"Where are all the transcriptions?" Troulon asked.

"Western office," Omilaena told him. "Why are the manuscripts I wanted being held by random merchants?"

"The Great Library can't continue without support from them. Did you organize the section on mana?"

"Better than you had it before. Who are these merchants funding the library and taking books? They never gave a shit about it before."

"They're all trying to impress some demon leading them around by the nose." Troulon gave a loose shrug and broke from their usual question exchange. "You should stop asking questions about the merchants and just be glad they've mostly left the capital, Omi. No matter how bad you think it is to work with me, I assure you they'd be worse."

Technically Omilaena had already gained all the information she'd earned with her work, but she decided to press a little further. "Why would they leave the capital?"

"Not all of them, of course. First there was some sort of threat in the north, as if they were afraid the elves would attack. When that didn't pan out, they're trying to set up an international meeting to negotiate new terms. You'll get your manuscripts back then, but it might be smarter to get out first. If too many foreign representatives come, Matiavel will get antsy."

"You think this will get big enough that another great power will show up?"

Troulon waved a finger at her. "You've already gotten more information than I promised. We'll discuss our next projects tomorrow, but no more business today."

She nodded amiably, since she'd gotten what she needed. In addition to more information on the ancient sources she wanted, she had these hints about some kind of international meeting. Other sources of information would be much better than Troulon for learning more about that.

Her senses expanded over the library, confirming that nothing was awry. Zae Zin Nim was still cultivating in one of the little nooks, there was no one particularly powerful inside... except for a new presence, a black hunger moving through the entrance.

"If you've finished all your work," Troulon was saying, "I wondered if we could go into the city and-"

"Something just came up." Omilaena pushed herself to her feet in the same motion she piled her books together. "We'll pick this up tomorrow."

She suspected what he'd been about to ask, but she worked with Troulon practically every day and now had higher priorities. Moving quickly enough, she managed to arrive at the entrance before there could be any confusion or argument.

Kai stood in the foyer, speaking politely with the librarian in front despite looking like he'd just killed something and flattened it into clothes. She wasn't surprised that he was shaggy and unshaven, but she wasn't sure how he'd gotten into such rags so quickly. Hadn't even bothered to change on his way in, despite having more clothes in his spatial ring, and probably wasn't thinking about it.

"There you are." He smiled when he saw her and the expression warmed her more than she wanted to admit.

"Took you long enough," she said as she approached. "Gorutiel mentioned that you were doing fine, but I expected you to visit earlier."

"I wanted to, but there was never a good time." Kai shifted his weight and she noted a strange restlessness in his movements that wasn't usually present. As they moved back into the library, he spoke in a lower voice. "Can you make me another one of those syringes? I want to eat some of the animals out there."

"I could, but we should probably do it just before you go back."

"Won't the power stay unchanged in the spatial ring?"

"You might be able to avoid food spoiling or minor degradation, but the spatial ring can't freeze time. Otherwise there'd be so many ways to exploit it that those would be the main use, not storage."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Huh. Where's Zae Zin Nim?"

"In one of her long cultivation sessions, but I'm sure she'd interrupt it for you."

"No need, I'll be here for a day or two." Kai went on to tell her about his work with the Savage Creed, clearly leaving out some details.

When he started asking questions about yoni and lingam theory she finally understood his restlessness. Poor boy was horribly backed up, but being all honorable. She decided not to tease him about it and just answered his questions. He was concerned about some sort of power imbalance, or the Savage Heart being fundamentally incompatible with him, but she was able to put those fears to rest.

"I think you still need to find the right trigger," Omilaena concluded. "The chakra in your body is stable, it just needs to respond to something. And no, it's probably not what she's suggesting."

"I figured as much, but I'm glad to hear you say it." Kai began glancing around again.

"You sure you don't want me to go get Zae Zin Nim?"

"No. Actually, I want to talk to Gorutiel."

.

..

.

Kai headed to the Commonwealth government seat for the second time in his life, hoping that this visit would go better. He actually took the time to ride on the marble slabs and enjoy it more this time. During the day Traeton was abuzz with more activity than lights, including ubiquitous floating transportation that would have been expensive anywhere else.

When he got to the grand hall he didn't see many demons, but Omilaena's information had been correct. He didn't get inside the council chamber before Gorutiel bounded out of a side corridor.

"What's wrong? Not giving up, are you?"

"I have a target for you," Kai said. "Are you willing to cooperate with something more complicated?"

The demon's eyes blazed eagerly. "What do you have in mind?"

Minutes later Kai walked back out, a bit baffled - that had either been much easier than he expected or he was about to get into a lot of trouble. In any case, he'd concluded his most important business in the capital but he still wanted to meet up with Zae Zin Nim before he went back out into the wilderness.

When he got back to the library, Zae Zin Nim was waiting for him. He ended up repeating a lot of what he'd said about the Savage Creed members and realized that he should have just explained it once to both of them. Then again, he wouldn't have wanted to discuss some of those details with Zae Zin Nim. She was squirming more than usual for no apparent reason, so discussion of lingam rituals might have made her explode.

Once they persuaded Omilaena that she could rest since the two of them were together, they walked deeper into the library. After they were far enough way, Kai waited for a pause in the conversation and then spoke in a lower voice.

"I want to look up something. Do you know the library well enough to find the history section?"

"It isn't divided quite like that," Zae Zin Nim said, "but I understand the basics. What do you want to look up?"

"Recent history of the Commonwealth. Say twenty or thirty years ago."

"All of that is in a section about the last stable government before the demons. This way..."

They found the right section and Kai was again glad for the Alltongue Fruit. He could tell that the books were in many different languages if he focused, but otherwise it was easy to read all of them. Zae Zin Nim hovered nearby curiously until he found what he wanted: reports on a cross-breeding program that had taken place in the Commonwealth back then.

"That's obviously barbaric," she said once she'd seen it, "but why are you looking into that?"

"A while back Omilaena claimed to have been part of a program like that," Kai said. "I just... wanted to be sure she wasn't making up something. But of course she could have told lies based on actual events, so that doesn't prove anything."

"Wait." Zae Zin Nim took the book from him and began reading about artisans and slavery during that period. After some time, she sat back and shook her head. "I don't think she's lying."

"You're sure about that?"

"I can't prove it, but I think so."

That was some comfort, and honestly he wanted to believe it. He could understand Omilaena a little if he traced her history from being an exploited slave, clawing her way upward with almost no allies. It sounded as though she'd shared some of the same stories with Zae Zin Nim. Most likely Omilaena would always do what she believed was in her best interest, but he hoped their interests were aligned.

"Do you have to go back right away?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "I don't really have a good excuse, but... I don't want you to go just yet."

He smiled back at her. "I can stay a while yet."

.

..

.

Now that Kai was gone, Zae Zin Nim was back to her usual routine in the library. She missed him, but in some ways this was easier. They had kissed while he lingered with her and it had been such a strange experience: she wanted to melt into him and yet all the dual cultivation books she'd been reading kept leaping to mind. She wanted to be with him, but she wasn't sure about all that.

When Omilaena came back she was more muted than usual, and Zae Zin Nim felt even more confident in her earlier conclusion. The other woman was lonely, without anyone she could really trust following the same path as her. If Zae Zin Nim and Kai paired up, what would happen to her? Would she turn furious and strike back, like the vengeful women in the Brightwind harem?

That seemed like a terrible outcome and Zae Zin Nim didn't want to think about it anymore. She still needed to make more progress in her chakra training before she would be forced to make a decision. Hopefully it would be enough.