Watcher’s Fate: A LitRPG Saga (Life in Exile Book 3)
Page 27
“You can’t beat yourself up like that, Dave. You are always telling me that hindsight is 20/20. I know that you make the best decision you can for our family based upon the information that you have at the time,” Emily said as she leaned her head against Dave’s chest.
“That’s not quite what I’m saying. I’m honestly not second guessing the decisions. I am owning my decisions, and the responsibility stops with me. I made those decisions, and our children were hurt by them. I can’t undo the decisions, but moving forward, I need to do better, and right at this moment, I just need to grieve for their pain and my failure,” Dave responded as he tried to explain.
Silence reigned then as they sat holding one another sharing in the knowledge that no one beyond the two of them would ever be able to feel the same depth of emotion for their children. It was a bond of unity for them as parents.
Slowly at first, as she was hesitant to break the silence, Emily finally said, “I understand the struggle you must have felt and even your need to process that. More than anything though, I wish you would have felt comfortable coming to talk to me first. I’m not against you. We are in this together. You of all people are always saying that to me.”
“More than ever I am coming to understand that, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t need time to think it through. Just know that I won’t lie to you or hide things from you, but I have to go through my own process,” Dave said more firmly than before.
“I guess I have to live with that,” Emily said. She wasn’t even sure how she felt about it, but knew it was the right thing to say.
“There is something else you are going to have to live with, and this you may not be so happy about.”
Emily went on the defensive again at Dave’s statement. “Wait, how do you know how I will feel about anything? Don’t you think you should give me the chance to decide for myself?”
“Okay, that’s fair. I guess I was reacting to what I predicted your response would be rather than just speaking. So, Jackson needs to go back to the royal academy, and we need to spend tomorrow trying to get him leveled up by any means necessary.”
“What–you can’t be serious?” Emily asked as she sprung up from her chair.
“I’m deadly serious. You know this isn’t Kansas anymore, so to speak. The old rules don’t apply …” before Dave could finish what he was saying, Emily interrupted him.
“I am so sick of hearing that. You say, Mira says, Daichi says. You are all obsessed with this might makes right system that everyone tries to follow in Eloria. For goodness sake, the villagers practically beg us to rule over them just because we are somehow stronger than they are. It isn’t like we have really done anything to deserve to be rulers here.” Emily’s frustrations poured out of her as she spoke.
“It isn’t a system that we made up. It is just the way it is. You don’t argue with gravity. Well this is the same thing.” Dave insisted.
“Does it have to be? Should we be part of the problem? Wouldn’t it be better if we had some form of elections?” Emily quickly fired back.
Emily watched as Dave took a deep breath like he was trying to calm himself down. This was new. Normally, once they were this deep in an argument, he wouldn’t back down. “Look, it isn’t perfect, but it is the way things are and sure is better than basing your government on swords handed out by strange women in bodies of water. Besides, as you pointed out, the people want this. Elections are great, and I promise you that is where I want to head in the future, but these people just care about living, and to them, a strong ruler is the greatest form of security.”
“They should be trusting in God or Shanelle or Mishpat or whatever they want to call it. I’m more than ever convinced from the communication that I had with the treant that there is a power behind this all,” Emily retorted.
“They are trusting in that power, whether it be as the humans understand it or as the elves do. They are trusting that God, if you will, has given them strong rulers to keep their children safe. I know you feel the same thing. You want to protect our kids just as much as those parents,” Dave said.
Emily and Dave stood there staring at one another again. This time the silence was not the same as the first awkward silence or the second affectionate silence. Now they were glaring at one another.
Finally, Emily said, “I don’t agree, but let’s say that I go along with you. There will be conditions. First off, I want to talk to Jackson, and the final decision will be his. Second, I am going along with you when you are trying to level him up.”
“Done and done. I wouldn’t really have it any other way,” Dave replied. “So what now?”
“We still have to discuss what to do about the sacred ash,” Emily said.
“From what you said, it is highly special to the moon elves, but does it have to be by the church? Could the elves move it?” Dave asked.
“I don’t want to move it. That vision I saw makes me think that keeping the power of the church and the power of the forest together is the way it was meant to be. Besides, it was already over thirty feet tall and growing by the hour. By the meeting time, who knows how big it will be.”
Emily paused a moment before continuing, “What I don’t know is how we get the people to see it this way.”
“I am a bit ashamed to admit it, but I haven’t even checked the land ruler interface recently. I don’t know how many citizens there are in Eris’ Rise,” Dave said.
“Hmm, maybe. I checked it before going to the dungeon about a week ago, but that feels like a lifetime ago. I don’t have much faith that these game tools will provide us the answers, but we can look,” Emily replied, and with that, they both pulled it up and began going through the basic information.
Land Ruler Interface (LRI): Barony/District -Capital: Eris’ Rise (Town)
Bonus (Doubled for dual nationality)
Citizen Productivity and Fertility: +10%
Building Construction Rate: +20%
Crops and Livestock Growth Rate: +20%
* * *
Current Morale: 47/100 (base 37) (-10% productivity till raised above 50)
+25 recently defeated dual human/elven raids
+10 high employment rate
+10 increased construction progress
+10 new rulers
- 45 racial tension (-35 related to Sacred Ash Tree)
“Well you were right I guess, maybe this can show us something. Apparently, the morale in town has gone down quite a lot, and most of it seems to be centered on the sacred ash tree. In fact, if it weren’t for the tree, then I think that the racial tension would have been significantly reduced from what it was a week ago,” Emily said thoughtfully.
“That is to be expected after they have fought and bled together. That will bring down walls between groups faster than anything else,” Dave said. He continued, “What about the population? It looks like it has gone up by a few people, even after the deaths. And it looks like that almost everyone in town is assigned to a job now. I knew that we had recruited some more of the unskilled laborers to be in the town guard, but I hadn’t expected all of this.”
“I didn’t even realize there were enough men to add that many soldiers. As far as the extra citizens, we have been getting stragglers coming in. Most of them have presented themselves to me, and if you weren’t always so busy planning with the military, you might have a better idea about what is going on with the regular people,” Emily vented.
“Well first off, our military is what is going to keep us safe. I won’t apologize for that being my primary focus. Not after we were attacked less than a week ago. Not when we are expecting another force of goblins. You weren’t up in the north. These goblins had ogres and other kinds of monsters with them. They are not to be taken lightly. As far as the number of soldiers, we allowed some women to join. Talvenicus is trying to teach them some simple magic, and if any of them show any talent at all, then we will work on leveling them up and have a mage corps to support our soldiers.” Dave
’s response was brusque.
“Well you probably have noticed that we gained more fishermen since before you left for the Throne. What you may not have noticed is the scholars that wandered into town two days ago. Apparently, the rumors in Albia are that we are progressive and open to new ideas. They seemed interested in that, but even I haven’t had much time to speak with them.”
“Scholars are a good thing. Hopefully they can help me learn how to use some of my research skills. I have so many ideas for how to improve Eris’ Rise … if we can ever stop running long enough to catch our breath.”
Emily smiled. This was the husband that she wanted, not the man who was constantly worried about fighting or leveling up.
Population: 1918 (M: 762, F: 429, C: 727) Employment: 97%
Administrator: 2
Alchemist: 4
Blacksmith: 7
Brewers: 5
Carpenters: 130
Child Care: 30
Cooks: 59
Druids: 6
Enchanters: 1
Engineers: 4
Farmers: 131
Fishermen: 58
Fletchers: 10
Forest Wardens: 21
General Store: 1
Herbalist: 19
Hunters: 19
Jewel crafter: 2
Knights:
Barony/District: 5
Shanelle: 15
Mishpat: 15
Leather Workers: 15
Loggers: 63
Meiyo Eihei: 22
Minotaur: 1
Monks: 6
Soldiers: 15
Miners: 8
Painter: 1
Paladins:
Shanelle: 5
Mishpat: 5
Pottery: 5
Priests/Acolytes:
Shanelle: 5
Mishpat: 5
Karbanot: 2
Rune crafter: 2
Scholars: 2
Scout: 1
Sculptor: 1
Soldiers:
Barony/District: 250 (80 new recruits)
Shanelle: 78
Mishpat: 75
Tailor: 23
Teachers: 24
Teamsters: 14
Tree Shapers: 20
“Looking at the building tab, it seems like we are going to have to pull as many of the workers as possible into building homes. At least as soon as the dining hall is completed. From what I’m being told we probably don’t have much more than a month till snow could start falling, and it will be a hard winter if we still have people sleeping in tents.”
Emily responded, “I don’t really want to stop construction on the school or hospital. Maybe we can talk about building priorities tonight at the meeting. Anything other than religious disputes will be welcome.”
“Aren’t you the one who is supposed to be a priestess?” Dave laughed.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I want to deal with all this bickering. Besides, I still have to sort out how a lifetime of beliefs get integrated with what has happened to us. I know that a voice spoke to me, and I know I get notifications about Shanelle, but I’ve never felt less certain about what I believe than right now.”
“You will get through this, and I’m here if you want to talk about it,” Dave said in a comforting tone.
Emily’s reply sidestepped Dave’s encouragement. She always appreciated his support but sometimes couldn’t really accept it on certain issues. He was probably just glad she wasn’t asking him how this dress made her look. “Maybe if we ever have long enough to sit down and talk about anything that isn’t a pending crisis. I say we leave the building projects as they are at least until we can get some input from the rest of the town.”
“That’s fine, but we are gonna have to think it through at some point, and soon.”
Buildings -
Ruler’s Residence: complete
Citizen Homes: 78 built - current rate: 3/day
Dining Hall: 88% complete
Town Hall: 54% complete
City Wall: 7% complete (progress lost due to combat damage)
Church of Shanelle: 31% complete
Church of Mishpat: 5% complete
Church of Karbanot: 5% complete
Warehouse: 79% complete
Library: 6% complete
School: 14% complete
Hospital: 12% complete
Blacksmith: 1 complete, 1- 64% complete
Stores: 1 complete, 6 - 1% complete
Tannery: 8% complete
131 Farm Plots: 54% complete
“I guess we should look at the last tab and see how our resources are adding up. Every time I look at this thing, it seems like there is more information that wasn’t there before,” Emily said with a hint of confusion in her tone.
“If I had to guess, I would say that is because as we become more aware of the community and our needs, the interface reacts to provide us with that information,” Dave said.
“So it is learning what we need?” Emily asked.
“I’m only guessing here, but it sure seems like it. Now do you see any changes on the resources list?” Dave responded.
Resources -
Food Production: 5093/day (72 per farm/day)
1 Multi Mine/Dungeon: 100% explored Current production: N/A
Dungeon: Tomb of David Nelson- Tier: 3 (13% explored)
1 Iron Mine: 54% explored
Iron Production: 36 units/day
Iron Usage: 16 units/day
Lumber Production: 189 units/day (3 per logger/day average)
Lumber Use: 163 units/day (surplus of 304 units)
Hunting Production: 1032/day (43 per hunter/day average)
Fishing Production: 2668/day (46 per fisherman/day average)
Alchemistry/Herbalists: 3:81% / 15- operational
Blacksmith: 11 only one functioning smithy operating at 158% of capacity
Brewers: 27% set up
Cooks: current capacity 7400 meals/day
Enchanting: 1:89% set up
Fletching: 10: 100% set up (re-assigned to hunting at 50% efficiency)
Jewel crafting: 2: 91% set up
Leather Workers: 11: 34% set up -need a tannery (currently reassigned to logging at 50% efficiency)
Pottery: 5: fully set up but need permanent facility
Rune crafting: 2: fully set up but need permanent facility
Tailors: 23: 4% set up - need dedicated facilities (currently most reassigned to construction at 50% efficiency)
Sacred Ashwood Production: still optimizing - at 53% capacity - single tree 9 units/day (base 5 at current capacity- modified by elder root, zone and optimal placement bonuses) First units available approximately 24 hours after planting.
Current Food Needs: 6754 units/day
Current Food Production: 8793 units/day
“After reading through everything, it is clear that our food needs have jumped up quite a bit. I wonder if that is partially due to the wolfpigs that Mira brought back. Fortunately, our food production is up even more,” Emily began.
“It actually looks like we have improved quite a bit in different categories, but what is with the Sacred Ashwood production?” Dave asked.
“I honestly had no idea that when I took that sapling and planted it that it was going to be anything other than a great tree for us to shelter under. I thought it might be a way to make some of the elves feel more at home as well as be a production unit. By tomorrow afternoon, it will have produced as many units of wood as three of our lumberjacks,” Emily seemed truly amazed.
“That is if a unit means the same thing. I wonder, if it means more saplings or if there is something else we could do with the wood. You did say it was sort of a magical wood, right? Heck for that matter, six units could even mean six of those little treant things.”
Emily frowned at that last suggestion. “Oh … that could be bad. Well hopefully it’s just usable wood because, now that you say it, I can think of some things I might be able to do with magical wood.”
Dave smiled and started to say something, but Emily cut him off, “Don’t go there.”
Dave couldn’t help but laugh at her mock anger though. They might fight and they might not always see eye to eye, but there was one part of their relationship that had always been good. “Well then, I guess we better decide what we are going to do tonight at the meeting.”
Emily looked at him. She knew it was killing him that she didn’t bite on his joke, but she needed to stay focused. “Here is what I am thinking. Let me know what you think.”
Chapter Twenty
“Some days you have a plan and everything seems to be working. Other days the veil is pulled back and you see how truly control is just an illusion.” — Biography of Piersung, Imperial Champion. His response upon learning that the senate had approved the purge.
Eris’ Rise - David Nelson
The next two hours were not overly pleasant for Jackson, but Dave figured that if it made his son safer, then it was worth it. When Emily and Jackson finally came out of the house, it was clear that both had been crying. Emily just gave him that look that said she would give him the details later. Dave reached out and pulled both of them into a big hug. As he held Jackson tight, he could feel the differences that the stat boosts had made. It might have been shocking but for the fact that Mira had already told him about Jackson’s choices, and right now Dave just didn’t have the heart to criticize his son for not waiting to talk it over.
Besides, he and Emily needed to get to the town hall for the meeting with the leaders of the various factions concerning the sacred ash tree. They left the children at home with a full set of human and elven guards and asked Balayria to make sure Sara got to bed. Jackson undoubtedly wanted to try out his improvements, and Mira would take the time to learn another spell.
While walking to the meeting, Dave said, “I hope you know that I am as excited about this meeting as I would be for a root canal.”
Emily rolled her eyes at his exaggeration. “And that makes me appreciate you all the more for this.”