Chapter 117 Sanity

Kairos raised a finger.

"The reason why we are creating this river is in order to carry away the waste, right?"

Quinn nodded.

"Yes, unless I'm terribly mistaken."

Kairos rubbed his chin slowly.

"What if we clearly make it appear that the water is polluted? Perhaps if we pollute the body of water with corpses, then the only water that flows here will not be worth trying to even touch."

He scratched the side of his head.

"It's not like we are drinking from that water or anything, we just need the flow of water to take the waste away."

Tiana's face twitched.

"Um... maybe we shouldn't do that."

Quinn scratched the side of his head.

"Oh, are you relying on the groundwater near the water table?"

Tiana looked quite uncomfortable and let out a resigned sigh after a few moments.

"Well... yes. This place obviously requires large amounts of water for farming and drinking, which is supplied by a certain spot that is underground."

Quinn slowly nodded.

"And if severely polluted water seeps into it... that will pollute the water you need for the city. Of course, it would happen very slowly, but that doesn't change the fact that it does happen."

Kairos felt a headache coming on.

"...It doesn't seem like there is any easy solution then."

Quinn leaned back into his folding chair.

"Hm. Well, perhaps we are thinking in too limited of a way. After all, common sense has been flipped on its head, introducing countless strange things. I don't doubt that there might be an answer that is more related to magic."

Kairos tapped the armrest of his folding chair a few times.

"Perhaps we need more information to come to a proper solution."

Quinn narrowed his eyes.

"Well, what if we can simply create a bedrock-like substance? If it performs the job of bedrock and is situated underneath the polluted water, none of it should seep into the actual groundwater."

Kairos massaged his temple with the tip of his finger.

"But that would be several times more difficult. The amount of that material required would be tremendous, right?"

Quinn put his elbows on his knees, hunched over slightly, and clasped his hands together in front of his mouth.

"Yet, these walls that definitely weren't here not too long ago are now towering over this place. If it was a normal construction team, building something like this would take a year. And that is even considering that if it was during times of peace, where it is realistically far easier to create."

Tiana did not speak for a few moments.

"It is indeed possible for me to arrange something like that. However, not any time soon. It may be further delayed depending on the quantity of material required."

Kairos nodded.

"Alright, so perhaps after scouting out two bodies of water, we will know the general scale. Then, after however much you need, I will begin creating the artificial river."

Quinn looked at Kairos a little awkwardly.

"Um, the way you are saying things implies that creating a river won't be too big of a problem for you, but realistically speaking-

"Don't worry so much about it."

Kairos cut him off while waving his hand dismissively.

"Anyways, is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

Tiana nodded.

"Well, yes. It's about the three musical bunch you brought in."

Kairos blinked a few times.

"Who?"

Tiana stared at him rather speechlessly.

"Um, Eric, Jenny, and Nick."

Kairos gave her a blank stare.

"Sorry, I still have no idea who you are talking about."

Tiana sighed.

"Er... there is a teenager with white hair, a girl with blue hair, and one with green hair."

Kairos thought for a few moments, before gradually coming to a realization.

"Ah, right. The three that I originally came here with. For some reason, they were obsessed with becoming famous with their music, and haven't given up despite it being an apocalypse."

Tiana nodded.

"Yes, yes. Well, it's just that those people requested a plot of land... only to turn it into some sort of stage. And they have been performing there for at least several hours every day. I don't doubt that it is annoying, or at least distracting many people, which is probably not good for the farming progress."

Kairos pressed his lips together.

"Ah, sorry about that..."

Quinn tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Well, actually I wouldn't say that it's necessarily a bad thing."

Kairos tilted his head to the side.

"What do you mean?"

Quinn raised a finger.

"Well, it would depend on how many people actually enjoy listening to the music that they make."

Kairos rolled his eyes.

"Well, yeah. I suppose it wouldn't be too big of a problem if everyone liked it."

Quinn shrugged his shoulders.

"As long as a decently sized amount likes it, and the three are willing to play, then what you consider a problem is actually a solution to one of your other problems."

Tiana felt that Quinn was a little presumptuous, but thought it was better this way.

"What problem are you talking about?"

Quinn raised a finger.

"The general sanity of the people here. The apocalypse has probably shaken their mentality tremendously. That is not to say they are all ticking time bombs, as the tall walls provide a great deal of reassurance, even if in practicality they aren't that strong."

Tiana's eyebrow twitched.

"Are you saying these walls are weak?"

Quinn shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know the strength of the walls, I was just pointing out that its strength doesn't matter in terms of reassuring people."

His eyes narrowed slightly, appearing angry, but not at anyone in particular.

"After all, it's not results that concern people the most, but how things look."

Kairos sighed.

"Alright, so we have to be concerned over their sanity?"

Quinn nodded.

"This is not a pressing issue, as the relief of being within these walls should still keep everyone's spirits up for a while. However, as time passes, their mentalities will gradually deteriorate. I heard that they have to give up ninety percent of their harvest, which would mean they are going to work themselves to death."

Tiana furrowed her brows.

"Are you telling me to make the taxes more lenient? I frankly believe the conditions I provide are more than ideal for them. Plus, if I lower them, then there won't necessarily be enough food for the people that matter, and increasing the taxes later on will inevitably cause me to face lots of backlash!"

Quinn raised an eyebrow.

"When did I say any of that?"

He pointed to one of the charts on a whiteboard within the room.

"From the data you've planned it out all quite nicely, even accounting for the increasing appetites as people get stronger. However, you didn't give yourself a realistic buffer. From what I learned, this error range is incredibly dangerous, as it is very likely you won't have as much food as you are expecting and may even need more."

Quinn lowered his hand onto the table.

"If anything, you should've had higher taxes from the start. Of course, some people will inevitably be worked to death, but there should be plenty of people willing to take their place during peacetime."

Kairos' eyebrow twitched.

"...That is efficient, I guess."

Tiana opened her mouth, then closed it. After a few seconds, she spoke softly.

"It seems I misjudged your character."

Quinn sighed.

"Don't worry about it, most people do."

He tapped a finger on the table.

"Anyway, back on topic. People of peacetime are frankly quite used to having an easy life, where they work a bit, and play doing whatever for the rest of the time. The sudden shift of that lifestyle deteriorates their sanity by a decent amount."

Quinn cracked his neck.

"As such, several facilities that let them forget the apocalypse is happening will greatly stabilize them."

Kairos leaned back into his chair.

"In other words, we have to serve them up a lie."

Quinn rubbed his chin.

"That is one way to put it, yes."

Tiana narrowed her eyes.

"So you mean to make the three perform music to help with their sanity?"

Quinn raised a finger.

"It can solve part of the problem. There will also be people that don't like the music, and music by itself can only stabilize itself for so long."

Tiana let out a resigned sigh.

"Why do we even have to care so much about their sanity anyway?"

Quinn let out a soft chuckle.

"Because people are shallow."

Kairos gave him a glance.

"I would prefer if you explained yourself rather than speaking in riddles."

The corner of Quinn's lip turned up.

"Remember? I said it before. More than anything, people care about appearances."

Kairos rolled his eyes.

"You're still doing it."

Quinn clicked his tongue.

"Alright, alright. Let me start from the top."

He held out his hand, almost like he was holding onto something.

"From what I've seen, people have both a sane and insane side to them. There's never really anyone that's completely insane or one that is completely sane. This means even if someone is incredibly unhinged, their sane side can pull the reins on their actions."

Quinn shrugged his shoulders.

"After all, even if they are insane, most still want to live. As such, they must keep up the appearance that they are normal. However, once they no longer care for their life, their actions go overboard and they become incredibly aggressive. That's why there's a saying about cornered animals and all that."

He sighed.

"But that shift is generally quite sudden, coming out of nowhere. All of that wouldn't be too much of a problem itself, as you probably have elites that can directly eliminate them before the situation gets too serious."

He narrowed his eyes.

"But once people notice that even their seemingly harmless fellow farmers are willing to jump out at them, paranoia begins to set in. Then, the once safe place is no longer safe. The paranoia makes people act rashly, further exacerbating the situation. And soon enough, mass hysteria sets in."

Kairos looked at him a little strangely.

"You seem to know quite a bit about insanity..."

Quinn didn't respond immediately.

"There were... certain readings that I did in my postgraduate studies that let me gain a grasp on them."

Kairos gave a small nod, though that didn't mean he believed it.

"I see."

Tiana crossed her arms.

"Alright, so the gist is to let them keep playing and create other things like it?"

Quinn shook his head.

"No, the fact that is a disturbance may do more harm than good."

Tiana's eyelid twitched.

"Then what the hell was the point of all that talk earlier?"

Quinn cracked his neck.

"Simple. Create a room made with soundproof walls for them to play inside. You will have to dedicate a larger portion of land for that to happen, but it keeps the benefits and gets rid of most of the demerits."

Tiana took a deep breath and began writing on a piece of paper.

"Alright then. So to conclude, the tasks required is to first scout out the scale required to create an artificial river and create it once I am able to create a bedrock substitute. The second is to give more land and create a soundproof room for the musical trio. The third is to think of other facilities that will stabilize the overall sanity of the city."

Quinn nodded.

"That's more or less it."

Kairos chuckled, prompting Quinn to question him.

"Is something funny?"

Kairos shook his head.

"Not really. I just never expected you to be this kind of person when you were sitting like that in the corner."

Quinn rolled his eyes.

"The fact I talked to you and walked all the way despite being on the verge of starvation should've shown you enough."

Tiana cleared her throat.

"Anyway, Quinn, was it? I wish to talk to Kairos privately, so could you leave?"