Chương 78: (B2.14)

14) Bookkeeper Ellen Even with the windows open, Ellen would have preferred some more light. The thought occurred that they should have held the meeting outside, but she quickly discarded that. The problem was just the angle of the sun, and this particular building. The longhouse just was not situated to get light properly through the windows, at least not in this season.

"We need a table," Ellen muttered aloud. All the other Ellens—excepting Village, Whisper, and Stage—were in a loose circle sitting upon the various pelts. Over the winter those pelts and blankets had gotten both dirty and threadbare… a situation that became a reminder that a single hunter couldn't provide for all their needs any more. Even with Fisher helping tan the hides, it was a strain with this many people to just get that many hides.

"Most of our wood is put toward construction," Carpenter answered, even though Ellen had been clearly rhetorical.

"And a table would need to be seasoned. We can get away with a lot of green wood in construction, but furniture really needs to be properly prepared. I'm only one person so even my Ability can't handle too much." Ellen waved a hand.

"That isn't even the real problem. Everyone quiet down and I'll try to put this in terms we can all agree on." Every other Ellen settled themselves, tucking legs under or crossing them as they got comfortable. It was a nice change from how other places might operate… every Ellen here knew that Ellen wouldn't call them together for a talk like this if it weren't something important. Ellen might need to defend her position, but none of them would question her motives unless she said something truly unhinged.

Merchant crossed her arms, as she probably had a good idea of what Ellen was about to say. They'd thought of it while they were both Merchant, before she had died, but never managed to organize things properly. The Founder Class was powerful, but it wasn't one that actually focused on organization… just administration. That sounded similar, but it definitely was not.

"I'm not happy to say this, but I think we need to have an Ellen or two that gives orders and organizes the rest," she began.

"Not a leader exactly, just someone to more efficiently line up effort so we don't keep running into things that need done. We have a half dozen different but related goals, and nobody is helping one another unless you count the Adventuring Party over there." All four of them lifted their hands to give a wave to the others. Hunter sighed and raised her hand.

"You were just assassinated, according to you. Shouldn't we be thinking of that, first? We may not be the most efficient at it, but we're making progress. I'm worried it won't be as fun if we're forced to do whatever."

"I'm getting to that," Ellen countered.

"You're not wrong, but that assassination is exactly why I think we need to organize. I'm hoping it will be temporary, so we can get something established before we're inevitably discovered. We have so many strange talents and work together so well, there's no reason we shouldn't be able to do things in a fraction of the time this number of people would normally do it." Mason stopped playing with her hair.

"I'm listening." Ellen gestured outside.

"Think about if we all worked on the new checkpoint outside the dungeon at once. Not just as a group laboring, but lining it up. Whenever we needed new materials, use the Settlement Interface to put the order in. Someone closer to Onroc can notice it and get to transporting the materials right away, or getting them ready for preparation by a specialist. We don't need messengers to explain what's needed, we can just do it."

"This is almost like how we fight," Scholar noted.

"We know what needs done and start it before being asked," Scout agreed.

"See?" Ellen pointed to the quartet.

"We know we can do it, the problem is we've all been doing our own projects and just helping as convenient. If we focused on just the dungeon checkpoint, for example, I bet we could have it finished and up within a week." Smith shook her head.

"It took weeks to get the longhouse up, making another decent-sized building in days doesn't make much sense." Even as she said it, though, Ellen could hear the doubt in her voice, that maybe she hadn't considered everything.

"No, I'm sure we could, especially since you'll be staying here working on nails and fasteners," Ellen countered.

"We're going to have to pause the Adventuring Party's idea with the dungeon anyway… they need more support. So we need to be the kind of place that can really support them. For now, that means a front to handle the adventurers who will be coming in much more frequently now." Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Mason nodded.

"I agree with Bookkeeper. The foundation is already down, so as soon as Merchant gets the Settlement Interface operating the way it was before, we can frame things visibly. We couldn't do that with the longhouse. But are you four okay with this?" The Adventuring Party shrugged as one.

"You are right, we need more support," Scholar said.

"We are Ellens and you are needing more Ellens," Acolyte added.

"Of course we will put our fight on hold," Fighter agreed.

"What tasks are we to be doing, though?" Scout asked. By now, the alternating sentences didn't bother Ellen. She still didn't quite understand how the Adventuring Party worked together so tightly, but they were no longer creeping her out. It was hard to be creeped out when they were so helpful with everything, and didn't try to pressure her into being like them.

"I have a list of assignments already made up," Ellen answered.

"It's pretty simple. Merchant, Mason, Fighter, Cobbler, and Acolyte will be the ones consistently working on the checkpoint, except when there's too much traffic to get anything done. Hunter and Scout, you two need to keep hunting, with Scout sometimes running messages to town." Ellen pointed to Scholar.

"You're with me, going back and forth to see how we operate and improve the process. We also need to compare notes about your dungeon plans so I can help coordinate your support there. When we aren't doing that, we help with the checkpoint construction or handling any requests, plus I'll often be needed in the Village."

"Yes, Mistress Ellen," Scholar said immediately, summoning a barrage of laughter from the other Ellens in the room. Ellen sighed and shook her head, but she couldn't help but smile at that as well.

"I don't have a problem with this," Hunter admitted.

"I get along well with Scout."

"In the evenings, the Adventuring Party will regroup to make sure they still work together smoothly," Ellen continued.

"Smith, you and Carpenter will stay here and prepare any orders that come in, with Melissa staying here during the days. If you have idle time, work on upkeep or practice for later needs like Adventuring Party's equipment. You can work out between you who handles transport based on who's least busy, or Scholar or myself will handle it if we're here."

"Makes sense," Carpenter allowed.

"Just be sure to put your orders in early so I can have them ready for when you need them."

"Of course," Mason agreed, flashing her sister-self a smile. Fisher raised her hand.

"I didn't hear what I was supposed to be doing during all this."

"You are actually very critical," Ellen admitted, pointing at Fisher.

"We're going to need a lot of leather and hide and pelts, and I don't think Hunter and Scout can take too much time off to handle that part when we're trying to build up a stockpile. You'll have to handle that, and cook for us, because we're all going to be working hard on this. You can get back to fishing once we have a decent supply of leather." Carpenter crossed her arms.

"I'm not sure what your assassination has to do with us needing to get things done faster, but I can't really complain about getting things done. Just don't expect any fancy furniture. I've been training myself for structural stuff, not anything decorative. But I can at least get you wooden hinges so Smith doesn't waste our iron supply on that."

"Remember that once I run out of my mana crystal, that's it until we can somehow get control of the plume again," Smith added.

"And we don't actually have a fresh supply of iron. Once the ingots are gone, I have to smelt more often. Once the ore that's already mined is gone, we'll have to either hire some miners, mine it ourselves, or buy from downriver."

"I'm aware," Ellen nodded.

"And the assassination matters because it made no sense. We can't predict what people will do for the dungeon. Maybe it was something else that caused it, I don't know… Whisper will have to tell us when she arrives. But for now it made me realize that even very smart people aren't always rational, or they have some goal that we can't predict. We're used to everything making sense to us now because we're all Ellen, but the people running the government aren't Ellens."

She saw the Adventuring Party all smile slightly at that. Her vocabulary had matched theirs, and evidently earned their approval, however slight. At last, Merchant Ellen spoke up to back her up.

"We need to remember that we're already under a lot of attention, and we're kind of bad at hiding," she pointed out.

"We've managed it this long because we're in the middle of nowhere and we have the backing of the village, but once we have more traffic through here that will fall apart. We need to be firmly entrenched and ready for trouble here, not just in the village." Hunter chuckled.

"We can leave the village to Village Ellen. She's smart and she's stronger than the rest of us, so that part is handled. It's here, our home, that we need to worry about."

"We should also send a message to mom and dad," Mason added.

"I know our parting wasn't good, but we should at least let them know in our own words that we're alive. Or um, one of us is, anyway. Even if we kind of aren't…" Several Ellens glanced at the Adventuring Party, who had already buried the three bodies of Ellen's predecessors in the cemetery nearby. Nobody said a word about it, or the fact that Original Ellen was long dead.

"Don't think about that," Merchant advised.

"Look, I also think that the more buildings we actually finish, the more Settlement Points we'll get. I'm not sure exactly how they're earned but I bet it has something to do with that. The more of those we earn, the more I'll be able to reshape the landscape once I get to Level 12, and the faster we can build new things. It'll get easier as it goes along." Smith laughed out loud.

"Since when does it ever get easier? Things have been getting more complicated since we died in the cave the first time!"

"She has a point," Hunter agreed with a smirk, tossing her support behind her sister-self. Merchant held up her hands.

"Okay, yeah. But building the community should be easier. It's just like gaining Levels. The more you have, the more challenges you face, and the more experience you get. Maybe it's like that for our community, as well. It sure seems to act like it."

"Fair," Smith muttered.

"Okay, any other questions or concerns with the plan?" Ellen asked, looking about the room. Not a single Ellen raised their hand.

"Then the first meeting of the Council of Ellens is now adjourned!"