If it has, then I could get another load of material to make more weapons and armor. Of course, as soon as I come up with the idea, I can’t stop thinking about it and it should be safe. In fact, it should be far safer than it was the last two times I was there, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t take a look.

  It is true that it is easier to beg forgiveness than to ask for permission, so I don’t ask. The period where I promised not to do anything without letting Myria know is over as well. Although, now that I think about it, I did plan to contact her to check up on her, so I take out my medallion.

  “Myria? How are things going? Have you reached the land bridge?”

  Myria says “Yes, we have. Lizzy insisted on putting everyone in the carriage so we could move at her speed. We got here two days ago.”

  “Oh, right. I forgot that you had the carriage. In fact, I forgot about it all together.”

  Myria says “That’s no surprise. We haven’t used it in a long time. It has just been sitting in my pouch the whole time. It is actually nice to be able to use it again and Lizzy certainly seems to be enjoying it. Not to mention that the troops you sent with me enjoyed the smooth ride.”

  “I’m sure they did. It is way better than walking! So, have you encountered any demons yet?”

  Myria says “No, not yet. Only some beasts and one small group of demonic beasts. We are currently working on the survey that you wanted done.”

  “Great! The sooner that is finished the sooner construction can begin. We need defenses in place before the demons can cross the land bridge. So, are you having fun?”

  Myria says “Yeah, I am. It is nice to get out and do some fighting, but I miss you. What are you up to?”

  “I’ve moved the castle to the trade city and am working on getting some projects done. If I can get things settled, I will be heading down there to do some hunting.”

  Myria says “When you do, you had better come see me!”

  “Don’t worry, I will! If you happen to locate any drakes, mark their locations for me. That is what I plan to hunt.”

  Myria says “Alright, I will keep that in mind. But I won’t tell you anything if you don’t come and visit me!”

  “I already said that I would!”

  Myria says “Do you promise?”

  “Yes, I promise!”

  Myria says “Good! So, what else have you been up to?”

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  I tell Myria about Lin getting access to new libraries when all I was doing was trying to set up a gate. She gets a good laugh out of that and seems happy that I am not spending all my time with Lin. That’s understandable, she couldn’t help but feel jealous if I was with Lin more than her.

  That is likely to cause me some problems once we are married, but I will deal with it. I will do my best to keep things even between them and I will make up for it when I fail. Because I am bound to fail from time to time, either from distractions or being caught up in my own thoughts.

  They also know me well enough to know that I am going to mess up from time to time. I am pretty sure that they will forgive me and that it will be a lot of fun making up with them. That is just how relationships work, at least it is in my admittedly limited experience.

  Whether I am right or wrong, I am confident that the three of us will figure things out. In fact, that is one of the few things that I am not worried about, which feels weird. I don’t really know when I stopped worrying about getting married, but I am not going to mess with it.

  I chat with Myria for almost an hour and then as soon as we are done talking I open a gate to Holos’ realm. After passing through the gate I immediately take to the air and start flying around. As I had hoped, I don’t see any signs of anyone remaining in the realm, not even human souls.

  If there were any survivors, it looks like Mythica took them with her when she left. Just to be sure, I fly all around the realm before heading to the mountain to check out the mine. Luckily, when I enter the mine I find that the ore has been refilled and no one has mined any of it.

  Just like before, the ore is sticking out of the wall and I am able to just rip it free. I can’t help but hum happily as I shove chunk after chunk of ore into my ring. This is going to allow me to make a lot more weapons and armor, not to mention adding to my stockpile.

  Last time I set aside half of what I gained to use later if I make a golem army. I plan to do the same this time even though I will probably end up with less ore. That is unless I can manage to figure out how to make the statue activate and create more ore.

  “Hey Krenocia, got a second?”

  Krenocia says “I always have time for you, Ash. What’s up?”

  “Say a god is locked up, what will happen to his realm?”

  Krenocia says “Nothing. As long as the god is alive his realm will be just fine.”

  “If a god can’t return to his realm, is there any way to steal parts of it or gain power from it?”

  Krenocia says “The answer is yes to both. Where are you and what are you planning?”

  “I’m in Holos’ realm doing some mining. No plan, just thinking it is a shame to leave it sitting here.”

  Krenocia says “Let me guess, you want to steal the mine?”

  “No, it wouldn’t do me any good. I want you or Seronia to steal it and move it to your realm. You can make use of it.”

  Krenocia says “It should be my sister, my realm would alter the ore produced. Besides, she will need to equip all of the angels you gave her. You should summon both of us, it will make it easier on us.”

  “Sure! Krenocia, Seronia, I summon you!”

  I didn’t stop mining while I was talking to Krenocia so I have moved away from the entrance. Thanks to that, Seronia looks fairly confused when she appears while Krenocia is laughing. When she sees her sister laughing, Seronia goes from looking confused to looking suspicious.

  Seronia says “What’s going on? Where is this? Why do I feel divine power in the air? What trouble have you found now, Ash?”

  Krenocia laughs and says “He hasn’t found trouble! He just found something too big for him to steal on his own!”

  “We are in Holos’ realm. I was doing some mining, but I was wondering if we could steal the mine and the power from the realm. Krenocia suggested letting you take the mine and use it to equip the angels.”

  Seronia says “Holos’ realm?! You realize that he will have known the instant we appeared?!”