Lone: The Wanderer-Chapter 75Book 3: : Awkward Royal and Waiting Royal

Lone cracked open the sealed letter and began reading it, but as he did so he said, "Come '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 amends now that I'm somewhat well-known around here, or it's to declare war on me 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 me about this letter and it was brave to give it to me. 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 exclaimed 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 me. 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-meaning 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 same time. It would also be helpful to Soph who was likely listening in.

"First of his name 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 name 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 commenceth 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 former 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,

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

First of her name Queen Aileen Heidron of Milindo"

Lone and Breena were silent for a moment before Lone whistled and said, "Woah. 100% not what I was expected. Let's deconstruct this, shall we? Any thoughts, Bree?"

The teen seemed startled by the sudden nickname 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 something. 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 consumed 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-amends with you, and, uh, hold onto your thigh, figuratively speaking?"

Lone smiled. "That's what I gathered. And they are desperate. A two year time limit to come or to reply? So many benefits without me 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 come 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 me 'master', it doesn't mean 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 Dimension 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 became 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 mezro-nan was definitely the right choice,' Lone praised her in his mind. "Ended up meeting a Divine. Interesting woman. She didn't seem to care about me 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 Mezro'nan glanced up at him and replied, "What? Pleassse be more ssspecific."

"The fame. 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 Mezro'nan pointed out.

"It's just something I've been thinking about recently. So, your answer?" Lone asked again.

Master Mezro'nan thought for a moment and answered, "It doesssn't bother me. I am one of the leassst well known X-rankersss in the city. Guildmassster Brux threatening me two monthsss ago ssso publicly wasss the mossst attention-grabbing thing I've been a part of in a very long time. The odd Ssss-ranker or SSsss-ranker asssking to be my apprentice is quite annoying, however. Sssurely they know they are too old for me 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 same greeter as the last time he had visited - the gnome 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 Mezro'nan. Prince Keining is already inside waiting for you in the communal dining area," the gnome said. "Follow me please."

Lone watched the lectern with interest as it spun and began moving down the hallway as it had the last time he came here. "Will our table be granted privacy like last time?"

"Of course. You will not, however, be granted complimentary drinks like your first visit, but Manager Peter has made it clear that you are now on the Deposit Conglomerate's V.I.P. list, meaning the special menu is available to you at all times, 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 meantime. 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 gnome explained.

"Oh, that's nice to know. You happen to know why we're getting this treatment, do you?" Lone asked.

The gnome 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 gnome nodded. "Of course. What few words your party spoke last time 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 Conglomerate is powerful enough to wipe certain memories 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 conglomerate some power over you? That would make more sense than being able to just meddle with powerful people's memories 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 gnome chuckled. "We offer compensation for the matter. It is an expected risk on all Deposit Complemerate 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 me, but thisss wasss known to me 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 some sort of magic tries to fuck with my memories?'

'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 me 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 time or something?'

Just as he and Master Mezro'nan entered the communal dining hall of journey's End, Lone telepathically communicated, 'No 'kyuu's means 'I have no idea what's going on, I just made a noise with my mind and it somehow worked'. One 'kyuu' means 'yeah, I've had that tasty milk stuff before. It made me really sleepy. By the way, thanks for looking after me all this time. 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 time. Sheesh... You didn't have to shout at me, Sophie. I'm just excited. Our daughter can 'kyuu' mentally now!'

Lone smiled just as he and Master Mezro'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 gnome employee said, "I'll be right back with your V.I.P. menu, Mister Immortus. Would you like regular menus, Price Keining, Master Mezro'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 Mezro'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 Conglomerate,' Lone thought.

"Of course. Just call for me and I shall return with your menus, or, I'll be back in five minutes. Whichever suits your needs better," the gnome replied and then vanished.

Lone leaned back into his chain and said, "Nice to see you again, Lord Keining. You wanted to meet, right? What's the occasion?"