...

Day of the Meeting with the Camp, Wintersleep Hotel, Private Lounge

With Narsiz's unexpected visit, Alexander fell into thought while walking to the nearby room—a small kitchen with a barebones oven and chimney. When they stepped inside, he dismissed all his maids who were still cooking. They all bowed down, stopped cooking, and left, except one.

Melina still stayed and put out the fires, closed all the lids on the food, and put them inside something resembling a refrigerator, a giant wooden box with blocks of ice underneath it. She did all this at her own pace, not caring how much his older brother glared at her, even giving back some side glances when he cleared his throat to rush her.

Why was Alexander observing this exchange so closely? He didn't know, and it didn't matter. He obviously panicked and tried to distract himself from the coming doom he felt. All his mental fortitude skills aiding him didn't help, and the number of scenarios he went through trying to find good arguments also didn't do him well, as he became more anxious about how catastrophic it could end.

Clank

With Melina leaving, the door closed, and an eery silence invaded the room. Alexander stood alone with Narsiz inside the small room and concluded that there was only one silver lining: love. It all made sense inside his panic-ridden mind.

Alexander loved his family. There was no question about how he could not love them. They were sweet, especially when they were worried about him, be it either because of his experiments or the social retardation he sometimes had, which made him mix up his Earthly experience with the ones from Orbis.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

As such, when Alexander saw the infuriated Narsiz before him, he could only see his worry and love, making him believe there was no way they couldn't solve it with a conversation. He smiled while being berated, remembering when they were coming closer for the first time.

"What are you smiling at, you moron?! Did you drink too many relaxation teas again?"

Shaking himself awake, it was clear that love failed him and the mass of teas he drank beforehand. He needed a more severe approach with which Alexander could talk himself out of this peculiar circumstance. Of course, there were ways to shut Narsiz up, but those involving force, blackmail, or similar were taboo. He would rather throw the whole camp to the wolves before hurting his brother, who was always there for him, especially when he was sick. It all changed when he met Linuel, but this was normal.

"I am just happy to see my honorable and greatest big brother all healthy and..." Alexander looked more closely at him, "...Wow! Look at you! Did you train a lot? I bet you can even win against me so easily now!"

Narsiz looked more severely at Alexander. No words needed to show how much he was holding back, 'I am fucked, I guess.'

Alexander snapped once, creating a thin layer of vacuum around them to prevent others from listening to what they were about to talk about. He also became more serious, "Okay, just for the record. I can still beat you easily, though..."

Bang!

Alexander was surprised. He fell backward, feeling that something hit his face. It wasn't strong since it had no energy behind it, and the conventional force was also far from what he experienced when training with Sarah. However, when his anger rose momentarily, he quickly calmed down and let it happen, knowing he deserved it for various reasons.

When he landed on his buttox, he rubbed his nose and looked up at Narsiz, who barely brought out the little bloodlust he had. Aura and the emotions one emitted were, for beast-kin, something they needed to experience at least once, and the more they did it, the stronger their aura became. In short, it had an accumulative effect, which could create something as dangerous as energy.

His Grandmother was the prime example since her killing intent aura could kill others, an irony which didn't avoid Alexander.

So, seeing that Narsiz had barely anything made Alexander lose his cool momentarily. He accidentally smirked, "Heh... Oh..."

Seeing Alexander chuckle, Narsiz became furious, "I swear when Mother hears this..."

However, before he could continue his threats, which made Alexander sweat buckets, Lili appeared before them, smiling with her tongue out and huffing and puffing like an average dog, "I don't think you will do this, Mr. Narsiz."

Both boys turned to Lili, with Narsiz glaring at her, ready to rip her a new one, as what she said went too far, "What do you mean? Are you really threatening your Mistress's grandson?!"

Lili chuckled, shaking her head, "No, of course not, Mr. Narsiz, but Mistress wanted Mr. Alexander and you to work together on this, actually liking his idea."

Alexander became baffled, slowly standing up, not believing what he heard. At first, it was clear that his Grandmother was much more flexible in her ruling style, allowing him to continue with many precautions, like having an invisible living, breathing death machine following and protecting him.

However, with his Grandmother now fully greenlighting, without any weird safety measures, it was like a dream come true. He suddenly felt like a fat kid inside a candy store, with 20€ (±22$) in one hand and an insulin shot in another, ready to go.

What confused him, though, was that Narsiz also suddenly became part of his scheme, at least according to their Grandmothers' wishes. Even though he needed to figure out why she wanted this, he would welcome his big brother to be part of the team, 'Oh man, with his talent and charisma, it will be a breeze.'

Besides administration, charisma was significant in making others do what one wanted. Alexander saw himself as charismatic, overwhelmingly so when he also used magic to accentuate his pizzazz. It didn't come from anywhere, though, since he worked daily on his facial expressions, gestures, the aura he emitted, etc. It was a hard grind since he was not a natural.

However, Narsiz was apparently a genius in that sense. When staying close to him, Alexander looked like a wet grey towel. Worse, he saw him naked, and his body was almost perfect, with the ideal ratio of fat and muscles. Unfortunately, he was also incredibly timid outside his family, not realizing his true potential with such beauty.

Was this society highly superficial? Of course. While attractiveness on Earth opened many doors, it was far more effective here. This was also why his Grandmother sent him tons of creams, oils, and other bullshit so he would rub it on his body so that the scars would disappear. Little to say, it didn't work, and since being attractive was this important, he sometimes got looks of pity, thinking he was self-conscious.

Alexander wasn't, making him the antonym to Narsiz, who was too self-conscious even though ideal in almost every way. As such, he felt ecstatic, hoping that his brother would accept it and work together. He would push him to come out of his shell, making him realize his talent.

"High five! I have so many tasks for yo..." Narsiz interrupted him, not wanting to give any thought to this, "I surely will not participate in your crazy scheme."

However, Lili's overly calm voice pushed through and made them forget their little dispute, sounding ominous, "You will. Since I know something you wouldn't probably want Ms. Marisia to hear, like Mr. Alexander doesn't want her to hear about this little plan."

Narsiz looked down at Lili, frowning, "What is there to know about me? I am surely not as insane as Alex, here, trying..." He tilted his head, confused, "...by the Outer Circle, why do you even have contact with the camp?"

Alexander shrugged, calmly explaining his idea, "I just wanna give them gold, resources, and training, turning them into a militia group who will attack the island to the south, take territories, 'n stuff. Pretty straightforward, if you ask me."

It was silent for a few seconds, with Narsiz looking like he was contemplating his life choices. He turned to Lili, shaking his head, "Yeah, I am not even close to having a secret this crazy."

Lili chuckled at the fun exchange, though her following words were something Alexander didn't expect to hear, "I saw what you did with Ms. Linuel for the last week."

Narsiz opened his eyes wide, not believing what he heard. However, Alexander looked at him sternly, even more enraged, "You ruined your damn pheromones?! Are you fucking insane?!..." He turned to Lili, "...I want Lin here, now!"

Alexander didn't need to guess what happened. It was so evident that he could barely hold himself back from commanding to execute her on the spot.

If they had intercourse, it meant that his brother took some potion that would damage his gland, making him able to get an erection in the first place. This was what he was worried about and not those rumors about pheromones and manipulations because of kissing each other, reminding him of those prudes on Earth.

Narsiz tried to touch Alexander's shoulder, calming him down, but he caught his hand and looked sternly at him, "No... I will not have some woman damage you!"

For some reason, Alexander felt an internal, almost archaic instinct becoming stronger by the second. It increased with him needing to push it down with all his skills. He experienced it for the first time, and while he was a family person, what he felt at the moment was much more instinctive.

He read once that canine kin were naturally far more sociable, which allowed them to be much less discriminatory and mingle far better than others. This was also why so many more of his kin were enslaved than other beast kin, as their family structure was far more ingrained, dictating loyalty to a ridiculous point, far different from humans.

Was this a weak point? Yes. Was this also a strength? Also, yes. However, most importantly, it made Alexander furious, wanting to cut Linuel down.

However, Lili's laughter interrupted them before anything could happen, "Haha! Calm down, both of you..." She still chuckled, holding a paw before her maw, "...it's not as bad as you think it is."

Alexander let go of Narsiz's hand, who clicked his tongue at him. After a very long second, with Lili observing them, she told them what she saw. Everything, from breast fondling to neck kissing and even her slightly rubbing against him. Apparently, he would let her do it, acting as if he didn't see.

It was rather underwhelming, with Alexander slowly calming down, 'This is... cringe.'

It was no different from his relationships before his fiancé. When very young, they all tried to avoid having their first time too fast in the sense that it should be something special, promising the world, only to do everything but sex.

However, when he looked at Narsiz, thinking his big brother would be calm, even laughing that he was spied on by Lili doing those puppyish things, it was the exact opposite. His face was white like a sheet of paper, and he looked down, not saying anything.

Alexander raised an eyebrow, becoming confused, "What's wrong? I thought she raped you and forced you to drink some potions, but all that happened was you touching her a bit and both being cringe. What's the big deal?"

Narsiz gulped down, clenching his fists, "Mother will not like it."

Alexander became even more confused, "Mom? What about her? Didn't she just tell you and Lin not to go too far?"

After a very uncomfortable silence, Lili burst into laughter, "Haha! For Ms. Marisia, this is too far, with her probably trying to expulse, if not cripple, Ms. Linuel immediately when she hears it."

This fact confused Alexander even more, 'Mom is that prude?'

He knew that his Father, as a mercenary, had his fair share of women, which he bragged about, even going so far as saying to Alexander that he should try out sea-kin, as they were apparently an experience to be had.

However, his Mother wasn't better. At least her first time, directly after her first mating season, was basically like Lorient's, with them having one guy after the other to calm them down.

How did Alexander know it? She talked about it openly and proudly at breakfast when Lorient was banging multiple guys at once for sixteen hours daily straight for a week, directly after she got the skill [Lust Control].

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Apparently, it was something to be celebrated by them since it was tough to get the skill, as those weeks were Outer Circle for family and the person enduring it.

Other than that, it was a charming culture shock, which he couldn't forget so quickly. Until now, he can't eat his porridge without getting reminded of how his Mother and sister were railed as teens by dozens of gigolos—lovely, lovely memories.

However, Alexander suddenly noticed something, 'She didn't have anyone after that?'

It was rather weird since their society was far more open to sexuality, with sex work even being an acceptable occupation, no different than being a handyman. They only became monogamous when they had someone with whom they were together or bonded their souls, knowing it was the right person.

This meant that his Mother was a weirdo, and suddenly, her cheating laws made so much more sense to Alexander. Yet, besides that, he also noticed Narsiz's breathing becoming louder, putting one and one together.

Their Mother would not like it, and even the kissing was barely acceptable, with her just trying to use the rumors or whatever they were about pheromone manipulations as accurate.

As such, this much was overkill, 'Okay, that's a problem.'

Narsiz looked down, distressed. His hands became whiter as he clenched them firmer, and his eyes became wetter, probably thinking about Linuel. As he was about to say something, opening his mouth with his lips shivering, Alexander interrupted him with a loud and annoyed sigh, having had enough.

"So? Just don't tell her that."

Narsiz and Lili looked at him baffled. His older brother became confused, though, his voice sometimes cracking as he could barely speak, "You understand that she is trying to blackmail me so that I will be part of your scheme, right?"

Alexander shrugged, "I don't care. This is not how I treat family and especially not the one whom my brother loves..." He mumbled, "...even though she is weird."

Lili shook her head, loudly disagreeing with his statement, "I am sorry, Mr. Alexander, but..." She suddenly squinted at him, "...what are you doing?!"

Alexander held his hand toward the door as pieces of shrapnel metal came out of his spatial pouch, forming the new bullet version he developed by copying everything he remembered from Earth.

He discovered that something with a hollow-point nose could be much more devastating in certain situations. Lili knew this as he tested it on her energy and steel-like body, making her tense, especially since he pointed it toward the room with the guests, smiling at her mischievously.

"You may blackmail him, but if you don't want those poor fuckers to die and me to be found out by Mom, you better stop it, or I will do it, blow through the door, hitting at least one poor fucker."

If Alexander shot through the door, guards and others would investigate him, with his Mother taking the helm. It would be a sure case that she would find it out, bringing him into a rather uncomfortable situation, to say the least.

Lili squinted at him, slowly standing up on all fours, tensing and bulging her muscles. Wind suddenly appeared in the room, with her ready to pounce. However, she was not emitting killing intent, as she looked worryingly between Alexander and the door, trying not to escalate the situation further.

The tone of her voice told a different story, being full of viciousness, wanting to frighten him, "You will go against my Mistress's wishes?"

In answer, Alexander made the bullet spin in place, creating a shrieking sound and smirking at Lili, "We all have our dreams, aspirations, and goals, right? Grandma wants me, Narsi wants Lin, and you want to be faster than my spell, trying to block it, but I?"

The rotational speed increased even more, and the friction against the air caused the bullet to glow red. Alexander's eyes became cold, almost sinister, "I hate it when someone tells me what to do, and even more so to my family."

Both stared at each other, though Alexander raised his other hand, "I count down, beginning from five, and then I will kill the elf in there, and trust me, I am crazy enough to be imprisoned inside the estate for decades for my principles."

Lili stared at him, not moving, but suddenly smirked, "Hypocrite. Wasn't your dream to help our subjects? Will this not hinder it?"

Alexander shrugged, "Five, life isn't perfect, and waiting for a couple of years will be worth it as long as my brother is happy with the bi..." He cleared his throat, "...ahem! I meant Lin."

"You are quite the egomaniac, Mr. Alexander."

"Four, of course, but you know what? With me, doing this also means not being able to train with Grandma, not sending her the new powder she requested, and all the fun stuff, you know? For blowing up castles 'n stuff. All because you want to threaten my brother."

Lili twitched slightly, but her voice was calm, "You want to ruin my Mistress's chance of conquering a vital area because of Linuel? Do you understand that she is but low-life compared to Mr. Narsiz?"

Alexander shrugged again, "Three, and so what? I only care that my brother is happy, don't forget who Mom married, right? Grandma destroyed half the mansion while Grandpa needed to calm her down. However, Narsi came out, so it worked out pretty well, right?"

Narsiz suddenly intervened, sounding far more worried, "You shouldn't risk it. It isn't worth it..." He raised his arms, "...listen, I love you, but don't ruin your life for me..." He bit his lower lip, "...I... will take the deal and work with you and Lili, so..."

Alexander rolled his eyes, interrupting him, "Two, and nobody asked you. Just do your rubby rubby and licky stuff with Lin and shut up. This is something between Old Yellow here and me. Grandma may take her behind the shed depending on what she will do and say in the next seconds."

Both looked confused at Alexander, who only sighed, "One, it was a book, you uncultured morons, now? What will it be? A dead elf and an imprisoned Alex, or all of us talking it out without nobody running anywhere? How about it, doggo?"

Lili glared at him, full of hate, but sighed in the end, "I will not tell anyone, but I want to talk it out now and..." She glared at Narsiz, "...don't say anything, Mr. Narsiz!"

Narsiz nodded carefully, and Alexander smiled, seeing this lovely resolution. He clenched his hand into a fist, dispersing the spell, and a giant flurry of air wooshed through the room, "Well, here we go. Good doggo!"

Lili's smile became much more sinister, "Enough joking around..." When she turned to Narsiz to say something, Alexander dismissed her with a handwave, "Don't look like that. You lost, and that's fine."

Alexander wanted Narsiz more than Lili or Scarlett, but forcing someone was never a good idea. In addition to his ethical principles, there was also a giant difference in how someone would do their work once blackmailed into a position. Even by this principle alone, making enemies in such a way was never a good idea.

Alexander pointed at a small, dirty wooden stool, "Let's sit and talk. How about it? Lili and I will not say anything about what you did with Lin and..." He pointed his thumb at Lili, "...if she does, I will kill a couple of judges, but only the old ones, though, don't worry, and fail my early noblesse oblige. Sounds fair?"

Narsiz stood there dumbfounded, only to burst into laughter a moment later, almost becoming hysterical, "Haha! Why are you doing this for me?" While chuckling, he sat opposite Alexander, looking at him, slightly sad, "...I wanted you to stop this scheme because I was worried about you and your future, but now you are throwing your future away for me? This too ironic, hehe..." He held his hand before his mouth, "...I apologize."

Alexander also sat down on another stool, leaning at the counter behind him and putting one leg over the other. He wanted to come over more casually but made it only weird, "Does it really matter? I would throw my life away for you but in a heartbeat."

Narsiz sighed, blushing slightly, "I would too, obviously, and this is why it is so dangerous to help the camp, Alex. I never intended to force you, but I want to encourage you to drop them. My word choice was maybe a little harsh, but I am really worried about you doing your crazy stunts."

Alexander leaned forward, looking excited at Narsiz, "You know this is something we must do, right?"

Narsiz also leaned forward, "Fine, tell me. This much I owe you at least."

Alexander smiled amiably at him, "We need to build an alliance, or why do you think Grandma is allowing this?"

"Alliance? Isn't it too far-fetched? We are talking about a couple thousand refugees and some fire-djinns."

Alexander's smile widened, and he quickly and roughly explained his plan. It was so simple to explain it to someone comfortable with his craziness, which made him act a bit more puppyish while he did so, easing the tension in the room.

"And then make them boom!" Alexander screamed while gesturing heavily, "...and then..."

Narsiz interrupted him, sounding annoyed, "Okay, I get it. You want to ally with the fire djinns and move the camp. Grandma allows it because she sees a great payoff in it, but what about me, though? Am I that valuable to even blackmail me?"

Alexander calmed down and nodded at Narsiz, smiling cheekily at him, "You and valuable? Haha! Look at her..." He pointed his thumb at Lili, still staring daggers at him, "...because of me hindering her little stunt, I will probably now suffer some attack before getting dragged away half-dead by her, saying it was her best way to protect me..."

Lili interrupted him, looking away while lying down, "You are right, Mr. Alexander. I hope your genius can help you calculate how fast you bleed out and whether I am fast enough to make it to Ipe."

Alexander smirked at her, "Look who is still grumpy, and yes, it's pretty easy, honestly, and..." He looked back at Narsiz, "...you are extremely talented, with so much potential. You could deal with all the djinns with but a smile, and you even learned their language, right?"

Narsiz blushed, shaking his head, "I know what you are doing, Alex, and thank you, really, for everything, but I still think it is too dangerous..."

Alexander, though, interrupted him, leaning forward, "Really? Do you really think so?"

"Yeah, why? We somehow circumvent the law, but if we take one wrong step or have an unpredictable event, we could be in for it, especially your bright future. I don't want you to suffer in any way, Alex."

Alexander stood up and started to stroll around the kitchen, swiping with his finger at the counter, "You know, I think it's more dangerous not to do it."

Narsiz rolled his eyes, "You don't reek, but you know I can smell if someone's trying to deceive me, right? Don't even try it."

Alexander chuckled, walking beside him, "Just listen and imagine..." Walking up to him and standing beside him, soup and other ingredients flew toward him, creating a colorful map of their territory before them.

He started showing what was what, as it was a rough map made out of soup and vegetables, barely able to identify anything, "This is our territory, and those are the Eros and Essence alliance, and those are..."

Narsiz sighed, sounding irritated when Alexander showed the westernmost part of Moorgrel, the giant island to the southwest, now represented by a half-peeled potato, "Humans urgh. I get what you want to indicate, but we have dozens of islands between the djinns and those humans, with many more soldiers on them."

Alexander zoomed the map out, showing many more islands further away from the continent, "Do we, though? Couldn't they just circumvent us and build a more robust relationship? Ultimately, they aren't allied with the Essence Alliance and thus much more open to creating one with the Eros, making now every djinn our enemy."

The islands shown on the ordinary continent map were only those that were easily accessible. However, there were many more further away.

So, a big question needed to be asked: Why did they not conquer those islands? The answer was easy: The ocean was ruthless. It was barely possible to survive out there, with giant sea monsters, nature trying to sink everything, and magical phenomena going crazy, but that didn't mean it was impossible.

They both learned how annoying it was to send expeditions to further islands. While they took a lot of resources and time, it was worth it as those islands were full of dungeons, mines, and other valuable resources.

As such, Alexander wanted to present a scenario. It was unlikely, yes, but not impossible, especially since he knew others like him existed in this world. One ambitious human noble reincarnator with extensive maritime knowledge would be enough to take over those, slowly surround them, and build a relationship with the djinn alliances. It was dangerous not to act, in his opinion.

Narsiz interrupted him, understanding what Alexander meant. He sounded doubtful, but it was a possibility one shouldn't ignore, "Which means that we will probably lose our cooperation should someone else, who is hostile toward us, try to do something this insane..." He looked at his younger brother, frowning, "...without you, I would think nobody would do it, but seeing you, you would do such a thing as human or whatever, right?"

Alexander smiled sinisterly, "Yes, and probably much faster than anyone else."

For Alexander, it was a risk he couldn't ignore. He wanted to mitigate it as best he could. Having neighboring fiefs was great, but only if they were friendly. Yet, being neutral was a scenario he hated more than an enemy on the border.

It was uncertain whether the neutral party could change even if they had been somewhat friendly before. Alexander wanted to close the ties with at least some clans inside the Eros Alliance, creating a friendly bond to decrease the possibility of them turning on his household as low as possible.

As Narsiz fell into his thoughts, Alexander dissolved the map and strolled to his previous seat. He sat down casually and looked sternly at Narsiz, "Ultimately, we win if we act now..." He brought his hand forward, counting his fingers, repeating himself by telling the good points, "...move the camp, build a relationship, and eliminate a probable threat. Pretty good deal, right?"

"I... I don't know."

Alexander stood up again, walked to Narsiz, grabbed his head between his hands, and looked deep into his eyes. He had had enough of his timidity and needed a clear answer. It was not a problem because he didn't give good arguments full of logic and rationale. He wanted to know what his brother felt deep down.

"Tell me, my dear brother. Don't you have the same ambitious soul as we all? Don't you want to change the world? Create something great? Something so glorious that future generations will write poems about you? Just think about what we can achieve here."

Narsiz looked into his eyes, not blinking. Both had their Mother's eyes, but only Alexander had the boldness to act, while Narsiz was too timid. It was a waste. He was so much more, so much better than he.

Alexander remembered him lying for hours beside him since he was little, patting and telling him everything he did during the day. It was fun and heartwarming. Learning and teaching? Who could do such a thing for hours? They learned for two to three hours, during which there was a lot of banter and bland snack breaks. The rest of the time, he didn't leave, only staying with him.

'I want him.'

It was like he wanted to seduce him into realizing his unlimited potential.

'You will achieve greater things than you can imagine.'

His eyes spoke so much without saying anything.

'Trust me.'

He couldn't accept a no. He wouldn't.

'Follow me.'

"I will do it."

Alexander's smile bloomed while still close to Narsiz, "You will not regret it! Linuel and Sarah, too, right?"

Narsiz sighed, "I will talk to them."

Linuel would surely be part of it as it was her fault, and Sarah would unquestionably join. She was still full of energy and training daily and was waiting for her first mating season to begin. As such, she was very bored.

Alexander turned around, walked to the door, and dispersed the vacuum dome layer, "That means yes, dear Dog-Pudding-Island administrator!"

Narsiz stood up, looking exhausted, but his eyes followed Alexander, almost like he tried to look through him, making him a little nervous. They had such an intense moment, and they didn't know how to express it.

Thus, Alexander changed the topic, "By the way, which moron named the island?"

Narsiz frowned when Alexander opened the door, "I was the moron."

Clank

Alexander ignored him, though, as the atmosphere in the room was a little tense. He decided to give them the good news: "Now, may I present the new Dog-Pudding-Island Administrator!"