Chapter 1252

Making minute adjustments to his disguise, Randidly hurried to the Western portion of Kharon. While the Southern fourth was industrial and the East was heavily populated, the West was where most of Kharon’s undeveloped land was located. Or rather than referring to the area as undeveloped, it was fair to say that Tatiana had transformed this area into a mixture of parks and agricultural land.

As Randidly walked briskly along the path that meandered into the West, in order to pass himself off as an average individual, he looked with genuine cheer at the areas filled with children and teenagers playing sports next to placid lakes. On his other side, wide aisles of colorful flowers released attractive scents that filled the air.

Honest, it was quite idyllic. Some of Randidly’s hesitation about whether his presence on Kharon was a good thing eased as he fondly watched the yelling and romping of the children. Then, like all others, Randidly froze briefly as a System announcement appeared in front of him.

However, unlike most others, Randidly was probably the first one to chuckle.

Congratulations! The Danger Zone “The Sulfurous Caves” has been cleared! The clearer has chosen to provide New Earth with an experience boost for everyone!

Congratulations! The world-wide boost has been chosen four times. Clear one more Danger Zone to obtain a special benefit from the System!

Immediately after the notification appeared, Randidly received the private message he had been expecting from Naffur.

It’s finished.

While the rest of the teenagers in the park next to Randidly ceased their game of soccer and began to talk excitedly, he continued to stroll forward. You work fast. It’s only been three days since you left Kharon.

There was a short period of silence, and then Naffur responded. ...it was easier than expected. Even I am surprised how much the Order Ducis has grown with the help of Heiffal in his people. But I wanted to know if you had any thoughts on what we should do next.

Randidly shook his head and then belatedly realized Naffur couldn’t see. No. Feel free to pick your own mission.

Another pause. I’m worried about the inaugural football game.

Scratching the back of his neck, Randidly felt profoundly tired. But after thinking about it, he responded rather noncommittally. I’ve given the Order Ducis’ official response. We will never be security guards. But the decisions over what we do are yours to make. I trust Neveah’s faith in you.

To that, as Randidly had expected, Naffur didn’t reply. Which was good, because Randidly had passed through the heavy flower fields and arrived at several boutique flower shops. Narrowing his eyes, Randidly scanned through their names until he located the one which had produced the Ghosthound scent. The building was painted green, but otherwise, it was extremely similar to the other businesses in the area.

Randidly walked toward the door and checked himself. Before he had come over, he had gone to a barber and shorn his hair quite short. Without his hair, his cheekbones and nose created extremely stark lines across his face. In addition to that, Randidly had bought a rather luxurious sable robe with gold trim that he now wore. Rather than his usual spartan dress, Randidly was confident that he was practically unrecognizable. Especially after hearing from Antonio that most of the people of Chicago were suspicious of him precisely because he was known to wear rather well-used clothes.

And well-used is probably editing on the part of Antonio for my benefit… Randidly thought wryly. But he didn’t really mind. Despite how soft and comfortable his current robe was, he would be quite content to return to his usual clothes after this disguise. Well, perhaps he really should obtain a new outfit of training leathers…

With a delicate touch, Randidly pushed open the door to the soap shop. A tinkling bell revealed his entrance, but Randidly didn’t bat an eyelash. He walked confidently into the shop and spoke in what he believed to be a sophisticated tone. “Shopkeeper? I am here for business.”

A balding man hurried out of a backroom, rubbing some dyes off of his hands as he moved to greet his customer. When he saw Randidly, he stopped briefly and scanned him from his head to toe. Then a wry smile came across the man’s face. “Ah, Mr. Ghosthound. What an honor, to have you grace my shop.”

Sighing, Randidly shifted his weight and put both of his hands on his hips. With his extremely luxurious robe, the motion made him seem positively regal. “How did you know it was me?”

“Mr. Ghosthound, your bare feet are a dead give away.” The balding man flashed a smile toward Randidly. He rubbed his greasy hands on his wide leather apron to rid himself of the remaining dyes. “I’m afraid that unless you are willing to put on shoes, there just isn’t a chance of you tricking anyone into making you pay for something.”

Randidly’s face fell further. So he even knows I’m here to actually pay...

“Why am I the bad guy for trying to pay for something,” Randidly muttered sourly, but he didn’t really push the issue. The man smiled and gestured to several wooden crates sitting up against the wall of the storefront. Then the man turned away and walked back into the room he had left without trying to help Randidly shop.

Nodding as a dawning realization hit him, Randidly moved over to the crates and tore off the nailed lid of the top crate. As he looked down at the bright oranges, yellows, and lime greens, Randidly took a tentative sniff.

“Smells good, right?” The balding man called out from the door into the back area of the store. Randidly waved his hand and the man willingly retreated, content to have the little bit of conversation with Randidly that he just had. Sighing, Randidly could only shake his head as the man left him alone.

Randidly reached into the crate and pulled up one of the brightly colored bars. He breathed deeply through his nose; almost immediately his eyebrows shot upward. Tatiana wasn’t kidding. These bars of soap deserved to be selling as quickly as they were; the scents were good. The one Randidly had grabbed smelled like sea salt and lavender. Probably not the scent that Randidly would use for himself, but still pleasant.

It actually didn’t take long for Randidly to find the soap in question. After pushing the rainbow assortment of soaps to the side, one stood out. Rather than being eye-catching, it was honestly rather sedated. The bar in question was a steel grey color with a large ‘G’ impressed onto the front. Although Randidly’s mood had been relatively sour when he had heard that someone had made soap based on him, his mood lightened quite a bit when he realized that he didn’t mind the design nearly as much as the other examples he had seen.

Still, the fact there was a soap based on him was a bit...

Although what am I really going to do, tell the maker I’m not going to let him sell it? Randidly thought rather sardonically as he flipped one of the heavy bars in his hand. He raised the bar to his face and scratched his fingernail across the surface. The scent floated upward.

Although he didn’t like to admit it, Randidly actually quite liked the Ghosthound scent. It was woodsmoke and steel, teakwood with a little bit of cinnamon. Quite mollified, Randidly pulled the bar back away from his face and considered it. Then he shook his head. “Probably a bit dumb to run out here just because someone named a soap after me…”

Randidly opened the other two crates. Although the first one only contained a few stacks of bars of the Ghosthound scent, the second and third boxes were completely full of the stuff. Each box contained two hundred carefully prepared bars of soap, so all in all, that meant that there might be four hundred and fifty people would be rubbing the bar of his scent on their naked body in short order…

Randidly pinched the bridge on his nose with the cool, metal fingers of his left hand. “Being famous is definitely not worth it.”

Especially because, after so obviously being drawn out by the note caused by the ‘sudden’ discovery of such a soap scent, Randidly suspected that he had been duped. Of course, Randidly wasn’t worried that this was a weird betrayal at the 11th hour. More likely Tatiana wanted to make some preparations while he was out of the city proper and fed him this to lure him away. So with a wry shake of his head, he dropped the soap back and the crate and began to head back to the populated portions of Kharon.

As he expected, he returned to find that the city had taken the hour of his distraction to hang banners and lanterns across everything. The gates that separated the agricultural West from the central plaza had several high ranking individuals from Kharon standing in front of them. Tatiana’s figure was the most obvious, standing at the front of the mass of furiously working people with her hands clasped behind her back.

As he approached, the frantic activity slowed and then ceased. Several of the workers that were throwing up platforms and lanterns look decidedly guilty. Some of them were clearly individuals who had moved to Kharon recently from Chicago, so they watched him with not a little fear as he walked up to them.

Finally realizing the role that he was supposed to play in all this, Randidly sauntered up to the group with a dour expression his face. “Was this really necessary?”

Tatiana chuckled. Due to the fact that everybody nearby had gone completely still and silent, her laughter carried for quite some distance. “Probably not. But aren’t you the type to work yourself to the bone? Your presence has done a lot to accelerate the growth of Kharon already. But we have been growing for ten months; I think it’s time for another festival.”

Randidly rolled his eyes and Tatiana leaned forward and said something in a low voice that likely only Randidly could hear. “Besides… we will reach the Zones tomorrow. Although I don’t want to say it… won’t it be a little said if a lot of people decide to disembark Kharon and settle down somewhere… settled? Every now and then, it’s best to remind people of the things that we are fighting for.”

Everyone waited for Randidly’s answer. They had prepared blindly, without truly knowing the outcome. Likely due to Tatiana’s orders, but the fact that they had done this knowing that Randidly was in the dark… that meant something too.

Meant that perhaps these people didn’t fear Randidly as much as he worried they did. That perhaps his effect on their lives wasn’t all bad.

“Fine then.” Randidly spread his arms wide. Spurts of Ignition Essence shot out from his hands to the waiting lanterns, immediately lighting them. “Let’s throw a party, Kharon!”

Randidly was somewhat disappointed that the first response of the assembled people was to release a collective sigh, but then they cheered and applauded politely. And then the preparations began in earnest, giving Randidly time to walk forward and stand next to Tatiana.

“...thanks, Tatiana.” Randidly smiled at the woman in charge of Kharon. “If I would have been thinking about it, I would have recommended it. It’s just-”

“You’ve got a lot on your plate,” Tatiana responded with an understanding nod. “But you can’t manage everything.”

For the next two hours, people furiously prepared. Although Randidly could have helped, Tatiana quietly told him that he was sometimes intimidatingly capable and that it was better to just leave these preparations to other people. So, feeling somewhat foolish, Randidly wandered around in his expensive robe with his hands behind his back and watched the preparations.

Gradually, as the preparations finished, people worked up the nerve to approach him and start a conversation. They talked about when they came to Kharon. And what struck Randidly the most was how everyone always said a very similar line. “Oh, right now I’m working as a steelworker, but when I save up enough money, I’m going to…”

They have so much hope. Randidly thought rather fondly. His hands tightened into fists. If nothing else, that’s what I want to nurture here on Kharon, in case the Earth needs it in the future.

While he exchanged polite words with the excited people who had never really spoken to him before, Randidly heard music begin to play in the surrounding areas. Without even amps, groups set up on cramped wooden stages and began to play along Banner Street. With the help of the moss spirits, the melodies spread out wider and wider out into the air as the light of day began to dim.

The Order Ducis brought up long carts filled with high-Level monster flesh and began to carefully roast the meat over towering bonfires they erected in the squares. Randidly wandered past and saw a conversation between a man he distantly recognized as Police Commissioner Arrietti and Heiffal and his men.

“Grilling excellently is the greatest mark of a provider,” Commissioner Arrietti was saying. Heiffal nodded seriously, as though he was inscribing every word the Commissioner said onto his very soul. “Knowing the meat and predicting how it is cooking… it requires experience and decisiveness!”

But one of Heiffal’s followers seemed puzzled. “Why can we not check on the interior of the meat with our senses?”

Commissioner Arrietti’s mouth worked soundlessly for several seconds as he tried to figure out how to answer the man. But luckily for him, Heiffal snorted. “Fool, and taint the meat with our images? Were you not listening earlier to the Commissioner? Grilling is the pursuit of purity!”

“Err… w-well, yes, that is true,” Commissioner Arrietti stuttered, clearly feeling out of his depth. Smiling to himself, Randidly turned away and wandered deeper into the city as festivities really began.

Almost once a minute, an enterprising chemist released blasts of fireworks that sparkled in the night sky. The surf-board sized platforms that people were now using to get around Kharon zipped past constantly as most of the city’s youth raced above the lantern-lit streets. They ran through and around the hanging lights from the fireworks, treating them more like part of their courses than as an encumbrance.

Out of habit, Randidly ended up standing before city hall. Waiting for him there was Tatiana, who had disappeared earlier during the preparations.

“It’s a good city,” Randidly said rather fondly. In the air, he could slowly feel the thoughts and emotions of the people living here, warping the area slowly just as surely as his images had marked the roof of city hall. Closing his eyes, Randidly could see how Kharon would slowly develop. It was exactly what he had been waiting for. This was the seed he wanted to leave behind.

“A good future,” Tatiana responded, offering Randidly one of the two crystal glasses that she held in her hand.

He took it with a raised brow. “Drinking on the job?”

“Frequently,” Tatiana responded with a smile. By unspoken agreement, they moved from the main square to the rooftops above, disappearing so quickly that several lingering individuals scrambled backward. Up above, both leaned on the weak iron railing and considered the blurred forms of the moss spirit racers. “So… Randidly, what are we walking back to the Zones to do?”

“Temper ourselves… and temper them.” All of the playfulness seeped out of Randidly’s gaze. His mouth twisted as he considered the dancing and celebrating people below. “I might be wrong… but the benefit offered by the System will not come without costs. And that’s not even counting the political trouble with traveling through the Zones…”

“Worrying about it is my job.” Tatiana teased.

Randidly nodded, his expression easing somewhat. But in his emerald eyes, the intensity never wavered for even a second. “True… let’s hope that I won’t need to exercise my true role here too often.”