Warning: Scene +18 in the chapter

During the trip I bought some properties in Sadera, Telta and in the port of Proptor, these buildings will be used as headquarters where the company can trade and hire personnel, but for the moment I would not hire many until we have some product to make money.

I wanted to go directly to Hellas to get the coffee, but first I had to organize the territory, appoint officials, take care of the population, and other bureaucratic things. Things I didn't have much talent to do, just seeing a huge pile of papers about taxes, production, security, disease outbreaks, crop quality, monsters and bandits stealing the herds and so on made me think that maybe spending the days eating the military rations in a siege is not so bad... I tried to read that pile of papers but... I didn't understand even half of what was being said, not because it was difficult but because I was overwhelmed by the amount of information.

However I remembered some wise words I read somewhere in some light novel, if you don't know how to do something then just delegate, delegate all the responsibilities and work to those who know how to do it and don't try to be an all powerful ruler. Just like the main character in that novel spent her time eating candy while the others did all the work.

... But I don't have anyone talented here! Well, I lie, I brought with me several engineers to supervise and improve the infrastructure, as well as guards with experience in fighting bandits which abound but... there is no one to help me when it comes to land distribution or resource management, the only thing I have is that the girls learned something from Diabo when he was taking care of them. So I can only count on basic knowledge from them and the mediocre ministers in these lands, but it's better than nothing.

"Aggh, if Diabo had accompanied me..."

/

Fort of the Sun

The fort of the Sun was the only thing that indicated that this territory was owned by the empire, and yet it was the target of looters who attacked regularly to inflict fear to the local lord of the day, also that was the only safe place to stay so that place would be my base of operations at least until there were no more looters.

Commander Castor and I were in the war room, looking at the map of the region.

"We have 2 thousand men counting soldiers and guards, however they are scattered in the territory trying to fight bandits and looters, so together with their personal guard we have 400 soldiers in the fort, 60 of them are cavalry." Explained the commander.

As he was talking about combats and wars I felt in my element, I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing but it was useful, which is the important thing.

"Do we know where their camp is?" I asked looking at the map.

"No sir, however we must prepare for the coming attack, soon the looters will become aware of the change in administration and will want to show muscle to dissuade us from trying anything against them."

"With what... a show of force..." Thinking of some solution. "How many men would we be up against?"

"Approximately 900 to 1000 enemy your highness."

"Do you know if they have military training?"

"They know how to handle weapons as well or even better than the average soldier, but if you mean do they use advanced formations then no, but they are disciplined enough to make a wall with their shields if their boss orders it."

"Equipment?"

"No heavy armor, if they fought our knights head on they wouldn't stand a chance, however they use a lot of projectiles and usually surround our soldiers."

"Simple but effective tactics, they take advantage of our best troops being scattered to attack them in groups? Well, that's over. Call all soldiers to assemble at the fort." I ordered.

"But sir! That will leave the villages unprotected!"

"Yes, but since we know where they will attack, let's destroy them, make them pay for believing that the Empire will be intimidated by mere bandits." Getting up to leave. "Oh, and also wagons and carts with their respective horses, about 20... no, about 10 will do."

I had gone to my room with the intention of relaxing after the long trip. When I entered I saw Fent-Kaus arranging my things on the furniture.

With a mischievous smile I walked up behind her to grab her hips and pull her to me.

"M-master..."

"These days were too busy for me to properly take care of you girls∼" Starting to caress her thighs slowly, from above her knee until I almost reached her privates.

"M-mmm∼ We will always be available for you, master∼" She gave a slight moan.

"I see, I'm glad to know that∼" I said bringing my other hand to one of her breasts. "By the way, is there anything I should know about the cops?" I asked in case she knew anything useful for my trip, of course still stimulating her.

"W-well not really , a-ahh!∼ but two years from now the Cytheron games are being held, a-all the warring polis will have to make a truce until the games are over if they don't want to arouse the wrath of the gods... O-Oh by the gods!∼∼." Explained the young Anatian girl As my fingers reached for her intimacy.

"Then it would be best to wait for those games before going to negotiate." I said, feeling her body temperature rise.

"M-master∼∼ During that truce all polis suspend t-all official activities unless it's an emergency, t-it's a sacred festival and t-they won't agree to talk business∼" She was trying to keep talking normally to no avail.

"So it wouldn't matter and we would only lose time... In the end it would be better to go as soon as I get the chance." I slipped two of my fingers into her intimacy, feeling the warmth and wetness inside her.

"S-sorry master∼ I-I deserve a punishment for giving you bad news∼" She said turning her head to me, she was blushing and with a sensual look, indicating what kind of 'punishment' she wanted.

"I have the perfect punishment for someone like you."

With a smile, I lifted her in my arms to place her on my bed, beginning to undress.

However, before I started, someone knocked on the door.

"Is it urgent or can it wait?" I asked somewhat annoyed at how the moment was broken.

"It's Saskia, it's urgent, master."

At the sound of her voice I give a frustrated sigh, then put on a robe and go to open the door.

"What's wrong?"

I notice she looks into the room, seeing Fent-Kaus.

"Master, this is something I must tell you in private."

"It's all right... Fenti, you can go to your room, we'll continue this another time."

She obeys, straightening her clothes and leaving the room, but not before glancing sideways at Saskia.

"Letting her in, he closes the door behind her.

"Master Zorzal, ...that this may sound very disrespectful of me but... Are you really Zorzal?"

That she of all people would ask me that question left me surprised, it had even made me a little nervous.

"O-of course I am! Who else would I be?"

"Well, you could be a reincarnate!"

"Wait! How do you know-" I almost shouted instinctively, so I had brought my hand up to close my mouth revealing that she was right.

"Because Harngeil was, there's no way he would have made up all that stuff he wrote for you if he hadn't been in that world before. Besides, it wouldn't make sense to give that to an enemy if you weren't also a reincarnate."

"That's... a good point..." I said pretending to be calm but inside I was in total panic. What should I tell her now? What should I do with her now?

"Please, I want to know one thing..." She was somewhat worried as she spoke. "When I was given to you on your birthday... Was it you or the real Zorzal?"

"... You were given to me, from the first moment you were never with the real owner of this body."

What I said seemed to calm her down, she breathed a sigh of relief then spoke again.

"That means you are my master, only you."

Seeing what her concerns were, I was relieved to see that everything went well.

"So... those armies that appear in Harngeil's work? are they going to attack us?" She asked curiously, seeking to know more to help.

"That's right, in the original timeline they defeat the empire and transform it into a vassal state. The empire was overwhelmed in every aspect. Even if peace is preferable I must prepare to resist and counterattack. For that I must not only have a loyal army, I must have a reformed army that is capable of fighting, I need money and resources to industrialize my domain and I need all of Falmart to support me to resist, no matter if they are nobles, peasants, humans or demi-humans, I will need them all."

"Master, I want to help you in everything I can, no matter how small my contribution is I will help you in everything you need."

Smiling, watching her do one my arms went around her body to pull her to me.

"Oh and... I'm sorry for ruining your evening∼" She said with a flirtatious smile. "Lucky for you that you won't have to call anyone and wait∼ because I'm already over 18."

Surprised, knowing the implications.

"S-since when? Why didn't you say so before?"

"It was halfway through, so I decided to wait and have my present now∼" She said to then jump on me and start kissing my lips.

For a few moments I was in shock, I felt how the heat on my cheeks made me blush. However after a few seconds I took my hand to her hips and we melted in a passionate kiss.

Placing her back against the wall, my hands began to lift her dress as she dropped my robe, leaving my erect tool pointing straight at her.

At first I tried to take it slow and easy, but Saskia had other plans. Without stopping kissing she places her hands on my back and lifts her leg over my hips, pulling me towards her to get it in as quickly as possible.

Pulling me away from the kiss. "I can tell you were really looking forward to this∼ Happy birthday∼" I said to then start penetrating her, holding her hips as my manhood advanced inside her without stopping. We both gave a deep moan of pleasure once I reached the bottom and then our passionate kiss continued where we had left off.

As our tongues played with each other, I began to move my hips at a considerable pace, neither too slow nor too fast. Muffled moans from the kiss came from Saskia as our hips met at a marked pace.

After a few minutes of this she breaks away from the kiss, with a mischievous smile she pushes me down onto the bed, and then she gets on top of me. She takes my cock with one of her hands to guide it into her pussy and then starts to lower it all the way down to put it inside herself.

As she moved up and down on me, I brought one of my hands to one of her breasts to grope it.

The moans of pleasure from both of us only increased as she increased the intensity of the ride, each impact between our bodies causing a lewd noise.

After a long time in that position, I grabbed her to take her off me and put her on all fours, nobody said anything, we just looked at each other smiling blushing.

I rammed into her again, this time at a hard pace and without giving her time to rest, reaching the bottom of her with each thrust easily thanks to how wet she was. Our lustful noises flooded the room and we tried to last as long as possible.

It had been over an hour since we started, so after giving a deep grunt, I ended up releasing my seed inside her. She also gave a loud moan indicating that she too was at her limit and was coming.

After a few moments of trying to catch our breath, we cuddled on the bed to kiss again before going to sleep.

/

Army of looters, two weeks later

"Do we have to do this again? It hasn't even been a year and they've already changed again to a lord who doesn't want to negotiate." I was beginning to complain at the stubbornness of the empire.

"Those imperials never learn their lesson, let's see if this time we can capture the fort for ourselves." Said one of my companions carrying a scimitar, not one of the weapons that the Kazarim had given us.

"Quiet! we're getting close, you know what to do!" Said our boss to then go into action.

Our tactic was simple; arrows and javelins set fire to the mainly wooden defenses taking advantage of the darkness of the night while spearmen covered our flanks in case the imperial cavalry came out to try to attack us. after that we simply left without doing much more. Some time later we would return if the local lord on duty tried to do something against them again.

The attack started normally, only we noticed that there were more defenders than usual. There was an exchange of projectiles between the two until suddenly some horse-drawn chariots approached from the left flank of the bandits along with about 60 cavalrymen.

"Chief! about 10 war chariots are approaching along with cavalry... wait a minute, it looks like three are normal chariots... they seem to be carrying something on them but I can't identify that as they are covered by a white blanket." I said trying to figure out their plan.

"The spearmen are already in position," our chief was saying. "If they are idiots enough to attack then-" He couldn't finish speaking because a shell pierced his stomach, causing him to fall severely wounded.

"THE BOSS IS DOWN!"

"HOW?! HE'S OUT OF RANGE OF THE DEFENDERS!"

Imperial perspective.

The army of looters was slowly falling into chaos, at that moment I was driving a battle chariot, on my shoulder was being used as a support for the crossbow that fired against the enemy's chief.

"One down." Said Aureliano pulling the crossbow from my shoulder to start reloading.

"Wow, I see how you killed General Ruthenius." I said without noticing how he was hit, it was impossible to identify the enemy leader at that distance.

"I was a hunter before I joined the army, so I can identify the same deer I'm hunting even if there are identical ones nearby."

After reloading, he and the others in the carriages began firing their crossbows at the enemy spearmen. In the carriage there was room for two people: the driver and the crossbowman, plus of course a pike for when it came to melee.

The shooters, with the exception of Aureliano, were not very skilled as they received short training but they did not need precision when firing against a formation.

"Your highness, not to doubt you but with seven crossbowmen we won't be able to take out all those spearmen." Firing another bolt.

"That's right Carts in position!" I ordered and the three wagons spread out a bit looking at the enemy formation to then pull back the white sheets, revealing that they were carrying ballistae. "Now!"

The ballistas would start firing at the enemy formations, wreaking havoc when the shells hit, the local lords who ruled before me were impoverished lords who did not have enough money to hire technicians to build weapons like ballistas, but I spared no expense and hired several technicians and engineers..

"Gods, I love these guns." Seeing the destructive power of those giant crossbows. "Though I wish I had firearms already..."

It was a matter of time before the enemy line began to falter, so I ordered them to concentrate the attack on one point of the formation. After a few moments I began to move a purple flag on fire to warn the defenders that it was time to attack, at another point of the fort soldiers began to leave in order to combat, getting closer and closer to the enemies, the looters to see this tried to flee in disarray.

"Let a group of knights escort the wagons to the fortress! Everyone else to attack!" I ordered to charge where we had concentrated the projectiles, leaving a gap where the wagons and knights could enter, causing even more chaos to our enemies.

Those who did not surrender were slaughtered without mercy, those who surrendered were interrogated about the locations of their camps and then enslaved. In the following days the camps fell one by one, freeing those who had been captured by the looters.

A later investigation revealed that many of these "bandits" were actually members of different barbarian tribes located further north, with whom they exchanged different products obtained from looting, as well as the sale of slaves that they captured.

/

In the imperial palace a letter had arrived in the hands of the emperor, in that letter it was written that the Prince would go in person to the Hellenic polis to negotiate something. The old emperor was seriously thinking about what to do with this information, due to my experience as the king's hand I could see when he came up with an idea...

"Marcus, I want you to contact the Blue Sea pirates discreetly, tell them that a rather important nobleman may be kidnapped and extract a large amount of money for ransom."

"Yes your majesty." I replied giving a bow.

"Also tell them not to attack him in the Blue Sea, but in the Hellenic Sea."

I could see that his goal was to have the Zorzal company pay the ransom and thus deplete the money from his son's reserves. Even if he were forced to pay the ransom because of political issues he could simply seize the company by being beholden to him.

Now the pirates were not to know that they were going to attack the prince of the empire or they would be intimidated, they were to find out just when they captured him so that there would be no turning back.

/

Proptor

At the ports of Proptor I was boarding the ship that would take me to Anat, Saskia was about to board the ship but I stopped her.

"I'm sorry but I need you to come back."

"Huh, why?!" She asked confused.

"I need you to look after the company, you're the only person I trust who knows what I want to accomplish in the future."

"I don't know how much you think how qualified I am to take care of this. My family were not big traders, we sold bread..."

"And you also negotiated with your tribe to get Ali back? Look, I won't be able to negotiate with everyone, this trip could easily take two years, and if you go with me the company will be idle all that time and surrounded by barbaric tribes, incompetent administrators or competent people who go against everything I want to do." I explained.

"But I'm sure we have diplomats at the fort who will be able to negotiate with the tribes."

"They won't do it the good way, all the imperial diplomats would be limited to doing is insulting and threatening everyone." I argued. "Besides you are already respected by my personal guard."

"If by respected you mean they fear me..." she She said whispering then gave a yawn." If you were going to tell me to stay... Why did you wait until you got to Proptor! You could have told me at the fort!" annoyed that she had to come all the way for nothing.

"It's just that I would be bored all the way to Proptor and... A-AYYY!" I was interrupted as she began to squeeze my cheeks.

"Bad!~When you come back you're going to pay for it."~ Pouting.

"S-Sorry.~" Laughing a little. "But still it's not like you didn't have a pleasant trip~" I said winking a jo, making her blush.

So, after handing her a document stating that I was leaving her in charge, we parted ways again for the time being, as I climbed onto the deck of the ship and waved goodbye to Saskia, only for her to get back into the carriage and return. As our ship left the harbor, other smaller ships began to follow in the distance.

/

Proptor's Roads.

"And now how am I going to keep the company alive while he's gone."

I wondered as I was on my way back to the fort, the master placed all his trust in me but I'm not sure I can live up to his expectations.

"How am I going to deal with these minor nobles? They would no doubt obey the prince but I'm sure they would get rid of me as soon as they could." I said to myself pondering.

"The master's soldiers will obey me, but even though the prince's troops are much better than the poorly equipped troops of these local nobles, but I will be outnumbered and that's not good... besides I need as many loyal soldiers as I can to face the savage tribesmen."

I was thinking of some way to solve this problem, soon an idea came into my head.

"I can hire Volcatts and his men! I have free access to the company's money so I wouldn't have to worry about the impoverished nobles tempting them by telling them to pay them more."

Determined, I made a detour into the mountain range of ice and snow.

Hello everyone! I believe this is the first time I have communicated directly with you in a chapter.

I was actually quite nervous about writing +18 scenes especially about how you guys would react, but then I thought "Doesn't Gate itself have pretty raunchy sex scenes? Especially in the manga." So I decided to give this kind of scenes a try.

So if you like it then I'll do this type of scenes more often (Specifically in moments that I consider important like this.) And if you guys don't like it... well, the encounters will be implicit avoiding describing the act as I was doing until now.

That's all for today, see you in the next chapter!