“Gram,” Benjamin spoke.

His king sat on the small bed. If Benjamin were to guess, it was a twin. He wasn’t quite sure. He found himself staring at Gram for hours. The man just sat on his bed looking out the window. He held a large wheel of bread between his legs. When he ascended the ladder and the bread had been the first thing he grabbed. The edges were covered with holes, size enough for fingers to fit through. It looked hard and rather inedible.

“Gram,” Benjamin repeated.

Gram raised an end of the bread to his mouth gnawed on the edge. Apparently Gram’s teeth had been harder than the bread. The outer crust cracked and crumbs fell to the ground, thankfully avoiding the bed.

“Gram!” Benjamin shouted.

Gram took another bite from the wheel of bread. At least this had been some kind of response.

“Look Gram, we have things we need to discuss.”

Benjamin looked to Gram, he hadn’t taken a bite of bread yet, but with no reply Benjamin continued.

“What type of focus do you want?”

“Whatever.”

“You can’t just ‘whatever’ a focus!” Benjamin scrolled through a list of available focuses, “Besides, it’s something that’s permanent.”

“I don’t really like you.”

Benjamin stopped scrolling, “Was it the crumb thing?”

“Not just that.”

“Well tell me, I mean I think we’re stuck with each other.”

“I was pretty excited to be a king.”

“Was it because I hit you in the eye with the bracelet?”

“No, but that didn’t help.”

“Well, it was an accident. I was kind of excited that I could finally do something, and when I made it, I wasn’t paying attention.”

Gram didn’t reply for a moment, he shifted his position on the bed, bringing the wheel of bread onto his lap.

“What do you mean you could finally do something?”

“Yeah, before you woke up all I could do was watch you sleep. I couldn’t even talk to you.”

“You almost killed us in the cellar.”

“NO! That wasn’t me, or I don’t think it was!” Benjamin said.

Benjamin went into detail about the rune exploding, something beneath it had released a massive amount of mana both shaking the ground and destroying most of everything inside the cellar. He talked about his idea for creating a bracelet and restoring the cellar. He made sure to explain about the near fatal levels of mana reserves he had acquired as a result and how those actions had been the easiest way to actually reduce them to manageable levels. Benjamin had seemed to pay particular attention to Benjamin when he mentioned the bracelet. When asked any probing questions about the bracelet, however, Gram felt like a closed book. If anything, maybe the bracelet had been given to him by his parents, and they died horrible deaths or something, maybe a wizard did it. Fantasy back stories were so cliche. Benjamin vowed not to be surprised if Gram were to reveal such a tale. He did feel a little bit guilty thinking about Gram’s life in such a way, but things still didn’t feel real to him. Maybe a dragon ate his parents. A dragon that had been commanded by a wizard. He couldn’t stop himself.

“What do we do now?” asked Gram.

It didn’t sound like Gram actually hated Benjamin. If anything Benjamin would have probably acted in the same way.

“I’m not really too sure. I’m just as new to this as you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I honestly have no idea what I’m doing. I was hoping to make you the decision maker until I got my bearings.”

“Get your bearings? You’re from an ancient heart of the city! Probably the oldest such fragment in existence!”

“Well, I do have experience with building cities,” Benjamin added, ”In games…”

“Who builds a city in a game? Are you some kind of neurotic god?”

“I’m...” Benjamin trailed off.

He looked at the timer for his sandbox. The timer had reduced significantly. It seemed that either the influx of mana helped, or just appointing a king might have changed things. He still wasn’t sure if having Gram appear in the sandbox had been a one off thing or if it was something he could do regularly. He also wasn’t sure if just appointing a king allowed the newly appointed king to jump into the sandbox ignoring the timer.

Benjamin continued after his pause, “I’m from a different world I think.”

Gram shrugged and stood up. He moved to his chair after placing the wheel of bread down.

“I guess I believe you.” Gram said, “You are a disembodied voice.”

“You could be crazy too.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“I don’t think so.”

“That’s what they all say.”

Gram got up again.

“I don’t really want to sit in the house all day.”

He walked to the door, opening it.

“Wait!” Benjamin said.

Gram stopped, holding the door open.

“I still can’t leave this room.”

Gram sighed, “Why not?”

“This cottage is my territory. I’ve tried to leave, to look around,” Benjamin said, “it’s like running into a wall.”

Gram’s brows knit for a moment. He looked outside, then stepped out. He looked around the house.

“I’m your legitimate king right?”

“Yes.”

“By my rights as king for the city of…” Gram trailed of, “… Benjamin? I hereby claim this yard as my rightful property.”

Gram stood expectantly. Nothing felt different. His door was still open, he hadn’t closed it.

“Did anything happen?” Gram asked.

Benjamin tried to leave through the door, but was pushed back by an invisible barrier.

“What else do kings do?” Benjamin asked.

“I could try conquest.” Gram said.

“I guess?”

Gram went back inside. He pulled a small knife off the table. He strode back outside. There was something in his gait. It was almost like he was trying to walk like a king. At least he was confident.

“I claim this land by right of conquest, for the city of Benjamin.”

Benjamin noticed a shimmer at the doorway. He tried to move through it again. He received a notification.

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“Well, That worked.” Benjamin said, dismissing the notification.

Gram nodded.

“I felt that too.”

“Did you get a notification?”

“What’s a notification?”

Benjamin decided to change the topic. He didn’t want to get into a discussion of system menus and the like. He had wanted to do a demonstration, and that would have to wait till later.

“Never mind that,” Benjamin said, “How did you think of conquering this yard?”

“Well, tales of the great kings talk about them conquering lands and building empires.”

“How did you come up with announcing what you were doing?”

“I just thought it was worth a try. This still doesn’t make sense to me.”

“It doesn’t make sense to me either,” Benjamin said, “By the way, it says there's one enemy remaining before we conquer this yard.”

“Nan isn’t an enemy!”

“You are conquering her yard and holding a knife.”

Gram looked at the knife, “Oh.”

He shrugged, but still held the knife in his hand. Gram walked to the door of his grandmother’s house and let himself in. He hadn’t seen her anywhere in the house. He walked to the study and knocked on the door. Benjamin had followed him dutifully. It had appeared that the land that Gram had decided to conquer didn’t just include the yard, but had included the other house as well.

“Yes, yes, they sound fine.” The grandmother said behind the door.

Gram knocked on the door again and said, “Nan, do you surrender?”

“I have to go, just start getting everything together.”

There was a muffled voice. Both Gram and Benjamin couldn’t make out the words.

“Goodbye Harte”

There was the sound of wood scraping against wood, probably a chair moving.

“What are you talking about surrender?”

Kylie opened the door to the study looking confused.

“I was just getting some help for my quest,” she looked down, noting the knife in Gram’s hand, “Why do you have a knife?”

Gram grinned sheepishly, “I’m conquering your house, Nan.”

Kylie waved dismissively and walked past Gram, “Are you hungry?”

“I had some bread, but that’s all I have left.”

“Alright, I’ll be just a moment.”

She went into her cellar, and promptly returned with a few dried sausages and a few vegetables. A pot hung in the fireplace, the lid slightly ajar. A wave of her hand materialized a blob of water and sent it through the opening of the pot. She placed some of the vegetables in front of Gram, and stared at him expectantly. He set to work once he got the idea and started chopping them. She got her own knife and started to cut the sausages and the remainder of her vegetables. When they finished, they dropped them into the pot. Kylie mumbled a few words and her table was clean. A couple more words were mumbled and she snapped her fingers, lighting the fire beneath the pot. She closed the lid on the pot then retrieved both two bowls and two spoons for her and her grandson.

“This looks better than the bread.” Benjamin said.

“It will be.” Gram agreed.

“Who are you talking to?” asked Kylie.

“It’s the city.” Gram replied.

“Are you guys going to put any spices or herbs in your soup?” Benjamin asked.

“It’s in the sausage.”

“That’s weird.” Benjamin said, “I usually put some oregano and other stuff in my soup.”

“What is?” asked Kylie.

“What’s oregano?” asked Gram.

“Huh? I don’t know.” said Kylie.

“It’s an herb.” Said Benjamin.

“What are you talking about?” asked Kylie.

“Herbs?” said Gram.

“This is awful.” Said Benjamin, “Can we conquer her yet?”

“I’ve never heard about Oregano,” said Kylie.

“That’s why I was asking,” said Gram.

“Well, I’ve never heard about it.” Said Kylie.

An awkward silence fell, then Benjamin spoke “I usually use like a stock or something when I make soup.”

“There’s already soup in the pot,” Said gram, “It’s more of a stew than soup.”

“It’s still the city.” Kylie said.

“Can she just surrender already?” asked Benjamin. “I want to see what I can do after I get more territory.”

“Can you please surrender?” begged Gram.

“Kings don’t beg!” said Kylie.

“Nan, please!”

Kylie laughed, “Did the city tell you to conquer me house or something?”

“That was my idea.”

Gram talked about everything he knew. Benjamin corrected what he could, which Benjamin passed on to Kylie. After some time Kylie spoke up.

“What are the terms?” she asked.

“The terms?”

“For my surrender.”

Benjamin glanced at his population counter. It was sitting at one.

“Tell her she’ll get full citizenship and property rights.” Benjamin told Gram.

Gram repeated the offer to his grandmother.

She nodded a little, “It sounds fair, but I want a little clarity on the property rights.”

“I don’t know,” said Benjamin, “I never owned any land before.”

“How about, you own the land but it’s still a part of the city.” Said Gram.

“What does owning the land mean?”

Both Benjamin and Gram were out of their depth and they remained silent.

“How about this, I’ll agree to the terms, but I’ll need to get the title of Advisor, and Court Mage, and then we can figure out land ownership later.”

“Well, she’s your grandmother, does it sound good to you?” asked Benjamin.

“That sounds good to me and the city.” Said Gram.

“I surrender, for the terms we agreed upon.” Stated Kylie.

Nothing happened. Kylie drummed her fingers on the table. The stew started to bubble, releasing a fragment smell into the air. Benjamin found that he couldn’t smell it, but he could sense it in a way.

“Well… it says I’m still in contested territory.” Said Benjamin.

“Benjamin says he’s still in contested territory.” Repeated Gram.

“Have Benjamin try giving me the titles.” Said Kylie.

“Oh,” said Benjamin.

He selected Kylie, and found a menu to apply titles. He scrolled through the listings. He found two specific titles that could be relevant for the advisor title as well as the generic adviser title. He selected both Advisor to the City and Advisor of the King. A little more scrolling through the list had him find Head Court Mage. Once the titles were assigned to Kylie, the population counter rose by one. Benjamin didn’t notice at first, because notifications popped directly into his view.

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Kylie’s eyebrows raised slightly.

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Benjamin didn’t see anything pop up for the Adviser for the King title.

“I like these,” Kylie said.

“They seem pretty nice.” Agreed Benjamin.

“Hello,” said Kylie, “Benjamin was it?”