{Alex}

Lily's mother was here in town with us. She looked like an older version of Lily, and I was happy to see that my Honey Bunny would stay a hottie for a long time. It was a nice surprise as Snowdrop and Daisy joined them. Lily and her mother cried, and the women ran off to the inn to get reacquainted. Nice, it looked like I was off the hook for now. "Pirnal, we are home. Go see your woman." I said to the huge boar man who refused to leave my side. He snorted and shook his head.

"Can't do that. Redwood will be taking over for me when he is done getting caught up with his women. He ran off last night to join up with them, so I won't be with you all day." No arguing with him when he was like this. I just grumbled and made my way to Boss’s office. He was sitting there waiting for me. A huge man covered in muscles and normally shirtless, but ever since we got a female demon slave, he started dressing properly, combing his hair and not cursing as much. It was an odd transformation, but women can do that to a guy. He smiled at me.

“Runt, come on in.” He said looking up at his demon woman. Bealcia was sitting on the edge of the desk facing him. She was a succubus with long horns and a whip-like tail. Long orange hair hid half her face as she looked over her shoulder at me. Long leathery bat-like wings poked through the top of her tight slit dress. I noticed that she was no longer wearing a slave collar, but a spiked choker had replaced it. Somehow the two had become a couple and Boss always had her by his side. Not going to judge that as I often had Lily or Hena at my side to help me focus or remember things. Those two had quickly become my personal assistants.

“Are you ready for another lesson?” I asked with an evil murderous smile. His eyebrows went up as he looked around slightly worried.

“Will I be the one learning it?” He asked a waver in his voice.

“No Fat Man again.” He gave a sigh of relief as he got up. Bealcia smiled, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

“Can I watch?” She asked playfully. It always felt like she was flirting with everyone. Must be her demon side.

“No, lessons with Runt can be messy at the best of times. I’d hate to ruin that dress I just bought you,” he said, kissing her softly. The two made a cute couple.

“You’ll just have to help me out of it then.” She said looking down and winking.

“I like that dress and would love to see you in it again.” Boss said brushing her cheek. I turned and walked out.

“Tell me, do I act that badly with my women?” I asked Pirnal. He gave me a snorting laugh.

“You’re worse.” I joined him in laughing. Redwood came bounding up leather armor in place and a slight blush on his face. Pirnal nodded at him and walked to his own house.

“Sorry, Master.” He said breathlessly.

“Nothing to be sorry about. Did Radish talk to you?” I asked coldly.

“No, but some of the others have. Thank you. It means a lot to see my pack grow.”

“A family should stay together.” My parents had gotten a divorce when I was very young, and all my peers were from broken homes. It seemed to be the norm in my life and bothered me greatly. He bowed to me and beamed. “That being said, are you ready for a fight?” I asked, my evil smile in place. We walked into the camp, and everyone scattered around us. Fat Man seemed to have warned them to steer clear if they saw us. The man in question ran up to us and fell to the ground groveling before me.

“Lord Savage. It is an honor to see you again. How can I help you?” I let the chain around my arm change into the centipede, he knew all too well, and make its way down to scrape its claws in his face. “My lord. Have I offended you?” He asked, shaking on the ground.

“I need to make a point before we get started. If I ever hear of you or any slave master selling or buying children in my territory, I will end them slowly. Do you understand?” He started shaking.

“Yes, my lord.” He said quickly.

“How many do you have now?” He looked slightly worried.

“Six my lord.” fear filling his voice.

“Give them to me as a gift. Redwood, see that those children find safe homes.” Redwood bowed to me with a delighted smile on his face. He was enjoying the show. Fat Man nodded and turned to his side. A slave was hiding behind a wall.

“Do it.” He mouthed and the slave ran off, fear in his eyes.

“Now that things are settled, rise and let’s talk business.” He stood quickly, sweat pouring off the man. “I want two combat slaves. A centaur skilled in spears and a harpy.”

“I can make that happen my lord.” He said rubbing his fat hands together and giving me a hungry smile.

“Those are top priority.” I had plans for the future and those would help me. “I was told those would be worth fifty gold each. I will pay one small mithril each.” His eyes went wide as he looked at me, a slight drool leaking its way down his three chins. “Next, I need scholars. Skill scholars being the top of my list. You sell those for five gold each, as they never sell well. I will play twice that. After that, Wanderers. Those are a low priority, but I will be happy to have them. Last thing I want is a metal mage. I know you know how rare they are and know it will take time to make that happen. No hurry at all on that one. I will pay five small mithril for each one.” I swear he was going to pass out.

“I will make all that happen, Lord Savage.” He said bouncing in place. It was like he was going to pack up tonight.

“We also need all available slaves at price.” Boss added. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “What, we need more workers.” I nodded and turned away. The next stop was to see Mayor. Boss came along with me to talk about things. Redwood called over one of his guards to relay my order about the children. “So, Runt. What are your plans now?”

“We are expanding literally everything. We need more workers and smarter ones. We need a school. We need more houses. We need more farms. We need more of everything. I have plans for new weapons, but I think we need more tools to support our growing empire. Can’t feed an army on metal.” He bowed his head and smiled at me.

“I am so happy I didn’t knock you out that first day I met you.” He said laughing. “Whip tail wants to know if you would be okay with her and I having a child.” His face looked worried as he looked into my eyes.

“What you do is up to you.” I said with a shrug. Not sure why he was asking me.

“Am I needed for anything else?”

“Boss, I am your employee. You give the orders.” I said stopping to look him in the eye.

“Yeah, but you are a noble of two races. You kind of out rank me now.”

“Fuck that. You are still Boss. I am still Runt. Nothing has changed. Understood.” He smiled at my words and clapped me on the shoulder before leaving. It made me smile and I walked into the town hall. Mayor was talking with Pernil’s sister and Battery. Battery was a thin enchanter who got that name from me using him as a walking mana battery shorty after we first met. All three bowed to me and the mage and boar woman quickly left.

“Master, I hope you had a safe trip.” He said on his way out.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“What was that about?” I asked slightly worried. Mayor looked up at me with his brow furrowed.

“They want to get married.”

“Good for them.”

“I wish I could, but I can’t. There is a law that says that only humans can marry humans and same for beasts and the other races.”

“Question.” I said coldly. He nodded at me to go on. “Who makes the laws?”

“The crown, local lords and so on down the line.”

“Could the local lord change this one law?”

“They can.” He replied slightly unsure what was going on. I smiled, laying down a letter from the prince. Mayor picked it up and read it slowly.

“Redwood, Go tell them the good news.” I said. The wolf man took off smiling. Mayor looked up at me with awe in his eyes before bowing to me, deeply hitting his head on the desk.

“My lord. How may I serve you?” I pulled out the artifact upgrade that would let us expand the town.

“You are still in charge. I just want to build my nightmares and live a peaceful life. That being said, let’s talk about the future.” Hours later I was walking out of his office as he frantically made notes and called for people to get this and that. I didn’t care though. All that mattered was getting home.

{Gen Savage}

He was now five and loved his life. He got to train on Knight Training dolls that his big brother had made. He knew how to speak orc and liked talking with Or and Go. He could now say their full names, but to him they would always be Or and Go. Big sis Uta came home last night with big sis Hena. Big sis Yen went out to spend time with big brother. Big brother liked having a big family and a big house. Gen had started losing memories of his time before and was happy to leave them in the past. Go was starting to train him to use the sword and that helped him when he played with the dolls. He had been living a good life. There was a sound at the door and Gen got up from the training table and ran to the entrance. Big brother should be here today. He ran downstairs to see big sis Lily, Grandmother bunny and two new bunny women. One was tall and looked like big sis Lily and the other looked to be close to his age. She had long white hair and red eyes like big sis Lily. He stopped, not sure what was going on. The small bunny saw him and hid behind the tall bunny woman. Big sis Lily turned to him and beamed. Big sis Lily had a large belly that Grandmother bunny told him was growing a baby. “Gen this is Daisy and Snowdrop. Daisy the tall one bowed to him, and the little one Snow peeked around the edge of a skirt at him. Gen walked slowly up to her. Snow was wearing a large shirt as a dress that didn't seem to fit her well.

“Would you like to play?” He asked. Large red eyes looked at him closely. Daisy put a hand on Snow's back and pushed her to Gen. He reached out and offered his hand to her. His long tail waving showed joy. He had someone his own age to play with. Snow reached out slowly, and he took it, pulling her carefully. Big brother had told him not to be rough with women. They didn’t like it. Soon the two were running through the house and into the playroom. Big brother had given him leather balls that bounced and blocks to build with. Snow just looked around not sure what to do. “What would you like to play with?” He asked eagerly. She shook without saying anything. He knelt down picking up a ball. “Here, toss this to me.” He said, handing her the ball and walking across the room. Snow looked down at the ball and up at him. She tossed it and it bounced across the room. Gen smiled and ran after it before bringing it back to her. She stood there unsure as he handed it back to her. “Again.” He said smiling. She tossed it harder letting it fly across the room. He ran after it, the corner of her lip lifting slightly. Soon the two were running through the house laughing and yelling at each other. Gen led Snow to the training room and sat at his seat. He patted the other one and Snow climbed up looking at a strange table. “This is my table. Big brother lets me play here. When you unlock your mana, will you play with me?”

“Yes.” She said not sure what was going on. She saw a toy that looked like a Knight on the table, a wire coming from its back to the edge of the table. She watched in amazement as it started to move. Gen made it dance, making Snow laugh and smile. He liked the sound and did a goofy dance making Snow giggle and clap. “You are good at this. Can I try?” Gen nodded.

“Wait here, I have to ask a big sis to change dolls. Big brother wants to make sure I don’t hurt myself or break things. The dolls can break easy.” He said getting down and running off. He returned with big sis Hena. She was a tall elf and loved watching Gen play on the table. She helped him get and plug in another doll for Snow and watched as Snow grabbed the controls. Her doll just stood there. “You have to use your mana. If you don’t have it, you may have to wait until it gets unlocked.” Gen said sadly.

“Not fair.” She said pouting and crossing her arms.

“Okay. Let’s go play something else. Want to build blocks with me or play ball some more?” She thought for a moment.

“Would the two of you like to go see Tailor and see if she can get a real dress for Snow?” Snow turned to big sis Hena, wonder on her face.

“That sounds like fun. Can we have tea and cookies after?” Gen asked. Snow turned to look at the coyote boy and gave him a big hug. “What was that for?” He asked, laughing and hugging her back.

“Just happy.” Snow said backing off, blushing slightly. Gen wasn’t sure what was going on, but liked the way Snow smelled and it was nice having someone his own age to play with.

“Put on shoes and we will get going. Snow, you will be living with us here. Would you like that?” Snow tackled big sis Hena and started crying. Was she sad? Gen used to get sad a lot, but that changed when he came here. He gave her a hug from behind and started petting her hair like big sis Lily did. This made him happy so it should make her happy too.

{Hena Gotyho Tovoear}

She pulled Savage into a side room and had the communication bowl on the table. Savage looked over the runes and smiled as he wrote several down in his notebook. Given how much he shared with her, this was a small gift. Tonight, he would be talking with her mother, and she wasn’t sure how this was going to go. She poured the mana water into the bowl, recited the incantation and watched the pool spin and a picture formed in the middle. Her mother was standing over the pool of water back home. She had been waiting for Hena to contact her. “Mother, I’d like to introduce Lord Savage.”

“Lord and War Chief, my dear.” Her mother said coldly. Savage bowed to her and moved forward. He was wearing his wolf mask and fully in the Lord Savage costume. It was no wonder Hena had thought he was a woman back then. He was just so regal.

“Matriarch Tovoear. It is an honor.” He said boldly. Her mother bowed back showing him the same level of honor. It was odd for a house head to show a human honor, but Savage was not a normal human. “Shall we get down to business?” He said calmly.

“Business?” Her mother asked. She knew full and well what this meeting was about, but she had hoped to put Savage on the backfoot.

“Your daughter has asked me to share information with you. Would you like this?”

“Business then.” Her mother said with a coy smile. It had backfired badly, and Hena had to fight a laugh. “What would you like?”

“I am offering a new way to build and test Knights, a new engine, and other improvements. What is your counteroffer?” Her mother stood there, her jaw hanging open. She thought back to a phrase she had overheard him say. Never gamble with someone who likes to stack the deck in their favor.

“Let’s start with the new testing system. Hena, how good is it?”

“Savage has a zero-casualty rate when it comes to building anything and in design projects.” She loved the shocked look on her mother's face.

“That good?” She nodded to her mother.

“I can offer you cores, coins and more. Name your price.” Her mother said boldly.

“Hena. She is to stay here as long as she likes.” Hena turned to him a slight tear in her eye. His first offer was her, he cared that much. Now she knew she loved him. Not just him, the others too. Now she wanted to stay here and build a life with this man.

“Done. Hena you are free to come and go as you like.” Her mother said, a slight smile on her face. Savage explained how he used the training tables to work out the kinks in the design phase. Her mother’s face lost all color as she looked at him. It was just so obvious when said aloud. Hena knew that this information alone would make them the top family in the elf kingdom. It would easily sell for a royal marriage and she had little doubt that her mother would sell it for that. “Next matter the new engine.” She licked her lips in excitement.

“A dual core engine,” Savage said, the screen went blank, and she saw Gdocot quickly run into view moving her mother into a chair. Her mother had fainted. Hena laughed openly as she waited for her mother to rejoin them. It didn't take long for her mother rejoin them being offered a drink and Gdocot fanned at her. “Did you hear me?” Savage asked.

“I did.” Her mother said breathlessly. “Hena, I order you to marry this man.” Hena looked at the ground, bowing her head and blushing madly. Did her mother really have to order that?

“Hold on. She should be allowed to marry and be with whoever she wants.” Savage said, a cold note in his voice. Hena looked up to see her mother looking dejected and taken aback. He had scolded her mother and her mother backed down. “Full access to elven runes is my price.” Her mother looked at him closely.

“I can only offer that to Hena, but it can be seen as a crime if it is shared outside of the family.”

“Mother, it is worth it.” Hena said to her mother, who ordered an elf out of view to prepare a package to be sent off. It went on and on like this. Savage would hint at something, and her mother would become more shocked, draining more wine to keep her composure. Hena was sure by the end that the whole of the elven kingdom would be his if he asked for it. At the end, Savage was asked to leave the room so she could talk with her now very drunk mother.

“Daughter. Marry that man. With a fraction of this information, I will lift our family into the royal house. You will be a high noble. You know what that means. All of our family's resources will belong to you and him. He will lift us all into a new golden age of wonder. You hold our hope and the elven nation in your hands. Do you grasp what I mean?”

“Yes, and it makes me happy to see that you can see the value in him that I get to see every day.”

“Stay by his side and make sure he is happy and healthy.” Her mother said a slight tear in her eye. “And make sure I get a grandbaby or six.” She added with a slight chuckle and hiccup.