The dragon's harem

Mira looked back at the massive pile of planks and logs her carpenters were preparing, and then turned back to Matilda and Selina. “Do you have anything else to do today?”

“I was training, and Selina was reading some spell books. So, we aren’t really busy.” Matilda did have enough action for one day fighting the Tallneck, and Selina wasn’t a fan of moving too much. The two had nothing else to do today, and that’s why they were here now.

Mira smiled, “Then if you have nothing else to do, would you mind coming with me to the mountain’s bridge. While those guys prepare the lumber, I must go check on the building process of the bridge in the chasm between the mountains.” She pointed at the two large mountains behind the capital.

The Great Capital of Orion was built at the foot of two mountains, one massive and one a bit smaller. Those were both hotspots for powerful monsters and rich in minerals, making them a good spot to set up mines. The bridge Mira was overseeing was made of stone and wood, large enough to link the gap between the two mountains and allow the two mountains to link.

As expected, the larger mountain was the richest in minerals, but getting to its peak was almost impossible on foot, let alone moving carts of ore. That is where the bridge would help, since the smaller mountain had fewer slopes and cliffs, making it easier to set spiraling roads on.

So right now, the miners use the small mountain first, climb it with ease until they reach the peak, where they cross the bridge and keep going just a bit to reach the mines. But the current bridge was temporary and supported with a lot of magic that was expensive to maintain and made the mines not worth the expense, which explained why the lord of Alina never exploited the area before.

But currently, Mira had just gotten a new set of capable helping hands, and she wanted to take them to inspect the bridge directly.

As the private carriage rolled into the front yard of the Divine Hall, Matilda and Selina saw three maids emerge from the shop to accompany them. To their surprise, those three were all new faces.

“You must’ve seen them walking around the private quarter. Those three are Camilla, Roana, and Alicia. The last maids approved by Isdis and now are my personal crew.” She pointed at Camilla. “She is my bodyguard.” Then turned toward Alicia, “She is a genius farmer.” And then finally patted Roana on the shoulder. “And finally, the star of today. She’ll help us assess the bridge and rebuild it without the need for magical supports.”

Camilla shook her head, “She says I’m her bodyguard, but…” She tapped the sword on her waist. “I’m not strong enough to protect her.” It didn’t matter how powerful Camilla was as a mundane human; she could never reach Mira’s physical level. Any attack that could scratch Mira’s skin would be more than enough to shatter Camilla’s blade, her armor, and her body in half like a piece of chalk.

Alicia giggled, “What is a genius farmer even? Everyone already knows all that I know.” She smiled and looked at Mira for a second before shifting her gaze toward the capital’s massive walls. Behind them, hundreds of farmers are now working hard to make sure next year’s harvest, the capital’s first harvest, is plentiful. They can’t keep relying on Alina’s supply, since that would stress the people there and raise the prices for them.

Roana didn’t speak, but she looked a bit stressed as she carried a stern look on her face, and her eyes kept getting drawn to the bridge looming over the mountains. Everyone is now expecting her to come up with something smart and make it happen, but the sheer speed of the wind, the large numbers of monsters, and the biting cold at the peak would prove her mission nearly impossible.

Today was her first big mission, and she didn’t want to mess it up. Even though Mira told her that she doesn’t need to completely illuminate magical supports, just reducing them, and thus reducing the maintenance cost, would work just fine.

But Roana wasn’t worried about that; she was worried about her standing among the wives. If she manages to pull this off, then it could work as a great argument in her favor later on if she wanted to become a mistress. Even if she can’t show physical fighting skills, if she showed rare intelligence, she might just get in with it.

In short, this was her big chance to get a promotion. She must not fumble this mission no matter what.

“Leave any monsters to me then!” Matilda waved her arm, and then pointed at Selina behind her. “She’ll take care of anything magical.”

Camilla stared at her for a second. “It is my, and the soldiers’ job to deal with the monsters. We can’t have the queens fight unless absolutely necessary.”

Mira shrugged. “Depends on whether you can deal with the monsters quickly enough before Matilda gets to them. She is fast and has powerful senses after all.”

The six of them got into the carriage and started heading toward the mountains while escorted by an entire battalion of fully armed soldiers. Armed knights, battlemages, and trained archers all escorted the carriage, keeping a close eye on their surroundings, but none of them was mistaken. They weren’t here to protect, but to distract any potential threat until Mira or Matilda deals with them.

No mundane being had any chance against the current Mira with her divine body, and Matilda was already far above the average soldiers that she could already overwhelm them all on her own.

Getting out of the capital was easy enough, and going past the farmlands and forest’s edge was just as smooth, but the trouble started when they entered the depths of the forest leading to the foot of the smaller mountain.

The road was clear and paved, but the threat of stray monsters was still high. Even if Arad ruled this place, and even if the stronger monsters could notice the smell of his wives and stay away, there was nothing that prevented rogue or traveling monsters from being a threat.

Monsters never stay in one place; they migrate and travel each season, either due to food shortages or for reproduction. But the main reason monsters migrate a lot is to avoid dominant beasts like dragons, griffins, and wyverns. A wild Red Bear, for example, would rather move away than stay under the rule of a dragon.

That migration can sometimes result in a phenomenon called a monster stampede, where a large horde of monsters moves across the lands, devastating and destroying anything in their path.

As the carriage moved, the knights surrounded it on horseback, and Matilda sat above the carriage to keep an eye on their surroundings. Mira and the rest stayed inside, but Selina had cast some scrying spells to make sure nothing snuck past Matilda’s eyes.

As expected, monsters were already hiding behind the horizon. As the carriage went deeper into the forest, a large slithering horror that made the knights shiver and Matilda feel disgusted. A five-meter long millipede with human hands for legs, a twisting ape face, slug-like eyes, and its entire back carapace was made of coagulated amber.

“What the hell is that thing?” One of the knights growled, and a battlemage pointed his wand forward with a frown. “Looks like a failed magical experiment. Probably the work of some crazed wizard.”

Since this monster had shown in their path, they had to deal with it. From the look of things, it won’t avoid them, but will attack the moment it notices them, so it is better to attack first.

“Ah… I really don’t want to sink my teeth into that disgusting thing.” Matilda sighed, and two of the knights looked at her; one of them smiled, and the other shrugged with a smile. “You’re our queen. You don’t need to fight anyway. Just sit tight, we’ll get that thing dealt with quickly.”

The battle mages lined up, and when everyone seemed ready, they unleashed a volley of magic. The [Stone Spear] spell, over ten of them all at once.

The monster’s head twisted as it sensed the powerful magic. It turned around and dodged the first few spears by slithering on the ground and hiding behind the trees. It was fast, as fast as a trained adventurer. But two of the spears hit their mark, leaving gaping holes in the monster’s disgusting body.

Mira looked out of her window and shouted at the knights. “That thing is sensitive to magic, but blind. Those eyes can see mana, so chop them off, then blast it away.”

“Heard the Queen! Change to formation B!” The leader of the knights shouted, and Mira pulled her head back into the carriage.

“Thanks for the advice.” It was Selina who told Mira about that thing. It seems that it worked in a similar manner to her body double magic.

“This might be the work of a flesh mage. The type of wizards who make flesh golems, chimeras, and do experiments on monsters and humanoids alike.”