Chapter 948. Querial’s Struggles and Sylvans Awaken.

Chapter 948: Chapter 948. Querial’s Struggles and Sylvans Awaken.

It wasn’t just Eras who got caught up in the lifestyle of the Golden Sap Empire. For all its benefits, the hardest thing in the Golden Sap Empire was to stand at the top of any kind of influence.

People knew how to choose products, and while they were loyal to certain brands, they also wouldn’t blindly buy them. Because of intense competition and protection for up-and-coming businesses, big brands had to adapt to the times.

Any brand that leaned toward greediness would be quickly overtaken by another that kept prices relatively low while delivering strong quality-to-price value. In other empires, big brands would crush those small businesses financially, preventing competition by buying them out or bullying them out of the market.

Doing so in the Golden Sap Empire could put you into deep trouble. The best advice people had for entrepreneurs was that trying to crush others was more expensive than pouring that same money into research for better products and earning more profit.

This was something that even Sarlos struggled with after knowing about it for a long time. He and most others were accustomed to going face to face with the CEO and saying something simple like. "Stop selling at these prices and match up to ours, else you’ll be in trouble."

A perfect example of a mercantile oligarchy.

Try doing that in the Golden Sap Empire and...

The judge reviewed the evidence, listened to both sides’ legal arguments, and nodded. "We’ll settle with a fine, then. No need for jail time. You are guilty of malicious tampering with another business using illegal means. You’ll have to pay 120% of the total profits you generated with this venture. It must be paid out in cash or with collateral."

The business owner, who thought he would receive a flat rate and still make a profit, froze in place. ’P-Percentage fines? Moreover, from total profit margins? Isn’t this asking me to go bankrupt?’

Meanwhile, the lawyer he hired from the Golden Sap Empire sighed in relief. "At least you’ve avoided any strong penalty. Pay up the fine, and you are good to go. I’ll warn you, don’t try to cheat the fine by manipulating your profits. You’ll regret it for life."

He gathered everything in his suitcase and gave an extra recommendation. "The banks have loans for these types of fines with very friendly rates. I’d recommend the Mordrake Bank. The leader of that bank is Lord Cassian, a merchant from the Crimson Dominion who arrived quite a long time ago... Before I was even born, haha!"

The lawyer patted the pale man’s shoulder and turned around.

Meanwhile, the businessman sat back down and held his head. ’Percentage fines...’

The CEO of the other business approached him and sighed. "I know you are rather new, but didn’t I tell you when we first met? Keep going, and I’ll sue you for a hefty fine. Either way, I hope you learned your lesson and pay up soon. Competition is great, but do not try to use those dirty tactics. Also, if you underpay your people... Tsk, tsk. Let’s hope you are being fair in that regard."

The insectkin turned around and shook his head. ’Sometimes, these foreigners take our laws too simply. Did they only read the general law book? Thankfully, I went to a local school and graduated from a top business university. I still recall the professor slamming the table over and over, telling us to not try to be a smartass about the laws because those who wrote them are more intelligent than us. Good memories.’

***

Querial sat on her chair and saw a root place a cup of freshly brewed tea on the table. A faint smile appeared on her lips. "Thank you."

The Lignified House answered softly. "No problem. You looked thirsty. How are the documents?"

Querial leaned back on the comfortable chair and sighed. "One of my people seems to have tried an underhanded method and got caught. The fine we have to pay is almost as large as what it cost us to build the business."

The Lignified House sighed softly. "Didn’t I tell you? Those laws are written by Mom. Trying to play around with them will only put you in trouble. Everyone else follows them, so you should too. Judges in our Golden Sap Empire are feared, I tell you."

Querial smiled wryly. "Now I know. You can’t even buy the judges..."

The Lignified House whispered. "Don’t let Mom hear you say that, or she might tell Mother Seraphina. You will get into deep trouble if you try that! Also, it’s not as if you can. Judges receive enough benefits that taking bribes isn’t worth the risk. Of course, they have as many limitations as they have benefits. Still, judges are among the richest in our empire because they are very needed to keep the order and law ongoing."

Querial rubbed her chin. "Who can guarantee that they won’t become full of themselves?"

"You can sue a judge as well, and the one who presides over it is a random judge. And I already said it, right? If a Judge is guilty of unfairly accusing others... Heh."

Querial could imagine what the ’heh’ meant. There was another curiosity that caught her attention. "Judges don’t get to see who they are judging?"

"That’s right. Why would you need to know if your victim is a man, woman, insectkin, human, or Sylvan?" The Lignified House produced a few roots in front of the woman to create a shrugging movement. "If the judges don’t know who is what or what their background is, it is almost impossible for their bias to show up. You judge a case with random people. The only ones the judge meets before they deliver the sentence are the lawyers, who all use neutral speech."

"...I bet it isn’t without flaws."

The Lignified House giggled. "Perhaps. But are there any truly flawless judging methods? The very foundation of the word justice is subjective. For a pet owner, justice would be punishing those who hurt their pet. For the affected person, the pet that attacked them out of nowhere getting put down would be true justice."

The Lignified House picked a few papers Querial asked for and continued speaking. "Each person has their perspective, so only by being as objective as possible can a judge make the least amount of mistakes. Mother thought that, to do that, the best method was for the judges to not know who they are judging and follow the laws as they are."

Querial pondered about it. She could think of the positives and negatives of this system. However, the negatives weren’t that bad, knowing the worst criminals would be punished almost without fail.

"Hm...?"

Querial looked at one report with curiosity. "A high amount of ternary essence fluctuations had been detected in Ceperet from the structure called <Lignified Ascension Life Willow Tree>."

"Oh? Little Sister Apothea?"

Querial chuckled. "You know about her?"

"Yeah! That’s where the most talented of the Golden Sap Empire go through their <Ascensions>. If there are fluctuations there, hehehe. Mother Seraphina and the others might already be out!"

Querial muttered. "Cinderielle, Verdantia, Tempestria, Harmonixia, Seraphina, and Obsidianis. The Heavenly Willow’s wives. I heard each of them is more extraordinary than the last."

The Lignified House didn’t answer this time because Querial looked ready to work. Speaking while Querial rested wasn’t bad because it helped her relax and distract her from work. However, being disruptive during work would disqualify her from being a Lignified House! She had to take good care of her residents, as long as they weren’t evil.

’Let’s see... Querial and her husband liked this type of meat last time, didn’t they? I’ll tell the cooks to go buy it. I have already cleaned the bathrooms and prepared new towels. Querial looks a touch tired; should I prepare some bath solution to help her relax so she has a good night’s sleep? Oh my, a cleaner over there tripped. The first aid is over there!’

The house’s internal roots moved constantly, keeping everything in place. They did the most tedious housework all the time, even in the offices. The cleaners’ work was, therefore, different from usual. Their task was not cleaning, but taking care of the Lignified Houses. They would go up to their branches and cut some unhealthy ones. Or they would carry nutritious fertilizer with them to feed the Lignified House.

Calling them Lignified Gardeners wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

***

Meanwhile, back in Ceperet, Liu Shu looked toward Apothea’s entrance with shining eyes. Her Avatar was already there, moving restlessly. Soon, the six Sylvans walked out in simple dresses.

Faint, invisible auras surrounded their bodies, and Liu Shu noticed a multicolored flash of light streaking within their eyes before it stopped. The biggest change in aura was, without a shred of a doubt, Seraphina and Obsidianis.

They felt more... complete.

Before, her four initial wives were much closer in presence, while Obsidianis and Seraphina felt closer to a "normal" Sylvan. Liu Shu couldn’t quite put it into words, but she could tell that now all six of them felt unique, yet uncannily similar.

While Liu Shu was blinking and looking back and forth between them, the six Sylvans moved like one person and locked onto Liu Shu’s Avatar with their gazes.

""""""Liu Shu, we are back~.""""""

"Awawawa..."

Liu Shu’s eyes spun as they all looked at her so suddenly. They looked really good even in casual dresses.

Cinderielle wore a gorgeous red dress that fit her fiery personality.

Verdantia had a flowery dress that hugged her voluptuous figure tightly.

Tempestria wore a grey, body-hugging dress that matched her temperament.

Harmonixia wore a tube-skirt dress that highlighted her wide hip curve.

Seraphina’s dress was all white, reached her ankles, and had a very simple design.

Obsidianis wore a completely black off-the-shoulder dress.

They laughed, and Cinderielle approached first, giving our girl a deep kiss and a tight hug. "Now we can help protect you, love. Our strength has increased quite a bit."

Verdantia came up next, pushing Liu Shu’s face deep into her cleavage before lifting her chin to kiss her. "Exactly. You can relax a touch now. Even if you ask us to go and crush the Nexus, we will."

Obsidianis took Liu Shu away next and devoured her lips fiercely. "Tsk, tsk. Your mouth is really sweet~. Tell me, let’s leave the others here and let’s have some fun. They can take care of annoying things while we have fun."

Liu Shu’s head was spinning from the suffocating kisses when Seraphina snatched her away and gently took Liu Shu’s tongue into her mouth. "I’ll make sure to send Obsidianis first the next time there is a war. Tempestria will probably want the same either way."

As Harmonixia pulled her away, Liu Shu’s legs were about to fail. Her heart was pounding, and her face was flushed red. Harmonixia peppered her face with kisses instead, whispering in her melodic voice. "Let’s have a fun time together, okay? These people are talking about work right after we leave. Tsk, tsk. They don’t have any tact."

Tempestria sighed and took the blob they created with their shared kisses away in her arms. "Let’s go and let out some steam. It seems that everyone’s mind is not here, but down at our waists."

Liu Shu blinked, curled in Tempestria’s arms, and before she knew it, they were inside her Core Room and without clothes. A moment later, Tempestria covered her body and forced her tight entrance open. The six Sylvans were about to have fun with Liu Shu and release the pent-up emotions they’d gathered during their lengthy Ascension.