Simon

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Cilla came in just as the maid was taking away my dishes. In her hand was a slip of paper that I recognized as the form we used to decode radio messages.

Until Wallace showed up, I'd thought of my cypher as the next best thing to uncrackable. But as a computer guy, he was used to a whole different level of encryption than what I could dimly recall from some history class. Not to mention he could blow right past layers of defence that would stop cold anything the locals might attempt.

I'd jealously guarded the tech to create radios, even acquiring or sabotaging sets that had popped up over the years. That alone was enough to stop most people. Can't decode a message you never receive.

Encoding the message in morse code also helped. A naive listener might not even be aware that what they heard was a message.

Maybe I'm lucky, and Wallace doesn't know morse code.

The actual encryption came from the last layer of defence and the only layer of security that would cause Wallace any real trouble.

I might not be able to do the fancy computer grade encryption he was familiar with, but I knew what a Jefferson Cipher Wheel was. Until the advent of mechanical encryption, it was just about the best you could do. Enigma and its ancestors were a cut above, but a Jefferson Cipher could fit in your pocket and was trivial to construct.

But if Wallace had built a computer with his enchantments, then all bets were off. For all I knew, the hotel might even have some functional modern computers at the front desk or packed in someone's luggage. Even some piece of junk running DOS would be able to hammer its way through the cypher in a few hours.

"Go ahead," I prompted Cilla, who was stealing furtive looks at the maid.

I had many problems. Staff disloyalty was not one of them.

"The scouting team says they've passed through Lord Wallace's demesne. They only spoke with Amity, but they also spotted Regina watching from within the hotel proper. They said Amity was cagey when they asked about Lord Wallace, but what they could suss out gave the impression that Wallace's people haven't been able to stay in contact with their Lord."

I brought a hand to my forehead, "So Wallace is still in the city."

"It seems so. Amity appeared more concerned about us poaching their salvage than for her Lord's safety, however."

I lifted my hand, "Or maybe they've got a big fucking mess on their hands and don't want to look weak or stupid. The city's still burning?"

"They reported less smoke, but the sky is still thick with it."

The maid stacked the last dish on her tray and scurried out of the room with her head bowed over the tray. She stopped only to push the door shut with her hip, and it closed with a metallic click of the latch.

How I longed for the early days before I'd been so apocalyptically stupid as to involve myself in politics. Learning magic surrounded by beautiful and eager women, now that was some proper isekai shit. I missed having the girls duel to decide who I'd bring to bed. I missed 'punishing' the ones who lost with servant duty. Servants who would bring me my meal and then were happy to crawl under the table, flush-faced and panting, while I enjoyed it. I missed the way things were before my dumb, arrogant, ass had tried to save the world.

I lifted my gaze from the table to regard Cilla standing there obediently as she waited for my next instruction.

She'd get under the table if I wanted it. I wouldn't even need to say a word, it would only take a look, and she'd be on her hands and knees with a grin on her face.

"That will be all, Cilla."

She nodded, and there was something forlorn in the look she gave me as she hesitated with her hand on the door.

I'd taken it as a wake-up call when my carefree attitude caused Minki's blindness, like when Uncle Ben was shot, and Peter Parker resolved to do something useful with himself. Looking back, that's when it all started to go sideways. I'd overcorrected, and over time I stopped indulging myself. I withdrew from most of the girls, and it was as rough on them as it was on myself. Even those like Cilla, whose loyalty wasn't a result of me tweaking their brain chemistry, were left feeling neglected.

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My gaze fell back to the table, my eyes focusing somewhere beyond. I didn't look up as Cilla left. Instead, I found myself revisiting a familiar fantasy, a familiar what if.

What if, instead of making drastic and irreversible decisions as the result of something terrible happening, I'd just taken a moment to breathe?

What if, instead of striking out to begin my takeover of Pelignos, I'd held a contest. Almost overnight, I turned everyone's focus to the work of taking over, keeping control of, and running a city. What I should have done is set them to work on healing the eye, and the winners get a whole month of me to themselves.

Recent discoveries aside, there were three cities. While I didn't have all the female casters from Pelignos under my sway, it was awfully fucking close, and I had a few from both Caniforma and Parabuteo. I had a sixth of the available mages who were happy to do as I ordered, and I'd squandered it on the vain assumption I knew how to fix this better than anyone else.

That's not to say I didn't have some of my girls working on healing magic, and they'd made significant strides to advance the field, but the eye was still beyond them. The others lent a hand when they could, but most of them were caught up in the day to day of keeping my fledgeling empire running.

I heard a crash in the other room and leapt to my feet.

"Minki?" I called as I rushed to the door.

I found Minki sprawled on the floor when I pushed it open, an overturned chair laid beside her.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," she insisted, "I just forgot where the chair was."

I knelt to help her stand, "Minki, what are you doing moving around."

"I'm not made of glass," she protested, "And you were taking a while after I heard Cilla leave. I wanted to make sure you weren't being too down on yourself."

"Minki-"

Minki reached up to pat my cheek, "Don't Minki me, I know how you get," she replied softly, "And I know you're busy, but I get bored here all alone."

Minki's grip on my arm was so gentle as to be almost non-existent, but that didn't mean she was about to accept any objections as she drew me over to sit beside her.

"I'm sorry. I could get one of the girls in to read to you," I offered.

"Simon, I want you to read to me. I know, I know," she hastened to add, "You're busy, but it doesn't mean it's not what I want."

"I'm trying, Minki. If this works out, we'll have all the time we want, and I'll read you whatever you like."

"Tell me about that, then. And don't think I don't know, I've little else to do but sit and listen."

"Wallace hasn't made it back to his hotel yet, and his people haven't heard from him in a while," I shivered as I held Minki close, and she balled up her fists, holding tightly to my shirt, "And I still don't know what the hell happened. It'll be another day or two before the recon party makes it to the city, and I can find out."

"The way you described him, I'm sure he'll make it out okay."

I was reluctant even to utter the words, "And what if he doesn't? Am I supposed to send a rescue party? The whole point is for him to take this mess off my hands."

"Simon, why don't you just ask for his help?"

"I don't want his help, Minki. I want to leave. I've been picking up broadcasts to the east for a while now. There's a whole world out there for us to see- Dammit, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Simon, it's okay," she whispered, "But if you don't think Wallace will help, then why not ask some of the others? They love you."

I shook my head sourly, "You know they'd never let me leave. The ones like Cilla are too afraid of what would happen if I wasn't here to keep the rest under control."

"Maybe," she allowed, "But don't forget, they're not just worried about themselves. They do care about you. All of them do. Have you considered how much leaving will hurt them?"

"I've already hurt them, Minki. I had something great, and I fucked it all up. Now I just need to get the hell out of here. The others aren't going to move on as long as I'm around. I want me gone, and they need me gone. But I'm not so much of a selfish coward that I'll leave without someone to hold things together. If Wallace is gone- dammit, Minki. I feel like I'm losing my grip."

Minki shuffled away but kept her grip on my shirt and pulled my head down to rest on her lap.

"Shhh," she murmured, "You feel so stiff. Just relax, and let Minki take care of you."

My shoulders slumped as I tried to do as she asked, and a shiver ran through me as she began to stroke my hair.

"Why do you think Wallace will have any better luck?" she asked quietly.

I squeezed my eyes shut, "I don't," I admitted, "But he's a good dude. I trust him to take care of the girls and make sure they're alright, and he'll do what he can for the rest of the city. Let this city crush his spirit and poison his dreams. I hope you can forgive me, but I just can't do this anymore."

"It's okay," she promised, "If you have to stop, then you have to stop."

Minki bent down to kiss my cheek and hummed thoughtfully.

"What if you tell the girls you need them to kidnap Wallace?" she suggested, "A rescue, but neither party knows it's a rescue?"

"That... That might work. There's only six of them, though. I don't know if it would be enough."

"Then send more of the battle maids. Let the ones already approaching the city track him down while they wait for the others to arrive. I understand your concern, Wallace does sound formidable, but he is only one man. And they don't even need to succeed," Minki added earnestly, "Just so long as they dispatch any adversaries that might prevent the so-called kidnapping attempt."

I let out a long breath and rolled onto my back, and I finally allowed myself to melt into the couch.

"Thanks, Minki."

Minki looked down at me, her eyes not quite finding mine, and smiled.

"It's going to be okay."