Denied permission by Luke to return to work, Leo was forced to spend yet another day sketching and daydreaming within his quarters, where he weaved an elaborate vision of his future life as a Baron.
He imagined himself lying lazily in the lush green garden of his palace being fed grapes by his beautiful palace maids as he experienced a life of true luxury.
As the day passed slowly, his excitement started to grow with each passing minute, as he could hardly wait for the day to end so that he could return to the world of Terra Nova.
*********
( The next day, Terra Nova Online )
As Leo logged back into the game, neither him, nor Ben could contain their excitement in reaching CrestHill Barony.
The two took off for the Barony early in the morning by foot, knowing full well that they needed to cover only about three hours worth of distance before they reached their destination.
"Are you ready for a new life master?" Leo asked, rubbing his hands in joy, as Ben enthusiastically nodded his head and replied "Indeed… I think it's time for me to finally experience the joys of retirement–".
Both the master-student duo seemed extremely excited about taking up their new roles as nobles, however, little did they know that the bubble of dreams that they were weaving were about to burst big time.
Three hours later, as Leo and Ben approached the periphery of Leo's Barony, they found themselves on the border of a dusty old abandoned village, which looked nothing like what Leo and Ben had initially imagined.
'W lcome to DustBrook Villag '
A dusty sign, with two 'e' missing from it informed Leo that he was on the periphery of his territory, the DustBrook village, however, looking at it, Leo couldn't help but frown profusely.
"Master, what is this joke? This village looks more Barren than a desert.
There is no greenery near a twenty mile radius of this village.
No fencing to protect the settlers against wild animals.
No signs of a water storage or a water stream.
It's like we have suddenly walked into a desert outpost instead of a civilian settlement" Leo commented, as the edge of his territory looked nothing like what he expected it to be.
"It must be because this is an old abandoned village, boy…. This must be the part of the Barony which is in neglect because all the talented people live in the central town.
Let's be optimistic" Ben said in a shaky voice, as sweat beads began to appear on his forehead as well when he gazed upon the poor condition of the DustBrook village.
"Yeah, that must be it…. This must be the slums of our Barony… yes, yes!" Leo said, as he gulped a mouthful of saliva and entered the DustBrook village alongside Ben.
As the duo traveled through DustBrook, they noticed how the houses within the village were small, dilapidated, and barely standing.
The streets were narrow and filled with potholes, and the few people they saw within the village looked gaunt and weary as if they were fed up with their life as a whole.
There were no sounds of laughter, no joyful sights of small children playing on the streets, as instead of Ben and him receiving a hero's welcome inside the Barony like Leo had expected, the two were greeted with the sight of poor hygiene and dysfunctional sewage systems with large food waste piles laying by the side of the roads collecting flies throughout the village.
Leo's face fell as he took in the scene.
"This can't be right. Even if this is the outskirts of my territory, it can't be this bad…. Who even is running this village? Does the village chief not know the risks of having open waste? It can lead to so many disease outbreaks" Leo complained, as Ben nodded in agreement.
This village was beyond bad, the living conditions of the commoners were simply inhumane.
Ben shook his head, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"We imagined bustling markets, well-kept houses, and friendly faces. This... this is nothing like what we thought." Ben said, as he wondered if Leo had been cheated badly by the East Duke.
The disappointment was palpable on their faces as they continued through Dustbrook.
They had dreamed of a vibrant, thriving community, but what they found was a place that seemed forgotten by time. The stark contrast between their expectations and reality was like a punch to the gut.
Their thoughts were interrupted when two guards, clearly part of Leo's future army, blocked their path.
The guards were fat and untrained, their uniforms barely fitting them properly as they pointed their weapons towards Ben and Leo arrogantly.
"Halt! There's a tax for travelers passing through the village," one of the guards demanded, his tone gruff but uninterested.
For a moment, as he heard this Leo felt his eyebrows twitch within his mask, as even if he was not the Baron of this village, the Virex Corps mask that he wore should have been usually enough for no soldier to dare block his path, however, the soldiers of this territory seemed dumb enough to not even recognise the worth of the Virex mask.
'So a shitty village along with shitty soldiers? What a perfect start to my stint as a Baron' Leo thought as he chuckled self-depricitatingly.
Nonetheless, not wishing to banter with these fools, Leo stepped forward and presented his identity token as the new Baron.
"I am 'TheBoss', the new Baron of CrestHill. There should be no tax for me to pass through my own land." he said curtly, trying to sound professional.
The guards' eyes widened in shock as he saw the identity token.
"You're the new Baron? Traveling on foot?" he asked, sounding surprised as he judged Leo based on his outfit from head to toe.
The other guard snickered covering his mouth as he said "Figures. He must be a poor baron who is as poor as the rest of this place if he's walking instead of riding in a carriage."
Although the second guard thought that he had made his comment on the sly, both Ben and Leo easily picked up his words, prompting both of them to frown deeply.
'These fools have the audacity to judge us?' thought Leo, as he resisted the urge to reach into his utility belt and bring out a couple daggers to shrink them down to size.
Barely maintaining his composure, Leo took in a deep breath as he said "Do your jobs and guide me through the village."
The guards exchanged glances, their initial surprise fading into a look of condescension as they said "Alright, follow us," waving Ben and Leo on.
By this point both Ben and Leo were fuming with rage, however, little did they know that the horror show had only just begun.
What they had seen so far was not even the tip of the iceberg and the real situation of the Barony that Leo had inherited was much worse than what DustBrook village looked like at the first glance.
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/// A/N - This bonus chapter is sponsored by Patron Empathyreader, please thank her in the comments for the same. ///