Chapter 11: Preparations
The prisoners were told to think about whether they wanted to die, to remain prisoners for the rest of their lives, or become vampires. Garfield had no idea what they would request. When the sun came up, Garfield completed another experiment.
“GAH!!!” the new vampire screamed as his hand was burned off by the sunlight. He pulled his arm back into the darkness, and his hand quickly grew back to normal. “How was that?”
“Good. I hope I’m not picking a fight with She’Sin right now… Col is enough of a problem.”
Garfield used his sensing magic on the young vampire. The information displayed was entirely different from what Garfield learned when he previously sensed Hannah’s abilities. He was listed as a second generation vampire, likely because he was sired by a first generation vampire. It didn’t seem like he would gain abilities by trying different types of blood. He would need to drink blood more regularly than Hannah and Solana in order to keep up his strength, as well.
He was stronger and faster than a human, and he could sire other vampires, or so the magic told Garfield. “Do you know how to turn people into vampires?”
“Yes… I believe so.”
“Don’t do it without my permission.”
“Of course, as you wish.”
Garfield didn’t initially trust the vampire’s loyalty, but after using his sensing magic, he relaxed. “Guard the rest of the prisoners. Make no attempt to convince them of anything one way or another.”
“I obey.” The vampire retreated into his own shadow, presumably to transfer over to the room with the prisoners.
“Wait, he could do that?” Garfield shook his head and returned upstairs.
--
“Send a message to the palace. Tell them I’ll be coming over in a couple of hours.”
“Yes, Master.”
Hannah and Solana noticed Garfield was back on the main level and came running into the room. They jumped up on each side of Garfield and hung from his shoulders, using his upper arms to support themselves. “What happened downstairs!?” Hannah asked him.
“The experiment is ongoing. I’ll tell you about it later. For now, neither of you should go down there.”
“Okay!” They both said in unison. Garfield snaked his right arm around Solana to lift her by the scruff of her neck and then held her in front of him.
“You, in particular, worry me. Do. Not. Go. Down. There.”
Her eyes widened. “A-All right!” Garfield put her down and Hannah hopped off him as well. Solana hugged Hannah from the side, as though for support. Garfield walked to the next room.
“Ah, here you are Eleha.”
“Yes, Duke, I returned with everyone else.”
“So, what does Assistant Duke think?”
“He told me he would speak with you directly. I don’t know his thoughts.”
“And what do you want to do?”
Eleha stopped to think for a few moments. “If truly given the choice between administering land in this kingdom and returning to my homeland, I’d choose the former.”
“Very well. Draft up a letter explaining your decision. I’ll hire the Adventurer’s Guild to deliver it to your people somehow.”
“D-Duke!? You haven’t even heard from Assistant Duke yet!”
“I’ll go take care of it right now.”
--
Assistant Duke thought Eleha was surprisingly knowledgeable on the matters needed to administer land in the Fenwick Kingdom. Assistant Duke himself had needed to study up on the subject recently, so he thought he could easily bring her up to speed as well. Assistant Duke expected that Eleha being a dark elf would cause some trouble initially, but it was nothing they couldn’t work through with Garfield’s support.
In fact, once the initial surprise of Eleha moving into Fork’s Crossing was past, Assistant Duke predicted she would find herself surrounded by potential suitors trying to get close to her.
“Start preparing her. I want to see how her people respond to her letter before we do anything else.”
“Very well, Duke.”
--
Garfield arrived at the throne room with Hannah, Solana, and Eleha behind him. The King was joined by the crown prince, first princess, and his closest advisors. Apparently, attendance was severely limited for this meeting.
“Duke, I’m so glad to see you safely back in the kingdom.”
“Your majesty, I apologize for my failure.”
“Failure?”
“Your daughter was placed in danger because of my arrogance. As Yttria and others explained to me, they all came within a hair’s breadth of death during the orcish assault on the Elvish Forest.”
“E-Even if it is true, what’s important is that she returned safely and that we all learned how to do better next time. Some of the knights are being transferred back to the kingdom as we speak.”
“Father,” the crown prince cut in, “I’m interested to hear the Duke’s take on what he learned from all this. I almost lost my dear sister, after all.” The King glared at his son but decided not to intervene. Garfield addressed the question.
“I learned to make sure the princess is safely secured before being arrogant.” The crown prince was still processing that statement when the King jumped in again.
“Duke, are you able to explain what it was which pulled you away while the orcs were attacking? My daughter has told me nothing.”
“Oh? Did Kay and the Briarwoods not tell you anything either?”
“Nothing. When it comes to you, everyone clams up. They won’t even tell me what the story is with those elves behind you.”
“Father,” the crown prince chose to butt in again. “I, at least, heard something, specifically, from one of the guards that recovered Charlotte yesterday. She was sleeping in the Duke’s bed!”
“Brother!”
The King looked back at Garfield, an exhausted look on his face. “Duke?”
“Oh, you didn’t hear about that already?”
“…As I said. Nobody tells me anything anymore… it’s like they forget I’m the King…”
“Let me tell you a few things, then, to put you at ease. First, I can confirm the princess was in my bed, but I was not in the bed at the same time.”
“Oh, I see…”
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“Second, Hannah, Solana here, and Brooke Briarwood were all with her in the bed.”
“It’s starting to make more sense now…”
“Third, the bear cubs were in the bed, at least for a while.”
“So it was like some friends sleeping over?”
“Yes, you can think of it that way. My bed is similar to the clothes I make, and so it’s very comfortable. They were curious, is all.” The princess nodded along.
“Very well, Duke. I feel much better knowing there are no major secrets being kept from me.”
“Oh, there are, but they just don’t involve my bed.”
The King buried his face in his hands. “Could you please tell me what they are?”
“The Secular Union sent a team of assassins to my estate.”
“What!?” The King turned to his Captain. “Do you know about this?” The Captain violently shook his head. “What happened to them?”
“Fortunately, we intercepted them. They are currently detained. I ask for your permission to take care of interrogating and dealing with them myself.”
“Do you know who their targets were, and why?”
“The targets were me and, strangely enough, little Stephen and Stephanie.”
“…Huh?”
“My King, please allow me to at least join the Duke in questioning the intruders for a short while,” The Captain requested. “I must assess if the Union poses a further threat to the kingdom.”
“Would that be acceptable, Duke?”
“I strongly advise against it. Kay will be able to confirm, but I’ve sent everyone away while I deal with this matter. The only one allowed near the prisoners right now is Pandora.”
“Pan—“ The King took a deep breath. “Captain, we’ll do as the Duke asks.”
“Yes…”
--
After Garfield’s party left, the crown prince turned to his sister. “So you really traveled all the way to the Shadow State to rescue the Duke?”
“Yes, it was a mission from our very Goddess.”
“And you really climbed into his bed when you got back?”
“Yes, but that—“
“Where was the Duke while you were in his bed?”
“He was… collapsed on the floor of the bedroom.”
“Wait, what?” the King jumped in.
“I believe he was exhausted from the trip and didn’t quite make it to the bed…”
“Ah, so close, sister!”
“Brother! It wasn’t like that!”
“So,” the King theorized, “the Duke was trying to get to a bed occupied by you, Brooke Briarwood, that girl Hannah, and the small elf girl?”
“No… Well, when you put it like that…”
“Sister, perhaps you aren’t too young for him after all!”
“My King,” the Captain interjected unexpectedly. “Would you please allow me to advise you in an area that’s normally well outside of my purview?”
“Go ahead, Captain.”
“I believe you’re all completely missing the mark here…” The Prime Minister silently nodded along.
--
The next day, Garfield held a party at his estate to thank everyone for rescuing him. His staff served a buffet-style meal in the backyard. Attendees included Hannah, Solana, and Eleha from Garfield’s household, the Polonio family, the Briarwood family, Court Mage Kay, the other members of White Glow along with some of their family members, and even the first princess. She was escorted by the Captain, a few other guards, and, surprisingly enough, the Queen.
“Duke, I believe this is the first time we are meeting personally like this.”
“Your Majesty, I’m glad we finally have the opportunity,” Garfield agreed.
“Please allow me as well to personally thank you for saving my husband not long ago and, from what I hear, saving my daughter in the east.”
“Think nothing of it. It’s the least I can do considering how well your family has taken care of me after becoming a citizen of this kingdom.”
“You’ll have to forgive me, but I won’t be able to do that. Anyway, there’s more I’d love to ask you about, but you surely have much to do as our host.” The Queen settled into a seat of honor while her guards attended to her.
Eleha stepped over to Garfield. “Duke, what should I do while your guests are here?” Garfield thought for a moment, then beckoned over the archer from White Glow. She was joined by her father.
Garfield greeted the father and then said to the archer, “How would you like a new bow?”
“Hm.” She looked over at Eleha. “Apparently, this one doesn’t suit me well.”
“Fortunately, we have a bow expert right here.” Garfield handed her a sack of coins. “Eleha, could you please go with her to the Western District and help her pick out the right bow? Also, please don’t bore her father with politics regarding the dark elves or why you are completely and utterly unrelated to their recent aggression.”
Eleha understood what Garfield was getting at. She wouldn’t discuss anything unnecessary. “Of course. Come, let’s go.” As they were stepping away, the Polonios walked over.
“Duke, it’s great to see you again.”
“Count, Countess, welcome. Boro, it’s good to see you. Yttria, I’m sorry I had to send you away so suddenly recently.”
“Oh, it’s no big deal.”
“I heard it was your sword skill that saved Kay and the others from an enchanted arrow. Thank you for your dedication to the sword and for helping to rescue me.”
“Of course, Garfield.”
“Actually, Duke,” the Count said as he leaned over to speak quietly. “I received a disturbing message you might be interested in hearing more about.”
The Count conveyed the contents of the message so that only Garfield could hear it.
“Cat-people? Rabbit-people?” Garfield said, but this time the others could hear it.
“Yes. You don’t see them too often this far south, unlike dog and fox-people.”
“Father, I really wish you hadn’t told the Duke about this…” Yttria knew exactly what was going through Garfield’s mind right now.
“Count, should we not drop everything and travel north to help your kin?”
“I believe it’s premature to take any action. Even if they are imperiled, I hardly expect you or anyone else from the kingdom to take such direct action. Still, I thought you would be interested to know.”
“Yes. I think it’s important I’m kept abreast of what’s happening up in the Tribal Lands. Especially any intelligence regarding the cat and rabbit-gir—, er, people.”
Boro opened his mouth to speak. Before he could form any words, Yttria’s sword was out of its sheath and up against his neck.
“Wha!?”
“Boro, you have a tendency to open your mouth at the wrong times. I think you should stay quiet for a little while.”
--
“Princess, would you mind joining me for a little experiment here in the yard?”
“Duke, I don’t mind but, what did you want to try?”
“I was very impressed by how quickly you took charge of the situation after I disappeared and also how you so fearlessly charged to my rescue. I thought I’d thank you with a magical item, but only if the experiments are a success.”
“I don’t totally understand but, please, tell me what you need me to do.”
The pair walked a little further into the yard. Some curious attendees came over to watch, Kay among them.
“?Summon Item of Legend: Summoner’s Baton?.” Garfield handed the magic item to the princess.
“Wow! What does it do?”
“I believe, if you pass your mana through this baton, whatever you summon will appear in double.”
“Really!? Can I try summoning something?”
“Sure.”
“Come to me, wolf!” A small wolf slowly rose from the ground. Just as the wolf’s summoning completed, the large amber gem at the tip of the Summoner’s Baton glowed, and a second wolf poofed into existence next to the first. “Wow!” The two wolves rubbed up against the princess affectionately from either side. Several onlookers cheered at the princess’ display.
Garfield used his sensing magic on each of the wolves. The first one was a simple summon, as expected, but hm? The second one was not actually identical.
“That’s strange…”
“What is it, Duke? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, I don’t think so, it’s just…” Garfield was wondering why the second wolf was considered Legendary. To his recollection, the Summoner’s Baton would duplicate any summoned creature as it was brought out. The reason why the baton was considered Legendary itself was because it was actually able to duplicate a Legendary summon, even though normally only one copy of a Legendary creature could be controlled at once.
“Is the baton considering her spell to be Legendary since it’s exotic, relative to me? Is the second wolf being made Legendary as a best-effort to duplicate the summoning magic of this world…?” Garfield muttered this to himself, hand on his chin, but the princess heard everything.
‘This world?’ she wondered. While she tried to make sense of that, Kay walked over.
“Duke, is there a problem?”
“Oh, Kay? It’s uh, related to those things I told you about magic privately.”
“Oh, I see. In that case, there’s probably not much I can offer.”
The princess narrowed her eyes at Kay but didn’t say anything.
“Princess, could you ask your wolves to jump as high as they can?” Garfield requested, hoping to learn something useful.
“Okay. Wolves, jump!”
The wolves both howled in response and then jumped. The first wolf rose well over a meter in the air. The second jumped over twice as high. Once again, several observers cheered, especially at the impressive display from the second wolf.
“It’s strange that they jumped so differently…” said the princess.
“Try dismissing them,” Garfield offered.
“Okay. Goodbye, wolves!” Both wolves howled and then disappeared. Garfield let out a sigh of relief.
“I have one condition for the use of that baton.”
“What is it, Duke?”
“Don’t use it to summon anything new until you’ve tested that particular summon out in a safe environment like this. Let me know if any problems come up. Also, take these.” Garfield provided the princess with an Infinity Sack and the other items he had previously given to Yttria, Kay, and Hannah. “Keep it in the enchanted sack when you aren’t using it.
“Wow, okay!” The princess ran over to where her mother was sitting to show off her new items.
“I’m so jealous,” the attack mage from White Glow admitted.
“Do you want something similar?” Garfield asked her.
“Huh?”
“An item to enhance your magic. You know, something like what I gave the princess.”
“Yes! I do!”
“Well, what do you want?”
“Huh?”
“If you could create the item yourself, what ability would you want it to have?”
“Hmm…” The girl thought for a while. “I guess, being able to double my magic attacks like how the princess doubled her summons…”
“Unfortunately, I don’t have any item quite like that.”
“I see…” The mage tried thinking of what else might be viable.
“Quadruple.”
“What?”
“I can give you a staff similar to what I gave the princess, but it will quadruple your magic.”
“Really!?”
“?Summon Item of Fancy: Boom Stick?. Here.”
The mage pointed the new staff at a distant target. “Fireshot!” Four balls of fire flew true and struck the target, destroying it. “Wow!”
Neither Garfield nor the mage noticed that the mana she pushed into the staff had been quadrupled and then returned to her. Unlike with the princess’ baton, the mana didn’t end up being needed or used to cast the spell, so it had nowhere else to go. Receiving extra mana wouldn’t harm her, but…