Chương 244: Chapter 265: Fundraiser

The rest of the week involved a lot of rushed hushed conferences with Larianne. She's the only person I know who can go-between me and the Ebonder leadership, and even more importantly I trust her to massage the information however she needs to. I've probably confided a dozen things to her that would lead Duke Septimus Ebonder to immediately order my destruction, and she's just sort of 'neglected' to mention those parts to him.

She's probably done me favors going the other direction too, either softening some threats from him, or maybe mislaying some information meant to trap me somehow. In addition to actually helpful information- her family has offered resources, and I have refused to ask for books, tools, scripts, or components, only advice and perspective. From my knowledge, it seems like the biggest problems necromancers run into early is that they lack the sort of background that would let them make good decisions.

Larianne's people can offer that. She's being kept busy corresponding with the family's nucleus, and holding hasty nasty chats with yours truly.

I'm trying to stabilize Belisa, work out the next steps, assemble my plans, keep up with the rest of my grueling school schedule, stay current with the Rapier Revolt, insinuate myself into Yheta's networks, pick at the edges of Kralcit's empire, as well as to activate and finish whatever quests I can for any of my love interests because this Sister Schneider quest was not going to wait for me. Oh, and I have to keep up with the Developing Theories folks too.

On Fourthday last week a brilliant researcher electrocuted himself because he thought that replacing all of his body's inferior synaptic electricity with superior alternating current would make him immortal, or superhuman, or boost his intellect. Maybe all three of them. Instead he electrocuted himself because none of his colleagues talked him out of it. For some reason discovering electricity has activated some kind of lemming suicide switch in these scientists.

After I sat them all down for a stern lecture about how magic does not do what science does, and science does not do what magic does, I have hopefully gotten them past the idea that directly introducing powerful elements to their bodies can induce superpowers. That's what sorcery is for, not natural philosophy. They seemed like they were humoring me. There's a built-in assumption in science, that it can explain things. That its methods and capacity for knowledge are encompassing and ubiquitous.

The problem with applying that assumption in a setting that also includes magic is that the world now includes numerous sharp-edged cut-outs to that principle. I know damn well there's no organ or wavelength or crystal or subdimensional ripple that causes people to be able to conjure matter from nothing, or to write down words that change the world, or let them change the weather with pure willpower. That's a line that science does not cross. Many of the monsters here seemed to have evolved. I can accept that.

They also have magical features, like enchantable claws or infinitely-dark blood. I have enough perspective here that I can just look at the world and see which elements are purely magical and don't bear further investigation. The skywhale flies without visible support? Cool, that's magic, doesn't need any more explanation. But for these guys, they haven't seen a world without magic and one with it. They don't have a clear divide.

So they are tempted, over and over, to think that their scientific methods can explain anything magic can do. And by extension, they keep falling into this trap: they think that if magic can do something, all they need to do is test enough and they can do it with science too. Honestly, that might be part of why this kingdom has never fully entered the Age of Reason, even after the evidence that humans have been more-or-less civilized here for tens of thousands of years.

That, or every time someone electrocutes a dead frog they get executed for necromancy. That would have a certain chilling effect as well. After a week of back-and-forth discussion with Larianne, they still would not budge on securing Belisa's safety, either to keep her safe from evil influences or taking measure to keep her from hurting anyone else. They preferred holding the deniability while I held the responsibility.

Larianne encouraged me to be flattered by this: apparently Uncle Septimus did not generally leave potential problems in the hands of anyone else. Usually he would take whatever he needed to without asking, and if it was too dangerous to take he would have it all destroyed. My reaction to this was less "flattered" and more "intimidated". As for Belisa, I had to keep working with her.

I had a queasy feeling that I had started something by moving my soul through her, that this was the reason her very nature had started clutching at soul-stuff more aggressively. But it had not grown or exacerbated until I stopped. So, if I avoided her or withheld the treatments, she could likely keep getting worse. It was like an addiction: exposure created the problem, but the problem does not aggravate until the exposure is withdrawn. Maybe this addiction metaphor is particularly apt, for a Love Interest.

There's a real urge for me to move forward with this. To treat it like a Problem That I Can Solve. Find Meadwhite and bring the thunder, put an end to his bullshit, follow him from one prepared corpse to another until he's out of second chances and I can finally put him behind me for good. I want to mount up a posse and chase off to deal with this. I want it a lot, and I am often not strong enough to resist an urge like this. I have to talk myself down with logic.

First: whatever my next step here, it is definitely going to be part of a quest. This story-line won't have me running off to kill the lich and not give me at least a 'quest accepted' marker. Which means that the System, the goddess, the game, the world... whatever is at work here, does not think I'm ready. Second: I have no reason to think that annihilating Meadwhite in all his many incarnations would actually help Belisa. I need a plan that helps her, not just a plan that serves my latest vendetta.

Third: I'm still negotiating with Septimus, through channels. Well, for now. He and I travel in similar enough social circles that we're going to get a chance to talk in person soon enough. And part of what I discuss with Larianne is exactly what I should do about that: he's her uncle, they're family, they love each other. She's a little scared of him, and she warns me that I should be very scared of him.

And so she's coaching me with things to say, things not to say, even things that I should not even think in his presence. So, three reasons to wait. And I hated all three of them. I did not like waiting for quests, especially since I knew that some of them aren't necessary. I had first interacted with Belisa's life by beating one of her late-game quests and taking the blackmail material back from Kudder, Kralcit's foundry-man. I didn't start her quest, I just beat it and too the rewards.

So I should still qualify for the XP if I get rid of him for good. And while annihilating him will not automatically free Belisa, it's certainly a start. I can probably raid his laboratories for the rest of the information I need. Or, I could get what I need from the source.

But that's where I have to negotiate with Septimus, because if he thought I was going to make a move towards the golden glow on the far side of the Tumnassed Wall, he would call down a preemptive artillery strike that would destroy this whole Academy for sure. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

As it turns out, finding out how Belisa was de-souled and animated was only one step in a difficult process, and the next step is negotiating the contents of my plan with a duke who would rather kill literally any number of people rather than allow any credible risk of his secrets falling into the wrong hands. And this prickly process lasted all through the week, right up until I was to see him in person. But first, before I can deal with that potential disaster, I need to deal with a far more irksome humiliation.

I need to make good on a promise. It is, once more, time for the Student Council's fundraiser fair.

"You know, last year I avoided this whole affair," Elica was saying with a gay and spritely air about her, grinning with the rich self-satisfaction that only a total bitch getting her way can demonstrate. She was putting on a more casual day dress than I've ever seen her in, but that stands to reason. After all, she is neither attending classes nor going out on the town. It is Sixthday, and she is going to stay on campus for the fundraiser. There's only one real reason why, and it rhymes with tunk dank.

Why the hell did this have to follow so closely after my promotion to a Crown Princess? Why does my new title need to have the dignity undermined immediately just so that I can help Kurumi out with her sophomoric fundraiser? 1: Because it was my idea. 2: Because this quest is worth ten XP and I'm only twelve away from twelfth level. 3: Because an important part of being 'the princess of the people' is about being willing to sacrifice your own dignity for others.

4: Because honestly it would probably do me some good to push back against my own arrogance once in a while. 5: Because this time Nathan's going to be right next to me. We've done this thing twice before. Once as an expo just to get some interest before the main event. And once for the real fundraiser, where we went all day. And on that second one, my cheating sleazy bastard brother had evaded the whole thing by reinventing the kissing booth into a "whisper me your secrets" booth.

Well this time, one of my firm conditions of participating is that Nathan is going to sit the tank right next to me, fair and square. I pressured her, she pressured him, and he agreed. After all, she is still a love interest for the both of us. Every so often that ought to work to my advantage, right? This kingdom's culture is still beholden to prudery and modesty, so most bathing suits right now are just "clothes you don't mind getting dirty".

Well, except for private bathhouses and segregated saunas, because who needs consistency? I'm wearing something of an old-timey swimsuit right now, knee-length shorts buttoned to a tunic-like top, and I used the classic cartoon red-and-white stripes. I've got a wrap dress over it, I conjured of wool and dyed with madder and weld to a nice bright orange color. Rinnie was here too, and unusually quiet. She spends a lot of time watching me and she does not care if I catch her staring.

Vancy and Larianne were waiting for us in the hall as we all stepped out.

"It's not fair," Vancy said.

"None of the rest of us get to go swimming! It's still winter and we're not going to have swimming weather for at least a couple more months!" I chuckled.

"Vancy, you understand that in this climate, being dunked in water during Winterwane has been used as a form of torture in years past?"

"Yeah, but not when you do it," Vancy pointed out.

"You're not going to fall in cold water, are you?" She fell in with us and the whole group moved towards the stairs. I was wearing light slippers, and it was weird to feel the steps so distinctly through the soles of my feet. I only use the staircase here one day in three as it is, and always with nice shoes. Right now I almost felt barefoot and I'm surprised at what a difference it makes.

"Cold water? Gods no," I scoffed.

"I did not train all those years to become a sorceress and suffer when I don't have to."

"And your brother right next to you?" Larianne pointed out, lips pursed in a wry smirk. I shrugged helplessly "I tried so hard to get him to learn magic with me when we were children. He just would have none of it." Elica shot me a sidelong.

"Maybe he expected that he would enjoy the benefits of your magical training anyway?"

"One of the benefits of magic is deciding who gets the benefits of your magic," I said off-handedly. And in that same moment I extended warmth and stillness around all of us, pushing off the chill that was coming up the stairwell from the foyer below. It is Winterwane now, hardly the coldest months, but at this latitude it is uncomfortable until late spring. And I have decided that my friends get to benefit from my magic. The quad of the campus is a great deal more active than I've ever seen it.

This area mostly just serves for lazy picnics in the warmer months and a big communal walking space in between classes. We rarely have school events that take place in the campus center. But Student Council does get that benefit. And they have made the most of it this time, bringing a lot more emphasis than before. Last year, you would have flattered them to call it 'bare-bones'.

But this year they've got carnival games with prizes, they've got food vendors, fencing demonstrations, an axe-throwing alley, face-painting, concessions, and more. There were tables of informational pamphlets, volunteer signups, and some performances by the school's drama and poetry clubs. It was a big enough affair that it felt conspicuous to me that there was no Ferris wheel or roller-coaster. I made a mental note: next year, have a roller coaster.

This year, the dunk tanks aren't even the biggest draw, Kurumi's actually got her council's bake sale up to a higher standard, and the food seems to be the main attraction. We're still technically in the breakfast hour- I ate quickly to get ready, but many have come hungry. And today, they learn about funnel cake and beignets, the smell of them is wafting over everything. I have taught Kurumi about bagged popcorn, garlic-salted pretzels, and corn dogs on a stick. She fought me on the stick, I swore it was integral.

And I was right. I walked past most of the population of the Academy as they jostled, laughed, and bought. A hurdy-gurdy was playing, because it's not right if you can't hear at least some music. But I walked to my designated post, underneath the big banner that read "DUNK A HARIGOLD". I was not the first to arrive.

"Nathan."

"Your Grace."

"Oh hush. I was not teasing before, I do intend to relinquish the title if everything works out." I started building frames, raised platforms, glass sides, backboards, target arms, and the simple latches that held our seats in place. And then the water.

"I don't suppose you could warm mine up for me?" He was giving me a bright, charming smile. The same hero's smile that Nathan Harigold had for all five acts of the game, the earnest good-natured grin that made people fall in love with him, made them do whatever he wanted. If I raise my Charisma to twenty points, I still would never have that smile. I would be so jealous of that if I didn't have my sorcery, my genius, my influence and reputation. I weighed the options. And I decided to warm it up.

In this weather, it would cool fast anyway. That option lets me earn some goodwill, but also watch him shiver and suffer.

"Fine," I said, and brought the water in his tank up to body temperature, bath temperature. Then I started climbing the wooden scaffolding to my seat, while dispelling my over-dress. I could immediately hear a buzz of attention and interest, because my scandalous sexy knees were visible. This outfit is still literally more concealing than my camogie uniform. I sat on my stool, and primly crossed my legs while Nathan wrestled his way out of his boots and overshirt.

He was still struggling to catch up when Kurumi herself, our mutual love interest, stepped up to act as barker and arbiter for our head-to-head competitions. She had some assistants with her for the buckets of leather-wrapped balls, but Kurumi took care of the publicity, and the money, all by herself. We got even longer lines this year. His tank cooled off to teeth-chattering levels, mine stayed balmy. Weirdly, both of our lines were made mostly of admirers, rather than of people who wanted us humiliated.

I guess most people realize that you don't find it very humiliating when you come back to do it a third time. She used a pair of glass jugs to hold the earnings from our embarrassments, and I swear I could see her mood getting brighter with every clink of the coin. She resumed her policy of charging more for people to enter the line further back, incentivizing the most enthusiastic and bringing in more money. By lunch, my ante was at twice what Nathan had brought in.

We sat in the student center dining hall and ate quickly, him and I consuming calories to combat the temperatures, Kurumi quickly counting stacks of coins out. She was quite pleased. I watched the 'protagonist love interest' label lose a notch. Just slightly more grayed out. I'm winning. And some days, that can be the only thing that matters.