Thanks to the king, I returned home with an awesome language tutor in tow. If I’d been by myself I would’ve just warped there, but since Worgin was with me, I’d need to take the scenic route.
I could have just had him make his way there by himself, but that would have been terribly rude. Besides, if we went together, I could talk with him along the way! So I created a carriage real quick. I noticed Worgin had some swelling around the joints, and decided it was probably from being jostled around by the carriage he was riding in. So I healed him up with my magic, and made sure my carriage was equipped with super soft cushions. I included a suspension system, too, for a smoother ride. We’d be taking the carriage through the tunnels I’d made, so the ride was probably going to be pretty smooth anyway, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Old people could be pretty fragile.
I led Worgin through the part of the labyrinth around the city that was filled with Sprigoblins, but I made sure they didn’t attack him. Even back in the game, you could designate another player as a guest so that your minions wouldn’t attack them. They all knelt as we walked through, so I guess I must’ve come off like a pretty big deal. Way to make me look good! There was a secret path to some nice, peaceful tunnels, which is where I set up the carriage. These tunnels would lead all the way back to the main tower.
I summoned and leveled up a pair of Sprigarou to pull the carriage. Sprigarou were cute and cuddly little doggies with green fur. If you’ve ever seen a Pomeranian dog, they looked a lot like those, but they came in floral colors. They even smelled like flowers and fruits. Okay, they were supposed to be wolves, but they totally had these cute little puppy faces. Even when they became Faewolves later in life, they still retained their Pomeranian-like appearance, they just got bigger. As I looked at them in person for the first time, I desperately wanted to wrap my little arms around them and bury myself in their fluffy fur, but I managed to maintain my dignity as a ruler in front of my guest.
Once we were safely inside of the carriage, we had a nice little chat.
“Lady Grimwood, I simply must ask. How did you come to speak this language, which was thought to be long dead?”
“Oh, well, it’s not my native tongue,” I explained. “My primary language is Sprigian, but I don’t think anyone here knows it. So I tried a language I learned from one of my subordinates. I know it’s really old, but I can speak it a lot more fluently than modern Ausbarlian.”
“Ah, could you speak a little Sprigian for me, then?”
I thought for a moment “Ceni ot etem uyo.”
Worgin blinked. “You’re right, I didn’t understand that at all.”
“I said ‘nice to meet you’ in Sprigian.”
“I’ll try to remember that one,” he chuckled.
I nodded. “It’s one of the most important phrases you need to know to function in a society.”
“Oh? What are the others?”
“Hmm. Things like ‘where is the bathroom?’ or ‘how much does this cost?’ come to mind... Speaking of which, I need to ask you about money. We want to use the same currency as Doma, but we don’t really know the values yet. If we don’t learn what everything is worth, people won’t want to do business with us.”
“Ah, I’ve kept to the castle for quite some time, so I’m hardly abreast of how much any of it is worth, but I can at least teach you the values of currency as they relate to each other.”
“So, you might have an outdated view of what a coin will buy, but you can at least tell me how many of these low value coins make up one of these higher value coins.”
I produced some of the currency we’d received from our fruit sales and showed it to Worgin. He nodded, and began his explanation. Luckily I had my trusty tablet recording the entire conversation in my chat log, so I’d be able to make signs with the information for my followers later.
We arrived at the main tower, and Worgin’s eyes opened wide as he got out of the carriage. He had questions about everything, and I was happy to brag—er, explain what things were and what they did.
Worgin and I had a lot in common. He reminded me of my mother, with how passionate he was about language. Words connected people to one another. Without language, we’re just beasts who savagely imposed our will on others because we couldn’t explain what we wanted. If we couldn’t impose our will on others, then it was their will that was imposed on us, all because we couldn’t ask them to stop. We all learned our words so easily that we took them for granted, but they were really important.
Worgin reminded me of that. We took tea together every day, and talked about language. I had my Irregulars hunt down edible monsters, like that giant snake, so that Worgin could have meat with his meals. There were also huge boar-like monsters called “great smashers” which were apparently particularly good for eating. Bistro made them really tasty, and Worgin approved. Apparently the giant snakes were called “gigant serpents” in Ausbarlian, and that bear I had killed was called an “armed bear.” There were quite a few other dangerous monsters in the woods, but I hadn’t personally run into them yet.
I guessed they didn’t really have a concept of months in this world, since my tablet never displayed the name of one. They did have seasons here, though, and those passed by quickly. Worgin and I spent most of our time indoors, so we were always a little surprised to find out the season had changed.
We kind of just got used to our routine, which seemed like it would continue forever. By the time spring rolled around, I could speak and write Ausbarlian pretty effectively, and Worgin’s Sprigian was coming along nicely too. It felt like things would just continue on like that... But then Worgin got sick.
At first, we just treated it like a normal cold—I stayed by his bedside and nursed him as well as I could. I read books to him, too, to stave off the boredom. Days passed, though, and he wasn’t getting any better.
I could have summoned my own medical personnel, but if I did that, and Worgin died anyway, I could potentially have been held responsible for his death. So I sent a letter to the royal capital of Doma, asking for a doctor. It was my first time writing in Ausbarlian without Worgin’s guidance, but I was more worried about what would happen if he didn’t get a doctor in time than I was about my grammar or handwriting.
By the time the doctor actually got there, Worgin was pretty weak. The doctor examined him, but she didn’t recommend any medicines or treatments.
“He’s simply arrived at the end of his life,” she said. “There’s nothing I can do. If you want to help, just make him as comfortable as possible. I have other patients to attend to back home that I actually stand a chance of saving. I’ll be taking my leave now.”
There was a lot I wanted to say in response, but if the doctor had already given up, it was foolish to try and pressure her into staying. I watched silently as she turned around and went home. But I didn’t give up.