CH.379 HomeBase Grand Reveal, part 5

CH.379 HomeBase Grand Reveal, part 5Tea and Factory VR

With our dragon flights, and the surprising addition of dragon evolutions done, it was time for tea. Before heading back inside, I gathered up all of Agunan’s old scales and put them into Storage. I’ll ask Agunan later what he wants to do with them. If he doesn’t know or just let’s me decide, I might use some of them as experimental scales so that Wilma and I learn how to work with dragon scales before we mess up with Lady Janina’s scales.

Agunan’s scales were also interesting in some ways. Like Lady Janina’s scales, when mana was put into them, the scales reacted. But unlike with Lady Janina’s that just let out light, Agunan’s scales caught on fire when mana was put into them. And the fire they let out was strange, as it didn’t actually burn me at all, but when I brought out a piece of scrap fabric from Storage, the cloth burned away completely. So the fire is somehow selective. I’ll run some more tests on it later, let’s get back to the tea.

And coffee/hot cocoa/few other warm drinks that you could choose from. Tea was just the most common in this kingdom as both coffee and cocoa have to be imported from the Crystal Empire.

But for me that is no problem as I can make both with HomeBase. And if anyone asks, I just flew over to the Empire and bought some. No one will know that I didn’t do that.

Also, because a certain duo of Dragonmaids went way overboard in the kitchen, the assortment of sweets we had to offer was more than what a busy coffee shop would sell in a month. And when I asked them why they made so much, they just said it wasn’t their fault. That the others talked them into it.

Well, I don’t really blame them, as it isn’t really a problem. At the end of the day, I can just take the rest of the sweets into Storage. But they better not go overboard again until I’ve at least dented what I currently have.

Unlike with lunch, the tea snacks were laid out on a table where you could get anything you wanted. Tinkhec was standing next to the table, giving them out and explaining what everything was, but it was still basically a snack buffet. The drinks were served to the tables.

Spoiler

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I had taken a seat at a different table than during lunch, as I wanted to speak more with others. No point in focusing all on the same six people.

This time joining me were Paulina, Daniel, William, Leahlina, Oskar, Iris and Magnus. And since I know you might not remember him, Oskar is the son of Sylvia and Bernald Marsh, Sylvia being the elder sister of Christina. And Magnus and Iris are the son and daughter of Roy Cline aka. the Prime Minister.

So I suppose this is the ‘children’s table’. Though a few of us were fully fledged adults, so that is not really the case. And they are much closer to me in age than the ‘old people’, so I think this will be better. Unlike with them, these guys are people I can take in and build up to help me with what is coming.

And that is largely what I was talking to them about. Sure a few of them have some ... do I call them birthrights or birthresposibilities? I mean, Daniel, William, Oskar and Magnus are all expected to take over the family title when they are adults. That doesn’t mean they can’t intern under me, get more powerful and then take that role, but it does mean they won’t work with me forever.

What I was largely trying to find out with our talk was if the Royal Academy actually has some sort of internships, because if they do, I’d be happy to take a few, or even all, of the students to learn stuff from my monsters. Discover new chapters at novelhall.com

“I think we could.” William said. “We do have internships.”

“We might not be able to.” Magnus cut in. “This place might not be on the approved list. It isn’t a company or a high ranked nobles manor, so it will be difficult.”

“There are limits like that?” I asked.

“Not for all. Daniel will likely be able to intern here as he is a son of a Baron. But those of us of higher ranks are expected to take on reputable internships.” Magnus explained.

“Stupid bureaucracy.” I complained. “Wonder how long it will take Roy to fake the paperwork so that this place is ‘reputable’?”

“... I don’t know if Father would do that.” Magnus said.

“Well, that’s too bad. At least Danny will be good to come here.”

“... please don’t call me that. I know Alice and...” Daniel looked towards Paulina, but didn’t say her name. “I don’t actually like it, so please don’t.” Daniel softly complained.

“No. My little Danny.” Paulina jokingly cried out.

“... Don’t prove my point, aunty.”

“And now you are making me feel old.” Paulina kept up the joking tone as she complained.

“Well, what about the young ladies?” I asked Leahlina and Iris. “I assume your internships are different?”

“A bit.” Iris was the first to answer. “We would usually take a post as assistant maids at high ranked noble’s manors, but there are other options, like secretary assistant.”

“Some stores are also willing to take us in.” Leahlina added. “But they have to be within the inner walls of the Capital, or we can’t get in. And those that want to join the clergy can intern with the Church.”

“I can work with those, if you two do want to come work for me. For paperwork reasons, we could just have you work at the Sawyer capital manor, while in actuality you come up here.” I offered. “... Actually, it doesn’t really matter what manor you work at on paper, so you could pick something else. The Sawyer manor is just easiest for me.”

“Don’t you just love abusing our kindness?” Paulina teased.

“It does feel pretty good, yes.” I confirmed. “I mean, I could just buy a manor inside the Capital, if there are any available. ... But that would just mean I have to actually have people working both there and on HomeBase.”

“... do you have the money to just purchase a manor in the capital?” Oskar asked. “Aren’t you an honorary Baron? Where do you get that much money?”

“You ask when you know he has taken down at least 3 SS-rank monsters.” Magnus commented.

(Alright. I’m all set on this side. Lady Janina can come in.) I told her.

(Just a moment.) Alice responded so I waited. About 20 Factory seconds later, which would be about 8 seconds in the real world, Alice contacted me again. (She is coming.)

I then focused on feeling ... well, anything really. Usually when a dragon ‘invades’ my Factory, I get this strange feeling like I’m being scanned by a Scan spell. Lady Janina has gotten better at it, so I feel less with her, but with Agunan I still feel the full force. And this time, I felt absolutely nothing, just like when Alice, Lua or Wilma came in.

But despite not feeling anything, I saw Lady Janina’s avatar appearing within the Factory. It looked like it always does, which is her in her humanoid dragon form. Aka. the same she currently looks like outside, as she is on HomeBase with her real body and not with a dragon avatar.

“Lady Janina? How was it?” I asked.

“... a bit different than usual. But it worked just fine.”

“Care to explain the differences?”

“Normally, I follow a path I preknow from the time I followed you here. You know, like following a route in a forest where you have to recognize the landmarks and things like that. But this time, it was like following a road, a direct path from me to you. Or perhaps it would be better if I compared it to riding in a carriage that is moving on an established road. I was being pushed towards my goal by the device you made. In short, it works perfectly.”

“Alright. That’s good. We can bring others in soon then.”

“Soon? Was there something else first?”

“Yeah. Just one thing.” I said before I contacted someone outside. (Alright Wilma. You come in now.)

I wanted to test if someone coming in using a System link would cause a problem, so I had Wilma ready in another room. And since I gave her the signal, she quickly appeared in the Factory.

“Alright. Lady Janina, did you feel anything?” I asked.

“No. It was just like them coming in when I’m here through my own methods. It shouldn’t interfere at all.” Lady Janina said.

“Alright. Wilma, head back outside unless you want people to know about your SS.”

“Yes.” Wilma agreed and left the Factory.

I then contacted Alice and Lua again. Since the first test was successful, time for the second. This was the ‘true test’, so to speak. With Lady Janina, there really was no risk. She knows how to move her soul anyway, so even if she got lost somewhere in ‘soul space’, she likely could find her body again. But now, we are testing with someone that doesn’t know how to do that.

(I’m sending in Ria.) Lua contacted me.

(Alright. We are waiting.) I responded.

Ria was indeed our test subject for the second part. As to why her and not someone else, well, she is the strongest, the one that has been a member of our group the longest, and she is my slave. And yes, the slave part is important, since our souls do have some sort of a link, even if it isn’t as strong as the System link. So if she gets lost in ‘soul space’, we should be able to find her using that link.

But I didn’t have to worry about any of that, as Ria came into the Factory just fine. It was also her first time here. Not that she will be the only one having her first time.

We ran a few tests, mainly testing if there was any input lag like there was when Lua first came into the Factory, but since we were using the dragons soul magic, not System BS, there was none.

(Alright. You can start preparing anyone that wants to come.) I told Alice. “Lady Janina, since you don’t actually need the Factory VR, would you head outside and come here on your own.” I asked. “That will also double as a check. Need to know if dragons coming in will cause any problems.”

“Sure. I’ll be right back.” She said, as she returned to the real world.

I contacted Alice about it, making sure that Lady Janina made it back to the real world just fine. I then heard from Alice that Lady Janina is moving to her room on HomeBase and she will come to the Factory from there.

Ria and I waited for a bit, time which I used to explain some things about the Factory to her, like how she can modify her avatar and change her clothes. The tour would have to wait until everyone was here.

But soon enough I felt a sensation that I knew was from Lady Janina coming to the Factory, so I stopped my explanation and looked towards where I knew Lady Janina’s avatar would appear. After she did, I asked her a question.

“Was the trip back the same?”

“Yes. Like a carriage ride on a nice road. Everyone should be safe to come.” She confirmed.

“Good. What about you Ria? Did you feel anything?”

“Nope. Nothing that I didn’t before.” She confirmed.

“Alright. So it is safe.” I confirmed.

And since it was, I was happy to allow my guests the chance to see the Factory. I do hope they won’t be disappointed.