Reborn: Demon Core (4 page)

“Then you will need intermediate to master
earth mages to make the stones,” the man said. “Otherwise you will
have to have them each enchanted individually and that will cost
ten times more. The forest itself isn’t a problem. We can even save
some money by using some of the wood in the construction. If the
young master really wants this done, I can get together a number of
people and get to start on it but it won’t be cheap.”

“How much?” Ash asked without a second of
hesitation.

“At least five hundred platinum coins to
start,” the man replied with a pensive look on his face. “That will
let me gather a few mages that have worked with our guild before as
well as start the cutting of the trees and prepping the ground.
There are a number of other things as well, but I think five
hundred will be a start, though it won’t last long.”

Ash pulled put a piece of parchment and
quickly wrote on it then using a candle let the wax drip on the
bottom right hand corner. Before the wax could cool, Ash pushed a
small seal into it then handed the paper over to the older man. “I
want to know where every single penny goes.”

“Of course sir,” the man replied giving a
deep bow.

The man left carrying Ash’s sketches with
him. Once he was gone, Ash sat back and started to think about the
days to come. With Zelan gone, he felt a little lost. He no longer
had to strive so hard to train, but just quitting felt a little
like giving up on what he had already learned. Lillanis and the
other two had went to the labyrinth without him today but thanks to
the crystals he had given them, he was still receiving
experience.

“Master, is everything ok?” Allice asked as
she placed a glass of cold water on the table for him.

“Everything is fine,” Ash replied with an
unconvincing smile.

“How is your brother doing?” Ash asked,
trying to change the sour mood that was hanging in the room.

“He is doing well master,” Allice replied
happily. “He is learning a lot from the slaves and Gilda has even
suggested that he go to the church for better schooling. Gilda said
that even without a voice, he could become great one day…I” Allice
said her voice breaking slightly. “Thank…Master for helping my
brother,” She said breaking down into tears.

“What’s wrong?” Ash asked slightly
panicked.

“It’s just that master is so kind and yet…yet
I,” Allice continued as tears streaked down her face. “I poisoned
Yuki. I…don’t deserve…” the rest of Allice’s words were inaudible
due to her wracking sobs.

Ash knelt down next to Allice and lightly
placed his hand on her head. “Allice, we all make mistakes.
Sometimes they are unavoidable. You did it to help your brother and
neither I nor Yuki hold that against you.”

“Master,” Allice said as tears and snot ran
down her face.

After Ash got Allice to calm down, he had
Gilda take her to her room to rest. It seemed that she had held her
feelings pent up for a long time and they had worn her down until
she broke. Ash knew all too well what that was like and could only
look on with sympathy as she was carried out of the room.

As soon as Allice was carted off, Shina
slipped into the room. Ash saw her as soon as she entered, but
didn’t say anything though he noticed that Milly was not with her.
“Did you need something Shina?” Ash asked as he looked up from the
papers that covered his table.

“Master you got married,” Shina said as she
walked around the side of the table. When she walked in front of
Ash, he stared to notice that her dress was cut far too low and the
chest was so tight that Ash was surprised that it didn’t rip. “Then
master should know what I want.”

“Shina, I am married,” Ash said sliding back
in his chair.

“We already settled that point,” Shina said,
placing her hands on Ash’s shoulders and leaning in so close he
could smell the light fragrance of her hair. “Before I didn’t push
because you were still young, but now…”

Shina leaned in and kissed Ash lightly on the
lips. “Master should take care of his slaves and the slaves should
take care of their master,” Shina said as she pressed herself
closer to Ash.

Ash couldn’t deny that his heart was beating
fast or that the taste of Shina’s kiss still lingered on his lips.
Mustering up his willpower and strength, Ash pushed Shina away and
stood from his chair placing the piece of furniture between them.
“Shina…That is enough,” Ash said though a bit weakly.

Shina looked at Ash then let out a deep sigh.
“It is no fun to force it,” Shina said, giving him a warm smile. “I
won’t give up though. One day master will welcome me into his
arms.”

After she said her peace, Shina left the room
and Ash couldn’t help but watch the sway of her hips as she walked
away. He may not know his true feelings about Emelia, but he knew
that he held no romantic feelings toward Shina. He thought of her
as a friend and no matter how hard he tried, nothing else came to
mind but after their encounter, it still took a while for him to
get his heart to calm.

Shortly after Shina left, Ash took his leave
of the manor and headed outside of town. It took a good half an
hour for Ash to reach the forest. Most of the forest surrounding
the city had been left mostly alone over the years. The north side
of the city was farmland and the east side had been cleared for
farming as well, but the west was still heavily forested.

The trees at the edge of the forest were not
that large, but the deeper you went in the more robust they became.
Pulling out an axe that he had bought on the way out, Ash swung
with all his might and cleanly cut through the trunk of a smaller
tree.

Ash didn’t think of much while he worked, he
just let his body move. After cutting down eight trees, Ash cut off
their limbs and then sectioned the trees into eight foot sections.
Using a long hemp rope, Ash pulled the felled logs into the
clearing and started to stack them. Thanks to his strength, Ash had
no trouble moving the heavy logs.

Ash continued to work until the sun started
to drop below the horizon. His stomach was growling with hunger
when he headed back to the city. Since he had to pass right past
Emelia’s, Ash decided to stop for a bit.

Since it was not one of his days to visit,
Ash was able to get all the way to the foyer before Emelia came to
greet him. “Ash, I wasn’t expecting you today,” Emelia said with a
worried look on her face. “Did something happen?”

“No I was just outside the west gate and
thought I would spend a little time with my wife,” Ash replied.

“Why were you outside the gate?” Emelia asked
frowning.

“I was looking at the site for the new fort
that is going to be built,” Ash said as he pulled Emelia into his
arms.

Emelia didn’t resist Ash’s pull, instead she
happily entered his arms while giving him a light kiss on the
cheek. “What has gotten into you?” She asked with a fiendish
grin.

When Emelia asked her question, Ash was
slightly shocked. Normally he would indicate the contact with
Emelia unless he was joking around. He didn’t know why, but he just
felt the urge to have her close. Seeing Ash’s baffled look, Emelia
let off a light giggle and gave him another kiss, this one firmly
planted on his lips.

“Why don’t we take a bath, eat, and then you
can tell me what you have planned?” Emelia offered.

“Deal,” Ash said, lifting Emelia up in his
arms and carrying her up the stairs to the second floor like a
princess.

“I am enjoying the new you,” Emelia said with
a light giggle.

After their long bath and quick dinner, Ash
and Emelia sat in the study. Ash had pulled out a long piece of
paper and started to draw what he envisioned for the new fort. When
he was finished he stood back while Emelia looked it over.

“Why did you put it on the west side of the
city? You could have taken up some of the farmland and saved time
and coin.”

“I don’t think it would be right to kick
farmers off their land just to build the fort while there are other
options,” Ash replied with his honest feelings.

“I think it’s a little foolish myself, but I
have left you in charge of it so I won’t argue with you about it.
It looked very big, but I am sure that the knights will find a use
for the land. Do you have a plan to get the rest of the coin needed
or are you planning to do a little each year?”

“I don’t know yet. I do have a small idea,
but I will need your help with it,” Ash replied. “I was thinking of
hunting in the labyrinth for monster cores. The first I plan to
have you use for the tax break and use the extra coin for the fort
and the rest I need to be sold without the King being able to find
out who sold them. Zelan said that if too many surface, it would
draw the wrong kind of attention.”

“Humm…It isn’t much of a tax break, but it
will still amount to a little over a hundred platinum coins.
Selling cores will earn you a lot of gold, but not much platinum
unless they are extremely high grade. I don’t think it will do any
more than making a drop of water in an ocean.”

“True, but can you do it?” ash asked. “It
might only be a drop, but every drop I can make is one day faster
the fort can be completed.”

“I can do it through my contacts in the
Adventurer’s Guild. The only thing is that they will take 10% of
the money from the cores, but they can keep it from pointing back
at any one person.”

“Then I will start there,” Ash said.

“Anything I can help with?” Emelia asked
moving closer to Ash.

“Unless you know a monster with strong earth
magic abilities,” Ash said still looking down at the papers without
noticing the fact that Emelia had loosened the strings on her
blouse.

“If you are looking for monsters with strong
earth magic that would be a gnome,” Emelia said as let her blouse
slid to the floor.

“Where can I find them?” Ash asked still
clueless while looking at the papers.

“They live mostly in fairy gardens but those
are hard to find,” Emelia said as she undid the clasp on her skirt.
“You can also find them on the twenty-eighth floor of the
labyrinth.”

“Really?” Ash asked while turning his head
toward Emelia. AS soon as Ash’s eyes focused on Emelia his mouth
slightly hung open. There Emelia was, sitting right next to him
wearing only her petticoat.

Ash woke early the next morning his back
hurting from sleeping on the couch in the study. Emelia was still
snugly resting in his arms and the pressure from her head had
caused him to lose all feeling in his right arm.

Hearing that he could find monsters that
might help him work on the fort and save some coin, Ash wanted to
hurry and fight in the labyrinth, but he couldn’t bring himself to
wake Emelia. Most the time when Ash woke, Emelia was already awake
so it was rare to see her sleeping face. Every time he saw her
sleeping face he was amazed. When she was mad she always tended to
pinch her lips and furrow her brows slightly. When she was happy
she didn’t give a full smile, but her lips would part slightly
showing just the barest hint of her teeth. Ash had seen many of her
expressions, but most the time they were subdued thanks to years of
practice. It was only when she was sleeping that she had a purely
innocent and natural look on her face.

Using his left hand, Ash lifted Emelia’s head
while sliding out from under her. As he placed her head down on the
armrest of the couch her eyes fluttered open. “Ning,” Emelia said
with a contented smile on her face. “Trying to sneak away?”

“Yep, already got what I wanted so I wanted
to sneak away like a thief,” Ash said in a playful tone.

“Woe is me,” Emelia said, rising up to rest
on her elbows. “My virtue has been taken and now the thief is
trying to steal away my heart.”

Laughing, Ash bent down and lightly kissed
Emelia on the lips. “Sorry, but I do really have to go,” Ash said
as he quickly pulled on his clothes. “I will already be scolded for
disappearing without warning.”

“Ok,” Emelia replied. “Just try not to forget
about your wife.”

“I won’t,” Ash said laughing as he started to
slip out of the door. “Promise.”

After leaning the manor, Ash rushed back to
his own house. Ash entered the garden at the same time Yuki was
leaving for school. “Master,” Yuki said, jumping up and clinging to
Ash.

“Morning Yuki,” Ash said.

Yuki crinkled her nose cutely. “Master needs
a bath he smells,” Yuki said pulling her head back.

Ash took a sniff of his own skin but didn’t
smell anything. “I will when I get home tonight,” Ash said
shrugging his shoulders.

“We fighting today, or do you have work?”
Lillanis asked as she appeared from the door.

“Fighting,” Ash replied. “I want to get to
the twenty-eighth floor as soon as I can.”

“Sounds like a plan, but we aren’t going to
push ourselves. No matter how good the gold, it isn’t worth your
life,” Lillanis said.

“Then are we finally going to quit hunting
ogres?” Jacob asked with a slightly happy look.

“After we get enough for my last skill,” Ash
said, not wanting to give up on anything that might be of use. “We
will just have to fight harder. I think we should buy some
potions.”

“You know we don’t like using potions to
fight,” Halon said. “Why are you in such a rush?”

Ash explained the plan to construct a fort
and the cost involved and his plan to help reduce the costs and
earn some coin to help build the fort.

“I know she is your wife and all, but do you
have to build something so expensive just to get her attention,”
Lillanis said sighing. “I think she would be happy with just a
small piece of jewelry.”

“It is part of my job,” Ash said.

“You know most public officials just do the
bare minimal so that they don’t get fired. Even more of them use
their office to scam money from people. As far as I know, none of
them work and give their own time and coin,” Jacob said laughing.
“If they did then they wouldn’t be nobles and officials.”