MapleHorn Fortress

We happily enjoyed our dinner at the tavern, where we lightly consumed Ameran Beer and got to hear some clever, enjoyable jokes. We were even able to get Syndra to join us since she had a 10-minute break every hour. I felt that beer had an "acquired taste" but I still tried to participate in the festivities of the tavern. We told our tales of hunting mercenaries, summoning Titan, facing Belvath, and even the Juggernaut that we faced earlier today. The tavern patrons who laughed were the ones who were drunk and amazed at such a grand story. The other, more sober patrons just looked at us with amazement. If a lvl. 1000 Juggernaut were to attack this city, it would take everything that the city has to defend itself. Even then, I'm sure they could survive. That's just how powerful the rare Juggernaut was.

Eventually, we moved over to the bar counter, which was where Syndra was located. We decided to talk to her while she worked so we can learn more about her. With Arcana to my right and Daera to my left, I felt like I was living the dream! Two beautiful women who could kill juggernauts were my party members! I feel that I could relax here in MapleHorn and become a Merchant! I was a Finance-Management student after all! I also have the "Create" skill so I may have to look into profiting from that! I could also farm monster components with Titan so I really do have some options. This town seems pretty easygoing so all I have to do is make sur-

"Princess Arcana! Are you there? We need to talk! The Queen is looking for you!"

A few dragons were flying around the Great Ameran Forest in search of Arcana. It seemed that one of them flew above MapleHorn.

"Ugh", Arcana Said. "I don't want to go back! It's so nice to be with Paladin Brice! That old hag is just going to work me to the bone again!".

I was going to ask what she was talking about when a group of three dragons walked into the tavern. They were adorned with black armor that had gold accents on it. The crest that was on their armor was similar to the crest that I noticed on the draconic blades. It was easy to make a connection.

"Arcana", I whispered. "If you don't want to go back, what are you going to do? They have the skies and the ground littered with troops. Can't you say something that will make them go away?"

Arcana's face turned red in an instant for some reason and she began fidgeting. Initially, I thought it was the beer.

"Hey", Arcana said. "If I make them go away, will you promise not to be mad at me?"

For some reason, Arcana looked very cute when she looked at me. I thought it was possibly the alcohol that was messing with my vision. I didn't know she was even capable of such an expression. I initially thought she was going to sacrifice herself for the team or fight against the guards in order to stay with us.

Little did I know what was actually about to happen.

Arcana got up from the tavern's barstool and walked over to the 3 royal dragon knights. Since the bar was quiet, we were able to hear their conversation.

"Princess...I mean, Queen Arcana. Former Dragon Queen Umi has requested that you update your status. Have you summoned the Paladin? Was the reincarnation a success?"

Eh? Reincarnated? I thought I was summoned? No one told me I died...

"Yes", Arcana stated. "The reincarnation and summoning was a success. We also ran into Demon Lord-Lieutenant Belvath on our way here. It seems that Ringdrex knows about the Paladin God. I'll need to spend at least 6 months uninterrupted and with no contact with mother in order to properly support him".

"Ok. We'll be sure to...wait. 6 months? Are you sure you need that much time? I don't think you need 6 months to support the paladin-"

Arcana quickly took the knight by the shoulder and began whispering the rest of their conversation. I wasn't able to hear what was said but the Dragon Knight's facial expressions went from shocked to amazed to joyous over a matter of 2 minutes. When they finally finished, the Dragon Knight was grinning from ear to ear. He was also directly looking at me.

"I'm so sorry to bother you, Paladin Brice! I'll be sure to leave you two alone until you come to the castle. It must be nice to be young! Make sure to protect our Queen! Welcome to the family!", he said as the three guards left the bar.

The hell? "Welcome To The Family"? The hell did Arcana tell this man?

"Oi. What did you just tell him? What did you do?", I said.

"You promised not to be mad...so I told him that we were dating...", she said.

While Arcana was red and fidgeting, I thought over her proposition. "Did I like Arcana? I mean sure, she's cute and has a great body but her personality is so horrible. If she had the personality of Daera then there's no question that I would like her. Maybe if she was less arrogant and more feminine like her outfit portrays then-"

For some reason, I found myself in a chokehold by an extremely flustered Arcana. I think the beer got to my head and I said my thoughts out loud. Whoops.

"What did you just say? You s-s-said that I was cute huh? But my personality was trash?? Explain yourself heathen!"

"I never said that your personality was trash but you're not really helping your cas-"

Unsurprisingly, Arcana began to strengthen the chokehold around my neck as she seemed to lose all sense of reason. I guess she wasn't used to compliments on her femininity cause she wouldn't let go. "This was part of the reason that I didn't want to date her in the first place. At least her breasts are pressing against my bac-".

For some reason, Daera lightly punched me in the stomach. I guessed that I was thinking out loud again. Whoops.

"What the hell are you saying at a time like this? If you are too drunk, let me fix it for you!", she said angrily.

As I kept thinking my thoughts out loud, I eventually lost my buzz.

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After we woke up Shobe and Titan, we left the Drunken Horn and decided to head home. I decided to place the Mobile Fortress outside MapleHorn since we didn't want to waste money on an Inn. I was too tired from the assault that I took from Daera and Arcana to make any upgrades. However, since I had 5,000 points, I decided to make a decision.

"Hey", I said. "I'm thinking about setting up a permanent base here in MapleHorn. Do you guys agree with my decision? It seems like a nice, quiet base to conduct our planning. If we are going to avoid the Demon Lords, this place is our best bet."

Initially, they were surprised at the suggestion but they eventually began to smile. I took it as a yes and decided to revamp the fortress. After I told everyone to get outside, I went to the OP Store and traded in the 25 pt. cottage for a 2,000 pt. mini-Fortress. First, it's fortified walls enclosed a total of 9,964 square feet. Since it was an expandable fortress, there was a large amount of empty space. In the center of the fortress was an 800 square foot cottage, double the size of my old one. It had the same amenities and design as the one that I turned in. The fortress also touted a bonus feature: A medium-sized magic shield. It wasn't much different utility-wise than a regular medium-shield but it featured 3x the shield regeneration speed. I would explain all of its properties but I was getting tired. As I looked back towards my companions, they seemed to be in disbelief and amazement that this was our new home.

"Don't worry", I said. "This is just the outside. The inside has a bigger version of our cottage!"

As we walked into the cottage, we saw that everything was pretty much upgraded for the better. The floors, walls, ceiling, kitchen, bathroom, rooms, etc. were all greatly improved. With the price being so high, I had expected to get something this good! As I jumped into my bed, I could feel the premium sheets that were wrapping around me. I felt that I was sleeping on freshly made clouds from the heavens itself. As I began to doze off, I thought I heard someone walking towards me.

Actually, I thought I heard two people who seemed to be arguing near me...