Master 1 title. To have higher monsters, you need to have a higher title.”
“What about entrances? Can I have one for each level? Your former Dungeon had a door every two floors.”
“True, it did and you can set it for every two or three levels. You can’t do one level through. If you go into any Dungeon, you have to complete at least two levels before you will find an exit. Some make you go through every level before you can exit. If you have a five level Dungeon, I suggest you don’t have any exits until the end. This will prevent people farming the boss.”
“What about resources and treasure? Can I make a floor of alchemical resources with just weak monsters?”
“You can, but again, I don’t recommend it because of people farming only that level. Of course, if you made it the last level, that could be considered a type of reward.”
“Speaking of rewards. How are the rewards generated”.
“They are either designated to help with conquering the Dungeon, like your flight ring, based on the party members, or just random. Usually, some combination of the above.”
“Anything else I should know?” I asked.
“Lots more, but that can wait. One thing you need to decide is a name for the Dungeon before you start the process. The name will affect almost everything, including monster types and levels. If you name the Dungeon ‘Trap Heaven’, traps will be everywhere and deadly. ‘Minotaur’s Revenge’ will have minotaur boss on every floor. The Dungeon Boss will be a minotaur. The name has to be carefully considered and chosen.”
“That makes sense. I will consider a proper name after we determine what type of dungeon it needs to be.”
“Also, you as the Dungeon Master can reset the Dungeon if it is empty. You can change the number of levels, the monsters, monster levels, the theme, single or multi-instance. Everything except the name.”
D’Voice and I talked long into the night about Dungeon engineering. It was definitely an art and I was grateful that I had D’Voice here to guide me.
