Reborn From the Cosmos

Arc 8-22

“Such power must be fragile, no?” Kierra asks lazily. She’s switched from actively pawing at the succubus to merely hugging her as if she’s an upright pillow. “The hunters defaulted to what they know in a time of crisis, but it is only a matter of time before they come to resent these Traditionalists. Someone with the power to protect the people that does not act is a villain by public damnation.”

“Oh, yes,” Geneva agrees. “Order within the camp is very fragile, maintained through the shared lack of motivation and capability to think of another recourse. That is why the Traditionalists are moving with all due haste, or as much haste as they think they can manage without drawing attention. Hence, why they are attempting to negotiate with the rebels within the city. They undoubtedly have the power to oust the criminals, but a conflict would draw attention.”

“From us,” I add.

“Who they decidedly can’t fight. So, they will negotiate, either to get the rebels on their side or to force them into a restricted part of the city. Failing that, they will eradicate them, hopefully with the help of the Hall.”

I scoff. “Ridiculous. If Dunwayne didn’t break his famed neutrality when the city was being destroyed, what makes them think he’ll break it to help one of the responsible parties?”

“Perhaps he regrets his decision. It’s one thing to ignore a man who says he’s being chased by a wolf. He is strong and capable of shouldering the consequences of his decisions, right?” Geneva chuckles at whatever she’s imagining. “But imagine you watch said man get torn apart by the wolf. You aren’t touched by the violence, but his mutilated corpse lies just beyond the boundaries of your property. You can see it every time you pass by a window, wince every time a scavenger rips away a bit of his flesh.

“Then, that man’s brother, or maybe his child, comes banging on your door, begging you to save them from the beast. How much harder would it be to walk away a second time?”

Her explanation is unnecessarily visceral, but I understand the point she’s trying to make. Just because the Hall didn’t get involved once doesn’t mean they won’t get involved a second time. In a way, they’re already invested with their camp. The rebels have been causing them problems, from what Yulia has shared. That could be used as a justification.

“Alright, I understand the situation. What’s this opportunity you’re eager for?”

Her tail whips faster with growing excitement. “During my tireless observations, I trailed one of the Traditionalists’ scouts to a meeting with the rebels. They’re planning an official meeting to discuss terms.”

My stomach clenches as I remember the last time we barged in on a meeting. “We’re not going there and slaughtering everybody. If for no other reason than it didn’t work the first time.”

Geneva chuckles. “I could argue that you didn’t apply enough violence but, as I said, I don’t like heavy-handed methods. The rebels do not take nearly as much care against surveillance. I trailed them back to their camp. That opens up a plethora of opportunities for us.”

What an understatement. Saints’ virtue, they are so…vulnerable. Really, what do these rebels think they’re doing? They deserve to be called the Idiot Faction. I drum my fingers on the counter I’m leaning against as I consider the “opportunity”.

There are so many options, including, as the succubus so poetically put it, get big and smash small people. We could smash both these Traditionalist assholes and the rebels. Wouldn’t that be an ending? Just wipe the guilds out entirely and leave the Authority to disappear into the annals of time, waiting for some lucky hero to discover it in the future.

But no, I’m too greedy for that.

What do I want? Though it bothers me to even think it, I want to improve the state of the city. It’s like punishing a child. You want them to suffer to learn a lesson, not to go on suffering. If I’m being honest with myself, I didn’t consider what would happen in the aftermath.

My focus was on punishing the guilds for going after my family, for going after a saints blessed child. My warning was supposed to get all the innocent people out of the way and I assumed they’d rally together in the aftermath. This isn’t some backwater village where it’s rare for all the people to know how to read and who have been practicing the same trade for a dozen generations. Quest is the City of Magic and Adventure. Where the greatest fighters and brightest minds gather. If they all work together, rebuilding a few broken buildings should be nothing.

How was I supposed to anticipate that the Hall, led by the saints damned Harvest Hero, wouldn’t get involved more than spooning out some soup? That a fairly large number of hunters would decide to sabotage themselves and the rest of the city? It should have been simple.

But I guess that was my first mistake. People are rarely simple.

In the interest of improving the city, further violence is out. Not just from me. Ideally, I don’t want the hunters fighting each other, though the Idiot Faction needs some sense knocked into them. The goal is to make the Traditionalists reveal the Authority, swipe it from underneath their noses, and abscond from the city while leaving the refugees a lifeline to hopefully get them back to some semblance of normal.

Easy enough. Except…how? Subtly has never been my strong suit. Aside from simply throwing Geneva at the problem, I’m coming up blank.

Come on, Lou. Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be. How do you make anyone do anything? You give them rewards. Okay, just have to make them not fighting more rewarding than them tearing each other apart. Which should be saints damned obvious but even intelligent people, which they are not, can miss simple things.

The Traditionalists think the crown is going to chase me away and then they’re going to swoop in and claim the city in my wake. I can imagine some pretentious asshole with delusions of grandeur using this as a stepping stone to become a little tyrant, spouting some nonsense that this tragedy could have been avoided if they hadn’t been so strict about their non-interference policy or whatever kept them from wielding their powerful artifacts.

Saints, that’s another thing we’re going to have to clean up. There’s no point in putting the people on the right track if a bully is just going to ruin everything once we’re gone.

I can’t think of anything they’d want more than continuing their storied history. So, I have to make it irrelevant. Utterly destroy their traditions. Destroy the guilds? The concept of guilds? Once we take the Authority, they lose their power and purpose. If I can stop them from reforming the guilds, they lose their identity and the shields they’ve been hiding behind.

As for the Idiots, saints. They’re basically just lashing out, right? Throwing a tantrum with everyone because things haven’t gone their way. Smacking them around might really be the fastest way to stop them. Or rather, smacking around the ones instigating this nonsense.

In my experience, a group of tormentors is rarely composed entirely of sadistic bastards. Take my own childhood menaces. None of the noble children were nice to me, but only a few were particularly unkind. I’m sure one or two of the little goblins enjoyed it but most of them just didn’t want to be targets, which Junior wouldn’t hesitate to do. I was the sacrificial lamb whose suffering kept them safe.

In the same way, I’m sure most of the Idiot Faction are just idiots going along with stronger, nastier human excrement that are making them all kinds of promises or threats. If we take them out, the rest of the faction crumbles.

And maybe that doesn’t mean having a succubus execute them. All we have to do is show these masterminds to be the ignorant, powerless rats they are. Embarrass them? Or maybe present the mindless idiots following in their footsteps a better figure to unite around? I wonder how many would walk away from the Idiots if we promise to forgive all their crimes and provide them with meaningful lives?

Alright, this feels like enough to build a plan, with Geneva’s input of course. I’m not an idiot. Not relying solely on the succubus doesn’t mean I’m going to throw away such a powerful resource. Maybe I’ll drag Morgene into it. She keeps hinting about her “Atainna diplomacy”. Might be a good time to see it in action.

But the first step is clear. The Traditionalists and the Idiots can’t be allowed to form an alliance.

“When’s this meeting?”

“Tomorrow night.”

Not exactly plenty of time but enough. “We’ll have dinner an hour earlier. Then we’ll talk about how to handle it.”

“As you wish, my summoner.”