Chương 18: Chapter 17 – Public Service

The two additional points in 'Sword' were noticeable. Kai's movements felt cleaner, somehow; even more small inconsistencies and errors in his form had been ironed out. He couldn't wait to get back to fighting, but Laura had declared at least one day of rest and recuperation. Probably a good idea, Kai thought to himself, watching his sister wince whenever she put weight on her injured leg.

Potions and druidic spells were slowly doing their work, but severe injuries took a little more than improvised concoctions and Tier I healers. Lena was currently practicing a new spell she picked up: 'Air Burst'. It was purely defensive in nature, creating – as the name suggested – a burst of air between the caster and a nearby target. That burst would shove them apart, forcefully ending a melee situation on the Wizard's terms.

As a bonus, it counted towards one of her Tier II class upgrades with the nerdy and unevocative name 'Meteorician', meaning she would only have to pay 26 SP for it instead of 30. Thirty Skill Points. That's a lot. ~ Available Classes (Tier II): ~~ Swordfighter (30 SP) No Wizard evolutions so far. That said, the only one Kai found himself interested in was the similarly boring-sounding 'Hermetician', which would allow him to teleport short distances, among other useful things.

Hermetics was Daniel's primary Proficiency, so Kai would also have access to the best possible teacher.

"H-Hello? Excuse me?" A brown-haired, visibly overweight man waddled onto the yard, his prodigious gut shaking with every step. ~ Alchemist, Level 6 Kai sighed and sheathed his sword.

"How can I help you?"

"I, uh, Mrs. Kurz told me I could get a Brandt Box here?" Kai suppressed another sigh at the corny name and gestured towards the barn.

"My father is in there." The man nodded his thanks and walked off in the indicated direction. Kai had seen him before. Someone from the new housing area in the north. An outsider, now struggling to make connections. Two minutes later, he came out of the barn again, a large wooden box under his arm.

"Remember, if it stops working, put a core in the hatch," Daniel called from inside.

"Elemental cores last longer than basic monster cores!"

"Thanks again!" the man shouted, then left with another nod to Kai, who waved back politely.

'Brandt Boxes' were Daniel's answer to utilities shutting off two days ago. Plugged into a power outlet and fed with cores, each one of them produced enough electricity for an average household. Large letters on the side warned people not to open it, and a low-powered lightning trap on the inside gave the warning some oomph. The name had been coined by the mayor, who had taken obvious pleasure in seeing Laura squirm in discomfort. She quickly conceded that the branding had value, though.

Kai returned to his practice, but it wasn't long until the next visitor appeared. This had been going on all day, and at this point, they probably had given out 'Brandt Boxes' to half the village, or at least the few unlucky ones who did not have solar panels on their roofs. Two more petitioners showed up, before Daniel officially closed shop to purge the woods of monsters. He had designated a few areas for those who wanted to try their hand at goblin hunting, which a surprising amount of young men actually did.

Many of them showed up at the Brandts' place later, begging for healing and potions, or rescue for their companions. Three people had died so far. Which was, in fact, the reason why Andrea Hoffmann's red Audi was parked in the yard once again. She was having an animated discussion with Kai's mother in the kitchen, and he was glad not to be part of it. Unfortunately, that changed abruptly as the front door opened and both women stormed out.

"I can't believe you're pushing this on me!" Andrea screamed. Her outrage was a sight to behold. Carefully manicured nails bent against each other from stress, sweat distorting her immaculate makeup. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Laura's response was no less hostile.

"We're not taking the blame for any deaths! They made the decision to go out there! And we sure as hell are not responsible for organizing them!"

"You're the only ones qualified for this!"

"Sure, that's why we're helping you! But we're not taking the fall for you."

"You– Argh!" Andrea slammed the door of her car and drove off with screeching tires, leaving Laura to collect her thoughts.

"... You alright, Mom?" Kai asked carefully.

"As alright as I can be, given the circumstances," she grumbled.

"Andrea is trying to frame us as the ones pushing young men to their death. The worst part is that she's not entirely wrong." Well, Dad explicitly left some goblins for them…

"How is she planning to do that, exactly?" he inquired half-heartedly, mostly to give his mother an opportunity to vent.

"She wants us to organize them, officially." Huh?

"Wait, isn't that what you wanted?"

"Well, yes, but no," Laura sighed.

"We want to organize them unofficially. Despite running unopposed, Andrea is the only available elected representative we have. If we formally take command, every injury or death is leverage against us, giving her control over our decisions. Until Daniel snaps, at least."

"So, we want power, but without the accountability."

"... Don't say it like that, it makes me feel slimy," Laura sighed.

"But yes, you're mostly right. We can't completely avoid accountability, of course, but I'm not going to become Andrea's scapegoat."

"So we need her to front the whole thing."

"Exactly. That's not possible without giving her some of the power, though. And knowing her, she will want more than I'm comfortable giving."

"She named the stupid box after us because she wanted to put us on the spot," Kai realized.

"Our name is literally attached to magic and its consequences, and we can't do shit about it."

"And she will keep doing stuff like this until we come to some sort of agreement," Laura confirmed bitterly.

"Fuck."

"Language," she chided.

"But yes. Fuck." = = = = ="... and to avoid more fatalities, we are forming a management body for monster hunting activities," Andrea announced through the Brandt Box-powered microphone, a fake smile plastered on her face.

"With the support of the Brandt family, this 'Hunting Office' will serve as a central institution to provide healing, training, and equipment. Registration is mandatory for any hunting activities in and around Lindenfeld. Goods and services will be offered in exchange for, ahem, monster cores, with rates published each morning in the town square. This old sports hall will serve as a provisional venue, until we figure out the exact requirements for this sort of organisation."

She waved around the hall to emphasize her point, then paused dramatically.

"Thank you for your attention. And remember, we are not in this alone." Muted, polite applause followed her off-stage. Kai leaned back in his uncomfortable folding chair and sighed, in perfect sync with his mother doing the same thing. They nodded politely at the many curious glances, and left the hall. Only once they were back in the car did they dare speak.

"I'm so glad we left those two at home," Laura sighed.

"Didn't take much convincing," Kai chuckled.

"Just mentioning a sports hall full of people was enough for them to lose interest." The electric motor hummed to life, and the car zoomed along the dark roads.

"What now?" he asked.

"We're attached to Andrea at the hip from today on. If she fucks up, we have to deal with the consequences."

"That's the nature of compromise," she replied, though she seemed none too happy about it.

"It's the best deal we could have gotten. She's the public face, we handle the heavy lifting."

"I don't want to handle the heavy lifting though," Kai complained.

"Neither do I. We'll need to outsource. Find people to hoist the clerical duties onto. We'll pay them in monster cores," she chuckled darkly.

"An easy way to power their homes, no need to enter the forest."

"I was talking more about that training part, though. I'd much rather get ahead of the SP curve myself."

"We probably can't get around it," she sighed.

"That said, you and Lena aren't actually qualified for it, and neither am I. Daniel will be occupied with potions and those damned boxes while he isn't out culling monsters. He also won't be particularly keen on giving lectures to a room full of people."

"Right," Kai sighed.

"So, that was an empty promise, I guess. I'm sure this won't come back to bite us." His mother silently fumed, having come to the same conclusion.

"Wait," he said, an idea forming in his mind.

"Most of the people here don't actually have spellcaster classes, right?"

"Mhm. A lot of Fighters, Marauders, and Archers."

"... I need to go to the city tomorrow," he declared.

"What? No. Why?" Laura hissed.

"The city is incredibly dangerous right now."

"I know. I'll ask Dad to take me there. I know a guy who might be able to help."