The plantfolks’ curiosity set them apart from unintelligent plant life. Tanuki had to yell to get them to stand back and give enough space so he would not be crushed. He had to suffer only a few minutes of the crowd, as Hundredth ushered him into one of the houses.

Grape vines hung from the ceiling and moss ate the dusty corners of the room. Hundredth said, that because the King could not uproot and move around, they had official meetings on the town square, but because the Great Hero was so special, she let him into her private residence. At least that was her excuse for bringing her home.

Tanuki felt bad about going behind the King’s back, but Hundredth explained they could not get the King to listen to them, even if they wanted to. Not because he was a stubborn man, but rather one very busy, who only came to the village when there was a disturbance.

“Did he feel it when I destroyed the nest?” Tanuki wondered but put aside the thought.

Hundredth brought two mugs filled with stale water. Tanuki looked at them and though they were crystal clear, he questioned their origins. He would not want to drink zombie fish water.

“Thank you though,” he put his aside.

Hundredth’s mask bore only two holes for eyes, but hers were so expressive that Tanuki could see the mischief in her gaze.

“Well, for such a special occasion, I might have something for you, oh Great Hero!”

She walked to the corner of the room and reached below one of the floorboards. It was not held in place by any nails, so she could easily remove it. Below hid a stash of old wine.

She grabbed two and winked, “Don’t tell Father, okay?”

Tanuki was just about to reject the wine when something else caught his attention. “Father?”

“Why of course, I am the daughter of the King! And not just like those other sons and daughters, no, I’m special, he said it himself. I am the Princess of Yosh, future Queen of Yosh! Does that make you like me even more?”

“Who’s your mother?” Tanuki ignored her teasing.

“Mother? I need no mother. The King made all souls of the Yosh village to his liking. We originate from him, like branches from the same trunk.”

“Hm,” Tanuki noted her words. He reached out for one of the wine bottles and held it in his hand. The glass was coated with a thick layer of dust. It must have been ancient.

Pulling out the plug, he smelled the liquid and grimaced. He was only ever offered alcohol at family gatherings and even then, he rarely accepted the offer to have a taste. He hated every and all alcohol without exception.

Yet, he felt happy about its presence. Back in high school history class, he learned that in old medieval times people did not always have access to clean water, and they had to resort to alcohol.

He did not want to drink any water from this world, rather he would silence his tastebuds and consume the wine. He pinched his nose.

“Here goes nothing!”

He put the bottle against his lips and as soon as the wine touched his tongue, he spit it all over the table and Hundredth. She basked in his holy saliva as he conducted the ritual to water her flowers, or at least she believed it was symbolic, rather than the drink being too sour.

Indeed, the wine’s age would have made it an expensive delicacy, but because it had previously been opened, the liquid spoiled, making it worthless and the taste of burning piss.

“Thank you, Great Hero,” she let the wine soak into her.

“Fuck that,” he pushed aside the wine, coughing and gagging. For a second, he considered washing away the taste with some water but ultimately refused to put it anywhere near his mouth. All he could think of were the curse words he would throw at Edgar when he got home. Dungeon delving should not be done without proper food, even if that means the seeds run dry.

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He summoned an apple from his inventory and tried replenishing himself with its juice. Hundredth watched on curiously.

“What is that?” she asked.

“I’m not sharing, sorry.”

“Of course, Great Hero! But I was wondering what is it called?”

Tanuki raised an eyebrow, “Apples. You guys don’t have them?”

“Indeed, we do not! But our village has mushrooms and wheat that we bake into bread! Would you like to try?”

Before he could deny the request, Hundredth ran into the backroom area and brought a loaf of bread. Though calling it that would have upset those bearing profession in the field of baking, because it was nothing more than an undercooked heap of pasta.

“Come on, try some! I made it!” Hundredth tried to force some into his mouth, but he resisted.

Slowly, he learned to understand the people of the village. They were unique, but in a way that intrigued his imagination. How did these creatures come to be? Why did the King make them? How did they survive for so long?

But most curious of all proved to be their surroundings that gave birth to a theory about this world, further solidified by the old wine. These creatures were not the original inhabitants of this realm. The houses were at least a hundred years old, yet there were no signs of repair on any of them. The plantfolk did not have the necessary knowledge to fix the ruins, nor did they care to learn it. They evolved from plants that could withstand the harshest of environments. Hell, they might not even need bread or clothes to live and function as a society, most of them already behaved like hivemind soldiers anyway.

“That would make the King the hive’s leader,” he thought about the implications.

Though unsure about the King’s person, he knew that going against his ruling already made a bad first impression. If he wanted to avoid being executed as soon as he returned, he would need to satisfy the King’s will somehow.

Declaring martial law was a mistake made in the heat of the moment, but he could still turn it into something good so long as the King was away. With him being the temporary ruler, he could rally the plantfolk and use them to invade Pretender territories. Perhaps then the King would be satisfied and not only forgive him but also gift him an honorary rank and some cash. He knew not what to make of plantfolk currency, but getting free cash was never a bad thing.

It was around noon. He still had another six to eight hours before nightfall, which was not enough time to kill all the remaining bosses. Ultimately, he decided to finish another two today, then leave the rest for tomorrow.

After explaining his plan to Hundredth, he realised the girl was more interested in getting into his pants which made the past minute a waste of time. So, after explaining it to her in a way that she could be his righthand (wo)man, she immediately said yes to the invite.

“I need you to tell me how many soldiers you’ve got,” Tanuki slammed his hand onto the table to appear professional.

“Fifteen. Five are permanently stationed at the village to defend from raids.”

“Good, they shall remain. Get the other ten to gear up, we are leaving soon to kill another one of the Pretenders. We killed the one producing nestmen, what other are there?”

“There are three we can access on the sides of the cube. The fifth Pretender resides below us, but we don’t know how to access him.”

“Do you have any intel on what he might do?” he asked, then explained the word intel when she did not know.

“Oh, we know that he is a man. He only ever showed up once…”

As she said that, her voice faded for a moment. This seemed to have been a traumatic experience. Tanuki would have stopped her, had she not immediately continued.

“One time there came a raid that was especially big. There were nestmen and bonehooves, they attacked at the same time from opposite sides. I remember, more than half the village perished.”

She swallowed and took a deep breath, her eyes staring into the distance.

“I remember begging Father to come and save us, but he would not listen. He remained silent. I did not understand, have we wronged him in any way to have his gaze turn away from us? I was… taking shelter in one of the houses away from the monsters. I was still small, so I hid beneath the floorboards.”

She crossed her arms around her stomach, the pain of stress still lingering within when she thought back.

“I saw him emerge from the chaos. He was like us. His armour was different, old and weathered. He had the most majestic antlers of all and the bushiest of capes. I remember, he held an axe with two hands the size of both of us. He swung once, and ten monsters fell.”

Both fear and admiration resided in her voice.

“He killed them. All of them. The village turned into a cemetery of skin and bones, but that was not the end. When the monsters were killed, the villagers ran out to celebrate his victory. We thought he was you,” she chuckled nervously, “I almost ran out myself, but my foot got stuck on a vine, and by the time I freed myself, it had happened. He cast the first strike, slaying four adults and a child in an instant. They broke apart like withered leaves. He did not stop with the monsters, no, he killed every remaining villager. Only I could hide, the most cowardly of all.”

Tanuki waited for her to finish, then remained silent. She was shaken at first, but after noticing Tanuki’s serious expression, she covered herself with one hand and laughed softly.

“Oh well, you gave me an order, haven’t you? I’ll gather the troops.”

She made her way out of the room as quickly as she could. Tanuki remained, staring at the table. Foreboding thoughts brewed in his mind as he tried to make sense of things.

He heard the thunder that was to approach. He knew its rain would not stop until he and the village were flooded. Wagering options and preparing for the worst, he followed her outside.