The investiture was filled with pomp and circumstance. No, wait that’s a song. There was lots of pomp, and lots of ceremony involved. The ceremony took place in the palace’s throne room. The room was filled with tapestries depicting battles, banners, flags, statues of previous kings, and marble everywhere. Marble columns, marble floors, marble walls, even the ceiling was made of marble. It was gloriously ornate.

  The four of us knelt facing the king with our heads bowed. The king sat on his throne. The head priest from at least ten different gods blessed us. This included the Death god’s head priest, who winked at me when he blessed us. Irreverent, but it did a lot to ease my anxiety. The Crown Prince was next. He gave a long speech about each of our deeds, then about the responsibilities of nobility. He finished off by telling everyone that each of us had demonstrated the best traits of nobility and were deserving of our investiture.

  The King stood up and called Duke Donnert forward. Duke Donnert rose, moved in front of the King and then raised his right hand against his chest.

  “Recite the vows of the Decharte nobility,” the King ordered.

  “I, Duke Donnert, vow to protect the Kingdom of Decharte. Whether from invading armies, wandering monsters, or public corruption. I will stand between them all and the people of Decharte. I am their defender. I am their soldier. My life before theirs. In this vow, I will not fail, for this is what it is to be nobility.”

  It’s a nice vow. It says all the right things, especially loyalty to the kingdom, not the King. Standing between doom and the people is also a nice touch. And I have to admit, the nobility in Forest Glen did just that every monster wave.

  When Duke Donnert was finished with the vow, a halo of light surrounded him. I don’t know if it was some mage, or the system, but it highlighted him as the King touched him on the shoulder and said “You are invested as a Duke of Decharte. Be fair, be just, and be strong for the kingdom and its people. I present to you, Duke Mikael of House Donnert.”

  Duke Donnert turned around and the audience exploded in applause. It wasn’t the polite applause that I expected, but enthusiastic and joyful. Duke Donnert returned to us and knelt down next to Justinian.

  “Earl Justinian of House Corville, come forward.”

  Justinian stood and move to the same position Duke Donnert had occupied. He raised his right hand against his chest.

  “Recite the vows of the Decharte nobility,” the King ordered.

  “I, Earl Corville, vow to protect the Kingdom of Decharte. Whether from invading armies, wandering monsters, or public corruption. I will stand between them all and the people of Decharte. I am their defender. I am their soldier. My life before theirs. In this vow, I will not fail, for this is what it is to be nobility.”

  When Justinian finished, a halo of light surrounded him, just like Duke Donnert. The King touched him on the shoulder and said “You are invested as an Earl of Decharte. Be fair, be just, and be strong for the kingdom and its people. I present to you, Earl Justinian of House Corville.”

  Again, the crowd went wild with joyful applause. After it died down, Justinian returned to his former position.

  “Count Trevor of House Tierra, come forward.”

  I moved in front of the King and placed my right hand over my chest.

  “Recite the vows of the Decharte nobility,” the King ordered.

  “I, Count Tierra, vow to protect the Kingdom of Decharte. Whether from invading armies, wandering monsters, or public corruption. I will stand between them all and the people of Decharte. I am their defender. I am their soldier. My life before theirs. In this vow, I will not fail, for this is what it is to be nobility.”

  This time, the halo of light was accompanied by the ding of a notification. I knew only I heard it, but it was there. No one had told me there would be one.

  The King touched me on the shoulder and said “You are invested as a Count of Decharte. Be fair, be just, and be strong for the kingdom and its people. I present to you, Count Trevor of House Tierra.”

  Yes, the crowd went wild again. It didn’t matter that I was a commoner before this to them. They were truly joyful that Decharte had another defender. When the applause died down, I returned to my position.

  “Baron Brakford of House Templar, come forward.”

  He moved in front of the King and placed his right hand over his chest.

  “Recite the vows of the Decharte nobility,” the King ordered.

  “I, Baron Brakford of House Templar, vow to protect the Kingdom of Decharte. Whether from invading armies, wandering monsters, or public corruption. I will stand between them all and the people of Decharte. I am their defender. I am their soldier. My life before theirs. In this vow, I will not fail, for this is what it is to be nobility.”

  Brakford had to include his first name, because there were already two more Barons in House Templar.

  The halo of light surrounded him and the King touched him on the shoulder and said “You are invested as a Baron of Decharte. Be fair, be just, and be strong for the kingdom and its people. I present to you, Baron Brakford of House Templar.”

  I swear the crowd was even more excited about Brakford than Duke Donnert. The applause lasted longer than any of ours and was louder. They really loved him. Brakford returned to his position in our line. The priests came around and gave us all another blessing, blessed the King, the kingdom, and the people of the kingdom.

  The King bade us rise and carry out the vows of our nobility, which was our cue to stand up and march out of the throne room. We didn’t go far, because just outside of the throne room was a room prepared to receive us. We could decompress for five minutes before we headed over to the ballroom for the celebration of the investiture.

  *---------------------*

  The next day was a day of gift giving or receiving depending on your point of view. In a private meeting with just his newly raised nobles, the King gave his gifts. The first gift went to Duke Donnert. A long empty ducal seat was given to him. The duchy of East Bekhall. This oversaw three counties, and provided him with the lands owned by the previous duke. That duke had no heirs when he passed and therefore the property and seat returned to the crown. Now, it was given to the newest duke. Since this was a hereditary title, the King made it known that heirs were expected forthwith.

  The property included a proper castle in the main province of Marstubs, a huge compound in Decharte City, several other homes, numerous large tracts of land in each of the counties he oversaw, a few mines and a lumber mill. The King was quite generous to Mikael. Duke Donnert would have quite a lot to manage during his tenure as duke.

  One of the reasons that the King had been so generous to Mikael, was that his next gift to Justinian was Renovolt. Both the title, the county government, and the lands that had been Mikael’s. The nominal reason was that a duke could not own large tracts of land in a county under another duke’s control. The manor, the lands, the house in Decharte went to Justinian but not the mine near Forest Glen. This firmly put Justinian in charge of Renovolt county, and removed any reason for Mikael to interfere with Renovolt county. It seemed a wise move to reduce any tensions. Luckily for Justinian, his wife was very good at managing estates, so he wouldn’t have to.

  As a new noble I didn’t expect much, but I was wrong. The King gave me a compound in Decharte City, expressing his hope that I would spend time in the capital every now and then. I received the land where I wanted to build my dungeon, twenty square miles of it. It was mostly forest and such, but it was still a large amount of land. This included the mine and all the land in between. I did have to promise to build a road from Forest Glen to the dungeon, which I gladly agreed to. Lastly, I was given a tome of portals. This would allow me to learn the portal spell. The difference between teleport and portals was that portals could be used by others and stayed open for a limited period. It was an amazing gift, and showed the King had done his homework on me.

  Baron Brakford of House Templar first gift wasn’t property or money. He was approved to be heir to the countess’ title when she passed. I didn’t know that the King had to approve the heir, but apparently this was how it was done here. Early approval was almost never done, but the King said that Brakford had proven himself. The second gift was property. It was a fruit orchard and an iron mine, both in southern Renovolt county. Between the two, Brakford would have a nice income to support his new wife. The orchard even had a small manor, where the two could go visit. Again, the King had done his homework, knowing Brakford was getting married.

  While the King was done, the gift giving was not. Duke Donnert had his own gifts to give. First, he gave Justinian all the furnishings in Forest Glen’s manor. This way, Justinian didn’t have to spend all his money just furnishing the manor. This included some very expensive sculptors and paintings. Second, he, with Justinian’s approval, gave me Covern House in perpetuity, rather than a hundred-year lease. Finally, he gave Brakford a small compound in his new duchy. This was quite significant, since House Templar didn’t have any presence in the duchy. The duke knew that and also knew this would firm up Brakford’s position as heir for House Templar. Politics. You can never get away from it.

  There was one other ‘gift’, I received. Justinian gave me all the Healer Guilds in Donnert county. As a noble, it would be my responsibility to manage them. Mikael had annexed them when he discovered the corruption and installed new leadership reporting directly to him, or Ruberm rather. I think Justinian just didn’t want to deal with it and foisted it off on me.

  I became aware of a few other things of note. First, since the King did not revoke Justinian’s viscount title, he could pass it on to his second son, Jaster. His oldest son would get the Earl title. This solved a major problem for Justinian. Now he just had to worry about his daughter’s future.

  Ruberm, though technically an employee of the Earl of Renovolt, would be going with Duke Donnert. No surprise there, but worth noting. Quite a few employees and a few select nobles would actually go with the duke. Justinian would need to hire people, and hire them quickly. He would also need to recruit replacement nobles. Forest Glen was much safer now, so it should be easier to get nobles to come. It was my guess that Ruberm would have a list of candidates for Justinian before the end of the day.

  Brakford would be staying in Decharte City until his wedding, which was in about a month. Majora would also be staying. Travelling between Decharte City and Forest Glen would take a month anyway, so she might as well stay.

  Justinian would also be staying in Decharte for the wedding. As the Earl Brakford worked for, his presence would send a message of confidence to all observers. His wife and oldest would go back to Forest Glen though. They would be responsible for the transition and moving into the manor. This was for the best, because Justinian’s wife and son would be primarily responsible for the day to day running of the government. Might as well start it off that way.

  Fabia turned down the knighthood offered her by Duke Donnert. He said it was for services rendered, which I took as her spying on me. Which was okay, given the circumstances, and given that I knew she was a spy. However, since she was a member of House Tierra, she decided she would rather be helping me run my business than fighting. So, rather than be a knight, she fully embraced being a member of House Tierra. I felt extremely lucky.

  As a Count, I would be unable to continue my membership in the Adventurers Guild. Knights, and such were allowed, but no one Baron or higher could. This was a sad thing for me, as I had taken a liking to the gathering quests. At least the Guild had healers to take care of them now, and they could always come to my store for advanced healing.

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  The Magic Academy didn’t have enough time to complete a real introduction to magic research, so it was decided to send a Professor of Magic Research to Forest Glen. In fact, ten people would be coming and seeing if they could open an annex there. That would be wonderful for Forest Glen.

  Before I left to go back to Forest Glen, I visited my new compound. Compound was a good word for it. It had a massive manor, making Covern House look small, and half a dozen other building. I saw a stable for horses, which would be good for Ramram. There was a barrack for guards, and what looked like a dining hall. I am not sure what the other builds were.

  When we entered the manor, we were met by the head caretaker. There had been no one living in the manor for a few years. The manor itself was gorgeous. It had at least twenty bedrooms, a ballroom, huge dining room, two libraries, private offices, and staff quarters. The entry way was all white marble with gold veins, with 20-foot ceiling, and two rows of marble columns on either side. Each column had a unique design ranging from plain to ornate pictograms of animals chasing each other through a forest. One column seemed to tell the story of some person rising from rags to riches, from poverty to power.

  During my tour of the manor, one of the staff asked if I would be retaining everyone. I looked over to Gabriel and asked if he was willing to undertake staffing reviews to make sure we had enough to maintain the place. He agreed. I asked the staff member to get everyone together, so I could talk with them. Five minutes later, everyone was in the entry room.

  “Hello everyone, I am Count Trevor of House Tierra. The King has graciously given me this compound, which will now be our home in Decharte City. I expect that I will spend about a quarter of my time in the compound, and that House Tierra will grow. Gabriel is my head of all housing. He will be reviewing the current staff and the compounds staffing needs. His word is final on all matters pertaining to the compound and its staff. Fabia is my chief of staff on all other matters, especially all business-related matters. Chef, who is still in Forest Glen, will accompany me when I am in residence here and is in charge of the kitchen. Ramram, who is also still in Forest Glen, is Tierra House’s Chief Horse Steward, and will take charge of the stable and horses when here. Gabriel, if you would like to say something, please do.”

  “Thank you, my Lord. All staff members will go through a quick review today. I do wish to note that the compound is in excellent condition and I commend you for that. I will work with the head caretaker to schedule the reviews.”

  I was shown the master suite, which, as you can imagine, was huge. It had the bedroom, a sitting room, a bathroom, and a small office. Fabia and Gabriel, being high ranking members of House Tierra picked out their own rooms in the family area. I also picked out a room for Ramram.

  The libraries were already filled with books, including books on magic. I took a couple so I could read them in Forest Glen. I also set my Take Me Home temporary point here. It would last several weeks. My primary was set in Covern House garden.

  I made ready to leave but told Gabriel that if he felt he needed to stay, then he could. I planned on coming back in a few months to set up a healing store catering to the nobles to begin with, just like I did in Forest Glen. He agreed that it might be best for him to oversee the opening of the compound. I gave him a budget of 200 gold for restoration and hiring of contractors and new staff. He was happy with the amount, mentioned something about a cousin in Decharte City.

  Fabia and I made our way back to the palace. We would be leaving in a few hours, but I didn’t have anything else I needed to do. So, we waited in the room. I didn’t even have the motivation to go sightseeing.

  Finally, it was time to leave and return to Forest Glen. We made our way to the portal room. I could see the portal was still open. An idea hit me. I asked Fabia to find out how much it costs to open a portal and what it took to keep it open. I had an idea of being able to get merchandise straight from the capital. Morisa and I could then use our trade routes to deliver items to Toverville and other cities in Renovolt county quicker that the overland trip. This could be a profitable business, especially if I owned the portal. Hell, I might be able to expand this to other counties. I might be able to layoff some costs, if I could justify it as a way to assist the kingdom’s quick reactionary force. Imagine getting Justinian to Decharte City in minutes instead of hours or days, to fend off a dragon attack. What would that be worth?

  I chuckled to myself as I walked through the portal to Forest Glen.

  Does the air smell fresher out here in the frontier? Or is it just me. I think large cities carry certain eau de Parfum, by which I mean smell. Whatever it is, I think I like the air here in Forest Glen better. I take a few deep breaths as I step outside of the Earl’s manor, then got a carriage to Covern House.

  Nothing has changed in the few days I have been away. At the door, Raffel greets me. He is Gabriel’s second. I let him know that Gabriel will be in Decharte for at least a few more days, and he is to take his place until Gabriel returns. I also let him know that I expect nothing to change. He just nods.

  I go into my bedroom and change into my exercise clothes, then wander down into the garden. It’s been too long since I did my katas and forms. I start slowly, then start building up speed. I continue to speed up until my hands are a blur. This feels good. I move fast, but all my forms are perfect. Muscle memory knows what to do, I just control the speed, and today I am going all out. At least up until I hit one of the practice dummies and it explodes into splinters. I had been working out for over an hour, so I decided to quit. I informed Raffel that we needed a new practice dummy. He just nodded. I am sensing a pattern here.

  After my workout, went into my office and studied the maps I had. I wanted to find the best route to my new land. In two days, I would head out there and look around. I had Raffel send a message to my trading company partner, Morisa, asking him to come by Covern House tomorrow morning. I wanted to discuss a couple of opportunities.

  I also sent a message to Gorver asking him to come to Covern House tomorrow afternoon. Fabia had made it clear to me that as a Count, I was to have people meet me at Covern House, rather than go meet them. It was the expected behavior.

  Lastly, I sent a message to the chief healer. He was to report to me an hour before lunch. We had much to discuss including the current status of the Forest Glen Healers Guild.

  Tomorrow would be a very busy day.

  *---------------------*

  Morisa came by early in the morning. We sat down and I told him about my idea for creating a portal from Forest Glen to Decharte City. The main reason for the portal would be trade, but could also be a means for adventurers to come to Forest Glen and then to the Dungeon.

  Morisa was hesitant saying “I have heard the cost of opening a portal is exorbitant. I don’t know how we would make our gold back. Portal specialists are amongst the rarest magic users there are. Yes, if we did have such a portal, then we could certainly bring in specialized good from the capital and send them to other nearby cities quickly. If could cut down weeks of travel time. We could make quite a profit while undercutting traders using the more traditional transportation means. Not only that, but we could charge the adventurers a passage fee, which would help defray the cost of the portal itself.”

  I could see he was talking himself into it. The more he thought about it, the more he could see how it would be a game changer.

  Next, I pulled out a map and showed him where my land was located. “My plan is to create the Dungeon there. The Dungeon will generate a lot of traffic and commerce. The King has already granted me the land, but I have to build a road to it. If you have contacts that know about road building, I could use your help.”

  “I know of a surveyor, who can map the road for you. I am sure he knows who would be able to build the road. His name is Mattey, and I will contact him later today.”

  “That would be great. In addition to a road, I plan on building an inn, a tavern, and a store. The inn and tavern will be run by retired adventurers, but I think our company should run the store. What do you think?”

  “I think that is an excellent idea. We have experts that can use Identification and estimate the value of items. In addition, we can stock commonly used adventuring items. I think the retired adventurers running the tavern and inn can help out with that.”

  “Yes, that was my thought also. The prices will be a bit higher, because of the convenience, but not outrageously. If priced too high, the adventurers will just come back to Forest Glen. I would like the profit to help build the area around the Dungeon. Self-sustaining is my goal for the first year.”

  Morisa left saying he would send Matty by this afternoon.

  My next appointment was with the chief healer of the Renovolt Healers Guild. He was a middle-aged man with a quiet dignity about him. He was dressed in healers’ robes.

  “Count Tierra, I am Janos, chief healer. I have come as requested,” he said.

  “Chief Janos. It is good to meet you. Are you aware that Earl Corville has ‘gifted’ me with the Renovolt Healers Guilds?”

  “Yes, my Lord. Word reached us this morning. How can the guild be of service?”

  “I don’t know if you are aware, but the previous leadership of the Healers Guild tried to have me assassinated. They were working with a demon to keep magic healing a secret. I don’t know why, just that it was so. The demon killed them all. Only one grandmaster survived, because they were not involved in the plot to keep magic healing a secret.”

  Janos looked abashed at the thought of the Healers Guild leadership being corrupted. “I did not know, my Lord.”

  “Yes, I don’t want that spread around. The demon in question is banished for a thousand years. So, we don’t have to worry about him anymore. What I want to talk about isn’t that though. It’s about where the Renovolt Healers Guild is today and where it should be in the future. But since I don’t want to be associated with the Healers Guild outside of Renovolt, I suggest we change the name to the Renovolt Healers Association. This will clearly set us apart, and because I plan on training some healers in magical healing, I think it is necessary. Do you know magic Janos?”

  “I have some aptitude, but didn’t really travel that path.”

  “May I use Identification on you?” I asked.

  “Of course, my Lord.”

  Identification showed that he did indeed have an aptitude for magic. So, I took out a tome.

  “This tome is for Minor Healing. I would like you to learn the spell. Are you willing?”

  Janos was stunned. I don’t know what he expected, but I am sure it wasn’t this. He probably thought he was being replaced, if anything. Now, he was going to learn magic healing. Janos nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

  I brought out a pen and paper. “Let’s start with the spell description….”

  Half an hour later, the tome lit up and Janos learned the spell Minor Healing. I made a small cut on my arm and he cast Minor Healing and watch it close. Amazement in his eyes.

  “I can’t understand why they would want to keep this unknown. Imagine the good we can do with this.”

  “A lot of good. And that brings up another thing I want to talk about. I want ever member of the Healers Association to take a vow. Like I took a vow when I was invested. This vow will guide our policy, our work, and reflect back on us. I want the Healers Association to be a force of good in this world, and I want you to help me make it so. First order of business is to have the chiefs of the other branches come to Forest Glen for a meeting. Can you arrange that for early next month? Say, five weeks from now?”

  “Yes, my Lord. I will have them come for a week.”

  “Also have them bring three dedicated Healers, that have magic aptitude. I will train them in Minor Healing also. Which means, that you will need to send me three candidates. I will be busy for the next few days, so I will come to the Association building sometime next week. Please have a conference room ready. I also want to assure everyone that even if you can’t learn magical healing, there is need for you in the Healers Association. Magical Healing is great, but it is not always needed. Bandaging, setting broken bones, treating temperatures are all examples of what Magical Healing cannot do. We will need people to do those, because we will be providing all healing services. Please remember. We are not in the business of making money. We are in the business of healing. As the Count in charge of the Healers Association, I will be supporting it financially. That includes wages.” Yes, it was a lot to sign up for, but if I was going to change the culture, the Healers Association had to rely on me.

  “Yes, my Lord that sounds good to me. I will help you in any way I can.”

  I stood up and said “Great, because I am counting on you, not only to help in setting this all up, but in getting rid of those whose attitude does not reflect our new philosophy of helping people. This is no longer a Guild that caters to the rich and noble, it’s a Healers Association with the aim of healing everybody.”

  We made our goodbyes and Janos left.

  Mattey came by just after lunch. I showed him the map and where I needed a road built to. He said he could do the survey, but recommended waiting on hiring someone to build the road until he was finished. He would have a good idea of where to run the road and any special requirements. The cost was only 1 gold.

  Gorver came over a little later in the afternoon.

  “I have been informed that as a count, I will be unable to stay as a member of the Adventurers Guild. So, consider this my resignation. However, that does not mean you can’t bring people to here for advance healing. I want to thank you for all you and the Guild have done for me.”

  “I understand my Lord” Gorver said.

  “I will be opening the Dungeon in the next 6 months, just a few hours away. If you like, I can give you the initial run.”

  “I would like that.”

  “I will also be needing to hire a few retired adventurers to run an inn and a tavern there. Any suggestions you can make in that regard will be appreciated. Lastly, my duties as a count will include taking over the Healers Guild in Renovolt county. I have renamed it to Healers Association. There will be a new mandate and I will teach them magical healing. The focus will be on healing people, not gold. I imagine it will take a few months to get everything settle, but you can look forward to a more harmonious relationship between the Guild and the Association. If fact, I will have some healers stationed at the Dungeon site to provide healing for those who challenge it.”

  “That is good news.”

  “Unfortunately, things have changed in a direction I never thought of, but I will do my best. I hope that we can remain friends.”

  “I would like that, my Lord.”

  “And you don’t have to call me my Lord in private. I didn’t like Young Master, and I like my Lord even less.”

  “Thanks Trevor. I hope for only the best for you. If the Adventurers Guild can ever help, just let me know.”

  “Thank you again, for all the help you have given me since I came to Forest Glen.”

  With that, we made our goodbyes and he returned to the Guild.

  Things were going well. My plans were set. I had the land for my Dungeon, a way to create portals, the Healers Association now was under my control and had a new vision. Magical Healing would spread throughout Renovolt county and then Decharte. My Dungeon would help Forest Glen grow, now that the monster waves were gone.

  My future was in my own hands now, no matter what the dreams said. My way forward did not have to include violence as the only means to progress. I would find a different way. A different Path.