Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 288 Returning Home
As he let the scalding water fall, Rean enjoyed his bath, feeling a deep sense of comfort.

One of the advantages of having a great alchemist friend is that when you really need something, she can handcraft some groundbreaking wonders for you.
"That's great. That's great."

The new showerhead worked great. After showering for five minutes, Rean put on his bathrobe and returned to his room.

Before that, he went around to the back of the bathroom.
"Snapped!"

With a snap of his fingers, flames lit up beneath the alchemical furnace. He turned on the switch, replaced a bucket of water, and began heating another pool of water.

"Lana, it's your turn to shower in five minutes. Lana?!" The little one, who was supposed to be outside, disappeared again.

The little guy absolutely refused to go in, so in order to prove it was "safe," Rean himself was forced to try it out first, but then he ran away.

“Every time I take a shower, it feels like I’m fighting a battle.”

Rean sighed. The little guy didn't like taking baths and couldn't understand why he had to take one every day. In this era, apart from noble ladies, it was perfectly normal to take a bath once a month, and it was usually with cold water.

"The snacks are all gone!" he shouted into the living room.

"Bad friend!"

The little one suddenly jumped out, glared at Rean, and hurriedly went to get a towel and a change of clothes. But before leaving, she couldn't stand it and ran back, kicked Rean with her little leg, made a face, and ran away quickly.

Rean, however, smiled and shook his head. The little guy was becoming more and more "mature," at least in terms of his richer emotions.

"Just let me look after the stove. In this respect, young master, you are more like an old aristocrat than young lady."

The head maid, Martha, smiled subtly. "Young Master" may be born an earl, but in some ways he lacks common sense compared to commoners, yet in others he is more insistent than the great nobles.

"It's just a personal habit; I can't sleep soundly if I don't wash myself properly."

"What an enviable habit! Daily bathing in the desert kingdom. The wealth of our family is truly enviable."

Rean gave a subtle smile, then shook his head.

"Besides, the main reason I can wash every day is because the cost is low, almost zero."

Outside the mansion, firewood and coal ash were used for boiling water and starting fires. Anyone who has used them knows how troublesome they are. Moreover, in this world, these are relatively expensive and limited resources. In particular, with the steam engine starting to use coal extensively, the price of coal in the mines has been changing daily.

Meanwhile, Rean expended a little magic to summon flames, allowing the modified alchemy furnace to stably heat the hot water, making it a model of zero cost.

However, other families with the means may not necessarily have this habit; it's more of a change in mindset.

“Martha, what if we mass-produced these furnaces and sold them? Never mind, never mind.”

Rean glanced at Lana, who still looked aggrieved and was forced to come over with a towel and her underwear, and sighed.

Just because you have this need doesn't mean others do. They think a quick wipe is enough, and many people even believe that showering too much will cause illness.

To avoid smelling bad, just spray perfume or fragrance on your body.

To change the habits of an individual or even an entire region, to get everyone to use three household water heaters, is like selling shoes to Rean, who prefers to go barefoot—something I feel I simply don't have the ability to do.

"Miss, you've started taking a daily bath recently."

Suddenly, Martha's seemingly random words while staring at the stove startled Rean.

The girl quietly changed her lifestyle to suit your preferences.

Rean knew that snakes generally dislike water, and their scales don't need much moisture.
"I see."

Rean also knew that after he was promised a baronship, the person who laughed the most on the spot was Suliman.

Because in the case of a marriage between a knight and a viscount, the knight always ends up as a vassal, even if Suliman relinquishes her title as head of the family, and Rean becomes a son-in-law. A marriage between two viscounts is a different story; nominally, Rean can be the head of the household.

Although the Sudar family was no longer an ordinary viscount, that's how the rules are in the aristocratic circle: the strong swallow the weak, and the weak who are swallowed by the strong should behave themselves and not cause trouble.

“Viscount? That’s a bit difficult.” The girl’s expectation made Rean sigh.

But considering the trials of the brave that follow, they don't seem that difficult. You can just fight your way through.

"Little Lana, dry yourself off and wait. You only washed your hair for a minute? Go back quickly, let your sister wash your hair for you."

Seeing Viscount Sallyman lift the lifeless little guy up and carry him into the bathroom, Rean laughed.

Lions are supposed to be unafraid of water, right? But these little guys nowadays seem to have lost all their racial characteristics.

After cleaning up the bloodstains, Rean lay down on the sofa, and an exhausted Rean accidentally fell asleep. When he woke up again, he smelled the aroma of food on the table and saw the girl dozing off on the table. "Where's the little one?" Rean asked the maid Martha in a low voice.

"I've finished eating, I'm going downstairs to practice my swordsmanship."

Rean nodded and sat down at the table. At that moment, Sallyman woke up, gave a silly smile, and wrapped her tail around him.

The girl snuggled closer and instinctively rubbed against Rean's chest. Looking at the half-asleep girl, Rean smiled.

She's usually useless, but she becomes proactive when she's not fully conscious.

I kissed her little cheek, then cut a slice of apple and put it into her mouth. She had only chewed two bites when she suddenly woke up.

Her face flushed instantly, and she lowered her head, not daring to look at anyone.

It seems that Suliman still needs some time to get used to this aspect.

Holding this lovely girl in his arms, Rean silently enjoyed the delicious meal, which was hard to call breakfast or lunch.

This battle lasted a full twelve hours, completely throwing my biological clock into disarray.

"Hiss, useless ghost."

Hearing that voice, Rean knew that "Silly Man" had been replaced again.

With her head down, it was indeed "Saliman" with a face full of disgust. Her little face was also flushed, so she didn't seem as tough as she had said.

"How is the situation in that town?" After she came out, she immediately focused on the important matter at hand, perhaps also to change the subject.

But this is indeed the most important matter that needs our attention right now.

Radiant City is currently in a state of war syndrome, and no one cares about the slave market in the dock area. Its core members and leaders are already dead underground, and now they don't even know who to turn to for help.

In this blind spot of vision and attention, a large number of "slaves" became runaway slaves, and were then led underground by Dimon's gangs and the Weaver Knights, becoming "laborers" in the construction of the new town. Anyway, Rean had no idea that they were "runaway slaves"!
You can't expect me to hire professional and expensive laborers at this time and have them work in poor underground conditions. It's my freedom to choose who to work for. I like these cheap and hardworking laborers.

"They worked very hard. I have to thank you for that."

To build a "town", you need talents in all fields, and this is the most expensive thing in this era. In many cases, without sufficient connections, you can't find professional talents even if you have money.

But after the Sudar family got involved, none of this became a problem.

In fact, the "Baron's Seal" carved from stone that Rean held was in the hands of the head maid sent by the Sudar family.

At this moment, she was probably frantically signing "Resident Application Forms" and "Exemption Forms".

In this process, a large number of escaped slaves quickly became subjects of the pioneering territory, acquiring full and formal citizenship of the kingdom.

Want to take it away again? Ask Baron Sudar first. I, Sudar, suspect you of colluding with the Order of the Beasts and deliberately sabotaging the construction of the front-line base.

It's all just bickering and arguing, who's afraid of who?

"I thought they would come looking for us soon, and I had prepared my lines for a verbal battle with them."

Rean had prepared his "aristocratic lines" for insults without using any vulgar language, but his opponent had yet to show up.

“If they don’t come now, they probably won’t come.” Sallyman thought for a moment and then laughed.

If we really want to take back those slaves, now is probably the only time. We should talk to Rean before things get "public" and, to be even more radical, just forcibly take them back.

If they actually do that, then they will be delighted to see "Princess Dania" suddenly awakened by the attack on the front-line base, and then go through the Great Mirror Demons and slaughter them all.

But right now, the frontline base hasn't been attacked, and no one has come to talk to Rean.
"They gave up?"

"No one wants to offend Her Highness at this time. Since no one is willing to step forward, the matter has naturally been put aside for the time being."

This seems like good news, but as a price, Rean has probably offended quite a few people.

Enmity that cuts off someone's source of income
“Their sources of income are not cut off. For them, the road is still open. If they lose thugs, they can replace them. If slaves run away, they can buy more or kidnap more.”

Upon hearing this, Rean smiled slightly.

"Go capture new slaves? Continue operating the slave trade routes? Did you even ask us?!"

(End of this chapter)