Steel and Mana

Chapter 63 – Paradox of Wealth

Visiting the gold mine eased a lot of my worries for the future. In the back of my mind, I was already thinking about how to finance the city come next year, when we will need to pay the tithe once again. With this, I could afford to let my people breathe and introduce taxes gradually, easing them into it without dropping it on them like cement bags from nowhere.

"Why the long face? We should celebrate by having an orgy! We are fucking rich!"

I knew who said it without looking up from my dinner, shrugging, and slowly placing my spoon down.

"I wish, my optimistic concubine. Is it a boon? Yes. Is it a curse? Also, yes."

"Curse?" Yuri asked with a snort while I was having dinner with all of my wives and the newly trained maids surrounding us, waiting silently but also nervously. Not long ago, they were only simple village girls, and now they were living within the palace, serving their rulers. Despite their lack of experience, Luna did a good job training them; she can be forceful when needed, which was surprising to witness while she whipped them into shape in merely a few weeks.

"Yes." Sasha answered her, raising her head slightly and giving Yuri a superior look. "Any gold found would be the property of the Empire. We ought to report it and could not keep any of it. If we begin flaunting a wealth that came from nowhere, sooner or later, they would come down and investigate."

"So? We would kill them."

"We can't blame everything on bandits." I shrugged, as we may be able to get off with it one or two times, but not always. "We may be able to bribe them, but I wouldn't go that route. Then, we can be blackmailed to oblivion and back."

"We can still mint coins from the gold, no?" Luna asked, making me think, and once again, it was Sasha who answered.

"We did think about it." She nodded, repeating what I told her previously, "We can create molds, but those will need to be made from hardened steel. We would need to build and set up the required rolling mills, cutting presses, and whatnot, but yes, in time, we would be able to mint our own coins and copy the Empire's official ones. That still leaves the problem: Where is the wealth coming from? It does not answer it."

"So... are we going to just sit on it? Be rich without being rich? That sucks!"

"We can set up a closed circulation of money." I interjected, "We can create our own currency that is used solely within our territory. It is the easiest way to swap the Empire's coins with our own at a 1:1 exchange rate."

"But... that would be weird..." Luna mumbled, not really understanding it, thinking of a question she wanted to ask.

"Most of the people living here," I continued when she paused, "never leave this region. They are born here, grow up and die here. Even if some leave, they are treated as second-class citizens after it's found out they are from the Frontier. Using the Empire's coins or ours would make no difference for them. With a 1:1 exchange, they would not be against it."

"We can make it into a law," Sasha nodded, as we explained it in tandem, "that our territory only accepts our money from now on. We are isolated, and most of our outside trading goes through Mother, I mean, Minister Louise. Khm. She is already working on the foundation of our Merchant Guild. Only they will be allowed to undertake trading with the other regions. Then, we can use the collected imperial coins to finance our future traders who will venture out and establish our first independent trading routes. They will have 'real money' to use, and when they come back, they can exchange their profits for our coin as it would be the only accepted currency in our borders."

"Of course, if they want to keep some Imperial Coin to themselves, so be it. I would not force them to give back everything, but they would have to pay tariffs." I added with a smile, seeing Luna opening her mouth, ready to ask her question. "The money coming out and coming in must be in an equilibrium."

"If they go out and spend it all and can pay nothing when they return, then what?" Yuri asked, making me smile; she knew exactly what to ask.

"If it happens once, they will go into debt. If it happens multiple times, they will be out of the Merchants Guild and forced to pay it back either with labor or with goods. But once out of the Guild, you are out forever!"

"It can work," Sasha agreed, looking at the rest with an excited smile, "later on, we can even raise the exchange rate once we have enough inventions to back us up! Then, we can say that one of our coins is worthy of two imperial coins. Or three. We are still small, only a city, as 90% of the population of the Frontier now lives here. We can make it work and build on it in the future."

"This would allow us to control the economy and make it stable. It works because we are not an empire... and if in the future we become one? We can gradually expand on it."

"And don't forget!" Sasha said with a happy giggle, "Those traders who will leave our territory to establish routes to other regions will go with the intention to sell and not to buy! We aim to become independent and produce everything locally, not to find new dependencies."

"So... are we rich or not?" Yuri asked again, shrugging.

"Not yet!" I laughed, finishing my dinner, "But we will be. This goldmine will kickstart the change needed to begin our move toward independence. Of course, it will be a slow and gradual change. I will have to maintain the facade until we are strong enough. The traders leaving from here will bring away my inventions, all made to be unique or luxurious, aiming to catch the nobility's eyes."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Luna asked because, indeed, I was glancing at her while clarifying. "I no longer think you are barbarians! Meanie!"

"I am happy to hear that! And with this move, I will try to make it so other nobles change their thinking too. Doing it would be entirely within legal compliance, and I would still pay the tariffs, taxes, tithe, whatever. Even pay more than usual, reflecting our success so they will leave us alone. It needs a careful dance of balance, but if done right, we can mask ourselves and hide our true wealth and strength. Until we are ready to secede."

"You are the boss, boss!" said Yuri while stretching, "If you think it will work, sure! I was just curious how much money I was worth now, being your fucktoy!"

"Your weight in gold." I joked, but she took it seriously, her eyes lighting up.

"Shiiiiit, I should eat more then!"

"If you fatten up as much as my late Uncle, I will use you as monster bait in the winter."

"Pfft, relax! A good fucking is the best exercise! I will stay in shape!"

"Errr... um..." Luna mumbled, trying to cut in the weird conversation, "What inventions are you planning to sell? If they are artifacts, it could be a horrible idea!"

"I know. I am working with Sasha on some interesting things. Nothing concrete yet, but unique inventions that I hope will make the nobles want to pay for it. I will test it on Elliot~!"

"Hey," Yuri hummed, standing up and looking at me and Sasha, "Instead of her, what do you say if you finally work on me?" To her surprise, I wasn't waving her off at all. Instead, I exchanged a glance with my wives, who both nodded, forming a small smile, making her blink her eyes multiple times. "Really...? Finally! Let's go! I'm burning down there!"

"I just hope not because of some infection." I added with a whisper, now having some second thoughts...

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What happened later that night was not something I expected. It was as if Luna and Sasha had planned it all along. Before Yuri had any chance to make a move, a familiar bracelet clicked onto her wrist, thanks to Luna's quick reflexes. Then it was Sasha's turn to activate it, and before long, slimy, purple tentacles came from nowhere, tying up Yuri.

"Woah, this feels hardcore! I knew you were my pussy-sisters! What's next?" She wasn't bothered by her sudden predicament and just stood there, her torso tied as the slimy mucus made her body shine.

"We don't trust you yet! You could injure him if you are too wild, so we will keep an eye on you!"

"Fine by me! My hips are still free," She added, continuing to laugh, "I can shake them!"

"What's happening?"

That was the only thing I could ask, as I did not expect to see anything like this. The two didn't answer me. Instead, they tore off Yuri's clothes before laying her down on the bed, spreading her legs before me.

"Fufufu, girls, one of you should use one of these wriggling tentacles! The other one can sit on my face!"

"She is... Yuri." Luna murmured, blushing, gently moving her hips, but Sasha was more ready and not persuaded by her.

"You would bite us, so no!"

"Just a bit! Pain makes it more fun!"

By then, I was also willing to join because the weirdness of this foursome was more exciting than I had expected. Or do the tentacles count as another entity? They are fleshy to the touch... is this an orgy now? Well, I won't ask because Yuri would suggest inviting more people, but I wasn't keen on sharing my wives with anyone else... they can fool around with each other, but that's it.

"You have been through a lot, huh?" I whispered, climbing onto the bed, surprising Yuri, who suddenly fell silent, and the other two somewhat eased their grip on her.

It was evident from just looking at her. Although her pussy wasn't scarred or looked sick, her thighs were marked by claw-like patterns, and below her navel, there were multiple burn marks. As if someone pressed cigars into her body.

"Are we going to fuck or what?" She asked, getting impatient and, for the first time, troubled that I was looking at her for so long.

"No, we won't." I answered, surprising all three of them as I did look ready for it, no matter how they examined me. My body wasn't lying. I didn't explain myself; I simply touched the bracelet, knowing it full well, plopping the CC out and canceling its effects. By then, both of them had let her go and merely watched as I leaned above Yuri, caressing her face, "We will make love. Trust me, it will be a nice experience."

I saw that she wanted to say something, so I silenced her with a kiss. Of course, she bit me, but I wasn't budging, letting her do it while I continued kissing. Soon, her aggressiveness faded from her mouth, stopping to bite and trying to return the kiss... she was terrible at it. She wasn't used to doing it correctly and was trying to mimic me but failing at it.

"Stop rushing..." I whispered as if I was educating her. "Don't try to get it done at once; sex needs to be enjoyed. Let me teach it to you..."

I began caressing her rough, injured body and could feel that many of her wounds were not from battles but from pure torture. I don't know what kind of partners she had or what else she got herself into, but I could discern injuries that were aimed at killing or that were aimed at her to inflict pain and suffering. I knew I was doing well when she suddenly moaned, looking away, blushing, which was so unlike her that my body stiffened.

"She is ready..." Sasha whispered to me, hugging me from behind, also naked, holding my member, placing it in Yuri's wet and glittering hole, and guiding me in.

I could hear from her voice that she was pitying her and wanted to let her enjoy it. Maybe my words did awaken something in them because Luna was also hugging Yuri's body, kissing and licking her wounds, so to speak. The whole thing was surreal yet beautiful, and I think this was the first time in Yuri's life that she had actual sex.

I wasn't harsh, I didn't hurt her, and she was being caressed by all of us. I saw that she didn't know what to do with it and became panicky, avoiding eye contact, turning her into a young girl, someone who may have been hiding deep within her all this time. What I knew at that moment that I wanted to show her what's the difference between casual sex and being intimate...

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When morning came and I woke up, the girls were still sleeping, except Yuri. I saw her sit at the edge of the bed, hunched forward, and when I climbed over, I noticed the wet splotches on her trembling hands.

"Hey..." I whispered, hugging her shoulders, which made her flinch. She looked at me, confused, her lips quivering.

"I hate this... why did it feel so good?"

"It's okay..." I hugged her head close, which she let me do, beginning to sob.

"It's not... I'm a bad bitch... I... this softie whore is not me... I... I don't... deserve..."

"Sssh... I said it was okay. You are now part of my harem, and if I say it is okay, it is okay. Got it?"

"Um... sure... Whatever..." She whispered, crying and laughing at the same time. "You are the worst..."

"Was I that bad? Surely not; you moaned loudly and even squirted at me before I could cum. Twice!"

"That's why... you are the worst... You made me enjoy it..."

"Glad to hear."

After that, she didn't say anything and let me caress her back and head until she calmed down. What she didn't notice was that my eyes met with Sasha's, who woke up not long after me. Seeing us, she only nodded with a small smile, remaining lying there, pretending to be asleep until Yuri managed to regain her composure and left the room.