[This may sound very sudden, but I feel like buying a slave.]
[That's really abrupt. Would Milord tell this one what's wrong?]
Kusuha raised a stunned voice with her eyes on me. Knitted clothes in her hand.
Un, knitted clothes.
I can't understand how it works but Arachneans weave cloth from yarn without using a loom――no, it's knitting. Recently, Kusuha had been begging for various things from me, and if she had a little free time, she would knit like this. I never got tired of seeing how she skillfully moved her hands, which had the same five fingers as a human. Her four arms were making cloth, clothes, cushions, and bedding at the same time.
[Un. There are enough people for unskilled labor works, but we are still lacking educators and clerical staff members. I've been wondering how we can recruit those quickly.]
[Well, that makes sense. But Milord, didn't you hide the beastkin here because you hate slavery?]
[That's not quite it. I don't really care about slavery in general. What I hate is the belief that beastkin must be enslaved. That is unreasonable.]
[Hmm, why? Don't humans tend to reject and hate those whose appearance and culture is different from theirs?]
[Well, that's right. Even in the world I was originally from, there was constant conflict due to differences in skin color, language, religion and beliefs, ethnicity, culture, and so on. Certainly, we had the instinct of excluding something different from ourselves.]
Actually, even in Clover, there were more or less troubles due to cultural differences.
For example, the Beastkins think that it is humiliating to have their fur cut until the skin can be seen. Unaware of that, a Riverkin cut the hair of the Beastkin child, causing the parents to be mad. A kappa kid, a horse child, and an adult who was taking care of them wiped the water off the kid's dish with good intentions and the kid died. Yamato gave a spare set of godsilver horseshoe to a centaur woman who suffered from hoof pain (it seemed to happen if she spent too long on a stone pavement, a common complaint among the beastkin with hoof and the centaur), who thought that he was proposing to her. Apparently gifting a set of horseshoe is synonymous to telling a female centaur to bear his child, and it seems that he was about to get a shotgun wedding.
Since such troubles or interesting events occur every day, we had the Antillians collect such information and disseminate it in the place where people gather three times, morning, noon and evening. They are suitable for this kind of work because they can share information quickly and have high information processing ability. The Antillians were too talented. I wonder if I can have them stand on the street to emulate payphones.
[I think it's an ideal theory that you can always understand each other as long as you talk, but … doesn't the other side also have a will of their own? I can't find a way to resolve this, but for the time being, I don't think it will change its status as a single entity. Of course, there will be differences in physical abilities and other factors between races and individuals, as well as differences in economic power and social status. Differences always exist after all.]
Kusuha stopped knitting and listened to what I said. She nodded and motioned me to go on, so I decided to continue.
[It's like the thinking that being a demihuman is a mistake just because they look different from humans. They're forced to hide in a hidden place just because they're not human. It's too much. Fortunately, I have enough strength to force myself into this matter. So, well, I thought I'd try. If the world couldn't follow me, then I should just make a place of my own where I can make my dream come true… ah, where were we again?]
[We were talking about buying slaves. I thought after hearing the story, isn't it better to use human slaves? Lord Master himself said that you do not favor humans in particular. But if you keep away from humans, it'll be your downfall. It's even more important if Milord really wants to create a place where the "human and demihumans coexist" that Lord Master aims for. ]
[Is that so…? Perhaps you're right]
[Un, of course. But you shouldn't only discuss this matter with this wife alone. Talk to your other wives, like Fram and Deborah may have a good insight.]
Kusuha said that and put the knitted cloth in a basket made by knitting plants, and moved the lower limbs of the big spider and walked to my side.
Then she silently lifted me up.
[Wait, what are you doing?]
[Un, this one is getting bored of all the talk about Lord Master's ambition. Let us take a break and get comfy with each other.]
[You carnivore. Can you honestly stay sober while you're at it?]
[Cease your worry, for this one will be gentle. Let us enjoy it, shall we? This one wants to bear Milord's child soon]
[Being told head on like that is really flustering, you know――and would you cut it out with the princess carry! It'll be too much trouble if someone sees us!]
[Hahaha, in a moment]
Then we proceeded to mess with each other.
Can you please stop with the habit of biting me and licking my blood when you get too excited?
=====
[Welcome back, Mansion Master]
[Sorry, I haven't visited for a while. Ah, here is a souvenir.]
[What do we have here… oho, a liquor I have never seen before. Also, dried fruits and spices from Gobbel Kingdom? These spices are quite scarce nowadays, thank you very much.]
Receiving the souvenirs from me, Jack-san responded with a smile and did a perfect bow as a thank you. Maybel, who was standing behind him, also looked happy. The smile must've come from all the dried fruit I brought. She would never smile like that from stepping on my back. Right?
I'll request a massage later.
I'm currently in my mansion back in Alfen by the way. My and Marl's first base.
[Where is Fram?]
[Should still be in Marquis Meister's abode right now]
[Oh, at Zondark's place, huh.]
Marquis Zondark von Meister was one of the Karendil Kingdom's nobles that I'm familiar with. While I'm not really familiar with the Karendil Kingdom's state of powers, I know enough that Zondark held a fairly good amount of influence in the court.
He had demanded a lot of intangible things, but he was also returning the same. It's a good relationship. He's a major trading partner and friend. No, I don't know if it's appropriate to describe this relationship as a friend.
[How is she doing recently?]
[Somewhat exhausted, but she shouldn't be anymore since master is here]
[Ah, that's right…]
While laughing bitterly, I decided to pamper Fram a little harder today.
For the past two weeks, Fram had been on a business trip to the Royal Capital Alfen, the capital of the Kingdom of Karendil. She had to stay in the Royal Capital of Alfen, for example, to formally cement her position, and in addition, she had to negotiate with the Commerce Guild.
There's the super talented butler Jack-san and the foxy Zondark who assisted her, but Fram still had to deal with things on her own. All the while, I was never present since I'd been busy elsewhere.
[So, what's going on?]
[The Commerce Guild has already begun to move. Was that merchant Huey? He's pretty clever. He has already written a report summarizing the story to some extent.]
[I see. Well, he's been involved in a lot of things due to my unreasonableness.]
It seems that Huey had already summarized the story to some extent and moved supplies and personnel to the crossroads, which was the nearest city to Clover. With my money of course.
Hey, it's not completely illegal! The customer's funds are not managed without permission. As a result, it was good because it was all right, but if it got investigated years later, it would be a situation where he could lose his head.
[Because the mansion had signed a certificate to entrust the management of the funds deposited in the guild. The face value was 1000 gold coins.]
[But I don't feel like signing that kind of agreement]
Since it's not an embezzlement or illegal transaction, I simply signed the documents properly.
By the way, one gold coin was worth about 100,000 yen, so 1000 gold coins was worth about 100 million yen. Churning out 100 million yen just like that, my sense for money must be dangerously close to collapsing.
Because I don't really consider money as something that was too precious, I don't use it much. In this world, I can make weapons that cost money on my own, I can have Peron-san to make armor for me by bringing in materials, I can ask Marl if it's potion related, and I can now make magical tools myself. .. Besides, with all the good women around me, I have no need to play with women in brothels. Even gifts, after taking the blacksmithing skill, I can make my own accessories.
Although sometimes I also bought clothes and food, those usually don't cost too much money. Not to mention that my wives weren't really that needy for fancy clothes. They'd already be happy with some accessories I crafted. Although it's not really that frequent…no, should I make it more frequent instead?
[Jack-san, I'd like to ask you as someone who is more experienced than me; should I give my wives more gifts?]
[Hmm… of course. From now on, the wives may come out to the social circles. Then the dresses and accessories will become the wives' armor and weapons. Only quality matters. And I think that they'll need a lot to cycle through for variety, so I think it's alright to be more frequent.]
[I see. If that's the case, should I ask Zondark to introduce me to a messenger?]
[As you wish.]
Alright, shall we visit Zondark's mansion then?
I told Jack-san and Maybel that I would be staying at this mansion today, and after changing into good clothes, I left the mansion. The aristocratic appearance was so stiff that it couldn't be helped, so it stood out like a knight's outfit that one could tell at a glance that it was made of high-quality fabric.
With this, if I strapped a sword on my waist, I would look like an off-duty knight or an aristocratic youth. Maybe.
I left the mansion and walked straight to Zondark's mansion. Jack-san asked if he should call a carriage, but I refused. I hadn't walked in the Royal Capital of Alfen for a while, so I wanted to take a look at the cityscape.
My mansion in the Royal Capital of Alfen was located inside the third wall, which is known as the "inner wall". It was a fairly wide area where low-ranking aristocrats such as wealthy merchants and knights, soldiers and their families mainly lived. There were many fine inns and shops on this wall, so many adventurers who earned money were also in this area.
[It seems like the number of people has decreased.]
I muttered after walking a bit.
When I walked before, the neighboring villagers who had evacuated to the royal capital Alphen were overflowing in this wall, but now it seemed to be quite calm. Perhaps the aftermath of the flood had come to an end and the villagers were beginning to return to their original location.
The adventurer's appearance was also conspicuous. Probably because the demand is high for transporting goods to each village, escorting them, and hunting the remnants of monsters caused by the flood. There may be many farmers who turned into adventurers when they came out of the rural village to the city. After all, it seems that girls and boys after the second son can't inherit farmland and it's tough.
I was wondering if there would be any harvest in the making of the city, but there wasn't much reference in the ordinary cityscape. I'm not an expert, so maybe I just don't understand. However, I thought that the main street should be wide enough for the carriages to come and go with plenty of room. It seems better to make the intersection large. Horse-drawn carriages don't seem to turn as fast as cars.
Also, it may be better to separate the road and sidewalk to reduce accidents. I wonder if I should raise it one step higher with a curb like in my original world.
While thinking about that, I passed through the second wall and arrived at the Aristocratic district. I was able to pass through the gate normally without being stopped, maybe because the guards thought I was an aristocrat from my clothes, or because they recognized my face.
In the Aristocratic district, a professional cleaner always cleaned the road so that the road was clean, and no trash was ever left. Since as a carriage passes through, horse manure is also discharged everywhere, a cleaner appears from nowhere and quickly cleans the road. Not only horse manure but also urine is quickly cleaned with a purifying magic tool. It's a little strange.
When I asked Jack-san later, it seemed that a plague had occurred due to unsanitary conditions several decades ago. Taking advantage of that lesson, the Aristocrats living in the Royal Capital spent money and hired a cleaner to maintain the sanitary environment of the Aristocratic district thoroughly. Only in Aristocratic districts though.
However, it was certainly important to maintain a hygienic environment. The territorial city of Clover had water and sewage systems that used clean water, but the need for garbage collection will soon emerge. The quickest way was to burn it, but it required fuel. Fortunately, there was no shortage of fuel around Clover, though it's still not infinite.
Because there was magic, it is better to consider the construction of a waste treatment plant that makes full use of magic. Ideally, it's better not just to burn it, but to divert it to fertilizer, but… I wonder if there is any magic that promotes putrefaction. Would you like to find out next time?
While thinking about such things, I walked through the aristocratic district, and soon I arrived at the residence of the Marquis Zondark. It's a big mansion surrounded by beautiful stone walls, taller than me. The grass in the front yard, which can be seen beyond the gate, is lush even though it is almost the end of autumn, and it can be seen that some special care has been taken.
At the front of the gate, there were two gatekeepers armed with light armor and a spear. Their eyes caught me and they immediately put their hands on their chests and saluted.
[Good job there. Is Fram inside?]
[Yessir, His Excellency is also inside.]
[Can I get in then?]
[Of course, Taichi-sama. We are calling a guide right now, so please wait a moment.]
With that said, the gatekeeper stroked something like a pyroxene brooch on his collar and muttered to the pyroxene brooch to bring in a guide. That pyroxene brooch was an excellent thing that you can talk with each other in a pair of the same pyroxene brooches. Unless it was magically blocked, it seemed that it could communicate within a radius of about 1 km, ignoring all physical factors.
It is a kind of magic tool excavated from the ruins of ancient civilization scattered throughout the continent, and it seems to be a fairly expensive item. Apparently the reason why it was expensive was because all the aristocrats bought it. Well, it's convenient.
And so, I entered Zondark's study with the guide maid.
[What is this, just what is going on here?]
There was Fram sitting at a heavy desk in the study drowned in documents, and Zondark standing beside her advising Fram like a teacher or something.
[There are a lot of troublesome procedures to make Fram my daughter. There are many parts that require her own signature, so we're having a hard time here.]
[Ha? What's with Fram being your daughter?]
[It's a matter of status balance. Miss Fram was originally a Knight――the third daughter of a Knight's house. You're not officially an Aristocrat in Karendil, but you're a certified hero. The Hero status is basic. Although you are not bound to be an Aristocrat, a Hero is customarily treated at the same status as a Count in Karendil. What is the third daughter of a Knight and a former slave in comparison to that?]
Zondark laughed sheepishly.
[I understand that you have no interest in this matter, but this is also because you fervently refused to marry Princess Kalnera. The nobles of Karendil Kingdom may see this as a humiliation as you refused a member of the Royal family and instead chose a lowly slave Knight ――Wait, calm down, Taichi! I was not the one who said that first, I personally do not think of Fram-dono that way!]
Zontark hurriedly raised his hands and took a pose of surrender, perhaps because he had noticed the murderous intent that occurredt the moment the words that insulted Fram came out. This old man had a quick reaction.
The calm villain's face disappeared, replaced by a funny expression, so let's forgive him.
[Oh my, oh my… in any case, not everyone shares that thought. We came up with this idea afterward. By becoming my adopted daughter, Fram-dono will become a daughter of a Marquis. As the adoptive father, I also hold an important position as the King's sword, making me at least equal to a Duke――that way, nobody will dare to insult Fram-dono directly. But, nothing we can do about them spreading slanderous rumors behind our backs.]
[…well, I guess it can't be helped.]
It would be the same in any world that a prominent existence would be envied or jealous. No, it must be more intense in Aristocratic societies. It's impossible to keep it silent and it didn't make much sense. It's not that I don't dare to make them feel so much horror that they won't dare to speak ill behind our back, but I'd rather not resort to that until it irked me too much.
[In short, that is why I am going to make Fram-dono my adopted daughter. And… when will the ceremony be?]
[Ah, ceremony, you mean the wedding ceremony… I wonder about that?]
Not only Zondark but also Fram, who was looking down at the documents, turned a suspicious expression on my words. Can you two please stop because that line of sight pierces my heart?
[Well, you see, different affiliations? Your soon-to-be adopted daughter Fram is from Karendil Kingdom, Marl and Tina from Miscronia. Kusuha has no affiliation to any country, while Melchina is an elf of the Great Forest. Deborah is a resident of my territory, while Karen, Shitan, and Sherry might still be considered far too young. I would like to hold a ceremony for everyone, but I really have no idea how I should proceed with it. I'm troubled because there are too many things I don't know what to do, whether it's the place or the style. ]
[Then all you need to do is hold a separate ceremony in each country. Once in Miscronia, once in Karendil, and once in your territory. That being said, the wedding dress for Fram-dono has actually been prepared.]
[Wha? I've never heard of that.]
[It's been more than two months. Princess Mariel placed an order for tailoring when you started to acquire territory. The expense should have been deducted from your commercial guild account.]
I never knew about that. Yep.
Cause I basically neglected my money and let the guild and Marl manage it… I feel bad now.
[Actually, we also have them prepared in Miscronia as well. Except maybe for Kusuha-san since she intended to make her own dress.]
Fram smiled while putting away the documents, seemingly finished with them.
[Sorry… I was so full of my words as well.]
[No need to be worried. Not even the God can maintain and do everything alone. That is where… your wives will help support you.]
That said, my cheeks turned red and I was caught by Fram looking up at me, which made me feel embarrassed. What is this girl, she's super cute.
[It is fine to be lovey dovey, but please reserve it until you two are alone.]
When the atmosphere became pink with Fram, I was glared at by the villainous face of Zondark. By the way, I've never seen his wife or kid, but what kind of people were they? I'm afraid that it's a landmine if I were to ask directly, so why not ask Jack-san next time?
[By the way, tell me about the wedding ceremony in this country. I have no knowledge of that.]
[Ah, certainly. In the case of Aristocrats, we often have a ceremony in the temple or in our own mansion. In your case, because the mansion is small, we will have a ceremony in the temple.]
[I see… What should I do with the setup? Should I go directly to inform the temple?]
[I'll handle the temple-related arrangements here. It will be up to Jack-san to create the invitation and select the destination. For the actual ceremony, Fram-dono――No, I will have Fram and Princess Mariel to meet with the temple staff. It would be better to have them both.]
[Hmm, then what about me?]
[Just fork out money.]
[But, it's MY wedding!]
[It's impossible to expect something from you, who had been stretched out until now.]
I hated to admit it, but he's right.
It's not like I thought it would be a hassle! I was just thinking of doing it after the territory had settled down to some extent! The Sea of Trees had been settled to some extent and the appearance of the territory had been improved. The road to Karendil had begun to see activity because it was about to open!
Zondark was indirectly accusing me of ignoring Fram, Marl, and the rest of my wives. It's terrible, but he's partially correct. I thought half of it would be a hassle.