Chapter 15

New Year, New Friends

31st of Last Freeze, 12533

The Silver Wilds

Tanya's Retreat

The first winter with the Kikavan refugees was rough, as it started early this year. The reasons for the strange weather were completely unknown, as up until recently the seasons were predictable. Regardless, it meant whatever was still trying to grow… wasn't doing it very well. Now, considering the fact that I had been building up a never-spoiling stockpile for years, in part due to my sheer boredom in the last four years meant we were set even if the winter continued on for another year.

Still, the season starting early meant something happened to everyone else; they had absolutely nothing to do. This was caused by the fact that most of the refugees were, or came from, farming families. Besides a handful of craftsmen and the Famuert family, they didn't really have much of an occupation beyond farming. So instead, they filled their time by other means. Which involved parties and feasts, and lots of them.

Interestingly, this gathering wasn't explained to me yet like the others were, though I assumed it was some sort of new years celebration, considering the date and the people around me watching the clock. While I hadn't heard of any such tradition, I knew it was likely that these people celebrated the New Years just like my earlier lives, though less extravagant than some from my first life.

I let out a sigh as I looked over the crowded room. Most people got chairs from other buildings in order to have enough seating room, yet still some needed to stand. I still didn't recognize a lot of the faces, but I did know a few. The Illagers had largely grouped together around one of the corners of the room, avoiding most of the crowd. Olysha was helping corral the crowd and rowdier kids into seats, which I should thank her for later. Dealing with the younger members of this group was a headache I was not looking forward to.

Urie was talking with a few of the men from Kikava, which was, aside from the children and the Illagers, most of the male population of this group. Istarte was nearby, carving away at some sort of totem with complete focus, ignoring the curious observers in minute form near her. And finally, Ishta was sitting to my right, looking over one of the few who still had a wound from the monster horde.

I sat near the edge of the room, away from the fireplace so more people could keep warm there. Compared to the simple robes the Villagers wore and the plaid-covered leather tunics the Illagers had, my military uniform stuck out like a sore thumb. Not to mention how the green color makes me stand out more in the sea of dark brown colors. I even learned why my uniform being green was so special. Green dye only comes from cacti here, which, depending on how close to a desert you are, marks your wealth. Or it makes you look like a nitwit trying to imitate wealth by rubbing greenery into your robes.

It stands out less than it did a few months ago though, I mentally thought, looking down to my left side. My arm had healed to a usable state two months after I lost it, though for a few weeks it was shorter and slightly smaller than my other. Admittedly, I was thankful for the fact that the regeneration didn't regrow the hand until the arm was a usable length. It would've looked rather silly otherwise. Now, though, it was almost the same as it was when I lost it, though a few scars were still regenerating. The constant need to eat was also reduced, thankfully.

Personally, I was admittedly trying to avoid finishing the translation of those books. Attending the parties and what little work I could occupy myself with was all so that I wouldn't have to deal with what may very well be that bastard's work. Sure, I'll return to it eventually, but the hazard I encountered made me worried of what else I might find in there. If the word Creation had such an impact… what would Destruction do?

The possibility of Being X originating from here, as one of the Ancients, was as worrying as it was intriguing to me. Could this 'Samayl' be him? If so, Being X being an irrational researcher turned godlike being- though certainly not being up to the task- made… too much sense, considering my track record with Schugel. The name Samayl also made me think of something more ironic.

My eyes flicked across the room to the three young individuals who had become admittedly rather close colleagues of mine, namely Urie, Ishta, and Istarte. Their names made me think about the names I've heard and talked to so much. Urie is just a letter off of being Uriel, the name of an Archangel. Ishta sounds close to a goddess from antiquity, Ishtar, though from which part of the Fertile Crescent it came from escaped me. Istarte sounds similarly familiar too, perhaps even from the same region. Their names being so similar to ancient beings made me wonder if the Ancients were the source of these names for even the Humans I was once apart of.

What does that mean for-

"Hey, Tanya?" Ishta suddenly asked, having finished her check-in on the last of those who were still wounded. I realized I was losing myself in my thoughts again. Why do I keep letting that happen?

"Yes?"

"Could you close your eyes for a bit and keep them closed until I say so?" She asked, with a smile that gave me a feeling of something more going on. A quick glance across the room let me catch a few hidden gazes coming my way, anticipating… something. Hesitantly, I obliged. Not like an assassination would do much to me after all.

For several minutes, I heard the rapid shuffling of feet, the occasional scrape of a table leg across the floor, and several of the adults shushing each other and the giggling kids. As things were moved, the smell of fresh food began to overwhelm my nose when food was being brought in and seemingly arranged. Eventually, the chaos settled down, as the villagers began to wait. If they were just waiting for the new year to tick over, why go through all this trouble?

"Alright, you can open them in 3, 2, 1… and open!"

When I opened my eyes, I noticed there was a table in front of me now, and right in the middle of it was- Wait, this isn't a new year's party!-

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

…Ah, that's what this was. That explains why nobody explained it this time. I looked around the room, seeing everyone's faces. Most were likely here to just thank the stranger who took them in for the help, and to enjoy the party, but a surprising number seem… genuine? Except for the kids of course, they simply wanted the cakes and were waiting for the adults to finish with the ceremonies.

The room was completely rearranged too, with food, including cakes and pumpkin pies, lining the tables that were brought in. The mood felt like an actual celebration, even if I only knew most everyone in a professional manner, which admittedly made me feel a little better about the sudden surprise.

As the party went on, I started to get a sense of why it even happened. Apparently I mentioned how I essentially had no idea what day I could call my birthday in passing at some point, probably to Urie since he's been here the longest, only that I knew I existed in this world sometime in the first day of 12,529, if I was correct on my how long I've been here. Since the people here wanted to celebrate my birthday for some reason, they decided to go with that as my birthday, and so they decided to throw a surprise party for me the moment the new year began, which was right when the sun began to rise over the horizon.

To be fully honest, I wasn't sure how I felt about the party. It was certainly nice, but I personally never thought much of birthdays, especially in my second life. All the gifts I got in my first life faded away, as to be expected when you get older, and in my second life I never made an effort to let people know my birthday, aside from that one time early on. I reflected on the parties thrown for me and…

…Did I ever even have these parties?

Now that I thought about it, I believe I never had one of these parties for myself. A mixture of emotions threatened to come to the surface with that thought, but I managed to dispel them. If I had any, it was long ago in my first life's early years. Thinking about it more, I think I might've heard some plans for such a party in my second life, but by the time my men knew of my birthday, we were in constant fighting and so every attempt was pushed back.

Unless you consider the Federation collapsing on my fifteenth birthday to be a present, I remembered. That and the Dacian's letting themselves get destroyed by my battalion are probably the closest thing to birthday presents.

I shook my head to dispel that thought while grabbing a piece of the cake in front of me. I should enjoy this birthday, before it starts to become meaningless to have these parties again. Besides, the people around me went through all this effort. And, if we're going by how long I've been in this world, I'm still technically at an age where it makes sense to celebrate my birthdays.

I chuckled at the thought of me technically being a child again. At least Being X wasn't that cruel… again.

A few days later

With the winter over, I could start on some projects that I'd been looking forward to. For one, I wanted to build up a treasury, since I knew that I would have to inevitably deal with more people, especially if I want to do more in this world than simply sit around.

Admittedly, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my immortal life. Perhaps if my immortality was more akin to retaining my memories throughout the cycle of reincarnation, I'd be able to determine what I would do with my existence better by going through different career paths each time . But since this form of immortality isn't very helpful for that, I have to adapt. And if I'm going to get anywhere in this life, I'm going to need money, which for Villagers and Illagers are Emeralds.

Normally, that'd be impossible without selling off anything to the people around me, which I could easily do, but I'd like to have a sizable nest egg to work with instead of just the wealth of the people around me. After all, I'm able to literally carve through the earth with ease to find them.

Which leads me to my present circumstances. Apparently, the only reliable way of finding Emeralds underground is in large mountains, of which there was one separating this (formerly) unclaimed territory from most of the Confederation to the east. Additionally, thanks to the underpopulated nature of the Wilds, it was likely that these mountains still had a large amount of raw, untapped Emeralds in it. Of course, even in the mountains they were somewhat uncommon, so I had to dig. Once again, I was glad for the strange power I had over Manipulation.

Although I wasn't alone this time. Following behind was Urie, who came along primarily because he was the only one who could get the mule he owned to do… anything, really. Having the mule carry around what I mined was too useful to pass up, as the stone could be used for a variety of other projects later. Aside from Emeralds, the mountains were especially rich in coal and, depending on how high up in the mountains, raw iron. So, this served as more than just a way to enrich myself.

"Say, Urie," I absently asked while carving away at the stone, "I haven't seen you around as much since the refugees came in. Where have you been?" It was something I noticed a while back. Even during parties, he was often absent, late, or vanished in the middle of it, and when he did appear he looked… drained. When he didn't answer, I turned and saw his disbelieving face.

"...Have you even noticed? I mean, you do know who lives with me, right?" He asked with complete incredulousness.

"Yeah, Istarte, your- Ohhhh right." I suddenly realized. How much have they been doing that then?! I knew they were together, but… Honestly, I feel bad for him. That can not be healthy for him. Some part of me from my first life shudders to imagine dealing with that.

The sudden awkward atmosphere that emerged was interrupted by the glitter of a green vein being revealed by my idle efforts. My focus shifted to making sure there wasn't any hidden within the stone around us, so I got to work on clearing the entire area around the emerald vein, while Urie inspected the (now floating) ore vein.

"Hrmm… Quite a few emeralds in this piece. Should be a good point to start off with," said Urie when I finished clearing away the stone, "though I think we should try to find one or two more."

I let out a sigh at that; if finding these Emeralds would be this easy, I'd be able to focus on other projects and only need to stop in here a few times, if even. I let my thoughts run with ideas of financial prosperity as my pickaxe struck the ore cube, then stepping back once the magic of Mining finished the job-

Wait, why is there…

Urie bent down to inspect our reward, similar confusion appearing on his face. He picked up the green gem, and then looked back at me with a question.

"...Where did the rest of that ore go? There was supposed to be a handful of Emeralds, but we only have one…"

For the time being, we assumed it was a fluke. Until the second time it happened, anyways. Then I started to question things. While I wasn't certain Urie was completely misjudging the number of gems in each chunk of ore, I wasn't going to completely dismiss that idea. Still, I decided to let him break up the next one we found to see if something was wrong with me. Though, I'd doubt that, since these abilities have proven themselves reliable in getting raw material, so perhaps Emerald ore just-

THUNK!

I looked at the pile of smashed ore made by Urie, and I felt my eye twitch at the number of green gems within when Urie cleared the stone away.

"..."

One of these days, I'm going to strangle that parasite for giving me such a contradictory body!

It seems my idea to build a treasury for myself needs to change, alongside my entire strategy for mining.

The revelation that I wasn't exactly precise, or perhaps merely unskilled, with my Mining abilities made me question how useful they truly were. After the discovery made in the mountains, I experimented a bit more and found that my powers seem to be massively overcompensating in the Mining department. What should be a reasonable paycheck of an Emerald ore gets turned into one, likely taking the larger chunk deeper into the ore and cutting down to the size most others can expect.

The same seems to be true of most other ores. While I hadn't gone back down to check if Diamonds were affected, as I have been unable to convince anyone to follow me down there so far, I am sure that the same still applies for that as well. This newfound limitation of mine effectively means all of my ventures underground are effectively useless by sheer inefficiency. I'm essentially the equivalent of an employee who completes all of their tasks ahead of time in the worst way possible, creating a larger mess to clean up later.

Obviously that didn't mean my power was useless. Nor did it seem to affect the opinions of people that I let in on this knowledge in a negative way, though I didn't need the looks they gave me. Still, it was a massive letdown for me.

Despite that, there was still more to do, like checking in on the walls. Over the last few months, a few monsters had roamed by, but beyond a few skeletons firing off stray arrows and a spider or two crawling over the wall, they were inconsequential. Today however, a different kind of disturbance arrived.

The villager before me was dressed similarly to every other villager I've seen so far, a thick navy blue robe covering most of their body, though his had an… interesting alteration to most others. His collar had been replaced by a collar I'd find on a sailor's outfit, or perhaps a school girl's uniform. Two others, both villagers, had also come with the stranger, but seemed to be following the man's lead. Regardless, he was led to my house and living room, which was becoming far too much of a meeting room at this point. I was joined by Ishta and Urie, mainly because Olysha and the Illager captain were busy and because I needed the knowledge both had thanks to their positions.

"I thank you for inviting us into your home, stranger." The man said as he sat down on a couch. "I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Kharoun, a humble merchant whose ship has unfortunately wrecked nearby. Admittedly, it's a bit embarrassing on my part. Let me start all the way back when we first left port…"

As he told his tale, I thought about what to do. There were about twelve people shipwrecked, which with a little bit of expansion could be accommodated within the community. The cargo was valuable, but they were more worried for their lives than their goods. Still, getting the wreck's contents was important. It should be relatively straightforward, but I had a selfish idea I wanted to explore.

"Well, as the unofficial landlord of the town," I replied, "we'll be happy to take you on. I would like to see your ship though, see if it's still potentially seaworthy."

Staying in this lone, isolated area made sense when I knew very little of the world. Before that point, I could not rely on any societal structure for retirement like I could in my previous lives. Now, I can instead build up a reputation and social net to retire into using the world around me, though my newfound lack of an expiration date complicates long-term retirement. While I could use the developing village that has emerged around my home as a comfortable retirement, the immediate area's culture and current politics was just asking for me to lose everything in a raid.

So, I plan to leave. Go on a little adventure. I want to uncover more about this world's past anyways, as history has always been something of a passion of mine, and also to figure out if he was truly here before. Would it be easier to stay here and build up the village off of broken people that stream in from the Wilds? Perhaps. But if I can secure an even better retirement, then why not take to the seas? Ingratiate myself with the states beyond the Wilds? That way, I can coast along off of whatever I can acquire for myself, maybe as some lesser noble if I play my cards right.

Not like there's any true danger involved for me.

The captain happily agreed, and left to both find a temporary place for his crew once they get here and to get ready to guide us back. While Urie went to fetch someone to come with as an extra guard, I gathered my gear, including my recent acquisition.

Unlike the Ancient-make Steel armor I had previously, the Diamond piece I acquired from the undead monster Boss last year was almost certainly magical in numerous aspects. For one, it was more of a diamond turned into a solid metal-like material, something I doubt even my first life could eventually make through mundane means. For another, when I put it on, it glowed softly, both over the armor and over the gaps, cutting off at the neck and waist where the next piece of armor would presumably protect.

According to Ishta's explanation she gave while helping me with the more annoying straps for the cuirass and large pauldrons, (which the enthusiasm she had in volunteering was as confusing as it was appreciated), this was a common use for the Enchantment language since even the Ancient Era. By whatever magical means the dead language uses, it flushes Lifeblood that one would gather and, similar to Formulas, forms a variety of effects. The specific enchantments on my new chest piece was a pair of simple Unbreaking and Protection enchantments.

The Unbreaking enchantment was obvious in its purpose, but the Protection enchantment was a bit of a surprise, and puts the Ancient's design decisions into context if you assume these were common for Ancients. With a simple, low-cost application of Lifeblood, the equivalent of an Aerial Mage's defensive suite will shield an entire region of the body. Or atleast, it would be the equivalent of such a suite, if the basic Protection spell wasn't a fraction of what I could output with even a mono-core orb. I was able to bypass it easily when the undead Boss wore it.

Still, even the frankly pathetic amount of protection provided was a huge boon, as it covered exposed parts of the armor. I looked down at my arm while Ishta had to re-do one of the pauldron's straps, cheeks red from embarrassment over not getting it right the first time. Unlike the steel armor, the Diamond chestpiece came with a proper gauntlet that fully encased my hands, and thanks to the absurd construction methods involved the gauntlet allowed for an impressive degree of dexterity in each finger. Additionally, the small plate covering some of the forearm was replaced with a proper vambrace that extended up to the elbow, where there was still nothing covering my upper arm between the joints. Although now I understand that the gaps were covered by chainmail, leather, and Protection enchantments, it still felt like the armor was incomplete.

The armor altogether was still slightly damaged, but by using the remains of the Boss' other pieces of armor that were far worse for wear, it was mostly restored enough for me to use it. Most of the damage left was superficial anyhow, and the benefits were frankly incredible. I moved and stretched once Ishta stepped away after doing one final check, feeling the noticeable difference in weight between the diamond and steel armors. Note to self, prioritize mining more diamonds for better armor.

I turned and noticed Ishta staring, still slightly flushed from the earlier embarrassment. Or… was it something else? Something that minor couldn't have been the problem, so what… Oh, well that's obvious!

"Would you like to come with us?" I asked the nervous heiress of her former village's greatest seats of feudal and theocratic power. In hindsight, keeping her away as much as Olysha and I had done was likely a mistake if she was to claim even a fragment of her father's legacy. If I remember right, not only was she the village Cleric's daughter, but also the Chief's daughter. Theoretically, she would have one of the strongest bases of support in the Villager portion of this emergent village.

But without any kind of experience, any aspirations for influence would be dashed rather quickly, and possibly push her into the position of a subordinate Cleric regardless. Additionally, the possibility of the Illagers simply conducting a coup whenever the Villagers try to move out of the weak anarchic state of the village could be increased should she fail to solicit the Villager's support. Therefore, the best way to counter that is to at least accompany the group and be present for the newcomers.

A commendable goal, which I can approve of. With a caveat, of course.

"Uh… yes, that- that's what I'm asking to do. Mhm." She finally replied. Ah, no, she took a normal amount of time to reply, I simply got lost in thought thanks to my mental enhancement spell again. In response, I pulled some items out of my inventory and tossed them at Ishta.

"Mmph-!"

She technically caught them… after impact. Once she managed to see what they were, her face grew confused.

"If you're joining us, you'll need some armor, and your robes will be too bulky underneath the armor. So, I'm lending you some of my spare clothes-" she looked up at me when I explained that last bit- "-which are clean, don't worry." I turned to the room's door as my explanation wound down. For some reason she looked a little bit disappointed despite her excitement. "I'll wait out here until you're ready for the armor."

With that, I gave her time to change and got some time to think. The inevitability of the village's power struggle was another reason for me to leave. My quiet retirement will be overturned by what is likely to be petty power politics, made worse by the complete collapse of peace in the region. While I could stay, as an outsider I naturally would be at a disadvantage, and who knows how the racial dynamics between the Villagers and Illagers would turn against me.

I seem to be lucky so far though. Everyone is rather tolerant of me for whatever reason. Perhaps the Confederation's Illagers and the Villagers who bordered them are outliers. I thought, absentmindedly pacing before slowly returning to simply standing once I realized how obnoxiously loud that is in the armor. Eventually my idle thinking ended when Ishta stepped out to get the armor from me-

Damn, those robes hide a lot that my clothes don't!. The simple shirt and trousers that she now wore revealed an attractive form that, if I had to compare it to someone, rivaled Visha's body. I managed to keep myself together though. If I fell apart like some kind of romance anime protagonist at such a small bit of attraction, I wouldn't be the person I am today.

"Looks good on you. I have a large amount of spare sets, though we are lacking in chainmail, so it's going to be pure leather and steel." I stated, bringing out the pieces of armor. Putting them on went quicker with Ishta than it did for me, though I was slightly distracted by the armor's magical ability to conform to the wearer's form. I was momentarily worried when the cuirass started shifting to accommodate Ishta's… assets, but this, again, is the real world, so it merely shifted the plate a bit.

With that dealt with (and a quick crash-course on using a spear later), we returned to Urie and Kharoun and set out to check the captain's wrecked ship.

The actual trip to the ship was uneventful. The crew, a mixture of villagers and illagers (and further divided by crew and passenger) were easily escorted to the still-yet-to-be-named village, while I got a chance to take notes on the ship itself. While it was damaged by an iceberg from the winter period from when the seas froze along the coast, I could still gather some conclusions and ideas from it. Additionally, the crew, while not exactly knowledgeable or forthcoming with information, did give me some insights into the state of seafaring in the Overworld, or at the very least Anciart.

What it also gave me was a new type of Villager and Illager to observe and interact with. So far, the people from the Silver Wilds gave me an idea, though a very incomplete one, of what the dynamics between Villagers and Illagers are in this world. But now I can get a sense of what the typical (West Anciartan, of course) person is like. Some were from Pollenia, the core state that makes up the Commonwealth, some were from Arlainz, the state with the horrific fusion of William the Conqueror and Charlemagne for a ruler, and some were from a variety of other strong trade powers in the North. Perhaps the most out of place was the Saheritan mercenary returning south from a contract.

But I found rather little time to speak with them as a few friends of theirs that they grew close to had passed in the chaos that led to their shipwreck. So, I left them to mourn now that they were settling in. It's for the best that I let them do their thing from a distance. No need to spoil it with my own unreliable feelings.

The other things I wanted to do were relatively minor, mostly showing some of the people how to install the plumbing systems in houses and writing up some codes. Sure, I could ditch this place the moment I get an appealing opportunity, but considering my immortality means I will inevitably get some kind of blowback from such a sudden departure. Plus, it's the perfect chance to network with a future port city!

But those projects were still rather long term. As a result, I found myself once again in the study, Ishta nearby and on-hand in case another incident like before happens and I need healing.

I never wound up getting those clothes I lended back, which wasn't a huge deal. Just means I can cash it in as a favor later. Plus… it did look good on her. Maybe she'd look better if she had hair… I shook my head to recompose myself. While I did manage to avoid the constant war of puberty a second time by not only being so behind on my body's schedule from the malnourishment but also skipping straight to my 20s, certain sexual instincts will always apply.

Refocusing on the papers in front of me, I stared at the unfinished sentence. With a hesitant hand, I dipped the quill into the ink (there has to be a better way to get ink than squids) and began to write…

"...Creation and Destruction. Twin energies that move the Lifeblood that permeates our world, that we so ravenously consume without effort. We use these two powers so frequently that it never crosses our minds when we throw iron onto the Crafting Tables that we are channeling the very power that made us, nor does it concern us when our bodies are destroyed when we fall dead by the sister power.

"It is these powers, supplied and empowered by the very blood of reality, that has remained hidden for a millenia since the first time one of us ever spawned in this world. Yet in discovering this power, I believe we can push things further.

"What if one were to harness the full power of even one of the two energies? What if both? What if we could push back at the withering force that sits outside our world, that breaks apart the Lifeblood of Eternity? Already, I have seen and helped the greatest minds (myself included, of course) of the Overworld reach out to the other side of Eternity, to the night sky, and found where the Void awaits us once more, and where another world slowly puts itself together. And that was merely through the grasping of the arithmetic of the mind. What if we could become akin to Gods?

"What could we accomplish then?"