Nick had spent the better part of the trip back casting Minor Heal on his arm. Over and over until his Mana was depleted and needed to refill.

Once it had mana enough to cast Minor Heal, he did so again.

Endlessly casting the spell, he slowly brought down the timer.

When it finally vanished, it was replaced with another status ailment that merely said, “Damaged bone” and would last two more weeks. He could use his arm as normal again, but it did feel just a hair weak.

When he finally made it back to town, he’d gotten that timer down to just twenty-four hours. That was certainly far more manageable for him.

Holding onto sack he’d stuffed all eight heads into, Nick felt like he was doing something wrong. He knew that the sack was dripping blood here and there as he went as well.

Leaving a trail behind him that would lead all the way back to the camp.

While he didn’t regret killing them, as they were indeed bandits, he did wonder if he shouldn’t have. If it would have been better to report them and leave them to someone else.

Not to mention he was once again taking heads with his axe. It made him wonder how his father felt administering to his profession.

I do wonder how good the rewards will be.

Can you see them?

Or are you prevented from seeing them as well since you’re holding them back.

“I can’t see them until we accept them,” Lucian answered. “I do hope it was worth it, but at least we’ll level up. There’s no way we can’t, really. That last one with the Mace was most certainly a first promotion at the very least. If not a second promotion.”

A second promotion? That seems… almost too far-fetched. There’s no way we could kill someone like that.

“I would disagree. He was far over-armored for an open area battle,” disagreed Lucian. “We were much more lightly armored and have a great deal of endurance. A Ranged class with some endurance could have done the same thing though they would have been dependent on their ammo and its ability to punch through the armor.

“A caster would have had more luck, as you demonstrated by using your spell-work. Though a Caster with that sort of endurance needed to run as much as we did, would be unlikely to exist.”

Nick nodded his head at that. It made sense. He could easily see how someone would end up be led around behind as if they were a kite on a string.

To be kited around as it were.

The fact that Nick would likely become something akin to a Great-Knight or an Axe-Lord he’d have to plan for such an occasion. He was by no means all powerful.

More tools, more ability, not over-whelming. Just… somewhat lucky as well.

“Indeed. We got lucky,” muttered Lucian. “Very lucky. While we really wanted those rewards, I’m still uncertain if it was worth the risk. There’s only one of you, Nick. We have to be as careful as possible.”

Grimacing, Nick couldn’t argue with that. They’d taken a very large risk and gambled. In the end they’d won, but it’d been a big risk.

If he hadn’t had as deep a health pool as he did then he’d be dead.

Nick had certainly learned a lesson.

There was a loud squealing noise that came from the alley next to Nick. Loud, shrill, and at the right tone to make his ears ring.

Looking that way, and pointing his poleaxe as well, Nick saw a creature that looked somewhat bigger than large-breed domestic cats. If not the size of a small to medium sized dog.

It had a short muscular body, short legs, big paws and claws, brown fur, a long bushy tail, and a pointed face. It reminded him of a large and bulky weasel in a way.

“The fuck is that,” said Nick, pointing his poleaxe right at the feral looking creature. “Its-”

The animal came right at Nick and seemed to be going for the bag of heads he was holding. Practically jumping at it and not caring at all for Nick or his weapon.

“The shit!?” Nick said in a shocked voice.

He got a boot out and pushed the animal backward.

It took the hit as if it were nothing and came right back at him. Letting out another miserable screech at him.

Not wanting to delay any longer, Nick turned and ran. Heading straight for the guild building.

Behind him, he could hear the angry little animal right behind him. Apparently it could run as fast, or faster, than him.

Entering the stone building Nick slammed the door shut behind himself. Outside he could hear the furry monster at the door. It let out a loud scream that almost sounded like something out of a nightmare.

“The fuck is that?” Nick asked the clerk at the counter. The man had already set his book down and was staring at Nick.

“Ah, you’ve met one of our local pests,” said the man with a laugh. “It’s a fisher. Or a fisher cat. Nasty little things. No fear in them at all. Of anything. They’ll take down any house pet that’s foolish enough to be out and about.

“Will most certainly go for a small child if given the opportunity I would imagine but that hasn’t happened yet. They live in the forests and mountains up a bit from here. Like to come around here for easy scraps and things they can take.

“Can even catch and eat a bobcat if given the chance. Anything its size or smaller is most definitely on the menu.”

Shaking his head, Nick had no idea what to say to that. It seemed like a very nasty creature to him but he’d grown up in mostly empty plains.

Moving to the clerk he set down his poleaxe against the wall, then put the bulging sack down on top of the desk.

“You did have bandits. Eight of them that I found,” Nick said and then undid the tie around the bag. “Here’s their heads since I imagine they’ll have bounties. Happy to collect for the patrol and the bandit bounties.

“On top of that, I did get the herbs as well but… I figured we’d take care of this first. It being messier and all. Never found anything on the wolves.”

Staring at the bag the clerk seemed unsure how to proceed.

“Well?” Nick prompted.

“I need to speak with the count about this. Bounties like this have to be approved here,” muttered the clerk. “Come with me. Bring… bring the sack.

“Also, did you happen to get the names when you slayed them? That’d make this easier if I’m being honest. More times than not one of the clerks for the local lord will have a list of existing bounties.”

“I memorized them, Sire,” replied Lucian as the clerk got out a small piece of paper and a quill from under the desk.

Fantastic. Thanks, Gramps.

“Gramps?” Lucian asked in a somewhat surprised tone.

“Okay, and their names?” asked the clerk.

***

Sitting in a small courtyard in front of a very large manor, Nick was perfectly happy to wait. At the moment the clerk, who as apparently named Davis Michaels, was speaking with the local lord. A count by the family name of Distis.

This was the same individual he’d likely have to buy land from. Or if he was real lucky, an existing manor. If anyone knew what was for sale and available, it’d be the count.

With the count being the final say in the matter coming back with bandit heads would hopefully put Nick in the good graces of the local lord. Or at least, get him some leeway on being useful to the lands.

The front door to the manor opened and Davis stepped out. He gave Nick a strange smile then gestured into the manor.

“Count Distis will see you. I’m going to head back to the guild and get back to work,” said the clerk. “It’s still business hours after all. The Count will see to your bounty and rewards in regards to the bandits and the patrol. Have a good evening, Nick.”

Nodding his head, Nick got to his feet and then headed inside the home. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with his poleaxe so he just hung onto it and entered.

Rather than an entry room, or some type of reception area, it was just a hallway. There were several doors on one side and only one on the other.

Only one of the doors was open.

“In here,” called a voice from that open door as Nick closed the door behind himself.

Mustering his thoughts he entered that doorway and found he was in a study. It was well appointed, had a number of books in shelves, several hunting trophies, a desk, two chairs facing one another, a coffee table, and a single man.

He was seated at one of the chairs.

Looking older, perhaps in his middle fifties, he was completely bald with hard dark brown eyes. His body had the sag and heft of a man who had become comfortable with his life.

“Have a seat,” said the man, indicating the chair directly across from himself. “And thank you for waiting while I spoke with Davis and worked out who you’d brought in.”

“Thank you, your lordship,” Nick said and nodded his head at the count’s words. He took the suggested seat and made himself comfortable. Once done he laid his poleaxe across his knees he held it in both hands and waited.

There was no way of telling what the count wanted from him, let alone what Davis had said. This meeting didn’t have to happen and had been requested by Distis himself.

So Nick stayed silent.

“Well, in the end, you brought in some certainly annoying individuals,” continued the Count. “No one that specifically had a bounty assigned to them by the crown, but annoying individuals.

“Your received amount of coin will be roughly thirty large silver. Congratulations on your success. How did you manage it?”

“Sneak attacks, your lordship,” Nick said without trying to hide his tactics at all. “Stabbed them in the back when they weren’t looking from the grass. With my poleaxe.

“Hit one with the hammer head while they were sitting on the log. One of them fell in the fire after I killed them. Wasn’t much of a fight. Didn’t figure them to be worth a stand up fight so I just… killed them.”

Distis raised his eyebrows at that and smiled at Nick.

“So it would seem. Well, again, congratulations,” said the count. His eyes had moved to the poleaxe when Nick had been talking about how he’d killed the bandits then moved back to his face. “The coin will be handed to you as you leave. Though I heard from Davis you had a reason to speak with me directly as well?”

His… pace feels weird. There’s something strange about this. Or just about him.

I don’t like it, or get it.

“He could just be eccentric,” said Lucian with a sigh. “I’ve watched your family deal with a lot of nobles over the years. Distis is certainly a bit off beat but he doesn’t seem that bad. There are those who are much worse or significantly crueler.”

“Yes, your lordship,” Nick said, bowing his head to the other man fractionally. “I was hopping to purchase a manor in your lands. Or to have some land be granted to me so that I might construct a home there.”

Count Destis sniffed loudly then let out a short breath. Putting his elbow on the arm of the chair, he leaned to one side and planted his chin on the back of his hand.

“I see. Well, I could certainly see why you wanted to talk to me,” murmured the count.

“Your lordship I was planning on speaking with you tomorrow about it. I didn’t… plan to discuss it today,” Nick said in an apologetic tone. He got the impression that something wasn’t quite right with the count’s view of Nick wanting to speak with him.

“You did?” asked the count, his tone shifting to curiosity.

“Yes, your lordship. I’m on the docket. I registered my name this morning after taking the guild quests. Before I left to go work on them,” explained Nick.

“Hm. I see. I’ll assume that’s the truth since it’ll be easy to check later,” the count said dismissively. “Yes. Well. I like that all the more. Indeed.

“Alright, a manor home or some land. Which would you ultimately prefer? I have a rather large section of land to the north-west, near the river, that I’m looking to start putting people on. It’s a bit wild though… full of monsters, bandits, and whatever else might make it’s home up there.

“I haven’t sent anyone up there yet because, well, because it’s full of monsters, bandits, and whatever else might make it’s home up there.”

Err… I think a wild location might conceal us better. What do you think?

“I would tend to agree. Living in a city, even one such as Dayton would eventually lead us to more frequent oversight,” Lucian said after a brief pause.

“I think that would be more than acceptable, your lordship,” Nick said, once again bowing his head to the other man.

“Perfect,” said the count, sitting upright in his chair. Then he slapped a hand against his knee. “I shall provide you with the rights to two-hundred acres of land in that area.

“I expect an annual tithe of ten-percent of whatever your land produces, or five-percent of whatever you reclaim from your dungeon runs. This doesn’t include tariffs or taxes on mercantile businesses and that would be separate from our arrangement.”

I… what? He’s just giving us the land?

“Ah, and the last part of the agreement that you would serve me as a man-at-arms in times of war and for my lands,” said the count and spread his hands apart in front of himself.

“He’s essentially turning you into a landed knight without the accolade of a knight,” said Lucian in a curious tone. “His terms are average, though favoring us slightly. Should we actually be dubbed as a knight, the land acreage would likely increase to a thousand acres or a thousand-five hundred.

“I would say it would be good to accept it, though I do worry for the situation. Given the break in the covenant I would imagine the dukes are no longer playing nice with the king. It’s very likely the country will devolve into war. I imagine the count is looking for strong or strategic soldiers to bolster his forces. Though we would also be responsible for the security of his lands as well.”

In other words, I’ll use him as a base to begin my plot to overthrow the entire country, and he’ll use me to defend his lands as a knight not-knight.

All the while I’ll be settling land for him that he doesn’t have to spend a coin on.

“Essentially.”

“I agree, your lordship,” Nick said in the next moment. His mind was made-up. He needed to start somewhere and this was an offer that not everyone would get. “If possible, could I receive the paperwork for the contract, land, and as well as the markers? I will need to begin work on a home likely as soon as possible.

“As well as begin figuring out defenses if I must settle the land at the same time. It seems I’ll have to begin recruiting or work at securing my walls immediately.”

Distis gave him a smile that was far more predatory than Nick expected. A smile that didn’t belong on a bulging, balding, middle aged man who looked like someone’s over-weight uncle.

“Indeed. I just so happen to have it all prepared already,” Distis said. “I even already have someone heading out that direction to place the markers. They’ll be finished by tomorrow morning.

“By the way, it’ll take you about a day of walking to reach the location. It’s right up against the river. If you start now, you’ll have to camp outside over night and will be there tomorrow afternoon.”

Damn. He already planned it out.

Davis told him what I wanted and the count pushed his plan into motion long before I said anything.

“Indeed. We’ll need to be careful around the count,” murmured Lucian.

***

Standing in the middle of an open field and not far from the river, Nick was incredibly unsure at the moment. He was quite the distance from Dayton at this point and even further from Ashcroft.

Civilization and it’s easy-to-acquire goods were considerably far away.

“We’ll have to rely on the dimensional backpack for a lot of things,” muttered Nick. “That and see if we can’t scrounge up anything out here.”

“Well, we still need to get acquainted with the Outer World ledger as well, sire,” Lucian reminded him. “This would be a good time to do so once we have a settled camping spot. There’s a great deal of things we can buy and sell from there.”

Nick had only found one of the land markers, but he didn’t think it would be an issue to not go looking for the others. The count had failed to convey the fact that the land markers were massive stones that weighed a significant amount. They wouldn’t be moved very easily.

“He really did plan ahead before we ever talked to him,” grumbled Nick. “There’s no way he could have moved those land markers otherwise, right?”

“Well, that or he has very strong personnel in his employ. Like Ogres or the like. It isn’t as if I couldn’t carry those four rocks without much of an issue in my original form,” said Lucian.

Grunting at that Nick set down his pack. The location he was going to put down his manor was on the river-front. In the future it was likely that others would want to build river-front but he’d worry about that another time.

He wanted to be near the Van river for now so that was what he’d do.

Reaching into his pack Nick started to pull out all the camping gear he’d probably need. As well as a great number of tools that he’d have to use to start putting together the framework for a simple home.

He could hire people later to build something bigger for himself. For now, he just needed four walls, a roof, and a fireplace. Everything else could go from there.

A sudden and loud squeal snapped through Nick’s thoughts.

Looking up he found a large creature coming his way. It seemed to be the exact same type of beast that he’d met in the town.

What Davis had called a fisher.

“Eh, back off you feisty little bitch,” Nick said, holding his poleaxe out in front of himself. “Or I’ll turn you into my first cooked meal out-hey! You shit!”

The fisher had marched right up to him and had made a lunge for his pack. Then dodged away as soon as Nick had thrust out at it.

“You’re an aggressive little fucker,” said Nick with a grin. Picking up his pack he pulled it further behind himself and then moved in on the dog sized weasel. “Aggressive enough that maybe I should kill you, cook you, and eat you.”

As if realizing that it wasn’t going to get anything from Nick at the moment the fisher made an angry squeal at him, then turned around.

Putting its back to him without fear and trundling off.

“That is a ferocious little thing,” said Lucian. “I rather like it.”

“You know what? So do I. Right up until he tries to take my shit again,” said Nick. “Then I really will kill him and eat him. Now… let’s look at those rewards.