Who Wants to be a Hero? I Just Want to Farm in Peace with my Knight

Chapter 8: Choosing A Home

When Sora woke up he felt a lot better. Grabbing the few maps on the table he began to contemplate what areas would be best for his new home.

He was surprised to find that according to the map the Kingdom of Norvich was much larger than he assumed. If he didn't include the mermaids which ruled the ocean it was the third largest territory. The North, East, and South were all coastline and the Northwest down was a chain of mountains leaving a small area of their border accessible to foreigners. This made for a strong country against foreign invasion, but also weaker in trade. Their neighbours were the Gloswels Plains controlled by the different nomad beastmen tribes.

Sora studied the map and noted three possible areas he hoped to make his home. All three were in or near the mountains and had some form of water nearby. Norvich was lucky that although they suffered from many droughts unlike the other counties they had several lakes.

Sora had his sights on the west of one lake in particular. If he could build his home there he'd have the mountains to the west, North, and South and a large lake to the East. The only problem was accessibility. In such a remote area surrounded by lakes or mountains it would require some effort to travel to and from.

The other was further up a mountain in between three rivers. Water would be abundant and access would be more reasonable. The only issue he could see from the map was the mountain. The further up a mountain the more at risk it is of having mudslides or poor soil quality.

The third was not far from the second. It was near the base of the mountain near one of the three rivers. It was located in what looked like a valley. Valleys are often rich in fertile soil and protected by the elements. Currently the third seemed the most practical, but Sora could not help but refer back to the the first location by the lake.

"Maybe if I got a boat and learned how to sail it, I wouldn't have to worry about traveling through the mountain range?" As he considered his options he heard a knock at the door.

Knock... knock...*

"Sora it's Keyne. May I come in?"

Sora couldn't think of any reason to reject so he got up to open the door. Unfortunately, he wasn't careful and his right foot got caught on the table leg and he dramatically fell, knocking all the maps and a few books off the table.

Bang! Smack! Bam!*

Hearing the noise Keyne no longer waited and burst through the door. "Sora are you okay?!" Keyne quickly spotted Sora who had fallen on the ground.

"I'm fine. I must have hooked the table leg when I got up. It's nothing serious." He said more embarrassed than anything else.

Keyne quickly went to his side and picked up the fallen glasses. Noticing him come close Sora wanted to reject any offer for help, but before he could Keyne had picked him up by the waist. His strong thick arms effortlessly placed Sora back in the chair. Sora only felt more embarrassed at how easily he was lifted up, as though he weighed nothing more than a pillow.

"I could have gotten up on my own." Sora muttered as he put on the glasses Keyne had handed him.

"I know but I wanted to help." Keyne said as he knelt down to pick up the maps and books that had been knocked down in the fall. "You've been looking through the maps. Have you found any places that look suitable?" Keyne asked.

"I have. There are three that interest me. They each have benefits, but also cons. I was hoping to gather more information on each place before making a final decision." Sora said.

"Do you mind showing me which places? I may not know as much as Hedrek but I have a good understanding of the kingdom." Keyne said with some confidence.