Chapter 12: The frontier

—  On the following morning, in Ai's room.

Ai was examining a map of the Elandoria Empire, with notes about the pros and cons of each fief in certain territories.

"Hmm..." Roderick's fief has low taxes and high trade flow. Being a very liberal area, I'm sure I won't have many problems in the future... Plus, it's on the other side of the empire.

"What are you doing, boss?" Envy comes over to look at the map.

"I'm thinking about where to go when I run away from here." Ai affixes another note on the map. This one detailed the pros and cons of the territory she noticed.

"I'm comparing the areas of the empire and looking for where I could live more peacefully." I remember I did this in my old world to choose a girlfriend. A modern Winslow Taylor.

"But, isn't it too early for that? Besides, with Dorothea's surveillance all over the fief, I'm sure we can prevent further damage in the next few years..."

"I want to be prepared for the worst." Even if Envy is right, there's a reason for this.

After my mother's disappearance, hatred for me in the mansion intensified. This was because the maids wanted to have a chance with Kirei and I was a nuisance. That's why I sent an anonymous letter to my father where my mother said 'she was coming back and to take care of our daughter'.

If my mother comes back, I'll be screwed. But now things have returned to normal thanks to that letter.

"I see... In that case, what about here?" Envy points to a spot on the fringe of the map, behind Courtenay's fief.

"Why there? It's next to our fief... Besides, isn't it supposed to be teeming with wild beasts from the world's edge?"

"There are... but not many."

"Moreover, it's considered a free zone. There's a small village of exiles from the empire and other races coexisting, but in the recent years, there have been a lot of bandit attacks... I'm sure if you provide them protection, they'll have no problem accepting you as their lady."

To take a territory, huh...

"Moreover, the empire would never pass through there, as it is at the border with the limits of the human territory."

"Hee... I thought it was seen as the edge of the world and only ocean lay beyond. Look, it's the same on the map." Ai points to the border area, followed by what appears to be an endless ocean.

"Not so, boss. As Dorothea mentioned, the Neville Empire and many other empires are beyond the border. In this area"—she points where Ai sees water—"there's a large mountain range, and beyond that are non-human territories."

"The sea thing is a lie of the human world. They do it out of pride, I suppose."

"Hee..." But this is too much to keep secret, I mean, who hasn't gone there to debunk the map?

"I don't know much, but many explorers were found dead or disappeared in the past. Probably the empire erases them along with their findings. And those who know about the false limit keep their mouths shut, because talking about it is pointless anyway."

It makes sense.

"Back to the point, that's why I think it's a good territory for you, boss. If you want to harbor all types of beings under your own philosophy, I'm sure you won't have any problems, as that territory belongs to no one. Plus, you'll be able to save those exiled beings before they are enslaved."

"I see your point..." Save them? Heh. Beings with extremely high abilities under my command, they'd make me untouchable to the empire!

"Kekekeke..."

The boss is making weird faces again... What's going through her head now?

Ai had developed new facial muscles that allowed her to express herself more easily and had evolved as a human being. Her faces, that once were scary or sweet, could now terrify or enamour any human. This was due to the incredible amount of stress that her former muscle fibers went through trying to perform the young girl's perverted facial expressions.

"Ahem... Dorothea." A bat flies in through the window and turns into Dorothea. She approaches from behind, hugging Ai around her neck with both arms.

"Yes, mistress?" She starts to breathe into her ear.

HANG ON, MIYAMOTO!

"S-Send a part of your vampire network to the border, right here." Ai points to the area on the map while trying to control her masculine excitement despite being a woman.

"No problem. What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Make a report on everything you consider relevant. The state of the land, dungeons, caves, tribes or villages living in that area, anything that's interesting."

"At your command... But beforehand, may I taste you?" She moves even closer to Ai's neck and begins to breathe faster.

"I-it's fine, do what you want."

Dorothea sinks her fangs into Ai's neck and starts to suck her blood.

Doesn't it hurt? While Ai was thinking this, Miyamoto would have taken control of her hands and directed them towards Dorothea's breasts, but he is interrupted by Lloyd.

"DON'T TAKE TOO MUCH!" Envy seems annoyed.

Dorothea stops drinking, wipes her mouth, and proceeds to clean Ai's neck.

"Incredible... It's incomparable to the blood of the vessels from my parent's house. I feel a great amount of power flowing..." Dorothea starts to look at her body as if she could feel some improvement in it.

"Thank you, mistress." Dorothea transforms into a bat again and heads out the window.

Ahh... Damn it, that was so exciting... Normally, I would've gotten aroused, but now I'm a woman.

Ai feels Miyamoto criticizing her in the back of her mind for not taking advantage of Dorothea.

Shut up, you damn compulsive idiot.