5 weeks left

“Rene Rozario, reporting for duty.” She’s a beautiful lady, with jet black hair tied into ponytail, and equally black eyes. Her skin is fair, her figure is lean, her muscles are obviously toned, and occasionally radiates slight magic. She wears a plain armor and there’s two swords at her side.

Rene Rozario, Rank 5, Former Knight, Level 15, White, 0%.

“Greeting Rene. What brings you to our part of town?” I smile, and shake her hand. I’m a Prince, I can put up an act while in my mind, I’m thinking about that ‘former knight’ status. She’s rank 5, so, I think her combat skill must be decent.

Anne’s right next to me, and she smiles. “Greetings Rene, I’ll arrange for your accommodations. Would you like to stay in one of the spare houses, or in the quarters?”

She pauses, and looks at me. “I’ve been sent here by the King. And to the lady, I’d like to stay in the spare houses.”

Anne takes notes, and I realise the next conversation is probably not pleasant, so I whisper to Anne to leave the two of us, so I can find out a bit more. Anne nods, and walks out, leaving Rene standing in the room, while I go back to my seat.

“Well, sit. Tell me more. Why’d my father sent you?”

She pauses, and she tries to hide it, but I use some of my princely pressure. She sighs, and she sits on the chair opposite mine.

“It’s a punishment.”

“For what?”

She looks at me, and I look back. We looked at each other for a good 10 seconds, before I nod.

“Look, Rene. I know my father sent you here, but until I know exactly why you are here, all you will be doing is guard duty on the streets, and training.”

She pauses, and she nods. “So be it. Guard duty on the streets and training sound good.”

I sigh, “Well. So be it.”

Well, to be honest, I was hoping for her to just open up and tell me. That would be against my expectations of the usual tropes that occur in such settings. I actually already have some kind of idea what she did. If my guess is right, it’s going to be some rather lame secret, but I’ll have to get her affection up till 40% before she even tries to open up to me, and tell me her rather lame secret. I’m also guessing that it’s going to be some honorable thing she did, but somehow my father or the nobility is pissed off, so she’s sent off to this faraway region.

Ah, never mind. I’ll see whether I can get something for her in the market later. If this is how the system works, let’s play along.

After the meeting, we resume training, to keep up the momentum. Practicing daily, so today’s routine is a bit more straightforward, as it’s just plain exercise, stretching and pushing the body a bit harder, so that we have a bit more reserve.

We’d run around the barracks, and run around Loom a few times. Do some jumps and ducks, some sidesteps, and after a few hours, we’re all sweaty and tired.

“Tired...” Lani’s the most exhausted. She’s changed since that village defense, now showing interest in participating in all the defensive battles, and maybe, I suspect maybe, my speech got to her.

I smile at her, even though I’m just as exhausted. A prince must keep up his appearances! So, I encourage her. “It’ll get easier, you might even gain a skill!”

Lani nods, “Yea…” I think she’s a bit too exhausted to say more than one word responses.

Adam, Marty and Sara looks exhausted, but they’re fine. “How’s your sister adapting to Loom?” I make smalltalk with Marty, as we rest, sitting on a bunch of medium sized rocks near the field.

“She’s okay. I think Loom’s a bit more busy than she’s used to, but Anne’s really nice to her. It’s a great idea for her to work with Anne too.”

“Ah…”

“I think Anne’s the big sister she wanted all this while.”

Adam laughs. “Anne, a big sister? Somehow that imagery doesn’t match what I know of her.”

Sara throws some sand at Adam’s feet. “Hey, not nice to say that Anne. She’s a lovely lady.”

Marty chuckles, “If you can’t imagine her as a big sis, can you imagine her as a mommy?”

Adam’s face pales. “Uh… no.”

“Come on guys, don’t talk about Anne like that.”

“Oooh prince is protective! Okay okay!” Adam puts up his hand like he’s surrendering.

Sara smiles, and pats me on my wrists, trying to say, ‘good job’.

“Oh yea, Sara, do you mind walking with me for a while, I’ve got some things to talk to you about.”

“Ah, sure.”

After the training, it’s late evening, so the sun is gradually setting on Loom, the sky a shade of dark orange. This is about the time when the lights and lamps start to go on. And we’re headed to the market.

“So… what you wanted to talk about?”

I hand her a small present. “I’ve been meaning to give you this for some time now. It’s a present from me.”

As she holds it, she blushes. “Uh… me?”

“Yeah.”

“...okay.” Sara smiles, and puts it into her pocket. She’s a ranger, so her uniform normally has pockets. “I’ll keep it then.”

“You’ve been working hard, I’m happy to have you on the team as well.”

She nods. “Working in a team is different, and frustrating. But, when things go well, the joy is amazing.”

“Indeed.”

Affection summary

• Anne - 80%, Blue, Rank 4, Level 8, Prince’s Adjutant
• Adam - 61%, Yellow, Rank 4, Level 9, Soldier
• Sara - 39%, Green, Rank 4, Level 7, Ranger
• Lani - 20%, Yellow, Rank 5, Level 3, Elementalist
• Reese - 30%, Red, Rank 3, Level 12 Brawler
• Marty - 15% Yellow. Rank 4, Level 6 Heavy Arm,
• Rene Rozario - 0% White, Rank 5, Level 15 Exiled Knight