The Monster Mashers arrived at the harbor town in Bramble once more as they traveled back to the nation that had become their base of operations. Davy did a stretch before receiving a letter via bird and Ariagoria tapped Racknar to get his attention. “So I noticed both you and Davy were receiving pigeon mail the entire year we were questing but didn't feel right to pry. However, now I feel I must ask what exactly you two are talking about and with whom.” Racknar grumbled. “I'm not sure who Davy has been getting letters from but I've been getting and giving reports to Elizabeth this entire time so that she can give me updates and me the same for her.”

  Davy chuckled nervously as Krys'tal put their hands to their hips in an angry pose. Davy pulled at the collar of his robe before speaking. “I've been talking with Ivory about a number of things. She and I got rather close. Krys'tal is upset with me because I'm currently trying to keep my options open. I like both of them but I guess I'll have to choose who to continue with on a serious basis eventually.” Marionette shook her head. “I can't believe the tentacle pervert of all people has not one but two options for romance and here I am crushing over a guy who is too goal oriented to give me any sort of attention or response about my feelings.”

  Ariagoria chuckled. “Not to mention the thing Racknar and Elizabeth have going on.” Racknar growled. “There's nothing going on between Elizabeth and I. Also, I've given a response. I am not in a position to be considering a romantic relationship at this time. Especially considering-” Racknar cut himself off for a moment before continuing. “Not a single person who's come to try and win Elizabeth's hand has been able to pull the sword from the stone.” Ariagoria huffed. “Well it's a damn good thing you have a back up plan.” she then switched to a teasing tone. “Right Racknar~?”

  Racknar let out a number of grumbles and groans. “I just want you to know, your father gave me his blessing to date you if that was something I wanted.” Ariagoria’s smile faded. “That's not funny, Racknar.” He then looked her right in the eyes. “Oh shit, you're serious.” Ariagoria responded to the look. Davy made a confused face. “When in the nine hells did that happen?” Marionette chuckled. “Probably around the time Racknar let Amon possess his body.” Davy got even more frustrated. “When was this?!” Ariagoria sighed. “There was that short bit where we split the party and Racknar had a run in with Archduke Flowers, father of Duke Flowers. He was being extremely persistent that Elizabeth give him an heir to replace the one he lost.”

  Davy grumbled lightly. “And he told everyone but me?” Racknar growled slightly. “I really didn't want to put up with you teasing me over being bound by a creep trying to pull a Berserk. I had to destroy a mythical artifact by letting Amon use my body in order to get out. The Ribbon of Fenrir. I destroyed a one of a kind item.” Davy took a moment to respond. Simply cursing. “Well fuck.” Racknar nodded as they used a gate to jump back to the town Racknar now owned. “We’re going to give Lisa a bunch of the loot we've collected so she can sell or reuse it and get a few new items including enchanted guns to replace Charity’s crossbow.”

  The rest of the party nodded with Marionette wondering about something. “What about that new magical silk you've been making? The stuff you said would be better than Mythril.” Racknar nodded. “I'll incorporate it into everyone's outfits and armor once we get to Camelot. At this point the only way to improve our armor will be with rare metals like Orachalcum or Adamantine. I guess we could each wear a second ring of protection but then no more. Despite having ten fingers, no you can't just have ten rings of protection for a plus ten to armor.”

  Racknar kept things quick, giving Lisa and Ivory a number of looted items for them to use. Lisa then hands each of the members of the Monster Mash a strange looking rock with carvings on it. Racknar looked over the rock. “Is this a modified sending stone?” Lisa nodded. “I was inspired by the story you told me of the cell phone. You just tell it to call someone you know who has one and boom. Instant communication. I gave you an extra one for Elizabeth since I know you're heading that way. Ivory, myself, my brother, Mari’s dad, Dante, and the golden dragon all have one”

  Racknar slides it into his coin pouch. “It's better than bird mail or snail mail. This'll definitely make things easier in the future. Yeah, as soon as I'm done with setting up our new outfits we're heading to Londinium.” Lisa hands over two revolvers. “I tried to make these to the specifications you gave me. The enchantment was a bit tricky to get to work right so I messed around a bit. It functions like you asked for, but boy do I tell you it was hard as hell to get a fire enchantment on a gun to enchant the bullet without blowing the damn thing up.”

  Ariagoria picked up the revolvers. “One fire, one ice. Classic. I guess that means I add the crossbow to the loot we're giving you.” Lisa nods and grabs a cup of tea to sip. “Normally I would charge extra if something gave me a hard time but you are friends and know full well I enjoy a challenge.” Racknar nodded and did a stretch. “Guess all that's left is making armor with the new silk I've made.” Lisa perks up. “Mind if I watch? I'd also like a sample of this magic silk. Do you have a name for this new creation?”

  Racknar put his hand to his chin and thought. “This is a new magical material, one that has a similar weight but better durability then Mythril. So I guess it would need a name.” He racked his brain and scratched his head for a while. “Honestly, I've got nothing. I've thought of incorporating the fact it's black iron spider silk into the name since black iron is also the name of a nearly indestructible metal. Or perhaps something that plays on the use of myth in Mythril. However, nothing I've considered flows well. I even considered the thread of fate angle.”

  Ariagoria sighed. “All that lore, mythology, and Creatures and Catacombs stuff and you can't think of anything?” Davy gave her a bit of a side eye. “Can you?” Ariagoria thought for a moment. “Well mythical is the highest rank among magic things in the mortal world. A collection of myths is a Saga or Epic. But I guess Sagaril or Epicril don't exactly roll off the tongue. You could give it a name that suggests it's beyond the mortal limits. Something… Celestial. Or perhaps you could name it after that bullet resistant fiber stuff made with spider silk from our old world.”

  Racknar sighed. “That stuff was called Dragon Scale, that would be confusing. Though since it doesn't exist here I could call it Kevlar. I'm not doing that though.” Marionette hummed. “Stronger than steel, soft and light as silk. I remember feeling silk for the first time and thinking it must be what an angel’s hair felt like.” Racknar made a clicking sound. “Well I can't exactly call it angel’s hair. Sky-silk will have to do.” Davy chuckled. “Yeah, but write it with a hyphen like a superhero name.” Racknar tilted his head. “But I'm speaking, not writing. Eh, whatever. Let's just finish up, rest up, then head to Londinium. We'll have a week till the deadline starting tomorrow.”

  Lisa looked at her sample of Sky-silk. “So what exactly is your backup plan? If Elizabeth isn't engaged by the deadline your plan is ruined and no one has been able to pull the sword from the stone.” Ariagoria gestured to Lisa. “Thank you! I've been wondering the same thing. You've got some way to extend the deadline or something?” Racknar sighed. “I'm going to my room for the night. Your new armor will be ready by morning. It'll go from a plus one to a plus three and count as magical for the sake of resistance. It might be plus four since Mythril is plus three. I should probably stop thinking in Creatures and Catacombs terms.” Racknar then left the room.

  Ariagoria sighed. “I was really hoping he'd finally confess.” Davy looked at Ariagoria. “You already figured something out, didn't you? What aren't you telling us?” Ariagoria let out her own sigh. “Just that things are about to get a little messy around here. Get ready for a rollercoaster, because we're on for a ride.” She then made her way to her own room. Marionette shouting: “I don't know what a rollercoaster is.” Lisa laughed. “Racknar put it in the notes he gave me, I'll show you.” The party spent the rest of the day having downtime.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The next day the party went to the outside of the castle to see Racknar already preparing a cart for the trip to Londinium. Ariagoria getting in. “So what's the plan chief?” Racknar growled and grumbled..”I don't want to talk about it.” The rest of the party got in. Racknar took a quick inventory of everything they had in their bags of holding and his dimension door. “Alright, we're all set. Just… follow my lead.” Davy sighed. “I'd feel more comfortable if you clued us in.” He then pulls out what looks like a golden ticket. “I could always use this to get a biography of your past life.”

  Racknar looked at the ticket and his eyes widened. “Do. Not. Waste your library card on getting a biography of my life. If not for the fact you have to return the book you get I'd use mine on getting Star Tombs.” Davy tilted his head. “When and how did you get library cards from my patron?” Racknar shifted his head from side to side a few times. “When I was younger, and exploring the woods around the cave I was hatched in, I found a door on a frame in the middle of the woods. It was white, had scratches on it, and looked like one of those modern doors with the little rectangle as in them.”

  Davy blinked a few times. “So you saw a random door connected to nothing in the woods in a world where magic is real and opened it?” Racknar nodded. “I heard scratching from the door when I put my ear up to it, despite every fiber of my being saying not to, I opened it. I was pulled in by arms and managed to get to the other side and landed in the library. Ernie was impressed and said that for every shift working as a librarian without looking at a book I could manage he'd give me one library card I could exchange for a book. I managed five shifts, but opened a book on the sixth and was prevented from returning.”

  Davy hummed and put his hand on his chin, with his patron speaking in his mind. “(Tell Racknar that if he explains why he's being so weird about the back up plan he has, I'll make an exception to the return policy and let you both use your cards for Star Tombs.)” Davy responded out loud. “That's kinda suspicious Ernie, but I'll bite since I guess that counts as providing you with knowledge. Ernie says if you explain your strange behavior around your own plan he'll let us cash in our cards for Star Tombs.” Marionette got a tad frustrated. “What in the nine hells is a Star Tomb?!”

  Davy explained. “In the game of Creatures and Catacombs and I guess in this world too there are a set of six different books known as Star Tombs. Although you can get duplicates of them there are six different types, one for each main stat in the game. Using the book burns the book but it also permanently increases the stat tied to it and the maximum it can go without magic items by two. The cap is normally twenty and you can't go above that with items and ability score improvements. You can use up to five of the same type making the new hard cap thirty.”.

  Racknar nods. “At this point I've effectively maxed out my damage output. Outside of increasing the quality of the enchantment of my weapon the only upgrade I'll get is the increase in strength I'll get while raging. I've basically hit a wall. Since I have five tickets and Davy has one that would mean six to share among us if I accept his deal. One each and a spare. It's too good to pass up.” He lets out an extremely long exasperated sigh. “Fine, you win Ernie. I'll play your game. I'm the back up plan.”

  Marionette tilted her head. “I thought you couldn't lift the sword.” Racknar sighed. “No, I said I didn't lift the sword. Not that I was incapable of doing so. The reason I've been so weird about doing the back up plan is because I care about Elizabeth. You could even say that I-” Racknar spoke under his breath, prompting Davy to say “what was that? You'll have to speak up ” Racknar cleared his throat. “You could say in a way I love her. In a way I loved her in my past life at least and those feelings still linger.” Ariagoria gestured at Racknar. “I fucking knew it! Then what is the deal? It's clear she has feelings for you too man so what in the nine hells?”

  Racknar grumbled. “Because she deserves better. Loving someone means wanting what's best for them, wanting them to be happy and live their best life. Even if that means you're not in it. Elizabeth is… it doesn't matter if I wanted to be romantically involved or even if she felt the same at some point. She deserves happiness, and love, and someone who's good enough for her. That isn't me. How the hell can I be expected to love someone?” Racknar then started trailing off. “When I can't even love myself?”

  Ariagoria brings her finger to her mouth and bites on it lightly. “O-oh. I regret asking now” Ernie laughs in Davy’s head. “(Hahahaha. This is better than a telenovela. Alright, summon your one use burner books. I've had my fun.)” Davy sighed and used his golden library card ticket to summon a book with an owl on it. The moment he opened it it burst into magic flames that got absorbed by Davy. “I vote for Racknar to get the extra book since these are his cards.” Racknar sighed and used two tickets to summon two books with cats on them and handed them to Marionette and Krys'tal.

  Marionette and Krys'tal both opened the books with little hesitation. Marionette commenting. “I feel a bit lighter on my feet now. Like when we take a cat's grace potion. Only I guess it doesn't go away this time and is my new normal.” Racknar then gave Ariagoria a book with an eagle on it. She also used it with little hesitation despite its beautiful appearance with gems laid in the cover like a constellation. Racknar summons the last two books, one with a bear and one with a bull and uses them both. “There, hopefully this'll make future fights a bit easier.”

  The group finally arrived at the castle in Londinium. Once the cart was parked they walked up to the door getting stopped by guards who asked them to state their business. Racknar spoke clearly. “I am Sir Racknar Aradae, Lord of Camelot. I request to borrow the royal kitchen so I may prepare a gift for the princess.” The two guards gave each other a look before shrugging and letting the party in without further questions. The party headed straight to the kitchen. Marionette was a bit confused. “Why are we going to the kitchen?” Racknar sighed. “I just want to make it clear that I don't want to do this. I have to do this because it's the only way to keep things on track. We are in the kitchen because it's customary to bring some sort of a gift.”

  Ariagoria gestured at the kitchen as they entered. “So Racknar is going to cook something.” She then made a loud whistle at any staff members present. “Clear out, everyone. No one enters again till we're done.” Racknar thanked Ariagoria before starting to grab things. “I'll have you guys help with some of the preparation. Let's get started.” Racknar took off his ring of illusion and stuck it in his coin purse before picking up four kitchen knives. With his four hands working at blazing speed and accuracy he began preparing a meal for Elizabeth and her parents as a gift.

  Once the feast was ready Racknar put the ring back on and the party started wheeling out the food to the throne room. Racknar addressed the King and Queen of Bramble with a bow. “Hello again your majestys. I humbly present as a gift to you, a meal I cooked myself.” The King sat up in his throne and gestured for a mage to check the food for poison or a curse. “I was wondering what you were up to, I suppose now I get to find out.” The mage reports back to them that the food is safe to eat. The King starts looking at the dishes as Racknar labels them. “I prepared all my best and personal favorites. Meatloaf, goulash, a special marinated and grilled chicken, a fried chicken recipe, spaghetti and meatballs, brownies, and even Gallian toast. Not created in Gallia, that's just what it's called for some reason.”

  The King looked at the meatloaf first, the least impressive looking of the dishes since it looked like a loaf of meat. The King took a slice off and tried a small bite. His eyes widened as he put his hand over his mouth. “I see, yes well…” he then takes a helping of everything including a big slice of meatloaf and puts it on plates in front of him. “A unique introductory gift to be sure. I am surprised you would be skilled in the kitchen.” Racknar chuckled. “It's something I picked up in my last life. Benefits of being a Reborn my Lord.” The Queen also tried some food, starting with the toast. Trying her best not to make it too obvious she liked the dish.

  King William wiped his face off and cleared his throat. “Yes, well I've received your gift and now state your business. Also, leave the recipes and techniques you used with the staff after we are done.” Racknar nodded. “I have come in regards to the deadline for your daughter, the crown princess Elizabeth, to find herself someone to be engaged with.” Just then she entered the throne room and saw the food. She made her way over and started snacking on stuff. “Oh gods, the mastalgia~ Oh how I missed your goulash. I tried to get the cooks here to recreate it several times.”

  William raised an eyebrow at this but focused. “I will offer no extension as if that is what you are asking.” Racknar sighed. “Yeah, I was worried about that. I suppose instead I'll just have to ask for your daughter's hand.” William shit back into his throne. “E-excuse me?” Racknar bowed. “Bring out the sword of selection, I'll prove myself worthy of her hand.” William shifted uncomfortably in his throne. “But you already-” he cut himself off. “Alright then. Archmage Roland, summon the sword.” Roland summoned the sword in front of everyone. Racknar walked over to it and sighed before reminding himself out loud. “I’m doing this, because it is what is necessary.”

  Racknar gripped the sword by the handle and easily pulled it from the stone. William put his hand over his head and shook it. Roland raised an eyebrow at this display. William composed himself. “Well, you passed the first requirement and the test, the rules don't specify that the noble blooded person has to be human so I have no choice but to continue. Elizabeth Anne Victoria Bramble, do you accept this man’s request to take your hand?” Elizabeth nearly choked on her food and had to knock on her chest a few times. “Right, I got distracted and forgot that's what we were doing.” She cleared her throat. “Yes, I do.”