49

We soon arrived at the same room we had met last time. Sakuya pushed open the door and gestured me in with a polite bow. I followed her direction, entered the room, and took the same seat I had last time.

As Sakuya closed the door behind her and moved behind Remilia, I withdrew the bottle of faintly red sake. The glass bottle clinked on the table as I set it down. Looking at Remilia, I placed both hands on the table before speaking.

"This is the sake I brewed; it is the same as last time, being a conceptually pure bottle of sake. However, I infused it with purified blood. I have more bottles and can have production set up if you want to purchase it consistently."

In a clear young voice, Remilia spoke. "Sakuya, pour us a glass of sake so I can sample his product." In response to the command, two wine glasses were set out and filled with the blood-infused sake.

Picking up my glass, I gave the tiny vampire a polite salute before taking a sip from the glass. I wasn't a fan of alcohol, and the addition of blood did nothing but add a delicate coppery taste over the original fruity flavor of the sake.

However, Remilia's response was more pronounced as her wings fluttered and her entire body quivered in pleasure. This drink was practically tailor-made for her. The sake and blood were both conceptually pure, making them the best thing they possibly could be.

Then the perk Mother Knowns Best further enhanced anything I made to be even better to young or young-looking people. Setting my glass down, I interlaced my hands as I watched her take another hasty gulp before she set her glass down and composed herself.

"I will admit it is quite good; however, I doubt anybody else will enjoy this particular beverage." She said, her red eyes looking into my storm-grey ones.

"I have no doubt other youkai or beasts would enjoy a cocktail infused with human blood," I said, looking back at her confidentially. I had no doubt she would buy it, which meant we were currently haggling over price.

She nodded in agreement over my point before refuting with her own. "However, very few youkai use money, and when they do, they make small purchases meaning that I would be forced to resell these at only a fraction of their price."

I nodded in agreement before launching into my next point. "You are right; however, I am willing to sell in amounts so that you need not sell them. It would be cheaper than buying entire pallets."

Nodding, she took another sip of the drink as I continued. "I think the next question would be the price and delivery. Would you want to purchase it on a weekly basis, monthly, or as a one-time deal?"

"I would like to buy perhaps a dozen right now, and if I want to buy more later, I'll inform you." She said as I took another sip so as to not look rude.

"Understandable; now we come down to the real question, the price," I said while smiling at her; I didn't know precisely how much sake would go for; however, if I assumed it would be around the price of a good bottle of wine, then it could cost upwards of three to four hundred dollars.

If I remember my math right, the exchange rate was around 100 yen to the dollar, meaning a single bottle would cost approximately 30,000 yen, and while my sake should technically cost a bit more then, that over three grand for a few hours of time was worth it.

"I was thinking around 40,000 yen for a bottle," I stated, quite obviously overshooting the price so we could haggle down. "Done," She replied promptly before continuing. "I would like to buy 12 bottles; how soon can you deliver them, and how could I contact you in the future if I wish to buy more."

Blinking in surprise, I attempted to push it down. However, I was unsuccessful if Remilia's giggles were anything to go by. "I must admit." She said as she finished her soft laughter. "You are somewhat skilled in the art of diplomacy or a novice but woefully lacking in experience. "

I sighed as I realized that I had undersold my sake massively and that I had been going up against a vampire with decades to refine her skills, and I was still making good more for almost no effort on my end. Pushing that aside, I shrugged as I replied.

"Fair enough. However, I have other products I'm developing if you would like to buy them at some point, and by then, I'll be more skilled." My lips curled into a smile as I jokingly boasted now that the atmosphere had turned from two people making a deal to two people chatting.

"I then look forward to your new products and skill," Remilia said with a wry grin. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I feel it would only be proper if you get introduced to the other members of the household now that we have sealed a deal."

Shaking my head, I replied. "I do apologize, but I have prior engagements, so I will be unable to stay for dinner." Frowning, Remilia nodded before speaking. "Understandable. However, I would like to have you over for dinner sometime in the future."

"Of course, your food was wonderful, and the company was better," I said, smiling at her as I stood up. "But I did make a prior promise, and it would be rude to break it."

Waving her hand imperially, Remilia responded. "Fair, fair. Have a good night, and Sakuya, please show him out." With that last statement, Sakuya strode quickly past me, opened the door, and walked out of the drawing room.

Following behind her, the walk was silent until we arrived at the gate that led outside the manor grounds. I noticed the dimming sun and the waning crescent moon accompanied by hundreds of stars.

"Have a good day, sir," Sakuya said as the massive gate was pulled open by the guard. "Please deliver the sake as soon as possible. You'll be paid after the delivery."

"Got it. Would tomorrow night or the night after work? " I said as I walked out of the gate and gave both the guard and Sakuya a polite bow.

Receiving a slightly deeper bow as she responded. "That would work wonderfully." I then pushed off the ground and flew off. I wasn't fast, but I wasn't getting to my home via flying anyhow.

I felt the Grimoire grow as I slashed my parasol down in front of me, cutting a hole to my pocket dimension. Floating inside, I landed inside the field of sunflowers and headed toward my house, where I would meet Komainu, and she could introduce her to her friends.

Striding through the field of sunflowers, I felt a tingling through where my brain would be, and I twitched for a moment before shaking my head and stopping.

Why exactly was I rushing to meet with Komainu's friends? They would be here tomorrow, and I had a godlike being to kill. My fingers quivered as I strode over to my forge and pondered.

My original ritual was based on like effects like would not work with the shards as they were similar but different. Queen Administrator was different from Broadcast, and after several decades I doubted they counted as the same thing anymore.

Reaching into the Gap, I retrieved the Carcass Spark. It attempted to flare up and start burning the surrounding air, but I forced my will on it, and the fires guttered out and died as the tiny ember dulled.

A wide smile emerged on my face, and a giggle slipped through my lips as I went over what I knew about the Carcass Spark. It was from a game called Cultist Simulator and was a fragment of the top god.

The Sun-in-Splendour was the pure representation of light and was in love with the Forge-of-Days who slew him. While that was interesting and explained how I had a fragment of his corpse, the more pertinent information was that this spark could be used to build a nuke.

One of the options you could pick when starting a new game was a devotee of your old cult. That would allow you to collect the materials required to construct a bomb big enough to blow a physical hole in Mansus, where the gods dwelled.

My mind spun with the applications this could be used for with my enhanced materials. In the game, you found a weak point and used the Carcass Spark along with Blue Gold or, as it is known now, uranium.

I had something much more potent than simple metals and uranium at my disposal. I had mithril and hihi'irokane, both metals that enhanced magic, and a crystal that could store ludicrous amounts of mana. If the Master Spark was produced from a simple furnace made with hihi'irokane, what would a bomb made from it do?

Cackling, I pulled open a bag of Dust and got to work. "Hey! You ready to leave?" I heard Komainu shout as she rushed over.

Snarling, I turned and shouted at her. "Don't you see I'm busy! I am trying to build a proper device to blow up Scion, and you keep interrupting me!" I then turned back to my new project.

"B-but you said you'd come to meet my friends." She stammered out, tears emerging in the corner of her eyes. My face twitched as I reached over and grabbed my parasol read to repel this intruder by force if need be.

Turning, I raised the parasol and saw her teary-eyed form flinch as I prepared to swing. Shaking my head, I stumbled back and dropped the parasol.

Something was wrong; I had about to beat her for coming and asking if I was ready to leave and do something I had promised to do. Pulling on the memories of Self-Hypnosis and were taught at the Clocktower, I breathed in and altered my thoughts.

Breathing out, I felt that strange tingle that had grown in the back of my mind fade away as I realized how strange I had been acting. I was ready to blow off something I promised to do because I wanted to build a bomb.

Calling the Grimoire to my side, I flipped it open and paged to the most recent power. It was called The Inspiration of Madness and allowed one to learn and build impossible devices and theorems at the cost of debilitating madness.

Slamming the book shut, I walked over to Komainu and squatted in front of her. "I'm sorry," I said. "I got a new power, and it caused me to think differently; I would never hit you."

Nodding, she hiccuped a few times before I reached out my arms to offer a hug. She accepted and ran towards me before slamming into my body. This resulted in my falling on my back with her lying on top of me.

I sighed and relaxed before rubbing a hand in her hair. "I'm truly sorry; I've figured out a solution, but if I ever start acting like that again, feel free to call me out on it," I said as her tears slowed. The Self-Hypnosis would only work so long as I could keep it up, and while it was easy to keep applied in combat, there was a high chance of it slipping.

The Grimore pulsed and grew as I stood up and grabbed my parasol. Smiling at Komainu, I reached out to take her hand. "You ready to introduce me to your friends?"

Letting go of my hand, she took off flying ahead of me and laughed, her fear and tears forgotten as she ran ahead of me. Taking to flight, I followed her much slower as we headed to meet her friends.

Twisting the Path, we emerged somewhat near the human village. Komainu was still flying ahead of me towards the Mist Lake. Folding space in front of me, I effortlessly kept pace; she scowled cutely as she looked over and saw me strolling through the air.

Komainu slowed as we approached a small stand lit by a few lamps, and I could see somebody cooking food under the gaze of the waning moon.

Komainu landed first, and I settled behind her a few moments later. Darting forward, Komainu shouted. "Hello! This is Aidan; he came to meet all of you."

The four figures started, and three of them turned to face me while the fourth looked up for a moment before returning to the food.

"Hello, it is nice to meet all of you. I am Aidan, as I presume Komainu has told you." I said as I entered the lantern light. Strangely, the farthest one with green hair and clad in a cape seemed to shiver slightly as she looked at me.

A small figure with half a dozen ice shards floating behind her captured my attention by darting in front of me. "Hello, I am Crino!" She thundered as if she was speaking to a crowd of people.

"Nice to meet you, Crino," I replied while reaching out my hand for a shake, and after a brief moment of confusion, she grabbed my hand and shook, causing me to move her up and down.

Floating forward, her arms outstretched in a strange pose, was another youkai. She had blond hair, red eyes, and a small red ribbon affixed to her hair. Blinking, we both stared at each other for a moment before she spoke. "Hello, I'm Rumia."

"Nice to meet you, Rumia," I said before reaching out my hand for a shake. In contrast to the others who were confused, Rumia immediately shook my hand before floating back to the stand where the owner was plating the food.

The third youkai simply raised a hand and gave a wave. "Hello, I'm Wriggle." She said, which prompted a similar response that I had given the others. "Nice to meet you," I said; this time, however, I did not walk over to shake her hand as she seemed content with the simple wave.

Sitting down, I rested my parasol against one of the tables set out to eat at. The owner bustled around delivering meals and collecting money before she rested behind the counter and gave me a polite smile.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you; I'm Mystia. Would you like anything to eat or drink?" She asked as she wiped her hands off. Giving her an apologetic smile, I replied. "My apologies, but I'm currently lacking funds right now. However, I will be receiving some soon, so I'll stop by and try your food."

Giving a nod, Mystia busied herself, preparing in case anybody else came along. We then fell into a slightly awkward silence as the other youkai sans Komainu ate. Seeing this, I frowned, I didn't have much in the way of money, but I had the capacity to make jewels that could be worth a fair bit.

Pulling on the Dust that coalesced around my body, I discreetly created a tiny ruby in my cupped hand. Standing up, I walked over to the counter and placed it down.

"While I don't have much in the way of money, will you accept this in exchange for a meal for Komainu and me?" I asked as she gently picked it up before looking it over.

"Of course!" She said as she nodded rapidly before tucking the gem away. "What would you like to eat?" She asked while looking up at me.

I didn't know what she served, and looking around for a moment, I couldn't spot a menu, so smiling at her, I spoke. "Suprise us; I trust you can cook a good meal. "

Humming, Mystia nodded before reigniting the flame and getting to work. Leaning on my parasol, I waited in the slightly less awkward silence as the smells of cooking food filled the air once again.

Soon enough, two sticks of food were handed to me. "Thank you," I said as I walked away toward Komainu and gave her a stick. Sitting next to her, I dug into the meat; it was strange and tasted faintly like squid.

However, that did not distract from the taste, and I soon polished off the meal and set down the now-naked stick. Looking over, I could tell that Komainu enjoyed it just as much as I did.

As I gestured for the youkai to get Komainu another, Mystia spoke up. "I'm not going to be here tomorrow night; however, if you want my food, head over to the Prismriver Mansion. They're having a concert, and they invited me to help cook food!"

Raising an eyebrow, I noted how excited she seemed and looked down at Komainu, who also looked excited. My shoulders slumped slightly as I imagined dealing with a concert, but I was willing to do it if it was for Komainu.

Looking up at me, Komainu patted my hand while speaking. "It's fine, Aidan, you don't have to go, but can I?" Squinting at her, I tried to determine if she was telling the truth. I was never the best at figuring out what people wanted, and when they said one thing but meant the other, it only exacerbated the issue.

Seeing me weigh the decision, she reiterated what she had said. "I know you have important work to do, so it's fine. I know you don't like crowds." Blinking at her in surprise, I pushed how she knew that aside and nodded.

"Alright, you can go; I'll get you the money after I sell the sake. I trust you to make good choices." I said while rubbing her head, causing her to lean into me.

Springing to her feet, Komainu darted over to the other youkai and started attempting to rope them into going to the concert. Raising my voice, I shouted over. "If you want to go, I'll pay, so don't worry about that."

I didn't want any of Komainu's friends to be unable to go with her to a concert due to money issues, and I didn't have any genuine need for money, and this was the kind of stuff I was getting money for.

What I did need to know were the ticket prices as I didn't know if the sales from my sake could cover them. I would be heading to Kourondou to sell some gems anyway, as the sake sale was not all that much money in the grand scheme.

As I strolled over to Mystia, who was watching Komainu's attempts with bemusement, I felt the Grimoire grow and fade away. "Do you know how much the tickets cost, and what time do you think it should end"

Tapping her fingers on the counter, she thought about it for a bit before responding. "They would most likely be around 7,500 yen, and if you were buying food, I would budget another 3,000 to 4,000 yen."

"Thank you, Mystia. I'll see if I can't stop by now, and again your food is quite good." Grinning, she gave me a nod and turned back to watch the show of Komainu, finally convincing the other youkai to come with her to the performance.

Walking over to her, I placed a hand on her head and, after rubbing it for a moment, spoke. "Feel free to stay here; I'll be going to get the funds for you to enjoy your night out."

Turning to face the Crino, Wriggle, and Rumia, I spoke to them, " I feel like I should say it again. Don't worry about money. I'll make sure Komainu has enough for all of you."

After finishing, I gave a wave and nodded goodbye before turning and using my parasol, opening a hole into my home. Striding through the sunflower field, I soon reached the small sack I used to store the sake bottles.

Picking it up, I tossed it in the Gap far away from where I was storing the Carcass Spark. It wouldn't do for the product to burn up before I could sell it.

Moving the Path toward the Scarlet Devil Mansion's entrance, I flew out of it and emerged in front of the gate guard, who appeared wide awake for once.

Giving me a wave as I floated to the ground, she started talking. "Hey, nice to see you again. You were just here a few hours ago, but what can I do for you."

Reaching inside the Gap and retrieving the sake, I replied. "I'm here to sell my sake and receive payment." Nodding, she cleared her throat and shouted Sakuya's name.

As before, time froze, and a few subjective minutes later, the silver-haired maid arrived behind the guard before time resumed eliciting a startled jump as to the guard's perspective Sakuya had appeared behind her with no warning.

Giving a slight smirk Sakuya turned to me and waited to see what I had to say. Offering the bag of clinking bottles, I answered her unspoken query. "Here are the twelve bottles of sake I promised."

Taking the bag, she wordlessly counted them before reaching inside one of her skirt's many pockets, retrieving a small collection of carefully organized bills, and handing them to me.

"Here you go, sir," She said as she tucked the bag under her arm. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" She asked. Shaking my head no, she gave a bow before walking back inside and heading towards the manor proper.

Quickly counting the bills, I could tell this was the proper amount I had bargained for. I was a bit bummed that I had most likely gotten cheated, but at the end of the day, I knew that Remilia would probably be returning for more.

Giving the guard a nod, I turned and flew off. While I could fly to Kourondou, that could take upward of an hour, so I decided to take a shortcut. Opening a gap, I stepped inside of it, then opened another one and arrived outside Kourondou.

It was nearing the early hours of the morning, so I decided to see if Rinnosuke was awake by politely knocking on the door. A few moments later, I saw the blurry-eyed figure of Rinnosuke unlock the door and look at me; I could see that his hands were stained with ink, and he was clearly tired.

"Hello, sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you would like to buy a few gems?" I asked as he looked at me. Blinking a few times, he nodded and gestured for me to come inside.

"Apologies." He said as he closed the door behind him. "I don't need that much sleep, so I was doing some late-night translating, and while Kourondou is not normally open, so long as this is quick, I can make an exception."

As he spoke, I held my arms behind my back and used the Dust that coated my bones to summon a pair of small but finely cut rubies. When he finished speaking, I offered them up for him to look at.

Taking them, he held up a finger asking for a moment as he retrieved a few tools to inspect the gems. As he went over them with a magnifying glass and other tools, the Grimoire grew and faded away.

"They're quite good, and gems are oftentimes in demand even for me." He said, "unfortunately, I don't have the money to buy them off you at full price I can direct you to-"

I cut him off before he could finish directing me to another shop. "It's fine; how much are you willing to buy them for," I asked, causing him to look conflicted for a bit before settling on a price.

"I can buy them from you for 50,000 yen." He said; I then ran that through my mental calculator. That was around 500 dollars for both. I didn't know the price of gems, but that seemed fair, given how my gems were small and not all that good.

Shaking his hand, I replied. "Deal." Looking startled for a moment, he grinned before heading back around the counter, fishing out the bills, and handing them to me.

Quickly counting them, I saw that they were the required amount. Giving him a wave goodbye, I returned to my home through the same parasol portal method I had used.

Tucking the money away with the rest, I decided that an hour-long nap couldn't hurt as while I did not need sleep, I would be working with a fragment of a dead god tomorrow and needed all the mental fortitude I could get.

Powers Gained

The Inspiration of Madness

Insanity is not something maligned amidst skaven society, as it is amidst the man-thing villages. Skryre's Warlock-Engineers are, one and all to a member, the most addle-brained and unstable of the rat-men to date - yet it was their madness that led to the creation of so many technological marvels. The warp-lightning rails that connect the great under-cities, such as Under-Altdorf and Hell Pit. The Doomwheels. The Skitter-Gates. Ratling mini-guns and poison wind and augmentation chemicals and all the myriad of spells that make the Warlock-Engineers a minor apocalypse upon the field. All born from diseased minds.

You count yourself as "inspired" as these demented predecessors of yours - a madness coming over your brain-meats. While this madness may be debilitating in any day-to-day interaction, it shines when you set to work. The magics you use and the technologies you set to experiment with and create will seem to branch, weave, intersect, and spark in ways that would never occur to a healthier mind. In short, through your mad eyes and addled brain, you can create and discover new spells, machinery, scientific theories, and interactions between the three that would never occur naturally even through rigorous years of study and experimentation. Creations that mock the very idea of common sense and decency, and violate every sense and sensibility.