Sitting around a large table inside one of the City Council rooms are a handful of my most trusted family members and a couple of humans. The people who look after and run the important aspects of all four of my cities gather once a day to give me a rundown of the events of yesterday. Sometimes they come with plans for the future which also get discussed, but that's about the extent of how fun these meetings are.
Starting on my left are Deputy Mayor Sacha and Mayor Kana. Two of the most important people in Varona. Kana is tasked with the day-to-day handling of the entire city and a lot of my family report directly to her on a daily basis. Even though she's about as bright as a dying dungeon torch, her aid Sacha burns bright enough that both of them shine.
Damn, Kana's lucky. If she was more capable, I'd be stealing Sacha to be my own personal assistant.
Sat beside them are Councilman Raff and Treasurer Goode. The Tune Team. Every day I get a new report from them, combined with Hana and Mira who happen to be sitting next to them, on how our reformation work is progressing. Tune's citizens who required the reduced-duration course - because the colour of their souls was closest to grey, are almost being swapped around daily. Thanks to Sacha's suggestion, Raff is excelling in his position and with the help of the Commanders, is doing a fantastic job cleaning up the fishing city for me.
Goode only comes to update Sacha during the meetings and hopefully by being around us more often, he won't sink back to his old gold-pinching ways.
Hana and Mira have always been among the most helpful of my family. Summoned with the first ten Rogues, the women became the Commanders of my guard not long after my dungeon opened and have watched over us diligently ever since.
Now that we've moved on to greater heights, the Guard House that upgraded into the Towers of Torture is the main location for most of the reformation. Anyone who's even slightly yellow will be passing through there at some point or other. Unless they get lucky and manage to change their ways themselves that is.
In fairness, being Commanders of the Guard basically forced Hana and Mira to be a part of the soul-guiding scheme. Not that they'd have said no to helping out, if I had asked them, or if things would have played out differently. Still, it would have been nice to have given them a choice.
Sitting next to Hana and Mira are Light, Sophie, and the Dungeon Categoriser Simon. The dungeon diver's belly looks larger every time I see her as Light insists on bringing his partner to every meeting. I didn't complain though and even now I don't mind. It's clearly obvious that he just wants to protect her and keeping her in his sight at all times is the easiest way to do just that.
Light's job is to update me on Orad which, to be honest, isn't much of a job at all. The peaceful city's residents closest to us do a pretty good job at living life the way I need them to. No corruption in a city that size is a pretty big accomplishment and I can only attribute it to Mayor Baldur and his people. Compared to Tune and Ishda, Orad's homeless numbered less than a dozen, and everyone in their city was quite well-fed. That didn't stop me from adding to their food production or housing the homeless in better accommodation, however. I just wish that all cities were as easy as Orad was.
Well, I wish all cities were like Varona, but you know what I mean.
Simon is here to give one of his regular reports on the dungeon outside Orad. The gold-loving Categoriser has been compiling a list of how far the adventurers have managed to progress through the dungeon. It hasn't been long as it's only filled with Goblins and at some point soon, I'll have to add a couple dozen floors of Hobs to match their growth rate.
That should keep them busy for a while.
Coral and Mystique are also here this morning and are sitting between myself and Simon in the last two seats. Those chairs are never empty as there's always someone who wants to report directly during the meeting. I get it. I do. That's why there are two extra seats and not twelve. Otherwise, we'd be here well past lunch.
That might seem cruel, but if there is a matter of the utmost importance - one so crucial that it just can't wait, there's always the dungeon communication feature. My will carries everything between all of us and much as I keep my own channel free from their daily ramblings, it's always open in case of an emergency.
However, the only emergency today is Kolena's Introduction and I'm doing that directly. The woman from the spirit realm who is currently standing behind my seat is the source of everyone's attention as she's the only person in the room standing. Which I now feel a little bad about. Shuffling over, I create a chair between myself and Coral before telling Kolena to sit down.
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"So. Good morning. I'll get right on with what I have to say seeing as how none of you can take your eyes off Kolena here. She is from the spirit realm. Just like the demon realm, her home is on another plane of existence."
I let that sink in for a moment. Hopefully, they're listening because no one seems to have anything to say. That alone might be cause for concern.
"She is also the former Goddess of Beauty and is going to help Hana, Mira, and Raff in the reformation department. Questions?"
"So she's a God?" Mayor Kana is the first to speak. It cuts me a little deep as I too can now be classed as a God thanks to my titles. Not that I mentioned that part.
"Gods aren't exactly what you think they are, Kana. They're more like people who live on another plane of existence. It's not like we worship the demons and they're basically the same thing."
"Hey," Kolena cries out in disgust. "Don't compare me to the demons." That comment solicits a round of sympathetic gazes that all land on Kolena.
"That was pretty harsh, Master." Even Light seems to have taken her side.
"I didn't mean it like that. I was just pointing out that they're just like us. Well... They would be like us if we were real people, but... You know what I mean." This time my will carries mixed messages as I almost confused myself.
"Whatever. This is Kolena. She's going to be working with us from now on. Be nice." I slump down in resignation. Stupid meetings.
"What's the spirit realm like?"
"Can you grant wishes?"
"How do you know Master?"
The barrage of questions aimed at Kolena almost makes me wish I never brought her. I mean, I could have left her with Me and the triplets. That way my meeting wouldn't have been extended by questions that could just as easily be asked later.
"Kind of lonely to be honest. No, I can't grant wishes and I learned of Abi after she stole my title." Kolena's words hang in the air before everyone turns to look at me again in disbelief. Their faces say 'Why would you do that, Master?'
"Alright, alright. We can do question time another day. For now, let's get on with the reports, please. I left the triplets with Me and it was only yesterday they evolved into Rebellion Dragons. I'm still a little antsy to let them out of my sight. Kana, go." I point at the Mayor who jumps out of her seat before grabbing her documents.
"Yes, Master. Sacha, go," the Mayor smiles in my direction as she mimics me. Sacha rolls her eyes and I can't help but do the same. It also makes me smile and I Don't say anything about the lackadaisical attitude. Fortunately, the report on Varona is all good so I take that as one small victory. Sacha doesn't fuck around after all. Unlike the goofy Mayor who has already rested her head back down on the desk.
Raff's report was about how many of Tune's citizens are left to reform. According to Goode, their finances are now back on track as well. With most of the city's illegal activities ceasing to exist as neutrality takes over, money is flowing in the correct direction once again. Not that gold is important to me, but it's still a good sign that they're doing well.
Other than the fact that everything was running smoothly in my own city, Hana and Mira didn't have any other updates for me today. Short and sweet, just like the three Oblivion Dragons I used to know.
Light also didn't have much to report. His city is just as peaceful as my own only without the need for Dragons. He did complain for a short amount of time about being bored out of his mind and how Sophie would be safer in Varona, but he's got an easy job so he should be happy. It was a valid point on the safety concern though so I'll swap him out for someone else soon.
The ex-dungeon diver herself went into great detail describing a dessert she had eaten yesterday at a cafe in Orad. Five whole minutes had passed before Sophie let the next speaker continue the meeting. After she had finished though, I was beginning to feel hungry and I'd only just come from breakfast too.
The next speaker, Simon, apparently came prepared. He sat forward, leaning his elbows on the table with a serious look on his face, he looked directly at me.
"The Dungeon in Orad is still doing well and the adventurers have almost reached the bottom. Their levels are slowly rising and it might take about another week, but I'm sure they will be able to clear the final floor. I think now would be the perfect time to expand." It's one thing to have a Categoriser on my books, but it's another to hear him talk about expanding a dungeon. Especially when he does it so dramatically. The ginger-haired gold lover fits into my large family of weirdos perfectly. He can be Me's money-loving cousin.
"OK. I'll come over after lunch to do that for you. Anything else?" Simon shakes his head and leans back in his chair. A breath of relief escapes his lungs. He's actually quite a capable guy if I'm being honest. Unlike Light, he doesn't complain about being Orad for extended periods. That's more than likely because Light's got used to the luxuries in Varona, but it's still nice to see Simon doing so well.
With nothing else to come from my Catergoriser, we move on to the two women who managed to snatch up today's guest seats. Mystique, headmaster of the Academy of Dark Arts, and her assistant Coral finally give their report. Another that I'm extremely happy to hear and one that makes me grateful they got today's spare seats.
The Space Mages trained by Marie have been running their own smaller versions of her class. Yesterday saw the first student from one of the graduate classes perform a teleport spell. Not a major feat in itself as teleportation has become a frequent thing now, but it shows the progress of my academy and the citizens in my city. They're not dungeon summons after all and Tironians generally find it harder to learn the higher aspects of magic.
Hence why I still don't have a Time Mage.
Although, the thought of adding the element to my body doesn't appeal to me as much as it did before. I'm still curious to see if I'll become even stronger than I am now, but I think it would be more beneficial in running certain features of my dungeon. Like the Coliseum for example. If I could slow down time inside the building, I could chuck all my Rebellion Dragons in there and boom. Insane mode complete.
If only it wasn't just wishful thinking.
By the time I find a Time Mage, I'll probably be way past Rebellion Dragons.