I think it actually says warts but I couldn"t bring myself to use it in context so I went with studs. Next chapter today.
Year 7444, Month 12, Day 26
After returning to the inn, Miduchi and I tried thinking about the trick behind the Rindobel couple of {Sun Ray} in regards to the wooden tags, or talismans, well I guess they"re fine as G.o.d notes.
Idea 1. This is something anyone can easily think up I"m sure.
1. Employ people. It"s fine if they"re poor people or vagrants. The more you can get the better the advantage. To make it easy I"ll say 100 people.
2. Hand all of them 5,000 Z on the day of a full moon and have them buy a G.o.d note.
3. By the second full moon 1,000,000 Z in G.o.d notes will have been gathered.
4. Have the adventurer take them to the temple and exchange it for a large G.o.d note and that"s the end.
I"m sure it would be fine to split them up between multiple temples as well. Just, since it"s necessary to hire people I"m sure the expenses would jump quite high. If you think about the time they"re all tied up it would be safe to say it requires over 50% more than the normal cost, depending on the case there might be people who run away with the money as well. Before that there"s also the matter of the same person coming to exchange a large amount of G.o.d notes and getting scolded..well I"m sure it"s not something that they"d be praised over but it"s not like they"re doing anything wrong so it"s possible they might accept it without problems as well. Though it might be no good. In either case I don"t think it"s something that would get them hit by lightning over. On reserve.
Idea 2 is the advanced form of the above. It"s probably unlikely but if it was me I would do or aim for this.
1. Turn it into an organization. It would be ideal to create a branch in each place. 10 places for convenience sake.
2. Hire people. Once again the more the better. 200 people for convenience sake.
3. Have these 200 people patrol around between the branches in each location (to make it harder to determine their ident.i.ties).
4. On nights of the full moon have them buy 5,000 Z G.o.d notes from the temple nearby.
5. Whenever it"s appropriate have someone gather them and go (this would be the adventurer).
6. Get a large G.o.d note.
It might be fine to do some kind of business while letting the people carrying luggage along during their travels around. However, if you were to use this many people to start some kind of business I feel like you"d end up profiting more from the side business and that would end becoming the princ.i.p.al occupation. Adding to that it costs an absurd amount of money for the initial investment and maintain contact between the branches would be difficult as well. Unless it was someone on the level of our Toris or Bel in terms of trust being left as the heads of each branch then it"s clear that it would collapse sooner or later. Well, I guess this one"s no good.
Idea 3. Is this the frontal attack?
1. Gather money.
2. Bribe a priest of the temple, hand them over 1,000,000 Z and get a large G.o.d note.
3. Get hit by lightning together with the priest, the end.
It"s no good. Rather~ if it was someone that could be bribed them I"m sure they wouldn"t make it as priests for the temple in the first place.
Idea 4. In the case {Sun Ray} really has a secret route.
In this case..well isn"t it fine? If they aren"t being hit by lightning then I"m sure there"s no problem and rather I think it"s actually amazing for them to have found it.
Thinking about it like this any ideas other than 1 seem pretty unlikely to implement. Even if it"s idea 1 then they must have quite the ability to manage an organization to put it into practice. However, both Miduchi and I are thinking that it"s none of those. If there"s no money, no power, and no mana, there"s no choice other than to use your head to try and strengthen your party. Well, putting it simply it"s fraud. It"s necessary to prepare a number of real G.o.d notes and show them. If you have some money then it"s something that can be done I"m sure.
In the case that Miduchi and I were in the position of the Rindobel couple then, in any case we"d save up some amount of money, of course we"d buy some ourselves as well but buy out the people lined up at the temple on a full moon. You can say you"ll buy the 5,000 Z G.o.d note for depending on the case 10,000 Z. I"m sure there"s some people who will jump at the cahnce. Since they"re a couple of two I"m sure they can act separately. If they repeat it for about six months then it could be possible.
They continue to hold on to those without exchanging it for a 10,000 Z G.o.d note. There"s no need for it to be 1,000,000 Z worth of them. It"s fine if it"s just an adequate amount. These end up being the display notes. And, then they talk to an adventurer who seems like they"re lacking brains.
"With a special underground route we can get our hands on a G.o.d note that normally takes 10 years in just 1 year."
"Since it"s an underground route we can"t reveal it to anyone. Since the lightning is scary."
"Eh? You want one too? It can"t be helped. It"s special for just you."
"However, it"ll take over 1,000,000 Z."
"That"s only obvious right? Even the other side is overdoing it by giving them to us."
"Since you seem pretty intelligent, I"m sure you already understand that it costs a bit in reward right?"
"Any way~ that level of money, if it"s our party then we can earn it right away."
"Ah, don"t tell anyone about this."
"Also, make sure you properly visit the temple. G.o.d is always testing your faith."
"Alright, you take the one on the right and you take the one on the left."
"Ah, so one of them was killed huh..That"s unfortunate."
"He never went to visit the temple last week. I"m sure he died because he was lacking in faith."
"Alright, you go in from the front, you circle around to the back of it."
"No one seems to be looking. Since the opponent is weakened..die!"
"Mwu, how unfortunate. If you"re lacking in faith this is what happens."
"Umu. Shall we tell you the proper method to visit the temple..first stop with all luxury."
"That"s right, your faith is recognized through honorable poverty."
"Gebo~!! I..I was somehow saved."
"See, if you properly honor G.o.d then you"ll be saved on the verge."
"Got it. All of the things we find in the dungeon I as the leader will act as representative and make offering to the temple."
It"s considerably forced but probably something along those lines.
If you pay money then we won"t get them for your right away, but rather we can shorten it down to within one year. Is the key point. As long as the other side can accept it then two years or three years is fine as well. During this time, you just have to work them hard and kill them off somewhere appropriate than that"s fine. If their abilities are too high and the couple alone can"t finish them off then they can just really give them the G.o.d note. If they can make some display notes then if they get serious they might really be able to gather enough for one in one year?
If they go to the temple to do offerings during the process for these then it"s easy to cover up as well. Depending on the case it might be good to make it like a developing religion as well. If they end up doing it for a long time some people might start to notice the trick. If there"s someone they can trust then they might include them as a subordinate as well. If they"re no good then the couple can kill them off. If it"s inside of the dungeon then it won"t leave any proof. If they just say "they died because they were lacking in faith" or "their eyes were blinded by greet so they must have entered the dungeon alone" then I"m sure some people would believe them as well. Even if they don"t believe them it"s not like there"s proof. Even in the cases of those people, if they hit them in the face with some money they might sway, if that isn"t the case then after all you just finish them off in the dungeon as well.
In any case, if they have at least two other subordinates like that than themselves, then even if someone else enters the party there"s no one left to deny it.
It"s obvious. Since you"re lending your back to them in the dungeon. If you carelessly deny things then it"s pretty clear that you might not get any support. It"s fine if they"re suspicious at first. If they just show them something like examples a couple of times then I"m sure the simple people of Orth with almost zero level for the standard of education would believe it. Eh? There"s no one who would actually believe things like that? If you think it"s a lie then try going into the backwoods of Africa or the Amazon and take a look. There"s plenty of people out there who could seriously get afraid believing a person with a T-shirt and a cellphone are some kind of spirit or demon.
The most superior merchant on Earth is the guy who invented G.o.d. Or at least there"s a saying like that but as expected it seems the Rindobel couple are both quite intelligent. It"s a disgusting way of doing it but if they have several allies who they can firmly trust then I also recognize it as an effective method. Well thinking it"s disgusting is just my own personal feelings. The people themselves are accepting of it and if they seriously believe in it then even if it ends up killing them you could say that"s their happiness. Putting aside family or relatives, it"s not something for me to stick my nose in for the sake of complete strangers.
I"m sure Virhaima and Anderson feel the same. I don"t know what kind of things the members of {Verdure Brotherhood} and {Black Topaz} were seduced by but if they"ve only built up enough of a relationship of trust to leave the party over that then it"s only obvious it"s the responsibility of the leader. It"s the same for deliberately working a member to death or leaving them to die. It"s not like I"ve gotten any proof or seen the actual thing. I think if that Rindobel couple manages to ama.s.s a certain amount of wealth then they plan to disappear as well.
"Hey, is there anyone in the {Slaughterers} right now that seems like they could headhunt..I guess there"s no way there would be."
After taking a shower and getting refreshed while she was covering her face in a handmade steaming towel, Miduchi said with a mumbling voice.
"There"s none. There"s no more profitability to just a healing spell, and the only one seems like they"d fall over for money is Basutoral, but I"m sure he doesn"t have enough skill for them to call out to him yet. When it comes to slaves unless I accept their sale then they can"t even hold freeing them out as bait so it"s pretty unlikely. In the first place it would be strange for reincarnated people not to realize they"re suspicious but..I don"t know about Faruergaz and Hirosukol."
"Eh, aren"t they fine? I don"t think they would get caught up in that sort of thing though.."
"I"m sure they wouldn"t get caught up in it but I can"t ignore the possibility they leap into it of their own free will..Since it seems they have a strange sense of justice after all.."
"Ah.."
"In the first place it"s only my imagine whether or not they"re killing off their members. It wouldn"t be strange if they really made an organization to gather the G.o.d notes as well. In that case I"m sure the spell {Cure All} would certainly be attractive. Honestly speaking as far as I know other than Mila and the others, there"s you, me, the Court Sorcerer people. Ah, it seems that something or other healer in the capital can use it as well. It seems there was one in Baldukk as well but they died 10 years or so ago from old age."
"Hn? When it comes to Dyurou"s there"s around 30 people who can use it I think..The first cla.s.s Rank 1 warriors or the retired rank 1 warriors though."
"In any case there"s not a large number of them. If it comes to normal adventurers then..even if I weren"t able to use all elemental magics then I"m sure I"d want it pretty desperately as well. If it"s just one person then I might hesitate but if it"s a two person group then my feelings might expand a bit and I just follow along. After all there"s no mistake it"s effective."
"If you put it like that then it"s certainly true.."
That steaming towel, seems like it feels good. Maybe I"ll make one too.
"..If I was in the position of the RIndobels then..I would frantically try to gather G.o.d notes in order to take in Faruergaz and the others. If you can get the eldest son of Count Faruergaz behind it then it would make it seem even more credible. And, before things become troublesome throw him out of the party. Since that way it would be better for publicity."
Alright..and, something like this...Ah, this is nice. I"ve had a pimple on my right cheek since last week.
Once my pores open up maybe I"ll crush it...Being young is nice. Worries like these, it"s been decades since I last had them.
..............
Year 7444, Month 12, Day 27
First thing after waking up in the morning I thought about going running but I returned to the inn and after taking a shower used a condom with Miduchi. I"m sure there will be some more supplies around today. There"s no need to get stingy with them. After that I was going to go and have some lunch together with the Dyurou and when I went down to the lobby Gwine and Ralpha were glaring at us with an expression like gooey mud. Brats should be energetically playing kick the can outside. There"s no cans though.
We return to the inn and started doing maintenance on our swords and knives in the narrow back yard. Below the chilly midwinter sky, I"m putting my sword to a whetstone while Miduchi is beside me sharpening her knife. It"s a high quality whetstone produced in Kanbitt that cost 20,000 Z.
I think it when just past around 2 pm? The brat of "Boil Manor" came into the back yard searching for me.
"Greed-sama, you have a visitor."
I thought it was about time but they arrived right on the expected date. As expected of sister-in-law Shani.
When I went around to the front and the carriages from Bakuddo were stopped, both of them were loaded to the brim with luggage. One coachman, two guards. One war horse. Other than the war horse and the knight riding it, it"s the bare minimum number of people.
"Ya~ sister-in-law Shani-san."
I called out to the yellow-green haired woman who was trying to lower some kind of luggage from the load.
"Al! It"s been quite a while! I heard about it but you"ve gotten a lot bigger!"
Sister-in-law Shani-san is as beautiful as usual, she called out with a hazy light smile. All of the squires of Bakuddo are also greeting me as well. Right now, my height is around 175 cm. For a male human it"s about average. Since I"m still young I think I"ll grow a bit more.
"I would like to offer my congratulations for becoming the first wife of Viscount Greed in both name and reality."
I joked like that while making an exaggerated greeting. I"m sure brother has already been handed over the Viscount t.i.tle quite a while ago.
"Really. Thanks. Also..it"s difficult to say but today we"re going straight to the capital like this. We don"t have much time to waste.."
Sister-in-law Shani said her thanks while her expression clouded up and she said apologetically.
"Yeah, I already heard. You"re dispatching to the front line right? I"ve already prepared things like food and supplies in the capital. But, you"re going to stay the night at least right?"
"Yeah, at least that much. Thank you, Al."
Sister-in-law said that while smiling.
"And also, sister-in-law, I"ll introduce you. She"s Miduchi, Midu~ritto.Chizumagurol. She"s one of my party members and..my important, woman. Miduchi. This is my sister-in-law. She"s my older brother"s wife, Shanleid-san. I call her sister-in-law Shani-san."
When sister-in-law heard my introduction as a bit of blood ran to my head, her eyes went wide in surprise but she quickly smiled and stretched her hand out to Miduchi.
"It"s nice to meet you, Chizumagurol-san. I"m Shanleid.Greed. Please call me Shani."
Miduchi"s light blue cheeks went bright red as she grasped sister-in-law"s hand and greeted her.
"Ah, it.. it"s very nice to meesch you too. I"m Midu~ritto.Chizumagurol. Pl..Please call me Miduchi as well."
What"s with the meesch. Don"t bite your tongue.
"Also, sister-in-law. In regards to the lord Marquis Webdos"s plate that sister-in-law lent to me but thanks to it I was saved. Really thank you very much."
When I said that and lowered my head, Miduchi who was standing beside me started lowering her head rapidly as well. Yeah, no matter how much we lower our heads, there"s no such thing as too far. In your case.
"Then, sister-in-law, after this I have a number of people accompanying us to the capital so I"ll go call them. Please wait for just a short while."
After I said that I went to call Zenom, Ralpha, and Gwine from inside of the inn. I called out to Zenom who was laying in his room, since it seems Ralpha and Gwine were having a fashion show in their room I stopped it by knocking on the door and calling to to them, then when I was walking down the stairs towards the lobby, Miduchi came inside the inn carrying a small box. What is that?
"Ah, that is, it.. it seems it"s the promotional.. ru.. rubber she said. She didn"t seem embarra.s.sed at all..I was the one who got embarra.s.sed.."
"Hn..Place it on the side of the bed.."
When I went outside sister-in-law was already on top of her war horse. I told the brat to prepare Miduchi and my horses as well and then the brat and I started putting the harnesses on them.
"Al, where"s your armor?"
"Ah, this area is fine. It"s not necessary. It"s fine as long as I have my sword...I also have my magic after all."
Come to think of it sister-in-law is properly wearing her protectors and even has a spear on the side of her war horse with her arms complete. Since she"s going to the battlefield after this, I guess you could say it"s only obvious but I"m sure one of the big reasons is there"s no s.p.a.ce in the carriage for her armor.
"That horse, who"s is it?"
"Ah, it"s Miduchis."
"Hm~n. I want her to ride behind me. Someone else can ride the horse as well right?"
Eh? Why? Of course~ in my party the only ones who can"t ride a horse are ..Basutoral and I doubt the slaves can either. After that we"re all riding them on our days off so everyone can ride and trot on them.
"It"s fine, let us talk between girls."
"Ah, yes.."
Miduchi came back.
"Ah, Miduchi-san. You ride behind me over here!"
"Eh?"
I nod to Miduchi who is surprised suddenly being told that and I focused on dealing with the squires who are talking to me. When I glanced to the side Miduchi is frozen solid from the tension.
"Al-sama, do you intend to marry with that person?"
This fall when older brother succeeded the t.i.tle of Viscount, along with that Sean ended up taking the t.i.tle of Head Squire as well and he happily came up to me saying that. Bekkuwiz.Aizensaid who was the Head Squire up until then is past 50 and retired as expected. I guess you could say it"s only obvious that Sean.Tinba was chosen as the next leader because of his high level of skill and popularity to back that up. I"m sure if it"s Sean he"ll be good at supporting brother.
"Hn, I still don"t know but, well, for the time being...I wanted to introduce her when father and the others came last time but there was no chance to let them meet.."
"She"s quite the beautiful person but she"s an elf right? Is everything fine?"
The squire Reynolds said while worrying. He"s the eldest son of Beckwiz and the elder brother of Enbert the one who oversees rubber production but since Sean is higher in skill I guess he couldn"t become the head squire. It"s something that can"t be helped.
"Well, we"ll get there when it comes to that. Things will happen as they do. Don"t worry too much about it."
"She"s the person that Al-sama chose. There"s nothing to worry about her at all."
Jamie said trying to encourage me. Jamie is the squire Renritto families eldest daughter, she has an extremely belligerent personality. It"s only obvious but she"s quite skilled as well. The reason these three were added as escorts for the deliveries is proof brother is paying extra attention to sister-in-law Shani"s safety I"m sure. Of the squires that serve the Greed family they"re some of the most skilled three.
"Ah, Jamie, thanks."
"Uhya~ sorry for the wait~ Ah, Sean-san, Jamie-san, it"s been a while!"
Ralpha and the others finally finished preparations and came out. What is it what that Uhya~ That"s embara.s.sing.
"Sister-in-law Shani, from the left there"s Zenom.Firefreed. And then his adopted daughter Ralpha.Firefreed, on the far right is Gulinell.Akdam. They"re all my important allies. Everyone, this is my sister-in-law Shanleid.Greed."
"Nice to meet you all. I"m sorry to greet you from so high up place but I"m Shanleid.Greed. I"ve heard about everyone from Farne. It seems that Al is always in your care.."
She greeted them in order starting with Zenom, then Zenom and Ralpha got on Miduchi"s horse and Gwine is riding behind me.
It"s time to depart.
"She sure is a beautiful person..I can look up to her.."
Gwine was praising sister-in-law Shani from behind me. Of course that"s the case. She"s my bro"s bride after all. She"s good-natured and kind to everyone on top of that. I can"t say it out loud but it seems she"s amazing at night as well~
Sister-in-law Shani is somehow having a pleasant conversation Miduchi. Ralpha is skillfully leaning her back against Zenom while enthusiastically talking to Jamie.
Around the time started to get dark at 5 pm, we arrived at the edge of the capital Rombertia. There"s no street lights but we can still barely see the ground and once we enter the capital there"s a lot of stores that are open through the night. We were able to arrive at Greed Company without a problem. Zenom and the others are staying over one night and then it seems they"ll to Baldukk on the pa.s.senger carriage tomorrow. After exchanging words to meet again later in the holidays they disappeared into the dusk of Rombertia.
I introduced sister-in-law Shani to the Yotlen family who was watching the store and while waiting for the Ryogu family to return we carried the luggage inside the store. Unexpectedly it seems that Dianne was feeling ill and resting on the second floor. Everyone got excited thinking she might be pregnant but Yotlen said she was just recovering from the cold and tranquilized it. Since Dianne is taking it easy and resting her husband Ruku is looking after her on her side as well, since that left an opening for dinner today, we decided to have the Ryogu couple and Yotlen mother and daughters come along to the restaurant as well. Older sister had already departed to the battlefield.
That night, when we took a room in a hotel Miduchi shyly pulled out a rubber pack.
"Umm..Shani-san gave it to me..She said it"s new.."
After taking that from her, my eyes went wide from the slightly different sensation from usual.
"He..Pu..Th..This is~~!?"
Is it really okay? Using this..Is it really okay!?
I look between the thing in my hand and Miduchi"s face.
Miduchi"s cheeks quickly dyed red from the blood rushing to her face.
This, is there still more left?
Eh? All of the ones brought into "Boil Manor" were this...*swallow*
The rubber protectors being delivered this time was 11 suits of armor in all. 500 pairs of sandals. 500 pairs of shoes. 50 pairs of boots. 4,000 packs of condoms. And then, another 100 packs in the small box Miduchi was handed. There"s another 100 packs of a different type as well. Starting this time every 100 packs of condoms were inside of a small box the size of 15x15x20 cm that has the emblems of Bakuddo and the royal family branded into it.
"That is..Since we have them on hand let"s try using it and then sell it to somewhere is what she said.."
"O..Oh..but, is it really okay?"
I swallow my saliva again while my nostrils flare up as I ask.
"I..I mean..ah, it seems the rubber fields have increased by one again..since they"re moving one around towards producing these so there"s no problem.."
Miduchi takes her shirt off. She"s embarra.s.sed as he hides her chest with one arm but since it can"t hide all of them they"re coming out from the sides.
"Oh..I..See."
I take my shirt off as well.
"I..I don"t mind using the normal kind either but..but, if possible we need to..cooperate after all, right."
While sitting on the bed Miduchi is turning bright red as she uses one hand to take off her pants and then moved to her underwear.
"Yeah, if we don"t test it out, then we won"t...won"t know what it"s like.."
I"ve long since taken my pants off. I bite the edge of the rubber package open and took one out while slowly putting it on.
"Uhy~ this is amazing~ This. Look at it."
I put my hands at my hips and showed Miduchi in an imposing stance.
"Really~ don"t show it to me."
Miduchi looked in a different direction before crawling into the bed.
.............
After bullying Miduchi with the new type of condom I was normal. Or rather the sensation of using them was better with normal condoms. That, the only one who feels better is the woman.
While we were on the way to make deliveries at the castle and I was tired from lack of sleep I tried asking sister-in-law, "That, who is the one thought of it?" and I was told "We both thought of it." with an unconcerned face. I sarcastically said "Make sure you manage them in a place where Zetto and Becky can"t reach" and sister-in-law laughed.
Miduchi pulled sister-in-law to the edge and thanked her while bright red.
However, as expected of brother. In this short of a time with no hints at all for him to arrive in this territory..so this is a true genius. And then, sister-in-law as well..she said they both thought of it together..It might still be difficult to call it complete but...There"s no way I"ll be a match for them in my entire life.
When I called out the Queen, Becky came. While talking about random things for a bit along with the usual deliveries I casually handed her 10 packs of the new model.
"Hn? This is?"
"Ha...It"s a newly developed product. Please feel free to closely confirm it."
I knelt down in the pose of a retainer while saying with a quiet voice.
"..Wha!! Th..This is..What in the world is this! This is? Studs?"
"I"m very sorry for putting this so frankly but rather than the man that is making use of it..rather than his majesty, the woman..it"s something developed putting emphasis on your highnesses. We would be grateful if you would try it out."
"Th..This sort of thing..Is it really alright?"
Becky said while seeming a bit worried.
"Your highness Rebecca. Of course they are. I"ve already tested them out myself. The rubber protuberances along the outer surface are properly fastened on it so there"s no need to worry about them being lost in the middle of action. It is extremely favorable with women. Just, due to problems with strengthening them the thickness of the Saya itself has increased a bit. For the man that is..if you were to ask it is more mentally satisfying that is larger."
Hearing that Becky"s voice seemed a bit more excited.
"No, not in regards to the quality..Th..This really can go in..But, I..is that so..For the men it"s mentally..and for the women..It..It"s fine for you to leave."
Ah, along with the quality it"s not harmful to the body at all either. It"s okay. I can guarantee that.
But, the sensation might not be okay. Uhihi.
"Ha..please tell his majesty to use as he sees fit..Well then if you"ll please excuse me."