Nicodemon's castle was in an isolated area, so it was quite a ride to the nearest city or town.
Not being familiar with the country of Argabad, Ranier and Violet stopped at a fork in the road which split into 3 directions.
Ranier chose at random and took the left road and rode towards that direction, not knowing if it was right or not and ended up in a medium sized town called Nolar.
It did not have a town gate, but he could see that there were guards standing all around the town, all carrying rifles.
It was getting dark as they had left the castle around mid day after hours of sex, so they decided to stop at the town for at least a night.
The town actually had electric lamps being lit all around the streets.
Currently, they had no place to go to, and nobody knew them, but at least they had lots of money to partially raise an army.
As the electric lights lit the streets, they decided to wander around.
They found an armory and weapons shop run by a dwarf
"Ho dwarf" Ranier said
"Well met. How can I help you?" the dwarf asked
"My name is Ranier, and I am looking for some armor and weapons" Ranier said
"Ok. My name is Magnimus. Let me show you around" the dwarf said.
It didn't take long for Magnimus to suit Ranier up in a decent set of leather armor.
But when Ranier removed Violet's cloak to suit her up, Magnimus gasped
"Lass... your arms.." he said in shock.
"Yes.. I lost my arms in the war" Violet said emotionlessly, not mentioning which war.
"Well, if you want... I can make a new set of arms for you. Mind you, they won't work as arms, but will be weapons instead" Magnimus offered.
"You can do that?" Ranier asked
"Sure. I can make fake arms but inside would be 3 feet blades. The fingers and hand won't work though, they're just for show" he said
"Do you want something like that?" Ranier asked Violet
She looked at him and nodded.
Ranier helped her remove most of her top, to allow Magnimus to measure her body.
He blushed as his measuring tape measured under her armpits and near her breasts.
"Ok, the work will take around 3 days. Is that alright?" Magnimus said
"Sure. We can stay in town that long" Ranier answered
They continued talking as Magnimus was informative and knowledgeable about current affairs.
Ranier and Violet learned why Argabad had gotten a sudden surge in technological advances and were suddenly much more superior than their neighbors in terms of weaponry.
Magnimus explained that the main reason for the suddenly technological jump was that they managed to conquer the dwarven kingdom of Bluerin and enslaved the technologically brilliant dwarves there.
Having been rebuffed by Acturia several decades ago, Argabad turned to fight the dwarves of Bluerin and managed to secure victory after bribing a minister in the Bluerin kingdom to help spring a surprise attack on them.
Magnimus himself was a resident in Bluerin and many of his family members were killed. He only just established his shop around 7 years ago.
While the dwarves had never used their technologies for warfare, having preferred their traditional weapons of axes and hammers, they had already invented the steam engine for use in their mines to pump water out of flooded tunnels.
Furthermore, they were already using gunpowder to blow up rocks in their quarries and mines.
The warmongers in Argabad saw the potential for war with these technologies and immediately forced the dwarves to build weapons using these technologies.
They not only conquered Bluerin and Acturia which was roughly equal in size to Argabad, but also winning their battle against the coastal country of Lutoria, a country much larger than itself.
In fact, the technological advancement was made at the expense of magic and sorcery. As Argabad was now superior because of their technology, the practice of magic was in the wane over the past decade or so in Argabad.
They stopped training mages and in many of the mercenary guilds, mages were even being outlawed!
The Church of Purity even started outlawing the use of magic and started hunting down magicians and witches.
This made perfect sense as to why Nicodemon lived so far away without many servants. He was a dying breed, still too powerful or influential to be taken down, but was already becoming an outcast.
After chatting a bit longer and paying for the armor they were wearing and promising to return in 3 days, they left Magnimus' shop.
They then found an inn to rest for the night.
As they booked a room for 3 nights, they decided to have dinner first and listen in on any news or gossip.
The food arrived, it was bread and a beef stew with vegetables.
Ranier started eating as he looked at Violet staring blankly at him.
"Oh! I'm sorry. Let me feed you" he suddenly remembered.
They both ate together and listened in on the conversations of their neighbors.
"...Argabad victoriously conquered..."
"... all wiped out.."
"...Acturia is no more..."
"The Barbarian King Romulus' head was placed on a pike in the capital..."
"...Queen Isabella's body was raped by the soldiers..."
"...useless prince killed in a brothel.. chopped his cock off.."
Ranier shook his head. No matter which side he listened to about his homeland, it was all terrible news.
All his family were dead and he wondered if the maids that served him loyally were still alive.
They paid for dinner and went up to the room. Ranier wasn't in a good mood after hearing all that.
They took a bath in the bathroom together and he helped her with the toilet before both of them lay in bed naked.
As he lay in bed, Violet turned her body and lay on his chest.
"Are you alright?" she asked, her large light blue eyes looking at him.
"I guess. They weren't my real family anyway. But somehow, I still feel angered and sad" Ranier answered
"Well, let me make you feel better" she said as she wriggled down his body like a worm and started sucking him.
After she expertly got him hard and wet with her mouth, she agilely climbed on him and mounted him.
His hands reached for her breasts as she rode him.
Yes. Although he lost everything, he wasn't alone. He had Violet.
With Violet he had something and someone to build something new with.
