“I’ve managed to establish communication with the large island,” I report to the Elders.

Tusile is here too, one of the rare occasions she takes a break from training the new priestesses. I tell them about the whole interaction; it was a short one since we didn’t know each others’ language.

“This is very good; once we can properly communicate with them, hopefully, we can trade, but for that to happen we must first complete the Airship. Now that the Treant is slain and a defensible settlement is being set up there, we can focus all of our efforts on that project.” Tusile says, “I hate to involve you any more than we already have, but only you can complete the Airship.”

Guklaro is having more airships made – now that the Dungeon is open, we are using the trees as building materials – but Tusile is referring to our flagship. We’ve been accumulating a lot of liquid dark mana and now have a sizeable amount to work with. We aren’t in a rush this time, so the whole village won’t pitch in to help me with my mana problems.

I still have three more days before Ruluna is ready; I wonder how she will try to communicate with me more effectively? I can’t do anything on my end, so it’s all up to her, and if she tries anything shady, I can just not fall for the trap; I’ll make sure to look around first just in case there are mind mages waiting nearby.

Since I’ll be using my mana to finish the second stage of the Airship construction phase, I won’t be able to do much in the Dungeon. Speaking of which, Tusile had one of the pair of portals I made moved to the Temple Island, allowing for quick travel between here and there. The mana consumption is still a big problem, and it’s mostly fueled by the user, so not everyone can use it, but it has allowed the Dungeon village to be built faster.

* * *

I spend the next few weeks learning the other language – I don’t know what to call it yet – and building the flagship. I’d love to add inscriptions to it, but it’s made entirely out of mana, so that’s a very good idea… if I wanted to destroy it.

I add all of the floors and rooms that I can with the mana available and make some finishing touches. With this, the Airship’s form is complete, and so is the second construction phase. The third and final phase will be to add in the Mana Furnace, Enchantments, Mana Batteries, Mana Wiring, and so much more. In other words, I still need to do almost everything that will make this Airship actually fly and be the state-of-the-art technological wonder Tusile always envisioned it to be.

With the completion of the second phase, I report to Tusile.

“Wonderful! Maybe it can finally take flight next year!” Tusile’s lets her joy show through her age. “I have a special mission for you.”

Special Mission? I can’t help but wonder what could possibly make it so special. It has to be something only I can do, which means it’s either something to do with my [Mana Manipulation] capabilities or...

“You want me to send a clone over to that place?” I ask, making sure I understand her correctly.

“Yes. Obviously, if there’s any danger, withdraw immediately. We’ll need to meet with their leaders eventually, and showing up unannounced is poor etiquette. You have already established friendly contact with someone, so the danger is minimal, even less since you can continue using anti-retaliation items this way.”

Tusile does make sense; it’s actually safer for me to send a clone to talk since the telepathic link requires me to not use safety measures. Plus, showing up in ‘person’ helps them relate to me, so I’m not just a disembodied voice.

It will take three and a half days of non-stop travel for my clone to arrive. On the next ‘chatting’ appointment, I scout out a good place to meet Ruluna and tell her to meet me there. With the aid of [Inquisitive Perfection] – and listening to my Bond – the area should be a place of beauty and peace.

There is one slight issue I have to work out, and that is making my clones capable of hearing and speech on their own. At that distance, I won’t be able to use non-summon spells with the aid of [Summoner’s Beacon], but I have three days to work that out.

It takes until dusk of the second day to finally upgrade my clone: getting the hearing right and inventing a method to send information back to me was the hard part.

Ting! You have developed a new Bond skill! Create Duplicate!

I conjure my duplicate at a steep cost, due to both its natural requirement and the distance. I will likely not be able to use spells efficiently at such distances.

Once my duplicate arrives, I wait for her, just outside of her and her guards’ [Sense Mana] range. They sent roguish people ahead of time, likely in the case of an ambush; it seems that they don’t fully trust me, but that is understandable considering the situation.

I hide my duplicate in a cloak of invisibility and wait for the grand reveal. My clone is wearing a longer skirt than usual, so I’m not flashing the people below, but I purposefully keep my dress otherwise unchanged. This is a diplomatic mission, so they should know what we Runalymo are like.

Once Ruluna is all settled in, I reveal myself and announce my presence.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She’s here? How? It’s so far away! Baffled, Ruluna can’t get a word out. Alysara obviously flew here, but how did she eat and sleep? The answer is clear as day when she descends from the sky and enters the range of [Sense Mana]. She is entirely made of mana!

Flame Paladin Julaly gives Ruluna a hard look. It’s possible this is just a ruse, a fake, or it could be that the real Alysara is nearby and is meeting in this way for self-defense.

One thing is for sure: she does not look Lunaleyan, which gives credit to her actually being here and it not being a ruse. The Black Flames step out of hiding, but Alysara shows no surprise.

“H-how did you get here?” Ruluna manages to ask.

“I flew,” Alysara says, landing. Her wings disappear, clearly some sort of skill. It’s not unheard of for someone to discover a flying skill, but it is rather rare, and they usually take a lot of mana to cast and use.

“All the way here?” Ruluna asks.

“Yup!” Alysara says with a confident smile, her movements practically oozing grace and elegance.

She’s very skilled in her Bond. Ruluna recognizes the tell-tale signs of someone who has dedicated a long time to leveling up their Bond. Alysara likely has a Bond Class, and potentially a rare Beauty Bond at that: House Ora Ora and House Ora Ara will be very interested in her.

“I’m here on a diplomatic mission to establish relations between our people,” Alysara states.

There is little reason to doubt her words; she’s already been spying on them, even if it was to learn about them. Lady Lysha will be very interested in who this spy is, and it’s not all good. Spying is a very serious allegation, and throwing the name ‘Alysara’ around is basically admitting to the crime, considering that the Order of Flame has been working with House Vanu Runa to look for her as the prime suspect.

She is smart to show up as an illusion, can’t arrest her if she’s not actually here. Still, why send the spy herself here? That’s a very risky play, downright idiotic; they know that she knows that they’ve been spying. However, there is really no other way around it, is there? No matter who they send, the Order of Flame knows they’ve been spying; Alysara herself didn’t deny it, so what do they have to gain by sending someone so skilled here?

Sending a known spy is the same as saying that they will continue spying.

Noticing her hesitation, Alysara summons a beautiful mana silk dress from a storage ring on her finger. The dress is made in the latest fashion but... just so much better! It’s so pretty; it’s absolutely perfect! The dress doesn’t have some of the gimmicky features the recent fashion statements have, that are circulating among the Houses and wealthy; instead, it is replaced by decoration that just seems to fit so... perfectly.

It takes Ruluna a moment to get over the distraction and for it to click in her mind; if the dress has a physical presence… The illusion is not just an illusion.

“Gifts, to show that we do not intend any harm,” Alysara says, before storing the dress again.

That’s why she’s here in... well, not quite in person, not yet at least. Her knowledge is far deeper than Ruluna gave her credit for. If lady Lysha receives the dress, then she will have to forgive Alysara, or at least not arrest her, since the dress will help boost Lady Lysha’s popularity. A very clever play, to send the spy herself as the bearer of a gift; it is a direct way of saying that the matter should be buried. Send anyone else, and the message may be overlooked.

“I suppose you want an audience with the Governor?” Ruluna suggests.

Alysara will need more gifts, for the Governor himself, if she wants to curry favor with him.

“That would be most helpful,” Alysara nods regally.

It’s subtle, but Alysara is not speaking exactly the same way as she has been before this; it’s like she’s adopted a persona, a skill not dissimilar to some of the higher-ranked Black Flames; it helps them blend in.

“It may take a few hours to get everything in order; for now, you can rest at our headquarters to recover from your long journey,” Ruluna says, inviting the elegant young girl to follow her.

Alysara follows them down the hill, walking like a noble lady, but... just so much more gracefully.

“How do you do that?” Ruluna asks at last, more than a little out of genuine curiosity.

“Do what?” Alysara replies.

“Everything. Everything about you is just so... beautiful, so... elegant. Is it training? Are you part of your society’s highborn?”

Alysara chuckles, a hint of musicality in her voice. “I just listen to my Bond.”

“What do you mean by that?” Julaly jumps in.

“You... don’t know?” Alysara seems a little confused. “Your Bond levels are so high, though.”

“You can [Analyze] our Bond levels? That’s impressive.” Julaly compliments. The goal is to keep Alysara talking; the more she reveals about herself, the more they can gauge her.

“Hmm, kind of, but not exactly,” Alysara says, her three tails distracting two of the Black Flames.

How did she get them so pristine after flying all of the way here? Or is it just because it’s an illusion? Ruluna wonders.

“Anyway,” Ruluna says, recognizing that Alysara won’t divulge much about her own skills. “What do you mean by ‘listen to your Bond’?”

“Just listen. The Bond is much more than an affinity to cast spells.” Alysara says. However, she doesn’t say anymore.

It’s possible that her people are expert Bond users, but why anyone would want to pick Bond Classes is a mystery to Ruluna – there are so many problems with them.

“If you don’t mind me asking, “Julaly says, “why do you wear clothes like that?”

It’s certainly a question on Ruluna’s mind as well: it makes her look like an escort, but Ruluna knows that the desert dwellers in the Forren Kingdom dress similarly. Regardless, Ruluna did not want to be rude, and so is quietly glad that Julaly asked.

“My homeland is a very hot and humid place,” Alysara answers. “If one wore any more than this, they’d cook in their own clothes.”

“Aren’t you cold now?” Julaly follows up.

“Nope, this is just an illusion,” Alysara says, matter-of-factly.

Alysara’s words catch Ruluna’s attention; the way she said them seems off somewhat, but Ruluna can’t seem to place why that is.

“What do you mean by that?” Ruluna asks, hoping to draw the answer out, but Alysara just gives a vague answer.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I almost slipped up there.

Even when using [Acting], I need to be careful with my words; any careless statements may give them too much information. Same with Bond information, I am so used to being open about all of this stuff that I slipped up there a little too. I should hold back on telling these people about such things; the more powerful they are, the more it might bite us later on.

Perhaps I should change into more local clothing? The stares of the men are making me uncomfortable.

With an application of [Figment of Reality], I layer over more modest clothing, surprising my escorts.

They continue to ask questions, but I start giving vague answers to all but the most harmless questions. Soon enough, we come upon the gate. Two guards are stationed there, checking everyone who enters; naturally, I catch their attention.

“Archmage Ruluna, who’s this?” one of the guards asks.

“A visitor,” Ruluna replies. “From distant lands.”

“Very well, as long as she causes no trouble.” The guard waves us through. At least Ruluna is respected enough to get me through easily.

The city is fairly well maintained – there is an incentive to keep people content – but in my earlier scouting, I have noticed a slum, a rather large part of the city that is neglected; my guess is that the poor and non-citizens live there. It’s a sad truth of democratic governments; no one cares about forty-nine percent of the people who can’t vote.

Why would politicians spend money appeasing people who don’t vote? So they just don’t. What I see is people who pay into the system, but receive nothing in return. “No taxation without representation”, memories flash through my mind. It’s one thing to hear about that phrase; it’s a whole different issue when seeing the results first-hand. It means that one should only pay into the system when it is serving them. This is just straight-up tyranny for the non-citizens… “Tyranny is the rule, not the exception.” Safyr’s words echo in my mind.

It’s an issue of population density. In small communities, communal bonds are strong, and that leads to fewer needs for government. For large population densities or border disputes, governments are needed to prevent crime and invaders. Wealth disparity grows, the rich become richer and the poor become poorer, the rich bribe lawmakers to cement their wealth. Regulations are introduced to keep others out of the market.

It’s frustrating to see this, yet it’s not a problem that can be solved so easily. Safyr is right, but nothing can be done here. People will inevitably form cities, cities form powerful governments, and with governments, tyranny grows like a hideous tumor that eventually kills the host in a violent revolt, and then the cycle continues.

My musing is interrupted as we arrive at the Order of Flames headquarters and enter the grand hall.