The next day, I created a bathhouse. Stone walls, a container for the hot water, a big shallow pool, roof, ventilation, and lighting. Each of these was duplicated to keep proper decorum and bang! The mandatory bath fanservice episode was already underway. We dispatched the sausage party to the other side where they would be miserably cramped and enjoyed the bath with only the seven of us.

As if.

Our expedition had twenty-two males and eighteen females. I took that into account and the male bath was half as big as ours since men normally didn't like to stay as close as the females in the bath. It should be an even spread, though the maids and servants didn't want to join Royalty in the bath. They quickly stole our clothes and fled out of the bathhouse under the pretense they were going to wash them. I raised a hand but Mirina held it.

"Let them. I'm a [Queen], you are even more than that, Miss Goddess [Matriarch] of the Kin. This behavior was ingrained in them since birth. It is hard to surpass it."

I let my hand down and looked over at our classmates. They too were circumspect around Mirina at the beginning but after delving, leveling, sharing secrets together, they warmed up and broke the social barriers. But I wouldn't feel comfortable like that. I could hear the male bath and Euric was chatting with the dwarves and knights normally.

"I'll not make a fuss this time."

Mirina nodded. We had a complicated relationship because while she was the [Queen] of Windemere and I intended to let her be, I couldn't release her from her oath. The regret of what I've done kept me from closing the tiny gap between us. The tension was obvious, the chemistry, the complicity. We were even officially engaged by the King of Lonid. But I couldn't bring our relationship to the next step.

And I expected any day for the message that Lorna's soul was coming back to me. In that tangle of complex feelings, I chose to keep a healthy distance from Mirina. But I knew she stole glances when she thought I wasn't looking. I had a three-sixty vision in a range of ten meters.

We undressed and I had to resort to Apricot's {Compartmentalized Mind} to keep myself from ogling the girls, especially Mirina. Her Royal upbringing allowed her body to grow to its full potential and it showed in her figure. Not that the other girls starved or anything. Absolute poverty in Windemere was rare. But one bad winter or a wilted harvest did put people on meager rations even with magic. Alas, only with magic did people survive this Age of Eclipse. It wasn't over yet but by now nobody cared. It was a matter of a few decades for Galbarar to fully restore the sun.

Absorbed in my thoughts and the conflicting emotions, I missed most of the talk. I only paid attention to Marisol's answer to Mirina when she spoke my name.

"... Haru gave it to me! I couldn't believe how expensive this thing was!"

I lifted my eyes. The girls were looking at the thing on Marisol's hands, the "Rosewise Special". Mirina turned around and we made eye contact.

"Haru. Are you the maker of this contraption?"

I nodded. "This and all others we sold back in Perenneth a thousand years ago," I finished with a forced giggle. "I can make more if you want but these are old models."

Mirina took the device and set it to vibrate. "Why does this one still work? The others we had in Lonid stopped functioning a long time ago."

Oh. The "battery" enchantment I put to force them to return to recharge it. Too bad Windemere, bundeus, and a black dragon got in the way of my planned obsolescence business.

"I made them so they need to be brought back to me for a 'recharge'. This one too would stop working after a while. Back then, I needed a known source of money because I couldn't just appear one day with the treasure of [King] Bernard."

Mentioning a historic figure and my "crimes" so nonchalantly made Mirina cringe.

"I didn't know they survived to this day."

The [Queen] blushed. "Reports of these devices' miraculous effects became the theme for many a bard's tales. One of my father's wives collected them."

Marisol nodded at "miraculous effects". Ignoring the horny half-Eleon, I checked my item box. It wasn't in the palace.

"She took her prized collection with her when we released your family. Do you want me to reactivate the devices when we go visit them?"

"I don't think it's wise," concerned about something, she replied. Mirina was probably hiding half of the story but I wouldn't press her for more details.

"Nevermind them. Well, they're ancient models. I can do much better ones now."

Marisol shot me a sultry look as she sidled along the edge of the bath toward me. "Seriously?"

"Yes, Marisol. Do you want me to make one for you?"

She bit her lower lip, blushed, squirmed, and nodded. I glanced at her and regretted it. Was she hiding all that underneath her school robes?

"Damn, Marisol. You're packing some heavy weaponry there, aren't you?"

She pulled her shoulders back and unabashedly grinned. "Do you like them? Are you envious?" She teased as she stared at mine.

I had no idea if it was due to my emergency activation or just Haru's own genetic propensity but I knew that they weren't going to get any bigger anytime soon.

The other girls approached. Camilla groped Marisol. "Oh, right. You never bathed with us at the Academy. You lost a lot by giving up your dorm room, Haru!"

"Marisol is one of the seven goddesses of the Academy," Melania volunteered. "As rated by the boys."

I smirked and nodded, "I can see why she's so popular with the boys. It was like that back at the orphanage."

Marisol squealed and pounced me, draping an arm around my neck, "Haru! You hid all this time you were Locksley's reincarnation! That's not fair! We had no secrets back at the orphanage!" She was pressing them against me on purpose.

"You were the one to never have any secrets ever, woman. You'd make a good priest of Galbarar too. But you are more of a lover than a judge, so you're in the right place. Now. Get. Off. Of. Me." I latched to her wrist with a tail and pulled it off.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Strong!" She whined, then went on the counterattack. She took the device from Mirina and brandished it in front of me. I could imagine a stupid game where the most powerful weapon was a pleasure toy. "Haru!" Marisol spoke like someone plotting revolution. "Did you test your own products?" She delivered, wiggling her eyebrows and making the device tremble.

Summoning all my willpower left, I deadpanned. "Yes, Marisol. I tested all of them. It is healthy. Lorna helped me sell them, you should see the spectacle she put on in the theater I rented for the noble ladies of Perenneth. Most of these stuck-up nobles learned what a woman's pleasure' really meant that night."

She dropped the device, letting it float on the water, sending ripples everywhere. "You win. But you're making an improved one for all of us."

A quick scan told me they had planned this ahead. "Okay. You're going to help me. We have some monsters to skin."

She gagged. "Monster? It's made of monster parts?"

"Always has been," I deadpanned and delivered the meme. "Or do you think I cut off someone's…"

"I got it!"

"Thinking of it, I just defeated Sadian's army, I could…"

"Please don't," she looked queasy.

"I just sculpted it to look like the real thing. This one, it's made with--" She snatched the device and stored it in her ring before I could use in-depth {Appraise}.

"Please don't tell me," she begged.

----------------------------------------

After the 'relaxing' bath, I used a ritual to carve a hemispherical hole and put one of the Pekothian castles I stole in the southern strip of human lands.

"Why did we sleep in tents if you could do that?" Melania wondered.

I poked my tongue out at her. "Because you made the servants build the tents. It would be a waste of their effort."

"I could've used a bed! There was a rock under my butt, now my tail is sore!" She complained.

"You should've asked me for one. I had hundreds of beds," I grinned devilishly. "Come, if you want a toy, you need to work for them."

We entered the castle and made our way to the workshop. I used {House Magic} along the way to clear the blood from the previous occupants. Lazy Snowdrop forgot to do that. Before the door, I issued a warning.

"Okay. I have a monster here that I believe will make an excellent device. I'm going to dismantle it. If you don't want to see the critter before I process the hide, stay outside. If you come inside to help me skin the beasts, don't tell the others what it is."

Melania, Camilla, and Phyllis entered. I closed the door behind me and set a Force ward that would block even dimensional travel around the room.

> Shadow Workshop

"There's no coming back now," I warned them. "Here is the stock we're using!"

I dropped the corpse of a kythaurpódi on a shadowy table.

Camilla clenched her legs, "This thing has blades everywhere!"

"Gods, the stench," Phyllis complained.

"It will all go away once it's processed. Now, we need to rake these blades off. I need a steel comb with bladed teeth."

The wonder of the {Shadow Workshop} was that any tool I could imagine was available, even those that didn't exist in this world yet. The only limitations were things that required circuitry, a computer, or very high-tech parts. I could get a crane, a lathe, a precision mill, even die molds. But a CNC, lasers, or 3D printing were out of the question. The rule of thumb was if it could be made entirely out of mechanical parts, the shadow workshop had it.

At least I could make the lasers with Light magic. Despite Marlowe's prejudice, Sorcerers ruled.

I cut and skinned a tentacle while my three assistants fought to keep their breakfast. Pinning the skin flat over a table, I brought the giant comb and added a back compartment to hold the thousands of tiny blades it would cut off as well as a top panel to keep them from flying everywhere. I set the comb to move over a horizontal rail and angled the teeth so it would first pull and stretch the tendrils before cutting the small blade. I pushed the comb and it ripped the blades off. A few flew forward but didn't hit anyone.

Using {Living Thread}, I sewed the tendrils shut, passed a strand through the hide, and made the ends round and smooth. The strand inside the tendril would make it tougher and give better control over its movements later on. The advantage was that I didn't need needles because the threads moved on their own under my command. From the table, the skin went into a test run in an alchemical bath meant to cure and strengthen the leather. I had to adjust the reagent quantity and proportions. Ten minutes later, I took it out, rinsed, and checked the texture. It was too dry.

I discarded the piece and prepared another tentacle. After four tries, I got the right mixture and PH for the kythaurpódi leather. It seemed like I wasted an hour preparing the full tentacle but testing with a small piece was useless. The alchemical bath needed to be graded according to the size of the piece and I didn't want to treat hundreds of tiny bits of leather when I had no idea how big a piece I needed.

It also let me grind a bit more Proficiency points. I even taught the girls as I worked to get the teaching bonus too.

Another hour later, I had six rectangular and perfect kythaurpódi hides around a square meter big. The leather was sturdy and stretchy, and the tendrils downy and ticklish. Without the blades, it felt good to the touch. The tendrils looked like smooth and thick fibers like one could see on a fluffy tapestry.

"It doesn't look so scary now, does it?"

"No," Melania lied. Her tail was tucked between her knees.

"Touch it," I offered the mantle to them.

Camilla passed a hand over it and squealed, "I want a coat lined with this!"

"I have dozens of monsters. I think we can make bed linens with this. Then I could enchant it to keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter."

The cat-kin girl hugged me and purred, "Blessed be the [Matriarch]," as she teased.

The alchemical bath was prepared, I could…

"Step aside. I'm trying something."

I created twelve copies of the "defanging table". Then I let all my tails out to their maximum length. Abusing my Perks, I started to work on thirteen tentacles at the same time.

"I wonder who's the tentacle monster now," Camilla quipped in awe.

One hour later, I had almost eighty pelts prepared. I stored all the evidence of the origin of the hides and called in the other ladies.

"This is the base material for the improved product," I let them touch the leather. "I'll make a copper rod, then plate it in gold and add a small sliver of Magic Core to both ends. I'll wrap the rod with a mesh of {Living Thread} fabric to make it soft, then cover it with a sleeve from this leather. Once it's done, I'll enchant it."

It was the best thing to teach people while I worked because it basically stacked the gains. I crafted ten devices, using the inherent power of my threads to shape and color them. Finally, I enchanted the batch.

> The Pódi Deluxe - Level 0.

>

> Price: hidden. Mind test, difficulty 200.

>

> Materials: hidden. Mind test, Difficulty 313.

>

> Enchantments:

>

> * Self-lubricating.

> * Self-cleaning.

> * Self-repairing. Generates 1 MP per hour and stores up to 300 MP. Can be charged by the user.

> * Can vibrate in different frequencies and even in a set pattern.

> * Can become invisible on command.

> * Can heat to be slightly warmer than the user's body temperature but not enough to cause harm.

> * Can be stuck in place, even mid-air. Can support up to 300kg of weight. Can only be moved by a heavier load or a Strength check Difficulty 275

> * Can move back and forth a few inches on its own, along a predetermined path instructed by the user.

> * Binds to the wearer's bloodline. Once bound, it cannot be bound to another.

> * Automatically shuts down in case of a resonance conflict.

Since it was made with {Living Thread}, it could level up and obtain Perks. Lewd Perks, let's be clear.

"Let's test it! Does anyone want a demonstration?" I suggested. Mirina, Phyllis, and Jocelin blushed. Melania didn't seem interested and Camilla was skittishly hiding behind the wolf-kin. I made eye contact with Marisol.

She shook her head. "You do the honors. After all, it is your product," she cheekily suggested.

"Fine. First, you need to bind it to you with a drop of your blood. I'll bind this one to me. Once bound, you can give it mental commands. You can heat it up, make it vibrate, or command it to become immovable. It won't fall." I affixed it in the air and let go. The device stayed there. "You can also command it to move back and forth. Like this." The thing thrust forward for a couple of inches then moved back, repeating the motion. It could speed up or slow down with a thought. "You can make it vibrate, become invisible, a good thing to do if someone barges in, and it will be naturally slippery but not oily. I think this is enough information for you to use yours. Here, there's one for each of you, plus one for your stepmother, Mirina."

Marisol took hers and grinned, "Well, ladies. I have self-study next period. I'm going to train some soundproof wards in the castle. Cya!"

I snapped my finger and pointed at Marisol. "Great idea. I want each of you to submit an original diagram for sound-proof wards tomorrow. Let's go upstairs, I'm going to assign each of you a room and put up some furniture."

Studying has never been so much fun. Or pleasurable. Unfortunately I didn't have the courage to join in with Mirina.