Seigyou Tensei - Legitimately Employed Reincarnation
39
"Lilia! What are you thinking?! You can't just, just seduce my son!" Lilia's lips twitched as a smile pulled at them. Zenith's eyes narrowed and she splashed the redhead in the face. "Don't look so smug."
It was a minor miracle that Roxy had managed to catch Zenith before she caught up to Lilia, after Sprite had let the cat out of the bag. If by 'miracle' you mean 'Sprite arranged for that, too,' the Migurd woman mused, sighing as she soaked in the big tub with the other women on the ship.
"First the husband, now the son. I'm beginning to see a pattern," Therese sniped, but there was no heat in the words, and from the way the woman's own lips twitched as she fought a grin, it was more teasing than anything.
Hilda shook her head. "Zenith, Rudeus is a man now. He can make his own decisions. Besides, given his history, I'm almost certain that any seduction was mutual—"
"No, it wasn't," Lilia denied immediately. All eyes turned to her and she explained, "Master Rudeus looks at me now with the same eyes he has since he was a toddler. The eyes of a lecherous old man. It… unsettled me, when he was young, and I tried to distance myself from him. He saw that and has always, always treated me with respect—even if his eyes did betray his interest. He has never attempted to seduce me. Never laid his hands upon me, except when I initiated contact. This was entirely of my own volition."
Hilda frowned. "I know Rudeus was a precocious and very mature boy, well beyond his age even when he first came to us, but that sounds like you're saying that he was aware in a way babies simply aren't."
"Rudeus was," Zenith murmured. "He was a very bright boy. Always watching. Always listening."
Roxy kept her mouth shut. A glance at the holograms provided by Sprite showed Sylphie, Eris, and Ariel all looking to her. She shook her head minutely. Ariel smiled faintly. Eris, meanwhile, went back to scrubbing Tona. "I don't see what the big deal is, mother," Eris shrugged.
Sylphie nodded. "Right. We talked about it, together. After everything Lilia has done for Rudy, and Rudy has done for her, she's part of the family."
"When she came to me and told me she was divorcing Paul, I asked what she wanted. Lilia wants to stay by Rudy's side," Roxy supplied.
"That doesn't mean climbing into his bed!" Zenith pouted. Looking at the other hologram, the one of the deck outside, she sighed.
"Alright. Now, just try to feel out what you did. Feel the way the magic flows through your body. Then, just do that, without the words. I promise, after the first time, it's super easy. So easy, you won't ever need the words again," Rudy instructed the blonde girl in his lap, maybe a year or two younger than himself, sitting on the deck of the Roxy and facing off the side of the ship to prevent any accidents. Nearby, Aisha spun through some practice maneuvers in the air, silently throwing out magic while constantly moving.
Kishirika sat on a cushion nearby, sipping at something full of alcohol and fruit as she watched, a small smile on her face as she reached out and plucked a fruit from a tray she'd brought with her before popping it in her mouth. She turned her head slightly and they got the impression she was looking directly at them. "Why not? The more the merrier!"
Rudy looked up at the demon empress before rolling his eyes. "Ignore her. Keep going."
Further up the deck, Norn silently worked herself through her own exercises with her staff, occasionally tossing out a blast of her own magic. Bright green eyes sometimes turned to watch her sister dancing above with a look of poorly disguised jealousy. She didn't even bother to disguise her jealousy and anger any time she glanced in Rudy's direction.
Elinalise snickered, before sliding through the water and pressing herself into Zenith's side. Zenith squeaked when the lewd elf's grabby hands caught her large breasts, floating in the water. "Maybe someone's jealous, hm?"
"Wha—no! I'm not! Lemme go, you sexual miscreant!" Zenith glared and swatted ineffectually at the elf, but didn't actually try to get away. "You shouldn't seduce him either! You're old enough to be his grandmother!"
"That just makes it even more fun~" the elf purred.
This was not actually an uncommon sight, since Zenith had been reunited with them. Roxy supposed she shouldn't be surprised, given that the two had a history—both having been in the same party, along with Ghislaine. What was more amusing, at least to her, was in knowing that Sylphie was Elinalise's granddaughter and the elf herself hadn't figured it out. Sylphie knew, but was holding off on telling Elinalise who her father was until they could meet in person.
Roxy had a suspicion that little Sylphiette didn't want to lose more family—wanted to gain family, in fact, and so was keeping that to herself until Rudy worked his way through the elf so thoroughly that she wouldn't be able to do without. Our little Sylphie has grown up a lot. I think Ariel has been rubbing off on her. So have Eris and even Norn. She looks Rudy's age, now… and already beginning to develop along the lines of her mother's figure.
Sometimes, watching them fool around like this—or just seeing some of the other women nude—made her feel a little self-conscious about her body. There were so many women with better figures than herself. Rudy's mother, of course. Therese very much took after her sister, but she was also very physically fit, much like Ghislaine. Lilia herself had an amazing figure. Roxy had seen the way Rudy's eyes strayed to Hilda and the way the woman hid a smile and preened, while going on about 'teasing an old woman,' because despite being happily married she apparently enjoyed the attention. Sylvia, Sylphie's mother, was not quite as developed as those three, but still quite beautiful. Elinalise, of course—with her smaller but no less womanly figure. Then there was Ghislaine, and the less said about that beast of a woman and how that made her feel the better. Even Eris had filled out more than her! And there was Roxy, stuck looking like, well, like a child of Eris's age just barely on the cusp of womanhood.
And then I catch him looking at me like a wolf stalking a rabbit… And Roxy was reminded that despite her own feelings on her looks, her soon-to-be husband found her very attractive, and was extremely enthusiastic about showing her just how attracted to her he was. She was coming to believe that Rudy didn't have a 'type' and enjoyed variety in his women… If she was right on her timing, she might even have something to show for it. She wasn't getting her hopes up yet, however. Still… I wonder what it'll be like. I should speak with mother and the others.
There was a thought. Perhaps she should start including her mother in these meetings, introduce her to the other women…
Reaching out, and smiling as she did, she felt for her mother. Rokari jumped on the connection the moment she felt Roxy reaching.
Rokari: Daughter~!
Roxy: Hello, mother. Are you busy?
Rokari: Not at all, dear! What do you need?
Roxy: I'd like to introduce you to some people. Sprite will lead you to us. …Bring your bathing supplies.
Rokari: Oh! I love bath time! It's so, so…
Roxy: Decadent, after years without water that a mage didn't create?
Rokari: Exactly! And so convenient! I'm so happy you found Rudy. I'll be there soon.
"Sprite," Roxy spoke up quietly, drawing the spirit's attention. "Could you lead my mother here?"
"Sure!" Sprite chirped from where she sat in the water—or at least, where her hologram sat.
"—and I just think that you shouldn't expose my Rudy to your degeneracy!"
"It's far too late for that, Zenith. Rudy is more degenerate than I'll ever be. After all… if I'm the last boss that escaped the dungeon to rape and pillage poor, defenseless villages full of men, what does that make your son, who can defeat me sexually, then come back for seconds with the rest of the girls?"
"That aside," Roxy broke in, even as Zenith paled and looked around with a wide-eyed expression of disbelief… and received nods from Eris and Kishirika. Roxy nodded herself when Zenith looked to her and the woman groaned quietly, sinking low enough in the water that she started blowing bubbles. "Lilia, you should tell Zenith how you feel and why."
Lilia reached up and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Very well." Zenith perked up a bit and stopped fighting with Elinalise, who turned her attention on the redhead… but didn't let go of Zenith, and in fact pulled herself up flush against the other blonde's side—putting Elinalise, Zenith, and Therese side by side in a display that Roxy had to look away from.
I… probably shouldn't stare at her so, Roxy mused. There was just one problem with that. Watching Zenith and Paul fucking had pretty much been Roxy's sexual awakening. Sometimes, she still masturbated to the memory. Although, to be fair, the vast majority of her masturbatory fantasies after leaving Buena had involved what she imagined a grown-up Rudy would look like. And she wasn't wrong. Even now, he looked like a smaller version of Paul, not quite grown to his father's height.
Her blue eyes shifted to Therese, who met her eyes and smiled. Although, Therese is very… physical with Rudy. And she's just as beautiful as her sister…
Lilia opened her mouth to speak, but the door to the bathroom opened and Roxy's mother slipped inside, the door closing behind her. "Hello!"
"Everyone, this is my mother, Rokari. I hope you don't mind me inviting her," Roxy supplied the introduction.
"Not at all, dear," Hilda denied immediately.
Zenith sat up a bit and smiled. "Right! Come join us."
Lilia got out and showed Rokari where everything went and helped Roxy's mother strip down and quickly shower, before she joined them in the tub. Rokari squeezed into Roxy's side and the others looked at them side by side as Lilia settled back into her spot. Glancing down at her mother's chest next to her own, Roxy suppressed a sigh.
"They look like sisters," Sylvia commented from her side of the hologram.
"The benefits of being a Migurd," Ariel sighed. "I'm jealous."
"They look so cute together like that!" Sylphie beamed a smile.
Roxy blinked. Jealous? Of me? What—?
"I'm just an old lady," Rokari blushed, but Roxy knew her mother well enough to know her tells, and she was preening under the attention. Not to mention the fact that she could feel her mother's delight radiating from her, even as Rokari threw an arm around Roxy and happily hugged her daughter.
As her worldview took a bit of a kick, Hilda got them back on track, reaching out and laying her hand on Lilia's thigh. "You were going to tell Zenith something?"
Lilia nodded and the others settled down and turned their attention to her. "I pushed master Rudeus away when he was just a child, because he frightened me. For the longest time, I only did the necessities, and tried to avoid interacting with him beyond that. Even then, he still occasionally reached out, trying to repair the damage I had done to our relationship and extending his hand in friendship… which I pushed away. Until eventually, he gave up. For a while, I was relieved. Then, I became pregnant with Aisha."
Looking down into the water, Lilia frowned. "I expected to be fired and turned out. You would have been well within your rights, Zenith," she nodded.
Zenith sighed. "Lilia… that's water under the bridge. We're long past that."
"Mm," she redhead nodded. "So you say. But I felt myself indebted to master Rudeus at that moment. The moment he saved us, the first time. I felt awful about Paul's decision to keep Rudeus away from our daughters, but to my shame, I went along with it, believing he may have some reason beyond petty jealousy and fear—and I was wrong. I abandoned master Rudeus when I should have supported him."
"He— It wasn't…" Zenith tried, only for her mouth to close and an angry look to cross her face. Roxy watched as she hugged herself under the water and sank down again, only to be pulled onto Therese's lap, where the younger of the two hugged her elder sister. Zenith glared into the water before finally saying, "Yes. He was afraid. And it was stupid. I was stupid to believe him."
"We both were," Lilia murmured.
"What are you talking about?" Rokari asked, a look of confusion on her face.
Hilda, however, had narrowed her eyes into a glare at Zenith, before turning it on Lilia. "Yes. Please. Do explain yourselves."
Zenith opened her mouth but Sylphie beat her to the punch. "Before I met Rudy and Roxy, I didn't have any friends in the village. I was bullied for my hair and things I didn't even understand at the time. Until Rudy saved me. After Roxy left, Rudy took up Roxy's old job, in addition to teaching me more magic. We spent every day together, from sunrise to sunset, either helping people in the village or training with magic. They were… the happiest days of my life, at that point. One day, he decided he wanted to go to Ranoa College of Magic."
"I advised him to seek out Ranoa for further study if he hit a slump, yes," Roxy confirmed.
Sylphie nodded. "He told me about the college and wanting to go. I, I took it poorly. I cried, a lot. I begged him not to leave me. I didn't realize that he had never intended to leave me in the first place. But I cried and begged, and you know how he is…"
Eris snorted. "Saw a problem, rolled up his sleeves, and started working on it."
"Right," Sylphie confirmed. "He asked his father for help finding a job to pay for the college fees, for both of us. Around that time, word began to spread around the village that Rudy was molesting me."
"An idiotic notion, if you spent more than five minutes with the boy," Sylvia grumbled. "Everyone with sense knew it wasn't true. But enough people started saying things like that. That he was Paul's son, that he seduced his teacher and had now moved on to my daughter, where there's smoke there's fire."
"We all knew it wasn't true," Zenith sighed, leaning back against Therese. "Lilia and I tried to tell people it wasn't, but a lot of them had made up their minds and believed we were covering for him. Worse, my idiot husband never denied it. I think he actually said it was possible one night, when he was drunk at the bar. Because Rudy was like himand he was fooling around with girls at that age."
"Did he?" Everyone turned to look at Elinalise. "What? Did he do anything with Roxy or Sylphie?" Roxy blushed and looked away. Elinalise leered. "You did! You cradle robber!"
Roxy sighed and nodded. "I…" Roxy hesitated, realizing just how difficult it would be to explain without giving away Rudy's secret. "I shared a bed with Rudy, yes. And I… encouraged him to explore and enjoyed his company, while teaching him how to please me."
"Roxy!" Rokari turned a judgmental gaze on her daughter.
"Don't judge me. I've met people years older but less mature and intelligent than Rudy. He taught me as much as I taught him, if not more."
"Mehehe~" Elinalise giggled lewdly. "Bad, bad girl."
"Rudy never touched me," Sylphie sighed. Then, her lips pulled into a grin. "I did convince him to kiss me once! It was nice."
"Mm. And who can say they didn't kiss a cute boy at that age?" Hilda murmured, a smile on her own lips.
Therese raised a hand. Zenith shifted and asked, "So you actually took that vow of celibacy?"
"No!" Therese denied, pouting. "But, I just, I never had a chance… And then I was busy…"
Turning her attention back to Lilia and Zenith, Hilda asked, "So, you allowed this rumor to spread out of control and ruin your son's reputation, and Paul did nothing to stop it." She turned to Sylvia, "What of your husband?"
Sylvia shook her head. "He… he suspected Rudy may have, or planned to. Which was stupid. Even if Rudy had, that would have been a good thing as far as I was concerned, because it meant he was interested in Sylphie and wanted to keep her around. The time and effort he put into our daughter, then sending her those books… You don't do that for someone you plan to just throw away. But he didn't see it that way."
Zenith sighed and nodded. "Paul claimed that his biggest fear was that Rudy would become like the nobles he came from. He was worried that Rudy would make Sylphie dependent on him and incapable of thinking for herself."
"And for that reason, you forced your son to stay away for years."
Zenith winced at the accusation in Hilda's voice. "I realize now that it was stupid and unfounded, but I honestly believed it was best for Sylphiette."
"And your own daughters?"
"I never agreed with it," Zenith admitted quietly. Lilia nodded. "I had hoped it wouldn't affect them with us telling them about their brother, but…"
Hilda scoffed. "Idiots. Both of you."
"Yes," Lilia agreed. "It is one of the many things I owe master Rudeus. Because of my weakness, I allowed him to be separated from his sister. I could have taken her into Roa to visit, but I did not. And when the teleport disaster happened, it was master Rudeus who again saved myself and Aisha, within moments of it happening. Who sent mistress Roxy back to bring us to him. Whose companion Sprite has watched over us since." She turned a determined look on Zenith. "That is why I love your son. He has done more for us, shown us more kindness, than Paul ever has. Where Paul chose to invade my bed and have his way with me, Rudeus showed me respect. When I seduced Paul, it was Rudeus who convinced you to spare us. When we were sent to Shirone and in danger, it was Rudeus who saved us. When I pushed him away, he showed me kindness and patience, and when I asked for forgiveness, he gave it without a word. In every way, your son is the better man than our husband ever was."
"Even a better lover~," Elinalise chimed in with a giggle, picking up a bottle of wine from the side of the tub and pouring herself a cup. Zenith shot the elf a glare. "What? It's true! Ask Lilia!"
Lilia blushed faintly and looked away, but nodded once. "It's true. Master Rudeus is… very attentive."
"I don't need to know that about my Rudy~!" Zenith wailed, shaking her head and smacking Therese in the face with her hair. Bringing her hands up, she scrubbed at her face. After a moment of that, she turned and grabbed the cup out of Elinalise's hands, before tossing back the whole thing. "Ugh. Fine, Lilia. Fine! I, I guess… it's your decision to make and it doesn't matter if I like it or not."
A small smile pulled at Roxy's lips as Zenith pouted like a child. Her attention was drawn to Ariel, who cleared her throat. "So. I have some questions of my own, if you don't mind—Zenith and Lilia?"
Lilia shook her head and Zenith continued to pout, but asked, "What?"
Ariel smiled and Roxy winced. She had seen that smile before. On Rudy. She noticed Eris likewise flinched and clenched up under Tona. "What do you intend to do about your husband?"
"Divorce," Lilia answered immediately. "As soon as we return to Asura."
"Good, good," Ariel nodded. "Zenith?" Zenith was silent. Everyone looked to her, to find the blonde had fallen silent. "Zenith. I need an answer."
The blonde sniffed. "I don't, I don't know!" That opened the floodgates as Zenith sobbed. "I, I saw the videos. My husband tried to kill our son and he just, just acts like he didn't! My son hates his father and wants nothing to do with his family! My daughter is so, so angry! I don't… I don't know how to fix it!"
"About that," Ariel murmured, drawing their gazes back to the blonde. Ariel sighed, reaching up and running a hand down her face. "I don't mean to pile on, or kick you while you're down. But Zenith… your husband tried to kill my fiancee." Zenith nodded and Ariel took a breath. "Mother." Zenith bit her lip. "How do I handle that, not as your daughter-in-law, but as the sovereign ruler of Asura? Paul Greyrat, a knight of my kingdom, attempted to murder the queen consort, soon to be king."
"I don't know." Biting her lip, Zenith whispered, "Please don't kill him."
"Why not? I am very much within my rights, legally speaking. Eventually, word will get out about the incident. It doesn't matter that it happened in a foreign land—the onlything that matters is that it happened at all. If I spare him entirely, that calls my legitimacy into question. It tells my subjects that I am willing to make exceptions for my family that I wouldn't make for others. It would be an act of corruption—just like the very people I've had publicly executed, stripped of their titles and holdings, jailed, or fined. And yet, if I carry out justice as the law says I should, I'll be destroying the very family I'm looking to join. I've been losing sleep over this since Rudy told me about it, the day it happened. So, help me to help you. What can I do, Zenith? What can we do?"
Zenith's hands clenched in her lap. "Please don't kill the father of my children, your highness."
Ariel sighed. "Alright. Give me an alternative, mother. Please."
"I don't know!"
Therese spoke up into the silence that followed Zenith's shout. "Exile."
"Auntie?" Ariel asked, shifting her gaze to the other Lateria sister.
"Strip him of his knighthood and exile him from Asura. If his family want to see him, they can go to him. It would satisfy the letter of the law. It keeps Paul out of Asura and away from the family—which needs to happen, because just listening to everyone talk about him, it's clear he's a disruptive and corruptive influence. It punishes him in a way that simply beating him or killing him wouldn't. The nobles may be unhappy with it, but I've heard it said that the best negotiations end in a way that leaves all parties equally unhappy."
Ariel considered it for a few moments before nodding. "Mother, can you live with this?"
Zenith had, by now, curled into herself and buried her face in her knees. "No. I don't want my family torn apart any longer. But the alternative is worse, so what choice do I have?"
The rest of the meeting turned to other matters. Namely, everyone wanted to know what was planned for housing when they got back to Fittoa. Eris seemed to think they would be staying in a rebuilt Greyrat family home, once Rudy rebuilt Roa, but Roxy wasn't certain…
"Go on ahead," I kissed Kishirika and gave her pleasingly wide ass a smack as I sent her in after Aisha and the Maiden. Norn made to pass and I turned to her. "Hey."
"What."
I resisted the urge to wince. "Can we talk?"
Norn remained silent. Looking into the bright green eyes of the girl who was just as tall as me now, so full of anger and hate, I felt… helpless. And frustrated. And pissed—at Paul, for getting into her head, and at Archer for keeping them hidden from us for what was subjectively six years. If my math was right, Norn was only a few months younger than me, now—and I had been missing from most of her life.
Moving over to the side of the ship, she followed, her spear/staff resting on one shoulder. Looking down, I saw we had just crossed over to the shore and were making our way towards the rendezvous with the Eris—we should meet up with them sometime tonight, in fact. Below us stretched an expanse of green and brown—trees and mountains. It was beautiful. And even better, the air was much cooler here. More pleasant.
"Let's go down there," I nodded towards a clearing below us.
Norn made a quiet noise of discontent, before taking a running leap and jumping off the side of the ship. I followed after, the wind whipping over my body as I fell, slowly catching up to my falling sister. Reaching out, I pulled her to me with telekinesis and broke out my inertia spell in order to just stop us and absorb the energy of the fall before we hit the ground. We touched down lightly on the grass and Norn… glared at me harder.
"Alright," I began patting the ground invitingly as I sat down. "Talk to me, Norn. Tell me what's on your mind. I can't help if I don't know what you're thinking."
The girl stood across from me, a defiant look on her face as she leaned on her staff just to be contrary. I waited patiently and finally, she began to speak. "All my life, all I've ever heard is how amazing my brother is. From Sylphie. From mom. From Lilia. Even, in his own way, from dad. That he was smart, and strong, a great mage, and on and on. When Aisha took to magic like a duck takes to water and I could barely figure out how to cast, it hurt. For every spell she learned just by trying, it took me ten times the amount of time and effort. Everything she had so easily, I scraped for, paid for in blood, sweat, and tears. When she did well, everyone praised her and told her she was amazing and just like our brother. When I finally got something, when I was so proud to be able to cast my first spell, without the words!, do you know what Sylphie said?"
Frowning, I asked, "No. What did she say?"
"'Good job. Now let's move on to wind.' That's it. No hugs, no big congratulations, no 'your brother would be so proud, Norn!' like Aisha always got. Just on to the next thing, and the next, and the next until I was sick of it. So I picked up a sword and started practicing with dad, but I sucked at that too. It was always 'Hmm, your brother figured it out pretty quick,' like he was always asking why I couldn't figure things out that quickly. And that hurt. It hurt a lot. Sylphie was way better at teaching the sword than teaching magic, because at least then it was all just play for her. But that hurt just as much because eventually, Aisha learned how to walk on air—and then they were bouncing around the yard spinning through the air like some kind of dance and me, I was stuck on the ground, still trying to figure out how to swing my sword the right way."
I nodded. "It's not easy—"
"Shut up." Frowning, I shut up and waited. "I don't want pity, or excuses for my failures. Not from you."
"Okay."
Norn continued to glare at me, her hands clenching her bladed staff as her body shook. "Nothing I ever did was good enough. It never measured up to you or my sister." She opened and closed her mouth, considering her words for just a moment before she continued. "I was relieved. It, it was actually a relief at first. When we wound up in the jungle. Just me and mom, together. And yeah, it was hard. It was awful. Scary. I barely slept at all that first year and when I did, I went to sleep crying. But it was just us, and after a while I realized that was a blessing, not a curse. I didn't have to constantly measure myself against Aisha, or live in your shadow. We fought and we lived, and I got stronger. We both did, together. I was finally, finally useful. But… Do you know what mom said?"
I shook my head. "What?"
"Every night, before bed, she'd tell me that one day, you would come to save us. But we didn't need saving! We, we were fine where we were! We had a life there, together and one day you just show up and, and take it all away! You just swoop in like some damned hero and now, you're all she even talks about. You, or my sister, or dad. And you! You've done more to help the girl with no name than you have for me! That is, when you're not too busy fucking half a dozen women—Aisha's mom being one of them. Disgusting."
"Alright. If it seems like I've been neglecting you—"
"Shut! Up! I don't want to hear it! I don't care, Rudy! It's fine! I mean, your new family is obviously more important to you than your old family, otherwise you wouldn't have taken so long to find us! So fine! Go back to them and leave me alone! You can just leave me here! I'll be fine on my own."
"I'm not leaving you here, Norn."
The girl eyed me skeptically. "I don't even know you. You're just a stranger to me. You don't get to tell me what to do."
"And if you don't give me a chance, I won't ever get to know you, now will I?"
"YOU HAD ALL THE CHANCES IN THE WORLD!" the girl screamed. Her chest heaved and tears ran from her eyes as she panted. "But you were too busy with your noble girl to make time for your family!"
My jaw flexed, my hands clenching in my lap. "No. I told you, I didn't make that call. It was our father who decided—"
"Bullshit!" Norn shouted. "If you're so great, you could've kicked his ass and just done whatever you wanted, and to hell with what he had to say about it! But you didn't! We weren't worth the effort!"
It felt like one kick in the nuts after another, and the hits just kept coming. "Just because you're strong doesn't mean you can just do whatever you like—"
"Yes, it does! The strong live and rule and the weak obey, or they die! That's how the whole rest of the world is!" Shaking her head, Norn asked, "You want to know the worst part? The absolute worst? It's that she was right. It took you forever, but you came. And you… I don't know if I want you to live up to everything they made you out to be, or if I want you to be as much of a fuckup as the rest of us."
Before I could figure out how to answer that one, she stood up straighter and hefted her spear into a ready position. "Fight me."
"You want to spar now?"
"No. I said fight."
I sighed. "Norn, I'm not going to—" Norn blurred forward in a thrust aimed at my head. "—fight my sis—" Norn blurred forward and I shifted my head to the side. "Look—"
"No! You look!" she yelled, swinging out with the blade.
I rolled away to the side, pulling a blade of stone from the ground. Pushing myself to my feet with wind magic, I settled into the Water God ready stance.
Alright. Fine. If she won't listen to words, then it'll be with fists. She's Paul's daughter, after all.
I didn't have to wait long—Norn wasn't that patient, and she was pissed. With a blast of wind, the blonde girl launched herself at me, spear leading—only for spikes of rock to rise up from the ground and try to skewer me as the ground under me turned into a small quagmire. Stone spikes crumbled and ground solidified as I pushed out my own mana and neutralized her attacks. Norn's spear came in for my heart and I shifted to the side, letting the blade brush along my own and pushing it out of the way. Then, when she was over-extended, I kicked her in the gut—
Only to be forced back as she blasted herself up and over my kick with more wind, spinning herself around and whipping the long, flexible spear at my face. I dodged again and she shifted her grip and attack, turning her forward thrust into a bash with the shaft of the spear aimed right at my face.
I caught the shaft of the spear. Norn tried to jerk it away, but my grip was steel. Dropping my sword, I brought my now free hand up and punched her in the solar plexus, folding her over my fist in a move that drove the wind from her lungs. Then, I blasted her away with wind. Norn flipped end over end and landed on her back, her weapon jerked from her hands. She sat up, forcing herself to uncurl and suck down air. I made sure she was watching when I sent her staff back to the Roxy in a flash of light.
"Sometimes, the only way to get something off your chest is to fight. So, okay. We'll fight. You can hit me all you like. But when we're done, you're going to sit down and listen to what I have to say. And if I have to beat it into you, I will. Because I love you, I just got you back, and a little tantrum isn't going to convince me to stop trying. Norn, you do realize this is only the second time we've said more than a dozen words to each other in our entire lives, don't you?"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" she screamed and launched herself at me again.
I let her hit me, shifting with the punches and kicks, while countering any magic she tried to use. And I got my own licks in. Norn was a big girl now, she could take a few hits. So I smacked the shit out of her. Busted her lip, dotted both her eyes, and gave her a bloody nose when she tried to kick me in the nuts.
Honestly, it wasn't even that bad. Eris and I gave each other worse as foreplay when she was feeling fighty.
Finally though, well after dark, Norn collapsed to the ground, panting and shaking as her body just wouldn't keep going. I dropped onto the ground beside her and conjured a sphere of water. Taking a sip for myself, I offered it to her and she grudgingly drank.
"Time to listen. If you don't, I'm going to bury you up to your neck in the dirt. Make you a food and water bowl and not let you out until you can behave like a lady, not a muscle-headed brute like our father. Understand?"
Norn huffed a sigh. "Fine. Talk."
I glared down at her. "I'm proud of you, Norn. You aren't me. You aren't Aisha. You put in the work and you advance at your own pace—which is still better than nearly every other mage out there by virtue of being able to cast silently. I'd rate you as Advanced-level in whatever it is you were using, because it wasn't any of the usual sword schools. Magic, it looks like you're Intermediary in multiple fields, again silently. Norn…" I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Look, I know it's easy to lose sight of when you're constantly compared to me, Aisha, and Sylphie, but normal people don't cast like us. They don't fight like us. You're actually really close to our aerial style of combat and I'll be happy to help you the rest of the way, later."
I shook my head. "If you should be compared to anyone, the most fair comparison would be Eris. What you have to understand is that me, Sylphie, and Aisha? We're not normal. In fact, I'd go so far as to say we're freaks of nature. Eris, on the other hand? Just a very determined normal noble girl I beat some sense into, who got goodthrough her own efforts—her own blood, sweat, and tears. That's you, too. You're good. Really good for your age, Norn. As it stands right now, you could give our dad a run for his money."
"But I can't beat you. Or Aisha. Or Sylphie or even Roxy."
I shrugged. "Yeah. For now. Let me tell you a secret." I sent her a grin and leaned in a bit. "Your brother wasn't always this awesome. I actually used to really suck with the sword. I was stuck at Intermediate- to Advannced-level for a long time, because I couldn't figure out how to use touki. That took an actual sword king to fix, because dear old popscouldn't explain it beyond 'just go like hnng.'"
Norn giggled, before forcing her expression back to something approaching neutral. "…He used to do that with us, too."
"Figured as much. I take it Sylphie helped?"
"Yeah."
"Uh huh. Because I learned from Ghislaine, then taught her with just a few words. Like I said, we're freaks. You needing time to get things is normal. It took Eris time, too. It took me forever to teach Roxy silent casting. But Norn, if you work at it, it gets easier. I promise. Eris, god, she sometimes surprises me with weird shit, like vacuum blades or expanding fire blades. Shit she just makes up on the fly, because she's just trying things. That's really all you have to do, once you get the basics. Which you've mostly got. I'll help you get the rest, okay?"
"…Okay."
"Now. Let me tell you what I've been doing for the last few years. Starting the minute we landed in the demon continent, I began looking for you…"
We talked for a long time. Long enough that it got cold and I had to light a fire for us, using some wood Sprite helpfully gathered. Some time during my story, Norn crawled into my lap and wrapped her arms around me, pressing her face into my chest as she listened.
Norn was a teary-eyed, drowsy, runny-nosed mess when dawn broke. Looking up, I found the forms of the Roxy and the Eris hovering protectively overhead. Boots rustled through the grass and I looked up to find my redheaded soon-to-be wife approaching. She took one look at Norn, then sighed and shook her head.
"Let me guess. She was being a brat?"
I sent her a fond smile. "Like someone I know and love."
Eris had the decency to blush. "Yeah, well, I love you too."
I chuckled quietly as I picked up Norn and stood, who clung onto me. "Welcome home, Eris."
"It's good to be home. Come on, let's go up to the ship. Put your sister to bed. I want to spend time with you and my mother."
I considered Norn in my arms, who was awake but had her eyes closed, and a small frown on her face. After a moment, I shook my head. "Think I'm gonna turn in for a few hours. Get a bit of a nap in. Go talk to your mom and catch up. We'll have a proper reunion tonight."
Eris made a quiet 'hmph,' before nodding. "'Kay."
With that, Sprite carried us up to the Roxy. Aisha met us coming in and Norn, to my surprise, agreed to allow her to tag along. I spent some much needed time reconnecting with my sisters—giving Norn a quick bath before we all climbed into bed together to sleep. Well, Norn and I slept. Aisha read a book, but she wanted to spend time with us, so I didn't turn her down.
So much time missed. So much work I'm going to have to do to earn their trust.
Seigyou Tensei - Legitimately Employed Reincarnation
40
"Master?"
I blinked, looking up from the display of the reconstruction efforts. "Yeah, Sprite?" I asked, looking over at her hologram. Something was clearly wrong. She looked… upset. And afraid. I had never seen her like this, but now that I did… I felt for my connection to her and could sense it, a deep, almost overwhelming fear and dread.
"There's something you should see."
"Show me." I nodded and gestured for her to go ahead. An image of the mountain range ahead of us appeared, focused on a man.
[spoiler=Orsted]
.
.
[/spoiler]
"Huh. He looks… super serious."
"He scares me."
"I know. I can feel it. What about him scares you?"
Sprite shook her head. "I'm not sure. It's… almost like Ruijerd, but more. So, so much more."
"Ah. A curse of some kind, then. Where is he, anyway?" I asked. He had come in on Eris's ship and then gone off to do his own thing, as usual.
Sprite brought up another image—this time, of the deck of the Roxy, and Ruijerd practicing with/teaching Norn his own style of combat. "He's been with Norn all morning, testing her and helping her with her spear work."
"Alright. Give me a hologram, would you?" Sprite nodded and a moment later, a hologram of myself popped up near the two.
Ruijerd intercepted Norn's latest strike and held up a hand, indicating they should stop. Turning, he looked at me with curiosity. "Rudeus. Is something wrong?"
"Yeah, you could say that. Got a minute?" When Ruijerd simply nodded, I began explaining. "Sprite spotted some guy up ahead, in the mountains. He's kinda glaring death at us up here and she said he scares her, kinda like the curse on you."
Ruijerd's eyes narrowed. "Show me." A new hologram spawned and Ruijerd winced. "That is Orsted, the Dragon God. Second of the Great Powers. We should avoid him at all costs."
I considered it for a moment before grinning. "Nah."
"Rudeus, he is not someone you wish to have as a foe—"
"Exactly," I agreed. "I'd rather have someone like that as a friend. So, let's go say 'hi.'"
Ruijerd sighed, pulling a face I knew well and kind of hated making him make. It was the one he made any time I did or wanted to do something that most would consider insane. He'd worn that one a lot, during our time on the demon continent. Pretty sure I gave the poor man an ulcer. "If you insist on this lunacy, I'm going."
"That's fine. I'll grab Eris and Roxy and we'll make a trip out of it. Meet us in the hangar."
With that, I had Sprite shut off the holograms. Before I could ask, Sprite said, "I've alerted Roxy and Eris. They're on their way."
"Great. Let's go." Grabbing my coat, I slung it on and made my way down to the hangar, where I found the others waiting.
"Rudeus, what's going on?" Eris demanded as she slid onto her bike.
Making my way over to my own bike, I popped up the back seat for Roxy and helped her up onto it as Ruijerd mounted his own bike. "Sprite found some guy giving us the evil eye down below and he gives her the creeps. So, we're gonna go say 'hi.'"
Roxy sighed, palming her face. "This seems like a monumentally bad idea, Rudy."
"As I tried to tell him, but I've learned that Rudeus will do as he will," Ruijerd shared a commiserating look with my blue-haired future wife.
"I'm sorry," Roxy apologized.
"Don't apologize for me," I told her, as Sprite opened the hangar doors on the side of the ship.
"Someone should," Roxy countered, and I heard the smile in her voice. And the exasperation. "I know what I'm marrying."
"I'm not a…" I blinked, then laughed. "I am not your Eris."
"Hey!" Eris protested as I laughed harder.
With that, we took off, Ruijerd taking the lead as the Roxyand Eris changed course and ascended to go well around and above this Orsted guy in case he proved to be trouble. We flew down into the mountains, finding the pass he was walking through, and slowed to a stop only thirty yards from the man's imposing figure. A severe frown pulled at his lips as he continued walking down the path towards us, his pace never changing. I slid off the bike and summoned Aqua Heartia to hand, while Roxy did likewise for her own staff. Eris stretched and limbered up and Ruijerd held his spear at the ready.
The tall man in white stopped roughly ten yards away from us. Golden eyes studied us intently and I could feel the tension in the air. Beside me, Roxy shivered, and I reached out and took her hand. Eris looked unsure of herself, while Ruijerd looked like he would rather be anywhere else but was ready to do whatever he needed. Finally, the silver-haired man spoke.
"Eris Boreas Greyrat. Ruijerd Superdia. Roxy Migurdia. You should not be here."
"Yeah? Says who?!" Eris demanded, reaching behind herself and laying her hand on her sword handle, but not drawing it.
"Well now, that's interesting," I murmured. "You recognize them on sight, but not me?"
Orsted shook his head, his eyes locking on me with an intensity that made my guts clench. It was like staring down Badigadi, in that instant when I knew I was dead and couldn't do anything about it. "I do not know you."
Nodding, I released Roxy's hand and stepped forward, closing the distance between us and offering the man my hand to shake. "Rudeus."
"…Orsted," he answered a moment later, but didn't take the offered hand. "You aren't affected by my curse."
"Nope," I confirmed, before jerking a thumb at Ruijerd. "Wasn't bothered by his, either."
"Hn." The man considered me for a moment and I let my hand drop. "What is your surname, if you have one?"
I chuckled. "Ah, well, it was Greyrat."
"Impossible."
"Mm, nope. But why would you think that?"
Instead of answering, he asked, "Who are your parents?"
I fought down the frown as I answered, "Paul and Zenith Greyrat. I had a falling out with my father and kind of disowned myself."
The man shook his head. "Paul and Zenith's only child is Norn. His only other acknowledged child is Aisha Greyrat."
"Now how do you know my sisters? Last I checked, one of them has been on the road this entire time with her mother, Roxy, Elinalise Dragonroad, and Tallhand—plus my summoned spirit watching over them. They'd have mentioned seeing you. The other was hidden away in a little valley on the Begaritt continent and we only just found her."
"That's not possible…" he frowned a bit harder, before looking up at the ships moving over the range—barely specs in the sky at this point. Finally, he shifted his gaze back to the bikes. "You aren't supposed to be here."
"Here…? Here, here," I gestured around us, "Or something else?"
"In this time. This world."
I blinked, considering that for a moment. "Time magic? And what do you know about parallel worlds?"
Orsted stared at me for a few moments before asking, "Tell me, have you met someone called Hitogami?"
I shook my head. "No." He relaxed minutely and I continued. "But considering that shithead has been trying to have me killed, I'd really like to so I can return the favor."
Now I apparently had his interest, as his eyebrows went up. "Explain."
"Look, bud. If we're playing 'twenty questions,' you're going to answer some yourself." His eyes narrowed briefly and he nodded once. "Alright. Badigadi. Ever heard of him?"
"The Fighting God. He resides on the demon continent."
I nodded. "Yeah. So, long story short: there was a teleport disaster that wiped Fittoa off the map, centered on Roa. Eris and I were teleported to the demon continent. I met Kishirika and she promised to help me out, in exchange for me helping find her fiancee, Badigadi. Well, we found him. He tried to kill me and didn't survive the attempt."
"That… why would he attack you?"
I shrugged. "Sprite, could you play that back for me?"
Both of Orsted's eyebrows went up as Sprite produced the hologram of Badigadi muttering to himself before launching his attack, and cutting it off there. Then, unprompted, she played back Kishirika's explanation to us about Hitogami.
Finally, when the hologram disappeared, Orsted crossed his arms over his chest. By now, Roxy and Eris had moved to my sides and Ruijerd stood beside us. It looked like everyone had relaxed a bit, since there were no sudden explosions and magic being flung around.
"He can't see you."
"Apparently not," I shrugged. "Oh! Almost forgot. Got a message from a source asking me kill one of Hitogami's apostles. Geese Nukadia—"
Orsted's eyes widened. "He was one of Hitogami's…? I see."
"Now, I've been friendly and forthcoming here. Your turn. Who are you and how do you know what you know?"
The taller man considered for a moment before saying, "You wouldn't believe me."
"Try me," I countered.
"Very well," Orsted nodded. "I have been at war with Hitogami for a long, long time. So long that I have lost count. I know a magic to allow me to go back in time and have used it to learn everything I can and plan to fight Hitogami. In all the times I've lived through this time period, this is the first time I've met you. The first time you've existed."
"Huh."
"Time travel?" Roxy murmured. "That's possible?"
""Yes,"" Orsted and I answered at the same time, before he shot me a curious look. "Remind me to tell you about Archer later, now that I can," I told her, before turning my focus back to Orsted. "Okay. So you've been living in a time loop and using it to map out Hitogami's stooges and potential weaknesses. And I'm the first real variable you've seen. He can't see me and because I fuck with his future sight, he wants me dead. You've got a grudge against him for…?"
"Killing my people. My father. Destroying my world."
"So that's the Dragon God Kishirika was talking about?" I asked, and he nodded. "Okay. Seems to me like we're kinda natural allies here."
He hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes."
"Great. Let's try this again." I held out my hand. After a moment, Orsted took it and we shook. "There. Sprite, you got a spare phone?"
"Yes, master," she answered aloud, before Sending a phone above my hand.
Catching it, I offered it to Orsted. "If you need anything, or want to discuss plans, use this. It's how we communicate. Just talk and Sprite will hear you."
Accepting the phone, Orsted hummed as it produced a hologram above its surface with options. Nodding, he tucked it away in his pocket. "Very well."
"Well, nice meeting you, but we really want to get home. I need to rebuild Roa soon." Slipping my arms around Eris and Roxy, I pulled them towards the bikes with me. "Later."
Orsted simply nodded as we mounted the bikes and took off for the Roxy. When we were far enough away, Ruijerd called, "Rudeus! What do you intend to do?"
I shrugged. "Figure it out as I go. If this assclown Hitogami is going to try to kill us at every turn, then he's got to go in the ground. You in?"
Ruijerd considered for a bit. Finally, he said, "I intend to leave and wander for a while once I see you safely home. If you would leave me a phone, I will help you as I can."
"Sure thing."
Now, who else would be handy in a fight against a 'god?' I wondered as we flew back to the ships. Basically everyone on the list of people not to fuck with. But of those, two are Laplace and he's dead. One's Badi and he's super dead. One's Orsted and one's me. That leaves three. I'll have to look into finding them. So, who else?
Hasn't Perugius been around since that time? Fuck it, why not rock up to his knockoff Laputa in the Roxy and say 'hi?'
…Actually, now that I think about it, I kinda want my own Laputa.
Standing on the deck of the Roxy, we looked out over Fittoa. What had been blasted away down to the bedrock in places, then become a flat circle of grass sea. Now, it was healthy again. The terrain built back up, trees transplanted, streams and lakes put back where they should be and even a few added, wildlife moved in, and roads, villages, and homes rebuilt. In fact, right below us, was the first village on the outermost edge of the blast zone.
"Ye did good work, lad," Tallhand broke the silence. "These people all have a home to return to, thanks to you."
"We saw it when it was still grassland. It hurt to look at," Elinalise murmured. "But Rudy, this is amazing. You and Sprite both are amazing."
Zenith's hands found my shoulders and the woman pulled me into a hug from behind. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered, kissing the back of my neck.
I shook my head. "Job's not done yet."
"Rudy," Roxy sent me a knowing look. "It's almost done. You can celebrate."
"Job's not done until the refugees are dropped off. Until Sylphie and Sylvia are back with us and Roa's been rebuilt. Then we can celebrate. Sprite, let them know and get them sent off."
I turned and headed for the entry. Eris was at my side within two steps. "What next?"
"We've already got everyone spread out among the ships by village. So we send them out to be dropped off. Send out the ships with the other races settling to their own villages. We take the Roxy and drop off the Migurd and make sure they're settled in. Then we head to Roa."
"On it, master. I'm redirecting the other ships now," Sprite confirmed. "We should be arriving at our destination within the hour."
"Thanks, Sprite," I told her as I made my way into the lounge room beneath the bridge. The walls shifted to show the exterior view as people began taking their seats. Roxy and Eris sat down to my left and right, while Aisha dropped into my lap I pushed Eris down a spot and scooted over, gestured to Norn, and patted the seat between me and Roxy. The blonde girl nodded and settled in on the couch beside me since she was too big to share my lap with her sister.
I sat, paying half an ear as conversation washed over me and the others made plans. Talked about what they wanted. What they were going to do next. For most of them, nextwould be settling down and not going anywhere for a while.
Ruijerd confirmed that he would be leaving, with Tallhand nodding and agreeing. Elinalise had decided to stick with us because, as she put it, it was easier to scratch her itch with one person who she knew could satisfy her than to go trawling through bars and hope for the best. Lilia, serving us tea and cookies, confirmed she would be going with me and bringing Aisha with her. Zenith echoed her a moment later. Hilda would be staying in Roa, as soon as her home was rebuilt, and she extended an invitation for us all to stay there any time we were in Roa—though that invitation was more along the lines of asking us to permanently live there for myself, Eris, and Roxy.
Finally, Roxy and Eris traded a look. "Wedding," Eris said, and Roxy nodded.
"As soon as we pick up Sylphie, yes," she confirmed.
Eris chuckled. "Well, in that case," she grabbed my head and forced me to look at her, before laying a kiss on my lips and slipping me her tongue. Then, she bounced up from her seat. Turning a grin on us, she said, "I'll go pick up the others and be back tomorrow."
"You just want an excuse to show off your ship," Roxy accused.
"Yep!" Eris admitted with a grin.
"Alright, have fun. We'll be waiting," I told her and Eris nodded, before hurrying off for the hangar to transfer over to her ship.
"Master, we've arrived. Should I begin unloading things?"
I picked up Aisha and set her on the couch, then stood up and offered Roxy my hand. "Not yet. We're heading down to speak with them."
Roxy and I left the others in the lounge as we made our way down to the floor we had assigned to the Migurd. As we walked, I said, "She's getting restless."
"Mm," Roxy agreed. "I think she just doesn't want the adventure to be over."
I shook my head. "I've had about all I can stand of 'adventure' for a while, thanks. I just want to take some time to… sit still. Stay in one place. Maybe work on some new inventions. Definitely get married and work on knocking up my wives."
"Ah, about that," Roxy murmured, and I looked over at her as we stepped off the elevator. "I'm late."
I sent her a smile. "Maybe we'll get lucky, then. But it could be nothing, so until you've missed several, I won't get my hopes up."
Roxy nodded. "I didn't want to give you false hope, but at the same time, I felt you should know."
Pulling her into my side in a hug, I gave her a squeeze. "Thanks."
Knocking on the door to Rokkus' cabin, we waited for him to answer before stepping in. There, we found him sitting with his two caretakers, who I still didn't know his relation to. "Young Rudeus, Roxy, how are you?"
I gave Roxy a little push to let her know I was deferring to her here. The woman at my side nodded. "We're well," Roxy sent them a smile. "We came down to let you know we've arrived. If you'll let everyone know, we can go to the hangar and Sprite can lower us down. Everyone can pick out their accommodations and Sprite can begin Sending your things."
Rokkus nodded and I felt him reach out to the other Migurd on the ship as I tuned into Migurd radio—that is, the telepathic channel they used to communicate. There was a feeling of excitement and hope from the whole group of them as they began gathering themselves up and moving towards the hangar.
Of course, this wasn't all the Migurd, just those of Roxy's specific tribe. Others were being ferried to their own villages nearby, just as not all of the elves would be in one village, or the dwarves, and so on. There was some swapping back and forth as, once we'd gathered up the various tribes and groups that wanted to move, they had mingled amongst themselves and found like-minded individuals. Some communities grew, others shrank or were separated entirely, and new ones sprang up. There were even a few planning to form villages of lots of different races mixed together.
But, at least in this case, Roxy's clan was well-established and had mostly agreed to stay together, while they had actually gained a few people.
Rokkus had his caretakers help him up and the five of us made our way with the rest of them. We watched as Sprite began lowering down the last Migurd to the ground below. Pausing at the open hangar door, I pointed to a big building in the center of the village. "That's the town hall, for meetings and the like. Your own home is right beside it there," said, indicating the cozy-looking house beside it.
The population now consisted of just over a hundred people, including children. Most of those were families, some even multi-generational families that had been sharing living quarters for generations now. And while we had built with that in mind, Sprite had made sure we had enough homes built that every family or single person could have one, every child had one waiting for them when they got ready to leave their parents' home, and then she added a few extra for future planning.
Looking down on it, I liked what I saw from the air. There was a small 'town' area where all of those who wanted to actually live and work closely together would be, in addition to space for various shops and businesses and a covered market. Each building in the town area was neatly spaced on an acre of land to itself, with stone driveways and smaller foot paths leading to them from the main road, grass, trees—we'd tried to go with as much nature and green space as we reasonably could here, with a lot of input from the people being relocated.
Every building and house had all the magical amenities one could need, provided by magic—hot and cold water, lights, food storage, stoves/ovens, wood burning fireplaces, air conditioning for summer, fully equipped bathrooms. Basically all of the little conveniences I had come up with and improved upon since I built my first flush toilet what felt like ages ago.
We had even redirected a stream through the middle of the town and put in several small ponds, both for aesthetics and easy access to fish—of which there were many. Sprite had even made sure that the place would have street lights, both inside and outside the village, lighting the paths between the village and the homes on the outskirts. All of the homes and buildings, inside and outside the village, had been painted with the same sort of patterns the Migurd liked for their own village—just with some new touches here and there, like coloring roofs either green, blue, or red and adding lots of greens, blues, and reds to the paint scheme. They liked it and, looking at it from where we stood, I thought it looked nice.
The town proper was surrounded by a ten foot stone wall with heavy iron gates that could be shut as needed. Outside the town were the larger farms and other homes, each surrounded by its own wall, and bordering the limits of the whole settlement was yet another wall, this one with several entrances that they could open manually using a push-button mechanism—which really just checked to make sure they were a Migurd, then opened. The whole settlement was surrounded by deep woods, just as all the others were—natural barriers to dissuade unwanted visitors from approaching by anything but the main road. And, of course, the entire settlement was watched over by Sprite.
Just to keep things clean and easier for the locals, Sprite had gone the extra mile and constructed vehicles as well. Namely, a few of the trucks like the one Lilia now mostly used, for public use moving things around and getting around inside the village, or trading with other villages.
We had explained to them that while we would maintain the structures, cleaning everything and keeping things neat was on the residents—but they were happy to oblige. Especially when we were handling their trash anyway—all they had to do was put it in the designated garbage bins where it would be Sent to the relevant areas to be processed. Nearly nothing would be going to waste here—including literal waste, as the waste reclaimed from the sewer system would be purified, dried, and used as fertilizer in the fields.
"It's… beautiful," Rokkus sighed, reaching up and wiping at his eyes. "I never thought I would live to see the day when our people could live free of the desert all demon-kind had been relegated to." Turning to us, he gave a watery smile. "Thank you. Both of you. This means more to us than you can possibly imagine."
The two women with him wore watery smiles as well. Both of them moved forward and took turns hugging myself and Roxy. "You've saved us."
"We are in your debt."
Roxy cast a glance at me and shook her head. "Family doesn't mark debts."
Rokkus cleared his throat and chuckled. "Well, if you would be so kind, would you mind showing an old man around?"
"Sure," I agreed and lifted us up from the hangar, lowering us directly into the center of the village. As we went, I began pointing out things. "It rains a lot more here, snows too, so we covered the open air market you wanted. The ponds are fair game for anyone to fish in, or swim, whatever you decide to do with them—just don't do laundry in them, your homes have magical equipment for that. I'll let you and Ariel work out taxation and whatever else she feels you owe the kingdom for taking your people in, but it'll probably boil down to just a few recruits for the army, cycled through every few years from what she told me. If you have any problems with anything, let Roxy know and we'll take care of it…"
"Oh! And one more thing." Roxy eyed me suspiciously as we moved into the town square. "Here's good?" I asked, before nodding. "Yeah, this looks good."
"Rudy, what are you…" Stone began to shift and rise from the ground. It began to take form and Roxy's eyes widened. "Rudy, no! Don't you dare! Rudy~!"
Rokkus and his caretakers laughed as I erected one final statue of Roxy the Wayfinder, Roxy wailing and hiding her blushing face as her likeness took shape—sized 1:1 and colored appropriately. This Roxy stood with her hat on her head and her staff over her shoulder, a gentle smile on her face. The inscription beneath it read simply: 'Welcome home, traveler.' And below it, of course, I created another compass rose—this one containing a full map of the newly remade Fittoa region, with directions to Ars and other cities and locations.
Reaching out, I pulled her into my side. "I love you~."
"You're awful!" she mewled, burying her face in my chest as I teased her.
And yet, your reactions are too great for me to ever stop.
"Roxy~!" I heard Rokari yelling from nearby, coming nearer.
Roxy whimpered and I squeezed her tighter, petting her head. Because of course, now that she was connected to 'Migurd radio,' she could actually hear and feel the amusement of the entire village at her expense. Not to mention her mother's own mischievous desire to see for herself and tease her daughter. I was kind of going to miss having my (soon to be) mother-in-law around. I actually had a good relationship with my to-be in-laws. Well, most of them. That was good enough for me.
It's not like they can't visit.
Roxy was sulky and pouty as we left the village, on our way to Roa, but I dragged her into our cabin and cheered her up.
By which I mean, I fucked her silly and left her with a smile on her face and a belly full of my sperm. Sprite announced our arrival outside what had been Roa and we quickly got dressed and headed up to the deck… where we were quickly joined by everyone else. Turning to the group, I asked, "What are you all doing here?"
"Sprite said you were going to raise Roa!" Zenith beamed a smile. "Of course we want to see you build a city from the ground up!"
"Still don't believe he can do it," Norn muttered quietly.
A frown pulled at my lips as Aisha turned and yelled at her sister. "Rudy can do anything! If he says he can do it, he can do it!"
Before it could devolve further, I pecked Roxy on the cheek and stepped off the side of the ship, flying closer towards the city as I summoned Aqua Heartia.
"She didn't mean it like that, master. Rudy," Sprite murmured in my ear, appearing beside me and keeping pace with my flight.
"Maybe." Shaking my head, I said, "Give me a hologram of Old Roa, please."
"Mm!" she nodded, and not one but two holograms sprang into being. One in front of me and one on the ground—a ghostly image of the Citadel of Roa as it had been.
"It's so… cramped," I murmured, having a new appreciation for city planning and wide open areas after we had rebuilt all the villages and built entirely new villages suited to the needs of each group of immigrants. "Expand it… fifty percent." The hologram spread out and, interpreting the desire behind it, Sprite put that new area to use putting space between the buildings. "No, double it. I want more green space and it's not like we're lacking for land here. And it'll give us room to expand."
Looking at the labels for each area, I frowned when I spotted the area labeled as 'slums.' "Why did the city even have slums? Just, no. Fuck that. Level that entire area." All the buildings in the area designated as the slums disappeared. "Alright, approach it like we're designing a mid-sized village. But in this case, we're going to take a 'communal housing' approach. Give me a few buildings, five stories tall, each large enough to house… call it fifty families. So ten dwellings per floor. Four bedrooms, two bath, kitchen/dining area, and living room per apartment, with all the usual amenities…"
We went on through the rest of the city, fixing problems the original city planners hadn't accounted for when they first built the place, and then later expanded, and expanded, and expanded some more. We straightened out and widened the roads, laying most of the area out in a nice even pattern. Since Roa was more of a roundish shape, we went ahead and made the exterior perfectly circular and lined up all the roads along the compass points, with the whole city comprised of even rings.
Then, we separated out the whole place into various districts—residential one (former slums with cheap accommodations), residential two (larger, single-family homes for the various merchants and others who lived in the city), the trade district (furthest away from the residential and noble districts due to the smells of forges, tanneries and other things), storage district, business district and market (for storefronts that didn't sell their wares directly out of the trade district), a red-light district (because prostitution happened, so you might as well put all the brothels in one place and make sure it was clean), religious district, magic district, and noble district. And finally, in the center, the lord's district—with the residences for the lord of Fittoa and the governor of Roa. And of course, below the city, a network of sewers and sewer pipes to move waste to a waste disposal facility outside the city, where it would be picked up and used as fertilizer.
With the redesign phase over, I cracked my neck and sent Sprite a grin. "Alright. Let's get to it."
Pulling up my magic and pointing Aqua Heartia at the ground below, I heard the ground rumble as things began filling in underground. Walls began to rise outside the city. Buildings began to take shape. Roads pushed themselves up from the ground. Sprite began summoning and transplanting trees. Terrain changed as I raised the center of the town up going inwards, giving the whole thing the look of a wedding cake—though I did make sure the grade wasn't too steep and it wouldn't cause problems in the future; mostly I did it so that the city wouldn't be one big fucking sprawling mess like it had been.
"I wonder what people are going to say when they see this," I mused aloud as I worked.
"I have a feeling I know," Sprite giggled beside me. "Speaking of reactions… I recorded the reaction of the Erisentering Ars' airspace."
"I thought she was going after Sylphie?"
"Yes, but apparently Eris decided to stop and pick up her grandfather, father, and Ghislaine first," Sprite shrugged.
I nodded. "Fair enough. So. Let me guess. She turned on the public address system and yelled down at the city."
Sprite giggled. "You know her well."
I sighed. "Of course. It's Eris."
"And Sauros being who he is…"
"Shouted right back."
Sprite nodded. "A few mages actually tried to fire on the Eris when she descended towards the palace. I knocked them out."
"Good girl."
"Praise me more, master," Sprite smiled.
"Mm… nah. You might get a big head."
My summoned spirit pouted. "Mistress Roxy was right, master is a meanie."
"Only because I love you."
"Squee~!"
And I had a spirit's hologram latched onto me now. Oh well, I could still work like this.