The Dragon's Wrath: A Virtual Dream

Chapter 22: After the Earl, After the Past

(Tuesday, March 9th Game Day / Saturday, January 23rd Real Day)

I was awoken by Selene as she turned around to face me, still wrapped in my arms with no place to go. I could see in her eyes she wasn't entirely happy, but she wasn't entirely upset either.

She cracked open a sly smile and whispered in my ear, "Do tell which act this is."

It was said rather seductively as her lips nearly touched my ear. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited, "This is the act of pretending to want warmth when I really just want the comfort of a beautiful maiden."

Her face blushed a rosy pinkish red as she turned away to hide.

"Oh, is that so."

She had made no effort to break free and actually placed her arms along mine, it was rather comfortable after all. I leaned my head into the back of hers with my nose near her neckline, I held steady and kept quiet. I could smell her hair from this distance but I simply wanted to rest my face near hers as I relaxed and breathed lightly down her neck.

I had made no movements and neither had she… and then she turned around again to face me, our faces but a few inches apart. She put her arms around me and started to lean in for a kiss.

I kindly obliged.

As we embraced each other and continued to kiss we were eventually interrupted by noises from outside the lodge. The sun had risen and the villagers had found the two dead warriors by the doorway and were murmuring in fear, hesitating to open the door to the lodge.

Selene and I had been using the guest bedroom, the first door that I had kicked open while looking for the Earl. I had every intention of staying put in said bedroom until business was concluded.

But the chatter became incessant and soon too loud to ignore.

The proper thing to do at this point was to go outside and inform the villagers of what had transpired and give them their freedom… but I was battling with the temptation of a woman beside me… I thought they could wait.

I attempted to continue on, unsatisfied with our short-lived moment but was rebuffed by Selene as she whispered, "It would be best if we took care of their business, before we continue on with our business."

It was hard to argue with logic but I wasn't thinking with the logical head, "I'm more of a man who prefers to finish the most satisfying thing first… are you in disagreement?"

Selene laughed a hearty laugh as she pulled me in, "I do not find you disagreeable, no. But there are priorities you fool." And with that she knocked my head with hers and crossed her arms with a smile.

I couldn't win.

Well, I was already winning so I guess that's a lie after all.

I was just being a sore loser.

I quickly snuck in another kiss before she could say anything else and then lay with her for another minute before getting up.

These damn peasants….

Making my way outside I found half of the village gathered with shovels, axes, carving knives and whatever else they could scrounge up to defend themselves. They quickly recognized me as the adventurer and were visibly confused as they hesitated to decide whether I was friend or foe.

Selene in the meantime had snuck up behind me and poked her head out around my arm, speaking first with a confident but soft tone, "I believe everyone here recognizes me as one of the two girls who was a part of the traveling convent a few weeks ago… well, the long story is that Katherine had discovered that the Earl was the one who ordered his warriors to attack our convent and murder the priests in cold blood.

"She sought help by escaping the village and finding this adventurer here, who risked his life to rescue me from a certain death at the hands of the Earl. We took our revenge in order to ensure the safety of everyone going forward, and believe we have done a service by removing the corrupt Earl and his lackeys."

The crowd started murmuring amongst themselves until a few rowdy individuals loudly proclaimed, "That is a lie! The Earl must think us traitors, we won't betray him, we swear it! Please have mercy on us!"

I could sense their fear but it wasn't even necessary as they wore it plain as all on their faces and in their eyes. The Earl had ruled as a tyrant and used fear to control them. I was glad I took this quest even if they aren't real people… even artificial people deserve to be happy.

I raised a hand which was met with a few cowers but continued speaking where Selene had left off, "The Earl is dead along with his wives and all of his men. You may see for yourself. I have no intention of ruling this area. I will only say one thing in regards to your future state of affairs.

"If you must, elect an odd numbered council of your fairest and most knowledgeable elders to monitor the situation at hand and put to a town vote whatever decisions you plan to make. The council leaders will listen to the suggestions and complaints and can vote amongst themselves to settle indifferences. And remember that in the North, honor is law and law is honor."

Having finished talking, I stepped outside with Selene and let the braver young men into the lodge. They didn't even have to enter to see the bodies inside but they wanted to see the Earl's corpse.

Only then would they feel confident in their future.

After standing outside for a few minutes I could feel my stomach grumbling for want of food. I had fallen asleep in-game while thinking about the past and neglected my real life body… not a smart thing to do.

Without much to do I decided to run back to the campsite at the edge of the forest to grab my gear; I was glad to find even the bear jerky had been left undisturbed.

Throwing the bag over my left shoulder elicited some pain from the critical wound in my chest; it was a 48-hour wound if not healed properly. I then tried to grab the bag of bear jerky with my right arm but my broken collarbone roared with an intense sharp pain that radiated throughout my shoulder and chest. The broken collarbone was considered a 168-hour critical wound… it was going to be extremely troublesome.

In a big city I could simply find a high level healer to heal my severe and lingering wounds but out here in the wilderness, there were no such priests.

But then it hit me, "Ah, Kate's a priest!"

I had completely neglected to check Kate's level and couldn't check Selene's yet because she wasn't a companion, at least not until I finish her quest chain by returning to Kate.

Ah there is hope out in the northern wastelands after all!

The return trip to the village took much longer than anticipated, as I lumbered with a bag of gear over my left shoulder that forced a wince in pain with every step and a bag of bear jerky being dragged on the ground by my left hand.

My right arm just dangled there uselessly.

Entering the village was a welcoming sight to behold though as the NPCs were celebrating around a pile of corpses, which included the Earl's body on top. I couldn't help but laugh a little; all of the information about this village was now out-dated. Any future travelers that thought they would get a quest chain from the Earl would be in for a surprise.

My stomach had continued to growl and rumble, of a different order from the in-game hunger that was more muted. There was also a red warning symbol flashing in the corner of my screen alerting me to my body's condition.

That was the monitoring system at work to prevent people from ignoring their bodies while playing… too many stupid people had played games until they died from dehydration.

Before logging out I wanted to trade off all of the goods that had been collected, including the goods that I had gotten from ransacking the Earl's home. He was a rather poor Earl despite his flaunting, and though his warriors ate well they weren't particularly well off either.

The weapons were of the lowest quality, the armor was simply fur clothing, they had very little coin, and the jewelry was just fashioned animal bones. In the end I just kept a few of the crafted utensils, wooden bowls, wooden plates, an iron cauldron for cooking, and the black bear hide.

I sold the rest for what amounted to a small fortune of 837 copper coins.

And then I logged out.