Shortly after David left his manor, he had arrived at the square with the Dimensional Gate Tower, a place that usually has the most foot traffic.
'I really need to think of a name for this place. If not the town as a whole, then at least a name for key locations like this square. Hell, the only names are "Eastern Forest", "Western Forest", "Eastern River", "Western River", etc... Maybe I'll ask Emma to do that since she's good at the management tasks. She should definitely be good at naming things, right?'
Shrugging to himself, David continued wandering around and looking at the signboards of various shops.
While there weren't an over abundance of shops, there were still quite a few.
Most of the shops were run by Elder Dwarves that specialized in certain fields such as weapons, armor, accessories, tools, and even home appliances.
The home appliances was rather interesting as they had things like refrigerators, freezers, toasters, ovens, microwaves, auto-heating water kettles, you name it.
The Elder Dwarves' way of enchanting things was still a mystery to David. They say, "Well we enchanted it," and that's that... Really... No explanation as to how it was done...
Ahem!
Walking around the square, David found an Elder Dwarf setting up shop.
Hearing the footsteps approaching him, the dwarf turned to look and saw David.
"Good morning, young master!" He called out with a smile and a wave.
"Morning! I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of Sayo's shop? Mio told me she sells ingredients."
"Ahhh, Sayo-chan's shop, eh? Sure! It's actually right across from the tower in a log building with flowers underneath the window. You can't miss it!"
David turned around to look in the direction of the tower and saw that there was indeed a nice little shop in a log building with flowers under the window.
"Huh, that's a cozy looking building. Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated."
The dwarf just waved his hand. "No worries, I'm happy to help the young master!"
David nodded and started heading to Sayo's shop.
'Hearing Tomoe call me "young master" is fine, but for some reason, it just feels weird coming from other people. Meh, I'll have to get used to it.'
When David entered Sayo's shop, he was greeted by a soft jingling of the bell on the front door, announcing his arrival to the shopkeeper.
"Welcome, custome--young master?!"
A very young Highland Orc girl behind the counter greeted David brightly, but got scared silly when she noticed it was David who entered her store.
She immediately ran out from behind the counter and went up to David, bowing to him in a servile manner.
"Good morning, young master! I hope there is nothing wrong with this shop!" She said, her voice a little shaky due to anxiety.
'Oh my god, she's so cute!'
The orc girl, Sayo, wasn't what David was expecting.
She looked like the other Highland Orc females--essentially a humanoid pig--except for the fact that her eyes weren't completely brown like the rest. Her sclera were white and her irises were blue while she had long blonde hair, similar to Emma.
She looked like a cute and fluffy pet that should get constant headpats, but David refrained from doing something like that to someone he just met.
"Good morning. Do you know where I can find the owner, Sayo?" David said with a smile and a light tone, trying to ease her anxiety.
"Y-yes, young master! I'm Sayo and this humble shop is mine. The villagers helped me build it a few months ago and I sell fruits and vegetables that I pick in the surrounding forest as well as some meats that my brother brings in from his hunts!"
'Such a young girl runs her own shop? Impressive!'
"I see. I was wondering how an economy would work in the Cradle without any interaction with the outside world, but I'm glad to see you're getting along well. Are you lacking anything? I was planning on opening up a path to the outside world, accessible only to those living in the Cradle, but I was waiting until I got to Tsige to do so."
Sayo shook her head, "No no, everything is wonderful, young master! To be honest, I'm not running this shop for profit; I just like interacting and talking with people throughout the day."
"That's very commendable. I'll have to drop by whenever I have the time and say hello, your shop has a very nice and comfortable atmosphere. You've done a wonderful job, Sayo-chan."
David tried his hardest not give the little girl headpats.
"Thank you! You will always be welcome here, young master!" Sayo said with her hands on her waist, looking proud of herself for getting such a bigshot as a customer.
"I was wanting to cook breakfast for Tomoe and Mio this morning and Mio said you sell ingredients. Can I take a look at what you have for sale?"
Sayo jumped up and ran to a shelf that held her produce.
"Yes! Over here I have wild mushrooms, onions, garlic, potatoes, radishes, and a large variety of herbs!"
David walked over and looked at everything Sayo was introducing, impressed by the sheer quantity and quality of the wild vegetables and herbs she had found.
"Wow, you found all of these yourself?"
"Yep! I usually go out to the Western Forest before the sun comes up with my brother, gather herbs and vegetables, and then come back. My brother has to come with me in case any wild animal attacks me, but it's actually a lot of fun! It's much better than when we were in the Wasteland. Thank you again, young master, for allowing us all to live here!"
Sayo started getting excited, thanking David before talking about her daily routine.
Apparently, her brother Hayato is a hunter so he would go out with Sayo into the forest and hunt wild animals while she collected herbs and vegetables.
They made a good routine out of it and Sayo mentioned that she always has a lot of fun exploring the Cradle.
'Maybe I should make it a rule where wild animals can't harm children... Yeah, let's do that.'
David opened up the CMI and tweaked the laws of the dimension, making it so that children would never be attacked unless they had hostile intentions first.
After all, it wouldn't be fair if some kid wanted to be an asshole and torment an animal that couldn't fight back, right?
Right.
'Editing the laws in this place feels like absolute cheating, but... Oh well, I like it!'
David spent a good ten minutes with Sayo before turning to leave with some groceries in his inventory.
There's a dungeon in the Eastern Forest that has minotaurs inside of it on the lower levels. Hayato and a few of his companions went in and cleared out a bunch of them, bringing their bodies out for meat and materials.
The minotaur meat, sold in Sayo's shop, has cuts very similar to high-quality steaks.
David, being the meat-loving man that he is, bought twenty 16 oz. steaks. He also bought garlic and potatoes.
'Looks like we're having a hearty breakfast today, heheh~!'
David couldn't contain the smile on his face as he left with five less gold coins.
While Sayo prefers to barter, that's only because the Highland Orcs didn't really have many coins due to being so far out in the Wasteland and not being able to interact with any other settlements.
It didn't mean they don't like coins, so Sayo was ecstatic when David paid such a high price for her items.
Of course, David just didn't have anything lower than a gold coin. Still, with how cute and energetic Sayo was, David was more than happy to give her five gold coins.
'When I brainwash the goddess, I'll have to make sure she doesn't interfere with anything my residents do. In the future, they'll pass through her world, the Cradle, and Earth, so it'll be good to keep prying eyes and curious hands at bay.'
As David was walking through the square to head back to his estate, he spotted Toa standing in front of the tower, looking around as if trying to find someone.
When Toa turned her head in David's direction, she beamed with a bright smile and ran up to him.
"Good morning, David-sama!"
"Toa, you can just call me David. If you insist on giving me a title, just stick with 'young master' like the others, okay?"
Toa blushed and lowered her head while nodding. "Got it, David..."
They stood in awkward silence for a few seconds and right when David was about to ask Toa if she needed anything, the latter looked up and grabbed David's right hand in both of hers.
"David, I'd like to accompany you when you go to Tsige and look for the ambrosia flowers!" She said with a resolute look.
David was stunned both at how direct she was and at the fact that she knew his plans.
⟪ Eh? How does Toa know about my trip to look for ambrosia flowers? I'd love to have her along, but I need to focus on making breakfast for my wives first. Hmm, Mio and Tomoe probably wouldn't like it if I invited Toa over for breakfast, right? Damn, I'll just have to find Toa later to discuss things... ⟫
Right as David was about to tell Toa that he was busy with breakfast and that he'd find her to discuss things later, he stopped as a thought formed in his head.
'Chaos-chan... Did you add Toa to the list of listeners...?'
[...]
'Oi, Chibi...'
[...Maybe...]
'Why?! She was supposed to be Makoto's girlfriend! I don't even know how many things I said that would most definitely draw her attention to me! Also, how was she able to mention my plans if she only heard it from my inner voice?!'
[It's because it wasn't really a secret in the first place! And are you really complaining?! She's cute! Just shut up and accept it!]
'Fine! But I'm not doing it because you told me to! I'm doing it because she actually is pretty damn cute and I like her personality!'
[Fine! Now let's stop yelling at each other!]
'FINE!'
[FINE!!!]
David composed himself so as not to break out in a fit of laughter at his and Chaos-chan's childish bickering.
While David and Chaos-chan were communicating, Toa just stared at David with a look of anxiety as she released his hand.
"I'm about to make breakfast for Tomoe and Mio, but I'll find you when I'm done. Is that alright?"
Toa smiled brightly and clenched her fists at her sides. "Yes, that would be great! Are you sure you want to find me and not pick a place to meet up?"
"It's fine. I enjoy walking around the town and seeing what everyone has done. Also, finding people is extremely easy if I've met them before. I can find their presence from miles away, easily pinpointing their exact location."
"Okay! I'll tell you in case you want to know, I live in house #4 on Sanctum Lane, right off of Dimensional Gate Plaza."
⟪ Wait, they already have street names? And they even named the main square 'Dimensional Gate Plaza'? Well damn, I guess I don't need to think of any names now... Oh well, Chaos-chan would probably bite my head off if I tried coming up with names for these places. ⟫
David looked around and noticed that there are indeed street signs with names on them on various street corners.
'Now how the hell did I not notice that earlier?'
Shrugging it off, David turned back to Toa. "Alright, I'm not sure how long it'll take, but I'll come and find you when I'm done."
"Great!"
Toa turned around and ran off toward her house, not wanting to stay near David in case he changes his mind.
⟪ Toa was totally blushing the entire time... Dammit, she's too cute! Ahhh~, this morning has been quite nice so far. Now I get to go home and cook some fantastic food before going out to cure some cursed girls, find healing flowers, and hopefully fix the problem the Forest Ogres will have. I wonder... Should I keep Shiki for myself or let Makoto form a contract with him? Hmm... As long as Shiki doesn't become attracted to my women, I see no reason why I can't keep him. ⟫
David was planning multiple steps ahead as he made his way back to his estate, greeting the residents along the way, and finally entering the massive kitchen.
⟪ Pots, pans, woks, utensils, big sinks, huge counters, gas ranges, overhead vents, fridges, pantries... Damn, this kitchen is amazing! ⟫
Waving his hand, David created two thin pink threads from his palms and maneuvered them at lightning-fast speed with extreme precision.
In just a few short minutes, a sturdy pink apron was created. The front of the apron was embroidered in dark red thread with the words, "Cook First, Cuddle Later".
Chaos-chan opted to stay silent about David's taste in apron phrases.
Since David didn't need to create anything too fancy and he had both more experience and more freedom of movement since his arms weren't being used as pillows, it was easy for David to create a near-indestructible, self-cleaning, and self-repairing apron.
⟪ Mm, this apron is definitely quite nice. Now let's get cookin'! It would've been better if I had some butter for the steak, but it's fine I suppose. I'll have to get some in Tsige. Hell, I'll have to stock up on quite a few things for the future. First, let's take some of the fat from the minotaur steaks and use it as grease for the potatoes... ⟫
...
While David was cooking breakfast, Tomoe and Mio had slipped out of the manor, looking for a certain red-haired woman.
Different from David's search and detection abilities, Tomoe and Mio's worked a bit differently. Mio could literally smell people while Tomoe could easily see and identify their aura.
It didn't take long before the two of them locked onto Toa, flew through the air, and landed right in front of her.
"Uwah!" Toa shouted, jumping back in fright.
Mio stood at the side with her fan opened in front of her face while Tomoe sidled up to Toa and wrapped her arm around her shoulder.
"Toa-dono... Did you ask the young master if you could accompany him to Tsige later and then go look for ambrosia flowers?"
Toa's heart sank.
"Did... David tell you that?"
Tomoe looked at Mio and received a nod from her.
Out of nowhere, a thick mist barrier surrounded the women, allowing them to talk in secret without anyone eavesdropping or seeing what might happen.
"You haven't been around him and shouldn't know about his plans. How do you know what the young master planned to do?"
Tomoe rested her left hand on her katana while Mio moved her free hand in position, ready to strike down Toa if she proved to be a threat to David.
Toa, seeing the situation about to devolve into something unfriendly, waved her hands frantically and subconsciously blurted out, "I could hear his voice in my head!"
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, not only were Tomoe and Mio stunned, but Toa was no better.
"Eh? How come I can talk about his voice with you two but I couldn't with Rinon?"
The tense atmosphere died down instantly and was replaced with a rather awkward mix of relief and vigilance.
"So you can also hear husband's inner voice... Tsk..."
Mio grumbled, folded her fan, and walked out of the mist barrier, using her new ability to devour the mist around her.
Tomoe just removed her hand from her katana and took her arm off of Toa's shoulder.
"Tomoe-sama, does Mio-sama mean that she can also hear David's inner voice?"
Tomoe just nodded. "Umu, her and I can both hear it. Consider yourself special, only Mio and I are able to hear it as far as I know."
Toa's face gradually started turning more red the more she thought about the implications.
[Toa] 'If Tomoe and Mio can hear it, and they're his wives, doesn't that mean... I could become his wife?'
"I don't know what you're thinking, but calm yourself down. If the young master asks how you knew about his plans, just say that I told you. He doesn't know we can hear his inner voice so don't do anything that would make him think otherwise."
"Got it! No, understood!" Toa gave a little salute and spoke formally with a serious expression on her face.
"...Forget it... I'd invite you to have breakfast with us so Mio and I can get to know you better, but I don't want the young master to know that we came out here to threat--I mean, to meet you."
[Toa] 'You definitely meant to say threaten me...'
With a thought from Tomoe, the mist barrier was removed and Toa was now able to leave.
Toa smiled slightly and quickly said, "Ahaha... Anyway, I have to get ready to go with David later and get some fruits for Rinon, so I'll be heading home first! Bye!"
Without waiting for a response, she bolted away and headed to Sayo's shop for her and Rinon's morning fruits.
[Tomoe] 'I'll have to trust that Chaos-dono knows what she's doing by allowing that girl to hear the young master's inner voice.'
[There are girls across the worlds that are pre-selected to hear it. I can't make any changes to those who can or can't hear, okay? Even though I said I'm responsible for allowing you girls to hear his inner voice, that just means I manage what exactly you hear or don't hear. I can cut off his inner voice entirely if you'd like?]
Chaos-chan lied as easily as she breathes.
[Tomoe] 'No no no! I wasn't complaining, okay?! Let me continue hearing the young master's voice!'
She was almost begging, not caring one bit that Chaos-chan was reading her mind without her permission.
[Alright, that's enough of that. Quickly go back, David is almost done making breakfast and Mio is already there.]
[Tomoe] 'That sneaky spider!'
Tomoe used David's teleportation magic and instantly returned to his bedroom, quickly noticing that there was another presence next to David downstairs.
She quickly opened up the Empress Chat and went to the public '# general' channel.
『 Tomoe (Feudal Fangirl): You're too sneaky! I bet you weren't even genuinely upset with that Toa girl and just wanted to spend more time with the young master alone! 』
Downstairs in the kitchen, Mio's smile faltered a bit when she read Tomoe's message.
『 Mio (Hungry Masochist): Don't get mad just because you couldn't think of it before I did. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: 』
『 Tomoe (Feudal Fangirl): :knife: 』
『 Mio (Hungry Masochist): Alright, you are already here. Come downstairs and stop your complaining. 』
Tomoe grumbled to herself as she walked downstairs and entered the kitchen.
"Ah, Tomoe! Perfect timing! I just finished our breakfast. We've got steaks with garlic and roasted potatoes. I don't have any butter yet so the steaks aren't quite what I'd prefer, but they still taste pretty amazing. Minotaur meat is surprisingly delicious!"
"Umu, that's because they're full of mana. Despite having tough muscles, when they're cooked properly, their meat becomes incredibly soft and tender."
Tomoe walked up to the counter and grabbed a plate that had two large steaks and a pile of cube-shaped fried potatoes on it.
David and Mio grabbed similar plates before they all went out to the dining room, sitting next to each other at the large table.
"I forgot to mention it to you, young master, but the dungeons around here have been getting rather interesting. There's a barrier in place on the 49th floor and for some reason, Mio and I are the only ones that are able to pass through it."
David took a bite of his steak and tilted his head. "Eh? Is anyone getting hurt by it or is it just a barrier that stops movement?"
"Nobody is getting hurt by the barrier, but when someone tries to forcefully go through it and are deemed unqualified, they get sent back to the surface."
"Surface? I still haven't seen a dungeon yet nor have I looked. Can you explain it to me in a simple manner?"
Still shoveling food into her mouth, Tomoe nodded her head and gladly explained the dungeons to David.
"The dungeons I've seen look like caves or ruins with big gates in the entrance. Each dungeon has floors that descend and produce stronger monsters the lower you go. From what I can tell, these dungeons are lifeforms that are separate from the Cradle. I tried to see if I could change things in the dungeons with the CMI such as what monsters appear or what terrain there is, but the dungeons are completely outside of the Cradle's sphere of influence. Altering the laws doesn't even affect them, it's weird."
"Hmm, do you think they're a danger to the residents? Or do you feel that the dungeons are a tumor that need to be removed?"
Tomoe shook her head. "While the dungeons are indeed filled with danger, they also offer rewards comparable to the danger. Each dungeon has floors and the deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets.
"Take the dungeon with the minotaurs for example. The first 39 floors contain a mixture of various goblin types while floors 40 through 49 contain nothing but minotaurs. The goblin floors are all caves, but the minotaur floors change to vast fields with a sun in the sky.
"It's incredible how it all works, but I'm still unsure of why people can't get past the barrier."
"When you and Mio went through the barrier, what happened?"
"We didn't go forward since we weren't sure what would happen. Since nobody has gone beyond a barrier yet, we decided to consult you first," Tomoe said with a face that seemed to say, 'I did good, right? Praise me!'
David gave a simple thumbs up. "You two did good. While I own the Cradle, the fact that we can't change anything about the dungeons has me concerned. I'll add the dungeons to my to-do list and check it out before we head to the Gritonia Empire."
Tomoe and Mio hummed in agreement as they all continued eating.
'Chaos-chan, what's the deal with the dungeons? I thought I'd have at least some control over them?'
[Ehhh... The dungeons here may have been slightly mutated...]
'Mhm... And is that a good thing or a bad thing?'
[It's definitely not a bad thing! Trust me! It was just a little unexpected, that's all!]
'Alright, quit yellin' and tell me what's different about them.'
[Okay... The dungeons that will appear on your home world, Primary Earth, will take the form of a big 'gate', kind of like what you saw in those manhwas you read all the time. The dungeons that appear in the Cradle, however, are just like what Tomoe hypothesized: living lifeforms that reside in the Cradle.]
[They have floors with stairs at the end leading deeper into the dungeon with stronger monsters and traps appearing on every floor. This part is mostly similar to the dungeons that will appear on Primary Earth, except that these living dungeons each have a manager, so to speak.]
David's eyes widened slightly. 'A what now?'
[A manager. The dungeon core, the thing that makes up and controls the entirety of the dungeon, is a sentient being that can change from a glowing ball of light to... Well, it wouldn't be fun to spoil it. Just know that they're not here to mess up the Cradle, okay?]
'Alright, whatever, I'll deal with it another time. As long as the dungeons aren't something I need to worry about, I'll just focus my efforts on figuring out how to convince the Rembrandt dude to let me heal his daughters and wife.'
[Why not brainwash him and command him to let you in?]
'Tsk, that's just rude. It's more fun to do it the right way, okay? Plus, wouldn't the Rembrandt sisters feel creeped out by me if they ever found out I can brainwash people and assumed I'd brainwash them? No, thank you!'
[You do you, just have fun with it. By the way, are you going to take Toa with you to Tsige?]
'I don't see why not? I mean, I can already see that she has a crush on me and I'm not planning on turning her down so the more time she spends with me, the better.'
[Are you still planning on letting Mio and Tomoe come with you?]
'Of course! There's someone in Tsige that I'd like to get rid of and even though I'm arriving much earlier than Makoto did in the original work, I'd like to think that she's still there. While I'm bringing Tomoe and Mio as a short date, I also want them to kill the rat that might be hiding there.'
[Ah... That blonde bitch?]
'Yup. When I think about what she did to Komoe in the original work, I can't help but want to wipe her out before she causes trouble for others.'
Feeling a murderous aura start to emit from David, Mio quickly moved her hand and placed it on top of David's right thigh.
"Husband, are you okay? You look angry."
David just smiled wryly. "Haha... Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts. Let's hurry up and eat so we can get ready to go. I'll be inviting Toa with us if that's alright with everyone else?"
Mio and Tomoe made little "hmm" noises in affirmation, though they really wanted it to be just them since they'd get less time with him otherwise.
Before long, breakfast was all cleaned up, the dishes were washed, and they were dressed and ready to go.
⟪ Alright, time to pick up Toa. ⟫