Zongman: Harem's Music

Mikasa Ackerman's [Guardian Contract] takes effect on the host...

Because of the [Guardian Contract], which stipulates that one person will be protected for a lifetime, and will remain so until death, Mikasa Ackerman's favorability is full...

Congratulations to the host for obtaining the first vassal. The system shuttle function and the task function will be open to Mikasa Ackerman. After the main task is completed, the host can take her to travel through the world. There are no rigid requirements for the host to complete the task personally. For example, if Mikasa Ackerman completes the [Trial of Blood], it is equivalent to the host completing it!

As the system notification sounds continued to ring, Nishimiya Tsuyoshi noticed that Mikasa seemed to be getting closer to him...

……

(PS: The contract is just a description, not a contract in the common sense... Don't delve into it! Also, some friends don't seem to understand that task sharing is about sharing tasks, not points... Simply put, Mikasa is like a summoned beast, and the experience gained by killing monsters belongs to the protagonist, not herself! As for the future system upgrades, whether exchange sharing will be available to help harem exchange abilities, it has not been confirmed yet!)

Chapter 54 Go home!

We raced against time on our way here, working day and night, but we had to be so anxious on our way back...

Starting from near Xikenxia, ​​Xigong Siyi and his party returned to the small manor in the royal capital at noon on the fourth day!

Stepping out of the carriage, Xigong Siyi stretched himself lazily, "Ah~ We're finally here!"

Although there was a little girl accompanying me along the way, it was not a pleasant experience to stay in a small carriage for a long time without any entertainment to pass the time!

"Sir, you're finally back..." The old butler hurried over with a stack of accounts, followed by the maids Sarah and Vida. Seeing Mikasa getting out of the car with Nishimiya Tsutomu, he was stunned: "Who is this..."

Nishimiya Tsuyoshi took the account and introduced, "Mikasa, you will live in the manor from now on. Just treat her as my... uh, sister!"

Upon hearing this, the old butler quickly bowed slightly to Mikasa and said, "Ms. Mikasa, I am the butler Jax. If there is anything I can help you with in the future, please feel free to ask!"

Sarah and Vida also bowed.

Although the Ackerman family was once aristocratic clan within the Wall, they were persecuted for some reason, and Mikasa's lineage even hid in the mountains. Unfamiliar with the master-servant etiquette of the aristocratic system, Mikasa frowned slightly when she saw the old butler and maid, who could be her grandfather and mother, bowing to her...

"Sarah, Vida, take Mikasa to familiarize herself with the environment. The room will be next to mine!" Nishimiya Tsuyoshi ordered, then turned to look at Mikasa, helped her tidy up the slightly messy scarf around her neck, and whispered, "Go with them. I'll come find you later!"

"Yeah!" Mikasa responded obediently and left with Sarah and Vida.

Although Mikasa still doesn't like to talk because of her personality due to the loss of her parents, after spending a few days together, the two have become familiar with each other and accustomed to each other...

For Nishimiya Tsukazu, Mikasa is no longer just a character in an anime, but a real living person, a girl who possesses great power and is also charming and lovely.

For Mikasa, who regards Nishimiya Tsuyoshi as her last relative after her parents, and cherishes him so much that he has triggered the Ackerman clan's [Guardian Contract], these days of getting along have made her more determined to stay by his side and protect her only relative.

After Mikasa left, Nishimiya Tsuyoshi carefully looked at the accounts. These were the approximate amounts of grain purchased by the old butler during the few days he was away:

Fifty dan (about 2.5 tons) of rice were purchased, with an average price of 4.5 rupiahs per pound (2.2 kilograms) of rice, for a total cost of 24750 rupiahs.

Two hundred and thirty dan (about 11.5 tons) of flour were purchased at an average price of 2.2 rupiahs per pound, for a total cost of 31460 rupiahs.

Nishimiya Tsuyoshi discovered that he seemed to have overlooked one thing. The conditions for growing rice are much more difficult than those for potatoes and sweet potatoes, especially within the wall where land resources are limited. Therefore, the price of rice is much more expensive than flour!

But when a large number of refugees appear a year later, they will be lucky to have something to eat. Who will care whether it is rice or flour?

Xigong Siyi said: "From now on, we will prioritize purchasing flour, and it would be best if we only purchase flour!"

The old butler smiled bitterly and said, "After we aggressively purchased grain in the royal city, some nobles suddenly followed suit. Now, the average price of grain has risen by about 25%... and many shops are running out of stock. Many civilians are starting to feel dissatisfied..."

"Following the trend?" Xigong Siyi was surprised, but after thinking about it, it seemed normal. The total population within the wall was only about 1.25 million, and the permanent population of the royal capital was only about 200,000. In a market with such a population, purchases in tons of quantities could not be kept secret at all... Some rich but brainless nobles saw others buying up grain in large quantities, so it didn't seem so incomprehensible that they followed the trend!

"Well~ then we can set up a chamber of commerce to cover up our tracks, and go to other places in Wall Sina, or Wall Maria, or Wall Rose to make acquisitions. I'll leave this matter to you!" Nishimiya Siyi sighed and handed the accounts to the butler.

The butler took the account and bowed, saying, "I thought so too. I'm just waiting for your approval."

Nishimiya Tsutomu nodded: "Go ahead!"

The old butler: "Regarding the name of the Chamber of Commerce..."

"You can do whatever you want!" Xigong Si waved his hand.

"Well... okay!" The old butler nodded and left in a hurry!

"Sidon, Sidon..." Xigong Si looked around and called out twice.

"Coming..." Sidon, who had gone to set up the carriage, hurried over and panted, "What do you want me to do?"

"Thank you for your hard work these days..." Xigong Siyi said, wanting to pat Xidon's shoulder, but embarrassedly found that he was too tall...

"Ahem!" Nishimiya Siyi cleared his throat and said calmly, "I'll ask the old butler for a reward later. I'll also get some extra money and use it to get me two sets of [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Devices]!"

……

Chapter 55 Three-dimensional maneuvering device!

【Three-dimensional maneuvering device】!

The standard equipment of the army used by the people inside the wall to fight against the giants can be roughly divided into three parts:

: Sword box/hilt/control handle part.

Sword box: A box-like object equipped on both sides of the waist, mainly used to store spare blades.

Hilt/control handle: The left and right handles are wired to connect the [Three-dimensional Mobile Gas Kinetic Energy Device] and [Three-dimensional Mobile Iron Wire Ejection/Storage Device]. The front end is used to embed replaceable blades, and there are two triggers at the bottom. One is to start the [Three-dimensional Mobile Device Power Engine] to obtain propulsion, and the other is to eject an iron wire with a sharp shoulder that can move at high speed in a building.

: Gas drive/wire ejection storage part.

Gas drive device: By consuming the gas in two replaceable [gas tubes], it drives a powerful kinetic fan, and the compressed wind is ejected from the [wind nozzle] in the lumbar area for secondary acceleration and assisted steering in the air.

Iron wire storage/ejection device: There are two [shooting holes] on the left and right sides of the front of the waist, which are used to eject the iron wire stored in the [storage axle box] with a maximum length of 25 meters and a sharp shoulder at the front.

Iron wire: A tough iron wire made of about 30 specially treated metal wires, spirally wound.

: Fixed/moving center of gravity part of the human body.

This is the simplest, but also very important: to put it simply, it is a set of leather belts attached to the human body, shoulders, chest, waist, thighs, knees, calves, and soles of the feet, which are used to effectively adjust the movement of the center of gravity in the air where there is no support.

The three parts combined together form a complete [Three-dimensional Maneuvering Device], and at this moment there are two sets on the long table in Nishimiya Tsuyoshi's room.

Although he had long known that the Military Police were not only useless but also rotten, this was his first time experiencing it firsthand. Nishimiya Tsuyoshi, who had asked Sidon to work on the [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Device], had only waited three hours before he got it...

"Could it be a defective or obsolete product? After all, it's military supplies. How could it be obtained so easily?" Xigong Si looked at Sidon. He didn't want to die or break his leg due to a device failure at the critical moment.

Sidon patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, this thing was originally used to deal with giants. For humans, no matter how sharp a knife is, can it be faster than a gun? That's why the royal government doesn't strictly control it. No one buys it on the black market. Besides, I'm from the military police, and there are fellow military policemen in South City..."

Nishimiya Tsutomu nodded.

Sidon continued, "Compared to this, do you know why no one buys this thing on the black market? While it's not very dangerous to soldiers with guns... it's very convenient for theft and robbery!"

Nishimiya Tsuyoshi smiled and said, "Because of the gas!"

"That's right!"

Sidun said, "Gas is the key to the [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Device]. The amount mined is very small, and its only use is to power it. Not only is it only supplied to the major military groups, but the royal government discovered that it can explode, so they've implemented very strict restrictions. The price of a tube of gas on the black market is almost as much as the [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Device] itself! My classmates only sold me six tubes... and told me not to buy gas from them for six months. Even if they wanted to, they wouldn't dare sell it. Six tubes is the limit of what can be concealed!"

Nishimiya Tsuyoshi looked at the two [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Devices] on the table and said with a wry smile, "So I'm making a fuss about nothing..."

Sidon laughed and said, "After all, it's used to fight giants. Giants can't get in anyway!"

The giant can't get in? Ha! Nishimiya Siyi looked at Sidon with pity.

"..." Xidun was stunned by Xigong Siyi's look. Did he say anything strange? He recalled it over and over again, but didn't find anything wrong.

A hundred years of peace turned giants into things of legend, and humans changed from adults to children in the cradle... ignorant, unwise and fearless!

"You did a good job, go down and rest!" Xigong Si waved his hand.

"Yes!" Sidun bowed, hesitated for a moment after standing up, and did not leave immediately!

Nishimiya Tsuyoshi inspected the components one by one without turning back. "Curious what I'm going to do with the [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Device]?"

"..." Siddon didn't say anything, which was considered as his agreement.

A young noble, only 11 years old, both parents orphaned, suddenly went on a food shopping spree and insisted on heading to Wall Maria... He had rescued a girl from a group of criminals and returned. The girl said that nine out of ten criminals had died at his hands, and now he'd requested two [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Devices]... His behavior and words were less like that of a child and more like that of an adult plotting something...

Sidun couldn't figure out the reason, so he was very uneasy!

Nishimiya Tsuyoshi glanced at Sidon. From a certain perspective, he was the one who noticed (knew) too much, and for such people... the smart ones would stay and develop into confidants, while the stupid ones would generally be killed!

……

Chapter 56: Journey to the Border Wall!

The next day, following Xigong Siyi's instructions, Sidon withdrew 50,000 of the remaining 150,000 guilders, out of the 600,000 guilders originally earmarked for food, from the steward's account and left the small manor. No, strictly speaking, the capital...

A day later, the steward, who had prepared the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce, also left the capital with the purpose of purchasing grain.

On the same day, Nishimiya Tsuyoshi directly dismissed the three maids and the last guard, leaving only Nishimiya Tsuyoshi and Mikasa in the huge manor.

Five days later...

Bang~bang~hiss~

In the manor's backyard, in a small grove of about two hundred square meters, Nishimiya Tsuyoshi and Mikasa, equipped with their [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Gear], shuttled back and forth...

The system's explanation of the [Ackerman bloodline]'s almost complete control over its own body is not a joke. Mikasa's extraordinary physical coordination allowed her to basically master the use of the [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Device] in a short period of time.

Compared to Mikasa, Nishimiya Tsuyoshi, who possesses [Innate Skill: Advanced Learning] and [Ability: Metal Manipulation], which allows him to perfectly sense the precise direction of the iron wire wedges (sharp arrows) ejected from the [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Device] and even make corrective adjustments, is no less impressive...

As for gas consumption, in the system's exchange in this world, the price of a [gas tube] equipped with the [Three-dimensional Mobile Device] (which can only be used for about 25 minutes if used continuously) is only 3.5 points.

Bang!Bang!

The two people shuttled back and forth in the grove several times and landed outside the woods one after another.

"It seems like I win again this time, Mikasa!" Nishimiya Tsuyoshi said with a chuckle.

The two set off at the same time, running through the woods in a figure-8 formation in opposite directions for three circles, trying to see who could land first. This was Nishimiya Tsuyoshi's way of finding some fun in the boring [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Device] training, and also to find himself an opponent to compete with.

Mikasa undoubtedly fills this role perfectly. The two have had their share of wins and losses these days, but as Nishimiya Tsukasa gradually becomes more familiar with using his [Ability: Metal Manipulation] to secondary-actuate the wire wedge of his [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Gear], I believe the gap between them will gradually narrow...

After all, a wire wedge is not only a wedge, but the wire itself is also made of metal...

Nishimiya Tsukasa's current goal is to use [Superpower: Metal Manipulation] to change the iron wire into an alternating soft and hard mode, so that the two wires can become arms strong enough to support his body weight, and be able to freely use the [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Device] to perform unconventional high-speed and high-agility movements on flat ground without obstacles.

However, as it stands now...it's still a bit difficult!

"Yeah!" Mikasa smiled. She didn't have a strong desire to win against Nishimiya Tsuyoshi.

Nishimiya Tsutomu said: "Let's go eat, I'm a little hungry!"

Mikasa quickly followed, "Let me do it this time, Tsuji's cooking is so..."

Nishimiya Tsutomu tilted his head: "Is it really that bad? I think it's just fine..."

Mikasa said seriously: "That's because when it comes to cooking, Jiyi, you always feel good about yourself!"

"Is that so..." Nishimiya Tsuyoshi touched the back of his head.

As they talked, they walked side by side towards the kitchen. The maids were all fired, so they had to take care of everything themselves... Although it was a little troublesome, Nishimiya Tsuyoshi, who didn't want too many people to know about his actions, still chose to do so.

The manor's warehouse was stocked with a large amount of food that the old butler had purchased earlier, so there was no need to worry about staple food. As for the ingredients for the dishes, the two of them would have to go to the market to buy them themselves in the morning...

As a viscount, he is still a nobleman, and a nobleman in the royal capital. Xigong Siyi, who lives a noble life so unconventionally, said: I am different from those slutty bitches out there who act like they are worth 2.85 million!

After dinner, it was time to teach Mikasa kendo and karate as usual.

Nishimiya Tsukazu urgently needs an opponent who can fight against him to enhance his strength. Teaching Mikasa can not only make her stronger and ensure her own safety, but also help her kill giants more efficiently in the future, which can also meet this goal. Why not do it?

This kind of life lasted for a month until the old butler Jax returned...

Over the course of a month, Jax spent 20 guilders to purchase 73 tons of flour from Wall Sina and southeast of Wall Rose. Due to the sheer volume, he only shipped back ten tons, storing the rest in a warehouse he had purchased in the Elumiha district of Weng City, south of Wall Sina.

Of the 600,000 dong budget, nearly 200 million dong were spent, with more than half still left. So after reporting on his work, the old butler Jacks left again. This time the target was the northwest area of ​​Wall Sina and Wall Rose. Nishimiya Tsuyoshi also took Mikasa with him.

It has nothing to do with the purchase of grain. Nishimiya Jiyi wants to go to the wall of Maria to take a look. There are some things that he can only make a reasonable plan after knowing the facts.

Determine whether there are frequent wandering Pure Titans outside of Wall Maria, within the range visible to the naked eye... This will determine how Nishimiya Tsuyoshi allocates his limited points, so that he can be prepared in the best possible condition for the unexpected event a year later!

……

Chapter 57: Border Wall Project (Part 1)

Three days later, on the uninhabited plains of the Eastern Wall Maria, Nishimiya Tsuyoshi, who was riding on the same horse, slowed down his horse as he approached the Wall Maria.

"Mikasa, Mikasa, we're here!" Nishimiya Tsuyoshi shook Mikasa, who was sleeping lightly in his arms with a crystal smile on her lips.

Because it was not a time-sensitive matter, there was no need to work day and night. However, even if she got enough sleep at night, the boredom of traveling made it Mikasa's daily routine to sleep in Nishimiya Tsukasa's arms.

"Hmm?" Mikasa opened her eyes and said sleepily, "Good morning, Shiji!"

Nishimiya Tsutomu smiled and said, "This is the third time you've said good morning to me today, and it's already afternoon!"

"Really? But I'm still so sleepy..." Mikasa rubbed her eyes.

Nishimiya Tsutomu dismounted and extended his hand to Mikasa, saying, "Come down first, we've reached our destination!"

After tying their horses to a solitary nearby bush, they each used their own [Three-Dimensional Maneuvering Device] to scale the fifty-meter-high Wall Maria...

The wall is nearly ten meters wide and long... it's a distance that seems to have no end. Not only visually, but physically, Maria's Wall is a circle, and there is no starting point or end point.

In the center of the city wall is a railway track, which is used to facilitate people inside the wall to transport supplies.