Calmly, I shrugged and said "Yeah. But that doesn't mean you can slack off. People are counting on you here." That got them to think. "Fine. Let's head over to the baths then, boys." another one of them said. They all got up and got ready for the excursion. I doubted that there would be bathhouses for demihumans here. Even if there were, that would just be asking for an ambush from multiple bounty hunters and assassins. Us five centaurs just stood back and held the church secure while they were gone. The clergymen and women had already been given instructions on how to lock up so that the chance of attacks would decrease. When the militiamen returned to us, they certainly looked cleaner and smelled better. "Nothing hits the spot better than a nice bath with friends, huh?" one of them remarked. "It would have been better if a certain someone wasn't ogling at our privates the whole time." another said, clearly bantering. The one at fault blushed. He chuckled nervously and tried to play it off. "I was just checking to see if any of you guys managed to catch up to me! That's all!" he said.
Everyone made their reactions known. However I did not get the sense that anyone was particularly angry or disgusted. They were all small town young men on a giant adventure together. Even if one or two of them were truly gay, they would mostly all get wives from the town and have kids together. Such was the life a NPC. In a certain way, you could really admire them for it. There was no reason for me to interfere, so I kept quiet. We were going to face down the king in his own throne room. Riling my people up right before the big day was not a good idea. They went to bed and watches took place. In the morning we got up and got dressed for the audience. The newly formed Nimbus Militia did not have great armor. It was just thick leather and some padded cloth shirts. That might change after this special envoy. If Bishop Annabelle was smart, she would elevate the militia to a sanctioned holy order of knights and soldiers. I might have to ask her about if I get the chance when I'm done with the new bandit missions. We finished our preparations and made our way to the palace in formation.
Going to the palace was a first for me. The game had just started after all and I was going to meet the king. Usually, this is the point in the story where they gave you the quest to save the world. I wished it was that simple. Now, we had to intimidate the king into stopping hitmen and bounty hunters from coming after me and the Church of the Sky. I read the encyclopedia article in the menu about the king. King Ancelot Robertus XVI was 56 years old. He had a bastard daughter in his youth as crown prince at the young age of 16. Lady Roseia was not recognized as a royal by his father. However, in that true maverick spirit, he recognized his daughter as his and made sure that she was attended to. Prince Simon was his first son. He was born when Ancelot was 24. He ascended to the throne at the age of 26. Prince Walter was born the next year. At the age of 32, Prince Mihill was born. It was when his first wife passed. Seeing the need for a motherly figure for his children and a queen for the country, he remarried. Twins Princess Bela and Prince Brien were both born a month after he turned 44.
