Lone cracked open the sealed letter and began reading it, but as he did so he said, "Co 'ere. Sit down. I wanted to catch up with you anyway so we can read this together."
Breena looked a bit startled. "I-Is that o-okay? I, uh, em, I... I don't want to impose..."
Lone waved one hand dismissively while he held the letter in the other. "It's no biggie. This letter is either to make ands now that I'm sowhat well-known around here, or it's to declare war on in revenge or, like, as a part of a plot from the suspiciously silent Church of the Primals. You and I have a lot of history in that shithole, so we should read it together."
"I..." Breena's voice a bit emotional which surprised him. "Thank you, Master Lone. I... I'd like that. To, uh, catch up. A-And to read it together."
Lone smiled as he watched the almost fully covered foxkin teen cross the room to sit next to him. "I bet it bothered you. It was strong of you to not question about this letter and it was brave to give it to . You must have been assaulted by daily worries about the contents and the implications, so you could have just thrown it away and I'd have been none-the-wiser."
"I-I would never!" Breena exclaid in a faint voice. "I... I just w-want to be helpful. It... it isn't my place to question you..."
Lone frowned. "Always question . Just don't get upset if I don't answer how you want. I'll never tell you not to have your own thoughts though. That's stupid. Anyway, let's get to reading, shall we?"
Breena looked both embarrassed and thoughtful at his well-aning words. "Y-Yeah."
He signed secretly in his heart. 'Lot of progress but the road's barely been travelled and boy is it a long fuckin' road.'
He held out the letter so both he and Breena could see it before he read it aloud. It was written in Western Common Human which Breena understood, but still, it was just easier for him to articulate the letter so they would finish at the sa ti. It would also be helpful to Soph who was likely listening in.
"First of his na Lone Immortus,
Gold-silver plate Adventurer Immortus the Immortal,
Honoured Warrior of the Farwinds,
Slayer of the Eldritch,
Father of the skill Fortress Shield Mastery,
First of her na Queen Aileen Heidron of Milindo, offers you her humble greetings.
It is our greatest desire to obtaineth the highest of honours by cordially inviting thou to returneth to the Holy City of Ranton, Milindo's Capital, to receive public reparations and an apology from ourself for the heinous actions of our deceased father, the late king.
We would also like to humbly asketh that thou presideth over the coming hero summoning event. The preparations for such hath already been made, we only await thou reply to comnceth with the summoning, hopefully with thou blessing and thou presence. We do not wisheth for a repeat of the prior hero and thus, ask for thou input to determine the virtue of the soon-to-be-summoned individual.
We understand if thou does not wisheth to accept this invitation and we will not hold thou in any form of contempt for rejecting it. All we asketh for is a response within two years informing us of thou decision. Thou may also arrive unannounced if thou wisheth.
We would also like to offer any and all information we have on the forr knight captain and head torturer of our royal house, Duren Ardus, limited as such information is, we still offer it freely should thou wisheth for it.
Yours sincerely,
First of her na Queen Aileen Heidron of Milindo"
Lone and Breena were silent for a mont before Lone whistled and said, "Woah. 100% not what I was expected. Let's deconstruct this, shall we? Any thoughts, Bree?"
The teen seed startled by the sudden nickna but the general impression of her reaction that he got was that she was pleased by it. "Uh... she, that, em, being the queen, she's worried you'll seek revenge. I-I think..."
"True," Lone agree. "My first thoughts though were 'Wow, I am amazing, huh? So many god-damned titles.' Also, the 'ye olde' speak sounds kinda forced which implies the letter wasn't proofread by an advisor or sothing. But yeah, this makes sense. Milindo is a weak country, likely among the ten weakest on the entire continent. The only thing keeping it from being consud by its neighbours was the connection it had to the Free Nations' Alliance. Now it's seen as a pawn of The Adventurer's Guild but that pillar will leave once it has fully re-established order."
"So..." Breena tilted her head in thought. "... They wish to make a-ands with you, and, uh, hold onto your thigh, figuratively speaking?"
Lone smiled. "That's what I gathered. And they are desperate. A two year ti limit to co or to reply? So many benefits without needing to offer anything in return expect my presence? Fuck, I'd be dumb not to go. I'm all for second chances and it looks like Milindo is getting its right now. Well, in, like, a week or two. I have shit to do, y'know?"
"C-Can I co with you?" Breena asked rather assertively despite her stutter.
Lone nodded. "Course ya can. What, did you think I'd only go with Sofia? Mind you, if you didn't want to go, I wouldn't force you. I'm your friend. Even if you call 'master', it doesn't an I own you."
"T-Thank you," Breena replied softly. "I, um, I... I want to make sure the next hero isn't a repeat of... him..."
"Ah, makes sense. Could always be a woman mind you, the new hero," Lone noted. "But yeah, makes sense."
Lone reached into his Dinsion Storage and presented three letters to Breena. "Before I forget, mind giving these to Hazel, Scott, and Alisa? I was gonna do it earlier when I was out with Haze but I didn't want to mix serious shit with fun. Then again, the fun beca serious on its own..."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Breena took the letters, clearly agreeing to the request. She paused, however. "Serious? W-What happened?"
'Oh, how you've grown. I would never expect you to ask a question like that out of curiosity. Leaving you with the kids and Master zro-nan was definitely the right choice,' Lone praised her in his mind. "Ended up eting a Divine. Interesting woman. She didn't seem to care about much after we resolved our misunderstanding but she took a shine to Haze. Wanna talk about it? I can chat up until I need to go have dinner."
Breena smiled under her mask. "I'd, uh, I'd like that... There's, uh, also, um, a few more letters for you. One is from Gilbert..."
"Does it not annoy you?" Lone asked his scaly companion as the two of them made their way through the city.
Master zro'nan glanced up at him and replied, "What? Pleassse be more ssspecific."
"The fa. People stopping to nod in respect, call out a greeting, trying to secretly hide their envy but failing. The last one's the real kicker. Having power and showing it is a good way to have others covet it, y'know?" Lone explained. "People can't involve you in their plans if they don't know you exist. I'm starting to learn that and regret not thinking about it sooner. I used to want people to know how big and bad I was, but I'm still a little fish and a lot of people want to cast their lines my way."
"That isss a big perssspective ssshift from the man who publicly challenged and fought the prince," Master zro'nan pointed out.
"It's just sothing I've been thinking about recently. So, your answer?" Lone asked again.
Master zro'nan thought for a mont and answered, "It doesssn't bother . I am one of the leassst well known X-rankersss in the city. Guildmassster Brux threatening two monthsss ago ssso publicly wasss the mossst attention-grabbing thing I've been a part of in a very long ti. The odd Ssss-ranker or SSsss-ranker asssking to be my apprentice is quite annoying, however. Sssurely they know they are too old for to give it my all in teaching them were I to accept even if they are sssincere."
Just as Journey's End was coming into view, Lone chuckled. "That's fair. I never considered that."
The two entered the fancy building of marble and wood, and Lone was happy to see it was the sa greeter as the last ti he had visited - the gno standing behind a lecturn.
The decor here was still unfamiliar to Lone but it was also still very pleasant to the eye.
"Ah, Mister Immortus. I see you've arrived with Master zro'nan. Prince Keining is already inside waiting for you in the communal dining area," the gno said. "Follow please."
Lone watched the lectern with interest as it spun and began moving down the hallway as it had the last ti he ca here. "Will our table be granted privacy like last ti?"
"Of course. You will not, however, be granted complintary drinks like your first visit, but Manager Peter has made it clear that you are now on the Deposit Conglorate's V.I.P. list, aning the special nu is available to you at all tis, you need only pay the associated costs. A private room is also being constructed for any of your or Miss Vladimirovich's future visits as she is also a new V.I.P.. It should be ready in a few weeks. I apologise for the fact you have to use the communal dining room in the anti. Please understand that even as a V.I.P., we cannot take the rentable private rooms from those who have booked and paid for them in advance, hence the need to build a new one," the gno explained.
"Oh, that's nice to know. You happen to know why we're getting this treatnt, do you?" Lone asked.
The gno smiled at him. "It is not my place to know such details, I apologise."
"Figured. Will our entrance to the communal dining hall be masked too since we get access to privacy?" Lone wondered aloud.
The gno nodded. "Of course. What few words your party spoke last ti you visited outside of the privacy bubbles have also been erased from the minds of all who heard them, if that was a concern prior."
'That's only incredibly terrifying. The Deposit Conglorate is powerful enough to wipe certain mories from X and XX-rankers en mass and after the fact? How?' Lone thought. 'Do you, like, enter an invisible contract when you go inside of Journey's End that gives the conglorate so power over you? That would make more sense than being able to just ddle with powerful people's mories like it's nothing. If you already agree to the magic by entering, that would explain a lot. Scary fuckin' magic though if that's the case nonetheless.'
"That doesn't sound ethical," Lone voiced his concern, though more in a questioning tone than a confrontational one.
The gno chuckled. "We offer compensation for the matter. It is an expected risk on all Deposit Complerate businesses, however. It was my mistake to not inform you of this on your last visit. I made undo assumptions based on your relationship with Manager Peter. My apologies for that."
Lone raised a quizzical eyebrow and he looked at his companion.
The Restodian Iglaform nodded. "It hasss yet to happen to , but thisss wasss known to asss it wasss to Princesssling Yulia."
"Fair enough then, I suppose. Not exactly my place to get pissed when I'm the one being helped by it," Lone shrugged. 'You still busy getting used to your new stats? Got enough focus to keep your eyes peeled to see if so sort of magic tries to fuck with my mories?'
'I don't but I'll focus on it anyway. And I'm not done. 99 levels worth of MP is a lot, but yeah, I agree it's a concern. Sophie thinks so too. By the way, Kyuubi says 'hi'!' Soph responded energetically.
'Does she now? Well, she should be able to communicate with us telepathically given she's also in a level five contract with and I've seen that intelligent look in her eyes. You can hear and understand us, can't you, you sneaky lazy blob you?' Lone teased.
What surprised him was that both he and Soph got a response. 'Kyuu...'
Soph replied first saying, 'Wow! Y'know, she's been sleeping a lot less lately and she's huge! She's like, a little bit bigger than a wolf now. Do you think she really did have Gulfian Milk before? She's been evolving this whole ti or sothing?'
Just as he and Master zro'nan entered the communal dining hall of journey's End, Lone telepathically communicated, 'No 'kyuu's ans 'I have no idea what's going on, I just made a noise with my mind and it sohow worked'. One 'kyuu' ans 'yeah, I've had that tasty milk stuff before. It made really sleepy. By the way, thanks for looking after all this ti. I really love you both'. Two 'kyuu's for 'no, I've never had the milk before. I still love you two a lot and am really thankful'. You have five seconds.'
It was exasperated, but Kyuubi did respond with a, 'Kyuu...'
'I always knew you loved us,' Lone cackled.
'This is amazing! But, uh, Sophie is saying that could have been random. You talk to the prince, I'm going to test! Do you like my cuddling? Do you mind that I want to ride you? Can I ride you? Do you think you're almost done ingesting the mi- Sorry! I got it. One question at a ti. Sheesh... You didn't have to shout at , Sophie. I'm just excited. Our daughter can 'kyuu' ntally now!'
Lone smiled just as he and Master zro'nan were led to a table with a gold and silver bell at its centre. Prince Keining was waiting for them and nodded politely, waiting for them to be seated.
Once they were comfortable, the gno employee said, "I'll be right back with your V.I.P. nu, Mister Immortus. Would you like regular nus, Price Keining, Master zro'nan?"
"V.I.P.?" Prince Keining muttered in shock. He snapped out of it and nodded. "Yes, please."
"I'd also like one, please," Master zro'nan answered.
'A 'please' from a XX-ranker to an SS-ranker? This day sure is full of surprises. Then again, that's quite telling about the power of the Deposit Conglorate,' Lone thought.
"Of course. Just call for and I shall return with your nus, or, I'll be back in five minutes. Whichever suits your needs better," the gno replied and then vanished.
Lone leaned back into his chain and said, "Nice to see you again, Lord Keining. You wanted to et, right? What's the occasion?"
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