Chapter 73: Those Who Have Seeped into Fermaton's Darkness (3)
Chapter 73: Those Who Have Seeped into Fermaton's Darkness (3)
Where there is money, there is always darkness.
—Damn, a beast came out of the labyrinth! It’s a miracle the bastards didn't make it outside...! By the way, what’s that in your pocket?
—I think it’s a magic stone... that dropped after I killed a goblin earlier? Why is this in my pocket?
—Wait. You’re saying if we kill the beasts inside, we can bring magic stones out?
Wherever the scent of money lingers, human desire is bound to follow.
—Let’s kill the beasts in the Infinite Labyrinth and farm magic stones!
—Let’s mine the magic stones in the Infinite Labyrinth and bring them out!
—Let’s hunt the beasts of the Infinite Labyrinth and use their materials for magic research!
—Let’s use the female beasts from the Infinite Labyrinth to start a brothel!
—Whoa, fuck, that’s a bit much...
Based on the existence of the Infinite Labyrinth, humanity—including those in Fermaton—created a truly diverse array of business models.
Naturally, these included things that society would deem a betrayal of humanity or outright criminal acts.
Killing someone to steal the magic stones they obtained from the Infinite Labyrinth?
That was child's play.
Vicious practices, so cruel they made adventurers and the Thief Guild look like saints, were rampant in the back alleys of Fermaton.
—Introducing the woman who became a Dark Elf due to the curse of the Infinite Labyrinth! Whoever defeats her in the arena wins the chance to rape a Dark Elf!
—Would you like to fuck a prostitute cursed with beastkin transformation?
It was enough to make one wonder how such settings existed behind the scenes of The Scion of the Labyrinth City. If these details had been revealed and the game had continued, everyone would have agreed that it should have been rated 19+ from the very start.
The name for this setting was "Reality Correction."
In the pursuit of wealth, humans created countless ways to secure funds, and naturally, this included "slaves."
And the slave market was backed by none other than the "Empire."
"The slave trader Nine-Tail. Like the Thief Guild, they operate as a guild, but publicly, they are traders in charge of foreign commerce."
"The ones who handle the intermediary trade between the Kingdom and the Empire."
"Yes. On the surface, they pay their taxes diligently, but behind the scenes, they deal in slaves."
"There’s one part I don’t understand."
Selling slaves.
That, I understood.
Even if I was a possessor who lived in the age of democracy, I had no intention of spouting nonsense about a revolution just because slaves were bought and sold in a medieval fantasy world.
I held more power than any bourgeois, after all.
What I didn't understand was why they were buying and selling slaves "behind the scenes."
"Isn't slave trading legal?"
In this world, in this Kingdom, and even in the Empire, buying and selling slaves was strictly legal.
Since the class system was so rigid, slaves were widely perceived as "objects," and there were actually several slaves within Fermaton Castle itself.
The miners belonging to Fermaton Castle.
Under the status of slaves, they descended into the Infinite Labyrinth every day to mine magic stones.
In my case, the blood of Fermaton shackled me, but for them, the status of a slave acted as the fetters that prevented them from ever leaving Fermaton.
The serfs of the Middle Ages had become mining slaves here.
"No matter how I think about it, there’s no reason to trade slaves in secret."
"Are you not aware of the details?"
"Ah. My father didn't explain it in depth."
Even the Count of Fermaton's family handled slaves like this, so my question was why the slave trader guild, Nine-Tail, went through the trouble of trading them secretly.
"Since he died so suddenly, I actually don't know anything. Even if I try to find out, there are so many spies around. As the head of the house, I can only verify information that was left in the records; I can't find anything that wasn't written down."
For instance, illegitimate children.
Or information that must never be recorded.
Or information so widely known that there was no need to record it.
"I heard Nine-Tail was just a simple trading guild. I confirmed through the financial statements that the Empire was behind them, since the largest investor was a person from the Empire."
"Yes. The Empire has been operating it for a very long time. I heard that the former Count of Fermaton—your father, Young Lord—had a fairly good relationship with them. It’s... a bit difficult to say this, but..."
"It’s fine. Speak. I don’t think of that man as my father."
Even though I had become Ruji Fermaton, I couldn't call a man who could be described as the worst scum in this world "father."
The only good thing he ever did was die before meeting Zenith.
That was it.
"...Yes. It seems the former Count had quite a bit of fun with the slaves handled by Nine-Tail."
"Hmph. It was probably just sex."
"He, well... sodomy..."
"He was a fucking gay, then."
It was a sacrilegious remark, but I didn't regret it.
"If you're going to have sex, you should embrace a beautiful woman. Why the hell would you be sticking a dick into a man's ass? Don't you agree?"
"Don't you think a woman's back door is fine?"
"I don't know if such a day will come, but for now, a man sticking it in another man is out of the question."
To think a gay man fathered two illegitimate children.
No. Was he bi?
Or did he enjoy gay sex with men because he didn't have to worry about pregnancy, only to embrace a woman and father children right before he died?
I didn't know.
And I had no intention of using necromancy to summon his soul just to ask why he enjoyed that kind of sex.
"Anyway, they maintained that kind of relationship..."
"Yes. Probably only a very small number of people within the family know. I heard that when he visited Nine-Tail, he went secretly, accompanied by only a few guards."
"Do you happen to know who he usually took with him?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"Knight Lambert."
"......."
The official Knight Captain of Fermaton.
"No wonder he was sticking so close behind me when I took him out last time. He was aiming for my back."
"Is that true?"
"I just said it because it felt that way, but it might actually be true. He might have had that kind of relationship with the former Count."
"......Ugh."
Yurdias covered her mouth with her hand and frowned.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you think about such things."
"No. It's still just a suspicion, but the possibility is high. Think about it. If the seed of Fermaton is scattered recklessly, it's Fermaton that gets fucked. But I'm the same—would a Fermaton, who holds absolute power in this city, really abstain from sex? No. They would just find a way to avoid pregnancy."
I lightly reached toward Yurdias's lower abdomen.
"I broke through that using Sex Magic. Well... according to Astarotte, pregnancy can only be avoided if you give the woman so much pleasure that her essence is unconditionally converted into magic power. Theoretically."
"Does that mean... if you creampie someone while they aren't feeling an orgasm, there's a possibility of pregnancy?"
"Yeah."
"But for that to happen..."
"I've already creampied you several times."
I had already creampied Serica and Zenith, and even Laura and Yurdias before I mastered Sex Magic.
"It doesn't matter. If they get pregnant, I'll just raise the child."
"Are you the type... who enjoys risk?"
"No. Not at all. I'm a self-preservationist, not someone who enjoys the thrill of mortal danger. It's just..."
I reached down between Yurdias's legs, lightly touching her clitoris to stimulate her.
"If a woman gets pregnant, I can just mobilize other knights while she's pregnant, and once she's given birth and is fit to move, I can send her back to the Infinite Labyrinth, right?"
A so-called "rotation."
In the game, the maximum capacity for a party sent into the Infinite Labyrinth was six, but those six weren't always a fixed party.
Reality was the same.
I could recruit more than six knights and form different compositions.
Depending on the situation, if someone was pregnant or on their period, I could use someone from the reserve pool as a main member.
In any case.
There are plenty of women in this Infinite Labyrinth.
Since the developers of The Scion of the Labyrinth City were obsessed with money and churned out countless characters, there are definitely more than enough characters to recruit if I look carefully.
And.
Perhaps there might be a woman there who would be good to recruit as a companion.
"...Young Lord."
Whirrr.
The Yin Gate engraved on Yurdias's lower abdomen began to glow.
It was proof that she was using Sex Magic to turn the semen I had ejaculated inside her into her own essence; even with a creampie, pregnancy would not occur.
"I am worried. If the Kingdom or the Empire gets any foolish ideas regarding the Young Lord's child..."
"That's why we have to get stronger to prepare for that."
I gestured to Yurdias, and she softly approached me, overlapping her body on top of mine.
"I intend to make it so that you can safely give birth to my child later, and so that the Kingdom and the Empire won't dare look down on us."
"...You're serious."
"Of course. At least within this room, I am always serious."
Because only in this Sex Room can I reveal my true self without reservation.
"So, I won't tolerate betrayal, Yurdias."
"...I have already boarded the Young Lord's ship. Rather than betraying you and dying pathetically, I will bet my life on your future."
Grin.
Lightly, our tongues intertwined.
Yurdias smiled brightly and closed her eyes toward me, and I—
"Gasp...!!"
Something.
"What is it?"
"Sorry. Yurdias. First... lie down."
"Pardon...?"
"You'll see."
Feeling a chill as if someone was staring and waiting right outside the door, I hurriedly held Yurdias, approached the door control device, and opened it.
Creeak.
As the door opened, Laura, who had returned from training, was standing there with an expressionless face.
"I'm back."
"...Ahem."
I gestured toward the shower with my eyes.
"Go wash up. I'll fuck you just like I'm doing to Yurdias."
"......Yes."
Yurdias, who was on the bed.
"......."
With a tense face, she buried her face in the pillow and only pushed her butt out toward the back.
"Yurdias?"
"Uh, Captain Laura. Er, um..."
With a flushed face, Yurdias wiggled her hips from side to side.
"...The Young Lord was spanking my butt and fucking me from behind. Would you like to join us?"
"Hmm..."
Laura, who was staring intently at Yurdias.
"For someone saying that, your butt is awfully white."
"......."
She tilted her head to the side for a moment.
"...Fine! Hehe."
With a giggle, she entered the shower.
"......."
Slap.
I slapped Yurdias's butt and slid my cock into her rear.
"I didn't... get caught, right?"
"Probably...?"
Yurdias ground her hips against me.
...It's a secret from Laura.