Ciel is the last to return for lunch, and she brings a 1 centimetri polished marble polyhedron with her. It can't hold any kind of complex enchantment, but it does have a small Chimeric mana storage inside it, and it also houses our dear friend.
I cast [Spirit Eyes] to see her, and a glowing, blue, toothy smile greets me. I cast my modified [Materialize], and a naked Hukarere appears in front of us, then she pulls me into a hug.
"I'm back…!" She exclaims, then her hug loosens a bit, and she groans, "Wow~… this feels weird…"
I hug back and support her as she gets dizzy, then I feel up the fluffy fur on her back and bury my face in her chest.
"Your inner organs might not be fully functional because of how my [Materialize] is focused on magical organs," I explain without removing my face, which muffles my voice as a result.
"Okay, I guess that explains… a lot…" She mumbles as she starts to recover. "I feel like I don't have bones, like there's just a void inside me."
Actual real, living cells are extremely complex, so Gify and I focused on creating "abstract" inner workings, which allows me to mimic having ears, tails, and other appendages without the need to physically connect them to my body. Having to connect each blood vein and nerve every time I grow an appendage would be too dangerous and difficult.
I tilt my head up to look at her but still keep it on her chest, and apologize, "I'm sorry, but my [Materialize] isn't strong enough. I have Arreira's notes, though, so I'll improve it as soon as I can."
Hukarere regains her footing, and she runs her fingers through my hair as she smirks at me. "I know you're busy, so you don't have to hurry. It feels weird to be like this, but it's good enough for me," she reassures me.
I give her a squeeze and release her, then we start our lunch.
Lina stays in Rabanara with Klein and eats Krysta's home-cooked meal, and we share our senses with her so that she doesn't feel too lonely. Though, Krysta's cooking is so good that she isn't missing much.
The twins stare at Hukarere's body unashamedly, and she really enjoys the attention, but they start to ignore her pretty quickly when she goes under the table.
Hukarere can eat a bit, but not really that much since her current body doesn't process food very well. However, she does find it both very delicious and nutritious to eat me.
She gives me puppy eyes all throughout our meal and constantly drains my MP.
Mimi acts completely nonchalant about it, so I don't know what she's truly thinking, but Hana assures me that she's seen much worse from her own antics. Hana is a true sex beast, and she used to be much more hormonal and thirsty than she is now.
"You're an odd family," is all Mimi says about that.
Now that the number of our court mages is growing, they can start to show off some of their skills around the castle. Our water mages have created some small water channels in the corners of the dining room, even adding in a micro waterfall, and now our mealtime is improved with the delightful sounds of flowing water.
The castle is very customizable, having been built entirely by elven [Nature Magic], so these sorts of features can be added and removed at will. They also serve as training for the weaker court mages or to prevent the stronger ones from getting rusty, and they're redone every few days, so there'll be plenty of small changes all throughout the castle every so often.
After our meal, I take Hukarere to get her fitted for some armor and weapons. She wants to be part of our Lordsguard, but she won't be an official and permanent member until we actually test how she'll adapt to this lifestyle.
It's not just her, there's a considerable number of Chimeras who want to join too, and by imperial law, the crew of the ships are also considered part of the Lordsguard since they're sworn to serve us, so their numbers are quickly growing.
The Elder Council doesn't allow the raising of an army except for special situations in order to prevent individual Lords from rising up and opposing them. Only the Lordsguard and knights are allowed to be recruited without limits to their numbers, but that category has strict regulations regarding how much they have to be paid and the minimal level of equipment that they need to be given, making it simply too expensive to raise an army of them.
Oritiki's oath makes her sort of a knight, but I'd like her to be more independent in practice so that she can also act as the representative of the Chimeras, so perhaps we could negotiate something with the empire or the temple.
With her new set of armor, Hukarere returns to the selection to receive both her assignment and a crash course in Lordsguard duties.
Hana goes to the court mages to find someone with a breastplate stretcher. She wants boobs on her armor like she had for the previous metal plate we'd bought for her. The boobs aren't form-fitting because there's a lot of padding underneath her armor, but they're a type of decoration that she misses a lot. She has big boobs and she wants everyone to know it.
She also suggests that I get a codpiece to house my schlong, but I refuse because it would just look a bit ridiculous in my opinion.
Osaria heads out of the castle again to meet with the hunter's guild. The rewards for monster subjugations are subsidized by the Lordship, and we want to increase them to draw more foreigners here.
Aoi takes Alissa for a ride out of town because my dragon wants some metal sheets and ores to play with. After her trial, she seems to want to become a blacksmith or something. Gify goes with them because she just wants to take a walk around the town.
Alissa prepares tea for us before she leaves, which I store in my [Item Box] to prevent it from getting cold.
Ciel and Yunia return to talk with the Chimeras while Roxanne and I work together to finish the paperwork. The selection doesn't need us anymore since there are enough veterans now to keep things going on their own.
For the Chimeras, we're mustering every Spirit mage in town and searching for the best [Materialize] among them that can solidify spirits, and after that, we'll offer free training for all other Spirit mages. The Chimeras' most basic need is this spell, specifically, so there's a lot of money to be made in that field once they start working, and regarding that, there are a few things that only they can do.
There are Drifting Lands that come close to the elven shores at times, and the Island Winch is capable of safely bringing them back to us. There's a shortage of good enchanting gems in the empire, and while we don't know how to re-attune the air gems of the Lands into other types, we have some Chimeras who do.
I don't want to rely on my brief friendship with Nour, but perhaps he can introduce me to his family so that we can get our hands on some imperial ship designs. The Principality has the top experts in shipbuilding, but they don't have the resources to take full advantage of that, so I think it'd be better to lure them here and shift the airship industry to the High Forest.
We're expecting some trouble with the locals since the elves are rather xenophobic and isolationist, but it was the Elder Council that accepted Confiel's reforms, which opened up the region more to outsiders, so at least we'll have support from up top in case the commoners start to complain.
We manage to finish up all the urgent paperwork, so we decide to take a break for some tea.
I lean back in my chair and stretch, then push against the carpet, but this isn't a rolling chair, and it's quite heavy, so it doesn't even move an inch back.
I make a mental note that we need adjustable ergonomic chairs, by which I mean that I transmit this desire to all the girls. Lina gets momentarily distracted from her break and transmits back some loose ideas that I can pitch to the Nature mages of our court when I have the time.
Removing part of the lower backrest for my tail is easy, but adding mechanical parts is much more difficult, so this will have to wait.
We sit on the sofas around the tea table, and Roxanne immediately plops herself onto my lap. She's been dying to get some personal time with my prickly horns because she finds them really sexy.
Their texture is very rough, and a few spots have some small spikes, giving it a texture similar to a pineapple. Also, they don't bend or go soft like Roxanne's, making sleeping on my side a bit awkward. I never sleep in that position anyway because the girls always go to sleep hugging my arms.
Roxanne demonstrates her experience in handling horns, knowing exactly where to massage them. Her hands scratch, press, and knead, giving me a faint pleasure as it seems that I have some nerves in these horns.
While we flirt, Mimi happily eats the small pieces of chocolate that were set out on the table. She stares curiously at Ted and Suzy, but not Jarn, her curiosity about the golems seemingly higher than the average person, and it appears to be compounding with her appreciation for cute things.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
After a few minutes, we stop our cuddling to eat some chocolate before Mimi finishes it all. You can't trust women around chocolate.
With my belly full of chocolate and not-earl-grey, I start to feel a bit drowsy from Roxanne's massage.
Today was such a hectic day…
"Now that you have the time, you should train your [Mana Body] or [Dragon Transformation] for the good of our plans," Yunia's stern voice inside my mind feels like a whip striking my ass.
We can't delay the Lordship ceremony for too long and allow the unruly Lords to organize, so we need to complete our preparations ASAP.
Roxanne smiles wryly, then kisses my forehead and leaves the office. There's an alchemy lab she wants to check out so that she can continue her [Alchemy] work.
Mimi returns to reading through the paperwork. She's an accountant, so she's making sure that the finances add up and that nobody embezzled anything.
I get up and stretch, then I sit down on my throne again and start focusing on my hands. I've only modified the texture of my dick and stretched its shape a bit, so making my hands shrink will take a bit more effort.
I manage to change the texture of my scales, making them become fleshy, but I don't know how to make nails, and the altered tissue lacks the expected creases and wrinkles, making it look "artificial."
I shift my focus to changing its shape for now. That way, I can at least grip things normally again.
Over time, changing a part of my body that isn't my thunder spear starts to feel "familiar," making it easier for me to alter it with just a thought.
Shrinking isn't that hard, though changing the shape into something not obviously fake is the truly difficult part.
Mimi's gentle voice enters my ears, "What happened to you?" And with that, my concentration lapses, allowing my hand to become draconic and shiny again. Mimi winces and starts apologizing politely, "I'm sorry, I interrupted your… whatever you were doing," she whispers confusedly.
I easily alter the hand back to how it was and smile gently. "No harm done," I comfort her, then I recite Arreira's "experiment" with me and my Fate.
"You… half-transformed?" She questions skeptically. Such a skill is unheard of for a human, so it's understandable that she wouldn't believe my story immediately.
I nod. "That's right, then I got 'stuck' like this, and the Gods just decided to make me into a new race." And I shrug.
She still doesn't look convinced, so I shift into a dragon, then I remember that my clothes don't get absorbed into my body because my skill level is too low, but I'll deal with that later.
I spread my wings and remember that I can't fly, so I just jump and use [Telekinesis] to land on the table a bit awkwardly. I'm not used to being a quadruped.
Mimi holds back a snort, then her face twitches repeatedly. Her eyes intensely stare at me, and her mouth starts trembling. "That's cute…" She mumbles quietly.
I puff up my chest, spread my wings, and exhale some smoke. "Yes. I'm a cute dragon!" I exclaim proudly. My voice has the chipmunk treatment in this form, which completely distracts Alissa when she hears it. She really wants to hug me right now.
Mimi's mind breaks, and she starts to chuckle uncontrollably. It's very refreshing to see such a serious person like her in this state since she has Resting Bitch Face Syndrome like Yunia, making her happy faces kinda rare.
I sit my ass down, feeling proud of myself, and fold my wings. I feel an itch to flap them and do "something" magical with them, which I'm pretty sure are my draconic instincts encouraging me to learn how to fly.
I wait for Mimi to calm down, and she quickly recomposes herself. Her dark skin becomes a shade darker as she blushes, then she clears her throat and starts apologizing to me, "I-I'm sorry, my Lord… b-but you're… very cute…"
I smile, showing her my small white teeth, and reassure her, "I know, and I enjoy it when you say that."
She bites her lips to keep herself from laughing again and nods repeatedly.
I jump down onto the floor and hide under my office desk, then I shift back into a human.
"My Lord…?" Mimi asks in confusion, and I hear her get up from her chair.
"I'm naked," I warn her and reach out for my briefs.
"Oh…" She sits back down.
"Actually. We could hire an Illusion mage to temporarily hide your draconic features. It would be better for you to work on your [Dragon Transformation]," Yunia advises me of a change of plans through [Bind].
I freeze just as I'm put on my underwear and ask for confirmation.
"I know the perfect person for that," Alissa muses, and I get the feeling that they're enjoying my current situation.
"Big Wolfy; big dragon cock," Aoi eloquently points out, and I get a wave of agreement from everyone.
"You can use those hands of yours perfectly fine. We need big Wolfy!" Roxanne demands, and I quickly acquiesce. It'll be nice when I'm the tallest among us.
"On second thought, I need to practice this," I tell Mimi, then I start shifting between my forms repeatedly while sitting on my chair. I need to get it to at least level 7 like Alissa to reach a good size.
The constant glowing seems to annoy Mimi, though she doesn't actually say anything about it, so I go under the table and continue my practice.
Yunia and Ciel come back soon after that, and I start to feel a bit tired, so I take a short break and get dressed, then I sit on my chair again.
After they enter, Mimi rises from her chair and gives them a quick bow. "My Lords," she greets politely.
"You don't have to call us Lords, Mizushina. You're our not-blood-sister, so you're family," I correct her.
"I'll be your not-blood-sister when you marry Hana," she coolly replies, and I feel a hint of reproval in her tone.
I raise an eyebrow in surprise and mumble, "Alright…"
The two girls simply smile wryly and join us.
Yunia takes a look at the parchments, papyrus, and assorted types of papers on the table and asks as Mimi quickly organizes them, "You've been reviewing the finances?"
Mimi smiles briefly and nods. "It's my specialty, so I wish to continue working in that area."
Yunia sits down on the other throne to my right and interlaces her fingers in her lap. "We don't have a High Accountant anymore, so would you like to take this position? It's a lot of responsibility," she offers and cautions, both of which are spoken with a perfectly neutral tone.
Mimi sits down and runs her hand through her wild hair. A rare tick of nervousness. "There's no veterans to pass down their wisdom?"
Yunia shakes her head, and I'll never tire of seeing her drills gently bounce. "No, but there is one condition: you must become a Blood Slave."
Ciel sits on the last throne on my other side. There are only three of these chairs, so we'll need to buy more for everyone, and perhaps another office desk.
Mimi shows no reaction, merely looking away to think, then a moment later, she turns her face back to us and sternly asks, "Why?"
"Secrets and loyalty, so we'll have to use [Tongue of Obedience], but only that," Yunia assures her. Looking at this from Mimi's perspective, I think that unknowingly becoming a sex slave is a warranted concern of hers.
Mimi's expression becomes even more severe, and her cold tone makes us pause in our response as she demands, "Be frank. Will you ask me to hide 'irregularities'?"
Yunia's jaw twitches, trying to not appear offended, but she is. "No. Elves would never do that."
They have a short staring contest, and though Mimi has a fearsome gaze like Hana's, it doesn't have the same potency as Yunia's, so she quickly forfeits.
Mimi shakes her head gently and chuckles, the seriousness promptly fading away, then she gives us a perfect Hana-like smirk as she says, "Then I accept the job."
Yunia nods, very pleased, and adds, "We'll get Alissa to bring a slaver with her. We're in a hurry to rebuild our administration, so there's no time to lose."
"Yes, I understand." She leans over the table and continues organizing the papers. "I'll start immediately, then."
Yunia genuinely smiles at her diligence. She feels a lot of respect for Mimi due to her hard-working and serious personality, and she thinks that they'll work well together.
Ciel tries to understand what Mimi is doing, but she's a bit overwhelmed by the torrent of numbers and quickly gives up. She thinks that she'll be more useful in understanding the laws of Lordship since she already had an initiation to it because of her time in the temple. The priests are the ones who keep an eye on the Lords, so they have to know the limits of the Lords' rule.
Shortly after that, Alissa gets back with Aoi, a shoemaker, and the owner of the most luxurious slave-trading establishment in Escanso.
We'll receive them in the main hall where the statues are, so Yunia activates an enchantment on the wall that grows a set of seating for us. It literally grows them out of the white velvet carpeted floor.
We sit down on the fresh, new velvet sofas and wait while Yunia and Mimi discuss payment and other benefits. She's to be treated as an employee, so she'll receive all the usual benefits that would be associated with her new position.
After a few minutes, our guests enter the hall.
Aoi walks rather awkwardly, trying to get used to her new sandals. They're simple and thin with heavy padding at the claws, which is what makes her feel weird when walking in them. It's just a matter of getting used to it, though.
The slaver is a tall and mature elven man, and he reminds me of the man that sold me Alissa and Hana: high "Charisma," gaudy clothes, an easy smile, and "evil" eyes.
The shoemaker is an old weredog lady. Her fluffy and curly white hair and long face remind me of a Poodle. She's slightly nervous because she's never had to deal with draconic feet before, but she's a wereanimal, so she's the best choice for non-human feet because of how the elves would be just too snooty to deal with me.
The slaver bows before us, and the old lady follows his example a second later.
"I'm honored to meet you, my new Lords," the slaver greets us with a velvety voice and straightens his posture.
The old lady mimics him and quickly adds, "So am I, my Lords."
He gently places his palm over his heart and continues, "I'm Esvisor, owner of the Destino Atado." Then he waits for the lady to make her introduction.
"I'm Nanaina, owner of the Conrigia," she stiffly greets us and lowers her head, then I see her small tail slowly wagging behind her.
How considerate of him to wait for her.
We return the appropriate greetings, and they take a seat.
First, we let Nanaina start her work. She pulls out a blanket full of tools and starts measuring my feet, taking care to avoid touching the sharp edges of my claws or scales. Aoi's claws are duller than mine, but they're still pretty sharp, so she knows where she shouldn't touch.
Esvisor doesn't have to do much for his work here. He just gives me his ultra-sharp dagger and a small bowl, then I cut myself… or rather, I try to. My black, leathery draconic skin is so tough that I can't actually cut through it, not to mention the scales protecting it. I feel like I might not even need to wear gauntlets and vambraces anymore.
I get Alissa to help me by rolling up my sleeve and lightly cutting my bicep, which isn't protected by my scales and thick skin.
We fill the bowl with my blood, then Mimi drinks it all down without a word, and Esvisor casts the required spells.
Mimi's last name fades away, and the entry "Mizushina (Blood Slave)" appears in my "Affiliations."
She hasn't been disowned by her family, so her children can still inherit the Tranfkoever name, it's just that she can't have a last name since her loyalty to us is more important than her family's name.
With that done, Alissa immediately strikes up a conversation with Esvisor. She wants to order two Blood Slave maids from him for the higher levels, so they start discussing the specifics of what she wants, and it isn't just some simple, helpless servants, she wants battle maids.
With her part done, Mimi returns to the office, then Nanaina quickly finishes my new sandals, which are made with cut-resistant padding, and she writes down all of the measurements she took to allow her to make more of them.
I stand up and walk around. I feel the same as Aoi about them; the padding for the claws is a little bit uncomfortable, so it'll need some adjustments, but at least for now, we won't get our feet dirty anymore from just walking around.
The harem reunites as the sun starts to set, and it's now time for The Ravaging, part two.