There was an item in the drop list called “Fairy’s Apple Wine,” and it was delicious, but the alcohol content wasn’t very high. It took about six bottles of the stuff to approach the alcohol in a single beer. I remembered players did the calculations on the internet, and there were debates over whether the description meant an American beer or a European one. Either way, I drank them fairly often and I never felt drunk. I figured Hegram’s guys would prefer something that could really get them hammered, so I decided to look into having Maple and Bistro make some strong booze for them.
“I can prepare some for you, out of my own pocket,” I told him. “It would be a silly thing to waste on a treasure drop. By the way, did you guys figure out the magic bags?”
“Ah, yes. One of the men discovered that if you put one into the other, it combines the storage capacity. I believe they can each hold a large number of the same thing, and up to ten different objects.”
“That’s close. As long as the items are considered ‘the same item,’ you can hold an infinite number of each thing in the bag; or at least, I haven’t discovered a limit yet. Each bag can hold a maximum of ten different items, but you can combine multiple bags together to increase the storage space. Also, if someone else takes your bag, or tries to remove items from it without permission, they won’t find anything inside. Once the bag is registered to an owner, the bag and the items inside are the exclusive property of that person until they either die or gift the bag to someone else.”
“Ah, I hadn’t realized they had anti-theft properties,” he said, surprised. “They’d be ideal for carrying money.”
“Exactly. They’re also great for stocking up on provisions before long trips. The things inside won’t age or spoil, and monsters can’t smell food you store inside. You can carry any nonliving thing, and most types of plants and seeds. If a living thing is small enough to fit in the bag, it can stay inside, but it won’t be stored inside the special space. So it doubles as a pet carrier.”
“I-I see, good to know.”
I personally thought this was a great feature, but Hegram didn’t seem so impressed. Maybe people in this world didn’t use shoulder bags to carry small animals. What a shame.
Hegram and I talked for a while, and I showed him what sorts of drops he and his men could reasonably expect to obtain for their dungeon trip. I also introduced Hegram and his men to Hammer, who upgraded their gear. The new weapons and armor didn’t just look good, they were imbued with enchantments that repaired minor damage and helped keep them clean. As long as Hegram and the others didn’t do anything too crazy, they could last forever. I also set them up with some food and other supplies for their dungeon exploration.
Hegram’s group hadn’t been here in around thirty-five weeks, and the main tower’s dungeon had grown much bigger in that time, with more twists and turns. Which also meant there were more places to hide treasure. There were safe zones on every floor, so they could take breaks in peace when they needed to.
They spent three full days and nights exploring the dungeon, and I picked up a ton of points. While they were busy with that, I scouted the northern half of the forest and set up Way-Point Flowers.
As I explored, I discovered that the northern side of the Grimwood Mountains created a huge waterfall, which ran into a river. That river led to another beautiful waterfall that fed a huge lake. To give you an idea of how big this lake was, it was nearly as wide as the Grand Canyon. It was massive. It definitely had tourist destination potential, if you ignored the hordes of dangerous monsters that wanted to eat you. My Irregulars patrolled the southern half of the forest regularly, and the monster population there had declined sharply after I moved in. Even so, from the air, I could see some absolutely massive creatures.
Seriously, why is that spider bigger than a football stadium? I didn’t even notice it at first. It’s covered in green moss, and blends in with the landscape. It must be an ambush predator. Does it hang out near the lake to catch things that go for a drink? I’ll have to put the Way-Point Flower on the other side of the lake... No way, there are more of them over there! It’s like a whole extended family. A festival of massive spiders. I mean, the rest of them aren’t as huge as the first one, but they’re still bigger than a bus. What are you all eating to get that big? There’s seriously enough food here to feed all of you? Dang it, I wanted a Way-Point Flower here for the lake view, not the giant spider family reunion.
In the end, I put the flower on the southern side of the lake, near the waterfall, where there seemed to be fewer spiders. The eastern part of the northern half of the Grimwood had a lot more forest in it. Trees everywhere. Every once in a while, I saw a clearing with a group of large primates in it. For lack of a better term, they were basically Sasquatches. Easily three times my height, maybe four; huge feet covered in fur. They were all over the place. Here’s hoping they’re friendly—though I supposed if they were, humans would probably have moved in already. These guys all had huge fists that looked like they could do some serious damage. They might also have been able to climb, and that could be a pain once the wall was done.
I decided to put a tower on either side of the waterfall. That way, I could start growing them now, and connect them to the towers I had on the mountains later. Speaking of the mountain towers—from a strategic position, they were the best candidates for my mortal realm palace. If I was going to be a queen, I should definitely have one, right?
To that end, I spent a pretty decent chunk of what Hegram and his men earned on improving them until they looked like a proper mountain citadel. It was quite the imposing sight. Then I spent some time creating furnishings and decorations, until it looked even better than the royal palace in Doma. By the time I was finished, Hegram and his men were ready to depart.