Thaddeus sat in his virtual office responding to emails. When he finished, he looked out the window to view the river. While his cottage was almost fully furnished, he just finished the desk and chair. He sat in a dark stained cushioned pine chair. On a matching desk, his head lay cradled in his hands. He was staring the latest system message he received.
System Message: You are invited to attend Emperor Regulus Albus Aurelius van Conifer's coronation in the capital.
Never did he expect he would reach the rank of Baron. He never even expected to be a Petty Lord.
Moreover, he didn't even know what it meant to be Baron or noble for that matter. All he wanted to was craft and now his villagers refused to commission their Baron for orders.
His life in-game was turning out different than expected. Originally, he wanted to build a cottage, forge, wood workshop, tannery, and sawmill. He never expected to govern two villages.
"Alfred, what does mean to be a Baron," asked Thaddeus.
"Sir, the nobility is categorized into five tiers: Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron. There are two ways to become a Baron. First, players must reach 500 fame. This is the most straightforward way to receive nobility. The second way is to receive peerage for meritorious service to the empire."
"I don't have 500 fame, and I don't remember doing a service for the empire. Now that I'm a Baron, am I expected to attend the coronation? Do I have to behave in a certain way? Are there certain duties and responsibilities?"
"No, sir. You may continue to behave as you have always."
"What are the benefits?"
"You may now purchase private property in the capital. You may also hire 10, level 150 guards to serve as sentinels for your territory."
"Alfred, hire 10 guards."
"Sir, the guards are quite costly."
"How much do they cost?"
"One guard cost 20 silvers a month, ten would cost 2 gold a month. In one year, your city coffers would be empty," Alfred cautioned.
"Show me the settlement screen."
Title: Baron
Settlement Level: Woodhaerst (Village Level 2) and Ironwood (Village Level 5)
Residents: 477
Banner: A brown bear on a green field.
Faction: Imperial
Sovereign: Emperor Regulus Albus Aurelius van Conifer
Rent: 5-copper/ month
Settlement Tax: 10-copper/a season
Imperial Tax: 50 silver/ annual
Imports: Livestock, clothing, miscellaneous
Exports: Pelts, ore, ingots, mana crystals, crops, livestock, meat, lumber.
GDP: 51 gold
Settlement Account: 24 gold
The first thing he noticed was his GDP and Settlement Account accumulating nicely. With the porters delivering biweekly deposits of ores and mana crystals to Travis and the harvest, his account grew. Moreover, his only expense was his villagers' wages. But Alfred was right, hiring 10 guards would bankrupt him.
"Fine, hire five guards for now. We'll purchase five more in the future," Thaddeus reluctantly agreed.
"Right away, sir."
Thaddeus sent Sebus, Dustin's character, a message about becoming a Baron and buying high-level guards for his village. He knew Dustin would lament his powerlessness.
Not a minute later, he received a class from Dustin.
"Is it true?" Sebus asked excitedly.
"Why would I lie?"
"Thad, you lucky bastard. I'm coming to visit you. Here I am slaving away clearing dungeons, and you're living the high life of Baron. Life is not fair."
"Are you really coming for a visit?"
"Yeah, well you see. I did a chain quest for a shoemaker. And the reward was a cobbler craft skill. What better way to practice the skill, than to visit your village and gain experience and hang out with you? I also get to see this cottage you keep talking about. I figure it's a win-win.
"Yeah, that's great. And don't forget it's your night to do the dishes," Thaddeus reminded.
"Fine. I'll see you in-game in two weeks. Got to go." Sebus said, hanging up the call.
"Alfred, did you, do it?"
"Yes, sir. They should arrive at the same time as your friend. When I ordered guards, I noticed the benefits of nobility updated. The emperor is permitting nobles to purchase confiscated settlements," Alfred said showing an in-game map.
It resembled the one in his office. There were thousands of settlements and ruins. Destroyed settlements turned into ruins and dungeons. From the map, he saw just under 20% of the settlements were up for auction.
When he first traveled to his land claim, he rode five days in the wilderness to get there from Pine Grove. Now there were almost 40 settlements between Woodhaerst and Pine Grove. The closest settlement to him was Springdale, it was just over half a day's ride by horse. But not all of them had conventional names. Five miles from Springdale was Invincible and 10 miles later was MyCITY404.
"Close the map, I'm not interested in more settlements. Two is more than enough, and some settlement players are already pissed at us about losing their settlement. Like my team had any control over the emperor's decision to confiscate settlements," Thaddeus grumbled.
Buzz.
Thaddeus' screen vibrated with an incoming phone call. It was from Huey, his Mythical Guild liaison.
"Thad! How is my favorite contractor? Were you surprised by yesterday's news? I wanted to you myself, but the guild master is overworking us again. It's always, craft a 1,000 of this or 10,000 of that. It's repetitive, but the EXP is nice."
"You're the reason I was promoted to Baron?" Thaddeus asked in disbelief.
"Well not technically, it was our guild master. When he pitched the idea to let Mythical govern the city, he suggested the emperor award all the Petty Lords who supported him and penalize those who didn't. Most got a few gold coins as a thank-you gift.
But when it was reported you supported the emperor, defended the mana crystal mine, and also won against that treacherous criminal Felix the Fraud. The emperor wanted to show you, his support.
I suggested to the guild master, a greater award might be in order. I never thought he repeated what I said to the emperor. But we were all surprised when the emperor announced your promotion to Baron."
"You suggested?"
"Well, he seemed impressed when he heard the guild controlled a mana crystal mine."
"Controlled?" Thaddeus said irritably.
"Honest mistake. I meant to say access too," Huey corrected himself.
"Fine. Have the guild come down here and escort Felix to Redwood."
"He's alive! We all thought he escaped. Do you know his bounty, it's 300 gold! Hold on, I'm messaging the vice guild master now. Someone will be down to get him."
"Well, if that's all, I'll hang up."
"No, wait. The reason why I called is that the guild master needs more ore and mana crystals to update the capital's infrastructure and defenses. In six months, our contract with the emperor ends, and we need lots of mana crystals for the new weapon Vulcan's building."
"The price stays the same. I'll let the Dwarves and porters know. You can expect larger shipments starting today," Thaddeus replied.
"Thanks, I'll see you later," Huey said hanging up the phone.
Thaddeus wrote a quick note to Vakdraen and handed it to the first porter he saw. Soon the porters would need to make daily, sometimes twice daily trips to fill Huey's order. After handing off the note, Travis ran up to him.
"Thaddeus, have you seen Huey's? The guild needs a large shipment of crystals and iron," Travis summarized.
"We just got off the phone. I already sent a note to inform Vakdraen."
"All right, then," Travis said leaving to return to his shop.
"Wait, tell me about the guild's exploration team?"
"Well, as the largest guild. We receive several rumors about quests and dungeons. The exploration verifies the information and then gives it a difficulty rating. If it's true they pay the informant and then assign ratings ranging from SSS-to-F. From there, Athena decided which attack party to assign the quest."
"Thanks."
"Wait, is the exploration team coming? If other guilds find out, they'll swarm here. We'll be flooded with players, and I'll finally make a fortune!" Travis said pumping his fist in excitement.
"Keep this to yourself for now. The village isn't prepared for migration that size," Thaddeus warned him.
"All right, I know the guild doesn't like snitches. The last thing, we need are the inquisitors asking questions," Travis agreed before walking away.
Before breakfast, Thaddeus decided to check on Felix and see how managing. In truth, he would be happy to get rid of him. As he entered the first, he saw adolescent boys at the archery range practicing. Laughing and taunting each other, they practiced diligently.
When he walked into the fort, he saw Captain Joseph coming from breakfast in the Great Hall. Others were chatting outside the barracks. When they saw him, they all saluted.
"How's our guest?" Thaddeus asked Captain Joseph.
"Baron Brown, sire, he's fine…Ah, he just complains a lot."
"All right open the c—"
"Baron! Captain Andrea and Hunter on fast approaching on horseback. There appears to be a woman riding behind Captain Andrea. Your orders, sire?" questioned the guard.
"Send for the Village Council. Have them meet me in the keep."
"Yes, sire," he saluted, quickly directing a guard to inform the Village Council.
Yesterday, after he was promoted to Baron, Brand, in his capacity as Mayor, asked him to start meeting guests in the keep. During the Harvest Festival, he renovated the keep, improved the barracks, and finished the Great Hall. Originally, he planned to use the keep as a future criminal justice administrative building.
Unbeknownst, to him, the Village Council renovated the courtroom into a receiving room, and the judge's office as his official office. They even built him a bedroom.
When he complained to Village Council, Thera said it was his fault for not keeping up with appearances. The Village Council and villagers were concerned visitors would look down on him if he received them in his cottage.
He went into the receiving room, as the guards opened the large drapes to let in the morning light. He was surprised by large the courtroom.
The tables and chairs for attorneys were removed, as were benches for the spectators. Now there was only one armchair above a short platform and a long runner rug that led up the chair. Mostly, the room looked empty and dull.
He waited patiently, for Andrea and Hunter to arrive with the mystery woman but was surprised when the villagers filed into the receiving room.
Many remarked how noble he looked, sitting there, in his chair. Thaddeus felt ridiculous.
"I can tell you uncomfortable, but you should know, your villagers are also uncomfortable with how ignoble you act. Remember traveler, this is our custom. It's customary for a lord, especially all Baron, to receive quests and villagers once a week," Thera counseled.
"I'll act any damn way I please in my village," Thaddeus whispered angrily.
"Ah, acting the part already, are we?" she chuckled.
Just then Andrea and Hunter returned. They walked into the throne room and knelt.
'Eh, do I have to say something cringe? Like, rise, speak?' Thaddeus wondered. 'All right, fine.'
"Stand and speak," Thaddeus ordered.
"Baron Brown, we tracked the mercenaries, they ransacked the hamlets on their way back to Pine Grove. As far as Felix's thugs, we were able to kill most of them. A few made it to Springdale and captured the lord. We were able to rescue her and brought her for treatment," Andrea explained.
"And the dead, is there any proof?" Thaddeus asked thinking there might be a bounty on each one.
"Only our word, sire," Hunter replied.
"I believe you. I believe there was a bounty on their heads. As a reward for killing the thugs, here are 10 silvers each." After all, what're 20 silvers to 300 gold?
"Oh benevolent," whispered the villagers to each other.
"Give it to me, I'll hand it to them," Thera assured.
"Where is our guest?" Thaddeus asked.
"Greetings Baron Brown, I'm Isadora," said an older black woman, with grayish brown hair, and brown eyes.
"My granddaughter is lord of Springdale Hamlet. But she's away fighting on quests with her guild or something. She asked me to look after her hamlet while she was away. Honestly, that girl. I don't even know why she wants a settlement if all she wants to do is fight all day."
"Welcome Isadora, I apologize for not meeting you sooner. I should probably introduce myself to the new neighbors."
"It's fine. I know you're busy. I'm sorry, it took this long for my niece or me to say hello. I never imagined how difficult it is to govern a settlement until I became her surrogate. And your village is so big and nice, bless your heart, you must have worked hard to build this up from nothing."
"Thank you for the compliment. I'm glad, my villagers were able to heal you. Is there anything we can help you with, I want to be a good neighbor."
"Why, yes. May we contract with merchants, traders, and day laborers?"
"It's 30 coppers a month to contract our sawmill, tannery, and farmhands. Guards cost 35-coppers a month. Loggers and builders are 25-coppers per month. And you have my permission to speak to Cassian and Travis."
"Why so expensive?" she asked worriedly.
"Expensive, those are my villagers' wages. How could I loan my people out for less than I pay them?"
"If we were your vassal, would you charge us less?"
"I'm not interested in vassals. But you are free to trade food with us and contract my people as you like."
"No. I'm tired of this game. She promised to return a month ago. If she can't run the village, then it should go to someone who can. I'm giving it to you. It's yours," she said happily like a burden was lifted off her chest. "Oh, I feel so much better, I'm going to log out and rest."
"Eh Madame, did you hear me say I don't want a vassal?" But it was too late, she had already left.
"Congratulations, lord on gaining your first vassal," Brand congratulated.
"Let's forget it. I doubt that woman will even remember what she said. Is there anything else?" Thaddeus asked as he was villagers began sharing their concerns and problems.
One by one Thaddeus answered each villager until only Brand, Thera, Jameson, Arthur, Cassian, Hunter, and Andrea were left.
"Am I done?" Thaddeus yawned tiredly.
"Sire, we've yet to discuss the most important thing…migrants," Brand reminded.