"Lady Io! Lady Io! Wake up my lady!"
"Giv mee five more minutes…"
"Lady Io! Wake up! The lady is going to be late from the banquet"
"The freaking banquet is made for me, I'm sure they can wait five more minutes…"
"I beg your pardon my lady, but the lady is already awake, and the people are waiting to meet their savior. The lady should pay respect for their gratitude."
"Ah, sure whatever…" Io sat up from the bed and peeked out the open balcony that was looking at the once great mountain… "It's sure dusty nowadays… don't you think?" Asked the maid who was preparing Io's banquet clothes for her.
"I believe when a quarter of a mountain that was housing a castle rivaling our kings own, blows up in a massive arcane explosion, one cannot but expect debris to fly up in the air."
"Sorry about that… The guy was a bit annoying so instead of taking care of it the hard way, I decided just to blow up the place with him in it…"
"I believe the end justifies the means. My lady has nothing to feel sorry about…" responded the maid, but her face shown that she was a bit annoyed. "Does my lady require assistance with putting on her dress?"
"I think I'll be fine…" Io looked at the dress made by the most talented tailors of the kingdom. Fine details, sigils, house emblems. All the fancy things. It also noticed that it enhances quite well the female body features. "They want me to put on that? Will it fit? Actually can you stick around for a while, to make sure?"
"Of course. My duty is to help the lady whit everything she needs."
"Yeah… Duties… I sure fulfilled mine…"
Io woke up from her bad and walked out to the balcony to take a closer look to at the mountain. Were once an ominous castle stood, there is nothing more but an enormous chunk missing from the mountain, revealing its core. "Sigh… whatever…" She walked back in the tower room and began putting on the fancy dress. Sure enough, the maid had to help her.
As she took the way down the stairs of the tower she was housed in, she met a familiar man.
"Arch mage Io! It's good to see the lady again!" Greeted her the golden hero.
"Hey-Hey! Sorry but I'm quite busy with this banquet thing right now…"
"Yes-yes of course! I beg your pardon, but I was hoping maybe as the leader of the adventurer's party, I could escort you to the banquet."
"Uhm… okay I guess. Come along, it's not really bothering me."
"My greatest gratuities. Let me introduce myself. I am prince Arton the third. Second in line to the throne."
"You're a prince? How come a prince became an adventurer?"
"It's quite simple. The call of the paladins had reach my humble heart, and since the older brother of mine is in succession of the throne, I decided to take the hammer to myself and purge the evil out of our kingdom"
"Oh wow, such noble soul. Try not to get killed while you purge the evil out of the kingdom. By the way, where did you ended up?"
Arton was a bit put off by the sarcastic comment, but managed to keep his smile up.
"Uhm… well, in the swamps of the north. Anyway, say my lady. Do you have plans for the future?"
"I have my plans, but why do you ask?"
"Well, my lady is one of the most powerful arch mages humanity had known, and she is young and beautiful. I am a prince yet to find a soulmate for his humble heart. I'm asking my lady, would she accept a humble paladin's hand, and a way in to the royal lineage?"
"Wha… I mean, did you just proposed to me?"
"Yes my lady" Arton stepped in front of Io and got in to his knees "Would you, Arch mage Io, hero of Kdach, accept my proposal?"
Io looked shocked. "Oh my? Are you really proposing to me, prince Arton the third, called by the Paladins?"
"Yes, Io, I do!"
"No thanks." And with that Io calmly stepped right around Arton and made continued her way to the main hall, where the banquet was held.
Arton was dumbfounded by how brutally he got turned down. He never imagined it would turn out like this. He did figured there was a chance of him being turned down, but as a prince he never experienced someone to be so drastic with him. "As brutal in fighting, as brutal in love…" He muttered. Nothing better to do, he stood up and followed Io, but a good 3 steps behind her, looking at the floor.
Io and Arton finally reached the main hall. And of course, it was as extravagant as one can imagine a king would order to give his respect to the hero of his kingdom.
As Io stepped in to the side wing of the great hall, the large crowd of nobles and adventurers became silent. A great orchestra greeted them with an intro, and soldiers presented a parade in the middle of the banquet. Io didn't seem really impressed. She made her way down to the party, right ahead of the throne, where the king sat.
The king raised his hand, to which the parading stopped.
"Arch mage Io, savior of Kdach. You defeated Xarxigias the tyrant, and saved my kingdom from his rule. I hereby grant you the title of "Bane of the Tyrants" The crowd cheered. "Our kingdom is all but grateful to you"
"Thanks..." replied Io nonchalantly "I sure needed another title…"
"Ahem…" coughed the king, a bit taken aback by the rude remark "A title is not the only thing I am giving to you. This kingdom would be under the rule of Xarxigias the tyrant of the depths. Name anything that comes into your mind, and as long as I, the king, can afford to comply, I will grant you your wish."
Io tilted her head a bit "Hmm. Well, I do have something in my mind."
"Name it, and if I can, I will grant you your wish"
"Let's see… Well, I don't think I have to point out, but the mountain had been freed up quite a big size of real estate, as one could say… I was wondering, since now it looks so… empty, why not built something atop of it… like, let's say… An university of magic."
"You want an university of magic built atop on the mountain?"
"Well, stone boulders is lying all around the kingdom, and I'm sure with the help of the cleric's guild we could purify those bricks and we could use those too, and also the constructions would create a couple thousand workplaces for the common folk… and once its built, the university can provide fresh mages that would be defending the kingdom from future harm" Said Io with a smile on her face.
"As a king, I would gladly give you the land and the people to make your university. But the problem is, that we're just fresh out of a war waged by Xarxigias. Our banks are empty, and the kingdom is in debt. An university would tax us too much. I ask you Arch mage Io, Savior of Kdach, Bane of Tyrants, think of something else."
"Oh, money is not the problem."
"Ahem, as I said..."
"I pay for everything, I just need the land ownership."
"You have enough money for a whole university to be built?'
"Well I have enough money to house a guard post of around 300 men for 5 years, after I built the university. You see, I've been inadvertently saving up since I started adventuring… and you know, Kdach happened…"
The whole crowd was dumbfounded.
"You're telling me you have more money than the whole kingdom?"
"Well, yeah…"
"I mean… If you truly do have the money, I… well…" The king stood up from his throne, tried to put on a serious face, and cleared his throat "I, Arton the second, king from the southern seas to the northern swamps, from the eastern wildlands to the western forest, as requested by arch mage Io, savior of Kdach, Bane of Tyrants. I shall grant sole ownership to the Blasted Mountain to arch mage Io, savior of Kdach, Bane of Tyrants. May the kingdom crumble, if I shall not keep my word."
"Blasted Mountain, eh? Sounds neat" Remarked Io, clearly not giving the same level of seriousness as everyone else in the hall does "Well, now that this is settled, I beg your pardon my highness, but I'm going to resign to my quarters, pack up my belongings, and head out to my birthplace. I will be mailing the further details of our agreement from there"
"Aren't you staying for the banquet held for your sake?" Asked the king
"Crowds aren't really my thing, but I suppose you're right. A banquet without the main quest is a shame. But that can be fixed. I offer this banquet to the heroes who cleared out the dark castle of Xarxigias. Without them, I would had failed."
The crowd cheered on, and the 20 or so adventurers who were present in the banquet felt a bit better, feeling happy about people acknowledging their deeds. But to be honest to themselves, they knew Io didn't need any help.