Mike was enjoying his rest when he felt something tickling his nose. Instinctively he reached out to swat at it in his sleep and he grabbed onto whatever it was to move it from his face.
When he heard a deep moan and a few gasps, he could feel his bed moving around and people bumping into him.
Opening his eyes to see the five of them equally sharing a portion of his bed, Mike was a little disappointed that he had missed out on all the fun. Then, Mike looked over to the still moaning March.
Mike had March's Tail in his hand and she was turning bright red.
[OMITTED]
She was not unhappy at the turn of events, all the girls had been looking for a way to get his attention and now he was grabbing in his sleep. More importantly, he was grabbing her tail.
The looks of jealousy on the faces of the others left Mike bewildered, then he let go of her tail and all of them sighed. Not a single one of them got up from where they were, and each of them crept closer to Mike as he laid in bed motionless.
'why me?' Mike sighed inwardly.
[OMITTED]
Mike tried to budge, but the grins on the girls faces left him with a teasing sensation. Mike couldn't help but try to break the tension by talking.
He Failed.
Noticing the change in Mike's expression, the girls all smiled in relief and started to undress. Mike couldn't understand what had come over them in the first place, but he was really enjoying the scenery.
[OMITTED]
He wasn't afraid of what would happen next, he was more unsure as to his stamina levels.
'One girl, Aces. Two Girls, Aces. Three Girls, Traces... Four girls... Five.' Mike's train of thought disappeared
[OMITTED]
Mike couldn't help but chide himself, It had been over two months for him. There was no way his date would be waiting for him still after even a few weeks of lost contact, Mike's guilt was non-existent.
Jodi got up and locked the door, she wasn't letting Mike get away before she was done with him.
[OMITTED]
Mike was sprawled out on the bed, a tail in each hand. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Mike had surprised them all with his stamina, including himself.
He was extremely grateful to whatever butterfly flapped its wings. The puzzled look on his face was enough to make anyone laugh.
"That was incredible." Mike fell backward into the bed, silent and unaware of the girls secret plotting.
He didn't care. Mike had to work hard on his next few presentations for the Prince, it was important to show some results besides his work with Cannabis. The Flowers were fantastic, but Mike was going to process everything, Dry Herb didn't have the appeal it once did to him. If the State Alchemist was going to make more things, he needed more Herbs. Although he wasn't sure of the availability of herbs on the markets, he was aware of how Prince Troeg was going to kill him if he didn't produce positive results.
He had a game plan, but he really hated trying to memorize the ingredient lists from this world. It would take some doing, but the Texan inside of him was telling him to keep an eye on his back. Elder Po had been quite troublesome, there was bound to be another.
About an hour later they left the room and went for something to eat. They found a nice restaurant and ordered. It was some fish and vegetables that didn't look too inviting but were suppose to have revitalizing effects. Mike was skeptical, but he was feeling a bit drained. It didn't feel like he had eaten after the meal. Instead, he could feel his stamina building back up a bit.
Electrolytes were not exactly labeled in this world. Mike drank down his tea and then remembered a few things that were going through what little of his mind that was working a bit ago.
"YES!~" Mike shouted when he jumped from his chair.
"Its a bit late for that statement." Mona giggled, setting off a chain reaction with the others.
Mike got up, Kissed each one of them lightly on the head.
"No, I figured it out." Mike started to explain.
"I figured out what to do about my TRUCK!" Mike seemed very happy with himself and the turn of events as he spoke.
The girls faces, which were full of life became even more full. Their attitudes were coming along nicely, Mike had given into temptation but he didn't want them to fawn over him just because he released them, it was weighing on him. It was only a few hours later and guilt was starting to build up. He would have to figure something out.
"If I cast the Centrifugal spell on my flywheel, that'll get my truck back on the road." Mike immediately understood the irony in his own statement.
There was no road.
"Dammit." Mike sighed again.
Mike was enamored with the idea that he could get his Truck back on the road, and without fuel. But he just had to mention the road.. or lack thereof. He didn't even question the matter of acceleration, but the point was still moot in his mind.
"Why don't you just make the truck fly?" March had a good question.
"Flying Truck? Wouldn't that mean I'd need to have my ability going the entire time its moving?" Mike started to respond to her question, gently.
"I think If its something big it takes more energy, It would be better If i just cast the flying magic on myself and stored the truck in the ring."
"Although, If I drove it on the ground where there's no road.. I'm probably going to break my Truck." Mike made even more points clear to himself. Flying truck or Driving truck, its going to get damaged if its used on this world.
"I love this truck though... " Mike really wanted to have something to do besides work all day, and he did want to go home sometime.
Mike dissolved his need for fuel and driving his truck. The only roads around were rocky, at best. Even carts were regularly broken during travel, which is why more of the Poocha Merchants were carrying spacial devices. Not only would it ease the burden of theft, Putting things away also removed the weight involved in transporting. When Mike was putting the truck into the storage ring, it did't feel like he carrying the truck.
Mike knew what to do. If he couldn't have the truck to run, he'd have a radio.
"Well, I've been trying to figure out what to do about Gas for a while. The Prince hasn't gotten back to me on the drilling progress, but I'm sure it will come around one day. When there is enough oil, we can produce some petrol if it comes to it." Mike stroked his truck like a lover getting ready to go off to war.
"Ole babe, I'll get you outta this ring and back on the road sometime soon.. okay." closing the tailgate and checking the inside of the cab for anything he could use, Mike found a condom, and a screwdriver.
"At least you know how to get screwed." Mike laughed to himself as he talked dirty to his truck for a bit.
Pulling the door panels off, Mike took out the speakers and a bit of the excess wire. He then went for the radio. It was nothing fancy, 2 speakers and power. Getting it running outside of the Truck would be a problem, however Mike had a solution.
He took the alternator off and left the belt on the truck. The alternator would rotate and keep the radio working, at least until it burned out.
"Okay."
Mike closed the doors and rolled up the windows on the truck before putting it back into the ring for safe keeping.
Standing in front of a workbench, the girls watched Mike play with some colored wires and connect them to the shiny pulley. When Mike cast a centrifugal force spell on the alternator pulley itself, the radio showed a power on light. When he stopped the spell, the radio went completely dead and then he realized he needed the battery. After retrieving it Mike connected the battery in succession and felt satisfied enough for the moment. It wasn't until he put all of the parts into a box that he felt safer about it.
Mike didn't expect to make a big wooden radio. His ingenuity aside, the girls didn't quite understand what he was doing. They had heard the radio come on in the truck, but they didn't make the connection that it could be removed. Connecting his Mp3 player to the Tape deck Mike felt like the 1990s had come back for just a moment and turned the music on. It was Tui Dub by Salmonella Dub, a mellow tone that entranced the girls with its melody.
The things and concepts Mike kept showing the girls had made them feel warm. He had blown their minds on occasion and they were satisfied that they had been given a chance to blow his for once.
The girls danced and swayed to the music and when it came to an end they all walked up and kissed Mike on the cheek or face, or lips.
"Um, Thank you." Mike brushed himself off slightly and turned the radio off. He put the radio away and the group made the trip to the market.
Mike found a place that had meat on a stick, all the girls seemed to be content with a meat choice.
The meal earlier wasn't quite enough to fill their appetites.
Sitting in the restaurant, Jodi started teasing march about her earlier behavior.
The two started to reminisce and their mouths started to drool. A keen look came over the duo as they tried to inch closer to Mike's lap. Mike understood what was going on, he was still unaccustomed to this type of public display. The girls didn't seem like it was a big deal, but he knew better. The looks on the other patrons at the snack bar were gawky.
They chose to return to the room. Mike felt like he had won the lottery, with a stolen ticket.
Still, he did feel somewhat lousy when he thought about it too much.
Mona and Rissa were stuffed silly with meat cubes the restaurant, Mike watched as they reclined into their chairs. That was the signal to go back home. It was good to see a different side to the girls, after the romp from earlier in the day, Mike was left with a lot of questions that didn't even need answering for the moment.
It happened on the way home, there was a rush of wing noises. Mike was brushing the Tails of the girls with his fingertips at the time, it was driving the girls crazy and they were on their way to bed.
The nearby Guards knew instinctively that the noise signaled an arrival to the City, a menacing arrival at that. Mike could could barely hear them in the beginning and it came to become a droning hum. It sounded like a very large Bee swarm was arriving, on closer inspection Mike noticed some of the figures and was a bit alarmed at the sight. The incoming swarm, wasn't bees. They were Bee-people, or more accurately Wasp looking humanoids. Their wings were what was giving off the distinctive wave of vibrations.
The Sonic Shield would do very little against such numbers, and yet.. there was little need to worry, the swarm did not seem like it could be bothered to look down. They almost looked like they were headed much further away and past the City
Linnaeus' were the a force of epic devastation if they took root in an area, the swarm didn't stop in the City. Instead, they flowed overhead like a river of madness. The killing intent radiating from their flight left many of the Poocha running into houses to avoid grabbing attention.
The Poocha were just unequipped to fight an aerial battle of such a large scale. Many flying mounts existed but against a swarm of enemies even a contingent of well armed Calvary would have a hard time slashing their way out in an effort to escape with their lives.
"Mike, We should get to the castle as quickly as possible when the swarm passes." Mona cried out.
The moment the chance arrived, the girls ran alongside Mike through the alleys and to the Magistrate Offices located at the Poocha Castle. Guards were hesitant to open the doors at first, but when they noticed who it was trying to gain entry they briefly pulled the locked doors apart to let them inside.
"Commander, Where is the Prince." Mike asked one of the guards who was leading the gated post.
The Commander was a bit overweight, he filled out his uniform and then some. With a bunch of panting he finally came to reveal where Prince Troeg was.
"He's gone into the Vault for the defense shield." The Commander quickly responded after regaining his composure.
Mike was stunned, a Defense Shield was very expensive. Mike remembered reading about it just before he started building the lab. It was too precious to have in ones possession, since it required several people to power it and only the rich could afford one. He thought about the Prince and why he would even bother putting up the shield if they were just passing over.
Mike and the Girls were not a combat unit. Mike himself had served in the military during his early twenties. As a Soldier he wasn't unaccustomed to battle, explosions, death, or even aerial bombardment. What Mike was unsure of was how he would defend himself and the girls if things went south. Mike still didn't have a weapon he could rely on. He was unfamiliar with swordsmanship, and the only blades he had were for chopping. It wouldn't be an easy fight, and he was at a disadvantage physically to the statures of the Poocha.
Rich sounds of battle were taking place in the distance away from the City. Mike could hear the sounds of crashing and explosions ringing out, there were even some sounds that didn't make any sense.
When the bulk of the noise ended and a long time passed, people started to come out of their houses or homes. The residents of the Poocha City were still very afraid of what could happen.
'If the Linnaeus' were successful in their goal, what would they be doing now? would the people be in danger?' The citizens all had the same thoughts in their minds, everyone could read it on their neighbors faces.
When Elder Yuri saw Mike approaching the Castle, he quickly rushed out to stop him.
"Sir, The Prince is waiting in his study. If you wish to see him you'll have to wait outside."
Looking overhead in fear, Elder Yuri shielded his eyes from a glare and check his surroundings. He had a deep fear of the Linnaeus. Their species had done terrible things to whatever was in their way, a Poocha village once made the mistake of setting up on top of a Linnaeus' Underground hive. No one survived and the corpses were infested. The brutality of the insectoid species was better described as a natural disaster.
Mike was disappointed in the way things were working for him at the moment. He thought he was high on the totem pole, but apparently he had some way to climb before he was briefed on such things first.
Mike stood outside for a moment and watched the skies along with Elder Yuri.
"So, you're Po's replacement?" Mike inquired dispassionately.
Mike then took the sash out of his storage in front of Elder Yuri and put it on. Prince Troeg had told him that the other Elders presented the sash to Po as a Gift for serving the Kingdom. To see Mike put in on so brazenly in front of him, it was a clear sign of disrespect.
"I'm not afraid of you, ...Po tried to take possession of what was never his to begin with." Mike had a sneer on his face like he was ready to kill.
The 'fuck it button' had been struck several times already over the past few days, What was one more Elder in the face of execution by the Prince?
"If you try anything against me, I'll make sure that regret is the last thing going through your head besides a spear tip." Elder Po's death was not covered up for the inner circles of the Castle, the details were easy enough to figure out and Elder Yuri's face twisted further.
Mike had noticed the look on Yuri's face since he'd arrived, It had gotten worse as time passed and even become a scowl of contempt and fury.
"Only the state knows how to properly handle the Herbs in your possession. You should just hand them over obediently and then go die in a corner." The New replacement for Elder Po was ferreted out like a rat and snapped back with scorn.
Spitting at Mike, the Elder lost his composure and tried to have Mike lose face in front of his women. Elder Yuri could see that his diplomatic solutions had been spent, He turned to go inside as if to signify that Mike would be left to draw circles.
"Excuse me." Elder Yuri acted cocky when he pulled at the door and closed it behind him.
Mike heard the click and then the dragging sound of something blocking the door. A bunch of thoughts went through his mind, but he remained calm for the most part.
"That Son of a Bitch." The door was immediately locked and then barred.
Mike was being blocked and without reason. He could understand that some other organization, other than Prince Troeg wanted control of the Cannabis Industry that he was starting from scratch.
Knocking it down a peg by feeding a false narrative to the Prince was likely his goal, It had been done before. The entire reason Cannabis was illegal on Earth in the first place were the rumors that were spread about it.
The rumors became a stigma that was hard to escape.
"This shit can't happen here..."
Mike was starting to lose his cool. He took his time waiting by the door with strides of patience followed by outburst. Mike was clearly being discriminated against for having something others wanted. Mike himself had just gotten use to the idea of being in this world for a long time. If a prohibition or control of the Herbs was taken away, He would never find it again in this world.
Mike thought about the seed packs in his truck within the ring. He didn't even have to pull the truck out this time, and a pile of seed packs materialized in front of him.
"I better hide some of these." Mumbling to himself, Mike passed several packs to each of his assistants.
"Take these and put them somewhere safe, No one can find them except you. Keep them dry and don't bury them." Mike directed the girls on a mission and they all were very happy with receiving an instruction.
Watching them run off, Mike looked for another entrance to knock on. When he found a guard door on the right hand side that led to some barracks, he followed the stairs that led toward the main hallways of the Castle. There were guards posted ever few dozen meters, and a lot of the ruling class was attending a meeting with the Prince.
Mike wasn't disallowed, but was being purposefully delayed.
"ELDER YURI!" Mike yelled out.
When he was done he bowed politely to the Prince as to not offend him any more for his interruption. Moving closer to Elder Yuri, Mike pressed his chest against Elder Yuri and walked him back until he fell onto the ground.
"What was the meaning of locking me out of the proceedings. If this meeting is for the Ruling class and I'm a State level representative, doesn't that make me more qualified than a mere Elder?" Mike wasn't going to allow himself to be trampled on.
"Your dependence on your own creation shows your inability to manage it! You have no room to talk, Wastrel." Elder Yuri spit at Mike's foot.
Watching the dribble flow down his boot, Mike wiped it across Elder Yuri's robe and watched Elder Yuri flinch.
"Why do you think I am unqualified to manage my own affairs?"
"Is it because I refused to give out my information solely to your organization? or is it because you don't know any better?"
"Let me ask you another thing instead. Who's paying you to target me? and if no one's paying you.. what sort of sick joke are you playing?" Mike was furious as he stamped his boot-heel into the groin of Elder Yuri in front of everyone.
The more he ground his heel into the crotch of the fallen elder, the more he screamed in pain. Mike wasn't going to allow anyone to be the only owner of the plant. It belonged to everyone, Mike was just unwilling to let them go originally because they were his to begin with.
Elder Yuri let out another yelp and then started to confess.
"STOP!" 'Cough Cough'
"Stop!, I'll tell you why! You stupid hu...man. We cannot allow this to fall into the hands our enemies, So you cannot have it either. If I had it my way, I'd have drowned you in the town fountain and taken your belongings already. You will be sorry that you bothered us like this." Elder Yuri ripped his robe apart and exposed a tattoo across his chest before biting his thumb and smearing blood across it.
The tattoo began to glow as Yuri started to cackle.
"Mark my words, we'll be back." A puddle of blood surrounded Yuri, he quickly sank into it.
Mike saw his foot could enter the blood and he quickly pulled it away.
Mike wasn't interested in joining him, no matter where he went or what he was going to offer.
"Bastard." Mike cursed and turned to meet the Prince.
"Your majesty, apologies for my intrusion. I had to stop a traitor to the kingdom. Yuri was intending to kill me for the herbs, he even delayed my entry into this meeting. If I may ask, what was the meeting concerning before I arrived?" Mike bowed again graciously and tried to curry favor in the situation.
"We were discussing battle plans, and your medicinal herbs." Prince Troeg looked at the audience and his lips twitched with some degree of mysteriousness.
"Get the representative from Ornia over here now." Prince Troeg was pissed off.
Although Prince Troeg was almost an emotionless tool, no one dared question his moods. When the Representative came up to the throne, Prince Troeg pulled a small orange stone from his spacial device. Tossing the stone in his hand a few times, he looked at the man kneeling in front of him.
"What is the meaning of this. Ornia has no business telling my Alchemist from Texas how to handle his business, nor do they have the right to act as they please in my Kingdom. Trying to assassinate an official, or undermine their position is a crime punishable only by Death." Prince Troeg stood up and walked up to the man on the floor.
"Hold him." Prince Troeg placed the stone on the Representatives head.
"You'll tell me what I want to know, and the faster you tell me the faster this ends. Clear the room, Mike you can stay." Prince Troeg gave an order.
Ordering the room to clear out was a wise decision. It was a matter of political assassination, they would have to keep the details as private as possible. The guards quickly cleared the room and stood outside in the corridor.
"Who is your backer?"
Prince Troeg started with his questions. Right after he spoke, he directed a flow of his spirit energy toward the Orange Stone.
Screams followed.
"Tell me everything you know about Mike" Feeling like the Representative was holding back, Prince Troeg sent another more intense burst of energy into the stone.
Mike watched as the questions came, and after some time the Ornia State Representative started to cave. He revealed a plot about taking everything that Mike had been working on. Since the appearance of the Herb in their sites they were after control.
It was hard enough to find Miracle level Herbs no matter where you went, but damned near all those Miracle Herbs took thousands of years to mature. Very different from other herbs that Elder Po had seen, The Cannabis plant grew at such a rapid pace that It would be almost impossible to contain if it were released into the wild. The plants already proved to be quite enormous when left unattended, what exactly would happen if they were aided in growth by magic acceleration spells.
The steady supply of medicines coming from the Ornia region was startling to say the least, They had a controlling interest in all sales of pills, powders, balms and distillates. When they heard about the myriad of things that Cannabis was capable of, they were so afraid of ignoring it that they sent a special envoy to intercept Mike's work and as many samples as possible.
The Ornia Representative kept screaming in pain, the blood vessels in his eyes had long since started to burst. The resulting blood flow had racked his vision and made him vomit. He raised his head and continued to speak.
"You have no idea how foolish it is to defy us.... We will destroy it if we cannot have it!" The Ornia Representative bit his tongue and started to bleed out.
It didn't take long for the blood to finish draining from the flailing and fainting Official. Then his life finally came to an end.
Prince Troeg looked at the puddle of blood in his court and sneered.
"Treason.. Trash... Don't you know that the people need to live in order to have a Kingdom. If the people suffer, None know rest. Hang his corpse on the city walls outside, watch the body and execute anyone that approaches afterward." Prince Troeg watched as Mike rifled the pockets of the Official and pulled out a note.
Mike took the ring from his hand as well then started to read the note to his majesty.
"Your objective is to keep the new state alchemist from coming anywhere near the meeting. We have plans at the ready for his disappearance, just make sure to separate him from those slaves." Mike finished reading the note and passed it to Prince Troeg directly.
Mike realized he had made an error and reconciled himself a bit before he took a step back and stood straight.
"I want all the people from Ornia brought to interrogation, sweep the town and place a reward for turning them over. Five Gold per head, ..Alive." Prince Troeg wanted more answers than he had and he needed co-conspirators for that.
"We'll get to the bottom of this. The Medicine you made has worked wonders on the Queen, she thanks you sincerely." Prince Troeg revealed a deeper side of himself to Mike, It was a bit unconvincing but Mike understood that Prince Troeg didn't really have emotions like the rest of his subjects.
The Prince looked over at Mike and immediately understood what Mike was thinking.
"I care about my mother, I might not express it. Nothing else we've found has been helpful, or at least noticeably helpful for her condition. And then you came along. Even if I cannot express their gratitude properly, You have my respect." Tossing his robes to one side, Prince Troeg walked to another chamber and returned with a small chest.
"These are the tools you asked for from the Vault of the Kingdom. Although I don't know what you're going to use them for, please don't make me have to retrieve them if you misuse them."
Turning to leave, again Prince Troeg smiled. It was one of the few times Mike had seen the Prince make any efforts to connect.