Nero Walker, Book 4 Ch.85 (316)

“Wait, say that again,” City Lord Cosgrave demanded, her tone laced with an undercurrent of venom.

Shuffling her feet awkwardly, the third heir of House Thornton, Lady Dacey Thornton, replied, “Well, they said that they agreed with us. According to the three leaders of the faiths that I met with, they’ve already investigated the matter thoroughly. Lord Walker is neither a planar lord nor a god, demi or otherwise.”

Eyes narrowed in suppressed rage, City Lord Cosgrave demanded, “Not that part. Repeat what you said next.”

“Oh, well, they said that they have no problem publishing their findings. They’re even willing to make a public announcement. However, they’re not willing to do so at this time,” Lady Thornton admitted sheepishly.

Seated imperiously at the head of the conference table, City Lord Cosgrave not-so-calmly asked, “And did they perchance mention ‘why’?”

Rather than Lady Thornton being the one to answer her, it was Lord Voltan who spoke up from his side of the table. He, along with the other members of the council of leadership, had convened to discuss matters of importance for the city, and unfortunately for everyone involved, rumors concerning Lord Walker’s supposed divinity and its effect on the citizenry certainly qualified.

“It’s rather obvious, isn’t it?” he declared calmly before taking a small sip from his wineglass.

Next to him, Lord Bennings, the Director of the Tower of Law, asked curiously, “Is it?”

Understanding where the leaders of the faiths were coming from, but not willing to admit it, City Lord Cosgrave replied, “They’re worried about how it would look. They won’t address the rumors for the same reason others haven’t. They prefer someone else to do it first.”

Looking rather uncomfortable, Lady Thornton replied, “I’m sorry, my lords. They simply said that they were sure you’d understand.” And after pausing for a moment, she added, “They did say something else which I didn’t understand at the time. They said that they’ll wait to make their announcement until after the council of leadership makes theirs. Perhaps they do expect you to address the rumors yourselves.”

Lord York, another member of the council of leadership, asked, “They actually want us to be the ones to address this issue before they do? Why would they? Wouldn’t we be interfering with their sphere of influence?”

City Lord Cosgrave quickly replied, “No, I don’t believe that’s what they meant. It’s more likely they were referring to our expected praise for what House Walker has accomplished by closing the portal in the upper city. I doubt they even considered us to consider publicly stating our position in response to the rumors.”

Lord Voltan nodded while swirling the wine in his glass. “I assume that’s the case as well. They’ll likely reference what we say to blunt their denial of Lord Walker’s divinity.”

Leaning back in her chair, City Lord Cosgrave sighed before saying, “Yes, that’s likely how they’ll handle it. And we can’t fault them for planning around us. We do indeed have to decide how we’re going to thank House Walker. The key will be to mention that their actions were all in service to the quest they’d accepted. We’ll also have to be sure to make no mention of their ignoring the army’s orders to wait for reinforcements. Their gamble paid off, so it will be in everyone’s best interest for all involved to just move on.”

Lord York asked, “That’s a given. A more important question is whether or not we are going to publicly announce the completion of the quest? Or will we just file the paperwork silently? It may be seen as premature if we release House Walker from its pledge before the war is over.”

Lord Voltan replied, “The cost of keeping the quest active isn’t worth it. While House Walker and its deceptively powerful young lord would be of great help, they’ve already proven that they might be too successful if given the chance to show their worth in the field. This war is a trial for the city, and we shouldn’t resort to bankrupting ourselves to survive it.”

Running her eyes across the room, City Lord Cosgrave could see that his words caused many of the nobles to flinch, either in shame or at the prospect of their financial ruin.

Speaking up, Lord Bennings replied, “We’ve already heard back from the capital. They stated quite clearly that they see no issue with reimbursing us for the amount of the reward. Closing a portal of the type House Walker did merited the kingdom’s involvement in the process. In fact, the contact I spoke with in the capital mentioned that Dorchester might even be receiving a commendation for having survived such a trial so successfully.”

While the council was busy discussing the situation, Lady Thorton quietly returned to her seat along the wall. Although no one bothered to dismiss her, she could see that the council had clearly moved on.

From the edges of the meeting room, Lords Masters and Brinks stepped forward. They both took a moment to silently ask each other with a look if the other would prefer to be the one to go first.

Noticing them both requesting to speak, City Lord Cosgrave waved them over to the center of the room. The conference table they were using for the meeting was a smaller version of the Hall of Leadership, and the half-ring table had plenty of room in the center for multiple people to stand and address the council.

“Lord Brinks, you may speak first. What do have you to say on this matter?” City Lord Cosgrave asked.

After coughing into his hand to clear his throat, Lord Brinks cautiously replied, “Thank you, my lords. I was simply wondering if the reward being paid out by the capital to House Walker will still be taxed at our city’s rates.”

Lord Brinks was currently the Director of the Tower of Distributions, and the city’s finances were his sole focus. The amount of money the city was currently spending due to the incoming refugees, increased defense spending, and refits in response to the density shift and the war was putting a lot of pressure on their coffers. Pressure he was doing everything in his power to alleviate.

Out of the corner of her eye, City Lord Cosgrave noticed Lord Bennings beginning to use her link. Likely, she was already busy contacting the relevant departments to find out.

Instead of answering Lord Brinks, she instead turned her attention to Lord Masters and asked, “And you, Lord Masters?”

The man stood confidently, as the Director of the Hall of Trade, he wasn’t so easily shaken by being the center of attention.

“I was interested in hearing the specifics of how the award will be distributed. Will it be going to House Walker, or to Lord Walker as an individual?” he inquired calmly.

Lord Voltan replied, “Why would that matter?”

Across the table, Lord Peyton, who was usually one of the quieter members of the council of leadership, replied, “Because if the quest we issued has the option to pay to House Walker, we should be sure to take advantage of it.”

Nodding, Lord Masters quietly agreed but kept silent.

Understanding the implications, City Lord Cosgrave replied quickly before anyone could state anything outright for the record. “It will be paid to House Walker. Of that, you can rest assured.”

Not-so-competently hiding his smirk, Lord Masters bowed before returning to his seat.

While many people were looking over at the city lord in confusion, she ignored them. The achievement itself could be argued to be Lord Walker’s alone, but if the reward was given to House Walker, then it would most likely be managed and held in trust by House Verena, House Walker’s local subordinate. Consequently, it would be a massive boost to the economy, considering how proactive Lady Verena was with her funds.

Vera Salvatore-Verena was not one to just store her wealth in the bank. She’d already invested in tens of Trade Houses along with drastically expanding her shipping company. In the short time since Lord Walker arrived in the city, she’d also used his funds to acquire multiple manufacturing companies and even started a short-lived mercenary company. Which, interestingly enough, was quickly converted into House Walker’s initial forces; the very forces that aided him in closing the portal in question.

However, if the quest rewards were to be paid out to Lord Walker personally, then even if he chose to have House Verena manage them through House Walker, they would remain mostly out of Dorchester’s reach. He’d already divested his funds toward House Verena to ostensibly ‘buy’ their loyalty, and giving them more would be complicated… legally speaking, that is.

Calling attention to herself, Lord Bennings declared, “According to the law, quest rewards of this type would be taxed at the standard rate. The capital would only be reimbursing us. Technically, Dorchester would still be the one offering the reward. Furthermore, as House Walker is technically a ‘visiting’ house since its lord is now a unique, the rates will not be affected by any previous incentives Lord Walker received while he was a member of Dorchester’s nobility.”

Smiling widely, Lord Brinks replied sarcastically, “Oh, that is a shame. However, I’m sure Dorchester will be able to use those funds for the benefit of all.”

For a brief moment, City Lord Cosgrave allowed herself to feel a bit of joy. With the quest expected to be formally concluded, they wouldn’t have to be paying House Walker another valen. And if everything she was hearing through her spymasters was true, then she could expect Lord Walker to be leaving her city quite soon. Whether from the pressure coming from the capital or by his own volition, the young man was reportedly feeling the pressure.

With him gone, she’d finally be able to get back to what’s important.

The density shift and its associated issues were being handled, and the war with the kobalds looked to be under control. Soon, she’d finally have time to pick a few new consorts and begin rebuilding her family.

While only lost in thought for a moment, she was still surprised to feel an emergency ping coming in from the guard.

Quickly connecting to her link and reading what the ping said, she felt her all-too-brief moment of happiness fading away.

Addressing the room, she said, “Well, it seems as if the expected delegation of dwarves has arrived. However, they’ve formally declined to be escorted to the keep, and instead have stated that they’re only here to meet with House Walker.”

Muttering loudly enough for the entire room to hear him, Lord Voltan cursed, “Hells be damned savage midgets should have stayed in their mountain.”

Ignoring him, City Lord Cosgrave retook control of the room by silencing the mutterings with a singular raised hand.

“A detachment of guards is with them. For now, let’s allow our allies to do as they will. We have plenty of other topics to cover before our day is done,” she declared firmly.

Tapping her fingers on the table in thought, she said, “As for this issue with the rumors concerning Lord Walker, we’ll continue to wait and see how it develops. We’ll file the paperwork for the completion of the quest and publicly praise House Walker for its service to the city. After getting in touch with House Walker, we’ll see if they would accept an awards banquet or possibly some sort of public ceremony. But, knowing Lord Walker as I do, I believe he would prefer this to be handled as quietly as possible. While we can’t be seen to ignore their heroics, there is no reason to force him or his house to parade themselves in front of our citizenry. Whether that will be enough to appease the people, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Turning her attention to Lord Bennings, she asked, “Now, what’s next on the docket?”

While she asked the question, she looked around to see how everyone was taking her decision. And for the most part, she was happy to see them all agreeing with her. As usual, her mother’s wisdom was right. The tempered approach is usually the right one.

Lord Bennings flipped through the papers in front of her before replying, “Lord Lorach has another petition to address the city’s handling of the increased number of essence crystals coming in from the hunters.”

Suppressing a sigh, City Lord Cosgrave knew this was likely going to be about House Verena’s new trade houses again. It seemed that every subject they covered lately was inevitably linked to House Walker and their young lord's antics.

She couldn’t wait for that young man to be out of her city to become someone else’s problem.

“Very well, Lord Lorach, you have the floor,” she said while forcing herself not to slouch in her chair under the pressure she was feeling.

—--

Waking up to his alarm, Nero wasn’t nearly as tired as he’d expected he’d be. Even with only having a few hours of sleep, he still felt refreshed enough to get out of bed without even groaning. All in all, he felt great.

In fact, the only downside to him now being awake was the realization that those annoying dreams of his were back. And while he couldn’t really remember them, just the flashes were enough to annoy him.

Scenes of the masses cheering his name, glimpses of groups of people in windowless rooms praying to him, discussing him, countless people fighting in the wilds with ghostly impressions of books of adventure hovering around them. Everything he saw flowed through his mind like water. And underneath that constant imagery, there was a metaphorical sense of ink being spilled into a bucket, forever altering the contents within. And while not a single memory was strong enough for him to hold on to, together, as a continuous stream of impressions, he was able to grasp the general idea of what they’d been trying to tell him.

Luckily, even as dense as he admittedly was, by now he understood what it all meant. Specifically, that his subconscious mind had likely been merely intercepting the newly processed memories of the city, and most of what he’d dreamt had probably occurred over the past few days, or possibly even while he’d been asleep. However, despite what he saw, it in no way meant that he was a god, or anything else even remotely divine. From his limited but precise studies of how the ether worked, all his dreams meant was that everything he’d witnessed was metaphysically significant to the city’s ever-evolving identity.

Ignoring all these thoughts that were bouncing around his brain as best he could, he stumbled his way to the bathroom like a zombie, vigorously rubbing his face as hard as he could in order to wake himself up.

‘I really need to get the hell out of this city before I end up causing a revolt or something,’ he thought to himself.

When he was finished with his morning business and after taking a quick shower, Nero stepped out of the bathroom to see Ms. Davis waiting for him, already having delivered breakfast.

Standing there calmly, like she was nothing more than a fixture in the room, she greeted him with a smile, saying, “Good morning, my lord. Your robes have been cleaned, and your morning repast is waiting for you. I was also able to track down some sugar, as I believe you prefer your coffee with a spoonful or two.”

Walking into his bed chamber with a towel around his waist, Nero paused the drying of his hair to look around at where his robes used to be. They were now folded neatly near the couch by the table she was using for his breakfast, along with his trusty satchel.

For a moment, he wondered how she could possibly know that he liked sugar in his coffee in the morning before he remembered her weird and impossible-to-understand superpower.

“Right, that’s great. Thanks,” he replied weakly.

Taking his seat, Nero couldn’t help but admit to himself that the breakfast in front of him looked perfect. It was like something out of a brochure.

The pancakes were fluffy, and the pot of coffee was visibly steaming, filling the room with its glorious scent. She’d even collected the condiments he preferred. Next to his plate, there was a small tub of whipped butter along with what he assumed was the local equivalent of maple syrup. He couldn’t possibly guess if this was how everyone ate pancakes here, or if this was just another example of her ability to predict his wants and needs. Either way, he’d already decided that he gonna do his best to stop worrying about it, and instead just enjoy the fact that he now had a supermaid.

‘Too bad she won’t be coming with me when I leave,’ he thought to himself.

While he deftly used his fork and knife to prepare each of his pancakes with a thin layering of butter in preparation for the syrup, Nero asked, “I’ve still got like half an hour before I’m supposed to be in that conference room for the meeting, right?”

“That’s correct, my lord. However, you should know that Lady Verena and the house’s leadership have already arrived. They’ve already begun discussing how House Walker will be handling the dwarven delegation that is expected to be arriving later today,” she replied calmly.

Nodding, he began pouring the syrup while asking, “So, you can track what they’re discussing from here? Is that like another extension of your powers? Like, I was wondering what they’re doing, and consequently, your powers informed you of what was happening in real time? Is there like a range limit on something like that?”

Sounding amused, she replied, “Not as such, my lord. I’m simply using the house’s link to listen in. Not everything I do is a result of my abilities.”

Glancing up at her, Nero replied, “Uh-huh. So your effectiveness is kinda a result of a lot of factors working together.”

“That’s the case with most abilities,” she replied easily.

Already chowing down on a large bit of tasty pancakes, Nero poured himself some coffee while stirring in some sugar, perfectly willing to speak with his mouth full. “If you don’t mind me asking, how many stars did you put into your pillar to develop it that far?” he asked.

Not sounding offended in the least, she replied, “26, my lord. As I’m sure you read in my file, I’m level 31, and aside from the first five stars that I invested into my other stats, I’ve put them all toward my pillar.”

Surprised enough to overfill his coffee, Nero fumbled the coffee pot back onto the table while instinctively trying to wipe up the spill.

Half-shouting, he asked, “26 levels worth? What the hell woman, is that normal?”

Glancing up at her, he could see that she looked confused. Apparently, she didn’t see anything wrong with putting most of her level-ups into her singular pillar.

Replying cautiously, she said, “With respect, my lord. I never intended to be a fighter, nor a mage. Even by level 10, I knew that I would be pursuing a career in a household. Why would I waste stars on stats that I would never use?”

He could feel through the ether that she felt a little uncomfortable having her choices questioned, so he bit back his instinctive reply. Although it took a great deal of effort to keep his mouth shut.

That said, Nero couldn’t stop himself from being fascinated by her and her weird ability. She was the first person whose ability became central to his understanding of who she was as a person. While he’d seen other people using abilities, for some reason, they didn’t seem all that different than spells to him. But now, seeing Ms. Davis treating her pillar like it was her entire identity, he felt like he needed to evaluate the way he understood how the common people lived.

After all, he’d practically been ignoring his own pillar, treating it like it was nothing more than a buff or something.

Seeing as her lord was lost in thought, Ms. Davis said, “I’ll be waiting outside for you after you’re finished with your breakfast, my lord.”

Looking up from his meal, he watched her walk away. Honestly, if she were representative of how normal people chose to level, he needed to rethink a few things about his own build.

‘If people put that much metaphysical weight into their pillars, won’t they be metaphorically lopsided when they reach level 100?’ he thought to himself with no small amount of curiosity.

*Chapter 316 - Applications in perspective.

*Spoiler - Some of the most successful tacticians and leaders are those who are able to understand how other people think.  While it's important to learn that you don't need to follow what everyone else is doing, it IS important to consider the WHY behind why they do things the way they do.  You don't have to agree with them, but understanding them is as essential to defeating them as it is to leading them.  In the case of politics, it's how those skilled politicians can successfully outmaneuver their opponents.  And in Nero's case, it's how he might eventually learn to understand the world around him and his place in it, temporary or otherwise.