Chapter 170: Good Morning Papa!
He crossed his arms.
"And then there is also the massive problem of waste management in my territory." Adrian added grimly. "Because right now, due to the population growing so insanely fast, there is a massive amount of human waste getting collected. The whole residential sector is actually starting to stink a little bit. I desperately need to find a proper way to get rid of this problem."
Draven nodded slowly. "Okay, that is completely understandable."
The Marquis actually looked slightly guilty as he began rubbing his chin.
"Well, if you do manage to find a clean way to get rid of that terrible smell," Draven muttered. "Please tell me the method too. Because this military camp is no better. And it is the exact same situation with every other major city in the empire."
Draven sighed. "Even the capital and the wealthy territories surrounding it have this exact same issue. They just designate massive dumping sites outside the walls, haul all the human waste out there, and pay low level fire mages to just burn the whole thing down."
"Well, that is a highly effective disposal method." Adrian admitted. "But that creates another massive issue because setting all that toxic garbage on fire just ruins the air. And breathing in thick smoke is obviously going to make fighting off those diseases way harder."
Draven blinked. He paused and actually thought about it.
"That makes a lot of sense actually."
Draven leaned back against his wooden chair.
"Based on the official medical statistics that the Emperor receives, which he always complains about during the high council meetings..." Draven said slowly. "The territories located right near the capital have incredibly high sickness rates. The frequency of those citizens visiting the church for healing is drastically higher compared to anywhere else in the empire."
Draven looked at Adrian. "And most of the time, those visits are always for severe respiratory diseases and strange lung sicknesses."
"Exactly." Adrian nodded firmly. "And my goal is to find a clean, efficient way to manage waste where I do not have to resort to burning everything to ash."
"I see." Draven nodded respectfully.
He pushed himself up from the desk.
"You rode hard to get here so you have to be totally exhausted." Draven said with a smile. "Why don’t you head to the guest roon and take some rest?"
"Sounds good." Adrian agreed.
He stood up, grabbed his heavy steel staff, and shoved it directly into his spatial ring. He followed Draven out of the room.
As they walked down a long corridor Adrian just happened to glance out one of the glass windows on the way.
And he spotted Aria outside in the courtyard. She was currently playing a game of tag with a bunch of other young kids, who Adrian assumed were Draven’s younger children.
"Aria!" Adrian called out through the window. "Why don’t we go sleep? It is getting pretty late right now."
Aria stopped running and nodded quickly. She looked at the other kids and waved her hand. She yelled out a happy goodbye before bolting inside to catch up with him.
Draven eventually stopped at a set of heavy doors and shoved them open.
Adrian walked into the guest room and stopped to look around.
The room was absolutely massive. It was significantly larger than his own master bedroom back in Oresfall. The bed was bigger, and even the blankets looked much softer to sleep in.
’I guess this is what true generational luxury looks like.’ Adrian thought to himself. ’This guy constantly whines about the military budget making him broke but he still lives in a giant castle.’
He kept his mouth shut about that though.
Draven offered a quick nod before leaving them alone in the room. The heavy doors clicked shut.
Adrian instantly ripped off his stiff formal shirt. He dragged a loose cotton tunic out of his ring and threw it on before looking over at Aria.
"Go change." Adrian said. "I am going to take a bath first and then you can go."
He walked into the bathroom and actually smiled when he saw the massive stone tub sitting there. So he quickly filled it with hot water and just sank right in.
He let his sore muscles soak for a solid thirty minutes. He finally dragged himself out, dried off, and threw on some fresh sleep clothes.
Then he walked back into the bedroom.
"My turnnn!" Aria announced the second she saw him.
She ran past him into the bathroom while Adrian just let out a tired sigh and collapsed face first onto the massive bed.
His brain immediately went on an overdrive. He started planning out the best possible ways to get his hands on some raw Mithril and how he was going to properly design the city’s future sewer system.
But as he laid there thinking, the exhaustion of the long trip finally caught up to him. His eyes slowly drifted shut, and he fell fast asleep before Aria even came out of the bath.
The next morning.
Adrian slowly woke up and felt something on his chest.
He blinked awake and glanced down. Aria was totally sprawled out right on top of him. She hugged his torso tight while completely knocked out. He could actually feel her soft, steady breath hitting right against his neck.
He smiled softly, ’I am incredibly lucky to have her as my child...’
He just stared down at her face.
’God damn.’ Adrian thought. ’She really is just too cute when she sleeps.’
He did not even bother trying to get up. He just chilled there under the blankets and watched her sleep for a while.
Aria finally started to stir.
A tiny yawn left her mouth as she opened her eyes. And the first thing she saw was Adrian staring down at her with a giant, goofy grin.
Aria grinned widely, still looking sleepy. She buried her face right back into his chest.
"Good morning, Papa." Aria mumbled happily.
"Good morning, sweetheart." Adrian whispered back.
They just hung out in the warm bed for a few more minutes. But they eventually dragged themselves out from under the heavy blankets.
