Chapter 301: Cabinet Meeting 2

Chapter 301: Cabinet Meeting 2

I tapped a knuckle on the table. “Send the Bluewrens a bottle of–” I gestured at Xim.

“Abben Rose 93,” she said. “The cabernet. It’s the best we’ve got.”

“I believe that vintage will be well-received,” said Riona with approval. “Only a single bottle, though?”

“We’ll send more in the future,” I said. “Attach a copy of the notification we received for the death of Hysteria on some fine parchment. Something tasteful that they could mount on the wall, but not so nice that they’d feel bad about throwing it in the attic. I’ll pen a letter to serve as a preface.”

“I think I understand,” said Riona. “The beginning of a macabre tradition.”

“We’ll see how it evolves. Also, send a dossier on what we recently learned about the United and our dealings with Charl the meat man, may he rest among more reasonable gods than the idols he had in life.”

“Surprisingly sincere,” said Xim.

“I’m not familiar with this matter,” said Riona.

“Right.” I gestured toward Grotto. “You’ll understand after our security briefing.”

“Anything else?”

“There’s increased tension between the houses themselves, but I’ll let our next council member touch on that.”

Our next council member was Varrin’s lady love, Lady Sineh Duckgrien. She was also a Level 3 Platinum, sharing a party with Riona. She was smaller and slimmer than the amazonian Ravvenblaq, with strawberry blonde hair and a dusting of freckles below pale-green eyes. Her expertise had some crossover with Riona’s, but she held deep knowledge concerning the geopolitical state of the world and was our primary advisor for the same.

“Peace is a string pulled taut at the moment,” she said. “There is civil unrest in Litta after the destruction of Krimsim. Hiward’s peasantry has grown more bold in their criticisms of nobility, and there are reports coming in about a strange religion beginning to take hold. Timagrin’s people are still tense in the wake of Canotha. In the eyes of the masses, their government hasn’t taken any significant steps towards preventing another Davahn incursion. Their people’s exodus has waned, however, likely owing to the fact that Brae’ach’s army is still missing. I believe this indicates that attitudes have shifted from panic to fear and dissatisfaction.

“Mittak’s resources are strained providing for the number of Timan refugees they’ve taken in,” Sineh continued. “Their hosting was always meant to be temporary, but a sizable group has refused to return home. There is an opportunity to provide relief there, if you wish to take in some of the Timans looking for a safer harbor. Closetland’s isolation would likely be appealing to them.

“This also holds true for the small fleet of private vessels off the shores of Ayama, where many seek entry to shelter beneath Godking Ayamari’s strength. Very few are ever admitted, and while there are usually a fair number of people trying to gain Ayaman citizenship, there have never been so many as now. This likely speaks to the tension people are feeling worldwide. Attitudes in Ayama itself are always difficult to ascertain, but do not seem affected much by global events.

“The attitudes in Eschendur are a stark contrast to the rest of the world. Spirits are high, although there is a small, vocal minority who oppose Litta’s continued occupation of land near the Eschen Gap. The empire insists that the land still belongs to Eschendur and that they are there merely to facilitate training for the cooperative Delving expeditions.

“Relating to that, the first round of Creation Delves since the transition into System phase two was highly successful. The Littan-Eschen Delves saw a historic number of platinum teams emerge. The mortality rate was similar to Hiward’s, with only one team failing to emerge, but in light of the increased difficulty, the Littans are feeling a bit smug that their approach is more successful overall.

“Elsewhere, the Creation Delves have seen mixed success. Hiward’s proceeded as expected, although they reclaimed all of their treaty-issued slots from the other major nations. They magnanimously chose to distribute several of these to Third Layer denizens.” She nodded to Xim as she said this. 𝙧à𐌽ộβЕS̩

“Timagrin’s had the highest fatality rate of those we know about, losing nearly a quarter of their candidates. Their Delver academy has very few graduates since they’ve historically had only a handful of slots from Hiward, and the exploration of their talent pool was otherwise mismanaged. The reasons for that can only be speculated upon, but at one point, there was an open call for participants. Many who entered were ill-prepared.

“Mittak’s saw no fatalities. The runic magicks of the Grimvaldrim giants gave them an edge, and the Iskarim are quite durable despite their size, owing to their vast history living within the Mittakan mountain ranges, which are quite inhospitable. Choval’s Creation Delve seemed to be middle of the pack, but similar to the Littans, they had a much higher number of successful Platinum parties.

“We have no information on the Creation Delves for Ayama or Davah. Both are insular, and the Davahns, of course, allow no one near their shores. Finding Davahns willing to sell us information has thus far been impossible.

“While most nations seem to have a rising level of internal conflict, international relations are similarly strained in places, particularly between Litta and Hiward. Litta opposed Hiward’s recapture of their Creation slots, arguing it’s a violation of their treaties. The treaties did not contemplate this situation, and as a result, there’s a great deal of bickering. Hiward is also feeling snubbed by Eschendur’s pivot towards friendlier relations with the empire, which has resulted in a decline in trade between Hiward and Eschendur. Given that Hiward failed to provide Eschendur with any support during the Littan blockade, their complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

“Hiward is pulling back on its military presence in Timagrin, given the absence of Davahn invaders and the rising heat from the Littans. Timagrin is fiercely opposed to this, and the withdrawal has led to more friction between those two nations than has ever been recorded. They have been staunch allies for decades, and Timagrin’s response has caused some damage to that friendship.”

Sineh indicated she was finished, and I spent time digesting the information.

“Hiward and Litta have a history of sabre rattling, so that doesn’t concern me,” I said. “Both are mad about unreasonable things. Litta has their hundred Creation slots and so does Hiward. Insisting that Hiward continue to surrender a substantial portion of their slots in light of that is silly.

“As far as Hiward and Eschendur, the Eschens were previously trading almost exclusively with Hiward, and now they’re pursuing a more balanced global posture. Hiward lost a monopoly, but they weren’t entitled to one and can hardly blame Litta for Eschendur’s decisions. It seems like a lot of the current Hiward-Litta feud is posturing.” I sat forward. “What I’m more worried about is Timagrin breaking. They’re in some trouble, it sounds like.”

“I think that’s a good takeaway,” said Sineh. “A small fire may cause the pot to boil over.”

Joma grunted, started to speak, then stopped. I raised an eyebrow in her direction. “Hysteria would have blown this up like a powder keg,” she said.

“Good thing he’s been removed from the board,” I replied. “Of course, someone else could do the same. Something Hysteria left behind, maybe.” I made a point not to look at Cloaky. “Or another avatar. Even a rogue Delver with enough power could make a pretty big mess.”

“Do not forget infiltration, even by comparatively weak forces,” said Sineh. “A group of well-tasked operatives could dismantle the nation’s morale from within, then strike at their government directly.”

“And what a shitstorm that would be. Hiward would get sucked in to help establish security, which sounds like it might antagonize their own peasantry. It would give the Littans room to maneuver and drive up the intimidation tactics on the Kingdom. Mittak and Ayama would have to deal with even more refugees. And while everyone’s distracted, who knows what Brae’ach might be getting up to.” I hummed to myself in thought. “We’re not trying to be anybody's daddy, so let’s not meddle much. We can reach out to Mittak about their overpopulation of refugees. Go ahead and get me more info on the people off the coast of Ayama as well.”

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Joma raised her hand to speak again, and I nodded at her.

“If you’re looking for people with nowhere to go, the Eschen Wastes is worth thinking about.”

“Forgive me,” said Sineh, “but my impression was that Wastelanders are habitually criminals excused by anarchy.”

Joma rolled her eyes. “Some. Then there are people like me who just needed a place to disappear. Lots of people come in as rejects from Ayama, too. There’s even some powerful Delvers. Ones who wanted to get away from public notice and scandals.”

“We’re not necessarily looking for people solely to pump our population,” I said. “With Mittak and Ayama, I’m trying to minimize conflict over land and resources.”

“The conflict is that they’re destitute,” said Joma. “Just because they aren’t making trouble for people who’re already warm and comfortable doesn’t mean they’re worthless.”

“I never said they were.” I sat back and gave the furry woman a hard look. She was brusque and defensive, but she had a point. “All right. Sineh, please learn what you can about people living in the Wastes.”

“Of course,” she said, making a note for herself.

After the geopolitical discussion, our second resident Delve Core had her turn. Throne was a Core that the System had ‘encouraged’ us to adopt after our run of the undead-filled Throne of Zng Delve, now defunct. She’d been managing an army of a hundred thousand cryogenically preserved Delver zombies, which was then usurped from her by their original commander, a Grade 51 Elder Lich. The lich fucked off to somewhere else with enough military might to be considered a major world power, leaving Throne without a job.

Discovering the whereabouts of that army was on The List.

While Throne’s personnel management skills were suspect, she did have incredible capabilities with magical architecture and general engineering. She was helping to build up a goodly portion of our tangible infrastructure. She also had a sizable workforce of spiritual constructs, who I’d been assured were ethically sourced. Those brought some solid manpower to the table.

Nuralie had made Throne a special mecha that she inhabited to hide her main core. It was reminiscent of a pint-sized Zng soldier, although she had a more human appearance overall, pink hair, and pigtails. She looked like a female gnome android.

“Fixing your busted-up city is going to take about three months,” she said. “Okay, done.”

“Done?” I asked.

“That’s my turn. All out of reports for ya. I have some other things I’m working on, sooooo…”

“I have some questions.”

She rotated her entire upper body in my direction and slumped a little. “Fiiiine, go ahead.”

“Three months is a solid timeline for how much damage there is. That being said, is there any way to shorten it? Any support we could give you? Materials, supplies, so on and so forth?”

Throne twisted back towards the center of the table and opened her mouth. The act was so sudden, I flinched. Ropes of mana emerged from her gullet and coiled around one another to form solid shapes, stretching and combining until a translucent, three-dimensional schematic of Krimsim (new name pending) was hovering over the table. Once finished, she snapped her jaw shut with a painful-sounding click.

Most everyone was staring at her, despite the magic hologram she’d just spawned.

She jerked her head to look from person to person. “What?” she asked. “I have a mana condenser in my throat. Don’t be weird, I’ve seen the stuff that comes out of your holes and it’s way nastier.”

I recentered my beret. “Please continue with whatever this is, Throne.”

The Core took another look around as everyone studiously avoided her eyes and studied her projection. After, she hopped up onto her chair, then climbed up onto the table and walked over to the schematic. She held up her hands and wobbled them in circles, causing the model to rotate. Finally, she dropped her hands and turned her entire little body back to me.

“Nope, three months is already pushing my resources, like, a lot.” Her head jerked back to the image and pointed stiffly at the diagram's lower half. “I mean, raising the undercity back up and building out the Muckeater habitats is a three-week project on its own!”

“Muckeaters?” I said. “Please explain.”

“They’re Muckeaters,” she replied, as though to jog my memory. When she realized I wasn’t going to spontaneously manifest understanding, she let her hand drop and added to the explanation. “Big, slimy, meaty, will eat anything organic they can find.” She raised her hand again and twisted her head back to the image. “They’ll eat all the poop! Plus, once they’re big and fat, we can repurpose them for use in the Delves.”

“Hmm,” I hummed as I tried to decide where to begin unpacking that whole mess. “How many Delves are in the Closet right now?”

“Only one that’s functional.”

“Right. And how many non-functional Delves do we have?”

“Six.”

“So you two–” I wagged my finger between Grotto and Throne. “–are planning on running seven Delves in here?”

“Yeah!” said Throne. “Well, we’ll need to invite some more Cores to get involved, but that’s easy. Either way, this is why we have a–” Grotto cleared his throat, drawing Throne’s attention. She stared at her fellow Delve Core for a second, then turned slowly back to me. “That’s why I have a thirty-eight-step plan for integrating monster cohabitation zones into every living space. We can fix your shit and raise a stock of highly lethal organisms at the same time!” She raised her arms up, like a surprised puppet. “It’s perfect!”

“What I’m hearing is that Muckeaters are dangerous.”

“That’s your takeaway? They are dangerous, which is the point, but did you hear about the benefits of Muckeaters? That’s just one example of the ingenious design I’m trying to implement. Imagine, if you will–”

I held up a hand to stop that train before it left the station. “What happens when the people of the city accidentally encounter one of these Muckeaters?”

“Oh, that won’t be a problem,” she said, tapping her metal fingers together. “Unless you want it to be?”

“I do not.”

“That’s what I figured.” She wobbled her hands at the schematic again, and it zoomed in, highlighting a few areas. “There’s already some pretty lethal security built into these plans.”

“Throne,”

“Uhh, there’s some pretty awesome security built in. Lots of totally survivable traps that’ll detain people. Without killing them. Listen, there’s no way anyone is getting down to those Muckeaters.”

“What are the alternatives to Muckeaters for sewage disposal?” I asked. “Can’t we just work some magic bullshit to purify and recycle it?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s easy,” said Throne. “But what it isn’t, is badass. Muckeaters, though. Totally badass.”

“If we went with purifying sewage instead of incorporating Muckeaters, how much time would that save you?”

“Eh, two weeks, probably.”

“Let’s do that, then.”

“Fuck.” She looked forlornly at the image. “Okay.”

Nuralie raised her hand, so I gestured for her to speak. “Throne. How many more ‘monster cohabitation zones’ are included in these designs?”

“Damn,” I said. “Good question.”

Throne tip-tapped her fingers together again. “I have six more in here, butbeforeyousayanything! Listen to all the benefits.”

“Go ahead and remove any structure or environment with the primary purpose of servicing one of these zones,” I said.

Throne stared at the hologram, then turned her whole body to me very, very slowly. “What about the haunted mansion? Do you still want the haunted mansion?”

I squinted at her. “I never asked for a haunted mansion. I can’t still want a haunted mansion if I never wanted a haunted mansion in the first place.”

“Sorry, I’m unclear on whether that means you want the haunted mansion or not.”

“Throne, is the haunted mansion filled with dangerous undead creatures and spooky traps meant to maim and harm?”

“It… is…”

“Then of course I don’t want the haunted mansion!”

“I told you he would not go for it,” said Grotto.

“Shut it,” said Throne.

“Get rid of the mansion and all the other monster cohabitation stuff,” I said. Throne reluctantly swirled her hands around, and several structures within the schematic dissolved. “Now, how long will it take you to get the city repaired without all that?”

Throne cut a hand through the image, and it dissolved into mana mist. “A month,” she said grumpily, then plodded back to her chair.

“A month is basically a minor miracle,” I said, taking a breath. I tried to keep calm and convey a genuine tone. “I appreciate your tireless efforts on our behalf.”

“Sure,” she said, then slid down in her seat.

“Anything else you’d like to report?”

“No, I’m good.”

“All right,” I said. “Next, let’s hear about some guns.”