The ladies looked tense at my declaration. Emma in particular looked distressed. Between this and her assistance at the last fight, it was clear that she felt something for me. I wasn’t some dense MC dumbed down by plot considerations. For my part, I certainly was attracted to Emma and her striking personality. I really saw her as waifu material. So for my harem’s sake, I really hoped this negotiation didn’t end in bloodshed.

“Lady Natalia, what is your goal? Why are you here in the Wilds? And please don’t insult my intelligence by saying you’re prospecting for crystals.”

Natalia showed a pensive expression. She was considering how forthcoming she had to be for this negotiation to work. “I want to create a sanctuary where women wouldn’t have to silently cry at night. Fortunately, I’ve had some success thanks to the Galahad Trading Company. But that will not last. I will get matched eventually, and my matched husband would almost certainly take everything from me and toss out my dependents. Therefore, I need a place to escape beyond the reach of the establishment when that happens.”

OK, not a goal I was opposed to. I wouldn’t consider myself a bleeding-heart feminist, but as somebody who dreamed of throwing off the yoke of noble oppression and living in freedom, who was I to oppose a bunch of women doing the same thing?

Natalia also didn’t sound like a naive fool- she was smart enough to know that building an illegal settlement within the Ranger patrol zones was suicidally stupid. But living that far out also meant contending with stronger and smarter mana-beasts and demihumans, all without military support from the Rangers or economic support from the city.

So far, I saw no reason to doubt her claim- her shelter/orphanage was well-known in the city, and she, a noble Lady, actually bothered to make the trip to the Narrows herself! If that doesn’t show dedication and commitment, I don’t know what would.

It was her turn to ask. “You are indeed an interesting man, Rummy. You have the means to end the Era of the Knights. Yet you appeared to have no ambition to do so. Tell me Rummy, what is your dream in this chaotic world?”

“Me? I just want to build a beautiful harem and retire in the Wilds with them. I want to die of old age with dozens of loving wives and children surrounding my deathbed.” I directly looked into Emma’s beautiful lake blue eyes as I said that. Her cute flustered expression showed up once more.

“What? That is the sum total of your ambitions? To whore yourself to death? These forge-smithing talents were truly wasted on you!” Skera huffed in anger. Wow, did she just compliment my talents? Character development alert~

“My good lady, the Era of the Knights will eventually end with or without my intervention. This shitty empire will eventually fall with or without my intervention. In a thousand years, our dreams and deeds will be all but forgotten. In the grand scale of time, nothing truly matters. So why not spend what little time I have pursuing a dream that will fill a hole in my heart and make me happy?”

Skera looked like she wanted to retort, but couldn’t quite find the right words to string together. Emma’s lake blue eyes seemed deep in thought. Natalia looked bemused by my nihilist response. Strangely, Sapphire looked at me with total fascination and admiration.

I concluded my mini-speech. “From my perspective, my dream is infinitely more important than any noble pissing match or even the fucking Emperor himself!”

Skera, the Lawful Good dummy of this story, sternly rebuked me. “Watch your mouth! Blasphemy against the Emperor…” But I cut her off.

“Will what? Will I be punished by being forced to fight other starving orphans for a piece of moldy bread in the back alley? Or will I be punished by having my childhood friend ripped limb from limb by a drunk noble brute?” I maliciously glared at her. “Or will I be forced to witness Ser Paul of House Bravestorm brutalize a helpless peasant girl in an alleyway?”

Oh, that one has gotta hurt. Skera was once again forced to be quiet. She had to have known about her rapist relative. The fact that he had a carte blanche on his rape-and-murder spree thanks to his status in House Bravestorm must have really eaten her up inside.

I turned the conversation back to Natalia. “I don’t owe a single shred of allegiance to that bastard in Caliburn. So if you offer me what I want, I will gladly work for you.” Natalia’s goals did not conflict with mine, and she seemed like a decent boss I could see myself working for given the right conditions.

Natalia pensively looked at me for a brief moment and replied. “I would name you my Forge-Master and a Councilor of my inner circle. What are your terms?”

“First and foremost, I would like your permission and blessing for me to take Emma’s hand in marriage someday into my future harem.”

Once again, Emma was flustered and blushing. Man, this is fun!

Natalia, on the other hand, did not look amused. “Adept Rummy, I hope you understand that I would never force a woman to marry a man against her will. Not even a man of your talents... ”

“I promise you that my harem will be based on informed consent. Just because you give your blessing to our union does not imply that it is inevitable. Emma would still have the final say, just like every potential bride of my harem.”

Natalia looked at Emma, sighed, and replied. “In that case, I assent to your first condition.” Skera looked dismayed, but she managed to hold her tongue. Emma, on the other hand, looked relieved.

“I will obviously need access to your stock of Artorian Silver, fire and air mana crystals, and other basic crafting materials like iron, coal, lead, and bronze. In fact, due to the troubling times ahead, I advise you to stock up on all of them.”

“Granted. What else do you require?”

“Lastly, I did want to keep all of my loot from the previous battle. However, since Emma helped out, I intend on letting her pick one item of her choosing as an engagement gift.”

For the first time in a while, Emma spoke up. “I want Archmage Sapphire. I know Lady Natalia is uncomfortable with her status as a prisoner even if your cause is just. So I want her under my custody. Besides, I think I can learn a lot of magecraft from an Archmage.”

“Sure. I really don't care either way. An Expert-level earth mage like her might be helpful to you if you do decide to build an illegal settlement on the Narrows.” As much as I was wary of her, if it keeps my #1 waifu happy, so be it. This decision to spare her might come back and punch me in the dick, but at least by then that dick wouldn’t be a virgin one~

Sapphire, surprisingly, was not okay with this arrangement. “No! Master! You promised you’d take care of me as long as I obey you! Please don’t abandon me! No! Not again… ”

“Trust me, Emma will take better care of you than I ever will. As long as you obey her, the same conditions apply.”

“But…”

I cut her off. “Emma is my future wife, so you better please her if you want to stick around.”

“...Yes, Master.” She looked at Emma and bowed. “I will follow Mistress.”

Emma seemed delighted. She smiled at me and said, “Thank you, future husband.”

“I think I’m going to be sick…” Oh Skera, if this much made you sick, wait until my harem got up and running~

“On that wonderful note…” I bowed in front of Natalia. “Lady Natalia of House Galahad, I swear to serve you as your employee under these terms.”

Natalia gracefully smiled. “Please raise your head, Forge-Master Rummy.” Forge-Master was as close to “Project Manager” as I’d ever get to in this life, so a sense of pride did seep out of my usually stoic heart. Finally, I made it to manager! And I finally got a job where I wouldn’t have to work under parasites!

***

At first light of the next day, the 5 of us rushed toward our destination. We were slightly behind schedule due to the battle and employment negotiations, and asking civilians to push 20 klicks a day (a mark that even some Rangers had trouble with) was utterly unrealistic. However, we were all in good spirits (except Skera) now that I got a path to haremhood and my employers and colleagues had somebody who could make their exodus a viable option.

For my part, I was pretty stoked about my new relationship. My harem dream took a giant leap last night. Of course, there was always a risk of betrayal, but given how desperately they needed me at the moment, I should be safe now. I didn’t know much about Artorian noble society, but even I knew Natalia’s current success was not sustainable. The autonomy she had enjoyed was a sticking nail that her family, her business rivals, and society at large would love to hammer down for their own respective benefits. This would mean that I would be indispensable at least until the establishment of our settlement.

Speaking of my harem dream, I know it felt weird to be engaged to a girl that quickly. But that was how it was in this world. There is no “dating” in the modern sense in this world. Artorian society abhors ambiguity and would’ve hated the chaotic way my generation did things back in my previous life. Hell, it was not uncommon for brides to have met their arranged grooms mere days before the wedding. In a way, my open-ended engagement to Emma basically served as a modern equivalent of dating. If our vision for the future lined up nicely, I could see her as waifu #1.

After picking off a couple of goblin scout parties, we were in the middle of lunch in the middle of a grass clearing (a great place to avoid ambushes while on break) when I noticed a massive pack of wolves heading our way. Fuck, I was hoping to avoid wolves this time. While my original travel companions had grappling hooks and means to <>, my prisoner didn’t. So my choices were to take her with me, or stand my ground. And I was leaning towards the latter.

“Wolves incoming! You 3, get up to the tree!” I handed an Adept-level earth mana crystal to Sapphire. “You, start digging traps and trenches around us now!” It was a bit of a risk giving an earth mana crystal to a skilled Earth-elemental Archmage, but the only 2 spells she had access to was <> and <>. So if she tried anything funny, I could’ve always <> myself and watched her turn into a happy meal for the wolves.

“Yes, master! I’ll show you how useful I can be!” Sapphire looked at me with a look of determination.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

As she cast the spells, my new boss and colleagues were safely up on the tree branches.

“Emma! Pick off any wolves coming from the flanks and rear! I’ll deal with the front!” I knelt next to the tree and took aim with Severance Pay. 5 seconds later, a wolf emerged from the brushes with a fearsome killing intent and an intimidating snarl.

*Boom!*

I got the bastard right on the jaw and the bullet tore its heart on the follow-through. A good start, but 4 more wolves followed.

*Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!*

Thank goodness wolves generally didn’t zig zag when they charged. It sure made it easier to cap them all. But the battle was just getting started. I took a quick peek with my spyglass and I saw about a dozen more ahead. At this moment, 3 more wolves emerged from the brushes.

*Boom!* *PING!*

After a near miss, I quickly reloaded thanks to 2 lifetime's worth of muscle memories. But by then, the nearest wolf was about 60 meters away. Shit! I’ve always hated how fast these bastards were.

*Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!*

The 3 nearest wolves were slain, but the main force of 8 wolves was now around the 40 meter mark.

*Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!* *PING!*

As I reloaded once more, I saw a dazzling fireball land on our right flank 20 meters away. Seconds later, a noticeably dimmer fireball landed on our left flank 15 meters away. A dozen or so wolves from the flanking attack were hurt, but not down. But that was fine- I just needed the ladies to keep them busy while I dealt with the main force.

Meanwhile, 4 wolves got within 15 meters of me, and about 15 meters behind them was a Champion alpha wolf mana-beast leading a group of 6 larger wolves. Whoa! This Champion was a mutated one! It had a white coat and dark blue eyes! At roughly 4 meters long and 2 meters tall, it was noticeably bigger than your typical Champion wolf. For some reason, it was also chunkier? than the other wolves. Thankfully it was slower than its subordinates. Either way, that was my cue to go nuts with rapid fire.

*Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!* *PING!*

A flurry of bullets cut down the pack down to 2 wolves and the Champion from the front. On my flanks, more <> shots land on the wolves, keeping them at bay. As I began to reload, the 2 wolves charged within 10 meters of me. Suddenly, they fell into a deep pit and yelped. Looked like Sapphire managed to shape spikes at the bottom of the pit- a mark of a truly skilled earth-affinity archmage. The 9 remaining flanking wolves shared a similar fate as they got within 10 meters of us.

Wow, Sapphire was able to <> out an intricate pitfall minefield with a radius of 10 meters that quickly?!? That was a little scary considering that I would eventually have to fight archmages like her in the distant future.

As I completed the reload, the only remaining threat was the Champion wolf. After seeing its pack fell into our traps, it stopped its charge in an impressive display of awareness and intelligence. The wolf then opened its jaws, exposing its intimidating fangs. Its hauntingly deep blue eyes began to glow faintly, and a glob of ice began to form and compressed within the jaws. Oh fuck! It was going to cast a spell at the girls on the tree!

“GET DOWN!!!” I warned my allies of the impending attack.

Skera steadied herself. She began to grab the girls and jump off the tree branch.

With a nervous tension, I took out Aurelia. I knew she wouldn’t pierce through the tough mana-enhanced coat of a Champion wolf, but I hoped the potshots would be enough to distract the wolf and forcibly cancel the activation of the spell. I emptied out my mag at its face and snout.

*Pop**Pop**Pop**Pop**Pop**Pop**Pop**Pop*

Despite the potshot, the <> spell activated and a streak of blue-ish white light hit the tree trunk above the ladies, instantly pulverizing it. Good thing Skera already got everyone to jump down. Well, at least my potshot forced a near-miss from the Champion by dinging its eyes and snout.

Once I emptied Aurelia, I dropped it on the ground as I finished reloading Severance Pay. The wolf shook off the potshots and jumped the trench. I lined up my shot and unloaded.

*Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!**Boom!*

Despite 6 consecutive hits on its chest and limbs, the Champion wolf still had some fight left in her. Holy shit, this Champion was easily the most resilient mana-beast I’ve ever seen! It charged forward at me, but stumbled right into another big pit Sapphire prepared. Awesome! Sapphire may be a loose cannon, but she was also veteran Witch archmage who’d fought in countless battles~

*CRASH!*

The sheer weight of the Champion shook the earth as it landed into the pit and crushed the spikes. I ran towards the pit and aimed at its head. Champion mana-beasts like that bear I fought all those years ago usually had ridiculous healing capabilities. So I’ve always remembered to double tap (Rule #2!)

*Boom!**Boom!* *PING!*

Or triple tap in my case~

***

It took about half an hour to rest up and harvest the mana crystals. With Sapphire and Emma helping me, I harvested 34 crystals, mostly ice elemental ones. I had to ask Skera to cleave through the tough coat of the Champion wolf with her sword so I could dig at the crystal. After 10 minutes of digging around, I finally got an Adept-level ice mana crystal. It’s not that relevant to me, but it’d fetch a boatload of crowns at least. I put it in my satchel and began to <> myself out of the pit.

Then I heard labored breathing. At first, I thought it was Skera, who was with me in the pit to harvest some of the undamaged fur coat. Our eyes met and we confirmed that it wasn’t either one of us. I grabbed Aurelia and Skera steadied her arming sword.

After hearing it again, we realized that the labored breathing sound came from inside the belly of the slain wolf. Fuck, this wolf was pregnant?

Skera sliced the belly of the wolf, and after a short while, a tiny white wolf pup with ragged breathing emerged. Despite it being no bigger than my hands, it ferociously clawed its way out of its dead mother’s womb while covered in her blood and into the world of the living. It simply would not be denied its right to struggle in this harsh world.

Skera looked at the wolf pup with disinterest and went back to her harvesting work. Me, I was always a dog person, and regretted not being able to care for one due to my work. This could be my golden opportunity to domesticate a mutated wolf...

I stuck out my hand at its snout. The pup, with its eyes still closed, smelled it and licked my index finger. Then it started to suckle on it, expecting milk. Crap. I wanted to save it and raise it, but all I had on me were bear jerky, pickled veggies, and stale bread- hardly ideal food for a newborn pup with no teeth.

“Hey Sapphire, do you or your dead comrades carry milk in these bracelets?”

“Yes, Master. I know Ruby always liked to enjoy sweets with milk.” There was a hint of sadness in her reply. But I wasn’t gonna get into that now.

I looked at the pup. “Aren’t you lucky, little one?” I visualized a bottle of milk and withdrew it from the storage bracelet. I then dipped my index finger into it, and stuck it into the mouth of the pup. Discovering the scent and taste of milk, it greedily suckled on my finger. Awesome! We were in business!

15 minutes later, I <> myself out of the pit with the pup sleeping in my satchel. Skera had already gone up by then and told everyone about my new pet. Emma looked visibly excited. Natalia, meanwhile, warned me that nobody has ever successfully tamed a wild wolf mana-beast before, so I should be wary. Fair enough, I’ve seen my fair share of animal attacks on Youtube back in my previous life to take that warning seriously.

I was too engrossed in naming ideas to care about such warnings. I refused to be one of those MC’s with a comically shitty naming sense. I swore I’d nail this puppy’s name! I would give him/her(?) a name that would make my nerd comrades in the 21st Century proud. I presumed it was a her since I didn’t see a dingdong down there, but I didn’t know if male wolves were supposed to have one this young…

Despite wanting to take a break after all of that, this battle set us far behind schedule. So we hurried ourselves and rushed towards the Narrows, hoping that it really could be a place to build a world of our choosing, away from the tyranny of the powers that be.

Goddamit, I guessed my life was turning into a fucking #KingdomBuilding novel after all...

Field Inventory

Primary Weapon

Recurve bow made from Champion mana-beast sinew/Quiver with arrows

M1 Garand v.1.0 [Christened Severance Pay]

Secondary Weapon

Colt M1911A1 Semi-Automatic Pistol v.2.0 [Christened Aurelia]

Armor

Champion mana-beast leather body armor [Damaged], bracers, and greaves; Leather boots lined with bear fur

Mana Crystals

1x Adept-level air elemental mana crystal

1x Adept-level fire elemental mana crystal

1x Adept-level earth elemental mana crystal

2x Adept-level ice elemental mana crystal

5x Adept-level space elemental mana crystal

4x Beginner-level time elemental mana crystal

1x Adept-level life elemental mana crystal

1x Expert-level earth elemental mana crystal

1x Expert-level space elemental mana crystal

Stash of various mana crystals

Misc.

5x storage bracelets, spyglass

Utility belt, grappling hook, rope, dark green cloak, field satchel, waterskin, rations, boarskin map and steel knife

1x .45 ACP steel centerfire pistol suppressor

1x .30-06 Springfield steel centerfire rifle suppressor / bayonet [Damaged]

6x en bloc clips of .30-06 Springfield armor-piercing ammo

3x magazines of .45 ACP hollow-point ammo

1x leather holster

5x dragon leather armor set

2x dragon sinew recurve bow

2x steel shields

1x polearm

1x arming sword

5x mithril dagger

1x mutated wolf mana-beast pup [Name TBD]