Good evening, everyone. My name is Felicia Belphere Metrune. I am the only daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune. I am 9 years old. I haven't always been Baron Metrune's daughter though. I was originally a 29 year old man who lived in Cornwall. One day I got hit by a truck and you've probably guessed it, I was reincarnated into what seems to be medieval Europe. So I built up some industry in father's poor barony using my new-found wealth. Then suddenly, after nearly 10 years of peace, somebody had the bright idea of wanting to go to war with us. As if being poor wasn't enough of a problem already. Felicia's Second Life Chapter 2 A tale of love (?) and change (lol) in a medieval era. By Shinieris

Hi everyone, it's your favourite reincarnated Lady Felicia again. How are you all doing? Me? I'm doing good, well, a little dusty, though.

See, I'm currently at the closed off tin mine at the far western border of the barony. With the heavier dependence on iron these days, tin, which was used mostly in bronzewares, had its value fall so low that father considered it was too expensive to run. So he had it closed off.

It was a good business decision. If something's not working out, better to stop it and focus on something else. If I knew what father knew, I would likely do the same too. Fortunately, I came from the modern world, I knew a lot more than he did. Heheh.

I was originally Malcolm Stokes, born and raised in Cornwall. I died in Cornwall too, hit by a truck while walking home from a pub. So how did I become Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune of the Barony of Mruna?

Maybe you forgot, but I reincarnated. Yes, I reincarnated into a girl. On my 6th birthday, I suddenly received all the memories of my 29 year previous life. It put me into a week-long coma, but apart from remembering most of the stuff from my previous life, I was fine.

With that knowledge, I set about to improve the barony in my own way.

The first step was agricultural revolution. I aimed to improve the farming practices in the barony and improve food production in our mostly infertile farmlands. It was so overly successful that it could be called a failure. I alone produced almost as much food as the whole barony put together, unfortunately much of it was sitting idle in my personal granary, becoming bait for mice. The lone merchant that came to this isolated barony didn't have enough goods to barter with me. In summer he came back and purchased my grains with gold, but he still didn't have enough gold to purchase all that I had offered. Still, because of that, I had 30 gold coins that I kept in my stash under lock and key.

Gold coins are what high ranking nobles and royals use. Silver coins are what people normally use for high volume or high value purchases. Generally people would use the copper coins, either the small copper (copper coin with a circular hole) or the big copper (single sheet copper coin). For the majority of the rural areas though, none of these coins were in use, people traded through barter and job payments were paid in foodstuff.

The second step was talent development. The first one was of course my lifelong best friend, Lilicia. I taught her maths reading and writing, a knowledge generally only reserved for nobility and wealthy freemen. Next I taught the same things as well as modern farming knowledge to Lemy, another of my childhood friends. I intended for him to be the supervisor of my farm, but after three years of watching him work on my farm, I believed that he might've been destined for something greater. Together with my three other childhood friends, the insecure girl Serin, the slow-witted brute Somme and the short-tempered boy Gani, these five made up the first of my farmhands.

I think father intended for these five people to be my loyal retainers in the future, but he probably didn't expect them to spend much of their training on farming instead. Father still didn't neglect their martial training, though. So in this sense, they were more like warrior farmers instead of common serfs. Even Lili and Serin were taught how to wield daggers, swords and how to test for poison. I didn't think they needed to go so far as learning to test for poison in my food (by eating it themselves), but father and Sir Mosro believed that it was absolutely essential.

Mother, on the other hand, just made a small smile and said ,"Oh my, oh my."

Mother is so unhelpful.

Anyway, I also ended up training Somme's 8 year old little brother Gonne. The moment I looked at him, I could tell that Gonne hid inside him a cleverness and a yearning for a different life. I could tell that he was greatly dissatisfied with being born as a serf's son. So I also took him under my wing and taught him reading & writing, maths and bookkeeping. I was expecting him to become a successful merchant who would owe me a life debt one day.

Look at me, only 9 years old and already a scheming little bitch. >_<

Anyway, my third step was turning the barony into a fully industrial area. This was mostly because with the success of my farm, I attracted the attention of many undernourished serfs begging me for work. Some of them even came from other baronies nearby. I would have loved to help, they were my people too, but I didn't need 10 people working the same field. I had the irrigation ditches and the oxen-driven ploughs and seed drills for that. Regardless, I couldn't just refuse.

So I started a paper industry. I bet this is expected by those of you who read a lot of stories concerning time travel to the middle ages. You need to remember though, that this isn't medieval Europe. The paper-making process has been known in this region for at least 100 years. It is an involved process, and paper is still expensive, though not as expensive as parchment or papyrus. My operation however, aimed at producing affordable paper which was thin enough to be used as wrapping paper. In comparison, all of the other paper factories in this region produce thick, hard, cardboard-like paper made of flax fibre and wood dust.

Okay, so I'm hearing some voices clamouring for a printing press. There's a reason why nobody has attempted that yet. It's because our writing system is fairly complex. Unlike English, we have 34 different 'strokes' and each stroke adds together to make a word. If I want to make a printing press, I will have to make 479 different print heads, that's how many words we have in common use. If you want to compare it to Earth's writing system, it's similar to Chinese Hanyu or Japanese Kanji. To understand more, please refer to the example below.

Some time after starting my paper business, I found an iron ore deposit in the rocky patch about 5 miles west of the town while looking for a rumoured herd of horses to drag back to my farm. I didn't find the horses, but I did find a lot of iron ore. It seemed like father knew of it, but didn't have the resources to fully make use of it except for small scale open field minings at the start of every winter.

With the discovery of the large iron deposit, I went ahead and built a foundry/armory as well. We already had a town blacksmith, but he dealt in wrought iron products. Wrought iron is soft and not very good as armour or weapons, though people make do with it since there's no better alternative. Unfortunately nobody knew how to make a steel foundry, even I could barely recall the basic setup of a steel foundry, so construction had been very slow.

Then I found out about the tin mines and I figured, great, this will definitely solve one of my worrying problems. What problem you ask? Food spoilage, of course. I don't think I need to mention canning.

So you're wondering how can a 9 year old girl afford to build all these? And if a 9 year old girl can afford to build all these, why didn't my father the baron build it in the first place?

I need to remind you that we don't use coins here. Payment consists of grains, mostly barley or rye, with wheat normally being valued higher. With the success of my farm, I had these in excess. In a way, you can say that I'm currently richer than father. It isn't like father is incompetent, it is just that father is a knight. What would knights know about farming, or mining?

"My lady, would you like to stand a little farther away? Your dress is getting dusty," Lili suggested as she pulled my hand.

I looked at the dust that collected on the hem of my dress. "You're right, let's move aside a bit. Mother will cry if she sees my dress in this state."

"There's not even a need for you to be here, my lady."

"I need to see how much tin we have. But I guess you're right, we'll go back after Somme returns with the tin ore."

Somme returned half an hour later, carrying with him a basket filled with mostly tin ore and some trace minerals. From what he said, it seemed like I had enough tin for what I had in mind for at least 100 years with current mining practices. That's an estimate for that mine alone. There could have been other tin deposits nearby, but I had no need for so much tin.

******

As with middle age Europe, this land wasn't free from conflict. One day father returned from a meeting wih Duke Melstad, to whom we swear fealty, and relayed to us a disturbing story. It seemed that the neighbouring kingdom of Surfes was gearing up for war. And our king, His Majesty King Lodris The Second, believed that Surfes's target would likely be us, judging from generations of conflict across our border for one reason or another. Nobody even remembered why we started fighting each other, but I guess men just didn't need a reason to fight. No matter which world you go to, wars will always be a common occurence.

Since it was the middle of winter, there wouldn't be any war yet. But come summer, after the fields were harvested and resown, we could expect a declaration from Surfes. As one who held the title of baron, father would of course be expected to fight in the war as well as provide troops and supplies befitting his position for the war efforts. The supplies part was easy; while the barony granaries weren't exactly filled to satisfaction, I could easily supplement it with my own stock. The troops part was a little more troubling.

As mentioned previously, our army consisted of one (1) knight, and that was Sir Mosro. Everybody else were volunteer peasants. Sure, we could raise maybe 200 fighting men, but these fighting men would mostly be armed with pitchforks and cloth armour. We had neither the money nor the equipment to arm them properly.

This meant that these peasants would likely suffer heavy casualties.

I wanted to volunteer my foundry, but it hadn't yet finished being built and probably would not be finished until the end of spring. By then it would probably be too late to start making weapons for 200 peasant soldiers.

Of course, father didn't blame me at all. When I mentioned it, he just pushed it aside and told me not to think too much about it. Then he told me to go to sleep because it was late. Obviously, he wasn't expecting anything from me because of my age. He probably thought he was being considerate, but it pissed me off instead.

Still, as a knight and a baron, this was father's forte. I who came from a world where wars were fought in faraway countries only knew things taught in school and on television. What would I know about medieval wars? Even despite practicing swords with my childhood friends (with leather gloves on to keep my skin soft) because Sir Mosro refused to teach his boss's daughter swordfighting techniques, I was no good with it.

I could lift wooden swords just fine, and probably could fight well with more practice. However, the moment I tried to lift a real sword, I gave up. I never knew that real swords were so heavy. Forget fighting with it, I couldn't even wield it without going weak in the knees. Compared to that, a spear was more my style, but spears were for peasants. Nobles would be laughed at if they fought with spears.

I later found out that father ordered 80 spears from the local blacksmith while ordering 100 bows and enough arrows from the merchant. He also had the carpenter make 100 round shields for the spearmen. To pay for it, he had me pay him an early land rent with my large food stock, so I would be exempted from paying land rent in the summer. He also charged me a fee for the license to mine the barony's minerals, so I ended up having to take out 18 gold coins for it, which, on top of my land rent, would be enough for all the weapons and probably some minimal leather body armour as well. I offered to lend him the rest of my gold, but he said there was no need for it. He told me to keep it in case he was captured and needed to be ransomed. But I knew he was just joking; since barons swear fealty towards the local duke, it was the duke's responsibility to pay their ransoms if they were captured.

******

War. It really came. Being located in the southeastern part of the kingdom, far from the Surfesian border, the Barony of Mruna wasn't directly affected by the declaration of war. Despite that, since father was a landed baron, we were obligated to send military assistance to the Duchy of Selestin, where most of the fighting would take place.

The Kingdom of Surfes, ruled by a warlike king by the name of King Garren The Mighty, is located to the northeast border of our Kingdom of Forlendia. The Kingdom of Surfes is significantly bigger than Forlendia, especially after the Surfesians captured the River Country, a former protectorate of Forlendia with several big rivers and hundreds upon hundreds of miles of fertile farmlands. While Forlendia had managed to hold their ground since then, they never succeeded in retaking River Country. So about 10 years ago, the former king of Forlendia and the current king of Surfes signed a truce. However, it seemed that the king of Surfes had now broken the truce and was mobilizing past the River Country.

The ducal decree to deliver military aid to Selestin came shortly after harvest. Father, Sir Mosro (and his squires) and our 200 peasant spearmen and archers would meet up with the ducal army at the ducal capital of Renus. Once all of the ducal forces had arrived, they would march together towards Selestin. We were expected to prepare our own provisions to last until the start of winter, when it would be too cold to fight.

Of course, this would mean we would have less manpower to sow the seeds. I wasn't worried, though; with my 'inventions', including the new harvester which trapped stalks of grain for the 3 sickle blades to cut and for the harvester to collect, we had little need for manual harvesting for the summer. Men generally worked the mines and cut the trees up until the conscription. So I wasn't worried much about our farm work.

You ask why we receive a ducal decree instead of the royal decree? The way our nobility works is a little different. You see, it goes like this: barons and baronets swear fealty to the dukes or counts that give them land, and the dukes and counts in turn swear fealty to the king. So in essence, while all of us swear allegiance to the king, as a barony, we are under the command of Duke Melstad who lives in Renus. On the other hand, knights and manorial lords can belong to any of these ranks, but their ranks aren't dictated by the ranks of their lords. In other words, a royal knight isn't superior in any way to a baron's knight, unless the royal knight is also a royal bodyguard, which gives him a voice of similar rank to a duke's in matters relating to the royalty he protects.

Maybe you noticed in the previous chapter that my mother's family name was also Melstad. You got it right, my mother is the current Duke Melstad's second daughter. So that makes Duke Melstad my grandfather. Father is also descended from the original line of Melstad, the Rusenfel. My great great great grandfather was the second son of the Rusenfel and was given the barony of Mruna following his mother's request to the first son. At first, out of spite, great great great grandfather was granted a rocky and infertile land, the place where our tin mining operations now centered. His nephew, the first son of his brother, pitied great great great grandfather who couldn't even afford to keep his family clothed, so he granted extra land to great great great grandfather, which included a large area of wooded land. Because of this, our barony can be compared to a small county in size. So we have plenty of land but only slightly over half of it is useable for farming.

The price for that, however, was great great great grandfather's first and second daughters. Apparently, this nephew took great fancy to both of his own female cousins and made them the condition for the granting of land. There wasn't much written in the family history, but it was mentioned that they lived happily ever after. Truth be told, if I have a sister, I don't think I'll ever be able to marry the same man as my sister, but that's probably just me and my modern values.

Somewhere along the line, the men of Rusenfel died off, some from plague, some from the battlefields and some from assassinations. Thus only one Rusenfel lady was left and since out of the branch family of the Rusenfel, the Metrune, the only one still unmarried was a 4 year old boy, the leftover lady of Rusenfel had to marry into the new noble house of Melstad, which was considered of inferior lineage back then. Grandfather, the current Duke Melstad was the result of their union.

To silence the voices of those who objected to it, mother who was the second daughter of Duke Melstad was married off to father who was of pure Rusenfel bloodline. Eventhough the Metrune is a branch family of the Rusenfel, we were still of direct Rusenfel bloodline. Had there been an unmarried Metrune man of age, great Rusenfel grandmother would have had a matrilineal marriage with the Metrune man instead.

Later on, to strengthen the bond, there was even talk of engaging me to the future Duke Melstad's first son as well. I strongly refused, simply because I was too young and also because the future duke's first son was a jerk. I'm not exaggerating, the few times I met him, he came off as nothing but an insensitive jerk.

For this war, though, Duke Melstad would not be leading the ducal army. The ducal army which included my father, would be led by his first son, Lord Smilnof, the father of my 15 year old supposed fiance. My supposed fiance would also be going to the war, though only as a commander of the light cavalry. In other words, he'd likely be the guy who'd chase and cut down routed enemies, the easiest job in the whole campaign.

You're asking why I still call him my fiance when I already rejected him? That's because I was too young to have any say over who I marry. It is also because he is an idiot who can't take a hint. I hope his army commanding ability is a lot better than his tact.

 
 

*Thank you for reading. As always your comments and feedbacks are always appreciated. Thanks to Eric for proofreading it.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Felicia Belphere Metrune. I am the only daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune. I am 10 years old. I haven't always been Baron Metrune's daughter though. I was originally a 29 year old man who lived in Cornwall. One day I got hit by a truck and you've probably guessed it, I was reincarnated into what seems to be medieval Europe. Wars always bring hardship. With the men leaving for war, the women are left behind to take care of themselves. To some, this is a good opportunity to profit at the expense of the defenseless women. That was, until I came along and changed everything. Fear me, scoundrels! Felicia's Second Life Chapter 3 A tale of love (?) and change (lol) in a medieval era. By Shinieris

Hello everyone. It's me, the reincarnated Lady Felicia. How are you all doing? Just a recap, we received news some time ago that the neighbouring kingdom of Surfes was building up their army in preparation for a war. We feared that war would come in summer.

We were correct. Right now, we are in summer and nobody doubted that it will happen. Specifically, we are approaching the Aging Ceremony.

The 'Aging Ceremony' on the final day of the Summer Harvest Festival was originally the time of celebration when everyone became one year older. Unlike modern times, the dates of a particular month had no particular value to such middle age society. Instead of saying "I was born on the 5th of May 1990," in this society, people would normally say, "I was born in the summer night of the 50th year of Moonlit Flames". Therefore, while there were some minor variations, generally a person became one year older during the Summer Harvest Festival, which the 'Aging Ceremony' was a part of.

This summer's harvest festival was a sad one. The day after the Aging Ceremony, the army would march forth towards the ducal capital of Renus. From there, they would march towards war. Some of them might not even make it back alive. Some would become maimed for life. Some would return, but from what father said, there was no guarantee for that at all. After careful consideration, father decided to lead the troops only after the aging ceremony was concluded, to give the troops time to say goodbye to their family members.

Mother was especially tearful. She begged father not to go, asking father to stay and just send Sir Mosro instead. Of course, father had to disagree. Father was a baron after all. It was his duty to go to war. Besides, my second brother who was studying in the knight's academy in the kingdom's capital of Forlen would also be fighting as part of the apprentice knights corps.

Of course, I worry about father, and about my older brother. But I knew why they had to go. It was their duty to protect the people and to fight for our king. It was the sacrifice we had to make for the privileges we received. To do anything less would be a betrayal of our station. I showed father a determined face as he led the column away on the dirt road. Finally, just as father's silhouette was about to disappear beyond the hill, I yelled loudly, "Father, come back soon! Don't worry, I'll take care of mother!"

Father must have heard it, because in front of the rising sun, he raised an open hand towards the sky without looking back. Then he was gone. Mother and I, as well as all the women and children of the village stood watch, some shouting promises and encouragements, until all of the soldiers were gone from sight.

What are you saying? I'm not crying. These aren't tears. It's... morning dew. Yes, that's right, it's just morning dew. Damn, there's so much morning dew this morning.

On the first day of the 10th year of my second life, my father left for war.

******

Everything went as normal, until two weeks later.

Some scruffy looking people rode across the town escorting a carriage that looked pretty extravagant. They rode past me while I was discussing with the representative of the fishermen about the possibility of switching to a new method of large scale fishing. I didn't think anything of it, assuming that it was probably someone important either passing through or stopping by to meet mother.

When I went back a couple of hours later, though, mother was on her knees, crying on the dirt ground while the crude men loaded up our silverwares and mother's gold jeweleries onto a cart they found somewhere.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" I yelled at the top my lungs.

It shocked them so much that they stopped working for a few seconds. The moment they saw me though, they went back to work loading our valuables onto the cart, totally ignoring me. Meanwhile, a fat man wearing some kind of expensive looking velvet coat stood in front of mother saying some stuff that I couldn't hear while waving one of those thick papers in front of her face.

"Stop what you are doing!" I commanded, which the rough men ignored.

"Maids, stop them!" I commanded, to which our two household maids took up spears and thrusted it at the five rough men loading up our valuables.

They were clearly surprised at suddenly being attacked by these gentle-looking household maids. Unlike the rest of the kingdom, it has always been a Rusenfel tradition to arm and train our household servants in warfare. Our household servants weren't just servants, they were also our family's bodyguards. While their skills wouldn't be comparable to a trained knight, they were more than capable of fighting bandits.

Thus it was that the five men quickly drew their swords and surrounded the maids. Then suddenly the fat man turned away from mother. He look at me the way one would look at an insect with his small piggy eyes.

"Go away, peasant, or I'll have you stripped, crucified and lashed at the center of town."

"How dare you call me a peasant! I am the Honourable Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune, first daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune. How dare you come here and cause such ruckus!"

"A lady? Wearing peasant's clothing?"

I was visiting my farm, why would I want to wear my best gowns to visit my farm?

"Impersonating a noble is a serious crime, little girl. You, the spiky-haired one, catch the girl. We're taking her with us," the fat man said as he turned around, scolding mother again.

The spiky-haired man sheathed his sword and came forward, while making a lewd face. One of our maids tried to stop him but she was intercepted by two of the men. If given a specific order, though, they would still rush towards me, even if it would kill them.

"Serin, take care of him," I ordered as I walked forward towards the fat man.

"Yes, my lady."

"Hey, little girl, where are you going? Come have some fun with big brother," he laughed.

"What are you waiting for, Serin?" I asked as I took another step.

"Y-yes!" Serin replied before she took a quick step forward, swung her 5 foot measuring staff towards the spiky-haired man's legs and brought him down. She then took off the fake end of the staff, revealing a sharp knife which she pointed at the man's neck. "S-sorry for this. Are-are you in pain?"

"Not as much as the pain I will give you, little girl!" The spiky-haired man growled as he put his hand on his sword while still on the ground.

"Th-that's good!" Serin said as she stabbed that hand with the knife end of her staff, "Th-then please forgive me for this!"

The screams of that man grabbed the fat man's attention. He turned around seeing one of his men on the ground, bleeding. Then his gaze turned towards Lili and I, who approached him calmly, walking past the thugs and our maids.

"You dare attack a ducal official?"

"You dare cause trouble at someone else's barony and terrorize the baroness?"

"I will have you hanged, little peasant."

"It's funny that you say that, because I'll make sure you hang first. You are in MY territory and that is MY mother after all."

"Impersonating a noble is a grave offense, little peasant."

"Impersonating a ducal official is a grave offense as well, fatty."

We must've glared at each other for minutes until he seemed to give up and turned away.

"Let's go, men. We've got what we're here for," he said as he turned to enter his carriage. Meanwhile, one of his lackeys moved to attach the cart to his horse.

"You will leave our stuff here!"

"You don't seem to understand, little girl. This is payment for a debt the baron have with the duke. Unless you can pay 300 gold right away, I'm afraid we will have to take these as prepayment."

"Please don't take away my mother's locket..." mother sobbed on the ground.

I knew the locket she was talking about. It was an oval locket 2 inches long made of solid gold, inside it was a drawing of mother and grandmother when mother was young. Grandmother died of some mysterious illness 4 years ago.

"You will leave them here."

"Are you deaf, little girl? I said this is prepayment for the debt. This here is the proof!" he said, waving a piece of paper that vaguely appeared to have some writing on it and a wax stamp on its lower right corner. I couldn't tell what was written on it though, as he kept shaking it around.

"Then you should've talked to father while father was here. He left less than two weeks ago."

"I go wherever I'm told. I was told to come here, right now to settle this debt. It's not my fault that the baron isn't here!"

"You know what? I think you're lying, so go away before I have you hanged." I was very confident that this man was a scoundrel looking to steal our family's stuff, because the duke knew that my father was fighting at the battlefield. Grandfather wouldn't be so cruel as to do this to his own daughter and granddaughter. But unless I could find proof, I couldn't just execute him. I didn't have the baron's authority.

He looked very angry at my words but turned around and entered his carriage. "Leave it!" he said towards the man who was unsure about whether or not to connect the cart containing our silverware and jewellery to his horse. Towards me, the fat man said, "This is not over, little girl. I'll be back!"

******

That night, after I managed to calm mother down, I asked her what happened with the fat man. She told me how the men suddenly came to the mansion, kicked open the door and told her that he was a ducal official and he was there to collect on our family's debt. Mother said it was true that father had some debt with the duke, but not as much as 300 gold.

Let me give you an idea of how much 300 gold is. 10 gold would be enough to make a nice house. A mansion would cost around 40-70 gold, depending on the size. To build a small port with two docking arms, it would cost only around 120 gold. It would be unimaginable that father, who was always careful with his money, would take on that much of a debt without telling mother.

Not to mention, the timing of the 'official's' arrival was too suspicious. If he really was the ducal official, then he could've just talked to father two weeks ago before he left for the battlefield. It would be unlikely that the duke would forget such a big debt as well.

But it was all simply an assumption. We had no proof that he was an impostor. So the only thing we could do was to ask the duke himself. Thankfully, he didn't go to the battlefield with the army.

So the next day, I gathered the villagers and informed them that we may have been targeted by a scoundrel and that my mother the baroness had conscripted them all to protect the barony until I could get an explanation from the duke himself. It wasn't the best arrangement, but the villagers accepted their duties readily. The sowing of seeds would still be done, but now there would always be militias consisting of the women of the village patrolling day and night.

To make my journey easier, I had mother write a letter of introduction for my journey to the city of Renus. I also took some of the money I had in my stash for travel expenses as well as a secret weapon I made the moment my steel foundry was completed. I planned to travel quietly to meet the duke and hopefully arrive home before anything bad happened.

The letter of introduction would help greatly. Of course, the duke himself knows who I am, I am his granddaughter after all. But his guards probably won't recognize me, as the last time I visited the duke was two years ago, during the Aging Ceremony. That was about the time when father and the duke discussed marriage between me and that jerk.

I also couldn't just take the family carriage. For all I know, there could be a trap somewhere along the road. If I travelled as the Lady Felicia, there was a good chance I would be beset by bandits. No, I had to travel incognito. I needed to make myself look like a peasant or a free lady. That would be the best course of action while still allowing me to reach Renus in the same time it would take if I travelled as Lady Felicia.

A one-way trip to Renus would take three days after all. A round trip would probably take seven days. Many things could happen in seven days. If anything happened to mother or the barony while I was away, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

I did promise father that I would take care of mother after all.

"Serin, Lili, take care of mother. I'll be back within a week," I said as I wrapped my body in a leather cloak instead of the velvet ones that nobility often used.

"But we are your servants, how can we let you go on your own?" Lili argued.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Stop calling yourself my servant. We're friends, aren't we? Besides, you know what my mother's like," I said while holding both of Lili's shoulders.

"How cruel, are you calling your own mother weak, stupid and incompetent?" mother sobbed at the dining table.

Aren't you the only one saying that, mother?

Lili gave mother a pitying gaze before she said, "I understand. I'll stay with the baroness, but at least take Serin."

"No, Serin has never been outside the barony, and she's not used to camping outside. It would be best if I go alone."

"Then you won't mind if we tag along, will you, my lady?" said a voice at the door.

"Ah, you guys. Shouldn't you be at the farm?"

"We heard what happened and we wish to offer our help in any way, my lady," Lemy said as he, Somme and Gani knelt on the floor. "Please take us along, my lady. We swear to protect you and serve you in every way we can."

"But even so, what can you all do? Even you, Lemy, you are only 11, what can you do if we are ambushed by bandits? It would be best to avoid battles altogether."

"My lady, if you go alone and you are ambushed anyway, where would we, your servants be able to hide our faces, my lady?"

"Geez, you and Lili are just the same! I've told you many times, you're not my servants, we're friends!"

"Then will a friend watch friends go into danger alone, my lady?"

"Ahhh!!! Fine, you can come, just be quiet. No, Lili. You and Serin will stay here. But we only have two horses left, and I don't want to share my horse."

"You can take a farmer's wagon, can't you? It would look pretty suspicious anyhow for little kids like you to ride for three days without adults' supervision," mother said, suddenly sounding very wise.

My mouth made the shape of an 'O' as the realization sank in. Of course, mother was right. Even though children could enter the workforce far earlier than in the modern world, they would still be considered 'children' and would not be allowed to travel far without adults. For a young girl and three young boys to be riding all the way to Renus on our own, it would definitely look suspicious even if we all wore cheap peasant clothing.

"But we still don't have any adults!"

"Fariha can be the adult," mother said as she gestured towards one of our maids, who stood silently behind mother. The 21 year old Fariha then bowed towards me as if acknowledging the order.

"Okay that will work. All three of you go home and bring whatever you may need, but we will travel light. Fariha, please prepare the food and supplies for the journey and change your clothes to something more normal. In the meantime, Lili and Serin, find me a wagon that looks worn but still in good shape."

"Yes, my lady," everyone said at the same time.

******

"Ahh, this is the life, isn't it, my lady? The open roads, the refreshing nature and the sound of crickets as you sleep, it makes life worth living for."

"Stop talking nonsense, Lemy. You acting like an adult disgusts me."

Lemy looked like he got hit by two arrows on his chest as he received my words. He then sat quietly at a corner of the camp with his knees up and his head between his knees. He kept repeating the words, "nonsense" and "disgust" with a sob.

As for me, I couldn't care less. It was fine if he wanted to grow up. But such horrible playacting was embarrassing, annoying even. There was no need for him to go out of his way to sound like an adult. His everyday actions were already adult-like. I wouldn't trust the management of my farm to anyone other than him. So he should be more confident with himself and stop trying to be someone he was not.

We camped alongside the main road to Renus on the first night of our journey. We had made good progress and there was no sign of bandits, so we were confident that we could make it to Renus in two or three days. The wagon and horses were in good condition, so we had no worries there.

I was cleaning my weapons in front of the fire when Fariha approached me.

"My lady, it's my turn to keep watch," Fariha said with a bow.

"Oh, is it time already? Did you even get any sleep?"

"I've taken a nap, my lady. It's not a problem."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, please have a rest, my lady. We'll have to move first thing in the morning."

"Alright, wake me up at dawn," I said as I laid down on the same cloth Fariha just vacated. Closing my eyes just as I heard Somme and Gani replace Lemy, my mind drifted off into dreamland.

******

"We are entering the Barony of Halston, my lady. Should we enter the town or go around it?" Fariha asked while urging the horses faster.

"How far will going around it set us back?"

"If memory serves, if we arrive at the intersection at noon, we will be spending the whole day and night on the road. We will only be able to enter Renus the day after. If we enter the town, we can reach Renus by tomorrow afternoon."

"Then the choice is obvious. We don't have the time."

"Understood. If we push the horses a little more, we should arrive at Halston before dusk. My relatives run an inn at Lapis Square. We'll be safe there."

True to her word, we did arrive at Lapis Square in the eastern part of Halston just before the last light. Fariha's cousin was fast with his work. The horses were quickly freed from their burden and the cart shoved into an empty space next to the stables. As Fariha seemed to be the most experienced, all of us followed behind her as she asked for a room at the desk.

"Welcome to the Laughing Fox. Are you looking for a room?" the receptionist greeted with a bewitching smile. She was a young girl probably around 11 or 12.

"A room for two, feed for the horses, dinner for five and a warm bath, please," Fariha answered.

"Right away! That will be 3 big copper, please. Or if you wish to pay with wheat grain, it's 15 cups," she said with a wink.

"Will silver work?" I asked as I placed a single silver coin onto the desk.

The receptionist raised an eyebrow at the single silver coin on the desk. I was wearing a cloak that covered my body and part of my face, so she couldn’t see my face very well. She looked at me curiously as she quickly placed a single palm onto the silver on the desk, effectively hiding it under her hand. Then with a smile, she said, "Of course! Let me find you some change. Please wait a moment."

As the receptionist entered a room behind the desk, I looked at Fariha and asked, "Did I just make a blunder? Should we start running?"

"Too late to start running. Don't worry, she's my cousin. She won't betray us," Fariha assured.

"Oh, so you DO know she's your cousin? Years you disappear without news, didn't even come back for your own little sister's 14th Aging Ceremony. Suddenly you return with a bunch of people who look as suspicious as that old witch by the creek," said a voice from behind.

The person speaking it was a striking woman in a barmaid uniform. She looked to be an adult, but it was hard to tell her age for sure. Her voice and the slight wrinkles on her face suggested that she might've been at an advanced age, but her body still looked like a young woman. She was also quite beautiful and enticing in an adult kind of way.

"Good evening, aunt. How have you been?" Fariha spoke in a respectful tone.

"Busy! You have absolutely no idea how hard it was to find someone to replace you when you ran away."

"And how is Faruna?"

"Ignoring me, it seems. Faruna's fine. She married the son of the carpenter at Lyre Street."

"I see, is she happy?"

"Your sister's fine," the woman said just as the receptionist girl came back with the key to our room and the change.

I quickly put the 12 big copper into my pouch under the cloak while Fariha grabbed the key.

"Mama, please don't scold big sister. I'm sure big sister had her own reasons, right big sis?" the receptionist made a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Fariha looked away uncomfortably.

"Well, go take a seat. Tonight's menu is barley bread with rabbit strips and spinach soup. I'll get papa to warm up this morning's baked beans for you and your friends."

"Ah, aunt. Please don't trouble your-"

"You still like baked beans, don't you?" the woman asked with a piercing look.

"Yes..." Fariha said with her eyes to the floor.

"Good, papa cooked too much this morning. Don't forget to say hello to papa."

Later after dinner...

"Why exactly are you boys following us?" I asked, turning back to the Lemy and the others.

"Err, my lady, we were wondering where we'd be sleeping."

"Isn't that obvious?"

The boys shook their heads.

"The stables, of course."

The boys made a look of shock.

"Have you ever seen peasants pay for two rooms when they stay at an inn?"

The boys looked uncertain. To tell the truth, I've never actually looked at peasants on the rare chances I was able to travel. For all I knew, peasants could possibly rent two rooms, but I wasn’t going to tell them that. An inn's rooms are pretty pricy after all.

Unable to argue with me, the boys dejectedly left for the stables.

"Actually the inn has a boarding room for low budget travellers. They'll have to share the room with other people and there's no bed, only straw mattress. But they'll get to sleep inside and they'll only be charged for the mattress they're sleeping in."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"Because you looked like you were having so much fun, my lady."

"I did not!"

"But you did! So should I ask for three mattresses, my lady?”

I pondered, considered and decided.

"Nah, just let them experience sleeping in a stable."

"I'm pretty sure they've had plenty of experience sleeping in a barn, my lady."

"But not a stable," I said with a giggle before she added a giggle of her own.

"So do you want to talk about it?" I asked while having a bath. Fariha was behind me, washing my arms and the back of my neck

"Talk about what, my lady?"

"You know what. I'm talking about you, this inn and that woman you called aunt."

"10 years ago, when the war with Surfes was at its fiercest point, my little sister and I lost our father during the campaign to retake the River Country. Our mother died of pneumonia the following winter. We had no way to support ourselves, so we went to the only relative we knew. Aunt was father's little sister, but to tell the truth, we had never met her and we didn't know what to expect. Thankfully she sympathized with us and took us in."

She paused as she washed my back.

"But?"

"There was always something off about it. As if I was living a life that wasn't meant to be mine. Then one day, I came across a handsome nobleman who swept me off my feet. He told me he'd like me to serve him personally both in public and in bed. I accepted the job. I've served him ever since."

I turned around, my face making taking on the shape of '0', "Wait, you're talking about father? You have an affair with father?"

"I wonder if it's too early for you to know this, my lady." She sighed with her palms on her cheeks.

"Does mother know?"

"She does. She told me, "Fufufu, I'll allow it, but don't expect any child you give birth to will get equal treatment." The baroness is so kind."

"Mother said that? She knowingly let father have a mistress?"

"I was told it's quite common, my lady. But you should already know the baroness's habits."

"Yes, she's like a child in an adult's body, always playing around," I agreed as I got up and allowed Fariha to wipe me dry. "So I'm guessing you have no problem with your relatives now?"

"None, my lady. It turns out they were never angry with me."

"Then can you ask them if they know anyone who rent carriages? We can't go see the duke in a farmer's wagon. The guards will never believe us even with mother's letter. Besides, we need to hurry. Being entangled in bureaucracy won't do us any good. I wonder if the fine dress I left in the wagon still fits me."

"I'll ask them to arrange it, my lady. But it will have to be in the early morning, there's a curfew in place right now."

"Alright, I'll leave it to you."

"Good night, my lady."

******

"Felicia Belphere Metrune thanks the duke for granting my humble self audience at such a short notice," I said as I made a curtsey with head bowed.

"Raise your head, Lady Felicia and come join me for tea."

I did as told, sitting on the chair opposite the duke. A maid arrived shortly tea and cookies with her. After placing the tea and cookies onto the table, she made a bow before leaving without a word.

"I must admit I was surprised to hear that you asked for an audience just two weeks after I sent your father and brother off to war. So to what do I owe this pleasure, granddaughter?"

"Didn't mother explain it in the letter?"

A pause as we made way for the wind to blow.

"You mean this letter?" Grandfather tapped on two pieces of paper on the table.

"I think so."

"Read it yourself. Sometimes I wonder if she really is my daughter," grandfather said as he did a facepalm with his right hand.

"Please excuse me," I said as I took the letter.

This letter is to certify that the lady carrying this letter is Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune, daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune and Baroness Latreia Tullenaris Melstad of the Barony of Mruna as well as the granddaughter of Duke Reginald Aubray Melstad of the Duchy of Renus...

"Oh, this is the letter of introduction. Should be this other one instead."

Dear father,
 

I'm not in the mood to write. Ask my girl what happened.
 

Latreia

Without realizing it I also made a facepalm, with both hands. With both letters in my hands, I lamented my fate of having such a carefree mother. It was no wonder that grandfather was depressed. In that brief moment of time, grandfather and I truly understood each other.

******

"I see, so this scoundrel tried to grab your family's valuables using my name?"

I nodded.

"And your mother did nothing?"

"Not exactly, she was... well."

"Let me guess, she was crying?"

"Yes... how did you know?"

"She did the same thing when she was younger. Let's just say that your valuables would likely be safe even if they were taken."

"I don't follow..."

"She was playing. She likely already arranged for someone to steal the valuables back. It's likely one of your maids, Suin, that was tasked to do that. That maid had a reputation before she became your maid."

"Oh! I never knew, Suin has always been nice, and the meals she cooked have always been excellent."

"Meals, heh, right, of course. If you had known her past, you probably wouldn't want to eat her cooking ever again. But let's put that aside. First of all, it's true that your father owed me money."

So it was true after all?

"Now, don't look like that. It's not the kind of debt that scoundrel made it out to be. Your father simply owed me some back taxes. Two years of back taxes to be exact. Your barony hasn't been doing well financially."

"We'll pay, don't worry, after the war is over, we'll pay everything."

"War over, you say? Certainly you are still a child. I am sorry that my daughter is so irresponsible that you have to shoulder her burden."

"What... do you mean?"

"This war will not end with the coming of winter. This war will last for generations. Many of us will grow old by the time the war ends. Some, like me, will probably die of old age before truce is signed. Even you will likely see your sons off to fight the same war your father fought."

"But won't they all come home as winter comes?"

"Yes, but only because no army can fight both the enemy and the cold at the same time. If any army can do that, then they will likely own the battlefield. Unfortunately such a thing is impossible. No army will march against the snow so they can be frozen to death in enemy lands."

"So the war will pause at the start of winter and start again in summer next year?"

"Correct, and every year the same cycle will start again. Until either side loses or both sides run out of men to fight their wars. That was what happened before you were born."

I couldn’t believe it. I expected it to an extent, this was of course a medieval-like world. So I wasn't surprised that we have wars. What I wasn't expecting was that the same war would be waged in summer every year. Would we have to keep watching our men go to war every year? Would we have to live in constant worry that our men would never come home?

"You look worried, granddaughter. I understand how you feel, I felt the same way every time I sent men to their deaths. Rest assured that even if all your family's men fall in battle, I will not take the barony away from you."

"Oh my, how comforting are your words, grandfather."

He laughed loudly, smacking the table as he did. I quickly held up my cup of tea to avoid it from spilling onto my expensive fine dress. That made him laugh even harder.

When he recovered, he said, "You should come often, granddaughter. My other grandchildren are such bores. Putting that aside, your must be tired. I'll have the maids prepare-"

"Please, grandfather, there is no need for that. We are in a hurry. If you will write a letter denouncing the scoundrel and giving me power to execute the troublemakers, I'll be out of your way immediately."

"Execute?" he looked shocked, "Are you really 9 years old?"

"10 right now, grandfather."

"My point exactly! That is too young to decide on executions."

"We need a strong and firm message, grandfather. Otherwise, this thing will happen again."

"Still, you're just a... alright, I'll write the letter. Please wait here. Call the maid if you need anything."

About an hour and a short nap after, grandfather returned with a piece of paper in his hand. He handed it to me and told me to read it first.

By the authority of Duke Reginald Aubray Melstad,
 

Baroness Latreia Tullenaris Melstad and Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune shall have the full authority of the governing lord, which includes raising an army, performing trials on criminals, signing treaties that do not infringe upon the rights of the crown and the duke and giving mortal judgement in the absence of the governing lord Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune.
 

This document is lawful and applicable for as long as the War of Surfesian Agression that started on the summer of Year 241 of Succession has not reached its conclusion.
 

Signed and stamped,
Duke Reginald Aubray Melstad

"This 'mortal judgement', is it referring to death sentence?"

"Correct, though it can also mean 'life imprisonment'. It's open to your own interpretation, really."

"Thank you for this, grandfather. Having my name there can be useful," I thought as I imagined all kinds of ways I could abuse this authority.

What good is power if it can't be abused?

"Umm, my dear granddaughter, you're making a very unpleasant face right now."

******

"Please thank your aunt for finding us the carriage, Fariha. It would've been a lot of hassle if we had gone to Renus with the farm wagon."

"They don't mind it, my lady. They did get paid for it after all."

"Right, shall we go have breakfast, then?" I said as I led the way to the restaurant side of The Laughing Fox.

We had arrived at Halston yesterday night, right after curfew after spending half a day in Renus. Grandfather had offered us lodging in the castle for the night. I refused politely as we needed to return home as quickly as possible. Grandfather relented but he asked me to come again for a longer visit next time.

I did feel a slight tinge of regret. The duke's castle at Renus was a beautiful castle by any standard. Instead of a castle, it should be called a palace, because there was absolutely no chance for it to withstand enemy assault. It was simply not built as a fortification. Perhaps the original builder thought there was no need to build a fortified castle as the city of Renus was protected by two layers of huge limestone walls. Comparing it with my family's mansion was like comparing heaven and earth. As I looked back at the majestic castle behind me, I swore that I would build a castle too.

That would be prohibitively expensive, though.

I took a seat at the table already taken by Lemy and the others. While waiting for breakfast to arrive, I sipped on a cup of coffee gently. Fariha wasn't around for breakfast, she told me she'd be in the stables getting the wagon ready for travel. I asked her if she needed the boys' help, but she told me no, since she was only going to check its condition as well as transfer some stuff from the carriage. Apparently, she planned on having her breakfast during travel.

What a dutiful maid.

And as for the boys, I paid for them to sleep in the inn's common boarding room this time. As the tension had passed, I didn't think there was anymore need to be so careful. Since this was probably the last time they would be here, I decided to splurge a little like any good employer.

Thank me you ungrateful wretches!

Today's breakfast is some kind of stringy roasted meat with carrots and mushroom soup, yum. I'm saying that with full-on sarcasm. Whoever the cook was, he or she didn't seem to know how to soften meat for roasting or maybe the cook simply didn't know how to roast meat in the first place.

I would have liked to have a choice. But it seems like the inns of this world don’t offer such convenience - you eat what they cook. I swear, if Mruna ever becomes an important trade port, I'll build a fast food joint. 'Felicious' will be a good name, I think. Wait, maybe that's not a good name, it will give the wrong impression that I'm delicious or something.

Uaaah! Imagining men licking and biting my body now! Ewww!

Fariha returned shortly after my breakfast arrived, carrying with her my leather travel cloak. Curiously, she was already in her travel gear with the hood of her cheap travel cloak covering her face. She put the leather cloak on me, making sure that the hood properly covered my head before she whispered, "We need to go, my lady, right now."

"What's the hurry? I haven't even finished my breakfast yet."

Sure, the roast meat wasn't at all good, but it was food. While I wasted food, some villagers in the town could be starving to death.

"The enemy is here!"

Hearing that, I abruptly stood up, accidentally knocking over the cup of herbal tea, spilling its contents on the table. The boys followed suit, though I noticed both Somme and Gani had the time to grab the roast meat from their plates and hide it inside their bags. I quickly crossed the distance to the front door as I told them to hurry.

"No my lady, not that way!"

Shortly after Fariha said that, I collided with someone at the door, causing me to fall back on the floor. With my hood falling back from my head, I could clearly see the person blocking the door. Of course, he could also see me. It was the thug whose hand was stabbed by Serin's staff.

"Watch where you're going, brat. Unless you want to...IT'S HER!" he yelled as he pulled out his sword with his uninjured left hand. I noticed that his right hand was bandaged and he seemed to take special care to avoid moving it. He raised his sword as if he wanted to cleave me in two.

But before he could do that a slab of meat flew to his face and knocked him out cold.

I could hear Fariha mutter, "Ah, it must be Yoru's turn to make breakfast."

My relief was short-lived,though. Before I could catch my breath, three more thugs appeared and advanced with swords drawn. Fariha quickly pulled me by my cloak with an apology and led us out through the back door. She told me to run to the stables to get the wagon out while she held them off. I didn't waste time arguing with her, Fariha would know how to take care of herself. So along with Lemy, Somme and Gani, we quickly made our way to the stables. Fariha arrived just as we managed to take the wagon out of the stables.

"My lady, we should take their horses too so they can't give chase!" she said as she pointed at three horses and told the boys to take one each.

It took them several tries to get the horses to obey. I was plenty worried that the thugs would appear at any time. Fariha seemed to understand my worry, so she had us leave first and told the boys to catch up to us quickly. They agreed and shortly after, Fariha and I left the town of Halston behind in our open-topped farmer's wagon. The boys caught up to us way later, almost at noon. We breathed a sigh of relief at seeing them and allowed the horses to proceed at a trot. It wouldn't be good if the horses go tired or twisted their ankles when we needed them.

That night, we made camp a little further into the woods for fear of being discovered by the thugs. We also had to forgo making a campfire, as the light could be seen from the road. Thankfully, we had blankets prepared, though we had to share them. Needless to say, none of us slept all that well, that night.

I'm sure some of you are telling me to just ride through the night, but you need to remember, this isn't the modern world. There are no streetlights, no headlights and no electricity. The only type of light would be ones that come from fire. If there were any ambushes on the road, we wouldn’t be able to see them before we were right where they wanted us to be.

We broke camp at first light. With yesterday's episode still fresh in our minds, we prepared only the lightest of breakfast. It was only some pieces of dried meat, some bread and a bottle of clear water from the nearby stream to be consumed while on the road.

A decision was made to send Lemy and Gani riding ahead to uncover any traps or barricades in our way. They were to return if they discovered anything such so that we could try to find another way home. With a bow, they quickly galloped forth, leaving Somme as our sole protector. Somme was also riding one of the horses we stole from the thugs. Only Fariha and I sat on the wagon.

Seeing as they had not returned, we picked up speed and tried to cross into Mruna as quickly as we could. The tension was thick as Fariha pushed the horses fast while I kept my hand on my precious secret weapon, that I finally managed to complete after many failures. Somme was riding by our side, trying to match our speed with his beginner-level riding skill.

Everything was fine, until we arrived at the narrow road about two miles from the border of Mruna. Logs of wood on wheels, covered in sharp spikes were suddenly pushed in front of us from the bushes on both sides of the road. Seeing this, our horses abruptly stopped in front of this blockade and within moments, another wheeled log of spiked wood was pushed in place behind us, trapping us on that tiny section of road. My mind suddenly wondered if Lemy and Gani had been captured, or worse, betrayed us.

No! No, they would not betray us. They can't possibly betray us. We're friends!

"There you are, you little bitch! It took us the whole night to prepare this. When we saw your friends riding ahead, we knew you were about to arrive."

It was the same man that Serin stabbed in the hand, but...

"We left you at the inn!"

"Of course you did, and stole our horses too. But you didn't steal my horse. I thought this would be a failure, we couldn't catch you when you left, but to think that we can catch you when you arrive, fortunate turn of events. For us."

More men appeared from the bushes with swords in their hands. I counted twelve men that just appeared, not including 'stabbed hand'. They were circling us, waiting for a chance to pounce. Somme and Fariha had already wielded their weapons; Somme wielding a poor quality sword that he bought from the blacksmith and Fariha wielding an 8-feet long spear.

"What are you all waiting for? We're not paid to capture them. Kill them!" Stabbed Hand commanded and the bandits roared as they rushed towards us.

So I pulled the hammer of my musket and pulled the trigger.

BOOM! Two of them fell. It seemed like at such a short distance, the gunpowder had enough power to send a bullet through an unarmoured man and punch through to the unarmoured man behind him.

Ahh, this recoil is too much! It's hurting my wrist.

Everything became quiet for a while, as the smoke, thick as it was, settled. They looked at the two men on the ground who died instantly with the sound of an explosion. Their faces pale, not able to grasp what just happened.

"All of you, throw down your weapons and surrender or should my boomstick kill more of you?" I ordered as I pointed the barrel of my musket towards a concentration of bandits.

Spooked by that action, the bandits I aimed the barrel of the musket at immediately threw their swords to the ground and raised their arms in surrender. To be fair, though, it wasn't actually a musket. It was actually more like a two-barrelled deer rifle that got shortened to one foot in length, the buttstock replaced with a shorter buttstock that looked more like a pistol's handgrip. In other words, it was a two-barrelled pistol, with one barrel on top of the other instead of side-by-side. The only reason I called it a musket was because it looked like a musket or a flintlock pistol.

Let's just call it a pistol from now on.

"Pick that up! Pick up your weapons!" Stabbed Hand yelled, before he grabbed the two closest bandits to him and pushed them both forward, "Kill the bitch now!"

So I pulled the hammer for the other barrel, took aim at Stabbed Hand and pressed the trigger. BOOM! The muzzle of the pistol released more thick smoke. The bullet travelled the air, punching through the two bandits that Stabbed Hand threw in front of him until the fragments pierced through and hit Stabbed Hand's body in multiple places like a scattershot bullet. Unfortunately, the penetrative power was greatly reduced and the fragments didn't have enough mass to cause serious damage. However, it was enough to wound Stabbed Hand and push him to the ground.

"Put down your arms! If I have to ask you to surrender again, I might as well just kill all of you on the spot." I said with false bravado. After all, my pistol only had two barrels. I just shot two bullets. I couldn't just tell them to wait while I remove the casings of both bullets and insert new ones.

In other words, I was out of ammo.

That still didn't stop me from waving the barrel of the pistol around, though. Even though it was empty, just holding it allowed me to keep them feeling afraid. Early firearms are, in actuality, no different in killing potential compared to a bow or crossbow, especially considering the reload time of early firearms. What put firearms heads and shoulders above the bow and crossbow, was the intimidation and psychological effects it put on the enemy.

Everyone would pause if they have a bow or crossbow aimed at them. Replace the bow or crossbow with a piece of metal pipe that spouts fire, thick smoke and loud bang and everyone would stop in their tracks. To a society that had never seen anything like it, the psychological effect brought by fear would most definitely be double or triple that of people who saw it on a regular basis. Add to the fact that the weapon killed four people and wounded another in just two shots, the fear was total. It would've been like watching trebuchet balls falling feet from where you were standing.

Out of the 14 remaining bandits though (8 of them pushed the logs to block the road, 12 more appeared after, 4 of them killed by my pistol, one wounded, some of them killed by Fariha), two of the bandits refused to lay down their arms, despite having my gun aimed at them. This was very unsettling. If this went on a while longer, I would have to make an example of them. Unfortunately, the gun was empty, so I wouldn't be able to make an example of them anyway.

Just as I was sweating about what to do, Lemy and Gani returned with a group of spearmen at their tails. They were actually women, though. Lemy and Gani had apparently ridden through the road without encountering any opposition or blockades. So they went ahead up into Mruna. At the border, they came across the border guards and asked them to go and provide escort for us. Then they went into Mruna and informed mother about us before riding back to meet up with us.

"Wait, border guards? Since when did we have border guards?" I asked Lemy while the border guards tied up the bandits, including the two bandits that refused to lay down their arms earlier.

"Apparently the baroness had them organized while we were away," Lemy answered.

"And where did they get the spears? Father took them all with the army."

"It seems like the baroness had them prepared during the days that we were gone. They had only started their duties this morning."

I guess we're lucky, then. Had mother decided to start their duties a day later, we would likely have been killed. So my lazy mother can actually show some initiative.

So with the bandits tied and walking behind us, we marched into Mruna.

******

"This trial is to judge the crimes of the bandits. Let them in!" the wife of the village chief spoke.

Mother and I were sitting at the judges' seat, basically a long bench with a table in front. On our right, was the gallows, which to my knowledge, had never been used. One our left and front were the audience, villagers who wanted to see the trial. The bandits were brought in as a group, all 18 of the surviving ones including Stabbed Hand and The Scoundrel, into the clearing in front of the gallows. Cries of anger and insults abounded as apparently these men had done as they wished in the village while we were away, prompting mother to organize the women's militia patrols.

Accusations against them were read one by one, witnesses and victims were called. Most of them committed only minor offenses, offenses that would've been normal in a tavern or a bar. However, four of them made terrible crimes that made me explosively angry.

The Scoundrel tried to take our jewellery and finery , as well as my gun prototypes from my lab, and stabbed one of my farmhands when he got in the way. Stabbed Hand raped a woman and killed her only son when he interfered. The other two not only raped the village girls, they even attempted to rape both Lili and Serin, and would've succeeded if Lili's mother Suin hadn't fought them off.

"The gallows! All four of you! I want your necks dangling on a string!" my judgement was met with cheers by the villagers.

"Felicia, why don't you sit down and let me handle this?" mother said.

"No! Your crimes are unforgivable. Your punishment is death!" I cried with more cheers from the villagers.

Beside me, mother sighed and stood herself. "With the authority granted by the Duke of Renus to both myself and my daughter, all four of you are sentenced to death by hanging. Sentence will be carried out immediately."

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, my anger, that felt like it would explode violently, started to ebb away. Looking at the four criminals being pushed to the gallows made me feel good that justice had been met. I wasn't ready to watch them dangle, though. Killing people when they were charging at me was OK, my life was on the line after all. But watching people being executed while I sat a small distance away would give me nightmares. So I quietly left.

Or tried to leave, when mother caught the collar of my dress.

"Where are you going to, dear daughter?"

"Ah? I'm just going back to my farm."

"What's the rush? Stay and enjoy watching them dance to their deaths."

"Mother, how do you expect me to watch people die? I'm a little girl, it will give me nightmares."

"Yet, you didn't mind passing judgement just now. Are you still calling yourself a little girl?"

"Mother?"

"Sit and watch."

"Mother, please, let me go. I don't want to watch," I pleaded as I tried to pull free from mother's grip.

Mother made no sign of letting go or loosening her hold on my clothes.

"No, you will watch, my girl. This may be the only thing I will ever teach you in all seriousness, but listen well and carve it into your head. Everything has a consequence. Once you execute someone, they die, and someone will grieve for them."

Mother pulled me to her, face to face, she told me, "As a fair ruler, you must also grieve for them by watching their final moments until the end. Only when you watch and feel nothing about it, have you crossed the line. Once that happens, you are just another monster. Kindly protect the world by removing yourself from it or you may soon find your life cut short by those you care for the most. Remember this well, my lovely daughter. Watch and grieve, for that is the last respect you can give them for their struggles in this world."

"No, mother. I can't," I pleaded as my vision blurred.

"Yes, you can. You are destined for great things, I can tell. Inevitably, you will have to do this again. When that happens, remember my words. Grieve, but do not despair. Reflect upon it, but do not regret. Let their ghosts rest in peace knowing that their deaths make the world a better place. Now wipe your tears, my daughter, it has ended."

In front of us, the four scoundrels swayed in the strong wind that signified the coming of autumn. It was supposed to be a little hot, but it felt cold instead. It felt like I was doused in cold water. I wasn't wet, but I was shivering, and the tears in my eyes flowed anew.

Father, please come back soon.

 

*Thank you for reading. As usual, your comments are greatly appreciated.
**Many thanks to Eric for editing, proofreading and informing me of problematic sentences.
***Still not motivated enough to continue Escape! Plus too many jobs now.
****To the muslims, Happy Ramadhan.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Felicia Belphere Metrune. I am the only daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune. I am 11 years old. I haven't always been Baron Metrune's daughter though. I was originally a 29 year old man who lived in Cornwall. One day I got hit by a truck and you've probably guessed it, I was reincarnated into what seems to be medieval Europe. Me? A hero? A quest to save father? Mother, are you still asleep?! Felicia's Second Life Chapter 4 A tale of love (?) and change (lol) in a medieval era. By Shinieris

Hi everyone, it's your favourite reincarnated Lady Felicia again. How are you all doing?

It has been a year since we last seen each other. I'm 11 years old now and doing my best to survive and prosper in my second life. Many things have changed and there are now serious improvements in Mruna.

The farm is producing more and more stuff each year. Now I have ten strips of 1 mile-long fields producing wheat, barley, sugar beets, soybeans, potatoes, kidney beans, clover, turnips and rubber bush. Yeap, rubber bush, not rubber tree, those things are tropical plants won't grow in this climate even if they exist in this world. The only problem is making rubber from the rubber bush is a very involved process and it doesn't produce as much rubber as a rubber tree.

Aside from the farm the other businesses are doing well too. The paper factory is thriving, producing not only rolls of normal paper, but also rolls of waxed paper and tissue paper. That's right, tissue paper! Finally no more rubbing my cute butt on straws and grass. Soft and smooth toilet paper is here at last!

The steel foundry is functioning as well as it should and producing tonnes of steel a month. Maybe some of you recall how I was having problem trying to recall the designs of an open hearth furnace. After drawing and throwing away countless designs, I said, "Screw this! I'm gonna do it my way!" And so I designed a kind of closed-system furnace which made use of heat-resistant bricks and small clay cups filled with pig iron, charcoal and broken pieces of glass. The result is a cup full of high quality steel, even superior than what I would've gotten from some obsolete Bessemer process at less than half of the air pollution it would've produced. Of course, I didn't actually 'invent' this process, I got it from watching youtube about 12 years ago.

Each cup of high quality steel would have enough steel to produce three spearheads or ten arrowheads (probably 12 arrowheads if I produce only bodkin heads). I produce ten cups a day, so that makes it possible for me to produce thirty spearheads a day or one hundred arrowheads a day. I can double production easily, but why would I want to do that? There's only an old lady by the name of Sarusa and I working here. The whole factory is 95% automated. If you walk past my steel factory, you would be able to hear rythmic beating of steel hammer on steel anvil, but if you enter, you will not see a single soul doing the work. Everything is mechanized. Even the old lady's job is just to take out the smelted steel, clean it of waste slag and put it on the anvil. The rest of the time she was just the factory guard stopping people from entering. The automated steel factory is a very dangerous place for little kids to play at.

The sons of the village blacksmith, young men of 16 and 15 years old called Olav and Marov also became my apprentices recently. It seemed like the steel samples I sent to the blacksmith was very hard to work with and so blacksmith asked me to teach his sons how to turn it into something useful. Apparently the old blacksmith was open minded enough to see potential in this new stuff, but found that the extra hard work a deterrence to good results. I've seen his work, he could work it well, but he was afraid that there was more to the new metal than what he had been doing. So he pleaded with me on his knees to teach his sons the techniques to forge steel tools. Of course, I accepted. One can never have enough slaves. They are both at the front lines at this time of year, though.

You're wondering about my friends? They're all doing fine. I kind of miss having them around, to tell the truth.

Lemy is 12 now and fully in charge of my farm, only asking my opinion on what to plant. This year, we're focusing on cash crops, such as sugar beets, soybeans, potatoes and flax. Of course, we still produce a lot of food crops and still make a tidy profit from those.

Lili is spending less time with me nowadays. She's currently learning herbalism and poison from her mother, our maid Suin. Apparently, Suin was something of a bandit or assassin in the past, before she met mother. Once I found out about that, I began to have a certain fear of the food she made. Seeing how mother eagerly finished it all every day though, I felt silly about doubting her. After all, if Suin had wanted to kill us, she had years to do so.

10 year old Gani is currently the overseer for the building of our latest ship, a large ocean-going fishing vessel, which is nearing completion. Previously, he had assisted in the building of the fishing cogs, 50 foot-long single-masted ships that could also be used for trading purposes. I had them build 6 of these before they started work on the large 165 foot (50 metre) long and 40 foot (12 metre) wide ship for use in ocean fishing. Imagining myself feasting on tuna is making my mouth drool. So far, only two of the cogs are in use to provide training for non-fishermen before they're given their own ships.

Well, not given exactly, more like leased. These things are expensive to build in the first place. It's possible that I will also sell some of the cogs to merchants if they wish to buy it. From what I've seen, these cogs have larger storage area, sturdier and sail faster than the barges and canoes these merchants are using.

Ah, it may be a bit late to say this, but we have a shipyard and a working port with four docks for large ships now. Though the same docks can also be used by several smaller ships and boats. I may build a drydock some time in the future, but it's too early for that right now.

Somme is here as my personal escort. He still practices swords with me and his younger brother Gonne as much as he can. Apparently he regretted his lack of contribution last year when we were ambushed two miles from the border and took it upon himself to practice in case such event comes to pass again. Somme may not have much in the brains department, but his devotion and loyalty is commendable. No, I'm not insulting him, just saying it the way I see it.

Gonne on the other hand, is all brains and no muscle. He's still learning maths, linguistics and bookkeeping from me. He's also learning cooking, because I'm planning on making him manage my fast food chain restaurant. You know, the one I mentioned last year, Felicious, if Mruna ever become a popular port city. Imagine french fries, fried chicken, hamburger, pizza and hot dog all within just a few gallops of a horse. Droool!

Serin also spends less time with me nowadays. She's currently learning medicine from the village medicus and midwife at my request. Living in the middle ages is dangerous after all, so I'm going to carry with me a portable doctor. I'll 'invent' dissolving sutures and other surgery equipments once she's ready for it. I've already ordered some silver surgical knives and forceps from the blacksmith before he left with the army. No, it's pure silver, not silver plated alloy. I have forgotten how to do electroplating from my high school days.

Thankfully, the medicus here already knows about hygiene, even if they don't really understand why. I have to thank a medicus by the name of Marlus who lived until 40 years ago. I was told that he found a correlation between unclean practices and higher death rate in recovering patients but couldn't explain why it was so. Since it worked, people just did as he told them to.

I have also started work on a small scale canning plant, employing a small pressure cooker to pasteurize the food before being sealed shut by water-powered mechanical pressure and tin solder. It was small scale because I ran out of space on my land. Imagine that, hectares of land and I'm still running out of space. Maybe it's time to use my sparkly eyes to persuade father into giving me more land again. It's good being the only daughter of a noble family.

Oh speaking of that, there's another piece of good news. I'm getting a little brother or sister! No, mother's not pregnant. It's Fariha, our maid and father's mistress. It seems like father finally managed to put a baby in her oven. I can't wait to see my new little brother or sister, even mother looks excited. Because Fariha's close to delivering her baby, she's been excused from work and spends most of her days in the servant's quarters behind our mansion.

As for father and our army, they did fine last year. They participated in minor skirmishes, so most of them managed to come home safely. When they returned home, we had a one week-long celebration where I was 'persuaded' to sponsor the food and foot the bill. I was relieved to have father take over control of the barony again after what happened at the trial, though.

This year, they're also participating in the war. Confidence was high as they marched off to war again. Plus, they now have the new 9 foot-long steel spears instead of the much shorter wrought iron spears they had last year, making them a lot safer from cavalry charges. Plus, they can now have delicious meals consisting of corned beef, mixed vegetables and fish in tomato puree on the field thanks to the completed canning plant. I bet they're now comparing it to the hard tacks and beans diet they consumed last year.

******

It was late evening. After a day of toiling in my lab finishing a second double-barrelled pistol, I went home for the day. I was about to open the front door of our mansion when three men on horseback approached. One of them, who was wearing the uniform of the ducal messenger climbed down from his horse and approached me. He bowed a little with his right fist on his chest and asked if I was Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune, as if he hadn't met me before. He was also the one who delivered this year's war summons.

I told him yes, and he took out a letter from his leather bag, confirmed the name of the receiver and handed it to me with both hands. I received it with both hands too and thanked him for his trouble. I asked if he'd like to step in for a drink, but he told me they were in a hurry.

Once they left, I had a look at the envelope. It was addressed to both mother and I. It was strange, because grandfather never sent us any letters, even casual ones. It was always father who received official letters from the duke. Curious, I tore open the letter as soon as I was in the house.

To The Honourable Baroness Latreia Tullenaris Melstad and Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune,
 

It is with great sadness that I, Duke Reginald Aubray Melstad, hereby inform you that your family members Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune and Sir Yox Leffen Metrune were captured during the battle at Harrow's Passing. We are currently negotiating their release, but the ransom amount requested has been very unreasonable. We will try our best, but we can't be sure of when this problem will be resolved.
 

To expediate the release of the prisoners, I will be introducing an additional temporary tax soon, please stand by for further details.
 

Signed,
Duke Reginald Aubray Melstad

With the letter in hand, I stormed up to the second floor.

"Mother, help!" I yelled after kicking the door open.

My mother rubbed her sleepy eyes. "Unn? With what?"

"Father was captured!"

"Father become captain? Isn't that redundant?"

"Not 'become captain'! He's captured, as in taken, grabbed, imprisoned, by the enemy!"

Her eyes went wide. "What? To think that honorable father has been captured, let's just have your grandfather deal with the ransom." Her eyes started to close again as her body swayed on the bed.

"But grandfather said he doesn't know when he'll be able to ransom them!"

Her eyes opened wide again. "This is bad! Quick, call Sir Mosro and tell him to rescue father!"

"Sir Mosro went with father, remember?"

"Call your brother?"

"Brother was also captured."

"Send the soldiers?"

"Mother, they all went with father!"

"We need a hero!"

"But there is none!"

"Hm, then you be the hero!"

"Ehh?!!!"

"Yes, let's go with that."

"Mother, I'm a little girl!"

"Then who else would we send?"

"Well, you're the adult."

"You want your weak mother to rescue your father from the clutches of the evil enemy?" mother fell to the floor, moaning in despair against the dirty carpet with fake tears in her eyes, "Even my beloved daughter wants to send me to my death."

"So it's completely fine to send me to my death?" I asked drily.

Mother raised a thumbs up with a wink as she said, "It's fine, all their princes like young girls."

"How is THAT fine?!!!"

"Oh don't be such a stick in the mud. Here, take the contents of this chest, this dagger I swiped from my sister's kitchen, and this voucher for some mercenaries that grandfather so kindly gave us."

"Mother... why do I feel like you're strangely prep-"

"It's just in your head. Now go and rescue your father."

I opened the chest. "Mother, there's only 10 gold in this chest!"

"Not enough?"

"Hell no!"

"Tch!"

Mother?

"Go into villagers' homes and look for spare change in pots, under rugs or behind barrels or something then."

"Am I in Dragon Quest?!!!"

"No, I'm not asking you to kill a dragon. They're just a myth anyway."

"But mother!"

"Hero, you ask too many questions."

"Mother, people will complain if I steal their spare change!"

"No problem, you're the hero," mother said before she went back to sleep.

I could only frown.

******

"200 gold?!!!" I cried at the amount requested.

"That's right," my fiance, Feral, confirmed. His name was actually Master Feras Meruin Melstad, but I liked to call him 'Feral', because he was stupid and single minded like a feral dog. A horny feral dog to be more accurate.

"But father and brother are just low ranked nobles, why would they be valued so highly?"

"It's likely because they are the only men of Metrune and the enemy thought that we'd pay any price to avoid the extinction of one of the oldest pure blood families."

"What are you talking about? There's still big brother Terrens to carry the family name." I shivered a little as I mentioned the name of my big brother Terrens who left home at the age of 12 and never returned since then. It has probably been 6 years since I last saw him.

"That's what grandfather told me, and let's be honest here. How many years had it been since Terrens showed his face outside the walls of Forlen?"

"That reminds me, why can't I see grandfather?"

"He's busy meeting up with the other nobles and the city's moneylenders. He's under a lot of pressure right now."

"But I'm his granddaughter!"

"I'm his grandson too, but even I can't see him anytime I want. Your father and brother aren't the only one captured. My father and about thirty other nobles and ranking officers were captured too. That prince messed everything up."

"Prince?"

"Our crown prince. He was given command over the entire army for just one battle. And what did he do? He sent the whole army to rush the enemy lines, without taking into mind that it rained heavily the previous day. He turned an easy win into a crushing defeat in just one battle. We had to give up Harlow's Pass and the 2nd Renus Heavy Cavalry was utterly annihilated and had to be disbanded."

"What's the name of your unit again?"

"5th Light Cavalry."

"Ah, I was hoping it was your unit that got disbanded."

He frowned. "Well, let's not think about that. How about we spend some time in the city? Just you, me, my guards and yours, of-"

"Let me guess, you ran away from the battlefield."

"I DID NOT RUN AWAY! MY UNIT GOT MIRED IN THE MUDDY FIELD!"

"Okay! Chill!"

The next morning, my mood became worse as my repeated requests to meet grandfather was denied. Even at the dinner table, grandfather was deep in thought and only replied to questions in short sentences. The day after that was the same too. It was in the morning of the third day during breakfast that I finally lost my temper.

Throwing the silver fork in my hand on the table, I yelled, "How much longer do I have to wait?! It has been two days and grandfather still hasn't granted me an audience!"

My aunts looked at me disapprovingly while admonishing me for being impatient. They further told me to wait for the men to be done with their work.

"I don't have time for this. There are plenty more things I can do in the time I spent here!"

"Now now, cute Felicia," Feral coaxed, offering me a rose he took from the vase on the dining table, "Won't you spend some time with me in the city? Let's forget everything and let grandpa do his stuff."

I took the flower from Feral's hand, watching his expectant face, then gained a sadistic pleasure watching his face fell when I crushed the flower in my gloved right hand.

"No need," I said as I threw the crushed flower at his chest, "I don't need your dates and apparently I can't count on the duke's help either. Tell grandfather I will settle this myself!"

I got up from my seat amidst the disapproving glances of my aunts and the wives of the other barons and counts. I placed both hands on the handle of the large wooden double door of the dining hall and pulled on it with all my might, as if releasing all my anger on the large, heavy door. A loud crashing sound of the bronze handles hitting stone walls rang behind me. As I was leaving the dining hall, Lili approached me from the shadow of a nearby pillar, the rustling of her dress was the only thing indicating her presence.

"What are your orders, my lady?" she asked as she kept pace behind me..

"Gather everyone. We're leaving." I said as I went to the room I was given and packed up all my stuff, which wasn't much, considering that most of my luggage consisted of only gowns.

Half an hour later, my group was already outside the city walls and travelling home.

******

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" I beat myself on the bed when my anger subsided.

"Is something wrong, my lady?" Lili asked while Serin looked at me in worry.

"Why did I say that? That's so stupid!"

Lili and Serin looked at me helplessly as I banged my head on the wooden wall of the inn repeatedly. We were currently staying in an inn called the Laughing Fox, owned by Fariha's relatives in the Barony of Halston's capital town. Fariha herself was in Mruna, though. It would be too much to ask her to travel with us in the state she was.

Right now, I'm seriously regretting and reflecting on my actions during breakfast. But of course, there's nothing more I can do. What's spoken can't be taken back. Which is why I'm punishing myself now, because now I don't have anyone to turn to.

"Would you like to take a bath, my lady?" Serin suddenly asked.

"Eh? Why are you suddenly suggesting a bath?"

"You said yourself a few years ago that bathing relaxes the body and clears the mind, my lady. Maybe you can find some idea once your mind clears up, my lady."

"... That's not a bad idea. Tell them to deliver hot bath for three."

"Three, my lady?" Lili asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Both of you are taking a bath with me. I want to see naked bodies other than mine, right now!"

Lili's face coloured up real red in seconds at my remark.

Ahhh... bliss!

I closed my eyes as I soak under the warm water of the bath. It was a little tight. After all, I was bathing inside a barrel with the other two with our smooth, naked legs tangling together. It wasn't the kind of barrel you'd use at a bar, though. This barrel was a lot wider and shorter than the normal barrel, as it was meant for bathing. Lili and Serin were both naked with their bottoms under the water as well. I could clearly see how luscious their bodies had become.

"Uuu, you're only 11 but how come you already have boobs?" I asked as I rubbed and squeezed her breasts from the front.

"Hyauu! My lady!" Serin moaned.

"Oh, is it sensitive? Does it hurt? Maybe I should kiss it to make it better," I said as I kissed and licked the nipples.

"Hyaa!!!" Serin screamed before she fainted.

Wow, did I just make Serin orgasm? Can she even orgasm at her age?

"My lady, such acts are unbecoming..." Lili remarked.

So I turned my eyes towards her. With hands raised and a grin on my face, I made a posture of a pouncing cat. "I guess you're next, then. Do make sure you last longer, Lili."

I scooted a little closer to Lili with my hands raised and my fingers wiggling.

Unexpectedly, Lili fidgeted and with her face downward, she said, "Please be gentle with me, my lady."

For some reason, seeing such a shy Lili even made me shy. My face felt hot as I imagined a lewd and tittilating moment with Lili on the bed. Embarrassed, I quickly lowered myself, putting my head under water and counting to 100 in my new tongue.

It took about ten minutes before Serin regained consciousness.

"A hot spring's bathhouse!" I exclaimed while being wiped dry by both Lili and Serin.

"You still want to take a bath, my lady?"

"No no, I'm saying I'm going to build a hot spring's bathhouse."

Lili and Serin looked at each other. "How will that help the baron's situation, my lady?"

"It has nothing to do my father's situation. I just want to build it. Now I remember what I've been missing all this time. I miss having a bath whenever I feel like it."

"I see, but that's not going to help our present predicament, my lady."

"Of course not. I'm just filing it away for future references... Lili, has Suin taught you about interrogation yet?"

"In-te-ro-ge-shun?"

"Questioning prisoners."

"Ah, my mother hasn't taught me about torture yet."

"No, not torture! Does questioning prisoners always include torture in this world?!"

"They're not the same?"

I facepalmed myself. "No wonder I've never found a written word for 'interrogation' in the dictionary. Let's just have dinner with the boys and head home first thing tomorrow. I need to ask Suin some stuff."

******

"Non-violent method of questioning prisoners?" Suin asked when I found her in the kitchen two days later.

"Yes, is there any that you know?"

"Why bother when torture gives you the information you want easily?"

"I don't want to torture people."

"But it's the most efficient, my lady."

"I said I don't want to torture people. Is there any way to persuade people to tell me what I want to know? I mean like drugs, hypnosis or music that make them more suggestible?"

"Hip-no-sis?"

"Hard to explain that, sorry."

"There are herbs that makes people more willing to follow orders. If you can wait until after dinner, I'll show you some of them."

"That works, thank you."

After dinner, Suin, Lili, mother and I sat together at the dining table. Suin showed us a collection of herbs that she once used in her previous profession. Some of it was so nasty that she kept them sealed inside wooden boxes.

"Here we have the Grieving Lady Thistle, it's harmless by itself, but mixed with vinegar and drank, it has the ability to dissolve everything from the stomach and below."

"Wait, how is this non-violent?"

"You don't actually use it, you threaten that you're going to use it."

"Rejected!"

"How about the Moonlit Grass Oil?" she showed us strands of blue grass and a dark blue liquid in a vial.

"What does it do?"

"As grass it merely causes upset stomach. As concentrated oil, it is absorbed into the skin and causes twitchings of the bodypart in question. If dripped against the naked chest, it will cause heart attack."

"Isn't that fatal?"

"Not really, just rub it into the person's arm and threaten that you'd put it on their chest. They'll confess everything once their arms start twitching like it's possessed."

"Umm... I don't know about this."

"If diluted 10 times in water and rubbed on a man's penis or a woman's breasts and other sensitive parts, it raises its sensitivity and acts as an aphrodisiac."

"Ah?" before I could say anything, the basket containing the grass and its concentrated oil disappeared.

"This horrible thing, I'll keep it safe for you, my lady," Lili said with a red face and heavy breath. The basket which disappeared like magic was firmly in her hands.

Lili, were you a certain character from Dragon Ball in your previous life?

"How about this? The Wormsight Weed Powder causes terrible itching when used on skin."

"How will it help in interrogation?"

"The way you use it is to strap the victim down, then liberally rub the powder against skin. The victim will go insane from the unbearable itch," Suin said with a grin as she appeared to recall a particular point in her past.

"I said no torture!"

Suin looked disappointed.

"Well, next we have the Gravewort Concentrate. If consumed, the victim will have until sunset before the poison becomes active and kills the victim in the most painful way." Suin showed a bottle filled with pitch black liquid.

"I know I said non-violent, but I don't want to kill them either."

"It won't kill them, if they drink this potion," she produced a bottle filled with a clear liquid with purplish tinge, "It'll counteract the poison and acts as an antidote. It won't work if the poison is already active, though."

"I don't know about this... it still sounds like torture to me."

Suin pushes aside all the other herbs and then brought out a vial containing a clear liquid. "This is the Tincture of Truth. It makes people tell the truth."

"So you DO have something like this. Why didn't you show this earlier?"

"Because it doesn't force people to tell the truth, actually. It only makes the victim reveal surface thoughts and a trained assassin can easily fool it, providing misleading information that can end up being a trap. The stronger the surface thought, the more likely it will come out than other weaker thoughts. Alternatively, it can also be used to control the victim by putting the victim in a suggestible state and controlling the victim through soft whispers in the ears. The victim will accept and follow whatever he is told like a puppet. Avoid complicated instructions, though."

"This is still a lot more pleasant than your other solutions," I remarked as I inspected the vial. If I wasn't told it was a potion, I would've thought it was spring water.

Suin took the vial from my hand, poured a small amount of it into a glass of water and told Lili to drink it.

"Eh? Me?"

"Yes, drink it. I'm sure Lady Felicia wants a demonstration."

"Umm, my lady?"

"Are you sure it won't harm her?"

"Yes, it won't harm her at all, I think."

"Go ahead, Lili."

Lili looked conflicted, before she took the glass of water and gulped it down quickly. "Uuun, please don't hate me, my lady," she said as she handed the empty glass back to Suin.

"What is your name?" Suin asked after a few minutes.

"Why are you asking that, mom? You know..." Lili suddenly became quiet.

"What is your name?" Suin repeated.

"Lilicia."

"What is your duty?"

"Assisting Lady Felicia."

"What is one plus one?"

"Two."

"Wrong, it's eleven. What is one plus one?"

"Eleven."

"Ohh, this is fun," mother said as she clapped her hands, "Rub your cheeks."

Lili rubbed her cheeks until she was told to stop.

"Pick your nose," mother said again.

Lili picked her nose. I snorted at watching my always tensed best friend doing as told. Suin on the other hand, kept a neutral face.

"Bark!" mother commanded again.

"Woof!

"Again!"

"Woof!"

"Louder!"

"WOOF!"

"Howl to the moon."

"Arooooooooo!"

I couldn't help myself, I rolled on the floor laughing my arse off. Mother was the same. Even Suin appeared to have a hard time maintaining her composure.

When I finally recovered, I wiped the tears that came out because of laughing too hard and asked Lili, "What do you think of Felicia?"

"Felicia is beautiful, kind, smart and generous."

I puffed my nonexistent chest.

"I love Felicia. I love her beautiful face, her long brown hair, her narrow waist, her budding chest, her delicious lips, her cute buttcheeks and her hairless xxxx. I want to kiss her, hug her, lick her, have xxxx with her. I want to xxxx and xxxx her xxxx. When we bathe together in Halston, I wished Felicia had touched my xxxx and kissed my xxxx and licked my xxxx and used her pretty fingers on my xxxx. I wish Felicia had taken me to her bed and xxxx me gently for the whole night."

The whole dining room went silent as all of us turned to stone at such a declaration. I briefly thought of hiding in a hole somewhere. Suin looked greatly troubled. Mother looked amused, but at Lili's next confession, she laughed merrily with one hand on her belly and the other slapping the tabletop.

"Ahhh, I can't stop myself anymore. My love, please make xxxx to me," she untied her hair, "Put your xxxx on my tongue and ride me like a xxxx. Make me your xxxx. Please be my bride and xxxx me all night long. Let's make sweet, sweet xxxx and climb the peak of pleasure together so we can xxxx and xxxx forever!" she moaned loudly while pushing down her dress, revealing a nice pair of breasts under a brown camisole.

Then her eyes rolled up and her face crashed onto the table with a loud bang. Suin told us not to worry as she had expected that. Lili woke up about half an hour later. She moaned in pain and asked us what happened.

"As you can see, the victim will lose all memory of the interrogation. Any conditioning you placed will also disappear, unless you reinforce the conditioning every day."

"I see, it's good to know."

"Umm, what happened at that time? Did I do or say anything embarrassing?"

The room was quiet as we allowed the wind to blow.

"Umm... mom? My lady?"

"Nothing happened. You just said some stuff and fainted shortly after," Suin said.

"What kind of stuff?" Lili sounded a little panicked. Only now she noticed her state of undress.

I nodded while averting my gaze. "Just some stuff. Nothing you need to worry about."

"Indeed," mother tried her best to control her laughter while also averting her gaze, "Just some funny stuff."

"Ehhh? What stuff? What did I say? Please tell meeee!!!"

Of course we never told Lili what she actually said while under the drug's influence. Suin told her that Lili revealed about wetting the bed at 8 years old to her horror. If only she knew what she actually told us. What a precocious little girl Lili was.

Suin then put a few white pills covered in cloth into my hand. "This is the antidote, take two of these and for the next hour, it will neutralize the effects of the elixir. But be warned, it must be taken before you consume the potion, not after."

I thanked her and hid both the vial and the antidote inside my stash and locked it with a key. With the way mother was eyeing the potion, I half expected her to steal it from me while I was sleeping or working. Later I found out that mother asked Suin to make some more of the potion for her own use.

The next day, I went to the stockade. It was built last year, shortly after the trial where I ordered my first ever execution. The memory of the four men dangling under a rope was still fresh in my mind. The trauma was so debilitating that I couldn't hear, speak or see anything for a whole week after seeing them hang at the gallows. My sleep, whenever I could get it, was filled with nightmares of the four men coming for me with the noose still around their necks and their tongues hanging out of their mouths. Mother did her best to comfort me, and told me that she would've done the same even if I didn't judge them so. Despite that, mother told me that I should be judging criminals with a clear mind and neutral disposition, as a cloudy mind and biased preconception can easily judge an innocent wrongly.

I took it to heart, but I realized that as someone from the modern world, I couldn't do something like this. For Malcolm, who lived in a peaceful world, things like death sentence was only read about in newspapers. It wasn't something that you hear or participate personally in the modern world. In many countries of the modern world, death sentence was even abolished completely. I simply couldn't handle it. So ever since that trial, I had mother deal with the trials in father's absence. Maybe people would say that I was running away, but I'm a little girl now, I'm supposed to run away from this stuff.

"My lady, may I ask what we are doing here?" Lemy asked as we rode our horses closer to the wooden wall of the stockade.

I looked at the stockade with its large gateway building and four watch towers. It stood atop a cliff by the coast, overlooking the village, the port and a large area of the river. It was made entirely of log and earth, large enough to keep a maximum of 500 prisoners simultaneously.

This was what mother and I came up with after the execution of the four criminals last year. Having been peaceful for years previous, we have had no need for a dedicated prison. Stocks placed at the village center was often more than enough of a punishment. With the scoundrel's arrival, he also brought with him a bunch of outlaws which we had no idea what to do with. Executing them would be cruel as their crimes were only minor ones such as disturbing peace and tavern brawls as well as the error of following the wrong person.

Since putting fourteen people in stocks at the center of the village would not only be a hassle but also a waste of space, mother and I decided on having them build a stockade a short distance outside the village, on a rocky area that overlooked the Mrun river and the village. It was pretty much the first fortification built in Mruna ever, except that instead of keeping people out, it kept people in. The stockade was built out of logs, placed in two rows before having dirt packed in between the two rows of logs, creating a raised walkway from which sentries could look into the yard where the prisoners were kept. The only entry gate was a big building that connected the outside and the inner yard through two doors. In between the two doors were staircases that connected to the upper floors and the raised walkway. Apart from functioning as a sentry house, the gateway building also functioned as a billet for the stockade's sentries.

As for the bandits locked inside, we ensured that they were taken care of well. They slept in comfortable shanties, ate the same food as the sentries and got to walk around in the inner yard at any time they were free. Of course, we couldn't just let them eat and sleep for free. At this point, it was all me, mother stopped caring about them after they were locked up tight away from the village. Mother did suggest that their punishment should last until father came home in the winter, after which they could be released for good behaviour.

Apart from that, I had full authority. So I had them work on building my port first. It was great, I had my port along with its accompanying warehouses finished in just three weeks instead of two months that I previously expected at a quarter of the price. Definitely, slave labour is the best. Of course, having construction engines helped shave the man hours necessary. After that, I had them build the shipyard, clear some forest area for timber and farmland and build roads.

Yes, we have all-weather roman roads now! No more muddy roads in the winter or dusty roads in the summer. Woohoo! Of course, this only applies to Mruna, the rest of the road that connects to Halston and Renus is still dirt road.

Maybe now you're wondering about what we did with the loot we got when the bandits surrendered? Well, to tell the truth, it was all trash. I allowed my friends to choose anything they wish to take home, but the rest I just smelted into steel, because it was just total crap to begin with. We did acquire some twelve horses, though. So all five of my best friends have their own horses now. The rest were left at the guard posts we recently built all over the barony for speedy delivery of messages.

"My lady?" Lemy asked again.

"Sorry Lemy, my mind was wandering. Well, we're here for some information."

"What kind of information, my lady?"

"I was thinking that our barony couldn't possibly have been the only one to be targeted by the scoundrel. They were too organized to have only done this for the first time. So we're going to ask them only one question, "Where do they keep the loot of their thievery?" Depending on their answer, we will ask the exact location.

"But they won't answer, my lady." Lemy argued.

"Of course they won't. You just let me handle that. Just ask the question when I told you to," I said as I walked into the stockade's gateway building and straight through to the south tower, where their meals are being cooked.

Only Lili accompanied me, I left the others in the gateway building.

"Excuse me, is breakfast ready?"

The cook, a slightly plump woman in sentry uniform was about to rebuke before she saw me and bowed at my approach. "It's already done, my lady. All that's left is to share it with the prisoners."

"Very good, which couldron is their drinking water?"

"That one, my lady," she pointed at a small couldron filled with water. "It will be lowered into the inner yard shortly."

"Very good, leave us for a bit."

"My lady?"

"Stand outside. I'll call you when I need you to lower it to the inner yard."

The cook made a worried face as she wondered if she should follow that order. She probably thought that I was going to poison the prisoners' food. Considering that it had been a year since the trial and that most of the bandits were released for good behaviour months ago, one could imagine that the leftovers were the worst ones among them. Certainly, these men left behind were the veterans among the bandits, with a lot more pride and testosterone than common sense.

Sure, I was going to poison them, but I wasn't going to kill them. If I do kill them, I will probably get in trouble with the bandits that have turned over a new leaf and now living peacefully in the village. I'm not going to be the cause of a rebellion or rioting in the barony.

"Please don't worry, I'm not going to do anything that can't be reversed."

"Yes, my lady," the cook said as she went outside and closed the door.

I took out the palm-sized Tincture of Truth and after a short deliberation, decided to pour half the content of the vial into the prisoner's drink.

"Don't you think it's a lot, my lady?"

"I'm worried it's not enough. Suin poured a few drops into the small glass of water that you drank last night."

Hearing me talk about last night, Lili's face coloured and she turned away. Lili was obviously still very much ashamed of what she thought she said. She still didn't know what she actually said under the influence of the Tincture of Truth, she thought she confessed to wetting the bed at 8 years old.

I mixed it well with a ladle and declared, "It's done, you can come in now."

The cook entered with a bow and made way for us to leave. Then from the top of the gateway building, we watched as one by one the prisoners, numbering six people, stopped moving and speaking with empty expressions on their faces.

"It's time. Let's go," I told the others as we walked down and into the inner yard before we started our interrogation.

Of course, since we were kids, we couldn't help ourselves from having fun with the mindless prisoners before us. We had these formerly prideful bandits dance and do embarrassing stuff that they would never do, with the sentries on-duty laughing in good humour. We left the stockade with the information we needed and I left the sentry captain instructions to let the prisoners rest for the rest of the day.

******

"Is that it?" Gani asked as we hid behind some bushes about 200 feet from the camp.

We were hiding in the bushes of a forested ara within the Duchy of Renus. My friends and I came here following the instructions given by the mindless veteran bandits we interrogated yesterday. Accompanying us was a 'section' of the spear sentries, a militia system comprising almost entirely of women of the barony, numbering 20 sentries not including the sergeant. Though this particular section was lead by a captain as she also lead the entire 5 sections of the spear sentries, collectively called a 'company' of spear sentries.

You're asking if I got permission to cross over into the duke's land with an army? Who cares? Besides, if grandfather protested, I'd just say, "But how would I know I was supposed to ask for permission to hunt bandits, grandpa?" and I'd give him my most innocent look and bat my long eyelashes like a clueless little girl. It will be absolutely flawless!

"Should be, they said it's a small camp in front of a natural cave," Lemy answered.

"Let's attack them," Somme urged.

"Not too fast," I said as I turned around towards a spear sentry behind us, "Captain, have your girls on standby downwind of the camp and wait for my call."

"Yes my lady," the spear sentry by the name of Merisa nodded. She silently slipped away through the bushes, her spear and round shield nowhere to be seen.

The spear sentry was designed similar to greek militia hoplites and also received the same types of training. Among others, they were trained to run two miles a day in full equipment which consisted of 9 foot-long spear, a round steel shield, steel helmet, boiled leather body armour, boiled leather boots, their day provision, a shovel and two roman stakes. At first they were easily tired and couldn't even finish the two miles run in full equipment. But after half a year, they could run five full miles in full equipment and still had leftover stamina for mock battles.

Of course, when talking about hoplites, it wouldn't be complete without talking about phalanx. Apart from stamina training, I also drilled them in phalanx tactics. Due to that, they could now maintain phalanx formation even after charging the enemy for two minutes, beyond which their formation suffered. They could now even change the direction of their phalanx spears quickly.

Unlike the original hoplites though, I made some modifications to their equipments. First of which was their signature 9 foot-long spear, with a steel spearhead at one end and forked bronze point at the other. The forked bronze point, apart from providing another weapon in case the spearpoint breaks, also allows them to stab it into the ground to free their hands as well as giving them the possibility of pushing away ladders during wall sieges.

The second modification was their body armour. Instead of the linothorax favoured by the hoplites, I gave them studded boiled leather body armour, shaped to fit a woman's figure snugly. So it looked a little sexy, but it couldn't be helped. Lined under the boiled leather was a half inch layer of waxed paper.

Yes, waxed paper. Instead of scaled or splint paper armour that the Chinese once used, I used hundreds of sheets of very thin waxed paper to line up the inside of the leather armour, held together by glue and the steel studs. Now, for those sceptical of paper armour, it was actually a very common armour type in ancient China. Chinese records stated that paper armour worked just as well as steel armour at a fraction of the cost. Mythbusters also did a special on paper armour and proved that paper armour was just as good as steel in stopping arrows and sword slashes, and a lot lighter too. The thickness of the paper in the spear sentry's armour probably won't be able to stop bullets entirely, but more than enough to stop arrows and crossbow bolts at medium range without inhibiting movement.

Of course, the helmet was made in the same way. Even the large round shield was made of a steel plate, hammered into shape and lined with waxed paper on its back. It wasn't only to give extra protection against slashing and piercing attacks, it also gave the arm holding the shield some padding in cases of being hit by blunt weapons. Behind each shield were fastened three throwing knives 10 inches long for short range supporting attacks or for melee where it is too tight for them to use their long spears.

I do think my spear sentries are better armed than their husbands and brothers who are fighting on the front lines of the war. Better trained too, but that's not my fault. I offered to teach the men fighting techniques, but their pride was too big and they refused to be taught how to fight by a little girl who couldn't even raise a long sword. Thankfully the spear sentry that consisted mostly of women never had any problem with that.

The roman stakes were called sudes murale in Roman era. It was used in building temporary barriers. The spear sentries had regular training in building these temporary barriers due to their role of being patrolling policemen as well as border guards.

I looked at the place the spear sentries were positioned and the moment I saw their signal for 'ready' - a single spearhead raised vertically, I took out both my guns. On my right hand was the old pistol that I used in chapter 3, the double-barrelled flintlock-like pistol dubbed Boomstick Mk VII. Yes, it has been that many prototypes and failures. On my left hand was the new version of Boomstick Mk VII, the Boomstick Mk VIII, Sunset Screamer, made with better steel and citrine handle with Metrune family crest drawn inside.

I walked out of the bushes confidently. I was flanked on my right side by Lemy, and on my left side by Somme. Behind me was Gani with his long spear. All the boys were carrying the new spear sentry's shields. I left the girls behind to watch our backs.

"Bandits, stop what you're doing and surrender now!" I yelled to the mob of bandits numbering around 50 men in front of me.

The bandits looked at each other and laughed.

"Little girl, why don't you go play somewhere else?"

"Maybe she's here to play 'something else'?"

"Come sit on papa's lap, baby."

Hearing their words, I got very pissed. So I repeated my words with a bang. Nobody got hit by my bullet, but I couldn't care less if anyone got hit. Hearing my shot, all the spear sentries, numbering 20 women rushed out of the woods in phalanx formation, blocking the bandits' escape. Seeing that, the bandits quickly drew their weapons and charged against the spear sentries. The first few ones stupid enough to charge head-long against a wall of spears immediately got pierced by at least three spears at the same time.

Instead of pushing forward though, I told the spear sentries to hold position and gave the men another chance to surrender. Of course, they refused, even threatening to do some nasty things to the women once they've crushed the spear sentries' formation. They then blew a horn and retreated into the cave behind them.

It felt strange to me. It was extremely suspicious for the men to withdraw so suddenly after blowing the horn. I looked behind me, wondering if they called for reinforcement. But there was none. Then I could feel something hitting my back. It was an arrow, stuck in my leather and paper body armour.

Archers! The horn was to signal the archers positioned on the cliff. The archers fired again, raining arrows on our position.

"Raise shields! Raise shields! Block those arrows!" I ordered as the spear sentries raised their shields in the arrows's direction.

Suddenly I felt pain in my thigh. I looked down and I saw blood flowing down my leg. At the mouth of the cave, the men that retreated into the cave had come out firing arrows of their own. Seeing that, Somme stood in front of me, taking all of the arrows meant for me with his own body.

"Tortoise formation! Withdraw into the trees!" I ordered while shooting my guns at the archers firing from the cliff. Out of the three shots I had left, only one managed to hit, as they were slightly beyond the effective range of my guns.

Hearing my order, the spear sentries changed formation and provided protection for our retreat. Lemy and Gani quickly pulled Somme into the trees under cover of the spear sentries' shields. It was a quick and efficient retreat.

I had Serin have a look at those injured by the arrows, especially Somme. Thankfully nobody from our side died, at least not yet. The body armour did its job well. Many of the spear sentries, Somme and even my back looked like porcupines with so many arrows stuck on our armour. Some arrows managed to hit skin, but only Somme suffered serious injuries. Had we used normal armour, we would've likely died as a group there.

It was my fault. I was too confident. I thought they were just dumb bandits. I couldn't see the trap they had laid. It was entirely my fault.

"Withdraw to Mruna. Run like hell!" I said, intent to reduce further casualties.

As such, we withdrew from our first battle and our first defeat.

******

"My lady, they have started moving." the scout from the spear sentry informed.

"Perfect. Captain, is everything ready?" I asked the spear sentry's captain.

"Yes, my lady. My troops and the reinforcements are in position," the captain said, the front part of her body armour still had bits of arrows stuck into them. She only cut the rear part of each arrow instead of pulling them out. Probably for bragging rights.

You know, like how people say 'you're not truly a rapper unless you've been shot at twice'.

"Good, wait for them to get in position."

"I'm sorry my lady, for not being able to join you this time," Somme said from his bed. Serin was right next to him taking care of his wounds.

"Don't worry about it. You've done your job well," I said as I walked away from him, "Now it's time for payback."

What? Did you seriously think I would run home with my tail between my legs? Hah! If you think so, you obviously don't know me yet. We only retreated the way we did to make them think we were running in fear, but in actuality, that was all an act.

The battle was short and decisive. We caught the bandits as they were moving their treasures from the cave to another position which I couldn't care less about. We had to wait half a day, but the moment spear sentry reinforcement from Mruna arrived, numbering sixty women, we had them lie in ambush along the only road out of that area. Once they were in position, the captain blew the horn, signalling the spear sentries hiding in wait to spring up and attack the bandits from both sides of the road with their spear phalanx.

It was a clear victory. All ninety bandits, from the swordsmen to the archers were pierced by the spears of eighty women warriors in just a few minutes. In comparison, only sixteen of our spear sentries suffered light wounds and no casualty. The only survivors were the women and children they probably kidnapped from somewhere else to be used as forced labour or sex slaves. Those bandits that tried to run away were quickly downed by my pistols and my mounted friends.

A spear phalanx.
An encirclement by spear phalanx.

Oh, we also caught everything they carried with them such as horses, wagons, oxen, gold, silver and various other treasures. There is enough horses here to start a horse ranch. Not a lot of course, but the twenty horses we just looted should be enough to start breeding, I'm sure. We would've gotten a little more, but our overpowered spears stabbed some to death.

Defeat? Pfeh! What a foolish thought. We just suffered a setback because I chose the wrong place to fight. There is simply a time and place for everything. I simply forgot about that for a moment. Silly me.

Ah, you were wondering why it worked? Simple. Imagine you're a drug lord and the cops stormed your hideout. You managed to beat them back, but if you are in the drug lord's shoes, would you still stay there and wait for more cops to come, probably bringing along heavy weapons? Of course not, it's only logical to protect your investments and your life. The only course of action would be to move your stash. The moment they came out from their fortified position, that was when I strike. Bye bye, good game. Muhahahahaha!

******

"So how much did we get?"

"Lots!" Lemy grinned, with jewels and gold coins in his hands.

"Give a silver coin to everyone who fought today. Then let's move the spoils back to my warehouse. Fuhehehehe."

A ransom of 200 gold? Pointless! Now I can pay it easily. Thehehehehe. You should've asked for 300 gold. Fuhahahahaha!

"My lady, you're drooling," Lili said as she took out a handkerchief.

While Lili wiped my drool, I wrote a letter addressed to grandfather and gave it to Lemy. "Take Gani and go meet the Master of Arms for the Duchy of Renus. Tell him the Barony of Mruna requests twenty guardsmen with sailing experience and give him this voucher."

"What are you planning, my lady?" Lemy asked.

"We're gonna sail up the Mrun River all the way to Lytis and bring our fathers home."

"Yes my lady," both Lemy and Gani saluted eagerly.

I spent the whole week selling whatever loot I could sell. Some I kept hidden as there were noble crests on them and I didn't want word to get out that I got other noble family's treasures. It had nothing to do with feeling guilt. After all, if they were stupid enough to be cheated by the scoundrel, they deserved to lose their treasures.

What I was worried about was that if they found out I got their treasures, they would demand the whole thing back. Of course, I wasn't going to kindly return it to them like a saint. It's all mine now. Mine!

******

Lemy and Gani returned a week later with an army.

I put my hands on Lemy's shoulder. "Lemy, think I told you to come back with twenty guardsman?"

Sweating profusely, Lemy said, "Yes, you did, my lady."

"Then explain to me why you bring back THE WHOLE DAMNED DUCHY!"

Seriously, I could even see the faces of the old counts and barons from neighbouring counties and baronies. Even my aunts were here. Heck! Why is the feral dog here too?

"Hahaha, please don't blame the young man. It was my wish to come see what this plan of yours was. And when I said that, everyone else wanted to come too. Please forgive me," grandfather said as he stepped out of his ornate carriage.

I fumed at seeing my grandfather's face, the memory of being snubbed for two days resurfaced in my mind. "Grandpa!"

"Papa!" mother screamed as she jumped out from the front door, "I've missed you, papa!"

I frowned.

Mother, please don't ruin my pace.

"Ahh, my dear flower Felicia. I've heard of your exploits with the bandits. If you had only told me beforehand, I would have been more than happy to ride to you with my whole cavalry unit," Feral said as he took my hand and kissed the back of it.

"Lemy..." I threw a smile at Lemy before I grabbed his face with the same right hand that Feral was just kissing.

"Ow, ow, ow. My lady, you're hurting me."

"Exactly what did you tell them?" I asked, still maintaining my smile as I tightened my grip on Lemy's skull.

"Just the battle, my lady, nothing else!"

"What about after the battle?" I asked, referring to the gold, jewellery and the rest of the loot.

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

"What are you hiding, Felicia?" grandfather asked with mother still wrapped around him.

"Geh! Nothing, absolutely nothing you need to worry about, grandfather! Ah! Now that you're all here, want to take a look at the ship?"

******

"Heave ho!" the men cried together as they used the on-board pulley to bring up the one of the ballistas meant for the stern hard point.

The original design included only one ballista in front for harpooning small whales or delicious tuna. I decided to add two more ballistas in the rear considering where we were going. Building the balista wasn't all that hard, we had skilled carpenters and my steel spring could easily replace animal tendons, the only hard part was making sure that every ballista was of the same size.

I firmly struck the hull of the ship with my hand, feeling the cold, hard wood against my blow.

"Have the divers checked for any cracks?" I asked.

"Yes, my lady. They informed me that there are no cracks or leaks. The soaking of the wood went well," Gani answered.

"Good, was afraid I would end up sleeping at the bottom of the river."

"There is no need to worry, my lady. Nobody has experience building a boat of this size, but the builders followed your instructions to the letter."

"It's a ship, not a boat," I said, referring to the brig 165 feet in length with a beam of 40 feet and two rows of oar holes on each side, numbering 40 oars in total. Apparently, it was the first of its kind and also the largest ship to date.

This was supposed to be an ocean-going fishing vessel, capable of catching and carrying tonnes of tuna easily. I designed it to be the maximum survivable ship for ocean fishing. I even visited the shipyard everyday and rejected every piece of log and lumber that wasn't cut or trimmed according to my specifications, causing dissatisfaction among the shipyard workers. Later, I was told that it was twice larger than the largest ship anyone had ever seen. When it was almost complete, people asked me if I was building a warship. I kept telling everyone that it was a fishing vessel, but nobody believed me.

When I showed it to the nobles yesterday, everyone kept saying it would never float. They said it was too big and would be too heavy to float and I was like, "dudes, did you even learn about buoyancy in school?" I made a profit out of them by making a bet that it would float. I never knew cheating nobles of their money was so very pleasant.

I should do it again soon. I wonder if there are any scams they'd fall for. Oh no, not the kind of scams that the scoundrel did, I mean the kind of scams where they'd be happy to give me their money for.

Anyway, even grandfather was sceptical about it and offered 80 gold for it if it would float. He didn't make a bet, but when the ship hit water in front of the shipyard, he looked like he fell in love for the first time. When grandfather saw it this morning after I had the sails fitted and the oars loaded, he raised his offer to 120 gold. Grandfather seemed very eager to give me his gold. Maybe his offer was below the market price?

I wonder if I should just sell it to him or wait for a better offer. Now that I've seen the finished stuff myself, even I doubt that it's anything other than a warship. I might've mixed up my measurements but it's too late to change it now. Guess I forgot a lot of stuff from that time I built a boat from scratch with my father as Malcolm. Anyway, even if I agree to sell it to grandfather, it's not like he can pay it now. All his money is tied up in the effort to pay the ransom.

Right now, grandfather is walking excitedly on the top deck, like a schoolboy on a trip to the zoo. He is busy inspecting the central loading hole, the sterncastle, the tall masts, the sails and pretty much everything he can touch. He even holds the ballista at the bow and turning it around on its swivel mount as if he is aiming and attacking an invisible enemy ship. I had mother send all the nobles to rest at a local inn when grandfather started making 'pew pew' and 'foosh' sounds. Watching grandfather like this now reminds me of the term 'big boy's toys'. It was embarrassing to watch.

Seriously grandpa, get off the ship. You're bothering everyone.
 

 

*Thank you for reading. As usual, your comments are greatly appreciated.
**Many thanks to Jkoc for his assistance with research.
***I switched the ship from brigantine to brig. I like the word brigantine better, but since it's essentially a brig, no point in confusing the readers.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Felicia Belphere Metrune. I am the only daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune. I am 11 years old. I haven't always been Baron Metrune's daughter though. I was originally a 29 year old man who lived in Cornwall. One day I got hit by a truck and you've probably guessed it, I was reincarnated into what seems to be medieval Europe. Ahoy matey! Raise the anchor, make sail and come journey along the Mrun River with me, Captain Felicia! But what's this about a knighting ceremony? Felicia's Second Life Chapter 5 A tale of love (?) and change (lol) in a medieval era. By Shinieris

The loading of supplies took place for the whole day the next day. We had extra sails and timber placed in the bottom deck. Canned goods such as food and fruits were placed on the deck above it, kept tightly bound in wooden crates that were tied and locked firmly to the floor. Above it were the offices of ship officers, you know, like quartermaster, boatswain, carpenter and sailmaker as well as some trade goods, since we might as well go trade some stuff.

The deck above it was crew quarters with a large number of hammocks tied all over the place. On the aft side of the same deck were private quarters, originally designed for people who would pay for transportation. Now the private quarters were taken by the nobles and their staffs who would be handling the ransom negotiations instead.

On the deck above it were the oar houses and more crew accommodations as well as the game deck for bored crews and a kitchen in front. The oar houses were actually not houses, but simply an area along the hull with two levels, with each level on each side having ten oars and seats for oarsmen. It would be used at times of no wind and also during a port approach. It was tight, but the crew would just have to deal with it. It's a ship after all.

******

"Captain, we are sailing close to the port city of Hollehafen. Would you like to come on deck and have a look?"

I looked up from my desk to the doorway and standing there was a large man with a noticeable horizontal scar on the left of his neck. He was pretty big, twice my size. Hanging on the left side of his waist belt was a cutlass that looked too big to be wieldy and a whip was on the other side of his belt. This man was one of the guardsmen that grandfather lent me for this mission. He was also my first mate, with extensive experience in grandfather's war fleet of three ships (lol), Mr. Lustri.

"I see. So we have reached Rotenheim's border. Are we docking in Hollehafen?"

"Not unless you wish it, captain."

"Are we good for supplies?"

"Gani informed me that we have enough supplies for a whole month at sea, but we won't be at sea for that long."

"Ah right, I forgot I made Gani the quartermaster. Is he doing his job well, Mr. Lustri?"

"As well as any that I've seen, captain. He's right at home with my men too."

By 'his men', he referred to the men that grandfather lent me, obviously. As we had no adult men left at the village (even the former bandits were taken to the battlefield), we had to make do somehow. The ship still needed to be crewed.

Originally, I only asked grandfather for twenty guardsmen with sailing experience. Grandfather gave me eighty instead, but only thirty-three of them had sailing experience. The rest were noobs or in pirate (yarr!) terms landlubbers. At least they were useful in manning the forty sweeps and could be counted on in cases of boardings.

Therefore, I enlisted the wives and daughters of the barony's fishermen to assist. Their jobs were generally in the realm of cooking, cleaning and if needed, fighting as well. Unfortunately, I knew nothing of naval hand-to-hand battles, so I had Mr. Lustri, who had been a veteran in grandfather's naval fleet of three ships (lol) teach them sea fighting techniques. With most of them being my spear sentries, I had confidence in their abilities. It would be hard to switch to cutlasses though, especially since they'd been drilled in phalanx formations. The women on board numbered twenty-six people, not including Lili and me.

Since those obviously weren't enough to crew such a large ship, I had to find another source. So I had boys too young to go to war become my crewmen. They ranged from nine year olds to 14 year olds. Their tasks were generally to assist in odd jobs, to climb the mast posts and to tie the sails. In battles, they would likely be positioned in the inner decks to protect the nobles we were transporting. These boys numbered fifty-five.

Yup, we're transporting nobles. Now, I assure you, this wasn't part of the plan. Apparently, grandfather had already finished discussion on the matter of the ransom expedition. They were planning on travelling by the river route using grandfather's fleet of three ships (lol) since travel by land would take far too long and would bring them right in the middle of enemy camp. The decision to use my ship was made hastily after they discovered that my ship would be far more comfortable, safe and stylish than the biremes that passed as warships (lol) in grandfather's port.

"I'll be up on the top deck in a while. Please go ahead, Mr. Lustri."

"Aye, captain. By your leave." he said as he left, closing the door quietly behind him.

"You've been quiet, Lili. Is something the matter?" I asked towards Lili who had been standing next to the desk. I told her earlier she could sit, it must be tiring to remain standing on the swaying deck, but she refused.

"Why did you make Mr. Lustri your assistant, my lady? True he was recommended by the duke, but we know nothing about him. He could be an assassin sent by the enemy or paid to deliver you to the enemy, my lady."

"Lili, please tell me, who are my enemies?"

"Surfes would be the most obvious. The bandit group that you destroyed will most likely want to kill you. The greedy merchants whom you banished from Mruna probably hold a grudge. And it seems like your recent changes in Mruna aren't very popular with the other nobles as well."

"My my, you've definitely done your homework, Lili," I said as I opened my notebook and wrote some stuff inside it, "But Lili, you're too paranoid. In Surfes's eyes, I'm a non-entity, they probably don't even know I exist. The bandit groups can't touch me, I have my loyal spear sentries for that. The greedy merchants can fume all they want, I'll kick them out a second time if they try to pull their scams in Mruna again. And as for attempts from the nobles, I have grandfather and YOU to take care of that, don't I?"

"My lady, I'm very flattered that you think I who am in training would be able to protect you, but that may not be the case when confronted with highly skilled-"

"Lili."

"Yes, my lady?"

"I know Suin trained you to be paranoid and to think the worst of everything, but I believe in you. So believe in yourself. Besides, I'm not important enough to be assassinated unless I somehow insult our culture and religion. You can rest easy."

"What about your brother, my lady?"

My writing hand stopped abruptly, before I moved the quill back into the ink bottle.

"Yucks is not a threat. Why are you mentioning him all of a sudden?"

"Not Sir Yox, my lady. You know who I'm talking about. He sent you a letter telling you not to go to Lytis."

Without realizing it, my body trembled violently, recalling the face of the person I loathed the most.

"Do not speak of him, Lili." My voice trembled, my fingers crushing the quill.

"Even he told you not to go. Don't you think it's a clear threat, my lady? Stay in Mruna or die in Lytis?”

"I SAID DO NOT SPEAK OF HIM!" I stood up in anger, without noticing my quill hand hitting the bottle of ink violently, throwing it against the wooden wall of my cabin and staining my new floor and wall.

Lili remained quiet this time and my anger slowly subsided.

"He can try, Lili," I said as I sat back down on my chair, trying to continue writing, but then I found that my quill had broken into two and the bottle of ink that was on my desk was nowhere to be seen. While taking out a new bottle and quill from the drawer, I told her, "No matter what he does, regardless if he can see the future, I will not stay quiet in Mruna because of this fear he put into me."

I wrote a few more words into my notebook before adding, "He will not control me. I will NOT remain afraid of him or his strange powers."

"Then I shall stay with you and protect you with all that I have, my lady. If he makes his moves, I will be there to take your place."

"Stop. You're talking as if he's going to kill me. You know he won't. Probably won't, at least. No, he probably would. Let’s not talk about him anymore."

"I beg forgiveness for bringing that up, my lady."

"It's fine..." I said as I finished the last of my entry and closed the notebook before placing it into a locked drawer. "Shall we go to see the famous port of Hollehafen then?"

"I will be right behind you, my lady."

******

Sorry, I forgot to do this earlier. Let's do a little bit of introduction.

Hi everyone, it's the reincarnated Lady Felicia again. How are you doing? Ah, but for now, don't call me Lady Felicia, call me Captain Felicia, okay? Because we are on a ship!

This ship is a 6 deck brig, with 40 sweeps, three ballistas and crewed by 161 men, women and boys. That's right, although grandfather lent me eighty sailors, it wasn't enough crew, so I had to get some others too, you know. That's why I had to get the wives, daughters and sons of the fishermen to become my crew. Naturally, since the nobles handling the negotiations are here too and insisted on bringing their own staff, I had them volunteer their non-essential helpers as crewmen too. Otherwise, they'd just be a waste of space.

Thankfully, I had grandfather draft a contract with the nobles, in that I, Felicia, am the captain and everyone on board must obey my orders or the orders of those I give power to. The nobles are not allowed to override my orders as long as their safety or privileges aren't at risk. In exchange, I would carry them to and back from the enemy city. Grandfather had all of the nobles sign the contract and I kept a copy with me at all times.

With me right now are Gani and Lili. Lemy wanted to come too but I told him to stay in Mruna, because he was the manager of my businesses. Somme still couldn't get out of bed because of the injuries he suffered at the bandit camp, so I had him stay home too. I had Serin stay in Mruna because her training is still not yet done and taking her with me would be counter-productive to my future plans. Lili had completed her basic training with Suin and Suin advised me to take her with me so that Lili could gain experience about the world at large. With the completion of this ship, Gani had nothing to do, so of course, I brought him with me.

Maybe you're wondering what the name of this ship is? Muhahahaha! I got the perfect name for it. The name of the ship is ‘The Abundance of Lollipops’! Amazing, right? Fufu, my naming sense is top-notch! You're asking me why I'm naming the biggest, most imposing ship of this age something like ‘The Abundance of Lollipops’? Well, Gani asked me that too.

"This is a lollipop," I told him as I opened a box filled with a swirly-coloured circular sugar on a stick and put it into my mouth.

"A candy?" Gani asked.

"And this," I said as I opened another box, filled with twelve pieces of what at first glance looked like a WW2 Stielhandgranate but with stabilizer fins on the stick end and a bodkin arrowhead behind the explosive end. Instead of a pull cord, it had a long fuse ignitable by fire.

"It's not even the same shape, my lady."

True, the one in my mouth was of the typical lollipop shape. The other was more like an ice pop or popsicle. "Don't mind it, they're both lollipops, in a way," I told him.

The stick grenade was actually a weapon, a type of concussion grenade. It could be thrown by hand or placed on a ballista and fired at an enemy's ship for medium range firepower. I had plans to make a stick grenade that burns instead of explodes, but I didn't have the time to do the research with what I had on hand. I have already drawn the plans for a small scale synth-gas plant, but I haven't actually built it as I ran out of space on my land. Now I understand why in fantasy stories, wizards always live in towers. They must've easily run out of space too.

I couldn't use the name The Abundance of Popsicles because it was a brand of ice pop and I could get sued for it. Naming my ship The Abundance of Ice Pops simply wouldn't sound as good, much too long and what would the ice refer to? Naming it lollipop, however was good, as we were transporting lollipops after all. If we're going to an enemy port, might as well go trade some stuff too, am I right? Money is good. Money is great. Money makes the best sounds. Cha-ching!

Plus, I just knew I would laugh whenever I hear conversations concerning my ship. Such as "Captain, we are being attacked by Abundance of Lollipops!" or "Captain, we are being burned down by Abundance of Lollipops!" Ahh, lollipops. You have no idea how much you're going to make me laugh.

A german stielhandgranate. Just imagine lollipop as having 4 fins on the stick side, longer explosive side and a single bodkin arrowhead sticking out on top of the explosive end.
A lollipop. See the similarities? No? Your loss.

******

"It's nice, don't you think, Lili?" I said with one hand on the wheel that controlled the ship's rudder.

"It's relaxing, my lady," Lili replied behind me.

"True, now if only those annoying noblemen weren’t on board," I sighed.

"I heard they made demands for special provisions from Gani this morning. Gani complained that he was barely able to hold his anger."

"Give it time. With Gani's temper, I bet he would blow up soon."

"I bet 3 days, my lady."

"2 days. Whoever closest gets to tell the other to do whatever."

"Are you serious, my lady?"

"Absolutely."

"Anything?"

"Yes... okay maybe not anything. You're talking as if you already know that you've won."

"Maybe," Lili said with a giggle.

"Ships ahoy!" the kid in the bird's nest announced.

Meeting ships by itself is normal, this is a river trade route after all, even if the river is wide enough to be called a sea. What the boy meant must be an anomaly. Such as a ship with unusual speed heading towards us or ships in a battle.

"Ships ahoy, west by northwest!" he said with more details after grabbing our attention.

I quickly pulled out the telescope at my belt and looked at the direction specified. Now, before you guys say anything, I didn't 'invent' the telescope, they already had telescopes about a hundred years before I was even born. They even had eyeglasses since before I was born. So it was nothing new and I didn't know enough about them to improve the designs, not that I would have had the time anyway.

"What are you seeing, my lady?" Lili asked.

"Call Mr. Lustri. A merchant ship is being attacked by river pirates."

A short while later, Mr. Lustri arrived. Looking through his own telescope, he remarked, "That's a Surfesian ship, captain."

"It's still a merchant ship."

"We have no obligation to help them, captain."

"Mr. Lustri, set course towards the merchant ship. Full speed ahead."

"Aye, captain. Mr. Kolle, hard to starboard. Mr. Lars, ring the bell. Oarmaster Gael, have the oars manned and prepare for full ramming speed," Mr. Lustri commanded but then he said to me with a whisper, "Captain, that's a Surfesian ship."

"You have already made that clear."

"We're at war with Surfes."

"I'm quite clear about that."

"Why are we saving them?"

"We're not saving them."

"We're not?"

"We won't even get to fight. Just watch."

My prediction proved true. Instead of a battle, the moment the pirates noticed our approach, they quickly went back into their longboat and escaped. Of course, I could understand their fear. With a ship this size, what else could it be other than a warship? Even if we were a merchant ship, we'd have at least a hundred crewmen just from looking at the number of oars alone. A crew of a single longboat couldn't possible defeat a fully manned ship of this size. Naturally, no other ship in this area was as big as this, so of course, they would be afraid of facing the unknown. That fear made the decision for them, so they escaped without putting up any fight. Nobody would want to die pointlessly.

It’s the same as when pirates of the Caribbean would run away from the sight of an approaching frigate.

Seeing this, Mr. Lustri bowed and humbly told me he still had a lot to learn.

The moment we approached, however, the fighters on the merchant ship which consisted of twelve men still standing, threw down their weapons and surrendered. Even the merchant who appeared to be one of the men fighting, threw his cutlass on the deck and knelt in surrender.

Ah, it's because we fly the Forlendian flag. They think we're here to seize their goods. They're also feeling the same fear as the pirates.

"Please, my lord, spare my ship and crew. Life has been hard for us ever since the war started," the merchant who wore better clothes than the others pleaded on his knees.

Except that he was pleading to Mr. Lustri. Unless he had the squints, he was pleading to the wrong guy.

"What do you think, captain?" Mr. Lustri asked noticing that he had become the center of attention.

"Where are you headed to, merchant?" I asked the merchant directly.

The merchant appeared confused when I was the one who spoke, but he quickly recovered and said with his eyes towards me, "We are on our way to the port of Kaliche in Surfes from Hollehafen, my lady."

"What is your name, merchant?" I asked again.

"My name is Karlus, son of Ferasta, my lady."

"I am Captain Felicia of The Abundance of Lollipops, we are going the same way. We shall escort you there."

"Captain? But..." he looked at Mr. Lustri.

"I am Lustri, son of Rowl. I am first mate of The Abundance of Lollipops. The captain just made you an offer, what do you say?"

The merchant turned to look at me again, this time with a tinge of fear. "Captain, please forgive my rudeness, but I only have twenty gold in hand, I can't possibly afford to-"

"Twenty gold is enough. Hand it over to Mr. Lustri and we can be on our way," I said as I turned around and disappeared into my cabin in the aftcastle of the ship.

Lili closed the door behind me before she said, "My lady, did you just threaten the man into giving you twenty gold for free?"

"Threaten? What nonsense! Hehehehehe. I didn't threaten him into doing anything. It's not my fault that he was intimidated by my big ship, fully armed crews and the fear that I could just take his life and his stuff if he refused. Ahahahahahahah!!! This is too good! Ahahahahahaha!"

"Sometimes I wonder if I'm serving a villain, my lady," Lili whispered hoping that I didn't hear.

******

"You woke me up for this?" I looked at Mr. Lustri from the corner of my eye after confirming the object in question.

"It's very peculiar, captain. They're simply following us while making no attempt to approach. It's probably the same pirate longboat that we scared off this morning."

"So they're watching us, sizing us up, but they won't dare approach. We're too big and well-armed."

"It's still worrying, captain."

"Lili, get me a lollipop."

"Yes, my lady," Lili said as she went belowdeck to fetch me my request.

"You worry too much, Mr. Lustri. You'll grow old faster. How old are you anyway?"

"I'm twenty-eight summers this year, captain."

"Twenty-eight? And you already have a full head of grey hairs?"

"I was told it was in my blood, captain. My old man was the same."

"My lady, here you are," Lili returned handing me a piece of lollipop with both hands.

"Thanks Lili," I said as I tore off the waxed paper covering the lollipop before putting the candy into my mouth.

Then I moved to the ballista, took out the lollipop in my mouth and was about to place it on the ballista before I realized, "Waaaait! It's wroonggg! This isn't the lollipop that I meant! I mean the big lollipops, the one that goes boom, Lili!"

"Eh? I apologize for the misunderstanding, my lady. I'll fetch it right away. Do you want me to put the lollipop back, my lady?"

I looked at the lollipop in my hand and put it back into my mouth. "Never mind about this, it had already been inside my mouth. Darn, eating candy at night, I'm definitely going to get cavities like this. I need to invent a toothbrush."

While I was licking the lollipop, Lili returned with the one I asked for, a two-foot long concussion grenade in the form of stielhandgranate but with stabilizer fins on its stick side and a bodkin head in front of the explosive side. I told Mr. Lustri to have the rear port ballista wound up.

"Salis, Freben, you heard the captain."

After saluting, they went ahead with winding up one of our two rear ballista. They hadn't had much training with it, so their movements were a little awkward. Ballistas weren't a new invention, but they usually had skilled elite soldiers manning them and were usually well protected in the rear of the battlefield, being used only to take down castle gates where a battering ram would be too risky to attempt. So most new recruits would never have even touched one, and it was unheard of to carry ballistas as armament on a ship, since they were too heavy for an average ship to carry. However, my ship was no average ship. I could probably put six more ballistas on my ship if I wanted to, though I only had time to build three.

When they were done, I placed the lollipop onto the ballista, setting it firmly into the groove meant for the fins. Then I estimated the range and the possible strength of the tension in the ballista before snapping off a length of fuse. I lighted up the snapped off fuse on a lantern and used it to light up the fuse still attached to the lollipop. Then I released the hook attached to the ballista's string and gave them direction in aiming the ballista while the fuse got shorter with every second that passed.

"Fire!" I ordered once I was satisfied with the ballista's aim. The lollipop and its sparking fuse flew in the night sky, before the light from the fuse disappeared and the lollipop itself fell into the cold water.

"It missed," Mr. Lustri stated.

"Doesn't matter," I said while looking through my telescope, "It's hollow, it floats."

Not long after I said that, something exploded against the longboat's port-side, capsizing it and throwing the men in the boat into the water. It probably didn't have enough power to make a hole in the hull since it didn't hit, but the impact from the high velocity shockwave was enough to turn the ship over. If it wasn't enough, I would just fire a second one. I still have eleven.

"Captain, I am again humbled by your strategy," Mr. Lustri bowed respectfully.

Fufufu, yes, praise me more.

******

We bid farewell to the Surfesian merchant ship about three miles from the port of Kaliche in Surfes territory. At this point, there was no more threat to the merchant ship since the coastal patrol would be around to keep it safe from pirates. Unfortunately, Kaliche was an enemy port and not designated as a neutral port for trading. With our heavily armed-looking warship, approaching Kaliche would probably trigger a diplomatic incident. So after seeing off the merchant ship, we raised the sails and set off at full speed straight towards Lytis, or as straight as the wind allowed us.

It was two nights later that another incident happened. I was sleeping after a stressful argument with the nobles. They were unsatisfied with the food they'd been getting on the ship and demanded double servings each day. Gani finally blew up, much to Lili's glee, since that meant she won the bet. As reward for winning the bet, Lili asked if she'd be allowed to sleep in the same bed with me for the night.

Now, a normal noble lady would probably think that Lili just wanted to know how it would feel sleeping in a noblewoman's bed. I on the other hand would probably think Lili missed the days when we slept together as kids years ago. Unfortunately, Lili already confessed her feelings towards me and I knew this was already something else. I had a sudden fear that I would be attacked in my sleep.

She looked so hopeful, and I knew it must've taken her a lot of courage to ask that. Looking at that cute puppy dog eyes, who could say no? Besides, I still like girls, even though I have accepted that I would have to marry men in my second life. So I consented to her request. The look of happiness on her face made my heart beat furiously.

I did get attacked that night, but not by Lili. I woke up when I noticed the bed shifted. Lili was no longer by my side, but once my eyes adjusted to the darkness and the grogginess faded, I could hear sounds of something falling to the floor.

"Lili?" I asked.

"Are you awake, my lady? Please don't worry, I'm already done," she said as she made a sound of dragging something heavy on the floor.

I quickly lighted up a lantern and could finally see what she was dragging. It was the corpses of two men! They were wearing black cloaks with their blood pooling under them. Shortly after, there was the sound of tolling bells. Something is happening!

I quickly got up, grabbed my robe, my new sword, my two guns and my bullet belt and stepped over the bodies of the two men that Lili had already let go since the warning bell sounded.

"Please stay close to me, my lady," Lili said as she wiped her bloody knife on a piece of tissue paper.

Together, we came out into the scene of a battlefield. Around us were my men and women fighting against black-clothed men wielding cutlasses and daggers. My men also wielded cutlasses though the women all wielded either short pikes or their spear sentry standard issue throwing knives. It seemed like they were not confident with fighting using cutlasses yet. Or it could be that they couldn't get ahold of any cutlasses and only used their throwing knives as melee weapons since three of them were strapped to their belts. Similarly, the knife Lili was using was also a spear sentry standard issue throwing knife.

"My lady, duck!" Lili said as I quickly went down on deck. Lili threw the throwing knife in her hand and hit the man who was about to throw his own dagger at me from behind.

From my position, I could also see men approaching Lili from behind and her left, so I let loose with my guns. The explosive sound of the gun stunned everyone except Lili, Gani and I. As the men I shot fell to the deck from the wounds that penetrated their unarmoured bodies and hitting the men behind them , I stood up, pulling the hammer again and fired a second volley when they overcame their shock and came at me as one.

Gani, Lili and Mr. Lustri protected me as I reloaded my gun. Each time I ran out of bullets, they would come forward and shielded me as I reloaded. Eventually my spear sentries (armed with only throwing knives and short pikes) managed to fight their way towards me. On the cramped aftcastle, the women formed the only formation they knew of, the phalanx, but without the spears, the shields or the armour. They had to make do with a throwing knife in each hand, the left functioning as a parrying weapon, the right functioning as a stabbing weapon.

It was a close quarter combat technique that I drilled them in, for cases where there would not be enough space to use shields and spears. Naturally, a woman's strength can’t compare to a man's muscle strength, so deflecting sword thrust is a better option than blocking it. It may not look like much, but it is a very versatile fighting method. Against an opponent with a shield, it may not be of much use. But against opponents with long swords, large swords or spears, as long as the knife user can get in range, she will win. Heavy weapons have great damage, but they're also slow. For each slash of a heavy weapon, a dual-wielding knife user can make three separate stabs and slashes if the weapon proficiency is at the same level. Unfortunately, this fighting technique is pointless in a battle formation as a volley of arrows can easily mow down the whole team.

However, it provided enough of a buffer for me to shoot and reload as I pleased with no danger to myself. Anytime a pirate came within range of one of them, she would parry a blow, while those on her right and left side would take a step forward and thrust their knives into the offender's guts or chest, creating multiple wounds within a period of one or two seconds. At some point, the pile of corpses started blocking the way and the rest of the pirates hesitated to move forward, which made them easy targets for my guns. The battle was over when the soldiers belowdeck managed to push the invaders out into the open, after which they became clear targets for my guns and my archers.

In total, we killed over one hundred pirates, with me dealing almost thirty kills on my own. It was mostly because they were unarmoured and my bullets easily tore through their bodies and hitmthe pirates behind them. I had to thank them for crowding up around me, I would probably hit my own men if they hadn’t come to me as a crowd. Considering that only one hundred and six men and women actually fought, it was a pretty good outcome. We lost twenty-two people, mostly due to the initial surprise attack, but there was nothing I could do about it. I swore to their spirits that I would take care of their families, and that was all I could promise them.

So now we had sixteen pirate prisoners, including the captain of one of the pirate longboats. Apparently, the captains of different pirate longboats came together and discussed hitting my ship together. The pirates that came on board first were the black clothed 'Night Raiders' group. They caught us by surprise with their night attack. I did not train my spear sentries in night warfare, since nobody attempted it in the battlefield. So this shocked me a lot, and because of that I lost some good soldiers. Out of about twenty that came on board, only three survived the battle.

The rest of them were from the 'Stare Viper' pirate group, supposedly the underdog of the five pirate groups that attacked us. From what I learned later, they were only formed a few months previous by survivors of the first campaign in the war between Surfes and Forlendia. With their homes destroyed and their families having nothing to eat, they resorted to piracy. Of course, that excuse wouldn't work with me.

I unsheathed my sword. It had a very thin blade, measuring 2 1/2 feet in length, two inches in width at the base leading to a sharp point and less than half an inch in thickness at the base. The cross-guard had a pretty design, as befitting a sword for a girl. It had an amethyst placed inside the rain-guard with the Metrune coat of arms drawn inside, of which the method of production was known only to me.

I know it's flashy, but I deserve to have nice things by now.

I placed the tip of the sharp sword under the chin of one of the black-clothed pirates and pushed it up so his eyes looked straight at me.

"You have a choice, scum," I said, "Die horribly or serve me."

He spat at me, despite having a sword at his throat. Gani managed to shield me from his spit with his own hand as the pirate cried, "I'd rather die horribly than to serve a noble bitch."

I see, still not giving up.

"Gani, mess him up," I said as I pulled back my sword.

"With pleasure, my lady," Gani said before he sliced the pirate's windpipe with his sword. Obviously it was a quick death.

"Gani..."

"Yes, my lady?"

"Did I accidentally say 'mess my ship up with his blood'?"

"No, my lady, you said mess him up."

"I see, then WHY BY THE ANCESTORS DID YOU KILL HIM?"

"But he already refused you and chose to die, didn't he?"

"I meant beat him up a little, you idiot!" I smacked him in the back of the head, "People can change with enough motivation!"

"Please forgive my stupidity, my lady. I still have a lot to learn," Gani bowed sincerely.

"Obviously! Oh well, what's done is done. You!" I pointed my sword at the remaining two black clothed pirates. "Obviously Gani doesn't mind killing you for me, so choose, death or serve?"

"Serve!" both of them answered at once.

"Mr. Lustri, I leave them in your hands."

"As you wish, captain," Mr. Lustri said as he had the two pirates taken away.

As for the rest of them...

"You are the captain?" I asked with my sword hanging limply on my side.

"I am the captain of the Stare Viper pirates. What of it?"

"How long have you been captain?"

"Long enough."

"How many ships have you attacked?"

"We have a good piracy record."

"How many exactly?"

"Why would you want to know?"

"Curiosity?"

"I killed enough people and stole enough goods to feed my family and my crew's family. If you want to execute me, go ahead. I have been well prepared for this."

"Oh? So you don't mind dying?"

"Hearing a death threat from a 10 year old girl feels strange, but I've seen stranger things. You can kill me anytime you want."

"I'm 11."

"What makes you think I care?"

"I can have you beheaded."

"Just do it."

"Why are you not afraid?"

"I knew what I got myself into. I was prepared to receive my punishment if caught. I am caught."

"Don't you care about your crew?"

"They knew what they signed up for."

"Don't you care about the family you left behind?"

"I left them enough to help them survive for a little while. They knew what was at stake. They will survive."

"Won't you beg for your life?"

"Won't you shut your mouth and just do it?"

I had a good laugh over that reply. The sight of me laughing hard must've shocked everyone on deck. For some reason, his reply really tickled me.

When I recovered, I asked him a different question. "Don't you want a real ship?"

"Huh?" he looked confused at my question.

"Instead of those small, fragile longboats, don't you want a real ship so that you can rob all those rich nobles and merchants?"

"I don't..."

"Do you like my ship?"

"My lady!"

The pirate captain looked utterly confused.

"Would you like to captain a ship like this?"

"My lady!"

"Quiet, Gani."

I could tell the pirate captain was trying to restrain himself. He was biting his lip and sweating. I could tell he was starting to be swayed by my words; men like big toys after all.

"Of course I'm not giving you this ship. It's a warship after all. What would I do if you use it against me? But I may be able to give you something close to this."

"Would you like to rob the rich nobles with a ship like this? Of course, it's only half this size, but it will still be pretty big, won't it?"

"And what do you get from this?" the pirate captain looked at me with eyes full of distrust.

"Honestly? I'm in it for research purposes. Maybe also because it's amusing."

"What?"

"You can raid as many enemy ships as you want. If you can get away with raiding their towns too, go ahead. What I want is a battle report. I want to see how well my ship performs in battle."

"We can raid as much as we want? You won't ask for any cut of the profit?"

"Ah, now that you mention it, I'll be expecting one tenth of the spoils. It's fair, I think, since I'm allowing you to use my ship for free. Do try however to conduct yourselves in a chivalrous manner. That means avoid killing civilians unnecessarily and definitely do not rape the women and children."

"A ship like this will need to be maintained at a port, we don't have a port of our own."

"Don't worry, what kind of idiot do you think I am? Of course I'll open my port to you. Just make sure that you're not docking at my port with the identity of river pirates."

The pirates and their captain whispered with each other. I have heard that pirates actually run a democracy instead of tyranny, but this is the first time I've seen it in action.

"If the ship is as good as you say, my lady, then we shall accept your offer."

"Is that so? Then come kneel at my feet, captain."

He did as told, as did the rest of his crew.

I put the sword in my hand back into its sheath that hung on my belt. Then I unbuckled the sheath itself from my belt. This was a unique sword. Due to its complexity, I only had the time to forge one, yet...

"Take my Dusk Claw as proof of employment. Show it at the port of Mruna if you are refused docking rights at any time in the future. If you ever decide to quit, return me the sword and you'll be free from your obligations."

Suddenly I heard whispers from around. Gani who had been quiet, spoke loudly, "My lady, why would you knight a bandit?"

Knight a bandit? Ahh, I see. So by having him kneel and giving him a sword, that means I'm knighting him? Medieval customs are so stuffy.

"I'm not a titled noble. Being knighted by me doesn't give any benefits," I rebuked.

"But, we've followed you for years, my lady. Why is he your first knight?"

Ah right, there's that thing called first knight, second knight and so on. It seems like the title of 'first knight' is very important. Damn it, I guess I've made a faux pas.

"It's not that... ahhh geez. Fine! Kneel before me, Gani."

"Yes my lady," Gani drop to his knees in front of me with head downward.

"Will you swear to serve me loyally, obey me unconditionally and protect me with everything you have?"

"Yes of course, my lady. My life shall be in service of you. My loyalty is yours to command."

"Raise your hands, Gani."

He raised his hands higher than his lowered head.

I took out the fully loaded double-barrelled pistol from the pocket of my robe and placed it on his hands. "This shall be your proof of allegiance. If one day you decide to quit, return me this gun and you shall be free from your obligations."

This sounds so pretentious and pompous. I'm embarrassed just saying the words. How can anyone make a career out of this?

"My-my lady!" Gani stammered when he realized what the thing in his hands was.

"What? Are you unsatisfied that you're not getting a sword?"

"But it's your boomstick!"

This is indeed a 'boomstick' of similar design as the one I used in chapter 3. It has two differences, though. The first is that it's designed to be able to handle the stress of nitrocellulose whenever I can find a way to produce nitric acid; I've forgotten all of my high school chemistry lessons. The second difference is that some parts of the wooden handle were replaced with citrine (with the Metrune coat of arms drawn inside) in the effort of making a sturdier, lighter gun. Yes, I know it's useless and there's no noticeable difference in weight, but I deserve to have nice things by now. Guess it's time to make another gun then.

There's also a slot for inserting a bayonet, in cases where melee fighting is inevitable.

"Call it a pistol, its name is Sunset Screamer. Now that I'm unarmed, you have to protect me, understand?"

Not quite. I still have the older Mk VII, but I really liked my Sunset Screamer. I was hoping to hold on to it a while longer.

"Yes! Of course! It is an honour to carry your boomstick and I shall protect you with everything I have, my lady!"

I sighed, suddenly feeling tired.

Seriously, I'm not even a baronet, why does it matter?

"I swear, my lady, that I will ensure your safe return, even at the risk of my own life," Gani said excitedly.

"Umm, thank you, my lady. I shall live in service of you," the pirate captain said as he kissed the sheathed sword.

Gani also kissed the barrel of the pistol.

Should I tell him not to kiss it? One of gunpowder's ingredients is dried poop. I wouldn't want to kiss poop, but that's probably just me.

"Hold out your hand, both of you," I said as I reached into the coin pouch at my belt.

With proof of employment still in one hand, they held out their hands. For each of them, I dropped three gold coins.

"That's for you. Do with it as you wish," I said as they looked at the gold with faces of shock.

It was an expected reaction. After all, commoners don't normally get to see gold coins at all, much less hold three of them in their hands. This ceremony also had never been done in public in recent history, except in cases of battlefield promotions.

Oh, I guess this can indeed be considered a battlefield promotion. The one doing battlefield promotion is often the king or his representative prince, though.

Since I was doing the whole knighting thing, I thought I might as well just go the whole hog. 'Gift of Gold' was a tradition that started way before, during the Imperial Era. The 'Knighting Ceremony' basically starts with the knight candidate performing exemplary deeds, which is called Gift of Valour. Then he is granted a sword in a tradition called 'Gift of the Sword', and this is very significant, since only nobles were allowed to carry swords back then. Then, the knight will perform the tradition called 'Gift of the Vow' where he makes vows of allegiance to his liege. After that was the 'Gift of Gold' tradition, where the liege gives him his first income to symbolize that the knight now works for the liege as well as to buy new equipment befitting his station.

Of course, that was just symbolic. Knights aren't actually paid in gold; they live by being granted a 'knight's fee' or 'fief', so many knights ended up keeping their ‘gift of gold’ for many generations. The amount granted depended on the liege's station and wealth. A baron or baronet would normally grant one gold coin. A count would normally grant two or three gold coins. A duke would grant four gold coins. A king would grant any amount of gold he could grab from his pocket, so tough luck for the knight if the king only had one gold coin in his pocket. I chose to give three, the equivalent of a count's knight, because that was the biggest amount I could grab in my hand. I have small hands and those gold coins are big.

As for their knight's fee, if the pirate captain survived our return trip to and from Tylis, I'd give him one of the cogs currently moored at Mruna's port. I have no idea what to give Gani. I mean, my land is rented from my father, so I can't give him land. Giving him another cog would be repetitive, so maybe not. Hmm... I'll just think about it when we return.

Towards Lili, I whispered, "Sorry Lili, I'm out of weapons to knight you with."

"It's fine, my lady. I am already satisfied that I'm allowed to stay with you," Lili whispered back into my ears, her whispering voice sounded so seductive making me break into cold sweat.

I later had the corpses of the pirates thrown overboard, except for those the pirate captain asked to be handled as soldiers. I agreed. The next morning, we performed a service for the soldiers we lost and the late pirates who served the pirate captain. They were still thrown overboard, but at least they had a lot more respect than the pirates we threw overboard the previous night. Since none of us were Spirit Clansmen, we had to make do with personal prayers and offerings of salt so that they would be able to reincarnate in peace at their own choosing.

That night Lili and I shared the same bed again. No, nothing happened. I just thought I should reward her a little for her good work protecting me and for not making a fuss about not being knighted. When I woke up the next morning, we were in each other's arms. I seriously couldn't remember how it happened.

 

 

*Thank you for reading. As usual, your comments are greatly appreciated. If people don't say anything, I will cry. Please don't make me cry.
**Many thanks to Jkoc for his assistance with research and Eric for proofreading this chapter.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Felicia Belphere Metrune. I am the only daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune. I am 11 years old. I haven't always been Baron Metrune's daughter though. I was originally a 29 year old man who lived in Cornwall. One day I got hit by a truck and you've probably guessed it, I was reincarnated into what seems to be medieval Europe. Uuu... Lili, why are you so cuuuute? You're making it very hard for me to resist you, you know? Felicia's Second Life Chapter 6 A tale of love (?) and change (lol) in a medieval era. By Shinieris

Hi everyone. It's your beloved Captain Felicia again! How are you all doing? Just to recap, we were on a voyage to ransom all the people who were captured in the Battle of Harrow's Passing. That included my father the baron and my brother Yucks. Our journey wasn't really smooth sailing.

We encountered some incidents, such as that battle against the five pirate groups. We suffered some casualties, but the good news was that the battle bonded everyone together. They were now working much closer and functioning well as a team. I had everyone practice using the three ballistas on board and hopefully, they would be able to use it properly if we were attacked by an armada of enemy ships. We're going to Lytis after all.

I also acquired the services of an experienced river pirate group as well as two pirates well-versed in night warfare. I planned on milking those black-clothed pirates for all the knowledge and skills they have. It was my hope that we wouldn't be taken by surprise at night again in the future. If things go well, we'll probably even be able to perform night raids of our own.

You probably recall that I knighted two people, but that's not important. I wondered why the pirate captain and his crewmen kept addressing me as 'princess' though. Did I look like a princess in their eyes? Or was it sarcasm? If that was meant as sarcasm, I would definitely kick them off my ship into shark-infested waters.

Now as for our destination, Lytis, to put it simply, it was an enemy city. Despite being an enemy city though, it was designated as a neutral port city, where ships regardless of affiliation could dock and trade. Due to this policy, the city attracted all manner of people, such as merchants, mercenaries, pirates, slave traders, entertainers and many more. It was said that if you wanted something and it was of any value, you would be able to find it in Lytis.

Currently, the city is being governed by Surfes's second prince, Prince Hans of Lytis. He was the one in charge of Surfes's army during the battle at Harrow's Pass. As such, all the prisoners were his to do with as he pleased.

You're probably asking, "Just Hans? What's his family name? His middle name?" Unlike us Forlendians, Surfesians don't use family names or middle names. They are practical people and in a way, I respect that. Instead of the useless middle names and the clan-like family name that us Forlendians use, the Surfesians went for practical ones, such as Prince Hans, second son of King Garren The Mighty or Potter Leif, son of Mista the Weaver. Prince Hans is still considered young, so titles like The Mighty or The Courageous or the like haven't stuck to him yet. In Surfes, these titles are granted by the people and the popularity of the title depends on how many people call them by that title. Therefore, it is in their own best interest to conduct themselves properly lest they acquire embarrassing titles such as The Cruel, The Lame or The Stupid. The former king of Surfes, father of King Garren The Mighty was even called King Sacres The Bumbling Fool by his own citizens.

We arrived outside Lytis the day after the funeral service following the battle with the river pirates. On the way there we were stopped by numerous Surfesian river patrols for flying Forlendian flag and I had to keep taking out the ducal decree stating that we were on a diplomatic mission to ransom the prisoners. Of course, they didn't fully trust us, what with us sailing a large warship into their waters. So they provided an 'escort' the moment we went through the first checkpoint. It just kept adding up every time we passed through another checkpoint. By the time we reached the sixth checkpoint, we had a fleet of fifteen triremes escorting us towards the port of Lytis.

That was really annoying. I can now understand how kings and princesses feel.

Then suddenly a port official came on board a trireme and told us not to approach further. Apparently, my ship was simply too large to fit into their ports. So we'd have to set anchor outside the port and send either a boat or one of our smaller ships instead. Sigh, the pain of being too awesome. Non-awesome people will never understand the hassle of being too awesome among the average people.

Luckily, we were towing two of the pirate longboats that we appropriated from the dead pirates. One of them was a longboat of sturdy construction once owned by the "River Snake' pirates, all of whom were dead. The other was a fast and silent longboat owned by a group called 'Night Raider" pirates. The rest of the longboats were scuttled, since we couldn't bloody well tow five longboats behind the ship. This is a warship, not a 'just married' carriage.

So it was decided that we would enter the port using the armoured longboat once used by the 'River Snake' pirates.

Of course we also have two small boats of our own. Seriously though, can you imagine me, Felicia, taking a small swaying rowboat to enter the port like a common peasant? No man, I'm going to enter the port by ship and I will enter it standing all the way through. If I can walk on water, I will freaking march into the port from my ship. I'm not some small time noble who can only sneak in like a rat. I'm Captain Awesome Felicia! I own the biggest ship in this continent.

Well, maybe not the whole continent, but definitely the biggest ship in this part of the continent.

That was why, when the chief negotiator by the name of Count Suletrius told me to hand over the wooden chest containing 200 gold coins for father's and brother's ransom, I was confused.

"I will ransom everyone together. It's possible I will be able to arrange a smaller ransom with the amount we're paying him," he said as he watched the men load up the chests containing all the gold collected from Renus and the nearby counties back home.

"How much is the total ransom?" I asked.

"5400 gold," he stated.

My face turned into ('0') upon hearing that amount. With that much gold one can buy a small barony, a large fleet of triremes or even pay for ten prostitutes a day (not that I've ever tried) for almost fifteen years. Such a staggering amount!

"You're a smart girl, I knew you'd understand. I think I can probably persuade the prince to accept a lower amount of ransom for everyone," he said as he gently laid his hand on the chest in the boat. As always, he didn't even bother to make a smile. All those times I saw him aboard the ship, I had never even once saw him smile.

"You will bring home father, brother and everyone from Mruna?"

"Of course."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay," I said as I allowed his assistants to pile the chest onto the carriage they rented.

As I watched them leave with my money, I felt a little lost. I mean, I had come here to ransom father and brother, and even imagined myself being in a heated argument with this prince for a lower ransom. Now that I had lost my purpose though, I had no idea what to do.

I was even dressed for the occasion, damn it! Maybe exploring the city would be a good way to pass time. With that decided, I jumped off the longboat, grabbed Lili's hand and took off into the city. Of course, I told the pirate captain that I didn't want to be disturbed.

A brig, like The Abundance of Lollipops.
A longboat like the ones used to attack Felicia's ship

******

"Uwaah, that's pretty," Lili said as she admired a pair of diamond rings in one of the stalls at Lytis's southern marketplace.

It was a pair of matching rings consisting of a gold band and a diamond half an inch in diameter at the head, along with smaller diamonds along the length of the band near the head. Unlike in the modern world, bastards like deBeers don’t exist in this world, so the price of diamond accessories isn't as inflated as that of its modern world counterparts.

"So you can show a girl's adorable expression after all, Lili," I teased, while noting that there was only one pair of diamond rings in the whole stall. The rest of the merchandise were either made of pearls or colourful stones.

"It's diamond, my lady, diamond! How can anyone not like it?"

"I told you to call me Felicia here, Lili. Low profile, remember?"

"I-I'm sorry, my la-Felicia," she said as her face turned red.

Come on, Lili. This isn't fair! How can you expect me to control myself when you're acting so adorable? Learn to be less obvious, please! You're making me want to eat you, you know?

"This paired ring would look elegant and emphasize your beauty with it around your graceful fingers, beautiful young lady," the merchant said.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just looking, I don't have money."

"How much?" I asked the merchant.

"For this beautiful lady, only 5 gold. It would be an honour for me to help make-"

"Oi!"

"Yes, dear lady?"

"You're selling glass for 5 gold? Even scams should know moderation," I said with my arms crossed at my chest.

"No, I don't know what you mean, my lady. This is real diamond. Straight from the place called the Diamond Mountain of West Pharus."

"Oh really?" I raised the rings to his eye level, "Have you even looked at it under sunlight? Did you not see the imperfections, the discolouration? Do you still dare to tell me that this is actually diamond?"

"I assure you my lady, this is diamond!" the merchant argued, but I could tell that even he was starting to waver. He was sweating terribly and his eyes were looking unsure of his own words.

"Then would you mind going through the hammer and chisel test? If it's diamond, nothing will happen to it, right?"

"You-if you break it, you'll have to buy it."

I grabbed 5 gold from my pouch and spread it on the table. "As you can see, I can afford it. If I'm wrong and it's really diamond, I'll pay you the full price, plus 5 gold."

I took out 5 more gold. "But if it breaks, I'm not paying a single copper. So you can keep it."

The merchant looked at the gold on the table and bit his lips. Eventually he relented on a discount instead of a hammer and chisel test. I got the paired diamond rings for 1 gold in the end.

"Amazing, although it's just glass, it shines so brilliantly. Thank you very much, my lady," she said as we took a seat on a block of stone that functioned as a park bench in a nearby park.

"It's not glass."

"Pardon?"

"It's real diamond."

"Eh??? But you said just now it was glass?"

"It was a psychology trap. I think someone probably pawned it off on him, telling him that it was diamond but the merchant himself doesn't really know."

"What is sai-ko-lo-ji?"

"I made him think that it could be nothing more than glass, then I played on his fear of losing money. I ended up getting him to see things that don't exist."

"But what about the imperfections and discolouration you mentioned earlier, my lady?"

"Natural diamonds always have some discolouration, though perfect diamonds are perfect so that's not really an indication of whether or not it's real. And if someone says that there are definitely cracks on something, you will start to think there are indeed cracks on it too. The rest, your own imagination will supplement."

"You're ruthless as always, my lady," Lili giggled.

"I take that as a compliment. Anyway, why are you still calling me that? I told you to call me Felicia, remember?"

"I-I'm sorry, my lady," she whimpered under my glare, "I mean, Felicia. Umm, Fe-Felicia, it's a paired ring. Would you like to... umm... wear one of it with me?"

"Wear a paired ring? Me?"

"I'm sorry if I went out of line. Please forget it."

"I don't mind. But don't you want to do something like this with a boyfriend or maybe your future husband?"

"That will probably be far in the future, my lady. Besides, you were the one who bought it."

"Are you sure you want to wear the same ring with me? And you slipped again."

"Yes, Fe-Felicia. If it's okay with you."

Who can refuse that cute face, especially when you look so hopeful and about to cry from fear? This is so unfair, Lili. You're too adorable. So you're seeing this as something like an unofficial wedding in your mind, aren't you?

"Is it fine?" I asked, knowing full well what this meant to her.

"Yes, if it's okay with you, my-umm... Felicia."

"Alright, hold out your hand, Lili."

Lili held out her left hand.

Damn it, Lili. Your intentions are way too obvious. Or is it because I'm too aware of your feelings for me? Wouldn't people hold out their right hand if it's a friendship ring?

Without saying a word, I put the ring around her left ring finger. Just that simple act raised her mood greatly. It felt like a happiness that radiated from her whole being. She looked so radiant, so bright like the sun, but now it was my turn. So I held out my right hand. She looked a little sad, but she still put the ring around my right ring finger.

Please don't make that look, Lili. You know I can't accept your feelings, don't you?

I grabbed her left hand with my right. Palm to palm, fingers intertwined. The paired diamond rings glittered brilliantly under the early morning sun. Lili looked at our diamond rings being side by side and her face brightened immediately. It was irresistible.

I pulled her left hand to me with my right. My left hand moved behind her, holding up the middle of her spine. With her face showing an expression of not understanding what happened...

I kissed her. I couldn't help it. In my eyes she was the most beautiful creature in this world. You would've kissed her too if you could see how beautiful she was.

She looked shocked. Her face red. Her eyes wide. I wondered if I did something wrong.

Shortly after, she fainted.

Eh? Lili? What's going on? Somebody help? Anyone?

******

"Uuu..."

I heard Lili stir in the other bed.

"Thank goodness you're awake, Lili. You scared me to death when you fainted just then," I said, putting down the book I've been reading.

Thank goodness it wasn't something like a curse. I was afraid that the ring was taken from a pair of murdered lovers or something and that it was cursed by their ghosts. Thankfully that wasn't the case.

"Umm... my lady? Where are we?"

"An inn. What's the last thing you remember? And don't forget, call me Felicia."

"Umm... I seem to vaguely recall having a nice and happy dream."

Damn it, Lili! That wasn't a dream! But I'm not going to tell her that. That was out of line for me. I can't accept her feelings and I shouldn't give her hope. It would be too cruel for her. Hopefully this is just a phase.

"Did you carry me here, my-Felicia?"

"You kidding? I, who can't even raise a longsword carry you here? Of course not! I hired someone to bring you here."

"Oh, I'm sorry, my la-Felicia. I don't know what happened."

"Don't worry about it. I'm more pissed off that an inn of this level set me back 4 silver. If even a peasant's room cost 4 silver, I wonder how much their deluxe rooms would cost."

"I am sorry, Felicia. Not only did you buy me a diamond ring, you also had to spend extra money for my sake."

"I can afford it. Don't worry. This is probably the last time we set foot in Lytis, so let's have fun, okay?"

"Yes. I don't know what people do for fun here, though."

"Let's find that out slowly. Anyway, if you're up for it, would you run to that pirate captain Kaito or Kairo or Keizo and give him this letter? I don't want them to get worried and start turning over the whole city to find us," I said as I handed her a folded paper.

"Yes. I'll be right back," she said as she left the room.

Later Lili arrived huffing and puffing. She said the pirate captain was so afraid of 'the princess's' safety, that he sent three of his men to escort us. Thankfully, neither of the three pirates could keep up with Lili's nimbleness and small frame. Lili managed to lose them in the vicinity of East Market, which was another part of the city.

As a result, we could sightsee as much as we wanted without any worry that we would be found. The first thing we went for was of course, shopping! No matter which world you go to, girls will always enjoy shopping.

Strangely enough, for a ruined city at the heart of a war, Lytis prospered. Or perhaps Lytis prospered because it was a city at the heart of a war? Being the only neutral port in the region, a center of administration of the River Country and sitting on top of the main travel route for soldiers and mercenaries, Lytis perhaps prospered due in part to the high traffic it enjoyed. Supposedly, Lytis also sold everything. Looking for slaves? Just head to the eastern markets. Looking for mercenaries? Simply head to the mercenary encampments outside the city walls. If it can be bought or sold, then you can find it in Lytis.

Unfortunately, everything here is expensive. For a dress that would have sold for only 6 big copper in Renus, you'd have to spend at least 2 silver to get a similar one. For a sword that would cost only 2 big copper, in Lytis it would have sold for 1 silver.

In the region of the old empire, 3 small copper equals 1 big copper, 20 big copper equals 1 silver and 15 silver equals 1 gold. Considering that five cups of wheat grain in Renus costs only 1 big copper, a dress in Lytis costs at least 200 cups of wheat grain in Renus, that's 'at least', not 'around'. To make it worse, this isn't anything like a designer dress, it's just a normal everyday noblewoman's dress, so it's incredibly expensive.

Regardless, I bought one for Lili. It cost me 3 silver, but watching Lili's bright face made it all worth the price. She refused it at first, but after I teased her with the threat of throwing the dress into the drainage pipes, she finally accepted it. However, from then on she refrained from showing any interest to any other stuff there, probably out of fear that I would buy everything she touched.

As for me, I didn't buy anything. There was nothing I particularly needed. I have plenty of dresses. I have plenty of weapons. I have plenty of books. I also have many ships. What more would I want from this 'anything goes' marketplace?

Of course, I can buy slaves. They're not sold in Renus, but why would I want to buy one? Especially when I'm getting slaves for free?

Satisfied with our shopping trip, we then headed to some of Lytis's famous landmarks. First we went to Lytis's haunted castle. It was formerly home of the Luneris royal family who were slaughtered to the last child and had unspeakable things done to them during Surfes's successful invasion of the River Country many years ago. Some years later, stories of the first ghost sightings started circulating among the citizens. It was speculated that the ghosts of the former royal family couldn't rest in peace. With their entire bloodline extinct, there was no longer any possibility of reincarnation, as the conditions for reincarnation require the birth of a descendant or descendant of closely related family members. It is said that nobody survived the massacre, not even the branch families. It was a fate worse than death.

All throughout the visit though, Lili stuck close behind me, keeping contact with me by holding a small part of my dress. She looked so cute like this, like a small animal. Still, why would she be afraid? It wasn't like we were exploring the mansion by ourselves. There were other people besides us here, since the mansion had been converted into an art museum. Besides, ghosts wouldn't come out at day time, right?

Next we bought some takeaway food, consisting of roasted squids, pieces of roasted lamb and fruit punch. We took a seat on one of the large rocks that littered the shore of Lunis River, one of Lytis's three rivers, and sat with our backs resting against each other. This river may look pretty and be considered a romantic spot now, but it has a grim past. Its original name was Funeral Stream, because during the city's imperial days, the last emperor had the whole city torched and its citizens beheaded for attempting to rebel against the empire. This river, which had its name changed to Lunis River was where that same emperor dumped all the bodies. The bridge from which he had them thrown into the river was long gone, but at one point, this river that was about 100 feet wide had so many floating corpses that it was said you could cross the river without even using the bridge.

Of course, Lili didn't know that. Else she wouldn't even want to get close. That's fine, though. This Lili who is afraid of ghosts is very adorable.

"Lili, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Felicia. What is it?"

"Have you ever thought of living a different life?"

Lili paused and put her roasted squid on the rock beside us. "What do you mean by that, Felicia?"

"Like, maybe living a life of a free woman? A life where you're not attending to me?"

Silence. She made neither a move nor a sound as I waited for her answer. When she finally spoke, I could tell she was holding her tears.

"Is this why you've been so nice to me, my lady? Are you throwing me away?"

"What? No!" I turned around to confront the sobbing Lili, "By the ancestors, that's not what I meant. You're thinking too far, Lili."

I wrapped my arms around her body. Pulling her close, I whispered in her ears, "I'm not throwing you away, Lili. We've been best friends for our entire lives, aren't we?"

"But..."

"We were even born on the same day, Lili. We're closer to sisters than even blood-related sisters. How can I possibly throw you away? Wouldn't it be like throwing away my own family?"

She stopped crying and her arms also snuck their way around me. She pulled me closer and I relented, hugging her tightly as our breaths mixed together. Suddenly I realized that she would probably take this the wrong way, that I was probably giving her the wrong signal. I tried to disengage from her, but she held me tighter.

"Please, my lady. Would you allow me this just this once?" she pleaded with her face resting against my chest.

I nodded and wrapped my arms around her again. It wasn't really a hard decision. She was simply so soft and she felt so good in my arms.

I couldn't tell how long we were like that, but we eventually disentangled ourselves when it looked like it would rain. The River Country wasn't known for long downpours, being that it had such strong winds that rain clouds move from one spot to the other pretty quickly. Regardless, we should probably go back to the inn.

It started raining as we got near the inn and we hastened to reach the inn before the downpour started. By accident, I bumped against something large and almost fell on my butt if not for Lili suddenly coming up from behind and held me up. I looked in front of me and it was a large man, wearing black leather and holding a knife in his left hand.

"How dare you raise a knife against Lady Felicia. Do you want to die, rogue?" Lili threatened as she slipped a hand under her sleeve for a hidden throwing knife she kept tied around her lower arm.

"Rogue? Wait, hold on. I just had a frayed hem and was in the process of cutting it when this pretty lady bumped into me. Thankfully she didn't bump against the knife, or else we'd have a completely different problem," the man said.

He was right, it could've been worse. "I'm sorry, I was in a hurry because of the rain. Please excuse me," I said as I ran ahead into the inn with Lili in tow. Strange though, that man looked familiar to me.

We arrived just as it started to rain outside.

"What luck, eh?" I said.

"Absolutely, Felicia. If we were a minute later, we'd have been drenched."

"All that running's making me hungry, though. Let's have an early dinner."

"I wonder what they have for tonight."

"Guess we'll find out," I said as I called a waitress to get our orders. We ended up having a very satisfying meal of beef and vegetables.

It was then time to pay and something unexpected happened.

"Eh? Where's my coin pouch?" I said as I touched the part of my belt where my coin pouch used to hang.

"Could it have fallen somewhere?" Lili asked as she looked at the floor and took a few steps towards the door.

Suddenly the waitress, a woman in her 30s (probably) said with an unhappy face, "I see, eating and running, is it? Haven't had that happen since last week."

"Wait, hold on a minute! I really had money, look, it looks like the attaching leather is cut somehow."

"Cut?" Lili came back and examined the place where my coins pouch used to hang.

"If you're beggars, you shouldn't order food here. There's a soup kitchen on Knave's Path, it's free to eat there," the waitress said condescendingly, but neither Lili nor I took notice.

"The man with a knife!" we came to a conclusion at the same time.

"Let's go find that bastard!" I said as we moved to go out.

That was before the waitress grabbed both of us in a choke hold. "Do you think you're the first beggar kids to eat and run? Not even a 'sorry', you're really begging me to send you to the watchmen, aren't you?"

"Wait, you got it all wrong! We're not beggars, just look at my dress. Does this look like a beggar's dress to you?"

"Dresses can be stolen."

"No, we really got robbed. Please believe us!"

"I won't be fooled like that again. If I let you both go, you'll just run away."

"Then let my friend go, she'll look for the thief. I'll stay here as hostage, how about it?"

"No, my lady!"

"Hostage eh? Very well," she loosened her hold on Lili. "You can go, but you," she tightened her hold on my neck, "Are staying here as hostage."

"That's fine. Lili, can you find him?"

"I-I still remember what he looks like. Tracking is not my strong point, but if it's less than an hour, I think I can find him."

"Then go take your cloak, I don't want you to fall sick."

"Yes, my lady!" Lili said as she ran up the flight of stairs two steps at a time, took the cloak and jumped down from the second floor. She was out of the door before I could even say anything else.

"Umm, can't we work this out somehow? In case my friend can't find the thief?" I said as I sat in a corner of the kitchen.

"Sure, we'll just hand you over to the watchmen. Do you want to know what they'd do to a pretty little thing like you?" the waitress from before said. She was sitting on a barrel, probably filled with some kind of ale. The hem of her uniform, a barmaid costume, rode up halfway on her thighs as she rested one foot onto a box filled with bottles of some kind of spirit.

"Now now, big sis, she's probably telling the truth. She's too clean to be a beggar," the other woman, presumably the younger sister came forward and pinched my cheeks. She was wearing the same black barmaid costume as the older one.

"You're too trusting, Nira. Remember how mom and dad died? If not for my husband, we'd have ended up on the streets that time."

"But I don't think she's lying. She has an honest face."

"Face doesn't mean shit when a person is lying. That's what they call 'poker face', you know?"

"Umm, the bill amounts to 3 silver, right? I paid for 3 days' lodging for one of the rooms upstairs. Can't you deduct it from my room fee?"

"This and that are under different management," the older sister said.

"Eh? Then surely there's something else, maybe I can wash the dishes or something?"

"I thought your cover story is a noblewoman. Are you telling me that wherever you're from, noblewomen wash dishes like a common house maid?"

Good point. Although I've done my fair share of washing dishes, crops and some work that noblewomen would consider 'dirty', 'washing dishes' isn't what a noblewoman would have been caught dead doing. Even for a small and poor noble family such as mine, mother and I never washed the dishes ourselves before I started having my own farm and working in my own workshop.

"Well... I've done it before."

"No, if you're really a noblewoman, I won't risk you breaking the plates," the older sister refused.

Suddenly the little sister who was having fun pinching my cheeks and playing with my long brown hair said, "You're really pretty. Have you ever thought of becoming a waitress?"

"Nira! I won't have her breaking the plates!"

"Just talking orders and delivering drinks will be fine, don't you think? Not much chance for her to screw up, and we get a fresh employee for free. Besides, it's going to become busy in just an hour, right?"

The older sister looked thoughtful, before she said, "You're going to be a trainee waitress for a period of one week. You won't be paid a single copper for this period unless it's a tip from the customers. In exchange, you get to eat whatever we eat and three mugs of cider a day. Your duties will include taking orders, delivering drinks, sweeping and cleaning the restaurant as well as wiping tables. If you mess up, we have the right to kick you out immediately and hand you over to the watchmen. Do you agree?"

"A week? But I only paid for 3 days' worth of accomodation."

"You can sleep in the attic."

"Is it haunted?"

"What?"

"My friend is afraid of ghosts."

The younger sister giggled. "There is no ghost, but there are a lot of cobwebs, some spiders and dust. Nothing a little cleaning won't fix."

The older sister continued. "The same goes for your friend. If she wants to stay here and eat the same meals, she will have to work. Same deal."

I thought about the offer. I didn't actually come here to get a job. I came here to play. Losing my money and getting into debt wasn't part of the plan. Sure, I still have money left in my cabin, but if I went back for it, chances are, I won't even be able to get off the ship again.

"I accept," I said, because I thought wearing their uniforms and and waitressing would be kind of hot.

Let me explain a little. As Malcolm, I was not only a re-enactor, but also a cosplayer. I've cosplayed as Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon, Alucard from Hellsing and even crossdressed as Chii from Chobits. The thought of wearing a barmaid costume, which I had never worn before, made me kind of excited.

"Then I leave her training to you, Nira. Get her ready in half an hour," the older sister decided as she got up and left to the restaurant floor area.

"Huhuhu, we're going to have so much fun," the little sister said.

"I look forward to it," I said with a curtsey.

I probably shouldn't have been looking forward to it so much. And so, I got my first job in my second life. I regretted it almost immediately after.

Starting my job during its peak hour was probably not the best time to learn the job. I made a lot of mistakes such as taking the wrong orders, delivering drinks to the wrong tables, scolding people when they touched my butt and slapping customers when they called me 'wench'. If not for my cute face and Nira's intervention, it would've probably become a big issue.

Thankfully, as the night got late, the number of customers lessened and I was able to learn the work at a more manageable pace. My boss Nira was very kind and gentle and she explained and taught me many things about my job. Unfortunately, she was kind of like a perverted old man. Her groping was even worse than the customers and she seemed particularly attached to stroking my long hair and hugging my smaller body while rubbing her face on my cheeks. She scared me in different ways from her older sister, also my boss.

It was during one of these skinship rituals that Lili returned. "What are you doing to Lady Felicia, you hag?!"

"Hag? Now that's rude, I'm not even 30 yet," Nira sighed as she nuzzled her nose on my cheek with her arms tightly holding me against her large breasts.

"You-How dare you! Not even I get to do that. Let her go at once!" she said as she took out the hidden knife under her sleeves.

Wait, Lili. Are you saying that it's fine for her to do it if you can do it too? And put the knives away!

"Lili, please calm down. This is Nira, one of the owners of the restaurant. She's just teaching me some things," I said as I pushed Nira away.

She looked at my uniform as if noticing it for the first time. "What's with the dress, my lady?"

"Well, uhh, starting today, I work here."

"Ehhh? Why? There's no need for you to work at this dirty, rundown restaurant, my lady!"

"Well, sorry that the restaurant is dirty and run down," Nira said with a tight smile.

"Is it because of the money? I couldn't find the thief, but I'll go back to the ship and borrow money right away, my lady!"

"Hold that thought!" I said as I grabbed Lili's wrist. "This must not reach their ears, understand?"

"But my lady, you're a highborn. Just from selling the ship you can buy ten of these rundown restaurants!"

"I have decided, Lili."

"But-but... I can't let you serve those brutes like a common barwench."

"Sorry for being a 'common barwench'," Nira mumbled again.

"Lili, quit it. I will get angry."

"Umm, then I will also become a barwench. I'll do everything that you have to do, my lady!"

"Great! Welcome. Ahh, it's nice to have young girls," Nira said as she hugged the much smaller girl tightly.

******

"Two of today's special and two mugs of Foxfire Ale for table 12," I said to the older sister, whose name was Nara.

"Understood, take these to table 6," she pushed forward three mugs of bluish drink. "And take these to table 2," she pushed forward two mugs of beer.

"Table 6 and table 2, got it!" I said as I carried those in my hands.

"Lili, take these to table 3," she said to Lili who was waiting behind me.

"Yes!" Lili was surprisingly eager. Perhaps after being trained for two days, she had become less jumpy and less sensitive about the patrons' vulgar teasing.

"Alright, here you go, three mugs of Blue Peach Brandy. Your meals will arrive shortly. Is there anything else you want?"

"How about a kiss, Felicia?"

"A kiss? Oh gee, I don't think my boss will like me doing that very much."

"Let's keep it our little secret," the man grinned.

"Not very secret when she's watching... and apparently glaring. Sorry, Mr. Kute, I have to deliver these mugs to table 2."

"Here you go, Mr. Malor and Mr. Soom. Your meal will arrive shortly, is there anything more you want?"

"I want you to put your cute butt on my lap, baby," Mr. Soom patted his lap.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Soom, but my butt is pretty expensive," I said with a smile and a wink.

"Then how about calling me 'daddy', Felicia?" Mr. Malor said.

"Are you sure that's fine, Mr. Malor, won't your real daughter be angry?"

"Aw no. My daughter is a sewer-mouthed spinster. Seriously, I have no idea where we went wrong raising her."

"Then... daddy, is it? Is there anything else you need, daddy?"

"Ooohhhh! This is what it should've been. Damn it! Where has my youth disappeared to?" he said as he placed a single silver into my left hand.

"Felicia, call me 'daddy' too!" Mr. Soom begged, also discreetly putting a silver into my right hand.

"Okay, daddy."

Mr. Soom cried tears of happiness, before he placed another silver into my right hand. "Now why don't you sit on daddy's lap?"

"I'm sorry, daddy, this and that are two different things," I said in refusal.

He added another silver.

"I guess I can sometimes, but I shouldn't really do it."

Another silver.

"Oh well, I'll take pity on you today, daddy. But I'll have to get up when my boss tells me to work, okay?" I said as I plopped down onto Mr. Soom's lap.

"Hey, not fair, baby girl, sit on daddy's lap next."

"No! She's sitting on my lap! Get your own daughter to sit on yours!" then Mr. Soom called to my boss, "Hey Nara, I'm treating Felicia to a meal, okay?"

My boss looked at me sitting on Mr. Soom's lap and gave a dismissive wave. She was probably a bit more lenient since we didn't have many customers right then. There were a few tables still waiting for their meals, but Lili could take care of it if it was only that much.

Meanwhile, Mr. Malor mumbled something like, "If I ask my daughter to sit on my lap, my legs will break."

"What would you like to eat, Felicia?" Mr. Soom asked.

"Anything is fine," I said noncommittally.

"Then only the best for my little girl. How does roasted lamb set and a mug of brandy sound?"

"A meal fit for a king, daddy!" I agreed to his delight as I got up to deliver the order.

Then I went back to the table and sat myself back on Mr. Soom's lap. I took a bite of my roasted lamb as I listened to Mr. Malor and Mr. Soom exchange rumours. Did I forget to mention that Mr. Soom and Mr. Malor are both two of Lytis's top merchants?

From their conversation, I learned that the ruler of the city is known as Prince Hans The Lecherous. Although a capable ruler, his achievements are overshadowed by his love for women and there have been many cases where he took two or three courtesans into his bedroom at a single time. The prince is also known as being fair towards merchants, but absolutely horrible towards people who offend him. Mr. Soom calls the prince 'petty brat'.

From time to time, I would feed 'Daddy Soom' some cuts of the lamb which made him so happy. At the same time, 'Daddy Malor' cried tears of blood every time I did that. I felt almost sad for him.

Apart from rumours about the prince, they also talked about the city's state of affairs. Apparently, there were more and more mercenaries these days. Due to that, the mercenaries are currently engaged in a price war and nowadays the services of a good mercenary company consisting of a hundred properly-armed spearmen can go as low as 30 gold. They also talked about the price of certain goods and even forecasted what these prices would be like by next week.

I finished my meal just as more customers arrived . So I got up from Mr. Soom's lap and begged my leave. I didn't want to get scolded again by Ms. Nara for ignoring the other customers. For dinner, it was 'Daddy Malor's' turn to have me sit on his lap. I felt pity for them, all these jilted daddies are just really starving for their daughters' love.

"It seems you're swimming in silver today, Felicia," Nira said after the restaurant closed.

"You saw?" I asked as I took off the apron and hung it on a nail on the wall.

"How could I not? Every time I looked at you, there was always someone dropping a copper or silver into your hands or your apron's pocket."

"Am I not allowed to?"

"No, not a problem. As long as you don't neglect the other customers. I was the one who taught you to milk the customers for as many tips after all," she said with a wink.

"Uuuu, you horrible hag. My lady Felicia is soiled..." Lili remarked with tears in her eyes.

"I'm starting to get used to being called a hag."

"Lili, don't be rude! Besides, I'm not being soiled, I'm just roleplaying."

"What is roll-play-ing?" Nira asked.

"Think of me as an actress."

"Ahh I see... so tomorrow will be your first night staying in the attic, have you cleaned it yet?"

"We're planning on cleaning it tonight, aren’t we, Lili?"

"Unn, you should just let me do it on my own, Felicia."

"Nonsense! We'll both be sleeping there together for the next 4 days. How can I just let you do all the work?"

The moment I mentioned 'sleeping together', Lili made a small smile. Her mind wandered elsewhere pursuing a fantasy. I knew exactly what that fantasy was.

No, Lili, we will only be sleeping. Stop imagining things!

 

 

*Thank you for reading. As usual, your comments are greatly appreciated. Please comment, your comments make me all fuzzy and motivates me greatly.
**Many thanks to Eric for proofreading this chapter. He must've had a terrible time sorting through my grammar XD
***Felicia was supposed to meet the prince this chapter, but it ended up being very long, so I had to split into two chapters again. Sigh, guess the expedition chapters is an arc of its own. There should be only one more chapter in this arc, unless it ended up being split again.

Good morning, everyone. My name is Felicia Belphere Metrune. I am the only daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune. I am 11 years old. I haven't always been Baron Metrune's daughter though. I was originally a 29 year old man who lived in Cornwall. One day I got hit by a truck and you've probably guessed it, I was reincarnated into what seems to be medieval Europe. No, I'm not a pervert! Lili, why won't you believe me? It's a misunderstanding! Felicia's Second Life Chapter 7 A tale of love (?) and change (lol) in a medieval era. By Shinieris

Gooood Morning! Welcome to The Delicious Roast! I am your hostess, the beautiful barmaid Felicia. Would you like a breakfast, a bath, or.... me?

Just kidding!

Because of the incident a few days ago, Lili and I had to work here to pay our debts. In case you don't remember, I was robbed on my way to dinner and we ended up eating without paying for it. So now we're something like bonded slaves for a week, since we're not actually paid to work here. All we get are two meals, three mugs of cider and a bed to sleep in. We can drink fresh water as much as we want, though.

Not that I'm complaining. It may look humiliating, but this has been a very valuable experience. Do you still remember that I said some time ago how I planned on opening my own fast food restaurant, the one that will go by the name of Felicious? The experience I earn here will be of much help in setting it up. Besides, I'm swimming in silver!

That's right, silver! It may not be gold, but 15 silver still equals 1 gold. You ask why I'm swimming in silver when I'm not even being paid? Fufufu, the answer is... TIPS! Just by calling someone 'daddy' or 'big brother' someone would give me money. How awesome is that? Since I'm not paying anything for food and lodging, all of it is mine to keep. Muhahahahah!

The same is true for Lili. She's not raking in the cash like me, but her timid and shy personality invokes a protective instinct among our patrons. The moment she said 'big brother' or even 'thank you' with that shy demeanor, someone would slip a big copper into her hand. For some reason, everyone kind of think that she's an orphan. Every time someone proposed to take her into his or her family, she would say that she was in love with someone and that she’s only working here so that she can return home together with that person. I know you're talking about me, Lili, but you shouldn't use that sob story to make money. Jeez, girls are scary.

Ah, I forgot to mention that we're still in Lytis. I don't know how the ransom negotiation has been going, but I would have known if it's already concluded. After all, I am working at a tavern, and a tavern is a great source of gossip. People will definitely talk if the negotiation has ended and they see a lot of unarmed soldiers leave the prince's castle. So far, there has been no such rumour.

I may have mentioned this earlier, but working at a tavern is apparently a very lucrative job. It had only been four days since I started working here, but already I had a total of 83 silver coins from tips alone. Fufufu, and I'm not even being paid to work here.

Come come, come visit me, barmaid Felicia at The Delicious Roast. Bring your purse, lots of silver and get ready to lose them quickly. My personal services are very expensive. So please, daddies, mommies and big brothers, spare some silver for this cute and absolutely adorable barmaid Felicia. Please oh please, make me rich. Muhahahahaha!

Barmaid costume, except the one Felicia wears is less colourful

******

It was a little after noon, we were just done serving a large number of patrons. Surprisingly, this small, dirty restaurant that used to have just a small number of loyal customers became something like a prime meal spot since a few days ago. Nara was baffled at how fast the food stocks disappeared but Nira always seemed to be grinning at Nara's confusion.

"Felicia, come here," my boss Nara called. In case you forgot, this is the big sister waitress.

"Yeess! Anything you want me to do, boss?"

"Don't get cheeky with me!" she did a light karate chop on my head, "I'm giving you some time off until dinner, hurry and get out of the restaurant."

"Eeeeh?!!!"

"Don't 'eh' me! You've been flirting left and right. I don't want the restaurant to have that kind of reputation, especially since you're just a temporary worker. Unless you plan on continuing to work here long after your trial period is up, I'm having you cool yourself off."

"But... where would I go?"

"Why are you asking me? Have a nap, go for a walk, bet on a horse, I don't care," then she took out 5 big coppers and handed it to me, "Here, take this as your spending money."

I accepted it gratefully and was about to put it into my barmaid's apron pocket when Nara said, "On second thought, give it back."

"Ah? What's this noise I hear?" (lol)

"No, give it back, Felicia. You're already making a lot of money."

"Oh, what is this? Why is the noise getting louder?"

"Felicia, don't ignore me. Give it back."

"Jeez I can't hear a single thing! (lol) See you later, Ms. Nara. Thanks for the money."

"FELICIA, COME BACK HERE!"

******

"Eeyahhh, it's nice to have a break once in a while. Too bad Lili can't be here," I said to myself as I spent some time watching a street theatre at Lunar Plaza. I caught the performance by surprise, really. I was just minding my own business when I saw a lot of people crowding. So naturally, I went to take a look as well and stayed for the rest of the performance.

It wasn't exactly a West End theatre production, but it was pretty good. Especially considering that it was a street performance. Apart from theatre, they also performed songs and musicals. Some of them sang off-key, but that was fine, since it was still pretty enjoyable. So I placed a single big copper into the donation box they set up in appreciation. Can't give them a silver, they weren't that good.

But this reminded me of something that we've been missing in Mruna - entertainment. Sure, nobody dares to complain about the lack of entertainment and since we have the harvest festival every year, it can be said that the populace is content. However, for a society to grow, it needs an investment in culture. By culture, that means entertainment, art, literature and a social identity. All the great civilizations have them. Greek, Rome, Cartage, Egypt and India all share the same idea of a culture that defines their civilization. Not only does culture keeps the populace content, it also gives them a common identity, which translates into a more loyal populace.

Even computer games promoted this. I can't believe I've been ignoring something so obvious. Alright, when I get back to Mruna, I'm gonna build a theatre. Everyone gets to watch the performances, so maybe it has to be big enough for 1000 people? No, let's make it small scale first, it will be bad if I can't afford the final result. It's not like everyone in Mruna will be watching anyway. Maybe they can take turns as well. Or maybe have sponsored performances where anyone can watch for free while allowing pay-to-watch performances.

"Hm, yep, that should work," I said to myself as I walked towards Lytis's south park.

Lost in thought, I didn't realize that my foot had stepped on something soft. I looked down and under my feet was a purple-haired little girl, lying face down on the park's walkway. She was very small and just by looking at her from the back, I could guess that she was much, much younger than me.

I poked her with my foot. No response.

I poked her with a stick. No response.

I kicked her lightly with my foot. Still no response.

Ah! It must be a doll or a cushion.

I took hold of both its legs and dragged the doll towards one of the big rocks that functioned as park benches. Then I draped the doll's body over a rock and sat on it's back. The doll was soft, it was pretty comfy. Despite the technological backwardness of this world, they can make pretty realistic looking human-shaped cushions. I should get one of these for my workbench.

"... vy..."

Ha? I seem to be hearing voices.

"...Heavy..."

There it is again! Oh dear ancestors, am I cursed?

"...Get off..."

I looked down at my seat and saw the doll looked at me with a dreadful expression. It became a real girl! So I jumped up and wondered what kind of sorcery this was. I had never heard of a magic that could turn a doll into a human in this world. I silently prayed to the ancestors to protect me from evil spirits.

Just then, I heard the sound of a grumbling stomach.

"Eat slowly, won't you? You're making me embarrassed," I said as I watched the little girl stuff her mouth with all the food that I ordered.

Apparently that wasn't a doll or a cushion, it was just a starving beggar.

"REFILL!" she called.

"Oi! Learn moderation!"

"But I'm hungry..."

"You've already eaten five people's share!"

"But I'm still hungry..." the little girl made a pitiful face.

"For your information, I'm running out of money here. I don't want to work for a week here as well."

Let me clarify. After realizing that the doll was in fact a human being and not a cursed doll, I found out that she had collapsed due to hunger. Since there was not a single food stall at the park, something to do with city regulation, I dragged her to the closest restaurant. Of course, I didn't have the strength to carry her. I also didn't want to waste money hiring someone to carry her. So I just dragged her to the restaurant by her feet with her face collecting dust behind me.

If I had known that she would've completely emptied my pocket, I wouldn't have bothered.

"Why didn't you go to Knave's Path if you were so hungry? There's a food kitchen there."

"I went there before but they kicked me out after the first time."

"Kicked you out? Why..." I was about to ask why they had kicked her out of a soup kitchen, but looking at the pile of plates and bowls on the table, I already had a pretty good idea why.

"Fine, just one more refill. After that, we'll go our separate ways," I said after ordering a refill for her chicken soup.

"You're not eating?" she asked cutely, or as cute as she could be with her lower face covered in soup, gravy and apple juice.

"No thanks. I've already lost my appetite."

"Oh? That's too bad," the little girl said as she stuffed her face with more food.

"How are you able to eat all that stuff with your small body?"

She answered between munches. "Umm, this... because it's hard to get food... so I eat a lot... and then I can sleep for the whole week."

"Are you a bear?!"

******

I was walking back towards The Delicious Roast after spending all my money on that gluttonous beggar when I turned around and said, "So why are you still following me?"

"Umm, I want to repay the favour."

"If you're looking for more food, find someone else. I'm broke."

"No, no, not looking for more food. But if you want to give me..."

"Go away."

"Please?"

"No."

"I'll do anything!"

"I said go away!" I started running.

"Pleeeease!"

"Ahh!!! Annoying!" I cried as I ran as fast as I could through the crowd.

It took me more than half an hour of zigzagging across busy streets, crawling under tables and leaving through the back door of houses before I finally arrived at The Delicious Roast.

"Huff huff... finally lost... the pest." I said with ragged breath once I arrived at The Delicious Roast.

"Oh, welcome back, Felicia. You're back early. I thought big sis told you to take a break until dinner time?" Nira who was carrying several mugs in her hand said while delivering drinks.

"Huff huff... there was... a glutton."

"By the way, who's the cutie?"

"What cutie?"

"The one holding on to your skirt?"

I suddenly had a bad feeling. Slowly, I turned my head to the right and just slightly behind me, holding on to the hem of my barmaid skirt, was the little girl from earlier.

"Kyaaaaa!!!!!"

"You're so cruel. It was hard to run while holding your skirt, big sister. I almost lost my grip several times."

"It's a ghost!!!"

"How rude. I'm not a ghost. I'm a loli."

"How is that better?!!!"

"Aha? Could you be looking for work, little girl?"

"Work? Can I?"

"You sure can. Someone so cute and small like you is always welcomed. Uhehehehe," Nira said with drool dripping from her wide grin.

******

"Good work, everyone," Ms. Nara said as we closed shop.

Technically we didn't close anything, we simply propped the chairs up onto the tables and snuffed the lanterns in the kitchen. Anyone could still enter since we shared the same entrance as the inn. I heard from Nira that the inn was originally owned by their family, but after their parents were cheated of their money, they lost everything. They were about to be kicked out to the streets when one of the patrons who had been in love with Nara proposed. The patron turned out to be the second son of a merchant family and used his savings to buy the restaurant and attic part of the inn so that both Nara and Nira wouldn't be sleeping on the streets. Eventually both Nara and Nira went to stay with him in his own home.

Tonight though, we didn't snuff the lanterns. After we were done closing the restaurant, Nira told me to call the little girl, Sul, for her waitressing lesson. Yes, it was decided that the gluttonous little girl was going to be working here as well. Nara refused, of course. But a liberal use of the words 'Please, big sister" and "I love you", Nira eventually got her to agree. Ms. Nara was surprisingly weak in front of her little sister.

I entered the attic that I shared with Lili to see Sul sleeping peacefully on our bed. She looked so adorable with her light purple hair, her cute face, her slightly puckered lips and that slightly flipped skirt showing - what the hell was that?

No, it wasn't a penis. Jeez!

I went closer to her sleeping form. Noticing something drawn in the inner side of her left thigh, I became a little curious. Was it a tattoo, a birth mark or a bruise? Was she abused? I flipped her skirt up and pulled her thighs apart, seeing a tattoo-like symbol drawn on the inside of her left thigh. It was a tattoo of a cat-like animal in front of an eight-sided star. The whole tattoo was framed by a circle.

Curious, I examined it closer. Upon closer examination, with my face mere inches from the tattoo, I could see that the circle wasn't actually a circle. It was actually a continuous set of runic characters, which I couldn't identify. It probably wasn't Imperial.

It was at this point that Lili entered the room. I looked up from my examination to see her face of shock. I looked back to the tattoo that I was examining earlier and looked back at her shocked face.

I tried imagining this view from her eyes. Me spreading a little girl's legs, her skirt flipped, with my face between her thighs. This looks like...

A pervert...

"My lady!" Lili wept as she ran away.

Wait, Lili. You got it all wrong! I'm not a pervert! I'm not a pervert!

That night, Lili slept as far away from me as possible. All attempts to talk with her were received with silence. Meanwhile, that pest Sul slept between us. I had wanted to persuade Lili with a bit of whispering and touching. This is all your fault, you damned gluttonous loli!

The next day came and Lili still wouldn't talk to me. I was very sad.

Is this punishment for looking up another girl's skirt? Ancestors, are you punishing me for a moment of weakness?

"Felicia, which card do you think I should take?" one of my patrons said as he shifted me on his lap.

"Jeez, big bro Meul, I said no touching, remember?" I said, referring to his right hand on my waist.

"I'm sorry, little Felicia. It's just gotten a little uncomfortable, that's all."

"Is it because I'm heavy? Should I get up, big bro?" I said as I tried to get up. I knew very well it wasn't because I was heavy because I could feel that hard thing under my butt. I knew exactly what that hard thing was. I used to have that hard thing too.

"No! Don't get up, it's nothing, don't worry about it. Yes, how about you pick the card for me, Felicia?"

"Is it okay, big bro? I don't know how to play."

"It's fine. It's just a light game. Don't worry."

"Okay, if you insist, big bro."

Let me explain, we are currently playing a card game called Rebellion. It is a combination of the card games Invasion, Assasination and Coup. The gameplay is quite simple. You have your own deck of 20 cards, which you mix together with your opponents' decks and then split into the amount of people playing. So if there are two players, it will be split into two stacks, if four, four stacks. The split stacks will then be placed face down in front of each player. To start playing, the players will take turns taking two cards from the stack in front of them in a clockwise order.

After that, the players will take another card, either from the stack in front of him, to his right or to his left or from the hand of the player before him. In the case of two players, the card may be taken either from his own stack or his opponent's stack but never from his opponent's hand. From sixth round afterwards, the players will either have to increase bets or maintain bets or fold if they want to bail out. There is also another type of Rebellion called Absolute Rebellion, where there is also the option to split a hand.

The objective of the game is to acquire a Campaign card as well as one of the conditions for victory, which is Invasion, Assassination, Coup or Rebellion. Invasion is defeated by Assassination. Assassination is defeated by Coup. Coup is defeated by Invasion. Rebellion is a special one where it beats everything and everyone still in play, but the player holding it must be the one to use the Campaign card. If any other player uses a Campaign card and any victory hand against the owner of Rebellion first, the Rebellion owner loses by default.

Each deck is formed following the rules of 2 kings, 2 queens, 2 generals, 3 soldiers, 3 archers, 3 cavalries, 4 cards of choice (4 cards of any other suits) and 1 campaign card.
Invasion consists of 1 king, 1 general, 2 soldiers, 1 archer and 1 cavalry
Assassination consists of 1 queen, 1 general, 2 soldiers and 2 archers
Coup consists of 1 general, 2 soldiers, 2 archers and 1 cavalry.
Rebellion consists of 4 soldiers and 2 archers.

"Umm, I want to take a card from big brother Cuzo's hand," I said pointing my finger at the man on my right.

"It's big brother Cuto, dear," he said while holding out his hand.

"Well, anyway, I'm taking this one!"

I picked out a card, which turned out to be a Campaign card.

"Wahahaha! I call Invasion on Yami!" big brother Meul laughed as he put down 1 King, 1 General, 2 Soldiers, 1 Archer and 1 Cavalry alongside the Campaign card. He put aside 1 Queen as it was not necessary.

"Shit!" Yami cursed as he put down 1 General, 2 Soldiers, 1 King and 3 Archers. It was possible he was planning on an Assassination win, but couldn't get the Queen card. Had he gotten a Queen card, the table would've turned and big brother Meul would be the one to lose.

Big brother Meul kissed me on the cheek with his arm around me while saying, "Thanks for the win, baby!" before he scooped up the small pile of silver from Yami's betting pile towards his side of the table.

I openly picked up three silver coins from the pile.

"Eh, why are you taking the silver coins?" big brother Meul asked.

"Shouldn't I get something for that sneak kiss and hug, big bro Meul?" I said with a wink before I got off his lap and resumed my barmaid duties.

Meul then laughed boisterously behind me and resumed the game. Yami excused himself with a polite curse, stating that he had already wagered his entire lunch. Meul instead laughed again and paid for a cheap lunch for Yami.

Meanwhile, that little pest Sul sat on the bar's counter with her thin bare legs dangling and a harp in her hands. It was a harp that Nira found among the storage heap, courtesy of a guest who couldn't pay for his meals some weeks ago. Sul was apparently skilled in the use of a harp and for a small 'donation', would even sing for the patrons. Her voice was surprisingly good and pleasant and her choice of lyrics and melody was not only cheerful but also uplifting. This little pest might actually be someone talented.

Sul also wasn't paid to work here, as Nara offered her the same deal that she offered Lili and me. Most of the time, she would be taking orders and delivering drinks, just like us, though we also delivered food now. With the amount of customers we've been having for the past few days, we really needed another pair of hands. During breakfast and dinner though, she would be sitting on the bar's counter playing her harp. She would only be able to play five songs, as her fingers would hurt if she had played longer, but this was where she got most of her tips. Some would pay even five silvers to hear her angelic voice singing some happy tunes before they went to work and after they returned from work.

The songs that Sul sang were common throughout Lytis, but with her beautiful voice and skilled play of the harp, there was a world of difference. Considering that women bards were seen as women of loose virtue and prostitutes often sang to promote themselves, there were hardly any female singers in Lytis outside of the dark alleys. So that was perhaps Sul's selling point, as not only was she talented, she was also too young to be seen as a woman of loose virtue.

Oh by the way, Lili still wouldn't speak to me. I'm so depressed... (TT^TT)

A loli playing a harp, nuff said.
******

It was our sixth day of work that Lili finally spoke to me again, but only because of a certain event.

"My lady, we need to hide!"

"Lili, you're finally speaking to me again. I miss you!"

"No, that's not the issue."

"Lili, I zweear, I whuzn't a perfert. You mizundeztooood!"

"Yes yes, now let's go hide."

"Lili, phleaze zay you blieve..." I said with my nose full of snot.

"Yes, I believe you. Let's hide."

"Why?" I asked as I blew my snot on a piece of napkin.

"That pirate captain is here."

"Eh?" I poked my head to the side a little, and at the entrance, a bunch of guys walked into the restaurant.

Leading in front was that pirate captain Keimo, Keiro or Keizo. He walked with a strong, dignified gait suggesting that he was a man of strong character or someone respected. With his bronze breastplate and four henchmen following behind, he looked like someone who was no stranger to battle. Unfortunately, this whole atmosphere was ruined by the presence of my girly Dusk Claw, a beautiful thin steel sword that he hung on the left side of his belt.

At least he hadn’t seen us yet.

"Lili, let's run out from the back door!"

"Yes!"

"Felicia! Why are you skulking around like a thief? And you too, Lili!" Nara scolded when she came around the kitchen with a tray full of lunch.

"Princesssss!!!!"

Aw shit, he saw us. Too late to run now.

"Princess, we've been looking all over the city for you. We were worried something happened to you."

"Err, hi Koizo," I said as I slowly walked to his table.

"It's Keito."

"Whatever. Anyway, what do you want to eat?"

Koito looked at me, then noticed Lili and looked back at my dress. "Princesssss!!!! What's the meaning of this? Why are you and your attendant dressed as bar wenches?!"

"You're noisy, make an order or get out. You're disturbing the other customers."

"Prinzezzzz, lezz go baaack. You need to go baaack!" he cried while clinging to my hands.

What's with this childish behaviour? This is totally different from the time when he was captured. Is this how he normally acts when he doesn't have to act tough? Is this what is called ‘personality gap’? To tell the truth, it's annoying.

"Lili," I said as I pulled back my hands and folded my arms under my breasts, or under what should be breasts, if I had any.

"Yes." Lili then proceeded to put the pirate captain in an armlock.

"Order. Now," I commanded.

"Today'z zpecial, prinzezz," Koito said wincing with his left arm locked behind him.

"Alright, 5 today's special and beer."

"Umm, princess, I'd like roasted lamb if you have it?"

"4 today's special, then."

"Princess, I'd like braised chicken."

"Jeez, if you want different meals, you should've asked earlier! Fine, roasted lamb, braised chicken and today's special for the rest of you."

"I'd like-"

"Too late! Today's special for you," I said as I delivered the order to Nara.

"I know you're a noblewoman but are you really a princess?" Nara asked.

"Ah no, don't listen to that idiot. He must've been dropped as a child."

"Prinzeeeezz, lez go baaacck..."

"Oi, quiet over there! You're my first knight now, act like one!"

Without my knowing it, my reply reinforced their beliefs that I really was a princess. It became annoying very quickly, but I couldn't be bothered to fix the situation. Too many things happened shortly afterwards that were a lot more important than being misunderstood as a princess.

"So talk," I said as I sat on a chair that one of the men politely vacated after their meal.

"Prinzeezzzz, where 'ave you beeeen? We looked all over the zity!"

I flicked Koito's forehead with my fingers.

"Talk like normal people."

"Uhh," Koito took a few seconds to compose himself. He wiped the tears in his eyes and blew the snot from his nose before he said, "The ransom negotiation has concluded."

"Oh? That's great news. Took longer than expected, but at least it's done. So is father and brother already on the ship?"

"That's the problem, princess. They left your father and brother behind."

It took a moment to sink in, but when it did, I yelled, "THEY DID WHAT?!!!!"

My yell was accompanied with sounds of shuffling feet and screeching chairs. Through the red haze of my vision I could see that the patrons near our table were listening in to our conversation. But that wasn't my problem at that point.

"That's not all, princess. They also wanted to set sail immediately without you. Gani and Mr. Lustri are doing their best to dissuade them, but they can't go against the nobles, princess."

"Those blasted bastards!" I said with gritted teeth.

"Umm, if possible, would you not release your anger on me, princess?"

Ah, I only just realized that I was gripping Koito's upper arms with my iron-like grip.

"They've also taken over your cabin, princess," one of his henchmen added.

"WHAT?!!!" I pushed Koito hard, causing him to fall against the chair under him, smashing the chair into splinters.

"You idiot, was it so hard to wait until she let me go?"

"Sorry captain."

"Return to the ship at once!" I ordered.

"Wait, my lady. Change first," Lili suggested.

I looked at my clothes and realized that I couldn't just go rampage in a barmaid's dress.

"Change clothes at once, then return to the ship! Boss, I'm quitting the job!"

"Sure," Nara said from the bar.

******

"What the hell are you doing not ransoming anyone from Mruna?!" I yelled once we were back at the ship.

Count Suletrius, in his unchanging, broody face answered with, "The prince raised the ransom. We couldn't afford to ransom anyone from Mruna."

"Prince Hans is a fair negotiator. He wouldn't raise the ransom amount unless you pissed him off. You pissed him off, didn't you?"

He made a slight frown on that brooding face, which lasted about a second before it turned back into his usual expression. "How would you know that? You weren't there."

"What's going on here, why are you making a fuss here, little girl?" a voice that was a little boyish, not yet a man came out of my cabin. The owner of the voice flamboyantly walked out of my cabin looking fabulously fashionable with a purple velvet tunic and pants as well as a large peacock feather attached to his equally fashionable hat.

It was our crown prince. The same one who ordered the charge on the muddy battleground of Harrow's Pass and caused the wholesale slaughter of our armies. It was the same prince that our king handed over to Prince Hans as hostage to ensure the safety of the captured soldiers and nobles.

"You bastard!" I grabbed the brooding Count Sulestrius by the scruff of his shirt and whispered, "His Majesty specifically stated that he was NOT to be ransomed until everyone else was ransomed as well!"

"The others aren't important. What kind of noble would I be if I let our crown prince stay in that dank dungeon?"

You asshole! You think I'm just a stupid girl, aren't you? He's royalty, a crown prince! They wouldn't keep him in a dank dungeon! He'd be sitting with the prince and the nobles at a feast!

"Little girl, let go of that man! He was my saviour."

"As His Highness said," the brooding man in my hands agreed.

I let go of the worthless noble and curtsied in front of the crown prince. "Captain Felicia Belphere Metrune greets the Crown Prince, His Highness Prince Ono Rolenus Fevrus and welcomes the crown prince on board The Abundance of Lolipops."

"Captain?"

"Yes Your Highness, this ship is under my command-"

"What foolishness! Which idiot would put a little girl fresh from her mother's teats in command of a magnificent warship such as this? Quickly bring the captain here so we can get home!"

Aren't you the one fresh from his mother's teats, you royal bastard? Whose fault was it that we're here in the first place? Ahhhh! Patience, patience, everything has its time and place.

"Mayhaps Your Highness would like to rest? It will take several days to reach the port. Since Your Highness came on board without a single retainer, may I offer my servant to serve your every needs?" I said while gesturing Lili to come closer.

"My lady?"

I held one of Lili's hands as I said, "Lili here has been taught from birth to serve me unconditionally. She can cook, very obedient and has a pleasing appearance I trust Your Highness will agree. If it satisfies Your Highness, would you like to have her serve you and obey your wishes for the duration of the voyage?"

"She'll do. At least someone on this ship knows manners before royalty. Bring me wine, girl, and I don't want anyone else disturbing me until we reach port," the prince said as he walked into the cabin and closed it behind him.

"My lady, I can't-"

"Hush, Lili," I pulled her close by the waist and whispered into her ears so that nobody else would hear, "I want you to keep him asleep. If possible, I want him asleep until we dump him off at the port and into a carriage heading straight for the capital. Can you do that?"

"Eh? So you're not giving me to him?"

"Of course not, you're my friend. My family. Why would I give you to that douchebag of a prince?"

Lili hugged me gratefully. "I don't know what a doo-shu-beg means, but thank you, my lady! Yes, I can do it. I won't let him sully my body."

"Good, now off you go!"

"So can we raise anchor and set sail now?" the annoying voice of another annoying douchebag could be heard again.

Right. I forgot about this particular bastard.

"Give me back my 200 gold."

"Impossible, I don't have it. As I said, the prince raised the ransom and we had to use it all to ransom the crown prince."

"What about that promise you made six days ago to bring everyone home?"

"Mruna is just a poor and insignificant barony. By degree of importance, even a thousand of you Mrunas can't compare to the crown prince. We had to sacrifice the others."

"I see, so you broke your promise, squandered my gold and abandoned my people, did you?"

"Now, I did not squander-"

"Mr. Lustri! Do you see Count Suletrius and his entourage?" I pointed at Count Suletrius and four other noblemen.

"Yes, captain."

"Throw them off my ship."

"Wait, you can't do this! We're the kingdom's negotiators, we're envoys of the Duke of Renus and the King himself!" Count Suletrius complained as the crewmen threw the nobles one by one into the water.

"And you've done a fantastically poor job of obeying the king. Be grateful that I let you off here instead of shark infested waters."

I tried to show the nicest smile I could make while watching Mr. Lustri threw Count Suletrius into the water himself. It was very satisfying to see these blue bloods swimming in the blue water, their expensive clothes soaked and the dyes of their robes leaking out into the water. I had Mr. Lustri drop them an empty rowboat as it looked unlikely that they would be able to swim to shore. In case you forgot, we weren't allowed to bring the ship into port, so we had to set anchor outside the port.

"You'll pay for this!" Count Suletrius cried after he climbed into the rowboat in his drenched expensive clothes.

"I've already paid, you bastard! You robbed me of my 200 gold coins!"

"You little bitch! Your money was so little it was completely useless. Compared to the prince your family has no value, utterly worthless! You should be happy that they're being sacrificed for the greater good!"

"I want ten archers on deck now!"

The crewmen immediately opened the arms casket containing bows and arrows. One of the ransomed noblemen, a titled count from some western county approached and asked me to forgive Count Suletrius. I didn't know this guy, but I couldn't forgive someone who would leave my family to rot in the enemy's dungeon.

"Fire warning shot!" I ordered as the archers fired into the waters around the rowboat, intentionally missing the five noblemen.

"Do not forget that as captain, my word is law. If you do not start rowing away by the count of five, I will have you executed for the offence of mutiny and insulting my house's honour. It will be an execution by arrows. One!"

I didn't even need to count until five, as they started scrambling to row away the moment I said 'two'. It would've been funny, watching them row in circles, but my anger was still quite intense. So I wasn't able to enjoy the spectacle even as the crewmen laughed at the formerly arrogant noblemen's antics.

Now, what should I do about the Surfesian prince?

Ah before I forget, could someone please remind me once we got back to Mruna to market the toilet paper as Suletrius Paper? I'd really like to hear someone say, "I wipe my butt with Suletrius every day."

******

The next morning, I begged the prince for an audience.

"Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune thanks Prince Hans Lord of Lytis for granting me audience," I said while performing a curtsey, with my eyes looking at the floor.

In Forlendia and Surfes, women had no rights, except those granted to them as well as the most basic ones. In most cases, women were only expected to be seen, but not heard. Although it wasn't common, there was no law to protect women who speak out of turn in public from being stripped and flogged on the spot. Women were also expected to turn their heads down and never look up in defiance.

Duke Cladis who died 82 years ago was an extremely famous example of this difference in treatment. It was said that he married a daughter of one of his noble vassals after his first wife died. She was said to be very beautiful but because of her very strong character, nobody wanted to marry her. The story goes that every time the girl raised her head or refused the duke, she would be stripped naked and put in stocks in the middle of the city for days. Let's not mention what could've happened to a beautiful naked noble girl who incurred her husband the duke's wrath for the entire time she was in stocks unguarded. Her mind broke after a month and she was divorced when she became pregnant.

While Duke Cladis was one of the most extreme examples, such injustice did happen frequently. It had been better for women since Duke Cladis's time due to new laws that protected noblewomen. It was owing to the fact that noblewomen were all mothers, wives, daughters and sisters of noblemen, but there would still be men with such old values. I couldn't know if this prince in front of me was something like Duke Cladis or more like my father, who had always treated women with respect.

"Metrune? Are you related to Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune from Mruna?" the enemy prince asked while sitting on his throne of white marble.

Only a prince yet already acting like a king. To be frank though, I was actually expecting someone a lot older. Daddy Soom and Daddy Malor did say the prince was young, but I wasn't expecting him to be THIS young! He couldn't possibly be older than 15.

THIS is the lecherous prince?

"The baron is my father, Your Highness. I am the only daughter of the Metrune household," I said, still curtseying.

Come on, you douchebag. Tell me to stand at ease. My ankles and knees are starting to ache from maintaining this position.

"I wasn't expecting to see his daughter here. Your father is a good man. He delayed my soldiers enough to allow most of the common soldiers to flee. Otherwise, they would have all likely been slaughtered by my men."

"I am grateful that Your Highness would speak so highly of my father. He is indeed a good man and it is my understanding that he's still here?"

Ah no good. I'm starting to wobble on my feet.

"Yes, he's still here. By the way, why are you still doing that?"

"Eh? You mean the curtsey?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes, isn't that uncomfortable?"

"Very."

"Oh right, must be one of those stuffy Forlendian customs. Carlton, give the lady a chair."

The man beside him, a knight by the name of Carlton brought out a high-backed chair and placed it behind me. I said thanks as I sat on the chair and rubbed my ankles as discretely as I could.

"So let me guess, you're here to ransom the baron?"

"Yes, as well as the others that Suletrius didn't ransom."

"Good. Do you have the money?"

"I'm afraid Count Suletrius cheated me of my money. I only have 120 gold left on me and this I offer you, Your Highness," I said as I urged Koito to come forward with the chest containing 120 gold. I had Koito open it and show it to the prince.

"My lady, this is nowhere near enough. I thought I made it perfectly clear in my letter to the Duke of Renus that the ransom for soldiers from Mruna is 200 gold?"

"Please have mercy, Your Highness, I have no more money. I brought 300 gold but Count Suletrius took 200 of it. I had to sell my personal jewellery to get another 20 gold. I have nothing left on me except this dress," I pleaded as I let the waterworks flowed.

Tears, a woman's most powerful weapon. Of course it was fake, but he was a man, how would he be able to tell the difference? Just to make it more believable though, I rubbed my eyes with the fingers that was still covered in dried onion juice. Onion ninjas for the win!

"I'm afraid no matter how much you beg me, it's still nowhere near enough. I suppose I can allow you to ransom both the baron and your brother with that amount out of the sheer goodness of my heart, but what about the other hundred soldiers? Are you going to leave them behind like Count Suletrius did?"

"Hundred?" I asked with my eyes red and teary from the onion ninjas, "But only 29 soldiers from Mruna were captured, wasn't it?"

"Yes, but there are also 112 Forlendian officers that were still left behind."

"That's the whole total of lower ranked officers that were captured at Harrow's Pass!"

"Yes, he only ransomed the nobles and the prince."

I'm gonna kill that bastard.

"But he brought 5400 gold, shouldn't it be more than enough for everyone?"

"I don't know anything about 5400 gold. I only received 4900 gold. Out of that, 2000 gold was the prince's ransom."

I'm gonna kill that bastard, beat him to pulp in my automated blacksmithy and then I'm going to stab that bastard's face with a blunt knife.

"H-how much in total?"

"Because the young lady of Metrune household herself came to beg me, I'm willing to reduce it to 400 gold."

"But that's more than triple what I have now!"

"I'm sorry, my lady, not my problem. Unless you're fine with taking only the baron and your brother with you, you have to pay me 400 gold to release them all."

I felt the colour drain from my face as I contemplated the amount. I could in theory, go back to Mruna and bring enough money, but it would take two weeks to return to Lytis. Who knew what could happen within that time?

"I have some trade goods in my cargo hold. I can give you a monopoly on lolipop candies and alcohol-"

"Stop there."

I stopped.

"I don't deal in trade goods, only gold. I know nothing of commodity prices or futures and I can't be bothered to learn it. I am a warrior, my place is on the battlefield of swords, not the battlefield of tongues."

"Uuuu... I shall return again." There was no other choice but to admit defeat this time.

"Don't take too long. I'm quite tired of having to feed more than a hundred enemy soldiers. You will probably see a familiar head at the end of a pike on the castle wall if you wait too long."

What can I say to such a threat? How can I maintain a superior position when I have nothing to back it up with? Should I threaten him with a localized war if he did that? With what army? My single ship? The mercenaries with my small amount of gold compared to his 4900 gold?

"I beg my leave, Your Highness."

"Carlton, please escort the lady and her men to her carriage."

The knight Carlton bowed and led us out to the castle courtyard where my carriage was waiting. We rode out of the castle feeling depressed of our failure to ransom the others. As the carriage neared South Market, I told the driver to stop and walked out of the carriage.

"Princess!"

"Koito, take the gold back to the ship. I entrust you with its care. I'll go back to the ship myself later."

"But princess, where are you going by yourself? Also, my name is Keito."

"Just going on a walk. Don't worry, I know my way around."

"Alek, get down from the carriage and escort the princess!"

I looked at Alek, one of Koito's henchmen, as he got down from the open seat behind the carriage and I said, "Fine, but don't get in my way."

******

"Princess, please give me another brandy!" one of the restaurant's patrons called from his seat.

"Big brother Meul, stop calling me 'princess'! I've told you my name is Felicia," I said as I delivered him another mug of brandy.

"Hahaha, why not? I can't believe I've had a princess sitting on my lap for five meals."

"Jeez, you're making it sound so vulgar, big brother Meul!" I countered, to which he replied with a boisterous laugh befitting his size.

Just then two more familiar faces entered the restaurant and I immediately went to greet them.

"Welcome back Daddy Malor and Daddy Soom! I've been waiting for you!"

"Felicia? How come you're here? I came here for dinner last night and they told me you quit the job," Daddy Soom said as he and Daddy Malor sat at the usual table.

"Something came up, and now I'm here again! What would you like to eat?"

"The usual, Felicia," Daddy Soom said that was echoed by Daddy Malor.

"Alright. Roasted Lamb set and Roasted Beef set coming right up!"

"I must say, Felicia, I wasn't expecting you to come back. I already had Nira find someone to replace you and Lili," Nara said when I passed her the order.

"I see them. Those two, right?" I asked while pointing at the two newbies, "They look awkward to me."

"You were the same!" Nara said as she delivered a karate chop on my head, causing me make a sound of 'aiya!'

"Jeez, stop hitting my head. What would you do if my brain breaks? Where's the pe-Sul anyway?"

"Sul is resting. She overworked herself with fulfilling song requests last night."

"Princess!" big brother Meul called.

"Big brother Meul, not so loud! Do you want another brandy?" I said once I was standing next to him.

"Oh no, not brandy, Kute and I was talking and we were wondering if you'd like to join us for a game of Rebellion."

"Rebellion?" I tried to confirm, because I have never seen women playing Rebellion before, I was wondering if it would be a cultural faux pas.

"Yes, you know the rules, don't you?" Mr. Kute said as another man sat on a vacant chair.

So it was going to be a 4-person game?

"Can I really play? But I don't have money..." I lied about the money, I didn't intend on losing even a copper in a card game.

"Then how about a kiss to the winner if you lose, princess?" Meul suggested.

"Hmm, a kiss? But if I win and you kiss me, I still lose, big brother Meul."

Mr. Kute laughed alongside Meul. "Of course we're not so shameless as to try such a dastardly trick on a princess, Felicia. How does one silver for a kiss sound?"

"So if you bet 3 silvers, I'm betting 3 kisses?"

"Correct," Mr. Kute confirmed.

"Okay then!" I readily agreed.

"Princess-"

"Stay, Alek!" I told my escort who had up until now been sitting quietly at the corner of the restaurant watching me work as a barmaid.

"Oooh! The princess's bodyguard is glaring at me, I'm so scaaaared!" Meul joked.

"Umm, can I sit here?" I pointed at the chair the other man was sitting, "I'd like to be able to see the door, if you don't mind."

"I see. So that you can see if someone's coming in, isn't it? That's fine, I won't pry. Here," he got up and offered the seat for me, "The sun's glare is too bright for my eyes anyway."

I thanked him for the seat. As I sat, he helped push the chair under me before going to the other side of the table. Just like others, he sat a little distance from the table, probably to make it easier to cheat or to keep their cards secret.

I was about to ask if I could borrow a deck when Nira came and handed me a stack of new playing cards, still in its leather packaging. Apparently she bought it yesterday and planned on giving it to me as a souvenir to remind me of my time here. It would've been a good souvenir, since Rebellion is exclusively a River Country pastime. We don't play it in Forlendia and therefore, the deck of playing cards isn't sold anywhere in Renus and Mruna.

Receiving it with thanks, I sorted out the deck, making secret of my choice of the four additional cards. I already had a plan for winning the game. I might not have played it myself, but I had been around and even sat on some of their laps whenever they played. Already, I had mentally pictured my path of winning.

The first game I lost to Meul's Assassination.

"Alright princess, give big bro a nice kiss," Meul said as he closed his eyes.

"Umm, is that fine, big bro Meul?"

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't it be fine?" he said with eyes still closed.

"Okay!" I said as I kissed his cheek.

He opened his eyes and said, "That's not fair!"

"Still a kiss," I gave him a wink.

He laughed in good humour. Despite accepting it as his oversight, he told me that next time it would be on the lips. It seemed like he really believed there would be a 'next time' How arrogant! Meanwhile, that other guy, who was called Ordric, mixed the cards and set it on the table.

I took two cards from the stack right in front of me, yielding two soldier cards. I rubbed the lower corner of both cards' back with my long nails while I waited for the others to pick their cards. Once it was my turn, I took a card from the stack in front of Mr. Kute, who was sitting to my right, which meant he was also the person whose turn was before me.

A queen! Not what I expected, but not bad.

When it came to my turn again, I chose to take a card from Mr. Kute's hand. I received another soldier. So I had three soldier cards, which would be utterly useless unless I chose to get a Rebellion win, which required four soldiers and two archers.

This move is called Sabotage. Just like the name of the move, it's used if you think the person before you has received some beneficial card or if one player wants to slow the progress of the player before him. This move can't be done twice in a row though, or else one person would never have enough cards to get a chance at winning.

On my next turn, I chose to take a card from Meul's stack. Just as I pulled the card from his stack and placed it into my hand, I noticed that he gave my face a short gaze before he proceeded to take a card from Mr. Ordric's stack. I got a queen, by the way.

The game went on until I got a full set for Assassination, including a Campaign card. Thinking that Meul was somehow cheating, I decided to challenge Mr. Ordric, the man sitting in front of me instead. To my shock, he dropped a hand consisting of 1 general, 2 soldiers, 2 archers and 1 cavalry instead. It was a Coup!

Coup always defeats Assassination. Eventhough I was the one who called a campaign, he could still defend with a counter. Damn it!

I had to walk around to his side of the table and give him a quick kiss on the lips instead. You're asking how I could so easily give him my first kiss? No, that's not my first kiss. My first kiss was with Lili in Chapter 6, remember?

The third time I lost to Meul's Coup. I was doing my best, looking at all three of their faces and wondering what cards they hand on hand. But just as I was about call out "Invasion!", brother Meul said he wanted to take a card from my hand. He looked at my face as he moved his fingers above each of the cards slowly. At first I thought he was looking at my face for a change of expression, so I made the best poker face I could.

Then I realized that he wasn't actually looking at my face, he was looking behind me! Someone behind me was telling him what cards I had! Big brother Meul, your methods are old and outdated! Regardless of how much I looked down on his outdated cheating method, though, I couldn't do anything when he took my general and launched his own Invasion on me, which was no longer an Invasion hand as I was missing a general card.

You're asking what would happens if Invasion met Invasion? In that case it would be a tie. Both players would keep their bets but wouldn't be able to rejoin the game until the other two finished as well. So in this case, since I lost my general card, my Invasion wasn't complete. So I had to kiss Meul on the lips. Well actually he kissed me on the lips, even took his time too.

In the fourth game I won by launching an Invasion before Mr. Ordric was ready. I won 5 silver coins since Mr. Kute raised the bet during the 6th round. Everyone including me followed suit, as the only alternative was to bail.

I lost the fifth game to Mr. Kute's Invasion. I lost all my previously won silver. Damn you people! Why is everyone targetting me? Don't you want to win money? What's the point of winning kisses?

Just before we started the sixth game, I declared, "Sorry everyone, I'm going to have to make this my last game. I have to go back to work. Need to earn money."

"Why would you need to work? Don't you already have money as a princess?" Meul asked.

"Yes, but all my gold is at home. Unfortunately I can't go home until I've ransomed my father, brother and soldiers. But I can't ransom them since I don't have enough money. So I'm kind of stuck working here."

I tried to make my best sad face and even managed to push my tear ducts to produce some tears.

"Then how about we start the bet with 2 gold?" Meul asked.

"Eh?" Seriously, I was surprised. Why would he suddenly offer gold when we've been betting using silver?

"Don't 'eh' me! I really like you, Felicia, if you're not a princess, I would've asked you to marry me."

"Oi, you bastard! Keep that to yourself!"

"How dare you confess to our beloved Felicia!"

"You want to eat steel, boy?"

"I'm gonna punch your face, Meul!"

Meanwhile, my bodyguard Alek had already taken out his standard issue throwing knife and pressed it against Muel's neck.

"Hey hey, guys, calmed down! Nothing's wrong with confessing! You guys could've done that too, who's stopping you?"

Everything suddenly became quiet as we allowed the wind to blow.

"Felicia, I love you!"

"Felicia, I want to make you my little sister!"

"Forget little sister! Become my wife!"

"How about becoming my daughter, Felicia?"

"I don't care that you're a princess. Let's elope to the countryside!"

"Felicia, would you marry me?"

To this sudden harrassment, Alek suddenly took a chair and wielded it like a weapon. He held the legs with both hands and pointed the seat part at anyone who got within two feet of me. This suddenly felt tiring as everyone seemed to crowd around our table. I had to ask them to let my view of the door remain unblocked.

Seriously, you all fell in love me? You think I've never been a guy? You idiots are being so plainly obvious. You just want to get in my panties!

"So what will I have to bet for this 2 gold coins?" I asked as I rubbed my temple.

"The right to touch you should be of equal value, I think?"

"Touch me where?"

"Everywhere."

The noise then started again.

"You bastard!"

"Worthless excuse of a human being!"

"Your death won't be easy, Meul!"

"Start watching your back, bastard!"

Would the peanut gallery please shut the hell up? All this noise is giving me a headache. Maybe I should just kill everyone here and empty their pockets of all valuables. Patience, patience Felicia. You're better than this.

"How can the right to touch everywhere on a princess's body be worth 2 gold? Shouldn't it be higher?" I asked.

I'm not actually a princess. Since this misunderstanding is already in full swing though, let's just go with the flow. It's not my fault. So I'm going to milk this for all it's worth.

"But Felicia, I love you. Whether you're a princess or not doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you're a princess or a commoner, your worth is the same in my eyes."

"Cheap!" Again, the noise returned.

"You think that's smooth, you bastard?"

"Cheapskate!"

"Felicia is worth double that!"

"No, triple!"

"Felicia, if you become my daughter, I'll give you ten times more. I'll give you anything you want afterwards too!"

I rubbed my head as I patted Alek's shoulder. "Make them quiet, please. You have permission to be violent."

"Alright, you scurvy dogs! Who wants to be beaten up first!" Alek said with a voice that sounded very fired up.

There were some arguments, but everyone more or less quieted down. Despite everything they said, they were mostly just merchants and city workers who wanted a normal and peaceful life. Tangling with the bodyguard of a fake princess (lol) would be bad for their health.

"Let's go with 5 gold. Winner gets to touch and be touched," Mr. Ordric said as he held a pouch by its bottom and let out 12 gold. He pushed the shiny 5 gold to the center of the table.

"Who the hell does this foreigner think-"

I raised my hand to stop the peanut gallery before it started again.

"How long?"

"The whole night."

"I'm still a virgin."

"We can stop before we reach that point."

"How can I trust you?"

"You can't. But if I do go farther than that, I'll reimburse you well."

"I... don't know about this..."

"In fact, let's just forgo all hassle and decide on a one night stand." Mr. Ordric pushed another 5 gold.

"But..."

"I'm not going to lose!" Meul suddenly declared as he poured 10 gold on the table too.

Is this fine, big brother Meul? You're just a quarry worker, aren't you?

Mr. Kute suddenly took out his money pouch too and was about to pour it on the table when Meul said, "Kute, bail out!"

"Like hell! This is Felicia's virginity we're talking about!" Mr. Kute said as he also pushed 10 gold coins to the center of the table before he told Mr. Ordric to 'deal'.

Wait! Guys, I haven't even said yes yet! Was this planned? Were you all plotting to get my virginity today, you bastard lolicons?!

Before I could protest though, the cards were dealt and placed in four stacks in front of us. I looked at my first two cards and realized I got two soldiers. Okay, a normal spread so far, I thought as I placed both cards face down on the table. This movement wasn't lost on the other three players, but it was probably not all that strange to them.

On my next turn, my eyes were slightly blinded by the noon glare that came in through the wide open door and shined on the waxed back of the cards. I picked the card on Meul's stack and placed it face down on top and slightly to the left of the face down cards my side of the table. All three of them looked at me curiously, but didn't say anything.

On my next turn, I took another card from Meul's stack. Then again, I placed it face down on top and slightly to the left of the face down cards. Mr. Ordric and Mr. Kute glared at me for some reason.

Meul on the other hand, asked directly, "Felicia, don't you want to look at what card you have?"

"Oh that's fine. I don't have any confidence in winning on my own. So I'm praying that my ancestors will help me."

"Yes, but praying to the ancestors doesn't actually do anything," Mr. Kute argued.

"It's okay, I trust them with my life!" I said while showing great faith. They stopped arguing with me. I could see Mr. Ordric was trying to hold his laugh. That's good, keep on thinking I'm an innocent little girl.

On the fourth turn, I picked a card from my own stack, after the top was taken by Mr. Kute. Again, I put the card face down on the table. I could see Mr. Ordric making a small grin.

Should I start worrying about Mr. Ordric? Is he close to winning?

On the fifth turn, Mr. Ordric made a pained face when Mr. Kute took one of his cards. Mr. Kute reshuffled his hand before he continued the game. I chose to pick a card from his hand. The moment I took a card, the same card stolen from Mr. Ordric, Mr. Kute's eyes almost let out a tear. I knew without even looking that this was a Campaign card. So I had Sabotaged both Mr. Kute and Mr. Ordric in one move.

I tried to not make my pleasure known. Again, I placed it face down on the table. I now had six cards on the table.

On the sixth round, I realized that there was no particular card that I wanted. The only card that I actually needed was in Mr. Ordric's hand and unless Mr. Kute Sabotaged him in the next round, I couldn't possibly get it. So I took one card from Meul's stack without actually thinking about it. This time I looked at it briefly, finding a useless queen card. I put it face down on the table anyway.

It was this time that Mr. Ordric raised the stake. "Let's go double." He took out another pouch and placed another 10 gold coins on the table.

"Oi, you bastard! I don't have that much money!" Meul scolded.

"Then quit, nobody's forcing you to play," Mr Kute said as he took out another 10 gold coins.

If big brother Meul quit though, he would lose his 10 gold coins by default.

"Damn it! Malor, I need a loan!"

"Big brother Meul, you don't have to continue, you know? It's not worth it," I persuaded as gently as I could. To tell the truth, even I was starting to be afraid of his future. He was only a quarry worker after all.

"Felicia..." Meul said as he placed his hands on my lower arms, which weren’t covered by the barmaid's dress.

Hey hey, who said you're allowed to touch me?

"I love you, I really do. Don't say you're not worth it. It is I who am not worthy of you. That's why I have to do this, because it's the only way I can be with you, even if it's only for one night," he said with a face full of sadness.

Wait, did that actually make my heart skip a beat? Is this the River Country's version of a pickup line?

"Can you actually pay it back, though? That's the real issue," Daddy Malor asked when he stood inside the circle made by the peanut gallery.

"I can. I have money at a safe place. I just don't carry it around like these two idiots!"

Next to Daddy Malor was Daddy Soom. Daddy Soom looked at my face down cards and my face with a critical eye and whispered into my ears, "Don't bully them too much, Felicia."

I made a shocked face with my mouth looking like ('0') when he said that. Could it be possible that he already knew? Was I too obvious?

"So with this, it's three nights, Felicia," Mr. Ordric stated.

"Eh, hold on a minute. Why three nights? If it's doubled, shouldn't it be two nights?"

"You won't have your virginity on our second night."

"True, that," Mr. Kute agreed.

God damn these perverts.

"Why don't you just go ahead and get a full month already, you perverts?" I said with hint of anger.

Apparently they didn't notice my scathing comment as Mr. Ordric's eyes flashed in delight and took off an iron key with a fancy symbol from around his neck and placed it on the table. He pushed it forward, placing it next to the stack of gold coins on the table.

"What the heck is that?" I asked.

"This, my dear princess, is the key to the chest that holds the banner of Ordric's Band."

The wind blows again in this windless restaurant.

"I'm sorry, I must've lost sense of what you just said. Can you repeat that?" I asked.

It sounded something like a band? Is he offering to transfer something like a rock band to me? Is he some kind of talent agent?

"I own a mercenary company consisting of 200 longbowmen and 80 armoured footmen. Whoever owns this key, owns the chest that contains the banner. Whoever owns the banner owns my mercenary company. So if you somehow win, you get everything, though since we're still contracted to Prince Hans, we won't be able to work for you until two summers later."

A mercenary company? My own mercenary company?

"A question please," Mr. Kute interrupted, "How much is this worth?"

"Considering that the amount necessary to hire my company for two weeks is at least 200 gold. I'd say the key is worth at least that much."

"I can't match that!" Mr. Kute punches the table.

"Then quit! It's that simple."

On the other side, big brother Meul's face went pale. His eyes darted between looking at the generous amount of shiny gold coins on the table and the loan slip in his hand. Without noticing it himself, he started to cry like a little boy, despite looking like a heavyweight wrestler.

I lightly touched the back of his right hand. When he looked at me, I gestured him to come to me. And like a bear he pounced on me with a face covered in tears. He knelt on the floor, his arms hugging my waist as he cried against my budding chest.

Oh well, it's the least I can do for him after he lost 20 gold coins.

"Felicia... me too..." Mr. Kute said as he made a sad face, or tried to make a sad face.

That is the face of lust, Mr. Kute. You can try making a sad face, but I don't think that's working. Please don't go into the theatre business, Mr. Kute.

Regardless, I gestured for him to come. 20 gold coins is a lot of money, even by the standard of River Country's extremely inflated economy. So I thought it would be fine to let him have a little service. That was, until I slapped his hand away.

"No groping allowed, Mr. Kute," I said noticing his attempt to fondle my butt.

"But he gets to bury his face in your breasts!"

I looked at Meul's face crying against my chest. "This is different."

"Then excuse me!" Mr. Kute also buried his face into my chest with his arms wrapped around my torso just under my chest line.

I smacked the back of his head when he tried to rub his face on my right chest, but otherwise just let him stay there as he wanted. It wasn't like I had any breasts to be offended with anyway. When others that made up the circle took a step closer, I said plainly and with a calm voice, "Other people who try to sneak a hug will be slaughtered."

Those who tried to get close backed away immediately.

"So everything on the table and one month of personal midnight service from me, is for the winner of this game?"

"That's right. I can't wait to sleep with a princess," Mr. Ordric made a grin.

"I'm not actually a princess, you know?"

"Doesn't matter even if that's true. You're just my type."

Sigh. It seems like the River Country is full of people with too much money and no brain.

"Quickly pick up a card. I'm telling you, princess, I'll likely win with my next card, so it's best to just get it over with."

I sighed again.

Guess he hasn't realized it yet. For a high stakes gambler he's sure lacking perceptiveness. Oh well, his loss. Taking a card from my stack, I slowly show him how hopeless and bleak his future is. I open my cards slowly, one by one, going teasingly slower, thus allowing me to savour the change in this lolicon pervert's facial expression.

First card is Queen, let's throw this away.Then came Campaign. Archer. Archer. Soldier. Soldier. Soldier. And my last card, Soldier.

Now, what does that make?

"REBELLION!" everyone watching shouted together in disbelief.

"Is this a good hand, Mr. Ordric?" I asked while making the sweetest smile I could when in my heart, I was jumping in joy.

Seriously guys, your cheating methods are elementary.

Now you're wondering how I was able to get one of the rarest win in the game? Let me give you a hint: sun's glare. I purposely sat at the seat that would bring a lot of sunlight to shine on the table, at the right angle so that only I could see it clearly.

I've been marking the cards with my fingernails since the first game. Don't believe me? Read back to the very first time I started playing, I mentioned it once back then. For soldiers, I marked the back of the cards on one of its corners. For archers, on the side of its width. For campaign cards, on the side of its length. For any other cards, I marked it on the center of the card. It was hard to see the markings when it was in someone's hand. However, when it was on top of a stack, the markings shone like lasers.

From the start, I'd been aiming for a Rebellion win. The reason I'd been playing for five games without caring about getting a win was because I was spending all that time marking cards. That one win was actually accidental, either I was lucky or they allowed me to win. I had to make the 6th game my last because if I had continued, they would probably wonder why I'd still play even when I knew I couldn't win. So if they didn't take my bait to raise the stakes, it really would be just a mediocre last game there. Despite all that, I wasn't expecting this much win. (lol)

At this moment, Mr. Ordric had fallen face down, flat onto the table. He didn't faint, but you could tell that his soul was coming out from his head out of shock from the complete loss. Around him, both big brother Meul and Mr. Kute was making faces at the man who lost a whole lot more than them.

"How does it feel to become poor, huh?" big brother Meul teased while making faces.

"You lost everything, man. Alms for the poor! Alms for the poor!" Mr. Kute acted like a beggar who was holding up his cup begging for alms.

Mr. Ordric suddenly got up and punched both of them in the face. The punch must've been very strong because they both fainted on the floor with just one punch each. Then Mr. Ordric looked at me with sharp eyes, causing me to pull back the hand that was about to grab all that gold on the table.

"Princess..."

"...Yes?"

"Do I get a hug too?"

"Ah? Hmmm, sure, why not?"

He suddenly made three quick steps to my side and pulled me up into his embrace. I didn't notice it earlier as I was planning my strategy for winning the game, but Mr. Ordric is actually very big, probably even bigger than big brother Meul. While he hugged me tightly, I suddenly shuddered at the thought that I could've lost the game to this giant.

Imagining myself on his bed with this giant just above me... the thought is really TERRIFYING!!!!

It was only years later that I found out that he was cast out of his tribe because he was the smallest among them. It seemed like the average height of his tribesmen were 10 feet and they lived beyond the mountains of Surfes. Their food consisted mostly of dire bears, large snakes and crocodiles. A tribe of giants? So scary!

 

 

*Thank you for reading. As usual, your comments are greatly appreciated. Please comment, your comments make me feel all fuzzy and motivates me greatly.
**Many thanks to awesome Eric for proofreading this chapter so quickly.
***Had to split this chapter again \(>.<)/ I promise, next chapter is the last chapter of this arc. We can then go back to building an inventing again.
****For those who asked some questions last time and couldn't answer for one reason or another, here's the link to my blogpost http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/blog-entry/57338/delay-next-ch...

Good morning, everyone. My name is Felicia Belphere Metrune. I am the only daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune. I am 11 years old. I haven't always been Baron Metrune's daughter though. I was originally a 29 year old man who lived in Cornwall. One day I got hit by a truck and you've probably guessed it, I was reincarnated into what seems to be medieval Europe. 14 triremes? (lol) Is this all you've got? Come to mommy. Let this beautiful lady show you how a legend is born. Muhahahahaha! Felicia's Second Life Chapter 8 A tale of love (?) and change (lol) in a medieval era. By Shinieris

Good afternoon, everyone! It's me your beloved and beautiful Lady Felicia! How are you doing this fine day?

Just for those who are just trying to catch up. I am now in Lytis. Yes, we're still in Lytis. Can't go anywhere yet because that damned toilet paper Suletrius didn't ransom anyone from Mruna. So now I have to find a way to get enough money to ransom everyone, including the lower officers that Suletrius was supposed to ransom as well.

By the way, the grand total is 400 gold. Never in my life have I ever seen that much gold. How exactly can I get enough?

So when big brother Meul invited me for a game of Rebellion, a light bulb appeared in a corner of my mind. As Malcolm, I was never a good gambler, but I did know a trick or two about cheating in a poker game.

That was how I scammed three men out of all their gold. In the case of one of them though, I scammed him out of his mercenary company too. Marvellous, truly delightful. Now I just have to wait for two more years before I can wreak havoc with my own mercenary company. Uhehehehe.

Right now, I'm counting my hard-won gold.

"Yup, that's 20 gold. You can go now, Mr. Kute," I said as I gave Mr. Kute a hug.

"This is the most expensive hug I've ever gotten," Mr. Kute complained before leaving the restaurant.

Let me give you a comparison. In the River Country, even the most expensive courtesans will only set you back around 2 silver. For the much lower status back alley prostitutes, they could go as low as 3 big copper. Yup, you can get a prostitute for lower than the price of an average meal here.

"So Felicia, what do you want us for actually?" Daddy Soom asked.

"One moment, please," I said while counting the gold I won from Mr. Ordric.

When I confirmed it was 20 gold, Mr. Ordric got up from his chair and said, "I'll clear out my stuff and leave the city then."

"Huh? Why?" I asked as I scooped up all the gold a pouch.

"Because I'm no longer the leader."

"Did I say that?" I looked up at him. Standing like this, he really was very big.

"No, but you're the owner. You're the leader now."

"As if I have nothing better to do than to lead a bunch of sweaty, smelly mercenaries. You keep your job until I tell you you're fired, Mr. Ordric."

"I can stay?" he asked in disbelief.

"Of course. You're the best man for the job so far. If you want it, the job is yours until I fire you or you die."

He stood a little taller and straighter now. With a bow, he said, "Thank you, princess."

"Change the name to Felicia's Merry Men, though."

"Merry Men?"

"Unless there are also women?"

"No, there're no women, but-"

"Then it's Felicia's Merry Men."

"..." Mr. Ordric looked like he wanted to say something but kept his mouth shut before he gave a salute and left the restaurant.

"So, Felicia. About why we're here..." Daddy Soom repeated.

"Ah right, about that. I want to sell some stuff to both of you."

"Oh? Some family jewels? Selling some inheritance to pay off the ransom?" Daddy Soom asked.

Daddy Malor interjected with, "Are you going to sell it outright or just use it as collateral for a loan?"

"Oh no no. You misunderstood, dear daddies. It's a couple of trade goods. Both have to my understanding, never been seen here before. Though one of them is similar to brandy in a way."

"Never seen before? Felicia, I'm sorry. I like you, I really do, despite how you always try to squeeze silver out of my pockets-"

"Thehehe, was I too obvious, Daddy Soom?"

"I don't mind it, I can afford it. I imagine if I have a real daughter, she'd be trying to squeeze money out of me too."

"If you have a daughter, it will be worse," Daddy Malor added, "She will try to squeeze money from your pockets without giving you even a kiss on the cheek. I'm speaking from experience."

"My point is... Felicia, I'm a merchant. You must understand that there is a possibility that I will refuse to buy your goods. I will likely even try to cheat you of your goods' real value. As a patron, I can be generous, but as a merchant, I am rather merciless."

"And ruthless. You have no idea how he is really like, Felicia."

"Says the guy who stole the fishing contract from right under my nose. How did you enjoy swimming with the fishes, Malor?"

"I swam very well, Soom. Thank you very much for pushing me off the ship back then, truly allowed me to understand the fishing industry. When I said ruthless, I of course was referring to how you pressured every merchant in Lytis to not sell any grain until the prince agreed to lower the tariff last year."

"Didn't you benefit from that as well?"

"It's not like I was complaining about it."

"Then what was the point of mentioning it?"

"Of course, to make you look bad in front of Felicia."

To these two top merchants whose shadows looked like a cat (Daddy Malor) and a dog (Daddy Soom), I said, "Wow, you're such good friends!"

"Huh?!" both of them looked at me with a frown on their faces.

I tilted my head to the right. "Ara? Did I get it wrong?”

"Dead wrong!" Daddy Soom said at the same time Daddy Malor said, "Very wrong!"

"Well anyway, would you at least have a look, Daddy Soom and Daddy Malor?" I pleaded with teary, twinkling eyes.

"If it's just looking, I suppose it's fine," Daddy Soom agreed as Daddy Malor echoed his consent.

"Great! Alek," I called my bodyguard as I took out a small folded message from the pocket of my apron. "Alek, take Mr. Soom and Mr. Malor to the ship. Give this letter to Quartermaster Gani."

"But princess, I can't just leave you here."

"I've been doing fine on my own here for a week. Just one day won't make any difference. Go."

"But my duty is to protect you, princess."

"Your boss works for me. Therefore I decide what your duties are. Right now your duty is to take them to the ship and give the letter to Gani. Is that clear?"

"Yes, princess. I'll be back soon," Alek said as he lead the two merchants out.

Suddenly I felt a hand grab the top of my head. Looking around, I saw it was my boss Ms. Nara. The big sister. Instead of the attractive old lady (lol) that I saw for the past week, she now looked like a demon.

"Now that you're done scamming my customers, would you mind getting back to work, your great highness?"

I winced as her grip on my head tightened.

******

"Good job, everyone. See you tomorrow" Ms. Nara said as she handed a salary of 5 big coppers to both new girls.

They said their thanks before leaving through the front door. I waved goodbye to my cute juniors. Then I took their place and stood in front of Ms. Nara.

"What do you want? Ms. Nara asked.

"What about my salary?"

"You already make more money from tips than I can afford to pay you. You still want a salary?"

"Tips are tips. Salaries are salaries."

"No, you're only working here part-time anyway."

"Please!"

"Don't pull my skirt!"

"Please!"

"I said no!"

"Eh? Are we playing a game?" the pest said as she pulled on Ms. Nara's skirt too.

"Stoppp!!! Don't pull my dress!"

"Please!" I said as I endured her foot on my face.

"Please!" Sul joined delightfully.

"Nira, stop laughing and help me!"

"Princess!" came a familiar voice.

"What do you want, Konto?" I asked while still pulling the skirt of Ms. Nara who was leaning against the bar in an effort to get away from my insistent and inappropriate hands.

"It's Keito."

"As I said, what do you want? Wait, aren't you supposed to be guarding my gold?"

"I left that to Gani, since he's already holding the gold from the sale of Mrugs and lolipops anyway."

How irresponsible can you be?

"So again, why are you here?" I asked while tugging Ms. Nara's skirt.

"I'm here to escort you home, princess."

"Why would you call the ship my 'home'?"

"Sorry princess, pirate habits. I'm here to escort you back to the ship."

"Oh fine, just wait a moment," I said before turning back to Ms. Nara, "Please!"

"Please!" Sul echoed.

"Alright! Alright! Just let me go!"

Ms. Nara then gave each of us 5 big coppers each as she fixed her barmaid dress.

"So how much money did we get from the two merchants?" I asked as I walked in front of Koito.

"There was a bidding war, but we got 170 gold for the mrugs and 30 gold for the lollipops after tax. The merchants handled the tax."

Mrug means mud wine. It's a kind of vodka made from sugar beets, potatoes and wheat, all of which I have in excess in my warehouse in Mruna. I've ensured that 30 barrels of these alcoholic beverages be carried in the ship, both planned as trade goods and for shipboard consumption. Crewmen (except for children) are each allowed one mug of mrug each day during off hours. The limit is essential, as too little is bad for morale while too much is bad for discipline. It has around 80% alcohol content.

I made a rule that each part of mrug must be watered down with equal part of lemon juice. I will have no vulgar drunks on my ship. Besides, adding lemon juice gives it a flavour and also reduces the risk of scurvy. Some would even add in fruit juice from the canned fruits into the mix. So what the sailors were drinking were actually cocktails at 40% alcohol instead of pure mrug.

"Wait, only 170? For the whole shipment of mrug?"

"What do you mean whole shipment of mrug, princess?"

"How many barrels did Gani sell?"

"Six barrels, princess."

"WHAT? I told him to sell all of them!"

"All?!" Koito paled, or I thought he paled. Hard to tell in the darkness.

"Yes, I said-kyaaah!" I screamed when something knocked against me.

"Ah, I'm sorry pretty lady, I didn't see you there," a man in leather vest said with a grin.

He looked very familiar. "Hey, aren't you...?"

"Oh shit!" he cursed before turning around.

"Kaito, catch him!" He was the thief who stole my gold!

Kaito quickly ran ahead of me. Seeing that the distance kept decreasing, he made a gamble and performed a hard tackle. Success! "For hurting the princess, you're - hey, if it isn't Taito!"

"Keito?" the thief looked around surprised, "Oh man, it's been a long time, what have you been doing?"

"Oh, I'm escorting a princess nowadays. What about you?" Kaito said as he dusted off the thief.

"Wow, you've gone up! Me, you know, robbing, stealing, pickpocketing, scamming, that sort of stuff."

"Haha, you never change!"

"Well, hard to change your habits. Besides, that's everything that I know. So you're not doing that piracy business anymore?"

"Yeah, about that. I'm going to continue soon, after this job, I mean. I'm gonna have a real ship this time, no more longboats for me!"

"Hey, excuse me. Do you two know each other?" I asked.

"Oh yes, this is my little brother Taito. Taito, say hi to my boss."

"Hello, I'm..."

It became quiet as we allowed the wind to blow

Suddenly the thief turned around and tried to escape, again.

"Hey Taito, what's the hurry?" Kaito said with his hand grabbing the thief's collar.

"Hey Keito, by boss, do you mean to say that this is the princess you talked about?" the thief asked while trying to pull Kaito's hand off his collar.

"Yup!"

"But she's a barmaid!"

"She's working part-time as a barmaid."

"I've never heard of a princess working as a barmaid!"

"Have you ever met a princess?"

"Well no, but..."

"So you're the thief, huh?" I cracked my knuckles. "Let's have a little chat, shall we?"

I had Kaito pull the unwilling thief back to the ship. Kaito didn't understand why, but he did as told. Meanwhile, the thief pleaded that he didn't know I was a princess and if he had known, he wouldn't do what he did back then.

I'm not a princess, but I don't appreciate anyone stealing from me.

"Alright, sit down," I said after one of the night sailors brought a chair at my request.

"Ok," he sat down on the chair, while being surrounded by angry-looking sailors.

We were currently at the top deck of my brig, The Abundance of Lollipops.

"I'm sure you know why I'm currently pissed at you, my dear thief. But I'm willing to put that aside and grant you forgiveness if you give me back my 12 gold coins."

"Ahh... umm... about that..."

"Something's wrong?" I said as I cracked my knuckles.

The other sailors surrounding us also cracked their knuckles as if trained. Kaito did it too for some reason. I thought this was his younger brother?

"Ahh... you see... I spent it all... I'm sorry."

"I see. While I was busy working my cute ass off for a week because of you, you've been spending my gold like a king. Am I understanding this right?"

"Ahh... umm... I'll pay you back?"

"Why would I believe the words of a thief?"

"My word is my bond! Ask Keito!"

I looked at the pirate captain, and all he did was make a naughty grin.

"Keito! Save me!"

"Somebody get me a rope," I asked as I walked to the ship's port railing.

"Here, captain," one of the sailors handed me a long rope used for rigging.

Meanwhile, two noblemen, whom I didn't know, came out of the staircase that led to the rear private cabins. While stretching their legs, they looked curiously at the gathering in front of them. As I tied one end of the rope to the railing, their eyes turned my way. I decided to ignore them. I could care less how this looked in their eyes.

"So, if I trust your words, how soon will I get my gold back?"

"Tomorrow! I swear! I'll return your gold tomorrow!"

"I see," I said as I tied the rope around his waist and torso, "How many people will you steal from to get all that gold back by tomorrow?"

"As many as necessary! I swear, I'll return it all!"

"Uh huh? Frankly, I don't like that. Privateering is acceptable, but the people you'll steal from won't be my enemies. That would be injustice."

"I'll only steal from rich people! I swear! Only rich people!"

"Is that so? But rich people aren't my enemies either," I said, then I pointed at two random sailors, "You, grab his hands. You, grab his legs."

The two sailors complied. With the sound of the thief's pleading, I had the sailors carry the thief to the port side of the ship. The thief struggled, but these were seasoned sailors. If they could row large oars, they could certainly handle a single struggling thief.

"Throw him off the ship," I said coldly.

"Wait, stopppppp!!!" the thief cried as he was thrown into the cold waters of the Mrun River at night.

I looked down with my hand on the railing. Then I said to the two sailors, "Very good. Pull him back up, then repeat it nine more times. You're permitted to ask the other sailors for help."

With the party in full swing and Kaito laughing at his little brother's misfortune, I sat on the chair vacated by the thief and said to Mr. Lars, the second mate. "Bring me Gani."

It took Mr. Lars only two minutes to bring the still sleepy Gani from his sleeping quarters on the second deck.

"Good evening, my lady," he said with a bow and a yawn.

"Good evening. So Gani, mind telling me what you understood from my letter today?"

"Err... You told me to sell all lollipop candies and mrugs to your merchant friends and let them have a taste of each."

"Indeed, so why did you only sell six barrels of mrug?"

"Ehh... ummm... that... you have to ask Mr. Lustri, my lady."

"Why must I ask Mr. Lustri? I told YOU to sell them, did I not?"

"Ehh... only Mr. Lustri can explain it, my lady."

"Mr. Lars."

"Yes, captain."

"Go wake Mr. Lustri and bring him here."

"Yes captain."

Mr. Lars left faster than I could see, like a ninja, except he was a sailor. He brought Mr. Lustri just as quickly as he brought Gani. The only difference was Mr. Lustri was wide awake.

"Good evening, captain. Is there a particular reason for you to summon me?"

"Good evening, Mr. Lustri. So I've been talking about how Gani sold ONLY six barrels to the merchants today, I trust you knew about that?"

Despite the poor lighting, I could tell that Mr. Lustri suddenly started sweating.

"Yes, captain. I was there as well."

"I see. Gani has been telling me that the reason for him selling ONLY six barrels when I clearly ordered him to sell all of them was YOU, Mr. Lustri. Care to explain why?"

In the dim light of the lanterns, I could see Mr. Lustri glaring at Gani while mouthing the word 'traitor'. To me, he said, "It was necessary, captain."

"What's necessary is to raise enough money to ransom those captured. Why was it necessary to sell only six barrels of mrug when you can sell more?"

"That... captain, I'm sure you are aware that mrugs raise the sailors' spirit, don't you?"

"Of course, what's your point?"

"You may not notice it, captain, since you don't drink, but mrugs are essential to the crew, captain."

"Essential in what way? Mrug is my creation in the first place. If not because I created it, we won't even be carrying a single barrel of mrug. The crew will be drinking only beer."

"Yes, captain. But you're not aware that drinking mrug during their time off has been something they can't live without, captain. It's something they've been looking forward to every day, captain!"

"Your point, please."

"Without mrugs, they will have nothing to look forward to. The crew will mutiny, captain!"

"Mutiny, huh? And who would be at the forefront of the mutiny?"

"... That would probably be me, captain."

"Because you've been drinking two mugs a day instead of the allocated one mug?"

"Yes - wait, how did you know that?"

"Gani, Mr. Lustri, do you see that group of cackling sailors that continuously bring up a soaking man and throw him back into the water?"

I pointed to the group of eight sailors who were taking turns bringing up the thief onboard by the rope before throwing him off the ship again. It was like a party as they laughed and shared a single mug of mrug. I decided to overlook them stealing a drink while they were on duty just for this time.

"I've been wondering about that," Gani remarked.

"I want both of you to sit together on the railing right next to them," I said while pointing at the section of the railing in question.

"Uhh, okay?" Mr. Lustri said as they both sat on the railing facing my way.

"No, turn around," I told them.

They turned around, so that they faced the water while sitting on the railing.

I then gave Gani a kick on the back, effectively kicking him off the ship. I gave Mr. Lustri a kick on the back too, just as the sailors threw the thief into the water for the sixth time. I looked down into the water at the three men swimming under the midnight sky.

"Hello, nice of you to join me," the thief said to both of them as he was pulled back up for his seventh dunking.

"Don't mind us, we're just having a bath," Mr. Lustri said nonchalantly.

"Get back here quickly so I can kick you off my ship again, you assholes!"

******

"Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune thanks Prince Hans, Lord of Lytis for granting me another audience," I said as I made a curtsey.

"Always a pleasure, Lady Metrune. Carlton, please give the lady a chair," the prince said as the knight, Carlton brought forth a chair that seemed to have been prepared beforehand.

"Thank you for your kind gesture, your highness."

"So I assume you've brought the gold?"

"Kaito, please bring forward the gold."

Kaito and his two henchmen went ahead. Each of them carrying a chest full of gold coins. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

"I'm sorry, your highness, I couldn't get enough money for the ransom. I only have 380 gold with me."

I did try to sell more barrels of mrug, but both Daddy Soom and Daddy Malor refused to buy it. Apparently they planned on making those mrug premium spirits and having too much supply will just lower its value. They made it a point to tell me how essential it was for there being ONLY that much mrug and told me that if I tried to sell it to the other merchants, I could kiss their future aid goodbye. I wasn't prepared to lose the two top merchants of Lytis just yet.

Because of that, I had to add the tips from my waitressing job to make up the amount of 380 gold.

"I appreciate your honesty, my lady. Too bad, but this is still not enough."

"I-I know, but surely we can work something out?"

"I can release both the baron and your brother. As for the others, you will have to choose who to bring home."

"Please, your highness. Is there another way? I can't choose who to live and who to die. Please don't force me to make that choice, your highness!"

"Impossible! Unacceptable! I have already reduced the ransom amount greatly. You want me to reduce it even more? No, you will have to choose who to bring home. There shall be no more negotiation, unless... no!"

"What is it, your highness? Is there a way?"

"You won't like it."

"How would you know I won't like it, your highness?"

"Well," he took out something wrapped in leather and handed it to the knight Carlton, "Would you wear this, my lady?"

I don't like that look in his eyes.

I accepted the package, opened it and what greeted me was... a teddy! No, not teddy bear! It was lingerie, the kind that women in my previous world wore for their husbands on their wedding night. It was so sheer!

Wait, is this silk? They have silk here?

"I-I suppose I could wear it... for my husband. Is this a gift, your highness?"

"Yes, it's a gift, but I want you to come to my bedchamber tonight, wearing that."

It took a few moment for my head to register the implication of his words. When it finally clicked, I was outraged.

"You pervert! Lolicon! Scum! Lecherous bastard! Dirty douchebag!" I scolded.

Kaito and his henchmen unsheathed their swords. Before they could pull their swords halfway out of its sheaths, the soldiers lining the audience hall moved forward. With the tips of the spear against their necks, Kaito and his henchmen couldn't do anything to the prince.

"It's funny. I hear you say something, but half of it is total gibberish, my lady. Is it safe to assume that those were all insults?" the prince asked as if unaffected by the commotion.

"Damned right they were! You worthless excuse of a human being! No, not even human. You're dirt! Toilet dirt! I will market another brand of toilet paper with your name on it!"

"Is that so? I don't know what this toilet paper is, but I'm pretty sure it's an incredibly offensive insult."

"Of course it's an insult, pervert! Everyone will know your name as that thing they use to wipe their butts with!"

"I see. Carlton, execute everyone in the dungeon."

"Wait, you damned bastard! How can you just execute over 100 people just like that?"

"They're your people, aren't they? You've just insulted me with what you've just admitted is the worst insult possible. My heart is very sensitive, I'm terribly hurt by your words. Carlton, please make sure they're executed by tea time. I'd really hate to wait."

"It will be done, your highness."

"Wait wait waaaaaaait!!!"

"Is there a problem, my lady?"

"Damned right there's a - uhum!" I forced myself to make the sweetest smile I could while inside I was still seething in anger, "Hehe, it was a joke, your highness. Just a joke. Why are you being so serious?"

"A joke? Didn't sound like a joke to me."

"Oh you know us Forlendians. We joke all the time. That's how we greet each other. My father insulted me all the time. I insult my brother all the time. Everyone knows it was just a friendly banter. You shouldn't take it seriously, your highness. Hohohoho!"

Ahhh, this pain in my heart.

"Is that so? So you don't mind wearing that and sleeping with me in my bedroom tonight?"

"That-"

"Carlton, tell the jailors to execute-"

"Waaaiiitttt! Yes yes, I look forward to sleeping with you tonight, your highness."

"Princess, no!" Kaito made some noise in the back.

Unless you can actually kill the prince, Kaito, just keep quiet. Oh my painful heart. Mother, it seems like I'm going to lose my virginity tonight. I feel like crying.

"I am delighted to hear your acceptance, my lady. Rest assured that with all that gold and tonight's intimate encounter, all your people will be set free. Carlton, escort the lady to the royal bath. Send a couple of servants to attend to the lady's needs. I look forward to your presence in my bedchamber after dinner, my lady."

"Uuu... how has it come to this?" I asked myself as I was led to the prince's bedchamber by his knight Carlton.

In my hand was a tray carrying a bottle of what was supposed to be the best wine in the River Country and two empty goblets. I was wearing the sheer teddy, a poor excuse for clothes that reached just under my pubic mound. Considering that it was totally sheer though, it was absolutely pointless. As Malcolm, I would have loved to see my girlfriend wearing this, whenever I had a girlfriend. Unfortunately they were all total snobs. So until my death at 29 years old, I never had any thought of getting married.

Now I'm going to lose my virginity to someone I've only met twice. Oh the shame!

"This is his highness's bedchamber, my lady. Please enter through here," Carlton said as he opened the single door on the right wall.

"Alright, this is it," I murmured as I entered the open door. As soon as I was through, Carlton closed the door behind me without making much of a sound.

In front of me was a wooden partition, with an opening to the left. There was a table on the corner to my right, with a pot containing live roses. I had wondered how I was going to get this to work, but thankfully, there was a chance here. I took off the pendant around my neck that carried what remained of the Tincture of Truth. I opened the glass lid and poured everything into the open bottle of wine. Then I put the empty vial back around my neck and swallowed a couple of the antidote pills. Taking a deep breath, I picked up the tray and walked around the partition, seeing the prince lying down under the covers, reading a book without clothes on.

I placed the tray on the table beside the bed and bowed to the prince, "Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune greets Prince Hans."

He looked up from his book as if he noticed me for the first time, "You look pretty good in that."

"Thank you for the-"

"Of course it would've been better if you had some curves. You look flat as a washboard."

Them's fighting words, man.

I had to keep my anger in control as I forced a smile. "Excuse me for being flat as a washboard, your highness. I'm only 11."

"Anyway, come over to the bed," the prince said as he put down the book.

"Umm, you're not making room-"

"Go around. I always sleep on the right side of the bed."

Jerk!

I grabbed a goblet and asked the prince, "Would you like a drink, your highness?"

"No thanks. I don't drink poisoned wine."

I almost let go of the goblet but managed to control my shock. "Why-why do you think it's poisoned? Carlton was the one who chose this. Are you saying your own knight wants to kill you?"

"No, Carlton's very loyal. I'm talking about you. You spent some time behind the partition, didn't you? What is it, Graveweed Concentrate? Or could it be Leptum Sap? You Forlendians love Leptum Sap, don't you?"

"Wh-what are those? I've never even heard of them!"

"Am I supposed to believe you, my lady?"

"Jerk!" I said as I sat at the edge of the bed on his side while pouring myself some wine.

"My lady, I said I don't want it."

"It's for me, you lolicon jerk! And move over! I'm about to fall here."

I downed the whole goblet of wine. It was quite sweet. Nice aroma too. Not too strong, but then again perhaps Carlton was mindful of the fact that I was a child. I'll have to ask Carlton where he got this wine from.

"My lady, just because your mission failed, doesn't mean you have to commit suicide."

"I'm not committing suicide, you jerk! Why don't you keep reading your book while I finish this bottle myself," I said as I poured myself my second goblet of wine.

The prince simply looked on as I downed my second goblet of wine. If I was going to lose my virginity to someone I barely knew, I'd like to keep myself drunk so that I wouldn't have to remember the moment. I had decided to accept my femininity and the fact that I would have to lie down with a man one day, but I guess I still wasn't ready for it.

"Is it not poisoned?" the prince asked after watching me finish the third goblet of wine.

"It's definitely poisoned! There's snake venom, some of that graveweed, some of that leptum stuff. Oh I also put paint thinner in as well," I said as I poured myself my fourth helping.

"What is paint thinner?"

"Oh, it's a kind of poison that you use to burn people alive. If you drink it, your body will explode like glass. Very nasty stuff."

Oh, I could tell that I was starting to get a good buzz going.

"Give me," he said as he reached for the goblet in my hand.

"No way! Go get your own!" I said before finishing it all.

"You're hear to serve me, remember? Pour me one," he said when he saw me gulp it all down.

"Royal jerk!" I said as I moved to take the other goblet.

"No, I want the one you're drinking from."

"Wait, that would make it an indirect kiss!"

"You're half naked on my bed and you're worried about an indirect kiss?"

"Good point. Here," I said as I poured him some wine and handed it to him.

He swirled the wine inside the goblet, sniffed it, probably for poison, then slowly drank it. He waited for a few minutes while slapping away my hand that tried to take the goblet from him. After a few minutes of fighting for that one goblet, he declared that there was no poison and told me to pour him more. I poured it as told, but snuck a drink while he was distracted touching my thigh. When he noticed, I had finished my fifth goblet.

Without realizing it, I was already lying on top of him as we shared wine from the same goblet several times. We shared several deep kisses too, with tongue, but it wasn't because I liked him or anything. I was still lucid despite being a little giggly, perhaps influenced from my previous life's alcohol tolerance.

As Malcolm, I could outdrink anyone. Malcolm was one of those magical people who couldn't get drunk. In the eyes of some people, Malcolm was more magical than a unicorn. Still, I wondered when the tincture would start working on him. Or perhaps I had drunk everything? Could it be that there was no longer any amount of the tincture when he started drinking? Did I mess up?

Suddenly he went quiet. At first I thought he was asleep, but when I said, "Who are you?" he replied with, "Hans The Great".

Wow, such a conceited answer. Do you even realize that nobody actually calls you by that name?

"What do you think about Lady Felicia?"

"Beautiful, but flat as a board."

Do you want me to punch you, jerk? Whose hands was it that groped my butt and flat chest just now, you lecherous jerk? That's it, from now on, your name is Hands. Not Hans, Hands. Prince Hands The Groping Lolicon!

Still, since it worked I got up from the bed. With a goblet of wine in one hand, my teddy in disarray, my face flushed and my voice giggly, I looked like a drunk prom date. I opened the door with difficulty and saw Carlton standing watch outside.

I poked my head out the door. "Heeey Caarltoooon. The prince called. Ah, but don't come right away. I'm not dressed."

He nodded his understanding as I closed the door and walked unsteadily towards the bed. Snuggling against the prince, from the left side of the bed, I readied myself for the plan I thought of in the bath. When I heard the door open, I snuggled closer to the prince, with my lips next to his left ear. I posed as a shy maiden, hiding my face beside the prince's.

"Did you call for me, your highness?"

"Yes, I did, Carlton," I whispered into the prince's ear, which he echoed word by word.

"The lady and I have agreed on a ransom of 200 gold. Release all the prisoners and send them to her ship," I whispered again, which he again echoed word by word.

"All, your highness? At 200 gold? I'm sorry, we shouldn't do that, your highness. The expenses alone-"

I got mad. Seriously, this thing has a time limit, I can't have him argue with the prince! What will happen if he passes out in the middle of an argument?

"Do not question me, Carlton! You are here to follow my orders. When I say release them all, you release them all. Don't argue with me! Is that clear?" I whispered into the the prince's ear.

But what came out was "Denocotomecotton!Ueeereofolowmyord.eniseelesemoluurelesemolonaguemiitake "

"Ah? What language was that, your highness?"

I guess that was too complicated. (lol)

"Don't question me, Carlton. Just do it," I whispered again with much simpler words.

Thankfully it worked this time.

"Yes, your highness. I will do as you ordered," Carlton made a salute.

"Also, import toilet paper from Mruna," I couldn't help but add a shameless plug.

"Toilet paper? From Mruna? I will ask the chamberlain to handle it, your highness."

"Good, go," I whispered, but this was not repeated. It seemed like the time limit was up.

"What are you waiting for? How long are you going to stand there?" I said directly.

"I shall go right away, my lady," he said before turning around and leaving us alone.

Now that everything went according to plan, I went back to the bathroom, changed clothes, then met up with Kaito (my name is Keito). I had him hand the 200 gold to Carlton. After confirming that everyone was released, I told Carlton that I had to leave and asked him to hand the prince a letter I wrote for him. He accepted it, and after confirming that the prince was still alive, he allowed us to leave the castle. We arrived at the ship just after midnight.

It was a success! I got out of it with my chastity intact! Yay me!

******

But something was wrong. There were too many people on the ship!

"Mr. Lars, who are all these people?"

"They're the people the prince released from the dungeon, captain."

"But there are too many people here. Forget 100 people, I think there are even more than 200 people. And some of them are even bringing their families on board!"

"You didn't know, captain?"

"Know what?"

"Not only Forlendian prisoners, they sent us everyone in their dungeon, captain. That includes criminals and other undesirables. Many of them met up with their families and brought them along."

"Wait... criminals? How many in total?"

"315 people, not including Forlendian prisoners of war, captain. This also doesn't include the children."

Good ancestors! I have to feed this many people?!

"Kaito!"

"Yes princess?"

"Take this gold. Have Taito take you to the house of either Merchant Soom or Merchant Malor. Ask them to sell you enough supplies for 200 people for a week. Tell them Felicia sent you."

"Yes, princess!" Keito saluted as he dragged the now dry Taito to the port.

After his royal dunking, I had decided to make a compromise. I told him that he would be my spy in the River Country and he would be allowed to steal or rob anyone, as long as he sent me information about Lytis in the future. His salary would be 1 gold for each piece of useful information, delivered by Kaito in the future.

Still, what should I do with all these illegal immigrants?

"Mr. Lars, do a survey. I want to know who these people are, how many in their family and what skills they have."

"Now, my lady?"

"No, next week. Of course now! Get it done by sunrise!"

******

"This should be all, princess. Are you sure this is enough, princess?" Kanto asked as he ticked off the last of the barrels containing food and fresh water for our voyage home. I was quite surprised when he showed that he could actually read and write. Most people in this region who were neither nobles nor merchants often couldn't read even if their lives depended on it.

"It's probably not enough, but if we bring too much food, there'll be less living space. Let's just hope the amount we presently carry is enough. If not, we'll just stop by Wamor or Hollehafen on our way home," I said while watching Mr. Lars, my second mate, conduct interviews of every man and woman who came on board.

Apparently the longboat couldn't carry all the supplies to the ship, so he had to buy three rowboats to help carry it with the leftover money I gave him. They still needed two trips to carry it all but it was good that the loading of supplies proceeded smoothly. I wondered if some of the less desirable people could be persuaded to sleep in the boats on our way home.

So far, we had carpenters, cooks, masons, glassblowers, a medicus, a school teacher, a mime (yes, seriously, a mime!), bards, fishermen, construction workers and what appeared to be a glee club. They had been singing non-stop from the moment they came on board. Such noise! What could make them so happy as to keep on singing for that long?

There were also thieves, thugs and cutthroats as well. That Surfesian bastard really cleaned house this time and dumped it all on me. And I actually fell for this trick! How stupid.

There were still about 150 people left, and I already feared a mutiny. To avoid any unnecessary incidents, I had the spear sentries, the women and children relocated to decks 2 and 3. Those from Mruna and Renus slept on decks 3 and 4 while the rest slept on deck 5. It was cramped, like a can of sardines. There must have been more than 500 people on board now.

"Hey, Fel!" a rather deep voice called from somewhere in the crowd.

"Yes, big brother Yucks, what do you want?" I asked while leaning against the starboard railing. If only I could throw all these people into the Mrun River.

"Why do you keep mispronouncing my name?" my big brother asked.

"Why do you keep shortening my name?" I asked back.

"Fel is easier to pronounce. What's your excuse?"

"Yucks is more amusing to say aloud."

He made a grimace as if holding in his shit. But instead of taking a dump, he said, "Father and I have been wondering, where do we sleep? It seems like all the private quarters were taken by the other nobles."

"Talk to Gani, ask him for two extra hammocks. You and father will sleep in my cabin."

"Where do I find Gani? How does he look like again?"

"Third deck. He's the quartermaster. He's 10 years old."

"A quartermaster at 10 years old? How weird!"

"Or you can sleep with the fishes. Your choice."

"I didn't say I wouldn’t see him!" he grumbled as he took the rear staircase towards the lower decks.

Without caring whether he actually managed to find Gani or not, I opened the door to my cabin and entered wordlessly. In front of me was the crown prince, sleeping soundly in a hammock tied to the ceiling. At his side was Lili, who were feeding him some kind of liquid through a straw.

"How is he, Lili?"

"Sleeping like a baby, my lady. As long as I keep feeding him the Sleep Draught every five hours, he won't be waking up at all."

"Very good. Are you coming to bed, Lili?"

"B-bed? Can I, my lady?"

"We've slept together for a week, it will feel weird sleeping by myself when we're so close to each other, Lili," I said as I laid down on the bed.

"Th-then, if you're okay with me, my lady, but-"

"Come, Lili," I called her with my hand as I laid on my side.

"Yes, my lady!" Lili gushed in happiness as she laid herself beside me.

We slept snuggled to each other, just like before that pest Sul appeared.

******

I woke up hugging something soft and small. Somehow, Lili felt very fluffy. The size was also a little smaller than usual. And what's with this flat chest...

WHAT THE HELL?!!!

I woke up abruptly. My eyes opened wide as I looked at the thing I was holding.

It was the pest! Why was she here? How could she be here? What? How? Why?

"Uhn? Oh good morning, big sister Feli," she said groggily.

I grabbed her by the collar, opened the cabin's window and threw her out into the Mrun River. That was not Sul. That was an evil spirit. Yup, an evil spirit. Not even a human, or an animal. Just an evil spirit. Oh, if anyone asks, let's just say I was hallucinating. Yup, that's good.

Suddenly the door opened, and... "That was a good bath. I feel so refreshed now. Thanks, big sister Feli."

In front of me, standing at the open doorway, was the evil spirit. She was soaked from head to toe. Her plain white dress that had been dry was now wet, dripping dark water on the wooden floor. In the darkness of the cabin, she looked like an avenging spirit from the bottom of the sea.

"Gyaaaaa!!!!" I screamed in terror.

"My lady?" Lili appeared behind the evil spirit.

"Lili, I'm haunted. I'm haunted!"

"Eh? Haunted? What do you - wait, we have a bigger problem right now actually, my lady!" Lili said as she handed the evil spirit a towel from the closet and dragged me outside.

I stood on the aftcastle and before me were a lot of triremes. After we arrived near the port, most of the triremes that escorted us went away, leaving only six patrolling triremes passing by us from time to time. Right now though, I could see that we were surrounded by 13 triremes.

Did they found out I poisoned their prince?

"Anyone can tell me how long they've been here?"

"Since dawn, captain," Mr. Lustri answered, "They're not doing anything, just... watching... it seems."

"Have they said anything yet?"

"None, I tried to ask them to make way through flag signal, but they wouldn't even answer."

"Strange... I wonder if they're picking a fight. Wake all able-bodied men. Arm them with something, but keep them out of sight."

"Aye, captain," Mr Lustri said as he left for the lower decks.

While waiting for any sign of change from the trireme fleet surrounding us, I laid out a plan in case they were going to fight. I looked at the survey that Mr. Lars did last night and from there, I assigned 40 men to each to Mr. Lustri and Captain Kento and they were going to take a longboat each to protect the brig. I left the strategies to them, but they would generally rely on quick hit and run tactics, which would include bowmen firing arrows at officers (Mr. Lustri) as well as quick boarding and demolition (Captain Kento). For that matter, I had them discreetly move weapons into their longboats in crates and barrels, masking it as usual loading of cargo. I also placed some lollipop explosives near the ballistas.

I also asked the knights to give a crash course on weapons handling on the deck below to the men. As for the women, I had the spear sentries handle their crash course training, but with so many men, it would be unlikely for them to have to fight except to keep the enemy from entering the hold. For those who couldn't fight, such as those without an arm or a leg, I had them learn how to row the forty sweeps of the brig. All we had to do then, was wait.

We didn't have to wait long. Four hours after dawn, a newly arrived trireme sailed very close towards us. I had Captain Konto move his longboat to the other side of the ship, to avoid those in that trireme from seeing the inside of the longboat. When that trireme stopped about twenty feet away from my ship, a man walked up to the bow. From the demeanor and the flashy leather armour, I imagined he was someone fairly high ranked.

"Greetings to Forlendian ship. I am Duke Rafjar The Victorious. Who commands your ship?" the man in flashy armour introduced himself.

"Good morning, I am Captain Felicia Belphere Metrune. Am I right in assuming that it is by your order that these ships are blocking our way home?"

"Indeed, it was I who gave that order."

"May I ask why?"

"You sailed a warship into our waters. You, Forlendians. It can only be construed as an act of intimidation, if not an act of war."

"An act of intimidation?! How many times do I have to keep waving the letter from the Duke of Renus? We are here to ransom our people from Prince Hans! Due to the large number of hostages we needed a large ship. Go ask Prince Hans how many people we ransomed!"

Oh wait, he's probably still asleep. I dumped a lot of the Tincture of Truth into the bottle of wine.

"Or just ask his knight Carlton!" I added.

"I do not know nor do I care about your arrangements with the prince. As far as I know, you are a threat to Surfes and Lytis, and therefore I must ask you to surrender your ship and prepare to be boarded."

"The prince didn't send you?"

"No. I do not take orders from the prince."

Phew! I thought we were blockaded because they found out I poisoned the prince.

"So surrender and I shall let you live and return to your homeland."

I see. So this is a ruse to steal my ship? Don't make me laugh.

"If you take my ship, how will we return home? There are around 500 people on board now, most of them are women and small children!"

"You may hire merchants to bring your people home. We will provide you escort into Forlendian waters. I promise you safe passage all the way to Wamor."

So not only you want me to give you my ship, you want me to pay merchants to transport us home? How obnoxious can you be?

"Would you allow me to discuss this with the nobles, duke? They may not like to leave their comfortable quarters."

"You have an hour," the duke said as he walked down the bow of his trireme.

"Captain, are we really giving up the ship?" Mr. Lustri asked once we were inside my cabin.

"Are you kidding me? Give these apes my ship? Do I look like some kind of pushover?"

Gani added an obvious fact. "We're facing 14 triremes, and who knows how many more on the way."

"Hum, that's the problem. Even if each of the lollipops can sink one ship, which would be too much to hope for, we'd still be facing 3 more triremes. That is if we're lucky that they can't bring reinforcements quick enough. With enough momentum, they can ram us and sink us."

"Then what should we do, captain?"

"Gani, how much base mrug do we still have?"

"We still have 18 barrels of base mrug, my lady. As you recall, we sold 6 barrels to your merchant friends."

"Gather everyone's mugs as well as their lids. If any mug doesn't have a lid, have the carpenter make one. I want at least 100 watertight mugs in half an hour. As soon as possible, have the spear sentries, the women and the unskilled children fill each of them with pure mrug and close it tightly. They are NOT to drink it."

"Are we having a party, my lady?" Gani asked.

"Do it. Now."

"Yes, my lady."

"Keizo-"

"Keito."

"Whatever, get your men ready. You and Mr. Lustri are going to do as we originally planned. Your duties will be to ensure that enemy triremes don't get close. If you need anything, load it now, but make it look like you're evacuating. You can use any method you can think of to stop them. If you have to sacrifice the longboats, do it. Make sure that the triremes can't ram the ship. This ship is now our castle, it must not fall!"

"So we're fighting, captain?" Mr. Lars asked.

"Absolutely. Also, have someone carry six barrels of mrug and place one of them at the bow near the ballista. Do the same with the rear ballista. But not too close, you hear?"

"Ahhh, ok?" Mr. Lars nodded.

"While you're at it, Mr Lars, deploy all four of our rowboats. Fill them with flammable stuff like straw, paper or woodchips and tie the other four barrels of mrug to the front of the rowboats."

I'm so glad that Keizo bought us additional boats last night.

"Captain, are we going to fight or give them a bribe?"

"Oh, we're going to have a festival. Huhuhuhuhu."

An hour later, Duke Rafjar The Victorious (lol) came up to the bow of his trireme.

"It's time, little girl, what's your decision?"

"Nyeh!" I taunted with my tongue out.

"Impudent brat! Archers, fire!"

"Shields!" I ordered as the spear sentries stacked up wooden square shields that completely protected one side of the deck from arrows in two levels.

This shield was different from a spear sentry standard issue shield. For one, it was completely square, flat and featureless. It was basically a series of planks nailed together by two wooden bars. When used, it could be stacked atop another in two levels, causing anyone behind it to be fully protected. It created a shaded area eight feet tall that was completely safe from arrows. We couldn't use these back during the night raid by the pirates because we were caught by surprise, but we had plenty of time for this battle.

"Ballistas, fire lollipops! Closest ships first!"

The three ballistas then fired their explosive payloads. As they had already taken some time to aim at their targets, their attacks struck true. Three triremes were sunk within the first two minutes of battle. Meanwhile, I had a surprise of my own.

"Hey duke!" I said as I threw the lollipop in my hand. Its fuse already burning, I said, "Here's a present from the beautiful Lady Felicia! Hahahaha."

Despite seeing three of his triremes sunk, he still couldn't comprehend how it happened. Therefore, he couldn't tell that what I was throwing was actually the cause. As with all unidentified thrown things, the natural decision would definitely be to evade. So he did. Too bad for him, the lollipop fell into the lower decks of his trireme. Can you guess what happened?

BOOM! Even as his leaking trireme was filled with water, he still couldn't understand what actually happened. That idiotic look that was a mixture of shock and incomprehension was classic. It was priceless!

The general is down. I repeat. The general is down. Muhahahahah!

Unfortunately, the lollipops weren't as much of a technological edge I had hoped for. Perhaps it would've performed better had I carried more, but with only 11, there was a limit to how many ships it could sink. As it was, only 5 successfully sunk a trireme each. 4 of them were used to sink two ships when the first ones failed to open a breach on the hull. The rest missed the ships completely. As the enemy triremes started circling the ship to bring their firepower (arrows) to the unshielded side, it was time for Plan B.

"Split shields to starboard. Protect the ballistas. Bring up the mrugs!" I commanded.

"Wait, my lady, you can't be serious!" Mr. Lars said as my young crewmen brought up casks filled with watertight, mrug-filled handle-less mugs towards all three ballistas.

"Drench the mugs!" I said, to which the mugs were drenched in more mrugs. I could hear sounds of pleading from around me.

"Aim, set flames, fire!" I ordered as the ballistas launched their flaming projectiles towards the triremes in range.

There was a resounding "Noooooooo!!!" from the whole ship. I ignored the look of despair among the crewmates around me. Not only that, I also ignored the tears of the ballista crews. We had more important things to think about than their chance of getting drunk.

"Ballistas, fire mrugs at will!" I ordered as fireballs made up of flaming wooden mugs filled with flammable beverage flew in the air three at a time.

"Captain, please, stoooopp!!!" Mr. Lars begged on his knees.

"If you have the time to grovel, I suggest you start launching the fireboats now."

"But they're carrying mrug!"

"Launch it!"

Reluctantly and with tears wetting his face, Mr. Lars gave the order to launch the rowboats filled with straw, woodchips, paper and a whole barrel of mrug towards the approaching enemy triremes. The boats manned by five sailors each then approached the approaching enemy triremes and with tears in their eyes, set fire to the straw and jumped out. As the triremes smashed into the boats at high speed they crushed the barrels of mrug into pieces, causing the mrug inside to spatter against the ships and catch fire. Before they could even reach my ship, the whole front part of the triremes were in flames and their rowing crew simply escaped into the water. It was easy to avoid the burning ships afterward.

We managed to destroy all 14 triremes simply from the sheer act of surprise attack.

Unfortunately, we couldn't celebrate just yet, as the second wave, a fleet consisting of 12 more triremes[,] approached fast. I immediately ordered the ballistas to concentrate their fire on one trireme at a time. We managed to set the lead ships on fire, but many others escaped or failed to catch fire.

I noticed that the ones that had a direct hit but failed to catch fire were all spanking new ships. I deduced that the older the ships were, the easier to have it set on fire. It was probably related to the level of wood rot.

"Ballistas, aim towards port-bow, fire at will! Archers, put pressure at starboard. Shields, protect the ballistas!"

Just as I finished giving orders, a trireme that was on a ramming speed towards my ship was hit from the portside by the Stare Vipers. The whole frontal part of the longboat was smashed, but it succeeded in diverting the trireme's path, eventually causing it to miss the ship by a small margin. As their longboat started to sink, they threw grapnel at the trireme they had diverted and boarded it in just a couple of minutes. As expected of pirates.

As battle raged on the trireme that Captain Kento boarded, Mr. Lustri's longboat performed hit and run tactics consisting of archers firing at visible officers as well as a liberal use of flaming mugs of mrug. They basically tied the mugs with linen ropes, set them on fire, then spun the mugs over their heads while holding on to the end of the rope before lobbing it into the triremes. Just by themselves, they managed to set fire to 4 triremes.

Three of the triremes managed to ram the ship, but thanks to its sturdy construction, they couldn't puncture the hull. The large number of wrecks around us likely helped too, as they helped reduce the momentum of the ramming ships. It's like threading the needle around a bunch of wrecks on a highway, you can't go fast. The wrecks of triremes around the ship actually helped shield us from ramming attacks as the triremes couldn't use their main weapon, the ramming head.

We managed to set fire to one of them by throwing a whole barrel into the trireme from the top deck and throwing a torch into it after it smashed against the deck. One of the triremes that rammed us was abandoned when we peppered them with arrows. Unfortunately, the same wrecks that shielded us from their ramming attacks also slowed our movements, as the debris and wrecks made it impossible to row effectively.

The crew of the other trireme managed to board the ship. Thankfully, we had more soldiers on board now and they managed to hold the boarders on deck. I shot them whenever I could, but the real MVPs of the battle on board the brig were the knights and nobles that we ransomed from that perverted prince. For the first time, I was able to watch father and Yucks's prowess with their swords. Watching Yucks, I realized that it was absolutely inexcusable that he was still an apprentice knight.

All in all, we destroyed 21 triremes and captured 3. The other two triremes fled in fear.

A third wave consisting of 8 more ships from somewhere else also arrived later. When they saw all the burning wrecks around us, they didn't even bother getting close. It was a wise choice. It was also a good development for us, as we ran out of mugs to throw at them. Until we reached port, the crew would have to share their mugs with each other.

We lost all four rowboats, one longboat and around 80 dead or missing. There were many injuries, some severe and that would probably cause them to be crippled for the rest of their lives. Let’s not count the enemy's casualties. Mr. Lustri tried to find and save as many of our crewmen that fell into the water, but he couldn't find many of them.

We did recover Duke Rafjar The Victorious (lol) and two of his men, though. He was wet and his leather armour clung tightly to his body, probably causing him much pain now. I had the sailors kick his knees, making him kneel on the top deck.

"Apologize to my crew for the lives you cost us today," I said.

"I am a duke! I do not apologize!"

I looked down at this prideful duke. "Let's see, if you don't apologize, you'll become a dead duke in about one swing. Do you think you're able to do that, Keizo?"

"It's Keito, princess."

I gave a Keizo a glare.

He coughed. "Not that it matters, princess. Yes, actually I wonder if I can do that. It will probably take me several swings to kill him."

"Hum, I'm sorry it will be a very painful death for you, duke. So why don't you save yourself the trouble and just apologize?"

"I will not apologize."

"Keizo, slash his leg."

"Which one, princess?"

"Pick one."

"Wait! Wait! I-I apologize..." he said quietly.

"Ha? I can't hear anything. Does anyone hear that?"

A resounding 'no' was heard from everyone around me. Some even added encouragements for a death penalty.

"I'm sorry."

"Louder, duke!"

"I'M SORRY!" he cried, his face looking down.

"See? That wasn't so bad. Now kiss my boots."

"What?" he asked back. It seemed like he still had some fight in him.

"Kiss my boots."

"You! How dare you! I'm a duke!"

"Oh? Someone please start cutting up his legs."

"WAIT!" he cried, before he bowed lower on his knees and kissed my boots, one after another.

"Very good, because you kissed my foot like a good dog, I'll let you live today. Now everyone, throw these losers off my ship," I said as I instructed the sailors to get the duke and his two lackeys off my ship.

Mr. Lustri made one final sweep of the waters for our men, but he only managed to recover two more who were shivering from being in the cold water for so long. As the evening sun set, we departed from the waters of Lytis, leaving behind the burning wrecks of enemy triremes and the crewmen that we couldn't recover. Most of the men were moved to the three triremes, led by Mr. Lustri, Captain Keiso and Mr. Lars. Gani, my quartermaster took over as Abundance of Lollipop's second in command.

It was unfortunate that so many died, but for that price, we killed hundreds, perhaps thousands of Surfesian soldiers. As a final service, we as a whole prayed for their eventual reincarnation and offered them some salt and ash to help in their long journey. May the ancestors watch over them.

Before we left though, I told Mr. Lustri to fire an arrow wrapped in a letter that I wrote towards the lead ship of the third wave. His arrow hit the captain of the lead ship, causing him to fall to the deck. It was an act worthy of praise.

"Mr. Lustri, not that I'm complaining, that was a good shot after all. But I thought I told you to hit the main mast?" I asked as I looked at the lead ship with my telescope.

"Aye captain, but it's hard to hit the target at this range and in the middle of the Mrun River."

Just then I saw the captain got up with the help of one of his crewmen. I breathed a sigh of relief that the arrow only hit the captain's arm. One of the crewmen unwrapped the letter around the arrow.

The letter reads:

Listen you Surfesian dogs,
 
You have been pwned by The Abundance of Lollipops. Just look around at the pathetic wrecks of your formerly vaunted trireme fleets. Your only option is to let us go our own way. If you dare send any ship in pursuit, I will turn around and burn Lytis to the ground as well as your whole fleet until even the night will become as bright as day from the flames that will lick your city and your ships.
 
You have been warned.
 

 
Captain Felicia Belphere Metrune.
That pretty lady that will make your mothers weep.

I later found out that on this day, my name carried along the title of 'Destroyer of Fleets'. So whenever Surfesian mariners spoke of me, they would call me 'Captain Felicia The Destroyer of Fleets'. Mr. Lustri became a legend as 'He Who Hits An Arm At 2 Miles'. Technically it wasn't even half a mile away, but you know how rumours got exaggerated over time. As for Duke Rafjar The Victorious (lol), his name was changed into Baron Rafjar The Bootkisser by his own men. Yes, his rank was also reduced to a baron by his own king after the great loss Surfesian navy suffered and he retired in shame shortly after.

It's good to have a spy in enemy country. I get to listen to all the funny gossip.

******

"And then mother said "Bring back souvenirs!" And I was like "Mother, we're not in Lytis to sightsee, you know?"”

Father chuckled listening to my stories.

"That sounds like your mother, alright. Always so adorable."

"Unn, childish is more like it though," I mumbled.

Then there was a knock on the door before it was opened wide and Mr. Lustri's face appeared. "Captain, we've arrived at the port. What are your orders?"

"Take us in slowly. Give the populace time to spread the news of our return. Allow all the soldiers we brought back to stand on the deck. Make sure they're seen."

You're probably wondering why I gave such an order. It's simply a publicity stunt.

"Aye, captain." Mr. Lustri saluted before he went out and closed the door behind him.

"Shall we go out as well, father?"

"Of course, being kept inside a dungeon made me think of home far too much," father said as he offered me his arm.

I hooked arms with father, walking side by side to the door... until we realized that the door was a little too small for both of us to walk side by side.

"After you," father said as he disengaged our arms.

I probably should have this door enlarged.

"Strange, I feel like we're missing something," father said when both he and Yucks were outside and looking at the port we were heading into. There was already a small crowd at the port, their cheers could be heard even from here.

I looked at the direction father was looking at and said, "Ah you mean the forest behind the port? I cut them down."

"You... cut... the forest? That forest... my grandfather... planted?"

"Yes, where else would I get all the timber?"

Eh? Father, why are you lying down on the floor so suddenly? Father, your mouth is foaming, are you okay? Oh! Is this what they call 'fainting with foaming mouth'?

Geez, I only took a quarter of the barony's timber supply. It's not like I cut down everything. Don't make such a big deal out of it. I'll replant everything, okay? Stop being so melodramatic over a bunch of trees.

 

 

*Thank you for reading. As usual, your comments are greatly appreciated. Please comment, your comments make me feel all fuzzy inside and motivates me greatly.
**Many thanks to awesome Eric for proofreading this chapter so quickly again.
***Thanks very much to Jkoc on that awesome mrug calculation.
****Also, I have an active blog now, come have a look at http://hugginglove.blogspot.com/
*****The main story for book one is done with this chapter. All that's left are the three side stories. Please wait for it.

Good morning, everyone. My name is Felicia Belphere Metrune. I am the only daughter of Baron Alphonse Lartes Metrune. I am 12 years old. I haven't always been Baron Metrune's daughter though. I was originally a 29 year old man who lived in Cornwall. One day I got hit by a truck and you've probably guessed it, I was reincarnated into what seems to be medieval Europe. Bath, done. School, done. Now when am I going to get my flower festival, father? Felicia's Second Life Chapter 9 A tale of love (?) and change (lol) in a medieval era. By Shinieris

Good morning, everyone! It's me, your beloved and most adorable Lady Felicia again. How are you all doing? Did you miss me? I'm sure you did! But don't worry, after three side stories, I'm finally here again. Yay me!

Why aren't any of you clapping? Clap, now! Anyone not clapping at my appearance will be dumped into the Mrun River. You! I see you're not clapping. How dare you! But I'll let it go for now, hmph!

Why? Because I'm in a good mood.

It is now spring and the whole valley is covered in flowers. Yes, flowers! I don't know if it's anything I did - no, it's definitely something I did - but this year, the whole barony is covered in flowers.

Blue, red, yellow, white and even purple! On the roof, in front of houses, along the paved road and even on the mountains! The whole barony is a flower garden! Even when you hide in your house, you can still smell the fragrance of flowers. This calls for a flower festival. Come to think of it, let's do just that!

******

The moment I went out this morning, I was greeted by the sight of a beautiful white horse. Its reins tied to the fence of the flower patch in front of my house. It was chomping on the petals and leaves of my beautiful flowers.

"Pest-Sul, why is this horse eating my flower garden?

"Sorry, big sis. A messenger from the House of Melstad arrived earlier with the horse in tow. He's off to have breakfast at Felicious. He told me he'd be right back. He also told me that the horse is Melstad property and it is not to be harmed."

I gave Sul a glare. In exchange for me not making a fuss about her being mother's pet kitten, it was agreed that she would be employed as our maid-in-training. She was placed under Suin's supervision, though her primary duty was taking care of my flower garden.

I did try to bully her a bit by making her wear cat ears and a cat tail, which I had the tailors sew quickly at double pay. She took it in stride though and never complained. This cursed object's positivity and optimism is so terrifyingly bright. Of course the cat ears and tail only made her more adorable in mother’s eyes. Mother is so weird.

So in all appearances, she became Cat Maid Sul. That was the only way I would agree to her becoming our household maid. Besides, Fariha was still weak from her recent birth, so having Sul around would most definitely help Suin with the housework. It won't be a problem even once Fariha returns to work. Unlike before, we can now afford to hire three maids, we can even afford to hire ten more maids now, but let's not go that far. We can't afford nine more babies because father can't control his urges. If Suin weren't a former assassin, father would've probably had a baby with her too.

Anyway, let's deal with the immediate issue.

"You!" I gave the horse a glare.

The horse ignored me.

"Stop eating!"

The horse continued to ignore me.

"If you do not stop eating my flowers, I will turn you into horse stew."

Still ignoring me.

"Have it your way," I said as I came close to the horse but before I could grab its reins, it turned around and kicked me with its hind legs.

If not because of my Tea Party, a pair of high strength steel bracers blued to perfection, I would've broken some bones at least.
Just look at the bracer on my arms. It is steel and yet it is dented! Sure, the dent is shallow and not very noticeable but it's a dent nonetheless. Is this someone's attempt at assassination?

If this is a Melstad's horse, are they trying to kill me? Could it be that I'm a threat now and my own relatives are trying to do me in? If so, say it to my face you ungrateful cousins! Or maybe ungrateful uncles or aunts. Don't make me regret bringing you home from Lytis!

I took out my gun, the Mark VII Double Barrelled Boomstick and aimed it at the horse.

"Apologize or I make a hole in your eye," I said to the horse.

"Waaaaiiiitttt!!!!" a loud voice cried from the main road leading to town proper.

I looked at the direction the voice came from and saw a man on horseback galloping in my direction.

"Please, my lady," the man said once he dismounted, "Please do not kill the horse, it's a present from Master Feras Meruin Melstad, my lady."

He handed me a letter. Written in flowery words with the smell of roses and metaphors that I found hard to understand, I skimmed through it and then tore it to pieces.

What is this garbage?

"Ah... my lady..." the servant looked at the pieces of paper on the ground.

This is why I don't like you, you know? If you want to say something, just freaking say it! Don't go with such a roundabout way about it.

"So basically, this is a gift for me from that idiot, right?"

"I'm not sure who is the idiot you're referring to, my lady, but yes, this is a gift from Master Feras.

"I see, then I can do whatever I want with it, right?"

"Yes-"

"Good!" I said as I raised my gun again.

"Wait!"

"What now?"

He knelt on the ground with his forehead touching the dirt. "Please, my lady. If it's known that master's gift was shot dead within a minute of being received, I will be in a very bad position, my lady. Please have mercy on me."

"Tch!" I walked up towards the sickly pale horse, while watching out for its hind legs. I stood in front of the horse, between it and the fence its rein was tied to. My gun hung low in my hand.

"Thank you very much for your consideration, my lady. I'm sure this will go a long towards maintaining a good relation between the houses of Melstad and Metrune, my lady."

I could see the horse smirk.

I patted the soft white fur of the sickly pale horse as I said, "Certainly, I wouldn't want to cause any friction between us and grandfather and I look forward to continued good relations with the House of Melstad. Of course, I wouldn't dream of hurting such a beautiful equine."

The horse neighed a laugh.

Then I pressed the nozzle of the gun at the horse's throat. "Did you seriously expect me to say that, you dumb horse? AH?"

Startled, the horse attempted to pull back, but with the rein tied to the fence, it couldn't go far. I just pressed the barrel even deeper into its throat.

"Would you like me to prepare it for dinner, my lady?" Lili asked suddenly.

"Oh no need. No need at all. You hear that, you stupid horse? Lili offers to prepare you for dinner. But I'm thinking of roasting you myself. Your hind legs look delicious. Bet you regret kicking me just now, huh?"

The horse breathed hard as it pulled even harder in an attempt to get away.

"You think I won't kill you, is that so? You think I'm afraid of grandpa, don't you? Well, tough luck. I can’t give a damn! Become nutrient for my body, dumb horse!"

Right before I was about to press the trigger, I felt something give away behind me. The fence came flying when the sickly pale horse pulled even harder, hitting me in the back. The wooden fence broke into pieces against my back, releasing the reins, which ended up tangling at my feet.

"Gyaaah!!! Stop you damned horse!" I cried as the horse carried me away by my feet with Lili chasing after me.

******

"Huff huff, stupid horse. Making me dirty so early in the morning."

"Huff huff, what an agile horse. It could avoid my thrown knives so easily. I offer no excuse for my failure, my lady."

"Huff huff. You tried your best. Next time I see that stupid horse, I'm definitely putting a bullet into it. What's with you these days, though? It's like you're in a daze these days."

"I'm sorry, my lady. It's nothing, please don't worry about it. So what's the plan now, my lady?"

"Same as we do every day. Let's go visit the school."

"At least we're not far from the school."

"Small blessings."

We arrived at the school just as our single full-time school teacher, Ms. Collie opened the door to admit the students into the classroom. Unlike formal schools in my former world, schools in this world are not mandatory and even discouraged in certain parts of the region. In my old world there was a saying that "An uneducated populace is easier to cow, easier to control, and easier to enslave." Perhaps that is why education is not a big thing here.

I don't really care about enslaving people through withholding education. I need my population educated so that I can make them do even more things for me. There are plenty of ways to enslave people. Keeping them dumb is a short-sighted person's folly. Like every noble of the land, of course I want complete obedience from my populace, but I don't have to be a dick about it.

True, an uneducated workforce is easier to control, but an educated workforce is more useful when controlled. You can quote me on that.

The school was actually one of the two workshops on my small strip of land. It was a little bigger than three peasant houses placed next to each other. At full use, the first floor of the workshop could comfortably seat 60 children in one class, though it could fit 100 children at the same time if comfort weren't a concern. The second floor was added a week after class started and classes there focused on teaching practical skills such as medicine refining, sewing and woodworking.

With the sudden increase in population after the trip to Lytis, we had a lot of people with no home and no jobs. I asked the original peasants of the barony to allow the homeless newcomers a place to stay in their homes while we built the new boarding house out of bricks and concrete.

Now, bricks and mortar are well known in this time period. Many castles and buildings were already made with fired mudbricks and mortar, alongside other materials such as limestone and granite. What they didn't have, was concrete. With the mountainous landscape of Mruna and the shortage of timber, building out of bricks and concrete was significantly cheaper and sturdier. Without a need to import wood, the boarding house was made almost entirely of concrete and hollow bricks, making construction a lot faster than if it had been single blocks of limestone or similar. If you must know, the boarding house was built based on French Baroque architecture since it was meant to be an inn after we have given every newcomer a home. I probably went overboard with the scale again. though. It had become as big as a small castle.

I really should learn to tone things down.

The sudden increase in population prompted the barony-wide policy of planting flowers at each home. It was following my fears that the sudden population boom would cause squalor and disease. I knew enough about the Black Death and I didn't plan to start it here. I know at a population of 800 adults, it wasn’t big enough for Black Death to come knocking, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful. Every home got a small amount of seeds for them to grow mint bushes in front of their homes. They could also grow other plants from cuttings they got from the wilds, but some with a little bit more money could choose to buy already rooted cuttings from me, for a small fee (lol).

Yup, some of our people have money now. With the increase in population and industry, Mruna is seeing the rise of the first middle class citizens right now. With more people than space, we're also seeing the former serfs merge their dwellings into one large multi-storey housing block. That's right, Mruna is getting its first apartment blocks too.

Of course, that was all following my suggestion, modeled after the large five-storey boarding house which also housed my Felicious Ride-Through Restaurant. Don't worry, I was aware of the risks involved with early apartments, so I formed a group in charge of inspecting the safety of the apartments every month, headed by me, the Chief Building Inspector.

Any plans to build an apartment block have to first be drawn on a piece of paper. Since most people can't read or write, they had to pay those who can read and write to prepare their documents, which prompted the formation of the Copywriter's Hall, headed by a formerly imprisoned scholar from Lytis. Then they would send it to me for approval to start building. Most of the earlier plans were denied as they did not specify worker safety precautions, materials used and effect on neighbourhood traffic. The placement of drainage and sewage pipes had to be included too, although they couldn't understand why those were extremely important to being approved.

The very first proposal was only a single-page paper with a rough sketch of a three-storey building with the words "This is good." I stamped 'denied' all over the page until it was almost completely black. Thankfully, after I gave a basic guideline of what to draw and what to write, the proposals after that were more acceptable. It did require a bit of urban replanning though, and some families had to be relocated to new homes to allow expansion of roads in order to avoid the inevitable heavy traffic in the town's center.

During construction, as Chief Building Inspector, I had to do actual inspections to ensure that the building methods and precautions were safe for builders and eventual tenants. After that, they had to purchase additional flowers for each floor of their apartments, and they had to purchase them from me, the barony's Botanical Director. After that, they had to register their building to me, the City Planner and if I deemed their building to be unsafe for habitation, they wouldn't be allowed to rent it out to anyone.

So with all these new stuff, can you see why I want an educated population so that I won't have to do everything myself? Sure I have my friends, but they all have other things to do. I have plans for them, being urban development officials isn’t one of them.

"How was yesterday, Ms. Collie?" I asked when I entered turned the corner at the new school. Like many educated people here, Ms. Collie was from Lytis and one of the imprisoned captives thrown out my way. In Lytis, she was imprisoned for obstructing civil officials, at least according to her when she applied for the job of school teacher.

"Oh my lady, good morning. Everything was as usual. Some of the children are still struggling with reading and writing, but that's to be expected. It's only been a few weeks since they started school after all."

"I see. Is there anything you need?"

"Nothing urgent, but if it's possible, can I get twenty more writing slates, my lady? I think we miscalculated the number of children in town."

"Alright, I'll have it delivered this evening."

"Thank you my lady."

"What about the adult class in the evening? Any problem with that?"

"Nothing I can't handle, my lady."

"Very well, if there's any problem with the school, you know where to find me."

"Certainly, my lady."

When I wasn’t visiting the places of importance, I would normally be working in my workshop just a stone's throw away from the school. Since the stuff I kept in the school had to be moved, they were all moved to my workshop. So now my workshop and its surrounding looks more like a junkyard than a workshop, which sucks. I'll be happy when the school building is completed. It will be called Mruna's Naval Academy, a large school facing the Mrun River with plenty of space for recreation and for students from all levels, from primary to secondary to college. The only compulsory level will be primary school, though.

Have I mentioned that I'm also the school's principal? No? Well, I also teach sometimes, but Ms. Collie had a problem with me aiming my gun at naughty children, so she only allowed me to help out occasionally. I admit that was out of line, but they wouldn't listen otherwise! So now my only duty as principal is to acquire supplies for the school and set up the curriculum. Once a week, I teach metallurgy and chemistry but since only the blacksmith's boys and a few boys from Lytis are at that level, my involvement with the lessons is minimal.

After checking out the school, I walked back to the town. There, in the center of town was the newly formed Adventurers’ Guild. Yes, Adventurers’ Guild. Annexed from the house of the former village chief, it was created to provide jobs for those without. Here, I and anyone who needs things done can post jobs for those looking for one.

You see, after I came back from Lytis with a bunch of people, we had a terrible problem with unemployment. There were too many people and too few jobs. I tried my best to give some of them jobs at my place, but the only things that actually needed workers were the farm and the tin mine. That still left me with almost 200 people with no jobs and no homes. Ever since I cut down all the trees behind the port, father had been very protective of the rest of the trees, so it wasn't like I could tell the jobless people to cut down the trees to make more farms. If I left the situation the way it was, soon I'd see a spike in crime and the rise of slums. I didn't want that to happen, so the Adventurers’ Guild was the answer I came up with.

Most commonly, the local residents would be looking for help in the fields. They would pay the Adventurers’ Guild the wages plus service charge specified and then given a token of payment. Anyone looking for work can request the job, and if the guild feels they're suitable for the job, they would be given a job token. Once the task is completed, the employer would hand the worker their payment token and the worker would return to the Adventurers’ Guild to claim their payments. Sometimes the employers would give exceptional workers some gifts like a basket of harvest or some tips. That is fine with us, the Adventurers’ Guild neither approves or reproves such acts.

Eventually, the employers will end up with a favourite worker and will employ them outside of the Adventurers’ Guild's services. That's fine with me. The reason I created the Adventurers’ Guild was to provide jobs for those who couldn't find them in the first place.

"Good morning, Gonne," I greeted as I poked my head through the main doorway.

Gonne was talking to a disgruntled-looking man who was arguing about something. At my greeting, the man took off his hat and they bowed at the same time. I noticed the man was one of the men we brought home from Lytis. So likely he was looking for work.

"Good morning, my lady," Gonne greeted back, "If you will give me a few minutes, my lady, I'll serve you shortly."

"No problem, take your time." I could tell that Gonne was in some kind of trouble, but I chose to let him handle it himself. As assistant guildmaster, he should learn how to handle things by himself. I couldn’t be around to handle problems every time.

I looked up at the five foot long and three foot tall notice board, noticing that the Adventurers’ Guild idea was a huge success. While most of the job postings were for farming or construction, some others were for acquiring items, such as deer hide or herbs. Due to the multipurpose nature of the Adventurers’ Guild, there were so many job postings that the whole notice board was full of job offers pinned by thumbtacks. Some job postings were even posted on top of existing job postings. I should deliver a new notice board tomorrow.

Before you ask, yes, I ‘invented’ thumbtacks as well. Otherwise we’d have a bunch of nails on the board that could turn the notice board into a murder weapon. I’d rather not have ‘killed with a notice board’ as one of the causes of death in Mruna.

I took an empty form for job posting and filled it in, specifying that I was looking for another carpenter. Ever since father had forbidden me from cutting trees indiscriminately, we had been having a serious issue with lacking timber. I had my ships import timber from places as far as Rotenheim, but we still have a shortage of it. So I've been careful with hiring too many carpenters for fear of running out of timber. It still didn't solve the problem of lacking wood, though.

I guess I'll just import more timber from Renus. Hopefully grandpa will agree to sell more timber. He's been making a lot of fuss about timber ever since I told him I didn't have the resources to build another Lollipop Class ship for him. He offered to give me the timber for free if I would build the ship for him for free. I told him, "Hell no!" Even with the free timber there were still many other things that needed to be spent on, such as wages, steel and the five ballistae he expected me to include as part of the deal.

Seemingly done with the other man, Gonne greeted me. "Good day, my lady. I'm sorry that I can't have our daily meeting today, since I have to go out to settle a dispute. My sister Monne is in the office though, if you'd be fine with that."

"It's fine, go ahead. I'll speak with Monne," I said as I made a dismissive wave before putting up the newly filled form onto the notice board.

Monne is Gonne's older sister and Somme's younger sister. Both Somme and Gonne taught her reading and writing themselves in order to improve their own skills. She is an efficient clerk and handles the guild's accounts fairly well. The only reason why I didn't appoint her as first assistant was because she was very shy and timid. If she becomes first assistant, all these burly, muscly men looking for work will just pressure her with their demands. Unlike Serin, who is equally shy but has no problem spilling blood, Monne has no stomach for violence or blood.

Unlike Gonne, whose job is more front desk, Monne's job is more in the guild archives. Here, only registered 'adventurers' may take up jobs. There is a one-time five copper fee for registration and issuing of a 'guild card', but this can be paid through pay deductions over 2-3 jobs if the applicant can't pay it for whatever reason. These guild cards function as identification cards, where we record the jobs they've taken, the amount they've been paid as well as any commendations or comments by their employers. They will then be assigned a Competency Rank and a Trustworthiness rank.

Being 'competent' doesn't mean they can kill dragons (even if they exist), it just means that they're competent in what they do, for example, farming, fighting, administration or the like. Trustworthiness is determined by how many jobs they've completed versus the jobs they've abandoned and their general attitude towards work and their employers. The ranks range from Unranked U for newbies to A for very accomplished ones. F rank would be given for those who consistently failed every job.

From Monne, I found out that the Adventurers’ Guild was too successful and we've been having more jobs than workers and that unless we have more workers, the requests will just keep stacking up. She also informed me that some of the workers have been getting more rowdy lately and this might cause a problem in the future. I told her I would think of something. I wonder if I may have to lower the age restriction or bring in more peasants from elsewhere. Currently, only children older than 12 could be hired through the Adventurers’ Guild, though there was nothing stopping anyone from hiring kids younger than 12 on their own.

I walked out of the Adventurers’ Guild when I heard the sound of wooden bells tolling in the distance. From the street to my right, a tall banner with the 'Rod of Asclepius' symbol was raised high as the team of spear sentries marched quickly with their baggage, a wounded man lying on a stretcher. This was a team of spear sentries, fulfilling their mission as paramedics in times of need while still maintaining their duties as Mruna's police force.

With the increase in population, there was also a rise in crime. Therefore, I had Merisa arrange for regular patrols, with watch posts in several key spots around the town in addition to previously built guard towers all over the barony. While they still patrolled in full gear, they had switched from war armaments to urban police armaments, retaining everything except the long spear and supply packs. What they carried now were six-foot long staffs in place of long spears and linen cloths along with first aid kits. Apart from being policemen, they also functioned as paramedics. The long staffs and linen cloths could be turned into stretchers easily where the injured could be transferred to the local medical center.

Unlike my previous world's medical centers, the medical centers in this world use herbs instead of drugs. This is something that I can't show any superior knowledge in. Although there are many plants that are similar to my previous world, most plants are really foreign, likely due to different evolutionary paths. For example, we have a rubber bush here, just like in my previous world, but this world's rubber bush is like a thin, tiny rubber tree that grows fast and to extract the rubber, you have to uproot the whole tree, debark it and smash the inside with a hammer. The resulting slurry is the rubber or latex with plant fibre mixed in. Same case with medicinal herbs here, they are somewhat different from what I had back in my previous world. That's why having Serin and Lili learn about it was essential. Although we've had village medicus for generations, the medical center itself was only built last winter following the arrival of all the medici that came with our return from Lytis.

Surprisingly, they knew of the benefits of alcohol and had been using base mrugs as disinfectant as soon as they found out about their high alcohol content. So I had to prepare mrugs not just for regular consumption but also for medical use. Due to this, there are simply not enough mrugs for exports and the only exports I had of mrugs were to Daddy Malor and Daddy Soom in Lytis. I had to keep some of the mrugs in reserve after all, since they were also used in warfare as mrug projectiles. Abundance of Lolipops alone consumed at least four barrels a week even without taking part in any battles.

Have I mentioned that Daddy Malor and Daddy Soom were so impressed by The Abundance of Lollipops that they bought the next best thing, the cogs? Not just one, but three cogs and they loved them. They wanted to buy more but I told them the rest were already reserved. They've been pestering me to build more though, and both were willing to pay top price for either The Abundance of Lollipops or a ship of similar make. So for awhile there, I was swimming in gold. The only problem with building more ships was that, I didn't have enough timber!

I'm not joking when I said I was swimming in gold. I did swim in gold, literally. It happened in the vault under the recently built and heavily fortified Mruna Grains Exchange. No, it has nothing to do with trading stocks. It's a very basic grains exchange. People sell the grains they have in excess and buy grains they want at a fixed price. Sure, they can just barter with their neighbours, but at the Grain Exchange, they can sell it for coins without haggling especially if what they have are so common that nobody wants to barter for it. It's the first step towards having a money-driven economy and toward becoming a city. It also functions as the center of the town’s commercial area.

“The town is growing well,” I commented.

“Indeed, my lady. There are a lot more people now and buildings are getting taller,” Lili agreed.

“It’s still too small to become a city, though.”

“It’s only a matter of time, my lady.”

“I suppose you’re right. Let’s go to the grand opening of the new public bathhouse, Lili.”

“Eh? Isn’t it still too early, my lady?”

“It’s fine to take a bath before the grand opening, right? Besides, I can’t attend the grand opening being this dirty.”

“I’ll send a message to Sul and ask her to send a change of clothes, my lady.”

“Very good. Now let’s go take a bath!”

We arrived at the bathhouse around five minutes later. It was a large two-storey building with a single tall chimney in the back, though only the ground floor was used for bathing. It was large enough to comfortably accommodate 300 people at the same time. The bathhouse was built about four blocks away from the town center, halfway between the Adventurers’ Guild and my family’s mansion. Designed with nature in mind, it had two locker areas for keeping personal belongings, a large wash room where a reservoir supplied water to the pipes and an even larger soaking area. There were hot water-filled pools made of smooth, circular large rocks with flowering bushes planted in pots near the hot water pools. It must be said that the soaking area had no roof, because I wanted to see the stars while I soaked at night. Since this wasn’t a residential area, there was no fear of people peeking from the apartments. Despite that, I still had a tall brick wall built around the soaking area to deter prying eyes.

There was no separate bath. Both men and women use the same bath. I couldn’t afford to build separate baths on top of everything I had planned to build. So men and women simply had to bathe at separate times. I’d leave that to the bath manager, a job which my normally lazy mother had volunteered to take up. She couldn’t be here for the opening ceremony, though. For some reason, she had to go see grandpa in Renus.

“Good afternoon, Ella,” I greeted the receptionist in charge of the noon shift. She was sweeping the floor in preparation for the opening ceremony.

She curtsied with one hand on the broom. “Good afternoon, my lady. The opening ceremony won’t start for two more hours, but please have a rest in the lounge upstairs in the meantime. Captain Merisa is there too.”

“No, I’m here for a bath. Is the bath ready for use, Ella?”

“Melle just checked it half an hour ago, my lady. It’s ready if you want to use it.”

“Great! Come on, Lili, let’s take a bath. You too, Ella.”

“Eh? But I’m still working-“

“You’ve been sweeping since yesterday. It won’t accumulate that much dust in just one day. Come on, take a break and let’s take a bath together. Call Melle and Merisa too.”

“Yes my lady.”

I tried my best not to grin. My urging for them to bathe together with me had nothing to do with taking a break. I actually just wanted to see them naked. Apart from Merisa, both Ella and Melle were beautiful and well-stacked. Merisa was pretty too, but she was more cool than beautiful and although she had a respectable pair, she wasn’t stacked like the other two. Guess I still like women after all.

Oh, not good, I’m letting out a drool.

Together with Lili, I walked into the locker room as Ella went upstairs to call for Merisa and Melle to join us. While taking off my own dress, I eyed Lili’s lean body. Unlike me, Lili had already started having a nice beginning of a pair of hills on her chest. With her tight, slim body, growing breasts and butt and pretty face, she was starting to look like a junior idol from my previous world.

Don’t misunderstand. Although we have similar faces and bodies, I wasn’t trying to praise myself through praising her. I just sincerely like her. As a friend, of course.

“Please don’t stare too much, my lady,” Lili said while attempting to hide her breasts and crotch with the linen towel that was provided free by the bathhouse inside the locker.

“Eh? Was I staring?” I asked, though I already knew that I was indeed staring.

“Mm,” Lili mumbled as she looked sideways.

“Sorry, let’s go have a wash, okay?” I said as I took her hand and lead her to the wash area.

We washed each other tenderly in the wash area, with the fragrant soap made from several kinds of flower oils. She looked embarrassed as I washed her and it looked like she tried to avoid moaning, judging from the way she bit her lips while making small sounds in her throat. The she washed me in exchange and it felt so good that I wanted to lie on the wooden bench by the corner while she rubbed my back until I fell asleep.

My eyes were drawn to the wooden sliding door as it opened, revealing the three beauties in their naked splendour. Unlike the other two, Merisa who led them into the wash room apparently had no idea that the towel was supposed to hide her private parts. Thus she placed it on her shoulder the way a man would have done in my previous life and confidently walked bare-naked into the washroom, proudly revealing every part of her body for my eyes to capture in all its splendour.

“My lady, you’re drooling,” Lili said as she wiped my drool with her own towel.

Boobs, butts, blushing faces. Uhehehehe. Yes! This is what being a man should be like. Mature women are the best after all.

Except I’m a girl now, damn it! What am I going to do with this sexual frustration?

******

“What are you doing? Catch it properly!” I yelled as Merisa was kicked away into one of the hot water pools.

“You pervert horse, taste my poison needles!” Lili cried as she threw three steel darts at the rampaging horse.

“Eeyaa!!!” Ella screamed when one of steel darts barely missed her naked breasts.

“Don’t let the dumb horse loose!” I commanded while running back to the locker room. I needed to grab my gun and shoot the dumb horse in the eye.

You’re wondering what’s happening?

It happened after washing our bodies, you see. We entered the soaking area together afterwards, but instead of relaxing in the hot pools, we saw the same white horse that made me dirty this morning soaking inside one of the tubs. Of course, I told everyone to catch the dumb horse. Nobody bathes in my hot water bathhouse before me!

And so after grabbing my gun, and running back to the soaking area still stark naked, I fired a shot. “BANG!” It missed the horse but managed to make it freeze on the spot. Merisa and Melle then took the opportunity to bring it down by tying its legs with their towels, causing the horse to fall to its side when it struggled.

“Huff, huff. Got you now, you dumb horse. Have anything to say before I put a bullet in your eye?”

The horse neighed.

“Ha? You were just bathing? How dare a dirty perverted horse bathe with me in my hot water pool. Go find yourself a river if you want to bathe so much.”

It neighed again.

“You’re saying you’re not a pervert because you’re a mare? Merisa, check it.”

“Eh?”

“Check if it’s really a mare, Merisa.”

Looking confused, it took Merisa a moment to understand the order, as expected of the captain of the spear sentries. She cautiously touched the horse’s privates while watching its legs. The horse neighed as its privates were felt up.

“Shut up and take it quietly, you damned horse. Do you really want a bullet in your brain?”

“She’s a mare, my lady,” Merisa confirmed

“I see, so you’re not a perverted stallion after all.”

The horse nodded enthusiastically.

“But that doesn’t make it okay to bathe in a human bath,” I said as I pointed my gun at its head.

The horse neighed a sad tone.

“No matter how much you plead, I won’t be swayed, you know. I won’t have my hot pool be dirtied with mud. In the first place, it’s only for soaking. You were supposed to wash yourself first instead of jumping straight in!”

It neighed an even sadder tone.

“Ha? If I let you live, you’ll be my loyal servant? What nonsense! How do you expect me to trust you after you almost killed me this morning?”

Neighed.

“Ah geez! Stop crying! Fine, I’ll spare your life this time, but if you try to rebel or harm me again, I’ll definitely cut off your legs and roast them in front of your own eyes.”

Neighed.

“Merisa, please untie her legs. As for you, go wait at home. I’ll take you to the river later. On second thought, just go yourself. Ask the other horses if you don’t know the way. How the heck did you get in anyway?”

The horse pointed its head in one direction.

“You broke the back door? You stupid horse! That door was meticulously carved by an artisan! I’m going to work you hard to pay back that door. Now go away before I change my mind and put you out of your misery.”

Peace finally returned after the horse left through the still wide-open back door. I’ll have to ask Melle and Ella to have a temporary door fitted until I can find a replacement. Or maybe I’ll just ask mother to take care of it. Yup, that’s a better idea.

“Say, what does everyone think about a flower festival?” I asked the group as we sat down in one of the hot pools.

“What is a flower festival, my lady?” Melle asked while rubbing hot water into her shoulders.

“Basically, it’s a day off to admire beautiful flowers. Not just that, there will also be performances, food stalls and game stalls set up for everyone to relax and enjoy the food and the atmosphere.”

“Umm... I can’t understand why any would want to admire beautiful flowers, my lady. I do like the idea of food stalls, but I’d have to know the details before I can set up a security detail.”

“What are you saying, Merisa? If you have a girl’s heart, won’t you want to look at pretty things? Beautiful flowers are pretty things.”

“I’m sorry for not having a girl’s heart,” Merisa said while looking down.

“You said game stalls, my lady? What kind of games?” Ella asked as she raised her left hand.

“Many types, for example, fish scooping, mini bow archery, ball throwing and so many more things! Of course, there will be prizes to be won.”

“Oh, that sounds nice. We have Aging Festivals, but there were never any games like that.”

“That’s why this is going to be a first!” I said proudly.

“I’m in, what can I help you with, my lady?” Melle said.

“Me too!” Ella said excitedly.

“If you wish for it, I’ll do anything you wish for, my lady,” Merisa agreed.

“Alright! Everyone agrees. I’ll have to do some planning, then I’ll have to talk to father about it. Expect one by the end of Spring, everyone!”

Of course, I didn’t need to ask Lili. She already agreed to help me as much as possible when I talked about it with her earlier. I love Lili so much!

When we got up and went back to the locker room to dress up for the opening ceremony later, Lili whispered to me, “My lady, were you talking to the horse earlier?”

I looked at her while making a frown. “What are you talking about, Lili?”

******

Knock knock.

“Open the door, Sul,” I said without taking my eyes off the leather-bound book in my hand. I was sitting at the dining table alone after dinner as Lili was with her mother Suin to learn more about various herbs and poisons.

“Yes, big sister Felli,” the cursed object smiled cutely.

It must’ve been my imagination, because I saw her fake cat ears and tail twitched.

“My lady,” a man in a trench coat stepped inside and took off his hat before pressing it against his chest. It was the messenger I sent to father who was in Renus visiting grandpa with mother.

“So you have returned? What did the baron say?” I asked while flipping the page of the book.

"YOU IDIOT!”

BANG! I put a bullet hole in the wooden door behind him, just an inch away from his left ear. “You asshole, who do you think you're saying that to, huh?” I said as I put the book down and walked towards the man with the smoky gun in my right hand.

“No, that was the message, my lady! It was what the baron said!”

“Really?” I asked as I pushed the second barrel of the gun against the forehead of the taller man.

“Yes, that was all he said, my lady! I swear!”

I took off the gun from his head and whispered to myself, “Damn it, father! We need a flower festival!”

 

*Yay! It's another chapter of Felicia's Second Life!
**As always, please leave your comments and feedback. Praises motivates me to write faster. Constructive criticisms helps me to write better. Thanks for reading and supporting me.
***Much thanks to Eric for editing this for me. I didn't realize I made so many errors.

Hi everyone.

As the first book is almost over (only 1 chapter left and 3 side stories), I've decided to spend some time making the map for Felicia's Second Life.

Hopefully with this, my readers can imagine the world easier. Please take note that there may be revisions to this map in the future, but this should give a rough idea of where things go.

Just a little explanation:
1) River Country
-With the exception of Ithlys and Lytis, every city in the River Country are now in ruins. Even Ithlys is now mostly in ruins.
-Also, I mislabelled Selkur. Selkur is supposed to be on an island north of the River Country. The city labelled as Selkur is actually Siclys.
-Hidden Palace of White Marble is the massive superpalace Felicia will receive from her former lover of 1000 years ago, Dragon Empire Princess Lulurifiel in the Mourning Princess arc. As for the scale, imagine it being bigger than Minas Tirith. It's been cursed for 1000 years.
2) Forlendian side of the Mrun River
- Forlendia is labelled in blue font.
-The cities labeled in green font is the friendly but neutral kingdom of Wamor
-I also misplaced one of the mountains west of Halston. Halston is supposed to be a little more to the south.
3) Surfesian side of the Mrun River
-The cities labelled in red are the enemy, Surfesian cities. Lytis is now also enemy city, but it has a neutral port.
-The cities labelled in green are the neutral (so far) cities of Rotenheim

I wonder if I missed anything. If you have any question, please ask.

Thank you to everyone who's been reading and commenting so far. Please continue to support me.

Being hit by a truck, I died. That was supposed to be the end of the story, but I became a baby instead. And what was worse, I became a baby girl in a medieval-like world! Felicia's Second Life Side Story #1 How I Became Felicia Belphere Metrune Prologue to Felicia's Second Life By Shinieris

Good day, chaps. How are you faring?

I am Malcolm Stokes, Cornwall born, Cornwall bred but will probably be London dead. I am 29 years old systems analyst, with no wife, no children and presently, no girlfriend.

Not that I actually need one. All the girlfriends I've had before this have been snobs. Either that or they saw me as some kind of easy prey to milk money from. I don't want to brag, I do have a good income, but there is a limit to how much I can tolerate, I'm sure you'll understand.

That drove me to the world of 2D. In other words, manga and anime. Since then, I've been fascinated by the perfection of manga and anime girls. If there had been any women half as sweet as the 2D girl's, I'd never let them go. Unfortunately reality was never that simple or perfect. And that drove me deeper into 2D, to the point that I started to judge the women I met by the standards of 2D girls.

I did try dating during that period of time. Nothing worked. I kept comparing them with my 2D women and no matter how much I tolerated their shortcomings, the same word kept running through my mind.

Annoying.

That was what kept running through my mind every time they threw their tantrums, milked me for money or used me for their own benefit. The act itself isn't a problem, it's the atmosphere they portrayed. It would be fine if I could feel some sort of cuteness or adorableness in that, but each time the only feelings I had were bossy, selfish, ungrateful and snobbish.

Before you ask, no, I'm not gay. Just because I can't tolerate 3D women, it doesn't make me gay. And therefore apart from being friends, I had never went any further than that with men.

I'm not a very decisive person, so most of the time, I just allowed us to drift apart until they decided to dump me themselves. Sometimes I would become impatient, so I would dump them myself if I couldn't tolerate it anymore.

That was what happened just now. We were having dinner together at Burners Tavern, one of the most romantic restaurants in London. Instead of saying "how do you do" or praising the food, she launched into a tirade of how her coworker stole the promotion that according to her, should've been hers. Then she proceeded with whining about that coworker’s shortcomings while praising herself as if she were the most hardworking saint the world had ever seen.

"Let's break up," I said after dessert.

"What?" she asked dumbly.

"I said let's break up. Do I have to write a formal letter?" I repeated. I knew I sounded like a jerk, but I really couldn't care less.

So I received my 22nd splash of water or wine or juice on my face. Not that I counted. Then she left in anger while making such a big scene of pushing a waiter who was carrying another couple's food on her way out. Of course, I was billed for the food that fell on the floor as well.

Damn it, Susan, at least pay for the damage you caused before you leave!

So after that I had to walk home. Why, you ask? Because she took my keys and with that, my car too. It was stupid of me to let her drive my car. I could've gotten myself a taxi, but I quite like walking at night. Besides, my house wasn't that far.

It was when I almost reached my flat that I noticed a light shining at me. That was before it ran over me. Unlike the characters in mangas that I read, I died instantly.

The only thing that ran through my mind was that, "Oh, payback is very swift."

Was it a drunk driver? Was it my crazy ex? Was it some assassin from an unknown universe? How would I know? The next thing I knew, I was already somewhere else.

Eh? A baby?

What a cute baby. Is it a girl or a boy? Oh it's looking at me with those bright green eyes. Oh, it's trying to touch me. How cute!

I try to reach the baby's hand, but why does it feel strange? I try moving my hand, but it feels so cumbersome. So awkward. And what's with these small, short and... wait... am I a baby too?

Hold on, didn't I die?

Eh wait, please stop the spinning, I'm feeling dizzy.

The scene changes.

"Come here, Felicia. Crawl to mother," a beautiful woman kneels on the floor that is covered in some kind of fur. She speaks with a kind and gentle voice that makes me crawl towards her as if hypnotized.

"Good girl! You're such a good girl, Felicia." The woman picks me up once I reach her. She rubs her face against mine while hugging me tightly to her rather large bosom.

It feels quite good, I've never been so close to such large breasts before. Or could it be that I feel they’re big because I'm a baby?

Wait, did she call me Felicia? Isn't that kind of girly for a man's name? Did she also call me a girl? I can’t remember, I was too fixated on the boobs.

"Ah, Terrens. You're home. Good timing, please hold Felicia for me, I need to run outside. Suin is late. I need to find out what happened."

The woman who calls herself my mother shoves me into the arms of a boy who looks to be around 10 or 12 years old. He has light brown hair and electric blue eyes. He's wearing some kind of overcoat and a very thick pair of glasses. He looks very flustered as he catches me from the hands of my 'mother'.

"Mother, I can't. I-I have to study," the boy says. His arms feel so cold despite the layers of cloth between our skins.

"Oh, it's fine to take a rest sometimes, Terrens," the woman says as she ruffles his hair, "Take care of your little sisters, okay? I'm only going to be gone for a couple of hours. Lilicia is sleeping in the crib and if any of them cries for milk, there are some on the table. Don't forget to burp them."

The woman grabs something that looks like a travelling cloak, wraps it around her body and goes out into the blizzard.

Ah, no wonder the boy Terrens's skin feels so cold. It must be winter.

Terrens raises me up with his young arms until our eyes are at the same level. He looks into my eyes as I look into his, as if we're trying to reach deep into each other's souls. But in my case, I'm only looking at his eyes. They’re so clear, like glass, and their colour reminds me of expensive sapphires. It's so beautiful.

Since we're supposed to be siblings, do I have the same eyes too?

"A pity..."

Pardon?

"For you to die at such a young age. Your fate is cruel."

Well, I did die, but I wasn't at all young. Sure, I wasn't exactly old, but in the middle ages men at my age would've already had grandchildren, I'll have you know.

"Why would you come to this world, Felicia? Why would you reincarnate into this fate? Is it because you had no choice?"

Well, don't ask me such questions. How would I know?

"Or is it because only you can do this?"

What is it that I'm supposed to do, actually? What fate?

"You are my sister. Regardless of who you were before, just remember, you and Lilicia are my sisters. I will not let your fate cut your lives short. I will find a way. Before it ends, I will find a way."

Wait, life cut short? Are you saying I'm going to die young this time?

"Even if I have to make a contract with the deep spirits. Even if I will be cursed for my whole life. I will not let your fate win. You shall find happiness in this life, that is my vow as your older brother, Felicia. Lilicia too, I will not abandon you just because we have different mothers. You will both find happiness, even if it costs me my soul."

The world spins again. The feeling of Terrens's cold hands disappears from under me. Within seconds, or perhaps centuries, my body floats inside a tunnel of time. Every time the clock turns, my body ages, little by little.

Within the tunnel of time, my eyes see a boy similar to Terrens, but younger than him playing a prank on me with a spider and a dead snake.

I see a girl, who appears to be my age, who takes me by the hand and calls me Felicia. I know by instinct that this is Lilicia.

Father introduces me to three boys and a girl and tells me that they will become my friends.

Father works the family farm alongside Terrens, my other brother and some villagers. Despite being the baron, he still works at the farm like a commoner. I am a little older this time.

My first allowance. One silver for me to keep and Lilicia throwing a tantrum for not getting the silver coin as well. A maid admonishes her for being rude and they both apologize to my father.

When nobody is around. I slip the silver into Lilicia's hand and she is so happy that she hugs me. But then she returns the coin to me, while saying something that I can't hear well.

Terrens at 15, leaving home for the first time. For some reason, I can feel that it will be many years before we meet again.

I opened my eyes slowly. The first thing I noticed was the worn ceiling. I realized I was lying on a bed. A noise of wood slapping against wood caused me to turn my head to the right. The window was slapping against its frame under heavy winds. Could it be there's a hurricane outside?

I tried to get up, but my body was weak and unresponsive. As memories of my journey through the tunnel of time started to wane and disappear, I could only offer a curse for my new life, "God damn, I'm a girl!"

 

 

*Thank you for reading. As usual, your comments are greatly appreciated. Please comment, your comments make me feel all fuzzy inside and motivates me greatly.
**Many thanks to awesome Eric for proofreading this chapter so quickly again.
***I tried to make the first line somewhat British sounding, but since I'm not British, I have no clue how to do that. What I have here was a variation that Eric suggested, though he informed me he can't help me much with that. Any real British person want to have a go?

My name is Prince Hans The Great. I've always been great. Everything I want, I get. Whether it be by hook or by crook. Nobody makes a fool out of me and lives to tell the tale. That was until I met a young lady by the name of Felicia Belphere Metrune. Purge be her evil existence! Felicia's Second Life Side Story #2 The Prince's Forgotten Night Corresponds to Chapter 8, Volume 1 By Shinieris

[Please take note that this story is told from Prince Hans's POV]

"Lady Felicia Belphere Metrune thanks Prince Hans, Lord of Lytis for granting me another audience," she said with a curtsey.

"Always a pleasure, Lady Metrune. Carlton, please give the lady a chair," I said to my loyal knight Carlton, who had been with me for the past 15 years.

Yes, he has been my knight since before I was born. He's probably 27 this year. Although he looks like a knight, he actually has the rank of a viscount, the second highest rank a person not of royal blood can attain.

"Thank you for your kind gesture, your highness," she said as she sat down.

Oh, I can see a little hint of legs.

What's with all the curtseying, though? Ever since I came to Lytis, every female had been curtseying to me the moment they met me. I guess it's true that the culture of River Country is more similar to Forlendia than to Surfes. If I had asked any of my sisters to curtsey to me, I'd get a bloody nose, every time.

"Kaito, please bring forward the gold."

Her three henchmen came forth carrying three chests full of gold. Despite that, this doesn't look enough. Or did I make a mistake?

"I'm sorry, your highness, I couldn't get enough money for the ransom. I only have 380 gold with me."

I see, yes, my memory is not wrong.

"I appreciate your honesty, my lady. Too bad, but this is still not enough," I said. I wonder how many gold I asked. Was it 400? 500?

She fidgeted, looking so pitiful. "I-I know, but surely we can work something out?"

Oh, please don't act like that. You're looking so irresistible right now.

"I can release both the baron and your brother. As for the others, you will have to choose who to bring home."

I'll have to ask Carlton how much money I actually asked her for the ransom later.

"Please, your highness. Is there another way? I can't choose who will live and who will die. Please don't force me to make that choice, your highness!"

Stop! Your begging is too seductive! Good ancestors, I need to get laid.

"Impossible! Unacceptable! I have already reduced the ransom amount greatly. You want me to reduce it even more? No, you will have to choose who to bring home. There shall be no more negotiation, unless..." I paused, as a wicked thought came to mind, but instead I said, "No!"

"What is it, your highness? Is there a way?"

Yes, but...

"You won't like it."

Unless you're a whore.

"How would you know I won't like it, your highness?"

"Well," 'because you're a lady' was what I wanted to say, but I took out something from the chest beside the throne instead and handed it to Carlton while saying, "Would you wear this, my lady?"

Please say yes. Please say yes!

She accepted the leather-wrapped package, opened it and took out a lacy silk teddy. The look of shock on that beautiful face was priceless! I had originally prepared this for my sister Rellina's wedding, but this feeling is much better. Pranking my sister can be done any day.

"I-I suppose I could wear it... for my husband. Is this a gift, your highness?"

You can take it if you'd wear it for me. Of course, I won't be your husband. I'm not going to settle for the first girl I bed.

"Yes, it's a gift, but I want you to come to my bedchamber tonight, wearing that."

It took her a few seconds to process my words, but when she finally understood what I said, her face went red as she started yelling some kind of insult.

"You pervert! Lolicon! Scum! Lecherous bastard! Dirty douchebag!"

Okay, I can understand pervert, scum, lecherous bastard and dirty. What does lolicon and douchebag supposed to mean, though?

Her henchmen started drawing their swords, which prompted my soldiers in the hall to move forward and raise their spears in my defense. Truly marvellous readiness and responsiveness. Carlton trained them well. What will I ever do without Carlton?

"It's funny. I hear you say something, but half of it is total gibberish, my lady. Is it safe to assume that those were all insults?"

It sounded like an insult. It'd be strange if those were praises instead.

"Damned right they were! You worthless excuse of a human being! No, not even human. You're dirt! Toilet dirt! I will market another brand of toilet paper with your name on it!"

Toilet paper? What is this? Is it something you use to clean the outhouse? Or some kind of announcement that you nail to the outhouse? Do Forlendians charge people for using the outhouse? Is that what it's for? An fee notice of 1 silver for pissing and 3 silver for taking a dump?

"Is that so? I don't know what this toilet paper is, but I'm pretty sure it's an incredibly offensive insult."

"Of course it's an insult, pervert! Everyone will know your name as that thing they use to wipe their butts with!"

I see, so in Forlendia they use 'toilet paper' in place of straw and leaves. I bet everyone in Forlendia have rough butts now. How can they wipe their butts with something so thick, hard and rough? Wouldn't that be like rubbing your butt on a piece of tree bark?

Well anyway, that did sound like a really bad insult. "I see. Carlton, execute everyone in the dungeon."

"Wait, you damned bastard! How can you just execute over 100 people just like that?"

Ohhh, this is what I've been waiting for. The shock, the anger, the terror. You are making me very excited with your expressions, my lady.

"They're your people, aren't they? You've just insulted me with what you've just admitted is the worst insult possible. My heart is very sensitive, I'm terribly hurt by your words. Carlton, please make sure they're executed by tea time. I'd really hate to wait."

Sensitive heart (lol). Me? Sensitive heart? I didn't even cry when my childhood friend was executed for attempting to spy on the crown.

"It will be done, your highness."

Good man, Carlton. Though I wonder if he understands that I wasn't really serious.

"Wait wait waaaaaaait!!!"

Oh, this is a new face. This is desperation, isn't it? I like this expression as well.

"Is there a problem, my lady?"

"Damned right there's a - uhum!" she forced herself to make the sweetest smile she could, "Hehe, it was a joke, your highness. Just a joke. Why are you being so serious?"

Is it okay to act like this? You're giving me a half smile and you're emitting an aura of hostility, my lady. You're not fooling anyone. But I must admit, this is adorable.

"A joke? Didn't sound like a joke to me." Because if this is a joke, then why are your eyes twitching?

"Oh you know us Forlendians. We joke all the time. That's how we greet each other. My father insulted me all the time. I insult my brother all the time. Everyone knows it was just a friendly banter. You shouldn't take it seriously, your highness. Hohohoho!"

I don't think that's true, but let's just pretend like I believe her.

"Is that so? So you don't mind wearing that and sleeping with me in my bedroom tonight?"

Let's try this again.

"That-"

"Carlton, tell the jailors to execute-"

"Waaaiiitttt! Yes yes, I look forward to sleeping with you tonight, your highness."

Perfect!

******

"Oahh..." I groaned while rubbing my head.

Looking around the bedroom, I tried to piece together what happened. The last thing I remembered was the lady entering the room. Then we got into an argument, the content of which I couldn't recall. In the end, we shared many goblets of wine and then... what?

What happened next?

Was I so drunk that I passed out shortly after?

Could it be I can't hold my alcohol?

That would be embarrassing. I hope nobody else hears of this.

"Your highness."

I looked at the partition that hid the door. "Oh, it's you, Carlton. What kind of wine did you choose for me? That was nasty!"

My head still hurts, Carlton.

"I'm not sure what you mean, your highness. That was a mild Elouene wine. You've drunk it before, your highness."

"That was Elouene?"

"Yes, I can't understand how you could've collapsed from that."

Elouene. The most mild wine, so mild that most adults consider it grape juice. A wine so mild that every kid in Rotenheim would claim to have drunk it at least once before they turn 10. I got drunk from that? Maybe I should stop drinking from now on.

"Where is she? Where's that lady? Did she wake up before me?"

"The lady of Metrune wasn't drunk. She left some hours ago."

"Even though we agreed to spend the night?"

"She left a letter for you, your highness. I left it on the table beside the bed."

A letter?

I turned to the table in question, discovering a letter placed next to a single chest. I picked up the letter and read it quietly.

Hi handsome. I hope this letter reaches you safely. I just want to say I really enjoyed tonight. You were really good. I'll never forget this night. I hope you won't forget me too. Goodbye and thank you for lowering the ransom to 200 gold.
 
Love, Felicia
 
p/s: Nobody actually calls you The Great.
 

"Wait, what's this about lowering the ransom to 200 gold?" I asked, while opening the chest on the table at the same time.

"You told me to release the prisoners for 200 gold, your highness."

"What?! I did no such thing!"

"You did, your highness. You were probably already drunk, but I heard it clearly, your highness."

"I wasn't drunk!"

"I stand corrected, your highness," Carlton said with a bow.

To think I negotiated in a drunken state, what was wrong with me? Wait, was there even a negotiation? I can't remember anything.

"I assume she took her father, brother and some of the Forlendians then. So how many left are still imprisoned?"

"None, your highness. We sent them all to the lady"

"What?!!! All Forlendians?"

“All of them, your highness. Not just Forlendians.”

“All? Even the political prisoners, the artists, the spies... all of them?”

"That was your instruction, your highness."

"I said release them all?"

"I did point it out to you, but you ordered me to release all of the prisoners. Naturally I assumed that you meant all of them instead of just prisoners from Forlendia... did I understand you wrong, your highness?"

I fell back onto the bed as I swore "I will never drink again!"

"Where is she now?"

"She has already left the castle, your highness."

"Send some soldiers. I want at least the spies back, Carlton."

"That may not be a wise move, your highness."

"Why not?"

"Duke Rafjar the Victorious took on her ship in battle without consulting either you or me, your highness."

"What? So uncle has her and the prisoners now? Damn! Negotiating THAT would be a pain!"

"No..."

"Something went wrong?"

"They escaped."

"Why didn't uncle chase her? He never lets his prey go."

"He had nothing left to chase with."

"Explain."

"The lady's ship sank 24 ships and the crew of the surviving two triremes resigned from the navy. They said the experience was too terrifying for them and they do not wish to see it again. If you wish, I can take you to the scene of the battle. Nothing much to see but debris, though."

"Wait wait, 24 - no, 26 ships? I thought uncle only has 14 triremes in his fleet right now? When did he bring home his Northern Sea Fleet?"

"The other 12 triremes were yours, your highness. They were Lytis's local patrol."

"My triremes? 12 triremes?"

"Yes, your highness. The chamberlain also asked about the toilet paper – your highness, are you alright?"

My vision blacked out as I again fell unconscious onto the bed.

 

 

*Thank you for reading. As usual, your comments are greatly appreciated. Please comment, your comments make me feel all fuzzy inside and motivates me greatly.
**Many thanks to awesome Eric for proofreading this chapter so quickly again.
***Sorry for the late post. Been busy with work and couldn't work on my writing much.

Hello! I am Latreia Tullenaris Melstad, baroness of Mruna and second daughter of the duke of Renus. Most people call me Baroness Latreia, but you're all my daughter's friends, so just call me Rhea. My father, my husband and my siblings call me Rhea too. My children call me mother. Usually my daughter makes the introduction, but it's finally my moment to shine. Yay me! You know, I originally wanted to receive them at the port. I did try going to the port. Walked almost two hundred feet too, before I gave up and asked Suin to carry me home. Walking is too tiring! So now I'm just waiting for them to come home. Quickly get home! I want to go to sleep already! Felicia's Second Life Side Story #3 The Souvenir From Lytis Epilogue to Volume 1 By Shinieris

[Please take note that this chapter is told from Felicia's mother's POV]

"We're hoooome!" my husband and son announced as they opened the front door.

"Welcome hoooome!" I cried as I hugged first my husband and then my son.

I looked around. "Where's my daughter?"

"She'll be home shortly," my husband said as he took a seat at the dining table.

"How can anyone be so popular?" Yox mumbled.

"Why? What happened?"

"She was mobbed and carried away the moment we stepped down from the ship. I can't believe my daughter is more popular than me, the baron. I'm feeling very neglected," my husband whined with his left cheek on the dining table. He looked very depressed.

"Fufufu, that's my daughter, alright!"

"Unn, at least we're a naval power now,” my husband said without raising his head from the table.

"Naval power? What do you mean, dear?"

"We seized three triremes. Alongside Felicia's big ship, we have a stronger navy than even grandfather now!" my son Yox explained excitedly.

"Oh my, but our navy is already stronger than father's fleet. Fufufu. Let me guess, you haven't seen the other ships yet, Yox?"

"What other ships?" my son looked at me with disbelief. Something like this ==> O.O

Fufufu, that’s what you get for never coming home since the day you left for the knight’s academy. "Oh my! Dear, I know you're tired from the journey, but would you show him Felicia's new ships tomorrow?"

"Sure. Tomorrow sounds good."

"I'm hooome! Mother, I'm hungry."

"Oh my, oh my. You're a girl, Felicia. Try to show some restraint," I said as I opened my arms wide, before my daughter jumped into my arms.

"I want food! Food! I've spent weeks eating canned food on a swaying ship. I want real food, mother!" my daughter declared as she swung her arms in a childish gesture that reminded me of her real age despite being mature most of the time.

"Oh my, you're such a spoiled girl, Felicia." I patted my little girl's head. She purred in happiness.

It was while patting and rubbing Felicia’s head that I noticed there was another head behind her. No, I don’t mean Lili, she’s always around Felicia these days. With how similar their faces look like, though, they’re starting to look more like twins than real twins.

"Who's that?" I asked while pointing at the extra head behind her.

My daughter's face paled as she asked, "Wh-who's who, mother?"

"The girl behind you."

My daughter's face paled as she slowly turned around. The moment she saw the girl, she exclaimed, "Arhk! The pest!"

"Teeheehee, I followed you home, big sister Feli,” the little girl giggled sheepishly. The little girl looked surprisingly adorable. Even more adorable than Felicia when she was the same age. Oh, where have the years gone?

"Are you a stray dog?!" Felicia scolded.

"Souvenir?" I asked.

"Mother, you can clearly see this is a human."

"Sul needs a home... nyan!" the little girl mewled while placing her right fist on the side of her head in a gesture that looked like a lucky beckoning cat.

So cute!

“Hey! Are you a dog or a cat? Make up your mind, you pest!”

"I've decided!"

My daughter's face made a mask of apprehension as she said, "No, mother, please don't decide anything. I'll kick the stray dog outside. I'll put her into a crate and ship her back to Lytis. We can pretend like this never happened. Just please, don't make any decision!"

"We're going to keep her!" Yup, I've decided.

"Yay!" My souvenir cheered.

"Noooo!!! Father, say something!"

"I'm hungry too."

"Not that! Father, please grab mother. I'll pry the pest away from her!"

"No! It's my souvenir!"

"Mother, that's not a souvenir. That's a cursed object! Let me throw it away!"

"You're exaggerating."

"I'm not! She's going to haunt me until my death! Throw it out, mother!"

"Don't wanna!"

"Mother!"

"No!"

"Can't we just go straight to lunch? I'm really hungry," my husband intervened.

"Father, help me!"

"It's just a little girl, Felicia."

"That's not a little girl, father! It's an evil spirit. A cursed object!"

"That's a very mean thing to say, Felicia."

"She followed me all the way from Lytis!"

"Is there anything to eat, Rhea?"

"Don't ignore me, father!"

"You're in luck! I've just baked a cake. Let's eat together while Suin prepares some lunch," I said while hugging the souvenir.

"A cake?!" my husband paled.

"A cake?!" my children asked in disbelief.

"That's right! Come on, eat up! I made this when I heard you were coming home. You too, Lili. I made enough for everyone."

Lili expressed her gratitude when I gave her a portion of the cake on a silver plate.

"Woah! First day of being home and I get to eat mother's cake! I've never eaten anything you baked in my whole life, mother!" my son exclaimed as he looked at the cake I placed in front of him.

"There is a reason for that..." my husband commented.

"Ah, my lord, you shouldn't..." Suin came out looking worried.

"Wow, mother, I didn't know you can bake! This looks good!" my daughter praised.

"Ah, er, it's okay, I will finish it for everyone. Don't worry, you don't have to eat it."

"What are you talking about, father? How can you selfishly eat it all on your own?" my son argued.

"Yeah! I'm eating it, I've never eaten anything mother baked before!"

It’s been so long since my son Yox and my daughter Felicia ever agreed on anything. I’m so happy. My children are finally being nice to each other again.

"There's really a good reason for that... Oh damn it, you'll understand."

Everyone took a bite at the same time.

Everyone shed tears at the same time. Like this ==> (TT-TT)

Oh my, oh my. Are you all so happy that you're in tears? I feel so appreciated!

"Salty..." the souvenir said with tears flowing like a river down her cute face.

Eh? Is there a problem?

 

 

*Thank you for reading. As usual, your comments are greatly appreciated. Please comment, your comments make me feel all fuzzy inside and motivates me greatly.
**Many thanks to awesome Eric for proofreading this chapter so quickly again.
***With this, the first volume is completed. I'll be doing final editing and then will ask Eric to proofread everything again. Please have a look at my blog for the pre-final copies http://hugginglove.blogspot.my/ though the story will be the same, only with slight modifications to address reader concerns and plot holes. Most plotholes up until now were intentional, though, so you're not missing much if you don't read the pre-final at my blog.

Good evening. You may all know me already, but allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lilicia. I am Lady Felicia's retainer. All my life, I have prepared myself to serve my Lady Felicia for my whole life. How then, should I act when I was told a secret that shattered everything I believed to be true? Felicia's Second Life Side Story #4 A Metrune Daughter's Decision Prologue to Volume 2 By Shiina Ai

“You have free time until dinner. Go have fun,” my lady Felicia said to me.

“Eh?” It was so sudden that I couldn’t understand her command.

“Go have a meal, pick flowers, watch street performance or kill someone. Anything that makes you happy.”

But what makes me happy is being near you, my lady!

Certainly, I wouldn’t dare say that to her. So instead, I said, “My duty is to assist you, my lady.”

“Nothing you can assist me with right now. I’m just training with the spear sentries.”

“Go have fun, Lili. I don’t want to see you until dinner time, understood?” my lady Felicia said to me as she tested swinging the carved wooden stick that functioned as training swords among the spear sentries.

I know my lady didn’t say that out of spite, but her words still made my eyes moisten. I turned my face down so that my lady couldn’t see my eyes that was about to break into tears. Without letting her see my face, I bowed and said, “As you wish, my lady. If you need me, I will be at the baron’s mansion.”

“Okay, I’ll be back by dinner time,” my lady Felicia said as she turned towards the spear sentries, “Alright, everyone! Today we’ll be doing sword spars. Pick your partners and practice for half an hour. Then we’ll swap partners. Merisa, you’re my first partner.”

I left my lady Felicia as Merisa nodded her consent. I would very much have liked to be my lady’s first sparring partner, but what could I say when she explicitly told me to disappear? What if my lady told me she didn’t want me around anymore? What would I do then?

I don’t want to live in a world without my lady Felicia.

Without realizing it, I had already arrived at the mansion. Unlike the other noble mansions in Forlendia, the Metrune mansion only had one front entrance, and that was the main entrance that we used to come and go regardless of our status. Of course, there were other doors leading out, but the lord had very specific commands regarding entry and exiting.

There was no such thing as ‘servant entrance’ as the lord told everyone. We were told to come and go through the front door. The mansion was designed in a horseshoe shape. The mansion’s main building, the center of the horseshoe, was what most people would see, it was where the lord’s family lived. Behind the main building were two long buildings. The western arm was where the horse stable, storage area, tool shed and kitchen area were located. The eastern arm was the servant quarters, where mother and I, as well as Fariha and Sul lived. It was separated into five fairly spacious rooms. All the buildings opened up towards the central garden between the three buildings where there was a vegetable garden and two rows of flower bushes.

I knocked on the main door twice to inform whoever was inside that I was coming in. Then I opened the door and entered, only to be greeted by the serious faces of my mom, Baron Metrune, Lady Latreia and Fariha. Fariha was holding and nursing her cute baby in her arms, whom the lord as the father, named as Rukacia Sekany Metrune. They were all sitting at the dining table, with the lord sitting at the head of the table.

What’s with everyone? Did I do anything wrong?

The Lady Latreia spoke first. “Lili, where is Felicia?”

Oh no! Am I going to be scolded for coming home without my lady?

“She’s with the spear sentries, my lady. I’ll bring her home right away-“

“No need,” Lady Latreia cut me off, “Sit, Lili.”

Mom gestured for me to sit between her and the baron. I thought it was inappropriate, but I sat there anyway. On the opposite side of the dining table were the baroness and Fariha. As I sat, Lady Latreia who was also Baroness Metrune gave me a complicated glare.

I have no idea what’s going on. Lady Latreia has never shown such a face. Is it anger? Is it dissatisfaction? Is it disapproval? I don’t know. I have never seen Lady Latreia looking other than slovenly or bored.

I sent a glance to mom. She patted my hand gently and gave me a soft gaze probably to calm me. What it actually did was make me more nervous instead. I had a feeling this matter concerned me greatly.

“Lili, you probably know this, but you are aware that this baby is my daughter, correct?” the baron gestured to the baby in Fariha’s arms.

“Yes, my lord,” I said in confirmation. How could I not be aware of it? Lady Felicia outright told me the baby was her younger sister because the baron ‘couldn’t keep his spear where it should be hidden’. I was also there alongside my lady and mom when we heard the baby’s first cries almost two days after we returned home from Lytis.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” the lord smiled warmly.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Get to the point, dear,” Lady Latreia said.

“Patience, Rhea... well... Lili, I’ve decided to formally recognize Ruka as my daughter,” the lord said with the face that made him seem unsure of himself.

What does that have to do with me, though?

“Well, Lili, would you like to be one of Ruka’s older sisters?”

Oh... so the lord only wants me to take care of Lady Ruka. I got nervous for nothing.

“If it’s only that, of course-“

“AHHH!!! I can’t take this anymore!” Lady Latreia suddenly screamed as she threw her arms in the air.

“Rhea, things like these need to be done slowly.”

“Tell her straight or I’ll tell her myself, dear. You know I don’t have patience for things like these.”

What’s going on? Did I assume wrong?

“Uhm, Lili... your real name is... Lilicia Selthiere Metrune.”

Huh?

Mom held my hand tighter.

Looking a little pale, the lord continued, “You are a daughter of Metrune, the union between Suin and I, almost 12 years ago. You are Felicia’s older half-sister, by a few minutes.”

The world paused for me in that instant. The words ‘daughter of Metrune’ and ‘older half-sister’ continued to ring inside my head. For hours, maybe days, maybe years, maybe decades, my mind kept replaying the words over and over again, as snapshots of my time with my lady continued to play in my eyes. Eventually, the words ‘Felicia’s older half-sister’ settled and the world started moving again.

I was at a loss for words.

“I intended to officially declare Ruka as my daughter, but my wife Rhea pointed out the very valid problem. It was that I never admitted that you were my daughter. It would be unfair if I declared my youngest daughter as a Metrune child when I did not do the same for my eldest daughter – are you alright, Lili?”

“No no no no...” I shook my head with both hands holding the sides. This was too much for me to take. All this time, I thought my father died in a war. How could I possibly imagine that my father had been by my side the whole time? How could he make me believe that I had no father? How could mom even allow this?

“Lili,” the baroness’s voice sounded so close to me. She was standing between me and the baron, with one hand on my shoulder.

When did she get here?

“Walk with me, Lili,” the baroness said while standing there waiting for me to get up.

Slowly, I pushed the chair backward and stood up. I looked at mom and she just nodded to me. Then the baroness glided away from the dining table and towards the front door, looking unnaturally elegant all of a sudden.

“Go,” mom urged me, “We’ll be here when you get back.”

I approached the baroness who waited for me in front of the door. Without even putting on her walking cloak, the baroness opened the door and walked out into the evening sun. I followed close behind before she told me to walk beside her.

“Lili, do you have a problem with becoming a Metrune’s daughter?” she asked a few moments after I started walking beside her.

“No, it’s not that, my lady.”

“Are you afraid we will take you away from your mother?”

I’m not afraid of being apart from mom. I’m not a child!

“No, it has nothing to do with that, my lady.”

“Are you afraid you will have to call me ‘mom’ instead?”

“Eh? No! I would be honoured, but I don’t deserve it, my lady!” I denied vehemently.

“So it is as I thought...” she let her words trailed off.

“What is it, my lady?”

She stopped suddenly. Then she turned towards me and with both hands on my shoulders, she said, “Even if you’re not sisters, nothing can happen, Lili.”

Eh? What is she talking about?

“Felicia is a noble lady, Lili. She must marry one day. No matter how much you love her, it will not bear fruit. You can’t expect your relationship to work.”

“How-” I closed my mouth as soon as the word left my lips.

“Fufufu, who do you think I am? I am the baroness. You’re looking down on me too much, Lili. I know everything.”

Amazing! The baroness is too amazing. I’ve kept this secret for so many years, not even mom or my lady Felicia knows about it.

“You don’t have to say anything, Lili. In front of me your secrets are so plainly naked, it is as if you’re not wearing any clothes at all. But let’s get back to the topic, won’t you become a Metrune’s daughter, Lili?”

“I-I don’t want the relationship between me and my lady Felicia to change, my lady.”

“You know you can’t be together in the way that you want, don’t you?”

“But... if I become a noble lady, I will one day be married off... It’s okay if my crush is never answered, my lady, but please, allow me to stay by my lady Felicia’s side.”

I knelt with both knees on the ground as I begged the baroness. I only had one wish, and this was the only wish I hoped to be fulfilled. I could not dare ask for more. Just this wish, please allow me this one selfish wish. I will never ask for anything else.

“Fine, then. Let’s go back. We’ll think of something that can work for you,” the baroness said as she helped me up.

“Ah, my lady, please don’t tell anyone about this.”

I will die of embarrassment if mom knows about this.

“Suin already knows, actually.”

My mouth opened wide in shock. “Why did you tell mom, my lady?!”

“Well, I didn’t... that was... heheh... that was... too funny... hehehe... hahahaha.” The baroness suddenly broke into laughter as she slapped the trunk of a nearby tree. Her laughter continued for almost ten minutes when the lord came out looking confused at the baroness who laughed against the rose bushes with her hands slapping the trunk of a soft-wood tree.

In the end, it was decided that my status would be recognized as a daughter of Metrune by the name of Lady Lilicia Sethiere Metrune. The formal family tree would be updated and a copy would be sent to the royal capital for archiving. My status as a daughter of Metrune would not be publicized except to other nobles and I could continue to masquerade as attendant to my lady Felicia. Needless to say, my lady Felicia would never know that I was her older half-sister.

Of course, I also made the baroness and mom swear to never tell my lady Felicia about my feelings for her.

*Hi all, it's me again. My previous readers may wonder, who the heck is Shiina Ai? I assure you, I'm still the same person, I just chose to use my publication name instead of my previous one.
**Sorry for not updating for so long, I've been suffering demotivation and although I have so many things to write, I couldn't write anything because it's all stuck at the mouth of a very small funnel. Anyway, your comments and feedbacks are very appreciated. Praises help motivate me to write more or faster while constructive criticisms help me get better. Thanks every who read and supported me all this time.
***Also thanks to Eric for pointing out my errors and suggesting how to improve it.

Good morning, everyone. It's been awhile, how do you do? It has been several months since the events at Lytis. Now, we are about to enter spring. And what do you get in spring? Flowers! Come on, everyone! Let's have a flower festival. Felicia's Second Life Chapter 10 Let's put pressure on father By Shiina Ai

“Father, we need a flower festival,” I said to father, who was sitting at the dining table while reading a book titled, ‘Farming for Beginners’.

“No,” father said without raising his head.

“Father, we need a flower festival,” I repeated.

“As I said, no.”

“Father, we need a flower festival,” I repeated again.

“Why?” father asked while turning the page.

“Because father, we need a flower festival.”

“As I said, why?” father asked with a raised voice.

“Father, we need a flower festival.”

“Stop saying that!”

Should I push him further?

“Father, we need-”

“Yes, we need a flower festival. There's no need for you to keep repeating that!”

Yes, score one for Felicia!

“I'm glad you agree, father. So let's have a flower festival.”

“And I said no.”

Still resisting, eh?

“Father, we need-”

“We can't afford a festival right now. Just wait for the Aging Ceremony.”

“Father, we need-“

“Is that all you have to say?”

“It's a waste...” I mumbled quietly.

“What's a waste?”

Oops, accidentally said that aloud. Oh well, it’s not like I can rewind time and unsay it.

“All these flowers. It's a waste to just let it pass by.”

“I don't see your point here,” father put the book down as he stared at my face, his left elbow on the table holding up his chin by the back of his hand.

“Flowers need to be enjoyed!” There, I’ve said it.

“Wasn't it you who said that our motto should be “Hard work day after day”?”

“Yes, but you’re forgetting the second line, “Have fun every night”!”

“I imagine that's not something you personally should spend any thoughts on, Felicia, being unmarried. Come to think of it, I received another marriage proposal just this morning.”

I raised my right hand level to father’s head with the open palm towards his face “Stop there, father. No marriage.”

“If you're going to say you only love girls, I will die in shame, Felicia.”

Huh? Does he know I like girls? How did he know? Scary... father can be quite sharp sometimes.

“No, it's nothing like that, father!” Of course, I have to deny it.

Sure I still like girls but I'm not against doing things with men. I was born into this world as a girl, so being a noble lady, it’s expected of me to marry a man. I won’t be one of those old spinsters who suffer the shame of not having any prospects.

“Then?”

“I'm still too young!”

“You'll be 12 this year, it's a little young but perfectly fine to marry. Just look at your retainers Somme and Serin, for example. They're planning on getting married after summer harvest, don't they?”

“That...” I couldn’t say anything to dispute that. Apparently Somme and Serin had gotten 'close' after Somme's injury during the bandit raid. When we came home from Lytis, they thought it was the perfect time to announce their intentions of getting engaged. How close? I was too afraid to ask.

“Look, father, we need a flower festival.”

“What does that have to do with your marriage?”

“You're the one who changed the topic first, father!”

“Felicia...” Father looked at me with sad eyes.

“Father...” I looked at father’s eyes while showing defiance.

“Why won't you choose a man?”

“It's a beautiful day, isn't it?”

“I know it's hard to choose one, but at least agree to meet.”

“The trees are blossoming, I love the fragrance wafting in the wind”

“How about the second son of Baron Larx?”

“If we wait any longer, all the great views will pass us by, father.”

“I heard the 3rd son of Duke Freir is a good man, smart too.”

“Imagine having a picnic under the blossoming trees, as petals fall slowly.”

“Or a strong man, like the young Baron Sethri. He will surely be able to match your strong personality.”

“We should build a flower viewing spot. Sell drinks too, maybe.”

“Felicia...”

“Father...”

“You didn't listen to a single word I said, did you?”

“Did you say something, father? We need a flower festival.”

“Stop saying that!”

“Okay. The people need a flower festival, father.”

“Changing the words doesn't make it different! In the first place, it's you who want a flower festival, isn't it?”

Busted!

“I have no idea what you're talking about, father.”

“As I said, we can't afford it.”

“Aren't we better off now since my economic reforms?”

“Yes, but with more improvements, there's also more upkeep. And you still haven't told me where you got all these ideas from.”

“No problem. Cut cost somewhere.”

“You're missing the point, Felicia.”

“What point am I missing, father?”

“How much gold will we need, then?”

“300 gold, more or less.”

“See, this is my point. We can't afford it. Even the 90 gold for Aging Ceremony is something we can barely afford.”

“Oh, has it increased, father?”

“That’s not the point! But yes! Our population has quadrupled this year, so we need a larger festival. I don’t even know where all these people come from.”

“You’re right, that’s not the point, father. So let’s have a flower festival.”

“I’VE JUST TOLD YOU IT’S TOO EXPENSIVE!”

I managed to shut my ears on time. “There’s no need to yell, father. Anyway, your ransom was 400 gold and I got the money within a week, didn't I?”

Well, it wasn’t exactly 400 gold, but it was close enough. I only paid 200 gold anyway. Muhahahaha!

“You were in the River Country. They have a different sense of money there.”

“Still, I managed to get 400 gold within a week, as I have told you previously. I'm sure the whole barony can spare 300 gold within two to three weeks.”

“Look here, Felicia,” father said as he took out the barony’s financial ledger. “It's not that simple. There are expenses that need to be taken care of.”

“Expenses can be reduced.”

“Some expenses can't be reduced. Look!” father pointed to a particular number in a particular page, “I’ve carefully considered the budget. We can’t afford it!”

I looked at the ledger. My first impression was, “What a mess”. No, it had nothing to do with the handwriting though I had to admit that father’s handwriting was indeed ugly. I meant the way the ledger was recorded. It was messy. If the United Kingdom of my previous world had this kind of ledger, it wouldn’t be hard to syphon money from the treasury. I could make neither heads nor tails of the ledger with just one look. Even experienced accountants would likely need to carefully pore through the nonsense inside.

Just who the heck taught father bookkeeping?

I decided to leave the matter of the ledger for later. “We need a flower festival, father.”

“Stop saying that!”

“But we do need a flower festival, father.”

“Fine, get me 600 gold and we’ll have your flower festival or whatever.”

“That’s double what I asked!”

“You sounded so confident before. Does this mean you don’t want a Flower Festival anymore?” father said as he made a satisfied grin.

“Fine! I’ll get you the money. May I borrow the ledger, please?”

******

“Is everyone ready? Enough supplies?” I said as I made myself comfortable on that pale white horse that I named Horsemeat.

“Of course, my lady. I’ve brought extra too.” Lili said as she got on her own horse, a black mare that she named Darkness.

It’s obvious that naming things isn’t one of Lili’s strong suits.

“I am honoured to again be given the chance to journey with you, my lady,” Serin said while bowing her head atop her horse, a brown stallion named Battle. It was actually Somme’s horse, one of those we appropriated from the bandits last time. Serin’s mare, named Rose was pregnant and Serin didn’t want to put any burden on it.

Escorting us were five spear sentries, courtesy of Merisa. Apparently Merisa was afraid something would happen to me during my travel, so she assigned a team of her mounted patrol to escort me. The horses the spear sentries rode were the ones taken from the bandits when they attempted to move their treasures elsewhere. After the battle, in which I obtained lots of loot, I entrusted the horses to Merisa and the spear sentries to better patrol the barony. There were only around twenty horses appropriated back then, so having five mounted sentries accompanying us would significantly reduce patrolling efficiency.

It’s not like I can just refuse. Although we’ll only be travelling within Mruna, the Barony of Mruna is still one of the largest baronies in Forlendia. We can even be compared to a small county in size. Unfortunately, Mruna’s terrain is mostly mountainous with most of the flatlands unsuitable for farming. Therefore, even with my agricultural reforms, we’ll likely need to import food from places like Karda in the south or Tatun in the north.

I could’ve just commissioned an escort or two at the Adventurers’ Guild, but I wanted to start this quickly. Since I was the commander of the spear sentries, I could get them mobilized quickly. I had to give them full pay at one silver a week instead of the usual one big copper a day when they worked as part-time militia, but at least we could move immediately. As for our food, we’re using the standard spear sentry daily rations pack. It consists of canned fish in tomato sauce, hard biscuits similar to hardtack and canned fruits. Corned beef is not normally issued as daily rations, since beef isn’t a specialty of Mruna and because of that it’s pretty valuable. So corned beef is only issued as army rations, not individual rations. Believe it or not, leather is not the by-product of slaughtering cows for food, it’s the other way around. Corned beef is the by-product of slaughtering cows for leather.

You’re asking what I’m doing? Of course, I’m touring the barony! Father told me to get him 600 gold, right? Unfortunately, not even I have 600 gold. Unlike the River Country’s extremely inflated economy due to the ongoing war and the number of reopened gold mines, I can’t get a lot of gold so easily in Mruna. If I ask father to raise taxes, we can probably get a bunch of grain which we can sell for gold, but let’s not go there. Raising taxes should not be done so callously. So I’m going to tour the barony looking for stuff to sell, bandits to rob and trees to plunder. It will be a glorious two weeks’-worth of adventure through grasslands, beaches and forests.

******

Day 3

“My lady, that plant is called Song Blossom. It blooms fortnightly and gives a distinct smell,” Serin explained seeing the flower I was holding. It had six bluish petals and a long stalk.

“My lady, please don’t get too close to the flower,” Lili warned me as she quickly pulled me back by the waist.

“Why? Is it poisonous?”

“There is a reason it’s called Song Blossom, my lady. For some reason, whenever it blooms, you will find people dancing and singing among the blooming flowers without a care in the world,” Lili explained.

I quickly threw the flower to the ground and stepped away from the flower bed. I wouldn’t want to be seen dancing and singing myself silly. That would be stupid. I had a reputation to protect.

So it has some kind of hallucinogenic effect, huh?

I walked to another part of the field, away from the dangerous flower. Spotting a reddish flower, I asked, “What is that flower?”

“It’s called Red Demise, my lady,” Serin answered.

“Sounds dangerous,” I said as I took a step back.

“Not really, my lady. It’s a kind of flowering plant that is completely safe to cultivate at home,” Serin said as she plucked one and brought it over.

“It’s normally used to repel insects and provide sinus relief,” she said as she had me sniff the oil from the stalk, which had a minty smell, before she continued with, “However, you have to be careful when all of them start withering at the same time.”

“Why?”

“Because they only wither at the same time when they’re infected with a fungus called Spotted Peace. They’re pretty much harmless in small amounts, but if a pot of ten or more stalks of flowers are infected, those nearby may fall asleep and die.”

“Throw it away!” I scolded.

“Please forgive me, my lady. There’s no need to worry, though. In nature, there is a parasite that eats the Spotted Peace,” Serin said as she threw away the flower back into the clump of flower patch she got it from.

“What about that large flower on that mound?” I asked while walking towards a single large flower with thick stem. It rose above a mound of dirt with nothing around it. I assumed, with my limited botanical knowledge, that it created a condition where other plants couldn’t survive either by having herbicidal properties, by changing the pH level or by totally hoarding all the nutrients from the soil, like a certain plant from an old real-time strategy game I used to play in the 90s.

I touched the large lily-like petal of the flower and was caught off-guard when something sprayed out from its center. It hit my face and upper body, making me take a step back. I wiped my face with the sleeves of my short dress before realizing that the mound of dirt was moving.

“My lady, that’s no flower!” the spear sentry’s squad leader cried out.

Suddenly the mound of dirt rose and what came out was a creature I only knew from drawings as a Man-eating Worm. It had short, mottled body. The flower was part of its head, of which its only other feature was three rows of sharp saw-like teeth lining the inside of its circular mouth. There was no eye, apparently it only reacted the moment it sensed the flower being touched.

This observation and assumption process happened in only an instant. After all, it would be pretty stupid of me to study a creature called Man-eating Worm when it was about to consume me. There was nothing I could do though, because the stuff it sprayed on me had a muscle-relaxing effect. I couldn’t move even if I wanted to.

The worm slid forward towards me, intent on making me its sustenance. It wasn’t a big creature, only about six-feet long and two-feet high. However, it was notorious for eating small creatures, like human children. It seemed like this child, me, was going to be eaten today. I was hoping to die with a bit more dignity.

“Get away from her!” Lili appeared suddenly from behind me, like a shadow that came out of thin air.

She quickly swung her dual-wielded throwing knife, cutting the stem of the flower with one knife and stabbing her other knife into the worm’s head, if it had a head. The worm’s skin proved resilient, as although Lili managed to stab her knife into it with difficulty, she couldn’t pull it out. It was as if the muscles simply clamped down on the length of the knife. Lili had to let go of her knife when the worm turned its head and attempted to bite down on Lili’s arm.

The spear sentries came right after Lili managed to steady her footing. Using a long spear, the leader repeatedly hit the worm on the head while another spear sentry used the distraction to stab a knife into its tail end. She then hammered it down with a rock, effectively preventing the worm from moving forward. It was while this was happening that Serin pulled my unresponsive body away.

We watched as the worm tried and failed to move forward. I asked the squad leader why they didn’t deal it a death blow while it was vulnerable. She told me they shouldn’t, because Man-eating Worm’s leather was quite valuable and having numerous cut marks would lower its value. Apparently, worm leather was tougher than cow leather and often made into premium leather armour.

As they started cutting and skinning the sun-baked worm, I threw up my lunch on the ground. It was a very disgusting affair. I hoped to never see it ever again.

******

Day 6

“My lady, look! It’s a whole field of skywatchers !” Serin pointed at a patch of yellowish flowers from atop her horse.

“What kind of flower is that?” I asked astride Horsemeat.

Serin jumped down from her horse with the help of one of the spear sentries. “You mentioned we’re going to have roastings, right, my lady?”

“Yes, so?”

Forgive me for being apathetic. Finding out that half the species of flowers in my barony will either kill me or eat me can do that to a person. Flowers were never so dangerous in my previous world.

“Skywatcher’s seeds are often used to produce oil that is used in marinating and coating meat being roasted. We must be lucky, they almost never grow this well in Mruna,” Serin said while examining one of the flowers.

It was similar in a way to a sunflower, except that it didn’t face the sun. The face of the flower pointed straight upward, which was probably how the name skywatcher came into being. The petals also looked quite different. Instead of small petals around the disk, the petals were large and came in several layers along a central bulb. The stalk was also thicker than the sunflowers in my memory.

“My lady, there is a suspicious signboard on the plains,” one of the spear sentries on scouting duty rode back and gave her report.

“A signboard? What does it say?”

“I don’t know, my lady, I can’t read,” she said, her embarrassment evident in the tone of her voice.

I wondered briefly if I should make reading and writing a compulsory lesson for spear sentries.

Giving such an order would certainly be within my self-granted authority. Although father is paying for the day-to-day upkeep costs, I am the one paying for their equipment and deployment fees. Telling them to take reading and writing classes wouldn't be too much of a demand. The only problem is, with five hundred spear sentries, I’d have to arrange for more teachers and enlarge the school.

Maybe I’ll just wait until the Naval Academy’s built.

“Well, take us there then,” I said, pushing the thought away for now.

“Yes, my lady,” she said as she waited for us to mount our horses and led us to the signboard in question.

It wasn’t far. The signboard was only a short gallop away. However, what was written on the signboard that pointed into the woods suddenly made me feel empty inside. What was written there, in terrible handwriting, were the words that more or less said, “That route through treasure”. I said more or less because I assumed that was what the author meant to say.

Seriously, at least fix the typos, you imbeciles. Whoever wrote the signboard should seriously go back to school. It seems like I seriously need to increase the number of adult classes. All the classes are already getting full without taking into account the number of spear sentries and other adults still illiterate.

“Sounds like a trap, my lady,” the squad leader said to me.

No shit!

“Lili, I trust you know what to do?” I said while giving Lili a sideway glance.

“Yes, my lady. I shall take my leave,” Lili said as she jumped down from her horse and then... disappeared.

I wonder when Lili started learning ninja techniques. If I ask Suin, will she teach me too? At least I’d like to learn how to turn invisible or climb walls with my bare hands. I won’t go so far as to ask her to teach me how to perform lightning fists or air-ball shuriken.

“Serin, stay here with the horses,” I said while ordering all the spear sentries to dismount. It wasn’t like we could ride our horses into the woods anyway.

“Wh-what are you going to do, my lady?” Serin asked as she took the reins of each of the horses.

“Fall into a trap, of course. Everyone, don’t forget to bring the cavalry shield, quarterstaff and knives. One of you will carry a bow instead of a shield. Everyone please carry two lengths of rope as well. We’re going to fall into a trap after all.”

“My lady, we should return to the town and request support,” the squad leader advised.

“Nonsense, it would be rude to the people who set up this trap. We should obediently do as the signpost says.”

Yeah, I'm looking down on them. I just want to see who wrote that signboard. Well, although I'm looking down on them, I should still make proper preparations. Besides, if we go to back to town and bring reinforcements, there's a good chance they'll be gone by then. I really want to see who it was who wrote that signboard.

The squad leader had a face of shock, but she quickly pulled herself together and ordered the patrol squad to move out. I wondered how much I’d get yelled at when report of this reached Merisa. That tomboy never knows when to chill. She worried so much about me that I often wondered if she was actually my real mother. Considering how horny my father is, that’s very possible.

We proceeded deep into the woods at a brisk pace while maintaining vigilance towards our surroundings. Each of the spear sentries except for the archer had a V-shaped cavalry shield in our left hand instead of the round shield that was standard issue for spear sentry footmen. In their other hand was a quarterstaff carried by the urban patrol, basically spear sentries in peace mode, meant to apprehend instead of kill, as was the case with the long spears. Besides the three throwing knives attached behind their shields, each of them also carried two more knives on the standard issue hemp belt that they wore regularly.

Sorry, no leather belt. The barony can’t afford to supply almost 500 leather belts to the spear sentries. With the success of the Lytis expedition, more and more of the mature and young women of the barony wanted to join the spear sentries. Perhaps they wanted to have better standing among their peers, maybe it was for the power, or maybe they just love me so much that they wanted to help me. Anyway, although having more spear sentries is better, it’s also increasingly expensive.

Unlike the seasonal soldier conscription, the spear sentries have duties during times of peace. Although the number of active duty or part-time spear sentries is only one-fifth of the full mobilization potential, we still need to prepare enough equipment for all of them.

Let’s see, now. Each spear sentry above the level of Experienced ideally has a full set of Felician armour, which includes a helmet, breastplate, plate skirts, bracers and all-terrain boots. All of these are made using a combination of leather and paper, which is still pretty expensive. Yes, I do call it Felician armour. I invented it after all. It’s obvious my name should be there.

Then there’s the steel shield, the long spear and the roman stakes. Some of them are also armed with bows. Let’s not forget about the mass-produced throwing knives. Each of them carry two throwing knives on their belts at any time they’re on duty along with three more knives attached behind their shields if they’re ordered to go into battle. Mruna’s spear sentries are probably better equipped and protected than Forlend’s famed Grey Knights. Unfortunately, they’re way too expensive, so the barony is still unable to fully arm everyone yet.

Father has also been complaining about the expenses and the necessity of arming my ‘toy soldiers’. It has been really hard to get father to agree to set aside some of the barony’s income for ‘preservation of peace’. Just like many nobles in the middle ages, father’s idea of spending money involves feasts, balls, strong armies for wars and building lavish stuff. For that reason, it was much easier to get him to support my bathhouse, but much harder to get him to pay for the spear sentries, especially after I told him that the spear sentries’ equipment was solely to be used by the spear sentries instead of loaned to the seasonal conscripted army. I had to split the expenses with him down the middle because of that.

Sure, the serfs are duty bound to fight for the lord for free for 90 days. It seems like the levy system doesn’t exist here. Either nobody thought of it yet or the king refused to implement it. So every man of age must go to war when requested. Before Surfes declared war, the 90 days of compulsory free service was used for militia duties. Once Surfes declared war, the 90 days of free service was used up on the battlefields. Now here’s the real problem. This system only applies to men, not women. Since the spear sentries are mostly women, not only do we have to arm them, we also have to pay them throughout the year. So that’s why maintaining the spear sentries is way more expensive than sending a bunch of men to war.

“Get down!” the squad leader cried right before a block of wood swung across the forest trail in front of us. It was a few feet away from us and wouldn’t hurt us even if we had been standing. Regardless, if that had hit us, it would’ve ruptured our internal organs, not to mention breaking all the bones in our bodies.

Scary!

“Everyone keep your eyes alert! Expect more traps ahead,” the squad leader ordered as the others acknowledged the order.

We encountered several more traps afterwards. The first was a pitfall trap, but when we arrived, it was marked with a blue cloth, so we easily skirted around it. Then came a crossbow trap, but the trap mechanism was already disabled and one of the spear sentries marked the place so she could retrieve the crossbows afterward. They were pretty big crossbows the length of two arms that could shoot three bolts at the same time. After that, we found bear traps, just lying in the open, but with the mechanism already sprung, there were rocks and broken tree branches around them. The last trap we found was a disabled tree branch trap, meant to deter a small group. You could tell it was a trap because there was a rope wound at the end tip of the debarked branch.

Eventually, we arrived at a wide trail, where a small group of bandit-looking brigands stood in wait. There were mostly clothed in leather vests and hemp trousers and armed with what appeared to be well-worn swords. Could this be the finish line?

“Wuahahaha!” a large and muscular man, probably in his early 30s laughed boisterously with his arms folded across his chest, “You’ve done well to reach here despite all the traps in your way. As expected of the one who annihilates the red plume bandits!”

“Boss, it was the blue plume bandits,” one of his henchmen corrected.

The large and muscular man, the boss, from what the henchman said, grabbed the henchman’s shirt with his left hand. He raised the henchman in the air and threw him into the bushes on his right while yelling, “That’s what I said!”

“What traps? They were all broken,” the squad captain murmured.

“What? Say that again!” The boss demanded.

“I said, all your traps were broken by the time we arrived,” the squad captain repeated.

The boss looked to his left at another henchman. The henchman cowered and stammered, “B-but I made the traps myself, boss!”

“Exactly! So why weren't they working?” The boss asked.

“I don’t know! May-maybe a wild animal tripped into it.”

“Every single trap?” I asked.

“Didn’t see any animal carcasses around them,” the squad captain added.

“Unrelated people should SHUT UP!” the henchman yelled before he too was raised to the air and thrown into the bushes.

“Bunch of screw-ups!” the bandit leader spat before he turned his attention towards us. He took off his forester hat, placed it against his chest and with his other hand behind him, he made an exaggerated bow as he said, “Greetings, Lady Felicia of Mruna. My name is Rannick, the boss of Raven’s Peak. Pleased to meet you, my lady.”

Ah, boss of Raven’s Peak, huh? I’ve always suspected there was a bandit camp there. Why is he looking at the squad captain, though?

“Uhh, I’m not the Lady Felicia,” the squad leader said while showing a little confusion in her eyes.

“You’re not? But I was told Lady Felicia is coming here! I’ve been waiting for two days!”

I stepped forward. “I am Lady Felicia.”

Rannick blinked at seeing me. He froze for a couple of minutes while his gaze remained fixed on me. It was when I said, “Hello?” did he finally snapped himself out of his daze.

He grabbed the shirt of his closest henchman and cried, “Why didn’t you tell me Lady Felicia is a little girl?!!!”

The henchman sweated profusely as he said, “Sir, I wouldn’t know. I’m just the cook.”

“Oh, are you? Sorry about that,” Rannick let go of the bandit cook just as he grabbed another bandit next to the cook. “Why didn’t you tell me Lady Felicia is a little girl?!!!” he repeated to the new henchman.

“Sir, the Red Plume Bandits didn’t tell us...”

“It was the Blue Plume Bandits!” Rannick corrected.

“Yes sir, of course you’re right.”

“Hey, excuse me. Are you looking down on me because I’m a little girl?” I asked, feeling slightly pissed.

Rannick put down the henchman and said with the gentlest voice and the friendliest smile, “No no, uncle isn’t looking down on you at all. But the forest is a dangerous place, you shouldn’t have come here in the first place. Why don’t you go home now, okay?”

“Are you saying we can just walk out? You won’t stab us in the back?” I asked.

“No no, just you. Oh, I suppose you can take one of the women to escort you out if you wish. Little girls shouldn’t walk alone in dangerous places. The others will have to stay, though,” he answered while maintaining his gentle voice and friendly smile.

“What’s with the double standard?” the squad captain asked.

“Uhum! Boys, tell them the Raven’s Peak Bandits motto.”

“Alright! I, Semfon shall start. The first line is, Profit Through Thievery!”

“I, Luffin shall continue. The second line is, Take All Their Women!”

“I, Merias shall add. The third line is, “Let No Harm Comes To The Children!”

“I, Furun, shall continue with the fourth line... err... boss, I think we should think about the fourth line.”

“So in other words, you won’t hurt children, but you have no problem taking the women?” I asked.

“Correct!” all of them, including Rannick and the unnamed cook and extras said with the noses high and chests pumped with their fists resting on their waists.

I’m getting a headache.

“Girls, come here,” I said while the bandits were still standing proud in that same pose.

“My lady, what are we going to do? They outnumber us slightly. I also believe there may be more bandits in the bushes,” the squad leader said.

“Don’t worry about the bandits in the bushes. Everyone still remember Engagement 12? We’re going to do that except for the one holding the bow,” I said.

One of them raised her hand and asked, “What’s Engagement 12?”

“She’s a new recruit, my lady. Her family migrated from Tatun in Wamor at the end of Winter,” the squad leader explained.

“Never mind then, give her the bow. The rest of you, Engagement-“

“Can we fight already?” Rannick the bandit boss complained.

“Shut up!” I yelled at the bandit. To the spear sentries, I said, “Newbie, support them with your bow. The rest of you Engagement 12 at my command.”

“Yes, my lady!” The four experienced spear sentries said together as they took up position between me and the bandits. Loosely linking their cavalry shields together, they advanced two steps forward before positioning themselves into a crouch. The bottom of their shields dug into the ground as they hid their whole body behind their shields. Putting their quarterstaffs on the ground, their fingers closed around the throwing knives attached behind their shields. They stayed still as they pulled the throwing knives quietly between their fingers under cover of the large cavalry shields.

As the bandits raised their axes and swords with their battlecries, I gave the order, “Throw!”

The spear sentries threw their throwing knives in the bandits’ general direction as our single archer released her arrows behind the safety of her planted shield. The bandits, expecting the initial attack, raised their own round shields to protect themselves from the rain of twelve knives. While some of the knives did strike flesh, the majority either buried themselves into the wooden shields or bounced harmlessly. That was within my calculation.

“Charge!” I ordered, as my gun spouted fire and smoke causing one of the bandits to fall in a shower of reddish liquid.

My spear sentries jumped up, each with her shield held loosely in her left hand and her quarterstaff held firmly in their right. The eight remaining bandits, already recovering from their rain of knives raised their weapons and their shields and charged against the spear sentries. Their eager faces turned into shock when instead of melee fighting where they outnumbered the women two-to-one, they were sent flying when the women threw their shields at the approaching bandits. In just seconds, three of the bandits were knocked down when the spear sentries’ cavalry shields made contact with theirs. The rest were too confused to react as the spear sentries, now with both hands on their quarterstaffs, showed the result of their year-long weekly training on the bandits.

What was left was for me to tie up those bandits already disabled.

Only the bandit leader proved a problem as he alone fought two of the spear sentries on his own. The other two were too busy with making sure the bandits couldn’t help their leader by repeatedly beating them down or attempting to beat them unconscious. In the end, despite their training, the two spear sentries couldn’t hold down the leader on their own and accumulated injuries on their bodies. It was like fighting a wounded lion, despite being beaten repeatedly and having open wounds, his every blow was heavy and dangerous. Every hit from his wrought iron sword put much strain on the hard wood of the quarterstaff, causing the palms of the spear sentries to bleed until the quarterstaff itself was covered in blood. Even the squad leader coughed blood when his elbow hit her chest.

I fired a shot at the bandit leader in order to help the spear sentries. As the bullet left the barrel of my gun, he turned his gaze at me and avoided the bullet aimed at his chest by a hair’s breadth. I never believed those fairytales where a person dodged a bullet, but there it was. Right in front of my very eyes there was someone who could dodge a bullet. As the other two spear sentries noticed his mad gaze pointed at me, they leaped to my defence, standing between me and the wild animal in front of us.

The bandit leader shoved the two spear sentries desperately fighting him away and charged straight my way. My two highly trained protectors entered the fray, hitting him with coordinated strikes using their quarterstaffs. It was clear to see that they were fighting a losing battle. With no time to reload my guns, I unsheathed my newly forged cavalry rapier and ordered, “Octopus trap, everyone! I’ll handle him!”

The spear sentries protecting me disengaged. Since there was no more barrier between him and me, the bandit leader crossed the distance in just one step. He raised his thick iron sword high before bringing it down on me. There was no time to think as I sidestepped, causing his blow to miss by a great margin. I was glad that I wore a short skirt for this battle. Had I worn one of those long robes or gowns, I would’ve been cut cleanly in half.

He pulled his heavy iron sword from the ground and swung it horizontally towards my legs that I barely avoided by jumping over the approaching blade. There was nothing I could do to avoid his fist when it hit me in the kidney while in mid-jump. Thankfully, the damage was minimal as his whole momentum was in the sword swing. My Felician armour was easily able to spread the impact of the light hit.

“Hey, didn’t you say you wouldn’t harm children?” I asked while rubbing the place he hit me.

“Children should do as told...” he gave a horrifying ghost-like grin as he approached me quickly with his sword raised high.

He again slashed his sword downward, but this time I was ready. I sidestepped his blow with a shorter step and deflected his sword using my own much thinner steel sword. Being a child and a young girl, there was no chance of me competing in strength with him, an adult man who could raise a big iron sword as if it was a wooden sword. Since my thin steel sword was slimmer than half of his sword's width, there was also a chance my steel sword would eventually break under his heavy blows. So the only thing I could do was use his own momentum against him.

The blade of my sword met his briefly, but only briefly, as I used the contact to push his sword away instead of blocking it directly. Then when it was safely away from my body, I flicked my sword to free it. With my sword freed, I used it to press against the back of his sword on its downward stroke, effectively adding to its kinetic energy. The iron sword buried itself deeper into the ground this time, but before I could enjoy my success, his left arm grabbed my upper right arm. He squeezed my sword arm hard, making me cry out in pain and loosening my hold on my sword. In retaliation, I kicked his crotch, but it was protected by something hard. I winced as my shin came into contact with the hard object.

I thought, maybe I should make myself a pair of shin protectors next time.

Suddenly he loosened his hold on my arm and I could feel that his attempt to lift his sword again ceased at the same time. I looked up at his face and around his neck were four ropes, lassoed so that they would tighten against his neck. He tried to pry the ropes off with his fingers, but he was fighting a losing battle. A minute later, he fell to his knees, unconscious.

As the adrenaline wore off, the spear sentries started to take notice of their injuries. The younger sentries tried hard to stop themselves from crying, but with so many injuries on their bodies, their tears escaped without them knowing. Only the squad leader remained calm despite her injuries. Together with the spear sentry who held a bow earlier, we tied up all the bandits before turning our attention towards the wounded spear sentries. We cleaned their wounds and bandaged them, but all four of them will have to rest for a few days at least.

Just as we finished giving first aid to the wounded spear sentries, Lili came out of the bushes with a bloody knife.

“How many did you kill this time, Lili?” I asked off-handedly.

“One, my lady,” she replied.

“Only one? That’s strange!”

“I did tie up eleven men, though. I figured you’d like to have several more slaves,” Lili said while trying not to giggle.

“What are you saying, Lili? I’m not in the market for slaves!” I denied.

Of course, more slaves are always good. But Lili, you should know me by now. Such things should not be spoken in the open!

******

“How exactly did you manage to get 600 gold?” father asked as he looked at my report.

“Father, please believe me when I say that I am too awesome for words.”

“Wait, did you just propose that I cancel the irrigation project?” father asked when he came to page three.

“Yes, I absolutely did.”

“Why?!!! It was meant to increase fertile land!”

“Father...”

“What?”

“Do you know how rocks turn into fertile soil, father?”

“Well, it has something to do with water softening the rocks, right?” father said while looking very sure of himself.

I sighed. “Father, allow me to tell you how rocks turn into fertile soil. The truth is, father, they... just... DON’T! Seriously, father, you can't turn rocks into farmland. It’s just not possible!”

He waved the book he was reading before I came in to my face. “But, the book says-”

I took the book titled Irrigation for Beginners from his hand and threw it to the corner of the room.

“And you also irrigated your farm.”

“Father, there is a difference between barren soil and rocky soil. My farmland wasn’t rocky, it simply lost its nutrients. Besides, have you even looked at the land you were planning on irrigating, father?”

“Well, I did look at the map.”

“Let me tell you what the terrain is like, father. It’s flat!”

“What’s the problem with being flat?”

“There will be no way for the water to drain out. You’ll be saturating the flat lands with water, the water will evaporate and what’s left will be water with higher salt content. Instead of making a farmland, you’ll contribute to making the land absolutely unsuitable for farming for many generations in the future!”

“But the book said-”

“Father, give it up.”

“I can’t just give it up because my 11 year old daughter told me to stop! I'll lose face, Felicia.”

I sighed again. “Look father. You're a knight.”

“Your point?”

“Your strong point is the battlefield, father. All these administration stuff, it doesn't suit you, father. You're absolutely hopeless at it.”

“Why is my own daughter insulting me?” father whined as if he was about to cry.

“You don't have to do this yourself, father. Leave things to the pro.”

“What is a pro?”

“Someone good at stuff.”

“So you're trying to say that you're this pro?”

“Well, I don't want to brag, but it’s fun to brag, so I’ll do it anyway. You should know by now that I’m great. Just leave everything to me, the barony's account is safe with me, father. I guarantee it. Hehehe.”

“Felicia...”

“Yes, honourable father?”

“Based on your track record, you're probably right in that you're the best person for the job.”

“Great! Now let's-“

“However! The greedy face you're making right now doesn't inspire much confidence.”

“Ah, damn. Does it show on my face?”

<-.-><-.->

*Actually this chapter has been sitting in my hard drive for over a year. Thanks very much to Eric who edited it last year. Yeah, it's been that long since this chapter was completed lol I only did small adjustments to this chapter before I posted it. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.
**As always, please a comment. Praises gives me motivation to write faster, constructive criticism makes me write better. Even a neutral comment is good enough to make me feel appreciated. Thank you very much for reading.