148 Chapter 145 A Former Prince (1/2)
It had been fifteen days since he returned to his father's lands. In that time, he had done a tremendous amount of work, and all of the people had started referring to him as a king. He had made it very clear to those closest to him, that he intended to become a king, so them getting a jump start, definitely didn't bother him. The lands his father owned, stretched for miles in either direction, east and west along the border of the wastelands. So far, they hadn't had any problems with people from the central or eastern kingdoms coming to bother them, as there had been too much fighting after their kings fell to the demon wors.h.i.+ppers. He loved the setup that his father had, but it would only work here, in this thin stretch of land.
This central group of buildings couldn't really be considered a town, as it didn't really have anything beyond the decision making for the area. On either side, east and west, there were fields of crops, and fenced areas for animals to graze. Beyond those fields, there were groupings of buildings again; barns for the animals and storage for the harvested crops, along with houses for the people who lived there. Then beyond them, there were more fields, and so on. Along the entire northern section, a stone wall protected them in case an army decided to investigate the southern border with the wastelands, but so far it hadn't been an issue.
It was a little late for supper, but he knew that his parents were still there, and headed right in, when he arrived.
”Joseph, you made it for dinner tonight,” said his father, looking surprised.
”Yes, dad. I've been busy trying to get everything prepared. You may be ok waiting still, but I spent nine years thinking about how to be more powerful so I could claim my kingdom properly. I am ready to get rid of this whole cursed wasteland thing. It's been thousands of years.”
”Well, Joseph, now that your mother and I aren't quite as…shocked, as when you first returned, we would like to hear more about what you were doing before you were caught in this trap that aged you.”
”Ah, well, an evil G.o.d was trying to possess and corrupt a sleeping dragon. So, the trap was triggered to stop us, but after we broke out, we killed everyone, including the G.o.d, and saved the dragon. So, I'm friends with dragons now.”
His mom put her fork down and looked at his father. William sighed. Maybe Joseph got it from him?
”Son, could you give us a bit more detailed explanation?”
”Sure, the dragon was really cool and in exchange for saving him, whenever he manages to shed a scale, he is going to give them to me.”
”Wait, that means…” Nadette eeped. It was a cute sound that neither of them had ever heard from her before. ”A dragon is going to be coming here? When?”
Joseph shrugged. ”I don't know how often they shed scales, but I thought making armor out of dragon scales would be really cool and awesome when I'm king.”
For the rest of the meal, his father and Joseph greatly enjoyed teasing his mom about the impeding visit.
x.x.xxX
It was almost dark, when Joseph finally left his parents, who were still energetically discussing the merits of having an exterior eating area built for when the dragon arrived, or just having the current dining hall door enlarged. He was chuckling and shaking his head, looking forward to the night events he had planned.
”Joseph, don't look behind you,” whispered Stella in his ear.
”Why?” he asked confused. If this was a new game, the timing was very odd.
”In order for someone to bathe, one has to remove their clothes…” she replied dryly, and Joseph gave a laugh as he realized the problem.
Reaching behind him, he held out his hand for her to touch it, and cast CREATE OBJECT. She stepped forward, looking slightly annoyed, dressed in the skin tight clothing she preferred from the time they were stuck in time out.
”I can't wait for the new clothes you ordered to be done,” she muttered.
”We can check on them tomorrow, but for now we have movies!” he said, with a grin. ”Now that the generator is up and running, IMAX has nothing on me.”
PERFECT ILLUSION.
To the south, now that the sun had set, a huge field similar to a movie theater screen appeared, and some of Joseph's favorite shows, from his previous lives, began to play. He had sent out word earlier, for people to look south, and he could hear people exclaiming in surprise. There were also a lot of, ”As expected of Master Joseph,” comments going around. Joseph had a feeling that a lot of the apprentices that focused on ILLUSION and SOUND, as well as some of the bards and performers, would be inspired by his shows, so he was very careful on which ones he showed.
Stella had just sat down next to him, with a huge bowl of steaming popcorn, smothered in salt and b.u.t.ter, when a runner approached him, out of breath. Glancing at the shear amount of b.u.t.ter she had poured on the popcorn, he grimaced and turned towards the runner, setting down his plate of nachos.
”Your majesty, the second prince of the western empire has arrived.”
”Really?” he asked, jumping up and following after the young boy. Stella jumped up to follow, carrying both her popcorn and the plate of nachos, happily dipping her popcorn into the cheese.
a.n.a.lYZE CREATURE.
Sure enough, the boy before him was the former prince, Victor. The man standing next to him was his advisor, Joseph a.s.sumed.
”Welcome, prince Victor. I am Joseph. I was sorry to hear about your father. He tried hard to improve your country. Let's have something to eat and we can talk.”
His advisor nodded in thanks as the boy stared at Joseph.
”How…how did you get so much bigger?”
”Magic,” Stella chimed in, the bowl of popcorn and the plate of nachos were gone.
Victor nodded, not knowing any better. Joseph led them to the dining hall while William, Daniel and several other people were summoned, to allow them an opportunity to rest and eat something.