The next village is a lot further, and took us two days to reach, so we spent a bit of time in camps. Its also because of the hilly terrain, which greatly slowed down our progress.

“It's a nice view though.” I say, admiring the hilly view, it reminds me of the alps villages. Vast lakes, surrounded by evergreen forests, with villages at the water’s edge.

“Yes it is.” Anne smiles, hiking up the trail next to me. She’s gotten over the incident, and is back to normal. “The village is further down here, no?”

Adam and another soldier nods. “Yes, yes. We should be there soon.”

Ah, a village. This one is about 200 in size, and thankfully, everyone is around for the big lunch party. I saw two Rank 3 villagers, one is a farmer, and the other is a blacksmith. They have non-combat roles, but the blacksmith is a very old lady, in her 50s I think, 60s even, but with muscles that put me and some of the soldiers to shame.

I feel intimidated standing right next to her.

Adam comes up, ah, just at the right time. “Hi, mom.”

“Oh hello-” Wait. What… “Mom?”

“Ah yes. This is my momma.” Adam gives the lady a huge hug, and the lady returns it. She’s incredibly fit, and when she smiles she looks like she is only in her 40s.

I feel awkward.

“Momma, this is Prince Carlos. My new superior.”

She rejects my hand, and gives me a hug. Ah, she is squeezing me. Wait, why is she squeezing me so hard?

“Ah. Momma, don’t do that, he’s a prince!” Adam blushes and looks awkward.

“You didn’t tell me you coming back!” Phew, I am free.

“Prince Carlos just decided to visit the villages, so I thought of giving you a surprise, momma!” Adam smiles, and he hugs the momma. The momma is bigger than him though.

“You still too damn skinny. Like you pops.”

“How’s pops.”

“His leg hurts, so he’s at home resting. Go see him.”

“Sure sure.”

Damn. If this lady is Adam’s mom, I’m not gonna recruit her.

Momma then pulls out Adam’s sword, and goes through it. “Ah.. good. Good work in keeping your sword well maintained.”

“Really?”

“No! You missed this spot. And your angle is wrong!”

“Ah… really????”

Hmmm. I should walk elsewhere. The mother and son are catching up, so I quickly grab a beer and walk elsewhere, to mingle with the rank 3 farmer instead.

“Hey, hi.” I smile, and greet the farmer, strangely, a young lady about my age. She has a nice scent, she looks like a cute country girl, with a large straw hat.

“Oh.. hello.” She blushes and shakes my hand, shyly.

“You are?”

“Nina. I’m a farmer… and I also raise some animals.” She blushes and turns sideways.

“Ah…” She’s really shy. “It’s okay.”

Nina, Level 6 Farmer & Cook, Rank 3, Yellow, 0%

Huh... She’s yellow, so when the waitress comes over with beer, I take two mugs.

Hmm, I try my luck. “Would you like to have beer with me?”

She pauses, thinks, and she does. After two or three sips, she smiles. “Ahhhh. I like beer. It’s made with local hops and wheats or barley. Feels good to taste the end result of our hard work.”

“You grow a lot of crops?”

“Yes yes, I have a farm next to the village, its not that big but I am doing quite okay so far. I have yet to try brewing beer though…”

“Fascinating. How are you preparing for the seasons?”

“Ahhh we ferment some of the local veggies with chilli, spices and salts, and store them in large jar buried in the ground.”

“Oooo.”

“You can taste them if you visit us during the season of snow. They are amazing when eaten right out of the jar.”

Hah. She may be a rank 3… but I guess her value to me right now is minimal. It’ll be better if I focus on getting combat roles first.

We chatter a bit more, and then we move on to other people, I speak to the local guardsmen, and they are actually part guardsmen, part farmers, part hunters. It seems they take up the guardsmen role because the regional authority (ie, me, indirectly) give them money.

Eventually, the party is over and I retreat to the village’s guesthouse. As I lie on the bed, I lament my bad luck. “Ah… I guess rank 4s are not gonna appear so easily after all.”

“Huh?” Anne pops up next to me, she sits on a chair next to the bed.

“Oh, hi Anne.”

“What were you talking to yourself about, Prince Carlos? What is this rank thing?”

“Ah.. its.. its nothing.” At this point, I need to explain that rank as a concept does not exist in this world, at least, to the natives. They do not perceive “rank”, and all they can see are levels, skills and jobs. But, I believe this rank thing is actually a mix of “potential and talent”. So, keeping this ability of mine secret, is valuable, else I may be captured to do weird things. “I was just mumbling about how I would rank myself.”

Anne then sits down next to me. “Well, I think you’re amazing. I’ve not heard of a prince going about… mingling with the villagers like you do.”

I laugh, “Pray that father and my brothers never hear of this.”

Anne’s face pales. “Ah… oh.”

“What.”

“I didn’t realise the king may be disagreeing with your actions.”

“Nah he won’t.” I smile back at Anne, and Anne breathes a sigh of relief. I push myself upright, to a sitting position, and reach for a small bowl of local fruits the villagers prepared.

It’s some kind of berries, and its tasty. I munch on another one, and then I realise Anne is staring.

“Why are you staring? You want one?” I take one of the berries and offer it to her.

“Ah.. ermm.” She’s being coy.

So I adjust my position, and lean closer, so the berry is right in front of her mouth. “Open up.”

She blushes, and she opens her mouth. I out the berry in.

*2 skillpoints gained*

“Prince Carlos…” She looks at me funny. Her face is red, is she feverish?

“Yes?”

“Those berries… do you know what they are?”

“No. No I don’t. I assume its a kind of snack.”

Anne blushes even more. “Its an… erm… aphrodisiac and erm… libido enhancer.”

Her face is burning red.

Ah.

Oh.

Oooooh!

“And we both just had it.”

Ooooo?