Viceroy of Hell (18+)

A vast field of sugar cane carved more or less a hundred hectares of the forest. Unlike back on Earth, the canes grew ten feet high. It was almost like a bamboo forest.

A tall windmill sat on top of a small hill surrounded by wooden huts. Small, open sheds scattered across the plantation where farmers sheltered from the scorching sun. Not far from the settlement was a growing pile of sugar canes.

A local by the name of Kritz accompanied us here. He had the ears of a boar and short tusks jutting out of his mouth. Other than that and his thick, hairy forearms and lower legs, he looked human.

Kritz was the former mayor’s messenger to the plantation. But he didn’t work for Goldenwheel like those who lived in the plantation itself.

Even the plantation’s workers belonged to Goldenwheel… as slaves.

“The overseer, Remador, lives in that stone house not far from the windmill,” he said, pointing towards the direction.

With enough squinting, the three-story stone building popped among the wooden huts that surrounded it.

“Next to it, the long house, is the barracks.”

“How many soldiers does the barracks have?”

“Twenty or so. Twenty-three, I think?”

“Equipment?”

“Borestaves and blades, mayor sir. And a cannon.”

Well, it shouldn’t be a problem, but Aesel seemed reluctant.

I asked Aesel to stay behind but she was insistent about personally witnessing my reforms for the island. So I let her join.

“They’re nothing to me, Aesel. Don’t worry, I’ll give them a chance to surrender.”

“It not about who lives there, it’s about who owns them.”

She was still hung up about rebelling against Goldenwheel. I placed my hands on her arms to assure her.

“Relax, Aesel. You can trust me.”

She nodded. “I already do, but I can’t help it...”

The grasses thinned out as we approached the plantation. Three armed men walked to us. One man stood on top of a watchtower not far, armed with a borestaff as tall as him. He was prepared to shoot.

“What’s this about, Kritz?” a brawny human said.

“This uh…”

I stepped forward. “I’m the new mayor of Farisle. Call out your boss and we’ll talk here.”

The human turned to his friends and chuckled. “Yeah, right. That doesn’t really mean anything around here. Missy, is he not informed about it yet?”

Aesel remained quiet.

“I won’t ask again. Call your boss here now.”

“And then what?” he said, arming himself. The sniper at the tower aimed at us.

“We’ll force ourselves in.”

He snorted. “You’ll have to pick a new mayor, missy.”

I shot off the man at the watchtower and launched the three men into the skies with a massive block of earth.

Kritz’s jaw dropped at how quick it unfolded.

“Looks like they won’t be surrendering,” I said.

The other armed soldiers witnessed the “fight” and armed themselves up. Sae and I split off shooting down the armed guards for efficiency.

Some of guards surrendered. Thankfully the farmers backed off. I wouldn’t want losing more labor power.

More bodies fell as we approached the stone house. No one posed a threat so far.

I pounded the stone house’s door with my toe.

“Hey, Remador! Get your ass out here!”

“Who are you and what do you want?” Remador yelled from inside.

“I’m Caesar, your new owner! Let’s talk business!”

“Talk business? You killed my men!”

“They refused to talk business!”

“Are you aware of what you’re doing? Everything in this plantation is Goldenwheel’s property! By attacking us you have made yourself their enemy!”

“I know!”

“You’re mad!”

I sighed loudly. “Right? So are we gonna talk business or what?”

There was a moment of silence before he spoke again.

“Okay, we’ll talk! I’ll throw the key out and you open the door!”

I used my thermal vision and peeked into the house. Two men on both corners pointed their guns at the door. A third man, probably the mayor, stood on a staircase with an arm raised.

“Do me a favor and come out yourself, will ‘ya?”

“You killed my men! You think I’ll trust you first?”

I sighed. “Alright.”

A key flew out of the window, hitting the ground.

“I’m coming in…”

I slammed the door open, dashed in and shot icicles sideways. The mayor, a human with a long hair and well-trimmed beard was about to throw something. I froze his whole body right where he stood. After a few seconds, a loud explosion sent chunks of flesh and splatters of blood flying in all directions.

Bits of Remador got on my body.

“This world has a grenade?” I said, wiping my face off.

Aesel peeked in from the door. “I didn’t know they have explosives.”

“How’s Sae?”

“She has taken care of everyone else. The farmers should be gathering in one spot.”

“Good. Go back there and wait for me.”

I did a bit of exploring. Remador sure lived quite a comfortable life here. He had a comfy feather mattress, lots of pillows and a soft fabric blanket. The furniture were decent, and he even owned a collection of bottled ships on display. Books lined up in his shelves, and rolled parchment papers filled the barrels.

“This is so worth it.”

Records of his dealings with Goldenwheel clattered the desk. The plantation had only been around five years with less than a hundred slaves working in it. Every year they harvested up to a hundred barrels.

They had other plans, too. This plantation was scheduled for expansion, alongside the building of a new one meant to cultivate something called “bruff.” The plan started two years ago.

This town could prosper with sugar cane plantations alone. But it required a lot of workers.

I went out with heavy pockets. The farmers had been gathered in one place. And Sae, the sugar maniac, snacked on a hard chunk of unrefined sugar.

“They’re all here,” she said.

There was supposed to be a hundred of them. An obvious discrimination was apparent from their composition. Most of the slaves were cat-like – almost-human faces with feline ears and forward mouths, long limbs, and bristly fur with leopard pattern. Most of them were male.

“Where are they from?” I whispered to Aesel.

“Srahuena, south-west of the mainland.”

“Thanks.”

I had to look it up on the map later.

I cleared my throat. “Every single one of you is now under new management,” I said. “I am the new mayor of Farisle, Caesar, and you will no longer be working for Goldenwheel.”

They seemed confused, though.

“That means you’re no longer slaves. Your work from now on will be paid.”

They went buzzing. Kritz shot me a concerned glance, but I ignored him.

“I don’t want to pile up barrels of sugar because I don’t have any markets yet, so your workload is temporarily decreased. That means less working hours, and not much pay. Deal with it for now.”

They cheered and clapped, but some remained suspicious.

I planned on using most of them to rebuild the town. Those who were left behind would be on maintenance mode to prevent this plantation from rotting.

I turned to Kritz. “You’ll be overseeing this place. Like I said, don’t expect a lot of pay yet – I have other immediate tasks that require more people.”

He was stunned. “Are you… certain, mayor sir?”

“Yup. And don’t you dare abuse your position unless you wanna be a slave.”

He knelt down. “I-I won’t disappoint you, sir mayor!”

“Good. Now, let’s get out of here.”

I left the matters to Kritz. I ordered him to harvest and process everything and remain on standby until I required manpower.

Since they became wage workers, I needed to create a payroll system. An inventory system, too, to keep track of anything that came in and out of the plantation.

No, wait, I had to apply these systems to the entire island. And it had to be flexible to account the future changes of Farisle’s islands. Not just this one.

Fuck, that meant a lot of head-inducing paperwork.

“So you can be considerate,” Aesel said as we traversed the island’s central forest.

A branch snagged my shirt, shaking the leaves. Insects rained on me.

I never hated forests since I came into this world.

“If it means profiting better, then yes.”

Earth had thousands of years of history proving why slavery was bad. Not morally, though. I wouldn’t want my biological money-making machines plopping my head off.

I thought it would be hectic at first. But the more I thought about managing a town, the more opportunities popped up. Starting from scratch was better because I could dictate where I want my future to go.

Plus, it was more appropriate for a viceroy to have his own base.

A bigger branch snagged my shirt, choking me.

“And I’ll make sure this island gets a much better fucking road.”

Since the mansion was ruined, the inn temporarily served as my house. It was temporarily closed down for business.

After lunch, I jotted down every idea of reformations I wanted for Farisle. Some ideas required opinions from people, so I kept them open. After all, a prosperous city’s foundation was its people. And people must be happy, content, and living with purpose if I wanted to work them hard.

Slavery just didn’t appeal to me regardless of what world I was thrown in.

And I still had to deal with Atala’s weapons. Fuck. Too much work.

Rulof and I sat on the lobby alone. They would be exposed to danger once I left for Vonditz. I doubt Sae would stay, so I needed someone to protect them.

But I also had another idea. They wouldn’t be attacked if the people on this island liked me. And I wouldn’t want Rulof to remain idle while I was away, so I thought of giving him a job.

“I want you to make people like me.”

“Bribe works, sire.”

Farisle barely had any luxury to sell so money would be useless. But the tavern sold alcohol… just one option, though.

“We still have barrels of wine and rum, right?”

“Aye, sire. I kept count—”

“Use it.”

His eyes widened. “All of it? But it’s valuable wine and rum!”

“I don’t give a shit about value if it means people won’t stab me in my sleep.”

He thought for a bit. “When should I start?”

“Tomorrow. Do it when the tavern is full. And make sure not to give too much – make it last until I return.”

He nodded. “Got it, sire!”

“Oh, and also, I want you to hire people to guard you all, especially Aesel. Make sure it’s people you trust the most.”

“I know a few good mates I trust.”

“Good.”

Rulof stayed even when I resumed jotting down my thoughts.

“Apologies if this comes off rude, sire, but why’d ya care for the folks?”

I dropped my quill to give him my honest answer.

“Because they’re the ones responsible for realizing my goals. They work better if they believe what they’re working on means a lot to them.”

“I see,” Rulof smiled. “’Nother question, sire.”

“What now?”

“Can I maybe, ‘ya know, hold some kinda position? Like an officer or somethin’.”

I snorted. And here I thought he was already aware of his position. But, well, I understood his concern because it wasn’t official yet.

“I’m yet to make an organization structure, but you bet your ass you’ll have an important one. And that’s not just to motivate you – I already trust you.”

He immediately dropped to his knees. “That’s much too much honor for a heathen like I, sire! I swear my soul to the depths I’ll remain eternally loyal!”

“You’re being too dramatic. Just do your job and expect your responsibilities to grow in the future. Just don’t disappoint me.“

“Ya got it, sire!”

I’d grown to trust Rulof. He’d already proven himself. Although he wasn’t a fighter, he tried his best to stay around me. But his talent laid elsewhere.

I stopped writing about reforming the town. My priority was hiring those smiths from Vonditz, and it should be my first journey into a proper civilization.