Lori's hand made a satisfying impact as she slammed it palm-down onto the metal table, which reverberated after the initial strike. The one sitting next to her, opposite Rian, actually jumped in surprise at the sound. It certainly made everyone turn to look back towards her, cutting off the budding comments from the others arrayed around the table.

"I find it very doubtful that," Lori began, "that my demesne is populated by those with deviant magics simply by chance."

"Deviant?" the feverish one—Lori checked—Stephen said indignantly.

"It's not Whispering, Mentalism, Deadspeaking or Horotracting. Hence, it deviates from the known magics. Though given that it seems at least one group managed to research and quantify it, perhaps it's simply rare." Lori looked towards the small blonde—Seraphine, according the name in front of her—wondering what else was written in her book. Given the fittings on it, it was probably a personal notebook of some sort. Most books did not usually come with metal hinges and a built-in locking mechanism.

"It wasn't," Katherine nodded. "The plan was to try and set up a little settlement of our own, some place where we…" She chuckled for some reason, "where we wouldn't have to hide what we could do, were we could conduct our studies without having to worry about being seen as test subjects and confined, or worse forced to use our abilities in ways we objected to."

"Unfortunately," Lee Fei said, "we found that none of our abilities could create a protective field against the Iridescence. Despite much experimentation, none of our… deviant magics could protect against it. At best, we were only able to slow its growth in the experiments conducted, but in comparison, cleansing with water proved to be far safer and more efficacious, and so the methodology was deemed inefficient and impractical."

Next to him, Stephen made an inarticulate sound of complaint, disagreeing for some reason.

"So we decided to try and join a small settlement, hopefully with a wizard who might be understanding of our plight," Seraphine said, her fingers stroking the cover of the book under her hands.

"But things happened, the two nice ones had that terrible accident, and instead we got you," Stephen said dryly.

"They died, I didn't," Lori said. "Any promises they made with you died with them."

"Oh, don't worry, we never got around to approaching them," the feverish man said, before closing his eyes and yawning. "They just made the same promises to us as they did everyone else: owning our own land, making our own future, being part of a glorious new beginning as we make a great new demesne that will last forever… that Elceena was really full of herself."

Lori frowned. "Who?"

"The dead Whisperer."

Lori waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, her." Well, she was dead, so she didn't matter now.

"If I may ask, Binder Lori," Rian said. "What happens now?"

And that was the question, wasn't it? Her concern had been if there had been a Whisperer hiding among her population, a secret threat to her life that she needed to deal with. Instead, she had found…

…

Huh.

"This has to end," she found herself saying. "This arrangement is inefficient, adversely impacts productivity, and in the long run is detrimental to my demesne as a whole. While the butchering can remain here, provided it doesn't adversely affect the quality of the meat, all the other operations are best transferred back to the center of the demesne, near my Dungeon."

Everyone stared at her.

"Could you please say that again, Binder Lori?" Rian said. "I'm not sure we understood."

Lori sighed, but repeated herself. "This arrangement is inefficient, adversely impacts productivity, and in the long run is detrimental to my demesne as a whole. While the butchering can remain here, provided it doesn't adversely affect the quality of the meat, all the other operations are best transferred back to the center of the demesne, near my Dungeon."

"She literally repeated herself," Lee Fei said. She seemed bemused.

"You… want us to set up near the core? In front of everyone?"

"What part of 'hiding from the annoying eehsecays' wasn't clear? No offense, Kaede-san," Vanessa said.

"Offense, but understand."

"So?" Lori said. "You have fists, don't you? If they annoy you, make your displeasure known."

They stared at her.

"Are you telling us," one of the woman who could create metal—Lori checked her name. Katherine—said slowly, "that you're fine with us attacking other people?" For some reason, her tone was disapproving.

"If they make a nuisance of themselves, I see no reason why you shouldn't strike them to inform them of this fact. Of course, they might choose to strike you in return, not comprehending how annoying they are, but that will be for you to deal with." She paused as a thought for a moment. "Just don't kill anyone. Until I learn Deadspeaking, our labor force is limited."

For some reason, the feverish one—Lori checked his name: Stephen—laughed. "That's where you draw the line? Don't kill anyone, we need them to do things?"

"Of course. Usefulness to the Dungeon Binder is why all demesne have laws against murder. The dead cannot pay taxes or perform skilled labor. It is also why criminals are executed. The useless cannot be allowed to continue to impair the demesne."

"Oh, I like this one…"

"You would," the woman next to him—Lori checked her name: Marissa—sighed.

"I disagree," Lee Fei said. She had straightened in her chair, her hands flat on the table, and was looking disapproving. "While violence has its place, using it simply because one is… irritated at another is not conducive to peace, order, and the greater good. It merely creates oppressors and oppressed, violence breeding violence. As a zian of the Singing Steel Academy, it is my duty to oppose this."

"Doesn't that make you an oppressor by definition?" Stephen said with a smirk.

"I am aware of the hypocrisy, but my path is clear. Admittedly, this dichotomy is something I must meditate upon later…"

"For someone who claims not to be a Mentalist, you certainly behave like one," Lori noted. She began to bind the firewisps around the feverish man next to the supposedly-not-a-Mentalist in preparation for violence, bound airwisps to erupt in sound to disorient her, bound lightwisps and darkwisps to rid her of sight. Had they not been standing on metal, she'd have bound the earthwisps in the ground to sink the woman down, but alas, she would have to make do. Lori claimed what lightningwisps were still stored in the quarts embedded in her staff, preparing to conduct them down her staff's wire and across the metal floor towards the woman's feet as she stood, her chair being pushed back and skidding along the floor. "Do you intend to challenge me? Despite claiming you have no quarrel with me nor seek my power over this demesne?"

"What worth are ideas that cannot withstand challenge?" Lee Fei said, standing as well, and Lori prepared to unleash her bindings. "Binder Lori, face me in reasoned argument! I will show you your reasoning is flawed!"

…

Lori stared at the woman.

"Huh," Rian said. "That certainly didn't go where I thought it would. However, I feel compelled to point out that as the Dungeon Binder, Binder Lori has the literal and figurative power to make such a declaration, as the traditionally accepted government and hence the sole lawmaker of this demesne. And personally, while I like the thought of just being able to punch someone who annoys me in the face, I feel there should be some sort of restriction to prevent someone just, say, punching some random person simply because they feel like it."

"The random person would be well within their rights to strike back," Lori said, not looking away from Lee Fei, though she did risk sitting down again.

"And if the odds are two to one against them? Or five to one? What if five people just decided to start beating the next person that walks by because they happen to be bored? I believe that is the scenario that Lee Fei wishes to avoid."

"Lord Rian is broadly correct," Lee Fei said, sitting down as well. She leaned forward, elbows on the table and hands folded. "While such a rule benefits the strong, the weak will suffer. In a place were all are equals, perhaps such a rule, to strike one who offends you, and thus inviting them to strike back, may take the form of some justice." By her expressions, she was merely being rhetorical. "But where the weak and strong mingle, is it not more just to stay the hand of all, that the weak need not fear, and the strong not abuse their might?"

Lori tilted her head. "Is this the 'reasoned argument' you wish to have?"

"It is, Binder Lori."

"Then I will say that your reasoning is flawed, for you are concerning yourself with hypotheticals, while I must face reality," Lori said. "And the reality is that because there is a group in my demesne considered so annoying that several skilled workers with irreplaceable skills have prioritized hiding from them for their own comfort over productivity, efficiency and contributing to the work that needs to be done, the demesne has been severely and negatively impacted as a whole. Because they need to hide, they have not contributed to the work of making houses for the other citizens of the demesne. They have allowed the… the…" She paused. "Rian, what are they called, again?"

"The Japanese, Binder Lori."

Lori nodded. "All those in hiding here have allowed the Japanese to dictate their movements, causing suffering for those that could have otherwise benefited from their overt presence." She gestured angrily at the building around them. "Since the founding of the demesne, they have managed to raise several of these buildings. Setting aside the issue of quality, in the same amount of time, the houses I have been building do not even have roofs yet."

"Ano, not fair blamed for this," the sole Japanese at the table—Lori reflexively checked in front of him for his name. Seno Kaideh—said, looking indignant as he spoke brokenly. "Accurate, not fair! Hai, some annoying. but more contributing people, work hard. Discrimination! Racist! Shame you!"

"None of us are muricans, Kaede," Stephen said. "That's their weird societal psychological hang-up, not ours."

The indignation deflated in a tired-sounding sigh. "Shit."

"No, you make a good point, Kaede-san," Rian said, giving the younger man across from him a smile that was probably meant to be reassuring. "All eccentricities aside, you and your fellows are valuable contributing members of the demesne, and should be treated as such. So I ask you: if everyone here were to come out of hiding and start utilizing their abilities to more publically contribute to the demesne, how would your fellows react?"

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The young man winced at the question, but sighed and said, "Many… will be annoying. But… after many days…" he sighed. "Will asking be taught magic."

"And that's not happening," Katherine said. "Being gising is rare and restricted to people from a certain area."

"Simbohlisim is pretty rare too, and needs specific conditions to unlock," Marissa said. "Even if they have it, getting to unlock it is, as the phrase goes, 'courting death'."

"Even if they could learn… No. Just… no," Stephen grimaced emphatically.

"I'm not a teacher," Seraphine said. "I can barely teach someone who already knows how to do magic. And as Katherine said, they are unlikely to have the gift."

"I would be willing to teach them what I know, if they are open to receiving instruction," Lee Fei said.

Everyone blinked, including Lori, and turned to stare at the woman.

"Honto ni?" Kaede said, sounding breathless. "R-really?"

"Of course. I would welcome more companions along the path of cultivation. Let us defy the heavens together."

"I have to ask," Rian said, "why didn't you say so sooner?"

"The subject did not arise."

"If I may interrupt your reasoned argument, I have a proposal."

It took Lori a moment to place the voice. The woman had been sitting so still and so quietly she had completely slipped Lori's mind… and, it seemed, the others as well. Everyone turned in surprise to the pale-haired woman at one end of the table, who had simply sat there after she had been introduced.

"Of course, Mara," Rian said. His bright smile implied he hadn't forgotten about her at all. "What do you have in mind?"

"Merely that the matter of abuse of force between citizens has a long-established solution," the pale-haired woman said. "Binder Lori need only empower a small group of trusted individuals to act as peacekeepers. They would then use their judgement to determine whether any altercation is an oppressive abuse of power, or an exchange of violence between equals both willing and able to face the consequences of their actions. If it is the former, they can intercede, and administer chastisement as needed. If the latter, then they can ensure the duel reaches its end, and is not interrupted by griefers."

"Sorry, what was that last?" Rian said. For some reason, Stephen had started snickering.

"Griefers. It is an ancient word that does not translate well. Considered more heinous than those who spread misfortune through the ancient practice of gravelording, griefers are vile miscreants who inflict pain and hardship on others, disrupting the proper order of society not for personal gain, but simply because it gives them pleasure to do so. They are twisted souls, known to be willing give away great sums freely as long as doing so causes others misery and unhappiness."

"Ah. They sound like terrible people."

"H-how would that even work?" Vanessa asked, confused.

"Tax laws," Mara said.

Lori and many of the others nodded in understanding, clearly familiar with the twisted logic of taxation.

"Ah. Like relative leaves you house, but also fifty years taxes?" Apparently, so was Kaede, in his own fashion.

Mara nodded solemnly. "Would this be an acceptable compromise, Binder Lori?"

Lori considered it. "I will have to write down some laws first."

Lee Fei frowned. "The idea itself has merit, but it can still be implemented without the allowance for violence upon others."

"Violence is inevitable," Mara said, her voice firm and certain. "Given so, it might as well be bound by conventions that work for most involved. When two or more people mutually wish to inflict violence upon each other, inflicting your own belief that they shouldn't is arrogant in the extreme, and merely allows grudges to fester into hatred."

"Violence for the sake of violence is barbaric," Lee Fei said, looking very disapproving. "Still, I acknowledge that the proposed compromise has merit and addresses my most urgent concern. I withdraw my argument for now, Binder Lori, and wait to see how this unfolds."

Lori didn't actually care. "I don't actually care," she said. "The notion of deputized peacekeepers shall be taken under advisement, once I have laws for them to enforce. However, you all must stop limiting yourself purely to hide from these annoying people. With only a single farmer directing what needs to be done, food production has slowed and requires considerable labor to compensate, which has limited our ability to put roofs on houses. Something that created metal will be able to do quickly."

The metal creator Vanessa winced, looking guilty.

Lori pushed on. "At the moment, my demesne is also lacking in the proper infrastructure to protect against dragons. Something I cannot focus on building because my attention is divided between making homes and infrastructure. Infrastructure of the sort that require buildings such as what you have already constructed."

"You wish us to work for you," Seraphine said.

"You are already working. I wish you to do so with your full ability instead of a limited fraction that keeps you from being discovered and harassed. Or do you actually like making this trek every day?"

"What is so difficult about it?" Lee Fei said. "A short, pleasant walk is quite refreshing."

"Not all of us have unlimited stamina like you, Fei," Stephen said. "Personally, I'd be quite happy to work out of my house like a civilized person."

"In that case, speaking only for myself and the people under me, we will be more willing to work openly once we have seen those laws and judged that they align with our interests," Katherine said. "And while I agree in spirit that people shouldn't just be able to be violent on each other for no reason… being able to punch some annoying asshole in the face to make him stop bothering me is an appealing thought."

"I'm fine to come out right now so long as you guarantee I can punch anyone who keeps annoying me and doesn't go away when I tell them to," Stephen said with a bright, almost Rian-like smile. "Also, I'll need an indoor workshop. Not good to do alchemy out in the rain, after all. Bad for the quality of the finished product."

"Can you make soap in large quantities?" Lori asked.

"As long as I have some kind of oil or fat. I'll need to have dibs on all the fat being removed by the butchering. No promises about how good it smells, though."

Lori nodded. "You will have your workshop."

"I'll have to discuss this with the others," Seraphine said. "I'm a representative, so I can't make a definite decision on something like this."

"Most of us are private by nature," Marissa said thoughtfully. "But if we're allowed to hide what we are during the day, we're willing to make full use of our abilities working at night."

Lori had to blink at that one. "Why?"

"We work better when there's no one to judge us. Shy boys and girls are we," Marissa said, also smiling brightly. "It's how we cleared the fields for planting."

The urge to stare at the woman's claim arose, but Lori pushed it down.

"I do not feel that my friends and I need to change anything in how we currently comport ourselves," Mara said. "We already work to better the demesne. However, I'm sure they will enjoy such a change. Hatarine has made comments about wishing for better tools. A seed drill and plow, I believe were what she wanted, to increase her efficiency in planting more fields."

"I'll get the design from her," Rian said. "Vanessa, would you be willing?"

"Sure. I think I have a rough idea of what a plow looks like, but I've never heard of a seed drill…"

"Want no one punch no reason," Kaede said. "Punch with reason, fine."

Lori nodded. "Those are acceptable terms. I will take them under advisement." She rose to her feet, adjusting her grip on her staff.

"Wait, you're leaving already?" Marissa said.

"Yes. I have more things to build, and now laws to write down," Lori said. "Including a workshop. I expect you to get to work on that soap." That last was to the feverish man.

"How much am I going to be paid per batch?"

"Consider it a requirement of your residency in my demesne. Unless you wish to leave?"

For some reason, he smirked. "Your house, your rules?"

"My everything, my rules."

"Fine. I was getting bored of making charcoal anyway."

"Please continue making charcoal, we need the heat," Rian sighed.

––––––––––––––––––

"I'm surprised," Rian said as they walked away from the converted workshop and back to the center of the demesne. "I thought you'd be more… well, less compromising."

"They have magic," Lori stated the obvious. "Self-taught magic, but functional nonetheless. Given that I am trying to accomplish what they have, that they were able to teach themselves to use their own deviant magic without having any point of reference of what could be done is a notable achievement."

She also wasn't stupid. Given the depth of their capabilities were unknown, it would be foolish to rouse their ire. Though at least she'd been able to learn Lee Fei was merely an academic and not a Mentalist. With that confirmation, she might be able to recruit the woman. Even with only theoretical knowledge and an imperfect memory, it was likely she knew something useful. Academics, especially of the mysteries of alknowledge, tended to know all sort so disconnected things, even if they usually had a specific field of interest.

As to the others…

Dungeon Binders could do all four kinds of magic. The only reason she was currently incapable of anything beyond Whispering was because she had no one to teach her Deadspeaking, Horotracting and Mentalism.

What if the abilities of a Dungeon Binder wasn't limited to simply these four magics? If no one knew these deviant magics were possible…

Lori imagined herself being able to create metal out of nothing using magic, and smiled.

Though now she was going to have to come up with a list of laws…

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Epilogue

––––––––––––––––––

Fei stayed seated with the others after Dungeon Binder Lolilyuri had left. As always, the Xian took the opportunity to circulate the essence in her core. It was familiar at this point, like casually pushing an already-spinning wheel. The weeks in the Iridescence had slowly degraded her core's circulation, and she had found that the corrupted spirit crystals grew even faster upon her person than it did for anyone else. While her core's circulation had not slowed so much that she had been sent back to the core acceleration stage, it had seemed like a real possibility as thoughts had slowed, her reflexes had dulled, and her body had weakened.

Finally, something struck the metal panel next to the opening that served as a door, followed quickly by another.

"All right, she's gone," Katherine declared, and everyone sighed in relief.

Stephen immediately ruined the mood. "See?" he said with a smirk, "no one had to say the words 'we come from another world' at all."

"Well, it might have been necessary," Marissa said, an exaggerated pout on her face. "She could have asked how we have the abilities we do that have never been seen on her world, and we'd—"

"Be able to use at least a dozen other misleading lies of omission before we even had to consider being in the same ballpark as the truth," he interrupted the Symbol as a flame appeared, dancing over the Pyroturgist's finger. "But the point is moot, because we didn't have to tell, which means I was right, so there."

"As obnoxiously as he puts it, Stephen is right," Katherine said. The Awakened was in what Marissa had told Fei was called the Pose of Gendo, a stance that in their world was apparently meant to be powerful and intimidating. From her body language, however, she had done so simply because she found it comfortable. "As long as she doesn't start asking personal questions—"

"And she won't, because she literally doesn't care," Vanessa said across from her.

"—yes, that; then we should pretty much be in the clear. At least with her. I'm still not crazy about the idea of coming out to all the normies. Again."

"Oh no, getting to be able to use your magical cheat powers in public in front of everyone. Woe is you," Senou Kaede said, and Fei had to deliberately ignore the dissonance between what he actually said and what she thought she heard. Her ears heard and remembered both, and it was a disquieting experience, for all that it was convenient in allowing them to speak to the mortal. Even without the strange understanding granted by Stephen's deceptively small flame, the sarcasm in his voice was clear, though. "I'm sure you'll adjust somehow."

"It still won't be fun. Though at least this time the government is less obnoxious about getting us to work for them. Maybe we won't have to revolt and set up our own government again."

"You do that, I'll be outside where she can't kill us all from her bedroom," Seraphine said.

Mara rose smoothly. "If you'll excuse me," the knight demurred, "I must go and inform the others as to what transpired here." Bowing towards them in a gesture from her homeland, she exited the workshop.

Stephen sighed as he pushed himself up. The heat that Fei had felt radiating from him all this time finally moved. "Well, I've got to go to. Busy day, got to get rid of the bacteria from the meat, then have to start figuring out a recipe of soap that stays solid…"

"I would be glad to assist you in your endeavor," Fei volunteered as other began to get to their feet as well. "I have such a recipe memorized, thought it will probably need to be adapted to the materials we have available on hand."

"Thanks WikiFei, that will be a help. I'll let you know when I'm about to get started."

They all began to move their separate ways, each returning to whatever had been interrupted by the call that Binder Lori had discovered them, that Rian had given them up…

As Fei headed back to continue gathering wild plants for food, glad that it wasn't her turn to go out into the cursed, ravenous spirit crystals of this world to hunt the beasts that roamed the wilds, she found her thoughts turning to consider the man. She remembered how he had acted when he had discovered how the Gising could create metal, because he had seen Vanessa creating utensils to eat her food. He had simply stared as the fork and knife had appeared in a shimmer of color and a sense of essence being displaced… and then shrugged and turned away as he continued eating.

Not for the first time, she wondered… could Rian be like them? Could he be someone had who also washed upon the shores of another world?

As always, Fei shook her head. No, he acted nothing at all like the Nihonjin, who had not hesitated to proclaim themselves once they had met others from their land—or at least, lands similar to theirs—declaring their were 'isekai' loudly, almost proudly. Rian had never acted anything other than one who was from this world. Open-minded and thoughtful to be sure… but one did not need to be from another world to be such.

No, to assume he was like them simply because he was accepting of them was to belittle his character. It was wrong… and a little bit silly.

Dismissing the thought, Lee Fei went back to work. The mortals and faceless from other worlds all needed to eat, after all, and the meat by itself was horribly bland. Meditating to circulate her core as she walked, Fei went back to her search for plants they could use as spices.

She was getting very tired of mayonnaise.