I was sitting in a holographic room, the reason for this was the design of the mansion I was to live in, and it was difficult to work with. Hitting the minimum felt like a tall order, so trying to go larger just to meet a requirement for a future that may be uncertain was even worse. Each design had me hitting a wall, nothing worked with the mind of someone who believed a skyscraper was bigger than what I needed, much less the minimum of a few city blocks worth of mansion space. While I was going to have a residence as a smaller, functional building to act as my temporary residence until the mansion was done, I’d need to have one designed before I could even consider moving there, not to mention even the temporary home was still under construction.
Out of everything I was good at, base creation was the worst thing I could do in any game. Unlike ships and mechs, they weren’t something I could just slap together and make the rooms later, I had to make the rooms then figure out what I’d want to put in it. It was far easier to do this if I was taking it like a game, but I couldn’t do that here. I had to make the mansion functional, ensure it had a certain amount of stature to it, then having to make it in just the right way to ensure it could be added on to in the future. After looking at the work I had just done, I quickly decided to scrap it since it wasn’t going the way I wanted it. It joined the many failed designs I made in a collection of designs which I used as inspiration to try and design the best mansion I could. When I began to design the next blueprint, I heard my father speak from behind me, “Not so easy, is it?”
When I looked to him, I felt pain in my eyes, likely from how long I was looking at a screen, “This is the worst! My type of luxury is a two- or three-story home with small things, not the size of a small town, covered in expensive items, three bars next to each other kind of building. I find this type of luxury far too absurd.” Father laughed, his hearty laugh was something I heard a lot as he watched me prepare for some noble work, “Believe me, designing the mansion was hard for me at first, so I made it into a game of sorts.” He sat down beside me and said, “I knew I had to hit a certain threshold on what needed to be in the mansion, so I marked it down and designed away with that in mind. A bar here, functional guest rooms there, I placed rooms like that with as much functionality in mind as I could until I had it. The mansion we’re in now was something I managed to make on my…” He went silent, at least until Edward spoke up, “It took you fifty-six redesigns sir.” Father turned to look at Edward, “It took me fifty-six redesigns? I swore it was in the thirties.”
Father quickly shook his head and returned his attention to me, “What I mean to say is, make it with something in mind. You’ll need a bay for mechs and a few ships, so maybe make a development bay for mech ideas. As long as it’s with your money, I don’t mind you making your own mechs, just make sure your duties to your people aren’t ignored.” I felt excitement running through my veins, I could make mechs, which means I had to make a design that worked with the concept. I quickly got to work, making the best facilities I could for the sake of mech manufacturing and maintenance. Silence filled the room as I worked, but to my surprise, once I had what I wanted down, I was easily able to fill the blanks outwards. It was simple, like I couldn’t put the rooms near the mech bays since any work could disturb anyone sleeping, bars could be near rooms so those drinking could go right to bed, training or testing should be done outside to ensure incidents don’t cause dust or smoke to flood the mansion. Within the next few hours, I had a mansion with several spots where simple construction could be done to add to what was already there.
I also, to my father’s surprise, added some home defense systems and several large bunkers for emergencies. He asked, “Why defend your home like this? Do you expect trouble?” I spoke, “It’s easy to ensure you yourself are easily protected, but this isn’t for me, this is for the people of my domain. Wouldn’t the safest place for them to be within my mansion, protected if anything does go wrong?” Father chuckled, “Well color me surprised, I never considered that.” He leaned back in his chair, then noticed the large bays for mech and ship creation, “Do you need such a large bay though? Even for designing, this seems… ridiculous.” I smirked, “When one makes a new advancement, the best course of action would be to mass produce it to ensure maximum profitability. Mechs and ships are no exception.” Father sighed, but it was more of a “I give up” sigh than anything, “I can’t stop you, just know you need to profit from your domain before you can throw buckets of money at your… hobby?”
I smiled, “I have that covered, financially, I’ll be just fine.” One thing I did watch, since I was focused on mech and ship making in SGO, was tips on how to properly run a planet. While this wasn’t how it’d work in real life, I did know the basis of that video, mixed with economic factors, could boost the planet as long as I invested properly. For now, I couldn’t dive into full scale production, but just having it there and ready was enough for me. Father said, “If you believe you can handle it, then I won’t stop you. For now, submit the mansion blueprints, the sooner you’re in the mansion the better.” I nodded, “Right away dad.” With that, my blueprints were sent, and all I could do now was wait until I was planet side.
~~~
Around one month after submitting the blueprints, I was on my way to my planet. Only a few days ago however did I manage to touch solid ground, mobility seemed to be horrible for both military and civilian craft. I understood the reason for this rather fast, there was no means of instantaneous travel. In this universe, there hasn’t been any progression into things like hyper lanes, hyperdrives, or FTL travel. For me, though, that just meant I had one additional thing to add to my list, something I called Project Stellar Leap. If anything, having such control over that speed would make anyone a force to be reckoned with, so seeing current progress would be best at the next opportunity. For now, my focus was to be on the domain, since it was in it’s infancy currently.
I sat in what was equivalent to a remote meeting, many faces I recognized as the individuals I hired several months ago. They had explained the current situation of the domain, which seemed to be moving ahead at a steady pace. I thought, then stated, “Taxes are pretty high for a colony, why is that?” One of the officials said, “To get started, taxes need to be at a certain level, or else there wouldn’t even be a profit.” I shook my head, “Not like this, decrease taxes.” The same official asked, “Might I ask why, my lord? I just wish to understand your current idea.” I took a moment to gather my thoughts, then said, “What we need right now isn’t revenue, but rather a strong population. Without the people to fill the jobs that are being made, we’ll lose more than we earn. So, by lowering taxes, the people already here have more money to spend while simultaneously being appealing to those looking to immigrate to the planet. Overall, lower taxes will work far better in the long run.”
I watched the officials discuss with each other, since many of them were recent graduates, they were a little stiff when it came to their jobs. The financial official of the domain spoke, “I have reason to believe Lord Aurelian is correct, let me show you some statistics.” The financial official began to state statistics about taxes, and how high taxes overall lowered growth and revenue in the past. After what felt like a lecture, he finished it off by saying, “So, if we lower the taxes as Lord Aurelian stated, the profits will be far higher than what we have actively.” Many of the officials began nodding, some began to follow suit after they processed the information. I then stated, “I also want to invest in the domain, by investing in the domain, we could increase the revenue for all involved if the invested money is used correctly.”
The military official, someone who was working with one of my father’s fleets to establish a basic military, said, “What about emergencies? We can’t invest all of our earnings into investments.” I replied, “Some money will come to me, mostly to keep expenditures from rising and to pay staff. Of course, some money will be kept in something akin to an emergency fund, so when something goes wrong, we have access to funds to address the issue. The rest I’d like to invest, the sooner the domain grows, the better we can look to the future of the domain as a whole.” The military official nodded, “I like your way of thinking my Lord, I was right to place my faith in you.” Despite being quite young, it seemed like these officials were truly placing their faith in me. I wanted to ease their worries, “While I am nobility, I will state that I’m human, much like all of you. I’ll make mistakes, so when I do, I want you to tell me so I can best address it. This is our home, and we all need to work as one to ensure it remains safe.”
The officials of all branches saluted, “Yes, my Lord!” They were serious, they didn’t take my statement as a joke, and it showed in their action. I smiled, “Good, if things go well, I’ll reward you for a job well done. I don’t want to let your deeds go unrewarded, so make everyone in the domain proud.” I got one last, boisterous shout from the officials, “Yes, my Lord!” With that, we dismissed, and the screens all began to turn off, leaving me alone in my office. Edward entered the room, his eyes carried a cheery look, “Nice work sir, you spoke fantastically.” I let out a sigh of relief, “I hope I did, even now, I can’t believe I’m running a planet. I only hope they understand the weight of every life that we’re working to prosper.” Edward replied, as if he knew what I was going to say, “I wouldn’t worry sir, those souls are diligent, I know they’ll work their hardest to ensure the people of your domain prosper.”
I was able to breath easier after he said that, “What would I do without you Edward?” Edward smiled, “I’d follow you into hell sir, I doubt I’d be able to serve anyone else.” To my surprise, when I moved to this planet, Edward had chosen to come with me. When I asked him about it, he said he wished to assist me in my dream, and that my father had allowed it. I looked from the window of my office to the bustling initial city that had sprung up over the course of my arrival here, “Everyone that comes here will be relying on us to make the best choices to safeguard their futures, we need to make a strong foundation now, so we don’t have to worry about it later on.” Edward nodded, “Of course sir, I’m sure the officials know this as well.” I wasn’t used to noble life, nor was I so sure of the deeper workings of such a society, but I knew the place I needed to protect was home. Investment was merely the start, as even now, my eyes were locked to the stars.
~~~
Four years had passed in the blink of an eye, twelve years old, and I still can’t get used to everything. I went for a year’s stay in the education pod to properly handle the work I was doing, and when I came out, things seemed to have changed rapidly. One, my mansion was done, so I was able to be moved in without much issue. Next was the fact the initial city seemed far more expansive than I recalled, I even noticed a few towns far off being established. The final thing was the economy was on the cusp of exploding, as people seemed to have flooded into my domain while I was asleep. My officials said this was a miracle, as this rarely ever happened with colonies, but it only left me more surprised than anything. While growth was within the margin of error before my stay in the education pod, it had suddenly shot far past any expectations I had before I got out.
I had constant meetings with my officials, and even with the investments I was putting into the domain, it wasn’t enough to keep up with the sudden influx of people. This wasn’t the first time something this odd fell into my lap, but it was a good thing, so I wasn’t going to question good luck. The only issue was I couldn’t keep up with it, while an influx of people was good, too much meant I couldn’t prepare housing or workplaces to house and allow them to earn a wage. Increasing investment money was always an option, but it wouldn’t clear the manpower issue that came with it. As I worked one day, Edward opened the door to my office, “Sir, someone would like to meet with you.” I didn’t look up from my work, I had so much that I couldn’t stop, “I’m busy, if I slow down for even a minute I’ll be behind.” Edward replied, “They say it’s important sir, not to mention it’s your sister.”
I kept writing, my brain was nearly overloaded from the work I was doing, but when I heard it was my sister, I decided to hear her out, “Let her in, just let her know I’ll be continuing with my work, so I don’t fall behind.” Edward stepped out for a moment, then returned with a small group of people. I looked to the new arrivals, and I noticed there was someone who seemed to be at least a teenager, though I knew they were likely an adult due to anti-aging medication. She had ruby red eyes and crimson hair that went to her shoulders; my brain knew immediately that she was my sister by that alone. She wore what seemed to be a proper dress, one that was more modest than I expected, one that was a similar crimson to her hair. With her were several older gentlemen in suits, around five behind them seemed to be armed escorts. Once she reached my desk, she spoke in what I assumed was astonishment, “I heard you’d be working, but this is more than I expected, little brother.”
I replied, controlling my voice to not seem tired, “After the sudden influx of people came, I have to ensure they’re housed, fed, and not to mention employed so they can earn money. If I slow down, even for a moment, I might get everyone behind.” My sister spoke, her voice unwavering, “I can tell, it’s the construction process, you had more than needed at first, but with the sudden influx of people, there’s no longer enough supply to meet demand. Not to mention the fact there’s not enough people to train the new arrivals that require training, thus making it rougher to take advantage of the boom.” I nodded, my eyes darting from paper to paper, “You got me there, I wish I could do more, but I’m at my limit.” My sister spoke after a moments silence, “I can help you if you’d like.” I paused my work, looking to her, “You’ll help me? I’m not one to turn down help, but I know there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” I quickly returned to work, “Don’t do it with me as a gift or favor, I’ll make sure to pay for it properly, as a proper man should.”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
My sister said, “Hm, you’re a man of value, not many people like that at your age. But then again, most kids aren’t running a planet.” She put some papers to the side, “If you have time, look through those papers, they state personnel will be brought to your planet to ensure proper training and staffing as people shift from immigration to the work force.” I was able to shift between my work and the papers, which took yet another toll on me mentally, but the papers gave me reasonable rates for the borrowing of their staff, which included construction companies to assist with the recent construction delays. After taking a moment to properly look it over, ensuring the paperwork was sound, I signed it, “If they’re able, I’d like them to begin work as soon as they can. Don’t push them, I’d rather the work be done correctly over quickly.” My sister replied, “I understand. Oh, I don’t think I told you my name, but I’m Ruby. Nice to meet you little brother.” I smiled to the best as my tired mental state could, “Likewise sister, my name is Aurelian, I hope we can remain on good terms.”
As she left, I understood who my sister ended up becoming, she was someone akin to a merchant. She had business savvy, based on the paperwork alone, I could tell she had experience in making both sides benefit from her proposals. Edward asked, “Are you sure this is the correct path forward sir? A decent amount of profits will go to your sister until your domain stabilizes.” I nodded, “Of course, at the rate we’re going, it would take the domain over a decade or two to stabilize, with her, I could reasonably achieve it in five years or less with far less struggle. Besides, this isn’t about profit, it’s about ensuring the people are able to begin their lives easily without struggling here.” Edward nodded, “Understood sir.” With that, I was able to resume work with my mind at ease. Knowing help was on the way made me feel better, because I knew my people were going to need it.
~~~
Standing on the balcony of a recently built hotel’s penthouse, Ruby and her fellow businessmen were overlooking the city that began the colony. Her eyes seemed to pick up more than the average nobleman could, “Something’s off, while father is quite well known despite being in the outskirts of the empire, this much immigration to any outskirt planet however is unheard of.” One of the businessmen asked, “Do you believe malicious intent is involved my lady?” Ruby shook her head, “I cannot say, with the measures already in place, it’s easy to see the large majority of people have no ill intention. Those that did have ill intentions, like criminals, are rapidly detained and processed. But despite that, something in my gut is telling me something isn’t normal here, and my brother doesn’t seem to notice.” A different businessman asked, “Could your brother be in on whatever this oddity is?” Ruby was quick to shake his head, “No, by his comments alone, he wouldn’t allow harm to come to his people.”
Due to her large number of connections within the outskirts of the empire, Ruby had swaths of information that came from all over to work with. Merely by observing the state of her brother’s domain, she could tell something didn’t add up. One businessman, one who sounded far younger than the others, asked, “Do you want us to investigate my lady?” Ruby went silent, then nodded, “Yes, I want to ensure someone isn’t trying to use my little brother, especially not him.” The man nodded, “As you command, my lady.” The man was quick to vanish, the final businessman asked, “If something, or someone, is found to be the source of this oddity, what would our course of action be?” Ruby went silent, then said, “We’ll try to handle it ourselves, and quietly. Aurelian is far too young to have a statement in anything… ill-suited for his age.” Noble society wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, Ruby knew that, and she sought to protect her younger brother that now had an astronomical weight on his shoulders.
The first businessman asked, “Should we work with the military advisor of the domain and that butler from the mansion? If we explained our worries, they may allow us to investigate without needing to go behind their backs.” Ruby paused for a moment, if Aurelian knew, he’d likely be hit with worry, but asking those who had a connection to him to ensure proper communications would be preferable than no contact on the matter. Ruby soon stated, “Arrange a meeting with them both, I’d prefer they knew of my concerns.” The second businessman stated, “I’ll arrange the meeting at once.” As the man worked, the first businessman spoke, “We need to keep an eye on external forces, similar events are happening in other noble regions in both the outskirts and centrally to the empire. Some sources from outside the empire are also stating similar oddities, none are inherently bad, but they’re certainly in favor of individuals.”
Ruby seemed to show concern, “There’s been moments like this throughout history, though not to this scale.” Ruby had knowledge of this, she had a deep enjoyment to history and merchant know-how, this had led her to noticing some oddities in history before major events that changed either empires or the entire universe. Ruby took a look at the listed oddities from her sources, her tone seemed concerned, “If this information is to be believed, then something big is happening, and my little brother may not be spared. Find a connection to these individuals, once you have something, let me know.” The first businessman quickly replied, “At once my lady.” Concern seemed to fill the room, but there was nothing they could do until they were more secure on why this was happening.
~~~
“So, your telling me that something strange is happening with lord Aurelian?” The military advisor asked. I also had some questions in regard to this, “I have to agree with that statement, the young master hasn’t seen anything wrong with this, and he’s quite smart for someone his age.” Lady Ruby spoke without a hint of deceit, “You might not know, and I expect it to be twice as so with my little brother, but this is something you have to look into quite closely before you can understand it.” She handed both me and the military advisor a pad for us to look through, and to my surprise, some domains in recent history, and present day, have shown similar growth akin to young master Aurelian’s domain. Ruby continued, “In the past, just before a major change in either an empire or the universe at large, there were many individuals who had a sudden burst of prosperity. My little brother seems to be showing similar signs as well.”
I spoke my mind, “The young master did state this was rather odd. He claimed before he entered the pod, the progress remained within the margin of error he had planned. However, this sudden growth has had him scrambling for a proper path forward ever since he awoke from the pod.” Lady Ruby stated, “The reason why I’m concerned is this isn’t just happening within the empire, but outside it as well. While the least worrying outcome of these events was a simple power restructuring, some have resulted in changes to empires as a whole, and even the galactic map. With how many individuals are showing sudden growth, I have a feeling a universal change is about to occur, I just don’t know when.” Ruby cleared her throat, then said, “It’s why I wish to send my people into my little brother’s domain. I want to see if anything might arise in the people and better protect him from external factors. I wished to ask for permission to protect him until he’s able to protect himself.”
I thought for a moment, and the last thing I ever foresaw young master Aurelian doing was killing someone. I knew Lady Ruby didn’t know he was a reincarnate, but I knew he needed someone to commit to his dirty work until he was mature enough to handle it. However, I wanted to gauge the military advisor’s wishes, “What about you, this is more your region than mine, she likely wished my opinion, so she had an easy way to filter important topics to young master Aurelian.” The military advisor thought, then nodded, “For the time being help would be greatly accepted. While we are training the regular soldiers for basic protection, having such services like that is beyond our current abilities.” I returned my focus to Lady Ruby, “I believe this is, as mentioned, a fair idea for the time being. We’re barely able to handle the current affairs of the domain, we don’t have the time for external affairs presently.”
Lady Ruby spoke, “Don’t go saying that to father or the others, they’ll see it as weakness.” I replied, “I understand Lady Ruby, but with your current concerns, I’ve reasonably concluded you’re not an enemy. I’d rather be honest than lie about the current state of the domain.” Lady Ruby sighed, “I can see that, even you have bags under your eyes.” She looked towards the mansion, a window seemingly giving her the best view of it, “I hope Aurelian is going to be alright, he’s still so young.” I nodded, but she was quick to change tones, “Not to mention so adorable! I never expected someone so young to work so hard, but even that has it charms!” To both the military advisor’s and my own surprise, it turns out she might truly adore the young master.
She smiled as she put her hands to her face, “Those older brothers are weird, especially the eldest, so having a little brother was like a dream until now!” I felt confused, however, someone who neither I nor the military advisor detected had appeared behind her, “It seems Lady Ruby has developed a strong affection for the young lord, in this case, it does make sense.” The military advisor and I could only nod, knowing young master’s older brothers, he was like an angel compared to them in every way. I cleared my throat, my wish to continue made clear, “While I can let you patrol the domain, the mansion is off limits.” Lady Ruby shook her head, “I will not assign anyone to the mansion unless reports suggest I do, I’d rather enter myself and see my little brother.” Concern welled up within me about her disturbing the young master, but I couldn’t do much considering they were family.
The military advisor said, “As soon as you learn anything in regard to this strange predicament, do let us know immediately. If we can prepare for it, I’d like to send it to the young lord before it’s too late.” Lady Ruby replied, “I understand, I personally don’t want anything to happen to Aurelian myself. For now, work as normal, and if you need anything procured, I’m your lady.” I did a small bow in my seat, “Of course my Lady, I hope this concern doesn’t require action.” Lady Ruby could only nod with a look of slight sorrow, “I hope so as well Edward, I don’t want to even think about what this could mean.” After that, we held a small discussion on the initial observations and movement of the requested teams, then we went about our business.
~~~
A year after the contract with my sister, things had slowed down enough to the point where I could get some proper rest. Things were finally settling down as the need for me to manage every little detail was no longer required, so I could finally begin to do some additional noble things aside from running the domain. I had two things I felt like I needed to have before reaching adulthood, swordplay and magic. Swordplay as a noble was something vital, as even at a mediocre skill level, nobles can handle some of the stronger threats in the world, not to mention it was used in mech combat. With magic, however, it was less used, but it was vital to my continued growth in the future. While magic had sparce uses to nobles, as some systems required a little magic knowhow to function, what I had planned required magic to be integrated into not only my mech piloting, but also my swordplay.
For magic, I had a decent grip on it since I had already begun to receive training with magic for the sake basic control, but swordplay and future magic techniques were going to be difficult. While I could take some time with magic, I needed to get to work on swordplay as soon as possible as it’s required to master your sword style as a noble. More than that, I needed to begin working on mech and ship advancements, because if I could make a business out of new technology, I’d have a monopoly for the foreseeable future as other factories tried to catch up. These were the three items I had as top priority overall, the domain was, with some supervision, growing continuously, so I had the time and money to make this work. I asked Edward, “Edward, did we ever end up beginning the production of the tier two mechs for military purposes?” Edward quickly checked and said, “No sir, considering the state of affairs, we chose to focus on the domain before the strenuous process of building a fleet.”
I nodded, “I see.” Edward asked, considering I gave a shorter response than normal, “Are you upset at that sir?” I shook my head, “No, we needed to ensure a profit was rolling in before we could even attempt a military buildup. We’ll continue investing, but I’ll begin using my personal funds to begin creating the tier two mechs, all while also funding a new type of ship.” When I looked to Edward to begin with some of the planning, I managed to catch him breaking face as his eyes seemed more shocked in confusion than awe. I decided to calm him down, “Relax, I already designed it, I meant “funding” in the means of just making it. If you bring an engineer to look at the blueprints, I’d likely blow their socks off.” I pulled up a hologram of the available areas to commence with such a process, but I noticed there was fairly little locations outside the mansion that could do that.
I asked, “Edward, why aren’t there many places that work on the creation and distribution of naval craft?” Edward spoke, his tone seemed ever so slightly exasperated, “It’s due to the required manpower and qualifications to make such a factory. Each space nation has specialized factories that make them, but in the empire, we just call them naval factories. If every domain had one, it would be nearly impossible to stop them from doing as they wish. No noble has one, mostly as they don’t believe it worth the hassle or the major cost.” I thought for a moment, then asked, “Are there any naval factories that are struggling? If I had that kind of tech and manpower, I’d be set for doing what I love.”
Edward spoke, “If that was the case, they wouldn’t be profitable for the empire, so they’d be closed down and the personnel would likely be reassigned to other factories.” I did, at one point, consider hiring a factory for my plans, but that would likely cause each blueprint to be leaked, and I wasn’t going to let that happen. I decided to make my own, personal factory for the sake of producing mechs and ships, price was… some factor. I told Edward, “Then we’ll make our own, because if I tell a major factory about my plans, it’ll likely be leaked to the other factories.” Edward seemed like he wanted to say something, but he gave up, “Such a process will be incredibly expensive, more so than colony development.” He was quick to attempt a number crunch, expenditures and whatnot, but he quickly showed a number, one that seemed beyond my capacity at the moment.
I winced, “Is that a fully functional, fully staffed, massive factory?” Edward paused, then looked to the price. He soon said, “To be honest, there hasn’t been a new factory in quite some time, so these prices may or may not be accurate. If you wish to begin the process, I won’t stop you. Even Lady Ruby did something similar to you, and her future is brighter than ever. Just make sure you commit to this plan of yours in moderation, things can and will go wrong.” I nodded, beginning some allocations for building tier two mechs in the existing labs I have while building a factory, “Don’t worry Edward, despite how it looks, I’m pretty good at handling finances.” Edward just smiled as I got to work, “I don’t doubt you sir.” For the time being, progress was my goal, and I’m not going to stop.