Chương 9: Chapter 1.9: World Domination

Favius and Brutus walked back through the firelit shadows of an eerily quiet city after nightfall. Favius grew more and more nervous as they got closer to Marcus's city estate. As they entered the district where the residential buildings gave way to the enclosed walls of the townhouses, Brutus spoke up.

"So what are we telling your new father about what we just did in town?" Favius winced, but then tapped his chin.

"Marcus..." he trailed off and then turned to Brutus.

"He's fundamentally a politician." Brutus chuckled bitterly.

"With all of his shriveled heart and weak soul." Favius looked ahead and nodded.

"Very well. Let me do the talking. I'll handle it." A smile played over Brutus's face.

"As you wish, Dominus."

"But," he said after a few more steps, "shall I interfere if he wishes to whip you, or do you believe that to be his parental prerogative?" Favius's stomach tightened slightly. But he shook his head. Of course they are using corporal punishment for children. What was I even expecting? Favius forced out a chuckle.

"If everything goes to plan, that won't be an issue." Brutus gave a noncommittal grunt, and soon they reached the townhouse and were ushered in by the guards. Favius confidently led the way into the entrance hall, but before he had taken more than five steps, a furious Marcus with slightly disheveled robes rushed into the hall.

"What is the meaning—" But Favius didn't give the man time to get going.

"Father!" He rushed forward, hugging the man, and Marcus froze.

"Oh my god, it was so scary when the riot happened. And Brutus, there was this strange man who bashed a club over the guard's head, and then Brutus got me out of there, and—" Favius made himself sniffle.

"It was so scary, and then we hid, and oh my god, I'm so happy to be back here." Marcus, first awkwardly, then more confidently, rubbed the boy's back before pushing him back, both his hands on his shoulders. Something tightened in Favius's stomach, remembering Severin, his real father, doing the very same thing. The outrage gave way to confusion for a moment, but Favius saw the exact instant Marcus decided that this story—his child saved from a riot by a loyal bodyguard—was convenient to him.

It beat the version where his new heir ran off and humiliated him after a bodyguard who was still a political risk started a riot during his faction's show of power. Marcus stepped forward and hugged him again.

"Then I'm glad to have you back, son."

"And—" He leaned in close and whispered into Favius's ear.

"If you run off again, I'll have your siblings whipped, boy." Ice ran down Favius's spine as Marcus ruffled his hair, and then continued out loud, turning an almost genuine smile on Brutus.

"And you, Brutus, you have my thanks for protecting my son. After all, there is no telling what could have happened if some violent maniac got his hands on him when the situation escalated." Favius heard Brutus slam his fist into his chest, and the man replied in an all-too-dry tone.

"I was merely doing my duty, Ovinius Loran." Marcus patted Favius on the shoulder again.

"You must be exhausted. It is probably best if you go to your bedchambers now." Favius only let out a relieved breath when they were halfway down the corridor, back in the chamber he had woken up in with Brutus. He was relieved but angry. How dare this asshole threaten to hurt my siblings? He took a deep breath, forcing the anger out of his system. I am what amounts to a political hostage. I'm no longer an adult, but— Before his musings could grow any darker, Brutus chuckled behind him.

"That was well done. You almost had me fooled." Favius turned to his protector, and Brutus's face fell as he saw the boy's expression.

"Didn't fool Marcus. He told me that he is going to whip my siblings if I run away again." Brutus ground his teeth, and for the first time in his life, Favius knew what people meant when they talked about seeing killing intent in someone.

"Did he now?" asked Brutus, his tone suspiciously pleasant. For a moment, Favius considered the situation. I could sic Brutus on him to try to gain a total victory, but... He let out a sigh. I'm going to have to find some sort of arrangement with Marcus. As long as it's only threats, I can live with that.

"Don't do anything," he ordered Brutus, sharing his thoughts with him, and the cultivator nodded after considering the situation for a moment. As Favius undressed himself and got into bed, Brutus settled down in a meditative pose in front of the door. With a smile, Favius fell asleep. Let's see what quest rewards look like. After drifting off to sleep—more slowly than he had expected, thanks to his excitement—he found himself standing in the same white world, in the same knee-deep water.

He slowly looked from side to side and—yes, there, at the edge of his peripheral vision. The entity.

"Well?" asked Favius.

"Was the quality and speed with which I fulfilled my first quest sufficient to gain me a good reward?" The entity's tinkling chuckle echoed in his mind.

"It certainly was. You certainly solved the quest with all possible alacrity. Do you wish to call in your reward now or later?" The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Favius raised a hand.

"I have some questions I want to—" The entity shook its head.

"So you want to use your reward now to gain some answers?"

"No, I just want you to clarify some—" The entity made a cutting gesture with its hand and interrupted him.

"Then our business shall be limited to selecting your next quest." Favius ground his teeth. It's not talking. It's not willing to give me anything for free. Maybe I should use my first quest reward to learn more about this system and my entire situation. But he shook his head after a brief moment of consideration. I'm still in the stage where I'm learning about this world and gathering information. Those quest rewards are rare and valuable.

I need to use them so I can maximize my leverage, and I just don't know enough to ask the right questions. Favius let out a sigh.

"Show me the options for the quests." The same old list of quests appeared before him, and he read through the seven options. The magic- and politics-related ones from before were still there, though they all now had a plus after the name. He turned his attention to the entity.

"I assume the plus—" The entity continued, "indicates that the quest is enhanced because you are on a streak of successful quests." He examined the two new options. Available Quests 1. Establish Leverage + Gain one durable advantage over a person, household, or institution. 2. Technological Intervention + Introduce one innovation from your previous world into local practice. … All the reasons for avoiding the magic-related quests are still valid.

I need a quest I can complete quickly and well so I can learn more about the system. I guess I got the leverage quest for what I did with Brutus and Marcus. The technology one just seems like the next step after the first quest. He came to a decision quickly. I simply can't guarantee that I will be able to replicate my power plays. Spreading a single innovation is much simpler. Favius nodded and selected his next quest and locked in his choice with the entity.

"And for your reward, I assume you'll want the same as before? An open-ended question?" The entity's voice was almost amused as Favius nodded. Again, he turned his attention to it.

"Could you just please clarify how—" The white world again disappeared without any warning. The next thing Favius knew, he was waking up in the morning, nearly growling in frustration. If the entity wasn't so reticent, I could learn so much. Stingy bastard. After a relatively normal morning routine of getting dressed, breaking the fast, and packing, he soon found himself traveling out of the city with his siblings, Brutus, and Marcus.

A wooden frame held a cloth roof that kept the sun off them, and he could see that the cloth could be rolled down to close the sides. But ultimately, they were traveling the countryside in a wheeled pavilion. Favius let his anger at the entity and Marcus go, taking deep breaths as he studied the land. They were traveling through wide cultivated plains. He could make out rising mountains on both sides, though those to the east were significantly taller and capped with snow.

As far as the eye could see, irrigation channels and tall green grain painted an idyllic picture of the late spring landscape. He studied the plants growing in the fields. They are tall. Almost as tall as a man. He narrowed his eyes, then remembered. Modern grain species had been bred to be much shorter and stable, so they wouldn't fall over as easily and would spend less energy growing straw and put more into the ears. Then he frowned.

The grain was green, but the color—he closed his eyes and tried to recall memories of green wheat fields on Earth. The color was off somehow. Following a suspicion, he leaned out from under the roof and studied the sky. About a third of it was covered in fuzzy clouds, but again they seemed not quite white-grey, but slightly yellow instead. The sky was whiter and warmer than he remembered, and the sun—he squinted at it. It wasn't the same bright yellowish-white that he remembered from Earth.

The sun was bigger, nearly by half, and its light was tinged orange.

"What the—" he murmured to himself, making Urania look strangely at him. But he shook his head and touched her shoulder before focusing on his own thoughts. Well, I guess I'm not in Kansas anymore. This is a different world. He turned to Brutus, deciding on a simple experiment.

"Could I have your coin pouch for a moment?" Again, without questioning why a ten-year-old was asking him to hand over all his money, Brutus gave it to him. Favius stood up and held the coin pouch as high as he could. Maybe 1. 8 meters above the ground? he guesstimated before letting it fall. He repeated the experiment three times but couldn't quite figure out if it fell faster or slower than it should have.

"What are you doing?" murmured Urania, her tone a mixture of interest and annoyance. He turned to her as he handed the coin pouch back to Brutus. Even Marcus was observing with idle curiosity, looking up from a scroll he was reading. Favius sputtered for a moment.

"I was—" Then he decided on the simplest answer.

"Simply playing around. Wanted to see how a falling coin pouch sounds." Marcus grumbled, "I hope you are satisfied with what you found out. Please refrain from further disturbing me." Favius smiled cheerily at the man.

"Of course, Father." Brutus smirked at him. As he settled back down, he let his thoughts drift back to what the entity had said: the competition between the worlds, the 250-year deadline. It sounds like such a long time, but if I want to do anything serious... this world has magic and steel, but technologically it looks like the late Bronze Age. But he had already settled on the outline of a plan.

First, I need to understand this world, then I need to become rich and influential, and then things will get interesting. He considered the Senate. There will probably come a point in time where I'll have to gain significant political power to achieve my goals. Brutus cleared his throat and interrupted Favius's thoughts.

"What are you thinking about, Favius?" For a moment, Favius considered coming up with another story. But then he grinned.

"World domination. What else?" Brutus hummed and stroked his beard.

"A worthy subject of inquiry—for a boy of twenty-three cycles." Favius frowned. Twenty-three cycles? He was ten years old, he knew that. Then he frowned again as the mild headache of knowledge from this and the previous life collided. His mind had somehow translated the ages of his siblings and everyone he had met into Earth years. But he looked back out at the large orange sun. This wasn't Earth. So that meant—"How many days are there in a year?" he asked out loud. Brutus narrowed his eyes.

"One hundred and twenty-five." And Favius froze in surprise. That's a third of an Earth year. He looked over the fields. Meaning each season is as long as a month back home. So how do their plants grow within three months? He shook his head and chuckled. I really need to study this world a lot more before I do anything. Then another thought occurred to him. If the length of the year was different, then—"How long is a day?" he asked, and Brutus replied with an odd expression on his face.

"Twenty hours." This time Favius was ready and listened carefully to what was said. The word didn't quite translate to hours. The translation was more similar to time sections. He frowned, considering his gravity experiment with the coin pouch again. The days feel similar to Earth days, and the coin pouch seems to have fallen like it would on Earth but as long as I'm just guesstimating stuff—all I can really say is that time units are within twenty percent of what I know.

And that's assuming I can actually trust my body. If I'm adapted to the local sidereal rhythm, hell, the day could have thirty Earth hours, and I might not notice it. He sighed, realizing that he would have to reinvent the metric system to even begin getting reasonable measurements. As he began rearranging his plans for gathering information about this world, they approached their destination.

The fields around them slowly changed from grain to vegetables and various root crops, and soon they were traveling through a small number of hillocks whose sides were covered with olive, apple, and grape orchards. Marcus spoke up and pointed at the highest of the small hills.

"Behold, your new home." Favius studied the walled estate as they traveled through the gate and into the inner courtyard. Household servants stood like a military unit for inspection. At their center, a politely smiling woman and an elderly man whose eyes glittered with intelligence waited. Brutus let out a weary sigh and looked at Favius and his siblings.

"Guess it's time to meet your new mother." It looked as if he wanted to say more, but he simply shook his head and got off the wagon.