Author's note: Heya, it has been a while. Not gonna lie, editing hasn't made much progress. I switched from immediately releasing chapters to first finishing a couple of them and then releasing, in case i want to go back and change something. I will probably publish a few chapters in short succession and then not publish for a few days from now on, but I feel like this method will be beneficial to the story overall. You will get another chapter later today.

Chapter 19: Meeting the Lord

The next morning, Paul woke up early, besides having gone to bed late. Kana was already up but just waiting in bed, probably to not disturb him in his sleep with any activity.

Paul was somewhat excited, because he would meet with the captain of the town guard today and probably receive a reward.

He had already decided to spend his stat points on intelligence. Wisdom might come in handy as well, but for now he wanted to be able to memorize spells more than regenerating mana quickly.

Besides that, he wasn’t even absolutely sure how the whole mana thing worked. Intelligence seemed to raise his mana pool by 5 MP, so it was pretty straightforward and a safe bet to enhance his capabilities.

After spending the points, Paul looked over his stats.

Name: Paul

Adult Human Male

Level: 7

Experience: 265 / 10%

Strength: 15

Endurance: 16

Agility: 25

Intelligence: 21 (+1)

Wisdom: 10

Luck: 0

Health: 80

Mana: 105

Stamina: 80

Some of Paul’s skills had also taken a step forward, so he was pleased when he looked over them.

[Carpentry] Beginner Level 2, 82%

[Leatherworking] Beginner Level 5, 75%

[Spear-type Weapons] Beginner Level 6, 21%

[Bows] Beginner Level 4, 74%

[Resilience] Beginner Level 3, 30%

[Sense Surroundings] Beginner Level 4, 9%

[Healer] Beginner Level 2, 39%

[Night Vision] Beginner Level 4, 19%

[Trapping] Beginner Level 4, 38%

[Sneak] Beginner Level 3, 20%

[Enchantment Understanding] Beginner Level 1, 50%

The only thing that was bugging him somewhat was the carpentry skill, which felt like a wasted skill point. Well, he still had two points left, so it was not like he had anything else to spend it on right away, but alchemy seemed to be better. Once he had access to a library, made friends with a proficient craftsman or both, more useful skills should be within reach.

The first thing Paul did after raising his intellect, was memorize the charm spell. He managed to do so now and found out that the cost was a whopping 100 MP per cast. He would probably get a terrible migraine just from casting it a single time, so its usefulness was pretty limited for now.

Paul told Kana to fetch a bowl of hot water from the inn keeper to wash herself properly, and dressed himself for the day. Given that they had met the guard captain yesterday morning, he wanted to go there straight after breakfast.

On their way to the guard headquarters, they stopped at a stall to get some additional protein (very bloody) for Kana.

“After finishing the initial stages of the investigation, the picture so far is pretty clear. The testimony of the subjects rescued from the bandit’s hideout, as well as the interrogation of the prisoners, has indeed painted you in the light the person responsible for the destruction of the band of bandits. Any parts of your own testimony that cannot be proven will be taken as fact for now. We are currently looking out for any contacts the organization had amongst the citizens of our town. So far, you are not considered to be in league with the criminal organisation in any form.”

The words from the captain relieved Paul, although they sounded like he had just been acquitted of a crime.

The captain continued. “For your impressive accomplishments, the Town of Prozor will reward you handsomely. Especially the leader, a wanted rogue wizard, had a considerable bounty on her head. A messenger has already been sent to inform the magic association of her death, as well as of the name of the person responsible. Please take this as a monetary reward, I am sure you will find its content to your liking.” He handed Paul a small bag, containing most likely several coins. Paul decided to check the contents as soon as he was done with the formalities here.

“Note that any items you took from the hide out that are not crucial to our investigation can stay in your possession. If you have taken anything else of note, come forward now and there will be no repercussions.”

Paul still had the pages taken from the ledger in his bag. Given that he had no use for them and that he was sure that the money he took was from the baron, he had already thought about handing them over. Now seemed to be a good opportunity.

“Yes, please take these. I found them on the bandit’s leader and tried to make sense of them, but they seem to be coded. I simply kept them by mistake. I hope they will be useful to your investigators.” Paul handed over the pages. The captain did not show any emotion, which was a good thing in Paul’s eyes. He did not seem to trust Paul very much anyway.

“Mr Paul, the Earl has informed me that he would like to speak to you in person. Please visit the lord’s castle later today. The guards stationed there have already been informed. For now, you are excused after some answering some questions from our lead investigators.”

Paul and Kana followed two important but tired looking guards to a table. The two men asked some questions, for example the information he had received from the prisoners when he had captured them. It was over in less than an hour.

He checked the contents of the coin purse. A whopping 6 gold coins. Even if he went on a shopping spree now, he could explain where the money came from. He had also received official permission to keep everything he had looted, so Paul was pleased with the outcome. The audience with the lord was a welcome bonus on top of that.

After returning to the inn and collecting the items Kana had cleaned and maintained before, the two headed to the market place. Paul let Kana carry everything, because she seemed to be happy to be of use to him. He was wondering if it was just an effect of the binding spell or if it was out of her own mentality, but the result was the same.

Paul bought a lot of items that he perceived useful in case he left the town to travel someplace else. He had not made any concrete plans, but there were several points of interest. The magic association and the academy were definitely among them, but he was also interested in finding and defeating monsters or criminals in the wild to raise his and perhaps also Kana’s level quickly.

It was hard to decide on a course of action without any solid information or at least some good leads.

Paul commissioned a good piece of chest armour for Kana at one of the more renowned blacksmiths. He also bought a pair of bracers and leg protectors made of iron for her, as well as a reinforced shield. The sword she already had was as good as any in the shop, so he did not replace it.

There was no point in buying her a helmet, because it would not fit properly because of her ears. Paul decided to try and make her a cute individual helmet made of leather and fur by himself.

He also bought a set of nice looking “town clothes” for himself. Kana was adorable as she was, so dressing her up in normal clothes already left a good enough impression.

After having lunch, they headed to the inn, stowed away their purchases and went to the guarded quarter located around the lord’s castle.

Paul decided to take a detour and do some sightseeing before heading to the Earl. The quarter was not too big, walking in a circle within the walls took about half an hour. Most houses, or better mansions, were secluded by fences, hedges and gates. There were many people dressed in servants’ clothes hurrying along the streets or tending to the gardens.

The only businesses of note were a nice looking restaurant and a tailor. Some inhabitants seemed to do business from within their residences, indicated by signs on the walls. There was a place advertising high quality training for servants and an architect, also a merchant specialized in the acquisition of exotic goods, whatever that meant. He had no public store, so it seemed somewhat mysterious to Paul.

After satisfying his curiosity, he headed to the caste with Kana. The castle was not that impressive, but looked solid and practical. The size was fitting for a somewhat small place like Prozor. There was only one higher tower of about 4 storeys, a bit separated from the rest of the place. The main building itself was two storeys high and made of what looked like granite. Due to the tall ceilings and pointed roof it was taller than any other building with two floors.

The guards let them pass after Paul stated his business, and they were led to a neat looking, large room and served tea. Kana was standing behind him at first, but Paul told her to take a seat next to him. The servants at the castle did not show any reaction to this.

After a while, a man seemingly in his late forties and dressed in very expensive looking clothes entered the room, followed by another, rather skinny and generally unimpressive man.

[Callum Webster, Earl of Prozor

Human

Level 14]

After formally greeting him, Paul had to tell his life story. It was over quickly, because he kept to the story he had told Marcus before, so it only covered a span of not even two months.

The Earl made a kind but curious impression to Paul. He inquired about the Paul’s impression of the settlements he had visited, the people he had met and even spoke directly to Kana, even though Paul had introduced her as his servant. It seemed to Paul like he was genuinely interested in the information he got from the two, which was a bit different from what he got through official reports. It struck Paul as quite reasonable.

Of course Paul also had to tell the story about the bandit hideout, although he tried to keep it to a minimum and somewhat downplayed it. The Earl showed his admiration and thanks nonetheless.

Paul learned that the Earl had been studying at the magic academy when he was younger, but only with moderate success. Afterwards he had joined Prozor’s armed forces as their commander in the field and led them on some subjugation quests and against a rebellion on the outer skirts of the province.

His extensive experience seemed to explain his rather high level to Paul.

After both sides had sated their curiosity, the Earl told the man that had entered together with him to speak. He had introduced him as his councillor and it seemed like there were some small issues that Paul could help with. Before the Earl left, he asked Paul if there was a request he had after dealing with the bandits, although he understood that Paul had already received a reward from the captain.

“Thank you for your kind offer. If it is not too much to ask, I have one small request. I have heard that the castle’s library is quite impressive and open to certain members of the public. I would very much like to use the opportunity and get permission to read the books you have in your collection.”

The Earl agreed to Paul’s request, and instructed his councillor to arrange someone to bring Paul to the library later and instruct the guards to let him pass through unhindered in the future.

After the Earl left, the councillor informed Paul of several small matters in the surrounding countryside that needed attention.

There was a small village to the west that had reported some villagers missing over the last months. In addition there were several strange late night attacks on people who were outside said village, but without any stolen items. Most of the victims just fainted and could not remember the attacker and were found in a weakened state the next day. A small group of investigators had already checked the area, but could not find anything out of the ordinary. As there had been no confirmed casualties, the priority was rather low.

Another matter were unidentified creatures in some of the abandoned mineshafts in the mountainside to the south. Paul vaguely remembered Marcus telling him about it after he arrived in this world, so he asked for a few more details. Apparently there was a small mining village called Steinnes close to the mountain. The mines produced mostly copper and iron, but the production fell over the last year. When asked, the village elder reported that the miners were afraid of strange noises that could be heard deep within the mountains. Reluctant to expose themselves to unknown danger, they avoided digging any deeper into the mountain and stuck to the areas that they felt were relatively save, but weren’t necessarily rich in ores.

A reconnaissance mission would already be enough, if the threat is known, a force would be dispatched from Prozor.

There was also a spider infestation in a forest to the north, but Paul quickly declined. Spiders weren’t really his thing. At least not unless he learned an effective spell to burn down the entire forest from a safe distance.

Above all, there was the lingering threat from the goblin tribes to the north-east, whose raiding parties seemed to get closer and closer to Prozor and the surrounding villages. Historically, the goblins were a problem the villages and nobles of that area, but if they caused problems to Prozor and its connected settlements, the Earl would not hesitate to build a subjugation force. At this point, any information would be valuable and if the time came, Paul would be asked to join the force on a temporary basis.

The threats were too vague to dispatch considerable manpower to each of the incidents, so asking passing adventurers to look into it seemed like a reasonable response. Even if Paul didn’t do anything, there would be no harm done.

After the councillor told Paul about the “quests”, he led him and Kana to the library. It was a large room on the lower floor of the castle. The walls were lined with bookshelves that were higher than a person, but not as high to require ladders to reach the upper shelves. Paul noticed that many of the bookshelves were filled with fiction and poetry. Only about half was actually valuable information. In the centre of the room was a large table with several comfortable chairs, to allow for reading. Paul was informed that he was not allowed to lend out any of the books, unless he got explicit permission.

For now, just having access was good enough for Paul. He had the possibility to make notes using the [Menu] function, so there should be no problem.

Unfortunately, there was no librarian who could guide him to any works of special interest, so Paul would have to look for interesting books by himself.

The councillor then excused himself and Paul and Kana were left in the library. Paul decided to spend a few days here, to get a better grasp of the situation, but did not expect to find anything overly interesting. The most interesting item was already on open display: a large map of the surrounding kingdoms was hung on the far end of the room.

Paul stepped closer and took a look.

Prozor belonged to a kingdom called Britus and was located east of the centre of said kingdom. The capital was called Kirkwall and located to the Northwest, at the coast. Judging from the distance to the small village south of Prozor, where Jonas lived and only indicated by a single small hut, the distance to the capital was about 10 times as far. Considering that it only took them around hours at a faster walking pace to cross that distance, Paul deduced that the kingdom itself wasn’t very large.

There were several other towns like Prozor and scattered throughout the Britus Kingdom. One between Prozor and Kirkwall, the capital, was called Howe. Paul decided to make Howe his next destination after he wrapped things up in this area.

After glancing over the books Paul and Kana left the castle again. They visited the temple for another healing session for Kana, and ate at the inn. Paul had tried to get the priest to show him the tome of healing spell he used, but only learned that the priest had been taught at a monastery dedicated to Urnera and several other gods. Apparently, there were magic users outside the magic academy.

Later in his room, Paul trained his [Night Vision] skill by focusing on Kana in the darkness. Only because it was a more interesting sight than the floorboards, not because she had stripped down to only a shirt and her underpants and was laying defenceless her bed, without even bothering to use a blanket (it was summer and pretty warm).

Paul thought that it must be pretty dull for her at the moment. He had no house that required work done by servants, and just walking around with him, only occasionally carrying something for Paul, must be rather boring.

After nearly exhausting his mana pool twice, Paul went to sleep.