The journey to Surn passed by without incident and the day had given way to a golden afternoon light that bathed the wooden houses and the village square in a warm yellow glow. Many of the villagers had spent the day undertaking repairs to the damage done the night before. Hanging new doors, re-timbering burnt walls, mopping up blood and burying the deceased invaders in a shallow grave a few minutes' walk out of town. Maise had spent her day cleaning the blood-soaked floors of her house while Greg rested, still recovering from the five or so minutes he'd spent as a dead man. After a little persuading, she let me help tear up the old floors and simply grow her some new ones which to her delight were now her favourite thing in the house as she told me repeatedly after I'd finished.
The three siblings had settled in with Eileen and Ray for the time being. Sven and Sally were about the same age as Ray and immediately hit it off. After changing from their rags to some clothing supplied by various villagers with Kids of their own, they all went off into the forest nearby to explore and play. There was about ten of them in the group all told and the village children seemed immensely excited to have new friends to play with and a new Tree-Man arriving all within a few days. Sarah and Eileen were getting along well and having shared similar violence at the hands of the same men, shared an unspoken bond of solidarity between them. Unfortunately, I was unable to revel in the calm after the storm quite like everyone else as Edvar the village elder had called me to his house as the setting sun ducked and weaved behind the waving branches of the pine canopy.
His house had only received minor damage to front door and wall and after taking a seat in his living room and inspecting the content on his shelves and mantle for a few moments then found myself inspecting my inner status window again. I'd killed a few men last night and was notified by the system a couple of times but had paid very little attention to any of it owing to how confusing the whole thing was.
[Name – Selwyn] [Species – &**!&Daffodil??]
[Abilities:
Healing Herbs – Moderate
Detection – Advanced
Body control
– God Staff
– Mug
– Sword
– Axe
– Arrow
– Bow
Pitfall – Small
Photosynthesis
Dart
Cyanide – Low]
Oh, I have a few new skills. I opened the Pitfall one further to inspect its contents.
[Pitfall (small) – Create a ring of piercing vines that launch from the ground surrounding you in a radius of 2-meters. Can be combined with Cyanide (Low) to create Poisonous Pitfall.]
I guess I'll need to kill someone using a pitfall that I manually poison first before it becomes automatic. Satisfied with my new pitfall skill I moved on to the other new one in my list Dart.
[Dart – Precursor to Fleetfoot. Gain a short burst of speed at the cost of a small amount of energy.]
This must be a lesser version of what Geralt and that soldier had used to move so fast. I wish I had this last night i might have been able to fight without using surprise attacks. I looked at the God Staff underbody control next but there was no additional information available. My best guess it was an automated way to produce the condensed staff I'd made last night which took quite a bit of time and concentration.
Edvar shuffled into the room carrying a serving tray as i was browsing my new skills in my mind, offering me some hot tea and snacks. The tea was not too dissimilar to a black tea though there was certainly a distinct bitterness that set it apart from the vague memories i had of drinking it in the past.
"Lord Selwyn, I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart once again for saving our village."
"Don't worry about it. I couldn't really sit by and do nothing knowing it was slightly my fault for killing their men the other night."
"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing that as well. If not for you my daughter and grandson would be dead or worse and our village would have been burned to the ground."
I gestured as if to say "Please, think nothing of it" but Edvar continued.
"Now that you've returned with the treasure, we'd like to get started on constructing you a suitable house for you. Something befitting our new Lord. Have you any design preferences?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, as our new lord, we believed we should focus on your house first."
"I never said I'm your new lord."
Edvar looked at me with a rather confused look on his face.
"You agreed to becoming the lord of region last night. We've been without a Lord here for decades ever since Edgar's mother passed away… may her light live on. We believe you have been brought into this world to be the Lord of this mountain and the lake. The Flower Lord."
"That sounds like a nightmare. I just want to relax and live quietly. Do some fishing, re-retire with a young body."
"With respect Lord Selwyn, there is no peace in this world. Especially not in these remote parts. Soldiers will come for you. Bandits looking to gain strength will try to kill you, the strong will seek you out simply to gain your light. That is what this world is about. At least as a lord, you can become recognised by Castle Holm and even the Capital if you gain enough strength. Though some soldiers might still wish to kill you, most will respect their bureaucracy and leave you to manage the region."
"I hate this new world."
"I understand it must be a lot to take in, but with our help, we can ease the burden of management and deal with the paperwork. You'll be able to live as freely as possible while helping protect the people of this land from those who hunt the weak."
I sighed and looked down at the tray of snacks laid on the table in front. I knew I had agreed to something last night, but I had completely forgotten till now. I wasn't sure what to make of the situation. It made sense to want to settle down in this area. The lake and village were beautiful in nature, and the people had been very kind to me so far. Although i knew next to nothing of this world, avoiding further conflict by becoming an officially recognized Lord, seemed like a good deal.
{What do you think?}
"This is your life to do as you please. We aren't your guide when it comes to decisions like this. The old man is telling the truth when he says that you will be hunted by the soldiers of Castle Holm, Hunter, Bandits and trained warriors of varying races and backgrounds. At least becoming a Lord will take Castle Holm out of the equation."
{Right, Thanks}
I wasn't too happy to be receiving a large responsibility only a matter of days after re-awakening, especially one as becoming effectively the governor of a region. After crunching down a small biscuit that tasted surprisingly sweet and dusting the crumbs from the corner of my mouth, i stood and looked Edvar squarely.
"Very well, I'll take on role of Lord for this Village and the Lake."
"Fantastic!"
Edvar was beaming with happiness and positively bounced to his feet to shake my hand after i delivered the good news.
"We'll get a dispatch to Livin and have the Hunters Guild, and the Barracks issue an initiation request to Castle Holm."
"Uh, sure, sounds good."
I had no idea what he was saying at this point and simply nodded along in agreement. After we finished our tea, Edvar led me out into the village square which had now descended into twilight and to my surprise was now light up with torches and fires and filled with the whole village once more. I'd been so consumed in my conversation that i hadn't even noticed them with my detection. Tables had once more been dragged from their houses and lined with tablecloths, mugs and plates, all empty with anticipation. Edvar mounted a bench in the centre of the crowd and cleared his throat.
"It is with great pleasure that i announce… That after two decades… We have a new Lord."
The Villager erupted in cheers, The men women and children leapt around in glee, hugging each other and crying, smiling and laughing, a wash of emotion. I didn't realise this was such a big deal. Edvar continued his speech.
"We have been at the mercy of the wilds for too long… But today… No more. Today we embrace the protection of our new lord, Lord Selwyn, will take control of the region from the tip of the cliff to far ends of Lake Cern and all the Forest in-between! Here's to our new protector, The Flower Lord."
Cheers erupted once more as Edvar finished his speech and stepped down from his makeshift podium. The crowds were lost in their own conversation and merriment. Edvar made his way through the rowdy group and rejoined me on the edge of the town centre.
"Now, before we get to the celebrations, I think it best we discuss how you wish to handle the execution of the prisoners."
I'd completely forgotten that there was a group of Bandits that had been bound and locked up behind one of the houses in a timber cage that was likely used to hold game such as wild boar or deer.
"Yeah, I guess it's my responsibility to take care of those guys now."