Watcher's Question: A LitRPG Saga (Life in Exile Book 2)

by Sean Oswald

  Once all the bickering was over, Dave called everyone to quiet and explained his plans for which buildings were to be completed first and discussed how he intended to start exploring more of the Murkwood to look for other resources after the hunt was over. It was amidst the glazed over looks from everyone tired from a long day that he dropped the bombshell about the dungeon. Immediately, he had everyone’s attention, and he explained what he and Mira had learned about the dungeon. After showing off Mira’s staff to everyone, there was a general clamoring to be allowed entry into the dungeon. Apparently, there was only one other known dungeon inside Albia, right outside of Konig. Farming the dungeon produced significant wealth for the king and loot for the adventurers. Every fighting man at the table was seeing visions of magical weapons and armor dancing past their eyes. In the end, nothing was accomplished about the dungeon, but consideration for entry into it was held out as an incentive to motivate the various leaders to faster results.

  By the end of the dinner as the Nelson’s walked to their partially completed home to sleep for the night, both Dave and Emily were exhausted by the politics and were both eagerly looking forward to the hunting party tomorrow. Well, Emily was thinking more about what to do about the girls while she had to chase down the tree sappers. She wasn’t sure if they would be safer with her or in Eris’ Rise. Dave’s mind had come to a more imminent realization about half-way home. It dawned on him that for the first time in the weeks that they had been in Eloria, he and Emily were about to be able to sleep together in a private room with a large bed that had arrived from the order he had placed with Gunter before the attack. Soon, he couldn’t think about anything else, and various lines were running through his head as he tried to figure out what to say to Emily. She was his wife of nearly twenty years, and he shouldn’t have been nervous about it, but it had been weeks after all, and she did have they both had bodies now that they could have only dreamed of twenty years before.

  After making sure that the kids were tucked into bed and doing her best to ignore Krinnk, Emily saw Dave standing outside of their bedroom like a puppy waiting for its owner to get home. She grinned to herself confident that the hallway was dark enough for him not to be able to see her in the shadows. She activated her stealth skill and snuck down the hall. He was so funny to her. From day one, he had never had any game but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t get lucky.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “This land is new and untouched. Here we can find opportunities unavailable for us in the old world. With that though comes the chance to find new terrors as well.” — Eiichiro Takahasi, leader of the Moon Elf contingent in the Great Exile

  The following morning, Dave woke with a silly grin plastered to his face. He felt well rested even if he hadn’t gotten much sleep. Who would have ever imagined putting points into Endurance would pay such dividends. When he became fully awake, he leaned over and kissed his beautiful bride as she still slept, whispering an “I love you” in her ear before climbing out of bed to dress. He chose to put on his armor after a brief internal debate about whether it was necessary or not. Today, the entire world seemed clearer. If the only class he was going to be offered was Sword Binder, then he would seize it and make it his own. He might never become a wizard like the greats from his stories, but heck, even Gandalf had used a sword upon occasion.

  With the decision made, he felt lighter, ready to think this through and process what the next step was going to be. That would have to wait though for their travel time. Now he needed to make a few arrangements in Eris’ Rise since he wasn’t sure how long he would be gone on this hunt. Looking back at Emily’s still form, watching her chest rise and fall with her breath beneath the blanket, he felt like a very lucky man.

  A short time later, he arrived at the tent to Sir Morganthal, the senior of all the knights who had sworn allegiance to him. The man and his family had to live in this tent until houses could be built for enough of them. He knew that not building homes for the knights’ families first wasn’t making him popular with their wives, but he hoped to win them over once they saw how great things could be. Dave’s mind was abuzz with all kinds of ideas. He intended to bring running water and electricity as well as numerous other conveniences to Eris’ Rise. He didn’t know the how of it yet, but was confident with magic and some research he would be able to bring them out of the middle ages. Then he would see how the knight’s wives liked him. He had yet to see a woman who didn’t like creature comforts.

  As far as his research skill went, Dave had originally been nonplussed with it but eventually realized that combining that skill with his memories of twenty-first century Earth that he should be able to become quite the inventor. Maybe he would never be a Thomas Edison, but then again with the leveling system in Eloria, who was to say that he couldn’t. It was that very thought which had caused him a week ago to place another order with Gunter for the man to find any and every non-fiction book that he could lay his hands on whether they be magic texts, scientific books, history, or anything else of that ilk. He reasoned that whatever books he didn’t use would be helpful with the founding of the school, and so he dedicated a full platinum piece to the work. This was nearly a quarter of his remaining funds, but he hoped that with the donations from the human and elven rulers as well as the churches that he would be able to pay the costs of running the town for the next few months until revenue began to come in.

  It also occurred to him that he might have to set up experiments, but figured that he would have to wait for winter. There was always so much to do, that it didn’t seem practical for him to lock himself in a quiet room. He hoped that would change, especially now that Emily was here to share in the burdens of directing the town. Of course, they still had to find and kill these stupid bugs. While waiting for Sir Morganthal to gather the other knights, he pulled up the quest they had received for hunting down the tree sappers.

  New Quest Gained: Stop the Tree Sapper Blight!

  You have had your first encounter with one of Eloria’s most prodigious pests. They are hated and feared the world over. They feed upon trees but their favorite food is the ironwood tree. Nearly indestructible otherwise, ironwood trees are the traditional homes of the elves. Tree Sappers were created as part of a magical experiment gone badly. In the over two hundred years since they were first created, the combined might of the Moon Elves and Sun Elves has not been able to eradicate these creatures. Since then, bounties have been offered for the destruction of a swarm anytime one has arisen.

  You have borne witness to the birthing of a new swarm.

  Success Condition: Bring proof of the destruction of this swarm to the royal court of either the Moon Elves or Sun Elves. Quest must be completed within ninety days for maximum reward.

  Reward: Gold x400, Epic Magic Item x 1, Excellent Magic Items x2, High Magic Items x 4, Increased favor with all elves, significantly increased favor with whichever royal court the proof is delivered to, Title: Blight Slayer.

  Reviewing the quest reminded him not only of how much they stood to gain from this quest but also just how rare quests were in Eloria. Besides class quests, he had only ever received two quests. The first was irrelevant now since he was leading the only border town left. He couldn’t exactly pay himself for the boar tusks. This quest however would bring in much needed money and even more importantly it would bring in a number of magic items. This new life of his didn’t really feel like a game most of the time, but when he started thinking about loot, his inner geek came out. The absence of quests seemed like another issue to bring up with Talvenicus, well maybe not the mayor, but maybe with some of the older elves or church officials.

  Sir Morganthal finally arrived with the other five knights. Interestingly enough, he had also brought along Jaselm and Sir Mun-Hagen the paladin leading the warriors of Mishpat.

  “Hello all, and thank you for coming. Until we have a formal advisory council in place, I will be depending upon you all to run and protect Eris’ Rise while I am gone
.” All of the men looked at him but so far none of them said a word so he continued on, “I am most familiar with Jaselm, so I would be inclined to place him in charge while I am gone.”

  “I’m sorry Baron but that won’t be possible. As I understand it your wife and children will also be on this mission, so I plan to accompany you along with a detail of knights and soldiers.”

  Dave had expected as much, but it was still a bit frustrating as he would have trusted Jaselm not to take advantage of any of the people in town and not to unnecessarily cause any trouble between the humans and elves. Thinking of that, Dave realized it would be important to include an elven leader in this discussion. “I understand Jaselm, and I am happy to have you along. I know that you will protect Emily with as much vigor as I will. Something else just occurred to me though. We are going to need to include one of the elven leaders. I am assuming that Emily’s personal guard as well as the forest wardens and druids will all leave. So the best choice is probably the leader of the warriors that their king sent, or maybe it’s a queen, I don’t really understand how their system works.”

  Sir Morganthal spoke up, “I’ve met him, his name is Ozakai Bunko. He seemed to be a professional soldier and a decent enough fellow, for a long ear that is.”

  “Arghh … that is exactly the kind of attitude I am talking about.” Dave turned in a whirl to face his lead knight directly. “There will be no tolerance for that kind of thinking and especially for that kind of talk in Eris’ Rise. This town, and my barony is going to be open to all races, and we will judge people based upon their merits and work not upon the shape of their ear.”

  “Well umm … Yes, my Lord. It’s just how I have always referred to elves before.”

  “I understand that, and I don’t hold your upbringing against you, but the simple fact is that if you are going to be one of the leaders of Eris’ Rise then you will have to lead by example. Leadership here is a position of responsibility and sacred trust. It is for you to make the lives of the people better not just for you to lord over them.”

  Sir Mun-Hagen interrupted Dave’s rant by saying, “You do know that the elves are heathens right. They don’t even acknowledge the true gods.”

  The limited exposure that Dave had so far with the paladin of justice indicated to Dave that the man was more like the paladin of minutia, focused on doing everything properly. “So, it may shock you that in our homeland, none of us had ever even heard of any of your gods, including Shanelle. So, I wouldn’t be too quick to judge someone, even though I know that is sorta your mandate. I don’t have any problem with you trying to share your God with the elves, but you also have to be respectful to them. We aren’t going to be converting anyone at the point of a sword.”

  The paladin seemed to take the rebuke in stride, “As you say, Baron Murkwood.”

  Dave mentally checked off the paladin as a possible leader while he was away. “So, I need to be able to trust you Sir Morganthal. Please let me know if you can’t carry out my objectives.” It was hard to push a man that hard publically, but Dave just wasn’t in the mood for politics. He really would rather do without the knight if he couldn’t trust the man.

  If the knight was bothered by being put on the spot by his liege, he didn’t show it. Probably once you got used to fighting for your life, being confronted verbally was not a big deal. “My Baron, I may not see the world from your perspective, but I am accustomed to carrying out the will of another man. My star rises with yours, and so I want nothing but success for you and Eris’ Rise.”

  “Very good, then you will be in charge with Ozakai as your second in command.” The timing of the soldier who had been sent to bring back the elven commander was perfect as he walked just in time to ask what he was going to be second in command of. Dave explained, “As you know the hunt for the tree sappers begins today, so my wife and I will be gone very soon. I am trying to put in place some commanders who will ensure that the people of Eris’ Rise human and elf alike are kept safe and that the work projects stay on track while I am gone. I have already asked Talvenicus to oversee the construction projects and make sure they are proceeding in the designated order. He won’t have any idea how to deal with your tree shapers, but I will leave that up to you until my wife is better able to work out the needs of the elves.”

  “May I ask, Consort, why Lady Emiri is not giving me these instructions personally?” The man’s nose was held just a bit too high as he spoke.

  Dave could swear that he heard at least one snicker behind him from the knights, but he didn’t bother to look back, choosing to pretend he hadn’t heard. “First off, yes you may always ask reasonable questions. The simple answer is that my wife and I are joint rulers here. If you have a problem with that, you are not welcome here, and I can assure you that she will say the same thing. Additionally, I will ask you to refer to me as Baron or Lord Murkwood in public and in private. I also don’t care if you call me by my name, Dave. Consort however won’t do, that term has certain meanings where I come from.”

  Again the elf looked back at Dave with that peculiar tilt of his head. “I’m not sure that I follow you, Consort is what we always call the spouses of any Lord or Lady.”

  “Well, you wouldn’t call me her ‘boy toy’ would you?” Seeing the elven soldier at a loss for words, Dave continued, “Well that’s what I hear every time someone calls me ‘consort,’ so please don’t do it.”

  “As you wish, Bare-on.” The human title obviously came a bit awkwardly off of his lips.

  “Thank you, to answer your first question, I simply have a lot more points in Endurance especially with our personal rule bonus, so I need far less sleep than she does.”

  Dave didn’t wait for any of them to reply but instead launched into a detailed set of instructions about what was to happen in the town while he was gone. They covered defense and scouting patrols as well as building and dining issues. In the end after a few more questions, everyone knew what was expected of them and two of the knights along with twenty soldiers were assigned to come with Dave as his guard on the hunting party. He felt that it was a bit extreme, but they insisted that he have no less of a guard than Emily. He figured more bodies would make Emily and the girls safer so he didn’t fight it.

  An hour later after eating breakfast together, Mira was busy helping pack up the limited extra changes of clothing that she and Sara had. She didn’t like to be saddled with babysitting, but her newfound Intelligence was able to identify why she was the logical choice. Pretty much it either had to be her or Balayria and given the half-orc’s predilection for halter tops, Mira didn’t think she should be trusted with packing up the youngest Nelson’s spare clothes. Sleeping rolls, spare clothes, and food were all packed onto the back of a horse. Not on one of her summoned horses either. She remembered her parents taking her horseback riding when she was little, but couldn’t even remember where they had done it at. All she knew was that it had been fun, but she had no delusions that this would be the same as a guided kiddie ride.

  While she managed to maintain an outward air of teenage indifference, internally Mira was rather excited to be going on this hunt. She had been enjoying the entry level tutoring with Hiroto but too much of it felt like school. Not something that she would admit to her dad or Jackson, but she was pretty addicted to the entire gaining XP and leveling up thing. She self-analyzed a bit and decided that she wasn’t turning into a blood-thirsty killer or a thrill jockey. The stat increases were a powerful incentive and her more objective mind craved the concrete way that leveling served to measure her improvements.

  Once she was done packing up the horse, she saw the crowd gathered outside. Eisuke was with a robed druid and was arguing with her mom again about why this many people were coming, but she already knew the outcome of that argument, she had nearly sixteen years of experience arguing with her mom. Scanning the rest of the group, she saw that the new elf, Daichi, and the rest of her mom’s bodyguard was coming. That made forty-eight elves in total and
a nearly matching contingent of humans. Jaselm was leading three other paladins and twenty foot soldiers while a pair of her dad’s knights were assembled with twenty more foot soldiers behind them. Next to her dad who was speaking with Talvenicus, undoubtedly about any last minute issues, was Sara. And of course, wherever Sara went her little shadow Krinnk was right behind her. Nobody, least of all Mira, liked the little green goblin, but if you just ignored him it was manageable. Behind them fussing with Sara’s hair was her overgrown nanny. The half-orc was as muscular as some men’s body builders but somehow still had a feminine aura to her. Mira guessed that anyone who thought to take advantage of Balayria would be in for a rude awakening.

  The next thing that she knew she was receiving a party invite from her dad. After accepting it, she found that besides the four Nelsons, the other party members were Jaselm and Daichi. Everyone was assembled now and her parents were starting to address them.

  “So there are forty-nine elves, forty-seven humans, two half elves, one half-orc and one goblin in our party. My wife and I will share the overall command of the hunt. This does not mean that I command the humans and she commands the elves, it means that we are both equal co-commanders of all of you.” Emily saw how her dad would stop and let Emily repeat what he had just said in elven. The thing was that all of the elves spoke the common human tongue while only a few of the humans spoke moon elf. So she saw both of them indicate that for all business everyone was to communicate in the common language.