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"But enough about me. This here is my daughter Portia, and my son Derek. They'll take care of your needs while you're with us for your uh… experiments?

" Shanks ended with uncertainty.

nSeeing the questioning look in his eyes, Darius didn't think it wise to be secretive and ruin the little trust he had built so far. As such, he raised his fist and pointed away from the crowd, shooting off an Ember spell.

nThey all gazed and backed away in fear, but calmed down when they saw he meant them no harm. Instead, they began to show curiosity and respect like never before.

nEven Shanks was the same.

"Ah, so Young Sir is a Mage. You should have told us from the beginning and your reception would have been much better.

"

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"Apologies, where are my manners, I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Darius Stone, and there's no need for that. Your reception so far has been mild and tactful, which is more than good enough for me. Please, continue with your hard work in the fields, for it is goodfolk like you who keep our society running.

" Darius replied goodnaturedly.

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"Alright, Lord Darius. We'll do just that.

" Shanks could tell when they were being dismissed, so he led the adults away and had the old ones carry the young back home.

nAs for his son Derek, and his daughter Portia, they were left behind to take care of him.

nDerek looked like a carbon copy of his dad, with healthy skin that gave off a slightly reddish tint, a well-built body for his age, and a mop of orange hair atop his head.

nHe had blue eyes and a chiseled face, making him actually quite handsome by Earth standards. He could have become a young celebrity with his looks, possibly as the frontman in a boy band.

nAs for Portia, she was the typical fantasy farmer's daughter. Lovely black hair that reached her shoulders, dark eyes that seemed to radiate veiled passion, and a beautiful face that did not belong in a village of peasants.

nDarius had purposefully assessed the other girls her age or of marriageable age among the villagers and found that most were either average or passable. It wasn't that they looked like **, just that they had typically undesirable features by modern Earth standards.

nPortia easily stood out like a sore thumb. She had a chest that was far too developed for her age and a rump to give her chest a run for its money. While Derek wore overalls like his father, she wore a typical medieval peasant girl's garb.

nA one-piece dress with a hem that reached her dainty legs and a slightly frilly top that displayed way too much cleavage. It was held fast by a leather corset, and that also had the effect of maintaining her figure, though he doubted that was the reason she wore it.

nPortia appeared to be in her early teens with puberty having gifted her with good assets, while Derek appeared to be a couple of years older in his mid or late teens. Although Darius was around their age physically speaking, that didn't change the fact that he had the mind and soul of a 70 -year-old man.

nWhile there might not be any authorities to chase after him for going below the formerly agreeable age of consent, he had his own bottom line. The idea of anyone doing something like that to his beloved Solena or his clingy little Miranda made Darius shiver with anger and disgust.

nOf course, Solena and Miranda had long since grown up to mighty fine women, with the former already being a mother at the time of his death, but in Darius' eyes, they would always be his cute little girls.

nDarius slapped himself. He shouldn't be thinking of such mature topics around those his age, otherwise he would stand out.

nDerek and Portia greeted Darius.

"Good day, m'lord Darius. How can we help you?

"

nDarius smiled at them and waved his hand.

"For now, I just require some information and a place to lay my head.

"

nDerek stood out.

"What would you like to know?

"

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"Please tell me a bit about Poleria's Homestead and the surrounding area. I'm most curious about the concentration of beasts, if there are any monsters around, if I should beware any bandit activity during my stay or when I leave, and if there happen to be any dungeons nearby.

" Darius requested.

nDerek nodded and began telling Darius about the nearby area. He began by warning him about some of the more common beasts one had to look out for, before confirming that there were indeed a few monsters living in the nearby forests that had been attracted here by the human activity.

nHe then quickly assured Darius that those were periodically dealt with by Shanks and some people he had trained for this task. He also didn't pass up the opportunity to proudly boast about being one of those helping.

nAccording to him, there existed three small bandit groups around them, but they had stopped attacking the homestead after coming to an agreement with Shanks when they first came around.

nThere were naturally no nearby dungeons, as they would not dare live near such a place without permission from the royal family.

nDarius soaked up this information and gleaned over as many details as he could without raising too much suspicion. He had his own plans but required some time before executing them.

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"Well, m'lord Darius must be tired. Let me show you to the guest room.

" Portia offered, seeing that Derek and Darius were content in standing there while chatting about boring stuff.

nDarius had excluded Portia sub-consciously since he really didn't like looking at her for too long. Not because she wasn't nice to look at, on the contrary, she was too nice to look at. It made him extremely uncomfortable and he wanted to avoid coming off as rude.

nAs such, he smiled and assented. Portia and Derek led him to the farmhouse, which might as well have been called a small manor. It had a large dining room, a parlor, and a foyer on the ground floor.

nIt was two stories high, with the first floor containing the bedroom and study. Portia led Darius and Derek to one of them near the end of the right-wing. The interior of the manor was well-kept, with polished wood on the flooring as opposed to the tiled walls.

nIt was definitely upper-tier in terms of aesthetics and quality, meaning that Darius had underestimated either Shanks' wealth or power. Potentially both.

nPortia opened the door to what would be his room for the duration of his stay, and Darius had to admit, it was quite well-decorated.

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