V3: Chapter 15:

…

Most people had to contend with epic battles, terrible situations, and ethical dilemmas for their big issues.

Me?

I cleaned up other people's messes, scavenged, and did my best to make use of what was left.

The more things changed… yadda, yadda, yadda.

I'm not going to pretend that my current life is just as bad as being a battlefield scavenger. I'm not an idiot.

Anyway, my manager finally caught up with me after I decided to go for a friendly walk a little past the border between my lands and what was once the Academy, which was still aflame and cast everything in a dark orange hue in the noon sun.

"What are you doing here, Jack?" Khanrow growled at me, while I lowered the small telescope I was using to spy into Academy lands. Behind us was the fortress/gate that I'd had covered via landslide the last time we were here. It flew my sigil in blue and gold. Since those were protagonist colors, I'd hoped that they'd work out for me, but they weren't looking too hot thanks to the soot, ash, and amber tint to… everything. "You risk much by taking this much from our forces when all is in chaos."

Khanrow had a point.

I'd taken my guards over here, along with volunteers, and a lot volunteered to come. Some were regular citizenry slapped into logistical duties, just driving wagons of supplies back and forth, but a more than a few hundred soldiers decided to get up and join me. Their fellows are going to kick their ass when they come back, if I didn't work them hard, so I was.

Anyway, if I just came here for a stroll, Khanrow would have a point.

"I'm here to get some additional, fertile land, and to screen the refugees. I'd like your help on that, by the way. Do your thing and find out if people are reasonable or not. If they're not, do what you need to do." I answered Khanrow as bluntly as I could. I was already in hot water for what I did, so there was no helping it. I'd gone ahead and took a portion of the military and a lot of laborers, supplied them with money from the treasury, and gone into foreign lands. If I couldn't convince him to stick around, I may as well kiss my head goodbye, because I'd just acted like I was king when I wasn't. "Rita's doing a decent job, but her teacher'll be better, right?"

Khanrow was quiet for a second, and looked at me like he was trying to find something out.

I stayed calm.

It wasn't like he'd make any guesses that would lead him to figure out that I've had a whole other life that played this entire world as a video game.

"…You have overextended your authority, but the logic is acceptable. Do not do this again, Jack." He said my name again, but there was something weird about it. Eh, I was probably just imagining things. Or, the smoke might be getting to me. Probably the latter. "I will aid in processing the refugees. However, you will be the one finding places for them. The camps you've constructed cannot take all of the Academy in and this outpost is attracting them all like moths to a flame."

"Who said anything about processing them and including them in our lands? They're staying right here. Look there's already a castle over there to provide shelter and protection and a military garrison. Not only that, but the walls are already coming up. Monsters won't be a problem." This was my bid to clean up the current mess. Instead of letting the tide spill over, we're going to implement two 'filters' against the tide of refugees, I was going to go ahead and support them and make them stay here, while taking my pick of the litter. Those who slip through go to the facilities we've set up. Not only that, but this way, those who I take along will be able to send money back here, to their 'homeland,' which can rebuild while I use their services. Brain drain combined with the overseas foreign worker scheme. Perfect. "We'll take the best of them, use them, and pay them to send money back here. They'll be under income tax, of course, so we'll take our own cut."

Technically, I held all the power in this relationship, so I could just enslave them and get away with it by providing them with food and housing. This messed up world would actually sing my praises if I did that. However, I wasn't going to waste all this talent and skill by enslaving people and making them manual labor. People who are paid, who have money to sink something into, and who can take care of themselves are more productive, especially in jobs that require the usage of a brain. As a result, I'll look even better in the eyes of the rest of the world, get productive and happy workers, and the remains of the Academy will be beholden to me.

In my opinion, it's a pretty good plan.

Lots of benefits, less refugees on my doorstep, and I get the brains and skills that I need to process things a lot faster.

Khanrow looked at me for a while longer after I said my piece.

Though I was worried that he'd change his mind, have my head chopped off, and retake his position… he instead gave me a nod.

"Do your job well and we shall have no problems."

Yessir! Thank you for letting me keep my head after taking a lot of money, manpower, and time from our reserves!

"Of course."

My foreign worker supply is secured!

Legally. That is.

Physically?

Yeah, that'll take a while.

…

Interlude: Khanrow

…

I raised an eyebrow as Gilbert took a seat, ordered a mug of ale, and downed it all before speaking to me.

"Where the hell did you find that monster?"

"Careful now, he might hear you." I chuckled and shook my head. We were in the makeshift inn constructed in the refugee town that Jack was rapidly assembling. Most of its customers were soldiers and people from the capital who were making money hand over fist for this dangerous excursion. However, all of the workers, save for the innkeeper, were of the Academy's people. Already, Jack's methods were saving those who remained. "He's got sharp ears. He can hear through walls."

Gilbert blinked at my words and looked frightfully all around him… until I laughed lowly.

He scowled at me and crossed his arms, before ordering another mug.

"That was in poor taste, teacher, especially after I met that… that…"

"King. Emperor. Royalty." I corrected Gilbert simply, and he blinked at me. I lowered the journal in which I was reading the latest reports in ciphers. "That boy was born and destined to be a lord of all that he surveyed the moment he was born. A legend from first breath, despite the circumstances of his birth. Use that as context, and you can understand him better. Seeing him as a child is foolish… no, it would be a fatal error."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"So, the mark of a royalty is to look upon the madness of the world and make use of it?"

"No. Royalty is to look upon the world and to carve it's destiny with a word." Once, I aspired to such greatness in my delusions. I believed in my talent, skill, ability, and experience as a lord of war and keeper and taker of secrets. Now, I know better. Those two alone did not make a king. Monarchs and royalty and their equals used the entirety of a nation like weapons against foes of equal stature. Their gaze alone could elevate one to the highest standing, or cause those of incredible power to fall from the greatest heights. "You and I tend to matter of the body and mind. We strike at the bodies of others to kill them, and rip what we need from their skulls. Our duty is to be unseen, to pave the way forward, and provide information."

"You told me that… he was your subordinate." Gilbert chose his words carefully. Whether he refrained from calling Jack king or as a boy, I did not know. Not until he glanced around the inn filled with loyal men and women. Youthful, with plenty to their name, talent, and with long lives… all here the moment their king asked for volunteers. The pay was good, but most would not come into a blasted inferno rapidly filling with monsters. "That doesn't seem to be the case, teacher."

"I bound him to me with threat of death. He respects that, but I can see in his eyes whenever we meet that he has plans to change that. Plans he holds back, because he wishes to keep my services." I admitted the truth. No weight lifted from my shoulders. It was a fact. Like stating the sun would rise when morning came and dawn as night approached. "You saw it, too? Didn't you?"

"…aye, I did. Every word I spoke felt like I was trying to squeeze it through a vice. He was alone with me, unarmed, yet I had to summon courage with every word." Gilbert took a deep breath and allowed himself to relax. His countenance transformed into that of a child's for a moment, before he shook his head and returned to his mask. "I need to prove myself worthy to him, don't I?"

"You already have, if he did not mention your disguise." Gilbert stiffened, his moment of relaxation fading, and I stroked my beard and raised my brow. "I watched the two of you talk. He didn't speak to you as he did with me. Not once did he even call you his lord… or by my name. He'll do it the next time you meet, but did you not notice it this time?"

"I did not." Gilbert growled, but his anger was aimed at himself. He took another steadying breath, before nodding. "I see. Knowing that he knows is comforting in truth."

"Indeed, it is. Now, what mission did he give you?"

"He instructed me to aid Rita in processing those who arrive. Ah, he knows how we are training her."

"It would be strange if he did not." I nodded, before setting that matter aside for later. Jack's silence on the matter was his method of leaving matters to me. A form of trust, in a way. "We will search for those who may wish to make use of the refugees. This budding state will grow in power and might and will have claim over all of the Academy's lands. We must ensure that it is ours."

Gilbert looked suitably shocked at my words as I gave him that revelation.

"He's planned that far ahead? It will take decades to accomplish." Gilbert uttered the words, but the moment they left his tongue, he realized his own folly. "No. That's exactly what he must do. Correct?"

"Indeed. He has marked this land as that of the Academy's, but our men and our supplies are everywhere. They will be beholden to us as we aid them in reconstructing their lands, and ensure that they are not paupered. All here will know who to trust… and those who have left them to die." The minds of mortals were simple when faced with danger. Old grudges, alliances, loves, and hatreds faded away in the fires of destruction and despair. The Academy had no love for us and Jack, but now we were here, while others were not. Our objectives were obvious, but so were their needs, and we were here to provide.

I already saw what was to come.

The lands of the Academy were going to be beset and divided amongst those who have Citadels, as soon as they realized what Jack intended. His hope was to create a state beholden to him, a land whose honor and prestige would be called into question for refusing any of his requests. It will be a state in every respect, but beholden to us, and our firm ally.

They raised their hand against us, yet now they were to become an ally.

It was almost impossible to believe, but Jack made the impossible possible time and time again.

Once again, I looked from my ciphers and what was already present.

The makeshift inn was made in less than a day from wood carved and shaped and packed from a land more than several days' march away. It was flowing here practically overnight, along with all the rest of the structures behind erected, and food and water were both arriving to service the populace. Prepacked rations were being handed out, originally meant for troops, but perfect for the refugees and the budding town around them.

How long until this was the only city on Academy soil?

How long until these people reclaim their land?

How long until we find ourselves with an Academy that is our ally instead of our foe?

Will I live to see it?

Will it come soon enough for the trials to come?

Only time will give me the answers that I seek, and I hoped to see what would become of the world, despite the horrors that I witnessed over the course of the last month.

"Teacher, can I ask for your assistance in my current mission?" Gilbert drew me from my reverie and I nodded. He was humbled, but still hungry to improve. There was no hint of hate in his eyes. Thomas truly raised a great child. "I'd like to see you work."

"Of course, let us sharpen our skills together and pave the way forward." Once, I would hate being beneath another. All that I've done, all that I've achieved, and subordinate to another? My pride would demand that I rise and take all that I was owed simply to validate all that I endured and accomplished. Now, as I rose from my table and walked towards a once-prosperous land scorched into ash and rapidly swarming with monsters from below, while a famine loomed ahead of us all… I felt only relief with the duty that I had. "Jack may be able to shape the world with a word, but he cannot do it without us."

"Yes, teacher!" Gilbert stood taller at those words and a fire lit in his eyes. We moved as a pair for a moment, before diverting to meet elsewhere and begin our duties. His back was firm and shoulders squared. Even if I only had a few years left, I could rely upon him to do what needed to be done.

I had no reason to hold back.

And, so, I entered the inferno with hopes that in the future I will never see such a sight again.