9 Slaves? right this way!

Sigh, to be honest, talking was not my best expertise. It will be easier if I can just blow the way up and take everything I needed, I wistfully thought.

Jumping from roof to roof, I soon reached the hotel. I found Altria was laying with her face down on the bed, she was sleeping when I noticed some drool on her face while muttering 'anime-ish' munyamunya.

Cute!! I thought. Hmmm, what's with this situation? Looking at her vulnerable position, no doubt Any healthy male could not resist this sight and they would literally go ballistic and doing dive to her!

weird, I didn't feel anything or have thought and urge like that. Is this because I haven't grown a hair down there? Or this is because three years living with her, sleeping together, and sometimes bathing together makes me somewhat immune to her? Don't get me wrong, my mental age maybe reached adult but when you got reincarnated with even a full-blown memory your mind will still be regressed to match your body and even grew distorted.

Still, looking at her she was more beautiful than I thought before, with her translucent pale skin and those contrasted peach lips-stop it Carter!! What with this!? Is this the sign of my growing puberty? Thank god, I was worried for nothing.

"mph…as expected…coffee jelly really meshes well with chocolate…and these castella…" even in her dream, what she only thought was dessert and sweets.

It's obvious she turned off her mob concealment skill. It was the skill I and Altria trained together back in the previous world. It enabled us to-technically became a faceless mob character as it makes other people perceive us as ordinary people, we also add some effect so people perceive us as an adult. That's why even though people know we are children they treat us the same as an adult but the effect was diminished with someone that has a high magic-resistance parameter or a skill that immune to illusion-based magic.

The skill was not really helpful in a high conflict zone as the effect will be diminished when we also in a battle or fight. Still, it was normal to do something like that, with my natural body skill and Altria beauty of a servant those will only become a hindrance when we wanted to stay low and observe. And we will become like a fire to the moth to all of those perverts out there that will casually lust over us should we deactivate the skill.

We personally experienced it when we went for our first shopping in the town near the forests we lived in our previous world. I recalled when those nobles dared to make Altria their slaves. Suffice to say, I went berserk when I read their attention, so I personally deal with them and blow each of their mansion and house as a warning. After that ordeal, we began to train in our concealment skill.

Are you really comfortable in that bed Altria? To be honest, the bed here was very unbearable when I grasp it and found numerous bed bug lived on it, I winced disgustingly when I recalled that. I gently carry Altria in my arms, then we were transferred into 'my room'. After on, I carried Altria to her room in the upstairs.

Heading to the basement where the workshop was located, opening the door from the hallway I was greeted with a-well in your terms was a futuristic lab, though something like this was normal back in my old world.

It was a room with various monitors and computer facing a glass window overviewing a giant room down below filled with types of machinery and contraptions. Behind the room, there was an elevated floor filled with another computer, console and a holo-table in the middle and all of it is still dead though without any task I could give for it. To be honest, I modeled the room after the infinity bridge.

So far the workshop has a mass automated factory, agricultural lab, med-bay, several hangar bays with some ground-vehicle in it, armory, control-room, various type of storage and other amenities, and I have a personal magecraft workshop behind the control room.

The lab was still empty devoid of any people, or lights except the agricultural lab that I used to grow various herbs, and plants. The place was constantly monitored by dumb AI. Why? Because I can't risk making Smart AI without solving their rampancy (note: smart AI when nearing its life or period will go berserk) and their blueprints price was ridiculously high rivaling the price of a cruiser-class spaceship.

And it cost me almost entire QP just to build this lab, and what I got was only some factories schematic, medicine, support logistic, ground weapon, drone, and light vehicle blueprints leaving me to search for another source to gain blueprints. And with the rest QP, I bought more theories books and books that have manufacture procedure inside it. Still, I can't turn it into blueprints with craft-elucidation as it will only refer the book as some piece of paper.

Entering the magecraft workshop, I was greeted with a messy room. Books, notes, and marker literally littered around the floor and in the middle of the room, there is a magic circle I usually used. There's also some bookshelf, desk, and another computer on the side of the room.

I was searching for a note here, ah here it is. Picking the note, 'Homunculus research note II' was imprinted on the cover. Yes, I wanted to make a homunculus but the implication of an artificial soul was what intrigued me. I approached the creation of homunculus to get a better understanding regarding soul and my objective was the creation of smart AI, as homunculus was basically an AI with a flesh body.

At least from my hypothesis, a soul didn't have a limit and capable to hold memories as proven by my reincarnation tough this doesn't mean they can store electrical data. And smart AI with a soul mean they will have at least a seemingly endless memories and capacity which makes them immune to rampancy.

And I need to know if a soul can be integrated into a digital body. I know there are a few other examples regarding this, like the moon-cell supercomputer that capable to create endless AI that have the capabilities like a normal human do or spiritron hacker who integrate their soul into the moon-cell. Sadly, my knowledge regarding that is too few since I only knew it from an old worn advertising pamphlet I found. And somehow I can't find any information regarding moon-cell inside the shop or system, and sometimes I have a suspicion this actually means something.

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Tomorrow morning or so I thought

"Eh, it's already a week?" I surprised at Altria answer. This morning I came out of the workshop and stopped my research as I felt hungry and thirsty.

"Yes, I tried to break you from your work but then you promised me with coffee jelly and parfait" she replied flatly.

"Did I say something like that?" I didn't recall something like that but looks like I was too engrossed with my research to remember something other than that and forgot the passing of times.

"well, I hope this didn't mean anything" I sweat-dropped inside, shit! I have an intention to break Naofumi-san from his supposed baseless accusation! And now a week has passed I hope he is fine.

"forget about that will….you promised me…" sigh whatever, then I headed to the kitchen to make some breakfast for us. Still, I was wondering how Altria survived without me cooking her food? Granted this isn't the first time I engrossed in my research.

"Altria, what did you eat this week?" she was sitting beside a Japanese low dining table and reading a book.

"I ate black bean paste…it's not delicious as your sweets…or I can sustain myself for a month with altereactor" hmm, regardless I will make some food replicator next time-no she will only drain it to makes her more dessert, a food preservative appliances maybe.

After breakfast and resting for a while, we went out from 'my room' and the hotel, the sun had already set by the time we went out. On the road leading to the entrance of the city, we met someone unexpected, Naofumi-san.

Thank god, he looks fine still his face was rough and his clothing was tattered. Look like this week has become a rough one for him.

"Uhm, as expected of my master, you set him on an Alter path" what? It not looks like I intend to be this way, my plan was to barge inside the castle, at the time Naofumi-san will feel betrayed that will make him opened his eyes that this isn't sugary and rainbow world after that I come to save him, Plan A was to talk and negotiate with the king, Plan B was to take him into the custody of the queen, and Plan C was to take him into another country instead. Regardless, he will still open his eyes whether I barged in or not.

"Yo! Naofumi-san!" we approach him, only for him to look at me with cold dead eyes.

"What do you want, brat" his tone was wary, I can't help it that moment must be shocking him.

"I have heard of what happened Naofumi-san, I'm sorry"

"Sorry for what? It was already too late for that" he replied coldly

"Hehe, I tried to warn you about that tough" chuckling softly as we follow beside him.

"And you didn't try hard enough, no, the old me would never believe you"

"well when you tried to compare pretty girl words and 10-years old kids, I'm sure anyone would choose the former" I reasoned

"still, why are you following me? hear this, I have no reason to believe you any more"

"well, don't be like that Naofumi-sa…." My words were cut when the voice of an old man came out of an alley beside the road we walked in,

"Oh, isn't this the shield hero" a pudgy old man, wearing coattails, glasses that reflect lights, a cane, and tall hat, and came out of an alley, shadiness at max level indeed. I won't doubt him if I was told that he was the old man who usually blackmailing and NTR-ing heroines on cheap hentai.

Naofumi –san keep walking ignoring the man, "you need people, people who can fight for you, who won't betray you, party members? I have something better" he stopped at his tracks.

"for example?" the man slid in his direction "interested?" he smirked

"Don't stand close you creep," Naofumi-san said in disgusts

"I like your forwardness, indeed." Then he puffed up his chest, spun his walking stick, and posed in a dramatic manner, heh, I like this old man already. "A SLAVE!" he shouted, proud of what he said.

The shield hero was deep in thought after hearing those words, "they don't betray their masters and will never lie" he said slowly with a big smile on his face, "they under powerful curse, if disobeyed and contradict their master order they must pay with unbearable pain or their life's!" his smile grew bigger when Naofumi-san accepted his offer. "Right this way, sir! And about those children…"

"I don't care, if they want to follow us it's not my business." Naofumi-san harshly replied

"Fine, either way, you have been warned, the sight won't be pleasant."