XIV

Diverge

『S-Day +90』

『Gates of Aventine』

“Technically we're cousins. First cousins. Yup.” Alicia excitedly kicked her legs as she said. She felt a light rush flow through her as she revealed her relationship with Naoki.

“Technically?” Veronica asked, confused as to why Alicia used that word.

“Legally. Legally we're cousins. His parents are my uncle and aunt and my parents are his uncle and aunt. But that's not the best part!” Alicia spoke with vigor, “Both our moms are identical twins!”

“That… would make you two genetically half-siblings…” Veronica understood immediately what this revelation meant, “Ali, are you really okay with that?”

“Yup! Once we get settled into the old fortress, I’ll convince onii-chan to get me pregnant. You should too, it'll be fun.” Alicia thought about the possible future that may come and smiled.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +91』

『Outskirts of Aventine』

A familiar ceiling.

I recognized the ceiling of the carriage immediately as I had spent last night staring up at it as Illyria would ride me cowgirl style. Despite having trouble taking me inside her at the beginning, she had no problem enjoying herself once she had gotten used to me, which did not take long as I am asian after all. We rested and recovered during our breaks and was able to clean ourselves with a magic tool that used 「Water Stones」 and 「Heat Stones」 attached to a pole with a perforated bronze piece.

A portable shower. These people can invent such a thing, but a flashlight is such a unique and foreign concept? Weirdos. There happens to also be a heatless version that are used for gardens.

After getting dressed and tucking Illyria back into bed, I left the carriage. It was still dark with the sunlight bleeding into the horizon. The morning chill made my body shudder slightly as a breeze passed through me. Our current position should be near or passed the midway point of Aventine and Tiberalis. An entire day only got us this far.

Maybe horses should have been bought after all.

We were parked off the main road on a grassy area. I could see the silhouettes of the various tents from our servants, slaves and the other people who happened to be accompanying us. Though there were different types of way stations on our route, our travel time happened to put us in between such things. My attention then moved toward the temporary showers I had constructed with earth magic.

A shallow trench was made that sloped away from camp and walls that split a room into 4 rooms. Each room had a shower tool so there would be less wasted time waiting for each person to bathe. I noticed that the floors had become muddy and used earth magic to correct the issue. After I had finished, I made coffee and prepared breakfast.

☘ ☘ ☘

During breakfast, I explained to Alicia and Veronica my new quests and what it would entail. As it would take 2 months to travel to Umbria at our current speed, I suggested I split off and head toward Vaticano to dungeon dive for a month. Alicia did not like the idea of me going alone and so insisted that she accompany me. The servants and escorts would remain with the caravan.

We talked it over a bit and decided that we would purchase two horses at Tiberalis to replace the donkeys that pulled our carriage as well as a slave who would function as driver and caretaker. Once we were done at Vaticano, we would meet up with the caravan and continue to Umbria.

Of course hearing that she would be excluded, Saya threw a fit and refused to be separated from me. I ended up agreeing to let her accompany us at Alicia's urging. Illyria was much more compliant and agreed to stay behind.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Emperor's Office』

“Are you able to understand this?” the emperor asked the 8 summoned sitting around him.

“It's a pain in the… it's a bit difficult since we have to translate it, but yeah, we understand it.” replied Chad as the others concurred.

“Although this seems brand new to you,” Isaac interjected, “this is pretty outdated stuff by our standards. I mean, the bessemer process isn't really used as much and was replaced with the more controllable oxygen converter process and steam powered trains have mostly been replaced with diesel, gasoline and electric engines.”

“Even if that's the case, for the technology level of this world these plans would work. It is really detailed.” Sam added.

“Is… is that so?” the emperor soaked in the words of the summoned. “Then what else can you introduce from your world?”

“Where did His Majesty get these?” Vincent asked with hint of suspicion in his voice.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +93』

『Tiberalis』

As it turns out, I was wrong. We were two days off from reaching this city.

As our caravan arrived at the gates, we were greeted by a gate guard to the 'River City of Tiberalis'. Despite the name, the river connects to 4 other cities which are not labeled 'river city'. The river itself traveled from northwest to southeast then southwest and stretched all the way south to Capitoline which lay in the third ring.

Traveling by ship for the caravan was not an option as the river did not reach any area near Umbria.

The plan for now was to buy the horses and any supplies that we did not already have which included lots of freshwater fish. We did not bother looking for an inn and headed straight for the emperor's villa.

Having connections fucking rule.

Ah, the sight of the adventurer's faces as we crossed the estate gates was priceless.

When we approached the villa proper, the caretaker was found to be waiting for our arrival. We exchanged greetings and he went off to prepare a feast for this evening. I, on the other hand, took a few servants with me and started raiding the vineyards and plantations for cuttings. I also thought about looking for their wine cellar, but had to decide against it as I needed to sort through my things in preparations for the dungeon.

The 4 containers I would bring with me were my magic-modified chest Mk I, rucksack, backpack and one leather bag. The other chests held enough food to not be a problem in taking the Mk I chest.

Magic Chest Mk I: 68/100 tiles (x250 stack) in use.

Rucksack: 27/80 tiles (x50 stack) in use.

Backpack: 5/30 tiles (x20 stack) in use.

Leather bag Mk II: 50/50 (x10 stack) in use.

The leather bag was filled with the wine casks that I stole, I mean humbly accepted as a wedding dowry. All I needed to do was find an open spot in the other chests. After spending a few hours rearranging the items into other containers, I managed to clear up the space to items I would need.

Magic Chest Mk I: 43/100 tiles (x250 stack) in use.

Rucksack: 19/80 tiles (x50 stack) in use.

Backpack: 16/30 tiles (x20 stack) in use.

Leather Bag Mk II: 33/50 (x10 stack) in use.

Food, wine, clothes, toiletries, weapons, armor, wine, laptop, tablets, smartphone, potions, magic stones, wine, writing supplies, medkit, medication, leather bags, linen sacks, magic tools and more wine were distributed in the different containers.

After the feast had ended, I spent a few hours sorting out the drone I had bought from Vincent. I charged it manually instead of using 「Charge Stones」 while reading the instruction manual and looking over the accessories that came with it. The set came with its own camera, but there was an attachment for the Fivepro that I also bought from him.

The app to run the drone was compatible with my phone, tablet and laptop. I had to do an annoying round robin-esque game of copying the files onto my laptop then onto an SD card. From the SD card, I had to transfer it to my tablet then onto a microSD card. The microSD card was able to install the files onto my phone. The lack of an internet connection made this super fun.

Too bad none of the gods bothered to bless my smartphone and connect it to their godserver.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +94』

『Tiberalis – Merchant's District』

Just like Viminale, Tiberalis was much more lively and crowded than Aventine. Alicia and I easily found a horse breeder and slaver trader. We bought two horses for 20 gold aureii each and a slave that was familiar with taking care of horses for 60 gold. Saddles were 3 gold and stirrups, which they somehow managed to invent, were 1 gold for each horse. Not that we intended to use them, but having them as a 'just in case' is a good idea.

Another limitation of magic storage technology was discovered.

After we had bought the horses and caretaker slave, we bought some fresh freshwater eels since they were plentiful in the river. As I attempted to place it into the leather bag, it was rejected. Since living plants have no problem being stored and live fish cannot, I speculate that a certain level of sentience prevents storage. Eggs had no problem entering the storage, but I was unsure if it was fertilized or not. More tests are necessary.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Imperial Villa』

As soon as we returned to the villa with our purchases, I immediately tested out the drone. First thing I noticed was how loud the rotors are. I thought about using 「Silent Stones」 to dampen the noise, but need time to figure out an enchantment spell and method of attachment. The controller had a dock that allowed my tablet or smartphone to attach to and allowed me to observe the drones view through the camera. The camera itself was on a gimbal system that could rotate 360° and produced a very stable image.

The manual states that the drone had a top speed of 40mph which is probably fast as I did not know how much that was in kph. The batteries allowed a 30minute flight time and I wondered if 「Charge Stones」 could be worked into replacing the batteries. When I was done playing with… testing the drone, I packed it away into my rucksack and went to eat lunch.

Alicia and Veronica decided that since they have not gone swimming in months, they would spend tomorrow taking advantage of the river. Though they had invited me, I declined… because reasons. This meant I would end up missing Veronica wearing a swimsuit.

“Alicia… t-take pictures.” I pulled Alicia aside and asked her quietly.

“Pft hahaha, yeah okay you got it. Maybe I’ll get lucky and catch a nip slip just for you, onii-chan.” she did not even contain her laughter as she agreed to my request.

While they went swimming, I would modify some bags for Alicia to take into the dungeon. She also had a backpack as well as a small drop leg bag that attaches on her hips and down her thigh. Unfortunately, I had already run out of 「Amplifier Stones」 for Alicia to use. The best that I could do was stuff as much 「Distortion Stones」 as possible into the containers and have her use one of the magic bag version 2.

Alicia's Backpack: 0/38 tiles (x1 stack) in use.

Alicia's Drop Leg Bag: 0/8 tiles (x1 stack) in use.

Alicia's Leather Bag Mk II: 0/50 tiles (x10 stack) in use.

Alicia's Small Leather Bag Mk II: 0/12 tiles (x10 stack) in use.

I ended up gutting one of the magic bags to give her a smaller version that would have a wider mouth than the drop leg bag, but easier to carry. If I were to do research on 「Amplifier Stones」, I would need to removed it from another of the leather bags or find a new one within the dungeon. There were none in the local magic stone shop.

When Alicia returned from swimming in the river, she had already developed a noticeable tan. Though I liked it when she had pale skin, seeing her tan-lines was also very hot. She also showed me pictures of her and Veronica, though no slips of any sort, both wore similar solid color bikinis and a covering called a pareo that wrapped around their hips and covered one thigh down to the knee. It was both colored white with floral patterns and, suffice to say, looked incredibly hot.

“You look incredible.” I complimented my girlfriend-wife.

“Obviously. What about Veronica?” she changed the subject.

“She has a really nice butt.” I said truthfully as there was no reason to lie.

“It's really nice, isn't it? You like her?”

“I like her.”

“Good, just give her time, onii-chan.” she gave me a kiss before kneeling between my legs, “I'm not bleeding anymore, but my pussy is too sensitive to have sex. So just give me a couple days.”

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +95』

『Imperial Villa』

*donkey noises*

“I know buddy, I’ll miss you too. You take care of Veronica now, okay Burroto?” I said to the donkey while giving him scratchies.

*more donkey noises*

“Burroto?” Veronica asked, confused at my naming sense.

“Mm, yeah, since burro is the english word for donkey and I just added on -to.” I replied while continuing to give scratchies.

“I… no dude… the english word for donkey… what the fuck, dude?!” Veronica seemed confused for some reason.

“We'll be out for a month – month and a half, once we're done at the dungeon city we'll rejoined the caravan. Be safe okay?” *chu* I gave her a kiss before saying goodbye to her.

“Did you really have to kiss me?” she asked, with slight annoyance in her voice.

“Should I not have? We'll be away from each other for awhile, it's a kiss so you won't be lonely.” I gave her a reassuring smile.

She simply rolled her eyes at me, but I saw a hint of a smile as she hugged me.

She smells pretty.

Before we went our separate ways, I gave her and Cassia the daggers I had gotten from that not-assassin. It also turned out that Veronica and Alicia had visited the 「Adventurer's Guild」 before they went swimming to hire extra guards.

I joined Alicia and Saya at our carriage and saw that Illyria was inside. Alicia had argued that since Saya was joining us that there should be no problem if Illyria comes as well. Though the bed was fairly narrow, she said it would be no problem. Travel time from Tiberalis to Vaticano would be 3 days or 2 if we really rushed, but I would spend the 3 days making more magic bags.

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +98』

『Vaticano』

We finally made it to the dungeon city. Though we could have arrived earlier, I decided a leisure travel would be less stressful on the horses. I noticed as we traveled from Tiberalis that the geography was much more varied than I had first thought. The descriptions from the maps were pretty basic and did not go into details aside from 'here is a city', 'here is a river', 'this is a town' and 'here are villages, wow'.

Much of what we had passed were orchards and groves of different fruiting trees, but as we ventured to the more rural areas between cities, grasslands and rolling hills took over. There were various travelers we saw from merchants and traders to adventurers. A few times we saw contuberniums and cohorts in marching formation.

During one of our stops, we spoke with some merchants that told us that members of the 1st Legion were commonly seen traveling from Quirinalis, the city in which they were stationed, to train within the dungeon at Vaticano. Though there were 5 other dungeons, it was common for Vaticano to be used for training as the other dungeon was further away in the more populated southern cities.

I took notice of the 1st Legion as wielding blue colored shields and high ranking officers wielding white shields. They were known as the Mithril Legion for being the only ones to utilize mithril weapons and armor.

It took longer to reach the imperial villa as this city was much more densely populated than either Tiberalis and Viminale. Being a dungeon city was most likely the answer. The inhabitants were mostly adventurers as I could see many dressed in leather gear, a few in metal and obvious casters in cloth/leather.

There was something else that Alicia and I started noticing. We started seeing people with weird shaped ears and even tails. Every single one had collars around their necks and some were even chained.

“First minotaurs and now actual animal girls. But why is it all girls? … … No wait, I know exactly why.” I realized they were all sex slaves. High value trophies that, if domesticated, would rival high servants in cost.

“Do you want one?” Alicia asked curiously. Judging by the way she would stare at each girl, she wanted to know more about them.

“We could learn more about their species.” I answered.

There were also many shadier characters as my 「Vigilance」 was going fucking nuts.

《!》《!》《!》《!》《!》《!》《!》《!》《!》《!》《!》《!》《!》《!》《!》《!》

Every time we passed an alley or random street, I would get a very annoying warning. Annoying enough that I started to get a headache. But the moment we passed, the warning disappears only to be replaced by another one. I was half tempted to set this place on fire.

I was quite happy reaching the villa as it meant we could take a proper bath. A realization dawned on me as I watched Illyria washing Alicia while Saya was effectively giving me a soap massage that I had never taken a bath with Minervina. Even when I had spent the night with her, we had taken our baths separately.

I miss her already.

As I thought about Minervina, I felt Saya slip me inside her. She did not waste anytime and worked herself on me while we sat in the lotus position. She grunted frantically in my ear as she was thrusting and grinding against me.

Her skin was soft and slippery from the soapy water that covered our bodies. As I reached my orgasm, I placed my hands on her hips and pressed her down against me as I filled her with cum. Saya did not stop her movements as she continued grinding her clitoris where our bodies connected. She worked hard as she reached her own orgasm and melted into my arms as she came off her high.

“Fuck, that was hot. We haven't tried that position yet, onii-chan. So…” Alicia said as she moved closer to me. Saya took notice of what Alicia wanted and removed herself. She had trouble walking as her knees would give out, but Illyria quickly assisted her and began cleaning Saya.

Alicia positioned herself above me and I slid right inside her. She rested on me once she pressed herself as far down as she could. She savored feeling me inside her.

“You fit me so perfectly, onii-chan.” she whispered in my ear.

She did the same as Saya and ground herself down on each thrust. She got into a good rhythm swinging her hips back and forth and bouncing up and down just enough that I would not leave her pussy. Each time she pulled herself back, she would squeeze her pussy making it tighter then relax it as she shoved me inside her.

I watched her face as she screwed her eyes tightly. Her lips slightly parted as they gasped whispered obscenities. Droplets of sweat replaced water as they caressed her body. A harsh grunt left her as I felt convulsions covering my dick. As she caught her breathe, she left me the same way Saya did, with rubbery legs.

“Sorry onii-chan, I just really needed to cum,” she apologized to me then looked over to Illyria, “Cum inside Illyria, she likes playing with it after you fill her up.”

Illyria abandoned Saya and copied what the others had done. As Alicia watched the both of us fucking, she crawled up to me.

“Tonight, after I fall asleep… use me.”

☘ ☘ ☘

『S-Day +99』

『Imperial Villa』

Alicia has long legs; smooth, slender and toned. Golden brown from the tan which had set in days prior. I watched as she took a thigh sock and put it on. She did so slowly, knowing that I was watching her. Each movement she made was exaggerated to accentuate her body even going so far to spread her legs and expose herself to me. The smile never left her face.

“Are you really going to wear a skirt with thigh socks?” I finally asked once I was out of my reverie.

“You picked this out for me on our first date and besides, pants would be fairly cumbersome for movement.” she replied with an aura of nonchalance.

“We're going into the dungeon today. You need armor.” despite my words, I had trouble tearing my eyes away from her. Even when I see her in a consistent state of undress, I still enjoyed the various outfits she would wear. Even more so when she would dress or undress.

“I've been training and I've got a new spell type: 《Summon Armor》. The cost is kinda high and it doesn't last too long, but it's pretty strong.” she said as she finished dressing.

“Hah~, I wish I could learn your magic. Veronica's too. But I keep having trouble with it. Even saying 'trace on' doesn't do shit.” I lamented as I finished gearing up.

“You'll figure it out. No worries.” Alicia assured me as we left.

Because I expected the need for unrestricted movement, I wore partial armor. A shirt and hakama underneath and sneakers. The armor components I chose to wear were suneate shin guards, haidate thigh guards, do cuirass, a single sode shoulder guard and a kote gauntlet for my left arm. My right arm would be unarmored so I would be able to cast magic unhindered as well as draw my gun if needed.

We left Saya and Illyria to collect plant cuttings with the local servants and to also find the wine cellar. Before we set off for leaving into the inner city, the caretaker notified us that each imperial villa had a carriage and driver that can be used for such occasions. We took him up on his offer and boarded the less extravagant, but more subtle carriage toward the dungeon area.

☘ ☘ ☘

『Dungeon Guild』

As we traveled from the villa to the 「Dungeon Guild」, we paid extra attention to the route so we could find our way back without the carriage. Travel time took 2 hours as the streets were quite crowded and because we rode in the clearly marked imperial carriage, many stares fell on us.

The entrance to the 「Dungeon Guild」 was within a castra, a fort, within the city walls. There were barracks for guards around an insula. The insula functioned as an inn for adventurers and also as a brothel. Inside the insula was a main corridor which lead to a large underground lobby.

The left side area of the lobby seems to function as a type of open-walled tavern with a kitchen that contained some kind of ventilation system. The right side area had the service counter against the back wall. Behind the service area was accessible from a doorway on the right side that lead into the back rooms. In the back center of the lobby was a set of doors that lead to the back rooms from our end.

Of course, the both of us drew attention to all the inhabitants as we were dressed strangely. And also because Alicia is incredibly gorgeous. I ignored the plebs and looked over to where the line ended and queued up with Alicia following me. After 30 minutes of waiting, the receptionists were only halfway though the clients.

Occasionally, a waitress would show up to offer drinks to the people in line. Some of them were also animal girls. It was difficult to not stare, but Alicia was also guilty of this. There were also children that would wait against the wall on the far right side of the room that would wait in place of the queuers for when they needed to relieve themselves in the latrines.

While it was nearing our turn to meet the receptionist, which was a very cute girl for some reason, we ended up getting caught in a cliché. 3 men walked in and cut in line in front of Alicia and I, as well as the people patiently waiting behind us. The cries of protest behind us were stifled as the 3 amigos turned out to be high-ranking adventurers or something.

Are these idiots really going to pull this shit?

“Hey retards,” I called out to the idiots standing in front of us with their backs facing us, “the line starts at the back. So gather your uselessness and crawl away, idiots.”

At my words, the entire lobby became deathly silent as they realized who I had just insulted. I could feel the people behind us quickly backing away. Of course, the 3 retardos angrily turned around to face their would-be insulter, slash, ego-bruiser. When they turned around, I got a good look at their faces and holy shit were they ugly.

Like a bunch of 40 year olds that worked as career bare-knuckle brawlers that also spent years chain-smoking under a sunlamp.

“What dares a child to speak to us in such a manner? Run along now and return to suckling your mother's teat.” said their supposed leader.

Fixed. Focused. Concentration.

Luck. Fortune. Serendipity.

I cast both mantras on myself and Alicia then turned my attention back to the trio. They needed to be taught a lesson so I continued provoking them.

“I said idiots, such as yourselves, should learn how to queue up properly and stop being such a useless pleb. Learn some manners and get to the back of the fucking line. Idiots.” I said as I disreetly placed my hand on my pistol and turned the safety off.

I could hear murmurs and whispers around us as the 3 men could hardly contain their anger.

“Your armor is pristine. As I thought, you are nothing more than a spoiled son of some worthless patrician house. Leave before you wear our patience down.” he said as he made a show of placing his hand on his sword hilt.

《!》

“Are you hard of hearing or simply uneducated? Back. of. The. Line. Listen, there is 1 of 2 things that is going to hap-” before I could finish, the 3 goblin-faces drew their weapons.

The lead man and the one directly behind him drew a longsword each while the 3rd man drew the most adorable wittle itty bitty tiny winy dagger ever. Seeing this, Alicia and I took a few steps back to gain some space to maneuver.

《!》

“Okay, now 1 of 1 thing is going to happ-” again, before I could finish, the assholes interrupted me.

“We have tried to be patient and show you lenience, but your impudence and insults are no longer forgivable.” he took a step forward as he raised his blade.

《!》《!》《!》

*bang* *bang* *bang*

Before he could take another step, I quickly raised my gun chambered a round and fired 3 times into his chest. The leather did nothing to protect him as the bullets penetrated with ease. When I switched my aim to the tiny-dagger man, I already saw a much longer and girthier dagger driven into his neck. The last man that stood behind the leader showed a shocked expression at the sudden noise was unable to move.

“W-wait.” he pleaded, but I gave him no fucks.

*bang* *bang*

*stab*

I fired 2 shots into his chests while Alicia flung a dagger into his neck and now all 3 were dead. My attention turned to the others in the lobby to ensure there was no longer any threat to us. 「Vigilance」 made no warnings and I check on Alicia. She had around a dozen daggers floating above her as she stared out into the crowd, which had now backed away even further.

“Anyone else?!” she yelled with a stern and aggressive voice, “Those 3 men instigated the issue and drew their weapons. We acted in self-defense. All of you are witnesses.”

We took their silence as acquiescence and saw no one else making any moves against us. I did not realize it at first, but she had the Fivepro attached to her backpack recording what had happened. She turned off the recorder and desummoned the daggers while I put my gun away.

I turned around to face the 3 bodies and wasted no time looting whatever valuables they had. Purses, potions, weapons and anything that might be useful or sellable. My 5 spent casings were also collected and all the items that we gathered were placed into my leather bag.

Un, yeah, there is no way my actions will have any repercussions. Nope, not at all.

When the loot was stored, I took one of their longswords and, with careful aiming, beheaded the corpses. The heads were collected and we both walked up to the counter with me looking right into the eyes of the frightened receptionist.

“Ave, we would like to learn about the dungeons and how they work. Also, I would very much like to collect the bounty on these bandits.”