Kingdom management.

After a far less naughty ride than the first one, the trio arrived at the castle. John had picked up as many bags of water from the lake as he could fit into his inventory before leaving; the lack of running water in the castle was something that he really would like to resolve as soon as possible, but he had not figured out how yet. He wanted to install some gutters and water tank in the castle; with running power, he could get some electric pumps to move it around. Sadly, the junk metal wasn't really suitable for making plumbing.

The inside of the castle smelled delicious, Anna was surely in the kitchen doing something marvelous. John wanted to check the lab for dimensions before trying his hands at making this quartz material. When they got up the stairs, they found Sylvia using the enchanting table.

"You were quick! I was just making some enchanted wood for the new bed. We have plenty of slime material already, I've kept feeding the jars. It should be ready as soon as you want," announced the dryad. Tricia looked at John perplexed.

"I told you about the different perks that I can unlock using the development of the kingdom through buildings? Well, the farm was one, but there is another one that I will be able to unlock today. It’s... hmm, a courtesan chamber. I really don't need the stat boost from it even if the other perk is pretty neat, but I need to build all of the tier one buildings before I can unlock the next tier. And I'll need to think hard on who to assign to each one of them," he explained.

"Ohh, I guess you didn't choose any of these yourself, no need to be ashamed. And even if you don't use it for these purposes, you would at least have a second bedroom in the castle; one for almost ten people seems a bit impractical. So, this new bed is going to be the same as the one in your room?" replied Tricia.

"Yes, maybe we should do this first. We'll be able to start organizing ourselves," he decided. He left the bags of sand and water in the storage chest of the laboratory and picked up some enchanted wood and slime materials. He used the enchanting table to add a few runes to some of the boards, and they descended to the basement. Stopping at the first basement on his way down, John saw June in the kitchen, sucking on one of Anna's fingers and squirming from delight.

"Hey, girls, want to see the new room?" he called.

"You mean... Ohh, sure we want, you'll need help setting up everything," replied his queen who made June move along with a light slap on her butt. The teacher followed through, smiling. The suitcase brought by June was transported down to one of the empty rooms.

John laid out the materials and crafted the same bed and nightstand he had in his own bedroom, then he added a few shelves on the walls made from regular wood.

"John... This is really basic... I didn't expect that of you. " admonished June.

"I'm sorry. Fabric is one of the things I can't produce here and for which I didn't find any cheap way to obtain. For now, the castle is a lot more utilitarian than I wish it was, but if I can unlock the various features and secure the rewards from them, then I can go back to upgrade and decorate later. I'm sure Cali will be able to provide us with pelts to make some fine rugs. I know that you care a lot about how it looks, and I do too. But this is sadly the best strategy, basic but functional things that we can use and will customize later. Contrary to last week, I have nothing booked for this weekend, so we'll be able to do a lot of work on it and try many things," he apologized. June opened her suitcase and began to put on display a large collection of sex toys; John had only seen one so varied at Felicity's, and it made him wonder how much this blessing had impacted her mind.

As soon as everything was in place, he saw that the option to create the courtesan chamber was available, and he now could go to the Altar to collect the bonus for both the chamber and the farm.. The small group followed him upstairs to the throne room and then the Chancery.

"That's really not much, so... Do I get assigned to this room? Do I become the official courtesan?" joked June on the way there.

"Hmm, I don't think I will assign you to it for now. The bonus it would give is in libido, which pretty much everyone around has plenty of already. I'd prefer that you were assigned to the library, apparently you fit the requirements for it," he replied.

"That's less fun. And how can I be the sexy librarian wearing this?" she asked showing her perfect, naked body. "I need a really tight blouse, short skirt and some glasses."

John who had been training himself to think about other things to avoid being constantly hard found his dick raising up at the thought of her wearing this costume. Strange how even the prospect of naughty clothes could be more alluring than nakedness.

"Ohh, I can see that someone likes this. I'll be sure to bring my new uniform and a few other sets next time I'm visiting."

John stopped in front of the large stone slab and claimed the two rewards that were available. The farm gave the rings the Gourmet perk, giving better and longer bonuses to the food that they prepared or ate. The courtesan chamber gave the Family Planning perk, which allowed to make the wearer instantly fertile or sterile at the push of a button. John immediately used the latter to make himself sterile, most of the girls he engaged with were safe on that regard, but he preferred not to take any risks.

He was only missing one building to unlock the new tier; both roads and the Arcane Sanctum were optional and not counted in the first tier. He needed a mine, and he would then discover a full new tier of buildings with perks to unlock.

But right now, he wanted to see if he had assigned people the optimal way. Cali was assigned to the Hunter's Lodge, and there was little doubt that it was her place. Anna was assigned to the Chancery, and John really wanted her there to help him run the place. Tricia was the perfect choice for the laboratory. Vesta with her skills would be at home in the armory and even more so once John would start showing her how to smelt and forge. Sylvia with her life magic was available to man the farm and accepted gladly; she was eager to help the ratfolk settle and prosper.

It left two slots open and two girls... John realized that Daphne was technically able to be assigned to the courtesan chamber, which was the only room or building that she was qualified to man. Putting June in this room had made John afraid that too much LIB would make things too hard to handle, but he also knew that WIS and END had a counter effect on it. With a boost in endurance to last longer and wisdom to keep a clearer mind the negative effects of the higher libido would be canceled, especially since one point of wisdom seemed to counter more than one point of libido.

"I did some thinking: if I assign Daphne to the courtesan chamber, Sylvia to the farm and June to the library, the stats will balance themselves, and we should get the bonus without the malus from it. What do you think about this?" he asked. Sylvia nodded, June kissed him and grabbed his butt. Daphne waited for the newly appointed sexy librarian to finish and held John's hand. His mind filled with good feelings and a sense of peace and agreement, quickly followed by undefined but clearly very naughty thoughts. The way that she expressed herself was very alien to John, used to putting concepts into words to communicate, but there was no doubt about her intentions.

"Very good. I really can't wait to get the next ring too; this thing is awesome but so limited. I'll work on this glass thing we need for the lab before it's time to go home for dinner. Anna, can you send Tricia and June back when they are done here?"

"Sure, my love, but tonight we need to inaugurate this new bed, and I have plenty of things planned for you," she replied, slapping his butt as he walked away. She seemed to find this really funny, and no one seemed to mind it.

John observed the ring that Cali was wearing now.

Arcadian ring of power: legendary item
This ring created by the Altar of Kings in the Kingdom of Arcadia is a gift from Gaia granting its wearer a small portion of the power of the Gamer. It unlocks upgrades as the kingdom get developed
+5 AGI
+5 END
+5 INT
+5 WIS
+5 CHA
+5 LIB
+12 inventory slots +wallet
Astral key: Arcadia, 1 way point
Interface, Arcadian network link
Hunter's Eye, Gourmet, Efficiency, Scholarly Mind, Diplomat, Family Planning, Mobile Armory.

This ring was really powerful, and his own with the extra gifts granted by his crown was one of the most powerful items that he had.

Wearing his slime suit as protection against the heat, John began experimenting with the glassmaking. It wasn’t as easy as expected: the heat needed was immense, and even once hot enough to be worked on, John had to use a lot of mana to bend it to the right shape. Contrary to normal glass that could be blown, this quartz had to be molded or cut, and John had managed at the cost of a lot of effort to make two small tanks from the material, one foot tall and across, but it was all he had time to do if he wanted to be home in time. He did not want to return to the spot where he entered the kingdom, which made him leave where Anna and June picked up Tricia. In a risky move, Tricia would get Anna home while June would take Cali hidden in her car to her place to leave a way point here. John would go home on his bike and take the tram. An extra ring, even if not offered to one of the girls living on earth would offer an extra way point that could be left at Tricia's place; that way, she would just have to ask someone inside the kingdom to pick her up.

John arrived in front of his house well in time for dinner. Daphne had bathed him making sure to get rid of the burnt glass smell before he left. As good as his mom's food could be, he would have preferred to eat Anna's food in a great dinner in the kingdom, but there were priorities, and if there were no other bad surprises tonight, it soon would no longer be a problem.