CHAPTER 13
Some people can’t see the things right in front of them. Some people would advise you to close your eyes. In doing so, you can’t see anything at all. Some people are stupid.
We left Ambrosia before dawn, slept at a nearby tavern until well past noon, before finally beginning our journey. A brave journalist tried to ask us questions, but was turned away immediately. Eyes followed us wherever we went, but that was all.
The city of Caswell was located far west of the Northern Human territory. It acted as a central hub to support the border between the Humans and the monsters on the Central-Western Front, one of the four main cities to do so. The others were Metronomy protecting the Western Front, Cyriak and the Central-Eastern Front, and finally Polyphia, the official capital of the Northern Human Territory, which governed the Eastern Front.
If one were to look at the map, one would immediately notice a problem with Caswell.
But that’s a story for another time.
Within every major city and places of importance, lay a branch for the JanZe to operate. A special alloy known as Ilfeen, which fused gorgonite and bathus with other materials, was used to communicate between branches. A single piece of such alloy was draw-droppingly costly, but the effects were just as important. Like the Islwyn bead found in an Inquisitor’s plate, this communication shard, as it is termed, when broken apart, will always be linked. Simply put, by injecting mana into a shard, another piece that originated from the same completed alloy will also shine with mana.
Ever since this discovery, the JanZe have been creating and utilising these alloys to communicate in morse. Each branch will send a message to the main headquarters of the JanZe, known as the Chalice, which would redirect the message to the appropriate branch.
Or, in this case, the appropriate person. The Four each carry their own crystal, as well as other high-position JanZe personnel. Not only that, highly respected individuals often keep a stash of Islwyn beads, for reasons to be discussed at another time.
Our visit here, was to request a portal from Sunk Cost.
In no time, we completely bypassed the Human-Beastman border, skipped the land of the beloved cat girls, fox girls, bunny girls… oh, and beastmen, into the Khurtale Forest in the Southern Human Territory.
Each JanZe uniform included a small waist pouch for storing personal belongings, but since the three musketeers were new and unprepared, they had nothing but a water flask and some coins inside. No spare change of clothes, no medical equipment, no trinkets.
“Our time limit is 1 month and 25 days. The direction is directly west from here. From now on, you will hunt for your own food. You are forbidden to share any provisions. If you worked together to hunt, you may distribute the loot based on contribution, decided by me. At the end of each day, I’ll be asking you four a question. Also – I will be judging your survival skills. The worst performance out of this group of 6 will receive punishment by me. The best will receive a reward. Any questions?”
“How far do we need to go?” (Taku)
“What is the reward?” (Amelia)
“What is the punishment?” (Kelvin)
“Good! No questions. You may start.”
I ignored their protests and began munching on the box of popcorn I brought with me.
“Oh, before I forget. Dulam, Vicky, you are banned from using any Powers.”
"Fuck!”
“…”
Vicky’s presence returned to reality. Other than Dulam and myself, nobody realised she already used her powers to turn undetectable.
Dulam immediately rushed off in his own way. A brief moment later, Vicky and Taku both turned away and walked in the opposite directions, coldly and casually minding their own business.
“Sigh… I can’t just leave you three alone though. Since you guys are my students, I’ll give you a handicap. I’ll answer three questions a day, so long as the questions are addressed to me. I’ll also give you hints here and there, when I feel like it. Right, get going, kids.”
“But why are Taku and the others goin-mhpph!”
“Shut up, sis! Don’t waste the questions like that. They probably left because we’re competitors.”
“Oh…”
“I think we should ask… actually, do we still call you Aaron?”
“… Kelvin, that’s your first question.”
“Uh oh…”
“You are my disciple. I am your master. You will refer to me as such.”
“That’s not fair!”
“Not my fault you chose to ask me that.”
“Do we really need to call you Master? That’s so embarrassing though!”
“Number two – yes, and I regret taking you as a disciple already…”
“Rude!”
“SIS! Shut up!”
“I think we should ask which way is west, and start from there.”
The three were in agreement with Hazel’s suggestion, so I took out my compass, much to their irritation. They only got angrier when I told them navigation tools were one of the basic essential items to carry inside their pouch.
Their journey began with full stomachs but empty supplies. Naturally, it didn’t last long before they collapsed in exhaustion.
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“Why! We’ve been walking since yesterday morning, but we still can’t find a single hunt!”
“Should we ask Master?”
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“… No we need to think of better questions. We’ll find something eventually.”
“We might not even be walking in the right way, stupid Kelvin.”
“Shut up!”
“Let’s not argue; I need to sit down.”
They collapsed onto the ground, dejected and hungry, but not to the point of desperation. Some time ago, they heard the sound of water flowing as they travelled and found themselves a small stream. Though the water was running and the location away from sources of pollution, Kelvin and Amelia were hesitant of drinking unfiltered water.
Amelia had the stupid idea of electrifying the water to kill the germs beforehand, so I had no choice but to give them a hint.
“Do it, Amelia, it’s a great idea. Do it, and drink all of it.”
The electrified water went down their gullets, and brought with them the contents of their stomach on their return journey. No doubt vomiting intermittently over a few hours drained their stamina.
“I don’t get it, why would my electricity be poisonous?”
“If you got breath to waste, save it sis.”
“I’m curious too, but I don’t think it’s good to waste a question like that.”
“Hey! What if you don’t phrase it as a question?”
“Will it work?”
“Try it! Try it!”
Hazel turned tentatively to look at me.
“Umm, it’d be great if Master could explain to us what happened.”
“It would be great, yeah.”
Hazel turned in a fluster to stare at her shoes with a reddened face. On the other hand, Kelvin had a go.
“Please explain to us, what happened to the water and why it made us sick.”
“Ooh, you’re making demands now? What do I gain from explaining it?”
“We’re your students, and therefore your responsibility. We’d like to grow stronger, but to do so, we need to learn how to be safe first.”
“Hahaha, not bad. Well, you should know that a mana-practitioner don’t get ill easily. The water from the stream wouldn’t have contained anything potent enough to be noticeable. It’s also fresh water, but by electrifying it, you’d create all sorts of precipitate that can harm you. Even mana can’t protect you from ingesting lye or any other weird stuff.”
“Precipitate? Lie? How do you ingest a lie?”
“L-Y-E, Amelia. Though probably not lye, since there’s little to no salt. It is a by-product, which is another word for precipitate.”
“How could sis’s electricity create salt? Or poison?”
“It didn’t create salt, and poison is a very broad term… haaa~. Electrolysis is too soon for you all. Just know that jabbing your fingers into your flask and electrifying it isn’t a good idea.”
“Well, now we know. But that doesn’t help the fact that I’m still hungry…”
“It also doesn’t help that you just used two questions asking about precipitates and poisons.”
“What? No! Those weren’t questions!”
“They clearly were.”
“That’s not fair! Why do you have to be so mea-“
“Shut up, sis!”
“It’s not like we haven’t gained anything. At least we know would could request advice without using up a question.”
The three put their heads together and discussed their plans. A brief moment later, they came to another agreement.
“Master, we’d like some advice on our current situation.”
“Hmm… well, you’re on the right tracks. Be careful of what you say. Who knows if I’m purposely trying to use up your questions? But more importantly, use your questions. The amount of people dying of thirst in a desert, who actually had a reserve of water left, may surprise you. The constant worry to preserve something instead of actually using it may ultimately lead you to your downfall. Figure out your priorities.”
Hazel went back into the group circle, and yet another conversation occurred, this time seemingly endless. I had to intervene.
“Let me ask you guys a question this time. What is the most important thing in a group?”
Kelvin was about to ask for clarification before catching himself at the last second. Instead, he put his brain to work whilst muttering ‘another damn puzzle’. Dozens of ideas flashed past his mind; objective, teamwork, communication…
“A leader!”
“Very good.”
He looked at his sister in surprise, never did he once imagine she’d get the correct answer within seconds. He could also see Hazel nodding in agreement, as if she had thought of it before him. Why were they so certain of this answer?
“A leader structure, also known as a hierarchy, is the most important thing. You should make that as your number one priority.”
Once again, he tried to retort by asking why the answer is a leader, but stopped. Instead, it took him a few gears-grindingly long seconds to formulate an alternative sentence.
“I don’t’ think it’s the hierarchy. I would think a goal, or cooperation would suite better.”
“Kelvin, is it worse to do nothing, than to do something counter-productive to your goal?”
“I think doing something against your goal is worse.”
“Have you ever made mistakes that you learnt from? Do you think you could’ve gotten to where you are, if you haven’t made mistakes in the past?”
“No…”
“Do you think you can profit from doing something that puts you further away from your goal?”
“Well, yeah, you learn what not to do.”
“Then do you still think doing nothing is better than doing something, even if it’s counter-productive?”
“I… don’t know.”
“Good, because it’s a bit trickier than one or the other. It depends on the situation. However, if you’re someone who’s looking to actually finish the goal, to push through to the end, progressing, no matter what direction, is vital. Making mistakes are fine so long as you’re prepared to learn from it. If you aren’t, then maybe doing nothing is actually better after all.
With that in mind, what do you think is the worst possible outcome in a group?”
Once again, dozens of suggestions came into Kelvin’s mind, but it was his impatient sister who answered for him.
“Doing nothing!”
“In what way?”
“Well, if they can’t decide what to do, they can’t do anything!”
“Good job.”
Kelvin couldn’t understand. Why!? Why must it be that? There are so many other answers that seemed appropriate. Things that actually happened to groups in the past! Infighting, corruption, incompatibility, any of these would also answer the question!
“Indecision, Kelvin, is how a group, or an individual, achieve nothing in the end. When the question has been asked, and the need to decide on an answer is imminent, spending time thinking of complicated conundrums will simply end up anchoring you to inability. If you are in battle, every second you fail to decide on your action will mark its affect onto your situation. This is your problem.
In contrast to that, Amelia, jumping onto the first answer is called being reckless. If the questions are simple, or have definite solutions, then it works well. When the question gets harder, the answer vaguer, you’d have to be more careful of repercussions. For example, answering my questions with a question in return will have consequences.
Do you think you’re leader-material, Kelvin?”
“I’d like to think so.”
“Can’t even be definite about your answer? How disappointing.
When you are in a group, decide your role. Are you a leader? Are you a member? If you’re someone who’s aiming for the big picture, then don’t sweat the small stuff. If you’re someone who’s there to fix the small details, don’t get in the way of the visionaries. Figure out your position and where you stand, and work on what you can. That’s why a group has subdivisions of categories, specialists and simple labourers.
But if you are a leader, then you can’t ever forget your ultimate goal, nor dismiss the tiniest of problems. You are the overall manager, the one who keeps up with every single subdivision, to ensure how each of that contributes to the objective. Although you subdivide the work, you are ultimately responsible of the result. You perform a tight-rope act between micromanagement and over-delegation.”
“You just told us to know our place, that if we’re working on a big thing, don’t worry about the small details, but now you’re telling us to do both. I don’t get it.”
“If your place is as a leader, then you will have to do both.”
“I feel like that’s impossible.”
“When you were fighting against the critter, our goal was to kill it with minimum casualties. I gave you two specific instructions based upon your abilities, but allowed you to judge your tasks by yourselves. If I were to tell you exactly what to do at what moment, it might end up confusing you, especially if our styles clashed. If I simply told you to go in and kill it, then I’d be utterly useless. That is what it means to be a leader, and why it is vital for a leader to be set. Do you recall Taku asking about the symbolism of our masks? The things us JanZe are involved in require accurate decisions, but more importantly, quick responses. Any slight delay will cost lives, and not just one or two.
This is what we expect of you, as our disciples. You will have to get onto this level someday. Never rush a decision, but also never not make one. Take into account the amount of time you have, sort out your priorities and move with what resources you have. You don’t always have the luxury of peace and calm. You might not always be clear headed either. Get used to it.
For now, I advise you to take the leadership position, Hazel.”