Chapter 230: Day 517 – A Concerning Letter

Chapter 230: Day 517 – A Concerning Letter

“Michael, surprised to see you back so soon,” Clarissa greeted me after I had gotten a shower and some fresh clothes. I was enjoying a late dinner in the conference room. I gestured at a chair and Clarissa took a seat.

“Well, Naran needed a vacation. Too much time near void zones. They were wearing on him. I can poke the swamp dungeons to the North and South while he rests,” I answered before slurping my stew. It was delicious, we really needed a way to have a cook when grinding. Would do wonders for mental health. That was how I could justify luxuries now, mental health.

“Should I be concerned?” Clarissa asked.

“Not really. He just needs a break, and I could use one as well. It is both easy and exhausting to explore, especially swamps. Also saw level 4 zones,” I said.

“From your tone, it isn’t good,” Clarissa replied.

“Nope, a super jungle that is quite dark, and psychedelic mushrooms that are constantly shifting. In color, location, and they have spores. Nothing good,” I took another long slurp of my stew. Goodbye manners, hello enjoyment of good food.

“Everything has been fairly quiet so far, but there are two issues that have arisen,” Clarissa said.

“What are they?” I asked.

“The first is Esperanza sending a delegation to complain about teams pushing towards their area. They want a treaty and boarders,” Clarissa said.

“I do owe them a favor. Draw something up, everything West of the ravine and put more pressure on them with your assassins,” I directed.

“Very well, I will make the arrangements. They will probably suspect us or already are,” Clarissa said.

“That is fine. We have the people tracker upgrade for the Regional Map?” I asked.

“Yes and the city map upgrade as well. We can see everyone in Purgatory and do regular sweeps to check the outer city for vagrants,” Clarissa said.

“Good. That eliminates the possibility of guerrilla warfare against us. Keep squeezing them, any threats?” I asked.

“No one that is above our Union teams. Estimates put them at two to four teams at that level, but no one grinding level 3 monsters,” Clarissa said.

“Good job on gathering intelligence. It is so nice to get answers right away like this. So, issue number two?” I asked.

“A letter, addressed to you from Governor General Gerold. I considered opening it, but it was addressed to you, so held off,” Clarissa said.

“He would know the dynamics of our city and how long my reply would take. We can look at it together,” I said. There was no need to keep secrets from Clarissa. Trying to undermine the other person would only backfire at this point.

The letter was a piece of paper enclosed in some more paper with a bit of wax. “We have wax?” I asked.

“From plants, yes. Not much use for it, but Governor General Gerold would know,” Clarissa said. There was no symbol or marking impressed into the clear wax. I broke and opened the letter, laying it out in front of me so Clarissa could read it as well.

Champion Michael,

The City of Truth remains strong under your authority and that of the City of Purgatory. I write to inform you of an issue that has arisen. I recently sent out scouts to inspect the surrounding level 2 zones and their monster types, and to see if we had any neighbors.

I sent a team Southwest from Truth to zone at coordinates (-1,1) with the plan to continue West to coordinates (-2,1). This zone was listed as an oddity since it listed a level 2, but based on the previous layout and orientation of zone levels to cities, it should be a level 3 zone.

Of the exploration team, only Captain Harold returned. While he was able to return, once he arrived in my office he began speaking incoherently, saying things like,

‘A thousand, thousand powers.’

‘Answers. Truth.’

“No. After the last disaster of a battle, people are terrified of level 4 monsters. The Union was decimated as you know. So, there is a lot of people struggling to come to terms with what higher level monsters mean. Also, the battle is being called, the Purgatory Sky Battle,” Clarissa said.

“Purgatory Sky Battle, a weak name. I would have called it Descent of Worms, but it is what it is. Unless we are recording history?” I asked.

“There is a chronicler. I am keeping an eye on what she writes, making sure it is only favorable to us,” Clarissa said.

“Good. You are managing everything fairly well,” I commented.

“We are managing and are preparing for the next crisis. Since one will show up sooner rather than later,” Clarissa said.

“And what about my preacher for my church?” I asked.

“I still haven’t found someone who meets all the requirements. I am keeping my eye out. But most people aren’t great public speakers. Then you need someone who has the look and enough stage magician to sell the act, since I doubt you want to replace people,” Clarissa said.

“You are absolutely correct. The launch has to be perfect. Keep looking, eventually someone will turn up. Who is in charge of type research now?” I asked.

“That would be Doctor Katz. He has taken it over. Since he no longer wants to investigate hybrids or summons, saying the research is tapped out,” Clarissa replied.

“And the super weapon, the Ritualist threatened me with?” I asked.

“Probably powder into a slime, or some combination. A threat for sure, but not city ending,” Clarissa replied.

“That is annoying but expected. I guess I will meet with him later to discuss types and then set out tomorrow for one of the swamps. No idea when I will get back, keep an eye on Naran for me, would you?” I asked.

“I will. He spends most of his time getting ASMR, since he can’t do anything else with his Body stat,” Clarissa said.

“Listening to soft deep sounds?” I asked.

“Yes. There are skilled people who do that. Interested?” Clarissa asked me.

“Why not, have someone sent over, I could unwind and experience brain tingles,” I replied.

“So, you do know of it?” Clarissa asked.

“I know of a lot of things. Also, since I will be here a while, you know what I want,” I added, curious to see if Clarissa could guess what I wanted.

“The accounting books to check things. Don’t worry, I will have them brought to your room for your review,” Clarissa replied, and I grinned. She really was on top of everything.

“You are scary, you know that right?” I asked.

“Thank you for the compliment. I will make the arrangements. Breakfast tomorrow?” Clarissa asked me.

“Sure, first thing in the morning. Not about to say no to some good food,” I answered.

“I will send in Doctor Katz, and then someone to entertain you in your room afterwards. Don’t have too much fun,” Clarissa said in perfect deadpan.

“It is just ASMR? How fun can some whispering be?” I asked. Clarissa just shook her head and left the conference room. I flipped through my notebook while I waited for the good doctor.

I really wanted to work out the type chart and hopefully we could get pretty close. I was also starting to put some thought into the gear I wanted. An array of potions and bombs for emergencies, but the real issue was my clothing and armor.

I wanted them to resist damage, which made it seem like the brown crystals were the best option, to reduce force imparted to me. I didn’t like it. It was the safe choice, the easy choice. With my knowledge, there had to be better alternatives, I just had to think about all the crystal types.