Old Man: youll let us have your Golem for free?
Cashew: No. I'll let you borrow the Golem for 10 days and not charge you. Well, I'd charge you for a Handsaw and Woodcutting Axe. In exchange for a Handsaw and Woodcutting Axe, you'd get free Labor for 10 days! Good deal, is it not?
Old Man: How much do you think a Handsaw and Woodcutting Axe cost? 10 days wouldn't make up the loss that would give us!
Cashew: You know, you're awfully greedy. In exchange for tools that you yourself said that you build, you'd get free Labor, yet you're acting like I'm giving you another mouth to feed.
Old Man: Do you even know how Ironworking works? Half the Iron we pull is slag and unusable.
Cashew: Ok, so if you pull 100 Kilograms of Iron in a day, 50 Kilograms is usable. Are you telling me that all 50 Kilograms of that Iron would go into making a single wood cutting axe?
Old Man: You're also ignoring the Labor and how complicated it is to make an Axe head -... This argument isn't worth it. No. I don't accept that offer.
Cashew: I see... Ok. Well, until I get my own handsaw, I'll keep coming here to borrow yours, so there will be plenty of opportunities to discuss this again.
The Old Man has a look of frustration and annoyance on his face.
Old Man: Yay... I look forward to it...
He responded with sarcasm. Cashew chuckled after hearing that, turning to walk away, heading back to his Fortress.
Reaching his Fortress, Cashew immediately went to the storage room inside, pulled out all the wood and started building the bed, ordering his Wood Golems to bring the dead grass inside.
20 minutes later, Cashew had his new bed built. He moved it to the corner farthest from the door and started moving the dead grass into it. Halfway through, he paused.
Cashew: This bed is poorly built. The part that will support my weight is weird. The planks are nailed upside down, so when I get bigger, the nails might start to slowly slide out and the entire thing collapses... When i do get bigger, I should add some support bars underneath and an extra leg. I doubt I'm heavy enough now, so it can wait until I go back to the Mining Village for other reasons.
He continued placing the dead grass down and getting his bed finished.
When he was done, Cashew headed back outside to resume his Magic Barrier training with his Golems, sitting on the ground with his chin on his hand, thinking.
Cashew: I wish there was a way to train Offensive Magic... I mean, I'm sure there is, but I don't know it. It's probably the same as training Defensive Magic, train the spell by using it, but I don't know...
Meanwhile, Back in Krok-Magar...
The City Lord is sitting on the edge of a bed that Alice is laying in. She looks a lot healthier now, her Skin complexion is coming back and she's no longer Anorexic.
The City Lord gently put his hand on her forehead, seemingly feeling for a temperature.
City Lord: Reginald. How long until the Healing Mage gets here?
Reginald: Assuming nothing unexpected happens, he should be here by tomorrow morning.
City Lord: Good. Good. How about the Young Man who brought her back?
Reginald: No signs of him at all, sir. You should stop expecting him to come here.
City Lord: I will not let him go uncompensated for this.
Reginald: *Sigh* as you wish, sir...
City Lord: What's my schedule look like for today?
Reginald: In the next hour or so, Sir Patrick Dophile should be paying a visit regarding his marriage arrangements with Lady Alice.
City Lord: Ugh, I don't like him. I don't like the way he looks at my daughter's. He's the same age as me, yet he looks at all 3 of my daughter's with lust in his eyes.
Reginald: Sir, if you don't like him, then why did you agree to have Lady Alice marry him?
City Lord: His Eldest Sister is married to the Prince. The one most likely to inherit the Throne. Assuming nothing happens, his Eldest Sister will be a Queen in the near future. I don't like the man, but that doesn't mean I should try and get on his bad side. He could be a good ally to have. Plus, you remember what Alice was like before the incident. She rarely went outside, and when she did, it was at night when everyone is asleep. She rarely met new people.
Reginald: Sir, if I may say something out of line...
City Lord: You may.
Reginald: So, your daughter rarely met new people and rarely went outside, so you were gonna try and fix that problem by marrying her off to a man that even you don't like, let alone her.
The City Lord had a complicated expression on his face, but didn't respond, so Reginald sighed and continued.
Reginald: Lady Alice liked to confide with me about her feelings and issues she was having. When you told her about the Arranged Marriage, she was very unhappy with you and spent a lot of time crying. Her first day having a meal with Sir Patrick, she spent a lot of time talking to me about how creepy he was and how uncomfortable he made her.
The City Lord slowly rested his chin on his hands, seemingly deep in thought as he took in Reginalds words. Reginald continued on.
Reginald: After the Arranged Marriage was agreed upon by you and Sir Patrick, you were really happy because Lady Alice was going outside more frequently and rarely home, you thought she made some friends was was acting as a normal girl. But she was really trying to run away, only to be caught by the guards, I was the one who had to bring her home, and the reason I never told you was because she begged me not to.
Reginald looked at the City Lord, who's facial expression was deep in thought and contemplation.
Reginald: We won't know unless we ask, but I speculate that Lady Alice was kidnapped during one of her attempts at running away.
The City Lord sat in silence for almost a full minute, seemingly taking in Reginalds words, he stood up and sighed.
City Lord: If she had issues, I wish she would tell me... I can't do anything or change anything if I don't know there is an issue. I'll cancel the Marriage arrangement when Sir Patrick gets here.
An hour later, the City Lord is still in the room with Lady Alice, and Reginald entered the room with a man following him. The man has a tall build and a rather attractive face with long Brown hair tied in a ponytail.
He entered the room and his eyes first landed on Alice, he looked at her for a moment and a slight grimace formed on his face, muttering to himself, "Ugh, so old now..."
Both the City Lord and Reginald heard that, but didn't say anything, the City Lord approached the man with a friendly smile.
City Lord: Patrick, it's been so long! How have you been?
The Man, who is the "Patrick" they talked about earlier, also switched to wearing a friendly smile on his face as well.
Patrick: Please, Raphael... We have talked about this before, Patrick was my Father. Just call me "P.Dophile".
The City Lord, who's name is Raphael, let out a laugh, it was a fake laugh, but it's difficult to tell.
Raphael: Right, Right. I Forgot! It's been so long since we have last met that I forgot your preferred name. My apologies.
P.Dophile: It's fine, now. I've come here to discuss my marriage arrangement with Alice...
Raphael: Yeah?... What about it?
Raphael was gonna cancel it, but since P.Dophile mentioned it first, Raphael figured he would listen to what P.Dophile has to say first.
P.Dophile: I wanna cancel the Marriage.
Raphael: What?
He was caught off guard by this.
P.Dophile: I wanna Cancel the Marriage. Alice is too old-... *Ahem* Alice was missing for 2 years. so I figured she and you would wanna spend time with her while she's back.
Raphael heard what P.Dophile was originally gonna say, but didn't point it out. Deciding to play dumb.
Raphael: I see... Well, it's unfortunate that you're not interested anymore.
Raphael was happy that P.Dophile cancelled the Marriage, so he doesn't have to mention it. He's afraid that if he were to cancel the Marriage, P.Dophile would make his life harder.
P.Dophile: Now, Cancelling a marriage. I very easily could have done that in the form of a letter. I didn't need to come down here. I came down here because I'd like to marry your other daughter. Sofia, more specifically.
Raphael: Sophia?...
P.Dophile: Yes. Sophia.
Raphael: Sofia is only 4.
P.Dophile: Mmm... I know.
P.Dophile made a face and a sound that made Raphael very uncomfortable. Reginald let out a quiet sigh and looked down, not wanting to listen anymore, but remaining professional.
Raphael: Sorry, after my oldest daughter was kidnapped, I think I'm gonna be a clingy father for a while and not try to marry them off for now, out of fear another one gets kidnapped again.
P.Dophile: Wait... What? Really?
Raphael: Yes, Really. Reginald, please show him to the door.
Raphael was seemingly in a hurry now, even pushing P.Dophile out, Reginald quickly followed and soon, Raphael was alone in the room, aside from unconscious Alice.
Raphael slowly walked over to the bed Alice was asleep in and sat on the edge again, putting his face on his hands again.
Raphael: To think I was gonna basically sell my daughter to him... Why didn't I notice the stuff earlier?... I was too focused on the fact that his sister was gonna be the next Queen that I didn't even think about what kind of person he is.
...
Back at Cashews Fortress.
Cashew has spent the past 30 hours letting his Golems abuse his magic Barrier as a form of training, it now takes 49 hits to shatter the barrier.
He spent most of that time reading his books on magic. He is currently reading is book on Runes
Cashew: Hm... I feel like half the stuff I want a book on enchanting for can be done with Runes... I don't know, I have never seen a book on enchanting, but I feel like Runesmithing and Enchanting are just two ways to achieve the same result...
His magic Barrier shattered, so he paused to re-summon it.
Cashew: Hm... The book says that if you draw a specific Runes onto a Crystal, then install that Crystal onto a piece of armor or a weapon, then you can achieve something similar to spellcasting. Such as drawing a fireball runs onto a Crystal, installing that Crystal onto a weapon, and you should be able to use that weapon to cast fireball when you inject Mana into it.
Cashew: Hm... I wonder if I can give my Golems magical spells by doing this?...
Cashew was looking at Billie Nelson while thinking. Billie Nelson was punching his Magical Barrier from the front, and Cashew was thinking about how to add spells to him.
Cashew: I had so many Crystals collected over the span of 6 years... Why did that woman have to steal them all?... Right, the book said why... Crystals are useful in Necromancy. That's why she wanted my crystals. Shes a Necromancer. That's why, but why?!...
As Cashew was thinking out loud, he suddenly heard some noises that doesn't sound like nature, his fortress walls doors were open, and he looked out them, seeing some horses coming this way.
Cashew: No....