Mature Content Warning: A little boob-squeezing and innuendo. The sale of cute girls is stated.

Author's Note: Yep, a new update finally. Sorry about the lengthy delay. I will finish up this volume before a new delay occurs, but barring illness and other things, there should be regular updates every few days after that anyway. :)

If you are interested in the professional version... It should be out in 2 - 3 weeks, but a lot of the story ends up changing.

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The warehouse erupted into a brilliant glare of burning red light for a moment. The blond general finally finished the next phase of his project. He had spent the better part of two months now at this plan. It was the last chance he would be given. Pheare had made certain to inform him of that. It had been hell convincing her to wait on his penultimate plan. She wanted results and did not give a damn who she broke to get them. Still, he had gotten his time.

He gazed coldly at his handiwork and then nodded slowly. In front of him stood six creatures that this world considered menaces. They had been powerful creatures, each of them deadly in their own right. However, once they were taken by the Dark Empire and upgraded into Fiends they became unstoppable killing machines.

Jaedu gazed upon his creations and shuddered to himself slightly at the carnage he would soon unleash. Some things were even a bit too much for him.

He silently stared at his minions and felt an uneasy sensation in the pit of his stomach for the first time in quite a while. Somehow, in some way, he felt this might have been too much.

The feeling passed swiftly, of course, the hold the Dark Empire had on him was not as strong as it used to be but in the end he was still just another lackey. He was but one tendril in the mass that is the evil alien intelligence Mettalica.

----

Chapter 33: We Built This City....

----

....One and a half months earlier...

The sounds of construction, of progress, filled the air. For an entire week the recruits had been coming in. The land that had been granted to Scott was free of any obligation save for taxes, surprisingly enough. It was just beyond the Nameless River, in frontier territory. The idea of what amounted to a heavily fortified city in the wilderness across the river had been too good to pass up.

He had thought originally that convincing the government of the need for such a place would be hard. They had not only jumped at the chance, they had allowed him free reign to use the land as he liked. There were no other towns within a hundred miles of the place, if you could call a small village with only a dozen families an actual town. The nearest major city, Amber Pines, was twice as far away.

However, this new boom town was on a major trade route. The river connected many small frontier settlements. A fortified city in the center of the area would provide something akin to an able marketplace and a somewhat faster response time for emergencies.

Scott rested his hand on the former demon sword he had been gifted, and gazed out across the plain from atop a cliff. Behind him there stood his closest friends in this world.

Below them on this wide plain of grass and dust was a tent city that had begun to crop up. Over eight hundred people had come to set up shop. It was originally slated to be only a fortress, but over the last week it had somehow turned into more. It had come to represent hope for many people.

In this land Scott's law was the only law. The government had granted him full autonomy for up to seventy-five miles from the exact center of his land. In fact, it was not even officially part of the country anymore due to the contract that he had to sign. The government could not be directly connected to funding what amounted to a mercenary enterprise. The tax payers would never stand for it. Half the time they balked at the idea of having a standing national military, small as it was.

Who needed an army when you had tamers? That was the general consensus of the average man or woman. Unfortunately, it was the army, the knights, the adventurer's guild, and local law enforcement that handled most of their defense. The tamers seemed to only be interested in collecting badges and endorsements in the modern era. In short, the common people were easily misled and prone to complaining if they saw no immediate need for a thing.

The amount of manpower and defensive equipment that it took to safeguard a nation was vast. It cost quite a bit of money as well.

The land that Scott had been granted was considered an autonomous protectorate. He had to pay taxes on the land itself, but otherwise the government had no say in what occurred there. It was no longer their property. The taxes were only for maintaining roads and in case an emergency happened and they had to help.

"Sir, I have a response from the Engineering Guild." called out a Generica as she walked up to the group. She was a strawberry blond with freckles, a true rarity for a breed known to have funky hair colors and flawless complexions.

Scott turned to her and nodded. "What did they say?"

"The sewage and water treatment systems will take a week to build if they can get enough rock and ground types for the project. However, with who they have to work with at the moment, it will take about six months."

Scott winced. Six months was a long time to be using wooden versions of porta-johns. "We'll have to round up some more people I guess. How many do they need?"

"Forty-five at least, is what they say. Tunnelers, rock shapers, and diggers are especially necessary."

The man nodded. "Do they have a cost estimate yet?"

"Thirteen million credits if they can get it done in a week, two hundred ninety million for six months." quoted the Generica off the top of her head.

"Thirteen million credits?!" exclaimed Cerene in shock. She had never even heard of so much money being spent on anything.

Scott nodded. It was actually rather cheap for the kind of project that they were doing. Back home it would easily cost ten to twenty times that amount and would take several years at the minimum.

"Seems a little low." replied Aaron, mirroring Scott's own thoughts. City building was expensive stuff and they had not even started on the expensive part. They were just getting the water and sewer systems in place. The actual town would come afterward.

The Generica nodded to Aaron without deference to his humanity. Neither she, nor any, demi-Human had to automatically act as though humans were superior in this region. They were paid a fare wage and were treated with respect. They were still considered property if owned by a tamer or a company, but the idea of 'Free demi-humans' capable of being hired on by contract existed here. It had kept many idiots out of town because it meant that if they captured such a girl they would have to sign a release contract or they would be hunted down.

"The engineers are working under the 'Free Labor Homesteading Act'. Many of the girls are, too. The amount necessary is for those who want to be paid instead."

Under the FLHA, as dictated by Scott, anyone who signed up to work long hard hours for free on a project that benefited everyone would be granted land, food, and housing. This included demi-humans without masters. It was his version of the old ‘ten acres and a mule’ concept used during early American history. A lot of people took him up on the offer. There were not nearly as many as he would have liked, of course. Still, it helped with the budget.

A demi-human who took advantage of this act was given 'Free' status as long as she worked on and completed her project. She was considered the same as a government demi-human. She was hands off unless she asked for someone’s hands to be on.

Land for sale was directly at the decision of Scott at present and he was keeping the best available locations for the people who worked for free. He had already sold the right for others to homestead in certain areas. It had brought the war chest up to around eight million credits before he had started spending. The town coffers were nearly broke now, but things were moving along.

Water types were busy irrigating fields while plant types, mainly elves coincidentally, tended to the crops. A hundred girls out of the available one hundred eighty were city defense. They guarded the makeshift walls, and rotated out into the wilderness as regional patrols. The demi-human guards and their tamers, when applicable, were mostly paid labor. It was the city builders who primarily took advantage of the free land and housing for work program.

At present the city was actually several small villages scattered around the area. The main village had about five hundred people squatting in it. Within a few miles there were a number of others out of the eight hundred or so hardy individuals who had moved here. Interestingly enough, the tame demi-humans in the area did not outnumber the humans for once. It was close to an even ratio.

"Master, where are we going to come up with that many credits in a week?" asked Yoko curiously. Catching that many rock and earth types would not be that difficult. They were crawling all over the hills forty miles north of there. The money was a different story.

"That, I'm not so certain of. We've made a steady time of catching girls who are feral. I loathe the idea of selling them like cattle for several reasons. We need all the help we can get, for one." admitted Scott.

"I heard a rumor that Amber Pines is looking for a hunter to take down the local bug type population. There are a lot of Wasps and Hunnies in the area this time of year." said Pirouette as a thought.

Scott nodded. "We should send a squad to handle that. It'd be good training. We could collect the bounty, pay the group, and add the rest to the coffers. I think we'll check into as many of these bounty calls as we can. We're a bit like a mercenary force, might as well get paid for it."

"Collecting bounties takes time. It's a good idea but we need a serious money maker now." cited Aaron. He was in charge of the internal militia, the standing army of patrolling militia who safeguarded the area. They did not have enough available combatants to split the forces yet, but Scott’s other generals would have their own sections soon.

"I was thinking about setting up trading escort services between the leagues. Some of the internal militia can be detailed as mission based escorts to help people interested in moving goods between the neighboring towns and between the countries bordering us." replied Scott.

Aaron nodded and Pirouette spoke up less than a moment later, "That's a start, but all of the neighboring towns are small and lack much in the way of funds."

Scott frowned softly. Unfortunately, it all seemed to come down to one thing. Capturing and selling demi-humans. The other methods of gaining money would take too long. There was barely enough in the treasury to make this week's payroll. Next week would see them come up negative and people might start to leave.

He looked out at the one building that was nearly erect and shook his head. The Healing Center would be vital to the town, in the resource shed nearby there were a dozen guards of the militia stationed. Within that shed were building resources, tools, and sixty-two captured wild demi-humans awaiting assignment. They had not been tamed, yet. All of them were common or uncommon types, and none were combatants or builders.

Combat, tech, engineering, and crafting based girls had already been drawn from their ranks. All that were left were the most common girls in the area who had no currently useful special skills.

The man gazed down at the shed while his companions. Finally, after a soul wrenching moment the man stood straight and took a deep breath. Then with a firm but sad voice, the man spoke the hardest words he had ever allowed through his lips. "Contact the people in the city... and then the government. We have demi-humans to sell for standard prices."

Several of the girls looked like they wanted to say something; most likely it would have been placating or an attempt to make him feel better. It would not have mattered. In his mind Scott had just sold the integrity of his new kingdom in the making along with the lives and freedom of people that he felt deserved better.

The worst part was that even if he sold them all, it would barely make a dent in the debt that was amassing. It would be a moment that would weigh heavily on his mind for a long time. He was not a child, and this was not an animated television series.

The real world demanded hard, sometimes disturbing decisions for the good of everyone. Those girls would not be better off if his weakness and dislike for the status quo allowed the Dark Empire to devour all life on the planet.

----

A few days had passed and the sale of the demi-humans had gone off without a hitch. Eight rock and earth type demi-humans had been found during that time as well. The project looked like it would continue as planned. He would owe money with interest to the various workers in the city, for a while, but he had enough to continue purchasing resources for the town.

The bounty hunter teams had been sent out in squads and were doing well. The escort teams were mostly employed as well. He was still several million credits short of just paying for the construction of the sewage and water systems, but it was fine for now.

People and demi-humans continued to trickle in, in small amounts. They would take a new census at the end of the month.

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown, huh?" asked Ashe as she came up to him. They had not really talked in a few days and it caused him to pause and take in the sight of her. For some reason, since the day he and Reina had nearly been killed on the bus, she had been nicer to him.

"Light are the pockets of the man who would be king." admitted Scott.

This is not what he had envisioned. He had initially planned on a simple fortress and outpost. It was supposed to be a few tradesmen and a lot of demi-humans. Without a census it was estimated that at least thirty more people had trickled in, in the last few days.

"Only because he doesn't believe in slave labor." remarked the half dark elf.

Scott nodded slowly. He knew enough about her character and personality after the time they had spent together to realize she was not suggesting this was a bad thing.

"How can I claim to be building something to help protect this world if I have to enslave its people to create it?" stated the man thoughtfully. It still bothered him that he had sold those demi-humans. At least when he sold them to Pirouette he knew they were going somewhere decent. Some of them stayed in the new town. Most of them had been sold to the league. They would probably never know the freedom they had been denied by that action.

Ashe nodded to him lightly. "You know all about the goals of the four divine kings... Don't you?"

"Four div... Oh, you and your friends... The others who had been disciples of Dak Sneida." admitted Scott.

When she nodded he continued, "Yeah. You and Kelsu believed in the cause the most, as I recall. You dreamed of a sorcerer kingdom built on the rule of law, a utopia where there was no more war and only iron hard justice reigned."

"That's a simplistic version, but yes. I've been touring your kingdom..." stated the thunder empress.

"What did you see?" asked Scott.

She shrugged. "It's a bunch of tents and good ideas. There's not much to see yet. The interesting part is that everyone seems happy. They're working their fingers to the bone to build your city, but they're happy."

"That's because it's not really my city anymore. It belongs to them as much as it does Me." replied Scott before turning to gaze into the eyes of the half dark elven sorceress.

"So, it's a democracy now?" she asked with a smirk.

"Hell no. That's the last thing we need right now. The only reason anything at all is getting done is because there are no endless committee meetings."

Ashe Naile snickered a little but did not speak again for a moment. She did, however, glance over at the plans on the desk of his tent. "That the castle?"

Scott nodded. "I consider it a command fortress and city bunker, but yes."

"What, no moat?" inquired the military general.

"A moat is pointless in this day and age. It might slow down an army of demi-humans from your homeland but between flying type demi-humans and one's who can simply freeze water it is pointless. With Dark Empire fiends it's even worse. We'll have to focus on maze like walls with killing fields as well as mystical wards."

"I still think you need a moat." she sniped at him.

Scott shrugged and said, "If you think it's so vital we can divert a portion of the river around it."

"Heh... I win." replied the elven sword master. She tossed her head imperiously and Scott shook his head. Women. No matter their species, they always liked to get their way.

The man frowned a little as he ran the numbers for his various projects again. He had to get these people full-time shelter soon. The elves were already working on some of his ideas, but not everyone would want to live in a tree house. His thoughts were not centered on childhood tree forts but actual trees reshaped to work like houses. They were formed of wood that had been mystically hardened until they were harder than steel all the way through.

The tree houses were going to take months, even with magical aid, to fully grow. The new residents could move in, in a few weeks but their homes would not be complete till near the end of the year.

"So, what's its name?"

"Hmm?" asked Scott as he was brought out of his reverie.

"The name of the castle, what is it? Every fortress needs a name."

"Ah... Since it's going to be formed directly out of the land itself through rock and metal shaping... I decided I'd call it castle Hard Rock."

She quirked her eye and allowed her lips to purse with amusement. It was quite the appropriate name, in her not-so-humble opinion.

----

Cerene flew down and landed clumsily in front of her friends. She had been ordered to fly for at least an hour a day to get her skills up to par in regards to aerial combat. As an angel demi-human she had quite an array of abilities to fight evil with. Flying was one of her greatest assets and she needed to become more skilled at it.

"So, done for the day?" asked Nina as she looked over her supernaturally sharp chain weapon. It never broke, chipped, or dulled but she still inspected it daily just to be sure.

"Yeah, but that's not why I came down." admitted Cerene.

"Why, what's going on?"

"Nothing major, I just gotta go tell Scott about the big group of people moving along the trail he just ordered to be cut." admitted the celestial demi-human.

"What, do they look like they're gonna cause trouble?" asked Yoko as she stopped working on one of her sword forms long enough to join in on the conversation. Any armed force was a threat to her lord and master. It was a samurai girl's duty to defend her master to the last!

"Nah, it looked like about twenty vehicles loaded down with supplies and stuff. There were a few more groups behind them but it was mostly people walking. A lot of people. I still need to go tell Scott and Aaron." replied Cerene before stepping toward the command tent.

"Scott's out surveying the cliff along with a few members of the engineering guild. Aaron's running drills with some of the militia." cited Nina as she stood up from the large rock she had been sitting on.

"I...” began Cerene. She wasn't sure who to tell first. Telling Scott made sense, but Aaron would need to know quickly too so he could mobilize the militia in case there was an issue.

"You can fly, so maybe you should go tell Scott. I know where Aaron is so I'll go tell him." stated Nina simply before nodding. It sounded like a good solid plan.

Cerene blinked. That did make a certain amount of sense. "Right!"

"I'll go with you." stated Yoko to Nina. If there was trouble brewing she would need to be there to help stop it.

"Alright..." said Nina before turning to the guards posted outside the tent.” You four, make sure no one gets in except for master or one of the generals."

"Yes, Ma'am!" called out a Catgirl smartly before rendering a salute. It was not a particularly good salute, but it was still a solid effort.

Nina returned the salute and nodded toward Yoko and then Cerene. "Let's get to it."

As they headed off in their differing directions, a roadway full of people continued to move toward the slowly growing city.

----

"No no, put the medical supplies here and the equipment over there. We're limited on space!" called out a Nurse, while she directed the offloading of both human and demi-human medicine. The Healing Center was going to double as a human hospital for the time being; and possibly even in the future if it seemed like a good fit. Saeko, the chief medical officer in Scott’s new army, was busy filling out forms while her subordinates continued to do their work.

She had wanted to be near her daughter and this was definitely a place that would need a skilled doctor. There was a constant stream of individuals coming in for medical issues. Strained muscles, lacerations, even a half-drowned Golem had been through the emergency room doors in recent days.

Ami walked in with a handcart loaded down with boxes. She was taking time off from her studies to help unload the medical supplies that had just been air lifted in. They needed them desperately but they had also cost a pretty penny.

"How much more?" asked the blue haired woman to her daughter of similar hair shade.

"Not nearly enough. We've already begun to deal with random bouts of influenza despite the season. All of these people are from different places. The town is a hot bed of viral activity." admitted Ami as she finished wheeling a few hundred canisters of p-med over to their section.

"Scott said that he had a few people working on creating healing potions and standard city anti-disease wards. Maybe that will pan out." said Saeko with a dismissive gesture. There was just so much to do.

"Maybe." replied Ami before turning her cart around and heading back for another load. She passed Reina along the way and gave her a nervous smile before continuing on. The cat girl shrine maiden had opted to help with the center as well. She did not have much in the way of combat training outside of simply martial arts. She could carry boxes and help with treating the wounded, however.

------

"So, can it be done?" asked Pirouette as she and Delia went over the last of the plans for the first section of the housing development block. They were in charge of making certain the 'tree houses' were developed and took root.

"I think so. They won't be as strong initially though. It will still take time for them to grow to their full durability." admitted Delia as she looked over at a ten foot tall sapling that three of the elven demi-humans in their group continued to chant and sing to the would-be house.

Pirouette nodded before replying back in kind. "It can't be helped. These people need homes and Scott doesn't want to simply run around killing trees to make them.

"I'm not complaining. I like the idea of a tree city. I was just surprised he chose it on his own."

"Why is that?"

Delia shrugged. "How many humans do you know who would have cared about keeping the woodlands intact?

"He's not like most. I'll admit that." quietly replied Pirouette.

Delia's knowing gaze caused the dark elf to clear her throat lightly and turn away. Supposedly she was inspecting yet another tree. As far as the eye could see there were saplings surrounded by a trio of elven demi-humans compelling them to grow. Each tree was meant to grow in a unique manner based on the individual or family that would be moving into them.

Out of curiosity Delia asked, “So... sapling or mighty oak?”

“Hmm? asked Pirouette.

Delia’s eyebrow rose and she tilted her head to the side. “Come on, details girl.”

Pirouette snorted, and her face took on a reddened shade. “What are you asking about?”

“I think we both know what I am asking about.” said Delia.

“Well... maybe you should just go find out for yourself.”

“Don’t tempt me.” she answered with a laugh.

Pirouette smirked at her. “You know, it’s been a while since we...”

The elf stared at her dark elven counterpart. “Wait... Are you suggesting...?”

The dark elf reached up and casually massaged Delia’s left breast. “What might I be suggesting?”

Delia whimpered a little then clasped Pirouette’s hand. “What’s gotten into you to make you so forward and...? frisky?”

“The mightiest oak.” said Pirouette.

Her long time friend’s eyes widened considerably. “When does our shift end, again?”

Pirouette laughed as her friend started to become excited. “Too bad he’s busy right now. He has to focus on keeping his harem tame. When the construction begins to die down, we can make our move.”

“Make our move, huh? Interesting, you make it sound like a strategic assault.”

“A-assault... That sounds so rough. I might not be able to sit down for a while.” Pirouette’s eyes took on a soft sparkly appearance.

Delia snorted at the girl. Pirouette was a natural submissive, if she found a properly dominant lover. That was obvious from back when she was with Vashra.

----

...Two weeks later the city takes shape....

"Wow, what a pile of crap." said Makina before she could stop herself. She did have the good decency to blush, however. She had been referring to the rubble that would soon begin to take shape as the fortress where Scott, the girls, and the elite guard would reside. The same fortress would act as an emergency bunker for the local populace. The entire cliff was being hollowed out strategically now that the primary portions of the water and sewer systems for the core of the city were complete.

Scott nodded to her with a smirk. "Yeah, it is. Eventually, it'll be a fortress that is complete with modern armaments and amenities. Right now it is a bunch of rocks and tunneled warrens."

"Hmm... It’ll probably be nice...” admitted the Balvulf. Privately she still wondered if the overgrown hill of rubble she was seeing could ever be anything but a pile of crap. Only time would tell, she supposed.