Travelling to our county took some time. We had to traverse a large part of the Dominion. County Delphinium, as it was known now, was to the north east. It was not too far from the eastern mountain range where the dwarves lived. The closest entrance to the undermountain was about a day’s ride away to the east. We were also not too far from the ocean. It was about two day’s further north.

  The most remarkable feature was the Black Forest. It was to the west and slightly south of our county. Hopefully it would provide us with a lot of resources. We could also use it to train our people.

  The closer we got the more excited I became. Our home. Our land. Our future! Building a prosperous county did appeal to me. As we neared our destination we encountered a patrol on the road. They were a group of five night elves in decent armour. What stood out though was their surcoat. It was black with a purple cat on it. The same I had on my magical cloak.

  The cloak was an item from the game and I had worn it when I had arrived in this world. I had also used it in my fight against Mantus. Clearly people thought it was my coat of arms.

  “It looks like we are home!” I announced.

  The guards watched our group warily. Well, we had a lot of dryads. And Lilith, Lily and Erin were clearly succubi. Interestingly their eyes found Lucy and they relaxed. They even saluted her.

  “Countess Lucy, it is an honor! I assume Countess Amaya is with you as well?” The lead elf asked.

  “Huh? How did you know who I was?” Lucy asked.

  “Um, your tails, my lady. Kitsune are rare. Although we were told you only had two, I am not surprised that you have increased your power.” The man said.

  Lucy nodded. “Makes sense, I suppose. And yes, Amaya is here as well.”

  I approached the group as they were talking. The soldiers saluted me as well.

  “It’s an honour to finally meet you, my ladies. Would you like an escort to your estate?” The man inquired.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  I scratched my head. “Well, that would cut your patrol short. Would that be a problem?”

  “There have been no reports of any particular danger but so close to the Black Forest anything is possible at any time.” The man replied.

  “Carry on then and keep up the good work! We shall find our own way.” I told the man.

  The soldiers saluted and moved on.

  We increased our pace as I was getting impatient. Soon our home came into view. It was a small town with a hill in the centre. On top of the hill was a castle. It looked rather spacious. The town itself had a stone wall, not too surprising with the threat of monsters in the area. The road led to a gate, which stood open. I could see some farms in the east, away from the Black Forest. I wondered how often they had monster problems. And then I realised something…

  “Uh, our castle is inside a town, does anyone know the name of the town?” I blushed slightly as I admitted that embarrassing truth.

  “It’s called Petunia, my lady.” Lily said.

  “Uh, I like it.” I replied. Then I thought some more about our county. I knew that I reported directly to Queen Loriel and not a duke. Technically Loriel was also the duchess, I suppose. It was not uncommon for a noble to have more titles. What I did not know was if there were any barons reporting to me.

  The hierarchy inside the Dominion was high queen, queen, duke, count and then baron. As far as landed nobility went. Hopefully there would not be too much politics. Then again, I had the power to not worry overly much.

  “Where did you want to plant us? Near the fields? Or at the edge of the forest?” Ash inquired.

  “Hm. How far apart can your trees be and still count as a grove? I would like some protection for the farms, some defense against the forest and at least on dryad inside the castle might be good. Maybe a few spread out through the town…” Including Ash we had 31 dryads. Technically Thessia should be around as well but she was not a maid knight, or part of the grove. I should probably find out where her tree was growing.

  “I feel like the maid knight bond has increased the distance we can be apart. It certainly helps connect us. I am not sure how far apart we can be now. We certainly need to establish an extensive root network.” Ash replied.

  “Hm. We have a priestess of Sylphania around, who is also a dryad. Hopefully she can speed up the growth. We should plant your tree somewhere central, then make sure they all connect to you. Maybe we can put your tree inside the castle? And boost your growth with the demon lord corpse? How far can your root theoretically spread?” I asked. They were magical trees after all.

  “My big roots might cover 100 metres right now. Of course if you provide me with an additional power boost that might increase. My small roots that connect the grove could extend up to one kilometre.” Ash replied.

  “Hm. I assume the other dryads can’t spread their roots as far?” I replied.

  “Correct.” Ash replied.

  “If we put you inside the castle you might cover the city, more or less. That would mean we need more dryads at the edge of the city to extend the range…” I pondered the problem.

  “What if we just plant them all inside near the wall and Ash in the centre? They can defend the city like that and the open border with the black forest is too large anyway to cover it with a few dryads.” Lucy suggested.

  “And we can leave our trees to hunt in the forest, or at least the edge of it.” Ash added.

  It would also keep their trees safe. Maybe that was the best idea. Anyway, I had not even taken a look at our castle, or the town. It was time to change that!