Spirit Game

Cid cleared his throat as he took in the sight of the animal barn and pig's pit. They were all better-looking and cleaner than the houses in his village! This made him very angry and jealous.

Those damn builders of mine! They couldn't do anything right.

Cid bit his thumb in frustration. If only his Elven troops could construct buildings. But those useless elves were more skilled in crafting armor and accessories than anything else. They were also busy hunting and protecting the village, leaving them no time to focus on construction.

What's more, his older brother, Cedrick, often called upon his Elven troops to reinforce his army during their campaigns to expand their territory.

Because the inhabitants refused to help him build his home, he was stuck with players, members of Aegis Union, to build his village. It was . . . human touch prone to imperfections!

"You!" Cid suddenly pointed at Rain. "How did you manage to build this place? Who did your construction? And why do you already have villagers helping you?! You don't even have a title yet."

Rain blinked and then smiled sheepishly. "Ah, the townspeople helped me, and the construction is led by Druger. You probably met him back in the port town."

"T-that . . . that drunkard dwarf is a builder?!"

Rain nodded. "That's right."

Cid bit his lip. He had hoped to poach whoever Rain's builder was, but that seemed impossible now, knowing that it was an inhabitant. What's more, that dwarf and he didn't exactly have the best first meeting.

"I'm sorry that this village is probably smaller than yours and a little disorganized because of all the clutter. But if you want, I can tour you around and introduce you to everyone," Rain offered.

Cid played it cool and pretended that his village was exactly bigger and more beautiful than Rain's. "That's right, mine is bigger and more beautiful! But you . . . do you know everyone here?"

Rain nodded. "That's right."

Cid laughed mockingly. "Why? You're a lord, and they're dependents. They're merely workers, and soon their numbers will grow, making it impossible to memorize their names in the future. Our role is to rule over our territory and our subjects. There's no point in knowing every name and detail of their life.

Such a useless waste of effort."

Rain only smiled. "But even so, I want to know their names. As a lord, it's also part of our duty to make our citizens happy, right? Calling them by their names puts a smile on their faces. At least, that's what I observed."

Cid rolled his eyes. "You're merely wasting your time."

At the side, Silphie couldn't help but observe Rain. She was beginning to understand how he had accomplished all this in a matter of a month. And . . . Silphie looked at her side and found Chi glaring at her.

What kind of Aasimar is she? Silphie thought, noting Chi's unique appearance.

Next, they stopped at Rain's quarters. It was nothing remarkable, just a simple two-story house with a small dining kitchen and living room downstairs, while two rooms were located upstairs — one master and one for guests.

~chirp~

"Ah, #4, meet Cid and his troops," Rain introduced when they arrived in the living room where #4 was currently at.

Rain hadn't seen #4 around much lately. He said that he wanted to roam around with his statue so the enemies wouldn't know where it was placed. Rain didn't understand that logic because the enemies had a high chance of spotting him rather than being hidden somewhere in secret, right?

Still, he didn't mind what #4 wanted to do since he was enjoying it and it gave him a sense of purpose.

Besides, #4 seemed to be good at hiding and running around without anyone noticing him.

"Huh? What's with this little guy?" Cid asked, pointing at the dark-colored chick. "Haven't your troops evolved to the first stage by now?"

"Ah, that's right, but for some reason, #4 didn't evolve and remained in that appearance," Rain explained.

This gave Cid something to mock Rain about — something he had been waiting for since he arrived. With nothing to criticize about the village, he would gloat by comparing his troops to his.

"Hahaha. What an idiot. You should have sold that thing immediately!" Cid said. "That's a dud, a creature that could not evolve. It's best if you get rid of it now. It's only a dead weight in your troops."

#4 was so shocked at the knowledge that he couldn't evolve that he ran out of the house crying. Seconds later, he returned, grabbed Rain's statue, and bolted outside once more.

"Don't you ever say such things like that in front of my troops again," Rain said, his voice serious and devoid of his usual smile.

All eyes turned to Rain, taken aback by his sudden change in demeanor.

"You can say anything about me, but don't go on telling my troops that they couldn't evolve."

Cid only smirked at Rain's seriousness. "That's the truth, you know. I've seen troops like that. Almost all of them couldn't evolve after their first evolution failed. You're simply leading that poor thing on, which is actually crueler if he find out in the end that he couldn't evolve."

"I'm not setting them with false hope. The possibility isn't one hundred percent, right?" Rain asked, face and voice serious.

Cid frowned but couldn't say anything against Rain's words.

"Even if it's just less than one percent, I believe that #4 will evolve." Rain's serious face cracked into a small smile. "Besides, don't you know that the most dangerous of all explosives are duds?"

To that, Cid couldn't react, while Silphie could only stare at Rain with a calm face. Now she knew why he had achieved so much in such a short amount of time.

Not all players were like him, but there were some, a few, who acknowledged their troops and their citizens' strengths and treated them equally.

Silphie understood that to players who came from a different world, they were aliens, strangers who were nothing but tools used for their conquest for territory and rulership in the Spirit Realm.

Only a few really treated the inhabitants of this world fairly.

Without waiting for Cid and the others to open their mouth, Rain said his goodbyes. "You must be tired, right? Rest well and make yourself comfortable. I will have someone bring you food later."

And he was gone, off to go after #4, though it would be hard to find him. When he was really sad, #4 could hide really well.

When Rain was gone, Cid threw out a dry remark. "That naïve fool. With an attitude like that, let's see how far he'd survive in here! Doesn't he know just how many players fall prey to these cunning inhabitants? Treating them as equals is a waste of time."

Cid then stomped his way up to the bedrooms, while Silphie only watched him go.

She knew about the war between the players and inhabitants for land, and it was also a contributing factor to why the players didn't want to treat the inhabitants as equals because they too had killed so many players.

Both sides have reasons to hate each other, Silphie thought, staring at the door where Rain had just left.

For how long will you be able to keep that kind of attitude, I wonder? she thought.