You've always longed to be reincarnated into another world, have an unfair cheat skill, and be surrounded by beautiful women in skimpy outfits.

Your name is John Doe— and the fantasies that so many desired were a reality for you.

You were even able to find purpose and dedicated yourself to something you loved to do— building.

Giving idle materials shape, seeing machines come to life with a whizz or a whir or the hiss of steam was something you'd never regret. Work was difficult, and took time, but it was all worth it in the end when seeing a new creation. Also you were reincarnated with cheat powers: You were what this world called a Savant— an engineer that could instinctively, since birth, understand and create special items called artifacts as well as construct impossible machines; mechas and clockwork robots and walking pieces of artillery were a common sight the land where civilization crept in and inevitably brought in Savants with it.

Steampunk was the norm in this world. The 'tags' that held reality together made it stay that way. Steam power was the most useful energy source in this universe, though you entertained thoughts of making combustion engines instead of steam ones— dragging the world into a dieselpunk era— but you haven't experimented with much other than electrical currents and steam.

Also something to note, in this world harems and slavery were commonplace. The happiness women had from being slaves was all thanks to the influence and masochistic fetishes this world's foremost creator had: The Goddess of Artifice and Creation herself, Herta.

She also happened to be your wife, the first of seven others, and the one you 'kidnapped' from the Heavenly Realm. Her only desire is to be used and abused by your body and words. Despite how arrogant, stupid, and reckless she could be, she also happens to be the woman you trusted and loved the most in this world, always been at your side helping and devoting herself to you.

Anyway, you have a total of seven women in your harem— all of them your 'slaves'. Because of Herta both consciously and subconsciously influencing the moral values of this world (a concept that hasn't fully processed in your mind), and because the gender ratio was skewed to have more women than men, there was no shortage of eager ladies willing to serve men.

Actual chattel slavery was looked down upon. This crime, among others, and anything that went against the Bondage Accord, were fought against. But more serious threats were treated with much more seriousness— 'mental corruption' being a constant threat. Many organizations around the world actively fought against these evils. It was a staple of life at this point— taking the form of Adventuring Guilds and the Knightly Orders— these organizations acting with enough autonomy to cooperate.

But that's all besides the point. Right now you were in the merchant city of Centria, visiting the relatives of your kitsune wife.

"Master! You're here!" Herta greeted you happily, the small figments she created to entertain the infant seemingly sharing in her joy.

"I was in the room next to this one, you know?" You smiled at your first wife's antics.

And that was when you notice that the chaos had increased exponentially.

Thankfully it was of the better sort, if the happy cooing from the infant fox boy and the constant d'aawing of the women present was anything to go by.

Kasato was getting increasingly protective of her newborn son. Herta in particular was clearly becoming a 'rival' to her, as the goddess was acting more and more silly the more time she spent around the baby. Bertha and Cattleya on the other hand were doing some arm wrestling, your busty human warrioress surprisingly evenly matched with the near-amazonian catgirl. You checked up on each and every one of them, and found things to go pretty swimmingly. Each of them interacted with Ryko and Shizuku, though those two girls mostly wanted to play with you and Ayane.

Speaking of, Ayane had been struggling to keep up with Ryko and Shizuku. More than once she gave you a pleading glance through the window, something which prompted you to action.

Ayane did have tons of experience taking care of children— these two in particular were often getting babysat by her. And also she was working out every morning for hours to increase her strength and stamina. This wasn't enough for your old wife, already coming along in years (being only second to Herta in terms of physical age), to beat the energy of two hyperactive kits— Ryko and Shizuku were both excited to see you and Ayane again.

You played with the children for a while, teaching them some sports from your old world, and, after convincing them to come back inside, got them interested in listening to stories. A grateful Ayane took to resting on a couch.

"Ah, what about the story of how I tried to become an adventuress?" Ayane smiled warmly at them.

"You already told me that one!" Said Ryko.

"Yeah! You already did!" Shizuku repeated, despite having a curious look on her face.

"My, my," Ayane gave a soft, motherly laugh, "Perhaps my beloved can spare a few tales. What do you say, my love?" She looked at you.

"Sure, I know a few." You said, relaying a few stories from your old world. JRPGs and anime made for some good myths; and being weirdly realistic for this world it captured their imaginations with ease.

Before you realized it you, Ryko, Shizuku, and even Ayane were all cuddled up on the couch.

"Mr. John Doe," The fluffball known as Ryko yawned, "That story was fun. But also confusing..."

"Time travel shenanigans can get complicated." Talking about things like Dragon Quest and anime was easy enough, but Chrono Trigger was a different beast altogether. You sprinkled everything with some average anime shenanigans and improvised the parts you didn't remember.

"Such tales about heroes on journeys are oft spoken and shared, as strange as they are." Ayane said. While outlandish things were easily believed thanks to the nature of this universe, some voiced doubts about time travel existing grounded you back in reality.

"I've never really heard any of the stories Master spoke of." The ever positive and intuitive Mel started listening not too long after you started, and was giving you another one of those strange looks. This one however quickly morphed to curiosity. "But if these things really happened, then..."

"I have tons of dreams like those stories." Ryko yawned again before you could clarify anything. "Tons and tons of dreams... I wanted to show you all the origami I made, Mr. John Doe..." She closed her eyes, but remained awake.

"You can show them to me next time I visit." You offered.

"Promise?" Ryko muttered. Beside her Shizuku was fast asleep.

>"Of course."
>"If I have the time, then I will."
>(write-in)

You scratched behind the little foxgirl's ears. Soon she joined her half-sister in the realm of dreams.

"Goodness," Ayane sighed out, "You have quite a way with them. Ryko hasn't tried to cause mischief for you yet, and I've never seen Shizuku open herself to someone so quickly."

"Lord Doe's personality is magnetic and inspires respect." Risae said in her usual monotone.

"It's no surprise~" Ruby inserted herself in the conversation with some flattery, "My gallant Master does not lack in any way whatsoever. It is clear he shall be an ideal father."

"Yup," Herta added, looking like all was right in the world. "And all the pretty ladies will want a piece of Master~"

At that moment Eisho and Ai, both disheveled but clearly content, joined the rest of the crowd in the living room. They announced a telegram arrived just now— some members of the Yasuda clan were going to make a surprise visit, and would be staying the night. You wanted to meet them, but you realized that this house wouldn't be able to comfortably hold so many guests at once.

With that, everyone said their goodbyes. Ryko and Shizuku, both now awake from the commotion, were visibly sad to see you and Ayane leave. Risae, to the surprise of Eisho and his family, actually said more than a sentence when saying goodbye to you, Mel, and Ruby. You have a feeling she now considers the four of you to be friends.

When leaving through a flying ferry, you saw all of your women laughing and smiling. Morale was clearly up the roof from this visit.

It made you consider them: You were told about how to manage your wives and care for them, prompting you to do things like remember their birthdays and talk with them more often, while managing their feelings and mediating between them. You've yet to see any fights emerge between them, which was something you were grateful for.

Things honestly weren't so bad. You felt almost like it was a sort of honeymoon. However, many times you were warned that the real challenges would start when your children were born— if Eisho's and Hisahsi's words were to be believed.

Even if that's true, you thought to yourself, I'll make sure they're all gonna be happe. I won't let anything stop me from living an ideal life in another world.

That "ideal life" was something every isekai promised, and it was in your grasp... This wasn't something you were gonna let go.

Well that brought you to the present. The day was still young, and it was a few hours into the afternoon. You could use this time however you wanted...

>Go to the stores. Maybe get some potions and materials.
>Meet with that eccentric harpy, Dr. Nicodemus. You want to get your pregnant wives checked up.
>Ayane spoke in passing about meeting some of these 'connections' her father, Hisashi, had. This was in order to better help with your plan to sell aluminum.
>Visit a guild. (Which? You know about the Adventurer, Merchant, and Artisan Guilds, but there are other smaller guilds like the Mage's Guild that you could try to find)
>Look around for some houses you could purchase in this city. Ayane and Ruby worked together to find a selection.
>And you were snooping around, as usual. Rostchilde was obviously making some moves, and you suspected there was more happening than what met the eye. (Go now or at night? Bring any of your wives along?)
>Just relax for the rest of the day and take it easy. You deserved it.
>(Write-in)

>>6230058
>>Meet with that eccentric harpy, Dr. Nicodemus. You want to get your pregnant wives checked up.

Finally, we are so back

>>6230054
>>"Of course."

>>6230049 (OP)
Welcome back QM, hope you enjoyed your 2 week break!
>>6230054
>"Of course."
It will probably be after awhile considering the child births are coming up and in rapid succession
>>6230058
>Meet with that eccentric harpy, Dr. Nicodemus. You want to get your pregnant wives checked up.
Important we do this
Other than that, what else do we have on our checklist of things to do? I assume we are going to the merchant family meet so we can propose our typewriters but other then that I am forgetting what else we planned to do.

Archive:
http://thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=NotIseQM

Character Info Lists:
https://rentry.org/IsekaiCheatQuestCharacters

Item Value Lists:
https://rentry.org/isekaicheatquestitems

My updating schedule varies, but I aim for every other day and not any later than 3 days.

It's good to be back after that little intermission lmao

>>6230070
>Welcome back QM, hope you enjoyed your 2 week break!
It was alright, gave me some time to iron out some stuff in-world. Hopefully this website doesn't die again.
>Other than that, what else do we have on our checklist of things to do?
An anon had an interesting list last thread:

//todo (essential)
--Dispose of the Bandit King
--Collect raw materials and deliver product
//todo (discretionary)
--Purchase medical texts for Ayane and Gerty to study
--See Dr. Nico
--File patent paperwork
--Buy metal if we can find it in bulk
--See our new nephew
--Take foxdad up on a drink
--Obtain professional maps and geological data for the estate, if they exist
--Snoop around whatever those two dickwad nobles are up to this time

You've already done some stuff in here. I won't say much else, but certain things on that list are pretty straightforward to get (medical texts can be bought from a bookstore/apothecary shops pretty easily, as long as they aren't magical healing spellbooks), while certain other parts will require work, time, and luck.

>>6230091
>-Dispose of the Bandit King
Is this not done already?

>--See our new nephew
>--Take foxdad up on a drink
And these

>>6230091
>Hopefully this website doesn't die again.
I’d laugh
>//todo (essential)
Finished already which is good
>//todo (discretionary)
A few are done which is good and we should be able to knock out most of the others by today
That said, is the Westphalian artifact competition still ongoing?

>>6230101
>>6230105
Yes you already did a few of the stuff on the list, including collecting the raw materials from Hisashi.

>>6230116
>is the Westphalian artifact competition still ongoing?
Neither you nor your wives have heard much about it recently, so as far as any of you know it's already ended.
There's likely a few Westphalian merchants selling/showing off their artifacts, but these are mostly the ones that didn't get sold, are considered defective, and/or are disposable surplus.

>>6230058
>>Meet with that eccentric harpy, Dr. Nicodemus. You want to get your pregnant wives checked up.

prenatal visits are very important.

>>6230054
>"Of course."
Not a question.
>>6230058
>Meet with that eccentric harpy, Dr. Nicodemus. You want to get your pregnant wives checked up.
Their wellbeing is still our #1 priority. It could answer some important questions like how many children our wives are carrying if they're far enough along to tell and give us a better indication of Herta's due date.

>>6230070
Herta is getting closer to giving birth (whenever that is) but the quick succession of births won't start for a bit over five months and I imagine our next visit to Centris will be in the 2-3 months between when Herta (we can show off our firstborn(s) too!) and Catty's children are born.

>Herta: ~10-15 weeks left (my estimation based on a 6-7mo gestation, YMMV)
>Catty: ~23 weeks left
>Gerty: ~28 weeks left
>Ruby: ~32 weeks left
>Bertha: ~34 weeks left
>Mel: ~34 weeks left
>Ayane: Not pregnant yet (~30 weeks from when we knock her up)

>>6230054
>"Of course."
>>6230058
>Meet with that eccentric harpy, Dr. Nicodemus. You want to get your pregnant wives checked up.
welcome back, OP

You decide to pay a visit to the doctor.

Of course it's not for yourself, but for your pregnant slave-wives.

You consider taking Ayane as well, but since you were both pretty sure that she wasn't pregnant, you decide to hold onto the free check-up she could use for when she actually needs it.

With Ayane's merchant skills, the promotional about complementary check-ups for first time customers, and the potential of being regulars for the feathered doctor was enough to convince him to have every wife that isn't Herta go there for free.

At least, it was free when it came to first prenatal visits.

An option, through a suggestion from one of Nicodemus's nurses, was put forth; you could pay to give each of your wives a 'magical crystal necklace' for them to wear.

When hearing about 'magic healing crystals' you instinctively wanted to brush it off as a scam, but then you remembered this was a magical world and these sorts of crystals were a legitimately useful.

Apparently it would make your wives healthier and protect them, and their pregnancy, from mental corruption.

It was a little bit redundant, considering the rings you enchanted also warded off corruption and cleansed any that might stick onto your wives, but it could be nice to have anyway if for no other reason than for studying.

>You'll purchase one of them. (Costs 100g)
>No, there was no need to waste money.
>(Write-in) (Will need a roll if you try to haggle it down)

You asked why you weren't offered this when you were with Herta, and he reminded you of the "unnatural quantities of divine power flowing through that first wife of yours, hoo-hoo".

Right, that.

With that subject in the air, Nicodemus urged you to let him check Herta's condition once more. You allowed it, considering he was offering to do this for free.

It was the same as last time you were here, save for one fact; instead of one crystal ball that was used to check health and status, there were now three.

"As you might see," Said he, "I am now the owner of two more artifacts. The first you've seen before and are familiar with, and the second, though similar, is of higher quality. Meanwhile the third was personally commissioned by yours truly— a dwarfish Savant specializing in medical and anti-corruption artifacts created it, and he personally assured me that the craftsdwarfship was of the highest quality."

Just by looking at it you could see the rare materials and distinctive Savant-like touch the orb had.

Herta was instructed to touch these artifacts; first the one that was used before, then the second, then repeating that once more. And so on, sometimes at the same time as another crystal ball, sometimes in a specific order, sometimes all at once.

After some time the readings were done, and the talkative harpy owl finally stopped speaking about how his little sister got an orange peel stuck to her talon for a week without noticing it.

Nicodemus tilted his head this way and that as he looked over the papers.

"How peculiar." Said he, looking over everything. "Hoo-hoo, very interesting."

"What's up, doc?" You ask, growing frustrated. You wanted to get all of your wives checked up, but this was already taking up the better half of an hour.

"It seems like this is was all in vain." Said the doctor as he let go of the papers, causing them to unceremoniously flop down. "They all show different a progression of her pregnancy, with varying timelines, the first two orbs even contradicting themselves a few times, while the Savant-made one reacted oddly to your wife. Mr. John Doe, tell me, does you wife happen to be a Savant as well?"

"Maybe. What if she is?"

"Nothing, perhaps." He hoo'd like an owl again, this time with some exasperation. "Except that her pregnancy has developed fast enough to determine one fact, revealing— in what is probably the only thing these artifacts' results agree on— that your wife will have twins."

You didn't know what to say. Your first thought was to celebrate the good news with your first wife, but Herta did more than enough with a happy squeal, pouncing and hugging you.

"Indeed, this is a cause for great joy. And yet," Nicodemus brought out some more papers, "I have proof that last time you and your slave-wife were here, the pregnancy was going about as normal. A human woman would not be so developed." He pointed at Herta's swollen stomach with a wing. "Results like that are more akin to a demi-human or fae of some kind."

"Are you saying that there's something wrong?" Considering that this doctor made you worry over nothing last time you came here due to his good intentions, it's likely he would mistake Herta's divine blessing for something else again.

"From what I can tell, it's likely an error in with the accuracy of the information I've basing my assumptions on. I shall ask you again; is your wife truly human? I only say this because varying gestation periods are found in beastfolk, fae, merfolk, and harpies. There is no shame in uncertainty— as a bird of science, I myself am uncertain of many things. But we must all start from somewhere," He took off his glasses and stared at you intently. "There is an important inquiry I wish to make: Did you do as I recommended when suggesting what to do in order to prevent mana-sickness in her? And did you take measures to stop the extensive flow of Holy Magic in your wife's system?"

You hadn't even looked at those papers he gave you, but you knew for a fact that you had nothing to worry about since she was literally a goddess.

Herta glanced at you, ready to support you in whatever you decided to tell him.

>"I did what you suggested. Also I'm sure my first wife is human." (Lie)
>"If she isn't human, then how can I figure out what species she is?" Divert the conversation and pretend to be ignorant.
>"She has a divine blessing that causes her to have be more fertile." It's the partial truth and will answer some questions, though you don't intend to go too much into it.
>"I'll be honest with you: I haven't even looked at the papers you wrote." Tell the whole truth, except for the part about Herta being an actual goddess.
>"What I'm about to say to you must remain secret..." Tell him about your first slave-wife being the Goddess of Artifice, despite the potential dangers it could bring. You doubt he'll believe you— but if you can get him to play along you might be able to have a better idea of when Herta's due date is.
>(Write-in)

>>6230324
>"She has a divine blessing that causes her to have be more fertile." It's the partial truth and will answer some questions, though you don't intend to go too much into it.
The best lies have truth mixed into them

>>6230321
Forgot this
>You'll purchase one of them. (Costs 100g)
Why not, more artifacts for us

>>6230321
didn't expect a doot this quick
>You'll purchase one of them. (Costs 100g)
let's try it
>>6230324
>"She has a divine blessing that causes her to have be more fertile." It's the partial truth and will answer some questions, though you don't intend to go too much into it.

Does the Dorfball menace with spikes of crystal?
Herta is a savant I suppose, but she is as much the syndrome kind as the lunacy kind.
>>6230321
>You'll purchase one of them. (Costs 100g)
It's pocket change for us, we might as well have a look at how it works.
>>6230324
Called it for twins. Now I'll call it for a boy and a girl.
>"She has a divine blessing that causes her to have be more fertile." It's the partial truth and will answer some questions, though you don't intend to go too much into it.
>Her species ancestry is a total mystery, though we always assumed human for lack of evidence to the contrary
Some bullshit and truth and it might send him in circles.

-----

What's the mix of species out here? I'm assuming mostly humans but all the classic fantasy races seem to be present plus beastkin. Any others, and what's the general makeup in Centris from what we've seen?

Are the children of races where large pregnancies are common born proportionally smaller than those that generally bear single offspring or not? If they grow to or near human size in the womb, Catty might get rather spherical over the next several months depending on the size of her litter.

>>6230321
>You'll purchase one of them. (Costs 100g)

>>6230324
>"I'll be honest with you: I haven't even looked at the papers you wrote." Tell the whole truth, except for the part about Herta being an actual goddess.

You should not lie to your doctor and we can just say we only know she has divine beings blood running through her and she has blessing.

I would like to know if there is any known complications

>>6230376
>Does the Dorfball menace with spikes of crystal?
On the item is an image of True Dorf Spikiness
>What's the mix of species out here?
From what you've seen: humans, harpies, many types of beastfolk (cats, dogs, rabbits, rodents, raccoons, horses), kitsune, dwarves, elves, halflings, and more than a few hybrid species. You haven't seen Merfolk, centaurs, or gnomes, though you've heard gnomes are around most cities of the world when they aren't in their forests.
>Any others?
In passing you've seen some elves, racoongirls, mice/rats/other rodentfolk, horses, donkeys, and other mammals like bears and monkeys. Lamia/Naga, rodents, arachne, and raccoons are said to often be in the seedier parts of Centria (however you have no idea if this is true or not).
>what's the general makeup in Centris from what we've seen?
From what you know humans make up most of the demographics. Notable populations include cat girls, dog girls, rabbitfolk, harpies, kitsune, and dwarves.
Large diaspora neighborhoods of species are around— the most notable being the scattered kitsune communities, since they seem to be tight knit and have some influence with important merchant groups. You've noted that dwarves and dark elves are often in mercenary groups, and have heard that there's some dwarves in the Artisan's Guild.
You've scarcely seen elves in Centria, but you saw a few dark elves in the background as mercenaries. Apparently many regular forest elves work as bureaucrats, and lesser elf nobles often visit Centria.
You also haven't seen any gnomes yet, but you've heard in passing they have neighborhoods, much like the kitsune, around Centria somewhere. The same goes for lamia/naga, harpy, and arachne, all of which apparently have small communities (again, at least from what you've heard and can assume).
>Are the children of races where large pregnancies are common born proportionally smaller than those that generally bear single offspring or not?
Depends on the beastfolk, but for the most part beastfolk children in litters are smaller than human infants for the first month or so. Certain types of catgirls tend to have smaller newborns, but Cattleya isn't completely sure if hers will be smaller or not. From what you know of Cattleya's genes you can assume her offspring are probably going to be human sized when born. Nicodemus might be able to shed some light on that next update.

>>6230863
>You haven't seen Merfolk
Mermaids dont count?

>>6230865
lmao I mean that as in you haven't seen any Merfolk in Centria. You've seen three Merfolk before.

>>6230321
>You'll purchase one of them. (Costs 100g)

>>6230324
>"She has a divine blessing that causes her to have be more fertile." It's the partial truth and will answer some questions, though you don't intend to go too much into it.

"She has a divine blessing that causes her to have be more fertile."

"Yeah!" Herta quickly backed you up.

"Do you know what type of blessing it was?" The doctor asked, writing something down.

"It's a fertility blessing." You repeated.

"Pardon me, allow me to rephrase: What fertility blessing is it?" He asked again.

"Herta?" You glanced at Herta, and she shrugged. "Useless bitch..." You muttered to her badly hidden pleasure.

"If you don't know what specific fertility blessing it is— divine, class-based, temporary, or what have you— then I am just as blind as you are, hoo-hoo."

"Wait a minute, hold on," Herta exclaimed. "You're saying there's fertility blessings that aren't divine ones???"

"I'm not certain as to what your slave is referring to," Nicodemus said to you, "Yet, from the looks on your faces, I can assume neither of you know much about blessings."

"What the heck! Of course I do!" Herta was annoyed. "I've studied-! I mean, I personally created a bunch of purifying-!" Herta glanced at you for approval. You subtly glared at her, which thankfully was enough to keep her quiet about her past.

"Tell us about these divine blessings, then." You said.

"Very well." Nicodemus clears his throat, "From what we know, they are blessings gifted by the gods."

You wait a little while, but he doesn't elaborate.

"And?" You say.

"That's the succinct version." He, wanting to write down something but not finding a pen, plucked out one of his feathers with a talon and dipped it in a nearby inkwell. "To expatiate, we would have to know about its specifics. Indeed, blessings are a thing of mystery even in this modern day and age. I wouldn't be surprised if most of what we knew about blessings was incorrect."

Herta seemed to grumble something indiscernible when he said that.

"Tell me, Mr. Doe, for how did your first slave-wife have this fertile condition?"

"She's had it since I've known her," You began describing it to him, telling the truth but not going too deep into it. Herta would chime in to iron out the story, backing you up.

"From what I can assume," Nicodemus said, "This Herta— no relation to the goddess— has some connection to divinity by blood?"

"Well, I never said-"

"Forgive me, but I find that hard to believe." He said, still keeping a good-naturedness in his voice. "I've dealt with Savants before, this is rather usual. To your credit you seem to be the most agreeable of them. By Artemia, there was once a Savant that claimed his slave-wife was an actual angel. Can you imagine that?" He chuckled.

"At least didn't say she was a goddess." You add, chuckling with him.

"Ha! Hoo-hoo! It would be a ridiculous claim, that." He nearly wheezes. "And I do not mean to insult you, or any Savant kin you might have— but Savant eccentricities are a mere fact of life, if you'll forgive me for saying."

"No need to apologize," You said, "I realize you must've had your fair share of Savant patients demanding unreasonable things."

"Now, this is exactly what I mean." Nicodemus chuckles once again. "Normally a Savant would become violent, start yelling, or simply storm away when one refused to play along with whatever their eccentricities are. Speaking of, would you not consider that your wife is a fae? There are theories circulating that the fae are closer than most to divine power, which could explain the divine power flowing from her."

"Her ancestry is a mystery to me." You said, technically not lying. "People have always assumed she's a human from a lack of evidence to the contrary."

"Yeah!" Herta said enthusiastically. "Also, a fairy? Pff, no way," She smirked, "Fairies are an afterthought in every world they're in. Well, except the ones that they aren't an afterthought in, I guess. Fairies might seem like they're closer to divine power because they were made with what's basically the Holy Magic leftovers of the gods when creating a universe. I mean, the reason why pureblooded fairies don't age is because we- uh, I mean, the gods, didn't bother to give them an expiration date. But hey, the least prankster types of fairies are good at fighting against corruption, though they mostly just stay in the backlines while those blessed by the gods do the actual fighting-"

"John Doe," Nicodemus whispered as Herta continued speaking. "You should keep an eye on this first wife of yours. Savants like her tend to be, ahem, a bit much."

"Don't worry. I make sure to keep her on a tight leash." You say loud enough for her to hear.

"Kyaah~! Master is going to-!"

"Anyway, doc," You interrupt your first slave-wife again, not really feeling like processing whatever new world-changing revelations this useless goddess was deciding to drop on you. You wondered how she knew so much about fairy creation when she was pretty ignorant on almost everything else in this world. "Could you be able to tell me my wife's due date?"

"In part, I can." Said Nicodemus, "Considering she is clearly a Savant and likely not a full human, and the amount she's physically grown, I can safely assume she has around 2 to 5 months left. Likely somewhere in the middle, if she's a fae. And, this is just an aside, but even if she's a fae that's able to handle the stress of so much Holy Magic, I strongly urge you to read the pamphlet I made for you."

"Right, about that," You clear your throat, "I lost it."

Nicodemus sighs.

===

The good doctor was still as jolly and rambled as much as ever, despite the little hiccup with you and Herta, as he wrote out another set of recommendations. He made sure all your wives were alright. These check-ups were tedious to go through; mostly uneventful as they seemed to stretch and merge with one another.

At least, you thought to yourself, I now had peace of mind, knowing that my wives were all fine— their pregnancies were going just as you expected them to:

-Herta didn't know when she'd bring those twins into the world, but Nicodemus said she'd have them anywhere from 2 to 5 months from this day.
-Cattleya would have 23-25 weeks left to bring some kittens.
-Gerty would have 28-32 weeks left to bring at least one more Holy Knight into this world.
-Ruby Rose would have 32-34 weeks left to bring at least one schemer into this world.
-Bertha would have 34-36 weeks left to bring at least one Warrior into this world.
-Mel was sure that she'd bring another fae into this world the same week Bertha would, but the doctor said that it wasn't a certainty.

"That doesn't seem wholly accurate." You said.

"It's merely a rough estimation," Nicodemus coughed in a wing, "This is not a wholly accurate subject in this day and age, hoo-hoo! The road to medical innovation and precision is filled with uncertainty, but it'll be worth it in the end. The artifact I've purchased has already done wonders even now!"

"Right." You say neutrally.

Most of your wives had their check-ups without issue, but there were two which were of note— the first was with Cattleya, your catgirl unwillingly intimidating the harpy nurses.

"A Feligyptian? Not a bad choice, hoo-hoo." Nicodemus smiled as you brought in Cattleya. "Not exactly my cup of tea, however. But! That is no reason to ignore the rich history between catfolk and harpies! There was once an alliance between the harpy city-states and the Purrsian Pharaoh, long before the Atlanteans and Westphalians decided to betray us at our weakest points." He laments. "If such an alliance didn't dilute over time, then we harpies might've been spared the Atlantean conquest and been happier with our feline friends."

"Your own wives don't seem to agree." You noted. You're not really sure if 'Purrsian Pharaoh' was some sort of joke.

"Technicalities. Mere technicalities!" He chuckled again.

"Wot's the news with me being up the spout?" Your Cat meowed, not really caring about the doctor's rambling. "Are my kittens gonna pop out alroight?"

"That reminds me of the time I visited Feligypt." The doctor, continuing on his rambling, stared at nothing in particular. "Now, was it more than a decade ago? Perhaps-"

"Hey, Nick, if you could just answer Catty's question..." You said, gaining the gratitude of your catgirl.

"Yes, yes, there's no need to worry. Feligyptian catgirls are sturdy and well-formed enough to safely bear many children at once." He reassured you. "As I recall, there was a Feligyptian catgirl that had 50 children."

"You bloody wot, mate?" Cattleya blinked a little in disbelief.

"Of course, as a physician abiding by the Bondage Accords, I can't recommend a slave to have so many children. But then again, to repeat myself, Feligyptian catgirls are sturdy enough to bear with it. Though she might be much less active than before, but that goes without saying. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get some more paperwork. I'll return shortly." He took his leave without much fanfare.

As the minutes passed, a few harpy nurses came in to check on you two.

"So, guv," Cattleya meowed at you, "What d'you think of that medical practitio'er?"

"He's alright." You said. "I've seen worse." You had happened on a few bad ones in your old world. You were glad Nicodemus seemed to care.

"I don't know guv, he seemed bloody dodgy to me with how he went on about his 'trip to Feligypt'." Cattleya said, thinking more with her survival instincts than any semblance of politeness.

"Bigcatviolent..." One of Nicodemus' harpy wives chirped warily as she passed by.

"Oi, what about it?" Cattleya snapped.

"Scarykitty... problemswithdad? MasterSavanthungryforeatings?"

"I'll have something, thanks." You said, not questioning how she knew you were feeling peckish.

"Wha- uh," Cattleya doesn't seem to know how to respond, but then decides to follow your lead. "Yeah, well, a girl's gotta eat a good meal. Going on an empty stomach when knocked up isn't right, innit?"

The harpy lady squawked as she scurried away, then came back with a plate of cooked fish.

"... Nospeakingbadofdoctor. Doesnothingwrong... kind..." She said, almost pointedly, before hurrying away.

Other than that, there was nothing really to comment on. Nicodemus came back and Cattleya got her test results, revealing she was going to at least have...

Rolled 1 + 2 (1d3 + 2)

Three kittens. This fact didn't surprise her at all.

===

The second notable person to receive a check-up was Mel.

"Fairy lineage?" Nicodemus stares up at her. "Hoo-hoo, you're the tallest fae I've met, if true."

"I get that a lot." Mel giggles.

Your beguiler explained her status and family history, much better than Herta could at least— something which Nicodemus visibly appreciated. The doctor was able to get a better reading from the artifact because of it, and mentioned how it was likely Mel would only have one child.

"I knew I was gonna have a kid!" Mel said with an infectious smile. "See? I told you!"

You agreed readily with her, not being able to stop smiling too, as awkward and embarrassing and nervous as she could be she was still a pillar of joy.

"That concludes that," The doctor said, rising and extending a wing. "Goodness, six pregnant slaves... You must've been busy."

"Yeah, you could say that." You replied, shaking his feathers like you'd shake a hand.

"I should forewarn you, John Doe, having so many children at once has caused trouble for some Masters. I cannot speak for your situation, of course."

"Yeah, thanks anyway." You begin to move away.

"Ah, and before I forget, there is something else I must warn you about," He said, taking a more serious tone. "There is a famous wandering doctor claiming to enact miracles and divine blessings. He is a harpy— a duck— which is most unfortunately sullying the good name of my kind. He goes by the name of 'Quack'. His prices may be cheap, and he may even offer 'evidence', but do not be mistaken, for he is a charlatan and a conman."

You thank him for the information and then make your way outside.

It was already dark, the last vestiges of dusk slowly melting into the horizon. All of your wives, save for Ruby, were tired— Herta had fallen asleep again by this point and was drooling on an arm of a couch. You gathered all your wives and went on your way.

When returning to Cinnamon Inn, you gave Ruby a visit in the night.

"My gallant Master," Ruby was expecting you. She gave you an unbearably smug look. "I am not surprised you couldn't keep your hands to yourself~"

"As you might recall, madame" You playfully reminded your Mastermind, "It was you who could hardly keep herself from me, needing to be coaxed by my promises. And while we were the guests of my in-laws, no less."

"Surely, an intelligent man like yourself cannot blame me for desiring you, no~?"

And so the two of you teased and schemed and kissed and made love deep into the night.

The next morning came up, and you were feeling refreshed.

And so, another day began...

>Go to the stores. Maybe get some potions and materials.
>The kitsune family invited you to a wake for Aneko, and you planned to go there with Ayane. The rest of your wives were going to go window shopping while you were away.
>Ayane spoke in passing about meeting some of these 'connections'. However, she wouldn't be able to come with you if you choose to meet them, needing to give her respects to Aneko.
>Visit a guild. (Which? You know about the Adventurer, Merchant, and Artisan Guilds, but there are other smaller guilds like the Mage's Guild that you could try to find)
>Look around for some houses you could purchase in this city. Ayane and Ruby worked together to find a selection.
>And you were snooping around, as usual. Rostchilde was obviously making some moves, and you suspected there was more happening than what met the eye. (Go now or at night? Bring any of your wives along?)
>You remembered that there was an Academy in Centria thanks to a passing mention of it in Nicodemus' ramblings. It would be interesting to check out.
>(Write-in)

>>6231676
On the topic of a large amount of children, what exactly is our limit going to be anons? I don’t want it to get to a point where we are unable to properly connect with our kids because of how many there are like in sevens.
>>6231688
>The kitsune family invited you to a wake for Aneko, and you planned to go there with Ayane. The rest of your wives were going to go window shopping while you were away.
Kind of a dick move not to attend the wake, unless it’s perfectly acceptable that we don’t have to show up, in which case I would vote for:
>You remembered that there was an Academy in Centria thanks to a passing mention of it in Nicodemus' ramblings. It would be interesting to check out.
ACADEMY! If we do go to the wake and we got time leftover we can still check out the ACADEMY

>>6231688
>The kitsune family invited you to a wake for Aneko, and you planned to go there with Ayane. The rest of your wives were going to go window shopping while you were away.

We said we were coming

>>6231698
Well we should have at least one per wife and personal I dont think we should have upper limit.

Maybe have them in wave or in some sort of order. Am sure we figure the best method in time

>>6231685
Almost completely forgot to add this, but:

>Any other questions for Nicodemus?
>Yes (write-in).
>No.

>>6231917
>>Yes (write-in).
Anything to special to consider when it comes to our half-human in general?

>>6231937
children*

>>6231688
>The kitsune family invited you to a wake for Aneko, and you planned to go there with Ayane. The rest of your wives were going to go window shopping while you were away.

>>6231688
Birdkin are scared of the catkin hehe. Are mousekin scared of her too? And is she scared of dogkin?
I guess a smaller litter is more manageable for Catty given this is her first pregnancy, but it won't be the last.
>The kitsune family invited you to a wake for Aneko, and you planned to go there with Ayane. The rest of your wives were going to go window shopping while you were away.
Can we give them some gold to do some actual shopping like last time we were here? Ten gold apiece again?

>>6231917
>Yes
How does human hybridisation with beastkin work, at least in the first generation?
What are the chances of inheriting Lunacy Savantae and does it have any other effects on those who don't?
Do you recommend a reputable dealer in medical texts? One of my other wives has some midwifery experience and I would like to buy some materials for her to study to improve her skills for when the rest of my wives give birth.

>>6231698
We are going to end up as the patriarch of a clan of sorts one way or another - a constant presence in the lives of all of our children and we'll always make time for each of them, just not there all day every day. Sort of like the headmaster of a small school.....which I suppose is actually quite close to what we will be running. We can have a lot of children while still being a father to them.
I believe I've touched on this before but I want to have 5+ children with Ayane to fulfil her dream, keep both Herta and Gerty as close to continuously pregnant as we can manage and have at least one more round of children with the rest of them. Let's do some maths here - if Ayane has five kits, Herta has 3-4 demigodlings annually (assuming 1.5-2 pregnancies a year with an average of twins), Gerty has a baby every year until the age of 40, Catty has seven kittens and Bertha, Ruby and Mel have 2-3 kids each plus include a handful more if any of our wives decide they want more at any point or have multiples then by the time our firstborn reach adulthood we should have.....sweet jesus.....slightly over 100 children, a majority of which will be Herta's and not accounting for any other wives we might take in the future.

>>6232170
>Can we give them some gold to do some actual shopping like last time we were here? Ten gold apiece again?
Just realized we can just get them to buy the important stuff on the to-do list and save ourselves some time, also get them to file patent paperwork and other stuff we won’t really be needed for.
>slightly over 100 children,
We will not be able to meaningfully connect with over 100 kids anon and considering their lineages, having a bunch of overpowered kids (demigods included) with daddy issues is not going to end well.
I say ~40 is more reasonable, as according to your calculations Ayane, Cat, Bertha, Mel and Ruby would be 21 kids with enough room for Herta and Gerty to fulfill their pregnancy fetishes for awhile.
>>6231917
Can we ask the girls how many kids they want/aiming for? Feel like we should clear this up sooner rather then later

>>6232226
>I say ~40 is more reasonable, as according to your calculations Ayane, Cat, Bertha, Mel and Ruby would be 21 kids with enough room for Herta and Gerty to fulfill their pregnancy fetishes for awhile.

I agree with you anon, with a small caveat that we can still have 3 more wifes.

>>6232254
>with a small caveat that we can still have 3 more wifes.
The limit will increase if we have more wives of course

>>6232226
My plans were made before we knew about Herta's absurd fertility and I'd agree that >100 is too many - for numbers control, we should primarily rein Herta in since she's the one inflating them (as well as herself). If we only get her pregnant once a year like Gerty then it comes down to about 70 and I'd like to keep it under 60 (two public school classrooms worth) so we may have to restrict her some more depending on the finer points of her fertility (if the estimate of an average of two children per pregnancy for her is out and I suspect it might actually be lower than that - we will find out by trial and error in the coming years), much to her grumbling. I don't want to restrict the others if we can help it since we can breed Herta as much as we like later in our life when she's the only contributor to the family (apart from maybe Ayane) since she will remain young and fertile forever while our other wives will not - we might have to if we add more wives to the family though they probably won't have such baby rabies as those two.

>>6231698
>Kind of a dick move not to attend the wake, unless it’s perfectly acceptable that we don’t have to show up,
In this specific situation it is understandable if you don't attend, considering you're a very recent addition to the family as an in-law and you're not a kistune. Though Ayane would very much appreciate it if you did go, and you feel like Hisashi and Eisho more or less expect to see you there.

>>6232170
>Are mousekin scared of her too?
You noticed that some went out of their way to avoid her, so there's probably a decent amount that are intimidated by her.
>And is she scared of dogkin?
If she is, she hasn't shown or mentioned it.
>Can we give them some gold to do some actual shopping like last time we were here? Ten gold apiece again?
Funnily enough I was planning to make that a decision on that next update. But if enough anons agree I'll add it.

>>6232226
>Just realized we can just get them to buy the important stuff on the to-do list and save ourselves some time, also get them to file patent paperwork and other stuff we won’t really be needed for.
I'm also planning to have this be part of the choice for what they were going to do lmao
>Can we ask the girls how many kids they want/aiming for? Feel like we should clear this up sooner rather then later
Generally speaking they're all fine with having as many as you want them to have, being content with the fact they're having kids with you to begin with. Though some (mainly Herta) are more into the idea of having kids than others.
There will be a potential option to ask more details on their individual thoughts later.

>>6231917
>No.
missed this

>>6232301
I mean, I think most people would be at least slightly intimidated by a person who is also a 2m tall brick shithouse with claws and teeth and her muscles and baby bump on full display. Just that it would be funny if beastkin had some stereotypical animal antagonism going on between each other. I wonder if Catty is catty enough to be distracted by yarn or a laser pointer.
I get the feeling that Gerty is also very into having kids, just not as single-mindedly as Herta. She is an M who gets off to serving us in mind, body and soul and seems to view us using her womb to bear our children as a means of devoting her body to us and I think would be deeply honoured and more than content for us to keep on putting babies into her belly for many years to come.


Following on from that, I have revised the proposed plan to rein in Herta's super-womb. Three children each with Bertha, Mel and Ruby for a total of nine between them, five with Ayane, two litters with Catty (should come to a median of 7 considering her current 3), fifteen with Gerty at one pregnancy a year and a max of 24 with Herta at one pregnancy a year over the next 18 years. That comes out to an even 60, which I think would be a good upper limit for how many children we should be raising at a time and lets everyone have the kids they want and appropriately indulge Herta and Gerty's pregnancy fetishes without ballooning the number to something absurd. We should still be able to maintain a parental relationship with that many, but no more than that. If that's still too many for people, we can impregnate Gerty and Herta every 18 months instead of every 12 months to bring it down to 50 or so.
As our kids start to grow up into adults and we don't have as many children around the manor to look after, we can resume having children. We should also be able to go full steam ahead with breeding Herta - our other wives are going to be getting a bit old for bearing children, though we should still be able to get a few more in among our human wives if we want and I don't know at what sort of age kitsune or catkin fertilities go off a cliff like they do after the late 30s in humans with most women being infertile by their mid-40s or if Herta tampered with that too in worldgen.

You and your kitsune were on the flying ferry, going towards the wake while waving goodbye to all of the others. Ayane assured you that this would take until early afternoon at most, so you'd be back before they all knew it.

Your wives that remained had all agreed, with your permission, to go window shopping. And, after you told them to be safe and stay out of trouble, you...

>Gave them a pouch of money, and instructed them to purchase a few items... (Specify? You generally plan on sending them to look for materials, purchase medical texts, and file a patent for typewriter if they have the time)
>Decided to let them spend 10 gold each like you had before (lose 60g)
>Do both of the above. Though you doubt they'll be able to spend the gold, since the rest of your orders might take up their time.
>Jokingly told them not to annoy the stores too much.
>(Write-in)

As the commercial vessel went through a tunnel, you thought about the future you were going to have with your wives. All this talk about children and mating seasons inevitably spread to Ayane, and she was happy to speak about it. She, like Cattleya, has a time frame where she is 'in heat'. According to Ayane this didn't affect the kitsune psyche as it would other beastfolk. But it did increase her desire to have kits and her general compatibility.

On that note, you imagine what your children with her would be like. It made you consider what doctor Nicodemus shared with you yesterday, as you feel the beginnings of a flashback overtake you...

<><><>

"Half-humans? You're referring to your future children, yes?" Nicodemus smiled. "You've been quite busy with that catgirl of yours, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I have been." You don't mention how he's repeating himself. "I want to know if there's anything special I should consider. I mean, I'm going to have at least three half-human children."

"With catgirls in particular, the question should more or less be 'how should I care for catfolk offspring' instead. Their genes tend to be dominant, as is the case for most beastfolk.

"Catfolk offspring, commonly referred to as 'kittens' in their communities, tend to act like actual felines for the first few years of life. If I were you, I would prepare myself by procuring items newborn felines would need. There are a few places you could get, yet I'm sure your catgirl's instincts will suffice in rearing and caring for your kittens. Ah, and prepare to often replace your curtains, as I've often heard kittens tend to shred and climb them. And they tend to get stuck on trees, too. I believe there's something called a 'cat condo' that tends to help their young.

"Most beastfolk children tend to be lively." As Nicodemus said this, memories of Ryko and Shizuku running around with seemingly boundless energy pass through your mind. "I imagine this will be increased by the fact that you're a Savant, so you should expect them to be far more creative and with a desire to build.

"And catgirls tend to be protective mothers by instinct. Some even have their own 'territory' they make after having a litter of kittens, where only they, their children, and their Master-husband are allowed to be in. Not all of them do this, but it's common enough for me to tell you. I have heard that catfolk offspring like to have places to hide." Interesting. "But to answer your question, there's nothing in particularly to watch out for. Although some half-human children, such as the halflings that emerge between elves and humans, can be somewhat fragile and are in need constant supervision in the first few months after being born. Beastfolk tend to be sturdier, but I would err on the side of caution."

"Alright, noted." You're pretty sure Cattleya already had plans on how to take care of kittens, given that she helped design the hospital/daycare wing of you mansion and had a very survival oriented mindset. She made it have potential for vertical movement, but this was a good reminder to be prepared if nothing else.

"How does human hybridization with other species work?" You ask next.

"It depends, but generally— and there are some notable exceptions— if there's more human blood then the next generation will look human, and vice-versa with whatever species the human procreates with."

"What do you mean?"

"Ah, well, hmm," He thinks for a moment, "That quarter-fae wife of yours provides a good example: Practically human after only a few generations, not holding much of a candle to a fae's full magical potential, though this is exchanged for the usual physical strength humans have. Not to say she doesn't retain some other points from the fae— her weight being the most notable example. Now, if her father had decided to have a fae slave-wife, then she would instead look more like a fae. She definitely wouldn't be so tall then, hoo-hoo.

"With beastfolk something similar can be seen, except in the opposite direction: Beastfolk with strong human blood have a better affinity to magic than their pure-blooded beastfolk relatives, but with less physical strength and natural instinct. Generally, beastfolk that have strong amounts of human blood tend to have two sets of ears; one human and one according to their beastfolk lineage

"But speaking about exceptions,; Merfolk tend to not follow this rule. The Merfolk you've likely heard or seen today is the result of humans and Merfolk intermingling for centuries. They used to appear more bestial and fish-like in the past, but thanks to how much they've mixed they now seem half-human and half-fish, but still retain both the best of human and Merfolk qualities."

"I've heard that hybrids can become infertile." You said, changing the subject before he got too distracted while still keeping it relevant. "Is that something my grandchildren will have to worry about?"

"Not unless they keep mixing with different species for a few generations. Or with certain specific races, such as the equines— that is, horsefolk and donkeys. Their offspring, be they mules or hinnys, are not able to reproduce. Lionfolk and tigerfolk can have ligers and tigons, which while not infertile have difficulties in child-bearing. But I wouldn't be too worried, such things are rare even amongst beastfolk. You'd have to go out of your way to have a situation like that."

"So it's not like there's a guy out there with all beastfolk genes in him."

"Very likely not. And it is interesting that you say that, for I believe there was once an experiment in another continent where different beastfolk were encouraged to intermix. The theory was that eventually you'd have an ideal creature if you had enough hybrids. Of course, as many in the scientific community know, that's not what happened. Rather, we all witnessed something called a 'hybrid breakdown'. Which is just another way of saying none were able to have any children anymore because they were all hybrids, leading to the collapse of the colony. I believe it is now called the Blackdesert Ruins." He further described it as a place as an inhospitable land where corruption was rampant. "I could go on about this topic, but I imagine you still have other inquiries, don't you?"

"Yeah," You tried to process everything he just said, "Would the same idea apply to kitsune? About hybrids, I mean."

"I couldn't say. Kitsune tend to not mix outside their species, as such we don't have much knowledge about that. But if the leading theories are anything to go by, you should have an easier time taking care of your kits than an average beastfolk offspring. Kitsune are considered to be more of a demi-human subgroup than a pure beastfolk, at least if certain scientific theories hold any water." He said. Contrary to these ideas, you recall Ayane, Hisashi, Eisho, and a couple of his wives mention that kitsune considered themselves more related to beastfolk than humans.

"Right. Well, what are the chances of my children getting Lunacy Savantae?"

"If one parent is a Savant, then my personal estimate would be that there is a 25% chance it's passed down. Having both parents be Savants would easily bump that number higher, depending on the amount of relatives that are also Savants. Of course, we don't truly know too much about Lunacy Savantae, even in today's modern day and age."

"And what if Herta-"

"Yes, if your wife —Herta— is truly related to the Goddess of Artifice, or divinity in general, in some way, then all of your children with her will be Savants." He said, slightly annoyed, but still completely sincere.

"What about my children that aren't Savants? Would they be affected?"

"They'd have increased creativity, a better affinity with tools and machines, have higher intelligence, as well as the increased energy. They will be definite bundles of stamina, far more than what I described earlier.

There would almost no negatives if it weren't for the fact that they're also prone to inherit the obsessive and demanding personality traits Savants seem to universally possess."

You both continued to talk a bit more about these things, with Nicodemus joking that he should look into becoming a specialist for prenatal care, considering that he "had enough experience to last a decade with all these patients you've brought me, hoo-hoo!"

He would also reassure you that many men tended to have dozens of children with their harems, and somehow they would manage things to work out. He even revealed more about himself, having had around 20 children in total with all his wives.

You felt like things were wrapping up here. The two of you stood up to shake hands.

"Since we're on the subject," You said after shaking his wing, "Do you you of some reputable dealers in medical texts?"

"I can write a note of recommendation. Might I ask what in particular you're searching for? Though, I can imagine it has to do with children and facilitating labor, yes?"

"Pretty much. I want to make sure my wives are alright when the time comes. One of them has some experience in being a midwife, so I want to increase her skills there."

"Is she, now." Nicodemus said with the shadow of a frown.

"Yeah, she is. I want to get some material to help her be better informed."

"I don't wish to lecture you on this, but I would recommend having actual nurses or even a doctor there instead of a midwife. Some of the holistic methods midwives employ tend to be at odds with modern medicine." He clears his throat. "However, I know of the urgency of wanting everything to go according to plan— my youngest daughter had some complications when hatching, you see. Thankfully I was there, so— pardon me, I'm digressing." He cleared his throat, as he so often liked to do. "It is completely understandable, especially considering this wife of yours only has experience as a midwife."

"Hey, she's been amazing at helping women deliver." You defend your kitsune wife. According to Eisho and Ai, Ayane was good in that job despite her self-doubts.

"I don't doubt your word on it, Mr. Doe, but you will have to forgive me. In the struggle for overcoming archaic methods in medicine, midwives tend to be a source of constant headaches. By Artemia, some of them don't believe in germs! Of course, to be completely fair, the germ theory had only become widely accepted this century, and miasma is indeed a proven fact, so one could easily conflate and misunderstand—"

"So, do you have any recommendations?"

"Yes yes, hoo-hoo. I have a few apothecaries I can point to, and a pharmacy as well. You should be able to obtain some good medical texts there, and perhaps even a Healing Scroll to teach some Healing Magic if you're lucky." He writes something down and gives it you the paper. It details the location of a store for medical supplies, an attached note from Nicodemus says that he recommends you as a customer.

Some further details were discussed, though eventually it was clear that you both wanted to get back to your families.

"I gotta get going. I don't wanna keep my slaves waiting." You said.

"Indeed," Nicodemus agreed, "I'll be closing up for the day and use this time to catch up with my wives. I wish you the best, John Doe."

"Thanks, doc. It was a pleasure speaking to you."

"The pleasure is all mine." He smiled. "May Artemia bless you and all that is yours."

With how chaotic your life will become from the children you planned on having, you wanted all the blessings you could get.

<><><>

"Master? Master?" The calming voice of your most mature wife speaks to you, gently bringing you back to reality. "Master, we're here."

You stand up. And before you realize it, you're holding your kitsune's hand. "Alright. Let's go."

You shook off any lingering thoughts you had from yesterday. All this talk about hybrids and heirs reminded you of how important bloodlines were in anime. It wouldn't surprise you if a wife of yours turned out to be descended from some ancient monarch.

While wakes were usually held at night back in your old world, kitsune held it in the daytime. This tradition had something to do with the importance of their inherent pyrokinetic skill called Kitsunebi, otherwise known as Fox Fire, and its relation to the sun.

Groups of kitsune walk up some stairs towards a building on a hill. There is an arch that they pass through, which you recall is a shrine of some kind. You and Ayane join the silent procession, almost melting into them.

Along with the expected appearances of Hisashi and Eisho, the latter bringing his wives and children along, there were some unfamiliar faces which glanced at you— some with curiosity and others in calculated realization.

Entering the building, you see an open casket on the far end of another room. It is filled with food and other items that are doubtlessly somehow associated with the late Aneko. Everything had a surgical orderliness to it. You noticed shrine maidens and monks around the place, still as statues.

It wasn't a happy occasion, yet things weren't as somber as you expected. No tears were shed, and even Ai seemed to have a perpetually calm expression plastered on her face.
A sense of peacefulness prevailed, almost making you forget this was a wake.

You were wearing something subdued and muted in color. Some of the older kitsune were wearing kimonos. Many of the younger ones wore black suits and dresses, for the men and women respectively.

You were wearing...

>A black suit and tie. It was something that would be expected.
>A dark kimono sown by Bertha at Ayane's specifications. It was a yukata tailored to your size.

And Ayane...

>Wore a modest black dress.
>Was wearing a kimono, as usual. However this one had a more somber tone for the occasion.

You both planned on wearing these tomorrow, which was the day of the actual funeral, unless there was some last minute decision.

You handed some condolence money to a receptionist after you entered, just as the previous guests had done before, and the two of you lightly bowed to each other, again mimicking what had happened prior. This condolence money was called koden, and it was in an envelope specifically made for these occasions. There wasn't much, only an odd amount of copper and silver coins. Ayane insisted it would be inappropriate if you gave any gold, considering you had already given so much to Ai and Eisho and her family as a whole, despite how you assumed that you would need to give some actual gold to them since you had so much of it now.

The receptionist, also a kitsune, gave you a small box— a koden-gaeshi, was meant as a 'return gift' for the money brought. It contained salt, tea, and some snacks.

Eventually you get to your seat next to Ayane, in the area that's for the family of the deceased.

>Try to speak a little about Aneko when in front of her grave, as some others are beginning to do.
>You heard a few people talking with each other. Maybe you can make some connections here, or at least meet new people. (Speak with those you know and let them introduce you? Talk with others you don't know?)
>Just continue following the traditions and be respectful. You didn't come here to mingle. (Will lead to the next action of the day)
>(Write-in)

>>6232834
>just that it would be funny if beastkin had some stereotypical animal antagonism going on between each other. I wonder if Catty is catty enough to be distracted by yarn or a laser pointer.
There is some stereotypical behaviors from most beastfolk, if Cattleya's scratching pole was anything to go by lmao
>I get the feeling that Gerty is also very into having kids, just not as single-mindedly as Herta. She is an M who gets off to serving us in mind, body and soul and seems to view us using her womb to bear our children as a means of devoting her body to us and I think would be deeply honoured and more than content for us to keep on putting babies into her belly for many years to come.
Pretty much lmao
>I don't know at what sort of age kitsune or catkin fertilities go off a cliff like they do after the late 30s in humans with most women being infertile by their mid-40s or if Herta tampered with that too in worldgen.
From what you've heard it gets less likely for beastfolk to have kids in their mid 30s, with a few exceptions being less or more than that.

>>6232973
>>Do both of the above. Though you doubt they'll be able to spend the gold, since the rest of your orders might take up their time. (purchase medical texts and give them 300g, so it will be 50 gold each)

I think it will be good idea to do the patent ourselfs

>>6233032
>A dark kimono sown by Bertha at Ayane's specifications. It was a yukata tailored to your size.
>Was wearing a kimono, as usual. However this one had a more somber tone for the occasion.

When in Rome...

>Try to speak a little about Aneko when in front of her grave, as some others are beginning to do.
>You heard a few people talking with each other. Maybe you can make some connections here, or at least meet new people. (Speak with those you know and let them introduce you?)

We could talk about our first and last time seeing Aneko's spirit and how she was in the end, and then meet more extended family members.

>>6232973
>Gave them a pouch of money, and instructed them to purchase a few items... (Specify? You generally plan on sending them to look for materials, purchase medical texts, and file a patent for typewriter if they have the time)
Just tell them the things we need (to-do list) and let them sort it out, if they split up the tasks they should have enough free time afterwards. Tell them that they can use some of the money (10g) for themselves too.
>>6233032
>A black suit and tie. It was something that would be expected.
>Was wearing a kimono, as usual. However this one had a more somber tone for the occasion.
What is expected of us
>>6233037
>Just continue following the traditions and be respectful. You didn't come here to mingle. (Will lead to the next action of the day)
Let’s just be as respectful as possible

>>6232973
>Decided to let them spend 10 gold each like you had before (lose 60g)
Though one of them does need to stop by the apothecary, we'll give whoever they decide is doing that some extra to cover it.

>>6233032
>A dark kimono sown by Bertha at Ayane's specifications. It was a yukata tailored to your size.
>Was wearing a kimono, as usual. However this one had a more somber tone for the occasion.
Let's get ourselves some J-drip and blend in with the crowd as much as we can, though being the only non-kitsune does make us stick out anyway.

>>6233037
>You heard a few people talking with each other. Maybe you can make some connections here, or at least meet new people.
We didn't know her personally, but see if we can't meet a few of the Yasuda side of the family and anyone Ayane has been corresponding with while we're here.

>>6232973
>Decided to let them spend 10 gold each like you had before (lose 60g)

>>6233032
>A dark kimono sown by Bertha at Ayane's specifications. It was a yukata tailored to your size.

>Was wearing a kimono, as usual. However this one had a more somber tone for the occasion.

>>6233037
>Just continue following the traditions and be respectful. You didn't come here to mingle. (Will lead to the next action of the day)

>>6233037
Supporting >>6233084

It's what I would've voted for. Especially on that suit, why's everyone going for the yukata?

>>6234009
It is Isekai

>>6234009
I just think they're neat. Well, that and literally everyone else is wearing them.

One of these days though, we should rock up to a fox family event with us in Japanese clothing and Ayane in full Western drip just to fuck with them.

Everything here was deeply influenced by kitsune culture. From the way people dressed, the decorations, the snacks that were given— even the air you breathed was filled with incense sticks.

And you made sure to fit right in. At least as best as you could.

The monks and priestesses began chanting something in what sounded like Japanese. Ayane would later tell you that in this way they'd "send off the spirits of the dead".

"In that occasion," She would also tell you after it was done, "They were also giving small blessings of good fortune for Aneko's journey." It was something Hisashi specifically requested that they do.

Both men and women began to go forth and give their respects. Some would turn around and speak a few words in remembrance, while others would simply bow and return to their places. Of the former, Eisho, followed by Ai, began— the two of them spoke about their deceased daughter. Another kitsune, apparently a half-sister of Aneko (you assumed this was the first child Kasato and Eisho had, if her tomboyish attitude and the occasional unconscious smug expression was anything to go by), talked about what it was like to have Aneko as an older sister. Hisashi followed, wistfully speaking of how much of a handful his granddaughter was even at the best of times and how proud he was of her. To your surprise Ayane elected to only say a few silent words of farewell to the empty casket.

Each of them, even those that didn't say a word, were given a flower. These, both being bright red, were in stark contrast to the subdued colors of the room and its people, lighting up the room like little stars.

When it was your turn, you were given...

>A chrysanthemum.
>A red spider lily.

Just like everyone else in their section.

You found peace and comfort in the repetition. It almost reminded you of clankers working.

Your turn to walk up to the shrine is near. When it arrives, you move up and face one half of the room— where the fluffy tailed family members have taken to claim— and lightly bow. Then you turn to Aneko's close acquaintances— what must've been her business partners and friends— custom and tradition sternly dividing them from the main group, and you grant them another light bow. After this you face the framed picture of Aneko, a small bowl of incense between her image and your being. Its aroma lingers up in a smoky wisp, one of the culprits of the peaceful scent. You grab a pinch of said incense and sprinkle it into another bowl, just as the others had done before you. You repeat this action twice more, then you place the flower you were given into the casket. You return to your seat, politely giving your respects to Ai and Eisho— they bow to you as you bow to them.

Ayane, who is next to you after this is all over, gives you a soft smile. You inwardly feel a sense of relief at her silent reassurance.

Everyone here wasn't a kitsune soon departed afterwards. Well, almost everyone.

You, as the sole non-fox that was related to the Mitsubishi and Yasuda families, remained. Ayane told you that tomorrow, the day of the actual funeral, would be where guests of different backgrounds would be more available to speak with. Although there was a window of opportunity to get introduced here, you felt like it would've been disrespectful to just start talking when everyone was so quiet.

Another small moment of silence was shared, but it didn't stretch long as you heard a small airship land right outside the building. This seemed to signal a group of kitsune into action, as they gently lifted up the casket— picture frame and food contents and everything else— and loaded it onto the flying vessel. That seemed to be the start of wrapping things up here, as all the family members left began to stand up after the fact.

There was some somber mingling here and there, mostly consisting of people giving their condolences to Ai and Eisho. All the kits were pretty well behaved, though Shizuku was asleep and Ryko seemed bored out of her mind. The latter kitsune kit's face lit up a little when seeing you and Ayane, and she took to enthusiastically greeting you both with a wag of her tail.

"Mr. John Doe," Said she with as much energy as she was allowed to have in such a ceremony, "Auntie Ayane."

"Nice seeing you too." You said.

"Hello there, little one. It hasn't been long, has it?" Ayane said with a smile.

"You look funny." Ryko said to you. "But the good type of funny."

Ayane looked at you with worry, but you couldn't help but smile at her innocence.

"I'm trying my best to be respectful." You said to her. "Do I look bad?"

"Not really." She said with a tilt of her head. "It doesn't look bad. I suppose I just didn't think you'd wear it." That was a sentiment that many seemed to share.

While wearing a yukata here garnered you some approval, there were also those that saw you with strange looks.

At best it was simply curiosity, but some looked at you with a frown. Though you suppose the latter wouldn't really be pleased by anything you did. Ultimately, wearing something like this was bound to come eventually with the whole 'reincarnated into another world' thing, and a situation like this one was probably the best shot you had at getting away with it.

"And your respect is much appreciated." Ai cut in, her words sincere. "Thank you for honoring us, Savant Lord." She enunciated the last bit.

"Indeed." Eisho said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "You've been a great help to us. I am certain that Aneko would be happy to know you are here."

But sadly these greetings would need to be cut short, as Eisho and Ai went to get Ryko after quickly greeting you once again. Starting with the three of them, people were beginning to leave as well. Being Aneko's closest relatives, Eisho, Ai, and Ryko— guided by some monks and shrine maidens— also went aboard the airship.

You were able to get a good look at the airship from this angle— not as large as The Vixen's Luck, it had an intricate design on its hull and ornate decorations on its deck. There seemed to be some kind of temple in the back of it, where the captain's quarter's should've been.

A boat horn went off the airship, lasting around ten seconds and breaking the dignified silence with its reverberating sound. For a moment you thought something was wrong, but from the looks on everyone's faces this was completely expected. Ayane would later explain that this was a symbolic act— showing everyone that Aneko was taking her leave from this realm.

After seeing that everyone was already leaving or in the process of doing so, you made your way out with Ayane.

"Master, I must thank you." Your kitsune wife said as you both got on another flying ferry to return to the inn.

"This sounded like the sort of thing I shouldn't skip out on." You said, thinking about how there would be a funeral tomorrow for Aneko.

"I would've understood if you didn't wish to attend, my love. But my gratitude isn't just because you came with me today, even though that alone means much to me." Ayane continued. "It's also because of the conversation you had with my sister yesterday... I fear she might've harbored ill will against us had you not decided to speak with her."

"Good to know we sorted all of that out."

"More like I sorted it out for you!" Yumi suddenly said with great pride.

"Hey there. I was wondering when you'd wake up." You said to the little ghost.

"What you should realize, o foolish mortal Maste- Savant Lord! Verily, I knew that I, being the wise and wandering specter of fate, foresaw that the manifestation of an ethereal spirit would unleash a tempest of inquiries upon the mortal realm." Which was her way of saying she didn't want to cause trouble. A strangely thoughtful act from her— though at this point she was often being helpful to you for your own sake.

"It's good to see that you care so much about my well being. You know, if you keep this up I might actually make you my slave-wife." You teased.

"Quite so." Ayane backed you up with a smile, then turned to Yumi. "He is ideal Master, isn't he?"

"I'm- well-" Yumi puffed up her cheeks in outrage. "It's about time I was acknowledged for my powers by such lowly mortals!"

After more meaningless smalltalk and banter the three of you return to Cinnamon Inn.

"Master!" Herta is the first to greet to you, and she is quickly followed by the rest of your wives. They seem to have been waiting for you near the entrance.

A mousegirl was sweeping the floor, minding her own business, notably staying away from Cattleya. Herta pivots and motions to her, and said mousegirl glances at you and, with a sweet smile, turns around and goes into the kitchen.

And from there she got out a small blueprint. It was completely blank. But with a quick use of your Appraisal you found that it was actually a finely crafted artifact that could store at least ten designs in it.

"We were, like," Bertha said, "Super grateful that you let us have some more gold!"

"And for everything else you've done for us..." Gerty continued.

"So, we pooled together five coins each to get this for ya!" Mel finished.

"Hope you like it, guv." Cattleya meowed.

"Thank you, girls." You could already see how less cluttered your workbench would be. "But really, this yukata was good enough of a gift, you ladies could've spent it on your own things." Bertha beams at the compliment you gave to her sewing. "But still, this was a pretty nice surprise."

"See? I knew my gallant Master would've found delight in it~" Ruby spoke in her smoky voice. "It took a while to find something useful with said budget, but my schemes have payed off~"

"This was a group effort, Master." Gerty clarified.

"It helped that it was on sale!" Bertha blurted out, causing the others to give you some sheepish looks.

But no matter the emotional whiplashes and kimono wearing interludes, the day moved forward. You next decided to...

>Go to the stores. There's these apothecaries Nicodemus talked to you about. Maybe get some potions and materials along the way too.
>Ayane spoke in passing about meeting some of these 'connections'. You think you saw one or two of these in the wake today.
>Visit a guild. (Which? You know about the Adventurer, Merchant, and Artisan Guilds. But there are other smaller guilds like the Mage's Guild or the Apothecary Guild, among others)
>Look around for some houses you could purchase in this city. Ayane and Ruby worked together to find a selection.
>Go snooping around, as usual. Rostchilde was obviously making some moves, and you suspected there was more happening than what met the eye. (Go now or at night? Bring any of your wives along?)
>You remembered that there was an Academy in Centria thanks to a passing mention of it in Nicodemus' ramblings. It would be interesting to check out.
>(Write-in)

>>6234280
I wonder if we have a means by which we could give Yumi a tangible body and actually take her as a wife for real.
>A red spider lily.
Both of the flowers have similar meanings in Japanese culture, but I think Lycoris radiata is better for the theme of a final goodbye
>Go to the stores. There's these apothecaries Nicodemus talked to you about. Maybe get some potions and materials along the way too.
>Ayane spoke in passing about meeting some of these 'connections'. You think you saw one or two of these in the wake today.
Let's split up because we need to get things done. We'll go with Ayane to meet some of her people while they're here and send the other girls out with a specific shopping list and a larger budget this time, even if Ruby has to fill in for Ayane as best she can.
Things I think we should get include that medical literature for Ayane and Gerty, ceramic tiles for for Hall-Héroult cells, guides to plants and farming, a few chickens and a cow or goat for eggs and milk (maybe leave that until the end) and any further medical or magical items they think would be useful. Materials we need include fluorite for fluorine, tungsten or tungsten minerals for electric lighting systems, magnesium or magnesium minerals for fun chemistry and alloys and rubber, leather, phosphorus and sulphur for various things. We likely have some of these already so delete as applicable.

>>6234280
>A chrysanthemum.
Some anon with knowledge in flower language can tell us the significance of this
>>6234307
>You remembered that there was an Academy in Centria thanks to a passing mention of it in Nicodemus' ramblings. It would be interesting to check out.
ACADEMY!

>>6234280
>A red spider lily.
Qm making me study, chrysanthemum being red symbolic for love but as white it would funeral flower. So I choose "resurrection lily"

>>6234307
>Ayane spoke in passing about meeting some of these 'connections'. You think you saw one or two of these in the wake today.

>>6234280
>A chrysanthemum.
>>6234307
>Go to the stores. There's these apothecaries Nicodemus talked to you about. Maybe get some potions and materials along the way too.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

Rolling for flower:
>1 Chrysanthemum
>2 Red spider lily

Since there seems to be a tie between meeting the business connections and going to stores I'll use the suggestion to do both next action by splitting up, unless anyone is against that.

Also, this update might take a little longer to complete than usual, but I'll try my best to squeeze it in between my irl work.

>>6235767
If it’s not too late I can switch my vote to spider lily

>>6235841
With this, the red flower lily should be the winner.

Sorry about taking so long! I had a pretty busy weekend and got a sick enough to have a headache.

I should still be able to get the update out today. Sorry again about the inconvenience!

>>6235841
fuck you nigga, chrysanthemum is the goat

>>6236127
Take your time QM
>>6236143
After QM forced me to learn flower language I realize that giving a chrysanthemum to our dead niece may send some wrong messages

>>6236179
>After QM forced me to learn flower language I realize that giving a chrysanthemum to our dead niece may send some wrong messages
wdym

"Alright, this is nice and all-" While you appreciated the gift, there were still things you wanted done.

"We got the stuff you wanted to get-!" Bertha begins, but then Ruby whispered something to her, "-we got some of the stuff you asked us to get!"

"Sir!" Gerty salutes. "I heard a rumor within the Order of the Jagged Sword about a surplus of scrap metal! But it deals with Eastians, sir!"

"Interesting. Do you know more?" You said.

"It's a surplus of muskets and other old items were being sold from Eastian sources. It's likely they will melt some of it into ingots later. That was all I could find, sir!"

"You useless wench. Is listening to rumors really as good as you can get?" You then turned to the rest of them. "But that is some good initiative from the rest of you."

"Forgive me, Master!" Your Holy Knight cried out with joy.

"Oi, Master," Cattleya meowed, taking out an old medical text, "They had loads of stuff at that doctor's place-"

"Poison healing potions," Herta interrupted, listing off a few things "single use anti-paralysis gemstones, anti-petrification salves, but no anti-curse stuff! I think. I mean, I wasn't really paying attention, since I was looking for the materials and metals that could help-"

"-We even found a proper healing scroll, just like you'd said they'd have, guv." Cattleya finished before Herta could ramble.

"But it would've costed a bunch of gold. So we, like, didn't want to just spend it on something you didn't want." Bertha added.

(You currently have 10960g)

>Just get the healing scroll and the medical texts. (Lose 550g)
>Get some other medical items that sound useful instead. (Lose 500g)
>Have them get both of these items. (Lose 1050g)
>On second thought, it wasn't worth it.
>(Write-in) (Only purchase specific things?)

"I was also able to find other stores with some good minerals in them. Heck, I even found a place for ceramic stuff we could get." Herta continued where she left off, proceeding to list items, materials, and minerals that were needed for your plan to get rich.

"Yeah, Herta sort of started spacing out and then started smiling and then just said something about how you were gonna be happy without context." Mel said.

"And I had some technical difficulties in getting the paperwork accepted for your typewriter's patent, my gallant Master." Ruby said, shifting the conversation about herself. "However, I was assured that the request would be accepted sometime this week, and that we would be further notified on what else we must do to make sure the process goes smoothly, Master~"

"Good job, Ruby." You said, making Ruby's face become even more smug. "Now, there are some other items I wanted to get..." You tell them about your wishes, all the materials and minerals and even things like tiles that you want.

"Ah, Ruby, did you do as I recommended concerning the patent?" Ayane said. "I don't want Master's invention patents to be vulnerable to outside loopholes."

"There is no need to fear. I have laid down my web, and will make sure everything goes in my gallant Master's favor~"

Understandably, that didn't reassure Ayane. But your multi-tailed fox woman dropped the conversation after Ruby agreed that they'd both look it over soon.

You put Rose in charge of managing money bag, an honor that greatly pleased your Mastermind. Privately you tasked both Mel and Cattleya to make sure she didn't waste it all in some convoluted scheme.

"And you, my love," You said, turning to your kitsune, "Are going to show me the connections you've been keeping tabs on."

"Yes, Master." Ayane bowed, then stared at you happily.

With that, the day was decided.

===

The people that Hisashi, and by extension Ayane, had been doing business with were met by you. Some personally, some not. Around two dozen of names were presented by your kitsune, thought, thankfully, you only had to meet with less than half of them, since the rest were busy.

You had to use your Lunacy Savantae to prove you were the real deal in front of each individual merchant, industrialist, noble, and other person of interest. It got to the point where you were starting to get sick of the same old routine, with the only thing making you keep going on with it the necessity of it.
Interestingly, not a single one of these people were Savants.

"Most Savants tend to not do business with other Savants they don't know." Ayane would explain at the eventual question from your lips.

More than once you would meet with either a secretary or a slave-wife of the Master you were doing business with. Which you decided was more to their loss than yours.

Well that really didn't matter. Interestingly, so far you hadn't met a single person that was a Savant— not counting the Goddess of Artifice and creator of Lunacy Savantae herself.

But back to the connections, of those that you met, all seemed to react positively to your typewriters and seemed open to doing more business with you— the most notable that had personally come to see you, in no particular order, were as follows:

The first was a human A-Rank adventurer, named Stevan Stonemann, that had amassed much wealth from all the quests he and his slave-wives had taken. Easily one of the wealthiest connection Hisashi had, mostly thanks to being in a party with Eisho and Kasato in the past. He wanted to find a good investment so he could retire with his harem. His influence, however, only extended to the Adventurer's Guild in Centria, every once in a while being called to do an higher ranked quest for the guild internationally.

The second was a mousefolk merchant called Jal Mozz. He was interested in purchasing metals in bulk to create trains and airships out of them, planning to build a factory here in Centria and become an industrialist, and as such was open to being the first to promote and obtain Savant inventions. Though he did his best to appear confident in front of a Savant, he wasn't able to hold a candle to Ayane's negotiation skills and your own confidence. Not to say he was a pushover, as he quickly identified any weakness he had and worked around it until he was in a more comfortable situation. Ayane would tell you that he had some sway with various independent merchants and smaller groups within the Merchant's Guild.

The third was a young nobleman that lived in Westphalia that had decided to take permanent residence in Centria, not being a native of Westphalia to begin with. His name was Umberto Lorenzo Cavellini, and he was apparently from a line of a minor noble house in Archipelegea and was able to amass some influence in Centria. He, unlike many of his fellow nobles, wanted to speak about business rather than use Savant oddities to support wealthy hobbies. Not to say he didn't represent the wants of the nobility as a whole, as he proved to be impartial, even amongst the Eastian and Westphalian nobles. He sought out the best interests of the nobility in Centria as a whole since, as he put it, "this was a veritable mercantile city, with too great an apathy for titles".

The fourth person that you noted was, oddly enough, just a regular merchant without any noticeable qualities. The only significant thing was how you felt like you'd seen him recently somewhere. He hid the upper part of his face with a hat, but beneath it you were able to find that he had snake-like eyes. He spoke with an old fashioned friendliness that would've disconcerted you, had you not already been used to how strange this world could be when attempting to mix Victorian wit through a lens of anime. Ayane didn't seem to know him too well, though she knew he was a traveling salesman that had set up shop recently. He wasn't one of the people he corresponded with, though Ayane found it a good opportunity to expand your connections with new blood.

And finally, though you would meet him for less than half an hour, the Vice-Guildmaster of the Centrian Merchant's Guild— Conrad Tripper— was someone Ayane was able to get a meeting with on such short notice.

The latter did result in another visit to the massive Merchant's Guild of Centria once again, though there wasn't much time to exchange pleasantries with Janette or any of the merchants you spoke with before, the most being a few greetings. This was purely a matter of business, and you didn't want to waste the opportunity that Ayane was able to get from her correspondence.

"Ah, welcome! Welcome! Thank you, John Doe! Thank you." The second in command of the Merchant's Guild said with guarded politeness. "I must apologize for the absence of Guildmaster Ryan is not meant as a slight. He is a very busy man, you see."

"It's good to meet you, too." You said neutrally. "I am John Doe and this is my slave-wife, Ayane." Your kitsune bowed politely in response. "Now, seeing how you don't have much time, let's get to business."

"Yes, let's." He said.

Conrad wore a plain brown tunic and always had a kind smile on his face. He had a far more humble appearance than what you'd expected a merchant like him to have. Only the rings with jewels encrusted in them on his fingers tentatively revealed how wealthy he really was.

He was the only one that gave Ayane some trouble when it came to diplomacy— though in the end they both came to an understanding. He asked if you knew the basics of the Centrian Merchant's Guild, generally being very polite and helpful. When you spoke about your plans to patent and sell your high-quality typewriter, he seemed interested in helping you do business.

While he was a person that lacked interesting features, he seemed to at least be wiser than a few others in his actions. But otherwise he was well guarded, and seemed to be a wild card.

"It is much appreciated, John Doe and company! Yes, it is much appreciated!"

"Likewise." You said. "Let's hope this is the start of a mutually beneficial partnership."

"Yes, let's." He said once more.

You both shook hands— there was a coldness to his grasp— and you parted ways.

That wasn't to say these were the only 'people of interest' you met today, but a monotony set in when dealing with what was a constant flow of greedy merchants, arrogant nobles, disrespectful slave-wives, and opportunistic Masters. The only source of sanity was the calm and controlled expression on Ayane's face— neither shifting nor cracking. If you didn't know better, you might've been fooled by her calmness.

She really proved her worth today.

===

A long day was finally over, and you gave your kitsune some some scratches behind the her ears.

"Oooh, Master..." She seemed to enjoy it.

"You deserve a reward for doing such a good job today." You said. "And, since you didn't even get anything for yourself, I wanted to know if you wanted to get something."

"Ah, that reminds me," Ayane said suddenly. "I checked the status of the 10 gold coins you gave me when you first arrived in Centria."

"By how you were acting, I imagined you didn't waste it."

"Indeed I didn't."

"A part of me assumed you would've saved it for a rainy day."

"I wouldn't be so idle with any gold you entrust me with."

"Oh?" You smiled.

"I invested it, my love." Ayane revealed with a bow.

"Where did you put it in?" You're not really surprised, considering the type of woman she is, but your interest was still piqued.

"I merely helped a small stock exchange, Master. And, from the dividends I obtained in your name, I was able to get..."

Rolled 44 + 10 (1d50 + 10)

"... 50 gold, Master."

"Well that's pretty great." You said, impressed.

"Thank you, my love." She bowed.

After this you went back to Cinnamon Inn, where all your wives were waiting for you. It didn't take long for everyone to regroup and, after you talked about how your day went, have some dinner.

That same mousegirl from before was now accompanied by a human woman wearing the same inn uniform as the other. They both served your meals, and from there everyone was able to speak about their day while under some controlled chaos.

===

"My Master," Ayane once again spoke to you, taking you to the side as the sun set in the horizon, painting the sky red. "since I was the only one to not use my money for something, I bear you a gift."

She presented some red flowers to you: A boquet of chrysanthemums.

"Thank you, love." You said. "They're beautiful."

"I used some of the money I invested for this." She said proudly. "Yet it was a stroke of fortune to find so many of these at once. Unlike the white versions, the red ones are rather rare in Centria."

"Huh. It goes to show how much people must've cared for Aneko." You said.

"Ah... yes? I suppose they must have." Ayane replied with a small smile.

"I mean, Hisashi must've pulled out all the stops to get so many red chrysanthemums, given what you just told me. He must've wanted things to look pretty." You compliment.

"It was to be a proper farewell." Ayane's smile faltered. "Though, I don't recall there being many, if any, red chrysanthemums."

"There were definitely mostly red flowers like these there too." Though you did recall seeing a few white ones too.

"I shall be honest, my love, I don't recall there being red chrysanthemums at the wake." She squinted at your face, searching for something, but ended up with a confused expression. "Master, where is this coming from?"

"Weren't there some red chrysanthemums placed inside Aneko's casket?"

"What?" Said she with a frown, "Only white ones should've been there, Master."

"Huh?" Now it was your turn to be confused. "I'm pretty sure I saw red flowers. Or at least, I was offered one to put there."

"Yes, but that was a red spider lily."

"Yeah, I know, but there were also red chrysanthemums around the place."

Ayane gives you a strange look, one that reminded you of the face Mel would make when you referenced your old world. The only difference here being, beginning almost as a flicker passing through her face, she now begins to second guess herself. "Perhaps I might be mistaken? I'm getting along in years, and my memory isn't what it used to be. Besides, I was focusing more on being with you instead of my surroundings, my love." She looked like she was trying to convince herself. "But then, I know my father wouldn't have allowed such a thing to happen..."

At this point you are also, to your own surprise, starting to doubt what you saw. You didn't sense any illusion magic there, and Ayane was pretty sure that there weren't many red chrysanthemums.

So what was all that about?

Maybe you needed a new perspective.

"Hey, wake up, flattie." With that idea in your mind, you take out the crystal with the small spirit in it and give it a shake.

"What!" She gives you a look that practically says 'this better be worth my time'.

You explain to her what was going on.

"It's probably nothing." Yumi scoffed. "Even though I didn't poke see anything with my eyes, the flowers were definitely white. I mean, who the heck uses red chrysanthemums in a funeral? That's just weird."

"Was there anything else that might've been of interest? Anything you noticed?"

"I could sense some spirits watching us... but that's normal for wakes and funerals."

"Maybe one of them was playing a prank?" You suggest.

"I mean, it's possible. But..."

"It would be a very strange prank if so." Ayane said. Yumi agreed, muttering about how a 'cursed servant' like her would've been more creative if she was haunting the place.

You considered the fact that you hadn't made any items to deal with ghosts. Yumi herself was at the point of being harmless to all of you, or so you hoped, yet you knew that there were items that allowed the capture and exorcism of spirits. As far as you knew there were also artifacts that protected against spirits possessing you, and certain enchantments that allowed you to physically touch ghosts.

But this subject just made you think of Herta, given that she could do an exorcism with ease. After you returned back to the inn you decided to seek out your first wife, just to check if you had any curses. You, however, didn't feel the metaphorical weight in your soul that curses caused.

Herta checks all of you for anything, and confirms that none of you were under any curses or hexes or corruption.

"There isn't anything saying weird on you, Master." The goddess says. "Though this was just a light check-up. Doing something more intensive would take half a day." You recall Herta talking about this sort of thing when Ryko was first saved from the goblin cave.

"Don't worry; as the Goddess of Artifice, I'll always be by your side!" Herta smiled.

>This was going to bother you if you didn't look into it. You'll bring Herta, Mel, Ruby, Ayane and Yumi with you to the place where the wake was. (Uses up tomorrow's morning action. May or may not find anything)
>Have Herta do that intensive magical thing. (Will take up John Doe's and Herta's action for half a day tomorrow, leading to a decision for the actions of the other wives. May or may not find anything. Herta will be exhausted for a little less than a week)
>This sounded like some sort of side-quest. It could wait. (Go to next options in Centria tomorrow)
>Write-in.

Sorry again about the long wait, and also I apologize for any typos. I'm starting to feel sick, hopefully it doesn't last more than a day but it's possible I'll update later than usual.

>>6236244
Red ones symbolize love while white ones symbolize loyalty and devotion, but in Japan it is for mourning so it makes sense why white ones would be an option here but I am not an expert in the meaning of flowers
>>6236324
>This was going to bother you if you didn't look into it. You'll bring Herta, Mel, Ruby, Ayane and Yumi with you to the place where the wake was. (Uses up tomorrow's morning action. May or may not find anything)
Scooby Doo time, followed by a funeral
>>6236325
Get some rest

>>6236256
>Just get the healing scroll and the medical texts. (Lose 550g)
>>6236324
>This was going to bother you if you didn't look into it. You'll bring Herta, Mel, Ruby, Ayane and Yumi with you to the place where the wake was. (Uses up tomorrow's morning action. May or may not find anything)
some repeated words and words that didn't fit in the middle of the phrase on the doots.

>>6236324
>>This was going to bother you if you didn't look into it. You'll bring Herta, Mel, Ruby, Ayane and Yumi with you to the place where the wake was. (Uses up tomorrow's morning action. May or may not find anything)

>>6236256
>Just get the healing scroll and the medical texts. (Lose 550g)
Forgot this one

>>6236256
>>Have them get both of these items. (Lose 1050g)

>>6236324
>This was going to bother you if you didn't look into it. You'll bring Herta, Mel, Ruby, Ayane and Yumi with you to the place where the wake was. (Uses up tomorrow's morning action. May or may not find anything)

So it was not just fluff, it was mind games. Soon John will find out the terrible truth that he is inside a quest on imageboard in the internet.

>>6236325
Get well, NotIseQM.

>>6236244

>"Red chrysanthemums are believed to represent love, passion, and deep desire. These flowers are perfect for a romantic date, an anniversary, or Valentine’s Day."

>"White chrysanthemums are a symbol of purity, loyalty, and devotion. However, their use varies from one culture to another. For instance, the Japanese associate these flowers with mourning and grief, while in other parts of the world, they are widely used for wedding ceremonies as a symbol of innocence and pure love."

>"In accordance with established traditions, many practitioners of Buddhism in Japan will celebrate the arrival of fall with a ceremony at the tombs of their ancestors. In order to pay tribute to the dead, red spider lilies are commonly planted on and around grave sites as a part of this ceremonial practice. ...Japanese people often use these flowers in funerals."

>>6236256
>Have them get both of these items. (Lose 1050g)
I want to have a well stocked medicine cabinet we can go to in the unlikely event we need any of these at any point. The nearest medical facility is a day's flight away, after all.....
>This was going to bother you if you didn't look into it. You'll bring Herta, Mel, Ruby, Ayane and Yumi with you to the place where the wake was.
Was someone testing us?
Else https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaV1r341wYk

>>6236256
>Have them get both of these items. (Lose 1050g)
Forgot to vote for this one

I'm still a little bit sick but I'll try to finish the update today.
Thank you for waiting, anons.

>>6237629

Sorry about taking so long, still feeling pretty sick. I've still been trying to write but it's a bit hard to between while sneezing often and having a congested nose lmao
I'll try to have the next update out in a few hours, no promises.

>>6237985
Take your time QM, don’t overwork yourself

Wait a minute, this was obviously some sort of timed event! And if you ignored it, you wouldn't get those sweet bonus items.

"Master?" Says Ayane with a frown, "What shall we do?"

"What else?" You said with a smile. "We're gonna figure out what this will be."

You were confident about your success.

===

You wake up early the next morning, feeling refreshed after a good night of filling up your kitsune to the brim. Ayane peacefully slept with a smile on her face, clearly happy with her reward.

"Good morning, Master!" Herta greets you from the floor. There wasn't anything stopping her from sleeping with you in your bed, but Herta insisted on being treated like an animal after you had your fill with your kitsune.

"Morning, Herta." You said to her while rubbing off sleep from your eyes.

"It's time for my breakfast, Master." She beamed a smile your way.

"Sure, give me a minute to get up..."

After giving Herta some of your 'protein', you get ready for the day.

Gerty, Cattleya, and Bertha were given the task of organizing everything and keeping in touch with the Adventurer's Guild and the Centrian Knights. You wondered when the latter's package of materials and rare items was going to come by. And if you had the chance of becoming an honorary member of the Order. Maybe it could make things simpler if you were associated with them, while also opening up some more avenues for influence. It was something Gerty seemed to be in favor of, at least, as she informed you of how she used to fight for one of these Orders with a smile. You hoped that Gerty at least would be able to figure something out when it came to the materials, but you imagined you'd need the help of both Ayane and Ruby if you wanted to actually look into it.

The your remaining wives—and Yumi—accompanied you as you returned to where Aneko's wake was held.

You are once again greeted by some kitsunes. Most were workers and receptionists, but a large minority of them were priestesses. They didn't seem happy when seeing you, but they were respectful enough to at least ask why you were here again.

Thankfully, Ayane, due to her merchant and diplomatic skills, along with the fact she was also a kitsune, convinced them to let you all look around the place under the pretext of giving your respects and being interested in their decorations. It wasn't entirely a lie, considering what you were here for.

And so you gather around in the room where the wake happened. There are no flowers left, and in fact there was scarcely any evidence proving that anything happened yesterday.

"So, we're looking for ghosts?" Mel asked again.

"Any sort of lead, I imagine." Ruby responded, then glanced at you with a smile. "Right, Master?"

"Just look for anything that might seem off." You repeated what you'd ordered when coming here. "Mel, check around for any illusions and traps. I wasn't able to sense anything, but you might. Herta, I want to know if there's any corruption or spiritual stuff happening here. Ayane, try to keep guard and see if you can find out where they got the flowers."

"On it!" Mel squeaked out and went on her way.

"As you desire, my love." Ayane bowed.

"There's definitely some ghosts around here." Herta stated. "They don't feel evil, but I guess we'll see."

"Hey, I'm right here you know?" Yumi complained and was promptly ignored by Herta. The goddess went about looking over everything, lost in her own little world as she focused.

Everyone, save for Ruby, scattered and went to work.

"My gallant Master, I don't doubt your wisdom," Ruby said, "But you seem to have kept me here."

"It's because I want you to stay close to me, madame."

"Ah, I see. I understand it is quite difficult for you to keep your hands off me, no~?"

"Maybe. But I mostly want your intellect in this occasion. Your propensity for scheming is unmatched." All she needed was someone to make sure those plans didn't fall apart— which is where you came in.

Ruby Rose dons a smug smile, and you're happy she feels appreciated.

You continue walking and talking with Ruby, almost aimlessly trying to find something that could help out.

"Indeed. As much as I would agree with keeping a muscleheads like that pet catgirl of yours or airheads like Bertha, might I ask your reasoning of why you didn't involve your Holy Knight in this— being able to defeat the undead with ease?"

"Sure you can." You said with a smile. Then you remained silent.

"Master?" Ruby began to sweat, laughing nervously, "I don't mean any offense, if you-"

"That was just a little joke on my part." You clarified. "Gerty might not do well with talking to the undead here, especially if there's any friction between the kitsune spirits we find. Or even with the receptionists and priestesses. She can be a intense and... enthusiastic."

"I see."

"Besides, if I do need to call her I still have that emergency alarm I can sound off. The three of them should come by at that. Also Herta is already powerful enough to exorcise tons of ghosts, kill undead, and purge corruption all at the same time, so we don't have to worry on that front."

"Herta is a bit of a jerk." Yumi suddenly decided to say.

"That's rich coming from you." You respond.

"Hah! Unlike that so-called goddess, I deserve to be respected and honored! I am the wandering spirit, the ethereal flame! Yumi!" Yumi strikes a pose and speaks with airs.

"Master," Ruby said to you, "This undead-"

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING AN UNDEAD, HUH???" Yumi was as calm as ever.

"Now, now, you mustn't present yourself with delusions. Losing face in front of my Master in any way whatso-"

"YEAH, WELL, YOUR FACE IS PRESENTED WITH DELUSIONS!!!"

If you didn't stop their argument you were gonna get unwanted attention from the people around you. Worse, these two were starting to give you a headache.

And so, with some choice chuuni wording for Yumi and some quotes from The Baron's Bandit for Ruby, you get them to calm down.

With that done, you decide to actually start doing something instead of talking. You considered retracing your steps with Yumi, and asked Ruby to begin considering what might've happened.

But before you can do anything you're interrupted by Mel and Herta returning with some flowers in hand.

"Master! Master!" Herta said, followed by a less conspicuous Mel. "We found these on the ground, left behind! Master, we picked up all the trash like the useless slaves of yours we are~"

"You just asked if I could help out carrying them..." Mel said to the goddess.

You gave the flowers a good look: Red spider lilies and white chrysanthemums. Huh.

"Master, I found out that these flowers were definitely tampered with! It had a magical signature and everything." Herta said.

"Is that everything that maso-bitch head of yours could find? I'll have to punish you later if you keep this up." You were happy you finally had something to work with.

"Yes, Master!" Herta looked fired up.

At that moment Ayane returned.

"My love," Said she with a bow, "I was able to ask about where everything was purchased."

"Well done, dear." You said with some tenderness.

"Master," Ruby said while tapping into all the beauty of her voice, "I believe I have a good judgement of what could happen, and shall bring you my theories once we've seen everything."

"Well done, madame. Your wit and will are beyond compare." You complimented her, using a quote from her favorite book.

"Um, Master?" Mel said with bashful hope, "Even though I didn't really do much, except help in finding flowers and confirming there isn't any illusion magic, at least not in the usual sense, can I, uh..."

"Of course, Mel. You did a great job. You know to rely on me if things go badly." You told her with a smile. It was one she happily returned.

At that you decided to first look into the commercial side of things. Hopping between a few flower shops and Asian-themed stores was fun for everyone involved, but it sadly didn't lead anywhere.

And so, despite wanting to avoid having Herta exert herself too much, you ordered your goddess of a slave-wife to track what she'd found. While she assured you that this wouldn't take too much out of her, you still commanded her not to push herself too hard.

This led to a bit of a goose chase, though Ayane realized that this was bringing you back to one of the family shrines her father had for the deceased.

It was not a cemetery, but rather a place where the names and pictures of many deceased kitsune were in.

This area was a clearly sacred place.

It was secluded and peaceful enough to raise all of those flags in your mind.

You weren't surprised to see it protected by guards, even the Savant-made automaton wasn't much of a shock— though you and Herta were instantly fascinated by the machine. It was comparable, if not stronger, to your Armored Clankers. Already, ideas spiraled through your mind as you were inspired by such a piece of technology, even seeing all of the faults in this noticeably ancient technology.

The guards were wary at first, yet they allowed you and your wives to enter because of Ayane; she gave the excuse of everyone here wanting to pay their respects to the dead.

Though at this rate it was less of an excuse. The atmosphere here inspired a fragile reverence.

It was beautiful in a somber way. If you took the wake you were in yesterday, painted it with elegant tones, put it in a picture frame, and walked inside, it could describe this. White gladioli, red spider lilies, even a few lotus flowers. And, of course, white chrysanthemums.

"A place like this doesn't really fit the rest of the city." Mel observed. "Uh, not to say it should be demolished-!"

"No, that is a common reaction." Ayane sighed. "Unfortunately this area is nothing more than an imitation of what my people have in their homeland. Even the flowers are fake and artificial."

Despite her words Ayane seemed to be sentimental. When she revealed that she hadn't done so for more than a decade, you allowed her to excuse herself and pay her respects to the dead.

That left you and your three wives (and Yumi) to look around.

"Your intellect is truly amazing, Master." Ruby flattered you. "Had you brought either of those three meatheads, I imagine a fight would've started."

"They'd probably just of told us to get lost." Mel shrugged. "Though I bet Master would've been able to figure things out still."

"Thanks, you two," You smiled at her. "I'm glad to have both your trusts."

"Always, Master." Ruby grinned at you.

"Yep!" Mel beamed.

A few more moments passed, as all of you continued to look around and attempt to sense anything with magic. Herta was the one that was concentrating the most on figuring out what happened.

"I don't buy it." Yumi said.

"Don't buy what?" You asked.

"What Ayane said. This is a pretty legitimate haunt."

"She seemed to know about this place." Mel said. "I don't think she's lying about the fact it was all artificial."

"Yeah, well, I'm not really talking about the physical stuff being the best quality," Yumi said, "I mean, it's legitimate enough to convince the-"

"Ghosts around here." Herta muttered, finishing Yumi's sentence. "Most are the bad type."

You didn't feel the chill that spirits brought with their presence. And a quick look at Ruby and Mel proved that they were in the same boat as you.

"What type?" You whispered back.

"Normal ones that feel malicious, some Will-O-Wisps," Herta said. "Probably a Shade or two."

Right, Shades were ghosts that could be best described as 'paralysis demons'. They caused nightmares and could cause people to go insane, though the latter you hadn't seen them do much. You knew they ambushed people when attacking, if what you remembered from the expedition against the goblin cave was anything to go by.

Herta's words still put you all on high alert. You gave her and Yumi the go-ahead to find the other spirits here, while the rest of you went to get Ayane back.

It didn't take long to find a small ball of flame floating in the air. It was followed by another, then one more after that. You saw these smaller spirits dance around in the air— for a moment curious about you and those with you, they lost interest and went back to playing.

"Yumi, you said that Will-O-Wisps could guide people, right?" You turned to Yumi's crystal.

"Huh? When did I say that?" She asked.

"Back in the cave." You reminded her.

"Oh." Yumi blinked, then puffed up her chest. "As the great and cursed spirit named Yumi, I have a duty to tell my acolyte of the spiritual world... And I'll tell you these guys won't be any help. We aren't in any place where we can get lost, unless we're really dumb. So these wisps will just end up pranking us if we ask for directions."

"Right. Well, we should go back to get Ayane-" You said, but were interrupted by the candlelights being blown out and the sunlight from the windows somehow not allowed into the room.

You hear some whispers said in Japanese coming from all around you and nowhere at once.

"Do humans dare enter this sacred ground?" A disembodied female voice stood out from the crowd of whispers.

You see various ghostly shapes and apparitions. They always keep to the corner of your eyes, avoiding your direct gaze. But you could tell that there were many of them here.

And, from the darkness, you see a few more ghostly figures appear. These seemed less prone to talk than the others, with clear aggression in their sights.

And they attacked you. Or so they tried.

Thanks to Yumi and Herta, you were well defended against ghostly attacks.

The attempt failing, one Shade attempted to slink away.

"Oh no you don't." Herta shot out a beam of divine energy at it, exorcising it instantly and sending the evil spirit to the afterlife.

After this the other Shades attempted to attack in desperation, but met the same fate as the first.

A rumble was heard, and from the ground a spirit emerged. Three things about it stood out to you: The ghost is a woman, she had seven fluffy tails, and was gifted with massive honkers. She was flanked by Will-O-Wisps that were noticeably less defined.

"Foolish humans... I have placed a curse that allows for no sound to pass through, and for none to be able to communicate! As you have trespassed and transgressed against this sacred burial chamber, this will become your own grave!"

A strange weight felt like it's crushing your soul.

"Curse Dispel!" Herta shouts.

And just like that, it's gone.

"What?!?!" The kitsune spirit shouts. "This shouldn't be possible!"

"Better get used to that, sister." Yumi says from your pocket.

"Who are you, to speak to me?" The fox ghost acknowledges the your ghost girl with a sneer. "A countrywoman you may be, but a mere slave-wife of a human Savant is not worth my breath."

"You think I'm his wife too, huh?" Yumi said sardonically. "John, tell me what happens after this is all over." The ghost in your pocket goes back to sleep.

And so a battle begins. This ghost fox lady surprises you all by being able to warp the place and change its colors. Dark became light, light became dark, the runes and paintings began to shimmer and glow, wind bells began to chime. And the chrysanthemums turned red.

Well that answered that.

"Master! The flowers!" Herta said, almost in triumph. "We did it!"

"We sure did. But now there's more important things to focus on." You said.

The powerful ghost used a type of illusion magic you hadn't seen before with great liberty. But it became easy enough to understand after a while.

It takes a bit to get used to the floor feeling like it was shaking, and seeing colors splash on the walls, but you were able to manage thanks to your practice with Mel.

You and your beguiler were also able to help your other wives with breaking the illusions.

The powers of this ghost were flashy and had an air of strength... but every one of you all fought against ghosts often enough to not be intimidated.

The room's strange effects began to be dispersed by the magic of your beguiler.

"Oooh, I get it now," Mel said while dispelling the illusion, "Ghost magic was used to make a small compact illusions, and then spread it out. That's actually pretty clever."

"You DARE resist!?!? Even as you sully these halls!" The ghostly woman gave a shout, and the room began to change color again. Though it was easily dispelled by Mel's counter-spells.

"Huh?" Herta said under her breath, "Wait a minute... Did you do that to Master at the wake?" You then saw a fury enter the eyes of the goddess. "You bitch..."

What followed was a light show from the Goddess of Artifice and a screech from the kitsune spirit. You made sure to protect Yumi from Herta's power as it was shot here and there, scattering any ghosts that decided to watch this battle. To the credit of this kitsune spirit, she could dodge Herta's attacks— for a while at least. Eventually she was shot down, and rendered immobile as you and Herta towered over her form.

"You attacked Master," Another beam of concentrated divine energy was thrown, dangerously close to the spirit's head. "You insulted him," Herta, despite her calm words, was expertly crafting enough divine energy to overwhelm the entire building. "But worst of all, you tricked him. Therefore I, as the Goddess of Creation, condemn you to eternally suffer-"

"Mother?" Ayane exclaimed as she saw the scene unfold.

The spirit woman, once wide eyed and trembling, gleamed with recognition at the form of your fox wife.

"Did I not tell you to never show your face to me again until you improve your life?" The ghost, despite everything, still said this with a bite to her tone. She glared at Ayane.

This was gonna be interesting.

After some explanations, you find that this spirit is actually Sumiko : The first wife of Hisashi and mother of Ayane and Ai.

You could see the resemblance between her and Ayane. Though her bust was more like Bertha's, if slightly smaller. You wondered if Ayane was gonna end up with such a big rack...

She was much like your own kitsune wife in personality... if Ayane were to have no warmth in her.

Her way of doing things was sobering enough to make you annoyed.

"A disappointing as always, are you? After your failure to woo the Yasuda brat you fell into a spiral of self-pity, confirming what I already suspected you to be. Unless you've come here to tell me you are now the first slave-wife of the Emperor himself..."

"I missed you too, mother." Ayane herself didn't seem very affected by the cruelty of her mother's words.

For every time Sumiko insulted Ayane, you were tempted to let Herta finish exorcising her. It was only after Ayane practically begged you to spare her with a glance that held your tongue from letting the order out.

"Of course, that is not to say I am not happy," Said a still frowning Sumiko. "You have grown up to be a good woman. And to that extent, I am proud of you."

"Thank you, mothe-"

"A few decades too late, but I'll take what I can get." She said.

You really didn't feel like hearing her throw insults against your wife.

"Why did you make me see those things?" You asked her, now feeling like you just wanted to be done with her.

"Excuse me?" She said dryly.

"The flowers. Why did you make them look red to me? Was it some sort of test? An insult?"

"Ah, that. I was not insulting you. Rather, I was giving Aneko her last gift. As much as I dislike humans, you seemed to be her type." She shrugged uncaringly.

"What are you talking about?" Mel voices the question that immediately crossed your mind.

"Well, simply that Aneko should've been the one to have children with a Savant. She was poised to become one of the greatest merchants in Centria." Sumiko said. "The Mitsubishi clan needed a Savant so they would be cemented in history. Despite this logic, I will have always disapproved of adding a human into our family. Better a mermaid than a human." She scoffs. "But it seems like my Master considered you worthy, Savant, to at least grant you this useless daughter of mine."

"I mean no disrespect towards you, mother, but you're wrong." Ayane said with confidence.

"Oho? You think so little of your niece to-"

"You know what I mean." Ayane continued. "If there is one thing I've learnt from my Master here, it's that I deserve to be happy. I deserve to feel love. And, if my Master wills it, I shall have children with him as well." She had a fierce confidence in her eyes. "I will always be by his side; my Master is worthy of your respect, and I deserve to be in love."

"Hmm." Sumiko looked at Ayane as though she was seeing her for the first time in her life. "Perhaps I was mistaken about you... could your teenage bluster truly have been strength all this time?"

"You still didn't answer my question." You said.

"Red chrysanthemums are a symbol of love." Sumiko quickly explained. "And, in a way, you were right to say this was a test. But if you passed or failed, that is not for me to say."

"Alright," You take a breath, "How the fuck was I supposed to know about what flowers mean?"

"It's hanakotoba." Sumiko says. You almost glare at her. "Don't look at me like that, you only have yourself to blame! We kitsune did nothing wrong, but you filthy huma-" Ayane interrupts her with a cough. "Hmm. Very well. I suppose I was slightly unfair by my part. But don't think I'm doing this because I wanted to disrespect you," She repeats, "No, I merely wanted to see if you would've wanted to be with my dead granddaughter instead of my daughter."

You honestly didn't know if that was worse of not.

"Not like I wanted a human to be my grandson, you d-dummy!" Sumiko exclaims. You're taken a little off guard, but then realize this must be where Ayane and Aneko apparently got their 'tsundere' thing from.

"Master," Rose whispers to you, "Shall I call the other three?"

"No, not yet." You returned Ruby's whisper with one of your own.

"Master," Mel followed up with what Ruby said, "I can set up a few traps to make sure she doesn't try anything funny."

"Just don't let your guard down and be ready for any attack." You said.

Herta was still miffed.

Meanwhile the ghost granny was talking to Ayane again. "If you had only been as ruthless as I was, you might've had Eisho and none of this would've happened."

"Mother, that's not a good way to live. We should try to obey our husbands with joy instead of... whatever it is you're doing. And also, you're wrong about men finding that side of you attractive." Ayane said. "Your personality doesn't work well in attracting men. And yes, I know what you're about to say." Ayane preemptively interrupted her mother's interruption. "That you were able to get father to love you because of who you were. But you know better than I that father is a man with... certain tastes when it comes to women."

"I... yes, that is true." Sumiko conceded. "Even though I was the eldest and the least desirable, Hisashi still wanted me and defended me..." Sumiko's eyes became soft, but only for an instant.

"I will admit to my own faults, but said failures won't control my future..." Ayane continued. "The love I hold for Master, and the way he now owns me, isn't it what you felt back then?"

"Ayane... even though I wasn't always there for you like my Master-husband was..." Sumiko said. "You've truly grown, haven't you?"

And so what was once a bad reunion ended up becoming a cheesy anime family reconciliation.

Not that it was a bad thing, of course. Even though you still felt a little annoyed at Sumiko (as did all of your wives and Yumi), and at the general state of things, you were still personally happy that Ayane could see her mother at least one last time.

"Oh, Ayane..." Sumiko seemed remorseful after sharing a heart-to-heart with her daughter for 15 minutes. "If I could go back in time and do things again..."

"Mother, it's... well, it's not alright. But I am willing to start over with you."

"I-" Sumiko seems at a loss of words. "Give me some time. I shall speak to my husband."

"Does father know you're still in the mortal world?" Ayane asked.

"Not yet, no. But I have been watching over him in his travels." Sumiko revealed. "Do not worry about the guards outside, I have asked some of my cousins to make them fall asleep, so you should be fine to leave." She bows. "I don't wish to cause more trouble in your life, Ayane." Sumiko sighed. "I hope this gift shall be enough, if you're willing to accept it."

She took out a white tulip, an actual tulip and not an artificial flower, and a note, which seemed to magically get some words in Japanese printed on it, which translated to "a dowry".

"Mother-"

"I have much to think of, and a Master to see again. N-not that I've been missing that idiot all these years! Ahem, Farewell." Sumiko said theatrically.

A sudden gust of wind enveloped the place, spiraling into a tornado of petals.

And just like that, she was gone.

"Well, that sure was a thing that just happened." Mel said after a beat.

"My hair is ruined..." Ruby whined.

"Master..." Herta just looked at you. To the outside observer it might seem like she was worried about something, but you knew her well enough to tell that she just wanted you to feed her your 'protein'. You couldn't help but smile at her.

You looked at the floor and found the small tulips Sumiko had offered to you and Ayane.

"It doesn't mean anything weird if we take this, right?" You said, referring to tulip and the small note.

"Probably not." Ayane replied. "Mother never spoke of her hobbies, as such I only know what I've learnt on my own. I don't recall what tulips mean, but white usually means peace and purity."

Will you and Ayane take the tulips?

>Sure. It was a gift, right?
>No. You were done with all this flower language stuff.
>(Write-in)

"Blegh, there's some petals in my mouth." Ruby said, spitting the fake plants out.

"Yeah. I'm fine with some flowers, but this is too much." You honestly wouldn't mind ever seeing another flower again in your life.

"At least they make us look pretty!" Mel, ever the optimist, stuck a random one to her hair. It promptly fell apart and scattered to the ground. "Uh, at least they make for good scenery?"

"For a little bit, sure." You said.

"A little bit..." Ayane smiled. "For us kitsune, a little bit of time can be a decade. It all passes by so quickly..."

"Maybe that's why your mom took so long to stop fighting us." Herta scowled.

"What's up with you?" You demanded with enough roughness to please her.

"Just the thought of some nobody using her powers to do something to Master without his knowledge... It makes me mad!" Herta nearly shouted.

Ayane gave an apologetic smile at Herta's words, saying that she hoped everyone would get along in the future.

"But didn't you power me up without my knowledge to make me a Savant?" You said to the goddess. Mel gave you another strange look.

"Well, y-yeah," She stuttered a bit more before finding her footing, "But it's different when I do it! I want to obey you! Hmph!" Herta puffed up her cheeks.

A small chuckle escaped your lips, and you were already thinking of the ways you were gonna bully this cute goddess of yours.

===

"Oi, what's with the flower petals?" Cattleya asked as she stuffed her face with fish and eggs.

It was lunch, and preparations to go to the funeral caused everyone to scurry around. Getting rid of the petals proved to more difficult than expected.

You and Ayane exchanged a look.

"It's a long story." You said.

"I'd be happy to share it at dinner." Ayane added.

It became evening. And the time to go to the funeral proper was coming near.

You flew your wives over to the area it was being held, the flying ferry costing next to nothing thanks to Hisashi paying for guest expenses.

It was much like the wake yesterday, except it was held outdoors in a rather remote area of the plateau. It was, by the looks of it, in an actual gravesite.

However there were less tombstones here than you'd imagined for a city as big as Centria.

It was explained to you that most people prefer to be buried in their homelands instead. On some occasions however, such as with Aneko, Centria was pretty much a homeland. So burials did happen from time to time.

The airship with the intricate designs from yesterday approached this graveyard, and made anchor a respectful distance away. Aneko's empty casket was being carefully taken out and carried.

All of Aneko's most prized belongings were placed in it the casket, with some people even gifting her small snacks or dresses.

Just like yesterday, words about the deceased were shared, but this time only Aneko's immediate family spoke. This amounted to Ai and Eisho talking some more by themselves.

A small salt throwing ceremony was enacted, using the salt that was gifted to all of you yesterday. While Bertha used most of it to cook things, it was thankfully replaced by courtesy of Hisashi himself.

Ayane threw small pinches of salt behind your shoulders before entering and exiting any home or inn, and you were asked to do so as well before returning to your home.

It came about that you were able to share a few words with some of the business connections you'd met yesterday. You also met your in-laws again, though this time you got the opportunity to speak with the Yasudas. Youta and Kazuhiro, like Eisho, seemed to be subtly asking if you wanted to attend the Mitsubishi-Yasuda company meeting, though they seemed to dance around the subject whenever you openly brought it up. Once more you gave a strong "maybe" as a response, which thankfully was enough to placate their questions.

You also met with Ryko and Shizuku again. The two of kits seemed better behaved than before, though they were still happy to see you and Ayane. Eisho, Ai, Kasato, and Risae also personally greeted you, with the latter being noticeably more comfortable speaking with you, Mel, and Ruby.

Hisashi also approached to you.

"Small world, isn't it?" He smiled at you.

"Sure is." You said. "Hey, you know, Hisashi-"

"Please, call me father."

"Right. So... father... did Sumiko like flowers?" You got right to the point since neither you nor Ayane knew about you late mother in-law's hobbies.

"She adored them. Put them everywhere she went." He smiled again, this time more fondly.

"If someone had told me that before this all happened..." You muttered.

"Hmm? Sorry, didn't catch that." Hisashi said.

"Don't worry about it." You returned his smile.

You considered talking more with either the kitsune families or with potential business partners...

>Tell Hisashi his wife is a spirit, and that she's probably going to be visiting him soon.
>Try to talk with the Yasudas a bit more.
>The business connections are still around, you could rub elbows with them still.
>(Write-in)

Before you left the kitsunes, you wondered about allowing Ayane to babysit Ryko and Shizuku while you remained in Centria.

>Tell them that Ayane would be free to babysit their kits. Your kitsune wife would likely be stoked to relive taking care of another baby. (Ayane won't be available as often while in Centria this week, but she and your fox-tailed in-laws will be grateful)
>Eisho and Ai definitely had other options for babysitting children. They would've said otherwise if not, right?
>(Write-in)

The casket, now full of memories, was fully lowered into the grave and buried in tandem with the setting sun.

When there was no light left in the horizon, the airship once again blew its horn. This time it lasted for a few minutes, making a few of your wives wince.

And so the funeral ends, and every family goes their separate ways.

===

As dinner was being held in Cinnamon Inn, you and your wives spoke about the adventures you had this morning, with even Yumi contributing. Gerty, Cattleya, and Bertha apparently had a small adventure of their own today as they got challenged by some B-Ranks in the Adventurer's Guild in a test of strength. Both teams fought a captured rock golem in a small arena owned by the guild— though with the combined strength of Gerty, Cattleya, and Berta meant that they had an easy win in defeating the monster.

With stories being shared and the usual chaos happening, you all went to sleep soon after lying down.

The next day came up with an optimism that was hardly matched. Yesterday's events seemed to have helped Ayane find some reconciliation with her mother while growing closer to you. Despite the grim nature of funerals and mourning, there was an underlying essence of hope.

And so you decided to go out into the Inn's balcony to get some fresh air while watching the sun rise.

"Letter for John Doe! Letter for John Doe!" A familiar chime graced your ears, and a figure you'd seen often before lands close to you. "Letter and inquiry for the Savant Lord!"

"Eulia." You said, then extended your hand in expectation of a letter. None came, however.

"Savant Lord John Doe! QuestionfromtheFastwingCompany!" She said, invading your personal space once more. "What is your mansion called!"

"Don't you guys already have that covered?" You asked.

"Yes! Everything is covered! Wehaveasystemtoeveryting! Everything!" She stretched out her wings and craned her neck in the way only a bird-woman could. "But!" She takes a deep breath and chirped the following:

"WewanttoconfirmiftheSavantLordwantedittobecalledOceanviewornotbecauseourpolicy-"

"Could you repeat that?" Herta said, having joined you after hearing the commotion. "Maybe Master can understand you, but it's early in the morning and I sure as heck don't."

Eulia made some bird-like sounds and looked at you. You motioned her to continue.

"O." She paused for a moment, almost as still as a statue. "K!" She gave you a thumbs up. "Your entire property is already called the Oceanview-Manor! But! We can change that and put it as something else! Officially!"

Your mansion was usually referred as "Master's Estate" by your wives. You were aware that this place, being between Eastia and Westphalia, had different names as it was often switched between the two superpowers and independent owners. At least until the last few decades where this place was abandoned for reasons you aren't entirely sure of. Though you could make some guesses to what happened, given the goblins and bandits you just cleared out.

>"Oceanview Manor is fine." It's what the Centrians call it.
>"Well, 'officially', my estate is now called..." (Suggestions below)
- "Johnsland" A little self-indulgent, though your wives seemed to like this one the most.
- "Heaven's Landing" More in reference to how you were reincarnated, also having some association with the gods.
- "The Stronghold" A name that should inspire respect, also appropriate since it had places that still looked like warzones.
- "The West-Southern Corridor." As it was called by the Westphalians.
- "East-Point's Last Breath." Was another name Westphalia gave it.
- "Westliche Werft" Was what the Eastians referred it as.
- "Ost-Dreadland Landgut" As it was called in Eastia.
>(Write-in)

This was a rare occasion to speak with her, and she seemed to be (slightly) less manic and would (probably) be more willing to answer any questions you asked.

Ask Eulia anything else?

>Yes (write-in) (she might not answer everything).
>No.

And there we go. Hope the big update makes up for how late I was. Also I hope I wasn't sick enough to make tons of typos and other errors (thank you anons for pointing things out, I'm trying my best to write better lmao)
Hopefully I start to feel less sick tomorrow too.

Also thank you anons for participating and all the compliments. Now excuse me while I pass out.

>>6238377
>Sure. It was a gift, right?
>>6238391
>Tell Hisashi his wife is a spirit, and that she's probably going to be visiting him soon.

>Tell them that Ayane would be free to babysit their kits. Your kitsune wife would likely be stoked to relive taking care of another baby. (Ayane won't be available as often while in Centria this week, but she and your fox-tailed in-laws will be grateful)
>>6238392
>"Well, 'officially', my estate is now called...
-The Pro Creator's Fortress. Get it ? Also because I like castles.
>>6238398
thanks, OP

>>6238377
>Sure. It was a gift, right?
Sure, we forgive her

>>6238391
>Tell Hisashi his wife is a spirit, and that she's probably going to be visiting him soon.


>Tell them that Ayane would be free to babysit their kits. Your kitsune wife would likely be stoked to relive taking care of another baby. (Ayane won't be available as often while in Centria this week, but she and your fox-tailed in-laws will be grateful)
If Ayane wants to, sure.

>>6238392
"Well, 'officially', my estate is now called..."
- "Heaven's Landing" More in reference to how you were reincarnated, also having some association with the gods.

>Yes
Ask her playfully: Is she only girl working for the post office or does she takes every job that has our name on it?

>>6238377
>Sure. It was a gift, right?
Doesn’t hurt
>Mel gave you another strange look.
Our wives know about Herta, but they don’t know about us very much, or our past or how we even met Herta. It is probably a sore topic for John but they are going to get more suspicious overtime. Not saying it’s a problem but something to keep note of

>>6238391
>Try to talk with the Yasudas a bit more.
We don’t know much about their side of things, make sure they get the good luck charms too
>Tell them that Ayane would be free to babysit their kits. Your kitsune wife would likely be stoked to relive taking care of another baby. (Ayane won't be available as often while in Centria this week, but she and your fox-tailed in-laws will be grateful)
Most of the personal business stuff is taken care of so why not. As for that business meeting I am pro going but on our father in laws side if we can’t just be an observer to it.

>>6238392
>"Well, 'officially', my estate is now called..."
>"Heaven's Landing" More in reference to how you were reincarnated, also having some association with the gods.
A bit pretentious to a normal person but oh well
>No.
Support anyone else who has questions though

>>6238398
I believe this may be the longest doot yet, regardless thanks for your work

>>6238377
>Sure. It was a gift, right?

>>6238391
>Tell Hisashi his wife is a spirit, and that she's probably going to be visiting him soon.
>Tell them that Ayane would be free to babysit their kits. Your kitsune wife would likely be stoked to relive taking care of another baby. (Ayane won't be available as often while in Centria this week, but she and your fox-tailed in-laws will be grateful)

>>6238392
>"Well, 'officially', my estate is now called..."
>- "The Stronghold"
Might switch to something more creative like anon's write-in. We gotta make ourselves look strong if we want to avoid trouble. Maybe we can call our estate "The Hold" ? Though it might be arrogant to name our home again when it's already called something, but we're already called Savant "Lord" so it's probably expected

>Yes.
Ask about her schedule.

"Heaven's Landing?" Eulia said with tilt of her head. "Sounds like you're planning somethin' big and showy... All right! I'll tell my boss! Do ya have any other questions?"

"What's your schedule?" You say as she seems to thinks to herself, recalling that Ayane had asked about this before. You'd take this opportunity, now that Eulia was offering.

"For the Savant Lord John Doe? Don't have one!"

"How come?" You ask.

"Can't do it!" She squawks. "Weather can be funky or there's mountain rock golems trying to shoot me down or pirates trying to catch me or-"

"But can't you just fly up with your airship?" Herta asks as she rubs sleep from her eyes. "You could avoid most stuff that way."

"I don't use an airship! It's way slower than I am!" She beams proudly.

"Wouldn't that be, you know," Herta yawns, "Dangerous?"

"Yepitsureis!" Eulia said with no less enthusiasm. "Anyway, I can't stay long, I gotta keep flying!"

"Leaving so soon?" You said playfully.

"Sure am!" She replied.

"Are you the only girl working for this post office or do you take every job that has my name on it?"

"I get all the most difficult and important jobs!" She chirped happily. "You're a Savant and your estate is super isolated, so this went to me!

"Also we have tons and tons of harpies working as delivery birds! Girl delivery birds!" She continued, "And we got different branches around the world! But mostly Centria. Becausetheheadquartersarehere!"

"So, you aren't just picking me because of my good looks?" You give her a sly smile.

She blinked a few times at rapid speed, tilting her head this way and that, then gasped, "Woah! Is this flirting?!?!"

"What, never got teas-"

"I think you're hot too!" She smiled, getting in your personal space. "You saved me from the bandits! And you got a nice body! IknowbecauseIsawyounakedwiththatangrycatgirlafterIcrashed-!" As her words spewed forth you recalled how she blueballed both you and Cattleya that one time. "Phew! This was fun! But I can't stay here long! Gottagoseeya, thank-you and good-bye!"

Before you could considered asking if the company she worked for needed typewriters, about her family, or literally anything else, Eulia sprang into the air. She soared like a missile, becoming a speck in the distance in less than a few seconds.

You considered how she was always in such a rush, the small moments being few and fleeting— it was nearly the complete opposite of how a kitsune would act.

It made you recall the reaction Hisashi had yesterday in a flashback...

<><><>

It was Aneko's funeral, and the evening sun was beginning to make its way down west. Hisashi had just spoken to you, and was about to leave.

"Hey, Hisa- father, uh, dad." You didn't know when the last time you'd find him was, so you decided to speak with him now about it.

"Can I speak with you in private?" You continued, "It's about something important."

He agrees, and the two of you go a little ways away as the rest of the crowd mingles somberly.

"What did you want to tell me?" He asks.

"You know how I have Yumi as a spirit, right?"

"Ah, let me guess," He cleared his throat, "Aneko is a ghost, and she wants to do something before she goes to the other side, no?"

"Although Aneko did become a ghost, it was only for a minute or so before she ascended." You paused as you remembered that white tulip you and Ayane got from that event. Unlike the other flowers it was completely natural, though as an item for a timed event it felt underwhelming. "But it's actually pretty close to the truth. You know how I asked if Sumiko liked flowers?"

"It was Sumiko that was a spirit, then." Hisashi concluded with practiced calmness.

"Yeah, pretty much. And she said she was going to visit you and talk about a few things."

"Did she say what she wanted to speak of?"

"No. But I'm guessing it's about Ayane, considering they had a bit of a heart to heart."

"I see." He frowned. "I must apologize for her behavior. She can be... a bit much for the average person. It's good to hear she decided to stay on this planet for a while."

"You don't seem too surprised about it." You noted.

"Maintaining a calm and composed mind is the best tool for any merchant, especially when tragedy strikes." You vaguely recall Ayane saying something like that. "It also helped to assume that a spirit was helping me. It certainly explained a few things, such as how I survived for so long despite my Bad Luck."

"Did you know it was Sumiko herself giving you a hand?"

"I had my suspicions, but a part of me felt she was still watching over me." He sighed.

"What was she like?" You asked.

"Well," He smiled. "She had a very strong personality; arrogant, rude, controlling, aggressive." He chuckled. "Though she had her prejudices, there was a sweet side she always showed to me. Despite how much she could be, I knew that under it all she could be a beautiful person. To this day I still love her, and I'll give her all the time she needs to talk."

A few moments of silence were shared. You watched Bertha fumble some of the salt she was given, accidentally throwing some at another guest.

"I think that's my cue to go back." You said to an amused Hisashi, giving him a quick goodbye and getting back to your wives before the chaos your wives were threatening to start began to spread.

<><><>

You continued to stare at the city with Herta, the sunrise blanketing over it as everything hummed with life.

"Sunsets are beautiful, right Master?" Bertha said as she woke up, joining you and Bertha on the balcony.

"Yeah, they are." You replied, not bothering to correct her.

"You mean 'sunrise', no?" Ruby did that for you as she stifled a yawn of her own.

"Same difference, Rubes." Bertha dissmissed.

"No, not at all," Ruby continued, "In a sunrise, as the name suggests-"

"Oi, guv, today's the day those Centrian Knight blokes give us freebies, innit?" Cattleya also decided to join you.

"I don't remember them giving a specific date." You said, ignoring how crowded the balcony was now feeling.

"We spoke with the Knight's of the Jagged Sword to confirm it." Said Gerty from the back. "And it will be today, should the gods will it."

You decide to go back into the inn to actually get some breakfast. You tell them about how you've decided to call your immediate estate "Heaven's Landing". Herta, Gerty, and Mel were pretty happy, with the others being mostly indifferent, if still supportive.

"With a name like that we could make others see it as a safe haven from the constant war." Ruby said. "And perhaps attract some malleable and high quality resources."

"As the Goddess of Artifice, it has my official seal of approval!" Herta exclaimed with no small amount of haughtiness. "Though, I was sort of expecting you to call it something else for some reason..."

"What, don't like it because it reminds you of how you got pulled down from Heaven to become my personal sow?" You stated with a cruel tone.

"Kyaah! Master, how could you say that about a goddess like me~! And in front of everyone, too~!" Herta smiled, looking touched.

"I still can't believe this is actually the Goddess Herself..." Bertha muttered, glancing at Herta's very swollen stomach.

"I think it's a pretty name." Mel said. But from the look she gave you, she definitely suspected there being another reason why you called it that.

"Well, guv, what should we do next?" Your Cat meowed.

What were you gonna do next?

>Go to the stores. Though your wives already went to the apothecaries Nicodemus talked to you about, there's still a large selection of items you could get and many stores available.
>Meet with some of Ayane's connections again. You're sure that at least some of them are be available.
>According to a rumor Gerty heard from the Centrian Knights, the Eastians are selling off some surplus weapons they had. It might be a valuable source of scrap should you be able to convince them to sell it to you.
>Visit a guild. (Which? You know about the Adventurer, Merchant, and Artisan Guilds. But there are other smaller guilds like the Mage's Guild or the Apothecary Guild, among others)
>Look around for some houses you could purchase in this city. Ayane and Ruby worked together to find a selection.
>Go snooping around, as usual. Rostchilde was obviously making some moves, and you suspected there was more happening than what met the eye. (Go now or at night? Bring any of your wives along?)
>There was an Academy in Centria that would be interesting to check out.
>(Write-in)

>>6239654
>>Look around for some houses you could purchase in this city. Ayane and Ruby worked together to find a selection.

>>Go snooping around, as usual. Rostchilde was obviously making some moves, and you suspected there was more happening than what met the eye. (Go now or at night? Bring any of your wives along?)

>>6239654
>There was an Academy in Centria that would be interesting to check out.
Won’t stop can’t stop
>Go snooping around, as usual. Rostchilde was obviously making some moves, and you suspected there was more happening than what met the eye. (Go now or at night? Bring any of your wives along?)
Since we have to do this at night we can do the previous alongside this. Mel is a must have

>>6239654
>There was an Academy in Centria that would be interesting to check out.
This morning. It's finally time to stop blueballing Academy Anon.
>Look around for some houses you could purchase in this city. Ayane and Ruby worked together to find a selection.
This evening. It's finally time to stop putting this off too.
>Go snooping around, as usual. Rostchilde was obviously making some moves, and you suspected there was more happening than what met the eye.
Tonight. Bring Mel and Catty as our snooper and our backup.

>>6239654
>Go to the stores. Though your wives already went to the apothecaries Nicodemus talked to you about, there's still a large selection of items you could get and many stores available.

>>6239805
+1

Sorry anons, update might come late. Probably a couple hours from now, but no promises.

"We're going to school." You said with your best smile.

"Eeehh?" Herta and Bertha exclaimed at the same time.

"School is, like, so boring..." Your Warrior muttered.

"As the Goddess of Artifice, these human concepts are beneath me." Herta huffed haughtily.

"Sounds like you're just trying to skip on work again, you lazy goddess." You said.

"You're talking about the Centrian Academy of Science and Magic, right?" Said Mel.

"Yeah." You confirmed.

"Fufufu... my gallant Master surely has something planned for such a prestigious place." Ruby smirked. "I've heard there are many impressionable students there..."

"Well I've heard that it's a place where jerks become bigger jerks." Bertha said without regret.

"We're just going there to check it out." You said, much to the relief of a certain hammer-wielding warrioress.

"It is a place that specialized in teaching magic to adults." Gerty added. "Though I would still recommend the military schooling instead, sir!"

You recall hearing how it held various courses for many professions. If Nicondemus' ramblings were to be trusted.

"I can't speak for Herta, but why the heck don't you like it, Bertha?" Mel asked.

"I've heard about schools back in Aquataine... I don't wanna go there when I already know everything I need to know from my parents." Bertha pouted.

"I will say that not all places of learning are terrible." Gerty said. "I was able to hone in my abilities because of the teachings of Preceptor of Westphalia's Most Noble Bane of Westwall." She added with a hint of pride.

"I think this'll be fun!" Mel said with a smile. "I had a tutor that came from the Centrian Academy when my parents were on leave, and she was alright. I wonder if she's still around..."

"If you want us to go then I won't complain, guv." Cattleya trusted your decision.

Breakfast was seen to, your kitsune waking up from the smell of food.

"I might be of assistance here, my love," The groggy kitsune started speaking before breakfast was in full swing, "If you are talking about the Academy of Magic in Centria. I believe I helped the principal's first wife some decades ago when I was working as a midwife."

"Likewise, I have been able to find some strings that could lead us to the Academy proper." Ruby revealed as she sipped her morning tea.

You asked some questions to kitsune and Mastermind both, and they answered everything to the best of their abilities.

===

You'd taken some twists and turns for the sake of a 'shortcut' Ruby had told you about. Despite her directions, you were now at the gates of the Academy.

The Academy...

It was just as prestigious as you expected it to be. It had some similarities to the Merchant's Guild, though it reminded you of some higher education buildings in your old world. This was true, save for the smatterings of magical objects, an almost obscene amount of gears, and other generally steampunk designs that touched every major building you knew about.

You stepped foot into what was a staple of any isekai world, stopping yourself from smiling at seeing all the men and women in student uniform.

Teachers were more distinguished than their students, some either wearing more decorated versions of student uniforms or mage robes.

Though you still find a few people that wore the stereotypical witch's hat or some adventuring gear. Though the majority of students and faculty consisted of humans, beastfolk, harpies, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and other species were common enough to see at least every five minutes. You think you saw some fairies too, though that might've been a trick of the light.

Armed with the excuse of finding Ayane's, and possibly Mel's, connections in this academy, you go to explore the place.

In contrast to the rather crowded entrance, the courtyards inside the school were spacious and hardly used.

On occasion a group of guys would attempt to harass one of your wives. Thankfully you all kept close, and a look from Cattleya was usually enough to get them running.

Not only that, but there were some guards stationed in areas that required official permission or proof that you were either a student or a teacher. Not wanting to make enemies with the entire Academy (at least not yet), you decided to go to areas which were more accessible.

There was a library which was open to the public, directly connected to the Academy itself. There was no lack of books in this area, with practically every academic subject being touched in some area. You couldn't help but notice the almost chaotic placement of the books— giving the suspicion that there wasn't any particular order to things here.

"Guess the Dewey Decimal system hasn't been discovered yet..." You said under your breath as you placed a book about chemistry back into the 'general alchemy' section.

"The what?" Mel was right next to you. She had a text about the fae on one hand, not unlike the fairytale book she already owned.

"Don't worry about it." You said nonchalantly. You were used to her suddenly appearing close to you ever since that incident where she was following you, Herta, and Yumi in the forest.

And Mel, once gain, made a strange face with your remark.

"You're giving me that funny look again." You said, finally feeling like you should bring up what by this point felt like a consistent occurrence.

"Huh?" Mel slowly blinked a couple of times, "Oh, that. Um, Master, it's just-"

But whatever she was about to say was interrupted by what sounded like a cascade of books falling on the floor. You look over to where the sound came from and find Herta with book on her hand, piles of books on the floor surrounding her. She slowly places the book back into the shelf.

Unfortunately, the noise seemed to attract some guards before you were able to deal with things.

Thanks to Ayane and Gerty diffusing the situation, everything seemed to be fine. They also glanced at Bertha, who thought it was a good idea to bring food and drink in this place. They left you with a simple warning; asking you to control your wives and not let them do anything else like this again.

"Sheesh. Is it seriously that big of a deal?" Bertha said.

"Quite rude of them." Ruby scoffed.

"I can sense the weight of their stifled spirits, trapped in the chains of mundane reality, yearning to break free into the ethereal realms of freedom!" Yumi said, only to be shushed by some passerby, causing her to nearly shout in fury.

"Should we clean up?" Mel tried her best to whisper.

"Nah, it should be fine." Herta waved it off. "See, look over there. There's people that are already going to do it for us."

"I think they're going to talk to us, mate." Cattleya meowed.

And so they were. A few annoyed librarians requested that you all put the books back on their shelves. After you stopped Gerty from threatening them and demanding a duel for how they 'dishonored' you, all of you went to putting things back in their place.

"That sucked." Bertha said when she was done.

"Hey, nobody was forcing you to help out." You told her. Though you also felt like this place could use some robots to automate things. You wondered why this place didn't use them.

"Yeah, well, I'm not gonna just let you do all the work, Master." Bertha replied. "Like, I'd be a bad slave if I did."

"Well said." Gerty approved. "We need to always help our Master and be there for him when he needs us."

"Quite right." Ruby, who conveniently wasn't giving her all due to morning sickness, seemed to agree in principle.

After this was done, you and your wives went off to ask around about the principal Ayane knew.

Apparently the principal had apparently stepped down due to his old age. Much to the controlled surprise of your kitsune wife, he was now acting as an advisor and part-time professor for the rest of the Academy.

You were able to locate his office soon enough.

The man that greeted you as you entered was getting along in years. He had wispy hair, and sunken eyes. His hat was not enough to hide the fact he was balding. Slightly hunched, he seemed to carry a great weight on his shoulders whenever he moved forwards. He would've looked like your typical wizard, had he worn their more traditional garbs. As it stood, he dressed himself with cloth that had strange symbols, granting him an almost sinister appearance. It was contrasted with how tired he seemed, and the slight empathy that seemed to shine from his eyes.

"This is the director I was referring to." Ayane formally introduced you to him— Todred the half-elf.

"Ah, Ayane. It's a pleasure to see you again." The professor said to your fox wife. "It seems like you haven't aged a bit."

"You're too kind." Your fox responded with equally composed politeness. "Tell me, how is young Epur doing?"

"Quite well, quite well. He's already had a fourth child. A girl this time." He said with a stroke of his greying beard, then glanced at you. "And whom might this be?"

"That would be my Master." Said your fluffy tailed wife as she gently held your hand. She showed off her ring with pride.

"Congratulations," He said with respect to you both. "May you live long and happily with your Master-husband."

Ayane would explain that she served as a midwife to one if Todred's wives, helping bring a son—Epur—into to this world.

After the initial greetings were over, he shook your hand. And so general introductions were made, with you introducing the other six wives (and Yumi) to him. He spoke about Mel's fairy heritage, since he was apparently knowledgeable in the field of fae magic. Noting that she had potential bursting from her, Todred said that it would be easier for her to learn the basics the sooner she began practicing it. These comments were enough to make your beguiler consider the nature of her own powers.

"In this realm of faded dreams," Yumi suddenly decided to add, "Where the untamed spirits of the young must be nurtured, schools for the innocent children should rise like sacred towers, standing alongside the hallowed halls of those already grown! Let such hallowed halls of learning arise for the youthful warriors of tomorrow!"

"An odd way of phrasing it, yet your ghostly wife is correct, Savant Doe." Todred nodded his head. "I share the opinion that the young should-"

"AAAH! WHY IS EVERYTHING CONSPIRING AGAINST ME?!?! JOHN DOE IS MY ACOLYTE. HE'S NOT MY-" Yumi's expression flushed, a dark blue hue adorning her face, before she had the chance to finish that statement. She took a deep breath and went back to sleep after telling you she was gonna take a nap.

"Hmm. I seem to have offended her. I hope this shall cause thee no issues, Lord Doe." Todred said.

"Nah. She does that every once in a while." You said.

"I see." He coughed. "Ahem. While I no longer am the executive force of this academy, I still wield enough influence to give a small tour of the vicinity. Come, Savant, let me show you what we have in store in one of Centria's greatest jewels."

And with those words he gave you all a tour of the place; beginning with the training grounds and classrooms that currently aren't in use. The former of these were spacious, almost as great as the courtyards, and consisted of gymnasiums and track fields. Meanwhile the classes reminded you of the classrooms in your old world, some were similar to lecture halls and others more like highschool rooms. He informed you that many debates were either held in the lecture halls or in a larger auditorium that was recently completed. This latter room was being used in class for a mock 'musical battle'. Whatever that was.

Eventually you find yourselves by the front desk, though this was hardly the end of the tour.

"Here is where you can sign up for the schools. You will need to take a test, however, if you wish to attend as either a student or a teacher. In your circumstances, if you choose the latter, you would only be allowed to teach part-time or as a substitute." Todred said, small bits of an accent seeping out in his words.

"There is also a fee you must pay for any classes you take." The receptionist at the table added. She handed you some papers with a wink. "You can also have your wives attend here. So there's no need to separate!"

"What's the price?" You asked.

She smiled. "Around 2,000 gold coins." That didn't seem too bad. "For the initial entrance exam to be given. A weekly fee of 5,000g must be payed if you attend. If you want to bring your wives with you, then it costs 5,000g every week for each slave-wife. Additionally, we have some dorms for you to sleep with your wives in- well, had some dorms, since they're all booked in as of now."

The cost of things made you frown...

(You currently have 9910g)

>But you still weren't dissuaded. You wanted to enroll someone. (Who? This person will likely not be available for long) (Ayane won't be able to attend due to it conflicting with her schedule of babysitting Ryko, Shizuku, and Ichirou)
>Yet you would consider these options for the future. You were planning to make bank with the aluminum, and would likely have a house in Centria.
>And you thought it wasn't worth pursing this. Not only for the cost, but the logistics of being in Centria as well.
>(Write-in)

"Goodness." Ayane said with a frown. "Has it always cost this much?"

"It used to be much worse." Todred said. "Making it this affordable was a struggle."

"It's a wonder this place has many students." Ruby mused. "I imagine it would increase the prestige quite dramatically."

"In Centria," Todred continued, "Anyone can make money if one knows what one is doing."

"Fortune is always a factor." Ayane nodded her head.

"Feels like nobles would be the ones that benefit the most from higher prices." Mel observed.

"That is not negative arrangement. Everyone involved will be better off." Gerty said, likely thinking about how Westphalia tended to favor the nobility in most things.

"Are there any other schools in Centria?" Cattleya meowed.

"Not that I'm aware of." Todred said. "There are, however, many tutors in this city. I could give you some recommendations after the tour, if you wish."

"That would be appreciated." You said.

"Hey, Master," Herta pulled you to the side and spoke in what you were pretty sure was supposed to be a whisper, "I bet there's some actual schools somewhere in Centria. I remember priests and monks and priestesses and nuns usually acted as teachers in schools in some of the other worlds, and there's no reason it wouldn't of happened here. Especially with a nerd like Artemia being one of the main four deities."

"I'll keep that in mind." You told her, giving her butt an appreciative squeeze.

The two of you joined the rest of the group soon enough. Todred began to speak with the receptionist, your wives joining in the conversation here and there. Yumi, now awake again, was still in her crystal. You could almost feel her sulking.

You looked around the main entrance. There were a few posters detailing debates and other lectures. The most notable ones, that didn't have a subject that sounded like it would go over your head, read as followed:

-Corruption, Curses, And Mana Mutation
-Kitsunes: Demi-Human or Beastfolk?
-What We Know Of Hybrid Breakdown
-Mana And The Luminiferous Aether, From Theory To Law Of Physics
-Of Monetary Theory; A Discussion Between Lord Misils And von Keyes

These were spread out in different weeks, with the closest being 'Corruption, Curses, And Mana Mutation' and 'Kitsunes: Demi-Human or Beastfolk?', the former of which was being held tomorrow in the afternoon while the latter was held the day after that in the morning.

You considered seeing what this was all about.

>And you decided you'd like to attend them all. If you had the time. (Will grant choices on whether to come to Centria throughout the next couple of days and weeks in order to hear these lectures. Will also decide if you want to come alone, or if you wish to bring your wives, or if you'd just send one of them to it)
>And you felt like your time would be better used elsewhere.
>(Write-in)

"Now," Todred cleared his throat, "If you would, there are still some areas I wish to cover. I believe Mel mentioned a certain Mrs. Redberry, no?"

"Yeah," Mel confirmed, "I was wondering if she was still here."

"I haven't seen her in a while, yet I recall the name." He hummed. "I shall be able to find her."

Outside, in one of the less used courtyards, however, you saw what appeared to be some guys surrounding a girl. They reminded you of the Drag On Gang, though these somehow looked much more like scumbags; the type of lowlifes that usually harassed a some random chick— which was exactly what seemed to be happening.

They were the type that existed to get their asses kicked while the main character got to show off his powers.

You couldn't hear the words exchanged from this distance, but it didn't look like it was some happy reunion.

>Excuse yourself and deal with them. (Go there yourself or have one of your other wives attack?)
>Continue with the tour and pretend that nothing is happening.
>Tell Todred and the receptionist to look for some guards. You suspect something is going on out there.
>(Write-in)

Again sorry for taking so long to update. I had some irl stuff that urgently came up.

>>6241313
>Yet you would consider these options for the future. You were planning to make bank with the aluminum, and would likely have a house in Centria.
Not now, but perhaps in the future once our revenue stream is secured

>>6241320
>And you decided you'd like to attend them all. If you had the time. (Will grant choices on whether to come to Centria throughout the next couple of days and weeks in order to hear these lectures. Will also decide if you want to come alone, or if you wish to bring your wives, or if you'd just send one of them to it)
If they are free then why not? The first one is useful to know but the last 2 lectures may actually be helpful to us
>Excuse yourself and deal with them. (Go there yourself or have one of your other wives attack?)
A classic trope! The girl of course will be a commoner here on some type of scholarship and despite that is treated horribly but unbeknownst to everyone she is actually the saint/sage/OP bullshit or whatever.

>>6241321
Take care of yourself QM

>>6241313
>Yet you would consider these options for the future. You were planning to make bank with the aluminum, and would likely have a house in Centria.
>>6241320
>-Of Monetary Theory; A Discussion Between Lord Misils And von Keyes
nice reference

>And you decided you'd like to attend them all. If you had the time. (Will grant choices on whether to come to Centria throughout the next couple of days and weeks in order to hear these lectures. Will also decide if you want to come alone, or if you wish to bring your wives, or if you'd just send one of them to it)

>Excuse yourself and deal with them. (Go there yourself)
>>6241321
np OP

>>6241313
>Yet you would consider these options for the future. You were planning to make bank with the aluminum, and would likely have a house in Centria.

42000 gold is 42000 gold

>>6241320

>And you decided you'd like to attend them all. If you had the time. (Will grant choices on whether to come to Centria throughout the next couple of days and weeks in order to hear these lectures. Will also decide if you want to come alone, or if you wish to bring your wives, or if you'd just send one of them to it)

Wives can come if they wish but I think we should have Herta with us for -Corruption, Curses, And Mana Mutation and -Mana And The Luminiferous Aether, From Theory To Law Of Physics if for nothing else to tell us "No it more like this"

>Tell Todred and the receptionist to look for some guards. You suspect something is going on out there.
Hello princess in hiding trope (I dont mind if its just a maiden)

>>6241321
Its fine, QM

>>6241405
>>6241320
Changing this
>Tell Todred and the receptionist to look for some guards. You suspect something is going on out there.
to this
>Excuse yourself and deal with them. (Go there yourself)
As it has been a while since we have had some FUN

>>6241320
Question QM, in regards to currency, is the typical bronze>silver>gold coinage tiering in effect here? And if so, what is the average peasant expected to make in a year and how exactly rich are we in comparison to most people?
>>6241336
As a note to anons:
Assuming a semester is about 13 weeks~ that is 65,000G per person. Assuming 4 year degrees (if they have those which I assume they do) with 2 semesters per year that is 520,000G. This now raises questions on average incomes for me

>>6241313
>Yet you would consider these options for the future. You were planning to make bank with the aluminum, and would likely have a house in Centria.
excuse me how much? We'll be back when we have the funds, though I don't know when the academic year starts or if it's a rolling thing. I guess it's a big world and there's plenty of wealthy people who can afford such sums.
>>6241320
>And you decided you'd like to attend them all. If you had the time.
I'm curious about how these aspects of the world work, at least those that Herta doesn't know about.
>Excuse yourself and deal with them. (Go there yourself)
Who dis gurl? Bonus points if they are a bullyable elf and more than they seem.

Costs aside, there are practical problems with sending one of our wives to university here. Since commuting back and forth every weekend is impractical without a much faster mode of transport (airships are slow as balls, I want an aeroplane), they'd likely have to live in Centris for months at a time, which would take them away from us, their work here and their children for long periods on and off for potentially years. Do they do some form of distance or part-time learning?

I don't recall this Mrs. Redberry being mentioned to us as someone Mel knew in her life, though. I guess it wasn't important.

>>6241448
Undergraduate degrees in Western universities can be anywhere from 2-4 years, though we don't have the first idea how long courses in the various subjects they teach here can be, especially in things like magical training and vocational courses. At current prices, we could easily make that cost from selling aluminium once we get even small-scale production going. Just an ingot a day would cover it. Heh, I say "just", it's a lotta money.

>>6241448
>Question QM, in regards to currency, is the typical bronze>silver>gold coinage tiering in effect here?
Yes it is. It's almost universally divided by 100s (100 copper/bronze coins equal to 1 silver coin, 100 silver coins are equal to 1 gold coin).
>What is the average peasant expected to make in a year?
The average peasant (especially countryside peasants) tends to not make much, if anything at all, with more concern on practical things and how to survive day-to-day life. But if a peasant were to work menial jobs, then they'd get around 4,000g to 20,000g a year (though at that point said peasant would now be considered a craftsman or a laborer).
>How exactly rich are we in comparison to most people?
When including all the assets and the land you have you'd be rich enough to be considered a tiny barony. If you sold everything and decided to start a few businesses in Centria you might be considered part of the emerging middle-class.

>>6241622
>Do they do some form of distance or part-time learning?
From what you understand they're implied to have teachers that are sent to other places (both in Centria and outside of it) as temporary tutors. At least according to what Mel has implied of her childhood.
>I don't recall this Mrs. Redberry being mentioned to us as someone Mel knew in her life, though. I guess it wasn't important.
She wasn't a particularly noteworthy person in Mel's life, only knowing her for less than a week when Mel was a teenager, so she hadn't really spoken about her. But after visiting the Centrian Academy she became curious about what happened to her.

>>6241448
>>6241622
>length of courses
For what you were offered here: basic courses for some certain subjects usually last somewhere between a week to a month, depending on what you're looking for. It's strangely flexible that way, though there are still set dates for when these 'mini-classes' begin.
If you want to get a full semester, or stay here for an entire 4-year academic cycle, that is a whole different thing which has yet to be explained to you. You're reasonably certain it still exists, since from what you've seen has made you assume that schooling is similar.
>the cost of the Academy
It's considered unreasonably pricey by in-world standards.

>>6241622
>I don't recall this Mrs. Redberry being mentioned to us as someone Mel knew in her life, though. I guess it wasn't important.
I don’t think most people mention who their tutors were
>At current prices, we could easily make that cost from selling aluminium once we get even small-scale production going. Just an ingot a day would cover it. Heh, I say "just", it's a lotta money.
What are the current aluminum prices? I don’t remember that being said but I may be just forgetting.

>>6241794
>When including all the assets and the land you have you'd be rich enough to be considered a tiny barony.
Considering how long we have been here, not bad. Hopefully that aluminum trade skyrockets us up without bringing in everyone who wants to steal it.
>It's considered unreasonably pricey by in-world standards.
At least we aren’t alone on this. Perhaps depending on how good the academy is at teaching it may be worth it to send Mel here to bring her fae magic potential

>>6241821
I mean, I do. But I was thinking she was someone else in her life she recognised and didn't twig that she was looking for her former teacher.

We haven't been told a proper price and there is unlikely to be a standardised price, but I was going off "a few ingots" being sold for 2000g first time we were in Centris.

>>6241842
>I mean, I do.
Must be a damn good tutor then
>I was thinking she was someone else in her life she recognized
That’s more understandable
>but I was going off "a few ingots" being sold for 2000g first time we were in Centris.
Now that is very interesting. Unlike other anons here who are clearly expert metallurgists I have no idea how this modern method works but I can assume that per tonne our aluminum would have less impurities and we would be getting more aluminum out of the whole process compared to current methods.

>>6241854
Eh, being around the same key people for many years of your life tends to help you remember their names.

The key difference being that pre-industrial means of producing both alumina and aluminium were complex chemical processes that required very expensive ingredients (like elemental alkali metals, VERY pricey in the 19th century), a lot of time, specialist knowledge and equipment (like a vacuum chamber) and only produced very small amounts in a lab with significant impurities. It's still the same aluminium, just very difficult and expensive to refine and nearly impossible to scale up beyond a batch process on a workbench. The Bayer and Hall-Heroult processes are what allowed the mass production of alumina and high-purity aluminium with a simple, continuous and scalable process from inexpensive ingredients.

>>6241869
I have never had a tutor so I can’t really comment on this

So what’s bottlenecking aluminum production at the moment is they don’t have the knowledge for the cheaper alternatives something which only we know. This brings up a few concerns such as whether we should patent it or not, followed by how much we should send to market and then how high we should set the price.

>>6241903
Pretty much. Compare it being able to jump on a train to work versus having to ride a horse that only eats gold bars.

We can either sell smaller quantities at a price on par with or somewhat lower than the current price in order to maximise return per bar and maintain the status quo, or we can undercut the price with significantly cheaper aluminium which would allow us to sell a lot more at a lower margin and would start to increase demand for the metal as well. IRL, when electrolytic aluminium hit the market, demand skyrocketed so fast as the price came down that it spiked again as they couldn't meet demand.

Yeah, no. This wasn't something you were gonna avoid.

You quietly excuse yourself, claiming you had something to look into, and go out into the courtyard until you reach the people there.

Now less than ten feet in front of you, four students, though it was a stretch to call them as such since they looked older than you, surrounded an elvish girl. She trembled at the sight of the students, and looked at you with dread, doubtless thinking you were going to be yet another name in her long list of tormentors.

You didn't need your high perception to figure out what was going on.

In your experience, chance meetings between strangers, which only interest people for a moment, tended to happen before a word is said. This was the situation you were in, once again. Though it undoubtedly annoyed you, a greater part of your mind longed to finally get into a fight again.

Of these men; the second, third, and forth scummy-looking bastards neatly fit into a stereotype— as natural minions that would followers. You imagine you would be able to push them around and scare them off if you were confident enough about it; which you were.

However that choice was ultimately stopped by the presence of their 'leader'.

He was first of these guys. And he was, in contrast, foolishly arrogant and certain in his own understanding of things. In your eyes he was all but begging for a punch in the face. His entire demeanor fit into the role he was taking; spoiled, the type that always expected things to go his way, and one bad insult away from throwing a fit. The mocking smile and sneer slapped on his face completed the picture.

Said leader stopped hurling insults and threats towards the elf girl, squinting his eyes at you for a second.

"Huh, you got something to tell us, old timer?" Was what one of the underlings said. He was, again, clearly older than you. The immediate aggression his leader showed towards you, though it lasted a mere second, spread to the others; where they were once content to simply harass some elfish chick now shifted towards dealing with whoever dared threaten this victory away from them.

"Hey, hey!" The 'leader' of this group said. "There's no need to start on the wrong foot. We're just here, pfft, 'helping' this lady fit in. She looks like the type that needs a reminder of what her place is, don't you think?"

You could tell he wanted to be conciliatory, which was honestly pretty surprising, given how these things usually go. Though his act was ruined multiple times; the clear scumminess of his smile, and the perversely spiteful leer he gave towards the elvish girl, all pointed to something you were more familiar with.

Also the fact some of them clearly had some artifacts on their persons. Swords and wands with attack spells loaded in them, according to Appraisal.

You shook your head. "I didn't wanna get involved, but I can't let this sort of thing happen under my watch. If any of you are smart, you'll stop right now." You give them an out.

To give them credit, some of them actually seemed to consider it. Looking around like they just realized how dumb not worth it this was. But this lasted only a moment, because as their 'leader' began to rage against you they quickly followed suit.

"You think you can fuck with us!?!?" He raged. "Change of plans; we'll deal with knife-ears later! It's time to show this moron a lesson in respect."

From their hands small balls of fire are formed.

"Feeling scared? We're the best of the best in this school." The 'leader' gloats. He points at you. "It's over!"

A small fireball is thrown at you, struggling to not be fizzled out and somehow slower than you expected it to be.

"Yeah, it's over," You smirked, completely unharmed "For you."

Their confusion is palpable when the magical fire is reflected back towards them at an increased speed.

Again and again those same spells are tried, most ending up flashy and underwhelming.

They start jumping around in a desperate dance to avoid the flames they themselves created.

"Ready to give up?" You said to them, revealing your [Mirror Blade], glowing with power.

"A sword?" Their 'leader' said with a scoff. "So you're just a Warrior!"

"Hey, Richie," One of his underlings said. "I don't think he's a Warrior. He's using Mirror Bla-"

"Shut up! He just got lucky! He's not as powerful as us!" Their 'leader', Richie, ignored any advice from those beneath him.

But they weren't able to scratch you, much less land a hit on you. You'd gotten experience on how to use Mirror Blade against fire attacks as you trained with your fluffy-tailed wife. Ayane was a much more skilled sparring partner than these four, making their magic seem weak in comparison.

It was sloppy at best. And though you weren't an expect in magic, you knew that they were wasting too much mana for no reason.

Though their attacks were underwhelming it gave you a chance to practice and show off, getting rid of how rusty you'd become from a lack of training.

The only actual challenge was making sure that elf girl didn't get hit in the crossfire, as she fell down to the ground after one of the students decided to mix a quickening spell with his fireball; they all stumbled as he fumbled the spell, creating enough recoil to cause a burst of air around them.

"You fucking-" Said the 'leader', only to be interrupted by one of his underling's spells being returned towards him.

They were still determined, which prompted you to slap them around with their own attacks again. Just like you'd done before.

As this battle threatened to become one of attrition, you realized they ultimately weren't much better than those three bandits you once scared away so long ago... You almost wished you'd taken the time to learn some telekinetic spells, or any sort of magic really, to help you really push in the detail.

Richie, clothes somewhat scorched, realized that he and his crew were all exhausted he made the call to stop, since even he knew about mana exhaustion.

"You'll regret this!" He said.

"Yeah, sure." You doubted you'd see them again. You swung your Mirror Blade one more time, causing them to step back and stumble on each other again.

"RUN FOR IT!" Richie said. They scurried away without much fanfare.

It was pretty light work, all things considered.

With that only two people remained, yourself and the elf girl, in the empty courtyard.

Now, to see what this girl is all about.

Still sitting on the ground, she was now staring at you with widened eyes.

"Wha..." The elf woman notices you are staring back, and her ears being wiggling.

"Hey." You say eloquently.

You offer a hand. She looks at it curiously, blinking a few times before realizing you were extending it for her. With an 'Ah! Sorry!' she grabs hold and you help her up.

"My name is Aila Imryll. But most people call me Ay-lala or Innie. Um, actually, please just call me Aila." The elf girl said, her face flushing from embarrassment. "I'm just a humble forest elf that came here because I got a blessing from the godde- uh, I mean, I'm here to learn knowledge! It's not because I'm secretly a saintess or anything!"

She was such a terrible liar.

"My parents told me that this would be the best place to understand magic. Even though my family isn't rich, and I can be very clumsy, I'm still smart enough to get recommended to a place like this for only a fraction of the gold needed." There was a boldness in her voice that quickly melted away, and she ended up fiddling with her thumbs. "Thank you for saving me... what's your... please tell me your name! And also what was all that??? I've never seen a move that can reflect magic before!" She suddenly began to gush about the small battle, going into the technical side of magic. It wasn't as intricate or comprehensive as the explanations you're used to hearing from Herta, but Imryll had a surprisingly good grasp on the fundamentals. She went a on a bit more about her personal life, revealing, though a bit surprising due to her innocence, that she was in her late forties (apparently she was still considered a young adult, despite the fact that elves could live for centuries if not millenia), and then went to talk about her many, many pets and her button collection.

As continued to talk, you thought that she...

>Seemed nice enough to at the very least try befriending. You introduced yourself and explained your [Mirror Blade] to her, satisfying her curiosity.
>Was alright. You were polite, and introduced yourself, but didn't really say much else as she clearly didn't have many people to talk with.
>Could be a bit annoying. You nodded your head as she continued on, wanting to go back but not really finding the chance. You doubted you'd see her again unless you went out of your way.
>(Write-in)

The conversation you had with her, however, was cut short when guards arrived. With them an important looking woman closely followed, not saying a word but quietly looking around.

They asked if there was a commotion here and what exactly happened.

"Sir!" One of them said, saluting. "A moment, if you will."

They requested you come with them. However they weren't able to take you anywhere, since most of your wives practically burst into the courtyard all saying something different at once.

"Master! What the heck happened?!?!" You heard Herta say.

"You all dare to make demands of a man as glorious as my Master, John Doe?" Gerty said with steel in her voice against the guards. "Against a man whose presence none of us are worthy of being in?"

"You're not gonna push my Master around!" Bertha said with a huff. "Not while I'm around!"

Chaos threatened to break loose, but a simple command from your lips stills the fury and outrage of your wives. Though there is still a clear amount of distrust that they show.

From a corner of the courtyard you see Mel reappear. Her invisibility was almost perfect, rendering her near imperceptible even when looking for her with any magical senses. A shining dagger is in her hand, quickly vanishing from view. She gave you a thumbs up. With such a powerful artifact she could doubtlessly kill as many people as she wished here, and only revealed herself to give you more options.

The woman, who introduces herself as Marigold, begins by telling the guards to stand down and had them return to their posts, much to the relief of your slave-wives.

Explanations are done by both you and Aila, the elf woman mostly followed whatever you said with vehement agreement. Aila, with a start, realized she had to go to class still. After getting permission from Todred and Marigold, the elf woman bolted away.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, until Gerty mentioned the fact that you were a Savant, which was then followed by Cattleya agreeing that you deserved respect for that.

Marigold's countenance immediately became darker, gaining a sudden hostility towards you. This hostility was then extended to Herta after the goddess declared that she was also 'a super strong Savant, too!'.

You almost felt like Marigold was gonna call the guards again and kick you out, but then Todred came to the rescue and asked her to be reasonable. This led to a small argument between them.

"I saw that tall fae wife of his with a Todeskurzschwert. Such an artifact implies a connection to the Thieves' Guild." Said Marigold, in one of these arguments.

"I sincerely doubt that, for multiple reasons." Todred said to her. "The foremost being my own knowledge of magical signatures. You know I have pioneered some of the best detection spells around, and some of the most modern alarm systems to warn of such things."

"No, I'm sure-"

"Believe me, it wasn't. You have had such difficult days recently, the stress must be getting to you. Now, I'm certain your Master will wish to see you again. He hasn't had much of a reprieve either."

"I... yes, you're right... it has been difficult." She conceded, sighing as she held her head in her hand and making her way out. But not before giving you and Herta one last glare.

"Do not worry, John Doe." Todred says a few minutes after she was gone. "I shall make sure there aren't any lasting consequences against you. Think of this as an act of goodwill."

You thanked him, and he said it was the least he could do after what he considered to be an embarrassing episode of the school showing its worst side to you. It seemed like that main 'leader' guy, a Richie Stonemann, was a known troublemaker in the school. The reason he wasn't expelled was because his dad was rich, regularly giving donations and paying for things here.

Todred then turned to you and gave you one final warning. "Lord Doe, I would make certain to watch what I would say, were I in your shoes. I wouldn't speak about any affinity for creating, specifically in an Academy like this."

Was he referring to how you were a Savant?

"Unfortunately," He continued with what was almost a whisper, "There are some influential magicians that hold resentment towards such gifted peoples as yourself." Yeah, that basically confirmed it. "And for the weakness that magic holds in comparison."

You shared a few more words, and Todred said that he would need some to make sure everything was alright, not leaving any loose ends about. You understood this as his way of politely saying he was busy and wouldn't be able to help you anymore today.

With nothing else to find here, you decided to return to Cinnamon Inn, bringing your wives (and Yumi) with you.

It was getting close to lunch, and Ruby Rose made her appearance before you.

"My gallant Master," Ruby said as she bowed at you, "While at the Academy, I've been able to obtain some information that might be of interest to you."

"Very well. Let's hear it, madame." You motioned her to sit by you, and she happily did so.

"I've come to find out that the Academy of Centria and the Mage's Guild have brokered a deal— detailing that any member of the Mage's Guild would be given a discount, turning the 5000g weekly payments merely to 500g."

"Excellent work." You smiled. "But, from the look on your face, I doubt that is everything."

"You have a discerning eye, Master. Unfortunately, the Mage's Guild, as we can both currently surmise from the evidence presented, forbids Savants from becoming members. They are also particular to only allowing those with magical classes in; sorcerers, wizards, mages, witches, and so on. Artificers were recently considered to join them, or so I've heard from the rumor mill, but their status in the Mage's Guild is tenuous at best. I find it rather ridiculous, with all due respect. Savants should be respected."

"I see." You thought about it. That witch woman spoke against both Savants, and even a few stray insults against Artificers. So if this was a common mindset with mages then you could imagine some issues happening.

"My Master, if you would entertain the humble opinion of a mere slave-wife like myself, I would suggest that the Mage's Guild has a stranglehold on the Centrian Academy."

"I'd be willing to believe it." You agreed. "Either way, well done. You've done a good thing for me, and I shall consider rewarding you in the future."

"It is my pleasure to be commanded by you, my gallant Master." She smiled. "You know what I like." And the two of you shared a tender kiss.

Yes, you did know what she liked— ear nibbles and getting thoroughly ravished by you at night after you'd treated her like a lady for the entire day. The usual.

Anyway, lunch was had. Herta and Gerty both commented on how they thought there was something more to that elvish girl you saved. Which, honestly, it felt like it was pretty obvious she was a saintess or a princess or some sort of combination of the two.

The subject matter, somehow through the chaos, began to touch on housing. This proved to be an opportunity for both Ruby and Ayane to speak about how they'd found arrangement of houses and apartments and flats to purchase. They both presented you with some lists.

You were impressed by how they were able to sort them out in a certain way.

Choose up to three choices to influence the choices (There will be opportunities to buy from all of these, but this will decide were Ayane's and Ruby's focuses will lie in)

>Economical: The houses were cheaper, though not considerably so. The majority of the options would be less than 3000g, with a few exceptions.
>Spacious: Houses that had more space in them. Whether it was for storing stuff, or just for prestige, the rooms were almost as many as in your mansion and were large enough to hold at least half a dozen people comfortably.
>Location: The homes had a decent location in a good neighborhood. Not all of them were perfect, but Ruby and Ayane tried their best to find ones that both had safe neighborhoods and/or were closer to important parts of the city (such as hospitals, police headquarters, airship dockyards, and so on).
>Insurance: These homes would have excellent insurance plans, at least by Victorian standards. Ayane spoke about a deal in which, if you so choose to follow, you could give the insurance company a small Savant-made artifact once in a while instead of paying gold.
>Business-Oriented: In addition to houses, you could purchase plazas at a reasonable price. This had the idea of renting it out to others.
>Industrial Sector: In addition to houses, you would be given the choice to purchase from an array of a factories in Centria.
>Unmarked Plots: Rather unconventional, but these were plots of land located in the few patches of wilderness in Centria. Ideal if you wanted to build something from scratch.

>>6242812
>Seemed nice enough to at the very least try befriending. You introduced yourself and explained your [Mirror Blade] to her, satisfying her curiosity.
Good to have a someone close in the Academy.

>>6242833
>Economical: The houses were cheaper, though not considerably so. The majority of the options would be less than 3000g, with a few exceptions.
As long as cheaper here means costing less and not being of lesser quality.
>Location: The homes had a decent location in a good neighborhood. Not all of them were perfect, but Ruby and Ayane tried their best to find ones that both had safe neighborhoods and/or were closer to important parts of the city (such as hospitals, police headquarters, airship dockyards, and so on).
Self explanatory.
>Unmarked Plots: Rather unconventional, but these were plots of land located in the few patches of wilderness in Centria. Ideal if you wanted to build something from scratch.
We could make a summer house here.

>>6242812
>Seemed nice enough to at the very least try befriending. You introduced yourself and explained your [Mirror Blade] to her, satisfying her curiosity.
Saintess, interesting. Of which goddess I wonder?

>>6242833
>Spacious: Houses that had more space in them. Whether it was for storing stuff, or just for prestige, the rooms were almost as many as in your mansion and were large enough to hold at least half a dozen people comfortably.
We will have big family

>Location: The homes had a decent location in a good neighborhood. Not all of them were perfect, but Ruby and Ayane tried their best to find ones that both had safe neighborhoods and/or were closer to important parts of the city (such as hospitals, police headquarters, airship dockyards, and so on).
Seems useful

>Insurance: These homes would have excellent insurance plans, at least by Victorian standards. Ayane spoke about a deal in which, if you so choose to follow, you could give the insurance company a small Savant-made artifact once in a while instead of paying gold.
Future proofing.

>>6242812
>Seemed nice enough to at the very least try befriending. You introduced yourself and explained your [Mirror Blade] to her, satisfying her curiosity.
Curious. I suppose she might be a bit starved for people to talk to and a useful person to know if we can help her make something more of herself. That and pointy ears.....
While I don't know what deity she follows (possibly Artemia? Who's the God(dess) of Magic, anyway?), I wonder what reaction she would have to discovering she's standing in the same room as a bona fide member of the pantheon in the flesh, particularly if they're a close relative of her patron. Could be quite entertaining.

>>6242833
>Spacious: Houses that had more space in them. Whether it was for storing stuff, or just for prestige, the rooms were almost as many as in your mansion and were large enough to hold at least half a dozen people comfortably.
>Location: The homes had a decent location in a good neighborhood. Not all of them were perfect, but Ruby and Ayane tried their best to find ones that both had safe neighborhoods and/or were closer to important parts of the city
>Unmarked Plots: Rather unconventional, but these were plots of land located in the few patches of wilderness in Centria. Ideal if you wanted to build something from scratch.
A custom retreat on the rural-urban fringe that's still not too far from the important bits sounds awesome. I assume "spacious" for this regards a larger plot, which means we can expand the place to accommodate our family as it grows and potentially build other things on the site as well, which we might not be able to do elsewhere in the city.

>>6242812
>Seemed nice enough to at the very least try befriending. You introduced yourself and explained your [Mirror Blade] to her, satisfying her curiosity.
She fits many slots in harem bingo and we need an elf

>>6242833
>Spacious: Houses that had more space in them. Whether it was for storing stuff, or just for prestige, the rooms were almost as many as in your mansion and were large enough to hold at least half a dozen people comfortably.
We are gonna need to hold a lot of people
>Location: The homes had a decent location in a good neighborhood. Not all of them were perfect, but Ruby and Ayane tried their best to find ones that both had safe neighborhoods and/or were closer to important parts of the city (such as hospitals, police headquarters, airship dockyards, and so on).
If we are having our family sometimes stay there we are not having it in the damn ghetto
>Industrial Sector: In addition to houses, you would be given the choice to purchase from an array of a factories in Centria.
Having a factory to create typewriters and future products in the same place where we are going to sell them is going to save us a lot of money in the long run

>>6242829
Few questions NotIseQM.

>"I still can't believe this is actually the Goddess Herself..." Bertha muttered, glancing at Herta's very swollen stomach.
When did we tell other wifes that she was actually goddess or did it become clear to them with fight against Sumiko?

Can we have two Custom Specials active at same time?

>>6243367
>When did we tell other wifes that she was actually goddess or did it become clear to them with fight against Sumiko?
It wasn't a written scene, but Herta casually boasts about herself being a Divine Being in front of them. And you never denied it, and even went as far as to call her a 'useless goddess', which was enough for Bertha at least to believe Herta was the real deal. This was before you built The Clank's Shelter (it was called the Forwarding Base back then). Mel was able to figure out it was true by herself in the background before the dungeon was discovered, though Bertha and Cattleya were already convinced Herta was literally 'Herta the goddess' by this point. With them talking about it to the others, it gradually became accepted as time went on.
The fight against Sumiko was just one of many things that served as proof. It became obvious that Herta is actually the Goddess of Artifice to them all before this. Some of the most noteworthy events that served as evidence were: Her affinity against fighting the undead when clearing out the dungeon. When she was purging magical corruption, ghosts, and the undead when you went into the goblin cave. Then again she showed off her powers when helping you guys in the final battle against Oghlurk. In a part of the beach episode she shot powerful beam of concentrated Holy Energy, exorcising a bunch of malicious spirits there. But the most convincing was the creation of sacred grounds (now named Herta's Haven). She created this holy sanctuary by completely purifying the goblin cave relatively quickly. Usually this would've been impossible without a bunch of Holy Knights/priests/priestesses/nuns/other divine-aligned classes working 24/7 to purge magical corruption and the undead for a few months minimum. That alone was strong evidence for the fact that she's a deity.
Also, there was that time when you and Herta made a huge amount of concentrated divine energy the night you got her knocked up, but the only one that really noticed this had happened was Yumi.

>Can we have two Custom Specials active at same time?
As far as you're aware, no.

>>6242812
>Seemed nice enough to at the very least try befriending. You introduced yourself and explained your [Mirror Blade] to her, satisfying her curiosity.
>>6242833
>Location: The homes had a decent location in a good neighborhood. Not all of them were perfect, but Ruby and Ayane tried their best to find ones that both had safe neighborhoods and/or were closer to important parts of the city (such as hospitals, police headquarters, airship dockyards, and so on).

"My love," Ayane said with a bow, "We have found many who are willing to sell both land and home."

"Only the best for my gallant Master~" Ruby chimed in with a coy smile.

"And all within budget." Ayane added.

As you ate you the two women gave a summary of places that were available for purchase. The selection was alright. You could see an emphasis on location and space— the bare minimum you ordered them to look for. Though some unmarked plots were given special interest, which made sense considering the ease in which construction clankers could shape buildings there if working with you and your wives, if the new wing of the mansion was anything to go by.

After lunch was wrapped up you all went to see said properties in person.

It was clear that Ayane and Ruby were hard at work in finding places you would desire. As was decided before, the properties were both spacious and in convenient locations. Even the empty plots were at the very least large and relatively close to civilization. You made certain that all of these places were close to an actual hospital or clinic, and most (save for the vacant plots) already had magical security systems installed.

Of the actual houses and buildings, you found a decent selection:

- The first property was somewhat close to the marketplace, but far enough away to not be associated with it. The Merchant's Guild was also nearby, and some smaller guilds like the Mage's Guild and the Artisan's Guild weren't too distant either, but your neighbors were mostly nobles and the like. A few local restaurants were scattered around the immediate proximity, including that cafe you and your wives often visited. There was a decent amount of activity near this place, enough to make it feel neighborly without being crowded. A daily ferry came and went near the Mage's Guild, taking and returning teachers and students from the Centrian Academy.

- The second, which looked like a castle despite not being as impressive as your manor, was located in a much quieter part of the city. The presence of the Centrian Knights could be felt here, with it's main headquarters in walking distance. The Adventurer's Guild wasn't too far away either, though a flying ferry would still be more convenient to take if you wanted to visit it. And, though it was close to a public hospital like all the other places, Nicodemus' private clinic was also nearby as well. Notably there were a few churches here and there, but, though they weren't exactly close by, you could visit them if you wished.

- The third property was near a cloudy port, with enough places airship stops to hold at least a small flying armada. The Mitsubishi side of the Mitsubishi-Yasuda Trading Firm owned a few ports in this area, and would doubtlessly like to have you close by. In general there was more activity than with the previous options, but being so close to one of the main shipping nodes of Centria would make for an easy way to export certain items and to import things from Hisashi's side of the company. Out of the buildings so far this was easily the tallest of choices presented, reaching from a cloudy lower level up to tower over much of the port, though it wasn't nearly as wide as your mansion.

- The fourth place was located near the heart of the Centrian capital itself. It was opulent and definitely prestigious, though it had a price tag that made you frown. Being a mere stone-throw's away from certain diplomatic buildings, it was also close to other government buildings, with the police force being the most notable. The Centrian Academy of Science and Magic was only around half an hour's walk away from this place.

- The fifth of these properties presented was a Japanese styled house, a bit larger than Eisho's place. It was within the kitsune community, which was inaccessible by most means except airship. Though not exactly close to other locations, it had the advantage of making you neighbors to your fluffy tailed in-laws. Ayane assured you that it shouldn't be an issue to go from here to the closest hospital in less than fifteen minutes, provided that you had an airship anchored nearby ready to use in a moment's notice.

With those main houses seen to, you went to look at what vacant plots had to offer:

- One vacant plot was particularly peaceful and idyllic. Large enough to build at least a few houses within, it held some flat terrain. Somewhat secluded, you found that its greatest quality was how self-sufficient it could potentially be— fruits and vegetables abounded in an unkempt orchard, a well was nearby, and a small creek divided the place in half. There were even some fish with wings that jumped about the creek here, apparently common in Centria and other places with high-altitude water.

- A plot of land was close by a mountain's edge. It had what was probably the closest thing to hills and forests in the giant plateau Centria was built upon. It definitely needed some safety features if you planned on making this place into a second love nest. In this property waterfall rushed down to become a river, gradually turning graceful and calm as it stretched on until it reached sudden end at the edge. It, too, had flying fish. This place was the closest one to the city without being inside the urban area itself, and you could see many different parts of Centria's urban lands from here.

- There was a plot of former government land, apparently there was an attempt to make a park. Funding for it was cut due to some squabbles between the Eastian and Westphalian factions within the government, however, so now it was being privatized and sold at a moderate price. It had some trees and benches, and was large enough to build at least a couple of houses with space in between, but was rather empty otherwise. The only other potential positive besides the price was how it was located in the city itself.

- For this one, a semi-desert greeted you. Few patches of grass were scattered by, though it seemed like it was a barren wasteland that ended in a sharp cliff at Centria's edge. At first you were confused by why Ayane and Ruby would even consider this, but they explained that this area could easily become a popular port and a trading hub due to its geography. If you were willing to put in the effort to build it, that is. Ruby also said that there was a possibility of finding metal here if you dug deep enough, though Ayane seemed to doubt the presence of metals your fox wife admitted there was likely some useful materials here a Savant might be interested in.

With any luck, none of these vacant plots would have as many monsters as your estate did. Those things could be annoying.

Ayane mentioned Adventuring Parties forming to exterminate monsters in Centria's rural areas long ago. This all happened when she was a little girl, so she had no idea what the status of monsters was in Centria. Despite this, everyone that was selling the vacant plots assured you that there were no monster sightings in Centria for decades— not even in the city's few remaining patches of wilderness.

While you told Ruby and Ayane to search for the best plots of land, you knew that a home wouldn't just magically appear to you... until it actually did appear in front of you. This was demonstrated by using certain Savant-made artifacts to create a temporary cottage in one of these empty plots of land. It almost reminded you of one of those 'instant tents' from your old world. These things were meant as examples of how you could use the vacant plots quickly to live in, since they assumed you were a Savant that could quickly build mechanical miracles. While convenient, there was always the chance it could simply vanish in the middle of the night, as it often needed to be recharged. It was an interesting concept that you felt like you could improve on.

But that would need to be seen to another day.

Ruby and Ayane were able to find other miscellaneous properties, though these were rather low in their priorities:

- A defunct industrial factory. Eastian in nature, it was quickly abandoned after finding a more efficient place in Centria to make consumer goods. If you could properly renovate it, that is. It also wasn't particularly close to anything. There was also the option to simply disassemble the whole thing for scrap and leftover industrial parts.

- A plaza. Or at least, what was once a plaza. Recently it had undergone a decline, now being filled with squalor. A group of gnomes tried to out-buy and kick out the lamia community there, causing tensions. The occasional drunken brawl spread out from a nearby tavern into the plaza square. And that just scraped the surface. Once a place that was respected for trade, it was now littered with problems that might be more trouble than it was worth.

- A tower could slowly float in the sky, acting as a type of lighthouse. It was less impressive than what it sounded, being almost static and needing some renovations with how outdated its Savant-made machinery was. Apparently it was best used as a fishing spot to catch birds and flying fish. You could fashion a small port to it, big enough to hold The Vixen's Luck. It also gave you a bird's eye view of Centria.

Eventually, you had to decide on what to get.

(Feel free to purchase as much as you wish, but try to stay under budget)

(You currently have 9910g)

For properties, you decided to...

>Purchase the first property which was close to the guilds and the marketplace (3000g)
>Purchase the second property which looked like a castle (2900g)
>Purchase the third property near the port (2700g)
>Purchase the fourth property in the Centrian capital (5000g)
>Purchase the fifth property in the kitsune neighborhood (2000g)
>Actually, you won't buy any of these. At least for now.

As for the vacant plots, you wished to get...

>The somewhat secluded plot of land with the idyllic scenery and orchard (1200g)
>The vacant plot by the mountain's edge with the waterfall, close to the city without being inside of it (800g)
>The plot of land that was once intended to be a park (400g)
>The semi-desert. While not ideal to build a house in, it had potential (580g)
>None of these, at least for the time being.

As for the other options...

>Purchase the defunct factory (4500g)
>Purchase the plaza (150g)
>Purchase the tower (200g)
>You'll skip on these for now, since none of them seemed worth it.

The question of insurance came up. There was a small selections, mostly of gnomish insurances for some reason, but it was nothing too amazing. You could always cancel these if necessary.

>Get insurance to at least cover fires and natural disasters (annual fee of 400g)
>Get a lesser version of insurance above (annual fee of 200g)
>Get an even smaller version of the first insurance. It was annoyingly vague, but Ruby seemed to think you could take advantage of the wording if you pushed for it (annual fee of 50g. Might lead to bureaucratic shenanigans)
>You'll skip on the insurance.
>(Write-in)

>>6244178
>Purchase the second property which looked like a castle (2900g)
Safe area, close to healthcare and it looks like a castle
>None of these, at least for the time being.
We already have our manors land to build up no point in adding more to that
>Purchase the defunct factory (4500g)
It would be good to produce our goods in the area where the markets are
>Get a lesser version of insurance above (annual fee of 200g)
A basic insurance plan but not too expensive

>>6244178
>Purchase the first property which was close to the guilds and the marketplace (3000g)

>The plot of land that was once intended to be a park (400g)

>Purchase the plaza (150g)

>>6244178
>Purchase the second property which looked like a castle (2900g)
Sounds good house for now in the city

>The somewhat secluded plot of land with the idyllic scenery and orchard (1200g)
We could make nice farm out of this

>Purchase the plaza (150g)
Fix this could give us rent money

>Purchase the tower (200g)
Its cheap and could be useful to have in future

>Get insurance to at least cover fires and natural disasters (annual fee of 400g)

>>6244178
>Purchase the second property which looked like a castle (2900g)
As a house
>The semi-desert. While not ideal to build a house in, it had potential (580g)
It's starting point. We can see if we can't build a mine here and develop it out with infrastructure as a trading and manufacturing base.
>Purchase the plaza (150g)
As a little side project in the city. Clean it up a bit and it can be a source of passive income for us as well.
>Purchase the tower (200g)
Obsolete it may be, but it still flies. I can think of things to do with it eventually, like a broadcast platform or airship depot.
>Get insurance to at least cover fires and natural disasters (annual fee of 400g)
Put it in perspective, that's about a gold a day for property & contents insurance.

Unless I did the count wrong, the choices should be:

Properties
>First Property (Guilds & Market), 1
>Second Property (Castle), 3

Vacant Plots
>Park, 1
>Secluded, 1
>Semi-desert, 1
>None, 1

Other Properties
>Factory, 1
>Plaza, 3
>Tower, 2

Insurance:
>Normal Version, 2
>Smaller Version, 1

Unless there's any objections, this would lead to:

>Purchase the second property which looked like a castle (2900g)
>Purchase the plaza (150g)
>Purchase the tower (200g)
>Normal Insurance (400g a year)

This currently costs 3250g with an additional annual payment of 400g, not counting the potential purchase from the vacant plots.

If there aren't any changes in the vote by the time I start writing I'll roll between the four vacant plot choices selected.

The vote will be open for at least the rest of the night. Feel free to change your votes and tell me if there's something you don't want to purchase that is on the list (like the tower, since it had two votes).

>>6244225
>>6245065
I will switch my vote from the factory to both plaza and tower since anons want it and it doesn’t cost much. As for vacant plot I will switch to the semi-desert since it could maybe have resources for us

>>6245065
I also support the desert.

>Purchase the second property which looked like a castle (2900g)
>The somewhat secluded plot of land with the idyllic scenery and orchard (1200g)
>The semi-desert. While not ideal to build a house in, it had potential (580g)
>Purchase the plaza (150g)
>Purchase the tower (200g)
>Get insurance to at least cover fires and natural disasters (annual fee of 400g)

Now anons I would like to try to sell my idea to that would cost in total 5430 g

I will go for up to down.

First I admit that First Property would work better for this plan but we can buy it later.

Secluded plot we can use to make a farm that can feed us and we can sell overproduction, now where would we sell it? Here comes the plaza we clean in up and get fees from other people selling there and we can our own products there too.

Now we can boost this with semi-desert by build a port in it and we would get more fees from people using in it.

Now tower is possiblely not necessary but its cheap and we would have a port for it and some money for selling flying fish (And get could put hidden sniper bot in it that would see all of Centria)

Insurance, yeah its cost most but then we dont have to argue so much with insurance company.

With this, it seems like:

>Purchase the second property which looked like a castle (2900g)
>The semi-desert. While not ideal to build a house in, it had potential (580g)
>Purchase the plaza (150g)
>Purchase the tower (200g)
>Normal Insurance (400g a year)

Has won, if I counted the votes correctly.

This should amount to 3830g, with an annual payment of 400g. If this is alright with anons, I'll get to writing.

>>6245422
Looks good to me

>>6245422
looks all gucchi

Sorry about taking so long. Something has come up, and I might not be able to update for at least a few more hours this morning.
Your patience is appreciated, anons!

"Sign here... then here... and that should do it." Said a scraggly looking government clerk— an elf— as you both finalized the deal. "And with that, congratulations Lord Doe. You are now the proud owner of this fortress."

"Thank you." You said. "It was a pleasure, Mr... ?"

"I am Morgar, if it pleases you." The elf said with a bow.

"Rather dwarfish sounding name." Ruby commented without looking at him, her attention taken by the structure that you now owned. Combined with how you purchased the other properties, you could practically see the schemes forming in her eyes with all the opportunities a 'home base' in Centria could bring.

"Quite right." He agreed, but made no further comment on that. "I hope such a gracious Savant like yourself has a good day."

"Yeah, same to you." You said to him.

And with his departure, your attention, too, was drawn towards the castle— apparently one of the last surviving structures the Eastians built in this land prior to the establishment of Centria, preceding the city by at least a century. It was used for war when this area was merely considered a strategic point, being rebuilt many times by many different people before Centria became what it is today.

"Heya!" Mel appeared before you, her face beaming as she shed her invisibility with a suddenness that would've started not a year ago. "I know I've said this before, but thank you for buying this home, Master!"

"Despite how impressive it is, it's not as large as the mansion nor the estate. Not to mention, Forthwythe's palace, on the subject of castles." Ruby was more critical.

"Master has done a great thing for our sakes," Gerty said, "It is not something to take for granted."

"Not to say I'm not grateful, of course. This doubtlessly surpasses sleeping in the woods." Ruby agreed.

"Master! Master!" Bertha shouted from one of the castle's windows. Even from this far away you could see the smile on her face. "Master! This place is great!"

She, too, suddenly appeared before you. Yet unlike Mel's gradual turn to visibility, Bertha's appearance was sudden— one moment there was empty space, then she was there.

"Bertha," You lightly chastised, "What did I tell you about using the Stop-Watch when you don't need to?"

"Huh?" Bertha blinked, tilted her head, then with a silent 'oh' she remembered your words, "You, like, didn't want me to overuse it since it could break down. Whoopsies." She gave a weak smile.

Much like Bertha, the rest of your wives had already been inside this house, looking this way and that, accustoming themselves to what was basically a castle.

Mel, already having seen everything there was to see and absorbed as many details of the place to suit her fancy, was satisfied with the knowledge that this would be just as comfortable as your estate, so she kept close to you and tagged along as you strolled around. Ruby was, as usual, following you so she could try to win your favor. Both seemed to appreciate the building alongside you.

As you went about this place, still deciding what you wanted to do with it, and occasionally bumping into one of your wives. You considered how simple it was to buy a house in this world, and how cheap they relatively were, at least when compared to you were from.

It reminds you that you now had a few more properties to your name— your coin bag feeling lighter for it.

A plaza, which was cheap because of all the problems that came with it.

Ayane admitted that she could've done a better job in selecting plazas, as she was focused on vacant lands as per your instructions. Your kitsune did state that there were likely going to be more opportunities, and to not lose heart if things don't work out.

Ruby, however, was happy about your choice. Your Mastermind claimed that it would be an ideal testing grounds to "weave my spider's web", as she put it.

The tower, even after purchasing it, was nothing particularly special. Other than the fact that it floated high in the air, it proved to be more of a novelty than a necessity. But still, you're sure you'd get a use out of it if you thought of something. Otherwise, it remained a good spot for fishing those winged fish, and catching the occasional bird.
But you did find that you could drag it along with The Vixen's Luck. Though, this did drastically decrease the speed of your airship.

The semi-desert was a plot of land in which you couldn't do anything practical with, yet. Airships did often pass above the place, and Ayane's and Ruby's comments about it being a good strategic location rang true. You'd need to get some digging and construction clankers to have a real chance of finding materials or getting any buildings started started, though Herta was sure that you could build a rudimentary port in this area with what you had on you in the airship and around the desert itself. While the others weren't able to see it, considering that it looked like a barren wasteland in the surface, with your Lunacy Savantae you could understand what she was talking about.

"Master," Gerty called out to you, "Should we start bringing your items from the hotel to this place here tomorrow?"

That was a good question.

You decided to...

>Move in this castle immediately. It wasn't as spacious as your home, but it was good to at least start turning this into a second home. (Will move out of Cinnamon Inn and into the castle tomorrow, likely taking up most of the day to redecorate with what you have on you)
>No, you'll stay in Cinnamon Inn. You didn't even have furniture with you yet. The lack of clankers, household clockwork robots, and automation was something you'd need to plan for. Maybe you could even bring some robots here to care for the place while you were gone.
>(Write-in)

But before you could start doing anything, you heard a small commotion brewing outside. It piqued your interest, considering this was one of the more quiet neighborhoods around.

The reason for this became clear, if the arrival of the Centrian Knights in your front door was anything to go by.

And not only that, it seemed like Grand Paladin Justus Asturias himself personally came to meet with you. He was accompanied by some Centrian Knights, including that woman (you think her name was Estella) who had greeted you first, they all quietly followed him around with an almost clockwork-like orderliness.

You go out to greet him.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Justus?" You ask.

"I have brought the items to thank thee for thy donation earlier." Said the Preceptor. "There was no reason to postpone it, seeing how you are now close to the Order."

Right, the Order of the Jagged Sword's headquarters was now in walking distance.

At his word, a box of mithril, and another of holysteel, the latter being a magical material that was blessed by the gods and with a good affinity for divine magic. Both were brought and gifted to you by the armored soldiers that flanked him. The boxes contained enough materials for you to make at least make couple of regular clankers or one armored clank.

Some more things are brought, but instead of materials they are actual items and weapons and armor: A Blessed Blade, which was a longsword that could deal damage to ghosts and other undead, as well as another Holy Spear with the same powers, appearing much like Gerty's own Holy Spear, if less stylized, along with a magical pistol that could shoot out a few small beams of Holy Energy (this was a bit redundant due to Herta being able to do the same thing but better), and eight sets of Holy Armor.

But that wasn't all, as you were also gifted various potions; strength, night vision, and speed.

All in all, it was pretty nice.

"I appreciate the thought," You said, "But I imagine you didn't personally come to visit me only because of this."

"You would be correct in that assertion, Lord Doe." Said he. "I bring both an offer and information, as it has come to my attention you decided to purchase the so-called 'Left-Bridge Commercial Center' to-day," He said, referring to the plaza you just bought.

"I assure you," Gerty intervened, "Master Doe only has the most noble of intentions."

"That I doubt not." Justus replied. "I merely wish to give a word of advice, as I've seen many Savants attempt to control that particular area: Machines cannot do everything. Clankers may help in both suppression and construction, perhaps, but it cannot cure the more fundamental ills that ail places like these."

"How may Savants owned that plaza?" You frowned. This wasn't mentioned by the seller of the place.

"At least three, as far as I'm aware." He started again. "Once more, I must warn thee— there are those that are set in their ways so deeply, that any chance for conversation is meaningless. I believe you've heard of the Bandit King, no?"

"Yeah. I put him in jail." You said.

"One of them, at least." He replied. "The founder of the Thieves' Guild was once known as 'The Bandit King'. He built the guild as a haven for those with darker classes— thieves, beguilers, assassins, rogues, and the like." Justus explained. "Whatever good intentions he had, the organization became a hive for scum and villainy soon after his death. To this day long is its shadow, and deep are its roots. You might find its influence remains still, and causes people to look into continuing his works, become twisted in the process." He spoke like he had experience opposing that guild.

"Thank you for the advice." You told him. "Would you care to come in? Make yourself comfortable, though there isn't much, since I did just buy the place."

"No, thank you." Justus declined. "I am used to feeling uncomfortable. Nonetheless I appreciate the offer, however, and I must take my leave soon."

"Speaking of offers, you mentioned something about an offer?" Ruby said with that silky voice of hers.

"Indeed." He said to her, then turned once more to you. "I shall lend both some Knights, both by class and by appointment, to assist your endeavors in the plaza, should you wish for them."

You considered his offer.

>"Thank you, but I'll have to decline." You're pretty sure you could do this by yourself.
>"Alright. When will they be there?" Having them collaborate with you might allow you to become an honorary Centrian Knight, while also keeping crime down.
>"I'll get back to you in a few days." You wanted to see what the full scope of what was going on was first before making any decisions. Though your first impressions of the plaza weren't amazing.
>(Write-in)

At your response, Justus wished you well and excused himself, the other Knights followed him shortly after.

"Master, you think this was the right choice?" Mel asked.

"Of course it was the right choice," Ruby said, almost offended. "You should have more faith in Master's actions."

"Well said." Gerty added. It was rare to find both Ruby and Gerty on the same page, but their devotion for you was a common trend. "Our faith in Master's will should not be shaken."

"Ah, I mean, I do trust Master!" Mel said, flustered. She turned to you. "Master, you know I always rely on you!"

"Don't worry, Mel. I know you do." You reassured your beguiler. "I'm sure everything will be alright." This seemed to calm down her nerves, and you could tell she was at ease as she blushed when staring at you.

"Master!" Herta approached you. The goddess clearly came out of the basement, grease and dirt on her body providing evidence of the fact. "I got most of the utilities up and running." She sighed happily. "To think, Master is forcing such an important goddess like myself to do hard labor... so cruel~"

"Don't think your job is done yet," You grabbed her possessively, "You'll keep working for me like the simple bitch you are."

That seemed to get her all fired up. She went back to fixing anything in the house that needed it.

You gazed out the window and saw that the sunset was beginning to slowly meander into the horizon between the smokestacks and clouds, turning the land dark. While a part of you wanted to just call it a day, there was still something bothering your mind.

Back when you were searching for an inn, you spoke to a catgirl whose owner had recently gone out of business. She had ranted about Rostchilde's hotels, and how there were three troublemakers going around causing messes in other inns.

Already you had ordered Ruby, Mel, and Ayane (the latter was going to be babysitting most of tomorrow) to look for anything in this regard. And they were able to give you a non-exhaustive list of places and things that were affected.

It made you curious. And you didn't want to wait anymore.

The sun was setting. And after dinner was had, you decided...

>To do this alone as a solo mission.
>To take one of your wives with you. There were a few that would be perfect for this sort of thing. (Which?) (Recommended: Cattleya, Mel, and/or Gerty, with Ruby keeping tabs)
>(Write-in)

>>6245751
>Move in this castle immediately. It wasn't as spacious as your home, but it was good to at least start turning this into a second home. (Will move out of Cinnamon Inn and into the castle tomorrow, likely taking up most of the day to redecorate with what you have on you)
It’s why we bought it
>>6245756
>"I'll get back to you in a few days." You wanted to see what the full scope of what was going on was first before making any decisions. Though your first impressions of the plaza weren't amazing.
We have to see what we can do first. Basic thing is to first establish security to keep blatant incidents down, before targeting the common people and whatever organized crime there is. Taking care of the former usually roots out the latter.
>>6245758
>To take one of your wives with you. There were a few that would be perfect for this sort of thing. (Mel)
Her invisibility has really improved but let’s see if practical experience can make it even better. As for what we should follow up on, I suggest the troublemakers since they are probably the drag-on gang if previous threads descriptions of them are anything to go off of

>>6245764
+1
Pretty much the same thing I was planning to vote for, but this anon already made the vote.

>>6245751
>Move in this castle immediately. It wasn't as spacious as your home, but it was good to at least start turning this into a second home. (Will move out of Cinnamon Inn and into the castle tomorrow, likely taking up most of the day to redecorate with what you have on you)

>>6245756
>"I'll get back to you in a few days." You wanted to see what the full scope of what was going on was first before making any decisions. Though your first impressions of the plaza weren't amazing.

>>6245758
>To take one of your wives with you. There were a few that would be perfect for this sort of thing. (Cattleya, Mel, and/or Gerty, with Ruby keeping tabs)

>>6245751
>Move in this castle immediately. It wasn't as spacious as your home, but it was good to at least start turning this into a second home. (Will move out of Cinnamon Inn and into the castle tomorrow, likely taking up most of the day to redecorate with what you have on you)
>>6245756
>"I'll get back to you in a few days." You wanted to see what the full scope of what was going on was first before making any decisions. Though your first impressions of the plaza weren't amazing.
>>6245758
>To take one of your wives with you. There were a few that would be perfect for this sort of thing. (Cattleya)

>>6245751
>Move in this castle immediately. It wasn't as spacious as your home, but it was good to at least start turning this into a second home.
We can purchase some furniture tomorrow
>"I'll get back to you in a few days." You wanted to see what the full scope of what was going on was first before making any decisions. Though your first impressions of the plaza weren't amazing.
Of course. He's right there if we want to talk, and let's survey first before any decisions and see how best to use their help.
>To take one of your wives with you. There were a few that would be perfect for this sort of thing.
Why stop at one? Mel & Catty. Keep Mel at our side with Catty shadowing us nearby as backup in case of violence.

The mentioning of the armours reminds me that we need to get on making Gerty, Bertha and Ayane's sets of maternity armour, especially Gerty's. She was getting uncomfortable in her current set weeks ago and, if she isn't too pregnant to fit into it entirely by now, she will be very soon.

Last few days have been more busy and taken up more of my time than expected, since my job decided that now was the time to get everyone busy, and it'll probably stay this way for a bit (at for most of next week).
I'm almost done with the update though, will probably be posting it in a few hours from now.

It was dark outside.

And your wives excused themselves to go to their rooms and get some rest. Understandable, since it has been a long day.

Productive, but exhausting. You almost felt like it stretched for weeks, even.

Yes, all of your wives went to their respective rooms, all save two; Mel and Cattleya.

You found your Cat having found a nice box to curl around and sleep in.

"Hey, Catty," You said, almost feeling bad about waking her up.

"Guh..." Cattleya wakes from her cat nap at your voice. "Wot's happenin', guv?"

Seeing her in a wooden box (sadly cardboard hadn't been invented yet) almost made you grin.

"We're gonna find out Rostchilde's plans," You said with a grin, "You in?"

"That even a question, luv? Count me in." Cattleya responded with a determined and predatory grin of her own.

"Good." You said. "Do you know where Mel is?"

"Y'called?" Said Mel, suddenly appearing behind you.

"Good timing. We're just about to snoop around, sort of like last time the two of us went to find those mercenaries: Gather info, follow leads, that sort of thing."

"Sounds good to me." She said with a smile.

With that, you were off.

===

The lamplighters began to make the quiet of this peaceful neighborhood blink awake with streetlights. A few of them were kind enough to greet you, and wished you a good stroll.

It was a rather beautiful night. A shame that the smog and steam tended to cover most of the stars.

But one thing was clear: The more you left the neighborhood, the less peaceful it was. You knew there were cities with active night life, the type that 'never sleep'— in fact you'd lived in a few before being reincarnated— but Centria's activity tended to wax and twist depending on what part of it your fancy took you towards. The most dramatic shifts, as far as you knew, were between the kitsune neighborhood and the capital of Centria itself. It was almost like stepping into two different countries; one was traditional and had a tight knit community of merchants and adventurers, while the other was cosmopolitan and deeply Victorian with entrenched interests of those in power.

It was like night and day.

The day was something you're used to, but now you were finally seeing the night.

You and your two wives gravitated to the cafe— the one where you visited a few times before. You were all becoming a regulars at this point.

"Alroight, wot's the plan now?" Meowed Cattleya.

"There were three people messing with some of the hotels and causing trouble in them." You started with what you all knew. "And Rostchilde's Bed and Barn Inns are doing pretty well for some reason, despite generally being terrible."

"They're definitely hiding something." Mel stated. "Um, I mean, that's obvious. But there's something else going on. And Ruby didn't hear anything about them raising their quality or lowering their prices. Though she did say they were building more places."

"But we already knew that bastard was expanding his shit, mate." Cattleya said.

"Maybe we can go there?" Mel suggested. "To Bed and Barn Inns, I mean."

"They'll have my fookin' ass, mate." Cattleya said as she ate some toast on eggs. It was a reasonable worry, considering what she did when Rostchilde tried to force himself on her. "I'm not going to be some bloody cat sarnie."

"And I wouldn't want you to become one." You said, not feeling thrilled about the thought of letting them see your face. "Showing ourselves wouldn't be a good idea."

"Maybe we could use illusions when going there?" Mel said.

"Why not invisibility?" You said.

"Yeah, uh, that too. You always have better plans, Master." Mel added sheepishly.

"Oi, we should go and see the other places first." Cattleya meowed. "Feels like it's 'round the time for people to go in hotels. Ask 'bout the blokes that were causing grief, maybe catch them in the act."

"I like it." You said, half wondering what Ruby might've said about this plan. A shame she went to get her beauty sleep. "Let's do this."

And so the three of you ventured out into the bright city night.

There were more than a few things you noticed now that you weren't tailing behind someone. In between fending off drunks and others that would try to harass your wives (though most kept their distance due to Cattleya), you could see how even the most darkest of always was smothered with artificial light (so long as it was the better part of the city, that is). It was magic, according to Ruby. Electricity didn't really catch on in this place, at least, not the standard sort of electricity you knew.

Illuminated throughout the region, it was clear which places were common grounds for people to visit at night, and which were mostly relegated to being forgotten.

Starting with Cinnamon Inn, an illuminated place that you and your wives were already familiar with, the three of you begin your adventure there. Little did you know this would be the beginning of meeting with countless hotel receptionists, managers, and even loiterers outside. Each of them was directing you, whether they were friendly or not, and making your wandering less aimless.

Out of all the leads you'd found, two stood out to you. The first came from a bunny woman that you happened to pass by, staring up at Builder's Hotel.

She was short. Short enough that she had to crane up her head if she wanted to get a good look at you, much less Cattleya, who was currently hidden by some shadows and waiting to ambush anyone that came near you. You debated on whether to use her as intimidation, but you found that information was much easily gotten from those that were suddenly surprised by a giant, nearly-naked, and pregnant catgirl. This short woman was also flat enough to give Yumi a run for her money, and was dressed in what were now rags, but had doubtless seen better days.

But the most interesting part the bunny ears that sprang from her head, gently twitching as you approached.

You began with the same spiel you used on others— of how you wanted to find some new hotels, and that you were new to the city (both of these were true, more or less).

She looked up at you with strangely wise eyes, betraying her status as an older woman. Or at least as someone who had been around the world long enough to understand things.

A few words were shared, and she told you to retrace your steps, before directly looking at the spot your Cat was hiding in. The bunny woman looked back at you, then commended you for your precautions, mentioning that "that catgirl hid too well".

You asked Mel to take down the small illusion Cattleya was under, making the catgirl known.

"You have a good eye." You commented idly, trying to figure her out.

"No, jus' lucky an' experienced. There's many a beguiler or beastfolk that has tried that trick to kill or steal. Illusions would'a worked if I wasn't payin' all my concentration, and most of us beastfolk know how to identify each other." She said. "You'd still be best at keeping that cat of yours out and about. She's better as an intimidation factor."

"I'm awake. But thank you for the knowledge all the same, miss... ?"

"Ponnamie. Pomegranate Byin Ponnamie." She gave a light bow. "Might I chance yours?"

"John Doe. And that is Cattleya," You pointed to your nearly amazonian cat-wife, "And over there," You motioned to the now appearing beguiler, "Is Mel."

"Wh- Huh... so, you're into tall girls, eh?" She blinked and smiled, "Gods, I must'a really be gettin' along the river in years if I couldn't notice a simple invisibility spell..." She muttered.

A few beats pass, with neither of you present saying anything.

"Oi, so-" Cattleya's meow was interrupted by the bunnygirl.

"Make sure to visit my shop near the Left-Bridge Commercial Center!" She did a cute pose, spreading her arms out with a flourish as though she were talking to a crowd, "Ya can't miss it! As long as you know it's hidden in an alleyway, and have the very-very-very secret code: 12345"

And then she went away with a few hops, not another word spoken.

"Hey, Master," Mel said, "Isn't Left-Bridge the place you just bought?"

"It is." You said.

"And she looked a little nervous at the end there." Mel added.

"But not enough to spring away." Cattleya said. She explained that rabbitfolk were able to jump quite high, usually using that to escape from situations they didn't like.

The second event of note was meeting with a racoon woman.

You found her after walking towards Moose Motel. She vaguely resembled the other racoon lady you'd briefly seen before, but she had enough differences to appear unrelated. You approach her to see what she was doing.

And what she was doing was rummaging around the place, looking for something and muttering to herself all the while. She had a strange accent you couldn't quite place, but it sounded vaguely asian.

Feeling like this was a side-quest, you made your presence known and offered to help.

But she didn't so much as budge, hardly responding to you and not noticing Cattleya in the shadows behind you.

However she did ask you to order your beguiler to reveal herself, as she didn't like the sensation of being watched.

In response, you asked Mel to make herself visible.

The racoon was considerate(?) enough to tell you that Mel was doing too well— almost mirroring the bunny woman's words concerning Cattleya— and that the sudden absence of magic could be suspicious to knowing passerby, beguilers, and those sensitive to magic.

But she soon became quiet, nearly stumbling back as she saw Cattleya come out of the shadows.

You asked her again about hotels and which she could recommend. She murmured something about "if you want it cheap, there's Moose Motel or Bed and Barn. Rostchilde's clique is stopping by Centria. At least one of his inner circle is currently here. Cards and wheels abound." She smiled. "Now, will you say a farewell, or will you sacrifice what you have on a mere chance?"

Before you could ask her to elaborate, she scurried away, taking the effort to avoid Cattleya as much as she could and, after taking a turn behind a building's corner, disappeared without a trace.

"What the heck was that about?" Mel said.

"Not sure." You responded. "Catty?"

"I've heard raccoons can be a bunch of sneaky cunts, and I know they call themselves somethin' else, but I 'aven't seen much of her kind to know anythin', sorry guv." Cattleya meowed.

"Don't worry about it." You assured her.

Well, either way you felt like you were getting closer to something.

Cattleya, though already more than a month pregnant, was nimble and stealthy enough to keep herself on the rooftops. She easily shadowed you, and was a moment's notice away in case you needed some muscle.

Mel, on the other hand, didn't need to do anything fancy. With a spell that came to her as easily as a second nature, she was completely invisible. Mel extended this effect to the two of you as well. She claimed this was good practice.

The places you visited were good and bad, and then there were places you felt like you were just asking to get mugged by being in them. More than once Mel gave a few warning shots with an illusion of her gun, and Cattleya used her feline instincts and night vision to its fullest degree.

Eventually you end up going through an alleyway. It was there, in the distance, that you saw a bald man, no older than you were, beating the shit out of some dwarvish woman while yelling obscenities at her.

Still under invisibility, you silently get Mel and Cattleya to follow you.

You've seen bastards have push around innocent women before, with Aila being a recent example, but wasn't this a little too extreme? Well whatever, you were always down to saving women like some average isekai prota-

"Master, please wait." Mel's voice urged in a whisper.

"Some chick is getting fucking pummeled, and you're telling me to wait?" You object. Though you have your Mirror Blade at the ready, you stay your hand and take her advice.

"Thank you, Master," Your beguiler had a certainty in her tone. "Just one little second more. I feel like there's some context we're missing."

Before you can reply you hear a loud moan come from the dwarvish woman.

"Maaaster~!" She drawls out. "Again! AGAIN!!!"

"Babe! Shh!" Says the man while looking around. "Look, I know you're pent up after spending the weekend taking care of our kids, but my fists are starting to get sore, and its late at night-"

But his words were ignored as the woman whined. "Master! You promised!"

"Look," Her Master sighed, "How about we go to that opera your sis was talking about? I heard it's good."

The woman, who was obviously his slave-wife, made an attempt to do puppy-dog eyes as she pleaded to her Master. To her credit, it was pretty effective. Though that might just be because she looked so pitiful after being beat up.

He sighs again and, much to the woman's delight, agreed with a conceding tone, "Alright, fine. But you're drinking a couple Healing Potion after this and taking at least two purifying baths when we're done, alright?"

"Yes~! I'll obey you with pleasure, Master~!" She said.

With another sigh he shoves her headfirst into a trashcan, and-

"Wow. Uh." Mel said at the couple's passion.

"C'mon, let's go." You said, feeling lingering weirdness over what you just witnessed and a pinch of disappointment from not getting to fight again.

Minutes of silence pass as the veil of invisibility slowly vanishes from your bodies.

"Those two were really going at it." She comments. "They must really like each other, huh?"

"It looked like it." You repeated. "Sort of reminds me how I strongly love each and every one of you girls."

"Aww, that's so sweet." Mel said, looking at you gratefully since she can easily tell when you're being sincere.

"That goes without saying," Cattleya snorted, amused, as she revealed herself by jumping down a rooftop in cat-like silence and precision. "We fookin' luv you too, guv."

"I'm guessing none of you want your heads shoved in trashcans?" You queried the two girls with a grin.

"Oi, don't get cheeky, guv." Cattleya smirked. "But, doing that in public?" She laughed nervously, though you could tell from the look in her eyes that she wasn't wholly against the idea of you using her while others watched. And you already know that your catgirl liked it when you had her when there's the risk of getting caught, so there's that.

"Eh, I'm more of a comfy bed sort of girl." Your beguiler of a wife replied. Though you knew she liked it when you were gentle and she loved being comforted, there was a strangely perverse side to her; thoroughly enjoying passing out after you had your way with her body. "But losing my mind to Master's thing can feel pretty nice..." Mel added under her breath.

"Bloody right, that is. No point in dodgin' it, innit?" Cattleya meowed, gaining a slightly red tint to her cheeks. "But you should be askin' Herta about it. She wouldn't mind gettin' that treatment from you, guv." She said knowingly.

"Same goes for Gerty." Mel added with a nod.

Herta and Gerty might like to suffer under you, but you haven't even done something as extreme as punching them until they were black and bloody.

The three of you end up going to a small restaurant for a snack break.

"I feel sort of bad for watching them..." Mel comments.

"Felt bad for watching who mate?" Cattleya asked.

"You know, that woman that got thrown in the trash and the bald guy," Mel clarified, "They looked like they just wanted to have some privacy."

"Then they should'a done it at their home." Cattleya deadpanned.

"Mel, it's funny that you say that." You smile, and think of a way to tease her. "Cause I bet you've watched me tons of times with that invisibility of yours."

"Hahaha! Ehehehe.. pff, what times?! It-it's not like I've been secretly watching you while you sleep or and ended up pining for you so much I'm drawing pictures and writing stories about you..." Mel fidgeted and gave a nervous smile. You were just messing with her, but now you think she might've actually done just that. "So, about that dwarvish girl. Dwarves are pretty big into crafting stuff and being blacksmiths. I mean, most people already know this, but there's tons that don't make the connection." She quickly changes the subject, and you decide to let it go. For now. "Basically, Herta's blessings are some of the best for crafting stuff, so most dwarves end up worshiping Herta. A bunch are ashamed of her, um... unique personality, but most dwarvish women take Herta's teachings and actions to heart, and basically act like that lady we just saw. If you're wondering how I know all of this, there's tons of Hertaist dwarvish priests and nuns when the Churches congregated a few years ago. Mom always said that a woman's greatest joy was to suffer under her Master-husband's boot."

"Hmm." That was some interesting information.

"My mom's also a devoted Hertaist nun." She clarified.

Small comments like that reminded you that Herta is a goddess. Not like you loved Herta any less or felt any more distant from her— she's your woman to use as you like— you doubted you'd ever grow tired of your perverted wife's antics.

"I thought dwarves had their own gods." Cattleya meowed.

"Yeah, that's true, but, you know..." Mel said awkwardly. "I mean, Herta is obviously real. But we aren't sure if those dwarfish idols are real gods or not."

"Mel, there's literally no reason for you to be shy." You put a hand on her waist, changing the subject back. "If you ever wanna do that with me, just ask."

"Y-yeah, haha..." Mel blushed. "It's just, um! I haven't been stalking you, it's more like... protecting you! Yeah! I was- eep!" Your hand then works its way down, squeezing her cute butt.

"I mean it." You said with authority.

"Y-yes!" Mel easily gave in to you.

"Roight. So, Master," Cattleya got your attention. "You got another plan, guv? Or are we gonna go an' visit old Rostchilde's group?"

"Don't worry about a thing, Catty," You told her, letting your free arm go around her waist, "Don't think I've forgotten about you."

After successfully flustering both your Cat and your beguiler, you decided to make your way back to the road. Backtracking a little, like that bunny woman suggested, you find all the inns and motels and hotels and resorts you'd already seen.

Everything seemed uneventful until you heard the distinct sounds of shouting when passing by one of the buildings. The noise directed you towards Cinnamon Inn once again.

There, by the window, you heard something that made you do a double-take.

"Yeah, that's right." A familiar voice said. "This place is a dump!"

"You tell him, boss!" Another familiar voice added.

"There's roaches and garbage there!" A third said.

And that right there completed the trio of thugs.

A few mumbles were heard as well in response, likely out of some customers or the receptionist.

"Hey, Boss, maybe we should show these guys what happens after some bad service?"

God fucking damn it it's these guys again.

Cattleya seemed to recognize the voices as well, given the expression she had on her face.

"Should we go in there, Master?" Mel asked. "I mean, from how you're acting you seem to know them, so..."

Attentive as always, Mel.

>"Yeah, we'll go in there and teach them a lesson." Knowing that these guys are a bunch of natural underlings, you'd confront them, demand answers, then either tell them to get lost, send them to jail, or fight them if they caused trouble.
>"How about you make us invisible again, and we go in there and wreak some havoc against those bandits?"
>"No. We should try to find out about that member of Rostchilde's inner circle first."
>(Write-in)

Roll me some 3d100s with whatever choice you make, Bo3

Like I said earlier I'll probably still not be able to update as often this week due to work. But I'll try to at least keep up the schedule.

Rolled 33 (1d100)

>>6247489
>Herta and Gerty might like to suffer under you, but you haven't even done something as extreme as punching them until they were black and bloody.
Yeah I think that’s a bit too far, I don’t think John would want to see Herta bloodied like that, especially by his own hand
>>6247496
>"Yeah, we'll go in there and teach them a lesson." Knowing that these guys are a bunch of natural underlings, you'd confront them, demand answers, then either tell them to get lost, send them to jail, or fight them if they caused trouble.
Surprised it took this long to see them again
>>6247499
Nothing you can do about work, also rollin

Rolled 1, 41, 34 = 76 (3d100)

>>6247496
>>"Yeah, we'll go in there and teach them a lesson." Knowing that these guys are a bunch of natural underlings, you'd confront them, demand answers, then either tell them to get lost, send them to jail, or fight them if they caused trouble.
"Does the bossman pay so well its worth of broken nose and spine"

>>6247499
roll

>>6247511
Anon its 3d100

>>6247586
Damn it

Rolled 32, 25, 70 = 127 (3d100)

>>6247496
>"How about you make us invisible again, and we go in there and wreak some havoc against those bandits?"
How about us and Mel go in there invisible, absolutely terrorise them and Catty and us catch them as they presumably try to run away

>>6247511
I'd agree on that. Physical affection and sex should be something both parties should enjoy and us, Herta and Gerty all enjoy some rough play and sensible masochism. Actual battery with the intent to cause real injury, even if it is for their enjoyment, is probably one of those kinks that crosses a line into being really uncomfortable for us. Also considering that both of them are going to be pregnant a lot in the future and that we are trying to avoid pushing Herta deeper into masochism, assault should be kept off the agenda.

Rolled 88, 39 = 127 (2d100)

>>6247499
Rollin my other 2
>>6247590
Agreed, besides it’s not really good for our future kids to see their mom being beaten by their dad. Or for them to start escalating it to the point they want it more and more because then they won’t be able to stop

Rolled 27, 33, 45 = 105 (3d100)

>>6247496
>"Yeah, we'll go in there and teach them a lesson." Knowing that these guys are a bunch of natural underlings, you'd confront them, demand answers, then either tell them to get lost, send them to jail, or fight them if they caused trouble.
>>6247499
rolling

A quick reminder that there's still a crit success banked.
It can be used here to overwrite the crit fail and turn it into a crit success if there's enough anons here to support it.
>Yes, use it here.
>No, save it for later.

>>6247996
>Yes, use it here.
The Christmas crit I remember
I say yes since now is a good a time as any

>>6247996
>Yes, use it here.

>>6247996
May as well, considering we seem to have completely forgotten about it and we rarely get rolls to actually use it with.

>>6247996
>Yes, use it here.

"Yeah, we'll go in there and teach them a lesson." You agreed.

"Is there, you know, anything I should know about them?" Mel inquired.

You gave her a brief rundown on what you knew of the Drag On Gang, with Cattleya mentioning of how they were easily frightened of you when finding out you were a Savant.

"Alright," Mel said "Knowing that, how should we-"

"Let's just kick their shit in." Cattleya interrupted your quarter-fae wife. "Show 'em a roight proper kicking with wot we got, eh guv?"

"I'm down for it." You said, with the frustration of not getting to fight earlier now getting replaced with energy from the idea of fighting the Drag On Gang today. Man, it's been a while since you've seen them. You wondered what the hell they were doing here anyway. "Just make sure the situation is under my control."

"You can count on me, Master!"

"Let's give it a bash, guv."

The three of you burst into Cinnamon Inn with energy with just enough energy to not literally burst down the door. Though you startled the people in there you get everyone's attention, including the troublemakers. Which was the plan all along.

A few customers and employees watched the proceedings, with one of them looking particularly curious, but that wasn't important now. The three familiar faces of Biggy, Smalls, and Boss were now in your view. They had cornered a woman with mouse ears.

It was this very same mouse girl, whose name you hadn't bothered asking, who had presented you with the blueprint artifact that could hold various drawings and designs (you really needed to give that thing a shorter name), courtesy of your wives and their pooling of the money you gave them (and a well-timed sale on the artifact). You also saw her every once in a while as she served meals and swept the floor. Hardly one for speaking, she now looked at you with some degree of hope.

"Hey, what the-" The guy with the pink Mohawk, Boss, turned at the sudden interruption. His eyes widened in recognition. "Holy shit, it's that Savant and his catgirl again! What're you doin' here?"

"I should be the one asking that." You said.

"Thinking on messing with us?" Smalls, the giant, seemed less apprehensive this time around for some reason as he pounded a fist into an open palm.

"Depends. Thinking about tearing this place apart for no reason?" You countered.

"We have good reasons! Legit ones," Said the Boss. "We was just giving some helpful criticisms here. Just like we was just gatherin' taxes before— until you messed it all up!"

"Alright." You said. "Let's assume that's true. Who were you collecting taxes for?"

"The Bandit Ki-" The giant, Smalls, began, but was then interrupted by the pink-hair 'Boss' slugging his arm.

"Fer Lord Forthwythe, of course!" Said Boss as Smalls rubbed his the arm that just got hit. "And speakin' of taxes; you didn't wanna pay them! Do you know how much grief you started?"

"Westphalia has no jurisdiction in my territory." You explained.

"It's all legally owned by me. If you want to waste your time fighting this fact, fine. But I have the paperwork to prove it, and the law would be on my side." Times like these made you wish that you had Ruby or Ayane with you.

"Bullshit!" Said Boss.

"Nope! It's all true!" Mel said.

"So you're still working for Forthwythe?" You press on.

"Funny you mention that, since now we're helping those weird hotels from Eas-" Smalls was about to continue, but was interrupted by Boss.

"Hey! Don't get distracted! We still got things to do!" Boss said.

"Yeah!" Biggy, the dwarf, added. "So stay out of the way and let us do our job, Savant!"

"Your job, huh?" You said. "I know you've been running around the city, giving hotels a bad name and causing them to close down."

"Oh yeah? Whacha gonna do about it, huh?" Biggy continued. "You can't have your toys around here, and your Garden of Death is back in that shitty mansion that nobody cares about!"

"Huh?" Smalls had a confused look on his face "But weren't you the one that was the most mad when you heard that he pushed back the armies of-"

"We's in civilized space now, so you gotta play nice." The Boss interrupted.

"Playing nice?" You said, a shit-eating grin forming on your face. "Like you guys would know about that, being bandi-"

"EY! No need to bring that shit up!" Boss said. "We're just respectable members of the Drag On Gan- Freelance Agents!"

"And we're here to complain about bad service!" Biggy said.

"There's roaches everywhere!" Smalls added.

Yeah, no.

"The only roaches here are the one's I'm seeing right in front of me." You mocked.

"You fucking-" And with that, the three idiots' attention was taken from the mouse chick and given to you.

"Boss! Let's show 'em what happens when they mess with us!" Smalls said.

"Right, lemme just..." He reached into his pocket and triumphantly raised something into the air. "Betcha you don't have one of these, huh?"

"A stick?" Cattleya meowed.

"Yeah, that's right, it's a- wait, what?" Boss suddenly realized he was holding a simple stick. "Huh? Were'd the magic thingy go?"

"Master, here." Mel presented you with a magic wand.

With your Appraisal you're able to tell what it is: A wand much like the ones used at the Academy by students, yet this had a far greater power and a wide selection of spells within. The downside was that it could only be used a few times— killing the caster as it exploded as well as causing damage to the surrounding area.

It only had three uses left.

"Excellent job, Mel." You congratulate her as you pocket the dangerous item.

"Hey! That's not yours!" Biggy shouted.

"It's not yours, either." You didn't know how they got their hands on this shit, but you were as sure as fuck that it wasn't theirs.

"Psh, we don't need it anyway!" Boss then began to charge up his magic. Some flames began to form, enveloping his fist. "You better watch out-"

You know you can easily counter these idiots— Mirror Blade on the ready— though you were more worried about the collateral damage their little light show would cause. "Cause we got a fancy new spell! Now- GUH!"

Cattleya, with almost lightning reflexes and speed to match, punched him in the gut. Before anyone else could react, she was back at your side. You shared a glance with her, the two of you now ready for battle.

"You fuckin'..." Boss said. Incensed, he looked up to the three of you and motioned for his two fellow ex-bandits to attack. With a "Get 'em!" the fight began.

They never got close to you, with Cattleya stopping them all. You were grateful of her reflexes and her knowledge of the situation. The enchantment on her gauntlets protected her from every hit they could've dealt, though this was overkill in a situation like this, as she was able to block every attack with ease.

In the corner of your eye, you saw Boss charge up a fire spell, again.

"WAIT!" You shouted. And the three ex-bandits stopped what they were doing, Boss letting his spell fizzle out. The three former(?) bandits were completely still.

The Boss groaned, realizing what just happened. "Not this shit again."

With the three of your powers combined, it was easy enough to get them all to surrender. And they, with your two wives watching them, were brought outside for further questioning.

And just like that, the hotel was spared from getting wrecked.

Just as you were about to leave, you heard someone approach. The mouse girl from earlier was before you.

"You've probably only seen me in passing, which means we haven't really been introduced, right?" She squeaked, a faint redness brushing her face.

"Not really." You said. "Name's John Doe."

"Rattica Squeek." She curtsied as though remembering that is was something she needed to do. "And thank you for saving me."

"Don't mention it." You said.

And after she was done, a stout man with a bushy mustache approached as he smiled warmly.

"My name is Ein Tiller." Said the human man with the mustache, fitting perfectly with the homely feel this place had. "And I wanted to thank you for saving my hotel. Please, consider anything you owe for staying here to be payed off. I'll also give you and your wives discounts when coming here again."

Saving a bit of money was good and all, but that wasn't the end of it.

"Just to confirm, you're the same John Doe that bought Left-Bridge, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's me."

He smiled, and said that though he knew that the place had a bad reputation, and that is was a bit away from this area, he was sufficiently impressed by your strength of character to be willing to rent out a place there. There he planned to start another hotel despite the risks.

Seems like there was already at least one guy you could count on bringing business to your plaza.

You said your farewells to the mouse girl and the owner of the Cinnamon Inn, and made your way outside to interrogate the Drag On Gang.

"Took you long enough, guv." Cattleya said with a smile.

"Just wrapping up some business there." You said, before turning to the underlings. "Let's start from the beginning; How did you end up in Centria?"

They explained a few different things about airships and such, their stories not making sense until Smalls let it slip that they accidentally fell asleep on one of the airships' cargo holdings, making them end up here in Centria as a result. The airship owner, apparently only temporarily working for Forthwythe, refused to let them back on. However, they were able to swipe some information of someone that was making secret deals with Riverdale's nobleman. And, after contacting and agreeing to work with one of Forthwythe's shady suppliers, they ended up getting sacked after getting the blame for what some other employee did. But they weren't kicked out before they stole some information from them too, and they used it to get hired by Bed and Barn Inns, seeing as they needed some muscle that was willing to do shady work. They were directed to some sketchy gambling den, and, after nearly breaking one of the slot machines there, they got the job they currently had— of making trouble for other hotels around the place.

For the few times they didn't want to say anything, Cattleya's unsheathed claws were enough to convince them otherwise.

"You know," Mel said, "You guys could be in tons of trouble for associating with the Bandit King."

"Can ya prove it?" Said Boss. "Hey, don't give me that look. All we said back then were just words. And you never saw us in their camps, did ya?"

"It was gonna be perfect." Biggy sighs. "The Bandit King had it all planned out; made a deal with Westphalia to end up becoming some big shot duke-"

"Baron." Smalls corrected.

"Whatever, ya know what I mean! We were s'posed to have that mansion as our new castle. After settlin' in and destroyin' the goblin base and gettin' rid of all the monsters, we would'a had some new duds and gear and guns and magic stuff from Westphalia— then after gettin' what we want we'd up and tell that old bastard in Riverdale to stuff it! But some fuckin' Savant just falls down from the sky and just mucks everythin' up."

"That wouldn't of worked out, you know." Mel said. "Forthwythe was probably gonna double-cross you guys when it was all over."

"How'd you know?" Biggy said.

"I used to be his slave-wife. Um, some of his other former slave-wives could probably explain it better, but basically you guys wouldn't of been the first he'd of betrayed after getting what he wanted."

"Eh, guess it turned out alright in the end." Boss said. "I said it was a bad idea to get in a war with a Savant, and I was right."

"But you didn't say that?" Smalls, legitimately confused.

"Yeah, well... shut it!" Said Boss.

Well that was interesting. But at least you got a bunch of leads and new information about Forthwythe's and Rostchilde's tactics and connections.

You asked those three if they knew what the wand was all about, and they responded by saying that it made magic stronger and had some useful spells, that being the extent of their knowledge of the item. They didn't seem to be lying.

After taking Mel and Cattleya to the side to speak with you in private, you spoke with your lanky beguiler about if they were being honest or not. Here you confirmed that they didn't know much about the magic wand they had. After you told them both what your Appraisal said about the item, they both frowned.

"Fookin hell, that could've ended a lot worse." Cattleya meowed.

"But everything seems to have gone our way, so..." Mel agreed, muttering that to herself. She turned to you. "I guess all's well that end's well, right? Um, Master, you think it would be smart to tell them what it's about?"

You considered it.

>"Yeah, we'll tell them they almost got scammed into becoming living time bombs."
>"No. I mean, it's not like they're gonna change their ways because of it or something."
>(Write-in)

As for the Drag On Gang, you decided too...

>Just let them go. They might stir a bit of chaos with Rostchilde's hotels.
>Beat them up a little, drill it into their heads that they shouldn't mess with you, then send them away. They weren't really worth your time.
>Take them to the police. 'Disturbing the peace' and/or 'attempted arson' should be enough to land them in jail for at least a week.
>(Write-in)

And as for what you planned on doing after...

>You'd go back to the castle. It was late enough, and you didn't want to wake up tired tomorrow.
>You'd keep on looking around, maybe follow one of the leads or try to search for one of Rostchilde's inner circle. (Which one?)
>(Write-in).

I got pretty lucky and was able to find a bit of time to squeeze in writing an update, but I likely won't be able to keep up this pace through the week. Hoping I'm wrong, but there's still a big chance I won't update much for at least a week due to work.

>>6248471
>"Yeah, we'll tell them they almost got scammed into becoming living time bombs."
They should be thankful to us for saving them. Also the exploding wand may be useful in case we want to trick someone into exploding themselves

>Just let them go. They might stir a bit of chaos with Rostchilde's hotels.
They are ultimately harmless (to us) and it is Isekai tradition to let goons like them go for future events

>You'd keep on looking around, maybe follow one of the leads or try to search for one of Rostchilde's inner circle. (Which one?)
Follow the other leads, as much as I want to see who the guy is we probably won’t be able to do anything with that information right now

>>6248473
Best of luck QM

>>6248471
>"Yeah, we'll tell them they almost got scammed into becoming living time bombs."

>Just let them go. They might stir a bit of chaos with Rostchilde's hotels.

>You'd go back to the castle. It was late enough, and you didn't want to wake up tired tomorrow.
>>6248473
np

>>6248471
>"Yeah, we'll tell them they almost got scammed into becoming living time bombs."
They might be lowlifes, but I don't hate them that much
>Just let them go. They might stir a bit of chaos with Rostchilde's hotels.
They're too funny to do anything else. Now go and make a mess for someone else.
>You'd go back to the castle. It was late enough, and you didn't want to wake up tired tomorrow.
That mystery's solved and we can't exactly declare war on Forthwythe right now, so it's bed time. Got shit to do tomorrow.

>>6248473
See you then

>>6248471
>"Yeah, we'll tell them they almost got scammed into becoming living time bombs."
That should make them angry and loosen their lips even more.

>Just let them go. They might stir a bit of chaos with Rostchilde's hotels.

>You'd go back to the castle. It was late enough, and you didn't want to wake up tired tomorrow.
We should try to find what connects Forth and Rost, but for now reward our wifes for job well done.

>>6248473

While we wait, I'm going to take the opportunity to ramble a little bit. I always wondered why I actually enjoyed the quest as much as I do, and I think I've finally hit upon why. It's simple - it's reliably /comfy/. It's surprising how rare laid-back slice-of-life stories are among the isekai genre - usually there's some looming crisis like some element of reality failing, Dark Lord appearing, other players throwing spanners into the works and other such clichéd means of forcing the plot forward (often on an adventure) at knifepoint, which can easily cause a story to jump the shark if it's not introduced at the start. On a certain meta level, I suppose this is understandable since /something/ has to happen for there to be a plot to make a story out of in the first place, but the quest format doesn't need that push since it's the players driving the story in a large part rather than solely what the author can pull out of their anal cavity. The lack of an intrusive overarching conflict means we can stop and smell the roses and abuse, explore, defy, play with and - above all - enjoy the classic tropes we're all here for at our own pace in a sandbox of sorts. There's some ongoing antagonists and future hooks in the background and incidents and events to deal with and provide flavour but, crucially, they don't intrude on or engulf the story or require big, dragging arcs to resolve, with the familiar, unhurried format never being that far away.
So I have to credit the QMs with this, both the original and the current, for setting the vibe up like this, rolling with things and not laying down rails or tugging on the players' leash for the sake of plot advancement. Hopefully, things stay this way and we're not going to get walloped over the head with some grand plot - or, at least, not one that would herald a major, long-term deviation from the current structure. Because it's no fun when a story that starts off relaxed and open swerves off somewhere else as it starts piling on serious stakes - I don't expect it to happen here, it just twists my nipples when I do see it elsewhere and these kinds of stories seem particularly vulnerable to it, which makes me all the more grateful for this one that is and has remained exactly what it was advertised to be.

>>6248903
The comparatively low stake activities we engage in is a great contributor to how comfy the story is. Even if the world around us heats up such as Eastia and Westphalia going towards an inevitable world war it’s so impersonal to us that it would probably only become relevant if we were to personally engage in. Though sometimes it does feel like the things slows down but overall the pacing has been good. I assume when the children are born John is most likely going to focus on his personal relationships compared to the projects we are planning on doing now which should lead to some nice slice of life antics and character interactions.

>>6248945
I guess it underscores how distant such global politics is to us that I haven't even really thought about any looming wars at all. Really though, I'm not overly interested - sure, if we get our tech and industrial base off the ground enough, we could throw our lot in with either side and potentially become a kingmaker or even take over entirely, but I'm more interested in having a smaller world - in case of war, we'll defend our patch and hold our family close while they can slug it out for all I care. I'd rather continue to push the world forward, grow our business ventures and raise our massive horde of children with our wives so we can leave a influential, positive legacy behind rather than planting our foot in power games.
As our family grows, we and our wives are obviously not going to have the time to do everything ourselves, but it won't be for years yet before we have to really step back depending on how fast our family grows (I want to have Herta and Gerty pregnant on a regular basis, but do the others want to have their next children in quick succession or want longer downtime?). By then, I would hope we have enough business infrastructure to delegate a lot of the day to day running and merely provide direction, designs and prototypes when needed so we can keep doing the things only we can do (and like doing, gotta tick off those tropes) while spending more time with our family.
As for pacing, it feels like Centris is a bit of a tarpit for us. While there's no inherent fault in that given all the things we're trying to do, I don't want to visit here too often to stop things coming to a halt for weeks while we potter around town and I look forward to getting back to going through the turns and getting things done at home.

>>6248956
Two things, Anon. First when we have being in Centria in has being days not weeks like normally, so one could argue this is very efficent use of our time.
And second Qm has hinted that things while its could good idea to hide Herta's divinity it may be impossible to do when she gives birth to twin (maybe the heavens themself open we get to see her parents)

>>6249049
Did you have a stroke, anon?
We are ticking things off at quite a rate, but it doesn't have the feel of solid tangible progress like the weekly turns do. It's a change of pace that I don't inherently mind, but I don't want to get bogged down here too much.
I can't recall any comments to that extent but I suppose we'll have to just wait and see, ay?

The grandparents coming to see their grandchildren after birth unannounced does not seem like impossible idea, even if Herta doesnt seem to have best relationship with them.

>>6249049
>>6249222
>>6249319
I still believe that 3 wise men will show up at the twins birth. Or would it be 6 in this case?

As you huddled with Cattleya and Mel you took another glance at the Drag On Gang. You didn't fully trust them, despite hardly being a threat to you every time you encountered them. They seemed to have a similar though process, if in an opposite direction— their own furtive glances towards you and your wives quickly disappearing as soon as they noticed your own, badly veiled by sudden whistling.

You knew they had a healthy fear and respect towards the fact you're a Savant, fleeing and making themselves scarce when finding out. Which only gave more emphasis to the question: What was said to them about that magical wand, that it would inspire such confidence in their abilities? Did it really provide such a boost?

Your Appraisal— despite being a useful skill that helped explain most artifacts' use, even giving context with the knowledge of your old world— still had its limits. You hadn't seen the wand in action, so all you had was a general knowledge of what that would look like. Still, that general knowledge, along with any assumptions you had about this world and how it worked, was usually correct since it followed the formula most isekai had. Also you weren't gonna risk giving it back to them just in case it did do something that would bring harm.

"Yeah, we'll tell them they almost got scammed into becoming living time bombs." You decided.

"You sure about this?" Cattleya asked. "These nobheads aren't exactly on the up and up, guv."

"I'm positive." You reply.

"It's good to rely on Master." Mel said to Cattleya, then looked at you with confidence. "We'll always have your back, Master!" She must've taken that conversation she had with Ruby and Gerty to heart.

And with that the three of you break your huddle and approach the Drag On Gang.

A few seconds of bated silence stretch on as you stare at each other.

"You got somethin' to say?" Said Boss, breaking the silent staredown.

"I'm surprised you three decided to not just run away." You commented.

"Yeah well that crazy catgirl of yours just punched us with those gauntlets in less than a blink!" Boss said, incensed. "And that's without her fuckin' claws out. You think we'd be able to get away from that?"

"That's not even talkin' about the illusions of that chick over there." Biggy pointed a thumb towards Mel "Would'a just made us crash into a wall."

"Yeah, and don't think we don't know you have some sorta trick you got, Savant." Smalls added gruffly. "Betcha have some new magic spell or a robot or art-e-fact, or somethin'."

"Watch your bloody tone when talking to the guv." Cattleya hissed at the three of them.

"Hey, hey!" Boss said. "You just gotta give us the artifact back, and we're outta here. Easy, right?"

"Do you guys even know what it even does?" Mel asked.

"Course we know. It's a fuckin' wand." Boss waved his hands around for emphasis. "It's magic and shit! What else is there to know?"

"Ey, Boss, didn't the guy who payed us tell us we could keep it?" Smalls thought aloud. "Now that I think about it, that's kind of weird."

"It's cause they isn't smart like us," Biggy said. "We would'a been able to pawn it off, I bet. If, of course, we's still got it back by the end of this."

"I doubt anyone would want to buy it." You said, speaking like you knew much on the subject. "Considering what it actually is."

"Whacha talkin' about now?" Biggy squinted at you. "We already know it boosts magic. Are you tryin' to fuck with us again?"

"I wish that was all there was to it." You replied. "But this item is far too dangerous to keep being used."

"You just wanna have it for yourself to get stronger." Biggy accused. "Or you just wanna sell it."

"I'm a Savant. I don't need any energy or magic boosters when Lunacy Savantae is just as good if not better as a replacement." You reasoned. "And I could make a way better version of this. One that doesn't make the caster die after a certain number of spells are cast."

"Doesn't stop the fact you're just sayin' this 'cause- hold up, what was that last part?" Boss did a double-take. You got the attention of the other two members of the gang.

"He's just bullshitting us again." Biggy said, uncertain. "Right?"

"Let's just hear 'im out." Said Smalls to his two companions. "If he's full of shit, then we'll be able to tell he's full of shit like we done before. But if this is another warning, like the Garden of Death-"

"Yeah, yeah," The Boss looks done with everything, "Just get on with it. We's still gotta go our job, so we don't have all day."

Cattleya gave another warning hiss at his disrespect, and you calmed her down with a gentle touch to her arm.

You turn back to the Drag On Gang, and proceed to explain how this item, though with the appearance of a wand from the Centrian Academy and doing nothing other than some innocent power-boosting, was in fact just a time bomb that would end up killing at least one of them.

"Well, fuck." Boss said.

"Basically, you guys got played." You concluded.

"Bullshit." Said Biggy, still in denial. "You just want the artifact!"

"Didn't we just go over this?" You stifled a sigh. "No, I do not need it. I don't even want it." You said with force and certitude. The three men in front of you, natural followers that they were, became convinced by your conviction.

"Those fuckin' bastards..." Boss muttered. "I knew they were gonna pull this sort of shit."

"Then why did we take the job-" Smalls was about to ask, but was interrupted by a "Shut it!" from Boss.

"Hey, um, Master? Why would they even accept that type of shady deal?" Mel asked, but more to you than the Drag On Gang.

"It would give good connections while making easy money." You said to her. "Though I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt here."

"Damn right we did it for the bread!" Boss admitted brazenly. "Centria ain't good for anyone other than greedy merchant asshats or prissy nobles!"

"Oi, wot's this tosh 'bout bread loafs then?" Cattleya meowed.

"Something to do with coin and business." At least that's what you assumed.

"Uh, yeah, what Master said. I think he's talking about money." Mel repeated what you said.

"But we's not in the business of just killing ourselves over a few silver coins!" Biggy added.

You exploited their outrage to get some more information. They told you when Rostchilde was coming back to Centria (around three weeks time according to what was said), of rumors concerning Rostchilde partaking in an illegal slave trade he was thinly veiling as 'indentured servitude' (Cattleya listened attentively to every word with growing frustration), or of how it seemed like a more disorganized version of the Thieves' Guild was still operational in the criminal underworld of Centria.

As the conversation went on, it was clear the Drag On Gang was planning to get revenge on the Bed and Barn Inns. They weren't exactly subtle about it.

But that was completely fine with you, since just about anything that was bad for Rostchilde was good for you.

"So, are you just gonna let those guys push you around and treat you like pawns?" You gave your thoughts a voice, giving them just the right push to make them take action.

"Like hell we will!" Boss said. "Biggy, Smalls; change of plans!" And with that they all began to storm away.

"Should we stop 'em, guv?" Cattleya meowed.

"No. Let them go." You said, getting a nod from your catgirl.

With that, the Drag On Gang went out into the night. While they didn't inspire confidence, you were sure they would get into some more trouble. Hopefully bringing it to those old bastards.

"Oi, think they're gonna start shit with us again?" Cattleya asked as the three of you began to walk around again.

"It doesn't really matter if they do." You replied.

"This was actually pretty smart of you, Master." Mel said. "I mean, I can't see them trying anything against us anytime soon."

"The idea was to get them mad at the people that hired them, ultimately using it to frustrate Rostchilde's plans." You explained. "Get them to cause some chaos in his hotels."

Cattleya, as she listened to your words, gave you an appreciative smile.

"It's the sort of plan Ruby would've had, if she actually though up good plans!" Mel said in that high-pitched voice of hers. "Uh, don't tell her I said that."

Idle conversation followed, soon given direction with a certain question from Mel.

"Master, about the magic explode-y wand thing..." Mel approached the topic with caution after looking over the item again.

"Were you able to find the magical signature?" You asked with some hope.

"The opposite, I think. Sorta. Sorry Master, hahaha..." She sighed. "Though, I was able to tell why it didn't work out to begin with. It's basically had a pretty intricate enchantment on it that prevented it from being tracked. Most I could get was those Drag On guys used it in the last few weeks."

"I noticed that too." You said.

"So yeah, basically," Mel continued, "If a Savant like you, Master, can't tell where it came from, then I sure as heck can't. Maybe if you get Ruby and Herta on the job they could reverse-enchant it. This wand looks like it's from the Academy, so it might be wise to have them check it out. I'm sure that Todred guy would be interested." She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Oi, guv," Cattleya said with a yawn of her own, "Wot's the plan now?"

"Going back to the castle." You said, stifling your own tiredness. "You two earned a reward."

"Eh? Reward?" Mel's sudden drowsiness all but vanished.

"I could go for another massage." Cattleya suddenly seemed much more awake as well.

Your words seemed to have activated a few neurons in both your beguiler and your catgirl, every glance they stole at you was filled with desire. With a spring to their steps, both feline and fae respectively, they eagerly returned to the smallish castle you now owned and practically dragged you to the bedroom.

That night you made sure to massage and fill them both up with your love until they were exhausted.

===

It was early in the morning. So early that the sun hadn't even come up. It was the ideal time for Ayane to prepare herself, for she was going out to visit her family again. She'd been called to babysit the kits for a few hours today, and it so happened that the morning ferry was going to arrive soon. You shared a kiss with your vixen wife, which— though chaste at first— became more passionate and lengthy as it went on. Despite the active night you had with Cattleya and Mel, you still felt passion grip you along with a hints of Lunacy Savantae.

"My love," She smiled warmly after gasping for breath, "Your embrace makes my heart flutter like a schoolgirl's when she's with her crush. I'm not sure if I can keep up with your youthful passion without losing my senses." She giggled. "Not that I mind it when you make my mind go blank with your kiss, my love~"

"Hey, can you blame me?" You said, giving her softest bits a squeeze. "You're a wonderful woman, both inside and out."

"Master, you flatter~" She giggled again.

"No flattery here, darling. Just saying the truth."

"In that case, I will also speak the truth: You're all that I've wished for, and more. So, so much more... Mel is right in calling you a hero." She said, then sighed. "That we would spend this day making love. Alas, my duty must be seen to, since by your kindness I am able to care for Ryko like I had for so long before. I'll make sure to come back swiftly, my darling, and seek you out if you are not in this ancient abode."

"That shouldn't be necessary. I'm pretty sure I'll be staying here for most of the morning renovating the castle. At most, I'll go to the The Vixen's Luck with some of my slaves to get more supplies." You gave a smile. "Still, I'm looking forward to having you back, love."

"Thank you, Master." She gave an appreciative bow. That didn't stop her from checking you out with sultry eyes. "In that same vein, you give me much to look forwards to, my dear~"

A bit of flirting later and two of you ended up blowing off some steam— indulging your desires enough to calm your mutual passions. Ayane gave you a content sigh. And, after freshening up, she departed on the flying ferry with an "I love you, Master", off to take care of those three kits while their parents were away.

The sun rose a few hours later, and with it Herta got up with the morning's first ray of light. After you gave her your a daily dose of breakfast 'protein', you tell her about the adventures you had with Mel and Cattleya yesterday. She was curious about the dangerous artifact, so the two of your ended up studying and looking it over.

After coming to the same conclusions as last night, she said that it had some sort of enchantment— placed on it as recently as half a year ago— that jumbled magical signatures of everyone that had used it. It was intricate, though Herta was confident that "a simple puzzle like this one is nothing to someone as intelligent and gorgeous as me; the Goddess of Artifice!", or so she declared.

The rest of your wives, or at least those that were early risers, get up soon after you were done, making way for the morning to truly begin.

Your decision to move out of Cinnamon Inn to this castle energizes everyone into wanting to rennovate the place. Wanting to get this out of the way, you agree.

Soon enough the morning becomes a flurry of activity. The rest of your slave-wives, those that tended to wake up at breakfast, offer to help out with things after eating.

Herta and Bertha whip up a delicious stack of pancakes, followed by sides of eggs and toast and bacon and fruits. Both cooks outdid themselves with the food, as usual. Though on this occasion you could tell that they wanted to have something nice to remember the first morning you were here.

It was then time to clean up more parts of the place. While you wish your robots were here to make things easier this was nonetheless a good opportunity to make all your wives feel useful.

But it does eat into the entire morning. Thankfully none of your wives had any symptoms of morning sickness, something which Ruby attributed to the fact you now had a more firmer residence in Centria proper.

You all take so long, in fact, that Ayane is able to return to the small castle. The timing was very convenient since you were just planning on leaving so you could do something else.

It was a few minutes into the afternoon. You could still fit a couple things in the day.

>You still hadn't gotten a response from the bureaucrats in the capital of Centria concerning your typewriter patent. You'd go there to visit, and take your wives with you. It could be a fun outing.
>Go to the stores. Though your wives already went to the apothecaries Nicodemus talked to you about, there's still a large selection of stores available.
>Meet with some of Ayane's connections again. You're sure that at least some of them are be available.
>The Eastians were re selling off some surplus weapons they had. You hoped they still had enough for you to buy off some scrap.
>Visit a guild. (Which? You know about the Adventurer, Merchant, and Artisan Guilds. But there are other smaller guilds like the Mage's Guild or the Apothecary Guild, among others)
>Have Ayane and Ruby work together to find another selection of houses. You still had some money left to buy at least one other place.
>Rostchilde was obviously making some moves, and now you had enough leads to go snooping around again.
>Visit the Centrian Academy of Science and Magic. Maybe you could get some answers on what that wand was about.
>Go to the flying tower you now owned. It would make for a relaxing place to spend the day, though there were a few areas in it that needed some fixing up. Maybe you could turn it into a lighthouse?
>Go see the plaza you bought and look around at what it's like. It couldn't be that bad, right?
>(Write-in)

>>6250079
>>You still hadn't gotten a response from the bureaucrats in the capital of Centria concerning your typewriter patent. You'd go there to visit, and take your wives with you. It could be a fun outing.

>Go to the flying tower you now owned. It would make for a relaxing place to spend the day, though there were a few areas in it that needed some fixing up. Maybe you could turn it into a lighthouse?

>>6250079
>>6250125
>>Go see the plaza you bought and look around at what it's like. It couldn't be that bad, right?
And this too

>>6250079
>You still hadn't gotten a response from the bureaucrats in the capital of Centria concerning your typewriter patent. You'd go there to visit, and take your wives with you. It could be a fun outing.
>Go to the stores. Though your wives already went to the apothecaries Nicodemus talked to you about, there's still a large selection of stores available.
>Go see the plaza you bought and look around at what it's like. It couldn't be that bad, right?

>>6250079
>You still hadn't gotten a response from the bureaucrats in the capital of Centria concerning your typewriter patent. You'd go there to visit, and take your wives with you. It could be a fun outing.
Check the important stuff then we can
>Go see the plaza you bought and look around at what it's like. It couldn't be that bad, right?

>>6250079
>You still hadn't gotten a response from the bureaucrats in the capital of Centria concerning your typewriter patent. You'd go there to visit, and take your wives with you. It could be a fun outing.
I'm struggling to get a feel for how Centris is laid out. Is it a city-state like Singapore where much of the area has been subsumed into one contiguous conurbation or is it more like Hong Kong, with a main core and the surrounding landmass still densely populated but fragmented into discrete towns?
>Go see the plaza you bought and look around at what it's like. It couldn't be that bad, right?
Oh, I'm sure it can

Same as before, the rest of this week will likely still be slow for posts. Hopefully I'll be able to update once more before Saturday morning, since from what I can see I probably won't have the chance to write for the entire weekend. Should be getting back to normal on Monday or Tuesday latest.
Thank you for the patience!

>>6250225
> Is it a city-state like Singapore where much of the area has been subsumed into one contiguous conurbation or is it more like Hong Kong, with a main core and the surrounding landmass still densely populated but fragmented into discrete towns?
The city is divided into districts with varying levels of isolation. This is mostly due to the Eastian and Westphalian rivalries, the occasional species diaspora that lives in a single neighborhood, and geographical altitude for the different regions of the plateau (however, the sheer amount of travel by airship/flying ferry trivializes most separation and regional isolation).
Without going on too long of a tangent, it's generally organized more like Hong Kong but with a larger metropolitan center with how the current dual Westphalian-Eastian administration oversees the region, though from what you've noticed there are attempts to better link the administrative zones and make turn the entire area into a giant, interconnected, densely urban city. Whether this will lead to merging all the districts together into a single region or if they plan to keep the status-quo, you don't know.

You decided that you'd all pay a visit the very heart of Centria, much to the cheers of your wives. This trip wasn't only for sightseeing but held a specific purpose; three days ago Ruby told you that the bureaucrats in Centria were gonna talk to you sometime this week, and you wanted to make sure everything was accounted for.

"My gallant Master," Ruby said as you all stopped at a popular restaurant, once again somehow materializing a cup of tea, "Far be it for me to object to any choice of yours, yet I wish to remind you that the elvish bureaucrats I spoke with assured me that your patent would accepted in less than a week's time."

"Master is making the right choice." Ayane responded to Ruby in your defense, then turned to you. "It is wise of you to personally verify that there won't be any foul play."

"Yeah, that's an important reason for it." You said.

Honestly you just wanted to get it over with.

"I doubt anything untoward is afoot." Ruby silently sipped a bit of tea. This particular blend had a cinnamon fragrance rising from it. "Should even Forthwythe or Rostchilde attack, I would expect Centria to defend us, it would undermine the mercantile foundations of Centria itself otherwise."

"It would be unlikely indeed." Ayane conceded. "Yet I cannot help but worry. I've had to suffer through inefficiencies and incompetence in the past regarding official Centrian policy."

"I'd like to hear more about that, darling." You said.

"I realized this while I was working for my father: The government of Centria is a loose coalition of international interests, held together by greed and sheer luck. As such, if one wants to strike a deal with the administration, one has to maneuver between the both Eastian and Westphalian factions— making sure not to offend either side— get the right amount of paperwork filled out by a certain time, and hope nothing was lost in the system."

"Wotcha off to wit' this, then?" Asked Cattleya.

"Simply that we should brace ourselves for this patent's requirements." Ayane said.

"Hey, Rubes?" Bertha shifted the conversation as she nibbled on a salad. "Aren't you, like, always talking about secret stuff?"

"Ruby, you usually have a million different theories and schemes going on." Mel also joined in.

"I for one am glad that you've decided to not consider such things." Ayane idly commented.

"You understate my thoughts on the matter." Ruby said with a smile. "Make no mistake— I indeed always have plans for every encounter. I've simply deduced that everything will fall in the favor of my gallant Master~" Rose then gifted you a self-assured smile as she glanced at you.

"They'd best give guv a bit 'o respect, tell you wot." Cattleya meowed. "He's a bloody Savant. His words 'ave more 'ammer than the average pencil pusher."

"Well said." Gerty nodded her head. "Master is gracing them with his presence. It would be foolish to snub this honor."

From the inside of your pocket, you heard Yumi grumble about something before going back to sleep. She'd been sulking ever since the fight with Sumiko. You considered talking to the ghostgirl, but thought against it.

"Ugh, all of this paperwork stuff is boring and complicated." Herta complained despite not doing having to do anything. While Bertha seemed to assent with a nod, you noticed a frown form on Ruby's face. "Master! Can we just go back to the castle? Please~?"

"It's been literally less than half an hour since we've left." You deadpanned.

"I know! It's just, I wanna spend more time with you, Master!" From how her eyes shined, you could tell that this wasn't as innocent as she was making it out to be. You knew she just wanted you to 'punish' her until her thoughts became mush.

"Are you gonna keep complaining? Or are you actually such a maso-bitch that you want to make a scene here and now?" You chastise her.

"Kyaah! Master is correcting me like the useless sow I am~! He's gonna tie me up and force himself on me while pressing his body against my own and he'll pull up my skirt and start span-"

"Anyway," You clear your throat. "We're gonna look around to some of the tourist traps, then we'll get an update on what those pencil pushers are doing."

And so you did.

Though crowded, the Centrian heartland was still nice enough to sight-see. Everything was much fancier than in the other regions of Centria, and you even saw a few witches and wizards flying on brooms and umbrellas as they left the Academy.

You and your wives see many monuments of the apparent founders of Centria; these mostly consisted of intelligentsia, adventurers, knights, and merchants from both Westphalia and Eastia.

Man-made canals where small boats would gently glide over crossed a few avenues, passing beneath bridges and disappearing into tunnels. Small flying islets were chained to the ground and to clock towers, apparently using the same type of ancient technology that allowed your flying tower to levitate.

Herta and the others were able to get some small trinkets and Centrian memorabilia— using what remained of the money you granted to them a few days ago.

There was an abundance of stores and restaurants in the area. Though not as many as the ones near the Merchant's Guild, which was the center of commerce in Centria, there was seemingly no end to the selection of Eastian, Westphalian, Northrensjor, and even Southrine cuisines. Not to mention the types of foods and recipes different species brought with them, even finding some Feligyptian meals which Cattleya seemed to perk up at. Though there were some others that had... interesting tastes.

"I can't believe lamias sell giant bee and roc egg casseroles." Bertha commented after leaving a stall. "Like, who would eat a giant bug?"

"I am certain it's an acquired taste." Said Ruby Rose. "The true question lies in where they might've obtained it."

"They have a place here where they harvest them." Mel said.

"At least, they act like they're getting it locally." Your beguiler continued.

"The prices tend to agree with that sentiment. Unless they're temporarily reducing how much it costs for the sake of competition, I can't see importing roc eggs as sustainable." Ayane chimed in. "In that topic, it was nice to see slime jello available." She'd eaten a cup of said slime jello when finding a stall that sold one. "I was under the impression it took until spring season to for slime ranchers to harvest them."

"Oh, that's all gonna change!" Bertha informed happily. "Back when I was in Riverdale my folks in Aquataine wrote about some new farming and ranching stuff that was getting popular. We're, like, gonna have slimes and other monster meats all year round!"

"Westphalia has been steadily advancing in foodstuffs and made it a priority." You said, recalling some of the things the merchants mentioned about the markets, and how Westphalia was getting more and more food stored up. "So it isn't unexpected they'd get a breakthrough." Unless there's active sabotage or they somehow shit the bed, there wouldn't be a famine in Westphalia anytime soon.

"Master is right." Ruby said. "In Westphalia, the only issues that would arise are the the competing autonomies that constitute the country as a whole."

"The nobles of Westphalia know what is best for the people there." Gerty replied to the perceived negative implication. "All nobles give their all for their subjects, with traitorous ones like the gentry from Aquataine failing to establish themselves."

"In military matters, I don't doubt it." Ruby spoke with a well sounding voice and which somehow fit that smug smile of hers. "But in civilian matters, there tends to be more friction between the myriad duchies, the countless baronies, and the borderland march of any marquis. There is a bad tendency of intrigue for the sake of personal gain back there, fufufufu... Look no further than Forthwythe if you want the evidence." The mention of that name made Gerty scowl.

"Can we talk about food again?" Mel requested before things could take a bitter turn. "Or some of that stuff about slime ranches?"

"I didn't really understand all that stuff about markets and politics." Bertha said. "But I can totally tell you guys about the monsters me and my family used to fight!"

"I'd be keen to 'ear about that, mate." Cattleya meowed, likely thinking about improving her fighting abilities. You doubted your catgirl would want to be left behind.

"It would be favorable to compare the differences for mass charges in familiar terrain and the skirmishes knights usually employ." Gerty admitted.

And from there, more idle conversation was held as you and your wives went this way and that.

While things were all fun it needed to be wrapped up— you couldn't waste the entire evening away with distractions. The patent always remained in the back of your mind.

You approach the same administrative building Ruby Rose went to. While she was able to get some work done by herself, you were glad you could now accompany her to iron out any plan that she might be entertaining in her mind.

The building itself had the standard steampunk-Victorian architecture you grew to expect, but there was some clear Neoclassical influence. While it stood as an imposing structure in its own right, with flags waving down and an almost castle-like structure in some parts, it still paled in comparison to the Merchant's Guild; a fact that Ruby decided to voice, much to the annoyance of those that worked here.

You find yourself in a line, waiting for the receptionist desk. Thankfully it didn't test your patience like the ones in your old world did, since the waiting took less than ten minutes.

"Good evening." You greeted the receptionist when you and your wives were next in line. "I'd like to know the status of a patent for some typewriters."

"Name?" Said the receptionist— a wood elf. She had dark circles under her eyes and a generally tired look on her face, suggesting that she hardly got an hour of sleep. Her attire consisted of a uniform that all the clerks wore around here, and a cute bow was tied to her hair, out of place with the rest of her look.

"John Doe." You replied.

"You're the Savant that mastermind woman with the smug smile was bragging about the other day, right?" She flipped through some papers.

"Yeah, that'd be me."

"Hmm." She sighed. "Do you have the paperwork for the patent you want?" So she knew about it already. Good, that should make this quicker.

"Yes. One of my slave-wives has a copy of it." You said, then motioned to the rest of your wives. They approached the desk, and Ruby presented the necessary papers.

It was a bit of a slog since you were all going over things you already knew. Legal terms and how patents worked basically needed an explanation every 10 minutes, mostly thanks to either Bertha or Herta constantly asking for definitions.

Ayane and Ruby Rose were the ones that did the most talking, while you had the privilege of reigning in the rest of your wives and making sure things didn't descend into chaos. Gerty and Bertha seemed to be the worst of these, with the former demanding that the clerk show more respect to you while the latter asking many mundane questions. But all in all everything seemed to be going smoothly.

At least, that's what you initially thought.

"Unfortunately," Said the elf with a neutral face, "I can't provide you with the patent necessary."

"Oh?" Ruby said with squint. "I was told that any desk would be available for directing us in the path to finish the patent."

"It does." Said the elf woman. "Technically, at least. According to the most recent circular-"

"And what do I have to do to get the paperwork finished?" You interrupted the elf woman.

"Nothing much." Said she. "You have to get permit 102 in order to enact a patent without Centrian, Westphalian, or Eastian citizenship— as detailed in code §96.024 of the International Charter of Centria."

"That doesn't sound too difficult." Ruby said.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Mel muttered.

"I wouldn't fret," Ruby dismissed with a smile, "It's merely a formality, no?"

"Indeed." The elf woman said with a tired nod of her head. "A simple administrative formality."

Ayane's face still remained as composed as ever, yet her polite smile became a thin line.

She said there was another desk which could help— one by a window and a couple of corridors down the left.

"Where'd you get that bow?" Bertha blurted out before you all left. "I wanna get one too."

"It's issued alongside the uniforms for female government clerks." Said the elf. "All women are given one for as long as they work here."

"Oh." Bertha suddenly looked at the elf with pity and sympathy. "I know how tough it is to share a something between all of you."

"Hmm?" The elf woman's expression, though almost constantly irritable and tired, became furrowed with confusion.

"Yeah, I have, like, more than a dozen brothers and sisters. And we all needed to share a single bathroom. It's, like, totally the worst. It got especially bad in family reunions." Bertha continued with a shudder. "I feel what it's like to only have a single bow between you all."

"Thank you?" Said the elf, blinking a few times. "If there is nothing else, I will humbly request that all you allow the others behind you to have a turn in speaking. May you find your fortune, most honorable Lord Savant John Doe."

You could almost sense how pleased Gerty was at the apparent respect shown to you, though you personally felt like this elf had a slightly sarcastic and annoyed bent in her tone.

"Thanks. Try to get some rest." You told her. Her eyes widened for a split second, and she blinked a few times.

"Very well." She said, the turned around to return the papers she took out. "Is it that obvious?" She uttered under her breath with an almost worried tone.

You chose not reply to the thought that slipped out of her mouth, not wanting to waste any more time.

"Um, Bertha, you know," Mel spoke as you were all walking down a corridor, "I think when she said that they all had the bow, she was meant that they have one each."

"What do you mean?" Bertha tilted her head, confusion clear on the face of your warrioress.

"I believe," Ruby intervened, "Mel is trying to explain they have one accessory given per employee. They do not share the same bow between all clerks."

"Huh?" Bertha blinked a few times.

"Just, uh, don't worry about it." Mel said.

Soon enough you all found the desk you were looking for. Though there were a few hiccups on the way.

"She gave us the wrong place." Herta huffed.

"That is not entirely unexpected." Ayane said calmly.

"She seemed pretty tired." Mel said.

"How inconvenient." Ruby was miffed.

After some trial and error you were able to find the right place.

The receptionist behind the desk, unlike the tired wood elf woman from before, was a bubbly wood elf woman.

"Hiya!" Said the newly met elf with a smile. "Can I help you?"

"Woah!" Bertha said. "How'd you get the bow so quickly?"

"Oh, this?" She took off the accessory and held it on her hand. "I dunno. I just got it today!"

"Ahem." Ayane cleared her throat. "Master John Doe would like to speak with you about getting a patent done. I believe a 'permit 101' was needed?"

And again the same explanations were drawn up and made.

"Of course!" Exclaimed the elf. "I'd love to help out! Just give me a minute while I get the green form needed to get it done."

"The green forum?" Ayane asked.

"Yes, the green forum is needed to make permit 101 available." This elf receptionist said. "Shoot. I don't think I have it here. Sorry!"

"If you don't possess it, then where can we get this 'green forum'?" Asked Ruby, still managing a smug smile.

"It should be on the fifth floor. Pass the second corridor to the right there, and you should find a receptionist there." Said she. "There's an elevator in the hallway to the right. It's right in the center of the building, you can't miss it.

"Sorry again about that! It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Savant!" She waved sheepishly as you and your wives departed.

Well at least you were making some progress. Though Mel's bad premonition was starting to linger in your mind, you hoped things would get wrapped up soon enough.

===

Five hours later and you were still nowhere near the end of it. Endless paperwork flowed from the countless elves that worked here. Words seemed to lose their meaning after being repeated so much and you were no closer to getting an update on that patent.

"Ugh..." Bertha groaned. "Purple forums, red forums, yellow forums... I think I'm gonna be sick."

A few of your wives weren't faring much better.

"Why are we even here again?" Mel asked.

"To obtain the patent." Ayane replied, still as composed and patient as ever.

"Then why the bloody hell are we still doing this, mate?" Cattleya almost snapped at her.

"Earlier today I mentioned how the Centrian government was merely a loose coalition of foreign interests and merchants." Ayane answered. "I believe most friction and confusion stems from how Eastia and Westphalia are constantly competing for influence in the city."

"No shit." Cattleya huffed. "Back in Eastia the paper pushes were proper nimble, mate. It'd take half an hour, tops, for the bloody faff to get sorted out, an' even fookin' less to get papers done."

"I, for one, can't complain too much." Though Ruby's smugness threatened to fray over the monotony, she was still enthusiastic about the complexity behind the bureaucracy's factionalism. "A shame that those on the top have entrenched themselves so much and are too short-sighted to understand what a boon it would be to have a Savant in their corner. This would make an ideal place for me to lay out my web."

"Sir!" Gerty said. "Forgive me for stating the obvious, but our progress to get that patent is minimal."

"We can all fucking see that, you stupid bitch." You said, wanting to at least make this a bearable experience to your wives.

"Forgive me, Master!" She replied happily.

"Master, can we slow down? I think I might've dropped some files..." Said Herta. She and Gerty both volunteered to hold the ever growing stack of papers, with the two of them alternating the duty.

Thankfully this wasn't an entire waste of time. You were able to make some connections while gaining knowledge of the place thanks to the near endless wild goose chase.

You also found a couple new species here:

Your first encounter with gnomes was in this building— though like dwarves, their kind was distinct because of the pointy red hats they always wore and their less muscular builds. A constant whiny tone was present in their voices, which you at first thought was an unfortunate decision of nature or some sort of cosmic joke, were it not for the spiteful and easily offended personality they had, walking around like they owned everything and everyone.

"Now, now, look at what you've made me do!" Said a gnome to an elvish clerk after the gnome 'accidentally' poured some ink on the papers she was carrying. "I expect this to all be redone by hand by tomorrow morning!"

Their petty and cartoonish villainy was almost hilarious.

Where the elves tended to be clerks and bureaucrats, the gnomes here were managers, bankers, and 'financial investors and advisors in liquid assets'. That last one seemed to not mean anything, but nevertheless more than once you'd find yourself being subject to their bragging when they realized you were a Savant.

You weren't particularly impressed by them, though you were happy they weren't as bloodthirsty as you expected them to be. Yet more than once you had to stop Gerty from yelling as she demanded they show you more respect, which they seemed to interpret as you seeing them as superior (which more than once they alluded towards). Though this would quickly be tempered when you defended your wives from getting bullied and harassed by those shorter men.

The other species you'd find would be the arachne. They were the standard mix of human and spider you'd usually find in anime. Despite mostly being maids and working other menial jobs, they generally acted more cold and callous than any other species you'd found so far, and they seemed to like arguing with others.

More than once they'd try to start shit by insulting you or one of your wives, and more than once Cattleya or Gerty would yell back at them for their insults. Though you were able to counter the arachne easily with how domineering you were, with how you weren't intimidated, and because didn't take their insults without biting back, which surprisingly seemed to impress a number of them.

Again, you had to lasso in Gerty to stop her from demanding duels, along with Cattleya's and even Herta constantly coming to your defense, with the rest of your wives providing support you when needed. Despite the trouble happening, seeing your wives have so much faith and respect for you made you happy.

Ruby Rose, however, seemed pointedly disappointed when meeting the arachne. Almost as though she expected them to act more intelligently.

A common trend was seeing human administrators from both Eastia and Westphalia entering and leaving the building, issuing out orders or just inspecting the place. Sometimes it ended with contradicting orders, but more often than not both sides were surprisingly competent and familiar with each other. They were, despite most's low opinion of them, friendly enough to hold a conversation with and far more bearable to be around than the gnomes and the arachne. Though you could see they were where all the inefficiency stemmed from, it was also clear that these people knew how to keep Centria together. Whether they could all survive a crisis, however, you couldn't tell.

And, after another two hours of going around, you eventually manage to trick one of the elves into getting a Westphalian administrator to grant you the elusive 'green forum'. This then led you to the cheerful elf from before, which then also lead you to the tired receptionist from before.

"Thank you for your service." Said the elf woman you first saw here, now considerably more tired than before. "Everything is in working order. By tomorrow morning your patent will be in effect."

"Thank the gods." Mel sighed in relief. "That felt like ages."

"Only been a few hours, mate." Cattleya meowed. Despite her words, she was visibly relieved as well.

"Master, that might've been long and hard," Bertha said, then gained a lustful smile as she spoke to you, "But I know there's something else that's long and hard that could make the worries of a gal like me get blown away completely~" She ended with an unsubtle wink.

You heard a certain elf woman clear her voice.

"There is still more: You have the decision to let your patent last for a total of 20 years and an annual fee of 300 gold." She held up a hand, as if stopping any objection from anyone in the room, herself included. "I'm aware that might not be long for any long-lived species, yet the nature of these patents were made with human sensibilities in mind, considering you are human Savant Lord.

"However, Centria is the land of many opportunities." She spoke as if reading a script. "As such, we can allow the lifespan of patents to be extended for a paltry addition of 400g, which I imagine is nothing to a man in a position like yours, to a total of 100 years."

>Just take the standard 20 year patent. (Costs an annual fee of 300g)
>Take the extended 100 year version. (Costs an annual fee of 700g)
>Attempt to negotiate this with some of the managers. (Potential for negotiations) (May backfire)
>(Write-in)

(If you accept the patent, you will lose an additional 500g for initial filings)

You asked, out of curiosity, if you could talk to the leaders of the place. This made the receptionist shake her head.

"I could contact the upper brass and tell them a Savant Lord want to speak with them, but I wouldn't recommend going there now." Said she. "It would be too sudden, and they would doubtless be annoyed. Perhaps I could interest you in another appointment? I have tomorrow afternoon open for all five councilors currently in Centria."

>"I'd like to speak with them now." Best to just get this over with since you're already here.
>"That sounds good." You and your wives had just around enough of this place for a day.
>"There is no need. I was just curious." You've already met many influential members today. There wasn't really any reason to meet these people.
>(Write-in)

Was there anything else you wanted to ask and/or do while here?

>Yes. (Write-in)
>No. (Continues to visiting the plaza you owned)

>>6251891
>>Take the extended 100 year version. (Costs an annual fee of 700g)


>"That sounds good." You and your wives had just around enough of this place for a day.


>No. (Continues to visiting the plaza you owned)

Hope you had a good weekend QM.

>>6251891
>Take the extended 100 year version. (Costs an annual fee of 700g)
May as well. If not for us then for our children and our longer living wives.

>"That sounds good." You and your wives had just around enough of this place for a day.
At least to file a complaint against them. Hopefully we don't have anything important happening tomorrow.

>No. (Continues to visiting the plaza you owned)
But supporting anything the anons say.

>>6251891
>Take the extended 100 year version. (Costs an annual fee of 700g)

>"There is no need. I was just curious." You've already met many influential members today. There wasn't really any reason to meet these people.

>No. (Continues to visiting the plaza you owned)

>>6251891
The kingdom of bureaucracy strikes again
>Take the extended 100 year version. (Costs an annual fee of 700g)
Sounds good and gives us some secure income for our descendants

>"There is no need. I was just curious." You've already met many influential members today. There wasn't really any reason to meet these people.
They probably aren’t important

>No. (Continues to visiting the plaza you owned)
Let’s see what is happening in crime alley

>>6251891
>Take the extended 100 year version. (Costs an annual fee of 700g)
By the time this patent expires, we should have moved on technologically from typewriters or someone has written around it enough to make it meaningless, at which point we can allow it to lapse.
This brings our fixed annual outgoings up to 1.1k after the insurance bill, by the way.
>"There is no need. I was just curious." You've already met many influential members today. There wasn't really any reason to meet these people.
I've had enough of bureaucracy, and we should seek to meet with them at the point when we actually have something warranting getting their attention for.
>Yes.
The fact that we are essentially stateless is concerning and may continue to cause problems for us. Is there an available path to gaining citizenship - preferably of Centris or, failing that, Eastia or Westphalia?

>"Oh." Bertha suddenly looked at the elf with pity and sympathy. "I know how tough it is to share a something between all of you."
>"Woah!" Bertha said. "How'd you get the bow so quickly?"

I worry about Bertha. Hopefully it's just low blood sugar due to pregnancy talking.

>>6251889
>Where the elves tended to be clerks and bureaucrats, the gnomes here were managers, bankers, and 'financial investors and advisors in liquid assets'. That last one seemed to not mean anything, but nevertheless more than once you'd find yourself being subject to their bragging when they realized you were a Savant.
(((gnomes)))
>>6251891
>Just take the standard 20 year patent. (Costs an annual fee of 300g)

>"That sounds good." You and your wives had just around enough of this place for a day.

>No. (Continues to visiting the plaza you owned)

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>1. Make appointment with leading bureaucrats for tomorrow.
>2. Don't make the appointment with the bureaucrats.

>>6252315
While she might have a simple heart and mindset, Bertha ain't no dummy. Though her INT can take a nose-dive every once in a while.
If you guys want any of the wives to get smarter you could always have her read some of Ruby's books, get a tutor for her, or just send her to the Academy.

>>6252514
Arcanum loosely inspired how I wrote gnomes here lmao

You were currently in a flying ferry, and the sun was beginning to set. The city lights blinked into existence, like they'd done every night, with almost clockwork precision.

The mood was considerably lighter than before; relief from finally getting that patent done and over with began to set in.

Your mind goes back to when you were in that government building, not even half an hour ago by this point. While in the International Department of Centrian Affairs (disambiguated as the I.D.C.A or IDCA for short), you asked the bubbly elf woman about the possibility of gaining Centrian citizenship. She informed you that some more paperwork would have to be filled out here for the request, which would then be applied to the Legation Council Hall for approval— since it was a place that served as the government of Centria, as it held jurisdiction over the IDCA. And after the paperwork was confirmed you'd have to pay a fee of 500g to get your citizenship approved.

While you were tempted to get this done today, you really didn't want to endure another 5 hours of bureaucracy. Just hearing a person say "down the hall and to the left" would've been enough to make you want to go home and curl up in your bed until you fell asleep.

As far as you understood, citizenship wasn't really necessary to live in Centria. Expats and tourists were, if not merely accepted, encouraged. So it wasn't unheard of for foreigners to buy houses and live here permanently. Centrian citizens usually got their citizenship by being born in the city, but becoming a citizen could be easily obtained if you had enough gold and the time to deal with the bureaucracy.

Obtaining either a Westphalian or an Eastian citizenship was an entirely different matter. In Westphalia, citizenship could only be had by royal decree or by being accepted as a subject of the region one was living in, the latter's requirements tending to vary (but typically you had to serve in Westphalia's armed forces or do labor for a certain number of years). Meanwhile in Eastia you could get a citizenship by merit, which usually meant you'd swear loyalty to Eastia and be intelligent enough to pass a written test of theirs, but serving in the 'Eastisches Heer' was another method.

Generally speaking, if you got citizenship in one of those two countries you would be barred from the other one. There were exceptions to this rule, but these mostly applied to the Knightly Orders, certain types of high-profile merchants, and high ranking adventurers.

But your thoughts came to a close after the ferry landed in a rather dimly lit zone. Only you and your wives exited the flying ferry.

A few candle-lit streetlights illuminated the area. And though they weren't the only source of light, they gave the place a murky and unsettling feeling.

These fears were realized when an ambush happened in less than ten minutes after you'd stepped foot in the plaza, with the intent to mug you and your wives. Thankfully Cattleya's good reflexes and night vision along with Gerty's fighting skills fended the would-be thieves away from you.

So far it wasn't the best introduction, though giving a more generous look at the place didn't do it any favors.

The distinct stench of garbage wafted up into the air, complimenting the trash strewn on the ground. Structures with clear signs of decay were haphazardly fixed with metal sheets and leather coverings and scrap welded together, giving the buildings here a patchwork appearance. Windows were all either broken or boarded up. Scaffolding, long since abandoned mid-construction, was used as homes for those that clearly had nothing else.

By the center of the plaza there were people gathered around a small bonfire. They were of different species, with harpies, beastfolk and lamias making up the majority. Though the most notable person here being a donkey man, who seemed to be telling tall stories and was generally someone who others spoke to with respect.

Though they were all less that fifteen minutes away, your attention was taken by finding a woman lying on the street, bruised and nearly dead, but otherwise unscathed. She looked like some sort of mix between catfolk and dogfolk, though she had no tail. Gerty, Cattleya, and Bertha identified her as one of the adventurers that challenged them while you and your other wives (and Yumi) met and fought against Ayane's mother— Sumiko.

You ordered Gerty to use a healing spell on her, which was enough to make her return to consciousness. But instead of thanking you, she simply grunted, drank a recall potion, and vanished without a word.

"How rude." Ruby said.

"Betcha she's still sore about losing to us." Bertha said.

"Wot's 'er name again, even?" Cattleya meowed.

"Oria-something." Bertha replied.

"Master," Gerty looked at you, "Her wounds indicate he had been fighting multiple people at once."

"I can tell." You said, your high perception helping you out here.

"Should we call for backup?" Gerty continued, giving a cursory glance at the radio you were carrying and doubtless wanting to call the Centrian Knights.

"No." You said as you glanced at Mel. She shared the look back, a silent understanding emerged here, the both of you not needing to say how dangerous these streets were.

Despite it being a working day tomorrow, drunks would wobble out of bars supporting one another while singing songs, stumbling about and beginning slurred conversations with whoever was unfortunate enough to be in their proximity.

Said drunks exited the local tavern nearby, and, as if the floodgates were opened, chaos spread around here and there, though it vanished as quickly as it came, with people taking to drinking recall potions or physically going back to their homes.

More than a few arguments emerged between them— you could see a fight easily beginning if the wrong words were being said.

Witnessing all of this was a sobering experience, especially after a day of seeing the best places Centria had to offer.

You found that the stench that invaded the air, wrapped together the squalor and lack of general hygiene in everything, gave way to the lingering scents of food and alcohol.

Said smells not only came from the tavern, but from the homes and by the bonfire.

There was no sign of policemen, or really any sort of government. It was a stark contrast to this city's wealthier places.

More than once someone would try to pickpocket you or offer some clearly illegal substance. Of these, you were amused that catnip was considered a hard drug for catgirls (at least, that's what you got from Cattleya's reaction).

While the initial plan was to spread out and look around the place, it was so dangerous at night that it would've been unwise to split up.

"Still better than running around for paperwork." Mel said after another thief was beaten up by Gerty.

"Same here, mate." Cattleya meowed.

"This was the sixth one so far." Herta noted the amount of criminals you were able to catch.

"To think such barbarities would be tolerated in this civilized land." Ruby Rose, being the most disgusted by all the grime and filth, seemed to prefer the monotony of the government buildings to this.

Some more looking around the place didn't bring more positive news. What wasn't riddled with poverty was riddled with crime. And what buildings weren't on the verge of collapse were occupied by squatters or were only half-built.

"Master, I fear we may not be able to gain any rent from these people." Ayane informed you.

Mel identified most people here as being down on their luck, becoming temporary residents that drifted here. Others she found to be much like bandits or like gangs, usually extorting and otherwise causing crimes. Strangely enough, there was no prostitution happening. When you asked about this to your wives, the general explanation was that there were so many women that men didn't really need to pay for intercourse and could just take a woman that was abandoned or otherwise found ruin, and start from there.

Of those that were just trying to survive, a human family being noteworthy, they seemed worried as Gerty introduced you as the future owner of the plaza. But the most interesting residents were a bunch of snakes. Literally a group of snake-people.

Lamia here were considerably more organized and defensive of the area. What bothered you was that they considered this to be 'their territory', despite having already heard about this place being bought out.

You knew that they had some trouble with some gnomes attempting to evict them out, though the details escaped you.

At least that's what you've been able to find by eavesdropping while invisible. Making you and the rest of your slaves invisible for more than fifteen minutes was a bit beyond Mel's current power, but she was still useful enough to help you.

As you walked around and spoke about these things, a homeless guy approached you.

"Who are you? What do you want? Who sent you?" A greying, grizzly beard and wide eyes adorned this human's face. He wore tattered clothes, not an uncommon thing in this plaza. "By the gods, I knew this day would arrive. It was too naive of me to think none would know that I knew the truth."

"State what business do you have with the Savant Lord known as John Doe, or be gone. Be happy you are allowed so much as his presence, as he has graced this place with his being after purchasing it." Gerty replied before you had any chance to.

"Another Savant bought this place?" He said aloud to himself, then turned to Gerty. "Is this Master of yours also want to collect everyone's souls so he can power a battery that makes chocolate and pudding pie?"

Gerty frowned. "Are you mad? Or simply daring to make the fool of Master?"

"By the gods! How did you know my name?"

"Your name?" Gerty repeated, confused.

"Mad Codger Ragpicker, is my name. And you best not waste it, Eastian lass. You are an Eastian, are you not? Yes, I can hear the whispers of the slime and boar spirits tell me of the gears in your mind and clockwork run behind your eyes, lady." Said he to Gerty. Your Holy Knight seemed annoyed at the comment.

"Who sent you?" He turned to you. "They tried to get me to speak, but I said nothing. And by the Four I'll keep saying nothing!"

"And if I told you I was sent here by one of those Four deities?" You replied, finding that the man reminded you of an uncle you had back in your old world.

"Then I'd say you had a good imagination, though with a touch of exaggeration." Said he. "Now excuse me, I have to see if the shrubs are willing to talk to me again and show me the secrets of their treasures."

He went on about a few different conspiracies, each sounding more unhinged than the prior one. He warned that you and your wives should all keep their voices down, unless you all wanted the Will-O-Wisps to steal your hair while you all slept. "I invite you all to my humble abode, where I have put endless defenses against the neo-troglodyte mana teleporters. There we can speak freely over a game of Everlasting cards." He mentioned that card game you didn't fully understand.

"You play cards?" Ayane said.

"Indeed I do, fox-tails. But not because it's entertaining, no no. But because you can see the past and the future if you look at the cards right." He coughed, then shifted around, glancing quickly to his left then his right. "Staying in one place at night can be deadly, and try not to speak out too much. The floor and walls will begin talking and telling you to jump over your laundry every morning to get rid of the curse of baldness."

"Oh!" Bertha exclaimed, interrupting the old man's words. "I get it now! The elves each had a different bow!"

A short bout of silence accompanied words of your warrioress, broken by a chuckle on your part as you commended your her.

"Be careful with this one, Savant." Said he, pointing a thumb at your Warrior. "I fear that a spirit might've made a contract with a devil to make her say nonsense." Not elaborating, he left soon after.

"Is that something that could happen?" Bertha asked.

"The cards, the ghosts, or the laundry thing?" Cattleya meowed.

"Any of that." Bertha said.

"Probably not?" Herta was unsure even as she said it. "At least, I think so?"

"Mate," Cattleya looked at Herta with scrutiny, "Did you really make the whole bloody universe?"

"Of course I did!" Herta said haughtily. "I'm the Goddess of Artifice and Creation! The 'Creation' part isn't there for no reason!"

"I've not heard any nonsense like what he'd been babbling before." Ruby said, speaking about that homeless(?) guy again.

"And that spirit stuff," Yumi, for the first time in a while, made her voice known, "I mean, uh, yeah- those ethereal Will-O-Wisps! Flickering spirits of the dusk and dawn! They are unwilling to harm the mortal coil, let alone tamper with locks of hair! Unless it is for a prank. Truly, the one who speaks thus is either ensnared in the clutches of deceit or trapped in the labyrinth of madness!"

"At least his name makes sense, as mean-spirited as it is." Mel added.

Though his warning did have some truth to it, since it wasn't too long before another pickpocket tried stealing from one of you.

"What the heck." Said Herta. "Why are they attacking us so much?"

"Maybe that's because we're dressed pretty well." Mel suggested.

"It must be jealousy." Ruby added. Then she turned to you. "My gallant Master, what shall we do in this forsaken place?"

You had a few options. You recalled that Pomegranate Ponnamie invited you over to some secret store in an alleyway.

Of course you could always follow the crazy homeless guy. It might be entertaining.

Then you thought about that bonfire, which still had a few people there remaining.

Not to say there weren't any other choices to make, but a few yawns from your wives and the distinctly tired feeling you all doubtlessly felt after an active day like this gave you only so much energy before things went south.

(Choose up to three things to do before leaving back home.)

>Look for that store in the alleyway that Ponnamie spoke about.
>Take up Mad Codger Ragpicker's invitation for a game of cards in his home.
>Visit the tavern.
>Try to learn more about the lamia.
>Go and talk to that donkey man from earlier.
>Check out the unused and broken down buildings. Maybe they could be salvaged for scrap?
>See that human family again.
>Just try to assess everything. You considered bringing your construction clankers here to renovate, and would need a good mental picture of things.
>(Write-in)

>>6252813
>before leaving back home.
*before going back to the castle.
Although it is basically a second home.

>>6252738
Maybe we should make Bertha read some book at least.

I knew that I recognized them gnomes from somewhere
"Gnomes, the product of polygamy, incest and coprophilia.It is no exaggeration, nor hyperbole, that all evils of the world are endorsed and committed by gnomes. A gnome feels no empathy, nor remorse---no common humanity that separates us from simple beasts. The only “love” a gnome can feel, if you dare describe it so, is that for money. A gnome would sooner sell his own mother for a pouch of silvers than do a single good deed in his entire gaping hole of an existence. "

>>6252763
>A few candle-lit streetlights illuminated the area. And though they weren't the only source of light, they gave the place a murky and unsettling feeling.
So this place needs better lighting

>>6252780
>There was no sign of policemen, or really any sort of government. It was a stark contrast to this city's wealthier places.
So this place needs cleaners, policemen/guards and builders/repairmen. Some hired worker of the locals some bots to break camels back when it comes to criminals

>>6252813

>Look for that store in the alleyway that Ponnamie spoke about.
I want to know what raddit has to offer

>Go and talk to that donkey man from earlier.
He seems to know the locals maybe we can learn about them from him.

>See that human family again.
I wish to know their worries

>Try to learn more about the lamia.
Maybe this can go with the donkey man option

>>6252738
I agree with OPs pic, Bertha is fine the way she is

>>6252807
>Mad Codger Ragpicker, is my name.
Give this man a firearm

>>6252813
>"Oh!" Bertha exclaimed, interrupting the old man's words. "I get it now! The elves each had a different bow!"
Airheads are great

>Look for that store in the alleyway that Ponnamie spoke about.
We were invited, and as one of the few business people here it seems that she can offer us valuable insight on how to get this place running again

>Go and talk to that donkey man from earlier.
He seems to be respected somewhat around here so getting him on our side would be helpful

>Just try to assess everything. You considered bringing your construction clankers here to renovate, and would need a good mental picture of things.
It is what we are good at, finding out what we need to do to make this place habitable it’s important, and if it stops looking like crime alley then maybe more people would be willing to invest in it at a later date

>>6252825
>So this place needs cleaners, policemen/guards and builders/repairmen. Some hired worker of the locals some bots to break camels back when it comes to criminals
Basically we gotta start from scratch

>>6252856
>Basically we gotta start from scratch
I mean its perfect if criminal problem is very bad then you dont even see the difference in before and after the urban combat that our bots wage against criminals

>>6252813
>Look for that store in the alleyway that Ponnamie spoke about.
>Visit the tavern.
>See that human family again.

>>6252813
>Look for that store in the alleyway that Ponnamie spoke about.
>Go and talk to that donkey man from earlier.
>See that human family again.

>>6252857
We can also get those knight guys that wanted to help us in the meantime.

>>6253331
We should use them sparingly as they may do well against criminals but may be overzealous when it comes to people. Causing us new problems and more we use them more we are in their debt if not in money, then in favors.

Sorry about taking so long. Had some technical issues and lost a bit of the update. I should be done with it later today.

As you and your wives went towards the bonfire, causing many to retreat into the alleyways or otherwise make themselves scarce. Those that didn't watched you closely, or seemed too lost in their own little worlds to care.. Considering that you and your gaggle of women that tagged alongside you made for a conspicuous scene, it was expected for there to be some level of intimidation. Especially with Cattleya and Gerty flanking your right and your left.

Conveniently, the donkey man was amongst those that remained. He looked at your wives, then at you, with an almost unreadable expression.

Despite his clothing being in tatters, there was a certain charm and that spoke of how colorful it once was. It was well kept in spite of everything it must've gone through. However, you felt like some key part of his person was missing. Something that completed his class.

"Salutations, fellow fool." He greeted you with an unexpectedly eloquent tone, "How can this humble bard be of assistance in such a troubled place?"

Of course. It should've been obvious to you that he was a bard.

"You will address Lord Doe with the respect he deserves." Gerty said with righteous authority. "He is a Savant Lord, made the owner of the Left-Bridge Commercial Center now and forever."

"Leader, Master, Savant, it matters not." The donkey man's ears twitched in annoyance, yet his face remained calm. You could see that Gerty wanted to yell at him for his insolence. "This centre of commerce eats and spits out both east and west, regardless of origin and merit."

"Then it's a good thing Master is from neither Eastian nor Westphalian." Ayane had a composed expression like always.

"Oh?" This seemed to intrigue him. "And he owns you as well, I assume?"

"You assume correctly." Your vixen confirmed with a calm nod of her head.

"A human with a kitsune wife is a rare thing." He said idly.

"I just wanted to talk with you." You steered the conversation towards what you wanted to know.

"And what do I owe the pleasure of that honor, Savant Lord?" He said.

"Out of everyone residing here you seem to stand out the most." You replied.

"I'm flattered." He gives you a dramatic bow, reminding you of Yumi's theatrics. "But I wouldn't be a good bard otherwise if that wasn't the case."

After introducing himself as Morris Murphy he vaguely glossed over his history. He used to, in his own words, 'bring peace when there was war and woo fair damsels' with his songs and tales. This was when he worked as a squire for a Knightly Order not too many years ago; a position which he apparently deserted at some point. This didn't improve Gerty's opinion of him. Most of his tales usually ended with some humor or some interesting moral. And it was there you noticed something about what you once assumed was a donkey beastman.

"I'm surprised you don't have swarms of women and children at your side, or a place you could call your own instead of here." Ruby said. You knew her well enough that she intended that as a jab at his current state.

"Children would be unlikely, considering he's actually a mule himself." You said, looking at him.

"You are correct, sir Savant." Morris sighed. "A mule I am, though I do have a few wives still. Alas, that I would be a jackass."

He spoke a bit about his parents— his mother a mare and his father a jack. Of his childhood, of how he showed promise of becoming a heroic and legendary bard.

"I would be tempted to continue speaking of myself so greatly and with such length," He said "But it is clear that you and yours bear a thinly wearing patience."

"We just came back from the, uh, I forgot what that place was called. But it's where all the boring paperwork happens." Bertha said.

"The I.D.C.A? Ah, I wasn't aware. My condolences." Morris said with genuine sympathy.

He seemed to be pretty reasonable and sensible, if a little theatrical and self-deprecating at times. You noted that he was a good listener, and generally had a fondness for story telling and acting— something he shared with all other bards, according to his own words.

Yes, he was reasonable and sensible in most things. With one glaring exception:

"Hey, just out of curiosity," Mel said, "Do you not happen to have an instrument to play?"

Now that she mentioned it, you did just now realize that he didn't have anything here. You half expected him to cast a spell and to summon it, or use some sort of magical construct to create a temporary instrument, but he didn't do that.

No, instead, he started to sing.

"Hohoho... the world is still a-turning,

The people? Still feeling,

If they were not burning?

Then all the city is reeling. Hahaha..."

The small crowd that remained began to trickle away. Unlike with your entrance, it was far more calm and controlled.

"There he goes again..." Said one of the people here.

"Hope he doesn't decide to use his Tears this time." Another commented.

More and more people muttered about the scene as he went from strange songs to rants about the injustice of it all, how his instruments were all destroyed by outside forces, complaints about how weak his magic was, and so on, all jumbled together in a nearly incoherent mess. Only you and Mel were able to make sense of it.

"Anyway," You cleared your throat as you tried to bring things back before things digressed more than they already had, "What do you know about the lamia here?"

"Hmm? The who?" Morris paused and blinked, going back to his usual self as he thought about your question. "Ah, the 'snakes'. Call themselves the 'Snake Eyes'.

"They are a group that supposedly 'protect' this place from outside influence. Mere racketeering. They'd be a crime ring if they were bolder, methinks.

And yet they have done some good here and there, providing food and clean water to those that need it. Not enough to make themselves less of a devil, but enough to be accepted as part of the play we act in. As for the lamia not associated with them? Some are good, others evil. And the rest? Who knows.

"Some like to blame them for the troubles of this place. Others blame the gnomes for pulling out investments and blacklisting the place when they couldn't get their way. Or the harpies for being the first to to flock here. And yet others blame some Eastian mogul's father. Roostchilds, I think?" Cattleya tenses at the name. "And rumors has it that Lionel continues the work of his father after the latter failed to establish himself here.

"Tell me more about Rostchilde." You press.

"Of what? His actions? I haven't the faintest clue. I keep to the light and to the open. Less chance to meet one's end by blade or bullet, methinks."

"Speaking of that, how did this place become what is it today?" You found that the danger was extreme, considering.

"I haven't visited this place much in my youth," Ayane began, "But from what I've heard, it was once bursting with trade and life."

"It's basically the bad part of town." Mel added. "With how everyone talks about it today."

"There were way too many people trying to mug us." Herta said.

"The fall from grace was before my time," he said, ignoring your wives, "But I can indeed say that it was not as bad as it is today when I first got here some years ago. A word of advice— getting rent from this place is like pulling teeth. And often it leads to ruin for those who try, and those that try to make hold businesses here tend to be vandalized at best."

"It rather sounds like you wish to skip upon payment." Ruby commented.

"It does not matter what it sounds like, only what it is." He shrugged again. "I won't complain if you bring employment to the pitiful sufferers like myself, but don't tell me I didn't warn any of you."

"Is there any other news we should know about?" You continue questioning him.

"The gnomes recently tried to take over the place again, sending in legal advisors to find loopholes in the property after none wished to sell the place to them. The lamia heightened their 'protection fees'. And a gang went about vandalising Bed and Barn Inns. There have also been rumors of a few harpy eggs missing, and corpses of the mothers found soon after. And there's word of the Centrian Knights looking for an excuse to purge the place in zealous massacre. You know, the usual."

"Wot was that 'bout harpy eggs an' bodies?" Cattleya meowed before you could ask that same question. She was still as tense as she was when Rostchilde was mentioned.

"What it sounds like." He sounded a little too uncaring and casual about it. "Harpies are a strange species. But even now they too can feel tragedy and loss. 'Tis a mere sorrow of life, like any other!"

"I think she meant what you know about it." Mel clarified.

"I know what I've told and not much else." He said.

You weren't really surprised, considering that this place practically had no form of security other than criminal ones.

He doesn't speak much more on that subject, saying that all he knew was word of mouth and hearsay.

You then ask about who resides here, with some emphasis on that human family you just saw.

"It depends. Homeless, criminals, and the occasional bounty hunter, we are of most walks of life. Yet one commonality binds us— our predisposition to poverty. And that family of humans? They are a merely a quiet addition to the greater family this place absorbs. They keep to themselves for the most part, only going out to buy food and water. But if you want to know more about them?" He shrugged. "Ask them yourself. They might share what ails them."

"I just was planning on doing that." You said. "It was nice meeting you, Morris."

"Likewise, Savant Lord." He nods to you and bowed once more, then went back to warming his hands by the bonfire.

You were about to leave, but considered how there might've been something else you wanted to know about.

>"But before I leave..." (Write-in for any questions you have or things you want to tell him).
>No, there wasn't anything on your mind about it.

"Master," Mel said as you left the light of the bonfire, "I don't know if he's being entirely honest."

"He didn't sound like he was lying." Bertha said.

"Yeah, well, I don't think he was either." Mel continued as you all walked. "But I don't think he was telling the full truth either."

You thought about it. "Thanks, Mel. I'll keep that in mind."

You and your wives go back to the house where that human family was at. As skittish as they were before, they were now more open to meeting you after realizing you weren't gonna go until they met you.

Consisting of an average-looking man, his two plain-faced slave-wives, and three daughters, they proved to be a humble bunch. Good at making themselves look small and unassuming— not worth harming, overlooked by organized crime, and humble enough to be the subject of the occasional generous act.

You would've thought they were all Masterminds with how carefully they planned everything, were they not all part of the commoner class.

Asking them about what they felt and what they would like brought the answers you expected.

"More food an' water, the clean sort." Said the eldest slave wife, Iris. She had an accent like Cattleya's, but with a distinct dialect and Mel's high-pitched voice, practically worse sounding in every way.

"An' a cleaner place, at leas' without mold or rust." Said the other wife, Agnes. She spoke much like the other wife, who was apparently her sister.

"Less crime." Said the man, Thomas, in a gruff voice. He had a very average appearance, with the only thing worth noting being his tattered clothes.

The three of them answered with one or two sentence responses, never elaborating on anything unless you directly requested them to.

You found out that, while they didn't like the lamias, they didn't interact with any of them.

"Do you know about the lamias? What do you think about the Snake Eyes?" You asked.

"They take people's money. Don't like 'em." Thomas responded, then falling silent again.

"What do you think about the gnomes trying to buy out the place?" You continued.

"Don't like it." He responded, again becoming quiet.

"Why not?" You pressed on as the seconds of silence threatened to become minutes. You heard the women talk about childcare stuff in the background.

"Bad feeling 'bout it." He said. "Don't like 'em." A rare second sentence. When asking about the missing harpies, he said he didn't know much about them.

"What do you guys do for a living?" You said.

"Get scrap." Said the human man.

Further explanation revealed they all collected scrap from the trash around the plaza— confirming that there was indeed much scrap around here— selling it off to stores, junkyards, and any merchants willing to buy them in bulk. Though their history was something they avoided speaking of, you gathered that they likely had some sort of connection to the first people that came to Centria.

The rest of your wives were looking over the children, d'awwing and caring for them and generally showing their maternal sides.

Things seemed to be wrapping up when the three girls began to get drowsy. You considered giving something to this family, or otherwise asking something they knew about, since they seemed to just be getting by.

>There was no need. They would be better off when you fixed the place up. That would be their gift.
>Give them some gold. It seems like even a small amount would be worth much to them, since they only had copper coins.
>(Write-in).

With that done, you and your wives were getting close to becoming tired. More than one yawn was shared and signs of sleepiness began to set in. It was getting close to midnight.

But there was still one last place you wanted to check out tonight.

It takes some looking, but you finally found the place Ponnamie spoke about.

Nestled deep in an alleway you find a door that seemed out of place. You give it a knock.

The sliding peephole on the door glides on its wooden surface to reveal darkness, then a pair of red eyes. A distorted voice accompanied it that clearly dripped with illusion.

"Welcome, weary traveler. What brings... oh, it's you again." Said voice almost immediately lost it's mysterious tone the moment it layed eyes on you. "I see that curiosity brought you before the humble establishment."

"Do I even need to say the password?" You said.

"I'd like it." Said she, "At least t'keep my mind at ease."

"Master John Doe now owns this property." Gerty said. "You will open it, whether you like it not. Lest you wish to-"

"I already know." Interrupted Ponnamie. "An' I prepared for it."

"Oi, that a threat mate?" Cattleya hissed.

"Now, don't go talkin' nonsense!" They bunnygirl behind the door exclaimed before adopting a placating tone. "Ah wouldn't dare offend his royal Savantness! Jus' give me a sec..."

You hear the shuffling of things behind the door, the jostling of keys, and the opening of locks.

"You know, you should think of a better password." You tell her.

"I'll get to it. One day." The petite bunny woman shrugged. "Now, I'm guessin' you want the meat 'n potatoes, so just follow me to the back and I'll show you the wares."

The inside rooms, in contrast to the outside, even the immediate outside of the alleyway, were perfectly orderly. The furniture, though all very old, was without dust. The floor, likewise, was swept. Both were clean, and both were polished. A small table adorned the makeshift living room, complete with plates, held a vase with a singular daisy in it.

This place obviously served as a home to her.

Apparently 'by the back' meant just a few steps behind a curtain and into another section of this place.

It was a bit cramped. Cattleya couldn't even stand up to her full height in this place, needing to slouch to not bump her heard.

"For a secret store hidden in a seedy alleway, this is pretty nice." You said to Pomegranate as you followed her into the store's front. "Trying to impress me?"

"It's also my home." She said. "Gotta keep it nice for when the kits come home."

"You're married?" Mel asked. "You don't act like you're married."

"Not yet, anyhow." Ponnamie smiled. "My husband passed away a decade ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that." You gave your condolences, soon followed by the rest of your wives.

"Hey, 's alright." Pomegranate said with a wave of her hand. "But enough mushy talk. Let's get started."

She gently pulled out a book until a click was heard. A door opens in what was once a wall, revealing some products.