“AnDyCoin.”
It’s an in-house currency I made, modeled after Isabel-san from Cosmos Honpo’s “Isabel Coin.”
Well, more like a service voucher than actual currency.
If someone presents this to me, I have to either craft something for them or use a dragon to support their travels.
Lately, people have been using it as a cheat code to say, “Let’s make a ton of kids!” but unless you’re Cosmos-san or Hildegard-san-level sex fiends—or even a dragon—it won’t last that long, so I wish more people would realize that kind of use is a waste.
I’ll still give them a satisfying romp if they ask nicely in the first place.
Besides, Hildegard-san says my sperm volume doesn’t really increase pregnancy odds much after a few shots anyway.
Anyway, this “AnDyCoin” can also be transferred to others.
Well, some female slaves probably don’t find my homemade items that appealing, and some outsiders might think it’s better to cash them in.
The Vapor Palace isn’t just for female slaves and dragons; the Northern Elves, Onyx Maidens, Cat Colony girls, and even Cosmos Honpo’s whores come and go, so there are cases where I give coins to those kinds of people too. So, a rich female slave buying up that right is definitely an option.
That’s what I was expecting, anyway.
“Pa! This!"
"…Why do you have this, Lia?"
"Mama gave it to me for my birthday!"
"…?”
Floria. Naris’s daughter. Seven years old.
Naris is one of the few female slaves who’s a heavy user of these coins (mostly for tourist and adventure travel), so she’d probably use it herself rather than give it to her kid.
If she’s prone to using them herself, how did she manage to save some up for Floria? I remember trying to buy some from other kids, and they cost quite a bit.
And why would she give it to her daughter in the first place?
Especially since most submissions lately are for erotic purposes, I’m bracing myself for the possibility that Naris has finally succumbed to the madness of teaching her kid about daddy’s dirty secrets.
“If I use this, I can go anywhere with you, right?"
"…Uh, yeah… well, sure."
"Pa, I want to go into the Northern Forest! Kris-Mama says it’s so pretty!"
"…Ah, I see…”
Naris is from the Southern Great Plains elves, so her daughter Floria is considered an “outsider” to the forest.
Lately, Anzelos and the forest elves have become more lenient, letting half-breeds pass through without much trouble, but since Floria was raised outside the Palace, she still doesn’t have any connections there. Even if someone were to take her, she’d have few people to rely on.
Come to think of it, Naris really doesn’t have many friends in that regard… I’m suddenly feeling a bit guilty.
“You’ve been there before, right, Pa?"
"Well, a few times…"
"Take me! I’ll give you a kiss!"
"Alright, consider it done.”
Now, let me be clear—I don’t exactly feel any romantic attraction to Floria.
But if your daughter asks you to give her a kiss in exchange for taking her somewhere, wouldn’t you try your best?
Besides, the Sakura Clan’s territory is pretty laid-back, even among the Nine Clans—only slightly stricter than Red, Blue, and White. I’d be more worried about walking through Silver Territory.
…The reason why the blue is more lax than white is because I accidentally made Voice Grandpa’s great-grandson here.
Originally, the clan wasn’t one to fuss over details, but now I’m practically considered family by Voice Grandpa. Apparently, in recent clan meetings, Voice Grandpa is acting as a full guardian for Aileen.
I appreciate it, but am I really just wrecking the forest all by myself?
But that’s beside the point.
◇◇◇
I make an appointment with Kristi.
Kristi gave birth to her child around the same time as Nalis, and the child was named Wedge. A boy.
As is common with those in positions of power, his family didn’t approve of raising him mixed in with other commoner children at the Palace, so despite being a half-elf, he’s been raised at the clan manor since infancy, only visiting occasionally.
Every time he comes, he gets flustered by the Palace’s full-nudity paradise, so the cats and whores find it amusing and get overly affectionate with him, but I worry about him becoming a warped kid.
Kristi says, “I think it’s better not to hide the fact that he’s the child of that kind of person,” and she’s passively observing Wedge’s experiences.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
“So, I want to take Rea on a two-night trip to Sakura’s territory."
"Why not just take her normally?"
"Since I was given a coin, I have to treat it like a proper plan. I decided that coin is worth moving a dragon, so I can’t get away with a half-assed outing. …I want to fly directly to Sakura without using a teleportation circle."
"That… if you don’t inform the other clans, they’ll wonder what’s going on, certainly.”
Kristi agrees.
The barrier within the Northern Forest is vast. If we try to move without a teleportation circle, it’ll be like a grand journey to Celesta or the shores of Valerie Lake.
Floria wants to see beautiful scenery, so I plan to take her up in the air for a scenic tour of the forest before heading to Sakura’s place.
“Even so, that’s quite extravagant…"
"Rea is the child of a dragon rider, after all. It can’t be bad to let her experience that."
"No, using a dragon with just one coin and monopolizing your master like that—"
"…That way?"
"If I recall correctly, Emma proposed using coins to move dragons as a way to reduce your burden, Master."
"…Now that you mention it…”
The burden the dragon was supposed to shoulder isn’t being shouldered at all.
Rather, I’m getting double-taken advantage of.
“N-no, but hey, I want to be proactive about fulfilling requests like this. Because Rea is a fine daughter of mine. Sure, she might just be one of hundreds, but that doesn’t mean I can treat her lightly."
"I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it. I’m just saying it’s extravagant.”
Kristi raises a finger.
“We female slaves understand, but if the children complain… it’ll be hard to quell them."
"…Y-yeah.”
The female slaves stand behind me, maintaining the pretense that this is all my own doing, my own free will. If their demands endlessly exceed my intentions and overwhelm me, then my own motivation will be sapped, which would be pointless.
Putting aside the restrained female slaves, what if the children start demanding things from me?
They’re children, so of course they have the right to speak up. And while I should reject requests that are just too much, that’s also part of being a parent. It should be manageable… but there are hundreds of them.
Tasks that could be carefully examined in a close parent-child relationship become impossible to manage with this many people.
And so, a sense of favoritism and exclusion arose among the children, creating friction that could easily escalate into factions—a veritable hell. That’s why I think Christie is subtly implying that while it’s good to be kind to cute girls, you should also maintain a certain distance…
But.
”…But, I want to have a normal parent-child event… I want to have memories as a regular father more than anything!"
"…Y-yes, that’s true.”
Christie averts her eyes. She knows it too. In the Palace, Helena is now aggressively pushing boundaries. Using birth control as an excuse, she’s demanding sex in every conceivable position, wearing hand-me-down collars, even requesting anal sex—so proactive in her pursuit of sexual experiences that some girls are starting to get restless, wondering if they should follow Helena’s lead…?
Living in the Palace has made it impossible to just play pretend as a normal father. They expect nothing but “Are you going to turn this into an erotic scene? Like some lewd manga!” So a pure request like Floria’s is actually a rare and precious thing.
◇◇◇
I had Lira carry Floria on the dragon. Because Floria is closest to her.
Lira herself has a strange fondness for Naris, often acting as his guardian even during their Porca life.
Perhaps that’s why Floria thinks of Lira like an aunt. Probably considers her closer family than me.
Well, everyone’s family in a way, but it’s unavoidable that the kids living in the Palace and the Colony have a slightly different sensibility.
“Lira flies fast. Make sure you hold on tight to your clothes, or the wind will blow you away."
"Hohoho. To ride upon my back is now a special honor. Be mindful, Floria.”
I helped Floria climb onto the black dragon’s back, where she lay belly-down against its scales.
To make it comfortable for both of them to ride, I had a seat crafted from forest wood and dragon materials, fitting between Lira’s spines.
If it were a smaller creature, you might call it a saddle, but it’s too much like an ordinary seat to warrant that name.
I thought the dragon would dislike having such equipment strapped to its back, but Lira just laughed, saying, “What are you holding back for now?”
Well… yeah. For a dragon who says she’d endure having her limbs cut off if a rider demanded it, that might sound like a petty complaint. But there’s also a chance it could be deeply humiliating.
Turns out I was overthinking it. So here we are, inside the forest barrier, ready for takeoff.
“Lira, buckle up properly. It might be tight, but if you fall, you’ll die."
"Ugh. This is so annoying."
"It’s not annoying. I’ve warned Myia to watch out, but even in a normal ‘house,’ people have fallen to their deaths before.”
Myia is also on board as an accident prevention officer.
Myia has incredible physical abilities and wouldn’t be harmed if she fell, so she’s just standing casually on the dragon’s back. But Floria, who finds the belt annoying, might find her presence a bit much.
“Since ‘houses’ are usually sealed shut, Lira might not have seen the scenery from a flying dragon before… Don’t wet yourself, okay? Mom used to pee her pants all the time because she was scared of Lira."
"Hohoho. Reminds me of old times."
"Ehhh? Mom was already a knight when she met Dad, right?"
"Even knights are usually scared of dragons.”
As they babbled on, Lira rose up, flapped her wings, and slowly lifted off the ground.
Of course, Floria shows no signs of Naris’s phobia. Good.
…Naris himself is out on a trip using his coins today, though.
I considered having the whole family go out together when he returned, but since it seems like a two-week tour of the Quieca region (which has plenty of tourist attractions and labyrinths nearby), I decided to postpone it for another time.
“Whoa… that’s fast!”
Floria was thrilled by Lila’s increasing speed.
I’d heard she was the type to just embroider at home, but it seems she doesn’t mind thrilling experiences either.
As I stroked her bright red hair, which fluttered in the wind as she cheered, I basked in the long-missed satisfaction of being a “father.”
That’s right, this is what family service is all about. Making your kids happy.
“Don’t just get carried away with the speed. The ground’s beautiful too, you know. Look, that’s the Spirit Peak. It looks like an illusion from here, though.”
”…?”
The space is warped, so just because you can see it doesn’t mean it’s actually close.
Normally, you’d only be able to see a mountain like that if it was maybe a hundred or two hundred kilometers away, but in reality, the Spirit Peak is over a thousand kilometers from the edge of the Silver Territory, or something like that.
…There’s no point in explaining all that to Floria. It’s just some trivia I barely understand myself.
“How long will it take?”
“Lila, how long?”
“Uh, about four hours, maybe. We can have Cristy prepare dinner when we get there.”
“Eeeh, but if it’s that far, isn’t Christma already over there?!”
“There’s a shortcut.”
“I want to go that way too!”
Ugh… my carefully planned scheme is being rejected.
“W-well, don’t say that. I couldn’t fly over the Wind of the Forest like this at any other time.”
Lila was covering for me and even doing some aerial stunts. A barrel roll!
Floria was screaming with delight, but I was a little tense. I didn’t exactly design the seat with backflips in mind.
Luckily, there were no malfunctions.
I thought Mai’a would fall, but she just stood there, hands-free. How is she doing that? Is she using magic or something?
“When we get there, we’ll set up a tent and make a campfire, and you can sleep with Papa.”
“Yay!”
The two-night, three-day trip is also a camping practice.
I’m going to use the Celesta Army’s camping gear for the first time in ages and teach Floria the joys of the outdoors.
I thought Floria was an indoor type, but she’s really looking forward to it. Maybe her girly hobbies are just a result of how she was raised, and deep down, she actually longs for an adventurous life like Naris’s…
Well, if your kid grows up listening to Naris’s bedtime stories, there’s no way they won’t be inspired.
Teaching the actual joys and hardships of this kind of thing is what being a father is all about, isn’t it?
Yeah, yeah. This is going to be a really good memory.
◇◇◇
Later.
“Dad hates me!”
“That’s not true.”
“But… you only dote on Lila and Elenia!”
“I think you’re cute too."
"Then…?"
"But I can’t put it in. Elenia is enough for me."
"That’s so unfair…!"
"No, seriously? I’ve explained countless times that a father shouldn’t do that sort of thing, right?"
"But you did it to Elenia!”
The one who caused the biggest explosion of resentment was, surprisingly, Freena.
”Elenia’s a pervert, so I just gave up on her!"
"She’s my daughter, after all~♪"
"As a mother, you’re allowed to protest, Serena."
"That’s what you say, but right now, we’re in the middle of a pregnant coupling, aren’t we?”
It’s fine that she’s strong-willed like that, but Neia is also waiting her turn for coupling while pregnant.
”So, Freena is also a mother, making the conditions equal."
"Mom, say something too!"
"…Um, Master? What should I say?"
"For now, just try to be somewhat normal."
"Don’t ask so much in this situation…”
The Vapor Palace is filled with steam, skin tones, and semen as always.