About two weeks before Legate Locke was expected and only a few days from the new year William was happily furnishing his new workshop with modern tools. The new year celebration was interesting as evidently the passing of the new year was special in this world. A celebration and gift exchange was held but the real event was something truly exceptional. Unfortunately not a single villager wanted to spoil it for him he even tried to bribe the kids with presents they only smiled and said it was something he would just have to experience. William was not someone that liked surprises but he couldn't even prepare for as evidently it wasn't even part of the village celebration. So instead of worrying he decided to entertain Irene.
A few days earlier he had Cluci help him raise a small windmill on top of his new workshop to mechanically power a few tools such as a metal lathe so he could conserve mana. This windmill was just a prototype for the one he would be raising to mill grain and pump water for the village. While he was limited by natural forces, Runick was built in an area that almost always had a sea breeze flowing through it. His newly made metal lathe made for fine a talking piece as he worked to make gifts for the various villagers he was somewhat indebted to.
The conversation was light for the most part. William had just explained some of the more advanced things he could do with the lathe when Irene suddenly became a bit more focused and to the point on a specific topic. "So, William what exactly is your point in helping out this village?" While working William thought for a moment then answered "Hmm well it's not that I want to help I need to help. This village was in need and I need their resources. Also I needed somewhere to train my skills what better place then a war torn village." "Then you hold no attachments here or anyone you care about." "I didn't say that. I care for where this village is. Helping them is secondary. This place is like a sandbox and I get attached to things I put effort into. I have an overarching goal that will eventually involve the entire continent. But that's for me to know."
"Would you move on if there was somewhere better then here?" "If something that matched this specific area and it's resources maybe but again that includes the people here. People are resources too. I also don't particularly care for people who squander their resources. Why are we talking about this? Your duty lies with the Imperium does it not?" "Hmm... maybe. Your view on the world is quite different to a good friend of mine and it has been refreshing to hear an immortal person such as yourself not use mortals like fodder to further their goals." "Then you have misunderstood me, Irene, I will treat mortals as fodder but I kill them with fantastic living conditions and kindness." "Hahaha... you would treat every single mortal like a prized horse. Why?" "Because I don't have all the answers to the universe in my head. A lowly peasant if uplifted can be just as good or better than the pedigreed noble. A diverse set of backgrounds leads to diverse methods of handling problems. Solutions, that due to my experiences, I would never come up with. This is why I dislike war it wastes these unique perspectives and pisses away resources like a gluttonous pig.”
“To answer your question from before my husband and I grow tired of our places in the Imperium. The tedious politics the backstabbing and maneuvering to gain such little headway. We have been reluctant to leave as there was nowhere to go except the Rift and while we both have combat skills we simply wish to move to a existing place and start fresh"
"My husbands Legion is the only that didn’t take part in the sacking of Runick we were the sole objectors. Even our men found it barbaric to kill a village of such a size but our Imperial Legate is a very by the books person. When you are outnumbered five to one in votes it’s a little hard to make your voice heard. Your reparations were a shock to us as we feared a group of bandits had come a cross some ancient technology. Low and behold to our surprise it was an outworlder that came from a technologically superior world."
"I wish to ask a favor. Could you put in a good word with the village allow our legion and their families to join Runick once after our leader finishes her pointless exploits to the south? That could be within the next year if things go as they have always gone for the Imperium. What say you? Also there is another thi…”
But William didn’t listen to the rest. His back to her as he kept working on the gifts. The rest of her statement lost as he blocked out the world to think about Irene’s proposal. The cutting of the metal lathe drowning out everything as Wiliam went into deep thought.
Are you trying to get the Imperium to attack Runick lady!?! That’s an entire Legion gone from service besides the economic impacts that’s something like oh I don’t know ballpark estimate lets say an additional twenty thousand people. Young, old, children adults and possibly elderly. How the hell am I going to persuade the elders of Runick to let them live here they might not have had a hand with the sack but the villagers have a bad taste in their mouths over imperials. On the other hand this is great! The influx of people would speed up my time table by a lot. The influx could also mean I could trade with the towns and villages outside Runick for the resources I need. This is going to cause so many problems. Actually maybe instead of all at once they come in small packages a few hundred at a time. That way infrastructure can be set up. Now there’s an idea. Oh I think she said something else I will just nod.
Anyways the new families mean an improved solution to Runicks lack of crafting. The problem will become how fast do we take on the small groups. The new farming equipment will mean a higher yield and if we expand the area worked we can definitely support the population. The problem becomes housing and amenities. I guess I will have to ponder on some of my old planned city layouts. The current walls can maybe house at most five hundred if we eliminate most of the non essential land use. So then it becomes a conundrum of how many people do I want to be able to protect if an army shows up. The answer, all of them. So what to do… what to do. I think Irene wants my input she stopped talking.
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William then turned around what he saw didn’t compute thankfully his unconsciousness came to his rescue. Using [ Create ] William’s subconscious encased him in a sarcophagus of iron that had a slit for air to exchange and sound to escape. William then screamed angrily “What in the hells do you think you are doing Irene!?!” “What? You nodded.” “I nodded to be polite I didn’t hear what you said. For crying out loud I am happily married.” “Oh stop being a prude. The Imperium wants the best chances of keeping land inside the families but new blood is always welcomed.” “Don’t fucking care about your culture's opinion on marriage! I will agree too your other proposition and to be clear in case you made any other propositions while I was thinking! I mean your legion integrating with Runick! Now we either discuss this professionally or so help me I will reverse my opinions on your treatment as a prisoner!” “Well don’t threate…” “Don’t finish that sentence! Dress yourself and leave my workshop.” “Fine.”
In Will’s head as he heard the noise of cloth being unfurled then the eventual closing of a door.
I love my wife. I love my wife. I love my wife.
Why did this… how did I…The fucking looks and pointed questions. Oh gods dammit. I am an idiot. Fifty five years and I have lost my knowledge on women. I need Matilda back or I might go crazy.
Times like these remind me of my first plans. Could’ve fucked off not dealt with all this village building but it was too enticing. It felt to much like the games I used to play to just give this up now. I could have made a flying machine when I got here didn’t have to deal with all this shit. Except William knew this was also a bad idea. As with everything just like the fucking RIFT where people stay to the main bandit filled roads. There’s a reason ships stay to coastal waters. Hosts of migratory monsters, elementals, void spawn, and invaders from other planes could be the least of your problems. Then there’s the mana storms which will transmute any matter it touches into raw mana until it reaches a critical mass then regurgitate the mana in the form of random shit then collapse. These storms are noted by the magenta clouds and the massive maelstrom they create as the storm moves around and the debris field they throw off.
On the rare occasion, some nutcase survives the passage between continents sharing news and technology and then becoming somewhat of a cultural figure until they snuff it because of the strange diseases of the foreign land they find themselves in. Thankfully there was a way around such dangers. Teleportation!
Since getting access to Emilia’s vast library he had learned two things. Teleportation was a highly sought out spell so good vibes. Unfortunately the mages that made it to the point they could cast it over the distances required for continent hopping were great sages. These sages had two types either hermits that built sanctums in hard to reach places or pocket dimensions to never see a living soul ever again. Or were the tricksy entrepreneur that wanted their services paid for in pieces of highly deadly dungeon bosses or exorbitant favors. Neither of these choices struck William as good ideas to pursue. Hence the plan or operation Moth to Flame. Create a modern paradise to spark the lust for adventure in Matilda to find him instead of the other way round. He had no doubts in the plan because the plan allowed him to do what he did best build a 'house' for their future. While he could go off and search for Matilda it would be a painful path to take full of pitfalls and traps that could turn an eternity into an eternity of regrets. This path was the best for him and he only enjoyed what he wanted to do. His path was set in stone the moment he decided to humble those seven bullies. Eventually he [ Recycle ]d the iron sarcophagus off of himself and got back to work on his gifts.
A few days later the new years celebration kicked off just after breakfast. Games, events, and a cook off all capped off with a feast in the late evening. The event of the day saw an absolute wonder of new gadgets on display from William. One of which was in the form of daylight fireworks. He had been focusing on his gunpowder mixture. The stuff in all of Cluci’s bullets produced to much fouling of the barrel. This caused a never ending shit storm from Cluci as he had to clean the gun after only a few shots. Something the young ravenfolk never had to do with his Giardoni. Thus the reason Will was trying to figure out a better powder mixture. So to test his mixtures the fireworks.
The various gifts he gave out were a number modern utility knives. He created some much needed cookware the medieval pots and pans were driving William insane. He had also made some specialized tools for the newly chosen crafters of the village. To a few specific people he made pieces of furniture while no one had a private household yet the furniture was greatly appreciated as it gave permanence to the new homes.
The feast used a plethora of frozen meats and wild vegetables from the underground ice freezer. William also managed to make a single pound bag of a sugar substitute as is was technically not food but a chemically made organic material. William almost felt the ire of the system as he added it to his library. The children loved the gummy candy he made using a bunch of extracted animal gelatin. While the village celebrated with the feast, William silently brooded. He still didn’t know what the heck the surprise was, not a single peep. He even trudged through the snow to get to Emilia’s house before the celebration to maybe find a clue. She had rudely pushed him out the door saying to be patient to wait and see. What William saw was a mundane normal celebration of surviving the year and the promise of what the new year would bring them. Nothing out of the ordinary. That was until the moon was high in the sky and something akin to the northern lights started to sweep through the star filled heavens. It was then that William blinked one moment surrounded by the sights of the village the next in an unforgotten demi-plane in front of a goddess he had very strong opinions about.