Chapter 27

Ren and Sebastian have arrived at the address given to them not too long later. Ren’s face scrunches as he looks at the inside of the store, “a little warning would have been nice...I’m too embarrassed to walk into a place like this”, pretty bold to have windows to show the inside of a shop like this...oh, I really need to put some more thought into things in this world. Putting a shop in a tree like this means they can’t really get natural light from above less the drill a massive hole that wouldn’t be too great in the first place, and they don’t have indoor electricity. Every store probably needs widows like these for natural light or they’d waste a lot of money on candles.

The sign above the shop reads “Bria’s Dildo Shop”, which Sebastian was kind enough to say out loud for Ren. Sebastian continues, “considering the nature of the store, and Zolta’s words, I doubt there is any other establishment that deals with this ‘rubber’ you speak of. I’m afraid you will have to deal with it, sir”, I’ve overheard my wives mention this place in whispers, so I’ve been curious, but it’s probably just harmless gossip about their friends. They have no need for these things with me after all. Ren sighs, “I know, I know. I...just need to mentally prepare myself is all”.

After a minute of collecting himself, Ren, along with Sebastian, enters the shop. Their arrival is signalled with the ring of a bell above the door, drawing some of the customers’ attention, some of them doing a double take. Once the ones not looking notice that others keep staring, it piques their curiosity, so they quickly join in on the staring. Ren is uncomfortably conscious of every one of their stares. The shop is so full of women that he’s worried about making it to the counter without brushing against someone. Sebastian on the other hand, is eyeing all the products with a calm eye, well, I guess I can see the appeal for the single women...even if the size is...unrealistic.

The women are in so much disbelief that two men that have entered the store that they can’t move from the spot, let along take their eyes of them. However, they soon realise that of the men who entered the store is their new King, causing them to completely freeze once them desperately avert their eyes. Ren and Sebastian walk up to the counter, weaving in and out of the women stiff as statues, careful not to even brush off one of them.

Ren, now having reached the counter, addresses the cashier. However, due to the pressure of the stares, he finds his voice unusually high. Nevertheless, he pushes on, “excu-...excuse me, I heard there was an Elven researcher here. I would like a meeting with them to discuss about the material they use. I have another use for it that I would like their help with”, best get my intentions clear so nobody misunderstands why I’m here!!!!

The Cashier, who seems a bit absentminded, doesn’t seem to panic like the rest of the women in the store, “please wait while I go talk to the owner”. She leaves for the back room, completely composed, which Ren is glad for, it seems I got my intentions across. Thank goodness. Sebastian whispers to Ren, “you were unbelievably stiff in your mannerisms and speech, sir. Perhaps you should relax a little”. Ren snaps back, but making sure to whisper also, “shut it! I’ve never been to a place like this, so I’m overly conscious of everything”.

Sebastian whispers once more, but not as quiet as before, “you’re thinking about how the people will think that you’re a pervert visiting a dildo shop even though he just married a beautiful Queen. That they’re thinking you suffering from erectile dysfunction, right?”. Ren can hear some women trying to stifle their laughter, making him embarrassed, Sebastian’s whisper clearly too loud, “...no need to mock me. You’re very brazen for a butler”, I want to run out of here!!!

Sebastian, “her Majesty favours me because I don’t...how should I say...butter her up”, and I’m the only Dark Elven man that wants to be a butler. I’d rather wear tailored suits than armour all day. The cashier returns, Ren thankful for the out, “so?”. The cashier, completely deadpan, “I’m sorry. We get a lot of people who think they have an amazing new product design, so we have a policy to turn all of them down”, completely forgot about that. The owner got mad at me again.

Ren, “you do?”, as he tilts his head, lots of other people have other ideas on how to use rubber already? All the women in the store feel their breath catch in their throats at the cashier’s refusal. They quickly give the cashier death glares at her audacity for refusing their new King. The cashier is completely oblivious to the glares, probably why she was hired in the first place.

Ren soon realises the misunderstanding, “oh, sorry, but I didn’t put enough thought into my words. I’m not here with a...em...new design. I want to make a weapon that uses rubb-…the blood of the trees”, rubber is ‘blood of the trees’ but ‘dildo’ is the same? What’s the logic behind that? The cashier, “I’m sorry I misunderstood. I’ll inform the owner immediately”, as she leaves again, there’s no policy for this...right?

After a minute, she comes back, “the owner is interested in what you have to say. Please head up these stairs. The owner is on the other side of the door at the top. Please take a seat inside”, they got mad at me again for not just saying that in the first place, but they didn’t tell me that, so what was I supposed to do? Read his mind? Ren quickly walks past her, “thanks for the help”. Cashier, “it’s no problem”.

As Sebastian walks by her, she jumps in fright at the angry glance he gives her. She cowers on the spot until the two of them are halfway up the stairs. A nearby shopper quickly whispers to her, “how could you refuse the King??? My heart dropped to my stomach! I thought you’d be executed on the spot!”. The cashier slowly turns towards the woman, face full of shock, “ki...gn?”. Shopper, “didn’t you see the tournament??? Everyone in the Capital knows what he looks like!”. The receptionist is completely pale as she clutches her head, “no...I planned to watch the finals, but the tournament ended quicker than scheduled”.

Shopper, “everyone had time off until the tournament was finished in order to watch it! What could be more important?”. The receptionist looks away awkwardly, stammering, “p-p-product testing”. The women in the store can’t believe what they heard. The receptionist feels the need to defend herself, “and wouldn’t a King have someone summoned to the palace instead of coming to them??? Nobody thinks the King would just show up in front of them!”. The customers can’t say anything back realising that she’s right.

Having sensed that she has the upper hand, the cashier says a bit too much, “and there wasn’t anything Kingly about him. How was I supposed to tell?”. Some women rush and cover her mouth to shut her up as they all look up the stairs to see if she was heard. They let out a massive sigh of relief upon seeing the two of them not there anymore. They all start reprimanding her, which she is unhappy about, but they won’t let her say a word, I swear I didn’t mean anything about his character or strength, I meant his clothes... (She was lectured for 3 hours).

Having entered the room at the top of the stairs, Ren and Sebastian are greeted with a little Dark Elven girl sitting at a desk. Ren is quite rightfully puzzled, what’s a little girl doing inside a dildo shop? Wait, this seems like the familiar scenes from anime and manga. The protagonist mistakes an older woman for a kid and gets yelled at or something for it. I won’t fall for that!

Ren walks up to the girl and addresses her with a straight face, “you must be Bria, I’m Ren. I’ve come to propose an idea that would be an interesting project, as well as have the potential to make a lot of money”. The girl turns her head away from her drawing to look up at him and then...just stares at him. This continues for a couple of seconds until a voice comes from a doorway diagonally behind him, “in what world does someone mistake a child for an adult?”.

Ren slowly turns around and sees a beautifully slim Elf. He starts to sweat, a mental image of him being shot in the stomach appears in his head, “emm...I’m sorry, I didn’t think a child would be in a shop like this”, I should have confirmed with my instincts first before saying anything!!! Elf, “that may be the case, but can you really make that mistake? There’s no woman that exists who is that small or that flat. All the shop stuff is taken care of downstairs, and the upper floors are our house/workshop. That’s my daughter, Kara”.

Ren, I way overthought that for no reason! I need to apologise to Kara. The shops name has Bria in it, so this must be her mother. The said Bria in question! Ren turns to the girl and bows his head, “I’m sorry, Kara, I mistook you for your mother, Bria”, as he gestures to the slim elf. Kara looks up at him, confusion evident in her eyes, “...Dad, this person’s weird”. A mental image of Ren getting executed by a firing squad appears in his head, whaaaaaat? He looks at her, no him!, this person...does seem kind of masculine for a woman even though they’re so pretty. Their voice is hard to distinguish as well. Is this one of those infamous traps? I overthought twice in a row...I’ll use my instincts every time I meet someone new as my default from now on. Sebastian is doing his best to stifle his laughter, but he’s struggling.

Ren slowly turns to face the man, sweating buckets, why didn’t my instincts act up and prevent me from making this mistake in the first place??? It works for danger, and I’d say this is a form of danger! The Elf, “you don’t need to worry about that one as it’s a mistake that happens often”. He then looks to his daughter, “go and play with mommy sweetie, daddy has some important work to do with this...important man”, I knew he was the King the second I saw him, but that didn’t register until right now for some reason. It doesn’t seem like he minded how casual I was, so let’s just roll with it. I’ll beg for our lives if need be. Kara leaves the room, still giving Ren a weird look as she goes. Ren waves as she goes, then turns back to the Elf, “em...the shop has the name Bria in it, but I assume that’s not you?”.

Elf, “that’s my wife’s name. No woman would come to this type of shop with a man’s name displayed on it. My appearance also makes people think I’m Bria, which is convenient in most circumstances, but my name’s Dorok. I heard a man had some business proposition for me, but I wasn’t informed it was for yourself, your Majesty”, I need to reprimand her again for this later. I know I hired her because she was a bit dense, but...I can’t judge her if she made the same mistake as me, can I?

Ren can sense a subtle shift in his tone, an unease, so he tries to put Dorok at ease, “either ‘Ren’ or ‘sir’ is fine. I’m still not used to this whole King business. I’ve only come because rubber is necessary to make the weapon I want”. Dorok is rightfully confused by the unfamiliar word, “hm? ‘rubber’?”. Ren, “oh, sorry, I was told it’s called ‘blood of the trees’ here. In the world where I come from, it’s called rubber”.

Dorok pinches his chin in thought, “hm...that’s very intriguing. There have been others who have claimed to be from a different world. They influenced this world’s culture to a certain extent, like clothes, paper, and pens. Stuff that nobody thought of before. And how can I help you with this...‘rubber’ as you so call it? That’s a much nicer name. Is it ok is I use that from now on?”, that should help address my biggest problem, the stigma of the name. It suits it very nicely for some reason.

Ren, “yes, that’s no problem. Have you tested rubber with electricity yet?”. Dorok is confused by yet another unfamiliar term, “another unfamiliar word. What is this ‘electricity’?”. Ren, “oh, sorry. Electricity is...em...to put it simply, man-made lightning”. Dorok, “man-made lightning? You mean lightning magic?”. Ren, “no, they are similar, but different. Figures the concept didn’t exist in this world yet. It’s hard to explain, even more so if it doesn’t exist yet. Let’s just focus on lightning since they’re basically the same. Have you tried testing rubber’s interaction with lightning?”.

Dorok tries to think of why he would do that, but doesn’t come up with an answer, “...no, I’ve only applied heat or cold to it...as well as adding my ingredients to make it harden, but that’s about it. I haven’t had a reason to try get someone with lightning magic”.

Ren wracks his brain to try and think of the best way to explain his thoughts, “hm...are you familiar with the concept of conduction?”. Dorok doesn’t need to think about it, “no, never heard of it”. Ren, “maybe it’s called something else in this world? Em...to give you an example; when cooking, do you know why the edges of the pot are hot even though you are only heating the bottom of it with a fire?”.

Dorok thinks for a second before freezing on the spot, wondering how he never noticed something so obvious until now, “...No, I’ve never thought about it before, but now that you mention it, why is that the case? If you have a big pot, it’s hotter the closer you are to where the flame is heating it, but the edges are still hot, just not as hot. It’s something everyone knows, but nobody has thought to ask themself why that is, including me”.

Ren jumps straight to giving the answer, “it’s because the metal used in the pot conducts heat. It allows heat to travel through it, but the further away from the heat source you get, the more heat is lost along the journey. It’s lost into the air and stuff”, I think. Dorok, a curiosity brewing within him, “that’s an interesting concept. I’ll have to research and experiment later. But what does this have to do with a weapon?”.

Ren, “the unique ability I was given was ‘Electromaster’, complete control over lightning, but strictly my own lightning...It might be faster to show you, rather than explain it. Hold out your hand”. Dorok does as he’s instructed without hesitation. Ren holds out his finger, pointing it towards Dorok’s hand, and creates a weak stream of lightning between them. Nothing that could hurt someone, similar to those streams you’d see in a plasma ball or an electric shock, “can you feel that?”. Dorok, “yes, it’s a bit tingly”.

Ren stops his lightning, “ok, now put your finger in that glass”, as he points to the glass of water on the desk. Dorok does so, clearly confused, but his curiosity is too great to not do so. Ren also puts in his finger, releasing a weak lightning current again, “you can also feel this too, right?”. Dorok, “yes, still tingly...so this is what you’re trying to show me, be it in water or air, they are ‘conducting’ your lightning. Simply to say, allowing it to travel”.

Ren takes his finger out of the water and picks up a blob of rubber from the desk and gives it to Dorok, “exactly, but now, hold this”. Dorok takes it, excited to see what happens next, maybe there are ways to increase this ‘conduction’, thus making it more powerful. This could be a breakthrough that changes everything from everyday life to war! Ren places his finger on the rubber block that Dorok is holding...but nothing happens. After about 5 seconds, Dorok wonders if Ren’s actually doing anything, “I can’t feel anything this time”.

Ren smirks, “right? You wouldn’t even know I’m using lightning 100 times stronger than before”. Dorok yelps out in surprise, “100????”, before repeatedly looking between Ren and the rubber block. Ren, “yes, but rubber doesn’t conduct electricity, so no matter how much lightning I try to put through it, nothing will happen”. Dorok is even more blown away than before, “I was thinking of it like this in my head. Conduction is a path on a road, allowing people to travel. But this is like a castle wall appearing on the path, completely stopping the person from passing. That’s amazing...but how does this lead you to creating a weapon? If anything, it would only hinder you, would it not?”.

Ren, “the weapon has to do with how my lightning works. Basically, my lightning obeys my will, but only if it’s connected to me. If I throw a lightning bolt, it will go the direction I want it to, but it will not bend, curve, or turn. And once that lightning bolt makes contact with something, it returns to regular lightning. Giving my lightning shape gives it more power than just firing off bolts, making a sword for example, but if I wanted to fight at range, I only have bolts to fire. I can make arrows, giving them shape, but...”.

Dorok, “but it has much less power than your sword, so you’re looking for a way to compensate?”. Ren, “that’s a part of it, but not the main problem. I can create powerful arrows with a bit of time, but I can’t if I’m also making a bow of lightning to shoot them at the same time. It takes a lot of concentration to just make the arrows or the bow itself. And unlike the sword, a bow changes shape as you use it, so it uses almost all of my concentration, leaving none to make the arrows. Hence, I need a bow capable of firing lightning arrows”.

Sebastian chimes in unexpectedly with a question that would be on anyone’s lips, “why can’t you use a regular bow, sir? You don’t use fire, so it won’t burn in your hands”. Ren begins to answer, but Dorok gets there before him, “he explained that earlier. The second the arrow leaves his hand, it will come into contact with the bow, returning it to normal lightning and resulting in a lightning strike. The resulting impact would damage him severely, if not life-threatening”.

Ren, “as expected of a researcher, you understand fast. That is indeed correct. I’d rather not pointlessly risk my life”. Dorok, “I assume this happens because the wood or string of the bow ‘conducts’ lightning?”, there was no other reason to bring it up otherwise. Ren, “correct, there are very few things in the world that don’t conduct lightning. Rubber is the most common”, and the only one I know of.

Dorok, “so, once you release the arrow from the bow, it won’t explode because it doesn’t recognise that rubber is something to it can come into contact with”, if the lightning arrow passed through the rubber bow, it would most likely disappear, but if it just comes into contact with it as it’s released, it shouldn’t cause any problems. Ren, “correct again. I could, in theory, shoot lightning arrows at a high power and speed”.

Dorok grabs his chin in thought once again, it seeming to be his habit, “...fascinating, truly fascinating. And here I was, worried that the new King was an idiot because he mistook a child for an adult. You’re far more intelligent than I gave you credit for”. A mental image of Ren’s already executed body being shot by a firing squad appears in his head, a sudden secondary execution? I thought I recovered from that already.

Dorok closes in on Ren enthusiastically, unaware that his excitement just made him insult a King, “please allow me to assist in this project! I think it has the possibility of further the scientific and magic communities”. Ren gestures for him to take a step back, “that’s what I came here to ask”. Dorok, practically being forced to take a step back, “I can mould the rubber, but I’ve never designed a bow before. I’ll need the help of a specialist to complete this”. Sebastian, “we can procure the services of the royal weapon smith”.

Ren, “oh. Well, if they work for Elza, their skills must be top-notch”. Sebastian, “correct, sir. We can go visit him now and be just in time for dinner with the ladies”. Ren, “perfect. Dork, we’ll go meet with him and organise for you two to meet and get to work”. Dorok, “It’s Dorok. That’s good with me. Send a message for whatever you need from me”. Sebastian, “understood. Then let’s be on our way, sir”. Ren, I’m having a bad day today. Glad he didn’t get angry messing up his name.

Ren and Sebastian leave the…adult store though the same way they came in. This time, the women stand elegantly while making themselves as small as possible, thus making enough space for them to leave quickly and with no problems. Ren doesn’t even glance at the cashier kneeling neatly on the ground because he’s only focused on getting out of there.

However, as soon as he exits the store, he spots a group of three not far away from him. Ren wasn’t expecting to see Liza, Lorilay, and Elza at all. He gasps in shock right before locking eyes with Elza. Elza stops, surprised to see him, and Ren starts sweating buckets on the spot. Elza stares at Ren for a few seconds before she starts to smirk. Liza and Lorilay notice that Elza has stopped and turn to her. They notice that she’s looking to the side, so they turn to where she’s facing, thus also seeing Ren. Lorilay goes a bit red and starts to fidget, that’s the shop we were talking about earlier. Liza forces a smile, but her tone is cold, “well, well, well...you said you had some important business to attend to. I see what it is now. That is important indeed”.

Lorilay, “em...I think we should discuss about this stuff beforehand and decide if we should try stuff like that...not that I’m against it or anything, I’ve just never tried them. I’ve only heard the rumours”, from Elza. Liza looks like she wants to set something on fire, saying nothing more. Ren immediately jumps to his own defence, “in this situation, I know it’s hard to believe me, but it’s really not what it looks like”. Elza happily wraps her arm around Ren’s shoulder, glad he’s taking some initiative, “there’s no need to play it off, one word and I would buy the whole shop. I appreciate your consideration”, I’m no longer a virgin so I’d be glad to finally try one of these instead of just hearing about it from others.

Sebastian comes between them, separating the two with elegance, “pardon my interruption, but it’s as his Majesty says. I’m sure he will fill you in on the details later, but if he wants to make dinner in a timely fashion, we need to go to our next destination”. Elza, feeling like someone poured cold water on her, “...Sebastian wouldn’t lie to me, so it must really not be what we think. That’s unfortunate”. Ren is shocked, not knowing what to say in the face of her evident disappointment.

Elza, “then we’ll be looking forward to your explanation at dinner. We’ll head back ahead of you. See you later”. Elza continues on, Liza, Lorilay, and the maids soon following after her. Liza still has the same look of wanting to burn something on her face, not seeming to have calmed down. Elza addresses the uncomfortable atmosphere, “is it really so unbelievable that he’d want to get toys for us?”.

Liza turns to the side, a little pouty now, “it’s not that, it’s just that...I dunno, it irritated me for some reason”. Lorilay, “what reason? I agree with Elza, but I think we should properly discuss about it first”, I feel like it’s cheating for some reason if I don’t get permission to use them. Liza struggles to come up with a reason, “I...don’t know, I just do. I can’t come up with a reason for it, no matter how hard I try to think about it. It’s just my feelings. It just irritated me for some reason”.

Elza, “that’s surprising. I didn’t think you were that type of woman”. Liza, “I didn’t think I was either. I don’t know what’s wrong with me the last couple of days. I think I’ll feel better once we all talk at dinner and get what’s been on my mind off my chest”. Lorilay, “I hope so”, I don’t think things will last at this rate.

While the ladies’ group discuss things, Ren and Sebastian board the carriage in order to make their way to the blacksmiths. Ren lets out a sigh as he sinks into his seat, “thank goodness Sebastian was there to clear that up. I don’t they would have believed me otherwise. Any man coming out of a dildo shop warrants suspicion, so I can’t blame them”.

Ren leans forward creating a floating ball of lightning from his hand, it connected by a single stream, “but I’m glad I went to there. Putting things into words instead of just thinking about them helped me realise something massive”. The single stream of lightning connecting the floating ball to his hand slowly disappears, “normally, doing this would’ve made the ball explode once it came into contact with something, but I don’t need to worry about that anymore”.

Ren can’t hep but smile, I separated my abilities into different categories, like attack and information gathering, but I never thought to combine the moves from two different categories. I would just shoot off bolts and use my field, but since my field is connected to me, I can use that to guide my lightning. Similar to how I deflected Vall’s retaliated lightning bolt. I did that on instinct, but it proves I can create a path for lightning. It should be possible even if I make the path much smaller, invisible to the naked eye. It’s technically still connected to me through my field, so I can should still be able to imbue it with my will.

Ren starts moving the lightning ball inside the carriage interior, “as long as it’s within my field, I can manipulate my lightning freely”. After saying that, Ren makes the lightning ball make contact with the door of the carriage. A burning sound can be heard, but the lightning doesn’t explode, causing Ren to smile even more. He then brings the lightning back to it’s original position, “it got a bit smaller after the burning, so let’s try replenish it through my field”. Ren concentrates, but the ball doesn’t get much bigger, if at all. Ren concentrates harder, which causes a stream of lightning to shoot up from his hand to the ball. Upon seeing this, Ren lets the ball safely dissipate with a sigh, “damn, it just wasn’t happening. How come?”.

Determined to find the answer, Ren try to create another lightning ball, this time, I’ll try make it with only the lightning from my field. Ren concentrates intensely, probably more than he has ever before as he holds his breath. As a result, some small lightning bolts appear out of thin air. They focus on a single point, combining to make a tiny bead of lightning. Ren lets the tiny bead of lightning dissipate as he finally catches his breath, the lightning used in my field is too weak to properly manifest lightning. It also massively distorts the field itself. I could probably put more lightning into the field, but it wouldn’t make a massive difference. It’s better to just create new lightning right from the source.

Ren was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the carriage had stopped. Sebastian opens the door, immediately examining the burn mark up close, this will need to be replaced...unnecessarily so. Sebastian doesn’t let anything show on his face, but Ren can tell that he’s massively annoyed, “sorry...”, I should have waited to test out my theories.