Chapter 222: Mature talk

"Ayda, Dearie... I might need to return to earth post haste," I spoke up as soon as I raised my eyes from the reward notification. 

"Something bad happened?" Clueless about the inner-working of my system, Dearie asked. 

"Rather than bad... Actually, I have a question." I moved my eyes to Dearie"s face after cutting my own sentence short. 

"What is this?" Dearie leaned her head to the side, clearly curious about my shenanigans. 

"Would you be able... Hmm..." While I knew what I wanted to ask for, finding the right words to voice this request of mine out wasn"t easy. 

"Dang, just spill it out," Dearie rebuked, tapping her finger against the table. "You know that I will do anything as long as it"s within my power to help," she announced with a confident look on her face. 

"Could you carve out a small princedom or something like that, princedom that one of my retainers would run?" I pushed the limits of our relationship to the limit by posing this question. 

From an outside perspective, I just asked a freshly nominated ruler of a state to give up a part of its lands and population to an outsider. 

Even if our alliance was forged on the battlefield, it still wasn"t a request that could be easily granted. 

"A small princedom, huh?" Dearie repeated my words in a daze. Ayda, on the other hand, didn"t bother using her words and sent a nudge to my side instead. 

"I know how it sounds, but hear me out." I expected this kind of answer, so I was prepared to show the good sides of this solution. "First off, you should already know that the technological level of my hometown is on another level when compared to what this continent presents on average." I started.

"Are you thinking about what I"m thinking you are thinking?" Ayda asked in a funny way, trying to hide the excitement that grew slowly in her soul. 

What a catchy little devil she was to figure my plan out so quickly. 

"Wait a moment," Dearie attempted to stop me. 

"I don"t need the place to be big. A single city or even village will do." I continued my explanations, hoping to show the good sides of this proposition to the winger girl.

"Listen, it"s not a problem," Dearie sighed, resting her head on her palm. "You gave me this world on a silver platter. How could something so small be a problem?" she asked. 

"Ugh, I see..." My response was somewhat lacking. The only thing I could attribute it to was the sheer shock created by Dearie"s words. 

Never in my life did I expect her to agree to it so easily!

"I can see it all over your face, dummy," Dearie rested her chin on both of her hands as she looked at me with upturned eyes. "I can see the benefits of housing one of your people, and," she said, stopping her sentence in the middle. 

Her smile blossomed. "I can clearly tell you wish to, let"s say, delegate that person. As great as you are in bed," Dearie cast a quick glance at Ayda"s face, "you should also understand how happy I will be once you leave this place." 

All of a sudden, the atmosphere turned cold. 

No, the cold wasn"t the right word. There was no enmity between parties. There was no slightest reason to be hostile. The discussion right now just took a turn for a more mature meaning. 

"How could I overlook it?" I decided to ask in hopes of masking just how confused I was. 

Not so long ago, this girl was moaning under me, wildly pushing her hips with all her strength to rub against me. And now she was claiming she would be happy to see me gone?

Yuck. As depressing as it sounded when I first heard it, I quickly came to my senses. This wasn"t a talk about something as silly as crushes or s.e.xual attraction. The ongoing debate would settle the spheres of influence in this world between me, the invader, and Dearie, representing all the locals. 

"Either way, I"m glad to see that we can understand each other position," I took Dearie up on her offer. 

It was true I slept with her only a few days ago. Yet, there was no denying that I still felt slightly guilty about it all. Thinking logically, I should be happy to leave this place, possibly never to come back. But why then was there a slight ache in my heart whenever I forced my lips to smile?

But at this moment, none of my feelings mattered. 

"Let"s get the outline of the project, then," Dearie smiled as she pulled out a sheet of paper and pa.s.sed it over. 

"Sure thing," grabbing a pen of my own, I started drawing the terms of our agreement.

"How does a remote village near an important trading route sound?" I asked, raising my eyes at the leader of the winged tribes. 

"Doable, keep going," Dearie nodded her head with a content expression all over her face. 

"It will be exempted from taxes and tariffs and will receive manpower upon request, although for a fair price and maintenance." I threw another few terms that would lay the foundation for the local power of my sect.

"I can"t agree if we won"t be able to refuse the request, thought," Dearie protested, proving that she wasn"t going to just nod her head to everything I would say. 

"That"s understandable. But hey, let me speak informally for a moment," I smiled at Dearie before releasing a huge sigh. "Dang, isn"t it tiring to act all-powerful and mighty?" I moved my hand up to loosen the collar of my shirt. 

"Isn"t it?" Dearie wholeheartedly agreed, sinking down on her chair. "You wanted something. What is it?" she was quick to move the topic back on the right track. 

"Our need for manpower will grow gradually. But, ultimately, I want most of the place to be run by your people," I said, putting a sad smile on my face.  "You know, just in..." 

"...in case," Dearie finished my sentence, nodding her head. "I understand. It wouldn"t be good if the delegated retainer were to get too much power for their own good." Dearie smiled, probably pitying the fate of whoever I had in mind.