Chapter 39: 37 – First Steps

We informed everyone at the castle we would be home soon. But before that, we moved the teleportation pedestal to the core room of the Abyssal Dungeon. Now that I can change the layout as we see fit, eventually we will have people regularly coming here to gather supplies and items. We need to do some preparations first before we let fucking randos in.

We also took a minute to equip some different sets from our bags and storage. From casual clothes, nightwear, armor/weapons, and even more formal clothes. Playing with it a bit, we can 'equip' multiple things at once if they fit. Such as changing to casual clothes and equipping a shadow cloak on top of it. Yet, when we try, say, putting a nightgown over armor, we just know that it wouldn't allow it. This is definitely convenient to have. I feel like I'll be spoiled by it easily. Am I going to eventually become a NEET? No need to bathe, just use magic. Change clothes? Equip skill. Eat? Storage full of blood bags. I don't even shit or piss and can't gain weight...

Oh well. We earned the skill. I'll just have to always find something to keep myself busy so I don't become a lump. But seriously. It could be so easy to do jack shit.

As soon as we come out of the entrance, we're all attacked by our loved ones. 

Anastasia runs up to us. "Mommy Lia! Mommy Ailine! That armor is super awesome! And what's that you're holding?!"

"Hi, Anastasia," I say with a chuckle at her enthusiasm. "This here is a dragon egg. The gods asked us to watch over it as it grows. It should hatch in a month."

"There's a dragon in there? That's so cool!"

We made our way to one of the castle sitting rooms and spent close to an hour retelling the fight, showing all of our loot, and explaining about the egg. Anastasia has it laying on her lap as she strokes it.

Ailine patted my leg. "What now, Lia? The letter said you already had some ideas, but you've never talked about what we'll do after we beat the dungeon."

"Yeah, Vamps!" Navi said while squeezing a resigned Lala. "What's rattling in that head of yours?"

Thinking now might as well be when I explain my thoughts for the future, I lay out the rough idea.

"I had a basic idea when we first brought the humans here, but I've been able to dial it in a bit more. Here's what I was thinking. After we attacked that church group and then the bandits, I realized just how strong we were at the time. It really snuck up on me since we were isolated for so long. And now with our even higher levels and insanely OP armor? I don't think there are many fights we can lose."

"This group is much more powerful than any I have ever heard of while I was a knight," Sara said.

"My point exactly." I nodded. "Killing humans—any human for that matter—isn't our biggest problem. If we just straight up kill all the higher-ups, they can easily become martyrs for the church. Additionally, it doesn't destroy the masses' faith in the church. There are definitely some we will assassinate. Namely those that had a hand in taking or abusing you three. Their deaths are certain and uncompromising.

"As for many of the others, we need the people themselves to lose faith in the church and call for reform. If we only kill those in power, it doesn't kill faith in a religion.

"We need to manipulate the masses to turn on them. How we expose them will vary based on who it is, but places keeping women would be the easiest. Release them to a group of do-gooders, and their stories will spread. Other easy targets would be those nobles or higher-ups that have fraudulent financials or overly oppressive policies like with Steph's village.

"Release enough, and with enough stories, the masses will begin to question the church. Then comes the hard part. The church could easily cut those members out, say they knew nothing, and apologize. Do some good deeds, shake hands and kiss babies. We need to stop this.

"As stories spread, it would be incredibly convenient for us if those high in the chain fled and disappeared. If we can kill them at a time when there is unrest and make it look like they ran away by taking valuables or even faking their carriage leaving the city so that it's seen, we can control public opinion and frame them as guilty without giving them a chance to weasel their way out. 

"And what if all of this was happening at a time of national chaos? Say, the Emperor died from something completely unrelated to any person. That nobody would ever believe a person capable of. An act of 'god.' There would be mass confusion. 

"As the snake writhes from losing its head, it then begins to eat itself from our near simultaneous reveals in multiple locations. When there's no clear information, rumors reign supreme. In a society without mass media, control the rumors and you control the thoughts of the sheeple. If we spread our own rumors in multiple places, they become more believable. Instead of 'Jim said xyz,' it's 'everyone is talking about xyz.'

"As the church and country tries to organize itself, the greedy will come to the surface. We eliminate anyone we see that's on our lists or that could cause the church to revive. Even if they aren't 'evil.' Even if they are 'good' people. If they can give the church a foothold, they need to go.

"When faith in the church and their leaders is at an all-time low, we inject multiple priests for Chaos and Order at the frontier villages and towns that'll help the people, giving away food or supplies. All while still continuing to mold public opinion with the rumor mill. With the church in a mess, and their people abandoning them, we begin to manipulate them to call for a governmental change. A rebellion against the church.

"If there are rebel groups already, we assist them from the shadows. Never revealing we aren't human. It would be ideal if we had a puppet leader, too. Someone who supports us and that we support who can become a source of hope or stability for the masses. Someone young enough to manipulate.

"We put them in power, and have them declare a war on the church for all of their wrongdoing. As people begin to sell each other out like it's Salem, we continue to eliminate high profile or high difficulty targets.

"Overall, people are ungrateful, fickle, dissembling, anxious to flee danger, and covetous of gain. People always create 'us vs them' groups. If there isn't a 'them' they'll even tear into their own group to find one. They are self-destructive, as seen by killing and pillaging their own people. If we create an environment where turning on their rulers and religion is advantageous, then they'll do it. Having them question their situation themselves will be much more effective than us trying to convince them directly."

""""..."""" Everyone is silent after listening to me.

"That…" Ailine tries to say something but stops.

Anastasia then says, "Mommy Lia, are you actually a demon lord?"

That stings a bit. I might have armor like one, monsters like one, a dark castle like one, dislike people like one, manipulate others like one, and think similar to one. But I'm… Am I a demon lord?

"Hahahaha!" Navi flies over and pats her head. "No, little niece, she's just a cynic, and is willing to become a villainess if it means she can protect you. Remember, history is written by the winners. Solo was a smuggler that shot first, but is seen as a hero. Fett was legitimately hired by the ruling government, but is seen as bad. That's pretty devious though. What's our first step then? Can I burn something?"

I shake my head at the pyro fairy. "The first three things that we need to do are to clear any and all bandits from these lands, talk to the dwarves, and talk to the elves."

""""..."""" More silent stares 

Navi throws up her arms in exasperation. "Alright, now I'm confused. What does any of that have to do with the plan you just said? Can't I just go kill them?"

"Why I want to talk to the other races is for three reasons." I raise a hand to count. "One, we need to plan for the future. When the dust settles, we need them to be on our side already and easily transition into tentative relations with the humans.

"Two, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if they have spies in the human lands. Be they elves with ears cut or covered, or dwarves acting like children. They were at war for a long time. They would want to know if war was coming again. I don't want them freaking out in the chaos and attacking humans for revenge or anything like that.

"Three, if they do have spies and leaders with any brains at all, they'll notice events are being manipulated by someone. The human masses won't notice because they'll be standing too close to the picture. But a third party? Yeah. They won't know who, but they'll see us sow discontent and discord, and assassinate powerful people. I need them to not be afraid they'll be next.

"By us reaching out to them first, and at the very least informing the leadership roughly what we will be doing, it lets us move without worrying about them and gives us a foot in the door for when this is over.

"As for the bandits, when the mayhem ensues, an uncontrollable variable is unwanted. Anyone fleeing the empire I want to take in. It just makes us look that much better. The national dialogue needs to be 'the church is evil' and not 'bandits are attacking us.' The church and their military force could make a show of 'protecting the people' by killing the opportunistic bandits. Yet, if there were no bandits? One less thing the church can do to make themselves look good."

"You've really thought this through," Ailine said.

"Not really." I shrug. "This is an outline. There are so many things that could go wrong or change this plan."

"We know, Lia." Ailine smiles at me reassuringly. "I'll always be right with you. Then between bandits, and meeting with the races, what should we do first?"

"Grow a surplus of crops," I reply.

"Stop with the unrelated surprises!" Navi begins shaking my head.

"It's not unrelated," I protested. "I want to meet with the dwarves first. I want their help with the tunnel for the Abyssal Dungeon. Even the letter said help would be good for it. Help doesn't come free. From everything I've read, and being that they live in the mountains, grain and vegetables could be a major import and bargaining chip for them. I don't want to wait that long, so this first interaction will be primarily vegetables and what crops we can spare. However, I want us to grow a surplus so we can trade in the future.

"We also need to get the dungeon redone for training and efficient gathering purposes. Infinite spawns of vegetable monsters could get us loaded pretty quick. The dragon will hatch soon, and there will be another fairy.

"Navi, while we're preparing things here, at least until closer to your due date, could you fly around a much larger area and look for bandit camps? Since there will be plenty to do here, instead of us all going again, if Navi finds one, she can tell us and we send Sara with a team of soldiers. 

"Between Sara and Navi, I doubt there are any bandits that can put up a fight. Especially with your new armor."

"That's true, Your Highness. With Queen Nakita and myself, I doubt anyone would put up a fight," Sara said with confidence.

"Right? We're completely broken characters at this point. So, until the time comes, Sara, I want you and Steph to work with James and put a team together that knows how to handle if there are any more enslaved people. As survivors yourself, I want you to teach them how to interact, what they should and shouldn't say, and what they can do to put people at ease. I hope there aren't any more people like that, but bandits are bandits."

"I can do that." Sara saluted. "Would you like me to bring everyone here? Or tell them about vampires and fairies?"

I think for a moment. "Always keep your helmet on to hide that you're a vampire at first. Find out if anyone wants to live in the Empire again instead of a safe place. If they want to go, don't force them to stay. Steph, create some simple bags that have a set of clothes, knife, flint and tinder, waterskin, and some preserved provisions. If someone wants to leave, give them a bag and send them on their way. 

"Once people are sorted like that, to the group that wants to stay, only say we're living safely within a large walled off city we reclaimed. Once on the way back, you and Navi decide when to reveal yourselves. Nobody leaves after that. These people should also receive their own bags with clothes and such."

Sara bows. "It will be done."

"I can make those bags," Steph said.

"Good." I turn towards the littlest vampire. "Anastasia, I'll need your help too."

Her eyes go wide. "I can help?!"

"Yes, very much so. While I'm working in the core room each night, I need you and Mommy Ailine to gather as many vegetables as possible. There will be some tougher monsters for you to fight, but I know you're strong enough. Do you think you could help us with this?"

"Yes! I'll do my best!"

Ailine reached out to me mentally. (Good work giving her a job as well.)

(Of course. It would actually be helpful, plus be good training for her. She needs to be strong for when we have to leave,) I messaged back.

You are reading story Rise of the Vampire Queen at novel35.com

(I'll keep her safe. I love you, Lia.)

(I know you will. I love you too.)

"You good with the plan, Navi?" I asked. "We'll count on Lala and Tsuki to patrol outside the walls and guard the flowers. Also, any idea if you can teach a hippogryph magic? I've been wondering about it for a while since she has a core and is smart. There's always been something more pressing to worry about."

"Yup! I'm all good with the plan. My babies are all strong now, so they'll be fine here. As for Talon, I'll give it a try in the morning!"

"Great. For me, I'll be working on the dungeon, and working with Elden on making sure the city, people, and economy are ready for trade with outside parties. For the rest of the night, let's just spend some time relaxing, and great job once more, everyone."

Leaving with Anastasia and Ailine, we enjoy the rest of our night before falling asleep in bed together. I may be done with the fucking dungeon, but shit isn't going to be easy.

The next day I called Elden to the castle while everyone else went their own ways to take care of their tasks.

He walks into the parlor and bows. "You summoned me, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, Marquis Whitewater. I have need of your expertise on how best to achieve my next goal." I motion to a chair.

He sits and returns to the conversation. "Certainly. How may I be of assistance?"

I lean slightly forward and begin. "Speak freely during this as it will be a big part of the future. In the coming months, I am going to visit the dwarves and begin trade relations with them. From what I understand, at least from the old books we have, a good export we could have are large amounts of grains and vegetables. I need to know what our current surplus is, as well as how we can increase production enough to export while not hampering our own people. 

"Until trade becomes established and we get a joint road built, it will be me and the Royals personally trading with them, so any and all crop surplus will be bought by us. Which means we need to set a reasonable fixed price so that we don't destroy our own economy. 

"People should also know that we will be attempting trade with the dwarves and that I hope to bring a few dwarves to work on projects I have planned. We need there to be no prejudice against them as a race, as they will be guests and friends coming here to help. What problems do you see?"

"That… That is quite the plan." He was momentarily shocked, but quickly composed himself. "As far as growing more crops, our output would only be limited by the manpower. We are still less than five hundred people and many are young children, born after we settled."

"That's understandable. I have ideas for equipment to increase output, but it is still on the drawing board."

"Currently there are groups more focused on construction." He rubs his chin. "If we could pay them as day laborers, we could potentially have a decent sized workforce for us at your disposal. We would likely need to reclaim more land for it as we built our current palisade to hold enough farms to be self-sufficient for a few years, future growth included. It wasn't built with exports in mind."

"Then what if the Royals reclaim and build another large farming area at the western gate? This would be land owned and operated by us. We could hire someone to oversee the planting and harvesting, and these crops would be what we export. Being that all production from there would be owned by us, it wouldn't affect the economy inside the city besides providing jobs to laborers."

"That's a good point. What of the current surplus?" Elden asked.

"What I want is for there to be stable pricing for the crops so that people can know what to expect when buying their daily necessities," I said. "How about the Royals purchase all excess crops at a fixed amount? Similar to how we buy common monsters at a fixed amount. That way the price will never fall below that in a good harvest. It also gives us the ability to release some of the surplus into the market if there is a bad harvest, and with the big-bags, we don't have to worry about losing crops to rot."

"I like the idea. That would make our small farming industry less volatile as it grows in the future."

"Yes. Right now we have the reserves, but eventually there will come a time when we must place a tax on the citizens to continue programs like this. Until that time, try to think of a fair way to tax our people without it being detrimental to individuals or industries."

"Certainly."

I moved on to the other topic. "Then what about prejudice?"

"Really, so long as they treat everyone fairly, I doubt there will be any issues," he said. "There might be curious eyes, but everyone here recognizes that they are ruled over by vampires and fairies. I doubt there will be any issue if you walk into town with the dwarves and it is made clear they are friends you brought here. After this long, I think many of the human-centric ideologies have been broken down. We are still a small community, afterall, and if someone spouts nonsense, repercussions can easily find their way to them. How you easily dealt with the church forces and bandits is still fresh in their minds."

"That's good. Then, I would ask you to make contact with the laborers that I am looking to hire. Anyone willing to work in the fields, along with hiring someone to oversee it."

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

As Elden leaves, I begin the next part of this.

(Lala, where are you and do you have some time to chat in person?) I messaged telepathically. 

(Sure, Aunt Lia! I'm flying around the wall. Want me to come to the castle?) she said.

(If you could meet me at the western gate, I'll be there shortly.)

(See you soon!)

Equiping a set of casual clothes, I head to the seldom used western gate. God, this equip skill is going to make me a lazy bum. Seeing the little green fairy flying over, I flag her down.

"What's up, Aunt Lia?" She flew down and hovered in front of me.

"Hey, Lala. I could really use your help. You know how there are fields outside the other gate? Well, we need some outside this gate too. Maybe even larger than the others.

"I'll help when I can, and trees can just be stored in a bag until we get to needing to wall in the fields. We'll burn the stumps, and turn the soil if possible. You're much more knowledgeable than me on farming from watching and talking to the people. Think that's doable?"

"Sure it is, Aunt Lia! I'll have Tsuki help me when we aren't watching the flowers," she said.

"Thanks, Lala. I appreciate it."

For the next month, my time was split between setting up floors in the dungeon and clearing the new fields of trees. We were almost done clearing, too. Then a wall would just need to be built. Before that, Anastasia, who has taken to watching over the egg, sent me a message.

(Help! Mommy Lia! Mommy Ailine! Aunt Navi! Come quick! The egg is cracking and I don't know what to do! I promise I didn't drop it! Please help!)

Oh? I guess it's been about the time the letter said. Poor thing sounded so frantic as well.

I reassure her  (It's alright, Anastasia. The egg is just hatching, so don't be worried. What room are you in?)

(Really! I'm in the art room!)

(Alright, we'll be there soon.)

While on the way, I contacted Steph, Sara, and the fairy sisters. Within a handful of minutes, everyone was in the art room surrounding the egg on the ground with a chip at the end of it.

"What do we do, Mommy Ailine? Do we help it break out?" Anastasia asked while looking excited and nervous. 

"No, Sweetheart." I reached out and patted her head. "I've never seen a dragon egg hatch, but if it's like most animals, hatching out of their eggs by themselves is a big first step for them that we shouldn't take away. They were made to be able to do it, so we should just give it time unless it seems like something is really wrong."

As we stood there, we watched as the dragon chipped off more of the egg. Then we could see a small snout inside the hole. After another minute, it began pushing again and the hole turned into a cut as the hard shell chipped away from a more leathery inner part. For almost thirty minutes it kept this up. Fight and push for a minute, then rest.

At last, its head poked out of the egg. Everyone was excited to see it, and I had to hold Anastasia back. It wasn't done hatching just yet. Its slimy body was a dull black to grey color. As of right now, it was almost smooth since its scales were seemingly nonexistent. It had large eyes on its head and its snout seemed too small for what I remembered. Typical baby animal with a big head and odd proportions.

One thing was the same as the dragon in the dungeon. Bright orange eyes with a vertical slit, staring right at us with the gleam of intelligence in them. Being able to look closer now, instead of being solid orange, what they are is a yellow with tiny red specks throughout the eye. It's an absolutely stunning pattern that makes the eye look orange from a distance.

Another thirty minutes of struggling and wiggling its body, and it now had its front torso completely outside the shell with its two front legs. One wing was fully out, then the other after another wiggle. The wing membrane was thin and you could see the veins running all throughout it. Its body is thin and skinny right now, and there's the faint hint of nearly transparent claws at the tips of its toes. Harmless now, but able to tear most living beings open once grown.

Anastasia is vibrating as I hold her shoulders. "Mommy Lia! She's out! Can we go to her yet?"

"Almost. Let her catch her breath. A few more struggles and she should be able to slide all the way out."

I guess we're officially calling it a girl now? I mean, if something is parthenogenetic, does it have a gender? Should I use they/them gender-neutral pronouns for a dragon? Do dragons even have gender identities? You know what? Fuck it. She'll be a girl. The rest of the castle residents are all women, and it doesn't have a dick, so female it is. If the dragon wants me to correct my use of pronouns and assumes a different gender identity later, well, we'll just cross that weird fucking bridge when we get there. I'd probably just be stunned it even knew the concept or cared enough to bother with it.

Also, is this castle just one big 'she shed'? This place would be a harem protagonist's wet dream. Jokes on him. Navi would cut his jibbly bits off before he could even spout his first awkward teenage virgin sentence. Almost makes me glad Anastasia will always have the body of a child. Any man that comes onto her I can easily kill with the justification of them being a pedo. 

Weird tangents aside, the dragon finally wiggled and slithered its way fully out and stood on widespread legs. All of the land-walkers bent down to be at a better level, but nobody made a move to do anything; we all waited to see how she would react.

She looked around and surveyed the people. She stared at me, then Anastasia and made a weird trilling, clicking noise that sounded like a mix of a velociraptor from Jurassic Park and a baby alligator. A few restrained squeak/squeal noises from the women around, and she waddled up to Anastasia and placed her head in her lap. Anastasia happily took her into her arms and hugged her, even though with tail outstretched, the dragon was longer than Anastasia was tall.

With her hugging the dragon and its head on Anastasia's shoulder, the dragon cocks her head to look me in the eyes and I swear I saw her raise part of her mouth and smirk. Did this fucking dragon just win over all of the women in this room by playing cute and know I couldn't do shit if Anastasia falls in love with it? No, no, no. I'm thinking too much about this. I can't just anthropomorphize the dragon's every move. While the dragon watched my reaction, I swear I heard it breathe out and scoff at me as it turned away. 

Oi. You wanna fucking fight you overgrown gecko? Calm down, Lia. She's only a few minutes old. There's no way it's that smart yet. Looking back at me it sticks out its tongue for a full second, and not just a quick tongue flick. Ok. I need to go do something else before I get questions about getting this dragon wet or feeding it after midnight. 

With questions in my head about the dragon's true intelligence, all of the women fuss over how cute she is. Looks like she's already wormed her way into the family. Clever girl.

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