It’s nightfall in the village, the party’s over. And we rest at the village’s guesthouse, then a knock on the door.

“Prince?”

“Ah Marty.”

“Can we talk?”

“Sure.”

We walk outside, and we sat around a small coffee table. Anne had some local drinks made for us.

“Are you serious, on that offer? Or is it a prank?”

“I mean it. I would like you to join my army. I need good men, I can feel it, that you’re a man who’ve seen fighting.” It’s the truth, and I tell him that.

Marty pauses and sips on the drink. “I see. What am I getting myself into?”

“Nothing too much, just some monsters and probably a big monster of some kind.”

He chuckles, before realising that I did not laugh. His face turns serious, and asks. “Really?”

“Yeah. If I told you I had a dream that a disaster is coming, would you believe me?” I look into Marty’s eyes, and somehow, he stops chuckling.

“You… you’re serious.”

“Yes.” I lean over. “I am. Some monster is going to come, and it's going to kill me, you and maybe going to everyone else as well. So I need an army of good men. I can’t throw regular men at a giant beast, I need men of skill and ability. Together, we might defeat this beast.”

Marty stares at me, and I stare back, I try to seem as serious about it as I can.

“So, Marty. Are you a man who is willing to stand against beasts, to protect the people of Loom?”

He gulps. I think some of my princely presence is leaking too, and he tries to distract himself by sitting on his drink.

“I will do what I can to reward those who stand with me and display great valor in battle.”

And he glances at me, noticing I am still staring, my face still serious.

“...yes. I will join you.”

“Good. A few more villages and we will head for Loom.”

He nods.

-

The next day, we set out towards the next village. Lani’s getting a bit more meaty, and as a result she’s beginning to look attractive. At this point it occurs to me all the high rank individuals I meet, either men or women, are all attractive to look at.

I suppose it’s a feature of this system? I wonder is this “lookism”?

Anyway, as we travel towards the next village, we bumped into a group of orcs, a small band, and did not hesitate to crush them. With the advantage of Sara’s ranged attacks, and Adam’s sword, we pretty much slaughtered the orcs.

It’s also a good time to see Marty’s combat abilities for the first time. He’s a defensive fighter, using a shield and a short sword, kind of like a legionnaire, but without a tower shield. I suppose this is where I should get him a tower shield once we get back to Loom, as clearly his borrowed equipment is not doing his skill any justice.

The small band of 20 orcs killed, we arrive at the village.

It’s fortified. Clearly they were expecting enemies, and so they were pleased to see us.

“Prince? I’m afraid our party… has to be delayed.”

“Orcs?”

“Yes.”

“We killed some on our way here. Any more?”

“They say there’s a band of 100 or so, apparently one of our men spotted it yesterday.”

100!

“Looks like we’re in for a battle.” Adam sighs, and we’re in the village, helping with the fortification. No partying this time around, and I feel a bit bittersweet about it. Yeah, it’s great that there’s none of that partying, but here we are, fighting monsters.

We meet up with the elders who are helping to defend the village, and it seems they’ve already sent out a mail to the nearby villages requesting for aid, and to warn them of the orcs.

“Sara’s out on recon.” Anne comes over to inform the village. “She’s a ranger, so she’s got a good chance of spotting them.”

The elders nod, but they are still worried. Well, I would be too, but Sara’s good at being a ranger, so I have faith in her.

“It’s going to be bloody, isn’t it?” Lani asks, and I nod.

“A hundred or so orcs. That’s way more than before. We have a good chance if we can whittle them down before entering close combat.”

Lani nods, and we pass some of the villagers arming themselves with pitchforks. Our presence helps assure them, after all there’s now about 15 extra trained fighters, and that helps against orcs.

“I… I think I’ll help.” Lani offers.

“Ah great. I think you can stay back, let the men cover you.” I’m happy that she does and I want to ease her into this role. “Stay behind Adam or Marty, alright?”

“...okay.”

Marty then comes over, and immediately stares at me. “You knew this was happening?”

No, but I figured it’ll get there. Monsters are just going to be more frequent, then a big bad guy comes out as a mastermind. That’s how stories go.”

“You read strange stories, Prince Carlos.”

Affection summary

Anne - 75%, Blue, Rank 4, Level 8, Prince’s Adjutant

Adam - 50%, Yellow, Rank 4, Level 9, Soldier

Sara - 14%, Green, Rank 4, Level 6, Ranger

Lani - 9%, Yellow, Rank 5, Level 3, Elementalist

Reese - 30%, Red, Rank 3, Level 12

Marty, 0% Yellow. Rank 4, Level 6 Heavy Arm,