Simon was currently lying on the floor, tending a wound in his belly for teasing Camille.
It was the first time that she injured him, but he didn't mind it as she was pretty soft with him taking account of her enormous strength.
Raising on his feet after finishing up, he glanced at her .
"A Queen needs a kingdom, what are your prospects about that?" He asked as he was bored and wanted to start formulating a plan in his mind. Having so much free time without doing anything daily was killing him.
Camille was unfazed by his question and she said lazily.
"I don't really know, I wanted something like humans towns but I know that isn't possible on my territory, so I was thinking in the future start attacking villages and towns to bring those people here and build a city around my mountain."
Simon stopped his action a looked incredulously at Camille "Are you serious?" he couldn't help but ask.
She looked back at him and said plainly.
"what else can I do? Humans and other races seem fond of being protected by powerful beings. If I make them acknowledge that I surpassed their rulers and that I'm better than them, I would convince them to live under my protection, like those stupid and ungrateful monkeys " at the end of her words she began to feel incensed.
"Besides, I'm a thousand times better than the corrupt Kings, chancellors or chieftain that they often have. Added with my lifespan and I'm the perfect ruler for them. Mighty, charming and immortal." Camille let out a small laugh at the end.
Simon began to massage his temple as he heard her.
He didn't really know the culture in this world but he was sure that they wouldn't like the idea of living under the rule of someone that attacked them. Or that's what he thought until he remembered how in his previous world, nations conquered kingdoms and a few generations later, the citizens were assimilated under the conqueror culture.
"First of all, that is a terrible idea. Why don't we make use of the dwarves? They are good builders, right? Just look at this place."
As he began to think about how to create a kingdom he began to remember all those books and games he was fond of, while also remembering his lectures and classes at the university regarding public management.
With resolution in his words, he began to say to her.
"We will need a lot of things but dwarves will be a good start, they could make a lot of things that we can use to make a foothold." when he began to think about the prospects he begins to feel excited.
" Yeah! We could also attract the people living in the forest. There are plenty of resources, space and handwork with specialized craftsmans and by having you, with your strength and image as the whole point of unity, we wouldn't have to face problems regarding the authority of the rulership, and since we're living in the middle of nowhere that means no nation would bother us, more so having a fucking dragon as deterrence!" When he finished his words, there was a grin on his face as he walked over Camille and took her claw with his hands.
"I'm feeling inspired by the sight in my mind, wouldn't you like to see people living in this barren mountain? filling the surrounding with houses, industries, paved roads, people everywhere, kids running around, soldiers, gardens, a brothel, music everywhere, art." He began to move his hands as if he was pointing the buildings.
"Hey, I don't want a brothel in my mountain," Camille said sternly to him.
"You can't decide that! You don't have power in that place, you fool." He said with an evil expression.
"I will burn that place the moment I caught sight of it, also you look dumb with that expression in your face." She said while closing her eyes and relaxing her body.
Simon put both hands on his hips while putting a prideful expression.
"Your words can't hurt me, I can only feel pity for your lack of awareness." Then he opened both of his eyes and said with a serious voice.
"But there's a bunch of things to do before everything take form, I don't even know from where to start, geez, everything is a mess in my head right now. But I'm sure of one thing dear Camille, you will have the most beautiful and efficient kingdom in all realms!" He looked at her eyes as he said with a dramatic tone on his voice.
Camille narrowed her eyes.
"You can trust me, those hours playing the total war Saga, Civilization, Crusader Kings and monopoly would pay their investment!" He chuckled while running from the chambers.
Camille just chuckled at him, while also started to think about what to do from her part.
...
After a few hours passed by, Simon was laying outside watching the starry sky, as he tried to get a clear plan on his head.
He wanted to create a kingdom for two reasons, first of them was Camille, he didn't know how Dragons were in this world but he was sure that none of them would have shown leniency on him. Having her treating him this good could show how much luck he has. The second one was related to his circumstance, as he was unsure of what could he do if what Camille said was true. He didn't want to have a bad life now that he got a second chance. He knows that he needs to focus on something now that his emotions were in disarray, he remembered how hard it was for him to start something in his previous life, to keep the constancy everyday and put an effort from his part.
He didn't want to mess up things here.
His only hope was the power he has asked for, and see if there was a way to put all his knowledge in use in this world. But first, he needed to see if there was a way to gain access to his power, as he finds himself unable through after all this time.
With a long sigh, he looked up in the sky, as he was always marveled at the sight. The feeling of being just a tiny speck in the universe was somewhat comfortable to him. He reached out his hand on the sky as he muttered in a peaceful voice.
"...How would it feel to roam freely in the skies?... Having the power to reign your life without having to make concessions, living with happiness ... how would it be to have such a life without any concerns?..." With a long in his eyes, he stay on the ground, watching the sky until the dream world claimed his body as he sleeps peacefully.
Somewhere else in the cave, Camille was paying attention to him, as she was ruminating about his questions, thinking about if she has the life that he was longing for.
But she find out that she wasn't freely as she seems to think, she seems to be full of concerns daily. Also, she didn't seem to remember feeling happy in most of her memories, hitting this on her, she began to feel an emptiness inside of her.
A feeling she was familiar with.
For the first time since Simon appeared on her mountain, she began to have back those negative feelings again. The chill of the night that was unable to affect her body, seems to ignore it, as she began to coil herself around, trying to find warmth in the night.
...
The next morning Simon could be seeing searching around the nest for something. Camille was aware of this but, not wanting to show too much attention to him choose to stay with her eyes closed.
After a few minutes searching without finding whatever he was looking for. Simon decided to pester Camille. "Yo, lizard Queen, do you perhaps have some clothes here? The one's that I'm wearing smells bad and they are tattered. I can't start this journey without proper clothes, what would the people will think of me?" he said while he was gesturing something with his hands.
Camille opened an eye and said to him.
"Idiot, that you are an idiot."
She then raise her head and said to him sternly. "Also, show me respect, I am not your friend or somebody close to you for talking me like that."
"The insult was free by the way."
Simon was unperturbed with her words as he responded her with closed eyes and apprehensive smile.
"It's okay to be a tsundere, I don't mind it, also where I came from people are used to treat each other friendly and warmly." Suddenly he opened both of his arms and said
"So please, don't be so cold towards your handsome human friend, look at my face, do you believe what you said?"
Camille couldn't restrain herself anymore as she teleport him outside of the mountain.
"First take bath, it can help with that smell of you and with your idiocy." She then began to search around for some left some clothes that pilled up from the previous years.
'I don't think I left something like clothes, I'm sure I probably erased them with their bodies. Well, I don't care, he can spent his time trying to get some.' She grinned to herself, as she knew that most humans feel embarrassed about walking without clothes.
Below the mountain a young man was laying in the floor, looking at the sky. One of his left hand fingers was in a unnatural position but there wasn't any sign of pain in the young face.
'Man, I'm really weak, I hope someday this could change. I don't want to be tossed around, but honestly I don't know what to do, I really fucked up with my wish.' Glancing over it with a dead pan expression, Simon thought to himself.
He sighed and closed his eyes. With care, he raised on his feet. Looking around him he aspired some air on his lungs as he shout.
" CAMILLE LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE WITH MY FINGER, GOD DAMN YOU!" His face was covered in an annoyed expression as he shout to, apparently, the sky or maybe the clouds.
"..."
"....."
"....."
"What a pain in the ass, she didn't even answered me or tried to take responsibility. Damn that lizard." With a pout he started walking towards a bush with his left hand in his chest, then it grabbed a few sticks from a branch with his right hand while he put them by side from his finger that was bent over in a painful position.
With one stick remain, he took the finger and sucked inwardly a breath as he tried to amend his finger.
'Shit it hurts a lot' With a pained expression he watched as his finger was put in a correct position, then he ragged his shirt as he put both, his finger and stick, together as he tie them with the torn piece of cloth.
The whole ordeal took a while as with only one available hand a few fingers from the other one, made it hard for him to finish his job.
With a last look on his finger he then decided to search for his breakfast. While mumbling some words.
Simon was familiarized with the surrounding area of the mountain, as he spent a lot of his time there. Often you could see a lot of his failed traps that he tried to put in use. Or poorly cut pieces of wood, that were the result of his intent of recreating furnitures.
There were also a large pieces of land poorly plowed.
Simon watched all of this and with a exasperated sigh he said in his mind.
'It sounded easy on the novels and series.' He shook his head and continue forward, following no particular path as he was thinking lots of things in his head.
The firsts day's in this world, Simon was always in a state of alert of his surroundings. But with Camille's constant remainder that she was watching over him, he quickly relaxed and stopped watching his surroundings. He started to pay attention only to the fruits or plants that could catch his eyes.
And so, he began to wander further and further from the mountain without him realizing. There were less tree's and pines, and more a large plains with tall grasses were at his view, with some trees on the way.
.He stopped in his place as he glanced around with a frown. He was in a zone that he never ventured before, he was still on the forest but the plain in front of him seemed to extended for a few kilometers.
The sun was also past noon, and he started to walk a few minutes after the morning...
"Camille, can you hear me?" He exclaimed loudly. But the usual answer wasn't there.
"Crap, I don't want to raise flags but this looks like a great place to an encounter. I hope it's not a young master, I don't want to be bullied right now." The frown on his face only deepened as he said this. 'I could just turn back now, but it's most likely it won't be able to find my path back. And with these trees covering the whole mountain... Why I'm so stupid? Damn!' He sighed as he closed his eyes, trying to find determination to do something.
While he was relaxing his mind, he started to hear a faint voice. First he thought that it was his head, as he usually have really loud thoughts. He never knew if this was normal, as he didn't heard of anyone complaining about of their noisy thoughts.
But then he could discern stress and violence in the voice. It sounded like someone was shouting for something.
"Holy shiet! it's really the legendary encounter. Quickly I must run somewhere." Simon started to run straight to the forest as if his life was on line.
'Seriously, the only moment I left the mountain this happens, I curse this world and God for this kind of plot, it promised me a fantasy one but this smells like a young master encounter!' While he was thinking this he tried to suppress the guilt feeling in his chest, he knew that there was nothing he could do in his position. He was powerless, his wish didn't work and his only background or protection was outside of his influence right now. 'Forgive me strange person, even if you are an old man who once was a hero and now is a cripple, I can't help you'. He swear to his heart that one day he would came back and offer a pray in this place for that poor soul.
While he was running he heard clear screams in the distance, he could discern at least three different people from their voices. But then, he heard a high pitched screaming, it sounded a lot like a child scream. He stopped on his spot, while in his face there was an exasperated expression.
'Don't do it, you will regret it!' That's was his mind telling him to do, the most rational and logical think. Even his instincts was telling him to not turn back, he knew that right now he has no chance against anything in this world.
"I can't run knowing that a child is in a dire situation."He muttered under his breath.
'BUT YOU AREN'T A HERO, WHAT THE HELL, DUDE STOP-' he stopped paying attention to the voice in his head as he turned back and started to run towards the origen of the voice. He run for a minute, while moving the grass aside and gaining a few cuts in his hand as result of the sharp grass.
Then a few meters ahead he saw the grass moving, as the sounds of someone running while getting out of breath as it was sobbing, reached his ears. He run directly towards there and he finally saw it.
'Oh crap, it's a loli!'
There was a little girl who didn't even reach his waist, with a blonde disheveled hair. Her cute face was stained with dirt, blood, cuts and mucus. She was wearing animals hides that was only covering her chest and a skirt that reached her knees. Her eyes were red as she was crying. But when she saw Simon in front of her, surprised flashed her face, followed by dread thinking that he was one of those man's who was chasing her.
Seeing her face expression Simon knew that she probably have misjudged his intentions, so with his right hand he move his finger towards his mouth, giving the sign to not make a sound "Shh..."
He then tried to carry her by grabbing around her waist. But she struggled as her face was pale with fear visible in her eyes. He approached her ears and said to her softly.
"I'm trying to help you, don't make sounds or they will find you, okay?"
He knew that probably it wouldn't help in her current situation, but knowing his own intentions he didn't wait for her response, as he take her in a princess carry and run back from where he came.
The tree pursuers were closing the distance every second it passed. Simon judged that they were probably 40 or 50 meters behind him. He didn't know how long they were chasing the little girl but he saw how breathless she was when he appeared.
'I can lose them in the forest, probably.' He thought to himself.
The little girl wasn't heavy, so he could run easily through the grasses without much trouble. The only problem he could saw was the difference between him and the pursuers, as he wasn't what you could call a runner.
Suddenly he heard on his left a heavy step, when a figure pushed him to the ground. He tried to not hurt the girl in the fall as he took the brunt of the force.
He tried fastly to raise but the figure didn't let him as kicked him in the back with an enormous amount of strength. Simon groaned loudly as his breath scaped his lungs through the mouth while a terrible pain assaulted his entire spine.
He tried to look at the figure, only to receive a kick on his face. His vision suddenly tunneled as he felt something flying off his mouth. There was a warm feeling over his nose and mouth while a feeling of numbness started to spread through his face.
He was trying to regain his breath when another kick reached his back. This time the kick clearly made a sound to Simon, he didn't know exactly which bones it broke, but only curled up around the little girl, with his consciousness escaping from him as kicks were raining over his back and head. Each one with an amount of strength he never felt before.
Everything was seeming to drift away, as he didn't feel the pain as much as before. He tried to form some kind of thought but it was impossible in his current state.
A familiar feeling was starting to spread over his body, the same one he felt before leaving the earth.
The little girl in his arms was aware from everything, She was feeling the body of Simon being hit by the man, then, she heard the others pursuers as they too began to hit him. Her face was filled with dread as everything was happening too fast for her, she didn't even know what to do as her tears began to pour on her eyes filling her face.
It was then that everything seemed to stop, she couldn't hear those man's anymore, only the faint erratic respiration of Simon. She tried to move him from her, to take a look of what was happening. Only to found herself in a dark place, there she saw a gentle faced woman who smiled at her. She didn't know why but the tears started to fall again, her cry was heartbreaking as she began to recount everything in her head from the moment she separated from her mother to this point, the woman in front of her hugged her gently. After a few minutes the little girl started to breath calmly as she fell to sleep.