A Year of Troubles
You take a deep breath, stretching your limbs. The regeneration pod has done its work slowly but thoroughly. Finally, after nearly two years of half-conscious restoration, you are free. As you step out of the pod and your feet meet the cold, slippery floor, you shiver involuntarily. “Master.” A goblin attendant comes up to you submissively, offering a towel with his head held down. You dry yourself clean, and as the thought of the work ahead comes to mind, you sigh. Wrapping yourself in the comfortable, thick cloth – a far cry from the sacks that were the only clothing material Grahferde could provide in the past – you set off to find Zayan.
In your absence – and in the absence of any other more capable leaders – she has taken on herself the task of running your little fiefdom, though she had promised minimal effort. She would only maintain enough as necessary to keep her workshop operational and undisturbed. You cannot blame her for that; minimal effort is after all an admirable thing. She did not have many resources to work with in the first place. You had lost the generator powering your golem army thanks to Methussian sabotage. Though you had planned to delve further into the ruins and re-establish the necessary conduit, your little tussle at Yuiria had rendered you rather incapable of doing that. And so your armies had dwindled.
Places that once paid tribute to you now felt free to ignore Grahferde. There was no retaliation coming, as your depleted forces could not afford to embark on any such expeditions. Besides, there was not much tribute that they could offer in the first place.
Your destruction of Yuiria had also affected the two great rivers running through it. The subsequent effect on the farmland in the Methussian region was catastrophic, for lack of a better word. Though the neighbouring kingdoms had initially offered a helping hand, the fall of the Byarlant Empire soon after sent more ripples of shock throughout the land. Fearing the worst, they turned to face the more concerning threat of the angel babies, whatever those were. Methuss was left to its own fate, a miserable fate of picking at bones and waiting for death. By now there was not much to rule over in this land left, not without a lot of work and effort put in.
Well, that does not suit you.
Still, despite the loss of its former expanse, the fortress of Grahferde itself continued to thrive. The dryad’s sapling that Rin had brought back has matured wonderfully, granting its boon to the land. Given the state of… well, everywhere else, it would not be an exaggeration to say that you had the most fertile lands in all of Methuss at the moment. So it was that the once sleepy village of Erise profited from its proximity to Grahferde, growing in size as refugees began to gather. Thoughts and worries about the Dark Lord were put out of mind as survival took paramount importance.
And that was the state of Methuss at the moment. Gathering your thoughts, you reach the door to Zayan’s workshop. Without bothering to knock, you throw open the door and walk in.
“You’re up! Finally! Please, just take over for good, all this business of governance is quite tiresome!” shouts Zayan joyfully as she pounces on you. You could have avoided it, but you let her. Why would you not?
You feel the warmth of her arms and her bosom, smell the slightly sweet fragrance of her scent, and taste the hint of alcohol on her breath… and you freeze up. All of a sudden you are reminded of your mating dance with the angel. Your hair stands up on end, your eyes hurt, and your heart pounds so loudly that you can hear nothing else. Then, you vomit.
***
After you are done retching, with Zayan retreating to a considerable distance, you cough and get back to your feet.
“Now that is interesting,” she murmurs with a glint of interest behind her glasses. “Are you traumatized by something, dear Erdrick? What a pity. I thought we could celebrate your return by spending some alone time together, continuing what we started so long ago,” she says coyly, letting down her hair and shaking it loose.
“You mean… no, no, I’m okay!” you say quickly, holding your hand up. “I’m fine, of course. Probably just some side-effect of the regeneration. It’s nothing. You can come over here.”
Teasingly, Zayan steps towards you. The moment she gets too close your heart lurches with horror and you flinch back uncontrollably. You let out a curse from between your gritted teeth.
She laughs, tying her hair back up. “You really have no luck, do you. Ah, well, you have more important things to do than play around with me, Dark Lord. Perhaps if you put your mind elsewhere you will recover.”
“Hopefully,” you mutter.
***
There are a few things you have to do. Unfortunately, you are short of reliable manpower at the moment. Runde has his hands full just administrating the goblins, who have begun multiplying quite quickly. Zayan wants to return to doing research as soon as possible. Lucy… can not really do much, being a cow.
It looks like you will have to tackle things one at a time.
A. You head for Erise, and then Ontoglia, to scout out how the humans are faring and if you can establish relations with them anew. As the most populous group in the land at the moment, their help will be important.
B. The slimes were almost all destroyed defending the fortress, but some survived and clumped together in a little ball for reparative hibernation. You make the trip to the northern forest where you first encountered the slimes to re-establish contact with the Slime Queen.
C. Restoring full power to Grahferde is more important – you have put it off long enough. You lead an expedition into the ruins to reconnect the conduit. Although it might be dangerous venturing so deeply without finding stronger allies first, you have no choice.