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Harem Ethics 101 44. The Graveyard of Fleeting Teenage Hobbies
A few months before my uncle had his misadventure in international waters, I’d helped out at his pawn shop. My parents had told me getting some real world work experience would be a good use of time before afternoons at the Grayfield Learning Center. Though, I'd often wondered since then if my mom had a blindspot for her brother. Because while her and my dad’s reasoning at the time had made sense, in practice the decision to work at Uncle Allan’s shop had been… questionable. It’d been a dingy hole in the wall with a reputation for being a bit sketchy because of how my uncle didn’t place much scrutiny on the potentially ill-gotten booty he bought and sold. Because of this, the people who came into the shop never batted an eye at a sixteen year old doing random busywork, such as cleaning the gun display. Wiping down the case had been my favorite part of the day because most of the other stuff in my uncle’s shop was uninteresting junk ranging from gaudy watches to old blenders. All
Harem Ethics 101 45. Spiritual Overdraft
The first thing I saw upon waking was the small sun shard embedded in the ceiling of my cell. My mind felt muddied, and I couldn’t remember what’d happened or how I'd ended up here. The warden and I were out in the grasslands. She’d talked for a bit about fighting with daggers. Then… I let out a groan as my stupid oversight came rushing back. That’s right… I was almost out of spirit and didn’t stop to account for the gun’s last few screws and stuff… The cost to conjure those last few things and what I needed to imbue them must’ve pushed me over the edge. I couldn’t remember the exact numbers at the moment, but I was sure I must’ve passed out because my spirit bottomed out. The warden really hadn’t been kidding about the sudden plummet in physical energy if one got too low on spirit. But why hadn’t I passed out the instant I made the gun? There was a second where I felt fine… The soft fabric of a fresh uniform rustled against my skin as I turned to my side to look out at the loun
Harem Ethics 101 46. Itemized
Sprawled over half the couch, legs hanging over the armrest at the knees, I looked up at the warden. She returned my gaze, sitting close enough for the top of my head to press lightly against her thigh. “A gun’s a kind of weapon from my world. It shoots small bits of metal called ‘bullets’ at really high speeds,” I said, answering her question. “So it grants capabilities similar to my magic as a Earthbolt?” “Uh, just the shooting part, but yeah.” “Is it like a bow? Do you carry these bullets on your person as you would a quiver of arrows?” “Sort of… you can carry some with you, but the way you use them is by loading the bullets into the gun. After that you can fire them one at a time before needing to put in more. The one I made can hold six shots before I need to reload it.” “Interesting… and you know how to make these bullets?” During my research about revolvers when I’d worked at my uncle’s shop, I’d looked a bit into how bullets are made, making me think I could conjure s
Harem Ethics 101 47. Fire it Already!
To my slight disappointment, the warden had decided on wearing something more modest today in anticipation of the delivery of supplies: Her usual black coat, a white button-up, and the practical dark pants she’d started wearing after I’d landed a hit in sparring. With my gray uniform and her current outfit, we looked more like warden and prisoner as opposed to what we really were… whatever that was. “So,” she said, coming to a stop at our usual spot in the grasslands before turning to face me, “how do you propose we test to see if your gun is safe?” Her eyes went to my hand while she spoke, fixing on the weapon she’d returned to me before we left Stone Lock. “I think I got an idea…” I imagined a stool. Bolted to the seat was a small stand to hold the gun in place. The feet of the stool were sharpened into stakes. As I mentally inspected the janky contraption, I realized I needed a decent length of string to pull the gun’s trigger from a safe distance. Twenty feet of string sh
Harem Ethics 101 48. A Terrible Noise
A loud crack echoed through the grasslands as the gun fired without breaking apart or otherwise malfunctioning. “Yes!” I whooped. “It worked then?” The warden’s voice was excited and bright, seeming to absorb and resonate with my delight.“Yeah,” I replied before running back towards the revolver and scooping it up from the stand. Flicking the gun to the side, the cylinder clicked free to reveal the spent shell of the bullet in one of the chambers. Shit, I can’t believe it worked on the first try. Maybe my magic helped somehow? Like, I know I saw the exact specifications for this bullet and the revolver when I’d looked them up online a few years ago. Maybe my magic filled in the blanks based off of those memories – even if I don’t remember them perfectly myself…? Or maybe I really am just that good?After a moment of considering the relative ease of my success, I landed on ‘who gives a shit, it worked’ and my grin widened.The stand dispersed into a cloud of glittering blue light a
Harem Ethics 101 49. Might as Well Get Some Studying Done
The warden closed the entrance to Stone Lock behind us before following me into the lounge. “Bryan, I think it is best for you to return to your cell for the time being,” she said with a tinge of unease in her voice as she came up to me and put a hand on my back. “What’s the big deal?” I asked over my shoulder as I let her herd me to my cell, its prison bars sinking silently into the floor as we approached. “Is it really that weird for the supplies to get here a few hours early?” “In the decades I’ve served as warden of Stone Lock, the supplies have always arrived about two hours after the sun reaches its peak. Everytime.” Remembering her mentioning an ‘echo chain’ when I’d first arrived I stepped inside and tossed my gun to the bed nestled in the far corner. The bars rose between us as I turned to face her. “You said something about an ‘echo chain’ when I first got here, I’m guessing that’s some kind of communication thing? Couldn’t you reach out to someone in Platys to see if som
Harem Ethics 101 50. Bet I Could Take Him
I looked out through the bars from where I sat on the bed, trying to catch a glimpse of the newcomer. “Whoa… This place is incredible!” the stranger said in a bubbly, yet clearly masculine, voice, his tone similar to that of an excited kid on a field trip. “Indeed,” the warden said evenly, before seeming to continue a conversation she’d been having with the stranger outside, “as the external access to the storeroom is unneeded for this shipment, I would have you bring in the cargo through the main entrance and leave it here in the central room.” The clicks of her heels silenced as she came into view. She stopped at the edge of the lounge’s carpet, then turned to face the stranger. The stranger followed her, his head swiveling around with wide-eyed interest as he took in Stone Lock’s main room. My attention locked onto him with intrigue equal to his curiosity in the strange prison. Tall and lean, the stranger had a youthful face and a head of pure white hair he wore short and ti
Harem Ethics 101 51. That's Okay as Well
The bars to my cell sank into the ground as the entrance to Stone Lock groaned shut and the lock engaged with a powerful clunk. “Is he gone?” I asked, walking towards the warden, meeting her next to the neat stack of crates halfway between the entrance to the prison and the lounge at the center of the massive open room. “Yes, I watched his wagon disappear over the horizon,” she said, her voice and body softening with relief. “What was with that guy? One second he was all fidgety and nervous, then he got all weird for a second, then didn’t say a word the whole time he was stacking boxes. And why did you tell me to not look at him?” I asked, the thoughts that’d been building in me for hours finally spilling out. “I have a suspicion as to who he was, but I ask that you allow me to verify my suspicions first, as giving voice to my speculations would only cause unneeded worry…I’ve reached out to someone who owes me a favor in Platys about our visitor and we should have an answer before
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