The Systemic Lands

Chapter 153: Day 333 (3) – Long Term Plans

“This place is still around, surprising,” Naran said as he enjoyed some bread.

“One of the few businesses left intact,” Clarissa added.

“Good to see. Owned by the chef?” I asked.

“Partially, with an investment by the city to keep running,” Clarissa said.

“Well, at least the bureaucracy is doing something,” I replied. There was actual butter to go with my bread. Butter! It came from system milk, but I wasn’t about to question processes and food cultures. I was just going to enjoy some food.

There was a knock on the door to our private room and then a waiter entered. “The appetizer, vegetable stew.” We each got a bowl and then the waiter left. It was delicious.

“Naran, we need a cart cook.”

“It isn’t that simple. There is no easy way to cook or heat things. If there was a portable oven, or magic oven, then maybe.”

“Or an airship. One day,” I let out a sigh and had some more soup. That quickly improved my mood.

“Made a decision on our grinding spot? Same location?” Naran asked.

“No.” I knew what I wanted to do. It wasn’t enough to grind. I needed information and to confirm something.

“No?” Naran asked.

“We are going to a different location. Coordinates (-3,-3), where the dark blue rats are,” I said had had more soup. The chef did amazing work.

“That was where we ran into death, you think you can win?” Naran asked.

“Probably, maybe. If he shows up, I guess I will find out. I have about 850k points in reserve. I want to explore the area more to the South and the West, looking for the dungeon and the other zones. I would like to look at a level 4 zone and see if there is another tower like structure,” I replied. The points from my last grind session had been cashed in to boost my reserve after the Second Battle of Purgatory. My health insurance plan was quite full at the moment, just the way it should be.

“You didn’t see one the first time,” Naran pointed out and I nodded at that. I dipped some of my bread into the soup. I wish I could just sit here and eat. That was how I got fat before, too much sitting and delicious food.

“I didn’t. But my loop was fairly shallow.”

“You will be much further way,” Clarissa said.

“Yes. But if the Ritualist is going to do anything, it won’t be soon. There are two other reasons I want to go out in that direction.”

“Dungeons?” Naran asked. I smiled a bit at that.

“Yes. There are some possible level 2 dungeons it would be worth checking out. But that isn’t that important right now. What is really important is checking the city of Esperanza. I know Ruth isn’t in Heaven or Purgatory.”

“You trust the Ritualist?” Naran asked.

“Pfft, I trust him as much as I would trust a monster. What I do understand is Ruth’s self-interest to preserve her life and the fact she didn’t show up in any confrontation after the first one. It makes sense that the Ritualist washed his hands of her, once she abandoned him. If he is lying, then it is my mistake.”

“That leaves, Truth, Neo Brasilia, and Esperanza. Unless there is another city out there,” Clarissa said.

“She won’t be going back to Truth. Too close to the Ritualist and still a mess. Neo Brasilia also fell apart and the Union teams are in the area as well, clearing the dungeons. She would be the type to get as far as possible. That means Esperanza,” I said.

“If the city leaders object, she is hiding in the city, or in the wilderness?” Naran asked.

“It is simple. I will be offering a bounty for her head. One million points or a level 3 skill. That should motivate the entire city to put her head on a spike if she has poked her head out in any way. If she hasn’t, well I like the thought of her trying to survive like a rat on a sinking ship. No matter how much she struggles, eventually she will become exhausted and drown.”

She was on my list. That meant no half measures. Any way I could kill her I would attempt to do so. Even if she learned all the Ritualist’s secrets, there was only so much she could do by hiding in the shadows. Changing her name to Nox showed the mindset she was taking.

It was the mindset of someone who wanted to hide away. The Ritualist taking up his name and calling his city Heaven was a provocation, proclaiming here I am. Ruth, since she hadn’t earned her title in my mind, was a disease. The best disinfectant was sunlight. I was going to shine a light everywhere I could to flush her out.

“That is probably the best way, it will be hard to pin her down,” Naran said.

“That is a lot of points. Is it a city expense or a personal one?” Clarissa asked. Now that was a good question. She was my enemy, but she had assisted the Ritualist in robbing Purgatory, so she was the enemy of the city as well.

“I will make that decision based on who gets her and when. For now, don’t worry about it. If it does come down to it, I will just get the person a two level 3 skills. That is more than enough in terms of compensation,” I replied.

There was a knock on the door. The waiter entered and brought the next course. “Fried potato patties, with salad.”

It was good, but the soup was better in my opinion. “What if Esperanza attempts to tax you?” Naran asked. I just smiled at him.

“Then that is enough reason for Purgatory to have two more low leveled dungeons, to consolidate our power.”

“That could start another war,” Clarissa said. Worried, are you?

“Yes, it could. But building up Purgatory’s strength is more important. What are they going to do, summon monsters like the Ritualist? They won’t be anywhere near as dangerous as him and we already have a head start.”

“Still, the Union is stretched thin right now. They can’t take on more dungeons since they have to double team on both of Truth’s dungeons,” Clarissa said. That was a reasonable point.

“Alright, I will be diplomatic. We can have one neighbor we aren’t oppressing or at war with,” I said. Naran covered his mouth with a napkin and Clarissa froze for a moment. “What? What did I say?”

“Diplomatic, really Michael?” Naran said.

“Hey, I am plenty diplomatic. War is just diplomacy through force,” I said.

“If you want to call melting people diplomacy, then sure,” Naran said. I looked at Clarissa.

“I am not that bad, right?”

“Yes. You terrorize people and melt them at the slightest provocation. Sure, this city is better, but there is no velvet covering your iron glove,” Clarissa said dealing a blow to my self-image.

“Fine. Since you think I suck. Naran, you get to do the talking in Esperanza. To put a bounty on Ruth and that I won’t pay any kind of tax or fee to turn in my crystals,” I said.

“I am not in charge. I don’t want to be in charge,” Naran said.

“Well apparently you both think I suck at diplomacy. You can handle it then,” I told Naran. He looked at Clarissa.

“Don’t look at me, you started this,” Clarissa said.

“Fine. But I am not any better at diplomacy. If it ends in people being speared, no complaining,” Naran said.

“That is fine. But this way, you can’t accuse me of being terrible when people are difficult,” I replied. I dug into my dinner. Well, I knew for a fact that these two weren’t yes people at the very least. The moment I was surrounded by ass kissers was the moment I would die horribly.

I needed people willing to tell me the truth, no matter how much I hated it. I had fallen into tunnel vision with Ruth, and then a second time with the Ritualist. I pulled myself back the first time, and the second time Clarissa opened my eyes.

This dinner was nice, but it wasn’t important long term. Another chef could be found. Advancements in food would be made regardless. What was important were the city upgrades, not the people. It seemed odd that peace which would save lives, wasn’t meant to save anyone but my taxpayers.

Did that make this a government for the people, so they could pay taxes? “What has you smiling?” Naran asked.

“Just thinking about the future upgrades and the opportunities they will hopefully open up. It has taken forever, but no matter what happens, those city upgrades are going to happen,” I replied.

“Don’t worry, unless the city suffers a major disaster, nothing should occur. I will be doing regular audits of both the accounting ledgers and the protections that have been put in place,” Clarissa said.

“We need to prepare for infiltration as well. The threat of the Ritualist using mimic type monsters to infiltrate is quite high,” I said.

“That is why we are going with a token system for all people in the level 1 areas with daily pass codes for people coming back into the city at night. Carts will be registered in the city and a list will be made. In time standardized clothing with unique identifiers will be made up. The details should be sorted out before the next arrival,” Clarissa explained.

I was wondering what she was doing all day. I guess I had my answer. “Impressive as always. Make sure you don’t lag behind in stats if possible,” I advised.

“I know. I am investing primarily in Mind at the moment. The risk of mental attacks has gone way up after the last couple of battles,” she said. I nodded at that.

“Considering a mental skill?” Naran asked.

“No. They either work or they don’t, and I doubt they will be of any use against higher level monsters. Perhaps in a larger team having a mental specialist to counter summoning specialists would be useful, huh. I guess we are starting to have our first classes,” I said.

“Summoner, mentalist, what else?” Clarissa asked.

“Well, a combat mage like myself and Naran. I am sure more will emerge eventually. I am still waiting for a body wizard,” I replied.

“Body wizard?” Naran asked.

“A mage who specializes in hand-to-hand combat. Would take someone truly crazy to do that, but I am sure there is some martial arts specialist out there who is enamored being able to punch monsters to death.”

“Sounds like a good way to have your hands melted,” Naran said, and I nodded at that. I rubbed my smooth chin. Now there was a class, wild grinder man.