World of Women

“This place…” I muttered, looking down at the dirty little town. “It makes the slums of Amaryllis seem wealthy.”

“You’ve only been traveling to wealthy countries,” Raven explained. “Countries that can afford to pay to have a celebrity man like you visit.”

We had finally arrived at Zoskar, the country where the Demon King’s castle was supposedly located. I had been expecting the same fanfare we had received in every country we had been to. Even if the country was poorer, I was thinking it’d just be toned down on theatrics. However, rather than an airfield, we just ended up landing in a random field. Rather than a car, it was a carriage that had come out to greet us.

There were no officials, no parades, and no suck-ups. I almost felt a bit offended that I went to the trouble of coming here only to be greeted by a single driver. She wasn’t even nicely dressed. The old woman who appeared was wearing drab, colorless wool, and she barely even glanced our way before telling us to get on the carriage.

We barely managed to get out of her that she had been sent to bring us to the city, but she didn’t even know anything about me. There had been no public announcement, and she was simply given a few pieces of the local currency by someone from the castle and told to come here to pick up the people here. That was the extent of her knowledge.  She had looked at all of us with a bit of interest at first, but it quickly waned as she went about her job. The carriage was only enough for ten of us, so it ended up being Raven, Mia, Lilith, Rebecca, Ash, my guards, and Lexy who managed to push her way onto the carriage too.

These were all the people most concerned about the mission at hand. Everyone else had to stay with the airship. Angela seemed content remaining with the airship. She stated it was in case a quick getaway was needed like in the previous country, but I had to wonder if she intended for the rest of us to be on the airship when she made her getaway. Lilith and Mia seemed to trust her though, although nothing I had experienced in the last decade had changed much of my opinion about her.

The old woman whipped the horses into motion without any other fanfare. As we headed down from the field which appeared to be selected for having no trees and being high up in a hill, we could see the city below. This was when I first got a look at the next country on my tour, and couldn’t help but voice my discontent.

“This is the capital?” I remarked as the derelict city came into clearer view.

It was hard to even call it a city. It looked like a medieval town. Originally, when I thought of being reincarnated in a world, this would be closer to what I imagined versus everything I had seen before it. However, it was drearier and more broken down. It was probably what traveling to the actual Dark Ages would be like.

There was even a castle sitting in the middle of the city, dwarfing any of the other buildings mostly erected from straw and thatch. Upon seeing it, my heart skipped a beat. I couldn’t help but think of the Demon King’s castle. However, that thing would have been large enough to encapsulate this keep and the entire town around it, and there was no way it’d be sitting out here so visibly, or it would have been discovered long ago.

“Yes, Zoskar has always been a struggling nation.” Raven continued to answer me as the other girls looked on outside.

“Did you not have places like this in your previous world?” Ash asked blatantly.

I gave her a sharp look, but she only glanced back with curiosity. Things about demons and other worlds were supposed to be reserved behind closed doors. However, after a moment, I realized that my identity as someone from another world didn’t matter. Those who knew already knew everything, and those who didn’t wouldn’t believe it even if it was told to them.

“Yes…” I finally responded. “But that world had no magic. In a world where magic can do so many incredible things, I just didn’t expect there to be these kinds of places.”

“Poverty exists anywhere.” Rebecca shrugged as if it was obvious.

We all continued to watch as we moved closer to the city. Eventually, I could make out the people moving about. The place was chilly, and the people wore thick robes of wool. They were all poorly cut and had more rags than outfits. I had been to many countries now, and while everyone had their style, I had never seen outfits I would have called drab.

They didn’t seem to meet the carriage with any interest. Everyone kept their head down, and when they found themselves in the way of the carriage, they’d quickly scurry away. If they didn’t make it in time, the driver didn’t hesitate to whip at one of them instead of her horses. A long cold wind blew along the street, and I noticed Raven shivering.

She wasn’t wearing less than anyone else, but she seemed to be affected by the cold. Perhaps, our near-death from hypothermia that one night on Stoana’s mountain had left her with a bit of unspoken trauma. I casually took off my coat and put it around her shoulders. She let out a sound of surprise, and she looked for a moment like she’d reject it, but then she allowed me to finish placing it around her.

Lexy looked at us with a slightly pouty expression like she had wanted to be wearing my coat, but I ignored her. I only had one coat anyway.

“You’ll get cold.” Lexy said warily.

“I’m pretty fine with the cold.” I shrugged. “Don’t worry about me.”

“O-okay.” She blushed, looking down.

Lexy’s pout turned thoughtful, but it was anyone’s guess what was going through her mind.

“Has Kemala informed you about my true purpose?” I asked Raven since we were already talking, although I used magic so my words would not be heard by anyone who ought not to hear them.

Raven looked at me and then bit her lip. “Is it true? Is there something like a Demon King in this world?”

“The Demon King is gone.” I told her, “Demons can’t hurt you.”

“Hmph… speak for yourself.” Becky sniffed.

“After I’m done, demons won’t be able to hurt anyone in this world ever again,” I told her, ignoring Becky’s looks.

“Just leave it to me,” Lilith spoke up. “Don’t you have a parade to go to or babies to kiss?”

I looked at the old weary town and grimaced.  “I don’t think there are going to be very many parades in this city.”

My words put a somber mood over the entire carriage.

“Do you come from another world?” Raven asked again.

I glanced her way, and then after a moment, I shrugged. “I was born in this world, and I remember my life here from when I was young until now. However, there is another memory in my mind, memories of another world. They struck me when I was ten after a somewhat traumatic experience. It is hard to say whether my soul died and was replaced by a new soul, that I remembered something from a past life, or perhaps I even imagined it all as some vivid dream. To be honest, many of the details have faded over the years.”

“Can you tell me about that world?” She asked, looking up at me through her long eyelashes that reminded me of her mother.

Her words caused many of the other girls to lean forward. Although I had mentioned my memories of another world, they never asked for details, and I had never given them. Many of them had only heard it second-hand from the other girls, who seemed to have their information network beyond what I told them. Since we were still on the outskirts of the city and had a good fifteen minutes, I decided to talk.

“I was… an infertile businessman.”

Lilith snorted. “… ah… sorry…” She quickly covered her face as Mia glared at her.

“The world without magic instead used technology. It isn’t that much different than this world. Many of Valiant’s recent discoveries were just technology of that world I adapted with magic. I suppose this world is greener. You don’t need to burn as many fossil fuels. Healthcare is a bit better too, cause you can heal everything.

“If there was a main difference, it’d probably come down to classism. Since using magic is a skilled trade, you have countries like this one that have almost no conveniences, and then countries like Amaryllis that have many. In my world, since anyone can make or use technology, it’s a bit more spread out. Our classism is based on wealth. Well, I guess this world has classism based on wealth too… Maybe they’re not so different.”

“I can tell you one way this world is different than that one,” Lexy spoke up.

“What is that?” I asked.

“This one has you,” she declared but then blushed, unable to pull it off as smoothly as she intended.

“Heh, well, at least in this world I’ve managed to make myself useful.”

“You still don’t realize how much you’ve done,” Lilith spoke up. “Most people making history rarely realize they’re going to be in the history books at the time. You’ve created Valiant. You came up without countless discoveries. You discovered how to use yang magic.”

“Is that name finally catching on?” I asked.

“Hmph… you just stole that name from the Demon King legacy memories.” Lilith sniffed. “Although, you did discover how to use aseeded magic all on your own.”

People who could use magic were called seeded, and people who couldn’t use magic were called aseeded. However, I realized that many aseeded actually could use magic, but it was a different type of magic. All forces had a polarity. A magnet had a positive and negative side. So did electricity. Magic worked the same way.

Over the years, several papers had been written, many of them with my name on them, although it was generally thought that I had an honorary title and didn’t contribute to the research, about these two forces. Eventually, I thought to call them Yin and Yang. Since we used our chakra to channel magic, it only made sense. People were born being able to use Yin or Yang to varying degrees. For most people, one side overwhelmed the other. Most men were stronger in Yang, and most women were stronger in Yin.

This didn’t mean Yang was stronger than Yin, or vice versa, any more than a positive pole was stronger than a negative pole. This didn’t stop people from arguing about who was stronger, but didn’t like to get involved in those arguments, especially when I already considered myself a bit of a cheat. Magical artifacts could be designed with Yin or Yang in mind, and someone with the opposing ability would need an adapter to use the alternative. I had developed the adapter long before I knew about any of the rest of it. I believe that scientists were now working on objects that used both Yin and Yang energy together, which opened things up in a brand-new way.

“Do-don’t forget the other reason we’re doing the tour.” Raven watched me as I was lost in thought. “The money we raise will go to helping the people of this country.”

I was surprised to hear Raven speak up. Of any one of us, she was the least likely to be a cheerleader. Her role as Kemala’s replacement seemed to be having a drastic effect on her. It had only been a few months, but this collected and organized Raven was barely recognizable from the rebellious man-hater she had been. That girl probably would have just blamed everything wrong with this country on men and then preached about women’s rights or something. It was odd seeing how this trip had transformed her.

“Yeah…” I smiled at her, but as my eyes wandered to the castle outside the carriage, that smile slipped a bit.

The castle was the only part of the town that didn’t look completely run down. It looked somewhat decadent compared to the rest of the village. I started to wonder if the money we raised really would end up going to the common people. We had now driven through the entire city and everyone had minded their own business. We stopped in front of the castle, the only nicely decorated place in the entire town. I couldn’t help but feel like something was off.

The driver spoke to a pair of guards, although it might be more accurate to call them knights. They wore ceremonial swords and armor, and after a bit of talking, they stepped aside as the driver guided our carriage into the courtyard.

We stopped once again and the driver dismounted. A group of servants, the first nicely dressed people I had seen, came flooding out. They opened the door and ushered all of us out of the carriage. Once we were out, the driver spun the carriage around and headed for the exit, completely unconcerned about our status after having slipped a few more coins. I noticed Syph and Brianna uneasily touching their weapons.

"It's okay," I whispered to them. "I don't think they'll try anything. They can't afford to."

My words seemed to relax the two of them, and they put their hands away. The servants either didn't care or didn't notice. They seemed almost frantic to usher us into the castle. We were pushed along until we finally entered what I imagined was the throne room, although compared to the throne rooms I had seen in the past, it looked tiny. The was a robust woman sitting in the main chair. She was wearing various furs and her face was smothered in makeup.

Most women in this world were good-looking. This started because of selective genetics and then carried on from the use of magical plastic surgery. However, the queen could be said to be the first truly ugly person I had ever seen. She wasn't just overweight, but her face looked strangely malformed. her lips were too big, and she had large jowls that waddled like an old man’s.

"You've finally arrived," she spoke, snapping her fingers.

A servant girl came with a plate of grapes, feeding them to her while another fanned her. It was cool, and she was even wearing furs indoors, but she still had someone fanning her for some reason. I had to think that maybe it was for the show. I wasn't sure why though.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

I gave her a slight bow.

"My son is very eager to meet you. He's your biggest fan," she declared.

"Ah... there is a man," I spoke before I could stop myself. "Ahem, I mean, of course, there is a man!"

"He is the only man," she declared, her voice filled with excitement.

"Of course, of course..." I nodded before I realized what she had said. "Eh? I mean, one in a thousand is born male, right?"

"Only the royal prince may have children." She huffed. "All other men are outlawed, killed upon birth. I understand they do things differently out there..."

"Outlawed..."

I could feel the other girls tensing up.

"Of course, you are not Zoskaran, so you have a special privilege to be here." She waved her hand dismissively, causing them to relax somewhat before she continued. "If it wasn't my so's request though, you would also be killed."

"I-I see..."

"How do they maintain their population?" Lexy whispered to Raven, who immediately shushed her.

It was hopeless though. The room had very good acoustics, and the woman overheard anyway.

"Of course, my son impregnated them!" she snapped. "All Zoskarans come from our noble line. Once a year, the prince has to tour the country and impregnate every maiden who has had her first maiden flow, as required by law."

"He impregnates everyone?" I couldn't help but state in shock.

Now, I was starting to understand what the problem was with this place. Everyone was extremely inbred. Magic could help deal with a lot of malformities, but it still had to be pretty bad.

Before anything else could be said, a person walked into the throne room, or it might be more accurate to say that they waddled.

"Prince, my prince! You mustn't move so quick, you might fall." A woman followed after him, trying to support him.

"Silence, servant!" the prince snapped. "Mother, I have finally arrived. I am ready for my bride. Where is she?"

The prince was the single ugliest man I had ever seen. He was extremely overweight, with multiple chins and a pot belly. His face was covered in acne and his hair was greasy and unkempt. It was hard to tell his height, but I imagined he was a little under average. He was wearing a bunch of furs and had a crown that looked too small for his pig head.

"No, dear, today is the meeting with that boy from Valiant. That burn boy..."

He squinted our way. His eyes eagerly looked at the girls around me, who all instinctively covered themselves. Raven tightened her coat around herself, and even the usually bold Lilith looked disgusted. When his eyes finally fell on me, he grinned with a mouth filled with crooked teeth.

"Clyburn! You're the guy! We finally get to meet."

"H-hello..." Even I felt a bit lost for words, my years of political training falling apart in such a strange situation.

"Mom!" The prince barked.

"Yes, my love?" She looked at him adoringly, proving a mother could love any child that came from her.

"We're not being proper hosts! We haven't offered them anything to eat. Let's eat!" He cried out in a nasal voice.

“Of course, dear…” She clapped, and soon servants were scurrying around to set up a table and bring food.

I hadn’t even had a chance to say I wasn’t hungry, but it was already too late. It seemed like this might be the most interesting of the trips after all.