Psyche sat by the stream, eyes closed, trying their best to take in the sounds of nature: gurgling brooks, buzzing cicadas, and chirping doves.
A dragonfly buzzed up to the Priest, and they held out a hand to let it land. Psyche opened their eyes to examin the visitor.
Its chitin reflected the sun's light in a dazzling array of colors, a rainbow hidden just underneath the glossy surface of its carapace.
The weight of the dragonfly in Psyche's hand, the tickle of its curious steps on their palm, the gaze of its compound eyes- it all felt so present, so real.
Philo and Sophia were preparing for a meeting with Merrig. Psyche had been invited, but declined.
They needed some time to think- alone.
I'm confident I am real now, in this moment... but what about before? Are all the memories I have fake? If so, can I really consider myself to be 'Psyche', or am I something else?
What Philo had told Psyche yesterday had been gnawing at the Priest all night.
"Something bothering you?" A familiar voice behind them spoke.
"Sophia? I thought you were getting ready?"
"I detected high levels of angst and assumed you were getting caught up in your thoughts."
"Sorry."
"Don't be, I'm just being a jerk."
"Oh. S-Sorry."
Sophia rolled her eyes and sat down next to the Moth-kin.
The kitsune gestured to the Dragonfly, which had crawled up to rest on the tips of Psyche's curled fingers.
"That's a pretty dragonfly."
"Mhmm."
"So- what has you so morose?"
"No, its nothing like that, its just..."
"Is it about what Philo told you?"
Psyche cringed a little. Hearing Sophia say Philo so casually still felt off. In their mind, Philo still held the rank of 'Teacher.'
But... the only reason they felt that way was because of memories that didn't exist- or they do exist, but they never happened- well they happened, but Psyche wasn't actually there for them... well not Psyche like them but a different Psyche, and what that Psyche saw got... recorded? Reinterpreted? Something happened to turn what that Psyche saw into memories that then got implanted into this Psyche. At least, they think?
"Its all just... a mush in my brain, sorry."
"Its okay, I understand it is a lot to process. I felt the same way."
Psyche found that hard to believe. Sophia was always so confident and put together, opposite the mess Psyche was. Teacher had made Sophia that way, so they understood why Teacher told her first. If Teacher had told them at the start, they would have panicked on the spot.
Psyche turned their palm over, allowing the dragonfly to crawl onto the back of the hand.
Really all they were doing was weighing the others down. All because Teacher had happened to make that part of who they were on a whim, as part of some game. All the parts Psyche was growing to hate about themself... Philo was still treating her like all those things were immutable- to her it wasn't even worth the risk telling Psyche the truth until Sophia forced her hand.
"...I don't like being treated like I'm just some character in a stupid game."
"Psyche, that's not-
"Sorry, Soph," They said, turning away from Sophia, "I-I just need some time alone. To think. "
Sophia paused and closed her eyes for a few moments.
"Okay." She said.
She stood up and began pacing away, but paused. "You can always talk to me, Psyche. We're not alone." The kitsune kept walking, until Psyche could no longer hear her footsteps.
We're not alone. Was that true though? The Sophia they spoke to was just as much a construct as Psyche themself, right? Was that really the same Sophia that they remembered? Or a stranger, wearing a familiar face and implanted with similar false memories.
The only one who could say that she existed before they came to this world was Philo herself. She had actually been there in the past. Even if Psyche's recollections were false Philo's presence in them, assuming her story was true, represented reality. She was the only one Psyche could even argue wasn't a stranger, and they weren't sure if they even agreed with that argument.
It was an endless whirlpool of logic, whipping them from one emotion to another, trying to escape depression by leaping into nihilism, or making up excuses to ignore the situation.
Psyche wasn't sure they could talk to Sophia about it in this state, and definitely not Philo.
The dragonfly took off from Psyche's hand with a purpose, off to hunt some insect or other tasty morsel. The moth-kin watched as it flew off, wondering if they should follow.
With the Mountain King slain and our partnership with the Village cemented, it was time to discuss what the future would hold.
Whether I like it or not, our presence in the Valley would cause permanent change to the way of life here. Something like an entire mountain with a magic monastery on top just appearing from nowhere is bound to raise some eyebrows, both inside and outside the valley.
Even looking just at our healing magic, the people of this valley are going from traditional medicine with low survival rates to an advanced, literal miracle based healthcare system capable of curing diseases with a few magic words.
From what Sophia was able to ascertain during her survey, the Village has a rather high infant mortality rate. This means big families, as you need to have many children in order to ensure that at least a few of them make it to adulthood.
With Psyche and Sophia on the job though, that infant mortality rate will take a massive drop.
To be clear I think all of that is a good thing. The less people dying the better. My concern is that this means a massive population boom.
Based on what Sophia was able to learn there are probably around a dozen or so villages within the mountains, at least that Merrig and the others can corroborate. As word of our magic spreads, and as the village's prosperity increases, people will begin to immigrate from these other villages.
Assuming they average a similar population as this village, we're looking at a potential 2500 people.
Cutting that in half would give us 1250 people with a uterus. Societies with high mortality rates tend to be about half children, so cutting 1250 in half again gives us a rough estimate of 625 people capable of having kids.
If all 625 of these people end up having four children each, we end up with a total population increase of 2500.
In a single generation, the population would double.
While Sophia's efforts to introduce maize and potatoes in the valley have sown the seeds (haha!) for an increased carrying capacity, it is also unclear how long it will be before those efforts pay off.
It could be within a couple years, with the assistance of magic. It could also be many decades from now- if Old World standards can be applied.
Even if the food situation was taken care of there would still be other issues. Clothing, houses, infrastructure, it all needs to come from somewhere.
Trade with the outside world was the obvious solution, Merrig told us that there were villages and large towns in the lowlands, but that came with its own hurdles.
One: we have no clear idea what is out there. For all we know any attempt to establish trade would end with an army at our door. We are in dire need of information.
Two: trade opens up the door for outside influence. Again, I don't think that that's a bad thing per se. Exchanging ideas between peoples and cultures is often a positive development, but also opens the door for economic imperialism and social stratification. If a few individuals within the valley decide to sell out their fellows for a sack of foreign coins we'd spiral into a oligarchy propped up by outside intervention.
I don't have a problem with trade, and frankly I don't think we'll be implementing a true socialist utopia anytime soon, but I do want this to be a place where all are taken care of, and prosperity is shared and redistributed.
As I said— like it our not our very presence in the valley has already gotten this ball rolling. There is no world in which we can just return to the status quo.
What we need to do now is cooperate with our allies as best we can to ensure we navigate the obstacles in our path, and end up where we all want to be.
Thus, we come to the point of today's summit.
Myself, Sophia, and Merrig have met up to discuss the issues I just explained, and try to come up with a general plan of how to move forward.
"So..." Merrig began. "Where should we start?"
"If I may." Sophia said. "I think there is one matter that needs to be addressed before any of the others."
"Than you were thinking the same as I?" Merrig said.
Hmm. Looks like they're also worried about supply.
"You speak of the resource issue, yes?"
Both looked at me a little surprised.
"No, Teacher." Sophia said. "While that is an issue, there are more pressing concerns."
Merrig, for his part, laughed at me. "Haha! I shouldn't be surprised someone as strong as you would overlook this— but no. I am far more worried about monster attacks than food right now."
Sophia nodded. "Indeed. While you have succeeded at defeating the Mountain King, there are many more threats that still exist within the Mountains."
"While I haven't seen any myself further south there are said to be many more Dragons, even stronger than the Mountain King. They are locked in an eternal war against the Giants. While those two apex predators battle for the south it drives weaker monsters up our way. Drakes, Rocs, Goblins, and more." Merrig explained.
That does make sense now that I think about it. I come from a world where we don't really have monsters. Other people tended to be the biggest threat to you, but I assumed that we wouldn't have to worry about that given the natural protection offered by the mountains.
I guess the qualities that make the mountains a refuge for those fleeing lowland civilization also makes it the perfect place for monsters.
"I see, I hadn't considered that. My instincts tell me to build walls and other defenses, but if there are other flying monsters around that's probably not enough, right?"
Sophia nodded. "Correct. While it is undeniable that a palisade of some kind would do well to fend off attacks from smaller monsters like Goblins and Kobolds, it would do little against rocs or drakes, and especially dragons or giants."
"We'd need to have a constant force of archers and ballistae in order to fend off attacks from the sky..."
"Indeed. Some monsters may learn in time to steer clear of any human settlement, but more intelligent ones would probably find ways around any garrison we set up."
"Maybe we can negotiate with the intelligent ones?"
"Its possible, you already managed to secure the cooperation of the Kobolds who served the Mountain King. The giants also seem a good candidate for such an alliance, but it is unlikely they will give us the time of the day until after we have established ourselves as a local power, so it doesn't help us in the short term."
"What about the Kobold's den? Its dug into the mountain so it should be safe from most monsters."
Merrig winced. "I don't know if many people would be eager to move into a kobold's warren."
Sophia nodded. "Agreed. It may work as a temporary shelter, but long term occupation would be very difficult."
"Can we not just cull these monsters?" Merrig interjected. "Based on what Yarra told me, you slew the Mountain King with in a single blow, I'm sure most of these lesser monsters would be no threat to you!"
While I can't blame Merrig for jumping to killing again, I'd rather not have to rampage around killing random monsters for god knows how long, not while there is a risk of [Wrath of Heaven] setting me off. I also have no idea how that will effect the local ecology. The name 'monster' implies something beyond the natural, but I have no idea if these creatures are just very dangerous animals or something more akin to the mobs of Shangri-La. Killing them all may have disastrous consequences later down the line, and until we know more about their habits and life cycles we can't undergo any meaningful efforts of population control. Not to mention we have very few people to perform any potential population control scheme we come up with in the first place.
I think I can empathize more with MMO quest givers now. I never understood why every adventurer who walked into town would be sent on a mission to slap 30 dire wolves to death, but if I had to somehow keep a population of thousands of the things in control so they didn't eat local farmers I'd be pretty happy if some schlub would roll up willing to do the job for 15 gold and some leather pants.
...Wait a minute.
"Merrig?" I ask.
"Yes?"
"Do adventurers exist in this... region of the world?"
Sophia's eyes lit up and her ears stood straight.
Merrig tugged at his beard.
"Adventurers... aye I think when I was much younger a couple of folk calling themselves something like that came around. Haven't seen any in recent times, though."
So they DO exist huh? Well, at least a few of them did.
"Teacher..." Sophia began.
"I'm not 100% behind the idea yet, but I believe if we can entice enough adventurers to come to our little valley, we may be able to use them as a way to control the population of dangerous monsters."
In theory it worked out quite well for us. While the initial number of adventurers would be small, so are our needs at the moment. As the village grows, it will attract more adventurers, and so the adventurer population would scale with the general population.
We could then supplement any shortages in Adventurers with the members of Oberon and Titania's School of the Body. Hell, a lot of the current villagers are skilled hunters who could make the transition to adventurer quite well.
"How exactly are we to go about 'enticing' these adventurers?" Merrig asked.
Oh, I hadn't considered that one. In a MMO there are an infinite number of leather pants to hand out as a reward, but in our case the number of pants is far more limited. Not to mention, my idea of what an adventurer is may be a lot more positive than what actually exists in this world. If they're anything like the mercenaries of Earth...
"I believe I may have a solution to that." Sophia said.
"Oh?"
"I have been examining the remains of the dragon you slew, teacher, and I believe a variety of useful items can be made out of them. While I do not know for sure yet, I believe the same principle applies to other monsters in the area. Given enough time I believe I can find a reasonable use for most monster parts."
Oh god. Wasn't it enough I already brutalized the poor thing? Now we need to turn his corpse into 'items?'
"Are you hoping that adventurers will be swayed by the allure of monster viscera?" I said.
"In part. I believe access to Psyche's magic will be another plus, it makes any work they do here far less risky."
"But what use will the monster parts be to them?" Merrig asked. "Even if you have the skill to turn them into something useful, will these adventurers?"
Sophia smiled. Not the gentle, warm smile I was used to, but the cold grin of a predator eyeing its meal.
"That's the linchpin of the whole scheme." She explained "They bring us the monster parts, and in turn we-"
"Process those parts into pants!"
"Exactly!"
It was just like Monster Hunter! Adventurers would come in, kill a monster and carve it for parts, then pay a fee in town to have those parts processed into new weapons and armor. Between that and the money they spend on food and accommodation, any money we have to pay upfront for quest rewards or bounties would circulate right back into our pockets.
"There are still more than a few kinks to work out with the plan." Sophia continued. "After the initial burst of growth we will want to diversify the economy to not be reliant on this monster slaying industry. We don't want to drive these creatures to extinction, both morally and economically. However if they exist in high enough numbers outside the valley, we could tap into that market and sell foreign adventurers the same service, thus allowing it to remain a significant part of our economy even if we were to limit hunting in our own borders while letting another party hand out the quest rewards."
It was devious, brilliant! This plan will resolve our monster problem while also building the local economy and, if all goes well, the standard of living along with it.
We'd still need to get the villagers permission, of course. They would have to take care of a lot of the actual work behind this plan.
But...
"What kind of items are you making with the dragon's corpse?"
"...You aren't very fond of the idea Teacher?"
Damn, she's perceptive.
"I feel... uncomfortable with the idea of turning a sapient person's corpse into clothing, especially after what I did to it. I understand the dragon did heinous things— things far worse than what you suggest... but..."
"You worry this would just be an added humiliation?"
"Yes, and I don't like the precedent it would set. I understand there is a need to keep ourselves safe, and I'm not against employing this plan in pursuit of that… but I'd rather keep any sapient creatures off the list."
Sophia nodded. "I see. May I make a counter-argument, Teacher?"
"Of course."
"I agree that ensuring some regulation of this hypothetical hunting industry would be wise, the goal should be to maintain and control the natural environment, not to enrich a class of violent wanderers. While I think your aversion to violence and cruelty is worthy of admiration, in this particular instance I believe you may be missing the forest for the trees."
"How so?"
"While your personal experience with the dragon I understand was... upsetting, it doesn't change the fact that the corpse exists and something needs to be done with it. If we do nothing the corpse will still be broken down and eaten by decomposers and scavengers. The dragon does not have a family to whom we can return the body either, so by my reckoning we may as well attempt to derive some benefit from what is already a natural process."
She makes a good point. I still don't love the idea, but we also can't leave his body lying around either. I understand Sophia's argument that all dead things degrade and reenter the ecosystem on their own, so participating in that process in a way that benefits our allies would be ideal. Still, I want to give him some kind of halfway respectable end, even if he may not deserve it on a moral level, I don't like the idea of making exceptions to what I believe just because its a person I don't like. Although, the Kobold's probably have the greatest claim to the corpse in the first place. Who am I to dictate that for them?
Well, maybe there's a compromise here.
"...Very well. You may go ahead with this, Sophia."
The kitsune nodded.
"First, though," I continued, "speak to the kobolds and ask if they have a specific rite they wish to undertake or a use for the corpse. If they agree, you may take the scales and make armor from them, and weapons from its hind claws. We will give those artifacts to the villagers and kobolds. When only bone remains I want you to cast it into the wild, to let the decomposers and scavengers take care of the rest."
Sophia nodded. "It will be done."
"Is that alright with you, Merrig?"
"Fine by me! I say skin the bastard— whether we make something from it or not!" Merrig belted a hearty laugh before continuing. "To return to the previous topic... I do have to ask where you plan to get all those adventurers from?"
A good question. We don't know whats out there beyond the mountains, and I doubt anyone in the lowlands knows anything about the people up here.
If we want adventurers to come to us, we'll have to go to them first.
"We'll send out a pair of scouting parties, one group east and the other west." I said. "Along the way we'll ascertain what we can about the surrounding area and, if possible, make inroads to recruiting a few adventurers to come back here."
Sophia nodded. "That would give us time to prepare things here as well."
"Who would you send? As much as I'd like to help, none of us would be any use outside the mountains. It'll have to be some of your people." Merrig said.
"First group will be the Grail Knights. Questing and adventure is right up their alley. As for the other..."
I need to learn how to control [Wrath of Heaven], and staying here to do so only puts the Monastery at risk. If there are adventurers out there, I may be able to try and channel that rage into something somewhat positive, take on some quests to rescue a village or something.
For sure my only reasons, and not because the idea of going on an actual adventure is very, VERY exciting.
"I will go as the other party. The rest of you will stay here at the Monastery to help Merrig and the others."
"What?!" Sophia was incredulous. "You want to go out there alone?! Why not send one of the Inner Disciples instead?!"
"Neither you nor Psyche are combat focused, and until we know more about the world I can't risk losing either of you. Oberon and Titania are the two most powerful members of the Monastery, sending either one of them away would leave the Monastery weakened."
"Then send Morgan!"
"Morgan is far less mobile than me. If I get in trouble I can use [Teleport] to escape, they can't."
"Are you forgetting that [Dimensional Anchor] exists? What would you do in that situation?"
"Well, I I—"
"Would get killed!" Sophia stared daggers at me.
"I- uh- I'll see myself out." Merrig said, quickly scrambling out of the room.
"You've already done one stupidly reckless thing by charging off to kill that dragon on your own," Sophia continued, "and even if you killed it you came back an inconsolable mess freaking out about some curse! And speaking of, what exactly are you thinking there?! What if some town you enter has a law you find unjust or some evil bastard ruling it?! Are you going to just annihilate them?!"
There were tears welling up in Sophia's eyes now. "I'm not a character in your stupid game anymore! I'm not just going to sit in my room while you wander out to Gods know where for weeks! Wondering whether or not this will be the time you never come back!" Sophia caught herself, and paused a moment, taking deep, slow breaths. "I know you're just trying to help, and I agree that we need to know more about the outside world to keep ourselves safe, but none of that matters if you just get yourself killed!"
...God dammit, I'm a fucking idiot.
I'm still treating this like I'm back in Shangri-LaLa— that Gentle Shade is just a place for me to store my loot from my adventures. I didn't even ask if they would be okay with helping the villagers, I just told them to do it. I only treated them like an extension of myself, like objects, rather than people.
"...I'm sorry, Sophia. Despite all my talk when we first came here, I've still treated you like an NPC. I'll stay here."
Sophia's eyes widened a little, but she then shut them closed, taking another series of deep breaths.
"No- no. I mean, thank you teacher, I'm sorry I snapped like that, but the thought of you dying is... too much for me."
"No, don't apologize. I recognize I'm far from the Sage I'm supposed to be, and I won't be able to survive this place without you guys."
Sophia chuckled. "Thank you. Despite my misgivings, I do see the logic in your words. I agree that Oberon and Titania should stay here. They have the most experience in governance out of anyone."
Wait, is she saying...
"I should go then?"
"Yes. BUT!" Sophia marched up and pointed a finger right to my face. "You will take Morgan and myself with you. Is that clear?"
"Both of you?!"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because in the event your Wrath of Heaven goes off the two of us stand a much better chance of pacifying you, and preventing you from screwing up the whole point of the mission. Not to mention, unlike you I can cast [Gate] to either retreat or summon reinforcements."
"...Alright."
Sophia nodded, a satisfied smile on her face. "Very good. I will begin making preparations after this meeting finishes. I will inform the Grail Knights. I would advise you speak to Morgan about the plan. Oh— and before we leave you should also speak to Psyche. She has been... down since you told her the truth."
I nodded. Psyche had been working very hard to help the villagers, all just because I asked them to. I should ask what they actually think of our situation.
"Merrig? Could you please come back in?" Sophia called out.
The Elder, nervous that he was walking back into a war zone, opened the door and took a few tepid steps back into the room. When it was clear the shouting was over, he sat back down.
"Sorry about that, Merrig." I said.
"No no! I get it, all part of being a family. I just didn't want to intrude on business that wasn't mine."
A family. I keep thinking of Sophia and the others almost like my children, but I haven't been acting like a proper parent, have I? That's how I need to start thinking of this, of us.
"Thank you for your understanding, Merrig." Sophia said. "Now, shall we get back into it? There is still much to discuss."
Myself and Merrig nodded, and we jumped right back into the business of finding problems to solve.