It was another beautiful morning. I lazily strolled into the dining area, wearing nothing but my panties. I yawned and stretched as I entered the room. Otto and others were setting up the table. Maura was in the mix; so was the girl I saw yesterday and others I couldn't recall. One of Maura's sons blushed when he saw my breasts; Otto noticed. He came over, gave me a light kiss, and said, "Go put on a shirt."
"Why?" I felt fine. According to yesterday's newspaper, today will be a hot day.
He smiled and gently pushed me out of the room. "Put on some pants while you're there."
"I'll dress however I want; it's my house," I grumbled as I marched back to my room to put on a pair of pants and a shirt.
***
Let's start over again.
It was another beautiful morning. I lazily strolled into the dining area, wearing dress pants and a white shirt. My hair in a neat bun. I neither yawned nor stretched. And with much grace, I took the seat reserved for the head of the house at the end of the table. Sterling sat on the chair to my right, and the chair to my left was empty and reserved for Otto.
Otto gave me a smile and said, "Breakfast will be served in 10 minutes."
"Thank you, my dear Otto, but where's Garth?" I asked.
"My dear…?" He squinted suspiciously. "He's helping out in the back."
"Tell him to come out."
"Hm… Okay." Otto went to the kitchen and came back to tell me. "He'll come out."
"Okay."
After everything was set up, Garth came out and asked, "How can I help you, master?"
"I need to run some errands today. I want you to come along."
"Yes, master."
"Susie, you stay with me. Everyone else can go back to the kitchen." Maura said. She and Susie stood beside the door while everyone else filed out.
It reminded me of how it was back in my mother's palace, a few servants standing by while the rest ran around in the background.
Garth stood behind me to the right, so I turned around and asked, "What are you doing? Sit down."
"Thank you for your kindness, master, but a servant shouldn't sit at the same table as his master." He bowed.
"You were fine till yesterday."
"Ah… Well, we were travelling." He scratched his chin.
"Sit down. You're her boyfriend anyway." You're not just a servant anymore, I thought as I pointed at Nikola.
"That…" Nikola was wolfing down her breakfast without a thought in her head.
"Sit down," I said. I never cared for formalities; I'm not my mother.
"No, master. It's not a good idea."
"Sit down."
"No."
"What? Sit down."
"Master, it would be inappropriate." He refused.
We went back and forth like this for a while, but he refused me till the end. "Nikola, aren't you going to say anything."
He shook his head at Nikola. "He can do what he wants." She said, and that was the end of it. If his own girlfriend didn't care, why should I.
"Fine, do whatever you want," I said.
"No worries, master. I'll be standing right behind you."
"Hmm." So I ate my breakfast while the servants stood around.
***
"Where are we going, master?" Garth asked as we climbed into the carriage.
"First, we'll go see how the bomb launcher's coming along. Then we have to look into a store that sells bottles; we'll just go to a small mom and pops. And then the bank."
"Why are we going to the bank?"
I looked out at the passing buildings and slowly answered. "To set up a new account for the business."
"Oh." He watched the people in the streets as we sped past them. "Why am I coming along?"
"You're going to be the other name on the business account. I need someone to manage everything while I'm gone. I wish I had a proper assistant, but you'll have to fill that role. Maybe, you should become my assistant, and I can promote you to head butler."
"No." He shook his head. "I don't want that."
"Hm. Why didn't you sit with us when I asked you to?"
"Ah… It'll look strange to the other servants, master. I don't want any special treatment."
"Hmm… Okay." I looked outside and saw that we were slowing down. "Looks like we're here."
Garth followed me into the shop.
The crazy-haired lady was sleeping behind the counter. It was the same as last time. I rang the bell beside her, and she jolted up.
"Yes, I'm up!" She woke up.
"Hello," I said.
"Oh, it's you." She recognized me right away. "I was wondering when you'd show up." Before I could say a word, she got off her chair and went to the back of the store.
Garth raised an eyebrow. "She'll be back…" An awkward silence followed. "I think."
"I finished this puppy last week." She came out with a sizable bomb launcher in her hand. She'd painted it black.
"See. She's back." I smiled at Garth.
"It looks great." I took it from. It was just as I remembered it in the game. "The bomb capsules?"
"Oh, right." She disappeared into the store again but shouted, "It's loaded! But don't worry, I have more."
"What's it loaded with!?" I shouted. There was no reply, so I opened the cylinder and looked inside. She'd followed my blueprint perfectly. I took out the cartridge and opened the top, and something spilled out. "Shit." I held it away from me and the launcher. "What did you put in it!?" I shouted. Again there was no reply. I used [look-a-look] and looked at the spilled liquid. It was merely distilled water.
She returned with a box filled with empty bombs. She twisted open one of the bombs and said, "You can add your explosive in here."
"Good. Good." I screwed close the one I was holding. "I spilled some water on your floor."
"Oh."
"Can I test one out? How many capsules did you make?"
"I made 15. I used every copper you gave me."
"Okay. Here are 50 more silvers." I put a pouch on the counter. "Make as many as you can."
"What?" She opened up the pouch and looked at the silver coins inside. "You want me to make more?"
"Yeah, make as many bomb capsules as you can." I nodded. "And here's my address. Send me a letter or visit when you finish them, and I'll order more."
"Okay." She nodded and took the money.
"Alright, then I'm going to leave. I'll come back before I head to Greinne."
"Ah… Okay."
I walked out of the store. Garth bowed to her and followed behind me.
"Should we go to the bank or look for a random store?" I asked Garth as we climbed back into the carriage.
"Random store?"
"Random store, it is," I said, putting the bomb launcher on the seat beside me.
"No, that's not-"
"Petra, take us to a mom-and-pop shop that sells home appliances and stuff."
"Lem's?" She questioned.
"No. Not a mega store. Take us somewhere we can talk to the owners."
"What are you trying to buy, sis?"
"Bottles."
"Hmm…" She thought about it. "There's a store near my sister-in-law's."
"Yeah, that sounds good." If it isn't good, we'll go somewhere else.
***
Garth and I walked through the ringing door into a small store. The owner smiled as I browsed through the shelves.
"Can I help you with something?" She asked as I looked around.
"Actually, yes. I was looking for an example to show you." Then I saw it. "Oh, this one looks good."
"Example?" She was confused.
"Yeah." I walked over to the counter with the little bottle in my hand. "I need another type of bottle, a small jar."
"A small jar?" She came out of the counter. "We should have some here." We followed her to a shelf. "Like this?" She held up a tiny glass jar.
"Yeah, that's it." I nodded. "But the thing is, I need around 60 of these." I gestured with the hand I was holding the potion bottle. "And 30 of those."
"Oh, I'm not sure if we have that many in stock."
"I see. I did want to know about their manufacturer. I plan on making a lot of potions in the future, and I want to buy a huge batch. There must be discounts for something like that, right?"
She wasn't happy to hear my question, but she kindly explained. "We get them from a company in the Beast Queendom."
"Beast Queendom. Huh. Not Delaron."
"You can't get it for cheap in Delaron. There's a glass factory in Port Delaron, and we used to use them before we found the Beasties company."
"Hm. You think you can give me the contact information for the Beast Queendom's company?"
"Well…" She was reluctant. "I'm not sure if that'll be of help to you. We had to get in touch with them through a merchant. A raccoon woman."
"Hmm. Then do you think you could give us a discount if we order in bulk?"
"How much are you trying to order?" She cautiously asked.
"I need 720 of this and 360 of that yearly." I pointed at the potion bottle and the jar, respectively. "How much are they?"
"It's 1 copper for 2 bottles."
"Hm."
"There's a good discount if you order 10000 in one go."
"Alright, I'll order 10000." She was shocked. "I'll eventually use it." I didn't mind stocking up.
"Let me go get the rubric. I don't know the exact numbers off the top of my head. The raccoon gave us a sheet with all the options. Let me see…" She took the bottle from my hand. "Yeah, these are from the same manufacturer, Drawf Rac Co." She nodded. "I'll be right back." She disappeared into the back of the store.
"She doesn't sound like she wants to help us," Garth said after she was gone.
"Well, we are trying to cut the middlewoman, her, out of the picture." I shrugged.
"So, what will we do if she doesn't give us their contact information?" He asked.
"Let's see what she's offering. If she gives a good discount, we don't have to pry further. But if she doesn't… We might have to look through every raccoon city address book."
"That sounds… not fun." He frowned.
"Calm down. Let's see what she's offering, first." I said just as she came out from the back.
"Here it is!" She said, waving a piece of paper. "I think we might be able to work together…"
We sat down and worked out a plan that worked for both of us. She also needed to stock up, so we decided to put our orders together. She disclosed their contact information during the negotiations, which won over my trust. I ended up getting a 20% discount for 10000 bottles: 6700 potion bottles and 3300 pill bottles.
"Do you guys sell stickers?" I asked as we finished up the deal. I remembered I needed them for the bottle.
"Stickers?" The owner of the store asked.
"Yeah. Labels for the bottles." I clarified.
"Oh." She shook her head. "No, we don't sell stickers."
"Okay." It was understandable.
***
As we left the store, I said to Garth, "She might've stolen a lot of my profits, but goddess, she made things easy."
"Who?" Garth asked as we climbed into the carriage.
"My mother," I said.
"Oh."
"She used to take care of all of this; the labels, the bottles…" I sighed.
"Then, master, maybe we should ask your mother for help." He suggested.
"Not a chance in hell."
"Hm? But-"
"Not a chance in hell!" I shouted.
"Yes, master."
"I wouldn't be worried about money at all, right now, if she hadn't stolen from me for 8 years. Arr!" I grunted. "I was exploited!"
"Yes, master." He shrank into his seat.
I exhaled. "You'll figure out how to get the labels," I told Garth.
"What?"
"You'll figure it out. This is why I need an assistant. A secretary. I can't do everything on my own. I have to make bombs, figure out something for the curses in Gwawleon, and a bunch of other stuff. I can't keep running errands, and I don't want to. You'll figure this out."
"But, what am I supposed to do?"
"Figure it out! You'll be the other name of our company, so do your part."
"I don't want to be the other name. Why don't you get Maura."
"Maura? I barely know her. No, you're the man for the job."
"But-"
"No, buts." I shook my head. "I don't know; look for paper manufacturers or something. They might be able to do stickers. Figure it out."
"Aaar…" He groaned.
"My mother used to manage all this, so it can't be tough." I encouraged him.
"Aaar…" He groaned louder. "But she's a woman."
"Why does that matter." I shook my head; he was being sexist. "Oh, and invest some of the funds into Ausma Greer Company when I'm gone. Put like a quarter of our monthly profits into their stocks." I told him.
"Ausma Greer Company?"
"Yeah, they're a rickshaw maker. You should be able to find them in the stock market. Talk to a broker. Just invest as much as you can into them while I'm gone."
"Hm. Okay." He grimaced. "Is that a good idea, master? Didn't your mother lose a lot of money in stocks?"
"My mother doesn't know what I know," I said arrogantly.
"…" His lips parted, but he was unable to form words.
"Just trust me."
"Yes, master." He obediently nodded.
"Good."
***
It was past lunch when we returned to the castle.
"I'm starving," Garth said.
"Me too." Petra agreed.
"You guys go in and eat. I'm going to check on the junior alchemists." While they went inside, I walked along the stone-paved path to the lab. I burst in and asked, "How're things coming along?"
Priscila was eating her lunch. She quickly swallowed and said, "Good, boss. I'm waiting for the leaves to purify."
"Yeah, that's fine," I spoke as I walked around the lab, assessing their progress. "Eat your lunch. Did everyone else eat?"
"I did," Swapna answered.
"Ah…"
"You guys should eat. If you didn't bring food, you could ask our staff. They'll get you something."
"We can!?" Kyo chirped.
"Yeah." I shrugged. "Hunger causes mistakes. Anyway, I'm going to go eat; if any of you want to come, you're welcome to."
"Can I?" Kyo asked again.
"Yes. Yes." After making a round around the lab, I nodded in approval. "It looks like you guys have gotten the hang of it. If you think you're up to it, you can increase the batch size."
"I'd like to try, boss." Nelli piped up.
"Good."
"I have a question," Prune spoke up. From the way the others were looking at her, it looked like she was elected to ask this question.
"Go ahead."
"If we finish the 30 bottles of All-day Vitality, 30 bottles of Mana Storm, and the 900 Over-clock pills early, can we work on our own projects?"
"You mean if you finish it before the month is over," I asked, and they nodded. "Work on your own projects…" The goal of many magicians is to become a tower witch. Usually, the towers chose magicians from the academies, but a university education wasn't necessary. A thesis that could interest the chairs of a tower is all you need to be accepted. After all, interesting research that could profit the tower would always be welcomed. And the magician has a lot to gain as well, a high salary and accommodations for starters, but the cherry on top is, of course, the orgies. "If you guys finish early, go ahead. Whatever you use from the storage will come out of your salaries."
"Understood!" Priscila happily saluted.
She was a funny girl. She made me smile. "Alright."
***
After lunch, I took the bomb launcher out to the middle of our untamed grass field.
Terrie, who was training, saw me aiming it at a tree and came over.
"What's that?" She asked.
I answered by pulling the trigger. A pop sound emanated from the launcher. Then came the thunderous roar from where the bomb struck the tree. The tree shook violently. "A bomb launcher," I told her.
"Launcher…" She was shocked.
"Come on. Let's take a closer look." There was nothing but water in the bomb, so I wasn't expecting much. We walked over to the tree, and indeed, the damage wasn't unexpected, the bark was torn, and a scar was visible, but it'll live.
"Amazing. What is this weapon?" She put on a calm exterior, but I could see the excitement in her eyes. "What type of magic is it?"
"Mechanical magic. Anyone can use it."
"Anyone? What rank is it?" She eyed the bomb launcher.
"Ah, this…" I looked it over. "Bronze."
"How?" She didn't believe it. "It's… bronze."
I shrugged. "You never seen a gun before?"
"I think I've heard of it."
"Well… guns aren't great. They're expensive, and- I don't want to go into it. But it should help us in the unexplored dungeon."
"It's really bronze…" She ran her hand over the tree's fresh scar.
"Yeah. But I'll turn the bombs gold rank for when we go into the dungeon." I said and walked away.
I felt a pink aura rush past me, and I stopped in my tracks. I turned back to the tree. Terrie's sword was unsheathed. She was oozing pink energy.
"Aaaaa!" She uttered a warrior's roar! And slashed the tree. She stabbed her sword into the ground and collapsed to her knees. She gasped for air. The pink aura vanished; she'd exhausted herself. A second passed, and I noticed the top half of the tree slide. I watched it crash to the ground. Half a trunk remained… She hadn't used any skills; that was aura alone.
I stopped watching her and turned to the mansion. Did she hate the tree, I wondered as I walked back to the castle.