Harbingers of Change

Chapter 22

Peroroncino had started his day particularly early as the list of things he wanted to do was rather long. With his morning routine of having a quick bath and breakfast done and now being dressed in casual clothing, he left his quarters to meet up with his daughter, who patiently waited for him outside his quarters.

Shalltear was not getting over the fact that he was gone for a while and wanted to spend time with him daily. He didn't mind her presence, but at the same time, the first part of the day would probably bore her as today's plan was to visit the alchemical and crafting department first.

Following the example of her father, she too was dressed more casually and her pale body was clad in a short, blue sundress.

"Good morning father, I hope you slept well," she said with a bow, despite Pero telling her not to use the formalities. But there was no helping to it. He still was her superior and Shalltear preferred to follow protocol, mostly.

"Good morning sweety. You sure you want to tag along with me this early?"

"Of course, father. I am overjoyed by the opportunity to be your personal guard."

"You are n… Sure, you are my guard while we are in the tomb," Pero said. There was no point in arguing, and being her creator's personal guard made the young vampire very happy.

While they walked, Pero could see that she was trying to keep a neutral professional expression, but a cheerful smile appeared on her face from time to time.

Their first destination was the alchemical department on the ninth floor. Pero had given the Hipokute herbs for testing and wanted to see what the results were.

The department's guardian, Thoth, awaited at the entrance and bowed deeply saying,

"Lord Peroroncino, Lady Shalltear, it is an honor."

Tabula Smaragdina designed the area guardian to resemble the Egyptian God of Knowledge; a tanned man with and head of Ibis dressed in Egyptian style tunic. Apparently, it fit the theme of the department, as, according to Tabula, Thoth was the God who invented alchemy.

"Let's skip the formalities. I want to know how the tests went."

"Of course, my Lord," Thoth said and led the pair deeper into the laboratory. A row of bottles filled with a light blue shining liquid awaited inspection.

"So?" Pero asked.

"While it isn't as effective as the Yggdrasil potions, the healing effects provided by this tincture made of Hipokate herb are still substantial. Depending on how much we enrich it with magicules, the potion could heal from light wounds to even restoring lost limbs and fixing near-lethal wounds." Thoth said and then pointed at the one who had the faintest glow.

"This is the base potion with little to no enrichment. Its effects are rather limited and I have yet to find any practical use for it. The next ones are in various stages of enrichment, with the purest one reaching about sixty percent effectiveness compared to basic healing potions made from Yggdrasil materials."

"How fast is the enrichment process?" Pero asked.

"About two days at its longest and we have to use a lot more of the herb itself to achieve the high effectiveness."

"So there is no way to bring it fully to our standards."

"We will continue to search for methods to increase its effectiveness, but we lack the intel on how local life forms create healing potions by using it. With such data, the research process could be more streamlined, as there is a possibility we are not accounting for some unknown properties during the enrichment process."

"I see. I will talk with Momonga. Maybe we can get you a local helper or two at some point."

"I would be grateful for the opportunity to work with local artisans of my craft, Lord Peroroncino."

"Don't sweat it. We will figure something out."

The next stop was the crafting department. Even from the first glance, everyone could see that all the smiths were just as busy as the alchemists. Made in the image of their creator, Amanomahitotsu, the heteromorphic crab-like creatures converted Nazarick's raw materials into armaments and tools.

From what titbits Pero has heard, Nazarick now generated a certain amount of materials each day, giving the crafty creatures plenty of metal to work with. Of course, the blacksmiths were not the only crafters, as there were spider-like heteromorphs producing gear from leather and cloth.

Of course, for a player like Pero, everything they made was not particularly useful, as the gear they created couldn't even begin to be compared with his current armaments.

A larger crab noticed him standing by and looking but continued his work on a sword, hammering it with a precise, rhythmic pace.

"Hey Kanimetaru, how's it going?"

"Lord Peroroncino, one moment, please. I'm almost finished."

"Sure, take your time."

"Father, he is not showing you proper respect!" Shalltear growled quietly.

"It's fine. He is working and we shouldn't interrupt him."

After a minute, Kanimetaru finished his work, walked up to Pero, and bowed deeply.

"My apologies, Lord Peroroncino, for making you wait."

"Don't worry about it. So how's the ore we gathered?"

"Soft, some magical properties but this metal is not that good on its own. But has very beneficial properties when alloyed with harder metals."

"How so?"

"We have yet to test it fully. It gives magical properties to armaments, nothing substantial, but the metal has its potential."

"Great. If I get information on how locals use it, I surely will pass it to you."

"That would be very helpful, Lord Peroroncino."

With the information gathered, he could finally go talk with Momonga. Despite being in this new situation for a while, they had spent almost no time together and Pero started to feel guilty of forgetting about his friend once again, especially knowing that Momonga was not the type to complain about it but hold the resentment inside.

"Father, how come you let the lesser servants treat you in such a manner?" Shalltear asked.

Kanimetaru not dropping everything and not showing her creator proper respect didn't sit right with her, but she couldn't just openly smack some sense in the foolish area guardian without her father's permission.

"Shalltear, he was working, and I don't need everyone to drop to their knees the moment I show up."

"But you are a Supreme Being, it is only natural that everyone should show respect to you, father."

Pero turned to face her and said,

"Shalltear, by forcing others to kneel at every opportunity, I would only show my own insecurities. I don't mind being addressed casually. It doesn't change who I am. Same as you. You are a floor guardian and our first line of defense. You don't need everyone reminding you every chance they get to be one, right?"

The young vampire looked up at her father, a bit confused. It was only natural that lesser beings should show the proper respect to the higher ones, but at the same time, she loved how her father showed attention and treated her as his little girl.

"Does it mean I should do the same?"

"What do you mean?"

"Should I let the lesser beings be more casual to me?"

"Well, I guess you can at least try to be nicer. You don't have to be best friends with everyone, but we are all part of Nazarick."

"I guess. I will try to be nicer to servants then."

"Good girl. Now let's go talk with Momonga."

Pero clearly noticed Shalltear's breathing becoming faster and her cheeks reddening a bit. For a moment he was confused by the sudden reaction but then he remembered what he wrote in her backstory and forgot to erase, dread filling his being and his blood running as cold as that of an undead. Necrophilia was one of her fetishes and considering that Momonga was an undead on top of being the leader of this place, she likely got turned on by the mere mention of him.

'Dammit, I should have erased that. I hope Momo will not be too creeped out by her. Wait, he had already talked with her after everyone became alive. Shit, I can't just send her away now.'

Pero hoped that Shalltear would at least try to behave as they arrived at Momonga's office and walked in after knocking. His old friend was sitting at the table, with Albedo explaining some details about the latest Tempest development to him.

"Hey Momo, I hope I'm not interrupting something important?"

Albedo looked at the avian with an unreadable expression for a moment and then bowed with a polite smile while stopping aside. Shalltear too bowed and took a position beside the Overseer.

"No, nothing too important. You wanted something?"

"A thing or two. I got results about the ore and herbs and we also hadn't had a chance to hang out either, so what do you think?"

"I guess we can. Albedo, you don't mind finishing that report later?"

"Of course, my Lord, the report can wait."

"Good. Shalltear, how have you been? I hope Peroroncino is not too overbearing?" Momonga asked.

Shalltear curtsied with a wide smile and a light blush, saying,

"Thank you for asking, Lord Momonga. I am doing great. Father is treating me nicely."

"That is good to hear," Momonga said and got up from his chair to walk closer to his friend.

"Shalltear sweety, Momonga and I will spend some time together so I'll catch up with you later, ok?" Pero said.

"Of course, father. With your permission, Lord Momonga, I will take my leave." Shalltear said and leaned forward.

Momonga, knowing what she was asking for, lightly patted her head. Shalltear's breathing got faster, and she looked down for a moment, then looked up at Momonga with a smile, curtsied, and left.

Albedo, taking the cue that she too should leave, mimicked Shalltear and leaned forward as well. Momonga stared at her, very confused.

{ Pat her head too, buddy. }

{ What? }

{ Well, Shalltear got her head pat. Albedo expects the same. }

Momonga, seeing no way out of the situation, patted the Overseer's head as well. This was one instance where he considered his emotional supervision a blessing, as it prevented his hand from shaking as he patted a grown woman between her horns, feeling her silky, soft hair.

Albedo bowed with a beaming smile and left the room as well, leaving Pero and Momonga alone. Just as the doors closed, Pero asked.

"You know that Shalltear is getting off from you patting her head?"

"Wait, you mean…"

"Sorry buddy, that's kinda my fault for giving her the necrophilia fetish, but she gets very bothered around you."

Momonga stared at his friend in mute horror at the sudden realization of what Shalltear's heavy breathing meant.

"She enjoys it, so no harm done."

"But… She… You… Right. No harm done."

Pero chuckled and sat down on the chair, "What can I say? You are a popular guy around the tomb."

"Not funny."

"I'm not joking. I think your winged hottie likes you a lot, too."

"I am a skeleton, you know?"

"Love finds a way." Pero said with a laugh and added, "But okay, I can't torment you too much. How are things going overall?"

"Things are fine." Momonga said, sitting down as well.

"Yeah right. You think I can't tell?"

Momonga let out a sigh, used Nazarick to cut off all possible eavesdropping, and slumped down in the chair he was sitting in.

"And what do you want me to say? I have little idea what is going on and Albedo and Demiurge are doing basically all the planning and execution of said plans while thinking I am the one coming up with all that shit in the first place!"

"It's probably fine. I mean you yourself. How are you doing?"

"I don't know. I can't get powerful emotions anymore, so I'm fine. This is how I feel almost all the time, just fine."

"Sounds rough. So there is no way to change your race?"

"Not any easy ones, no. I will not try the race change item, as who knows what would happen to my skills."

"What about temp ones? I bet Shalltear would appreciate you having certain parts for a while."

"Can we just drop it?"

"Still the same old guy I knew... Ok sure, we can change the topic. I ran some tests by the alchemy and crafting guys and got the basics of resources we found in the cave. Nothing special by Nazarick's standards but may fetch a decent price in local markets, and we need to think about Tempest's economical and industrial development. I can take that part on my shoulders and you worry more about Albedo and Demiurge not running a mock and sending entire armies who knows where."

Momonga didn't expect his friend to come and offer help all of the sudden. He knew Pero was an economic strategy enthusiast but never had practical application for that passion, as real-world economics was an overly complicated mess. But in this world, he may have a chance to put his knowledge to use.

"That would help a lot."

"Then we pawn off all the culture-related development to Buku and our bases for the nation's development are covered."

"You think she would do it?"

"Considering that she can draw, sing and play three different instruments to a decent degree, she could teach a local population some creative pastime activities."

"Ok, I'll trust you to convince her. What about Veldora? Should I ask him to oversee something too?"

"Don't worry about Veldora. He doesn't give a shit about ruling as long as he can laze around reading manga and eating. It's probably best to not give him any responsibilities besides being the guardian dragon of Tempest."

"Do you need someone to be assigned to help you?"

"Not really. I mean, I will coordinate with Albedo. And don't worry, I will not bother her too much. You will still have your personal time together." Peros said with a laugh as Momonga responded with a groan.

"Come on, live a little. Even in your undead body, you can appreciate a work of art like her. Also, you mentioned something about naming goblins tribes."

"Ah, yes, you can pick one and give them names, but I don't think they will be much of a help at first." Momonga said, ignoring his friend's comments about Albedo.

"I can train my own team. But there is one thing you could help me out with."

"Sure, what do you need?"

"It would be great if I could get some local blacksmith and alchemist to help with the resources we have. Not sure where to get one, but maybe your two assistants have some ideas that don't involve forceful methods."

"That kobold merchant I sent off with the sword and beliat ore is on his way back to us, followed by a Dwargon blacksmith's, who, according to the shadow demon's report, is looking for employment."

"Great, give me heads up when they enter Tempest."

"Sure."

"I guess I'll be on my way. The girls outside are probably getting restless, anyway." Pero said while getting up from the chair, "By the way, do you want to hang out with me, Veldora and Shalltear, from time to time? I will drill her to ease off and not bother you so much with both the protocol and, you know, other interests."

"That would be nice."

With Pero leaving, Momonga was momentarily alone in his office. The revelation that Shalltear enjoyed head patting from him a bit too much was a weird one, and he did not know how to get out of this situation, as she likely would not take well if he just refused it next time they met. Albedo too was overly happy to receive one.

For now, there was no helping it; if they wanted to be rewarded in such a way then he could oblige, despite his personal feelings on the matter.

Edited by Edgy.