A Budding Scientist in a Fantasy World-Chapter 217

It took another few days before they reached Metsel. During that time, Alice kept observing the countryside. No major incidents had occurred during that time, save for a single encounter with a monster swarm. Unlike when the group was travelling through other countries, this time Ethan and Allira proactively wiped out the swarm before it could trouble any of the still-functioning villages. This swarm was on the weaker side, so with two combat-oriented Immortals, as well as Alice’s help, the monster swarm was quickly wiped out. However, the monster horde had been situated near a destroyed village. The group had arrived too late to save the people inside - they could only avenge them.

The incident made Alice reflect on Illvaria’s situation. As much as Illvaria was doing better than other countries, that didn’t mean Illvaria was doing well. As a whole, the country would collapse sooner or later if the real problem wasn’t addressed. As the group finally returned to the gates of Metsel, Alice sighed and tried to push her worries aside. She was already doing everything she could. If that wasn’t enough, there wasn’t much Alice could do. She was already spending almost every waking and sleeping moment trying to find ways to fix the System. She had nothing left to give if her actions weren’t enough.

The moment they entered Metsel, Alice felt a little better.

In most other cities and towns the group had visited recently, the cities were on the brink of collapse. People were left on the streets, slowly drowning in class mana madness, or worse, there were no people with class madness at all. People in those cities had been thin and malnourished, and it had been obvious that the incoming famine would hit them just as hard as the monster swarms had. It had been a sign of the impending, inevitable collapse of hundreds of thousands of lives.

At least in Metsel, she could see that her actions had made a difference. The signs of imminent famine weren’t present here. The people in the city were still thinner than before, but there was a big difference between getting thinner and becoming a malnourished waif. The people of Metsel looked like they could do with a few extra meals, but they weren’t on the verge of starvation.

Furthermore, there were still signs directing people towards treatment centers for class mana madness. Many of these signs were separated by Class, which meant that they were probably sorted by which class-mana filtration rings each treatment center had. Even if there were still a few people on the streets suffering from Class mana madness, they were quickly picked up and transported to treatment centers afterwards. In addition, there were also signs encouraging people to undergo willpower training in Churches of the System. Even if it wasn’t perfect, it was obvious that people could still survive here.

Alice smiled.

The world truly felt like it was on the brink of collapse. She had spent a great deal of the journey back to Illvaria wishing that she had been better, faster, and stronger. But even though Alice still had regrets, and even if she wished she could have helped more people - at least she had made a difference. In Metsel, the bones of civilization were still strong, even if they were weaker than before. The city could probably sustain itself for years without any further input from her - which was exactly what Alice hoped for.

Ethan caught her smile, and patted her on the shoulder.

“Be proud of yourself. You saw how bad things are outside of Illvaria. Things aren’t perfect here, but because of you, they’re much better.” He smiled at her. “You’ve saved hundreds of thousands of lives with this alone.”

Alice felt a small warm feeling in her heart.

Ethan nodded at Allira. “Are you coming with us?” he asked.

Allira frowned. “Where specifically are you planning on going? Are you going to try to find Murim at one of the bars?”

Ethan shook his head. “I’m not going to try searching the bars in the city one by one unless I have no other choice. I’m going to check the royal palace first. We need to set things up with the [King] anyway - the Artifact we got working needs to be set up somehow, and figuring that out sounds like a job for the [King].” Ethan chuckled. “Maybe he’ll even get a good Achievement out of it - or maybe he’ll toss it to the first [Princess]. Either way, I figure Murim might also be waiting for us at the royal palace. It would make it easier to find him, after all.”

Allira sighed. “So we’re leaving again immediately?”

“Yeah. Sorry. We can probably take at least one day to prepare equipment, get a hot meal, and rest in a soft bed. But by tomorrow, we’ll be back on the road.” Ethan turned towards Jonathan. “I assume you aren’t coming with us.”

“Sorry, Ethan,” said Jonathan. “I’m no good in a fight, and I think I’ve played my part in this crisis. It sounds like you’re heading right into the thick of things. Even though you path probably won’t have much fighting on it… we all know that theory and reality are two very different things.”

Ethan nodded. “Makes sense. Don’t worry about it. I’ll ask the [King] to designate a small path of fertile farmland as a new kingdom for you. You can set up a new ‘country’ there to get your Perks back online. Times being what they are, I doubt even the most stubborn [Nobles] will object to recognizing your farm as a sovereign nation, as long as you help alleviate the food crisis.”

Jonathan laughed. “I have no objections at all to giving more people food. I don’t like seeing people starve anymore than you do. Just have the [King] send me a [Messenger] when he figures out where my new kingdom will be located. I’ll handle the rest.”

Ethan smiled at Jonathan, and then, to Alice’s surprise, pulled the man into a brief but firm hug. “Will do, Jonathan. Good luck, and stay safe.”

Jonathan also seemed a bit surprised by Ethan’s actions. At least as far as Alice had seen, Ethan had never expressed physical affection towards others before - she didn’t even remember seeing him hug his own mother. Admittedly, that was in a more formal setting, but still. Then, much to Alice's surprise, Jonathan grinned, and then hugged Ethan back.

“Will do. You too. You three watch out for yourselves, all right? I know that you’re doing your best to fix all of this madness, but don’t die along the way. I’d hate to lose a friend to this crisis. Stay safe.”

With that, Jonathan nodded at them, before he turned veered off to the left, and started making his way towards a nearby inn. Ethan grinned, before he turned back towards Alice.

“That’s that, then. Let’s make our way to the palace.” With that, the group sped up as they moved through the streets of Illvaria. It took them less than half an hour to reach the Palace, thanks in part to the unusually high speeds that Alice and the two Immortals could reach while speed walking. The [Guards] standing outside of the palace took one look at Ethan, and then another look at Allira, before their eyes widened in surprise. They gave both Immortals respectful nods. “Honored Immortals,” one of them said. “Do you have business in the palace?”

“We need to see the [King]. We’re looking for Murim, and we also have important news about the current crisis,” said Ethan.

“Understood, Honored Immortal,” said one of the [Guards], as he bowed and opened the door to the palace. The group strode in, before they brushed past the priceless pieces of art and decorations as if they weren’t even there. Soon, the group found themselves in the audience chamber again, where the [King], four children, and a woman Alice assumed was the [Queen] sat. There was also a man that looked like a [Noble], who was being quickly ushered out of the chamber. The man looked more than slightly irritated, but when he saw Ethan, Allira, and Alice, his eyes widened, before he stopped dallying and began a dignified walk towards the exit. Alice wondered if he was a [Noble] who had been in the middle of an audience with the king, before she decided it didn’t matter.

“Immortal Ethan sees the [King],” said Ethan.

“Skip the formalities,” said the [King], cutting off Alice, Cecilia, and Allira before they could follow suit. “We hear that both of you have news for us?”

Ethan nodded. “We have several pieces of news, many of which are of vital importance. First of all, while we were journeying to Morendia, we came across a rather unusual swamp. It took us some investigation to determine exactly what it was, and what was wrong with it, but ultimately, we realized that the unchecked mana growth and chaos after the collapse of the System has had rather… troubling effects on the rest of the world. Specifically, environments are changing in unpredictable but highly dangerous ways.” Ethan began to describe the group’s experiences within the swamp, as well as some of Alice’s discoveries regarding the impact of human beliefs on environments, creatures, and mana. However, while Ethan presented a few of Alice’s conclusions, Alice noticed that he didn’t go into detail about belief itself.

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The knowledge that beliefs could change or warp reality was probably Alice’s most dangerous discovery. Even her knowledge of the System wasn’t anywhere near as scary. The moment someone realized that they could become some sort of Immortal god-emperor by forcing enough people to believe it, things would spiral out of control.

After Ethan finished speaking, the [King] nodded thoughtfully. “We’ve had similar problems in Illvaria, although to a lesser degree. The exploding forests of southern Illvaria are becoming rather dangerous,” said the [King]. “I believe Murim also mentioned that the environment of the Mana Wastes is now very wild and unpredictable. There were a variety of downright impossible terrains and geographical features that he mentioned seeing. While none of these chaotic terrain problems have reached Illvaria yet, I have been getting nervous. Do you have a solution to this problem?”

“We do,” said Ethan, before he pulled out the Society’s Artifact. “We spent a great deal of time figuring out how to operate this Artifact after we seized it from the Society. It requires quite a bit of setup, but in exchange, it can stabilize a region, ensuring that the terrain no longer mutates and changes unpredictably. The details underlying the Artifact are complicated, but they aren’t that important. What matters is that it works.”

The [King]’s eyes lit up at Ethan’s words. “That’s wonderful news. We can certainly use it to safeguard what is left of Illvaria.” Then, the [King]’s eyes dimmed. “It is simply a shame that this artifact has come so late. During the chaos, due to the spread of dangerous environments, monster swarms, and assorted chaos, many southern towns have been abandoned. The attempt to revive the Illvarian South will come to naught, I think.”

Ethan also sighed. “I know how much you hoped this would turn out well. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I wish things had turned out differently, but the timing was just unlucky.”

The [King]’s eyes dimmed further, before he sighed again. “No matter. At least I can safeguard what remains of my kingdom. Based on other reports, that is far more than many other countries have achieved. Ethan, what’s the range of the Artifact? Are there any limitations on use that I need to know about?”

Ethan began to detail all of the discoveries and modifications the group had made while experimenting with the Society’s artifact. He detailed its range, its limitations, and most importantly, how much the Artifact could actually do per day without overtaxing its mana reserves. After all, much like other Artifacts, the Artifact they recovered from the Society had an artificial magic seed, meaning it could regenerate a certain amount of mana each day - but that quantity was still limited, even if it was massive. novelbuddy.cσ๓

The [King], as well as the [Queen], two [Princesses], and two [Princes] all sat in their seats and absorbed the information as Ethan spoke. After that, the [King] turned towards his two daughters, as well as his sons, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Girls. Take this as a lesson from me. What do you think we should do with this artifact?” Asked the [King].

The first [Princess] was the first to speak. “Well… if I were in charge of setting up the Artifact, the first thing I would do would be to give up on the south of Illvaria entirely. The Artifact can only cover half of Illvaria, and the north is clearly more important than the south. It’s a small disaster for people who have invested too much into the south, and it will greatly damage the trust in the crown and its policies. Several [Nobles] will probably become much harder to manage, at least in the short term. Unfortunately, there isn’t a better option for us at this point. Trying to hold on to the south is already unfeasible, as you mentioned, and apart from a few well-managed towns, most other towns are already in ruins.

“After setting up the Artifact in the north, I would relocate everyone that we can into the radius of the Artifact. That would give us a much more defensible perimeter to maintain. Then, I would get Doll to help build a big series of defenses right at the edge of this Artifact’s radius, especially near major choke points or places where we can hold off monster swarms. We’ll lose a lot of territory that way, and repopulating the lost parts of Illvaria would definitely be a pain in the neck. However, we would save most of the people in the country. We can always expand back outwards once things stabilize. Normally, our competitors would take advantage of our weakness to hinder any attempts to reclaim our lost lands… but with the recent chaos, they’re likely going to be focused on reclaiming their own land. That means we’ll have a brief window of opportunity to expand where even the Sigmusi won’t be able to effectively interfere.

“Not to mention, with the help of Lady Alice’s filtration rings, we have ways to keep our society stable and productive. So long as we are patient, we can not only safeguard our people, but after this crisis is resolved, our national power will skyrocket. This situation is still a disaster - but after the crisis ends, perhaps we’ll have an opportunity to push the Sigmusi back, or even drive out of the Southern Continent entirely over the next century or so,” said the eldest [Princess]. Alice had to admire the [Princess]’s thinking. It was a strange blend of practicality and ruthlessness. It certainly didn’t make Alice want to befriend the other girl… but it seemed fitting for a ruler.

“That’s not the best solution! What about the people who have invested so much time, labor, and money into the south? How can we just abandon it? This is our best chance to reach a position of economic parity with the Sigmusi Colonia, or at least narrow the gap. We know how dangerous those bastards to the west are,” said the second [Princess]. “You made a lot of claims about how we’ll come out the other end of this crisis in a better position than our competitors, but that’s contingent upon Lady Alice solving the crisis - something we can’t be certain of. If she fails, we won’t have any real way to address the crisis afterwards. Worse, implementing this Artifact sends a clear signal to allies of the crown that we aren’t willing to set up and protect them anymore. How will we handle the loss of trust in the crown? I feel that it’s better to set up the Artifact to safeguard most of the north, but move it further south, to show that we aren’t just protecting ourselves. We might end up ‘protecting’ a lot of uninhabited wilderness, but if we’re relocating people anyway, we can set up a few smaller towns there. It makes far more economic sense to safeguard at least a bit of the southern wilderness too.”

“Well, what funds and manpower do we have to make that proposal work?” asked the first [Princess]. “It’s not about whether we should safeguard the south. Obviously, if we could keep the south afloat, it would be better for us. The problem is, we have no way to do it. The monster swarms are barely kept in check as is. If we try to expand our defensive perimeter, we’ll just lose everything. Even the Sun Knight is overworked right now. The current crisis is a catastrophe that we have no way to totally dismantle. All we can do is hope for the best and minimize our losses. That’s still far better than most other countries. We can’t give up on our highly populated, well developed northern territory to preserve a few fringes of uninhabited forest. Even if it makes eventual economic sense, we’re trying to survive the current crisis, not expand.”

Alice noticed that the [King] smiled a lot more at the first [Princess]’s analysis, and showed a subtle frown whenever the second [Princess] spoke. The difference in treatment between the two wasn’t subtle - she could see why so many people were convinced that the first [Princess] was the heir to the throne, while the second [Princess] was a backup plan, at best.

The first and second [Princess] continued to argue their own points for a few minutes, before the [King] cut them off. He gave the first [Princess] a subtle, approving nod, before he turned back towards Ethan and Alice.

“Thank both of you for your service to Illvaria. We’ll set up the Artifact in accordance with the first [Princess]’s proposal.” Alice frowned. It almost seemed as if the [King] was trying to give credit to the eldest [Princess]...

Ah, so he’s trying to get the first [Princess] an Achievement, thought Alice, as she finally understood the [King]’s intentions. Heedless of Alice’s realization, the [King] continued.

“Normally, I would bestow some rewards upon you - probably a [Noble] title of some sort for you, Lady Alice. But based on my understanding, right now that would saddle you with a bunch of Class Mana you had no good way to get rid of? Furthermore, it doesn’t seem as though Lady Alice is terribly interested in becoming a landed [Noble]...”

Alice shrugged. “I don’t want to be stuck managing a territory. That sounds like a difficult and thankless task I would love to avoid.”

The [King] nodded. “In that case, if you don’t have anything else you want…?” The [King] glanced at Alice, as if hoping she would interject and ask for something, but Alice honestly hadn’t even thought of a reward for her actions. She had been doing all of this to help people, and while Alice wasn’t opposed to being rewarded for her work, she hadn’t had much time to think about what came after all of this. The [King] sighed.

“Then I’ll give you a proper reward in gold. For all of your services to Illvaria… perhaps ten thousand gold crowns is a good amount?”

Alice’s eyes boggled at the ludicrous amount of money. She hadn’t even seen a gold crown since coming to this world - most transactions were done in gold suns, or in silver coins. Ten thousand gold crowns was… probably enough to build her own magic academy, if she felt like it.

“There are two other things we need to settle,” said Ethan. “First of all, I’d like to section off a chunk of land for a ‘kingdom’ for Jonathan. That will help him maximize his food production.”

The [King]’s eyes widened. “You got Immortal Jonathan to migrate to Illvaria?”

“Only temporarily, but yes, he’s here for now.”

The [King] grinned. “Ethan, you never fail to surpass expectations! We’ll immediately section out some farmland and bestow it upon Jonathan as a new kingdom. Normally, the [Nobles] would be up in arms about carving out chunks of our own kingdom to give to others… but these are hardly normal times. I will make it happen. I’ll send you details on what land will be allocated to Jonathan by tonight. Well done!”

Ethan grinned. “The second issue we need to resolve is Murim. Where is he?”

The [King] looked thoughtful at Ethan’s words, before he smiled. “He returned two days ago. He’s in the guest section of the royal palace, waiting for you. You can find him on the third floor, near the indoor garden.”

Alice smiled. Murim had returned, which meant he should have found the mainframe of the System. It was time to set this world right.