I had rushed the rest of the way back at the end of the day. The RMPF would clear their way back on their own the following day. I wanted to know what happened with the Ritualist. Naran hadn’t returned yet as I sat with Clarissa in my office sipping fruit flavored water. I had just informed her of what happened in our assault on Truth.

“He took up the position of Governor General,” I said as I settled into my chair and sipped my drink. Clarissa slowly nodded at that.

“That is something that was a possible outcome. I know you weren’t too enthusiastic about splitting our forces. I am surprised you let him,” Clarissa said.

“I don’t want to grip too tightly. It will give an outlet for people to run off to,” I said and sipped my water.

“Surprising of you. But, that matches up with your recent change in mindset. It will be a struggle for a bit to replace Gerold here, but we are prepared. The RMPF has a good command structure,” Clarissa said.

“So, we aren’t going to have an insurrection?” I asked. I wanted to be sure.

“No. General Smith is quite competent. He was already handling most of the recruitment and organization at the lower ranks. Now he can work out the defensive plans and hand off his old tasks,” Clarissa said.

“Any new from Naran?” I asked.

“No, nothing new, since he left. He should be coming back tonight or early tomorrow,” Clarissa said.

“I will admit I am slightly worried,” I said.

“The bigger concern is the lack of other cities or people,” Clarissa said.

“Well, crossing a level 3 zone isn’t simple. Only the frostlands are viable for crossing. The stonelands are too risky and the mistlands are too dangerous,” I said thinking about the large boulders, and mental mist.

“You have mentioned about doing a loop, thinking about that?” Clarissa asked.

“Yes. It is concerning, and while I like to think I was the one of the first arrivals, it just seems improbable,” I answered.

“So, more grinding?” Clarissa asked.

“At least until I get strong enough to not worry about level 3 monsters and zones. There is no rush at the moment, and trying to poke high level areas is dangerous,” I said while thinking about the tower.

“Thinking about the tower?” Clarissa was a secret mind reader, or I was just that obvious.

“Level 4 guards implies a level 5 boss at the very least. I don’t even want to imagine something like that,” I said and shook my head. Level 4 was already a struggle. Not as much as before, but I was only advancing slowly.

We sat in silence for a bit. “Oh, that reminds me. What is up with the glasses Elliot wears? Didn’t he get a regeneration?” I asked.

Clarissa shook her head as she answered my question. “They are lifestyle glasses. They are meant to make him look smart, not for visual acuity. I know, it is stupid, but he likes them, so the glasses stay.”

“They are a liability. But I guess he isn’t in a combat position,” I reasoned.

“I am still searching for a fire and brimstone breacher with a touch of stage magic, but no luck so far,” Clarissa said.

“How would people take it? What about Yaakov?” I asked.

“Well you have mythic status, even if you don’t glow golden.” I blinked and took a moment to process the gaming joke Clarissa just made. “As long as your religion isn’t in people’s faces it shouldn’t be a huge problem. There will be complaints, but those are normal.”

“As for Yaakov, he is doing fine last I heard. Set up new procedures for the arrivals as well. If any of them cause issues, right into the Prison to cool down. Then someone will come along and talk to them. Having people disappear with the Prison Rod makes a big statement. Better than killing them,” Clarissa explained.

“I always thought killing a person at the start gave a clear message,” I said.

“It does, but there is a lot of trauma from being transported her. In fact we are going to be implementing mental health services. Free trauma counseling and regular screenings,” Clarissa said.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“I can’t believe we have enough mental health professionals for something like that,” I replied.

“We got one mental health counselor, and he trained up other people. It is a work in progress, but it is something that has branched off of our screenings of summoners,” Clarissa said. “You look like you don’t approve.”

“It isn’t that I approve or disapprove, just that people are mentally weak,” I said.

“The suicide rate is astronomical. It is depressing and people have breakdowns. Being taken away from their homes, families, and pets. Really the Prison is doing a great job as a cool down tank for people who get too emotional and need a moment to adjust,” Clarissa said.

“Well, it is other people’s problems, and you are dealing with it, so I don’t mind,” I replied.

“Reasonable enough. What about people moving between cities?” Clarissa asked.

“I leave that all to you. But don’t be afraid to say no or step on some toes,” I said and sipped my water, letting the flavor linger in my mouth. All it needed was some carbonation.

“What is our stance when you run into another city, or empire, now?” Clarissa asked.

“It all depends on their strength, the worst part is we can’t exchange pointers safely,” I replied.

“Pointers?” Clarissa asked.

“A martial arts or cultivation term. Where a senior gives advice to a junior, often in the form a beatdown. Fighting hand to hand, won’t tell me how capable someone is, just their Body stat at most. Skills will play a major role. A trump card,” I explained.

“Well, we are in a strong position for now, defensively. Even the Ritualist attacks, we aren’t helpless,” Clarissa said.

“You think we can hold him outside the walls, even with flying monsters and summons?” I asked.

“The summons are weak. Even people who have done one rotation can beat them. Also the RMPF has prioritized Mind upgrades. They won’t be broken by mental attacks, which was a big reason why we were forced to the plaza last time. Completely broken,” Clarissa replied.

“Everything is broken to some extent, but you are right there is no balance built into things.” I let out a sigh thinking about consumption. “Any luck on putting together an elite team?” I asked.

“Next arrival, I should have five people I can pull at the end of their rotation,” Clarissa replied. We sat there in silence for a bit more. This time Clarissa broke the silence.

“It looks like Gertrude is pushing quite hard,” Clarissa replied.

“Grinding to reach a thousand stats?” I asked.

“Yes. She wants to sit on the Immortal Council. As a direct counter to you. She is quite unhappy about Laura still,” Clarissa replied.

“Well, if she wants to join, that is fine. A level 4 monster is no joke. If she thinks she can easily win, good for her. I suspect she will die horribly,” I replied.

“Cold of you,” Clarissa replied. I just gave her a look and shrugged a bit.

“Getting emotional isn’t something you need to worry about. At least romance. But I sense that isn’t your concern, you are worried, you will get pushed around,” I guessed.

“Yes. I have concerns, if you aren’t here and someone else is on the Immortal Council, being able to push back on things they decide will be difficult,” Clarissa replied.

“Once the Immortal Council forms, there will be a vote. Naran and I will vote for you to be in charge of the city. Governor Clarissa,” I said.

“Weird how a Governor would be above a President,” Clarissa replied.

“That is just the way things would work out. Pick a title, but regardless, you would be in charge. That isn’t going to change,” I said.

“I am glad to hear that,” Clarissa replied.

“Any idea who would be our next Governor General, maybe for Neo Brasilia?” I asked.

“No idea. Gerold was quite good at his job, so he should be able to handle a city, using ours as an example. The extra points being sent this way will be nice,” Clarissa said.

“The floating crystals are a pain to get through quickly, but with summons it is easy enough to bait them out,” I replied.

“That could work for other monsters. Like the golems. Have a summoner with a lot of weak monsters to wait the golems out one at a time and distract them,” Clarissa replied.

“I am not about to tangle or attempt to tangle with level 4 monsters. At least with level 3 monsters I can mentally turn off my brain a bit to just grind and optimize my movements. With level 4 monsters, it is a fight for my life. I need to be extremely careful,” I said.

“Any idea when you can grind level 4 monsters?” Clarissa asked.

“Probably around day 1,000 to be honest,” I replied. “I could do it sooner and want to do it sooner, but finding the right level 4 won’t be simple. I also have no doubt that the level 4 zones will be a nightmare,” I answered.

There was a knock on the door. “Enter,” I called out. Naran came into the room. He looked tired but uninjured. I got up as he took a seat. I poured him a cup of fruit water and handed it to him. I then refilled my cup as well.

“Welcome back Naran, glad you okay. How did things go?” I asked.

“Complicated,” he replied with a frown. “I made good time to Heaven, outrunning the monsters. Since they don’t like to leave their zone. I made it to Heaven’s zone with only a bit of hassle. The striped meerkats were annoying, but easily killed.”

“Wait, weren’t you going to go with a group?” I asked and looked at Clarissa who shook her head and I looked back at Naran.

“I left them at the edge of the striped meerkats and summoner ants and rushed through the summoners. Would use them as a fallback point.” I nodded at that. Since it was his decision how to run the mission.

Naran continued speaking, “I made my way to Heaven, and encountered several people kill monsters in Heaven’s zone. No summons were present. I made my way to one of the people. They didn’t know anything about the Ritualist or summons or anything.”

It took me a moment to process what Naran had just said. The Ritualist had disappeared. “Where is he?” I asked not expecting an answer.

“That was my question. Heaven is no longer Heaven, or at least the people present weren’t calling the city that name,” Naran explained.

“Another city to the South or East? Maybe through the swamps or deadlands?” Clarissa asked.

“Maybe. We have no idea about the map and zones in those areas. We didn’t exactly check the last time we were there,” Naran said.

I was staring at my cup of fruit flavored water. My mood was not good. The Ritualist had disappeared and I had no idea where he was or what he was doing. Was the treaty just a pretext so he could run away? The worst part was, that I had no idea if he had discovered consumption or not.