Selection

Before he knew it, time had flown by and another night had passed. Eren woke amid Yukiko, feeling that the night had gone by far too quickly, over in the blink of an eye.

After spending a little time being affectionate with the women, Eren dressed and got out of bed. Today, he planned to select consorts and assemble his song and dance troupe.

After getting up, he ate breakfast while summoning Modun to ask how preparations for the selection were going.

"Your Majesty, among the captives we took in Slaver's Bay this time, there are a total of sixty thousand between fifteen and forty years old. After excluding those with dark skin and those who are ugly, a little over ten thousand remain."

Eren said, "Bring all ten thousand of them in front of my tent, and have them change into clothes that show off their figures while you're at it. I'll be measuring them with my own hands later."

After speaking, Eren sent Modun off to carry out his orders while he continued eating breakfast.

By the time he finished breakfast, Modun's preparations were nearly complete. Modun came in from outside, saluted, and said, "Your Majesty, everyone is in position. Please begin your selection."

Eren nodded and walked out of the tent, with Modun hurrying after him. Outside, he found all ten thousand or so women of the appropriate age gathered in front of his tent, their hands bound with ropes.

This was to prevent anyone from launching a surprise attack on Eren. Restraining their hands was also a precaution.

Although Eren was not afraid of being injured, since he was immortal, the people of the empire believed that any possibility of their king being hurt had to be eliminated. He was the gods' representative, the son of a god. If he were injured, it would be a challenge to the authority of the entire empire.

Eren told Modun, "Prepare a tent. I'll examine them inside. Have these women line up and come before me one at a time."

Modun answered, "Yes," then immediately had a nearby tent cleared out and fitted with two entrances, one for entering and one for leaving.

Before long, the tent was ready. He went inside with Lydia, leaving Modun outside to organize the line, prevent disorder, and keep anyone from getting handsy.

Every person and every object in the empire was Eren's property. Without his permission, no one was allowed to touch them. Likewise, taking the life of a slave or anyone else was a provocation against him, because Eren alone had the right to decide what happened to their lives within the empire. Anyone who defied this law would be forcibly turned into a titan weapon and serve until death. Even after dying, they would continue working in the Coordinate Space, molding titans.

Eren brought Lydia into the tent, where a table and chairs stood in the center.

Eren walked over and sat down, having Lydia sit beside him as well. He had brought Lydia to keep records of the women he selected and speak with them. After all, grammar varied widely, and Eren still did not have a very good grasp of other languages.

Once seated, Eren told Modun outside to start sending people in. Upon hearing him, Modun began sending the women in the line inside one at a time.

The first to enter was a teenage girl. Although she was very pretty, her figure was unremarkable. It was understandable that these teenagers did not have good figures, since they had not yet begun developing, but Eren had no time to select someone and then wait for her to develop slowly.

He might as well pass on her outright and let her develop for a few years. From then on, he would hold a selection every two years to replace some of the members. After all, the oldest this time were forty. Even if they were beautiful and had good figures, they would not maintain them for many years. Eren would enjoy them for a while, then replace them when their time was up.

Those who were eliminated would be assigned work in his future castle or palace. After all, apart from places needed for meetings, no men would need to enter the other parts of his future castle or palace, nor would he need eunuchs. There would be enough room in such a vast place to accommodate some women.

As for the guards of his future castle or palace,

He would station those Pure Titans inside the castle or palace walls to guard it. These titans needed neither food nor drink and would patrol twenty-four hours a day without stopping. A titan would stand guard every few meters, and if they spotted a man or an outsider climbing over the wall, they would immediately start eating. Eren had already examined several women in succession. Either their figures were lacking or their looks did not appeal to him. Still, there was no hurry. The day had only just begun, and there were plenty of women outside waiting for him to take his time choosing.

Another woman came in. She had blonde hair, enormous breasts, and a plump bottom-a quintessential tall, voluptuous foreign blonde. Her looks appealed to him too. She looked close to thirty, right at a woman's peak. Eren immediately made his decision, and Lydia recorded it beside him. This record only tracked how many people Eren had selected and how many had come in.

Only those selected would have their actual names and ages recorded, and that would happen after the entire selection was finished. Eren had no interest in these women's names or ages and would not try to remember them. He only cared whether they were attractive and had good figures. Nothing else mattered to him.

Eren continued examining women all morning at an extremely fast pace, averaging one every fifteen seconds. After all, some figures could be judged at a glance. If they did not measure up, he simply waved for the next one without wasting time. Only with those who had curves would he test their feel and size.

But Eren estimated that, at the current pace, he definitely could not finish examining everyone that day. He therefore told Modun to keep two thousand there and take all the rest away to wait somewhere. He also ordered that these women receive two meals a day so they would be in better spirits, and that no one was allowed to touch them.

Eren continued choosing as he ate. Soon, the day had passed, and the sky around them was growing dark. With the light failing, Eren did not intend to continue. After all, the surrounding firelight was not very good, making it difficult for him to judge what he saw.

Besides, he had examined over two thousand that day, and only forty-seven had caught his eye. Those who possessed both qualities were indeed quite rare; it required exceptional natural gifts.

Judging by how things were going, continuing through the rest would probably take another five or six days. Eren therefore decided to stop the examinations for now and have the army march out tomorrow, continuing toward Yunkai and Astapor to sweep through those two city-states.

After all, continuing to select women would waste time, and he could not let those fat sheep escape. After the fighting, they would rest and regroup for a while, gather the women of those two city-states as well, and take their time choosing during that rest.