191: It must be my fancy
I have decided to become engaged to Kaisar-sama.
I was so impressed by how he was able to take me and my delusions seriously and logically without making fun of them that I no longer considered Kaisar-sama’s bad reputation to be anything more than a trivial issue.
“K-Karendoll… me! I’m getting engaged to Kaisar-sama!
◆
[Kaisar POV]
“So, um, Morrie wants to be my fiancée.”
“Yes, Kaisar-sama!”
“And, if it’s impossible to get engaged, you’re willing to be a concubine.…”
“That’s right, Kaisar-sama! I don’t care if I have to be a slave or anything as long as I can be by your side, Kaisar-sama!”
I managed to suppress the urge to hold my head as I looked at Morrie, who responded to my question with a sparkling expression, and turned my attention to Karendoll, who gave me a look that said, “Isn’t she an amazing talent?”
It is true that she is a great talent, and there is no doubt that she possesses knowledge and intelligence that could revolutionize the times, but I also feel guilty about having such a great talent in my midst.
I feel sorry for the people of this world when I think that I might have delayed the development of science in this world by bringing into my family a gem of a person who could develop the science and technology of this world.
In the first place, there is no doubt that I am a heretic in this world, and if I had not come to this world, Morrie would have definitely rewritten the history of this world.
“It’s all right. Kaisar-sama has already rewritten the history of this world. No, from now on, I have no doubt that Kaisar-sama will be the history of this world himself!”
I’m grateful that Bridgette, who stood behind me when I mentioned it, said so proudly with a ‘Hmph’ and a loud voice, but I didn’t want the slaves around me, including Karendoll and even Morrie, to nod deeply.
“By the way, what happens if I turn down Morrie’s proposal?”
“I’ll die.”
Huh? Was it déjà vu?
Why are these slaves of mine only zero or a hundred?
I would love to see you include the option of taking the in-between.
I don’t understand why the option of dying comes up so naturally, or rather, I don’t feel like both, Bridgette’s and Karendoll’s, personalities have changed too much since I first met them, or is it just my imagination?
It was like being brainwashed into a bad religion… No, let’s not think about it anymore.
It must be my imagination.
And so, the new girl, Morrie, became Kaisar’s fiancée. He later regretted that he had not imagined until he saw the jump in the Black Rose’s strength that she would bring.
192: Steam-powered locomotives
[Mowry’s POV]
“Mowry-san, are you sure you’re alright in this form?”
“Oh, yes. I’ll check it now. Yes, I’m sure this will be fine.”
I ended up becoming Kaisar-sama’s fiancée after all, but Kaisar-sama told me, ‘You need to become my slave in order to be engaged to me. Do you still want to do it? If you want to refuse, now’s the time. Are you sure you want to?’ I agreed to all of it, saying, ‘I don’t mind being a slave!’
Thus, I was able to get Kaisar-sama to agree to the engagement.
At that time, I was so happy that I felt as if I were soaring to the heavens, but that was just the beginning. I was even more excited when I was introduced to the Secret Society of all slaves that Kaisar-sama was using.
The reason for this is that the Black Rose had already produced various things Kaisar-sama’s genius mind
One of the most astonishing things was a steam-powered locomotive.
Kaisar-sama told me that I was a person who would change the history of the world, but seeing all these things, I was reminded that it was not me but Kaisar-sama himself who would change history.
I had originally planned to follow Kaisar-sama for the rest of my life, but the moment I saw the steam locomotive, the feeling got stronger.
And since I was appointed as the first head of the newly established Black Rose: Development Division by Kaisar-sama, I have been enjoying every day so much that my loyalty to Kaisar-sama, which I thought was at its highest level,has been rising even higher with each passing day.
What’s more, the members of the Black Rose have so much power that even one of them could bring down a country. Among them, I was able to pick out one of the alchemists as a member of the development department, and she was so powerful that even the gods seemed to scoff at her. She was able to create metals just as I had imagined them. I was so impressed that sweat was pouring from my eyes like a waterfall.
Now I can try all I want in reality what ended up in my fantasy!!!!
I was so happy. I was so happy that I wanted to look back at all the adults who had ridiculed me until now.
However, such evil feelings are trivial before the pleasure of being able to give shape to my fantasies, and now I don’t care about them.
“Ah, thank you very much!”
“No, but even so, it’s really amazing that you can make metals according to the drawing I gave you with such precision.”
193: Loyalty to Kaisar-sama
“I’m still surprised about that, but it’s all thanks to Kaisar-sama. I got sold into slavery and suffered from an epidemic when I got rescued by Kaisar-sama. Initially, I thought my life would get discarded as comfort for nobility, so I wondered if my current situation was really a dream I was dying to see. I’m so happy that it makes me afraid that I might wake up from a dream at a moment’s notice. I don’t know if I should be happy or scared… given one day, this life will end, you know?”
She answered my questions in a friendly manner, but the second half of the conversation somehow turned a little too heavy, and I unintentionally hugged her.
All the slaves here must have something on their carved hearts, big or small.
That’s what getting sold into slavery means.
No one likes to sell themselves to slavers.
And I don’t even have to mention what happens to slaves that get bought.
If they are male, they are either sent to the mines or to carry luggage, but that is still better on the better side since they are actual money trees. If the slaves break down before paying off the money spent to buy them, it would not be good for the owners.
And since they are a money tree, they are basically bought by men.
Among them, men get adopted as heirs, and among them, there are some rare cases when they get chosen to be adopted by the nobility, so there is still hope for them.
Women, however, are different.
Female slaves are basically s*x slaves, and one often hears that aristocrats with special preferences treat them as if they were consumable goods before discarding them.
Even if you become the mistress of a nobleman, you will get discarded when you lose your youth.
That’s why female slaves, unlike male ones, usually have no hope at all.
Of course, there are cases where some female slaves live happily at some point in their lives. Such cases are usually where a couple lost their daughter in some case and are unable to recover, so, out of pity, a relative buys a slave that looks like their lost daughter. The couple may seem happy at first glance, but their spirits have long since gone mad. There are stories of slaves who cannot stand the relationship and even have a mental breakdown, losing their ego and thinking they are real daughters.
I don’t know if that makes them happy, but I at least know it’s not sane.
That’s why it’s fair to say that these girls are extremely scared that this current situation will someday disappear.
So much so that they wouldn’t even hesitate to confront the Empire.
For them, their loyalty to Kaisar-sama, who saved them, is overwhelmingly greater than that to the Empire. In fact, they even have no loyalty to the Empire at all.
194: Blue sky
It would be natural to think so.
The Empire did nothing for them, so it was only natural for them to be loyal to Kaisar-sama, who was the only one to give them a hand. Even I agree with it.
These girls have been through so much since they got reduced to slavery. I do not think I can compare them with the loyalty I felt for Kaisar-sama at the time of our engagement.
Bridgette and Karendoll, who originally had a stronger sense of justice than others, seem to have become even more loyal to Kaisar-sama as they listened to the slaves’ circumstances and stories that were hard to listen to without tears. However, I do not have such a strong sense of justice, so listening to their personal stories did not increase my loyalty to Kaisar-sama.
However, like Karendoll, I wanted to contribute my knowledge for the sake of the Empire and its people, although in a different form, so I thought my sense of justice was reasonably strong. Yet, I didn’t understand it until I became Master Kaisar’s slave and fiancée.
I was not working for a sense of justice but to know the results that ideas would produce. I wanted to make the many items I thought up happen using government funds.
Of course, it was hard to realize that I had a vague sense of justice as much as anyone else.
In other words, my loyalty to Kaisar-sama was now sky-high when I was provided with an environment that allowed me to utilize many tools I could only fantasize about in my head.
He also gave me some pointers on many of my ideas, with explanations as to why they would end up the way they did.
My allegiance is no longer just at the blue sky. It was still climbing unstoppably.
Incidentally, the thing that boosted my loyalty lately was a mechanism called a propeller plane.
Who would have imagined that iron could fly like a bird?
This shows how intelligent Master is since even I couldn’t come up with the thing called a ‘helicopter’ that could fly in the air.
He even told me about his idea of using low-concentration fire-attributed magic stones, which had been sold at a discount, to power a steam engine.
This fire magic stone has a low concentration, but because of its low concentration, the magical power inside the magic stone gets consumed slowly, so it retains heat for a long time. It is possible to take advantage of its only merit, its long use time.
Moreover, Kaisar-sama wants me to make a power generator with a steam engine.
195: Possessions and tools
He said that at first, he would start with just lights, and later he would change the power of things that were powered by steam engines, such as locomotives, to electric power.
Of course, he was thinking of energy sources other than electricity, but for now, he planned to replace mainstream energy with electricity. When he told me he needed my brain for that, I felt like I was soaring to the heavens.
However, Kaisar-sama can definitely think on his own, but it is possible that Kaisar-sama himself is so great that he probably doesn’t even realize how much of a waste it is for him to leave the good parts to me and give the credit for them to me.
My name will get written in history as the creator of many ideas, achievements, and creations created here.
This is not good.
I believe history should be passed down to future generations correctly.
In the first place, I am Kaisar-sama’s slave before I am Kaisar-sama’s wife.
But I, a slave, should not be allowed to usurp the achievements of my master, Kaisar-sama.
Thinking about it, something stuck in me.
Indeed, I am Kaisar-sama’s slave.
And slaves are the possessions and tools of their masters.
In other words, it would not be an exaggeration to say that all the ideas I have thought of here are also ideas created by Master.
In the first place, Master will sublimate my ideas into something even better, later on, so let’s just assume that he created it all.
I began to discover more things than ever before since I no longer had a weight in my chest.
◆
The roar and the screams of the fearful bird echoed throughout the area. It was understandable that they were unable to finish it off.
“Damn it! What kind of monster is that?”
“That’s why your quest rank is A! If you have time to talk about such an obvious thing, then think about what strategy to use next time, you idiot!”
“If you had time for that very snide remark, why didn’t you think of it yourself!”
“It’s coming! Stop flirting and focus on the battle!”
At the foot of a rocky mountain, I happened to come across a huge, ferocious, well-known, and high A-rank bird-type demon sleeping, so I took the opportunity to attack it in its sleep.
It seemed that the fact that this demon has a strong resistance to magic, and therefore magic is ineffective, had completely slipped my mind.