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Morning arrived with a lot of cries from cockerels and the scents of food cooking. It was probably very early, but I couldn't wait to get started. Rolling out of bed, I dressed myself in a long, loose tunic and a very fine cloak, it was a real struggle, though, sitting on the edge of the bed, to bring my foot up to a position where I could get a sandal on it. Should I wear my crown? For now, I just carried it in my hand.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtYCcSuUDJg
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On leaving my room, a guard outside looked at me in astonishment before composing his face into a neutral expression.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4j68wyte2
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It suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea of my way around this castle, yet it would be very strange if I were to ask the guard. So I just followed my nose and again, was met with looks of disbelief and alarm by servants and soldiers until I found my way down and around some wide stairs to a hall big enough for a feast, though all the tables were bare.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIr5JaVCMe5
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'Ah, sire, we weren't expecting you for many an hour yet. I'll hurry the cooks.' A female servant came over as I sat myself at the top table in what was obviously the king's large, padded chair.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmTmDOFHea
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'Just two poached eggs please and an apple and an orange.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuoddRlpuJX
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'We have apples, sire. Not the other.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrNNaUVeno
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'Ahh right. Two apples then. And if you can press a few more to get juice out of them, I'll drink that.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7w1DXS8zk
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'Yes sire.' The servant, a middle-aged woman, had worry lines across her forehead. 'So no roast pork?' She gestured towards a door that I presumed led to the kitchen, judging by the concentration of cooking scents from that direction.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpEuPmH9mVE
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'No.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdIwfbN9qV
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'Er… forgive me, but just to avoid error, sire, no beef slices in horseradish sauce?'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7qBt2cXlm
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'No.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66Plb3pDzL
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'Nor the chicken breast in garlic? The bread-and-butter pudding? The…'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB1gLVFVJTh
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I caught the servant's eye and with a gulp she stopped speaking.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbvP6U1oeM
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'Nothing,' I said firmly, 'other than the eggs, apples and the juice.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQLU3I6uoy
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'Certainly sire,' the woman backed away with an anxious bow.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPpYguBb17
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It would have been interesting to chat with someone and learn something about the world, but none of the guards and servants would dare look at me. The large dining hall was silent as though empty, even though I could count six guards and four servants.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9c8OQeVhyE
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Oh well. I raised my right arm and cascaded some menus. Good, steel pickaxes had been researched, my town now had the knowledge of how to produce them. So I opened up the smithy and planned for a build of 84 new pickaxes, one for every miner. That left my research queue empty and I crunched on one of the hastily delivered apples as I eyed my options, there were hundreds of possibilities, grouped into three core categories: economic, cultural and military. Currently, the food crisis was my biggest concern and my plan to solve it was via exporting ores. Assuming all my neighbours were hostile (and even if they weren't, I wouldn't want any of them to have extra iron supplies), I needed to get my ores further afield. And that meant… Navigation. A six-day research project.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEC8OoX3EF
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After breakfast, with the help of a servant, I changed into tunic and trousers and good boots, then sent for my trainer.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHbQWRs50b1
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Carradock Goblinbane was missing an arm at the elbow. I didn't ask; maybe the king knew his story already. On the short walk from the castle to the barracks training ground, I briefed him. I needed strength training as rapidly as possible. I didn't voice it aloud, but I knew that I just could not risk progressing my character until I understood the issue of stats better and, in particular, whether I could push them up through training.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PFe31dhpo
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'Strength it is, sire, and all-round fitness.' He looked at me longer than most people did. In fact, most people here didn't look me in the eyes at all. 'It will take a while. We must not rush. You're too big and too – excuse me – soft. You'll hurt yourself. For the first day, I just want to you walk around this ground fifty times.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HvKOxP7Mi
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'Fifty?' How hard could it be to walk fifty laps of a square whose sides were only about a hundred metres?453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeW7BprXK7
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It was very hard. After one lap I was sweating. After the second my thighs began to ache and I found myself slowing down from my fast initial pace. After the third, I was panting and my huge body was complaining pretty much everywhere. On ten, Carradock handed me a tankard with cool water in it and I gulped it down. Then he offered me a sword hilt. It was a practice weapon, a rod of iron with no sharp edges. I reached out for it.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDB8cTZQaRi
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'Are you sure?' Carradock looked sceptical.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKS5CVh7Ox
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'Of course. I can do this.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETYHfRMH1e
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'No, I mean, your left hand.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcdXGeLceF
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I had grasped the sword and raised it in my left hand. I tried it then with my right, shook my head, and shifted it back. 'This is better.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVwHmPsU2S
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Back on Earth, I was left-handed. Had the king been right-handed? Was this a sign to everyone I wasn't their old ruler?453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ljuGwkfp9
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'Carry it as often as you can. It will make your sword arm stronger.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJiP5rTYQn
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'Now?'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJuB2IBPFn
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Carradock nodded, perhaps with a hint of a smile on his narrow, fox-like face.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHfGkqQpDEu
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Then off I went again, with a new source of pain slowly moving up from my left wrist, my arm and along my left shoulder. At twenty I took another breather. One side of the barracks square was a two-story, grey stone building. The other three were enclosed by a low, wooden fence. And at the fence were gathered a dozen people, looking in at me. On their faces were expressions of dislike but also astonishment.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpE50Dwew7Z
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All this walking had been good for my thinking. 'You,' I pointed to a woman with dressed in a tunic whose design matched that of the other castle servants. 'Get me the ambassador, Figus.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq45ZYKFxmK
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'Yes, sire.' She curtsied, but I could tell from her body language she didn't like the duty.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpKPNyLBACX
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'And the rest of you, get along with your business.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86bqx147tL
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No one spoke, but they all immediately hurried away.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCkUMsMBPR
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It was another two laps before my ambassador came to the square around which I was walking. No doubt I was red-faced and quite a sight, but that didn't excuse the smirk on his face. Figus was quite the rock star. Unlike everyone else here, his hair was not a natural colour, rather it was bleached somehow and stood up in clusters of spikes. With a grace in his walk and a cynical smile in his bright blue eyes, I could see his Charisma of 15 was definitely in play. What was mine again, 3? I suddenly felt very conscious of my frown lines and a posture that was sagging at every point, including my face.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6bJCTosgO
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The ambassador drew up close, took in a breath and then bowed. 'Sire?'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDAQNPqtdh
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This was a welcome excuse for a break, though I was aware that Carradok was watching and probably disapproved.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7pR0aP0fXi
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'We need to trade ore for food, what's the best way to go about it?'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ728gGzyEC3
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Figus looked up with some surprise on his face. 'You are seeking my advice?'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4JkhKXZrl
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'Uh huh,' I was still catching my breath or I'd have pointed out that he was our ambassador after all.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXE4i63Nm4N
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'Well, as you know, we are at war with Southway and Trolland, our nearest neighbours. So they are out. That also blocks the inland routes. By sea, we could trade with Cantreth, the Kingdom of Lost Souls and Rockguard…' he paused in thought. I paused in tiredness.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuWy5vynZ2
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'Your majesty has no scruples dealing with a Necromancer?'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYwx6yWxJ7
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'Not at all, some of my best friends are Necromancers.' I was thinking of Storm Wars of course, but the look of consternation on the face of Figus made me feel like laughing.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPBnLUpqVG
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To be fair to him, the ambassador recovered his poise quickly, 'in that case, I think the best deal we could make would be with the Kingdom of Lost Souls.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡor2WAdNhMF
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'Right so, off you go and make that arrangement.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVN8Mssknl
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'Now sire?'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgr5OTMihW
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I nodded.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqGmf69Qqk
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He hesitated. 'How much ore and of what kind and quality will we be offering?'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKWU0afDQO
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I didn't have to call down the menu for the mines, we were currently producing 2 ingots of standard iron ore per day. Assuming that would rise with the new pickaxes… 'Fifteen standard iron ingots a week.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWp08KIOl6O
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Figus nodded and then with a temerity that was unusual in the people around me caught my eye. 'One more question, sire, if I may?'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2p1d9aIIBY
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'Yes?'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbEMMxCMXSD
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'We don't have a trading vessel, but we would get much better terms if this exchange happened in our ship.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiWhwiIEzT
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'I'll make that a priority.'453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dBnVv4suI
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'Right so, I'll be off then.' There was a jauntiness to the man's step as he left me to my circuits. Had he deliberately just parrodied my turn of phrase? If so, I rather admired him for it.453Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WS7oFynEr
