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-Four

Dust seemed to linger on the shoes of those in the fields. Copper had watched the robots that Artemis had made working with his father. The fact remained that these robots were able to harvest the entire fields on their own. There was honestly no need for anyone to assist them, and yet they had assistance. The reason was simple enough. Gold Bit believed in a hard day’s work. He’d told Copper multiple times that hard work often was the one thing that helped to forge the strength and will to continue. Despite everything he’d been mostly right.

Being in the field was indeed helping him, and he could see Diamond Tiara looking at the plentiful crops that were growing. She too was helping, marveling at the conditions of the fields, and remarking on the vegetation that surrounded her. The maids that attended her were all desperate to get her to come back, but none of them opposed her desire to work in the field itself. Most of them, in truth nearly all of them, were hesitant about allowing this, but none could actively tell her no.

Applebloom however seemed to be perfectly at home, and she was helping Diamond Tiara with the harvesting. She was explaining what grew the best, why it did, and how to best harvest it. Diamond Tiara paid attention to every single word, and he watched with interest. Of course Artemis was helping as well. Being what she was the knowledge of harvesting was already well within her databanks. She was merely doing what she knew. She looked toward Copper, and he could see the expression she had. There was no denying that she’d shown him how mature she was emotionally. Now, she knew that it was him that needed to catch up. She didn’t look at him in pity, but in wistful hope.

He set to gathering the corn growing, and he watched as his sister, Tarnished Tiara, complained as she had to do the same. She cried out how much she despised the fields, her voice reaching far across it, but it did her no good. This was something that Gold Bit wanted for all of his children. Copper took it with a grain of salt, and he continued the harvest as he always had done. He watched as his father took a moment and finally stretched.

“Copper,” he said as he walked toward him, “I cannot tell you how much we appreciate all that you’ve done for us. Because of you we’re able to make more now than ever before. Our sales on the vegetables have grown, and so has the demand on the local monster cores. Thanks to the strange golems you’ve gifted us I’m able to hunt more often.”

He nodded, “I’m glad that it’s helping out,” he said, knowing that his father was likely grinding the sky carp. The monsters weren’t difficult to kill, but they did have cores that sold well enough. They weren’t on the same level as the crystal scorpions, but they were similar to the crystal wasps. It would be enough to give his father more breathing room, “How has the hunting been going?”

His father smiled, motioned for him, and he followed him over toward what had been their living quarters. He opened it to see that it had been changed into a storage shed again. Boxes lined the walls, and all of them were full of cores. His father motioned toward them, “That’s the last two months’ worth,” he said as he stood there, “Normally, this would be troublesome. I’d have to be hunting instead of ensuring that fields were tended to, but now we’ve got a decent payday thanks to the help you’ve provided.”

He smiled at Gold Bit, “I’m glad that it’s working out, but from what it looks like the monsters are spawning far more quickly,” he said as he looked at the cores, “Is there a new labyrinth nearby?”

His father seemed to think for a moment, “Possibly,” he admitted, “I’m uncertain, but the sky carp have been coming closer to our domain. Normally they would occasionally drift in, but it’s never been anything that we couldn’t handle. Still, the number of them has grown. What was usually one or two a month has turned into well over a hundred. I’m uncertain of what could have caused a new labyrinth to grow though.”

Copper thought about it for a moment, and then he remembered when he was first leaving to go find Artemis. He’d all but forgotten about the cores he had with him. There were a couple that went missing, dropped before he could snag them. And then there were the ones that were lost when his father’s ship was destroyed. Slowly the realization came to him. The uptick of sky carp was because of the cores he’d lost.

“Ummm, I think that I might know what happened,” he admitted after a moment, “See, when I was traveling to find my fortune I killed a few sky carp. I tried to get all of their cores, but the ship that I borrowed was destroyed. Those cores dropped. I think that some of them landed on an island, and most likely it was one that hadn’t been discovered.”

Gold Bit listened, and then looked toward the edges of their own island, “I see,” he said as he studied the skies, “Well, the only real answer is to go and deal with it. I haven’t raided a labyrinth in a long time, but it would be a great deal of fun to do so with you my son. Tell me, how does going in the morning sound?”

He stood there, happy that his dad wasn’t upset, but also uncertain about the idea, “Are you sure that we can do this?”

His dad nodded, “Of course, and since we’re the ones who will find it will make the labyrinth ours. Our family can begin collecting the cores from it, and by doing so we can keep the number of sky carp down. It works out well.”

Basically he was stating that the labyrinth would become their property. It would be something that they could get cores from, and it would make a good deal of money in the way of selling the cores. Basically, without knowing it, he’d created an extra source of income for his Dad. It also meant that there was a chance that Delicate Emerald would attempt to cash in on it as well. That bothered him. He really didn’t want to help her gain anymore capital than she already had access to.

The problem was that he knew his father would likely give her the money. The reason he would was because for all rights and purposes he knew that this Dad had loved Delicate Emerald. He had loved the person she had been. There was no evidence that she was still that person, but then again there was no guarantee that she wasn’t that person. The problem was that for all that Copper knew she had been pulling an act on his Dad. It bothered him, but then again maybe it really was something else.

Gold Bit had gone to the Academy with Delicate Emerald. That meant that at some point she had possibly been the kind of person that he had told him about. Something had changed her. Whatever it was he knew that it was something that needed to be altered or changed itself. Personally, the way things were now was far too difficult. The way that the women at the academy treated the boys was atrocious.

It was the sort of thing that made him want to step back, and cry out for release. He cursed himself for not going into the lore of the game as much as he could. Sure, the company that made it had made a bunch of RPGs, and he’d played a decent amount of them. The difference was that he really didn’t care much about the dating sim. His sister cared about it, but as far as he was concerned it was something he was being forced to do.

Now he wished that he would had paid attention more to the bits of story that was planted along the way. Instead he was dealing with the fact that the game itself was more or less his reality. A reality that seemed to be something that wasn’t completely horrible, but at the same time there were a ton of issues that he had to deal with. For one the way things completely centered around women. There was so much power in that dynamic that it honestly didn’t make sense.

Additionally, there were other things, but those were the kind of things that one was supposed to just chalk up under suspension of disbelief. Still, depending on how things went from this point on he wanted to find out if there was something at the Academy that was changing women into women like Delicate Emerald. If that was the case he wanted to find what it was and stop it. If there was a way to change them back then he’d like to do that for his Dad.

He realized, after a few moments, that he hadn’t really replied and rubbed the back of his head, “It sounds like a plan,” he said before he shook his head, “Sorry, I was deep in thought. I was thinking about the academy, and what was going to happen. I’ll be completely honest I was thinking that I was going to be drummed out. What with the duel and everything.”

Gold bit shook his head, “They can’t do that now,” he stated as he looked at him, “You’ve climbed up the ranks on your own merit, and you’ve done so without any help from anyone else. At this point you’ve more or less proven that you are someone that the Kingdom can rely on. They’ll want to keep you around to ensure that they can get that help whenever they need it. Unfortunately it means that there will be more demanded of you.”

That was certainly a part that he didn’t want to deal with. The idea of having to chip in more with any potential battles, if there was any, wasn’t exactly the way he wanted things to go. Still, he was possibly just low enough that it wouldn’t be too horrible. At most he’d have to ensure that his airship was able to assist. That would be enough for him to ensure that he at least kept on the Kingdom’s good side. He looked at his dad and then studied the fields for a moment, “So, first thing in the morning?”

His dad nodded, “I want to say just the two of us, but I have no doubt that your servants will be coming, right?” he asked as he looked at Artemis, “I don’t mind it so bad, but son, you’ve got to be careful. The way she looks at you is anything but respect. She looks at you in the way that says she’s ready to carry your child. Again, I have no issue with it, but there are a ton of nobles out there that will rally against that sort of thing. You need to be careful son.”

He nodded, “I get what you’re saying Dad,” he replied, “Right now there’s not anything happening, but I can’t promise that it won’t be happening. So far, there’s only a handful of girls that I’d be interested in doing much with. The ones that even really have paid me much attention has been Diamond Tiara Rich, Applebloom, and Sunset Shimmer. With Sunset I think that it’s mostly because I helped save her life. Diamond Tiara and Sunset are both of a much higher standing, and Applebloom well, she’s a commoner.”

His father nodded, “I see,” he replied as he leaned back, “Either of the other two would be fine, there’s no denying that, but son if they are truly out of your reach then it means that you will be forced to prove yourself. There’s little doubt in my mind that they will want to see you get promoted again.”

“That’s not really something that I’m looking forward to,” Copper admitted, “I mean, the idea of being promoted again doesn’t really sit well with me. I was going to be happy as a baronet. I would be under you, and I could live my life out in peace. As it is now I’m already going to have to commit at least an airship toward the defense of the kingdom. If I climb much higher then who knows what I’ll have to commit to any war that breaks out.”

There was a smiled from his Dad, “Son, depending on the situation there may come a point where you have to commit what would equate to an entire army. But that would be if you reach the level of Earl. While it’s possible I won’t sit here and say that it is something that you should worry about. Climbing to the rank of Earl is nearly an impossibility. It would mean doing something well beyond the point of expectance. Instead you would have to practically become the national hero,” his father said before he laughed, “And honestly, if that was the case then I’m not sure that you would even have much of a need of a tired old man like your father.”

Copper looked at him and shook his head, “Dad, I’m always going to need to have you. I’m going to need a lot of advice. Especially when it comes to figuring out how to handle the idea of kids,” he said as he looked around them, “To be honest, the idea of having kids is a little unsettling. I mean I get that it’s a natural order of things, but I’m not sure how I really feel about it. I don’t know how good of a father I’d be.”

His Dad gave him a smile, “Son, I have no doubt that when the time comes you’re going to be a great father. You might be a little soft on your kids, but that’s to be expected. I mean honestly I wouldn’t doubt if you’re softer than you should be,” he stated, before he patted his shoulder, “But even if you are I can imagine that your kids are going to love you. They’ll likely respect you, or at least I hope that they will.”

He shook his head and looked about the field, “Still, let’s finish this up, and tomorrow morning we’ll find that new labyrinth. It will be good for us to get our stake made early. Once we do at that point we can begin mining the cores out from there.”

With the decision made Copper went back to helping with the field. He turned to watch Diamond Tiara as she marveled at the dirt, at the fresh vegetables, and of course as she seemed to be enthralled by all of it. There was a sort of wonder about her, and he could see how she marveled at the fields themselves. He could see Applebloom explaining everything to her still, and of course he saw Artemis going about business as usual. For her it was no issue. She knew how to harvest, and she knew how to sow.

So, the rest of their day continued, everyone put in the effort to bring in the harvest in, and toward the end of the day Copper could see the effort paying off. What normally would have taken a couple of weeks was down to a mere day. The robots had done their part wonderfully, and Copper had helped his Dad with the last bit that was reserved just for the family to harvest. Something to help keep everyone honest.

When it was said and done he could understand what his Dad, what Gold Bit, was getting at. Having to do a hard day’s work helped to keep a person grounded. It kept them honest in that they understood what it took to get by. There was no drifting off, and no getting separated. It was showing that life had to have people in it that were willing to work for what they had. If he hadn’t been raised the way he had been then there was no denying that he would be just like the spoiled nobles at the academy.

Most of the boys there were actually pretty hard working, although Prince Apollo and his friends were the exception. All of them trained, he was certain, but none of them had actually had to do a day's worth of work in their lives. Instead they lived off of their parents’ graces. Whatever accomplishments their parents had was exactly what made them capable of living the way they did. For Prince Apollo it was simply because he was the prince.

His life as the crown prince meant that he would always be pampered to a degree. He would almost always be kept safe from most situations. The fact that he was promoted for beating the prince in a duel meant that his parents, the king and queen, understood that he needed to be taught a lesson that they hadn’t ever taught him. At the same time he really wished that they wouldn’t have promoted him. Not killing him, or his family, was enough for him to consider it a win.

Going back to the house he marveled at how big it was, and of course he considered the baths that were waiting on them. The best thing would be to let the girls go first. At least that was his intention until he saw his father walking toward the back of the house, “Dad?”

Gold Bit grinned at him, “Everyone that’s worked, come out to the back, please,” he said as he led them out. There before him was another building. He knew that there were baths in the house itself. There were at least three different full bathrooms. More than simply washing off with a wet rag and a basin of water. But what he was seeing was a building that looked fairly large for what it was, “This is the bath house. Those strange golems helped to build it, and it is divided in the middle. So women on the left side, men on the right.”

With that the group separated, and he followed his dad and younger brother into the bath house. He looked at the huge tub, the showering stations, and he marveled at it all, “Okay, this is pretty amazing,” he admitted as he studied it, “So, have you started using this more often?”

His dad shook his head, “Not really,” Gold Bit answered, “See, mostly it’s used when we’ve gotten really dirty. It keeps us from tracking the dirt into the house. That helps make sure that we’re not making it harder to clean in there.”

He nodded, and he walked toward the shower. His clothes came off, and he kept in mind that he would need to gather them up. Instead he heard the stiff steps of one of the robots, and he heard it grabbing his clothes. He looked to see a robe left behind. He shrugged, began to shower, and he considered what it would be that tomorrow would bring.