Vol. 4 Chap. 60 Perilous Tribe

Vol. 4 Chap. 60 Perilous Tribe

“It comes down to a change in the relations between people. No chance in Hell I’m going to be able to shape the government after the collapse. But I can set up cadres of young, fit people, people trained to operate in a no-magic environment. People that really believe in teamwork, and the notion that one person can’t win if everyone else loses. It’s got to be win-win all the way around. Competitive with outgroups, certainly. But internally? Strong bonds.”

Truth chopped the air with his hands. “And their parents will pave the way as best they can in the next couple of months. Set the doctrine, start building caches, start spreading the good word about the virtues of mutual support.”

“Yes. And since the collapse is coming in... less than a year?”

“I wouldn’t bet on anything over eight months myself, but I have heard estimates as long as another year.” Truth shrugged.

“Well. That does change our plans. Everything will have to be aggressively accelerated.” The former clerk turned CEO frowned, clearly thinking things through.

Truth coughed lightly. “Has it been difficult being CEO?”

“Pardon, my Lord? Yes and no. Yes, it is a difficult job. Exhausting. Endless decisions to make, endless eyes on you. Immense power, but equally immense responsibility. But it was not so hard to pick up on what needs to actually be done, thanks to Butler and Maid. The secret was aggressive amounts of delegation. Having two strong Succubae with me really eased the leadership transition.”

“I can imagine.”Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

“I really can’t do it without them. I owe them both so much.” Niles looked at them with immense affection.

“It really was no more than our duty. One day, perhaps, you will believe me.” Butler murmured.

It wasn’t affection. It was love. Not necessarily romantic love, but it was love all the same. Starbrite had actually warned Truth about this. It’s not that Succubae want to hurt you. It’s that you can’t help but fall in love with them. You can’t help but lose yourself in them. It’s why Truth was so cold with Maid and Butler. Partially it was the persona, but more importantly, it was self protection.

“Speaking of duty and debts, Maid. Butler. You have clearly done the task I assigned you very well. Continue to assist Niles in his duties, unless otherwise assigned. Now, consider this a bit of back pay.”

Truth tapped into his magic, recreating a trick he first used on the boat ride from Conjin. He poured his magic into his blessings, Incisive, even Cup and Knife, all to put forward one idea. To nail down one inescapable fact. The two clouds of Hell-gas in front of him were actually people. One was Butler, the other was Maid. They were his obedient servants, and content in the role.

“We thank the Magus for his generous gift!” They chorused.

“Not a gift- owed for services rendered. And speaking of. Niles. I am going to try something.”

“My Lord?”

“I want to give you as free a choice as I can manage. No promises. Now don’t move.”

He eased into it with Cup and Knife. There were things there he could fix, but he was now familiar enough with the spell to spot an immediate glitch. Just as he feared. The spell didn’t consider what Truth did to Niles a problem. How the enlightenment got in wasn’t important. Just that it got there.

Truth could only shake his head and laugh. “Do you know where I can find Susan?”

“Yes, my secretary can give you her address.”

“Alright. I will be in Harban for a little while longer. If I think of anything else, I will let you know. Until then, continue as we discussed. Butler, Maid, keep up the good work.”

They bowed. “Hurry home again, my Lord. We miss you.” They chorused.

Truth strolled up to a frankly gaudy mansion in the Subra district. Not the old money, nor even the big new money. If anything, the Subra district was famous for people being poor, though not denizens. Perhaps that's why the Anak family chose to build an eye-searing palace to the vices of excessive wealth.

Ornamental columns everywhere. No rhyme or reason to them. See an eve, stick a column under it. A circular driveway with a fountain in the middle of it... in the middle of the most expensive city on the planet. A load of the windows were incredibly detailed mosaics in stained glass, though he couldn’t make out what they were from the outside. Not with all the multicolored bright lights bathing the exterior marble sheathing in fluorescents and pastels.

The doors were four meters tall and made of bronze. The door on the left had an incredibly muscular, incredibly nude woman on it. The right door had an equally nude man on it, so muscled, Truth wondered if there were any muscles left for anyone else. They were surrounded by crushed and broken enemies, heaps of treasures and weapons, as well as piles of meats and grains.

The Anak family was a lot of things. Subtle wasn’t one of them.

Truth knocked on the door. Nobody answered. He knocked harder. The silence wasn’t deafening, it was a noisy street, and he could hear music inside. Truth therefore decided to experiment with how loudly he could smack a bronze door without actually damaging it. It seemed like an unusual alloy. A few thunderous booms later confirmed that it was as tough as he thought. Fun! He started banging on it like a drum that owed him money.

There is always someone ready to ruin a good time. The door was yanked open. Two meters of slab muscle and cruelty under heavily gelled hair and a long beard yanked the door open.

“You got a death wish, fuckhead?”

Truth punched him in the face. Punched him a few more times for luck. Tripped him, got him on the ground, made sure to bury his knee where it would do some good, repeatedly, then resumed the face punching. The big bastard tried to fight back, but Truth had levels on him. Not to mention the Meditations made sure there wasn’t going to be an advantage in physical strength.

“Alright, you look about right. Now hold still, this bit is a little fiddly. I need you to send a message.”

Susan was relaxing in her tub. It took specialized pumps to drive sufficiently powerful water jets to do anything for her muscles, but this was Nephilim tech. The tub was delightful. There was a knock on the door and her dickhead cousin stuck his head in.

“Somebody’s here to see you? He said that you would know who?”

She gave her cousin a filthy look “You couldn’t ask... Oh. OH! Sweet! I’ll be right down!”

Carved into her cousin’s forehead, in surprisingly neat letters, were two words- “Knock Knock.”