XXIV

Measures

『S-Day +175』

『Kuroba Base – Umbrii Estate』

The morning pain awoke me from my sleep. My twitching body roused Saya who had been deeply clung to me. She rose robotically to reach for my medication and to feed it to me. This had been our simple routine for months. A pill would be dropped into my mouth followed by a kiss. Then another. Then another until all 5 pills and 2 painkillers were consumed. She then woke Delia to send her off to the kitchen before falling asleep once more.

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『Kuroba Base – Auxilia Virago Castrum』

“Salve, young dominus.”

“Salve, Centurion...”

“Aesthesia.”

I visited the virago camp in order to have a few assist me with today's meeting. Though I have met the centurion a few times, this was the first time we were actually introduced to each other. We were currently sitting in the central tent that was used for their official meetings; the tents used were temporary until wooden buildings were constructed.

“Centurion Aesthesia,” I said, returning to topic, “I require a few virago for today's demonstration.”

“Of course, half of my soldiers are currently out gathering supplies and materials and the other half are busy with construction,” the centurion paused for a moment to gather her thoughts, “but Faleria's contubernium should be available. They had completed their guard duty late at night, but should be well-rested enough.”

She passed orders to a servant standing behind her who then left to fulfill them. We bid each other goodbye and I left the castrum.

Crixus and Lavinia were already waiting for me near the stables. They had already prepared the mini-trebuchet for transport; 2 minotaurs would be carrying the trebuchet. Lavinia also had my backpack with other materials for today. Aside from the trebuchet and crossbow, I plan to introduce a proper measurement system. I also plan to restructure the functions of the ateliers in order to make them function as an assembly line. Just in case there were some outward discontent, the minotaurs would act as a deterrant.

When the virago joined us, we left to meet the craftsmen of Umbria.

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『Gubbio Amphitheater』

Proconsul Libo Iulius met us outside the amphitheater. I actually had no idea what his official title was until Faleria greeted him. We stood in front of each other as we passed our greetings.

“Full house?” I asked the good proconsul.

“A little over 200 masters of their craft as well as numerous high-ranking guild officials. They are… less than enthused about this meeting.” he said, low-key emphasizing how difficult it was to bring these people together.

“Huh, why wouldn't they be enthusiastic? They have earned the privilege of building weapons for the glory of the empire,” if I rolled my eyes any harder, my retinas would have detached, “Well, whatever, let's go.” I had Libo lead the way.

The size of the amphitheater was much, much smaller than the Colosseum. It looked to be able to hold 1,000 people comfortably while being able to squeeze in upwards of 5,000 people if necessary; perhaps having them stand at the top seats.

The groups of people currently sitting inside the amphitheater appeared to be huddled into little cliques. I made the assumption that Libo encouraged them to organized themselves by craft. And as was typical, they leered at me with curiosity as I have been leered at for many months by many others. Perhaps they saw me as some kind of hunky leper. Whatever the case, I already found them annoying as all fuck.

“Greetings ladies and… oh, just gentlemen. Shocker.” I heard the grumblings from my words as if the idea of a master craftswoman was the epitome of preposterousness.

Thank you to my thesaurus app.

“Right, okay, I will introduce myself. I am Naoki Kuroba, head of the Kuroba Clan and essentially your boss for the next few months; hopefully fewer.”

A man from the stands stood up and quelled the grumbles. Libo leaned in to explain to me that he was the guild master of the 「Fabrication Guild」. This guild oversees a dozen or so smaller, more niche, guilds. A handful of masters representing those guilds were present as I would be affecting them as well.

Once the crowd quieted, the guild master turned to me, “What does the young dominus have in mind? What exactly are your intentions? And why, exactly, were we threatened to participate in this congregation?” though his voice was calm, his tone mirrored that of the vexation of the crowd around him.

“My purpose of being here and my goals are easily explainable. 1: Due to the now-deceased governor, Proprietor Umbrius, Umbria is suspected of holding rebellionists. If that isn't a word, I am making it a word.

“2: His treason was discovered when he sent an assassin to take my life. He believed my being a summoned being from another world was a threat to the rebellion as they would be much too powerful and, thus, an obstacle to their plans, he decided to take my life.”

Although it was obviously only an attempt to kidnap Saya to be his plaything.

“That makes little sense,” some random pondered loudly, “if summoned beings existed, then why not attempt to assuade–”

“Shut the fuck up and do not interrupt me!” I was obviously not done speaking, “Also, assuade isn't a word. I make up words, you can fuck off with that. 3: It is by the Emperor's will that the war against the Ossians must come to an end. And to that, agreements were made, I provide him with new weapons and I get something I desired in return, but you will also prove your loyalty to the emperor.

“4: You will be crafting 2 types of weapons: this is called a crossbow. It uses a complex trigger mechanism to fire a bolt.” I held up the crossbow and explained the various components and their functions as well as describing 2 other models. “The second is this thing behind me,” for the entire time I had been messily speaking, Crixus and the virago had been assembling the model trebuchet. The minotaurs moved the assembled trebuchet to the front of the crowd so they may see it clearly.

Every bit of the crossbow and trebuchet was explained in excruciating detail. For the demonstrations, Decanus Faleria was given the honor of operating the crossbow.

“Now,” I began as Faleria examined and practiced loading the crossbow, “this target here will be the evil Ossian beast. We will call him, um, Melon Lord.” as soon as the words left my lips, I realized something extremely off, “Where did we get a watermelon? There are watermelons in this world? Why am I only seeing this for the first time? Fuck it, whatever. Faleria, kill it.”

I never gave her any prior training. This was more for me to gauge her adaptiveness to a new weapon without any foreknowledge. The result was that she took 3 minutes to figure out how to load the string, a few tries to nock the bolt and 8 tries to hit the target. She cheered excitedly before catching herself and composing back to a calm demeanor.

“Good shot.” I congratulated her.

Next would be the trebuchet. This one required guidance from me and Crixus. The first shot was a dry fire to get the virago acclimated to the procedure. However, the actual firing of a projectile was an issue as there was not enough space in the arena. Libo had already thought ahead and had an entire section of the stands cleared beforehand. All that was needed was to move the trebuchet away from the stands. It was a good thing that we were playing aroun… testing it beforehand, as we already had a feel for the range.

Before I could give orders for the minotaurs to carry it, Crixus lifted the thing as if it were a cardboard box and hauled it away. I looked over at Melon Lord and 'decapitated' him; his head would serve as a perfect projectile.

Everything was set, the virago primed and locked the swing arm. I instructed them on how to load the watermelon into the sling. The honors to pull the trigger was given, again, to Faleria. We made it showy by giving a loud countdown. The rope was pulled, the lock released and the counterweight fell. The watermelon flew through the air impacting the low area of the stands. Gold-colored flesh splattered across the stand.

“Yellow? Why is it yellow?” I asked.

“Why would it not be yellow?” Crixus asked me.

The dark yellow color of the fruit was… I did not like it. It made me uncomfortable for some reason. I left it to be cleaned by the slaves and walked to the center of the arena once more, facing the crowd.

“You'll be making that siege engine, but on a much larger scale; bigger. The next topic is equally as important. Each of you will increase the number of apprentices you have and train them in your respective craft. You will be using a new form of measurement called the metric system. It is the superior form of measurements, even to that British nonsense. Seriously, 'stone', idiotic measurement. Any questions?” as I finished my display, the crowd began booing me.

*booing intensifies*

I guess they really like the brits.

The mob mentality grew enough that there were shouts and screaming. Many were trying to calm the disorderly plebs possibly concerned at the thought of unchained minotaurs being let loose, but most were calling me some kind of insult. Mysteriously, as I was holding onto the crossbow, a bolt some-crazy-how was dislodged from the string and flew into the crowd at random. Even more mysterious was that the bolt hit one of the craftsmen in the arm; a craftsmen who just coincidentally called me a child. I am honestly flabbergasted at such a bewildering happenstance occuring.

But, also, fuck that guy.

“I will explain this to you all again. You have no choice in this matter. If you refuse, you will be banished from this city. You will take no personnel, you will take no coinage, nor will you take your family. You will be exiled from the city with the clothes on your back. You will stop being a primitive fucking society and start being useful.” I gave my warnings and reached out to Libo. He handed me a rolled papyrus scroll to which I held up, “This is a list of all of your names and the locations of your workshops. I will be visiting each and every one of you and teaching you what an assembly line is.”

The wave of flowing discontent was carefully diminshed. The many guild masters attempted to dissuade me from pushing such a massive overhaul to their livelihoods and methodologies. I, however, was adamant in my resolve. These ideas were proven by men and women greater than myself and greater than them. Production lines, assembly lines, interchangeable parts, standards and measures, mass production. Everything they needed was in the palm of my mind.

The meeting continued for hours; them bitching and me explaining why they were idiots. Some were willing to humor me, but they still held faces of scorn, and I was able to cover the basics of the new methods and practices. The day waned and we packed our equipment.

“So those watermelons… they look weird, but do they taste good?” I asked Crixus as we walked out the arena gates.

He turned to me and gave a sour look, “They taste like piss and rocks. The alchemists seem to enjoy them for some reason.”

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『Aventine』

Emperor Epistylius stood at the edge of the Praetorian Guard's training grounds. The open field was devoid of grass and other plant life as the soil became hardened and compacted from years of formation drills. Around him were palatial engineers and metalsmiths; top craftsmen gathered from every corner of the empire. From talented youths to wise elders.

“This area will serve as the testing grounds for the railway.” the emperor announced to the men around him.

A middle-aged engineer approached the emperor, “We should have the soldiers dig trenches as if they were building a road. Unfortunately...”

“Unfortunately?”

“The amount of iron required is massive.” the engineer composed himself and spoke carefully so as to not offend the emperor, “and there have been no shipments coming in from Umbria.”

The emperor pondered for a moment for an alternative, “What of using bronze or wood?”

“Both are much too soft. It will deform or even crack under heavy weight.” the engineer warned.

“Then what of casting plates of iron and wrapping it around the wood?” the emperor asked.

The engineers discussed it amongst one another and agreed to the idea; it would need to be test and this would be a good enough time to do so. While the Praetorian Guard built the bed for which the tracks were to be laid, the iron workers will cast sheets of iron and attempt to form it around wooden beams. Other workers read the copied manual and began construction on handcars by modifying wagons to fit the rails. The wagons were also to be equipped with gearing to allow locomotion via mechanical pump or pedals.

The craftsmen and engineers were soon dismissed; allowed to continue their discussions and theories in private. The emperor looked upon the sky and stood in contemplation, “I wonder how my daughter fares.”

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『Vaticano』

Princess Minervina and her high servant Salina were walking through a crowded street. A retinue of virago escorted them and in turn kept the crowd at bay. While the virago accompanying Naoki were novices that had only been recruited a few months before their deployment, these virago were much more experienced. The most veteran among them were the only ones to have directly serve the empress before her passing.

“I know I said that you would be with my beloved, but circumstances has changed.” Minervina sent a glance to her high servant, “I require you to remain by my side, Salina.”

“This one is honored to be of use.” Salina said happily.

The group continued their walk until they reached a villa. The villa resided a few miles from the 「Dungeon Guild」 and was easily a short carriage ride away. At the entrance, they were met by a man.

“This one humbly greets the princess.” the man bowed respectfully, “Allow me to give her highness a tour of this villa.”

The princess was seeking a semi-permanent residence for the summoned. They required privacy that their current lodgings could not offer as well as a place of peaceful respite. Though the villa was small, it was more than adequate. There was also a request by Vince the 「Runomancer」, Riley the 「Ignimancer」and Isaac the 「Galciomancer」; these 3 were more interested in magic research rather magic combat. After having seen Naoki's crossbow at the Colosseum, they had imagined bringing other technologies that the natives seem to lack. The only problem they asked was how was Naoki able to construct one?

It was understood that war would return to the empire either by the time the summoned had completed their training, or if the ossians decided to launch a new offensive. Before either could happen, the '3 amigos' hoped to introduce early firearms to the world. Research of black powder would be conducted simultaneously with a magic stone substitute.

“This villa suffices. Let us finalize the contract.” Minervina said to the man. After the villa is in her possession, she will have the high servants of the summoned relocate as well as purchase suitable slaves and servants. Midwives would also be hired as most of the high servants are now partway through their first pregnancy.

Princess Minervina, her high servant Salina and the virago left the villa to continue on to the next task.

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『S-Day +178』

『Umbria』

“Are you fucking kidding me?! How is a millimeter difficult to understand?” I admonished a guild craftsman.

“And I am asking you, what does this little mark have to do with a mile?!” the craftsman countered.

“Nothing! These little marks indicate 1,000 partitions of a meter!”

The craftsman looked at me with bewildered eyes, “Only a child could come up with something so redicul–”

*bang*

“Oh, I’m sorry, my reoccurring tinnitus prevented me from hearing you properly. You called me a what now?” I said as I holstered my pistol.

“My arm!” the asshole screamed as he clutched tightly his bullet wound.

“Why would you call me your arm? Get healed up and get to work. I don’t want you dirty, filthy, fucking peasants screwing up my schedule more than it already is. You have 1 month to deliver the first batch or else.” I left the atelier and moved to the next one.

For the past 3 days, I have been visiting every workshop involved with the weapons manufacture. 20 ateliers were all with the same result; obstinate jackasses that think their form of measurement is superior even though half of them measure with their fucking fingernail. How the fuck is a random length of fingernail a unit of measure?! Every single one of them were absolutely resistant of my reform. Out of the 20 master craftsmen I visited, 8 were mysteriously shot by some strange weapon.

The worst ones were the metalsmiths. The trigger mechanisms required precision casting in order to have interchangeability. While what they already used was accurate enough, it slightly differed from workshop to workshop. They refused standardization as it would 'allow other crafters works to be mixed into their own' or whatever.

It pissed me off even more as the Romans I somewhat knew were strict on their units of measure.

It got to the point that I very nearly wanted to start using their families as hostage. I stressed to the guild masters to make the craftsmen compliant with an insinuation that the walls would be torn down and the city open to ossian attack.

I also have to revisit the metalsmiths to work out casting materials. Since I emphasized mass production, molds made of iron would be much more suitable for long term casting. Creating iron molds was a process I was unfamiliar with. There was little choice but to trust their expertise. However, I still ordered them to use metric.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

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『S-Day +180』

『Kuroba Base – Umbrii Estate』

Near the stables was a storehouse used for holding animal fodder and bedding. Inside were numerous amphorae filled with all the urine we have been collecting. The walls were filled to the brim with these amphorae. On average, a single person excretes approximately 1 liter of urine per day. With 100 virago, 50-something high servants and servants from Aventine and Vaticano, as well as Umbrii house servants and slaves, which numbered around 400, we were producing around 500 liters of urine per day.

Urine had uses other than gunpowder. The primary use was in the textile industry. When urine breaks down, it forms ammonia. The ammonia is used in raw cloth, that is cloth that has been weaved, in order to tighten the fibers and making the cloth thicker and stronger. The other use was by launderers. It cleans and bleaches fabric. So with this as our excuse, no one would bat an eye over our hoarding of urine. Also, it could be sold for a small amount of coin.

Though the smell was atrocious.

A 2nd niter bed was made next to the storehouse. I had prepared the ground by compacting and sinking it slighty so liquids would be contained. Straw, vegetable scraps and more straw was piled high and soaked with more and more urine. A small portion of the 1st pile was mixed in to seed the compost with bacteria.

The next thing I had to do was work on the time machine project that I keep constantly pushing back.

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A young girl lain on all fours in the tall grass. In front of her wandered prey searching for food. With beak and talons, the prey scratched and pecked at the soil searching for prey of its own. The feathery creature remained oblivious to its impending doom as it foraged the open yard. With violet and red hair, the girl with fox-ears and a fox tail slowly and steadily prepared her stance. The prey stepped closer to the girl, pecking and scratching.

She was ready to pounce.

*flash*

“Ahhh! Ah! Ahhhhh!” she screamed as a bright flash blinded her eyes.

“Sidony must not hunt master's property!” Illyria admonished the girl as she continued to flail on the ground while shielding her eyes. She sighed as Sidony heard not a word from her, “This one knows nothing about the instincts of ossian hykins, master will need to be consulted and permission for hunting will be requested.”

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『S-Day +181』

『Kuroba Base – Umbrii Estate』

Out of 335 slaves and house servants, Alicia decided to keep 200. As it was agreed, the 135 would be offered to Libo's estate to which he agreed as he had found the servants and slaves satisfactory; they were allowed to keep their personal effects. It was also decided that the children of those slaves would be allowed to accompany their parents as we understood the feeling of being separated from family. The virago escorted the slaves to the north gates where they were met by Libo's guards.

Just so there would be no attempts at any form of retribution, I paid them off with a severance package of 100 bronze sestertii, 100 silver denarii, some food and wine. Libo paid me not in coin but in items I was interested in: raw timber, charcoal, sulfur, waste amphorae, clay and massive amounts of straw.

With the threat of a security breach gone, I went ahead and distributed the loot chests from our dungeon adventures. At our last delve, Lavinia, Crixus and Claritia received 3 large chests while Alicia received 5. They gave it a quick inspection once the chests were delivered. Each chest received was an assortment filled with gold coins, chests filled with armor and weapons and a chest filled with a mixture of magic stones, magic scrolls, magic tomes or jewelery.

They essentially became rich enough that they could buy patronage and become patricians. Simply being adopted or married into a family would raise or lower one's status. Interestingly, this world's culture seems to assume that ancient Rome had not declined and managed to progress into the medieval era. The patrician's status can rise and fall easily just as the Umbrii family have shown.

Though I am not too clear on the rules, there are strict procedures one must undergo to be allowed patronage. As the Kuroba is a foreign entity, it can never gain status as a patrician. My relationship with Minervina is actually detrimental to her status as princess. Either I give up being a Kuroba and become an Epistylius or she give up being the princess and causing a massive power vacuum.

It is all very muddy.

I left them to their riches and went to the north gate to meet Alicia. One of the servants alerted me that she had caused some kind of stir.

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At the north gate, Alicia was busily directing wagon after wagon loaded with dolia containers.

“Watcha buy?” I asked as I approached my wife.

“Grain, tons and tons of grain. 5 kinds of wheat, 12 kinds of barley, 4 kinds of rye, 6 kinds of oats and something called amaranth. Need to test if it will copy separately or not. Also got a bunch of… legumes? The bean-looking shit. Chickpeas, sweet peas, pigeon peas, lentils, lupins and more.” she said as she leaned against me and taking my arms around her waist. “We might be able to max out our stats with all this. We also need to synthesize other things before we leave, like a radio. We need long range communications. And another drone… and more SD cards. Yeah, just tons of stuff.”

“Expensive, though.”

“What made you such a penny-pincher?” she asked.

“American healthcare.”

However, she was right. We would need many things to survive our journey and to make it easygoing. Once we left the safety of the walls, the fog of war would keep us in the dark and another quad-copter would make scouting easier.

“We would need more slaves as well; laborers and crafters. I need to put slaves in to study under those belligerent master crafters. I’ll also need to train the virago.” I said while cradling my head onto her shoulder.

“Have you counted your money yet, onii-chan?”

“Not yet, but last I checked there were 5 chests that were all gold. It's on my to-do list.” I answered.

“Does anything on your to do list ever get checked off?” she asked, rudely.

“How rude, I've taken care of, like, 8 things.” there were no lies in my words.

“That doesn't involve getting your dick wet?”

“Like... 2 things.” there were some lies in my words.

Alicia pulled herself away and, with a smile, faced me, “Get back to work, I’ll handle getting new slaves.”

“I also need you to do something. Take a horse and the quad-copter and head northwest, outside the wall. Check the area near the forest for a place we can use as an outpost. Somewhere remote; uninhabited.” at my words, she agreed. Then we separated to continue our work.

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『S-Day +182』

『Veronica's Room』

“So you want to use 「Wind Stones」 to make a scuba thing?” Veronica asked as she sat on her desk writing various research notes.

“Scby, actually. We won't be near water when it's used. But on the other hand, if given the proper seal then it would work perfectly underwater.” I answered.

Veronica turned on her chair to face me, giving me an annoyed glare, “Dude, no, you don't get to be the smart-ass. I get to be the smart-ass.”

“Right, so anyway, besides making a breathing apparatus, I wanted to test the capabilities of magic stones. If we can make 「Wind Stones」 produce specific gasses like nitrogen, then we can explore new technologies.” I explained to her one of my hypotheses. It was after the dungeon expedition where we had encountered the myriad of rotting corpses that I found the need for a scby-like device. Besides that, for our future mining operations, the breathing apparatus would be useful to keep the miners alive as one of the leading causes of mining deaths was breathing in dust.

The nitrogen was specifically for the manufacture of nitric acid. The only thing I know about producing it was using water, nitrogen and electricity. I would more than likely have to sift through the Grimoire Shop to find a manual. Nitric acid can be mixed with Sulfuric acid with cotton or other cellulose to make guncotton. Also need to figure that one out properly.

“Sure, okay, but I'll need a bunch of stuff. I want you to buy it for me.” Veronica acquiesced for a price. “I need better measuring devices; pipettes and graduated cylinders. Better scales too. I need beakers, flasks, and test tubes. I need a magnetic stirrer and centrifuge. All of it; bells and whistles.”

“Do you have any idea how much mana that would cost?” I looked at her with astonishment.

“Millions?” she guessed.

“Trillions. Maybe even quadrillions… probably.” it was incredibly difficult to accumulate stored mana. The most efficient way to produce it was converting 「Mana Stones」 for 1000 stored mana. “For example, 100 grams of dirt gives me 1 stored mana. I would need a massive amount of dirt to convert. I can do the glassware though.”

“Okay, that sounds good. I can settle for at least that.” she agreed, “Before you get started on that… wanna practice?”

“Absolutely.” I began removing my clothes and sat on her bed. She followed shortly after and we had great sex. Before we started, she had asked me to bring her to orgasm with my tongue. It was a wonderful time and I would not mind doing this every day with her.

After our 'practice session', we lay close to each other. Once I was able to catch my breath and consume a stamina potion, I remembered my intention for visiting Veronica.

“I had another reason for why I am here. I need your help with teaching me your magic. There might be a possibility that we can make a magic storage that functions with the 「Celerity Stones」. I’d also like to try using 「Heat Stones」 and 「Wind Stones」 to create some kind of oven or dehydrator.”

“Sure thing.” she said, before falling asleep.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +183』

I finally took out my chests filled with gold. The shining, shimmering doubloons filled the multiple treasure chests to the brim. It felt as if I were some kind of pirate having found the big X. 2 other large chests were filled with silver coins; dungeon runs were way too lucrative. There was no way I could count it all, but my assumption would be in the millions. Millions of coins that could literally buy this city.

However, I knew this would all disappear soon enough.

With this thought slowly disappointing me, I decided to fulfill one of my life-long goals. With Saya's help, and also because I wanted to have sex with her, we made space in the storage room and took out a number of 《Earth Wall Scrolls》. The 3 girls that had been assigned to manufacturing these scrolls had become able to produce 4 scrolls per day. I was proud at how quickly they learned and memorized the process.

Into the empty space, we spawned 《Earth Walls》 to create an enclosure. The walls were not perfect, but it was acceptable for novice work. I further strengthened the walls with earth magic as well as smoothing out any roughness. Any cracks, nooks and cranberries were filled.

Canaries? Whatever word I’m trying to think of.

Little by little, we threw in the gold coins. This would probably be the only time I could ever do this, so I held nothing back. The clinking of the metal as it collided with each other was quite deafening. Under the light, the pool glimmered. The level continued to rise and yet, there were still many small chests worth to throw in. Once we had completed the filling, we took a short break, played a game of kissy face and downed a few potions to recover our stamina and mana. While recovering, I went to another magic chest and retrieved a few candles, placing and lighting them around the room.

“Shiny~.” Saya sighed as she became enthralled at the gilded sea before her.

She knew exactly why she was here helping me with this little project. She stood in front of me as she began to remove all her clothing and dropping it onto the floor. Her body had not the athleticism that Alicia or Faleria had, but a softness that was comforting; petite and adorable. It was pleasant to hold and caress.

I climbed into the pool. Not dived like some kind of duck. Then I realized how cold the coins were and jumped back out. With a little bit of fire and wind magic, the surface of the coin pool became warm. I crawled to the center of the pool and dug around to make myself comfortable. Once she saw I was stilled, Saya followed along and lay herself atop my body. We kissed as she guided me inside her. She moved herself slowly against me with her upper body never straying away from mine until I came inside her pussy. Once I had came down from my high, I noticed something scraping against my chest; it was jewelry dangling from her neck.

“Is that my amulet?” I asked her as she was catching her breath.

Her hand held the amulet protectively, “Yes, master. But it calls out to me; it wills itself to my possession.”

Cursed object?

I allowed her to keep it. And to ease away any uneasiness, distracted her by urging her to cum. My adorable high servant used my body until she reached her orgasm. Her moans filled my mouth as my tongue filled hers. And when she came down from her high, I pushed her to continue riding me until I came a second time.

Whatever it was about sex, it made me feel amazing. I wanted more of it; needed it. The rush of an orgasm hazed my mind and clouded every pain away if not for a fleeting moment. Enough so that my addicting to pain medication waned, but I needed more.

“Saya, bring me the girl guarding the door.” I whispered to her.

“Yes, master.” she replied as she slowly removed herself from me. Her body was covered with sweat and filled with cum. As she moved, the fluids dripped onto coins and floor as she walked on wobbling legs toward the door. Saya returned immediately with the girl who had been sharing guard duty with Delia. A servant from the high servant's quarters from Aventine. I never bothered with her name, but I did remember seeing her before; a bit mousey, but cute.

Her clothes were removed, but before she climbed in to join me, Saya reached between her legs and touched the girl. She sucked in a gasp at Saya's touch. Saya then pulled her hand away and reached between her own legs and scooped out some of our cum. The slickened finger returned between the servant's legs, causing a moan to slip out. Once satisfied at her lubrication, Saya directed the girl to climb in and position herself above me. She had trouble taking me inside her; felt just like Illyria and just as good.

Eventually I was able to fit inside and worked her hips the same way I would with Sidony. Once she figured out the rhythm I wanted her to move at, I released her hips and relaxed on the pile of gold. To my surprise, Saya entered the room; I had not realized she had left at all. Following her was Illyria and Sidony. Illyria undressed herself and then Sidony before they joined us in the pool. They both waited patiently until the servant girl, whose name I still had not bothered to learn, worked me until I filled her.

Sidony, passive as she was, had Illyria move her body for her. Illyria sat on my waist facing away from me and moved Sidony's hips. I watched as lubricating fluid leaked out of Illyria's pussy and thought how she was the only girl I have seen this with. Or to such an extent that it was pouring out of her. Her hips were brought close to my mouth so that I may lap up her juices.

When I came inside Sidony, Illyria had her turn with me. Then I realized Claritia had joined us. Then Delia. Then another servant. I was busily kissing one girl while another rode me. It was exhausting. Stamina potion after stamina potion was consumed and Claritia would constantly use her recovery magic to keep me up. Somewhere toward the end, Faleria, the virago soldier, was having sex with me. The look in her eyes was similar to what the others displayed; pure lust. I held her close to me, kissing her, as I enjoyed our first time together.

Orgies are the best.

☘ ☘ ☘

“I can't believe I missed the orgy.” Alicia somberly said as she half-attempted to hide her pout. My eyelids were becoming heavy, but I could clearly see her undressing. “And fucking on a pile of gold, what the shit is that about? Get his dick hard, I need to get my rocks off.”

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +184』

『Kuroba Base – Umbrii Estate』

The memories of yesterday were a bit hazy. Though I do remember having tons of fun. Somehow, I had gone through over 60 stamina potions and 4 restoration potions. The restoration was mostly needed due to Faleria being surprisingly aggressive. Unfortunately, Veronica never showed up.

“Ah, what a fun night.” I reminisced.

“Dominus?” a young high servant called my attention.

“Right,” I snapped myself back, “count out 25 coins and roll it up with the papyrus. When you run out of papyrus, count out 100 and place it into a pouch. There should be enough, but if there isn't then you can use larger bags.”

The 30 Servilia high servants that Alicia had bought in Aventine were still undergoing training. But there was no reason to put them to work with sensitive tasks; they are designed to be trustworthy to their master. 4 were given to Veronica for her potions job and 3 were used by me for the magic scrolls job. 3 high servants were allocated somewhere else by Alicia and the remaining 20 were inside the storage room, tasked with counting my gold.

Next stop was the kitchen.

For whatever annoying reason, every single kitchen I have come across was just a teeny tiny room. Just enough to get work done, but not enough to move freely or easily. When cooking large amounts of food are required, outdoor roasting pits would be used. I needed a large kitchen to mass produce my ration bars. To do this, the outdoor area beyond the kitchen was divided into sections with each section holding an oven and table.

To make the stand that the oven would sit on as well as the work tables, I used earth magic. The dirt was made into shape and harden to a rock state. The stand was made hollow to hold firewood and the table as well to hold the utensils. It took all day just to mark the layout and magic the base stands; it would still take a few more days to complete. Then the clay oven would be made on top of the stand. Because I had no idea how to construct a clay oven, Alicia was sent to find someone that does.

I do not know exactly what Alicia's process is, but she had requested that I go through her to requisition a worker. She would then screen and scrutinize the worker before sending over.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +185』

As I walked the halls toward the storage room, I caught a pink shadow in the corner of my eye. Tame as it was, Pinkface bounced toward me at my call; at least if it can hear me. Can it hear? I mean, it has no ears… I think. My arms stretched outward to catch the hopping slime into my embrace, “So, we need to have a talk. Well, I need to have a talk and you need to listen? Seriously, do you have ears?”

*wobble wobble*

“I'll… yeah, I’ll take that as a yes. Right, okay, you, little blobby, have been causing a little havoc with your disappearing act.” it kept wobbling as if it was protesting something I said, “Let me finish, the servants that have no idea that you belong to me keep freaking out, just like they do with the minotaurs, and I’m pretty sure you're starting some kind of urban legend. Some kind of 'ghost slime' that appears out of nowhere just to scare a bunch of girls. So I need to know where you go so I can finally have my curiosity sated.”

*wobble wobble*

Pinkface leapt from my arms onto the ground and began a kind of half-roll and half-bounce pace. It moved from corridor to corridor while keeping itself somewhat hidden; hiding itself behind pillars, pottery and whatnot. No idea why, it just seemed obsessed. I would think instincts, but the other slimes did not react the same way; they were much more passive. Eventually, it lead me to some unassuming door and began squeezing itself through the bottom crack. The room behind the door was nothing more than a linen closet; small, but still large enough to hold more than a few bolts of cloth.

It continued toward the back of the closet until it reached a cloth-filled shelf. Beneath the shelf, Pinkface disappeared as it squeezed through a narrow opening that was impossible to see from a standing angle. It took some exploring before I could find a way to open the hidden door.

I had found the secret area of the Umbrii estate.

When I had confronted the Vaticanii family head, Alicia and I were lead to a secret room that was underground. The entrance to that one was hidden in a storehouse that was separated from the main villa. In this case, it was in a who-gives-a-fuck closet.

The room was not identical to the Vaticanian room, but was much more used as a forgotten storage as one would expect. Missives, coins, gemstones, a ledger that was filled to the brim with outdated information, various reports about the surrounding areas and the mines, a shrine to some god, numerous chests containing potions and enchanted weapons and armor.

Of course, it became mine now.

Pinkface emerged from a corner of the room that was out of line of sight. My little hide-and-seek mini-pet wobbled at me to follow it. As I did, I saw sticky threads holding sacs of slime eggs.

“So you're a girl slime?” I asked, but received no answer.

Although I did kill more than a few slime in the dungeons, I actually had no idea of their anatomy. They simply looked like a gelatine balloon filled with a not-quite-viscous-but-kinda liquid; something like watered-down honey. Their skin had a rubbery and fleshy feel to it, but there were no organs, sexual or other. I kinda assumed they underwent some kind of mitosis, but instead of dividing by 2, it laid eggs. Magical biology.

“Seriously, what are you?” I asked the silent breast implant, but it only returned a coy wobble. No idea what a 'coy wobble' is, but it gave one. “Well, whatever, if they hatch before we leave this place, try and keep your kids in order. Don't really need them getting loose and going wild. But we'll take them with us when we leave. I have plans for slime and slime research.”

*wobble wobble*

I returned from the corner of the room and sat on a nearby chair. The missives and reports will be skimmed through for anything useful then handed over to Minervina when she arrives. As for the ledger, skipping to the end, the last entry was made a few years ago. It could be assumed that there were more and the current one would have been in the possession of Umbrius; it is possible it has already been found by the emperor.

Since I’m comfy, I may as well skim through it now. Let's see… tax fraud, money laundering, yadda, yadda, yadda, minor extortion, forgery and… oh.

“Holy shit, this guy picked off his family members one by one.” surprise colored me as I stumbled upon a page that mentions poisoning the former Umbrii head. He had done it over time so he would get progressively sick. The sick fuck was actually tabulating the costs of doing this right down to the prices of various poisons and calculated that killing off the branch families would give him absolute control of the city for a low cost.

I immediately wrote a letter to Minervina detailing the various poisons listed and urged her to have that Umbrian senator checked out. I had not remembered who had told me about the senator or when, but I do remember hearing about how sick that person was. That person mattered little to me. However, if it turned out that I had saved his life, then I would be able to get a senator to back me.

Political play, go!

I packed everything inside the room into my magic bag and left to find a messenger to ride out toward Vaticano.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +186』

『Grain Storage』

“This is the most bullshit thing I have ever seen...” Veronica muttered as she watched me pouring grain atop my Grimore.

“Right?” I replied as the grain piled up until it hit a threshold for the Grimoire to accept into copying. Once I had copied literally thousands of grain, I moved the Grimoire into a large dolium; a giant clay pot. All of the various species of each grain did in fact count as a different object to copy.

All in all, the amount of Skill Points we were able to garner was immense. Alicia had warned us earlier not to dump Skill Points into most of the attributes as our bodies would need to acclimate to it. She never gave a reason on why, but she did stress that it was important. After rounding out my stats, I would probably increase it daily; one by one. For me, the recovery stats are pretty much useless as the Oss Curse nullifies it, but for Veronica and Alicia, they would be able to benefit from it.

Health:

1929↓/5000

Stamina:

2688↑/5000

Mana:

3597↓/5000

Life Force:

4225↑/5000

Strength:

70

Intelligence:

50

Precision:

80

Wisdom:

50

Dexterity:

60

Willpower:

50

Endurance:

70

Perception:

80

Toughness:

50

Charisma:

40

Resistance:

40

Luck:

100

Health Recovery:

50

Stamina Recovery:

50

Mana Recovery:

50

Life Force Recovery:

50

Skill Points:

807,225

Stored Mana:

147,306

Status Effects:

Minions:

6 Tauross

0 Orkoss

0 Goblins