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 Six

“Big brother, what happened after you took the treasure back to your new ship?” Silver Bell asked, “I mean didn’t you have to worry about the traps along the way again? And what about the monsters in the labyrinth?”

“Actually,” he said as he looked at her, “The tunnel the pirate ship had used was still there. My new ship could navigate it better, so I contacted the crew still on board, and had them move it from the old port to the tunnel. We moved the treasure, but I knew that I needed to do something for the pirate that had set the entire thing up.”

Three weeks earlier

“Artemis,” Copper said as he looked at the skeleton of the pirate captain sitting there, “It seems wrong that all of his preparation will have been made for nothing. I mean it’s obvious that he went through a great deal of trouble to ensure anyone that attempted to get to his treasure was killed, and then when they finally got here he was planning on their greed to finish them off.”

She moved next to him, “It is,” she admitted after a moment, “I have already checked below and saw multiple barrels of ancient explosives along with what appeared to be multiple barrels of aged wine. I believe he wanted the ship, and those who would be attempting to steal his treasure, to go up in a fiery blast. For a new human, this was actually a very creative trap. It preyed on the most basic impulses, and only someone with exceptional foresight could understand what he was doing.”

Copper understood the reverence he was getting, but he shook his head. He knew because of the game, and because of the old 80’s movie that this scene had been based off of. “Thanks,” he admitted after a moment, “Still, is there a way to give him a sort of decent send off? I mean could we trigger his trap remotely?”

Artemis smiled demurely, “Absolutely,” she purred, “Doing so would be child’s play actually. I could have a simple drone come over here, and wait for us to leave. The drone could trip the scale, and in doing so would cause the explosion to take the ship, and the cavern with it. It would sacrifice a single drone, something I could replace easily, and it would result in an explosion.”

He smiled at her, “So, you’re wanting to see it blow up, right?” he asked as he studied her expression, “I mean you look pretty invested in causing the explosion to happen, so I can only guess that you would like to see it explode.”

There was a moment that it almost looked like Artemis seemed a little embarrassed, “Perhaps,” she admitted as she looked at him, “I am designed for war, and seeing the results of a massive trap that was meant to destroy go off would be of benefit to me. It would allow me to catalog the event, study the repercussions, and decide if duplicating it would be worth the effort. Ultimately it would be for our benefit.”

He smiled, “Okay, then let’s trigger it and watch it explode.”

From there they finished moving the last of the treasure, and Copper watched as a single small floating drone moved toward the older this itself. If he was to be honest the drone looked something similar to a Mr. Handy from Fallout. It was circular, floating in the air, but there was no evident way of causing it to float. The best he could remember was that the old humans had created antigravity drives. Obviously each of the drones had one.

There was a multiple of arms that snaked out of its body, each ending in small three fingered claws, and of course it had a single camera on the front of it instead of the three from the Mr. Handies he’d seen in the game they were from. The drone moved into the ship, and they boarded the Artemis. Once on board they backed out of the tunnel, and a few moments later the entire labyrinth shook. Copper watched as something he hadn’t expected happened. The labyrinth itself began to collapse in on itself.

That’s when he realized that the cavern had been the heart of the labyrinth. The core that brought it to life, the very core that caused it to exist, had been there. With it gone the labyrinth couldn’t exist anymore. It collapsed in on itself and he watched as it turned to little more than debris. Slowly it fell away to nothing, and all that was left of its existence was aboard their ship.

“Captain,” Artemis said, her voice full of awe, “That was truly epic. I wish that there was a way to watch it again.”

Present time

“Wow!” Silver Bell exclaimed as she looked at him, “So you tied a rope around the scale and stretched it out enough so that when you backed out of the cavern it caused it to drop?” she asked, her voice sounding incredibly impressed and delighted, “That’s so amazing!”

He smiled at her, “That’s right,” he said as he looked at her, “And it took the entire labyrinth with it. I guess that the Pirate that created the traps knew that it would. The heart of the labyrinth was there, and once it was destroyed it just destroyed the labyrinth as well. There wasn’t anything left of it.”

He could see the admiration in his little sister’s eyes, and looking up he could see Delicate Emerald looking slightly impressed before she looked away, “Stupid boy,” she said after a moment, “Destroying that Labyrinth was a mistake. We could have claimed it, and charged adventurers to hunt the monsters inside of it. Additionally we could have used it to gain Monster cores for ourselves, and surely there would have been a way of not disturbing the scales while removing those gold coins.”

Everything told him that talking back to her would end with her getting what she wanted. Which what she wanted to be engaged. She wanted to be the most important person here, and that wasn’t the case now. He had done all he had said he would, and more to the point the treasure he’d brought back was more than enough to take himself to the academy. It was more than enough for him to have purchased a deserted floating island that they came across.

The island itself was more than large enough to enjoy. It was a place where he could build a home, have a future, and even grow both sustaining and cash crops. One of the cash crops for the kingdom, at least according to the dumpster fire of a game he’d played before being reincarnated here, was something called Levonion. It was type of fibrous plant that was used for the basic ingredient of both clothing and armor.

It could be bundled tightly enough, by either magic or mundane means, that it created a nearly impenetrable bit of clothing. The problem was that if it was armor on its own then it was also very difficult to move in clothing bundled that tightly. Instead it was usually used on the back of metallic armor. Adding a final layer of support. Looser bound fibers created the normal clothes for the masses.

Essentially it was the same as cotton, but it had been renamed for the purpose of the game. It still didn’t take away that it was a cash crop, but simply growing just a cash crop was a good way to doom one’s self. If that cash crop fell, for whatever reason, then those growing it would deal with the fallout. For him that meant that he couldn’t rely on just a cash crop. Instead growing food, and plentiful amounts of it, would be the other thing that would help him.

As such, there was currently the built avatar of Artemis currently attending to the island itself. Artemis 01, the avatar that had been used to attack him, had been rebuilt, but she was still damaged. As such Artemis stated that the avatar wasn’t fit for combat, but instead needed to be used for more mundane purposes. It was stupid, he knew that, but he had asked that avatar if she would mind working on the fields.

He’d been surprised at her agreement, and then even more surprised that she thanked him for considering the well being of this avatar. Still he wasn’t going to tell Delicate about the island. He didn’t want her to know until he was completely gone from here. Instead he would be letting his Dad, Silver Bell, and his brothers know about it. If they came to live with him, that was fine.

“Young sir,” the centaur said as it came back out toward them, “Young sir, I have brought a letter of acknowledgement from the royal family.”

With that he was passed a letter. The fact that one had even come, while they were meeting, was surprising. But then from what he understood each noble family had something that transmitted letters quickly to and from each other. He’d been explained that it was a type of magic from the kingdom of the Ancient Dragon to the far North. Apparently it burned a letter at one place, and it recreated it at another.

He took the letter, and he opened it to see something that caused him to stand up, “Wait, what?!”

His Dad neared him, “Copper, congratulations!” he said as he slapped his back, “You’ve been recognized, and been awarded the title of Baron! Son that’s wonderful!”

“How?!” Delicate shouted, “How could he even… Tarnished! I demand that you go earn a Baroness title now!”

He watched as Delicate left for the large house, and he was honestly glad that she was gone. He felt the presence of another person, and the soft touch of Artemis was on his shoulder, “Captain, is this not wonderful?”

For once he hesitated, “Yes,” he admitted after a moment, “It is, but I would much rather remain in the background. I don’t want to be in the spotlight. I’m actually good remaining in the background and just living a quiet life that I’m going to create for myself.”

“Son, that’s an impossibility now,” his Dad said a smile across his face, “You’ve defeated an entire labyrinth yourself. Additionally, you’ve bought your own island as well. That means that you’ve been awarded a title, and as a noble you will be expected to either contribute through monster hunting, or defeating labyrinths. Additionally if the war takes a turn then we will be expected to rise to the occasion as well.”

He breathed out, “Dad, what’s wrong with living a quiet life?”

There was a small laugh, “There’s nothing wrong with it son, but I have a feeling that your servant would want to see you become more,” he said as he gestured toward Artemis, “And I may be wrong for thinking so, but is there more?”

He stood there quiet for a moment, “I… Honestly I don’t know,” he said as he looked at Artemis who looked pleased with herself, “I guess that there could be.”

“If my Captain wanted there to be more, I would be open to it,” she said, her voice honest and soft, “I would not hesitate to be more than a servant and crew member.”

He saw his Dad nod, “And that’s fine. Personally, I have no problem with it, but there are nobles out there who do. They feel that Demi-humans are inferior to us, and they have no real respect for them. Most feel that their place as servants are too good, and there is a call for the kingdom to go back to the time of slavery when it comes to them. It’s wrong, and I don’t support it, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t nobles out there who do.”

He looked at his dad for a moment, “I wouldn’t let anything happen to her,” he said, his voice certain, “Of course I don’t think that I’d get a chance to stop them before she did.”

“Mu Captain is correct,” Artemis said, her voice confident, “I am capable of defending myself, but it makes me feel warm to know that he would want to protect me. Still, I know that I would protect my Captain until I was unable to do so. Until I was rendered immoble I would defend my Captain, and I would ensure that he was able to withstand anything that these nobles threw at him,” she had said with a barely contained venom on the nobles themselves. Copper looked at her, and he realized that Artemis was someone that wouldn’t abandon him.

There was something exceptionally comforting about that. It was comforting to know that she would remain with him, and that she wasn’t going to abandon him. At the same time it made him want to defend her as well. He wanted to ensure that she would be okay, and that her emotional wellbeing remained intact. Regardless of what she was he could see that she could feel emotions. Her declaration earlier was further proof of that. It also left him at a very strange place.

She was showing interest in him, but could he even return those feelings? He wasn’t going to lie and say that her avatar’s weren’t attractive. They were, but ultimately she was the ship itself. She was the artificial intelligence that ran his ship. Would being with one of her avatar’s mean that he would be with the ship itself? These were questions that he had absolutely no intention of facing at the moment.

Instead he had the question looming over him that was coming up. That question was the academy. He had to go. There was absolutely no doubt that he had to. If he didn’t then would it only be a matter of time until Delicate Emerald found someway of attempting to remove him from his newly found fortune. She’d likely still want to marry him off to some older woman that would ensure his death, and she would have no problems in doing so.

So, his one choice was the academy. He breathed out, “Dad, I’m going to send in my application to the Crystal Academy,” he said as he looked at Gold Bit, “Is there anything that I should keep in mind when I go?”

Gold Bit looked at him and shrugged, “Son, I just ask that you prepare yourself,” he replied, “The Crystal Academy is a wondrous place, but there are a lot of cold hearted noble’s that have children going there. Most of them will question your sudden rise in prestage, and others of course will see you having a female servant as an affront to their senses. Trust me when I tell you that what you’re going to be facing is prejudice from all sides.

He nodded and looked ahead, “Well, I’m already facing something similar to that with Delicate Emerald and Tarnished Tiara,” he replied as he looked out over the horizon,”So, honestly it shouldn’t too different from what I’ve already experienced, right?”

His Dad shook his head, “Son,” he said as he looked with him, “What Delicate and Tarnished do is considered petty. Yes, both of them are entitled, and I know that. There’s not much that I can do in order to fix it. But I can tell you that you’ll be facing a lot of that, and more. Some if it likely will be more destructive,” he said his voice firm, “Even so, I know you, and I know how hard you work. Son, I have absolutely no doubt that you’ll do well at the Academy. I imagine that you will learn new magic, and become an amazing adventurer.”

He nodded, and then he walked with his Dad toward the new airship, “So,” he said as he looked at it, “While we gather up the cores, why don’t you look around the new airship itself?” he asked as they started up toward it, “I think that everyone should be able to look around for a bit.”

As he walked he felt something on his hand, and then he felt fingers clasp around it. The fingers were delicate, strong, and belonged to Artemis. There were decisions to be made, but he couldn’t do them right now. Whatever happened, wherever this led to, he had to be careful. He wasn’t sure that he would be getting another attempt at a life. This was surprising as it was.

They climbed aboard, and he began to show his Dad where the cabins were. There was little doubt in his mind that the ship could become their new living quarters, and he was fine with that. After all it was designed far better than the shack that they had to share when he grew up. Artemis had done a wonderful job in building it, and she had ensured that every single measurement, every little thing was looked after. Compared to her ship form this was still simplistic, but it was no less impressive.

He heard his Dad quietly gasp at the Captain’s chambers, and he felt his heart warm. He closed his eyes for a moment, and let himself feel the wonderful emotion of having finally done something good for his Dad. He was glad to have finally done something worthwhile for him. He breathed out, considered what was to come.

Two Weeks Later

The Crystal Academy was something to behold, and the moment he arrived he began looking for the girl requesting people to join her club. Learning wordless magic was something that would become incredibly useful. He wanted to learn it, and he wanted to be able to forge his own destiny. Learning wordless magic would allow him a better chance at clearing the labyrinths the school would be training them in quicker.

He saw the girl, standing against the building, holding the sign, just like in that dumpster fire of a game, and he walked toward her, “Oh hey,” she said, her voice sounding less enthusiastic than he expected, “Want to join the NewsPaper Club? There’s not a whole lot of people interested, and honestly I’ve been trying to get someone to join for last two hours. Please, say yes, please. I really don’t want to deal with telling Ms. Matilda, that I couldn't find someone.”

He nodded, “Sure,” he said as he saw her brighten up, “I’d be glad to join.”

She nodded, and grabbed his hand. He heard the footsteps of Artemis as she followed them, and he hoped that she wasn’t going to get the wrong idea. The both of them entered the classroom he’d seen on the game before, and he saw the same older professor pouring over the books on her desk. This was the start of his life here, and he was going to do all he could to make it perfect.