Ero-Game: Power and Sword

I left the hotel with a thick envelope in my hand and hailed a rickshaw.
“Take me to this address,” I told the woman pulling the rickshaw, showing her the address I had written down.
“Yes, madam.” She said and began to run.

I decided to go to the real estate agency first. It was one I had used before in the game. I knew how they operated pretty well.
“We’re here, madam.” She announced when we reached our destination.
I got off the rickshaw and took out a silver coin.
I Put the silver coin in her hand and said to her dilated eyes, “Stay here and wait for me. I need to go to many places today, and I don’t want to keep hailing rickshaws.” She nodded. “Good.” 1 silver was more than a month’s salary for a rickshaw driver.

There was no wait, and I was assured into a realtor’s office as soon as I entered the building.
A woman in a gray suit gave me a white smile when I entered her office. “Take a seat.” She said. “Tell me what you’re looking for.”
I sat down and told her what I wanted as the assistant brought us tea.
“I want to buy an estate for my adventurer’s group.”
“Oh, an adventurer. What rank?”
“E-rank.” The relator was good at hiding her disappointment.
“Oh, that’s good. My cousin’s an E-rank adventurer.”
“Hm. Yeah. I’m looking for an estate with enough room for my team and enough outdoor area for a large garden.”
“Large? How large are we talking about? We have a lot of places that could be called large, but…” She took out a binder and flipped through its pages.
“Well, I was thinking of something with a training facility for my members. If not a training facility, at least enough room to build one. Also, I need a separate building for my lab. I’m something of an alchemist.” I said. “The garden is to grow my plants.”
“Dreaming big, are we? Let’s see.” She said and took out a few of the pages.
“This one has 4000 sq ft. interior and 102 acres exterior.” But with a sad smile, she added, “but it’s quite expensive.”
“102, that’s a lot.” I wasn’t exactly good at judging areas based on numbers. “Maybe something along 25 acres. Maybe even that’s big. But I think I’d like something more than 4000 sq ft for the interior.” My mother’s castle was more than 20 000 sq ft if I remember correctly.
“I have one that’s 5000 sq ft and 10 acres, but I should mention that getting a mortgage for an E-rank can be quite difficult.” She was trying to be polite.
“It’s okay,” I assured her. “I can put down between 100 and 150 platinum as a down payment.” Her entire body came alive at the mention of the money. “I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble getting a mortgage as long as we stick to estates below… I don’t know…” I thought back to the  game and everything my mother had to deal with while buying my aunt’s home. “300 platinum?” I shrugged. “I can talk to the bank after deciding on a house,” I said.
“An E-rank with 150 platinum… Okay. I think I know a few places that might interest you.” She smiled.

We spent the next 2 hours going through various houses and laying down a plan for the next day.
I had a lot of places to go to today, so as the hours ticked up to 2 and a half, I said, “Yeah, that sounds good.” Before she could show me more mansions. “We’ll meet up tomorrow morning at 7 as we talked about, and you can show us the houses.”
“Oh, okay.” She curbed her enthusiasm and nodded. “Right, I’ll arrange for a carriage.”
“Great.” I smiled. “I have some places to get to, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Alright, see you tomorrow.” We shook hands before parting.

***

“Where to now, madam?” The rickshaw puller asked.
“Here, this address.” I showed her the next address on my list. It was for a crafts shop specializing in carriages.
“My old rickshaw was made there.” She said.
“Oh, was it?”
“Yes, great metal craft specialists there. I had this one built at the woodshop.”
“Why did you switch to the woodshop?” I was curious.
She began to run and speak. “Well… I used to work for a company, and they offered discounts. Now I work for myself, and wood is cheaper.”
“Makes sense.” I nodded. Metal might be more durable, but it was heavier and more expensive. Wood was also cheaper to maintain and replace. But wood had its downsides, too, like the amount of magic that can be cast on it and so forth. Also, I planned on eventually creating golems to pull my carriage, so weight wasn’t a long-term problem.
While I considered the pros and cons of a decision I had already made, we reached the Carriage Shop.

***

“I’d like to talk to the shop owner,” I told the receptionist.
“The owner is very busy. But I can pass on a message. What is it that you wish to talk to her about?” The receptionist asked.
“I want a custom-made carriage,” I said.
“Custom-made. I see.” He nodded. “I’ll let her know.” He jotted it down on paper and said, “You can wait in her office if you’d like.”
“Yeah, thanks.” He led me to her office and left me there. I sat down on the chair facing the desk and looked around the office. I know I had been here before in the game, but I remembered absolutely nothing…

I didn’t have to wait that long before a woman in coveralls showed up.
“So, you want a custom-made carriage.” She said and plopped down on the chair on the other side of the desk.
“Yeah,” I said and opened my envelope. I looked through the papers and pulled out the carriage drawings. I had made these engineering drawings a while back from memory. It was kind of shabby. Since I had completed up to the 16th grade in the Governmental Educational System (GES) back on Earth, I should’ve done a better job. But oh well, it should be good enough. I handed her the drawings.
“This is?”
“The drawings for the custom carriage.” I took out more papers and said, “And I want these are the magic circuits applied to the carriage. I want not only weight reduction magic and durability magic but also shock absorber magic applied to the carriage. I don’t want to feel a thing  when it’s moving.”
“Hmm.” She hummed and continued to look over the drawings.
I left the sheets on her desk and waited for her to stop looking at the drawings. Which took a while.
“These are…” She said, a little hesitant. “Where did you get these drawings?”
“Does that matter?” I asked.
“I guess not.” Then she looked at the magic circuits I had drawn on the papers. “I don’t know if our mechanical magician is experienced enough  to do these.”
“If she can just lay down the circuits in the appropriate places using [circuit manipulation]. Especially the 3 layered circuits there,” I pointed out the circuits I talked about to her on the papers, “then  that’d be enough. I can do the energy connections and manipulations  myself.” I said.
“Oh, are you an Energy magician?” She asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Alright, I’ll see what I can do.” She said, still going over the design of the carriage as she spoke. “When do you need this finished?”
“As soon as possible,” I said.
“Hm.” She rubbed one of her eyebrows with her thumb. “I already have a few orders going on right now. I can get one of the girls started on  this… But it’ll still take around 4 to 6 months. Maybe 7.”
“Okay.” So it might be ready when we return from the dungeons. “How much will it cost?”
“Ahm, I’ll have to have my bookkeeper look into it. But anywhere between 20 and 30 gold.”
“Okay.”
“We’ll need half of it paid now, and the other half can be paid after  the job’s done.” She said, getting up from the table. “It’ll take me a while to give you an accurate estimate. I have to talk to the bookkeeper and the buyer. I’ll have the price ready for you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow, I’m kind of busy. If I can, I’d like to send my butler over  to work out the rest. Unless you need me to come. He can come tomorrow. You can tell him the price; his name’s Garth.” Garth doesn’t need to come with us to see the houses. I can get things done faster this way.
“Butler?” She pursed her lips in approval. “I think I’ll get myself a butler when I retire.” I smiled. “Wonder how my husband will react.”
I politely smiled again and said, “Then I’ll be going. I have other places I need to go today.”
“Oh, yes, sure. So Garth? Will come tomorrow?” She asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Okay.” She said. “As soon as the first half is paid, we’ll start working on the carriage.”
“Alright, I understand. Please have the estimate ready tomorrow. And I’ll pay the day after.”
“I’ll get it ready by tomorrow for Garth.” She smiled.
“Alright.” I shook her hand and left the building.

***

“Ah, you’re back.” The rickshaw puller who was resting on the curb said before standing up.
“Yeah, we need to go here next.” I pointed out the address on my list.
“This is a residential area?” She asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” I said. It was the address of a Law Magician. I wanted to find another Law Magician, but this was the only one in Delaron.
“Hm. Alright.” She nodded. I got on the rickshaw, and she pulled.

I thought she looked a little unsure while running, but she found the way nonetheless.
“Here we are.” She said with a big smile when we made it to our destination.
The Law Magician worked from her home. It was a big house with beautiful mahogany doors.
I knocked, and a butler answered the door.
“Hello, I’m here to see Virginia,” I said to the butler.
“Do you have an appointment?” He asked.
“Ah, no. Is she busy? Do I need to make an appointment?”
“Usually, but I can ask her if she’s willing to see you. If you’re willing to wait.”
“Yeah, I’ll wait.”
The door closed on me, and I paced in front of the door… back and forth…

The door opened again, and the butler said, “She’s free. She says she’s willing to see you now.”
“Great!” I smiled. The butler held open the door, and I walked in. Then he led me to her office.
She was scribbling away on her desk. “Please sit down.” She said without looking up. I sat down. “Get our guest a cup of tea, Don.”
“Yes, madam.” Don went away.
“So, what do you need?” She asked.
I took out 2 papers from my envelope and put them on her desk. “I want 5 copies of this and 1 copy of this,” I said, separating the papers. They were contracts I had written that needed to be turned into magic contracts.
“Hm.” She put down her pen and picked up the papers I had laid down on the desk.
“5 copies of this?”
“Yes.”
She quickly read it and said, “5 copies, so that’ll be 5 gold.”
“I can pay.” 5 gold was more than I was carrying. “I can get the money to you the day after tomorrow.” The number of reasons I needed to make a trip to the bank was piling up.
“Okay.” Then she looked over the other paper. “This… I don’t think I’ll  be able to make this.” She shook her head. “You do know I’m the  queendom’s magician, right? This won’t be allowed.” She said.
“You’re no one’s magician but your own. I’m willing to trade in other goods, not just the queendom’s currency,” I said. I hated dealing with Law Magicians.
“Are you suggesting we make a personal deal?” She asked, lowering her round glasses.
“Here’s the tea, madam.” Don, the butler, returned.
“Ah, thank you.” I took the cup.
“Please close the door behind you, Don,” Virginia said.
“Yes, madam.” He left the room.
“This contract is essentially a slave contract.” She said, shaking the paper. “There’s no way the queendom will approve of this.”
“It’s not to enslave anyone. It’s just for reassurance.” I said.
“Your motives don’t matter; the queendom has laws.” She said.
“I don’t think the laws are that specific when it comes to contracts, wouldn’t you say? I’m sure you can fix my contract so it wouldn’t be against the law. I’m sure you’ve written some contracts some fundamentalist queendom judge might be offended by, no? But, of course,  those queendom’s judges would be wrong to feel that way. Just 3 years ago, we found out that the church had Demon spies in the Demon Queendom. Were their contracts not written by human Law magicians?” For a fact, I knew from the game that she was one of the magicians providing the church with magical contracts. Those contracts were essentially slave  contracts, as well.
“You have no evidence I was one of the Lawmakers working with the church.” She said.
“You’re right. I have no evidence.” I shrugged. Information I have from the game and evidence are two separate things. “I just hope you’re reasonable and willing to trade.”
“What can you offer me?” She instantly turned from talking about the queendom’s laws to what she could gain from me. This is how you know  these people have no moral compass and a good thing they didn’t. I looked at her with [look-a-look]. She was level 23. It was the same as  in the game. The queendom likes to suppress Law magicians, healers, and others alike. They obey the queendom, and, in return, they get its protection. This was the curse of the rare noncombatant types; someone  is always ready to put a collar around their necks.
Even in the game, if you played as one of the rare noncombatants, you’d have to join a faction, queendom, etc. Until you have a high enough level  to stand on your own.
In Virginia’s case, it was kind of literal. She had a magic collar  around her neck. It wasn’t visible to the naked eye, but through [look-a-look], it was clear as day.
“I can give you a skill book for detecting lies.” This will interest her for sure. This will interest every Law magician in the queendom. The collar around her neck is self-made but cannot be self-broken. It’s a collar that forbids her from telling lies about her contracts. She must  always tell the truth about her contracts; the queendom forces this on their Lawmakers.
As soon I finished my sentence, her hands went to her neck. “[detect lies]… You have the skill book?” Of course, since she can’t lie, she’d  want others to not lie to her as well. This was the second best offer anyone could make to her. The first is a way to break the collar.
Detect Lies can be learned by unspecialized magicians, Law magicians, Sin magicians, Mind magicians, and others that I forget. As you level up, [detect lies] becomes more powerful like all other spells and  skills, and you become able to see through all manner of lies, including  illusions, mind spells, dream spells, etc.
“No, but I know how to get it,” I said.
“Hahahaha…” She started laughing, but I kept a stoic expression. “I’m sorry. You’re serious.”
“Yes. I’ll need less than a year to get it.” I said.
“Hmm. You’re serious.”
“I already said yes.”
“Hm. Then you want this contract finished in a year?” She asked.
“No, I want it now,” I said. “Well, as soon as you can do it.”
“Then when will I get my skill book?” She asked.
“When I get it. Which will be within a year.” I said.
“You want me to make you the contract before you pay?” She asked. I nodded. She put her chin in her hand and stared at me with disappointed eyes. Her eyes were saying, you expect me to simply trust you?
So I said, “I’m willing to sign a contract.”
“Oh.” That brought some color back into her eyes. “Will you really?”
I nodded. My plan was to have a certain governmental woman, who has information/control of men above 10 000 points, sign my contract. The queendom/government likes to keep a close watch on men with 10 000 points  and more, and I wanted to take peeks at what the government sees. “Yes.”
“You are confident you’ll get the skill book.” She asked, and I nodded. “Willing to bet your life?” I nodded again. “Okay.” She opened her drawer and pulled out the contract. You could tell just from the shine  of the paper it was a magical contract. “You’re sure?” I nodded. She  wrote ‘Skill Book: Detect Lies’ on a blank space on the contract. She put the contract in front of me, handed me the pen, and explained, “This  is a contract I had prepared for occasions like this.”
“Does this happen often?” I asked.
“Sometimes people like to make personal contracts with me. So I keep it prepared just in case. You’ll find most of my colleagues are the same.” She said.
“I bet,” I said.
She smiled and continued to explain, “This contract says you have 5 years to deliver to me the skill book: detect lies. And if you don’t, your heart will explode.”
“Oh. That’s nice.” I said.
“Will you sign it or not?” She asked.
“Yeah, I will.” One: 5 years is more than enough time to get the skill  book. And two: though I don’t plan on breaking the contract, a contract written by a level 23 Law magician is something I’ll be able to break at level 40. I need a higher level than that to kill the demon queen in 4  years… So I put pen to paper and signed my name: Sherrie Hooper.
She took the contract and said with a smile, “Well, Sherrie Hooper, we have ourselves a deal.” She extended a hand.
I shook her hand and smiled back, “Yes, we do.”
“Okay, so 6 contracts and since you’ll be paying me with the skill book for the 6th one. I’ll only charge you for the other 5.” She said.
“Much appreciated. I’ll send my butler, Garth, over with the money in 2 days. Or I’ll come.” I said.
“Alright, would you like to stay for snacks? I was thinking of taking a break from work.” She said, getting out of her chair after putting the  contract in her drawer. “My chef makes an amazing Jam Cake.”
“I’d love to, but I can’t. I have a few more errands to do today.” I said.

***

“Here we are, madam.” The rickshaw puller said.
I looked up at the stupid and dirty sign above the shop: The Manic Mechanic Shop. I’d never been here before. There were a few mechanical  magicians in Delaron, but they had limitations on what they’d be willing to make. Their descriptions stated those limitations very clearly. Unfortunately, they made it impossible to present them with any really original designs.
This shop was different. The Manic Mechanic Shop didn’t have any of those conditions and limitations.
“Thanks,” I said and got down from the rickshaw. “Please wait like before. I’ll be right back.” I told my driver (puller) and went into the  shop.

There  were all kinds of junk lined up on the aisles. And I walked past it all to a sleeping woman behind the counter. I rang the bell beside her, and  she jolted up.
“Yes, I’m up!” She said in an eastern accent.
“Hello,” I said.
“Ah, yes.” She looked around me and asked, “What do you want, girl?”
“Do you do custom orders?” I asked and looked at her with [look-a-look]. She was only level 17, which was somewhat disappointing. She had gray,  short, messy hair and wrinkles on her beautiful face. She looked  something like a feminine Einstein.
“Custom? Oh, sure. I can try.” She said and walked into the back.
“Ah?” I tried the little door attached to the counter, and it came open. “Right.” I followed her to her office.
“So, what do you want me to make?” She asked.
“Right.” I took out the drawings from my envelope. My envelope was starting to look empty. There were only a few more papers in there. “I want you to make this,” I said and handed her the drawings.
“Let me see.” She said and took out her glasses from her drawer. She put them on and looked over the drawings…
She sat there looking at it for 10 minutes before I finally said, “So, what do you think? Can you make it?”
“Hmm. This is… I think so. Did you design these circuits yourself?”
“I’m not a mechanical magician.” I decided not to answer the question.
“These are nicely done. If I had [pin-point] or [energy calculator], this would be a lot easier to make.” She said.
“So you can’t do it?” Do I need to go to another city to have this done? Or maybe I can pay one of the other ones extra…
“I can do it… I have the tools.” She said. It seems that she made up for what she didn’t have in spells with tools.
“When can you finish it?” I asked.
“It’ll take me a month.” She said. “I can start working on it today. This is a type of gun, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s a fast-action Bomb Launcher,” I said.
“Yeah… I’ve made some guns before… For a soldier that went into the Eqcoo war.”
“I see. You’ll have to make these as well.” I pointed out the bomb capsules. I’ll fill it up with alchemical fluids after she makes the shell. “Around 12 of them. The more you can make, the better, but for now, 12 is enough.”
“Yeah, don’t worry. I can make this within a month. It’s just that with my level, I need to be careful. That’s all.”
“Okay. How much will it cost?” I asked.
“For the materials…” She took out a book and started scribbling numbers. “The materials will cost me about one gold. And for my labor, I’ll only charge 1 silver. Is that fine?”
1 silver is pretty low for a custom job. “Alright. 1 gold and 1 silver.” I said and took out the pouch. I took out the money and handed it to her.
“Oh, you’re giving it to me already? Alright.” She took the money.
I was worried she wouldn’t be able to do it at all when I saw her level, but it looks like she has enough know-how to do it. Really even I could do most of it. I just needed a mechanical magician’s help laying down  the layered circuits and shifting circuits. Most level 17s wouldn’t have enough knowledge about the circuits to do it, but it looked like she didn’t waste all her years just sitting around. Some women weren’t great at leveling up, but they still had a great passion for their specialty.
“Then I’ll return in a month,” I said.
“Alright.” She said, her back curving and her head sinking further into the drawings.
“I might come back in a week to look at the progress,” I said.
“Okay.” She was engrossed in the drawings.
“Alright, bye.”
“Bye.” She still didn’t look up from the drawings.
I showed myself out.

***

Finally, I went to Custom Clothing. A clothing shop where you can design your own clothes.

In the tailor’s office, I handed her my drawings.
She looked over the drawings and said, “This looks an awful lot like the uniform for an Internal Patrol Surveyor.”
“I guess.” I played, ignorant. There are quite a few husbands in this town with experience points in the 1000s. Usually, they’re the husbands of government officials. Trophy husbands, gifted husbands, etc. Essentially what the Bracelet of Eros was made for. I planned on humping as many of their cute husbands as possible while they went to their  government jobs… Well, most of them were government officials. I think one of them had a private job… If I recall correctly… That doesn’t matter! I digress! Anyway, what better way to get near these handsome men and have the Bracelet of Eros do its job than to dress up as a surveyor, handywoman, delivery woman, etc.
“And this one-”
“Can you make it or not?” I cut her off.
“Ah, yeah. It’s pretty easy to make.”
“Great.” I smiled.