Once Kana had returned to the Material after her successful visit, it was time to get down to the serious business of preparing to engage the Myconids and liberate the Spring of Clear Reflections. Before that though, one thing had drawn my attention. There seemed an awful lot of new Fae and other creatures in my Territory…
I had noticed an especially large amount of kobolds, and while this was a welcome thing, as they were doing most of our construction labour, as well as working the mine, I wasn’t sure where they all came from. Checking the details of the Kobold Den, I was surprised to see it had gone up by two ranks recently.
Kobold Den- Rank 4 Special- Special Rank facilities cannot be levelled up by Ether, they level as their requirements are met. This den is the warren where kobolds live and are spawned. All kobolds’ level caps are increased by ten levels. This allows the construction and improvement of Kobold Mines. This Den supports Leader-Class kobolds such as Kobold Foreman and Kobold Artisans.
That was a significant boost, and probably explained why work had progressed so quickly, such as having the steps and platform on the Rhyming Tree, and the tidy nature around Shirohebizumi shrine. Defensive walls and towers had been started, and while they were not Buildings per se, in that they weren’t built with ether, they would certainly be useful in defensive battles. One of the goals long-term is definitely to find ways to enhance the Territory that doesn’t rely on using the system I’ve been given. I think that if we only rely on what we construct, eventually we’ll hit a wall. But if we go further ourselves, we’ll have a massive advantage against any Candidate that doesn’t.
I turned to Shaeula and asked her if she knew where all the newcomers had come from, and surprisingly, it was Velna who answered. The weaselkin maid had changed, the betrayal of Risha and her other colleagues had left her looking thin, pale and haggard, her fur drab and dry. Even so, she continued to serve alongside Hyacinth, and her attitude had changed. I heard her saying that if an Unseelie could be more loyal than maids who had worked with her for many years, the world was wrong. Sad sentiments. I honestly couldn’t imagine the pain she was feeling, but since Shaeula felt it too, at least they could sympathise with each other. Hyacinth was being considerate in her own way too, making sure to include Velna in her chores, something she had vehemently protested about before. Thinking about Hyacinth doing her best to be nice made me smile.
“The kobolds and many others have come through the Ring Gate-Gate, master.” Velna explained respectfully. Her attitude to me had changed too. She had taken a risk in trusting me, and in doing so had saved Shaeula from the Night Parade and their assassins, so she now treated me with respect, and was doing her best to serve me as she would Shaeula. A shame the cost was so high. And she worries about her colleague who was taken. But we will get her back. Somehow. She isn’t dead, we have to believe that. If she was, her spirit-light should have come back to us, although there were likely many ways to cheat it, by trapping or damaging the spirit itself. Even so, nobody wished to believe that, so we kept hope in our hearts. As I thought that, Velna continued.
“They say-say that this is a place where those discriminated against can find-find happiness and work, where all are welcome. So ratkin, kobolds, goblins and others, who are looked down on for their race, they have been coming here in-in secret.” Velna looked at me, her expression downcast. “After all-all, here you even accept a foolish maid like me, who betrayed her princess. Unseelie too.”
Shaeula looked like she was going to speak, but I signalled to her to let me handle it. “Look, you made mistakes. But you tried your best to fix them. Nobody goes through life without making mistakes. I’ve certainly made my fair share, Shaeula too. Still, it’s how you deal with your mistakes that determines whether you succeed or not.”
At my comforting words she seemed surprised, but she was listening properly. “Look.” I continued. “We uncovered the plot, and we survived. Better still, look at your princess now. She’s grown from the failures you experienced together. Without that, she’d never have met me, or become so strong. So, never forget that you made those mistakes, but accept that in trying to correct them, you can be forgiven. Though those that compound their errors, they will get no mercy from me.” I finished, assuring her Risha would face retribution, one day.
“Indeed. I forgive you. Velna. Now-now you shall serve me alongside Hyacinth, and will watch as I flourish. I do have one concern though. If news-news of us is spreading, I fear my father and siblings may discover this place, as Shaeraggo did. That would be rather… problematic.”
Yeah. I know Ixitt has been bringing ratkin over in droves, and he assures me nobody will miss them or question where they went, but if other races are coming…
“I believe it should be fine, master, princess.” Velna assured me. “Ixitt has advised that there are lines of communication between the lesser-lesser races of the Seelie Court. They have ways of sharing knowledge. To protect themselves, he said-said.”
“That sounds troubling.” Shaeula mused. “I admit I myself was prejudiced, and now realise how foolish I was-was. But if the Seelie Court requires such measures, the rot-rot goes deeper than I feared. This will have to change!”
Yeah, I remember you calling the kobolds things like ‘dirt-grubbing mutts’ back when we first met. I’m proud you’ve overcome that. “Yeah, the more I hear about the Seelie Court, the more worried I am. It can’t go on that way. I think maybe your ambitions aren’t just selfish, but necessary. Reform is needed.”
“And we shall do it!” Shaeula declared. “But first-first. The Myconids. Can we truly defeat them?”
“Well, we are doing everything we can. It’ll depend on Hyacinth and Ixitt a lot though. We should go check on their progress. But first, we need to plan our Territory out.”
Shaeula nodded, and I explained my thinking. I had spent ether rush-building the three Barracks to Rank 2, then spent a hundred thousand ether queuing the upgrade to the Build Queue Anchor Spire to Rank 2 as well. This had the downside of leaving us with only two useable build queues for the fifty days that it was tied up, as it would cost nine-hundred thousand to rush-build it, or a disgusting eighteen thousand ether just to shorten it by one astral day. Anchor Spires are incredibly inefficient to rush-build. Luckily I have alternatives… The Territory was bringing in a bit over forty thousand ether a day (over half of that from Asha’s tree alone), so our income was now significantly better. We were also getting more from our expanding Territory, of course. Overall, this gave us options in regard to rush-building.
The remaining two queues had the Rank 2 Throne of Heroes with a shade under twenty-five days left. It would cost a quarter of a million ether to clear that queue, so it was within reach. The final queue had three Rank 2 Ether Spires, and the Rank 2 Boundary To Material Connection, at a total of thirty-one days, and the cost to clear that was just under a hundred and ten thousand. Therefore I would quickly be able to clear that second queue, freeing up the ability to build again, using the ether we were pulling in. Plus strengthening the ether around the training school will be a bonus.
After I explained all this to Shaeula she nodded, but then asked me what I intended to build after that.
“Yeah, that’s the tough one. I do want the Rank 2 Ether Density and Ether Spire Anchor Spires, but they would again jam up a queue, so they aren’t ideal for now. The first thing I thought of was the Rank 4 Silo. It’s eighty thousand ether, and takes a hundred and sixty days. But we can completely build it instantly for four hundred thousand ether. That sounds a lot, but the price in terms of cost per day of the queue is quite decent. We can then add an annex to increase the storage capacity for a modest sum, and I believe we can get it to holding over a million ether then. That should take care of all our storage worries for now, right?”
“Yes, if we make so much ether per day-day, we will overspill too quickly.” She agreed. “If we defeat the Myconids, no-no, when we defeat the Myconids, we should earn quite-quite the bounty too.”
“Yeah, that’s the spirit!” I approved. “And after that, we’ll push the other Silos to Rank 3. Not so much for their storage, but so we can likewise build all the Elemental Silos to Rank 3 as well. That will allow us to store a lot more elemental energies. We need them if we are going to upgrade the Earth Altar, but more importantly, with more energy to draw on, we can train harder and battle for longer. And as they are only to Rank 3, not 4, it’ll be manageable.”
I was excited now, thinking about our Territory growing ever stronger. “After that, I think we go for Rank 3 Ether Spires. Sure, they cost three hundred thousand to rush-build, meaning we spend over two hundred thousand to save fifty days, but that means the Spires will be earning more for fifty days, recovering about a third of the rush costs. Over time they’ll pay for themselves, and as more and more of them are upgraded we should get faster and faster. It’ll be a snowball effect.” I can also drop Rank 1 and 2 Defensive Emplacements into the queue while we are accumulating, boosting our defences while not letting the queues lie fallow, yet still cheap enough to rush-build when we are ready to go.
“And after that?” Shaeula asked, likewise enraptured by thoughts of our Territory becoming so powerful.
“Well, thinking that far ahead is difficult. A lot will depend on our circumstances then. I want to work towards upgrading to a Rank 4 Territory, but the amount of ether and timescales involved make it seem impossible. We have to make sure that our Territory spends as little time as possible in its helpless state, and also has adequate defences. I don’t want a repeat of the Kondou Kazuo battles.”
“Indeed. I do not-not wish for such stress again. Well, we must focus on what is ahead of us, must we not?”
“Right. And for now, that’s the Myconids. We had best go see Hyacinth and how she is faring.” With that we headed for the Ring Gate, Velna trailing behind us, her expression complicated, thoughts of returning to the Seelie Court on her mind…
********
“I still dooo nooot understand.” Hyacinth pouted as I held her, patting her head gently. Tears of frustration were streaming down her face as she stared angrily at the prisoner Myconids and plant creatures we had tied to the Fae Stones. “Change the Dee En Ay, change the proooteins. Hyacinth doooes not get it!” She shook her head within my grasp. “I want tooo help master, I dooo, but they won’t die!”
Damn, this hurts my heart. I’m pushing Hyacinth to basically become a genocidal murderer, when all she wants to do is look after our home and needs. She can’t even look at the burned remains of the mansion. I know that kobold workers have cleared most of the wreckage and are starting to rebuild, but even so…
“Look, just do your best, okay? If you can’t, we can come up with other plans. This way is the easiest, but it isn’t our only option.”
“But I want master tooo praise me, tooo need me!” Hyacinth sniffled. She seemed a bit confused at my excessive kindness over the last several days we had spent working here in the lower Astral, and at first she had become disturbingly excited in my grasp, but now she was used to it, and her perverted heavy breathing and quivering had largely stopped. I guess we can get used to anything with enough repetition.
“I do need you.” I promised her. “After all, you and Velna are the only maids left, right? Now, what don’t you understand? Maybe I can help.” I patiently went through the information Ixitt had tried to drill into her mind again. I wish I’d spent more time doing biology at school, but I was more physics and comp sci. Still, there was no way I could have expected I’d need to develop a bioweapon, right?
“So, what’s the problem?” I asked. “You’ve used the lenses Ixitt made to see the spores, right? So you know what bits are which.”
“I knooow.” She nodded. “But they are tooo complicated. It is easy tooo take bits and pieces away, but then they dooo nothing! I do nooot know what to add to make them eat plants!”
“Yeah, if we had access to a proper biolab and team of scientists with modern gear we could do it, but Ixitt is nowhere near that level. Still, he’ll get there one day, knowing that crazy rat. Well, we might as well take a break. Shaeula will be back soon anyway.” I released Hyacinth, and she nodded, wiping her tears with her long hair. She them smiled, back to a maid, offering me some wine, which I took gratefully. “Say, Hyacinth.” I asked. “Have you ever considered love?”
“Hyacinth loves master and mistress.” She declared. “A brooownie must always looove the master of the house!”
“Yeah, I meant more like… well, when you are in love, you want to enjoy the body of your partner right? That sort of thing? You know, sex and marriage?”
She shook her head, face turning dark and gloomy. “Doooes master want that sooort of thing? Hyacinth can. Hyacinth loves master. But she will nooot dooo it well. I knooow.” She turned her back to me and there was a rustling sound as she pulled at her outfit. It slid off her shoulders, exposing her bare back and ass to me, her skin pale. I only asked, I never said I wanted to…
“Look, Hyacinth, that’s not what I meant…” I reached out for her clothes, and froze as Hyacinth was shaking, her skin clammy, sweat running down it, to match the tears streaming down her face.
“Master, be quick. Hyacinth doooes nooot like pain. Though I will bear it, for yooou. After all, master saved Hyacinth, gave me a name.” She bit her lip, blood joining the dripping tears. “Dooo not keep me waiting, the anticipation is cruel. Though if master must be cruel…” she whispered, only to freeze in shock as I hugged her again, pulling up her clothes, covering her.
“I don’t know what you mean by pain.” I said, confused, but smart enough to know something was up. “If you ask Shaeula, she’d tell you it’s fun and joyful. I think you and I are talking about something different. After all, didn’t you want to warm my bed before? That’s sex, right?”
“It is?” Hyacinth seemed as confused as I, as if we were talking at cross purposes. “Warming the bed is offering the booody to the master, tooo looove and do with as he wills. But enjoying the body, that is when ooone beats and tortures pitiful creatures, is it nooot? Hyacinth will endure if it makes master happy.”
“How could that make me happy? Seriously, that’s not it at all. Sex is just another way of saying make love. I’m not sure how you decided that, but I promise you I don’t mean that at all. I would never hurt you.” I promised. “After all, you are a good brownie, right?”
“I am? I really, truly am?” she asked, and I nodded, tightening my arms.
“I don’t know what you’ve seen, or had done to you in the past. I don’t even want to imagine it. But when I say love, sex, enjoyment, marriage… I mean sharing joy. But… maybe another time. You seem sad. We should take a break. We’ll continue later.” I gestured, and blades of air silenced the enemy captives forever. “You know… I think I’d really like some wine and snacks. Think you could help me with that?”
“I can, yes. Right nooow!” Hyacinth said, brightening up. As she raced off to get me some food, I contemplated her retreating figure. Damn, with the way she has been lascivious with me, constantly trying to get into my bed, I’d have expected her to know what I meant. Damn those Unseelie. What the fuck have they been doing?
********
“It is a grim tale.” Ixitt said, as we rested, Hyacinth having been dispatched on another task. “The Unseelie are home to many Fae drunk on darkness, ripe with cruelty. The matriarch of the ratkin, Sheshelob, is one such. It is one reason why us ratkin are so hated. Sheshelob was known to devour males she had finished mating with, not totally, leaving them alive, mere shells of themselves, missing limbs and flesh. And she is far from the worst. The Dark Maidens, handmaids of the Unseelie Queen, the tortures they put captives through are enough to bring nightmares. The few we have recovered have spoken of brutal torments, and the way she interpreted enjoying the body rings true to what foul pleasures the Dark Maidens enjoy,”
I clenched my fist, enraged. “First the Myconids, now Sheshelob and these Dark Maidens. I thought that the Unseelie could be saved, considering Hyacinth, but the more I hear about them…”
“Calm down Akio, I do not-not like your rage.” Shaeula hugged me from behind. She was wearing her rubber protective gear, freshly created by Ixitt to replace the sabotaged suits from before, so the feeling was strange, but even so, the weight of her on my back calmed me down, mirroring how I had consoled Hyacinth. “I hate the Unseelie greatly, it is true-true. But we should not-not go by hearsay. If they have hurt Hyacinth and others, then they will pay for that. But I do not-not wish for you to be blinded by your anger!”
I took a long breath, letting my Resilience work, and when I was calm again, I gave Shaeula a deep kiss, Ixitt looking away politely. When we separated I thanked her. “Thanks. I just… you should have seen her. She looked dreadful. That was a far-cry from the Hyacinth we know, always perverted yet kind. Who knew such an innocuous phrase could traumatise her. Fuck, now I’m in a foul mood. We aren’t making much progress on the spores either. I think we are approaching it wrong. It’s been several days already.”
“At least the new gear works well-well.” Shaeula grinned. She gestured to the pile of shimmering Etherites she had unloaded onto the table, glittering red, orange and yellow, with a couple of green sparkles too. “The bluesteel wind armour works quite-quite beautifully.”
“Yes. With the recovered bluesteel from recycling the sabotaged gear, plus what the kobolds have mined for us, we were able to make the devices.” Around Shaeula’s waist was a belt crafted of various materials and bluesteel, that would use wind energy to generate a shell around her, preventing any spores from getting in or out, effectively rendering most Myconids and plant beasts blind to her presence. Shaeula had thus been scouting for us, and taking the opportunity to use her Eyes to spy out and recover Etherites.
I was about to praise her when my own Eye flared amber, a message crossing my vision.
A Vassal Territory has reached Rank 2. Your Class, Conqueror, has increased from level 6 to level 7.
“What is it?” Shaeula asked, and I advised her. “I guess Kikuchi-san has managed to Rank up his Territory. That’s a good thing, he can build more Ether Spires. I got a level of Conqueror out of it too.”
“Well, with your Territory defending him, only a fool-fool would fail.” She sniffed. “Still, you can reward him suitably I suppose. Maiko too.”
“Yeah, when she can enter the Boundary she can become a Kami-Blessed too, I suspect her father already is. Anyway, it’s been long enough to accumulate ether, we’ll drop back and clear that build queue.”
On our return, around two days had passed in the Boundary, so it was likely sometime late Tuesday the 1st of October back in the Material. We had accumulated enough ether to clear the cheaper queue, as well as to drop an upgrade to a Rank 2 Sniper Emplacement at the cost of around fourteen thousand ether. It would take eighteen days, but we would need about half of that to gather the ether to build the Rank 4 Silo anyway, and we could cheaply clear it when we were ready. I’m not leaving queues fallow, it’s inefficient.
“By the way, Ixitt, how are my other gear requests coming along?” I asked as I finished up, and Ixitt grinned.
“Well, now I know some of the principles, I can use Mortal Engineering and aether to make a facsimile. It is very draining, and if I knew more I could do better, but aether can cover up for any inconsistencies, so long as one has enough knowledge”
At his words, it was like a bolt of lightning struck me. Aether can cover up for any inconsistencies! Remembering the first weapon I ever made, the spear that was destroyed eventually by the Raven Knight, I had used aether to craft something beyond my capabilities at that time. Thinking of Hyacinth and what she could do with nature element, I found myself grinning.
“Akio, you seem happy?” Shaeula asked, and I grabbed her, spinning her around, ignoring her protests.
“I am! I think, no, I know we can make the spores work now!” I turned to Ixitt, still hugging Shaeula. “You’d better hurry up with the remaining items. Because soon we’ll be making our move. The Spring of Clear Reflections will be ours before the week is out!”