"That was a bit silly of me."

"Please avoid flattering yourself, Master."

All the pirates were unconscious after being electrocuted by Creare. However, I could not manage a ship this large by myself, so I had to find a way to control them.

I used this moment of relative privacy to visit the toilet first. Then, I pulled out some batteries and LEDs from my bag and started crafting.


When the sailors regained consciousness, they found some strange glowing contraptions around their necks. I was staring down at them with cold look with Creare hanging next to my shoulder.

"Your lives are forfeit to me. From now on, you have only one right: the right to death. You may claim your right at any time, under any circumstances. All you need to do is request it, and the exploding collars around your necks will take care of it. Now - kneel or die!"

Explosive collars were often mentioned in stories about evil technomages of the past. There were no explosives in my collars, but I hoped that fear would keep my new team in check for a while, and after arriving on the island, security robots would help manage them.

"No objections? It's always a good idea to start by making an example out of somebody, but it looks like you are smart enough not to go through with it."

I went on. "As of now, you are members of the White Order! Do your best to protect the innocent and atone for your sins, and one day you may get your life back. As the Grandmaster of the Order, I will lead you on this path."


Creare started hanging around the sailors constantly and managing them. Its behaviour reminded me of what I had heard about cults indoctrinating their new recruits. It kept them constantly busy and watched. Then it made them talk about their new purpose in life and express their feelings about it. It gave rewards to those who really put their minds into it.

"Hey, Creare, why are you always so stingy about awarding them? It's always just a tiny piece of jerky or a bit of rest. Why don't you try to offer better rewards? We have plenty of tasty foods and alcohol in the captain's quarters. And why do you sometimes give it to the former captain? He does nothing to hide that he hates his new situation."

"It is a standard part of brainwashing, Master. I must keep rewards a bit unpredictable and small. This way, it will be hard for them to convince themselves that they say good things about the White Order only as a way of getting my prize. Therefore they are more likely to believe what they say."


I was glad that we did not have to kill anybody, but this brainwashing routine left a bad aftertaste in my mouth. Still, after some thinking, I realized that too many challenges awaited me.

"Master, don't you think it's time for a bath? You do it so rarely; sometimes I think you are a boy."

Flute of Fanoss, Sacred Tree, and Arcadia Battleship... I had to be ruthless to make this world bend to my will!

"I have odor sensors, you know? And the team suffers because of that too..."

I knew that the best way to deal with slander is to ignore it, especially if it is completely true.

I did my best Slayers Naga's laugh imitation as I steeled my resolve to do evil deeds for the sake of goodness. You want a picture of the upcoming future? Imagine my stiletto heel stomping on the face of humanity - forever!

"Master, it feels like a bag of fish is decomposing in here! You have to wash yourself everywhere, if you know what I mean."


Soon, we arrived at the island, and Creare found a stasis warehouse with thousands of explosive collars. They were much better looking than the old ones and had actual explosives inside, so I gave them as a present to my crew. Some of them actually expressed gratitude for the gift...

After that, we spent several weeks collecting everything valuable from the wreckage and the base, from glass panes to copper wire. We sold all of that in the nearby town, and I sent the ship back for extra loot while I dealt with lawyers and the Adventurer's Guild. For some reason, there were not as many scantily clad female adventurers as anime series usually show. But even women and commoners could achieve the sacred status of an adventurer as long as they provided results.

I hired a tugboat to move my island closer to my father's domain. It looked tiny next to the giant flying landmass. First it pulled the island just a little, then switched to pushing, and repeated this cycle many times. At the end of the day, the island was moving back and forth several hundred meters. Eventually, it would jump over to the neighbouring equilibrium point. After that tugboat would repeat the process all over again until it's arrival to the destination.

I heard that Fanoss barbarians used this method to crash two islands together and collect rising flying stones with nets. The rate of extraction was ridiculously slow, but it was so cheap that Fanoss hoarded enough stones for a dozen fleets.


I did not find a giant skyship or battle robot, so the return of the prodigal daughter to her home was not as spectacular as in the original story. Still, I got my hugs and settled my debts.

Just as I expected, I received the title of Baroness. I had to attend the Academy and find a suitable husband there.

Obviously, I did not intend to do anything about the last part. As a modern person, I did not have any qualms about doing hanky-panky with the opposite gender if I wanted. Therefore I decided to concentrate on never wanting it in the first place.

"By the way, Master, do you understand the changes that evolution has brought to humanity in the past seventy thousand years?"

"No idea. Why?"

"As you may remember, in the twenty-first century, people started having troubles with procreation. Civilization created all those superstimuli like junk food or adult films and messed up natural reward systems. Natural selection started favoring human beings who were more interested in the opposite gender. And this selection continued for three thousand generations."

"I see... Whatever. Creare, I need some alone time now. For self-introspection."

"Introspection... So that's how young people call it these days. Do not forget to lock the door and try to be quiet."

"OUT!"