Chapter 372

Chapter 372

Reincarnated User Manual.

Episode 372: The Story I Wanted To Tell (1)

The outskirts of the capital of the Rien Empire.

After the commotion settled, whether Shiron had regained consciousness or not, Siriel took him back to the empire. She wasn’t dragging him back against his will out of anger or to discipline her husband. Rather, it was because the castle, which had withstood storms for 500 years, could no longer serve as a residence.

“…Did I go overboard?”

Having calmed down, Siriel seriously pondered as she looked at the cracked castle walls. The door to the third-floor chamber was completely destroyed, and due to her momentary lapse—gaining divinity by accident—her mere display of anger had caused cracks to appear all over the ancient fortress.

It was at the point where it wouldn’t be surprising if it collapsed at any moment.

“Yuma, how long will it take to repair this? I’ll cover the costs…”

Siriel was sincerely apologetic. It was true that the demons were to blame for Shiron being so shriveled and near death, but that didn’t mean a heavily pregnant woman should be left in such ruins.

“Lady Seira, the estate. When will it be completed?”

“Just need to waterproof the roof and bring in furniture… Wait, don’t tell me?”

“A newly built house is better than this wreck. I’ll have to go furniture shopping with my brother later.”

Siriel smiled and shook Yuma’s hand. As she had always said, beyond justice and cooperation, a proper wife was the pillar that oversaw the household affairs. She couldn’t allow Yuma to give birth in this kind of dilapidated ruin.

“Why is Lady Yuma getting special treatment?!”

“We want to go too!”

“And what about repairing Dawn Castle?”

Protests arose, but Siriel silenced them with a single sharp glance. While Yuma, being a benevolent demon, was fine to bring into the empire, the maids were an entirely different matter. Their true intentions were unreadable. Releasing thirty of them into the empire could lead to all sorts of unpredictable incidents.

“Encia, you come along. We still need a liaison.”

“Siriel, I love you! There is no greater lady in this land than Siriel Prient, the First Wife of Shiron Prient…”

-Again, Encia?!

-Ugh… Damn it. This world really does favor talent and ability.

-I’m stronger than Encia.

-I cook better than Encia.

Encia was showered with jealousy, yet she continued reciting her praises effortlessly. But what could they do? No matter how much they pouted and complained, there was nothing else they could do.

“Am I… the losing heroine…?”

With a dazed expression, Yura muttered incomprehensible words.

-Let’s just go cut some wood.

Resigned, the maids stopped their handstands and went off to retrieve the blueprints. With Yura—the only one who could oppose Siriel—reduced to this state, any thoughts of rebellion quickly withered away.

Now, back in Rien.

The story to be told was about the new home of House Prient.

A prime piece of land, granted from the emperor’s direct domain, located just outside the capital.

Seira had no talent for architecture, but the golems she created were embedded with knowledge from historical scholars who had written books on the subject.

The result was, naturally, spectacular.

A five-story mansion, towering over an 800,000-pyeong estate, with 30 bedrooms and 60 bathrooms. A magically maintained artificial beach with emerald waves that shattered into sparkling grains of sand, and a perimeter imbued with defensive magic capable of annihilating intruders.

In terms of scale, the structure alone was larger than the imperial palace.

Upon regaining his senses, Shiron worriedly commented,

“Anyone seeing this might think it’s the mansion of a traitor who plans to stand above the emperor.”

But his worries were unfounded.

On the day they visited the imperial palace for a consultation, Victor had mockingly remarked,

“So, I hear rumors that you aspire to crush the emperor underfoot like a rebel.”

That was enough for Shiron to realize he had been worrying needlessly. Even if the emperor herself begged for mercy, he wouldn’t stop pressing down on her.

And the next day…

“Is it really okay to live like this, being obsessed with sex?”

In the newly established Prient estate’s garden, Shiron posed this question seriously to the visiting elders.

Glen, Hugo, Johann, and Deviale were momentarily bewildered by the young hero’s sudden inquiry.

“More specifically, isn’t it the women around me who are obsessed with sex… Would that be more accurate?”

“That’s your big concern? Wait, if you mean the women around you, that includes Siriel, right?”

Hugo was the first to speak. The fact that his son-in-law was outright calling his daughter a sex-crazed woman did not sit well with him.

However, he didn’t get angry. Seeing Shiron’s gaunt cheeks, he understood that there was no ill intent behind his words.

“Siriel is somewhat better. Since she’s pregnant again, she’s focused on taking care of herself.”

“…Your accuracy is impressive.”

“Of course. We hadn’t even unwrapped the new bed before we started pounding on it. The result was inevitable.”

“Pounding on it” was just another way of saying they had vigorous sex. Eight hours of relentless, restrictive intercourse. The moment Shiron showed even a little improvement, Siriel squeezed every bit of energy out of him for eight straight hours.

“Hah, this is truly a joyous occasion. Allow me to extend my congratulations.”

Johann, now a fully white-haired old man, sipped his tea and offered his blessings.

“What I can say is, it’s best to do it plenty while you’re young.”

When was the last time he had done it? Johann tried to recall, but it had been so long that he couldn’t quite remember.

“It’s best to do it while you’re still vigorous. Once you’re old, you may want to, but you won’t be able to.”

Silence filled the air at Johann’s weighty words.

“Twenty years ago, I suddenly experienced erectile dysfunction… After returning from a long campaign, I went to Nightrail to relieve myself, but even after drinking aphrodisiacs, nothing happened.”

“Wait… that really happened?”

Hugo was genuinely shocked as he stared at Johann. They had been comrades-in-arms for decades, yet he had never heard about Johann’s sexual dysfunction before.

“As a man, it was too shameful to talk about.”

“If I had known earlier, I would have given you some leave.”

“Haha, no need. Back then, the shock was so great that I can finally talk about it only now.”

Johann stroked his white beard for a moment before Deviale leaned forward.

“I have no experience with women, as I have devoted myself to faith, but I agree with Sir Johann’s sentiment.”

“Are you saying one should live obsessed with sex?”

“…Not exactly. As a cardinal, most of my work revolves around hearing confessions.”

“That’s true.”

“Given my decades of experience, I can confidently say that marital relationships have a threshold.”

“…A threshold?”

“Yes. Sir Hugo, may I ask you a question?”

“What kind of question…”

Hugo had a bad feeling but nodded nonetheless. After all, this was a matter concerning his daughter and son-in-law.

“When was the last time you had relations with your wife?”

“That’s a highly inappropriate question… One month ago.”

“…Surprising.”

Shiron’s eyes widened. Despite Eldrina’s meticulous upkeep of her youthful beauty, Hugo was now a large, bald middle-aged man with a prominent belly. Yet, their last sexual encounter was only a month ago. It seemed the Prients truly had extraordinary stamina.

“What do you mean by unexpected?”

“No, I was just wondering why Siriel’s younger sibling hasn’t been born yet despite you being active recently.”

“Isn’t it obvious? We’re using contraception.”

At the astonished reactions around him, Hugo let out a genuine sigh. Contraception? Remembering that this world had no condoms, Shiron tilted his head in confusion.

“I… Damn it. Do I really have to talk about this?!”

“Sir Hugo, assisting the young is nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“…I finish outside.”

“So, you mean you do not ejaculate inside?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s just infertility.”

Deviale cautiously remarked. Hugo leaned forward with a perplexed expression.

“In… fertility?”

“Yes. Ejaculating outside is not a completely effective contraceptive method.”

“So… I’m impotent?”

“Ah. Not impotent, exactly. You can still engage in intercourse, after all.”

Deviale handed over his business card to Hugo, who was radiating gloom.

“With some holy energy therapy applied to your testicles, it can be cured. Of course, it requires divine power at the level of a cardinal, but I, Deviale, am a veteran who has saved countless infertile couples in the empire.”

“Forget it. My children are already married—what would I do with another late-born child?”

Hugo returned Deviale’s business card. Watching the exchange, Shiron hesitantly asked Deviale a question.

“Your Eminence, when you say there’s a completely effective method of contraception…”

“Are you interested in contraception? Pregnant women tend to have significantly reduced libido.”

“…At this rate, I feel like I’ll end up founding a nation with my children.”

A nation? A nation of his own children? The group took a moment to process the words. The number of women Shiron had relations with was roughly seven. If some of them were long-lived races like elf magicians, they could bear children until the day Shiron became infertile. Even then, the limit would be about twenty to thirty children per person. As Johann had pointed out, Shiron’s manhood wouldn’t last forever.

“A knight order, maybe, but a whole nation?”

“It seems that about seventeen of the maids in Dawn Castle are pregnant.”

This time, Glen and Hugo were utterly shocked. The maids of Dawn Castle, whom they had known since childhood, were completely unrelated to such affairs.

It was common for noblemen to develop relationships with their maids. Many illegitimate children were born that way, and often, such children were seen as seeds of rebellion and banished far away.

But not the maids of Dawn Castle. They were strictly dedicated to serving the Prient family and never allowed anyone beneath their skirts.

-Around 200 years ago, a distant branch of the family brought in some bad habits from the outside.

A story Yuma had once told him.

-Perhaps that reckless scoundrel thought timid Ophilia was the easiest target. On the night before his coming-of-age ceremony, he called her to his chamber.

-And… what happened?

-The next day, we had quite a time cleaning up a blood-soaked room. No one mourned him, as he had no talent anyway.

Since such incidents were not uncommon, Shiron couldn’t help but tremble at the thought. Yuma, being the embodiment of benevolence, simply accepted the fact that she was carrying Shiron’s child, but how had he ended up involved with all of them?

Unaware of the adults’ concerns, Shiron casually shared his dilemma.

“To prevent them from developing other thoughts… at the very least, I need to impregnate each of them twenty times so they’ll be too busy raising children. If my offspring exceed triple digits in my generation alone, things will get out of hand.”

“Wouldn’t that mean you shouldn’t use contraception at all?”

“That’s exactly why this is a dilemma.”

Shiron let out a deep sigh at Deviale’s question.

“To give the demons a new life, I need to give them many children. But if I go too far, I’ll end up with close to a thousand offspring carrying my blood.”

Before being a Prient, Shiron was a hero who had awakened divine power. That meant his children would also be born with extraordinary potential.

‘The birth of a new superior race.’

“A nation formed entirely of warriors…”

Hugo shared an opinion similar to Shiron’s. While having children with Siriel and Lucia was acceptable, releasing hundreds of half-demons into the world was a deeply concerning prospect.

“Honestly, I don’t see any problem with it.”

Glen, however, shrugged nonchalantly.

“How is this not a problem?”

“There are still monsters roaming the continent, aren’t there?”

“Yes.”

“And the empire is starting to establish contact with the territories in the Demon Lands, right?”

“It’s more like preliminary discussions… But we have been exchanging messages with the Infinite Tower.”

“Then, since things are already in motion, why not spread your seed across the continent?”

Glen clapped his hands, impressed by his own idea. The others, however, stared at him as if he had lost his mind.

“Shiron, ignore this idiot.”

“Hey, hey, brother. Hear me out first.”

“…Fine, speak.”

“Right now, we’re just exchanging messages with the Demon Lands. But relationships between groups are never stable. There are still monsters prowling freely.”

On this continent, aside from the Prient family, even trained knights couldn’t guarantee victory in a one-on-one fight against demons.

“Since you’re going to spread your seed anyway, why not do it on a large scale?”

“Ha…”

“What if, anonymously, you donated your seed to infertile couples? That way, even if a great war between humans and demons breaks out in the future, we’d have a countermeasure. Right? No matter how I think about it, this is a solid plan.”

Hugo buried his face in his hands and sighed, but Glen carried on with his so-called genius proposal, undeterred.

“I’ll… consider it.”

Shiron seriously pondered it. What he truly desired was a peaceful retirement. Though he still had adventures ahead—tracking down Demodras and the remaining dragons—he couldn’t afford to have wars or uprisings breaking out while he was away in the Demon Lands.

“There was a nun skilled at vasectomy procedures… What a shame.”

Deviale sipped his tea with a bitter smile.