Homesteading in a fantasy world

The flight to Breach was quite fast, and during this time, I was able to get Goose to understand why we needed Francis and how it would help Goose get his time in the wilderness. So he can feast to his content, and hopefully get closer to the next rank.

This time, we didn’t land on top of the Fort but at the entrance instead, so Goose didn't have to walk all the way down, which he really didn't like.

I had always gotten looked at in Breach because of Goose, but now those looks also lingered more on me, most likely because of my new armor. It was nice to know that others found me more dangerous, but overall, I didn’t like the attention.

When we reached the company's future headquarters—currently, it was just a rundown building—at least the sign was still up, so whoever was inside hadn't messed with that.

"Stay here," I said to Goose while I pulled out my sword and approached slowly. There was little to indicate that someone was inside, but I was kind of expecting that someone to burst out and attack me if that was their purpose of being here.

I could still sense the relative position of the person inside, and whoever it was, was still on the second floor. I tried to open the doors as quietly as possible, but it had been a long time since anyone had maintained the doors, so just before it was opened wide enough for me to fit through, it gave a small squeak.

Immediately, whoever it was on the 2nd floor started to move down towards me. Quickly, I rushed in to get behind one of the pillars on the ground floor. From behind it, I looked towards the stairs where I saw an arrow peeking behind the corner.

Whoever it was started slowly to peek to also see what they were dealing with. Then, however, I saw the bow. It was one of mine, and I knew exactly who it belonged to. "Arabella, is that you?"

There was a moment of silence before the person, now properly peeking around the corner, looked at me.

"Rich, you finally made it. Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for you for quite a while," she said, now properly walking towards me, putting her bow away.

"Goose, it's all clear; you can come in. What are you doing here, Arabella? Aren’t you supposed to be fighting in the arenas?"

Her face fell at those words, but she brightened once again when Goose pushed himself through the doors and joined me. "This is Goose, my bonded companion. Goose, this is Arabella, a friend of mine."

Goose looked Arabella over, seemingly satisfied, and then went to the corner he enjoyed the most last time and made himself comfortable. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Goose," she said, giving a small bow to Goose.

"The arena is actually why I’m here. I need a favor, and a big one. The people who I have a contract with have been really pushing to extend our current contract and also they have been using some loopholes to push me into ever more dangerous fights. I think my family's enemies have found out that I’m still alive and getting stronger and are paying my contract holders to kill me in the arena."

That was bad news for her, but "you know we can’t accept you as a citizen of the United Freeholds. It would not break your contract, even if we did get a little more say in what you were doing. Whoever holds your contract will also get a lot of information about United Freeholds and that’s unacceptable," I responded. She held up her hand to stop me.

"I know, and I wouldn’t ask you that, but I did find a loophole, well, someone I hired did. They can't stop me from joining a higher organization, especially now since more fighters are always needed.”

“I already tried to join some others, but whoever is pulling the strings has been able to intimidate everyone or pay the stronger guilds to not accept me. This is why I’m certain that it’s one of the enemies of my family because I have been able to trace the coin to the Elven nations."

"And you want me to take that risk? Messing with an entire nation is not on my 'To Do List,'" she gave me a look that said, really?

"Fine, I have gone to war with other nations, but we’re talking about petty kingdoms, not old nations whose youngest children are older than the nations I have fought." She deflated a bit at my words. "I thought you wouldn’t care about stuck-up nobles trying to use their influence."

I let out a tired sigh. "Well, you are right about that. So, you want to join my company?" I asked, and she immediately nodded.

"Yes, but it also needs to be a restrictive contract so I would be able to get rid of the current one. So, perhaps an officer position, or whatever you’re calling a position that has some responsibilities to the company. By the way, a bold move making a company. But knowing you, I should have expected it."

Her words made me frown. "You were some sort of an elven princess, were you schooled in ruling and managing people?" I asked her, which seemed to confuse her a bit, but then I think she understood, although I’m quite certain that she doesn’t understand the extent of what she's getting herself into.

"Yes, of course. Small team management, hiring personal staff, coin management, and everything else you could think of. I kinda hated it all, but I needed to know everything to be able to be chosen as one of the possible heirs."

Her words made me smile widely. This made her take a step backwards, and I could see dread come over her face.

"Sit down," I said, half sweetly, half commandingly, while pointing to one of the more intact tables that had multiple chairs around it.

"You and I are gonna have a long conversation about your capabilities. You are going to be truthful about anything I ask, but don't worry, I won't ask about anything too personal." She was still quite wary, but she did as I told her.

What followed was a long interview where I tried to gauge her capabilities as a leader. After three hours of constant questioning and thought exercises, it was finally time to reveal what all of this was about.

"Excellent, you truly have potential, although you are a bit rusty. That, however, is not a problem for me. I am willing to offer you a position in the company and make you a member right now. You just have to sign a three-binding contract."

She seemed quite relieved when I started to speak, but when I got to the last part, she exclaimed, "What, are you crazy? Why would I sign something so binding?"

I smiled at her and answered, "Quite simple. Someone who would be the vice commander and the second-highest ranked person in the company would need quite a binding contract."

She was silent for a while before she spoke. "Why would you give me such a high position? It doesn't make any sense." I chuckled a bit at that.

"Have you not figured it out yet? While you would be the vice commander, I could basically delegate all of my bureaucratic and leadership responsibilities to you. So much more free time. The future is truly bright, isn't it?" I asked.

She was not amused, but in the end, she agreed. The three-binding contract was something that required both parties to give their blood, their energy signature, and make the contract system-bound.

It was the second most binding contract out there and something that was basically impossible to break. One of the key points of the contract was that all other allegiances and contracts would be null and void, but there was also a lot that would ensure she couldn't betray the United Freeholds Company or me.

There is always the need to be careful when doing these kinds of contracts. That was a good reason why I also included myself in that statement because if she decided and truly believed it would be better for the company that I not be in charge, then she would have free rein to just try to eliminate me.

When everything was done, she signed the contract. Now I had another member of the company, but she was also free to now join United Freeholds as well.

"It will be a bit difficult to get you out of this place. Wait, how did you get here?" I asked her. She looked at me as if I was dumb. "I walked here from Connection, of course. And can't Goose bring me as well?"

I looked towards Goose. "You can try to convince him, but I need to go to the Quest Hall. Need to do some quests before I return to Connection. When we make it there, I will need to go back home, and I guess you can join me and become a citizen of United Freeholds then. And finally, be able to know the secret of that bow and what it’s made out of."