Their welcome-back party lasted a while, but the people of the hour only stayed for a short time. Everyone agreed that they should be tired and wanted to go back home. Eridan and Renette went with them, and even Naka accompanied the group, pretending to be an escort, but in reality, she just wanted to make sure Hera and Blue were ok. Despite everything and all the time they butted heads, the guard captain still cared about them.
Blue, Alex, and even Mylo only stayed for that one day; they all wanted to go outside to see their families. Blue's and Alex's were close by, but Mylo would have to take a plane. He had the option of going through the MAZE, but that would take a couple of weeks because of the crossing limit.
The next day, Hera and the remaining of her friends went to the Royal Explorers movie night. Before the movie, they had a meeting of sorts where they explained to Hera, who also had the title of Duchess of Exploration, what their official missions as she vanished were. First, they continued the exploration of the Sthylla Archipelago, trying various combinations until they were able to find another doorway, which happened about two weeks after they lost contact with the Empress. Next was their exploration of this new room. A place called Land of Great Yor. It was another island, but it was just one very large one instead. When they first arrived there, everyone thought it could be a good place for a city, but after a month, they realized that this wasn't the case. Once a month, a large chunk of the island would sink for two days before reappearing from the ocean. The environment seemed to be able to survive those dives, but anything they tried to build in those places just became rubble by the time they returned.
Because of the size of the island, it took a while for them to find anything else out. Another issue was the monsters. The first few trips to that place were mostly scouting missions where the Royal Explorers took pictures of all the beasts they found and didn't engage in combat. Then, they sent those pictures to the logistics team and, after a day, got detailed information about everything the monsters could be. From skills and spells they might use to hunting tactics and possible weaknesses. Thankfully their level wasn't that high, being only in the early 20s, but that still proved a bit of a problem to some of the Royal Explorers.
While that was going on, they were also doing a separate mission. Having the Sthylla Archipelago locked in the same formation of islands stopped them from continuing to explore the place. To solve that issue, they looked for flying mounts or constructs like the original version of Nimbus, who could, at least, glide. Rutigan also became aware of their search and offered to buy the mounts for the group, the best he could find. Only to backtrack that statement the moment he saw the prices.
The best flying mounts people sell were absurdly expensive. And mostly were priced in platinum and not gold. That wasn't a different type of currency, just a way to lower the bloat of numbers. One platinum was equal to 100 thousand gold, and the best mounts were around 2 million platinum, which in turn became an ungodly amount of money. Then again, the mounts were all unique or legendary grade and had dozens of extra features and combat capabilities, and some even had egos which made the price skyrocket. He then made a more sensible offer where he would be spending around 1 million gold on each mount and give the group of 13 about half a dozen mounts that could carry more than one dwarf at a time.
But what made Hera the happiest was that the Royal Explorers refused. They said that before taking that gift, they wanted to try to get it themselves. Everyone knew how the Woolly Plains hard mode could give you a cloud griffon as a mount, and they suspected that something similar was possible in the dungeon on top of the mountain as well. After all, that's where a legacy existed for a long time, so they should be able to get something there. The Royal Explorers wanted to try to get it by themselves or find another way of crossing the room when the islands were not set up properly. This made Hera unbelievably proud. She wasn't against getting help, but as explorers in the true sense of the word, she believed that they should try to figure things out on their own first. Doing things this way would give everyone some solid experience in their critical thinking skills, and in situations like the one she found herself in the past few months, where she was stuck in a place without outside help, those skills could save a life.
In the end, they managed to get two mounts, both from the Wooly Plains, and Rutigan still kept his promise and gave them another six. This made things much easier, allowing the Royal Explorers to split into two groups. One still tried to figure out what else was hidden in the Sthylla Archipelago, and another searched the Land of Great Yor. A couple of months passed like that before another doorway was discovered. This one led to a thick jungle filled with monsters and dangers called Gartinet Hollow. The description of the place made Hera think about the jungle where she found the golden beetle, but that was a vision, and when seeing the pictures, she realized the only similarity was that both were tropical forests.
The jungle was massive and extremely dense. Unlike how things were in the past of the Waperath Jungle, most monsters were carnivorous predators. Forcing the Royal Explorers to move in groups and slowly so as not to attract their attention. Still, they were able to find and run a few dungeons getting some interesting rewards. From good gear to some more situational items that could help their exploration. Like a tent that repelled any predators. It wouldn't deal any damage or anything like that, but it would create a sort of scent that monsters really hated and kept away from.
The only other new thing about this was that Trilian was now working to level up with the guard. His birthday happened, and he was finally able to attempt his role test. Just like he promised, he went for the explorer role, and at one point, he pulled the Duchess aside.
"Hera, can I ask you something private?" He gestured to a different room and when both entered he closed the door before using a soundproof bubble. His was much smaller than what Hera usually did, forcing her to sit on a chair so both of them would be affected by the spell.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Of course. I can't promise I'll answer, though. Don't get me wrong, but depending on the question, I might not be willing to talk."
"Yeah, that's fair. Let me see how to phrase that…. Thinking about the test… if I say green apple. Does that mean anything to you?"
Hera opened a big smile, "With the name of a different fruit?"
"One that people use to describe a butt?"
The Empress chuckled, "Yep. That's Peaches, alright. I'm glad you managed to find out about him without my help. I was going to give you some hints about that before your test."
"So… is this a common thing?"
"Not at all. Shane is the only other person I know that can also use that skill. I mean, you know the rules, right?"
"Yeah, can't talk with people who don't know about it. It's very weird."
"It is, but have you used that skill already?"
"I have. Here in Boothudurn."
"Capri is great. A bit too much at times, but he means well," Hera nodded.
"Oh? I can even say their name?"
"As long as you are talking with someone who already has met them, yes. You can talk about anything you want related to the guide of said room. For instance, I talked with the one in the Sthylla Archipelago. I can't mention anything else about them to you until you talk with them yourself. Then we can talk about them."
"Like talk talk? Full conversations?" Trillian asked.
"Yeah, as much as we want. As long as you don't mention any other guide that one of you doesn't know about. And to be clear. We can make some theories about what the guide of a specific room that neither of us went to looks like or what they can do, but we can't do that if one of us has been to that room. Also…" Hera stopped for a moment, thinking about her next words, "Do you have the private room already?"
"Not yet. I asked about that, but Peaches told me I wouldn't get that skill now. I need to do some role quests first. Do you still have those?" Trillian scratched his head.
"I don't think so. At least, I don't remember. I'll check later. But now to what I wanted to tell you. I can't say anything else aside from that, and I would appreciate it if you didn't press me. It's the same kind of rule as the guide skill. I can't say about other roles, but for us, we have role skills that can evolve."
"What did I just say?" Hera rolled her eyes, "Besides, you are a Royal Explorer; I'm sure you can figure out what I mean, considering the conversation we just had."
Trillian nodded, still with a somewhat confused expression, but Hera could see the gears turning in his mind. She was a bit disappointed the new explorer didn't connect the dots right away, but he had just gotten his role, so there could be a lot on his mind.
The movie night continued, and thanks to the votes of Shane, Helena, Bonnie, and Adriel, who were all part of the Royal Explorers, they ended up watching a Victorian mystery movie. Hera didn't mind that much about that; her message was more of a joke than anything else. She also called her court out to join them. Everyone met the new court members and asked about Nimbus. The Empress had to explain what happened in the Golden Dragon Archipelago. Since there was a lot to talk about, they weren't able to get to those details beforehand. Still, since he would return, no one was that worried. They were also excited about meeting Lurize, the new titled Blade.
In the next couple of days, Hera's routine was very simple. She would hang out with someone to catch up, spend time with her dad, and train with Livy either with the guards or in her workshop after reading some of what was happening with the guild and how they were intensifying their surveillance of pretty much everyone. There was a part of her that felt this was too weird, and because of it, she would only use her legacy in private places. If she didn't want to increase her familiarity with the weapon, she wouldn't even be training here. Adding the Royal Seal was also a possibility, but before doing that, she wanted to talk with Nimbus and Lurize for their opinion on what she should get. Another thing she was doing was looking through the shops for some interesting weapons or gear she could use to change her court. She also tried to get Kahala to teach her how to add the gliding function to her boots. Her intention was to have a bladed pair of shoes and then get the inheritance skill to pass that ability along. She was also in desperate need of some decent pants and gloves to explore. The ones she was using were all very old and battered after constant use.
Friday came along, and Hera went to the palace to have dinner with the King. The dress she wore was actually a gift from Fethy. It was a mix of black and orange spiraling on each other with long sleeves and a long skirt. The measure was also perfect thanks to a spell placed on the fiber that would fit her as she wore. This ended up being a saving grace since her build had changed during her 'trip.' Unlike before, Hera was much more fit and muscular. Not to the point of being a bodybuilder, but her arms could now put to shame a fair number of people who had less physically intensive jobs. All the council of Boothudurn believed she would get back, and because of it, they all gave Eridan some things they made for her. It was a nice sentiment, and seeing so many people trusting Hera calmed her dad down tremendously.
When the Empress arrived at the palace, she expected this to be just a friendly meeting, but as Rutigan guided her to the dining room where he activated a small crystal device that created an illusory version of him and Hera before opening a hidden passage, she realized that there was something wrong. She followed the King, and they eventually reached a teleportation device, which they took, arriving at the secret meeting room where the council would meet to talk about anything that they couldn't let others know about. Everyone was there, Ogryn, Fethy, Naka, Telanz, Risli, and even Kahala.
"I'm sorry for not telling you about this, but since you just came back, there are a lot of eyes on you," Rutigan gave Hera a soft smile, "We do have food here. I didn't lie about that."
Hera sighed, "That's ok. I mean, I would be upset if we didn't have food, but I imagine you had your reasons for doing this," she looked around, seeing everyone in a more casual outfit, "I just feel like I'm overdressed."
"Nonsense. You look great! I'm glad I got the size right. I was worried about the length of the dress," Fethy had a proud smile.
"I do look great. I have to agree," Hera smiled back as she sat on the chair Ogryn had pulled for her before turning to Rutigan, "What is going on?"