Redemption Arc

Lucian sat on a tied-down crate on the ship as it moved across the ocean somewhat serenely. Magic made for a very smooth ride over the ocean, almost as smooth as some of the ships that he’d been on in Earth. His eyes weren’t on the tides, though. His gaze flitted between the Evercodex in his hands and the people on the boat. He wasn’t quite certain his stats were accurate, but he continued to update them.

HP: 53 (+3)

STR: 34 (+5)

CON: 32 (+3)

DEX: 35 (+6)

SPD: 33 (+1)

MAG: 55 (+7)

The Evercodex was out. Meaning he was nervous again.

Voting for a presidential candidate in the Republic of New Riverra was more like voting for a family. Evidently anti-nepotism hadn’t exactly taken root in their society, because a new president meant ministries full of Goldhains or Windviews. It was precisely for that reason why politics in the republic still had a somewhat dynastic temperament.

Three Student Ambassadors had a stake in the upcoming election. Maybe four—Miriam had someone she was rooting for, but she had no familial ties to him. And right now, all of the family of those contenders were standing apart from one another on the boat, physically separated as if metaphor for their mental states.

Lucian had no idea which way the election was going to go.

The situation under which an election occurred were incredibly important to deciding its outcome. In War of Four, the situation had been desperate. Now, things were just tense. Each of the three presidential candidates had a different agenda.

“What do you think?” he asked Aurelia quietly. She stood beside him, leaning against the crate he sat on.

“Could you be less specific?” she asked, still somewhat miffed by their conversation earlier.

“The election,” he said. She pouted her lip, so he added a complement to soften her, “You’re pretty smart with these things. You read a lot, right?”

Aurelia’s frown vanished, and she glanced around a bit. Then, she hopped up onto the crate beside him so she could speak quieter. “Well…” She gestured toward Bethany, but faced him so they wouldn’t be seen staring at her. “The Windview family is advocating for militant isolationism. Bethany’s mother, Courtney Windview, has been quite the firebrand. Honestly, I think that they’re the favorites.”

“Really?” Lucian said. “Why is that?”

“I suspect the average citizen of the republic just wants to believe that their fleet is an invincible, and that if something does happen on the continent, they should let the continent deal with it,” Aurelia said. “The typical person doesn’t care very much about anything outside their immediate wellbeing. They haven’t experienced any trouble by demons firsthand, so why would they care?”

“Pretty cynical,” Lucian noted.

Aurelia glanced. “Well, measure them by their competitions. The Goldhains are taking a firmly coalitional, anti-demon line. Ruth’s father is under fire by people accusing his administration of being rife with demon collaborators, so they feel it necessary to be staunchly anti-demon. But the people hear, ‘we want you to fight and die against demons,’ and, ‘the good times are over.’

“And then you have Azalea’s family,” Aurelia continued, covertly gesturing toward the willowy blonde with the slightest elven features. Azalea looked to be dispirited by the election most of everyone. “The Mistfelds, right?”

“I thought they’d win,” Lucian said.

“Their primary offering is stability and continuity. They’re a very moderate choice. I haven’t read much about the candidate they’re putting forth. A woman, no?” Aurelia glanced for half a second. “But if the sweetie pie Azalea is any indication, I don’t think the Mistfeld family have the ruthlessness necessary to succeed this time around. Who knows? Sometimes harsh parents make sweet kids.”

“Jasmine Mistfeld is their candidate. Her mother’s a bit… bland,” Lucian said honestly. “She’s nice. Not quite as innocent as Azalea, but still pleasant.”

“Oh, then she’s doomed,” Aurelia said. “People want someone to shake things up right now. They don’t want the nice, pleasant woman. Windview or Goldhain—that’s the competition.”

Lucian thought they’d win because the Mistfelds were his favorites, honestly… he didn’t see how anyone could vote for the others. Maybe he had a limited imagination.

“What about the dark horse, Enoch?”

Aurelia snorted. “That half-elven man Miriam’s raving about? The radical egalitarian?” She shook her head. “It would take quite a lot for him to win the vote. And if he did, it’d be a disaster. I’m not just saying that because she likes him, either.”

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Lucian was surprised by her insight. “Why do you say that?”

“A hard life doesn’t make someone a good person,” Aurelia said seriously. “If he were to win, I think he’d take revenge on humans. And that’d make everything worse for everyone.”

“…did I tell you about him before?” Lucian asked.

“No, not a word,” Aurelia said. “Why? Am I right?”

“Scarily so,” Lucian said.

With her accurate deduction of Enoch’s character, Lucian’s evaluation of her analysis improved substantially. The Windview family was the favorite this time around, going by that. He went silent for a while, losing himself in thought.

“I’ve heard it’s hot and humid there,” Aurelia said. She sighed deeply. “Such a nightmare…”

Lucian agreed, for other reasons.

Am I going to have to leak the Windview emails or some nonsense? Lucian despaired. Or should I trust on the will of the people? That never has consequences.

Surely Lucian, technocratic elite from another world, knew best for everyone. He simply had to interfere to save them from themselves. He couldn’t have the common people making their own decisions, now.

***

After one night’s sleep, their ship approached the capital city of New Riverra. Valmere was a dense metropolis, being the first and primary settlement of Riverrans on this island. There were few beyond it, and consequently, it was massive. The ship traffic thickened well before the docks. Countless merchant vessels unloaded wares, and military naval vessels lay anchored under the guns of the hilltop fortress. Warehouses lined the shore in long, rectangular blocks, their cranes and pulleys in steady motion. An arrangement of pale buildings rose in tiers above its crowded waterfront. Lucian could already feel the humidity that Aurelia had been dreading. It looked rich—and it was. New Riverra had profited immensely from the spices and plants that could be grown in its tropical climate.

Their ship was marked, and it was given priority in bypassing the other vessels to make it to dock. The gangway extended in short order, and everyone hastened to make their way off. Lucian hadn’t taken but his first step onto the gangway when a voice cut out across the air.

“Look!” someone shouted. “Princess Goldhain brought a retinue of monastics and the child of a devil’s ducal traitor!”

Ruth looked to Lucian and said loudly, “Ignore them, everyone. No doubt they’ve been waiting for this. We’ve a welcome waiting for us at the embassy.”

Lucian and the rest paid no mind to the agitators as they came to the docks. There was a proper crowd watching them in the distance restrained by city guards that seemed to be modeled after those in Verne. Soon enough, more guards arrived, and Lucian and the others were escorted to a building at the base of the hill with the fortress.

“We couldn’t have come at night?” Rowan asked as they entered.

“They were going to learn anyway. Better not to waste any time waiting for night,” Ruth said as they came to the lobby of the embassy.

“Ruth!” A man shouted. Lucian looked over to see someone storming up. “What in the world is this?” He demanded, gesturing wildly at their party. “A menagerie of monastics, and yet more strangers to our shores?”

“They’re not here for the election, Uncle Ross,” Ruth said calmly.

“Do you know what this looks like?” Her uncle didn’t look pleased all the same. “Give me one good reason I should even allow them to enter the city.”

“One? How about six?” Ruth asked. She looked back. “Each of the six Student Ambassadors wants them here. We’ll be making that clear in our public statement. So… shut up and do your job, uncle,” she said coldly.

Ruth was in political mode. But then, she wasn’t the only one. Not minutes here, and he could already feel the tension in the air.

***

Shortly after arriving in the embassy, all six of the Student Ambassador went out to greet the journalists local to the Republic. They were holding something of a press conference about why Lucian, Rowan, and the monastics were here. Their public statement was that they were all here for the purpose of subjugating demons.

Not entirely wrong. The election would take some time, and thus they’d chosen to deal with the foray into the Hells first. Until then, Lucian rested. Rowan had gone off to do something else, in typical protagonist fashion. The monastics were showing their face to the journalists, excepting Aurelia. She didn’t like the spotlight.

“We should consider ourselves lucky that killing demons is a bipartisan issue, elsewise we’d have problems to deal with,” Aurelia said. “I dislike this republic. So chaotic, disorderly. How foolish it was for them to break away from the Empire of Riverra.”

Lucian glanced at her. “Are you talking about the empire in which we narrowly prevented a civil war? Is that your picture of stability?”

“It just saddens me, that’s all,” Aurelia said. She looked at him pointedly and said, “It diminishes my child’s future inheritance.”

Lucian blinked. “What?”

“After I save the world and marry Algard, of course,” she said, a slight gloating tone on her voice. "My fairytale ending."

“…are you joking?” Lucian asked.

Aurelia smiled. “Well, it doesn’t concern you, does it? We’re both adults,” she said deliberately.

Lucian didn’t know what to say for a bit after she threw his earlier words back at him.

“Thought you hated him. You didn’t even respond to the letter where he gifted you access to the Collegium,” he reminded her.

“Uhh, well… that was just a negotiating tactic,” Aurelia said with a coy smile. “When I become a hero, I’ll have more leverage. You won’t stop me, right? After all, you’re not on anyone’s side.”

Again, she threw his words back at him. Lucian frowned, unable to figure out if she was joking or not. Before he could ask any follow up questions, the door opened, and the republican Student Ambassadors walked through the door alongside the monastics.

Perhaps it was time to pick the election candidate he wanted to win.