NOVEL WEB Chapter 76: A Ruler’s Folly
Lia stepped into the Dimension of Discounts apprehensively, looking around for Connie.
“Hey!” Connie called out. “Over here!”
Lia turned to find Connie waving over near the facilities section of the Dimension of Discounts. Lia walked over, giving Connie a curious look. “What are you doing over here, instead of at the counter?”
“Double checking and making sure everything is in tip top shape for when you get your first facility soon.” Connie answered. “What are you doing here? Need more information on the facilities?”
Lia shook her head. “Not quite.” She replied. “I…came looking for advice. I know this is normally something I’d pay for, and I will if I have to, but I was sort of hoping that, just for this one subject, we could do away with that and just have a proper talk. Not even necessarily as god to person, though that would be ideal, but…I don’t know. I’m just confused and need an outside perspective and you’re my only option.”
Connie raised an eyebrow, waving a hand and causing two chairs to appear. “Take a seat.” She said. She waved her hand again, and a can appeared in Lia’s hand. “And have a soda, on the house. I can tell this is going to be a little more…serious than usual, and it wouldn’t do to have a dry throat.”
Lia sat down, gratefully opening the can. “Thanks.” She said. “I was hoping we could talk about morality, specifically with regards to conversion and the swarm.”
Connie took a swig of her soda, giving Lia a thoughtful look. “That’s a hard question. And, to tell you the truth, I can’t give you a definitive answer. Like I said before, this matter is a tough one for even the gods, and while I’ve made my decision, and Jerry has made his, each god is going to have a different opinion.
“That being said, this is an important matter, and I feel it would be unfair to leave you in the dark on it, trying to do your best with no clue if you’re actually moving in the right direction. And while I may not speak for all the gods when I give you my opinions, so long as you are earnestly trying to do the right thing…well, aside from the whole conversion thing, but as long as you’re doing your best to be good and follow my advice, I’ll go to bat for you if the other gods get upset. It wouldn’t do for you to get punished for things you thought were fine because I said they were, after all.”
Connie sighed. “Unfortunately, there’s no one right answer here. I think your discussions with Rose and Amelia is a good starting point, though. I would take care not to let power go to your head, and keep in mind the society you have envisioned now; no discrimination, no hunger, no inequality, freedom to pursue sciences and the arts…that’s a society worth striving for, I think.
“And, personally, I think the way you’re going about trying to achieve it is preferable to many others. Change on this scale usually does not work without some form of revolution, and yours is, at least, far less bloody than the alternatives. Yes, people will die, blood will be shed, but it will be kept to a minimum.
“But it will require you to make ugly choices, such as the one you face with Alisha. I will say that the rumors about her are correct; she is someone who has no loyalty, devotion, or morals, willing to do whatever it takes to get more power. In many ways, you are a far more virtuous person than her, even with converting things taken into account; were she in your shoes, I’m sure she would have been smited long ago.
“The solution you have landed on with regards to her is a kinder one than many others would suggest, and even has some risk to yourself. I, as a person and as a god, have no issues with it, but I know some of the other gods would disagree. Yes, most of those gods disagree with the swarm as a whole, but to tell you the truth, they’ll be angry no matter what you do.”
Connie paused, finished her soda, then tossed it over her shoulder, the can landing perfectly in a small wastebasket behind her. “Those same gods are blind idealists.” She continued. “Their idea of doing the right thing would be for you to have committed suicide, rather than shake up the world as you will be doing.
“Of course, there’s no way Amelia would allow that, and you are indeed incapable of viewing conversion as wrong. And that’s the issue with blind idealism, we don’t live in a vacuum, the real world has a nasty habit of getting in the way. I won’t lie and say that I’m in love with the concept of conversion, because I’m not, but people at war frequently do worse.
“In the real world, sometimes your only choices are bad. And, while I would not condone your actions were the circumstances different, I understand that you’re trying to make the best of what you have. The fact that you’re here, agonizing over this, is a good sign in and of itself. You want to do the right thing, and I don’t think it’s just for self-preservation reasons, either; if it was, you’d be far more eager to push the envelope.
“Tell you what; if I feel you’re about to make a decision that’s going to really cross a line, I’ll let you know that it’s crossing a line. I’m hopeful it won’t come to that, but the least I can do is give you a warning before you do something that would give your detractors undue ammunition.”
“I…thank you.” Lia said. “You’ve given me a lot to think about.” Lia finished her own soda, placing the empty can into dimensional storage in case it would come in handy later.
Connie studied Lia for a moment, then sighed. She reached into a pocket, pulling out a small sphere. “Catch.” She said, lightly tossing it to Lia.
Lia caught the sphere, looking curiously at it. “What’s this?”
“The Hero locator. I’ve given you a discount, and taken all your Blood Money you have now for it.”
Lia blinked in shock. “Thank you.” She said. “Um…why, though?”
“Call it the capricious whims of the gods.” Connie said. “I felt a reward was due for your efforts.”
“Thank you.” Lia said, putting the sphere into her dimensional storage. “May I ask another question?”
“The answer might cost you, but the asking is free.” Connie said, smiling slightly.
“Are you okay? You seem…tired.”
Connie froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. “I wasn’t expecting that question.” She said, a broad smile on her face. “I’m fine. It’s just…the Hero is a bit more aggressive than I thought. His flirting gets old real quick.”
“I suppose that would be awkward, since you were a guy before.” Lia said. “Well, when he’s converted, hopefully those advances will be a bit more…welcome.”
“No, not for that reason.” Connie said. “Guys, girls, I’m not picky. His lines are just so…corny, and he never seems to run out. You’d think he’d run out of different ways to call me cute, but he never does.” Connie paused for a moment, watching Lia carefully, then continued. “And, before you even ask, since I know you’re thinking it, whether or not he keeps his Blessings on conversion will depend on whether or not his patron god lets him. As you can imagine, I could well be…persuaded to let them stay, for a price.”
Before Lia could react, Connie hurriedly continued speaking. “Not Blood Money. You don’t have enough of that to warrant that much of an advantage. Just…come talk with me, once a week. I feel like I’m going to need someone to vent to about his antics. Nothing that would give you an advantage, of course, just little things.”
“I’d be happy to, but don’t you have the other gods for that?” Lia asked.
Connie shrugged. “Tensions are high at the moment. Until everyone’s sure where we stand, social interactions are awkward. Besides, talking to the same few dozen people all the time is boring, and you’re a good enough conversation partner.”
“I’ll come every week, then.” Lia said. “And I’ll buy something while I’m here.”
“You sure know your way around a woman’s heart, don’t you?” Connie grinned. “It’s a date.”
Alisha set down the letter with a smile. It appeared that the Hero and her friend were just as naïve as she had expected. Brom, the incompetent fool that he was, might have had trouble with them, but he didn’t have her expertise in these matters, but for her it would be child’s play to get these girls to do her bidding.
She tapped the letter thoughtfully as she considered the proposal within. They wanted her to come to the drop-off spot that night, where Amelia would contact her with long-range video magic. From there, they would swear their Oath, and Alisha would “receive initiation”.
Admittedly, that last bit gave her a bit of pause. It was likely they would be doing to her whatever they did to Brom’s scouts, something that would try and enforce loyalty to them. Still, it was a minor hurdle; she had the best protection money could buy, and a mind honed by years of politics. She could shrug this off, and they would be none the wiser.
There was even the possibility of gaining some strength in the process; if what they said in the video was to be believed, they had the capability to make people into stronger things, and she was sure she could convince them to do so to her. As long as she retained her looks, no one would ever have to be the wiser.
Yes…this was workable. She had half an hour before she was scheduled to meet them, plenty of time to carefully navigate her castle without being seen by prying eyes. While she didn’t regret the way she had risen to power, it had resulted in some unfortunate side-effects, namely the fact that she had a very limited number of people she could trust. She would have liked nothing more than to keep her castle staffed only with people who she was sure wouldn’t betray her, but she was queen, and just keeping the castle operational required more people than she trusted.
So, she had gotten accustomed to doing her business in secret, using her unrivaled knowledge of the castle’s secret passages and various hiding spots to slip out undetected. It was in one of these hidden rooms that she had set up the drop-off point, a small area sticking out of the castle proper just enough that a small alcove was excluded from the teleportation wards. It was generally used by her agents, when they needed to send sensitive communications to her, but it happened to suit this situation perfectly.
When she arrived, she had fifteen minutes until the scheduled time, so she began setting up the various wards and enchantments she had prepared for a meeting such as this. By the time she had finished with those, there were only a scant few minutes remaining, so she sat and waited for the time to come.
The image of a young vampire girl, the Hero Amelia, blinked to life in front of her, looking up into Alisha’s face. “Alisha, we’re glad you see things our way. This will surely prevent the deaths of many of your citizens in the future.”
As if. Alisha didn’t know exactly what the Hero and her companions were planning, nor did she care. All that mattered was that they had a great deal of military might and could be manipulated. “And I am glad you are willing to accommodate my request.” Alisha replied politely. “Is there anything you need of me before we begin?”
Amelia nodded her head. “We wish to present the exact details of the position you will be taking, and allow for questions and negotiations as you wish.”
A naïve offer. She had given them a deal, they had accepted, and now they wished to allow her to get herself a better deal? Were her opponent not a young girl, she would assume there to be some form of trick at play, but with her age and clear lack of skill in politics, there was no way she had something up her sleeve; she couldn’t even puppeteer that girl, Lia, properly. Lia was supposed to be in charge, but Amelia wasn’t even letting her do the negotiations, which should be the very basics of this sort of thing.
“I have no qualms with that.” Alisha replied. “Please, state your terms.”
“After some deliberation, we have decided that you would be a better fit as leader of our intelligence division, instead of a combat-oriented general.” Amelia said calmly. “While we are still open to having you in that position, being head of intelligence would allow you to operate with minimal differences from your normal behavior, reducing the odds that your defection is detected. Is this acceptable?”
It was more than acceptable. She had only said “general” as a stand-in for a high rank in whatever hierarchy they had, and head of intelligence was perfectly up her alley; it would make manipulating the rank and file all the easier. “That is fine.” She said.
Amelia blinked in surprise. “Oh. We were expecting a little more resistance, as it wasn’t exactly what you said in your letter, so…I think we just need to swear the Oath now. To review, you will become our head of intelligence, and in return you will spy on the other monarchs for us, and your country will surrender peacefully when we make our move. As part of the Oath, you agree to allow us to initiate you, while we agree to return you within two hours’ time. After this Oath is signed, we will teach you how to perform the initiation, and be completely truthful in regard to it, hiding nothing. Are these terms acceptable?”
And there was their clumsy trap; they were clearly banking on their “initiation” being able to sufficiently brainwash her, and they would be in for a rude awakening when the time came. It was a little strange that they added the stipulation about teaching her the initiation and being honest about it, but they likely wanted her to perform the initiation on others, so it was probably fine. “This is acceptable, and this I swear as an Oath under the Goddess of Law.”
The image flickered, and the foxkin girl from the video appeared. “I likewise find these terms acceptable, and swear them as an Oath under the Goddess of Law.”
The image flickered once again, and Amelia reappeared. “It is time for initiation.” She said. “If you have any powerful artifacts or monsters, I would fetch them now; we will be able to incorporate them into your very being, strengthening you immensely.”
Alisha raised an eyebrow. “This is separate from initiation, yes? I believe making changes to my being would put me at an increased risk of being discovered.” She said. “My use as a spymaster will be greatly diminished if people know I am working with you.”
Amelia shook her head. “No. Regardless of if you choose to bring those artifacts, we will be changing your being; that is the main purpose of our initiation. Our initiation involves taking items or monsters and combining them with people, resulting in something new, and greater. For example…”
The image fuzzed and then expanded, three identical wolfkin appearing before Amelia. “This is Ophelia, though you would know her better as Owen, Brom’s lead scout. We combined her with a particularly strong cerberus, as well as the recording orb she took the video from. As a result, not only does she now have three bodies, she also retains all functionality from the orb, as well as Skills from both her time as Owen and from the cerberus. So, if you have crucial items that you would hate to see stolen or you believe would be of even the slightest use to you, give me their locations and I will fetch them for you, and we will use them in your initiation.”
The image returned to just being Amelia. “I would remind you that we are currently under an Oath to be truthful regarding initiation, and as such, when we say that this will not enforce any additional loyalty, make mental changes, or negatively affect you in any way, we mean it. It is purely to strengthen you as an individual.
“We are well aware that you are already plotting a rebellion, and you are welcome to try if you still maintain the desire after conversion. I would, however, note that you will receive no help from individuals within our swarm; even if you personally manage to overcome our conditioning, I doubt most people are as…mentally acute as you are. They will remain completely loyal to us, no matter what.
“As a final note, I would like you to be aware that we are capable of completely and utterly wiping your sense of self via our initiation. We are not doing so because we would like to give you a chance first, but should we find so much as a hint of your rebellion, we will do so.”
A chill ran down Alisha’s spine as she stared at the smug vampire in front of her. She was telling the truth, the Oath her “leader” had sworn compelled her to. For the first time, Alisha began to think that, perhaps, Brom has been correct when he said that Alisha had no idea what she was dealing with. “Even so, I’m afraid fetching those artifacts will not be simple. They are under heavy guard, and even I have to go through lengthy proceedings to take them out. It will be highly suspicious when they disappear but do not return.”
Amelia grinned even more, taking a step forward and grabbing Alisha’s arm, an act that meant she was physically there, having bypassed all the castle’s security without setting off even a single alarm. “It’s no issue.” She said. “I will prepare duplicates, and your wards are pathetically easy to overcome. Just give me the place, and all of those treasures will be yours, forever.”
Alisha fought the urge to gulp, her heart pounding in her chest as she stared down at Amelia. It was becoming increasingly clear that she had gotten herself into a situation that was far outside of what she had thought possible. Still, she needed to take every opportunity she could to regain some semblance of control, and if they were willing to strengthen her, knowing she would attempt to rebel in the future, she wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.
“Very well then.” She said, reaching into her storage bag and pulling out a map. “This has the location of the treasury. How long will you need?”
Amelia snatched the map from her, studied it for a few moments, cast a spell, tapped her foot for a few moments more as she stared into empty space, then nodded. A moment later, objects began to rapidly appear around her feet, the flow continuing for a couple of seconds before a glob of some whiteish substance appeared on top of them, swallowing them before rounding out into an oval-shape which then disappeared. “Done.” Amelia said. “Now…it’s time for initiation.” She grabbed Alisha’s arm once again, there was a wrenching sensation, and then they were gone.
