That evening-

In the palace hall-

There was a crowd of men and women looking at a peculiar scene.

A squirrel was playing chess against a wizened dignitary- and won by a landslide!

"Checkmate." Ozi moved his Jarl(Equivalent to a Knight) piece, capturing the king.

"To be beaten by a squirrel..." The dignitary hid his face.

"Yeah!" "Go Ozi!" "Woohoo!"

"Aww..." "I lost again..." "Hic... I need to drink another cup..."

The surrounding men who bet on the match cheered or sighed in defeat.

"There is no shame in losing to Ozwald Wisecoat, the Great Squirrel Sage, human!" The brown-gold squirrel triumphantly posed, its tail arrogantly swishing from side to side.

Watching the scene from the side, Rilden and the four girls were watching the scene in awe.

"So, it ate divinely blessed seeds and mutated into that?" Astrid warily asked.

"It's cute," Elarose had an infatuated look.

"Cute." Sibbe, who was behind Elarose, nodded in agreement.

"It is just arrogant... But I am glad I can finally speak with you." Audfrey looked to Rilden and smiled.

"I am also glad. I can finally properly talk with people without using Astrid as a translator." Rilden happily said.

With a Comprehension of 7, Ozi could connect several dozen people, becoming a communication medium. However, this didn't mean he heard dozens of voices at once, but rather that several dozen people could communicate with one another through his links.

For example, Rilden and the four girls were talking to each other and could exclude everyone else from what they were saying. In contrast, Ozi directly transmits what he says to everyone, announcing his victory. However, Ozi couldn't hear what Rilden and the others were saying because they were not actively trying to talk to him.

If two sides wanted to speak with one another, both sides had to want to communicate, and they could voluntarily disconnect themselves from the network or block someone. It was very convenient.

At this time, Wolfgang went up to Rilden and spoke, "Lad, tomorrow, we are marching back to Osnines as planned, right?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, that is the plan." Rilden nodded.

They had stayed in Steorus long enough, and it was time to go to Osnines. His soldiers needed to return to their families and jobs.

"Good! You must meet your in-laws and officiate your engagement with Astrid. Fooling around is fine, but making children before having her mother's blessing isn't good." Wolfgang meaningfully said, patting his shoulder.

"Yes, my Hero. I also want you to meet my mother. I can then join sister Elarose in serving you." Astrid hugged Rilden's arm and mischievously whispered.

"Hehe... Noted..." Rilden warily laughed.

And so, the feast continued...

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Day 33:

Two days have passed since the army of Osnines rode back home. They were almost at their capital, and some returned home.

In the center was a red-haired man, a squirrel resting on his shoulder, surrounded by eight women.

Yes, not four, but eight. The four additional beautiful women who looked like brown-haired identical quadruplets, but with emerald, sapphire, jasper, and turquoise eyes and clothes, respectively. Their eyes darted here and there, holding infinite curiosity like children.

These four women were the result of a recruitment from two days ago.

 

[About two miles before your next camping stop is a tiny and inconspicuous pond housing a timid Tier 0 Water Nymph! If you go with Audfrey, Elarose, and Ozwald, you could communicate, and the water nymph would willingly move if you give her an Atrivia's Love, which has a deadly attraction to nature spirits due to its ability to enhance their power(You must give it to her before she agrees). After consuming it, she will immediately advance to Tier 1, gain human form early, and gradually advance to Tier 5 after one year of digesting the crystal. Water spirits are crucial for developing a divine garden, as they can irrigate your plants with spiritual water, improving their quality, health, and growth rate. They can also create a spiritual water pond, where aquatic natural treasures may grow, and independently defend it if needed.]

[The Water Nymph will lead you to her three quadruplet sisters! The first is an Earth Nymph! She will turn the soil, plant crops and seeds, improve soil health, prevent pests from harming your field, repel low-level intruders, and alert you to high-level intruders. The second is a Wind Nymph sister. She can avert harmful bugs and birds from harming your crops, shield your crops from the weather, alert you of distant hostile intruders, and defend your garden. The final sister is a Plant Nymph! She can prevent weeds, improve plant health, quality, and growth rates, detect and harvest mature plants, and protect your garden from harm. Recruiting all four sisters would significantly increase their happiness and loyalty, your affinity with natural spirits, and prevent hostile spirits and shamans from harming your garden and territory. It will also improve the yield of your entire territory by attracting beneficial nature spirits to your territory. Giving them more crystals will make them stronger, more loyal, and increase their benefits, and it is highly recommended.]

[An Atrivia's Love will appear in—]

[Another Atrivia's Love is going to form in—]

 

Yes, all four of them were Nature Spirits. While they were not a true combat force, they were very precious. He did spend 4 Atrivia's Love crystals, but Rilden thought they were worth the investment. After all, he just got four (future) epic Nature Spirits! Of course, that shows how valuable the crystals are. Few would give them to a spirit because they didn't have any to spare, and the cost-effectiveness was likely too low in the short term, or they had cheaper alternatives.

Either way, Rilden found four more crystals the day before and today.

 

[There is an Atrivia's Love in—]

[There is an Atrivia's Love in—]

[There is a mutated Tier 3 Longevity Peach Tree 7 miles east of here. Its fruits can halve one's aging process for a year and have some healing, detoxification, and curing effects. More importantly, one of its remaining precious peaches has further mutated, developing a high-potential seed that can continuously evolve in the right conditions. Fetch the peaches quickly, before some beast eats them!]

[Every warrior worth his salt would eat a carrot when possible. It's a rich source of vitamin B! But do you know what's even better? Mutated carrots that can improve Warrior training speed and restore physical energy. There is a flowering one with high-potential seeds at—]

[There is an Atrivia's Love in—]

[There is an Atrivia's Love in—]

[Magicians are all about magical energy, and what can give you more energy than sugar beets? Mutated sugar beets that can improve Magician training speed and magical recovery are perfect. Fetch the seeds of a high-potential flowering one at—]

[Four-leafed clovers are believed to be the ultimate symbol of luck, and for good reason. A regular four-leafed clover can increase the Luck of the one who picked it by +1 for the entire day! Then imagine what a mutated clover can do? Growing them in your new field would make you truly lucky every day. There is a patch of flowering mutated clover in—] 

 

Of course, Rilden collected everything.

"I already have 16 Atrivia's Love, four different elemental nymphs, and five types of Natural Treasure seeds with high potential. If I can't make a divine garden, perhaps only the goddess can." Rilden thought.

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By afternoon, the remaining few hundred troops had arrived in Bildsfell, capital of Osnines.

Their territory was mountainous, having rich forests, lakes, stone, iron, and other untapped resources inside the rocky mountains.

However, Bildsfell was not built in the open. Instead, it was right at the side of the mountain, its ancient structures carved from the mountain rocks. It had a natural flowing waterfall, springs, and groves, and had terraced farmland, allowing them to sustain themselves.

Looking around, Rilden was amazed.

"Wow... It's beautiful. Did you build everything?" Rilden asked, astonished.

"No. It is said to have been abandoned by a previous civilization and later occupied by goblins that our ancestors slaughtered. Some of the buildings were damaged, before and after we captured the place, and we had to repair them." Wolfgang said beside him.

"Abandoned? Who would abandon such a place?" Rilden asked, puzzled.

"Honestly? We don't know. We stayed here for the last 300-odd years but didn't experience anything strange. However, our ancestors believed it had something to do with the forbidden sealed caves. There were clear warning signs near them, and the goblins followed those warnings, too. That is why we never touched those caves while carefully selecting where we mine. So far, it worked out just fine." Wolfgang shrugged.

"Somehow, I have a hunch the <Daily Prophet> would give me an earful about it tomorrow." Rilden warily thought.

The soldiers soon dispersed, returning to their homes and families, while about two dozen went to the palace.

Inside the ancient, damaged halls fixed with wood or cement and cleverly covered with paint, furs, and decorations, they met a beautiful, black-haired, middle-aged woman in a red dress and tiara. Upon seeing Rilden, she reverently knelt.

"Hero of Qhiion, I am Tonya, the mother of my beloved daughter, Astrid, and the wife of the foolish oaf behind you." The woman said, glaring at Wolfgang.

Rilden raised an eyebrow and glanced at Wolfgang, who looked embarrassed.

"Rise. Your name is common in Tulens, are you from the Empire?" Rilden asked. 

"I was born to a merchant in Tulens, but was later sold to my husband as a concubine after he fancied me for my intelligence and looks, and elevated myself to a Wife after proving my worth. After Astrid was born, I became the main wife. I took it as a sign from the bloody god and taught her everything I know, including my language skills. I hope it served you well." Tonya got up and smiled.

"It did. It would be much harder to communicate without Astrid, and I might need to employ a merchant who deals with the Kaladin Coalition." Rilden smiled before curiously asking, "But why are you calling Wolfgang foolish?"

"Because he didn't listen to my warning! I told him the old gods would despise us for collaborating with an Evil God and that Audbjorn was eyeing our land!" Tonya complained.

"Honey, I already told you my hands were tied..." Wolfgang warily said.

"Bullshit! You could have taken it up with the High King. You just wanted to repay him for the financial aid he gave us." Tonya glared, causing Wolfgang to cower.

"Hah... A regular woman chewing out a Legendary warrior. I never imagined this bear of a man being a henpecked husband." Rilden wanted to chuckle.

After she finished pecking Wolfgang, she turned to Astrid and gave her a warm hug. "My sweet daughter, we have much to discuss. Including your... sister wives?" She meaningfully said, looking at the seven other women around Rilden.

"Mother, only Sister Elarose and Sister Audfrey are the Hero's women." Astrid warily said.

"Ah... of course. Either way, we can host your marriage next week. We still need to prepare a proper dress and invite some people..." Tonya muttered.

Astrid warily smiled under her veil and could only passively nod.

"You humans have strange mating rituals." Ozi shook its head while sitting on Elarose's shoulder and ate a nut.

"Yes. They are puzzling." Sapphirli, the water nymph, nodded.

"Can't they just declare they are mates?" Emerli, the plant nymph, curiously asked.

"I heard human men think women are property and must show it off like a prize by having grand weddings." Turqirli, the wind nymph, said.

"Disgusting." Agaterli, the earth nymph, spat.

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Day 34:

Waking up in his new room, Elarose still sleeping in his arms, Rilden checked the <Daily Prophet>, only to jump out of bed immediately.

 

[STOP ALL MINING ACTIVITIES IMMEDIATELY!!! The mountain is dangerously close to the Underrealms, a perilous place teeming with danger! If you accidentally make a breach, a colony of insectoid abominations would flow out at night, devouring all bio-matter in a hundred-mile radius! Don't even think about resisting it for now, as they have a dozen legendary insect generals, led by a Tier 7 mythical insect queen!]

 

"I KNEW IT!" Rilden screamed in horror.