Chapter 15

“Let me walk you,” Kiyoko offered, standing up.

“The cups.”

“A maid can deal with it.” She walked briskly outside. “I have seen a lot of what you have accomplished. It’s very impressive.”

“I’ve been lucky.”

“Pushing through self-doubt, doing the right thing when it’s inconvenient just makes your contributions more valuable.”

“I doubt that.”

“Think about it. If a billionaire gives a thousand dollars to a beggar, does that make him equal to the nurse earning fifty thousand a year giving the same amount?”

“That is hardly a relevant analogy.”

“I think it is very relevant. I assume you have an idea of a hero being someone who does not hesitate and does what is noble and right. Yet people who do that are just following the easiest path. They are like the billionaire. The gesture is meaningless because there is no struggle.”

“I don’t believe it,” he said simply. “The fact it is a straightforward decision for them is why heroes are special.”

“But is the billionaire better than the nurse? I mean, if he gives two thousand instead of one?”

Adrian hesitated for a moment. The answer was clearly no. The nurse’s sacrifice was far more personally significant. “I think there is a fundamental difference between heroes risking their lives to save people and monetary distractions.”

“Ahh…”

“What was that sound for?”

“You know.” She patted his elbow because it was close and she was tiny. “You understood exactly what I was getting at.”

“I can see it logically from someone looking in from afar. It looks like I kept throwing myself into danger to save people despite my misgivings. However, what occurred was that in every case I either fell into it or was pushed.”

“You were given the tools that might work, and you risked your life because it was the right thing to do.”

“I’m not a philosopher.”

“Yeah, I think that’s pretty obvious.” She smiled lightly to offset the insulting words.

They turned the corner and there was a normal town gate. This one was clobbered together from a mix of wood and sheet metal.

“Why all the tin?”

“Early on, there were these little rats that could set things on fire. We have dealt with them, but it’s influenced our building choices.”

Adrian laughed at that image of little rats shooting out fire.

“What happened?”

“It was a crazy first couple of weeks. There were so many monsters nearby it was completely ridiculous. At the end of that period, there were five major fighting groups and three civilian ones.”

“Civil war.”

Kiyoko smiled. “Having a ninety-year-old threatening to box your ears is effective. They got together, worked out that they didn’t actually hate each other and created a council. Five fighter leads and four civilian. It has worked pretty well.”

“The fourth civilian, is that you?”

“God no. I don’t want to be spending my time in meetings.”

“So your position.”

“I’m special. I have the ear of all of them.”

“Why?”

“History. On day two, I saved Clive Gregory, ‘Warhammer,’ as he now calls himself. I told him to avoid the mana octopods. Then the next day I convinced Olivia not to accompany her idiot brother’s attempt to clear the nest of silver tuff monkeys, tried to stop him too but he would have none of it. She hated me for a while but when it eventually took seventy level tens to clear it she got over it and so now grudgingly listens. I gave the Smith brothers a lot of useful tactic advice and I helped the merchant guide get established and taught them how to operate within the trader margins.”

“How?”

“What?”

“How did you help the merchants? I thought that stuff was obvious to their class.”

“Oh, I linked them up with the two emerging creator groups.”

“So everyone in power owes you.”

“Given my class is that so surprising?”

“No.” He chuckled at that.

“How relevant were you at holding the town together?”

“Not as much as you might think,” she admitted. “But I probably lowered the death toll by a couple of hundred.”

“Who was the most important?”

“Omer Goldsman by miles,” Kiyoko said immediately. “He spearheaded the creation of the tannery and leather crafters and bought pathway books for all the eager crafters out there. Made a million and one IOUs to get the energy, but it is the primary reason we are so well off. If I saved hundreds, then he saved thousands.”

“Not the fighters?”

“Nope,”

“Not The Warhammer?”

Kiyoko stopped and looked at him in disgust in response to him using that nickname. “Just don’t say it in front of him,” she warned finally. He wasn’t sure if the warning was because it would upset the man or give him too big a head. “Omer improved our gear, created healing and mana potions, got classes that let us create the wall and inspired everyone to work hard and together. The transitional fight for survival, despite the initial appearance, is not won by the sword or spear,” she said after giving him a sideways glance. “Or magic.”

Adrian grinned. When she wasn’t actively trying to send him into deadly situations, she was actually quite fun. “Are you playing favourites? Is there any reason you have not sent this superhero Omer, to deal with the octopods?” Adrian joked, knowing that the man did not have a combat class.

She burst out laughing. “Omer is older than me.” Kiyoko came to an abrupt stop. “We are here.”

Adrian startled, having failed to pay active attention to where he was going and had been relying on his passive skills to warn him of danger. They had traversed the gate and were deep within the town.

His sensory domain stretched out. The trader was right in front of him and was set up in what used to be a diner.

Used to be was the optimal term. The building was ruined. Half the roof was gone and two and a bit walls, though the debris had been cleared, giving it some measure of respectability.

“Good luck. And Adrian.” She grabbed his elbow once more. “Don’t get angry. Don’t let him provoke you.”

“What?” he asked, but Kiyoko just smiled and pushed him towards the trader, which looked like a bipedal cat, but not the cute type. There was nothing human in it and if it dropped onto all fours, he would consider it to be a wild beast. Its fur was a dappled green that would camouflage it perfectly in a forest. The two eyes stared at him intently, in that unsettling what the hell does that cat want, sort of way.

With a small gulp, he walked forward. He needed to get information on the zuaqliaq berries and buy something to suppress his magic so he could sneak past the octopod.

He approached with a big smile. “Hello, my name is Adrian.”

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