Reborn in a Dating Sim: Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Reborn in a Dating Sim:

Life as a Mob is hard in an Equestria Girl’s Dating Game!

Chapter Twenty

“Is this what heaven looks like?” Diamond Tiara asked as they stepped onto what looked like a cultivated island, “It’s amazing. This is the floating island that you claimed?”

Copper Plum nodded as he walked with her, Applebloom, and the body that Artemis used around him the most, “It is,” he replied as they looked at the growing fields, “I found it, and thanks to the work that’s been done I believe that it will become something of a stablized and self sustaining island. I plan on growing traditional crops, but also some cash crops as well. From what I’ve seen there is a huge demand for caffeine in the capital. So, I’m working on growing a hearty form of coffee beans.”

Diamond Tiara looked at him, “Wait, I thought that those were only able to be grown in the Kingdom of the Ancient Dragon,” she said as she looked at him, “What about Levonion? I know that it is a cash crop as well.”

He nodded, “It is, and originally I was going to plan on growing it, but I did a little research. There’s about forty percent of the agulature that is growing Levonion. That means that our Kingdom is only growing enough food for roughly two thirds of the population. Sure, growing Levonion would promote more short term income, but it wouldn’t be long term. I want to ensure that I’m able to have long term growth. Going with traditional crops and coffee beans is the best choice. It will ensure that I’m able to grow, and besides I think that the caffeine can be used as medication at times.”

“Yah ain’t wrong,” Applebloom said, “It can help folks with chronic headaches, and it’s been told that it can relieve symptoms of aching joints. Ah’ve seen it used on my grandma. She has a cup of coffee each mornin’ and it makes her get around a lot better. Talked ta a bunch of doctors ‘bout it. All of ‘em said the same thing. That the caffeine does more good than bad.”

Diamond Tiara nodded, “So, it can be something of a miracle cure,” she said as she looked at the plants, “I can see the need for that, but I know that Levonion can be made into heavy coats. Those would be useful for the campaigns happening at the various boarders.”

He shook his head, “With any luck the war won’t last forever. At least it’s my hope that it won’t last forever. I don’t want to think about the countless number of lives that are needlessly wasted in the war going on. A war that was started for a reason that no one can really remember. It seems to me that there isn’t a reason to continue it, and so finding a crop source that doesn’t revolve around it seems like the best idea.”

She nodded, “I can see that,” she admitted after a few moments, “I suppose that it would be best for the war to simply end. Although I doubt that it will end in any way that doesn’t affect everyone. In truth, I believe that the entire kingdom itself will be affected by it.”

“The war could end easily enough,” Artemis said after a moment, “If my Captain so ordered me, I would happily raise my weapons against those who claim themselves as our enemies, and I would crush them. I would see to their complete and total defeat. Doing so would only ensure that we were fully in control, and it would promote our peaceful dominion over those who would challenge us.”

“That’s not something I want to get into doing,” he said as they walked, “I want to stay out of the war as much as possible. In truth I’m happy with a simple life. The one thing that can guarantee that is income. I want to have long term stability, and so that means having a plan to carry me into it. Adventuring is certainly one way to do it. Getting those monster cores actually pays out well, but I think that we know that adventuring isn’t a long term solution.”

Applebloom nodded, “Ah can see that it can earn you some money, but the dangers in it are purty real.”

“That is true,” Artemis remarked, “However Adventuring in a group is far more beneficial than doing so alone. It ensures that the treasures are able to be gathered with fewer problems, and the party that you established with each other proves that you have the makings of a great adventurer party.”

Copper grinned and looked ahead. He saw the first body that Artemis had used, and she was still working. He could see her looking toward him. Instead of being dressed as Artemis usually was, which was in her bodysuit, she was wearing a pair of cutoff trousers. Her shirt was a simple tank top that looked a little too big for her, and her shoes were an old pair of workboots. She was everybit the embodiment of a farmhand.

“My Captain,” she said, her voice having a slight lisp to it, “I am pleased that you have chosen to see me today. Tell me is there anything that I can do for you? Have you come to reward me for the hard work I’ve performed here?”

He smiled at her, “To a degree, yes,” he replied, “I actually wanted to use the hot springs if they’re ready. If they are ready, then we can all take a dip. I know that it would be nice for you to wash off as well, right?”

There was a demure smile from her, “I absolutely would enjoy it, and yes the hot springs are indeed ready. Shall we venture to it?” she asked as she led the way, “I believe that it would do all of us some good. Would it not, sister?”

Copper Plum felt truly grateful that Artemis was able to communicate to all the different versions of herself. This version understood that they were now to consider each other sisters, and that would be how they would act to one another. It didn’t stop her from offering to him, but now they were playing some kind of strange fetish game with him. It was something that was a little unsettling, but at least Artemis was playing her part correctly.

The hot springs had been something that he had to describe to Artemis. In truth, he’d taken the idea from an older anime he’d watched in his previous life. The hot spring was designed as an enclosed bath. The water from the bath itself was filtered and used for the crops. Nothing was wasted, and yet there was a sort of beauty to it. Stepping inside of the bath he could see how it had been accomplished. The rock wall that supported the flowing waterfall also acted as a divider. It allowed both male and female bathing at the same time, keeping both separated.

In the anime this had been something of a moot point since one of the girls could fly, and because she didn’t really have much social awareness to understand that she was making the protagonist uncomfortable. Then again from what he could remember her character had been abused from near birth, and conditioned to believing herself to be little more than a machine. In truth there was a lot of similarities between her and Artemis.

It was almost creepy how much Artemis actually acted like her. From what he remembered that character had pretty much offered herself to the protagonist multiple times. She had later admitted that her understanding of social norms was pretty much non-existent, and that she believed that all men wanted what she was offering. It was meant to be something of a joke, but the truth was that the confession had made him realize how deep the anime actually was.

It was addressing actual situations, and it was doing a good job of it. Of course that was his previous life, and his current life was far different. There was no getting around what was going to happen here. At some point Artemis was going to make a play. She was going to appeal to him, offer herself to him, and he was going to have to explain that he wanted her to be more mature emotionally before they did anything. From his standpoint she was about at the same emotionally maturity as a pre-teen.

She was maturing fast, but she was still a ways away from being at the level where he believed that she could handle a physical relationship. He wanted her to not only be in a relationship with him, but he wanted her to fully be able to handle it. There was also the fact that if he did enter into a relationship with her that it would make things far harder on him. From what he understood demi-humans weren’t really considered people. They didn’t have the same rights that ost humans had.

It was, at its core, something that could be considered twisted and wrong. But these were thoughts that he could put into the back of his mind for now. Instead he looked at the hard wood floor that made up the walkway to the bath, the stone wall that separated the men’s bath from the women’s bath, and the dome overhead that would allow light to float in, but kept the elements out. Additionally the design of it almost made it appear to be floating itself. It was at its core a true technical marvel.

There was really no other way to describe it. In addition Artemis had done this with the rebuilt droid body, and by additionally creating some helper robots. Those too looked familiar. There was two kinds. One floated in the air, multiple arms stuck out from a ball, and it what looked like claw like hands at the end of several of them. The three finger claws were actually pretty well capable of handling difficult work. Additionally a small buzz saw was attached, and that allowed it to harvest some plants without much issue.

The other robot was more human shaped, standing on two legs, but it was slow moving, almost clumsy in how it walked. Like the floating one it could speak, but its words were fairly straight to the point. The fact that it called itself a protectron was just something that he was certain Artemis had done because he told her about the robots from a completely different game. Still, they worked with the floating robots, and they seemed more or less able to help keep the entire island working.

He found that much of the cultivation had been done by these robots, all of which had been directed by the version of Artemis that had stayed here to continue the work. The hot springs, the bath, was evidence of that cultivation. He looked at both Diamond Tiara and Applebloom who studied the bath intently, “This is amazing,” Diamond Tiara said, “I’ve never seen such an expansive bath before. It almost looks like something from Ancient Dragon Kingdom.”

He smiled knowing that from what he’d learned the Kingdom of the Ancient Dragon was similar to a sort of mixture of asian culture. It had combined elements of Japanese, South Korean, South Vietnam, and Centeralist Chinese culture mixed together. The Kingdom itself was certainly something that was more communist than feudal. There was a king, but his place was to ensure the good of the people by ensuring that all was shared.

From the outside it appeared to be an experiment in communism that actually worked, but he was certain that it was only what the outsiders were allowed to see. There was little doubt in his mind that the truth was far worse. Maybe that was the cynicism from his previous life creeping in. There was certainly a part of him that cried out that things were never fair. That there was no truly equal place for people. That everyone was born into a world where there was haves and have nots. Those two groups depended greatly on birth and happenstance. If someone was born into the haves their entire world was set for them.

They would forever be able to do whatever they wanted, however they wanted, and it would never even remotely change. Even here in this dumpster fire of a game the same was in place, but it was actually possible to climb up the ladder. It was difficult, and it took massive amounts of work and luck in equal measure, but it was possible. He’d climbed because of his luck and work. He looked to see the girls looking at him, and he shook his head, “Sorry, just some thoughts about the future,” he lied as he walked head of them, “The other side is for the guys, so I’ll head over there, enjoy your bath.”

He walked ahead, knowing that he was being watched, and it didn’t bother him. One of the truths he’d come to accept was that the girls of this world acted on their impulses a little more. They were more open with their desires, and they didn’t fear the repercussions that could come back at them. At the same time if it was proved that they did something untoward a male it was instantly forgiven.

“My Captain,” a duet of voices said, “Would you like some help washing your back?”

He looked back at her, “No, both of you enjoy a bath, please, and I’ll see you when we’re all done, okay?”

As he walked to the otherside he undressed and slowly took a seat in the giant bath. The hot springs itself fed the bath, and there was something remarkable about how it made him feel. Of course part of it could be some of the information he’d given More or less he’d explained that hot springs often were considered almost magical because they apparently had some healing capabilities. The actual truth was that the source of the healing was more connected to simple hygiene than it was anything magical.

In truth for most people that had bathed in hot springs and felt better it was partly because the water was naturally occurring hot water. Sure, there was a collection of minerals that could aid in some basic relief, but being able to actually clean oneself was usually enough to wash off some of what could be causing symptoms. Instead the waters actually felt like they were rejuvenating him. He enjoyed the bath as he sat there. He could also hear a slight commotion.

Unknown to him on the other side of the wall Diamond Tiara and Applebloom were watching the two rabbit women, whom they assumed were sisters, playing a strange game. It involved rapping their fists against an open palm three times, and then making a symbol with their fists. The symbols seemed to be a crude pair of scissors, a flat piece of paper, and a turned fist which was supposed to represent a rock.

The game itself was fairly basic, but they understood the rules after the first two games. Rock beat scissors, Paper wrapped rock, and scissors beat paper. The winner was whoever had the symbol that beat the other one. So far both of the sisters were at a standstill. Both had produced rock, multiple times, and then switched to paper multiple times, before finally switching to scissors multiple times.

“Excuse, me,” Diamond Tiara asked as she neared them, “What are you playing for?”

Both of them looked at her for a moment, “The winner will go attend to the Captain,” Artemis said, her voice brimming with pride, “I will claim victory, go and ensure that my Captain is well taken care of.”

She looked at her, “Is that a common occurrence?”

There was a hesitation for a moment, “No, my Captain has told me that he feels that it would be wrong to do so. He has stated that he thinks I should have time to discover what it is that I want, and that I should choose. The problem is that I have chosen. I want to serve him, completely, and this is a chance to do so. I want to show how serious I am about what I want, and I want him to know that there is nothing that I will not do for him.”

Diamond Tiara looked at her, and she felt a sort of jealousy at first. What this demi-human, no what this girl was saying was that she was in love. Baron Copper Plum was rebuking her advances, but he was being gentle about it. He wasn’t being spiteful, and he wasn’t acting as if she was destroying his life. He was being kind about her infatuation. He was treating her like a person, he was being better than Prince Apollo was. She wanted to hate her for that.

“He hasn’t been unkind toward you?”

Artemis studied her for a moment, as did her sister, “No,” both answered, “It was her sister that smiled, “I am considered defective. I don’t speak well, and there is so much that I am unable to do,” she said her lisp very present, “And yet he doesn’t wish to toss me aside. He gave me this wonderful job. I am to prepare his island for him, to oversee the operations here, and to treat it as my own home as well. He has shown me so much kindness that I can never repay it. I will win our game, and I will ensure that he understands how much I desire him.”

Her sister, the Artemis she knew, laughed, “I serve him everyday,” she said with an air of superiority, “I am with him every moment. I have not attended to him simply because he believes that I need a chance to see what I would truly want. I am both confused and humbled by his kindness. I had expected my entire existence to be one of pure use for uses sake. Instead he has treated me as an equal. He has treated me as a friend. I want to help him succeed because of who he is.”

Listening to them she understood. He was someone that was kind, and he was someone that would be a promising husband. Yet, most of the girls at the school looked at him like a pariah. They saw the fact that he had female demi-human servants as obscene and wrong. They pushed their own actions onto him, and claimed that he was the absolute worst example of a man. Their declaration was made because they believed that he was doing what they had been doing.

She could see the reasoning, and she could understand how wrong it was. There was no denying that Artemis and her sister loved him, but there was no action on his part to take advantage of it. He had them as servants, and only servants. They weren’t sexual slaves, they weren’t part of some beast woman harem, but instead they were simply those that waited on him. In addition he treated them with the kind of kindness that every single being deserved.

“He is truly a great man then,” she admitted after a moment, “The fact that he so willingly treats those around him as equals, and that he willingly turns away from all of his accomplishments for the good of the kingdom. I hate that he has lost so much, but I can see how accomplished he truly is. I can certainly understand why you are so fixated on him. Tell me, what will happen when he is forced to marry?”

Both of them looked at each other, “We are unsure,” Artemis said after a moment, “There is certainly talk, but no one really knows for certain. The fact that this kingdom is biased against males seems slightly insane. It flies in the sense of things. It is far different from where we are from. It is also interesting to see how that power seems to corrupt those who should be more considerate. Those who have the ability to be kind seem to treat those who are considered of a lesser station with such disdain.”

Diamond Tiara nodded, “I can’t argue with that,” she admitted, “I can only hope that those who do so will learn to treat some people slightly better.”

With that she watched as both sisters started their game again. Without thinking she did the same, not realizing that both sisters took her involvement seriously.