“Listen, those are imperial soldiers, not the run of the mill dwarf merchants or shopkeepers that you may have dealt with in the past,” Eric snapped at the Prince and his companions. “To even be considered for the group you need to slay either a giant or a hundred orcs. One of them alone could probably slay our entire party with how we are equipped right now, so we go to the outpost.”
The group of men looked embarrassed but they had to agree that her logic sounded right. It felt like they were giving up their honor by not confronting the dwarfs, but they had to bow to the superior knowledge of the barbarian. They glumly marched on to the outpost and Eric felt the need to provide some comfort to them.
“We can learn about them from the outpost,” Eric offered. “Isolated people tend to be very nosy about strangers especially armed ones, and a group of this size will surely have had to camp out a couple of the times in the area. As disciplined as they surely are, they like to have some ale with people, so there is sure to be someone in the outpost who has heard something, or know someone who has. Don’t worry too much about the safety of your kingdom Prince because if they were attacking the kingdom they would have stopped us for questioning.”
“So it is our duty to find the nearest bar and drink until we get some answers,” Vincent laughed. “Finally, some questing I can get behind.”
“If you aren’t careful your gut will soon be as big as your Father’s,” Earl Bucks teased.
“Challenge accepted,” Vincent smiled. “First round is on me.”
The others teased each other and started to race each to the outpost while the Prince stayed behind with Eric. The barbarian felt awkward near him for some reason, she felt she know the answer as to why but she didn’t want to admit it to herself. Her transformed body was responding to the presence of a handsome young man. Her nipples were becoming erect with arousal despite her trying to ignore the feelings in her body. Perhaps she could give up the life of combat and live in peace at last. It was what she had always wanted, did it really matter if she was a woman?
“Thank you for what you did back there,” the Prince spoke at last. “You made the right decision, sometimes my pride gets the better of me.”
“It can get the best of us all at times,” Eric responded. “You are welcome for the service and I only ask you do the same for me if the time comes.”
“So are you willing to be seen with a bunch of foolish young nobles? I am willing to buy you a drink.”
“Sadly, I have a rule against drinking with foolish nobles, but I am willing to drink with my foolish friends.”
The Prince laugh as they approached the gates of the outpost.
