Honest Labor and Honest Thoughts

Vivian held back a yawn. The exertions of the final game hadn’t been wiped away like they had been for the others, leaving her with most of her mana gone. She glanced over at John, slightly envious that his powers let him bounce back so easily. Even after putting in far more work physically, he was still moving things around without complaint. He was even making use of that new spirit skill, infusing his wind spirit into a wooden sledge Verida had grown, turning it into a hovering platform that easily let anyone move the weighty supplies they had won.

That still only made a dent in the large pile of goods that had appeared once they got close to the Golmerk village. Apparently, the number of things they won had been scaled to the population it was meant for, which meant, in her estimation, everything they won was multiplied by at least three.

‘At least it means there’s more than enough to sate the elders,’ Vivian thought as she looked over at them. Between their status and age, they had taken an advisory role in this endeavor, watching their people and them move everything into more permanent housing. She wondered if they would have been as ‘welcoming’ as they had been if the piles of supplies hadn’t appeared, making them look like conquering heroes coming back with a great bounty.

“It’s a good thing Aeolia, Beth and Kiera were still in the Kingdom,” Senka said as she approached. “Makes the whole thing feel more like a team effort. And their abilities certainly make things easier.”

Vivian nodded, her eyes moving to where Beth and Kiera were hauling boxes of clothing material. The bluenette had one large box suspended between and above her transformed arms, a look of concentration on her face as she steadily moved it. Beth was far less careful with her movements, skating across the ground with several boxes stuck together trailing behind her, pulled by a length of affixed rope. Overhead, Aeolia flew with an armful of shrunken boxes, her mobility and magic letting her haul far more than any of them could.

As she looked over everyone moving to and fro, her eyes fell back to John. He was loading up the spirit-empowered sled when Rowan walked by, a large stack of boxes in her arms, obscuring her vision. John called out to her, trying to stop her from tripping over an uneven patch of ground. His warning came a second too late and the squire’s balance faltered, but John quickly dashed towards her, his firm hand grabbing her arm to keep her upright.

As Rowan thanked John, her face flustered, Vivian couldn’t help but think back to how the squire had blushed when John smiled at her. She let out a small yelp when Senka pressed against her, the spirit following her line of sight.

“So, you noticed it too, hm?” Senka purred, her voice and presence sending a pleasant jolt down her spine. “Looks like John’s snagged the heart of another fair maiden.”

“He’s got a habit of it,” Vivian muttered, her eyes drifting to Teri and Kiera. As inexperienced as she was in the ways of the heart, she had no illusions that they were, to some extent, enamored with John and the rest of them to various degrees. It was blindingly obvious in Kiera’s case as while her normally flustered expressions made using blushes to divine her feelings close to impossible, her lingering gazes were a lot easier to dissect.

“Are we going to let them wander in the wasteland of love or shall we offer them a beacon to follow?” Senka playfully asked.

“Is now really the best time for this?” Vivian asked back. “And I don’t mean now while we should be working. I mean, we’ve got some dark guild running around with us on their hit list.”

“To be fair in Kiera’s case, she’s already on that list,” Senka softly remarked, the bluenette’s sad history dampening the spirit’s usually upbeat mood. “And I don’t think that really is a good reason to prevent someone from joining us. Phantom Reach wanted to kill John and Aeolia from the day they met.”

VIvian hummed in assent. It would be a bit hypocritical to use danger to dissuade introducing new people to their relationship.

“I think we may need to have a proper discussion about this,” she said after a moment of thought. “There is a lot more to things than just attraction. Teri has her obligations to her clan, and we barely know Rowan.”

“Fair,” Senka relented. “This is something that does need to be handled with care. Don’t want to break any hearts needlessly. To say nothing else about making things awkward with our ‘allies’.”

“Speaking of, we should get back to work,” Vivian said, pulling away from the touchy spirit. “Don’t want either of them to get ideas that we’re not pulling our weight.”

“They’d have a hard time selling that since we’re the ones that did all the fighting today.” Senka laughed.

“Still, it’s best for us to keep working,” Vivian pressed, already moving towards the nearest pile of loot.

“As you wish, my lady,” Senka dramatically said, bowing for effect.

Sofia subtly kept watch over the various parties of interest as she worked, using the hauling of material as cover to make note of the numerous dynamics of the assembled persons. Her focus was mainly on the goblin elders, trying to gauge their thoughts now that they’ve delivered upon the promised goods. The opinion forming didn’t paint a generous picture.

‘I can understand the elderly not breaking their backs, and leaders not stooping to manual labor, but they don’t have to appear as smug as they do,’ she thought, giving them a sideways glance. The three elders stood off a fair distance from the bulk of the activity, watching with critical eyes. The worst was the one Newman named Vrexty, the apparent head elder. She recalled how he seemed to barely hold back a sneer when they arrived. Like he didn’t want any outside help, even if that meant damning his people to slow decay.

‘How much longer would they have gone if the Lady hadn’t put their path on a collision with Newman’s?’ Sofia wondered, her eyes drifting over to the Gamer right as he saved Donnelly from a fall. ‘I have to wonder if we’re part of some higher plan too.’

It wasn't an outlandish thought. Even the Lord Protector and Warden were leaning in that direction. Newman’s powers, along with the signs Seer Varnik had divined, were hard things to ignore.

‘If only he wasn’t already spoken for,’ she lamented as she watched her squire interact with the young man. Worse than already being in a committed relationship, it wasn’t just with one person. They weren’t being obvious with it, but Sofia could see the signs. A lingering touch here, a far too long gaze there. Nothing definitive that could be used to prove Newman was sleeping with most of the women he seemed to know, but it was enough for her to feel sorry for her squire.

A relationship between the two would have been hard enough given that Newman wasn’t a part of the Order and was likely going to grow into a **** that could rival them, if that was the Lady’s plan. However, in terms of politics, a match between a prospective knight of the Order and the leader of an up-and-coming faction wasn’t a move out of left field.

But the Order was not going to be accepting of such a match with someone with a harem. Even if things were equal between its members, the Order’s stance on such things was firm. The burden of the Wardens was one those that followed them took upon themselves as well. It was the best way for all to emulate those blessed women. Not all could match their power or piety, but the dedication to one partner was something anyone could achieve.

Political reality meant they couldn’t ignore any power that didn’t uphold such high standards that operated in their circles, but over the centuries, the Wardens and Lord Protectors had made clear that they only dealt with such groups begrudgingly.

‘Perhaps I should keep this to myself for now,’ Sofia thought as she watched Donnelly and Newman interact. It was entirely innocent, the young man seeming to not have any lascivious intentions towards her squire. Between him being a gentleman and not having any real evidence, she saw no reason to bring up his possible proclivities at this junction.

‘Still, I should keep an eye open, if Lord Brighton keeps me on this mission,’ she thought. ‘If he remains noble, then his relationships shouldn’t prove too much of an issue if and when they become known.’

With a slight shake of her head, Sofia focused on just what she would report to the Lord Protector, taking advantage of being unfamiliar with the Golmerks to do so uninterrupted while maintaining a good working pace to not attract attention. Firstly was her observations on Newman’s barriers. They were as complex as the Warden had described, and while two events were hardly enough to form a proper trend, it did paint the picture that Newman’s greatest ability at this time was the wide variety of environments he could conjure.

The training potential was already endless in terms of landscapes and enemies to fight, but the bonus of material and gear that could be obtained rocketed that potential to endless heights. While most of what they faced today were mechanical in nature, the first game’s straw-based enemies at least showed some variety. Of course, these opponents also allowed her to witness more of Newman’s fighting ability, alongside another of his group, which helped to further their profiles.

The added benefit of gaining information on prominent members of the goblins was nice, but given how standoffish the elders were, Sofia believed they were more likely to withdraw and focus on rebuilding themselves instead of aiding Newman.

‘Well, perhaps their shaman will be out in the field more often than not,’ she corrected herself, seeing her squire and Newman interact with her. ‘Her magic is quite useful from what Donnelly said about it.’

Sofia shook her head and let out a sigh. She hoped that the goblins would remain off the stage. Not for any discriminatory reason, despite what some of the Order’s enemies would proclaim, but because they had their own issues to deal with and she didn’t want a people already beset with tragedy to be drawn into this conflict. But, given whoes aegis they were living under, she feared it wouldn’t matter.

Beyond fighting ability and Newman’s barriers, all she had left to review were the people themselves. Newman matched the initial profile the Warden had presented: a generally placid, intelligent and compassionate young man, willing to jump into battle to defend others. If he had been unattached, in both terms of allegiance and relationship, he would have been a valuable addition to the Order.

‘At least we were able to form an alliance,’ Sofia thought. ‘None of them seem to hold overly selfish or nefarious desires so there likely won’t be too many issues for us to butt heads on.’

However, there were still some hangups she foresaw the Lord Protector having. The polyamorous relationship was one, should it become known. Thankfully, she had not seen anything that leaned in that direction, so omitting her assumptions was not in violation of her oaths, assuming Lord Brighton didn’t ask directly. More importantly, she foresaw issues with Newman and his coterie taking actions that would run up against the Order’s. Not in an opposed way, but in how they would see the problem and approach a solution. They were optimistic, even with the hardships they had already endured, and may elect to seek a solution that was too soft and lenient.

‘They may react badly if we have to lay down the law harshly with someone,’ she made a note of. ‘Lady willing, they will understand, but I will make my fears known to the Lord Protector.’

As she watched Renoux and Newman’s shadowy elemental approach Donnelly and Newman, a friendly greeting coming from the redhead’s lips, Sofia pursed her lips.

‘I can only hope that Donnelly’s heart doesn’t break into too many pieces when things can’t progress with Newman,’ the knight thought, a cloud of sad bitterness settling over her, her right hand subconsciously drifting over to toy with a ring no longer resting upon her left. ‘At least it would be better than some alternatives.’

Shaking away dark thoughts and sad memories, Sofia got back to work, letting the manual labor distract from both past and upcoming trials.