Chapter 166 (Patreon)

Chapter 166

“So your inheritance, or the planet of Luteski, is a very prominent trading hub that manages transported goods throughout the Blood Moon Requiem and a number of our allies.  This is in large part due to three different reasons.  The first is that the planet has a natural shadow alteration built into its atmosphere, I’m not sure on the exact details but it allows the inhabitants to easily create or redirect wormholes.”  Kathrine gave Riven a knowing look.  “This means that it’s both easy to defend, and easy to invite people in - a double positive.  It also allows those with high shadow affinities to cultivate there more easily, which is a very good thing for many of us vampires who often have high shadow affinities.  Not only that, but it’s located on the outskirts of the empire but in a rather safe quadrant.  Not only do our own forces defend the planet, but so do many of our allies who are heavily invested in trading with us due to the easy access and expedient travel time it allows them.  It is a gold mine, frankly.”

“Why not just use Elysium altars and trading communes?” Riven asked curiously.

Kathrine smiled and pulled out a pipe, lighting it up with a conjuration of infernal flames and started to smoke.  She puffed out a cloud, then crossed her legs in contemplation.  “The short answer to that question is twofold.  First and foremost is taxes.  The system taxes on trade are incredibly high when you use communes, and you can avoid taxes to the system altogether by just traveling there yourself through ships or portal.”

“Spaceships?”

“We call them by a variety of names, but essentially yes.  They travel through space.”

“Neat.  What’s the second reason?”

“The second reason is that communes have limitations on how much you can buy or sell per year.  It won’t matter to you on this planet because it’s in the early stages of integration, but when planets start to develop and trade starts to pump out there’s a far larger scale of goods being exchanged - and these are limited by the system.  So when you hit that limit, the altar goes stale until the next year.”

Riven leaned back in his chair and took another swig of the blood wine, accidentally spilling some of it down his bare chest.  Choking slightly and wiping his mouth with one arm, he set the bottle back down and picked up a slab of meat - sharing a plate with Fay with a warm smile when she pushed it halfway between them to start eating.  “I see.  That’s good to know, I wasn’t aware there was a limit on the altars but I suppose it makes sense.  So the name of the planet if Lutseki, it has 50 million vampires and 11 billion slaves, it’s a profitable trading hub, it has a shadow affinity, and my punk relatives are trying to sell it off.  What else can you tell me about it?  Who are they trying to sell it to?”

Kathrine cocked her head and picked a peeled fruit off the bowl atop Genua’s back.  Rubbing it in the blood sauce covering the bound elf, Kathrine bit into the fruit to slowly chew.  “As I said, they’re trying to sell it to other nobles who are looking to capitalize before your eventual return into the fold.  It’s not just one, but many different major households that are looking to buy different establishments or parts of the planet.  The transactions can be stopped, but you must act now.”

The royal held out a hand and activated a ring on one finger, lighting up a black gemstone with white light before a scroll appeared over her hand.  Unfurling the scroll, a very fancy document adorned with different wax seals and exquisite ink handwriting appeared - and as she unfurled the item it also portrayed a series of changing pictures along with it.

The images shifted one by one every couple of seconds.  First it was a dark planet orbiting a white dwarf star, with swirling clouds of black and green in the atmosphere that only allowed brief glimpses of the continents below.  Next came images of various cities under dark clouds that glowed with orange and yellow lights, each with sprawling metropolises and towering skyscrapers that had fleets of alien airships docked or sailing overhead.  Some of the airships looked very similar to normal ships from earth, but those were far and few between.  There were armored capsules, enormous creations made out of living flesh or plants, tiny sleek silicone jets, and other innumerable types of ships that were often grouped together by design depending on where they hailed from.  After the fleets of ships and cities, the images of his planet showed vast networks of mines, inhabited by humanoids with pale eyes, purple skin, white hair and two smooth antennae that looked rather soft, fleshy and malleable as opposed to those of insects.  One of these depictions showed a deep crevice splitting the earth, with dim lights illuminating a vast complex stretching miles down where hundreds of thousands of these humanoids worked to acquire minerals under their vampire overseers.

“Those creatures are called Sarak, and they were the natives on this planet before it was conquered by our empire almost two millennia ago.”  Kathrine noted when he took particular interest in the last photo, but then she slapped the paper on the table and pushed it his way.  Leaning forward, she dismissed the images by tapping on one of the wax seals along the top of the parchment.  “You need to read and sign this today.  Doing so will establish that you are the acting head of the household unless your parents return, and that you retract any of the lower tiered members of your house that are trying to pawn it off.  I have also added some amendments stating that funds that’ve been going the lower nobility will be rerouted into your own personal coffers from here on out, as they’ve been stealing outlandish amounts of money from your parents already.  The problem is your parents are assumed dead and you weren’t known to have existed, so what they did was treading a fine line between legal and illegal means of acquiring their wealth.  If you wanted to, you could have their case heard in the upper courts as it is your right - but you cannot outright kill them either.  Not without punishment, because their lineage still a carrier for malignant prophecy even if they don’t have the gift themselves.  It would likely be up to the queen if you wanted to pursue vengeance for theft.”

Riven snorted, then shook his head.  “No, I don’t want to kill them.  For all they knew, I wasn’t even around and my parents were dead.  Just reroute the funds to my own coffers, wherever they are off world - and if they try to sell my stuff again or cheat me in some way then notify me.  I’m counting on you entirely for this Kathrine, because I don’t know anything about it..”

Kathrine nodded, then began to amend the document with a quill that magically rearranged some of the wording on the parchment below.  “Very well.  I will notify the courts.  Before signing, there’s also the topic of laws.”

Kathrine pointed to another section of the parchment down below, clicked one of the highlighted subjects in black ink, and an entirely new display appeared on the parchment like it would a system screen - only it was now medieval-flavored.  “These are all the current laws on Luteski.  You have the right as head of your household and owner of this planet to modify them as long as they do not contradict with the queen’s laws.  Change what you want, if you want to, and I’ll let you know if there’s a contradiction.  It may take a while, so let’s get at it.”

***

“Protection for children, one day of rest each week, no child labor, no more forced gladiator battles between slaves, torture without reason is prohibited, butchering is prohibited in favor of regular blood drains that don’t outright kill the slaves…”  Kathrine looked up from his list with a frown.  “You even have a small compensation built into our taxes for slaves who donate more blood than others do over the course of a year.  These are rather hard boundaries to set and you’re going to upset a lot of the vampires under your banner if you do this.”

“Do any of them contradict the queen’s laws?”

Kathrine hesitated, then shook her head.  “No… But this is going to have a major impact on the society there.  I haven’t heard of any planet in our empire with such protective laws concerning our slaves.  You do realize that we regularly kill and eat these creatures like you would cows or pigs.  Right?  The Sarak are cattle.  We literally breed and keep some of them in pens to fatten up so we can eat them later.”

“Are they intelligent?” Riven asked curiously while wiping another slab of meat across Genua’s naked body, soaking up more of the sauce and chocolate before ripping into it rather ravenously.  His voice was beginning to slow, and he could feel the intoxication setting in.  “This shit is really good by the way.”

On the sidelines Fay was drinking herself further and further into a silent but drunken stupor, and while she was at it she was practicing how to withdraw her wings into her back to look more human - and the succubus seemed rather happy at having achieved it.

But Kathrine was deeply frowning at Riven, and she gave a low hum of disapproval.  “The Sarak are rather stupid.”

“How do they compare to humans?”

“They’re about equal in terms of intelligence.  Equally stupid.”

Riven snorted a laugh, a little too amused than he’d normally be concerning the situation.  “Tough shit then.  These are the laws I want.  These ‘Sarak’ are innocent and have been for dozens of generations, so just be happy I’m not some kind of wannabe savior.  At the very least I can give these people lives worth living instead of the garbage that you’ve presented me with.  They’ll still be forced to work the mines there and I’m  not even restricting the use of personal slaves, but I want their quality of life to get better.”

“I think you’d have an outright riot on your hands if you changed those particular things.”

“That’s why I’m not doing it, I realize that.”  Riven gave her a flat look, cup of wine touching his lips.  “I know how the vampires there will likely view me after I come in out of the blue as some unknown and start uprooting their way of life.  But think of just how unfair it would be, being born into a race of intelligence people who are enslaved across your planet, only to be used in the mines while you’re health and later you get eaten alive as food for your vampiric masters when you get older.”

Kathrine let on a cringe alongside a deep sigh, and slunk her shoulders in defeat - then hiccuped and took an entire bottle to drain the last of it with a belch unbecoming of vampire royalty.  “I… will let the planetary guard know of your changes to their laws.  At the very least it’ll be interesting… I’ve never heard of anything like this before.  Are there any other changes you’d like to make?  Any announcements you want coupled with these laws?”

Riven paused, then nodded.  “You said the planetary guard are the ones who’ll be enforcing these, right?”

“Yes.”

“And they are loyal to my house?”

“To your house second, but first to the queen.”

“Do you think they’ll accept these terms if I’m not personally there to oversee it?”

Kathrine hesitated before answering.  “I’m not sure.  Probably half-heartedly.”

“What if I bribed them?”

She raised her eyebrows.  “How would you do that?”

“By setting aside 50% of the profits through trade and mining over the course of the next 5 years and giving those profits to the planetary guard; instead of my own coffers or any of the other nobles.  Let them know it’s an investment to make sure these laws are followed.”

Kathrine smirked, then bobbed her head side to side - almost causing herself to fall over as Riven and Fay laughed.  Shortly correcting her posture and flushing a bright red, she straightened up and tried to get control of her body once again.  “It is possible that they’d be more willing that way… But you need to include that amendment in the document.”

She scribbled new text down and rearranged it again with a magical influx through the quill in her hand.  Pushing it back over to Riven, he read it over and signed yet again.

“There’s my royal decree.” Riven smirked with a dismissive wave of his hand.  “Let me know how it goes.”

“I certainly will.” Kathrine noted with another nod, leaning back and putting the parchment away before taking another long inhale with her pipe.  Blowing the smoke out towards the ceiling in a cloud of purple-gray, she passed the pipe over to Fay who’d been listening quietly throughout most of the conversation.  “Do you mind going over a planned schedule for tutoring and martial training next?”

Riven yawned while the alcohol continued to overcome him, covering his mouth with one arm before standing up and coming over to where Genua’s neck was cranked back at an awkward angle due to the way her hair was tied to her wrists.  Leaning down and extending his fangs, he abruptly sunk his teeth into the middle-aged woman - causing her to loudly squeal through the apple in her mouth as her eyes went wide and her nostrils flared even further.

The elf quivered under his grip, tears welling up under her eyelids but otherwise remaining still as she let her owner drink her lifeblood.  Kathrine and Fay remained silent while Riven sucked, and eventually he pulled out with a satisfied sigh to wipe the blood off his face as Fay passed the pipe back to Kathrine.

The small puncture wounds only lasted for a little while before slowing sealing up.  Vampiric venom naturally healed the wounds over time if there wasn’t any trauma, allowing a vampire to repeatedly feed on victims that weren’t outright killed multiple times over.

“You’re right, live food is better.” Riven chuckled mercilessly and roughly rustled Genua’s hair before flopping back down into his seat.  “Especially when I have no qualms about feeding on this particular person.  It is… invigorating, and freeing.”

“How so?” Kathrine asked, puzzled as she threw both of her long pale legs up on the table while leaning back in her chair with the smoking pipe in one hand.  Her neat dress already had spots where food and drink had accidentally spilled, but she was too drunk to care.

“I grew up a human.  Feeding on people does not come naturally to me, and I felt a sense of guilt whenever I’d thought about it before.”  Riven gestured to the hogtied elf.  “But her, I feel no remorse.  Anyways, enough about that.  As I’ve already said I don’t have a lot of time to spare, but I suppose I could carve some out once in a while before I leave for the Chalgathi questline in 4 months.  Got anybody who’s a master with the spear?”

“We certainly do.” Kathrine replied, and she giggled with a slightly buzzed smirk while pulling out a small bag of green powder.  Placing it on the table, she took a very small spoon from within the bag and snorted the powdery substance for good measure - clutching her head with one hand while her smile spread.  Winking at Riven slyly she nudged him with a foot under the table.  “Want to try some?  It’s good stuff, the highest quality.”

The vampire passed the powder over to Fay first, who curiously looked down at the bag and small spoon with hesitation.  Hiccuping and peering down harder, she eventually shrugged and without question snorted a small spoonful of the powder just like Katherine had.

“Good, right?” Kathrine mused, a silly smile across her lips as the succubus began to giggle.  “I wish I could do this back home without my parents intervening.”

“Is this illegal back on your home world?” Riven asked curiously, poking at the powder and watching when Kathrine took a very large spoonful and roughly shoved it up Genua’s nostrils - violently smushing it against the sputtering elf’s face until she was satisfied.

Kathrine then glanced back, her eyes narrowing wickedly his way.  “No… But my parents still wouldn’t be happy with me knowing that I have it.  Hey… did you know that we’re not technically real cousins?  Funny fact.”

Riven frowned, noting that Fay was beginning to salivate and Genua’s eyes were beginning to glaze over.  “What do you mean we’re not cousins?  That’s not what you told me earlier.”

Kathrine rolled her eyes with exaggeration - then she began to count on her fingers.  “I mean, we’re as much cousins as you are to any other vampire.  We’re all related to the blood god, but aside from that… I suppose our great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents were siblings.  Hold on… Yeah, that many generations.”

“How many?”

“Thirteen generations ago we share common ancestors.”

Riven pooched his lips.  “Interesting.  Why are you telling me now though?”

“Because I’m tutoring you!” Kathrine laughed, nearly tipping out of her chair again before Riven caught her fall.  Pulling herself up his arm, she reached for the bag again and snorted another small spoonful - eyes rolling back while giggling profusely.  “I have lots to tutor you in!  We’re going to be great friends, you and I.  Now try this!”

“I don’t know what it is.”

She shoved the bag his way, then scowled when he gave her a skeptical look.  “If it was poison, the three of us would already be dead!  It’s just a drug specifically meant for vampires!  It’s like… what did Allie say about it… Like catnip for vampires I believe!”

“Allie’s tried it too?”  Riven, who was still quite buzzed, glanced over to where Fay was giving him a side-eye.  She had a deep flush now, and was still salivating with deep breaths.  Genua was in a similar position, drool literally dripping from the apple in her mouth while her head bobbed up and down in an attempt to keep it upright.  “It looks like it works on other people aside from vampires too.”

“Pussy.” Kathrine cackled, jabbing him under the table again with her foot.  “Just do it!  You have armed guards outside and there’s no way that you’re in any danger… Come on!”

She grabbed his wrist, sliding her hand up his arm to where his bicep was.  “Your sister said you needed some relaxation time, so just go ahead and relax!  We’ll be here with you!”

Riven was about to ask about what it was again, but thought it over again.  Up until recently he’d been so up tight about everything.  It was almost his motto it’d gotten so bad because he always felt like he was the one responsible for the lives of others.  His choices affected hundreds of thousands of other people on a daily basis, and if you included the world quests - they’d effect far, far more than that.  Billions even.  Stack the new planet he apparently owned on top of that and it emphasized the problem even more.

Well, Fay and the other two women hadn’t died yet.  They seemed more jovial than usual even, and when Fay pushed the bag over in his direction with a flushed grin - he couldn’t stop himself.

“Fuck it.  But if I die, I’m coming back to haunt you Kathrine.”  He chuckled at the laughter of the other vampire, then took the small spoon and snorted some of the green powder with a brief inhale.

The affect was immediate.  The room around him became more sluggish to movement, and he had a spike of dopamine slam into his brain with the weight of a freight train.  Everything became better instantaneously, and…

And Kathrine’s soft hand felt really good on his arm.

Looking up, he saw her shoulder dip as one half of Kathrine’s dress began to slide off - exposing pale, bare skin underneath.  Fay growled in irritation immediately after that, then stood up with arms straight out at her side.

The succubus twitched her tail back and forth with hesitation, but the drugged state she was in won over - and irritation was quickly replaced again by a giggling fit.  Slowly removing her skirt and letting it drop to the floor - exposing athletic thighs, she stepped over Riven’s legs to straddle him - locking her arms around his neck while flushing violently against her usually sky-blue skin.  “You’re pretty cute Riven… did I ever tell you that?  Or was it just in my head?”

The succubus nuzzled her nose against his own, then slowly planted a warm kiss along one cheek to hold it there.

“It was an aphrodisiac.  A really good one!” Kathrine sloppily drawled, starting to get up only to trip and fall over her own feet when she tugged the other side of her dress down to expose her perky white breasts - landing on the other two and knocking both Riven and Fay to the floor in a pile of bodies.

She grinned slyly, laying on the other two and pressing her body against theirs and letting the silence drag on for a while amidst their staring - hands starting to grope one another between the three of them and legs intertwining as the seconds ticked by.

Dragging her hand over to Fay’s, and then bringing it down to Riven’s nether regions - the vampire and succubus simultaneously looked up at a rather stunned but obviously excited man underneath them.  It only made Katherine’s breathing pick up when she noticed.  “Oops!  Sorry… Didn’t mean to.  I promise!”

***

Riven woke up the next morning to the sounds of chirping birds.  Apparently they were still had flourishing populations here even in the unholy-oriented lands surrounding his altar, and he blinked with a loud yawn to clear his head.

God did he have a headache.

But the events of last night were still mostly there… they were just a little fuzzy.

All four of them were absolutely naked, and thankfully it wasn’t cold enough to matter that they didn’t have any covers on.  Kathrine was on her side facing him, drooling into a pillow to his right, completely fried and almost dead to the world by the way she was snoring.  Fay was on top of him, her very round blue breasts pushing into his chest with her bodyweight while she slept with a content smile - her two long legs encircling one of his own in a vice grip.  On his left the elf slave Genua still had her large ass propped up where she’d passed out - face down in a pillow and wrists still bound, but he could at least remember that she’d liked and even volunteered for it.

Riven… didn’t know what to think about what’d happened.  Nor did he really put much effort into figuring it out after a mental grin when he thought about what Jose would have said after seeing him like this.  Fuck he missed that guy.  

It was a nice one night stand, and it’d definitely blown off steam.  He doubted it’d happen again but he had no regrets, and it’d be a memory he probably kept until the end of time.  It was a damn good one.

Getting up and letting the passed out succubus lay in the spot he’d previously been in, he yawned and winced at the bright rays of sunlight coming through the balcony.  Sighing and picking Genua up, he dragged the still-sleeping older woman into the box cage set out for her.  He collared the elf, locked the barred door after putting a pillow inside, and went over to tuck the other two women into bed.

Coming over to a desk and pulling out some paper, he borrowed Kathrine’s quill and wrote out a letter to let them know where he was going.  Yawning one more time and exiting the balcony, he looked for one of the patrolling helicopters that often circled this area.

It was time to pay Dawn and his sister a visit.