Paladin 4: Chapter 6 (Patreon)

Walking through Rarekshold brought back memories to Darren. This had been the first human settlement he’d visited after emerging from Hell. It was nice to see the place doing better than he remembered it.

He even saw the two ladies of the night he’d met that day. One in red and the other in two. They’d taught him how to please a woman, and it was thanks to their early advice that he could save Cassandra and Morgana from being sacrificed to Asmoth’Koteth.

It looked like they were too busy to chat, so Darren reached into his Inventory for a small pouch and filled it to the brim with gold coins. It was a small token of appreciation for what they’d done for him. He tucked it away in their shop, where they’d find it later.

He left without a word or a whisper and was soon on his way to Limedeep. The flight hardly took any time at all now that he could use a second set of wings, and this time he donned his Cloak of the Mysterious Hero so he could remain completely unnoticed.

The place had grown since he’d seen it last. Before, the city had seemed almost empty, with only one out of every ten houses filled. But the influx of people from Salsroth, and later the Blackwind Empire, had entirely reversed that trend. Now there were people aplenty, and civilization was even spilling out of the walls as people competed for plots just outside Limedeep’s defenses.

Nobody could build too close to the wall for fear of defeating its purpose, but that hadn’t been for lack of desire. There was a clear invisible line a hundred paces from the walls, after which newly built structures crowded in on one another. There were mills, butcher houses, and coin lenders aplenty, all trying to be close to this new hub of civilization, but not so close that they had to pay any extra fees.

Pretty soon, they’d need to start construction on a second ring beyond the outskirts of the first if the current rate of the city’s growth was anything to go by. They’d also need to clear some forests to the south so farmers could plant there and feed this growing city.

Though when Darren turned, he could see a few people already hard at work at the job. He wasn’t sure if they were just harvesting the lumber or trying to clear the land, but eventually, the borders of Limedeep would expand ever outward.

The mood of the city had changed as well. The sad, despondent air that had filled the poverty-stricken place was gone. The rise of the sigil-wielders in Limedeep had given birth to a new middle class. The sigil wielders brought in plenty of coin in the form of demon hides or their superhuman labor, and they spent that coin freely, buying goods and services from the rest of the city.

Sigil wielders were fighting men and women, and they ate accordingly. The more coin they made, the better the food they wanted. That meant fishermen, farmers, herders, and hunters were all encouraged to work a little bit longer. The demand for better housing meant there was more incentive for unskilled laborers to pick up carpentry or masonry, and rapid growth meant small businesses were springing up everywhere as the smart and the enterprising tried to make their way in this new metropolis.

Darren walked the streets of Limedeep under the guise of his cloak, traveling through it not as a king but as simply another man. He ordered food from the street vendors, and it was brighter and more savory than he remembered. Speaking briefly to the shopkeeper, Darren learned she was new to Limedeep.

“Aye, good sir. Just arrived three weeks ago. I heard things are calming down in the Empire now, but I’m still happy with my move. The people here in Limedeep are so much brighter and more cheerful!” the shopkeeper chuckled, smiling brightly.

“What of your old shop?” Darren asked.

The woman waved his hand. “That old thing? After the riots, half of it was burned down anyway. I sold what was left of it and used the coin to buy a home here in Limedeep. If I save up a while longer, I’m hoping I can have a new storefront built onto it and get a roof over my head again. The rain ruins the skewered meat, you see.”

Darren gave the woman a few extra coins to help him make those dreams a reality a little sooner. There were many stories like that throughout the city, and Darren helped those he could.

He took off his cloak when he stopped by the council session, and everyone scrambled to their feet when he suddenly appeared in their midst.

“King Darren! Heavens above, when did you get here?” stuttered a nervous man.

“Oh dear... we weren’t prepared for your arrival, but we keep records of all council meetings for you,” a woman said.

Darren accepted the records while the rest of the council members fidgeted nervously and tried to resume their meeting. It seemed like they were working in good faith, which pleased Darren. One of his great fears about this council was that in Cassandra’s absence, it might turn into the corrupt thing that Darren had found when he first arrived in Limedeep.

But looking through the books, everything seemed above board. Of course, he would have to look into who owned these masonry businesses being hired by the city to rebuild the roads. Still, assuming they were upstanding council members about that as well, there wasn’t anything to fear. Still, letting them all know he was watching would help stave off any dishonest temptations lurking in their hearts.

“Thank you, councilors. I have some things to review. You will hear from me again,” Darren said, eyes roaming each of them.

A few in the room made an audible gulping noise.

Darren left as swiftly as he’d come.

Next, he visited his mother’s shrine. With Shrine Maiden Bonnie in the Blackwind Capital, it wasn’t accepting visitors. But that didn’t mean it was empty. He spotted Amelia in the courtyard, sweeping the steps and practicing her skills.

Darren saw his mother’s sigil on her head, and from the intense look on Amelia’s face, it would be put to good use.

“Amelia!” Darren called. “I brought a present for you.”

Darren gave Amelia a skill book he’d selected for her. It was a rare-rank healing skill, which would be highly sought after anywhere in the Sacred Seas. No king or emperor would dare part with such a priceless artifact. No man but Darren that is.

When he received it, it had only been a common rank ability. He’d been evolving it in consideration for Cassandra’s growing arsenal of abilities now that she was at the fourth order. But what it evolved into ended up being covered by her existing healing ability, so there was little point in her doubling up. So Darren found another home for it.

But Amelia didn’t care as much for the free skill book as she did for Darren’s visit. When he made his presence known, she dropped her broom and ran over to hug his leg, which was all the more of her she could reach, despite being taller than she’d been when he’d seen her last.

“You’ve grown,” Darren commented.

“You’re still tall,” Amelia replied as she craned her head upward to look at Darren. He scooped her up and put her on his shoulder.

“There. Now you can see me fine.”

Amelia giggled a bit.

He quizzed her on what she remembered from his teachings on Divine Aura. Bonnie had built on those teachings with her training, and now Amelia was familiar with the workings of Divine Aura on a superficial level. Still, Darren had learned as much as she had over the last few months, and his understanding had grown by leaps and bounds.

That newfound context meant he could teach her things not even he knew before, as well as correct some misconceptions he’d accidentally passed along when he’d been teaching her before.

The sun was getting ready to set when he sensed Callum return to the city, and he realized his time with Amelia was coming to a close. He waved goodbye to her, and she continued cleaning up the shrine dedicated to his mother. Then he used his abilities to find Callum.

His Oracle Sight skill was useful for that. All he had to do was look for futures where he ran into Callum and then follow the one where that eventually happened.

“Darren!” Callum jumped in surprise when he opened the door to a local tavern and found Darren standing there right behind the door with his arms crossed. “It’s... uh... good to see you. And, about Lady Turiel, I know it’s unprofessional. I’ll break it off with her first thing tomorrow!”

Darren put a hand on Callum’s shoulder. “Love is a beautiful thing, Callum. Tell me about yours.”

“Wait, you don’t think I should break things off with her?” Callum asked, eyes wide in surprise.

“If you are happy, and she is happy, then there are no problems,” Darren replied.

“Well... you really want to hear about her?”

Darren nodded.

“Well... let me start with her tea. I always thought nothing could beat a good mug of booze, but when she makes tea...”

Once Callum got going, he didn’t stop. Passion filled his voice as he spoke of Turiel, and Darren knew they were close. Even if he tried to push the two apart, it probably wouldn’t take.

***

Callum and Darren ended up sitting down at the tavern while they chatted, and their conversation lasted deep into the evening before they retired for the night.

While Turiel was the chief topic of discussion, she wasn’t the only thing they talked about. Callum had been in Limedeep all this time, and he had an ear to the ground on all the happenings of this city. Fortunately, Darren’s instincts about the councilors had proven correct, and they were indeed working toward the betterment of the city.

Callum warned him of one that he was monitoring, but Darren trusted Callum to handle it from his end, assuming Cassandra didn’t take care of it when she got back.

Darren returned home for the night. The manor felt empty without his women to fill it, but in truth, he hadn’t had an actual night of sleep in weeks. It was good to use the bed as it was intended for once. When he woke, he felt a little more clear-headed than before. While he didn’t really need sleep, it would help keep him at peak performance if he did it every once in a while.

Callum took Darren on a guided tour of the city the following day, which mostly meant looking over the patrol routes and showing him what the city guard was up to.

It was all pretty standard fair, according to Callum. They settled disputes in the market, looked for missing people, investigated crimes, and occasionally just stood on street corners to remind people that the long arm of the law extended throughout Limedeep.

“A lot of these people come from towns or villages that survive off the fact that everyone is family, and those who don’t treat others right get run out of town,” Callum explained. “A few young men come here to the big city and think that not having their grandmother looking over their shoulder means they finally have the chance to let out their inner animal to loot, steal, and take advantage of the local women. We have to educate them about the law works rather swiftly.”

It seemed to work, though. The city jails had a few people in them, but nobody was too heinous. Criminals were dealt with swiftly and efficiently, and so many sigil-wielders among the guards meant that there was no hiding or escaping from them. Apparently, someone had even acquired a skill that told them whenever someone was committing an immoral act, which usually meant a crime.

That officer, in particular, had free rein of the city and had brought in more villains than anyone else, though he also had more complaints than anyone else since he kept stumbling in on couples trying anal for the first time.

All in all, Callum seemed to be rather pleased leading the guards here in Limedeep. He’d done a good job with them, as far as Darren was concerned. There was one minor problem, though.

Some of the new guards Callum had recruited were at the fourth order. They were archpaladins, archclerics, and archpriestesses who Darren had rescued from Hell and wanted to rebuild their lives with a stable job in the guards.

That was a great boon for the city guard, but Callum himself was only a third-order paladin. While he stayed in charge because Darren appointed him it was still a little strange for a third order to be ordering so many fourth orders around. Callum did his best to hide it, and the fourth-order warriors were good about it, but it was pretty clear it grated on Callum himself most of all.

So Darren decided he could use a companion for his upcoming adventure.

“Take some time off,” Darren said.

“What for?” Callum asked.

“We’re going to complete some quests.”

***

Callum had rebuilt the city guard’s structure from the ground up. He’d made multiple redundant positions of everything. That way, if someone needed to go on an extended sabbatical to fight, complete quests, and grow stronger, it wouldn’t cause any problems for the overall organization.

But the one person he’d forgotten to do that for was himself and his own position. There was nobody around to replace him as captain of the city guard. He’d been eying Sir Kennith for the position, but Sir Kennith had left to look for the remains of his broken and forgotten order some time ago and wouldn’t return for a month or more.

Fortunately, Darren still had room to generate one more fourth-order clone of himself that he could control from afar. He left that body in charge of the city guard and the rest of the city while he was at it.

“I’m relieved you’re taking the job over yourself,” Callum chuckled. “I’m not sure I could trust my office and badge to anyone else. Not after I worked so hard to build it into what it is.”

“You have done well,” Darren replied. “I will stick with your system for now.”

“Alright, but if anything difficult comes up, just ask me. I’ll be right here beside you on this little adventure. Speaking of, what did you have in mind? Another trip into the Seven Hells?”

Darren shook his head. “Cultists, bandits, and destroyed cities.”

Callum whistled. “Hate to say it, but I think the area around Limedeep is pretty scoured clean. Everything worth smiting has already been smitten, either by you, Sasha’s army, or my guards. Unless you think it’s time to conquer that heretic city from the south, Angelless? We’ve gotten some traders from there. They have some remarkable metalworking skills. Might be good to bring them into the fold.”

Darren shook his head. “If they aren’t causing problems for us, I will cause no problems for them. But we won’t stick to Limedeep. Come with me to the Northern Trade Union.”

“Isn’t that a week-long journey? I can fly, but my flight skill isn’t as fast as yours is,” Callum said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll carry you.”

Before Callum could breathe a word of protest, Darren had flung him over his shoulder, and they took off at high speed, northward bound.

When they arrived, the forces of evil wouldn’t know what hit them.