Framework of the Frontier, Sain Artwell [read me a book .TXT] 📗

hug. Perfect plump breasts pressed against him. William tried his best to ignore it, which was actually rather easy, given the beaming smile that held the entirety of his attention captive. Ember said, “First Lidarein and now you. Not bad for four months in the Frontier.”

“No, not bad at all.” He nearly lost to the urge to pat her head.

Ember wore a victorious grin all the way to the Ranger’s office. It was, well, certainly a fixer-upper even compared to grandpa house. On the bright side, this place was a goddamn paradise and the foundations were from solid blocks of pale sandy stone laid seamlessly without mortar. Massing of the building was tastefully varied in shapes. Also, the window arches and statue decors were straight up Notre Dame in quality, if a bit alien in design.

Yep. I could work with this.

Heck, since he was the law, he could probably do things to the building that the city zoning would’ve never allowed with grandpa’s place. There were no limits here. No limits! God, I want a pool on the roof.

That said, there was much work to do — more than he had time for if he was going to complete Letter King’s quest for a fancy sceptre. Said sceptre would be the priority after a couple days to recover, get settled, figure out his powers, and all that jazz.

“Hey,” Ember peeked at him from the shaded doorway. “It looks rather spacious. Could I perhaps camp in here until I get my own place set-up? All that chatter about adventurers stabbing each other made me a little nervous. Though, of course, if you mind, I won’t.”

“Yea, of course.” His thoughts jumped straight to sleeping with her. “How’s the inside?”

“Someone’s made a campfire spot in the middle of the lobby and littered the place. Also a ton of wall drawings. Tacky ones…”

William chuckled. He surveyed the neglected state of his new office lobby. Next to what might have once been the receptionist’s desk was a makeshift stone grill. Above and around it, on the walls were ubiquitous hieroglyphs of dicks, vulva, and various profanities. Right above what William guessed had once been stairs to the cells was drawn the stick figure equivalent of ‘fuck da police’.

“Real cozy. Wanna help me make the bedrooms livable? I’d like to make sure the place is semi-secure to sleep in before I start doing some experiments with my blessings.”

“Of course. We can’t let you strain your arm too much.” Ember tied her hair up into a bun, placed her backpack on the ground, and readied her bow.

“Whoa wait.”

Ember gave him a confused, ‘hm?’

“I meant securing as making sure nothing will collapse on us, the roofs keep water, and… Actually, yeah. That’s a good idea. There could be vermin squirming about.” William took out his new warhammer. It felt nice and hefty and the spike on the back looked downright nasty. “Dungeon first?”

9

Six shelled badgers, two owl nests, and five hours of rubble removal later, William felt burning tingling in his shoulders and a weak stiffness in his grip. They scrounged up enough wood to fix two upstairs rooms with makeshift doors.

Most importantly, they unclogged the bathroom. On the ancient marble seat, William spent a relaxing dump reading the Ranger’s handbook.

From what he’d skimmed so far, the Nibirian frontier laws seemed to largely rely on the Ranger’s personal judgement. Murder was punishable by death or a suitable combination of wergild and prison, if the kin of the victim and judge (or in this case Ranger) found a compromise that ‘satisfied the gods and law’. Unprovoked violence and theft had similarly hefty punishments ranging between corporeal punishment, imprisonment, or fines — usually a combination of each. William had a few concerns about his ability to enforce some of them, namely the capital punishment.

So, technically, I would have to arrest, judge, and execute the old gang? Nope. No way is that happening.

William cringed at the thought, dragging a palm across his face, and then a leaf across his ass. He dog-eared the page with property laws and claims before heading out.

Ember was around the corner, chatting with Duhie and Raneign. None of them had noticed him yet. William watched Ember flail her arms weakly as part of some jest that made the other two giggle.

“…running all over the place. And then, when you corner one. Bam. It will look you straight in the eye with big beady eyes. So cute! It’s worse than the cockatrice’s stare.”

“They make easy travel food though,” said Raneign, her voice sounding as snappy and matter of factly as her sharply cut hair. “Simply gut it, stuff with seasoning and herbs, and grill the shell right on the coals and you’re set. How many did you catch?”

Ember sighed in defeat. “Six, but I let them all go.”

“Keep a few next time.” Raneign spotted William’s approach.

Duhie and Ember turned his way when he greeted them, “Good afternoon ladies.”

“Good afternoon Ranger.” Raneign nodded respectfully.

Duhie gave him a motherly smile. “Afternoon mister Ranger.”

“Hi again, Willi— mister Ranger,” Ember corrected herself.

William chuckled, his grin tensing. “Please don’t start mister Rangering me. Will, or William is fine. How are Eren and Veren doing?”

“Getting better. They’ll be ready to delve tomorrow, but we planned on staying an extra night to be sure.” Duhie explained, her demure voice even softer than Ember’s. “We must take good care of our boys. You’d best take it easy for a while too, mister Ranger.”

Raneign nodded in agreement, arms folded under her flat chest. “The brothers may be good explorers, but have a ways to go in combat training.”

Duhie pursed her smile in agreement. “Oh, by the way mister Ranger and Ember, please join us for dinner. Raneign and Trotto promised us a feast before the delve.

“It should be ready a little after sundown,” Raneign added.