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.

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

Anne - 75%, Blue, Level 8 (+1 since last battle) Adam - 50%, Yellow, Level 9 (+1 since last battle) Sara - 14%, Green, Level 6 (+1 since battle) Lani - 9%, Yellow, Level 3 Reese - 30%, Red, Level 12

Skill Menu (After spending skillpoints) (+) indicates can be upgraded.

Level 4 Prince (+) Level 1 - Eye of affection Level 3 - Crafter of gifts (+) Level 2 - The power of love (+) Level 1 Healer (+) Level 1 - Heal (+) New skill - Level 1 Remove status effects