“I can live with that. Things staying the same is boring.”

  Krenocia says “That answer is just like you. Anyway, thank you. And as far as I am concerned, you can steal as many souls for me as you want. Just be aware that it will draw attention to you.”

  “I know. Seronia warned me.”

  Krenocia says “I’m sure she did. Anyway, have a nice night.”

  After saying goodbye to Krenocia, I move outside where I have more room to work. I am not going to try and make the carriage tonight, but I can start crafting pieces of it. Then, tomorrow night, I can just assemble the pieces and start enchanting the carriage.

  I keep working until the sun comes up, then I store everything away and go back into the carriage. Despite it being early, I go ahead and wake up Myria, but I do it in a way that makes it hard for her to be mad about. After we have some fun, we have breakfast together and then head outside.

  I use the pouch to feed all of the ex-slaves and avoid draining the caravan’s food stores. Myria stays glued to my side the entire time, but I don’t mind since it makes the beastmen less nervous. It looks like they still haven’t gotten used to me, but that’s not really a big deal.

  Once everyone has eaten, I check with Brightfire to make sure she is ready to receive them. Once that is confirmed I use a crystal to boost my mana and then open a large gate back to the peninsula. Myria gives me a final passionate kiss and then leads everyone through the gate.

  Once everyone from our side has gone through, Mercy comes over from the other side. She immediately throws herself into my arms for a kiss as I close the gate behind her. After giving Mercy a proper welcome, I take her over to meet the rulers.

  Emperor Amn says “What happened to Myria?”

  “Apparently, they all agreed to take turns keeping an eye on me.”

  Mercy says “We would all be here if we could, but there is just too much going on at the moment. Ash created all this work that needed to be done and then ran off!”

  Queen Mavel says “Well that’s just typical!”

  King Gremshow says “Ash, are all your wives this beautiful?!”

  “Yes, yes they are.”

  Queen Mavel says “Good answer! Which one is the most beautiful?”

  “Do you really expect me to walk into that trap?!”

  Queen Mavel says “You never know and it would have been entertaining if you did!”

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Anyway, things are settled now. So, do we want to push on, or do we want to take the day to relax and let everyone get some rest?”

  Emperor Amn says “We should stay the day. We have been discussing things with Chief and some of the other tribes that are close should arrive today. It would be good to get a feel for how the rest of the tribes are going to react to your proposal.”

  King Gremshow says “I agree. Peace with the desert is going to be a huge deal if it happens. The trade possibilities alone are worth being a little late.”

  Queen Mavel says “I also agree. In fact, I want to get the tribes to agree to act as guides for my soldiers. I want to hunt down any bandits that escaped your attack.”

  “Alright. Then we will stay here today and leave in the morning.”

  Mercy says “You are agreeing to sit and wait? What are you up to?!”

  “Actually, I have some crafting to do. Amn here expressed an interest in buying my carriage. So, I plan to make a new one and then sell him the old one.”

  Mercy says “I seem to remember hearing that Yui gave you that carriage. Is she going to be okay with you selling it?”

  “I am pretty sure that she won’t mind. Her only concern would be that the techniques behind it could get stolen. I will just put a good lock on it and that should be fine. Wait, have you met Yui?”

  Mercy says “Yes, I have. Lin thought it would be a good idea for all of us to go around and meet all of your people. They need to know us on sight and know that we are your queens.”

  “That’s a good idea. Things never go well when the people can’t even recognize who their rulers are.”

  I don’t realize what I just said until I notice that Amn, Mavel, and Gremshow are looking embarrassed. I’m guessing from their silence that they don’t get out where their people can see them much. Amn has some excuse since he rules an empire, but the other two certainly don’t.

  However, it is not my place to tell them how they should rule, so I let the moment pass. Mercy and I chat with the rulers for a bit and then head back to the carriage so I can introduce her to Leylisha. Then I take Mercy into the carriage and show her how much I have missed her.

  When we are done, Mercy takes a nap and I head outside to start assembling the new carriage. The frame and most of the rest of it is made from wood, but I plan to reinforce that. My first experiment, which is to fuse armatite with the wood, does not work.

  The two just won’t combine, but putting a core of armatite into the wood works just fine. It isn’t as strong as it would be if the two fused, but it is strong enough to work. Any weaknesses that are left, I will fix later when I do the enchantments.

  I charge the armatite before I add it to the wood, but it is far easier than it was the last time I did this. Back then, it took ages just to charge a single bar, but my mana pool is massive compared to back then. It makes me realize just how far I have come since I was summoned and that’s with losing magic for a time.

  If that hadn’t happened and I had been able to build up my magic the entire time I might be a match for Lin. Still, the amount of armatite that I am planning to use is more than I can charge at once. However, I get around that by only charging the armatite as I use it, that lets my mana regen enough.

  Using all the armatite that I have is going to make the carriage really heavy, but I can fix that. By reducing the mass of the armatite and converting it to capacity, I can triple the capacity. That is going to give me a ton of room for enchantments, I just hope it will be enough.

  After she finishes her nap, Mercy comes out to keep me company while I work. Since she seems interested, I explain what I am doing and my plan for the carriage. I don’t think she is anything more than a little curious, she just wants to spend time with me.

  Not that I mind, I also want to get to know her better, I have spent the least time with her. So, once I am done explaining my plan, I spend the rest of the time just chatting with her. It distracts me a little and slows down my work on the carriage, but I am not in a rush.