“Well, that was unexpected,” Felton said to me afterward.

  I nodded, still a bit in shock.

  As my mind churned through all the details and I processed my feelings about it, I started to realize that this was something I actually really wanted. I didn’t particularly care about the title, but it would make Rikton and Trisellia more than happy. If I wound up managing a territory with a dungeon, it made even more sense to tie our families together, even if their barony wasn’t particularly close to the march I would be forming.

  Furthermore, while my anger with the goblins had cooled over the years, and my village had already defeated the group that had killed my brother, there was still a part of me that wanted more revenge. I would be more than happy to wipe the goblins out of the dungeon, in their entirety. They offered no value for continued farming, but the dungeon might contain other resources.

  I wouldn’t have to worry about forming a business I wasn’t passionate about, and I could have my adventure while staying close to my family and those that I cared about, keeping them safe, doing something to actually earn a bit of the good fortune I had gained in this life.

  That didn’t even factor in any levels I got killing more goblins, and the extra stat points which would benefit me into future lives. There was no time limit, either, and once the dungeon was contained I could slowly and relatively safely use it to level up.

  It was, overall, fairly perfect. And Elsa knew that, and was making use of it, but I had come to expect that from the crafty queen. I couldn’t even hold it against her, given what I would gain from this.

  I tuned back in to Felton, who had been talking through my thoughts. “I promised to spend some time at home, but I can probably meet you in a few months. You’ll be staging out of Redding, I presume?”

  “What?” I asked, shaking my head and focusing on my friend.

  “Until you start settling. I figured you’ll start from Redding. It’ll take me a while to cross the country, but I can definitely get there before the harvest.”

  “What are you talking about?” I said.

  He furrowed his brows, then jabbed me in the chest. “You. Taking on. A dungeon. And me. Helping. I’m not just going to sit around Obdorn and let you delve on your own.”

  I shook my head. “No, I can’t ask you to do that.” What if he got hurt? I couldn’t do that to Rikton and Trisellia.

  “Are you kidding? Years of training, so that I would be ready and able to protect those that matter to me. Pretty much our entire academy lives have been underscored by surviving a dungeon, and being prepared if we needed to face another. Well, here it is. I am absolutely coming with you.”

  “Guardians protect me,” I muttered, but a smile was growing on my face. “Yeah, well. I guess you might be a little useful.”

  He scoffed, then jabbed a fist out at me, which I dodged, laughing.

  “Master Tovar,” Byron’s voice said from behind. I turned, surprised for a moment, then smiled. I had almost forgotten he had been in attendance to see me graduate after the queen’s surprise reveal. “It would be my honor to provide my services, both in the dungeon and in managing the rest of the expedition forces, if you’ll have me.”

  I grinned. “Of course,” I said immediately, then began thinking it through further. “Uh, if we’re both out past Redding, who’s going to manage the manor?”

  Byron’s lips tightened. “Perhaps… you should consider selling the manor. You’ll be settling the region near the dungeon, so it will go unused and sit empty.”

  My grin slowly morphed into a frown. That had been Somnial’s home. I hadn’t considered ever selling it, but if I wasn’t going to be living in it, it was a fairly sizable ongoing expense to maintain. The wealth Somnial had left me could only stretch so far, and draining the resources of a growing settlement just to keep it would hurt what I was building there. Felton’s family maintained a home in Ivarnel, so keeping a second home wasn’t unheard of, but it was much smaller and more affordable than Somnial’s manor, which was his primary abode. “What about the staff?”

  “Ah,” Byron said, smiling. “I think you’ll find that many of them would be happy to accompany you to the frontier and continue in your employ. For those with families here who cannot, we can write letters of recommendation and help them find new work as needed.”

  The weight of the coming change in my life grew heavy. Change was inevitable, but all this at once was too much to face.

  “There’s no rush,” Felton murmured at my side. “Take your time.” He raised his voice. “And for now, let’s leave that there and go celebrate graduation.”

  * * *

  Walking through the halls, I committed as much as I could to memory.

  Somnial’s manor had been my home for all six of my teenage years, spanning my entire academy career. I could still remember how large and overwhelming it was when I first arrived, but it had grown to be a normal part of my life, and one I would miss.

  I stepped out into the courtyard. What was my Body stat when I got here? 10? I had almost doubled it since, and that was thanks to all the training I had done here with Byron, Tory, and later on, Felton.

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  My Mind and Will had more than doubled, but that was mostly work done at the academy. It was here, at home, where Byron encouraged me to keep working on my [Swordsmanship], even after the loss of my right hand. I had a lot of memories in this place, and I would miss it.

  But I would let it go. Change was the nature of life, and for me, change would be an even greater constant for me, as reincarnation would bring me to whole new worlds. I would be completely cut off from my past. I couldn’t get too attached, or I would ultimately be inviting future suffering into my life.

  I took a controlled breath, in and out. Mindfulness had served me well so far, and would carry me even further. I let go of my thoughts and of attachment, and prepared myself for what would have to come next.

  First things first, I needed to figure out what to do with the contents of the manor.

  Somnial’s library was the most important thing to me. It was enormously valuable, both in terms of fiscal cost and to my continued growth as a mage. I would need to bring the entire library with me, and couldn’t risk leaving it unguarded.

  We would need to order a lot of incredibly sturdy trunks in order to pack and transport it all. I knew from my life on Earth that boxes of books got very heavy, very fast. I didn’t want to risk any damage to the grimoires, so I would double check the construction to ensure the bottoms wouldn’t fall out from all the packed weight.

  The well-traveled and wealthy [Sage] also had a small collection of artifacts, like the Will-measuring orb and the two-way communication mirrors. I had taken a look at these items when they first entered my possession, deciding at the time not to play with the powerful items and focus on my education, especially since I didn’t want anything to blow up. With such a large task ahead of me, it would be good to reevaluate what tools we had at our disposal, and figure out which—if any—were safe, what I should sell off to fund the endeavor, and then pack up the rest.

  Much of the rest of the belongings were the usual things one would find in a house, just increased in quality or quantity on account of this being a wealthy person’s manor; fine décor, dishware, paintings, furniture, clothing, and so on.

  I could likely sell much of that. While I would need it for a new house in the future, I had no idea how long it might take to build that, so it made sense to liquidate most of it in the interim, even if it might be difficult to reacquire some of it in a brand new march way out in the corner of the country.

  Some of my academy classmates were from merchant families. I could reach out to the ones I respected and sell the items through their businesses. When it came time to resupply, hopefully they could run a caravan out to my territory.

  There were a lot of things I wanted to keep, though. Somnial’s painting of the champions, for example, would always have a spot on my wall. It was one of very few images I had to remember my mentor, and while I couldn’t take it with me beyond this life, it was worth carrying through this one as long as I could.

  Over the days and weeks that followed, the manor staff and I did just that, while also arranging recommendations for the employees who couldn’t or wouldn’t join us in the transition. Some would find new houses to work in, and some might stay in the employ of whoever bought the manor.

  Frankly, I was surprised so many were interested in staying on. Even just Byron was a huge win, but the fact that others were more attached to serving me than the manor itself was surprisingly moving.

  Once the library was packed up and all the other items I deigned to keep were parceled and tucked away, it was time to deal with the artifacts.

  “Byron, how familiar are you with these?”

  “I know what many of them are for, but master Somnial did keep some secrets,” Byron answered, examining a obsidian-bladed dagger. “This, for example, is supposed to cut anything, at least with sufficient mana provided.”

  “Useful. Potentially,” I hedged. It would depend on how bad the conversion of mana to cutting power was. I pointed at a small box that was, as far as I could tell, quite plain. “And this?”

  “I believe that is a box of stasis,” Byron said with a thoughtful look. “So long as it is fed with a trickle of mana, an item kept inside will be immune from spoiling.”

  “Handy, but it’s a bit small,” I mused. A larger box could be incredibly useful for transporting perishable provisions, but at this size, it wouldn’t amount to much. If I was collecting some kind of rare medicinal herb that I needed to transport across the country, it would be perfect, but I was planning to manage a territory. Some kind of adventurer would get more use out of it. “Let’s mark that one for the sale pile.”

  In the end, it seemed like Somnial’s artifact collection had been more a stash of curios for the powerful mage; many of the effects could be replicated with actual magic, which the sage had in spades. While a few items were fascinating at a glance, I realized that ultimately, I would be better served learning comparable spells from his library so I could take the skills with me into the next life.

  I kept the Will-measuring orb and the two-way communication mirror, the latter of which would be extremely helpful when taming my future territory. I also kept a small spatial pouch that held far more than it should, which was probably the most spectacular treasure in the collection to my eyes; hopefully I could figure out the base magic at play to acquire it as a skill.

  There were also a few artifacts we kept just because they seemed too dangerous in the hands of others, packing them away very carefully and sealing them up so that no one else would stumble upon them.

  The rest, I arranged to sell. A knife that could cut anything was cool, but I had my mandiblades and magic. The stasis box was fascinating, but I had ice magic for preserving food at home. Most of the artifacts didn’t have much practical value to me, but had tons of fiscal value, which could contribute to the construction of a new settlement.

  All told, the preparations didn’t take as long as I had expected. A buyer for the manor was found almost immediately—someone in the Duke’s family—and the influx of capital helped with arranging the transport itself.

  It was the transport which was the biggest issue. Even selling off a lot of items, there was still quite a lot of luggage to bring with; even just the trunks of books would require multiple wagons. Not only did we need to move quite a lot of belongings, but there were people making the journey with us. We needed seating, and provisions for a week-long journey, plus what we would need to stay in Redding until we could get our feet under us. The relatively poor village couldn’t easily support an influx of nomads, which requires even more supply preparation.

  With enough raab, it was hardly an insurmountable problem. In shockingly short order, we had a train of wagons and carriages prepared in the road before the manor, packed with possessions, provisions, and people, and we were ready to set out.

  “Are you ready, master Tovar?” Byron asked me with a slight smile.

  I took another calming, clarifying breath. In and out. With it, I exchanged the last bits of mana I would in this place, and any remnants of Somnial’s own magic that lingered. I looked back at the manor. Thank you again, for everything, Somnial, I thought. I hope I can make you proud with what comes next.

  Turning back to Byron, I let go of the past to embrace the future. With a smile, I nodded.

  “Caravan, move out,” Byron ordered, and we lurched into motion.