Ashley walked over to Daniel. 'Am I about to die? Would my sister do that? No, wait, this isn't the Ashley I'm used to, she might actually kill me. I know too much.' He thought to himself in a panic as she approached him.
"It'll be better if you forget this happened!" She said in a cute voice as stopped in front of him, leaned towards him a bit, and softened her expression with a bright smile.
"Like hell, I can do that!" Daniel yelled, uncertain as to how he should respond. Ashley's eyes moved to the left.
"Yeah, I figured that wouldn't work." She said with a disappointed tone as she went into a flatter expression. "Well, this definitely puts a wrench in my plans..." She said as she pulled back and thought for a moment. "Well, not entirely, I suppose he would have found out eventually." She thought aloud.
"Hey, can you not talk about me like I'm not here?" Daniel asked.
"Right, right. Well, I guess I don't have much choice. Follow me." She said as she started walking towards the porch. Hesitantly, Daniel followed her.
"So, what's going on?" Daniel asked. Ashley sighed.
"You'll find out, just come with me for now." She said blandly as they walked inside. In silence, they walked into the dining room. From there, they walked to the other side of the room and opened a door that led to the basement.
"Isn't there a wasp infestation down there?" Daniel asked.
"Oh, dear brother, don't you trust me?" Ashley asked.
"Well, now that you mention it, I've been rethinking the whole trust situation when I saw you threaten someone's life." Daniel said both blandly and sarcastically. Ashley sighed.
"Just continue to follow me." She said as she went into the basement. Once again, with great hesitance, Daniel followed her. He closed the door behind him as he entered and Ashley flipped a light switch, lighting up the floor.
"So, why are we down here?" He asked as they reached the bottom of the stairs where a table with several chairs are sat in the center of the room. In one corner is a refrigerator and in another is a computer.
Ignoring Daniel, Ashley walked to the fridge and pulled out a glass bottle. "Want one?" She asked.
"Is that... Beer?" Daniel asked with confusion.
"You want one or not?" She asked with the same bland tone she has been using the entire time.
"Uh, no?" He said uncertainly. Ashley shrugged and opened it. "You shouldn't drink it either." Daniel said. She took a sip of it.
"It doesn't matter very much." She said as she walked over to the table and took a seat. She put her feet on her table then motioned for Daniel to sit across from her. Daniel obliged, albeit reluctantly.
"Will you tell me what's going on now?" He asked. Ashley sipped her drink, then sighed.
"Look, Daniel, this is bigger than you. Right now, anyway." She said.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Ugh, why does the serum take so long..." Ashley mumbled with a tone of annoyance.
"Wait, what?" Daniel asked.
"Look, you won't remember tonight. Don't worry though, everything that happened in your game will be retained, you just won't remember that I was in your room when you woke up or that I threatened someone. It'll be like it never happened." She said.
"How do you know about that?" Daniel asked as he stood up and took a step back. She grinned.
"Oh, Daniel. I love you, but you really are slow to piece things together." She said with a bit of a laugh as Daniel began to feel dizzy.
"What's happening!?" He asked as he tried to balance himself.
"This is for your own good..." She said with a slightly quieter tone as she looked down at her drink with a sullen look. "Please, be patient." She said as he fell to the ground.
...
"Daniel!" Ashley said from a chair sat next to Daniel's bed with worry as Daniel slowly opened his eyes and a headache formed quickly.
"Hm?" He said as he tried to understand what was going on.
"Daddy! He's waking up!" She said towards the door to the room, then looked back to Daniel with worry.
"Please stop yelling, my head hurts." He said as he touched his palm to his forehead and felt the feeling of gauze on his head.
"Are you alright? I heard a loud thud last night come from your room and came over as fast as possible, I found you on the ground... And..." Ashley said as tears formed in her eyes. "I was so worried..." She said as she tried to stop herself from crying and their father entered the room.
"Ashley, why don't you go downstairs for a bit?" Their dad said. She nodded hesitantly, then left the room, glancing back at Daniel with worry for a moment before leaving.
"What happened?" Daniel asked.
"Ashley had found you on the floor bleeding from your head, from what I can tell, you hit the nightstand after moving around in your sleep, then fell to the ground. It wasn't anything major and from what I can tell, there isn't any major damage, just a minor wound, and a possible slight concussion." He explained.
"Ah, I see. That explains the headache." Daniel said lightly.
"You really aren't the type to worry about your injuries." His dad said with a chuckle.
"Well, if the med-school graduate says I'm fine, I'm sure I am." Daniel said.
"I wish Ashley had the same faith, she was really worried about you." He said.
"Well, sometimes it's just a matter of learning." Daniel said lightly as he moved into a sitting position.
"I suppose..." His dad said. "Right. She also found some kind of weird visor, what is it?" He asked.
"It's an experimental device that I'm beta testing. I get to keep it after the beta is over and I'll still have access to the singleplayer records, so it's a pretty good deal. Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt recently and a massive cyber attack deleted everything related to it, my assumption is someone thought the tech was dangerous, which, admittedly, it is. It's a full dive machine, after all." Daniel explained. 'Even in extreme pain, I can easily come up with a convincing story, how great.' He thought.
"I see. Well, it's on your nightstand. It's too bad the company went under, probably would have been quite the boon to the gaming community." He said as he stood up and walked to the door. "Anyway, Paul said that your lessons will continue after you've healed so you can learn more easily, though he has said that you are already at the college level and don't really need them anymore." He said as he left the room, closing the door behind him.
'I wonder if the reason I don't remember what happened after closing the game last night is related to my injury...' He thought to himself as he grabbed the visor and put it on. 'I guess it's not really important though...' Daniel thought as he turned on the device.
Soon enough, he was back at the main screen with two options, continue game, and new game. 'I guess I've tested the hardware enough, I should try an actual playthrough on a non-cheat setting, I'll keep the other save file, but the new one will be my main.' Daniel thought, then clicked new game.
A text box appeared. 'Are you sure? It will create a new game under the secondary save file. All previous saves will remain.' It said. Daniel clicked yes. The same difficulty options as the first time appeared and Daniel chose the medium difficulty.
After a moment, the era options appeared and Daniel selected the age of discovery once more. After clicking yes, another text box appeared. 'It appears you currently have a saved game under the age of enlightenment already, would you like to copy the world and have a character similar to your "King" character created? They will not have god-like powers.' It said.
After a moment of consideration, Daniel clicked yes, then the character creation screen appeared again. He changed his race to a wolf beastman, then changed his hair and eye color to light blue. (A beastman in this world just has a tail and ears, it's not a furry.)
He changed his body to have muscles that are a bit more defined, then selected the finish button. Once he was finished there, the role selection screen appeared. He quickly noticed a new button, 'randomize'.
'Ah, that's interesting. I suppose it could be useful. For now, though, I think I'll choose prince.' Daniel thought then pressed the prince option. The next thing Daniel knew, he was transported into the game with a bishop in front of him giving a speech as Daniel kneeled before him.
"And today we witness the crowning of the crown prince! Long live Crown Prince Daniel Therem, son of Travis Therem!" The elderly bishop said as he finished his speech and placed a crown on Daniel's head. The crowd cheered. Within a moment of that occurring, memories flooded Daniel's mind and he made sense of what was happening.
He was currently being crowned as the successor for his home kingdom, which is directly on the border of Hartfrith. His current kingdom is called Grontheim. (Gronth-Heim.) Grontheim is big on polygamy and it is expected that a king has at least three wives.
'The king then decides which wife is the queen and the others become High Princesses. I'm the son of the queen and the second eldest of all my siblings. Another thing that is accepted and even encouraged is incest. It seems that the magic that naturally dwells within beastmen prevents the negatives of incest, so it is seen as good for someone to maintain the family by keeping it in the family.' Daniel noted.
'Furthering that, apparently, the believers in the church that crowned me in my previous save file are blessed to allow for a similar trait, that is, the negatives to incest are removed. That religion is also the predominant one on this continent. It follows the Goddess of family and fertility. Even if the individual doesn't believe in it, so long as the state that they are the citizens of has it as the statewide religion, the buffs still apply. This is too game-like for such an immersive experience...' Daniel thought.
'Anyway, point is, in most countries on this continent, incest is common and acceptable. I mean, fuck, even this character is engaged to his three eldest sisters. One of them is seventeen, the only sibling older than me, another is fifteen, and the last is fourteen. The weddings are supposed to take place over the course of three days and start in about four.' Daniel continued.
'Pre-marital sex is accepted so long as it is with a concubine, peasant, slave, or servant. Children from peasants and servants that are not married to the noble are not in line for the succession of the noble's titles unless the noble says otherwise. Also, rape cases from nobility against peasants are dropped and there are no punishments given to nobles for such things. In fact, it appears in this culture, most peasants even want nobles to inseminate their wives.' Daniel finished for now.
Daniel stood and looked the bishop in the eye. "I am honored to be given such a title from someone as high up as you." Daniel said. The rest of the ceremony was a socialization event and after a while, everyone went to their quarters to rest.
Festivities lasted for a few days, then things began to calm down. He had met his fiancee's a few times over the course of the few days, but only briefly. Quickly, the day of the first wedding came, and Daniel married his eldest sister, Cirsa, then Kierra, then the youngest of his fiancees, Leila.
Each of them has light blue eyes and light blue hair that is long, though varying in just how long, per individual, as well as modest chests. They are athletic individuals, as most beastmen are, and have pretty features and pale skin.
After a few more days, a traveler had come to his father's court while they were in a meeting on how to continue their economic development to aid in the battle against the Orcish Horde. The human traveler in fancy clothes bowed deeply, then rose on his own accord and began to speak.
"My name is Jack Palith and I have an offer." He said with a light smile.
"Speak." The king spoke gruffly.
"With our trade to the east halted due to the invasion, I believe we should find a different route, perhaps through the seas?" Jack suggested.
"And you're looking for funding on such a venture?" The king asked.
"Why, of course." Jack said.
"No." The king said.
"Father, I believe that this is worth hearing out." Daniel said.
"And why is that?" He asked as he looked at Daniel.
"Simple. Why would the gods only put two continents on this world? In particular, continents that are so close together. I say we fund him, but not to find a new trade route, but to find new lands. I'll even take it from my personal funds." Daniel said.
The king thought for a moment. "I don't think the gods would put other continents on our plane and never tell us, if you wish to waste your money, then go right ahead." The king spoke.
"Yes, father." Daniel said. "Of course, anything found on the expedition will be mine, and I'll be going with them." Daniel added. Jack's expression became one of curiosity as the king glared at Daniel.
"Oh, your majesty, you believe in your theory so much you are even willing to venture out to sea?" He asked. Daniel nodded.
"So, you are so certain that you are willing to risk your life?" The king asked with a stern tone.
"Of course. Why would the gods tell us all the answers to all mysteries there are after making us so curious?" Daniel responded. "Ah, and my previous statement remains. Anything found is mine, not the state's." Daniel said.
"Fine. You won't find anything and will just wind up dead anyway." The king said dismissively.
"Jack, come with me." Daniel said as he exited the courtroom. (A king's courtroom, a room where a king's court meets, often times there is a throne towards the back where the king sits.)
"Why, of course." Jack said as he followed. After a few minutes of walking, they reached Daniel's quarters where his wives are.
"Who is he?" Cirsa asked.
"Someone who has brought something big to my attention." Daniel said as he walked to the bookshelf on the leftmost wall and grabbed a few maps and laid them out on a large table that is in the corner of the room.
"Is this what we will be planning with?" Jack asked. Daniel nodded as he motioned for him to come closer. Jack walked up to the table and viewed the maps.
"What are you two planning?" Kierra asked.
"A voyage. We want to find a new continent." Daniel said.
"And if we can find a new trade route to the east, then all the better." Jack added. Daniel nodded.
"We'll probably have to set off from the coast and head west. We need to find some capable sailors and a sturdy ship with a large cold storage." Daniel said.
"Indeed, it's likely that the voyage could take months, as we do not know how far the ocean goes on for." Jack added.
"Indeed... Maybe we could hire some wind magicians to boost the sails and help us stay out of storms. Another thing is we need to be careful with our fruit storage. Maybe some pickled items could help with that." Daniel said.
"Wait, are you going to go with him?" Cirsa asked.
"Yes. If you want to come to, that's fine, but it will be dangerous." Daniel said.
"Are you certain? I've heard from some sailors that women are bad luck on a ship." Jack said.
"It's fine. It's mostly a superstition." Daniel said.
"I'll go..." Leila said quietly from the foot of the bed where she is sitting.
"You can't be serious, Leila. They're going to be on a boat for months, who even knows if they'll return!" Cirsa said defensively.
"Even more reason to go." Leila said with an analytical look in her eyes as she stood up. "If he dies, we become widows and there is no heir. Not only would it be difficult to find a new spouse, but we would likely be looked down upon, so if he does die on the voyage, we likely would as well, preventing a lifetime of misfortune." Leila explained as she walked over to Daniel.
"I see your point, but I'd rather live like that than die because he wanted to find something that he doesn't even know if it exists!" Cirsa said as she walked over to Leila.
"Cirsa, you know how dad is... He would throw us away..." Kierra said with a worried look as she gazed at the books on the shelf. "We'd be useless and he doesn't really care if he has to get his hands messy. He may kill us... I don't know about you, but I'd rather die trying to accomplish something than to an assassin." Kierra added.
"I guess now is a good time to say that anything found on the voyage will belong to me. I'm also going to be drafting a contract to force the compliance of dad." Daniel said. "Of course, that means I also have the right to divide things as I see fit." Daniel added.
"If that's how everyone's going to be... I guess I'll go, but only because you guys won't be able to survive without me!" Cirsa said as she looked back and forth between Kierra and Leila.
"What wonderful news! With the support of four royals, I'm certain we can get the best of the best!" Jack said. Leila poked Daniel's shoulder, making him look at her.
"I'll pool my money together, that way we will have more funds." She said with her usual, quiet, monotone, voice.
"I'll help as well!" Kierra said with a bit of a smile. Cirsa sighed.
"This is gonna be a waste, but I guess I'll help with the funds as well." Cirsa said as she sulked slightly.