Monroe

Chapter Three Hundred and Twenty-Seven. Well, well, if it isn't the consequences of my actions!

"So, we've been moving around looking for a likely planet to settle down on, away from all the troubles on Earth and Thayland," Bob explained.

"But space is vast, and the spell only guarantees that it won't force you to appear inside of a planet, not that you'll be anywhere near one," Kellan surmised.

"We've burned through a lot of mana crystals, but we haven't found the right place yet," Bob agreed.

"So you've returned to delve for crystals, and unless I'm mistaken to reincarnate?" Kellan asked.

"Yes, your Majesty," Bob replied, "also to reunite with friends and family," he nodded to the rest of the group.

Left unspoken was that the twelve people sitting around the table effectively represented Bob's only friends.

Kellan nodded. "Well then, welcome back to Greenwold, may you ever find shelter beneath our wings," he smiled, which was rather more draconic than Bob would have believed possible from a humanoid form with human teeth. "I've taken care of the High Priest of the Church of the Light, and his lackeys are carefully monitored, so you should have no more trouble than usual."

"Do you know if Parceus is sending more people?" Bob asked worriedly.

"They have larger problems," Kellan continued to smile.

Bob considered asking what those problems might be, but Kellan's smile did not invite questions.

"The Dungeon in Harbordeep has been converted to one controlled directly by the System," Kellan said, "If you're planning to delve, you'll find that Dhaokes Definitive Dungeon Delving Directional has been updated. I'll have you summoned in a few days, and we can speak more extensively then."

Bob recognized a dismal when he heard one, and he stood again, bowing from the waist as the King of Greenwold disappeared with a slight pop of displaced air.

"He seemed like a nice enough bloke," Jessica said. "Little intimidating though, yeah?"

For the first twenty some odd years of Bob's life, no one had really cared where he was, save for his employers. Growing up in Watts, truancy was so common as to be unenforced unless a child was noted absent for days on end, while UCLA had operated as a university, with few professors taking attendance.

When he'd arrived in Thayland, he'd finally developed relationships with people who did care where he was, and what he was doing, but without instant communications, it took agreeing to meet at a certain time and place for anyone to track him down.

Working frantically to save the people of Earth from the System Integration had often left him unreachable as well, so for another year and a half, he'd learned to mostly ignore and avoid those outside his very small social group who sought him out.

All of this was to say that Bob was unprepared for the group of people waiting for him in the tavern of the Adventurer's Guild in Harbordeep when he emerged from his room to have breakfast with his friends.

Huron, Austan, Annisa, Thidwell, Kelli, Jakob, Raul, Eric Waters, and four teenagers wearing armor so identical as to be called a uniform, bearing the crest of the Endless, only one of which Bob thought he recognized, the girl with the spiders, Ani.

They all appeared to have spotted him at the same time, or more accurately, they'd spotted Monroe, who was padding alongside him in his tier six form, which meant the enormous fluffer was both taller, and far heavier than Bob, who was utilizing his return to the beginning blessing to resume is his tier five form.

"Bob!" A chorus of voices called, intermixed with a few shouts of "Monroe!" Which warmed his heart.

Thidwell made it to him first, his face bearing the familiar grim smile. "You've been away for too long," the big man rumbled, and for the first time, Bob released he didn't feel intimidated by him. "I have a few things I need to talk to you about," Thidwell said, turning his gaze to the people surrounding them. "Privately," he ground out. "Text me when you're free, I'll be in Harbordeep for the rest of the day," he finished, pressing what appeared to be a business card into Bob's hand, before turning and walking through the crowd, which parted before him.

The Endless reached him next, three of them forming a semi-circle to give Ani more room. "My lord," the teenage girl knelt, her head bowed. "Long have we awaited your return. The Endless stand ready to follow the will of He Who Walks Before."

Bob closed his eyes and counted down from ten, before cracking a single eyelid open.

Nope. Teenage girl still kneeling before him, her posture one of reverence. He shuddered uncomfortably. "Please get up," Bob said, "Also, not a Lord. Not unless Kellan foisted some sort of nobility on me when I wasn't looking."

He frowned. He was pretty sure the King of Greenwold wouldn't have done that without telling him. He was absolutely sure that Kellan would do that, if only for his own entertainment.

"You are our Lord," Ani said determinedly, rising to her feet, but keeping her head bowed. "The System itself recognized your divine nature, as well as your sainted companion, Monroe."

"Woah, no, no, no," Bob protested. "No divinity here, at least not my part. Monroe, maybe, but not me."

Ani projected a pair of System windows.

Eternal Vigilance of He Who Walks Before.

You have embraced the teachings of He Who Walks Before, and have gained access to his ability to see the world around him.

This blessing provides you with Mana-Sight.

You have spent seven skill points on this skill, granting you the skill at level forty-nine. This skill is not capped by your tier, but reflects the power of He Who Walks Before.

Eternal Grace of He Who Walks Before.

You have embraced the teachings of He Who Walks Before, and have gained access to his ability to shape the world around him.

This blessing provides you with Mana Manipulation.

You have spent seven skill points on this skill, granting you the skill at level forty-nine. This skill is not capped by your tier, but reflects the power of He Who Walks Before.

Bob rubbed the bridge of his nose. He knew he should have filed an anomaly report on that venerated achievement.

"Be not boastful, but remain humble in your accomplishments, as He Who Walks Before sought no recognition," one of the other three said quietly. "Bringing good into the world is the only reward worth seeking," the kid next to him intoned.

"Fuck," Bob muttered, closing his eyes.

He didn't have a chance to start counting down, as peals of laughter rang out from behind the Endless.

Austan was leaning over, struggling to catch his breath as tears formed and rolled down his cheeks. "Oh, this was worth the crystals," he laughed.

Bob glared at him, but he only laughed harder, and might have fallen down if Huron, who was also smiling rather broadly, hadn't wrapped an arm round him.

"Please, my Lord," Ani said, offering him a small notebook, which he gingerly accepted. "We stand ready to answer your call."

With that, she took a single step back, and then turned, the other three moving with her in formation.

"What the fuck was that?" Bob demanded as he moved forward to stand in front of the Huron, Annisa and a still chortling Austan.

"The consequences of your actions," Huron said gently, still smiling. "While I'm not ecstatic to see children accepting divine blessings outside of the Church, the tenets of their faith are admirable."

Bob closed his eyes again. "I know I'm not perfect. I'm not even particularly good. But I can't imagine what I did so very wrong as to deserve this."

"We heard that you had returned, Austan came to greet you," Annisa said. "While I'm glad to see you are well, I am looking for Mike."

"He's here, and I imagine he'll be down shortly," Bob replied. "I try to get started early on meals, as often takes a bit to prepare enough for the feline of mass consumption," Bob nodded toward Monroe, who had flopped down bonelessly next to a table, thereby blocking access to another table by wrapping his tail halfway around it.

"I merely wished to greet you, and ensure you were aware of the changes to the Church," Huron said.

"No more seven gods of light, right?" Bob asked.

"Precisely," Huron nodded. "The Church of Vi'Radia remains, performing the same duties and offering the same aid as we always have."

"Erick worships Sylph, and Wayna worships Orin, with everyone else giving the nod to Vi'Radia, so we should be fine," Bob replied.

"Indeed, although I imagine both Erick and Wayna will be pleasantly surprised to find increased acceptance and focus on their deities," Huron smile fell slightly. "Beyond that, as the object of veneration for an ever growing number of people, I need to talk to you about your own presence in the Church."

Bob opened his mouth, then closed it. Opening it again, he found he still didn't have the words. Closing his mouth, he shook his head. "I've got nothing," he said flatly.

"Take as much time as you need," Huron said gently. "I remain at the Cathederal here in Harbordeep. When you've settled your mind, come speak with me."

Bob was surprised when Huron gave him a slight bow before turning to walk away.

"I just wanted to say hello," Jakob grinned. "Life is funny sometimes, you know? I left Harbordeep with my group, and now that we've all tiered up, we're back, and wouldn't you know it, I'm even working here again, although now I split my time between the front desk and shepherding."

"As long as you and the wife are happy, I'd say you're winning," Bob clasped his shoulder in the traditional Thayland greeting.

"Oh we are," Jakob assured him. "Happy enough that she decided our two boys weren't enough, so she's expecting in a few more months."

"Congratulations," Bob said awkwardly.

"Thanks," Jakob replied. "I don't suppose you want me to schedule a delve for you?"

"Yeah, actually," Bob nodded, "can we get two slots on the fiftieth floor?"

"Woah, that's pretty deep," Jakob shook his head. "Congratulations are in order for you as well," he grinned broadly. "I shouldn't have a problem booking you in for today sometime, not a lot of action that deep. Pop by the counter after breakfast, and I'll have the details."

"Thanks," Bob said, to which Jakob nodded as he headed out of the tavern, presumably to resume his post at the desk.

Kelli was the next to approach. "Hey Bob," he said with a grin.

"Good morning Kelli," Bob replied warily.

"I came along to say Hi, and to pass you a warning that I figured Thidwell wouldn't bother with," Kelli said. f𝐫e𝚎we𝚋n𝐨𝘃el.𝗰𝗼𝐦

"A warning?" Bob asked.

"Yeah, a warning," Kelli replied. "Nora Wallenstair will be hunting you down shortly, and that young woman is rather unhappy with you."

"Why is Nora mad at me?" Bob asked, bewildered.

"Well, if I had to guess, which I don't because she has explained it to me at length, I'd say it's because you disappeared without telling her, and she's the noble responsible for Glacier Valley and forty-eight other towns that fell under the rather broad scope of your assignment as the link between the Kingdom of Greenwold, and the people of Earth who sought shelter here."

Bob was pretty sure that if Kelli's smile had been any wider, the top of his head would have fallen off.

"She's been forced to play diplomat and noble while forty-nine towns made demands on her attention," Kelli chortled.

Bob winced. "That poor kid," he muttered.

"Yeah, so, heads up, I'd set aside a few hours to let her vent," Kelli said happily.

Bob looked at him suspiciously. "You seem a little too happy about that."

"Well, it certainly couldn't have anything to do with stuffing another sixteen languages into my head so I could pass them on to Nora, could it?" Kelli asked, his smile turning somewhat vicious. "Apparently, some of the people from Earth simply refuse to learn English, and some of those people are in charge of the towns here on Thayland."

"Oh," Bob replied.

"I'm also here to seek an audience with the King," Kelli's smile turned back up. "We need to have a universal language, so I'm hoping he can make a declaration or a law or whatever."

"I really want to say something along the lines of 'not my circus, not my monkeys,' but I guess it sort of is, and they kind of are," Bob mumbled.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Kelli said. "Pretty much all the people from Earth either revere or fear the King, sometimes a mixture of both. They'll go along with whatever he decrees, although you'll be the one stuck listening to them grumble." He clasped Bob's shoulder. "Anyway, just wanted to stop by, I'm actually due to see the Seneschal this morning, so I'd best get going. I'll see you in Holmstead at some point, right?"

"Yeah," Bob nodded absently.

Raul moved to take Kelli's place. "Jack's with you, right?"

"He is," Bob replied cautiously.

"Good," Raul sighed. "He'll be down shortly?"

"I expect so," Bob agreed.

"I'll wait," Raul strode over to a nearby table and took a seat.

Looking cautiously around the tavern, and finding it empty save for Monroe, Annisa, and Raul, he took a seat at the table Monroe had claimed. He'd just started to engage in a bit of theraputic kitty adoration, when a new voice called out from behind him.

"Stars and stones! If it isn't the hero of my kitchen!"

He turned to watch as Kevin strode out of the kitchen, drying his hands on his apron. "You've grown so much! I wonder if you would even bother with mice any more," he shook his head as he dug his hands into Monroe's ruff, turning the massive floofers purr motor up a notch.

"He's been hunting Elk," Bob replied on his feline overlord's behalf.

"I imagine it takes quite a bit to fill him up," Kevin smiled, and offered a hand to Bob, who clasped his forearm and shook it.

"He can shift his size down quite a bit," Bob explained. "He's generally around the same size you saw him last, which makes it easier to keep him fed and groomed, while also allowing me enough room to sleep on my own bed."

Kevin chuckled. "How many will be joining you for breakfast," he asked, motioning toward the table.

"Twelve people, two normal sized cats, one person sized dog, and one person sized Tyrannosaurus Rex," Bob replied.

"You know," Kevin sighed, "there was a day when I'd have had to ask what that was, but those young Endless folks have enlightened me with far more details than I ever wanted to know about dinosaurs."

"Dinosaurs are kind of amazing though," Bob replied.

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