Building Harem Town 3, page 23
“I don’t want--” the redhead cut in, but Penelope kept talking.
“Please, don’t be modest, Celeste,” the blue woman continued. “It was the most marvelous thing I’ve ever seen. She actually turned into a giant bird, and she shot huge blasts of fire out of her talons to defeat the beasts that were attacking the convent. She used her harpy flame storm, right, Celeste?”
“Well, yes,” the harpy said, and she bowed her head a little bashfully. “And I’m glad I helped. But you all had mostly taken care of the dogs by the time I got there.”
“You turned into a flame-shooting bird?” little Morrick asked with his mouth hanging wide open. “That’s amazing! Wow!”
“Thanks,” Celeste laughed. “Maybe I’ll show you sometime.”
“Anyway, Celeste was wonderful, and those dogs were truly horrifying,” Nicola said. “I’m so happy you made it through the battle.”
“Us, too, dear,” the old gnomish woman sighed. “But it’s really gotten me thinking about our fortifications. We’ve had trolls headed our way before, and goblins in the area stealing poor Roza, and now these… beasts.”
“We do worry about you out there in those woods,” Aleia told the gnomes. “I always feel better when your family is within our walls.”
“Thank you, sweetheart, that’s kind,” Elowise said with a smile. “We like being here, too. So, what are our plans for the day?”
“Really just building,” I responded. “The sooner we up our defenses, the safer we’re all going to be. Although, I have been thinking about new weapons.”
“Yes!” Nicola said as her voice rose excitedly. “I want to talk about weapons, too.”
“Last night when we were fighting, I thought about those chainsaws,” Elowise chuckled.
“I like where your head’s at, Elowise,” I snickered.
“Oh… it’s…” the little old gnome blushed and batted her hand through the air, but she had a very proud smile on her plump face. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s deadly,” I countered. “You’re a force to be reckoned with.”
“Stop it, you’re going to get me all flustered!” Elowise tittered, and my women giggled in amusement.
“Can anyone tell me what’s happening?” Celeste asked. “I thought we were talking about our plans for the day.”
“Jack was talking about weapons because of the attack last night,” Aleia explained.
“What were you saying again, Jack?” Wilfrim asked.
“When my priestesses fought the gargoyles before, and the dogs last night, I didn’t think their arrows were strong enough,” I explained. “I’d like to come up with something better, especially with this persistent threat. Your bows are wonderful, but there are other types that are stronger.”
“I’ve always used a longbow,” Nicola said as she furrowed her dark eyebrows. “It works well for some things, like hunting, but if there’s something stronger for battle, we need it.”
“Exactly,” I responded. “One example is a crossbow. And then there are compound bows, and recurve bows, too.”
“Can you explain those a little more?” Wilfrim asked. “I’m always interested in weaponry.”
“What is he going to explain?” Celeste perked up, and I was in shock that she truly seemed to believe I was speaking at the moment.
“Our lord is going to tell us about different types of bows,” Aleia explained.
“As Nicola mentioned, the type of bows you have right now are called longbows,” I told everyone. “The grip is straight, and it looks like a half moon. Now, you’ve probably seen a recurve bow, too, with curved limbs. Since the tips curve outward, it offers more tension in your draw, and therefore, more speed and power behind your projectiles than a longbow. Something you haven’t heard of before is a compound bow, because it’s too… godly. This type of weapon has special, oblong wheels on it called cams, and they help you pull the higher-tension bowstring more easily for greater power and accuracy. And then there’s the crossbow, where you can just pull a trigger to make shooting a lot easier.”
“Can we make any of those?” Nicola questioned with an impressed look on her face. “I agree with you, Jack, our longbows just aren’t strong enough.”
“I’m not sure, because a compound bow would be a large improvement, but we don’t have all the materials,” I replied. “More than anything, I’d prefer to see you ladies with crossbows, though.”
“Crossbows are the one with the godly trigger?” Nicola clarified, but then Celeste’s eyes lit up.
“Crossbows?” the harpy cut in. “I’m good with a crossbow!”
“You’ve heard of Jack’s holy weapon?” Wilfrim asked with surprise.
“Jack’s what?” Celeste asked, and her eyes flicked toward the sky. “What do you mean? Harpies use crossbows. Many beings do.”
“I’ve never heard of one,” Nicola admitted with a shrug. “But Jack thinks a crossbow would be a good weapon against the gargoyles.”
Celeste nodded slowly, and this time she looked around at all my followers’ faces like she didn’t know what to think.
“I see, well… your… Jack may be on to something,” she said in confusion. “A crossbow would serve us well.”
“Yes,” I agreed even though the harpy couldn’t hear me. “Then we could be sure you’re all prepared to handle yourselves against anything, but again, we don’t… have…”
I trailed off as an idea suddenly occurred to me, and while my followers all exchanged confused glances, I spoke directly into Aleia’s ear.
“Hey, Aleia,” I murmured, and she cocked her head a little in response. “You still have all that gold, right?”
“Of course, master,” the strawberry-blonde responded.
“Where’s the nearest place around here someone might be able to buy weapons?” I asked the group.
“Ummm.” Penelope wrinkled her nose. “Let me think. I don’t know for sure, but when we were traveling here, there was an old signpost where a narrow road split off to the north. It was too faded to read, but it appeared to be in the Elvish script, and I could see a cluster of farmhouses off in that direction. You might be able to find a weapons shop if there’s a town near there.”
“An armorer,” Celeste gently corrected. “An armorer is where you can buy weapons.”
“Jack, I hope you aren’t thinking of sending one of these girls out there on their own,” Elowise said with alarm in her voice. “I don’t like the sound of that at all.”
“I wouldn’t usually, either, but things are getting pretty rough,” I responded. “As gods say, desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“Gods say that?” Nicola muttered.
“Gods say what?” Celeste cut in, and as the brunette translated for me, I noticed the harpy nodding in more of a calculating way than a doubtful one. “An interesting turn of phrase… but applicable.”
“We need to get better weapons quickly,” I continued, “and the best way to do that might be to try to find a town. If Celeste knows of crossbows being used by other beings, then we should be able to buy some. I’ve wanted to keep my priestesses safe here at the convent as much as possible, and visiting a town has seemed too dangerous in the past, especially when the weapons we’ve crafted have worked well regardless. But now, things have changed, and we don’t have a lot of time to find a solution. Besides, I have all the faith in the world that Aleia can handle this.”
“You want me to go alone?” A doubtful look flashed across the fairy’s face, and Celeste’s eyes suddenly flared in shock. “It’s probably because you want me to fly, and I’m glad you believe in me, but…”
“I don’t mean to question you, Jack,” Wilfrim said, and he looped his pudgy thumbs on his suspender straps as he copped a stern scowl. “But maybe we should all go. My family would be happy to help protect the women, and then Aleia wouldn’t have to travel by herself.”
“Noooo, don’t do that,” Celeste said in a slightly frantic tone. “I know it sounds risky, but Aleia on her own would be a lot less conspicuous than a whole big group of you. If all eleven of you go, with the children and all, everyone will notice you. They could follow you all back here, and your defenses aren’t complete yet.”
“That’s a good point,” Aleia mused. “My lord, if this is what you want me to do, I’m happy to help.”
“You can carry things quickly, and you can fly away if there’s trouble,” Penelope encouraged the fairy. “And of course, you’ll have your weapons.”
“I guess this will be alright,” Elowise sighed. “In any case, we know how to start building more towers on our own. We’ll be fine while you’re gone, at least.”
“I’m sure you’ll all be fine, and it sounds to me like this town is worth flying by, but Aleia, I’ll be with you every step of the way,” I promised. “The only question is… are you in the mood to shop?”
“With you?” Aleia giggled, and she fluttered her wings excitedly. “Oh, that sounds so lovely, Jack!”
Chapter 14
“Are you excited to be going off on another adventure?” I asked Aleia as she soared through the air above the long dirt road.
“I hope this is more exciting than the quarry,” the strawberry-blonde laughed. “I’m a little nervous, but I have my sword on my belt, of course.”
“And your sling,” I reminded the fairy.
“Well, I always have my trusty sling,” Aleia said as she patted her belt. “I’d never go anywhere without it. So, which direction am I heading from here?”
“From what Penelope said, you’re going to want to fly northwest,” I explained. “You’re actually facing the right way right now, up past the road.”
“This is going to be fun, I just know it,” Aleia said as she started to flutter her wings more rapidly. The fairy’s freckled cheeks were flushed already from the slight exertion of flying, and she was absolutely radiant in the morning sun.
“You look beautiful,” I said as I gazed at her glimmering lavender wings. I could imagine how smooth and silky they would feel against my fingertips, and I was immediately aroused. “Your wings are shining.”
“Thank you, my lord,” the fairy giggled. “But your teasing is going to make me blush.”
“Just innocently mentioning wings,” I chuckled as Aleia’s cheeks stained pink.
My God View expanded as Aleia soared west through the wooded landscape, and, after several minutes of flying, the forest began to clear into expanses of wide, grassy fields with rolling hills in the background.
The mountain range where the women’s enemies lurked loomed behind, but from the sunny valley, the peaks were just more beautiful scenery. The grass below Aleia was dotted with wildflowers, the sky was full of fluffy clouds, and the strawberry-blonde wore a wide smile on her face as she sailed through the wind.
We soon saw the fork in the road to the north, and I saw the faded signpost Penelope had mentioned.
“Hey, Aleia, slow down for a minute,” I instructed. “I want to look at that sign.”
The fairy priestess drifted down toward the ground, and I looked at the grayish, weathered plank that was carved with a script that reminded me of Arabic. As usual, it took a minute for my eyes to adjust, but the word soon became clear to me.
Evelhelm.
“What does it say, my lord?” Aleia asked. “I know that’s the Elvish language, but I never learned to read it.”
“It says Evelhelm,” I replied. “Does that ring a bell to you?”
“I’ve never heard of the town itself,” the fairy answered, “but when a city’s name contains the word ‘evel,’ it means it was founded by elves. Which makes sense, considering the language on the sign.”
“Do you think a lot of elves live around here?” I asked.
“Oh, yes, master,” Aleia responded. “Elves are the most populous race next to humans, so you can find them everywhere.”
“Will you tell me more?” I asked. “I, uh… I know about elves, of course, but I want to, um, hear what the fairies’ take on them is.”
That sounded less than convincing to my own ears, but the fairy just nodded.
“Of course, master,” Aleia said. “Elves have always been good allies to fairies, so I know quite a bit about their people.”
The strawberry-blonde turned toward the small cluster of houses near the road that Penelope had mentioned, and she began to fly even further north.
The farmhouses were simple, one or two-room structures made from the same limestone the priestesses had used to build the convent wall, and they had brown roofs made of clay tiles. They were surrounded by fields with neat rows of crops in a striking array of colors, and when I saw their gardens filled with flowers from roses to lilies to sunflowers, I could almost smell the sweet perfume in the air.
“It’s so lovely here,” the fairy sighed. “Elf settlements are usually very, very nice. Elves are most often miners, like you saw at the quarry, or farmers. They are well known for their gardens and their successful harvests, and they tend to lead ordinary lives, but they are happy and peace-loving. Look, that elven woman is working the fields right now.”
Aleia gestured down toward a woman with pointed ears, a slim figure, and a hoe in her hand. The elf had long, pale-pink hair that flowed down her back and was covered by a woven sun hat, and she wore deep-brown leather pants and a white tunic. She wore a baby strapped to her back as she worked, but it didn’t seem to be slowing her down a bit.
The elven woman looked up at the fairy as she flew past, and the farmer smiled and waved.
“Super friendly,” I remarked.
“Yes, some elves are,” Aleia agreed as she returned the pink-haired woman’s wave. “But it’s still hard to know what you’re getting into, of course, because all peoples have their conflicts. Oh, master, I’m starting to get excited because I see the town in the distance. It’s so nice to be traveling somewhere fun for once.”
“I’m glad you’re happy,” I responded. “And I’ll be even happier if we find a crossbow.”
“Elves tend to have good wares,” the strawberry-blonde informed me. “Because they’re such successful farmers, they can trade a lot. If they don’t have a crossbow they’ve crafted themselves, they may well have acquired one elsewhere. We’ll just have to see how big of a town it is.”
As the fairy passed over the road, an elven man with pastel-green hair drove by in a wooden cart pulled by a pair of black horses. The animals had long strips of white down their foreheads and were several hands taller than Luna, and as sweet as our little goblin horse was, I added workhorses to my list of things that would be helpful around the convent. Having a cart certainly couldn’t hurt, either.
Still, there were things about this world that were hard for me to reconcile, like the fact that I was staring at horses that could have come from a stable near my old apartment. Some of the animals were huge, but others, like these, just seemed normal. And then there were the elves walking by… none of this really made any sense at all.
After only a couple more minutes of flying, a larger cluster of buildings appeared in the distance. Aleia started to soar faster, and it wasn’t long before she reached the outskirts of Evelhelm. As the fairy got closer, the road grew busier with happy-looking travelers on foot and horseback.
Evelhelm was bigger than I’d expected it would be. The road intersected with a few other paths before it dead-ended in a town square at the base of a rocky foothill, and each of the smaller roads were lined with the same type of limestone buildings as the farmhouses. A large, white building sat tucked up against the hillside at the very back of the square, and a waterfall splashed down into a stream behind it.
It was one of the most charming towns I’d ever seen, and I could sense Aleia’s excitement growing as she approached.
“I’m going to land,” the fairy told me with a huge smile on her face. “I can’t believe we actually found it! Oh, it feels like I haven’t been anywhere but the convent for so long.”
“I’m glad you’re excited, but don’t forget to keep your guard up,” I cautioned the fairy. “Celeste may be the rarest of all, but I’ve seen men pretty excited to see you, too, and we’re trying to avoid that.”
“Of course, master,” Aleia agreed. “I’m always on the watch for trouble. I’ll land, but I’ll be sure to keep my eyes open down there.”
The strawberry-blonde drifted down to the ground, and I used my God Vision to scan the area for any signs of threats. Luckily, it looked like a happy day in a bustling town, and I was satisfied the armed priestess would be safe on the streets.
“What’s that huge white building?” I wondered aloud. “It’s nothing like anything else around here.”
“I can’t see it that well yet, but it looks like a temple,” Aleia suggested as she strolled through a large, limestone arch into the village proper. “On our travels, Penelope told me buildings like this in villages are usually built for worship. I would think that a temple that grand would be devoted to one of the old gods, but I suppose I can’t say for sure.”
“There’s a sign in front,” I told the fairy. “I’m going to see what it says.”
I zoomed down on the small plank, and I saw it was ornately carved but smoothed by time. It had been nailed to a stake, but it now hung precariously to the left. I focused on the Elvish script, and when the characters appeared to transform in front of my eyes, I almost started to laugh when I read them.
This temple is devoted to Tobias, God of Tricks and Riddles
“Tobias?” I chuckled, but a wave of tingles ran down my phantom spine. “Seriously?”
“My lord?” Aleia asked. The fairy had paused near a large stand of trees as I’d been looking at the temple. “What are you talking about?”
“The temple is dedicated to a god named Tobias,” I explained. “Have you heard of him?”
“I don’t think so,” my strawberry-blonde priestess said as she bit her lip and glanced up at the sky. “It doesn’t sound familiar to me. Sorry, my lord. Why were you laughing?”
“Oh, it’s just funny because Tobias is … never mind.”
