The next four days passed with very little of note happening. Almost all the nobles had arrived in those first couple of days, so there were no new overtures made to procure space on his farm. The doors and gates were finished and delivered, finally completing the barn and giving him a front gate for the farm. And his guests were polite in the few times they interacted, but didn’t go out of their way to seek him out, or indicate that he should seek them out (though they were still grateful for the supply of eggs). The only thing that was truly of note (aside from gaining two points each in wisdom and intelligence and fully saturating his land) was that the Ritual of the Space Grove finally ran out, upon which he then spent another eleven and a half gold restarting.

Reactivating the ritual had prompted him to take a good, long look at the tree, which now was almost 40 feet tall with a canopy that spread almost as wide, while its trunk was almost three feet in diameter. Much more interesting was the corona of space mana he could see hanging around the tree. At first he couldn’t figure out what it was for, but then he noticed that the leaves in the interior seemed to be getting just as much light as the exterior leaves. That’s when it clicked, the tree was warping space around itself to move light around in its branches!

Smiling at that thought, John had checked the 15 arches the runners had tunneled out to, and found them almost entirely outlined in vinelike branches. He wasn’t sure what was going on there, but he got the feeling they’d all find out soon.

It was on the fifth day that something interesting finally happened. Just as John was finishing his daily communion with the tree when four gateways opened, disgorging a legion of soldiers wearing black and gold livery that bore a crest that was nothing but a simple golden circlet.

John started to head for the exit, but suddenly Knight Commander First Class Helen was standing next to him. She put a hand on his shoulder and whispered quietly. “Be polite, and follow my lead, kneel when I kneel, and do not rise until given grace to do so. You are about to speak with an emperor, be polite and respectful, but do not be afraid to speak your mind, he is no petty noble to take out his ire on one with lesser station.”

John gave her a hesitant nod then allowed himself to be pulled inside the circular wall that surrounded the tree.

The soldiers moved past with a quick economy of motion and some spread out to fully encircle the shrine, while yet more began to clear the road outside of the few gawkers who were around at this hour. John watched as the men and women paraded past, and wondered where they were all going to stay. There had to be at least 3,000 of them!

Finally, the last of the soldiers passed and only then did John notice that at some point Knight Commander Second Class Axia and Knight First Class Tet had joined them. They, like Helen, were wearing their full knightly regalia, which prompted him to think that now was definitely a time for full titles, if there ever was one.

Now that the foot soldiers were passed three of the gates had closed, through the fourth a veritable throng of unarmored people in some form of uniform could be seen. The people in question came to a complete stop just at the threshold and a single older goatkin stepped through.

She gave the shrine a quick once over, her face impassive, and then her eyes settled on the trio of knights and John. Efficient strides brought her over to the four where she gave a partial bow to Helen and then stood straight.

“Knight Commander First Class Helen I presume?” she asked, receiving an affirming nod from the woman in question. “Excellent, I assume then that you are Groundskeeper John?”

“Uh, yes?” John replied and immediately wished he hadn’t made that sound like a question.

“Wonderful. I am Assistant of Ceremonies Abigail, as my official title is a bit of a mouthful you may refer to me merely as Assistant Abigale,” she introduced herself before continuing. “I have been informed that you’ve claimed a substantial bit of land but are currently only using a portion of it. One therefore wonders if it would be possible to negotiate the use of an unused portion to host the Emperor and his guests during the day’s proceedings.”

John took a second to compose himself. He did indeed have a good bit of land he wasn’t currently using and by the sound of it they weren’t attempting to take it without compensation. “I don’t see a problem with that,” he replied. “But in fairness I should tell you the land is undeveloped and the road doesn’t run along the full stretch of my land.”

“That won’t be a problem, there are many mages with competent geomatic skills on staff, it will be no trouble to extend the road to the destination and erect temporary buildings,” the woman assured, her eyes then flicked heavenward. “We will also have someone deal with the weather.”

“Then I see no reason not to say yes,” John responded.

“Excellent, Will a payment of ten gold be enough? Or if you prefer, we could offer items in trade instead. I understand you are a farmer by trade? While the palace does not normally stock goods a farmer might find useful, we would be more than happy to make the effort to find some,” she offered.

John was sorely tempted to take her up on the second offer, however a quick squeeze of Helen’s shoulder made him think maybe it wasn’t the best idea. “Ten gold will be more than sufficient; do you need any help finding the correct area?” he asked in turn.

“Thank you, but we’ve got that well in hand,” she replied, and with a gesture held out a small pile of gold coins which John accepted. “Thank you for your considerations, Groundskeeper John. If you will excuse me, I must see to my duties.”

“Of course,” John said, even as the woman turned and made a gesture to the waiting hoard of what John now presumed were servants.

Perhaps a hundred servants in total exited the portal and walked briskly through the shrine to the road and then started down it. John didn’t have time to watch them go however, for almost immediately several people in intimidating plate armor exited the portal and took up station around it. Their armor was matte black, with the exception of that single golden circlet on the breastplate. The most fascinating thing about the armor, however, was that it seemed to flow around the joints like water, changing shape to conform to the wearer’s every move.

“The Imperial Guard,” Helen murmured softly. “They exclusively escort the emperor.”

“Why is the emperor coming before everything is set up?” John whispered in turn.

“He will wish to tour the village and perhaps take stock of the dungeon before the festivities. In addition, think how quickly you can set up your buildings or create a road, and you are a young, barely leveled farmer. Imagine how quickly trained and experienced servants could perform such tasks,” came her soft response.

John considered that and then nodded.

The Imperial Guard stood there for maybe a minute before a man dressed in midnight black tunic and loose trousers of the same color walked through the gateway. He was short, perhaps five feet over all, with chestnut brown hair, a well kempt beard, and storm grey eyes. He wasn’t obviously well muscled, nor however did he seem to be overweight, instead he was that happy medium that spoke of someone who took care of themselves without being obsessive. Finally, crowing his head was a thin golden circlet.

Behind the emperor (for that’s who John assumed the crowned man to be) could be seen the large courtyard, now devoid of all but a handful of people who were dutifully following the emperor through, and the rest of the imperial guard who were creating a shrinking perimeter as everyone filed through the gate. As the last of the guard came through the portal closed.

The emperor looked around the shrine for a few moments, his eyes taking in everything. From the way he paused at each new sight it was clear he was Inspecting it all and drinking in the information. Finally, his eyes landed on the galaxy tree. Whatever he saw took far longer to digest than the rest, as he stared at it for a good minute, a small but genuine smile slowly growing on his face.

Turning his attention from the tree he looked to John and the three knights. A gesture with one of his hands and the guard expanded forward, preceding him as he walked towards the quartet. As he arrived the three knights went to one knee, John mimicked them quickly.

“Groundskeeper, Knights Magi,” the man said. “You may rise and stand within my sight.” He intoned.

The three knights stood swiftly, John once more only a beat behind them. The emperor gave John a long, appraising look. “So,” he said finally, “You are the man who was insane enough to break from tradition and try to create a new type of Prismatic Tree,” he said, sounding far more interested than anything else. “Tell me, what prompted you to try creating a space aligned prismatic tree?”

John flashed a brief glance to Helen, who nodded almost imperceptibly. “Honestly? I had a quest to build a Portal, and knew I’d need one eventually to move goods. But I didn’t have the money, and no one had the skill, to make one. So, I thought maybe I could grow one instead,” he admitted.

“How did you fund it? Normally prismatic trees take traits from the magical items they absorb, however if you didn’t have the money to build a portal you almost certainly didn’t have the money to buy the expensive and exotic items this tree should have required to grow,” the emperor quizzed.

“Well, no, I didn’t. I was able to afford a few items, and I got a special serum from Thuana as a quest reward, but other than that I just told the tree what I wanted,” John explained.

“Told the tree what you wanted?” The emperor raised a brow.

“Each morning I sit with the tree and feed it space aligned mana, and during its growth I impressed on it the ideas of portals and travel. It moved its own mana in that direction over time and eventually created the fruits after its mana seemed to solidify.”

“Fascinating, I wonder if anyone else has tried to commune with a Prismatic Tree before. Tell me, does the tree talk back?” the emperor inquired curiously.

“No, but I get impressions and feelings. It’s like it’s not quite got a mind but is close. It recognizes me and somehow can sense the world around itself as it knows what I look like, not just how my mana feels,” john said.

“Amazing. I shall have to have someone look into this further, as it sounds like your tree is well on the way to sapience and it’d be interesting to know if all prismatic trees are like that, or if you’ve stumbled upon a way to uplift them,” Emperor Regius mused. “As for the fruits, I don’t think that’s the only surprise your leafy friend has in store.” The man gestured to the fifteen arches encased in interwoven branches and then passed a system notification to John.

[Name: Arboreal Gateway]

[Quality: Undetermined]

[Description: Created by runners of the galaxy tree, these arches are capable of opening portals to any known location or to any location with a known portal beacon. Mana must be supplied at the time of the portal’s inception, though it may be supplied either by the tree itself, the person activating the portal, or an external mana source. The portal’s duration will be predicated upon the mana invested. Because the tree to which these are attached is not finished growing, these arches are currently inactive.]

John was surprised, partly because of what the tree was doing, but also because he hadn’t known you could share system messages. “Thanks, I didn’t know that,” he said.

“It was no trouble, hopefully this will count as completion for your quest,” Regius replied.

John shook his head. “It was a timed quest, so I failed it weeks ago.”

“That is unfortunate, especially given the time and care it sounds like you’ve put into this project,” the emperor commiserated. “Still, you’ve done remarkably well with so little, I look forward to seeing what other miracles you might produce, and please let me know if there’s anything the empire can do to aid you.”

John looked at the emperor for a heartbeat, and then up at Helen. The Knight Commander could tell he wanted something from the emperor and was checking to see what the protocol might be. She simply nodded at him, and his gaze returned to the ruler of the nation.

“I… I have a request, actually. There are certain plants that don’t grow in this part of the world, they’re called sugar cane, cacao, and vanilla. In my world they’re considered some of the greatest luxury food stuffs,” he explained, and the emperor’s face took on a thoughtful cast. “I have reason to believe that sugar cane can be found far to the east, while cacao and vanilla can be found a great distance to the south. However I have neither the time to make such journeys, nor the money to fund them for others. So I was hoping to that maybe we could use a true portal fruit to get them…” he trailed off uncertainly.

The emperor considered the request for no small amount of time, and John began to worry that he’d made a mistake. However, a reassuring squeeze of his shoulder helped him remain calm.

“I might be willing to allow it,” the emperor stated. “Though I’m afraid I cannot before the tree produces its first full harvest. Currently we have but one true portal fruit, and while I could authorize it for this use, it would be considered a frivolous waste of resources, which, given the true power it possesses, this would be. However, once we have a stable supply and an accurate assessment of how many we can expect over what time period, options open up. What was once a frivolous waste might become nothing more than bestowing a boon on someone has provided the empire with exemplary service.”

John nodded, it wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear, but it was one that made sense. “Thank you for considering it,” he responded.

The emperor gave a shallow nod. “It has been a pleasure John, but time moves forward ever apace and I must move with it. Be well, Groundskeeper, Knights.”

All of the knights gave shallow bows and John copied them once more. When they straightened the Emperor was already on the move, and soon they were left standing alone inside the Gateway of World.

“You did well,” rumbled Axia. “Though that last request might have been stretching things.”

“All is well,” Helen said with a wave of one hand. “The emperor took no offense, and while he did not promise you what you sought, he implied it might be a possibility, and the emperor never idly does such things.”

John looked between he two then nodded, unsure what else to do. Helen smiled back.

“Come, we should return to our work and leave the rest of today’s business to nobles,” she said. And with that, the four went on about their day.